Engaging our Customers

I was reading the book, Strength Based Selling, and I came across this particular chapter on Engaging your customers.

We know how important customers are for business. Some says customers are "King" while others say they are the real boss of the business. There is no right or wrong to this but more importantly is the organisation end to end process align with what they see their customer as?

The key message for this chapter falls on 2 groups of customer.

1. Emotionally Satisfied Customers
2. Rational Satisfied Customers

Emotionally satisfied customers usually have strong connection to the company. They are the number 1 die hard fan and believe in the company. They are also the key reason for the growth of the company.

Rationally satisfied customers on the contrary usually behave almost the same way as customers who are dissatisfied.

How many of you knows what I talking about? 


It further note customer engagement are build on 4 emotional needs:

1. Confidence - the company can be trusted to deliver on their promises


2. Integrity - Customers trust that you treat them fairly and resolve their problem


3. Pride - Proud to be associated with this company. Customer like to feel good about the decision they made and see themselves as capable and competent.


4. Passion - Customers who are passionate about your company offering. Their describe their relationship as irreplaceable and perfect fits for their needs.

When customers feels their emotional needs are met everytime they are more likely to become emotionally engaged with you.

So, how do we know where we are? 

We all gonna start somewhere right? There are a set of questions which we can engaged our customers for status check and us to work on the shortfall.

1. Overall what things are working well as a result of our partnership


2. What elements of this relationship are helping us build solid results together


3. Is there anything that is not going well as it should be?


4. What could we change to correct this?


5. Are you dealing with any issues right now that I could help you work through to improve the business?


6. Is there any information or education you need that you are not able to get?


7. If you could change one thing about how we are working together, what would it be?


8. What would you never change about the way we work together?


9. Is there anything else that would help us build an even stronger working relationship?

The above questions I find them to be useful as a customer relationship status check amidst our hectic schedule. Try them out next time and let me know how well it works for you!


Side notes: Some of the information were extract from the chapter from the book of Strength Based Selling.

Have You Start Reading Obituaries?

I have start to become more philosophical these days, as I realised time is ticking by so fast...I am less willing to waste my time, less willing to listen to negative people. I am even less willing to miss an opportunity to be loving, champion another human being, get closer to my dreams, or have some genuine fun. And...I started reading obituaries too. 

When I read of the lives others have lived , I am offered clues on whats most important in life. I realised that obituaries of lives well lived often share certain consistent pattern. 

• Family
• Friendship
• Contribution to community 
• Taking calculated risk 
• Kindness through small, simple acts 
• Love

The greatest of all i read speaks of being close to loved ones and of the impact the deceased had on the world around them. 

Leading a beautiful life, I always ask the kinds of questions that will provoke me to think deeply ad connect with what matters most. One of the dominant traits of so many of the extraordinary people I know is the discipline of bring more reflective than most of us. So ask profound questions. Good questions lead to excellent answers and greater clarity. And greater clarity is the DNA of authentic success and personal greatness. 

There are 5 questions that I hope will cause you to go deep and become more philosophical about what truly counts in your life. Most people don't discover how to love until it's time to die. By then it's too late...Start writing your answers down in journal, ask yourself on a daily basis and get yourself align!

• Did I Dream Big Enough?
• Did I Live Fully to the Extend of What I am Capable of?
• Did I Learn to Let Go of Those Thinking that Does not Support Me?
• Did I Love Well?
• Did I Leave the Earth a Better Place?

I hope the answers you arrive at will help you live with more passion and joy. Clarity does precede success. You can't hit a target you can't even see. And we are really not here that long, if you think about it. We'll all be dust before you know it! So live and maximise your potential now!

True Innovator.

True Innovator has a mantra they belief in...The enemy of best is good. They are constantly getting to make things better. What others call impossible they see as probable. They live out of their imaginations. They live to challenge the commonly accepted. They assume nothing. They see no limits. To them, everything is possible.

