How to Grow Your Company the Right Way
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Dedicated to the hard-working, well-meaning, & continually-motivated small business owners of Rockland County, NY.
Disclaimer: If you are not a small business owner, this post probably doesn’t apply to you. Nothing but love, and I wish you success, but I’m specifically speaking to any entrepreneurial types in this ROCKLAND NY area, that prefer to take more direct control over their destiny, and if possible — make things better while we’re here.
This blog came deep from within my soul, and brings me back to my roots of business development, way back in time to 1982.
So, I’ve worked since I was 7 years old. I kind of like work. I’ve also always been continually obsessed with getting better. It’s fun. It stems back to the inner drive I got from my mentors over the years. Certainly one of them was my Grandfather, who owned the bike store in which I stayed after school each day – was one of them.
I have plenty of blog posts about my Grandfather, as well as many other mentors I’ve met over the years, and more to come. The stories work hand in hand with the fun.
Learning How to Win at Work
Another mentor I had was a Tennis Coach I briefly learned from for 2 years at Rockland Community College, before transferring to Ramapo College. His name was Richard Meyer. But to us, he was simply “Mr. Meyer”.
Mr. Meyer was one of the best coaches a kid like me could learn from. He was friendly and helpful. No two ways about it. There wasn’t an ounce of malice in any of his lessons, communications, or even his overall temperament. He was better than me at not getting frustrated, which was clearly apparent when things didn’t go my way on the court.
There was indeed a rather healthy dose of a winning approach to everything possible in life that he encountered. You could sense it. It reverberated around him.
As a team, we also had a pretty good record that year. I think mainly because he listened to us, and adjusted his approach – to be specifically helpful to that team, at that moment in time. He was present, kept his ears open, and gave us strategic and tactical guidance. We had an above average year.
Going into the final few games of the season – we were about to face some difficult foes. And we didn’t like our chances of winning. Especially the last two teams of the season, with Nassau and Dutchess Community Colleges, respectively.
My favorite speech from him was right before we played Nassau, who had an unstoppable, undefeated machine of a team that year. I think they went something like 7-0 up to the point where we visited them, which led to our epic…tennis…showdown. Yes, friends – even tennis has its epic moments. This was one of them.
I’ll never forget the speech. It lasted maybe <30 seconds.
Here it is, the greatest speech that I ever heard from Mr. Meyer, recited from the front of our absurdly large and yellow school bus:
“Hey, guys. Let’s face it. We’re probably gonna lose. They have an undefeated team, and…at least by the numbers – the odds are stacked against us.”
“But they can’t take away this from us: Win or lose, we’re gonna have some fun.”“So let’s go out there…and ENJOY TODAY! Take what I’ve taught you, relax, and play a game that you will enjoy.And hey, maybe we won’t do so bad — we may get a few wins anyway today! We have a good team! Who knows. But let’s have a good time, as a team.”
“If you make a mistake, laugh it off. If you lose, you’ll get better next time. But have FUN today!”
** Note: I obviously can’t convey tone in FB text. If need be, recite the above to yourself!😁
We as a team all looked at each other and were like — “um…ok.”
Here’s the kicker. We won.
Yup, we won 5-4, breaking their 7-0 win streak.
Huge celebration, high fives over Gatorades and sandwiches for everyone. Most awesome match we ever played. Everyone had contributed to the victory, not just with numbers, but for keeping that winning approach that Mr. Meyer instilled in us.
Oh, by the way — make no mistake. We were not suddenly transformed into the greatest team ever and going to Wimbledon that year! Two weeks later we played Dutchess – the top in our league, also with an undefeated record, and we got our asses kicked. 😂 But we had fun then too. So it’s all good.
More importantly, we learned a great life lesson: When you have fun, like Mr. Meyer taught us, you become a little less anxious about what may or may not happen.
This is just one story that has helped my business life over the years. There’s more, and if you’re interested in learning this approach, check out the special offer at the bottom of this page.
And that opens your existence up to the opportunity to continually improve – and maybe one day do the same for others…like Mr. Meyer. And probably the way you do every day at your company, organization or cause.
You have a lot of people to answer to: Customers, team members, employees, contractors, unions, governments big and small, not to mention your personal relationships.
But specifically, I’m here to talk about the approach that Mr. Meyer provided to us:
The Customer-Centric Approach
Sometimes the best approach to working with your customer, is this:
CUSTOMER: “What can you do for us? 😎
YOU: “First, tell us what you need.” 😎
Of course, it has to be conveyed in the friendliest way possible. Like Mr. Meyer. We were the customer. And he found a way to provide us what we needed. For two years.
The confident “what do you need” approach, properly conveyed to your customer, your team, your investors, and more – helps raise you and your role in your company above the simple concept of just selling people on the latest greatest idea you have.
Rather, this approach creates a customer-centric focus for your entire organization. It leans the entire team toward the future. And equally as important, it helps to fuel your drive to improve every aspect of the company, over the course of time.
It’s Not Easy, But It’s Worth It
Sounds daunting? Yup. It’s not easy. But neither is losing. So do the winning thing. Why not? And quite frankly sometimes you are the only Mr. Meyer in your life, and sometimes you need to tell it to yourself.
If you can take that mentality into your inevitable Zooms, phone calls, in-person visits, networking events, seminars and webinars, as well as use this approach in all of your communications with your team, your customers, and your community, I assure you, your ears will be open all the time – not just for your own opportunity, for the opportunities that your customers seek.
This mentality resonates all the way up to the top of your company, and begins to create a continuous cycle of success – one which I assure you should endeavor to seek.
Now here’s the part you are not going to like.
It Takes Time
It takes years to get this approach right. I estimate at least a decade. You heard me. 10 years. You need to be in front of enough people, for enough years, for enough wins, for enough losses, for enough percentages to make the right adjustments, for enough testing, for enough re-testing, for enough breaks to zone in on the right formula, for the right time, for the right price, for the right profit margin, for the right cause.
You gotta sometimes bring your product and service offerings back to the research and development stage, and rework everything from the ground up. Like our team did over the past two years, two decades, two score. And in the process, we found some great wins.
Mr. Meyer coached a lot of teams, and we were just one of many. But I imagine that the success he inevitably instilled in others, certainly resonated for those kids lives, too.
Various publications also convey this customer-centric approach. You’ve been kind enough to read this blog, and I won’t bore you with additional links to cross reference.
That said, many resources are available to help you with this Customer-Centric approach, as well as several aspects of your business, in our new online series:
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER!
We’ve been planning this for the past year, and we are ready to launch! What better time to do something new than after a two year lockdown!
(Nothing but respect to all, but let’s keep working to improve, the work is never done)
We have two free eBooks for you. We already have about 70 podcast episodes. The early podcasts (Season 1 was called Rhyme and Reason) was simply a test to be transprent, refine our approach, and develop a one-to-one conversational style.
We have monthly webinars from guests that will continually help you to refine your approach to your business, company, organization or cause.
And later this year, stay tuned for an all-day boot camp, to help you make your business the best it can possibly be!
BONUS: For a limited time, special guest Irene Gutmann is also offering her eBook “Don’t Believe a Word You Say“, for free if you subscribe to Work Smarter, Not Harder by Feb 1st. More info is available by clicking on the link below and checking it out for yourself!
SIGN UP FOR WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER – FOR FREE
Conclusion
I hope this has been helpful. Please give me feedback on how I can improve this message to you. I mean it.
Tune in more to learn more about the element of your business that – if done right – will make you virtually unstoppable:
ALIGN WITH THE RIGHT CAUSE
Peace out.
✌️🤓