Some Relationships Reach Their Max – Find and Focus on your Inner Circle

The Pareto Principle, also recognized as the 80/20 Rule, asserts that, for countless events, more or less 80 percent of effects occur from 20 percent of causes. Economists may well state that this characterizes the law of the vital few and the principle of factor scarcity.

Successful sales leaders will admit that 80 percent of their sales come from 20 percent of their clients. The IRS can construct a table showing that 80 percent of its revenue comes from 20 percent of taxpayers. And 80 percent of your relationships’ value comes from 20 percent of your friends and colleagues. Those in your 20 percent are your Inner Circle.

Each of us maintains a number of relationships – family, neighbors, colleagues, etc. While, for the most part, the people in our lives are respectable people, all are not intended to be a part of our Inner Circle (the vital few, who want to see us develop, help us progress, and set us straight). In fact, we often burn up 80 percent of our time with those who give us 20 percent of our relationships’ value. This should change.

Rather than attempting to fit a square peg through a round hole, understand that not all relationships continue to expand over time. Some merely stay affable and remain at a friend/acquaintance level. We all have neighbors that are fine people, but do not share similar values or goals. We all have colleagues that are suitable working mates, but do not share the same ambitions or vision for our enterprise. These relationships are by and large at their max – Do not ask for advice from these people; they are not at a level of thinking or accomplishment that you want to reach.

In its place, consider of the people in your life who want to see you advance. Who helps you grow? Who offers ideas – backed up by the results you seek out – to help you succeed? Who do you look up to, esteem, and have a high regard for their accomplishments in life and in their profession? These people are your Inner Circle. These people are vitally few in number. These people probably do not live next door or share an office partition. You must seek out these relationships.

I have three people in my Inner Circle – Jayne, Burt, and Carl. That’s it. That’s sufficient. Why? Because combined, these treasured friends (Jayne is my wife) possess more intellect, farsightedness, prosperity, and savoir-faire than all the friends and acquaintances combined. More important, these three take my evolution earnestly and make time to pay attention to my challenges and opportunities. They propose suggestions to help me – and my interests – proliferate.

The take home piece from this post is uncomplicated – Find your Inner Circle and focus primarily on that Inner Circle. Other relationships will arrive at their max and you will be fine, just fine. Some of those relationships will fizzle away and you will be fine, just fine. It’s the vital few that matter most. Find them. Invest with them. Grow with them.

Stop Wasting Your Time with Training

Dr. Harry J. Martin, associate professor of management and labor relations at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, OH, recently said, “Teaching employees new skills is one thing. Getting them to apply what they have learned is quite another.”

When nearly all studies put forward that roughly 25 percent of training is truly used on the job, it is understandable that the 75 percent of wasted training pours billions of dollars of annual staff development right down the drain. So how do we bring to a standstill the wasting of staff time and corporate capital with ineffective training and development programs?

Incorporate plans, pressure, and performance to the training.

In the majority of cases, training programs are adequate. They cover what you call for and want realized. However, when innovative skills and strategies are not utilized, the squandering of time and money persists. In our programs and system, we discovered three follow-up methods that are exceptionally effectual in making the adjustments of training programs stick.

1. Put a plan on paper. Request employees to write down an action plan specifying how they anticipate using what they learned in training. Something attention-grabbing occurs: Just writing down action steps makes it more likely to come about. Outlining what needs doing – along with essential resources – helps employees envision the result, design the path, and provides a record to measure progress.
2. Add peer pressure. Now and again, a little assistance from colleagues can motivate employees to give new skills and action plans an attempt. Once an employee has sketched a plan of action, allow him to reveal his strategy with others in the training session. He may obtain input that sharpens the idea. He may find out that additional resources are essential to carry out the plan. Most important, he now has an assembly – with any luck – interested in seeing him do well. Or, he may want to thrive to confirm his plan will happen as expected. Either way, action and results follow training.
3. Hold employees accountable to their performance. An enthusiastically involved and encouraging manager greatly increases the odds that employees will employ what they learned from training. The supervisor can take up the role of coach or mentor, keep them focused, and even help reduce roadblocks to success. But what if “Acting on Self-Directed Plans” was a piece of an employee’s standard evaluation. What if a percentage of all that totals to successfully fulfilling the duties of a job included an element of acting upon newly learned innovative techniques to enhance sales, service, products, and processes? We may find that employees become more engaged and committed knowing that they are leaders in their own jobs.

 

 

 

Million Miler Customers

Today, I received, from Delta Air Lines, a letter of congratulations and distinctive credentials for achieving Million Miler™ status. It took me seven years to fly the first one million miles and, the way business is coming along, the next one million miles will mount up in five years. It might also have something to do with my commitment.

Three items stood out as I looked through the congratulatory packet.

1. The letter informed me that “Fewer than 1% of our SkyMiles members ever achieve this elite Million Miler™ status.” If you’re a standard reader of my articles or Rising Ablog, you know how committed I am to the model of being part of The Elite One Percent™ in life. What’s important is that Delta Air Lines acknowledged me as one of their elite customers. That feels pretty good. No, it feels great.
2. The credentials (membership card, key fob, and luggage bag tag) listed a distinctive telephone number set aside just for Delta Air Lines’ most frequent fliers – their elite one percent.
3. As an additional token of Delta Air Lines’ appreciation, I was invited to select a gift from the exclusive Hartmann® line of luggage. The rolling carry-on bag that I chose shows a retail price of $599. Though I am confident that Delta Air Lines does not pay full retail for the luggage, what a sign of appreciation to reward me with such fine leather luggage.

Add this experience to the many other reasons that strengthen my commitment and direct me to continue flying Delta Air Lines. What’s the lesson/application for all businesses from a day in my life?

1. Determine who your Million Miler Customers are. Find your elite one percent of customers who use your products and services most. Send a letter of thanks and recognition. Make them feel great.
2. Even better, create a way that your Million Miler Customers can get in contact with you that is unlike the standard process. A separate phone number. A unique section on your website. A special area in your store. Your mobile phone number. Give them elite access to you.
3. Reward your best customers with more than grand service. Reward them in tangible ways. Surprise them with your generosity.

It’s been said that the greatest two indicators of organic growth from customers are: 1) Their eagerness to use your products/services again; and, 2) Their readiness to tell someone else to do the same. These are your Million Miler Customers. Find them in your customer base. Develop more Million Miler Customers from your customer base. Recognize them. Separate them. Reward them well.

What’s in it for you? Repeat sales, higher per unit profits, and referred/word-of-mouth marketing.