Archive for July, 2005

One of the great truths in understanding people is that we are all different. When we set out on the journey of understanding we will quickly find different ports of call. Some of these can seem strange at first, with different languages, cultures, and ideas. We may find these places somewhat intimidating on our first visit. There may be communication problems with words and phrases we don’t understand. The customs may be completely different than we are used to. The architecture of the buildings and the sights and sounds on the street may be unusual.

The key to understanding is to celebrate the differences. As writer John Maxwell puts it, “Instead of trying to cast others in your image, learn to appreciate their differences.” When we can accentuate the differences in a positive light we end up with synergy. Where the result can be greater than the sum of our individual effects or capabilities.

As I have sailed around the blog-o-sphere I have encountered many strange new worlds. I’ve found blogs with different colors, graphics and navigation. Different ideas abound. I would like to take you on a short journey of adventure today to some of the best destinations that I have experienced.

As I set sail from this tiny blog, I soon discovered rough waters. As I peered from the boat I saw a huge monster in the distance, wrecking havoc with peoples lives and businesses. As I sailed closer I discovered that it was the E-mail monster with words and phrases spewing forth from its fiery beak. Who could tame it I wondered? I wanted to change direction but something caught my eye. It was a caped crusader by the name of Bert Webb. He had on a bright yellow shirt with the logo “Open Loops” on the front. He was single handedly battling the monster with knowledge and insight.

I had to know more as I had personally experienced this monster myself. I pulled into port and read his manifesto. It was compelling. His weapons of organization and deletion were powerful and I noticed he was quickly subduing the beast. I picked up a copy of his manifesto and left a note thanking him for the weapons of mass instruction.

As I left Bert’s port I headed for open water, where I quickly found myself aimlessly adrift. I seemed to lack direction. I found that the more I tried the more I went in circles. It was getting dark and I knew that I needed to seek a safe port for the night. I noticed a reddish glow in the evening gloom and sailed towards it. I soon found a reddish island that had a huge arrow pointing to the top of a small mountain. The arrow had the words To-Done on it.

I entered to bay of To-Done and noticed it was actually a cluster of islands. As I docked in the shelter of the main island a small boat approached. It pulled up alongside and a young man with a captains hat emerged from the galley. “Hi, I’m Captain Robinson,” he exclaimed as he reached out for a handshake. “Welcome to To-Done.” I was immediately taken in by his hospitality. He gave me a list of the surrounding islands and encouraged me to visit each one. He pointed out that each had a different culture and purpose.

“We have a great experience awaiting you here,” he said with a smile. “There are 10 islands that form a large shape that looks a lot like an asterisk. We call the large island Asterisk and the others each have different names. There is one dedicated to music known as the Ipodarmy, one that specializes in books, another with DVD’s. It’s a pretty varied place. Feel free to explore the islands. The natives are friendly.”

I was amazed at the variety of cultures and found myself sailing to each one over the course of a week. It was a wonderful place. I soon found that my visit had encouraged me to organize my life and after a week I sailed off with a direction and a purpose. As I left, Captain Robinson encouraged me to head in the direction of Hawaii for a place known as the Ho‘ohana Community.

We’ll continue our journey of understanding tomorrow…

Who are our customers? This is a common question among business people and a very valuable one. The answer to this can help us design a marketing strategy that is truly based on “understanding people.” The key to understanding is to ask questions. One of the most important being..

What do our customers want?

I did a little search around the blog-o-sphere this morning and discovered a great site entitled “Church of the Customer” by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. Their blog is dedicated to word of mouth, customer evangelism and citizen marketers. I found the concept of customer evangelism a fascinating one. As they describe it it is..

When customers are truly thrilled about their experience with your product or service, they can become outspoken “evangelists” for your company. This group of satisfied believers can be converted into a potent marketing force to grow your universe of customers.

