Walking The Narrow Road Marketing and Spiritual Instruction for Christians in Business ppt

The future belongs to those people who can form relationships, exceed customer expectations, connect, and tell relevant stories.. He valued and maintained quality relationships above eve

Walking The Narrow Road Marketing and Spiritual Instruction for Christians in Business

By Josh KilenPublished By JoshKilen at SmashwordsCopyright 2011 Josh KilenAll rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author

Smashwords Edition, License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Table of Contents

The Lonely Life of a Christian in Business

Business and Marketing

The Church and Christianity

Writing, Publishing, and Extra Thoughts

Conclusion

The Lonely Life of a Christian in Business

Life’s not easy being a Christian, holding on to those ideals, and still running a profitable business In fact, as Christians we are held to higher standards and hamstrung in ways that our secular counterparts would never understand Where they can cheat a little, the Spirit inside of us will accept only honesty Where they can bend the rules, we must walk the straight and narrow Where they can feel justified in closing a lop-sided deal, we must love our

promises The future belongs to those people who can form relationships, exceed customer expectations, connect, and tell relevant stories

In short, the future belongs to the Christian Business Owner

We have a model for all those things, the man we claim to follow, Jesus himself He valued and maintained quality relationships above everything (with his relationship to His Father being the most important), He consistently exceeded his followers expectations on things that mattered, and He communicated mainly in story through parables

As Christians, or literally followers of Christ, we are called to emulate these traits, to walk in his steps as Peter says in his second epistle If you do, then as a Christian Businessperson you are in prime shape to outlast your secular competition and grow your business for the

Kingdom

Because our faith and our commercial lives cannot be separate, we can’t have a serious

discussion about business without also addressing our relationship with God and His people The spiritual life connects deeply to the rest of our actions, and we need to feed that part of us

in addition to learning new ways of doing business

This is not your typical business book Not only is it directed at Christians in Business (a rarity due to prejudices in the church) but it’s also structured as devotionals rather than as chapters It’s my firm belief that you will be better served by reading one section every week than by reading the whole thing at one sitting

So read one entry, put it down, then meditate on it for a while Read, reflect, re-read, then put

it into action If you are looking for quick answers or easy solutions, Jesus never promised that and neither do I But if you dedicate yourself to change then I guarantee you will succeed.You’ve already taken the first step by purchasing this book, I believe you can make it the rest

of the way

Part One: Business and Marketing

Introduction to a New Way of Thinking About Your Business

There’s something coming on the horizon, a revolution A battle between those who do

business for the transaction and those who do business for relationships Only one side can win

Business as it has been conducted relies on four pillars:

1 Thinking about people as numbers and transactions

2 Giving customers and employees the absolute minimum required, finding their

expectations and delivering just enough to not disappoint

3 Talking about your own interests, incessantly, in order to make people listen

4 Since no one listens when you talk about yourself, you have to rely on psychological tricks and manipulations tactics in order to make people hear you

Regardless of the industry or the business, I see these ideas being the basis for almost every business decision made

As hurtful as it is, it has worked for over a hundred years

Your conscience knows there’s a different way Most of us know what it is but we don’t have the words for it We don’t want to treat people in-humanly, but we can’t think of what else to do

Do you think your customers are immune to the way you run your business? Do you think that they want to be treated like transactions? Do you think that they care? All signs point to “yes” and as the field for choice opens up even more (mostly because of the internet), your

customers will make the best choice they can They will choose relationships

How do we save ourselves?

You cannot just get by anymore, you can't just treat your customers as means to an end

Instead you have to think of your customers as an end Cultivate quality relationships with them

In order for your business to survive, you will have to give your customers more than they

expected, every time

And, if you want to just tell them what you think is important, only talking about your

interests and values, you'll turn them off and won't be as effective as connecting and bonding through shared values

Finally, persuasion and psychological tricks won't make a significant difference in the future Instead, you will have to tell stories and more importantly, stories that make the customers want to share in the story that you are telling

But it all begins with thinking of and treating people like people, and not numbers

The following devotional style articles will point you in the direction of a new way to think about business and customer relationships

More About Relationships and Transactions

You hate marketing and I want to tell you that’s okay

You don’t trust business anymore, and I think that’s great

You have this pain in your gut when you make a deal and it bothers you when you sell a

contract

That pain is wonderful

Those feelings are signs that you're still alive, that you're human and breathing

That you want to live

The acts of marketing, business, and signing contracts aren’t inherently bad or evil In fact they are some of the most beautiful and complicated human relationships we engage in

The problems come when we think about relationships as transactions

Please be honest with yourself Anyone in business who has sold anything has a moment where they hated themselves At least once And the reason you hated yourself? Because you focused on the transaction instead of the relationship It grates against our souls and if we give in to the temptation once, the next comes so much more easily

People in general do not trust businesses

The lack of trust isn’t caused by MCI or Enron or Lehman Brothers, people don’t trust because businesses don’t treat them like people They feel like transactions made to serve the

corporate interests

Now, the corporations don’t see it that way, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there We live in a world where the transaction trumps the relationship, only because most businesses are not designed to cultivate relationships, only to streamline transactions We make sure that the transaction costs less and less, keeping the price the same This practice, while monetarily beneficial to the corporation, has the added problem of devaluing the relationship with the client over time And the relationship is all the client cares about

And relationships are becoming everything

Can’t you feel deep down that business needs to change? Maybe you’ve written about it, or spoke with a friend, or just felt it in your gut You have to see things are changing This is how Much as been made of relationships in business during the past 20 years But I think that they all miss three vital points:

The first is that this is a battle, a war between ideologies The fight is between those who want

to blank out, cut costs, treat people like numbers, and “just run their business” and those who understand that with so many choices in the marketplace, people are looking for companies that are willing to give them a relationship Clients recognize that a relationship is an asset, that it’s difficult to provide They will reward you for that

This is a war, between businesses that simply want to sell stuff and those that value and

cultivate relationships

The second vital point that this movement for relationships has not latched on to in any

meaningful way, is that the human need for relationships is natural and rational It makes a

lot of sense But rarely do we delve into the psychology that underlies our basic motivations and ideals I think it’s knowable, you can understand it, and it will make the bigger picture so much clearer And clarity makes the details shine I think that this has been generally ignored

in the past because it’s pretty difficult to talk about, and not at all easy to illustrate

A third vital point missed, mostly because the underlying causes were unknown or ignored, is the impact of storytelling on communication We tell stories, to ourselves as expectations of things to come or past, and to others in order to convey information It’s lovely that

storytelling is emerging as a qualified topic of conversation, but I rarely see any information that goes beyond reciting some information you can find with a quick Google search Typically

it involves some variation of the three act structure, maybe some hero’s journey mixed in, but there’s a much deeper level that will allow you to communicate more effectively more often.Ultimately, if you decide to operate relationally, there will be serious consequences for you personally and your business You will have more clients, you will make more money, you will create an amazing reputation But I wonder if those will matter to you anymore? Because when you start cultivating relationships beyond creating transactions, you begin to care more about relationships That may have unintended consequences

Questions

Are you ready for this revolution?

