Be Different or be dead

September 17, 2018

How to use overkill to beat your competitors and win

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How to use overkill to beat your competitors and win.

“More than what is needed. In gross excess of what is reasonably expected. An excess of something beyond what is required or suitable for a given purpose.” — Definition of overkill

The definition of overkill seems to answer the question of whether there is anything wrong with it. It implies that to solve a problem with a solution that is more than is required is wrong — is inappropriate.

Of course the definition is silent on what is excess and more to the point, who gets to decide on what the “reasonably expected” solution is.

Overkill takes a bad rap

It suggests that:
— going above and beyond what is required is wrong
— creating an enormous solution to a simple problem is wrong
— thinking in volume rather than increments is unproductive
— appropriate solutions do only what is required and no more
— to do anything in excess is essentially a squandering of resources; wasting time and money
— extremes are to be judged with suspicion
— being excessive as an individual is an undesirable trait; if you’re not spot on with what everyone expects, you’re weird and are to be avoided

Excess is awesome

Hogwash! I love the concept of excess. It makes sense. It should be respected. It has immense rewards to people and organizations.

Excess is the notion that organizations need to apply in order to stand apart from their competitors and gain long term competitiveness. And it’s a concept that should be employed by people wanting to enrich their careers and lives.

As consumers though, we face a business environment where excess isn’t employed but deficiency — by minimalist organizations — is.
We call our airline or financial institution and we wait in the call queue for 20-30 minutes for a service rep to take our call.

We relentlessly search the floor of our favourite retail store to find a clerk that can help us.
And we waste much of our precious time wandering around the voice answering system of the businesses we engage with trying to talk to the right person.

Technology isn’t the answer

Self serve technologies are being introduced to try and shift demand away from people intensive activities in an effort to solve this problem as well as to reduce operating costs.

But they won’t solve the entire problem. In fact many technology intensive companies offer sophisticated self serve applications to their customers but there still is a huge wait problem on their traditional people-based queues.

It seems that despite attempts to substitute higher cost people based processes with technology, consumers are slow to adapt and accept self serve. And the situation is exacerbated by the fact that it is virtually impossible to create self serve algorithms that define the variety of questions people have when they engage with an organization.

When rising consumer expectations for more and better treatment meet the organizational minimalist mentality, something has to give.

Smart organizations will accept that unless they get on the overkill train their performance and long term profitability is at risk. Consumers will naturally gravitate to those that provide MORE — not less — of what they want. They don’t care that a company may have a cost problem. They expect leadership to go figure it out!

As an aside, organizations that can’t deliver excess service and still have attractive margins are not giving their customers strong enough reasons to do business with them.

The minimalist attitude must go

These 5 actions will give your journey to move from minimalist to overkill a kick start:

1. Leadership — Recruit overkill leaders. Change starts with new decision makers; don’t expect a right angle turn to happen with the leadership team that sponsored a ‘do less’ culture.

Appoint new leaders in those areas where excess thinking is required; be guided by customer feedback. With this action it won’t take long to send the message that the winds of change are coming.

2. Customers — Gather customer feedback on your self serve applications. Are they being used? Do they meet customer expectations? This information is invaluable for setting priorities for operations areas where change is immediately required — must do’s — as opposed to action that can be taken later when resources permit.

3. Technology — Shift some technology spending to more people centric functions as a way to fund new initiatives. Ideally you want to avoid adding cost to fund excess activity; if you are able to shift expenses from one bucket to another it’s a zero sum game with no impact on operating profits.

4. Best in class — Benchmark overkill organizations to see how others apply excess thinking. Don’t merely copy the best organization; look for opportunities to go beyond them and establish some strategic advantage. Use your customer feedback as a guide.

5. Profitability — Be prepared to take a possible short term earnings hit. Going excess may require additional funds to make it happen even if you are successful in shifting budgets from technology to people. Consider this the ante that needs to be paid now for gains tomorrow.

