We’ve all heard about trade by barter. Most of us practiced it as kids growing up with our siblings and classmates. Examples are a pack of cards in exchange for some shiny marbles or a doll for a diary. Perhaps it was because we didn’t have money to buy these things and so we we’re bound to get what we want using what we have. Some ladies have used the terminology and given it new meaning, but that is a different story still.
Trade by barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged with a different set of goods or services, without using a medium of exchange such as money. No cash is involved in an ideal case. In such cases value is the preferred scale of measurement not price.
These days especially with the world economy just recovering from a recession, cash money seems to be hard to come by sometimes. But our needs as business owners are ever pressing as usual. Perhaps it is time to take a step back and look on ways to save precious cash money to pay your staff salaries and then cut on the overheads and major recurrent expenses through offering of your goods or services.
As a partner in one of the nation’s fast growing consultancy firms, we’ve quickly found out that the prices of organization’s services are usually overrated by firm’s who are more than willing to be more generous or agreeable when there’s no financial commitment by means of actual parting of cash. The brain registers a pain level during any cash expenses and individuals and corporations alike have a certain “pain threshold” they call a yearly working budget. However from experience I know most organizations if not all, will bust their yearly budgetary plans if a business proposal has no tangible financial obligations on their part.
A mechanic workshop would give us a year of free maintenance for our official vehicles in exchange for advertorials. A government agency would consent to us the use of their logo and brand value in exchange for publicity and a more favourable P/R within the community. For a free interactive website, we could have a free booking on an airline for a 6 month period, okay frankly we’re still working on nailing that but you get my drift.
In today’s current economy a solopreneur (a one-man business) or entrepreneur must be really creative and think laterally, drawing imaginary connecting dots and lines on the possible needs of others and how his services could satisfy both the need of another organisation and his/hers without any major debit entry on the balance sheet. Even big organizations and in cases countries with good bi-lateral ties partake it this practice of trade credit.
Now there are certain rules in this gentlemanly game of trade by barter that must be adhered to in order to develop a meaningful insightful relationship that lasts far longer than money can buy.
Rule 1: Don’t say what you can’t deliver: It’s easy to get carried away and make promises with an indefinite timeline that you’ll probably get tired of and getting out seems trickier than staying in; at least not without a legal wrangling. A media consultant offering free advertising for an event that’s supposed to come up within a month’s period may have some issues if the date is postponed by 6 months.
Rule 2: Keep it simple. State exchange terms clearly and in some cases if it’s on black and white, the better. A contract is there to avoid ambiguity and risk and is necessary even if the managing director of the other party is your golf buddy. One service for another equals value service in return; try not to bundle different sets of goods or services in exchange for a different set of equally unrelated goods/services which you may offer or have in stock. A legal firm might find it easier to offer its tax related services to a publishing house but would rather not extend their legal services if the publisher later comes with an expensive divorce case settlement.
Rule 3: Think of the other person’s needs and try to match it with what you’ve got to offer. Don’t go out there looking like a perfect clown by offering a company what they already have or worse don’t really need!
Rule 4: Have respect for the client and treat him/her as though they were your most valued partners. These clients from experience are going to be your best brand ambassadors and would give you referrals like they were hungry marketers working for a commission. You get far more than you ever bargained for!
Within the past year, using these guidelines we’ve managed to rack up invaluable media placements, goodwill and brand exposure using creative thinking and trade by barters with various organizations both great and small. It’s exciting and works beautifully if you only follow these rules! Imagine a free hotel front desk office in exchange for referrals for your upcoming conference or nationwide event. Or a few pages of advertising in exchange for designing a website for a new upstart magazine or newspaper. Or my best trade by barter scenario yet, a free pair of designer sunglasses each to the 33 brave miners in Chile by Oakley in exchange for over $44 million worth of media exposure worldwide! An eye for an eye!
So go ahead, dare to be more creative and imaginative and just give it a shot. You can thank me later.
Good Luck!
Ebuka J.P Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and brand building. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
LOYALTY IS LOVE
Ok first and foremost, let’s get something straight, a business is legally defined as a legal entity separate from its owners. In other words a business is like a human being capable of loving and being loved. However since the body chemistry and other factors necessary for human beings to fall in love don’t exactly exist in a business, most businesses don’t fall in love; rather they become LOYAL. Now the question is how often is your loyalty questioned? Loyalty means to be faithful and is something of value. Loyalty is a rare gem that is hard to find in today's society. Think of your loyalty to an organization. People do not spend the same amount of years working for the same company, as my parents and grandparents did. Think of the number marriages that end in divorce. People are quicker to terminate marriages for the smallest of issues, such as "irreconcilable differences." Loyalty is a strong force that will keep you in any relationship, whether business or personal.
Your loyalty to someone or even an organization will always have a high appraisal value. When your partner for example senses a hint of disloyalty in you, the level of trust goes down. When trust diminishes, the relationship deteriorates. The same is true for the organizations and customers you work for. When disloyalty is evident in you, your opportunities for growth in that organization are lost. Trust and loyalty go hand in hand in a business as it does in a marriage.
Now that we’ve established the facts above, we need to look into ways to make your businesses and customers stay in love or rather remain loyal to you! I work for a company with a huge goal of helping Nigerian businesses in creating great brands that can compete globally. We’re serious about this and because we love our business we are serious about our customers.
From first-hand experience we realize that being a small business does have its advantages if you know what you’re doing and constantly thinking about the customers’ needs and proactively fulfilling it with your services. Who knew attention to such small details could do so much and it helps cut our marketing and advertising budget. We don’t have any fancy billboards or ever had the need to advertise on television or radio, yet the new job orders keep coming in! It is amazing!
I’ll share with you briefly some of the five (because 5 is my favourite number) ways you too can benefit from intensely loyal customers. You can trust me, I adopted these while working at Jean-Paul & Associates and we’re already seeing results!
1) Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Dependability trumps skills most often. Trust is key in building customer confidence and relation and that trust must not be misused. I’ll give you an example; I went into a mechanic workshop after hearing some funny noise in the engine of my car. Turns out the engine was about to “knock”, or so. Luckily the insurance covers that! Who knew? Anyways I got a notice from the workshop telling me the car would be ready in 10 days. So I took a deep breath and waited. 10 days came, no phone calls came in, so I took a drive down there asked for my car and was met with apologies asking me to come in a week! The same thing happened again after that one week, and needless to say by the time the car came out I was tired of the car and vowed never to return to the mechanic! The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one. When promises are broken the trust ties break as well.
2) Listen to your customers.
Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a business customer’s point of view or even a personal, I doubt it. Allow your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem or nodding while the customer tells you what he/she wants and not just pretending to listen; which unfortunately most men know how to do this especially through practicing the act in their relationships by grunting and make funny throat sounds to show their spouses that they following the story when they’re really just watching the football match or continue chatting on the Blackberry. Your wife knows this already and still feels the need to talk; most customers won’t be this nice. Listening to your customer makes you do your job better to suit his or her needs and makes the customer feel assured that the job will be done according to the given specifications. For more on active listening follow us on Facebook and read our article on Becoming a Rainmaker or in the alternative kindly wait for a few months till our next newsletter.
