Category: 2015

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I Recently Met One Tough Mudder…

 

I was having lunch Thursday with a new client who related a story to me I have shared several times over the last couple of days.  This is s story about something called a “Tough Mudder”.  For those that aren’t in the know it’s a race where the runners spend the day up to their eyeballs in mud and assorted obstacles and there aren’t really winners, just survivors.  While I might have tried this 20 years ago, not now.
He was sharing about one of the obstacles that had been altered from the previous year from a half pipe to a modified quarter pipe.  This change required that most participants needed help getting over the edge and continue on.  A few could do it on their own and most were sunk without additional help.  This is a lot like life.  Most of us need help from time and time. Precious few admit they need help so they don’t look weak.  I’d invite you to quit being so concerned about how you look and ask for the help.
When I was taking Graduate Level Anatomy and Physiology there were aspects I was not getting no matter how hard I tried or studied.  We had a Graduate Assistant for just this reason and I fought asking for help.  When I finally got rid of my ego and asked for help the material  became simple and in fact I ended up teaching Anatomy & Physiology at the College Level the following semester in large part due to the help I got from him.
It matters little if you are running a Tough Mudder, taking a class or trying to build a business… we all need help.  Some repair cars, some do estate plans, some do cosmetic surgery and I coach.  We all help in our own way and when you consider for just a second that 100% of the participants on American Idol have coaches as do 100% of the players in every professional sport you’ll see that you’re not alone.  I have 2 coaches named Martin and Crystal.  Both Marines and both scary in their own way.
I coach people and help them determine what action to take, what to do more of, what to eliminate and then help them to effectively demonstrate what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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What Is A Used Book Really Worth?

 

Earlier this week I took 78 books from my personal library to the local used book store in the hopes that someone else can put them to good use.  This is not a consignment store, rather a store where they sell books at a discount and you never know what you will find there.  I donate my books there and I love this place!
As I was making several trips from my car to the store to bring the books in the woman working the counter wondered out loud how great it would be if I could have the money I spent for these books back in cash.  My initial response was Yes that would be great and after reflecting for about 2 nano-seconds I reversed my initial opinion and told her I would decline the cash in hand for the knowledge in my brain.  All of us have the opportunity to learn in different ways and those ways change as we mature.  I am a dinosaur in that I still read hardcover books and I even read the occasional Kindle book.  I know others that attend window university and learn while behind the wheel of their car or learn from video based productions.  No matter how you learn school will never be out for the professional.
I am down to about 1000 books in my personal library and not too long ago that number was closer to 3000.  I know people who have audio libraries every bit that large and others that have large video libraries as well.  The key is the not the size of the library but using the material and handing it off to others so they might learn.  I am often surprised to see who wants to learn and at times saddened by those unwilling to do so.  Learning and applying information is critical and in the words of Frank Zappa “It’s not getting any smarter out there!”
       What have you read or listened to recently, what did you get out of that and would you recommend it to someone else?  I want to share your information because we are all in this together!  Shoot me an e-mail by clicking below and everyone will get the benefit of what you learned.
I coach people and help them determine what action to take, what to do more of, what to eliminate and then help them to effectively demonstrate what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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Thought Assault…

 

Voltaire, was a French writer and public activist who played a singular role in defining the eighteenth-century movement called the Enlightenment. At the center of his work was a new conception of philosophy and the philosopher that in several crucial respects influenced the modern concept of each.  One of my favorite quotes from Voltaire is “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.”  This is true of every issue humans have both personal and professional.
Thinking is also the hardest work we ever do and that is the reason so few people ever bother to do it.  So many other things are easier!  Counselors and coaches are a great help because we are not emotionally involved in the problems we hear about.  The lack of emotional involvement means that we never hear that inner voice that tells them to do the easy or comfortable activity. The process is helped along by asking the following question and then listening and acting on the answer you get.  “what if this was someone else’s problem?  What would I advise them to do?”  The follow up to that question is “What are 10 ways I could solve this problem?”  Don’t quit until you have written those 10 ways down and have taken action on at least 1 of them.
I coach people and help them determine what action to take, what to do more of, what to eliminate and then help them to effectively demonstrate what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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What Should You Stop Doing To Get What You Want?

As a coach I am often asked “what do I need to do to accomplish” whatever the goal of the day is.  It ranges from how to make more money to how to have better relationships with my spouse.  The saddest aspect of these questions are that they often come down to what you should stop doing to accomplish what you want.

Making more money may require better work, more marketing or even asking for a referral.  Making more money requires someone to stop complaining, stop watching so much television, stop blaming everyone else and the commitment to stop what isn’t serving you.

Having a better relationship with your spouse requires you to care more, do more and appreciate them more.  Most everyone I have talked to will improve their relationship with their spouse if they stop complaining, stop Facebook and stop finding fault.  As Colin Powell says “Don’t just do something, stand there!”

Almost everyone is doing something they need to stop. It’s easy to identify that in someone else,  the growth is to identify what to stop in your own behavior.

Copy and paste this into a browser for a humorous example of how to stop stopping https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bob+newhart+stop+it  .  What should you stop to go faster and get more done?

My name is Steven Clauson and I work with professionals who don’t have a back door when things get tough. If you want to stop the actions that are slowing you down then call me at 916-230-0176 or leave me a message at steve@stevenclauson.com

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Olive Garden or Morton’s?

Olive Garden

I have attached a hand written note I recently was given that was included my bill from a server by the name of Natalye. She was a pleasant server who was unremarkable except for the fact that she genuinely cared about our experience and wanted to create a positive association with her services and her restaurant.  It’s worth noting that she is not on staff at Morton’s or Ruth Chris and instead was our server at an Olive Garden.  Natalye was able to transform a typical and very run of the mill dinner out into something we talked about all evening.

For the record, going to the Olive Garden was not my first choice for dinner and yet we all left with smiles on our face.       What she did with something unexpected was to reframe everything about the meal, her service and it modified her tip in a pretty dramatic manner.  I have long advised anyone who waits tables to introduce themselves, learn the name of at least 1 person at the table they are waiting on and then deliver the final check with a handwritten note thanking them for coming in and then signing their name in a way that can be read.  This has been proven to create a bigger tip for the simple reason that you are now tipping someone you know and that raises the amount you will leave. Most people have what can appear to be a fairly mundane and boring profession and some prefer it that way.

I had a good friend who was a Thoracic Surgeon and did nothing but bypass surgery and when you asked him what he did professionally he said he was a plumber.  He does not want to talk about what de does and is doing nothing to increase his footprint or level of influence.  This isn’t true for most of us.

What can you change or modify to make your self remarkable?  What story can you tell that makes you memorable?  If you work for a company how can you reframe it so they believe they are working with you personally?

Not all owners will like this idea but all will profit more when their staff uses this approach.  If you are the owner what can you do that accomplishes the same thing?  What about a private e-mail address that only certain people are given access to or your personal cell phone number?  If you do service work and you do something for free I would invite you to bill that free service out and then write it off so your customer doesn’t relate that the service was free and instead sees the service as a $47.06 cost that you gave them for free.  They now have something to measure the gift against and this differentiates what you did and adds tons of value.

I coach people and help them determine what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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Why People Like Peyton Manning Are Invaluable…

peyton manning

With apologies to San Francisco 49er fans, I watched the Broncos vs. 49ers game Sunday night. This game was billed as the Kid vs. the Vet. Kid Colin Kaepernick is a complete physical specimen and a great athlete while Peyton Manning is supposedly at the twilight of his career given his advanced age and 4 neck surgeries. Here are a few of the facts and what we should all take away…

mark ross 001

The 49er Quarterback is younger, faster, stronger, more mobile and can do things that the older Manning cannot even consider. What Manning has going for him is that he has seen everything that any team can throw at him, he does his homework   at an level few can believe and when the coin is tossed before the game he knows that he’s done everything possible to get the win. While the win is never         promised he over prepares himself, demands the same from his teammates and demonstrates what is expected. This is part of the reason he has thrown 510 touchdown passes in his career and will likely hit 600 according to his former coach Tony Dungy.

I am privileged to work with people that display this demand to win on a daily basis. One of those people holds the positions of Sales Manager and Lead Sales person for Brower Mechanical. Mark is slightly older than Peyton Manning and while he does not have the desire to climb around in attics or climb on roofs he has something that eliminates the requirement to do these things. Mark is a   master at paying close attention to his customer while learning everything about them before deciding what to do next. There are times that Mark will walk away from what could be a sale because he knows that there’s not a fit between his solution and the prospect! He has learned a lot in his years of in home sales and knows what works and doesn’t work. Like Manning, Mark does his homework and over prepares for each situation he goes into. Mark is a great salesperson and he lives the mantra “They will never care how much you know until they know how much you care!”

From the reading I’ve done it’s clear to me that whenever anyone gets to the top in what they do, they are both a hard and smart worker. I recently learned that Jimmy Kimmell works between 75 and 90 hours every week and is always the first one to the show to get the ball rolling. This is why he’s able to make it all look so easy… He is over prepared and it shows! When things go wrong on his show or a joke bombs he takes responsibility for it and moves on. This is what Manning did after he lost the Super Bowl to the Seahawks and what Mark does when he doesn’t close a sale he believes he should have closed. Responsibility, when it’s combined with hard work is the easiest thing in the world to handle.

As you may know I took last week and spent it in Las Vegas. This was a combination of work and rest. While I was away I took in 5 webinars and met with 6 potential clients from the Las Vegas area. I am not sure who said that business and pleasure don’t mix but they were wrong! You not only can do both but you should do both in my estimation. The people I know that do well all have this in common and it shows. I had a client recently go to Italy for a week and told me in advance that he wanted and needed educational material for both he and his significant other for the flight there and back. He does this every time he goes away for pleasure and this is what keeps him at the cutting edge of what he does I’m convinced. Don’t take anything I’m writing to suggest that your life should be all about work because that is NOT what I’m saying. As Jeff Olson points out in the book The Slight Edge, it’s easy to do the things that will make you a success and it’s easy to not do the things that make you a success. Reading 10 pages of a good book every day is easy to do and easy to not do. Which easy thing are you going to do?

What about the rest of us? What could you add to what you do that your competition is unwilling to do? Are you going to simply outwork and out prepare your competition or are you willing to leave it to chance? Being a leader requires just a little more work than being a follower and unless you are the lead dog the view isn’t going to change!

 

If you demand to be the leader you were meant to be give me a call at 916-230-0176 or email me at steve@stevenclauson.com and let’s get to work! There is much to be done and less and less time to do it!

 

 

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First Sears… Then Wal-Mart… Then Amazon?

sears kmart

As I sit here today and reflect on 25 years ago, I remember that the lead dog in the retail land was a little company called Sears or Sears and Roebuck for those old enough to go back that far. They were the undisputed leader and that was in pre-Google times! Much has changed since then. In the last 10 years Sears was bought out by another failing retailer by the name of K-Mart and few would question that they will ever return to their glory days.

walmart

Along came Wal-Mart… they are now the leader of the pack. Wal-Mart leveraged small markets and quietly became the largest retailer on the planet. They show no signs of   slowing down! Even Wal-Mart has done a poor job of talking about what they do. The     average train of thought is that everything they sell is made in Japan, Korea or China when in fact less than 10% of what they sell comes from other countries. Most of what they sell is made in America but you’d never know that. Things like food are almost all from America! It seems that Wal-Mart is here to stay as the lead dog in retail for the rest of our lives. I don’t think that anyone cleared that idea with Jeff Bezos from Amazon even in light of their current issues.

amazon

Amazon started as a small online book seller and not much was said about them other than the fact that they were losing money and would soon disappear from the landscape. That message was never received by Bezos. Amazon continued to lose money on every book they sold and they parlayed that into a retail beast that Wal-Mart will have to reckon with. Amazon is a     company that was able to get the Post Office to start delivering packages on Sunday using   non-post office staff driving Post Office vehicles. This is a huge advantage over Wal-Mart and I just learned that the Post Office is going to start delivering groceries via the Amazon platform! While people may hate the Post Office studies show that most people love their letter carrier. Amazon working with the USPS is an example of buying credibility. Amazing!

How does this equate to what each one of us does on a daily basis? Simple! What Sears,     Wal-Mart and Amazon bring to their customer matters to that unique person or cross section of buyer. What does the buyer of your product actually expect to be delivered and how can you add to that in an effort to amaze? Steve Jobs changed the game with the iPad and iPhone and sadly he passed opening the door for Samsung. Samsung saw what Jobs did and created a hybrid of a phone and a tablet called a “Phablet”. Samsung now leads the industry in this category. I have no doubt Apple would have arrived here first with Jobs in the picture. Jobs isn’t and Samsung is the gold standard with Apple in the odd role of playing catch-up. How can you redefine yourself, change and enter this game?

I know that if you have the identical business today that you had 3 years ago you are dying! Things change too fast and too dramatically for any of us to remain the same. If you are a general car repair you need to start the transition to Hybrids because they are the rage. If you sell insurance you better sell financial investments as well. Work in heating and air conditioning and you had better sell Solar,     insulation and lighting or you are going to get passed by. In other words you need to stay informed and respond to trends… and trends change! To survive and thrive in the years ahead you are not only going to have to change, you are going to have to be comfortable with change. Change is where the             opportunity lies and where you will need to live.

Last week I referenced the book “The Slight Edge” where he writes that doing little things to   succeed are easy to do and easy to not do. Reading 10 pages of a good book every day is easy to do   and easy to avoid. Just like listening to 15 minutes of good content on your car stereo or exercising for 20 minutes 3 times per week. These things are all easy to do and scary easy to not do. Investing in your own success is the gold standard today and even a small investment will create a big result. The people I work with that are doing the best are the ones that are pushing daily and staying in a position of being             uncomfortable. A lack of comfort at some level today creates massive comfort down the road and the   reality is that most people who retire become lost, dead or start greeting at the local Wal-Mart. If you think retirement sounds good I would invite you to visit the same local donut shop 5 days in a row take note of the people there. They share the same stories daily, the same pictures daily and you can almost see them age during your week of observation. A truly sad waste of talent and experience.

I know a man who sold for Hilton Vacations for years. He made great money and loved what he did. His friends begged him to retire and join them and he did just that. He went bat shit crazy within a year and had to get back in the game of sales. It took him a while but he did it on his terms. I’m convinced he is happier than ever. He changed several times in a little bit and it served him. It will serve you as well if you let it!

 

Get comfortable with change. I promise it’s here to stay! Change everything that seems   reasonable. Exercise, read something that fosters growth, take your spouse or kids out to dinner with no cell phone for anyone, mentor a child (possibly your own) and decide that this is your time. Statistically there will be 10 people at your funeral that will cry so what the hell? Make some mistakes and change some things! Call me, I can help!