Top Line Business Solutions – Executive Growth Strategies

October 27, 2020

Who Did You Decide To Be This Morning?

At one time my favorite actor was Robert DeNiro. I don’t like his politics however his approach to his craft is worth emulating. My favorite movie with him is Midnight Run. This movie is about a bounty hunter and capturing and bringing back a bail jumper. I won’t spoil the movie but I suggest you watch it. Very entertaining. What I learned about his approach to the role he played as the bounty hunter made me love it even more.

I read in an article that DeNiro rode with a real life bounty hunter for almost 8 months so he could actually understand the motivations of the role. What were the motivations and what drives the bounty hunter deep down? DeNiro still does this for many of the roles he plays and the reason is simple. Acting is more than reciting words from a script. Being at the top of any field comes down to who are you going to be and not simply what are you going to do. When you view whatever you do from this prism you will naturally approach it differently.

If you are selling something are you just saying the words necessary to sell or do you become the person who wants your prospect to buy something that will actually solve their problem? The one who wants you to buy the solution has an easier time I would argue. NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (#24 NASCAR) forbid any contact with him outside of his crew chief within 24 hours of a race because he was busy getting his game face on. What he was actually doing was becoming the champion race car driver he needed to be and any thought that didn’t support that was eliminated in advance. I guess that’s why he drove in the manner he did and won as often as he did. It had more to do with who he was being than what he was doing. His mental focus supported the physical work he was doing.

Do you put this sort of focus and intention into what you’re doing? What about your staff? This may be one of the components that get in the way of the explosive growth we are all after. Who are you being right now? If you want to show up in a different manner on a consistent basis we should talk.

My name is Steven Clauson. I coach people who want help getting where they want to be. The people I coach are typically already taking action, getting results and ask what’s next and what actions to take to make an even greater impact. They aren’t afraid to ask for help. How can I help you? What actions are you taking? Those who have a plan and implement that plan lead the pack. Planning, preparing to win and taking appropriate action means you hear the word “YES” more than ever. Only if you are one of the few willing to take action, do what’s required and play full out are you likely to hear the word yes more often. People hearing the word “YES” are winners on the playing field because they play 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

October 14, 2020

The Latest Trend… Tutor Shaming

Parents Who Pay $100 To Hire Tutors For Their Children Drive Up Demand For Tutors And Increase Inequities…

During the pandemic some parents are hiring tutors in an effort to get their kids a step up on their competition. Some see hiring tutors as increasing inequalities… I think this is the express purpose! These parents intend to keep the playing field uneven for their children for life if possible. A $100 per hour tutor may not help anyone’s child rise to the genius level but consider if you’re hiking with a friend and encounter a bear, you only need to be faster than your friend to survive. Their kids just need to be a little smarter than the competition to excel.

I hired my first business coach when I had no money to do so. I had everything all figured out. I knew where I wanted to position my practice, I knew who I wanted to serve, I knew how many people I wanted to serve and when everything was said and done I was wrong on almost every detail. My first business coach was Chuck Gibson and he systematically upended everything I thought I wanted to do, where I wanted to do it and how I wanted to go about it. I listened. Starting from my very first month in business I was profitable and it only got better. He knew things I didn’t and helped to educate me as we went along. He was 100% correct.

Now I get to be that guy. I love the impact I have on my clients. In the last month a client moved into their dream home based on the profits he created from our work together. I’ve had clients take their first ever family vacation where they actually had a chance to reconnect with their children based on our work and the systems we implemented. I don’t take credit for these results. I expect these results going in.

Business owners often know they have to work on their business and not just in their business. They tell me with their next breath they aren’t sure what to work on or how to work on it. Not knowing what you need to work on is no better than being unwilling to do the work. Abraham Lincoln said the man who can read but won’t is no better off than the man who cannot read. Prove him wrong! My personal business coach lives in Arizona… his name is Martin Howey. Feel free to google his name. Call him if you’d like. Yes, he taught me a lot of what I know. If you want to expedite the process of getting from Point A to Point B you and I should talk. If your business is getting you everything you want (the ability to do what you want, when you want, as much as you want, as often as you want and with whomever you want) why are you even reading this? If not, pick up the damn phone and let’s talk.

