A summary of things you should know about Evergreen according to Noah Fleming: Introduction In this episode Noah Fleming takes a deep dive into his book, Evergreen, where he revealsRead More
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]]>In this episode Noah Fleming takes a deep dive into his book, Evergreen, where he reveals a way to create longer lasting relationships with customers.
In his book Fleming provides a practical roadmap packed with strategies, stories, and tips on improving your business by cultivating deeper, more profitable relationships with your customers. The goal of the book is to teach you 3 significant rules that create loyal customers, how to build effective loyalty programs, and how to incorporate social media into any loyalty plan.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who run a business based on building relationships with customers and need a simple guide for creating the best customer loyalty system.
What makes it different is that I start long before the point of closing the sale. I believe that customer loyalty and customer relationships start long before the sale has ever been made. Evergreen provides a deep look at what happens before the sale, to the point of the sale, and then into what I call happily ever after.
The book is broken down into two parts. The first half of the book is a very strategic framework and so I recommend reading this part because I think it’s applicable to any type of business. That said if you’ve already got a successful business you can certainly hop to the second half of the book which is very tactical in nature with very specific action steps you can take.
I want the reader to understand that everything you do is equally about getting and equally about keeping the customer. Just understanding this one principle can change your entire outlook of your company, business, or career.
As I mentioned there are two sections of the book. The first half is a strategic framework which I call The Three C’s of Evergreen Company. Let me explain to you how this started. When I started to look at my own company I had subscription base services, I had my own online community, and I had really strong retention and loyalty. So I wondered if what I was doing was something I could apply to my own clients and so I did. I started to work with clients and I started to help them implement this strategic framework. Then as I started to research the book years later I started to look at bigger companies and I wanted to figure out the commonality between great companies that have truly loyal customers and that seem to thrive all year long. I started to notice there were three key things happening with the best entrepreneurs, the best solo professionals, and the best companies and they had these three things just right. So the first C is character and character is why you do what you do and I walk you through very specific steps to really build your character. The second C is community; the best companies in the world right now are building a strong sense of community amongst their customers. The third C is content and is the shorthand that I am using as the thing you give for money. So your content is your core product, you core service and the big mistake is to believe that content is enough to bring people back again and again. Content is not enough to bring people back so you want to make sure your character and your community really boasts up your content.
Once you define those three C’s then you can get serious about learning about your customer base. In the next half of the book I walk you through how to learn about your different types of customers which I call Archetypes. This is where you start to tailor your sales and marketing messages to them on a much more personal level. I start to try and help people break away from the addiction mentality and help you really focus on where your ideal customers are right now. It’s about how to most effectively, efficiently, and affordably reach them, attract them, and keep them as quickly as possible.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 06:58
I am a Canadian who lives in Ontario Canada. I am also a father of two girls and married ten years now. In the business side of my personal life I am a strategic marketing consultant. I work with small to midsize companies but also with entrepreneurs personally mentoring and coaching them.
I saw in my clients an addiction to the new customer mentality that we need to focus all of our efforts into driving people through the doors. I knew there had to be a better way to do it which inspired me to do my research and write about my findings.
Linchpin by Seth Godin
Buy Evergreen by Noah Fleming on Amazon today
Visit NoahFleming.com to learn more about Noah, his book, and newsletter
Follow Noah Fleming on Facebook and Twitter
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
Customer Experience 3.0 by John Goodman
High Paying Clients by Trevor Crane
Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler
Relevant advice and tips:
5 Simple Ways An Entrepreneur Can Attract Customers To Their Business
How To Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>A summary of things you should know about The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make according to Hans Finzel: Introduction In this episode Hans Finzel takes a deep dive into hisRead More
The post A Preview of The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make with Hans Finzel appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>In this episode Hans Finzel takes a deep dive into his book, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, where he shares the common mistakes leaders need to overcome.
In his book Finzel provides newly updated stories and strategies from very successful leaders who have once made continuous mistakes when it comes to effectively leading others. The goal of the book is to teach you what effective leadership looks like, how to overcome typical bad habits that come with being a leader, and how to take your leadership skills to the next level.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are emerging leaders and wish to prevent or improve upon common bad habits that many leaders continue to struggle with.
I think one of the biggest differences is that I have done leadership for 30 years and so I write from experience. This book is very practical, simple, and useable.
You can easily jump in and jump out. Each of the ten chapters are standalone ideas.
The one principle action item that I would want the reader to take away is to learn to be a servant leader, not a top down leader. A servant leader puts the good of the team in front of their own selfish desires.
Firstly, I want the reader to know that I have personally made all 10 of these mistakes and learned from them all. I chose these top 10 because as I went on my journey as a CEO of a 35 million dollar international nonprofit and I began to conclude that these were the top 10 of all the mistakes that I see leaders make.
Of all the leadership sins the number one mistake leaders make is the top down attitude. Most think that they are on top because they are the smartest, they founded the company, and they know best. This is the worst mistake a leader can make and I talk to people all the time that work under these leaders and they get very, very frustrated.
The second mistake is putting paperwork before people work. 90% of effectiveness in leadership is people skills, the software of working well with people. But the higher you go into leadership there is more paperwork and technology that stands in the way of giving yourself to people.
The third mistake is the absence of affirmation. What could be better than a pay raise? It’s been proven that people praise affirmation and sometimes this is a blind spot for leaders. People desperately need affirmation and it’s a huge piece of leadership.
The fourth mistake is that there is no room for mavericks. A leader makes a mistake if they don’t allow mavericks to thrive and a maverick is just an entrepreneur that doesn’t follow rules. This chapter will show you how to cultivate people who think outside the box.
Chapter five covers dictatorship and decision making, Getting Beyond I Know All the Answers. This whole idea of being a dictator in decision making frustrates people so much because they want to have a part in the big decisions of the company.
Chapter six is what I call Dirty Delegation, Refusing to Relax and Let Go. When I ask an audience what is it the most that frustrates them about their boss, I get this response all the time. In this chapter I go into all the reasons why really gifted and high power leaders don’t delegate well.
Chapter seven is Communication Chaos and this is just about clear lines and clarity in the organization.
Chapter eight covers missing the clues of corporate culture and a leader has to understand this if they are going to lead through it.
Chapter nine is Success without a Successor, Planning Your Departure the Day You Start. One of the final acts of great leadership is to cultivate the people who will replace you. I don’t think you should see that at a threat but a really great leader can go on vacation because they have trained other people to step in. If you can never go on vacation because the place will fall apart without you, you’re not cultivating successors.
Finally, Chapter 10 is Failure to Focus on The Future. We have to be listeners and learners because the future where we are going to sell our business is so very different from the past or the present.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 05:20
“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men and women to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” –Theodore Roosevelt
I was born and raised in Huntsville Alabama. My father was a rocket scientist and a part of NASA. I have spent my career mostly in the nonprofit world and became more and more interested in leadership after 20 years as a CEO of one of the nonprofits. I eventually left to start my own work fulltime helping leaders and managers do a better job. My passion is to really help leaders take their leadership to the next level. Today I do a lot of podcasting on leadership and I keep turning out books because I love to write about leadership. Lastly, I am a father of four kids and married to a wonderful wife.
The inspiration came after working under a bad leader. I worked for a guy that just totally frustrated me and stood in the way of my visions and dreams for what I wanted to do. He crushed my spirit to the point where I lost respect and finally left. When I became a leader I wanted to study how to be a good leader, not a bad leader and how to empower people instead of frustrating people.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Buy The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make by Hans Finzel on Amazon today
Visit HansFinzel.com to learn more about Hans and his books
Follow Hans Finzel on Facebook and Twitter
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
Make It Matter by Scott Mautz
Everybody Paddles by Charles Archer
The Culture Engine by Chris Edmonds
Relevant advice and tips:
5 Characteristics of A Great Leader
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
The post A Preview of The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make with Hans Finzel appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>Public speaking ranks as one of the biggest fears when the general public is polled on the matter. There are those out there who actually fear public speaking more thanRead More
The post 4 Effective Public Speaking Tips For Entrepreneurs appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>Public speaking ranks as one of the biggest fears when the general public is polled on the matter. There are those out there who actually fear public speaking more than death, which is quite silly when you stop to think about it. When it comes to public speaking, there is no reason to be afraid.
