As business owners it’s easy for us to get caught up in the details losing the real reason why we do certain things. At a recent meeting with a client they are so caught up in how it’s always been that they’ve lost touch with their customers.

They bend to the whims of the few that complain and are afraid of change. They neglect to understand that true leadership in their own business means to be an example of what they can do for their clients.

They hate conflict, they hate friction. They choose to ignore that conflict exists regardless of whether they choose to acknowledge it or not.

The layout of their publication won’t change the business, nor will the content. Their focus on what is important (their customers) will change both content and layout allowing you to influence real change for your clients.

It’s easy to overlook capability at face value. It’s like Eric’s Jeep, its overall look doesn’t seem like it could do a lot but once you realize and understand how to use it properly the possibilities seem endless. Often we look at people in our business or partnerships and only see a singular way to receive value, we forget that people are multi-faceted. And sometimes if we just took the time to better understand how to put their abilities to use we would yield a greater relationship and a more profitable partnership.

My friend Chris Brogan is an amazing friend and businessman, he has this newsletter of his called Blog Topics that delivers weekly ideas of what to blog about. Now before I go further, writing about him and his newsletter isn’t one of the topics, that’d be kind of messed up wouldn’t it? (I’ll get back to the newsletter in a moment.)

A lot of people want to be him, well, they want to be how they perceive his life. They think this guy just types a few words and is making business happen, they don’t see the real work. Some even think he has some secret way of doing things that he keeps for himself instead of telling everyone in his books. No really, I’ve had someone tell me this personally. Over the years I’ve met many people who think they can be Chris, think that Chris does things wrong, or even think he’s a hack. From what I’ve seen Chris just sees things differently and that to me is he’s secret. You can’t replicate one’s perception of the world. That’s why I not only subscribe but pay for Blog Topics. I’ve had a few people ask why I pay for it and if I doubt my own ability that much that I would have to pay for help.

Sometimes people just don’t get it. Yes, my blog could always use help, who doesn’t need help? But beyond my personal pandering I see this as a vital tool for me to get fresh ideas every week for my clients. I write quite a bit for my clients and sometimes creativity escapes me and I’m staring at a blank screen wondering how I’ll meet my deadline. Chris’ newsletter helps me out when I’m stuck. One thing I learned from Chris is to keep writing topics and ideas down because when you’re in a rut you’ll have plenty of material to fall back on. Also, when a client ask me for blog ideas I always have some that will work best for them.

Now this may sound simple and you might be thinking to yourself that I’m incredibly lacking intelligence and in need of a good schooling. You’re probably right but that’s also why you don’t get it and why you don’t see value when it’s gawking at your face with a big, bright, money sign written on it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is haters are always going to hate and sometimes it’s worth spending money on things that help you become a better person. If you don’t then you just might miss your big “O” and no one wants to do that. (By “O” I mean opportunity, if you thought otherwise then your mind is nothing more than grotesque wasteland. I’m just kidding, I did that on purpose.)

Sometimes we need to buy things to see how others do things successfully or even as a way for us to help our clients. Too often people get stuck in this concept that we must be the expert, no exception. You don’t become an expert by having finite knowledge and understanding. To become an expert we must always be learning. We must always see things differently.

There is so much noise, so much information, so many tools, there’s too much. We’ve become a digital society that celebrates the tools of the process not the process or the end product. It seems we’ve put so much time and money backing the how-to rather than the doing. It’s simple to see why though, there’s no risk involved. With no risk there’s no failure, with no failure there’s no ownership of choices made. We are the greatest digital society but we are cowards.

Many might suggest that this is a fallacy of the precepts of our society but then why are there more blogs published on how to publish blogs telling others how to publish blogs.

Are we really sharing what matters most?

Are we really connecting with others?

Are we only posing to be connected?

When we reach out with something that matters to us we truly reach out with our hand hoping others will grab ahold. This is a matter of faith in motion not faith looking into a cloudy mirror only to vaguely see itself. When we leave the nest of familiarity we leap into a world that is hungry for genuine connectivity. It is dangerous to walk away from the herd, it makes us second guess every decision we make but those very dangers is what enables us to possess real ability to change not only our surroundings but the world at large.

Do we simply want to connect with only others who do exactly what we do or do we want to connect with people who seek change that matters?

Everything we choose to do matters, it only depends on who it matters to? To ourselves, our digital egos, our colleagues, or real people who struggle with the very thing we’ve solved?

Are we propagating the problem or the solution?

