Business people are fascinated by the benefits, profits and potential of technology. Just visit any tech event and witness the financiers, service providers and the media networking with techies to discover “the next business thing.”

But despite all this “technology-transfer”, why isn’t there more technology in business? After 15 years of consulting with more than 430 firms and presenting to or interviewing another 10,000 business leaders, I’m dismayed by how little technology actually makes it into most mainstream, medium and small businesses:

• Most inventories are still managed without RFID or other systems tied into the POS. Despite this decade-old technology being “so easy,” I still see many companies doing it by hand.

• Few companies have good CRM systems. While this software works, few customers integrate their systems with their own sales culture and process or ensure sales force commitment, crippling many users from benefitting from such new technology.

• True cost-accounting information is scarce. Ask business owners what their product or service really costs to make, sell and service and few honestly know. If they had more knowledge, they could more confidently limits test new offers and features.

• Knowledge businesses still communicate with tools from the 1900′s. Despite the many better ways to present and engage their audiences, the gap between what companies say they sell and what customers hear and buy remains enormous. Too few businesses are developing mobile apps or distance learning.

Here’s why there isn’t more technology in business:

• The culture of technology clashes with mainstream business. The technology culture values perfection of their means while mainstream business struggles to convert these means into profitable ends.

• Tech people are schooled to woo investors and grants not to sell to customers. Inventors and startups believe they must write plans to get financing before they approaching and selling customers. Customers need to be understood and served but investors want to be bought out and move on. Who is more important to business longevity?

• Associations and business-plan contests reward planning skills not results. Our schools, associations and governments reward techies more for their thinking than for their sales and profits.

• Social media often encourages engagement without closure. Blogging and tweeting without closing business is like having a fiancé for five years without a marriage.

Why should you in the technology community react or even care? Because mainstream businesses need you, your value and they have money to pay you.

Consider these 3 ways to help you put more of your technology in business:

• Make your “thing” work manually before you try to make it work with technology.

• Understand how your customers use your thing to make money, and whether it’s by selling more, spending less, saving time, reducing risk or improving their lifestyles.

• Sell some version of your product or expertise from the start while you seek investors.

Technology companies have big shoes to fill in sustaining the Western Pennsylvania economy beyond steel. Doing so takes driving their products and services deeply into mainstream business.

Through this column, I will provide you with ways and ideas to do so. Together, we can put more of your technology into business.

Whether it’s the economy, your family, business, community or society, probably some part of your world has suffered over the last five years. Unfortunately, there are enough signs show that the next few years will continue to challenge even the luckiest, blessed and oblivious among us.  Even as we strive do “right and good,” what do we do if: demand for what we sell, access to resources we require, or our energy and drive simply dwindles?  

If you need a pep talk, read on. 

1. Recognize bad signs fast. As it’s been said, once is a coincidence, twice a trend, three times, a certainty. If something isn’t working, figure out why ASAP. The world is changing faster yet most people can’t change at all.  Every day I speak to people who feel trapped in so many ways. They have become what they tolerate because their pain of changing remains greater than their pain of not changing. In business, however, your marketplace (customers, employees and vendors and investors) will tell you the truth. For the other parts, get the personal, professional or spiritual support you need to accelerate changing your bad to good.
2. Take stock in your value; Your Best and Highest Use®  Accept quickly that your expertise and your firm’s experience are your greatest treasure. They remain yours forever and always the ingredients and foundation of your renewal.
3. Keep your eyes open; seek opportunity. Wherever there is pain, need or hope, you can find and make opportunity. Follow your heart and your head. Your internal voices are ever more righteous as you mature.  When most people take a hit, they lose faith in their judgment, impact and options. Stand apart and stay confident.
4. Refocus, regroup, repurpose. Take your BHU and the opportunity or pain you uncovered and link these and then find customers who will value your repackaging. Activity matters so keep trying new versions and push forward. Try giving away your reinvention or better yet sell it right away. In facing setbacks such as bad timing, backward thinking and an ADHD society, rely on your passion and conviction to drive you to success. Remember your BHU is portable and deliverable. If you doubt where’s the demand for your value, go where you:
   1. Are getting human and viral response
   2. Have raving fans 
   3. Are scarce
5. Stay focused/don’t blink. Anything you create takes 3-6 months to generate reaction/awareness in the marketplace and 1-3 years to take root. Create the opportunities for quick wins and the metrics to prove your wins are real.  Before you can generate market success and profitable growth, remember to create prospects, and qualify and develop them into buyers.
   1. Connect online as much as you can

   2. Get seen, heard and interviewed
   3. Identify and nurture allies, referral sources and champions
   4. Make your viral marketing portable; avoid investing in fixed costs, particularly of traditional sales and marketing.

