The 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business – Part1

By Howard Partridge

“The secret is the system.” –Michael E. Gerber

In 2011, I had the pleasure of helping Tom Ziglar, son of American legend the late Zig Ziglar, create a powerful business assessment for Zig Ziglar’s last book “Born to Win” which Tom co-authored.

As we began to flesh out the parts that every phenomenally successful business needs to have, we settled on five specific areas of the business.

Secret #1:  A Phenomenal Marketing System

Marketing is everything you do to attract prospects to your business.  Notice that I said a phenomenal marketing system.  The marketing of most small business owners is poor.

Marketing is the key to business growth.  Without customers, you have nothing. You can do a wonderful job but if you don’t have enough customers, nothing else matters.

So, you want to have not just good marketing but phenomenal marketing.  What is phenomenal marketing?  Marketing that is remarkable – extraordinary; outstanding.  Phenomenal marketing creates experiences that engage, educate, and build a sense of belonging.

And you want to have a marketing system.  Once you determine what phenomenal marketing looks like in your business, you want to figure out how to duplicate it without you having to be involved in every detail.

Here’s an example:  Let’s say that you determine that mailing a newsletter to your database helps you bring in more business.  You write a procedure on how to compile the newsletter and get someone else to do the mechanics of it.

You might still write it but let someone else do the lay out, print it, mail it, get the database together, etc.  Then put the task on a calendar so it happens without your direct supervision.

Secret #2:  A Phenomenal Sales System

“Sales” is everything you do to turn a prospect into a paying customer.  Once you generate prospects through marketing, the sales system is what turns them from prospects to customers.  Remember, you want a phenomenal sales system.

This system includes answering the phone, using phone scripts, responding to an email opt-in, doing presentations, and so on.  Once the prospect has actually purchased something from you, they are now your customers.

Many times you may not need more prospects but you need to take better care of the leads you get.  Is your phone answered live?  Is your phone answered in the most professional way possible?  Do prospects and clients have a great experience when they call your company?  Are your closing ratios what they need to be?  Do you consistently make the add-on sale?

Do you have proven scripts for your people to follow so that you aren’t the only one who can close the “big deals”?  Do you have phenomenal on-site sales materials?  How effective is your response to internet leads?  Increasing your closing ratios and your job averages can have a big impact on your business.

Secret #3:  A Phenomenal Operations System

“Operations” is everything you do to service your customer, patient, or member. The level of service you provide determines whether they will ascend the “loyalty ladder” and go from customer to client.

What’s the difference between a customer and a client?  A customer buys something solely on the price, value, or special but doesn’t have any loyalty to you.  A client wants a consultant, an advisor, or a partner, so to speak, to “take care of that area of their lives.”

You wouldn’t choose a doctor based on price, would you?  Or how about finding the cheapest accountant or attorney?  If you do, you’ll get what you pay for. Clients are loyal; they want a relationship; they want information; and they refer others like them.

Do you have service systems in place so that your clients consistently get the most phenomenal service experience possible every time and without you having to be personally involved?

Next month, I’ll share the next two secrets and a powerful graphic to assess your own business systems.

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Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc., is the author of 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business.  You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his website at www.HowardPartridge.com.

City of Houston Launches Open Data Policy

By Annise D. Parker, Mayor of the City of Houston

In our continued commitment to transparency and government accountability, the City of Houston has instituted an Open Data policy to allow for greater public access to City data.  Houston joins a growing number of local, state, and federal government agencies across the country that are putting in place formal Open Data policies.

Under the Open Data Administrative Procedure, an Enterprise Data Officer (EDO) and an Open Data Advisory Board will be appointed to work with City departments to catalog datasets, establish standards, and refresh guidelines for the City’s open data portal which hosts government information in open, machine-readable formats while also ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and security.  The EDO and Advisory Board are also responsible for working with the public to identify important, high-value datasets.

First and foremost, this is about increasing transparency.  It is also about citizen engagement and increasing the pace of innovation in our City.  We want to engage the talents of our strong science, technology, engineering, and math community to help us solve the challenges of the 21st century.

