Business Building Tip–Learn to Negotiate
Few skills are more fundamental to success than negotiation. Entrepreneurs, CEOs, business owners, and leaders at all levels encounter situations every day where they are required to negotiate…from closing complex deals to working out delivery terms to fixing customer problems to improving employee performance, negiatation is a very important part of growing your business.
Perhaps it is the regonition of this that leads so many of our readers to express and interest in learning more about it. I say that because as people receive idea #100 in our Daily Big Idea series many send me questions, such as…
- Where can I get more information on negotiation?
- Do you have any book recommendations on the subject of negotiation?
- Are there any specific courses available or plans for learning tools from BigIdeaGuru.com on the subject?
Let me quickly answer these questions and encourage everyone who is interested in growing a business, increasing sales, building more effective relationships, and maximing profits to become a student of negotiation…few things will yield a higher payoff!
Now to the questions…
1. For more information on negotiation…There is a wealth of information available online on the subject of negotiation, including seminars and workshops, e-books, and various online tools. But one of the best ways that I can recommend for you to learn more about negotiation is to become an avid observer…look around you at the negotiations that happen every day and learn from them, ask someone you respect as a negotiator to share their secrets with you, and test out the things you see that work in your day-to-day experience…that is the best way to gain expertise in this area, to learn by doing based on observing what works!
2. Here are my three of my favorite books on negotiation…Important subjects produce lots of books, and negotiation is no different. In fact, a simple search for books with the word negotiation in the title at Amazon.com yields 158,674 results. Here are three that I recommend everyone read:
Start with NO…The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don’t Want You to Know
Done Deal: Insights from Interviews with the World’s Best Negotiators
Harvard Business Essentials Guide to Negotiation
These will get you started on your road to becoming a skilled negotiator and will reveal the gaps in your knowledge…which will help you define the next steps on your journey to mastery!
3. What lies ahead at BigIdeaGuru.com regarding negotiation…We are nearing completion of a learning package on Negotiation Basics…it will include an e-book, an audio program, and a teleseminar or two, and it should be available before the end of May…we’ll announce it here and in the members area of BigIdeaGuru.com…so make sure you have your membership in place to ensure that you will be informed (it’s completely free between now and the end of May!)
Celebrating US Small Business Owners
In case you haven’t heard, April 22-28 is National Small Business Week in the US. You can learn more about the various activities going on this week at the US Small Business Administration’s website.
National Small Business Week has been celebrated since 1963 and marks a time when the many contributions of the small business community are highlighted, celebrated, and recognized at a two-day national conference in Washington, DC. One of the highlights of the conference is the honoring of the top small business owners from every state, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam are honored, and the conveying of the National Small Business Person of the year award.
Big Idea Guru joins the many sponsors of this year’s event in congratulating these entrepreneurs on their achievements!
It’s Called Work for a Reason!
Filed under: Build Business, Get Results, Lead People
Readers of the Daily Big Idea regularly write to me to share their reactions, their ideas, and their questions. One of the more popular questions that comes in is regarding recommended readings on various topics. So beginning today I’m launching a new weekly entry called From the Guru;s Bookshelf. Here’s how it will work.
Each Wednesday I’ll post a book recommendation for entrepreneurs, CEOs, and growing business leaders, along with a link to order your copy. Readers are invited to submit suggestions and to share their reactions to the recommendations in the comments section.
My hope is that these books will add value to your life, expand your mind, and lead you to take action in the areas where you can have the greatest impact in growing your business.
This week’s recommendation is:
It’s Called Work for a Reason!
Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault
by Larry Winget, aka The Pitbull of Personal Development®
Simply put…I love this book. It is candid, in your face, and dead on target. If you are not ready for a serious slap to the side of the head to wake you up to the realities of what today’s workplaces are really like, the I don’t recommend that you read it…it will only make you mad! But then again, perhaps that is exactly why everyone should read it…to remind us of just how important it is to everyone’s personal and professional success that we take responsibility for our lives and the things that are happening in them.
