Be a relationship builder, not a client controller

Alec Baldwin's character in "Glengarry Glen Ross" was definitely a client controller with his "brass balls"

If you were to ask any successful entrepreneur on what sustains his/her business, most (not necessarily all) will tell you it is repeat business and referrals. Entrepreneurs are not just leaders, but they all have to be salesmen at heart. When you go out there to get business and promote yourself, you are a salesman for your own company.

There are two kinds of salesmen out there. The first type are called "client controllers" These salesmen are true hustlers. They will use pressure tactics, and every trick in the book to "beat you into submission" and get you to sign on the dotted line, regardless if the sale is even beneficial to you or not. To them, ABC (Always Be Closing) is a religion for them, and they are its fanatics. These salesmen are good at getting customers quickly, but rely on a steady stream of new business. Depending on what kind of person you are and what you sell, this is not necessarily sustainable nor recommended.

The other type are known as "relationship builders" These salesmen, although not necessarily as aggressive as "client controllers" are even more effective in the long run. These types of salesmen do not necessarily "sell" you, they get you to "want" or "need" something. They do what is best for the client, even if it means sacrificing a juicy payment or sometimes even an entire sale. These salesmen delay gratification to reap the long term benefits. To many people, salesmen that actually have their best interests at heart are rare. However, many customers appreciate honest salesmen. It is the old phrase, "If you do good by me, I'll do good by you."

As a relationship builder, you will find that your customers will be more loyal to you, and they will be more than happy to give you referrals. In business, referrals are your lifeblood. When you have a referral, it makes selling MUCH easier. Don't be afraid to take the high road, even if it costs you profit. I cover this in my previous post "Be selfishly honest"

So what are key things you should do to be a "relationship builder"? Here are some key ones:

• Develop a strong rapport with your customer through sharing things in common (i.e. both of you love baseball, etc.) and some humor

• Take the time to really understand what your customer needs and show the customer how you can address their need with your product/service. Fulfill their needs, not your paycheck.
  

• Always maintain regular contact with your customer. Send them a birthday card, or just check in on them to see how they're doing. This is a great opportunity to sell further to them, or just simply get more referrals.

• ALWAYS ask for referrals. Be sure you treat those referrals with the same professionalism and attentiveness as with your original customer. It'll make your customer look good in front of the people he/she knows.
  

As an entrepreneur and a salesman, just be genuine, go the extra mile and most of all, always put your customer's needs first.

Always see your customers' perspective

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" - George Carlin

Perspective is a tricky thing. How you view something can either be similar or vastly different than how someone else views it. When it comes to business, perspective is everything. Successful businesses go to great lengths to ensure not only getting their branding right, but also develop and perfect ways to make things better for the customer.

To be successful in business, you have to be able to consider the perspective of others, and not just your own internal perspective (whether it is your company's or just yourself). I've touched upon this concept here and there in my previous posts, but I want to reiterate just how important this principle is.

Normally, every thing in existence will have its proponent and its critic. However, there is an issue of concern if something has way more critics than proponents. It is extremely vital to always be collecting feedback from external parties, whether it be friends, family or complete strangers (such as customers). What may seem "easy" "useful" or "affordable" to you, may not necessarily apply to others.

Failing to understand the perspective of your customers can cost you dearly. Therefore, there are two useful exercises you should do. This applies to whether you have a business already or you are planning to start one:

Exercise 1: Ask yourself 50 negative questions (i.e. "Why should I care about xyz product/service?") and then answer them. Don't worry if you can't reach 50, just try your hardest to get close to that number. The reason for that is that it will force your mind to think from an outside perspective. You may find this exercise a bit sobering, but it will save you later.

Exercise 2: Get your friends and even strangers to test out your product/service and collect their feedback. Make sure they give you HONEST feedback and have them elaborate on their feedback. For example, if someone says, "I think xyz is great." Ask them why. Why do they find it great? You need to understand exactly what you do well, and what you don't do well. Most likely, feedback will end up clumping into a handful of similar issues. People simply have different ways of expressing their thoughts. It's up to you to interpret feedback into coherent themes that you can act upon.

