by Mitchell Axelroddocshare01.docshare.tips/files/1665/16653463.pdf · Tim and Jill, Chumley and Barb, Debbie and Bob Nolan. To my departed Uncle Marvin and cousin Donna Krone, I

by Mitchell Axelrod

Contact: Axelrod & Associates 14 Seaman Road West Orange, NJ 07052 US Toll Free: 1-800- 7 AXELROD (1-800-729-3576) Direct Dial: +1-973-736-1304 World Wide Web: http://thenewgame.com Email Address: [email protected]

Copyright © 2004 Mitchell Axelrod All rights reserved. Reproduction or utilization of this work in any form, by any means now known or hereinafter invented, including, but not limited to, xerography, photocopying and recording, and in any known storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without permission from the copyright holder. ISBN 0-9735275-0-1 Contact: Axelrod & Associates 14 Seaman Road West Orange, NJ 07052

“I believe that children are our future.

Teach them well and let them lead the way.”

I dedicate this book to:

Adam Axelrod…

My Son; My Friend; My Teacher.

You are the Light of my Life!

Love, Dad

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The richness of life is not in things or money, or even success. Real wealth is in the love, affection and support of people. I am blessed to have a great family, friends, and colleagues. I could fill a book with the hundreds, no thousands of people who have touched my life. I express my deepest thanks and gratitude to the people who have given me love, affection and support. I am the luckiest man on the planet. Family First and foremost, to my parents, Ann and Ed Axelrod, who I am blessed to have beside me every day of my life. I love you beyond words. To my brothers and sisters, their wives and husbands: Chuck and Marilyn Wendler, Max and Ina Wendler, my loving sister Pat Cozzo and Willy Vulpis; Diana Wendler and my dear departed brother, Ralph Wendler; Steven Axelrod and Toni, may she rest in peace; Barbara Wendler, Diane and Don Schultzer. To my sister-in-law Nancy Wendler, with love and deep admiration to my brother George Wendler. Tom, you inspire me every day with your courage, and you never cease to amaze me with your generosity. I love you all. Here’s to all my nieces and nephews, the Axelrods, Wendlers Cozzos, Priscos, Colemans, Mancusos, Lardieris, Jays, Cannaricks, Schultzers, and the Schulmans. You know who you are and how much I love you.

Special thanks to Anita Axelrod, my former wife and the mother of my son, Adam. Words can’t describe the wonderful person you are and the lifetime bond we share. We are separate, but never apart. I love you. To the Edsons: Tim and Jill, Chumley and Barb, Debbie and Bob Nolan. To my departed Uncle Marvin and cousin Donna Krone, I miss you; to my cousins Robert and Marianne Axelrod, Lori Josephson, Anthony and Kathy Pellegrino, Cheryl and Rich Cuthbertson, Harvey and Judy Goldman, all my uncles, aunts and cousins, you hold a special place in my heart. Friends To my lifelong friends, you are all my brothers and sisters: Steven and Randi Plotkin, Glen Plotkin, Tom Nystrom, John Mallon and Sue Ozimek, Mike Hammer and Tanya, James and Sherri Heckel, Steve “da Baum” Levee, Larry and Frannie Levine, Dave and Diane Weinstein, Ricky and Wendy DeLuca, all the Dubrés, and our dear departed brother, Marc Rosberger. Marc, you’d be proud of me, I finished the book! Dave Corbin, a mensch and a brother. Ken Kerr, Mr. Disney; my dear friend, get better soon. Paul Hartunian and Mary Coty, dog lovers close to my heart. Mike Oltersdorf (Sir Paul), Cilla and Dan Oltersdorf. Gail Kingsbury, lucky enough to be born on my birthday. Karen and Steve Anderson; Harvey and Jan Schoof, Trudy Marshall, Raleigh Pinskey, Robert and Bonnie Butwin, Mitchell and Kathy Cobert; Connie Dearing, dear to my heart; Chuck and Joyce Whitaker, Shirley and Gary Benton, Frank Scafidi, Bob Salter, Vivian Greene, John Szczepanik, Gail and Elvie Stolzenberg, Bob and Jan Haddad, Ed Hearn (my favorite New York Met), Rob and Lisa Perna, Randy Jo

Wilcox, Robyn Williams, Linda Kott, Bob Blackburn, Sophie ben-Shitta (wherever you are), Fran Costello, Beth Davidson (I haven’t forgotten you), Howard Hafetz (you, either), Connie Cumming, Marty Michaels, Eva Love and Will Noyes, Fred and Diane Herman, Susie Tierno (I’ll never forget you) and Rebecca Weis (surprise!)… I love you all. Colleagues and Business Associates Thank you: Brian Tracy, Jay Abraham, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Denis Waitley, Burt Dubin, Vickie Sullivan, Alex Mandossian, Robert Allen, Gary Ryan Blair, Harry Paul, Diane DiResta, Rick Frishman, Esther and Gil Eagles, Jo Borello, Yanik Silver, Dan Poynter, Bill Brooks, Dan Kennedy, Jeff Paul, Dottie Walters, Cynthia Kersey, Coz Green, Gary Gee, George Pappadopoulos, Francine Bator, Ken Varga, Allan Hunkin, Ted Nicholas, Barry Farber, Dallin Larsen, Collette Larsen, Michael Larsen. To Dr. Myron Wentz, Ray and Elizabeth Strand, David LeDoux, Pete Zdanis, Jeff O’Hora, Ron Mueller, Michael and Barbara Hollender, Daren Falter, Dan Shafer, Clay Cotton, Gary Vurnum, Michael Angier, the “real” Dr. Phil Humbert; Tom Antion, Kare Anderson, Abel Jimenez Martinez, Gary North, Bill Bonner, Addison Wiggin, Stephanie Davis, Larry Brophy, Jacquie Damgaard, Perry Marshall, Terri Levine, Joe Vitale, Joachim de Posada, Erin Flynn, Susan Berkley, Robert and Rande Gedaliah (who never forget my birthday), Carl Galletti, Bill and Steve Harrison, John Kremer, Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, the guys at Infinity Mortgage, Mike Pollio, Bob Vezza and Nick Mastrandrea; Juanell Teague, Audri and Jim Lanford, Paul and Sarah Edwards, Andrea Lee, the late Thomas Leonard, Rebecca Morgan, Russ Phelps, Bob Serling, Wayne Carpenter, Bob Terrell and the folks at Axiometrics, Joe Wright, Mac and Marji Ross,

Rob Gilbert, Janice “Sissy” Haner, Steve Jamieson, and Jim Ortenzio. Special Thanks to: Rebecca Diamond, whose love and support and late night hours helped make this book a reality. Rebecca Ensign, a Thunderin’ Rogue who believed in me when I doubted myself, and who hung in there until the bitter end, almost. Chris Psaros, who did whatever it took to get this book to print. Mahesh Grossman, who gave me guidance, contacts and Chris Psaros. All of you who propped me up and pushed me along the way. God Bless you. I love you all. Mitch Axelrod

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

………………………….. 1

1 Play by the New Rules… “Caveat Vendidor!”

………………………….. 6 2 Design a New Strategy… It’s NOT Just Business; It’s Personal!

………………………….. 10 3 Practice New Economics… Good Deals are Good Business!

………………………….. 21 4 Seek a New Mission… Put People Ahead of Products and Profits!

………………………….. 25 5 Send a New Message… What Business Are YOU In?

………………………….. 30

6 Chant a New Mantra… “Serve, Deliver, Serve Some More!”

………………………….. 43 7 Find New Solutions… Don’t Fall in Love with Products or Services!

………………………….. 50 8 Acquire New Skills… Master the Tools of the Game!

………………………….. 54 9 Build a New Model… Integrate or Disintegrate!

………………………….. 72 10 Generate New Money… Profit is EVERYBODY’S Business!

………………………….. 80

INTRODUCTION

f there were ever a time for NEW, it’s NOW! There’s a New Game in town. The playing field has changed. With the volatility of a pubescent boy, the world of business is gyrating through seismic upheaval and earthquake-like breakdown. America is no longer the manufacturing powerhouse it was in the 20th century. Now, Americans spend less time making things and more time distributing, delivering and servicing them. We slowly matured through the dependence of the industrial age. We blew past the independence of the information age. Now, we try to maintain our balance (sheets) in a NEW age of interdependence, competing in a NEW Service society.

The New Game of Business

2

Here’s the good news: Opportunities to serve are abundant, fueled by your imagination, creativity, skill and a willingness to bring higher and better value to the marketplace. Here’s the not-so-good news: These opportunities are not knocking your door down. It takes the yin of quiet attention to attract them, and the yang of dogged pursuit to catch them. That’s the paradox of the new game. The game encourages you to appreciate and demonstrate your talent, bring your best value to the marketplace, and get paid what you’re really worth. You determine what you’re worth, and what to charge in exchange for what you deliver. The marketplace decides what it will pay you for the value it gets. If you want to be a player, and stay in the game you need a new game plan, new plays and new tools. Forget inside the box. Go beyond outside the box. In the new game, you want to… Throw the box away! You clean the slate, and start anew. No box thinking encourages you to write the script rather than simply play a role that’s given to you. You are the director, rather than an actor speaking lines someone else has written. Response-ability is exercising your freedom to choose, and accept the outcomes of that choice.

Introduction

3

New game leadership is living from the inside, out. You and only you can write the screenplay of your life. You can choose a new life, a new livelihood, and a new standard of living. We have entered a New Age of Interdependence. The new game is a team sport. You can’t do it all by yourself. Assembling your team is a vital new game skill. Are you a jockey or a horse? Everyone needs a horse to ride and every horse needs jockeys. In Michael Gerber’s book, The E-Myth (HarperCollins Publishers, October 1988), he claims that most people who start a business are not entrepreneurs; they are technicians who one day have an entrepreneurial seizure. They “can’t stand it no more” and decide to strike out on their own. The challenge: the new “entrepreneur” has a short list of skills he does well, and a long list of necessary tasks that make him lose sleep at night. Although it’s futile to try to play every position, that’s exactly what the new entrepreneur does. It’s hard to play, and harder to win if you don’t have a good team around you. Alex Rodriguez is the highest paid baseball player in the world. Now in New York Yankee pinstripes, he will be playing for a real shot at the World Series this fall. For the past few years, Rodriguez played for the Texas Rangers. Despite being one the great baseball players in the game, his team finished dead last every season he has played there. Even the best player can’t win the game by himself.


