THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED TO REACH SUCCESS
Why is it that when people who seek shelter, food, and water to sustain themselves take diversion routes to avoid what they seek? How this affects their families and the impact it has on their businesses simply boggles my mind.
When we consider how a business owner is also the provider for his or her family’s safety, security, and health, it further challenges the logical thought process. Decision makers as owner/operators of businesses often lose sight of where they have been versus where they are taking their business and loved ones. A recent case is a fellow with over 30 years in practice came to me. He originally told me that he is in the “upper echelon” of his industry. When we first spoke he told me he had 300 clients and was looking to increase his caseload to 500. In conversations that followed, his clients decreased to less than 200. His story continued as he wants to add millennials to his client list. This fellow is 40 to 50 years their senior. As he has identified these millennials, he has also identified them as “new home buyers.” For those of you thinking he is a realtor, please guess again. He has used numbers of tools to find this target market investing $10,000 in direct mail campaigns that last 30 days. With varying degrees of success he has attracted his target market only to turn them away because in his words, “They are arrogant.”
Most of you reading this understand the process of developing a know, like, and trust relationship with a prospect. Market matches are, by definition, those people we can develop a know, like, and trust relationship with. We speak their language and they speak ours. When we are ready to diversify to different markets we do the needed research, learn the new language, and do some testing to determine the potential for success. We initiate new partnerships to get insight in the area we plan to immerse our company. We do our research so as to create belonging, intimacy with colleagues, and new business friendships.
The problem I see with my colleague is the desire to maintain self-esteem as it relates to having been a success for more than 30 years. Further reviewing his situation he could lose the respect of those closest to him which includes his family, clients, and friends. To date, he has been able to achieve success with little help. His problem is that the world is changing and that is the only constant that we have in this day of Internet marketing, sales, and promotion. Millennials were researched by Christopher Donnelly and Renato Scaff. Here http://www.accenture.com/sitecollectiondocuments/pdf/accenture-outlook-who-are-millennial-shoppers-what-do-they-want-retail.pdf is a link to their article. Knowing the difference, evaluating the myths, and discovering the similarities of any target market will create greater successes for the entrepreneur willing to do the work.
There are those who make things happen. There are those to whom things happen and then there are those who say, “What Happened?” My friend is in the later stage now asking, “What is happening to my successful business?” I am certain that at one time he had 300 clients and was in the upper echelon of his industry. Times are changing. For those of us who could be categorized as dinosaurs (yes, I am one) we need to keep up with the times or become extinct. Here are a few things I am doing to provide myself the flexibility to stay current:
- go to trainings
- keep up with technology
- get an abundance of rest
- knowing that there is a higher power than me
- surround myself with people 20 to 40 years my junior
- surround myself with people 10 to 20 years my senior
- staying current with the political/financial global climate
- exercise and continue to push my limits, changing my routines
- live in a place of giving back by finding an organization I can give to weekly
- eat right and continue to learn more about what is right for me as my body changes,
- understanding that I have the flexibility and choice to participate in the global climate or go my own way
- continue my relationship with my marriage partner, best friend, and love of my life with the goal of celebrating the past 40 years looking forward to the next 40 years
What are you doing to stay current and allowing you the ability to thrive? Send me your answers and I will post them in this article with or without your name. Please let me know if I can include your contact information.
Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with people in business who want to attract the right prospects and generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange Counties.
Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops. His book series, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, are available on the website, www.integritysd.com.
Gerry has more than 20 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together—which is why he started INTEGRITY.
Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is a Distinguished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.
Are you truly committed to attracting the right prospects and generate more referrals? If so then contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information. You can contact Gerry by mail at 1610 Quiet Hills Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056. Direct dial (760) 439-4623; e-mail to gerry@integritysd.com. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com
