by Doug Gray | Jul 25, 2013 | Business, change, Coaching, digital, global, Leadership, Managers, Resources, Sales, strengths, Success, talent, talent assessment
I do not know the answer for you. Yet. And it would be presumptuous or disingenuous if I offered a trite response.
Instead I will give you some facts. Then the process. Then what I do know.
Many studies confirm that your cost of good sold (COGS) is 7x higher for a new customer than for a returning customer. So you should focus on providing new value to old customers.
There is a former client who comes to mind. He happened to be a 30 year old financial advisor. But the story is relevant for most of us in specialized fields. He wanted to grow his business. After 3 years he had exhausted leads from his friends and family. He had networked so often that people avoided him at chamber and business development groups and even at Rotary meetings. I asked him, “What kinds of clients do you want to serve?” and “Who is likely to retire in 10 years with a strong book of business that needs to sell the bottom portion to a younger professional like yourself?” and “How can you guarantee that you provide excellent service to that older partner or lead source?” As you can imagine, he had a new partner and provided tremendous value for that person’s clients for many years. However, his answer is not your answer.
I do know the answer for hundreds of other business leaders who are former clients. Since 1997 I have consulted and coached business leaders in manufacturing, health care, education, HR, safety, technology, finance and accounting. I have guaranteed results for clients ranging from executive teams at F500 companies to small business owners struggling to make ends meet. I can provide best-of-class solutions or referrals to other consultants who can likely help you solve your problems.
I do know the process. I do know what works.
Here you go: you need to 1) define the problems, 2) provide solutions, 3) model accountability. I call this the “3A Coaching process.“
These “A letter” words are Assessments, Constructive Actions, and Accountability. Too many “coaches” stop after providing assessments, or constructive actions, because they do not know how to provide individual or team accountability. That’s about as smart as running 2/3 of a marathon and stopping. Make sure that you hire a coach who will get you past your finish line goals.
You are probably struggling with the following challenges:
people challenges
strategy challenges
execution challenges
cash and financial challenges
Typically, I define the problems using organizational and individual assessments. I determine where you are making money. And where you are losing money.
I may ask the three big questions: 1. can you define the problem? 2. do you need to solve that problem? 3. who can solve that problem? In today’s market, the buyer-seller dance has evolved into a transparent process of answering those 3 questions. Then adopting the best solution. Vendors are secondary.
Then I provide a host of best-in-class solutions for you to sell more to your existing customers. They already know you. They are inclined to purchase more products and services.
Then I model accountability so that you move beyond good intentions. I want you to sell more services.
Ready to talk? Call us soon at 704.995.6647 or contact us here. Once we determine your needs, then we can define a more specific answer to this question. Schedule your initial consultation here.
We all need to sell more to our existing clients.
What are you waiting for?
Download this list of services and investment levels now:
by Doug Gray | Jul 25, 2013 | Business, change, Coaching, family, global, Leadership, Managers, money, Sales, strengths, Success, talent
This is a common question. With both a simple answer and a complex answer.
The simple answer: Serve others well. Provide tremendous value.
The complex answer has at least the following 5 points.
1. Choose a BIG WANT. Humans are aspirational- we aspire to do constructive work. We aspire to build families, companies, wealth, happiness. Our aspirations are reflected in art, architecture, net worth, hobbies, etc. However, too many people lose their focus. Perhaps you are representative. As a child you may have had aspirations defined by others; such as get a job, or go to college or take care of your siblings. As a young adult you may have had aspirations defined by you; such as, build a happy family, serve others, develop my business. And all of us struggle. Challenges exist. Suffering exists. In response, we need to choose an aspiration that is BIG. When we choose a BIG WANT, not a small want such as material comfort, we become leaders. The bigger our want, the bigger our impact as leaders. A key coaching question is “What is your BIG WANT?”
2. Choose a GREAT TEAM. Humans are social creatures. We evolve as a result of strong relationships. Selling is based on strong relationships. We can assess the market needs. We can assess the strengths of others. And we can build a great team to respond to that market need. The most successful leaders have at least 6 people on their team who create creative tension and focus on results. You may need to hire or develop a great team. A key coaching question is “Who can you add to your team?”
