Average Retention Rates
5% Lecture
10% Reading
20% Audio-Visual
30% Demonstration
50% Discussion Group
75% Practice by Doing
90% Teach Others/Immediate Use
10/29/11
10/28/11
Steve Jobs Quotes
Steve Jobs funniest joke was said at the D5 conference.
'Apple is like a ship with a hole in the bottom, leaking water and my job is to get the ship pointed in the right direction' Steve Jobs
You need a lot of passion for what you're doing because its so hard. Without passion, any rational person would give up.
So if you're not having fun doing it, if you don't absolutely love it, you're going to give up.
And that's what happens to most people, actually.
If you look at the ones that ended up being successful in the eyes of society, often times its the ones who love what they do, so they could persevere when it got really tough.
And the ones that didn't love it, quit. Because they're sane, right?
Who would put up with this stuff if you don't love it?
So its a lot of hard work and its a lot of worrying constantly.
If you don't love it, you're going to fail.
'Apple is like a ship with a hole in the bottom, leaking water and my job is to get the ship pointed in the right direction' Steve Jobs
You need a lot of passion for what you're doing because its so hard. Without passion, any rational person would give up.
So if you're not having fun doing it, if you don't absolutely love it, you're going to give up.
And that's what happens to most people, actually.
If you look at the ones that ended up being successful in the eyes of society, often times its the ones who love what they do, so they could persevere when it got really tough.
And the ones that didn't love it, quit. Because they're sane, right?
Who would put up with this stuff if you don't love it?
So its a lot of hard work and its a lot of worrying constantly.
If you don't love it, you're going to fail.
10/25/11
Trade Up Like Steve Jobs
How Beryl Companies CEO Paul Spiegelman took a cue from Apple to charge more for his call center services.
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in 1976, they decided to embark on a premium pricing strategy in an otherwise commoditized industry. Jobs focused on differentiating the Apple product, making the mundane into something more. The rest is history—a $347 billion company with profit margin of more than 21 percent in the most recent fiscal year.
Smaller businesses can make the same choice. Here’s how. As CEO of Beryl, a company that handles hospital interactions with patients (like people calling for physician appointments or clinical advice), we charge more for our product than our competitors. In fact, we are as much as 40 percent more expensive than the rest of our competition. And, we don’t apologize for that.
You may wonder how we pull that off. After all, when you strip away everything else, Beryl is in the call center business, which is known for low margin and high attrition, and often seen as a commodity. Yet we achieve profitability five to six times higher than our competitors, and we sustain it year after year. We invest in our employees and our company "culture," so our staff enjoys what they do and where they work, and, as a result, deliver better, more hands-on service.
Premium pricing isn't about profitability for the sake of profitability. What allows us to charge more is the fact that we offer our hospital customers a better way to maintain relationships with patients, if they choose to pay for it. Here are five tips explaining how we implemented our premium pricing strategy and how you can, too:
1. Articulate your value
It’s up to you to communicate why your product or service costs more. Apple customers pay for unique design, and peace of mind from security concerns. At Beryl, they pay for our culture and customer service. We act as an extension of local health systems, and we assure clients the best people represent their brand. We invest heavily in a community of fun because happy people provide better service. We also invest in recruiting and training people with empathy and compassion, something that is very important in health care.
2. Align your offering to their core objectives.
If you want customers to pay more, it is important to connect your product or service to their most critical strategic initiatives. At Beryl, we do more than just conduct phone calls on behalf of our hospital customers. We also gather real-time data that helps them better understand their customers—patients—and build their business. This is even more essential now that hospital reimbursement for Medicare is tied to the patient experience. Apple did this by reinventing the computer into a device that combined a computer, phone, and music player.
3. Elevate the conversation beyond the product or service you sell.
By attaching your mission to a more global topic, you have the opportunity to connect with clients on a more strategic level. One of The Beryl Companies, The Beryl Institute, generates research and dialogue about one of the most important topics in health care, the patient experience. Similarly, when people commit to the Apple brand, they aren't just buying a computer or a music player or a mobile phone. They are buying into a desire to "Think different," and stay on the cutting edge of technology.
4. Put a price on everything.
If you are more expensive, you should be able to put a price on what your customers receive for their extra expenditure. For example, since Beryl’s calls cost customers $1 more than our competitors do, we're sure to explain that extra dollar: $.20 for better data, $.15 for more extensive training, $.10 for recruiting better people, etc. This helps the customer understand why our business charges more. If your customer cares about the premium features you offer, they'll continue to choose you over the competition. Apple conveys the value of its higher prices by being first to market with new features. The iPhone's debut caught competitors off-guard. The "apps" interface was a superior experience, and its novelty allowed Apple to price it accordingly.
5. Stick to your decision.
Once you become a premium provider, you must commit to it if you intend to maintain your pricing. Sometimes that means turning away potential clients who value low prices over quality services. Negotiating down your price is a slippery slope. Notice that Apple only cuts the price of its products once the next generation is introduced. At Beryl, it is tempting for us to price some of our new services more competitively in order to gain entry into the market. However, we realize that once we go down that path, we can't go back.
Not everyone wants to drive a Cadillac. Not every customer will choose to pay more. No wonder some businesses compete solely on price. But, if your business has a sustainable competitive advantage, like Apple's ownership of creativity and design, or Beryl's impeccable customer service, take a bold step forward and ask the market to place a higher value on it.
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in 1976, they decided to embark on a premium pricing strategy in an otherwise commoditized industry. Jobs focused on differentiating the Apple product, making the mundane into something more. The rest is history—a $347 billion company with profit margin of more than 21 percent in the most recent fiscal year.
Smaller businesses can make the same choice. Here’s how. As CEO of Beryl, a company that handles hospital interactions with patients (like people calling for physician appointments or clinical advice), we charge more for our product than our competitors. In fact, we are as much as 40 percent more expensive than the rest of our competition. And, we don’t apologize for that.
You may wonder how we pull that off. After all, when you strip away everything else, Beryl is in the call center business, which is known for low margin and high attrition, and often seen as a commodity. Yet we achieve profitability five to six times higher than our competitors, and we sustain it year after year. We invest in our employees and our company "culture," so our staff enjoys what they do and where they work, and, as a result, deliver better, more hands-on service.
