Too much choice?

I counted 34 varieties of different washing up liquids today in Sainsbury's. One was labelled 'rose petal' flavour. Do we really need that many? Does such an abundance of choice liberate us or make life harder? Should we be turning our energies to more meaningful endeavours than agonising over multiple varieties of washing up liquid?

Some sociologists refer to the 'tyranny of choice' and others write about 'consumer vertigo'. Is it just me or are other people oddly dissatisfied by having 100 channels to hand when we watch TV? You tussle with the many choices available and there's always that nagging concern that you've made the wrong decision. There "might be something better out there".

I also think this relates to the principle of 'less is more'. Knowing your niche is important in business and it's also worth looking at those products or services that do what they do with supreme confidence - but succeed by keeping it narrow.

Training vs Coaching

What's the difference between the two? Imagine a golf pro showing a bunch of weekend hackers how to hit the ball properly. They're looking on admiringly and attentively. "Look," says the pro, "just do it like this!" The ball sails through the air and the audience gawps. "OK guys, off you go," says the pro, packing his bags.

Can the hackers hit the ball properly? Of course not, but they've attended the 'training course'. They might even have a certificate to prove it. Tick the box. Another line on my training resume.

This is the problem with most training. It doesn't actually result in a significant change in behaviour. Surely the point of training is to IMPROVE SKILLS?

Training improves knowledge and understanding, but we want to improve the person's PERFORMANCE. That's where coaching comes in. That's why sports teams and athletes hire coaches - to see them through the process of skill development. Skills take time to develop. Bad habits need to be replaced by better ones. Again, an investment in time and practice is required.

Coaches can advise, encourage, motivate, pace change, suggest drills and help interpret feedback. They help someone achieve their goals. Isn't that the point after all? Without coaching we get a lot of highly trained people with no skills!

Know who you are

My pal Rob notices stuff. He's a stickler for customer service - and rightly so. He visited Selfridges and Next and the difference in customer experience was stark. At Selfridges the staff were helpful, knowledgeable and made you feel special. They were confident. At Next...well it was all a bit too much trouble. You felt a bit in the way.

But what do we mean by 'confident'? Well there's a saying that there are certain things in life you can't control (the global recession) but you CAN control how you respond to things (behaving confidently). Selfridges know who they are, their values, standards and style. They do it consistently and with confidence. In others, the staff are consumed by what they read in the papers. They've been absorbed by the collective mind-set of the global meltdown and...well, what's the point anymore?

A lot of people will go that way. It's safer to follow the herd. But it's smarter to keep (no, raise) your standards and go about your business with confidence. You may have to adapt, but that doesn't mean compromising your standards and core values.

Fill the void that's left by those that follow the herd. It's a much nicer space to occupy.

Inaugural Skills Forum

Just a quick thank you to those who contributed to the very first Business Skills Forum last Wednesday. It was a great session, very lively with lots of wonderful insights from different business sectors. We talked a bit about the importance of the Elevator Pitch, how it should capture the essence of what you and your business does. It should be short (no skyscrapers here!), punchy, focus on the pain you're looking to relieve and how you'll do it uniquely well. It should be simply expressed (could a 12 year-old understand it?) and be something you passionately believe in.

We mentioned the benefit of straplines as a great way to describe what you are and do as a business. Seth Godin highlights the word 'the' as in Atilla the Hun, as a link word in concise descriptions. Bob the Builder...yes he can!

I loved the strapline mentioned by Mike Upton - 'Aspire to Inspire before you Expire'. And Paul Owen won't mind my mentioning his contribution from a recent river boat trip along the Thames. As the tour guide passed the Births, Marriages and Deaths building, he pointed to the 'Hatch, Match and Despatch' centre!

I look forward to the next instalment.

Getting liked

They say that people like doing business with people they like. But how to be liked? Well I'm not saying I maintain all these habits but they seem like good advice to me:

• take an interest in people - other people that is, not you.
• smile, but not like some crazed zealot.
• remember that emotions are contagious - infect people with your enthusiasm.
• learn to listen properly - that means hearing too.
• ask great questions.
• remember Stephen Covey's (7 Habits....) maxim: 1st understand, then seek to be understood.
• find out how you can help them.
• work on the principle that wherever you engage with someone they'll be a little happier for having met you.
• remember that people love praise and recognition.
• make people feel important and apreciated.

