Unique Selling Proposition: What Business Are You In?

One of the most deceptive questions you can ask a Business President, especially for someone who has been in business for a long time, is: What Business are You In?

It’s one of the most puzzling paradoxes I have seen in my work with mid- and small-size businesses. The longer they have been in business, the more they think they know the answer and the more difficult it is for them to formulate a simple, coherent response. The result is that their businesses suffer with dissipated energies, scattered strategies and diffused efforts.

The fact is, the longer a business is around, the more important it is for its leaders to revisit this question, over and over again. The article I am sharing here is meant to help business people come in touch with an answer to this simple question.

>> Read it here: Unique Selling Proposition (What Business Are You In?)

Unique Selling Proposition: Why Have It

We all have blind-spots in our professions. You know, the stuff that we should know but we don’t and it ends up “getting” us when we are least expecting.

In my work with mid- and small-size businesses, I have noticed that most business owners and leaders also have their blind-spots. If I were to pick the one that’s most dangerous, it would be the fact that they give so very little attention to their Unique Selling Proposition or USP.

A strong USP goes far beyond affecting the marketing and sales results of a business. A compelling USP has the ability to transform an organization from the inside-out. It can transform its sales and marketing results, of course, but also bring its various departments on the same wavelength and affect its morale, teamwork and communication.

A weak USP, on the other hand, scatters a business’ energies and dilutes the effectiveness of its efforts. 

This subject is important enough, I believe, that I am writing a series of articles meant to serve as a step-by-step guide. The first article in this series helps you clarify if you need to have a strong USP and offers 4 questions you can ask yourself and your team for crafting a compelling USP.

>> Read it here:  Unique Selling Proposition (Why Have It and How to Craft It)

Hiring Mistakes: A Simple Way to Avoid Them

I recently spoke with some folks like you who have read the series of my writings about Leader vs Manager (vs Coach). I came away realizing that I had ignored something very basic in my prior emails, which was to spell out why it’s so important to know the differences among these roles.

The reason why it’s important to know these distinctions is simple: Mistakes in hiring and placing people.

If we hire a strong Leader in the role of an Employee who is expected to follow directions, we have a disaster waiting to happen. If we hire someone who naturally gravitates towards being a Coach or a Guide, she will make an extremely poor choice for the role of a Manager. By the same token, a Manager will more easily grow into the role of a Leader or Employee, but will struggle being a Coach or a Teacher. And an Employee will adapt better to being a Manager or a Coach but will struggle with the role of a Leader.

Don’t take my word for it. Just look around. Or probe your history of hiring and placing people. Get your ego out of the way and give it some serious thought. If you are like most business leaders I know, you will have hired based on resume, prior experience and what the candidates tell you about themselves. Sometimes we get lucky and stumble upon a great hire. But in most cases, hiring based on resumes and work history alone leads to misfits in workplace who drain everybody’s energies – including their own. So hiring, placing and promoting becomes a trial-and-error process where we keep hiring and firing people until we find the perfect fit. Or we learn to live with mediocre performers.

When we place right people in right positions, we set the stage for effortless – frictionless – yet efficient work environment. Equally important, we do a huge favor to the candidates who have little idea of what they should be doing, regardless of their college degrees and their work history. The lack of self-knowledge is a serious epidemic in our world today, where many people end up choosing professions they are not a proper fit for.

That’s why, I thought it would be helpful to list the resources I have developed so far about these roles in one place. So here they are. Simply click the link to read.

Leader vs Manager:

Leader vs Manager: Similarities and Differences

Leader vs Manager: Myths and Misconceptions (Lesson from movies Batman, Jurassic Park and Wall Street)

Leader vs Manager: Traits, Qualities and Characteristics

Leader vs Manager vs Coach:

Leader vs Manager vs Coach: Lessons from Star Trek, the Next Generation

Leader vs Manager vs Coach: Lessons from the Tudors (TV Series) and King Henry VIII

Leader’s Fool: Lessons from The Tudors (TV Series)

Even if you did not see The Tudors (a Showtime TV Series), I am sure you have heard of Henry VIII, the notorious ruler of 16th century England. I recently watched the show and was transfixed by its portrayal of Henry VIII and its stunning recreation of his court and its political maneuvering.

