Discussion at this month’s TEN gathering focused on a topic familiar to many business owners, especially to those whose businesses have experienced significant growth in a short period of time: the identity crisis.

Here’s the situation: if your company has grown quickly through the addition of multiple products or services, and each one targets a distinct audience, should you:

Create multiple brands for each product and service?

or

Operate with one brand that encompasses all aspects of your business?

With a brand for each product or service, you might be able to speak more directly to each of your target audiences, but with one all-encompassing brand, you have the opportunity to carry more weight in the marketplace and take advantage of cross-promotional opportunities.

Realistically, the arguments for and against each option varies greatly depending on your product mix, audience segments, and current and desired position in the market place. But two important points emerged from the TEN discussion:

1. An identity crisis—not knowing who you are as a company—is typically a symptom of not knowing how you are perceived by your clients and target audience(s).
2. An identity crisis is also a symptom of not clearly knowing where you want to be in the future.

Business owners that find themselves in the midst of an identity crisis should pause, and take a step back to re-evaluate their business. Take a brief time-out to reset the bricks and mortar so that your business has the support to continue growing in a way that is both manageable and profitable.

During this pause, inform yourself:

• Find out what your audience thinks of you, how they find you, and what they really need from you. (You might be surprised to find that you’re over-valuing your current brand.)
• Think about your goals as a company; where do you want to be in five years, ten years? (Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.)

Once you’ve established a plan for where you want to take your business, and armed yourself with accurate knowledge about how your business is perceived in the marketplace, you will be able to make an informed decision about which direction to take your brand(s).

I recently shared my ideas on the concept of confidence accumulation and its importance to cultivating referrals to some of my peers at a TEN luncheon.

We know that referrals are one of the most powerful drivers of business development (marketing giant Nike says that the vast majority of its business is from referrals). We also know that the science behind promoting good referrals involves creating a good experience, and to create a good experience you need to manage your touch points—not all your touch points though, only those that are important to your target market.

But how exactly do positive experiences at relevant touch points translate into referrals? Why is it that 100 good touch points can be ruined by 1 mediocre one?

One way to think about referrals is through the concept of accumulation.

In order for potential clients to decide to do business with you, to actually reach into their pockets and pull out their wallets, they need to feel confident that what they’re going to receive in exchange for their money is of equal value. There needs to be a certain level of confidence on their part, in your product or service. What’s more, that level of required confidence varies depending on the product or service. Common commodities like toothpaste or shampoo have a lower threshold of confidence that must be reached than, say, consulting services or a more significant product like a car or home.

For someone to refer your company, an accumulation of confidence also needs to occur—and perhaps even more so, because a referral reflects back on the person who gave it.

Here’s the connection: each touch point either adds to or detracts from that confidence.

This is why managing each touch point is so crucial, and also why some touch points should be weighted heavier than others. (How do you know which touch points to focus on? Survey your customers.)

For instance, a web-savvy consumer checks out a company’s website (one of his highly valued touch points) before going to the store to purchase something. If the website is terrible, he may not even go into the store because the amount of confidence lost in his interaction with this crucial touch point could be too much to recover.

On the other hand, another consumer might place more value in the appearance and manner of the company’s staff, and not care at all about the website.

The point is, think of your company’s touch points, think about the ones that matter most to your target, and then figure out how to make them confidence builders, not confidence detractors. It’s also important to make sure there aren’t any inconsistencies between your touch points, because inconsistency is one of the most detrimental factors to the accumulation of confidence.

People always think that good customer service is enough to generate referrals. But what does that mean exactly? Responsiveness? Expertise? Look and feel? In fact, someone’s willingness to refer your business is based on an accumulation of confidence over multiple touch points.

Sometimes our best ideas grow from a spontaneous conversation with a friend or colleague. Little nuggets of wisdom often emerge from something as innocuous as a morning chat over a cappuccino (my rationale for frequent coffee shop visits). Grand ideas are often conjured in the middle of a golf game (and forgotten when the beer cart comes around for the third time).

