Are You In A Dip?

When I was young, I rarely read anything. Even all the way through school when I had book reports to do, I never read the entire book. I had no motivation, no mentor sharing with me the importance of reading, and basically always found other things to do. But as I've grown, matured, gained in wisdom, I've found that reading is one of the most important things you can do to grow as a person.

The most recent book I've completed is Seth Godin's "The Dip". It's a small book, at only 80 pages long, so it was a really quick read. Seth explains the three different paths to all decisions: The Dip, The "Cul-de-sac" and the Cliff.

While I was reading the book, I keep thinking to myself, this is all "duh" material (stuff we should all already know), but then I found myself highlighting more & more statements that stood out for me.

The book is about how it's alright to quit something when you realize that the end result isn't going to be the right outcome for you, your family, your career. Seth shares that it's alright to quit, and that the old saying "Winners never quit" is the wrong way to think.

The AHA! moment for me in the book was when Seth told about how you should determine, up front, all the things that would cause you to quit something---before you ever start---and then hold to these items and not let other issues hinder your path (i.e., because it's hard, because you're tired, etc.).

In the end, it's a book I wish someone would have encouraged me to read soon after graduating from high school.

So, what books have encouraged and motivated you? Who inspires you when you read their material?

[You can find the book here and Seth's website here.]

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://www.joeypeacock.com/

“It’s a Monday!”

How often have your heard that stated…but in a negative manner…and worse yet, by your employees/team?

As a business owner and leader, one of your on-going challenges is to create an environment that motivates and stimulates your team(s). Environments that are exciting to be in and positive motivation that stirs your team to greatness, not for you but for your customers, will do wonders for your bottom line.

Dan Miller, author of “No More Mondays” and “48 Days to the Work You Love”, offers a website to help you inspire your team (http://www.48days.com/) as well as a free weekly newsletter you can consider subscribing too.

When your team sees Sunday afternoons at 5:00 the same way they see Friday afternoon at 5:00, then you’ll know you’ve won their hearts.

If you're not a business owner/leader: Do you find yourself miserable to go to your work on Monday mornings? Then why aren't you looking for another career? Why do you work at something you're unhappy about? Are you making others around you unhappy as well?

Even if you can't find something immediately, start looking. Work on your resume and start searching for somewhere to work that you have a passion for...even if it takes a while to find that "perfect" career path, at least your attitude will be better because you now have hope.

It's said that when you do something you love, then you never have to go to work---and I agree!

Start the journey, consider your passion and find a career that motivates & inspires you.

Make every Monday morning the best part of your week!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://www.joeypeacock.com/

Customer Service

I’m sure like me, you are always thinking about the service you receive when you’re doing business with someone. Whether it is a gas/service station, a hotel, a restaurant, at the movie theater, with your insurance agent, your local utility…anyone and any business.

One of the things I’m constantly preaching to the team I lead revolves around creating a loyal customer (we call them “Raving Fans!”). Not a satisfied customer, but rather customer loyalty.

In a previous blog (see below), I discussed the importance of creating BRAND INSISTENCE with your customer base. To do so means (among other things) consistently delivering world-class service to your customers. Delivering value, giving the customer “face” and then serving them to death.

You would think that this would be especially important in today’s declining economy. Losing just one customer creates adverse long-term revenue issues for any company. The competition in every industry is incredible and delivering world-class customer service would seem to be at the top of everyone’s priority list. But from my recent experience, unfortunately I’m not seeing it.

For example: I’m trying to purchase a high-end item. The item I’m trying to purchase is a lot of money to me, but maybe it’s not that important to the businesses I’m trying to purchase it from. I know for a fact that this item has a high margin so I can’t understand why I’m getting the poor service I am. I consider myself a smart, knowledgeable shopper---I’ve done my research and I know exactly what I want. I contacted (either in person or via e-mail) the stores I shopped with and provided the list I wanted, you would think it would have been an easy sell for them. They provide me the product, I provide them money and all are happy. I get what I wanted and they get what they’re after…a win-win for everyone. All I’m asking for in addition to the product is a friendly, knowledgeable salesperson who seems to be concerned with not only this purchase, but to create a relationship that will bring me back from this point forward for all my future needs. But I haven’t found that to be the case.

In shopping at three different stores for this item, two of them acted as if they were not only doing me a favor by helping me, but seemed put out that they had to work with me…AND I HAD DONE ALL THE LEG WORK IN ADVANCE!!! They just had to take the order and deliver the goods to me. Basically a “demand order” which is the easiest sell for any business.

