What’s the difference between you and all of your competition?
Are you different from your competition, or do you just THINK you are? Are you different from your competition, or do you just tell customers and prospects you are?
Or are you different from your competition, and others CLEARLY perceive you as both different and better?
REALITY: It’s not what you think or believe, it’s what your customers do and say.
REALITY: If I ask you what the difference between you and your prime competition is, and your answer is ‘our people’ or ‘me,’ you’re in serious trouble.
REALITY: If you asked your customer what the difference is, what would they say?
“Cheaper?”
“Closer to my home?”
“I dunno, been using them for years.”
“Six of one – half a dozen of the other.”
You’re in trouble.
Your reputation is a reality check of where you actually are versus where you think you are:
What’s your customer reputation? NOT A SATISFACTION SURVEY. A face-to-face talk. NOT A PHONEINTERVIEW. A face-to-face talk where you ask 100 of your customers what they really think of you, and why they buy.
What’s your social reputation? As posted on your business Facebook page by your customer, or as recommended by customers on their social media accounts?
What’s your industry reputation? How do both leaders and vendors perceive you in your industry?
What’s your community reputation? If you had a town hall meeting of the community, what wouldthey say about you?
Here are more painful ‘reputation’ questions about your company and your products:
What are you doing to build it?
What are you doing to innovate it?
What are you doing to change or enhance your customer’s experience?
Apple is the classic example of a brand, with products that back it up. Their competition is ‘me too,’ and often mentions Apple in their ads. If you brag that you’re ‘just like Apple,’ personally I want Apple. The experience I have in Apple stores is in perfect harmony with the brand they’re portraying.
In the computer industry, the smart phone industry, the tablet industry, and the music player industry, everyone has to start with some sort of comparison to Apple – just like, better than, cheaper than – whatever they say, they mention Apple. Only Apple stands alone not comparing themselves to other products unless it’s a joke. They don’t have to talk about their competition – Apple is the innovator. And they do it at their price.
What’s up in your world? Are you the dominant brand? Are you Amazon? eBay? Jello? Kleenex? Kellogg’s Corn Flakes? Jacuzzi?
HARD QUESTION: Are you comparing your products to the competition, or differentiating yourself from the competition?
HARD QUESTION: Are you trying to justify price, or does your quality reputation precede you?
OUCH QUESTION: Is your brand, product, or service market superior, and you haven’t elevated yourself to that position?
NOTE WELL: Then there are the brands that USED to be #1 and have fallen to #2 or lower. Either by inferior products, inferior service, or disgraced reputation. Blackberry, American Airlines, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, and Tiger Woods to name a few.
Here are 5.5 interviews you need to do to get the TRUTH from people who are willing to give it to you. In order to get better tomorrow, you gotta know where you are today.
1. Interview customers who love you. They’ll tell you the good stuff.
2. Interview customers who left you. They’ll tell you why, and how to improve.
3. Interview customers who said no to you. They’ll tell you why they chose someone else.
4. Interview loyal employees. They’ll tell you why they love you.
5. Interview departed employees. They’ll tell you why they left you.
5.5 Interview industry leaders. They’ll give you the big picture you may not be able to see.
CAUTION: Leave PR, marketing, and advertising out of the equation, or you may NEVER get to the truth. My recommendation is hire an outside branding company, and at least get a new perspective on the outsideworld (your customers and the marketplace) and the inside world (your people).
After your interviews, here’s what to do:
Be realistic as to outside opinions, and how you can create improvement.
Create internal excitement about innovation and new ideas.
Train and teach attitude, self-belief, and creativity.
Give people paid days off just to think and create.
Create a sense of self-pride in your people by listening to their thoughts and ideas.
Praise and implement new ideas.
RESULT: A new, market dominant, more profitable you.
If you want to learn my secret for long-term brand, name recognition, and loyal customers, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the word NAME in the GitBit box.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/JeffreyGitomer.jpg218156StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-10-29 06:39:522016-08-07 21:03:01Are you the dominant brand, or is your brand bland?
StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.
the underlying psychology driving employees resistance to change
observable differences in employee behaviors as driven by changing circumstances and the resulting organizational impacts
quantitative measurement of employees response to change and how this information can inform management’s change management efforts
actions leaders should take to better prepare their organization to overcome the resistance to change
Additional Information
In addition to the outstanding insights Victoria shares in The Pivot Point and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from her website, www.PivotPnt.com. Victoria’s book, The Pivot Point, can be purchased by clicking here.
