Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

Welcome back Marvelous Performers!
Today, our special guest blogger is the great Inbound Marketing and Social Media Expert, David Newman.  David is the owner of Do It Marketing. More importantly, (at least to me) David is a friend and one of my trusted advisors on my MasterMind Advisory Board.

And today, appropriately, he is going to show YOU how to DO IT!!

How to DO the important stuff and FINISH by 3pm! (I'm not kidding)  Here's David!

Peace, Love and Gumbo 

Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF CNP

I had a high-output day today after hearing my friend, personal productivity and goal achievement expert Michael Gidlewski present a seminar yesterday.

By the time you're done reading this post, you will get the secrets to create your OWN high-payoff productivity burst any time you wish.

But it takes more than wishing - it takes resolve and action.

One hint - It is simple but not easy.

Back to today. What made it so special? Imagine having a day where...

• You get IMPORTANT stuff done
• You have more FOCUS 
• You FEEL better about what you accomplished
• And you accomplish more of what really matters to you and your business

In fact, it's very possible I accomplished more today (Friday) than in the four prior days this week combined.

After Michael's executive workshop, I got a better handle on what my key high-payoff activities TRULY were. I then put them on my calendar in specific time slots. And the screen that was under my nose all day was my CALENDAR, not my email INBOX.

Quick tips for you:

1. Plan your day - what MUST get done and WHEN?

2. Chunk your day down into blocks and assign specific tasks to those blocks - Phone calls, emails, client tasks, whatever it is YOU want to do that will move you closer to your GOALS.

3. Keep that damn calendar under your nose. All day. Make it your default screen. Hide, minimize or (gasp) close your email until "check email" pops up on your calendar.

4. Make note of COMPLETING your high-payoff activities. Check them off your task list or change their color on your calendar so you have a visual roadmap of achievement for your day.

So what's the big deal? What did I get done?

• Coaching call with one of my awesome clients in Canada
• Answered LinkedIn request for conversation with new prospect **
• Followed up with FIVE key prospects who were in various stages of follow-up mode by sending high-value article on referrals
• Wrote this blog post
• Connected with my 2 co-presenters for the Magnetic Marketing Seminar on 6/21 (if you're near Philadelphia, you're invited to register and join us - it's FREE.)
• Followed up with an editor of a financial publication about doing a podcast and speaking at several of their banking conferences over the coming year. 
• Took care of some financial nonsense which I've been procrastinating on for 2 weeks. (I hate that stuff, thus keeping my bookkeeper and my accountant profitably busy!)
• Made one important prospecting phone call (the only thing I hate more than financial detail work is using the phone.)
• Connected with my Vistage Chair to ask him an important favor. 
• Got a solid No from a prospect on the phone and ended the prospecting/sales process with her on a strong positive note. (Did I mention how much I hate the damn phone? Gotta use it, though...) 

All together, I had EIGHT high-payoff activities on my calendar and knocked all of them out before 3pm. Changed their colors, made follow-up notes, and felt great about the results of the day.

** NOTE: You may have noticed that my second item was to respond to a LinkedIn request that came in via email. The reason I was able to do that was because of point #5 in this post - I did a "Money Pass" through my email inbox and the new prospect inquiry from LinkedIn QUALIFIED as a high-payoff activity so I proactively added it to my day in real-time.

The short lesson is: Live Out of Your Calendar and NOT Out of Your Inbox!!

p.s. For a smart support system and specific tools on HOW to do precisely that, check out my pal Marsha Egan's awesome program called INBOX DETOX.

Please share this blog with your friends, colleagues and network.  I love feedback and comments and welcome the opportunity to work with your group!

We are almost to the middle of summer and the height of vacation season.  A fellow NSA colleague Kimberly Medlock shares this great information about not taking mental baggage with you on vacation.  Enjoy! 

There is something mysterious that often kicks in for many on “the day before vacation.” That long tedious list of random tasks that you have been able to successfully suppress for weeks (or months!) suddenly overwhelms you with an urge of almost irrational determination to get done. You simply must clean out the refrigerator, empty your inbox, return all borrowed items and dust your houseplants before you leave for vacation! (It’s not just me, right?)

I agree with the theory that suggests that subconsciously you are desperate to de-clutter your mind and shed the excessive “baggage” that comes from all of those loose-ends, procrastinated tasks and unfinished projects. You know that unless you do, you will have a difficult time transitioning into vacation mode and really experiencing the proven benefits that time-off has to offer.

So, in planning for your time away, my advice is to also plan for a few unscheduled hours/days for wrapping-up things on “your to-do list” before you leave. Doing so can allow you to be fully present while away from the office and be rid of any unnecessary worry, guilt or fear that an important project, expectation or customer was left neglected. Wouldn’t that be a nice change?

