Order of Magnitude CEOs

“This blog needs a little work” - Who's Your Business Editor?

“This blog needs a little work” was the disheartening but needed reply I received back to an email I had sent a few hours earlier.

Two months back I wrote an initial draft of my blog, When is a Chair not a Chair…, regarding Fred Wilson’s blog post on Marketing. There were some items I really liked about my blog that I had thought about for awhile, but, I had not yet expressed. And, other points I wasn’t yet sure about or how I should tie it all together to form a succinct coherent message that would be of some help.

So I did what I typically do, I walked away from the blog and revisited it later in the day. After taking it as far I could go in the time I allotted myself, I sent it over to my brother, Ken. Ken has served as my informal editor since almost the beginning of the launch of my blog during the summer of 2009.

It kind of happened by accident in the beginning. Over time, it has become a ritual that has worked well for me and hopefully for Ken.

Ken is somebody I trust in multiple areas. As the editor of my blog, I particularly value his thought process as an ambitious and successful executive who has made plenty of important decisions in his career. Thus, making daily much smaller decisions on to how to spend his limited amounted of time is similar to the challenge facing my intended audience of ambitious and highly motivated CEOs and business owners, such as “is this Order of Magnitude CEO blog from Jeff Silbert worth reading?”

Every business owner should have their own business editor(s) to help them transparently with tough decisions or just to think through upcoming moves. Depending on the situation, it could be a Board Member, an executive on the management team, a significant other, a mentor from the past, or an outside advisor. Your Business editor(s) plays a crucial role as a soundboard in the decision making process. The business editor helps the owner understand how others see things and also informs the business owner about other options so that the decision is made in a conscious and well thought out way. The business editor is somebody with domain expertise who you trust, who has your best interests at heart and who is not vested in the decision other than helping you make the “right” one.

For my blog, it is my brother Ken, who are the business editors for you in your business?

Seeking Improved Performance from your Staff? Focus on their Personal Goals (Not Yours)

“Daddy, I told you before, I don’t want you taking videos of me,” my almost 6 year old daughter Grace exclaimed loudly. (I was shooting a brief video of my younger daughter as she danced with my wife and as usually happens as soon as Grace notices, she demanded that I stop.)

“Daddy, I don’t like my palate expander, food keeps getting caught in it and it’s giving me a headache,” my 8 year daughter Sarah exclaimed even louder. (My older daughter had recently got a palate expander in her mouth.  And though she was initially excited about it, why I don’t know, now that she had it in her mouth, she was experiencing the downsides as was the rest of the family )

The start of our weekend was off to a rough start…

Instead of my usual tact of either ignoring each issue or just fighting through it, later Saturday morning when things had calmed down a bit, I briefly discussed with each one what was in it for them, for the long-term. For Grace, a few days back we had watched videos of her when she was younger.  So I explained, “Grace, do you remember when we watched the videos of you on the computer.  Daddy takes the videos of you so when you are Sarah’s age and even older you can remember what you looked like and the things you did.  That’s why Daddy takes the videos, does that make sense Grace?” 

Grace nodded her head up and down.

“Do you think it will be ok if Daddy takes videos of you?”

Grace again nodded her head up and down and then said softly, “as long you don’t take the mean ones.”  (which I think are videos when she is upset or crying, I have to admit I have a couple of those.)

Success with Grace emboldened me, so my next conversation was with my older daughter.

“Remember Sarah what the dentist said, later this year, the palate expander will come out, and then your teeth will have more room, look even better than they look now, AND there is a very good chance you won’t need braces, wouldn’t that be great?

Sarah sort of agreed with me, and then she immediately changed subjects and asked “can I have another Marshmallow Peep?” (which is what had gotten stuck her in teeth earlier in the morning, please don’t tell her dentist.)

In both instances there was short-term pain for me as well. When Grace doesn’t want me to take a video of her, either I end up not doing it - losing a possible great memory or end up getting both her and myself frustrated. As for Sarah, not only is a palate expander not cheap nor covered by health insurance, it  involves regular visits to the dentist for my wife or myself, and most of all, the palate expander at times makes my daughter very uncomfortable which of course is hard for the whole family.

So what do these stories have to do with running your business? Next time you notice one of your employees appearing to slack off or perform below your expectations; carve out time to understand their personal long-term ambitions (not yours). Too often business owners focus on items of interest to themselves when talking with their employees – like increasing revenue or profit which may or may not have anything to do with the personal ambitions of your employees.

Other than compensation, which is also good to know, I expect you will find additional items that could drive the right activities and behavior - recognition, advancement, personal growth, friendly competition, flexibility, or perhaps being part of something bigger that they believe in.  By finding out what drives your staff and also helping them understand why the activities you want them to do in the short-term can actually help them personally fulfill their own long-term goals, you have a much better chance of motivating them to go the extra mile for your business.