Overkill isn’t a negative. People who claim it is are proclaimed advocates of tradition and the status quo. Why listen to them?

Overkill is a secret ingredient to securing loyal customers and long term competitive advantage.

Funny how a ‘kill’ concept can be a key to survival.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 9.17.18 at 02:18 am by Roy Osing
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September 12, 2018

10 simple reasons most startups fail to get going

10 simple reasons most startups fail to get going.

Starting a business is daunting, shadowed by the truth that the majority of startup business fail. While the difficulties and challenges of starting a business are well publicized, many entrepreneurs continue to make the same crucial mistakes.

So.  Think your new business idea is brilliant? Below are some of the most common and surprising reasons why startups fail.
If you can avoid these mistakes, your chances of success will rise.

1. No market need

The most fatal thing a startup business can do is to try and push a product that has zero market need. If people have no interest in what you’re selling in the first place, your business is doomed to fail. A good product or service actually solves a real market problem.
It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many entrepreneurs skip over this first thing to check.

2. Poor business planning

New business owners are often overly optimistic and unrealistic about how easy it will be to gain customers. They think that just because they have an interesting idea and a great website to showcase it, customers will suddenly pop out like daffodils in a snowy field.

But without a strategic and systematic business model, your business won’t get very far. A solid business model should include every detail of how you will run your business, potential problems, and how you plan to overcome these challenges to reach success.

3. Inadequate funds

Many new business owners don’t have a clear understanding of their cash flow. They underestimate how much capital they will need, waste money on the wrong things, and have unrealistic profit expectations.
Eventually, their businesses run out of money and they are forced to shut down. To avoid this, determine a realistic figure of how much money you will need for the long haul, not just startup costs.

4. The wrong team

Finding a winning team of people can be a challenge – another big reason why so many startups fail. Teams in the startup environment should have a diverse set of adaptable skills – and even more importantly, the right mindset for surviving the tumultuous first few years of a startup.

Teams that recover and learn from their mistakes, work harmoniously, respect each other, and survive tough times together without losing their enthusiasm are the ones who will go far.
Running a startup business comes with many challenges, and it’s important to have a team that you know will stick by you.

5. Lack of environmental awareness

Startups fail when their only priority is to make money. A good startup business doesn’t just care about financial gains, but about more important issues affecting the planet as well, such as the environment. For example, if you’re running a restaurant, collaborating with a company that recycles food waste can help reduce landfill waste and make a positive impact on the earth.

Customers are now more conscious about how their purchases and pollution from business systems such as farming practices and plastic factories are affecting the natural world – including water systems, oceans, local wildlife. These customers are looking for eco-friendly products and services — and businesses that care enough to implement ethical practices that protect the environment, communities and the economy are the answer.

6. Pricing errors

The price of a product or service can make or break a business. Many startup businesses make the mistake of setting their prices either too high or too low. The more research and expert advice you get about your pricing strategy, the greater chance of success.
The key is to price the product high enough to cover costs, but low enough to attract your target customer base.

7. Poor marketing

Having a great product or service idea is useless if your marketing is poor. Many startups suffer enormously from not doing enough market research and targeting the wrong people.
Knowing the needs and shopping habits of your target audience and how to get their attention is crucial.

8. Ignoring customers

Not responding to customer feedback is a sure way for a startup to fail. As a small business, customers will often expect you to be more open to communication — and your relationship with them is key to your success.
Make every effort to connect with them on a regular basis, whether through friendly face-to-face conversation, interactive social media posts, or fun competitions.

Don’t underestimate the power of prompt, honest, helpful replies, even for the simplest questions. If you ignore your customers’ needs, wants, suggestions, or praise — even unintentionally — your business will lose out on many chances to grow and improve.

9. Lack of self-awareness

Startups can be brought to their knees, not because of faults within the business itself, but from a lack of self-awareness in its founders. Some founders get stuck in their egos and believe they have everything all figured out.

