What's Worse Than Being Stupid?

Being stupid, unintelligent, or clueless is really bad. But one thing is worse:

Being a smart (even brilliant) person and thinking the people around you, whether they are your friends, family, co-workers, superiors or customers, are not as smart (or worthy) as you. Because you'll almost certainly be wrong.

And you'll almost certainly treat them with less respect than they deserve. And they'll sense it. And your brilliant, genius idea will die because those "less intelligent" people sensed something wasn't right.

Thinking you're smarter than you are is the dumbest thing you can do.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

"Looks Good"

How often do you send a document or elaborate, well-thought-out email to someone and get the reply:

Looks good

Which usually means:

I didn't look at it, don't want you to know that I didn't, and I frankly don't care about the topic.

Maybe the better response would be that you don't feel comfortable giving your opinion on a topic that you're not qualified on. Or better yet,

Read it, ponder it and respond with sincere feedback.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

I've Never Done That Before

OK, imagine this:

You walk into a world-renown heart surgeon's office and want him to fix your heart condition. He looks at you and says, "I've never done this before. Even though I've fixed thousands of people with your condition, I've never met you before and I've never operated on you. Sorry."

I assume you'd feel the way I would, which is, "Give me a break. You've done things similar to this, apply what you've learned to me and heal my heart!"

How often in our business lives do we do the same thing as that surgeon? A customer needs something and we're uncomfortable because we've never done that before.

It's very tempting to play the "I've never done that before" card, but it won't get you anywhere. There are too many changes going on in technology and our world in general, for us to shut down at the thought of tackling something new.

The more successful we are, the more we have to apply what we've learned elsewhere to the new or different things we're being asked to do.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

The great Sly and the Family Stone song tells us that it's great to be allowed to be yourself. Isn't that how we should be at the office? Instead of trying to turn someone into us, why not let them be who they are? For sure, they'll be more comfortable and will almost certainly perform better.

It's a lot easier to be the best at who you are than to try to be good being someone else

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Deal with it

We still have an unstable, unpredictable economy. Manufacturers and dealers want to sell more products. Yet they're leaving extraordinary amounts of money on the table every single day. Too many customers are going elsewhere (to ebay, the Internet or to the competitor down the street) or are simply not buying at all (even though they have the money).

The best manufacturers and dealers understand this and are working together to make sure the customer gets a focused message at the right time for the right product. That requires coordination, it requires trust, and it requires an understanding that nothing is perfect, sometimes someone will innocently screw-up.

If the manufacturer and dealer do not play together well, they will lose. There are too many viable options out there for customers to give their money and relationships to.

It's a black and white situation: play well together or deal with it.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Say It Again

I talked with the customer and they don't want to buy it right now.
I shared my idea with the boss and she said, "No."
I thought my idea was great, then I presented it and no one said a thing.

The above scenarios happen daily. No big deal. What is a big deal, is what happens after: usually nothing. The person gives up, "Well, I tried."

99% of all great opportunities die because you brought the idea up once, the clouds didn't open up, the choir didn't sing, and the audience didn't give you a standing ovation. So what? Bring it up again. Re-word it. If you honestly, with all your heart, believe in the idea, don't give up. Give people a chance to re-consider it, show them that you have passion for it.

And if no one gives you a standing ovation the second time? Repeat the process until you learn why your idea doesn't work (so you can fix it and re-present it) or they finally wake up to your brilliance.

Do I have to say it again?

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Typo Hunt

Spellcheck is a blessing and a curse. We think if we spellcheck and fix the typos that show up, that we have a perfect document. Sadly, that's not true. We are never done looking for typos.

I hate typos, but have to admit that they happen. It's hard not to find a typo in a 400-page internal document. Then there are the issues of style--should you use a comma there, should there be a dash here?

What is most concerning is the Typo Hunt that some of us are on. If we find a typo, we can dismiss that company or that person, because, well, they had a typo.

I am not supporting sloppiness or a lax approach to language, but sometimes a typo in an internal document is just that. It's not the end of the world, it's a typo.

The best answer, the only answer, is to eliminate typos and to improve your relationships so that a Typo Hunt is not organized in order to relieve you of your duties.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

The People Drain

Talk to successful leaders and ask them what motivates them and you'll hear things such as:

Helping customers achieve their goals
Creating strategies to overcome an issue
Tackling something no one else has solved

Then ask those same people what de-motivates them and you'll usually hear one thing:

People issues

Nothing grounds a high-flying company, department or leader more than people issues. An entrepreneur buddy of mine once told me, "I love everything about my business except the people stuff."

If I could give one suggestion on how an employee can make sure they aren't a drain or a people issue for their company it's this:

Come up with a sincere solution or recommendation

In my experience, it's really not people that drain you, it's the hopelessness of trying to solve a problem for a person who sits there expecting you to read their mind, deal with their co-workers and make everyone happy. It just can't be done. In fact, I've learned that the more I try to solve the problem, the worse it gets because I can never do as well as the very people closest to the issue. Quite simply, I will never please them.

If you bring a recommendation to your company, it may not be perfect, it may not be the final answer, but it will dramatically increase the odds of that problem being solved with as little drama or drain as possible.

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
Seth Godin's book, Linchpin, is a real great book. I highly recommend it. It's Seth's most personal, from-the-heart message yet.

One thing he said that was simple and powerful is:

In order for us to succeed on a project or a challenge, we need to have the smallest, most-engaged team possible.

Too often we have ten people with various levels of commitment tackling a project, when a smaller team of four, if totally dedicated to the success, would be far better.

Why do we run into this issue in businesses so much? He are my thoughts:

1) We think throwing people at a problem will ensure results
2) We don't want to burden a person with responsibilities, so we semi-burden two or three
3) Some of us like building our empire or a big team because it feels powerful
4) We allow ourselves to be too busy to think about the right people on the team, so we throw more people in because we think it can't hurt

If you bring a recommendation to your company, it may not be perfect, it may not be the final answer, but it will dramatically increase the odds of that problem being solved with as little drama or drain as possible.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Small Teams, Big Results

Seth Godin's book, Linchpin, is a real great book. I highly recommend it. It's Seth's most personal, from-the-heart message yet.

One thing he said that was simple and powerful is:

In order for us to succeed on a project or a challenge, we need to have the smallest, most-engaged team possible.

Too often we have ten people with various levels of commitment tackling a project, when a smaller team of four, if totally dedicated to the success, would be far better.

Why do we run into this issue in businesses so much? He are my thoughts:

1) We think throwing people at a problem will ensure results
2) We don't want to burden a person with responsibilities, so we semi-burden two or three
3) Some of us like building our empire or a big team because it feels powerful
4) We allow ourselves to be too busy to think about the right people on the team, so we throw more people in because we think it can't hurt

The smaller the team, the more clear the goals, the answers, and the responsibilities.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Public Persona versus Reggie Bar

My Uncle Irv was a baseball coach in the Philadelphia area for decades. I asked him once if he coached a famous big league baseball player. He said,

Yeah, I coached a sweet, skinny boy who was the best fielder I ever saw. He was the fastest runner I ever coached and hit the ball nicely. But most of all, he was the nicest kid on the team, a real team-player.

I searched through my brain for who that could be: team-player, skinny, fast, great fielder... But I gave up and asked my uncle to tell me. He said,

Have you ever heard of Reggie Jackson?

I was stunned. Sure I had heard of him, but he, while being a Hall of Famer, was also known for being a trouble-maker, a lazy fielder and was not known as speedy. He was known as a tremendous power hitter. I then remembered one other thing about Reggie from an interview early in his professional baseball career. He shared a secret with the reporter: on the inside of his baseball hat, he put masking tape with 30-100-.300 handwritten in ink. Each time he put on his ball cap he saw 30-100-.300. Those numbers stood for his goals of hitting 30 home runs, 100 RBI (runs batted in) and batting .300. He achieved those goals many times during his Hall of Fame career.

The lesson? Your public persona may be one thing. Your personal focus and determination is another. If he had focused on the public persona and not his goals, we may never have heard of him. He did the right thing. Besides, how many of us will ever have a candy bar named after us?

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Stirring the pot

Way back when I had a head of hair and was in a rock band, we had a guy in the group who was always stirring the pot. Problem was, I didn't even know what he was doing (none of us did at first), but he effectively broke up the band.

After practice, he'd call one of us up and tactfully try to pit one of us against one of the other guys. Then he'd call the other guy up and do the same. Bottom-line, for a while it worked for him. He had a band of guys that were fighting with each other, except for him. He was the one guy no one was angry at...until we all found out he was the one stirring up the trouble. He became the pariah and was jettisoned from the band. He then went on to a string of other bands and did the same thing.

At our companies and offices, we all have pot stirring going on: People trying to create a little trouble, trying to take the focus off their poor performance, people that are miserable and want others miserable--there are plenty of pathetic reasons for this to go on.

The blunt answer for me when I confronted the pot stirring way back in my rock-and-roll days was to realize that I can't let someone make me fearful of someone else, I can't become paranoid that the band (or the company) is against me and I have to look coldly at the person stirring the pot and analyze why he or she would be doing such a thing.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Comply or Inspire? It's in the Order...

There are two approaches to solve the following:

The best way to make sure a dealer treats customers right.
The smartest approach to ensure customers migrate from your old software platform to your new one.
The most effective way to get employees to do a typically unexciting task.


You can use compliance or you can inspire.

Want the dealer to care about the customer? Show the dealer what the customer goes through and demonstrate the dollar value of a customer. Or you can enforce a process and only reward the dealer when they conform.

Want to have your customers migrate to your new platform? Make your new platform so exciting they're beating down the doors to get it or stop supporting the old one and make their lives unbearable.

Want employees to do an important, but unthrilling task? Show them the value of that task and celebrate it or punish those who don't perform the task by eliminating their positions.

Ideally, it's best to inspire. It's fun, it leads to things beyond what you expect, and it's a nice thing to do. But, if inspiration doesn't work, compliance is another option and while it's not warm and fuzzy, it can be effective.

The key to this: inspire first, then if necessary, force compliance. Doing the opposite, demanding compliance and then trying to inspire, doesn't work.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

PB&J

We all need a little PB&J, passion, bravery and joy, in our business lives.

Our company, LaBov & Beyond Marketing Communications and Training, utilizes PB&J as our mantra. It's not like we have the PB&J market cornered, it's just we've come to realize that on our best day, we exude passion in our thinking and ideas. On our best day, we have the courage (bravery) to go against the status quo and ask the tough questions or stand up for what we believe in to help the client. When all that happens, we feel the exhilaration, the joy, of making a difference for the client.

PB&J is a goal, an aspiration, and a direction, but it's not a position or destination. It's also a challenge, because it's simply not easy to be "up" every moment and achieve it.

PB&J is also a litmus test. You can judge the value of an idea, the level of your commitment to the client and the energy within your company by asking: "Are we showing passion in what we do? Are we overcoming fears and challenging the conventional thinking and status quo? Does our organization have the energy, the excitement or joy that a PB&J company should?" If you answer yes to all those questions, you're having a "best day." Enjoy it, celebrate it.

If you are not achieving PB&J, it's time to analyze where you're missing the mark and pick up the intensity. Imagine if we each had 365 "best days" of PB&J every year...

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Dealers, what do you sell?

The obvious answer to the question, "What does a dealer really sell?" is of course, products. Products such as cars, bikes, vacuum cleaners, etc.

Customers can buy the same exact cars, bikes and vacuum cleaners all over the nation from hundreds, if not thousands, of dealers and stores.

What dealers really sell is the one thing they offer that is unique: relationships. You can buy a Jeep, for example, in a hundred or more different locations. But if you provide a tremendous relationship to the customer, your dealership is the only place they can find that.

It costs dealers millions of dollars to build showrooms and inventory product.

It costs dealers no more to provide fantastic relationships than it does lousy ones.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Founder's Syndrome

When you start a business from nothing and have success, you feel like you know what you're doing. And you probably do.

But what got you to where you are may not get you to where you want to go.

Founders of businesses, executives, and others in leadership positions can be their own biggest obstacle to success if they don't embrace the idea that other people just may have great ideas.

An entrepreneur buddy of mine hired a great guy with unique expertise to help his company. It was a brilliant hire. This guy was hired for that expertise, but guess what? He wasn't allowed to use it because the founder was uncomfortable with that guy's recommendations and ideas. Instead the founder went back to his old ideas and approach because it just felt right.

If you run a company or a team and everyone loves your ideas to the point that you think you're smarter than everyone else, you're probably deluding yourself. You've either got the wrong team surrounding you (they're a bunch of yes-men and yes-women) or you're not inspiring, and yes, allowing some of your brilliant hires to earn their salaries.

When it comes to breakthrough ideas:

If it feels uncomfortable, it just might be right.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Why Do Leaders Do Stupid Things?

We all read about stupid moves made by CEOs or presidents of countries daily. The average person has got to think that every business leader is both evil and incompetent. Which, once you think about it, is a tough combination (think of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies).

There are reasons for the stupid decisions being made by leaders, such as greed or arrogance. But, there is one reason overlooked:

Trust

Many of the leaders were given just enough info from their trusted subordinates for them to make that bold decision or to change course or policy. Most leaders live in a sound byte world and are easily manipulated. Add that to the fact that many of us pride ourselves in being courageous and bold and you get a lethal combination:

Inaccurate (or manipulative) info plus boldness equals buffoonery

Leaders are often initially supported for their bold decision-making and then after the dust settles are left isolated and criticized for their actions.

What's a leader to do? Force as much of the decision-making to the very people who know what is going on. Demand they take ownership. And...stop priding yourself in being a cowboy and realize that boldness is intoxicating and can blur your judgment.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

At the end of the day, it is what it is, and it's all good

Communication is critical in all parts of our life. I'd like us to go on a diet and cut out the useless communication for a day.

