When Do You Quit Selling? Never.

Selling Is Everywhere, Even At Home.

I repair broken business models.  They are everywhere.  The last one I was hired to repair was the one in the worst shape when I arrived.  Both legs of that business were in the grave.

One of the most important components to perform of any business model is to learn how to sell.  The best example of the importance this step requires will be seen in a really broken business model.  The need to sell at all times, all people, is most noticeable in a broken business model.  The first people who need to be sold all of the time are the owners of the business model.  They need to be sold how well their business model 'can' do.  They will need to be sold that philosophy every moment they think about how tough it is digging themselves out of the terrible whole they have created.  That kind of selling will need to be constant.  Convince, convince, convince.

The second most important group that needs to be sold on a constant basis is the staff.  The people who meet and share time with the customers will need to be sold about how well this business model will perform.  The staff are in the trenches and need some convincing tools to help arm them while they work with the disappointed customers.  Broken business models do not have a great and happy consumer base.  That is why they are broken.  Supplies are always out of stock.  Equipment does not work well.  Tools are limited and usually old or broken.  Consumer inventory is out-dated, short in quantity of supply and usually consists of off-brand products nobody recognizes.  The staff will be faced with uphill battles, everyday.  They need to be sold well to do their job well.  All of the time.  Convince, convince, convince.

The next group in line that needs to be sold on a constant basis are the product suppliers.  In the last messed up model not one of their suppliers allowed that business model to buy anything on credit.  All relationships were broken.  Every supplier wanted cash on the barrel before they would drop any inventory off for that business to sell.  The first thing I began to do when I arrived is call each supplier on the phone and find out who made the real decisions of the credit policies for that supplier.  Who actually made the decisions to allow credit to occur.  Not always is that decision made by the owner for that supplier.  Most would assume this to be true, but I have discovered many suppliers have a single person who has become 'in-charge' of that irresponsibility.  Often times, it is not the owner.  I called everyone of those 'gate keepers' and began developing a level of trust they could count on for opening a very small line of credit to use in our efforts to purchase inventory.  They needed to be 'sold' on the idea.  Convince, convince, convince.

Keep in mind, when you are selling ideas, concepts, promises, products, services, philosophies and yourself you will not always be successful in convincing your listener to actually buy what you are selling.  Some are not interested in your story.  If some of those people who are not interested in your 'story' are on your staff, get rid of them.  Keep selling.  Just go find a new buyer!  Hire someone else who will listen to how you plan to make it happen and how they are going to be an important part of that plan.  The right listeners are out there.  Keep on selling.  Convince, convince, convince.  You will attract, attract, attract.  Never quit selling.

The reason why a broken business model is the best example of providing the need to always be selling something is that they are the type of model that does not believe in anything good.  They have too much evidence stacked against them.  They have been beaten to death and are headed in the wrong mental direction.  Some serious constants need to be employed with regard to convincing them to improve how they view how well they can perform.  They need to be convinced against the evidence they see.  They need to be sold.  They need to be sold to buy a mental process that does not yet exist.  Selling this process never quits.  When the selling dies, the process dies.  Convince, convince, convince.

The next group that needs to be sold is the banking support.  The people who process your money are the most important people you need to convince.  You better start selling their gatekeepers right now.  Get to know who those gatekeepers are and begin developing some very trusting relationships with them so they can go to bat for your efforts.  You will need to do some very interesting things with your money management and to have the confidence of the banking support will come in handy down the terrible trail you are planning to walk.  You will need to convince those bank gatekeepers that you are the right one to handle the money management issues you plan to use to repair that model with its ugly evidence.  You will need to quit bouncing checks immediately.  That activity must absolutely go away.  Never bounce another check, regardless of how bad your situation is financially.  Never bounce another check, ever.  Find some other pain to deal with, but never bounce another check.  Zero.  It will be the best step you can make to begin convincing your bank that you are the one.  It is part of how you sell them who you are.  Bank keepers need to trust in your accountability.  This is the first thing they look at to determine your accountability.  If you cannot get this first basic thing down, you will not be able to sell them more complicated things later.  Convince, convince, convince.

