Re:Focus

Find Your Dream Job

What makes a perfect job?

Is it the amount of money they pay you?  Is it the great benefits package?  Or is it something else?

We all know that there is more to a great job than how much we get paid - but how do you find that great job.

Here's an interview I did with Ariane, author and found of first30days - an organization dedicated to inspire people find the positive in their lives and navigate the change to get there.

Here's the interview:

And here's a link to Ariane's book:

The Battered-Wife Customer Service Model

I saw a TV interview  with Dave Barger, JetBlue's current CEO, on which he answered some passenger questions.  One passenger asked why the airline was charging for pillows and blankets.  Barger's reply?  He said that although JetBlue was charging for those amenities, every passenger also got a leather seat and 36 free channels of live TV.

I couldn't believe my ears.  JetBlue, the symbol of how an airline is supposed to treat customers had changed strategies.  It seemed they are now opting for the "battered-wife" customer service model.  It's akin to when a battered wife asks her abusive husband why he beats her and he replies, "What are you talking about?  I put food on the table and provide a roof over your head." 

When a customer complains about something, the appropriate response is to explain the circumstances or apologize.  Offering a "counter argument" completely misses the point and ignores an opportunity to do right by your customer.  Complaints are a cry for help!

A legitimate customer service complaint had been raised to the most senior executive in the company to which the best answer he could muster was a memorized boiler plate of product features.  Did I miss something?  When did American Airlines buy JetBlue?

When a company says they "promise" to do something, that's a pretty weighty commitment.  Uphold that promise and your customers will give you a lifetime of loyalty, even if you screw up now and then.  Violate that promise and you can quickly destroy any sense of authenticity you may have built.  Worse, you quickly find yourself looking and sounding exactly like everyone else.

JetBlue used to serve as a prime example of exactly how to treat customers.  They were teaching the old boys that it's how you treat people not just the degrees of pitch your seat reclines that really matters.  Sadly, since the departure of JetBlue founder David Neeleman, JetBlue are starting to act and sound like everyone else.  Sadly, JetBlue is now teaching us a very different lesson about customer service.

JetBlue says the reason they exist is "to provide superior service in every aspect of our customer's air travel experience."  They even offer a bill of rights which includes being honest about a situation.  David Neeleman, JetBlue's founder and former CEO stood out among CEOs in and out of the airline business for his willingness to be honest.  After JetBlue suffered serious service problems during a big winter storm in 2007 (hundreds of passengers were left stranded on planes for 6 or more hours), Neeleman went on national TV and said, "we screwed up."  It was that kind of honesty which endears customers.  The JetBlue board ousted Neeleman three months later preferring the leadership style of Dave Barger, JetBlue's former COO. 

In an age in which too many companies opt for the battered-wife customer service model, JetBlue really did seem to believe in humanity.  Neeleman maintained a blog (or flight log, as he called it), the current CEO does not.  JetBlue used to have one class of service aboard their aircraft - we are all equal, we are all human - they professed.  Now, however, JetBlue allows you to pay a little more money to get a little more legroom.  I hate to be the one who points out the obvious but that's a class (though I concede, there is no curtain). 

With or without Neeleman at the helm, honesty and humanity should still prevail at JetBlue.  Barger simply had to explain that the oil crisis had put tremendous pressure on the airline and it pained them to have to nickle and dime their customers but it was either that or suffer much more serious set backs.  All he had to do was appeal to the humanity of their customers to work with them in this time of need.

There are many advantages to not making any promises to your customers.  For one, you have more flexibility.  Secondly, it's much easier to meet low expectations.  The disadvantages include vastly reduced customer loyalty (different from repeat business) and little opportunity to differentiate.  Making a promise and operating your business based on Why your company exists means you hold yourself to higher standards.  You have to be less flexible because you'll need to opt for what's right not for what's most profitable or most expedient sometimes.  But the benefits include greater long term value and much more loyalty and support from customers, even when you're not operating at your best.

I'm just sad to see one of the few companies who believed in customer first start to show signs of cracking.

If You Want To Be A Good Negotiator, You Have To Know What A Negotiation Is.

What is your definition of negotiation?