Will you be able to make the change?

How will your business look if you sincerely and completely focused on cultivating

relationships with your customers and clients?

Why Tricking People Won’t Work for Your Business

I think we can all agree that businesses should not try to sell things that people do not really want

Unfortunately that’s how people traditionally use marketing; to identify what people will be most susceptible to buying and then how they can be persuaded to buy it

This marketing model is not only outdated, it’s dangerous

Marketing Is Not Really Connecting

The danger comes from trying to sell at the expense of the person Isn’t that why people don’t trust marketing? The customer automatically assumes that the business doesn’t have their best interests at heart

I envision a system that affords businesses the opportunity to connect with their clients in such a way that they tell the business their story Then it’s up to the business to help them live the story that they really want to live

marketing = persuading people to buy things they don’t need

connecting = helping people’s current lives be amazing

Two Quick Examples

Proctor and Gamble makes Tide Their gargantuan marketing machine will sell you and market to you using thousands of focus groups to refine a message designed to get you to buy Tide Why? Because they want to make your life better? Not really They simply want to sell more Tide

The customers are no longer dealt with as people, they are a line item, a number The

customer becomes a way to perpetuate the business

Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent on the other hand takes a different approach They are living a better story and they strive to help others live that story too The business

connects with their customers through that story

If you are an extremely eco-conscious individual, you will probably find the Seventh

Generation narrative more appealing than P&G’s Seventh Generation has found your story and invites you to live an even better version of that (your) story

Does Marketing Have A Future?

Marketing is being replaced by connecting with people to share mutual stories Not pushing agendas on others, not coercing them to take certain actions, not tricking them to act against their best interests That’s a dying model

Marketing as it’s been practiced has no place in the future of business

The Hidden Secrets of Client Emotions

Talking about the origin of emotions is not unlike talking about where babies come from We understand the process intellectually, but when we try to wrap our minds around that first spark of creation everything becomes a little hazy

Do you really know how the spark of life brings a new being into existence? In the same vein,

do you really understand why you get emotional?

Where Emotions Come From

The key is in how people see the world We see the world through our expectations

We expect certain things to happen and whether reality delivers or not determines what

emotions we feel

Too simplistic? I’ll give you some examples:

Situation 1: The Lost Lover

If someone you love calls and says he’ll be home by 5:30pm, how do you feel when he still hasn’t shown up at 6:30 and isn’t picking up his phone? What about at 10:30pm? Are you more upset? The farther reality gets from your expectations, the more emotions you feel

Situation 2: The Disappointment Store

You walk into an upscale store, expecting a certain level of service As you walk through the aisles, sales clerks pretend to be busy, others actively walk away from you No one comes to help you Do you feel disappointed? Or angry even?

Now imagine you actually are able to corner a salesclerk to ask question, but instead of

treating you as important, she holds up her hand, tells you to wait, and walks away Are you mad now? Why? It’s because you had certain expectations and the business didn’t deliver.What if the same situation happens in a dollar store? Are you just as mad? Were your

expectations different for the cheaper store? Are you still thinking about the hand in your face? How does that make you feel? Why?

Situation 3: The “Nice” Date

Now, imagine that you are on a date You go to dinner, a movie, and have a nice time How do you feel? Would you call it happy? Or would you call it satisfied and maybe content? When we get exactly what we expected to get, we are content

Situation 4: The Unbelievably Great Experience

What about happiness?

Happiness and joy are when reality exceeds our expectations You feel this most often when you are surprised with more than you originally expected A husband comes home with a surprise gift, your kid suddenly decides to clean the bathroom (and does an excellent job!), the IRS gives you a bigger tax refund than you thought they would

What about the same business from the second example, with a twist.

You walk into the upscale store, expecting great service, and looking to buy a nice scarf You’re immediately greeted by a smiling salesclerk She asks if you have been to the store before and you tell her yes, that you are just browsing She helpfully points over to a new line of clothes that she thinks you will like (you can tell that she did a quick evaluation of your current style and made a well educated guess)

To your surprise, you actually like the outfits they have laid out and try a few on The

salesclerk at the dressing room is also trained as a fashion consultant and makes a few careful recommendations about different sizes and accessories, all of which improve your look

measurably You choose two outfits that look fantastic, and the sales/fashion consultant

points you to where the scarves are

You find one that you like and head up front, where you find the first salesclerk You ask her where to check out and she says that she can help you over at an obscure kiosk that you would have never expected to be a checkout counter As the clerk is scanning your outfits, and

complimenting your taste, you tell her that you really just came in for the scarf She looks at you with a smile and tells you the scarf would look great with the second outfit, and as a thank you for coming in, the scarf is included at no charge

How do you feel as you leave? Will you go back to that store? Did they succeed in making you happy? At the very least more than content?

Emotions Unleashed

As you can see from the examples, emotions stem from the interaction of reality against our expectations What steps you can take to be happier is the subject of another post entirely.This is especially important for business to understand this Honestly, your future depends on understanding this

Questions

What do you think? Is this definition right?

How do you think you can use it in your business?

What about your personal life?

The Power of a Villain for Your Business

You’re telling a story with your business And the customer either finds your story good enough to join or rejects it

In any good story, the hero struggles against the antagonist which creates deep emotion Customers won’t become emotional about (i.e remember) your story unless they can see themselves as the hero in an epic struggle or a battle with an antagonist or obstacle

So what do you do? You join your customer in the fight against the common enemy and aid them in their fight, fighting along side of them if possible

Keep this in mind; in the end, the villain is almost always disappointment Help them avoid that, achieve happiness in the process, and they will love you for it

Questions

What are you fighting against?

What mutual villain do you and your customers have in common?

How To Replace Salespeople

Salespeople exist because people have questions and want to be reassured

Really, they just need some information that will benefit them but aren’t sure of how to ask to get said information

So what if you created a system or game that answers questions, gives the needed information, and reassures the user? You could conceivably structure a system where your customers were free to explore, and prompted to find answers on their own

If you created such a system or game, instead of sending a sales person next time, you could simply plug in prospects to your system and let the automated process take over

Questions

Do you have a sales force with high turn over and low production?

