Don’t monkey about – get a coach

Researchers put five monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room was a ladder. At the top of the ladder was a banana hanging from the ceiling.

Eventually one of the monkeys spotted the banana and climbed the ladder. As he did, he was showered with ice cold water. Not only that – the remaining four monkeys received the same punishment and heavily doused with the freezing cold water.

Every time a monkey would start climbing the ladder, they all would get showered down with the water. After awhile they quit trying to go for the banana.

The researchers then removed one of the original monkeys and brought in a new monkey. This one sees the banana, starts to climb the ladder… and as he does, the rest of the monkeys run up to him and beat him up to keep him from going for the banana.

It isn’t long before he realizes these other monkeys are not going to let him get that banana so he stops trying.

A second of the original monkeys is taken out and a new monkey is brought in. He sees the ladder, sees the banana, and starts to go for it. The rest of the monkeys beat him up and keep him from getting there including the monkey that was never showered down by icy cold water.

Eventually - the cage has five monkeys who have never experienced the cold water treatment.

The researcher then introduces a new monkey to the cage. When this monkey tries to reach for the banana, all five monkeys ran up to him and beat him up and kept him from getting the banana.

They have no idea why they were beating up the new guy and preventing him from getting the banana… they just knew – that’s how it’s done around here.

None of these monkeys knew about the punishment of icy water, none knew why they are not allowed to get the banana, but somewhere along the way they learned that reaching for the banana is not allowed. They become the guardians of this rule without knowing its purpose.

Companies develop routines, habits and practices. Very often, nobody actually remembers why they were started in the first place … it’s simply a matter of  “That’s the way we’ve always done it!”

Bringing someone new into your company, like a coach - can bring a fresh perspective. As a business owner … it is very difficult to see the big picture when you are standing inside the frame.

If your business (or you) is in a rut … time may have conditioned you. You may be too close to the problem. Bringing in an outside can bring fresh perspective to old problems.

Who Is The Typical Business Owner?

For any business to be successful it has to understand its target market or markets and reach connect with them. This is as true for the Business Coaching business as it is for any industry. Here’s a video laying out exactly who would be interested in being coached by a Business Coach.

The question for the Business Coaches out there; are these niches where you are focusing your marketing?

Do You Have a Referral System That Works?

How do you get new customers? Do you advertise in the local paper, on the local radio or television station? How is that working for you? Do you have more customers than you know what to do with or are you struggling to get them in the door, and once they are in the door are they coming back?

Building a successful business does not have to be complicated. Sure, it isn’t easy. It takes a lot of hard work and preparation, but when it comes to getting new customers, you don’t have to spend all of your resources in hopes of getting the return you want. Instead you can rely on your best customers to bring in more of them, if you develop a plan and stick to it.

Here at ActionCOACH, we have found that our top coaches don’t usually advertise. They get new clients from their existing clients who have become Raving Fans.

Now which new customer is more valuable, one who finds your business through an advertisement or one who finds your business because a friend told them about it?

In general, the referred customer is more valuable because they already have a level of trust with your business, and, more importantly, it didn’t cost you anything to get them in the door.

When it doesn’t cost you anything (or costs very little) each sale is profitable, from the minute that customer walks in the door.

So how do you develop a referral system that works for your business?

Start by providing the best possible service for your existing customers, especially those customers that spend the most with you. Right now what incentive do your top customers have to tell their friends and family about you? If they love your business, they MAY tell other people, but if you make it worth their while, they WILL tell people about you.

Next, you have to figure out how much each new customer is worth to you and then give your top customers something worth less than that cost for referrals.

A restaurant might offer a free bottle of wine for referrals, a salon might offer a free service. And you will want to track who is delivering the most referrals so you can make a big deal about it and give them a proper gift for the work they’ve done for you.

