Podcast

235 The Magic Of Subtle Marketing For The Professional Services Firm

Entrepreneurship, Podcast / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

235 The Magic Of Subtle Marketing For The Professional Services FirmI’m not bashful to ask for the sale, or to encourage people to buy from me if I believe I’ve got just the thing to help them. But I am bashful to be presumptuous and I think you should be, too.

For years I sat at desks where I was responsible for the outcome of the business. The buck stops here and all that. I recall far too many salespeople entering my office to pitch me their products. “This is just what you need,” they’d say. Or words to that affect.

I had never met some of these people. They’d never visited the company I was running. They hadn’t talked with anybody inside the company. But in this first meeting, without asking a single question or doing any research, they knew just what we needed. No, they didn’t. They only knew they needed to sell something.

The professional services firm – whether it’s engineering, architecture, healthcare, legal services, accounting or anything else – is steeped in competence. Professional services firms have an expertise. They’re able to do things the rest of us can’t. So when we need their expertise, there is the tendency for them to think, “Your need for me is so obvious” that they forget the necessity to be more subtle in their marketing and sales approaches.

Subtle Ain’t Easy…For You, But It’s Way Easier For Your Prospects

Subtle doesn’t mean it’s not obvious. Subtle means it’s not in-your-face. It means it takes into consideration the prospect’s point of view. It’s the opposite of the traditional throat close. You know the one. It’s the one where the sales guy grabs you by the throat and urges you to buy. Now!

Subtle marketing for the professional services firm isn’t cheap. At least not in effort and time. But it’s crazy effective in cementing great relationships, in reducing the friction of the buying cycle and a host of other things that will make it worth your while.

Sometimes friction helps us in building our practices and our businesses. Permit me to use myself as an example. If you go to my coaching page you’ll see lots of copy. That copy is designed to address the pain points that I know exist with people who would be part of my target market. There are no buy buttons, but there are some buttons to click so prospects can go to an application. Click on that button and the prospect is taken to a page where they find my Bula Network Strategic Assessment. It’s an application designed to help me better understand the prospect’s problems. But it’s also designed to do something else.

It provides enough friction to serve as a bit of a sifter. People and organizations who are not my ideal client won’t complete that assessment. And that’s great. It saves them time. They see it and think, “No, I don’t want to do this.” Perfectly fine. Guess who I don’t really want to work with? That’s right, people who say, “No, I don’t really want to do this.” My best clients are those with a really high degree of willingness. They really want to make their businesses and organizations better!

It seems counter intuitive, but it works for your prospects. It’s a bit like the dating scene. If a guy is looking for the right girl, then he’s discriminating. Not just any girl will do. So how does he sort through all the potential girls? He has some specific qualities he’s looking for, and others he’s trying to avoid. Your practice is no different. You’re looking for certain clients who have specific needs, wants and desires. You’re likely trying to avoid some clients.

Subtle marketing is designed to let your ideal clients hire you with greater ease while simultaneously trying to politely repel the clients you don’t want (those who cost you money, who are more trouble than they’re worth, etc.).

It’s Not About Kicking Traditional Marketing To The Curb

Too many people seem ready to abandon what’s now called “traditional” marketing. Namely, advertising. Advertising still works. If it’s done properly. The problem with most advertising is there’s no call to action. We’re exposed to it and we don’t know what the advertiser wants from us.

Another problem with advertising is getting it in front of the right people. We TIVO or DVR our television programs so we can fast forward past the commercials. We don’t see the billboards any more because we’re texting or talking on the phone while we drive. Dangerous? You bet, but you see it every time you get in the car. It’s not easy to get your advertising in front of people any more because the sea is filled with more noise than ever! A louder bull horn just won’t work.

Professional services firms have long embraced direct mail advertising. I love direct marketing for many reasons, but mostly because we can make specific offers and target who gets our message. We may not be able to guarantee they open it, or read it, but we can at least be certain we put it in their hands…if only on the way to the trash can. The rest is up to us.