Here are a few tips to help you feel good about leaving the office for an extended time and reducing your mental baggage:

•  Avoid starting anything new that you can’t properly finish. Depending on what your job is, prior to leaving, avoid the usual “over-packing” of your calendar with new tasks, projects and commitments.

• Clean out your email inbox. A quick and effective way to do this is to sort your inbox by “sender” so you can review and delete large blocks of related e-mails.

• Clear your desk. Eliminate the piles on your desk by starting with a quick sort. Quickly dividing all of your papers into three piles – one for action items (things that require a specific follow-up action on your part), one for reference papers (items to be filed, support and a “someday/maybe” pile – things you might get back to in the future. Focus on taking care of your action items first. (If you have the time to file the non-action items, great - but if not at least you leave knowing that you took care of all known commitments.)

•  Let your important clients and colleagues know you will be out of the office. Send an email, set-up your email auto-responder and record a new voice mail greeting telling them of the dates you will be away and who they can contact should that they need immediate help.

•  Finish, delegate or at least bring up-to-date all incomplete projects.

Tip: Avoid hard-scheduling at least the first full day or two back on the job for reviewing your e-mails, processing new papers and being brought up to speed on any new issues.
Warning: With this laser-like focus and plan prior to leaving, you just might be so amazed at how much you actually completed and accomplished that you (and your boss) may realize the answer for improved productivity is actually to schedule more vacation time!

Lastly, remember it is just work. Work will always be there. Enjoy your family and have fun!

Want to improve your personal, team or company’s productivity?

Kimberly Medlock CPO® and Certified Microsoft Outlook Specialist is a speaker, trainer, author and coach for Productive Matters. She shares with enthusiasm how to achieve greater productivity and improved peace of mind for busy people. www.kimberlymedlock.com

Hello Marvelous People:  

Today we have a guest blog post from Southern Louisiana's own Jennifer Ledet.  It is a good one so all of you small business leaders out there take note. 

Here along the bayous of South Louisiana you may occasionally hear someone call a person a tete dur. A tete dur, which translates literally to “hard head” is someone who just won’t listen, whose mind has been made up, or who thinks he knows better. This is a term I’m pretty sure can be applied to most teenagers, starting around the age of 14 and ending around the age of, well, in some cases 21 or so. I am not proud to admit that I have been called a tete dur many times in my day.

Shoshin is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning “beginner’s mind”. It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.

What if, as a leader, you took the “beginner’s mind” approach to everything you did? What if you put aside your preconceived ideas, your assumptions, and your tete dur, and opened your mind to someone else’s ideas and suggestions? The practice of Zen states that “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” Could you open your mind up to the many possibilities that are available?

Let’s take a look at the two approaches and you decide for yourself which you will aspire to:

The tete dur is insecure and sees admitting that she doesn’t have all the answers all of the time as an admission of weakness or inadequacy. I have found that many leaders find it harder to say “I don’t know” than it is to apologize or admit a mistake. Maybe it’s because we’ve been conditioned to believe that the boss must know it all. Beginners are secure enough to say “I don’t know” and will take the steps necessary to find out the answers. A beginner will even ask team members for their ideas. Often those on the “front line” will have great ideas for improvements but won’t speak up unless asked.

A tete dur sees himself as an expert based on years of experience and knowledge. A beginner’s mind doesn’t assume anything, but rather, expects that he can learn something from each person he encounters. Of course no one is suggesting that you forget everything you’ve learned, or negate experience; Rather having a beginner’s mind is about keeping an open mind on how to apply your experience to each new circumstance.

A tete dur will often focus on doing things the “normal” way, or the “way we’ve always done things.” A beginner will challenge her paradigms or think outside of the box. Thank goodness inventors like Edison and Da Vinci had the courage to disregard common sense and allow themselves to be creative.

A tete dur gets stuck in preconceived ideas and may even believe that he knows all that he needs to know on a subject. A beginner is insatiably curious and loves to ask questions, learn, and explore. My daddy was a beginner in this regard. He was fascinated by learning how things work and inventing solutions to problems or challenges. (Although he could still be a tete durin many ways!) I am reminded of a Zen story that illustrates this point:

A professor once visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor’s cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table.“The cup is full!” said the professor. “No more will go in!” “Like this cup,” said the master, “You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Obviously this story points out the fact that in order to learn and grow – in any subject – we have to be willing to release our pre-conceived ideas and adopt a spirit of curiosity and discovery. As a leader it’s easy to get stuck in what you know and how things have always been done. Today, take on a problem from a beginner’s mind, Tete Dur!

