18 posts categorized "Happiness"

‘Undercover Boss’ Illustrates that Your People are Your Competitive Advantage

25

Feb

Posted by Robert Bylett at 8:00 AM in Business Owner, Employees, Happiness, Happy Business, Profitable

Smiling_waitress A new television show started recently called, “Undercover Boss.”  In this show, CEOs of some of the country’s largest companies go “undercover” in their own organisation for a week working in various entry-level positions.  The CEO picking up rubbish, scrubbing toilets and mopping the floor – don’t we all wish we could see that?  Unfortunately, those that have gotten to see it didn’t know that it was the CEO until after the fact (but at least it was caught on video!).

A recent episode covered the largest convenience store chain in the world, 7-Eleven.  The CEO, Joe DePinto, visited the store that sells the most coffee in the U.S. – an average 2,500 cups a day!  But, that’s not the amazing part.  What was most amazing was that the store manager, Delores, knew all of the customers’ names!  Meanwhile, Joe struggled to make the coffee without it running all over the place.

Now, 7-Eleven may have good coffee, but since other 7-Eleven stores aren’t having duplicate results, I would hazard a guess that people aren’t coming just for the coffee.  They’re coming for Delores’ smile and personal greeting to start their day.  Starbuck’s could be 50 feet away selling Grande Latte’s for £1 and they would probably still go to 7-Eleven.

Delores is their competitive advantage.  You can directly trace a significant portion of that store’s sales to her.  Do you have a Delores?

This example truly epitomises what I have been saying about how valuable an asset your people are and how big a role they play in creating a happy business.  You could feel the positive energy running throughout the store; everyone just wanted to be there.

Jack Lannom developed what is known as the People FirstTM philosophy.  “When people are honoured and appreciated for not only what they do but also for who they are, it develops an environment that gives people freedom to be their best and to do their best.”  The important thing to realise, however, is that a People FirstTM philosophy is also smart business and profitable.  Just see Delores and her 2,500 cups of coffee a day!

If you have a Delores, consider yourself very fortunate and do everything possible to give her room to continue helping you grow your business.  If you don’t have an obvious Delores, look closely at all of your staff for a “Delores in the rough.”  Chances are you have a loyal, intelligent and ambitious employee who can easily be nurtured into becoming a full-fledged Delores.

More Business Myths: Cheaper, Better or “Cool” Doesn’t Equal Success

22

Feb

Posted by Robert Bylett at 7:53 AM in Business Owner, Happiness, Profitable, Small Business

Many small business owners or people considering starting small businesses are operating under false assumptions that could keep them from ever reaching success.  Not only that, but the stress resulting from the almost inevitable outcome causes not only personal unhappiness, but if a family is involved can greatly damage relationships.  So, what are more of these dangerous myths?Wheel

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You Don’t Like to Be Sold To, So Why Hard Sell Your Own Clients?

23

Jan

Posted by Robert Bylett at 2:19 PM in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Happiness, Happy Business, Marketing, Profitable, Small Business, Values

Death_of_a_salesman Selling has changed a lot since the days of Willy Loman.  Consumers are much more knowledgeable and sophisticated and they can see a sales pitch coming from a mile away.  And consumers aren’t only the prospects and clients you’re trying to sell to, they’re you too!  You’re a consumer, so you should ask yourself, “How would I feel if someone was making this sales pitch to me?” 

What exactly is the difference between traditional sales and attraction marketing? 

Traditional Sales

  • You’re in control.  You decide who you approach, who you pitch, and what you offer.  However, the prospects usually aren’t interested at first so you have to start the sale by building interest before you can try to sell.
  • ABC – Always Be Closing.  The goal is to make the sale; get the prospect to say, “Yes.”  Then move on the next sale. 
  • You’ll get a lot of “no’s.”  However, numbers are always on your side.  As long as you keep finding prospects – no matter how ideal – and keep asking, you’ll get enough “yes’s” to be successful. You just have to be strong enough to withstand it.

Attraction Marketing

  • You can only control the message and materials you send out.  For the most part, prospects will self select themselves and come to you.  The great part is that you know they’re interested before you start.
  • Establish yourself as an expert.  When you are seen as the expert in your field, prospects close themselves because they want to work with the best. 
  • Relationships are everything and good client service is crucial.  The worst thing that can happen is that clients and prospects openly speak negatively about you.  The damage to your credibility as the expert can be enormous and you may not recover. 

The biggest difference is that one is positive and the other negative.  The approach you choose to take affects how you feel as a person and a business. 

With traditional selling, you deal with “no” every day and you spend your time convincing people to buy something in which they may have not been interested or even needed.  The result is that you’ll get customers with buyer’s remorse who aren’t happy and want refunds.  Will you be happy spending your time in this manner?  At the end of the day, can you easily recover from being beaten down and rejected?

With attraction marketing, you’re working with people who want to work with you.  You’re also improving prospects lives – even if they don’t become clients – by educating them on important topics and issues that can help them.

It’s easier and quicker and you’re much more likely to make money right away using traditional selling techniques.  The question is which is more important to you – making money or being happy?  There’s no right or wrong, and if you’re getting started you may have to utilize some traditional selling to get money coming in.  Just be careful that you don’t damage the long term goal of establishing yourself as that expert.