3) Be a Good Samaritan
People have a saying “Are we running a charity organisation?”, or “Am I the Good Samaritan?” You may not be running a not-for-profit organisation and your origins and ancestral descents may not be from ancient Samaria however you should when convenient and possible put customers and potential clients first. I’ll give you an example, a business developer from a firm we were trying to get to do business with, ran into our office requesting for an urgent design for an invoice and print as he needed it to close a sale. We had earlier given his firm a quotation for rebranding their organisation and that was still pending. We had two options; A) Tell him to get his boss to approve our bid and we’ll do so or B) Do him a great favour and expect he remembers this and nudges his boss to take up our proposal. Fortunately we went with option B, and not only were he pleased but his boss was impressed and gave us not just their account but their parent company too. In our day-to-day lives as human beings, according to your religion, your reward may be in heaven, but in the business world, you’re rewarded with referrals, word-of-mouth marketing and undying loyalty. Therefore if you have to bend over backwards just to please your client…THEN DO IT!!
4) Deal with complaints.
Most times when a client makes a complaint he can sound like a nagging partner. No one likes hearing these complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service. Sometimes the customer just wants a phone call from the person with the highest authority to be emphatic to his/her plights and make amendments if possible at no extra cost.
5) Train your staff to become worthy ambassadors.
Do it yourself or hire someone such as me to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularity. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so she never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...” At our workplace usually we give clients a month’s notice to renew their domain names and hosting and usually amidst all the hustle and bustle in doing business, they forget but we automatically renew them anyways and then invoice them. They always come back bringing more business to express their gratitude.
6) Throw in something extra (like I just did)
I know this from experience to be true, so rather than five tips I threw in an extra. So whether it’s a signed letter for a future discount, a year of free domain name renewal or hosting, or registration of a group in Facebook for free and tips to market a website, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. Don’t think a gesture has to be large to be effective. We found that out when setting up a website for an institute for learning; for extras we threw in free articles to get them started and get others to follow suit. A small thing, but so appreciated.
If you follow these tips as listed above you’ll have the satisfaction of having repeat businesses and very happy partners clients. The sweetest part remains the fact that good customer service will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
Your loyalty to someone or even an organization will always have a high appraisal value. When your partner for example senses a hint of disloyalty in you, the level of trust goes down. When trust diminishes, the relationship deteriorates. The same is true for the organizations and customers you work for. When disloyalty is evident in you, your opportunities for growth in that organization are lost. Trust and loyalty go hand in hand in a business as it does in a marriage.
Now that we’ve established the facts above, we need to look into ways to make your businesses and customers stay in love or rather remain loyal to you! I work for a company with a huge goal of helping Nigerian businesses in creating great brands that can compete globally. We’re serious about this and because we love our business we are serious about our customers.
From first-hand experience we realize that being a small business does have its advantages if you know what you’re doing and constantly thinking about the customers’ needs and proactively fulfilling it with your services. Who knew attention to such small details could do so much and it helps cut our marketing and advertising budget. We don’t have any fancy billboards or ever had the need to advertise on television or radio, yet the new job orders keep coming in! It is amazing!
I’ll share with you briefly some of the five (because 5 is my favourite number) ways you too can benefit from intensely loyal customers. You can trust me, I adopted these while working at Jean-Paul & Associates and we’re already seeing results!
1) Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Dependability trumps skills most often. Trust is key in building customer confidence and relation and that trust must not be misused. I’ll give you an example; I went into a mechanic workshop after hearing some funny noise in the engine of my car. Turns out the engine was about to “knock”, or so. Luckily the insurance covers that! Who knew? Anyways I got a notice from the workshop telling me the car would be ready in 10 days. So I took a deep breath and waited. 10 days came, no phone calls came in, so I took a drive down there asked for my car and was met with apologies asking me to come in a week! The same thing happened again after that one week, and needless to say by the time the car came out I was tired of the car and vowed never to return to the mechanic! The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one. When promises are broken the trust ties break as well.
2) Listen to your customers.
Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a business customer’s point of view or even a personal, I doubt it. Allow your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem or nodding while the customer tells you what he/she wants and not just pretending to listen; which unfortunately most men know how to do this especially through practicing the act in their relationships by grunting and make funny throat sounds to show their spouses that they following the story when they’re really just watching the football match or continue chatting on the Blackberry. Your wife knows this already and still feels the need to talk; most customers won’t be this nice. Listening to your customer makes you do your job better to suit his or her needs and makes the customer feel assured that the job will be done according to the given specifications. For more on active listening follow us on Facebook and read our article on Becoming a Rainmaker or in the alternative kindly wait for a few months till our next newsletter.
3) Be a Good Samaritan
People have a saying “Are we running a charity organisation?”, or “Am I the Good Samaritan?” You may not be running a not-for-profit organisation and your origins and ancestral descents may not be from ancient Samaria however you should when convenient and possible put customers and potential clients first. I’ll give you an example, a business developer from a firm we were trying to get to do business with, ran into our office requesting for an urgent design for an invoice and print as he needed it to close a sale. We had earlier given his firm a quotation for rebranding their organisation and that was still pending. We had two options; A) Tell him to get his boss to approve our bid and we’ll do so or B) Do him a great favour and expect he remembers this and nudges his boss to take up our proposal. Fortunately we went with option B, and not only were he pleased but his boss was impressed and gave us not just their account but their parent company too. In our day-to-day lives as human beings, according to your religion, your reward may be in heaven, but in the business world, you’re rewarded with referrals, word-of-mouth marketing and undying loyalty. Therefore if you have to bend over backwards just to please your client…THEN DO IT!!
4) Deal with complaints.
Most times when a client makes a complaint he can sound like a nagging partner. No one likes hearing these complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service. Sometimes the customer just wants a phone call from the person with the highest authority to be emphatic to his/her plights and make amendments if possible at no extra cost.
5) Train your staff to become worthy ambassadors.
Do it yourself or hire someone such as me to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularity. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so she never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...” At our workplace usually we give clients a month’s notice to renew their domain names and hosting and usually amidst all the hustle and bustle in doing business, they forget but we automatically renew them anyways and then invoice them. They always come back bringing more business to express their gratitude.
6) Throw in something extra (like I just did)
I know this from experience to be true, so rather than five tips I threw in an extra. So whether it’s a signed letter for a future discount, a year of free domain name renewal or hosting, or registration of a group in Facebook for free and tips to market a website, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. Don’t think a gesture has to be large to be effective. We found that out when setting up a website for an institute for learning; for extras we threw in free articles to get them started and get others to follow suit. A small thing, but so appreciated.
If you follow these tips as listed above you’ll have the satisfaction of having repeat businesses and very happy partners clients. The sweetest part remains the fact that good customer service will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
KNOCKING ON OPPORTUNITY’S DOOR
From when I was a young kid, able to comprehend the use of English, I was made to understand it is common practice to wait and prepare for opportunity to come knocking on your door. Well, I’ve come a long way since then and I’m not entirely discounting that, because it’s fantastic advise if you are a student awaiting a scholarship or a footballer, but certainly not applicable when you’re in business and you’ve got bills and salaries to pay weekly! So you need to be proactive and rather than sit around waiting for opportunity to knock on your door, or call your landline; instead we suggest you get off your chair and go seeking for opportunity’s door and knock on it!