One major problem with the way I see professional services firms do direct mail is they all copy each other. Take the financial planning world. If you are over 55 you’re on the list. These folks love the dine and sell strategy. Invite you to a nice steak house, pitch you hard for an hour and put a hard close on you…in exchange for buying you and your spouse a steak dinner. They’ve been doing it for years because it’s a numbers game that works for them. I don’t hate it because of that. I hate it because it’s “me, too.” I hate it because the steak house is likely to be the reason for the choice. Not the financial planner’s expertise, compassion or like-ability.

Subtle marketing isn’t bait and switch. It’s not hiding the obvious. It’s honest, straight-forward and truthful. It’s designed to serve and help the prospect even if they don’t buy. The aim is to help build a relationship with prospects…your ideal prospects! It’s a slow burn that can result in a big bang of business success.

But You Gotta Put In The Work

You have to know who these people are and how they’re feeling. You can’t sucker punch them with a solution. That’s lazy marketing and it’s why so many professional services firms do it. It’s plug and play. Any moron can do it. No imagination required.

Creativity takes work. Lots of work. Subtle marketing puts in tons of heavy lifting up front knowing that the pay off will be enormous in happier clients, better referrals and higher ticket services. Those rewards demand greater efforts.

Let’s just do what they’re doing.”

That’s the common refrain of most professional services firms because it doesn’t require any work. I’m always somewhat surprised at how firms quickly jump to such activities without any consideration to the outcomes. I’m after results. That’s all I’m after. For me, results mean happy clients. Clients willing to refer me to others. Clients willing to tell others about a positive experience with me. I’m looking for long-term relationships with people who won’t hesitate to call me again. And again. I want to be irreplaceable. Not because I’m the smartest or most expert, but because I’m the most helpful, the most effective. The guy who produces results.

What do you want for your professional services firm?

If you’re like most, you want more clients. And you want to serve your clients better, more effectively. And more efficiently. I’ve not met many who didn’t want to stop going crazy in the process. It’s the 3 things that matter in business building.

Don’t be lazy. Get off your butt. Engage your brain. Make it easy for your prospects by putting in the work they deserve to make doing business with you remarkable.

Randy

235 The Magic Of Subtle Marketing For The Professional Services Firm Read More »

233 6 Steps To Create Delighted Customers By Protecting Them From Themselves (Without Becoming A Dung Slinger)

233 6 Steps To Create Delighted Customers By Protecting Them From Themselves (Without Becoming A Dung Slinger)

Entrepreneurship, Podcast / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

233 6 Steps To Create Delighted Customers By Protecting Them From Themselves (Without Becoming A Dung Slinger)

There’s a strong, but perhaps subtle difference between a customer and a client. A customer buys one time. A client is a repeat customer.

Loyalty programs are designed to convert customers into clients. They don’t always work, but we can applaud companies for trying I guess.

Ideally, what we all want are what Ken Blanchard called “raving fans” in 1993. Up to that point, those of us who were fanatical about the customer experience were working hard to get people to talk about us. And as Jeffrey Gitomer has pointed out for years, we rather enjoyed having the power to control what customers said about us: something good, nothing or something bad. Mostly, customers said nothing. Because “average” best described most customers’ experiences…so there wasn’t much to say. It was the two extremes that businesses typically had to manage. The hacked off customer had to be soothed lest we get bad publicity. The delighted customer merely had to be thanked for heaping on us such high praise.

Creating sales funnels wasn’t nearly as fun as creating sales cycles. The funnel meant you had to keep feeding the top of the hopper. I never found that terribly rewarding, even when it was necessary. A cycle on the other hand goes round and round, and when it’s done well, it can become powerful because the centrifugal force can generate not just sales, but clients. That whole step of taking a prospect to a buyer can really be accelerated when somebody has become a raving fan telling somebody else to do business with us (or “you’re crazy”). It’s kind of like getting a free pass in Monopoly where you get to quickly advance ahead. Raving fans help you advance ahead and jump the curve to creating more happy customers.

You can battle the competition til the cows come home…and I’m a big fan of kicking the competition in the teeth. But I don’t want the cows coming to my home. I just want to nail the competition to the wall as fast as I can while I make sure I watch my blindside lest I get knocked out. Like a skilled MMA fighter, you’ve got to know how to attack and how to defend. Sometimes a great counter move can provide a terrific offensive opportunity by properly defending yourself.