Premium pricing isn't about profitability for the sake of profitability. What allows us to charge more is the fact that we offer our hospital customers a better way to maintain relationships with patients, if they choose to pay for it. Here are five tips explaining how we implemented our premium pricing strategy and how you can, too:
1. Articulate your value
It’s up to you to communicate why your product or service costs more. Apple customers pay for unique design, and peace of mind from security concerns. At Beryl, they pay for our culture and customer service. We act as an extension of local health systems, and we assure clients the best people represent their brand. We invest heavily in a community of fun because happy people provide better service. We also invest in recruiting and training people with empathy and compassion, something that is very important in health care.
2. Align your offering to their core objectives.
If you want customers to pay more, it is important to connect your product or service to their most critical strategic initiatives. At Beryl, we do more than just conduct phone calls on behalf of our hospital customers. We also gather real-time data that helps them better understand their customers—patients—and build their business. This is even more essential now that hospital reimbursement for Medicare is tied to the patient experience. Apple did this by reinventing the computer into a device that combined a computer, phone, and music player.
3. Elevate the conversation beyond the product or service you sell.
By attaching your mission to a more global topic, you have the opportunity to connect with clients on a more strategic level. One of The Beryl Companies, The Beryl Institute, generates research and dialogue about one of the most important topics in health care, the patient experience. Similarly, when people commit to the Apple brand, they aren't just buying a computer or a music player or a mobile phone. They are buying into a desire to "Think different," and stay on the cutting edge of technology.
4. Put a price on everything.
If you are more expensive, you should be able to put a price on what your customers receive for their extra expenditure. For example, since Beryl’s calls cost customers $1 more than our competitors do, we're sure to explain that extra dollar: $.20 for better data, $.15 for more extensive training, $.10 for recruiting better people, etc. This helps the customer understand why our business charges more. If your customer cares about the premium features you offer, they'll continue to choose you over the competition. Apple conveys the value of its higher prices by being first to market with new features. The iPhone's debut caught competitors off-guard. The "apps" interface was a superior experience, and its novelty allowed Apple to price it accordingly.
5. Stick to your decision.
Once you become a premium provider, you must commit to it if you intend to maintain your pricing. Sometimes that means turning away potential clients who value low prices over quality services. Negotiating down your price is a slippery slope. Notice that Apple only cuts the price of its products once the next generation is introduced. At Beryl, it is tempting for us to price some of our new services more competitively in order to gain entry into the market. However, we realize that once we go down that path, we can't go back.
Not everyone wants to drive a Cadillac. Not every customer will choose to pay more. No wonder some businesses compete solely on price. But, if your business has a sustainable competitive advantage, like Apple's ownership of creativity and design, or Beryl's impeccable customer service, take a bold step forward and ask the market to place a higher value on it.
10/24/11
Quotes
Quotes
-Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it. (Bariness Amandine Lucile Dupin or George Sand)
-One part of knowledge consists in being ignorant of such things that are not worthy of being known. (Crates)
-You can not legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating wealth away from the wealthy. You can not multiply wealth by dividing it. (Adrian Rogers 1931)
-Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible (Unknown)
-If you don't seize the moment, the moment passes and someone else seizes it.
-Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin
-The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. Robert Cushing
-If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old. Lord Chesterfield
-He that will not reflect is a ruined man. Asian Proverb
-Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. Chinese Proverb
-Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. Albert Einstein
-Every artist was first an amateur. Ralph Waldo Emerson
-The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be. Horace Bushnell
-Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is. Vince Lombardi
-Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality.
Practical dreamers do not quit. Napoleon Hill
-Those who believe they are exclusively in the right are generally those who achieve something. Aldous Huxley
-Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them. Joseph Joubert
-Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. Napoleon Hill
-People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work. Alexander Hamilton
-In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends. John Churton Collins
-A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. Chinese Proverb
-What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better. Proverb
-The middle course is the best. Cleobulus
-By associating with wise people you will become wise yourself. Menander
-The more a man knows, the more he forgives. Catherine the Great
-If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. Zen Proverb
-When I want to read a novel, I write one. Benjamin Disraeli
-You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life Winston Churchill
-Never say more than is necessary. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
-You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Ghandi
-That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Neitzsche
-I demolish my bridges behind me...then there is no choice but to move forward. Firdtjof Nansen
-Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them. Leo Tolstoy
-The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time. Richard Cech
-We don't live in a world of reality, we live in a world of perceptions. Gerald J. Simmons
-Everybody dies, but not everyone lives.
-Money is a strange business. People who haven't got it aim it strongly. People who have are full of troubles. Ayrton Senna
-I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence. Ayrton Senna
-On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit.' As soon as you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high. Ayrton Senna
-And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. Ayrton Senna
-Wealthy men can't live in an island that is encircled by poverty. We all breathe the same air. We must give a chance to everyone, at least a basic chance. Ayrton Senna
-I believe in the ability of focusing strongly in something, then you are able to extract even more out of it. It's been like this all my life, and it's been only a question of improving it, and learning more and more and there is almost no end. As you go through you just keep finding more and more. It's very interesting, it's fascinating. Ayrton Senna
-We are made of emotions. We are all looking for emotions, basically. It's only a question of finding the way to experience them. Ayrton Senna
-It's important that the drivers stay together, because in difficult moments we have each other. If we are not together the financial and political interests of the organisers and constructors come to the fore. Ayrton Senna
-If something is hard, it will take two days. If its impossible, it will take another day. Jim Justice (The Justice Group)
-If you can't get it done in 24 hours, you're going to have to work nights. Jim Justice (The Justice Group)
It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. (Henry Ford)
He who has the gold makes the rules (The Golden Rule)
We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made
only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the
government of any other. (John Adams)
Please feel free to critize the quality of my work but do not dare doubt my honesty and integrity. That are and have have been more important to me than winning races. Whan I put on the fia shirt and sit in the stewarts room I feel such a responsibility that I woulnt be biased even if my son would be racing. Enjoy the race. This is a wonderful sport. (Emanual superio)
I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved. (Anon)
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." (Dom Helder Camara)
"Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching." (Satchel Paige)
"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are." (Chinese Proverb)
"To Speak or NOT to Speak
If it is not truthful and not helpful don't say it
If it is Truthful and not helpful don't say it.
