Recently we had a situation at our agency that reminded me of the importance of delivering what the client needs rather than what they may think they want.
While clients play a major role in decisions and influence in your companies actions mostly because every company is trying to please their clients and keep them happy in order to create long term relationships, the truth is that many times in order to actually please the client and deliver the results you must focus on what the client really needs rather than what they are saying they want.
Let me clarify, a client requests you change your strategy because they have a few ideas that they want to include and really focus on. You then deviate off of the path that you absolutely know works and know gets results in a effort to serve the client and address their wants. The results then reflect the deviation off course from what you know you should have done, further, the client is not happy which is bad for business altogether.
Had you held your position and only sold and delivered the client on what you knew was successful, what gets results and what was really what the client needed, you would ultimately end up with a happy client and a great long term relationship.
Focus on what you do as a company that you know works and gets results and then identify what the client really needs in order to address a problem and sell and deliver only that. By sticking to your guns sort to speak and delivering a product or service that handles your clients actual needs (as long as you have correctly identified them) will guarantee you positive results and happy clients. Handle your clients needs only and don't be persuaded to deviate to focus on wants that you know will take the strategy off course with results that will not be the desired outcome.
As the saying goes.... "Find a need.... fill a need"
- Robert Cornish
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Busy or Unorganized
Ok, this one may push a few people's buttons but I thought I should write it anyway. I frequently hear the words "busy" in business and felt the need to address this and challenge others to get honest with themselves.
I personally happen to be a very organized person but even I fall behind from time to time and need to pick up the slack to catch up and stay on track. I don't blame it on "busy" though, I blame it on me being disorganized and not keeping on track and handling my cycles one at a time until done...done...done.
We all have the same amount of time in the day and we are all "busy" but it's no excuse to let anything slide. Besides, the people you are telling that you are "busy" don't buy it anyway.
So get organized and call it what it is - lack of organization. Your simply not getting your tasks done on time and are wasting time during the day or being inefficient. Organized and productive business people can get a spectacular amount of tasks and actions done in a day and while you are blaming your disorganization on "busy" you competition and prospective clients that you can't seem to get around to are out-tasking you or bypassing you.
So my challenge to you is for you to stop using the excuse of "busy" and simply call it what it is, unorganized, and then address it for what it is and work toward the solutions. How can you get more organized? How can you be more efficient during the day? How can you get more done? etc etc. Focus on ways to handle your organizational problems like using a daily targets plan and check off as done or not multi-tasking anymore and just focus on doing the task at hand and then go to the next and the next and the next. A sort of "Get it done, handle it now, what's next?" type of system.
If you are truly honest with yourself on this, you will agree that you are not actually busy, you're disorganized.
Here are a few ways you could be more organized:
1) Make a daily agenda with targets for the day that must be hit
2) Handle each target daily one by one, completing each one fully before doing the next
3) Schedule and/or budget your time on your calendar to make sure you are being fully productive with your day
4) Knock off all wasted time during the day such as office chit chat, browsing the web aimlessly, jumping from task to task and not fully completing any of them etc etc
5) Check your email only after a task is done. IE. Do a target fully and then check email and handle and then go back and do the next target
6) Don't accept interruptions. Tell people you are in the middle of a task and will come see them as soon as it is completed. Then do so and go back to the next target right after
These simple steps will help immensely. I would also recommend you make a list of all of the ways you are being unorganized or inefficient during the day to look at each one and handle each one appropriately.
Time is precious, why waste it and get stuck into indefinite "busy" mode?
- Robert Cornish
I personally happen to be a very organized person but even I fall behind from time to time and need to pick up the slack to catch up and stay on track. I don't blame it on "busy" though, I blame it on me being disorganized and not keeping on track and handling my cycles one at a time until done...done...done.
We all have the same amount of time in the day and we are all "busy" but it's no excuse to let anything slide. Besides, the people you are telling that you are "busy" don't buy it anyway.
So get organized and call it what it is - lack of organization. Your simply not getting your tasks done on time and are wasting time during the day or being inefficient. Organized and productive business people can get a spectacular amount of tasks and actions done in a day and while you are blaming your disorganization on "busy" you competition and prospective clients that you can't seem to get around to are out-tasking you or bypassing you.
So my challenge to you is for you to stop using the excuse of "busy" and simply call it what it is, unorganized, and then address it for what it is and work toward the solutions. How can you get more organized? How can you be more efficient during the day? How can you get more done? etc etc. Focus on ways to handle your organizational problems like using a daily targets plan and check off as done or not multi-tasking anymore and just focus on doing the task at hand and then go to the next and the next and the next. A sort of "Get it done, handle it now, what's next?" type of system.