 Whether or not this all makes sense to you, think about the parts that do and put them to good use in refocusing your business in tough times. Email me at abirol@andybirol.com.

If you own a business in Western PA/Eastern Ohio, the more you learn about the trillion-dollar business opportunity called Marcellus Shale, the more you may wonder how you can best profit from it.  But unless you’re selling directly to gas drillers or energy giants, you are probably wondering what to offer, who to approach and how to go to market. As I’m helping my clients and workshop attendees do this, here’s the first in a series of lessons I’ve learned:

First Lessons Learned on Making Money on Marcellus: 

1. Make Marcellus your rising tide; not your tsunami: Find a portion of the overwhelming demand you can profitably supply and make sure you can deliver on any business you close. As tempting as it is, don’t let any one customer become more than 20% of your business. My friend Shaun Seydor’s seminal report ” The Economic Impact of the Value Chain of a Marcellus Shale Well” ^*is a must-read and linked here with his permission and my gratitude. Read it and think about where your can catch the wave.
2. Follow the money and bring your “A” game: My early advice to clients is to avoid the big players (Range Resources, EQT, Chesapeake, Exxon/Mobil etc.) and sell to the companies who sell to these big boys. Stay one step removed from the “tier one” companies, and you can keep more control over how you do business. But it’s still a fast and furious world and strong contracts are imperative.  Put your best foot forward and never forget: with all this opportunity you are competing in the big leagues. Fortunes will be made and lost. This is a great time to Recharge Your Best and Highest Use^® 
3. Stake out your value and place in the food chain.    Learning where and to whom you offer the greatest sustainable value is critical. There are many ways to slice the Marcellus marketplace. Identify your ideal target buyer and know their buying process. Build a selling process that matches their buying process.  Here’s an article to help you think about this http://profitablegrowth.com/shout-out-or-shout-at-your-sales-force-is-it-generating-sales-growth-in-the-new-economy/ Also, decide where your business fits into these two graphs from the Marcellus report: Figure 1 – Types of Economic Impacts (p 4.) and Figure 2 – Phases and Key Steps in Developing a Marcellus Shale Well Site (p.10).
4. Timing is everything. Many business owners I’ve met operating in the Marcellus tract complain that the “out of towners” won’t hire local companies or that “the money is yet to show up.” Make sure what you sell is ready to be purchased. Watching what your customer’s customers are buying is one way not to make your move too soon or too late. Here’s a piece I wrote in a different context but has some good tips on figuring out your best timing http://profitablegrowth.com/is-your-demand-down-or-distribution-dying/
5. Chase transactions or relationships Most companies working in the Marcellus space can be split into transactional firms who do business one sale at a time (e.g. gas stations) and those relationship companies growing over the long term (e.g. cleaning companies.)  Match how your business profits best to the right kind of kind of customers that you should do business with. To help you decide which you should focus on, here’s an article for you http://www.andybirol.com/DisplayContent.aspx?MenuID=626  

 Unlike the great Oklahoma Land Rush where everyone got a fair start at the same huge opportunity, Marcellus is much more complicated and tricky despite the trillion-dollar economic windfall it is. Stay tuned. This is the first in a series of pieces I will write as I learn lessons with my clients and workshop attendees on making money on Marcellus. 

 Do you have questions on how your business or audience can make money on Marcellus? Call or email me and let’s talk about it.

^*By Heffley, Seydor, et al & the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.

As a growth consultant for small businesses, I’ve enjoyed many opportunities to see how various small businesses function, especially those that have operated for a number of years. In an age of understaffed companies and conflicting and competing demands, most of these companies are so busy helping their customers that they don’t take the time to help themselves.

They tend to lose sight of what I call the extraordinary that lies at the heart of the ordinary in their operations–the characteristics that make them special and unique. Two such companies in Butler County are W.K. Thomas and Interstate Pipe and Supply.

The presidents of both companies lacked a formal marketing program and realized that traditional, relationship selling would not get them to where they wanted to be —in the scarce space of marketing and sales in their respective businesses. Now, they are both changing their companies to achieve that.

Thus far in our work together, they’ve focused on expanding their values and defining and honing what I call their individual Best and Highest Use®. Best is what they love to do. Highest is what they do really well. And Use relates to what their customers value and are willing to pay for.

