Kevin was our business coach for over 10 years and we would certainly not be where we are today without him. His e-book is a compilation of some of the best and most powerful business insights that helped us, and many other entrepreneurs, through the years and still does today.

Kevin is a leading strategic advisor and coach to CEOs and has published “Expel the Elephants and 19 Other Insights to Ignite Business Performance” as a free eBook. What I like most about the book (in addition to it being totally kick ass!) is that each insight is self-contained making it easy to follow, digest and put into action for immediate results.

So, what are you waiting for?
Start reading now!

Download yours here!

The consulting firm McKinsey & Company are well known for their harsh but effective policy of weeding out the bottom 10 percent of performers in their business.  Whilst this might seem drastic to some, it’s an approach which has served them well, and a concept that we can apply to our own lives in order to get ahead. Here’s how…

Shape Up Or Ship Out

Take a look at your to-do list now.  If you’re like most, you’ll have a heap of things on there, some of which are minuscule and only there as reminders.  Hopefully you’ve also got some much more important tasks listed that will make a bigger impact on your day when done.

Now imagine that the items on your to-do list are staff and you’re thinking the ‘McKinsey’ way – what tasks on your list are the ‘under-performers’?  By that I mean the tasks that won’t help you achieve your goals or objectives.  So for example, if you’re in a sales roles it’s highly unlikely that filing emails is going to help you reach your targets, and if you’re a pie baker you’d have to question whether updating your Facebook status is the most effective use of your time.

Be honest with yourself, and ruthless.  Cut out the bottom 10 percent of tasks on your to-do list that don’t serve you well and get focused on the points that are actually going to make a difference in reaching your goals.

Leap of the Week:

How can you apply the same concept to other areas of your life:

Friends - are you spending time with people who sap you of energy and enthusiasm?  Ditch the bottom 10%…

Email – what newsletters do you rarely read?  Unsubscribe…

Books - are you struggling to get through a book you just can’t get into?  Put it down, let it go and move on…

Social Life – do you say yes to too many things?  Start saying no to the bottom 10%…

Finances – are you paying for things that you never use?  Cut your spending by 10%…

Stop tolerating things that don’t fit well into your life.  Humans are creatures of habit, so it’s important to take stock every now and again of the things you’re doing ‘just because’ you’ve been doing them for a while, and weed out the tasks and scenarios that are wasting your time, energy and focus.

Have fun spring cleaning!

Treating your leads like customers ensures they will come directly to you once they are ready to buy.

I’m going to admit something that may sound a little arrogant. I have hundreds of thousands of customers. They just might not be buying from me right now. But, whenever I’m talking to any small business owner, I am thinking, “This is one of my customers.” I don’t even have a chance to tell them what Infusionsoft does before I have categorized them as “Customer” in my head. Many times it is my perceived value of this person that causes them to want to learn more about Infusionsoft…and often earns me another customer!

Similarly, treating your customers like friends is going to dramatically increase your customer loyalty. But, rather than expand upon this concept, I’d like to share a testimonial I received from an Infusionsoft customer (who attended our 2008 User Conference).

“I really feel that Infusion, as a whole, shows that you all care about your customers and really want all of us to succeed, whether in helping us with our business or using the software itself. Infusion makes me feel like “one big family” and you’re not just out there trying to sell us and that’s it.” -Shelley Chu

Customers are often disloyal; friends are usually loyal.

Leap of the Week:

What’s a small action you can take today to get this concept into motion? Re-connect with a past client, follow-up with a few prospects you had given up on, or perhaps, it’s simply calling one of your best clients just ’cause you’re thinking of them. Remember, opportunities come from everyone and everywhere at all times.

Have fun discovering the gold mine that you are sitting on.

Sometimes as a business owner, you become so overwhelmed, the only thing you can do is take it one step at a time. And, although this may get you through the week, it’s not going to help grow your business. Real growth comes from writing out the goals you plan to achieve–and then putting those goals into action, day by day, week by week, quarter by quarter.

Here are some “rules” to follow when creating metrics and other goals:

Specific – Know exactly what your goal is and why it’s so important for you to reach it.
Measurable – Set out milestones along the way to measure your progress and to know whether you achieved the goal.
Achievable – Speaks for itself.
Relevant – Relates to the big picture.
Time Bound – Be crystal clear about your time line and deadline for reaching your goal.

