How to get referred more often

Firstly there is nothing new here it comes from Entrepreneur and founder of The Strategic Coach, Dan Sullivan. In his book he talks about four referability habits that are the building blocks of great relationships.

Why I have decided to post this blog is that we are seeing a new generation of people and many seem to have never been exposed to these simple habits or forgotten them.

These habits are very simple

1. Show up on time
   
2. Do what you say you will do
   
3. Finish what you start
   
4. Say please and thank you
   

Here they are in a bit more detail

1. Show up on time
It's sounds pretty basic doesn't it? But respecting someone else's time shows that you value them. Most smart business owners show up on time when they are meeting a prospective client. People appreciate it when you value their time. That's why strategies that incorporate this habit into a brand promise is often quite compelling. Driving down south this weekend I was reminded of this seeing a plumbing van with the word's "I will turn up when I say I will" on the side. When you are next calling a plumber, who are you likely to call? The plumber that's done a standard letterbox drop - or the one that says "I will turn up when I say I will or it's free!"?

2. Do what you say you will do
Again, so simple. Yet so many people don't seem to be able to stick to this. If you say you're going to call to follow up, do so. If you promise to deliver a product or service by a certain date, do everything you can to fulfill your commitment. Don't promise anything that you aren't going to be able to deliver.

I have found that the best promise to offer someone is " I promise I will do my best". Often we see Salespeople making promises that service simply can not deliver, none more obvious than software sales people

3. Finish what you start
This shows you have commitment and that you'll see things through to the end. Sure, I know that some projects or jobs blow out because of unexpected circumstances. And, therefore, the time you allocated to the job isn't going to be enough to cover the original brief.

This is a delicate situation. If the blow-out is because of a miscalculation on your part, my advice is to wear it. Treat it as a learning experience so that you estimate better next time. However, if the variation is due to increasing demands from your customer, then it might be time to renegotiate delivery or payment in a diplomatic way.

Most Entrepreneurs fail miserable at this habit. Fantastic at starting projects but fail dismally at following through. If you make the commitment to start it either see it through personally or make sure you have a team around you that can – and make sure they do

4. Say please and thank you
Basic courtesy is a winner.

Next time you are standing in a line with parents with children. Listen to the way they order. My experience is that they will emphasis to the children the value of this habit and then not do it themselves. It is just simple common courtesy and we miss so of of it in today's society because people are just too busy.

Are you likely to refer business to someone that doesn't take the time to say thank you?

So when was the last time you thanked a key relationship

Ultimately, we all like doing business with people who do what they say they will, when they say they will - and who are nice to deal with!

Simple, really.

The 6 things you need to do to take advantage of an economic recovery

History tells us that the biggest shift in market share happens in a recovery cycle. Unfortunately history also tells us we are terrible at learning from history.

Consider your industry you work in right now and ask yourself if there will be some companies that do better out of the recovery than some of their competitors. The answer I hear almost unamiously is yes. If you agree then ask yourself this – do you think they will have planned it?

Having a great strategic plan is just a start, if you don't have one you lose. Armed with a great plan and all your knowledge you're still only a small way to succeeding. Jim Collins says it is 1% of success and Tom Peters says it is 2%. Bottom line doesn't matter how good your strategy looks on paper, it means nothing if it doesn't get applied.

Keeping everyone focussed on getting the right things done is everything. One thing the past economic climate has shown the business community is how high the price is of not doing it. Actually it's the key to success in all times, the price of not doing is just higher now.

Here are the 6 biggest lessons I have learned over the past 18 months in my business;

1. Start with "why?" – if you want people to go above and beyond in their role them a bigger purpose. Your company's purpose and vision need to be something alive that everyone knows how they are contributing to. If your team aren't capable of achieving the goals get a new goal or a new team
   
2. Hire for fit to values – if you want to build a team that pulls together and delivers for the company – and for each other – then make sure you have articulated your companies values, and that you hire people who align with them and demonstrate them. Start with yourself always.
   
3. Transparency – Make sure that people know the numbers, the targets and who is expected to do what, the more "real time" the data the better
   
4. Make many mistakes fast and learn from them – Encourage people to have a go and learn from what works and what doesn't. Don't give them all the answers (your team will come up with better ones only if you don't give them one first) and don't persecute those who try things that don't work, it is those that don't try things that stop you moving forward.
   
5. The enemy of Execution is Business as usual - Get everyone to commit to a weekly task that is not business as usual but is moving the company towards it's longer terms goals. Make sure that they understand that they are helping the company achieve it's vision by contributing. Do this as part of your weekly meetings and review the following week.
   
6. Hold people accountable – The hardest thing to do gets easier when you've done all of the above. If there is transparency on numbers and also completion of tasks and goals, when your team understand why you are all working towards your vision, when people share a common set of values with each other and the company, then you have permission to hold people accountable for their results. The funny thing is, if you do all the other bits, you won't need to. They will get it done for the company, and for each other – and not because they had to. Make sure that as the leader, you front up every week with your task completed and your numbers met.
   

As you can see, there is a mix of the soft and the hard to get a culture working that is about performance and delivering RESULTS. You need to be prepared to do the work on both having the big picture vision – and measuring and managing activity and effort. The two area's can't work in isolation and the sum of both is far greater than the whole.

So you know how I asked the question about a company in every industry benefiting more than their competitors? – Why can't that company be you?

Finding clever ways to get to Key Decision Makers

This is a video on an experiment Alec Brownstein did for a job interview

Technology is now allowing us to be more inventive than ever before and the possibilities this creates for businesses trying to connect with key decision makers is exciting.

The question for you is how are you going to use it?