March 19, 2012

I know you KNOW, but do you FEEL?

There are lots of smart people out there these days. MBA’s. Doctors in this. Doctors in that. Our world is robust in well educated people. And that’s a good thing.

And businesses are always in the hunt for the cream of the crop when it comes to recruiting capable individuals. Aggressive competition for The Best of the Best. Which usually comes down to who has the better marks and which college or university did they graduate from.

I think this recruitment process is severely flawed. Focusing on academic outcomes is NOT the determining factor in whether someone will be successful or not in your organization. It is an important decision making element but it is not the be-all and end-all consideration.

Knowledge is a given as far as I am concerned. Table stakes. Expected. A characteristic of The People Herd. But it doesn’t necessarily make a person Special. Remarkable. Stand-out. Visible. DiFFERENT.

Its not what You KNOW, but how you FEEL that places you in these categories. Special people FEEL. They CARE. They exude TRUST. They have CURRENCY among their colleagues. They earn RESPECT.

Knowledge isn’t enough. Seek out FEELERS. Hire them.

Cheers,
Roy
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Posted 3.19.12 at 05:48 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 15, 2012

Dream Fierce

I have an issue with Dreams.

A Dream is aspirational. It is nebulous and lacks the precision necessary to execute the specific actions necessary to fulfill it.

It’s I’ll defined. It’s a cloud. A helium filled balloon. A wish. A kluge of possibilities.

Hardly something that will guide you to it’s realization without a ton of work. Translating what it requires you to do on Ground Zero. In the trenches where things get messy.

But if you must dream, DREAM FIERCE.

Dream in excruciating detail so you can SEE what you have to do to achieve it.

Dream with the precision necessary to see an implementation path.

Dream with the passion that you will need to stay your course through set-backs and disappointment.

Dream with the adrenalin rush that will make so tenacious in driving to results you will surprise yourself.

Dream with purpose.

Dream to execute.

Dream to Get it Done.

Dream to Stand-Out NOT Fit-In.

Cheers,
Roy
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Posted 3.15.12 at 05:31 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 12, 2012

Strategic Renewal: DAZZLE and INTIMATE SALES

BE DiFFERENT Practice #9 - Dazzle your customers

Just as it is essential to Customerize your marketing efforts, the need to enhance the customer experience is equally essential in cutting through the competitive clutter to attract and hold loyal customers.

First of all, change your orientation to reflect a concerted focus on serving customers. If you “service” customers, change your attitude to serving them. Accepting that customers are in the control position is healthy and naturally orients you to the ‘survival’ position.

On the other hand, continuing to service customers with policies that you have developed to serve the organization will hasten your demise. Each customer is an individual; no two are alike (if you don’t believe this, you haven’t looked closely enough).

It then follows that you need to vary the way you serve each one - serving them all in the same way and the level of customer satisfaction will vary; serving each one in a different special way and customer satisfaction will reach dazzling levels.

There are four BE DiFFERENT ways to create a dazzling customer experience:

1. Hire human being ‘lovers’ in frontline positions: people that don’t like humans can’t dazzle anyone!
2. Allow people to bend your internal rules on the customer’s behalf: enforcing internal rules will enrage customers
3. Kill ‘dumb rules’: get rid of policies that don’t make sense to customers
4. Create a service recovery culture: fix it and do the unexpected is the major source of customer loyalty

If you are dazzling customers they will have no reason to leave you for another offer. If you’re not, they will leave you in a heartbeat.

BE DiFFERENT Practice #10 - Sell Intimate Relationships, Don’t Flog Products

The one thing you don’t want to do when times are tough is decrease the amount of time you invest in preserving strong relationships with the customers you have decided to serve.

Flogging products make you like everyone else and eventually reduces to a price game where customers win (but will go elsewhere for even lower prices) but you don’t. Not Fair!

In combination with the other BE DiFFERENT practices we have discussed here, ensure you deepen the relationships with your customers: help solve their problems, create unique solutions for them, be available 24/7 to help, follow up constantly with them, show then that you honestly care about their issues and be a partner to them, not a supplier. Return on this investment is huge!

Oh, and will you generate revenue as a result? ABSOLUTELY!

How many times have you personally rewarded a company for their caring attitude, superb problem solving and high quality solution by buying something from them? I rest my case.

There you have it: Ten BE DiFFERENT practices that will definitely not only help you successfully meet challenging economic times, they will also put your organization on a growth trajectory for long term success.

Cheers,
Roy

More Blogs in the Strategic Renewal Series:
DAZZLE, INTIMATE SELLING
PLAN RUNNING, CUSTOMERIZE
ANAL,COST
BIG, WHO, WIN
FOCUS, PROCESS, CRAP

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Posted 3.12.12 at 05:15 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 8, 2012

Strategic Renewal: PLAN on the RUN and CUSTOMERIZE

A volatile economy and violent competition present an opportunity for organizations to renew themselves. This is the fifth instalment of the series that explains how to do it.

BE DiFFERENT Practice #7 - Plan on the Run

Once your execution efforts begin, it is important that you carefully monitor the results you are achieving. I recommend that you develop performance metrics and monitor them on a weekly basis. During tough economic times you can’t afford monthly results tracking; you need immediate feedback so that remedial action can be taken if results fall below expectations.

The Plan on the Run formula is: Plan - Execute - Learn - Adjust - back to Plan. Don’t get fooled to believe that your renewal plan will go as planned. There are always unforeseen events that happen and execution parameters that fall short that require you to make adjustments to your plan on the run. Learn from your ongoing results and adjust your plan accordingly.

BE DiFFERENT Practice #8 - Customerize your Marketing Efforts

Declining customer demand, more rigorous researching by customers before making a purchase decision, acute price sensitivity, expected value for the buck, and intensifying competition are the challenges facing the marketer in chaotic times.

These ‘business as unusual’ market factors require a DiFFERENT approach to marketing. Marketing 101 is largely a product-centric world where one tries to sell as many products to as many potential customers possible. Customerized marketing, on the other hand, seeks to understand the deep intimate requirements of smaller groups of customers and provide packaged offers that reflect the broad holistic needs of customers in the chosen customer set.

The whole premise of Customerized Marketing is to customize and personalize the Offers to make them as relevant and compelling as you can to the customer and avoid flogging the features and benefits of a narrowly defined product to a more mass market. Unique Offers that have personal relevance and a strong value proposition will definitely be more successful than common products supplied by a number of competing companies.

Cheers,
Roy

More Blogs in the Strategic Renewal Series:
ANAL,COST
BIG, WHO, WIN
FOCUS, PROCESS, CRAP

Follow me on Twitter

Posted 3.8.12 at 05:14 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)