(Time to read this important Blog article is about 60 seconds)
Much of what we believe about our customers, our staff, our future and our bottom line is simply not true. Some of it never was true…and some of it was, but isn’t anymore. As business owners and managers, we’re making important decisions based on myths, lies, and false assumptions…and it’s killing us.
How do we come to believe all these dysfunctional myths and lies? They’re in our culture. We repeat them over and over until they become ‘real’. We pass them on to others as business advice. We even pay consultants to assure us that they’re true.
For example, most businesses believe that there’s ‘no such thing as customer loyalty anymore’, when the truth is that we’re all desperately searching for businesses to be loyal to in every part of our lives.
People are loyal to what’s best for them, or what they assume is best for them. So, are you the ‘wise choice’ for your target customers? Are you ‘best’ for them? If not, stop whining about there being no customer loyalty anymore and do the work to be the wise choice.
What compelling functional, emotional and financial value can you create and commit to consistently deliver that will ‘grab’ your target customers, clearly differentiate you from your competitors, make you famous and grow your bottom line? That’s what it takes to deserve loyalty. Mediocrity is no longer an option.
Another myth is that you can’t get great staff anymore. But the truth is that the best people have to work for somebody…it’s just that you have to deserve them. Do you deserve great staff? Do your working conditions, business culture and career opportunities attract, engage, excite and challenge top performers? Are you a talent magnet? If not, stop whining, take ownership of the problem and fix it. Take 2 pieces of paper and set aside 40 minutes.
- On the 1st piece of paper take 20 minutes to describe in detail the kind of business in your market, in your industry, that the best people would want to work for. How would it recruit, welcome, pay, train, coach, mentor, encourage, reward, ‘hug’, thank and celebrate each employee? What kind of management style and culture will attract, engage and retain top performers?
- On the 2nd piece of paper take another 20 minutes and document in detail what you have to get off your behind and do to become the kind of business that you just described on page #1.
That’s it, 40 minutes and 2 pieces of paper to take ownership of and start to solve one of your biggest problems. Get your Team involved in this process to help you. They know stuff and they hate it when you don’t ask.
There are many other myths and lies that are holding us back and hurting our bottom line…but these are two of the biggest.
Through Keynotes, intensive Workshops and Business Coaching I help business owners and managers around the world identify, address and solve these myths, and lies. To chat about how I can be helpful, just email me at donald@donaldcooper.com, or phone us at 416-252-3703 in Toronto.
