Be Different or be dead

January 11, 2021

What is the purpose of a successful business?

Source: Pexels

The purpose of a business is to create a customer — Peter Drucker, Management Guru

Who In their right mind would even think about commenting on a Drucker quote other than verbally bowing to its pristine elegance?

But we need to have a conversation around the notion that creating a customer is the fundamental goal of a business. In today’s world with crazy competition, empowered customers and fleeting customer loyalty we need to extend our thinking.

We need to get more focused. ‘Go get a customer’ without some clarity and qualification could be problematic.

Not all customers are created equal; there’s no such thing as a bad customer, but some are better than others

This type of thinking should play a critical role in defining the purpose of a successful business.

A business needs to create the RIGHT customer. It needs to gather as many RIGHT customers as it can.

The RIGHT customer is one:

◾️ that has the growth potential to meet the organization’s financial goals. No use targeting a customer that doesn’t have the revenue potential you need to grow successfully;

◾️ who is a fanatic about what you do or what you produce. They care about your products or services;

◾️is a part of an extended group of fans who communicate regularly with one another and with others to spread your reach.

Organizations need to get more proficient at choosing WHO they want to serve.

Its not about the quantity of ‘casual consuming followers’ you get; it about attracting the quality ones who are ‘relentless-re-purchasers’ and who virally spread your word while they benefit from the relevance, quality and value you deliver.

Take the emphasis off the customer and put it on what consumption value is derived by someone.

The purpose of a business is to create unique experiences for the customers they choose to serve. If one-and-ONLY relevant and compelling experiences are created, customers will come.

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

• Posted 1.11.21 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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January 1, 2021

Why does business survival depend on being irresistible and different?

Why does business survival depend on being irresistible and different?

Never has it been more important for your business to be distinctive—to be different—in the marketplace than it is today.

Consumers are spending fewer discretionary dollars. Competition is intense as businesses jockey for the winning formula to attract customers, remain profitable and survive in this challenging environment. Those that don’t face this reality slowly wither and eventually fail. 

In BE DiFFERENT or be dead: Your Business Survival Guide, I show you how businesses can navigate the turbulent waters of the contemporary economy. 

Drawing on what I learned and successfully implemented over my career as an executive leader, and entrepreneur in the telecommunications industry, and as a business consultant, I give you the real deal: performance enhancement and survival ideas based on solid business principals that work in the real world.

I focus on strategies that I personally developed and executed: things you can do today to immunize your organization against performance decline and business failure tomorrow.

Practical and proven.

For business strategy executives, marketing and sales executives, customer service executives and business owners and entrepreneurs alike, BE DiFFERENT or be dead is an invaluable resource for any leader looking to create a competitive edge for their organization and build long term success.

Key concepts

Here are only a few of the groundbreaking and unheard-of topics in my book you won’t find anywhere else:

— Cut the CRAP.
— Never chase Yummy Incoming.
— Plan on the run.
— Execute first, plan second.
— Get your business plan just about right.
— Customer share: the new marketing measure of success.
— Serving customers: the NEW customer service.
— The customer experience roadmap.
— Service Recovery = Fix the mistake + Surprise the customer with what they don’t expect.
— NEW Sales Mantra: LOSE THE SALE!
— Benchmarking sucks.
— Craft The ONLY statement for competitive differentiation.
— Product flogging is disgusting.
— ME! NOW! marketing is replacing mainstream marketing.

What some of my readers say…

“I had trouble putting this book down. In these challenging times this is exactly what business leaders need to weather the storm. BE DiFFERENT or be dead by Roy Osing is bang on for sales people, marketing executives, entrepreneurs and owner operators. Learn from Roy…I did!”
— Dr. Peter Legge, OBC, LL.D (HON), CEO/Chairman/Publisher Canada Wide Media Limited

“BE DiFFERENT or be dead is one of the top business books in the U.S.”
—Soundview Executive Book Summaries, Concordville, USA

For business strategy executives, marketing and sales executives, customer service executives and business owners and entrepreneurs alike, BE DiFFERENT or be dead: Your Business Survival Guide is an invaluable resource for any leader looking to create a competitive edge for their organization and build long term success.

BE DiFFERENT or be dead: Your Business Survival Guide is available here.

Cheers,
Roy
For all of my books, check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 1.1.21 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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January 1, 2021

How a business plan can be implemented for outstanding results

How a business plan can be implemented for outstanding results.

It’s getting tougher to develop a winning formula in today’s business world.

Competition is fierce.

