I don’t want to focus on this “script kiddie”. I suspect he wasn’t a “real” hacker, instead he’s someone who simply knows some scripts and makes general mischief. If he was a “real” hacker, he wouldn’t be bothering with our small business site. I’d rather focus on the symptoms and general thoughts that lead up to this kind of malicious mischief.

There seems to be a tremendous disrespect that permeates our society today – just look at recent news reports. A gang of around 50 girls recently tried to attack another girl in her own home, and attacked two police officers who tried to intervene. The “Occupy Wall Street” crowds in several major cities who are violently protesting, committing sexual assault, and defecating in public, including directly on police cars. Or how about the incidents of violence this past Black Friday where a woman used pepper spray on a crowd, injuring several, simply to get a low-priced video game system?

If this continues, history will repeat itself. Karl Marx called these kinds of folks “Useful Idiots”. They were useful in securing power for those who wanted it. I’d like to coin a different term – “Useless Idiots”. I’d also like to focus on a different term – the “Idiot” portion of that statement. Yes. these folks are being “Idiots”. By being goaded into acting this way, they are allowing themselves to act without thinking. Unfortunately, this is all-too common – even in today’s business environment.

In business, as in life, we can often get better results by thinking BEFORE we act, instead of acting before we think. I urge you to think before acting. Maintain respect. Don’t be an idiot.

/rant

Go beyond the past. Much of sales in the past consisted of the sales person convincing the buyer that what he/she had was for them, and without it, their life would be miserable, at the worst, and less convenient, at the best. Sales were based on product that needed to be sold, or was the most expensive and how one could convince or manipulate you into deciding that you needed that one product.

The sales person would cajole, they would plead, they would play on your emotions and they would try every “closing” trick they knew to get you to say yes.  Truth was sometimes tainted, if not non-existent. There are still many companies that believe that is the way to sell, and there are many more sales people that are taught to  manipulate, stretch the truth, and more, to get you to say “yes.”

Could that be the reason that sales people are not well thought of?  Could it possibly be one of the reasons that you see “no soliciting” signs at the door? We must go beyond the past and embrace the new game of doing business and selling. However, it will require a new type of focus for those of us who endeavor to sell.

Be a trusted voice in the wilderness. Instead of the sales person trying their best to sell a particular product, it is time to recognize that clients/customers are looking for someone who could be the trusted voice in the wilderness.  A voice is needed that would not steer them wrong. People desire a voice that is not selfish, but actually is looking out for the customer/client first. That voice has been rare in the past, but there is a new game in town.  It is a game where one takes the role of a trusted advisor, and often, because he/she is trusted, what they say carries incredible weight towards a purchase.

It is however, a voice, that may just say, “This product, our product, is not for you.”  It is a voice that looks out for what is needed by the customer/client, first and foremost. It is a trusted voice, and dare I say, not just “A” trusted voice.  People desire someone to be their trusted voice in the wilderness of buying and selling.

Find solutions to problems. In order to be your client’s trusted advisor, you will need to change your approach.  You will need to change directions and change the emphasis from products to problems, and, then find solutions of those problems.  The client in todayäó»s new realm of business and sales is eagerly seeking out someone that is finding solutions to their problems.

Could that be why we are now reaching out millions of times a day, as a culture, to the internet attempting to find the best solution to our issues, the correct answer to our questions, and the ultimate solutions to our problems? It is time we recognize that consumers today are smarter, more versed in the subject at hand, and wise to the “sales closes” used so often in the past.

At this writing we are living through some of the worst economic times in history.  It does not seem to be giving in and turning around soon, either.  Millions of people have lost their jobs, many stand to do the same in months to come.  Businesses, long standing, are closing their doors.  And that is not the worst of it.  Lives are being destroyed.  Marriages are going down the tubes, life savings are being eaten up and wrecked, and lives are being taken.

In household after household, boardroom after boardroom, it would not be difficult to turn the finger back towards ourselves and say, “I’ve blown it. I have let everything be destroyed. I HAVE FAILED.” Despair turns to hopelessness and depression turns to wrecked lives.  Our world seems to be crumbling around us and FAILURE SEEMS TO BE FINAL.  The light coming toward us in the tunnel seems not to be the light at the end of the tunnel, but the headlamp of an oncoming train! Failure seems final.  Nowhere to turn.  No place to go. No hideaway to hide in.  Failure is final. Or… so it seems, right now!

But failure was not final for Thomas Edison, or Colonel Sanders, and does not have to be final for you and me.  Our lives may take a detour, we may get stopped in the middle of our dreams, we may even stagger through some stage of life, but you and I have choices, as human beings, and you can choose to go through the failure OR let the failure in your life become a final straw and stop trying.