A founder with a wrong, arrogant attitude wants to be seen as the smartest, most important person in the company, and can’t admit they’re wrong. However, relationships are a huge part of any business.
A good leader remains humble and realistic, respects their team, and retains their sense of humour. Leaders should take time to celebrate small successes and regularly thank their loyal team, while not taking themselves too seriously.

10. Lack of passion

People start businesses for many reasons, whether to make more money or for a chance to lead the company of their dreams exactly how they want. But many entrepreneurs lack real passion about what they do, which is often their downfall.
Passion gives you drive, patience, determination and motivation – which are all important characteristics for business leaders.

— Cloe Matheson is a freelance writer from Dunedin, New Zealand who grew up in a very tight-knit family. She is extremely close with her Mum – her greatest role model. You can discover more of Cloe’s work on Tumblr.

• Posted 9.12.18 at 10:42 am by Roy Osing
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September 3, 2018

How your ‘brave idea’ can be turned into a fantastic win

Source: Unsplash

How your ‘brave idea’ can be turned into a fantastic win.

So you have an awesome idea for a new business. You think you can make a difference in the world and make tons of money like some others before you have.

How should you proceed?

What do you have to do to turn your “brave idea” into a “crude deed?

First you need to know that the odds that you will succeed in the long run are not that great. Many studies conclude the same thing, that around 30 percent of new businesses make it to 2 years while only half are still around after 5 years.

The herd of losers is HUGE and growing.

Why do so many die?

▪️Economies throughout the world are volatile and unpredictable;

▪️Competition is super intense; new competitors enter markets at a blistering rate;

▪️New technology rains down relentlessly disrupting the flow of plans;

▪️Markets are cluttered with sameness; products and services are undifferentiated and competitive claims are lost in the crowd;

▪️Customers are more empowered than ever before, establishing relationships with suppliers that deliver distinctive solutions and ignoring those that don’t.

What do the survivors look like?

Those that are able to survive and win are different from their competitors.

They survive the scrutiny of the discriminating customer by providing relevant, compelling value that is unmatched by their competitors.

Those that have no distinctive identity simply don’t make it.

They die.

Answer these 3 questions and discover how you can beat the odds of long term success.

Q1. Why do many companies who have been around a while fail?

a) They cease being relevant to their customers ✅

b) They don’t advertise enough

c) Their cost structure is too high

d) Their revenues decline

They get too smug and comfortable and take their existing customers for granted.

Survivors remail relevant and invest substantial resources to stay there.

When you are up and running, never feel entitled to your current revenue stream. You have to go out and earn it every day!

Q2. What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when starting a new business?

a) They fail to attract great sales people

b) They don’t advertise enough

c) They don’t test their idea with potential customers

d) Their business idea is not different from their competition in a way people care about ✅

Your idea must resonate with people; it must address something the CARE about and it must be different than anything else out there.

It’s not about gee-whiz technology and all the cool things it can do.

It’s more about captivating someone with what they can do with your product or service and that they can ONLY get it from you.

Don’t launch your new idea until it passes this test.

Q3. What is the most critical thing to look for in recruiting people to join your team?

a) The innate desire to serve other people ✅

b) Social media expertise

c) Technology skills

d) A powerful personal network

The other attributes are important, but at the end of the day successful business is about building relationships with, and caring about other people.

Ensure that the individuals you recruit have demonstrated skills and experience in helping their fellow human beings. That’s what drives amazing customer service which is a key differentiator.

Change the world by being the ONLY one that does what you do with people who love human beings.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 9.3.18 at 04:42 am by Roy Osing
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August 27, 2018

Why an amazing marriage over 50 years can predict business and career success

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Why an amazing marriage over 50 years can predict business and career success.

Recently my wife and I celebrated 50 years of marriage and close to 60 years of hanging out together. Pretty rare, right?