How could you automate some of their tasks?

Where can you effectively answer customer questions to ease the way for your sales force?

The Future of Controlling People

Modern marketing battles for the control of people’s minds

But what happens when people won’t be controlled? What will businesses do when people won’t be manipulated and cajoled into buying something that they don’t want or need? How will they market or advertise?

Here’s an idea

Instead of tricking or manipulating customers in order to control them, instead of employing the latest marketing fad or guru, instead of giving your customers just enough not to leave you; if you want them to stay for good you will have to give them more

The future of controlling people lies in the ability to delight, to surprise, and to make happy You have to exceed their expectations

Surpassing, or exceeding, expectations isn’t some vague ideal You can, and should, find out what your best customers expect to get from your business, then give them even more

Questions

What do your customers expect from you?

How can you give them more?

How to Make Your Salesforce Productive, Please!

While spending some time in a coffee shop, I sat across from a salesperson named Adam As

he worked on his computer, he kept making sighs and other sounds of despair, as if the task before him was actually killing him

Curious, I felt compelled to ask him why he was going to die soon

Adam confided in me that he worked for a paint company that recently put him in charge of over 100 current commercial accounts, in addition to establishing new accounts He

attributed his grief filled noises to the paperwork this company required him to complete.The Curse of Being Unproductive

As Adam sat across from me, for 3 hours he didn’t make one phone call, write any emails, or

do anything towards helping his clients He sat and inputted his monthly expense receipts While this paperwork is necessary to tracking, it is also completely unrelated to the real

talents for which he was hired

Good sales people are rarely that detail oriented, and often fail miserably at routine and

repeating tasks They excel at making personal connections and cultivating relationships Why force them to do something that they are not good at?

The Solution That’s Hard to Swallow

The paint company could easily pay $20k a year for a part time assistant to take care of his paperwork and routine details Don’t you think that they would receive at least twice that sum back in increased productivity? The paint company could easily find someone who is detail oriented to deal with all the tasks he’s not proficient at handling

It’s That Ol’ Transactional Mindset Again

I see this kind of thinking all the time It’s a symptom of the Transactional Mindset where numbers and figures become the standard, and relationships take a back seat to “efficiency”.Focusing on transactions cause most businesses to favor short term thinking over long term Relationships are for a life time, transactions are all about right now This paint company only focuses on the present, and as a result loses out on major long term profits

If the paint company just shifted their mindset a fraction of percent, they would see the

wisdom of segmenting talent and work to let their sales representative do what he does best.Questions

Are you hampering your best salespeople through useless tasks? Why did you hire them in the first place?

What steps can you take to ensure that they are more productive?

Quality Business Advice From Your Hairdresser (I Mean Your

Stylist)

I was asked by a kindly cosmetology student (hairstylist in training) if I would serve as her guinea pig I had no idea who she was or if I would come out looking like George Clooney or Lyle Lovett

My first instinct was to run away

Thankfully my good breeding held up and I politely accepted her offer After all, a free hair cut

is still free Plus I had my trusty hat in case things went horribly wrong

Her name was Kelsey and she was a student of The Salon Professional Academy in Tacoma on 38th Street The Salon Academy is just another private school along the lines of Corinthian Colleges (of Everest fame, the school that trains people to be medical professionals that most doctors won’t hire); it’s post-high school education that’s intended to train people in technical

or specialized skills The Academy's cost is quite extravagant (more than $15,000) and the program takes a whole year to complete

As I sat down in her chair, I asked Kelsey how long she had been in the program “Two

months,” she replied cheerily As her scissors approached my head, I was not encouraged by this

We talked as she cut my hair I was nervous about dividing her attention (I really didn’t want her to be distracted around my ears) but she seemed to know what she was doing, and I began

to relax if only slightly

Eventually the subject of her post-school employment came up and I found out something startling The Salon Academy doesn’t actually find them jobs at the end of the program,

instead opting to give a class our two about resumes and job hunting For the kind of money they charge you’d think they would have a more robust job placement program, especially since that is the desired outcome for the program; learn a trade so you can get a decent job.Kelsey sounded very excited about the education she was receiving so I tried to be supportive However, it became clear that she was not prepared for life after school and needed some extra advice

Luckily she had the right man in her chair for such matters

We merrily discussed websites, blogs, videos, and general sales techniques At the end she seemed slightly overwhelmed but very happy

After I left, it occurred to me that she’s probably not alone Other hair stylists also should know how to build their personal brands and cultivate quality relationships with customers.While this information applies to hair stylists, it can be applied widely for any type of

business:

1 Build a personal website

Blogs are free to set up and there is tons of information out there to help you Get one and start creating your online brand

This will help you two ways:

1.It will help you get a job since the salon can see your work (you can put videos on your blog) and read about your insights (you should tell stories about clients and your work)

2.It will help you build your personal brand You will most likely work for a salon but you still have to build your own clientele Your own website will do that

2 Pay attention to the relationships, not the transactions

One haircut is worth $15-50 dollars However, the lifetime value of all the customer’s business

is in the thousands Find a way to connect and make them a friend, so that they become a client instead of just a customer Find what matters to them and strive to give them that every time, and that doesn’t have to do with hair

And always deliver your absolute best product every time, no matter what

3 Exceed client expectations in everything you do

Find out what their previous hairstyling experiences were What did they love, what did they hate? How can you do better? Do people expect hair stylists to have a website or blog offering free tips?

So surprise them, and give them your card with the address to your blog or videos you created that teach them great ways to maintain their hair

4 Make it easy, and special for the customer

One technique that I have yet to see is to sell a subscription for haircuts Essentially the

customer would pay a set amount and get a certain number of haircuts, but they would pay in advance or you could set up a monthly reoccurring payment

Then what if you went the extra mile and made little cards for each of these VIP customers? Just think of all the ways you could make things easier for your client or make them feel special

5 Up-sell the easy way

Most salons require stylists to up-sell product and for many this proves to be a real challenge Actually, it’s an opportunity in disguise You can use bundling to work the cost of the product into the service Instead of charging$20 for just a haircut, you offer them a “special” of haircut plus product for slightly more money

Even better is to create two special offers and give them to your client as a choice As long as the products you’re bundling are the right fit for the client, this technique is guaranteed to grow your sales

6 Tell Stories

Good sales is good connecting and conversation If you tell your customer stories about life, about similar customers, about funny situations that you have imagined, you will succeed in connecting with them and they will buy more Simple as that

Honestly, I wish schools like the Salon Academy would teach more cutting edge (pun slightly intended) marketing techniques You can’t find a more recession-proof business than cutting hair but that’s only if you can build a clientele, and that takes a solid marketing and

relationship strategy

While many stylists I’ve met don’t have a desire to “market” themselves, it will soon be

absolutely crucial for their careers.