Wouldn't it be nice to not hear the following (note: I've included my response in parentheses):

It's all good (Is it really all good or are you just saying that?)
It is what it is (What isn't what it is?)
At the end of the day (Why wait till the end of a day?)
To tell you the truth (You weren't already going to tell the truth?)
Quite frankly (Why wouldn't you always be frank?)
Back in the day (Which day are you talking about?)
He's a very thoughtful person (As opposed to a thoughtless person?)


Think of the useless statements we hear daily that are of absolutely no value. Companies will create their own "language of the useless." Listen closely to the words, terms or sayings that are used in your company. Challenge their validity--are they meaningful or are they merely chatter?

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Order-takers beware!

This is not a good economy if you're an order-taker. But, who really believes he or she is an order-taker?

Here are signs of being an order-taker:

You believe your company needs to sell its products or services for less

You see little to no difference between what your company offers and your competition

You feel your primary value to the customer is in the speed of your response

You have a greater fear of bothering the client than of not bringing them a fresh idea or approach

You spend one minute or more of your day rationalizing your lack of performance

You believe that your company just needs a new brochure or website and you'll sell more

You do not dare disagree with or offer an opposing view to what the client asks for

You do not inspire ideas of all kinds from your team because of the fear that the client will not like them

You can be an order-taking CEO or accountant or purchasing agent or artist or salesperson.

Order-takers come in all sizes, shapes, salaries and positions.

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Needed today: Competitiveness

We live in a world of "Participation Awards." Our children are given plaques for showing up at games. Every child is handed a trophy at the end of the Little League or soccer season for their participation. Everyone plays regardless of talent or interest.

Many businesses still run that way. But unlike children's sports, businesses are based on competitions that quite often are won or lost. There is no reward for participating in that bid you lost. That project you lost will not pay your salary or others' salaries.

In business, we are not "in this together" with our competitors, and everybody doesn't "get their share of the pie." Quite simply, there are winners and there are losers.

There are great performers dedicated to achieving and there are slackers along for the ride. Business is not a kid's game.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Why not tell her?

She came up with a great idea. (Minimize it by saying that it's not an original idea.)
She helped a customer fall back in love with your company. (Take partial credit yourself for what happened.)
She worked long and hard to grow your company's business (Belittle her efforts by implying that it must be nice to travel and see the world.)

There are special people doing special things. Why can't we recognize them for it? Do we think it will make us look smaller? In the end, we're the ones who look small for not being willing to recognize when someone does something great.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Drawing the Line

The very best performers don't draw the line when it comes to what they do for a living. That's why they're the best. The rest compromise, they fall short on doing whatever it takes, and often, they are a drain to others they work with.

What are examples of drawing the line? Here are a few:
Focusing on what is "acceptable" as opposed to what is best.
Caring more about your convenience than the good of the team, the company or the customer.
Looking at your customer, your job, or your company as the "enemy" of your personal life

When the above is your mindset, you only put so much into what you do. The very best performers don't think that way, they love what they do, both at work and at home, and find a way to maximize their life and their performance. That's what drives and energizes them and those they work and live with.

And what's interesting is, we all know who draws the line and who doesn't. So we can't fool ourselves into thinking no one notices, because co-workers and customers know. But most of all, in our hearts, we know.

Drawing the Line doesn't save us, it doesn't preserve our life or make us happier. It takes away, it drains and minimizes how great our life and relationships can be.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.saleschannel.com





When you draw the line, you let everyone know that you're not an elite player

Tough Choice: Grow Your Own or Buy the Best

Entrepreneurs are used to growing things--such as their businesses, sales, reputation, relationships, market share and so on. Many of us also try to grow people. When that works out, it's exhilarating. But the cost of growing a person is steep. And while it appears that hiring an entry-level employee is economical, when you add the time, attention and dedication required to help that person learn and achieve, it makes it a tough call. I think today it's a tougher call than ever.

Many people are not loyal to their employers, and in many cases, I wouldn't blame them. Those employees have no thought of staying at a company forever, so any investment made by their company to help them progress and grow is actually an investment for their next employer.

On the other hand, if you don't hire an entry-level person, today it's imperative you hire someone better than who you already have on staff, someone who can raise the bar and require no hand-holding. He or she will cost more, but they'll hopefully bring a lot to the company and they'll make everyone around them better.

So the answer? If you work at a company willing to invest in you, consider it something special and unique; and maybe, just maybe, consider being loyal to them. After all, they see something in you and they're willing to spend time and money on you. Logically, they'll do that for you throughout your career. Other firms may promise you the moon, but how do you know they'll actually support you after you're on board?

From the business owner or manager's standpoint, you have to decide between growing your own, taking a chance on losing that person before that investment is paid back, or hiring the best. Either way has validity--but today, never be desperate enough to hire someone who expects top dollar but will also need hand-holding.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www,labovsaleschannel.com