Under the leadership of Brent Thomas, W. K. Thomas & Associates provides pre-engineered steel building and construction services to the commercial, industrial, community, and religious markets throughout Western Pennsylvania.  Brent’s father, Bill, now Vice President, established W.K. Thomas in 1974 as a custom-home builder and general contractor. Since then, the company has remained a privately owned, family company.

Other firms rely heavily on the service offerings of project management and estimating as commodities to drive business forward. They end up competing in a market where bottom dollar pricing and the resulting low-quality construction become the norm.  But Brent Thomas is linking the brand of W.K. Thomas to pre-engineered steel buildings as the company’s big differentiator and is driving revenues up. His company is growing a reputation in Butler County as the go-to company for these types of buildings.

“I’ve stepped outside of being jack of all trades,” says Thomas, “I’m focusing on pre-engineered steel buildings which is our Best and Highest Use, have taken on more responsibility for sales, and I’m reorganizing our team to help energize this new direction.”

Under the leadership of Brian McCarrier, Interstate Pipe and Supply specializes in water, steel, sewer, plastic, gas and culvert pipe and fittings, valves, tanks, and pumps. Brian’s father, William, founded the company in 1968 when he purchased a small, pipe-supply house in 1968 in Clintonville, Pennsylvania and gave the company its present name. He opened a second branch early in the seventies, and started the Butler, Pennsylvania branch early in the eighties. Late in the eighties, he opened a branch in Washington, Pennsylvania.

“I’m relying on our Best and Highest Use to move our business forward,” says McCarrier.
“We’re leveraging the culture of Interstate Pipe & Supply and our moral responsibility and
stewardship to better serve our employees, customers, and the community of Butler County.”

The result: As McCarrier’s competitors rely on cut-throat pricing to sell their commodity products, customers of Interstate Pipe & Supply now see the company’s differentiated
brand as worth more. 
 
When I began working with Brent Thomas and Brian McCarrier they both had strong, well-established businesses with great potential for growth and wanted to take their companies to the next level.  What made sense for them was my ability to find the extraordinary within the ordinary of their companies. My approach has been to find the characteristics that make them special and different from their competitors, and to cultivate these aspects into exciting opportunities to grow their businesses.

Working with them and their customers has led me to understand their product lines, how they add value, and how they develop special relationships with their customers, whose feedback is critical to our endeavor.

The upshot is that now W.K. Thomas and Interstate Pipe and Supply, are becoming more aggressive in proclaiming their value and more consistently educating their customers about what they can do to help them. Thus far, we’ve focused on expanding their values and defining and honing their individual Best and Highest Use®.

Throughout my years of consulting with businesses like W.K. Thomas and Interstate Pipe and Supply, I’ve deployed this approach to help more than 430 businesses owners identify the specific markets that’s right for them and their companies. This has had a $450-million impact on the economy.

Best and Highest Use also immunizes companies against the “Be All Things to All People” disease. This disease is as common as a cold, but it’s as deadly as the plague for small businesses.

When business owners fail to target specific markets in this way, a number of consequences occur, all of which are bad. Their companies aren’t special. They’re mediocre, forgettable, or worse. People can’t refer customers to them. Their companies attract unqualified prospects and waste resources on prospects who could care less about their offers. This, in turn, diminishes their efforts with regard to prospects who do.

What’s more, best use helps business owners to resolve the greatest pain or create the greatest opportunity for a narrow slice of a market. This creates a crucial intersection for them between their companies, their Best and Highest Use, and the needs of their customers.

Over time, I’ve had the privilege of learning, using, and teaching a variety of growth tools for organizations. We’ve used a variety of names for these processes, including strategic planning, management by objectives, sales management, and incentive compensation. Too often, these systems steamroller over the interests of the users. The fact is that old-fashioned, autocratic tools just don’t work anymore.

More than a few times, I’ve had people challenge my concept of Best and Highest Use, saying that it’s just another term for distinctive competence, one of the buzz words that periodically make the rounds of corporations and MBA programs. In one way, they’re right. Best and Highest Use is essentially distinctive competence for business owners. The difference – and it’s a large one –is that although distinctive competence speaks clinically of skill sets and marketplace advantages, Best and Highest Use involves an owner’s emotions, goals, and personality.

One concept I hear kicked around is the term, best practices. But this assumes that all firms start out and grow and stay completely equal. To center your business on best practices is to deny, ignore, and disrespect your Best and Highest Use^®. How can you ever tell if you are better or worse than you should be if you only judge yourself on the basis of the lowest, common denominator of other companies?