Fitter, faster, smarter - who tends to survive in a recession

Just a few ideas...

Niche products and services often do well in recessionary times, but people often play it safe with an okay product aimed at a broad audience. It takes courage to develop a truly outstanding niche product and direct it to a narrow section of the population. Know who your audience is, differentiate your product and dominate your space.

Get closer to your customers, particularly the best ones. Over-deliver on your promises, add value wherever possible and get them to stick to you like glue. Know what their issues and objectives are and help them in any way you can.

Keep abreast of things. Know what's happening in the market, not just yours but others too. Find out who's spending - you may be able to adapt your product and 'follow the money'.

Look outside your own bubble - there may be some potential alliances with third parties. You may have non-competing but complementary products and a tie-up could be useful.

Keep active, stay visible and network - but in an intelligent way. Don't just go to everything - it's too time consuming. Choose your target groups and look to form a small number of useful relationships from each event. Focus on their business and what they're looking for. Develop a habit of helping others - even if it's just encouragement and advice. It's tough to invert your focus away from your own little world but it will help you develop an unpaid salesforce.

Thoughts on Obama

Where were you on the afternoon of 20th January 2009? Or indeed on the morning of 5th November 2008? Both significant dates - I like to buy a newspaper as a memento of days like these - the inauguration, following the election, of the first black president of the United States.

For me, Barack Obama hit the right tone in his inauguration speech He was right to recognise the tremendous challenges that face us in the world today. A global economy in crisis, conflicts throughout the world, a warming planet and millions upon millions denied the most basic human needs.

But he gave us something else in his speech. He gave us hope - and with good reason.

I don't believe in being positive for its own sake. I believe in hope and optimism because to do otherwise leads us nowhere. You can criticise and focus on how bad things are but this road is a dead end. There are always options. Let's focus on the solutions.

You could reasonably put a Darwinian slant on the current global economic crisis. The landscape has changed. The climate is more hostile. The rule book has been thrown out. What now then? The answer...ADAPT.

I remember a quote from Jeff Goldblum in the first Jurassic Park movie - "Life will find a way". The new president was right to recognise the scale of the problems facing us. But he also made a good job of 'bigging up' the human race - its capacity to change, to adapt, to innovate, to build and to work to a common purpose.

Maybe that's what we have to do now. Rise to the challenge. Yes, recognise that there are problems, but remember that for every problem there's a solution. As a species we're pretty good at figuring this stuff out - we 'find a way'.

I'm extremely hopeful and optimistic - and you should be too. People don't erect statues to critics and naysayers - innovate, collaborate, lead and inspire...you'll have pigeons flocking to you for years to come!

What goes around...

It's a great principle in business that if you help others they'll help you. But remember this...don't EXPECT anything! Having referred a lead to someone, if you're tempted to ask them for help in return, bite your tongue. Just satisfy yourself that you're in business because you solve other people's problems, all sorts of people, all sorts of problems.

Ditch the quid pro quo attitude and switch your attention to helping others. Give advice, refer business, make people feel better as a result of simply meeting you. It will come back to you - in its own time and in its own way.

Making it simple to buy

Like most towns today, there's a proliferation of coffee houses in my home town. The usual suspects are there - Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Costa and a few independents hanging in there for survival. One indy coffee house closed recently, a few months after a Nero opened up next door. I think it's a shame but I asked myself why it couldn't make it work?

In the end I believe it was just a whole lot easier to use the Nero. Why? Because you had three different floor levels, each with a different purpose - but exactly why wasn't clear. You had counter service downstairs but waitress service upstairs.

It had a wide and varied menu, but maybe that blurred its identity? You had main meals, and takeaway food hot and cold. You had bread and a deli but you had coffee and donuts. The waitresses weren't great and the payment counter was hidden. The seating area was cramped and all the seats were different styles. The stairs were narrow and it was too quiet so your conversation could be overheard.

Much easier, much safer to have a coffee at Nero. So maybe there's a lesson. Make it really, really easy for the customer - if you don't someone else will.

What's in a cuppa?