Is it the journey or the destination?

When we risk we choose to live.

What does rice have to do with the social web? When you look at rice, there are many different types of rice and different ways to cook it, all yielding varied results. There’s rice for a quick meal, rice for sushi, rice for risotto, rice for healthier conscious (brown rice). You can have rice as a side dish or you can have rice as the main course, you can even have rice as a dessert. So how does this compare to the social web?

Too often we become consumed with one platform or medium that best suits ourselves. We begin to gravitate towards what’s easiest and where our friends are. This makes us feel most comfortable. But remember, there are friends and then they are clients. (It’s not every day that they can be both. Thankfully, one of the best aspects of the social web is uniting friends and clients as one. This type of unification is great but often comes with its own complications.)

With rice before we start cooking we decide whether it will be a side dish, main course, or dessert. Then we decide how much time we want to invest, the time invested will often be weighed against who we will be entertaining that evening. If they are important to us then we might invest more time for a more impressive, tasty rice dish or course. However, if it’s just the family, the standard quick rice will do, satisfying the need without too much time invest. We know these things instinctively, without training, without cooking prowess, we know and understand what we can do and what we will need to make it happen.

Why then do we ignore this type of innate knowledge and processing skills when it comes to the social web? We will waste time, energy, and money into fruitless social endeavors that will not yield the desired results while conversely we will hardly attempt other platforms or networks because we don’t think we need to impress anyone over there.

If we take our rice skills and apply them to the social web we might be able to make better business decisions about our time and money spent. How much should we invest to impress a potential client? How will we fill the needs of current clients without abandoning them for new clients? How can we make long-term clients feel special and exclusive on the social web? All of these are important questions that should be asked every day of ourselves and our marketing messages as we communicate through the social web.

How are you cooking your marketing messages? Which one is right? What do you think?

Photo Credit: Abstract Gourmet

Sometimes our desks can get a bit out of control and then sometimes our desks can begin to take over our workplace. David Allen, bestselling author of Getting Things Done, talks about keeping your desk in order. This is where I find our inspiration for this post. Our desk can slowly creep their way towards an unruly mess, it starts with a stack a papers, some post-it notes, stack of folders, coffee cup, cup from lunch yesterday; to say the least it’s easy for our desks to get carried away.

To read the rest of the article please check it out at My Office Today, leave a comment there and let me know what you think. Your awesome!!

Part 1 of a 4 part series in building a Network Powerhouse

Parts and Pieces

You’re building your network; it’s growing but now what? How do you manage it? Is your network balanced enough? I’ll tell you I’ve always had a problem maintaining an acceptable balance in my network. Mainly because I see my network in three categories: Information, Support, and Referral. It’s tough work maintaining all three categories at the same time but it is worth it.

Most people think that having a network is only gaining referrals however it is not the only network to work on. Obviously, the goal is to have a powerhouse referral network but that doesn’t happen without cultivating your other networks. To break it down quickly, there is a reason why you should categorize your network. First, it makes it easier to manage your network, if you need help on a project you immediately know who to access in your Information Network. Second, it provides balance to your professional life, giving you options when you need help from growing as a professional or getting a reference for a new vendor. Third, allows you to save time, you won’t have to search and call a bunch of people when you need something, you already know what everyone does and to what extent. Fourth, it allows you to assess strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to put people into situations that they will succeed in.  Fifth, it helps you remember everyone in your network, as you’ll constantly be referring to your network.

Definitions

So now you know why you should categorize your network, here are the definitions for each category. Information Network: your source of expertise and experience. Support Network: your source of help and encouragement. Referral Network: your source of business opportunities.

Information Network

What does your Information Network comprise of? Being a business samurai requires you to know certain important pieces of information. Whether it’s trends, issues, every changing technological and economic conditions; it keeps you on the cutting edge enabling you to always stay competitive. For instance, I am in the technology and design industry; I have contacts that specialize in technology and design, we share information helping each other when needed. I also have contacts that are not in my related field such as fashion who I speak with often to find inspiration and diversification. Having people at this high level of contrast enables you to refine who you are, where you are going, and how you can help your clients. Fortunately for me, my lack of knowledge is always one of my contacts specialties. It is one thing to have a large network; it is an entirely different thing to know whom your network is and how to tap into each other’s resources.