Working together, Brent, Brian, and I continue to focus on their individual Best and Highest Use to translate new customer demand into substantial, dramatic growth and confidence in their abilities.

In the short and medium term, we’re tailoring initiatives designed to achieve profitable sales growth. At the same time, both of these company leaders are experiencing a renewed excitement and passion for their businesses. At a time of economic hardships when competitors are pulling back or taking cover, their passion and excitement is giving them confidence to make it work.

As we reinforce the abilities of W.K. Thomas and Interstate Pipe and Supply to deliver higher value at lower cost, we’re decommoditizing both companies.

This is not to say it’s easy. For one thing, Brent and Brian have had to break old habits. That’s difficult. But my goal is to push them out of their comfort zones in a way that causes willingness to raise new behaviors while preventing them from making ultra-risky, bet-the-company decisions like introducing price changes to gain market share, hiring non-producing sales people, or getting rid of a sales force.

As I work with companies like theirs that have enjoyed years of success, I’ve enabled them to make course corrections a step at a time. The end result has been that they’ve sharpened their views on the kinds of businesses they want, the kind of services they deliver, and they’ve stopped trying to be all things to all people. These are hard choices that emerge from recognizing that everything they may be involved in is not a business.

Andy Birol is the Founder and President of Birol Growth Consulting, www.andybirol.com. You can reach him at 412-973-2080 or at abirol@andybirol.com.

Every time I hear someone say this to me, I smile. Why? Because a good question:

1. Proves good listening,
2. Demonstrates critical thinking, and
3. Uses humor to soften a pointed probe.

The best questions force your respondents to better understand their condition, reply with honesty, and discover a bit of truth they did not otherwise accept. While the best questions are specific to a discussion with a prospect, client, employee, or vendor, some questions are timeless classics, applicable in any situation. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. “Tell me about a situation where you have failed and what it taught you.” If they respond by saying they have never failed, ask them why they have set their goals so low.
2. “If you know it isn’t working, why do you keep doing it?” The key here is to break through the person’s resistance or conventional thinking and start changing his perception of reality.
3. “What is the one question you hope I don’t ask you?” This question, asked at the end of a discussion, often reveals hidden agendas or information you may have missed.
4. “You are telling me this for a reason.” When confronted with highly emotional individuals, this question coaxes from them the reasons they feel as they do.
5. “If you were going to tell me this, what would you say?” As ridiculous as this sounds, an uncooperative person may just divulge confidential information if you let her speak next after delivering this question with a straight face.
6. “What’s your best and highest use®?” While this is my trademarked, signature question, your version will provoke many people to ask you what you mean. So, develop your own icebreaker to engage anyone in a far more personal and revealing discussion.

Starting with Socrates and Plato, the art of questioning to gain knowledge, develop agreement, and communicate expectations is critical to any of the leadership roles you play.

Good questioning comes with practice, maturity, and business experience, but most of all through your growing confidence. As a business owner, learn to ask good questions. As your questions become better, next work on your timing, your ability to pause for an answer, and finally, on ways to control your environment in doing so.

Why should you ask great questions? If you need a final reason, just watch a rerun of the great TV master detective Colombo. Peter Falk made himself into a household name and turned the phrase “door knob question” into a buzz word, ending every show by asking “There’s just one more thing I don’t understand…”

“Reprinted in Honor of Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011)”

(Image courtesy of Columbo Television Show)

Mention “banker” to business owners or “business owner” to bankers and you are sure to spark a reaction. Having worked with hundreds of each, I marvel at the state of such a critical and ancient relationship in this day and age. While bankers and owners need and value each other, few supplier/customers relationships are so complicated and fraught with angst. Owners vex over the strings, bureaucracy, and inattention that accompany the money they borrow from bankers. To many owners, most loan officers are seen as temporary caretakers who have neither the time nor incentive to understand their customer’s business.

Conversely, every bank president I have met, in spite of his or her regulatory and lending constraints, insists they are the bank for business owners and lead their lenders to do so. They lament over how “over-banked” and rate-driven their market is. And they are right that smaller businesses rarely understand banking, financial management, risk, or working capital.