How we define things is important because our definitions govern our behavior.  If you define success as being rich, all your behaviors and decisions will focus on making money.  If your definition of success is feeling fulfilled everyday of your life, then your behaviors would obviously be quite different.  This example is a relative one, so consider an objective one – one that anyone in business has to confront multiple times in a career (sometimes including getting the job in the first place).  Consider the definition of “negotiation.” For most, it’s a conversation or series of offers aimed at reaching an agreement between two or more parties.  But what if there was a different, better definition that could lead to greater success (regardless of how you define success).

I had the honor of spending a day with William Ury, author of Getting to Yes, The Power of a Positive No (among other best sellers) and co-founder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation.  Ury is the guru of negotiating theory, having lead negotiations between companies and nations.  He knows more than anyone what it takes to have a successful negotiation and it starts with how you define the word.

“The purpose of negotiation is not to reach an agreement,” says Ury, “it’s to discover if you can satisfy your intentions with the opportunity at hand.”

Ury’s definition is so simple and its impact profound.  So often in negotiations, we sit down with a set of things we want and some we’d be willing to give up to “make the deal.”  Such a vantage, more often than not, creates an adversarial or competitive dynamic.  A series of pushes and pulls.  Offers and counter offers.  Though a deal may be reached, how much trust was exchanged? Any opportunity that requires “negotiation” should be treated as an investigation rather than a barter.

When Ury talks about “intentions” he’s talking about your Why – the purpose, cause or belief that you and/or your organization exist to champion. Not until two parties know their own Why and can establish that their intentions are the same (which has nothing to do with making more money or growing the business - those are results), can a negotiation achieve it’s best potential.  In fact, a successful negotiation may result in a decision to do business together another day.

I’ll share a personal example:

My Why, my intention as Ury calls it, is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them – this factors into any negotiation I have.  To start, I prefer to do business with people who share my intention.  It means we're at the negotiating table for the same purpose.  For me to fulfill my intention, I want to have access to people – lots of them – to share my message, to inspire.   I’m completely open to how I can fulfill that intention (speaking, press, blog, book, writing and so on).  This is the reason I negotiate in the first palce - to hear the ideas and offers others may have on how they can help me and how I, in turn, can help them.

Recently, a company wanted to hire me to help them find their Why.  We have flat rates for such a service, but they wanted to "negotiate."  They offered me use of their yacht in exchange for a reduction in the cost.  It was an easy negotiation, we rejected the offer outright.  A boondoggle on a yacht for a weekend does nothing to help me advance my cause, certainly not more than the fee that could be reinvested in the cause.  On another occasion, a non-profit with a small budget invited me to speak to a room of 400 business owners and press.  It was an easy negotiation.  I did it pro-bono.  In this case, the opportunity was a perfect vehicle to help me fulfill my intention – to live my Why.  To inspire people to do the things that inspire them.

Only because I use every negotiation to evaluate if the opportunity will help advance my cause have I been able to actually advance my cause.  If I had focused on the money or perks alone, I would have missed out on some amazing opportunities.  In fact, if it was just the money and not the cause, I would have missed an opportunity to work with an organization that shares my intention that ultimately lead to the introduction to William Ury...a man whose intention is to connect people and civilizations, step by step, so that we can create a more peaceful world to live in.  And that's pretty inspiring. 

Your Business Is Your Baby. So Treat It Like One.

Too many business owners don't treat their babies like, well, babies.

My dear friend Tony Conza, the founder of Blimpie Sandwiches, has wonderful perspective on business and entrepreneurship.

"Starting a business," he says, "is not like a mutual fund. It's more like having a baby. When you invest in a mutual fund, you give your money to some financial outfit, then sit back and hope that it makes money for you. Having a baby of course, is different. Once that baby comes into your life, it never goes away. If you nurture the baby, care for it, and help it grow, one day it will take care of itself - and maybe even take care of you."

A child is a living, breathing organism.  We all want our kids to grow up big and strong.  We all want them to be successful and self-sufficient.  And the decisions we make prove it.  We invest in their educations  - a huge short term liability with massive long-term potential.

How would you treat your child if you only cared about keeping them healthy for the next quarter?  Vacations probably wouldn't factor in.  Soccer practice and ballet lessons would be out - clearly there would be no benefit to them over the next 3 months. 

