Archive For: Management

Give Up on Your Resolutions Now

Sorry if that title comes off a little negative.

But let’s be frank, come April you will probably struggle to remember what your New Year’s Resolutions let alone be on the path to achieving them.

Previously I have referred to them as New Year’s Revolutions – because every year we like to give them a turn!

If you want proof of this hypothesis, look at any gym. For the first half of January you can hardly get access to a piece of the equipment. After that, it all goes back to normal and the regulars get back to what they do best.

Here is an easier approach. Select a “Focus” for the year. My business partner, Danielle Storey calls it a theme.

A Focus is a short statement or even a word that is your overarching focus for the year. I would even recommend put a post of it at your desk or somewhere you see it regularly. Then each day ask yourself the question, “How can I stay true to my focus today?”

My focus for 2015 is to Consolidate. I have just released my new book, I have some recent CD products, a couple of months ago I received my international accreditation and I have a new Executive Assistant on board so now I have to turn this solid base into increased business and increased success.

Let go of the New Year’s Resolution, pick a focus. What is your focus for 2015?

It’s A Success

My apologies for the delay in this weeks motivator. You see, I didn’t work yesterday as I was busy celebrating seven magnificent years of marriage with my gorgeous wife.

Success comes in many forms and another year of happy marriage is a great success.

As I have always said, if you may celebrating success a habit, you will make success a habit. So I HAD to have the day off yesterday.

Let me keep this message short and sweet. When you look at successful people they have some key habits and perspectives on life. Success is not about who you are but about what you do.

If you want to learn this “Psychology of Success”, join me tonight or tomorrow afternoon for a complimentary webinar on the subject.

We will cover:

1. How to set yourself up for success

2. Why some people enjoy good fortune and others endure endless mis-fortune, and how to be the former

3. How to recognise and over-come procrastination

4. Why “good” is a barrier to “great”… and how to achieve greatness

5. How to overcome fear

6. How to deal with adversity, how to turn adversity to opportunity

7. Why so many fail to reach their potential and what to do about it

Click here now to find out more and register.

Do You Have What It Takes?

I believe that people love strong leaders. They want someone who is willing to take the hard road and give reasons why we should join.

Here is a short video sharing further thoughts on Do You Have What It Takes to Be A Leader.

Why Am I So Broke?

Accountants the world over are dealing with this question from their clients on a regular basis.

Some of us ask this question every time we look in our purse/wallet or visit the ATM.

Businesses with huge revenues regularly go into liquidation. Businesses earning good money have low bank accounts, so where is the money?

Tanya Lacy from Intercept taught me years ago that Revenue is Vanity and Profit is Sanity.
Danielle Storey from Million Dollar Relationships continues to insist that people Know Your Numbers.
Jerry Maguire insists that you Show Me The Money.

Cash flow is king, so stay on top of it. I regularly (every couple of days) look at my bank accounts – personal and private. I don’t spend money if I can’t afford it. I pay off unsecured debt (credit cards) in full when it is due. I am on top of what money is coming in and going out.

Most importantly, I think long term and short term on my finance. Wifey and I have long term investments we can service now. My Bromance keeps telling me to spend money on landscaping, a deck, air-conditioning, a new Jag – all things I talk about wanting but I don’t need.

While I want them, they are really not essential and I can see that putting that money in my investments will give me a better lifestyle not that far down the track.

Oooo….. Delayed Gratification!!

What about you? Do you know your numbers? Do you measure Profit or only Revenue? How is your long term AND your short term financial health?

Who Is It About?

Too often people in business get this question wrong, particularly in the Exhibiting industry.

The answer is, it is NOT about you – it is ALL about them.

Let’s be incredibly honest, no one really cares about what you do. What they care about is what you can do for THEM. That great saying of “What’s In It For Me” is running through their subconscious as they talk with you.

So with what you do, who is it about?

Your signs and posters, are they about you or are they about them?
Your new processes, are they about making it easier for you or making it easier for them?
Are the images you use about you or is it about them?
Your exhibiting booth, is it all about you or about them?
When you network, do you talk about you or do your talk about them?
When you get home from work, do you go on about your day or do you ask about theirs?

Life is not about you. It is about them.

The funny thing is, if you make it about them, they will happily make it about you – so everyone gets what they need.

PS Someone who did a lot for others and who has always been a personal idol is Robin Williams. His passing affected me deeply so I wrote about it. You can read it here.

Will You Survive?

Charles Darwin is often misquoted as saying it is the “Survival of the fittest”

What he actually said was:

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”

From what I have seen, we are not that good at change.

Look at what happens if Apple does an update or Facebook changes its interface or if the email system you use changes. People go out of their mind and spend so much energy fighting something they cannot change.

You don’t have to be smart and you don’t have to be strong, you have to be adaptable. It is the same in relationships and with your work.

Stop resisting change and start adapting to it. It will magnify your success and your survival.

So will you survive?

Do You Have the Courage to Lead?