Did you know…only 3% of the population has written goals? And, they earn ten times more than the rest.

Leap of the Week: Stop! and take 15 minutes to think, and write down your Top 3 Goals to accomplish before the end of August. Also write down what’s in it for you when you do reach your goal and pick a reward to celebrate your win. Rewards are a great way to help you stay focused during the more difficult days…

If you truly want to see improvement and growth in your company, take the time to create SMART goals. Then, be sure to make yourself and your employees accountable for those goals. Otherwise, you will always be “taking it re-actively” a day at a time.

However, as you already know, price reductions sometimes create more problems than they solve.

For example, price reductions:

• Decrease net profits
• Lead to the purchase of lower quality products
• Increase customer demands to drop the price even lower!
• Require even more sales to make up the difference in revenue
• Need a larger quantity of products

And, in the end, as John Jantsch (author of Duct Tape Marketing) says, “There will always be someone willing to go out of business faster than you.”

Remember this: price is not a benefit. Selling is not determined on the cost of your product. If you truly “sell” your customers and prospects, they will purchase your products/services no matter what price you determine.

If a customer or prospect doesn’t buy…and they claim the cost had something to do with it…you can guess they probably wouldn’t have purchased anyway.

As a marketer, your job is to sell your products and services. The actual art of selling has nothing to do with the price of the product. By the time your contacts find out about the price, they should be determined to purchase no matter what the cost.

So, find “real” benefits (value) to sell to your customers and prospects. Help them to see how great their life is with your product, and you’ve got a customer. Point out their current pain, and your contact will do anything to get rid of it.

Set your prices and hold fast. If you’ve marketed effectively, you will still have customers anxious to do business with you!

Make no mistake… “free” is an extremely powerful word, but if you don’t know how to wield it with precision and skill, you’re in for a nasty surprise! It’s a little bit like the difference between a scalpel and a machete. Both are extremely sharp and powerful tools… but you must have the right skills to use them safely and effectively.

One of the best places to use the word “free’ in your marketing… is when you use it to offer your customers and prospects a free report or e-book.

So, what is a free report or e-book? Well, it’s exactly what it says: a free source of useful information you give your prospects. You see, you are an expert in your industry, and there are things you know that your contacts can certainly benefit from.

Offering a free report or e-book is an excellent way to:

• Build your relationship with your customers and prospects
• Give your customers and prospects value
• Bring in leads (when you offer your free report as a download)
• Keep your name in front of your prospects
• Educate your prospects about your services

There is NO doubt about it: the value you get from giving a paper-and-ink report or e-book returns a value far out of proportion to its cost!

The advantage of giving away information is this: because you are the expert and because you’ve done your contacts a favor (by giving them something of value), they are going to feel comfortable with you and indebted to you. Trust is what drives more sales!

Leap of the Week: What information could you easily put together and share with your clients and prospects for FREE that would bring them huge value? Do you already have a short assessment questionnaire or a PowerPoint Presentation that would just need a few tweaks to be ready to go? It’s easier than you think. Pick one thing and go for it.

Have fun providing value and creating trust.

Not every marketing message should be a targeted sales pitch. Not every conversation has to revolve around their decision to buy or not buy. When building your relationship with your prospects, give them something of immeasurable worth; knowledge.

Here are some suggestions of ways to include valuable content (and start leading your contacts to an eventual sale):

• Newsletters
• Tips and tricks of your industry (audio, video, written)
• Upcoming industry-related events
• Links to news articles about your industry
• Free reports and white papers
• Celebrity stories related to your products/services

Nobody knows your business better than you do. Taking the time to share your knowledge with your contacts will build that relationship of trust and appreciation. The best part? These ideas cost you nothing but a little love and time and could be worth a fortune in sales, not to mention, building a strong following community.

Remember, your prospects and customers should mean more to you than an occasional sale. Give them value and watch your customer ROI soar!

Leap of the Week: What’s one simple thing you can start doing this week that will not only add value, but could also put you at the top of the leader board?

Got a story to share?