Why do we change our strategies just because we're operating in a bad economy.  Once you have a baby, that's it, the commitment is made.  You're in it for the long haul.  You don't adjust how you're going to raise your child with the ebb and flow of the economy.  Companies, too, are living breathing organisms.  They need food and they need education.  They need to learn things for themselves, try and fail and get back up.  Long term strategies, inherently, mean that ALL decisions are made with an eye to the future - 20 years, not next year.  That doesn't mean you can't make adjustments to deal with short term pitfalls (like buying generic brand Cheerios instead of the high-priced organic stuff for a short time).

Even in big companies - innovation is treated as a short term bet: prove value in the next quarter to a year or the project is scuttled.  Edison took longer than that to develop the light bulb.  The Wright Brothers took a few years to get their flying machine to work.

In big business or small business, executives of all kinds should hang a picture of a baby to remind them what they are managing - what they are parenting.  Treat the business right and Tony's prophecy becomes a reality - after a while the business will look after you.

Don’t React…Proact

It’s 11:40am.  A perfect summer’s day.  Not too much humidity.  The streets are alive with people.  I’m in a taxi, trying to get through New York City traffic to Penn Station to catch my train to Washington DC, which leaves at noon.  My train leaves in 20 minutes and I’m still not near the station. The possibility that I might miss my train is looking highly likely.  The perfect day vanishes. Oh no, I’m going to miss my train. How do I react?

1.    I cross my fingers and hope I don’t miss the train.
2.    I play over in my head of all the repercussions of missing my train.
3.    I sweat and get agitated.
4.    I start giving the cab driver “polite” advice how to drive better.
5.    I beat myself up for leaving my apartment late.

“React” is the strategy and my list of reactions are the tactics – the tangible ways in which I would implement my strategy.  It’s too tactical to start looking for alternative options for each reaction. It’s too inefficient.    What I need is a completely different strategy.  I need a new guiding principle.  So what’s a better strategy than react?

Sitting in the taxi – I make a strategic decision - I am going to proact to the situation.  Now what are my options?  How do I implement? What’s my proaction?

1.    I accept that I may very well miss my train.
2.    I consider what my course of action should be – get a new ticket for the next train which will probably get me to Washington, at most, an hour later.
3.    I ignore the factors that contributed to the possibility of my missing the train (traffic, passive cab driver, my leaving late).  They are of no value to my proaction strategy.
4.    I plan who I’d have to call in Washington, what plans need to be adjusted if I catch the later train.

My new strategy fully implemented, I notice something profound.  I’m completely relaxed and completely prepared to miss my train.   I sit back and enjoy the rest of my cab ride and the summer day outside.  My attitude also changes – I’m now enjoying the possibility of making my train instead of the fear of missing it. The situation turned from a race into a game.

We need a new verb.  To proact.  If we have the verb, it becomes a viable and actionable strategy.  Telling someone to be proactive is passive, not as powerful, as telling them to proact (think of the opposite – telling someone to be reactive instead of telling someone to react is a very different instruction  - the latter demands action…but in the wrong direction).

A reaction forces us to consider what has happened to determine a solution.  A proaction forces us to consider what will happen to determine a plan.

In business, developing strategies to proact to situations instead of react to them forces us to think ahead.  It changes any situation from a stressful short term race to a strategic long term game.  The stress I had in the cab is no different to the stress of losing a client.  It’s no different to missing financial goals or watching a project go awry...or operating in a “bad” economy.

When we react, we look to point fingers and assign blame (to others or ourselves) for the existence of the situation. We work to compensate or prevent bad things from happening.

When we proact, we accept the situation as fact and start looking for solutions or alternatives.  We work to make good things happen.

I’m using the verb “to proact” on a regular basis now, especially at work and in a strategic context.  No matter the situation, I want proaction to be the primary strategy.  The impact is profound.  It’s forward focused.  It’s optimistic. It’s productive and it encourages people to come together.

As for my train?  I made it.  I didn’t have to implement my proact strategy.  And I didn’t run on to the train and feel relieved, I walked on to the train felt like I won something.  This is the impact of proaction.
Imagine if we all went to work and treated it like a long term game and not a short term race.  Chess instead of a mad dash sprint.  Easily done if we just proact to everything that happens. 

