(Time to read this Blog is about 3.5 minutes)
Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:
- My Biz Quote of the week:
“Service is anything that makes some of your customer’s stress go away. Anything that gives them stress is unservice! Are you in the unservice business in any way?”
…Donald Cooper.
- Quick Biz Tip:
Want to move forward in some part of your biz…but don’t have the time?
One of my Biz Coaching clients has a small but very profitable export business. Export is just 5% of his total sales, but the potential is huge. The problem is he’s so busy he just doesn’t seem to get around to pursuing it.
I asked him if he had a bright young person on his Team who could take on this important initiative, with some coaching from him, and make a great success of the project? He replied with the magic words, “I’ve never thought of that.” In fact, he does have just such a bright individual who he’s afraid of losing because she seems to be getting bored with her current responsibility. So, this can be a big ‘win-win’.
What are the opportunities or projects in your business that you’re not getting around to that someone on your Team could do a ‘bang up’ job on if you gave them the opportunity…and some coaching?
- The beginning of the $24 billion sports drink industry. Nearly 60 years ago, a physician working for the Florida Gators college football team, created a drink to help prevent heatstroke in players. Mixing water, salt, sugar and a splash of lemon juice, Dr. Robert Cade dubbed the potion ‘Gatorade’ in honor of the team. His simple recipe formed the cornerstone of the entire sports drink industry that has grown to $24 billion.
- Past-due credit card debt is the highest in 12 years. The percent of credit card balances that are ‘past due’ in the US and Canada has reached the highest level in 12 years. The average interest rate on that past-due debt is 24%.
- Sushi obsession. According to Japanese food company, Sakuraco, Canada is the most sushi-obsessed country on Earth, followed by the US.
Now, to this week’s important topic:
Are you clear about what you believe in…and do you tell your target customers?
What do you believe in that matters to your target customers? And how do those beliefs affect your commitments and actions, every customer, every day? At a time when it’s more and more difficult to clearly differentiate yourself from your competitors, effectively communicating what you believe in is powerful.
Here’s an example. Goettl Airconditioning in Phoenix and Tucson, AZ has hundreds of competitors, so they state clearly what they believe in to ‘grab’ their target customers and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Here’s what they say…
At Goettl we believe in…
4 steps to making this happen in your business:
Step #1: Believe in and commit to what really matters to your target customers, at every touch-point in the relationship.
Step #2: Document those beliefs and make them an essential part of who you are (your Culture).
Step #3: Make sure that you always deliver on those beliefs (commitments). This will require hiring the right people; clear standards of performance, appearance and behaviour; ongoing training and communication; having the right systems and processes; performance follow-up and measurement; celebrating and rewarding success and dealing quickly with non-performance.
Step #4: Communicate those beliefs (commitments) on your website and in all your marketing and sales material, including your Project / Service Quotes to customers, if that’s part of your business process.
So, what will you do to make sure that you believe in and deliver what matters most to your target customers…and then to communicate that in everything you do?
That’s it for this week…
Stay safe…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.