Victoria was recently featured by We Mean Business in an interviewed entitled Understanding Resistance. Click here to access this video.
Final Request…
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Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!
About the Author
Victoria Grady, author of The Pivot Point, is an Assistant Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Organizational Science within the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences at The George Washington University. Her consulting practice includes federal government institutions, nonprofit organizations, and private sector companies. To read Victoria’s complete biography, click here.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-10-25 06:22:422015-10-08 00:26:48StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 63 – An Interview with Victoria Grady, author of The Pivot Point
How often have you, as an executive or manager, looked at the cars in the parking lot as you come into or depart from your workplace and said to yourself, “So and so are really contributing to the organization,” based on seeing their cars. Or seeing no one else’s car reflected on your own performance as, “I’m a top contributor. I put in more hours than anyone else.”
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Associating time with performance represents the weak analogy fallacy. Additional information regarding this fallacy and how to recognize when it occurs can be found in StrategyDriven’s decision-making warning flag article, Weak Analogies.
We went to visit the Eiffel tower again. Our fourth visit in five years.
What do you know about the Eiffel Tower?
When it was built it was, to say the least, the most controversial structure of all time. Hundreds protested it, criticized it, campaigned against it, said it was a disgrace to architecture, and predicted it would be the ruination of Paris.
The story is fascinating. You can read about its history on Wikipedia, where I learned, “Some of the protestors eventually changed their minds when the tower was built. Others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the Tower’s restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure.”
EPILOG: The tower was built to world acclaim. It’s one of the most impressive structures in the universe. It’s not just stunning to look at, it’s also inspiring to be in its presence. An estimated 10 million visitors a year visit to admire its glory. It is the heart and soul of Paris, France, and it’s the symbol by which the city has been known for more than 100 years.
At the base of his tower there’s an amazing statue to honor Gustave Eiffel. Interesting to note that NONE of the people who criticized him have statues at the base.
How much more wrong could the protesters and critics have been?
Were they trying to build up or tear down? Encourage or discourage? Encourage or disparage? In hindsight, the critics seem contrite, shallow, self-serving, prejudiced, and baseless.
Kind of like today’s critics.
Call it what you will, a naysayer, by any other name, is just that.
Is it an opposing point of view, or criticism?
Is it a ‘pundit,’ or a critic?
Is it ‘commentary,’ or just criticism?
Is it an ‘op-ed column,’ or criticism?
Is it a ‘panel discussion,’ or criticism?
And what are these people really saying?
Are they debating? Or discussing and deciding?
Are they blaming ‘it’ or ‘them?’ Or are they offering answers and taking responsibility for the remedy?
Do they talk about what they WILL do? Or what someone else DIDN’T do?
Did they talk about what didn’t happen, who’s wrong, and why it won’t work? Or did they offer their ideas about what could be?
Do these critics (pundits) ever offer answers, ideas, or recommendations?
Critics try to label the ‘wrong-doers’ into a group for easier identification – unions, teachers, liberals, conservatives, left, right, or in your familiar terms: the competition or the purchasing department.
THINK ABOUT IT: It’s never everyone is it?
And of course, today’s world paints criticism as some sort of pious, politically correct, and necessary element of society. REALITY: People criticize to suit themselves, further their agenda, or even make the sale.
In the late 1800’s, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius said, “Pay no attention to people who criticize. No statue was ever erected to a critic.” And in the late 1960’s, the great Glenn W. Turner added, “But the people they have criticized, many statues have gone up.”
Makes me stop and think. I hope it does the same for you.
Got statue? Or are you just criticizing?
How much of your time is wasted criticizing other people, their ideas, or their thoughts? And how could you be investing that time to build your own monument? Your own Eiffel Tower.
YOUR REAL JOB: Convert your criticism to answers, resolve, solutions, and responsibility. You’ll be thought of as a thinker, make more sales, build stronger relationships, earn a better reputation, be seen as a resource, and be a happier person.
Dale Carnegie, author of the 70-year bestseller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, nailed it in 1915 when he penned his most dominant principle, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain (and most fools do).”
There should be a law that says all criticism must be followed by a solution, an answer, a resolve, or an idea. That would shut a lot of people up – or at least make them think and see the positive side of things.