Of course to do this, you will have to figure out a way to track the referrals. This can be done by issuing a tracking number for each top client so you can see who is bringing the most to you, and since you’ll want to know how many total referrals you’ve gained, developing this is just an extension of your overall tracking. Remember, you can always just ask new customers how they found you, but be sure to keep track of their answers diligently so you can reward the right people.

Bigger companies do this all the time. Think of DirecTV who gives existing customers money off each monthly statement if they delivered referrals. Why can’t that be you?

It can and you can start today.

The Origins of Franchising

Martha Matilda Harper was a domestic servant in the late 1800s in Rochester, New York, who wanted something more at a time when few women were starting their own businesses.

Martha developed a quality shampoo that proved to actually improve the quality of the customer’s hair, as opposed to other products at the time that tended to do more harm than good.

To sell her shampoo, Harper decided she would start the first beauty salon. Her products were revolutionary, and so was her service. Harper’s business was all about customer service, backed by products that worked. In fact her business was so strong, she was among the first to develop franchising as a business model.

She was a woman who didn’t have much of a formal education, but she was smart, inquisitive and willing to take a chance to improve her life. She also had an innate ability to view the marketplace and see what was missing. She didn’t just find her niche, she created her niche, which, in the end turned out to be an entire industry, and way of doing business.

Here’s a great video that tells Martha’s story and the real origin of franchising…

Are You Ready to Learn How To Buy Customers?

During the time I have spent with ActionCOACH and company founder Brad Sugars, I have come to understand why the message we share with business owners all over the world is so important. Business coaching creates jobs, builds communities and helps people reach their full potential.

We are constantly growing at ActionCOACH, moving into new countries and new communities to help deliver this message to as many people as possible. While we aren’t yet at the point where each community, and each business, has an ActionCOACH Business Coach, we do have the ability to bring our message virtually anywhere in the world thanks to the internet, our webinars, social media and, of course, Brad’s books.

The latest book Brad has authored is called “Buying Customers” and it is a must-read for anybody in business that has asked, “How do I get more customers?” or “How do I get the right customers?”

This is Brad’s 15th book and while all of them deliver a strong message on their respective topic, in my opinion, “Buying Customers” takes Brad’s message to a new level.

“What it so exciting about Buying Customers is that it’s not about just one aspect of a business, it’s about building the entire business to make a more valuable experience for your customers. While marketing profitably is the most basic part of how to buy customers, developing the team, systems and mastery to bring your customers back for a lifetime are all vital to any business’ success. This book is the ultimate tool for business owners who want as many customers as they can handle while never competing on price again,” Brad said.

The launch for “Buying Customers” is December 4, so there is still time to get your pre-order in. Just go http://www.buyingcustomers.com/ and get your copy today.

3 Reasons Why You Should Attend The 2013 Business Excellence Forum

The 2013 Business Excellence Forum is right around the corner and we are very excited about the lineup of featured and coach speakers we will have in Las Vegas on January 25 and 26 at the Red Rock Resort and Casino.

There are many reasons you should be at the Business Excellence Forum, but here are three keys reasons you have to be there.

1) The Featured Speakers: We always have great speakers for the BEF, but we are very excited about this year’s lineup. Brad Sugars, the Founder and Chairman of ActionCOACH and Darren Hardy, the publisher and editorial director of Success Magazine, are this year’s featured speakers in Las Vegas.

Darren, fittingly, will be talking about “The X-Factor- How to create a culture of personal growth and high performance,” while Brad is sure to set the crowd on its ear with his talk on how to grow your business.

There’s no doubt our featured speakers are worth the price of admission, but it’s with our coach speakers and breakout sessions that the strength of the event really shows.

2) The Coach Speakers: Some of the top coaches in North America will be there delivering actionable lessons in a personal setting, so you can get the most out of the sessions.

Many topics will be covered, but some that will be included are reaching your target market, better strategies to time management, how to build a referral based business and how to build a strong team for your business.