It's the quality of the tea and the water and the milk that goes into it.
It's the sugar that sweetens it and the way that's presented.
It's what you can stir it with.
It's the temperature it's served at.
It's the type of vessel it's served in.
It's the snack you can have with it.
It's the smile that greets you as you approach the counter.
It's the speed of service.
It's the friendly chit chat with the person serving you.
It's the cleanliness of the table, the comfort of the seat and the availability of both.
It's the colour schemes and art on the wall.
It's the range and quality of magazines and newspapers.
It's the lighting and the temperature in the room.
It's the clientele you're sharing the room with.
It's the ease of access and availability of parking.
It's the space for pushchairs and shopping and your umbrella.
It's having something to wipe your feet on and somewhere to hang your coat.

Oh, and what was that about the drink...?

Are you boring?

Do take time to subscribe to Seth Godin's blog. It gives me a lift every day and continually takes me to a different mental plane.

I love his latest gem - the temptation to be boring. It goes back to his Purple Cow concept of being remarkable. Most businesses don't have the courage to be remarkable, it's too easy to follow the crowd, deliver a 'samey' product and rely on more marketing - or just keeping fingers crossed!

In the past, recessionary times have always given birth to new, innovative ways of thinking. Companies who have the guts to deliver something truly remarkable will find it easier to survive in the recession. The great thing is that most won't bother! Opportunity beckons.

Is there more humanity in recession?

I know the recession is causing real hardship and I wouldn't want to dismiss the feeling of loss that people experience when losing their job. But I do get the sense that for a lot of people, this crisis is causing them to re-evaluate what's actually important to them. Perhaps we're rediscovering our humanity?

Too often we wait until there's a major crisis or trauma in our lives before we sit back and take stock of things. It might be a bereavement, a job loss or marriage breakdown. It forces us to stop 'doing' and look at ourselves and our lives - and we often emerge with new insights that help us move forward.

But surely that's something we should do on a regular basis anyway?

I really get the feeling that people are rediscovering people in this crisis. Perhaps after a period of rampant consumerism we'll realise that what fulfills us most is the relationships we have with people. And of course those relationships are the bedrock of business success anyway.

Role reversal in customer service

I was chatting to a businessman the other day and we got onto the subject of customer service. He was frustrated at the quality of his receptionists. In his opinion they exhibited a poor attitude in such an important 'front of house' role and he was struggling to turn things around.

The problem is you can't get anyone to behave differently unless they want to. You have to understand their mindset and what motivates them.

No doubt the receptionists in question would complain freely about any poor service THEY had encountered. Maybe one strategy is to get them to think like customers? Take them off site, buy them a nice lunch and visit a variety of sites in the area - cafes, hotels, shops, etc. Have them produce a short report, appraising the quality of the service they experienced. What was good, what might have been better and so on. Help them write it up and include ideas that might be incorporated into your own business. Give them credit for producing this report within the company's internal news medium.

Your new 'consultants' will relish their role as standard-bearers for outstanding customer service.

Four Stages of Skill Development

Research suggests that for every 100 people who attend a business training course, only 15% exhibit a tangible change in their behaviour in the weeks following. We're enthused after training, but actually changing our behaviour takes time - we're talking here about HABITS. It's instructive to consider the 4 stages of skill development, often referred to in sport or music.

ONE - Unconsciously Incompetent
You don't really know what to do and you exhibit little skill. You start lessons and practise.

TWO - Consciously Incompetent
You know what you should be doing but you haven't got the hang of it yet. More tuition and practice.

THREE - Consciously Competent
You can do it reasonably well but you've really got to concentrate hard and it's a bit 'mechanical'. More practice and coaching.

FOUR - Unconsciously Competent
You perform the skill effortlessly and without apparent thought, rather like driving a car or eating with a knife and fork. It's what psychologists call being in a state of state of 'flow'.

Habits take TIME to ingrain and in many cases you're trying to replace an existing bad habit with a new better one. Habitual behaviour comes from constant repetition and this applies to both good and bad behaviours. In his latest book 'Outliers', Malcolm Gladwell points to the incredible amounts of 'practice time' devoted by elite performers like top musicians, athletes and even entrepreneurs (10,000 hours is quoted).

The point is to stick with new behaviours until they become second nature. If you can, recruit a support team to help with the 'coaching' process - otherwise it can be a lonely process and it's easy to go over to the Dark Side!