But there’s a problem with some customers — maybe MOST customers! There are predators lurking to take your customers. It may be a direct competitor. Somebody who does the same thing you do, or something very close. It may be an indirect competitor. Somebody who is vying for the dollars of your customers robbing them of the chance to hire or buy from you. Those competitors are worth thinking about. They’re also worth strategizing against, but they’re not the predators I’m talking about. Often times, they’re not the number 1 predator you’ve got to worry about.

You have to protect your customers from themselves. I’m going to give you 6 steps to create delighted customers by protecting them from themselves.

1. Know Your Stuff

My sales career begin in the Stone Age when every salesperson was told, “Product knowledge is king.” We mostly believed it until we learned the hard way that it wasn’t true. Some crafty, low-life, lying piece of beetle dung could outsell those of us who really knew our stuff. That caused some to join the ranks of the dung slingers, but those of us who had a conscience couldn’t do that. Instead, we had to learn that it was important to know our stuff. We needed to know more about our products than the customers. How much more depended on the customer. Some were very knowledgeable and that meant we had to step up our game. Most had a much lower, or mere casual knowledge so it was easy to dazzle them.

Knowing your stuff is important for the obvious reasons, but also for the less obvious. Yes, it’s impossible to provide great solutions when you don’t have a high awareness of their differences, benefits, features and downsides. Just as importantly – maybe more so – you need to know your stuff so you can engage customers with confidence, knowing that you can help them. Some people – the best con men – are able to summons up confidence no matter what. They can flip a switch and go into high confidence mode in a flash. The rest of us have to amp up toward it. Being prepared is major ingredient in doing that. And it’s also the right way to do it if you care one whit about your integrity.

2. Be Friendly

Duh. I know, you’d think this would be a given, but there are tons of people who haven’t a clue about how to be friendly. Or they think they’re friendly, even though nobody else thinks so.

There’s a population of sales people, marketing people and others who are so steeped in knowing their stuff, they think that’s the trump card. And perhaps it could be except they’re so pompous nobody can stand being around them. These are the hyper-pros who raise their chin in the air looking down on the rest of us because they know more than we do. And even if they do, they won’t outsell those of us who know how to be friendly.

Friendly begins with a disposition. It’s an inner smile on your face that morphs into a physical smile on your face. It’s that look that says, “I’m glad to see you.” You know the look. It’s the one your dog gives you when you come home.

I don’t know why more salespeople don’t try that. It works.

Your dog isn’t being fake or phony. He’s really, genuinely glad to see you. The key for you is to exhibit that same genuine “glad to see you” attitude toward your customers.

A dog that approaches you with a wagging tail is sure to get your attention in the form of a pat on the head, a pet of the back or the ultimate prize…the belly rub.

By being genuinely friendly, salespeople can not only make the sale, but gain a customer who may become a client. The friendlier you can be the more delighted you can make your customer because part of friendliness is being helpful, genuine and sincere.

In the movie Ruthless People actor Judge Reinhold is a stereo salesman (naturally, all of us old stereo salespeople could relate to his character). In one obscene scene (pardon the language, please), he shows a pimply faced kid a pair of massive loudspeakers. The friendly banter between the salesperson and the kid make the kid instantly like Reinhold’s character. Then the kid’s pregnant wife or girlfriend walks into the sound room, “the big room.” Instantly, Reinhold’s character switches gears and takes the kid to a much smaller, but more affordable option. Why? Because he knew it was the right thing to do. That’s a big part of being friendly. Doing the right thing.

3. Listen Well

I’ve known salespeople who bragged how they knew what they were going to sell somebody before they ever walked in the door, or before they ever called. They wore it like a badge of honor and skill. Yep, those kind of people are still alive and kicking so you have to be on guard. From million dollar technology solutions to professional services to low end consumer goods the world is still full of unscrupulous people who have no idea what your problems are, and frankly, don’t care. They just know what they’ve got to sell you, and they’re going to aim everything they do to funnel you into their pipeline. Don’t be that guy!

