Zugunruhe: Helping great people get [good] things done: Zoog.un.roo.ee

The Loved Customer

Recently, a new family member came into our home: a beautiful, playful puppy! To make sure that our new dog learns good manners, I’ve been reading Tamar Geller’s wonderful book: The Loved Dog. In it, Tamar reminds me that every interaction is a training interaction. In other words, I’m constantly teaching the new puppy—whether I intend to or not!

The same is true in business. You constantly teach people all around you, all the time, whether that’s your intention or not. You teach your customers what to expect from you, how you work, and how to treat you. You teach your vendors, your employees, everyone! And likewise, they teach you, even when you’re not aware of it.

Like my puppy, many folks are working to get what they want. Puppies want treats, affection, and lots of playtime. Oddly enough, your customers probably want much the same thing. Here’s what training a puppy can teach you about marketing.

Keep your puppy busy so he’ll stay near by. I give my puppy a nice toy to play with when I want him to stay put. He entertains himself so well he doesn’t even know he’s being trained to stay! The same is true for your potential customers—provide them with information and interaction to keep them hanging around. The more contact, the more you’ll build know, like, and trust on the way to buy or hire (or donate or volunteer or…, you get the picture).

From Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, I learned about projecting calm-assertive attitude. A nervous owner will communicate their unease to the dog—the dog will get nervous or aggressive in response. When you project calm-assertive to your customers and prospects, you’ll communicate that you’re comfortable in your own skin. This gives people the knowledge that you’re competent and trustworthy, along with the sense that you’re in control of the situation. Like dogs, people respond well to those who move with confidence and serenity.

Be consistent. Puppies thrive on consistent routine. My older dog is extremely well behaved. When people tell me what a good job I did training him, I defer—my dog is calm because his owner is boringly predictable. I use the same words to describe everything in his world and he knows exactly what to expect. Like puppies, when people know what they can expect, they relax. It means that you can be depended on to do what you say you’ll do, in the way you say you’ll do it.

Be patient. Puppies forget quickly. If the puppy doesn’t understand or forget, there’s no point in getting angry, upset, or aggressive. The puppy has no idea what you’re upset about. When you’re marketing your business, you may notice that prospects have attention spans that are as short as a puppy’s. Don’t despair! Just keep repeating your message clearly, simply, unequivocally. When people hear things enough times, they get it, just as the puppy will when he hears you say sit for the hundredth time.

Finally, don’t forget the treats! Back home in Louisiana, we called it lagniappe. Lagniappe is the little something extra that is added as a gift that says “thanks for your business.” Just as rewarding your puppy will help him learn faster, rewarding your prospects for their interest will teach them how valuable they are to you.

When you train a puppy well, you end up with a loved (and loving) dog for many years to come. By remembering that every interaction is a teaching interaction, you can enjoy having “loved customers” who will love you back and bring you their business for years to come.

People matter

“There are two things people want more than sex and money... recognition and praise.”--Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay cosmetics)

When was the last time someone acknowledged you? Noticed something about you that was really true, genuine, authentic? Something about you as person, your inner character.

Straining to remember? You’re not alone. Recognition, acknowledgement, appreciation are in short supply. Especially in the work place. Year after year, surveys show that the one thing that American workers are most dissatisfied with is how they are treated. People feel ignored and unappreciated.

Part of the problem may be that folks are simply not taught how to give acknowledgement. So first, a definition. Acknowledgement is expressing something about who a person is, what their strengths are, or a way in which that person impacted or contributed. Acknowledgement is not praise for an accomplishment--that’s a different skill, the skill of appreciation (which can include praise).

To give acknowledgement, it’s useful to think about who the person is, what their strengths may be, and how they stand out. To hone in on something to acknowledge, rely on what is true for you and about the person whom you wish to recognize. You might aim for something that you might tell about someone but rarely tell the person directly.

When I practice the skill of acknowledgement as a coach, I often preface my words with “what I know about you is…” This signals that I am speaking from a position of honesty and authenticity. It’s crucial that when you give an acknowledgement that you aren’t making something up. If you give a canned acknowledgement, the recognition will fall flat. On the other hand, when you recognize something that is real, you’ll notice that the person being acknowledged really perks up. It’s a bit like hearing someone speak your name from across a crowded room: it gets your attention and rings true.

