Here are a list of common complaints:

“But they’re my competition?!”

Everyone has an ideal client mix for sure. Referring clients that don’t fit your ideal business plan should be a common practice. By sending your least favored clients to another provider, you are doing both a service. You will grow in two ways from this. You’ll spend less time with a customer that you don’t want to talk to and you will build a more amicable relationship with your competitor who may have clients that don’t fit their mix and get sent to you. This is particularly helpful in captive insurance agencies or law firms.

“It seems like a lot of time with little payout”

One of the hardest things to do in any business is put an exact figure on Return on Investment (ROI). This is extremely tough in relationship driven marketing activities since referrals and leads don’t often clarify where they came from and you may even have business development teams overlapping regionally. In the long term, however, investing in relationships does pay off. The investment in building relationships yields industry credibility and reputation. These elements are priceless to grow your business.

“I Don’t know who to partner with or how to partner”

This is perhaps the most legitimate argument and most honest. The instinct in our society is to grab more for your self so “giving it away” seems counter intuitive. Further, with many untrustworthy people in the marketplace, who do you go to to find your next great partner? There are a few easy answers. Try your local chamber of commerce – this is a great starting point for people looking to build a strong business community. Other places to look include your local BNI chapter or industry specific groups like the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) or  the Society of American Florists (SAF).

Either way, building a strategic partnership does require a commitment of time and effort. Check our Resources section for what to say to start building a great strategic relationship and begin building the relationship that could catapult your business growth.

We’re in a tightening labor market where the candidates, not the companies, are beginning to get the upper hand.

It’s happening slowly but surely and, with the economy improving, it is only going to get worse.  I see recruiters struggling because companies don’t yet recognize this shift in the market. The mindset of hiring managers is still to ask recruiters to provide multiple candidates who met their “must have” criteria (usually a length list).

The problem is the “perfect” candidates are not easily available in today’s market. Most candidates who are seeking employment are not necessarily the ones companies want. Companies who will be successful in today’s job market will be the ones that change their recruiting strategies.

I have listed some strategies below which companies can execute to be successful:

Loosen Up on Hiring Criteria

Forget the long list of “must have” criteria for the qualified candidate. Hiring managers have to determine what skills are absolutely “must haves” versus “nice to haves.” Consider the cost to the company of having a position unfilled for many months by waiting for a candidate who meets ALL of the criteria versus hiring a candidate who meets MOST of the criteria and would come up to speed quickly on the remaining.

Think “Out-of-Box”

In a tightening labor market, it’s time to think outside of the box. While the ideal candidate may come from the same industry, an excellent candidate may also come from a related industry.  Consider someone who has the same skill set you need, and has demonstrated success with those skills, but in another industry. You can train a new hire so that he understands the intricacies of your industry.  A person who wants to break into your industry will often work that much harder to get up to speed. In fact, he or she may be a superior choice to the candidate who works for the competition, but is just an average worker.

Position Your Company as an Employer of Choice

Since this is beginning to become an “employee’s market,” companies need to do a better job of selling themselves to candidates.  Examine your salary and benefits package. Is it competitive? Does it meet or exceed the industry standard? Consider changing or updating your policies to be as attractive as possible.  Remember that money is not always the reason a candidate takes a job. Talk up your company’s vision, technology, and culture.

Become More Creative in Sourcing Employees

It is time to be a little more creative in how you recruit employees.  If you don’t already have one in place, start an employee referral program. Employees are often your best recruiters, and can be quite motivated when there’s a financial reward for successful matches.  Create a buzz about your company in other ways. Try Internet chat boards, recruiting functions, industry meetings and more. If there’s a venue where potential candidates gather, you want to be front and center.

Is It Worth It?

The company leadership needs to assess whether the benefits of recruiting from the
competition is worth the potential downside. For example, if recruiting a key sales
person or key technologist/scientist from the competition would potentially be a huge
windfall for your company, then it is worth the potential legal battle and higher level
of compensation that would come with hiring this person.

Use an Third Party Executive Search firm

If your company wants to recruit candidates directly from your competition, it is best
to use a third party executive search firm to accomplish the task. There are several
reasons for this, but the major reason is you don’t want your own employees calling
directly into recruit from the competition because it may open up your company
to legal action, retaliation, and potentially a bad reputation in the industry. Third
party executive search firms are very skilled at approaching the competition and will
provide your company with that initial cover of confidentiality.

