A Millennial walks into a hardware store and asks the man for help fixing Siri. The man looks puzzled and asks the millennial ‘I’m sorry could you tell me more about your project?’ The millennial replies back ‘well, my phone keeps acting weird so I told her she’s driving me nuts! And Siri replied that I should visit a hardware store. So I searched on Yelp and here I am!’  

Customers! Customers! Customers!

The lifeblood of business. The desire of eager over-caffeinated start-ups. The pain in many a salesperson’s butt! There aren't just vanilla or plain customers, there are 5 different types. Customer engagement can lead to loyal customers or it can lead to lost sales. Learn about Inbound Marketing. Customers may come and they may go but the key to every successful company is knowing which type of buyer you are working with and engaging properly. Know thyself, know thy prospect.

INTRODUCTION:

Are you calling the shots? How about calling YOUR shot? They are very different, in one you're the boss the other you're the leader. One of the things businesses need to do today and what you can do to personally grow, is to start calling your shot! The importance of calling your shot can mean achieving personal and professional success. In life and in business it takes an act to step forward, declare what you want, and get traction to lead and grow. Babe Ruth stepped to the plate on October 1st, 1932 and pointed to the flagpole, telling the Chicago Cubs that's where the next pitch would go. Did it happen? Well, he hit a home run! The idea rings true, you need to start calling your shot in life and in business and here's how.

Recently there has been an uptick in popularity for companies to start marketing to dads, some good and some not so good. Kudos to these companies for standing up for men and showing them in a positive image. History in television has not been kind when portraying fathers, typically they are the doufus, the joker, the f**k up, the abuser, and on and on with the unkind portrayals. There have been exceptions to the rule of course and it's nice to see these companies portraying dads in an uplifting, funny, and endearing way.

Why your company website fails your employees

can be hard for business owners to swallow but understanding this facet is a step toward helping your team and business grow positively. See Web Services. We can all agree that every business needs a website. When you hear of a new product, service or business, what is your first reaction? You’ll head over to their website, correct? "86% of consumers stated that using a search engine allowed them to learn something new or important that helped him/her increase his/her knowledge." - Pew Research Center, Search Engine Use 2012

As I write this, I’m four weeks short of thirty three and my parents are celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary! They were married in high school…which makes me look back and ponder what If I Could Be 22 Again. Here’s some advice based on a compact, practical 30 years.

What in the Beck Rant is going on in the U.S. today? Beck took the stage Sunday night at the Grammy’s winning the AOTY (Album of the Year) award over protest by Kayne West and others inciting a Beck rant in response. Beck is talented, more talented than Beyoncé? Don’t know and really don’t care. What we do know is Beck won, so let’s understand how this relates to business. Sorry Kanye, this Beck rant is not about you.

Beck won the award, Beyoncé won the business. Ask yourself a powerful question; Are you in business to win awards or to win more clients? Awards don’t pay your employees, though they can validate your efforts, they don’t fill the breadbox. Beck created a product and yes, won an award, but Beyoncé won more customers, more money, and in the eyes of this company, more success.

Beck Rant: Breaking Down Success

Product

Beyoncé crushed the numbers game and became successful by leveraging her resources, creating a superior product, and creating a scaleable business. Competition is for consumers, domination is for business. Stop trying to compete and start hustling to dominate your market. Beyoncé dominated the market last year. No business wants competition yet we see companies allow it to happen over and over again. Beyoncé’s success is credited to a scaleable product and business model that allowed for massive penetration into the market quickly and efficiently.

Do her customers ask for customized songs or a better price? No. And if they do does Beyoncé give them what they ask for? No. Here’s my product, here’s the price and here’s why you want it, period. If someone wants to complain, or argue or want something different, they don’t get to have it. Next. She sticks by her product and her business, and she sells to the customers that want the experience she provides. She stands by the value of the time and costs put into creating a superior product and does not compromise. Exactly what we need to do in business. Make a product that meets a need and does it better than most and don't get hung up on compromising for the few outspoken consumers.

Numbers

Beck’s album was 60th on Billboard’s top album list for 2014, while Beyoncé was 2nd. What’s the difference in sales you ask? (if you didn’t ask you should have).

• Beck’s Morning Phase sold 301,000 copies last year.
• Morning Phase was released on February 21, 2014
• Beyoncé’s self titled album sold over 5 million copies.
• Beyoncé was released December 13, 2013
• If you take an average album price of $15, that translates:
  • Beyoncé’s album made more than $75 Million.
  • Beck’s album made more than $4.5 Million.

Who wins….you choose.

Process

Did the Beck rant even need to happen? No. Once the framework was in place and the product created, Beyoncé hustled to engage fans and customers. She and her team demanded success. Did she rest when she sold over 800,000 albums in just three days? Nope. Did she stop when she sold 2 Million copies? Nope. Does she stop hustling because she’s number 1 on the Billboard charts? Nope. When a customer requests a song be changed specifically for them, does she stop and change the offering? Nope. Beyoncé sticks to processes that get her product and brand into the market as far and deep as possible. She released her new album on iTunes to the surprise of many and smashed records selling 823,773 albums in just three days! That's a successful process.

Hustle

“Hustle until people know you for your work ethic” - Grant Cardone

Casualness and entitlement are reaching epic levels while customer service and hustle are trending in ultimate lows. Why? Why are business leaders continually accepting of employees that lack care and a sense of servitude to the company and it’s customers? Business leaders need to be demanding better of their workforce and their partners because that’s what creates success. It’s all in the hustle. If you aren’t hustling, your competition is and you’ve lost. Kayne West caused a stir with his rant on Beck winning, but he should have seen the bigger picture, Beyoncé really won.

Too often we numb our senses to the world around us when we should be fully alert. I’m specifically talking about our senses for success. Our caveman ancestors had to be alert or they’d get eaten by the next predator! That’s exactly how successful people get to the top, they are thinking about what’s next all the time and not letting themselves get into a position of being killed by a lion or tiger or bear, oh my. Take that and put it in a Beck rant!

Success finds those that hustle, not just once, but over and over again. If the caveman took time to rest he’d be snuffed out quickly. Always on guard, always on alert, always thinking and moving to be better and better.

Build A Better Mousetrap?

The old adage from the business world, was the idea that if you built a better business, a better product, or provided a better service customers would beat a path to your door. Work hard to create something then sit back and watch the money roll in right? Wrong, very wrong. It’s not enough, nor has it ever been so. It’s been said over and over and yet this practice remains very much alive, popular, and thriving today. Unbelievable right? Complacency is running rogue in the business world and that’s why companies like Kpahi are able to spring alive. Companies like ours drooling over all the opportunity available that others don’t want or are willing to work for. We’ll take it! Beck Rant!

Conclusion

For Beck to rant about Kanye and his comments regarding Beyoncé, it doesn't matter. What builds success for your company may seem complicated but the point of this article is to help simplify the objective. Focus on the customer, focus on out-hustling the competition, and focus on building a product or service that can scale are the winning ingredients. There are lots of articles and books and videos and stories and people that will tell you how to gain success for your business. We’re not saying to ignore these things, but we are saying to stop be lazy, stop being okay with mediocrity. Once you identify this and take action, everything else will start to fall into place.

And the winner is…..you choose.