Greg's Right FIT #477

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

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Health 
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Health

• Health is a key element of Momentum. When you are in good health and in good spirits, momentum builds easily. When you are in bad health, out of shape, tired, and mad at the world, momentum has a hard time taking root.
• Part of your paycheck depends on people showing up Monday morning healthy, ready to go. Treating this as a momentum versus inspiration issue opens your brain. Fewer pep talks, more time spent preparing the path.
• This winter, most people I talk to are a little under the weather. Even the sports announcers are getting froggy! Taking a break slows momentum, but ignoring your sickness and making it worse kills momentum. Get some rest. 
• What has happened will happen. There's no good time for a health issue to pop up, so if you're in good health, take some preventative actions based on your experiences. Get a physical, set an alarm for bedtime, and stay hydrated.

Being Human - Optimizing intent

“Intent counts more than technique." – Mahan Khalsa

For decades, we had the greatest vet. His office was a bit of a mess, but that's because he was so busy. He didn't charge premium prices, and I'm convinced many of the people I saw in his waiting room didn't pay at all. He didn't suggest a lot of interventions, and when he did, they were reasonable. His intent came through loud and clear, he loved animals. 

When he retired, we moved to a new vet. The office is much cleaner, the equipment newer, and there are a lot more bodies working there. Every visit requires an upfront verbal agreement on the price read by the assistant to the vet. There are a lot of tests, and each visit adds up to hundreds of dollars. It feels like a consultant suggested a series of best practices, and they execute it to perfection. 

The new vet is a lot like my dermatologist's office. Shiny, white, clean. Operationally amazing. Best practices everywhere. They see something concerning, they take it off, the lab comes back a week later with an "ok" and I get a big bill. 

At my annual physical, I was telling the primary doctor about my dermatologist's visit, and he said, "Did they burn it off or send it to the lab?" I said they sent it to the lab. He said, almost to himself, "I need to do more of that. Was each test a separate lab fee?" Wait, I said, go back. I could just get questionable moles burned off? That's an option?

I love my primary doctor. He's a lot like my old vet. The office is chaotic, and you get the impression a percentage of the work is being done pro bono. His intent is clear. 

When you're optimizing your processes, check your customer's perceptions. They're very good at detecting intent, even if they have trouble putting it in words. In this case, I'm happy to visit my primary care doctor, but loathe to take the pets in or set up a dermatologist visit. Over time, I'm betting that adds up. 

Your customer's perception of intent overrides the effectiveness of most techniques. A great best practice is to include customer feedback on tactical changes. (unless your intent behind using the best practice isn't pure. . .they'll detect that too.)  

Random Stuff

“Burn old wood, read old books, drink old wines, have old friends." – Alfonso X of Castille

The deep freeze is here. The other day I woke up to -10F and the mini-monolith in my hand said "feels like -20F." It's cold. 

Every year or so, I get a wood delivery. One way to combat the dark winters and freezing temps is with regular roaring fires. I've told you about the technique I learned for the perfect burn in Right FIT #251, and it still works. When I stack them just right, I barely need to tend the fire. Good strong burn. 

I usually re-order wood when there isn't much left in the stacks. Over time this resulted in the bottom layer not changing. For years. I wasn't the only one who noticed. The backyard critters figured this out, and they've made little homes in the woodpile. It's probably where the woodchuck who eats all the beets has been hiding. Something needed to be done.

This year I made a vow: no new orders until every log is gone. Every last stick. This coincided with a mild start to winter. I made some bonfires, a couple house fires, and did it. I got to the end of the pile. All the wood is gone. It's been gone for weeks now. I didn't think about re-ordering because the weather was mild. 

Now I have no roaring fires to pass the time I'm stuck inside. We had company last weekend. It was snowing. Everyone was chilled. No fire. They would have liked that. This week's deep freeze. No fire. I would have liked that.

Greg, you say, just stop by the gas station and grab some wood. Easy-peasy. 

I know. I should. I might. But we're so close to spring. And when you look at the cost per log of a little bundle vs a half-cord. . .

I killed the momentum. 

I guess I'll have to re-read Chapter 14, Restarting Momentum, in my book "The Sales Momentum Mindset." There's probably something in there that will help.