If you want to be a leader, I have a simple suggestion: Just keep innovating. Innovate at work. Innovate at home. Innovate in your relationships. Innovate in the way you see your life and innovate the way you see the world. To become stagnant is the beginning of death. Growth, Evolution and Reinvention sustain life. Sure it can be scary. But wouldn't you rather feel your fear than play small in life?

Of course, while you innovate and refuse to be bound by the chains of complacency, there will have chances that we will still fail. Not every risk we take and not everything will work out as planned. I mean that's just life. Failure is the essential to success and the more we stretch, the further we will growth. Failure is a gift. It has been so helpful to me. It took me closer to my dreams, equipped me with more knowledge and toughened me so much that i will be prepared. Success and Failure go hand in hand, like a business partner.

Companies that don't innovate wont survive, so the key is driving this innovation. The lesson is especially important when things are going well. Though it doesn't make sense but successfully company needs to me twice as innovative as their competitors to ensure they stays at the top. Leaders that don't innovate are displaced by those willing to take risks.

So go to work each day and refuse to do the same thing you did yesterday. Keep challenging yourself to think better, do better and be better. Shake things up a bit and confront your limitations. Refuse to in mediocre, stand up for whats best and commit to being great in all you do. And then you will realise how great you have become!  

Let's Get Up Early?

I was reading on the internet when I bump into this article. This is an awesome article about waking up early and how it impacts productivity, thus success.  

For 15 years, Starbucks President Michelle Gaas has set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. to go running. Gretchen Ruben, popular author of The Happiness Project (Harper Perennial, 2011) wakes up at 6 a.m. and works for an hour before her family rises. Time-management expert Laura Vanderkam highlights what makes mornings special and how we can use them more efficiently in her book What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. Here are a few benefits to getting out of bed earlier. 

You are less likely to get distracted in the morning. An entrepreneur's day fills up fast. If you wait until the afternoon or evening to do something meaningful for yourself such as exercising or reading, you’re likely to push it off the to-do list altogether. “There are going to be reasons why you can't tackle a personal priority at 4 p.m. -- things have a lot less likelihood of coming up at 6 a.m.," says Vanderkam.

You have more willpower early in the day. Even if you aren't a morning person, you may have more willpower in the early hours than later in the day. "Willpower is like a muscle [that] becomes fatigued with over-use," says Vanderkam. During the course of the day as you're dealing with difficult people, making decisions and battling traffic, you use up your willpower, leaving you feeling depleted toward the end of the day.

Mornings give you the opportunity to set a positive tone for the day. If you've ever slept in past your alarm clock or forgotten your kids' lunches on the counter, you know that starting off the day with a failure can bring down your mood and affect your productivity at work. Vanderkam says waking up earlier allows you to start the day with a victory and set the tone for a happier and more productive day.

******

If the thought of waking up at sunrise makes you cringe, Vanderkam recommends these four steps to transform even a habitual night owl into a morning person.

1. Keep a time journal. Vanderkam says one of the reasons people say they don't like mornings is that they stay up too late. She recommends keeping a time journal for a week to show where you may be using your time inefficiently. Vanderkam finds when many self-professed night owls look at their time journals, they often find they aren't spending their evening hours productively or doing anything particularly enjoyable.

2. Imagine your perfect morning. Imagine what you would do if you had an extra hour in the day. Would you exercise? Read the newspaper rather than simply skimming the headlines? "[Getting up earlier] isn't about punishing yourself. You will not get out of bed if you don’t have a good reason to do it," says Vanderkam.

3. Plan your morning. Once you have decided what you want to do with your extra time, plan how to execute it, and set as much up as possible the night before. For example, if you want to exercise in the morning, lay out your clothes the night before, or gather the ingredients for your breakfast.

4. Build the habit slowly. Vanderkam says you will likely hit the snooze button and sleep in if you try to switch your habits drastically. So instead of setting your alarm for 5 a.m. when you normally get up at 7: 30 a.m. set the alarm for 10 minutes earlier each day. To make sure you don't lose sleep, go to bed 10 minutes earlier each night. If you have trouble hitting the sack on time, set a bedtime alarm.

Having seen all this, Let's get ourselves to wake up early now!

Stay Productive. Are you?