It may be obvious that I am a fan of Winget’s work…I find the direct, blunt, in-your-face style refreshing and real in a way that few business books are today. He doesn’t waste time with nice anecdotes and he doesn’t suggest polite solutions. He simply tells it as he sees it, and within the message lie powerful gems that can be extracted and put to work right away.
Buy it, read it, share it, and do your best to live it…you AND your business will both grow through the experience!
Pick up your copy here:
It’s Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault
One other thing…Be sure to check out Larry’s website www.LarryWinget.com and sign up to receive The Eighteen Guiding Principles for Success, Happiness and Prosperity.
Lessons Gleaned
Filed under: Build Business, Get Results, Take Action, Think Strategically
Many of my recent posts have revealed the challenges of the time period we are in with the growth of Big Idea Guru, LLC. I’ve shared the consternation of being lost amid too many choices, suggested the need to think bigger, and tossed out a lot of advice and suggestions about what to do in such situations. But there has been an important gap in my writing herein of late…
Much of it has been more intended to provoke thought rather than to encourage action.
The reason is simple…I have been bogged down while learning some very powerful lessons that I felt the need to share, but I have not been ready to share them. Sometimes you just need to settle in and learn first, then teach what you have learned, and while that is almost impossible for a born educator like me that is what has been required lately.
So what are the lessons that I have gleaned (or in some cases had strongly reinforced) from these recent experiences?
1. It is sometimes too easy to convince yourself that you are on the right path, but that doesn’t mean you are…stepping back and accepting critical feedback is a challenge, but it is the most important thing you can do to make sure you are moving in the right direction.
2. Developing strong relationships are based on trust and mutual respect is a necessary condition for success…without people who can help you to see both the potentials and the pitfalls of your plan, you will never achieve maximum results.
3. Revealing the true potential of your ideas takes a great deal of time and a lot of effort, regardless of how simple it may seem at first…valuable lessons will be gained from false starts and missteps, with progress sometimes coming when you least expect it.
I will stop there. I could add more to the list, but the key points have been made and redundancy might well emerge if I attempted to go further. My hope is that you will find these lessons helpful as you build your business, and that you will remain focused on creating results and keep moving forward…instead of getting bogged down in thinking too much, which can be detrimental to progress in any endeavor.
Great Web Applications for Business
Filed under: Build Business, Generate Ideas, Take Action, Think Strategically
One of my promises to the readers of this blog is to share information that you can use. I came across this great list of applications you can use to grow your business. I encourage you to take a look at see which ones would work best for you!
Even if you are not yet in a position to utilize some of these tools, the simple exercise of looking them over will be enlightening, mind expanding, and interesting…so block out a few minutes and start looking!
Here’s the link:
http://www.avivadirectory.com/entrepreneur-apps/
Please take a moment to share your insights, reactions, and thoughts in the comment section!
Web 2.0 Changes Everything
It’s been said more than once that the internet is changing the very face of business in ways that we never saw coming. Today I want share a quick illustration from the world of financial services.
The example is the emergence of online peer lending networks, such as Prosper.com and Zopa.com.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, here’s the gist of it. These sites are sort of like ‘the eBay of banking.’ People in need of capital post their needs online at these sites, along with their credit score, and any other information they feel demonstrates credit worthiness. People with money to lend then respond to their postings with offers that include an interest rate and terms for the loan.
When a borrower and lender find a match that works for each of them, a small percentage is paid to the website that brought them together, and the money changes hands, along with the promise of repayment.
And the banking industry is changed forever by Web 2.0.
Thought Questions: How might your business be dramatically changed by the peer-to-peer, social networking, user-generated content world of Web 2.0? Are you ready to respond?
Simplicity Works!
Filed under: Build Business, Expand Market, Get Results, Lead People, Take Action
We hear about it in business all of the time. Simplify. Focus. Do what you do best and leave the rest to others. Or, as Peter Drucker put it, “Stick to your knitting.”
