Zane Safrit

Partners or peasants?

USAToday reported last week that Employee benefits bounce back....

That’s great news for the companies, the employees, the economy.

And the article continued:

The benefits-bolstering sounds benevolent, but the moves aren't all altruistic.

"There is a need to motivate and engage people," says Fred Crandall, a Watson Wyatt senior consultant. A decent benefits plan helps retain staffers who are considered valuable. Even in a down economy, "There is always a market for high-quality talent," Crandall says.

"When you start coming out of a recession, people remember how they were treated," he says. "Some people who feel like they've been given a raw deal will jump ship."

Interesting.

He’s right. People will remember how they were treated.

Were they treated as partners or peasants?

Were they recognized as assets, with solutions and resources, or liabilities with expenses and headaches.

Were their ideas sought on how to survive, even prosper?

Or were they told this is how you will survive?

Did management lead by example or edict?

Did the discussions answer these 3 questions from everyone’s perspective:

• What’s in it for me?

• Why should I care?


• Why should I believe?

If the answers weren’t offered then, how can they be offered now?

If you treated your members as peasants, why should they see themselves as partners?

The irony here is that money is near the bottom of the list of motivators that engage and inspire a workforce. The top motivators are those that engage the hearts, the minds, the dreams, the passions and then, only then, the wallets of any talent, high-quality or not. In fact, high-quality talent is only found where leadership recognizes and implements those priorities for everyone in their organization.

So. As your company rebounds, and your cash-flows rebound along with it, ask yourself:

How did we treat everyone in our organization this past year: as partners or peasants?

Your answer will foretell how well and how long your company will enjoy the economy's recovery.

Highlights from My Conversation with Barry Moltz, Author of B-A-M! Bust A Myth

Customer Service is the new marketing. For me this seems so...well, obvious. But, then I came up through the ranks of frontline customer service. What was your business other than serving customers? I love the esoterics of business models and partner deals and joint ventures. While the freemium business model today and the eye-ball business model of the 90’s are useless by themselves, they always made me chuckle. So I guess that’s some value-add. But all of their success came back to serving customers in a way that no one else could serve them. Otherwise, especially these days, as customers we can take our wants and needs, our attention, our word-of-mouth, our loyalty, oh and our purchases...somewhere else. And do it in a snap.

Barry Moltz shares this view. In fact, I believe it’s embedded in his DNA. Barry’s founded and run small business with success and failure for 15 years. He’s the author of three books:

• Bounce: The path to true business confidence

• You need to be a little CRAZY: The truth about starting and growing your business

•  Bust a Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World.

We discussed his latest book BAM: Bust a Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World and Barry’s thoughts in his book, how and why a serial entrepreneur found the religion of customer service and what it can mean for your company’s success.

You can listen in streaming on-demand at this link.

First off, I gotta say I’ve always been a fan of yours. That didn’t mean I agreed with what you wrote, how you wrote it. But you wrote it, shared it, shared your successes and failures. And got up and did it again, amen. And I always benefited. And clearly there are many of us. Thank you.

Now, let’s talk about this new book: BAM: Bust a Myth. I love it. I love that a serial entrepreneur puts Customer Service first by busting myths about it.

Why, as an entrepreneur did you feel the need to bust these myths about customer service?

I think when people start a business they keep thinking that a competitive advantage is a patent they have. I believe that unless you are a monopoly, the only advantage you have is the customer service you offer.

You list 19 customer service myths in your book. What are your favorite three myths?

1. The customer is always right. This was started in the 1900s by a French hotelier. Guess what, they are not always right and it is not good for business if we treat the customer like they are always right.

2. Customer service is just plain common sense. That is just plain ludicrous. Just like any other skill, it needs to be trained and developed. I think this is why Zappos does so well. They train their people.

3. Under promise and over deliver.

How did you come about to this realization? With most businesses, customer service is always last on their mind. What transformed you to the fact that it is the only sustainable advantage for business today?

I think that over the last ten years, being a speaker, consultant and coach, it is the only competitive advantage that I have. It is more than lip service. We need to be serious about it.

I was coming in from Chicago yesterday and I caught a cab and half way through the trip the taxi driver had forgotten to turn on the meter. I knew how much it would cost from my house to the airport! When he had picked me up, he took luggage, put it in the trunk and opened the door for me. When we arrived at my house, the fare was posted at $15.00. I gave him $30.00 for his great customer service.

We need to train everyone from the top down –making CS training effective.

Just the common act of courtesy and connecting is sometimes lost with what we are teaching today.

The biggest thing is that most people who call with a concern just want to be listened to. They want to know that someone cares. Customers just want to know they have been heard – their concern has validity at the moment.

Myths usually contain 2 elements. A lack of good data and an excess of convenience for their believers. What data was missing that created these myths? Whose convenience was supplied with the spread of these myths?

I think people are just plain lazy.

People want to deliver at a cost effective price.

People don’t have training or action to make it happen.

People think it is common sense- every customer is the same. It is not true. In BAM, we talk about that what a satisfied customer is changes from customer to customer, from situation to situation. THAT is why Customer Service is so difficult to do well in a company.

A good sign that a myth-buster is on to something is when those with vested interests in maintaining their myths push-back. They disagree, they call you names, they fight you, then they accept. What kind of push-back have you had?

People say this is nonsense – asking why we need yet another book on Customer Service?

Society is not getting it yet. The essence of Customer Service has changed over the past couple of years.

One is that businesses are location independent and you have to have a sustainable customer advantage like Customer Service.

The second thing is web personalization that companies do has changed the whole playing field. Customer Service is changing because of social media and the web. You can tell 10s of thousands of people and it goes viral.

I’m going to push back on one. Myth Number 10. Unhappy customers tell their stories to more people than happy customers.

I don’t have the reports and studies that support this. But, I remember seeing 3-4 studies that support this. Anecdotally, though I try not to, I tend to tell more people about a disappointing company than a satisfying company.

Where’s the gap? What am I missing?

I think a lot of people like to complain. There are a lot of people out there who just want to talk about what happens to them.

What about the people in the middle? The companies have to find these people who don’t say anything.

Chapter 3 in your book is titled Determining the Value of Customer Service. What is the Value of good customer service or BAM-Good customer service for a company?

I think this is the crux of the book. The only reason why we should offer BAM good customer service is because it makes good economic service for business. The bottom line is giving great customer service will make your business more money.

How does it answer these three questions from a company’s perspective?

1. What’s in it for a company?

2. Why should they care?

3. Why should I believe?

Long term they are going to:

• get more customers,

• retain more customers, and...
  

• make more money.
  

IF they can just realize they have the information and skills, but they are just not using them.

I’ve worked at companies where they calculate the value of a customer by subtracting the costs of a customer service call from the total expected revenue of that customer. You take a more comprehensive approach in assigning customer value.

We have a detailed formula called "Customer Value Calculation" and we look at 8 different items because we need to understand if a customer is valuable and profitable.

How much revenue do they bring in?

Do these people pay on time?

We also look at referrals. They can be positive and valuable.

How long have they been with us?

Are they a major brand?

The 8 items are:

1). Revenue ( add points based on customer's rank in revenues paid)

2). Timing ( add 2 points)

3). Referrals ( add 4 points )

4). Additional Products They Buy ( add 3 points)

5). Feedback They Give You ( add 1 point )

6). Stickiness ( add 2 points )

7). Brand Power (add 4 points)

8). Unhappy Customer (subtract 2 points)

Note: See Page 65 - 66 for more details.

Brand power is very important. If I as a speaker can drop names of who I have done business with, it helps my brand. It translates into additional business. The customer’s brand brings value to your brand.

In chapter 6 you talk about How to deliver BAM-Good Customer Service in a self-service world. What’s the first step? Why?

