Has Google Made Us Arrogant In Business?

Afternoon All…

I am not sure if you are all aware, but some of the staff and clients from Nexus CG, my housemate Kim, and I are training for this year’s Run Melbourne Marathon… I am specifically running the half marathon – which is a bit of a challenging slog I can tell you!

Anyway – this challenge has me up and running about 3 times a week, and this morning was no different. I got up, got dressed and started my run. About 3kms into the run I started to notice a little niggle in my right calf muscle, but as I have loads of problems with my legs, I chose to ignore it – as “it will go away”… but it didn’t – in fact, I had to suddenly stop as I was in agony! I thought.. “oh crap – what do I do now? I know… I remember a search on Google recently told me to RICE – Rest Ice Compress and Elevate – that’s what i will do” – Google, and therefore I, know everything.

As the day has gone on – my predicament has got me thinking.. what has created this arrogance that I believe that I can self diagnose through a search engine rather than go and see a doctor and get a team of experts around me to aid me in my plight to be better by the weekend so I don’t miss any runs? This got me thinking even further….

This is what I see business owners do all of the time. Now I am still a new business owner, only 3 years young, but there is something that really bothers me… When someone suddenly becomes a business owner, it’s like they become an overnight expert in ALL things business. They are suddenly a marketing expert, a sales god, a CPA or even an IT wizz – they believe that because they have downloaded a few special reports or YouTube clips that they know how to do all of these aspects of business better than the “real experts”.

Now this is the part that confuses me… suddenly they realise that their “calf muscle” isn’t getting better as quickly as they thought, or their business isn’t generating as much revenue as quickly as they thought so they finally go and see a doctor.. or a “real expert”, but when they sit with that expert they start to tell them what’s what, and what they are not prepared to do and what they are to prepared to spend.

Reality is that in Australia there are over 100,000 new business each year, and of those 80% of them won’t last five years. The businesses that don’t survive fail for many reasons – one of them is not surrounding themselves with a support crew of experts that know their SME better than the business owner does. Being successful in business doesn’t have to be lonely – it can mean bringing in people who do it better than you do, that are smarter than you… and who understand elements of business better than you do.

How do stand out from the crowd of 100,000 new businesses every year – you try something different, you protect your investment dollars by spending money on the support crew that will create a return for you – one thing I say to my customers all of the time is “just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come” – so creating a reason why they should come is important – and Google will only get you so far.

So gang… Google needs to be your back up – your disaster plan, not the support crew that is going to get you and your business raking in the cash, seen by thousands of potential customers, or the clever little bugger that will maximise your tax return. If you have already spent thousands of dollars starting up your business – don’t you think that you should find that little bit extra cask to secure your return – and not base your success on the whim of a search engine?

Oh… and one final thing… it’s all well and good going to the doctor, but listening to them and taking their advice is a whole new ball game. This is the same thing for when you start to pull together your support crew… listen to them, hear what they are saying, and most importantly… take their advice – they have done more than watched a YouTube clip or two ..

This approach may just make you turn from:

 

 

 

 

Into……………………………….

 

 

 

 

Just saying

Cheers

Naomi

Young Female Professionals Entering The Lion’s Den

Afternoon All

Today’s blog is by special request… from my wonderful right hand gal, Christie.  It was sparked by a meeting we had yesterday where we, Team Nexus, were facilitating a board room meeting with a high performing sales team.  When I asked her why she has requested this specific blog she replied with “when walking into a boardroom of men who are experienced in both age and career, it is almost like walking into a lion’s den – and I am not sure how to handle it – but you seem to do it with ease…. so I want to know the secret and I’m sure others do as well”.

I have to admit – when I sat down to write this blog I found it really challenging as I was unsure which “secrets” she was referring to – I simply “get in there and get on with it”… but was I always this way?  It was an eye opening experience to think back to the days when I didnt “get in there and get on with it”… I started to remember the nerves, the feeling of inadequacy the dread of stuffing up, of not being heard and most importantly – letting my team down and not delivering on what I had promised.

So I taught myself the art of dealing with the lion’s den… or more specifically, the art of being a young female professional walking into a board room of experienced and professional men.  Here is how I do it…

1. the 5 Ps…. “Preperation prevents a piss poor performance”… if you are going to walk into a board room meeting with people that can possibly intimidate you, the best weapon is to be prepared at all times – know your “stuff” better than they do, have an agenda, an objective and know your specific outcomes for the meeting.

2. When you walk in, go to every single person in that room, shake hands (firmly) whilst looking them in the eye – let them know you are there, you mean business and you are not afraid to be the expert.

3. If you are running the meeting, set the agenda with certainty… don’t look for approval…. no one cares!

4. If you are participating, then participate – if you don’t feel confident – no one cares… and they will smell your fear – the lions will circle!

5. In your introduction, give them some background info on yourself – this is your elevator pitch and gives you the opportunity to show them why they need to listen to you…. establish your own credibility.

