I have been taking several certification courses for some of the ActionCOACH 12-Week MasterCLASSes. While viewing the materials I’ve been reminded of many concepts I’ve learned during my journey as a business coach. In addition, I have learned a bunch of new ideas, concepts, and strategies that I would like to share with you in this blog. The following are several that I know you will benefit from:
- A slide that is in most of our PowerPoint decks presents the concept of the Point of Power, where Above the point is about taking Ownership, being Accountable, and being Responsible for your results. Below the point is shifting Blame to others or circumstances, making Excuses, and being in Denial that you might not be performing up to your standards. Adding to this concept is the reality that Below the Point is a no growth territory where management needs to step in to eliminate these counterproductive behaviors. Furthermore, Above the Point is a growth territory where leadership is needed to build these positive behaviors.
- Another slide commonly found in our PowerPoint Decks is FUN! Quite simply if you as a business owner or executive are not having fun in your business or organization, or your role, something is wrong! A friend of mine likes to repeat “Business should be like sex, a lot of fun.”
- You must be Patient for Growth but Impatient for Profit. This reinforces an often repeated saying “Revenue is vanity; Profit is reality,” credited to Alan Miltz.
- When allocating the investment of your time, (yes you should always use your time as an investment) be proactive, not reactive. Avoid the pitfalls of responding to the “squeaky wheel” or the “shiny object.”
- Don’t forget that ideally,
- Employees work once, get paid once.
- Managers work once, get paid long term.
- Owners work once, get paid forever.
- If an owner is doing employee work, they are earning employee pay!
- Don’t let anyone, including yourself, talk you out of your dreams.
- Shift your marketing away from seeking a high number of customers with low long-term value to seeking fewer customers with high long-term value.
- You’ve heard this before, but it bears repeating, “work smarter, not harder.”
- As a business owner or executive, one of your main responsibilities is to constantly become better at running the business rather than the job of the business.
- Marketing 101 tells us that your campaigns should focus on “Fact, Advantage, Benefit.” And Emotional Benefit as expressed “so that …” For example:
- Fact – I work with business owners to assist them to grow their businesses.
- Advantage – My client’s businesses will outpace their competition by growing faster and being more profitable.
- Benefit – So that my client’s will make more money.
- Emotional Benefit – So that my client’s become free to enjoy the life that owning a successful, profitable business gives them.
- The “So That” is really what your business is selling.
- To determine who your ideal customer is, work backward from the emotional benefit of your product or service. In other words, provide value to your customers according to their value proposition.
I hope you find at least one of the tidbits above beneficial to your success.