Indeed one of the toughest decisions any business owner faces is deciding what the business is not going to do. It is easy to add products and services, to consider pursuing additional customers in markets where you are not currently operating, and to expand the scope of everything you do. But it is very difficult to say no, particularly when you are first starting out.
Yet time after time we see businesses that made that tough decision and said “No” succeeding on a major scale. Last week I encountered one in a little place called Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
This business is the definition of simplicity…
The menu is simple…they offer burgers, hot dogs, fries, and drinks. There are several condiments and add-ons that you can put on your burger or your hot dog, and there are large and small sizes, but that’s it. There are no chicken sandwiches, no salads, no other choices…just burgers, fries, hot dogs, and drinks.
The staffing is simple…there are five people working in the business. One takes orders and gives you a drink cup for the self-service beverage area, one makes up the burgers and puts them on the grill, one manages the cooking of the burgers, another takes the burgers off the grill and wraps them, and the fifth one cooks the fries and takes the completed orders to the counter. They manage to work the hot dogs into the process along the way and periodically one makes a sweep through the dining room to keep things clean.
The layout is simple…you walk in the front door and follow a direct path to the order area. After placing your order you move to the beverage station and fill your cup, then you find your table and wait for your number to be called. When your order is ready it is passed to you over the counter. When you finish there are convenient garbage containers in two locations for you to bus your table.
Even the name is simple…there is something to be said for being able to depict your entire business in the name of your business, and Five Guys Burgers and Fries pretty much says it all for this business. It not only tells you what they serve, but also how many of them are involved in preparing it for you and serving it to you.
Enough said. Your action step should be obvious…take a look at everything you do and ask how you can simplify it by narrowing the choices, how you can assign tasks based on stages in the service process, and how you can keep the process simple for both employees and customers. There is magic to be found in the right combination–have you found yours yet?
Not to Complain, But…
Filed under: Build Business, Get Results, Lead People, Take Action
It’s 4 am and I am in a hotel room in Pleasanton, California packing and preparing to head back home after a quick two-day trip to facilitate a planning session for a client. And though I promised myself to never let my blog become a place where my personal complaints were vented, my promise to you to be on the lookout for lessons that impact business growth must override this morning.
That said, let me share a few experiences from my time at this particular hotel property that reveal some important challenges and opportunities faced by any business serving the public.
Here’s a chronology of my interactions with the hotel staff during the past two days.
Day One, 1:00 pm…I arrived and was greeted with smiles by the front desk team, provided with a quiet room, directed to the restaurant for a quick lunch, and told about the Happy Hour snacks each evening.
Day One, 1:30 pm…Walked by the fitness center where I planned to workout later in the day and discovered that they were removing the equipment; a sign on the door indicated it was closed for renovations and that the front desk had passes to a nearby club where I could work out.
Day One, 1:40 pm…Waited for about 5 minutes while the hostess in the nearly empty restaurant finished a phone call, then was seated and received great service and excellent food.
Day One, 2:30 pm…Stopped by the front desk to pick up passes for the nearby health club. Waited for 3-4 minutes while two woman behind the desk finished their conversation (and ignored my presence), then was curtly informed they did not have an onsite fitness center. When I asked about the passes the curt young lady dragged out a notebook and gave me a map that showed the 2.2 mile route to the facility. The other woman left to go check with the manager about the passes.
Day One, 2:40 pm…The woman returned from the manager and looked in a drawer for the pass information. More maps were located and the manager appeared in the background. When asked about the passes mentioned on the sign, she asked me what sign I was talking about and in response to my clarifying that it was the one on the fitness center door, she indicated that they did not have that set up yet as they were waiting on a return call from the off-site facility for which I now had two maps.
Day One, 3:55 pm…While taking a nap I was awakened by the hotel phone. It was the front desk calling to ask me how everything was in my room. Now that I was awake I reviewed the services book about the fitness center and found a statement that indicated they offered passes to a different local club for those wanting more equipment…I guess no one ever asks for those, or the book is just seriously out of date.