What a great way to grow your business. I dug a little deeper and found they have a free PDF listed on ChangeThis.com that you can download that gives more detail on the concept. In an excerpt they explain how Southwest Airlines have created an army of evangelists…

A customer evangelist not only purchases from you regularly, she feels compelled to tell others. Ann McGee-Cooper honestly considers Southwest part of her family. This doesn’t mean that Southwest is for everyone; it has its share of detractors who don’t care for its policies of no-reserved seats and low frills.
But your business isn’t for everyone, either.
What makes Southwest and other companies with dedicated armies of evangelists stand apart from their competitors?They have crossed the emotional chasm that separates most businesses with customers.Their customers believe. They don’t do it with trickery, or by having the lowest prices, or the fanciest web site.They do it by being authentic.
Southwest’s executives boil it down to “doing business by the Golden Rule.” In almost every example we’ve found, it’s the opposite of what most people consider a professional “corporate” relationship.

TO UNDERSTAND HOW A CUSTOMER EVANGELIST BEHAVES, HERE ARE SOME CLUES:
o They passionately recommend your company to friends, neighbors and colleagues.
o They believe in the company and its people.
o They purchase your products and services as gifts.
o They provide unsolicited praise or suggestions of improvement.
o They forgive occasional sub-par seasons or dips in customer service.
o They do not want to be bought; they extol your virtues freely.
o They feel part of something bigger than themselves.

The lessons from the original evangelists-the religious believers who roamed the back ways of the world to spread the word of their faith - teach us that beliefs are based on emotional connection, deep-seated convictions and the promise of a better way. Strongly held beliefs compel many of us to tell others. The root of the word “evangelist” is based on “a bringer of the glad tidings.”

So now that we know what a customer evangelist is how do we create an atmosphere where they can flourish? From their research into the best practices of some of the most forward-thinking companies with legions of evangelists who spread the word, McConnell and Huba outline and explain the six basic tenets of creating customer evangelists:

1. Customer plus-delta: Continuously gather customer feedback.
2. Napsterize knowledge: Make it a point to share knowledge freely.
3. Build the buzz: Expertly build word-of-mouth networks.
4. Create community: Encourage communities of customers to meet and share.
5. Make bite-size chunks: Devise specialized, smaller offerings to get customers to bite.
6. Create a cause: Focus on making the world, or your industry, better.

McConnell and Huba profile highly successful companies on their blog and illustrate these tenets and prove how solid customer relationships build and sustain companies through good and rocky times. These in-depth company profiles provide real-life examples of evangelism marketing at work, including the opportunities and pitfalls of specific campaigns.

I found these concepts to be outstanding and they will go a long ways in helping us discover just who our customers are.

Ben & Jackie have a podcast out today that is well worth the listen. Download it and tune in…

I want to thank fellow blogger Scott Hodge for spreading the word about “Church of the Customer” on his first Hodgecast. Check it out!

How do you build a popular blog? What does it take to build a profitable business? How do you become more successful? I think in a large part the key to growth and success is understanding people.

In the book, Climbing the Executive Ladder; Author George Kienzle states, “Few things will pay you bigger dividends than the time and trouble you take to understand people. Almost nothing will add more to your stature as an executive and a person. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction or bring you more happiness.”

One of the big problems we face in our fast paced society is taking the time to fully listen to people. Our conversations exist almost entirely of trite questions such as “How are you doing?,” or “Nice day isn’t it?,” or the ever popular, “What’s up?” Questions that almost always produce the same trite answer.

With such shallow questions how can we possibly understand each other?

John Maxwell has some insight into the problem. He advises, “The biggest mistake you can make in trying to talk convincingly to others is to put your highest priority on expressing your ideas and feelings. What most people want is to be listened to, respected and understood. The moment people see that they are being understood, they become more motivated to understand your point of view.”

Could listening be the key to understanding?

Author Steven Covey puts a lot of emphasis on understanding and lists it as one of his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His tenet is Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood. He talks about the concept of empathic listening. Listening to others with empathy and caring.

Over the next week we’ll look at the topic of understanding and look at some of the problems we face in fully understanding others. We’ll tie this in with the idea of building a small business and see how we can learn how to listen to our potential customers and meet their needs.

