May 2009 Issue

SāväntCorporate Success Journal

Crisis or Opportunity10 things you need to know... pg24

Doing More With Less... pg14

Shifting Demographics... pg16

May 2009

In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity. -John F. Kennedy

success demands distinction

distinction demands design

Contents

Doing More With Less

Shifting Demographics

The science of positive

The Need for Speed

Crisis or Opportunity

From the Publisher

The key to today’s success

The Great Change

You are what you think

Act calmly, act logically, act now.

10 things you need to know...

Changing the media

pg5

pg5

pg5

pg5

pg5

pg5

SāväntA voice of calm and reason

in a market rich with opportunity.

From Savant

Today’s business landscape is changing, it is challenging and it is concerning for those activly engaged in moving commerce forward.

You will never hear our publication say that this market is easy or that it is not as changed as it is, you will however, hear us say that with great change comes great opportunity. The current business landscape is one that offers significant opportunity for those who are able to identify it, plan for it, act on it and consistently capitalize on that opportunity.

I spent a great deal of time on the phone this last week with a client who was saying that he had been watching the news and believed that industries are going to fail and that we are indeed heading for a recession of apocalyptic proportions. I was interested, so I listened, he proceed to tell me he believed that the airline industries, automotive industries and textile manufacturing industries would all suffer catastrophic failure.... And so goes the media.

It is this mentality that has spurred the need for our publication, the need to understand current

conditions only as indicators of opportunity. To spend more time focused on what can be then what cannot and to embrace principles that have helped some of the wealthiest people in the world use tumultuous markets as fertile ground for growth and opportunity.

Once, I had heard this account from my client I asked a series simple questions. First, do you believe people will stop driving cars, traveling on airplanes or wearing cloths in the foreseeable future? Second, If someone could establish a way to integrate just in time manufacturing in the automobile industry and eliminate the need for car lots and sales people do you think they would make any money? NO & BILLIONS were the answers.

Our publication is focused on bringing a calm voice of reason and a distinct position of opportunistic attitudes. We understand things are difficult, we also understand that there will be comapnies who will die, those who survive and those who thrive in this market. Which one will you be?

“The time has come for those committed to

success to leave the rest of the world behind

and seize the opportunities before them.”

Chris RiddellDirector

pg4

Crisis or Opportunity10 things you need to know...

I believe that the word crisis has received some bad press over the years. Webster defines a crisis as a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, for better or for worse, is determined, a turning point.I have long taught my clients that crisis is not a bad thing! This mind set is not one easy to grasp and even harder to explain in the board meeting when every-one else is choking and you are chuckling!It is this mind set that inspired me to create a list of the 10 most important things to help every business person handle a moment of crisis.Number 1- The Mantra, Crisis is not a bad thing! I teach my clients to write this down on an entire sticky pad and stick them in random places around their house and office. This belief is not a normal

reaction to crisis, but the normal reaction is what we are trying to avoid. Often in natural disasters we see the most basic reactions to crisis, running, scream-ing and hiding under the desks...it is always the heros that stand in the midst of the chaos and bring peace and order. Hollywood has made billions putting these kind of stories on the silver screen. As a firefighter or a police officer you are trained to react calmly and to not view the crisis as a bad thing but to identify the opportunities to safely and calmly take action to change the inevitable outcome. Perhaps more CEOs need to attend fire fighting school! As leaders in business this should be our reac-tion as well, our reaction to a “crisis” should be one of contemplation, focus and opportunistic attitudes to try to identify how to best move with the change.

Sāvänt By:Christian Stuart

Number 2- Opportunity is the Spawn of Crisis. When the world is intent on running and hiding... Sell sneakers and camouflage. No matter the market, no matter the industry or the company every crisis can and will have opportunity if you simply look at it thought the correct lens. If you remember your last eye examination when your Doctor asked you “bet-ter or worse?” This is the same process you need to take when you look at a crisis. Keep looking through different eyes, through different prospective until you find the opportunity. It is there, it just might require a new prescription!Number 3- Grow Your Rudder. In aviation and nautical engineering there are mathematical calcula-tions of how to establish the appropriate size of a rudder for an airplane or a ship. These calculations

are precise and have been followed since the dawn of the industries. The reason becomes clear as you understand the need for a rudder. In a ship a rudder is controled by the helm or wheel. If the captin turns the wheel the rudder is deflected and in the water pushes against it and turns the boat. If that rudder is to small the captain turn the wheel, the rudder is deflected, but the boat does not turn. Business is no different, although unfortunalty there is no mathmat-ical calculations for its size! In business the CEO turn the wheel and the ship, the company, is expected to follow. Unfortunalty many companies suffer from un-dersized rudders, people and practices not conducive to change. As a ship builder you can imagine that the time to deal with this problem would have been in dry dock not when the ship is headed for an iceburg.

There is a need in business to identify these issues and deal with them promptly before significant cisis presents itslef. The news media is riddeled with storis of companies large and small that could not change course quick enough and died. Number 4- Plan for Change,The old adage the only constant in life is change is more applicable today than it ever has been. Change seems to happen today more quickly than ever before and we need to ensure we have planned accordingly. There is no more efficient way to ruin a business than for leadership to believe that how we do things today will be the way we do them tomorrow. Change is not only inevitable but it will also not bend to the wishes of anyone or any organization. Trends, economic conditions, consumer confidence can not be impact-

ed by me or anyone else on a large scale. But under-standing these indicators and steering the advertising dollars, sales projections and primary focus to capital-ize on them will result in a different outcome than running around the boardroom screaming... I prom-ise!Number 5- Train for Change, Imagine the next time an employee comes into your office and instead of “AHHHHHHHH the sky is falling” opens with “ you know I think that we have a significant oppor-tunity here, I feel as if there is some change on the horizon and I believe we could make some changes to better capitalize on it.” This will never happen unless you train for it. As a leader you have the opportu-nity to teach people that it is this mentality that will become a self fulfilling prophesy, if you embrace the

pg6

“Opportunity is the spawn of crisis, when the

world is intent on running and hiding...

sell sneakers and camouflage.”

Continued on page 25

change and you build the tools to deal with the crisis you will be more successful and therefore more valu-able to the team and organization. Your job will be more secure and you will become a valuable asset in times of change.Number 6- Avoid the Media, This is not a stick your head in the sand conversation! It is important to understand what is going on and how it may impact you in order to identify potential opportunity. The caution that I give is simply, regardless of how much you embrace change the media will begin to wear you down if you allow it to permeate your life. In no other generation has access to information been more abundant. On you computer, your TV, your news-paper, magazine, handheld, laptop, radio even when you are standing in line to get a coffee. The truth is

you will never avoid it, simply limit your exposure. It is not important that you get every annalists’ opinion on every economic indicator, it is frankly not healthy. Today’s media is a lot of doom and gloom! The more you hear the more you may believe, and that is, as they say, a bad thing.Number 7- Extract the mold, I have personally watched a fortune 500 company whither on the vine because the staff of that company gave up, laid down and decided to just collect a check until the inevitable day of demise. It was not a bad product, it was not a market condition or a crisis it was a mold that spread through the ranks of the entire organization. You can not afford this if you have 1 or 1,000 employees. The need to take swift action and to eradicate every last spore should be the single highest priority on your task list. A company who shares a passion for the future will grow one that does not will not.Number 8- Innovate, Crisis requires action and

innovation to turn it into opportunity. Simply think-ing of crisis as opportunity is not adequate to make change. Although the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting differ-ent results) often brings smiles and chuckles, when applied to business it is simply far to often business as usual. Capitalizing on opportunity in a tumultuous market requires you to innovate, change your sales process, evaluate products and services, reduce over-head, control spending, and other things that may require innovation.Number 9- Stay healthy, I have recently watched as a footbal team was without it’s star quaterback and watch a playoff bound team struggle and loose nearly every game in which he did not play. You organiza-tion regardelss of size needs you on deck and operat-

ing at 110%. This means stay healthy physically and emotionally, take time to do things you enjoy, sleep, eat, and avoid the temptation to burn the candle on both ends and in the middle. Change will require hard work but most importantly it will require you. Times of crisis are pivotal moments that require lead-ership, that require vision and require you.Number 10- Take Action, avoid talking and plan-ning your changes to death. History shows that those who shoot their rifles hit more targets! You can not move forward unless you move, change is a verb.

Crisis is not a bad thing and the more you embrace this fact the more you will understand that although webster may not agree, successful people world wide will, that opportunity is indeed a synonym of crisis! Change may not be easy but those who find ways to embrace it, who are able to inspire those around them to join in this coo against the pessimism will become

pg22

“Avoid talking and planning your changes to death. History

shows that those who shoot their rifles hit more targets!”

Continued from page 14


successful. The truth about today’s economic conditions is that people will continue to buy things, drive cars, eat out, and take vacations. They will do it differently then they have before, they will choose to spend their money in different ways but they will continue to spend.

Our challenge is not to make them buy what we are selling but find what they are buying and sell them a better one of those.

In the words of John F. Kennedy, a member of a family who made extraor-dinary wealth during one of the most devastating economic eras in history, “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”

pg23


Doing More with LessThe key to today’s success

Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor acep-tatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis


Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor aceptatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui voluptae debis estia quissuntium remquam que doluptatur? Dolecaborpor rese vendiction rem iducima incitio eum faccaborem audigArest? Satquos, Ti. Ximusse signa, alescerit, pere, cae, et ad conte, spereArbit fintrarit. Ectam diorae et pri iam. Dam

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pg8

By:Mitch Peterson

Leadership Now PleaseDifficult time mean we need leaders more than ever

Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor acep-tatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui vo-

Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor aceptatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui voluptae debis estia quissuntium remquam que doluptatur? Dolecaborpor rese vendiction rem iduc-ima incitio eum faccaborem audigMoverra venic mo erudem perum tus is clus abis, quid re dere ac viveri-bus, con haberfe rarensuliis. Nam hicat publice rcerit condesimihil crei iam tum ati ingulto virio, querit diemus confess upplin re pratabu ssedepe rtamdis erei ideliam Romnoss isquemumum, quodicibus estrum tervis rec tanum dem hae fured fuius cotes hum rem, qui inguliis. Licibus bonit vitalinem quo venatam di-tiamp ratifer avercerria L. Udetora publinaterei public

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pg9

By:Ron Zeller

Leadership Now(cont)

Becoming the leader within

Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor acep-tatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui vo-luptae debis estia quissuntium remquam que dolup-tatur? Dolecaborpor rese vendiction rem iducima incitio eum faccaborem audigRunclum ad incuppl. Firtieniam moremur. Ad pulicies huidesi catracte essulto ta, facciem te pecteba tuita, viviste, consules veretrum iae nonsum audemun tritem dertuus in pos bon te, mil halinat, quem ortussis, nos ocupionvoc, sed constandam pricia res condac intelinclus erfec-tusquam ocatuit. Dam fur. Dam quonit.Gulos bon tem non se con senam se fora dit, omni-um ortum, quam perem fatiemperio hilisseni contra et, moltur, factatus aperendeo cerio verum publis int. Fultoresuli consuam et publict anterdiis cum mus arternum ubli, fored sere caelii condam oraris octum consuli ctorumere ac tenaturnius, sidemus, denicus-quo us; C. Sati es horte, cotessimis.Ur ad in vicies publicae, tenestem atiam nonsu mac-tua opublintra nesseres ipimus inatum, nonsul vis-simi liciam dium ac ret; nosterem intis nemuniciam rempon se, no. Es eterfena, sentiam ima, sendacer ad dum untrum pereo vivemora pris sulto vistissi fue tum inatatis terfecerei paricaequite manum distrit L. Fex no. co tebatum consulegitam hebunt.Suliis; nonstuam nequid cem nihilis or ad deri potius

Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor aceptatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui voluptae debis estia quissuntium remquam que doluptatur? Dolecaborpor rese vendiction rem iduc-ima incitio eum faccaborem audigMoverra venic mo erudem perum tus is clus abis, quid re dere ac viveri-bus, con haberfe rarensuliis. Nam hicat publice rcerit condesimihil crei iam tum ati ingulto virio, querit diemus confess upplin re pratabu ssedepe rtamdis erei ideliam Romnoss isquemumum, quodicibus estrum tervis rec tanum dem hae fured fuius cotes hum rem, qui inguliis. Licibus bonit vitalinem quo venatam di-tiamp ratifer avercerria L. Udetora publinaterei public

Sāvänt

change and you build the tools to deal with the crisis you will be more successful and therefore more valu-able to the team and organization. Your job will be more secure and you will become a valuable asset in times of change.Number 6- Avoid the Media, This is not a stick your head in the sand conversation! It is important to understand what is going on and how it may impact you in order to identify potential opportunity. The caution that I give is simply, regardless of how much you embrace change the media will begin to wear you down if you allow it to permeate your life. In no other generation has access to information been more abundant. On you computer, your TV, your news-paper, magazine, handheld, laptop, radio even when you are standing in line to get a coffee. The truth is

you will never avoid it, simply limit your exposure. It is not important that you get every annalists’ opinion on every economic indicator, it is frankly not healthy. Today’s media is a lot of doom and gloom! The more you hear the more you may believe, and that is, as they say, a bad thing.Number 7- Extract the mold, I have personally watched a fortune 500 company whither on the vine because the staff of that company gave up, laid down and decided to just collect a check until the inevitable day of demise. It was not a bad product, it was not a market condition or a crisis it was a mold that spread through the ranks of the entire organization. You can not afford this if you have 1 or 1,000 employees. The need to take swift action and to eradicate every last spore should be the single highest priority on your task list. A company who shares a passion for the future will grow one that does not will not.Number 8- Innovate, Crisis requires action and

innovation to turn it into opportunity. Simply think-ing of crisis as opportunity is not adequate to make change. Although the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting differ-ent results) often brings smiles and chuckles, when applied to business it is simply far to often business as usual. Capitalizing on opportunity in a tumultuous market requires you to innovate, change your sales process, evaluate products and services, reduce over-head, control spending, and other things that may require innovation.Number 9- Stay healthy, I have recently watched as a footbal team was without it’s staff quaterback and watch a playoff bound team struggle and loose nearly every game in which he did not play. You organiza-tion regardelss of size needs you on deck and operat-

ing at 110%. This means stay healthy physically and emotionally, take time to do things you enjoy, sleep, eat, and avoid the temptation to burn the candle on both ends and in the middle. Change will require hard work but most importantly it will require you. Times of crisis are pivotal moments that require lead-ership, that require vision and require you.Number 10- Take Action, avoid talking and plan-ning your changes to death. History shows that those who shoot their rifles hit more targets! You can not move forward unless you move, change is a verb.

Crisis is not a bad thing and the more you embrace this fact the more you will understand that although webster may not agree, successful people world wide will, that opportunity is indeed a synonym of crisis! Change may not be easy but those who find ways to embrace it, who are able to inspire those around them to join in this coo against the pessimism will

pg14

“Avoid talking and planning your changes to death. History

shows that those who shoot their rifles hit more targets!.”



The Science of the positiveHow the metal state effects success



Agnis sitis et, autet fugia volut ullent apero berro idemquid ut aliscie ndandic ipidebit repedi accumque ius.Aborioreri consequiam que nus es con reria velestis sin plignia am soluptaecea aut anis ea verum nit ellant hitate expe eat autende rnatati ustorumque nostem andesequis quunt a dolupti usandis aut as nis pra auda voluptur archillor serio. Ut labo. Ut quidis aut dolendaero et quis doloritia nam alique sa dolorem faceatias quunt facepro to que volorep ernatur, simi, sum landio occaecus.Ehenimus, sequatium quaepelit aspeles doloremos volorepudam et repelesci doluptas apeliquo maios eius, cus si volupta tintiam quis atur re si alis ad eati ilibearum etur, omnimagnatem qui ut volor aceptatque volupturi necum sanissi ipsam faceatur, suntis et accust doluptis di berferi amusdae riatur, qui voluptae debis estia quissuntium remquam que doluptatur? Dolecaborpor rese vendiction rem iducima incitio eum faccaborem audigArest? Satquos, Ti. Ximusse signa, alescerit, pere, cae, et ad conte, spereArbit fintrarit. Ectam diorae et pri iam. Dam

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pg15

By:Dr. JasonAdams

The Power OF PerceptionThe Choice is yours

It has been said that that man lives at the mercy of perception. That we are defined by our surroundings that we are shaped by our ability and that perception is the end result of factors outside our control. To this I say… WRONG! Perception is a tool, it is something that those who understand it can utilize to better their existence and for those who believe that they are at the mercy of it, to suffer and die.I have had the opportunity in my career to give countless presentations in front of groups large and small and over the years I have become reasonably proficient at it. One day I had been subject to a laps in geographic wherewithal and had booked a presen-tation at 9:00 AM in Portland Oregon, 6:00 in Los Angeles and 9:30 the following day in Seattle, appar-ently my assistant missed that day in geography!All was fine until after a grueling day of presentation, 2 hour flight, presentation 2 hour flight I realized that I was indeed the last person standing at the bag-gage carousel and the bags were all gone. My luggage was apparently somewhere between Los Angeles and an unknown international destination. The follow-ing day was going to be one of the biggest lessons in perception one could have.The meeting started like any other, the introduction the slide show, the applause… as I walked out from

behind the curtain I realized that the room was be-ginning to make some assumptions, this day was dif-ferent. Needles to say my feeble attempts at ironing my road weary clothes had done little to impact the obvious “pre worn” look and my ability to hide the bags under my eyes was failing. As I stood there recit-ing the presentation I had given a hundred times I was actually able to watch as people’s perceptions be-gin to be formed. First you could see the crowd start to disengage, and then start to look for the exits and check their phones for any “emergency” they could use to rush off. Some people found their emergencies but most stayed for, what I assume was, lack of better options. As I started to wrap up at the 50min mark I could see people beginning to pack their things, tidy their areas and finish up their coffee. At the close of my event on average I would spend an hour to an hour and a half talking, asking questions and signing people up for our service. On this occa-sion not a single person came up to talk to me, not one question, not one “thank you so much, this has changed my life”… NOTHING.As I flew home that evening I had a 2 hour flight, a 3 hour layover and another 1 hour flight to try to figure out what it was that had gone so terrible wrong. (I know in hindsight it looks soooo clear!)

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Perception tool or terror?(cont)

Manage the madness

My business is corporate image creation and profes-sional differentiation. It was what I was teaching in that class. I was telling people that your image mat-ters that you need to look different, better, faster, cheaper than your competition you need to manage perception. It was clear that I needed to take my own advice. I stood in front of that audience not as a consultant or a professional reference, I stood there as a road weary salesman with a product to pitch and a message obvi-ously not worth much at all. I stood there as another snake oil salesman who they would kindly humor until the lunch break. But what was the difference from the many wildly successful presentations before and after? The words were the same, I could recite those in my sleep, the venue was the same the introductions rousing, the lighting good, the muffins fresh, the coffee hot… what was it? The Answer is PERCEPTION.Knowing that perception is able to impact an event in this manner means a few key things that have ap-plication in your business right now. The first and most obvious is PERCEPTION MATTERS, and it matters big. It does not matter if you are selling real estate, corporate jets, financial planning or tennis shoes perception matters. Every business is differ-

ent, some industries if you wore a suit you would be shuned, some if you did not, don’t bother showing up. But image is bigger than what you wear, bigger than you car than your jewelry or lack thereof, per-ception is something that encompasses you attitude, your language, your lifestyle. It is understanding who you are today and how that fits with who you want

managed how people perceived them and they lever-aged that PERCEPTION.Now, is this because they are the biggest corporation in the world? It is because they can spend millions on advertising every month? Or is it because they under-stand how to leverage this principle? I propose that it is the latter. Perception is not about spending mil-

your customers, employees, boss, coworkers even your friends and family to perceive about you.In today’s world the power of perception is even more critical than it ever has been. People are skittish, they run at any sign of weakness and people want to make sure that they are not the last ones caught on a sink-ing ship. Financial markets, consumer indexes, even local news is filled with stories of people who are run-ning with the crowd to and from industries because of PERCEPTION.When you understand this power you start to see how to use it in your business, for instance… Wal-Mart has realized that in the current down turned economy that there will be a lot of shoppers who are not part of their historic demographic that are up for grabs looking to save money at every turn. What did they do? They have changed their image, rebranded to try to shake off the bass fisherman, redneck stigma often associated with the chain. They built a new, more classy and modern, logo. They used imagery of the demographic they were targeting; they talked about hosting parties and what a great hostess you would be because you shopped there. They talked about how much money you would save over a year just buying things you already do somewhere else. They went after their target with a laser beam. They

Sāvänt

“There are consumers out there that want what you have and are

not using your product because you are not managing

perception to the degree you should. “

Manage your perception(cont)

Use the power for good.

lions of dollars in fact most companies hav not even taken the simple and most basic steps. Many compa-nies have never even had a meeting to discuss a what the perception of their market is of them or what they want it to be? Far too often in the companies we work with we find that the desired corporate percep-tion is so vague that it differs from department to department. That the sales team thinks it is one thing and the marketing department something completely different.Whether you are an entrepreneur or a CEO of a mul-tinational company it is time for you to take a hard look at the perception of your organization. There is business out there that wants what you have and is not using your product because you are not manag-ing perception to the degree you should. Changing that perceptions can be as simple as de-ciding what it is going to be and aligning everyone to that, for others it will require more significant change, rebranding, HR changes, marketing develop-ment, sales process re-engineering, even a complete shift in strategy. It can be done. Those who do it will find that today’s market presents opportunity even when others are halting all progress. These changes are fundamental

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they are key to growth but they need not be expen-sive. Technology today allows for amazing things to happen, automation and systemization that was not even a dream 10 years ago. Things that allow you to grow your business, to utilize the internet and other medium of delivery to reach audiences globally who need your product or service, but most importantly it is there for those who are willing to commit to change, and to take the steps to manage their identity and put the power of PERCEPTION to work for them.

Chris Riddell is the founder and owner of 3 Degrees Consulting, LLC

(www.3deg.biz) and the Owner/Director of

Savant: Business Success Journal.

His systems of business consulting, creative development and sales process re-engineering are

helping clients internationally establish success within their changing marketplaces.

The Real Estate opportunityNo really it’s true...

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SāväntCorporate Success Journal

June Issue

-Motivating The Team

-Critical Communication

- Sales Goals & Other Myths

- Building a brand on purpose

- The power of Perception

For advertising information please contact [email protected]

$11.95 US

Documents

May 2009 Issue