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Stephen Novak gets out his crystal ball and predicts what we can expect in the year2013.

Inspired by Jeffrey Gitomer

• Some customers will say “No”
• A competitor is going to undercut your estimate and get the job
• You’re going to say something stupid
• Your customer is going to ask you a question that you are not prepared for
• One of your customers are going to complain about your price
• You will want to snap back at a customer
• You’ll have a big sale fall through
• You will become frustrated with where you are and where you want to be
• At least once you’ll think that the grass is greener somewhere else
• You will miss opportunities at meetings and parties because you forgot your business cards

But, I also predict that if you endure those challenges, keep a level head, and do what you’ve been trained to do – with a positive attitude:

• Most customers will say yes!!!
• Competitors may beat our price, but never our service – they will come back!!!
• You are going to watch what you say and how you say it in order to get your point across professionally!!!
• You will know that if you study up on your product and service lines, you will become more prepared to answer any question confidently!!!
• Once you fully wrap your head around the truth of “Customer Trust,” you will realize that price isn’t the only reason that customers will come to you!!!
• You won’t snap back at customers because you realize that although you may win that battle, you will eventually lose the war!!!
• You will close many big sales.  Many of them being repeat customers!!!
• You will realize that nothing stays the same.  You will either get better or you will get worse – it’s up to you.  Then you will take steps to grow yourself both personally and professionally.  You will pick up a book.  You will listen to something inspirational or motivational instead of the clowns on the radio!!!
• You will contemplate change with a clear head.  You will never make rash or illogical decisions.  You will ask for help through difficult times and not make irrational choices that thrust change upon you!!!
• You will always be ready to talk to people at social events about who you are and what you do.  Prepare and practice a 30 second verbal “commercial” that you can whip out at any time.  And, of course, keep business cards with you at all times!!!
• You will come into your own and learn to relax and enjoy your customers!!!
• You are going to face each day with a renewed enthusiasm!!!
• You are going to have a healthy, happy, prosperous new year!!!

Pat yourself on the back for all of your hard work and dedication in 2012 – learn from any past mistakes and successes – Now, let’s take our eyes out of the rear view mirror, look straight through the windshield, and MAT THE GAS PEDAL!!!

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2013 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt

I was with my childhood friends the first time that I felt it.  We were passing a construction site when it first crept in to my subconscious.  I spotted leftover plywood and two-by-fours in a scrap bin behind a six foot fence…it whispered.  It enticed me to create, unencumbered by logic, whatever I imagined.  An hour later I was white-knuckling the handlebars of my bicycle while headed full speed towards a makeshift ramp that had formerly been a pile of scrap.  We all took turns, laughed, and with each scream of happiness we unknowingly fed the creature.  Now awake, from that day forward it would always be lurking.  It would help me to get my first date and land that first job.  It would irritate me until I got the courage up to ask for that first raise.  It pushed me in front of a group of sales trainees and through it all, my fear of failure became my best friend.  That fear forced me to prepare properly ahead of time; which, of course, greatly improved the odds of my success.

The process is known in the world of extreme sports as “Feeding the Rat”

The phrase is first known to have been uttered from Mo Anthoine, a mountain climber, who is highlighted in the book “Feeding the rat” by Al Alvarez.  Some believe that the rat is a philosophy that motivates certain people to do “crazy” things.  I believe that the rat is alive in all of us.  It prowls under the surface of our awareness until it gets hungry.  It then gnaws on our well-being like an addict wanting their next fix – most of us have heard the phrase “Adrenalin Junkie”.  And, of course, crazy means different things to different people.

When we are young and are not as afraid to make mistakes, the rat is more present and accessible.  In that state we are generally more mentally free from the possibility of failure.  Then, as life hands us our bumps and scrapes we unfortunately start to plan for failure and hold back.  Instead of taking risks, we throttle back for a more tame and sensible, albeit predictable path.  And while this tact may pay the bills and help keep the lions at bay (Very important, for sure), we should try to tap into that primeval instinctive urge to press the boundaries.  Our ancestors did this to survive physically – modern man must do this to survive mentally.

The principle of feeding the rat dovetails quite nicely into the business world.  The rat still requires feeding in order to move beyond the “Predictable” rut that most people and businesses find themselves in today.  Staying put, just idling in their comfort zone irritates the rat.  Soon after, his mischief begins.  Then, after a while we become discontent, agitated with ourselves and everyone else.  Some may resign from one company and start with another only to find that they are still trapped in this self-imposed rut.  Owners or managers may become paralyzed, unable to effectively make decisions.  Entire company philosophies can fall victim as uninspired leaders and disconnected employees feed off of the business until the business no longer exists.  Many begin to feel trapped in their jobs with little real commitment to their own future and certainly not to the organization’s success.  This meager existence is no path towards success or happiness.