More to the point, his rule and his court have many lessons for us businesspeople. The TV show contains an insightful presentation of the roles of leaders, managers and teachers (also known as coaches or guides) and the dynamics of their relationships.

Henry had many managers, all of whom died during his reign. Two of them were executed by the King’s order. He also had many appointed counsels. But he did not listen to any of them. He did listen to one person though, the only one who told it to him “like it is” and lived on to tell the tale. Who was he and why did Henry put up with him?

Find out here: Leader vs Manager vs Leader (Lessons from the Tudors (TV Series) and King Henry VIII)

Are You – and Your Business – Sales Sufficient?

Before a person can help others, she must be self-sufficient. Before a business can help its clients, it must be sales-sufficient.

Like it or not, sales is the air in a business’ lungs. No sales means no customers, no revenues, no cash-flow, no income, no growth, no glory.

At Awayre, LLC, much of the work we do with our clients is at the “top-line” as that’s where a business has most leverage. At least theoretically, the amount of sales you can bring in has no upper limits. Cutting costs, on the other hand, can go only so far in making a business profitable.

That’s why, I have put together some non-traditional resources that would help a business bring in enough sales and remain sales sufficient, even when the business environment is not favorable.

The first resource below is a nice way to analyze where you may be going wrong in your approach to sales.

Unceremoniously, it’s called: Sales Problems (Click the link to read more)

Don’t underestimate the power of knowing your sales problems and their underlying causes. Once you know where your problems lie, the solutions are often a matter of common sense. The above resource helps you pinpoint what your sales problems are and offers corrections.

The second resource is: Sales Problems and Solutions

Here, you get to look at top seven sales problems that most businesses face and 7 sets of corresponding strategies to fix them, once and for all.

You may have been sold quite a bit on the idea of having a selling system in your business. I am quite familiar with the idea myself, as for 5 years I sold and taught a selling system. But hindsight is 20/20.

Today, as I look at the success I have had in helping my clients, I realize that my part in their success was not just to help develop a system but to transcend it. It’s like driving a car. You can’t be effective in driving a car as long as you are aware of the “system” you have for driving the car.

I have come to believe that a good business follows a system in selling. But a great business goes beyond a system and builds a sales culture based on awareness and mindfulness, not manipulation and obsessive maneuvering.

Here I present you this no-system way of selling: Selling Non-System

The final resource is a book. It’s called Jump Start Your Business Brain. If you did not listen to anything I have shared above and did just one thing, I would say buy this book and study it.

Mind you, the book is not perfect. Far from it. But it remains on my list of top five books to read for a business leader, especially those who own their own businesses.

Here is my review of the book: Jumpstart Your Business Brain

Once again, here are the resources I mentioned above:

Sales Problems: Analyze and correct 22 sales behaviors
Sales Problems and Solutions: 7 most recurring sales problems and solutions
Selling Non-System: How to sell without being a salesperson
Jumpstart Your Business Brain: A resource for building your brand and message

I hope these resources give you some ideas, tools and inspiration to make your business more sales sufficient.

Leader vs Manager vs Teacher: Lessons from Star Trek, the Next Generation

“The teacher does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” ~ Khalil Gibran

How is a teacher, a coach, or a guide different from a leader or a manager?

Because it’s not such an easy question to answer, I got some help from one of the most beloved cult-classics of our time: The TV series Star Trek, the Generation.

You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate the key distinctions it brings out among these three roles.

And who knows, if not a fan, perhaps you will be one after watching some of the clips I have included in the article.

Read here: Leader vs Manager vs Coach (Lessons from Star Trek, the Next Generation)

See you at the next Star Trek convention!