Unfortunately, Time never graces most of us with the opportunity to pursue those great thoughts, and so they get lost in the land of abandoned ideas.

To me, this is a tragedy because some of my greatest ideas have sprung from those times that I took a step outside the day-to-day chaos to think about things from a different perspective. (The idea for Incite came to Ted and me in a theoretical discussion about business during a hike around a lake.)

What’s more, there’s something to be said about the excitement of a great discussion. There’s an energy that flows when colleagues share ideas and have the freedom to discuss them openly—it’s truly an inspiring experience.

Lately, I’ve noticed that some of the moments I value the most are those time-outs for high-level thinking, those moments that I experienced the excitement of fellow (great) minds sharing ideas. I value those moments because each time I feel like I come out equipped with the power to navigate the world of business.

Out of a desire to set more time aside to think and share ideas with colleagues, out of a desire to experience that excitement as people discuss strategies to navigate the scene, a group of leaders in the Edmonton marketing industry recently got together to form TEN.

TEN is a group of marketing industry professionals who will meet ten times annually, and each of the ten members will present on a topic of choice to generate discussion and ideas. The goal is that TEN will be used as a strategic tool to stay ahead of the curve on marketing trends and ideas. By formally setting aside time, members will give themselves the chance to connect with other industry leaders as they navigate business issues and opportunities.

TEN recently had its first idea-sharing session, and it was a great success. One of our goals is to create a series of short blogs or articles about an idea that comes out of the group’s discussions, so that fewer ideas are lost in the shuffle of day-to-day business.

Groups like TEN are a great opportunity for people within or across industries to take time out to connect and have a look at business from a different perspective. It’s something most of us would like to do more often, and setting up a formal group for regular gatherings is the perfect way to make sure that happens.

My buddy Mike likes to go to the Canadian Finals Rodeo to check out the horses. I think it’s a testosterone thing personally. (There’s nothing like a powerful, grunting, crap-where-he-wants-to, cowboy-eating stallion to bring out the man in a man; it makes us feel tough.) I’ve tagged along from time to time to meet the horses and I’ll tell you what (add in John Wayne accent here for effect), I’ve never met a horse that didn’t tell me he was the best.

During the chuckwagon races, I like to go down to the stables and talk to the horses before I make my big bet (Mike and I are high rollers—loser pays for beer). Walking down the long line of thoroughbreds, I see similar colours and sizes and hear similar grunting tones. And, it’s always the same story, “Hey man, bet on me—I promise I’ll get you to the finish line. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve won a lot of races. Check this saddle out—this thing is lighter than a feather and feels like velvet! All my jockeys love me—look at the testimonials! I won’t let you down—let’s do this thing. Sign here. Let’s make fools out of these other asses!”

It often reminds me of a typical sales ad: “Choose us! We’re the best. We’ve been around forever. We’ll get you to the finish line.” It also reminds me of the recent cold caller who somehow got past our almost impenetrable gatekeeping system, “Tell you what, sign up for a week. I won’t let you down. We guarantee the best service in our industry—let’s do this!”

Do you want to know what my first reaction is every time I’m confronted with a horse? It’s probably the same as yours and every other buyer we’ve interviewed over the past decade—pure SKEPTICISM.

We don’t trust the horse.

But here’s the kicker, we ARE the horse. Every time we pick up the phone and cold-call a prospect, send a cold prospect some direct mail, or place an advertisement that explains why we’re the best, we’re the horse. Every time we make a statement to a prospect that attempts to differentiate ourselves from our competitors (e.g., we provide great service!)—we’re the horse.

Based on our extensive research, it’s worse today than it ever has been. There’s just too many Herb Tarlics out there screwing it up for the rest of us. As global competition for buyer mindshare increases, the future looks even bleaker.

This trend doesn’t bode well for direct marketers, traditional advertisers, and cold callers. So, what should we do? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Don’t act like a horse. Don’t handle objections, don’t talk about your “value proposition,” and don’t slam your competitors. Interrupt the pattern. Successful sales people and advertisers have found ways to change the game without sounding like the horse.
2. Leverage the jockey. The jockey. That’s who we turn to in order to REALLY determine which horse to bet on. It’s a fact that 90% of successful companies in Western Canada (B2B and B2C) claim referrals are their best source of new business. We TRUST the jockey.
3. Sell your knowledge, not your proposition. “Listen, just like every other horse here, I’m a horse. Do you have any questions about horses or race tracks or horse shoes? Anything that would be helpful to know more about?”

New strategies are required in this skeptical age, an age that is fraught with horses competing for your buyer’s mindshare.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization Edmonton (EO) celebrated entrepreneurship last month with keynote speaker Cameron Herald—former COO and co-founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I’m always skeptical about whether or not I’ll get value from speakers in a seminar format, but I’ve developed this habit where I try to take one thing from every speaker I listen to and, so far, I’ve had good success. To my delight, I got a whole pile of “things” from Herald.

Herald’s talk wasn’t about how to build an empire (it certainly could have been). Instead, he focused his discussion around a rollercoaster analogy. The idea is that every entrepreneurial-minded individual is “on the track” and, like it or not, there will be significant highs and lows and the journey will be tough. Herald shared some strategies around how to get through the highs (what he called uninformed optimism) and the lows. It was simple—and profound. I identified with every stage.

After his talk, I had an opportunity to chat with him. I asked him about success, and he immediately pointed to the strategies he used to build relationships.

Cameron: “We had over 5,000 (yup, 3 zeros!) media hits in the first 5 years of our company’s life.”

Me: “What was the secret?”

Cameron: “Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t really due to our successes, it was more about how we built relationships.”

Me: “Tell me more.”

Cameron: “I’ve always bypassed the reporters and gone straight to the writers, the camera operators, and the field staff. I’m still friends with a writer who I called up once. We ended up meeting and sharing a Manhattan—I gave him some perspective, and helped him with our story angle—the guy was thrilled to be talking to the source! Ever since, he’s become a huge ambassador for us. It’s pretty simple, treat people with respect and find a way to help them out—and big things come your way.”

Cameron: “We had an employee once who was struggling with his work so I asked him what his dreams were. He indicated that he had always wanted to sit in the box with the Vancouver Canucks during a hockey game. Turns out the writer I mentioned had some connections so I called in a favour and next thing I knew, my employee was at the game in the box with the coaching staff and players of the Canucks! The players liked him and took him out for beers afterwards…he doesn’t work for me anymore but, to this day, he’d break down walls for me.”

“How can I help?” versus “What can I get?” Five thousand media articles (and a globally recognized business) later and Cameron Herald’s riding the wave.

Over the course of my year in Nanjing, China, I learned about the word guanxi, which means "relationships." People seemed to think very highly of this somewhat puzzling word. The phrase, "he has good guanxi," would inevitably receive significant admiration displayed through a great deal of head nodding and grunts of approval. Despite my initial puzzlement about the meaning of the word, I would be profoundly influenced by the real culture of guanxi in China.

It happened while eating dinner with a famous business leader in Nanjing. During the course of an eight-hour twelve course meal together, and despite great communication difficulties, the two of us became friends for life. I have yet to meet an individual who was as genuinely and unconditionally interested in me, my country, my thoughts, my family, my business, and my beliefs.

