Three Little Words
Can you believe we are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2009? Time goes so fast and yet so little changes.
I was in a planning meeting recently in which we discussed our focus for 2009. Lively discussion ensued but I wondered how much effort was being put towards making change happen for each of us sitting around the table. Our leader, Norma Rist, shared a blog post by Chris Brogan in which he describes his “three word” theory for his business.
Rather than have a lengthy plan with finely crafted mission statements that no one refers to after it is skillfully typed into their computer; he chooses three words. Each word represents a bigger picture initative. However, by narrowing the focus to three words he can easily remember them. If he has staff – they can remember them. And if you can remember your goals, you have a better chance of directing your daily efforts towards one of those words.
His three words for 2009 are: Equip. Armies. Needles.
To you and I they mean nothing, but to Chris – they speak volumes.
My three words are: Follow-Up, Bite and Charge!
Follow-up on what I say I’ll do for my customers, on prospects, on leads from my centers of influence and on my personal growth projects like my newest book in the works “Make or Break Moments: Revolutionizing Customer Relationships.”
Bite: Means that I’ll bite off one piece of a project at a time. So often we get overwhelmed by the tasks ahead of us. They say the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and that’s the way I’m approaching my life in 2009.
Charge!: Well it can stand for a “go get ’em” approach to business but this year it refers to actually treating my business like a business and charging for my services, my products and my expertise. If you are one that has a tendency to discount your services or give them away for free, I invite you to visit Summit Consulting or to read Alan Weiss’ book Value Based Fees.
So what does the Three Little Words exercise have to do with customer service or make or break moments?
In a tough economy, we need to stay focused. Life happens and we allow our business to run us rather than the other way around. Our focus shifts from customers to margins to profitability to Internet marketing to staying ahead of the bill collectors and out-doing the competition. With this scattered, shotgun approach to each day, we’ll never transform our business into the customer-focused establishment we dream of. We find ourselves spinning, not moving forward and just barely staying afloat.
I would suggest you consider Chris Brogan’s Three Little Word approach to goal setting for this year. Then each day make sure that your time is spent working towards one of those words. Post the words by your computer, in the bathroom, on your Blackberry, and even read them into an audio recording and put them on your iPod.
What will your three words be? Which one will focus on the customer? My customer word is FOLLOW UP.
Will you share your words here? Let’s check back in a month and see how we are doing on our words. Sound good?
What a great post! Reminds me a bit of Guy Kawasaki’s idea of “vision as mantra.” Years ago I was asked by a client to put together a keynote speech on the “Essence of Excellence” and I got it down to just three key words. To be excellent at anything you need:
FOCUS — – DISCIPLINE — – ACTION.
To start on the path, you must develop a myopic focus on your “philosophy of excellence” — your values-based vision of what you truly want to achieve. Next, you need the discipline to actually pay the price on a daily basis and take the steps necessary in order to achieve the level of excellence you desire. And lastly, the amount of success and excellence you achieve is directly proportional to the amount of action you apply.
No clear focus… not much discipline… only a little action = mediocrity. And as the old saying goes: “the minute you start accepting mediocrity in your life — you become a magnet for mediocrity in your life.” Three little words — focus, discipline, action.
Thanks for the fantastic post, I really enjoy reading your blog — John Spence
Wow, John, to be compared to Guy is high praise indeed. I like your three words as well. The best of course being ACTION. We had pontificate all day long about what we hope to achieve but until we take that first step – or in my case, the first BITE, we get no where on that long road to our dreams.
Thanks for sharing. And thanks for reading!
Deborah