Please share with me what you plan to start doing, stop doing or continue doing as a leader. 

You can get more information about Jennifer Ledet by visiting her website and check out her new book Lead, Follow, or Get Me the Hot Sauce!

Remember, “Marvelous Performance is always intentional.
                     Marvelous Performance is never accidental.”
 
Feel free to send me your opinions, comments and feedback. We encourage you to inquire how our systems will help inspire you, your team, group or association to measurable Marvelous Performance.  Email me at Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com
 

(DIRT)+C = Growth for your Agency © ™

A Five Part Series on how to Effectively Manage Your Advertising and Marketing Budget

Part One: D = Direct Mail

It’s a common phrase I used with the agents I worked with on marketing their agencies in the Rochester, New York area, “You know half of your advertising works and the other half doesn’t, now to figure what half that is.” Usually the line would get a polite chuckle in a group meeting or in a one-on-one a nod as if to acknowledge the frustration most insurance agents feel towards advertising and marketing. In the last ten years we have seen drastic changes in what advertising and marketing looks like in the past, pre-internet (if you can remember that far back) you had well paid professionals who were your account executives who helped you with cable, newspaper, the local coupon mailer, and so on. However in the last decade as the Internet has exploded there are a ton of “free” resources for you to use as an agency owner online, but they come at the cost of your time and really who has enough spare time to figure out the Internet when you have an agency to run? 

Looking at successful agencies that had been in business for more than five years and then applying our learning to new agencies just getting started; it became apparent that the agents who “worked the DIRT” were the agents who were having the most success in growing their agencies. DIRT is an acronym for D = Direct Mail, I = Internet, R = Referrals, and T = Telemarketing and then later with the advent of social media I added “C” referring to community involvement. So let’s dive into direct mail.

I know response rates are down with direct mail with the advent of the Internet, but if didn’t work why do you still get mail from the crazy lizard insurance company? Because it works! Now as a local insurance agent or small business owner you cannot match any large national carrier piece for piece, but you can own is your neighborhood. First understand the demographics of your neighborhood and understand who within a five mile radius is most likely to buy insurance from your company either based on price or if you are in a more affluent area then it’s a combination of price and service that will drive people to your door.

Once you know this information start mailing, and keep mailing. My feeling on direct mail is “Go Big or Go Home”, meaning you can’t just do one mail drop and say, “That didn’t work, time to stop mailing.” Direct mail is long-term strategy that will take months or years to reap a return from. However what it does is let the neighborhood around your agency know you are there month-in and month-out. With current response rates below 2% with direct mail most people will throw it out, but what you are hoping for is that when your neighbor has an issue with their current carrier such as a rate increase or bad claims experience your piece of mail ends up in their inbox, and they make the call because they got your piece of mail.

Direct mail isn’t complicated but it’s not a onetime event, and for most agency owners that’s what makes direct mail so frustrating. Key points, focus on the area right around your agency, be consistent mailing monthly or at least every other month, and keep it doing it. Because the people who respond to a mailer are not the people who are going to jump online for a quote, and you want to be “there” when they need you.

The Author: Brad Heutmaker, MBA, is the President & CMO of Chairman’s Management, LLC. He personally works with some of the largest insurance carriers and agencies in the country. You can follow Brad on Twitter @bradheutmaker or “Like” his Facebook Page – Chairman’s Management, LLC

Hello Marvelous People:

Let’s keep in mind that while “Thanksgiving” may be celebrated at a certain time of the year – the attitude of gratitude is worth living and practicing all the days of our lives.

May you enjoy Ana Dutra’s article & share it with all your friends, neighbors, co-workers & relatives.

Peace, Love and Gratitude to you & yours!

Marvin LeBlanc

Thanksgiving, giving thanks, appreciating, being grateful… a colleague asked me recently if I thought there was any connection between gratitude and performance. Yes, I answered, there is a clear connection. At the most basic level, when people feel truly appreciated for their contributions, results and actions, they give their best, they give it their all. Taking this a level deeper, demonstrations of gratitude are energizing for the recipient and fulfilling for the giver.

When people feel truly appreciated for their contributions, results and actions, they give their best, and higher levels of performance are unleashed.

Imagine a culture where people feel comfortable and compelled to express gratitude not only for all the good things employees, colleagues, peers and bosses do but also for who they are. As people receive and give grateful feed-back, positive energy is created throughout the organization and, as everybody strives to do their very best, excellence and higher levels of performance are unleashed.

The role of leaders in creating such a culture is fundamental. It takes self-confidence, humility and awareness — of self and others — to articulate appreciation for others. It takes believing and understanding that people perform at higher levels when they feel appreciated. Yet, gratitude is appreciation at a deeper level. It is less about what people do and more about who they are and the roles they play in the organization. The impact of gratitude on the leader and on others around him/her can be extraordinary.