FOOTNOTE: Apple just released the much anticipated iPhone 5. The critics lined up to tell you how it ‘falls short’ or ‘disappoints’ or some baloney about speed or connectivity or maps or keyboard. They gave it three and a half stars. Meanwhile Apple, in spite of the jackass critics, has sold ten million phones in the first 30 days for $400 a device. Do that math. I wonder how much critics earn?
Free GitBit: If you’re looking for a change of language to launch your new ‘criticism-free’ lexicon, I’m making available eight pages of positive quotes and ideas from Dale Carnegie. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words CRITIC in the GitBit box.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/JeffreyGitomer.jpg218156StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-10-22 06:43:192016-08-07 21:08:36The Eiffel Tower: An iconic monument and a critical lesson.
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Are you the dominant brand, or is your brand bland?
/in Marketing & Sales/by Jeffrey GitomerWhat’s the difference between you and all of your competition?
Are you different from your competition, or do you just THINK you are? Are you different from your competition, or do you just tell customers and prospects you are?
Or are you different from your competition, and others CLEARLY perceive you as both different and better?
REALITY: It’s not what you think or believe, it’s what your customers do and say.
REALITY: If I ask you what the difference between you and your prime competition is, and your answer is ‘our people’ or ‘me,’ you’re in serious trouble.
REALITY: If you asked your customer what the difference is, what would they say?
You’re in trouble.
Your reputation is a reality check of where you actually are versus where you think you are:
Here are more painful ‘reputation’ questions about your company and your products:
Apple is the classic example of a brand, with products that back it up. Their competition is ‘me too,’ and often mentions Apple in their ads. If you brag that you’re ‘just like Apple,’ personally I want Apple. The experience I have in Apple stores is in perfect harmony with the brand they’re portraying.
In the computer industry, the smart phone industry, the tablet industry, and the music player industry, everyone has to start with some sort of comparison to Apple – just like, better than, cheaper than – whatever they say, they mention Apple. Only Apple stands alone not comparing themselves to other products unless it’s a joke. They don’t have to talk about their competition – Apple is the innovator. And they do it at their price.
What’s up in your world? Are you the dominant brand? Are you Amazon? eBay? Jello? Kleenex? Kellogg’s Corn Flakes? Jacuzzi?
HARD QUESTION: Are you comparing your products to the competition, or differentiating yourself from the competition?
HARD QUESTION: Are you trying to justify price, or does your quality reputation precede you?
OUCH QUESTION: Is your brand, product, or service market superior, and you haven’t elevated yourself to that position?
NOTE WELL: Then there are the brands that USED to be #1 and have fallen to #2 or lower. Either by inferior products, inferior service, or disgraced reputation. Blackberry, American Airlines, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, and Tiger Woods to name a few.
Here are 5.5 interviews you need to do to get the TRUTH from people who are willing to give it to you. In order to get better tomorrow, you gotta know where you are today.
1. Interview customers who love you. They’ll tell you the good stuff.
2. Interview customers who left you. They’ll tell you why, and how to improve.
3. Interview customers who said no to you. They’ll tell you why they chose someone else.
4. Interview loyal employees. They’ll tell you why they love you.
5. Interview departed employees. They’ll tell you why they left you.
5.5 Interview industry leaders. They’ll give you the big picture you may not be able to see.
CAUTION: Leave PR, marketing, and advertising out of the equation, or you may NEVER get to the truth. My recommendation is hire an outside branding company, and at least get a new perspective on the outsideworld (your customers and the marketplace) and the inside world (your people).
After your interviews, here’s what to do:
RESULT: A new, market dominant, more profitable you.
If you want to learn my secret for long-term brand, name recognition, and loyal customers, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the word NAME in the GitBit box.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 63 – An Interview with Victoria Grady, author of The Pivot Point
/in Change Management, StrategyDriven Podcast/by StrategyDrivenSpecial Edition 63 – An Interview with Victoria Grady, author of The Pivot Point explores the psychology behind employees resistance to change and the actions leaders can take to more effectively move their organization to a state of high, post-change productivity. During our discussion, Victoria Grady, author of The Pivot Point: Success in Organizational Change
, shares with us her insights and experiences regarding:
Additional Information
In addition to the outstanding insights Victoria shares in The Pivot Point
and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from her website, www.PivotPnt.com. Victoria’s book, The Pivot Point
, can be purchased by clicking here
.