6. Expect to be tested every step of the way… strong alpha men like to ensure you know who’s boss – I ensure that they know I know… but then I also allow them to see that they have an equal in the room that needs to be respected.  If they talk over me, I call them on it, if they don’t listen to what I have to say – I call them on it… in short – don’t let them get away with their “crap”.  (note, there maybe more than one alpha male or “resistant” male…make sure you cover them all off – don’t let them get away with it, or you will lose the test)

7.  Keep on topic…. another way they will try to manipulate the situation is by talking about topics that are unrelated – this is ok to a point i.e building relationships, however, you are there to do a job – so keep them on track my favourite line here is “I’m conscious of your time gents, lets keep moving” – this allows their egos to be stroked while maintaining control.

8. Summarise and give actions – Another way to show your knowldge and credibility is to show your ability to accurately summarise the meeting and to give actions.  it sounds simple, but it shows that you are in control and you are assuming accountability and responsibility – showing you as the natural leader we all know you can be.  Make sure you follow up on all actions and ensure everyone is completing them.

9.  Finally, as you leave, again shake hands and thank them for their time.

When walking into a board room meeting, it is so important to establish yourself as someone who is in control and for this to happen there is no room for fear or lack of confidence.  Even if you have to fake up to a certain point – until you start believing in your own abilitities…. then do it!

Take a deep breath and enter that den…. chances are its full of hot air and shite anyway!

Cheers

N

There is more to running a business than just marketing….

Morning All…

Beware… a rant may be coming!

As a marketing expert I know the above heading may seem a little odd… but hang on in there with me whilst I explain what I mean.

Often I see business owners and organisations coming to me to “build their business”… and they are absolutely right… marketing can help build your business – but what often happens is they think that because their marketing is being taken care of, that they can sit back and relax… WRONG!  Let me show you why…

Firstly, if you are not turning over $1Mil in your business per year, then you need to be spending 80% of your time on marketing AND SALES.  Without the selling component marketing becomes redundant and vice versa… if you don’t have the marketing how are you going to find the people to sell to.

Here is the system we work with at Nexus….

Sales Cycle

1. Notice – this is where are potential customer is noticing that they have a need and they are starting to see all of the suppliers who offer that solution – aka MARKETING

2. Identify – it is here that a potential customer sees that you specificall may have the solution that they are after – aka MARKETING

3. Qualify – you have your first meeting, and you qualify whether or not you are the right fit for the potential customer  - aka SALES

4. Refine – after qualifying that you and the potential customer are the right match – you start to refine their needs – aka SALES

5. Solution – here you provide a solution based on the customers requirements and budget – aka SALES

6. Negotiate – if needed, you start negotiating – aka SALES

7. Close – you finally close the deal – aka SALES.

8. Reverse market – keep marketing to this customer to build a long lasting relationship – aka MARKETING.

No matter what you sell, whether it is a service, product or a coffee and a muffin – you go through this sales cycle, it may take you 30 seconds, or it may take you 18 months, either way this sales cycle happens whenever you are trying to sell something i.e your business.

If you look at the sales cycle, marketing only occurs at the beginning and at the end – without the additional commitment of selling you will never get the kind of customers and revenue that will help you turn over $1M in a year.

So what I am saying is this… stop being lazy about selling.  Stop relying on marketing to save your business…. marketing will help – but nothing will help your business more than YOURSELF and your commitment to SELL.

This is almost a love triangle that should never be broken… YOUR COMMITMENT: MARKETING: SALES.  The three should never be parted.

oh… and yes, I am aware that in most multi-million dollar organisations the sales and marketing teams are working to separate goals and separate visions… that doesn’t make it right!  I would put a lot of money on they fact that when these organisations were just starting up… that they too had a love triangle going on!

Anyway.. that feels better lol

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers

N

Vulnerability… the new sexy in marketing.

Morning All…

Something that has been on my mind over the last week or so is vulnerability… I am constantly noticing that as soon as someone is able to be vulnerable not only with themselves, but also those around them their success rate increases as does their ability to relate to people.  What do I mean by this?

Whether it is in your business, worklife or love life I can’t help but notice that if you give yourself permission to slip in a bit of vulnerability then you are suddenly open to a whole rafter of new possibilities…. new customers, new opportunities and maybe even new love.  Why is this?  I believe it is because you are finally allowing people in to see what you are all about, offering them an insight and the ability to get to know you.  Don’t get me wrong, I also understand how challenging this can be – especially when it comes to letting people see the inner most workings of your business or heart, but what if… what if… this may simply be the key to success?

This got me thinking about whether or not I could be a little “ambidextrous” with my vulnerability and bring it also into my marketing both for my business and the marketing for our clients.  I think that this has merit simply because of the “theory of same”… if you constantly see the same dreary stale marketing campaigns then how effective will they and can they be?  If you had some emotion, some vulnerability and an aspect of “realness” I firmly believe that your target market will not only sit up and pay attention, but may also get a little vulnerable with you – and perhaps start to build a long lasting rapport that is mutually beneficial.

Now I am not saying “go out there and start hugging your clients” or anything… unless you can get away with it – but being open to sharing some commonalities through marketing could be the key that you are missing in your marketing strategy…

just saying!

Cheers

N