The Power of Partnerships
Connection is all about partnerships with customers, vendors, colleagues, and prospects. I sat with Marc Allen, an internationally renowned author, president, and publisher of New World Library, which he co-founded with Shakti Gawain in 1977. He has guided the company from a small start-up with no capital to its current position as one of the leading independent publishers in the country. Marc credits kindness through the creation of partnerships as the key to success in his business life.
What Kindness Isn’t
Maybe right now you’re thinking to yourself: Kindness? Really? The last Harvard Business School class reunion didn’t include a handheld circle of MBAs singing Kumbaya. Maybe not, but the cream of the corporate crop has always known that a smart business strategy includes how customers are treated and perceived to be treated. In his article in the Harvard Business Review, Jeffrey F. Rayport writes about what was introduced by the Review two decades ago as “service recovery—a company’s ability to respond quickly,
Grow Your Business With A Website
For guerrillas, the Internet continues to be a bonanza because it has exponentially expanded their media opportunities and their reach, and brings potential consumers to them. A website makes it possible for a guerrilla to address wider target audiences more effectively and efficiently. Instead of having to beat the bushes to generate interest in their goods and services, guerrillas can use the Internet to bring people to them. The Internet gives the public direct access to Web sites so anyone can get your information,
Identifying Your Targets
Networking starts with introductions and introductions come in a number of forms. I have separated them into five categories:
Cold calls
Leads
Cold introductions
Warm introductions
Personal introductions
Cold calls are attempts to contact people who you don’t know and have little or no information about. They can hardly be called introductions. Calling names that you received from telephone directories or similar listings are cold calls. They are usually attempts to contact targets who you don’t know without any introduction or referral.
Generosity
Business is not always about money, although for most people the bottom line influences a lot of their decisions. In business, profits are always a consideration; they are the measuring rod. But sometimes the best way to get noticed is by forgoing some profits, charging a bit less, giving a little more—balancing it out. While I was working on a consulting project with an old client, she was having severe money issues. Since she had to keep her expenses down,
Get Noticed… Get referrals!
In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.
—JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The best way to build or expand your business is to become influential, to convince others that your goods or services can improve their businesses or their lives. To become influential, get noticed. Getting noticed is the most powerful way to drive your business, in- crease your profitability,
Generosity of Time
I think the number-one thing people remember about other people is when they have been given more of their time than expected. We all know doctors who make us sit in the waiting room for far too long, but we keep going back because once we are in the examining room, she gives us enough time to feel like we are being cared for. We don’t mind waiting because we trust she will give us the time back,
How Kindness Generates Connectivity
Neil Alcala, CEO and owner of DirectPay for the last 20 years, processes credit cards and places e-commerce solutions for coaches, speakers, trainers, info-marketers, and other professionals to get paid for their services.
I’ve personally witnessed Neil’s generosity throughout the years, as a CEO and a person, with no concern for receiving anything back. “Kindness is ingrained in our culture at DirectPay,” he told me. “It’s not something that we actively measure, but one of the things that we focus on is when you call or contact DirectPay,
Why Compassion Matters Now More Than Ever
When you work with people for a long time, your colleagues, customers, vendors, and clients become friends. You share the joy on their wedding days, send balloons when their children are born, let them cry in your office when they experience a loss, and stand by them in their decision to leave the company. We travel through life with one another, and there is no way around that fact. When you see someone in tears, go to them and practice compassion.
Interpersonal Flexibility
If you are in business, you have probably been burned too many times to count. We have all learned from one bad experience to another that it is critical to protect ourselves. However, there is always a time and a place for flexibility. Bending to the conditions that catch you off guard is not the same as being pushed around. Of course, you will discern which conditions you should adapt to in order to sustain your business,