Oh, and by the way, the hair cut, though just a trim, went quite well and my hat stayed off my head for the rest of the day All in all, I’d say everyone came out ahead that day

Questions

How are you communicating your value to your clients?

How can you make things easier for your customer?

The Dire Results of Transactional Thinking, and How to Overcome

In Spring of 2011, Penguin Windows, a window reseller based in Mukilteo WA, closed its doors for good This will mean a slight reprieve for many homeowners; less annoying phone calls, no more unwanted and pushy visitors at the door, fewer pieces of junk mail

It also serves as a warning, shedding some light on the most important topic for local

businesses today

The topic is relationship I used to work for Penguin Windows back when they were called Statewide, then spent several more years working for a competitor I found that many window resellers focus simply on the individual transaction The mentality is simple; sell people a product and get out of the house, then find more people to sell to

The Transactional Mindset is actually an old sales philosophy that has 4 main tenants:

1.Value the transaction over relationship

2.Meet only their minimum expectations or whatever the customer will let you get away with 3.Advertise and “market” to people constantly

4.Use persuasion as a tool to get people to buy

Each of these points is deadly on its own, but there’s a real danger to the business when they are combined The reason so many businesses, especially in this industry, are closing is

directly related to this transactional, non-human mentality Consumers pick up on that

mindset and avoid the business

Instead, your customers are looking for the opposite of the above list They want:

1.A relationship that’s cultivated over a lifetime

2.A company that will exceed their expectations and surprise them

3.To be understood and connected with

4.To be told stories

You might look at the above list and think that customer wants are too vague, but I assure you they’re not impractically so Here are some quick tips:

Don’t focus on the sales but instead look at the process of the relationship, from the

introduction to evaluation to creating partnerships

Don’t be just good enough but surprise your customers with more gifts, give them more than they expected and they will be happier, rewarding you with more business

Don’t just talk about your offers or business but speak to them and their values A good start is

a blog or a “newsletter” that speaks to issues and topics that your customers deeply care

about

Don’t try to “sell” them, use stories and narrative tools to help them persuade themselves Even if you aren’t just out to make a quick buck, you probably don’t practice all four of the new habits Take some time to re-evaluate your marketing and sales strategies in light of these points and see how you match up

There’s definitely a storm brewing and if you don’t focus on relationships, giving more,

connecting, and storytelling then your business may find itself in very dire straits

Questions

Are you focused on sales or relationships?

Are you content with being just good enough?

In your advertising and marketing, are you simply telling your customers how great you are or are you connecting with them?

How to Craft Your Story for B2B Success

I recently interviewed a client and he challenged me about the relevance of storytelling and social media in B2B situations I gave him a decent response that seemed to answer his

questions, but it also got me looking more closely at business to business relationships

Business is all about cultivating quality relationships with clients and customers B2B is no exception to this But business tend to take longer to trust one another, so the relationship process is extended

Relationships have a process

Every relationship follows distinct stages in a process; introduction, curiosity, evaluation, exchange, purposing, and togetherness These are the crucial stages where you have to

construct the story you are telling If you ignore any of these stages, you will miss something crucial in the relationship

Relationships thrive on good stories

The key is in developing the story for each stage of the relationship The story you tell must be different at each stage but they must all tie to the same theme of a larger story

At the introduction stage you simply focus on making yourself known and the very basest of relevant detail; connect yourself to a theme, and their overall story At the curiosity stage you work on intriguing them to continue the relationship; you tell them a story that is interesting, cool, and relevant And so on throughout the stages The idea is to tell a larger story as you cultivate the relationship through telling the smaller stories at each stage

Stories motivate to act

While the relationship will give you credibility and authority, the story will motivate them to act If they believe the story you are telling them, and it touches them at a relevant, deep level; only then will you have success

Talking about benefits isn’t important at first

Creating that smaller story for each stage begins with identifying the problem While most business or marketing books teach the reader to highlight the benefits first, the benefit is like the ending of the a story Unfortunately the ending isn’t usually what grabs our attention It’s the opening (of a good story) that holds us and draws us in In fact, our psychology is created

to hear and process information in the form of story So wouldn’t it make sense to follow a narrative form in our communications, especially if that’s how our brains work?

Crafting your B2B stories

So how do you create a good story for B2B if you don’t hammer away at the benefits? They simply won’t care about the benefits until they believe you understand their problems, until you can prove to them that you understand their desires

When you create a story to draw a client in, you want to start with the want, the desire Often their want is represented by a problem; something they don’t have, a lack, which is caused because the obstacles to get the thing they want are too high You must address all these issues first, only then telling them the ending to the story Once you have laid the groundwork, then can you paint the picture for them, the picture of a brand new world where they can finally get

what they want (the benefit).

Think Relationships, Not Transactions

Remember, this is part of a relationship, and the process for businesses is much longer than for most consumers Identify where you are in the relationship, craft the stories that will take you deeper into the stages of relationship, and make sure you stay true to the overall story Honestly, if you simply remind yourself that it’s not about sales goals, it’s about cultivating quality relationships, communicating, and telling stories, then you will be on more solid, long term footing

Questions

What's the bigger story that you are telling?

What are the smaller components involved in that story?

Three Easy Ways to Destroy Your Business

National businesses like OfficeMax represent everything I warn local businesses not to do.OfficeMax exemplifies the mindset of Transactional Thinking Its laser focus on the single sale and minimizing costs reduces the customer relationship to that of a mere transaction This automatically makes people feel less than human

A Tale of Treating People as Transactions

This is what happened

One Friday morning, as I entered the local Tacoma OfficeMax, the employee at the copy

counter saw me come in Instead of greeting me, she actually turned her back and walked the other way Not a satisfying start

As I made my way to the wall of toner, another employee puttered close by, stocking some items, but he made a concerted effort to avoid eye contact I found my printer toner, milled around looking at other items, all the while the employee studiously went about his business

He never made any attempt to greet me

Only slightly annoyed that no one had even welcomed me, I headed to the checkout counter to make my purchase and get out of the store As I approached the counter, an employee, Erin, came out through a side door and visibly sighed at the sight of me She walked up and and said gruffly, “Ready?” I told her I was more than ready

The rest of the transaction proceeded in a hurried and impersonal manner, as if she’d rather

be doing anything else Of course she was obliged to ask if I found everything alright and I told her about my experience Erin sighed again, directing me to the company website, her voice showing a decided lack of empathy

