One of the greatest hockey players of all time is “the Great One” Wayne Gretsky. He was once asked how he got to be such a great player and he replied, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck in going to be.”

That really hit home for me, and probably would for many people. It can be very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of what has to be done now - today - to keep the cash register ringing, that we lose a little focus on ringing the register tomorrow! But is focusing on doing what we need to do today, playing where the puck is, keeping us from being great tomorrow? Hmmmm…

One that can be done with a “right now” mentality is to get out your planner and schedule “tomorrow time” knowing that it is critical to do something right now that will add some cha-ching later. It doesn’t have to be a large amount of time, maybe 15-30 minutes to just focus on the future. Schedule it on a regular basis - at least once a week to get started and more often as you get into the swing of it. Set aside time somewhere without distractions and commit to it as if you were in a meeting or with a client.

When you schedule the time, there are two ways you can invest it. You can have some “hard time” and “soft time” and both are essential to your future focus.

The first is “hard time” - and no, it isn’t a prison sentence. Instead, this is where you will spend time doing something that will directly put something into action that will either bring in new business or keep yourself in front of your existing customers as well as your prospects. There are several things you can do with this kind of time. Let’s take a look at a few:

1. Send out a hand-written note to ten customers that you haven’t heard from in a while - especially if your product or service isn’t one that is regularly used. It doesn’t have to contain sales speak, just something to let them know that you were thinking of them and hope that they and their business are doing well.

2. Pick up the phone and place a call to a couple of those customers instead.

3. Pick a customer or a prospect and take a few minutes to drum up a referral for them. Talk about doing something that keeps you in their mind! You’ll be surprised at how quick and eager they will be to return the favor.

4. Create a newsletter or some other piece of periodic correspondence that you can use that will provide value to them first - and provide value to them second! - and keep you in front of them third so you are the first, and maybe only person they call when they need your product or service.

5. Take a few minutes and surf on-line for a unique website or story that may pertain to a particular client or prospect and forward it to them with a personal note.

6. Get creative with it and have fun with it. When others see the effort today with some creativity and fun behind it, they will be more apt to ring the till tomorrow.

Now let’s take a look at the “soft time.” This is very powerful time spent and I cannot stress enough the importance of doing this. It is time that you will use to provide some focus and direction for the future. This will be time where you will dream. Not by the way of a nap, but through creating and re-creating a vision for your business/sales future. As you are painting this mental picture, keep a journal of your thoughts and ideas that you can develop and reference back to from week to week.

This will be different from setting goals and forecasting. This is more allowing yourself to dream a little and craft some mental inspiration for where you are heading. Dream wild. Dream fun. Dream successful. Dream big.

I want to be clear that I’m not suggesting the dreams of your future need to fit a social definition of big in terms of growth or successful in terms of financial standing. Rather, dream big in terms of where you’d want to be if not getting there wasn’t an option. “Big” is going to be very different for every person. Likewise, successful is going to be very different for everyone as well. It’s your big and your successful - go dream it, go focus on it and go get it!!

In your game of life, be good and live great! Spend a little time in the future and you’ll be able to “play where the puck is going to be!”

Branding (braend-ing) -noun: 1) how you want a consumer to perceive you, your product or your service; 2) the sum total of a company’s value, including products, services, people, advertising, positioning, and culture; 3) the use of logos, symbols, or product design to promote consumer awareness of goods and services.

If you are in business or sales, odds are you know about or have at least heard of “branding.” In short, it is the message that you send to your customers and prospects. I think definition #2 is the most complete, but I like to take it a step further by going beyond the marketing materials, ads and customer service. If you make a promise and over-deliver, you’re building your brand. When you arrive early, you’re building your brand. The intangibles you can provide that your competition doesn’t - or won’t! - builds your brand.

Back to the imaging end of branding, many businesses think that a branding campaign is only for the “big” businesses that can afford flashy ad agencies. This does not have to be the case. Simple steps can be taken that can make the smallest business be perceived as the “major player” that they really are or could be! Even better, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to do it. Heck, it could cost as little as only a finger or two! (Maybe a bad analogy…but you get the point!)

It’s been said that a person’s perception is their reality. Therefore, how a person perceives you or your business is how you will initially be judged by them in their decision to do business with you. Putting your best foot forward with a consistent theme and message - your brand - increases positive perception. Better perception = better sales opportunities.

