Greg's Right FIT #364

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Momentum
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Momentum

• We see successful people and think they're motivated. We see struggling people and think they could use some motivation. We don't look at environmental factors. Switching our lens from motivation to momentum changes this. 
• Doing more for an unhappy customer isn't perceived as a good customer experience. Reducing the effort required to do business with you is. It takes effort and expense up front, but costs less than patching up failure work over time. 
• Familiarity may breed contempt, but better the devil you know than the one you don't. Getting new customers to leave an existing vendor is harder than adding a new service. Plan your sales cycles accordingly. 
• Familiarity is it can be gamed. Exposure to the same message over time helps with recognition and resembles trust. Test the message before putting it on heavy repeat though. A bad idea promoted effectively is still a bad idea.

Being Human - Hidden rules

"If One Is Truly to Succeed in Leading a Person to a Specific Place, One Must First and Foremost Take Care to Find Him Where He is and Begin There." – S. Kirkegaard

I re-read the book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne, because I re-listened to a podcast from James Altucher, How to Get in the Mind of Billionaires.

His podcast talked about thinking like a billionaire, and it reminded me of Dr. Payne's description of hidden rules among classes. The unspoken cues, beliefs, and habits of a group. I've mentioned her book before. Besides being interesting, it's a treasure trove for thinking about marketing copy and sales language when targeting markets. For instance:

• Food: Poverty focuses on quantity; Middle class focuses on quality; Wealth focuses on presentation. 
• Time: Poverty focuses on the present; Middle class focuses on the future; Wealth focuses on legacy. 
• Family Structure: Poverty tends to the matriarch; Middle class to the patriarch; Wealth tends to whichever side the money comes from. 
• Social Emphasis: Poverty puts an emphasis on being liked; Middle class emphasizes self-reliance; Wealth emphasizes exclusion.

Keep these examples in mind to illustrate matching the unspoken rules your prospects live by. If you're not communicating in a way that expresses their unspoken cues, beliefs and habits chances are you're not as effective as you could be. 

Pay attention to the hidden rules. 

Random Stuff

"Now is the winter of our discontent." – attributed to Wilson

The last thing anyone wants for Christmas is a parent/triathalon training/recent vacation/or dog owner story, but I have one I can't shake. This is as good a place as any to dump it on you. 

It's cold here, as it is in many places in the USA. Deep freeze stuff. Last I looked it was -37 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill. Fun fact, did you know at -40 Fahrenheit it's -40 Celsius? 

Cold. 

My only outside activities involved shoveling the driveway and picking my daughter up from the airport. Relatively easy stuff. I have been up north to Green Bay for Packer games where temperatures were dangerously low, so I have some gear. Multiple layers, heavy gloves, and boots to start. It's a little hard to maneuver, but since one has to keep skin exposure to a minimum you do what you have to do. 

A feature of my modern life is indoor plumbing. Some 200 years ago this idea went from being only something the ultra wealthy lived with to me learning how to fix a leaky toilet via Youtube. On days like today I think, "thank goodness I don't have to do my business in an outhouse."

Wilson the Amazing Border Collie may live in the time of indoor plumbing, but he can't figure it out. The day started with him taking his customary biscuit out to the porch where he turned around and headed back inside before I had shut the door. I coaxed him out briefly as I shoveled, but it was still too cold to pee because he deferred to the second half. 

I have a smart coat for him and some fashionable dog sledding booties. That worked for a short trip to the bushes, but I'm told it's still too cold to conduct serious business. 

We don't get above freezing for another 5 days. As exceptional as Wilson the ABC is, the odds are not in favor of waiting this out. Too many rich holiday snacks and leftovers for a hunger strike.

Somethings gotta give. 

Keep the old man in your thoughts. He won't be shaking free from my head for a while. I'd keep you updated, but I can hear my lovely bride's voice in my head, "Greg. Stop."

So I will. 

Happiest of Holidays to you and yours from me and mine!