Something remarkable happened this past week that may have gone unnoticed. Kobe Bryant played his last game as a Professional Basketball Player and scored 60 points and Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors played their last game of the regular season and set an all time record for wins in the regular season at 73 wins and 9 losses. Both of these accomplishments are worthy of note. I was more impressed by something that didn’t happen by either of these professionals that night.
We all of a sudden live in a world dominated by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. It seems like this is the primary method that people use to communicate. People take pictures of food, cats, sunrises, sunsets and anything else they possibly can in lieu of actually communicating with each other. What didn’t happen Wednesday night is both players kept their head in their respective games and neither player took to Twitter to talk about the game they were playing in. Both players did something uncommon and simply showed up and did what they were supposed to do. No distractions. No alternative agenda. They showed up and gave 100% and each got the outcome they desired and worked for.
How often have you worked with someone ranging from a high placed manager to a part time cashier who seemed far more interested in what else was going on as opposed to what was currently going on that they have influence over. From sports to business the area of social media is gaining importance for all the wrong reasons. It comes down to the basics and doing what works. For most Twitter will never be a profit center.
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. For these people results matter. Tired of results less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
The NFL Draft And Your Staff
Many of you are aware I love the NFL. Over the past few days the NFL held the annual draft of the best college players in the nation for an opportunity to move to the next level and play in the big league. What fascinates me every year is what teams like the Los Angeles Rams are willing to give up to get what they consider to be the best player in all the land to join their team, get paid millions of dollars up front and they do this in order for a chance to get developed by the teams making this investment.
When the best player in all of college football (Almost universal agreement here by the way) Jared Goff has to be trained and developed what chance do the rest of us have to hire someone who is set and trained to hit the ground running? Taking that a step further and adding the caveat of finding all this and then wanting to hire them for the lowest wage possible? I guess this is why the NFL places so many incentives into the contracts of their players. At the end of the day even the NFL knows that it’s not who you are they want to hire… It’s more a case of who you can become with training and effort. This is the difference between minor league football and the NFL and the difference between a staff member and a leader. Everyone wants a leader!
I frequently hear what sounds like the reasonable argument of what happens if I invest in my staff and then they quit? The best reply I have is what happens if you don’t train them and they stay? Which one is scarier and more expensive?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. For these people results matter. Tired of results less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
Participation Trophies In The News.
After everything that has been in the news recently about the idea and value of participation trophies I spent a few minutes looking around my children’s rooms. My children were active in pursuits like Soccer, Football, Media, Track & Field, Lacrosse, Cheerleading and Swimming. I was looking for any remaining “awards” they are proud of for just showing up. I found none!
Upon closer examination what I did find was a varsity letter my son earned as a Varsity Swimmer for Elk Grove High School, my daughters awards for Academic Excellence, Academic All American and a Cheerleading award she was given that was voted on by her Cheer team at Pleasant Grove High School and my Step Daughters awards from the Media Communications Academy at Center High School where she excelled and set the standard she would use as a Cast Member at Disney . Not one of them kept awards for simply participating. I don’t think this is a mistake.
My Son recently was awarded the title “Customer Experience Expert” from Mazda Corporation. This is an award based on sales, experience and customer service ratings where Mazda calls the customer to drill down about their experience. This award comes with a title and a monetary bonus. In short, it matters and is earned.
My Daughter was recently placed into the management training program with Safeway Corporation based on effort, hard work, management approval and again the biggest factor is customer feedback. Feedback matters. I would add that my daughter will earn her certification as a welder in December and takes pride in maintaining the highest grade level and skill level in her class because this allows her to be the leader she knows she is.
My Step Daughter has recently been elevated at Disneyland from Cast Member to a manger based solely on Direct Customer feedback. At Disney direct feedback means that a guest captures someone’s name and has to go to a specific office near the main gate and write out what the Cast Member did to make their day memorable. Many Cast Members never have this happen and she has had it happen twice in the same week. Her name is Sammy and she is in Disney California Adventure and I promise you that if you seek her out it will be an experience your children will not soon forget. Disney expects that once you hit the stage you are all about the guest experience and this is difficult at best.
Each of these now adults were given participation trophies and each of them say that none of them mattered. What matters to them are the results they produce because that is a life trophy and one that matters
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to maximize their efforts. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out. These are people for whom results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
Who Creates Your Reality?
Who’s responsible for creating your reality? The word reality is defined as the way things actually are. With that being said the News people insist on watching is supposed to contain reality and what it really contains is grey areas of opinion and spin. Our lives happen just like this. Most of what happens comes down to opinion and spin.
Someone’s reality often comes down to their Response Ability in every given situation. Losing a parent, winning a football game, going through a divorce, filing bankruptcy and even getting an inheritance are examples of things that show your response ability. How will you respond in any given situation is what reality is all about. I know people dealing with each of these situations right now and the differences are stark and not what I would have predicted.
What I know to be true and a fact is that success is our duty, obligation and responsibility. We need to take it seriously. It matters! The last few days with a sick parent matters. Winning a football game matters. Divorce and the destruction of a family matters. Filing bankruptcy and having the chance to start over matters. Getting an inheritance and becoming the steward of someone’s financial lifes work matters.
Each of us holds the final definition of what reality means. When you choose to be part of the solution your ability to respond rises. What’s your current Response Ability?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to maximize their efforts. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out. These are people for whom results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
The 4th Quarter Is When We Win Or Lose… And Your Choice Is?
I am a serious football fan. I am serious to the point that I think baseball should conclude Labor Day weekend so we can all focus on Football. There are lessons from football we can all use to push what we do forward. Ignore these lessons at your peril.
Today starts the 4th quarter. In football this is when teams get tired and mistakes happen. In short this is often when the game is won and lost. The 4th quarter is when mistakes are made, focus is lost, disappointment sets in and the winner is determined. Most games aren’t really won in my estimation, most are lost. Whenever you have a team that has prepared for the 4th quarter it shows and typically they prevail.
When it comes to people in business, the 4th quarter has 2 schools of thought that are most common (There are others for low performers and putting time into these is not worth the effort). For the 4th quarter of 2015 the thing to decide is are you going to work toward your quota or work to your potential? These are different and what the 4th quarter is all about.
You should love the 4th quarter because while most are getting ready for the Holidays you have a very real chance to dominate your market and work to your potential. Holiday parties are a blast and while your competition is working on going to parties and making quota you remain focused on simple domination. You are the ONLY person that knows your potential and when you get past all the B S quotas and work to your potential you lead the pack! Keep in mind that is you aren’t the leader the view won’t change.
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. T For these people results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
Price As The Primary Sticking Point
I hear salespeople tell me story after story about how their competitor is underselling them and they are practically giving their product away or how the exact same produce can be purchased on the internet for less in every case. In fact I was reading a book over this past weekend called “Secrets Of Successful Selling” and that book talked about how competition has reached levels never before seen and customer awareness has reached a point that required salespeople to operate at levels never before considered. This book was written in 1952!
Competition has always been here and thank goodness it will always be here. The problem isn’t product knowledge, competition or even smarter customer… The real issue is are you sold on your product? You need to become so sold and so convinced on your product and service that you know it would be a mistake for your customer to do business anywhere else. So convinced that you can tell them why it would be detrimental to them if they buy from anyone but you. So sold that you lose sleep when a customer doesn’t buy from you no matter the reason they give you. That level of commitment may seem too much but this is what people are searching for.
Champions in any field know they must produce results with what they have to work with. Champions look at the team they have and determine what their strengths are and as a result what actual assets they have to work with. They play the cards that have been dealt to maximum effect. They focus on winning the game they are involved in at that moment and never think about losing. David kicked Goliaths ass because he was sold on the idea he could get it done. Who is your Goliath?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. For these people results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
Your Mom Was Wrong… Start Talking To Strangers
Many of us were told by our Mom and Dad to not talk to strangers. This is very good advice when you are growing up and it becomes very bad advice around the age of 14 or the day you start playing team sports for many reasons. It is also around this age that many of us start to show a sincere interest in the opposite sex and if you aren’t willing to talk to strangers you are bound to remain lonely and confused. When you enter the world of being employed the problems multiply!
Zig Ziglar once said that timid salespeople have skinny kids and experience has shown he’s right. Whenever you miss the chance to meet someone for the first time, otherwise known as talking to a stranger, your world has the chance to expand dramatically. There are degrees of separation and meeting new people changes those degrees and that separation. We know that statistically each of us knows 200 people +/-. If you were to meet 1 new person per day and took weekends off at the end of a year you would know 450 people +/-. If you sell anything you are going to make a lot more money and impact a lot more people. Stay in touch with these people and remind them how you met, who you are and what you do. Do this frequently and with a purpose.
I know that as I have aged I need to make it a point to stay in touch with people more often. To start with I don’t know when they won’t be around anymore and most people are like me in that they get busy and prioritize in different ways… ways that don’t always work. These people you know matter and make life richer in more ways than one!
If you don’t have a plan to meet these 5 new people per week call me. We will design a plan and I will show you how to stay on top of that plan and what you can make out of it. My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who either want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are there and want to maximize their efforts. Are you in the stands or on the field of play? Winners have to get out of the stands. Tired of getting your ass kicked? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com
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
Olive Garden or Morton’s?
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
Attention Deficit Or Intention Deficit?
