Every business is unique, and you’ll serve your customers and staff well by focusing on what’s unique and communicating it – with enthusiasm.

How would you like your business to be referred to in conversation? For example, “they’re so prompt!” or “They’re so much fun” or “I feel like royalty when I go there”. When you are clear on this, it’s so much easier to plan ways of increasing happiness in the business . How would you describe your business in it’s ideal state? Before we move on - are you clear or will you take some time to answer this?

If the message you want your customers to get is “fun”, consider how you communicate this – of course it must start with you. You can’t demand fun of anyone – just let it be infectious. Let’s look at some of the basics, which can too easily go by the wayside when you’re rushing.

Be conscious of your thinking and your conversations - Listen intently to people. If you consider the people in your world to be intelligent, unique and valuable, you’ll communicate with them in a way that reflects that. Look for the potential in people. Try it. Just start thinking about someone with conscious thoughts like “You are amazing” and view them through the eyes of appreciation and see what else you notice. As I wrote in our last newsletter - If you want to grow something - pay attention to it.

• Choose to be the most positive person you know.
• Share a laugh - learn to laugh at yourself, and when you come across something really funny - share the joy!
• Say please, Thank you, you’re welcome.

The above tips are all internal, it’s about your thoughts and words - here’s a few practical steps to keep the momentum.

• Use post it notes to support your chosen focus or to remind you.
• Make a list of all the people you’ve acknowledged, encouraged or thanked as the day goes by. If you have pen and paper in your pocket to keep track of this it will raise your awareness and you’ll find yourself putting a smile on so many faces and a spring in many steps!
• Little cards - even a little note on a plain sheet of paper to someone - expressing your thoughts of appreciation for what they do, or just who they are will go a long way. Do this for staff, customers, friends, if you haven’t been encouraged for a while, write a positive note to yourself - post it and look forward to the postie’s arrival!  (These tools are more powerful than a pay rise.)

Customer service is similar to any other relationship - Customers are people!! Make them feel valued, and think about what kind of treatment would have you coming back time after time. Put yourself in their shoes and walk through your business. When people come into your business, acknowledge them immediately - the longer the customer wonders if they’re invisible, the less they’ll spend with you. A smile goes a long way!

You know what you can do in your business, just take some time to plan a few things. If you can imagine it, you can create it. Keep learning, keep looking for possibilities. Get a sheet of paper out, a few colleagues or employees and get some ideas on paper. It’s amazing to see how you can create some incredible outcomes easily – when you’re clear on what you want… back to the first paragraph!

It’s an action-packed week as we connect with friends and colleagues all over Sydney and everywhere in between. On Thursday we spent the day at Cronulla Beach with dear friends, Chad and Corrie Irons and their children Hope and Josiah. They have come back to Australia for a couple of months from Vietnam where they work with AOG World Relief. photo’s coming soon…

On the way home we popped in to see Kerrie’s friend and fellow coach, Barbara Anderson, in her apartment overlooking Cronulla Beach. I did a couple of short videos as they shared their latest news and coaching thoughts. This one is about creating a Vision Board, which Kerrie and I have done recently - a fun and thought provoking exercise… Give it a go!

Today I am not getting much done! Today… I know what it is to flounder. But yesterday I achieved a great deal.

So what’s the difference between today and yesterday (yes… apart from the obvious that yesterday is gone… :-))?

Well having thought about it I came up with this one difference. Yesterday I had a list! Now Kerrie has told me to write lists many times over and occasionally I have done just that. But today I really noticed the difference.

My tip for today is this.
Write a list and cross or tick it off as you go. (Feels great). I just do it on a pad of paper then scrunch it up and put it in the bin when it’s all done. (That feels even better.)

If you don’t complete your list, transfer the unfinished items to a new list (that way you still get to throw the old one out) so you can complete on the list from day before and not get despondent by not finishing.

Remember Today is a new day and has no mistakes in it.

For bigger goals I write them in my journal (the one Kerrie gave me and here is a shameless plug – Get your very own journal Click Here Now – ok… back to it). I also have a goal book, but more on that in another blog.

Hope this has been helpful and you are able to become even more productive.

Blue skies
Lyndon

This is a great article about leaders. One of our own Create the Life Club resource contributors, John Maxwell goes through five truths that leaders understand about problems.

1. They’re unavoidable.

For the aspiring leader, problems may be the most faithful companions of all. The road to success is seldom paved smoothly, and is often times under construction. Potholes and barricades abound. At every bend in the journey, a leader’s vision must peer around obstacles and through formidable walls to foresee a positive future. Leaders who sidestep problems stunt their growth - they end up shallow and debilitated. The successful leader stares down problems and resourcefully addresses them.

