Category Archives: Applying "The Alpha Factor"

• It’s not the economy! It’s you, dummy.

  Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 by Wes Ball

  Someone asked me the other day why I have written so few articles this year.  The reason is simple:  I’ve been working inside a company to grow it.  Despite this terrified, hide-your-money-in-a-pillowcase economy, by the end of the year we expect to be at or near our very aggressive growth target that we set a year and a half ago.

  Many persons watching us wonder how we can do that.  It looks as though we are selling essentially the same thing as most of our competitors, yet we get between 50% and 100% more for it.  So, here’s the secret…

  We are working our tails off to get there.  We have made sure we understand exactly what people REALLY want to buy in our category (not the “things” they want to buy, but rather the “experience” they want before, during, and after the sale), and we have made sure we are not only providing those things, but also helping them discover how critical it is for their own personal satisfaction and fulfillment that they get nothing less than that.

  Sound familiar?  It should.  It’s the Alpha model.

  Has this been easy?  Absolutely not.  The most difficult thing has been getting everyone on the team to understand and buy into this model.  Actual delivery and communications have been been relatively easy.  Getting everyone to understand that this is not about them, but rather about the customer’s experience, has been the real battle.

  What makes this even better is that this company is in what most people consider to be a “commodity” industry.  Actually, most companies are… not because what they sell is actually a commodity, but rather because they and all of their competitors have allowed purchasers to believe that it is.  They have allowed people to believe that it’s easy to deliver what you deliver and that what everyone in your category sells is essentially the same.

  That is never true.  At the core level, the real defining difference between you and your competitors has to be you.  If they buy from anyone else, they don’t get YOU.  That can (and should) mean not just you individually, but your company, your installers, your service people, your telephone people, your customer service reps, your salespersons, your packaging,… everything and everyone in your company.  Why? Because each has been created or trained to represent the pinnacle of what can be had by buying something in your category.

  When someone buys from your company, the should be buying something they never thought they would be able to get:

  1. freedom from worry about they quality of the product, its installation, training to use it, and/or its performance,
  2. comfort in knowing that if anything goes wrong (or if you don’t achieve expected results), you will be there to make it absolutely right, and
  3. fulfillment in knowing that others will wonder how they were smart enough to find the best possible option out of all the not quite good enough options.

  It’s not the economy that’s holding you back.  It’s you and how you run your company and approach the marketplace.  If you aren’t using the Alpha model to sell in this economy, then you are losing thousands or millions of dollars every day.

  Special Limited-time Offer

  If that’s you and you are tired of blaming the economy or price-sensitive customers on your poor performance, here’s a special offer:  give me a call or email me, and I will personally send you a free article on how you can turn that around in the next 60 days. No charge.  No commitment.  Just real, immediately usable answers that will change the way you run your business (or sell customers) so that you can be selling at higher prices, getting more completely satisfied customers, and reaping greater profits than ever before.

  I’ve hidden this offer deep in this post, because I only want to help people who are willing to work for it.  It’s never easy to become the Alpha, but this special article will allow you to understand how to immediately put your company on the track to becoming an Alpha.  Contact me today, because I have only printed a limited quantity of this special article.  Once they run out, I won’t reprint it again.

  Wes Ball is president of The Ball Group.  He is also author of The Alpha Factor, available here or through on-line bookstores.  Wes speaks around the country to large groups of business owners and managers who want to start growing their sales and profit sustainably without discounting or promotion… no matter what the economy is doing.  You can reach Wes at 717.627.0405 or through his email at w.ball@ballgroup.com.

  Posted in Applying "The Alpha Factor", Articles, Business | Comments (0)

• Motivating employee performance without financial incentives

  Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 by Wes Ball

  In case you don’t already know this, financial incentives are the least effective motivators of desired employee behavior… especially for creating loyalty. That’s really good news at a time when money is tight and companies are desperately trying to keep good employees.  Here are some facts about how to better motivate employees that could really help right now…

  Financial incentives are the best motivator for behavior you want the least, such as self-serving attitudes, destructive greed, and internal competition that demotivates other employees. If you want an employee who has low loyalty, makes other employees distrust each other (and the company), and will try to leverage you continually for more money for doing less work, then financial incentives are great.  The truth is that employees who work for you despite a lack of special financial incentives that are designed to motivate specific behavior are more loyal, more focused upon the good of the company overall, and more supportive of other employees.  In short, they are great team players… something that almost every company says they want to hire.

  So, what motivates the type of employee you want better than money?  Sadly, they are the very things that most companies are loath to give: trust, empowerment, and appreciation.

  Ask almost any corporate employee what they hate the most about their job (and would desperately like to change jobs to get), and they will most often answer with things like, “trust, personal empowerment, and appreciation for work well done.”  Interestingly, despite this overwhelming unmet need, if asked what they want the most, they will most often answer, “more money.”

  Why the disconnect between what they say they want and what they would change jobs to get?  It’s something I have seen in market research thousands of times.  People will say they want something that is far different from what they would give almost anything to get, because they don’t think they can get it or they don’t believe the person asking would give it to them.  So they answer with something they believe the questioner will understand and accept.

  As an employer, I have always been amazed to discover that the employees that have provided the lowest return on investment have typically been those demanding the most money and the most financial incentives for things that will grow the company.  The best employees have typically been ones who want a chance to prove themselves and who are less concerned about short-term financial incentives than long-term growth potential.