This experience taught me a great deal about guanxi and the Ancient Chinese Art of Relationships. By the end of my trip, I realized that my accomplishments in China would not have been achieved without the wonderful relationships that I had developed. Here’s what I learnt through guanxi:

1. Slow down. Be patient. Great relationships take time.
2. Be polite. Say thank you. Show respect. Tell people how much you appreciate their investment in you. Write hand written notes. Learn how to do a proper handshake.
3. Listen. Look people in the eyes. Show genuine interest. Ask tons of questions. Repeat their answers. Limit how much you talk.
4. Don’t judge. Give people a chance. The people you meet will teach you, inspire you and make you grow. Develop relationships with people from all walks of life.
5. Forgive. If people have upset you, deal with the issue for the sake of the relationship. Holding a grudge gets you nowhere.
6. Apologize. If mistakes have been made, don’t be afraid to offer a sincere apology. Admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, not weakness.
7. Stay in touch. Follow up with the relationships you have made. Keep a database of your contacts with a calendar of activities to maintain contact with them.
8. Ask for help. People love to help – show some vulnerability and let people in.
9. Lose your ego. People don’t want to be around people who make them feel small. Learn to talk the same language and use the same expressions as the people you meet with.
10. Have fun. Everyone likes to laugh. Humour is perhaps the most underrated networking technique.

Follow these basic principles and incorporate them into your daily behaviours. As your network of solid relationships expands, so too will your success in business and in life.

For my grandfather, sitting on the deck at his Pigeon Lake cottage was not just a pastime, it was a way of life. There was one particular morning on the deck that truly changed my life. Grandpa was worried about our dog, Laker. Laker had been logging 12- to 14-hour days for the past month hunting a squirrel. She would crane her neck to look into trees hoping to catch a glimpse of her prey. Grandpa was worried that Laker was going to get a permanent neck kink and, as a result, decided that we should shoot the squirrel.

With a pellet gun in one hand and a rum and coke in the other, Grandpa and I spent hours that day pulling the trigger. I think we used over six packets of pellets. After each miss, Grandpa would yell “egad!” or “oh crow!” or “dag nabbit!” Mom spent most of the day trying to ignore us. Then, in a sudden fateful moment, one pellet ricocheted off the flag pole and struck the squirrel with a killing blow! We gasped and hurried over to the squirrel. Looking down on it, Grandpa turned to me, and I noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek.

After the burial ceremony, Grandpa looked me in the eyes and said; “Jared, we Smith men were never good hunters. It’s a lonely sport, just not a fit with our personality. We’re people people. And you know what? If I look back at all the success I have had in business, I can’t really take any of the credit. It’s because of the people I have surrounded myself with. If you want to be incredible, surround yourself with incredible people.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was it — my life-changing moment. In the midst of the emotion and chaos of squirrel hunting, Grandpa had found a way to impart a wisdom that would eventually impact on every aspect of my life.

Look around you: your family, your friends, your staff, and especially your clients. Are they incredible? If not, it could be time to make some changes.

On Monday, October 19th I had the opportunity to sit on a panel for “The Inspiring Education Provincial Forum” along with The Honourable Iris Evans, Minister of Finance and Enterprise, Dave Collyer, President, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Katherine van Kooy, President and CEO, Chamber of Voluntary Organizations. The focus of the discussion was to share perspectives on how to enhance education to prepare Alberta for the future.

The discussion was engaging. One of the themes of our conversation that I was particularly inspired by was the concept that education in Alberta could become the core of Alberta’s identity. Like all organizations, provinces have an identity. Alberta, like it or not, has an identity on an international scale primarily associated with oil production and the oil sands. It’s what we’re known for and it’s what our economy has always relied on. In the face of this, I’ve had recurring conversations with various special interest groups about how important “identify diversification” is to the competitiveness of Alberta’s economy. What we’re known for, locally and internationally will directly impact whether or not we can diversify our economy.

Imagine this. Imagine serious commitments from all sectors (non-profit, government, industry, small business, youth, families etc.) to create an Alberta that has the best education facilities, systems and support in the world. If our school systems, universities, colleges, continuing education programs, and early literacy programs etc. were truly regarded as world class – what would happen? I’d argue that we’d attract the best companies, the best professors, the best educators, and the best people. After all, what do we want as individuals? The answer is consistent across all sectors: growth, learning, opportunity. Lets provide it.

Alberta, like all organizations, needs a rallying cry – a focal point that we can be proud to be associated with…. I vote for education.