We’ll cover…

Overcoming customer anxiety

My customer is just like me

Here’s to understanding…

No one likes to make mistakes. But they happen and they are often accompanied with pain and remorse. When they happen in front of an audience they can be truly devastating. Many people are deathly afraid of public speaking because of a previous failure. “They laughed at me” or “I made a fool of myself” are words that play over and over in their minds.

Is there a safe place to practice “public speaking” and to try out new ideas that may ultimately fail? I would say an overwhelming yes. Toastmasters provides a place to practice speaking and leading. The club audiences are always supportive and will give you lots of constructive feedback. I have had some of my greatest failures in Toastmasters. I have lost my place in a speech, left out whole portions of an important meeting, and even forgotten a very important person’s name.

In each case I was devastated and resolved to “never do it again.” But the club members would always come back with words of encouragement and helped me learn from failure. These failures have been important milestones for me, as they are the greatest teachers there are. As John Maxwell puts it “the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.”

Failure can also come in a different form. That of being “wrong.” Have you ever expressed an idea or written an article on a subject only to be proven wrong. This can lead to the “safety of silence,” which can completely stifle creativity.

Steve Pavlina has an article on his blog this morning entitled “You have the right to be wrong.” Steve states..

What’s so terrible about being wrong? If you’re never wrong, to me that indicates you aren’t growing. I hope that five years from now, I’ll look back on some of my blog posts from this year and disagree with myself. Otherwise it would mean that either I haven’t grown or that I was too timid in expressing myself.

Don’t be afraid to take stabs at the edges of your certainty. That’s one of the best ways to learn. Let others react to your ideas. Sometimes they’ll help provide new facts that can allow you to refine your ideas. Other times they’ll merely react emotionally which can help you become more resilient in weathering other people’s emotions. Don’t be afraid to put out your ideas in a conversation, a speech, an article, a blog entry, a forum post — any communication where you can get feedback from others.

Toastmasters is a great place to try new things and express new ideas. You can be “wrong” and make mistakes with a Toastmasters audience and still receive a timely and informative evaluation. If you have never been to a Toastmasters meeting I would encourage you to find a club near you and visit. I think you’ll find, like I have, a friendly and supportive audience to help you take your speaking skills to the next level.

Toastmasters.org

It’s Monday morning, 5 a.m. I’m still sleepy and not all that motivated to go to work today. As I scan the blog-o-sphere this early morning, I’m in need of a boost. I need some motivation. I know from past experience that the “team” aspect of blogging can really help. Reading multiple posts brings “synergy” defined as “the working together of two or more things, people, or organizations, especially when the result is greater than the sum of their individual effects or capabilities.” I have faith in my fellow bloggers to motivate me to action today.

Here is some collected Blog synergy that I think will help us all reduce our stress and be better equipped to face the day.

1. The blog To-Done has a great article entitled “Never lose a sock again.” Keith Robinson assures us that his technique will work. He says..

I’ve been asked a few times if I’ve got any tips on getting (and keeping) organized. I’m a pretty organized person, but by no means am I organized enough to say I’m a master. So, while I don’t really have a whole lot of specific tips ready to share on organization I can tell you how to never lose another sock!

I’ve been using this method for awhile now and so far I’ve only lost socks I wanted to lose.

If this is true, I’ll be forever greatful. One of the biggest stresses in my life is running late in the morning and not being able to find a matching sock!! I’m taking notes Keith.

2. The doctor of personal development, Steve Pavlina, has an article entitled “How to never lose your keys again.” Next to losing socks, the greatest morning stress is finding those elusive keys. Where did they go? Steve illustrates how he taught his wife to put her keys in a designated place..

My wife used to spend an inordinate amount of time hunting for her keys. Each time she came home, she’d toss her keys somewhere different, and then she’d forget where she left them and have to search for them later. Sometimes it would take her 30 minutes or more to find them. At first I became skilled at sensing where she left them, but then I figured my time was better spent elsewhere.

This is a very interesting article that everyone should read. Steve comments at the end that

And yes, wives are actually trainable to some degree, slightly more than cats.

I figure if Steve can teach his wife to stop losing keys there might be hope for me..