I left the store feeling like OfficeMax employees, and by extension OfficeMax itself could care less whether I was a customer or not Maybe that’s true

And the hits keep on coming…

Now add this to my wife’s experience with their copy counter the night before She belongs to

a local artist collective and they needed 600 fliers printed They requested that the fliers be printed on colored paper, to which the employee responded that each unit of colored paper was $.59 each Not color copies mind you, black and white copies on colored paper My wife and her colleague pointed out that the price seemed exorbitant (over $350), but the employee apparently shrugged her shoulders and said that’s what it cost No reasoning would sway her.Instead of going through the hassle of dealing with managers or customer service, my wife decided to go across the street to Kinko’s They got the job done with no trouble whatsoever, for 1/4 the price quoted by OfficeMax’s employee This could have been a great opportunity for OfficeMax to connect with a thriving local community organization but instead Kinko’s gets the business

Treating people as transactions will destroy your business

OfficeMax has at least three problems here that Local Businesses can learn from:

1.Transactional Thinking Loses in the Long Term – If all OfficeMax cares about are single transactions, then what they are doing in Tacoma works fine for the moment But, if they want

to maximize the lifetime value of each customer, they must take into account the long term relationship The future will rely on businesses cultivating relationships into friendships, and

no one wants to be a friend with someone who uses them

2.Not Hiring the Right People for the Job – It’s an employer’s market out there, find

employees that care This is interesting to me since the only advantages OfficeMax has over internet competitors are immediate gratification and quality of in-person service (i.e

cultivating a relationship with the customer)

3.Breaking Promises - OfficeMax has a large sign at the entrance saying they guarantee

satisfaction If you guarantee anything, you need to be able to deliver in the moment Erin, the OfficeMax employee, should have been authorized to do whatever she could to make it right Every business should promise a better story for their customers Failing to provide that, every business should have in place a way to immediately correct the situation In this case, if OfficeMax does have such a policy but Erin was unwilling to waste her time with helping a customer, they should see #2

Am I just being too sensitive?

You might simply read this as me complaining, and to a degree you would be correct I was peeved at the small things, annoyed at being treated like I didn’t matter

The thing is, you have been in my shoes We have all experienced that moment of annoyance when the salesperson won’t go out of their way to help, or someone tries to sell us the extra feature that we obviously don’t need The time will come when that is all it takes to lose a customer forever

There is so much more at stake

There are two worldviews at war here; the view of the customer as the transaction, as an inhuman number to meet a sales goal v.s viewing the customer as a friend and cultivating relationships with each person that visits your place of business

Every business must make a choice Will you follow the old way, trying to make customers cogs in your sales engine? Or will you connect with them and cultivate quality relationships, turning into lasting friendships? The choice is yours

Questions

How can you avoid this in your own business?

Do your customers have these kinds of experiences? Are you sure? If not, why don't you know and what can you do to fix that?

Is Giving a Discount Actually Costing You Business?

Discounting your products and services is not unlike paying people to be friends with you They never stick around if you don’t pay up

Discounts actively kill relationships

Discounts are a bad habit for both the business and the customer because they lead to an unhealthy relationship The business is artificially setting the customer’s pricing expectations lower So later, if the price is higher, the customer feels disappointed like they’ve been

cheated

No customer will stay in a relationship that’s perpetually disappointing

Creating disappointment is one major reason for the backlash against Groupon and

LivingSocial’s business strategies When you sacrifice value in the beginning of the

relationship (i.e tell customers that your goods aren’t worth as much as you regularly charge), they won’t believe you later when you tell them the value is worth much more

The customer’s expectations have already been set, and the discounting business has trained them to equate value with price In the end no one is happy

Why not give more and increase the pie?

Instead of lowering prices or discounting, it’s better to find a way to add on and give gifts The relational benefits of giving more far outweigh the minimal short term boost of discounting.But base your gifts on the relationship

Give gifts based on where you are in the relationship Like in the beginning of any budding relationship, it’s always customary to give small gifts that mean something to the other party

So find small ways to celebrate your new relationship If the client extends the relationship, by referring or showing loyalty, they should get a small gift

These simple gestures will cultivate the quality relationships your business needs to stay afloat And they are MUCH cheaper than discounts in the long run

Think of alternatives to discounts, what can you add?

In addition to relationship gifts, have something around that costs you very little but will mean the world to your customers and clients You should never underestimate the power of the random gift Gifts are always that much more enjoyable when they are unexpected

So, if someone asks for a discount in the future, tell them “No! But…” then give them the small but meaningful gift that you prepared for them The gift is always much more appreciated.Questions

Are you addicted to giving discounts?

What can you give instead? What can you add to your customer's life that would be

meaningful to them, but relatively inexpensive for you?

Embrace the Conflict, Love the Conflict

I was recently talking to a friend about “buy local” campaigns He’s extremely passionate about all things local and was making his case for buying from local businesses

Only one problem

While he was passionate about the idea, I really didn’t feel anything

What I mean is this; when he spoke about buying local I felt no passion in myself to run out and support local businesses It sounded like a good idea intellectually but the only passion I felt was coming from him

Inside me, there was only very calm and placid agreement that we should do something soon

I knew that even this agreement would soon fade into forgetfulness That’s because the

concept of “buying local” is only focused on solutions and benefits

We usually focus on the benefits

I told him to stop talking about the solution (Buy Local) or the benefits (better neighborhoods, more local businesses, more local jobs) When people hear about “Better Communities” they are pleasantly supportive but hardly motivated or inspired

To motivate people to action, you need to add conflict

Conflict gets attention

Writing a slogan or tag line is just like writing a story Whenever you are telling a story, it has

to begin with conflict Something happens to motivate the main character to take action That something is conflict

Think of the customer as the “character” Now, where is the conflict? Why would they need to take action? Why would people NEED to buy local?

If I designed a Buy Local tag line, it would go something like this

“We’re all in this boat together Buy Local.”

Put it on every poster, bumper sticker, and button in every business you can That story will start to spread throughout the community and soon enough the “In This Together, Buy Local” story will become their story

First the Conflict, then the Solutions & Benefits

The key to the story is to first show the reader a REAL problem for them (“We are all in this together and if one falls, we all fall; we have to have each others back or we’re all dead”) and THEN you give them a solution (“But if you buy local, then we can avert this disaster”) The beginnings of a great story are in place and people can sense when a good story is brewing

If the Story is boring, add in some conflict

Conflict solves most problems in advertising, marketing, or writing If you are designing a campaign, a flier, or or just trying to come up with a cool slogan, conflict will be the key

Remember to tell it like a story and include a healthy dose of conflict to grab your audience’s attention

Are you focusing your ads or marketing on the benefits or the conflict?