If asked what the image related items are, that typically are used while doing business, most answers would include: website, brochures, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and signage. These are maybe a few of the more obvious items. But what about items that carry your logo such as clothing, pens, key chains and other give-away items?

Dig deeper. Could we also carry our brand throughout the business documents that we use such as estimates, invoices, receipts and surveys? Sure we could! All it takes is a conscious effort and a commitment to carry your brand throughout all of these things that you are already doing and printing anyway. The goal is for anyone to look at anything you have and be able to identify and connect with you in the look, feel and message it contains.

If you feel your “brand” needs an Extreme Makeover and have someone you work with on the design of these items, get with them to build and implement your consistent theme and message. If you need someone to help you do this, give me a call or drop me an e-mail and let me know. I’d be excited to work with you - and to Help You

Let’s get the white elephant out of the room right up front. Everything we see on the news, read in the papers and hear around the water cooler is how bad the economy is and how everyone is struggling through a recession.

However, that is just not true…at least not for everyone. For every story you hear about XYZ Company that is struggling or going out of business, I can tell you about ABC Inc. that is growing, expanding and prospering. Unfortunately, success stories just aren’t sexy. They don’t sell papers and they don’t boost ratings. But what they do is motivate and give hope to those of us that are choosing not to participate in the…a-hem…recession.

Here’s the twist: For many businesses, the economy isn’t necessarily “bad.” Rather, it’s “different!” Why? Because people and businesses are now doing business differently, and it didn’t just happen overnight. There have been several events over the past 8-10 years that have caused people to change their mindset when it comes to how they do business. The recent economy has just magnified and strengthened this mindset.

Businesses, big and small, are definitely keeping an eye on their bottom line. However, any amount of time keeping their eyes on the books is time they are taking their eyes off their customers which can be very costly. This is where we step in.

What can we do to position ourselves to prosper, and to help our customers prosper in this different economy? We can start by forgetting about what our customers can do for us, and concentrate on what we can do for our customers! They expect different things; they expect more, but not necessarily for less. They will still pay for a product or service that provides value, that improves efficiencies and that increases profits. They want more, so give them more. Give them VALUE! Give them something that someone else isn’t willing to give, that someone else is too lazy to give.

Our customers are no different than we are. If we receive value above and beyond that of any other product or service provider we buy from, we wouldn’t dream of shopping around. Likewise, our customers want to do business with us as long as we don’t give them a reason to leave, or allow someone else to give them a reason! Do not be “out-valued” by your competition. No one knows our customers better than we do - let them know that!

What about prospective customers? Well, they may require a little more work, but essentially they want the same things our existing customers want - value and a reason to do business with us.

So let’s take a look at a few general things we can do to provide value to our customers, solidify their trust and confidence in us and prosper in any economy.

1. Give, in all we do, without expectations - This is just a fundamental practice. Some call it karma, others the Law of Reciprocity. No matter what you call it, it works and it feels good doing it!

2. Provide indirect value - Our products/services have features that provide benefits. Those benefits provide value to our customers through the outcomes they realize or experience. Indirect value is anything else we provide to our customers in addition to our product or service. This could be as simple as delivering a quote rather than e-mailing it our putting a stamp on it.

3. Be a resource - Rather than just be a sales rep for your customer to call when they need to place an order, be proactive and continually look for ways that your product/service can help your customer improve efficiencies, reduce expenses/maintenance, increase profits, etc. Going a step further, who else do you know or what other product/service are you familiar with that could help your customer do the same.

4. Sell for your customer - By this I mean look for opportunities to refer business to your customers. This is the true essence of networking. If they know that you are looking out for them, it will go a long way towards keeping you on as their single-source provider.

5. Be WOW!! - Don’t be good, don’t be exceptional…be memorable and be WOW! Most of your competition is pretty good and many of them may be exceptional. We need to take exceptional to a new level, put on our creative caps and commit to doing things so over the top that our customers go out of their way to tell others about the experiences they have with us. Sometimes it doesn’t take a whole lot; you’d be surprised what little things may WOW your customers that no one else is willing to do. So what is your WOW going to be?

The specific things we do may be unique to the industries we are in, but these general guidelines will help us focus our efforts to sell our products and service differently just as our customers are doing business differently.

With everyone chiseling away at our spirit from all different angles, we have the opportunity to put on our “prosper armor” and choose to succeed. One of my favorite quotes (paraphrased) is that life is only 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond. How will you respond to the “different economy?” Will your reactions keep you in the middle of the pack? Or will your proactions position you to prosper and succeed?