2. Perspective on the problem, rather than the problem itself, determines success or failure.

We see problems, not as they are, but as we are. That’s why attitude plays such a crucial role in separating those who lead from those who follow. Alfred Armand Montapert said, “The majority see the obstacles; the few see the objectives; history records the successes of the latter, while oblivion is the reward of the former.” Leaders look at problems from a healthy, self-confident vantage point.

A Wrong Perspective

Problems are unsolvable
Problems are permanent
Problems are not normal
Problems make us bitter
Problems control us
Problems stop us

A Right Perspective
Problems are solvable
Problems will pass
Problems are natural
Problems make us better
Problems challenge us
Problems stretch us

3. There’s a big difference between problem spotting and problem solving.

Anyone, even the fairly imperceptive, can identify problems, but few people have the initiative to tackle them. As novelist John Galsworthy observed, “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.” As rule, don’t voice complaint about a problem until you’re 1) able to put forth a recommendation for solving it, and 2) willing to take an action to solve it.

4. The size of the person is more important than the size of the problem.

You can tell the calibre of a person by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him or her. Joke writer Robert Orben says that he once saw an ad from an entertainer that read, “Lion tamer - wants tamer lion.” Clearly, this performer wasn’t looking for greatness but merely for something manageable. To lead at the highest level requires wrestling with problems seemingly beyond our ability to apprehend.

5. Problems, responded to correctly, can propel us forward.

Leaders are not discovered in the limelight; rather they are forged in the darkness under heat and pressure. Leaders gain respect on difficult terrain, after taking a few blows and being shaped by the problems they encounter. As a matter of fact, courage and valor go undetected until seen through the lens of adversity.

Did you enjoy this article? If so CLICK HERE to view more of our Create the Life Club resources also by John Maxwell

Thanks for the feedback! I have just been chatting with our newest member Norma Stein from NZ, who I was delighted to meet last week in Sydney. (Norma is also a friend of Julie Woods, That Blind Woman from NZ, so again, not a story but an introduction - watch this space…)

Norma was telling me that she appreciates the Birds Eye View feature and I remembered a note from Felicity Newton recently “I have been a Create the Life Club member now for a few months and have found this website very user friendly and very helpful. I love the “Birds Eye View” page and actually go to this page regularly.”

So I thought it worth highlighting - it is really useful, and I will be using it more myself - thanks girls! The drop down menu’s area also great, especially if you know the author or topic you are looking for, but Birds Eye View is something that I’ve not fully appreciated until today.

Enjoy finding some really useful resources, and please - keep up the feedback - it means we can continue to improve, learn faster and support you more!

Have a fabulous day,
Love Kerrie

What Makes a Great Salesperson? It’s someone who cares more about answering their clients concerns than making the sale. If you talk someone into something, someone else will talk them out of it.

Serving customers is an expression that is used lightly… (Fred! Come out front and serve!) Serving is not a task, it’s an attitude. When you are there to serve people, you make them feel special and safe to do business with you.

I recently went to get some hot chips for a friend, and so went to the shop they recommended (for quality and speed). After waiting for a full 5 minutes, standing at the counter, to be acknowledged by anyone, I asked how long it would take for $5 of hot chips. When the response was “oh, about 20 minutes” I said, “never mind” and walked out, wondering if I was making the right decision… how long would it be at Peter & Angela’s? I drove there, was greeted pleasantly by Courtney, and told it would be 5 to 10 minutes. They were just as busy, with as many people waiting as the first shop, but I noticed how they worked as a team. I left there and was halfway home in the time the other shop would have taken if I’d stayed. With an abundance of quality chips that the kids loved.

Lessons…

For me, go with my gut feeling – I’d looked at the shop from across the road and not felt great about it, I walked in and didn’t feel any better. Sometimes we want to be open-minded for the sake of others, but if your gut feeling doesn’t agree, go with it!

For customer service providers – be that – provide customer service. With a smile. If it comes without a smile is it really service, or just doing a job?

When a customer enters, acknowledge them immediately, make them feel valued as they step in the door. How do you feel when someone looks delighted to see you?

Work as a team, this makes you all far more efficient, so lessens stress, heightens the sense of accomplishment and is much more fun!

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favourite team quotes…

“When we all work together, we all win together.” (this one is on the wall in our office, under a picture of a group of skydivers in a free-fall formation)

And of course - TEAM =
Together
Everyone
Achieves
More.
Not just a nice anagram, but completely and scientifically proven to be true!

Have fun being a Great Sales Person.
Kerrie