The Holiday Season Can be a Challenging Time in Keeping a Happy Business

24

Dec

Posted by Robert Bylett at 4:50 PM in Business Owner, Clients, Courtesy System, Employees, Happiness, Happy Business, Small Business, Values

Throughout 2009, I’ve been talking about building a happy business.  It’s included topics like accepting change and turning it into opportunities, creating a courtesy system in your company to develop a happier, more effective staff, changing your marketing methods to attract perfect customers instead of chasing after those less than perfect, and building systems that ensure your clients, suppliers and anyone else affected by your business know and understand how much you appreciate them.Merry-christmas

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Keeping Your Suppliers Happy is Crucial in a Bad Economy

26

Oct

Posted by Robert Bylett at 7:56 AM in Business Owner, Economy, Efficient Business Systems, Happiness, Profitable, Suppliers

Manandwoamwithmoney
You’ve likely seen stories in the news about major companies extending the amount of time before they will pay their suppliers for the materials they’ve purchased – sometimes even by double!  In an economy where sales are down and cash flow is tight, that probably sounds like a smart business decision, right?  Not likely.

Although large companies could probably get away with it because of their size and power, the ultimate cost still makes it a bad decision no matter what size your company is.  First, just because you choose to pay later, that doesn’t mean that the supplier will willingly adjust the finance charges and late fees they impose on payments made beyond their acceptable terms.  So it literally costs more to pay later.

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Outsourcing – A Great Way to Increase Happiness, Efficiencies and Profits in Small Businesses

23

Oct

Posted by Robert Bylett at 6:10 AM in Business Owner, Efficient Business Systems, Happiness, Outsourcing, Profitable, Small Business

WomenandgraphOutsourcing has gotten a lot of bad press because it often results in job layoffs within a company.  Large
companies looking to reduce costs and eliminate overhead often outsource non core business services.  Although those are also benefits for small businesses, where small businesses have the largest margin for gain is in the ability to refocus all of their attention on the core functions of the business – which is also what they do best!

What exactly is outsourcing?  Outsourcing is when you contract out part of your business function to a third party for a substantial period of time.  The third party is then responsible for the success of that function.  Commonly outsourced business functions include accounting, catering, cleaning, maintenance, human resources, marketing, advertising, customer service, etc.

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Happiness Equation: Happy People + Efficient Business Systems = Profit

21

Oct

Posted by Robert Bylett at 3:50 AM in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Communication, Courtesy System, Happiness, Happy Business, Small Business, Work Life Balance

Over the past several months, I’ve been talking about several themes of small business management; namely building a happy business, the Courtesy System, attracting perfect clients, etc.  After serious reflection, I’ve come to realise that these topics fit into a simple formula that you can use to create a business and a lifestyle that is not only enjoyable, but profitable.  I call this formula the Happiness Equation.

Profits and Happiness
Over the coming months all of the blog posts will comprise at least one part of the equation.  The “Happy People” variable of the equation includes anyone (and everyone) who interacts with the business – customers, suppliers, employees, partners, service providers, and even your family!  The “Efficient Business Systems” variable addresses all of the processes and procedures necessary to make your business run.  The end result – when implemented and applied correctly – is Profit.

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Well, That’s the Way it’s Always Been Done!

01

Sep

Posted by Robert Bylett at 4:43 PM in Business Consulting, Business Owner, Coaching, Happiness, Personal Development, Work Life Balance

Tee Shirt - Status Quo Change…most of us humans don’t deal well with it to start with.  Add on a business owner role, and change is even less welcome.  Think about it.  We’ve invested a lot of time and effort into “perfecting” our business processes and procedures to get them to work successfully.  So why fix what doesn’t appear to be broken?  The problem is that even though everything looks like it is working smoothly, that doesn’t mean that it’s working as effectively as it should.

It’s somewhat like the frog in boiling water analogy.  You slowly turn the water up and the frog doesn’t realise anything is wrong until he’s already cooked.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re the frog!

I was with a client the other day and her response to my question about why things were done the way they were was, "Well, that's the way it's always been done."  To me this is like raising the red flag and sounding the siren for immediate change and improvement in the system.

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People, I'd Like to Introduce Courtesy System...Courtesy System, Meet My People

28

Jun

Posted by Robert Bylett at 4:49 PM in Business Owner, Courtesy System, Employee Satisfaction, Employees, Happiness, Personal Development

TortoiseHareNow that you have committed to implementing the Courtesy System, you have to put an important image in your mind – over the next 8 to 12 months, you’re the tortoise and not the hare!  It is important to only put one Performance Standard in place at a time. If you try and do too much too soon you will increase the likelihood of failure.  Slow and steady wins this race!

It usually takes about 30 days after introducing one of the Performance Standards for people to become comfortable with the new behaviour. However, you can’t put the implementation on a schedule by committing to implementing one new Performance Standard each month because that’s the average – your people may catch on slower or they may even catch on faster.  It’s advisable not to move to the next step until everyone has reached at least 80% competency.

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The Courtesy System - Setting the Stage

24

Jun

Posted by Robert Bylett at 2:48 PM in Business Owner, Courtesy System, Employee Satisfaction, Employees, Happiness

Courtesy System From an operations standpoint, the Courtesy System is a collection of eight Performance Standards that are designed to help people work together happily and efficiently. In the coming weeks I will address each of the Performance Standards separately and independently, however today, I will be sharing with you how to set the stage in your business to begin implementing a Courtesy System. As you will learn, the use of such a system can help you achieve productivity and fulfilment at work by providing a framework that makes it possible for everyone in your business to communicate effectively.

When you walk into your place of business, what does the energy feel like?  Is it positive or negative?  Is it friendly or combative?  Is it calm or hectic?  Is it energized or depressed?  This energy is generated by your employees through how they relate to each other and work together.  However, no matter where your business falls on the continuum, chances are that there is room for improvement.

The difficult part of improvement of this nature, unfortunately, is that the way we behave towards each other is deeply ingrained and it takes a lot of effort to change such behaviour. Simply trying to be “nice” usually does not work, because it is practically impossible to be “nice” to everyone all of the time.

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