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You may be highly skilled at what you do, and at the top of your field, but winning the game may depend as much on your teammates as your talent. You are a Virtual Entrepreneur™ – the CEO of your life. As the CEO, you are responsible to assemble a team, and surround yourself with the best skilled players you can find. You may need to put on a completely new uniform. During a New Game of Business workshop I led for regional managers from Allstate Insurance Company, the vice president used an example that captured the essence of the new game of business. He said it’s like playing soccer for the first half of a game, and when you go into the locker room at halftime, football gear is inside everyone’s locker. The team must quickly change uniforms and come out for the second half to play a completely different game, with no game plan, no practice, and no playbook. Most businesses are trying to play the new game with old gear and playing by old rules. To play the new game, you need new equipment. The chapters that follow give you the equipment. You’ll learn the new rules, design a new strategy, practice new economics, seek a new mission, send a new message, chant a new mantra, find new solutions, acquire new skills, build a new model and generate new profits.

Introduction

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Old thinking has gotten us where we are today. We will not master the new game by playing with old game rules. Old solutions won’t work in a world with new rules. Working hard for 40 years once guaranteed at least a comfortable retirement. Today, working for 40 years doesn’t guarantee anything, except you’ll make it to 62 to collect Social Security. Even Social Security is on shaky ground. Design a game plan, and choose a business model that rewards all the players. Although most businesses start with one person’s vision, they become great through the interdependent strength of the team she assembles. The whole becomes greater than the individual parts. The better your team, the better you play. To fulfill more of your potential, surround yourself with a solid and talented group of players. Assemble your team. Get in the game. Step on the field. Swing the bat. It’s time to play The New Game of Business!

1

Play By the New Rules… Caveat Vendidor! “Let the Seller Beware!”

- Mitchell Axelrod

seismic shift is rocking the business world. This NEW distinction is changing the game from the inside, out. The fundamental principle of the old game of business was… “Caveat Emptor” – Let the buyer, beware. Companies had the products, services, information, research and development, and influence over the

Chapter 1: Caveat Vendidor!

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supply side of the business equation. A company could dominate a market and limit the choices of the consumer, especially access to products and services that were difficult to manufacture or expensive to develop. The big three US automobile makers had an unchallenged dominant market position for decades until foreign car companies got a foothold in the American market. Laws were enacted to level the playing field and protect a buyer from a seller. In short, business held the upper hand. With the advent of the Internet, and the global marketplace, that old game is over. The bedrock principle of the NEW game of business is… “CAVEAT VENDIDOR!” Let the seller beware! Today’s buyer has the power, influence and control. This colossal sea change is causing a total metamorphosis in the business world. Consumers recognize their power to choose. Exerting their influence in the marketplace, they are changing the rules of the game. In his article, “The Rising Price of Loyalty” (REALITY CHECK, January 6, 2004) Gary North declares,

“Senior management is not in charge under capitalism. The consumers are. They are the people


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who hold the hammer: money. We consumers fire companies without mercy. We keep asking sellers, ‘What have you done for me lately?’”

Companies, businesses and sellers who embrace “let the seller beware” as their standard of service will find the transition to the new game easier. Those who don’t are in for a rough ride. An old game company treats its customers (and employees) with a certain amount of indifference, sometimes with disdain, and all too often with contempt. In the privacy of a closed-door management meeting, a corporate executive called customer service, “a necessary evil, just another expense of doing business.” I asked him how his customers might feel if they heard him make that statement publicly? He rolled his eyes, grinned and let loose with a smug chuckle. I wonder if he’s laughing now? Today, the consumer has the last laugh. A disrespectful view of customers can cost a company a fortune in bad will. It can lose sales and sink profits. This old thinking has worn out its usefulness. The best commerce happens when buyer and seller come together NOT to compromise, but to produce the highest and best outcome for both parties. When everyone gets what everyone wants, you’re playing new game of business at the highest level.

Chapter 1: Caveat Vendidor!

9

Most companies haven’t learned to play the new game, nor have they accepted the new rules. They will. They have no choice. Ready or not, the new game of business is here to stay. Play by the New Rules… “Caveat Vendidor!” Let the Seller Beware.

2

Design a New Strategy… It’s Not Just Business; It’s Personal!

“There’s nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It’s easy. All you need is love.”

- The Beatles, “All You Need Is Love,” Yellow Submarine Soundtrack, Apple/Capitol Records, 1968.

ou’ve heard the famous line from the movie, The Godfather; “It’s nothin’ personal. It’s just business!” If the seismic shift of the new game is from Caveat Emptor to Caveat Vendidor, then the cosmic shift is: “It’s not JUST business. It IS personal!”

Chapter 2: It’s Not Just Business; It’s Personal!

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In his book, Love is the Killer App (Three Rivers Press, 2002), Tim Sanders uses the phrase, Biz Love! He describes people who give Biz Love as, “Lovecats!” These metaphors reflect the cosmic shift in the new game: Business IS Personal! Gimme some love with that Biz. In the new game we buy from people who make us feel good about ourselves. We give our money to businesses we like, merchants with whom we sense a connection, and companies whose missions we support. Little of that mattered in the past. The old game was about transactions, dictated by the numbers. It was often just a matter of price and terms. The goal of the buyer was to get the best deal. The goal of the seller was to make the most profit. The new game is about transformation, defined by one’s experience and the feeling of being served. You want to be appreciated when you spend your money. You favor those who make you feel best when you pull out the credit card. This “cosmic” shift alters the playing field. Old game businesses run by bean counters and numbers men are finding tough sledding in the new game, where a “buying experience” and the “feeling of being served” are more highly valued than simply getting the lowest price and best terms.


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Upscale companies with high priced merchandise like Nordstrom and Starbucks are profiting and growing. They are heads and shoulders above their rivals in building a buying bridge, and forging an emotional link with their customers. You can buy anything over the Internet – from Jellybeans to jet planes, yucca plants to yachts – and in the process, cut out the middleman. If you don’t like the way you’re being treated by one company, there’s a host of others you can choose. No buyer is chained to a company because of lack of supply, and no business owns a customer for life. The shift of power from seller to buyer requires companies to radically alter their business practices. A new game business treats people like people, not accounts or transactions. They relate to a person as a human being with a heart, mind and soul. Being served is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Serving is one of life’s highest expressions of love. The people you serve are stakeholders, part of a special community and you are their common bond. The best companies treat their workers like family, and their customers like friends. I’m sitting at breakfast with Joanne, a 25-year veteran insurance professional. She rewinds in her mind’s eye a “customer appreciation” night she held for 100 of her clients. She “served” up fun, food, music and dance. When Joanne took the microphone to express her gratitude to her clients for enriching her life, providing


13

her with a fulfilling livelihood, and affording her an abundant standard of living, she cried. Saying how deeply thankful she was for being able to serve them for a quarter century, the people in the room were in tears. As she recounted the evening, she got misty-eyed and all choked up. For Joanne and her clients, it’s not just business. To the server and the served, business IS personal. Buyers are more than accounts, customers or clients. They are patrons. According to Webster’s New Riverside Dictionary, a patron is one who “supports, protects, or champions… is a benefactor… a regular customer.” New game companies honor their patrons. They value a person who supports, protects and champions their business… acts as a benefactor… and is a regular customer. Lifetime patrons are the lifeblood of every business. Business is more than providing products and services. It’s gone beyond building relationships and solving problems. The new game is about having warm, intelligent, human-to-human conversations. Aren’t you a bit starved for compassion and a little elegant conversation with the people who take your money? How often do you speak to a human on the


14

phone when you call for service? Old game companies seem to think they can sacrifice humanity and compensate with technology. My stress levels jump just thinking about calling a big company for service. Is there a human in the house? This from the Cluetrain Manifesto (Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger, 1999): “Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.” I long for a human voice on the other end of the corporate line. Consumers are smarter, more informed, more organized and have access to more information than many of the businesses they patronize. They are in the know. A buyer has access to other buyers and other sellers. They network using the speed and agility of the grapevine and get instant information via the Internet. As they acquire more knowledge, they expect more from their suppliers and vendors. They keep raising the bar, and we need to jump higher. Businesses today compete not only with other businesses; they compete with buyers themselves. A well connected, broadly networked person can create all kinds of problems. The media salivates over business horror stories.


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When choosing between doing what’s best for the customer or what’s best for the company, give the customer the benefit of the doubt. Top companies’ train their employees, especially those with direct customer contact, that “innocent even if proven guilty” is a smart new game business practice. Buyers are expensive and difficult to attract, convert and keep. It’s not worth winning an argument over who’s right or wrong and in the process, losing the customer. A customer is not always right. Buyers are more demanding and impatient than ever. They play nasty; they can be insulting and rude. I’m an advocate of “firing” customers, especially ungrateful pains in the butt. But keep in mind that acquiring a customer is one of the most expensive investments your business makes. Whether you work for a big corporation or you are a company of one, your business thrives or dies on the continuous stream of new income it generates. The most profitable new income is that which comes from “old” customers. If you still believe business is just business, track how customers react to rudeness, indifference or the cold shoulder. You may not get a second chance to change the first impression. A business typically knows a lot about its business. Your buyer can know a lot about everyone’s business, and often knows more about your competition than you do. Here’s a new game paradox:


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Buyers have the highest expectations ever about being served, yet service delivery is at an all-time low. This convergence is at the heart of the seismic shift rocking the business world. We desperately want to be served, and we instinctively need to be of service. These words gained immortality in the movie, Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.” Place these words prominently in the halls of your business… “If you love them, they will come back!” If you don’t love them, they may never come back! Caveat Vendidor! Let the seller beware! Businesses can change vendors quickly, and workers will leave employers and jump to the competition. Buyers find suppliers who speak their language, who treat them as special, who value their patronage. New game businesses know more about people, and the markets they serve than they know about their products and services. One group of people is having a profound impact on the new game of business. Women Are the NEW Force in Workforce For most of the 20th century, the game of business was a male dominated old boy’s club. Starting in the 1970’s, growing through the ‘80’s and hitting tidal wave


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proportions in the 1990’s, women have stormed the bastions of economic power. They’ve succeeded at every level of business and industry. Women will continue to impact, influence and shape how business is done. When you consider women are the highest percentage of buyers, you begin to appreciate the economic power the gentler sex wields in the marketplace. Because women buy more – and more often – than men do, they influence the demand side of the equation. Now, you are flexing your muscles on the supply side as well. You pose the most formidable challenge to the status quo. You are changing the face of business. The marketplace will never be the same again. You excel at the new game. Cooperation and collaboration are natural to you. Men have a more competitive nature. We have to reverse and unlearn generations of cultural conditioning drilled into us that a man is the breadwinner, the “head” of the household. We know who the real head of household is. Now, the real head of household is heading into the business world…. It’s only a matter of time before you show up more frequently as CEO’s and gain equality in corporate Boardrooms. You outnumber men when it comes to starting new businesses. Your success rate is better than your male brethren. In the coming years, you will likely create as many jobs and opportunities as men. As you exert your influence and express your power, you are a force to be reckoned with.


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Women embrace a new vision, and recognize that business can be both a profitable enterprise and a socially conscious vehicle at the same time. A woman’s maternal instinct is a healthy addition to the workplace. Sure, some ladies morph into she-men when they gain power and authority; but most bring sorely needed skills like compassion and people sense to their work. Women demonstrate willingness for all parties to win. They usually consider the qualitative as well as the quantitative implications of a decision. It’s good to see an abundance of women playing the new game. It’s even better to watch you ascend the ladder and take leadership roles. The new millennium is starting out and shaping up as, “The Century of the Woman.” We need the new vitality you bring to the game. Ladies, this one’s for you… CROSSING THE RIVER: One day, three men were hiking and unexpectedly came upon a large raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so. The first man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river." Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, after almost drowning a couple of times. Seeing this, the second man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength...and the tools to cross this river." Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about an hour,


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after almost capsizing the boat a couple of times. The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools and the intelligence...to cross this river." And poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, then walked across the bridge. CWO – Chief Work-Life Officer™ When companies understand and embrace that business is personal, a NEW corporate title will emerge and sweep the business world. This NEW corporate position will be called… CWO – Chief Work-Life Officer! In the old game, you left your personal life at your front door. You didn’t bring family issues to work. In the new game, work and life are best when they feed and fuel not drain each other. You want a healthy and vibrant personal life, balanced by a challenging and interesting work. You want a livelihood you enjoy and a living that reflects your true value. You measure your market value by earning a living. You express your talents and abilities through your livelihood. Both contribute to the quality of your life. You spend one-third of your time, half your waking life at work. New game businesses understand, accommodate and provide for people to have better balance. A happy and balanced person is a more committed and productive worker.


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Companies will see the value of appointing a CWO. The simple act of making someone a Chief Work-Life Officer with authority to improve the work-life experience will alter the playing field. Creating the position sends a message to the people that the company acknowledges the value of providing a workplace that complements, rather than competes with, home life. With so much turmoil in the world of business, some of us have lost our livelihood and as a result, our confidence. Many of us are stressed out, and it’s taking a serious toll on health and well being. Most of us are out of balance, simultaneously teetering on the edge of exhaustion and racing ahead at breakneck speed off the adrenaline high of work, work, work. A simple addition to the corporate hierarchy, appointing a CWO can have a calming, positive effect on the fragile psyche of the people who work there. Businesses that care for their workers like family will weather ups and downs and maintain their balance sheets in heavy seas. You can’t say you haven’t been warned.

Design a New Strategy… It’s NOT Just Business. It’s Personal!

3

Practice New Economics… Good Deals are Good Business! “It’s a sacred moment when two individuals establish an exchange in good conscience and optimize gain for both parties.”

- Nathan Bonder

t the heart of the new game of business is an age-old principle our culture has all but abandoned. We contribute to a healthy marketplace when we do good deals. Good deals are good business. Spiritual economics is here to stay. Gesheft is a Hebrew word for a “deal.” In spirit it really means, “good deal.”


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Good deals enrich all parties. A bad deal for either party is a bad deal for all parties and in turn, diminishes the marketplace. Somewhere along the way the game changed from doing good deals to getting maximum extraction. The old strategy was to get it all, and not leave any money on the table. The news is filled with stories about corporate scandals, greedy executives looting company coffers and insider trading that tilts the playing field to benefit the few at the expense of the many. In the 20th century, the “art of the deal” meant getting the most for you. The spirit of business was not about achieving the best outcome for all parties. He with the gold made the rules. Compromise was the prevailing principle in negotiations. Demand everything. Then chisel away at what the other guy wants and settle somewhere in the middle. Old thinking was that we get more if we overstate our demands up front. Then we give up what we don’t need, and accept what we really wanted all along. That was the dance of the old game. That game resulted in big winners and even bigger losers. Savvy players rigged the game – and walked away with obscene amounts of money. Instead of a competition to win at all costs, a money grab to move all the chips to your side of the table, or a chess match to see who can negotiate the best deal for his side, the guiding principle of the new game is…

Chapter 3: Good Deals are Good Business!

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Highest and best for all! In his book, The Kabbalah of Money (1996, Shambhalla Publications, Inc.), Rabbi Nathan Bonder describes the essence of a good deal beautifully when he says;

“Only two just people embark on a gesheft…and emerge from it with maximum gain for each relative the maximum gain of the other, and the minimal loss to the universe. This type of transaction, which presupposes the non-predatory use of resources and the fulfillment of the needs of all participants, establishes a new kind of Nature.”

This new kind of Nature is the NEW Game of Business. When you don’t play by the rules of new game economics, someone is harmed. If one party is harmed, all parties are harmed. What I do to you, I do to me. What goes around comes around. When you do good deals, money doesn’t come between people. You don’t hesitate to sweeten a deal if it makes both sides richer. You don’t fear losing the advantage if you give more. Play the game with love not fear. Spiritual economics is the highest and best game. Good deals are not always money for money, dollar for dollar. Some of the best deals are exchanges of value other than money. People come together in many ways to trade resources, expand networks and provide support.


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You can’t play the game by yourself. You need trading partners. If you win at the expense of your rivals, and grab all the chips for yourself, sooner or later nobody will be left to play. When the delicate ecology of the market is upset, there are no winners. Everyone loses. Doing good deals sends a powerful signal to everyone in the game, and sets an honorable standard in the marketplace. In the long view, reputation matters. Being known for doing good deals heightens your standing in the business community. Practice New Economics… Good Deals are Good Business!

4

Seek a New Mission… Put People Ahead Of Products and Profits! “Silent, unhappy customers eventually dump you, never to call again.”

- Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

n the new game, people are the most valuable and leverage-able asset a business has. Yet, many companies still play the old game; they put products and profits ahead of people. At the end of the day, a company is only as good as the people who work there, and profitable because of the people who buy there.


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Your interdependence is put to the test when you assemble your team. To have a profitable business, you need a good team. Actually, you need two teams. You need your internal team. When venture capitalists and investors look at a business to buy or an investment to make, high on the list of considerations is the leadership team. In the new game of business, management is important but leadership is decisive. The more people who lead, the fewer who need to be managed, the better the productivity, performance and profit-ability. The second team you need keeps the first team in the game. It consists of buyers, regular customers and lifetime patrons, which includes advocates, champions, enthusiasts and best of all, evangelists who can serve as your unpaid sales force. In Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force (Dearborn Trade, 2002) Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba reveal that:

“Research found that for every person who complains, 26 do not. That means if you have 1,000 customers, and 10 of them complain, another 260 may be silently stewing and may covertly spread bad buzz.”

The better your internal team, the broader and deeper your community of patrons, the higher your profit. The stronger you build your legion of evangelists, the easier it is to create a buzz.

Chapter 4: Put People Ahead of Products and Profits!

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As you get paid for service, value and contribution, carve out a slice of humanity you want to serve. Build a following large enough to earn you a living. The world is not perfect. It is not always true that if you do what you love, the money will follow. You may not make an adequate living doing work you love. If the work you love is not lucrative enough for a livelihood, then earn your living doing something that pays you well, and build your livelihood in your after-work hours. Whatever path you take, you need a team of people. Find a community of people you can serve, and you’ll always be employable. There are no guarantees. The world is changing too fast, too furiously, to know what’s around the next curve. Predict-ability has given way to chaos, stability replaced by uncertainty. Your mission is to play for a good team, and surround yourself with the best people you can find. Keep expanding your network of contacts, growing your community of patrons, enlarging your circle of influence, and enhancing your team of supporters. Today, market-ability is a big concern for everyone. If you are in a position of leadership, encourage your company to provide ongoing, real world, business and life skills training. Rather than fearing people will leave, training gives them a reason to stay. My friends Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia reported these findings in their article, “Corporate Training


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Becoming More Important” (The Herman Trend Alert, February 4, 2004):

“A survey by TrueCareers of Reston, Virginia, reported that 61 percent of 500 workers surveyed said that continuing their education will help make them more attractive in the employment market. The concern in workers' minds is marketability. Another study reported in Human Resource Executive magazine was conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management. In this case, 37 percent of 428 human resource professionals surveyed said that they had increased training to prepare for the skilled worker shortages forecasted for 2010. The magazine also reported a study by Towers Perrin of New York that looked at levels of engagement – willingness and ability to contribute to their employer's success. Nineteen percent of the 40,000 employees surveyed responded that they were ‘disengaged.’ That's almost one-fifth of the workforce that was not connected psychologically to their employers.”

It doesn’t bode well for the stakeholders of a company if the people who work there are disengaged. Leaders would be wise to serve their internal customers - employees – with the same caring, honor and reverence they show their paying customers. In an interdependent world, the lines between owner and worker are fading. Workers are stakeholders, often shareholders, and, more than ever, have a vested interest

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in the continued success and profit-ability of the enterprise. In the new game, you need all the support you can muster and help you can get. Building a community of evangelists, inside and outside the company, is a mission worthy of your time and energy. Put people first, and your products and profits will take care of themselves. Seek a New Mission… Put People Ahead of Products and Profits!

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Send a New Message… So What Business Are YOU In? “I help you get from where you are, to where you want to be.”

- Mitchell Axelrod

hen I started my first business in 1978, I answered the question, “What business are you in?” with a one word answer: “Transportation!” Then I’d say, “I help transport people from point A to point B, financially! Where would you like to go?”

Chapter 5: So What Business Are YOU In?

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What business was I in? Financial planning! When I started a consulting, speaking and training company, I answered the question this way: “I help companies attract, convert and keep more customers!” Then I asked, “Which of those would you like to do better?” Whatever product or service your company sells, you are in the transportation business. You help people get from where they are to where they want to be. Your business is attracting, converting and keeping customers… for life! When describing what you do, or what business you are in, experiential, outcome-driven, results-oriented language impacts people more powerfully than any label you use to define yourself, your products or services. People buy products or services when they purchase commodities. For everything else they want customized solutions. They favor merchants who give them a unique and memorable experience. People want to feel good when they work with you. They buy YOU! Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.”


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Who you are and how you are influences people more than what you know and what you say. How you present yourself carries more weight than how you present your products and services. So what business are you in? I submit… You are in the I.T.C.H.™ Business! Whether you work solo or inside a big company the more people whose ITCH you scratch, the more valuable you are. The old game motto was, “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” The new game motto is, “Scratch my ITCH and I’ll make you rich.” I.T.C.H stands for… Information! Transportation! Communication! Help! Information: People need information, or so they think. Actually, they don’t need more information because they can’t absorb it all. They need knowledge and wisdom. There’s no time to gather all the information. They want shortcuts. They want you to find them a vehicle. They want…


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Transportation: Offer people a vehicle that takes them from where they are, to where they want to go. To do that, you want to know a person’s preferred way of travel. If he wants the quickest trip and the fastest vehicle, charter a jet. If she wants the scenic route, the answer might be a train ride or a slow boat. People want to reach a destination. YOU to provide the transportation. Ask yourself, “What vehicle can I offer to help my buyer get her from where she is to where she wants to be?” Communication: Your business is communication. If you have the cure for a deadly disease but don’t communicate it, you can’t help the minions of people whose lives you might save. I show companies how to attract, convert and keep more customers. If I send the message over and over again that I can help you “attract, convert and keep more customers,” you are more likely to remember me when you’re ready to attract, convert and keep more customers. What are you communicating? How can you improve your message?


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Help: The reason for being in business is to help people. When businesses stop helping people, they go out of business. Commerce is a willing exchange of money for a solution that is delivered in the form of a product or service. If you can’t help me, you won’t get my money. Even if you can help me, you still may not get my money. Attracting people is tough. Getting them spend their money with you is tougher still. Keeping them coming back for more is the most profitable part of business, and toughest of all. The best compliment I ever got was, “I want more of you.” It became the service standard I aim for every time. I want people I serve to feel that they want more of me. If they’ve had enough, they won’t come back again. The most profitable relationship you have is with a person who continues to buy and spend more money with you. Repeat sales are the lifeblood of business. You want people to sing your praises so you can invest more time getting paid to serve, and spend less money to prospect and market. You’re in the I.T.C.H business. Send a message that reflects your desire to inform, transport, communicate and help.


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Information opens the door; transportation is the vehicle; communication is the medium; help is the name of the game. How well you scratch their ITCH predicts the success of the enterprise. Communication as a Leverage Point Communication has serious upside potential, or severe downside consequences. Your business can rise and fall on the quality of your communicability, and your personal market value can rise and fall on the messages you send and receive. As your company improves its inside and its outside communications, business value increases. Communication bridges everything we do. Language distinguishes humans from animals. Even though he can’t speak, I swear my bulldog Bruiser understands everything I say to him. I’m can’t say the same for humans. A business is built on the tensile strength of empathic, two-way communication. Screaming may be good for radio and TV talk show ratings, but it destroys trust and confidence in business. Nobody wants to be yelled at by a frustrated worker, or feel demeaned when they need help and seek guidance. In the new game of business… “Who you are speaks so loudly, I may not hear what you’re saying.” What do you stand for that separates you from the pack?


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What do you say that causes the buyer to feel a connection with you? If you simply parrot the words, “quality and service” you sound like every other bird in the flock. Communication is a reflection of your state of being, your peace of mind. The way you communicate verbally and non-verbally tells a lot about you. People make judgments about a business based on how it communicates its message. Whether on television or on radio, in print, in a post card, or email, on an Internet web site, on the phone or in a face to face encounter, communication deeply influences every experience. First contact, a side conversation, a look or a non-verbal gesture can make a lasting imprint. Communication is about content (what you say) and context (how you say it). Context is often the critical distinction that separates you and your message from others. People buy the message, and they buy YOU, the messenger. How you look and carry yourself when you communicate is as important as what you say and the words you use to say it. In the old game, you “never let them see you sweat.” In the new game, you ask them to “throw you a towel.” People want the truth; they want the real you, warts and all. The marketplace is forgiving; it doesn’t expect you to be perfect. More than anything, people want you to be authentic.


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Admitting mistakes immediately and correcting them quickly are high value qualities. It’s front-page news when a company admits a serious mistake and does the ethical thing by coming clean. “What a tangled web I weave, when I practice to deceive.” What goes around comes around. Anything but the truth tends to come back to bite you. When communicating with children, tone and body language speak so loudly they really can’t hear what we’re saying. How we look when we speak transcends the words we use. When I raise my voice to my son Adam, he turns off. As I get louder, his listening gets lower. He dials down the volume knob until he tunes me out altogether. He shuts me off until I calm down and speak with him, not at him. He is wise beyond his years. Children are open and brutally honest, and can teach us a thing or two about business. We’d be smart to listen to them more, and talk at them less. They have a valuable perspective we can easily brush off and dismiss as childish, but it’s that child-like view that is fresh and new. If there were ever a time for fresh and new, it’s NOW! Listening is the more valuable part of the communication connection. Empathy and compassion are the heart and soul of communication. The more I understand you, the better I know how you feel.


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Understanding is as important as being understood. How can you improve your listening? What does your company say to the marketplace? What are your customers saying about you and your company? What message do you send to people at work? What do you convey to your family, friends and loved ones? What NEW messages would you like to send? What do you say with your money? How you spend it is what gives money its life. If you have no money left over at the end of your month, the message is “there’s not enough.” If you are wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, the message is “there’s plenty more where that came from.” The messages you communicate come alive. Whatever you think about his politics, Bill Clinton is a master communicator. The words “I feel your pain” touch the heart. This simple, soulful message resonates at the core of your being. His quivering lip and snoop-dog eyes convey a deep personal connection that bypasses the conscious mind and imprints directly on the subconscious. More than 40 years later, John Kennedy’s words still ring true: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what…?” If you’re an American, you can finish the sentence even if you weren’t alive when those words were uttered…


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“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what YOU can do for your country.” This kind of message touches the soul and transcends time and space. Find your voice. Speak your message. Take a stand for it. Continue to hone it, and keep refining it. Here’s a suggestion: STOP LABELING YOURSELF! What you do is NOT who you are! You are NOT an accountant. You help people maximize tax deductions and save money. You are NOT a doctor. You help heal sick people. You are NOT a real estate broker. You help people find the home they are looking for. You are NOT a salesperson. You help people get what they want they way they want it. I am NOT an author. I write books that inspire people to be happy and become more prosperous. I am NOT a speaker. I give lectures and workshops that teach people how to be more marketable, leverage-able and valuable.


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I am NOT a consultant. I help businesses, large and small boost sales and increase profits (quickly, I might add). I am NOT a coach. I offer advice and counsel to business owners and corporate executives. I am NOT a sales trainer. I help companies attract, convert and keep more customers. Stop saying what you are (accountant, doctor, designer, construction worker, engineer), because what you say you are, you are not. You are not your work. You DO your work. Tell people what you DO, not what you SELL. Tell them how you SERVE, and what you LOVE! Explain the emotional link people feel with you, the outcomes and results your customers achieve. If you tell them what you do from their perspective and not from your company’s product or service angle, you are less likely to box yourself into a corner or label yourself out of the game. Instead of conveying your USP, Unique Selling Proposition, create your USA… Unique Service Advantage! The best way to find out what business you’re really in, discover your USA and know what you do best is to ask your customers: “Why do you buy from me?”


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Few businesses ask: “Why do you buy from us?” It is the single most important business question to answer. You can turn a one-time buyer into a lifetime customer, and leverage that customer into many more like him simply by knowing why he buys from you. It’s obvious, yet so easy to overlook. This question gives you insight into why people buy from a buyer’s perspective, the only one that matters. You get their testimony, endorsements and referrals. You can follow the first question with the question, “who else do you know who would like what we give you?” You can identify your strongest advocates, and enroll the most fervent among them to spread the word about you. This one question can open the floodgates of new business opportunity. If you work for someone, ask your boss, co-workers and the people you serve internally: “What do I do best?” “What are my greatest strengths? My shortcomings?” Here are two questions we ask our clients: “How can we serve you better (today or tomorrow)?” “What important decision can we help you make?”


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Instead of brainstorm, “Gamestorm™!” Gamestorming is less tiring, more liberating and enjoyable. It’s “no-box” thinking on rocket fuel. If you want great input, Gamestorm with kids. They’ll tell you like it is. No Success BS comes out of the mouths of babes. Start asking people you serve how they feel about your service, and how you can serve them better. They will be happy to tell you. Ask all your customers why they buy, how you can serve them better, and watch your business transform. Enhance and improve your communication skills every day. Send a new message from your mouth to my ears, from your heart to my heart, from your soul to my soul. Your message has one overriding objective; to attract, convert and keep customers for life, and engage people who you can serve, deliver and serve some more. Send a New Message… So What Business Are YOU In? Note: The book and audio series, “Get MEGA-Referrals, Powerful Testimonials and Ringing Endorsements!” is a proven customer care and service strategy. It includes the, “Five Questions of Service™” that will get you new business, referrals, testimonials and endorsements. Visit our website to learn more about MEGA-Referrals: http://thenewgame.com.

6

Chant a New Mantra… “Serve, Deliver, Serve Some More!” “To love and be loved, we must know our brothers and our sisters, for knowledge leads to love, and love in action is service. Our work is only the expression of the love we have for God.”

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta n the new game, your service-ability determines your value! Serving is more than something you do. Serving is a way of being. Few things in life frustrate people more than rude or lousy service, which seems to be spreading like an epidemic. Indifference is so pervasive that when a


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person pays a little attention, she has an instant emotional advantage in getting my business. I feel giddy when people care enough to serve me, even if they pretend to be interested. Most people would rather be served than sold. You don’t need a course IN service to be OF service. Do your customers feel like they’ve been served? If serving doesn’t come naturally to you, you can learn how to do it better. From a profit perspective, attracting new business through serving can fatten your bottom line with little or no middle line expense. Serving is high leverage. Marketing is a middle line expense. The more you invest in marketing, the higher your revenues must be to generate profit from every sale. The “perfect” business generates maximum revenues with minimum marketing costs. Some businesses serve their customers so well they spend very little money to market. Over the past decade, experts have been trumpeting the cause that marketing is the engine that drives commerce. Marketing was the tail that wagged the business dog. This is no longer true. You can’t always market your way out of a profit hole. Too much marketing, and not enough sales, can sink your ship faster than no marketing at all. In the new game, service wags the dog.

Chapter 6: "Serve, Deliver, Serve Some More!"

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Service-ability is a skill that could be taught at every level of our education system, yet you’d be hard-pressed to find a course on how to be of service in high school or college. You aren’t exposed to service skills training until you enter the workforce, and even then you’re lucky to get more than a day or two of basic training. A few years ago I conducted a series of workshops for high school students. We filmed a one-hour television show on Success-Abilities™ – life skills for business, business skills for life. I was encouraged by how knowledgeable these teenagers were about the importance and value of service. They were eager to learn how to be of service. I explained how this one skill could “serve” them in the real world as much as their formal education could. You are fortunate indeed if you work for a company that provides customer care and service education. I have trained tens of thousands of people, and it pains me to report that most companies come up woefully short when it comes to teaching their people how to be of service. Customer care reps are often thrown into the deep water after a few lessons on how to doggie paddle. In most companies service is last in chronological order: Marketing comes first, selling is next and service brings up the rear. Service is not something to do only to resolve a customer problem. In the new game, serve is what you do from first contact.


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In his book, First Things First (Covey Leadership Center, 1994), Stephen Covey says it’s more important to do the “right things” than to do things right. When it comes to service-ability, put “last things first” – serve, deliver and serve some more. Service is first, last and always. Consumers are loyal to themselves. They choose who gets their business and money. People expect a high standard of service, and often judge a business relationship more on what happens after they buy than before. Romance is hottest during courtship. It’s not only personal relationships that cool down after the nuptials are exchanged. Businesses court you (market), and woo you with promises to get your business (make the sale). It’s fair to say many are far less romantic after they tie the knot and the honeymoon is over. If you want to step up and stand out, communicate a message of service and back up the word by delivering the deed. A person may buy from you once, but you don’t own his business forever. In the life insurance industry, the “average” client buys seven policies over the course of his life. The average insurance company gets only one of those seven policy purchases. Who gets the other six policies? Their competition does. There is massive, untapped leverage and huge upside potential within the existing customer base of every insurance company. Yet most, even the largest among them, teach their agents to go out and find new buyers.


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This, despite their industry survey that shows 80% of policyholders would buy again if… SOMEBODY WOULD JUST SHOW UP! An insurance company could add millions of dollars to the bottom line simply by following Woody Allen’s tongue-in-cheek wisdom: “Eighty percent of success is showing up!” If you don’t continue to serve and earn the right to do business with people, someone else will. In the new game, customer service is more than a department with a toll free number: It’s an expression of caring, concern and consideration. What are you serving up? Make Critical Distinctions: Information, Knowledge and Wisdom! Information is so abundant it’s almost worthless. Raw information has low potential worth, low actual worth. It creates "negative" value as it robs more of our time to sort through it all. Information is most valuable when organized into specific knowledge. Knowledge has high potential worth, low actual worth. Knowledge is potential waiting to be realized. Action is the catalyst that converts knowledge from potential energy into tangible value. Knowledge applied yields experience, and experience leads to wisdom.


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Wisdom has high potential and high actual worth. Wisdom is knowledge and experience in synergy. Wisdom is acquired through doing and learning. Doing and learning transform experience into wisdom! Here is a key NEW Game of Business principle: Adding to information inundation reduces your value and service-ability. I don’t need more information. I want answers to my specific, immediate problems, solutions I can use to seize opportunities. Knowledge is valuable when it’s specific to my needs. I don’t have the capacity to learn everything I want to know, and I don’t have time to find all the information I need to make a decision. I seek shortcuts. I want answers. I NEED WISDOM! Don’t teach me anything. Help me get what I want. The old game was about teaching people how to fish. The New game is about GIVING PEOPLE THE FISH! DON’T give them more information. They have no room for it. DON’T impress them with your knowledge. They don’t care how smart you are. DO help them find the answers they seek. They really need your advice and counsel. GIVE THEM WISDOM!


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GIVE THEM THE FISH! I don’t read owner’s manuals. There’s too much to sort through. I don’t care how the DVD player works; I only care "that" it works. The NEW Game isn’t won by dazzling people with information. Information has little value. It’s not won by impressing others with how much you know, or who you know. They’re indifferent. You win by serving up wisdom, one nugget at a time. Wisdom is high value currency in the NEW Game. Information is cheap. Knowledge is valuable. Wisdom is priceless. Serving demonstrates leadership. Serving builds high value relationships. Serving wins the NEW Game. If you want to make an impact on people, serve up your wisdom. Chant a New Mantra… Serve, Deliver, Serve Some More!

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Find New Solutions… Don’t Fall in Love With Products or Services! “Fall in love with what you do. Then sell the love.”

- Wayne Dyer hether you work for a big corporation or you are a company of ONE, to maintain sustain-ability and enhance profit-ability you must continually find new solutions to offer the people you serve. New ideas and new strategies pay off for everyone, inside and outside the company. Companies that shine constantly find new solutions to offer the marketplace. If you run out of creativity,

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ingenuity, imagination and ideas, you eventually run out of solutions. When the well runs dry enthusiasm ebbs, and people flow… right out the door. Don’t fall in love with your products and services! Instead, fall in love with solving problems and serving people. I hear people declare with absolute certainty that, “You must be a product of your product.” They say, “I can’t sell anything I don’t believe in.” If this is true for you, I challenge you to throw the box away, clean the slate, and consider some new thinking. It’s nice if you love your product or service, but it’s not mandatory. Your love has some impact on your profit-ability, but not much. It’s better to like your products and services than dislike them, but the truth is: What really matters is that the people who buy them like them, and that they buy often enough to generate ongoing profit for your enterprise. This applies to every business. It is also true in network marketing, even though “you must be a product of the product” is chanted like a religious mantra. Falling in love with your products seems like a pre-requisite; it’s not. There are plenty of successful and wealthy people who don’t “love” their products, and many who don’t particularly like their products. Certainly, not everyone uses the products they sell. That doesn’t prevent them from making a good living.


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People don’t buy a McDonalds’ franchise because they love the burgers. Here’s a “no-box” question to ponder: Would you rather offer a product you love but nobody wants, or a product you dislike but lots of people buy? Does this question challenge you? Can you represent something you don’t like, but can make you a good living? Or must you find a product or service you personally endorse in order to work for that company? This notion has cost plenty of people and business owners a fortune in lost prosperity. Recognize and accept that what you like has little effect in the marketplace. All that matters is what people buy. Solve their problems, give them an experience, serve, deliver and serve some more, and you have a real shot to build a financially sound and profitable business. If you have a mission to pursue, and it’s not important that you make a living at it, I encourage you to go for it with all your heart and soul. Just don’t expect it will be a profitable business venture because you love it. If you want to make a good living, play a game other people want to play. Pick a horse people want to ride. Fish eat when they’re hungry, not when you drop the line. Fish don’t care that you want them to bite now. Stop swimming upstream against the tide. Align with the natural order of things.

Chapter 7: Don’t Fall in Love With Products or Services!

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Falling in love with your products and services can blind you to what the marketplace wants, and what people will pay for. A missionary zeal can shut people down, and scare them off even if what you have can benefit them. Too much excitement blows people away. Confident, restrained enthusiasm instills a higher level of trust, credibility and believe-ability that uncontrolled exuberance. If you want to fall in love, fall in love with solving problems and serving people. It’s smart to “destruct” your products and services every-so-often in order to reconstruct an even better value proposition. Ask yourself every day: Who can I serve? How can I serve? What problems can I help people resolve? What new solutions can I offer? Find New Solutions… Don’t Fall in Love with Products or Services!

8

Acquire New Skills… Master the Tools of the Game! “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

- Alvin Toffler kills are the tools you bring to the game. If you enjoy the game, you are eager to learn new skills. You hone your chops not because you have to, but because you want to. Developing a skill is an exciting process. Mastering a skill is a fulfilling achievement. When you reach a level of mastery in business and life, you have wisdom to share with others. Personal accomplishment is invigorating. Teaching, and

Chapter 8: Master the Tools of the Game!

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mentoring others to release more of their personal potential can be even more fulfilling. Every master is a lifelong student. When we’re young, we seek personal accomplishment. At 18, all I thought about what I was going to achieve. As we age in years and grow in wisdom, our rewards are determined more by what we give to others and the legacy we leave behind. As I approach 50, I seek to share what I know. Life becomes more than personal achievement; it’s about contributing to the growth of others and allowing the spotlight to shine on them. An old adage is new game wisdom; you can accomplish almost anything if you don’t care who gets the credit. Are You A Jockey or a Horse? Every horse needs a jockey and every jockey needs a horse. Are you the rider, or the ride? If you’re a long distance runner, you don’t compete in the 100-yard dash. If you’re built for speed, you don’t run marathons. Run the race where the odds are best. If you’re in need of a short-term gig, future earnings-potential of a job or business will not matter much today. If you’re looking to build a long-term livelihood, career or business, a few more bucks as a starting salary might not even merit consideration. Most people are suited to be a jockey, not the horse.


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The first and most important step in developing new skills is to… Know Yourself If you know yourself and you know nothing else, you can win the new game. Everything is there for you. If you know everything else but don’t know yourself, you may become successful but you won’t be fulfilled. Success without fulfillment leaves you feeling empty. Work is a way to express your talents. Money can take you places and buy you things. Neither work nor money is life itself. A strong motivation for wanting financial freedom is to have more time for things that matter outside work. Time, not money, is the most precious resource in the new game. More money gives you more time to spend in personal and spiritual pursuits. The more you invest in skill building and expand your professional toolbox, the higher your value rises in the marketplace. The better your skills, the more confident, prepared, and positioned you are to take advantage of opportunities. The highest payoff investments I’ve made are not stocks, bonds, real estate or businesses. When I started my company in 1978, I earned about $8 per hour my first year.


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Today, companies pay me $5,000 for a one-hour speech. Sure, there was a lot of luck along the way that shined on me. There was also a lot of hard work and personal development. I like to believe the latter put me in the position to attract the former. A New Way to Take Stock of Your Skills and Abilities There’s a sure-fire way to get a clear, objective picture of your best talents and abilities, as well as those in need of development. This New technology is really an old science called Axiology, the little known science of value logic. It’s the study of human values. The Value Profile is the tool of Axiology that can measure your values with the accuracy of a thermometer measuring your body temperature. Axiology and the Value Profile provide a highly accurate and objective way to find your skills and fulfill your potential. The old game was NLP - neuro-linguistic programming. The New Game is Axiology. It is emerging as a leading technology with broad applications and far-reaching implications to help individuals and businesses win the new game. We use Axiology and the Value Profile to help individuals get a clear picture of what they bring to the game. We use it with companies to help them be more effective in hiring, selecting, training and retaining the best and brightest people. It’s a powerful tool for personal growth and professional development.


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(Note: To learn more about how to apply Axiology and use the Value Profile, visit http://valueprofiles.com). You spend money on all kinds of things. Don’t be cheap when it comes to your toolbox. Invest in the finest tools available. Here’s An Important Question to Ask… “Am I my best, most marketable product?” What you know has brought you to this point. It’s possible that what you DON’T YET KNOW might bring you greater rewards than WHAT you already know. It’s also true that WHO you know may be an untapped gold mine waiting to yield a huge financial payoff for you. Use “no-box” thinking to open up to new possibilities. Find ways turn opportunities into gold, even in areas where you have no experience and no expertise. Prior experience is less an obstacle in the new game. Whatever path you choose to travel, somebody has gone before you. Whatever experience you lack, somebody has the expertise you need. To capitalize on opportunities, use your best tools. If you don’t have the tools you need, they may be in someone else’s toolbox. Buy them or borrow them. Don’t feel compelled to learn everything yourself. You can’t. Time is your most precious resource. Spend it wisely.


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Using someone else’s tools, or asking another person to do the job may be your best choice. In an inter-dependent world, you maximize your effectiveness if you know when it’s best to delegate to others. This from futurists Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia (Herman Trend Alert, December 10, 2003):

“Indications are that we will need a different kind of educational system in the years ahead. While employers still appreciate graduates having a broad range of knowledge, they are practically begging for young people who can think, collaborate, communicate, coordinate, and create. Managers are frustrated with employees that have proficiency in particular skills but are unable to effectively apply those skills to achieve results. There is a growing need for workers who can adapt quickly by learning new skills or knowledge and applying those strengths quickly to respond to customer expectations.”

Success-Abilities… Life Skills for Business, Business Skills for Life Success-abilities are the tools of the new game. Your cap-ability is directly connected to your results. Here are eight Success-abilities essential to play the new game. 1) Response-ability – Control the Decision Gap Response-ability is not optional. There is no user’s guide or training manual that teaches us how to be


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response-able. You control the decision gap between stimulus (what happens) and response (what you do about what happens). It looks like this: Stimulus ------> [Decision Gap] ------> Response Keep the S [Decision Gap] R model in front of you at all times. Rather than react, respond to the questions and challenges life sends you, to the difficulties you attract into your life. Let’s face it; we love problems. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have them. We love solving them even more. How would life be without any problems to solve? If there were no difficult decisions or challenging choices, we wouldn’t learn and grow. Wisdom comes from how we respond to challenges, setback and heartbreak. If you want a different response from people, try a new stimulus. If you want a new possibility for yourself, choose a new response. Take response-ability. Control the decision gap. 2) Adapt-ability – New Thinking, New Doing In a world changing at the speed of life, adapt-ability is a vital life skill. Flexibility gives you more options, opens up more doors, and invites more opportunity. In most situations, rigidity won’t get the preferred result. Fixed thinking makes it harder to achieve the highest and best outcomes possible.


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Adapt-ability is vital to your overall health and well being, and is more valuable than information or knowledge. You can’t know everything, and you can’t count on having all the information you need to make a decision. In the new game, there is no guarantee your choices and decisions with work out. Being adaptable strengthens your ability to hit the ball when life throws you a curve. Be willing to revise and improvise. Be more flexible and adaptable. 3) Support-Ability – Assemble a Team of Advisors In the New age of interdependence, it’s essential to be both supportive and supportable. My tendency, like that of many men is to be more supportive than supportable. We think and act independently, and tend to be less open to getting support and asking for help. To be supportable requires you to be open and vulnerable, a state of mind men are more challenged by than women are. When you’re interdependent, you are more supportable. Interdependence can look a lot like dependence. The distinction is being able to lean on others while not being needy. Finding a nice balance between being supportive and supportable is like stabilizing your blood pressure.


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Support-ability is a vital function. Assemble a team of advisors. 4) Value-ability – Boost Net Worth, Build Self-Worth It’s a sad truth that most people undervalue themselves. Net worth is not self-worth. The latter does not require the former. Financial independence does not give you financial freedom. Independence is a statement of account; freedom is a state of being. You can be financially free whether or not you are financially independent. There are plenty of “rich” people chained to their money, who are slaves to, not masters of, their wealth. Freedom is a lack of attachment to money. It’s a state of mind. Being grateful for riches in all areas of life is what makes you truly wealthy. Self-esteem is how much you value yourself just for being you. Working with Axiology and having completed Value Profile surveys on thousands of people, I see a disturbing pattern. Most of us undervalue, depreciate, criticize and tear ourselves down much more often than we acknowledge our true, intrinsic value. Afflicting 70% or more of us, diminished self-esteem is the most widespread, yet silent epidemic on the planet. Seek to boost your net worth and value your self-worth. They are not mutually exclusive. It’s nice to grow your savings account, even healthier to recharge your


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emotional and spiritual bank accounts. Surround yourself with people who complement you, who provide you with talents and skills you need in the areas you lack. When you offer your best skills and abilities to the marketplace, you will earn what you’re really worth. The better your team, the better you play. Get with people who bring out your best, who support you in life, livelihood and living, and watch your value begin to soar. When it comes to value-ability, boost net worth, build self-worth. 5) Service-ability – Bring Your Highest and Best to What You Do Remember the new game mantra introduced in Chapter 6: “Serve, deliver, serve some more!” Service-ability is the willingness to be of service. In the new game, you are paid for both the willingness to serve and usefulness of your service. If people need or want what you provide, the demand increases your market value. If people don’t need or want what you have, you’d be smart to find something else to do for a living. One of the biggest pitfalls is the mistaken notion that because you love your product or service, others should also, and the world will beat a


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path to your door. The “better mousetrap” is an old game myth. In the new game, people buy what they need from commodity suppliers. They buy what they want from people they like and enjoy, who make them feel good about serving. If you sell what I need, you are price sensitive. If you offer something I want, you can set a unique and often, higher price. I will pay more for what I want than for what I need. Why pay more for long distance phone calls, when most of the “services” are relatively the same? Yet, people pay twice as much for a cup of Starbucks’ coffee, even though they can get a cup at Dunkin’ Donuts for half the price. I will pay a lot more for an experience I want. When I get what I want, I feel served. When I feel served, I feel loved. I will return to buy again and I will tell others. If I don’t feel served, I won’t buy again and I’ll tell others about how poorly I was served. Serve others well and you will find work in the marketplace. Find a universe of people you are well suited to serve. Strengthen your service-ability. Bring your highest and best to what you do.


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6) Finance-ability – Get Paid What You Are Really Worth If you undervalue yourself, is it also possible you are underpaid? Are net worth and self-worth related? The obvious answer is yes… and no. We said net worth is NOT self-worth. If they are separate, then how can they be connected? It’s another paradox. Even though net worth has no direct impact on self-worth, diminished self-worth can be a root cause of reduced net worth. If you don’t feel good about yourself, it can affect other areas of your life. Money is an area of life that can be influenced by how you feel about yourself. If you feel undervalued, there’s a good chance you are underpaid. If you undervalue yourself, you won’t ask for what you are really worth. If you know what you’re worth, but don’t feel good enough to ask for it, you won’t get it. If you don’t know what you’re really worth, you will be stifled until you find out. Make a clear distinction between net worth and self-worth. You are not your net worth, no matter how much money you have. Money has power, but money has no spirit. You have spirit. Money is not good or bad; it’s neutral. It reflects the spirit you bring to it. No matter how high you pile your money, net worth can’t buy self-worth. That said, new game principles, strategies, solutions and models could help you to earn more, and get paid more. The market pays you for service, contribution, value


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and wealth creation. If you simply do a job, you’ll be paid according to the scale of what that job pays. Commodities are price-sensitive. If you offer a commodity product or service to the market, you are paid based on price. If you have a new product, a new way to serve or contribute, add unique value or enhance wealth-creation, you can establish your own price. You are not as locked into being paid the “going” rate. Use your tools in the highest and best way. Break the binds of your habitual thinking and embrace “no box” thinking. Create new and better ways of being paid for what you bring to the marketplace. Enhance your value-ability. Get paid what you’re really worth. 7) Leverage-ability – Do More with Less In my book, Seven Ways to Lift Your Leverage-Ability! I explain how to make a quantum leap by doing more with less. We are not taught how to leverage our time, talents and contacts. Many businesses don’t effectively leverage their buyers, prospects and suppliers. You can improve your communication and your messages. You can more effectively leverage technology. You can learn and grow from a mastermind group of people. I don’t doubt that you can also better leverage your money.


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When I consult, I’m often asked to help find leverage points. You have them; your company has them. Companies pay to find them because leverage can turn small distinctions into big possibilities. If you know where your leverage points are, you can do a whole lot more with less. As I write this, I am being re-hired to work with Jim, the managing director of the leading agency of Met Life. I haven’t worked with him in five years, so I was totally unaware what was going on behind the scenes. Like an iceberg that sits 90% beneath the surface, real opportunity can also be hidden below the surface. You can’t always know what’s going on behind the scenes, but it pays to find out. I planted a seed five years ago that is harvesting today. An oak tree has grown into a redwood. One seed may give me access to the entire forest. Jim’s people are still leveraging and profiting from the strategies, tactics and language I taught them five years ago. Behind the scenes, in five years’ time, Jim grew his agency into the top franchise in the company. He told me one statement had a huge impact on their results: “We’re in the transportation business.” One phrase made a difference in his agency’s profitability. One agency made a difference in the company’s growth. One person is positioning me as a consultant of choice.


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When it comes to leverage-ability, big doors swing on little hinges. Take advantage of leverage to magnify your strengths, maximize your time and multiply your assets. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, find a teammate. If necessary, pay someone to help you locate and capitalize on your leverage points. The return on that investment can be geometric, not arithmetic. Leverage other people. If the answer is hidden from your view because you’re stuck inside the box, throw the box away. Rather than simply look for leverage, create it. Ask, “How can I leverage this best?” Lift your leverage-ability. Expand possibilities and capitalize on the opportunities to do more with less. 8) Coach-ability – Student, Master, Student The best players are coach-able. Knowing yourself is more important than knowing anything else. If you want to be a world-class player, know your strengths and your shortcomings. Having a deficiency is nothing to be ashamed of – it’s being human. Nobody is good at everything. You will not reach your potential, nor will you maximize your market value, if you spend too much time trying to be good at everything.


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Michelangelo didn’t play the piano, and Mozart didn’t do ceilings. If you do what you do best, you dramatically enhance your chances of getting paid what you’re really worth. If you can make a living doing a livelihood you enjoy, you will rise to the top of the pay scale for that job. A master is a lifelong student of his game. Every student who aspires to mastery is coach-able. If you are stuck, you will probably not get unstuck by yourself. Be humble. Say, “I need help.” Ask others to assist, and they will come to your aid. People enjoy helping other people. Don’t you? Be supportable. Assembling a team boosts your chance of winning the game. You can’t win by yourself. If necessary, pay someone to coach you. An investment in mentoring is an investment in mastery. Every sensei has a sensei. Be coach-able. Bring your Best Talents and Tools to the Game Step up to the plate and swing the bat. Develop your stroke. Improve your swing. You won’t always hit the ball. Even when you do, you won’t always get a hit. The game is about stepping up and swinging. To earn what you’re really worth, spend more of your time leading with your strengths. If you’re aiming for perfection, you probably spend a lot of time


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strengthening your weaknesses. If you strengthen your weaknesses, you’ll eventually weaken your strengths. Companies that play to people’s strengths are more productive and create happier workplaces. Few, if any people are indispensable. Know how you contribute most to your company, and be alert to when your work is no longer adding value. It may be time to acquire new skills, or to find another team. Knowing each person’s real value is vital to winning the new game of business. Putting money into skill building is one of the best investments a company can make. Training and development are always at the top of the list of what employees value most, yet are often the first victims of cost-cutting to slash expenses. Job security is an oxymoron from days gone by. The best security you have is your skill set. Your talents and your toolbox are two things you carry with you everywhere you go. Skills are the tools of the new game. Opportunities are the raw materials. Combine tools and opportunity and you can produce greater wealth. Don’t let past experiences, preconceived notions, biases, righteousness or pride get in the way. Acquire new skills, and hone those you already have. Bring the best you have to whatever you do, and you’ll always be in the game.


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If you want to play at higher levels, strengthen your strengths. Build your toolbox. Acquire New Skills… Master the Tools of the Game!

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Build a New Model… Integrate or Disentegrate! “Attract, convert, and keep more customers… for life.”

- Mitchell Axelrod ntegrity is at the heart of business. If you don’t integrate, there’s a good chance you will disintegrate! Marketing, sales and service work best when they function as a connected, continuous, holistic and integrated process to achieve the prime objective, which is to:

Chapter 9: Integrate or Disintegrate!

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Attract, convert and keep customers… for life! Everything and everyone in the company should support this end game. When companies lose sight of this primal mission, they stumble. The Integrated Business Model™ I have consulted with thousands of businesses, tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, professionals and self-employed people. Large or small, all businesses share a common challenge: They must attract, convert and keep customers. Here’s the formula: Marketing attracts them. Sales converts them. Service keeps them. These are three distinct disciplines, three different processes, and three parts of the business continuum. In many companies, marketing, sales and service are separate departments, rarely coordinated, sometimes disconnected, and often competing for people, resources and performance recognition. If marketing, sales and service don’t work together they pull each other apart. A lack of integrity can cause a business to self-destruct. If you don’t integrate, there’s a good chance you will disintegrate.


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A business has a rhythm, a pulse, a heartbeat, and a presence. Its spirit reflects the collective soul of the people who serve there, and is palpable to the people who buy there. When the heart and the brain are in harmony, when the hands know what the legs are doing, when all the systems work together, the body functions holistically. It’s the same for a company. When the mind, body or soul of a business pops out of alignment, dis-ease results, and affects the entire organization. Being a savvy advertising, promotion or marketing company is not enough. To offset expense and generate profits, you must convert the people you attract into buyers. If you attract them but don’t convert them, this leak can sink your ship. Sales generate revenues, and without a continuous flow of new income a company can go out of business. Every business is a sales business. Yet, it’s also not enough to be a great sales organization. If you serve well, people come back again and bring others with them, generating a higher profit and the best return on your marketing and sales investment. In the new game, every business is a service business. Your company functions best when you… Integrate your marketing, sales and service. Just because a person buys once, doesn’t mean she’ll come back again. The first sale does not generate the


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highest profit. For many companies the first sale is break even. In some industries – insurance, book clubs and the record business to name a few – the first sale is a “lost leader” – the company loses money in order to “buy” a customer. Expenses to market, advertise, promote and sell are paid back when she buys the first time. What’s left is initial profit. In some cases, that profit is zero, or less. If your business loses money on the first transaction, your profit is realized on the “back end” of future business. It costs a lot of time, money and resources to acquire a customer – it costs little or nothing when that person buys again. Margins are highest on repeat purchases. Most companies aren’t maximizing repeat sales. Is yours? Attracting customers through marketing is only the first part of the process. Sales are what you take to the bank. Sales show up on the income statement as income. Marketing is a middle line expense. Turning prospects into buyers is what generates profits. Marketing may have people beating a path to your door in record numbers, but if they don’t buy, the marketing expense can burn a hole in your pocket. Businesses go out of business after investing large sums of money in marketing, because the marketing results in too few sales, and not enough profit. Marketing that doesn’t “sell” leads to red ink.


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Most marketing is not designed to sell; its purpose is to attract and qualify people. Selling is what converts them to buyers. Delightful customer service keeps them coming back for more. Try this new game thinking on for size: MARKETING is the FUEL. SALES power the ENGINE. SERVICE (the customer) drives the bus! “Integrated-ness” Accelerates the Process As more people rave about your service, the buzz on the street attracts new people. The grapevine is powerful. Word of mouth is the still the most credible and high-yielding attraction method. Your goal is to build a legion of supporters, advocates, enthusiasts and evangelists stumping for you. With an Integrated Business Model, your company fires on all cylinders, and purrs like a high performance engine. The new game mantra is to serve, deliver and serve some more. Serving first, last and always puts you on the side of angels, and can earn you a position as the provider of choice. When people make you a lifetime member of their team, you earn a permanent seat on their board of advisors. Coordinate your marketing, sales and service, and integrate them into a seamless, connected, holistic process. Get everyone playing the same game, and


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working from the same playbook. Integrating marketing, sales and service reduces expense and enhances profit-ability. In which of these is your company strongest? Which is weakest? Strive for balance and integrity. Harness the Power of the Emotional Link™ Your business counts on reliable intelligence about your buyer. One piece of intelligence gives you the inside track to being the game of choice. I call it the… “E-Link™” – the Emotional Link. It is the driving force behind a person’s desire to buy. It’s the compelling motivation, highest value, biggest payoff; it’s the one thing a person wants most to avoid or desires most to achieve. I mentioned earlier that the best compliment I ever got was at a workshop I did in San Diego. I was on stage checking sound before the program when a stunning six-foot blond woman sauntered down the isle. I recognized her from a few nights earlier, when I spoke in another part of the city. She strutted right up to me, reached out her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Liza and I’m back again because I want more of you!” I nearly fell off the stage. Her six-foot, five-inch fiancé Charles walking a few paces behind her almost had to


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catch me as I swooned. I must have connected with her emotional link. Do you think I was “on my game” that day? It was the highest high to serve, to give of myself in such a way that everyone in that audience would want more. Liza didn’t want more products or services. She wanted more of ME! It’s the same for you. When you are balanced and centered, clear about who you are and what you’re doing, you are integrated. A desire to serve from integrity is often rewarded with unexpected gifts and indescribable blessings. Life brings the nicest surprises when you least expect it. That encounter gave me a NEW standard of service, a NEW yardstick to measure my integrity and level of service. It’s the answer to the question, “Do you want more of me?” You will want more of me if I connect with your emotional link, and continue to bring you new ideas, new thinking, new strategies, new solutions, and new levels of service. Champion Mortgage is a past client that harnessed the power of the E-Link to boost revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars. I taught their account executives how to elicit the E-Link from their buyers in less than five minutes. It helped them become one of the most profitable companies in their industry.


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When three of their executives left to start their own mortgage banking company, they asked me to teach their loan officers how to find and align with a person’s E-Link. Today, 10 years later, Infinity Mortgage is a rising star in the mortgage industry. Attracting, converting and keeping a customer for life is easier if you find and fill that person’s emotional desires. If you know what’s burning inside, you demonstrate competence and inspire confidence. People feel a bond of trust when they are served and understood. A charge of electricity surges through and energizes them when you tap their E-Link. Uncover the Emotional Link by asking these questions: What do you fear the most? What upsets or frustrates you? What do you want most? What excites and energizes you? What do you want to avoid like the plague? What do you desire more than anything? Ask these questions and others like them, and you’ll get to the heart of what people really desire. Find their E-Link, and they’ll want more of you. Integrate marketing, sales and service.

Build a New Model… Integrate, or Disintegrate!

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Generate New Money… Profit is Everybody’s Business! f you don’t think profit is YOUR business, this excerpt by Porter Stansberry might alter your thinking:

“The best businesses of an entire generation aren't producing long-term wealth. Instead, they're merely producing compensation and consumption. Baby Boomers are approaching retirement with nothing in their saving accounts. Their equity portfolios have been demolished, and their pension funds are wiped out. But the most dangerous sign of all is that even now, the companies headed by their contemporaries can't produce real profits or real dividends for shareholders.

Chapter 10: Profit is Everybody’s Business!

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Without a revolution in the boardroom, the baby boomers will never retire. There simply aren't any profits where there should be in the companies created by this generation in the 1980s and 1990s. Meanwhile, old-line blue-chip firms with good earnings and sensible accounting policies are crippled by the pension obligations they currently owe to an older generation. The baby boomers are heading into retirement with no savings and no productive companies to support them in old age. Generation debt is a ticking time bomb...with about 10 years left on the clock.”

(Excerpt from the article, “Generation Debt Bomb” as it appeared in The Daily Reckoning).

In the new game, profit-ability is EVERBODY’S business. If you narrow your focus only to your job, your tasks and your personal performance, you might find yourself frozen in the batter’s box when the marketplace throws you a nasty curve ball. Downsizing and layoffs are common practice, yet many workers are stunned when the pink slip arrives in their mailbox. Companies can no longer afford to keep redundant employees. Every position must justify itself. If your work doesn’t contribute to top line revenues or bottom line profits, you are vulnerable. You lose traction if your role doesn’t add value to the company or money to the coffers.


