Archives for March 2012

Asking for Permission

March 27, 2012 Personal Development by Kelly Leave a Comment

Today I wanted to share another mindset that we learn as employees that can hold us back as entrepreneurs. From an early age we’re conditioned to ask permission, first of teachers then our employers. It’s common to request approval before using the bathroom, sharpening a pencil, throwing away trash or even going to lunch.

In the workplace built on the factory system it was common and imperative that each worker was in his or her spot on the assembly line – you couldn’t just take a break any time you wanted or the whole factory could suffer. Unfortunately, this model which served Ford well carried over into modern workplaces and can hold us back as entrepreneurs.

Tired of clocking in at 8:00 every morning and filing the same reports each week, we wait for the day when we decide what to do, when to do it and dream about working from Starbucks on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

Eventually you make the leap and now you’re the boss. At first it’s exciting, like the bird whose cage door has been left open and you realize the whole world is waiting! Nothing is holding you back!

But with that freedom comes fear. Despite resentment of the control of middle management we knew that as workers they absolved us responsibility. “I was just following orders” had been a convenient excuse for nearly any mistake. So as an entrepreneur it can be slightly terrifying to be the one ultimately responsible for making the decisions, carrying out tasks and accepting the outcome.

As a result we tend to hide, go back into the cage and play where it’s safe. For years we longed to get out of the tedious routines, to be creative and expressive and then, when given the chance we retreat back into the safety zone.

Even if you’re not consciously asking for permission, your mindset around responsibility can hold you back. Some entrepreneurs obsess over what the successful gurus have done, they crowd source every decision or work with coaches and mentors who handhold and babysit every choice. By needing this constant validation from outside sources this kind of entrepreneur has substituted a single boss for the approval of the community – by some measures a much more demanding source of approval.

It’s a balancing act between personal responsibility and learning from the trailblazers. It takes strength of will to determine the path you will take to reach your goals and flexibility and humility to take advice and course correct when needed. Thankfully, using systems in your business can help with both challenges.

Systems Enabled Freedom

As you explore and try new things, you’ll want to have systems in place to gauge results. Many of the routines despised in an established business were once untested theories. The only way to know if your risks are producing rewards is to measure.

When I work with creative right brain thinkers we often find that the very systems that seemed constrictive and stifling actually encourage freedom. And if you’ve ever suffered from the blank page syndrome where you find it next to impossible to write an email, begin a blog post or introduce a topic of conversation, the systems you create can be a saving grace.

If you’re not already receiving my weekly newsletter with additional tips for busy entrepreneurs be sure to sign up here. And stay tuned for a big announcement to help you implement systems in your business very soon.

Your Customer’s Perspective

March 22, 2012 Customer Service by Kelly Leave a Comment

As an online business owner you may think that your physical presence to the customer is a moot point – after all you could work from the coffee shop in sweats and slippers and no one will notice.

The physical location of your business may be constantly changing but the professional feel and customer service approach should not. I’ll give you an example of a physical business serving clients and then show you how to translate the lessons into an online business.

It’s a Saturday and I’m at T-Mobile, the cell phone service provider I’ve used for close to a decade. Under my account, there are 3 phone lines and we pay an astonishing amount each month for web ready phones, unlimited calls and texting. I use the phone every day in my business and it was time to upgrade.

At the store I was astonished that the sales tax was close to 25% of the product price. Wait, big red flag. Were there fees I didn’t know about or has the State of California passed new tax bills in order to balance the budget? Nope, they simply tax the full price of the phone before giving me discount/other payment options.

By assuming I wouldn’t notice and just swipe my card, the store failed one of the first rule of customer service: explain all charges before they happen.

Now picture me sitting on the floor at the T-mobile store. Does the mental image seem a little… off to you? Well that’s because this location has no customer seating. Not a chair, a stool, a bench in site. They did have a stool behind the counter which they refused to let me use. So in the course of waiting 45 minutes for the staff to configure my new phone and (unsuccessfully) transfer my contacts, I got tired of standing around. Because I was in a car accident 5 years ago and still have a significant back disability, I can’t stand. I could walk but pacing the store length took me about 30 seconds, or I could sit but there was no seating available.

So the picture is my perspective – that of a 9 year customer upgrading to a new phone, plan and 2 year commitment sitting on the floor while she waits. As I waited I spoke to the store manager about why, when Ikea was in the same shopping center, they did not purchase chairs, stools, benches, anything for the customer to use while in the store.

My answer was a shrug and the manager went to the storeroom and didn’t return.