Day One, 7:30 pm…After responding to e-mails I turned on the TV and discovered that the picture spanned the width of the screen as expected, but it was just over 4 inches high. A call to the front desk brought a quick response…within 10 minutes the friendly maintenance guy was at the door with a new TV, telling me that they have no clue why this happens, but it does frequently so they just swap them out and send them out for repair.
Day Two, 4:00 am…After smelling cigarette smoke in my non-smoking room (in what is supposed to be a smoke free hotel) for the better part of an hour I got up to start my day, opting to remain on east coast time for my short visit here. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower to discover that there was no hot water. I let the shower run for 10 minutes to make sure and surrendered to call the front desk.
Day Two, 4:10 am…Explained to the front desk person that there was no hot water in my room in building 300 and was informed that there was no hot water problem in building 300, that problem was in building 600. After my assuring her that there indeed was no hot water in building 300 she said she would attempt to leave a note for the maintenance people who came in between 6 am and 7 am. I requested that she move me to a room where I could shower and prepare for my day, and was told the property was fully booked. She did not apoogize for the problem and seemed a bit annoyed that I actually expected her to do something to fix it.
Day Two, 6:05 am…After testing for hot water every 15 minutes since my last call, I again called the front desk and inquired about the status of the problem. The young woman indicated that she had left a note for maintenance and when they came in they should find it and work on the problem. I asked her if she had a number to call them since this would soon be an emergency for everyone else in the building when they awoke to find no hot water, and she assured me that she now knew it was a problem because she had received several other calls confirming what I had told her two hours earlier. I suggested she call the manager or someone who could take action, and she responded that she did not have any emergency contact numbers and was the only one here.
Day Two, 6:45 am…The breakfast that I ordered using the little card you hang on the door arrived. Not surprisingly, it was not what I ordered.
Day Two, 7:25 am…As I walked out the door after my cold water cleansing and shaving experience, I tested the water and there was now hot water. Apparently the maintenance people had arrived, found the note, and fixed the problem, but the only way I knew was by checking it myself…there was no call to let me know it was back on and still no apology for the inconvenience.
Day Two, 4:10 pm…Returned to the hotel after a day on-site with my clients and found the tray from my breakfast still sitting outside of my door (as were several other trays in the building). Also found an open shampoo bottle from one of the rooms lying in the middle of the hallway.
Day Two, 4:55 pm…Returned the restaurant, was seated immediately, and enjoyed another very good dining experience.
Day Two, 6 pm…Stopped by the front desk to inquire about a cab to the airport for 4 am tomorrow morning. The young woman at the front desk gladly helped me by making arrangements for a cab to take me back to the airport.
So there you have it. A rather detailed play by play that demonstrates how many little things can go wrong in a period of about 30 hours. By themselves none of these are really that terrible to deal with, though the lack of hot water for a morning clean-up session would be a more significant problem for those who still have hair atop their domes, they add up to a very frustrating experience.
It is the kind of experience that will have an impact on the brand in general and the hotel in particular. For one thing, my client booked me here and they regularly send people to this hotel, but that is not likely to continue after hearing of my experience. Additionally, I will now be much less likely to choose this brand of hotel in the future based on this experience, and I may or may not waste my energy telling them about my experience (though I am quite sure my client will).
A quick look at the underlying causes suggests:
1. A lack of training and preparation of the staff…they do not know what to do when unexpected things happen, and they are not well prepared to take action;
2. No shared commitment to quality, except in the restaurant…too many little details are being missed and compromising the image of the property and the experience of the guest; and
3. Leadership is lacking in several areas and especially at the top…my brief interaction with the hotel manager made this obvious, though my contact with maintenance suggests that department may be well led, and there were interactions wih three people at the front desk on two different occasions who definitely do get it.