The New York Times recently ran an article about how email can make people less productive. However, misuse of email is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Here are 10 actions that you can take today that can make you at least twice as productive as your colleagues.

1. Avoid meetings that lack an agenda.

Meetings can only be productive if people know why they're meeting in the first place. An agenda provides focus and purpose. The lack of an agenda guarantees meandering conversations that dive into rat holes. They're a waste of your (and everyone else's) time.

2. Never pick up on an unknown caller.

Unless you're working in telesales or product support, there's no reason why you should ever take a call from somebody you don't know. After all, when was the last time you took an unexpected call that was truly important? Days? Weeks? Months?

3. Permanently turn off your voice mail.

A voice-mail message consumes minutes of your time (more if you have to replay) to communicate information you could absorb from an email in seconds. Explain in your outgoing message that you don't use voice mail, and instead provide your email address.

4. Hone your email program's sorting rules.

It takes time and energy to change gear to sort through (and respond to) a long list of disconnected messages. Most email programs allow you to route different types of messages into folders, where you can review and respond en masse rather than piecemeal.

5. Periodically disable email and texting.

When you must do creative work or absorb complex information, the last thing you need is your computer and phone chirping and beeping for your attention. Whatever it is, it can wait until you've finished the task at hand. Trust me.

6. Give social butterflies short shrift.

For some people, a day at work means an endless coffee klatch. They wander the halls searching for somebody, ostensibly to discuss business but really just to chat. Don't let these time leeches hobble your success. Just say no. If necessary, get rude.

7. Reward your body with high-quality fuel.

What you eat determines your energy level, and your energy level determines how much you can get accomplished. Sugary treats provide a quick energy boost but then create an even deeper dip. Heavy foods take energy to digest, leaving you with less to use.

8. Take a five-minute walking break every hour.

The human body is not designed to sit for hours at a stretch. Attempting to do so inevitably creates aches and pains that leech your energy as your body tries to compensate and heal them. So get up and move! Use a timer if you have to.

9. Make your decisions more quickly.

Most people waste an extraordinary amount of time obsessing about (and second-guessing) their decision making. However, you're always better off making a good-enough decision quickly than waiting for an imaginary best decision.

10. Completely disconnect for 12 hours every day.

If you stop pretending to be productive when you're eating and sleeping, you'll be far more productive when you're actually working. Being always available is an unfailing recipe for stress, illness, and bad decision making. Give it rest.

I Want The Best, How About You?

One of the habits I consistently observed within those star performers and extraordinary leaders are their commitment to world class. They drive the highest quality class, live in the best house and wear the finest clothes. Their philosophy generally seems to be " I stand for being the best so it only make sense that I should invest in the best." And they held the belief even before they are successful.

Greatness is a state of mind. You need to believe in your potential and power before you can bring them to life. You need to feel like you are extraordinary before you can become extraordinary. I call this "emotional blueprinting" To see spectacular results in your external life, you have to emotionally create a blueprint of your vision within your inner life.

One of the best way I have discovered to achieve this feeling is to ensure that you surround yourself with the highest level. I remember reading a book years ago, written by Al Koran, called Bring out the magic in your mind. One of the ideas that stayed with me is : In order to be successful, it's important to go where the successful people are. Even if you have on $10, go have a coffee at the best restaurant in your city. His point? Your surrounding shape the way you feel. And the way you feel drives what you do. Feel world class and you behave world class.

Invest in the best. Buy the highest quality goods you can possibly afford. Better to buy one superb pair of shoe than three cheap ones. "Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten." When I just started out, I took part of my first pay check and invest in a great watch. It wasn't a rolex or cartier but it was a good one. My thinking was that it would last for years, make me feel successful while I wore it and actually end up saving me money because it would rarely need repairs. One of my friends who always looked for the cheapest deal laughed at me. But I turned out to be right. He changed 6 watches along the way, and mine is still working great!

I am in no way encouraging a senseless addiction to material things. All I am saying is that if you are serious about standing for the best. Rewarding yourself with the good things sends a message to the deepest and highest part of you. One that say I am worth it and I deserve it. It will inspire you to reach even higher, work even harder and be even better. To anyone who says that our self worth should be so strong that high quality goods won't affect how we feel, I respectfully suggest that such a statement misses the reality of human nature. Every one of us like nice things, they appeal to our senses just like a beautiful sunset, magnificent mountain.

The best investment we can have is to be the best. You might not agree but I owe you the truth. My tastes are simple, I just want the best, how about you?

Life...

I am 30 years old this year. Looking back at how times fly past for the last 3 decades, I realised I am so lack behind. I am halfway through the adventure I call my life. I have become more philosophical these days. I am less willing to waste my time. Less willing to listen to negative people. Less willing to miss an opportunity to be loving, champion another human being, get closer to my dreams, or have some genuine fun. I have also started reading obituaries.

Often while I read the lives of others, they offered clues on whats most important in life. Family, friendships, contribution to community, kindness through small simple acts and love. I have yet to read anything that's says anyone dies peacefully surrounded by his lawyer, stockbroker and accountant.

The great ones all speak of being close to loved ones and of the impact the deceased had on the world around them. To lead a beautiful life, I suggest that you need to ask the kinds of questions that will provoke you to think deeply and connect with what matters most. One of the dominant traits of so many extraordinary people is self-reflection. Often good questions lead to excellent answers and greater clarity. And greater clarity is the DNA of authentic success and personal greatness.

Here are five big questions that I hope will cause you to go deep and understand what truly counts in your life. Most people don't discover how to live until it's time to die. But by then, it's too late. Ask yourself these five questions today. Write your answers in the journal. Talk about them, think about them, imagine that today is the last day of your life and you are lying on the deathbed. Then ask yourself

Did I dream big?
Did I live fully?
Did I learn to let go?
Did I love well?

My hope is that the answers you arrive at will help you live with more authenticity, passion and joy. Clarity really does precede success. you can't hit a target that can't be seen. And we're really not here that long. We'll all be dust before you know it. So live your potential now. The chinese say it so well "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. But the best time is now. "

Branding

To win in the market space, the organisation needs to develop a magnificently cherished and well respected brand. And for you to get to professional greatness, I suggest that you work on, polish and protect your personal brand; your good name. It could take 30 years to build a great reputation and 3 seconds to lose it, just with one act of poor judgement.

Everyone into brand building these days. Law firms. Accounting enterprises. Retail organisations. And even Paris Hilton said:"I am a Brand"

This raises the question "How can we get our brand from where it now is to where we want it to be?" My answer...study the hip hop artiste!

We can read the books out there, and we can invest in getting our brand managers to world class. But I will save some money with a simple suggestion. Study the Hip Hop artiste. You'll learn all you need to learn about taking a brand to the top of the mountain. These guys are amazing.

"I'm not a businessman. I'm a business, man."

Constantly reinventing. relentlessly innovating. Endlessly improving. They have one in record that drives their name; their brand into the public consciousness and then extend their line into clothes, books, movie, colognes and etc. Study the way their build community, cement loyalty and tattoo what they stand for onto people's brain cell.

The Power of Focus

There's a great power in focusing on what you want. This may seems like such an obvious statement, yet most of us miss it. Dreams can come true. You can get to a place called Extraordinary in your career. You can find love deeper than you have ever imagined. You can realise world class vitality and find lasting fulfilment. But you need to focus. The person who tries to do everything accomplishes nothing. Most people try to be all things to everyone. And so they end up nothing to anyone. Confucius nailed the point: " Person who chases two rabbits catches neither."

What you focus on grows. What you concentrate on is what you see more in your life. Think about that line. Focus on financial mastery and you'll see your economic life improve.

Focus on being more loving and your relationship will improve. Focus on your physical dimension by exercising and following a superb diet and your health will improve. Focus. Focus. Focus. That's what the best of the best do. Tunnel vision around their biggest TO DO. They stick to their knitting rather than scattering their brilliance. A few months ago I read about a billionaire interview. They asked him what was the single best thing he did to get to his financial mastery. "I made this goal my sole reference point," came his reply.