This is a good point.

1. One thing you have to do to BAM your own company is to bust your own myth. What things are holding you back from offering really great customer service?

2. Then you have to define customer service for your company as you want it to be.

3. After that you must determine the economic value of your customer. It doesn’t have to use the same formula that I use, but a comprehensive way to value your customers.

4. We have BAM Blockers. What gets in the way of you offering great Customer Service? What processes or systems prevent this?

5. You have to write your own manifesto.

6. Decide how you will measure and deliver Customer Service?

7. How do you handle the atypical customer that color outside the lines from the best to the worst.

28:31

What are the most important metrics that report a company’s BAM Good Customer Service?

The Net Promoter Score or repeat business and referrals.

In your current business, what would be 3 metrics you would use to confirm you are delivering the Customer Service you want your customers to have?

1. How much biz do people do with me?

2. Do they pay their bills on time?

3. Do they refer me to other people?

I love the 3 question survey that delivers the The Net Promoter Score. The survey is called The Ultimate Question survey. The Ultimate Question starts with the ultimate question How likely would you be to recommend us to your friends...etc. On a scale of 0 -10 with 0 being definitely would not and 10 being definitely would...how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?

You reference Fred Reichheld and the Net Promoter Score ... methodology. What do you think of it?

I like it. One of our questions is “How can I make your more satisfied?” That is what I believe is one of the ultimate Customer Service questions.

Another thing I really like about this chapter is you customized this for 3 stakeholders: The CEO, the manager, the front-line Customer Service person. And rather, than be the expert, you offered a series of questions they should ask themselves. You’ve already burst myths, shouldn’t you bring order to their world by offering a plan?

I think we do offer a plan in the book. I believe the most help we can offer is to ask the right questions and they can bring that back to their business, it will go a much longer way to help that company. One size does not fit all. Ask the questions that fit for you and this will make a long term difference.

One stakeholder not included is the sales person. What are your thoughts on that?

They are front line and very important! That would be a whole new book.

If asking your customers what they want, what they think about your service is so important...and it is...why do so many companies avoid it?

First of all, I think people are lazy. Customer Service is what any one customer thinks at one particular time that will make them satisfied. As I said, it is not one size fits all. It is difficult and they don’t want to tackle that problem.

Secondly, I think most people can’t handle the truth.

Now what happens when their answers are just unreasonable? You talk about firing customers? In a recession? When does a company fire a customer?

We go through many things in the book to identify this. If you go through the process, you can realize if the customer is going to actually cost you more than the revenue you are bringing in or it deflects you from bringing in new customers. It is not in line with your business. It is not an overnight process though.

What are the first steps in that action plan to fire a customer?

1. You have to identify who those customers are.

2. If you are no longer helping them.

3. If your skills are no longer needed.

4. They are disregarding your advice.

5. They are not part of the business.

6. They aren’t willing or able to pay the price.

7. They are not profitable, legal, or ethical.

Then you go on and revisit the Customer Service evaluation. See what they are really giving to you and see then how you can replace that revenue. Start dropping hints to them.

Erika Andersen, in her book Being Strategic, uses the term reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal. What was yours in writing this book?

I think again was to make Customer Service new again. To show in self-service and social media world that Customer Service is the new marketing.

You don’t always have a chance today to interact directly. You have an opportunity to be more personal if you just do it right.

I want people to understand that things have changed and if you don’t do things right, you won’t have business for too long, unless you are a monopoly.

How will you know when you reach it?

I think depending on the measures and metrics you use, those things will change. You will know that when you have happy customers, they will stay.

Let’s leave with a story. What’s been your best customer service experience recently? And what myths were burst to deliver that experience?

I am getting ready to go to Asia and I went in to MooseJaw looking for various types of items in the store. I found a pair that I liked, but I hate to buy shoes unless I know the costs from Amazon and Zappos. After the salesperson showed me the shoes, she saw that I was looking up prices on my iPhone. She said you don’t have to look it up – let’s go to our computer right here.

THIS was great customer service for me. The price was about the same and I bought them right there.

43:12

People buy when they are ready to solve their pain.

What myths did MooseJaw bust to deliver that experience?

1. They really said how am I going to make this person more satisfied?

I am more satisfied knowing that I got the best price. They busted the myth that you shouldn't encourage customers to comparison shop.

I believe the woman was really trained to do this.

What has been the worst customer experience lately?

Yesterday with AA. I was on a standby flight out of CT. I had called and knew there were seats available. When I got to the gate I asked about a seat and the attendant said she couldn’t give me a seat because it was a small plane and had to make sure "there was enough fuel to take you.

BUT if you confirm your reservation by paying me an additional $50.00 I can definitely take you. "

I am an Executive Platinum flyer with AA and travel thousands of miles every year.

I always stress the life time value of the customer. This was not BAM good customer service in any manner.

I saw that you wrote a great blog post, Small Business Needs More than Just Presidential Talk. It was in response to President Obama’s ideas on spurring small business and entrepreneurs.

What is disconcerting is that enough is not happening. Money is not flowing downwards.

Where can people find you, follow you, connect with you, on the web?

• Main Website

• B-A-M Good Customer Service

• Twitter: Barry Moltz

• LinkedIn

Thanks, Barry.

Radio Guest: Barry Moltz, co-author of B-A-M Bust A Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World

Barry Moltz, author of B-A-M! Bust A Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World, will talk about his new book and how customer service is the new marketing. Barry brings 15 years of success and failure starting and running small businesses, angel investing and why you need to be a little crazy to start your own business. He is the author of Bounce: The True Path to Business Confidence and You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth about Start Your Own Business.

Barry is a nationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship who has given hundreds of presentations to audiences ranging from 20 to 20,000. He was appointed by the Illinois Governor in 2005 to serve as Chairman of the board of the Institute for Entrepreneurship Education (IIEE). As a member of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, he also has taught entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Barry also has his own radio show at Business Insanity Radio.

Join us Wednesday, December 9, at 9:30 AM Central. You have two options to listen:

LIVE:

1. Listen in streaming on-demand at this link

2. Call in during the show at 646-915-9212

ARCHIVE

1. Listen in streaming on-demand at this link

Can you tell the difference?

Can you tell the difference between trickle-down, voodoo, economics and stimulus plan funding?

Trickle-down economics is synonymous perhaps with Reagonomics. But the gist is that if you provide enough tax credits to businesses and the wealthiest well then the benefits of their wealth will trickle-down to the rest of us.

The funding for those tax credits comes out of our pockets as tax payers in two ways. Initially they come out of our pockets in the form of lower tax revenues which are either financed through slashing government programs like education, infrastructure investment, EPA and FDA enforcement (those guys who inspect our food, water and air supply), healthcare, etc. Notice the demographic who would be most effected by cuts in these programs. Yes. Correct. The people who await the trickle-down....

Then they would come out of our pocket in the form of higher interest rates. The higher interest rates result from the higher borrowing costs that come as the our federal government needs to borrow more in order to finance itself, ourself, until the wealthy deign to trickle-down on us some of our wealth we have given them in the form of tax breaks and slashed social programs.

Every time I discuss trickle-down economics I have this picture of a medieval castle surrounded by paupers and their cottages. An anonymous hand periodically throws a few gold coins from a darkened window in the castle. They land, scattered, around the little plots of land farmed on a subsistence basis by the paupers. Sometimes they land on their heads. And each time the pauper rises up from their labor and says 'thank you lord and lady'. And the anonymous hand rotates back and forth like the hand of Queen Elizabeth.

Clearly, if voodoo economics as Bush the Elder called them or trickle-down economics worked our deficits would not have grown as they did during the Reagan years, nor would an ever increasing gap in wages and income exist now based on the rapid rise of the very richest, the decline in wages of the very poorest and minimal wage growth for those in the middle.