If it is Not truthful and helpful don't say it
If it is both Truthful and Helpful ...Wait for the right time" (Buddhist Quote)
"If you’re going through hell, keep going!" (Winston Churchill)
"The greatest freedom of all - is not having the fear of losing" (Unknown)
"Failure is not in falling down, it's in not getting up again" (Unknown)
"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him learn it within himself." (Galileo )
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph.....is for good men to do nothing." (Winston Churchill)
The Paradoxical Commandments!
People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest persons with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest persons with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." (Harold Wilson)
"Press On!
Nothing can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent.
This slogan "Press On" has solved, always will solve, the problems of the human race." (Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. President)
"May you live a thousand years, and I a thousand less one day, that I might never know the world without you." (Hungarian Proverb)
"Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking." (J. C. Watts)
"The only thing I know, is that I know nothing." (Socrates)
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." (The Dalai Lama)
"Life is like a finger, pointing to the Moon. If you look at the finger... you will miss all the heavenly glory." (Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee tells his pupil)
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall - think of it, ALWAYS." (Mahatma Gandhi)
"The man who moved a mountain is the one who started taking away the small stones." (Old Chinese Proverb)
"I am still learning." (Michelangelo)
"You can tell a great deal about a society by the way they treat their elderly, their prisoners and their pets." (Unknown)
"To life's simple pleasures, and its finer things: may we always have the wisdom to appreciate all of the former, and the means to afford a few of the latter." (Laura L. Hirschfeld)
Only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far they can really go." (T.S. Eliot)
"An extraordinary person is just an ordinary person doing the right thing." (Unknown)
"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away." (Joy J. Golliver)
Ask yourself always: how can this be done better? (GC Lichtenberg)
One of the most important things in families, both for children and spouses, is never to close off possibilities. (Hazel Hawke)
"If you love something... set it free.
If it returns... you never lost it.
If it disappears and never comes back.
It was never yours to begin with." (Anon)
"When prosperity comes, do not use all of it." (Confucius (551-479 BC))
"Of all things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship." (Epicurus (341-270 BC))
"If we lose kindness and affection from our life, we have lost all that gives it charm." (Marcus Tulius Cicero (106-53 BC))
"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." (George Washington)
"See everything. Overlook a great deal. Improve a little." (Pope John XXIII)
"If you weep because the sun has set, your own tears will never let you see the stars." (Hindu Proverb)
"However true love is, true friendship is rarer." (Unknown)
"The one thing we can give and still keep is our word." (Unknown)
".....Don't try to keep up with the Joneses, bring them down to your level - it's much cheaper ..." (Quentin Crisp)
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." (Eleanor Roosevelt)
"There are two things to aim at in life: First, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." (Logan Pearsall Smith)
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." (Buddha)
"Live with great expectations and great things will happen." (Art Fettig)
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." (Goethe)
"When you run out of red, use blue!" (Pablo Picasso on flexibility and imagination)
"All children behave as well as they are treated." (Jan Hunt)
Thats what life is, a bunch of dreams, and you do what you can to try to make them happen. (Jeb Corliss - Professional Base Jumper - Squirell suit guy)
There are no limits, only the one you place on yourself. (Jeb Corliss - Professional Base Jumper - Squirell suit guy)
Your life is the way it is today because of you own actions and the decisions you have made.
Money does not change a person. It reveals who they really are.
"Take a lesson from the music industry and don't spend all your time suing people for misusing what you believe is your content — think instead about why they are doing this, and what it says about how your business is changing, and then try to adapt to that."
"He dropped me off, and he was like, 'Go! Live your life. I'm very proud of you.' And, 'Have a great time!'" she revealed. (Jack Nicholoson said to Lorraine Nicholson, Daughter)
"Well, he always tells me to look people in the eye and tell the truth and that's what I sort of tried to bring to this role," she said. (Jack Nicholoson said to Lorraine Nicholson, Daughter)
Children don't always listen, but they always watch.
-Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it. (Bariness Amandine Lucile Dupin or George Sand)
-One part of knowledge consists in being ignorant of such things that are not worthy of being known. (Crates)
-You can not legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating wealth away from the wealthy. You can not multiply wealth by dividing it. (Adrian Rogers 1931)
-Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible (Unknown)
-If you don't seize the moment, the moment passes and someone else seizes it.
-Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin
-The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. Robert Cushing
-If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old. Lord Chesterfield
-He that will not reflect is a ruined man. Asian Proverb
-Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. Chinese Proverb
-Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. Albert Einstein
-Every artist was first an amateur. Ralph Waldo Emerson
-The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be. Horace Bushnell
-Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is. Vince Lombardi
-Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality.
Practical dreamers do not quit. Napoleon Hill
-Those who believe they are exclusively in the right are generally those who achieve something. Aldous Huxley
-Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them. Joseph Joubert
-Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. Napoleon Hill
-People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work. Alexander Hamilton
-In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends. John Churton Collins
-A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. Chinese Proverb
-What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better. Proverb
-The middle course is the best. Cleobulus
-By associating with wise people you will become wise yourself. Menander
-The more a man knows, the more he forgives. Catherine the Great
-If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. Zen Proverb
-When I want to read a novel, I write one. Benjamin Disraeli
-You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life Winston Churchill
-Never say more than is necessary. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
-You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Ghandi
-That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Neitzsche
-I demolish my bridges behind me...then there is no choice but to move forward. Firdtjof Nansen
-Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them. Leo Tolstoy
-The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time. Richard Cech
-We don't live in a world of reality, we live in a world of perceptions. Gerald J. Simmons
-Everybody dies, but not everyone lives.