So there you have mistakes 2 & 3: failing to consider the customer when designing the customer experience and ignoring good customers when they bring a complaint or suggestion to your attention.

How can online companies learn from the failures of businesses with a physical presence?

1. Consider your website your physical store – get into the mindset that when customers come to your www they are entering your front door and design with that in mind. Just as no one wants to search the whole store to find one item, ensure your design has an easy to follow flow and is simple to navigate.

2. Explain any and all costs up front – if you have complicated rationale as to why you charge what you charge then it’s time to simplify. People have honed the b.s. meter and it’s especially hard to overcome in an online setting. Explain the charges, offer to speak to the client, make sure they understand before signing. It’s much better to lose a sale because someone won’t accept financial terms than lose 10 clients after someone unhappy complains because they feel cheated.

3. Ask real users what features are helpful – would a navigation bar be useful or a scroll to top button? Just like the stores that put full length mirrors in the changing room and chairs just outside, let your customers tell you what they need. This market research is far more valuable than guessing and hoping for the best.

4. Listen and respect your customers – managers on site need to roam the store, visit tables at the restaurant and speak to the customers on site. In your online business publish your email everywhere and actively solicit feedback with easy to fill out forms, surveys and questionnaires. When you get the feedback, take it seriously. Everyone out there is “too busy” and if they take the time to consider the experience with your business and tell you how to improve: listen. Thank them and be sincere.

And for T-Mobile – who I assured in store would get some follow up on this – here’s how an ideal Saturday at your store happens: After selecting my new phone the agent reviews the financial model, including how much I pay today including tax. I agree and the agent takes both of my phones, noting that she will begin the process of transferring my contacts. “However Kelly,” she mentions, “this could take up to 30 minutes since you have so many contacts. If you’d like to wait I would be glad to show you the top rated screen covers and cases to protect your new phone. Or, feel free to walk over to Ikea for a Swedish meatball, we’ll be done here by 1:30.”

Now, your feelings on meatballs aside, this approach would have given me many more choices and, if provided with any seating, I would have likely stayed in the store (it looked like it would rain any second) and reviewed the accessory options for the phone providing the store with additional income and, more importantly, goodwill.

Your online business may not have a physical location but learn from this instance to ensure your customers get the best experience so they continue to come back again and again.

Balancing Investment and Instant Gratification

March 19, 2012 Personal Development by Kelly 11 Comments

There are many mindsets that serve us well as employees which can be incredibly detrimental to work as an entrepreneur. For instance, as an employee you work today to get paid on Friday. Few would commit the time and energy to work “in case” they get a salary (those people are typically interns).

For entrepreneurs, it can be a difficult shift to investing time in activities today that may not pay off for a year. Mark Suster argues for coffee meetings to begin relationships that may not pay off for a year. Let me tell you my own story that goes back 2 years to a single email.

2 Years, Dozens of Emails and Amazing Opportunities

In fact, grab a refill on your coffee because this is a fun story.

It all started because I hated my day job with a burning hot passion. So when Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich opened the Earn 1K program to teach you to find the skills that sell and begin freelancing two years ago I was all over it. I signed up for the second tier which gave me access to “Master Classes.” And since I was and am a nerd I read a tiny bit ahead.

The first week our master expert was Noah Kagan. I knew nothing of Noah except he appeared to love burritos so off I went to his site OK Dork. After a quick perusal of the site I decided to email him – a decision that would not feasibly earn me any money or benefit and would likely not be read for weeks. Because I was excited to be learning a way out of my terrible job, I emailed Noah anyway.

Here’s the email (link 1 in the chain of events):

Hey Noah,
Thanks so much for doing the live webcast for Earn 1K tonight, I’m really looking forward to it. Your personal blog is hilarious so I have high expectations tonight!
~Kelly Azevedo

By the by, his email was posted on the site so I wasn’t a stalker. Really. Imagine my surprise when Noah responded less than 10 minutes later. And by the end of his Master Class we had exchanged over 20 emails, Noah being incredibly generous with his time and advice which is a kindness I’ve never forgotten. This was, mind you, far before his current venture AppSumo and there was no motive of “be nice to this stranger so she’ll buy my stuff.”

We kept in touch loosely, mostly jokes about burritos, congrats on his new undertaking and the occasional update email.