Seriously, a lot of people are doing just that and getting way ahead of you! Ever wondered why some of your friends hardly visit? It may be because they’re too busy hosting visitors, so if you want to see them you’re better off not holding your breath and waiting; rather you go see them yourself.
Let me illustrate further with a more personal approach on how we operate sometimes in our team.
Our Challenge
I work in a growing advertising agency with a workforce made up of skilled professionals; it was pretty tough to get big customers without a seasoned marketer or accounts man as we call it. Well, we like to have big clients like a multinational or one of the Top 10 Banks, but we are based in Abuja and most of the decision makers of such organizations and their advertising agencies are based in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria.
Our Strategy
Rather than arrange for meetings with lobbyists and send countless proposals to the ultimate demise of the diminishing rain forest trees. We decided to come up with an approach for a new marketing communications plan, complete with advertising artwork and marketing concepts and creative ideas all ready designed on a CD-ROM. It was totally unsolicited without a creative brief! We arranged meetings with a brand manager and presented our ideas!
The Outcome
They saw what they liked, but even more than that was the fact that we had come all this way, done up preliminary artworks and deduced their marketing direction from researching their current adverts in newspapers and on their website. We were signed up and hopefully we’ll work together happily forever after.
However there are key lessons to be learnt here. First, we did not sit around waiting to be called like most people would after submitting a proposal, instead we went further to show them what we’re made off, hence increasing our bargaining power over the competition. It made us look proactive, bold and sure of ourselves. This strategy is impossible to fault and always impresses anyone you’re hoping to do business with.
So the key question to ask yourself is this; if I could be more aggressive about seeking opportunities for my company, who would I approach? When I approach this client what can I do unsolicited that would impress these potential customers?
Here are some ideas:
1. Make a list of who you’ll like to be doing business with and brainstorm on ways to make something suitable and tailored for them without spending too much time or money.
2. You’re giving them a “free” present and that’s already unusual, so don’t just stop there. Be creative on how to present it to them as well. If you’re in our line of business i.e. advertising and branding, put up a free mock website of your potential client and send them a text message with the website link telling them to visit that page and see what it would look like; or design a new logo for them. Or if you’re in something as boring as insurance, you could deliver them lunch with a menu of your services. Be free to express yourself and create a lasting impression about you.
Don’t wait for opportunity, go out there and find it. Using this approach to life, you’ll be pleased to find out opportunity is a brilliant host and it’s everywhere.
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
Seriously, a lot of people are doing just that and getting way ahead of you! Ever wondered why some of your friends hardly visit? It may be because they’re too busy hosting visitors, so if you want to see them you’re better off not holding your breath and waiting; rather you go see them yourself.
Let me illustrate further with a more personal approach on how we operate sometimes in our team.
Our Challenge
I work in a growing advertising agency with a workforce made up of skilled professionals; it was pretty tough to get big customers without a seasoned marketer or accounts man as we call it. Well, we like to have big clients like a multinational or one of the Top 10 Banks, but we are based in Abuja and most of the decision makers of such organizations and their advertising agencies are based in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria.
Our Strategy
Rather than arrange for meetings with lobbyists and send countless proposals to the ultimate demise of the diminishing rain forest trees. We decided to come up with an approach for a new marketing communications plan, complete with advertising artwork and marketing concepts and creative ideas all ready designed on a CD-ROM. It was totally unsolicited without a creative brief! We arranged meetings with a brand manager and presented our ideas!
The Outcome
They saw what they liked, but even more than that was the fact that we had come all this way, done up preliminary artworks and deduced their marketing direction from researching their current adverts in newspapers and on their website. We were signed up and hopefully we’ll work together happily forever after.
However there are key lessons to be learnt here. First, we did not sit around waiting to be called like most people would after submitting a proposal, instead we went further to show them what we’re made off, hence increasing our bargaining power over the competition. It made us look proactive, bold and sure of ourselves. This strategy is impossible to fault and always impresses anyone you’re hoping to do business with.
So the key question to ask yourself is this; if I could be more aggressive about seeking opportunities for my company, who would I approach? When I approach this client what can I do unsolicited that would impress these potential customers?
Here are some ideas:
1. Make a list of who you’ll like to be doing business with and brainstorm on ways to make something suitable and tailored for them without spending too much time or money.
2. You’re giving them a “free” present and that’s already unusual, so don’t just stop there. Be creative on how to present it to them as well. If you’re in our line of business i.e. advertising and branding, put up a free mock website of your potential client and send them a text message with the website link telling them to visit that page and see what it would look like; or design a new logo for them. Or if you’re in something as boring as insurance, you could deliver them lunch with a menu of your services. Be free to express yourself and create a lasting impression about you.
Don’t wait for opportunity, go out there and find it. Using this approach to life, you’ll be pleased to find out opportunity is a brilliant host and it’s everywhere.
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
COLLABORATION VS COMPETITION
Allow me to indulge you a little in a part of my life that I’ve mused endlessly about. I’ve argued it, debated it, so now I’m going to write about it so you too may see what part you belong to. Meet my two neighbors- Michael and Emeka (both fictional names).
Michael is in mid 30’s and quite successful and feels very confident of winning a “Mr. Swagger Man” award, whenever an organisation decides to start that. But he lives permanently in a hurried state just like a neighbor you too may know. He’s always hurrying to do stuff. Right from the moment the alarm clock starts buzzing in the morning. He is suddenly reminded of the need to do a million things within only 19 hours! Coz he sleeps by 2a.m and has to be up by 7a.m daily. So he jumps up from bed, says a hurried prayer (rarely) and is about to achieve what Hussein Bolt the Olympic gold medalist would be envious of, he’s in and out of the bathroom in less than 6 minutes. Has a shirt ironed and shoe polished and ready to go in less than ten minutes and is on the road for an 8 km drive to the office. Along the way, he calls the office to ask his secretary who’s in the office just before she had the time to say good-morning. He just wants to be sure, Emeka doesn’t get there before him this Monday morning especially as staff evaluation and promotion is around the corner at the end of the month. So he’s always 30 minutes earlier than Emeka each morning but still is paranoid that Emeka may do a turnaround and decide to become an early bird.
So he tries to make an 8km drive with four busy intersections and eight traffic stops in less than 11 minutes, enough to make even Michael Schumacher green with envy. He never succeeds but then he never stops trying even though the 11 minute benchmark was previously achieved during a bank holiday (which he didn’t hear of) with almost no traffic.
So he curses and swears at all the green cab drivers and he scrapes and dodges near accidents and by the time he is in the office, he is in quite a state and not in the mood to greet anyone “good-morning” with as much as a smile.
Now enters Emeka, a gentleman you’ll love to be with, more inclined towards living a comfortable than one of luxury. He doesn’t wake up in the morning with an alarm because he gets in to bed by 10:30p.m daily and is up by 5a.m and has adequate time to meditate before taking the kids on a 20 minute ride to school before making his way to the office. He volunteered to pick up his boss kids too so he’s never really queried when he comes in 5 or 10 minutes late.
