Wedding Night Bliss-ter

Max Lucado tells of a honeymoon disaster in his book When God Whispers Your Name.

The newlyweds arrive at the hotel in the wee hours with high hopes. Over the internet they had reserved a large room with all of the romantic amenities. That’s not what they found. The room was pretty skimpy. It had no view, no flowers, a tiny bathroom and worst of all, no bed. Just a fold-out sofa with a lumpy mattress and sagging springs. It was not what they had hoped for and what was left of the magic night was passionless.

The next morning the sore-necked groom stormed down to the manager’s desk and ventilated his anger. After listening to the gnashing of teeth for several minutes, the clerk asked, “Did you open the door in your room?”

The groom admitted he hadn’t. He stomped back to the room and opened the door he had assumed was a closet.

There to his bittersweet amazement, on the other side of the threshold, complete with sweet smelling roses, a giant fruit basket, a Champaign bottle resting in a stainless steel bucket of water, a giant box of chocolates, was a spacious bedroom!

You can see the weary couple standing in the doorway of the room they had overlooked.

It would have been so nice…
A comfortable bed instead of a clumpy sofa.
A framed window of the ocean and harbor lights instead of a blank wall.
A fresh breeze coming from the screens of the balcony in place of stuffy air.
An elaborate restroom and giant Jacuzzi instead of a tight toilet.

They missed it. How sad. Cramped and cranky, when utter bliss was unlocked door away. Why didn’t they look in side the “closet”?

I have noticed a lot whining and complaining going on in my house lately. I finally had enough of it. I apologized to my wife and put some tape over my mouth.

I am where I am because of the decisions I made yesterday. Tomorrow I will be where the decisions I make today take me.

How about you? Do need to apologize to some people, put some duck tape over your mouth and start kicking some doors open?


Just a thought…

Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive

This is the main stuff from Patrick Lencioni's book with the same title.

The book is based on the focus of four disciplines.

Discipline Number One: Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team

Building a cohesive leadership team is the most critical, because it enables the other three. It is also most elusive, because it requires considerable interpersonal commitment from its leader.

Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team---Cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics and increase efficiency by:

Knowing one another's unique strengths and weaknesses.
Openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict.
Holding one another accountable for behaviors and actions.
Committing to group decisions as a leadership team.

Cohesive leadership teams resolve issues and create environments of trust. This ensures most of the energy expended by all is focused on the desired results of the organization.


Discipline Number Two: Create Organizational Clarity

Almost every leader would agree of the importants of clarity in communication, yet few make it a passion. Organizational Clarity is not just your mission, strategy and values, it is agreeing on the fundamental concepts that drive it. It provides vocabulary and a set of assumptions about what is important and what is not. It allows individuals to make decisions without constant supervision and advice from above. It empowers employees with a true sense of confidence.

Discipline Number Two: Create Organizational Clarity---A healthy organization minimizes the potential for confusion, by clarifying:

Why does our organization exist?
Which behavioral values are fundamental?
What specific business are we in?
Who are our competitors?
How are we unique?
What are we trying to achieve?
Who is responsible for what?

How do you assess your organization for clarity? It's actually pretty simple. Ask your team members to answer the above questions (A-G).

Discipline Number Three: Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity

Over-communication is the simplest of the four disciplines, but most under-achieved. The reason this is so important is because your organizational clarity determines your success. When things are very clear, your people don't spend time speculating on what you might be thinking. They aren't looking for hidden messages and are not reading between the lines. There is a strong sense of common purpose and direction. This supersedes any departmental or ideological allegiance they may have.

Discipline Number Three: Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity---Healthy organizations align their employees around organizational clarity by communicating key messages through:

Repetition: Don't be afraid to repeat the same message over and over and over and over.
Simplicity: The more complicated the message, the more potential for confusion and inconsistency.
Multiple Mediums: People react to information in many ways; use a variety of mediums.
Cascading messages: Leaders communicate key messages to direct reports; the cycle repeats itself until the message is heard by all.

