January 2, 2012

3 Ways To Be An Un-Perfectionist

The Herd’s Brain Has 5 Parts
Are You Flawed?
3 Colossal Time Wasters

Everyone seeks perfection. The perfect body. Smile. Manuscript. Product. Business Strategy. Problem is, “P” doesn’t exist. It’s like pursuing The Holy Grail. For some reason we drive on to squeeze the last 10% of what we think is perfection out of whatever we are doing.

The consequences of chasing the illusive “P” are significant. We burn time. And the ROI on extra time spent is ZERO. But the real negative is that it keeps you from doing stuff.
Bre Pettis says it well: “Perfection is boring. And it keeps you from being done.” Seth Godin talks about the importance of Shipping stuff. And that if you waited until is “complete”, you would never deliver anything.

Try these 3 things to avoid the Perfection Trap:
1. Force yourself to get stuff “just about right”. And then do it. The reality is, that anything more is a waste of time given the unpredictability of the world today. It is impossible for you to accurately account for the unknown so why bother? Get a 70% solution and “Ship It”.

2. Give yourself a deadline to finish your work. When your time runs out You’re Done. Get it out the door. Get used to doing what you can in the time you have given yourself.
3. Track the results of your Imperfection with your customers. Get feedback. Determine if they are ok with what you’ve done or not. Satisfy yourself that you CAN produce good work in less time.

In business there is no such thing as The “Right Answer”. It’s what people are prepared to accept. Solutions to 6 decimal places have no role here.

Round up or down and get on with it. Ponder no longer.

Cheers,
Roy
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Posted 1.2.12 at 05:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 29, 2011

The Herd’s Brain Has 5 Parts

Are You Flawed?
3 Colossal Time Wasters
7 Things Putterers Do to be Great Leaders

Five things The Herd believes in and does that you need to avoid if you want to be Unique, Distinctive and Remarkable in today’s fast paced competitive world.

1. Copy. The Herd is into Benchmarking. Trying to match Best of Breed. You can’t BE DiFFERENT if you fit in. You must stand-out.

2. Feature Creep. The Herd adds product features, believing this will give them an advantage. Doubt it. Easy to copy and not sustainable.

3. Price. The Herd specializes in discount promotions. Advertising low prices. Price is the LAST place you want to go and compete. Expect margins to BE squeezed and customers to go elsewhere when your prices are no longer the lowest. A “race-to-the-bottom” strategy is doomed.

4. Mass Advertising. The Herd believes that if you push your message out to millions of people you will capture buyers. Whereas this approach will definitely result in sales, it won’t create a loyal stable of advocates for you and what you stand for. Want to earn loyalty? Focus on long term relationship-building. One-on-one conversations. Engage. Target your communication and make it personal. Listen. Don’t flog.

5. Products. The Herd pushes products and services. They see themselves in the supply game. They have something they think is good for you and they flog it. They stress features and a narrow set of benefits. Product-centric marketing is passé. Its myopic. Get into the VALUE CREATION mode if you want to leave your customers breathless. Think about their wants and desires and create a Package of VALUE to satisfy them. Treat them holistically. Look for opportunities to make their lives easier. Happier. More enjoyable.

Use the Herd to plot your journey to BE DiFFERENT. Understand how they think. Make Stand-Out choices.

Cheers,
Roy


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Posted 12.29.11 at 05:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 26, 2011

Are You Flawed?

3 Colossal Time Wasters
7 Things Putterers Do to be Great Leaders
Business Sales: 4 Clues to Intimacy

NO!
You are Unique.
DiFFERENT.
Special.
Distinctive.
Remarkable.
Visible.
Uncommon… In some way.
Flawed in someone else’s context or Frame of Reference perhaps. 
But INCREDIBLE in others.
Your challenge is to find a Frame that allows you to express yourself.
To realize your potential.
To contribute.
To be Happy.
To realize your dreams.
What’s a Frame? A social network. A skill. A competency. A hobby. A business. A belief. A physical challenge. A community. A profession. A neighborhood. A family.
Channel your emotions and energy away from defending YOU in the wrong Frame.
Away from feeling bad that you’re not fitting in.

Rather, push YOU to discover your Frame.
Where you can stand-out.
Where you can make a difference.

Cheers,
Roy


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Posted 12.26.11 at 05:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 22, 2011

3 Colossal Time Wasters

7 Things Putterers Do to be Great Leaders
Business Sales: 4 Clues to Intimacy
If I’m Cross, Everyone’s Cross

Here are a few things that are counter productive in building value in an organization.

1. New Customer Acquisition programs - giving huge incentives to potential new customers to leave their current supplier and move over to you. First, if she moves over to you for your Offer, what makes you think she won’t abandon you for a better Offer? Second, do you really think that your existing customers won’t find out you are dangling an attractive carrot to others and not them? Give your loyal Fans your best deal. Period. Investing in potential loyalty is a waste. Invest in the people who are paying your bills!

2. Mass Marketing Programs - mass markets imply that everyone in the market is “similar”. Products and services are designed for the “average” customer. “Common” messages are created for the market and blasted out hoping they will stick. What a waste. Treat your customers as individuals with special wants and desires. Talk to them on their terms. Listen to what EACH of them wants and respond in a thoughtful and caring way. Use each of them as the tool to spread your word. Mass Markets don’t exist.

3. Outsourcing Call Centers - treating a Call Center as a “cost to be controlled” and shopping the function around to the lowest cost supplier. Applying Force Management to each customer call. Focusing on minimizing the length of every call. “Get ‘em on; Get ‘em off”. What a waste of such a precious asset. Your people talking to your customers is THE most critical activity going on for you. Loyalty-building chance that should not be squandered away. Build your business by creating value through turned on employees. Encourage your Fans to call you. Relish the conversation. Deliver Happiness.

Cheers,
Roy


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Posted 12.22.11 at 05:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)