The next time you have a chance, acknowledge someone who is important to you. It can be your spouse, a co-worker, a friend. Tell them how they contribute to you. We all know that life is short. There has never been a better time to recognize someone. Do it today.

Accountability is key to your success

Accountability is a word that gets thrown around a lot. What does it really mean? In essence, being accountable means doing what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it. Accountability begins with a commitment.

Often, people are really good at taking on commitments. Which is to say, it’s very easy to say ‘yes’ when opportunity rolls around. Unfortunately, ‘yes’ is often the answer because ‘no’ is an uncomfortable or unacceptable response. Enough yeses and too few no’s, and you wind up overcommitted. That creates stress while you run around trying to keep up or worse, you stop meeting the commitments you’ve made which creates its own set of problems.

The key to making and keeping commitments is actually pretty simple. First, you recognize requests or interactions that generate actions. Then you decide what to do with those possible actions. If there is a person behind the request, you’ve got several choices: yes, no, counter-offer are three popular ones. But you can also ask for time to think or give a response based on contingency (yes, if…). It’s useful to remember that many (most?) requests don’t show up explicitly as such--they show up as hints, asides, or unvoiced expectations. Knowing a request when you see one is an important skill to cultivate. When in doubt, ask if there’s an underlying request on the table.

When it comes to working with others, most of us are too good at making commitments and pretty good at keeping them. The place where people tend to fall down is making and keeping commitments to themselves. This is where accountability can go from a buzzword to a powerful tool.

If you’ve ever had a coach, you know that accountability is at the heart of coaching. It’s the fuel that keeps the fire under the client’s butt to keep them in action. That’s because when a commitment is made to a witness, follow through becomes more likely. Being accountable to someone else is easy, natural. The obstacle a lot of  people face is being accountable to themselves.

There are several ways around the tendency to let yourself down. You can find someone with whom to keep track of your personal commitments (a coach, a friend, your spouse). Another possibility, and one of my person favorites, is a checklist. I’m a fan of printing handy checklists on labels for my paper-based calendar. My daily tracking list includes keeping an eye on my weight, exercise, and walking the dog (who despite his deep desire, still has not learned to mind-meld with me). Just seeing those blanks on my daily checklist makes me want to keep my promises so I can check stuff off. Strength training? Check. Aerobic exercise: check. Walk the dog: check. 

If you want to cultivate trust and build a reputation for great follow through, you’ll need to get good at recognizing requests, develop a ninja-like flexibility for responding to demands, and create a simple but powerful way to keep up with what you’ve said you’ll do and by when. If you want to get good at making and commitments to yourself, you’ll need to create accountability in a way that is as natural as falling off a log and as gentle as the nudge on my elbow when it’s time to get the leash.

40-Days Forward 2008: Wrap up

My, how quickly 40-Days Forward 2008 has gone. I hope that you’ve benefited from this period of reflection, planning, letting go, and giving as you move toward the greatness you are capable of. Whenever I mark a milestone, I like to take a few minutes to think about what I’ve learned. Here are a few of the thoughts I have as 40-Days Forward 2008 is coming to a close.

Taking time for thoughtful, regular reflection is more important to me than ever. I’ve come to think of reflection as an opportunity to press pause and step out of the busyness of life. That pause serves to allow me to ask myself, “Am I getting to what’s most important?” And to redirect my course of action if the answer turns out to be “no.” Reflection has also helped me to renew my commitment to being my best and playing the game of life at a higher level. I don’t want to look back on my life someday and think, “I might have been a contender!” I want the end to sound more like, “Wow, I gave it my best and put it all on the line.”

Planning reminded me again that priorities are something I do. If I’m not doing it, it must not be a priority. I’m back to planning each day on paper, looking often at the bigger picture, and making sure that my activities are in alignment with my goals. I also had occasion to really examine my purpose for being and make sure that what I’m saying yes to is going to allow me to accomplish what I’m here for.