  My advice:  Forget the financial incentives except as “appreciation.”  Focus upon making employees feel more trusted by including top performing ones in strategic planning and other long-range planning activities or problem-solving.  Invest in employees who show potential or who demonstrate the “right” attitudes” with training and by giving them special opportunities to prove themselves.

  You will find that everyone on your team is more motivated and more more focused upon the things you really need from employees.

  If you have examples of this at work in your company, I would love to hear about them.  It’s about time that corporate managers realize that negative motivation and weak financial incentives won’t work, but showing more respect, trust, and appreciation to employees will.

  Wes Ball is the author of The Alpha Factor.  Although he spent the last 20+ years growing companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to small local companies, he is focusing almost exclusively upon medium-sized businesses who he believes have the most potential to rejuvenate our economy and to become tomorrow’s market leaders.  You can reach Wes at 717.799.3395 or w.ball@ballgroup.com.
  

  Posted in Applying "The Alpha Factor", Articles, Market research, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

• The secret to growth in a recession: Motorboat vs. Sailboat

  Saturday, June 13th, 2009 by Wes Ball

  As I have watched a broad range of businesses react to this slow economy, something hit me about the differences between those who are thriving right now and those who are either dying or barely surviving.  The thrivers are all “sailors.”  The fatalities (even if they are only dying slowly) are motorboaters.

  Here’s what I mean:

  Motorboaters need to have all the fuel on board necessary to reach their destination before they start off.
  Sailors only have to have the tools and knowledge to take advantage of what they find along the way and stay out of serious trouble.

  • Motorboater businesses worry about moving forward without a clear view of how they are going to get there and confidence that they have enough “fuel” to make it without problem.
  • Sailor businesses move forward with the confidence that they can navigate to the resources they need, as long as they are creating sufficient demand which “floats” their vessel.

  Motorboaters expect to take a straight line path to their destination.
  Sailors expect to take a constantly changing course to reach their destination.

  • Motorboater businesses believe that they should somehow get to their destination smoothly and predictably.
  • Sailors know better and count on using the surprises along the way to help them.

  A motorboater expects to get to his destination as quickly as possible, with the fewest detours, and is upset if he misses the cocktail hour at the other end.
  A sailor enjoys the trip and doesn’t need the cocktail hour to have enjoyed the journey, because the joy was in the process of getting there.

  • Motorboater businesses hold on to an entitlement attitude.
  • Sailors enjoy the ups and downs and the detours along the way without the need for further gratification.  Look at the offices in sailor companies: they are trim, minimal, and functional.

  Motorboaters get extremely worried and begin to panic when their boat tips and water is rushing along one of the the gunwale.
  A sailor knows he has the opportunity to go faster and gain more ground when his boat tips and water is rushing along one of the gunwale.

  • Motorboater businesses panic easily and start “bailing” persons necessary to their future success as soon as they see difficulties ahead.
  • Sailor businesses make sure everyone knows their job and helps them work together to gain success.

  When a motorboater believes his fuel to reach his destination is below the minimum required, he starts to call for help, slows things down, and wallows in the sea.
  When a sailor starts to lose the wind he needs, he moves to where better wind is or simply waits patiently for the wind to come back, as it always does.

  • Motorboater businesses are victims of the economy.
  • Sailor businesses are opportunists.

  A motorboat must maintain power to sustain itself in a heavy storm, otherwise it wallows and is soon capsized.
  A sailboat can maintain itself in a storm without any sails and choose to either run before the storm under “bare poles” or turn bow into the wind and ride it out using a “sea anchor” to make it go slightly slower than the oncoming seas.

  • Motorboater businesses require too much investment to sustain themselves during economic downturns.
  • Sailor businesses can keep moving or just survive with far less investment.

  When the seas get a bit rough and the boat begins to rock, a motorboater will most often either run for port or just hold position, get seasick, and wait until things get better.
  When the seas get a bit rough and the boat begins to rock, sailors know they can make even better speed; they just shorten sail a bit.

  • Motorboater businesses require far more exaggerated responses to difficulties in order to survive.
  • Sailor businesses can reduce their response and still move faster.

  Most large businesses act like “motorboaters.”  That’s why they have to cut people and budgets as soon as they see potential trouble ahead.  They head for port and ride out the difficulties.  They are victims of the economy, not drivers of it.

  The most successful entrepreneurs are “sailors.”  They know how to spot new wind, how to take advantage of changing tides and currents, and they drie their businesses based upon what they come across.  They are the drivers of a new economy, because they are the ones out front discovering what’s ahead.

  Sadly, far too many small businesses try to emulate large “motorboater” organizations.  During tough economic times, they make the same mistakes, but they don’t have the resources to survive as long while doing the wrong things.

  The secret is to make your organization more of a “sailor” organization.  Watch for the wind.  Move to where it is.  Don’t panic when things look tough, but recognize the opportunity to accelerate while others founder or run for port.

  Wes Ball is the author of The Alpha Factor.  He has sailed for more than 30 years in both cruising and racing boats on both coasts and in the great lakes.  He is also a business owner, executive coach, and business turnaround consultant.  He has created growth for businesses in three recessions, even while their competitors are foundering.
  

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