Instead, pay close attention to your customer. Listen not just for the words, but for the emotions. You need to hear the fear or excitement. You need to sense the worry and pain.

Call some customer service hotline if you’ve not done that in a long time. It doesn’t matter who it is. How about your cable TV provider? Or your Internet provider? Or your cell service provider? Pick one of those and call them. You have a 100% chance of hearing a scripted agent attempt to triage your problem. You’ve got a 50/50 chance of getting somebody who can actually hear and understand your problem. People aren’t trained to listen. They’re trained to go through a scripted series of questions, quickly figure out if they can help you, then pass you along to somebody else who may be able to manage you better.

Delighted customers are generated when we listen to them and when they know it. Let’s call it empathy because that’s what it is.  You can’t just listen with your ears. You’ve got to use your heart, too. It should make sense, too – because your heart is where you feel delighted. So you’re going to have to use your heart to deliver it.

4. Ask Great Questions

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your business. That’s true when you’re crafting a strategy. It’s also true when you’re talking with a customer or a prospect.

Great questions help you distill the real issues the customer is experiencing. People are always talking about finding out where people have pain. Well, sometimes people don’t know that exactly. Right now, my left shoulder blade hurts, but only by going to the doctor repeatedly and having multiple tests run am I able to know the reason for that pain is because my lower neck has a slight bulging disc. The remedy for the pain has nothing to do with working on my shoulder blade. It took more probing to find the real source of my pain.

So it is with your customers. They may not be able to articulate their problem. Or they may have a convoluted issue like I’ve got with my shoulder blade. Questions – great questions – can help you hone in on how to best help serve them.

But great questions also do something just as important. They tell your customer that you care and you’re interested. A guy goes out on a first date with a girl and all he does is talk about himself. The date ends and she goes back to her apartment reporting to her friends that, “He didn’t ask anything about me!” That date may have gone far better if the guy had show genuine interest in her and asked her questions showing her how interested he was in learning about her. Your customers feel the same way.

Jump straight to the solution and you may as well scream, “I don’t really care about you. I just want you to buy from me.” Will that work? Sure, sometimes. But you’ll never delight a customer by doing that. Instead, take the time to craft and ask great questions that will help guide you to become a better solution provider for your customers. Don’t short cut the process.

5. Confidently Provide Solutions

By now you’ve established genuine trust. You’ve got rapport with the customer. They like you. You’ve listened to them and asked great questions. Now you’re ready to present some solutions. Solutions are plural. Don’t go to the solution you intended to sell all along, before you ever got to know them. Now it not the time to mess things up.

Maybe you’ve got multiple solutions based on pricing. The choices could be based on color, features, longevity or anything else. Whatever the difference are, be prepared to point those out. This is where knowing your stuff keeps paying off.

Not long ago I suggested to a neighbor who wanted to record some video presentations with narrations to buy an Audio-Technica ATR2100 or AT2005 microphone. These are roughly $50 USB/XLR microphones that sound terrific, mostly because they’re dynamic and not condenser like all the other USB mics. She saw my studio, but I told her my studio was put together 8 years ago or so. Things have changed drastically. My gear is still among the best hardware out there, but it’s just not necessary…even for me. Now, I’m not selling her anything, but by showing her the differences and telling her what she needed to accomplish her task, I could help her make a smart decision.

6. Protect Customers From Themselves (And Other Predators)

You want to help your customers make a smart choice for themselves. It’s their money. Don’t pigeonhole them into the choice you want. But make sure you work hard to protect them from themselves. That’s where confidence comes in.

A customer talking with a custom cabinet maker about the various kinds of wood. The customer, hoping to save some money, asks about an inferior kind of wood because they’re intent on some specific high-end hardware. The experienced cabinet maker pushes back. He insists they go with higher quality wood because he knows the difference it’ll make in the finished product. He shows them an alternative to the hardware they’ve selected that looks almost identical to the hardware they selected, but it’s significantly less expensive. He shows them the differences, including the warranty (the less expensive hardware has a better warranty). Turns out the more expensive hardware is a brand that advertises extensively in all the major home improvement and style magazines. The less expensive is a generic “knock off” that he likens to generic drugs. He’s used both for years and assures the customer they’ll not be able to tell the difference in the hardware, but they’d most certainly notice the difference in the quality of the wood. Knowing how customers in the past have wrestled with such decisions, the cabinet maker (a well seasoned craftsman) seizes a moment to drive his point home as he protects the customers from their own desire to save money in an area he knows will make them unhappy in the long run. “I won’t do this job for you with that wood because I know you’ll be very unhappy with the result. This is a major investment you’re making and you deserve to have cabinets that you’ll be happy with years from now when you open a door or pull open a drawer.”