Fast forward to October of 2011. Noah’s looking for a bookkeeper in Texas so I introduce him via email to a colleague of mine and give a quick update on my business and this site. A few emails later and Noah is connecting me to Andrew Warner to do an interview on Mixergy teaching entrepreneurs how to systematize the chaos out of their business. This would be link 2.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Mixergy team and my interview went live in November. In December, Andrew invited me to the Young Entrepreneur’s Council where I’ve been a member for a few months now (link 3). And through the YEC I’ve been connected to some of the top inspiring entrepreneurs, worked with media partners, joined a mentoring group and been invited to speak on entrepreneurship.

Today I have a wealth of opportunities that I can trace back to that first action: the decision to send a simple email to say ‘thank you’ and, while I could never have imagined this path, if I had only been focused on the immediate gratification of my actions then I would not be here today.

Understanding and Embracing the Paradox

I think many entrepreneurs unconsciously understand this concept, we may see tasks as “establishing trust” or “building an audience” and even in the corporate world there’s a sense that we all must “pay our dues.”

Yes, you must balance the necessity of getting paid today for your work and investing in future relationships. As a culture we tend to see our homes, retirement accounts and occasionally cars or boats as investments, continuing to put in time, effort and money because we believe the returns will make it worthwhile.

As entrepreneurs, our networks, relationships and connections are powerful investments in your future. Here are 3 principles I learned from this experience:

1. Begin with gratitude, not a hand out – if your primary focus is what you’re going to get instead of give then you’ve already lost. Begin by giving, your thanks, your attention and your support.

2. Paths only connect backwards – it’s impossible to tell where a relationship may lead you and it’s only with the perspective and looking back that we may connect the links on the chain.

3. Keep connecting and keep giving – there were times, months even, when I had no direct contact with Noah personally or even on social media. But when he had a request (for the bookkeeper) I made a connection to help him out. Don’t cut people from your network due to space or time, always be open to reconnecting and giving.

Final Thoughts

It can be frustrating, especially when you’re celebrating a big opportunity in the media or a speaking gig and the first question someone asks is “how much does it pay?” It’s okay, from the employee perspective it’s an honest and expected question. Let your response acknowledge that this opportunity is a blank check and the sky is the limit.

You may also be thinking you don’t have a Noah Kagan in your life. The point is not that Noah is awesome (although he is) but that you do have unlimited potential to reach out and connect with people who can support, encourage and connect you in ways you’ve never imagined.

I’m willing to bet that you haven’t looked or haven’t asked. So, what relationship will you invest in today?

Paying For Results

March 16, 2012 Resources by Kelly Leave a Comment

In yesterday’s video, I shared about my revelations about paying for experience when you hire an expert to do work for you. I used the example of using orthodontics as a kid, and how the value wasn’t in the mechanics or the brackets or rubber bands we use to straighten teeth, but the real value was in the experience and expertise that my orthodontist brought to get me the results that I wanted.

You can obviously do a lot of things yourself, between the internet and how-to videos. You can do whatever you set out to do on your own, but the reason we still have experts is because in some ways, we’re paying to guarantee the results that we want.

Of course there’s one essential piece that is easily overlooked.

Check it out:

Next week I’m sharing how our employee mindset can sabotage our work as entrepreneurs – be sure to subscribe to receive the updates or follow me on Twitter or Facebook to see the updates!

Paying for Experience

March 15, 2012 Resources by Kelly Leave a Comment

Today I’m talking about orthodontics. I know it seems crazy, but I remember a time in junior high when my brother, mother, and I all had braces at the same time. My mom got hers taken off first, and she says that when she got them taken off, they gave her all the brackets, and she looked at them and thought, “This isn’t that much! I paid how much for all this work, and this is all I have to show for it?”

She realized that it wasn’t the hardware that she’d paid for; what she had paid for was the expertise and the experience that her orthodontist had.

Tomorrow I’ll have a follow up video on the second half of paying for experience.

Throughout my February trip to New York and Connecticut I put together a series of short posts that did not make it up on the blog. I’d like to share them now before the spring conference schedule really goes full swing!

By Train:

I was thinking about systems and process this morning on the train. En route to the airport, my anxiety was up due to construction delays which caused our arrival into the airport to be later than I’d planned.

While still miles away I estimated I would have 30 minutes to check my luggage, print the boarding pass, get through security, be violated by TSA, put my shoes back on and book it down the terminal to my waiting plane. Plus I really needed a cup of coffee.

So I thought about the process. At security I would have to remove my shoes but, logically, taking them off on the train would only lead to weird stares and cold feet. Even if I loosen the laces I’d most likely not gain any real time advantage, especially if I fell on my face.

I could pull out my coffee cash or emotionally prepare myself for the infamous TSA pat down (so close to Valentine’s Day, should you buy me dinner first?). Here’s the rub, throughout the morning I knew I’d have pockets of time. I’m always behind the person who doesn’t understand they’ll owe the airline money if they want to fly with a 200 pound piece of luggage. I’m typically behind the one person who packed 4 oz of liquid or forgot about their keys or tries to flirt with TSA.

So as much as I plan, I understand there are pockets of time and I trust myself to use them wisely.

No one goes into their first day of work and asks about their upcoming retirement party. There will be time. So, stop worrying about getting to step 7 before step 2 is done. And if you’re on the train, put your shoes back on.

Spoiler alert – I made the flight going from BART train to gate in 29 minutes, a personal record. I did not, however, get my coffee.

By Air:

While I’ve already covered the experience with Jet Blue in this post, I thought I’d share something else that happened on the flight. We were somewhere a few miles over Nebraska and enjoying the DirecTV available to JetBlue customers.

I particularly enjoy television because I do not have cable at home so flying is a chance for me to find new shows and relax in flight. I was hooked on an Animal Planet show called Cat From Hell because, well, I don’t like cats and this guy was the cat whisperer! Of course it’s a little intense to watch felines scratch, claw, bite and attack humans. But we’re safe on the plane, right?

Movement caught my eye when the flight attendant standing in the aisle next to the row in front of me stood up holding a cat.

Turns out a fellow passenger had opened the zipper on the pet carrying case so her fluffy feline could “get more air” and he escaped. After many “who let the cat out of the bag?” jokes I went back to watching Cat from Hell, this time paranoid that another animal would pass by my feet unnoticed.

By Shuttle:

I don’t think it’s any surprise to those who know me that I have a high standard for systems not just in my business but the ones that I work with as a customer. I’ll admit, I can be a tough customer in the way that I insist not being lied to or deceived in order to gain sales.

When we arrived at JFK and called for the shuttle to our airport the trouble began. First was the confusion between the Comfort Inn JFK and Comfort Inn & Suites JFK. Now, it appears someone in the marketing or franchising department is a little soft in the head but if you are managing either location it needs to be a priority to distinguish between locations very clearly. So when the wrong shuttle picked us up and had to return us to the airport I was a bit, well, cranky.

As part of my own travel system I make long resource lists based on the hotels where I will be staying that includes the address, phone numbers, details, pricing and more. So if breakfast is promised until 9:30am or there’s a “24 hour shuttle” I will remember.

Since I’m thorough (some would say obsessive) I also call and verify any cloudy details before booking. Doing this with the Comfort Inn & Suites revealed 2 services that allowed me to comfortably choose this location:

a) 24 hour shuttle service to the airport
b) shuttle service to the mall and local train station

We arrived finally, after the right shuttle was dispatched and the next day set out to visit the city. Having done my research, when we asked for the shuttle to the train station I was frustrated to learn that the hotel will only shuttle to the airport where then “you can then take another shuttle to the train station.”

Let’s look at this from a marketing perspective. With this logic the hotel should also be advertising rides to France, Texas, Hong Kong… because, well, they’ll give you a ride to the airport and from there you can go on to any of those locations.

Slightly disappointing, right? Misleading? Yes. Frustrating? Yes.

Second trouble was the “solution” that the hotel provides, which is their 24 hour shuttle service to the airport to catch the shuttle to the train station which is more accurately described as:

“24 hour shuttle service from the airport and once an hour transport to the airport. Every hour on the half hour for some hours of the day.” Also “it’s not our fault if you are late for your flight.”

When I addressed this with the manager she pointed to the sign at the front desk and insisted it was sufficient.

Here’s the thing, if you are going to have stellar customer service you need to look at things from the customer’s perspective. I was not in the hotel, reading their sign, when I made my decision. I called and spoke to the staff so a sign, no matter how clear, is somewhat lacking in the communication department.

By Foot:

It was cold but not snowing so walking around Manhattan was our primary mode of transportation. Since I’ve walked the city before it wasn’t difficult, my shoes were comfortable and I got in a few miles each day. I did not, however, enjoy the subway because they left me feeling as if I couldn’t read English. I’ll just conclude by saying if someone were to create an app that helps the average, intelligent tourist navigate the subway and public transit in New York City, that person would be a millionaire and my personal hero.

If you’re heading out on a trip soon, check out this post packed with travel tips and resources. Sometimes I look back and realize the only way I kept my sanity was to know exactly what I had to do to reach the gate in 29 minutes!