We've all seen businesses who have terrible customer service and/or weak value propositions. Usually, those businesses either suffer greatly or collapse completely. You won't share their fate if you always do your best to understand your customers' perspective. Whether someone loves or hates your business...they'll always be willing to give you a piece of their mind. Use that to your advantage. Most importantly of all, always be critical of yourself.

Don't be a cog in "The Machine"

One of the reasons Pink Floyd is a legendary band was that a good deal of their songs were powerful social commentaries that caused you to really think.

One of their songs, "Welcome to the Machine" although originally written as a criticism of the soullessness of the music industry, is also, I believe, a reflection of society as a whole. Like I mentioned in previous posts, society is crucial to maintain order. However, in order to maintain order, things must be predictable and controllable.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying you should go out, grab a bazooka and fight "the establishment." What I am saying though is that you should NEVER let ANYONE tell you how to live your life. To be an entrepreneur, you need to be prepared to go against the grain of society. You need to be independent. It's your life, not anyone else's.

With that, I present to you Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine." It is a very powerful song, indeed. For those of you viewing this post on Facebook, you will have to go onto my blog directly (http://gogravytrain.blogspot.com/) to view the video.





Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been.
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time,
Provided with toys and 'Scouting for Boys'.
You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
And you didn't like school, and you
know you're nobody's fool,
So welcome to the machine.

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star,
He played a mean guitar,
He always ate in the Steak Bar.
He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome to the Machine.

The first step is always the hardest

Floid Factoid: A plane or shuttle burns the most fuel during take off.

If you ask any serious entrepreneur what were some of the most difficult times of his/her venture, it'll usually be "the start-up phase" It can also happen to be the most fun, but it all depends on your mindset and your determination.

From what I've garnered from personal experience and the experience of others, most people become intimidated by the often daunting task of starting a new business. As you may have read in my previous posts, it takes iron determination, a good deal of homework and a passion for what you do. If you were to survey salesmen or entrepreneurs, most of them fail/drop-out in the beginning stages (1st year usually) of their endeavors. Out of those who make it past the initial stages (after 1-2 years or so), very few end up dropping out in the mid to late term. That is why entrepreneurs are a minority. If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it, right? However, that is why the rewards are so great.

Newton's Law of Inertia applies to people too. Objects that are stationary remain stationary, and objects in motion stay in motion unless an external force interferes. When you first start a business, you're going from a stationary state to a state of motion. However, the greatest amount of force exerted is in the initial acceleration phase. As the factoid above mentions, a plane/shuttle burns the most fuel on take-off in order to overcome friction and gravity. If you're in a state of motion, momentum will keep you going. In fact, with momentum, things get a lot easier.

As a future or a current entrepreneur, don't let the daunting tasks in the beginning deter you. Yes, you will have to work hard. Yes, you will have to make sacrifices. Most importantly, you will have to venture into the unknown. However, keep in mind that for every day you work hard now, that is one more day you have earned for yourself in living the life you want in the future. You are making an investment in the present to generate a great return in the future.

Just keep pushing forward. Eventually, momentum will take over.

Whew, looks like I JUST made the post right before 12:00 AM ;) By the way, I'm changing my blog update days to every Sunday and Wednesday. The next blog post will be on Sunday, May 24th.

Be "selfishly honest"

For this blog's more "refined" audience (myself included):

"It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime." - Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

For everyone else (myself included):


It sure is!

In fact, I posted up this picture because it brings about a fond memory. Anyone who lives in New York City will almost always see a panhandler on the streets or in the subways. Some are genuine, a lot of them are BS'ers. In fact, some of the younger ones on the street are actually film/acting students (How do I know? Word on da street...nukka.)

It is no mystery that the most successful panhandlers are the ones that earn their money. What I mean by that is that they either A) Seem honest (either they look really beaten up, etc.) B) Are funny or C) Demonstrate a talent of theirs. What do all 3 options have in common with each other? They're honest.