His drive wasn’t to over sell the customer on something more expensive. He found a way to keep them close to their budget by giving them a superior quality product. As he explained to them, “I’ve been in business over 20 years. I’m not going to let you make this mistake because you’ll complain to everybody who ever visits your home.” Well, that’s pretty dramatic. But that’s what happens when you’ve got the confidence necessary to save customers from their own bad choices.

“We’re going to get some other bids,” say the prospective cabinet buyers.

“I completely understand,” says the experienced craftsman. “I don’t blame you one bit. But I do want to warn you of a few things you should look for. Lots of people cut corners to reduce costs and drive down prices. I’m all for helping my customers save money, but like I told you about the hardware. You can see for yourself that the less expensive stuff I showed you is every bit as high quality as the name brand. Of course, if saying you have that brand is important – and it is for some people – then I’d tell you to go with the name stuff.”

He goes on to show them some critical things to look for as they continue to shop. By doing that, they’re now fearful of his competition. Will the next guy be as forthcoming as this guy has been? And we’re really going to have to be on our toes and ask lots of questions because this guy taught us an awful lot about cabinets that we didn’t know before.

The old cabinet maker has just put a pretty good hedge around his prospects. He did it by being honest, confident and knowing his stuff. He left their house without an order, but the very next morning the husband called him and said, “Thank you for coming to see us yesterday. My wife and I thought about it and slept on it. We decided there wasn’t any point in talking with somebody else. We don’t want anybody else doing this for us. We’re ready to hire you.”

Another delighted customer protected from themselves and the dung slingers.

Randy

233 6 Steps To Create Delighted Customers By Protecting Them From Themselves (Without Becoming A Dung Slinger) Read More »

July 25, 2014 Free Form Friday

232 Free Form Friday, July 25, 2014 (and part 2 of the big bang podcast rebranding, too)

Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Development, Podcast / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

July 25, 2014 Free Form Friday

Oh, the serious issues of the day are indeed becoming less troublesome. Or I’m just losing interest.

Today is the last Friday of the month. That means it’s Free Form Friday. Well, actually many days are free form days ’cause that’s how I roll. Somebody sent me to a website that gives you a personality test, iPersonic Personality Test. I promptly went over there, took the test and broke it I think. It’s actually a pretty good sales ploy because if you want to see the career advice based on your test, it’ll cost you $19. Not bad if you need a new career and you’ve got $19. But if you’re unemployed and don’t have $19…maybe not.

Podcast Re-Branding

I’m making progress in the rebranding effort of the podcast. No, I still haven’t settled on a name, but the topic or niche is pretty well sealed I think. Mainly because I want the podcast here to be congruent with my work. So it’s about the stuff I do every single day.

Higher human performance is about diving in, doing the work and sticking with it.

And that’s what the podcast will be about. So, now I need a great, super-terrific name for the podcast. Do you want to help? I’d love it. Just use the Contact page to send me your suggestions.

I know I’m going to stick with a weekly schedule, but I’m still uncertain about length or release days. A few people – VERY few really – have suggested I go back to some video stuff, too – namely, my Word-Of-The-Day stuff. Here’s where I did the word, chase. If you want to help me include any suggestions about day of the week, how often to release an episode and how long to make the episodes (QuickSprout.com proves long form content can work) when you throw name suggestions out to me.

Helping People See Some Of What A Leader Sees

I’m always looking for ways to help people see and appreciate a bit more what their leaders see. So many of us have our head down, looking at only our perspective. We can go about our business unaware of the bigger picture.

