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?

Working for a higher Purpose

Studies show that giving your people a real purpose to there work lifts engagement and productivity. A great example of a company in Christchurch that has a meaningful purpose is Isaac Construction. By combining conservation with construction they are making a real difference not only for the people in their company but for the people in New Zealand.

Thanks to the hard work of the team at Isaac Construction New Zealanders will have a much better chance of ever seeing endangered species. The company funds The Isaac Conservation Trust which has just built a skinkery – that is a home and habitat for rare Grand and the Otago Skink- and the first skinks have just been transferred into their new home at Peacock Springs just outside Christchurch.

The Grand and the Otago Skinks are from the Hawea-Lindis area in Otago and are now part of a captive breeding programme. The skinkery replicates the skinks natural habitat by including huge rocks and native plants in the cages. The skinks will be kept warm by “under-rock” floor heating. I was lucky enough to be able to hold one as we helped them out of their plastic boxes and set them free to explore their new home.

I grew up in this part of New Zealand and remember searching for these reptiles in my youth so have a natural affiliation with the work that The Isaac Conservation trust is doing and we are really enjoying working with their company

The Isaac Wildlife Trust has been working with the Department of Conservation and has been successfully breeding endangered birds at Peacock Springs for many years. But now they have a new challenge- the Grand and the Otago Skink!

So when you ask the team at Isaac Construction what they do. Instead of just laying roads and asphalt the help fund the protection of New Zealand's endangered native Floura and Fauna.

Isn't that a whole lot more reason to get out of bed each morning. They think so.

So.... what is your company really passionate about and what is your higher purpose. If you don't have one you should get one.

5 ways to improve your Company Culture

Research recently conducted by a multidisciplinary team from Auckland, Massey and Waikato universities, and Birbeck University in London found nearly one in five employees are being subjected to overbearing or belittling behaviour at work.

The survey of 1728 workers in the health, education, travel and hospitality sectors found 18% had been bullied, while 75% had suffered workplace stress. Read full article here

"Bullying is happening and it is not being addressed. It has long been accepted that this is the way of working -- if you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," says study leader Tim Bentley, associate head of Massey University's school of management.

Levels of workplace stress and bullying were greater than expected and one of the main causes was ineffective leadership.

A study and the end of last year by Hays International also highlighted that two thirds of employees believe their managers do not know what motivates them to perform and one third of staff are planning to leave when the economy recovers. Addressing these issues requires a significant change in the way people see, think and act about their company culture.

Every Culture in a company has a smell - how is yours?

Here are the 5 things that have the biggest impact in improving company culture.

1. Define and articulate the real core values of your businesses not some fluffy statements that are empty words on a plaque. This drives positive behaviour and facilitates the removal of people who do not fit well with your culture

2. Use behavioural profiling tools to improve interpersonal communication and working relationships. This will also identify your people’s strengths and help you understand how to leverage your people’s strengths to increase productivity and personal fulfilment.

3. Identify and overcome any dysfunctional behaviours demonstrated by your management team

4. Survey employee engagement to identify the areas that require attention – a proven way to increase sales, productivity, and customer satisfaction - whilst reducing accidents, absenteeism, and staff turnover.

5. Conduct well-structured meetings every week with your team members. Here you can recognise and reward positive behaviour and address any issues before they become a problem.

Implementing these disciplines can provide a challenge but not as much of a challenge as doing nothing.

Lessons for Business from Nature

Why try and invent something that has already been perfected by millions of years of evolution?

I have been come across some great analogy's where nature teaches us some great lessons.

We can learn lessons about building a productive team by looking at

1) How birds work together when they fly

2) How bees communicate

3) How termites work together to construct amazing structures

4) How to create lasting relationships from penguins

Nature also applies certain underlying principles in a spectacular variety of imaginative form. For example in nature we find;
1) Economic use of materials
2) Maximum structural strength
3) Maximum enclosed volume
4) Extremely high strength-to-weight ratios
5) Utilisation of stress and strain as a basis for structural efficiency
6) Energy efficiency through form without external power
7) Form that enhances air circulation
8) Use of local materials for building
9) Curvilinear forms that disperse and dissipate multi-directional forces
10) Integration of aerodynamic efficiency with structural form
11) Producing nothing that is toxic to the environment
12) Designs structures that can be built by a single organism

Here is the lesson that we learn from geese. This provides a perfect example of the importance of team work and how it can have a profound and powerful effect on any form of personal or business endeavour.

When you use these seven principles in our business it will help encourage a level of passion and energy in yourselves and team members.

Lesson 1 - The importance of knowing where you are going

Every year the geese set off together already knowing the destination, for those that are new they guided by the older birds and they all set off together

Outcome
Until everyone is aligned on where you want to go you probably won't even get of the ground. Learn from those who have been there before.

Lesson 2 - The importance of working together

As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. By flying in a 'V' formation the whole flock adds 71 percent extra to the flying range.

Outcome
When we have a sense of community and focus, we create trust and can help each other to achieve our goals.

Lesson 3 - The Importance of Team Work

When a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front.

Outcome
If we had as much sense as geese we would stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Lesson 4 - The Importance of Sharing

When a goose tires of flying up front it drops back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Outcome It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks. We should respect and protect each other's unique arrangement of skills, capabilities, talents and resources.

Lesson 5 - The Importance of Empathy and Understanding

When a goose gets sick, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to the ground to help and protect it.

Outcome
If we have as much sense as geese we will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong.

Lesson 6 - The importance of knowing your limitations

The two geese will stay with a sick goose until it gets better or until it dies. If it dies it means that the remaining two geese can share the load to catch up with another flock. They could never achive this if they flew on their own.

Outcome
You are always more effective having people around you. Even if circumstances change always have someone there to support you.

Lesson 7 - The Importance of Encouragement

Geese flying in formation 'HONK' to encourage those up front to keep up with their speed.

Outcome
We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups and teams where there is encouragement, production is much greater. 'Individual empowerment results from quality honking'

I will let you know the lessons of communication from the bees in my next post

How to enhance someone's experience of life

You know that sometimes when you come to work something extraordinary happens that reminds you of why you are passionate about what you do.

Our company purpose is "to enhance people's experience of life" and I have just finished a meeting with a client that reminds me of why I am so passionate about making that happen.

When we started working with her company she was working extremely hard, had great difficulty in taking time off and the business stress was affecting her relationship. It was a good company that was limited in its ability to grow.

3 years on and with less than 2 weeks notice she was able to leave the country and spend time with her daughters in Egypt. She has also sailed around the world with her husband and is a glowing representation of someone having fun who owns a business. So what changed?

It all started with a plan, this gave the ability to put in some key metrics to measure but this doesn't sound so different. In fact they had a lot of this in place before we started working together. What was different was that they were held accountable to execute their strategy, weekly meetings happened regardless and tangble outcomes were agreed to be delivered upon and issues were brought out when they happened, and there butts got kicked if they didn't do it.

This drove stronger communication, better visibility and most important of all accountability around execution of the plan. Execution has always been the most difficult part of achievement but also the most important. Tom Peters calls it the missing 98%.

The four fundamentals things to achieve greatness and freedom in business is:

- Write down a exciting compelling goal that engages your people
- Put it in a clear plan that everyone in your business can see everyday
- Have a clear and visible system of measuring results
- Have a system of accountability

I guarentee that it is this simple but it doesn't happen overnight. This story is an example where this stuff was put in place and three years later achieving a freedom goal that she thought would take 10 years.

Have we enhanced her experience of life.....absolutely
Am I excited about it ..... absolutely