Because of these disconnects, bankers and smaller business owners rarely
profit from the synergy of their respective positions. The shame is, together
they could become a powerful partnership. In our economy, an emerging business’
credit, deposit, and processing needs make them a bank’s best prospective
customers. And bankers can offer not just fair rates but provide needed counsel
and guidance to smaller businesses that are typically unsophisticated borrowers
and often less rate-sensitive. So why can’t business owners find lenders who
will provide more value? And why can’t lenders convince owners to look beyond
the interest rate and see how much more a bank can provide? With interest rates
still relatively low, rather than shopping for the best rate, smaller business
owners need to find the banker that will give them the time and expertise they
cannot afford to create internally. For their part, bankers need to be capable
and eager to provide far more expertise and understanding of the business
owners’ needs. So as an owner, here are my five key ways for you to bank on your
banker:

1. Accept it is the bank’s money and not yours. A banker’s
   first obligation is to protect and control their depositor’s money that they are
   lending you. Bankers often finance up to 50% of their client’s balance sheets
   but only 10% of the business’ costs. They can feel that they are more concerned
   with protecting a company’s assets than the owners are. So be a good customer
   and when you take their money, understand that much of the “paperwork” and
   record keeping is a critical discipline to internalize. Your loan officer is
   always evaluated first on how he protects his or her bank’s money. And, unlike
   other investors, they won’t try to run your business as long as you do.
2. You are not a bank’s customer you are their supplier. Think
   of yourself as the supplier (of a good credit risk) to your sales rep (the
   lender) who must sell it to his customer (the credit committee) and your
   expectations will be realistic. Furthermore, it is important to understand that
   the decisions of the credit policy committee just as often are based on the
   bank’s overall financial needs as they are on your credit worthiness so don’t
   take it personally when their decision appears to disregard the obvious. No
   aspiring lenders can or will ever jeopardize their career by going against
   credit policies of their employer.
3. Bank on your loan officer, not his or her bank. As all banks quickly copy each other’s products and services, your contact makes all the difference. When deciding on a banker, pick the individual who has substantial tenure in their position and hopefully some business acumen outside of banking. The best lender for your smaller business is rarely the hard charging, most promotable, fast tracker, but rather the tenured expert who loves working with businesses more than his own political bureaucracy and may be perceived as a rebel within their own institution. Unfortunately, the average banker covers over 250 customers so it is harder to keep his eye on your business than to get the lowest interest rate. If your business is so dependent on debt service that even a ¼% can make or break your company, don’t blame this on your banker but rather examine if your Best and Highest Use® is sufficiently valued by your target market.
4. Don’t settle for “service.” Demand expertise and advice. If
   your banker is only a middleman and expediter, he or she may call this “good
   service” but it doesn’t add value to your business. Worse yet, if you call your
   banker after months of no talking, and frantically ask him to increase your line
   of credit so you can make payroll, shame on you both! Your banker should be
   proactively asking open-ended questions, such as how will you make payroll if
   you lose an account or production capacity and follows that up with more
   questions which lead to you and she agreeing on an overall financial strategy
   and contingencies, you have the right person.
5. Buy on price when the value is not out there. If you can’t
   get expertise you need in a lender, then shop for the lowest rate. Think of your
   banking relationship as an outsource-before-you-in-source decision. As you grow
   in financial sophistication and embrace the discipline your lender has taught
   you, hire a treasurer or CFO with the expertise that will also bring your rates
   down.

Over these last few years, credit has been scarce but virtually free in this
low-interest rate environment. While many banks say they are vying for your
business, demand a fair rate and the right banker. Or learn to live with even
less debt! If you can bank on your banker and you and your business will be
better off.  Articles by Birol Growth Consulting are © copyrighted and all rights are
reserved. However, articles may be reprinted with prior written consent if
attribution is included as follows:

© Copyrighted by Andrew J. Birol,
President of Birol Growth Consulting, who helps owners grow their businesses by
growing their Best and Highest Use ®. Andy can be reached at  (412)
973-2080, by email at abirol@andybirol.com,
or on the web at www.andybirol.com.

If you run a company, lead a sales and marketing team, or sell for a living, you know that referrals are your best source of new business.

• Nothing beats an introduction from a peer who knows what you offer to a prospect who needs your value now.
• No matter how strong your sales skills, marketing programs, or products and services, a referral to a qualified prospect most helps you close the sale.
• If most buyers turn to colleagues they trust for recommendations when making a purchase, who do yours turn to?

If referrals are your business’ best way to grow, why don’t we develop our referring skills and seek out more and better referrals? Instead, too many businesses lament the lousy referrals they get from well-meaning business friends. Whose fault is that? Rather than launch a costly and risky lead generation effort, why not improve your advanced referral marketing skills?