The photo below went viral a long time ago, but it illustrates the point. Can you see the words in the picture? Until you see what it says, it’s hard. But the moment you see what it says, you can’t un-see it. It’s plain as day once you’re able to see it.

sleep

I’m wondering if I can figure out a way to help direct reports see more clearly the influences exerted on their leader. I may be chasing something that’s impossible, but I’ve been able to do it with some frequency. I just haven’t gone to the trouble to systematize it.

Yes, I Often Miss Being Part Of An Organization

Consulting and coaching can sometimes be lonely work. When the day ends, I get in my car and go home mostly leaving the work for others to do. My work at Bula Network, LLC has morphed a bit over time. Increasingly, executive coaching has been front and center. That suits me fine.

There are days where I long to be part of something bigger. Helping grow a business or organization has been my lifelong drive. I have fueled that drive by mostly running another man’s business. I’ve spent most of my career in the proverbial corner office making the day-to-day decisions to run and operate a business.

Everything is not on the Internet. Some people are steeped in careers doing things in the “real world.” They don’t know who the Internet rock stars are. They’ve never heard of all the people you may follow in social media. We can sometimes get so deep into the online world that we think that’s where all of life happens. It’s not.

Happy Friday!

Brace yourself, kids. August is almost here. Before you know it the kids will be back in school (I can hear moms all over America cheering), the trees will be turning (hopefully a color other than brown due to the draught) and the weather will be cooler (hooray!).

Now, hit that Contact tab at the top and send me an email to help me with this re-branding effort. Talk to you later.

Randy

a_shirt_id_wear

232 Free Form Friday, July 25, 2014 (and part 2 of the big bang podcast rebranding, too) Read More »

managerial-moxie

231 The Big Bang Podcast Rebranding: Higher Human Performance (Part 1)

Inside The Yellow Studio, Podcast, Randy Cantrell / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

grandson-on-monkey-bars
higher human performance can start early

Rebranding is hard work. I wanted to rebrand almost since I started this podcast. I should have made a greater effort to brand the podcast at the very beginning, but I didn’t. Instead, I just went with the name of the website and my company, Bula Network.

Over the past year it has bugged me more and more. I decided to dig in and do the work.

Here was the process in brief:

1. Brainstorm what I wanted to do with the podcast. What did I want to accomplish with the podcast?

2. Keep thinking about my work and consider how congruent I wanted the podcast to be with my actual work.

managerial-moxie3. What name properly conveys the subject? What name could I select that would resonate best while giving me enough latitude to keep the topic going over the long haul?

4. What format did I want to take the podcast? Did I want to try something different?

5. What kind of time limit did I want to establish?

6. What publishing schedule did I want? I felt like I needed to publish on the same day of the week, at the same time each episode. But how often did I want to publish?

7. What did I want the cover art to look like? Were there any color schemes I preferred?

8. What else should I consider? Did I overlook anything?

I started a draft blog post with the original title, “The Big Bang Re-Boot: Strategic Marketing, Pre-Thinking Actions And Aiming For Specific Objectives.” Yes, it was an awful title, but I knew I wasn’t going to stick with it. It was really intended to describe what I knew I had to do. It accurately described what this rebranding required.

I needed to be strategic in marketing this podcast. Something I instinctively do in my work, but something I neglected to do here right from the start.

Pre-thinking actions was also something I knew I had missed during the initial launch years ago. The only action I had thought about was that I wanted to lay down some audio tracks for the sake of legacy. I wanted to pass onto my grown kids some real world wisdom I had accumulated over the past few decades.

The sum total of the entire effort was aiming for specific objectives. That meant, I had to have some other objectives – besides legacy.

Today’s show is part 1 where I share my ideas, thoughts and concerns. Now it’s your turn to speak. I want to hear what you think of my ideas so far. There’s no point in me moving forward without you because you’re part of this. A BIG part of it.

Here’s a 12-second video of my 3-year-old granddaughter who has taken to skating like her father, my son. She’s evidence that higher human performance has no age limit, or experience requirement. It’s mostly diving in, doing the work and sticking with it.