-Money is a strange business. People who haven't got it aim it strongly. People who have are full of troubles. Ayrton Senna
-I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence. Ayrton Senna
-On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit.' As soon as you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high. Ayrton Senna
-And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. Ayrton Senna
-Wealthy men can't live in an island that is encircled by poverty. We all breathe the same air. We must give a chance to everyone, at least a basic chance. Ayrton Senna
-I believe in the ability of focusing strongly in something, then you are able to extract even more out of it. It's been like this all my life, and it's been only a question of improving it, and learning more and more and there is almost no end. As you go through you just keep finding more and more. It's very interesting, it's fascinating. Ayrton Senna
-We are made of emotions. We are all looking for emotions, basically. It's only a question of finding the way to experience them. Ayrton Senna
-It's important that the drivers stay together, because in difficult moments we have each other. If we are not together the financial and political interests of the organisers and constructors come to the fore. Ayrton Senna
-If something is hard, it will take two days. If its impossible, it will take another day. Jim Justice (The Justice Group)
-If you can't get it done in 24 hours, you're going to have to work nights. Jim Justice (The Justice Group)
It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. (Henry Ford)
He who has the gold makes the rules (The Golden Rule)
We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made
only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the
government of any other. (John Adams)
Please feel free to critize the quality of my work but do not dare doubt my honesty and integrity. That are and have have been more important to me than winning races. Whan I put on the fia shirt and sit in the stewarts room I feel such a responsibility that I woulnt be biased even if my son would be racing. Enjoy the race. This is a wonderful sport. (Emanual superio)
I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved. (Anon)
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." (Dom Helder Camara)
"Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching." (Satchel Paige)
"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are." (Chinese Proverb)
"To Speak or NOT to Speak
If it is not truthful and not helpful don't say it
If it is Truthful and not helpful don't say it.
If it is Not truthful and helpful don't say it
If it is both Truthful and Helpful ...Wait for the right time" (Buddhist Quote)
"If you’re going through hell, keep going!" (Winston Churchill)
"The greatest freedom of all - is not having the fear of losing" (Unknown)
"Failure is not in falling down, it's in not getting up again" (Unknown)
"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him learn it within himself." (Galileo )
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph.....is for good men to do nothing." (Winston Churchill)
The Paradoxical Commandments!
People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest persons with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest persons with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." (Harold Wilson)
"Press On!
Nothing can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent.
This slogan "Press On" has solved, always will solve, the problems of the human race." (Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. President)
"May you live a thousand years, and I a thousand less one day, that I might never know the world without you." (Hungarian Proverb)
"Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking." (J. C. Watts)
"The only thing I know, is that I know nothing." (Socrates)
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." (The Dalai Lama)
"Life is like a finger, pointing to the Moon. If you look at the finger... you will miss all the heavenly glory." (Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee tells his pupil)
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall - think of it, ALWAYS." (Mahatma Gandhi)
"The man who moved a mountain is the one who started taking away the small stones." (Old Chinese Proverb)
"I am still learning." (Michelangelo)
"You can tell a great deal about a society by the way they treat their elderly, their prisoners and their pets." (Unknown)
"To life's simple pleasures, and its finer things: may we always have the wisdom to appreciate all of the former, and the means to afford a few of the latter." (Laura L. Hirschfeld)
Only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far they can really go." (T.S. Eliot)
"An extraordinary person is just an ordinary person doing the right thing." (Unknown)
"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away." (Joy J. Golliver)
Ask yourself always: how can this be done better? (GC Lichtenberg)
One of the most important things in families, both for children and spouses, is never to close off possibilities. (Hazel Hawke)
"If you love something... set it free.
If it returns... you never lost it.
If it disappears and never comes back.
It was never yours to begin with." (Anon)
"When prosperity comes, do not use all of it." (Confucius (551-479 BC))
"Of all things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship." (Epicurus (341-270 BC))
"If we lose kindness and affection from our life, we have lost all that gives it charm." (Marcus Tulius Cicero (106-53 BC))
"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." (George Washington)
"See everything. Overlook a great deal. Improve a little." (Pope John XXIII)
"If you weep because the sun has set, your own tears will never let you see the stars." (Hindu Proverb)
"However true love is, true friendship is rarer." (Unknown)
"The one thing we can give and still keep is our word." (Unknown)
".....Don't try to keep up with the Joneses, bring them down to your level - it's much cheaper ..." (Quentin Crisp)
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." (Eleanor Roosevelt)
"There are two things to aim at in life: First, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." (Logan Pearsall Smith)
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." (Buddha)
"Live with great expectations and great things will happen." (Art Fettig)
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." (Goethe)
"When you run out of red, use blue!" (Pablo Picasso on flexibility and imagination)
"All children behave as well as they are treated." (Jan Hunt)
Thats what life is, a bunch of dreams, and you do what you can to try to make them happen. (Jeb Corliss - Professional Base Jumper - Squirell suit guy)
There are no limits, only the one you place on yourself. (Jeb Corliss - Professional Base Jumper - Squirell suit guy)
Your life is the way it is today because of you own actions and the decisions you have made.
Money does not change a person. It reveals who they really are.
"Take a lesson from the music industry and don't spend all your time suing people for misusing what you believe is your content — think instead about why they are doing this, and what it says about how your business is changing, and then try to adapt to that."
"He dropped me off, and he was like, 'Go! Live your life. I'm very proud of you.' And, 'Have a great time!'" she revealed. (Jack Nicholoson said to Lorraine Nicholson, Daughter)
"Well, he always tells me to look people in the eye and tell the truth and that's what I sort of tried to bring to this role," she said. (Jack Nicholoson said to Lorraine Nicholson, Daughter)
Children don't always listen, but they always watch.
10/19/11
Goal Setting Starts at the Top and Cascades Down to the Employees
Setting and cascading goals throughout the organization is vital to achieving company objectives. Before you can expect employees to set goals, however, you'll need to set company goals.
When defining goals, you’ll want to make sure they meet the SMART criteria:
Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal.
Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
Attainable: It should be a stretch to reach the goal, but not so much so that it’s out of reach.
Realistic: What it takes to do to achieve the goal should be within the availability of resources, knowledge and time.
Timely: The goals should have a clearly defined time-frame including a target completion date.