The Basics of Getting Referred
To review, there are some critical ingredients to getting a referral. You must:

1. Provide specific value to a defined target prospect. If you do not have a Best and Highest Use® please define yours now or settle for being referred as a commodity.
2. Be excellent. Always grow your track record of quality work and results.
3. Stay in front of those who refer you. Communicate with them regularly and provide new and valuable information.
4. Be trusted. Prove to your referral sources you will treat them and their referrals with respect.

While these fundamentals never go out of style, enough people practice these well enough now, that distinguishing your “refer-ability” takes even more effort.

Five Steps to Advanced Referral Marketing

To grow better and get more referrals, here are five steps you can take now:

1. Determine Your Need for Referrals
2. Understand Your Prospects’ Buying Process and Then Align Your Selling Process and Referrer’s Role
3. Define the Ideal Relationship Your Referral Source Should Have With Your Buyer
4. Give Referrals to Get Referrals
5. Develop Specific Tools and Tactics

Here are the five steps in detail:

1.  Determine your need for referrals. Are you clear on where in your sales and marketing process you need a referral and for what purpose? Do you need help finding, keeping or growing your existing business? Do you need an introduction, validation, or affirmation from your referral sources? At which point in your sales funnel are you most in need of their support? Is it in qualifying prospects or developing prospects? For help in determining this, review the PACER Process.
2.  Understand your prospects’ buying process and then align your selling process and role for your referrer. Understanding your customers’ buying process is not new but applying this knowledge in obtaining referrals might be. Where can your referrers have the most impact?

If your business is a relationship or an anniversary business, your referral sources need to be constantly cultivating your prospects for you, but if your business is more transactional or event-driven, then you want your referees to be far more opportunistic and pounce when they see the chance to recommend you. Here are two articles to help you decide this. Click Events or Anniversaries: What’s Your Business? Or Relationships or Transactions: What’s Your Business?Once you understand the role your referral sources play in your prospect’s buying process, you will of course align your selling process to parallel their behavior. And the role that your referees need to play will be clear.

3.   Define the ideal relationship your referral source should have with your buyer. What are the ideal   referral sources for your business? For example, some businesses enjoy most of their referrals from law or accounting firms while others are best referred by suppliers or even their competitors. To determine who is best for you, understand the role your referral source plays with your prospects and why a prospect would accept their referring you to them. For example, a parts supplier is unlikely to refer a financial planner to a purchasing agent because this is not a likely topic for them to discuss. Consider whether your referral source has the sufficient trust and professional intimacy with your prospect to make such a referral. For example, a specialist can often refer another specialist while another specialist will seldom refer a generalist. Also, your referral sources must see you as a scarce commodity as opposed to being abundant. If every business broker is hounding every banker to refer them their next deal, how can anyone care or remember which one to refer to whom? The 80/20 rule applies just as much as to referees. A few will refer a majority of your leads and most will only refer you once. Understand who falls into which groups and why. Finally, make it as easy as possible to refer you. I provide any referral source with the following description of my target prospect and exactly why when and how they would hire me. Come up with your own example along the following lines as I have in my business.

A  target prospect for Birol Growth Consulting is a majority owner/operator of a business who is:

A.  Dissatisfied with his or her business’ level of profitable growth.
(as good or bad as it may be)
B. Impatient to grow their business to the next level
C. Is a
a. Services Firm
b. Wholesaler/Distributor
c. Manufacturer

D. Willing to take and apply advice by working with an expert who empowers optimism
E. Willing to pay for the value of outside advice that generates ten times the investment

4.   Give referrals to get referrals. Apply the Golden Rule in your referral activities. Generously and freely give away as many referrals as possible. While many will disagree, I urge you not to take  commissions or fees for referring business. The time you put into developing a fair scheme is not worth the loss of trust you face when your peers learn you are making money off of whom you referred to them. Despite many opinions to the contrary, do not enter into tying, exclusive relationships or “Circles of Influence” with only one referral source such as a single law firm. Your power in referring and being referred comes from being able to match the right people with the best skills and style. There is no one size fits all here. But most importantly, remember who did refer you, follow up and keep them posted on how your or their referral faired. There is nothing more disappointing to refer or be referred and never hear what happened. If you do refer someone constantly and there is never any reciprocity, ask yourself if you have fulfilled the basics as outlined above. Before getting annoyed with your non-responder, ensure you have refocused on the basics, if you have, then it is time to find new advocates.

5.   Develop specific referral tools and tactics. Make it easy for your referral sources to refer you. One of the great tools is the reciprocal referral letter. Attached at the bottom of this article is a sample letter you can send, one-for-one, with a mutually referable source. Making it one-for-one is fun, as it challenges both parties to provide great referrals and then to hone their selling skills in obtaining as many appointments, proposals, and closed sales as possible.

