NO ONE BUYS PRODUCT OR SERVICE FEATURES! 

     EVERY sale is made by triggering an emotion! 

     People buy BENEFITS! 

     Why am I shouting?  Because I get tired of seeing the tidal waves of wasted money being spent by ignorant businesspeople trying to jam their product and service features down prospective buyers’ throats!

     You need not look any further for examples than what I would guess to be 2 out of any 3 websites! 

     The airlines are a perfect example of doing it right.  No, we do not buy the airline armrests, foam and inner spring ingredients we sit on that take us from one place to another.  We buy the d e s t i n a t i o n !  We buy the image of skipping through the surf holding hands with our lover, not the manufacturing specifications of the airline seat and breathable space we rent to get there. 

     We buy the luxury hotel suite dripping with amenities so we can feel important when telling friends and family about all the extras we were able to afford.  We buy the positive impression our presentations will make to clients and management, not the parts that go into the fancy new color copier.  The former president of a world-leading hair coloring company once told me that they didn’t sell hair products!  They sold, he said, “the promise of sex to single young girls!”

     We do not buy SUV’s because they provide better traction, can carry bigger loads, pull out tree stumps, and (maybe) provide more safety; we buy them because we think we look good driving them, sitting way up there, authorative elbow out the window. 

     Even the things you would swear up and down to be exclusively rational, logical, unemotional purchases are not!  We buy insurance because we like the agent or because we’re afraid of the house flooding, burning, or being robbed, not becausae of all the tiny-type policy features that nobody reads anyway. 

     We simply USE product and service features to justify our emotionally-triggered purchases. 

     When was the last time you heard someone tell you how good she or he thought he or she looked driving his or her car?  More likely, that person rattled off a long list of features (which I notice now include “can coolers” in the glove compartment of some hot new models to keep, of course, cold water available for long hot rides!)  Does anyone care how the engine runs anymore? 

     And it seems the bigger the purchase, the more we get sidetracked with features.  Does that new home you bought have great wiring or what?  And home inspections?  That’s a whole new business these days.  Why?  Because we’re preoccupied with the For Sale home’s emotional buying triggers: curb appeal, neutral carpets, wall colors (like you never heard of paint?), built-in appliances, window treatments (don’t we love buying someone else’s window shades?), neighborhood, and what the in-laws will think. 

     We get so caught up with what others will think and whether our image is appropriate for the location and amount of impressive extras that we now have to hire someone to tell us about the basics—that the wiring, plumbing, roof, crawlspace and all those features are okay, because we don’t really care; we just want to rationalize the important logical reasons we were so smart to buy it. 

     Buyers buy benefits.  So sell benefits!  Leave the features for customer bragging rights!     halalpiar

Dear Doctor,

You’ll improve your patient flow and volume when you improve your patience flow and volume. 

     What does this mean?  It means that all your years of training and experience will go down the proverbial tubes in today’s competitive healthcare marketplace unless you commit yourself to setting aside some time that you do not have for you to be your own patient!

     What would I know?  Not a whole lot, but I HAVE worked closely (as a personal counselor, physician’s advocate, and business/practice development consultant) with more than a thousand physicians over the years.  I HAVE written an Amazon 5-star rated book for doctors: DOCTOR BUSINESS . . . How to boost practice growth and build long-term relationships (see direct link on this site under “Books” tab above).  And I HAVE written a national book award-winning work titled DOCTOR SHOPPING . . . How to choose the right doctor for you and your family (see direct link on this site under “Books” tab above).

     So much for credentials, let’s get back to being your own patient! 

     Unless you can experience what it’s like to CALL your office (like the old detective movies, use a handkerchief and disguise your voice!) you’ll never know if callers are being greeted and provided with the right information the way you want them to be.

     Unless you can experience what it’s like to VISIT your office (after hours, armed with objective eyes and a digital camera to record for your self –not for trial evidence– what you see . . . tattered magazines, dirty carpets or walls, dead bugs inside the overhead lights, empty businesscard holders, worn out furniture, dying plants?), you’ll never know whether the appropriate first impression (are there any others?) is being made. 

     Keep in mind that people will equate dying plants with a dying practice, dirty and/or worn surroundings with a less than sterile and less than “with-it” practice, and so on.

     Try –during office hours– to have someone you trust whom your staff doesn’t know (a “mystery shopper” if you will) pay a visit, ask questions and spend some observation time in the waiting area (even take notes!).  This person should ask questions like a prospective patient would . . . to see exactly what comes back from your staff.  

     Spying?  Perhaps, but so what?  It’s your practice with your name on the shingle and the people who answer your phone and greet office visitors are YOU in the minds of callers and those who step inside your door! 

     And the bottom line, doctor, is that you cannot afford for even one caller or visitor to not be greeted and treated like your personal guest.  Research shows that one unhappy patient tells a minimum of ten other people, who tell ten other people about the “bad” experience. 

     That translates to: one screw-up = 100 people getting a negative image of you! 

     Okay, so you find out that a few things and maybe a few people need a little tweaking.  Do it!  Do it nicely and do it in private because the people you need to re-direct may be responsible for bringing you patients (and perhaps just never thought about the importance of certain shortcomings).  Then check things out all over again in a few weeks, and again in a few months.  Keep it an ongoing practice the same way you keep your instruments sterile and your billing process up-to-date.

     When you want more insights about ways to build and boost your practice and strengthen long-term relationships, call me: 302.933.0116 (leave me a number and best times to return your call in case I’m out!)  Have a great patient patience week!  halalpiar

So how was your weekend?

     “So how was your weekend?” the corporate HR (Human Resources) director asked the management trainer, an “independent contractor” to the director’s company.

     “Aah, weekend?”

     “Yeah, you know, as in the period from Friday lunch through Monday morning?”

     “Oh, right.  Good.  It was good.  Sooo . . . today must be Monday, then?”

     “Well, yeah.  Where’ve you been, Teach?  Don’t tell me you’re running management training programs on weekends.”

     “Actually, I do occasionally, but not in this case.  No, I worked from Friday lunchtime through midnight Sunday getting ready for the twenty-hour program I’m doing for you which, by the way, you’re paying me for, for the full twenty hours, which is great.  Reality is, though, that it takes four hours of preparation time for every one hour of classroom time for any good, qualified, profesional management trainer.  And except for a handful of expensive big-name celebrity trainers (mostly former star athletes), nobody actually bills and gets paid for all that unheralded time.  The point is that to make things run smoothly and click along at a rapid and challenging pace, takes major preparation.”

     “Gee, I guess I never thought much about all of what goes into the front end of these programs.  So, how come you don’t do the preparation stuff during the week?”

     “Hey, that’s when I’m running other programs, and making sales calls on other prospective clients.  I’m billing and collecting.  I’m assessing and responding to program participant evaluations.  I’m keeping up with all the latest findings and developments in training formats, program content and facilitation techniques.  And I’m maintaining email and telephone contact with past program participants because most training efforts fail when nothing is done to sustain interest and motivation after the program is completed.  Of course, I also have to run my office, oversee my support staff, and pay the bills.  Then . . .”

     “Whoa! Sorry I asked.  I had no idea!  It always seemed to me that you guys just step out of a closet with your Superman cape and a ready-to-go program in your pocket, do your dog and pony show, then tap-dance off stage and go on to the next engagement whenever you feel like making a few more bucks.  I guess there’s a lot more to it.”

     “There IS a lot more involved than most people imagine, but since I work for myself and love what I do, I don’t mind a six or seven day work week.  And I don’t have to put up with a lot of the nonsense you need to tolerate that literally requires weekend time to recoup.  You have the luxury of weekends to distance yourself from from the stresses of career politics . . .  you know, that interactive stuff that greases the handrails of the corporate ladder?. . . but you really need that time off every week because –day-to-day–you don’t have your self alone to answer to!”

     “A little bitter, are you?”

     “No.  I’m really very grateful to you for allowing me the opportunity to put this program together and work with your people to help them make more of their skills so you have less stress in your corporate career so you can live a happier life . . . and maybe even become a management trainer.  Y’know, I could use a partner.”

     “Hmmmm.  But I’d have to give up weekends?”

     “Aaah, but you could wear your bathrobe to the office!”

     “Hmmmmm.”                                           halalpiar

[With more than 2,000 management training session successes behind him, Hal is ready to help you make the most of your company and organization goals to strengthen leadership, teamwork, and communication skills.  Call him now at 302.933.0116] 

LIGHTEN UP

AND

CLICK ON THE POSITIVE!

     REAL leaders realize thay can’t change their boss, or their board of directors, or their company’s business, or their co-workers or employees, or their constituencies or communities, but that they CAN change the course of events—and influence change in others—by changing their attitude about those around them and those they represent.

     The scope and ramifications of various leadership positions vary with circumstances, but the ability to motivate by example is what ultimately makes the difference in reality, in getting things done. 

     When President Dwight David Eisenhower was a military leader on the front lines, he called his underlings together and dropped a tangled ball of string on the table in front of them.  To demonstrate the concept of leadership, General Eisenhower pushed the string with two fingers and proved his point that the clump stuck together with no ability to organize or surround the enemy or move effectively in any direction. 

     Then , using the same two fingers, he instead grasped the end of the string and pulled it . . . clearly illustrating that control increased with pulling and decreased with pushing. 

     Look at the leaders around you.  Are they pushing or pulling?  Look at yourself!  Are YOU pushing or pulling?  Are you getting the results you’re capable of?  Perhaps re-examine the attitude you’re exercising? 

     Studies show that treating ALL subordinates as though they have the potential to advance and achieve will produce subordinates who advance and achieve. 

     In other words, your positive expectations ALONE can help those you represent or those who report to you to accomplish their best.  Change is only difficult if you try to impose it on others or if you choose for it to be difficult. 

     Choose instead to help other implement change for themselves, and for it to be easy; it will be.  If you’re still stuck with where to begin, try a smile; then pass it on.  

Remember. . . 

you are your attitude! 

     A positive attitude breeds optimism, enthusiasm, animation, presence, zeal, courtesy, physical appearance and poise, sincerity, self-confidence, and belief and trust in those who surround you.    halalpiar

DID YOU EVER WONDER

WHY MILITARY PERSONNEL

ARE SO MUCH BETTER AT

PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY

RELATIONS THAN

CORPORATE PERSONNEL?

     What?  You think this isn’t true?  I’ve got news for you.  The comparison is not even close.  Pick up your phone and call any U.S. Military installation with a request for information about any aspect of life on the base you’re interested in—from when’s the next parade, to how do you reach the person in charge of the USO lounge or the family service center, to whether it’s possible to arrange a tour for your child’s school class—and see what you get! 

     Besides the standard “Yes, Sir!” and “No, M’am!” courtesies, you will (I’m willing to bet) be treated to honest, direct, friendly responses.  And sincerity.  I actually hear sincerity coming across on the phone. 

     Oh, and odds are pretty good you’ll also speak with a real live human being and, on top of that, a real live human being who’s not sounding like you’ve just demolished her or his hopes for having a nice day with your interruptive call.  You might even get someone on the line who sounds interested in what you have to say!  Positively, you won’t be hearing sloshing ice cubes, straw-sucking and cracking gum on the other end. 

     I’ve had this positive military telephone courtesy experience a number of times in recent years, but never gave it much thought until getting dissed or badgered or completely misunderstood in a few calls to big companies in attempts to identify the best and most economical services to buy. 

     Then, I had the good fortune of making half a dozen ”blind” or “cold” calls to Dover Air Force Base to try tracking down a couple of sales prospects for a client of mine, and “like sunshine on a rainy day,” one after another, the nicest, friendliest, most helpful people I have called in months.  (And not so incidentally, they all spoke fluent English!) 

     Each listened carefully without interrupting.  Each asked questions to help qualify my interests.  Each suggested names and numbers and situations I might want to consider and no one rushed me.  One even gave me a very objective assessment of what she though my odds would be with each of the four other officers she referred.

     All I kept thinking was why can’t tech companies, as a prime example, take a page here?  Why does it have to be so difficult to be treated appreciatively and respectfully by a company I’m looking to spend my hard-earned money with?  Why aren’t corporate telephone people standing on their heads to exude overkill courtesy to prospective and actual buyers?

     Anyway, besides the fact that our blessed troops take pride in what they do, and are proud of the nation and we the people they represent, it seems to me that the sense of discipline (and resultant self-discipline) our military personnel buy into is the single training difference (from businesses) that most impacts external public relations. 

     Before I forget, thank you ladies and gentlemen for your service to our country! 

     So, do companies need to give demerits and KP duty?  Hmmmmm might be a damn good idea, actually!           halalpiar

P.S. Still waiting for a FREE WINE winner . . . see yesterday’s blog post!

EVER WONDER WHERE

                                                                       

YOU WANNA WANDER

                                                              

WHILE YOU’RE WALKIN’

                                                   

AN’ WINKIN’ BETWEEN

                                                                 

WONONPAKOOK AND

                                                                

WONONSCOPOMUC? 

                                                    

HUH?

     Here’s the deal:

     You register in as the first to tell me where you are—based on what you figure out from reading the clues in this post (each reply comment I get is date and time stamped!)—and I’ll arrange a FREE GLASS OF WINE EACH FOR YOU AND YOUR GUEST (or two just for you if you’re not driving) on a stay-over or passing-through visit to this setting of rustic elegance. 

     A rigid old lady on a swing soars obscurely overhead.  A cigarette and Churchill namesake has worked the front for many years, and everything else is aside (or a side).  Three of the world’s biggest bulls sit up on the hill.  Captain Morgan must have slept here, or maybe it was Permittee Bousquet, after drinking too many Captain Morgan’s?

I CAN CANOE A CANOE.

                                                 

CANOE? 

     Celebrations galore are outnumbered here only by great romantic escapes and major rendezvouses by management muckity-mucks seeking leadership, teamwork, and fresh perspectives!  Streams of superior service servers strive to satisfy and astonish in excess at every intersection both here and near here. 

     Have you snuggled lately?  Have you snuggled into the bordered corner of three dramatically different cultures?  Remember the look and feel of the setting where Robin Williams thrived in “Dead Poets’ Society”? 

     One-sixteenth of a day from baseball’s old Giants and Dodgers, and the House That Ruth Built, figuratively located in Norman Rockwell’s backyard, and only 5 minutes to the races (4 minutes if you race to the races)!

     If you figure this out, you DESERVE to treat yourself to a visit, and collect the FREE WINE!  More clues and the answer coming soon.  Post me your best guess!             halalpiar

What management behavior breeds success and impacts the bottom line more effectively than any other?

What’s the one management ingredient you can do something about today (even before finishing this blogpost) to generate instant results?

What motivates employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers more than incentive programs, perks and bonuses?

     If you answered Attitude to all three questions, you’re probably already practicing “Theory A” and you’re definitely tuned in.  If you answered something different, you may be partly correct, but you’ve overlooked the one back-to-basics management attribute that makes things happen, everywhere, all of the time.

     How complicated is this theory of management?  Negative behavior produces negative responses.  Negative responses produce losses!  Positive behavior produces positive responses.  Positive responses produce profits!  That’s it!  Simple, huh?  Well, maybe on paper (or your monitor), but not much is simple in a complex organization (which is, by the way, part of the rationale for corporate investments in leadership training and team-building)!

Theory A

When an organization’s leaders make a commitment to continuously exemplify and cultivate positive attitudes—for management, employees, their individual companies, and entire industries—increased levels of sales, productivity, customer relations, and overall job satisfaction and performance will follow.*

     For Theory A to succeed, business managers need to initiate an ongoing educational process to both learn and and teach some practical “how to” approaches for positive attitude development.  Being able to promote a positive image and positive industry posture drives consumer and client sales, and (for healthcare) patient volume.

     More on Theory A in upcoming posts.  While you’re waiting, take a look at some archive posts (Click on Archives in the righthand column) that deal with “choice” and viewing “problems as opportunities” and being focused on the “here and now.”

     If turning your business interests around (or strengthening from within) are on your front burner, check out my archive back burners for some important prompts and reminders.  or just pick up the phone and call me: 302.933.0116          halalpiar   

              * . . . Excerpted from “Theory A –The Future of Management” in the Prentice-Hall Executive Action Report, July 23, 1987 by Hal Alpiar

INVENTORY YOUR PARTS

THEN PUT THEM TO WORK

AT WHAT YOU MOST ENJOY! 

     Remembering that integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody else is around to see you, let’s practice doing the right thing –for yourself!– here and now, while no one else is around.  It’s just you and me and your screen.

     Good.  Now, when’s the last time you took stock of yourself and your career directions?  You’re in sales and thinking about being sales manager?  Has anyone told you that these functions are not the same? 

     The world’s greatest salespeople often make the world’s worst sales managers.  Why?  Because “selling” suddenly becomes “managing other people to get the selling done” and managing people is not anything like selling.  In selling, you have no one to inspire, motivate, train and discipline except yourself!

     OR you’re working for a big company, but think you should start your own business?  Hmmm, you probably should talk to the sales manager in the preceding paragraph. 

     There’s a colossal difference between handing in an expense account and paying your own expenses . . . between working weekdays 9 to 5 and leaving your workspace as you found it vs. working everyday 7:30 to 7:30 and turning off the lights and taking out the trash and cleaning your own bathroom and coffeemaker before you leave!

     If you’re just plain not sure where you’re headed, by the way, there’s a wonderful book worth getting, called WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?  I heartily recommend (even an old edition!) reading it attentively and diving into the exercises! 

     OR you’re struggling with your own business and tired of watching your corporate-type friends have such carefree weekend and weeknight existences . . . not to mention their 401k plans, full dental coverage, annual bonuses, and everything they need to do their jobs, handed to them on silver platters . . . while you have to scrounge up enough petty cash to get a new color cartridge for your printer or replacement bag for your vacuum, or figure out where next month’s rent is coming from.

     Well, sure, we may forget once in awhile, but we all know about where the grass looks greener.  And we know things aren’t always what they seem, and to not judge a book . . . yet, those awarenesses don’t make any of the discontent easier to deal with. 

     So, what does? 

     First, take a deep breath.  Second, recognize that all behavior (even yours!) is a choice.  Third, look yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you are better off than most (probably 90%+ if you’re reading this) of the rest of the world, and that you are THE best there is at doing what you do for your self when you put your mind to it. 

     Then take another breath, and choose to put your mind to it!  No one else in the world has better answers about what it is that you most enjoy doing, than you.  If you’re doing the kind of work that gives you the most pleasure, then you are also performing the best at that job, and quality performance wins every time! 

     If you’re not happy with what you’re doing, get out!  You will never do the job well because it doesn’t make you feel good to do it.  Yeah, that sounds easy, but . . . 

     It IS easy, if you choose for it to be.                  halalpiar   

    ”WE DON’T SWIM

     IN YOUR TOILET

   . . . SO DON’T YOU

     PEE IN OUR POOL!”

      As a youngster, I remember sniggering at seeing one of these comedic placards that you always find in tourist trap souvenier stores (and the one next to my friend’s father’s fishtank!).

     Well, you know what?  That maybe-not-so-silly little pool rule seems to me to have some surprisingly important value when you apply the notion to working in someone else’s office, joining in someone else’s conversation, sitting in on someone else’s meeting, visiting in someone else’s home, entering someone else’s private space, and being entrusted to spend someone else’s money. 

     Break it down and it’s all about respect, which sometimes these days appears to be going the way of buggy whips, 8-track cassettes, and carbon paper.  The only trouble is that buggy whips, 8-track cassettes, and carbon paper are all things, and have all been replaced by newer better stuff.  Respect (aka R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as in the song!), though, is a value, not a thing.  And I’ve never heard of an adequate substitute. 

     We speak of having to earn respect.  We’re told as children to respect our elders . . . and keep a respectful distance from the neighborhood mongrel, and from strangers who offer candy.  Yet, something here is missing. 

     How many friends, family members and work associates can you honestly say you respect?  How many do you think respect you?  (Have you earned it?)  How important is respect to your life pursuits?  Your career?  Your love life?  Your feelings about your SELF? 

     What can you do to make this better than it is, or turn it around if it’s headed in the wrong direction?  What specific steps can you take now that are genuine (vs. quick-fix), to help yourself gain greater respect from others?  How much of your answer to the last question relates to the amount of respect you put out to those around you?

     A good place to start may be to take inventory so that you have a clearer image of those who are “around you”!   Draw a target —three or four concentric circles— on paper and decide who is closest to you (put them or he or she in the middle circle), next closest person/people (next ring), and so forth.  Of course, include animals if you like. 

     A few rings worth will give you a more accurate and balanced and realistic idea than the image you may have of these relationships that you carry around in your head.  If you’re happy with your circles, congratulations!  If you think you can do better, the R-E-S-P-E-C-T song isn’t a bad place to begin!  (Oh, and by the way, there is no end to respecting others!)          halalpiar   

     HOW’S YOUR SPUNK?

     There will never be enough money available for you to start up or expand a business the way you would like to make it happen.  Never. 

     That leaves spunk. 

     Spunk, determination, tenacious persistence, belief in yourself and your idea, commitment, and a burning desire to make the idea succeed.  When all these ingredients are front and present 24/7, odds are you will succeed by just putting your head down and charging toward the goal of making your product or service idea come to fruition. 

     When you can do that, the money you need to put things over the top will come to you from sources you least expect.  If you doubt this, then consider these two points:

1) If you have doubt, then you do not have the six criteria noted in the first sentence of the third paragraph above, and

2) If you are close to having the six criteria above, but still have a smidgen of doubt, talk with someone who has been successful as an entrepreneur, someone who started a successful enterprise on the proverbial shoestring, and you will hear back the exact same kind of chatter. 

     In other words, people who worry about their ideas making money will not make money; they will, instead, make worry. 

     Those who turn their backs on the making money goals and focus on getting their ideas to succeed will make money.  Weird, huh?  Perhaps, but it’s true. 

     I have helped over 500 successful businesses and business expansions to start up.  I have never seen a single exception to this thinking.  I’m sure there must be some somewhere, but not in my experience. 

     You can take advantage of my experience if you’re thinking about starting a business or expanding one.  For a modest consulting fee, I will serve as your temporary coach and advisor until you get things off the ground.  I work with clients by phone and computer and occasionally, when realistic and appropriate, personal visit.  You can tap into what I have learned the hard way and spare yourself considerable stress and expense. 

     If you’re interested, call me direct at 302.933.0116, and let’s talk.  I’ll give you 20-30 minutes to get me interested.  Have a great day!         halalpiar