Using the SMART criteria above, you should determine 3-5 goals that are tied to success measures of the company. Oftentimes they are financial, business development, process development or customer satisfaction measures. Once the Company Goals are determined, they should be communicated throughout the Company. Using a company-wide venue (all company meeting, webcast, e-mail, etc.) to share the goals will ensure that all employees hear the same consistent message. Once communicated, these goals become the framework that shape departmental and individual goals. Hence the goals are cascaded as Company Goals to Departmental Goals to Individual Goals. Setting goals at the department and employee level ensures that the day-to-day work is tied to the overall success of the company. Connecting the goals to the Performance Management Process, whereby you can assess an employee’s attainment vs. their goals on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis will further enforce employee goals and get you further down the road towards attaining your company goals.
Check-in on the goals a few times throughout the year. It doesn’t have to be a formal process… just a quick conversation to review the goals to make sure they still make sense. As business and company conditions change, be sure to review the goals to make any adjustments accordingly.
When defining goals, you’ll want to make sure they meet the SMART criteria:
Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal.
Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
Attainable: It should be a stretch to reach the goal, but not so much so that it’s out of reach.
Realistic: What it takes to do to achieve the goal should be within the availability of resources, knowledge and time.
Timely: The goals should have a clearly defined time-frame including a target completion date.
Using the SMART criteria above, you should determine 3-5 goals that are tied to success measures of the company. Oftentimes they are financial, business development, process development or customer satisfaction measures. Once the Company Goals are determined, they should be communicated throughout the Company. Using a company-wide venue (all company meeting, webcast, e-mail, etc.) to share the goals will ensure that all employees hear the same consistent message. Once communicated, these goals become the framework that shape departmental and individual goals. Hence the goals are cascaded as Company Goals to Departmental Goals to Individual Goals. Setting goals at the department and employee level ensures that the day-to-day work is tied to the overall success of the company. Connecting the goals to the Performance Management Process, whereby you can assess an employee’s attainment vs. their goals on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis will further enforce employee goals and get you further down the road towards attaining your company goals.
Check-in on the goals a few times throughout the year. It doesn’t have to be a formal process… just a quick conversation to review the goals to make sure they still make sense. As business and company conditions change, be sure to review the goals to make any adjustments accordingly.
Two Words Matter -- Make Them Count!
As the boss, you don't get much applause on a day-to-day basis. Unless you've hired a circle of yes men to sing your praises, life as an entrepreneur means receiving very little recognition for something you do very well. “Thank you” are two words you're just not accustomed to hearing often.
If you're like me, you don't need constant pats on the back to keep running your business and always reaching for the next big goal. But your staff probably isn't like you. The thrill of reaching (and exceeding) goals with limited resources isn't what keeps them coming in every day. It's those two little words that can make the difference between employees walking out the door or staying a little late to go above and beyond.
The truth is that recognizing your employees for all the contributions they make to your company is one of the most important tasks you can do every day. Simple, sincere “thank yous” are one of the most valuable retention methods you have at your disposal, and they don't cost a thing.
According to a 2007 Florida State University study, 40% of employees leave their jobs due to “bad bosses,” not the desire to switch industries, grow in their careers, or earn more money. You're probably thinking that not recognizing employee achievement does not necessarily a bad boss make, especially if you've watched Horrible Bosses. But the number-2 reason people ditch their bad bosses is the result of supervisors who “failed to give them credit when due.”
I don't know about you, but in this tough economy when workers nationwide are doing so much extra work without additional compensation, my company can't afford to replace talented employees simply because my managers and I aren't taking the time to acknowledge our employees' dedication and achievements. So I start with thank you and then make it stick by making it personal. Handwritten notes recognizing extra-effort, anniversaries and birthdays go a long way. You’ll know it when you start to see them pop up on your employees’ desks and bulletin boards – proudly posted for their coworkers to see.
If you have or are thinking about a formal recognition program that includes additional cash incentives – try personalizing those as well. You will get far more bang for your gratitude buck by making it memorable. Let’s face it -- if you give your employee a $500 bonus, $350 will end up paying for groceries, bills or other ordinary expenses. But what if instead, you knew your employee loved Kenny Chesney and ordered a limo and front row seats for her and her spouse to Chesney’s new concert? Suddenly you’ve done more than say thanks – you’ve created a memory that shows you know and care about her. As your mother once said – it’s the thought that counts. A thoughtful, personal “thank you” will have a lasting lift that will garner a greater level of loyalty.
Don’t stop there. You can also personalize team “thank yous” in a cost-effective way. Your customer care team doing a great job? Bring in breakfast – or better yet, make them breakfast! It is a great way to start the day and by serving them you are clearly demonstrating that you care.
Again, increasing morale and productivity doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. At SurePayroll, we say thanks in a number of ways like:
• handwriting personal notes.
• sharing letters of praise with the entire company.
• personalizing quarterly recognition and gift certificates for outstanding employee contributions.
• catering lunches and providing desk-side delivery of snacks such as ice cream, popcorn or candy bars during our busiest payroll-processing days. Sometimes I do the serving!
• celebrating employees at an annual awards ceremony thanking employees for their hard work and honoring the best new mistake.
Like the golden rule – know your customers, you should know your employees. Words matter – especially simple words like thank you. To help retain employees, boost morale, and inspire innovation add that personal touch to your “thank you” and make it matter even more!
http://www.inc.com/michael-alter/two-words-matter-%E2%80%93-make-them-count!.html
If you're like me, you don't need constant pats on the back to keep running your business and always reaching for the next big goal. But your staff probably isn't like you. The thrill of reaching (and exceeding) goals with limited resources isn't what keeps them coming in every day. It's those two little words that can make the difference between employees walking out the door or staying a little late to go above and beyond.
The truth is that recognizing your employees for all the contributions they make to your company is one of the most important tasks you can do every day. Simple, sincere “thank yous” are one of the most valuable retention methods you have at your disposal, and they don't cost a thing.
According to a 2007 Florida State University study, 40% of employees leave their jobs due to “bad bosses,” not the desire to switch industries, grow in their careers, or earn more money. You're probably thinking that not recognizing employee achievement does not necessarily a bad boss make, especially if you've watched Horrible Bosses. But the number-2 reason people ditch their bad bosses is the result of supervisors who “failed to give them credit when due.”