June 30, 2020

Most People Work On The Symptom Not The Problem…

I spoke to a business group recently and ended by taking questions. This was a group of legal and accounting professionals and their questions were many of the same questions general contractors ask. All questions were symptom related and avoided the actual problem. A symptom question would be “How do we get busier?” and a problem question would be “Our director of outreach is getting more potential customers in the door and I want to know how to change the demographic they are reaching?” Symptom as opposed to problem.

To make the shift from symptom to problem requires better questions. Great questions define the actual problem. Poorly framed questions produce only tactics. Tactical answers don’t have the ability to change the result but make you feel like progress is being made toward a worthwhile goal.

Here’s cheat sheet on asking better questions. Start with a question that outlines the actual thing you need to repair. Once you have a clear and true understanding of the actual thing work on simplifying the thing to the greatest extent possible. The last action is to expand the different ways you can get there. In 1958 Dr. Robert Schuller needed to raise $1 million dollars to build his church and that was a lot of money in 1958. If he could find 1 person with $1 million it would be easy… Finding that 1 person would be very difficult. Then he looked at 2 people at $500,000 which was still hard and he finally settled at $100 from 10,000 people. He outlined what he needed, simplified what was needed and expanded the possibilities until he got the right answer.

What is your right answer and how much more time will you spend asking the wrong question?

July 14, 2015

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

November 4, 2014April 10, 2015

6 ways to Improve your Business Productivity Starting Now.

I am a to-do list junkie and find myself dedicating more and more time to specific client services. During this time the phone is shut off, the e-mail is disabled and I just work off of my to do list and get stuff done. During this time I waste very little time because my white board serves as a reminder of what’s important and what’s next. This is a system we could all use.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that in a 10 hour day the average executive (that means you!) has less than 3 hours of productive time. Here are 6 ways to expand that by 20% or more and not spend a single second longer at your desk!

Manage Your Mood… Most productivity systems I have seen assume we’re robots – most forget the enormous power of feelings. Starting the day calm makes it’s easy to get the right things done and focus.
Don’t Check Email In The Morning… To some this is heresy. Many can’t imagine not waking up and immediately checking email or social media feeds. I’ve interviewed a number of very productive people and nobody said, “Spend more time with email.” Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin? You’re setting yourself up to react. An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours to someone else’s goals, not yours.
Before You Do It Faster, Ask if It Should Be Done At All… Everyone asks, “Why does it seem impossible to get everything done?” The answer is actually easy: You’re doing too many things. Want to be more productive? Don’t ask how to be more efficient until you’ve asked “Do I need to do this at all?”
Focus Is Eliminating Distractions… Ed Hallowell is a bestselling author of the book “Driven to Distraction”says we have “culturally generated ADD.” Has modern life permanently damaged our attention spans? Not necessarily. What we have done is to have more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to us than human beings have ever had. The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the distractions go away.
Have Your Own Personal System… I’ve talked to a lot of insanely productive people. None of them have ever said “I don’t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.” Not one. Routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic – but either way, productive people have a routine.
Define Your Goals The Night Before!!! Wake up knowing what’s important before the day’s defined and expected emergencies come into your life and your inbox screams new commands. Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before!

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Taking these actions has a lot in common with going to the gym or dieting. Not easy to do at first and in the long term you will develop habits that begin to serve you for the long haul. Gaining 20% or more from your week is worth working toward. Still not sure? When you get home tonight ask your spouse or kids if they want you around more. If they say yes you should consider this… If they say no you should have started on this weeks ago!

Go Forward And Kick Some Ass This Week!

October 28, 2014March 31, 2015

Why People Like Peyton Manning Are Invaluable…

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…

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!

October 28, 2014

First Sears… Then Wal-Mart… Then Amazon?

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.

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 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!