Leave a comment! Asking questions as well as sharing wins and challenges is not only necessary to growth, it’s also a great way to learn from your success community.

Regardless of who said that, by this definition most entrepreneurs are insane. They keep on doing things the same way and avoid change whenever possible.

Why do people insist on continuing with “more of the same” when they are not getting the results they want? Why don’t they try something at least slightly different than what they are doing now?

How open to change are you?

Really think about this one. I ask because as a brand builder and business performance catalyst, my job is to help entrepreneurs and small business owners get rid of limitations, plateaus and low-ceiling behaviors to allow for more effortless growth…and I often come face- to-face with huge resistance.  I hear this over and over again, “It can’t be done in my industry or it’s not how I have done it in the past.”

Here is the thing. If you want different results, you must take different action. If you are less than impressed or delighted with the results you are getting in your business today, think about your past actions and see what could or needs to be tweaked. What could you possibly be loosing by shifting and trying something new?. Doesn’t have to be major changes. Actually, the greatest results often come from small, consistent tweaks. I call these, low-risk high-reward tweaks that lead to progress and improvements.

Leap of the Week:
Scan your business and pick one area, project, or artery that is not performing as well as you would like. Then ask yourself: what have I consistently been doing and what could I do differently that would disrupt the pattern, and most likely shift and increase, my results?.

I challenge you to disrupt the pattern. Try something different and see what happens.

Here are a few key points from Dr. Oz’s “What I Know For Sure”

1. The latest thing isn’t always the greatest thing. I work at a cutting-edge hospital, but I also put stock in ancient remedies like treating burns with silver (long known as an antibiotic) or healing surgical wounds using leeches (yes, hospitals continue to do this). If it’s still used today, the practice likely has some merit or it would have died off long ago.

2. Change is possible—but only if you believe it. The more we learn about genetics and disease, the more we realize that DNA isn’t nearly as important as lifestyle. People think that if their parents had heart disease or were overweight, they’re doomed to the same fate. But you can change your health—if you commit yourself to making good choices.

3. We regret the actions we don’t take more than the ones we do. A few years ago, I appeared on Oprah with Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor dying of pancreatic cancer. He told me that he had recently taken his family on a trip to Discovery Cove to swim with dolphins. It was something that he’d always wanted to do, but it wasn’t until he was dying that he made it happen. The next day, I booked the same trip with my family. If there’s something on your wish list for life, make plans today to do it.

4. Hosting a TV show is not that different from doing open-heart surgery. In both the TV studio and the operating room, you depend on highly skilled professionals doing their jobs correctly so you can excel at yours. As a team leader, I recognize that each player—from the anesthesiologist to the camera operator—is better at what they do than I would ever be, and I appreciate their ability to make me look better.

5. To achieve your goals, make the right thing to do the easy thing to do. I recently replaced the couch in front of my TV with a stationary bike. Now I can pedal while viewing my favorite shows (like House). Since the average American watches more than 30 hours of TV per week, it could mean a lot of activity for your body, with little inconvenience.

Thanks Dr. Oz for reminding me and all of us that “We Regret The Actions We Don’t Take More Than The Ones We Do.”

Good leadership & management can sometimes mean the difference between having poor, satisfactory, and phenomenal employees. Here are some ideas for encouraging employee excellence:

1- Build a culture of productivity. From the moment you first interview a candidate, they should understand your expectations. Whether your culture is a high-stress, strict regime, or a laid back, go with the flow atmosphere, be sure your employees truly comprehend that you value and expect productivity.

2- Offer performance incentives. Even the most dedicated and self-motivated worker needs an external incentive on occasion. Think of an incentive (such as Employee of the Month, or additional bonuses) that you can consistently offer based on performance.

3- Have employees learn your Brand Foundation (values, mission, brand promise, non-negotiables). Make sure your staff is aware of the company’s purpose. When the entire company is united in a common purpose, more work and better work gets done.

4- Give your employees a chance to grow. Too many business owners are tempted to do it all themselves. Relinquish your tight hold on the company and give your employees a chance to solve problems, try new ideas, and put their own thoughts and ideas to the test.

5- Practice “lavish praise and quick corrections.” One of my favorite books is The One-Minute Manager. You should read it. The essence of it is to catch people doing well and point it out to them. But you also have to quickly correct and reprimand when you see something outside of what you expect.

