February 9, 2012

5 Little BIG Things That Will Super Charge Your Career

If you’re not happy with the progression you are making in your career, follow these 5 steps that will power you forward.

1. Define the position you want in 24 months. Sales Director? VP Marketing? Call Center Manager?Having a target will focus your efforts in developing your Career Action Plan. No Target = Diffused Effort, and a low success rate.

2. Find a Mentor. EVERYONE needs advice and help Pick one who is skilled in your Target Position.

3. Identify the Foxes that are the key decision-makers in your next career move. Treat them as your target market. Get to know each one of them and what makes them great. Make sure they know YOU.

4. Make a list of THREE things you need to do over the next 90 days to make you more qualified for your Target Position. Do them!

5. Create your ONLY Statement and work it every minute of every day. ONLY is how to define your uniqueness among The Herd of people competing for scarce jobs. “I am the ONLY one that…” will serve you well in an environment where generics run. If you can’t create an ONLY, you won’t get noticed and your career goals will likely elude you.

Try these. TODAY. I guarantee they WILL make a difference.

Cheers,
Roy
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BE DiFFERENT YOU! | Marketing | Strategy | Permalink
Posted 2.9.12 at 05:00 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment

February 6, 2012

BE DiFFERENT on the Threes - BE The ONLY One That Does What You Do

THREES - BE The ONLY One
THREES - Cut the CRAP
THREES - Sales Relationship Building
THREES - Dazzling Customer Service
THREES - Strategic Planning
BE DiFFERENT on the Threes

The ONLY Statement is the ultimate manifestation of your Distinctiveness; your Uniqueness. If you can’t claim that “We are the ONLY ones that…” you’re part of the competitive Herd awash with Sameness and commodity suppliers. Jerry Garcia, of The Grateful Dead said it this way: ” “You don’t want merely to be the best of the best. You want to be the ONLY one’s who do what you do”.

If you’re not spending copious amounts of time creating your ONLY, you’re not using your time wisely. And you’re falling deeper and deeper into the Herd. You won’t be noticed. You will be ignored. You will be DEAD. It’s just a matter of time.

Three steps to the ONLY:

1. Talk to the critical wants of The WHO. The people you have chosen to SERVE. Your target market. Remember it’s not about what you supply to the market; it’s about what your customers want. Do you know their top three wants? Notice I said :“wants” not “needs”. People today generally have what they “need”. The battle is over how to address what they “want” in a manner that ONLY you do.

2. Talk about VALUE. What benefits, solutions, memories, joy, experiences and happiness are you creating? Pushing products and services has a minimal role in The ONLY. We are seeking to claim uniqueness in the way we impact the lives of those we are trying to serve. AND remember the “P” word (Price) has no place here either. Price claims can NEVER be Distinctive. Easy to copy. Commodity behavior.

3. Make it specific. At the end of the day, your ONLY has to be delivered by people. They need to clearly understand what it means in granular terms. They need to be able to determine the appropriate behaviors necessary to “live” The ONLY. Leave helium-filled statements, vision-type claims and aspirations at the door. “We provide the best customer service” is way of target. Means different things to different people. Probably is untrue. Can’t be measured. Can’t be translated into a detaild picture of what it looks like in the field. Trash it.

Cheers,
Roy


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Marketing | Strategy | Permalink
Posted 2.6.12 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment

February 2, 2012

BE DiFFERENT on the Threes - Dazzling Customer Service

THREES - Dazzling Customer Service
THREES - Strategic Planning
BE DiFFERENT on the Threes

Creating maniacal, loyal, “sneezing”, loyal customers is NOT about price. It’s NOT about products and services that actually work to specifications. It’s NOT about what you produce and how you price it. People expect things to work and they expect to pay a reasonable price for it. That’s the price of admittance. That’s what any organization must do to play the game. If you can’t provide stuff that works all the time at a price people are willing to pay, you don’t have a business. Period.

If your quest is to attract a band of loyal followers that will do business with you FOREVER, you must create a dazzling experience for her whenever she“touches” you. . You must focus your attention on How she FEELS when she engages with you as opposed to What she GETS from you.

So how can you create an environment that is capable of creating Dazzling Service Experiences?
1. Recruit people that have an innate desire to serve their fellow human beings. Customers can’t be delighted if a frontline person really doesn’t want to serve. And you can’t train people to like people. They either DO or they DON’‘T. You can train them to “grin” (to have a smile in your voice) but you can’t teach people to love others. Dazzling service experiences are delivered by individuals who actually want to make the customer feel important. To make them feel listened to. To honor them. To do whatever it takes to see their eyes light up. 80% of your recruitment budget should be dedicated to this task.
2. Design your Rules, Policies and Procedures to serve the customer. Every organization has Dumb Rules, rules that make no sense to customers. Rules that annoy and infuriate them and drive them to leave kicking and screaming to others. Rules have a legitimate management control purpose but if they drive business away because customers are unwilling to abide by them what ‘s the benefit? The issue is the customer element in Rule Design is missing. Management Control drives the process. Give the customer an equal say in Rule Design. Engage them to help. They will be impressed that you are open enough to involve them AND you will be on your way to Dazzle.
3. BE Flexible. Empower people to bend the Rules on the customer’s behalf. Even if you have designed a Rule System that optimizes on the Customer Experience, you will still have Control-driven ones that remain. Empower your frontline to bend them when it makes sense to serve a customer. Trust them to do the right thing to preserve the Dazzle objective. The end game is to deliver a mind-blowing service experience NOT to enforce the Rules that get in the way.