In the office he coaches his team members on the need for collaboration and within them the reward system for remuneration based on commission is shared by all not just by the person who landed the job. This has made it possible for everyone to share contacts and delegate responsibilities based purely on perceived individuals strengths and skills. So naturally, the team is always ahead in regional sales year after year much to the consternation of Michael!
Michael on the other hand is what economists love to describe as a “hard-core capitalist”, so he drives his team like everyday is a race against time. He pitches them against each other and makes them compete directly amongst themselves for the big client or the highest sales weekly and he has a policy he calls, “The Winner Takes it All”. Something I suspect he learnt from a track from the 80’s music band ABBA. Needless to say, his team is constantly in a pensive mood and turnover is highest. However a member of his team is always sure to come out with topmost individual sales record and all others struggle with worst sales performance. It has become quite the norm these days.
Fast-forward to next month, evaluations have been done and recommendations have been made. Michael is called into the President’s office, and his boss says in a deep but friendly voice,
“Hey Michael, you gave us quite a tough choice with deciding who would be the Vice-President, we went for the best option, do accept our decision”. Michael walks out dazed and wondering if this is a practical joke and how was he going to explain to his wife the new BMW X6 he just leased in anticipation of a new raise? Could Emeka become his new boss?
The President picks up the phone and calls Emeka on the intercom, requesting him to come into the office and shaking his hands, he says heartily, “Congratulations, my old friend you deserve it” They shake hands and Emeka walks out and five minutes later his team begins cheering and a bottles of champagne can be heard popping off like a gunshot by Michael in the next office.
Herein lies the difference between competition and collaboration, in competition, there’s a 24 hours-a-day-365-days-a-year desire to climb to the top even if it means stepping on toes and climbing on heads of everyone around you. On the other hand collaboration makes great teams win awards. Teams would aspire to make their coach or captain win more awards selflessly. Great teams help achieve aspirations. Bad teams help create more perspiration. It’s really that simple.
Competition may pay off in the short run and thus seem good at first for the overly-ambitious person, business or country. But there’s only so much you can take from people without giving back; at the end of the day, they’ll have nothing left to give and you’ll have nothing else to take. What happens then? You’ll be gloomy that you’re not receiving anything anymore and they’ll be mad at you for taking all they have. How long do you think it would take before you’ll begin losing sleep and losing friends faster than a dog with a bad case of fleas loses its hair?
Collaboration doesn’t mean the absence of competition; it is however the appreciation of another’s unique natural gifts and abilities then finding a way to combine these unique qualities and making it work for the mutual benefit of all involved. Collaboration necessitates that all parties put their best foot forward and share the rewards afterwards. A simple analogy to illustrate this argument would be saying Hussein Bolt, might be the fastest runner in a 200m dash. But in a 1200M relay race, if he decides to run alone against 2 average runners, they will undoubtedly outrun him.
I run a partnership because I and my partner previously were working independently, but we decided to work inter-dependently as our skills complemented each other’s! In the same vein I believe companies can work together and avoid closing up completely especially during a recession. A good example will be banks and airlines sharing resources by identifying what the other party does best and entering a non-compete agreement in exchange for information or customers. Same goes with countries and multinationals fighting for scarce resources when the truth is: there’s more than enough to go around. The good book assures us that God created the Earth and the fullness thereof. Fullness means abundance, abundance means sufficient. Only stupid children struggle over food in the kitchen when there is more than enough to go around.
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Partner of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
Michael is in mid 30’s and quite successful and feels very confident of winning a “Mr. Swagger Man” award, whenever an organisation decides to start that. But he lives permanently in a hurried state just like a neighbor you too may know. He’s always hurrying to do stuff. Right from the moment the alarm clock starts buzzing in the morning. He is suddenly reminded of the need to do a million things within only 19 hours! Coz he sleeps by 2a.m and has to be up by 7a.m daily. So he jumps up from bed, says a hurried prayer (rarely) and is about to achieve what Hussein Bolt the Olympic gold medalist would be envious of, he’s in and out of the bathroom in less than 6 minutes. Has a shirt ironed and shoe polished and ready to go in less than ten minutes and is on the road for an 8 km drive to the office. Along the way, he calls the office to ask his secretary who’s in the office just before she had the time to say good-morning. He just wants to be sure, Emeka doesn’t get there before him this Monday morning especially as staff evaluation and promotion is around the corner at the end of the month. So he’s always 30 minutes earlier than Emeka each morning but still is paranoid that Emeka may do a turnaround and decide to become an early bird.
So he tries to make an 8km drive with four busy intersections and eight traffic stops in less than 11 minutes, enough to make even Michael Schumacher green with envy. He never succeeds but then he never stops trying even though the 11 minute benchmark was previously achieved during a bank holiday (which he didn’t hear of) with almost no traffic.
So he curses and swears at all the green cab drivers and he scrapes and dodges near accidents and by the time he is in the office, he is in quite a state and not in the mood to greet anyone “good-morning” with as much as a smile.
Now enters Emeka, a gentleman you’ll love to be with, more inclined towards living a comfortable than one of luxury. He doesn’t wake up in the morning with an alarm because he gets in to bed by 10:30p.m daily and is up by 5a.m and has adequate time to meditate before taking the kids on a 20 minute ride to school before making his way to the office. He volunteered to pick up his boss kids too so he’s never really queried when he comes in 5 or 10 minutes late.
In the office he coaches his team members on the need for collaboration and within them the reward system for remuneration based on commission is shared by all not just by the person who landed the job. This has made it possible for everyone to share contacts and delegate responsibilities based purely on perceived individuals strengths and skills. So naturally, the team is always ahead in regional sales year after year much to the consternation of Michael!
Michael on the other hand is what economists love to describe as a “hard-core capitalist”, so he drives his team like everyday is a race against time. He pitches them against each other and makes them compete directly amongst themselves for the big client or the highest sales weekly and he has a policy he calls, “The Winner Takes it All”. Something I suspect he learnt from a track from the 80’s music band ABBA. Needless to say, his team is constantly in a pensive mood and turnover is highest. However a member of his team is always sure to come out with topmost individual sales record and all others struggle with worst sales performance. It has become quite the norm these days.
Fast-forward to next month, evaluations have been done and recommendations have been made. Michael is called into the President’s office, and his boss says in a deep but friendly voice,
“Hey Michael, you gave us quite a tough choice with deciding who would be the Vice-President, we went for the best option, do accept our decision”. Michael walks out dazed and wondering if this is a practical joke and how was he going to explain to his wife the new BMW X6 he just leased in anticipation of a new raise? Could Emeka become his new boss?
The President picks up the phone and calls Emeka on the intercom, requesting him to come into the office and shaking his hands, he says heartily, “Congratulations, my old friend you deserve it” They shake hands and Emeka walks out and five minutes later his team begins cheering and a bottles of champagne can be heard popping off like a gunshot by Michael in the next office.
Herein lies the difference between competition and collaboration, in competition, there’s a 24 hours-a-day-365-days-a-year desire to climb to the top even if it means stepping on toes and climbing on heads of everyone around you. On the other hand collaboration makes great teams win awards. Teams would aspire to make their coach or captain win more awards selflessly. Great teams help achieve aspirations. Bad teams help create more perspiration. It’s really that simple.
