Day #14: Luck is Where Preparation Meets Opportunity

When starting anything BIG, it's hard to see the end product. So many "What if's" and issues stand in between. It's also hard to believe you can create something much, MUCH larger than yourself. Many people just give up before they start. The amount of effort and risk is too great for them.

Those are the people I often hear call successful entrepreneurs "Lucky" with a slight sneer in their voices.

Let's back the truck up a bit.

I knew a millionaire who made all his profits on building and running hotels. He was approached to help create a set of hotels for a future ski destination (Whistler Village) back when Whistler was a tiny lift at Creekside. He said

"That would be a bad investment. Who is going to drive two hours down a windy mountain road to go skiing when we have ski hills just a half hour from downtown Vancouver?"

I knew a man who, on a plane ride, sat beside a very enthusiastic young entrepreneur who wanted to create a chain of "fast food" counters. Not only that, he was looking for other entrepreneurs to get in on the ground floor of his "turn-key" type of operation. The man I knew said

"Who wants food that's made fast to take on the run? People want a good quality home-cooked-like meal that they can enjoy over great conversation in a great atmosphere."  

The entrepreneur gave him his info just in case he changed his mind. The entrepreneur's name? Ray Kroc.

Now, you could call the founder of the McDonalds' fast food chain or the visionary Franz Wilhelmzen who assembled  a group of Vancouver businessmen to create Whistler "Lucky", and to some extent you may be right. McDonalds' could have bombed but Ray observed its original store thriving and built a plan to bring it to the world. Whistler might not have got off the ground, but Franz knew mountains and had a strong desire to hold the Olympic Games there. I believe that these successes have much more to do with visionary persistence and active preparation than any sort of luck.

So ... my Big Hairy Audacious Goals are far larger than me, but I know they can be done ... by hitting the right Opportunity after the right Preparation. Every step will take courage, vision and work. I'm ready to create my own luck! 

What's Your 90-Day Plan?

• Are you twisting in the wind?
• Are you reacting instead of acting with intention and purpose?
• Do you sit, exhausted and confused, at the end of your day, wondering what this all means and when it’s going to end?

If you don’t relate to those images, chances are you know someone who does.

It’s hard to plan ahead right now. The world is changing moment to moment. (View this clip“Did You Know?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY) The floor has fallen out from under many of the approaches that have always worked. Even some companies and individuals who have money are cutting back on their spending, postponing plans, and taking a “wait and see” approach to buying items that are already in their budget.

Now is your perfect opportunity!

I know what you’re thinking—"Carol’s on glue!"

Stay with me here.

We are living in a world of No and Not Right Now. Many clients and prospects are stressed and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d, doing more for less and completely unsure of the future. They say they don’t want to talk right now.

If you leave your clients and prospects alone at this time,
you are making a HUGE mistake!

Your clients actually DO want to talk to you.
They do NOT want to be SOLD and they do NOT want to WASTE your time or their own.

This is a gigantic opportunity to build lasting mutual trust that will pay off for you and your clients in future—and with their referrals, too!

With whom do YOU want to do business?
• People you know, like, and trust.

How do you feel about people who do things like:
• Drop off a card or note of encouragement to you?
• Take a few moments to say “Hi”—personally or by phone or email?
• Clip and email an article or something that is relevant to you and your clients?
• Connect someone to you who can help you or your business?
• Invest a bit of their precious time to let you know they care about YOU—not just the money you spend with them?

Right now, with every other corporation, business, and individual scrambling to focus on sales and marketing to the people who are still spending, you need to create your 90-day Action Plan to:
• retain the clients you already have;
• ensure your prospects stay interested in you for the future;
• establish great word-of-mouth referrals; and
• DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM THE COMPETITION!

You can set yourself apart—as a person or a company that truly cares and is willing to take the time to get to know your clients and prospects.

What happens when you are perceived to be different from everyone else out there?

Price becomes an afterthought.

Clients may try to bring down your price, but they’ll connect with you and be willing to consider your reasons for not dropping your price.

“But I need some contracts and sales RIGHT NOW!” you say.

Okay.

These steps will help you build current AND future business within the next 90 days.

Step 1: Always ask your clients and future clients to refer you to people who need what you have to offer. If you are genuine and your clients and future clients like you and trust you, they will LOVE to recommend your services to someone who can help you succeed. Why? It’s a very nice thing to do and it will lighten their load of nonpurchasers’ guilt.

Step 2: Do a fantastic job of following up with those leads. Make the people who recommended you look like heroes! You will be the first person they call when they are in a position to use what you have to offer!

Remember Carol's Three Customer Building Commandments.

1. Woo thy prospect constantly and genuinely.
2. Love thy customer as thyself.
3. Ask for referrals and ye shall receive.

What’s in your Action Plan for the next 90 days?

Blogging With Credibility

Stop the NOISE!

So many people have opinions they want to voice when crisis strikes close to home, at election time and ... well ... when everyone else is voicing their opinions.

Let's think about this for a moment.

• Say you openly share your personal political views with a potential client you've been wooing for months. Say your favourite party wins and then makes a mess of the system ... in the eyes of that potential client, who asks himself "What idiots voted this government in anyway?" ... and remembers you ... as the idiot? Or ... your party does NOT get in power and the party who does makes wise and prudent decisions and gains popularity ... and you change your opinion ... Unless you make a living from your political opinions, keep politics out of your personal brand!

• In times of personal crisis are you a completely rational person? Or later, when someone calls you on a bad decision you made, do you say "I was going through a crisis at the time."?People can build a solid reputation over a lifetime and completely destroy their credibility with half their audience in a paragraph.

King Solomon, the wisest king in history, left us these words:

• "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness" Pr 12:23 and

• "He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." Pr 17:27-28

In a time when so many people have so many things to say, it's hard to hear what's right. Here's what we do know:

• The sun will rise tomorrow.
• This too shall pass.
• People's words - written and spoken - are permanent. They will either be judged as fools or considered right.
• Those who do not panic and offer advice and opinions but forge ahead, keeping their lives and businesses credible and useful will be recognized, respected and trusted.

Please, if you have opinions you are compelled to share:

1. Look at your vision and mission statements.
2. Review your values.
3. Make sure that everything you say reflects these things.
   

• If it doesn't it is not in the best interests of you or your organization to express these opinions.
• If it will not help to better establish your brand and there's a possibility of hurting your brand, don't do it.

Write your opinions in a journal which you can publish years from now ... if it turns out your opinions proved correct. In the meantime, stay grounded, stay on purpose, know yourself and be your brand.