I finally found one store that had a knowledgeable salesman, who didn’t make me feel bad about asking him for help. But even with this one I was provided inaccurate information, I have had to call them back multiple times to get information promised to me, and after re-asking for confirmation of what I was ordering was told, “hang on…let me grab a pen and paper to write this all down on because my memory isn’t that good.” WHAT!?!?!?! He didn’t know that until after I had stated my order, and now asked me to restate it all again!!?? Come on!

And this is just one small example of multiple instances I’ve recently experienced. And all with the same seemingly lack of concern, lack of action, and lack of service.

Poor customer service is really a pet-peeve of mine. I don’t understand how any business owner allows their employees to provide anything less than world-class service to everyone who walks through their doors, makes a phone call to their business, or communicates with them via e-mail.

If the employer knows this and doesn’t do anything to resolve it, that’s a real problem. If the employer doesn’t know about it, that’s an even bigger problem!

Secret Shoppers are one key to finding out how your business is doing serving it’s customers. Another method is someone simply asking customers the ultimate question, “Would you recommend me to your family, friends and colleagues?” The answer would probably be a real eye opener.

Another thing that always amazes me is when businesses internally sit around asking each other what their customers think about them. The Marketing Team is asking the Operations Team who is asking the Sales Team who is asking the Installation Team. Why isn’t anyone asking the people that know the answer: The Customer!

The customer, yes that person with all the power (the money), is the most important asset of any business. You would think that every business would understand that and put its maximum effort in training in how to serve that priority with the ultimate care.

Not only is it important to deliver world-class service in today’s economic turmoil, it’s important to create a culture of it within your business regardless of the economy. Those that do will have a stronger future. Those that don’t should know the writing is already on the wall.

Regardless of your business/industry, focus on the world-class service to your customers. Make the customer feel valued. Create a relationship that not only makes the customer want to do business with you again, but makes them want to tell everyone they know about how you served them. Isn’t that the way everyone wants to be treated anyway? Even business owners are someone else’s customer.

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://www.joeypeacock.com/

Website is up!

http://www.joeypeacock.com/ is officially (finally) up & running?

Thanks for your support!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

Loyalty

More specifically, customer loyalty. Another one of the recurring topics that we will touch on in these messages is about the world-class service we should all be providing our customers. And as we’ve discussed, it’s not about a satisfied customer…but a loyal customer.

One of my favorite motivational speakers and authors, Jeffrey Gitomer, wrote a great book with a great title called, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless”. You need this on your “to read” list if you don’t already own it (available here).

How does a company or a salesperson know when they’ve created customer loyalty? One way is when a person elects to tattoo your logo on their body, I would say that’s the ultimate customer loyalty statement.

“But Joey, I can’t get the billing department to get the customer’s billing right.” “But Joey, the service techs didn’t install the system like the customer asked them too.” STOP POINTING FINGERS about why you can’t provide world-class service! You do everything you can and provide world-class service to the customer. How?

q Treat every customer like a celebrity.

If George Clooney called and needed service you’d go crazy in serving him and falling all over him to make sure he was happy. Act like every person you talk to is George Clooney.

q Give your customers face and serve them to death.

When was the last time your Top 100 customers saw you? How about your Top 10? Is every visit an attempt to sell them something and they only perceive you as a salesman? Do you provide them marketing ideas, growth suggestions that you’ve seen in other companies or provide them other business partners who can mutually benefit from doing business together in order for everyone to succeed?

q Professionally oversee all projects.

Have all necessary pre-call calls; clearly deliver all –detailed– documents concerning your project to all necessary parties; confirm all deadlines to all parties in writing; follow-up, follow-up, follow-up!

q “Call out the Cavalry!”

I can assure you that when your customer has problems, the last thing they want is excuses, technical mumbo-jumbo or anything else that doesn’t resolve their problem. The only words they want to hear from you are:

àEmpathy (“Oh, that’s horrible!”)
àTell them “That’s my favorite problem!” You’ll amaze them when you say this.
àTell them the cavalry is in route to resolve their problem, and then make it happen.

Once the problem is corrected: follow-up with the customer, resell them on your company, and then resell them on YOU.

q Send business to your customers.
Become a professional netweaver. Help your client’s grow their business by partnering them with mutually supporting businesses so that everyone grows! When you start helping your customer’s grow, they’ll happily return the favor.

Be 100% focused on creating customer loyalty (Raving Fans!) in everything you do when interacting with your customers.

“Your company's most valuable asset is how it is known to its customers.”
~Brian Tracy

Have a great week and until next time, remember:

“Your Success Is My Business."™

Brand Identity, or not?

Brand Identity, or not?

We all recognize the businesses above. They’ve worked for many years to create their brand identity. When you look at their logo, you know exactly who the business is and most likely what they do.

Do you realize that you have brand identity as an individual as well?

That’s right. Customers look at you and they identity you with a certain level of service, a certain level of support, with a certain company and certain products.