Competition may pay off in the short run and thus seem good at first for the overly-ambitious person, business or country. But there’s only so much you can take from people without giving back; at the end of the day, they’ll have nothing left to give and you’ll have nothing else to take. What happens then? You’ll be gloomy that you’re not receiving anything anymore and they’ll be mad at you for taking all they have. How long do you think it would take before you’ll begin losing sleep and losing friends faster than a dog with a bad case of fleas loses its hair?
Collaboration doesn’t mean the absence of competition; it is however the appreciation of another’s unique natural gifts and abilities then finding a way to combine these unique qualities and making it work for the mutual benefit of all involved. Collaboration necessitates that all parties put their best foot forward and share the rewards afterwards. A simple analogy to illustrate this argument would be saying Hussein Bolt, might be the fastest runner in a 200m dash. But in a 1200M relay race, if he decides to run alone against 2 average runners, they will undoubtedly outrun him.
I run a partnership because I and my partner previously were working independently, but we decided to work inter-dependently as our skills complemented each other’s! In the same vein I believe companies can work together and avoid closing up completely especially during a recession. A good example will be banks and airlines sharing resources by identifying what the other party does best and entering a non-compete agreement in exchange for information or customers. Same goes with countries and multinationals fighting for scarce resources when the truth is: there’s more than enough to go around. The good book assures us that God created the Earth and the fullness thereof. Fullness means abundance, abundance means sufficient. Only stupid children struggle over food in the kitchen when there is more than enough to go around.
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Partner of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
THE POWER OF MONEY
For too long we have been held captive in our thoughts and lives by the object we call money. We have unduly allowed ourselves be subject to inhumane conditions, commit despicable crimes, silenced our consciences even in the face of the unthinkable sins against humanity and God; and what for? An inanimate object called money.
Money has lost its primary utilitarian purpose which it was meant for; the exchange of goods and services. These days we strive for it even at the exchange of our joys and the loss of our souls; it is a cause for great sadness. This delusion on humanity has for too long been fuelled by the media industry. The movies we watch, the songs we listen to are all hyped and ultimately leading towards the same message that money answers all problems or that more is better.
Like my friend Ovie Osah comments, “People who look at the youths today and wonder where the younger generation is headed would do well to consider where it came from”. We grew up with a wrong perception on money and societal values and like the saying goes, old habits die hard. I grew up listening to ABBA singing “Money, Money, Money”, and even now my niece listens to Jay-Zrapping about “On to the Next One”. So it’s ingrained into our subconscious and we strive day in, day out looking to make more money thinking that would lead to the happiness. I have nothing against money, but I’m writing to discuss an alternative view on the object called money and how we can use it to free ourselves and mould the world in the way that speaks to our very souls and affirms confidence in what we believe in.
We wrongly assume that he/she with more money has much more to offer. Also popular in present day society is the belief that more money equals more success; and closely followed along that school of thought is the myth that financial success brings happiness. But if you believe in this then you must also believe in Walt Disney’s fairy tales. If they hold any truth, please explain how and why a good number of suicide cases are amongst millionaires or billionaires who lost a couple of millions in the recession? And why celebrities like Alexander McQueen committed suicide? And also why Halle Berry, Britney Spears and Owen Wilson attempted suicide in the past? How would one explain away the great depression that surrounds other similar celebrities which is characterized by drug abuse, anger management lessons, nasty divorces, broken homes, and general sexual abuse that are associated by most influential families across the world?
Money is a tool; a means for the exchange of goods and services nothing more. It is not an aphrodisiac and so cannot make you happy neither is it an end in itself, merely a means to an end. You may have a billion dollars that you won at a lottery or inherited but without having a purpose to which you can meaningfully contribute towards society or commit yourself towards achieving your soul’s desire to playing a larger part in the community and world you live in, then I’m afraid your stashed away billions is nothing compared to the joy a community worker who prepares food for homeless folks each day. And you’re of little more value than the zeroes digits at the end of your bank statement literally speaking. Nelson Mandela succinctly puts the higher purpose of living when he said, “In judging our progress as individuals, we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one's social position, influence & popularity, wealth & standard of education. But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being, humility, purity, genorosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men. Qualities within the reach of every human soul”.
We are all blessed in different ways, some with the talents of singing, dancing or acting while some others have an astute sense of intuition and yet others creativity. A fraction of us have been blessed with financial success. But just like the man with a great vocal range that ends up as a banker feels largely unfulfilled, and the actress that ends up working as an air-hostess would every morning have a pang of regret. So also is it when you have huge amounts of money and find yourself overwhelmed and burdened by it. Without making any meaningful contribution toward your soul’s higher purpose you will forever remain in chains of fear. Fear of being swindled or robbed or making risky investments or having fair-weather friends for company. Such is the power of money.
However the truth is simple; whatever we have in excess does have a negative impact. An abscess of blood in the body leads to clot. When you dam water, it turns stagnant. When you store up money in a bank with the ambition that it would give you happiness, you get nothing but endless worries in return. I speak from experience; I come from a fairly privileged background and know families that are publicly respected and even a constant icon of envy, struggle within themselves over money. It brings endless grief, mistrust and in some cases a bloody strife. Money without good works is dead.
Most successful partnerships in the world today are between people with a variety of gifts coming together to have a meaningful synergy. Just as music is a gift, money is a gift- nothing more. To have a successful recording label company, you can have all the money in the world but without one good musician and subsequent album sales, can a record label really be said to be successful?
What’s my point here? In the world today, we’ve limited ourselves in broad classifications of the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Those blessed with money listed as the haves, and those without money are generally looked down on as the “have-nots”. This is a blatant falsification of fact. We are all “haves”, albeit in different ways. The essence of life is in finding a meaningful way to use our gifts towards leaving the world a better place than we met it.
The legends and names of departed souls that we would forever remember are those who despite all odds, despite limited financial prosperity, made it their life’s duty to leave the world in a better place than they met it. Think of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Pope John Paul II, Mohammed Ali, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton they contributed their gifts not money towards making the world a better place and their names would forever resound from generations to generations.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and other American billionaires who in recent news recently donated half of their fortunes have only just begun to understand the power behind the sort of collaboration we’re discussing here. So please stop the mindless competition and animosity amongst yourselves for money and start collaborating and establishing meaningful partnerships that would uplift our society in general and hopefully a good night rest.
Thank you for reading.
Ebuka Anichebe is a freelance writer, business consultant and an extraordinary motivational speaker.
Follow, befriend or stalk me at: http://ebukaanichebe.blogspot.com/
Write me at: ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com
Money has lost its primary utilitarian purpose which it was meant for; the exchange of goods and services. These days we strive for it even at the exchange of our joys and the loss of our souls; it is a cause for great sadness. This delusion on humanity has for too long been fuelled by the media industry. The movies we watch, the songs we listen to are all hyped and ultimately leading towards the same message that money answers all problems or that more is better.
