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Best of thoughtLEADERS 2015: Even Better than Last Year

December 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published over the last 12 months. Welcome to the 2015 edition of The Figgies (our SEVENTH YEAR of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions of those awards).

This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):

1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.

2. Pick up a copy of my books. They make great holiday gifts for the professionals in your life. The titles include:

One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful Personal Leadership. In the words of Roland Smith (former CEO of Wendy’s/Arby’s) “This book could change your life.” To get a sense for what the book is about, read this free ChangeThis Leadership Manifesto which is based on the book. If you like the manifesto, you’ll love the book.

Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results. “Finally, a leadership book that cuts through all of the noise. This book needs to be on every leader’s desk!” – Andrea Procaccino, Chief Learning Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

The Elegant Pitch: Create a Compelling Recommendation, Build Broad Support, and Get it Approved. If you’re looking to get to “yes” for your idea, this book will give you the method for doing so in an efficient and effective way.

Thanks for your incredible support in ’15 and best wishes for ’16! We hope to be a part of your future success! Now on to the best of list!

How the Three Box Branding Model Can Change Your World

December 14, 2015/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Managing a global brand and bringing it to life at the local level has been historically challenging. A new model for setting a brand strategy then activating it and executing it can help overcome the challenges global brands face.

Today’s post is by Larry Light, coauthor of New Brand Leadership (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Three simultaneous forces affect how brands must be managed today: globalization, localization, and personalization. The collision of these three forces presents challenges and opportunities for marketers. This will require changes to the enterprise and mind-set structures as well as changes to the operational systems, policies, and processes used for brands. This means creating and implementing a more meaningful, relevant, systematic, disciplined set of strategies for effective brand building.

Globalization

Marketing globalization refers to the benefits of cross-geography standardization, reliability, and familiarity. But, to many customers it signifies homogeneity, loss of regional authenticity, and corporate domination. It is comforting to see known logos in shopping malls around the world, but people fear the loss of identity through excessive globalization.

Localization

Localization refers to a special sense of place designating local uniqueness, locally sourced, locally crafted, locally owned, regionally authentic, one-of-a-kind, and so on. Localization brings a sense of cultural, ethnic, economic, and social connection. But it can become too forced, cute, involuntary, obligatory, and kitschy. Just think Venice or New York City in Las Vegas.

Personalization

Get More from Negotiations through Proper Anchoring

October 28, 2015/0 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Most negotiations have an opening bid. That bid becomes the anchor that the rest of the negotiation centers upon. If you’re good at setting anchors – and at avoiding being anchored to a number you won’t like – you’ll get more out of your negotiations.

There’s an interesting dynamic that can happen in negotiations. It’s called anchoring. Anchors are initial points from which you are going to negotiate. They can lock you into a position and unfair anchors can kill a deal. If you’re presented with an unfair anchor, consider walking away. Also understand if you give the other party an unfair anchor, they may walk away.

When you got to set an anchor, base it in reality with data or assumptions. If I tell you I want to sell you a car and it’s $75,000, that can come across as an unrealistic price. If instead I tell you “the Blue Book value of this car is $100,000 because it’s a one-of-a-kind limited edition but I’ll start the negotiation at $75,000” my initial anchor seems a lot more reasonable.

Many times the final offer in a deal will end up within a reasonable distance from that initial anchor. For example, if you anchor your deal at $100 upfront and that’s your first offer, more often than not, you’ll end up between $80 and $100. If instead, that first anchor was $500, you’ll end up between $400 and $500. That anchor can drive the final deal price a great deal.

Now understand that anchor also has to be based in reality. You can’t just throw a huge number out there without some basis in fact. If you receive an anchor from the other party and you don’t like it, change it! Go from one metric to another and that’s an easy way to switch the anchor. For example, I know a software company that was going to launch a platform. The customer wanted to pay them $10,000 for the software but they also wanted unlimited use of the software – forever.

How well does your organization treat clients or customers?

October 1, 2015/1 Comment/in Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How well does your organization treat clients or customers?

– Extremely well — we take great care of them: 35.17%
– Very well — we treat them better than most other companies: 34.88%
– Well — we do a decent job but could improve a bit: 25%
– Not well — we could treat them much better: 3.49%
– Poorly — I’m surprised we even still have customers: 1.45%

Treat them well or someone else will. It doesn’t take much to lose a customer and we all know how hard it is to acquire them. If your organization isn’t in the top two categories in this poll, you’re creating a large risk to your business. As leaders, we’re responsible for identifying where we’re coming up short in our treatment of customers and quickly fixing those issues. Client service can be very simple to understand but difficult to execute. It all boils down to defining client service principles you should never violate. Make sure you do both as you set the tone for your team to care for one of your most valuable assets.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Mitigating the Threat You Face from Substitute Products

September 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

One of the biggest threats your business faces is the threat of substitute products and services. There’s always somewhere else your customers can spend money. If you’re expansive in your thinking, you’ll identify the real threats you face and you can mitigate them accordingly.

A good business plan or strategic plan has to spell out what the threats are to your product. One of the biggest threats you’ll face is substitute products. What can replace your product? What can solve the customer’s problem just as easily and do it cheaper? What substitutes are competing for the same dollars that you are? Remember, it may not be a direct competitor to you. Be able to articulate what those substitutes are and why your customer is going to choose your product versus that substitute.

For example, I had a guy come to me with his awesome business idea. The problem he articulated was when he gets his socks out of the dryer they’re not matched and he takes him a lot of time to match his socks together. He shared his business idea was for RFID pairing of his socks. He wanted to put a small device in each sock, and then when he held them close together they would beep.

I looked at him and I said, “You know the substitute to your product, right?”

He said, “No, I’m not sure. We don’t have any competition.”

I said, “Well, I just tie my socks together.” His whole business plan fell apart in that moment.

There are Always Alternatives

There are always alternatives to your product. I worked at a consumer packaged goods company and that company sold lawn and garden products. Our CEO said, “You know who our biggest competitor is?” We were waiting for him to name our biggest competitor in lawn and garden consumer packaged goods. That’s when he surprised us with his answer.

3 Common – and Dangerous – Myths About Business Plans

September 2, 2015/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Business plans aren’t only for entrepreneurs. Any new venture requires thorough planning before you launch it if you want a reasonable chance of success. There are a lot of myths about business plans out there. Today I’d like to debunk three of the biggest ones.

It’s exciting launching a new business. Whether you’re building a new venture from scratch or creating something new within a large corporation, remember the old adage that “only fools rush in.”

One of the biggest mistakes you can make during an exciting launch is saying, “I’m too busy to write a business plan.” More often than not, that lack of planning will come back to haunt you.

There are three common myths about writing a business plan—and buying into them can signal the beginning of the end for your venture.

Myth 1: Business plans are only for new startups seeking funding

“I don’t have to write a business plan! I’m not launching some brand new startup.”

Notice it’s called a “business plan”—not a “startup plan.” If you’re going to invest in building a business venture, you need to think things through. You’ll be risking money, time, energy, and effort in the hopes of building something great. Isn’t that investment worth a little planning?

A good business plan will help you think through how you’re going to spend those investments wisely. It’ll also point out where your biggest risks are and provide direction on how you can mitigate them.

If you are launching a startup, you absolutely need a business plan even if you’re not seeking outside funding. You’ll be investing your own personal time, energy, and funds and those investments come with a true opportunity cost as well.

But business plans for existing organizations looking to expand or build new divisions are even more critical than business plans for startups. The stakes are much higher for larger businesses simply because the investments are larger and a failure of the new venture can also harm the existing business.

Myth 2: Writing a business plan is a huge ordeal

“Business plans take forever! I don’t have time for that! I need to be working on launching the business!”

11 Business Lessons You Can’t Survive Without

August 26, 2015/1 Comment/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Business Toolkit, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Running a business is an exercise in fear, excitement, fear, elation, fear, hard work, and fear. Did I mention fear? In the 11 years I’ve been running my firm, I’ve learned a few indispensable lessons that apply no only to entrepreneurs but to business folks in all walks of life.

Yesterday was our 11th birthday. 11. thoughtLEADERS, LLC turned 11 yesterday. I’m still in shock over the milestone.

“Why are you in shock, Mike? Don’t you believe in yourself and your business?”

Absofrickinlutely. That’s the only reason it’s survived 11 years. I believe in it more than you can imagine.

During that time, I’ve learned a great deal and I’ve grown as a businessman every single day. Every setback was a learning opportunity. Every success has pushed me closer to the next chasm to jump. What I’d like to do today is share 11 pieces of advice that can hopefully help you be more successful in your work (and life) as well. This guidance doesn’t only apply to entrepreneurs. It’s for business people in all walks of life. I hope you find them helpful.

1. Your business will change. Either you can change it or the market will change it for you. Change is the constant. It’s easy to get locked in on a model that works to the exclusion of other opportunities or ideas. For the longest time I railed against putting our content in video form. “You can’t learn our stuff from online videos.” It took me a while to come around and only once I met the amazing folks at lynda.com did I warm to the idea. My fear was putting our stuff on video would cannibalize our core in-person training. Instead, it’s reinforced that training and has given us broader visibility to new customers. So far I’ve put a bunch of our courses online and more will follow. I’m thrilled with the results. Be open to changing your business. When the market makes changes for you, it usually sucks.

2. A deal’s not a deal until it’s a deal. I’m an excitable guy. If I had a nickel for every deal I thought would go through that subsequently fell through for some reason, I’d be retired by now. Early on, I placed a lot of value in those “tentative but definitely coming through” deals and I planned for that. When they didn’t materialize, fear and panic ensued. Since then I’ve learned to temper my enthusiasm. In my eyes, it’s not a deal until I’m stepping onto the podium. Be sure you balance your expectations with reality and have contingency plans for when things don’t go as expected.

7 Tips for Dealing With Irate Customers

June 29, 2015/0 Comments/in Communications, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Sales, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Dealing with angry customers can be one of the greatest challenges you face. Here are 7 tips for dealing with those difficult situations gracefully and effectively.

