The Insider Blog

All it takes is a quick search around the internet or a stroll through the decoration section at your local mega-retail store to notice that there is always some reason for celebration.  Holidays or some other event, historical, religious, or just plain wacky, seem to be slated for every day and every week of the year.  While Flexible Work Arrangement Week and National Hug Holiday Week both sound like events I could get into this month, I was particularly interested to learn about National Small Business Week.

Business owners seem to know that the idea of sharing results and outcomes is a no-brainer for building a productive and motivated team. Without clear feedback that tells them if their actions are creating the right results, employees may feel like their fumbling around in the dark. It’s like trying to scratch the itch on somebody else’s back without the benefit of any “a-little-to-the-left-now-up-a-bit-yes-there-there-there” guiding statements.  You’re bound to hit the spot by sheer luck eventually, but, really, why make it harder than it needs to be?

Accountability has always haunted business owners. Employees have someone to report to, someone to push them for results and most important, someone to hold them responsible. Business owners typically have no one to answer to but themselves. This makes it difficult to move the business forward. It does not have to be this way. Here are some ideas for increasing your efficiency as a business owner by increasing your accountability:

As you may have seen from our whitepaper and online social activities, Inner Circle recently completed a Member survey based upon the methodology in Fred Reichheld's book, "The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth."  The ultimate question to ask your clients is this: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?"  At the end of the day, this is the only answer that truly matters.

I know they say you should never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. I hope it’s OK to blog.

I’ve been daydreaming about a favorite ice cream shop where they offer every customer a Ziggy. You order your cone exactly as you want it, but they go one step further in serving it to you. Using a melon-baller-size scoop, they add just a little bit more, the Ziggy. You can have one extra bite of your favorite, vanilla on top of vanilla for those who like to keep it simple, or you can satisfy your taste for that runner-up flavor that didn’t get picked this time as the main attraction —Mint Chocolate Chip on top of Elephant Tracks (peanut butter cups in chocolate ice cream), for example. Hypothetically, of course.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Buffini & Company webinar regarding referral based lead generation.  If you're not familiar with Buffini, they are the nation's largest coaching organization founded on the referral based lead generation strategies of Brian Buffini.  Their strongest niche is real estate professionals and here's an interesting statistic: Buffini-coached realtors earn, on average, 7 times more than non-Buffini realtors.  Wow.

A revealing question to ask an entrepreneur is, “What is one behavior in your life that regularly sabotages you as a business owner?”

The answers are varied. Some individuals can’t say “no” to any request, some have to keep their fingers in every detail even though it bogs things down, and some procrastinate on making decisions. Each sabotaging behavior is rooted in a corresponding fear: people won’t like me if I refuse them, things won’t be done correctly if I don’t control them, and I’m not smart enough to make the right choice.