Stimulus funding takes our tax dollars and gives them to the banks and financial institutions whose management expertise led them to incentivize risky lending and whose vision forbade them from seeing the other shoe drop. Maybe, that's because they were hopping to another job before their bonuses were taken away. I don't know.

But the methodology is the same as trickle-down economics. Give our tax dollars to the wealthiest, in this case financial institutions, and hope they trickle-down some of that in the form of loans to small businesses who will then peform their role and create jobs.

So far, the altruism of today's bankers is no different than the altruism of yesterday's gilded wealthy of the Reagan years. In fact, they may be even greedier. They're hoarding our tax dollars while our federal deficit rises. Banks continue to refuse to lend to small businesses. Banks have announced new fees and penalties for credit card users in advance of changes to the laws. Now, their fees and penalties now are beyond what had been known as usurious. But, that's ok. We accepted them. And now they want to raise them.

And the impact on the economy is about the same. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people. Wall Street and the markets are reaching new highs at the same time unemployment is reaching new highs. Clearly, our tax dollars have yet to rain down on us. Or, the anonymous hand has yet to throw a few gold coins to the paupers.

Maybe, that's why no one looks up these days. I'm not sure.

And in defense of the stimulus funding, it's had less than one year. Whereas reagonomics had a decade or two, if you count 2001 to 2008.

But, at this point, I can't tell the difference. Can you?

Highlights from My Conversation with Ben Ridler, CRO, and Stephen Lynch, COO of Results.com

Results.com is the business execution expert. For over 15 years this firm has transformed businesses and their potential into extraordinary results. Ben Ridler, CRO or Chief Results Officer and Stephen Lynch, COO, are two of the key leaders at Results.com. They shared their principles of business transformation and how they apply them with their clients around the world to bring extraordinary results as guests on my radio show.

You can listen in streaming on-demand at this link.

Give our listeners a little history of Results.com

We took a franchise model and turned it into a professional services company. It was a fun process. There were 26 franchises when we took over the company and we negotiated and converted the company in 2006. We now have ten offices and local partners who are share holders.

Normally, I ask guests on this show to describe their reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal. You guys don’t do reasonable. You do Big. Hairy. Audacious. What is your big hairy audacious goal for results.com?

It is to be the world’s leading brand for delivering extraordinary business results. Any BHAG needs to be measurable. We want 10 million people engaged in executing their strategic plans by the year 2020.

Why 10 million people? Why is the meaningful to you?

Once we start working with a company and they learn the values, vision and their role in delivering it, they become engaged in the vision. Originally I had thought 1 million people, but this isn’t really big enough. We know how to get to one million in ten years and we can do this and reach all of those people.

Why did you choose the BHAG methodology?

You gotta have a BHAG that engages everyone in the company. We need to live what we teach. It inspires excitement.

What happens when the leaders see the wave of inspiration from their employees? What happens with the dynamics?

We talk about transformation into extraordinary results. Sometimes it’s the staff that think bigger than the business leaders. It’s inspiring to see the team lift the business leader’s sights.

14:10

This is where transformation begins to take place. It’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. To grow the business, you have to grow the leaders.

What are the three most common themes for business transformation that you see in your client?

1. Most people don’t know what strategy is. You do need a plan and know how to be strategic.

2. Most companies are also not very good at execution.

3. Tunnel vision

Of these three, what is the most prominent?

The leaders have to transform first. Ideally, everyone in the company needs to go through a change. Start with the leadership and work from there – this creates the most impact. It starts with the CEO.

The past year has been a little turbulent, how has your business been effected by these changes?

We had a really interesting roller coaster year. We found a lot of our smaller clients dropping off or not moving ahead, while we began working with much larger clients who recognized the need to change. The other thing is that we have had 66% growth, by getting back to core, looking at our market position. We do things a lot differently than we did one year ago.

What have you learned that helps you with your client and their challenges in transforming their business and their leader?

It has made a lot of people realize they have to get the basics right. They need to become a little more clever. They need to be strategic. Think about the opportunities and impact.

It is really focusing on your core business. It is rock solid and you are doing it really well. It must be relevant to the market.

Stephen you wrote an article for The Economist Magazine, Execution, the Biggest Challenge of Business. (Link is to full article at Results.com's blog) Why is that? Why does execution remain the biggest challenge?

People just get busy doing what they do. It is easy to get distracted. They may have good intentions and good ideas, but they do not have a good or viable execution, whether they have a strategy or not. It does not come naturally and we help people learn those things.

How do you help your clients make execution their greatest opportunity? What do you advise or suggest to turn the situation around?

You have to be working on the right thing. You need to get very clear on where the company is going and what are the key moves the company needs to make to navigate an increasingly uncertain future. We do our best to create certainty for success in the future, from 3-5 years, to this year, to this quarter and really limiting the number of things they make priorities. We want to know what are the top three things the company needs to achieve this particular quarter. We actually work with them to implement them.

28:30

When do clients approach you and why?

Certainly up until the middle of last year, some were growing too fast or out of control, but traditionally our clients are successful businesses looking for another edge. They are ambitious open-minded learners. They just want to get there quicker. They see unfulfilled potential and are looking for the catalyst.

Do you have a standard client profile or demographics?

Typically, it’s the mid-market, privately-owned, companies who are looking for better results. They see unfulfilled potential.

Has any of this changed since the economy changed in the past year and one half?

We seem to be attracting larger clients. It is the first time these companies have looked outside themselves.

You mentioned one of the driving reasons that your clients contact you is unfulfilled potential. Are there other common challenges that you see your clients facing now? Is it the unfulfilled potential or the threat of the economy, increasing competitive pressures...etc?

We don’t like to position ourselves as the ambulance at the bottom of the hill, but sometimes that does happen. Other times the companies just need a little “how.” Generally most people have a sense of where they want to be in the future and they see the recession as potential. We want to work with ambitious people, who are learners and want to make a meaningful difference.

Can you share with us a client’s journey who overcame some of these challenges? Who had unfulfilled potential, were ambitious, and wanted to create a place where people loved going to work?

It is probably it is easier to talk about the process. These people come along with a burning desire to change, but are dealing with a lot of overwhelm. We help them create a vision and a culture first – with core values and ideology. With one company we helped them to build a community and a team toward a common goal, involving the company and its suppliers. They are a phenomenal success and have experienced tremendous exponential growth.

It is great learning experience for us as well. As we continue to grow and assist more businesses, we are fortunate to learn more about different industries and organizations and are able to take this new found knowledge and transfer it to other business models.

Let’s talk about social media. You use it in your business. What role has it taken in terms of ROI for your business?

I think social media has been fantastic – developing deep relationships and allowing strong connections. On LinkedIn we posted question from one of our clients.  The response was incredible. It showed me the power of social media.

41:59

We like to share what we have learned. I can see that there is not going to be room in the world for bad products. Social media will see to that. It is important to give value and share things. We are building trust and when it comes time that they need to speak with someone, they have already learned about us and are comfortable. We are out there, visible, creating a presence. Our business is moving and social media is certainly creating higher traffic.

What other tools and SM resources do you use besides your blog, LinkedIn and Twitter?

[Ben] Facebook! I just love it and think it is a great tool.

[Stephen] I use different things for different reasons but I think they will all become one along the way. You have to be considerate and build trust, and also adding value to people’s lives. When you do this they are open to some promotion as well. You need to be consistent, acknowledge and connect with people in a meaningful way.

What are your three tips to best use with social media?

1. Know your target audience

2. Be remarkable

3. Build trust

What would you say is your best social media platform and why?