People in healthy organizations often joke and even complain about the volume and repetition of information they receive. In the long run, they are much happier than being kept in the dark about what's going on.

Discipline Number Four: Reinforce Organizational Clarity through Human Systems

An organization that uses human systems properly maintains its identity and sense of direction even during times of change. It insures that employees will be hired, managed rewarded and yes, even fired for reasons that are consistent with its organizational clarity.

There are four primary human systems that serve to institutionalize an organizations sense of clarity.

Discipline Number Four: Reinforce Organizational Clarity through Human Systems---Organizations sustain their health by ensuring consistency in:

Hiring-They look for qualities in new people that match the core values of the company.
Managing Performance- It serves to help employees identify their opportunities for growth and development. They can constantly realign their behaviors in the direction around the direction and values of the company Rewards and Recognition- No one is promoted unless they represent the behavioral values of the company as well as the bottom line.
Employee Dismissal- If an employee always seems to be going against the grain of your organizations values; this can be an indicator of future problems before they become too costly.


OK Randy, why this diversion from marketing and advertising to talk about leadership?

John Maxwell says it best: "Everything rises and falls on leadership!"

Advertising only speeds up what is going to happen anyway. Great companies, churches and other organizations have one thing in common. They have a great leader.



Business Runs On Relationships, Relationships Take Time.



Randy Allsbury

What triggers the "buy decision"?

Are your reasons objective or subjective?

From the National Institute of Business Management

Following is a list of 20 basic reasons-10 objective and 10 subjective-that motivate people to buy. Remember that many buying decisions are a combination of objective and subjective factors. Remember, too, that while the subjective reasons are often more powerful motivators than the objective ones, they are less likely to be revealed. You must watch the prospect's reactions carefully and probe subtly for subjective motivators if you hope to close your sale with them.

Objective (logical) reasons

· It's affordable. It won't put a dent in my budget.
· It will make money.
· It will save money.
· It will save work, time or space.
· It's available and can be installed -or implemented-immediately.
· It will do a job that needs doing or improve a job that needs improving.
· It has a good performance record.
· It will last a long time. It's well built and durable.
· It's fast. It will increase production.
· It's easy to operate, easy to start up or install and easy to service.

Subject (emotional) reasons

· It's unique. I've never seen anything like it before.
· It's used by people I respect.
· Having it could make me smarter, healthier or more successful.
· I'll feel proud to own it.
· It looks good. I like the color or design.
· It will make me look good to others.
· It will mark me as an innovator. No one else has it.
· I'm afraid to do without it. Everyone else has it.
· This is a convenient/opportune time to buy.
· It will be fun to own it. So why not make myself feel good and just buy it?

My Thoughts:

Emotion Trumps Intellect

"Win the hearts of the people and their minds will follow." ---Roy H. Williams

We are my nature emotional creatures and make all of our decisions from the gut. No matter how much intellectual data you pile on, your customer will eventually make the decision intuitively.

"Win the hearts of the people and their money, time and votes will follow." ---me

15 Belief Marketing Beliefs

Belief Number 1 "Business runs on relationships, relationships take time."

Belief Number 2 "People are selfish, they buy for their reasons, not yours."

Belief Number 3 "People do business with people they like."

Belief Number 4 "Effective advertising requires a weekly reminder you exist."

Belief Number 5 "A pile of money should no more be your purpose in life than a pile of tools for a carpenter."

Belief Number 6 "Your business must answer a question people are asking."

Belief Number 7 "Great advertising will not unload your inferior products and services."

Belief Number 8 "Referrals and reputation are still the cornerstone to business growth."

Belief Number 9 "Persuading some is better than a vague awareness of the multitudes."

Belief Number 10 "There are five levels of communication: Unawareness, Awareness, Comprehension, Conviction and Action."

Belief Number 11 "The winner of a price war will eventually die on that hill."

Belief Number 12 "Branding is making people think of your business first and feel best about your business, when they come in need of your business."

Belief Number 13 "Targeting the 'right people' is not as important as saying the right thing."

Belief Number 14 "There is nothing quite as attractive as the human voice and the human face."
Belief Number 15 "We make decisions emotionally and justify our decisions intellectually."

Buy Word-of-Mouth?

Belief Number 8 "Referrals and reputation are still the cornerstone to business growth."

Referrals and reputation don’t come from advertising, they come from the jaws of citizens who have already visited you and your organization. Referrals and a (good) reputation come utterance of oral cavity.

How is Word of Mouth triggered? It’s when a customer experiences something far better thab what was expected. Meeting or slightly exceeding their expectations won’t do it.

Don’t count on your people to generate word-of mouth through “incredible custumer service”. Good service is expected and bad service is what we tell others about. Customer service is also very subjective and difficult to measure. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very important to keep your current clientel and generates positive feedback. Due to the fact that good service is expected, it rarely translates into new sales by triggering word-of-mouth.

YOUR talk is cheap, it’s a physical experience that best pulls the trigger. These are non-verbal statements coming from your structural design (Architectural), from the experience the customer has with your staff or your product (Kinetic), or can simply be generous in nature.

“Your word-of-mouth trigger can be architectural, kinetic, or generous.

1. Architectural: This can be product design, store
design, fantasy décor, etc. The piano store that looks like a huge piano, with
black and white keys forming the long awning over the long front porch. The
erupting volcano outside the Mirage in Las Vegas. A glass-bottom floor that
allows customers to see what's happening far below them. Do you remember when McDonalds began building playgrounds attached to all their restaurants? It
worked like magic for 20 years.

2. Kinetic: Activity. Motion. "Performance" by every
definition of the word. The tossing of fresh fish from one employee to another
at Pike Place Market in Seattle, (the inspiration for FISH!, that bestselling
book and training film.) The magical, twirling knives of the tableside chefs at
Benihana. Kissing the codfish when you get "screeched in" at any pub in
Newfoundland. (A screech-in is a loud and funny ceremony where
non-Newfoundlanders down a shot of cheap rum, repeat some phrases in the local
dialect, and kiss a codfish. Everyone who visits that wonderful island returns
home with a story of being "screeched in.") While it may at first seem like a
staff-driven, kinetic word-of-mouth trigger is a violation of number 2 above,
"Don't depend on your staff," it's really not. A staff-driven kinetic
word-of-mouth trigger is constantly observable by management. It isn't a
"customer service" experience delivered privately, one on one. Extraordinary
product performance is another kind of kinetic trigger. If a laundry detergent
dramatically outperformed all others, its performance would likely become a
kinetic word-of-mouth trigger. But remember, slightly exceeding customer
expectations is usually not enough.

3. Generous: Extremely large portions in a diner.
Oversized seats on an airplane. Are you willing to become known as the
restaurant that allows its guests to select - at no charge – their choice of
desserts from an expensive dessert menu? You can easily cover the hard cost of
it in the prices of your entrees and drinks. Flour, butter and sugar are cheap
advertising. Are you the jewelry store that's willing to become known for
replacing watch batteries at no charge, even when the customer hasn't purchased
anything and didn't buy the watch from your store? Word will spread. And
batteries cost less than advertising. Why sell them for a few lousy dollars when
they're worth so much more as a word-of-mouth trigger?Architectural, kinetic,
generous: these are the flour, butter, and sugar of effective word-of-mouth.
What can you make from these ingredients? Will you put their rich taste into the
mouths of your potential word-of-mouth ambassadors? Or will you make ambiguous claims in your ads and hope that people are willing to believe them?” (Roy H. Williams)

Make your word-of-mouth plan a part of your advertising budget, but don’t talk about it in your ads. Allow your customer evangelists to tell their friends about the experience.