The Hallmark of Conscious Leaderpreneurship: Service From the Heart
November 18, 2009
NOTE: Today's blog is written by guest author, Kristi Toia, CEO of Glendale Builders.
Being devoted to service from the heart means we act without any expectations of a certain outcome or attachment to any return or feeling.
In any business, we have opportunity to be of service to many different entities, not just customer service.
- Ourselves
- Vendors
- Employees
- Customers
- Neighbors
- Community
- The world
- The universe
It is not what we do, but how we do it that really comes to mind with service from the heart.
"Whatever your action,
Food or worship;
Whatever the gift
That you give to another;
Whatever you vow
To the work of the spirit. . .
Lay these also
As offerings before Me."- From the Bhagavad Gita
"Service from the Heart" is the topic of this week's Conscious Leaderpreneurship Conversation call; Kristi Toia has graciously offered to guest facilitate the discussion.
Click here to listen to the recording of the conversation
Why Customers Should NOT Buy From You
November 16, 2009
Given a choice between similar products or services, consumers will decide based on just two factors-PRICE and VALUE.
So what's going to make customers buy from you rather than your competitors? In other words, what sets you apart from your competition?
If you think it's your price, think again. The last thing you want is customers who buy based on price. Unless you already have 'deep pockets,' competing in this way is the most predictable route to a business that is unstable and vulnerable to minor changes in market conditions.
You've seen this before:
- "We beat Costco"
- "We honor all competitors' coupons"
- "We'll match your lowest price"
Lowering prices is often the first place business owners frequently go when they begin to worry about revenue and attracting new customers.
While the low-price strategy may be effective in the short-term, it's a potentially disastrous long-term strategy that leaves you vulnerable to getting under-priced by the eager business down the street. Worse yet, price-sensitive customers are not loyal buyers. The next time it comes to buy, they'll jump to whomever has the lowest price that day.
Competing based on value, rather than price, is the only predictable, sustainable way to increase revenue. What you really want are "more" and "better" customers who are loyal. You want customers who appreciate and value you and what you have to offer.
Good customers are value-sensitive. They understand that cheaper isn't necessarily better and are willing and used to paying for excellent quality and outstanding service. They also tend to be fiercely loyal. For a given price, the higher the perceived value to the customer, the more likely he or she will buy-now, more, again, and more often.
What to do?
If you are selling a product, offer a service to enhance the real and perceived value of the product. For example, a local camera store offers a package as part of your camera purchase that includes various classes that teach you how to get the most out of your camera. These classes are offered at no additional cost, they give you valuable, hands-on training, and they enhance the loyalty to the store. They're also a promotional opportunity for the store.
If you are selling a service, offer a product to enhance the real and perceived value of the service. For example, our financial engineer (she's really a non-traditional financial planner) organizes a yearly "summit" where she brings together experts from various areas of wealth building. She sends a CD audio recording of the event to all of her clients at no additional charge. The perceived value? High, because she provides education and training that complements her work while demonstrating her commitment to her clients' success.
Sounds good, but here's the catch:
You can't compete based on value if you aren't clear and confident about the value you provide. You must not undervalue, underestimate, or under appreciate what you have to offer the marketplace.
Action Plan
- Commit to a business growth strategy that is based on value-based pricing rather than lowest pricing.
- Get crystal-clear about what you offer that is valuable to the marketplace.
- Continue to expand the value you provide with your products and services. Add on complementary services and products to your existing lines.
- Measure your key performance indicators from value-based pricing and compare them to your previous results.
Unless you can get your competitors to sign a no-compete clause, piling on the value-rather than lowering your prices-is the most sustainable way to build your business. It makes for healthier business operations and contributes to a healthier economy in the process.
Do You Have the Freedom to Trust Your Inner Guidance System?
November 4, 2009
Or are you being an "intellectual bulldozer"?
A lot of us go through life thinking that if we’re smart enough and we think through it, we can bull our way through a brick wall, without getting bumps and bruises or cracking open our skulls!
We think that intellectually we should be able to solve this problem and that problem.
But what’s missing is that this ingrained habit totally negates and takes out your inner guidance system.
And your inner guidance system is far more powerful than what we have intellectually.
Dr. Albert Einstein acknowledged that. He said that "imagination is more powerful than knowledge, it’s more important than knowledge."
Where does imagination come from?
It comes from your inner guidance system.
What it comes down to is whether you have the ability to trust your inner guidance system.
A friend of mine, David Ranney, is the author of "Tennis: Play the Mental Game," calls it your 'other than conscious mind.'”
As a real-life example, when I work with my clients to guide them, I gather as much intellectual information as is practical, then I allow my "other than conscious mind" to work on it and help me arrive at a practical approach.
Whether or not you make what you think is a mistake, train yourself to recognize that whatever is going on is supposed to happen. That's an important part of trusting your inner guidance system.
You cannot intellectually see clearly into the future, but your inner guidance system can. This doesn’t mean that you'll always be consciously awareness, but the awareness is there, if you learn to trust it, feel it, and listen to it. And, above, act on it.
If there’s one huge take-home pearl here, it's this:
Come to expect that things are going to work out in your favor, no matter how bleak the situation looks.
No doubt, it takes an input of energy, it takes conscious awareness to live this way. But you're going to put in the energy one way or another, so why not choose the path of greatest and highest good?
A New Model for Business Success in the New Economy
November 3, 2009
Here's the model:
Purpose, Passion, Productivity, and Power => People, Planet, Profit, Prosperity
As entrepreneurs, it's our responsibility to contribute to shaping the emerging new era of prosperity.
It's time for new ways of thinking, new business models, new ways of connecting and collaborating with our buyers, our colleagues, our competitors, and other countries.
Focusing one's:
- Purpose
- Passion
- Power
- Productivity
leads to...
- Helping people
- Healing the planet
- Sustainable profits
- Global prosperity
What might be possible if we shifted our thinking and actions along these lines?
We'll discuss this model more on our Conscious Leaderpreneurship Conversation on Thursday, November 12th, from 12-12:30 pm pacific.
If you're not already on the reminder list, register here at no charge: www.freedompreneur.com/consciousleaderpreneurship
In the meantime, on Thursday, November 5th, we'll be talking about "Healing the Planet: Bringing Yourself and Your Business to the Leading Edge". Read more about this here
Healing the Planet
November 2, 2009
Healing the planet starts with healing one's self, from the inside first, then outwardly.
What does it mean to heal one's self?
It means to push beyond your existing paradigms and belief systems. It means challenging your existing thoughts about who you are, your identity, and your mental and emotional attachments to how you define yourself. It means challenging your feelings about yourself, that is, the emotions and other sensations that you feel in your body, in both obvious and subtle ways, in response to internal and external challenges to what you most value in life.
What you believe, think, and feel about yourself colors your perception of the world and your place in it.
So, unless you are willing to challenge your existing beliefs, thoughts, and feelings, predictably, you'll keep getting what you've already gotten.
When Gandhi said, "Be the change you seek in the world," in the unspoken was the tenet that, in order to change, one must expandone's belief system, think more expansively and inclusively, and express, rather than suppress authentic emotions.
Healing one's self leads directly and immediately to a greater awareness of one's divine nature, one's inherent gifts and calling in life.
If you are willing to answer that call, to follow your inner guidance system, you are well on the path to healing. You are on the greater path of freedom expressed in it's grandest form: Awakening to oneness.
If there were no limits to the freedom of your highest expression, what might you accomplish in your business? What obstacles, barriers, and challenges would simply become non-issues?
We'll discuss this topic in greater depth on our next "Conscious Leaderpreneurship Conversation" at 12 noon, on Thursday, November 5th.
There's no charge to participate, but you'll need to register (if you haven't already), so you'll know what conference call number to dial into. Sign up here: www.freedompreneur.com/ConsciousLeaderpreneurship
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