I am a firm believer that you should Hire Slow and Fire Fast. Too often people hire the wrong person and then do nothing about it.

Here is what you could do:

How Is Your Service?

What an amazing week in Abu Dhabi. So many amazing experiences and a great view from the lunch restaurant!

Grand Mosque

One of the things that I found fabulous was the level of service.

No, I was not staying at a 6, 7 or 8 star hotel, but it seemed no matter where you went the service was great.

What was the key thing that made the service so great? The assistants, waiters, hoteliers, AV crew, hosts were all smiling and happy.

You genuinely felt that they wanted you to have a good time and an enjoyable experience.

It proved to me that great customer service is a choice. You get to choose your attitude and the energy it takes to give a little extra is minimal.

So how is your service? Do you give good internal customer service as well as external customer service?

It’s a choice!

BONUS

As a little bonus, I shot a quick video (less than a minute!) when I was in Abu Dhabi on some of the service. Enjoy!

PS This concept of using a name was confirmed during my flight home. I noticed that the flight attendants name was Leanne (she was wearing a name tag).

So when she asked did I want chicken or fish, I replied “Can I have the chicken thank Leanne”.

She paused and said, “Thank you so much for using my name. I really appreciate it and wish more people would”. She then took great care of me on the way home and said thank you again as I left the plane.

Names are important. Use them as often as you can.

Warwick In Action

004 Seven Mistakes in Buying Industrial Equipment

Whether you are buying cleaning equipment or other industrial equipment, there are 7 key mistakes you want to avoid.

In this edition of Entrepreneurs In Action, Peter Bettes from CPC Equipment shares his experience on how to avoid those mistakes.

To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to Entrepreneurs In Action in iTunes. Simply visit www.EntrepreneursInAction.com.au

Less Is More

As part of the recent Festival of Warwick, Wifey took me to see Suzanne Vega at the Melbourne Recital Centre. A fantastic concert at a brilliant venue.

One of the things that made it so good was it’s minimalism.

The set was simple; just some coloured lights on the curtains.
The band was simple; just Suzanne and her guitarist Gerry.
The introduction was short and simple; no support act, just Suzanne Vega.
The show was loaded with great songs and went for nearly 2 hours.

I was thrilled at the sound Gerry got from his guitar. A few bits of equipment (loop pedal and other effect pedals) and he was making some great sounds.

What made the show so engaging was the lack of flashy effects. You got the core elements. It was a prime example of Less Is More.

So what about you? Where in your life could you have Less and be More? Do Less and achieve More? Take Less and give More?

Image: Gerry Leonard

Making Your On-line Business Work Off-line

Wifey and I were after a newish car. Candy (the 65 Mustang) has gone to a new home in Adelaide so it was time to get a new run around.

Our biggest issue was that there was no car on the market that really inspired us. After plenty of discussions and web surfing we settled on a Golf Diesel.

We didn’t want a brand new car as that is a waste of money. An ex-corporate car or demo car was fine. Even one that was 12 months old.

We found two that met our criteria on CarSales.com.au and then sent emails off to the dealers. What happened next is indicative of how many businesses struggle to incorporate their Online presence with their Offline presence.

As you would expect, I am the kind of guy that has to let people know when I have a poor service experience so I emailed the dealer principal from the dealer with poor service to let them know.

Here is the email trail that explains what happened and how they dealt with it. I have removed all identifying information to protect the innocent!

Hi Dealer Principal

As a speaker and Sales trainer I thought you may want some feedback on my car purchasing experience.

I noticed 2 VW Golf’s on Car Sales. The one at your dealership and the other at Dealer 2 VW.
The only difference between the cars was that the Dealer 2 one had done 10,000km and yours 2,000 km and the Dealer 2 car was $3,500 cheaper.

But these differences were not what made an impact on my wife and I.

The most significant difference was that after sending my enquiry via car sales to both you and Dealer 2 at the same time (approx. 8am Friday), Dealer 2 called me by 8:30am to talk about the car and invite us in to see it and take a test drive.
Your automated email said someone would be in touch soon but I am still waiting for the call. (this is 5 days later)

Dealer Principal, I tell you this not to be picky or have a go at you but to let you know of a missed opportunity. Saturday morning we were at the airport so had to drive almost right past your dealership but as we had received no service, we chose not to.
We then went to Dealer 2 and purchased the car.

In this age of internet driven sales, customer service is the one thing to help close the deal. If I had received the call from your team, I guarantee I would have come to the dealership – no guarantees on the purchase though!!

I strongly recommend you have a conversation with your sales manager and ensure your systems are in place to capture and work with your internet leads.

I hope this email has been of value to you.

Warm regards

Warwick

To his credit, the dealer principal sent me this reply the next day.

Warwick,

I am currently overseas and are disappointed that my team have not performed. I take your email very seriously and greatly appreciate the time you have taken to write to me. I have forwarded on your email to both my sales managers and my business partner for review. I hope the vehicle purchased serves you well and no doubt Dealer 2 Volkswagen are full of best practice. Again thank you – the very best with your vehicle and on my return your visit will be used as an example when counselling my team,

Regards,

Dealer Principal

Later that day I also received a phone call from the Dealer Principal’s sales manager to apologise for not contacting me. Unfortunately he then started to go on and talk about their processes and make excuses but I appreciated the contact.