ACTION STEP: Think about this situation in the context of your business and your interactions with your customers. Whether they are on-site, online, or via the telephone, any or all of these kinds of things can, do, and will happen from time to time. How well is your team prepared to handle them? Are your leaders leading? Are you training people to rise to the occasion and deal with the problems that occur, or simply to do the routine things and hope it works out? Are your customers committed to supporting you because you care, or do they feel undervalued as I do after this series of incidents? Take action now to fix the problems and prepare for the realities so that your business will not lose customers because of bad 30 hours!
It’s All in the Details
Filed under: Build Business, Expand Market, Get Results, Lead People, Take Action
It’s the little things that really matter the most. Because it is in the details where we really show our intentions and demonstrate our core beliefs.
Think about it. If you say you care about your customers and that you will go the extra mile, where do you think they look first? Here’s a hint–it is not the obvious stuff that everyone else does to try and show they care, it is the little, small details that show you really do walk your talk.
For example, this morning I am writing this entry from an upscale inn at the shore. Sitting in my comfortable room with the lovely lamps in my comfy robe as I catch up on e-mail before heading down to the complimentary breakfast buffet with the omelet station, the wide variety of fruits, teas, coffees, and sweet treats.
But in the midst of this I am bothered by the little things they didn’t do more than I am by the big things they did. And though these are not major problems in any way, they make the experience fall short of a similar experience at a California inn last fall where they really got it…they walked their talk at every turn and created an experience that I will remember and recommend.
Before I share my comments about the little things they missed here, I want to remind you that my goal here is to get you to think about the places where your business isn’t walking your talk and delivering what it promises, and more importantly overdelivering in little ways that turn customers into raving fans. Also, please don’t take my comments as being nit-picky or demanding…for though I share them with the world here, I will not complain to anyone in the management because like most other guests, I don’t see it as my job to tell them how to deliver first-rate service–if they say they offer it, then it is their job to know how to do it!
Here’s where they missed the mark in my first 24 hours here:
1. At Check In…The desk clerk forgot to explain that his request for credit card from the woman checking in right before me was for incidentals. If you travel a lot, that is something you know already, but this woman didn’t and it raised concerns for her about whether her room was being covered by the organization sponsoring her trip and created a less than satisfactory and potentially embarrasing moment for her. Something that would not have occurred had the simple explanation that is routine at most hotels around the country been provided to her.
2. Turn Down Service…While at dinner with my clients the staff provided turn down service for my bed, but there was nothing special about it. In contrast, my California Inn provided chocolates on my pillow and a lovely orchid bloom atop the covers, and set the clock radio to a relaxing mellow music station. Even though I don’t really want the chocolate and have no real use for the orchid, it is part of the service you expect when paying upscale rates in places that claim to be a cut above the rest, and it makes the experience memorable!
3. The Toilet Seat…Few things are more distracting than a half-painted and stained toilet seat. It is the last thing you expect to see at an upscale inn, and it leads you to wonder what else is in need of repair. In this case, since I know the history of the place, I am relatively certain it was a carryover from before the last renovation whch occurred about 3 years ago. If they weren’t willing to spring for the $20 to replace the toilet seat, where else did they cut corners?
4. One Vending Machine…The only source of beverages is a single vending machine located outside of the building. There is no bottled water in the room for purchase (which is actually a very effective profit center for venues like this) and there are no snack machines of any kind on the premises. These would be relatively easy sources of revenue if they were available, but they have chosen not to provide any such comforts.
5. Poor Information…There is a great brochure about the on-site spa that details all of the services they offer and the associated fees, but nowhere is there any information about the hours of operation; it’s not on the brochure and not in the little notebook listing all of the services available. The same is true for the on-site fitness center. Granted a call to the front desk might easily yield the information, but that is a step that the guest should not be required to make in order to plan their stay.
Enough said…once you define what you stand for and where you want to be positioned in the market, it is imperative that you walk your talk and pay attention to the details that make the difference. If they are taken care of, you make the grade and your customers will talk about you in the way you want them to, sending you business and
The bottom line: Be sure that you are who you say you are in every sense…that is the power of brand and indentity…and consistency rules!!