Whether you have 1 employee or 50, these suggestions will ensure a productive workplace and employee satisfaction while allowing to sleep better at night!

Where is your business focusing? I’ve found that one of the most powerful practices as an entrepreneur is to regularly spend time away from my office and my daily tacticals every month to dream a little and to envision my company 1, 3, 5 years into the future. At LeapZone, Margarita and I spend at least 1 day a month, away from the office, to stay connected and stay aligned with what makes us and keeps us great.

Here is what we normally keep an eye on.

1. Our Brand Foundation: We religiously stay connected with our values, purpose, brand promise, x-factor and unique selling proposition to make sure that we are in alignment.

2. Our Systems: We constantly look for ways to refining and simplify our systems and client touch points to make sure that we are efficient and consistent. People want to seamless and consistent experiences.

3. Our Auto-Pilot: We always look for ways to simplify, eliminate or automate all of our re-occurring tasks where ever possible.

Every time I take time away to “fly into the future” to look at my business from a bird’s eye view, it helps me look at my business from an entrepreneur’s perspective instead of a technician lost in a sea of TO DOs. It makes it easier for me to stay connected to my present purpose allowing me to better push through obstacles while keeping an eye on the big picture.

Spend some time in the future and you’ll be able to “skate to where the puck is going to be!”

Here is a quick video that illustrates my point very well.

(Thanks Fast Company & UPS for a great job!)

For that reason, Margarita and I created BUBBLE TIME™ back in our Scenario Design days (our previous business) simply to increase productivity level and to gain our sanity back. There comes a point when enough is enough. We ran a very tight ship with an amazing team…but we often had crazy deadlines, huge deliverables, phones constantly ringing off the hook, lots of meetings…and we had an open concept office…need I say more! Way to many disruptions. We felt un-productive and in constant lack of time. We COMMITTED to Bubble Time.

BENEFITS OF BUBBLE TIME™

Increased productivity
Getting more done in less time
Building and sustaining momentum

How well you do at managing YOURSELF depends on how well you implement these 5 key habits:

1. Declare and Commit to BUBBLE TIME™
   Declare and commit to a specific, daily block of time. We recommend a block of minimum 1.5 hrs to allow you enough time to get a few things done and to get use to it! It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a single hour of un-disrupted time.
2. Book BUBBLE TIME™ in your Calendar
   Pre-book that daily time in your calendar for at least 30 days. 1 month will allow you to form a habit and will also allow you to see if that time of day is good for you. If not, try a different time that may work better for you. At Scenario Design, we committed to a 3 hrs “Bubble Time” every day. We treated that block of time like GOLD. I remember Jen use to shout “10 minutes to Bubble Time”. She was the one with the whip to keep us in line! We became an unstoppable well oiled machine!
3. Respect your BUBBLE TIME™
   Treat that block of time like you treat a client meeting…only this time, the client is YOU. This is YOUR time to get things done. NO phones, NO emails, NO interruptions. Be 100% present at the task at hand. Unless you’re a Brain Surgeon…you DO NOT have to be available 24/7.
4. Lick the Toad! As Coach Kevin would say.
   Start with “the something” that you have been avoiding. Take that time to get rid of the things that weight on you the most. That phone call that you have been dreading, those old client files that need to be de-briefed and closed, that client that you need to fire!…just do it. Waiting just makes that toad uglier and nastier by the minute. Get rid of it, you will feel so much lighter and you will gain huge momentum.
5. Learn to say “NO”
   Easier said than done you say? Actually, it’s a lot easier than you think. I have become pretty darn good at saying NO in the last few years and it feels GREAT! By respecting my time, it allows me to build momentum and feel great about what I have accomplished and therefore, it allows me to give back and help other better. Practice this one every day. Blame it on “Bubble Time” if you need to! that should lighten things up real fast!

Enjoy this new habit! Don’t be shy to leave us comments to let us know how BUBBLE TIME™ is working for you and your team.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR Bubble Time Sample

SUBMISSIONS & QUESTIONS
LeapZone welcomes your feedback, submissions, questions and success stories.
Please use the comment section below or email rise@leapzonestrategies.com