If you are truly honest with yourself on this, you will agree that you are not actually busy, you're disorganized.
Here are a few ways you could be more organized:
1) Make a daily agenda with targets for the day that must be hit
2) Handle each target daily one by one, completing each one fully before doing the next
3) Schedule and/or budget your time on your calendar to make sure you are being fully productive with your day
4) Knock off all wasted time during the day such as office chit chat, browsing the web aimlessly, jumping from task to task and not fully completing any of them etc etc
5) Check your email only after a task is done. IE. Do a target fully and then check email and handle and then go back and do the next target
6) Don't accept interruptions. Tell people you are in the middle of a task and will come see them as soon as it is completed. Then do so and go back to the next target right after
These simple steps will help immensely. I would also recommend you make a list of all of the ways you are being unorganized or inefficient during the day to look at each one and handle each one appropriately.
Time is precious, why waste it and get stuck into indefinite "busy" mode?
- Robert Cornish
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Lead Vs. A Reach
We recently introduced our Pay Per Performance model which takes all of the risk off the clients and strongly motivates our team to produce results. While discussing this over and over with many prospective clients, the question of a lead vs. a reach has come up frequently and so I wanted to write a brief note to clear it up.
While it’s easy to confuse a reach with a lead, they are distinctly different, one supremely better than the other. By the explanation below, I'll let you be the judge to decide which one is better...
Lead: It’s just that - a lead. It’s someone that may have some interest. It’s a possible business connection or a possible business development opportunity.
Reach: It’s someone reaching, interested, with a relationship already established. They already know about you, have heard about you and have a general understanding of what you do and now they want more. It’s the diamond of prospective clients that you wish you had daily.
Now let's look at the dictionary definition of each as taken from The American Heritage College dictionary:
Lead: 9. To begin or open with. To go first or guide. 3a. Information pointing toward a possible solution; 7a. The introductory portion.
Reach: 4a. To succeed in getting in contact with or communicating with. b. To succeed in having an effect on. 3a. Range of understanding; comprehension. 1. To stretch out or put forth; extend 3. To arrive at; attain
So from the above definitions, it's clear that a lead is the start, an introductory part or a beginning and a reach would be much further along than that and in fact is closer toward the end of the cycle. A reach entails someone reaching out for something. The introduction and start have all taken place and now it's at the point of stretching or reaching for more.
So as it relates to business development and new client procurement, which would you rather have?
Our agency exclusively deals with reaches for our clients... not leads. Our performance model is based on number of reaches which to me, is the most valuable thing to our company and and our clients companies.
For more information about our services, here is a link to a presentation on SlideShare - http://www.slideshare.net/Richter10point2/richter102-elevator-pitch-3791206
While it’s easy to confuse a reach with a lead, they are distinctly different, one supremely better than the other. By the explanation below, I'll let you be the judge to decide which one is better...
Lead: It’s just that - a lead. It’s someone that may have some interest. It’s a possible business connection or a possible business development opportunity.
Reach: It’s someone reaching, interested, with a relationship already established. They already know about you, have heard about you and have a general understanding of what you do and now they want more. It’s the diamond of prospective clients that you wish you had daily.
Now let's look at the dictionary definition of each as taken from The American Heritage College dictionary:
Lead: 9. To begin or open with. To go first or guide. 3a. Information pointing toward a possible solution; 7a. The introductory portion.
Reach: 4a. To succeed in getting in contact with or communicating with. b. To succeed in having an effect on. 3a. Range of understanding; comprehension. 1. To stretch out or put forth; extend 3. To arrive at; attain
So from the above definitions, it's clear that a lead is the start, an introductory part or a beginning and a reach would be much further along than that and in fact is closer toward the end of the cycle. A reach entails someone reaching out for something. The introduction and start have all taken place and now it's at the point of stretching or reaching for more.
So as it relates to business development and new client procurement, which would you rather have?
Our agency exclusively deals with reaches for our clients... not leads. Our performance model is based on number of reaches which to me, is the most valuable thing to our company and and our clients companies.
For more information about our services, here is a link to a presentation on SlideShare - http://www.slideshare.net/Richter10point2/richter102-elevator-pitch-3791206
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Are You In Communication?
Over and over I notice many people and companies are out of communication, or at least have lethargic communication systems. What I mean by that is that they are slow to the draw, slow to reply, slow to take action or don’t take any action at all.