Take a chance!!!  Dare to be great!!!  No one becomes the best that they can be without stepping outside of their comfort zone.

So whether you’re dangling off of the side of a mountain, four-wheeling through some mud, kite surfing, white water rafting, or standing up in front of a group of your friends screaming down a makeshift ramp while being excited to be alive; you are feeding a primordial part of your very being.  The rat is that gnarly edge of our personalities (Our other half, so to speak) that makes pushing the edge possible.  The rat is always creeping about.  And sometimes it gets really, really hungry.  It needs to be fed…SO FEED IT!!!

Remember, Fear is there to prepare us, not hold us back.

“Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.” Claude T. Bissell

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2012 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

I was heading home after a late meeting and didn’t feel like cooking.  On my way was an Italian restaurant that I’d heard had great food – being a sucker for Italian, I thought I’d give it a try.  When I entered the building I walked to the front counter. I approached the employee behind the register who was seated on a bar stool leaning back against the wall while staring off into space.  I explained that this was my first visit, I had heard good things, and would like to order some dinner to-go.  The employee leaned forward…popped out his ear buds…and said, “Hugh”.   I took a step back and then repeated what I had just said.  He had a puzzled look on his face as he said, “You can’t order to-go food up here.” 

Of course I asked, “Well, where can I order food to-go?”  He pointed to an area towards the back of the restaurant…put his ear buds back in…and leaned back.  I walked to the area that he designated and waited…and waited.  Two servers walked by at least twice before I flagged one of them down.  I immediately recognized the why-are-you-bothering-me look on her face.  I’d go on, but the rest of my visit wasn’t any better.  This experience enlightened me to the fact that although good customer service may be hard to define, poor customer service stands out like fingernails scraping along a chalkboard.  Let me explain:

You could pull a hundred different people off the street and ask them the question, “What is good customer service?”  And you would probably get a hundred different responses.  What’s OK for one person may not be good for another, but there are some fundamentals that must be present in any customer interaction.

Some typical “good customer service” elements that we all look for are:

1. We want to feel welcomed when we enter a business.
2. We want to be treated with respect.
3. We want to be listened to.
4. We want to get what we were promised and treated fairly.
5. We want to be thanked for our business.

Any business that is serious about providing good customer service must have these elements at the core of their customer service process.  Keep in mind that these elements are just a starting point.  If your goal is to provide excellent customer service, then you must notch up the intensity of the above elements while monitoring their effectiveness.  Tweak when necessary and eliminate any obstacle that prevents your customers from having such a positive experience that they honor you with their business time and time again.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

I remember when starting a new business was as easy as…

1. The IDEA.
2. Acquiring some powdered lemonade.
3. Mix it up in a pitcher with water, sugar, and ice.
4. Put up a card table by a busy sidewalk.
5. Painting a sign that reads, “ICE COLD LEMONADE .35 CENTS A GLASS”.
6. Smile and say hello to people. 
7. Make sure that the lemonade doesn’t get too watered down from the ice melting.

Come to think of it…starting a business today requires very similar steps.  Just on a larger scale.  Let’s look at some key points compared to our theoretical lemonade stand.

1. The idea  =  the visualization stage. This is usually the most exciting part.  One can explore the possibilities of taking a raw gut feeling and transforming a dream into something innovative, rare, and successful.  Enjoy this stage but don’t linger in it – once an idea is revealed, it quickly starts to accumulate dust and lose its luster.
2. Acquiring some powdered lemonade, sugar, water and ice  =  The acquisition of the materials and concepts that lay out the building blocks of the product or service that you want to sell.  This may require financing: please read one my earlier posts “Starting a small business” (July, 30^th 2011) for more information on this topic.
3. Mix it in a pitcher  =  the manufacturing, making, or developing your product or service.  This is the nuts-and-bolts of your operation.  If you are predominantly a service oriented business, how you do what you do is more important than what you do. It’s your know-how and skill that will differentiate you from your competition.  If you will provide a product, will you manufacture it yourself or have it built for you?  What will be unique about its nomenclature?
4. Put up a card table where people can see you  =  the location of your business.  This could be a standard brick and mortar or web based site.The U.S. Small Business Administration has an excellent page that discusses this topic in great detail.  http://www.sba.gov/content/tips-choosing-business-location
5. Paining a sign  =  advertising.  This is your declaration to the masses: who you are, what you are about, and what you can do for them.  This proclamation could be as subtle as a handing out business cards, or as obvious as a flying around in a blimp with your name plastered all over the side.  There are literally thousands of new and innovative ways to get you name out there.  Explore.  Have fun.    
6. Smile and say hello to people  =  customer service.  This involves hiring, training, and holding accountable qualified customer service artists.  Without a proper customer focused business strategy, you will be out of business in no time.
7. Make sure that the lemonade doesn’t get watered down  =  Quality control.  This may be one of the most overlooked areas of any small business.  Big businesses have processes like Six Sigma in place to measure and improve their products or processes.  It may not be practical or cost effective for a small business to have a whole quality control department; however, it must be the responsibility of everyone in your business to make sure that by the time your product or service contacts the customer, it represents what you need it to. Any business must continually ensure that the products or services that they are offering exceed their customers’ expectations.