This year’s 40-Days Forward journey, was more about letting go than last year’s. The more I let go, the more I found I had to let go of. The lesson of letting go of my preferences is one I’ll be learning for a long time. I hope I getting better at letting go of my limitations, letting go of petty annoyance, and letting go of taking things personally. In the meantime, I am content with letting go of which ice cream flavor I pick when I close my eyes and point. Sometimes, that’s the best I can muster. Other times, though, I find that I’m somehow, by some miracle, getting better at releasing the urge to paddle like mad and just floating instead.

When I feel very overwhelmed, I sometimes refer to that as trying to drink from a fire hose. Not long ago, I found a wonderful verse (in the Book of Job of all places!) that describes the state I’m seeking, “Indeed the river may rage, yet [she] is not disturbed; [she] is confident, though the Jordan gushes into [her] mouth.” Letting go of trying to control everything, being more open to flow is part of finding that confidence and serenity.

Finally, I’m looking at new ways of giving. I’m acting more locally and thinking more globally. Giving of my time on different scales, giving my heart to new endeavors, and giving my soul more freely to the Divine. Giving myself a chance to truly be whoever it is that I, as a child of God, was created to be. I’ve given myself permission to stop struggling so much, stop pretending to be someone I’m not, and to be just myself.

If you followed some, or all, of 40-Days Forward, please take a moment to say hello. Your stories are important to me and I want to know how this time of reflection, planning, letting go, and giving affected you. What did you learn?

In the meantime, may all be well and peace be with you.

40-Days Forward 2008: Generosity

[This post is the eleventh in the 2008 40-Days Forward series. The series begins here.]

A while back I was talking to someone who was describing an untenable work situation. She was totally burned out, just slogging through her daily routine. “I have to tough it out for now,” she told me, “but only until something better comes along.” Meanwhile, her focus was on what she didn’t want. What she loathed about her current situation was crystal clear. Sadly, she wasn’t willing to move her focus to looking ahead; she couldn’t bring herself to let go of where she was long enough to start forming a plan for extricating herself.

When you’re hands are full, tightly gripping onto attitudes that drag you down, routines that have you going in circles, or relationships that repeatedly wound you, you are unable to receive your best life. Only by letting go and figuratively opening your hands (perhaps literally also) can you prepare to get something better. That’s where giving comes in. Giving requires letting go.

When you give, you set numerous forces in motion. I’ve noticed that people who have a lot and give a lot, seem to get a lot, too. In other words, “those that give, get more.” Finance guru Suze Orman has talked about this for years; it’s part of an abundant mindset that creates wealth. Wealth’s opposite, scarcity, keeps people grasping what little they have from fear that someone or something will wrestle it away from them.

Paradoxically, grasping after gain keeps people poor, in spirit and practice. The quintessential portrait of a miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, illustrates this nicely. When Scrooge was locked in his mindset of “never enough,” he was financially rich but miserable. After getting the beejesus scared out of him, Scrooge let go of his crummy attitude and received abundant wealth in its place. Dickens wasn’t just making up a caricature when he created this enduring literary figure, Scrooge is alive and well; I’ve known many people like him, you probably do, too.

The point here is that if you haven’t succeeded in letting go, you may have to cross that ground again sometime. You may find that certain things, like dysfunctional attitudes, have to be released over and over again before they’re gone for good. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just remember to “let it go” every time you notice that you’ve grabbed on again. (If you find yourself ruminating, that’s a hint.)  Eventually, you’ll find that the work of letting go has done it’s job and you’ve moved on almost without realizing it.

Animated trust: How SitePal might boost your business

If you read Inc., you might have seen their series of articles last month (February) on “The New Basics of Internet Marketing.” In the section on how to spiff up your site, there was a nice graphic depicted four people. Well, not people exactly. Avatars. If you’re not familiar with the idea of an avatar, check out the Wiki. You probably have one or more avatars of yourself already, whether you think of them that way or not. For example, any small square image that you use to identify yourself on a website is an avatar.

But the avatars that Inc was talking about are different. These are computer generated personalities who talk and move, and to a limited degree, interact with the user. I liked the graphics and decided I wanted to know more (for those of you keeping score at home: that’s the first two milestones in the sales and marketing mountain: know and like).