I don't know about you, but in this tough economy when workers nationwide are doing so much extra work without additional compensation, my company can't afford to replace talented employees simply because my managers and I aren't taking the time to acknowledge our employees' dedication and achievements. So I start with thank you and then make it stick by making it personal. Handwritten notes recognizing extra-effort, anniversaries and birthdays go a long way. You’ll know it when you start to see them pop up on your employees’ desks and bulletin boards – proudly posted for their coworkers to see.
If you have or are thinking about a formal recognition program that includes additional cash incentives – try personalizing those as well. You will get far more bang for your gratitude buck by making it memorable. Let’s face it -- if you give your employee a $500 bonus, $350 will end up paying for groceries, bills or other ordinary expenses. But what if instead, you knew your employee loved Kenny Chesney and ordered a limo and front row seats for her and her spouse to Chesney’s new concert? Suddenly you’ve done more than say thanks – you’ve created a memory that shows you know and care about her. As your mother once said – it’s the thought that counts. A thoughtful, personal “thank you” will have a lasting lift that will garner a greater level of loyalty.
Don’t stop there. You can also personalize team “thank yous” in a cost-effective way. Your customer care team doing a great job? Bring in breakfast – or better yet, make them breakfast! It is a great way to start the day and by serving them you are clearly demonstrating that you care.
Again, increasing morale and productivity doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. At SurePayroll, we say thanks in a number of ways like:
• handwriting personal notes.
• sharing letters of praise with the entire company.
• personalizing quarterly recognition and gift certificates for outstanding employee contributions.
• catering lunches and providing desk-side delivery of snacks such as ice cream, popcorn or candy bars during our busiest payroll-processing days. Sometimes I do the serving!
• celebrating employees at an annual awards ceremony thanking employees for their hard work and honoring the best new mistake.
Like the golden rule – know your customers, you should know your employees. Words matter – especially simple words like thank you. To help retain employees, boost morale, and inspire innovation add that personal touch to your “thank you” and make it matter even more!
http://www.inc.com/michael-alter/two-words-matter-%E2%80%93-make-them-count!.html
10/11/11
How to get Cold Call Results
No one likes cold calling. But are you missing an opportunity to increase your bottom line AND have some fun?
Cold calling and telephone prospecting are not a favorite activity for the majority of us. In fact, most will avoid the task – which is fine, as long as you have other powerful marketing tactics in place. Certainly with the development of social media we have other means to market our wares, but many business models still benefit from the power of good old-fashioned cold calling.
Many sales experts now dispute the effectiveness of cold calling but I’ve worked with quite a few successful business owners who credit this daunting process for much of their sales success. And certainly the large majority of highly successful network marketers turn to their call lists when revenues need a boost. Network marketing organizations suggest cold calling as the primary means to build your business, but it’s not always that simple.
The sad truth is that most people give up on their commitment to the process after a single “no”. Cold calling is filled with rejection and anticipation of conflict, but does it have to be interpreted in this way? Is a “no” really a personal rejection? I don’t think so; after all doesn’t a person have to know something about you to reject you personally? When the recipient of your phone call says no, they are referring to your offer, not you.
Still, it can be a tough pill to swallow so why not make it a team effort, a friendly competition and a positive experience? That’s what this creative entrepreneur does to keep her sales team happy and her business thriving.
Dawn Gluskin, Founder and CEO of Florida based Soltec Electronics, actually likes cold calling. She views it as a competitive sport and shares her enthusiasm with her staff of four sales reps. “Not many people, even sales reps, look forward to cold calling,” Dawn acknowledges. “So we created the Cold Call Power Hour at Soltec. Why not make it fun and learn from the process?”
Twice a week Dawn and her sales team meet in the Soltec sales room manned with phones and call lists. No email access, no incoming calls to disrupt the process; only a determined attitude and an hour of getting into the cold calling groove.
“Hearing one another’s approach is very helpful and seeing top sales people get 'rejected' or encounter someone with an unfriendly attitude helps the less experienced reps see it happens to everyone,” says Gluskin. “We just keep going, build momentum and enjoy the results.”
Each of Soltec’s team members come to the Power Hour with a focus. “Don’t just pick up the phone and make random calls,” suggests Gluskin. “Create a targeted list of people who haven’t bought in six months, people in a specific geographic area or a certain type of business. This approach assists you in staying focused and creating a groove,” she says.
Dawn and her team see great results from their twice weekly Cold Calling Power Hour events. They even keep a chart in the conference room to show their new accounts and create a friendly competition. “We alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif get at least one strong lead and one of our reps even made a sale right on the phone during a recent Power Hour,” Dawn says. Participation is mandatory and it’s a date that everyone keeps. Certainly, the results reflect this dedication. Soltec Electronics has enjoyed a sizeable increase in sales since implementing the Power Hour process.
Of course, as a solopreneur, you don’t necessarily have a team of sales reps – or a conference room for that matter. BUT, you do have peers who are faced with the same aversion to telephone prospecting. Why not begin a weekly Power Hour of your own? Gather a small group of soloists and support one another in getting in the groove and getting results!
http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/how-to-get-cold-call-results.html
Cold calling and telephone prospecting are not a favorite activity for the majority of us. In fact, most will avoid the task – which is fine, as long as you have other powerful marketing tactics in place. Certainly with the development of social media we have other means to market our wares, but many business models still benefit from the power of good old-fashioned cold calling.
Many sales experts now dispute the effectiveness of cold calling but I’ve worked with quite a few successful business owners who credit this daunting process for much of their sales success. And certainly the large majority of highly successful network marketers turn to their call lists when revenues need a boost. Network marketing organizations suggest cold calling as the primary means to build your business, but it’s not always that simple.
The sad truth is that most people give up on their commitment to the process after a single “no”. Cold calling is filled with rejection and anticipation of conflict, but does it have to be interpreted in this way? Is a “no” really a personal rejection? I don’t think so; after all doesn’t a person have to know something about you to reject you personally? When the recipient of your phone call says no, they are referring to your offer, not you.
Still, it can be a tough pill to swallow so why not make it a team effort, a friendly competition and a positive experience? That’s what this creative entrepreneur does to keep her sales team happy and her business thriving.
