Pilots have flight plans.  They work very hard at executing those plans, but they also know that the wind, the inclement weather and other ongoing flight patterns may take them off course. When they do that they use their gauges and data to make good decisions on how and where to adjust. As an entrepreneur you need to do the same thing.  You need to look at your gauges and the data to make good decisions on how to modify your plan.

Your gauges are your team, your customers and the market that are telling you where to go.  Your financials, your sales data and your marketing data tell you what is working in marketing and your product and service and how that they need to evolve.

Listen to your gauges and make decisions from your data and you will arrive!

Technology cannot architect a relationship.  “Where do we live and what do we live for”? to paraphrase Thoreau.  Are we here for texts, e-mails, blogs and their replies?  Or are we here to use these mediums or media to facilitate the handshakes, the hugs, the high –fives and the connectivity that comes from sharing in society?

In my world, I build relationships between companies and I am more than happy to create content, connection and response through the new media and use these tools to create “relationships” but I am not fooled by the saying “follows are friends” or even customers.  Are you?

Use the tools!  But understand their place and where they stand in your business and your life.  Last week I got into a car accident.  It took 2 ½ hours out of my day but I made friends with the guy that hit me and exchanged information with the people that I hit.  We laughed, made fun of how long the cops took get there and how hungry we were.  What was so illuminating to me is that I had a better relationship with these people than I do with 80% of the people who follow me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and that is because we had an accident for us to spend time with each other.

In the end, when you are sitting on your death bed, I doubt you are going to think about your last post.  Use technology as a tool to become more social, not confuse it by behaving the opposite.

Work on your culture more than you work on your strategy.  Create an organization where ideas thrive and where failure is a badge of courage rather than a black mark on your reputation.  Allow new ideas to develop and flourish and be celebrated as well as enjoying failure.  Run controlled business experiments where there is an acceptable loss or failure.  Try things that are on gut or hunch because of the style and trends that you “feel” are moving in the right direction for the initiative.

Create a “Creative Culture” or even a “skunk works” division of your company that can and does fail because it is their job.  I have been speaking a lot recently to West Coast and East Coast technology executives and the most important reason they feel that 74% of the Venture Capital in the US raised goes to Silicon Valley rather than all the other hotbeds of technology across the US, is the culture of the valley celebrates failure as well as innovation.

I am not telling you to spend willy-nilly money on any new idea that marketing brings you.  I am telling you that you should have a line item in the P & L to run the experiment.  If you don’t, the competition that has this type of culture will be beating you soon.

Over the years we have created jobs for about 25 people and with the businesses that we have worked with directly, I would conservatively say we have helped create 100, if not 200 hundred jobs.  When it comes to the economic impact and job creation that has resulted from what we do as member businesses at Rainmakers I would guess that in the last decade we have created well over 1000 jobs together.

Since I have been working with Dan Lacy at Dynasty Builders I have personally seen him help businesses grow profit by 20, 30 and even 100 percent.  Guess what his clients do?  They create jobs!  In fact, we have hired a new employee just 3 months ago that has helped grow my Stringcan business 300% and we will be hiring a couple more people by the end of the year.

We could not have done that without profit and understanding the role that it plays in our business life.  On April 18th you have a chance to change your “Profit Paradigm”.  To change the way you think about profit.  I think you have a chance to make profit “personal”.  You could be the next person that creates a job.  You have as chance to build your business and create a new relationship of value.  A chance to find a person that you can provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to and you can gain x-factor multiplier you need for your business because you made one simple change in the way you think.

You changed your profit paradigm.  You moved it from 6 letter obscenity to the lifeblood of your organization.

We hope you’ll join us on April 18th.  Register here http://profit5.eventbrite.com/

Last weekend I went into a restaurant that from the from second you walked in the door was engaging you on the social front.  They wanted you to like them on Facebook,  gave you things to say and even offered you a coupon if you mentioned them.

It occurred to me how many times in the last 6 months I was having conversations about Angie’s List, Craigslist, bloggers, etc. and how they single handledly effect the sales of organizations.  I think the conversation is shifting from whether social and online strategies really work to are you or are you not leveraging this very powerful medium to grow your business.

The truth is that if you do not have a social media marketing strategy you are “Anti-Social” as a business.  You are not joining a conversation already being  had online about your business and therefore you are missing opportunities you could have to create new clients.

We were in Louisville and going through Pizza Restaurants and only going to the ones that were reviewed and rated online.  This is no different than people using Angie’s List to select a contractor or asking on Facebook what is the best new restaurant to take your significant other.  The conversation is happening and if you don’t respond to the people engaging or even let them know how to talk to you, your business is anti-social.