What's the main conflict in your story?

How can you add some conflict this week, focusing on the main conflict that your customer cares about and will respond to?

The Same Keys To Winning in Politics Apply To Your Business

I usually try to stay away from politics in public settings That hasn’t always been the case In

my less mature years I used politics as a way to stir up lively debate Luckily the thrill of seeing people get red and huffy trying to defend an indefensible opinion faded along with my

penchant for ghastly Hawaiian shirts

But, that doesn’t mean I don’t care deeply about what is happening to this country Deficits, debt, bad monetary policy, even worse foreign policy have dragged this country into a perilous quagmire Somehow, it needs to stop

Fortunately there is a candidate running on the Republican ticket for President in 2012 who wishes to make the necessary changes Unfortunately that same candidate also tends to

ramble, go off on rants, and those in the media think he sounds like a “crazy uncle”

There’s a strong correlation between Representative Paul’s campaign and your business We all make these same mistakes and it’s good to have a reminder, a fresh look at our common practices

Here’s some advice I gave him to win the 2012 presidential election that can have some great applications for your business:

State your principles first – Paul has a wonderful message of freedom and individual

responsibility, but he tends to stray away from that when he first answers a question When he was asked about the flooding and the government’s role, his first sentence should have been his belief that it’s wrong for the FEDERAL government to take money from some people to pay for flooding

In the same way, your business needs to understand what you stand for and talk about that in all your communications People need to know who you are and what you believe in

Be concise in your examples – After he states his overall principles, then he should use an example, but only if those examples tie back to principles That’s how you stay on message In this case he would say that the state’s should have all the freedom in the world to deal with this disaster, BUT the federal government has no right

More is not always better in your advertising and marketing Be concise in your

communications

Constantly remind people of your credibility and consistency – These are beliefs and

principles that Rep Paul has always held and practiced He needed to remind the people of this at all times

Your customers also need to be reminded and encouraged to trust you The most effective way

to do this is through customer testimonials

Use a story model in answering questions – The story model is time tested, effective, and most people don’t use it:

1.First, tell them what the current situation is (“Such and Such is a problem [based in one of your principles]“)

2.Then what it’s consequences are (“This is why Such and Such is an issue”)

3.Then the solution (“Instead of Such and Such, we should do This and That!”)

4.Then outline the major reason why we don’t or wouldn’t (“We don’t do This and That

because of our beliefs/actions/current principles/etc.”)

5.And finally paint a picture of a better outcome (“Imagine how much better This and That would make our lives” or “If we are able to do This and That, this is what will happen, isn’t that much better than Such and Such?”)

Practice this story structure often, it will turn out to be Godsend For example, this would be a short and sweet story about Defense:

“I’m all for defense but our current policy is not about defense, it’s about militarism and

there’s a dangerous difference Our policy of Militarism drains our resources, creates enemies, and loses us respect from our allies My stance is simple, close foreign military bases, pull our troops out of the 150 countries we are occupying, and let’s use the TRILLIONS of dollars we save doing those things to pay down the debt This would actually make America much safer because we can focus the bulk of our defense resources on the DEFENSE of our country, and not on militarism around the world I think that’s what the American public really wants, to be safe from those who want to hurt us, not to spend all our money trying to tell other countries how to live and operate.”

Short and simple, to the point All you need to remember is the structure itself and your core principles, everything else flows from that

The key is repeating your principles and staying on message If you want to win, you have to

do this

State your principles, be concise and clear, remind people of your credibility, and above all use the story model to communicate You will find much more success if you follow these ideas.Questions

How can you add this to your marketing?

How will these ideas benefit your specific business?

Painfully Boring and Long Winded Business Stories

In doing some research on a company, I came across some vexing examples of written

communication I begged the words to stop, but they laughed, gave me an inappropriate gesture, and rolled along anyway

Here’s an example of their awe, if not headache, inspiring text (company name hidden to protect the guilty):

[Company] is the leading provider of web-hosted sales and use tax management services [Company] mission is to provide end-to-end tax management solutions to businesses of all sizes and transform the sales, use and VAT tax process for customers with cost-effective state-of-the-art solutions With its innovative, patented technology, [Company]helps companies from every industry eliminate the complexity of tax management by automating and

providing accurate tax calculation, painless administration, effortless reporting and, timely remittance [emphasis added]

Ugh And there’s more:

Our Software-as-a-Service tax solutions integrate directly into existing workflow processes; eliminating the tedious work and complexity of calculating, collecting, reporting on, and remitting taxes across multiple jurisdictions Offering integrations with more financial, e-commerce and point-of-sales applications than any other transactional tax solution on the market, [Company] is focused on providing the most convenient, accurate and affordable way for businesses to address all their statutory sales and use tax requirements [emphasis added]All the Company’s communications are like this From the website, to case studies, to

marketing materials, they each offer something equally painful for the reader

But what can they do instead?

Luckily this lengthy, eye-gouging verbiage can be boiled down to understandable and

decidedly unlengthy ideas:

Calculating sales tax from different counties, cities, and states is a waste of your time Who wants to worry about math when you have customers to help?

We take away that feeling that you’re missing something in your sales tax calculations

There are only a few options for you; calculate all these different rates yourself, hire one of your kid’s friends to do a semi-professional job, buy expensive software, or let us handle the whole thing for half that price

No more stress for you, no more worry

This is one less thing you have to have on your plate We guarantee it [I didn't see this

anywhere on the site, but it's a good idea]

The Bottom Line of Tragedy

Basically they need to let potential customers know that calculating sales tax is a pain in the butt, not really worth the business owner’s time, so why not let a fully automated service take over what they hate to do?

Instead, this company decided to embrace techno-language and marketing-babble

Unfortunately, this malady is not a single occurrence After a quick look at the company’s competitors, it seems all these “leading providers” use the same unpleasant language

It’s not just the bad writing, they’re also unoriginal

What bothers me even more, more than the painful copywriting or endless talk about

“solutions”, is the lack of any unique differentiators I went to the top three providers in the sales-tax service field and not one could tell me why they were superior over their

competition Not one could show how they stood above and apart

You have to tell your client’s story

You can’t just talk about benefits (especially not using silly marketing lingo) or your solutions Instead you have to target your audience, speak to them, and then tell them a story about how their life story will improve And the story you tell has to be unique to your company; it has to

be cool, interesting, as well as relevant

In the coming years there won’t be any way around this and any company who doesn’t start focusing on relationships and developing sustainable friendships will perish

Questions

Do you tell boring stories?

Are you driving potential clients away through poor communication?

What's your client's story?