Dazzle = Serving People + Rules that Serve + Empowerment

Cheers,
Roy


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Serving Customers | Permalink
Posted 2.2.12 at 05:59 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment

January 31, 2012

BE DiFFERENT: How to Build an Organization to Stand-out NOT Fit-in

Learn and Practice through this One-of-a Kind Executive Workshop Experience with Organizational Leadership Trainer Anders Skoe and Business Author Roy Osing
 

This intimate 3 ½ day Workshop will be held Sept 11 - 14, 2012 in the magnificent setting provided by the Palace de Menthon Hotel, in the village de Menthon St Bernard, on Lac d’Annecy France, (visit www.lac-annecy.com and www.laclusaz.com for information on the area).

This Workshop is The ONLY learning opportunity available that will engage you to both learn and practice what it takes to differentiate your organization from The Competitive Herd. To stand-out not fit-in. To create remarkable and unique value that cannot be copied. To provide exemplary leadership required to sustain your unmatched competitive position over the long haul.

Anders is a mentor, coach and trainer, in behavioral change. He has worked closely with about 20 000 individuals world-wide. In over 100 different countries he has conducted 4-day workshops in small groups (6 to 15), where participants have represented all nationalities and cultures. He has published four books and several articles on leadership and management behavior.

Roy is a Business Executive, Keynote Speaker, Business Advisor to profit and non-profit organizations, Personal Coach and active Blogger. He is the Author of the groundbreaking new book BE DiFFERENT or be dead: Your Business Survival Guide, which teaches practical and proven ways for organizations to distinguish themselves from the competitive herd and thrive and survive the unforgiving challenges of a chaotic and highly unpredictable marketplace. He actively promotes his work through Workshops, Keynote speaking, Media interviews and Strategic Planning engagements. In addition, Roy regularly publishes Blog Articles on his BE DiFFERENT Practices to help organizations better understand and implement his ideas. Click here for more bio information on Roy.

In the first part of the Program, Roy will step you through his practical and proven BE DiFFERENT Practices which will allow you to leverage the critical functions of Strategy, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service to create Organizational Uniqueness in a world of hungry competitors. If you are looking for the path to BE Remarkable and Indispensable to your customers and leave your competitors in the dust, this Workshop will amaze you.

Anders will then take these organizational imperatives to the Personal Leadership level. He will show you the Leadership traits and behaviors necessary to establish BE DiFFERENT as the way of doing business in your organization.

Here is just a taste of the topics that will be covered:
- Are you DiFFERENT or are you dead? Review BE DiFFERENT Quiz results
- Why Standing-out is critical to organizational survival
- Build a Strategic Game Plan for your organization by simply answering 3 questions
- Craft your ONLY Statement and claim a unique competitive position
- Excel at Execution; don’t get mesmerized by your Plan
- Relevance comes from providing remarkable Value, not flogging products
- Dazzle your Fans and earn their undying loyalty
- It’s about intimate relationships not short term sales
- BE DiFFERENT Leaders: Your role to create and sustain a Gaspworthy organization
- Problem Solving the BE DiFFERENT way

AND you will have an opportunity throughout the Workshop to apply what you learn. Anders and Roy will step you through practical exercises that will allow you to practice what you have learned and apply it to your own circumstances. More than a one-way process, this Workshop will give you a jump start to introduce BE DiFFERENT back home.

Here are the details:
- The Workshop will be limited to the first 15 attending Executives who register. This small intimate Group will maximize learning not only with Anders and Roy but also with Workshop colleagues
- Palace de Menthon Hotel (www.palacedementhon.com) 
- Workshop Cost: 3,000 Euro per person; 1,500 Euro are due on registration; the balance on Sept 11th
- Hotel reservations and transportation arrangements are the responsibility of each attendee
- Hotel charges are 244 Euro per day all inclusive (room, meals, wine with lunch/dinner and refreshments during breaks)
- Workshop commences 1630 hours on Sept 11; ends with dinner Sept 14

For additional information on this ONLY Workshop and to Register, please contact Anders Skoe at anders@skoe.as  and/or Roy Osing at roy@bedifferentorbedead.com

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Posted 1.31.12 at 07:28 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment