Greg's Right FIT #396

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

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Measures
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Measures

• Every business has things they measure. Your sales pros need to recognize them when they're offered, and probe for them when they're not. 
• Our trust in a person, process, or company is not based on some objective measure or set of criteria. It's subjective and sounds like, "do they have my best interest in mind?"
• Remind your salespeople to forget what they think is valuable because it only matters what the prospect measures as valuable. There's a report somewhere in their organization with a number which means a lot to them. Ask about it. 
• All of our businesses measure something. When we buy a solution we're expecting that measure to change. We want it to go up, or we want to bring it down. Before starting, know how you're going judge the solution. And share it.  

Being Human - Pricing

"Experience is not what happens to you--it's how you interpret what happens to you." – Aldous Huxley

A friend of mine, Dean Robinson (The Family Business Transformer), wrote a wonderful post about pricing this week. (You can read it here) It caught my eye because I just finished listening to an interview with Noam Dworman, the owner of NYC comedy club, The Comedy Cellar. (You can listen to it here.)

In the interview, talk turns to pricing as the economist asks why he doesn't charge more at the door on the busiest nights. To an economist this is a wasted opportunity. An inefficiency in the market. Dworman responds how most business owners would. He hems and haws, saying he knows he should probably charge more, he talks about experiencing other businesses charging more, and he ends up in an interesting place. 

Paraphrasing, he says, as a business owner you only know you've overcharged when it's too late. It's a profound insight. We humans hate loss more than we like gain.

My next favorite thing happens in the same part of the conversation. Years ago I read an article in Inc. magazine about managing your business using one key number. The article writer, as I remember, used to look at one number to gauge the health of his business. Dworman does the same thing. He said he looks at the number of people they turn away at the door. From that, he can tell how things are going. 

I'm sure this entire subject struck the economist as a waste, but I loved hearing it. The challenge with most economists (and I put the interviewer in this category) is they discount the experience of being human in business. They're allowed–after all, they are in academia–but as a business manager dealing with other humans, we make decisions that may not be optimal. And it's ok. 

I role-play sales conversations on a regular basis. Each one usually ends with the outcome we're after. The role-plays are run to perfection. The optimal outcome. Reality is a lot messier. 

Embrace the mess, but give yourself something to track. A single number to help you take the emotion out of the business. It works. 

Random Stuff

“. . .the world is full of signs and wonders that come, and go, and if you are lucky you might see them. Once, twice. Perhaps never again.” ― Helen Macdonald, H is for Hawk

I have to tell you about the squirrel nest. I mentioned it before because I was concerned about where they built it, but now I have a new concern. Predators. A few weeks ago I watched in fascination/horror as a hawk descended on the nest and began tearing it up. It's too far away to tell if it was a bloody food frenzy, but I spared a moment to contemplate the wonders of nature. 

We've been hearing a kak-kak-kak-kak bird noise for a few weeks now. It sounds like a tropical bird escaped from the zoo, but I've come to learn it's a Cooper's Hawk. I know this because they've been hunting in the backyard all week. I have pictures! 

I work alone, so my family is subjected to the equivalent of office  gos, and this week the hot gos was all about hawks. Last week it was peaches, this week it's hawks. I thought we had a solo bird, but learned there were two. Then a third showed up. It turns out many breeds of hawk look alike. As I learned new bits of info, I relayed them to my workmates. I told them about every sighting and passed along kill counts. (Tony, Toni, and Howard get very noisy when they catch something) I explained the differences between Sharp Shinned and Cooper's hawks and speculated on why it was one and not the other. The blue eyes aren't common, making ID even harder. 

Last night Wilson and I sat outside and listened for their calls. Most of the time they just sit in the trees, looking around. Then it happened. Kak-kak-kak-kak-kak. Once we locked the noises in our brains I went to the bird call websites until I found it. Cooper's. Boom. I knew it. Turns out they like to eat song birds in addition to squirrels. Just like the ones my lovely bride likes to feed. With our little garden, mini-orchard, bird feeders, and bird baths, we've inadvertently created a kill zone.

I relay this newfound info to my workmates. Just like I'm relaying it to you. 

And just like you, I'm sure they are thrilled to hear it. 

(I can almost hear the eye rolls from here. I get it.)

I'll leave you all alone now. After you listen the hawk noises.

The Cooper's kak-kak-kak is about 15 seconds in:   https://youtu.be/OFHe3eJFGwo