Simple Small Business Plan Template: How to Write a Dynamic Business Blueprint

It’s a known fact that most business owners and leaders either never write a business plan or write one that’s an intellectual exercise and does not help in the actual running of the business.

Many business owners I have come to know recognize that they need a business plan. But they are overwhelmed by the amount of work it would take to write what’s traditionally accepted as business plan.

When we use some of the traditionally available tools and templates, the writing of a business plan can become a theoretical exercise. I should know. I once wrote a business plan that was more than 60 pages long! Such business plans can win business plan writing contests, but they are a little help in the actual building and running of a business.

The simple template I present here has been tested through time. I have used it with dozens of business owners in helping them build a business plan that’s simple, actionable and as dynamic as the business it’s written for.

Instead of a 60-page business plan, this simple, 2-page template allows you to create a Dynamic Business Blueprint. When properly developed and used, it becomes the guiding path for the day-to-day running of your business. It also unlocks your locked up energies and channels them towards the building of a thriving business.

>> Download the template here: Small Business Plan Template (How to Write a Simple Blueprint for Your Small Business)

Selling Non-system for the Spontaneous and the Creative

Selling systems work great for those organization that thrive on structure and order. Some businesses and their leaders naturally gravitate towards systems and structures. They are linear thinkers and love order and step-by-step logic in everything they do. They love the predictability and control that a system seems to provide.

But what if you are a lateral thinker who leads a spontaneous, upbeat organization that thrives on creative spirit and spontaneity? You may have discovered that when taken too far, free creativity can become chaotic. Even Picasso needed canvas to express his genius. Michelangelo’s David would not exist without the sheet of rock, the hammer and the chisel.

You may find that you do need some structure. Not the kind that confines you and sucks the creativity out of you but the kind that enhances it and channels it.

If that’s the case, I think I have a solution for you. Don’t take my word for it, however. Visit the article below and make up your own mind about it.

>> Read here: Awayre Selling (Selling Non-System for the Spontaneous Organization)

What Blocks Professional Growth and Development

You have all the degrees, certifications and skills to do your job… and more. Still, do you ever get the feeling that something is missing in your professional development or your personal growth?

If you do, you have experienced stagnation. Sometimes it’s known as having reached a plateau. It happens to all of us at one time or another.

To overcome such stagnation, many of us take more classes, get another degree, acquire more skills and take on more stuff. And still, there is that feeling that something is missing.

In my experience both as a teacher – a trainer – and a student, I have identified 7 beliefs about learning and teaching that keep us stuck and stagnant. Unless we recognize and correct some of these beliefs, we don’t grow internally, despite all the external signs of learning that may be present.

What are these beliefs? That’s what I present in the article below.

>> Read here: Beliefs about Teaching and Learning (7 Barriers to Professional Growth and Development)

Hostage to a Selling System

What happens when the selling system that was supposed to serve us becomes our master? We become trapped in a dogma that makes us feel like we are doing something right even though we may be getting less than optimum results from the system.

You may have heard me say, “even when we think we don’t have a selling system, we typically have a selling system.” You may not have gone through formal training in a selling system like Sandler (which I taught for 5 years), SPIN or Xerox. But if you closely examine your selling habits, you will notice a pattern that you and your organization repeat. Such a system can help, of course. But it can also become a hindrance when we forget why it is there in the first place and for what purpose it was invented.

There is an alternative: a non-system. I have put it together based on over a decade of my experience working with salespeople and various selling systems. I have laid it out as best I could in a recent article on selling systems.

I am the first to admit: It may not be the right thing for your organization just yet. It’s designed for those businesses that have tried a few selling approaches but come away disappointed in the end. If your organization has not yet tried a systematic approach to selling, your next logical step may be to try one.

However, if you do have a selling system and find yourself confined to a ceiling in revenues, profit-margins and profitability, you may want to consider the possibility that your selling system is part of the problem, not solution.

Don’t take my word for it, however. Follow the link below, read what I have to say and then make up your mind.

>> Read more here: Selling Systems (How they Can Fail Salespeople and What to Do About It)