Now we need to improve the selling process to our agencies.  The tax people who are hounding you.  The accountants who are not getting paid.  The landlords who have accepted late and short payments.  The service industries like utilities and equipment maintenance business models all have a history with your recent slow paying past that need some selling repair.  Make some corrections in how your business model does what it does so you can improve upon the uses required as you share what you do with those services they provide.  Begin a tiny payment plan with those who have not seen any money and routinely issue that tiny payment plan to help you sell them how your efforts will be able to correct this process at a later date when times are better.  You will need to convince, convince and convince.  They need to be sold on that plan.

Selling never quits.  Keep in mind, we have not yet seen any customers in this example.  Your business model is and will be successful when you learn how to sell all of the time, all of the things that it does, with all of the sources that it does its business with and who serve it in what it does.  When you learn the art of "never quit selling" you will help to ensure that all of the right things behind the scenes are performing well so the things you do for your customers can be done well.  When your customers arrive they can count on you because all of the backside things are properly in place doing exactly what they need to be doing to support how well you treat the customers that arrive.  This process will make or break you.  The selling ability you provide will help you to overcome the obstacles that naturally occur in the management process of this complex backside tasking.  It is vital for your business to understand the importance of this effort.  You need to 'get it' on this one.  When you sell your customers, no backside challenges need to appear.  Customers hate backside interference's.  They look like disservice to them.  They make your business model look like poor service.  They make your business model appear insensitive.

Business Ideas, Are You A Starter Or A Finisher?

Some Places Need A Lot Of Work

My neighbor has some interesting patterns he has developed on his home projects.  For this blog post I sat down to think about how many projects he has on-going, right now.  I can count twelve of them.  Those are the ones that are visible to me.  He may have more of them I cannot see.  He may actually start another project while he is trying to finish up one of the ones he has going.  During the past 8 years, this is his pattern of operation.

We have come to the conclusion that he is not a finisher.  He is a starter.  He loves to start new projects.  I have a few projects in my yard that have not been completed.  I am a good starter, too.  I have six major projects I have not completed.  They are the type that will require great energy to complete and some bigger money than what was originally planned.  They will need some extended time chips to become part of the finishing process.  Currently I do not have that kind of time budgeted.  I also have not set aside enough of the right amount of money to complete them the way they need to be completed.  I have decide to take one of them on per year.  I had seven of them before this year started.  I just completed one of them.  That is why only six remain.  If funding becomes more available before this summer comes to a close, I will tackle one more of them.  I know which one should come next.  I now have the right tools acquired to use on that project.  I used it on the project I just completed.  It was my new cement mixer.  It was the perfect tool for helping me to complete the project I just finished.

Are you a starter or a finisher?  It is very important to know which one you tend to lean on the most.  Projects in your business like a good starting process and they also do best when they have a nice finish.  It is important to know which process you tend to do the most.  Most leaders are great starters.  Very few are good finishers.

If you watch the building trades people do their work you will notice most contractors and subs are great starters.  Most of them are not good finishers.  This is a typical pattern for most people.  Good ideas flow all around us and many of them get a quick start when they begin to flow around.  The trouble with good ideas is that they tend to die too early.  They get a good start and some after, they fizzle out.  They fail to reach a good finish.  Some of your business ideas are still waiting out in the rain for their day to finish.  Walk around your business model and count them.  You might be surprised with how many unfinished projects you have going at the same time.  Some of them have been started several years ago.  It is not uncommon.

We have talked about the value of critical and comprehensive thinking.  Performing these patterns of operational thinking is a big plus to a successful business model.  When good ideas begin to float around it is so helpful to have acquired the extra tool of adding critical thinking to the process of starting a new project idea.  Critical thinking leads to comprehensive evaluations.  New ideas need this type of care before they can become great finishers.  The planning is done so much more carefully when these two procedures are part of the starting methods.  When you get a good idea, do not just immediately get started on it.  Allow the idea to flow freely but at the same time, make sure your mind revs up its juices for critical thinking.  Begin the first work you do on a new idea by starting your critical thinking process.  Begin to think what the new idea will look like when it is finished.  See how it looks.  See how it is managed.  See how it is maintained.  Open up your mind to the comprehensive patterns that will be affected when the new idea begins its start.  Develop a solid comprehensive pattern of relational respects before you start your new project.