Today’s post is by Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

One of the things that all irate customers have in common is that they have an attitude that says “I rate better service than this and now that I have you on the phone, you’re going to pay for it!” And one of the other things about them that gets to you is you feel unjustly accused of having done this to them and that can make it difficult to remain calm.

That is why the first three tips are about ways to remain or regain your calm and the final four about what to do next.

1. 3 Strikes and You’re Calm – 1. Think of the first thing you want to say or do in response to an irate customer (which is about defending or protecting yourself). Don’t do it, take a breath and exhale. 2. Then think of the second thing you want to say or do (which is about retaliating). Don’t do that, take a breath and exhale. 3. And finally think of the third thing you want to do (which is about finding a solution) and do that.

2. Assume innocence – Unless you are dealing with a truly evil person, assume that nothing is going right in the person’s life and they have chosen this interaction with you to displace all their frustration as a way of not taking it personally when it is meant for your company or product and not you.

6 Questions You MUST Ask to Prevent Bad Customer Service

June 8, 2015/3 Comments/in Books, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Bad customer service has an incalculable cost and long-lasting repercussions. Here are 6 questions you can ask to prevent those issues from happening in the first place.

Today’s post is by Angie Morgan, author of Leading from the Front (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

It was 1984.

A colleague of mine had an unpleasant exchange with a ticket agent who was rescheduling his flight. The agent made a snarky remark, further frustrating the process, and my colleague said, “I’m done with this airline.”

Fast forward 31 years. My friend still hasn’t flown on the offending airline, but he has accumulated 3,000,000 miles on others. He’s now a senior leader at a Fortune 50 firm and recently held a national conference and made a request to his team not to fly on this airline either.

Now, my friend’s boycott seems extreme. But is it, really? You’ve likely taken similar stands when you’ve received bad customer service. Maybe you made a silent protest, vowing never to visit a business again. Or you’ve publicized your displeasure by telling your network or writing an online review.

Whenever bad service happens, there’s a cost. It could be a damaged relationship, a missed opportunity, or a dropped account. It can even result in millions of dollars of lost revenue.

If you’re a manager reading this, you understand the potential impact your client-facing team has on the business. But when was the last time you challenged yourself to see if you’re doing everything you can to prevent poor customer service from happening?

Ask yourself:

The Secret Keys to a Great Pitch

May 6, 2015/1 Comment/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

People pitch ideas all the time. Most of those pitches never get heard. Why? Because they don’t consider the audience.

I get pitched ideas all the time. My inbox is flooded by emails from PR professionals asking me to carry guest blog posts, do book reviews, share their infographics, and interview the people they represent. The vast majority of all those pitches have one thing in common.

They suck.

Honestly. They’re horrible. It’s some out-of-context, ponderous press release on a topic I may or may not care about. The request is opaque at best and nonexistent at worst. They’re ham-handed ways to get me to do their bidding. They’re lazy and are banking on the recipient having nothing better to do than jump all over their pitch and do a ton of work on it.

I’ll bet you send similar pitches. No? Really?

Have you ever emailed a sales prospect and sent them a big presentation or white paper on why your products are awesome?

Have you ever written a senior executive trying to get time on their calendar to share your awesome idea and get their support?

Were you successful in these efforts? If so, you’re either lucky or good (or some combination of the two). If the answer is “no” it’s probably because your pitch sucked.

Here’s the secret to fixing it:

7 Great Leadership Lessons in Less than 10 Minutes Each

April 22, 2015/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is the third in a series by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS instructor and bestselling author of Lead With a Story

As I’ve shared previously, I’d like to provide you some more great leadership lessons that you can immediately apply to the work you do. Below are seven great lessons in easy-to-digest 10-minute podcasts you can listen to at your convenience.

These podcasts are based on interviews with 100 executives and leaders at dozens of companies around the world as they learned their most important leadership lessons – sometimes the hard way. They feature stories from executives at Proctor & Gamble, Dollar General, Hewlett Packard, Kellogg’s, Dun & Bradstreet, Saatchi & Saatchi, Verizon, and many more. Each episode brings you an important leadership lesson through a single compelling story.

These seven episodes will help you make a better first impression, avoid the worst mistakes in a sales meeting, explain complicated ideas simply, trust your own judgment, and leave a lasting legacy.

3 Reasons No One Listens to Anything You Say

February 25, 2015/1 Comment/in Communications, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Have you ever had the feeling that you were moving your mouth but no one could hear the sounds coming out of it? They go about their day as if you’re not there. There’s a reason this is happening: they’re really not listening to you.

There. I said it. People are tuning you out.

What are the warning signs of this dynamic? When you speak with people, they nod politely but are looking for the exits while they do. They check their Blackberry and have “urgent” calls come in every time you’re talking to them. Your emails never get replied to. Most importantly, the things you want to get done never seem to generate traction.

Don’t worry – the problem is not you personally per se. It’s the information you’re putting out there (or not putting out there for that matter). What I’ve found is there are three major reasons people aren’t listening to you. I’ve personally been guilty of all of these at one point or another. You probably have too.

The good news is there are some simple things you can do to solve those problems.