Be Careful What Information that Your Interviewers Share

If you plan to interview a candidate from one of your competitors, you will need to
instruct your interviewers to be very careful what information that they reveal to the
candidate. It is not unusual for the competition to send someone in for an interview
just to get some inside information. If you plan to reveal sensitive company data to
candidates, you should present them with a non-disclosure agreement and have them
sign the document in the presence of a witness.

 Carefully Review The Candidate’s Non-Compete Agreement

If you interview and intend to make an offer to someone from the competition, make
sure to have your legal team carefully review the candidate’s non-compete agreement.
Some states are stricter than others in interpreting the non-competes and, depending
how the agreement is worded, it may be very difficult to get around. It is better to
spend the legal dollars upfront for advice than to be hit with a costly lawsuit later.

Be Prepare to Compensate Stars from the Competition Well

If you have an opportunity to hire a real star from the competition, be prepared to pay
royally for that person’s services. You figure that his/her current company is paying
them well that and will fight hard to retain the person. While money will be a major
motivating factor in moving to your company, a candidate will also be looking at the
upside that your company offers in career development, market growth, and product/
service capabilities.

1. If you knew how – you might be able to, but you don’t. So you sit in a ” holding pattern.”
2. You don’t have the motivation to get out of the “holding pattern.”

QR codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode used to share information. You can see a sample here.

Most people use them in conjunction with a “smart” cell phone. They make certain things easier. Consider typing in an email address or website address. It’s much easier to scan a barcode than it is to type even the shortest website address.

There’s quite a few “out of the box uses” for these things but here’s some Do’s and Don’ts for you to consider if you are going to start using them in your business.

Do:

• Create the barcodes using a “clean” free resource

Lots of websites out there will create a QR code for you but they will link to their site and then bounce a user to your website. You can tell when you scan the barcode if it doesn’t list your site as the URL; consider switching who creates your codes for you.

• Create a barcode for each of your marketing campaigns.

By creating a separate code for each of your marketing campaigns, you get to track which campaigns and media types are more effective in promoting your business.

• Make them BIG

A small barcode will just frustrate your potential customer. A barcode on a vehicle should be at least 3 feet square (depending on the complexity) if you want passers by to scan it from their car or the sidewalk. More complex codes require more space.

• Use them to save time

A code that contains contact information to be added to a phone is a great addition to a business card. A QR code that can hold your place in line or generate a return phone call is great too!

• Use them to create “special” content or offers

The technology savvy crowd loves to be treated well. Create promotions or special offers that cater to the crowd and watch them share your codes.

Don’t:

• Put them everywhere:

Don’t over-saturate your potential clients with QR codes. Sure you can create all sorts of novelty QR codes that do lots of things, but if it doesn’t help your customer, you are confusing them unnecessarily.

• Make them “The only way”

Using them is great, but they can’t replace printing your phone number on your business cards, for example. Don’t rely on everyone to have a smart phone or to understand what QR codes are, or how to use them. Technology is not natural for everyone.

• Make them too small to be scan-able:

Yes this sounds a lot like Make them Big. Test your QR code before you send it out into the field. It may take a little extra time but it’s better than looking foolish with an unreadable code.

• Count on them to “fix everything”

Like any marketing tool, it has a potential to be effective. It will not turn 6 months of inactivity into overnight success, nor will it be viable as “the only way” you market your business.

Hopefully these Do’s and Don’ts have helped you evaluate QR codes as an option to market your business. As always – you can rent a smart guy to get help building a marketing program that suits your needs.

The best way to get follow up is to be specific. You need to be specific on what you need, and when you need it by. It sounds simple, but most people don’t go far enough when being specific. Think about this email example:

“Joe – we need to talk. When are you available to meet next week?”

A question like this requires the other person to do the following:

1. Locate or open their calendar
2. Evaluate all appointments and open spots for next week
3. Determine if there is a fit, and when
4. Determine how long you may need to meet
5. Open their email and draft a response that lists several options for meeting times
6. Communicate several times back and forth about selecting a good date/time to meet

How do you tell your boss that they are disorganized?