But, thinking with a world-class mind and thinking as the CEO, let’s take this to the ultimate level!

Brand identity simply means that people know you exist and a little (maybe) about your company. You know the companies in the list above, just like many of your customers know that you exist. I’m not oversimplifying this to the point that it’s not important, as it is. But this is just the first step.

The next step in this then is brand preference. Just like you shop at many of the companies in the list above, many of your customerss shop with you for their purchases. They allow you to bid on their Request for Proposal (RFP), they call you in when they’re asking for quotes on a new products and they contact you to compete for their business when their company is looking into new solutions. But this isn’t enough!

What you need to focus on and develop is the world-class category of being BRAND INSISTENCE.

You want to provide your clients such world-class service & support, such great products, such a deep & powerful relationship with them and complete understanding of their business so that they simple insist on doing business with you and no one else. Even if they have to wait!

Brand insistence is the ultimate relationship you can develop in partnership with your customers. As the CEO of your business and with a world-class mindset, you can achieve this. How? Give them faces, completely understand their business and serve them to death.

Have a great week and until next time, remember:

“Your Success Is My Business."™

What’s In Your Briefcase?

Everyday when we come to work we bring "stuff" with us. These things can influence---either positively or negatively---how we work, how we interact with other employees & peers, and how we treat & serve our customers.

So, what’s in your briefcase?

• Your Photo ID (with a smiling face)
  A positive attitude! To move forward, you have to stop looking backwards. Football teams only score by someone falling forward with the ball three yards at a time. We all know that we’ve had some obstacles that we’ve had to overcome in the past, but if we continue an atmosphere of rehashing the past, we’ll never positively move into the future. Remember: "Attitude, not aptitude, equals altitude."
  
• Team Jersey
  Do you consistently promote the team? Do you wear your jersey at all times? Are you distracted by something? You can’t play for the Celtics and for the Lakers at the same time. Where your heart is, is where your mind will be too. And what you demonstrate to your customers (and team mates) through company pride & enthusiasm will be make a huge statement about yourself.
  
• Glasses
  Vision. Can you clearly see and share the vision with others? Albert Schweitzer said in his waning years, "My eyesight grows dim, but my vision is clearer than ever." How clear are you on the vision? But not only is vision important, but so is perspective. Great leaders & salespeople not only see things from their own perspective, but also from the perspective of their client’s and support teams.
  
• A Magnifying Glass
  Do you have clear focus? Do you understand your gifts and are you working in those gifts? Anytime you work outside of what you’re gifted with, you’ll always find yourself struggling. Focus on your gifts and work in those; discover others who are gifted in the areas you are not and partner with them on projects & objectives.
  
• A Mirror
  Integrity. Always, without fail, guard and protect your integrity. Don’t carry it on the tip of your finger, allowing it to occasionally fall off so you can slip out of your integrity for even a moment. If necessary, put it in a backpack and strap it around yourself! Do whatever it takes to consistently display the highest morals/ethics and great integrity no matter where you go or what you do. The three self-tests for integrity are: You have nothing to prove, nothing to hide and nothing to lose.
  
• A Good Book
  Personal Leadership Growth. What are you doing to grow your leadership, sales & people skills? You should constantly be growing these skills including taking personal time to do so. As the "CEO of yourself", you lead in your career, in your home, in your church & in your community organizations, you should always be stretching yourself to be a better leader.
  
• Your Watch
  How are you doing with your self management? Are you busy or are you effective? You may be at work for 10 hours or more a day, but are you generating the same amount of productive hours? Do you schedule meetings one after the other and are never getting anywhere on time? Always leave a cushion between meetings so you don’t leave others being unproductive when you’re not where you’re suppose to be due to a delay. And, how are you doing with your "enjoyment" time---your personal leisure time. You have to schedule in time to relax, refresh, re-energize yourself not only for yourself, but also for your family; in the end, it even helps your work better.
  
• Your Phone
  How are your communications skills? Do you actively communicate with your support teams about jobs, objectives, customer issues and projects? Are you properly working with your teams prior to quote presentation? Are you presenting to your clients/prospects professionally?
  
• A Gift Card
  How generous are you? When it comes to giving, stop at nothing! We all go through life with either a ‘scarcity mentality’ or an ‘abundance mentality’. The ‘scarcity mentality’ tells us that we’re never getting what we deserve; that we have to take all the recognition for ourselves because it’s ours; we are jealous of our peers; and that we should never share information. The ‘abundance mentality’ tells us that there’s plenty for everyone; that we celebrate when someone has a win; that we give all the credit for a job well done to the support team; that we share what we know so that others can benefit and possibly bring the team to a higher level. Do you have an attitude of gratitude and send THANK YOU letters to your customers? Zig Ziglar says that the way for a person to become successful is by making other people successful! Remember the saying, "Give without remembering, but accept without forgetting."
  