Ray’s Response Rules!
Filed under: Build Business, Get Results, Lead People, Take Action
Sometimes when you want to help people get a message, you have to expose a weakness of your own to make a point. This entry is one of those times.
It all started two weeks ago when I traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend a conference. The hotel where we were staying offered a town car shuttle service from the airport, and prior to leaving home I made a reservation for the service.
Upon arriving at the airport I placed a call to the service as they had requested and was told to meet the driver at space 18 outside of the baggage claim area. My traveling companion and I went to space 18 and found not a town car, but a dirty cab that was already occupied by two other people. The driver asked us to load our bags and get inside, but we declined, preferring not to ride in a dirty cab with two strangers. Instead we walked to the cab stand and requested a cab to take us to our destintation.
A few minutes later cab #449 pulled up and Ray jumped out to welcome us to Florida. Right away I knew that we had made the absolute right choice in passing on the group ride! Ray introduced himself, asked where we were headed, loaded our luggage into the trunk and drove us to our destination. As we arrived and were waiting at a traffic light across from the hotel, I noticed that Ray was writing something down.
Before the light changed, Ray turned and handed me a written receipt (the first written receipt from a cab driver that I can remember receiving in years…usually all they do is give you a blank piece of paper that might have their cab number pre-printed on it). He noted that he had written his phone number on it and told us that he would be happy to take us back to the airport when it was time for us to leave, and asked us to give him a call when the time came.
We drove across the street, Ray parked the cab, helped us with our luggage, and wished us a pleasant stay. Then he added a quick thank you and reminded us that he would be more than happy to take us back to the airport. The irony was that the ride with Ray actually cost us less than the alleged town car service, AND we were walking into the hotel before the cab that we turned down arrived (even though it left the airport at least 10 minuts before we did).
Now it probably goes without saying that we planned to use Ray to get back to the airport, but it turns out that the story is just beginning…
After checking into the hotel and heading up to the room, I reached for my cell phone, only to find that it was not in my pocket. After a quick search it became obvious that it was not in my possession anywhere. So what did I do? I called Ray to see if it was in the cab.
Ray quickly answered, checked in the back seat and discovered my phone. He then promised to drop it off at the hotel at 7:45 pm (which was in about 30 minutes).
At 7:45 pm I walked out the front door and there was Ray, smiling and holding my cell phone. He apoligized for my inconvenience…interesting, since he was the one being inconvenienced by having to return with my phone…and said he hoped to see us on Monday when we were heading back to the airport.
As you can no doubt imagine, I shared the story with several of the people I met at the conference and encouraged them to call Ray for a ride back to the airport. Then, on Sunday night when we returned from dinner there was a voice mail from Ray waiting on the hotel phone…wanting to confirm our plans for the morning and assure us that he would get us to the airport quickly and on time.
We called him back and made plans for our return trip. Then the next morning when we walked out of the hotel Ray was waiting as promised, complete with a dry-erase board sign with our names on it.
But the story doesn’t end there. Oddly enough I managed to leave my cell phone in the cab again that morning (I told you this story was not necessarily flattering to me). Once again I called Ray and once again Ray responded. Within 10 minutes he was back at the place where he dropped me off and delivered my missing cell phone to me.
So what is the point of this little story (aside from my needing a better way to keep my cell phone with me)?
First, notice that Ray differentiated himself from the start of our interactions. He got out of the cab, welcomed us, and loaded our bags, AND he told us his name.
Next, he wrote out a receipt, shared his phone number, and asked for the repeat business. The only thing he didn’t do was give me a couple of cards with his number that I could pass along to my friends and associates!
Finally, he responded and provided assistance when I left my cell phone in the cab. He was prompt, curteous, and he did his best to turn down my tip for his extra service of delivering the cell phone.
Action Question: How well would you and/or your team have performed in this situation? Do you deliver Ray’s Response to your customers every day?