[Steven] Twitter has been a revelation for me. The information that I learn from my followers has astounded me. I have found an incredible learning platform for connecting with thought leaders on a variety of different topics.

[Ben] Facebook so I can connect with my buddies.

Steven, going back to your thoughts on Twitter, as you were talking I was thinking back to a year ago, when people were doing more idle conversations. In the past year, there has been more meaningful content. Would you agree or disagree?

I guess you have to filter through the noise. I use TweetDeck, but I am continually astounded with what I learn and the directions I am pointed in. I may have not picked up this information if I was just browsing in a bookstore. People just open up my mind. It has been a very powerful tool.

Do you use an RSS tool for your blog?

I use Google Reader. I have limited myself to the number of blogs I follow, keeping it to a manageable number. When I find a new one, I drop an old one. It forces me to look at the value of the blogger and what they add to my life.

Are there signs of life in the global economy?

Definitely. There are many things happening and there is certainly movement.

52:19

A strong economy does create demand and tolerance but on the hand as judged from the growth of results.com, it seems it is irrelevant what the economy is doing. What are your thoughts?

I would agree. There are opportunities and many companies are thriving or learning how to adapt and transform. Many companies have definitely needed to reposition and restructure to take advantage of the situation.

Share with us an inspirational quote to bring our show to an end.

"Life gets better when you get better."

Your website has a nice section on business books. What books are you reading right now that you would recommend?

“The Hero and the Outlaw,” by Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson. It has helped me think about brands in a completely new way. It is a transformational book for me.

I like reading science fiction and history. There is a series called The Otherland Series.

Thanks, guys!

You can connect with them on these social media tools:

• Website

• Blog

Twitter:

• Ben Ridler

• Stephen Lynch

• Results.com
  

Healthcare Reform: Is it worth it for small business?

Sometime this weekend, I lost track, our House of Representatives, approved a landmark health care reform bill Saturday night by a 220-215 vote.

Many provisions in this bill are landmark. The one we’re talking about today is the provision that mandates all employees, with any and every business, receive health insurance benefits.

• What does that add to the costs of doing business?
• Are these costs, investments in a company’s number one asset: their employees, worth it?

Let’s look.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employee healthcare benefits comprised 10.9% of employee compensation costs per hour. This percentage is compiled as an aggregated percentage from all employers, regardless if they offer healthcare benefits or not.

The bill passed this weekend would mandate employers either provide coverage or pay a tax of 8% of these same employee compensation costs.

Maybe, my math is off. But 8% of employee labor costs sounds less expensive than 10.9% of labor costs.

Now, those companies who do not offer health insurance benefits will now face an increase in employee compensation costs. They will be required to either offer healthcare benefits themselves (for on average a 10.9% increase in employee compensation costs) or pay 8% of their employee compensation costs to a government run pool to provide insurance.

What percentage of a company’s revenues is comprised of the combined wages and benefits paid to their employees? It depends on the industry, according to BizStats. Let’s benchmark employee compensation costs (wages and benefits) at 20% of a company’ revenues.

Healthcare benefits increase total employee compensation costs (wages and benefits) by 10.9%.

So, what percentage of total revenues would these possible mandated benefits equal?

Let’s look:

Mandated costs: 8% (mandated health insurance pool contribution) of employee compensation costs

Employee compensation costs as percentage of revenues: 20% (average employee compensation costs as percentage of total revenues)

Mandated healthcare costs as percentage of revenues: = 1.6% of total revenues.( .08 x .20 = .016)

For 1.6% of total revenues for those employers who now do not provide healthcare benefits for their employees, we will receive:

Job-lock elimination. Job-lock is that phenomena where talented employees remain at large companies, underutilitized and unmotivated, because healthcare benefits are not available at small businesses.

Now small business can compete on a more level playing-field against large companies for the number one asset it needs to grow: human asset.

50% of personal bankruptcies eliminated. Over 50% of personal bankruptcies are attributable to catastrophic healthcare costs. The majority of these costs arise from the lack of health insurance. By providing health insurance to all employees we eliminate the source of 50% or more of personal bankruptcies and the costs passed on to business and their customers.

Lower health insurance premiums. As much as 10% of our current health insurance premiums are due to the healthcare costs incurred from those not insured.

Lower healthcare costs. Costs for standard hospital treatments for the uninsured are often as much as three times higher as compared to the cost of the same treatments for those with health insurance. Why? Because the uninsured have a three times greater rate of non-payment. It is reasonable to assume, though I doubt it will ever be discussed in polite company, that the standard costs for hospital treatments even for those with insurance reflect the debt incurred by the hospital from non-payment.

Greater productivity. Fewer days lost from employee illness. Now, with health insurance they can receive the care they need, when they need it and before it blossoms into a major healthcare crisis.

Imagine their greater focus when they’re not worrying about their child’s healthcare needs because those healthcare needs are affordable?

Added revenues. Remember those personal bankruptcy costs? You know those are the costs passed on to your business from the debts to you left unpaid in your customers’ personal bankruptcy. 50% of those costs would disappear. That would be reflected on your P&L statements as either increased revenues and cash-flows.

Employees. Remember that cool startup or small business? That’s the one you met with 5-6 times. They had a great culture. You believe in their purpose. They have so few meetings you could accomplish more and have more time for your family. Well, now they would have the healthcare benefits you can afford. Maybe, there would be some out-of-pocket expense for you. But the return on that would be a meaningful career again, a company where you love the people, and more time for your family. Think you’ll be more productive? Yeah, so do I.

Granted, there are nuances. Some are favorable, some are not. If a company's total employee compensation expense is lower than 20% of total revenue then the costs from mandated health insurance will be less than 1.6%.

Granted, the benefits of some of these health insurance plans may not equal the benefits of the gold-plated plans of years past. But, those benefits are not affordable to the majority of those who can enjoy private or employee-sponsored health insurance. And for those previously without health insurance, any health insurance is a step in the right direction.

But the biggest benefit I can see is that first one: elimination of job-lock. Health insurance not tied to your employer frees each of us to pursue the opportunities where we can contribute the most. And it frees smaller companies to compete for the talent they need to grow their business.

That is critical. Why? Small business is the driver for job creation. We have a jobless recovery right now. Job-lock plays a large role in the inability of small business to create the jobs we need to grow our economy out of this recession. Eliminate it (and make credit available to small business) and we have a job-generating small business segment, again.

So, for 1.6% of total revenues...on average for small business I see positive ROI from a variety of sources. Here's a few more.

And for no increase or even a savings for businesses now able to offer health insurance, I see I see mandated health insurance as a cost-saver.

That's a pretty good days work for Congress.

Granted, it is not a perfect bill. The NFIB or National Federation of Independent Business, has some very good points about how to improve this bill. But, we didn't create our healthcare system in a day or even in 10 months. And like any journey out of swamp, it begins with the first step and the same amount of time is required to get out.

Duck and Re-Cover: Read It

Duck and Re-Cover: The Embattled Business Owner’s Guide to Survival and Growth.

It’s good. It’s valuable. You should read it.

That’s the bottomline isn’t it?

For me, the bottomline was I read it to the end. As I’ve said here before I rarely read a business book to the end. 5 or 6 books at all times remain unread. I locate them strategically through the house:

• nightstand (2-3)
• my laptop bag (1)
• In the living room (1-2)
• sometimes in the car...

But this book, I read, pretty much, straight through.

Steve Little, the author, does not offer literature. Instead, he offers a conversational writing style that makes it easy to glean the important ideas. These important ideas are ideas, tips and resources, and anecdotes to illustrate them that will help your business duck and re-cover from this recession.

He knows. He knows from experience. He knows a business leader is looking for solutions first, literature later. He delivers that with Duck and Re-Cover.

