I don’t usually sport a stache… (at least not like this). 
But every December, I thoroughly enjoy participating in Infusion’s “Beard-Off” competition. Though poorly named, this annual tradition is all about who can put on the most facial hair–and then craft it into a work of art. Several prizes are awarded:
- Narc (Best Mustache)
- Norris (Best Overall Beard)
- Ozark Hobo (Scariest)
- Van Casso (Most Creative)
- Patch Adams (Patchiest Beard)
My message today is to those who raise their noses at this youthful venture… I can hear you now… “What child’s play! Unprofessional!”
You know what I say to that: “Bah Humbhug!”
If you’re tempted to become a beard-booer… ask yourself this: Why did you get into a small business in the first place? So you could be controlled by a bunch of boring people and irrelevent opinions? If you want to do that, I can point you toward a bunch of big, boring companies who’d be happy to stamp out all of the fun and excitement in your life.
So maybe a clever mustache competition isn’t going to dramatically affect our bottom line this year. But if you ask me, the same culture of “fun” that inspires this tradition is what fuels the creativity, innovation, and passion in our business.
The point is, let’s lighten up and enjoy life in small business!
P.S. I must admit… I did find it slightly embarrassing escorting my grandmother to our monthly lunch with my handlebar stache. And yes, I do find the thing very itchy.
Infusion’s Finalists:
In a previous blog post, I mentioned how valuable it is to break the status quo to extract new or increased value. Well, my wife happened to clip a quote the other day that fits right in line:
“For every nine people who denounce innovation, only one will encourage it… For every nine people who do things the way they have always been done, only one will ever wonder if there is a better way. For every nine people who stand in line in front of a locked building, only one will ever come around and check the back door.”
“Our progress as a species rests squarely on the shoulders of that tenth person. The nine are satisfied with things they are told are valuable. Person 10 determines for himself what has value.” — Za Rinpoche and Ashley Nebelsieck, in The Backdoor to Enlightenment
Marketing is often the practice of looking around to see what everyone else is doing and then repeating. It’s tough to think of new marketing ideas… and even tougher to actually implement them (time, $, untested, etc.). But, when you do pull it off, the other ‘nine’ stand back in amazement at the value creation and wonder how you ever pulled it off.
What’s the latest ‘odd man out’ thing you’ve done… what were the results… and how did you make it happen?
I remember my first MBA strategy class well. At the end of a semester studying core competence, Porter’s 5 Forces, SWOT Analysis and a bunch of other strategy-planning mumbo jumbo, we had a long discussion in class one day where we summarized the whole semester into one word: FOCUS.
That’s what all strategy work comes down to. And you don’t have to have an MBA or CEO pedigree to see the value of focusing on what you do best. But in practice it can be really tough for a small business to focus on what it does best because focus usually means saying no to attractive opportunities. And no self-respecting entrepreneur likes to say no when opportunity knocks. Plus, it’s hard for a business owner to say no to a sale that will bring much-needed cash into the coffers. But here’s the thing: until the business owner realizes that focus is all about saying “no” the business will not grow as it should.
On the other hand, saying no brings confidence, clarity and meaning to what you are saying “yes” to. It preserves precious resources to be applied to the stuff that matters. It is exciting, empowering and liberating. It brings you focus. It makes your actions more powerful and more meaningful. So, as much as I like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, I think the term “Focus and Grow Rich” is more fitting for True Small Businesses that want to grow fast. And by the way, if you’re running a business and you haven’t read Think and Grow Rich, you should.
I was at a conference the other day with a bunch of True Small Business owners and one of the attendees made an interesting comment to me. He said he noticed that Infusion Software uses the term “marketing and sales” all the time. He added that everyone else out there uses the term “sales and marketing.” We had a good conversation about why the word “marketing” should come first–the fact is, most “sales problems” are not sales problems at all. They’re marketing problems. But that can be difficult for many business owners to wrap their brains around.
After all, it’s far more natural to attack a cash problem with sales mojo than it is to attack that same problem with marketing muscle. Too bad. It’s been my experience that most cash problems in a small business will re-surface when solved with sales mojo. But when the business owner applies marketing muscle, the so-called cash problems frequently go away… for good.
And that’s why we at Infusion Software like to use the term “marketing and sales.” When the business owner puts marketing first, the road is paved for strong, sustainable growth.
Last week, I was holed up at the amazing Resort at Squaw Creek in Lake Tahoe for our annual strategy session. After checking in and making my way to my room, my bags were promptly delivered by the bellman. I was planning on tipping him a few bucks for the two bags he brought up, but the smallest bill I had on me was a $10. So, I asked him if he could break it for me. His response was:
“Sure, no problem. Is five okay?”
My response:
“Uhhhh, okay.”
So, he gave me the $5 and off he went. What else was I supposed to do? Tell him “No, give me two more measly bucks back because I’m such a tight wad — I was only planning on giving you $3. No!, I was stuck and he was able to increase his tip by 67% with a simple, firm, three-word close: “Is five okay”
Was I upset at having tipped more than planned? No way! The $5 was totally worth just experiencing his close technique. I should have paid another $5 to find out what other phrases and questions he uses to increase his tip amounts & close rates.
