Reminder: The First Meeting for 2024 is on 1st February. Don’t forget to bring Referrals and Closed Business for December and January.
First, here are some thoughts about how to do better and make improvements in the new year.
Trying Harder!
Or, trying better? There is a difference.
Fast runners are not the same as slow runners because they just put in more effort.
Great artists and business people don’t just keep doing what they always do. They are great because they do more than others. (If you keep doing what you always do, you’ll get what you always got – Einstein).
Try something different. Will training, advice, and marketing improve your coming year?
The Small Stuff
I was reflecting recently (No – not because I stood in front of a bright light) on my buying a new car last year. I realised I was somewhat disappointed in the car dealership.
This is not just another cliche. The purchase of the car was mostly smooth and pleasant. No high-pressure tactics, no “special offers today only”, a good trade, and no waiting in a showroom for hours. At the time, I thought, “The dealer seems to be doing things right”.
It took a couple of months for the car to arrive at the dealership (despite assurances it would be a couple of weeks, and I had their loan car). So what am I whinging about?
It was the small stuff: poor communication, lack of follow-up, calls from other people in the dealership to upsell stuff I had said I didn’t want, etc.
Clear, timely, friendly follow-up isn’t just a skill; it’s a decision. Anyone can do it. But, if you don’t, it negates everything else you may have done right. People look at the small things, and if you get those right, they will have more faith that you will be the one to get the big things right, too.
The small stuff is the big stuff, whatever the business sells.
Marketing Maxims
Staying with the theme of being better, here are some simple truths:
Trust is worth more than attention.
Helping people get to where they want to go is more effective than hustling and persuading them to go where you’re going.
Choose your customers, choose your future.
Tell more people about your product/service. If they don’t tell others, might it be time for a better product?
Creating the conditions for the word to spread is the job of marketing
Customer service is not a cost but an investment
Tell the customer they may pay more, but they will get more than they paid for
Act like people are watching (they will be).
Being Wiser
I would like to be 15 again and run my life differently. I have new ideas.
I don’t let my age define me, but the side effects are getting harder to ignore.
I used to say to myself, ‘You better not say that’. Now, I’ve reached the age where I say, ‘What the hell, let’s see what happens’.
The biggest lie you can tell yourself is, ‘I don’t need to write it down; I’ll remember it’.
If you drop a chocolate on the floor and pick it up …. that counts as a squat, right?
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