He divides his book into the same 2 categories you do with your business:

• Pressing Immediacies

• Growth Opportunities

The first chapter in Pressing Immediacies is...What is Your Reality? That’s so simple, so smart. How do you map a path to your goal if you don’t know your starting point? So...what IS your reality.

The first chapter in Growth Opportunities is titled: Get Out of Your Bunker. And he offers specific ways to do that:

• Get face to face with vendors and customers
• Get involved in your community
• Make the most of trade shows
• Gain wisdom through information.

And each of them includes anecdotes, case studies, profiles or data to support his advice.

I’m not going to copy and paste his whole book for you. It’s good. It’s valuable. You should read it. (Get out of your bunker).

Pick one. Do it. Then pick another. Do it. Pretty soon you're past the re-cover mode and back into the growth mode where you wanna be.

He is the former President of 3 fast growth companies. He’s written two previous books, The 7 Irrefutable Laws of Small Business Growth and The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth. And he’s a highly sought speaker and consultant for small business.

Disclaimer: My copy is a complimentary copy from Cave-Henricks. There’s no obligation to do...anything with it. Not even read it. I read it, kept reading it, because out of all the books left unread in my house, this was most compelling, easiest to read on the fly and kept a stream of ideas and solutions flowing through its pages. And that's what I think my readers here want.

BlogTalk Radio Guest Excerpted Highlights: Bob Corlett, President of The Staffing Advisor

Bob Corlett, President of The Staffing Advisors generously shared his thoughts with me on leadership, vision, priorities and how everyone The Staffing Advisors grew through 2 recessions.

You can listen in streaming mode at this link as Bob shares wisdom, tips and perspectives that would benefit all businesses, regardless of size.

The Staffing Advisors was formed 7 years ago during the previous recession. It is a retained search firm on the foundation of innovation, dedication to his customer’s success, a proprietary search process that results in customer testimonials on his website. He now incorporates a comprehensive social media strategy to continue to expand his search business during THIS recession.

Everyone is talking about the economy and our healthcare right now, but having been through a few recessions, what characteristics do you see in this recession that points to possible glimmers of hope for our economy?

What is interesting, looking at what people are doing for the fall, 80% of what we are doing is replacing someone who was in a job, not necessarily new positions. Only 20% of our openings are new jobs. People are thinking a lot harder about how they are going to replace someone. The companies use this as an opportunity to evaluate the position and expectations at this point. They're thinking: "We need someone who can deal with this "new" challenge. The good thing about this recession for employers is you really can trade-up and seek a better-talented employee.

Job seekers are looking for longevity and quality companies, a place where they can come in and make an impact.

What can other small businesses learn from your success in this tough economy?

I can tell you only what we have done and the kind of lessons that we have learned after having been through several recessions in the staffing business. When I opened my doors in the last recession, I knew something another recession would happen, again.

I looked at who got punished in the last downturn and it was the staffing people.

They were perceived as money-hungry and less interested in customer service.

The larger companies had to lay off 40% of their staff and that was an easier recession then. Meanwhile the smaller firms were thriving and being more innovative in their approach and tactics.

Customer service is the distinguishing factor in the staffing world. It is vital.

What WERE you thinking starting staffing firm during a recession?

I was a bit of a misfit toy in the business. I wanted to drive out some of the inefficiencies in the industry. I wanted to align our interests exactly with our clients. There's no more tug-o-war. I wanted to align our interests with our customer’s interests. Starting my own firm was the logical decision.

I love this term, reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal. It’s a term from my friend Erika Andersen in her book Being Strategic. What was your reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal when you started your business back then?

It wasn't a very ambitious goal. I wanted to make a living doing a part of search work that I loved to do doing. And not doing the part I perceived that didn't bring much value to the client.My skills are solving client staffing challenges. I did not like the cold-calling and had to monetize the part that I most enjoyed. I do believe I have achieved this goal.

The thing I look back on and marvel at is...it's pretty neat to build a company around a different organizing principle.

Our repeat business is excellent.

We are thriving in a recession – receive many unasked for testimonials, we have a great amount of repeat business.There is a culture inside the company that manages behavior norms enabling more of a self-run organization. I don't really have to manage very much.

Kinda astonishing to be in this position during the worst recession since 1981.

When did you notice that your corporate culture reinforced the right behaviors and experiences with your customers?

The culture thing was interesting and we are completely virtual.

There is a lot of trust that is baked into the process. We get together as a team and share war stories: discussing issues and resolutions. We have a relentless sharing of best practices. We have been doing this for years. What is interesting is when they had a best practice and shared this, and it was agreed upon as a best practice, if someone was not practicing this, they would have a deep discussion about why they weren’t doing what was approved. The team would “up each other’s game.”

It is like a friendly competition between the project managers and they became self-referencing and sharing the level of play. It was a culture of continuous sharing and betterment.

We are still finding things every single month that we can do better. It is astonishing that after so many years, we are still improving processes and policies.

22:54

What did you do that allows you to accomplish this?

We are very tolerant of mistakes. We love the first mistake. But, only the first mistake.

We're so comfortable with failure, but when you are experimenting you are going to fail.

It is a great learning tool for testing new and other ideas. At every meeting, there is someone who walks away with something new to experiment with – we are like a team of mad scientists.

Failure is totally fine. It is important to try new things. New ideas are rewarded and embraced.

The culture that was really important to us was that everyone is supportive of one another, but also that you are accountable for your own results. We have key performance indicators for everyone. It is a reference point for self-improvement.

The metrics give people the incentive to better ways to do things.

I know your key performance indicators are confidential, but can you give us a broad overview of what they are?

We set out as a brand, to be the SouthWest Airlines of staffing. They set their customer expectations up front to be the low cost airlines, no frills. We look at the metrics for us: we look to things we do, asking if that improves the customer experience measurably, but more significantly, does that speed up or make the hiring process more predictable. Everything we are driving for is trying to get a search done in about 4 weeks. Most searches take about 5 weeks which is stretching the outer limits of slow.

We want it done in thirty days. We looked at

the performance records to see how long the search took from front to back. We looked at how many times did we have to course-correct along the way where we didn’t have the right profile. At the end of a search, either the client will come back or refer us to someone else, but the metric we count is either repeat or referral business without us asking for it. We never want to have to ask. We want the client to feel as though they did that on their own accord. Key performance indicators for us are speed, efficiency and predictability of a search, and at the end of it, did the client take the next volunteer steps mentioned above.

One of the ways you reached your goals is your proprietary recruiting process. Can you share with us how you did that in such a tough industry?

I was really blessed working for others in the industry.

I got schooled in delivering great service and it can not be an accidental thing that each person in the company invents. You have to have a process, check points, predictable procedures/behaviors.

In this business, some job seekers are over eager. They may make some decisions that may not be the wisest. On the customer side it is kind of predictable that the CEO views the job differently than the CFO. If someone is not included in the hiring process, then it is predictable that they will feel left out and behave badly. There are just things that happen that are entirely predictable in the search process. We looked at this and asked what we can do to engineer them out of the process.

34:43

If we can deal with the really predictable issues, we will spend a lot less time apologizing and wasting time and effort on things that didn’t need to happen.

We need to harvest the value and cut the cost of the search and be more productive and efficient. How can shave out the wasted time? Build a different process? It is not rocket science. Just look at those things that irritate others. It is a results-based hiring process.

What are you reasonable aspirations for one year from now? What will we celebrate?

The thing we are actively doing right now is “de-Bobing” the company.

There is too much “me” in the middle of the process, where I do something with each and every client, each and every search. If we are going to scale, I basically have to take the things I do and transfer them to the project managers. Everything the project managers do, transfer that to the people who work for them.

We call it enterprise sales.

