Attention MN Business Owners…. Does Your Product or Service “Make or Break” Your Customers?

Creating compelling value.  Are you a transformational company?

 

Are you offering compelling value or just another ‘me too’ service?  Can you pick a client in an industry you serve and make them the dominant industry player because of your product or service? 

 

I know of a company http://www.internetbusinessseo.com that you might think of as a Search Engine Optimization company.  In reality, they decide who becomes the player in their industry because they determine who is ‘found’ on the Internet.  One of their customers is a roofing company.  If you look for roofing in a particular geography, you’ll find this client at the top of the search engines.

What does this mean for the client? Bottom line, more closed business.  

 

Internet Business SEO is a transformational company because their customers become industry leaders.  Who would you rather hire… a website developer who can give you a pretty website or someone who can deliver prospects to your business via the Internet?  Look over your suppliers and vendors.  Who among them have come to you with a compelling service to make your company the leading player in your industry? If you’re like most companies, the answer is ‘no one’. 

 

Can you pick a company and make them the dominant industry player by using your product or service?  If not, what changes or additions would you make to become the ‘king maker’?  When you’re the one that can ‘make or break’ your customers, you’re definitely not competing on price.  Even better, you get to choose who you want to work with, people who deserve to work with you.  Train your sales team to deliver this compelling message each time they meet with a prospect.  Sales becomes much, much easier.

 

Once you determine how you add compelling value to your customer – work on how your services make and create entire industries.  This allows you to achieve incredible and sustainable growth in your company regardless of the market trends because you’re irresistible.

 

Alan Hill is a business and executive coach in Minneapolis, Minnesota with ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching company.  If you would like to learn more about him or to contact him for a private consultation, check out his website at http://actioncoach.com/alanhill  

 

Attention Minneapolis Business Owners: Are You Ready To Succeed In Business Without Fighting the Competition?

 

Recently I saw a CEO of a national coffee chain claim that his company’s market position was all about the beans – in other words, all about the taste of the coffee.  Unfortunately for him, his competition has also staked out that territory.  Even worse, a quick trip to any coffee shop reveals that customers are there for the environment and experience, not the coffee.  From business movers and shakers to teens who are looking for a place to hang out, coffee is just rental fee for the use of the space. 

 

Think about it – when was the last time you saw someone in a coffee shop actually savoring the taste of their coffee?  Perhaps you’ve noticed as I have that no-one curls up to their coffee cup.

 

So, why is this important?  Because great tasting coffee is not a differentiator.

 

This CEO is about to spend a LOT of money trying to buy his way into the minds of people who’ve already made a decision.  And he’s going to try to do it based on parameters that his potential customers already expect.  By the way, I’ve tried his coffee and he’s right, they do have good coffee – just like everyone else, including McDonalds.

 

I asked myself why do I go to a coffee shop?  It’s because I’m meeting someone there.  So the coffee is backdrop.  While I don’t want to meet someone where the coffee is tastes bad, I’m never there because of their coffee.  It seems some are there to meet others, like me.  Others are there for a retreat – reading a book or newspaper, or doing work on their computer, but I noticed no one was enjoying the fact that their coffee was excellent.

 

So I started to wonder what would make this a different, better experience for me?  What would make me drive out of my way to meet people at a particular shop?  Well, if I’m there to get work done, what about a mini office supply store?  Or if I’m there to ‘retreat’ then stock the latest books (audio and paperback)?  Or what if they had computer support help?  A Geek onsite to fix computers and sell you software, downloaded on your computer right there.  That’s what I’d like.  A paring of Kinko’s and coffee.  Ah, but see, this is not about the coffee is it? 

 

I can hear this CEO now, ‘That’s straying away from our core competency and our brand identity’.  You know what, it is.  It’s ‘straying toward’ your customers and away from a brand that says ‘me too’.  Maybe Kinko’s should think about adding coffee to their stores.  That should do wonders for increasing their store traffic.

 

So how about you?  What business are you in?  Is your brand identity saying ‘me to’ or does it say ‘I know why you’re here, I know what you want, and we’re the only ones who give it to you’?

 

You should not be expected to spend a lot in advertising and marketing promotions to get this type of compelling market position.  This is the real power creating a unique brand identity.  And you don’t have to fight anyone to get the market share you deserve. 

 

Alan Hill is a business and executive coach in Minneapolis, Minnesota with ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching company.  If you would like to learn more about him or to contact him for a private consultation, check out his website at http://actioncoach.com/alanhill.

Crisis Equals Danger Plus Opportunity (C=D+O)

I’ve been told the Chinese ideogram (or word, if you prefer) for crisis is made up of the symbols Danger and Opportunity.  This is similar to the old saying “there’s a silver lining in every cloud’.

This didn’t really ‘click’ with me until I realized this is an algebra equation.  Here’s what I mean: if Crisis = Danger + Opportunity…

 

…Then wouldn’t Danger = Crisis – Opportunity?

In other words, if there was no opportunity in a crisis, that would be dangerous, right?

 

Then what is Opportunity? A crisis without danger. (Opportunity = Crisis – Danger).

Think of that… how many times have you heard this story… something in the news about some major crisis and then someone was ‘smart enough’ to profit from the situation?  They were able to look at the situation objectively and determine a way to minimize the risk to themselves and for others.

 

Why wasn’t that you?  Probably because you weren’t alert to look for the way to minimize (or eliminate) the danger to create an opportunity.

 

I first realized the power of this formula when I read a book about George Soros, the international financier.  One of the themes throughout his book was his approach to situations.  He always looked for the opportunity by minimizing the danger.  For example, he watched as international banks loaned money to many countries in South America.  The ‘fatal flaw’ he saw was these banks were crediting the cash from other banks in those countries’ ‘ability to pay’ calculations, and loaning more money.  This was a danger for the banks.  How did he find the opportunity?  By betting against the stock values of those banks by using a ‘put’ stock option strategy.  Imagine if someone was obligated to pay you for a stock that went down in value.  This is a stock market instrument that allows George (and you) the right to ‘put’ the stock to someone at an agreed upon price, even if that price is lower than expected.  When their stock price went down, he made an incredible profit.  If you want more info on stock option strategies, check out Wade Cook’s books, they’re a plain talk explanation on how to use them.

 

Another example from one of my clients – They have to shut off the air conditioning and inconvenience the homeowner for 2 to 4 hours while they clean their ducts (Danger).  Instead I had them create an opportunity by partnering with local merchants – nail salons, hair dressers, spas, etc. and they create a pamper package.  Now when the homeowner returns my client has cleaned their ducts and returned the air climate to a comfortable temperature and the client has been on a pampering expedition.  Meanwhile some lucky local merchants have the benefit of potentially getting a new client from a great referral source.

 

Practical exercise:  Think of a current crisis situation in your business, personal or work life.  What is the danger?  What is the opportunity? How can you minimize the danger and take advantage of the opportunity?  By asking these questions of yourself, you’ll make things work when others only see a crisis. 

 

Perhaps for example your company is receiving negative press on the Internet for your customer service policies.  Is there an opportunity to change your customer service approach and create a unique niche for your company?  Target stores did this (though it didn’t take negative press to do it).  If Target sells it (or sold it) they’ll take your return even without a receipt.

 

Alan Hill is a business and executive coach with ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching company, ActionCOACH.  If you would like to learn more about him, check out his website at http://actioncoach.com/alanhill.