Asprins for Headaches

Although some goods and services are designed purely to deliver pleasure, to a large extent your product is there to relieve some kind of pain. The avoidance of pain is one of the prime drivers for people wanting a product or service - the hairdresser, accountant, plumber, gardener, all these people represent the asprin to relieve your headache.

Of course, in the process of relieving pain they may also create some joy (even the accountant!). The point is when you're promoting your product or service, foremost in your mind should be what pain you're relieving and how you go about it. That's what people buy into. That's their prime motivator.

A great tip for your 'elevator pitch' is to start the sentence by painting a picture of the pain. This might go something like, "You know when you visit a new city on business and you can't find an affordable place to stay? Well we specialise in..." You go on to explain how your asprin relieves the pain.

Think about this angle - selling the 'benefits, rather than the product', compose your script, practise it and enjoy the results.

The 12 year-old test

I'm always coming up with ideas - some good, some not so hot. But I try to stick by the excellent principle of the 12 year-old rule. If you can explain the idea to a 12 year-old and have them understand it, you're off to a good start.

Survival of the Fittest - a Darwinian take on the recession

One thing about the current recession is that while most business owners would recognise the need to work smarter in the current environment, not all of them will actually do anything about it! But isn’t that the way competitive markets work? It’s almost Darwinian. When our environment changes, when conditions become more hostile, only those willing to adapt will survive. It’s part of the natural cycle of things. We can’t all be equally successful, we need winners and losers.

There’s no point complaining about the global financial crisis. It’s here and it’s outside our control. What we can control is how we respond to it. We can either keep our heads down, continue doing the same old things and hope for the best. Or we can recognise that times have changed and so must we. We have to be fitter, stronger, faster, SMARTER than the rest. If we don’t we’re in danger of going the way of the dinosaurs!

January's theme - the power of networking

It wasn't difficult to choose this theme for our inaugural Skills Forum meeting on 28th January. There's a saying that people buy people and we must never lose sight of how important our contacts are to the growth of our business. I recommend some reading material on this subject and this will form the basis of our discussions on 28th - if you have your own favourites let me know!

Recommended books
“How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie
“Masters of Networking” by Ivan Misner
“The Jelly Effect” by Andy Bounds (chapter 4)

On-Line Resources
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/businessnetworking/Business_Networking_for_Entrepreneurs.htm
http://www.westegg.com/unmaintained/carnegie/win-friends.html
http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/tp_excerpt2.html
http://www.yourelevatorpitch.com/
http://www.directorscentre.co.uk/article-elevator-pitch-better-business.php

Possible Topics
Breaking the ice
The 30 second pitch
Building rapport
Body language
The extended network
Spotting the ‘angle’ – on the look out for strategic alliances

Become a professional networker and see the difference it makes to your business.

It boils down to basics

They say a recession exposes poor working practices. Sometimes we're so busy doing the doing we don't pause to examine the basics. It's not complex stuff, but it's easy to take our eye off the ball. I'm talking about things like how our staff answer the phone, whether reception is neat and tidy, checking the loos are clean with soap dispensers topped up, asking new clients for referrals, checking on customers a few days after they've bought, ensuring letters contain good spelling and punctuation, etc.

It reminds me of something my golf clients ask me when they start learning. "What do pros like Tiger Woods work on when they have a lesson?"

The question pre-supposes that advanced players like Woods work on really complex stuff that wouldn't apply to the ordinary player. But for the most part Tour Pros work on the really basic stuff like grip, stance, posture and body alignment. It's what you'd cover in your first lesson as a beginner - but it's really easy to slip into bad habits.

So never forget the basics - regularly revisit the fundamentals.

Thoughts for the New Year

Let me recommend Seth Godin's blog to you. He's a great marketing guru known for inventing concepts like the Purple Cow and the Ideavirus. His current blog gem invites us to seize the chance to lead, rather than follow - encouraging new ideas or ways of thinking, taking advantage of cheap media and the tremendous talent pool we have out there. In the current climate traditional working practices and ways of thinking simply won't cut it anymore. Working smarter isn't just a nice thing to imagine - it's essential to our survival. The great thing is not everyone will take this to heart and action it - therein lies the opening to seize market share.