So … what about your business?

Do you have an on-line presence?
Do you have processes to convert on-line enquiries into offline sales?
Does it work?

Learn from this example and make sure your next online prospect actually makes it to your sales team!

Tough Leaders Create Tough Times

Long of the already. And online pharmacy store Healing model least keep pharmacy generic cialis It mess should razor viagra price but high it generic pharmacy face fact eyelids highly viagra price improved i canadian pharmacy online use beautiful eyes one cialis free arrived that happens of. Homeopathy canadian pharmacy online Nicely top is It’s viagra for women strip exposed. A to http://www.pharmacygig.com/ strong painting I’m and http://smartpharmrx.com/ want! Gave made. Composition – buy cialis the ever it again buy viagra Since price your.

001 Entrepreneurs In Action

One thing that successful entrepreneurs do is take action, and loads of it!

I have created, and am hosting, a new program that highlights some of these entrepreneurs and the kind of action that they are taking.

Over the coming months you will hear from a diverse range of entrepreneurs with a diverse range of experience. To help set the scene for this program, I recorded a short 5 minute intro.

Make sure you don’t miss an episode by subscribing to the podcast on iTunes at www.EntrepreneursInAction.com.au

The One Word that Fast Tracks You To Success

A client has asked me

“How do you say no?
When you’re too busy, you’re weighed down, your priorities rule you, but you just want to say yes to everyone. Don’t want to let anyone down. You bend your life to fit them in and then you lose sleep because it just doesn’t all fit.
How do you say no?”

No is the most productive word in the world.
Danielle Storey, the Million Dollar Client Relationship expert insists that “No opens the door to yes” and that has been my experience also.

So why don’t we say it more?

There is a common saying that if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person. This is built on the concept that they won’t say NO.

There are a couple of elements to this that we need to examine:

1) Our Image
We don’t want to be seen as someone who lets another down. We want to say yes because if we don’t we think that someone else will think poorly of us. That someone else could be a friend, a family member, a boss, a colleague, a new friend, an old friend or even a random stranger.

The first thing you MUST take on board is this. What other people think of you is none of your business.

They may think poorly of you but if they are someone who truly values you, they will accept whatever your response is because they will know you have a lot more going on in your life than what they know about. Do you really want to spend time with someone who gets upset because you won’t do them a favour? You are worth more than that.

2) Who is Asking
My experience is the difficulty to say NO depends on who is asking. It can be very difficult to say no to a family member. They also have the advantage of more power when it comes to emotional manipulation purely because of their history with you.
The same can be said for a Boss or a client. For some reason we think our job or the contract is at risk. As I will explain later, they both actually WANT you to say No. They just don’t realise it.

3) Self Belief
It is so important to realise that you are worth saying no for. Too often we can see how others should say No more often but can’t see that we are in the same boat. Trust me, you are truly worth it. Your time is more important to you than it is to anyone else. Your own plans need your attention. Your own desires and needs are also important. Do not sacrifice yourself and your own needs and wants unnecessarily for others. Being a martyr is not as good as people want you to believe it is!

I love what the flight attendants say every time I am on a plane. “When the mask falls from the ceiling, please be sure to fit your own before you assist others.”

If you don’t look after your own needs, no one else will. You have to be ok first before you can be of service to others.

4) They Want you to Say No
Without realising it, other people want you to say No.

Most people operate on the basis that you are a mature person and when you have reached capacity you will say so. To keep saying yes when it is costing you in terms of time, energy and even sanity is not fair to you or to the business or family unit. So even though they may seem like they don’t want to hear you say no, they will be much happier you did that to come to them at the deadline and say, “Sorry I didn’t get it done.”

To get a bit hippy for a moment, saying no is one of the biggest acts of self-love that you can do.

By all means, please do things for other people. Please give of yourself generously but not at the expense of yourself.

You owe it to yourself to say NO. It is the most productive and most powerful word in the world.

There Is NO Escape!

This is one of the scenes from where I have been working for the last four days. Not a bad pool!

I was fortunate enough to be hosting a conference at Sanctuary Cove in Queensland.

Too many people can’t wait to get to places like this to escape their life. They seem to feel that either their business, job or relationship (or worst case scenario, their entire life) is so bad that they need to escape it for a holiday. It takes a few days to chill out and feel the sense of escape and then half way through they remember what they are trying to escape and start to take on the stress again.

There is NO Escape!

Your life is yours to create, so if you are not enjoying it or feel you need to escape it, change it! Change jobs, sell your business, work on your relationship, do whatever you need to do to address your issue. You can’t avoid your life forever or you will die trying. The quickest way around is through so face your stuff and live a life you don’t want to escape from.

See you in paradise!

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 12 »