We are a simply flat fee and small companies can afford to use us on a continual basis. The involvement becomes more personal with key account customer service and the customer sees the project manager more. As we build the culture, the employees take over more of the process, as I am not involved with each client, and we can’t go there until the service is impeccable until it is perfect, no matter who is delivering it.

We have made a lot of strides in the last 18 months.

We must hit the service metrics first, not the financial metrics.

Your commitment to the service and customer is inspiring. Why? What made you do the opposite of what most businesses do, making the customer happy?

When you have a financial choice to bring in a dollar and make someone unhappy later, or not bring in the dollar, even though you have to make payroll on Monday, is a difficult decision.

We know that bad news travels fast! We hired people who have an innate desire to serve others.

This is what made me a misfit toy in some of the companies that I worked for. I was told I was an idiot and needed to pay attention to the financial metrics. I would say no, I will not make someone made to make a financial metric number. I won’t leave someone feeling jipped or that we were at odds with their best interest. We were never at odds with our customer’s interests.

What is different about the hiring process in this recession as compared to last? Clearly you take a different but proper approach, but in general, do you see any changes?

There is a complete shift in the recruiting world because of the Internet. What has happened now, the cost of getting at highly qualified people is so easy now. LinkedIn is a great resource for finding high achievers.

The value in the search firm is figuring out what do you want them to solve today? What competencies do they need? The message that you put out is much more important than how you reach people. You used to have to cold- call and now you can use the ease of social media.

A great search firm always had a great pitch and social media allows you to deliver that so easily.

What are three ways small and medium size business can do to help themselves as their industry become commoditized?

The drive to commoditization is just a fact of life. What is interesting, so many buyers are so disappointed. People are irritated by the level of service they receive or not or forcing us to use "self-service". I think small businesses have a tremendous opportunity to understand service now more than their customers do. Customers don’t care about the process; they merely want a predictable experience of getting what they wanted. I think small companies are able to be more nimble and solve the issues.

Service is KING! A guarantee is a sure way to make sure no one walks away disappointed.

Healthcare and small business: What role do healthcare benefits play in your recruiting role and talent?

Every small business feels as though they are at a disadvantage if they can’t provide the benefits similar to a company like GE. Benefits do matter, but they are really a cost issue. It is a trade off. Small businesses really underestimate how meaningful work is an attractor. What really pulls people in is the meaningful work and making an impact. If you offer that, you really can be below market in salary and benefits. People want to make a difference where they work.

What has been your biggest surprise with Twitter and when and how did you embrace Twitterville?

I started with e-newsletters and that is still the biggest touch point with my clients as not everyone is on Twitter. What is amazing is Twitter's world wide network, the thought leadership and how fast it is (so much faster than the news).

Why should companies call you to help with their staffing needs?

If you have a high-stakes hire and you want to be sure you have the right person, be sure they are coming to you for the right reasons, and coming to you for the right money, expectations, and they will be around for years to come, give me a call. I will solve your problem in one month!

Follow Bob Corlett here:

The Staffing Advisor blog
Bob Corlett on Twitter

A Secret Strategy to Increase Profits by 40%

Shhh. This is secret. It's a secret strategy. Research from over 300,000 businesses indicates it will:

* increase your profits on average by 40%

* increase customer loyalty by 70%

* decrease employee turnover by 70%

Looking at those stats, I see signs this secret strategy will increase your cash-flows, too. Why?

• Lower employee turnover means lower hiring and training costs.
• Increased customer loyalty means higher rates of repeat purchases, more referrals, more upsells.
• More referrals means the need for less advertising costs. Why advertise for strangers when your customers refer their friends?

What's this secret strategy?

Creating fully engaged employees. It will create a secret energy source for your brand, according to some research from Gallup that's discussed in a post by Eric Brody on his blog, Healthy Conversations:

In a recent article on MarketingProfs, Gallup research of 300,000 businesses indicated that 75-80% of employees are achieving much less and feeling far less enthusiastic about their work than they could be. If all your employees were “fully engaged,” Gallup reported, your customers would be 70% more loyal, your turnover would drop by 70%, and your profits would jump 40%. Last, Gallup found that great employees also tend to engender “passionate” customers.

Putting aside the fun with writing this post, I am serious this is a secret strategy. It must be. Otherwise, why wouldn't more companies create fully engaged employees? 70% of employees surveyed at these companies report they are not fully engaged.

I guess these companies think we're not in a recession or something.

BlogTalk Radio Guest: Bob Corlett, President of The Staffing Advisors

 Bob Corlett, President of The Staffing Advisors, joins me tomorrow to talk about his leadership and vision and its role in growing his startup through two recessions now.

That's right. The Staffing Advisors was founded 7 years ago at the start of THAT recession.

The Staffing Advisors is a retained search firm that serves the small to medium sized business. It's built on the foundation of innovation, dedication to his customer’s success, a proprietary search process that results in customer testimonials on his website. Bob now incorporates a comprehensive social media strategy to continue to expand his search business during THIS recession. We’ll talk with him about all of this.

Join us tomorrow at 9:30 AM, Central with either of these two listening options:

• Live, streaming, on-demand at this link.
• Call-in and listen at 646-915-9212.

Hope you join us.

I'll post highlighted excerpts by Sunday, August 29. That's possible from the great work of Susan Poirier of Ace Concierge.

You can follow Bob Corlett at either or both of these social media options:
Blog: The Staffing Advisors
Twitter: BobCorlett

Ongoing Credit Crunch for Small Business and Startups

Where do startups and small business find their financing?

This is not a rhetorical question. Startups and small business will drive us out of this recession with the new jobs they will create. Their new jobs replace the hundreds of thousands eliminated at the large global brands whose solutions fell behind. And without access to financing, these new jobs with small business and startups will not be created. So, no this is not a rhetorical question.

And, its answer addresses all of our lives.

So. Where do startups and small business find their financing?

Credit Cards?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Startups that lean too much on credit cards are more likely to fail, according to a new report (PDF) from the Kauffman Foundation. The study found that every $1,000 of credit card debt increases the probability that a new firm will close by 2.2%.

Credit cards have increasingly replaced traditional loans, and this study suggests that taking on credit card debt is one factor that contributes to business failure.

The report notes that “with the recent contraction of credit markets, many new businesses will face difficulties in accessing traditional forms of credit, which likely will create greater demand for credit cards.” - BusinessWeek, Credit Card Debt Hurts Startups.

Let’s think about the implications for a second. The most readily available source of credit for new small businesses is one that, the evidence suggests, damages the business’s chance of survival. Does that strike anyone else as an enormous failure of our financial system? (Anyone...? Buehler? Ok. The answer is yes.)

SBA?

Um...Well. When the SBA unveiled their program of assistance to small business in May there was excitement among small businesses.

But, the results have been slow. 1100-1200 businesses have received loans under this program since then. Roughly, 20 small businesses in each state have received these important bridge loans.

(Have you noticed the impact in your state? Maybe, that's why job losses continue.)

Part of the problem may rest with the incentives for the parties involved in this program. The SBA is properly incented and motivated. Small business is too. What about banks?

“There’s not a lot of profit motive in a $35,000 loan stretched over six years,” said Paul Merski, chief economist for the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade association. NY Times, Small Business Stimulus Loans Off to Slow Start.

Ah yes. That profit motive. And it’s timeline for achievement.

One would think that banks would recognize the greater multiplier effect for these loans to small business. These loans would mean more jobs. More jobs mean more commerce for their community. More commerce means more deposits in their bank, more businesses opening up, more jobs. More jobs means fewer foreclosures, more loans repaid, more loans taken.