What Gives? Treated Too Loosely?

There Is No Magic, You Get Only 24 Hours Each Day.

It is a common mistake.  We do it at home.  We do it at work.  We do it without giving it any serious thought.  We treat this process way too loosely.  As a result, we leave much of what we need to be doing, undone.  Our minds are too ambitious.  Our hopes are running the extra mile.  What is it?  It is the act of trying to add something new to our already busy schedule.

We get a brilliant idea and we think, let's do it.  It sounds like a good idea.  We like the idea so much we decide we should do it.  So we start doing the new idea.  We get started and soon discover we do not have enough time to do a good job with the idea.  Soon we discover we do not have the right kind of time chips set aside to do the new project idea very well.  In order to get the new idea done, we discover we need to rush it a little bit.  What gives with this?  We first envisioned a great result when the idea originally surfaced.  However, we may need to compromise with a second rate result because we do not have enough time to do the correct kind of work the idea requires.  What gives with this?  Now we must treat the results more loosely.  We need to accept second rate stuff.

I suppose it is O.K. to lower the standard of a great idea if you are cooking hot dogs for dinner with a new twist of creative cooking.  If the creative idea does not work out properly, it is just hot dogs.  Compromise is O.K. in this case.  However, what if the idea is more serious.  What if the idea centers around developing a new service package to your business model.  It sounded like a great idea when you first developed it in your mind of thoughts.  After some discussion, it still sounds like a good idea.  So you begin setting it into place.  You start working it out and developing the process to include it into your current business process.  You discover you did not allot enough time to do the new idea correctly.  Do you compromise to get it done?  Do you want your new idea for an added service to become second rate?  What gives with that?  Does the idea of getting it done become more important than doing it right?  What gives with that?

Do not treat your current schedule too loosely.  You do not have enough time to take on a new project.  Face it.  Your schedule is already full.  You fill your daily schedule with a lot of things.  It is full of things you are trying to get done.  When you come up with a new idea, think about how you will need to re-arrange what you are currently doing.  Something has to go away in order to add new time chips to the new idea.  Something has to give.  Face it.  The new idea will need to consume some 'already-spoken-for' time chips.  If you do not face this reality you may be treating the new idea too loosely.  If so, it may become a high probability that it will become a candidate for presenting second rate work.  Many new ideas in your business path are very much like this.  Most of them fail, also.  What gives with this?  You may be treating them too loosely.

Great ideas need great design and great patterns of work completion.  Otherwise, they end up second rate work and your business does not need another second rate set of policies to practice.  It already has too many of those happening right now.  What gives with this?  Are we treating our business affairs too loosely?  Maybe.

Splattered By Discontent

This is serious business.  It is tough trying to fix a business that is trying to navigate well in this kind of touchy economic atmosphere.  Enthusiasm is so hard to generate when it is so necessary to produce.  Tight checkbooks, troubling financials, limited resources, skeleton work crews and bad attitudes mix up together to make for a very tough road to travel.  Somehow all of this stuff needs to unwind.  If your business model is splattered by discontent, quit trying to do everything all at once.  Slow down just a minute.  Let's not get ourselves all wrapped up too tightly, just yet.  I have seen business models with two feet in the grave make some great turn-around efforts happen.  If you are splattered with discontent, just slow down for a little while.  Let's catch some air.

First of all, I am going to promote that you learn how to procrastinate.  Procrastination is part of the devils work, unless of course it is part of your wonderful business plan.  I procrastinate.  I am very good at it.  I choose when to procrastinate and on what subjects I want to procrastinate the most.  So should you.  In fact, if your business model is experiencing some very troubled times, I recommend that you learn how to procrastinate a lot.  We will call this technique, "positive procrastination."  I did not develop this technique.  I borrowed it from someone else.  It works wonders.