Like my friend Ovie Osah comments, “People who look at the youths today and wonder where the younger generation is headed would do well to consider where it came from”. We grew up with a wrong perception on money and societal values and like the saying goes, old habits die hard. I grew up listening to ABBA singing “Money, Money, Money”, and even now my niece listens to Jay-Zrapping about “On to the Next One”. So it’s ingrained into our subconscious and we strive day in, day out looking to make more money thinking that would lead to the happiness. I have nothing against money, but I’m writing to discuss an alternative view on the object called money and how we can use it to free ourselves and mould the world in the way that speaks to our very souls and affirms confidence in what we believe in.
We wrongly assume that he/she with more money has much more to offer. Also popular in present day society is the belief that more money equals more success; and closely followed along that school of thought is the myth that financial success brings happiness. But if you believe in this then you must also believe in Walt Disney’s fairy tales. If they hold any truth, please explain how and why a good number of suicide cases are amongst millionaires or billionaires who lost a couple of millions in the recession? And why celebrities like Alexander McQueen committed suicide? And also why Halle Berry, Britney Spears and Owen Wilson attempted suicide in the past? How would one explain away the great depression that surrounds other similar celebrities which is characterized by drug abuse, anger management lessons, nasty divorces, broken homes, and general sexual abuse that are associated by most influential families across the world?
Money is a tool; a means for the exchange of goods and services nothing more. It is not an aphrodisiac and so cannot make you happy neither is it an end in itself, merely a means to an end. You may have a billion dollars that you won at a lottery or inherited but without having a purpose to which you can meaningfully contribute towards society or commit yourself towards achieving your soul’s desire to playing a larger part in the community and world you live in, then I’m afraid your stashed away billions is nothing compared to the joy a community worker who prepares food for homeless folks each day. And you’re of little more value than the zeroes digits at the end of your bank statement literally speaking. Nelson Mandela succinctly puts the higher purpose of living when he said, “In judging our progress as individuals, we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one's social position, influence & popularity, wealth & standard of education. But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being, humility, purity, genorosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men. Qualities within the reach of every human soul”.
We are all blessed in different ways, some with the talents of singing, dancing or acting while some others have an astute sense of intuition and yet others creativity. A fraction of us have been blessed with financial success. But just like the man with a great vocal range that ends up as a banker feels largely unfulfilled, and the actress that ends up working as an air-hostess would every morning have a pang of regret. So also is it when you have huge amounts of money and find yourself overwhelmed and burdened by it. Without making any meaningful contribution toward your soul’s higher purpose you will forever remain in chains of fear. Fear of being swindled or robbed or making risky investments or having fair-weather friends for company. Such is the power of money.
However the truth is simple; whatever we have in excess does have a negative impact. An abscess of blood in the body leads to clot. When you dam water, it turns stagnant. When you store up money in a bank with the ambition that it would give you happiness, you get nothing but endless worries in return. I speak from experience; I come from a fairly privileged background and know families that are publicly respected and even a constant icon of envy, struggle within themselves over money. It brings endless grief, mistrust and in some cases a bloody strife. Money without good works is dead.
Most successful partnerships in the world today are between people with a variety of gifts coming together to have a meaningful synergy. Just as music is a gift, money is a gift- nothing more. To have a successful recording label company, you can have all the money in the world but without one good musician and subsequent album sales, can a record label really be said to be successful?
What’s my point here? In the world today, we’ve limited ourselves in broad classifications of the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Those blessed with money listed as the haves, and those without money are generally looked down on as the “have-nots”. This is a blatant falsification of fact. We are all “haves”, albeit in different ways. The essence of life is in finding a meaningful way to use our gifts towards leaving the world a better place than we met it.
The legends and names of departed souls that we would forever remember are those who despite all odds, despite limited financial prosperity, made it their life’s duty to leave the world in a better place than they met it. Think of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Pope John Paul II, Mohammed Ali, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton they contributed their gifts not money towards making the world a better place and their names would forever resound from generations to generations.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and other American billionaires who in recent news recently donated half of their fortunes have only just begun to understand the power behind the sort of collaboration we’re discussing here. So please stop the mindless competition and animosity amongst yourselves for money and start collaborating and establishing meaningful partnerships that would uplift our society in general and hopefully a good night rest.
Thank you for reading.
Ebuka Anichebe is a freelance writer, business consultant and an extraordinary motivational speaker.
Follow, befriend or stalk me at: http://ebukaanichebe.blogspot.com/
Write me at: ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com
BECOME A RAINMAKER!
Have you ever wondered what makes Miss X sell more services than Mr. Y? Ever speculated whether it had anything to do with looks, gender or age? Many people still ponder on these issues and many more still argue on the cause for such outcomes. Regardless of which school of thought you belong to, I’m neither writing to oppose or support on that. Instead what I set out to achieve, is to highlight on certain issues that can pass on for “must have characteristics” that’s inherent in every successful rainmaker. For the uninitiated in business terminology, a rainmaker in the strictest sense of the word is referred to as individuals with skills to excel in selling professional services- they bring new clients and bigger fees into service firms. Hence in a nutshell rainmakers make rain! Rain as we know is a key requirement in our environment to make crops grow and put food in our belly. In the business world it’s the same phenomena, rainmakers cause rain, which in turn makes business grow and cash cows get fatter.
RAIN is actually an acronym for Rapport, Aspirations and Afflictions, Impact and New Reality. We’re going to discuss each of the points highlighted above in briefly, none more important than the other and at the end of reading this article you should be able to change your perception of why Miss X sells more that Mr. Y!
PRINCIPLE 1: BUILDING RAPPORT
You might be thinking, “Oh that’s not an issue, I’m a great person and I’m easy to like”. Well if that’s a fact, then you’re amongst the lucky minority of the entire world population. However if you’re not exactly Miss Congeniality, then you may need to adapt a more professional approach towards your potential clients. When personal chemistry is established, it’s always easier to establish a business relationship. Skip that step and you’ll never really harness the full potential for developing your business potential. Bear in mind we’re not necessarily talking about contrived chit-chat like talking about the weather. But by paying attention to details or talking about politics without necessarily shoving your opinions down his throat, you’ll find a common ground.
Another issue about building rapport that we mostly miss is being in a rush to talk business and get down to the nitty-gritty of the matter. This usually creates a tense atmosphere. A great rainmaker knows he must first inquire about the clients business, and while doing so balance giving advice on methods or solutions that might assist the client as well as actively listen to what is being said or what isn’t being said! I was once sitting across a head of department of a big bank, requesting for their account. She started talking about her child’s teething problem on the phone with someone that seemed to be her husband. I quickly sent a text message to my sister who had a similar problem weeks earlier asking for the solution she used. She replied. Soon as the client was done complaining, I artfully sympathized with her and proffered a solution. To cut the long story short: Two weeks later we had the account!
On a final note, you should not disqualify yourself before you open your mouth, dress appropriately, sometimes a sharp suit and tie may not be suitable for the job at hand, other times it is absolutely necessary. Dress for the occasion and you’ll fit right in like a glove.
PRINCIPLE 2: AFFLICTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS
Most professional service providers understand that uncovering afflictions of a client is a key prerequisite to understanding how you can help him/her. And so we ask questions such as “What can I do for you?”, “How can we be of assistance?” and so on. However once you have successfully developed a personal connection or rapport with a client, the next step is to begin probing for areas where you can be of assistance. The more you talk about the prospects problems probably based on your research, the more it takes centre in the client’s mind. However if your lucky and the client actually brings his problems to you first, then it’s likely that he wants it to away if possible and if it makes sense to invest time and money doing so.