Here in our small town the local banks created a special loan program. Companies would receive preferred rates for several years on a loan if the borrower could point to the loan’s use would result in jobs in our town. Maybe, that’s an idea for Mr. Merski and his organization to consider.

But the criteria for these loans is very stringent. According to the Times article loan applicants must have been in business at least two years, also has to have shown positive cash flow, if not an actual profit, in one of the last two years.

That leaves out startups from this program. Startups then are back to either credit-card financing. Or..

Venture financing.

My friend Mike Wagner, CEO of White Rabbit Group and blogger at OwnYourBrand tweeted this today: as venture capital becomes more institutionalized, it becomes less venturesome.

Translating for him, ... as venture funds are absorbed by or depend on large financial institutions,, whose clients are large corporate brands, they assume the persona of large financial institutions. That means:

A. they become more risk-averse in their investments;

B. they become less willing to fund an innovation that will wipe out the existing market share held by their clients who are...large corporate brands.

Not a good trend.

What’s left? Banks won’t make loans. Credit-card financing will kill you. VCs are becoming risk averse.

Ideas on how to stretch your startup budget. And the Wall Street Journal offers advice to startups who are Starting on Shoestring. Here are several good ideas on how to stretch your dollars. Read it.

Back to the question: Where do startups and small business find their financing? Did we answer it? No. And that’s a problem for our economy’s recovery.

Digression: WSJ offering advice to startups is like VCs becoming risk averse. We live in a topsy-turvy world.

3 Ways Small Business Can Thrive in Today's Economy

Steve Strauss, author of Small Business Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Small Business and USAToday's Small Business expert, spoke was guest on my BlogTalk Radio show in March. You can listen on-demand at this link.

He shared 3 ways small business can thrive in today's economy:

1.Have multiple profit centers: there is a business cycle and you need to be prepared for when the market changes. You need other avenues of income to ensure a constant flow of dollars. They are also called line extensions.

2. ROO, Return on Office - use your time well and efficiently and take that extra time to market to your company.

3. Find your marketing angle: something cost effective. Steve calls it “shoestring marketing.” These are inexpensive methods to get your name out there, enhancing your company image and selling for little dollars and cents.

These 3 ways work well in every market. Remember them. Economic growth is expected to resume by Q4, 2009. These 3 principles will work then, too.

I'd bet on the organic farmer who listens to his customer

If Dante Hesse's hunch is on the money, the people he sells his organic milk to will also become the people who fund his growth. Reuters

He first invested his most precious resources. His time, his attention, his heart and his two ears. His purpose? Find their way to make their life better.

Customers told him what they wanted. They did this in...low-key, one-on-one conversations, with him.

And they told him how important their desires were by how much they were willing to pay.

As a result, they willingly pay a 100% premium for his whole, organic, milk. $4.00 a quart. That's double the national average.

Now, he looks to deepen that relationship. That one-on-one conversation has escalated into a serious attempt to raise $850,000 - in as little as $1,000 increments - directly from the dairy-loving consumers who buy his milk by the quart.

I'd bet on the organic farmer who listens to his customers, whose customers willingly pay a premium for his product. Who would you bet on?

Sleepless Business Owner? Here's 10 Ways to Sleep Like a Baby

Laurel Delaney shares How a Business Owner Can Sleep Like a Baby. She lists 10 ways. These are ways she found from a recent survey of 20 business leaders.

I love the first one:

1.Put in a good day’s work. Jumping out of bed, getting to work early, being productive an extra hour or two at the end of a normal day if needed and staying focused and committed to growing the business — these were, of all the pointers, the ones most commonly shared.

The second one was just as good:

2. Connect with upbeat, enthusiastic, high-energy people who share similar business concerns and offer up a whole host of action-oriented solutions to extraordinary day-to-day problems. One of the things I heard time and time again is that it costs nothing to smile, and oftentimes we forget to do just that (not in a fake way) on a daily basis. When we don’t smile, it can bring a whole operation down into the doldrums — even when it needn’t be.

Yes. Sometimes we forget to do just that. It costs us nothing to smile. And it's expensive when we don't. ( Note: We're encouraging positivity. Self-denial is another discussion.)

Read her post: How a Business Owner Can Sleep Like a Baby. Sleep better tonight. Then thank her with a comment at her post.

9 Tips for Better Focus

The demand for a focused mind, the demands on our focus, have rarely ever ben greater than in this period of chaos, change, upheaval and opportunity. To see the opportunity in all this chaos, change and upheaval demands a focused mind.

Towards that end, here's my 8 tips for better focus. I hope they help.

Work where it matters.

Work where you matter. Work where work, the work, matters for you. Work where it matters you are there. Work where your passion and strengths are celebrated. Work where you make a difference. Work where that difference matters to others. Work where their difference matters to you. 

This is the most important tip. The other 7 tips are subordinate to fulfilling this tip. The remaining 7 tips are useful only in serving this tip.

Use them to fulfill this tip. Use them to find this reality for yourself and others.

Go to bed early

Early is relative. It depends on you. But go to bed early enough to wake up without an alarm and still time to be at work on time.

Prepare your to-do list

Prepare it the night before or before you leave your office the day before.  This step always kept me focused in spite of the many interruptions during the day, productive when my energy lagged and attention wandered, and I started producing results as soon as I walked in the office.

Keep the list short

Strategy is as much what you choose NOT to do. So is a focused mind. Keep your list focused on the most important, most productive,  to-do’s. 

I found listing more than 5 makes the list meaningless. And its impact useless.

 Jim Collins described his don’t-do list as important as his to-do list. (TIME: How great companies fail.) For every item he puts on his to-do list, he takes one off and puts it on his don’t do list. That’s a good exercise to do regularly. But daily?

Work in blocks of time

I’m more productive, remain more flexible, when I set time limits for tasks and to-do’s. Sure, there are deadlines to be met. We honor them as we honor our commitments. On the other hand, moving from through the day, on a set schedule, from project to project, task to task, keeps me clear and creative, generates more results in less time, avoids the unproductive periods and frustration from a mind tired from pursuing the same task using the same areas of my brain for long periods of time.

Exercise regularly

Exercise regularly is  relative. For some that means walking to work or skipping the cab. For others, it’s training for a marathon. Regardless, exercise regularly. There’s extensive research and anecdotes that document the power of exercise in generating creative solutions from a wholly engaged mind and body. Increased heart rate leads to increased blood flow to the brain. The relaxation of work-related  areas of the brain allows for other areas to participate in the conversation.

And regular exercise keeps us healthy. It’s hard to be focused on work, if you’re distracted by declining health, your own declining health from years of neglect.

Eat breakfast.

That's the fuel to run your daily marathon called...work. Enough fuel and you can run your daily marathon.

Eat breakfast. Eat a big breakfast. Eat a big healthy breakfast.  Proteins and carbs. My favorite is either a big protein shake with fruit, made with organic 2% or, brace yourself, 4 egg whites and toast w/ a dash of jam and ghee.  Yes. Caffeine.

Mid-afternoon snack

Eat healthy here, too. Protein, carbs, fruit, nuts (brain food), even water. Fatigue, mental or physical, can arise from dehydration. Caffeine will only keep you up later that night. 

Go home.

Family and home are where meaning is found. You share that meaning at work.

That's right. Go home. Leave work at work. Rest your working mind. Re-create solutions, better solutions, at rest while you're at home. Renew love and passion at home. Find meaning at home.

Work is important. But it is only part of your life. Your family is the other part, the more important part. Family and home are where meanings are found. 

Those meanings you share at work. To help others.

What are yours?

These are tips I’ve found bring focus and focused results for me. They may change over time. They may not.

Not enough?

If this list hasn't provided the necessary focus, if you need more tips to focus, then TPE, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, offers 63 ways to stay very focused.