Why You Don’t Need a Social Media Expert…Ever!

Social Media “professionals” get paid a lot of money But the more I see of their work, the more I question whether or not they’re worth the expense Granted, many of them DO a lot, I’m just not sure what they do is actually helpful

So, are they the right move for your local business?

Hardly ever

Most of the services that you pay these “experts” to do, you should be doing yourself

As a local business, you cannot outsource social media effectively Trust me, the hour a week the paid professional puts into posting on your Facebook wall won’t get you a ton of new business, no matter how much they talk about engagements or impressions

The “Social Pro” will never connect like you can

Only you can honestly tell your story

The “Pro” can’t connect like you because he or she doesn’t know your story like you do Social media has the amazing potential to build and cultivate relationships with your clients, but only if you stop and really consider the story you want to tell them

Why do your customers need your business? What will your customers find interesting, cool, and sharable about your industry or business? How do you consistently exceed customer expectations?

The story you tell them on social media networks is a combination of all this

Let your customers into your life

Once you find your story, your unique compelling idea, then you have to let people in Many have said “social media” is the essence of this, the new marketing I see it as old marketing, as

a way to cultivate and further relationships one person at a time

And the rules for cultivating quality relationships have not changed You have to give them more of what they want, things that interest them about you or what you both enjoy Give them access, or something cool to tell their friends, make them the resource their tribe goes to for certain information related to your business/industry

The more you see this as a relationship cultivation tool, the more success you will see in your online marketing efforts

Questions

Do you use social media? Do you use it to connect and share with customers?

What will your customers find cool or very interesting about your business?

How can you give that to them? Through video, writing, audio? Something else more creative?

“So what do we need you for?”

Recently someone asked a great question on Facebook in response to my post about social media professionals

The comment:

But what do we hire you for then? I liked your article a lot- since coming to facebook I’ve added some business friends that are doing exactly what you write about I don’t know how you’d measure the impact on their actual business but facebook definitely is allowing them an interesting new relationship with customers See Jane Run posts about her runs, quotes, and poses great questions- she probably got 20+ responses to what’s your power song yeterday/ Mamamour gives you a running photo log of her handmade products as they are completed and mailed I don’t know if this contact actually increases sales, but I think the connection definitely increases the perceived value of their products by making the companies “real.”

My point in writing the previous post was to highlight that businesses should not simply jump

on the social media bandwagon just to do something new The point of using social media as a tool is to connect and converse with your clients and customers

If business is all about cultivating quality relationships and “marketing” is the conversation that adds value to those relationships, then social media is simply a tool that allows easier conversations

I help local businesses have better conversations

Using some very simple processes, I’m allowing the businesses the freedom to engage in real and genuine conversations BUT, I don’t have the conversations for them That’s a crucial difference

So whether it’s a new website, integrating social media, setting up a mobile presence, or designing the entire conversation process, there are several ways I can help these business reach more people and connect more deeply The actual conversations or connections need to

be done by the owner

But what about measurement

As for how it’s measured, that’s a great question that many businesses have a hard time with This is why local business owners need to understand the conversation process

If they initiate a conversation with a client, then what happens? What’s the goal of the

conversation, of the relationship, for both parties? How does your conversation lead to the customer’s next interaction with your company? If any business owner doesn’t answer these, they will always have a difficult time tracking the effectiveness of their efforts

Business is going back to the way it used to be

We are more connected, more concerned with relationships and being treated as people and not transactions I help business owners come to terms with this and rediscover the joy of running and marketing their business

Questions

How are you having conversations with your clients? Are they measurable?

Do you feel like you are connected with your clients? Why or why not?

Don’t You Love It When a Business Treats You Like You’re

Expendable

There’s a war brewing

I’ve shied away from using the battle and war rhetoric (and puns, please forgive me), but it seems apt

From now on, every marketer, every salesman, every business owner and CEO has a choice of sides to take You will either treat your clients like transactions, like they exist to serve your bottom line, or you consciously strive to cultivate quality relationships with all your clients The battle lines are drawn

There will be no middle ground, there is no hiding from this reality

You cannot do business as usual, you will not keep your best customers or the best employee talent if you do They will abandon you for relationships, and eventually the money that those relationships bring If you stay the course, you are fighting a losing battle

I’m sitting comfortably in Starbucks right now

The decor feels warm, and the staff is friendly, but I’m very close to finding another place to work The reason is simple; other, smaller places care more about relationships As the

company grows, Starbucks inherently cares less about relationships and more about the small, short term, transactions

Case in point: coffee refills

A small but nagging point, Starbucks has always charged for refills whereas other coffee

houses usually give them for free And that’s fine because many people are wiling to pay for the ambiance

But now Starbucks is deciding to go a step farther

Typically I get a small (12oz) latte with four honey’s which costs $2.73, but afterward I feel like

a little kick of caffeine and get a coffee refill, which is free since I am a “Starbucks Rewards” member No longer though Starbucks now has a policy that if you didn’t buy a drip coffee, you can no longer get a refill price A “tall” (12oz) coffee costs $1.50, and that’s the price they want to charge me

So, I pay for a more expensive drink and that doesn’t qualify me for the same advantage as a lesser priced beverage? This is absurd And honestly it’s not the money that bothers me, it’s what the policy represents

They care, but they don’t care

The manager was sweet about it, very nice girl named Val, and she even acknowledged that it sounded ridiculous, but Starbucks had given her the authority to hide behind policy and

procedure

I brought up the company’s mission statement about “inspiring and nurturing the human spirit” but she simply shrugged her shoulders, because her company empowered her to not fulfill the mission Rather than telling the employees to save and cultivate relationships,

Starbucks is encouraging transactional thinking among it’s employee’s, training them to sacrifice the relationship for an increased bottom line and blind rule following.

Will Starbucks miss my business?

Probably not, but they are closing stores and I think not caring about relationships first is the core of their problem When the economy gets bad and we circle the wagons, panicky CEO's listen to the accountants who see the world in numbers When a business gets larger, we have

to worry about budgets and plans, and customers become numbers by default if we let them Instead we need to listen to our hearts and understand that the lifetime value of a quality customer relationship means far more than temporary cost cutting measures

There are plenty of shops that recognize this and practice it daily I guess I’ll just have to drive

a little farther, but the relationship is worth it

Questions

How many customers have left your business because of small breaks in relationship?

If you don’t know, why not? Are you looking at relationship or at transactions?

When’s the last time you thought about the lifetime value of your client’s relationship?

