Forget Planning the 2nd Half of the Year...Embrace Choosing, Selecting and Acting to Achieve Profits & Productivity

Forget business planning the 2nd half of the year and embrace choosing, selecting and acting...

Welcome to “Conversations every business owner has with their team in July.”  It’s the start of the second half of the year and let’s forget traditional business planning and start embracing - choosing, selecting and acting now.  Here’s why...

Traditional business planning as applied by big corporations and government is bureaucratic and stifling.  An entrepreneur and business owner success requires - faster easier and flexible direction setting ways more aligned to their passion and control mindset.  Something more empowering...here’s how!

1. Choose what you want, need, must have in your professional and personal life to feel happy about your progress for the time period selected.  That’s your future.  Prioritize the list to the top two to three must haves.
2. Select what you want or must take from your past into the future.  Think of this as if you were packing for a trip and have only two suitcases.  All of your past is not required for the journey - so prioritize and select the best experiences, thoughts, feelings, relationships, knowhow to create the future chosen.  
3. Act on what and where you’ve chosen to go using what you’ve selected from your past to take into the future.   The more compelling and clear your future the harder to veer off course when the moment of choice arrives or the momentum of the day overwhelms you.  You’ll align your actions, behaviors and decisions to achieve what makes you happy about your progress.  

This approach embraces an entrepreneur's attitude of business and life by design vs. happenstance.

Now go have July’s conversation with your team and forget planning and start choosing, selecting and acting to achieve more and work less.  

Want to know more?  Let’s talk.  I’ll offer a complimentary 60 to 90 min session to understand your situation and I’ll guarantee you at least a half dozen implementable ideas to maximize your effectiveness in the 2nd half of the year.

Call me at ph:  972 291 5566 or Email:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Let’s get started...accelerating your growth.  

Which is More Important - Entrepreneur's Character or Idea?

Whether you're the bank, an angel or venture capital investor which counts most, the entrepreneur's/business owner's character or their idea?  

View YouTube - What Counts Most - Character or Idea?

A big fallacy is people believing that if only they had one great idea the business takes care of itself.  Bill Gates developed someone else's idea into Microsoft DOS idea.  Steve Job leveraged Steve Wozniak's engineering prowess into Apple.  And if you look in the US Patent Office you'll find plenty of brilliant ideas that have gone nowhere without a person with the character to build success.  

Investors seek to understand the owner, their motives, beliefs, skills, values and identity.  They look into the owner's past performance and circumstances as to how they've overcome time, team, money and system challenges and still found success.  The investor is making money with money.  They want a commensurate risk/return "of" and "on" their capital.  They ascertain from the owner whether they will convert the investor's money into greater value.  

So before you seek an investor, work harder on yourself, your character than the idea - to be worthy of investment.  And if you're going to work harder, wouldn't you also want to work smarter?  

Just like any sports team with a coach they work smarter to achieve more faster than they would otherwise.  Is it any different in business?  

Do you believe that with an accomplished business coach would you get the know-how, insights to ask higher quality questions, improving your skills, impacting your beliefs and values about what’s possible which ultimately allows you to make higher quality decisions and take actions that move you to your goal of a commercial profitable business that works without you always being there?  And isn’t that why you started your business in the first place?  

Let's get started...give me a call today.  

ph:  972 709 6776  em:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

No Reason to Operate a Business in N Texas and Not Have Access to Business Coaching Tools for Growth

If you operate a business in N Texas there is no reason not to have access to the tools to grow your business.

At ActionCOACH - Business Coaching there are at least 5 major categories of products and services offered to business owners. View YouTube link.

1.  Our Flagship program is our one-to-one coaching  where we coaching week-over-week with the business owner toward the ultimate goal of a commercial profitable business that works without the business owner always being there.  This is our most intense program and it’s not for everyone.

2.  The next program is group coaching.  We gather 8 to 12 business owners to work bi-weekly together where the coach facilitates the knowledge to grow a business going through ActionCOACH’s 6 Steps - Mastery, Niche, Leverage, Team, Synergy and Results business level capabilities.  This is for owners not quite ready for the intensity of one-to-one coaching but often after these 3 months they find they know a lot more and graduate to the one-to-one coaching programs.  

3.  The third level consists of seminars and workshops on specific business growth topics from business vision and planning, marketing, sales, customer experience, systemization, team building to name a few of the topics.  These vary in length from a few hours, half day, day to two days.   These can be customized for your specific business or franchise group.

4.  Next are ActionCOACH’s digital products on the business growth topics similar to the seminar and workshops plus our ActionCOACH books.  With these products you can gain the know how and refer back to them for reference.  These are often included as part of the one-to-one and group programs.

5.  Finally, we offer special projects for business owners perhaps seeking expansion capital, hiring new talent, preparing for exit or transition, deciding whether they are ready for expansion via licensing, franchising or organic growth.

Based on the business owner’s needs, commitment to growth, resources and time availability, we select the right offer to move you forward.  Thus, no matter what level of budget and time availability, there is likely a program designed for you.

So let’s have the conversation to moves you and your business further faster than you thought possible.  Call me at ph:  972 709 6776  eM:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

The 3 Business Coaching Principles Leading to Higher Profits and Productivity

Thinking Bigger, Insisting on Win/Win and Being First to Inspire are three business coaching principles that lead you to higher profitability and productivity.  

View the YouTube Link

Business owners think back to a time when you were in high school or college when you had a teacher, mentor or coach that got you to perform higher than you thought possible.  They gave you know how, motivation and accountability to go further.  So as a business owner today, where do you get that kind of guidance when you need it the most?  0:04

Hi I’m Stephen Marino with ActionCOACH - Business Coaching.  When we work together in a coaching relationship our purpose is to achieve higher profits and productivity.  To do that, I use three major principles.  

1.  Thinking Bigger - Getting owners to think beyond the day-to-day toward a compelling vision so that when the going gets tough we keep going.  Giving owners confidence gained from proven time tested strategies that get you the result more predictably and less stressfully so you don’t have to go through the expensive and exhausting school of hard knocks.  Then giving owners the courage to act on what they know.  Closing the gap between knowing and doing.  And finally holding the owner accountable to doing the small things all along the way toward the bigger vision of tomorrow.

2.  Insisting on Win/Win/Win - We start with having your customers and clients win.  When they win you’ll attract lots of them and then you win.  When you win then I win.  It’s got to work in that order.  And I want you to win as fast as possible because you control my reputation.

3.  Being First to Inspire - I practice what I coach.  Based on successes and experience from the military leading troops, from corporate sized engineering and development projects to 15 years of business ownership and coaching, you benefit.  You don’t need to make my mistakes.  There are plenty more mistakes to be made.  You just don’t need to make mine.  If I only wish I knew then what I know now.  

If these principles sound like the type of environment where you can see yourself going further faster, then let’s talk.

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 eM:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

What's the Distinction Between Consulting vs. Coaching? And Why it Matters

I'm often asked what’s the distinction between consulting and coaching. Consulting is about problem solving and fixing.  Once a consultant fixes that particular problem they leave.  When the problem recurs you bring them back.  They keep the intellectual know how.  You’re dependent upon them.

 View the YouTube link

With coaching the emphasis is on you - the business owner and your business’ productive capacity to sustain the growth, keep the motivation and drive long after I’ve gone.

To use a sports analogy, the coach is on the sidelines.  They prepare the team to compete.  Similarly in business, business coach is at your side.  But, I'm not doing it for you.  I prepare you and your team to compete effectively on the business field for customers, revenues and profits.  

So ask yourself if the top teams in the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Olympics or Wimbledon every one of those teams have a coach.  Where do you as a business owner get that kind of guidance today?  You may be saying it's too expensive or takes too much time. My response is what's it costing you not be be working as profitably and productively as possible. What's the cost to your clients, team and family...the one who count on you the most. There are lots of coaching programs to fit into your budget and time availability. The important thing is to learn from coaches that have proven how to accelerate you growth.

That's my role.  I keep you focused on your vision to own a commercial profitable business that ultimately works without you always being there.  And isn’t that what you had in mind when you started your business initially?  To give you your time back and create financial wealth!  

So let’s get started.  Contact me now…

pH: 972 291 5566 eM: StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

What to Forget During Wild Economic Times

As a business owner you’re already privileged to benefit from one of the most effective means to create wealth and serve clients there is. Yet the statistics show fewer than 10% achieve our goals and lifestyle sought after when we went into business originally.  Not because we won’t work hard or take risks, instead it’s about what we believe or “I Knows." The way we think about business limits our actions and sabotages our dreams.
 
Are we taking credit for more than what our own initiatives merit? More responsible than we actually are for the success of projects? Do we begin to believe that our value is much higher than reality actually shows. Yes, our knowhow brought success yet what you believe brought you success may or may not be true. 

"It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so." 

 Will Rogers 

Whenever we experience success in the workplace, we usually get a very positive feeling out of it, and this generally results in a net positive for us. Our self-esteem goes up and we have more confidence in our abilities. However, this only goes so far: often, when we have a string of successes, we begin to adopt a handful of beliefs that aren’t necessarily true. 

This is a human failing, one that anyone with some measure of success can fall prey to. I’ve fallen prey to it myself - more than once, I’ve managed to make myself believe that I was somehow superior simply because I performed my individual role well. This is a dangerous thing to ever believe, even if it happens to be true. It alters your own behavior in a lot of ways and sets you up for failure, not for success.

What to Forget During Wild Economic Times…

At a recent global conference of top business coaches where practical business building tips for wild economic times were being documented – counter intuitive findings arose. The business owners doing well and who succeed further knew what to forget, ignore and stop doing. Essential business is learning to forget. These owners challenged beliefs about what brought them success during good times, carried forth what’s true and applicable and disregarded old believes or “I Knows” to be even more profitable and productive during today’s uncertainty. Picture your “I know” cup filled to the brim without capacity for more know how. Unless you release or forget the “I know” contents there won’t be room for business truths to be revealed. 

Yet forgetting is darn near impossible because there is such a vested interest intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically into “I know”. After all it got you this far. Forgetting means change and has implications affecting how others view who you are and how you view yourself. In essence your very identity and ego are at stake.

The Trouble With Success

During good times the tendency to believe we're responsible for far more of the credit than we deserve.  Where to know what to do and stop doing?

You realize rationally it makes sense then to forget. It is difficult and until I learned to forget these key “I know” beliefs about business building I was limited on the amount of success I could attract. I absolutely needed to forget these powerfully limiting beliefs in order to attract future success. 

1. Forget about being the best business “doer”, the perfectionist and believing “no one” can do it as well as me 

2. Forget about re-enrolling in the “school of hard knocks” where by the time I discover success it is going to be too late and 

3. Forget about just knowing “how to” when it is about getting it done that matters.

Forget About Being the Best Business “Doer”

Often business ownership leaves us vulnerable to an “I know” attitude. Your strong need to express entrepreneurial creativity and independent autonomy are the very reasons why you are providing the product or service.  We are passionate about what you are doing.  And this is where we get entrapped - doing vs. being the business owner. This is an expensive lesson.  No matter how strong your entrepreneurial traits and “I know” beliefs are they cannot defy the laws of business success. Until I forgot my “I knows” I was doomed to limited success. 

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce still show approximately one million business failures a year. Why would you go into business to work hard, defy long odds of success, and assume a large amount of debt to earn less and sacrifice more to receive only a meager return on your life’s energy?  The answer is you would not.  Yet if you are like most business owners with the key relationships to vendors and customers while simultaneously performing most of the key operations you are likely to end up in the situation described.  Certainly, we went into business to achieve loftier goals and not to drain our energy for the title of “employer and employee”.  We have an expensive job today, not a business.  We are the chief business “doer” and not a business owner. 

Before I became the business owner of a business coaching firm in Texas, I was an entrepreneur with several start-ups companies while I concurrently reviewed over 838 companies over a several year period with the intent to acquire a company I was passionate about. During that extensive research I met tens-and-tens of business owners at that pinnacle point in their business ownership career.  I recognized that very few sellers were going to see any significant financial reward for their efforts.  Why? Because these business owners were the chief business “doers”.  The value of a business is the sustainable discretionary cash flows under the new ownership.  And without the original owner, the cash flows were appreciably less under new ownership.  These business owners forgot that to get full economic value the business-of-business is to be profitable regardless who owns it. 

There are hundreds of thousands of businesses between 3 to 75 employees in the USA that perform below their capabilities. Often the business owner lacks the people and systems to emphasize how to play the game of business better.  Our ability to play up to our potential is not only about technical ability.  It is our ability to attract, select and retain a team dedicated and aligned with your vision who can service clients with your distinct products and services in order to win.  I recognized this in my own businesses that my strengths at doing were my strongest shortcomings at being a more effective leader – business owner.  As an entrepreneur and business coach I can now look more objectively at another entrepreneur’s business. I see the opportunities and shortcomings of these businesses from an outsider’s perspective to recognize when the owner is being the chief “doer”. 

Sports teams and athletes have long recognized the benefit of a coach whether they are winning or not. Why would the coaching benefits to business owners be any different? Business coaches identify what you need to forget and place you on a predictable success path. They help us get more business, learn how to run our business and become a better business owner by sharing the time tested and proven methodologies of the success with us.

Isn’t this definition more like what we had in mind when we started our business?  A commercial, profitable enterprise that operates without the business owner always being there.  This definition provides us the business ownership freedom you were seeking.  Even if we are committed to working the hours then earn more for our labor.  Working hard ourselves does not get us further ahead long term as we saw then it came time to sell the company.  We are still trading our time for money.  There is a limited amount of time available to us.  We need to forget about doing it all and harnessing our team and systems.

• Key Thing to Forget – Don’t be the chief business “doer”. 
• Key Thing to Learn – Be the best business owner – leader. 

Forget About Re-Enrolling in the “School of Hard Knocks”

Prior to business coaching, I enrolled and re-enrolled into the “school of hard knocks” or self-discovery and invested at least $30m to $50m per year tuition for several years for this difficult doctorate. From my academic, corporate and family backgrounds, I believed that originality, complexity and difficulty was better, more true, more important, and made the most difference in success.  Furthermore, my mindset was of economic scarcity.  The world was a zero sum game.  In order for you to win I had to lose and vise versa.  I did not trust the concepts of simplicity and abundance.   Although, this thought kept recurring.  If economic scarcity was “real” then the world would be exactly as it was thousands of years ago. Today we have more of life’s riches than ever before.   I was looking for the hard way – no the hardest way - my way to success.  After several years of seeking I found the better knowledge.  I had exhausted my ways and discovered that easy was better than hard. What was it in your belief that makes discovery of success difficult? 

The knowledge was out there.  Why was I not receptive to tap into it?  I did not believe in the altruism of people willing to publish their success and share it in such explicit detail.  Yet when I finally decided to seek I discovered that there were numerous laws of success as true as the laws of nature and philosophy.  The law of correspondence - cause and effect was most significant because if do the same things others have done I should get similar results. I was delighted to have discovered these laws and eagerly wanted to begin applying them in my businesses.  These laws generate the same result each time regardless of who applies them and they don’t wear out. I don’t fight these laws any longer. I work with them. I’m still learning what to and how to apply them - when, how much and/or how fast. I willingly forgot my old beliefs, ate “crow” and choose to enroll as a student of success vs. re-enrolling in the “school of hard knocks”.  Do you believe you can learn these laws of success from what others have done and can you do as well by applying them?

Business coaching brings you this business literacy while accelerating your learning effectiveness. 

• Key Thing to Forget:  Don’t continue to re-enroll in the school of hard knocks 
• Key Thing to Learn:  Be a student of success

Forget About Just Knowing “How To” When It Is About Getting It Done That Matters

I’ve spoken to hundreds of business owners that state that even when they finally know what to do and want the reward they are not willing to pay the price in dollars or personal energy.   Instead they want things to be easier.  They tend to forget the hidden price they pay by remaining where they are in the perception of security and comfort that comes in the form of loss of personal freedom.   By failing to invest in their team, they spend more hours working, earn less and generally receive less of life’s rewards.  What is this worth to you to get your time back, work with a higher quality team and make more money? Priceless. 

Business coaches specialize in holding you accountable to your dreams. 

• Key Thing to Forget:  Knowing without acting is not enough
• Key Thing to Learn:  Hold yourself accountable with a business coach

If you're having this discussion about what you believe that ain't so, then give me a call.  This is what ActionCOACH - Business Coaching do!  Challenge your beliefs and give you insights as to what works.  Thinking Bigger, Insisting on Win/Win, Being First to Inspire!

eM:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com ph: 972 709 6776

How Much More Valuable is Your Business When it's Profitable and Works Without You...?

What direction is the value of your business going?  Are the discretionary cash flows increasing year-over-year?  If not, why not?  

How loyal is your client base?  Do they rave about their experience and stay with you even when you reasonably increase your prices? 

How solid are your people and systems to deliver great products and services on time, to spec, on budget and wow every time?  

How accurate and timely are your numbers that reveal the direction of your business?  These go beyond routine bookkeeping into predictive indicators allowing you to see the future cash flows and health of the business.

If you didn't answer "Yes" to these questions how much more valuable would your business be if you made more with less stress?  How about when you wanted to "exit" the business?  People pay a premium when the business works without the former owner there.  Let's have a conversation on how to fortify your business to become a commercial profitable business that works without you always being there.  

Great, give me a call at 972 709 6776 or email at StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com and we'll have conversation about how you can still achieve the goals you went in to business for originally - to be profitable and it works without you...

Your Price is too High...? 20 Proven Responses to a Tough Objection

When you're receiving this objection, you may be getting somewhere with your customer.  They're acknowledging the need for a solution, so follow up with further questions.

  

1.  Which means?

2.  Compared to what?

3.  What was your expectation?  

4.  If our competitor is much less, what does that tell you?  

5.  You can always find a cheaper solution but you won't find both the quality and value.  Isn't that what interests you?

6.  It is high compared to what some companies charge.  What does the fact that we have over 500 customers buying from us imply?  

7.  It costs only about 15¢ per hour of operation.  What kind of peace of mind does that buy?

8.  Our price is high, compared to what some others companies in the field in charge.  But I believe it’s not high enough for what it does.  As a matter of fact, as the economy improves we're expecting a price increase any day.  Why not buy now and get our high quality at today’s price?

9.  I am glad you mentioned price.  Is it the amount or the terms?  

10.  Have you ever figured the price of not having a high quality?  The price of breakdown, the cost of wasted time, the extra phone calls, the headaches, the repairs bills…you see, high quality actually saves you money in the long run.  Why not order today?

11.  Don’t deceived by today's prices.  You actually pay less because we are giving you more service, more quality, more expertise, and more security.  Isn’t that what you really interested in?

12.  You really feel that our price is too high?  Could you explain that for me?

13.  The sweetness of low price is quickly forgotten when you have to deal day after day with the bitterness of low quality.

14.  We can lower the price right now, but you need to make a decision on what options to cut from our proposal.  Okay?

15.  I might get in trouble for saying this, but I know a way to save you a few bucks.  What if I cut my commission on this transaction to lower the price?  

16. Yes, we are not the cheapest in our field; however, we do over $8 Million a year at the same price.  We cannot do that if our customers weren't convinced that this is the best buy.  Wouldn't you agree?

17.  Does your company pay you only to buy the cheapest products?  Are they really interested in getting the best value for the dollar?  Shall we talk about value?

18.  Our price is too high?  We very rarely hear that, what do you mean?

19.  How much too high is it?  Do you realize that if you keep and use your products for 5 years, and most people do, the price difference is only 12¢ a day?  Isn't it worth 12¢ a day to have the very best?

20.  If it were cheaper, would you want it?  Good!  Then what you are telling me is that you're interested.  Let's look at some ways you can afford it!

So there you have it, 20 ways to reply and most are questions that get the customer to share what's holding them back from a purchase.

If your sales team is facing objections that's consistently hindering sales, let's have a discussion on improving their effectiveness. 

   

Logic Gets You Thinking...Emotion Gets You Acting - You Need Both!

If you're like most business owners, you're about actions.  Whether working with employees, engaging with prospective clients, seeking funding or ensuring performance, these conversations or meetings lead to doing.

Yet blind actions leads to chaos without prudent thinking.  So next time you're seeking to influence others, combine both.  Provide the discussion with logic to get them thinking on how to do the right things right.  And appeal to their emotions and passions so they feel the propensity to act on what they know and decided.  This combination of logic and emotion achieves more than what could be otherwise.

If you're facing challenges on how to approach your next sales presentation, team meeting or negotiation and want to brainstorm approaches to combine the logic and emotion to think and act, let's discuss how. 

Running Your Business Getting Any Easier?

Participate in this 16 week intensive Business Success Academy 202 where you will learn how to leapfrog your competition, dramatically boost your revenue, build a championship team, take control of your bottom-line plus have more time for the important things in life…

I'm conducting a live webinar on June 13th, Thursday, 01:15 pm to explain exactly what the BSA 202 group coaching workshops are as well as some of the actual strategies from the academy.  Register Here...

  

Business Success Academy 202 goes for 16 weeks.  We'll conduct the academy via webinar with other like minded business owners to put you and your business through the paces.           

Here’s some of the specifics of the Business Success Academy 202 -“The 8 Keystone Sessions To Grow Your Business And Turn Your Business Into A High Performance Profit Machine.”  You’ll participate in - eight intensive two and half hour sessions over the next 16 weeks plus five individual one-to-one coaching periods.  It starts July 09^th, 2013, Tuesday and conducted bi-weekly on late Tuesday afternoons.  Each session and coaching period is full of “how-to” materials to move you forward.

Session 1 – Setting Your Future:  If you don’t know where you are going, how do you expect to get there?  You may have general direction goals but do you have the specifics on how to build a great business from the ground up…

Session 2 – Generating Cashflow:  Open your eyes to the principles of Leverage and Cashflow Marketing. Discover the fastest ways to increase marketing results in your business that you can apply IMMEDIATELY… 

Session 3 – Streetwise Marketing:  Reveal the uniqueness in your business so you get more clients as a result.  You’ll learn how to develop client loyally so that your customers keep coming back again…and again…and again…

Session 4 – Sales Made Simple:  Discover how to avoid selling the “Old” vs. “New” way.  Find out how to leverage the phone, the internet, the power of the question funnel and rejoice at receiving objections so you can professionally help your prospects buy from you…

Session 5 – Team Building and Leadership:  Once your business is working, how do you bring on the team you’ve always wanted?  Learn how to recruit great people and inspire your staff.  Ultimately lead your team so you don’t have to be there all the time…

Session 6 – The 6 Steps to Massive Results:  Find out the steps to truly leverage every opportunity in your business.  You’ll learn how to apply systems that not only run your business and achieve MASSIVE results – but most importantly give you the opportunity to work “ON” vs. “IN” your business…

Session 7 – Leverage “The Game of Business Board Game” – Putting Into Practice All That You Learned

Plus Session 8 – Special “Business Make Over – Surprise”:  If your company is selected you’ll have the benefit of having your company made-over with the insight of a CPA, business broker or marketing expert critiquing and recommended more implementable ideas in 2 hrs than you could get in 2 years…

If the headline didn’t cause you to pause and think…there are a few things “bugging or challenging me”…then my congratulations.  But for most owners the business-of-business is running them harder than ever.  As far as we know, your business and your life are not a rehearsal.

Join me live via webinar on Thursday at 01:15 pm to get all the details.   Click Here...