You ned to figure out why you are telling them this in the first place. There’s only one good reason to tell your boss that they are disorganized. This reason is: it is interfering with your ability to peform. This will help you align your motive (better performance) and your boss’s motive (more productivity i.e. money) out of your work.

In most cases, though, you might want to be a little more sensitive about what you say. YOU are disorganized, right or not, is still an acccusation and won’t be very productive. Phrase this issue as one that “we” need to solve. Try this:

Boss, I think I could be doing a better job if we were a little more organized.

This takes the edge off and makes it a business problem not a personal problem. Once “we” can work on the problem together, you have permission to make suggestions: put things on the computer, get outside help, communicate better etc.

Your best case here is to open a dialogue where you can both create a better working environment.

Sometimes, though, it may feel like you don’t have “permission” or “room to talk” to your boss about this kind of thing.

If permission

Flatland is a great "thinking book."

is the problem – ask for permission first. Few people will deny this request. Try saying: “I want to make an observation about something happening here but I want your permission, and your promise that you will not take this obeservation personallly.”

A long request for permission, perhaps, but by asking for permission to say sometthing that can be misinterpreted, you are asking for the boss to “pay attention to the message and not the messenger.” This simple trick can let you say nearly anthing you may need to say (provided that it is not a verbal personal assault.

Use this technique sparingly though. Like the story of the boy who cried wolf, it can be overdone if misused.

In the case of not having “room to talk” you are presuming that your own lack is getting in the way of making an observation. First, no one is perfect. Second, the guidance that “those without sin cast the first stone” doesn’t hold in this context. We are not stoning people – we aren’t saying anything judgemental or disparaging. You are trying to address a gap in your current performance versus what you are capable of – if the work were a bit more organized.

Good luck, and if this doesn’t solve the problem, shoot me an email and we can try some other non-verbal techniques.

The reason motivation seems hard to capture lies in the word itself. Motivation as a word doesn’t include instructions. In fact, as a word, it doesn’t even help to describe what motivation actually is. Look it up:  motivation

image courtesy zsbenko at sxc.hu

So, if the words don’t describe it, then what are all these “motivational speakers” doing? What is this business of motivation and motive all about? They can’t tell you. They answer the question with nonsense. “I help motivate people to achieve their goals.” How? Inevitably the answer is some kind of system or nonsense answer like “I inspire them” (whatever that means).

What’s actually happening – and the magic behind the scenes –  is pretty simple.

Human beings do “stuff” when there is TENSION in their lives.

Tension is the origin of action. Without it, you wouldn’t wake up, sleep, eat, move, sit, etc. Without tension, there is no potential. All happenings in the world are a result of the resolution of tension of some kind.

Comedians are experts at creating tension – and when it is resolved, you laugh. Writers create and resolve tension all the time. When you purchase something, you are resolving a tension between having and not having. People create their own tension when they set goals or define their future. Think about how we solve tensions between people.

Sit with that for a minute. Tension as a dynamic behind everything you do.

Consider then, creating tension in your life as a method for activating – you.

Create tensions between today and tomorrow. Create tension between who you are now, and who you want to be; or what you have now, and what you want to have later.

Are you struggling to get things done? Is there enough tension to make it happen? Can you rephrase the consequences to increase tension? Over the next series of articles we will be discussing several techniques and tools to increase tension and make achievement inevitable.

What would your day be like if people were forming a line outside your door to pay you for your product or service?

The sad truth is that many people will never see that reality – not because they aren’t able to, but because they have settled for a life that is “good enough.” They have given in to a life that pays the bills and lets them do other stuff. There is a better option.

Turn your passion into money.

Here’s the first three of steps you need to take in order to get started:

1. Discover your passion (if you haven’t already)
2. Look at the value you create for others when you are doing what it is that you love
3. Create a product or service based on the value you create.

This is remarkably simple – let’s try it out:

1. I love helping individuals turn their passion into money
2. I help them create the life of their dreams by doing what they love
3. The business design e-course can help people realize their dreams

Too “on the button?” Try this one:

1. I love helping kids with learning difficulties
2. I help the parents of kids with learning difficulties work with the school to get the best education for their kids which makes them better parents
3. I have a coaching program that will teach parents how to navigate the school system.

This simple three step process will help you get on the path to turn your passion into a product or service that you can use to make money. Even the most obscure passions can be worked in this way to create a product or service.