So we’ve had the vision, got the startup cash, created our product or service, picked our location and got the word out…whew…that was hard work.  I think I’ll have a glass of that lemonade now.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

 Everything we do requires some form of a process.  From brushing our teeth to planning a trip, there is always a chain of events.  Merriam-Webster defines a process as:

1 a : progress, advance <in the process of time>

   b : something going on : proceeding

2 a (1) : a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result <the process of growth> (2) : a continuing natural or biological activity or function <such life processes as breathing> b : a series of actions or operations conducing to an end; especially : a continuous operation or treatment especially in manufacture.

We learned as a child how to brush our teeth, walk, and eventually ride a bike.  These processes took practice and determination to perfect.  A novice salesperson should constantly read new books, continually train with knowledgeable teachers, and diligently practice with the same resolve as a strong-minded child.  Come to think of it – experienced salespeople should do the same thing!!!   

 As an exercise, let’s look at a basic step-by-step approach to sales – The ever enduring 5 Steps To A (Anything) Sale:

1) Friendly greeting.

2) Assess needs.

3) Make recommendation.

4) Explain benefits and features.

5) Ask for the sale.

 If we left out step 2, we wouldn’t have any idea which product or service was right for the customer.  It would not help to push the two-car garage if the buyer’s main concern is the age of the roof.  Your job as a salesperson is to seek out what the customer wants.

 If we did not explain the benefits and features in Step 4, it would be impossible for the customer to differentiate our product or service from our competitor.  

 If we did not even ask the customer for the pleasure of his or her business…well, we probably should be doing something else for a living.

 Just as if we had forgotten to use a toothbrush while brushing our teeth, we could not be as effective as we should have been.

 BEWARE:  Do not allow yourselves to become slaves to any process just for the sake of the process.  If what you are doing ain’t working, you MUST try something else.  If the process gets in the way of customer communication, scrap it…amend it…modernize it (Read, train, practice).  Every sales process should enhance customer interaction, and keep a salesperson on track.  A process should NOT be there just to hook customers into buying something that will later regret.   

“We must first identify, before we can satisfy the customer’s proclivity…profitably”.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

Work Hard – A strong work ethic is the foundation from which anything worthwhile is built.  If you are a slacker…Stay home.  You’ll just get in the way of someone who is truly trying to get something done.  If you just want to trade time for money, that’s fine…, I guess…but don’t expect any true level of success.  The old saying, “Work smart, not hard” is fine as well; as long as we understand that we still have to put in the time and do more than the minimum requirements of a profession in order to excel at that profession.  While cream usually rises to the top without any effort, it’s usually beaten up and churned into butter.

Do the job right – Whatever the task, do it right the first time, every time.  And while I try not to deal in absolutes, doing poor work will absolutely kill your business.  Have or establish a well-designed, functional, measurable quality control process.  Never accept substandard or even mediocre products or performance.  Everyone makes mistakes; However, It’s how you manage those mistakes that will differentiate you from your competition.  Make sure that you have the proper tools to accomplish the job.  Make sure that you or your personnel are properly trained to complete the job.  This area, if not mastered will turn Mr. “Good enough” into Mr. “Out of business.”  

Have Integrity and Honor – Simply stated – Integrity is what you do when no one is looking.  A person with good integrity: keeps promises, is truthful, consistent, and not interested in the Quick-fix. They know that they aren’t perfect but strive for constant improvement.   

To me, honor is the inner respect and high self esteem that you will gain from good integrity.  Shame is what you will experience with poor integrity. 

Possess Good Character – Closely tied with integrity and honor, your character is the values, beliefs, and nature of who you are.  Make sure that each one of those core values are firmly rooted in goodness and decency.  If your moral compass can’t point due north, you will never achieve meaningful success.

In his book: “Winners Never Cheat” successful businessman and author, Jon Huntsman Sr. challenges us to think about the kind of person that you want to do business with…then…be that person.  Huntsman writes, “The rationale that you have to cheat to stay competitive is a powerful lure. Moral bankruptcy is the inevitable conclusion.”

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

It’s not as hard to start a small business as you may think. In today’s high tech world it’s much easier than you might think, you just need to know a few key points and in no time you will have your small business up and running!

Getting a small Business Loan:

If you don’t have a little cash set aside you might want to think about applying for a small business loan. If you have good credit it is usually very easy to apply and you don’t have to jump through all the hoops and the paper work is usually very minimal.

You can find reputable firms online and most do not charge an application fee. Most times if you qualify for an unsecured loan you will find out within a day or two if you have the loan and what steps to take next.