In some Eastern philosophies where pause and reflection are daily practices, practitioners are invited to acknowledge and express gratitude for things and people that, otherwise, would be taken for granted. As people express gratitude, not only do they benefit from the recognition of something or somebody that makes a positive difference in their lives but so do the recipients of the grateful feelings. As leaders express gratitude for their teams, for their clients, for the organization they lead, the appreciation spreads way above and beyond their inner circle.

Gratitude has to be authentic and heartfelt in order to be impactful. It can’t be an obligation or expressed because it is “the right thing to say”. A few days ago, I picked up my daughter at her job helping to organize and deliver birthday parties. As she sat in the car, she had a card in her hands and, as she was opening the card, she said: ”I love to read the Thank You notes — pause — but not the ones like this…”. As I felt her disappointment, I looked at the Thank You note she was staring at. It was a printed, impersonal, and unsigned Thank You, probably one of many distributed to all the people who worked at the party. My daughter was looking for the sincere, personal and authentic Thank You. But, what she received was one of many impersonal pieces of paper. Like the Thank You note my daughter received, canned gratitude is transparent and a waste of time. It cheapens the gesture and it doesn’t create any positive impact. In order to be able to express authentic gratitude, leaders have to truly feel it. In order to truly feel it, you have to be open to be grateful and take the time to pause and reflect about the things and people you are grateful for.

So, during this Thanksgiving, I want to invite you to pause. Pause and reflect. Reflect on all the people who should receive your gratitude not only for the things they do, but for who they are, how they behave, what they stand for as individuals and as leaders themselves. And don’t forget to be grateful for who YOU are. Again, not for what you do or what you have, but who you are, the values you possess and what you stand for. Expressions of gratitude create better lives and, yes, improve personal and business performance.

Hello Marvelous Readers: what observations might you offer to the writer of this article?

Usually I don’t write about religion or martial relationships, but usually stick with more mundane topics, diet, exercise, type-2- diabetes, and Internet marketing since these involve my personal and professional passions. This week I visited an old friend, and we started talking about family holiday traditions. I told her about how our family goes shopping together on December 24 at a local mall, come home, wrap presents, and then open them on December 25 as a family. This year though my wife added a Chanukah dinner to the mix, as over the years my religious belief has shifted and while I am not Jewish I consider my beliefs and thoughts about God do fit with Judaism. If you were to press me on “what I am” in regards to religion I would describe myself as a Noahide (Google it.)

As the conversation evolved my friend went to say that she isn’t religious having never been exposed to it growing-up, but her husband is Roman Catholic and attends church weekly bringing their kids while she stays home. The thing that bothers her is that her husband thinks that she is going to HELL because of her lack of faith. I know from previous conversations that my wife is concerned about my eternal salvation since I no longer consider myself a Christian, and she has had to wrestle with this issue but recently she did say to me that she does not believe I am going to HELL, and that we will be together in the world to come even though this flies in the face of Christian belief.

Since my religious journey began in 2006 the thought of my wife thinking I was going to HELL bothered me, but I was able to reconcile that with my learning, new beliefs, and finally came to the spiritual knowledge that God sent me on my journey, and I am willing to accept my learning’s as they come to me. However, in speaking with my friend this week and other friends who no longer share the same beliefs as their spouse this is a real issue when one spouse thinks the other is going to HELL.

Personally I know at some level for the non-believing spouse it does bother them that their spouse thinks they are going to HELL, and at some level the believing spouse is bothered that their spouse does not believe like they used to or maybe never did believe. In the beginning of my journey my wife and I had very personal arguments about religion, and while it will never be 100% solved we have found our relationship is more important than religious belief.  Now the conversations are much more from a position of understanding and concern since we are raising two daughters in a religious belief that Daddy no longer believes. While the older child remembers Daddy at church the younger will grow-up as this being her normal.

The way I see it is how do we as parents demonstrate to our children tolerance for each other’s beliefs while at the same time allowing our girls to have their religious journey? And most importantly let their journey be their own just like their parents’ journey was? Because now as our daughter learns about salvation she worries about her Dad, so how do we reassure her that I will be alright but not ruin her faith in the process? I only wish there was a guide on such matters, but there isn’t and we are left to chart our own course. While the journey is not without incident, I think as a spousal team and parents we are doing a pretty good job explaining these issues to our family.

Written by Brad Heutmaker.  You can follow Brad's Mission to Help America Overcome Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes on his website http://www.bradheutmaker.com/

Peace Love and Gumbo~

Marvin LeBlanc