How to Write a Bio or About Me That Automatically Turns Heads

Recently I had to help some artists become storytellers They were masterful at putting brush

to canvas but when it came to telling their unique compelling stories, they were finger

painting Here’s some good advice for artists, and the painfully un-artistic alike, so that you confidently create a compelling story

Add an a generous helping of conflict

Conflict is absolutely the first thing you should know about creating stories Most “Bio’s” or

“About Me” pages are all sweet and cuddly, filled with details that don’t get anyone’s

attention No one really cares if you were born in a regular town, to regular folks, in a regular manner I’m instantly bored with that story

Unfortunately this is what most people do Without conflict you will lose the reader

Go easy, only a dash, of details

If you want a really compelling story, the details are not important Well, details are kind of important but only if they serve the main conflict For example, my wife is the oldest of five children, her parents are average folks, she grew up in Port Orchard, WA, now she paints with acrylics and enjoys painting flowers All these things are true, but they also make for

uninteresting reading

Make them ask “Why is that?”

Now what if I told you that at one point she almost stopped painting forever? I suspect that you ask yourself “Why?” That’s what you should strive for when you are creating any story about yourself; to make the reader want to read more

This is how I would write her general biography:

“I almost stopped painting, forever When I was a teenager, I had a horrible experience where someone completely shattered my confidence in my artwork For many years I believed the lies that person told me , so much so that I couldn’t bring myself to even touch a paint brush

“Then, in 2006, this nagging voice in my head wouldn’t let go of the idea that I had something

to give, that I was hiding my talent from the world Eventually the voice in my head won and I picked up the canvass and paint Out of that first flurry of pent up emotion and desire came one of my most loved works, Wildflowers, but I couldn’t stop there

“Instead of giving in to the fear and negativity of the past, I decided to fight back by creating

my idyllic world on canvas, making the world as beautiful as I saw it Every so often, the old fears creep back, but all it takes is a little bit of paint on canvas to remind me that the world can be a much more beautiful place.”

Let them get to know the real you

While a little dramatic, this passage is more memorable than just talking about vital statistics People will connect with your story more deeply if you include your pain and struggles; all those things that you hide away and don’t want everyone to see Let yourself be free to be you.Questions

Here are some quick questions that you can ask yourself when you are trying to craft your

Where is the conflict? What have you struggled through to get where you are? Have you had obstacles or setbacks? When did these things happen? (dates and places provide mental

foundations for the reader to imagine)

Do you have a defining moment in your past? Was there a point where you transitioned from

a “they way you were” to the rockstar you are now?

What have you overcome to get where you are? Do you have mental or physical handicaps? What is your theme? What one word describes you or your work? (admittedly this is one of the most difficult tasks you can do if you are honest with yourself, but the rewards are a clarity

of purpose and thought)

Do you have a guiding passage, poem, or phrase that gives you constant inspiration? Why does it work for you? Is there a story behind that?

What about your life or work is interesting, out of the ordinary, curious, or fascinating? People are just as interested in the unknown as in your conflicts Where you born in another country? Did your parents raise you in a basement? Were you a country-bumpkin and now you are in the city, how does that make you feel? How does that affect your work?

Start with the conflict and then you can get into the other details like theme and curiosity If the reader knows a little more of your real story, the deep and dark things that make up you, then they will care more about the other things And they will care more about your work

Do you think you can change the world?

I’ve got a radical idea

I think that we are most prosperous when we invest our wealth to directly impact and renew communities

Just imagine if we used our prosperity for the good of others

Imagine if we all lived on only what we need and use the rest to give back to those who need our help

Imagine if the wealthy invested in the poor so that the poor could produce and achieve even more

Imagine if every business adopted a healthy lifestyle of serving others, first their families and then their communities

For example, a family owned grocery or market would agree to donate not just money or volunteer time to the local food bank (although that would be appreciated I am sure), but would also buy extra food for the food bank if business is good

A credit union or local bank would dedicate some or all of its excess to fund a full time

position that coordinates with local nonprofits on financial education or the creation of a select number of high risk, second chance accounts

The Point of Wealth is to be Spent

Business and marketing are fantastic in themselves, but what’s the point of simply creating more wealth? Do you just keep creating more for its own sake? Where do we invest it? Is it the best idea to spend it on ourselves, on bigger houses or more cars, or on bigger TV’s or more computers or expensive vacations?

How about reinvesting in the business? YES, reinvest in the business but don’t reinvest simply

to expand the business so that the business can grow and become larger for the sole purpose

of becoming bigger and more expansive

Reinvest in serving those that can’t help themselves and your business will grow as a

consequence But you will also be serving a better cause, not just the organization’s growth

I know this sounds idealistic, but it is a lifestyle we can all live and the consequences of this behavior can have the most amazing impact the world has ever seen Instead of growing to consume, we will grow to give

How might that look in your own buisness?

What can you actually do to change someone’s life?

Have you ever tried to change someone else’s mind? Have you talked and pleaded with them

to see a different point of view but in the end failed to get through?

Expectations are the key

To change someone you need to understand expectations

We see the world through our expectations As we act, do, talk, exist, we expect to have certain real-world outcomes, also called experiences These “expected experiences” or expectations, are how we plan the world to work out for us They are what we expect to get from the world.Happiness is easy to find, but so is disappointment

If those expectations are violated then we are disappointed, if they are met then we are

content But if somehow these expectations of our future experiences are exceeded, then we have the phenomenon known as happiness

My wife is great at expecting things

For example, if I say I will do the dishes and then don’t, I have given her a reality that is below what she expected and she is disappointed If I do the dishes she got what she expected and is content because reality met her expectations If the dishes aren’t done to her expectations then she will be disappointed But if I do a better job than she thought I would, she is mildly happy

If I decide to be “Husband of the Year” and do the dishes, vacuum the carpet, give the dogs a bath, AND clean the bathroom on my day off? Then she gets more than she expected and since reality exceeded her expectations she experiences joy and happiness

It’s all very simple, but how often do we think about it in these terms?

Are you willing to change yourself to change someone else?

Definitely think about this if you want to change someone’s life for the better:

In what ways am I disappointing the one’s I care about? The one’s I love? What are their expectations of me? Are those realistic expectations? Am I even close to meeting the realistic ones?

How often am I just getting by? If I were to grade my daily behaviors on a 1, 3, or 5 scale then how many would be in the middle? How can I change my efforts from 3 (mediocre, content) to

5 (exceptional, happiness)?

In my day to day interactions, business and personal, how can I exceed someone else’s

expectations?

You have the power to change a life for the better, you just need to find out what their

expectations are and learn to go beyond whatever that person expected from reality It will change their lives and yours

Questions

Meditate on how your actions are making other people feel

How can you bring more happiness (exceed their expectations) this week?