Mentioned in today’s show:

Randy

231 The Big Bang Podcast Rebranding: Higher Human Performance (Part 1) Read More »

Happy New Year 2014 - Ballard Street

230 Home, Habits & Happiness: Why It’s Time To Kill This Podcast

Personal Development, Podcast, Randy Cantrell / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

Happy New Year 2014 - Ballard Street

Optimism. For some, it comes easy. For others, it’s anything but. However, when a new year arrives almost everybody has some sense of it. I don’t know why a calendar can have such a powerful impact. We’re 6 months into 2014 and by now, most of the folks I knew what were optimistic in early January, have tempered their enthusiasm. Some have abandoned it altogether.

Optimism is hard work. Not for the faint of heart. Almost 180 days into the new year grind takes on a toll on the stoutest among us I suppose. I’m certainly not immune to losing heart. When I do, I have to concentrate on three things: home, habits and happiness!

Home

Home represents family, closeness, the best relationships on earth and security. It should. I know that’s not true for everybody. I’m mindful of abused children, wives and other calamities that define dysfunctional homes. It makes me want to do more in my own home because I know in 2014 I can do more to express my love, care and concern for my tribe. My family is my tribe. I don’t believe in tribal business. I believe in tribal family.

Home isn’t always where the heart is, but it should be. Husbands should love their wives. Wives should love their husbands. Together they should love and train their children.

Home represents security, comfort, stability and support.

Habits

Habits, for me, begin with those involving faith. I’m unapologetic about that because I know I’m not nearly as “in control” as I might like to think. God is in control.

One of the most common ideas I encounter with people who claim to have faith is the notion that God is a magic genie. Nothing in scriptures teach that, so I’m not quite sure why people hold that idea, but almost every day I encounter people who honestly believe they can ask God for something because He’s poised and ready to grant them their wish.

If you love where you’re at in life, what did you do every day to get there? Have you stopped doing that? Lots of folks do. They get complacent. Or they feel like the climb is over. It’s never over. Well, okay, when you die it’s over. The climb that is, but not life. If you don’t believe in life after this one, well, why bother then? Just call it a day already.

Life is a knife fight that goes on. You can’t quit. Your daily habits determine the results. If you’re not happy about your lot in life, then what are you going to do about it? What daily habits are you going to incorporate to improve things?

Yes, it’s hard. Ridiculously hard. But what choice do we have? Do you really want to resign yourself to a life you hate? Or a dissatisfied life?

I confess that my daily habits are mostly to blame for my inadequacies. Too often I simply choose to not do the things I should, or I do things that don’t profit me. Smokers keep smoking. Fat people keep eating. Addicts keep shooting dope. Alcoholics keep drinking. Maybe our habits aren’t nearly as bad, but they can still be devastating to our success.

We mostly do what we want to do because what we do works for us at some level. That’s why interventions are sometimes necessary. Until or unless something drastic happens, we keep doing what we’ve always done.

What if you’re not pleased with the results? What if you want different results? Then change your habits. Do something different. Do things differently. Shake it up.

Happiness

I’m at an age where I don’t dwell much on this. Not like I did when I was younger. These days I prefer a different word: contentment. But I use them interchangeably really. Contentment is happiness.

I found this video interesting. Happiness, it turns out, has a lot to do with a person’s sense of gratitude. But I already knew that. Maybe it’s my faith. Maybe it’s knowing how blessed I am, even though I don’t always express it as I should.

What do you think makes you happy? I use the word “think” because so many people really don’t know what makes them happy. Many are left to wander about it. Some claim to never have experienced it. Others think if they can’t experience it 100% of the time then they haven’t yet found it. That’s why I so hate the whole pursue your passion conversation. It presupposes that you must experience constant passion.

Passion is an emotion, a feeling. Do you want your whole life to be defined by a single emotion? Not me. Sometimes I need to cry. Other times I need to laugh. You do, too. We all do. It’s the stuff of life.

It’s popular to deny that things are important, but actions speak louder than words. People are still chasing exotic cars, bigger houses, electronic toys and more. More. More. More.

On the other end of the spectrum are the minimalists. I rather admire them. Part of me would love to try it. Sadly, I’ve got too much clutter in my life. I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to declutter my life. Even so, I should try.

