Be Different or be dead

April 30, 2012

Why my BE DiFFERENT Quiz will know of you’re unmatched among others

Source: Unsplash

Why my BE DiFFERENT Quiz will know of you’re unmatched among others.

There is no silver bullet to being different.

No single thing you can do that will vault you to a relevant and unique value provider. No one act that will bring you into focus and separate you from the competitive herd.

Rather, it’s about doing a lot of the right things. The little things that are really uncommon sense — if it were common sense more organizations would be doing them and they wouldn’t be different.

My work is pretty basic. Simple uncommon sense.

I have discovered and successfully implemented practices that propel an organization to achieve a commanding competitive position in their markets.

My supporters comment how straightforward my work is; it focuses on ground zero tactics that actually work.

ARE YOU DIFFERENT?

What is your IQ on the things that need to be put in place to be different?

Take my BE DiFFERENT quiz to discover what you think you are doing right and where progress needs to be made.

My quiz is an opportunity to sort out where to focus your priority to expedite your progress.

The quiz promotes honesty. Take in a private place where ‘no one is watching’. Be brutal with your answers. Only then will you be able to make productive moves.

Take the quiz with your team. Use the process to build a broader honest view of where you are. And be prepared for team spirit to soar.

Just do it — Begin — Stay focused — Execute — Enjoy the success — Reap the rewards.

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

• Posted 4.30.12 at 10:31 am by Roy Osing
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April 26, 2012

Why a ‘strategy hawk’ is absolutely necessary for leadership

Source: Unsplash

Why a ‘strategy hawk’ is absolutely necessary for leadership.

The true success of any business plan lies not in it’s intent but rather in it’s execution

Give me a strategy that is just about right that I can flawlessly execute over a pristine one that can’t be executed any day.

Execution is forever drawing the short straw; there are entire departments charged with developing strategy; it’s about time execution gets a fair shake.

So who owns execution?

Generally since many functions share in the responsibility to execute the plan it rests with an executive team. But it needs a specific owner.

It needs single finger accountability to ensure that it gets done. Shared responsibility, however noble, is simply not up to the task.

You need a voice for execution — the strategy hawk — in an organization to ride herd on execution.

To monitor progress. To kick ass when things are not proceeding as planned.

Someone who has currency in your organization. Who is tenacious. Who has a high pain tolerance.

Here are 3 reasons you need the hawk:

◾️Your progress towards your strategic goals won’t be as effective without the role.
Execution requires a pusher. No pusher, little progress, as everyone regresses back to business as usual rather than focusing on the new journey.

◾️You will waste tons of money due to mis-aligned activities and false starts.
The hawk ensures synergy among all the projects and activity going on. Keeps everyone on the same page. Dissipated energy is avoided.

◾️Your competitive position will erode as others who choose to have a hawk role will eat your lunch.
Lack of execution precision allows your competitors a window to attack you and win business from you. And they will.

The job description of the hawk looks has these essential elements:

— Follows up on commitments made by people to deliver components of the strategic plan;

— Questions and determines the reasons for any results that fall short of expectations;

— Reports on the status of the execution of the plan to the leadership team;

— Challenges project owners to understand why commitments are missed;

— Pushes for actions that remedy missed execution milestones;

— Encourages, harasses, cajoles and nurtures people on how to fulfil their obligations to the plan;

— Doesn’t accept any other responsibility than the above; there is no higher priority than executing the strategic plan.

Not a role for the faint-of-heart!

Strategies get executed because there is someone with fire in the belly who is constantly in the faces of the deliverers

It doesn’t happen naturally. People are too busy?

Accept this reality and appoint your hawk to ensure your strategy gets executed. Dedicate your hawk to the task.

Give them no other responsibilities. Pay them only on how effectively they perform this role and achieve plan progress.

Pay them handsomely when they succeed. Honour them among their peers.

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

• Posted 4.26.12 at 09:18 am by Roy Osing
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April 23, 2012

Why are loyal customers sometimes really too much trouble?

Source: Unsplash

Why are loyal customers sometimes really too much trouble?

The people who choose to be loyal to our organization and consume our products and services are a pain

They are annoying.

They come late and expect us to stay open.

They come early and expect us to open.

They don’t like some of our staff; they have “attitude”.

They change their mind.

They are too sensitive about getting their needs met.

They tell their friends how bad we are when we make a mistake or break a promise.

They are always looking for a special deal.

They are inflexible; always want to get exactly what they asked for.

They always criticize us but rarely praise what we do.

They complain about our prices.

They expect to be served by friendly staff regardless of the crumby day we are having.

They never seem to be satisfied regardless of what we do for them.

They think they are the only ones we have to take care of. It’s all about them.

They stress-out our staff.

They get upset about our policies without understanding them.

They shop around; their loyalty is inconsistent. They don’t seem to appreciate what we do for them.

Some days it makes you think another line of work would be preferable.

Problem is you can’t avoid customers. Gotta figure out how to live with these unpredictable and demanding folks since we can’t live without ‘em.

What’s your gotta live with ‘em’ strategy?

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

• Posted 4.23.12 at 10:19 am by Roy Osing
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April 16, 2012

3 simple ways to protect your most valued customers

Source: Pexels

Who’s on your endangered list?

Your top ten (or 20 or 30…) revenue producers. The folks that give you a disproportionate amount of your cash flow. The people who have been loyal to you for years.

They give a damn about you and what you do.

The people who, if you lose, will cause major harm to your business. The people who, when they leave, will spread a negative word about you to their friends and associates.

What are you doing to protect them from competitive assault and to immunize them from catching someone else’s ‘value virus’?

Here are 3 things that have worked for me.

1. Engage with them regularity

Call them personally. Never delegate this to others. They are extremely important to your well-being so what is more important than giving them your personal attention? Nothing!
Book it on your calendar. Make it matter. Put it ahead of everything else. Never postpone or cancel.

2. Offer any special promotion the them first

Never try to entice someone to leave their current supplier and come over to you with a promotional deal without providing a better deal to your loyalists first.
It’s an insult to your fans to offer a special deal to a non-customer while ignoring those who made you successful.

3. Establish a dedicated customer service line for this group

Special customers deserve special treatment everyday. Your “endangered species team” should be all-ways on for them 24X7 If they have literally ANY issue, your team will be there to take care of them.

Make a big deal of this. Communicate “the team” internally and explain why you are doing it. Have a personal face-to-face meeting with each endangered customer and tell them what you are doing and why. This is your opportunity to reiterate how important they are and how much they mean to your organization.

3 things that will prevent your most critical loyal customers from entering the zone of extinction.

Have a go.

You have everything to lose if you don’t.

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

• Posted 4.16.12 at 10:06 am by Roy Osing
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