Customers are demanding, fickle and unpredictable and employees are looking for insightful and caring leadership.

In response, extreme energy in most organizations is spent on trying to develop the perfect business plan that, due to its superb strategic essence, is viewed by all as a slam dunk to succeed. 

Unfortunately, the plan, regardless of how pristine or intellectually clever it is, does not guarantee a win. It may look good on paper, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Results are not achieved on paper. Results are achieved out there in the trenches where stuff is delivered to people; competitors do battle.

Winning is messy, inelegant and, yes, painful.

Winning is achieved by people doing things, not thinking things and not talking about things.

Winning is a function of brilliant execution, not what’s on paper. Yes, you need a roadmap to guide you, but that’s all it is - a guide.

A different perspective on planning is needed. Get the business plan just about right and put in the time to perfect execution.

Mind-blowing execution separates the winners from the mediocre ones.

Execution is the real competitive advantage; action not words.

Execute First; Plan Second offers a proven roadmap to establish execution as a core competency of any organization.

Discover my Strategic Game Plan; a playbook to create an effective business plan based on the gut issues facing an organization and the essentials to execute it.

This eBook draws on my 33+ years as an entrepreneur and executive leader. You will learn what i did to build execution into the DNA of organizations I successfully led.

The practices in this book are simple, practical and more important, proven. They work in the real world!

Key concepts

Here are only a few sound-bites from my book:

— Create your business plan - Strategic Game Plan (SGP) - in 3 days or less and execute on the 4th.
— The SGP is an execution plan with a strategic purpose.
— A growth target is a declaration of intent and is based on “I don’t know”.
— Beware of ’Yummy Incoming’.
— Tread lightly with ‘The irresistible Hook’.
— Special promotions and deals to attract new customers encourage 1-Night Stands.

— The ONLY Statement beats being #1, better or best.
— Craft your ‘Promise to Serve’ to DAZZLE your customers and create amazing experiences for them.
— The more tries you make, the more successful you become.
— Don’t use boilerplates for anything. They suck.
— The true source of innovation.
— Direct line of sight makes executing awesome.

— Overkill aids the execution process.
— Take care of your frontline If you want amazing execution.
— You need a Strategy Hawk to stay on your strategic course.
— You can’t execute well if you have CRAP In your way all around you.
— Imperfection feeds brilliant execution.
— To execute well you must plan on the run.

If you are excited about truly making a difference in your organization, study Execute First; Plan Second and venture where few have gone before.

What my Readers say…

“It’s a razor-sharp, focussed advice on building strategy in times when we don’t have full information. All questions that need to be asked are given.
No other book on strategy can condense all you need to do in 28 pages. It’s a masterclass for those fighting for time. Thanks for sharing it.” — Nerio Vakil, President Total Business Solutions, Mumbai, India

“I like the reference to financial targets and annual budget as well as creating separate growth plans for each WHO segment—combines,execution, strategy and metrics—all needed to reach goals. I also really liked the “Price Leader” concept—“lead prices up; follow prices down” (great strategy)”.— Bart Zych, MBA, The Strategy Doctor

“For today’s business Leader, ‘action’ trumps a beautiful 30 page business plan that never gets implemented. Roy’s formula for Strategic Game Planning is based on one simple concept:  Execution…. What you can implement NOW. This ebook is like his business philosophy… short and to the point; a quick read. Make your Plan composed of three very basic steps and EXECUTE on it.” — Michael Nott, Branch Principle, DWM Securities

“In his latest book BE DiFFERENT or be dead: EXECUTE First; Plan Second, Roy not only explains why execution trumps the Plan, he teaches the reader the fundamentals of HOW to flawlessly execute strategy.This book is an absolute necessity for anyone who wants to blow away their Plan and realize amazing results.” — Sandy Chernoff, Owner, Soft Skills for Success

Check out Execute First; Plan second at retailers here.

Cheers,
Roy
For all of my books, check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 1.1.21 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing
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December 23, 2020

How to make virtual events work for your business

Source: Pexels

As humans, we’re wired to spend the first part of our lives trying to fit in, only to figure out that the magic of what we have to offer is in the things that make us stand out.

Sameness is safe. The brain is wired to notice anomalies because they may be dangerous. But they also make life more interesting.

If a continuous tone drones on for a while, you’ll just tune it out. But, change the pitch or volume, and the brain snaps alert. In psychology, that’s called the orienting reflex, and it helps us stay alive.

As in biology, so in life… and business.