• A Dictionary
  Do you have your processes right? Do you cooperate or manipulate? Do you communicate or delegate? Are you an encourager or discourager? Do you look for potential or problems? Are you concerned with influence or affluence? Do you evaluate and/or consider giving of yourself to someone based on their self-worth or their net-worth? Do your words contain: team, we, our, us, solutions, etc.; or do they contain: mine, me, I, they, problems, etc.?
  
• A Light
  Are you full of enthusiasm? Who wants to work with a 25-watt bulb? Wouldn’t you rather be around someone who is pumped and enthused about what they’re doing? Always be the most enthusiastic person in the group. Be a 100-watt bulb and turn the light on others!
  
• Your Will
  What impact & legacy are you leaving? When you move on, either by position change/promotion, relocation, retirement, etc., what will be left for others to follow? Will it be a path blazed with excellence and progression, or something else less desirable?
  
  
  So, what do you bring to work with you in your briefcase? Be careful what you pack.

2008 3rd Presidential Debate

For those of you who were unable to watch (or record) the 3rd Presidential Debate last night, you can view it here:

I can't think of an election that's ever been as important than this one.

Please encourage others to go out an vote this November 4th.

And if you're interested in who "Joe the plumber" was, then...

Sales People - Take Action!

Take Action!

I know each of you constantly think about how to work better, how to create more success and generate more wealth (for your customers and for yourself). Well, what it all boils down to---it’s all about attitude and how you think.

John Maxwell says, "We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it's a continuing choice."

So, here’s an important MILLION DOLLAR attitude question that I want you to answer: Are you a salesperson in business, or are you a business owner making sales?

When you think of your role as if you’re the business owner---act like you’re the CEO of your own company---then things will take on an entirely new perspective for you.

So then, let’s work on the mind-set change.

From this point forward, you should walk, talk, act and sell with a World-Class mindset as the CEO of your business.

Now that we’ve established our mindset, let’s work on our World Class thinking.

Why world-class thinking? Because you have to understand there’s a difference between you and your competition. What is it that seperates you from every other person offering the same products? The biggest difference from the client’s point-of-view is the difference they perceive in YOU! The difference then is, the competition is average and ordinary while you’re a world-class thinker! Here are (some of) the differences in average business thinkers and world-class CEO thinkers:

• Average thinkers don’t buy stuff for themselves to help them succeed if they can’t expense it out.
  World-class thinkers equip themselves for success, even if it comes out of their own pockets.
• Average thinkers wait for training until their company provides it.
  World-class thinkers have a personal growth program that is in conjunction with, and regardless of, their company’s efforts.
• Average thinkers are more concerned with activity.
  World-class thinkers are more concerned with results.
• Average thinkers provide customer service.
  World-class thinkers produce customer loyalty.
• Average thinkers are more concerned over the client’s cash.
  World-class thinkers are concerned about the client’s confidence in them.
• Average thinkers know everything about themselves.
  World-class thinkers know everything about their clients.
• Average thinkers avoid risk.
  World-class thinkers manage risk.
• Average thinkers love to be comfortable.
  World-class thinkers are comfortable being uncomfortable.
• Average thinkers hunger for security.
  World-class thinkers don’t believe security exits.
• Average thinkers sacrifice growth for safety.
  World-class thinkers sacrifice safety for growth.
• Average thinkers look for short-cuts.
  World-class thinkers know there are no short-cuts.
• Average thinkers handle work as it’s given to them.
  World-class thinkers work at growing their business.
• Average thinkers work on time management.
  World-class thinkers work on self-management.
• Average thinkers are reactive.
  World-class thinkers are proactive.
• Average thinkers work on getting the next sell from the customer.
  World-class thinkers work on getting all future sells from the customer.
• Average thinkers work on trying to sell the customer.
  World-class thinkers work on trying to serve the customer.
• Average thinkers work to increase the size of the transaction.
  World-class thinkers work to increase the amount of satisfaction.
• Average thinkers work to satisfy the customer.
  World-class thinkers work to amaze the customer.
• Average thinkers give criticism.
  World-class thinkers provide coaching.
• Average thinkers have reason.
  World-class thinkers have faith.
  
  Until next time, best wishes and remember that...

“Your Success Is My Business."

Hello...

Hello,

Thanks for stopping by, either by stumbling across this or (even better) because you heard and were interested. I hope you find value in what you read here...either because it makes you ponder on something, because it causes you to take action about something, or because you share similar beliefs.

I plan on sharing the following:

• Motiviational & Leadership messages
• News/Information that I feel affects our world

I hope you share your thoughts with me as we begin this journey.

THANKS so much!

Joey