One night, I was walking in the streets of the city with some friends when a funny-looking man with disheveled hair and clothes walked up to us with a toothy smile. He stopped in front of us and said, "Hey brothas, could you care to make a donation to the United *insert N word that ends with "a" and an apostrophe* Pizza Fund?" We laughed of course. I then ask the man, "And what's that for?" Without skipping a beat he said, "It's a donation for pizza and beer, for *insert plural N word* "

I gave him money, and so did my friends. Rather than BS us about coming out of prison or feeding 6 kids, he honestly told us he was going to spend it on pizza and beer. It was a refreshing dose of honesty in a craft that is so often deceitful. Now, I'm not saying I'd have given the guy money if he said "Hey man, can I get money for some blow?" There are exceptions to every rule, of course! Being honest is one thing, being foolish is quite another ;)

So, what lesson can entrepreneurs learn from this? That you need to be "selfishly honest."

The beauty of moral values is that they are not only what make us human and noble, but they are also in our own best interests. Morality is why society is able to exist. If people didn't know right from wrong, you'd have chaos and destruction everywhere. You shouldn't feel bad if an act of kindness was "selfish." And yes, even getting "an emotional high" can be seen as a selfish motive. Whether you're religious or not, it is an undeniable truth that your actions eventually catch up to you. If you've done good things, good things will come to you. It is a simple law that for every action, there is a reaction (but not necessarily equal or opposite, as evidenced in physics!).

There are people out there who have either a persistent (or sporadic) world-view of, "Good people finish last. Only corrupt and ruthless people get ahead in this life." That's a dangerous belief. Subscribing to this belief corrupts you as well. Remember, while it may seem like we live in jungles of metal and stone, it doesn't mean we have to be one of the "apes" in it. Human beings are, by nature, good. That's why we have a natural compass between right and wrong and why we have a natural propensity towards order.

As an entrepreneur, you want to run an honest business. Why? Because people appreciate that. Think of the friendly waiter who doesn't recommend you the most expensive dish for example, but one that is actually cheaper but much better. Because of his honesty, you tip him more. The waiter in that example was selfishly honest. By being good to you, you reciprocate and be good to him. The waiter knows this. Besides, being nice to restaurant staff also ensures that your food doesn't come with any "extras" if you know what I mean...

In psychology, this phenomenon is called the "reciprocation" principle. By making a "sacrifice" or doing someone a favor, it triggers a natural instinct in the other person to repay the "debt" We have a fundamental revulsion to being indebted to someone and seek to repay the debt however we can. That's why even to this day, people who can't pay their debts are punished and looked down upon. In fact, it is no mystery that if you do someone a favor, they usually repay the favor in kind far beyond the actual favor's value. Why do you think we revere heroes so much? Think about that.

So...as an entrepreneur, you want to be honest to your employees and your customers. Care for them, and don't try to BS your services or products! You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. (That's coming from Honest Abe...or was it also Bill Cosby? JELLO!!!)

If you cannot run a business without resorting to BS, then you should reconsider why you're in business. It is not sustainable. Listen, that's not to say you shouldn't be very enthusiastic and sell your service or proudct like it was the best in the world. However, there's a difference between enticing people and misleading people.

There have been many studies done that show that what people appreciate the most are responsible businesses. Businesses that care for their customers and have strong values. It is because of strong values that these companies provide excellent customer service. You'll find that even if you're not the highest quality or lowest price player out there, you'll still have many loyal customers. Surveys of employees also favor an employer who embraces strong values and honesty. What matters most to us as human beings have always been those things that are intangible.

It is in your best interests to be honest and good. So go ahead, be selfish about it! We are all selfish. It's in our nature. There are REAL benefits to embracing goodness and honesty. That's the beauty of it all! We're not beasts of burden or sacrificial lamb! Even if being good causes you to lose out on something in the short-term, you will gain much more in the long-term. Be good, be patient and always perservere! That is the hallmark of a true entrepreneur.

Oh cool, my pizza and beer are here. Later!

...(just kidding ;) )