(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “There’s no point in being the best, if you’re also the best kept secret.  First, do the work to become the clear ‘wise choice’ for your target customers.  Then, communicate your compelling value story in everything you do.”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   What are you doing to surprise, delight and ‘thank’ your customers? 
   While out for a stroll last week, we passed a fish market, newly opened in our neighborhood.  As we stood at the counter admiring their selection, the fishmonger asked if this was our first visit.  Indeed it was and he explained that they give a free freshly shucked oyster to each new customer as a ‘welcome’. “Which of the seven varieties that we regularly offer would you like to try?” he enquired.
    
   We selected a nice salty Blue Point and a Lucky Lime…and they were delicious.  We bought a large piece of citrus smoked salmon, and we’ll be back.
    
   But the real point here is that we’re all in the hospitality business. What could you do to welcome, surprise, delight and ‘thank’ your customers, new and old?   What simple act of kindness and hospitality would help you to be remembered, loved and preferred?  What would make you extraordinary?”
    
   Give it a try…you’ll be amazed at the results.
    
3. The financial impact of ‘Hollywood North’. Film and TV production contributed $13.7 billion to the Canadian economy in the 12 months from April 2021 and March 2022…and supported 240,760 jobs.
    
4. Last chance to get my extraordinary Biz Tools at the current price. Many of my Biz Coaching clients and Blog followers have told me that I’m simply not charging enough for my complete set of ‘Business Assessment & Management Implementation Tools’ ($40) and our transformational ‘Vision Critical Guide’ ($24), given the huge insight and value they deliver.

   So, as of October 1^st, they’re going up to $60 for the ‘Biz Tools’ and $40 for the ‘Vision Critical Guide.’  This is your last opportunity to purchase them at the current price.  They come to you electronically as a downloadable PDF.  To purchase either or both, click here.

   Note:   As a business owner or manager, your first job is ‘clarity’.  For a ‘free Sample’ of one of the Biz Tools, #A-4, ‘Your 1^st Job Is Clarity…how to calculate a Clarity Score for your business’,  click here.

5. Shameless Promotion:
    
   If you or your Industry Association have a Conference coming up in the next 12 months, perhaps we should talk. As a thought-leader on management, marketing, staff engagement and profitability, I deliver bottom-line business insight in a way that informs, energizes, engages and inspires.
    
   To quote one recent attendee, “Best, most real, insightful and entertaining management session I’ve attended in 30 years.  Bring this Cooper guy back!”
    
   Our most requested topics are:

1. 1. 1. 1. “Accelerate Your Business…the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life.”
         2. “Winning the Talent Wars…8 essential steps to attracting, leading & engaging a top-performing team.”
         3. “Implement Or Die…how to improve clarity, commitment, urgency, accountability and profitability in your business.”
         4. “Vision Critical…how to manage, innovate and thrive in a very different tomorrow!”
         5. “Succession Planning & Exit Strategies…preparing your business and yourself for the most important financial transaction of your life!”

1. Now, to this week’s important topic:

   Forget ‘goals, targets, aims & objectives’.  Let’s talk about ‘commitments’:

   Most businesses make the mistake of talking about ‘goals, targets, aims and objectives’.  They have sales ‘targets’, customer satisfaction ‘goals’, profit ‘objectives’ and they ‘aim’ to be a good employer, etc.  

   ‘Goals, targets, aims and objectives’ are weak and wishy-washy words that leave way too much wiggle room to not perform.  I believe they should all be replaced with one powerful word…’commitments’.  Nobody cares what you aim to do, or strive to do.  They want to know what you commit to do.  We need to stop ‘aiming’ and start committing. 

   There’s a huge difference between a goal or a target and a commitment.  A ‘goal’ is something we score sometimes and don’t score other times…and that’s life.  At least we tried.   A ‘target’ is something we hit sometimes and miss other times…and it’s OK.  It’s just a target.  But a ‘commitment’ is something fundamentally different.  It feels different, because it is different.

   Some folks argue that we’re just playing with words here…but it’s much more than that.  You see, when we change our language, we change our business culture. You can’t have an engaged, committed and effective team without clear commitments.  But, also remember that it’s not a commitment until they agree to it.  Arbitrarily imposed commitments don’t work.  They create resentment.

   Get everyone on your team involved in creating these clear commitments and get them excited about delivering them.  Start with your website.   I spend a lot of time studying clients’ websites.  Mostly what I find is, “We aim to do this’ and, ‘We aim to do that.’   Everyone’s ‘aiming’ to do something…and no one is ‘committing’ to do anything.  The other one that I see a lot is, “Here at XYZ company, our ‘goal’ is to do this or that.”  One of our clients proudly stated on their website, “We strive to be ethical.”   What the heck is that?  ‘Ethical’ is like pregnant…you is, or you ain’t.

   Once you’ve created clear commitments in every part of your business, create urgency and accountability about delivering them.  Anyone who can’t or won’t get with the program needs to be working someplace else.   Invite them to ‘move on’.     

   So, please, never again talk about goals, targets, aims and objectives in your business.  From now on, in every memo, every meeting, every email and every conversation, talk about your clear commitments to customers, to your team, to efficiency and profitability, to safety, to the environment and to your community.   You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make.  We become what we speak! 

    

    

    

   That’s it for this week…

   Live brilliantly!       

   Donald Cooper 

   Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.