Let’s face it, maintaining long term relationships and finishing what you started are formidable feats and challenging to say the least particularly in today’s world of uncertainty and unpredictability that cause immense stress and strain on people.

I have learned that there is a great deal of commonality between maintaining a healthy “productive” relationship for over a half century and achieving success whether it be in a career or business.

What works to develop person-to-person sustainability tends to be an accurate predictor of what will work in any environment where building strong relationships is critical.

These are my top 5 takeaways:

1. Success requires an all-in attitude

If you’re not in it mentally for the duration you’re not likely going to be able to endure the struggles of the journey.
If you don’t start out with the sole purpose of giving it everything you’ve got to make the relationship work despite the odds, then it probably won’t.

My observation is that many partnership casualties result from giving up when the going gets tough; when the energy required to make it work is more than what people are prepared to invest — they don’t see that the return is worth it
To be successful in anything dictates that you can’t be sorta in. If you’re not 100% committed nothing remarkable happens and your goal alludes you.

You either take on the challenge with the sole purpose of achieving what you stepped up to or you don’t.
A journey with a half baked or casual commitment never gets completed; being in for 50% doesn’t cut it. It’s too easy to walk away. And it leaves casualties behind.

2. The most workable way forward is never a binary choice

Nothing is black or white. There isn’t a formula that says if you do this you will have a successful relationship and if you do something else you won’t (one of the reasons I never listened to the relationship “experts”).
What works for one relationship does not mean it will necessarily work for another. And what works for one person will not necessarily work for another.

Success is rather characterized by shades of grey that blends the needs of a broader audience and a broader purpose. Meaningful progress requires a compromise of minds to yield a variety of perspectives and opinions.
Failure to compromise and appreciate the needs of more than oneself normally results in dysfunctional relationships, minimal progress and eventual failure.

3. Imperfection must be embraced

As I have witnessed in my own life, there is no such thing as a perfect partnership (and I must confess I don’t understand who ultimately is the author of perfection); it is often laced with the extremes of euphoria and sorrow.
And it certainly doesn’t follow any textbook theory on what it “should” look like.
Partnerships work because of what the partners say, not on what the textbooks say.

Success in anything is based on trying what you think might work and learning whether it does by trying to execute it on the run. It’s not determined by what you THINK will work but rather on whether it DOES when it stands raw naked in the face of real world forces.

It’s a function of the number of imperfect tries you make; the more tries you make the greater the likelihood a winning way forward will be discovered.
In addition, success requires keeping expectations of others real; not expecting them to always precisely live up to a predefined set of expectations.
Amazing results happen when people are allowed to express their “imperfect” individuality and creativity.

4. Heads up and be alert with tingly spider senses for the unexpected

Positive momentum is achieved. Things are stable. Life is good. Then WHAM! Just when you think things are running smoothly, the unexpected hits with vengeance out of left field to set your world on its heals.
A setback on the job, medical issues or family school grades performance descend upon you and threaten you and yours.

We live in a chaotic world where we have little control over much that affects us. So to move forward we must be able to accommodate the occasional body blow that disrupts our original plan and continue to move ahead.

We must be alert to the tipping points that await to lure us to the “dark side” from the shadows to push us off course.

And we must stay nimble and resilient to take a punch and still move forward with our end game in mind.

5. Stay with your mission

Be focused, true and resilient. It’s easy to get distracted and think another goal or purpose is better than the one you are currently pursuing.
Another person looks like an attractive alternative. Another career has a mouth watering pull. Your current business plan doesn’t seem to be working so look elsewhere for a more attractive option.

You might discover a different route to your goal; that’s perfectly ok. But to be enticed off track and throw the baby out with the bath water results in rigour mortise setting in; no decisions are made and no actions are taken.
Be loyal and committed to your destination; find any means to reach it.

A relationship is an amazing teacher for what it takes to be successful in a career, business or any facet of life.

Pay attention to the ones you have.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 8.27.18 at 05:01 am by Roy Osing
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