Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: Discipline makes Daring possible

Trust your gut
December 19, 2019

Trust your gut

The person in front of you is saying all the right things, but something feels wrong.  Something jars.   You don’t quite believe that they share your core values or your vision.

You have a feeling that you should say no to this prospect.

An initial consultation, sales meeting or discovery meeting is there to help both sides decide whether they really want to work together.   It is perfectly OK for the prospective client to say no at this point.   It’s also perfectly OK for you to say no too, especially early on in your business.

You don’t have to agree with the people you serve on everything, but a misalignment on core values spells trouble.   Both sides will end up dissatisfied and resentful.

That means that the time and positive energy you gain to spend on your business by saying no to the wrong kind of client far outweighs the money they may pay.

Trust your gut and say no.

Show up and listen
December 18, 2019

Show up and listen

It’s tempting to think that showing up where your prospects are is all about you.  That it’s about promotion, raising awareness, getting their attention.

Showing up is really about showing that you care, and one of the best ways to do that is to use the time you spend with the people you wish to serve to listen to what’s really important to them.   Then create products and services that help.

The surest way to gain the kind of attention that matters is to give it first.

Community
December 17, 2019

Community

I spent Sunday with some of my family.   My sister and I both read Seth Godin’s daily blog and were trying to explain why to her daughter.

At one point we both said, almost in unison “Some days its just like he’s got inside your head.” 

I’m sure many of Seth’s readers say this every single day.

You can only do this if you know a) who it is you are trying to talk to; b) what’s likely to be going in inside their heads and c) where they are likely to go for inspiration, and the simple pleasure of being with ‘people like us’.

And the best way to know where the people you want to serve are at any one time, is to create a space and a community that does all these things just for them.

Not necessarily in that order
December 16, 2019

Not necessarily in that order

Where choosing from many options is unavoidable, you can help people choose (and keep them engaged in the process of choosing) with hierarchy.

Start with a few big options to select from, then gradually increase the granularity of choice until your client is happy to deal with 57 varieties.

That way you’ve educated them in how selection works, and you’ve made them interested in what comes next.

That makes them much more likely to stick with it to the end.

Make it vivid
December 12, 2019

Make it vivid

Another way to help the people you serve choose what they need from you, is to make the options concrete.

Instead of simply listing options, show your potential client what a particular combination actually looks like as a ‘finished dish’.

Then go further and put together combinations around what your target client needs, not just what you have to sell.

Narrow down
December 11, 2019

Narrow down

One way to help the people you serve to choose what they need from you is to categorise your offerings.

We’re used to this of course, in libraries, on menus, on well-organised magazine counters, on campuses.

The category gives us a very quick way in, a guide to where to start our more detailed search.

A caveat though, to be truly helpful, the categories need to be meaningful to your client.

Less is more
December 10, 2019

Less is more

Have you ever stood in front of sweet counter full of chocolate bars?   Or a wall-full of 500 pizza choices.   And walked away empty-handed after a few min

Choices, choices
December 9, 2019

Choices, choices

We business owners love to over-complicate things.

We think that more is always better.   We love to give people options, second-guess people’s likely choices.

That’s a mistake.

People who are looking for help like to be guided, they like to be helped to decide with the right information and an optimal number of choices that isn’t overwhelming.   This is especially true when they are buying expertise that they don’t have.

Your expertise is why they are considering you.    Use it to honestly guide the people you serve to the right solution for them.

Dissecting the Promise, part 4: with the status you seek.
December 6, 2019

Dissecting the Promise, part 4: with the status you seek.

We humans don’t just want community, we want to have our own place in that community.

We like to know where we stand relative to our fellows.  Which means that everything we do isn’t only about becoming the person we want to be, it’s also about being seen to become that person by the people we see as our peers, the people like us.

What can you do to deliver this as part of your Promise of Value?

Here’s a brilliant example of one way to do it.    Here’s a different way, equally brilliant.

I’m sure you’ll think of others, now you know.

Dissecting the Promise, Part 3: so that you can join the tribe that feels like home for you
December 5, 2019

Dissecting the Promise, Part 3: so that you can join the tribe that feels like home for you

What’s the point of becoming the person you want to be, if nobody else sees it?  Or cares about it?

We all want to belong to a community, a tribe.   At least one.  A group of like-minded people.  People like us.

The way we dress, the way we work, what we eat and how we spend our leisure time often signals which tribe(s) we feel we are part of, and those we don’t.   Everyone I know would be astounded if I suddenly took up golf.

So in formulating your promise of value, it pays to understand what communities the people you serve are part of, and which they seek to join.

You may even want to consider creating a new community just for them.