Victoria was recently featured by We Mean Business in an interviewed entitled Understanding Resistance. Click here to access this video.
Final Request…
Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!
About the Author
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:00 — 42.6MB)
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Organizational Accountability Warning Flag 2 – Time-based Performance Assessments
/in Organizational Accountability, Premium/by StrategyDrivenHi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.
Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).
Not sure? Click here to learn more.
Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Organizational Accountability Warning Flag 2 – Time-based Performance Assessments for just $2!
Additional Information
Associating time with performance represents the weak analogy fallacy. Additional information regarding this fallacy and how to recognize when it occurs can be found in StrategyDriven’s decision-making warning flag article, Weak Analogies.
The Eiffel Tower: An iconic monument and a critical lesson.
/in Marketing & Sales/by Jeffrey GitomerWe went to visit the Eiffel tower again. Our fourth visit in five years.
What do you know about the Eiffel Tower?
When it was built it was, to say the least, the most controversial structure of all time. Hundreds protested it, criticized it, campaigned against it, said it was a disgrace to architecture, and predicted it would be the ruination of Paris.
The story is fascinating. You can read about its history on Wikipedia, where I learned, “Some of the protestors eventually changed their minds when the tower was built. Others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the Tower’s restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure.”
EPILOG: The tower was built to world acclaim. It’s one of the most impressive structures in the universe. It’s not just stunning to look at, it’s also inspiring to be in its presence. An estimated 10 million visitors a year visit to admire its glory. It is the heart and soul of Paris, France, and it’s the symbol by which the city has been known for more than 100 years.
At the base of his tower there’s an amazing statue to honor Gustave Eiffel. Interesting to note that NONE of the people who criticized him have statues at the base.
How much more wrong could the protesters and critics have been?
Were they trying to build up or tear down? Encourage or discourage? Encourage or disparage? In hindsight, the critics seem contrite, shallow, self-serving, prejudiced, and baseless.
Kind of like today’s critics.
Call it what you will, a naysayer, by any other name, is just that.
And what are these people really saying?
Do these critics (pundits) ever offer answers, ideas, or recommendations?
Critics try to label the ‘wrong-doers’ into a group for easier identification – unions, teachers, liberals, conservatives, left, right, or in your familiar terms: the competition or the purchasing department.
THINK ABOUT IT: It’s never everyone is it?
And of course, today’s world paints criticism as some sort of pious, politically correct, and necessary element of society. REALITY: People criticize to suit themselves, further their agenda, or even make the sale.
In the late 1800’s, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius said, “Pay no attention to people who criticize. No statue was ever erected to a critic.” And in the late 1960’s, the great Glenn W. Turner added, “But the people they have criticized, many statues have gone up.”
Makes me stop and think. I hope it does the same for you.
Got statue? Or are you just criticizing?
How much of your time is wasted criticizing other people, their ideas, or their thoughts? And how could you be investing that time to build your own monument? Your own Eiffel Tower.
YOUR REAL JOB: Convert your criticism to answers, resolve, solutions, and responsibility. You’ll be thought of as a thinker, make more sales, build stronger relationships, earn a better reputation, be seen as a resource, and be a happier person.
Dale Carnegie, author of the 70-year bestseller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, nailed it in 1915 when he penned his most dominant principle, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain (and most fools do).”
There should be a law that says all criticism must be followed by a solution, an answer, a resolve, or an idea. That would shut a lot of people up – or at least make them think and see the positive side of things.
FOOTNOTE: Apple just released the much anticipated iPhone 5. The critics lined up to tell you how it ‘falls short’ or ‘disappoints’ or some baloney about speed or connectivity or maps or keyboard. They gave it three and a half stars. Meanwhile Apple, in spite of the jackass critics, has sold ten million phones in the first 30 days for $400 a device. Do that math. I wonder how much critics earn?
Free GitBit: If you’re looking for a change of language to launch your new ‘criticism-free’ lexicon, I’m making available eight pages of positive quotes and ideas from Dale Carnegie. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words CRITIC in the GitBit box.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Leadership Inspirations – Pursuing Your Dreams
/in Leadership Inspirations/by StrategyDrivenWalt Disney (1901 – 1966)
American film producer, director, animator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist