4 Mental Tricks to Conquer Fear

You can't be successful if you're ruled by fear. Here's how I reprogrammed my brain to be more courageous.

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Fear is the enemy of success. Large rewards only result from taking comparably large risks. If you're ruled by fear, you'll never take enough risks and never achieve success you deserve.

If I've learned anything in this life, it's that the actions that scared me the most at the time--leaving a cushy corporate job to freelance, asking my beautiful wife for a first date, and adopting our two kids--have also paid off the most.

That doesn't mean these moves aren't hard at the time, but I've managed to retrain my brain to get past the momentary fear and push toward the payoff. Here are four ideas that I've made an integral part of my thinking:

1. Value Courage Over Security

Repeated surveys have shown that most people value "security" over just about everything else in their lives. People will put up with jobs that they hate, marriages that make them miserable, and habits that are killing them (think "comfort food") simply to feel more secure.

To conquer fear, you must consciously dethrone "security" as the thing that you value most in your life and replace it with the active virtue of "courage." You must decide, once and for all, that it's more important for you to have the courage to do what you must to succeed, rather than to cling to the things that make you feel safe.

2. Differentiate Between Fear & Prudence

Most fears are irrational and unreasonable. For example, you might be afraid to make an important call because if the call doesn't go well, you'll have to face the fact that you "failed."  Or you might be afraid to confront a co-worker who acts like a bully, or to start your own business because you're not certain you've got what it takes.

It's these irrational fears that hold you back and keep you from being more successful.

That said, there are other kinds of fear that are actually just simple prudence. For example, you might be afraid to drive aggressively because you might cause an accident. Or you might be afraid to be arrested if you sell a product that kills people.

Prudence is a good thing. Just make sure you aren't pretending to be prudent--when you're just trying to avoid taking reasonable business risks, for instance, or putting yourself on the line to do what's necessary.

3. Treat Fear as a Call to Action

If what you fear is outside of your control (like an economic downturn), write down a specific plan of the exact steps that you'll take in order to adapt, if and when it happens. Once you've completed that task, put the plan aside and have the courage to forget about it. You've done what you can; it's time to move on.

But if what you fear is inside your control--some action that you're afraid to take, that is--take a few moments to prepare yourself, then do the thing that's scaring you.

I mean now. Not tomorrow; not next week. Right now, before you read the rest of this post. Call that person. Write that email. Create a business plan. Do it now!

4. Reframe Fear Into Excitement

Finally, tune in to the aspect of fear that's really fun. Think about the last time you rode a roller coaster: You probably felt plenty of fear, but you were also having a great time.

Let's face it, a life without fear--and without the courage to overcome fear--would be pretty bland and insipid.

A personal note: I want to add that there was a time in my life when "security" was so important to me that I was willing to tolerate being truly miserable. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it was only when I changed my thinking (using the formula above) that my life came together.

Today, I'm actually really excited whenever I discover something that I'm afraid to do, because I know that something wonderful is going to happen--provided I summon the courage to take action!

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Geoffrey James writes the "Sales Source" column on Inc.com, the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

Secrets to Hiring Employees Who Last

You have to approach hiring as carefully and unemotionally as you would any other long-term investment. Here's how I do it.

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If you're working 12-hour days, chances are you're seeing more of your employees than some of your closest family. So ask yourself: Are you ready to 'marry' the candidate?

If your start-up is taking off, you've already realized you can't do it all alone. You need key people to help you grow.

But hiring good employees in a small business is harder than you think. You may interview shrewd candidates prepared to answer common questions with poise and ease, or aspiring applicants that look great on paper. Neither will necessarily be what you need.

The truth is, making a great hire is an art, not a science. There might be tons of aspiring job applicants, but perhaps few that would be a well-rounded fit. And if you think paying someone whom you dislike is expensive, you'll be shocked when you realize what it costs to recruit and train someone new after a botched hire. It's vital to get it right the first time.

Here's what to keep in mind:

Don't hire yourself

One of the best pieces of advice I received on hiring employees came from fellow Inc. columnist Norm Brodsky. Hiring the candidate that reminds you of yourself when you were younger is tempting, but it won't give you what you need. You need to build a team of people who complement one another, not a group who share your shortcomings as well as your virtues.

Fill in the gaps in your team

You may favor certain personality traits (Type A used to be my favorite), but hiring a group of people with the same qualities is a sure way to set off a clash of personalities, and it may create gaps in your team. If you only hire ultra-organized people, for example, you may not have someone creative enough to bring in new ideas and ways of doing things.

Never underestimate the value of goodwill

You no doubt have worked with employees who operate on their own agenda and not in the company's best interests. Beware of them in your applicant pool; many of them know how to give a great interview. You really do need to check references. If someone is a selfish worker, they'll have rubbed some supervisor the wrong way at some point.

Do a bit of Sherlock Holmes work

Don't be afraid of asking tough questions, or of asking the same question in different ways. You may find that certain inconsistencies come out on repeated answers. At the very least, if the answer is rehearsed it won't feel so natural the second time. Also, don't forget a Google search on each promising candidate. It may give you a glimpse into an employee's character that an interview may not.

Consider it a long-term investment

If you're working 12-hour days, chances are you're seeing more of your employees than some of your closest family. So ask yourself: Are you ready to 'marry' the candidate? Even if your relationship is only professional, you have to like him or her. Divorce is ugly, so don't add someone to your team who will drive you or your team crazy in the long run.

It took us at Orchid Boutique more than five years to create a solid team, with a mixture of senior- and junior-level people who enjoy and complement one another. It's tough to feel like your business is a revolving door of botched employees, so take the time to hire wisely. Your team is the most important investment you can make in your business. Just make sure you treat it as a long-term investment.

In 2007 Mayra Jimenez and her husband founded The Orchid Boutique, which specializes in designer swimwear made in their native Colombia. Today Orchid Boutique is a multi-million dollar business with both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

You & Steve Jobs Have This in Common

If there's one thing entrepreneurs are good at fighting, it's their intuition. That's a shame.

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When we choose the life of an entrepreneur it is not simply an intellectual decision; it is an intuitive, emotional choice. 

You feel it with all your heart and know that it is the life for you. Intuition: It's what got you here in the first place. So why do so many business owners reject the idea of tapping into that very same intuition to make decisions?

"When you follow your gut instincts you are putting something very natural to work," says intuitive consultant Sonia Choquette. "Your intuition will take you beyond the threshold to a place that reflects your most passionate interests and nature."  

Choquette travels the globe advising top business leaders, teaching them to follow their vibes.

Her clients know that should not be framed in the dark ages of the mind, but as one of the most fundamental, necessary, and natural sensory awareness that we possess in the modern world.  People who reject their intuition for a strictly linear mindset are basing decisions on only what they see and acknowledge through the other five senses. Choquette says that this is extremely limiting.

"By using intellect only, and not your innate wisdom, you are keeping yourself from the most powerful insights," she says.

This is demonstrated by nearly every modern leader in business, including the transformative, game-changing, paradigm-shifting genius known as Steve Jobs. His No. 1 rule of business was to trust your heart and gut. And Walt Disney believed that he could build on empire on a dancing mouse! This was not a linear decision. Disney knew this to be true from his gut; he had incredible intuition! 

We all have access to this kind of intuition, yes, even you.

Choquette sees it time and time again: Struggling business owners who don't tap into their intuition and trust their own vibes are rejected by potential investors, business partners, and clients.

"People will sense your limitations and hesitate to invest in you," she says. "If you want to be a creative leader take the intuitive plunge!"

But Choquette cautions that intuition should not be a reckless leap into the void. In her best-selling book, Trust Your Vibes at Work, Choquette writes that intuition works best on a well informed, solid foundation.

"Get your facts and turn them over to your intuitive percolator," she advises. "Make sure that your facts are accurate; do your homework." Choquette notes a common blind spot in entrepreneurs, "Their facts often come from hearsay," she says. "Do you have solid resources and role models? For instance, do you listen to the news and believe that there aren't enough customers or clients out there for you?"

Well, here's a fact that may change your mind: Apple had the most profitable year ever during what we call the biggest global recession of all times. It found a need and filled a gap. Choquette believes that there is never a limit of resources, only a limit of intuition and imagination.

The sky is the limit if you recognize and embrace your intuition. Choquette offers the following tips from her Sixth Sensory Virtual Training program to recognize and strengthen this powerful gift.

1. Be open-minded about your intuition. Invite intuition in as a part of your natural skill set. If intuition were a radio frequency, your mind is the radio; you have to turn it on to receive it.

2. Expect intuition to show up. Ask yourself what your heart and gut say in any given situation. Your heart is 5000 times energetically stronger than your brain. Place your hand on your heart and ask this question: given all of the information that I have acquired on this topic my heart says, (fill in the blank out loud). Listen patiently for the answer.

3. Feel the answer in own voice. Ask yourself, does that feel true? This question is designed to catch any error that you may have made in engaging your intuition. If you come up with I don't know, it's a clear indication that you are using your fear-based intellect and not activating your intuition. If this occurs go for a walk and pay attention to everything around you. Notice everything from the sounds to the small things that you rarely pay attention to. When you notice what is in front of you, you get out of your head and mind, freeing your intuition. Now go back to your question and answer as quickly as possible, don't let your brain get involved.

4. Follow and trust your vibes. Intuition is a natural gift, learn to believe in it and trust it.

Marla Tabaka is a life and business coach who helps entrepreneurs and small-business owners grow their companies faster. She coaches for Make Mine a Million and has 25 years of experience in corporate and start-up ventures. @MarlaTabaka

Who's Your Idol? 12 Young Founders Name Their Business Heroes

Who's your inspiration? For these 12 young entrepreneurs, the answers include Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Hsieh, and a couple lesser-known founders you'll want to pay attention to in the future.

Warren Buffet, Marie Forleo, Tony Hsieh

The Young Entrepreneur Council asked 12 successful young entrepreneurs to share which business leaders they look up to. Here are their best answers.

1. Clate Mask and Scott Martineau of Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft co-founders Clate Mask and Scott Martineau inspire me with their singular focus to help small businesses succeed. After meeting many of their team, we realized there's not a single employee we didn't want to take out for a beer! The culture infiltrates the entire company, and they're open and receptive to anything that will support small businesses.
--Kelly Azevedo, She's Got Systems

2. Female Entrepreneur Marie Forleo

She's built an incredible business, and her customer service and entire team is top notch. I think she's created an awesome internal company culture, and it shows from the outside of her company too. She's motivating and keeps everything on the positive.
--Nathalie Lussier, Nathalie Lussier Media

3. Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz

Rand Fishkin at SEOmoz is an entrepreneur who has really created an amazing company culture. He puts a strong focus on transparency and has made SEOmoz into a community. That community and culture of exchanging expertise and ideas has made his company into an industry leader.
--Lauren Fairbanks, Stunt & Gimmick's

4. Jeff Lawson of Twilio

I was lucky enough to spend an evening at Twilio visiting a friend who worked there. While I was there, I saw and felt an amazing culture in action. The employees felt like a team that had genuine camaraderie and a great, high-productivity environment. Jeff comes from Amazon, who is also known for a great culture, so it's no surprised they have a great culture of their own.
--Jason Evanish, Greenhorn Connect

5. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook

Did you know Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has one of the highest approval ratings of tech firm leaders? He's an inspiring young founder who built one of the most notable digital companies in recent history. I greatly admire his commitment to hack culture, and the company's well-crafted growth. It will be fascinating to see his performance as a public company CEO.
--Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

6. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway

I may never have the level of business acumen that Warren Buffett has, but the way he works with investors and employees alike is phenomenal. CEOs are glad when Buffett takes an interest in their company and to be a Berkshire Hathaway investor is an education in and of itself. Just read his annual letter to his investors to get a glimpse of what I'm talking about.
--Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting

7. Ilya Pozin of Ciplex

Ilya Pozin has converted his Los Angeles-based marketing agency Ciplex into one of the first completely hierarchy-free agencies. Clients are positioned at the top, employees (grouped into teams) in the middle, and "senior" staff (known as "team support") at the bottom. This is clearly an avant-garde structure (or lack thereof) which has been utilized by the most cutting-edge companies. To see an agency do it is quite inspiring.
--Zach Cutler, Cutler Group

8. Tony Hsieh of Zappos

I'm inspired by what Tony has done at Zappos, not necessarily because of the awesome atmosphere he's created or the rabid loyalty of his employees and customers, or the culture thats synonymous with fun and success. I'm amazed he did it without being that "rah rah!" Type-A personality that you hear so much about when it comes to creating culture. Tony proves that it's not how outgoing you are, it's how dedicated you are to creating and living out the culture, and how you can relay that message.
--Trevor Mauch, Automize, LLC

9. Brent Grinna of EverTrue

Something that appears very small but that has a great impact is simply eating lunch as a team. This allows the group to have a brief period of unwinding, while creating a culture of all-inclusiveness. A team I've seen do this is EverTrue, and the benefits are clear--they've grown by keeping everyone on the same page and maintaining an atmosphere of camaraderie.
--John Harthorne, MassChallenge

10. Brant and Brock Bukowsky of Veterans United

Brant and Brock Bukowsky are two great examples. They founded Veterans United, which has grown into the nation's leading veteran mortgage lender, with close to 1,000 employees. Their secret sauce is to create an absolutely stellar work environment. Think massages, free lunches, blowout parties, transparent management, humble founders, a charitable focus, and opportunities for both personal and professional growth.
--Brent Beshore, AdVentures

11. Joe Reynolds of Red Frog Events

Few entrepreneurs have taken the measures Joe Reynolds has to create a great company culture. Red Frog's office is themed like a summer camp and feels like a Disneyworld attraction, including a tree house, climbing wall and zip-line. But it's not just about having a cool office--Red Frog's employees seem genuinely thrilled to have the privilege of working there. It's a result of hundreds of brilliantly designed policies, perks, and systems. To anybody who has ever visited their Chicago headquarters, it's clear why they are consistently ranked among the best places to work.
--Emerson Spartz, Spartz Media

12. Steve Jobs of Apple

Steve Jobs caught a lot of flak for being a jerk to his employees at times. However, it is still hard to deny his power to put together amazing teams full of top talent, squeeze every drop of their potential from them, and make awesome products.
--Neil Thanedar, LabDoor

 

The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC published #FixYoungAmerica, a book of proven solutions to youth unemployment. @TheYEC

Is Your Marketing Agency Full of It?

You want results, and all they talk about is "branding." What gives?

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Marketing is one of those areas that can suck up money faster than the latest Dyson vacuum cleaner. The whole process of getting and measuring results can be frustrating, so much so that your inclination might be to fire your marketing agency and find someone new--or even do it yourself. That's what Brian Signorelli did while working at a start-up with some business partners.

Right away, things seemed a bit off:

However, my business partners and I made it clear that our number one priority at the time was to generate sales leads, and we asked them to develop a plan for how they'd help us do that. But instead of focusing explicitly on lead generation, they encouraged us to build a Twitter presence, a Facebook business page, and drum up two or three good press releases announcing our company's launch. In the meantime, they would be pitching both local and national "rags" to get feature articles written about our company.

Four months later, the venture, which Signorelli doesn't describe, had 30 customers, but was unable to tie any of them back to the agency's activities. So he wrote a detailed set of business goals and the lead generation and conversion rates, lifetime customer values, and total number of new customers that would make the goals possible. There were detailed responsibilities for the company as well as the agency and timelines to achieve goals.

Three months and $70,000 after that, Signorelli and his partners fired the agency because they didn't see the necessary results. The agency did... but couldn't produce a report to prove its contribution.

Were Signorelli and partners right? Maybe. But there's also a good chance that they might not have been. There are significant challenges in working with a marketing or PR agency. Here are some things to consider:

Are you taking credit for what you didn't do?

In the first few months, the company received 30 customers but couldn't tie them back to what the agency did. But could Signorelli tie the customers back to what he and his partners did? If leads were coming in from people seeing PR, it's likely that the agency might have brought them in.

Do you track incoming business?

One of the most difficult practical areas for marketing is tracking where customers heard about a business. If salespeople closing deals don't ask where the person heard of the product, then it is impossible for an agency to track results. It is also impossible for the business to know whether it is effectively spending its money.

Are your plans realistic?

It is virtually impossible for any company to determine how aspects of its business will act without wading in and seeing. For example, stating what the lifetime value of customers will be before you're dealing with customers for an extended period of time is just wishful thinking. It is your pricing, the types of customers you can attract, the nature of what they buy, and the quality of service you offer, among other factors, that will determine lifetime value. Don't hold people to an arbitrary expectation. Marketing happens over time, and part of that time you should devote to better understanding how your business works in reality rather than theory.

What is your sales cycle?

Signorelli distrusts such ambiguous buzzwords as "brand presence," "go-to-market strategy," "microsite," "QR code," or "targeted campaign." And he's absolutely right that many marketing people will offer all manner of toe-tapping terms because they don't want to get pegged to hard expectations. At the same time, it's also true that you have to get a lot of people to know about your company to build a sales funnel. That not only takes time, but might require such hazy concepts as brand awareness and repeated impressions. Don't expect sales faster than they can be brought in.

Should you vest absolute trust in a marketing agency? Oh, good heavens, no. But you'd also better know what you need to do to see if a marketing person is the problem, or if you have a bigger issue that blame won't solve.

Erik Sherman's work has appeared in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, and Fortune. He is a blogger for CBS MoneyWatch and InsideInvestorRelations.com. @ErikSherman

5 Things Potential Customers Want to Hear

When you're going on a sales call, make sure you give your prospects the information they are looking for.

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This is part of a package on selling to prospects. Read the other part: 4 Things Customers Don't Want to Hear.

Through the economic downturn of the past few years, organizations have become ever leaner. Employees with valuable experience have been bought off, downsized, or reassigned. This leaves a new generation of decision makers with less time, experience, and market intelligence with which to make important decisions.

What they want is for you to provide a level of insight that will make them personally and organizationally more effective. The companies and salespeople who can do this become trusted advisors--a relationship that is key to the sales process.

Want to win a buyer's attention and secure that company's business? Make sure you can talk intelligently about these five topics.

1. Market Position

Prospects often see outside salespeople as knowing a lot of information about the marketplace. The "feet on the street" perspective is seen (often correctly) as being more valuable and current than what gets generated by the company's marketing department. You, of course, need to remain discreet and maintain confidentiality. But if you can also provide the prospect with market intelligence, you gain trust as well as status.

2. What's Next?

Who doesn't want a personal fortuneteller? In the professional context, buyers are looking for people who can give them perspective on upcoming regulations, technology trends, industry mergers and acquisitions, and any other developments that affect the business.

Buyers who can teach their customer something and provide insight get more calls returned, faster responses to emails, and greater access.

3. Best Practices

The world is getting murkier. Competitors are now partners; consumer business models become commercial business models. The best and brightest change their approaches rapidly. Keep an eye out, and become a source for information about the best practices both within and outside of your prospect's industry.

4. Trends and Patterns

Start with this sentence--"In our research about your company, we have recognized a number of important patterns"--and you are virtually guaranteed to have your audience's undivided attention. Everyone wants to know how he or she (and his or her company) is looked at. By doing your homework, you can secure his or her attention with your findings--then frame your points with overall industry truths.

5. Points of Differentiation

You've probably heard this line in plenty of conversations with prospects: "Our business is different." I sometimes have a hard time keeping a straight face when I hear this, but your prospect believes it to be a deep and sacred truth. Customers want to know that you see them as different, so be sure to communicate what sets them apart.

This is not just ego stroking, by the way: To be a strategic provider to a given customer, you need to be able to express why he or she shouldn't buy from just anyone--and, in fact, that his or her unique characteristics make you a better provider, with a specialized solution.

Overall, remember that when you talk to the buyer about the buyer, you increase his or her engagement--as well as your chance of winning the business.

Author, speaker and consultant Tom Searcy is the foremost expert in large account sales. With Hunt Big Sales, he's helped clients land more than $5 billion in new sales. Click to get Tom's weekly tips, or to learn more about Hunt Big Sales. @tomsearcy

An Olympian's Shoulder: Best Ad Space Ever?

A small marketing firm paid $11,000 to put its Twitter handle on pro runner Nick Symmonds's left shoulder. Crazy or brilliant?

Symmonds will sport the Twitter handle at competitions in the U.S. and also at the London Games.

Mike Wisniewski, a newly minted social-media strategist for sports marketers Hanson Dodge Creative, was confident he could shake up the 30-year-old firm with a media buy only two and a half inches wide.

In January, Wisniewski spent $11,100 on eBay to display Hanson Dodge's Twitter handle on the left shoulder of professional runner Nick Symmonds, who is bound for the London Olympics later this month. Symmonds is sporting a temporary tattoo with Hanson Dodge's Twitter handle at races across the U.S. before showing it off at the Olympics.

Predictably, the deal produced some snarky headlines, such as 'Olympic Athlete Sells Arm on eBay for Nearly $12K,' all of which generated some immediate notice for Hanson Dodge.

But Wisniewski says the partnership goes beyond quick and dirty stunt marketing.

'It was exactly the type of thing I was looking for,' he says. 'I knew this could have real legs for us.' The partnership has already jolted Hanson Dodge's view of unconventional marketing strategies. And for Symmonds, who has long expressed his frustration with the sponsorship rules of his sport's governing bodies, it provided a new line of revenue and a new platform for exposure.

Shaking things up

At first, Hanson Dodge co-founder and CEO Ken Hanson wasn't sure that sponsoring a patch of a runner's arm really fit his company's image. His company is a prominent athletic-lifestyle marketing firm (and an Inc. 500 alum), with 60 employees and clients such as Wilson Sporting Goods and Trek.

'We're a business-to-business brand, so we don't typically market ourselves like this,' says Hanson. The company has designed social-media campaigns for clients, but it typically doesn't create them for itself. 'I thought this would be a better opportunity for a direct-to-consumer brand,' says Hanson.

Wisniewski managed to convince his bosses that a deal with Symmonds could go beyond the obvious'that it could outlast the Olympics and help the company in many areas of its business. He argued that it would give the sales team a bit of extra ammo and increase the company's online presence, as well as help generate attention-getting content for its social media.

Tim Dodge, Hanson's chief innovation officer, left, and Nick Symmonds found mutual goals within their new partnership.

 

Hanson now sees Symmonds as part billboard and part client. Symmonds, he says, 'is a young businessman of sorts. He needs to build his brand, and we could help.' Hanson believes the deal will help his firm better understand its clients and could provide entrée to other athletes. 

Supporting a cause

The eBay auction was just the latest in Symmonds's string of rebellious acts against his sport's governing authorities. In December of last year, at the annual USA Track & Field association meeting, Symmonds spoke out publicly against regulations that he claims 'cripple' the average athlete's ability to make money beyond apparel sponsorships.

He explains: 'I have a Nike sponsorship. You see the swoosh on me in every race, all over the world. I love Nike and of course am happy to be in the family. But if a mom-and-pop store also wanted to pay to support me and have their name represented on my back, I would be disqualified from most races.'

That's partly because every race has a unique set of rules as to what can be displayed on an athlete and what cannot. The Olympics comes with its own set of rules.

Mostly, apparel sponsorships pass muster. Not much else does. So even though Hanson Dodge dropped $11,100 on its sponsorship of Symmonds, the runner will have to cover up his temporary tattoo at many events during the Games.

'This is business, plain and simple,' says Symmonds. 'Athletes have very limited ways of marketing themselves. We can't give smaller sponsors a return on investment. If Nike, Adidas, and Reebok pass, you're stuck. You literally can't make enough to compete.'

Symmonds is using the money from Hanson Dodge to buy an entirely organic diet as he trains for the Olympics, which he calls a 'seemingly small thing that actually makes a huge difference.'

For Hanson Dodge, the deal is already starting to pay off, with some traditional media mentions and a flurry of social-media activity. Now Hanson Dodge and Symmonds are trying to move on a more comprehensive partnership. 'I wanted us to collectively take a risk,' says Wisniewski. 'This type of multilevel partnership could take us to the next level.'

To start, Symmonds is launching a blog for Hanson Dodge, in which he will give an athlete's perspective on issues such as marketing, social media, consumer engagement, and branding'issues important to the company's clients. And in the fall, Hanson Dodge plans to have Symmonds, who is also an avid fisher, hunter, and kayaker, speak at events such as the Outdoor Retailer conference, which should help build his appeal beyond running.

For Symmonds, the risk taking has already paid off. 'To be honest, putting myself on eBay was risky,' he says. 'I could have ended up endorsing a product that I didn't believe in. It's awesome that it worked out the way it did. We are a pretty great match.'

 

 

Nicole Carter covers start-ups, small business and entrepreneurship for Inc. Nicole was previously a reporter and web editor at the New York Daily News, and her work has also appeared in Consumer Reports magazine. @ncarterinc

'Beating Coke & Pepsi Is What Drives Me'

Michael Kirban thinks it's better to take risks than to be perfect. He fires off quick decisions, and he spends a lot of time in the company hammock.

Livia Corona

Hanging Tough Michael Kirban (he's the one in the hammock) and Vita Coco's sales director, Tim Dwyer, place a sales call to online grocer FreshDirect.

Michael Kirban has something to prove. Kirban, the 37-year-old co-founder and CEO of Vita Coco, had learning disabilities as a child. He spent half his school day in regular classes and half in special ed, which the other kids mockingly dubbed "romper room." Later, after Kirban dropped out of college and told friends he was starting a coconut-water business, some of them laughed. He chose to listen instead to his father, who always advised, "Don't listen to the 'What are you, nuts?' people."

Coconut water is now one of the country's fastest-growing beverages, and Vita Coco is the top-selling brand, with nearly $100 million in sales last year. The New York City--based company has a market share of about 50 percent, more than the combined shares of the next two brands, which are owned by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Around the office, Kirban is known to fire off quick decisions, hire people because of their attitude, and spend a fair amount of time in the office hammock. He explained the way he works to Reshma Yaqub.
 

Thanks to my insomnia and my 2-year-old daughter, my workday starts at around 5:30 a.m. I make a triple espresso, and my daughter usually sits in my lap while I chat on Skype. We have offices in four countries now, in four time zones. We're producing coconut water in a dozen facilities, in South America and Southeast Asia. Plus, sales are growing in Europe, and we're thinking about expanding to Japan. So I use Skype a lot, and I have to adjust my schedule to be available to everyone.

By 7:30, my wife, Arianna, is buzzing around the apartment, and I hand off my daughter with a big kiss. Then I head to the gym for an hour. Working out is very important to me. It's less about staying in shape and more about stress release. Right now, my routine consists of a Marine-style workout and boxing.

At 9, I walk half a block from my apartment to my office in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. I like having such a short commute, because I can visit my family during the day. When the weather's good, my wife and I take our daughter for a stroll around the block. I can still be back at the office in 20 minutes or less.

I spend the first hour at work bouncing around the office and talking to people. I would describe my style as management by walking around. I like to pop in and out of meetings that are going on, and drop in and out of conference calls. Often, the people on the other end of the call won't even know I was there.

Three years ago, we were 18 people. Now we're 150. All the employees here are really nice people. I hire based on attitude, not what school somebody went to. And everyone here is personally invested; they've all got either shares or stock options. I've always admired companies that make not just the owners rich, but the employees, too.

My co-founder, Ira Liran, and I own the largest share of the company. We also have some celebrity investors, such as Madonna and Spike Lee, who liked the product and approached us. All the celebrities paid for their shares. I don't give away free equity.

About a quarter of my time is spent traveling. I meet with our distributors and sales teams around the world, and I travel to our factories. Though most of our factories are automated, in Brazil it's still a bunch of guys with knives opening each and every coconut by hand.

The reason I started this company was just to earn some extra money to fund my travels. Ira and I have been friends since we were kids. We got the idea for Vita Coco after meeting some Brazilian girls in a bar. They kept talking about how much they missed coconut water, which was big in their country. Ira ended up marrying one of those girls.

Every day, I meet with my direct reports--the CFO, the vice presidents of sales and marketing, and the director of operations. I had no experience in the beverage industry before I started this company, so it has been important for me to surround myself with people who do have experience. That said, my inexperience has served me well. I make decisions that an insider might be too cautious to make. Some people thought it was crazy when I decided to build factories when we were just an $8 million company. I'm able to do creative things because I don't already believe that they can't be done. I'm good at making decisions very quickly. I think it's better to take risks than to be perfect. And if something doesn't work out, I don't look back and say, "Oh, what if..."

I'm kind of a control freak. But in the past year, I've gotten a lot better at delegating. I'm finally trusting key people around me to take on more responsibility and make decisions without running every little thing by me. And you know what? Things are actually working better. Before I hired my vice president of sales last year, I was spending 50 percent of my day just on sales.

When I'm in meetings, I can be incredibly focused and a little bit all over the place. I never sit in a chair for very long. So if I'm in our conference room, I will bounce from the windowsill to a desk chair to a beach chair that I keep in there.

I take some meetings in the office chill-out room, which has a hammock. I spend an hour a day in that hammock, just listening to employee presentations and updates. Being in the hammock keeps me focused, because I can't look at my computer. The hammock is one of my hiding places, too. Our office is a very open, free-flowing, interactive place. When I need to escape--to read a contract or just have my own space--I climb into the hammock.

I spend a lot of time thinking about how to protect and nurture this brand. As recently as 2009, some big retail chains took a lot of convincing to carry coconut water. These days, it's more about pacing the brand's growth and making sure we're in the right stores in the right locations. We also want to separate our product from the rest of the players in the category. Beating Coke and Pepsi is, more than anything, what drives me to work hard. My goal is to get 70 percent of market share this year.

At some point, I like to get out of the office during the day and walk around town. I go into local delis and check on our displays. In a store, if I see people looking through the beverage aisle, I buy them a Vita Coco. I will literally walk them to the cash register and pay for it. When I see someone on the street drinking Vita Coco, I go up and ask them how they like it. A lot of women think I'm hitting on them. Actually, a lot of men think I'm hitting on them, too.

I leave the office no later than 6:30 p.m. We live near Eataly, a large Italian market, so sometimes I'll pick up some beautiful cheeses to have with dinner. I usually enjoy a good hour of playtime with my daughter before her bedtime. After my wife and I have dinner and relax a bit, I prepare myself for 15 to 30 minutes of e-mail with Asia. It's the start of their day and the end of mine.

How to Close a Complex Deal

In some types of sales, the "agreement to buy" is just the start of the real buying process.

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When you're selling a simple product, like a car or a house, there's a point where the customer agrees to buy whatever you're selling.  That's called the "close" and it's an important (and happy) event.

In business-to-business selling, however, the "agreement to buy" is simply the start of a process. Even if you're fairly certain you've "closed," there's always a high probability that some roadblock will occur that will prevent the sale from actually being executed.

This is because businesses make decisions differently than individual consumers. For any purchase of importance, the customer organization needs to reach consensus that the purchase will actually take place, even if a senior executive is gung-ho to make it happen.

In business-to-business selling, it's not at all unusual to have sales situations drag on for months, without a final decision being made to buy from your firm (or at all, for that matter).

When these situations occur, it's often because you haven't defined the customer's buying habits well enough to determine whether the opportunity was real in the first place. Without an understanding of the customer's buying process, there's a chance that your "close" was just the fantasy of some middle manager who lacked the real authority or influence to push the deal through to completion.

Buying Process Document

The way to avoid these costly (and irritating) situations is to uncover the customer's buying habits as part of your selling process. This not only makes your sales revenue more predictable but lowers your cost of sale, because you don't end up spinning your wheels on fake deals.

According to Julie Thomas, CEO of the sales training firm ValueSelling Associates, when you believe you've got the commitment to buy (i.e. you've "closed the deal"), your next step is to work with your customer contact to create a written document.

This document describes what needs to happen for the transaction to actually take place. It should include information about all the stakeholders, potential vetoes, possible roadblocks, and required procedures and systems on purchases of this type.

One important note: When creating this document, it's important to discuss the buying process without threatening the contact's sense of importance. Avoid direct questions like "Who is the real decision-maker in the organization?" Instead ask questions like "How does the budget get allocated for this kind of purchase?"

If possible, work with multiple contacts within the customer organization to create the document. If your primary contact truly wants your firm's offering, encourage him or her to review the document with others in the organization in order to ensure its accuracy.

Using the Document

Your "buying process" document serves multiple roles.

First, it provides a guide to execution, making sure the deal takes place in a predictable way.

It also, when rolled up with other similar documents, becomes a primary source of accuracy for your overall sales forecast.

Third, the document serves as a model for future sales opportunities with that customer.  In most cases, the original document will simply need minor review and adjustment in order to reflect any relevant organizational or operational changes have taken place since the original sale.

Finally, the document gives you a road map to the customer organization: The sales support and accounting organizations within your own firm can use that information to understand events that take place at the customer's end, and know what needs to take place in order to ensure that the relationship proceeds smoothly.

If you like this post, sign up for the free Sales Source newsletter.

Geoffrey James writes the "Sales Source" column on Inc.com, the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

7 Small Gestures That Customers Love

The features of your product are important. But it's the little things that leave a lasting impression and encourage people to buy.

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I had the opportunity to spend two nights at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, California, a couple of weeks ago for my parents' 60thwedding-anniversary celebration. I could talk forever about the brioche French toast, fantastic ocean views, and the luxurious pillow-top beds.

Honestly, though, I'd expect those things, given the price I was paying. What will bring me back to the resort was the impression the unexpected small touches left on me. You don't have to be in the hospitality business to realize that excelling at small things is a recipe for customer loyalty.

Here are seven "small things" that stood out during our stay and apply to most businesses:

1. Notice What's Important

When my wife and I got to the check-in counter, we were assigned to our hotel room. The staffer noticed we had small children and immediately brought out a wagon full of stuffed animals and encouraged our kids to pick one. This seemingly small gesture showed the resort was paying attention to what is most important to us.

2. Be a Guide

Rather than just hand me the room key, the clerk stepped around the front desk, told me he was going to tour my family and me around the property and then escort us to our room. And that's just what he did. Not sure how the hotel managed that with multiple people checking in at the same time, but it was impressive. Do you do this when you give clients direction?

3. Start the Morning Right

I love it when hotels offer morning coffee. But it is usually in very small cups, and you inevitably wind up going back repeatedly for more. At the Montage, the coffee cups looked about the same size as a Starbucks Venti. And the coffee was free until 11 a.m. What a great way to start the day.

4. Empower the Unexpected

At breakfast one morning, we celebrated my 12-year-old nephew's birthday. During the meal, unbeknownst to me or my family, our Montage waiter slipped out of the hotel, went to his car, and brought back a book that he gave to my nephew as a gift. Can you imagine? What small, unexpected touches do you enable your employees to offer without having to ask permission?

5. Don't Just Pass By

As usual, at the Montage I often saw hotel employees in the hallways or outside walkways. But in addition to the standard "good morning" and pleasant smile, the Montage workers went out of their way to purposely step aside and create a path for me, whether I was with a group or walking alone. Instead of two people mindlessly passing each other, we had a moment to interact.

6. Communicate Price Clearly

When I checked out of the hotel and asked for a bellman to help my family and me with our bags, he also brought our bill to the room so we could check it then and raise any issues or questions. I have never experienced that kind of active transparency; it was great to have someone make sure the details of the bill fit the service we paid for.

7. Leave Them With a Lasting Memory

When our car was loaded up and my family and I were ready to go, not only did we find the Montage staffers had left two bottles of water in the car cup holders but also two logo baseball caps on the dashboard for my wife and me. We drove away with smiles on our faces.

What did these "extras" cost the hotel? Not much more than the commitment to excellence and the clearly thorough internal training program.

I've already made my hotel reservations at the Montage for next year. Next time, I'll stay for two weeks.

Paul Spiegelman is founder and CEO of The Beryl Companies, which manages patient interactions for hospitals, and co-founded the Small Giants Community, a global entrepreneur group, with Inc. magazine editor-at-large Bo Burlingham. @paulspiegelman

Why You Don't Need Salespeople

Imagine a world in which you were able to fire all of your salespeople and still achieve consistent revenue growth. How would you pull it off?

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For most growing businesses, quality salespeople are a must. But most business models won't achieve exponential growth riding on the backs of the sales team. Even the best salesperson can't sell something that customers don't value. Furthermore, most high-growth companies don't achieve their successes by hiring the best salespeople. If they did, good salespeople would be too expensive for small companies to afford.

Real sales growth comes through an advantaged customer offer, which we define as a better product at a fair price (or, alternatively, a standard quality product at a much better price). Creating an offering that customers are willing to buy is the key to growth. A good sales team will get your advantaged offering in front of the right customers at the right time.

We were reminded of this simple concept recently when we read through some of the comments to our recent article "Relationship Building Is Much More Than Selling." The executives who read this article seemed to think that the best customers were never "sold to" but nevertheless became the business's most valuable customers.

I've always believed that the best way to market is not to "sell" your company but rather to make it known and to establish meaningful relationships with your clients and B2B leads. This post just makes me believe that even more. Rather than selling to people you don't know, and who have probably heard the same opening lines you gave them upon your first meeting from a dozen others, you should be trying your best to invest time and effort into building up a very good relationship with one of your clients and prospects.

--Maxwell Stinson

The best business relationships are not those who are "sold" to, but those who act as referral points or credibility references that result in sales, far beyond what these individuals could have "bought" on their own." This is one way of building your network, through referral...I believe this is one of the best business relationships...they trust you to refer you to others.

--Amber King

Given this insight, we try to coach companies to imagine how they would build their business without salespeople. How would they create an offer that caused customers to come over the transom without much sales and marketing investment? What could they do to improve their offer to make it more attractive to customers? This disciplined thinking causes management teams to ensure that their business model will stand on its own, without relying on advantaged selling. If that occurs, the business's sales investment can be a catalyst for growth rather than the single enabler of growth.

What would you do differently if you weren't able to rely on salespeople to fuel your growth?

Send us your thoughts at karlandbill@avondalestrategicpartners.com.

Karl Stark and Bill Stewart are Managing Directors and co-founders of Avondale, a strategic advisory firm focused on growing companies. Avondale, based in Chicago, is a high-growth company itself, and is ranked No. 95 on the 2011 Inc. 500 list. @karlstark

9 Small Companies Making Waves at the Olympics

Gill Athletics, based in Champaign, Illinois, manufactures track and field equipment, including pole-vaulting poles, javelins, shot puts, hammers, and discuses for schools and professional training facilities around the country. Founder Harry Gill won the AAU all-around championship (equivalent to today's Olympic decathlon) in 1900 and started Gill Athletics 18 years later.

Facebook Revenue: $1.18 Billion

The social network barely exceeded investor expectations Thursday in its first earnings report as a public company.

After two months of consternation following Facebook's IPO debacle, the social network's first earnings came out pretty much in line with Wall Street expectations.

However, the modest news didn't exactly placate investors' fears: After the earnings report was released, Facebook's after-hours stock price fell several percentage points, and its stock price hit an all-time low of $24.

The company brought in $1.18 billion in revenue, slightly above analysts' expectation of $1.15 billion. Revenue from advertising was $992 million, representing 84% of total revenue and a 28% increase from the same quarter last year. The company also announced it now has 955 million monthly active users, up 29% from March 2012.

According to the earnings report, the company has also hired 1,315 employees in the last year.

Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and David Ebersman led the company's call. On everyone's mind was Facebook's focus on mobile ads. Zuckerberg did not disappoint, although he made no direct commitment to any type of specific mobile ad program.

"Mobile is a huge opportunity for Facebook," Zuckerberg said. "We're finding that people are quickly adopting our mobile services." People who use mobile are also 20% more active on Facebook as a whole, Zuckerberg said.

He added, "We're investing very heavily in improving our mobile apps. We've made some good progress in the last quarter."

Zuckerberg also signaled that the company would double down on its developer platform.

"Our vision for platform is bigger than most believe," he said. The company's "open graph" platform enables developers to develop more apps and programs for users.

Lastly, Zuckerberg indicated the company's interest in expanding the use of social ads--the ability for marketers to leverage a user's social graph.

Zuckerberg used an example: If someone "Likes" a restaurant, it's more compelling for their friends to see that Like, rather than receiving a direct ad from the restaurant.

Sandberg, in her presentation, noted that ad-recall is 98% more effective when an ad is shared by a friend, adding that the company will continue to invest in advertisers' ability to share content via "Sponsored Stories," as well as through a user's News Feed. She also indicated the company's continued foray into a real-time bidding platform, similar to Google's advertising platform.

Ebersmen, the company's CFO, indicated that shareholders should expect continued investments in human capital and research and development. The company plans to invest nearly $2 billion in capital expenses.

Asked about potential acquisitions, Zuckerberg was frank: "We have a very entrepreneurial culture and we want the type of people who will take risks. Often the best way to find those people is to find people working on their own companies."

In the second quarter, the company's GAAP loss from operations was $743 million, compared to a gain of $407 million for the second quarter of last year. However, this loss was expected due to share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses resulting from the company's May IPO. Earnings per share, expected at 12 cents, came in precisely on target (on an adjusted basis).

Notably, the company also is reporting assets of nearly $15 billion--up from $6 billion six months previously.

Zynga's underwhelming quarterly earnings report, which sent shares tumbling 35%, cast a dark pall over the earnings call. In fact, Facebook shares fell 5% on news of Zynga's less-than-stellar performance.

"If Facebook were to miss earnings, the stock would be punished more than a typical earnings miss by a tech company given it would come on the heels of the disappointing IPO," Piper Jaffray noted earlier this week.

The anticipation leading up to the call was nearly palpable, especially after the company's May IPO debacle, which left investors deflated and grumbling under a sagging stock price. Before the call on Thursday, the Facebook's stock was priced at just above $27, having been priced at $38 on its first day of trading.

By the time the market reopens Friday, analysts expect the report and earnings call to have roughly a $3 effect on the company's stock price.

Eric Markowitz reports on start-ups, entrepreneurs, and issues that affect small businesses. Previously, he worked at Vanity Fair. He lives in New York City. @EricMarkowitz

5 Best Ways to Attract Top Talent

You need to stand out as you recruit your start-up team. Here's how.

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Everyone knows that it's difficult to attract top talent, especially if your company is relatively new and unknown.  Here are some strategic ways to help you build buzz around your company's recruiting efforts.

1.  Start with your employees.

Your current employees are the best advertising for your company.  Of course, that means you have to set a high bar of hiring the best, and build a culture where people love working, and are passionate about seeing it succeed.

Since great people know other great people, your employees can advocate on your behalf and create a spider-web effect.  Make sure you effectively communicate the vision and mission of your company so that your message is disseminated to prospective employees in a consistent way.  You can also speed up the process by incentivizing employees; dole out referral bonuses or other perks for introducing awesome candidates who are successfully hired.

2.  Expose yourself.

Get your company message out there and give prospective employees an inside look.  You can do this by adding an informative careers section to your website and distributing updates on social media. 

In addition to job listings, your job page should have a description of your company, including why a job seeker would want to work for you: how you're disrupting an industry, growing fast, or helping people, for instance. Twitter's jobs section does an excellent job of showcasing why it is a great place to build a career.  Shoot and post a fun video to help candidates learn about your company and meet some of the people who already work there.  I like Backupify's, if you want to check out an example.  You can also communicate job openings through your company's Twitter handle and Facebook page.  TripAdvisor has a Twitter account called @TripAdvisorJobs for people to follow and stay up-to-date about job openings and other recruiting tidbits.

3.  Be creative, have fun!

Think about your product or the personality of your company and then use it to your advantage.

HubSpot produces parody videos that give you a sense about the company's lighthearted culture.  Craft Coffee, a subscription service in New York looking for a Ruby on Rails developer, built a microsite to help create buzz for the position and educate developers about why working for the company could be a good professional opportunity.  To help out, it also offered a one-week trip to a coffee-growing country like Brazil or Colombia.

4.  Post the job.

Wait, you thought job boards were passé and so Web 1.0?  That's not true!  Job boards can be very effective if you are spending your time and money in the right spots.  Avoid broad sites like Monster and Craigslist; instead use highly specialized job boards where your target audience is spending time.  For creative or user-experience web designers and developers, I suggest sites like Smashing Jobs.  There are also regional sites for start-up jobs like VentureFizz (which I founded) in Boston and New York.

5.  Do good!

Give back to the community.  Sponsoring an industry event or having your employees volunteer some time locally will get a positive vibe out there about your company.  This type of goodwill goes a long way in terms attracting top people.

Keith Cline has been a start-up headhunter for 14 years. He is the founder of Dissero, a recruiting firm that works primarily with VC-backed start-ups. He is also the founder of VentureFizz, a website about technology and entrepreneurship in Boston. @VentureFizz

8 Email Mistakes to Avoid

These blunders are more than just productivity killers; they will also make you look pretty foolish.

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Knowing your way around your email inbox is, of course, crucial if you want to get anything done. But it's also necessary to avoid making a fool of yourself with silly (and unfortunately all too common) communication mistakes. Here's a list of the most common email blunders to avoid:

1. Not including the email thread in your reply.

Think about how many emails you receive every day. When you're communicating with dozens of people a day, sometimes you forget where you were in a particular conversation or what the conversation was even about, right? So it's nice to be able to skim through the previous emails to refresh yourself before responding. Do your recipients a favor and include the whole thread when responding. Although deleting the thread declutters the email and makes it appear less lengthy, in the end, it just creates confusion for the recipient.

2. Not using a professional account.

Syncing your professional account with your personal account is convenient. But when you have this feature set up, always double-check which account you are sending your mail from. Accidentally firing off a message from hottstuff09@yahoo.com will not only raise some eyebrows, it will mean the message will probably wind up directly in your recipient's Spam folder.

3. Not replying to all.

This one is so easy to forget. If the idea is to keep a number of people in the loop, then do exactly that and use the Reply All button. Enough said. 

4. Cc'ing the world.

Yes, you need to reply to all, but before cc'ing someone into an email conversation, ask yourself if it's really necessary. Spare that person the gratuitous email if you can.

5. Forgetting the bcc field.

The bcc function is great for when you want to keep someone in the loop but it is not necessary for him or her to be part of the conversation. For example, after someone introduces you to a contact via email, move that person to the bcc field. Also, be mindful of people's privacy when sending out group emails to various recipients. Not everyone wants his or her email address exposed to a large group of people he or she doesn't know.

6. Rambling.

Emails should be short and to the point. If it's something you can't say in just a few sentences, or you find yourself in a nonstop, back-and-forth conversation, pick up the phone! Overly long emails may end up in the recipients' TL;DR (too long; didn't read) pile.

7. Writing unprofessionally.

Always keep a professional tone. That means ensuring emails have proper grammar and are free of slang. Save the "abbrevs" for Twitter.

8. Creating unnecessary back-and-forth.

When you're sending a quick email to set up a meeting, provide all necessary information in the first email. Otherwise, it becomes a back-and-forth conversation that could have been taken care of in one response from each side. For example, if you are requesting a meeting with someone, offer your availability. If you are scheduling a call, provide your phone number.

Which email mistakes do you see people making?

Ilya Pozin founded his first company, Ciplex, at age 17. The digital marketing and creative agency caters to small businesses and start-ups. @ilyaNeverSleeps

One Company's Secret to Amazing Customer Service

Growth and scale are typically the enemy of great, personal customer service--except in this case.

Courtesy Company

Edward Wimmer, co-owner of Road ID.

One of the first casualties of scale tends to be customer service: What once was personal becomes anything but as you add processes, systems, and people to your operation.

And when that happens, it's not unusual to find someone trashing a company's product and service on a major forum.

What is unusual is when almost 200 customers respond forcefully to that comment.

Here's another in my series in which I choose a topic, pick someone smarter than me, and we trade emails.

This time, I talked to Edward Wimmer, co-owner of Road ID, a company that custom manufactures personal-identification gear for fitness and outdoor enthusiasts, kids, and people with special needs. (Think of a Road ID as a cross between a military dog tag and a medical alert, except a lot cooler.)  

Quick disclosure: Everyone in my family has one. Or two.

Here's my premise: Growth and scale are the enemy of outstanding, personal service.

Jeff: Let's start with the thread on bikeforum.net. Seeing detailed criticism about your product on a popular forum had to suck. (Readers: Here's a link to the thread.)

Edward: I read it and felt horrible, because it was completely different from how we do things. Then I started reading the eight pages of comments, and what followed was nothing short of remarkable. Our customers defended us, said "dude, you've got it all wrong, if you have a problem, they'll take care of you..." It blew my mind our customers would come to our aid in that way. Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised. The way we do business does inspire our customers and create evangelists.

Now we like to say our customers would show up to a fistfight--on our behalf--if we asked them to.

Jeff: I might not show up, but then again I'm kind of a sissy.

You've averaged 50% year-over-year revenue growth for nine years yet maintained a service level that generates that kind of response to criticism. What's the secret?

Edward: I wish I could tell you we have a secret sauce, but it really isn't hard. It's easy. We do have systems, but they are based on common sense and how we would want to be treated.

Say you call a large company: You enter an automated phone system, press a bunch of numbers intended to theoretically "better help us serve you..." but that process is designed to make it easier for the company, not for the customer.

When customers call, they hear me say: "Thank you for calling Road ID. We are routing your call to a real person as I speak, so just hang out for a second and someone will be right with you."

We would want to talk to a real person, so that's what we do.

Jeff: You take that approach farther than most companies do and frankly farther than I might. For example, if a customer makes a mistake on their ID, you'll replace it for a nominal fee. And that's even after making it really easy for people to see what they'll get, because they can create and review their IDs onscreen. I know companies that see it as a bonus when customers make mistakes on personalized products, because that can turn one sale into two.

Edward: I realize most customers would understand, if they made the mistake, that they would have to pay full price for a new ID; because it's personalized, it's not like they can return the ID and we can sell it to someone else.

We let our employees make the right decisions. Maybe it's a refund, and we let the customer keep the product. Maybe something didn't come out right, and we overnight a replacement. In those cases, that individual order does result in a loss.

But the key is that every customer doesn't have to generate a positive ROI. If we generate a positive ROI on most of our customers, the bottom line takes care of itself. When you aren't trying to squeeze every nickel out of every transaction, it's easy to do the right thing for an individual customer.

Jeff: I get that concept if you make a mistake, but it's still a pretty bold approach to take when the customer makes the mistake. Again, it's not like they ordered the wrong size shirt and you can return it, unopened, to inventory.

Edward: If a customer has an issue, we'll take a loss if we need to. We'll solve their problems so they will want to shout from the proverbial rooftops about how they were treated at Road ID.

Jeff: When I need to call a company, I feel like I need to gather up all my evidence ahead of time so I can present my case. I think we're conditioned to see the complaint-resolution process as adversarial, because it often is.

Edward: That's why when companies just do a mediocre job of helping customers with a problem, people take note, and when you truly get it right, customers really start evangelizing your brand, your company, etc.

It shouldn't be a battle. You shouldn't need to get your "stuff" together to prove your case.

As a company, all you have to do is picture yourself on the other end of the line. What would you want to happen? Not what would you expect to happen, but what would you really want to happen?

If you order a shirt, wear it once, and then realize it's the wrong size, most people would expect the company to say, "Oh, no, sorry. You wore it, we can't take it back." You would love the company to say, "I'll replace it for free," or at least at a very low cost.

When something goes wrong, just take care of it. You might lose money on that one sale, but that customer will tell a lot of people about their experience. Plus, think about how much you spend acquiring a new customer. Doesn't it make sense to spend a little to keep a customer?

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. @jeff_haden

Biggest Weaknesses of Great Leaders

The same skills that made you a great entrepreneur and leader could also make you a terrible manager.

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It's frustrating to watch a business hover on the verge of great success yet never fully achieve it. One of the most common causes of unfulfilled expectations in many organizations is, surprisingly enough, the presence of a great leader at the top.

Why? Because a track record of success--particularly great success--breeds patterns of behavior that, as the business grows and becomes more complex, turn assets into liabilities. These weaknesses can be even more dangerous to the company, because the leader in question usually views them as key skills.

Here are the four most common Achilles' heels of great leaders:

1. Listening. Or more precisely, giving the appearance of listening. I've seen it happen hundreds of times. A business leader starts out as a genuinely good listener--attentive, curious, interested. Then, as success comes, along with massive demands on their time, and thn the leader learns to fake it. 

Sure, they still nod and say "uh huh" at the appropriate moments; they still wrinkle their brow and appear engrossed (they may even up the ante on shoulder holding and eye contact), but the reality is that they're paying attention less and processing less of what they do hear.

And of course, the result is that the leader becomes more and more isolated, less informed, and increasingly dependent on out-of-date and therefore irrelevant data. In turn, this leads to poor decisions, based on old assumptions.

The answer? If you think this might be you, there's a simple fix. At the end of every substantive interaction, repeat back to the other party a summary of discussion, then ask this simple question: "Is there anything I've missed or misunderstood?" So long as you're not intimidating the people you work with (see point 4), they'll keep you on track.

2. Multitasking. One of the strengths of most great leaders is their ability to get through a huge volume of work. Another is the ability to be "in the moment" and to focus relentlessly on the issue at hand.

As the business grows and the demands on a leader's time and resources are stretched further and further, guess which "strength" wins out? Multitasking-- mostly because of the allure of decreasing the mountain of work ahead (an illusion, in fact, as you have no doubt experienced), begins to encroach more and more on the leader's ability to focus on a singular issue. 

Those one-on-one meetings now seem like a good opportunity to also sign off on a bunch of "routine" memos. Darting outside to take a couple of phone calls during a meeting becomes routine. Speed scanning through documents that require "reading" can be done at almost any time.

Except they can't.

Not only does the quality of your decision making suffer inordinately, worse, your credibility takes a beating as everyone in the organization realizes that you're not really "present" anymore. Try this as a first step: Multitask only when you're on your own--doing computer work or plowing through documents. Discipline yourself to engage fully when you're with others, and you'll see the quality of your decision making shoot up.

3. "Snap" decisions. Ahh, experience and judgment: the two skills that most got you where you are today. You're renowned in the past for nailing it. You quickly assimilate data, appraise the situation, and call the play--and get it right, more often than not.

Except that because your business has grown, there's way more data now than you can possibly assimilate as quickly as you once did. So your snap decisions aren't as dependable as they once were, but because you're the big kahuna, no one is telling you.

Take a wander down to the front line (or send someone else out to do it, like a secret shopper) and find out if that last decision you made (about shipping terms or inventory management or brand extension) really did work in practice, or if it's just sitting there, a clunky, half-implemented, mostly resented piece of irrelevancy that everyone is trying his or her best to ignore.

You may well find that (to borrow a phrase from my friend Marshall Goldsmith) that while making snap decisions got you here, it won't get you there.

4. Manipulation. You're (rightly) proud of your communication skills. Your ability to paint a vision and to communicate it in a way that motivates others to help you realize it is at the core of who you are. It's also one of the key skills that helped you get your organization to where it is today. 

Early on, you realized that you're so good at communicating and motivating others that you could short-circuit the process, avoiding the lengthy process of collaboration and getting buy in. You simply manipulated others to do what you wanted, no questions asked. You did it rarely, though--only when you really had to.

Now, as success has brought a hugely increased workload, there simply isn't the time any more to truly motivate others, and you've slipped into using manipulation as a default. The people around you have noticed, of course, and are increasingly doing the same thing themselves. The culture of the organization is diluting, and cynicism is replacing authenticity. Worst of all, because it is happening slowly (but ineluctably), like the proverbial frog in boiling water, you haven't noticed.

Here's the acid test: When people are manipulated into doing something, they do it--but only just. They'll extend the bare minimum of effort in doing so. When they're motivated, they'll implement with intelligence and imagination. How often recently has your team taken an idea of yours and not only implemented it but together honed it and improved upon it? 

If the answer is "rarely," chances are, you've slipped into default manipulation mode.

Les McKeown is the author of the best-seller, Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track - and Keeping It There and is the CEO of Predictable Success, a leading advisor on accelerated organizational growth. His latest book is The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success. @lesmckeown @lesmckeown

3 Fears You Can Easily Conquer

They kill ideas and keep many promising entrepreneurs from realizing their dreams. Here's how to put a stop to those nagging fears.

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Some measure of fear is not necessarily a bad thing; it's perfectly natural to feel hesitant about doing something new. But when fear becomes paralyzing--or even slows you down--it's time to do something about it.

Fear keeps too many amazing ideas from coming to fruition and too many promising entrepreneurs from realizing their dreams. To keep yourself from being on the wrong side of this statistic, determine your fear factors and move into action.

It's important to know that the most successful people in the world experience fear just like you do. The only difference is that they have learned to recognize their fear and move forward in spite of it.

How did they attain this valuable quality? From experiencing failure! Failure is in fact a necessary steppingstone to success; without failure, we have nothing to learn from.

An important part of my job is to help people to identify and neutralize their fears. Once these roadblocks are out of the way, we can create the master plan and take action on the vision. There are many beliefs that hold people back, but in my experience as a coach, these three fears seem to be the most common. 

1. The Fear of Losing Hope

Your inaction may be frustrating and disappointing, but as long as you have hope that someday, your dreams will come to life, you feel safer and more optimistic about the future. So, you keep your ideas tucked safely away in the recesses of your mind, where they can't fail. If you fail, all hope is gone, and that's even more frightening.

But really, is that true? Is every promise of a fulfilling future eliminated if your concept fails? Nope. There will always be another idea, another way of doing things. Release your ideas from their internal prison, allow your creativity to flow, gather information from your missteps, and your hope will grow into satisfaction and success.

2. The Fear of Judgment

What will others think if I fail? If you hang in the right crowd, others will think you're a hero, whether you succeed or fail. Most people never act on their dreams; you may be the only person in your circle who has ever had the courage to step out. Others admire that quality and often wish they possessed the same strength. Of course, the reality is that there is no such thing as failure if you persevere, only the opportunity to learn and grow.

3. The Fear of Not Keeping Up

I once coached an amateur golfer whose goal was to break 80 on the course. Although he had been golfing for many, many years, he had never done it. And he made every excuse to not do it: He had a bad knee; he was too old; his clubs were never good enough. These excuses were all signs that he was afraid of succeeding at his goal. What we discovered was a self-limiting belief that if he broke 80 once, he would have to do it every single week, or his golfing buddies would never let him live it down. Wow, what pressure! But with a single session of EFT tapping (the Emotional Freedom Techniques), this golfer let go of his self-imposed limitations, broke 80, and still enjoys his game, regardless of his score.

You can handle success, but only if you let go of your doubt and fear. Sometimes facing the fear is enough; sometimes we need a little professional help. But the first step is to identify the personal barrier that's even more daunting than failure. What are the perceived negative consequences of success? Typically, your fear is based on a false belief, not a reality. Put it into perspective simply by asking yourself, Is this really, honestly going to happen, or am I just afraid that it will?  Then test the waters, one step at a time.

So, what's your fear? Do you let it stop you, or have you found a way to make things happen in spite of it? Share your story with us here.

Marla Tabaka is a life and business coach who helps entrepreneurs and small-business owners grow their companies faster. She coaches for Make Mine a Million and has 25 years of experience in corporate and start-up ventures. @MarlaTabaka