Rockstar Boss

RT: @blankslate Dear ♥ FB ♥ friend ♥ thx ♥ for ♥ curing ♥ cancer ♥ w ♥ little hearts & for making me feel like an asshole when I dont mimic ur empty gesture

Using Facebook or Twitter to show what you stand for means nothing unless you actually do something in real life. Do something. Do something positive and with the conviction that will make other people take notice. Anyone who you know or who is following you will care a lot more about that than an empty social media gesture.

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This is hilarious. It’s the first time I had turned a video camera on myself to start video blogging.

Even funnier is that the notes I had prepared were for something completely different. When I started talking I just kept going.

So why post this? We’re all human and I wanted to show you that I am too.

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It makes no sense to me when the words “people” and “resources” are used interchangeably.

People are not resources. They are people. People use resources to get what they need done.

Meetings rooms, tools, web servers, lights, floor space, Flipcams, benefits package, project management, reports, paper, ink, microphones, video cameras, administrative time, fuel, computers, paper, copiers, postage, cellphones and data packages.

All are consumption based resources.

Positive emotion is the single greatest constructive resource you can have. To succeed; use this resource the most.

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Overall, a calm and somewhat promising day. I’m definitely getting better at this.

It takes so long to reach the point where you feel like you’re on top of the situation you are in. For me it took six months. Will the fit still hit the shan? Of course it will. However you know where to go, who to turn to and what to do when it happens. Now you can focus on improvement instead of simply trying to reach stability.

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Change is tough to absorb for anyone. Even the biggest change junkies I know (myself included) have some mental adjustments to make when change happens.

If you’re having to introduce change to a person, team or crowd, here are the steps I’ve seen repeated time and time again in a successful change event:

The first time around
Before you begin, make sure everyone knows what’s about to happen. The easiest way to attract a negative reaction is to keep folk in the dark.

In the first time through a new process, there is always a high degree of discomfort within everyone involved. The new process is brand new and the participants spend the majority of their effort getting familiar with it.

Expect a high degree of negativity, procrastination and confusion. Your role in this is to micro manage ever step of the process. Focus on the process, not the people. Make adjustments to the process only where strictly necessary.

Time two
As uncomfortable as it may have been (and it ALWAYS uncomfortable or you’re not doing it right), round one brought familiarity with the process. The second time through finds the gang knowing the direction but trying to fully figure out their role in it. Or, more specifically, what they want their role to be in the process.

Never underestimate the willingness of individuals to drive toward what they want to do versus what they’re told to do. Observe the people with a magnifying glass and adjust roles accordingly.

Third time lucky
The process is now known. Good. The people who are riding the rails of the process have found their place. Even better. Familiarity kicks in.

The third time around is the first time the change starts to become habit for everyone involved. Participants will start to talk authoritatively on what needs to happen. From here forward you can make refinements and slowly start to retract from the management of the change, process and people and move on to changing the world.

Be the boss throughout. Don’t criticize or join in the negativity. Take the high ground, make it make positive sense for everyone involved.

Sitting on your ass doing nothing will result in nothing. Bring change. Feel uncomfortable. It is up to you and no-one else to make it work.

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The world of convincing a person or a business to buy something from you continues to carry over the hangover of days when being in sales meant going door to door selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedia sets.

In days of obvious value (the 1950’s to mid 1970’s), what you were selling was already clear to your target audience. What it meant to them was inherent in the features of the product. All the benefits were readily apparent.

You showed the goods, people knew what they were buying and you processed the resultant order.

Competition heated up and this lead to a period of augmented value (mid 1970’s to mid 1990’s). Take a base or generic product and take it through three stages with the prospect:

3. the potential product : start the conversation by encompassing all the value propositions that could be imagined
2. the augmented product : narrow to proposing value beyond the customer’s basic wants and raised the bar for competition
1. the expected product : lead toward added value limited to the minimal expectations of the customer

In this scenario the buyers still understand their own problems, but they need help understanding the augmented products being offered. You, the seller, are required to explain, install and start up the ’solution’. To get there a (Powerpoint?) presentation is made, explanations given and the customer is guided toward a purchase.

With the more public and commercial onset of the Internet in the late 90’s the world has changed. A large number of systems are typically required to build almost any business beyond a simple startup.

This leads to a situation where customers know their ultimate goals without clearly understanding which components are important and how existing systems impose unique constraints.

As a seller you now need to provide strong expertise in system and service level components to guide unique, sustainable and measurable answers to your prospects’ business problems.

Selling no longer involves a Powerpoint presentation. Ever. Nor a brochure. A trade show isn’t going to help either because there is an Internet to find out about new products.

You need to listen and suggest. Give frequent change and constant improvement a great big hug because they’re your new friends in selling.

Whether it’s a multi-billion dollar company or one single person, all of these principles apply.

Here is the cheat sheet I’ve compiled over three years as I’ve learned to best prepare for a service sale. Good luck. New Business needs you to solve their problems.

Service Sales Cheat Sheet

For the absolute best reference on complex selling, spend a few hours reading The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale

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To contradict almost every sales intention ever created – if you have something to sell, do not try and sell it to anyone through every medium.

The more channels, partners and mediums you sell through the lower they will drag your selling price down. Resellers and value add supplier channels only serve to serve themselves. They compete against each other and do you no favors in trying to succeed (or even simply stay afloat). Too much of what you have in circulation inevitably makes the price go down.

If you “put out” for everyone who asks, you end up being a cheap slut.

When faced with the risk of reducing your target market into a commodity market, narrow down to an exclusive deal with a single significant player. Create value through scarcity.

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I love America. Any country that has the balls to use the name of the entire continent as its own has to command some attention.

The attitude of the people around me every day is infectious. Even people who are unhappy have their own vision of how things should be and how to get there. Sometimes you have to extract it before it’s seen – but it’s there. There’s not much hopelessness. Sometimes you have to leave the country and return for this to become clear again.

The entrepreneur spirit that is ever present in the USA is contagious. Any idea has legs, and some ideas grow arms and other bits too. I have a few ideas like this.

The challenge is not about being the owner of a good idea. Even a great idea. When you’re in a day job and, in your spare time, have an idea that would make the world a better place for a lot of people (and still be business worthy) – at what point does the idea become a living, breathing reality?

Most importantly: at what point do you quit the day job and throw your heart and soul into making your idea happen? Maybe not as extreme as this – when do you turn a hobby or interest into a full time business?

There is no simple answer. However, always keep in the back of your mind that there are people around you who may depend on you to have a certain quality of life. Don’t let them down. If you’ve no dependents, you are accustomed to certain standards. Do little to risk what you have, but don’t let that stop you making your idea happen.

It is entirely possible to do both, even for a long while (use some sense on whether or not you’re stepping on your current company’s business with your new idea. If yes – get a lawyer to CYA). In the online book Getting Real, there is a wealth of essays, practices and plain common sense to make sure that you do not over exert yourself on any part of making your new idea come to life.

Any risk taken has a benefit and a consequence and the balance depends on how much you apply yourself to minimizing the negative elements.

Do not rush. Don’t grow some and walk out too early from the status quo you enjoy. Push to the limit what can be done without changing the life you have today. You’d be amazed at how much momentum you can gain before having to make cross the dip. And it will be crystal clear when the right time to jump is.

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…however learn from people who live it.

Tim Ferris’ new edition of the Four Hour Work Week is a book worth a day of your time. It’ll change how you approach every day after reading it.

Here are video case studies from a few people who read it and picked themselves off their asses and did something about what Tim has to say (and lives). Each one is worth your time to watch.

Any of these people look familiar? A little bit like you in a few years time?

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