I Miss Starbucks

Want to know what's going on with Starbucks?  Like so many companies that achieve such levels of success, Why the company was founded in the first place has been forgotten.  The cause that drove them to change American culture has now become something much less inspiring - now, it's all about What they do.  A company devoted to "the third space" is now just selling coffee.

The following is a letter I sent last week to Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks (his version didn't have the picture...otherwise it's a carbon copy).

July 29, 2008

Dear Howard:

I miss Starbucks.

There was a time, not too long ago, that Starbucks stood for something.  There was an underlying cause, a purpose, a belief you had about the world.  It was that idea that I bought, not the coffee.  And it was inspiring.

But those days are gone. 

Now it’s about coffee and money.  Lets be honest, it’s an open debate if Starbucks coffee is really better (and even if it is, I can get about the same from someone else).  And the money?  Well, as soon as a company starts focusing on the money, they certainly can’t focus on the customer experience. 

It’s pretty remarkable.  Starbucks is signally responsible for creating a coffee shop culture in America.  Starbucks didn’t bring coffee to the United States – it brought the coffee shop experience – the third space, you called it.  The space between home and work. People bought into the Starbucks belief – I know I did.  Your cause was clear and your actions proved it.  But over time the cause has lost its clarity, and your actions prove it.    

There was a time when you invited people to spend time in the third space – giving those who wanted to stay a ceramic cup and ceramic plate.  But then a focus on the money started to erode that purpose.  Certain decisions started to muddy the cause...dilute the belief.  And paper cups became the standard.  Nothing says to a customer, “we love you now get out” like a paper cup.  It started to be about the coffee and not about the experience.  It’s no longer about the third space.

I hope you rediscover why you do what you do.  I hope you once again become a champion for your cause, not just a purveyor of caffeinated drinks.  I miss the third space.  I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, in fact, it was you who told me over the past 20 years what you believed…and I believed you.
I would love to help you rediscover your Why.  I would love to help you inspire people again.
Hell – I just miss you the way you used to be.  I loved that Starbucks.

With great respect,

Simon Sinek

Tell Me What To Do Not What Not To Do.

We have an obsession in America with telling people what not to do.  Don't smoke.  Don't pollute.  Don't eat fried food.  We do the same with our colleagues, our employees and our customers.  But telling people what not to do just isn't as effective as telling them what to do.  Or  better put - amplify the positive instead of trying to fix the negative.

Let me give you an example.  What do you think of when I tell you, "Don't eat McDonald's.  It's bad for you."

Did you think of a Big Mac?  Did you think of the amazing smell of their fries?  Or did you think of eating nuts and lettuce - the healthier option.

The fact is, our brains can't process negatives.  It's like saying to someone, "don't think of a pink elephant."  It's the first thing that pops in to your mind.  So instead of telling someone, "don't eat McDonald's because it's bad for you,"  say, "eat broccoli, it's really good for you."

Tell someone not to eat McDonald's because it's unhealthy and your imposing your dogma.  Tell someone to eat broccoli because it's healthy, and now they become accountable for their own well being.  The decision making becomes proactive instead of reactive. 

Now think about this in a business context.  We impose our dogma on people everyday.  "Choose us not our competitors."  "We're better than them.  Buy this."  When was the last time a company simple laid out what they believe about the world and how their products or services are helping to advance their cause and then said simply, "do what's right for you."

When was the last time someone squeezed you on your price and you simply replied, "if it's too expensive, then you should go with someone else."  Shifting accountability is very powerful.  And it's in accountability that people perceive value.  Don't forget, value is a perception held by the buyer, not the seller.  Value can only be perceived if the buyer is accountable for their own decision instead being pressured to do what you think is the right thing to do.  This has nothing to do with the quality of the product or the service - telling someone not to eat McDonald's because it's bad is good advice...just not as effective as telling them to eat broccoli because it's good.

So...from now on, don't tell people what not to do.

I mean...from now on, tell people what you believe and allow them to make the decision that's best for them.

How To Live Forever

Randy Pausch, the inspired and inspiring Carnegie-Melon professor, died yesterday of pancreatic cancer.

For those who haven't seen his last lecture - Live Your Childhood Dreams - please do watch it at some point in your life.