Failure does not have to be the final answer to the stuff of life. If you really THINK  that to fail is final, THEN FAILURE WILL BE FINAL. If you allow it to, failure will stop you cold in your tracks, derail the possibilities and opportunities, sidetrack your focus, and ambush your heart felt ambitions. Failure can suck life right out of your determination and resolve and make you question your very being.  It will do that if you really believe that to fail is a final destination.

Thank goodness medical researchers do not believe that failure is final, or we would not see so many medical marvels.  Celebrate that most adults do not give up on their kids, or we would be run over by hordes of juvenile delinquents. It is incredible that inventors continue on when there just doesnäó»t seem to be any answers, and unfathomable that in the deepest crises triumph can resolve to win. You see, failure is not necessarily final, BUT THINKING IT IS, WILL MAKE IT FINAL TO YOU!

“You are what you are, because of what goes into your mind.  You change what you are, by changing what goes into your mind.”  So the choice really is YOURS!  Choose it wisely!  Your life and many others’ lives hang in the balance.

Listen to your heart!

What is it that your heart is saying to you about the situation? What seems right to you and what seems totally off base?  Which decision makes sense to you and which strategy falls in line with integrity, honesty, and fair play?  What is your heart telling you?  What seems right in the middle of your stomach?  Does it fall in line with the healthy principles of life you endeavor to live by?  Are you listening to your inmost feelings and concerns?

A couple of years ago, I was part of a conversation where one person was playing more the role of a bully to the others in the group.  It had to be “his way” over anyone else’s desires.  One person in the group asked him if “he had heart?”  “Of course, I have heart,” he responded, “it’s beating deep in my chest.”  The sad thing was that he was absolutely serious … and missed the point entirely.

After hearing that comment, I felt very sad, because I knew that he really did not have heart, after all. There was very little compassion, very little sense of doing the right thing versus his thing.

When you learn to listen, you learn to listen to what your heart is saying.  When you do, you will have sensitivity to others and have an inmost sense of what they are thinking or planning or doing.

Listen to your management team!

A major mistake of some leaders is that they do not surround themselves with people who will speak up, speak out, and attempt to make things better. Too many people want “yes” people around them and as leaders they do not listen to the management team they have put in place.  You need to trust your management team, or you need to get someone you can trust.

Years ago, I was part of a management team of 4-6 executives.  One day the leader said to all of us at one time, “I can do all of your jobs better than you can.”  Interestingly enough, each of us had highly specific job responsibilities and to do all of our jobs would have been impossible for him.  Please note, that in less than six months, all of his managerial staff had left their positions.

A leader should place around him people that can do their job better than he/she can.  Then, the leader should listen to them.  He/she may not like what they say, but the leader needs to hear it anyway.  It might just change the way things would have turned out, had the leader listened.

Your management team should be able to be counted on to give relevant information, be a sounding board, give constructive alternatives and have insights that you might not.

Listen to your customers!

Whether they talk or not, be sure to listen to your customers. If one complains, you can bet there are 11 who have not complained but may never use you again.  If one praises you, accept the praise, but don’t let it go to your head.  There may not be 11 people who would cheer over the same type of praise.  Survey your customers, reward them for suggestions that you implement.  Listen to them when they are silent and when they are vociferous.  Whatever you do, do not ignore your customer and/or their desires or complaints.  We have adopted the theme “Serve. Deliver. Serve Some More!” If you are going to serve your clientele, you will need to listen to them.

Do Not Listen To Your Competition!

Now, this one may be controversial and you may say that you need to know what your competition is saying.  What I really mean is that they should be the bottom of the barrel of whom you listen to.  If you want to copy them, listen to them.  If you want to get ahead, do not pay them any attention, but spend the time changing what you do and how you do it, so that you will be far ahead of them. You will want to lead the way in your niche market, and listening to your competitors will be counter-productive.  If you do what they do, what will set you apart? To be sure, listening to them will not set you apart.

You must be ahead of the game!

If you are doing the same basic things that everyone else in your market niche does then you are part of the pack and not leading the way. If your processes are the same, your basic customer service is the same, your commitment to follow up is the same, and a myriad of other ways you do business are just about the same as your competition, then how can you expect to be ahead of the game? There really is no difference between you and your competition.

One of the first things I suggest is to go back to your business and list every process and procedure that you do in your business.  After you have written them down, change the way you are doing ALL of them or AS MANY OF THEM AS POSSIBLE and you will then be revolutionizing your business. You WILL be different.  You will no longer be the same as they are. You WILL make a significant impact on your customers and you WILL be ahead of your competition.  The reason is that they are still doing the same old things the same old ways getting the same old results and your results will be better and different.  If you keep on doing what you have always done, you keep on getting what you have always got. From this day on however, you are changing the ways you are doing things. You will be recognized for that.