Find ways to donate your services to charities so that your referral sources can place you in highly visible venues. Serve as a subject matter expert for their customers where you can showcase your expertise while helping your referral source’s clients.

Summary

Referral marketing can be one of the most enjoyable as well as the most profitable tactics in growing your business. Develop your skills and practices in this area and you will surely enjoy better clients, better relationships not only with those who value you the most, but most of all with people you like whom like you. And after all, isn’t this what business is supposed to be all about? For help in accelerating your referral marketing efforts, to explore how we can refer each other, or simply to learn more, please contact me at (412) 973 2080 or at abirol@andybirol.com.

Here is a sample referral letter you can modify for your business or, (with my gratitude) use to refer Birol Growth Consulting:

Mr. John Smith
President
Smith Products
222 Allegheny Blvd, Suite #4
Wexford, PA 15444

Dear John:

Growing my firm has always been challenging and risky. I often wrestle with questions of what to invest in and when. I wanted to pass on an intro of an exceptional business expert and friend of mine, Andy Birol, of Birol Growth Consulting.  He is a published author (5 times I think), accomplished speaker and advises small to mid-sized operating businesses owners on effectively driving top line profitable growth.

• How has my marketplace changed its buying behavior and how should my firm respond?
• How can I create more profitable growth?
• What new channels for profitable growth can I pursue?

While you may not have heard of Andy, I know him personally and he has an extensive record of working nationally to great reviews. In his short time here in Pittsburgh, he has become a regular columnist for eTEQ Magazine and has been accepted into Leadership Pittsburgh.

I told Andy you were on my short list of must-visits and I’ve suggested he give you a call.  He’s making a positive impact in Pittsburgh’s small business community.  I’m sure meeting with him will be a good use of both your time.  You can learn more about Andy before he calls, checkout his website at www.andybirol.com.  His articles, client list and newsletters are particularly interesting.  No doubt you’ll get an autographed copy of his latest book, The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth, CareerPress, 2006.

If you have any other questions or need anything further please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Thanks so much and take care,

Sincerely,
You
Your Company
Your Address
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

When asked, “What makes your business work?”  You say, “It’s my great people. But really, aren’t there a few you would need to change? Not fire, just change.

Conversely, how many times, have you broken the golden rule of “Hire slow, fire fast?”  How often had you made a fast offer to the “perfect” person because…

• She had another offer
• He worked with one of your staff for years
• The tests said the executive was a perfect fit

…Only to regret your judgment and worse yet, live with the consequences.

So here’s the bottom line.  How do you change your people? And when do you CHANGE your people? Learn some key steps you can take to decide and act here

How should you try to change your people but keep them working for you? Most people aren’t superstars and may not meet your expectations but are solid players who can improve.

• Give them clear tasks, goals and rewards.
• Observe and coach them on how to reduce their errors of commission (doing the right things in the wrong way).
• Recognize and reward those who care more about your business than they do about impressing you.
• Value those who get the work done, especially if they do it in another way.
• Value the right person even if they are in the wrong  job.
  

When do you change the people by replacing them? When:

• You don’t trust them after comparing what they say to what they do.
• They make repeated errors of omission (not doing the right things or anything after being trained).
• You are convinced they are un-promotable or inflexible and simply are not open to learning, growing or change.
• They have no informal influence and don’t contribute to or even obstruct the results or culture you value.
• Their peers, vendors and subordinates lose enough confidence to risk their interests by telling you so.

Making people changes are the hardest moves I’ve seen owners have to make.  Here’s some advice:

• Talk often to your problem people’s peers, customers and vendors and ask the hard questions. Develop proof and multiple examples of what you like and don’t like.
• Learn what really motivates your people. Honestly assess if this dovetails with what they are supposed to do to succeed in their jobs.
• Make sure you have clear job descriptions and objectives for your problem people. Most people who fail in small companies tell me they didn’t know what they were supposed to do and what their owner wanted of them.

Finally, as an owner, take the old adage to heart. You become what you tolerate. People problems rarely solve themselves. So if you can’t change your people, change your people!