For most people like Mr. Y, they usually then discuss the afflictions and proffer the solutions their organizations have to offer, shake hands, promise to send an invoice and thank the client for choosing to do business with them and get on their way. But they’ve only gotten half a piece of cake!
The true rainmaker like Miss X knows that focusing on the client’s negative half is only half the story. Especially in the business of service provision, when you focus on only the negative half you miss out on the great opportunity to expand your current offerings and generate new opportunities.
Having said that, let’s simplify buyers of professional services into two broad categories, namely: A) Problem solving. B) Future Seeking.
Those in the problem solving categories are usually seeking solutions when something is bothering them or not meeting up with expected targets so they want it fixed. When you encounter these prospects, uncovering their afflictions and discussing it extensively is key into prompting them to action as well as uncovering areas they may have neglected.
On the other end of the continuum are buyers of professional services that really don’t have any problems at all with their business model, however are more inspirational in their thinking. Hence what’s constantly racing through their minds is how to expand their business and the passion and drive that comes with it. In such case as a service provider, your task will be to prompt him through careful prodding for answers. Useful questions will be “What are your stretch goals this year for this Organization?”, “What do you want to see being done in the next year?” or “Where would you like to be in another 5 years”. These sort of questions open up a wide range of possibilities that others would miss out on, and then your only main competition then would be the inertia of the prospect. This brings us to the next principle on how to make impact clear.
PRINCIPLE 3: MAKING THE IMPACT CLEAR
A good rainmaker is able to prompt a prospect into taking action through a careful use of word and forcing the client to think and talk about the future even to who seemed a stranger almost 30 minutes ago! The great rainmaker after uncovering a prospects aspirations and afflictions has the ability to ask a simple question, “So What?” Two simple words. It makes all the difference. It prompts the prospect into thinking what his inaction or action will cost him. But you should know the answer to the question before you begin asking, so in the event the prospect becomes tongue-tied. You quickly swoop in and make a case for why you should be the one to have the job. Why your service is better than the alternatives he might be considering and also what would be the monetary and non-monetary impact of using the service you are providing.
You must also be able to build credibility by showing them you’ve been there before and giving them a brief story on when you were there and how your service provided the much needed solution. This gives the prospect the comfort of knowing that you are a professional.
PRINCIPLE 4: PAINT A PICTURE
Whatever service you might be providing, it most probably has an effect on the client’s world. One of the most important skills in selling professional services is helping the potential client understand exactly what outcomes they will get when they work with you and clearly communicating these benefits when discussing with them.
Discover what you need to do in order to create the new reality for them. Establish clear cut benchmarks by asking questions such as “At the end of this process, what would success look like?” or “What do you like to see happening in your organisation as a result of engaging our services?”.
Use their responses as a prompter; your job is to paint a picture of the New Reality using pictures, graphs and figures so they can fully understand your services and its value. Tell them of how much they should be looking at saving or earning at the end of engaging the services. Tell them about where they should be like in another 3 years and how the interview in CNN should play out. If possible ask them for their autographs now so you can save on time asking those 5 years from now. In other words make their dreams look like it comes closer to reality when working with you.
At the end of adopting this simple 4-STEP approach, you will have a growing relationship with the client. Have a deeper knowledge of their afflictions. Be well informed on their goals and future aspirations that your competition will only find out sometime next year. Be knowledgeable of the impact that is expected by working with your firm.
And finally you would finally appreciate the fact that Miss X probably applies these principles and Mr. Y doesn’t! Now go out and make it rain today!
Good Luck!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
RAIN is actually an acronym for Rapport, Aspirations and Afflictions, Impact and New Reality. We’re going to discuss each of the points highlighted above in briefly, none more important than the other and at the end of reading this article you should be able to change your perception of why Miss X sells more that Mr. Y!
PRINCIPLE 1: BUILDING RAPPORT
You might be thinking, “Oh that’s not an issue, I’m a great person and I’m easy to like”. Well if that’s a fact, then you’re amongst the lucky minority of the entire world population. However if you’re not exactly Miss Congeniality, then you may need to adapt a more professional approach towards your potential clients. When personal chemistry is established, it’s always easier to establish a business relationship. Skip that step and you’ll never really harness the full potential for developing your business potential. Bear in mind we’re not necessarily talking about contrived chit-chat like talking about the weather. But by paying attention to details or talking about politics without necessarily shoving your opinions down his throat, you’ll find a common ground.
Another issue about building rapport that we mostly miss is being in a rush to talk business and get down to the nitty-gritty of the matter. This usually creates a tense atmosphere. A great rainmaker knows he must first inquire about the clients business, and while doing so balance giving advice on methods or solutions that might assist the client as well as actively listen to what is being said or what isn’t being said! I was once sitting across a head of department of a big bank, requesting for their account. She started talking about her child’s teething problem on the phone with someone that seemed to be her husband. I quickly sent a text message to my sister who had a similar problem weeks earlier asking for the solution she used. She replied. Soon as the client was done complaining, I artfully sympathized with her and proffered a solution. To cut the long story short: Two weeks later we had the account!
On a final note, you should not disqualify yourself before you open your mouth, dress appropriately, sometimes a sharp suit and tie may not be suitable for the job at hand, other times it is absolutely necessary. Dress for the occasion and you’ll fit right in like a glove.
PRINCIPLE 2: AFFLICTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS
Most professional service providers understand that uncovering afflictions of a client is a key prerequisite to understanding how you can help him/her. And so we ask questions such as “What can I do for you?”, “How can we be of assistance?” and so on. However once you have successfully developed a personal connection or rapport with a client, the next step is to begin probing for areas where you can be of assistance. The more you talk about the prospects problems probably based on your research, the more it takes centre in the client’s mind. However if your lucky and the client actually brings his problems to you first, then it’s likely that he wants it to away if possible and if it makes sense to invest time and money doing so.
For most people like Mr. Y, they usually then discuss the afflictions and proffer the solutions their organizations have to offer, shake hands, promise to send an invoice and thank the client for choosing to do business with them and get on their way. But they’ve only gotten half a piece of cake!
The true rainmaker like Miss X knows that focusing on the client’s negative half is only half the story. Especially in the business of service provision, when you focus on only the negative half you miss out on the great opportunity to expand your current offerings and generate new opportunities.
Having said that, let’s simplify buyers of professional services into two broad categories, namely: A) Problem solving. B) Future Seeking.
Those in the problem solving categories are usually seeking solutions when something is bothering them or not meeting up with expected targets so they want it fixed. When you encounter these prospects, uncovering their afflictions and discussing it extensively is key into prompting them to action as well as uncovering areas they may have neglected.