His words and his optimism continue to touch me whenever I hear them.  May we all be so lucky to live a life even half as full as his even if we get the chance to live doubly as long.

What's most special about him, something I'm not even sure he expected, is that he will live forever.

Answers to Common Small Business Issues

A few quick answers to some common small business issues.  A short clip from MSNBC.

(even though it is a small business show - the principles are universally applicable)

Questions include:

• How to balance growth without impacting customer service and diluting your values

• The best way to generate buzz for your company without spending a lot on PR

• What to do when a client won't pay because they are dissatisfied with the quality of work

• What to do when you have an opportunity to meet a venture capitalist when you're not ready to meet yet

• How to deal with two important employees who don't get along

If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.

                                                                                                                                                         - Anita Koddick.

Why Dreams Die

For passion to survive it needs structure.  But for structure to grow, it needs passion.

90% of all new businesses fail.  And most of the companies that don't fail won't become billion dollar businesses or change the world.  Why is that?

Ask those who didn’t make it and the most common answers you’ll get are: under capitalized, didn’t have the right people, bad market conditions or a combination of all those things. 

But there is a deeper reason.

Every single new business has something in common: they all started with an idea.  An idea fueled by passion.  This passion drove the excitement, the feelings of invincibility.  This passion and the feelings of world domination motivated “irrational” behavior like quitting a perfectly stable job with steady pay and benefits to set up a business in your basement.   The passion of the founder/s is intoxicating to some.  It encourages others to also quit their good jobs or pass up better paying ones to join up.  In itself, this is not a bad thing.  The problem is that though companies may be born of passion, "a company" in practice is a structure.  A collection of systems and processes, good companies run like well oiled machines.  Though they may have all the passion in the world, if someone doesn’t know how to build those structures and manage those processes (the stuff that will ensure income, the ability to navigate all market conditions and hire the best people (see excuses above)), then the company will likely struggle to stay afloat, survive only with continued infusions of money or just fail (remember the dot-com boom: lots of passion, not so much structure and processes).

For those passionate few who also have the ability to build the structure and implement the processes, for those that defy “the statistic,” they face another challenge: success.

Success can be the biggest challenge for a small business.  With success, focus can shift to managing the structure at the expense of managing the passion.  There are many owners of successful small and medium sized businesses that will say that the energy in their businesses is "not like it used to be."  They reminisce about the times of old.  It’s a paradox – so many successful business owners may be financially successful, but they don’t feel successful.  Whereas when the business was young, they felt successful even though they were broke.

Perhaps this explains why so many small businesses cap out at (if we’re really generous) between $50-$150 million.  Yes a company is nothing but a structure, a machine, and money may fuel the machine itself, but the company is also filled with people.  It is the people who drive the business.  And though financial incentives may help for the short term, it is passion and inspiration that fuels people.  If that runs out - growth is much harder to attain.  Structure is essential for a company to survive, but sustainable passion is essential for the company to enjoy sustainable growth.

No matter the size of the organization, fixation on the structure alone and failure to manage the passion, the inspiration within, will mean that that perfect machine won't have any fuel to go.

Write The Perfect Want Ad

Writing the perfect want ad has a structure and  it follows The Golden Circle.  Why - How - What. 

First I asked rhetorical questions trying to connect my Why with the Why of those reading the ad.  My Why is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, we can change the world. Anyone who doesn't want to change the world and who doesn't believe in the power of inspiration won't like working for me.  The title of my ad alone will appeal to those who do.

With a quick nod to what the job is, I explain exactly what it's like to work for me.  I'm honest about myself because I don't want any surprises and I don't want whoever gets the job to get something they weren't expecting either. 

How I wrote the ad automatically screened out most of the "bad fits," so I wasn't overwhelmed with responses.  And for the bad fits who did reply, it was easy for me to screen them out myself.  Most importantly, the ad appealed to the "good fits," and all the candidates I met were amazing.  I ended up hiring someone in less than a week she is fantastic.

Remember - there's no difference between customers or employees - people will either believe in what you believe and want to buy your products or they will believe in what you believe and want to work for you.  That they are a customer or an employee is merely a behavioral difference.   Either way, how you write your ad matters.