Communication is the very essence of business as well as the economy. The more you can create and the faster you can get it going, the more revenue flows.
Currently it seems there is quite a problem with communication. As a business owner myself, I find the importance of communication to be extremely high. I demand from my staff that a lot of communication go out to the world and more specifically, to our target audience. I also demand that we handle communication rapidly, as fast as we can, and keep our flows moving fast.
If I get an email related to someone interested in our company, we instantly reply to move the cycle forward. Phone calls are returned the same day and everyone in the company has a mobile device that allows for immediate response via email at any given time. Additionally, we developed the Social Media Press Kit (http://whywebpr.com/smpk) for the purpose of making ourselves more accessible in every imaginable way, be it text message, email, Skype, Facebook, Linkedin or to download our communication details through a vCard.
We rate communication highly. However I have noticed that not everyone operates this way. People delay in getting back via email or phone. They are slow to communicate many times, if at all. This type of operating procedure hurts them and their company. Procrastination has no place in the business world. Slowness is not a strength and being out of communication is damaging.
Take a look at your communication systems this week and test them. Do you immediately respond to emails? Phone calls? How much communication are you sending out to the world daily? Your company? Is that enough?
If handled, your revenue will skyrocket. Get yourself and your company into communication with the world. Send communication out, even if you simply start by sending out 6 hand-written letters per week or 10 emails to introduce yourself to people you would want to do business with. Get communication flowing and fast.
Robert Cornish
CEO
Richter10.2 Media Group
Communication is the very essence of business as well as the economy. The more you can create and the faster you can get it going, the more revenue flows.
Currently it seems there is quite a problem with communication. As a business owner myself, I find the importance of communication to be extremely high. I demand from my staff that a lot of communication go out to the world and more specifically, to our target audience. I also demand that we handle communication rapidly, as fast as we can, and keep our flows moving fast.
If I get an email related to someone interested in our company, we instantly reply to move the cycle forward. Phone calls are returned the same day and everyone in the company has a mobile device that allows for immediate response via email at any given time. Additionally, we developed the Social Media Press Kit (http://whywebpr.com/smpk) for the purpose of making ourselves more accessible in every imaginable way, be it text message, email, Skype, Facebook, Linkedin or to download our communication details through a vCard.
We rate communication highly. However I have noticed that not everyone operates this way. People delay in getting back via email or phone. They are slow to communicate many times, if at all. This type of operating procedure hurts them and their company. Procrastination has no place in the business world. Slowness is not a strength and being out of communication is damaging.
Take a look at your communication systems this week and test them. Do you immediately respond to emails? Phone calls? How much communication are you sending out to the world daily? Your company? Is that enough?
If handled, your revenue will skyrocket. Get yourself and your company into communication with the world. Send communication out, even if you simply start by sending out 6 hand-written letters per week or 10 emails to introduce yourself to people you would want to do business with. Get communication flowing and fast.
Robert Cornish
CEO
Richter10.2 Media Group
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Richter10.2 elevator pitch
Richter10.2 elevator pitch
View more presentations from Robert Cornish.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Is your email signature working against you?
I have seen so many emails that don't have any contact information in the signature area and it provoked me to blog about it.
I can't tell you how many times I have needed to contact someone and one of the first places I look for their contact information is their email signature. When it doesn't have all of your details, it really hinders and cuts your communications ability. Think about prospective clients that want to do business with you and focus on making it easy for them to do so.
Business is about communication and the more you can make yourself accessible, the better. Not only do I have all of my pertinent information in my email signature, I also have what is called a Social Media Press Kit (http://whywebpr.com/robertcornish) which comes with an email signature button so anyone can click on it and download your vCard, as well as access every other angle of getting in communication with you.
Make it easy to communicate with you and make yourself accessible and I promise it will help develop more business for you.
-Robert Cornish
I can't tell you how many times I have needed to contact someone and one of the first places I look for their contact information is their email signature. When it doesn't have all of your details, it really hinders and cuts your communications ability. Think about prospective clients that want to do business with you and focus on making it easy for them to do so.
Business is about communication and the more you can make yourself accessible, the better. Not only do I have all of my pertinent information in my email signature, I also have what is called a Social Media Press Kit (http://whywebpr.com/robertcornish) which comes with an email signature button so anyone can click on it and download your vCard, as well as access every other angle of getting in communication with you.
Make it easy to communicate with you and make yourself accessible and I promise it will help develop more business for you.
-Robert Cornish
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