Archive for the 'Client Magnet Archives' Category

Excellence versus Perfection

Published
by
Nick Rice
on January 9, 2008
in Client Magnet Archives, marketing and strategy
. 3 Comments

Michael J. Fox once said, “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.” Those words rang true as soon as I read them.

Early in my career I was a graphic designer for a local university. I was responsible for creating text books and classroom materials for the International College of Dentistry - super exciting work by the way :). Like any job I had deadlines to meet with the editors, publishers, printers, etc… One day I caught myself going back to tweak the layout for a certain book. That particular book was printed six months earlier and currently in use in Dental Schools throughout the Middle East. But here I was futzing with margins, font spacing and the like.

Something made me stop and think about what I was doing. Why in the world was I messing with a text book that would never be reprinted? I had other things to work on, but internally I was going nuts because I knew I could do a better job than I had originally. Mind you, there was nothing wrong with the final published book. It was great. Everyone signed off on my designs and loved it. Not to mention that it was a critical component of actually training and producing dentists. It was working.

And in that moment I realized that I was a “tweaker”. My edits had nothing to do with my audience. They were strictly for my own benefit and justification. I wanted better margins simply because it was the right thing to do in my mind. Tweaking was a constant thread in my professional life for years. And to this day I still fight the urge to pull up a logo I designed nine months ago, or a strategic plan that I helped write with a client and make a few tweaks. It’s just a part of who I am.

But a few years ago I realized that tweaking was just for me - not my clients - most of the time they never saw my tweaks anyway. When I did bring my revised files to a client, they would look at me like I just handed them a moon rock. You could see it in their eyes, “What is this? Why are you bringing this to me now?”

After more than a few of those interactions, I decided that perfectionism doesn’t work for me. In fact, it was actually hurting my client relationships. They had moved on. I was obsessing. I was the crazy consultant or designer that couldn’t let go. So today, I actively strive for excellence.

Excellence is something completely different than perfection. And it took me a long time to fully understand how powerful and good simply being excellent was. For me, perfection was the top. It was it. Anything else seemed like failure. I look back now and realize how silly I was to think that being excellent meant failure.

And here’s the funny thing that all perfectionists know - perfection isn’t possible. If it isn’t possible, why keep killing ourselves to reach it? If it isn’t possible, why even think and act like it is? Why assume that nothing else will suffice? Why do we set ourselves up for a letdown?

Being excellent is attainable. It’s not always easy, but it is doable. Excellence doesn’t mean that you’re sacrificing your soul. It doesn’t mean anything other than excellent. And how can that be a bad thing?

When you strive for perfection, you shoot yourself in the foot right from the start. You’ve given yourself a goal that’s unreachable. You will never be satisfied with the end result and that creates a type of myopia. You cannot see past perfection. Perfection holds you back from reaching your true potential. It’s a constrictive way of being. Perfection costs you more than you realize.

And here’s the kicker - no one expects you to be perfect. People expect you to strive for excellence. Excellence is what people pay for. It’s what people really want from you.

Being recognized as excellent in your field is the key to success. So I encourage all of you perfectionist out there to take a few minutes and look at how your never-ending quest for perfection affects your life and relationships. Is it helping or hurting you? Are you getting what you want?

If you’re open to looking at it from another angle, ask yourself these two questions:

  1. If it were impossible to be perfect who would I prefer to be?
  2. If I could be the new way, what would things be like? What would happen?

If you’re like me, you’ll find that the new way of being is much better than the current constrictive way. Once you come to that realization, life and work take on a whole new meaning.

Like I said, I still fight the urge to tweak, but recognizing how it affects me and actively striving for excellence has allowed me to be more productive, more effective and happier. And that’s something that most New Year’s resolutions can’t beat.

BTW, There are probably spelling and/or grammar mistakes in this blog post. And that’s okay. I’ve spell checked it and I’ve re-read it and now I’m sending it. I want it to be right, but I also know that I can spend hours obsessing over every detail and it won’t go out until tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully a few grammatical errors (if you catch them) won’t keep you from thinking about what I’ve said. So here goes…

What’s the Game Plan?

Published
by
Nick Rice
on December 7, 2007
in Client Magnet Archives, business, management and marketing
. 0 Comments

It’s funny how clearly you see in an emergency. Monday morning, after about four weeks of ear infections, our one year old son was vomiting and had a nasty bout of diarrhea. All of you parents know this can spell trouble for a little kid. We were worried enough to take him to the doctor, who promptly told us that either the antibiotics or a stomach bug had caused him to become dehydrated and that he was sending us to the hospital straight away.

Any time you check into a hospital they run a barrage of tests, they put in an IV (which let me tell you, it is a nightmare holding your infant son down so a nurse can stick him in both arms, both hands and finally a foot to get a vein), and in general people are just running around doing a lot of stuff.