This portal will enable civic technologists, entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, and others to use the data to generate new products and services as well as build businesses and develop community resources in partnership with government to better serve the public.  We want to know what the public wants to see that isn’t already available.

This is not a new concept to the City of Houston which already has interim and mapping centric portals with more than 220 publicly accessible datasets.  The City is also fortunate to have one of the largest civic technology communities in the country and benefits from a strong partnership with Open Houston, a local nonprofit, open data advocacy group that organizes hackathons and other events to develop useful solutions for the public.

At the City of Houston’s 1st Hackathon, held in May 2013, we announced the launch of the City’s Open Data Initiative.  The new Open Data policy, in combination with continued civic innovation events such as hackathons and monthly civic hack nights, enable the City to partner with the community in taking advantage of new technology platforms, respond to community data interests, and increase transparency and accountability in local government.

The City’s Open Data Initiative ensures that we continue to move towards Government 2.0.  Citizens expect their government to work for them but they are also often willing to propose ideas and solutions to help us tackle our diverse challenges.  I’m immensely proud of our innovative community for stepping up over the past few years to help civic innovation thrive here in Houston.  This is an important first step.

The City has implemented three projects through its civic innovation efforts – Budget Boot Camp, 311 Performance Dashboards, and City Fee Schedule.  In addition, the City of Houston’s IT staff has also benefited from the exposure to new technologies and different development techniques.

We're really excited to see the City's commitment to open data.  Just by publishing up-to-date data, the City instantly engages a community of people who will put it to good use.

Serving since January 2, 2010, Annise D. Parker has been elected as the Mayor of Houston three times.  She is Houston’s 61st Mayor and one of only two women to hold the City’s highest elected office.  In 2010, Time Magazine named Mayor Parker one the 100 most influential people in the world.  Mayor Annise Parker is a Steering Committee Member of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and serves on President Barack Obama’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.  She is also on the advisory board of Small Business Today Magazine.  For more information, go to www.houstontx.gov/mayor/.

Awakening your Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Dr. John Demartini 

There are two elements that are wise to factor into the entrepreneur adventure -you and the people who you want to serve.  The more you fulfill your own values, the more you will endure whatever it takes to succeed. The more you fulfill other peoples’ values, the higher the probability that you will succeed. 

So being an entrepreneur involves finding the niche in your life of doing something that you love to do that actually fills a need for other people.  Now, there are all kinds of niches.  If you really care about humanity, you need to be on the lookout for niches in the ecosystem of entrepreneurship.  Niches are places where you see a need that nobody seems to be addressing.  It can be a completely novel thing that has never been thought of before and completely innovative.  

An entrepreneur is an innovative individual or an inventive person, either inventive with technology or innovative with ideas or services.  They find a niche that nobody seems to have addressed or they grab a spread that somebody has addressed but that they feel they can do better and in a more efficient way.  

So entrepreneurship is an absolutely essential evolutionary component of the economy because it’s constantly creating a predator/prey system for any niche that’s not being addressed.  It’s constantly looking for more effective and efficient ways of filling needs. 

The entrepreneur is really a person who cares to fill the needs – and that could be something novel and new or a niche that somebody already has but it is slumbering, inefficient, or outdated.   The entrepreneur has the opportunity to come in and do it more efficiently and at a lesser price. 

Richard Branson is known for going out and finding dinosaur companies that overcharge people with a big brand name and charge too much because of the brand name.  He and entrepreneurs like him go in and offer to do the same thing for a third of the price.  Now that’s a niche. It’s not a new niche; it’s an established niche that the entrepreneur is grabbing a market-share in because they know they can beat the price and that they can be more effective and efficient.  

Entrepreneurs are dedicated to efficiency and are looking for innovative and inventive approaches to filling niches in the marketplace.  There’s no lack of money, once you find a niche of service.

Now the person who has the biggest vision and cares the most about humanity is going to be looking for the biggest niches; ones that provide services to the most amount of people with the biggest spreads. The real entrepreneur is constantly looking for that. 

One of the signs of an entrepreneur is that they are looking for opportunities. Now, if you don’t have a value on building a business, refining a business, or it’s not high on your value system, you won’t see opportunities and grab them.  

Every individual lives by a set of values, a set of priorities, things that are more important to least important.  Whatever is most important to them, they want to fulfill the most. 

If you go up to somebody and help that person fulfill what’s most important to them, what some call their “dominant buying moment”, you end up with the highest probability of selling.  If it’s low on their values and you try to sell it to them, it won’t mean enough to them.  You have to establish a need before you can offer a service.  If there’s no need and no void, then there’s no sale.  

So you need to find their highest value which is their highest void.  Whatever they perceive is missing most becomes their dominant, most important buying void.  If you find that, you have the highest probability of fulfilling it.  If you’re not clear about your values, you’re not clear about what people want in their values and you haven’t established those values.  Becoming an entrepreneur can be very daunting. 

You have to care about other individuals and yourself equally.  And the one individual is you and the many individuals are the customers out there.

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Dr. John Demartini is a human behavior specialist, educator, author, and the founder of the Demartini Institute.  Visit his website at www.DrDemartini.com.

Out With the Old, in With the New

4 Ways to Refresh Your Marketing Strategy in the New Year

By Aimee Woodall

Can you believe another year has almost passed?  Just like your wardrobe or messy garage, there are some things that should not follow you into 2015 and some that should stick around.  The same is true with your business marketing strategy.

Out with the old and in with the new, I say!  Here are four things you can do to tidy up your marketing in 2015:

The old:  Delegating your social media to your intern.

The new:  Crafting a strategic social media plan.

Instead of leaving your social media success up to chance, invest the time and resources into crafting a strategic social media plan.  This will take the form of two different strategies:  an operational plan and an editorial plan.  An operational plan lays out the mechanics behind a social strategy—when, where, and how content is shared and an editorial plan gives direction to the content being posted.

Don’t only think about what you are posting or how you are posting the content; think about where your brand is living online.  Does your insurance company need Pinterest?  Maybe not.  Stick to the social networking sites that make sense for your audience and don’t take on more than you can handle.

Being strategic about social media will alleviate headaches, like missed networking opportunities, and will help create a cohesive brand.

The old:  Overusing the press release.

The new:  Targeting the media contacts that make sense—with personality!

Reporters are very busy people with deadlines throughout the day.  Chances are, when they receive your fourth press release for the month, little attention will be paid.  This is not to say that the traditional press release isn’t important, but it should be saved for monumental announcements that require a traditional approach.

Instead of bogging down your work day with writing multiple press releases, identify the media contacts you want to reach and draft a quick email with the top three to five points you want to convey.  Ask them if they would like more information and let them know you want to be a resource.  You will be more likely to get a response, even if it is a polite “No thanks.”  And “Voila,” you’ve started creating a relationship that will last.

The old:  Give back occasionally.

The new:  Make giving a part of your brand.

There are multiple benefits of placing social responsibility and giving at the forefront of your business.  For example, if your business receives regular requests for donations and you aren’t tracking this, you’re missing out on a valuable marketing opportunity.  Chances are, you’re also missing out on an opportunity to make a greater impact with the same level of effort and commitment. 

Using what is already working, create a giving framework that maximizes your charitable contributions and the impact it has on the community.  By thinking strategically, tracking your giving, branding a program, and making your customers aware of this commitment, you will be on your way to creating countless opportunities for public relations and brand awareness.

When we think of New Year’s resolutions, getting fit or being more organized are our go-to pledges but forgetting about marketing is a mistake.  It will take a little effort but letting go of some old habits and adopting some new tactics will put you on the fast track to making 2015 a successful business year.

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Aimee Woodall is the owner of the Black Sheep Agency, a Houston-based creative agency specializing in non-traditional public relations, social media, and experiential marketing. Contact Amy by phone at 832-971-7725, by email at aimee@theblacksheepagency.com, or visit the website at www.theblacksheepagency.com.