Re:Focus

Do You Know Why?

  Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their successes over and over?

 People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. Their natural ability to start with why enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.

 Three and a half years ago I made a discovery. I discovered that all the most inspiring and successful leaders, regardless if they are individuals or organizations, regardless of their size or industry, all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way—and it’s the complete opposite of what everyone else does. I called this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. Why does your organization exist? Why does it do the things it does? Why do customers really buy from one company or another? Why are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?

Start With Why is a book for those who want to learn to inspire others and for those who want to find someone to inspire them.  Start with Why is available now at your favorite book seller.

Special Promotion: Buy two copies, give one away and we can inspire even more people...

Are You REALLY Inetersted In Sending Holiday Wishes?

I'm fascinated how companies feel the need to use the holidays as a cheap excuse to troll for business.  It's so unsavory.  Don't get me wrong, sending a holiday card at the end of the year is a great way for a company to reconnect a lapsed customer relationship or foster a new one.  But if you don't really want to send holiday cheer, don't send the card...you could do more harm than good.

Everyone knows that sales is about relationships.  And everyone knows that relationships can't be built in 5 minutes.  Any experienced salesman knows that if he just walks in and starts "selling" ("show up and throw up" as Jack Daly, one of the best sales coaches out there, calls it), then the sales call will probably not end successfully.  The same is true for holiday marketing.

Of all the fake holiday wishes I received this year, this one was my favorite. An internet marketing firm sent me an email with the subject: Happy New Year from www.eyelogicmedia.com (see below).  Not knowing who they are, I actually did think that it was a nice sentiment and opened it.  That's when I realized that they don't care about me and my happy and healthy New Year at all.  There is not a single warm wish in the entire email. There are however copious announcements about their new clients and all their awards.

How disappointing.

They did exactly what Jack Daly rails against - they had my attention and an opportunity to talk to me like they cared about me (or at least fake it).  They could have taken a step to building a relationship with me (especially if their email was memorable).  They could have sent me holiday cheer and easily created an opening to talk to me again about business in the New Year.

But they didn't. 

As soon as I realized they weren't wishing me a Happy New Year (as they promised in the subject line), I disengaged.  I deleted the email without reading a single word about how great they may be.

Sending a holiday card to existing, lapsed or potential customers shouldn't be seen an opportunity to make a sale or remind everyone how great you are.  It  should be  used  to send warm wishes and wish people good fortune in the New Year.  That's it.  If the message is genuine and if you are creative in how you deliver it, people will remember you.  And if you really care to send holiday cheer to people, then odds are your holiday card will be one of the steps you'll take to lay a foundation for a long and fruitful business relationship.

And on that note, I wish all of you a very happy and health New Year (and don't forget to check out our online store - there are big savings on all our most popular items)...see what I mean.

Marketing Is Not About Who's Talking, It's About Who's Listening

I’d like to dispel some common myths about marketing.

 It is a common belief that marketing for consumer goods is different from marketing for business-to-business. It is also widely accepted that marketing techniques for a small company with only a handful of employees is different from that of a multi-national corporation with thousands, if not millions of customers.

 These ideas are completely false.

 Understanding what makes marketing work has nothing to do with who’s speaking. Good marketing comes from an understanding of who’s listening. No matter if you’re a mom & pop operation or a multi-national publicly traded company, no matter what communications or marketing you put out to the world, no matter how many people it reaches, the person receiving that communication is always an individual. It is a single, solitary individual person who will read your PR, see your advertising, talk to your employees or read your brochure. This is always the case no matter what you’re selling and no matter to whom you’re selling. The only thing a large corporation has over a smaller company is that they can afford to reach more individuals...but that’s it.

 If you want to make your marketing as effective as possible, stop talking about yourself and start talking about the individual who is reading your communication. The fact is, no one cares about you. People only care about themselves. We all go about our lives with a “what’s in it for me” attitude. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s a fact of life for every living human being. But as it relates to marketing, it’s a significant fact. Don’t tell people why they will like your product, it’s best to point out how they already (or want to) live their lives and then neatly place your product into it. People who buy Apple computers see themselves as iconoclasts, people who see the world differently. Apple just placed itself in the middle of that idea. People who love Dunkin’ Donuts see themselves as the backbone of American – the worker bees. Dunkin’ simply placed themselves in the middle of that (which is why Dunkin’ loyalists don’t drink Starbucks – they can’t relate to it. It’s not “every man” enough.”

 The more you can make your marketing more about the person who’s listening (or reading) and less about you, who’s doing the talking, you’ll find the efficacy of your marketing increase substantially, no matter what you’re selling or how big your company is.