My wife hates it when I do this, but I always ask, “So, what’s the game plan for our kid? What are you looking for and what does he need to do in order to go home.” I just want to know what’s going on. Unfortunately, it’s frightening how many times I was told, “The doctor knows what to do.” That’s great; I fully expect that he/she does, but can someone kindly tell me?!?!

Then for whatever reason I connected the dots between a few unrelated client and prospective clients’ conversations. For most small businesses, marketing is no different than dealing with these medical professionals. Most of the time there is no marketing game plan in a small business. If you have a written marketing plan, chances are it’s collecting dust on the shelf. Not to mention that if there is a plan, most of the time the people responsible for executing and tracking the activities don’t understand how to build individual campaigns or programs that support the grand plan or strategy. But the reality is that most small to medium sized businesses do not even have a marketing plan.

When a business owner begins to feel the pain of an economy slowing down or the referral stream starting to trickle, they always try something. They may send out a direct mail postcard to a group of clients or to a particular zip code. They may pick up the phone and start dialing for projects. They may attend a networking event and try to close everyone for an appointment. They always try something.

But guess what; that’s not a plan. That’s a one-off activity - done in desperation - that results in nothing most of the time. And then a funny thing happens, the owner will look up and say, “Well, it’s obvious that marketing doesn’t work! I tried a postcard and I went to two Chamber networking events and didn’t get a single phone call. I just wasted a few hundred bucks and a couple of evenings with my family that I can never get back.”

It didn’t work because it wasn’t done strategically. It wasn’t done as part of a greater plan to purposefully grow business. And 95% of the time, it doesn’t work because it was half-arsed. There’s no follow up; there’s no call to action; there’s nothing that tells the prospective client how you will solve their problems. It doesn’t work because it’s all about you and the desperation you feel.

Until you totally understand and internalize the principles of marketing, stop wasting your time, energy and money with tactics. There is an entire industry of promotional shops, mailing houses, and ad agencies that love to “get your name in front of your audience.” You might as well throw your money out of the window. I’m not saying that promotional items, direct mail and marketing communications won’t work. They work great when used strategically as part of your overall marketing game plan. But YOU have to own that. You cannot expect an outside agency to give you a plan for your business.

You have to understand who you are, what your strengths are, where you’re going, what your client’s struggle with, what it would be like for them to solve their issues, and how you’re best equipped to do so.

There are thousands, if not millions, of marketing tactics that you can employee to grow your business. But if those tactics are not founded in Seven Marketing Principles AND if they are not aligned with your marketing game plan, you’re putting success at risk.

By the way, you can download the Seven Principles of Marketing article by filling out the form in the right hand sidebar (sorry, all you RSS readers will need to click here).

What do you do?

Published
by
Nick Rice
on November 6, 2007
in Client Magnet Archives, branding, entrepreneur and marketing
. 3 Comments

No matter where you go - especially in America - one of the first questions out of the mouth of a new connection is, “What do you do”. And if you’re like the vast majority of people you answer with something along the lines of:

  • I’m an engineer
  • I’m an attorney
  • I own a few restaurants
  • I’m a consultant
  • I’m a doctor
  • I’m a graphic designer
  • I’m an architect
  • I work for Acme Company - we make widgets

This response is what I call your “label”. It has very little to do with what you actually do. It’s just the quickest path to make a solid connection - or so we think.

Labels are like stereotypes. Right or wrong, we all have an internal definition of engineer, doctor, lawyer, marketing VP, accountant, attorney, consultant, etc… Think about it for a minute. What do you think of when you hear those labels above. How many of those labels come with built-in negative connotations? Which label am I talking about when I say nerdy, pocket protector, unfashionable, geek? What label am I talking about when I say expensive, elitist, necessary evil?

How many lawyer jokes have you heard? Doctors are commonly referred to as “quacks”. Is this the first impression you want to give?

With initial introductions like this, is it any wonder that most people struggle to see the business benefit in networking? If you lead with your label, you’re not controlling the recipient’s impression. You’re relying on their internal stereotype for where they place you. And how does anyone rank a bunch of attorneys or advertising execs when they all say the same thing?

In order to regain control of the conversation, stop using your label and start using the formula below:

I work with (target audience) who struggle with (issue/challenge).

THEN STOP! DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ELSE!

This short and sweet formula is the beginning of revolutionizing your marketing efforts. In order for this to work, you must have a clear understanding of who your target audience is and their #1 struggle related to your business.

With this answer, you’ll get interest and excitement instead of glazed over eyes. By using this formula it forces the recipient to look at you differently. It forces them to make a decision on what to do next.

Let them make a decision with their response. Now that they have an informed perception of you, they know what to say next. They may need your services personally; or they may know someone that needs your services. But either way, they’re taking the next step with you.

