Success!

How do you measure success?
To laugh often and much
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
a redeemed social condition, or a job well done;
To know even one other life has breathed easier
because you have lived.

This is to succeed

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knowledge

Anyone can obtain knowledge but what is more important is what you do with that knowledge once you gain it.

Knowing where and how to obtain information or knowledge is one thing but organising it into a practical plan of action is quite another thing.

According to one theory, there are 2 different kinds of knowledge:

1. Profound Knowledge - Once we understand it and apply it to our lives profound knowledge can have a significant effect on the way we think and the way we behave.
2. Academic Knowledge - Gives wisdom rather then cleverness. If you become wise it is not difficult to become clever as well. owever if you start out being clever, you may have little chance of ever becoming wise because you can so easily get caught in the intelligence trap

What is really important however is that we acquire wisdom. The human brain's storage capacity is estimated at 10 Million units of information compared with the four million units of an advanced computer.

It is a pity that so many people are unaware of their brainpower capacity and so they limit their awareness to their knowledge acquired at school. It is not natural for the brain to decline as you age; and decline takes place because people are programmed to do so as they grow older!

"Power is not money in the hand of a few but information in the hands of many" - Selina Paulo,

Improving Your Gross Margin

Without a doubt the biggest single barrier preventing small business managers from making an acceptable profit is their refusal to charge a price that enables them to achieve it.

You are NOT in business to match the price of your competitors. Your are in business to service your customers.

Studies have shown that factors that influence people to deal with a particular business indicate that product and price are relevant only in 15% of cases.

The only situation where trying to hold or win market share on the basis of price discounting may work is where you have a definite cost advantage (either variable or fixed) over your competitors, and your product or service is one where customers are very price-sensitive.

To illustrate this:

If your gross margin is 30%
you reduce your price by 10%
To makle the same initial profit you would need to increase sales by 50%!!

Conversely

If your gross margin is 30%
If you were to increase price by 10%
Sales would have to drop 25% before your profit would drop below its initial level.

This means you would have to loose 1 out of every 4 customers!

Before you start thinking this doesn't apply to your business, there is in fact no business that doesn't have the potential to command a premium price for its products or services in such a way that the customer perceives added value.

Promote other features and benefits that you can offer your customers.

• Better quality
• Longer warranty
• Satisfaction guarantees
• Greater resale value

It may be that your competitors offer these things too, but unless they also emphasise this in their marketing, how will the customer know?

Your role as a marketer of your business is to create the perception of value and to then back this up with superb service.

Remember, price is only important when all other things are equal!

Steps to Success

It is extremely important that when setting goals for your business these goals need to meet certain criteria.

All goals must be:

1. Quantitative
2. Time Dependent
3. Achievable
   

When setting goals it is important you only tackle what you can actually achieve. Don't take on too much. Taking on more than you can realistically accomplish will just result in:

• Nothing getting achieved within the set period of time and
• Tasks are not completed to the best possible outcome.

Businesses that have great ambitions but never effectively complete anything can create an environment that is demoralising for employees and employers alike.

So here is what to do:

1. Have a clear idea of your goals and projects.
2. Tackle one project at a time.
3. Finish it on time and to the satisfaction of all involved.

Then move on to the next project or goal, and start all over again.

Better than Yesterday Challenge

This is a simple practical concept that allows you to do just one thing better each day. Try it and look at the cumulative effect at the end of the week, month, quarter or year.

I challenge you over the next 12 weeks to look at your sales and customer service results and do something better each week to lift and improve these results.

At your next meeting set individual goals to help you with this and how you will monitor your progress each week.

Here are some useful things to have a look at:

• The number of face to face visits you make/have
• Reducing the number of emails you send instead of communicating directly with people
• Asking for referrals from existing satisfied customers
• Look for new target segments that are more profitable
• looking at your top customers for opportunities to grow
• Making one more call per day
• Asking for the decision timeframe
• Planning more of your calls
• Follow up those direct marketing letters with a phone call asking for an interview
• Focusing on time management qualities, rather than quantity

It is not too difficult to come up with ways to improve your effectiveness if the willingness and focus are there.

5 Ways to Massive Profit

Come hear me talk today about 5 Ways to Massive Profits
3pm today at Wellington BIZZONE


TSB Arena, Queen's Wharf $20 entry fee (inclusive of GST)
Friday 23 July 2010
9:00am - 4.00pm

Join me a BIZZONE Wellington

Thursday Day two at BIZZONE Wellington 22 July 2010

With lots to see, do and learn, its a great place to generate contacts and leads, to make sales, or network with others.

You can fine us at the Action Coach stand where you can chat to one of our coaches about your individual needs or discuss how Action Coach can help your business grow!

Don't Miss out!!! Gaylene, Polly and Simon

Making the most of word of mouth referrals

There is little benefit in working hard and doing a great job in isolation, the secret is to make sure as many people as possible know how great you are!!!

Most people out there would choose to do business with someone who comes recommended by someone they know, therefore knowing how to capitalise on referrals is crucial.

Here are 6 steps you can take to give your referrals a helping hand.

1. Start within your own company, spread the word via existing staff/employees.
2. Make sure what you provide is of value to the business or person you are referred to.
3. Leave extra business cards, or brochures for them to give to others.
4. Find an excuse to get back in touch afterwards, this keeps your business uppermost in the minds of new customers.
5. Pay it forward and pay it back. People are more inclined to refer new business your way if you are referring new business to them.
6. Reward the referral with a discount, commission or a small gift.

Always carry a Pen and Note Book!

Inspiration can come at any time. By capturing those great ideas on paper when they arise you will always have something to fall back on when you are not so motivated. Furthermore by taking notes and jotting down ideas you can get right back to what you were doing without the anxiety that you will forget.

When to Discipline a Worker

When to Discipline a Worker

• Tuesday is the best day for tactful discipline or having a serious heart-to-heart talk with your employees.
• Fridays are bad because the employee can broods over the weekend and can come in bitter and antagonistic on Monday.
• After your tactful discipline or heart-to-heart (on Tuesday), make sure you find a way by Wednesday to indicate there is no bad will.
  

Criticising a Worker

• At times it is necessary to criticise a worker on their methodology, approach, work habits or interpersonal skills. Ensure that this is NOT done in front of other employees as this can undermine their authority and confidence.
• It is a good tactic to prelude your criticism with a compliment regarding your employees work and to follow the criticism with a compliment. This takes the sting out of the criticism and provides some balance – not everything they do is bad!

Positive Thoughts

Positive Thoughts without Positive Actions leaves you with Positively Nothing!

FOCUS

FOCUS

Follow One Course Until Successful