Every business model has junk it must wade through.  Some junk is more critical to manage than others.  Some junk needs to just go away and quit dominating our daily energy.  A good example of this kind of junk is an irritating employee.  Someone who is not productive yet produces a constant energy drain for the types of things they bring to the table that do not belong on a winning team, is a great example of an irritation that needs to be surgically removed.  I have no problem cutting someone like this loose.  Good-bye.  Go find something else to do.  Go find a better match to your employment life.  Bye-bye.

Every business model has junk it must wade through.  Immediately get rid of the junk that does not need to be there.  Those kinds of decisions are usually very easy to make, unless you are mentally under water with too much stress.  If too much stress is on the table, likely you have developed some defense mechanisms strong enough to hide that stress from yourself.  I am good at hiding my stress from myself.  My wife sees it long before I actually identify it.  I once-in-awhile do a check up for myself.  I pay attention and listen to my wife talk about stressful things.  I check to see if she is talking about me.  I am a strong personality and she knows that.  She will usually approach me in a rather stealth mode to give me hints and suggestions.  If stress is on my table, she is very careful how she tells me I am stressed out.  I will see and hear little signs coming from her that will be hints that I need to manage my stress factors a bit more carefully.  I pay attention to those hints like I am not paying attention to those hints.  Find your method to manage stress and issues.  Get some form of check and balance laid out so you can keep the monitor alive and well.  Manage your stress better.  Usually your health and attitude will tell you what is going on with stress.  If you are splattered by discontent, everyone will be giving you hints!  Open your eyes!  It might be time to make some serious changes.

Make Sure You Massage Your Business Decisions

It Is Always More Than A Good Idea.

I raised three daughters.  I rest my case.

They have turned out quite well, however.  All have completed their college education and are gainfully and wonderfully employed.  My wife and I are fully aware of how blessed we are on that subject.  One has her Masters, one completed some foreign studies before she graduated and the third one graduated from a tough private school.  All three are also wonderful citizens.  They are very giving young ladies.

When any one of those three girls take on a project in life, count it done.  They have all learned how to start a good project, massage it and complete it.  One took on motorcycle riding.  One took on photography.  A third one climbs dangerous rock cliffs.  They love living in cities yet prefer quiet time alone.  They have learned how to massage just the right dose of each.  All of them can find enjoyment in a variety of craft projects.  All of them are technological skilled and read very well.  All three pay close attention to the world and its current issues.  They have come to recognize how important it is to massage life.

Five weeks ago, I was asked by my employer to write a business plan for a suggestion I made about introducing a new revenue stream.  I was serious about the idea enough to gain his interest.  The request was the result of an initial brief conversation, some continued follow-up idea exchange conversations, and a more forceful series of brief discussions.  At which point, he said, "Go write me a business plan to make that idea happen."  The vision needed to be massaged.  The buyer and the seller needed some time to work the idea through the tunnels of thought that massage all of the tight thoughts that restrict the flow of ease and possibility.  The vision needed to be massaged.

I spent the last five weeks working on the development of that new business plan.  The first week was a week of 'visioning.'  I had to massage my own brain.  I completed that process by the end of the week with a PowerPoint overdraft of what the new program might look like.  I did not provide a high level of specificity.  It was prepared and presented much like an entertaining commercial.  It was not filled with heavy details.  It was prepared with a lot of massaging.  When completed I made sure my immediate supervisor was given the first opportunity to review the video presentation of the PowerPoint.  I wanted to make sure I was massaging protocols correctly.  He was amazed with the production.  I spent some time with him to see if he had anything to add to the project idea or if he would change anything.  He was overwhelmed with the project idea.  I needed more time to massage his acceptance.  Massaging your work is something all business owners should consider.

Once he felt comfortable with the presentation he moved about our division sharing how much he was impressed with the idea.  I then sent the PowerPoint commercial to the CEO who requested the business plan in the first place.  I was convinced the right level of massage was given to the middle management managers and was received very well.  It was ready for the CEO in corporate office to review.

The same day the CEO viewed the PowerPoint was the same day he shared how he believed the idea would work.  He called and said to prepare a business plan for the idea.  The past five weeks was consumed to find the time chips squeezed to complete this plan and submit it for adjustment and approval.  The process for massage was endless.  Every idea was massaged with thoughts and mental tests given for the purpose of check and balances.  The final written business plan was completed, printed in two copies, one for my immediate supervisor and one for the CEO.  It was a comprehensive presentation so not much was said for a few days.  The final written business plan was not a simple commercial.  It was comprehensive, detailed and specific.