If you don’t want to use your own personal assets then this is the best way to go, especially if you are looking for between $10,000 and $100,000.

Next you will want to decide if you want to incorporate your business or not. There are pros and cons to this so make sure you do your homework and find out what will be best for you.

Incorporation:

The best part of being incorporated is that your business is not attached to your personal assets. This means that business owners personal property won’t be part of any lawsuits or creditors associated with your personal assets or property. The tax benefits are also a plus when you are incorporated because corporations are taxed at a lower rate and credit ratings are established for the business and not based on an individuals credit rating.

You can do this online or go to a business lawyer, the information you will need to have on hand are the state you are incorporating in and what type of corporation you will be establishing. For example are you applying for a Basic Corporation, S-Corp or LLC.

You will then need to apply for a Tax ID Number. This again is fairly easy.

Tax ID Number:

Also known as the EIN or Employer Identification Number, it is a 9 digit number that is assigned by the IRS to any type of business (partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship etc.) You will need this tax id number for all business transactions, filing your taxes, banking etc.

You can also apply for your Tax ID online, it’s a simple process and usually takes approximately 5-10 minutes.

One of the most important decisions you will have when starting a business is the name you want to use for your company. Will it be something that tells others what the company does or will it be a family name? Maybe you want to incorporate both into your company name.

Whatever you choose you have to think of how it will be viewed by your soon to be customer base. Choosing a business name is very important and personal decision so remember, when you do decide, this is a name that will be with your business for a very long time!

Go through the yellow pages, what names pop out at you? What is it about those names that you like, that stick in your head? If you are going to have a website make sure you choose a name that will stick in your customers head and will be easy for them to start.

Remember, most of your business will be word of mouth, make sure that it’s something that is easy to say, type, write and remember and you will on your way to a successful and profitable business.

You might also want to think about choosing a name that is ‘associative’, this type of name helps your customers to know what it is you do, such as Hair Designs by Hayley or Gibbons Gutters.

Just remember what you want your name to say and portray when choosing your business name and make sure it’s something you can and want to live with for a very long time.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

Business Ethics; the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.

What does that definition mean to you? In business this means that you need to decide what is acceptable and what isn’t when it comes to running your business and dealing with your customers.

For instance, if you have a business where you pet sit, obviously you are going to have to set up rules and regulations when it comes to what you or your employees will do for the pets and what you won’t do, along with the type of behavior you will accept not only from the pets but from your employees as well.

Obviously you aren’t going to allow your employees to physically abuse the pets they are sitting for in any way, shape or form. You also want to be as honest as possible to your clients. It is never easy to tell a customer or client no, so when it comes to something as sensitive as this you really need to be careful.

This is where business ethics really comes into play. As a business owner, you know that the old saying ‘the customer is always right’ isn’t really true, there will be times when you will come across a customer that is more than difficult.

When it comes to these customers you must be polite, understanding and do your best to take care of them without hurting your business in any way. If you can’t take care of them, then do your best at letting them know that while you would love to help them and please them, it just isn’t working out and you are sorry you couldn’t help them in the way they needed you to.

Business relations is so very important and when you are caught lying, cheating or stealing from your clients or customers this is not only bad business ethics but it is very bad for business as well.

Doing your best, being as honest as possible and dealing with your clients or customers in a friendly and respectful way so as to keep them coming back to you in the future and of course so that they spread the word that you are a very ethical company.

Every business has losses, the more you cut down on these the better your bottom line. Find out where most of your money is going and see where you can cut back to save.

If you are online do some research into hosting companies, make sure you are with one that can handle your volume and that it’s cost effective. There are many hosting companies out there so make sure you have the best and that they have good pricing.

Buy in bulk when possible. Every business needs supplies, are you getting the best deal from your supplier? Check around, you might be able to negotiate for a better price with your current supplier if you let them know that you have found the same products elsewhere at a better price.

Bartering is a great way to get what you need without having to spend cash for it. Whatever you sell, there has to be something you can trade for a service you might need, look around and see what the possibilities are.

There is tons of free stuff out there! Let’s say you need a new door, flooring, shelves. Check online and in the newspaper ads, see what people are giving away just to be rid of it that you could use in your business.

If you don’t need something for the long term check around and see if you can’t borrow or rent it. It will save you money in the long run and you won’t have to worry about trying to sell it later on.

Check on auction sites or the local newspaper for auctions in your area. Many times when when businesses are closing you have a great opportunity to purchase things at less than half of what they are worth!

Keep a list of what you are in need of where everyone can see it. This way if they come across something they can let you know or you can keep your eye out for these items too.

Negotiation never hurts anyone the worst they can say is no and the best thing that can happen is that you get it for a discounted price. So whenever there is something you could use for your business see what kind of deal they are willing to make.