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Even Business Gifts Should Be Emotional

Ross Shafer — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 05:07:58 +0000

First, this is not a commercial for the swag you see above. But I have to tell you the brand name because it’s relevant to the story. Secondly, this is not a story about food. It’s about relevance on a couple of levels. Ok, disclaimers turned in. Let’s move on to the tale.

As some of you know, I speak to a lot of different companies, businesses and associations; which means I see a lot of different hotels and meet even more meeting planners. Occasionally, when I check in there is a welcome gift waiting for me. Sometimes, the “swag” as Hollywood calls it, is not especially useful. A gift basket might be filled with random promotional items an assistant borrowed from the office. I am talking about a ball cap, a retractable pen, a post-it note pad, or a pack of 3-month old cookies. Each item has been previously emblazoned with the business’ logo. These “gifts” are not very special or emotional to me because it is obvious they were originally purchased as handouts for the UPS driver and/or copy machine repair guy. (The awkward gifts are the ones that are too big to pack in my carry on – or metal; which never pass inspection at airport security. Still, it’s supposed to be the thought that counts, right?

However, once in a while I walk into a hotel room and see a gift basket that strikes me as wildly unique and thoughtful. Like today. The gift basket pictured above certainly qualifies. The basket contained a nice bottle of cabernet, a fresh loaf of focaccia bread, and four small bottles of different flavored olive oils. I’ve never received such a thing; not even from my family…so this is special. What made it emotional was that the meeting planner sifted information he had gleaned from me whenwe were talking on the phone four weeks ago. At the end of the call, he asked, “Any plans for the weekend?” I offhandedly mentioned that I was looking forward to being with my family at our favorite restaurant, have a nice glass of red, and some of their famous olive bread.

Four weeks later, everything I’d mentioned was in my room…in Charlotte, North Carolina. The gifts came from The Olive Tap (see, there’s the brand name). The Olive Tap is a local manufacturer of homemade olive bread and Olive Oils. Brilliant and delicious! What did my gift basket cost the client? I don’t know but it was probably about the same as a random basket of promotional hats and pens.

The reason I say this story is relevant on a couple of levels is this:

(1) During a phone call, my host listened to what made me happy. Then, he delivered the unexpected.

(2) The gift came from a local vendor so now I have an emotional connection to an olive oil purveyor in Charlotte, NC.

Every moment of human interaction has the opportunity to become special and emotional. And, when it comes to other people, don’t just do what is convenient for cheaper for you. Think about making an extraordinary impression.

Your turn.
Leave a comment about something special or emotional that somebody gave you. A gift? We might inspire others to follow in kind.

Ross Shafer is a popular keynote speaker and author of Are You Relevant? Absolutely Necessary, Nobody Moved Your Cheese, The Customer Shouts Back, and Grab More Market Share.

To contact Ross: Call (303) 588-3739 or email Helen@RossShafer.com

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How do You Challenge Yourself?

Ross Shafer — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 07:14:26 +0000

Let’s assume you want to grow your business. Maybe you want the skills to transition to a new career. Suppose you want a better personal life than you had last year. Those aspirations can be the seeds of motivation. But none of those things will ever happen without motion of some kind. But what are the steps for following through on an improvement plan like that? It’s a little easier to advance an idea if you a self-motivated person. But what if you are someone who needs a boss or a coworker to kick you into action? No worries. Sometimes motivation is built in. At work, the motivation takes the form of a sales deadline, an emergency hiring, a pay raise assessment, a new title, or…the night sweats of fear when you suspect somebody is gunning for your job or your company’s market share is eroding. If none of the ‘built in’ motivators are present, I suggest having a “device” to keep you on track. I’ve always worked for myself; which means I’ve had to be responsible for my own paycheck. So, I’ll tell you what I do.

First, I have trained myself not to daydream for fun. If I think about something I want, I automatically think about what I’ll have to do to make my dream become a reality. I write down the goal and then make a list of what I think I need to do to accomplish that goal. As I learn more detail I evolve the list in a sequence of events.

The second thing I do is ‘create a deadline.’ When I was young I had a boss at a clothing store that lectured our sales team, “The minute I tell you about the commission goal, you start daydreaming about what you’ll spend the money on. Daydreaming is useless! Don’t dream unless you have a deadline for achievment.” He was right. A goal without a deadline is just a dream. So I decided not to waste my time on a dream unless I gave it a deadline. The deadline gave me a completion date to work toward. (I played college football and we didn’t win unless we got the ball into the End Zone more often than our opponent). We all know people who start a project but never finish it, right? It’s because they haven’t given their project an ‘end zone.’

Third, if I didn’t have a goal I would invent one to keep myself motivated. I’ve bought homes that were too expensive so that I would have to work harder to pay the mortgage. Soon, the mortgage was easy to pay. If I happened to be offered a big opportunity I would automatically say, YES!” Here’s an example. When I became more successful as a stand-up comedian, a television executive approached me, “I saw you do your little act on TV. Do you think you could produce a 30-minute weekly comedy show for us?” I didn’t hesitate, “Yes, I can.” But even then I knew there had to be a deadline for completion. So I asked, “When do you want to shoot the pilot?” The executive said, “Four weeks from today.” I said, “We will be ready.” I had no idea what to do but I had the luxury of four weeks to learn the TV production business. I immediately called some funny friends together and we figured out what it would cost, the staff we would need to hire, and how to write that much material.” That “pilot” was shot on time and under budget. We turned that “show” into an Emmy® award winning series that launched the successful careers of at least a dozen of us. It was a good opportunity and we all refused to fail. The pressure of completing that dream, when attached to a deadline, made it happen.