It May Be Time To Take 5 P's For Profit.

Corn is Profit!

Don't Poo Poo Programs that are Planned for Profit.  Five P's.

Most of my career in business leadership has been located in small marketplaces.  I am absolutely clear why some small marketplaces resist certain methods of business marketing.  New and creative ideas are often times resisted.  Amazing enough, it is rarely the consumer who does the resisting.  Resistance usually comes from the leadership of the business models.  As a result, I say, "Don't Poo Poo Programs that are Planned for Profit."

Small markets are just as informed today as larger markets.  The world of technology has brought the two cultures so close to each other that many times smaller markets are much more informed of the "what's happening" scene than the larger markets.  Smaller markets have less commute travel time to eat up their entertainment and exposure clock.  This additional time allows them to be able to find more technology that provides worldly exposure of current media programming.  It is the media programs that provide the current marketing exposure to the audience in small market regions.  Those customers are very well informed.  They are also very much 'in-tune' to the advanced media attention used in current marketing attempts.  Unique, advanced and creative methods of marketing are already implanted into their motions of daily life.  The customer in smaller regions is fully prepared to accept new marketing methods of operations.  As a small market region operator, do not catch yourself Poo Pooing new marketing ideas.  Done correctly, they will work just fine in your areas.

It may be time for your operation to take on the 5 P's.  Leaders in small markets may actually believe they are different.  They are not.  They may have different cultural aspects that are more prevalent in smaller regions than the ones practiced in larger regions, but as far as exposure techniques are concerned, the timing is the same.  Technology no longer has a generation of delay.  It is instant.  As a result, current and advanced marketing techniques are instant.  As a matter of fact, I live in a small market and I see every new and current method of marketing technique available today.  I have wireless Internet, digital cameras, extremely fast email, satellite, cable and hundreds of choices in television programming.  I listen every day to one of my favorite Christian radio stations located in a state 1500 miles away from my home, clearly.  Yesterday they performed an 'on-site' live promotion 2500 miles away from my home, 1000 miles away from their base radio station.  People living in the smaller markets no longer live in the pucker brush with regards to media exposure.  Marketing is absolutely current.

If you are a small business owner and refuse to employ current marketing techniques in your business model because you are way out in some small community, think again.  Regarding consumer exposure, your customer is very current.  You do not need to bring them 'up-to-speed' or 'break-them-in-gently' like you would have had to do 15 years ago.  They are way ahead of you today.

Quit practicing old marketing techniques.  They are aging your currency.  Old marketing techniques have become a thing of the past.  For the sake of your business survival and for the sake of increasing profits, get up to speed on the techniques you are using to market your business model.  Do not Poo Poo new methods.

I listened to a small conversation between two farmers the other day and one of the teenage children of one of them came by the retail store where we were and picked up a key from her dad.  The conversation shifted gears immediately.  Words and phrases I have never heard from those farmers recently came out of their mouths.  It was an interesting observation.  I heard the dad, a throw-back styled farmer, say this, "Make sure you text your Mom to let her know you will be picking the boys up after school today.  Don't forget!"  "I'll swing by and get the new monitor at Darren's shop later today and have it wired to go before you guys get home."  As the young teenager left the store with her key he reminded her again, "Don't forget to text Mom!"

This small community has 360 people in its population.  It is located over 100 miles away from a major metropolitan region.  This farmer uses a GPS electronic system on his combine to help him accurately harvest his wheat when it is ready.  Darren is the local owner of a computer shop that repairs, sells and manages all of the technology systems in this small community.  For goodness sakes, quit trying to market yesterday's techniques.  They are dead.  I once heard a bright and wealthy business owner say this about old methods, "When your horse is dead, dismount."

Move on.  Begin to develop a more creative and advanced series of marketing techniques for your business model.  Your customers are way ahead of you.  You may need to catch up.  You may not be using the most current language and concepts of marketing ideas.  You may need to speed up a little bit.