Want A Result, Offered A Process

I try to deal in real, tactical issues. Strategy becomes an explanation of what happened the last time.

However, I have been working with a client who made a make or buy decision to purchase some business services. Maybe we were asking the wrong people, but what came back were all these offers to run a process, as if the result was incidental.

Maybe it’s our litigious environment, or changing economy, but we couldn’t seem to find anyone who was as interested in the desired result as we are.

Several years ago I was selling a software company that had lost its technical staff. We had a software product we had to hold together through sale, so we brought in some outsourcing gurus. They would be oh so happy to make us so happy, but first they had to run their process. Pay now, please.

A week later, we had a catastrophic failure of the product and were swamped by irate customer calls. We called our new guys and were told it would be a couple of months before they would be able to complete their process and then address fixing our problem. Oh, and we certainly hope you’re still around to pay our fees.

I went into complete BSC mode to posse up a team to fix the software. I don’t deal well with uncertainty.

The owners took steps to get their deposit back.

Technically we had a happy ending, because the catastrophic failure was fixed in two days, but the gut dropping horror of not knowing stays with me. Businesswise, it was a draw, which I would categorize as a disaster to our former gurus.

If somebody needs to buy a result, sell them that result or sit down.

Consider your Focus.

Text, Call, or Visit?

There are many ways to communicate, as I got a lesson this morning.

Yesterday, I got a text, which I misinterpreted, due to lack of detail. We were about to commit significant resources to an ongoing project when a chance call degraded the whole effort to much ado about nothing.

Seems to me a text request is best when the answer is “yes.” A “no” response could mean “We don’t have that capability” or “I don’t know,” you figure out which. I see a lot of parents texting their kids where the answer has to be “yes.” Or else.

So then we discussed how to find something from several suppliers. Based on previous experience, calling to ask on the minus side has at best a 50% accuracy factor, and on the plus side is a lot faster than driving around. So the best response again is “yes,” with a high probability of no resolution, because the communication broke down.

There is a Dilbert cartoon sent to me years ago where the boss is asking why no progress is being made, and the underling mutters, “Well, I made some calls.” So this is a long time interest.

Because completion within a defined time is the desired outcome for this project, we decided to check likely suppliers by internet and then show up until we get an acceptable outcome.

A visit has a higher chance of finding if they really have what we want, and if not, finding an acceptable workaround.

When you ask for something are you looking for a reason to stop, a chance to continue looking somewhere else, or a completed result?

Tips 4 The Big Chair – Find something you didn’t expect!

Fishing and Catching

Two weeks ago, while at the shore in North Carolina, I came upon a seasoned angler fishing from a small dock on the sound. He had a couple of rods, a tacklebox bursting at the seams, a cooler, and was casting his line into the water seeking fish.

I stopped by for a quick chat about 'how they're biting?' - he caught me up short saying the fishing is fine, but the catching leaves a lot to be desired!

His explanation:

I have a variety of hooks, rods, rigs, sinkers, lures, and types of bait because fish have preferences – some like certain bait while others go for a specific lure, or are more likely to hit a line rigged a certain way.

The trick is to use the right combination of items to achieve the desired result...catching.

This made sense, so I asked how he knew what was the right combination? He grinned and said you have to ask the fish – by trying various configurations and remember which works.

He noted that two fishermen can be fishing in the same location – side by side – with one pulling in fish after fish as the other is waiting impatiently for a hit. You must offer what is appealing to the fish to get the desired results.

This wise fisherman may have been talking about fishing, but he was describing business – we can have the best equipment, processes, procedures, and presentation, but if it is not what the customer wants, it is not effective.

Like with the fish, to know the right combination that will meet the need of the customer, we must listen to what they have to say and develop a solution which satisfies that need in as simple and straight-forward a way as possible.

Fishing is like a business with the equipment, process, and energy, but catching is using the right resources to get the desired results.

Who knew that fish were so smart!

Applied leadership – Gibbs Rules

Activities or Analytics?

“If you don't measure it, you can't improve it.” Like a mantra, it's chanted over and over - but you must be measuring the right IT or you are just burning time.