3. Jason Womak has a great post about “Stress and opportunity” that may help my outlook this morning. He states

I once heard someone describe - in a way I understood on a very personal level - a problem I’m facing these days:

“Jason,” she said, “you’re facing the stress of infinite opportunity.”

So, for kicks, I did a little research with my friend Noah Webster. Here are some interesting definitions:

Stress: mental tension Tension: mental strain Strain: a great demand on one’s emotions, resources, etc. Infinite: lacking limits; limitless Opportunity: a combination of circumstances favorable for the purpose

When I originally heard this “problem,” I thought it was a good thing (”too much opportunity?!”). However, it’s turning out to be quite a tough experience to go through.

It is interesting that I may be facing “Infinite Opportunity.” and the attending stresses that go with it. I may have to learn how to say “No”. Actually the word NO sounds pretty good right now. I have a morning full of meetings and I just read Rosa Say’s article entitled “Just how much do useless meetings cost?” Her attending facts are pretty compelling…

And the point I was drawn to, having unengaged meeting participants on the brain:

“Seven of 10 Americans believe most meetings are unproductive, if not excruciating, and yet workers average 5.5 hours a week in meetings.”
— from a Microsoft Office survey taken this spring.

Let’s do some very conservative, easy math.

5.5 hours at a nice round figure of $10.00 per hour = $55.00

$55.00 times a modest group of 6 people at the meeting = $330.00 per week

$330.00 times 52 weeks in a year = $17,160.00

Now imagine: what could your business have done with that $17k? (Personally, I could write another book.)

Hmmm… I can think of some uses for 17 grand and none of them involve meetings. Thanks for the information Rosa!

Well with all of the synergy I’ve gained this morning and given the fact that I can’t find a matching sock or my car keys and I’m facing a mountain of meetings… I think I’ll just go back to bed…

This is the 3rd installment in the synergy series entitled “Faith in Others.” Read more on the other installments here.

Arnold was dismayed, his dream shattered. How could he convince his wife to support his Ipod for the Car project. She wouldn’t even listen to him. Arnold knew his idea was a great one. He got up from his chair and mumbled under his breath, “She just doesn’t get it.” Arnold paced back and forth, finally ending up plopped in front of his computer. He pulled up Google and typed in the word “motivation,” since he knew that he really needed to encourage his wife Alice.

As the search results came up on the screen, he noticed an interesting one that stood out from the others. It was from a blog by Steve Pavlina entitled “Cultivating Burning Desire.” His mind raced quickly, “This is exactly what I need.” He read the article quickly and perused the bio section of the blog. He found that Steve was the creator of the synchronous microwave platter. The biography indicated that this single invention made Steve thousands of dollars by always placing the handle of a rotating coffee cup by the microwave door.

Arnold was excited now and had to know more.

As he read more about Mr. Pavlina he found that his motto was “Multitask.” Steve had developed numerous multitasking strategies such as multiple microwaves and dual wristwatches. He decided to call Steve and ask for his help with his Ipod project. Steve was very courteous had took Arnold’s call. He listened to Arnold’s plight and found out a little about Arnold’s wife, Alice.

Steve thought for a moment and then replied. “Arnold, you have a great project. You just need to explain the benefits to your wife.”
Steve went on, “Sell the multitasking aspects of your invention. Tell her she can be hands free to put on makeup, talk on the phone, and drive her car all while listening to her Ipod.”
Arnold was ecstatic, “You’re right Steve, I need to sell the benefits”

Arnold got off the phone and quickly drew up a diagram of his “hands free” Ipod invention. He emphasized the “hands free” part with a picture of a driver with both hands on the wheel listing to U2 on a rock’n Ipod. He ran into the office and showed the diagram to Alice.

“Why didn’t you say it would free me up from all the wires and cords?”, Alice replied excitedly. “Any woman who can be freed up to multitask in the car would surely buy one of these. You had better order twenty thousand of them. Here is the check.”

Arnold couldn’t believe his ears. A little mentoring from Steve on the great aspects of his project had changed things completely.

Someone had finally had a little faith in his ideas.

That made all the difference..