On the other end of the continuum are buyers of professional services that really don’t have any problems at all with their business model, however are more inspirational in their thinking. Hence what’s constantly racing through their minds is how to expand their business and the passion and drive that comes with it. In such case as a service provider, your task will be to prompt him through careful prodding for answers. Useful questions will be “What are your stretch goals this year for this Organization?”, “What do you want to see being done in the next year?” or “Where would you like to be in another 5 years”. These sort of questions open up a wide range of possibilities that others would miss out on, and then your only main competition then would be the inertia of the prospect. This brings us to the next principle on how to make impact clear.
PRINCIPLE 3: MAKING THE IMPACT CLEAR
A good rainmaker is able to prompt a prospect into taking action through a careful use of word and forcing the client to think and talk about the future even to who seemed a stranger almost 30 minutes ago! The great rainmaker after uncovering a prospects aspirations and afflictions has the ability to ask a simple question, “So What?” Two simple words. It makes all the difference. It prompts the prospect into thinking what his inaction or action will cost him. But you should know the answer to the question before you begin asking, so in the event the prospect becomes tongue-tied. You quickly swoop in and make a case for why you should be the one to have the job. Why your service is better than the alternatives he might be considering and also what would be the monetary and non-monetary impact of using the service you are providing.
You must also be able to build credibility by showing them you’ve been there before and giving them a brief story on when you were there and how your service provided the much needed solution. This gives the prospect the comfort of knowing that you are a professional.
PRINCIPLE 4: PAINT A PICTURE
Whatever service you might be providing, it most probably has an effect on the client’s world. One of the most important skills in selling professional services is helping the potential client understand exactly what outcomes they will get when they work with you and clearly communicating these benefits when discussing with them.
Discover what you need to do in order to create the new reality for them. Establish clear cut benchmarks by asking questions such as “At the end of this process, what would success look like?” or “What do you like to see happening in your organisation as a result of engaging our services?”.
Use their responses as a prompter; your job is to paint a picture of the New Reality using pictures, graphs and figures so they can fully understand your services and its value. Tell them of how much they should be looking at saving or earning at the end of engaging the services. Tell them about where they should be like in another 3 years and how the interview in CNN should play out. If possible ask them for their autographs now so you can save on time asking those 5 years from now. In other words make their dreams look like it comes closer to reality when working with you.
At the end of adopting this simple 4-STEP approach, you will have a growing relationship with the client. Have a deeper knowledge of their afflictions. Be well informed on their goals and future aspirations that your competition will only find out sometime next year. Be knowledgeable of the impact that is expected by working with your firm.
And finally you would finally appreciate the fact that Miss X probably applies these principles and Mr. Y doesn’t! Now go out and make it rain today!
Good Luck!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749
CONSULTING: A NATURAL INSTINCT
How would you like to eat your cake, and then have it? Well that’s what you get when you are paid for doing what you love or otherwise would still get joy doing it for free.
I’ve heard many people working in the 9-5 particularly associates in the banking sector that work for much longer hours, say they envy me for being able to laugh at the end of the day. Work at my own hours (I love working at night) and thoroughly enjoy doing it! Doing what you love is great. But, if you're in business, you want to know that you're making a profit from it.
According to the author Steve Pavlina "Do what you love, but be damned sure it’s profitable."
If you're going to be in business, you need to be sure that there's money in what you're doing. Sure, you don't want to bang your head against a wall by doing something you dislike. But there's no point doing something you love if you can't make a good living from it. That's because most of us really love having food, clothing, shelter, security, self esteem and other important needs.
One may love consulting, but then would not love everything about consulting. There are some projects that you merely like. However, you would LOVE being able to enjoy the freedoms of having a good income- maybe not as steady as some would like. Sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s just enough to get by another month. You shouldn’t throw yourself into work you hate, but then again you wouldn’t mind making good money for doing things you naturally like. In the end, you’ll love the freedom that work delivers.
I would advise anyone going into the consulting world in any field to begin with focusing on the work they like best. This pays by itself by helping you and your client giving the surprise factor in all you do. Putting in that extra touch, the extra thought, going an extra mile. I once had a job to create a website for a particular client that was keen on faultless writing but was unable to do so himself. Being keen on delivering a good job as well as my interest in designing websites led to my involvement in carrying out a detailed study and research into the field of business he was into. And subsequently writing up the content of the site and designing its layout. The client was amazed- we had two more similar jobs in less than a week!
That’s the power of doing the jobs you truly enjoy. You then require little momentum to deliver first class 5 star service and oust the competition with little or no effort in putting that extra value. A computer analyst that helps you do a system upgrade after a cursory maintenance check is more preferred to one that doesn’t. A consultant that sends you relevant mail updates regarding news in your field is generally appreciated than one that does a one off job and is off to the next.
If you're having a hard time figuring out what you can do for profit, work on doing a personal inventory to help you identify your passions, interests and talents. Talk to friends, colleagues or visit sites on the internet that describes your occupational interests or personal inventory.
Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He specializes in marketing consulting, business development and conducts personal development and capacity building workshops for entrepreneurs. He’ll like to hear your views on this and more, write to him at ebuha@jeanpaulconsult.com. Or call +234-807-7744-731.
I’ve heard many people working in the 9-5 particularly associates in the banking sector that work for much longer hours, say they envy me for being able to laugh at the end of the day. Work at my own hours (I love working at night) and thoroughly enjoy doing it! Doing what you love is great. But, if you're in business, you want to know that you're making a profit from it.
According to the author Steve Pavlina "Do what you love, but be damned sure it’s profitable."
If you're going to be in business, you need to be sure that there's money in what you're doing. Sure, you don't want to bang your head against a wall by doing something you dislike. But there's no point doing something you love if you can't make a good living from it. That's because most of us really love having food, clothing, shelter, security, self esteem and other important needs.
One may love consulting, but then would not love everything about consulting. There are some projects that you merely like. However, you would LOVE being able to enjoy the freedoms of having a good income- maybe not as steady as some would like. Sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s just enough to get by another month. You shouldn’t throw yourself into work you hate, but then again you wouldn’t mind making good money for doing things you naturally like. In the end, you’ll love the freedom that work delivers.
I would advise anyone going into the consulting world in any field to begin with focusing on the work they like best. This pays by itself by helping you and your client giving the surprise factor in all you do. Putting in that extra touch, the extra thought, going an extra mile. I once had a job to create a website for a particular client that was keen on faultless writing but was unable to do so himself. Being keen on delivering a good job as well as my interest in designing websites led to my involvement in carrying out a detailed study and research into the field of business he was into. And subsequently writing up the content of the site and designing its layout. The client was amazed- we had two more similar jobs in less than a week!
That’s the power of doing the jobs you truly enjoy. You then require little momentum to deliver first class 5 star service and oust the competition with little or no effort in putting that extra value. A computer analyst that helps you do a system upgrade after a cursory maintenance check is more preferred to one that doesn’t. A consultant that sends you relevant mail updates regarding news in your field is generally appreciated than one that does a one off job and is off to the next.
If you're having a hard time figuring out what you can do for profit, work on doing a personal inventory to help you identify your passions, interests and talents. Talk to friends, colleagues or visit sites on the internet that describes your occupational interests or personal inventory.
Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He specializes in marketing consulting, business development and conducts personal development and capacity building workshops for entrepreneurs. He’ll like to hear your views on this and more, write to him at ebuha@jeanpaulconsult.com. Or call +234-807-7744-731.
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