In addition, you just may find out which employees could be standing in your way.

If you think your only Business Issue is not having "A Few Good Sales People" you really do have a Business Issue

“That’s all well and good Jeff, but all we need is a few good sales people.”

I was speaking with frustrated business co-owners who were IT Consulting Partners with my previous firm, M5, that were stuck. Their business had not grown in years and both of them believed it was their inability to hire quality sales people.

“We have a great service, our clients love us, we just need a few good sales people.  All the sales people we have hired in the past have not worked out.”

I threw out a few questions in rapid succession:

“Have you written down and mutually agreed where you want your business to be?” 

“How is your identity in the marketplace with your partners and other interested 3^rd parties other than your existing clients?”

“Does your current business model scale as you add additional staff?”

“What new offers have you rolled out or plan to roll out?  Who knows about them?”

“How is your training program for…”

I was about to finish the sentence, when I was politely stopped by one of the co-owners….

“That’s all high level stuff Jeff, we just need a few good sales people.”

Ok, I decided on a different tact.

“Why would an accomplished sales person or an up and coming sales person choose your firm over their existing firm or other firms?”

“Exactly, now you got it Jeff, that’s our problem, we just need to hire accomplished sales people and all the high level stuff will take care of itself, can you recommend anybody?”

“No, you’re not understanding my question guys, Why would an accomplished sales person choose your firm over their other choices just like a client deciding to select your firm over other choices including, Do Nothing and stay at their current job?”

“No, you’re the one who’s not getting it Jeff, we just need a few good sales people.  After we have the good sales people we can work on the high level stuff like marketing, training, and why people should work at our firm.”

Now for the interesting part… that conversation took place around five years ago.

And what reminded me of it?  That’s right, I ran into one of the co-owners recently and after catching up briefly, I asked if he was still looking for a “few good sales people.” He replied, “Not anymore, I guess you haven’t heard, Jeff.   We had to downsize, eventually it was just the two of us with some 1099 help.  We ended up selling the business, if you can call it that, a few months ago to a larger firm in our industry. Now I have job,” he replied in a somber tone. “I am sorry to hear that, if you are up for it, would love to hear more about what happened,” I replied, “do you want to grab coffee?”  “Can’t do it now Jeff, I got to hurry back for weekly training at the office, maybe some other time.”

Building a scalable sales team is typically key in creating a valuable business but there is much more to it than just finding “A Few Good Sales People.”

That's Not a Hat, That's a Hat - What Are You Doing for your Company to Stand Out in a World Full of Ordinary Offers?

My wife Michelle, her newly purchased HAT, and I returned Saturday evening from a vacation to Cancun. We were very fortunate that Michelle’s parents agreed to come to our house and take care of their granddaughters (thanks Miriam and Erwin).  The purpose of our trip was to relax and so other than venturing off the hotel property for some great meals and entertainment each night, we resolved to stay by the pool and ocean as much as possible and Do Nothing.  We generally adhered to this plan except for one day.

Midway through our trip, we got up very early, spent all day on a tour bus, which I personally abhor, going to a location that was several hours inland from our hotel in order to bake in the sun with no pool, ocean breeze, or pina coladas in sight, returning after the sun went down.  What would cause us to do such a foolish thing?

The answer is that we believed we would have a memorable experience that would stand out for us, the way Michelle’s new hat stands out in a world full of ordinary hats.  What could possibly make us think that?

It turns out  the place we visited had recently won an award, but not just any award, a really big award, an award that helps this tourist attraction stand out in a world full of ordinary tourist attractions. 

Our bus trip in the hot baking sun was to visit Chichen Itza, selected in 2007, as one of the  New Seven Wonders of the World along with Petra, The Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu (I had to include the last one since Michelle is from Peru).  The funny part was that in 1999, we had vacationed in Cozumel, which happens to be the same distance to Chichen Itza as Cancun, but we did not make the trek.  This time, the chance to visit what was now designated an exclusive award winning wonder had pushed us over the edge to use one of our precious five days.  We are not alone in now wanting to visit the site, Mexican officials who actively embraced winning the designation, project a doubling in the number of tourists to visit Chichen Itza by 2012.

If your prospects have choices that are similar to your offer, don’t blend in, stand out – and the bigger and more appropriate ways your offer stands out the better.  It can be the difference in a prospect deciding to select your offer in a world full of ordinary offers.

(By the way, if you are wondering if the journey was worth it for me, the answer is Yes. Chichen Itza was my 4^th of the 7 New Wonders and each has been a journey to reach but as you know, at least for me, it is all about the journey. The hardest by far was the ride to and from Agra, the site of The Taj Mahal. All I can say is don’t go on a Friday, but that’s another story )