Among the coaches who will appear are, Rick Crossland, Robert Garibay, Chuck Kocher, Doug Winnie, David Ford, Greg Stonehocker and Chris Carman, who are talented teachers and coaches with impressive track records of helping businesses reach their potential and grow.

3) Networking Opportunities: Where else can you get the opportunity to meet and get to know other business owners who have the same objectives as you, namely to build a stronger business and live the life they’ve always wanted?

The Business Excellence Forum puts you in the room with hundreds of other business owners from all over the continent who face the same challenges you face every day. You will learn from them and they will learn from you, and you may find opportunities that you never considered before that go beyond our featured and coach speakers.

In the upcoming weeks I will give you more reasons you should attend the Business Excellence Forums and Awards, so check back in, and most importantly, save your spot for Las Vegas on January 25 and 26.

Here’s Why You Need To Be At The Business Excellence Forum

The Business Excellence Forum and Awards are fast approaching and we expect that they will be the best we’ve had yet.

The Business Excellence Forum is two days of intense learning from some of the top business minds in a given region. For example, at this year’s Americas Business Excellence Forum, Darren Hardy, Founder and Publisher of Success Magazine will be a featured speaker along with ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars.

Sugars will be a featured speaker at each event. He will be joined at the EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) Business Excellence Forum by renowned rugby coach Clive Woodward and at the Asia/Pacific BEF by marketing guru Siimon Reynolds.

We began the Business Excellence Forum in 2010 as a single event, but we soon found that the demand was too high to limit ourselves to just one. We decided to split the event based on region, creating three separate and unique events for entrepreneurs and business owners.

Thanks to this format, attendees no longer have to travel half way around the world to learn the valued lessons that they will take back to their business. Now attendees can travel a much shorter distance to beautiful, resort locales where they will learn lessons that apply directly to them and their business from experts who have worked in their given economic climate.

One way the BEF caters to local entrepreneurs is that, in addition to the featured speakers, each event will feature breakout groups with presentations given by the top Business Coaches within their respective region. These coaches have seen it all and understand what is important to business owners and entrepreneurs because they have lived it themselves.

On the final night of the Business Excellence Forum is the black-tie Business Excellence Awards. At this dinner we celebrate the successes of companies of varying sizes of different industries who are the “Best of the Best” within their region.

There are 18 categories and it is free to enter as many as you’d like, so take a few minutes to download the entry kit today.

And of course, with so many talented and success-oriented business owners in the same place, there are ample opportunities for some seriously productive networking, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn ways to grow your business in 2013.

The Americas Business Excellence Forum will take place January 25 and 26, 2013, in Las Vegas, the EMEA BEF will happen February 8 and 9 in Cascais, Portugal and the Asia/Pacific BEF is scheduled for February 22 and 23 in Sydney, Australia, so be sure to register today.

Make ActionCOACH the People’s Choice

As I posted my recent blog about all the exciting things happening at ActionCOACH right now, another exciting bit of news came across my desk. Once again, ActionCOACH is a Finalist for the Stevie’s People Choice Awards in the category of Business Services. This is our second straight year as a Finalist and last year we came away with the trophy thanks to the votes of ActionCOACH fans around the world.

ActionCOACH was named a Finalist this year thanks to the company’s high scores in judging for the International Business Awards in which the company won a Silver Stevie for Best Overall Company in the Business Services category. ActionCOACH also won a Silver Stevie in the same category in the American Business Awards.

Voting began last week and the early returns look positive for ActionCOACH, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Every vote counts, so if you haven’t already, go to http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com/default.cfm?sitetype=PI and use the short code H107T to vote for ActionCOACH in the Business Services category. Voting will conclude on 21 September at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.

The top vote-getter in each category will receive a crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award trophy at the International Business Awards banquet in Seoul, South Korea on 15 October.

Winning this award last year was a testament to our incredible network of Business Coaches, who mobilized and made sure ActionCOACH was the People’s Choice in 2011. This year, with the incredible competition in our category we can’t just rely on our network, we need everyone that knows the importance of what ActionCOACH does to get out and vote. It only takes a few minutes, so just click on the link and put the short code in the box.