Entrepreneurs often experience fear before public speaking engagements. Their opportunity to convince clientele and investors of their products’ worthiness hangs in the balance and this can cause a speaker to become tongue tied and sweaty. But when you follow these effective public speaking tips for entrepreneurs, you can overcome the crippling fear that keeps so many from reaching their goals and dreams.
Of course, this is a cliché, but the reason why clichés endure is because there is a great deal of truth to them. There is no skill in life that cannot be improved by practicing it over and over again and public speaking is no different. Write your speech down and read it to yourself several times. This will help you make sure that you did not use any language that does not make sense and ensure that the speech flows naturally.
Enlist friends and family who are not afraid to tell it like it is. Getting friends and family that are known for sugarcoating the truth will not help your speech either. You need as much honest feedback as you can possibly get. Those who know you are bound to be much more forgiving than those who are considering investing their resources in your product.
The more you practice, the better your delivery will become, which allows you to develop a greater connection with your audience. It also decreases the chance of your audience becoming bored and restless during your speech. As you practice, larger portions of the speech become committed to memory and you are able to increase the level of eye contact you have with audience members.
Developing more comfort with your speech is crucial. You can begin to add jokes or humorous anecdotes to spice things up and take the time to include every one of your most important points, while also trimming the fat to ensure that you do not run over the time you’ve been allotted.
Before giving your speech, it helps to take a trip to the space that you will be using, so that you can learn more about the acoustics of the area. It will also help you to walk around a bit on the stage or to stand at the podium. The entrepreneur can mentally picture a room full of people and make sure that their voice will be easy to hear.
Taking these sorts of steps ensures that you will not be caught off guard by any minor issues related to the room being used. Checking out the room you’re going to be speaking in is a great use of your time and should be done by any entrepreneur who is looking for ways to calm their nerves prior to the day of the speech.
A greater understanding of your surroundings is pivotal to giving a great speech. Removing the element of surprise from your speech is a boon to both you and your audience.
When you are preparing your speech, it is best to know what kind of audience you will be speaking to. Is your audience younger, with a shorter attention span? If so, you may want to add some visual ads and incorporate slang terms that can help to get your point across when necessary. Use any method that can help the speech resonate in the mind of your audience.
Or you could be speaking to an older, more seasoned audience. They may not be as apt to respond to visual ads and will want cold, hard facts to help them in their decision making process. No matter who you are speaking to, knowing the audience and being able to decipher their needs and wants is important.
Another component to be aware of is your virtual audience. More and more speeches are being live tweeted and streamed for interested parties all around the world. If this is true for your speech, make sure you include content that has a much greater chance of being able to go viral.
This sounds deceptively simple enough, but there is a difference between speaking about yourself and speaking about the goods and services you provide. It is good to tie in some personal facts about yourself during your speech, but not at the expense of any knowledge that could be dispensed about the product you’re speaking about.
The best speeches are those that do not come across as sales pitches, while still giving the audience all of the pertinent information that they came to hear. Walking the line between being informative and entertaining is an incredibly difficult balancing act. The person who is able to do so will have a captive audience for the duration of their spiel.
When you are formatting your speech, know which points you want to take and what knowledge you would like to impart. This will help you to tie in important information, while still being able to remain entertaining. No one wants a speech filled with personal anecdotes or one that is larded with dry facts that do not hold their interest.
What More Can I Say by Dianna Booher
Charisma On Command by Charlie Houpert
EDGY Conversations by Dan Waldschmidt
Powerhouse by Mike Clayton
Credibility by James Kouzes
The post 4 Effective Public Speaking Tips For Entrepreneurs appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
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