People. Yes, there’s the rub for all of us. People. It’s people that really matter. It’s relationships that make us happy. Because it’s people to whom we’re most grateful, assuming the research cited in that video is correct.

Re-Branding The Podcast // Re-Launching The Podcast

I’ve been needing to do this for awhile. I’ve been wanting to do it almost from the beginning. I’m without excuse.

Lethargy. Habit. Complacency. Low energy. Lack of direction. It’s all in play.

But I can’t lay it at the feet of any of those things really. It’s mostly about one thing, desire. I’ve lost heart for the current iteration.

It’s about people, but it boils down to desire. What is my desire when it comes to people? You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? YOU. It’s about YOU. But it’s about me, too.

The question to be answered…

What do I want to do for YOU?

Maybe it’s the wrong approach, but it’s honest. I’m tired of people asking, “What can I do for you?” My answer is almost always going to be, “Nothing.” It just sound disingenuous. And it’s growing increasingly trite.

Yes, you are important. Here, you’re important in the context of what value I can offer you. The value proposition is a 2-way street. It’s like a tandem bike. It takes both of us to make it go. But one of us has to steer. That’s my role here. HERE. I don’t drive everywhere. I just drive here. But I can’t simply say, “This is where we’re going. You just sit back there pedal hard and be happy with where we’re headed.” You have a say in where we’re headed. I have to make the decision to take you where you want to go, provided I have the skill and desire to take you there.

If you want to go deeper into the world of soccer – yeah, I admit it…the 2014 World Cup is on the TV here inside The Yellow Studio as I write this – then I’m not going to take you there. One, I’m not qualified. Two, I’m terribly disinterested. There’s more flopping in futbol than live fish hauled into a bass boat. Drives me crazy.

There are tons of places you might want to go that would be unsuitable for me. You wouldn’t take a train to Boston if you wanted to go to Philly. This is about me deciding what I do best do to serve…and figuring out where I want to go. Then, it’s about finding others who want to come along with me. And lastly, it’s about making it compelling so I can take as many people possible with me.

What does that have to do with home, habits and happiness?

Everything.

These are the things of life. These are the things that determine the course of our life. That includes how we contribute to the world. How we show our gratitude.

That’s why today’s episode is the final episode for this version of the podcast. When I return, things will be different. Better. Brand new.

What will it look like? Sound like?

I don’t know. I’m still working on it. In the meantime, I’ll be podcasting over at Leaning Toward Wisdom.

Go here if you’d like to give me your feedback. Or, you can leave me a voicemail by clicking that “Send Voicemail” tab to the right.

I look forward to hearing from you. And I’m pretty excited about starting over!

Randy

230 Home, Habits & Happiness: Why It’s Time To Kill This Podcast Read More »

Paul-Spiegelman

229 A Conversation With Paul Spiegelman

Entrepreneurship, Podcast / By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

Paul-Spiegelman
Paul Spiegelman

Meet Paul Spiegelman. He’s another Dallas/Ft. Worth guy with some noteworthy accomplishments.

Find out how Paul started a business that involved spending nights on a cot to serve customers 24 hours a day…and ultimately became a best selling author, speaker and culture enthusiast.

Paul Spiegelman is Chief Culture Officer of Stericycle, a NASDAQ listed global services organization with 13,000 employees and is the Founder of BerylHealth and The Beryl Institute. Paul also co-founded the Inc. Small Giants Community, an organization that brings together leaders who are focused on values-based business principles.

I had this talk with Paul last year for a not-yet-launched project, ChasingDFWCool.com. I’m still planning to launch that project, but this conversation with Paul needed to be released so you can benefit from it.

We talk about leadership, culture, customer service, writing and many other topics that Paul cares a great deal about. He’s also a Dallas Stars hockey fan so I knew I’d like him right away. I think you’ll like him, too.

Enjoy.

Randy

Subscribe to the podcast

bula network podcast on itunesTo subscribe, please use the links below:

If you have a chance, please leave me an honest rating and review on iTunes by clicking Review on iTunes. It’ll help the show rank better in iTunes.

Thank you!

229 A Conversation With Paul Spiegelman Read More »

Scroll to Top