The best news about becoming a socially-engaged business is if you do a great job, that will come out.  If you work at it you can effectively drive you own destiny and it is directly measurable compared to traditional mass media.

Now go be social.

Image via CrunchBase

Sales have changed so much over the last 30 years that people that have not made the adjustments seem to be struggling unnecessarily.  They are not using the changes to their advantages.

Yes, there are 5 times as many mediums coming at your target clients, yes there are 5 times as many businesses going after the same dollars, yes people used to return calls and e-mails and they don’t anymore. . .  but the difference between getting shifted on and riding the shift is simple.

Be Relevant, Be a Solution and Be Persistent with Value.

Here is what I mean about being Relevant.  Your targets don’t care one iota about your business until they believe you can are about them or their businesses.  Just talking about it doesn’t cut it anymore.  The power in content marketing is that you can speak to their lot.  You can show that you understand what they are going through because you have spoken right to it.  You can speak into their lives “virtually”, no pun intended.  Caring just doesn’t mean gushing on them with kindness. It means doing your research, strategically and critically thinking about their situation and offering suggestions.

If you have perspective of understanding about your target market’s business then you can take the next step, which is designing the solution.  So many times we as service providers, consultants or professional services in general are afraid to do “free” work, but I am firm believer in Seth Godin’s Take Your Best Stuff and Give it Away.  Today people want to know the quality of your thinking before they hire you.  Business is about problem solving and if you can solve problems, people will literally beat a path to your door.  If you think well you can demand your price.  Provide real solutions in selling situations using their numbers and talk to them in the mediums they dominate in so they can hear you.  If they are phone people, be great on the phone, if they are e-mail people, write great e-mails, if they are social media people, embrace these new mediums.

Persist with value.  Being persistent makes you a pest.  Persisting with something of value makes you a desired resource for the client.  I can’t tell you how many times clients have told me they were just about to give up on a marketing or sales strategy, then we persisted with value and everything starts to pop.  Relationships take way longer to develop than sales people really want to wait for but when you invest in persistence with value you build crops that return year after year rather than just one time and out.

Persisting with value could be helping a client get to one of their target clients, could be helping them find their key VP of Sales, etc.  You always have permission to persist when helping them with their problems.

This is a brand building and reputation strategy not enough sales people execute.

I love Blue Moon Café.   No, now that I think about it, I like Blu Moon Café.  Their food is great, their service is good and their Panini’s are really some of the best of I have ever had.  So why did I go to Eggshell?  Simple.  I really don’t have a bond or relationship with the staff.  They are cordial and efficient, but I have been there over 50 times and I still don’t have a relationship with them.

So without thinking, I headed South instead of North.  How many of your customers are doing this too?  How many of your customers are good customers spending consistently with you but walk South instead of North because they don’t have a relationship with you?

Hear me again…the Blu Moon Café is a fine café.  They execute very well but they don’t have a relationship development strategy and that is the difference from them being very good and being great.  Your regular customers are your evangelists for your brand.  They are your front lines for the word of mouth marketing that will get you all the customers you ever want if you are good at what you do and you value them enough to bond with them.

Business is not and cannot be separate from relationships because human beings are not built that way.  It’s simple to get to know your people.  Don’t be afraid of making them friends and building a relationship with them.  It will keep them heading North instead of South.

I will point out that Eggshell is also very good.  Coffee was great, service was awesome (doting and welcoming to the point where you felt served)  and the food was solid.  Breakfast in Carmel just got a whole lot tougher.

When you breakdown a muscle through working out the muscle responds by getting stronger.  When you have a hard time in a relationship the makeup usually strengthens the relationship.  When you decide to change a business to capitalize on a new model, product or target market until you find success, the result is usually a break through.  When you are failing to communicate with someone in a business relationship a lot of times just sharing in the failure can push the relationship to another level.

We fear failure or we fear admitting failure sometimes so much that we don’t allow ourselves to push past the event.  We seem to think it will become part of our identity like a brand or a cross we will bear.  Well, thankfully someone handled that for us.

My point is that conflict to the point of failure is not the problem.  The breakdown is not a failure.  It is only an event that we can assign meaning to.  The meaning we assign is completely up to us.  Whether or not it is positive or negative is based on our focus.

In selling, your close rate can be your breakdown.  Your ability to dissect your process, profile, approach, client feedback, your messaging, your value proposition, your rapport building, contracts and commitments can be the breakthroughs needed to turn 1 out of 10 into 3 out of 10.