You may know my daughter has cystic fibrosis. I’m not asking for a donation or sympathy, but instead, that you gain from my experience. I hope you never have a loved one in the hospital, let alone for months. Nonetheless , spending nearly a year in Pittsburgh and Cleveland’s finest health facilities have taught me how to manage doctors, and as it turns out, how to manage subcontractors. Here’s what working with doctors has taught me:

1.    As the patient’s advocate, you serve the role of general contractor and treat the whole patient. The doctors, gifted specialists that they are, serve as the role of gifted subcontractors responsible for excellence in their specialty. Therefore assume and take responsibility for assuring that your patient (much like a client) is best being served by the subcontractors you oversee.

2.    Hospitals must focus first on the patient and treating his or her problem.  The burden on you as the advocate/general contractor to manage the process will be profound.  Budget for and expect to have your notions of time, energy and resources stretched beyond reason.

3.    Teaching hospitals have righteous but conflicting priorities which create a problem for you the general contractor. Indulging the apprentices (residents and interns) so they can report up to their fellows and attending (master craftsmen) does less for your loved one’s health care but more to further the body of medical knowledge. Expect them to have read the charts and respect your loved one’s needs.

Beyond the hardships and indignities both to the patient and you the general contractor, your doctors are brilliant selfless experts under constant pressure to see more patients, learn more science and avoid all mistakes. Still, both in the medical field as well as in the business world of subcontractors remember to delegate the task but not your responsibility.

In our nation’s post-recession, “progressive” economy, I’ve spoken with many businesses still struggling to adapt to the “new normal.” Most owners I work with are more worried more than ever. Why? Because now, credit comes with strings-attached, sales people often cost far more than they sell and while the Internet has changed everything, most owners still describe their social/digital strategy in terms of money spent instead of clear ROI’s.

And when it comes to reaping the rewards for decades of sacrifice, millions of baby boomers have learned their firms aren’t worth much.  But just as passionate in our society are all the voices who take the profitability of small businesses for granted and assert that every firm must pass litmus tests of being clean, green, sustainable, inclusive, local and socially-focused, regardless of whether they are thriving or surviving.

If your business is finally having a decent year, and someone demands why you aren’t doing more good, remember, a great dignity itself lies in running a profitable business.

Here are four reasons to challenge all the reasons you are given to do more:

1.    You can’t do much good over time if you don’t do well most of the time.
2.    Your good years have to make up for your bad ones.
3.    You have your own charitable and social priorities.
4.    You took the risk.

This article may rile many who feel that focusing on doing well is an excuse for not giving to the millions of truly needy people and causes. Admittedly. doing both well and good is ideal. And a company who covets all its profits is a heartless organization, but a firm that embraces every form of social good may soon be looking to someone else for a handout. Creating social change from a position of strength is critical. Here and here are some suggestions.

Steering Clear of the Pitfalls: How to Do Well and Good

1. Charity Begins at Home. Make sure your employees, customers and vendors are healthy and give of your time and energy to see this happens. Americans are the hardest working people in the world. Anyone who is working hard for you deserves the help you can give.
2.   Tie Your Charity to Your Best and Highest Use®. Strive to give away what you are best at doing to make your chosen cause better. For a professional service provider to sit on boards that do not exploit his or her skills is a terrible waste of time and talent. Find a cause that ties your skills to your passions and give this away. As the father of a handicapped child and as a businessman who serves entrepreneurs, I am always pleased to provide some pro bono help to business owner who is similarly challenged.
3.    Run a Meritocracy and Demand Excellence. Avoid favoring employees, vendors or customers who are justifying their poor products or services by all the good works they must provide as well. Support your charities consciously; do not unconsciously let your business subsidize ones that may be subverting the needs of your customers.
4.    Stay Connected to Your Customers, Employees and Vendors. Live and give in the real world of those you know and work with. Just as it is critical to understand your customers, make sure you comprehend the troubles and pains they face. The single cause I see for local companies declining to do this is how disconnected many have become from the needs of their marketplace. Understand the pains of your marketplace as well as you do of your charities.
5.   Give Results and Outcomes Rather Than Money and Time. Every time I attend a big benefit, I always wonder how much I am really helping the people or problem the sponsor represents. Doesn’t it feel good to provide the person confronting the problem with the help, tools or actions he or she needs to succeed? So often, going right to the source gives you, the owner, a completely new understanding of how to resolve the pain and suffering you see. Just like finding new customer pains to solve, directly helping someone in need may take some interesting twists and turns and may reveal even better unconventional solutions.

Social good should be tied to your business goals and should never impede them. By focusing on your best and highest use, leveraging your good fortune to help others and expecting a positive result from every investment you make, you can truly do well and do good. By doing both, you can make an ever larger impact through your business, your charity and your legacy.