Let’s look a few examples:

In a room full of doctors, “I work with women in their 40’s who struggle getting pregnant.”

Advertising/branding, “I work with Fortune 500 companies that are currently “Challenger Brands” and want to become household names.”

Legal, “I help someone of the verge of divorce ensure that he/she gets her fair share of the assets.

HR consultant, “My company works with executives from the world’s largest hospitals who are pulling their hair out because they cannot keep good nurses.”

Financial consultant, “I help people with six figure incomes put their children through university without paying through the nose in taxes or eating up their savings.”

You can see the difference (and power) in the formula. If you’re at all interested in what that person is offering, you perk right up. Now you’re viewed as a problem solver, not just a label. No one needs another label working with them.

Like I said before, this does require that you have and understand your target audience. For most business owners, this is the hardest part. I just wrote a blog post on Fast Company’s site about the benefits of niche marketing that’s right in line with this.

Wrap Up:

Ultimately, a strong elevator pitch or 30 second commercial is what separates you from the pack. Like all effective marketing touch points, if it’s focused on your client & their issues - instead of you and your offerings - you’ll be in good shape.

Your biggest obstacle

Published
by
Nick Rice
on October 2, 2007
in Client Magnet Archives, entrepreneur, management and social media
. 0 Comments

Regardless of your role within your firm, you have goals. You may have set them yourself or you may have a boss that walked in and laid them out for you. Either way, there are things that need to be accomplished before year’s end or within a few years.

Reaching some goals is pretty easy so I’m not going to talk about low hanging fruit here. I’m going to talk about the goal that either scares you to death or exhilarates you. Take a moment to think about that big goal and answer these
questions:

  • What would it mean to you if you actually achieved it?
  • How would you act differently after achieving it?
  • What would you take on that you’re not currently?
  • What would you leave behind?
  • Why is the goal truly important to you?
  • What’s standing in your way of achieving it?

Good. Those aren’t always easy questions to answer. It’s always better to think about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It helps to put everything in perspective.

Now, let’s focus on what’s standing in your way.

Do you have the skills necessary to reach your goal? Do you have the time? Do you have the energy? Think about what’s holding you back. If nothing is standing in your way, I’d contend that your goal isn’t big enough. Think bigger – dream a little. If you have an income goal that seems well within reach, go a little deeper. You want your big goal to be attainable, but just out of reach. More often than not, we have a mental block around what we can achieve. For some people, there’s never enough time. For others, they’ll never be educated enough or experienced enough. The psychological barrier stops them from moving forward. The attainable goal becomes unreachable and they decide to focus on something else like cleaning their office or tweaking their website.

More often than not, we have a mental block around what we can achieve. For some people, there’s never enough time. For others, they’ll never be educated enough or experienced enough. The psychological barrier stops them from moving forward. The attainable goal becomes unreachable and they decide to focus on something else like cleaning their office or tweaking their website.

We’ve all heard the stories of the uneducated kid that went on to be the top salesman. Or the working mother raising four children while making a six figure income from two jobs. For these people, failure is not an option. It’s not in their vocabulary. They don’t let those limiting thoughts enter their mind. They have a vision for their future and nothing is going to hold them back.

For a lot of business owners, they have a goal in mind, but they’re not sure how to get here. One thing is for sure, what got you where you are today probably won’t get you here you need to be to reach your goal. If business growth is your goal, you have to become a better marketer. You know you should promote your services, but there’s always something better to do. There’s always billable work that pops up; and of course, the office could always use a little cleaning. A lot of business owners are mentally blocked then it comes to marketing their own services. And it seems easy to justify. After all, a steady stream of referrals isn’t a bad thing. No, it’s not a bad thing; but let’s go back to your goals - your vision for your business. Is it performing the way you want it to? To quote Michael Gerber, “are you working on your business or in your business?”

The good thing about mental barriers is that they can be broken down. I spend a lot of time with clients determining their barriers to marketing and helping them turn it around. The process isn’t difficult, but it does require you be honest with yourself.

Your goals mean something. They’re the future of your business. They are your hopes and dreams for your firm. And there are consequences for not achieving them. It may come in the form of lost opportunity. It may seem like your goals are unquantifiable. Yet in my experience, you can quantify almost every aspect of your goals; you just have to keep digging. When you start looking at the lost opportunities that result from burying your head in the sand when it’s time to market, you realize that your business could be completely different. You begin to realize that you’re leaving a lot of money on the table by staying in your comfort zone. If you could no longer think those negative thoughts about marketing, you’d generate more opportunities for growth and profit.

If your biggest obstacle is mental, don’t let that slow you down. Whether it’s getting more training to develop the skills you need or simply changing the way you think about marketing, you control your own destiny. The key is to take action now. Just do something. When you dream big about your business and imagine living the life you’ve always wanted, you’re not going to let a little thing like a limiting mindset hold you back.