In relationships your breakdown could be your communication skill.  Your ability to listen, to connect, to be present, to spend time, to be empathetic, to show affection and to be clear could be the breakthroughs need to keep together or go apart.

The decision to let failure be the defining event rather than the beginning of the solution is the real failure.  You have been led to this point of frustration to be open to learn what you really need to learn…to be ready to breakthrough.  Now go get it!

Change your Identity:

You change your perception of sales people. Sales people get a negative wrap. People think of slick, faster talkers or used car salesmen. I always challenge people on their basic identities of sales people. I try to interject pioneer, frontier’s men, relationship catalyst, solution expert, match maker, life saver, bridge builder, disease stopper, expert, subject matter expert, facilitator, connector, economic driver, etc. All of the above things are true. What we choose to take on as an identify can effect our Sales Esteem.

Change your Scoreboard:

Instead of measuring your life in popularity or feedback, move it into controllable actions like calls, testimonials, connections, dispositions, RFP’s responded to or presentations delivered. Too many times we as sales people live on the highs and lows of the way we feel after a meeting rather than the real numbers that drive our business.

Change your Value:

Every service and product usually finds a competitor but people can always be an individual. You can always decide to be different from your competition even if your product or service isn’t. You can always be the one person that remembers birthdays, writes personal cards, sends great anniversary gifts, is an exceptional public speaker, builds networks for your clients, is genuinely interested in their family, is always positive, is always candid, is always great with follow-up, etc. In short, you can always add value to “YOU” as a person. You always be a player that separates yourself from your competition in the sales world.

Build your Sales Esteem and you will work your way through the sales funnel faster and with greater results. Best thing of all is it’s controlled by you!

Then I ask a series of questions that leaves them jaw dropped.  How are you enrolling clients in your company?  Your vision?  As a referring partner?  The silence is usually deafening as they get immediate clarity in what I am talking about.  They spend a lot of time and money to acquire a relationship and they don’t make it a big deal.

Here are some ways you can really enroll your clients in your company.  Do this and watch you referring business double!

1.       5 Things That Make Us Different:

Create a list of important differences in you and your competition.  Make them understand how they should take advantage of those differences and why it is important to them.  It helps them de-commoditize you from your competition.  They will know why to spend their money with you rather than your competitors.

2.       Paint the Vision: 

Give them a clear vision of what the next three months will look like as your client.  Walk them through how you will learn to serve them better and their role in that process.  Let them know what you will need from them in order to do your job as well as you can.  Talk about your ultimate goals for the relationship,  i.e. “earn the right to clean all their buildings”, “grow their pipeline by 30%”, “help them open three new stores in the next three months”, etc.  Get to a common shared goal that you can use to rally their and your efforts behind.

3.       New Products, Other Services and Innovations: 

It is so important to take the time to make sure your clients understand all the services you provide, the products you have rolled out in the last couple of years and the new services and innovations that keep you on the cutting edge.  Most companies I work with that do this see a double digit increase in their dollar per client.  I can’t tell you how many times I have talked to customers who said, “I didn’t know you guys did that”.

4.       Philosophy and Commitments: 

Philosophies are what bring businesses together.  It is so important to write yours down and share them with your customers.  Get it down to your standard and commitments you have and the ones you expect from your clients.  My commitment has always been to be a 5 to 1 return on investment as a consultant.  I have always been in a place where I could create that for my clients because my plan and goals reflect it.  You could have the commitment to be transparent in pricing as a goal to create a partnership feel vs. a vendor.  Whatever you feel is important in your client relationships should go down on paper.

5.       Guarantee: 

If you have one you should make sure you go through it with your client.  Get them to fully understand it so they will become a mouth piece for you on this level.  Get them to understand it, market it and promote it as one of your differentiators.

6.       Philanthropic and Community Activities: 

This is a huge part of your business and what you are about beyond making money.  Sharing how your company is a viable productive part of society as a whole can be a great differentiator.  Businesses are just organizations of people with common goals.  They want to be a part of things that are bigger than themselves.  Showing how you are engaged in your community is a great way to illustrate that voting with their dollars for you is a very good move for the community at large.

7.       Founders and your People: 

Market your people like they are running for office.  People want to believe they are buying the best.  Show them with employee bios, backgrounds and resumes how great your people are.  Tell the story of your people and your business.  They will be enthralled in it and love to share it for free.

8.       How  you Grow: 

Tell them how you grow.  Walk them through the ways you acquired your best clients.  Tell them the stories of the referrals and the introductions that led to best and biggest deals in the company’s history.  Tell them that you regularly ask your clients for referrals and your official policy is By Referral Only.  They will love that you need them that much more and that they can help you grow and see how much you value them as a client.