Good luck and feel free to email if you have any more questions.

Here is the actual ad I posted on Craig's list to hire a new personal assistant.

Do you believe you can change the world?

Do you believe the world needs a little more inspiration in it these days?

Do you want to help make the world a better place?

If so – I might want to meet you.

I’m looking for a personal assistant to help me on my quest. Everyday I wake up to find ways to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. I teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. I speak about it and write about it. But I can’t do it alone – I’m an organizational disaster – so I need help so that I can be as efficient and effective as possible.

There is no office, so you’ll be working virtually most of the time. You’ll have lots of flexibility and freedom with your schedule, so you can do other things – but I am not interested in someone who is a personal assistant to other people.

I travel a lot which means there is lots of scheduling that needs to get done – so you should be a super organized person.

And, as my personal assistant, I might ask for you to help with some personal errands too.

In a nutshell – I need a right-hand man (or woman)...I need a babysitter...I need someone who will help keep me organized and work with me to make this world a better place.

Can you help?

If you’re interested, drop me a note – tell me a little about you and we can set up some time to talk more.

Whoever will help me, I guarantee will help make this world a better place.

Thanks.

It Takes More Than Repeat Business To Create Loyalty

Driving loyalty is very different from driving repeat sales. There are always reasons people will do business with you that have nothing to do with you -- timing, price, convenience, lesser of evils and force of habit are just a few. These things can help influence an initial sale and they can influence repeat business, but they do not influence loyalty. Just because someone buys from you over and over does not make them loyal.

Loyalty exists when an existing customer chooses to do business with you even when a cheaper, more convenient or even higher quality option is on offer from another company. Someone's decision to ignore a sale or promotion of another seems like irrational behavior. And that's because it is. The part of the brain that controls decision-making and behavior exists in the same part of the brain that controls feelings and emotions. The part of the brain that controls rational thought does not, in fact, control behavior. Someone's decision to stick with one company in the face of overwhelming rational proof of a better offer has more to do with the buyer than the seller. Loyalty is, in fact, not rational at all but a highly emotional state.

Lets look at Apple, for example. Well known for having a fiercely loyal customer base, the base model Macintosh laptop, the MacBook, starts at $1099. A Dell laptop with equivalent performance specs is $649. The Apple is 40% more expensive! And if you're willing to have a slightly smaller hard drive than the Mac, the cost for the Dell is only $499 - less than half the price! Everyone knows that Apples have less software available for them and fewer peripheral choices. And as a recent Mac convert, I can report that my decked out MacBook is slower than my old mid-level Dell. The decision to buy an Apple the first time is clearly far from rational. But the decision to remain loyal is a deeply personal and emotional decision. Owning a Dell says nothing about who I believe I am. But owning a Mac accurately reflects my self identity.

This means loyalty is more a factor of a company's ability to express a clear and honest sense of why they exist and what they believe about the world than simply the quality of what they do or make. The clearer that belief, the more attractive the company is to those with similar beliefs.

Apple is a company not built around a product -- it's build around a belief -- the desire to challenge the status quo. It is no accident that creative-types are drawn to the machines. Apple's ability to attract such a loyal customer base has less to do with their products and their "rational" benefits, and more to do with what the company stands for. Like a flag a loyal soldier follows into battle, Apple and their products stand as a symbol for a cause worth making sacrifices -- like paying a higher price.

My favorite example of loyalty is Harley-Davidson. There are people who tattoo Harley's logo on their bodies. Some who do don't even own their product. The decision to do such a thing -- clearly irrational -- has nothing to do with the quality of Harley bikes or their value as a company. Someone's decision to display that logo on their body is a symbol of a belief. They identify as independents in a world of conformity. Members of the rugged open-road.

Because loyalty is emotional and not rational, you don't actually need to have the best product or service - it needs to be good, but it doesn't have to be the best. Loyalty starts with clarity - your own clarity of what you believe - why you do what you do. This has nothing to do with money, this is about why your company was founded in the first place. Why does it exists? What do you stand for? If others believe what you believe, they will put up with all kinds of better offers to do business with you.

A company's challenge is to never veer from saying and doing the things they actually believe. The discipline to do so is called authenticity, and there aren't too many companies left who can claim to be truly authentic. Fickle customers are not the reason there is such little loyalty these days. It's hard for someone to be loyal when no one knows what you believe.