You must be willing to try new ways of doing things!

This is really where the rubber meets the road.  If you are afraid of change or confronting your employees to change, then your business life will never be different.  You need to become outrageous, because that is what your employees will say about you, your competition will say about you and your customers will say about you: “This guy (this action, etc.) is outrageous!” It will require that you throw the box of your thinking out completely and forever.  Think differently.  Think ways you have never thought of before.  Think outrageously.

Several years ago I was talking to an owner of a successful business and had made a suggestion of a major change in doing things.  His response was: “My technicians would never accept that change. They just would not be caught doing that.” He might as well have said that his technicians were running the show.  He might as well have indicated that he was not in control but his technicians were.

Jeffrey Gitomer, national sales trainer, has said “Don’t compare yourself to the competition, differentiate yourself from the competition – and win the sale.”

In times like these you must try new ways of doing things and be committed to doing the new ways.  There is no better time to do that than right now.

You need to be flexible!

Inflexibility is a killer and it will be seen in the first two considerations above.  If you are inflexible and unwilling to look at your present procedures AND CHANGE THEM, or if you are inflexible and unwilling to try new ways of doing things, then you WILL NOT get ahead of your competition and you will not succeed in an extreme fashion.  You may even wither away on the vine or just plain die, because you were not flexible enough.

You must be flexible.  Don’t be like my friend who said he was “old fashioned,” which meant he would not be flexible and change the game of his thinking and what he was willing to do.  He did not, and is still in the same boat he was in. Flexibility will lead to risk, which leads to possible failure, however flexibility can allow you to achieve things you have never achieved as yet.

You need to not be satisfied with average and being part of the pack!

All of these considerations run together. However, if you are satisfied with the average, you will never get ahead.  You will never stretch, never turn over new ways of thinking, and never throw the box totally away. Would you rather lead the pack or would you rather just be another part of the pack?  Frankly, in my business, we want to lead, not follow; stretch, not shrink back; invest, not hoard; seek healthy, positive opinions that may be different than ours, not join the negativity crew. We want to win, not lose!!! We want to be OUTRAGEOUS, NOT complimentary to everyone else.

My question to you is: What do you want, anyway?

It has always been a problem, but during these economic times the problem is exasperated.  Cash flow problems are today at record epidemic levels and companies, small and medium size, are closing their doors because of it.

Besides managerial ineptitude or poor business practices, there are generally three main areas that comprise a company’s cash flow problems:

Cash Flow problems occur when you experience slow pay for the goods or services you have performed. Companies used to expect payment within Net 10 days or Net 30 days, but now payments generally take as long as 45 or 90 days, and can take much longer.  I know some very large national companies that take 180 days to pay their vendors.  When others do not pay you on time, then it seems reasonable to realize that you cannot pay the people you owe on time, and a vicious cycle begins.  Part of the problem exists because of the time and cost of preparing paper invoices, including sending them out and waiting for a check.

Cash Flow problems happen when there is not enough money coming into your business on a regular basis, month in and month out. If you cannot depend on a certain amount of money each month in sales, you will struggle for the cash to pay your employees, overhead, and yourself, let alone make a profit.  In an economic climate where your customers are experiencing their own cash flow issues, it is extremely difficult to ascertain what your monthly income will be on a regular basis.  Combine that with “slow pays” and you have a recipe for disaster in your business.

Cash Flow problems also occur when you do not change the way you and/or your sales people conduct themselves (sell). The name of the sales game has to change, and in fact, the game itself has to change.  People are more informed, more educated and savvy and the old game of “closing until they drop” is no longer effective.  Loyalty is not a common place household word any more.  Your customer does not have to buy from you and won’t if they are dissatisfied.  There are other alternatives and they are choosing these instead of opening themselves to the pressure tactics and other forms of sales as we once knew it.

So, what are some ways that you can begin to solve your cash flow issues?  Let me share three, one for each cash flow issue.

You must establish ways to reduce the enormous time it takes from delivery to getting paid.  This seems to be common sense, but sadly, most businesses today are not effectively tackling that issue.  The average cost of sending a single invoice by mail today is somewhere between $75 and $100.  If you are a small or medium size company today and your invoice is under $100, if you decide to process it manually and send it by äóìsnail mail,äó you have just eaten up your total cost and profit.  Begin the process of reducing your accounts receivables time by evaluating your invoicing procedures, and then require electronic payment within 48 hours.

