(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)
Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:
- My Biz Quote of the week:
“The 3 most valuable things you have in your business are your Team, your culture and your customers’ trust. Anything or anyone that endangers those must be fixed or eliminated immediately.”
…Donald Cooper.
- Quick Biz Tip:
Make sure that your employees are not ‘just’ an anything:
When I’m touring client’s facilities as part of my research, I love to ask front-line Team members what they do in the business. sadly, the reply is often, “I’m just a machine operator.” or “I’m just an Accounts Receivable Clerk.”
What these replies tell me is that they don’t think their job is important. Why? Because management has never told them why their job is important to the customer, the Team, the business and the bottom line, and they’re rarely, if ever, acknowledged, thanked and rewarded for making a difference.
How terribly sad to go through life feeling that you’re ‘just’ a something instead of an extraordinary somebody doing something that matters. What will you do to make sure this never happens in your business?
- Fun Fact: Norway has the world’s largest Sovereign Wealth Fund with assets of about $3 trillion. Most of that money comes from the government’s share of North Sea oil revenue. Every year they use some of that money to finance about 20% of its national budget.
- Alcohol is the most harmful drug. New research by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto found that alcohol causes the most harm of any drug in Canada. The study scored 16 different substances on a 100-point scale looking at 16 different categories including physical health, economic costs and relationships. Alcohol scored a massive 79 on the ‘harmful scale’, while second-place tobacco scored just 45.
- Two transformational days with Donald Cooper. A number of regular Blog readers have asked how much it would cost to have a day with me to explore how they can sell more, manage smarter and grow their bottom line. They’re looking for someone who has the experience, insight and courage to ‘get real’ and be helpful.
Having done a few of these, what we’ve discovered is that two days is what it really takes. So, I’ve put together a program that involves you and your management team taking about 40 minutes each to complete a few of my Biz Tools…then me spending 2 days to recap and analyse them and prep for our two days together. Part of that time is with you alone, and part of it is with you and your Management Team to make sure that everyone is on the same page. This program includes four follow-up calls to make sure that ‘stuff’ is getting done. The investment is $7,800, plus reasonable travel expenses. I’m based in Toronto.
If you’d like to chat about this possibility, I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.
Now, to this week’s important topic:
What might ‘amazing’ look like in your business?
In last month’s London Marathon, Sabastian Sawe from Keyna and Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia became the first runners ever to eclipse the two-hour barrier in an official marathon. And Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, broke the women’s record.
All 3 athletes were wearing Adidas’s new high-performance Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 running shoes. This makes this US$500 shoe the ‘buzziest’
super shoe on the market for elite runners. It has received huge media attention and elite runners throughout the world are lining up to buy it.
It took 3 years of visioning, design, development and testing to come up with this shoe. ‘Amazing’ is never easy.
So, what elite or special ‘amazing’ high-end product, curated service or extraordinary user experience will you create that will clearly position you as the clear and compelling ‘wise choice’ for your target customers, get you massive media attention, grow you Brand…and grow your bottom line? And when will you start?
That’s it for this week…
Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!
Donald Cooper
Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability. He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.
