I get the unrestricted freedom to test ideas on a daily basis. Some of what I do is an art form and some of it is just hard work, all learned through trial and error, experimentation and experience. I have diligently studied and learned how people buy, what people actually click on, how deep the interactions are, if readers share it, and if people use and apply the information. I have invested thousands of hours learning, applying, failing, reinventing, pursuing excellence and finding that “one” thing that matters.Nine to five is for people who hate their job. If you love what you do, you get excited about the goal and you invest your time passionately for hours on end to attain your goal. If you’re not excited, you pass it off to not having enough time. If that is you, stop wasting your life and move on to doing something you’re passionate about.
Have you ever heard a great motivational speaker, whose words stuck with you because of your first impression? I remember Todd Duncan sharing his experience of hearing motivational speaker, Tom Hopkins at a seminar. This is what Todd Duncan said about Tom’s presentation:
“There was something very abnormal, in a surprising way. Early in the seminar, I noticed that Tom had not gone to the podium to look at his notes for almost 30 minutes, yet he walked us through the workbook without missing a single word. It made an impression on me, so I continued to make this observation as the day went on. A few times I found myself wondering if he had sneaked a peak at his notes while I was writing something down. Surely, I thought, he had to look at some point. Near the end of the seminar, as Tom was discussing the importance of scripting and mastering sales presentions, he noted, ‘If you observed me closely today, you noticed that I did not look at my teaching notes once. That’s because I have spent over one hundred hours making sure I know my stuff so I can effectively and convincingly present the information to you.”
Hearing that story made a lasting impression on me. Especially when you consider that Tom’s presentation covered six hours and included a 35 page workbook! When I consider my own presentation and the 100’s of hours I have spent perfecting my presentation, I always think of this story.
What have you invested in your first impression? How many hours have you spent practicing and perfecting your buying and selling processes? Do you have a memorable web presence? For most people, their first impression of you generally begins without you. People are googling everything, including you and your company. What do they find?
If you want to be noticed, you must be relevant and remarkable and present a great first impression.
I just bought a new phone. I used it yesterday to locate a Starbucks as I was driving along Interstate 35 just outside Dallas. In seconds, there it was: photo, map, phone number, exact location and how to get there, LIVE!
I wanted a Vet for a very sick pet at home. I went to Google, searched “mobile vet” and then quickly scanned five veterinarians that appeared on my search. I chose one whose website made me feel warmth and where there was a nice attractive photo of the vet herself. Also included were several testimonials recommending the veterinarian and a button to make it easy to do business. I was well pleased, she was as projected on her site.
I ordered a book the other day, Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki. I opened my Kindle, clicked on “Shop in Kindle Store”, clicked on “Books,” and searched “Kawasaki.” Wham-o, there it was. I clicked “purchase book” and in 15 seconds I had my book.
I connected this week with an old roommate in college, Tim Murphrey who is a very successful business executive in California. He sent me a Facebook invite, I accepted. The last two days we have exchanged memories that go way back to 1984!
I had a few “live chats” today on my computer. I chatted with my business partner who was in South Texas, that led to a chat with a few team members in Austin, and I chatted with a few customers in New York, Dallas, and Virginia. The chats were live, recorded, and each lasted a few minutes, but all were of utmost value to a productive day.
Life today is fast and it is live. I am a consumer just like you. I am annoyed if I have to work hard to find what I want and whom I want. I don’t want to work hard to do business. I want to be entertained and I want to be wowed. I want to find solutions to my problem without having to click on several tabs in a nav bar on a website. I want to do business without having to talk if I prefer not to. I want to do business at 3:00 AM if I want to. I want my order now, not in a few hours.
Sobering isn’t it? Life is live — and so is business! Innovate, automate, move fast, and get out of the way.
I want to buy from you if you make it easy and fun. If you don’t think through less steps and more pleasure for me as a buyer, your competitor who does will win me. There are plenty of competitors. There are few who truly compete in good design and delivery. If you do the heavy lifting and make it easy for me to do business with you, then I may not quit during the process. I want easy and fast when all other factors are relatively equal.
Here are a list of things I want when I buy:
- Less buttons
- Less clicks
- Make it visual; don’t make me read
- Don’t make me have to learn; motivate me instead
- Easy steps
- Predictable steps
- One next step; not three vague options
- A remarkable reason to pick you
- Think about me, not you; I don’t care about how great you are. I want my life to get better.
- Pleasure
- Automation
- Communications – personal and timely
Do you have this in your business? If not, count the days to extinction. You become increasingly irrelevant. It may be because you have a blind spot. You can only think about how to get what you want and fake caring about what I want.
It may be because you do not have talent or imagination. The answer is easy. Get out of the way and hire talent and imagination. Boring and being right will not win today.
Build a business that would make me say it is art. The art is in how you do business and court me as your customer. Don’t make me work and don’t make me do the work you are supposed to have thought through in your rush to get my money. Earn my money through well thought-through design, automation, imagination and a great experience. Then you have my attention. Then we might become friends and do business.
Phil is sitting in my office with complete determination that he is going to do whatever it takes to grow his business. We have the typical conversation. He believes he brings a lot of value to his customers. I agree with him. People need the service he has to offer. I ask him a simple question, “So how much would you like to make in a year?”
He pauses, looks down, then answers, “I would be happy with $200,000.”
“Great. Now how much would you spend to make $200,000?” I ask.
He answers, “I don’t know. Maybe $5,000” Read more
There was a class of MBA students that was once asked by their professor, “What is risk?” The answers that came back were conventional:
“To start a business,” and “To become an entrepreneur,” and “To invest in the stock market.”
The professor let the class name several and then he named it, “To have only one source of income. This is what you have when you are an employee. When you own a business, you have multiple streams of income by the number of customers you have. If you lose one, it does not proportionately affect your income as being an employee.”
I was reminded by a professional friend how the concept of employment is a modern day novelty. 100 years ago and beyond, people built their lives by their abilities and bootstraps. The farmer built his lot. He planned, worked hard and ran his business. He went through discouragement, faith and wins based on his output.
Today, it is hard to measure your result as it gets diluted in the context of corporate life. However, you do have immense value. Realizing this is only a few steps away. The biggest one is context. You do not know what conversations you will be in this week or even today. Todd Skinner states in his book, Beyond the Summit, “Opportunity is often a matter of both preparation and chance.” Or as the famed scientist Louis Pasteur states, “In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.”
The question is, are you prepared? Are you prepared to have that conversation that explores your value beyond an employee? Do you have a context to talk within? A business set up? A structure? A business card? Context drives conversations that may be missing you every day.
In the new economy, your employer is your customer. Are you acting with an owner mindset?
Do you remember Jerry McGuire? It was a cold hard look at how athletes were depicted as commodities.
Now think about yourself. You don’t necessarily have a fast-talking agent out there selling you like a commodity. You are most likely in possession of some talents which have been exchanged for a market value – your salary, benefits, stock options or other forms of compensation. What if you thought more like the free agent athlete? The football player who knows his contract is finite and conditions can change?
Perhaps you do need some agency to supplement your lack of salesmanship. Think of your employer as one of your customers and develop more along the way. You may want to start by simply reading Bill Jensen’s Work 2.0 which captures the spirit and essence of aligning as a knowledge worker in this rapid economy.
Break the illusion and step into reality. Stephen Covey said, “Security is not a job to me. Security is in my ability to produce.”
Get truly secure in your mind.
