Are We Really Doing Well?
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in this issue
There Are A Lot Of Questions
Three Helpful Steps
"Misfortune can force you into doing things you should be doing anyway. Lessons come from adversity. Anything can happen to anyone... You can find a new lease on life - more meaning than you thought possible in simple things... Let go. Live in the moment. Go Forward!"
The summer is here and my turmoil continues, but life moves on. I have done some sales training recently for some local home improvement companies which pushed me in to writing the following articles. In addition I have been working with a group that has developed a fantastic new MLM program that has taken me to NY, CT, MD, NJ, DE and of course PA.
For those of you who are in business, don't believe what you hear or read, there is plenty of business out there and people are spending.
If we're so good...
Then Why Aren't We Doing So Well?
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If we're so good...
Then Why Aren't We Doing So Well?
By: Ed Ellis
Like many businesses, you're doing everything you can to stay ahead of your competition. You're developing new processes, training key people on how to be more efficient in their jobs, streamlining your products and services so they are at their peak, and enhancing your marketing department so your business can soar. On the surface, business seems great.
However, despite all the planning, your true business results may paint a different picture. Sales are down, customers aren't staying loyal, and layoffs may be on the horizon. If you're so good, then why isn't your business doing so well?
For most businesses facing these challenges, the answer lies in one key question: What tasks take up the majority of your time? If you spend most of your time on processes-making things smoother, more efficient, and streamlining the business-you may be in for a surprise. Because the very tasks that you think will make you and your business better, can actually hinder your success.
Why? The more time you spend on processes, the farther your customers move from your mind. And the more involved you get with processes, the easier it is to forget that your true job is to make your customers' lives easier, not yours. The processes you develop should make it easier for others to do business with you, not for you. For example, instead of spending your time creating a phone script for your employees to use with each caller, you need to focus on the outcome of each call-the customer service that should be given, the product knowledge your employees need, and the training employees should get to ensure they handle each call in a professional and efficient manner. These are the aspects that will make customers want to call you again.
The First Step: Determine Your Outcome So Your Company Stands Out
To make your company stand out and thrive in today's "me" oriented society, this paradigm shift from developing processes to focusing on the intended outcome must occur. If not, your business will not survive the long-term.
The first step is to detail what outcome you want your business to serve. For example, why should a client choose you over a competitor? Or, as an employee, how can you judge that you have done a good day's work? What outcome should you and your employees be aligned with?
If you can't answer those questions in your company, you are probably floundering. The market's momentum may be carrying your company today, but what will happen tomorrow?
The Banking Dilemma: Process versus Outcome
One main industry that has focused on process and has forgotten about the outcome is the banking industry, which is struggling to reinvent itself today. In virtually every area of the country, banks are trying everything they can think of to attract new customers, from implementing casual sweatshirt days to giving free gifts with new accounts to offering free refreshments on Fridays. While all these ideas give customers a positive impression of the bank, none are designed with the outcome in mind, which is to develop a lasting relationship with customers.
Talk to any bank manager and you'll hear the same thing: "We used to be the center of the community. Everyone came to us to get loans. Our people could just sit in the office and decide how to process loans. We basically were order takers. Today we have to go out and get sales. We have to compete against credit card companies, and quite frankly, our people don't really know how to sell. How can we get back on track?"
Unfortunately, most banks these days focus on how to process a loan and on how to make things run smoother in the bank. They neglect to focus on the outcome-that they are in the position of helping people securely grow their assets and contribute to a better life. In fact, if banks had kept focused on the customer, they would have gotten in to debit cards and ATM transactions much sooner. They would also realize that people need to manage their assets, and trust departments would restructure to maximize impact.
But banks, are just one example of an industry that became focused on process rather than outcome and it came back to bite them. It happens every day in every industry. If your team is not working well and you're not meeting your business goals, chances are you don't have an outcome that everyone is aligned with-you're lacking your passion statement.
Passion Statements Drive Outcomes If you find yourself in similar situation, ask yourself this question: "What is my business's passion statement?" Or, "What is that one statement that I can align with every day that tells me I am doing a good job-that one statement that tells me what the outcome is that we are working for?"
If you're like the thousands of other professionals, you probably don't have a passion statement, nor do you know how to develop one. You may even believe that your company's vision and/or mission statements fit the bill, but they're actually three separate and distinct business statements.
The Second Step: Why a Passion Statement is Necessary?
What is the difference between a vision statement, a mission statement, and a passion statement?
A vision statement is the direction your company is going in. It answers the question, "Why do we exist?"
A mission statement is what you will do or what you will deliver to customers in order to reach your vision.
Finally, a passion statement is the one thing employees need to focus on that will automatically align their behavior and choices so they fulfill the company's mission and vision statements.
For example, here are the three statements as related to a tele-messaging company:
Vision Statement: To be the call center for busy professionals across the world.
Mission Statement: To deliver excellent tele-messaging service for our professional clients. We will do this in a profitable, courteous and professional manner with motivated employees.
Passion Statement: Your best friend's on the line.
Most mission and vision statements are too convoluted for the average person to remember. They don't tell you how to behave in order to achieve the results. The passion statement, on the other hand, is a simple message to remember and act upon. It is so simple in fact, that organizations that have implemented one have seen substantial sales increases, smoother operations, and lower turnover.
The Third Step: Create Your Passion Statement Today.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to tell if you are missing your outcome. First, you need to determine whether or not you have a passion statement. To do so, answer these five quick questions:
1.Can every employee work independently without a lot of supervision?