Do Women Really Need Their Own Pens?

Everybody needs pens. For a company like Bic, the target market for their pens is literally everyone, at least everyone who needs to write something down every now and again.

But, for some reason Bic decided it wanted to become more focused on bringing people to their brand and came out with their Bic for Her set of pens.

Sure, there are plenty of products that can be marketed exclusively to one sex or the other, or to a particular age group or socio-economic group, etc, but basic pens aren’t one of them.

If you go to the page to buy these pens on Amazon, you will find some funny comments, making hay on the general misogyny of this idea.

“I’m thrilled that this exists, really I am, and I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, but how can I use these pens when paper is still geared toward men? Where is the lighter, fluffier, prettier women’s paper? How can I even begin my treatise on unicorns and sparkles when it takes all of my effort to lift a sheet of that heavy, masculine paper? Bic, you’ve made a good start here. Now convince the paper companies to follow suit,” read one comment and there are 17 pages of comments, one snarkier than the last.

So why would Bic decide to market a brand of pens exclusively to women? Maybe they thought this would show how they are focused on the needs of women, but the reality is, doing it just alienated more women than it brought in as customers.

One poster even said they wouldn’t by any Bic pens, and certainly not this item, because they were offended by the idea of pens for women.

Selling to your target market is very important to the success of any business, but, as in a situation like this, sometimes targeting can go too far and all common sense is lost. Are people really stupid enough to think each gender needs their own type of pen? What does this say about how Bic views their customers?

People might be at first amused, then slightly offended, and then decide they don’t want to buy Bic pens at all. It remains to be seen whether Bic will suffer over the long term because of Bic for Her, but it teaches us a valuable lesson.

If you are lucky enough to sell a product or service with appeal to a broad range of people, sell to all of them. Don’t go out of your way to focus on one group of customers, or you may alienate them and lose the respect of your entire customer base.

ActionCOACH Getting Closer to Goal of a Coach in Every Business

I just returned from the ActionCOACH Global Conference in Beijing, China and the trip helped me put our journey as a company in perspective. When I started with ActionCOACH, the idea of holding our Global Conference in China didn’t seem realistic, but now it has been done.

Our Founder, Brad Sugars, has a goal to bring abundance to the world through business coaching and today we have more than 1000 firms in 44 countries, including our latest additions, Lebanon and Turkey.

We are helping thousands of businesses every day and sponsoring major initiatives like the Business Excellence Forum and Awards and Coaching for a Cause, so I think we’re off to a good start in achieving Brad’s goal, but there is still room for improvement.

No matter how many success stories people see, there are still some that refuse to believe their business needs a coach.

But as the economy continues to struggle (for some) it’s becoming clearer every day that to have a business that thrives, coaching isn’t just important, it’s necessary.

Think about it, if Bill Gates and Warren Buffet each have a business coach, why shouldn’t you?

You wouldn’t be able to run your business properly without someone doing your books or going over your contracts would you?

So why do you think it can run properly without someone who makes sure you’re accountable and that you have strategies to ensure your business is meeting your goals and growing?

If you are a business owner, you know you spend a lot of time working IN your business, which doesn’t leave a lot for working ON your business. When owners get caught up in the day to day activities, they neglect the long term growth of the company. They just can’t help it. After all, there are only so many hours in the day.

Working with an ActionCOACH Business Coach gets you off that treadmill. Our definition of a business is a profitable, commercial enterprise that works… without you. and this is what the coaches at ActionCOACH are trained to do for you.

Do you need a way to get more customers in the door or boost your profit margins? If you’re focused on the day to day of your business, you may be neglecting areas involved with growing your business.

But an ActionCOACH Business Coach has strategies for that and hundreds of other ways to build your profits while giving you more time to enjoy life… and they will keep you accountable to the long term growth and health of your business at the same time.