This is particularly true of the event-planning business.
In this unprecedented time, we’ve all been violently shaken out of our normal: face-to-face has flipped into screen-to-screen.
The time is ripe to start using virtual events to get your message out.
So, how do you make a virtual event work for you?

Why choose virtual events?

Before we go into how you can leverage them, let’s look at why virtual events present an opportunity for your business.

Virtual events may be the new kids on the block when it comes to marketing, but they have been gaining in popularity since long before the pandemic outbreak. Why?

Virtual events are more budget-friendly and accessible to wider audiences, with no geographical limitations. They are not dependent on the venue, the weather, refreshments, or other factors that require serious consideration in regular event planning.

All this doesn’t mean you should just wing it. You’re responsible for providing your attendees with the most value possible, while reaping the biggest benefits for your business.

Online networking and forming a community

Having a community has never been more important than it is now, and communities that form around virtual events will become a lifeline for many businesses that choose to adapt.
What learns and adapts lives on. What doesn’t, withers and dies.
In your community, you and your partners can find solutions together, bound by a common goal, interest, or need.

The benefit of a community is support. You don’t have to know everything, as long as you have a relationship of mutual respect with someone who has the skills that help you achieve your goals.

Combined effort built civilizations, and it can do the same for business. Use the virtual event as a networking platform and an opportunity to widen your scope, influence, and visibility, and therefore value.

The rule of community is that when one grows, the collective grows as well.

Picking the right virtual event format for your business

In business, it’s important to know your goal, and then find the best way to get there.

Explore your niche and get to know your customers.

Depending on the product or service you offer, some types of virtual events will have a higher chance of success than others.

Do you need an up close and personal webinar for your core audience, or a workshop to disseminate hands-on knowledge to a large user base?
Perhaps a highly structured conference for industry professionals is the way to go?

Maybe a behind-the-scenes tour of the business or an informal fireside chat to touch base with your home-bound, pyjama-clad team? Pick the format that works for you and follow through.

KPI, ROI and intelligent strategies

Once you’re clear on the goal you want to achieve, determine what key performance indicators (KPI) you’re going to use to measure your success.

There’s a variety of indicators for you to focus on, such as new leads, revenue, exposure via social media, or attendance.
Keep in mind that data is invaluable. It is a source of precious insights, and it will help you improve each time and get the kinks out.

Start by making a meta-strategy and plan the execution timeline. Break things down into smaller segments and dive in.
Be ready for surprises and minimize wild cards. There is always more to do than you think, always!

To minimize the chance of being blindsided by an unforeseen circumstance, make sure you have a detailed strategy in place.
This will help you prioritize and make sure all the hard work you and your team have put in pays off.

Delivering the right content to the right audience

There is a tribe of like-minded individuals out there searching for what you have. Find them.
If you go all wide and vague trying to target everyone just to run up the numbers, you’ll waste resources for barely a blip on the radar.

You don’t need everyone. You need to laser in on your ideal customers to make the biggest possible impact with the resources at your disposal.

Cross-reference with your current customer base demographics, look at who your closest competitors are targeting, or imagine your perfect attendee/customer/guest and build from there.

Make sure to keep your target audience in mind through all aspects of planning.
From determining the channels you use to promote and hold the event to the content, its format, and even the accompanying materials such as landing pages or e-booklets, your marketing choices and communication style should align with your target audience.

Knowing your audience will allow you to be less generic, to stand out, and truly deliver at a higher level than the bland beige monotone of ‘trying to speak to everyone’.

Follow up, thank-yous and feedback

Organizing an event means creating a memorable experience. Harness the reverberations of this experience in the days following the event and follow up while the emotions are still fresh.

In marketing, that’s known as the maximum impact zone. Send out thank-yous to make sure the people feel that you appreciate the time, attention, money, and effort they’ve invested in your event.

Thank everyone who contributed and participated, and use the recorded materials and insights to gain more traction, sending out ripples long after the wrap-up.

Wrap up

When you do things your way, they patronizingly label you crazy or strange. After you succeed in doing it, they lovingly call you eccentric.

Don’t be afraid to do things differently and venture into modes of communication you’ve never tried before. Keep what is tried and true, but add your own flavor.
When you plan your virtual event, remember what attracts audiences to you in the first place.

The bottom line is, if you don’t stand out in business, you’re (virtually) dead.

So make sure you stand out.

— Lisa Michaels is a freelance writer, editor and a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland. Being self-employed, she does her best to stay on top of the current trends in business and tech. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter.

• Posted 12.23.20 at 05:09 am by Roy Osing
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