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In the new game, whether you own the company or work there you are… A Virtual Entrepreneur™ – the CEO of Your Life! Every CEO must keep an eye on the money. You must understand how your company earns a profit and how you contribute to it. Devote your time, harness your talents and use your tools to help increase profit-ability. If you lead a company, it’s essential to tap the creativity of every person in the place to find new ideas, approaches and strategies to generate new money. If there were ever a time for NEW thinking, it’s NOW! Your company has untapped intelligence and upside potential locked inside its people, waiting to be released. Find new ways to realize this potential, and you increase your value to the company and your company’s value in the marketplace. Profit is what keeps you employed, earning a living and enjoying a livelihood. Without profit, your company is out of business and you are out of work. Profit is everybody’s business. Money is the lifeblood of your company. That lifeblood circulates best when you have a continuous stream of new lifetime customers to serve. Your purpose every day is to…


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CREATE and KEEP LIFETIME CUSTOMERS. Every specific task should support this ultimate purpose. Whatever your job description, you are there to serve people in a way that makes them want to come back and bring other people with them. Serving customers is also everybody’s responsibility. Renting space - not a business. Picking out office furniture - not a business. A nice storefront location - not a business. Cool looking stationery and letterhead - not a business. Developing a whiz bang website - NOT A BUSINESS. Three things constitute a real business. #1- SALES… #2- CUSTOMERS… #3- PROFITS! Anybody can buy or start a business, but only 1 in 20 people build a business. Look ahead 10 years. Only one in 20 businesses started this year are still around. Why? What did the 5% have that the others didn't? SALES, CUSTOMERS and PROFITS! And a solid leadership team committed to the mantra; Serve, deliver, and serve some more!


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Those that fall by the wayside disappear because they didn't have sales, customers and profits. Sure, there are plenty of other reasons a business loses steam; but if you have sales, customers and profits you can keep chugging along. NO SALES, NO CUSTOMERS… NO CUSTOMERS, NO PROFITS… NO PROFITS, NO BUSINESS! Everything else supports the ultimate purpose. Let's look at McDonalds (their franchise not their food). McDonalds has a proven system that works. Until recently, it worked every time. Only over the past few years has McDonalds experienced layoffs for the first time. They don't open franchises to fail. McDonalds knows a lot more about business than they do about making great hamburgers. The recent history of McDonalds demonstrates that even the best companies of their generation are challenged to adapt to the new game. No business is immune to change. That’s especially true if you own a business. A Few Words About Your Own Business… McDonalds rigorously screens candidates for suit-ability. When you started or purchased your last business, did the seller qualify your suitability? Or were they so happy to sell the business that they left you on your own to figure out the little things, like…


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SALES… CUSTOMERS… PROFITS! I doubt McDonalds told the person who bought the 100th or the 1,000th franchise, "You better ACT NOW. Get in quickly, or you might miss the opportunity." It’s smart business to do your homework. Continuously improve your skill of due diligence! Investigation and a little research go a long way. Don't be smuggled or persuaded to BUY TODAY at the risk of loss of time. If an opportunity is sound today, it should be just as sound next month, next year and for years to come. A business is a long-term investment. As with compound interest, gains in business accumulate over time. The longer you stay in the game, the bigger the payoff. I was given sound advice many years ago: No deal is so good you can't pass on it if you don’t feel right about it. If it's not for you, you can’t be totally committed and dedicated, and you won’t bring the attention and clarity you need to do it well. This is true whether you own the company or work there. Beware the common "get in now or you'll lose your opportunity" hype so pervasive today. It’s hard to tell the fakes from the real deals. If a company is sound, has long-term stability and presents an opportunity you can ride for the next five to 10 years, it will be here next


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month, even next year if that's when the time is right for you. Everyone has missed an “opportunity of a lifetime” somewhere along the line. Don’t let that discourage you. Instead, let it inspire you. Keep your eyes peeled and your antenna up. Catch the next train, or the next one. There’s always another coming down the track. It’s exciting to be at the helm, and play a part in building a business that creates work and wealth for the people you employ. But remember; starting or buying a business just PUTS YOU IN THE GAME. You only win if your company produces profits, and ultimately if it can generating income WITHOUT YOU. If your business can’t run without you, you don’t own the company; the company owns you! Don't be seduced by the Success BS of riches without effort. Don’t act from fear of losing an opportunity because it might disappear if you don't do it now! If an opportunity is sound, it has staying power. Even if you pay more for it later, so what? A business must justify the investment and stand on its own merit at whatever point you buy into it. Whatever role you play, whether you own the company or you work there, the two primary objectives are to: 1- Attract, convert, and keep lifetime customers. 2- Generate profit for every stakeholder. Operating the computer, sending email, arranging files, setting up a storefront, stacking shelves with inventory,


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chatting by the water cooler, and every activity or task is a diversionary tactic and misuse of time if it doesn’t contribute to the prime objective, which is to… Attract, convert and keep customers for life! The best advertising, lead-generation and marketing can be rendered worthless if too few of the interested people buy from you. It's nice to see the traffic counter on your website click away, but you can’t take that traffic to the bank if people don't click the “BUY NOW” button. Traffic doesn't make you rich, customers make you rich! Lifetime customers will make you very rich. A New Money Strategy… Sell Through Customers Most businesses sell to, but not through their customers. You can give anemic sales a jolt of adrenaline if you sell “through” your customers. Advocates can act as marketing associates and evangelists can be your unpaid sales force. Getting a customer is one of the most expensive investments a business makes. How often do your customers buy more, spend more and come back for more? Who do they bring with them? How can you shorten or accelerate that process? Do you have enough customers? Are they buying from you regularly? Do they refer their friends and associates?


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The goal is to spend less money on advertising and marketing, and invest more time and resources solving problems and serving people. When I speak to business owners I always ask, "How many of you are profitable? Who made money last year?" Typically, it’s 20% of the audience. Shocking? No, not really. Owning a business isn’t easy. Generating a profit is hard. If you have profits, you have a business. If you don't, you own an expensive hobby. If you work for a company and you’re not part of the executive leadership team, start thinking and acting like you are. If at any point your work doesn’t contribute to the top or bottom line, you are vulnerable and your position can be eliminated. When I asked the entrepreneurs why they aren't profitable, most admit they don’t have the direction, support, coaching, mentoring and real world schooling they need to operate a profitable business. Nobody showed them how to attract, convert and keep customers; how to make sales; how to manage expenses and earn a profit; how to build a business that has longevity. It’s takes skill, and a team of capable people to operate a successful business. Everyone needs help, guidance, support and assistance.


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Sell "through" customers. Make them affiliates or marketing associates. Give them incentives and rewards to send you business. We need inspiration, motivation, revelation, contem-plation, fascination, re-activation and constant creation. We need a team to keep us accountable. We need advice and counsel. Good advice is not cheap – cheap advice is not usually good. Don't be cheap with your business and future. Invest in good advice and get sound counsel. If you spend all your money buying a business, you have little or none left for the critically important investments in marketing, sales, service and assembling your team. Profit is just as essential for your company to have at the end of the year as it is for you to have money left over at the end of the month. Income minus expenses equals profits. Dollars In – Dollars Out = Dollars Left! It’s a simple equation you must manage well. How many dollars left determines how well your money works for you. You work hard for your money. Wouldn’t it be nice for your money to work just as hard as you do?


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When it comes to winning the new game of business, profit-ability is the financial measure of a job well done! Company profit-ability enables you to continue working there. Personal profit-ability gives you a chance to one day, stop working there. The bottom line is everybody’s business. Companies can’t continue to fire people in order to cut expenses. Rather than reacting with a slash and burn approach to cost cutting, find ways to generate new money. Release the untapped potential of the people in the company, and concentrate that force to create new solutions for the customers outside the company. To win the new game of business, you must… Develop people! Design better products! Deliver a boost in profits! Whether you work in the mailroom or the ivory tower, you contribute to the profit of your company. When you see your job and your role in that light, it brings new importance to the work you do. Generate New Money… Profit is Everybody’s Business!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mitchell Axelrod is founder of Axelrod & Associates, a business consulting firm, Axelrod Learning, a publisher of business and life skills training, workshops and materials. Consulting and speaking since 1978, Mitch has presented more than 3,000 seminars, workshops, lectures, keynotes and clinics to one million people from 30 countries on business, sales, marketing, entreprenuership, life skills and playing the new game. Mitch consults with Fortune 500 corporations, banks, insurance companies, small businesses and individuals on how to boost income, increase sales and profits, and derive more fun, fulfillment and satisfaction from work. Mitch teaches technologies and shares philosophies for people to enrich life, enhance livelihood, and earn a more prosperous living. He hosted Success-Abilities… 21 Life Skills for the 21st Century, on WEVD in New York, a prime time talk-radio show about workplace success and prosperous living. Success-Abilities also appears online on the Success-Talk Network. Mitch was featured in a one-hour television special, "Let's Communicate: Issues That Effect Family Life"

sponsored by the West Orange Municipal Alliance and New Jersey Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Focused on Success-Abilities for Teens, this show aired for three months on New Jersey cable networks to 250,000 homes on the East coast. He speaks at universities, associations, organizations and corporations and has been a guest on New York's WABC, WQCD, WXRK, the Business Radio Network, Wsradio.com and hundreds of other radio shows. Mitch is featured in the first anniversary article, Columbine and American Values by the Newhouse News Service. He shares the lead story with Presidential Advisor Karen Hughes and Governor Jane Swift, “When Professionals Step Down” and has appeared in national publications including American Express Your Company, National Underwriter, Selling Advantage, Executive Sales Briefing, Selling Power and Professional Speaker Magazine. He is quoted and mentioned in dozens of articles on the Internet at CareerBuilder.com, theWhiz.com, TheGuild.com and many more. The Axelrod Learning library of books, essays, special reports, seminars, audio and video tapes, workbooks, courses and training programs are used by tens of thousands of people in the U.S. and 25 countries around the world. Mitch's Max Sales skills course has the distinction as the only one in the world approved by the legal departments at Prudential and Met Life. As a past Board Member of the National Speaker's Association - New York Chapter, in 1996 Mitch was

presented the Golden Mike Award for speaking excellence and industry contribution. He co-founded and is Past-Chairman of the Mentor-Mentee program, which has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of professionals. He has personally coached and mentored more than 3,000 people to enhance life and improve market value. Mitch's has published, Sales Alchemy… Turning Your Customers Into Gold; Get Powerful Testimonials, Ringing Endorsements and MEGA-Referrals; Seven Ways to Lift Your Leverage-Ability and is a featured contributor in, The Most Effective Articles Ever Written, and How to Survive a Recession. Mitch’s new book, “The NEW Game™!” is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2004. Mitch is a master of The NEW Game – he has been applying New Game principles and strategies in his business and with his clients for a quarter century. Axelrod Learning publishes newsletters including, Life Skills for Business, Business Skills for Life™, The Daily Bread™ and The NEW Game News™! A single father, skier and baseball coach, Mitch lives with his son Adam, and his bulldog Bruiser in West Orange, New Jersey.

The New Game of Business - Order Form

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Documents

by Mitchell Axelroddocshare01.docshare.tips/files/1665/16653463.pdf · Tim and Jill, Chumley and Barb, Debbie and Bob Nolan. To my departed Uncle Marvin and cousin Donna Krone, I