Support Network

What does your Support Network comprise of? In business we learn to rely on certain people, some who build us up and others who bring us down. Knowing the difference is an example of your business maturity. This part of your network should consist of people who respect, love, and think highly of you. These people like you for who you are not what value you bring them. Most often these people are not your ideal prospects nor are they your information powerhouse. They offer you emotional, practical, business, and/or financial support. They extend what many cannot and will not do for you; they give you their time. These people are the ones you’ll call on when you’re in need. They can also be your crutch when business is crushing you. It is important to remember that these people give a lot to you, never take it for granted, ensure they know how much you appreciate their time and advice.

Referral Network

What does your Referral Network comprise of? Sustaining a business through referrals is ideal but often never achieved because of the time and dedication required. A sale in referral marketing/networking is slightly more complicated as the prospect always comes from someone who tells them about you. That sale will depend on many variables; the quality of the referrer/prospect relationship, previous purchasing history, economic conditions, ease to purchase, and so on. Your Referral Network is the most profitable aspect of your network as a whole. It is important to know who your largest referral sources are, treat that relationship appropriately; don’t be a taker!

What To Do?

Remember to give back to your sources cultivating your network; don’t hunt it. Know that you may not fall into the same category that your source does. Such as you may be in an Information Network to one of your sources that is in your Referral Network. This path doesn’t create a large network quick but it does build a strong influential network that yields real results.

So what’s my call to action? Get off your ass, stop whining about the economy and cultivate the land you have and yield your own amazing results. You get what you put into it, everyone knows someone who can help somebody else.

Flashback

I’m sure everyone has been in customer service at one point in there life and I’m sure you have a small disregard for customers relating to those cherished moments.

Coming Back To Reality

For a software company, one of my clients, they despise the ringing of the phone. They think their customers are completely and utterly mentally deficit of creating educated, technically sound decisions. And after speaking with a few of them I would agree to an extent. However, their contempt seemed a little unfounded.

They spoke of how their customers called in aflame with rage that their humble software was not working as promised, hoped for, expected, or acceptable to general technological standards every other software company holds true to. I felt like I was put into quite the predicament, on one hand I was there to perform a specific service for my client, and on the other hand their customer service people were being relentless by only providing the bare minimum and urging customers to call back another day so that they would not have to deal with that exploding problem today.

My Rebuttal

So I questioned a few people asking them if they had ever purchased software that was critical to their business or existence. They quipped quickly absolutely not. I then explained, feeling like the wise sage who has overstayed their welcome that if you ever pay for something that is completely intangible that it is expected that it will work as promised. I further interpreted that when I was with another company and paid $125,000 for a custom made piece of software it was EXPECTED that it would work as promised. They of course clamored with shocked saying it was different. But they relinquished their spasmodic response with a simple, short-lived empathetic moment. They thought I was accusing them of being horrible people, I told them that they are reacting normal for people who get badgered for eight hours a day.

Focusing

I clarified my reasoning; I was not saying that it is the customers’ fault, nor their fault, nor the programmers’ fault. The fact was is that there were many issues that needed to be addressed. First, the software, it needs run stable, really stable. Second, the sales staff needed to address the customers’ expectation level; the sales staff was overselling what the capabilities were. Third, their knowledge base lacked the immediate defense materials to diffuse irate customers who meddled with their software inappropriately. Fourth, their customer service needed to put themselves in their customers’ position and realize that these people paid for the software they are complaining about. Fifth, the customer service staff needed to maintain the knowledge base as they would deal with the same problem for days before someone would write up a document to email to customers.

The Fix

These suggestions are not the only things they need to do but they were the most obvious that could be fixed relatively quickly. The lesson to learn here is that sometimes we get so wrapped up in going through the motions that sometimes the answer is right in front of us. For my client they continued to handle tech support calls and had considered adding more people to help with the volume of calls. The answer for them was to address the levels of connection they had with their customers and fix problems at each stage, which in whole fixed a much larger problem.

Big Idiots

The larger problem wasn’t that their customers were idiots; it was that they began to treat their customers like a number, a cash register who shouldn’t call when they have problems. It’s easy to get there because when you get in the rhythm of business sometimes you disconnect purely from the rhythm. I suggested that they stop for a moment and genuinely ask their customer how they are doing and shut up and listen. If we listen, we’ll most likely find the root to the problem their having. And yes, sometimes it’s because the customer is dumb but that doesn’t make their concerns invalid. It means we haven’t thought through our processes enough to make it error-free. It’s a learning process and one that never ends because as old users phase out, we are welcomed with new ones. It’s the right time to be human.

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Photo Credit - cambiodefractal