Next, I checked out the company that Inc. had profiled: SitePal. First, let me say that I really dislike it when sites start to talk to me without me asking them to. So when the SitePal avatar, an auburn-haired beauty named Ginger, starts yakking at me on every page, I get annoyed. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the idea of having a greeter of sorts for a webpage or perhaps a blog. According to the report in Inc., sales increased by 20% for a Florida company called Say Thanks with Coffee, which added a custom-made avatar based on the business owner’s picture a year or so ago.

This got me to thinking. What the avatar does is create virtual rapport. It might just be a gateway to trust. Turns out that SitePal has a nice trial, free trial version. Creation of an avatar was surprisingly easy and recording the message for the avatar to speak took one, simple phone call. They even provide custom-made avatars that look like you, or whomever you choose.

You might check out these sites that use avatars and tell me what you think. What impression do these make? What do the avatars do for know, like, and trust?
Say Thank You with Coffee: avatar appears to have no mute button.
Dinners in a Flash: very tastefully executed here.
Daughter Nature:  does it matter to you that they’ve been in business since 2001?
Meet Chris Bennett: custom avatar that looks like Chris Bennett and novel approach to job hunting.

You might also want to look at how SitePal use case studies here. Looks like they might have been reading Duct Tape Marketing! This is a great example of a marketing kit component that you might consider emulating for your own business.

Letting Go

Since I starting practicing letting go, I've noticed a curious trend. The more I let go of, the more I find I'm asked to let go of. This week I had to let go of my computer.

Yep, my iMac got sick. It sneezed. It coughed. And then it died. So, dear reader, please forgive me for not posting on Wednesday. That was when I was frantically trying to burn files to discs before everything disappeared. I'd been thinking I needed to clean out my email. I guess God thought so, too. In one moment, all my email was gone--poof!--just like that.

In the midst of all the letting go of computer files, gratitude showed up on my door step. Literally. I got a box of Gratitude Cookies, courtesy of Lori at Zen Rabbit Baking Company. Here's what the card said: "...[while] you're eating the cookies, we encourage you to think of one thing for which you are grateful while enjoying each cookie." Ah, so zen-like and so delicious!

Here are just a few things I thought of while munching on Lori's Gratitude Cookies:

• Backing up my Entourage folder about ten days ago. Don't know what made me think of doing it. Just did.
• Burning a disc with my entire iPhoto library. All my precious pictures from the past years are safe and sound.
• Syncing my iPods regularly. I now know how to capture all the purchases from iPod to iTunes without erasing the iPod.
• iCal and Contacts backups.

OK, I admit I've eaten more than four cookies and yes, I have way more than this to be grateful for, like the phone call from a complete stranger who offered help on another project, the patient service technician at my local Mac Store, my husband who took me out to eat at the Corvallis' new brew pub, Block 15, last night.

I'm coming to believe that letting go is a necessary process. It helps you to make room for something new. I don't know exactly what I'm preparing room for as I let go of so many things, but I have a feeling it's something wonderful. After all, a box of gratitude showed up at my door this week!

Corporate Social Responsibility: not just for big business anymore!

When you hear about corporate social responsibility (or CSR), you may think about big corporations giving away big bucks to big charities. But think again. CSR isn’t just for big businesses. Small businesses can make big impacts, too!

The idea behind social responsibility, whether corporate, government, or individual, is putting an emphasis on considering the greater good. In essence, it’s the idea that by considering the consequences of your actions, you can take responsibility for the impacts you have in the world around you. That means the impacts you have on your community, your personnel, your customers, the environment, and so on.

CSR is not just a good idea. It’s also good business. Businesses that are more socially and environmentally responsible attract better and more loyal employees. They often realize a savings in energy costs and materials.

Not only that but socially responsible businesses reap other benefits as well*:

• Over 25% of American consumers surveyed were willing to pay up to 20% more for “green” products.
• Sixty-six percent of people polled say that “doing good and doing well” is a good strategy for businesses.
• One of the strongest ways to build the value of your brand is through CSR.

It’s vitally important to remember that CSR is more than philanthropy. It’s a way of doing business that includes conserving resources (using less, recycling, reusing), reducing outputs (like garbage, carbon emissions, and toxic chemicals), as well as treating people fairly.

To see what this looks like in practice, take a look at Zugunruhe’s Low Carb Diet. Not carbohydrates, but carbon outputs. Zugunruhe balanced outputs with credits earlier this year as part of our commitment to renewable energy and fighting global climate change.

Once you’ve made the commitment to social and/or environmental responsibility, tell people about it. You can, and should make CSR part of your marketing strategy. Zugunruhe offers a dynamite coaching program that can help your business with green and socially responsible marketing, check it out here.

(*Source: Green Marketing Conference 2007)

The Second Agreement

[This post is the ninth in the 2008 40-Days Forward series. The series begins here.]

A long while back, I read Don Miguel Ruiz’s remarkable book, The Four Agreements®. (His name, by the way, is not Don. Don is a title, like Sir or Honorable.) The second agreement made a very strong impression on me:

Don Miguel writes:

Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

I was reminded of the Second Agreement this week when I heard the story of Paul Tilley who, in despair, committed suicide in apparent response to things that were written about him on some blogs.

It is difficult in the extreme to let go of insults and other acts that seem personal. When someone tells you that you’re a bad person, or that you’re a jerk (or worse), it’s painful. But often, that person is not talking about you or even to you. They are expressing anger or arrogance or frustration or pain, focused through their own lens of experience, background, memory, and personality. And in many ways, that has nothing to do with you.

Yes, people do respond to  each other in very real and truly personal ways. I don’t take Don Miguel’s words literally (he also says “make no assumptions” which is virtually impossible). However, he is right in that if you learn not to take what people say or do personally, you free yourself from a great deal of emotion. You can then use your freedom to choose a response, rather than simply react.

Letting go of what other people think, say, do, is a very powerful skill. To master it means that you release yourself from being a slave to other people’s opinions and assume great personal power. Very few people have this ability: to hear what someone is saying without taking it to heart or being wounded by it, to hear with compassion and intelligence and discernment. To forgive and let go.

[To Paul's friends and family: Peace be with you and condolences on your terrible loss.]

Why is it that we cling to our limitations?

[This post is the eighth in the 2008 40-Days Forward series. The series begins here.]

A while back, I started working on letting go more often. Letting go of getting my own way. Letting go of holding on to perceived wrongs and insults. Letting go of acting territorial. The more I practice, the more I find to let go of. And let’s face it, letting go sucks. It’s hard work. The hardest thing to let go of, though, is my limitations.

This morning I realized that to fully inhabit and manifest my greatness as a human being, a child of God, means that I have to let go of whatever is holding me back. And this is my choice. It’s as if I’m holding on to a splinter as a life raft when, in fact, there is a boat floating only an arm’s length away.

In David Allen’s second book, Ready for Anything, he talks about being truly ready for more. More success. More joy. More abundance. He put lack of readiness in the context of unconscious, yet extremely powerful, resistance. One of the examples he used was an hospital. Every year, when the hospital staff would get clean and clear, completely free of backlogs, the number of patients would immediately soar. When limitations were erased, the hospital was free to be at full capacity, fulfilling its true mission.

When you or I hang on to our limitations, our tiny splinters, we’re keeping our hands full. And with our hands full, it’s impossible to be open and ready for anything else. One thing I know for sure is that whatever I have, I’ll get more of. Hang on to my limitations, I’ll get more limitations. Hang on to my fears, I’ll get more to be afraid of. Hang on to my anger, more to be angry about. If I hold on to my resistance, I’ll get more resistance.

There’s a story in the Bible about a man who was paralyzed. Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be healed?” This was not a stupid question. Being freed from your limitations requires the desire to be free. Not everyone wants to be healed. Not everyone wants to excel. There are payoffs for staying stuck. That’s why people remain paralyzed--emotionally, intellectually, spiritually--they’re reaping some perceived benefit.

What are your limitations paying you? What are they costing you? Do you want to be free to receive your highest good? Or do you prefer your splinter? It’s time to decide what to let go of.

[The author thanks B.D. and C.A. for inspiring this post.]