Dawn Gluskin, Founder and CEO of Florida based Soltec Electronics, actually likes cold calling. She views it as a competitive sport and shares her enthusiasm with her staff of four sales reps. “Not many people, even sales reps, look forward to cold calling,” Dawn acknowledges. “So we created the Cold Call Power Hour at Soltec. Why not make it fun and learn from the process?”
Twice a week Dawn and her sales team meet in the Soltec sales room manned with phones and call lists. No email access, no incoming calls to disrupt the process; only a determined attitude and an hour of getting into the cold calling groove.
“Hearing one another’s approach is very helpful and seeing top sales people get 'rejected' or encounter someone with an unfriendly attitude helps the less experienced reps see it happens to everyone,” says Gluskin. “We just keep going, build momentum and enjoy the results.”
Each of Soltec’s team members come to the Power Hour with a focus. “Don’t just pick up the phone and make random calls,” suggests Gluskin. “Create a targeted list of people who haven’t bought in six months, people in a specific geographic area or a certain type of business. This approach assists you in staying focused and creating a groove,” she says.
Dawn and her team see great results from their twice weekly Cold Calling Power Hour events. They even keep a chart in the conference room to show their new accounts and create a friendly competition. “We alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif get at least one strong lead and one of our reps even made a sale right on the phone during a recent Power Hour,” Dawn says. Participation is mandatory and it’s a date that everyone keeps. Certainly, the results reflect this dedication. Soltec Electronics has enjoyed a sizeable increase in sales since implementing the Power Hour process.
Of course, as a solopreneur, you don’t necessarily have a team of sales reps – or a conference room for that matter. BUT, you do have peers who are faced with the same aversion to telephone prospecting. Why not begin a weekly Power Hour of your own? Gather a small group of soloists and support one another in getting in the groove and getting results!
http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/how-to-get-cold-call-results.html
General Stanley McChrystal: Plywood Leadership
How are flimsy pieces of wood like the employees in your organization? The man who led coalition forces in Afghanistan explains why "plywood is a state of mind."
It's rare to see someone get worked up about plywood. Much less a four-star general.
But plywood, yes, those simple sheets of pressed-together timber used to cover floorboards and broken windows, is a particular topic of passion for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the retired U.S. Army general who served as commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
What gives?
"I'll let you in on the secret of plywood," McChrystal said to an audience of about 400 at the 2011 Inc. 500|5000 conference in Washington, D.C. "I lived in a room of it for more than four years. What we did in Afghanistan was we used our spaces to shape our culture."
The "plywood palace," as McChrystal has dubbed the multi-story makeshift office he and others inhabited, was built entirely out of two-by-fours and plywood. And that served their hearts and minds well.
"The beauty is we made this thing when you came in you didn't have to wipe your boots," he said. "When you're in there…you weren't in there thinking 'oh I'm in a nice cushy office, this is great.' You were thinking the guy out in the field had it better."
But his love of plywood runs deeper than dirt on boots. He explained:
Plywood's got a zen-like element to it, at least it does to me. cause when you thinkabout plywood—hopefully you spend a lot of time thinking about plywood—the sheets of plywood are just thin little sort of lousy lumber. You could take your hands and break any one of them. By themselves, they don't have a lot of utility. But when you glue em together suddenly it's stong, it's versitle. If you glue a lot of them together, it's expensive. But if you think about it, compare it to your organization. We build organizations out of normal people. We try to hire the best people, but guess what? We get normal people. Hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, problems. By themselves, they're like that piece of plywood; any one of them can break pretty easily. But if they're glued together, then I think they become something special.
To effectively lead a team of real people, you need to press and glue those plywood people together, and make something really strong, McChrystal said.
"And I think leadership is the glue," he said.
"That's why I believe—you can quote this," he said. "Plywood is a state of mind."
http://www.inc.com/articles/201110/stanley-mcchrystal-plywood-leadership.html
It's rare to see someone get worked up about plywood. Much less a four-star general.
But plywood, yes, those simple sheets of pressed-together timber used to cover floorboards and broken windows, is a particular topic of passion for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the retired U.S. Army general who served as commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
What gives?
"I'll let you in on the secret of plywood," McChrystal said to an audience of about 400 at the 2011 Inc. 500|5000 conference in Washington, D.C. "I lived in a room of it for more than four years. What we did in Afghanistan was we used our spaces to shape our culture."
The "plywood palace," as McChrystal has dubbed the multi-story makeshift office he and others inhabited, was built entirely out of two-by-fours and plywood. And that served their hearts and minds well.
"The beauty is we made this thing when you came in you didn't have to wipe your boots," he said. "When you're in there…you weren't in there thinking 'oh I'm in a nice cushy office, this is great.' You were thinking the guy out in the field had it better."
But his love of plywood runs deeper than dirt on boots. He explained:
Plywood's got a zen-like element to it, at least it does to me. cause when you thinkabout plywood—hopefully you spend a lot of time thinking about plywood—the sheets of plywood are just thin little sort of lousy lumber. You could take your hands and break any one of them. By themselves, they don't have a lot of utility. But when you glue em together suddenly it's stong, it's versitle. If you glue a lot of them together, it's expensive. But if you think about it, compare it to your organization. We build organizations out of normal people. We try to hire the best people, but guess what? We get normal people. Hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, problems. By themselves, they're like that piece of plywood; any one of them can break pretty easily. But if they're glued together, then I think they become something special.
To effectively lead a team of real people, you need to press and glue those plywood people together, and make something really strong, McChrystal said.
"And I think leadership is the glue," he said.
"That's why I believe—you can quote this," he said. "Plywood is a state of mind."
http://www.inc.com/articles/201110/stanley-mcchrystal-plywood-leadership.html
How to Beat the Defensive Pricing Game
Are your competitors lowering prices? Here's how to beat them at their own game.
It’s a familiar story: A company begins to use defensive pricing when a competitor has reduced its market share. The competitor lowers prices. The other firm counters with further reduced figures. A back-and-forth contest develops with each player upping the ante, like a poker game.
