Lessons Learned From Year 6
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I usually send this note in October, on the rough anniversary of launching Chambers Pivot Industries, LLC, but for 2018 we’ll sneak it in with a day to spare. This is edition 6 (which is something like 72 in Greg-job-years). Each year I note 2 or 3 big lessons from the year, and make a few announcements.
Let’s light this candle.
Greg’s 5th Annual Consulting Update
It’s that time again!
Greg’s annual business update.
If you’ve been on the list, this is number five in a series. Yep, I’ve just completed the fifth year of solo consulting. Each year I’ve take a day or two and sketched out my biggest learnings from the year and I share them with you. Read more
This Marketing Best Practice Isn’t Working – Why Not?
via Twitter @_youhadonejob1
The phrase “best practice” is casually tossed around by marketing consultants, but if they’re “best,” why don’t marketing tactics translate across industries or even within industries? First things first, best practices are a set of guidelines, beliefs, or ideas that represent the most efficient course of action.
“Company X did this, in this fashion, to get these activities, and got these outcomes. You should get the same outcomes if you repeat those same activities, in the same fashion.”
Seems logical, right? Read more
How Strong is Your FIT?
This article originally appeared in Amalgamate: A Mix of Ideas for Your Business, Winter 2015
F.I.T. is my shorthand for your company’s ability to Focus; its ability to cater to Individuals; and its ability to leverage technology and training Tools to grow.
Take 2 minutes and score yourself on this assessment: Read more
Why Do Companies Hire Consultants?
Many years ago I had the opportunity to move from a corporation to a startup. That time, I did it voluntarily, after years of thought and research. I can still remember the excitement of the first day in my new office, setting up the banquet tables, and stringing together the new Gateway computers. The details are fuzzy but there was a DSL connection from USWest, a router, a switch, and a networked version of Windows. One hour stretched into two, tech support calls piled up on one another, and as evening approached, I sat back with the realization that I was all by myself. Every company I worked for up to that moment had provided all of the resources I needed, and if I wanted something or someone else, I hired them. Read more
Selling and Robots and AI and Doctors
Bleep boop.
News from the Chambers Pivot ticker tape. IBM’s Watson and Salesforce’s Einstein are getting together to make us smarter. It comes as I’ve been immersing myself in sales and marketing software. Researching dozens of the thousand plus startups promising to make selling automated. It’s a trend. A vision of the future where the machine is able to predict where and when a buyer is ready to purchase. Getting us to the holy grail of the right message to the right person at the right time.
It will happen. I just don’t think we’re close to having it happen today. Read more
The New AMALGAMATE Business Booklet is Here
The Winter 2016 Edition of AMALGAMATE is ready for download. Read more
Chambers Pivot: The fourth year that was at CPI
Each fall I look up and think, really? Another year?
This is the fourth annual recap for Chambers Pivot Industries, LLC. In case you didn’t know, every year I take a full day and think about the year that was, then sit and make a big list of hits and misses from the year. From that point, I narrow the big list down to a few useful ideas for you.
Here’s what I came up with from year four. Read more
You’re Not Broken, Are You?
Felix knows. . .
What is your people’s default attitude about your customers? Do they think of them as capable? Do they think of them as helpless? How is that communicated?
My morning had me filling the role of customer to keep projects moving forward. That involves a good amount of time spent on the phone, exchanging emails, and communicating via chat with customer service. In each instance, I was trying to help a third party (not me) with services that I had recommended. As I sit and think about those transactions, one word comes to mind: broken.
I’m going to say they saw me as broken because it is the opposite of seeing me as capable. As in, “if you were capable, why would you be calling?” Here’s what I mean.
Me: I need X. Are you the person to help me with that?
Them: Of course. First, let’s just figure out what’s happening.
Me: I just need you to do X. Is that possible?
Them: It is, but we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. So let’s figure out what you’ve been doing.
Me: Ok. I know what I did, and I know X will fix it, but are you telling me that if I go along with you, we’ll move faster?
Them: Yes.
It’s subtle and I may have missed it if it weren’t for the last exchange I had before lunch.
Me: I need Y. Are you the person to help me with that?
Them: Of course. Is this the first time you’ve needed Y or have you called about this before? I ask because I don’t want you to feel like you’re repeating yourself.
Me: I’ve called about this before, but this is for another client.
Them: Oh, I’m sorry it happened again. Let me help you get Y.
I know it’s not the person on the chat’s fault. I know it’s not the company’s fault. Something happened and we need to move on. Here’s the thing that was different about the last call, I felt like they assumed I was capable.
And that, my friends, is incredibly powerful.
All the conversations were pleasant. All of my objectives were met. That last call, however, subtly started with, “I assume you’re capable, so the only reason you’re calling is because you’ve tried things and you’re stuck, let me help,” versus, “I know your type, if you were capable, you wouldn’t be calling, so what did you do this time?”
Encourage your people not to assume the other party is broken.
Innocent until proven guilty or something like that.
Not Being Your Own Worst Boss
Check out this interview I did on The Entrepreneur Way with Neil Ball.
Neil is out of Manchester, England and I’m in Omaha, NE, but through the miracle of modern technology we had sit and a talk about sales and marketing. You can listen to it here:
Neil gets me to cover all sorts of ground including my startup experience, talking about my worst boss ever, how decisions are made, and the importance of culture. As often happens in these interviews, I think I learned more from Neil than he learned from me!
As a bonus, you can hear Wilson the Amazing Border Collie let out a howl just before the 21 minute mark.
Good stuff.