3. Choose constructive DAILY ACTIVITIES. Leadership is not an occasional event. Leadership is an ongoing process of daily activity. Choose your activities carefully. You have access to more digital information than ever in recorded history. You should know WHAT works: Good diet. Regular exercise. Focused activity. Finding problems. Solving problems. Serving others. Tracking activity. A key coaching question is “How are you certain that you are making constructive daily activities?”
4. Measure your Key Performance Indicators. KPIs are used in all businesses. What we measure leads to results. Sadly, too few people measure their leadership efforts. For many years, I have provided scoresheets, templates, spreadsheets to help others measure their KPIs. A little structure helps. Daily and weekly accountability sessions help. Metrics define the score. They are data points. Like a line on computer software, KPIs determine your impact as a leader. A key coaching question is “What KPIs do you need to measure today?”
5. Remain humble. I have had countless great teachers, from the finest universities on the planet. Clients are the most instructive teachers. Children are a close second. All constructive leaders in recorded history shared the same trait: we are all humble. A key coaching question is “How are you showing your humility?”
If I had more time I might add more to this list…
Bottom line: YOU can save time and money. YOU can be a smarter leader today.
We all need coaches at times. Call me at 704.995.6647 or subscribe now for details. Or schedule your initial consultation here.
What are you waiting for?
Download this list of services and investment levels now:
by Doug Gray | Jul 24, 2013 | Business, change, Coaching, Employment, global, Leadership, Managers, Sales, strengths, Success, Uncategorized
I do not know the answer for you. Yet.
I do know the answer for hundreds of other business leaders. Since 1997 I have consulted and coached business leaders in manufacturing, health care, education, HR, safety, technology, finance and accounting. I have guaranteed results for clients ranging from executive teams at F500 companies to small business owners struggling to make ends meet.
I do know the process. I do know what works.
It costs much more money, time, and energy to attract new customers than it does to upsell to existing customers. That is a fact. Expenses vary from 2-7x the cost of upselling an existing customer. Acquisition costs can be reduced when we work together.
You will need to 1) define the problems, 2) provide solutions, 3) model accountability. I call this the 3A Coaching Process.
You are probably struggling with the following challenges:
- people challenges
- strategy challenges
- execution challenges
- cash and financial challenges
Typically, I define the problems using organizational and individual assessments. I determine where you are making money. And where you are losing money. I determine how you need to present solutions to your target markets.
Then I provide a host of best-in-class solutions for you to sell more to your potential new customers. They must learn about you. You must provide tremendous value. (This website is an example.) When your prospects receive tremendous value, then they will be inclined to purchase your products and services.
Then we model accountability so that you move beyond good intentions. We want you to sell more services.
We have hundreds of executive consultants and behavioral coaches, with expertise in sales, so we can help you immediately.
Call Doug Gray, PCC, at 704.995.6647 or contact us to help you sell more of your services to your existing customers. Schedule your initial consultation here.
What are you waiting for?
Download this list of services and investment levels now:
by Doug Gray | Jul 22, 2013 | change, digital, Employment, global, Leadership, Managers, money, Resources, Sales, Success, talent
Open your eyes! How much time do you spend with millenials? Not only do millenials consume the most products, they also expect results. They are 50% of the workforce in 2018.
To ignore millenials is to commit some form of suicide.
Here are 6 steps for you and your company:
1. Mobile web-based experiences are a $10 billion dollar industry, with over 7 billion phones. We now have nearly 4x more mobile browsers than the number of desk-based browsers. Follow the numbers. Follow the money.
2. We can provide emotionally-provocative experiences that combine digital and physical activities. Here are several examples. When you go to the zoo you can now rent a GoPro or Segway to make your experience unique. When you go to a park you can use your mobile device to geocache. You can have a “Yelp Night” and move from restaurant to bar in any unfamiliar city. When you go to a conference you can tweet about and score the presenters, in real time. However, at most amusement parks and concerts we are not doing anything about the visitors who are standing in a line (bored) or tweeting or Face-booking their friends to “stay away” from your business or event. As a more costly example, we are not doing anything about low compliance with incentive reward programs. In fact, industrial organizational researchers tell us that some 35% of the US workforce is not engaged in their jobs. We sorely lack emotionally-provocative experiences that combine digital and physical activities.
3. In response to these market needs, I have developed a mobile web-based app that can guarantee engagement for any clients. This app enables clients to have a pre-visit and post-visit experience that integrates their event with any content. The event becomes a process. For instance, if a client wants to assign pre-visit training or reading content, the app can assess their engagement. Using a leader board and social media, they can increase accountability. They can market and promote the company. They can include video and photo uploads. They can earn points by doing more activities. They can return to the venue. The app can be delivered in hours, under any name. And it can be scaled for any sized organization.
4. Large corporate clients expect global delivery capacity. Every successful Free Agent has a network of alliance partners. The myth of the solo-preneur as a lone wolf is dead. For instance, the largest provider of leadership development coaches is www.coachsource.com, founded by Brian Underhill and Marshall Goldsmith. Marshall is described as the #1 leadership consultant in the U.S., according to Harvard Business Review. I am the southeast engagement manager, and represent 1,200 leadership coaches in 60 countries. We can provide expert leadership coaching to any clients. A bold claim, but a well validated claim. We can deliver the value of global leadership coaching to your current clients. And we can design programs that include a cycle of regular visits to any location with reinforcements from the very best leadership coaches. Those individual and group agendas typically yield a 500% ROI.
Digital and Global solutions not only satisfy millenials. They lead to results. They are required solutions.
If you are a solo-preneur, develop strong alliance with the smartest partners that you can find. Today.
If you are a business leader, call Doug at 615.236.9845 If I cannot help you I will find someone who can. Today.
Comments?
by Doug Gray | Jul 9, 2013 | Business, change, Coaching, strengths, Success, talent
When I studied decision-making in college, the thinking was linear. Stimulus A caused response B. I wonder, if have we have learned much since then… My undergraduate psychology classes were at Hamilton College, the alma mater of B.F. Skinner, a leader of behaviorism.
My graduate classes in developmental psychobiology were at Dartmouth College, the alma mater of Dr. Seuss and countless global leaders of business and industry.
Recently I read about neural clusters in our brains. Imagine several constellations or galaxies of brainwave activity. Both chemical and electrical activity. Like constellations or galaxies in the solar systems. Now imagine that these neural clusters are both elastic and dynamic. In other words, when we reinforce certain pathways or patterns (called functionalism) then we strengthen neuronal pathways. And when we learn new knowledge (like a foreign language or an insight) then we strengthen the neural constellation so that it can sort through the past memories (called schemas) to create some new sorting system (called data.) We know that some 60% of our behavior is patterned responses, monitored in the basal ganglia. And we know that most new knowledge causes stress.
No wonder humans resist change. Change, defined as any external new stimulus, forces us to re-sort data. Change requires the brain to work in new ways. The larger the organization, the more we resist change.
When faced with decision making options we often think of risk taking vs. risk avoidance. As if the world were so linear… My masters research on risk-taking behavior found that risk-taking is complex, like so many other human behaviors.
What if, instead, we adopted a non-linear view of decision making?
My revised model (of the moment, subject to change) looks something like this:
- We perceive Stimulus A
- We sort through a neural constellation of jumbled data, memories, images, schemas, etc
- We adopt a positive feeling that we have an infinite number of responses
- We select a Response B because it promotes some social good
The positive psychology movement has done extensive research in related fields. Yesterday I learned that the most popular course at Harvard College, led by Shawn Achor, is called “The Happiness Advantage.” Read Martin Seligman. He led a reversal in the American Psychological Association within the last 20 years- away from mental illness and toward mental health.
The coaching client who just left my office is adopting a similar approach.
How about you? How do you describe change?
by Doug Gray | Jul 8, 2013 | book review, Business, change, Coaching, strengths, Success, talent
I wrote this book in 2007 when preparing for a relocation. Yesterday I re-read chapter 1. It provoked me, and it should provoke you.
Here you go:
Passionate Action, Chapter 1
To order the full book, go to https://actionlearnin.wpengine.com/main/page_products_products.php
Please forward this chapter to anyone who may need to be provoked!
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