Next, you must start a monthly “continuity” program where you build a significant monthly base of income that you can definitely count on.  A thousand people paying you $10 every month brings you $120,000 extra income each year. Companies in all walks of life, retail and service, are catching onto this huge revenue source, and you can as well.

The third way to begin to solve your cash flow issues is to “change the game” of how you and your sales people conduct business.  People today do not want to be sold, they want a trusted voice or advisor that guides, helps and leads them to a viable solution to their problems.  They do not want a sales person “selling them” what he/she wants to sell today. They desire someone who can come along side and assist and advise and solve their perceived and real problems.

Can you solve your cash flow problems beginning today?  Of course, however, you will need to “throw the box away” and begin to think in ways you have never considered before.  One business owner told me that “he was old school,” and couldn’t possibly begin to adopt these methods to his business.  Sadly, he is still struggling with cash flow.  Will you?

Not only does it happen on the sales floor or between handshakes on the golf course or at the restaurant, but it happens nearly every day in office after office throughout the country.  Workers, in the office or on the road, take extra time away from their jobs, spend time reading personal email, send messages over the computer or their mobile phone to Facebook and other social outlet media, answer an abundance of personal phone calls to their cell phone and burn profit without recognizing it or unfortunately not seeming to care. Service personnel who drive between jobs get done a few minutes early and instead of going back to the office, go home.

It really doesn’t hurt anything, right?  Well, wrong!  Take a longer lunch break than you are allowed, go home early when no one is watching, use the copy machine to print your teens’ term paper, without permission, use “business time” for “personal time” and you drastically affect the bottom line.  You may not own the company, so who really is hurt, anyway?

My partner and I had arrived by flight in Los Angeles late one night to participate as vendors in a trade show. Arriving at the car rental agency counter, where we had a rental car confirmed, we were assisted by the night manager, a very attractive young lady.  As trained to do, she asked about upgrading our reservation, this time saying, “We have a new Cadillac that you gentlemen can rent for only extra xx dollars.”  Now, sometimes we would upgrade, if the situation required it, however that night was not one of those times.  Upon declining her suggestion, she looked at us both and said, “Just put it on your expense account gentlemen, the company won’t know!”

We looked at each other and started laughing and nearly at the same time, replied, “Miss, we ARE the company! We own the business!” Just like some employees, she figured “who would care, charge it to the company, who cares about the bottom line.”

You see it becomes a mindset if you are not careful.  You don’t own the company, so who cares if the profit is slim?  Who cares if the sale gets made and you give up some of that profit margin? Who cares, if I don’t feel like putting in a full effort today, and goof off a little?  I work hard. I deserve a break.

It doesn’t stop with employees or even those in your management team.  Your customers want to get as low a price as possible, but often would never accept the profit margin you live on.  They play you against your competition and call it “due diligence.”  They play the “I can’t afford it” game, until you offer a better deal. But stop a minute!  You need to remember!

Remind yourself today that profit is NOT a dirty word. Profit allows you to take a much needed paid vacation and to have part of your insurance paid for.  Profit means there may be money available to upgrade much needed equipment and provide those extra benefits that you have been wanting. Profit means there may be money to hire extra needed help and give a “fair” wage.  It will not happen, however, if you allow the mindset that “profit is a dirty word” to permeate your life and business dealings.

So the next time an opportunity comes to waste some time or to spend company money that is not necessary, remember that PROFIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD!

How did that happen?  Through “connections”, commonly called networking.  One person led us to another that in turn led us to an association of 1400 like minded companies.  One problem many of those companies had was related to a particular software program, and through specific connections we eventually became the only American reseller of that software which led us to companies large and small, across the spectrum. That connection led us to other connections and because we became very prolific at networking, our company grew exponentially.

Can that happen to you?  Absolutely!  Start connecting and see what happens to your business growth.

You will never get anywhere in business without networking (or “connecting”). While I am writing this, a friend from several years ago called me, saying he was contacting some people he had known and dealt with in the past and wanted to re-establish some relationships, if possible.  A half hour later we had discussed several things that we could do for each other and both of us came away from the conversation knowing there was a huge possibility of future cooperation and working relationships between us and excited for the possibilities. The work relationship alone could be worth several thousands of dollars, but in parting, he declared that he would like to foster a personal friendship between us which goes beyond just the business relationship.

A couple of weeks past I was a preferred vendor at a trade show, where I happened to see an acquaintance of several years, even though we had not spoken  for a couple of years.  Finding out that I had written two books, he wanted to read them and is now recommending that his company buy a thousand of one of the books to distribute to their customers. On that same trip I sat next to three gentlemen on the airplane (4 segments total) and established a rapport and conversation with them.  Who knows where that will lead to over the next several years?