I guess the final question could be, “Why do I have to motivate myself at all? I make a good living and I just want to have fun in my time off.” You’re right. If your life is perfect right now – and as long as you die by Tuesday – your plan is rock solid. But if you want better – if you want more free time or more money – more status or more philanthropy – then stagnation and status quo are not your friend. Motivation is only valuable for people who care about improving life for themselves and others.

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YOUR COMPANY ISN’T PERFECT

Ross Shafer — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:51:14 +0000

Our team is frequently hired to advise companies on how to become more relevant. Actually, companies want us to tell them how to be “the MOST relevant” in their industry. This is a challenge because we have yet to come across the 100% perfectly relevant organization. You’d think we had found that perfect company by now because we get the unique opportunity to study hundreds of organizations each year. Some are multi-billion dollar NASDAQ companies. Others are mom-and-pop operations. Some make an embarrassing amount of money. Others are struggling to keep the lights on.
But the smart leaders (large and small) all worry about the same thing.
None of them are totally satisfied with their level of ‘relevance.’ They can’t sleep at night thinking, “What should I be doing that I’m not?”
Achieving Total Relevance is like chasing the end of a rainbow. Our economy is too evolutionary to ever find that hidden pot of gold. You will always covet what your competitors have, and they will always covet what you have. You will want their leadership and they will want yours. You will want their offices and they will want your distribution network. Nobody we have seen will ever get everything they want–when they want it. 100% relevancy might actually be something you’ll celebrate for awhile…but that state is temporary because market conditions and circumstances change too quickly.
We are not saying we can’t help you find relevance. We can inspire you by cross-pollinating what the best people and their processes are accomplishing. We will also encourage you to keep driving toward best-in-class expertise. But here’s a secret. Many of your competitors will just get tired and give up. And you can take more market share by just showing up!
Ok, knowing that perfection is a highly elusive goal, the best strategy for you is to do better than you did yesterday and diligently stay on your path. Be prepared that the path is fraught with dead ends and U-turns. Just when you think, “we’ve nailed it,” your plans will be derailed by the unexpected competitor, the manufacturer defect, or a silly government regulation. Curse the heavens if you like, but then calm down. Accept reality. And react quickly to your changing landscape. You don’t have to be absolutely perfect to be a highly profitable world-beater. We “get” the six-sigma in you that wants to perform at a mission critical 99.9%. We hope you do. But if you don’t, comfort yourself in knowing that 87% perfect is still perceived as perfection by your customers.
Ross Shafer is a popular keynote speaker and author of Are You Relevant? Absolutely Necessary, Nobody Moved Your Cheese, The Customer Shouts Back, and Grab More Market Share.
To contact Ross: Call (303) 588-3739 or email Helen@RossShafer.com

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You are Paid to Show Up

Ross Shafer — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 05:52:47 +0000

Your skills are important to a lot of people. Other people depend upon your contributions. And, if you have made a commitment to your employer (to do a particular job) then you are expected to be there and perform that job. If you don’t show up, you might be jeopardizing the efforts of your entire team. Or worse, you may have single handedly ground everything to a halt.
I’ve heard so many executives complain that their team members don’t show up. They “call in sick” or say, “I can’t get there in time because of…” (You pick the excuse). If this sounds like you, your absence may be forgiven but you won’t be forgotten. Leaders remember that became unreliable. Leaders remember that you didn’t get someone “to cover for you” when your tasks were necessary to a deadline. Leaders remember that you didn’t try to stay in touch via email, text, or Skype (these days you are always available ‘virtually’ – even in you’re in bed with a fever). Athletes routinely “play hurt” and find time to recover when the game is over.
What about weather delays? No excuse. Recently I had a speaking engagement in Boston, MA. The client had posted my picture in their conference program and the session was 100% full. Coming from the west coast, I has a stopover in Chicago but my flight to Boston was cancelled due to 25 inches of snow in a 24-hour period. (Their worst blizzard in 35 years). In fact, 1,500 flights were cancelled. Working with my business manager, we kept our client in constant contact re: our solutions (not our troubles). We scoured all options and found an 11:00pm flight into Washington, DC. From there, we explored train options to Boston and other possible flights connecting through Buffalo, NYC, and Detroit. All options would be cutting it very close. At 6:00am the next morning I got the last seat on a random flight to Boston. By not giving up, I got to the Marriott Copley Place with time to spare. It would have been very understandable for me to tell the client, “With this blizzard, I just can’t get there in time.” But by making the effort to show up under seemingly impossible circumstances, I proved I was relentless, dependable, reliable, and someone who could be counted on to deliver; even when life was out of everyone’s control. The next time someone is expecting you, move mountains to be there. Your boss or client will be astounded. And something better than you can imagine might happen…like surprising yourself.
Ross Shafer is the author of the new book, ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY – Bulletproof Tactics for Putting Yourself in High Demand. He is also the author of Nobody Moved Your Cheese, Are You Relevant, Grab More Market Share, and The Customer Shouts Back. Ross is a busy keynote speaker and 6-time Emmy winner for his work as a comedian, talk show host, and writer. www.RossShafer.com

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