This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post on June 1st, 2008

Success Is A Team Sport

Most people compete to beat others.  This is true in businesses and for individuals.  And as valuable as a competitive spirit may be, perhaps there is a better way.

This is a video about Ben Comen that ESPN produced about 4 years ago.

Ben inspires. 

His lesson is more valuable than perseverance. His lesson is more important that never quitting.

Ben shows us, that when you decide to compete against others, no one will help you.  But when you decide to compete against yourself...everyone will help you.  Ben proves that success is a team sport.

A Marketer's Job Is To Simplify The Buying Experience

If there happen to be any agency folks reading this, I need a small favor from you. You see, I’m trying to buy some stuff and you’re not making it easy for me. In fact, according to the eminent neuroscientist Richard Restack, you’re actually making it more difficult.

I only need a couple of things—a flat screen TV and a new computer. I’m interested in products that will last. I’m interested in a higher level of customer service. And I’m interested in making the proverbial “smart choice.” Price is a factor, of course, but I won’t be angling for the lowest price at the expense of those other things I want. All of this means I’m not yet ready to make a specific product decision; I’m still at a brand-decision level.

My experience is not unique. In fact, right now, I’m like most other consumers out there. Much like those other consumers, I started my research online. And, much like them, I was familiar with some brands, but didn’t know much about the products. So, naturally enough, I was hoping that those brands’ Web sites would help me. They didn’t.

In his book Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot, Restack explains that too much conscious attention—thinking too hard, if you will—actually decreases accuracy and efficiency in decision making. And in this sea of sameness we call today’s marketplace, thinking too hard is generally the only option we have.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Marketers have the power to help us simplify decisions. They can help reduce the need to think too hard by communicating the core beliefs of a brand so that we can just let the emotional parts of our brains guide our decisions. I figured, I’d just find a brand with which I connected emotionally and then I’d simply pick which of its products I wanted. That would have worked if the marketing did it’s job properly.

I started with the computers. I went to the home pages of four major PC manufacturers, but all I found were the same, empty pitches: “Weekend savings,” “Slim, sleek design,” and “save up to 15%” What did any of these tell me about what the brand stood for or believed in? My brain starting to hurt.  Without so much as an inspiring tagline, I moved on to the TVs.

Sadly, it didn’t get much better. Sony assured me that it had Sony Style—whatever that is. Samsung invited me to “imagine living in the world of tomorrow now.” You mean the world in which marketing makes life simpler? Then came Philips whose “sense and simplicity” message was appealing for obvious reasons.  That was until I got a little further down the page to a little tutorial designed to help me: “Two sheets of polarized transparent material, one with a special polymer coating that holds liquid crystals, are adhered together. Electric current is passed through individual crystals, which interpret the information from the broadcast signal to allow or disallow light through them to create an image.” Thanks Philips, that was simple…if I had a PhD in electrical engineering.

None the wiser, I abandoned my search and decided, instead, to look into why modern ad agencies are forcing everybody to think too hard. Ironically, this answer was easy to find. All I had to do was hit the agencies’ Web sites.

Ogilvy said it was a firm “defined by their devotion to brands.” (As opposed to other firms, I suppose, that are not devoted to brands.) JWT “creates ideas for [their] clients that people want to spend time with”—a noble idea, even if a complete grammatical abortion. “We’re a factory,” said Crispin Porter + Bogusky. “A factory that makes advertising.” (Which actually sums up the problem of advertising today – it’s all the same). EuroRSCG’s site wasn’t working at all—unless, that is, a white screen with “Directory Listing Denied…” was meant to help differentiate them.

To make intelligent product choices, consumers want to know what a brand stands for. But brands have little hope conveying that message if the agencies they have to choose from can’t convey what they stand for. So, as I said, if any agency people are reading this, I need a favor—and it’s the same favor that consumers need, too: Up the quality of your game, so you can help your clients better serve their customers.

P.S.—I bought a Mac.

This piece was originally published in the April 28th, 2008 issue of BrandWeek.

Promotions: Good For Sales, Not Always Good For Business

"Buy one, get one free."  "Free toy inside."  We've all been enticed to buy something or choose one brand over another simply because of the free stuff they're offering us (in the business-to-business world, this is called value-added). And there is no doubt about it, promotions work.  They can indeed drive sales, but they will never drive loyalty.

That's because the way a promotion works is by manipulating someone to buy.  There is no real, emotional value created.  Instead, it appeals to our desires to get something for free.  It's a system of short term gains for both the seller and the buyer.

I was handed this while walking down the street a few days ago (you can click on the pictures to see larger versions).  Sovereign Bank is trying to attract new retail banking customers.  Do they offer a  trusted relationship?  Do they tell what they believe in hopes of attracting customers with similar beliefs?  Nope.
They do it by offering you $150.  The big phone companies tried this many years ago.  You could get up to $100 to switch from AT&T to MCI, for example.  It did nothing for loyalty and it cost the phone companies a bundle.

It gets worse.

On the back of the leaflet, the promotions goes on: a Visa with no annual fee, bonuses, discounts, no fees and so on.  This is as bad as marketing gets.  The irony is, they actually have a compelling position that they aren't usig- it's in their tagline - America's Neighborhood Bank.  That idea alone is vastly more compelling to attract a more loyal type of customer.

Remember, people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.  People buy the purpose, cause or belief, your company stands for.  What you do simply serves as proof of why you do what you do.  Apple doesn't sell computers, they sell the belief in challenging the status quo - their products just prove it.  In turn, they attract a VERY loyal customer base with the same beliefs.

With that in mind, here is some free advice to Sovereign on what would work vastly better.  They should tell people what they believe - not try to trick them or bribe them into coming in the door.

Imagine if they handed out a leaflet that said:

FRONT:
We believe banking is more about people than money.

We believe banking should be personal again.

We believe in the idea of a neighborhood bank.


BACK:
Here at Sovereign Bank, we take pride in the little things, like helping you when you need help.  Giving you honest answers when you have questions.  Treating you like a person, not an account number.

If you come in to ask about all the other  great banking services we offer when you open an account, please don't be surprised when someone says thank you to you.  That's what happens in a neighborhood bank.

If anyone reading this knows someone in the marketing department at Sovereign Bank, please send them this.  It's free...and I know how much they appreciate that.

Learn The Power of Why

There is not a single company that makes something your customers can’t buy from someone else for about the same price, about the same quality, about the same features and about the same service.  If that’s true, then why are your customers your customers?  And if you don’t know why your customers are your customers, how do you know what to do to attract more of them?

I will be giving a 4 hour workshop on The Golden Circle and the Power of Why at  Columbia University. The Golden Circle is a simple idea, based on the biology of how customers make choices.  Learn exactly why your customers buy from you and how you can adjust the way you think, act and communicate to attract more and more loyal customers.

These are the exact same ideas I have shared with entrepreneurs around the globe, FORTUNE 50 companies, Members of the United States Congress, ambassadors, leaders of US Air Force, government and executives in all sorts of industries. 

The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

When: Saturday, May 3rd

Time: 10am-2pm

Where: Columbia University, NYC

Lunch will be served.

Click on the logo above to register.

 

Are You Successful? Do You Feel Successful?

A little survey:

Click Here to take survey

7 Cities in 10 Days

I just got back from an amazing speaking tour across Europe and a stop in North Africa.  I met some amazing businessmen who live their Why and have built businesses around it.  They do amazing things to help ensure that their purpose and cause stays clear in their companies.  Like the CEO in Zürich who always offers new employees less money than their previous job to learn if they are joining his company for the right reasons.  Or the CEO in Lisbon who doesn't have a corporate vision, he manages his corporate destiny.  I met a CEO in Madrid who thanks the bankruptcy he went through for the success he now enjoys and a business owner in Casablanca who was left a lucrative job on Wall Street to pursue his passion.

I'll share their stories and more this week.

Until then, I thought I'd share a little bit of the personal experience I had.

Enjoy...

 

What's In A Why?

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by TrueNYC, a great company devoted to finding and sharing ideas for entrepreneurs. 

They asked me about how people and companies can find their Why and some of the ways it can be applied to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a business.  The answers I gave have value for big and small companies alike. 

Enjoy.

Click here to see the interview.