The experience made me think more than a few times about the words and questions I use when closing or negotiating a deal. I’d love to find the phrase, question, or words to increase my deal amounts by 67%!
If you’ve got a favorite close question or phrase, I’d love to hear it!
Joel Spolsky recently blogged about a topic that I think applies beautifully to small business owners:
“You will frequently hear the claim that software engineering is facing a quality crisis of some sort. I don’t happen to agree with that claim—the computer software most people use most of the time is of ridiculously high quality compared to everything else in their lives—but that’s beside the point. This claim about the “quality crisis” leads to a lot of proposals and research about making higher quality software. And at this point, the world divides into the geeks and the suits.
The geeks want to solve the problem automatically, using software. They propose things like unit tests, test driven development, automated testing, dynamic logic and other ways to “prove” that a program is bug-free.
The suits aren’t really aware of the problem. They couldn’t care less if the software is buggy, as long as people are buying it.”
This geeks-vs-suits battle is played out in almost every business, big or small. The smaller the business - the more likely the debate turns into a schizophrenic dialog inside one poor guy’s head:
The angel on one shoulder tells him to never sell out - that craftsmanship and quality should never be sacrificed just to make a quick buck. The angel gets up on a soapbox and preaches about the evils of money-grubbing big business - how they don’t care about the customer and how their product sucks because they cut corners to save money, etc, etc.
Then the devil on the other shoulder reminds him that he has a mortgage payment due in two days.
It’s not the gap between “product quality” and “revenue” I want to talk about - I think this debate is actually pretty healthy. There is a gap far more dangerous to a small business: the gap between quality and perfection.
You see, small businesses can rarely afford the luxury of perfectionism - in fact, unchecked perfectionism will usually transform your business from “small” into “small-er” or “out of”. In the early days of Infusion, we had to constantly battle perfectionism. It crept in from all aspects of our business: product development, marketing, sales, accounting. These are a few of my observations:
- There are three situations where perfectionism hits: when you’re performing your craft (whatever it may be), any time you have to write something, and when you have to make a decision. Case in point: I should have been done writing this an hour ago!
- Perfectionism working alone = bad = expensive
- Strict deadlines and accountability combat perfectionism better than anything.
- It is absolutely critical that you recognize the “good enough” point. Anything beyond “good enough” gets more and more expensive the more time you throw at it.
- Don’t confuse quality with perfection. There’s a BIG difference. And don’t fight perfectionism so hard you lose quality. That’s an equally devastating mistake
And if all that isn’t enough to get you to shed you perfectionist tendencies, check out a study that showed perfectionists to be more “anxious, neurotic, and exhausted”.
And this post is officially “good enough”.
Just finished a book by Timothy Ferriss called The 4-Hour Workweek. It was recommended by some fellow marketers, so I decided to read it. I’ve got to admit, there were a lot of attitudes that bothered me. Here are a few:
1) Live “rich” on your cash flow (instead of building long-term value or wealth)
2) World travel and personal indulgence outweigh other pursuits
3) Obtain goals quickly and easily by cheating the system or exploiting loopholes
As much as the book & various themes didn’t sit ‘right’ with me, I still extracted a bunch of value. Tim has some excellent thoughts on:
- challenging the status quo
- reaching for effectiveness AND efficiency
- practical ways to automate your business, life, etc.
- using automation to drive ‘liberation’ (it’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do with your new-found liberation… travel, live rich, serve, build value, etc.)
- delegate and use virtual assistants to replicate yourself
Regardless of what I think, the guy can market. He’s been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Maxim, and other media. His book is a New York Times Bestseller.
In my opinion, it would be more valuable to study Tim and his marketing methods than the book itself.
If you read The 4-Hour Workweek, what are your thoughts?
Contributed by Tyler Garns, Director of Marketing, Infusion Software
The other day, while at the mall with my family, we stopped a the food court for lunch. Of course, all three kids wanted food from different resturants, I felt like some chow mein, and my wife goes for the plain turkey sandwich.
So we ended up dividing and conquering the ENTIRE food court.
While waiting in an extremely long line for my cheap chow mein, I began to notice that this little chinese joint was CRANKING customer through the line. The lady taking the orders was sending silently encrypted messages to those cooking and serving the food. As she took orders, she poked colored toothpicks in the edges of paper plates and passed them down the counter. Then she collected payment. By the time the customer was done paying, a cook had glanced at the paper plate and started preparing the ordered food. Shortly after, someone else glanced at the plate, scooped up the requested order and delivered the plate to the waiting customer. DONE!
This little restaurant had created a very low tech, but extremely sophisticated system for quickly communicating orders to everyone involved. The color and orientation of the toothpicks stabbed in each plate communicated the order that should be served on that plate.
This experience reminded me of the importance of systems in EVERY business, no matter what the business is, online or offline, low-tech or high-tech. Whatever your business is, take a moment to step back and systemetize and automate everything you possibly can from lead generation, to lead conversion, to fulfilling the order and collecting the cash. Your business will be more efficient, your customers will be more statisfied, and you’ll enjoy your business much more.
|