2. Can you stop any person in your company and ask, "Why is our business in existence today? What do we do for customers?" and always get the same answer?
3. Is the statement "we do not have any turf wars" true for your company?
4. Does every person in your company feel they can do what is right to correct a situation, or does your company rely on a "procedure manual" on how to handle situations?
5. Does your management team spend most of their time planning the future and not putting out every day crisis?
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then your company is sitting well and is clearly positioned. You probably have a company that runs like clockwork and people enjoy working there.
However, if you're like most companies, you probably answered no to at least some of the questions. If so, you need to regroup, carefully look at your company, and develop your passion statement. Chances are that you have become bogged down with rules and regulations that have moved you away from your main desired outcome.
To create your company's own passion statement, follow these simple steps:
1.First, look at what your vision and mission statements are.
2. Then look at the traits, skills, and values you need to see in employees in order to fulfill the vision and mission statements.
3. List the challenges and frustrations employees are facing that are stopping them from fulfilling the vision and mission statements.
4. Write out what your company would be like if everything was running like clockwork. What would the atmosphere be like? Who would be your customers? What kinds of things would your customers say and think about you? What would life be like for employees?
5. Lay all of these images out on white sheets across the room. Find the synergy that connects them all and start brainstorming your passion statement from there. Remember that your goal is to design a passion statement that gives you the behavior you need to see in order to achieve your vision and mission statements.
To get a true sense of your company's passion statement, refocus as a group immediately and determine what is important for your company to achieve. What is the main goal you have for each of your customers? What perception do you want your customers to have of you? What kind of work ethic do you want to instill in your employees? What can you do to make doing business with you easier? When you identify the answers to these questions, you can begin to develop your passion statement and get the New Year off to a great start.
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Breaking Through Barriers
by: Edward Ellis
How often have you procrastinated about starting something important, creating unnecessary anxiety and worry, when it would have been a lot simpler and less stressful to just do it and get it out of the way? For many people the answer is probably more times than they care to remember.
What causes us to know what we should do and yet we seem almost incapable of taking that first step towards accomplishing it? The answer is that our conscious mind is like the tip of the iceberg, with the vast majority of our patterns and beliefs residing in the 90% of our mind that we term the subconscious. Most of these patterns and beliefs are established in early childhood, when we have limited coping strategies available to us, and these limiting patterns are then replayed over and over each time the subconscious mind perceives a similar event to the initial one in which the pattern/belief was established. We get stuck in a groove that just keeps getting deeper and deeper, unless we learn to view our behaviors' objectively and break free of our limiting patterns and beliefs.
In the procrastination example above, common subconscious reasons for not starting something include:
· Fear of being adversely judged
· Fear of Failure
· Fear of the Unknown
· Perfectionist tendencies, and interestingly enough
· Fear of Success
Some people are even very talented subconsciously at manifesting illness as a way of avoiding responsibility or as a subconscious excuse not to challenge themselves.
CLUES you can get about those limiting beliefs, patterns and behaviors' still operating repeatedly in your subconscious mind since childhood include:
1. Your relationships with other people
Do you repeatedly draw the same kind of people into your life, for instance, ones that don't value, respect or nurture you? Hard as it may be for you to accept, the mirror is being held up for you to look at yourself and see how you are not valuing, respecting or nurturing yourself. Each of these painful relationships that you draw into your life is an opportunity to reflect your inner beliefs about yourself. Usually the buttons others push in us the most are indicating what we most need to change in ourselves. For instance, if you say to your partner, "I deserve someone better than you", then consciously you may believe that, but subconsciously you have attracted exactly the partner you deserve according to your subconscious belief system about yourself.
Sure it is easier to blame and shame others for our own inadequacies and to be in denial that we need to work on ourselves, but this will just keep us stuck repeating the old destructive patterns.
What you accuse the other person of in the heat of an argument is often the very thing you need to look at in yourself. "But, but..." I hear you protest. Just try to observe yourself objectively next time you argue with someone. Often the mere act of being the observer is the trigger you need to become aware of your subconscious beliefs and the ridiculousness of the argument.
2. What you say to yourself when you are feeling really down
Sometimes when we get to the point where it all becomes a bit much too cope with, we lose our emotional equilibrium and start to berate ourselves, liberally pouring out limiting beliefs from that reservoir of the subconscious mind. In such a situation write these down, as these are the core limiting beliefs we still have about ourselves, no matter how much we might try to deny it. Common subconscious beliefs that come up at such times may include, "I am useless / worthless / a failure. I'll never be any good at anything." These are the Biggies that subconsciously sabotage our efforts to move forward in life and reach our full potential.
3. Negative self-talk
Ever caught yourself thinking "What an idiot!" after you made a simple mistake? This is an example of negative self-talk, which is a reflection of your beliefs at the subconscious level.
Once again, intend to be the observer and notice when you spontaneously have one of these negative thoughts. You may then like to view yourself as a gardener, pulling out the negative thoughts like weeds from your mind so that more positive thoughts can flourish. Practicing this technique consistently will dissolve a whole lot of previously subconscious limiting beliefs.
AWARENESS THROUGH OBSERVATION is the key to breaking through and dissolving limiting and outmoded beliefs, habits and patterns. You can do much of this work for yourself. To make the process even quicker and easier you may like to try Hypnotherapy to identify limiting subconscious beliefs and patterns and their origins and then experience a powerful resolution of them.
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