For an artist, which is more important – the tack hammer or the paint brush? The brush is used to create the masterpiece; the tack hammer is used to stretch the canvas in preparation.

Does canvas stretching contribute directly to the quality or success of the artwork? It is true that a taut canvas permits more precision in creating fine detail in the painting – so there is definitely some value added by proper stretching. Would knowing that short sides of a canvas have an average of five tacks and long sides have eight, add anything to masterpiece? Counting tacks all day long would have no impact on creating better paintings.

Years ago, as a result of a promotion, I received a detailed analytic report to senior management twice each month which was a quarter inch thick. I eagerly read the entire first copy and discovered only two items in it were useful to me and both were incorrect. I instructed the department to compile the report but stop publishing it and not notify any recipients. After two months without any comment about the absence of this report, I canceled it.

A new devotee to website analytics ran the analysis on her site and the Leadership Breakfast of Maryland's site She showed me a chart and offered her interpretation that the LBMD website needed CPR. Our website has visitors from a restricted group who read the page about the meeting and then register to indicate they plan to attend – the activity is triggered by a monthly announcement of the coming meeting. Her site is an eCommerce site for internet sales and traffic is driven to it continuously by numerous sources.

The results merely show that sites with different purposes do not generate the same traffic pattern or flow. These comparative analytics are meaningless, since the goals of the sites are so different.

Analytics help us measure performance and other factors by direct, indirect, and comparative means. Comparative analytics compare statistics from your organization with those of other organizations, or view your statistics over time.

Metrics and analytics can be useful to set a baseline or measure progress – as long as they are chosen appropriately and recognized for the value they offer.

When all is said and done, analytics are like observing the wake of a boat underway – they provide feedback on how smooth the course has been, but say nothing about the progress toward the goal or destination. Planning and execution get us there.

Using a thermometer to take our temperature is useful in diagnosis, but does little toward the cure; having appropriate analytics is useful in tweaking a plan, but to apply our resources to achieve results – focus them on doing rather than curating.

Sales Lab’s Rainmaker 19, Foam Ball is 300 seconds of enlightenment at The Capital Technology Management Hub, 6:30 pm on Tuesday, April 9 at Teqcorner, 1616 Anderson Road, Third Floor, McLean, VA 22102. Rainmaker 19 Foam Ball will be immediately followed by the headliner Presentation, Tom Cooper, BrightHill Group, Are You Too Busy To Plan?

Focus and Goofing Off

Recently, I was talking with Dick about keys to successful results.

We identified focus as an important element contributing to superior outcomes.

Today was one of those rare balmy January days in Washington, DC, hovering around 60 degrees, so Dick and I headed to a nearby course for a round golf.

While returning to our cars, we had to chuckle about the focus conversation in the context of a mid-week golf game.

However, we suddenly realized that this confirmed the focus principle – instead of goofing off 10 minutes here and there, we had concentrated it in a 4 hour block.

It seems right on so many levels. At times focus can become sharper when you shift your focus to something else for a while.

Kick off the New Year Right at Talk Your Business - How to make more and better sales right away! Wednesday Jan 30, 11:45 - 1:00 at the Arlington Chamber Small Business Roundtable.

Can You Fool Some of the People Some of the Time?

I spent 'a week' in an auto repair shop one day recently and watched an energetic guy wearing yellow rubber boots while waiting 3-hours for an 'about-an-hour' work on my car.

This guy was fascinating - 'Boots' was in perpetual motion – heading toward the parking lot, the front office, the mechanic bays and elsewhere. He showed a sense of purpose and moved with great determination. But he never made it to any destination before changing course – off to a different one - lickety split!

Fascinated by this constant activity, I flagged down Boots and asked what he was doing – “Keeping this place organized and working!” was his reply. Interesting; I never saw him touch a car or accomplish any task during the entire time.

When paying my bill, I asked the service rep about Boots and he told me that 'Boots' is of our most valuable employees – this guy is on the move from the time we open until we close.

Are we confusing activity and results?

Our next presentation is How You Can Prepare For Our Changing World at the Leadership Breakfast of Maryland (by invitation) on Friday January 4^th..