Never let an opportunity pass by to introduce yourself and ask, “What do you do for a living?” At the very least you will discover wonderful people to learn from and relate to, for even a short time. At best, you will begin to establish a platform on which great business relationships can be built.

Great businesses grow because their owners, managers and employees make “connecting” a very high priority.  The old saying is very much often true, “it’s not always what you know, but who you know, that counts”. Connecting makes that possible.

Who have you connected with lately?  What have you done for them? In what ways have you helped them and served them?  Are you connecting because you have to or because it has become a way of life to you?  Is it satisfying or do you dread those networking opportunities.  “Connections” in life really are the key to building your business.

One of the habits I have lived by all of these years in sales and in business contacts is JUST ONE MORE!  Before you head home for the day, before you close the doors of the business, before you decide that your day is over, remember, “Just one more.”  One more phone call, one more visit, one more contact, one more call back, and one more thank you note, has literally made me thousands and thousands of dollars throughout the years.  When you get in the habit of “just one more”, you don’t quit, you don’t give up, you don’t let discouragement take over.  You constantly are striving to find that person, persons or company that will be dissatisfied or getting ready.

Work on “expanding your mind” EVERY DAY. Don’t get in a rut. Keep reading relevant books, listening to business or sales CD’s, talking with other professionals and learning new techniques and ways of doing things.  Keep aggressive in your thinking. Throw the box away and don’t think about “how we used to do it”. Learn something new every day that you can apply to your business and/or life. It is too easy to become stagnant and soon your business will become stagnant.

Connect with someone new EVERY DAY. “Connections” or “networking” is critical in today’s business.  Expand the people you know and connect with them by learning more about them and serving them.  In turn, you will find referrals and business coming your way.  My partner and I were able to take a company nationwide in less than two years, which is simply unheard of, because of our ability and desire to “network.”  You must have a “connections” state of mind, and must make a conscious effort to network consistently.

Never be satisfied. When it comes to keeping that pipe line full, when it comes to aggressively working your business, do not become satisfied.  You need to have a “leader’s mindset,” and not one that is satisfied with being part of the pack. Stay informed, keep connecting, keep learning, keep filling up that pipe line. If you go on vacation, work doubly hard before and after.  When the storms of life come, and they will, determine to ride them out.  When people say that business is doomed, prove them wrong.

Your business does need building today! It will not grow by itself.  You must do something, say something, act on something so that it will continue to grow strong. Do something to build your business every day. Be consistent.  You will not regret that decision.

Do not think it is just limited to workout facilities and golfing events.  Service providers, such as home contractors in the form of plumbers, electricians, heating and cooling contractors are being taught to have priority clubs with a small monthly fee from $5.95 to $34.95.  And for that fee they are given one or two free checkups and home evaluations, priority service and more.  Doctors, chiropractors, lawyers as well as your local auto repair shops are utilizing this additional multiple stream of income to not only increase their monthly income but to increase their customer’s loyalty factor.  Restaurants are even giving discounts and preferred seating or reservations for a monthly fee.

Think of it, if you could get 1000 persons giving you $15 or $20 each and every month, and made to feel special because of it, your annual income would increase some $180,000 to $240,000 per year over what you had last year. And you didn’t lose any money, because you did not have it in the first place, each and every month. With that additional loyalty your customers will spend money more often with you in addition to their small monthly investment.

So, why aren’t more companies doing continuity programs?  Part of the reason is that they have never really thought that continuity programs were for their business type.  One day a lawyer and I were talking about continuity programs, and he said that he was “old school” and just could not see how a “membership club” would function for him, and more important was the fact that “how would his present customers feel about a lawyer implementing such a strategy? His fear of loss of income kept him from realizing greater income.

I really call it limited thinking.  If you are going to have tremendous cash flow in multiple streams today then you will need to break loose from your present thinking, and totally throw the box away.   You will need to think differently, strategize differently, come up with seemingly new ways, and not be hamstrung with old thinking.

So what really is a continuity program?  It is elevating your customer or client to a preferred status and giving them some type of perceived preferred treatment and in return collecting a small amount of money automatically each and every month, until and unless they cancel.  In doing so, you incrementally increase your monthly cash flow on a regular basis and since it is automated, you will get it faster, and be guaranteed to get it!

Is it right for your company? Absolutely! I can think of very few companies that would not benefit from a continuity program.  Start thinking, start imagining, start coming up with what you could offer and make a plan.  Then implement it, sell it through incentive sales for your sales people and staff, and in turn reap the rewards of continual guaranteed dollars added to your bank account every month.