In this economy, a price war’s greatest danger is lowering yourself right out of business. This game can pose such danger that some small businesses take action. For example, Kennesaw, Georgia-based Flip Flop Shop founder Brian Curin will pull a franchisee’s license if a store engages in defensive pricing. Once they hang a sale sign next to a pair of those beach-ready kicks, costumers will always expect it.
“I don’t think people realize how quick a consumer habit can form,” Curin says. “Once they’ve got that discount ticket in their hand – that golden ticket to get something cheaper – once you give that, it’s really hard to get your consumer base to pay full price.”
Here, experts reveal 3 basic strategies for avoiding defensive pricing, while still remaining competitive.
Re-evaluate and improve your business model. But if you’re considering defensive pricing, it means some part of your business model contains a flaw, says Leonard Lodish, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “It’s an indication that you don’t have enough of a perception of being better than your competition that you can use to go forward,” he says.
Review each step of your supply chain from beginning to end. Something has caused your customers to grow dissatisfied. Perhaps you need increased marketing or a new ad campaign. Or it could be a problem with customer service at the store.
To find the problem, you might use an in-store customer survey, or check out your online reviews. “You need to find what people are saying about you,” Lodish says.
Cut costs where the competition can't. When you reduce prices, you decrease profits and shrink margins. Right away, this decreases any significant opportunity for growth or innovation. It also means you might have trouble with this month’s rent. A business needs deep pockets to win at defensive pricing, says Ari Ginsberg, a New York University management professor.
“But if you’re dealing with another competitor that has equally deep pockets, then they can play the same game as you. And then you’re screwed because you lost money, but you didn’t necessarily gain the market share,” Ginsberg says.
He says should examine whether you can cut costs where your competitor can’t, but avoid sacrificing quality. An inferior product will just drive customers to that competitor.
“If customers have a bad experience, and they’re used to having a good experience, especially these days, they’ll go everywhere to complain about. And then it’s going to take a long time, and a very heavy investment in marketing, to gain their trust back,” Ginsberg says.
You might also consider raising the cost of a complementary good or service. Take a gas station for example. If it engages in a price war, lowering gas prices, the owner might raise the price of slushees or cold drinks, says Charles H. Green, the Small Business Finance Institute’s executive director. The increased price for slushees and cold drinks boosts revenues, negating some of that profit lost in the price war.
Go low, but not for everyone and everything. Lowering all your prices without desecration makes little since. You might make the reduced price available for only a limited time. Or maybe only a select clientele – new customers perhaps – will receive this special pricing. You will need to balance this carefully though. If you show favoritism toward new customers, your old ones will soon grow restless.
You should also know your limits from the outset. At MonoMotors, an office supplies e-retailer, owner Isaac de la Fuente knows how far he’ll bend in a price game.
“We have competitors that will lower their price by a $1. And then we’ll lower our price by a $1. We have a philosophy of that we know our margins. We play that game … up to a certain margin,” de la Fuente says.
http://www.inc.com/guides/201110/how-to-beat-the-defensive-pricing-game.html
It’s a familiar story: A company begins to use defensive pricing when a competitor has reduced its market share. The competitor lowers prices. The other firm counters with further reduced figures. A back-and-forth contest develops with each player upping the ante, like a poker game.
In this economy, a price war’s greatest danger is lowering yourself right out of business. This game can pose such danger that some small businesses take action. For example, Kennesaw, Georgia-based Flip Flop Shop founder Brian Curin will pull a franchisee’s license if a store engages in defensive pricing. Once they hang a sale sign next to a pair of those beach-ready kicks, costumers will always expect it.
“I don’t think people realize how quick a consumer habit can form,” Curin says. “Once they’ve got that discount ticket in their hand – that golden ticket to get something cheaper – once you give that, it’s really hard to get your consumer base to pay full price.”
Here, experts reveal 3 basic strategies for avoiding defensive pricing, while still remaining competitive.
Re-evaluate and improve your business model. But if you’re considering defensive pricing, it means some part of your business model contains a flaw, says Leonard Lodish, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “It’s an indication that you don’t have enough of a perception of being better than your competition that you can use to go forward,” he says.
Review each step of your supply chain from beginning to end. Something has caused your customers to grow dissatisfied. Perhaps you need increased marketing or a new ad campaign. Or it could be a problem with customer service at the store.
To find the problem, you might use an in-store customer survey, or check out your online reviews. “You need to find what people are saying about you,” Lodish says.
Cut costs where the competition can't. When you reduce prices, you decrease profits and shrink margins. Right away, this decreases any significant opportunity for growth or innovation. It also means you might have trouble with this month’s rent. A business needs deep pockets to win at defensive pricing, says Ari Ginsberg, a New York University management professor.
“But if you’re dealing with another competitor that has equally deep pockets, then they can play the same game as you. And then you’re screwed because you lost money, but you didn’t necessarily gain the market share,” Ginsberg says.
He says should examine whether you can cut costs where your competitor can’t, but avoid sacrificing quality. An inferior product will just drive customers to that competitor.
“If customers have a bad experience, and they’re used to having a good experience, especially these days, they’ll go everywhere to complain about. And then it’s going to take a long time, and a very heavy investment in marketing, to gain their trust back,” Ginsberg says.
You might also consider raising the cost of a complementary good or service. Take a gas station for example. If it engages in a price war, lowering gas prices, the owner might raise the price of slushees or cold drinks, says Charles H. Green, the Small Business Finance Institute’s executive director. The increased price for slushees and cold drinks boosts revenues, negating some of that profit lost in the price war.
Go low, but not for everyone and everything. Lowering all your prices without desecration makes little since. You might make the reduced price available for only a limited time. Or maybe only a select clientele – new customers perhaps – will receive this special pricing. You will need to balance this carefully though. If you show favoritism toward new customers, your old ones will soon grow restless.
You should also know your limits from the outset. At MonoMotors, an office supplies e-retailer, owner Isaac de la Fuente knows how far he’ll bend in a price game.
“We have competitors that will lower their price by a $1. And then we’ll lower our price by a $1. We have a philosophy of that we know our margins. We play that game … up to a certain margin,” de la Fuente says.
http://www.inc.com/guides/201110/how-to-beat-the-defensive-pricing-game.html
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