NOTE: I am on Maui until Friday morning.

Secrets of His Success

Forbes Magazine reports Bill Gates as having a net worth of $46.5 billion dollars, making him the richest person of the world.

  He started out as a nerdy looking kid that got into his share of trouble with the police.

 He fell in love with the computer at a very young age and created Microsoft while his friends were still getting into trouble.

Bill Gates was recently asked why he closed his Facebook account and opened a Twitter feed. His reply, “I had too many people that I don’t know wanting to be my ‘friend.’ Facebook is about who you know; Twitter is about what you know.”

It is said that he is a very hardworking and benevolent person. The world has been talking about his secrets of success for many years. When asked what they were, he offered his five-point master formula of success:

1-Passion
2-Intelligence
3-Integrity
4-A Good Team
5-Leadership
  

Take Others Up With You
Regardless of where you are today, always look up to the next rung of the ladder and reach for it. At the same time look down to see who is just beneath you and extend a helping hand to pull them up with you. If the person above you starts to slip down, give him or her a boost back up. The more people you have on the ladder with you, the easier it is for everyone to keep climbing.

It’s a Win-Win Deal
If you are a business owner, help prepare your employees to take over your job someday. If you are a manager, help your staff members get to the same level you are at now. When they do, you will be a noch upward.
And… if you are a salesperson help your customers succeed by buying what you are selling.

Be Your Own Coach

In professional football, we see the best of the best playing. In spite of all of that talent, there are more coaches on the sidelines than there are players on the field. The head coach never misses a down. And this is with pros!

How many people in business go at it without a coach? How many coaches miss a few downs? The answer to both questions is, “Too many.”

One of the most important tools that Success Dynamics brings to the table is the Morning Report. This document makes your goal the boss, and you the coach. When you coach yourself to do whatever it takes to reach your goal you will be more successful; It’s Easy!

Can You See an Important Lesson Here?

In 1986, Mikele Mebembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mikele approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mikele worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mikele stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Mikele never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mikele was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mikele and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mikele, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mikele couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mikele summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mikele’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

It probably wasn’t the same elephant.

Good or Bad?

Unhappy customers can be bad news for any company, yet properly dealt with can be a huge benefit. It only takes one poorly handled one to ruin your day, and perhaps even your reputation. One handled well can do just the opposite.

The first rule is, “Don’t take it personal”. The customer may not be right, BUT, the customer is ALWAYS right. It could be a “mood thing” on the part of the customer. Never let your mood become a factor. Some customers have unrealistic expectations, while others may have a legitimate gripe. The important thing is for YOU to make things better.

Here are some things that YOU can do to make unhappy customers your ally rather than your enemy.

1. Listen, and do not interrupt customers while they are venting. They need to tell their story and feel that they have been heard.

2. Say, “Thank you”. You do not have to agree to be thankful. You can say, “Thank you for calling this to my attention.”

3. Apologize: Again, you do not have to agree. You can say, “I’m sorry that you feel this way”. Do not attempt to lecture the customer, make excuses, or attempt justify what has happened. Doing so will just make it worse.

4. Seek a Solution: Ask your customer, “What do you think we should do about this?” Oftentimes the customer’s solution is easier than what you might have in mind. Sometimes the venting and apology is enough.

5. Agree: Look for a solution that will satisfy the customer. The cost of the solution is most likely less costly than a tarnished reputation would be.

6. Do It Now: Show a sense of urgency. Your willingness to fix the problem quickly will do more FOR YOU than the problem DID TO the customer.

7. Follow-up: Make sure that what you agreed to do was done, and done right. A lack of follow through can undo all of the good you just did.

Remember; STUFF HAPPENS. It’s how you handle the STUFF that is more important than the STUFF itself.

You CANNOT “Train” People!

I am oftentimes introduced as a “trainer”, or “sales trainer” and I quickly deny that description of what I do.

Some people claim, “People are a part of the animal kingdom, if you can you train one, you should be able to train the other”. I can accept the “should be” part of that statement, but the reality is that there are some major differences between the human animal and the others.

A dolphin can be “taught” and then “trained” through repetition and reward to jump over a bar every time the whistle blows and the little stick is held out. The dolphin (or other animals) will do what they have been “trained” to do, regardless of their mood that day, the weather, or what the other animals are doing.

People can surely be taught to do something, however they may or may not do it depending entirely upon their mood that day, the weather, or what other people are doing.

Head Coach

In the game of football the head coach never misses a down. People need coaching, watching, critiquing, praising and sometimes even reprimanding just to get them to do what they were taught to do.

Why the Rooster?
Many people do not know that the sound the rooster makes in the morning (cock-a-doodle-doo) is called his “Report”. The rooster “reports” early; sometimes too early.

Our Morning Report also arrives early. We say, “Send us your numbers at closing time, and you will have your Morning Report BEFORE the rooster crows in the morning.”

The Lion King musical had a great Morning Report tune in the play. You can see and hear it HERE:

Businesses are famous for reporting monthly numbers after it’s too late to do anything about them.
When you get the Morning Report you will be able to see trends in plenty of time to impact them, well before the month ends. CLICK HERE to see examples of how it works.

Half Full!
Always see the glass half full. It works for me and it will work for you. You choose your attitude and your attitude shapes your surroundings.

People Love It
Of course there are exceptions, and some e-mail is better received than others, but generally speaking, “You have mail” are welcome words when opening your e-mail program.

Yesterday’s Inbox
The same was true in times past when all mail came to your physical mail box. The more there was, the better you liked it.

“Thank You.”
When was the last time that you went shopping, came home and opened up your e-mail to find a simple “Thank you” e-mail from one of the stores where you shopped? Such e-mail would likely be well received, especially if it came from someone you did NOT buy from, and does NOT have a “sales pitch” as a part of it. A link to your web site is enough. Everyone likes being appreciated.

CRM’s
I talk with many companies that have Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) in place to gather e-mail addresses and other customer information, but in too many cases it stops there. Or, they go into a data base somewhere with good intent to send e-mail about upcoming sales, promotions or new merchandise. In some cases even that doesn’t happen.

Pick One!
A good way to get e-mail addresses is to have a weekly or monthly drawing of some sort with winners posted on your web site. Be sure that you do not ask for too much information on the drawing ticket; name and e-mail address is all you need. I dropped my business card in a fishbowl at a cafe recently and got a return e-mail telling me who the winner was (not me), but offering me a consolation prize of a free bowl of soup with my next purchase.

Get it Together!
The names in your data base are pure gold. Get creative; e-mail is free, and properly used can be the most effective and inexpensive marketing tool of all.