As for the daytime, I strongly suspect that an attitude of gratitude is good for profit, as well.  Gratitude associates itself with recognizing abundance;  abundance comes to those who would accept it; and acceptance comes from openness. It is this openness that lets opportunities into our world — opportunities that come from being open to the spark of an innovative idea; a possible a win-win where others would see a zero-sum; an informal airport lounge chat that turns into a corporate partnership; or even the ability to imagine constructing a success for tomorrow from the remains of a failure from today.  Even when we see things that we don’t want, gratitude lets us say “No, thank you!” with a smile, instead of just “No.”

“You know that the Attorney General would get mad if we told you that this discount is good for today, but then extended it until Monday.  You agree that we should be people who keep our word, right?”

This weekend I got to watch a gutter repair salesman make a sales pitch to my parents.  While my parents were able to fend off his various gimmicks and techniques, I hate that they had to.  Why can’t more business people focus on selling good products at appropriate prices via honest presentations?

Last month, another company approached them with an offer on new insulation for ~$4,000.  They negotiated the offer down to $3,200 (wow! what negotiators we are!) before talking with another vendor that they (my parents) sought out.  The new vendor suggested that an $800 solution would suit them just fine, and that’s what my parents bought.  Is it possible that the first vendor was, in fact, the better value?  Possible.  Yet doubtful.  I continue to tell my parents, “Don’t buy from people who solicit your business.  Buy from people you find, instead.  You’ll miss the occasional good value but more likely you’ll skip the frequent ripoff.”

BTW: does anyone have a well-researched opinion on Angie’s List?

Doing the right thing allows you to stop spending money on advertising.

Dan Roach, Roach-Lamburg Roofing

Dan came highly recommended by my realtor, who only recommends the best. Nearly all his work comes from referrals. That’s much more important than repeat business for a roofer — seeing how he sells a product that lasts for decades.

Dan started his roofing company ten years ago, knocking on doors and hoping to drum up enough work to keep him in business before the money ran out. Since then, he’s built a reputation on doing quality work, staying on budget, and giving customers more than they asked for.

Knowing that contractors often require some payment up front, I offered the check (enough for the whole job) that I got from the lawyers when I closed on my new house. “No thanks,” he said. “I’d rather not get paid until you know the job is done right.” If that’s not proof that he knows what he’s doing, I don’t know what is.

But Work isn’t the problem for most people I know. Most people I know are perfectly willing to do the work. The more frequent challenge I see is the need to focus what they’re working on so that they’ll get the results they want.

My third year Latin teacher gave me a pin that said (in Latin) “he who chases two leopards catches neither.” She knew what she was talking about (and as testimony to the gift’s aptness, I had to ask her to translate the pin for me.) Chase one leopard at a time and you may soon have a cage full of them. Chase two at a time and you’ll have none.

By the way, this lesson does not apply if your business model is to chase after things like grubs and bugs that you can pick up by hand in quantities sufficient to keep your belly full. If that’s your business model, you don’t need much focus at all. It’s not a very exciting business model (to me) but you’ll survive. On the other hand, if you want to do more than survive — if you want to build something sustainable and interesting — you’re going to be chasing leopards, and that requires focus.

Berkshire Hathaway is the big exception at No. 13. Holy ugliness, Buffetman! That is one wretched website, but it’s attached to some beautiful smarts that are the only thing that count in his world.

Just for grins, do read the Message from Warren Buffet:”Fine jewelry, watches and giftware will almost certainly cost you less at Borsheim’s.”

One of Ted Williams’ principles of hitting was that an average hitter swinging at a good pitch to hit is better than a great hitter swinging at a bad pitch to hit.

– Reggie Jackson in Sixty Feet, Six Inches, by Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson (2009)

One of my former clients had an above-average sales staff who were prone to chasing after clients who weren’t a proper fit. The mis-fits would be harder to sell to, and harder to make a profit from if they did make the sale. My client’s CEO wasn’t a baseball fan, so he used a different analogy: “Our target clients are horses. We have to quit chasing zebras.”

In a remarkable display of interest, 200 readers completed the survey within the first 24 hours. That’s 200 readers out of a typical 1,000 readers per day. Twenty percent. By the time we closed the survey, we had more than 250 responses, which adds up to more than 40 hours of effort donated by readers to the news blog they love.

Do your customers have that kind of stake in your business? Yes, you can entice them with a small prize. But from reading the hundreds of long text responses to our survey questions, it’s clear that the respondents really wanted to share.

——–
We used SurveyGizmo.com. It’s free for short surveys with fewer than 250 respondents. We paid $19 for a month’s worth of surveys with up to 1,000 total responses.

1. How likely is it that you would recommend Verizon Wireless to a friend or colleague?

I clicked on “extremely likely” and added a comment why:

Great signal.  That’s the one important reason.  The surprisingly friendly and efficient service was a bonus.

After I submitted my response, I got a Thank You screen that said, “may we quote you?  And if so, how would you like your name to be written?”

End of survey.  Cool.

• downloaded data from ReferenceUSA with contact information for 500+ potential qualified clients for one of my clients (criteria: plumbing companies with revenue >$5MM, “A” credit rating, sorted by metro area).

• copied sample business plans and checked key business ratios for a retail client who wanted to set reasonable targets for sales per employee, advertising expenditures, etc.

• searched several hundred online business journals for background information to fuel a proposal.

All free, of course.

Which libraries to visit?  Public universities with business schools have the best libraries.  In most states, these libraries (and their business reference librarians) are supposed to help the public, not only their university constituents.  Public libraries in major cities are also great resources, with free access to many of the same databases that you can’t get to without a subscription.  (Note that many of these databases are at least partially-accessible from your own office after the library gives you remote access privileges.)  They often have decent business reference librarians, as well.  Public libraries in smaller metro areas often have less, but you might be surprised at how much good stuff they do tie into over the internet.

When you need data — don’t guess.  Get thee to a library.

The top three CRM products for small and medium sized businesses aren’t just competing against each other — they’re competing against you not buying any CRM software at all.

Next time your marketing and sales group sits down to size up the competition, don’t forget to put Inaction in a class by itself.