BlogTalk Radio Guest: Martin O'Neill, author of Building Business Value

Building business value is the greatest challenge for our economy now. This recession is created in large part from corporate brands, Wall Street, financial institutions and even our financial system, basing its decisions on empty, false, unsustainable values.

That's why tomorrow's guest, Martin O'Neill, founder of Corsum Consulting, is a guest with a timely message, resources and know-how.
 
Martin O’Neill has written the first guide for business leaders to build greater value in their companies. CEO’s of midsized companies will use Building Business Value as a hands-on guide for systematically building the value they always dreamed of. Building Business Value will help leaders understand just exactly what drives value in their company and most importantly, how to go about building a consensus on the steps to take to make their vision a reality.

 We'll talk about how his book helps business leaders build value for their enterprise, mistakes to avoid, trends in our economy for small business, the role of failure in the success of an enterprise and ways listeners can immediately begin to build value for their personal or corporate brands.

And if enough companies choose to follow Martin's advice, we could begin to drive our way out of this economy.

The show starts at 9:30 AM, Central. Listen on-demand at this link. Or call-in and listen and ask questions. 646-915-9212. Martin likely has the answers. ( I know he does. But, I didn't want to over-promise on his behalf without his permission.)

4 reasons this is a great time to start a business

Motivated Talent Abounds

There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of talented people motivated to find not only the next income opportunity, but the next opportunity where they and their talents can shine, they can own the brand with their commitment and investment in its creation and they can work with others who share the same passion.

Chaos Reigns

And opportunities abound. It’s in chaos, change, turmoil, where the opportunities are richest, most plentiful. Competitors fall by the wayside. Products and markets are expiring. And consumers are looking to replace them with new solutions, new ideas, and the companies to bring them to market.

Startup Technology, Resources, Applications are Inexpensive.

Accounting, collaboration, project management software and aps are inexpensive or initially free. Marketing and social media aps (blogs, twitter, facebook, YouTube)...free. Hardware (think netbooks) grows more inexpensive. Google aps for your office remain free.

Credit Lines will Re-Open

And when they do, those businesses that recognized the first three points here will be in position to benefit.

Because at the end of the day:

No One Else Will Do It

With all due respect to the Stimulus investment in corporate brands...it’s always been small business, startups and entrepreneurs, mad scientists working in their garages, dreamers pursuing their dreams, seeing opportunities where others see...nothing.

Startups, small business, entrepreneurs, innovators will drive our economy out of this recession. Do you want to be a driver? Now’s a good time to get your license.

NOTE: Others have already shared this list. I'm not claiming authorship of this insight. However, we're not driving out of the economy, yet. Mainstream media spends too much time talking about gloom and doom. So, these reminders, and others like them, bear repeating. And repeating until we do drive out of this recession.

What-if: a solar-powered, digital, automated road construction flagman

For the last...oh, 6 weeks, the street in front of my office has been under construction. They've stripped the old asphalt, jack-hammmmmmmered out sections of the concrete base, repoured the holes, cleaned it, swept it, jack-hammmmmmmmered out more sections. All the time the lonely, hot, patient, sweaty flaggers direct traffic.

It's a good job at least for wages. You get a good tan. Mentally, it's pretty easy, though today's flagger seemed challenged with the concept of time and space (if it's 30 seconds before the next stream of cars drive...and it takes 2 seconds for cross traffic to cross, should the cross traffic cross...) but I digress.

I thought what's missing here?

Maybe, it's current technology.

What if a portable, digital, flagging...robot was created?

• powered by solar during the day and batteries at night (if needed, then)
•  motion detectors,
• sensors for turn signals of oncoming cars were installed
•  a GPS system to coordinate the location and movement of traffic.

Then the stand would know:

• the pace of the traffic flow
• the number of cars lined up waiting to move forward
•  how many cars have passed
•  how many wait to turn
• how far are they from entering the queue, etc?

I'm sure some software designer could design a code to integrate these functions into a smooth traffic management system.

It's basically a traffic light, on a portable stand, but complimented with more current technology including LED lights and sensors, motion detectors, GPS system and the ability to customize to a particular traffic environment.

Then think of:

• how many road projects have received stimulus funds
• how many flaggers are currently employed
•  how much stimulus funds remain for innovation, r&d
•  how many other applications could be found

At this intersection sits a ripe market opportunity for a designer, an engineer, a funding source.

Granted, there is the issue of flagman jobs lost. And yes, some are temporary, especially in the northern states.

But, given today's economy, these jobs could be incredibly important, more than a summer job for a college student as they have in the past.

On the other hand, there are the jobs created from the necessary startups needed to build this portable stand, market it, service it, research other applications, design for them, research them, etc.

What if?

We could call him, her, it...Franny the Flagman. It's kinda gender-neutral, right?

Collaboration's Urgency? "...we have no other choice"

Our mindset ...simply needs to change. The idea of open innovation will eventually catch on because we have no other choice. No business is safe and, at the end of the day, it is our job to understand and anticipate what our customers' true needs really are; we don't have to be limited by our own brains. - Raj Aggarwal, vice president of Global Technology and Special Projects at Rockwell Collins

He calls it open innovation. Some call it collaboration. I did in the title to this post. Either term works to make sure we're

• not limited by our own brains

in order to

• understand and anticipate what our customers' needs truly are.

Ok. What's the first step?

We have to be willing to collaborate inside and outside of our own four walls in order to bring the best solutions to our customers. Nan Mattai, senior vice president of Engineering; Technology at Rockwell Collins

I hear him say...we have to be willing to collaborate with...anyone and everyone. Anyone and everyone includes customers, employees, partners, vendors, inventors. The walls need to come down. Everyone needs to participate, to contribute, to listen, to offer ideas...in order to bring the best solutions to our customers.

Why? Because we have no other choice.

Quotes are from Open To Innovation at Rockwell Collins.

Link from AndreaMeyer and Stefan @lindegaard on Twitter.

Are your business rules based on your principles?

I came across two articles this week on Canada's banking system. One was on its success, its ability to survive and avoid the current banking crisis. Why Canada's Banks Don't Need Help.

Consider that the Geneva-based World Economic Forum... earlier this month ranked Canada's banking system as the soundest in the world. The U.S. came in at No. 40.

The other article was on how those same rules wouldn't work here in the US, according to a banking expert: Canadian Bank Rules Don't Fit US Model.

Banking rules that spared Canada's big banks from the woes that hit global rivals would not work in the United States because of cultural differences..."You need principles-based rules and we're* (the U.S.) not going to do it."

The message could not have been any clearer, don't you think?  These two articles conveniently juxtaposed at one business site that show the failings of our system vs the success of another make it clear.

But we've already understood this by now. Business models, and cultures,  lacking principles are doomed to failure. Their failure arises as their business model implodes from their own unbridled excesses.  They have no foundation to stand on with the changes in personnel, markets, economies, technology...They have no compass to guide them through the storms of change.

So. Are your business rules based on your principles?

Note: There's another time to digress into the discussion of free and open markets, transparent and full access to knowledge and information by all parties involved so that the consumer can make an informed decision, business models with proper incentives that reward achievements that build a sustainable brand, empowered regulatory bodies, etc.

* I for one wish the speaker whose quote I bolded would ask before he spoke for me.  I know my culture is not one based on the lack of principles. Sure, there are those who have abused the trust we gave them and maybe we empowered them with our priorities that made us too busy to acknowledge the obvious blunders and excesses they gladly incentivized themselves to carry out. But if our culture was not based on these principles we would not be correcting the excesses incurred from allowing one powerful industry to violate our principles.

One last thought: Can Canada help us with our healthcare system? They seem to run their banking industry quite well. Maybe they know how to run a healthcare system?