1 – YOUR BUSINESS TIP
Did you know that today – 14th October – is . . .
World Standards Day AKA International Standards Day
Please tell me that I’m not the only one excited by the fact that we have such a day. When I saw it I went off and did a little digging . . . the idea came about by the increasing globalisation and mixing of cultures and ways of doing things in the world.
As a Brit living in Spain (and having lived in Cyprus before and worked around the Middle East) I know first hand that managing expectations can be challenging when you have different cultures and different standards. Hey it’s different enough even working around the UK!
That got me thinking about how many business owners are often ‘flying by the seat of their pants’ and not even thinking about having standards in their business.
So what happens when that’s the case?
Without standards it’s hard – if not impossible – for people to know what to expect.
- How long do you take before you follow up an email?
- How long to ring someone back?
- If you meet people and say you’ll follow up on your initial meeting – do you have a system (aka a standard) for that or is it left to your memory?
All this can come back to two of my favourite words (when they are put together in a sentence) ‘managing expectations’. That’s managing your expectations of others, and their expectations of you.
Do people live up to your expectations? Do you live up to theirs?
What problems can happen if they’re unclear, or not communicated? Quite a few . . .
Solution:
Of course you know what I’m going to say next . . . it doesn’t have to be like that. The people who created International Standards Day – back in the 1950s! – knew that it would help to set out your standards so that people could know what to expect. You don’t have to go all in but it’s worth thinking about how YOU can make a difference to your life and business with this day in mind.
I especially like the suggestion that you celebrate today by thinking about all the things in your life that are standardised and how much easier it makes them for you. This year the ISO theme talks about “Progress for Planet & People: powered by standards”
What are the things you do regularly that you could start to ‘standardise’.
You can create simple systems so that the actions are carried out consistently, to the right standards. The bonus is that you’ve then got your first step to getting someone else to do it so it’s not down to you every time.
How many times do you think ‘I’ll have to do that because no-one else can do it as well as I can!’…
and how many times is that because you don’t have standards and procedures.
Here’s the real question . . . and how many times do YOU fall below the standards that you’ve set yourself because you did it all from memory and missed something?
Oops.
So what will you standardise next? I wonder if it will be one of the downloads that I share regularly? Will it be working on yourself? Mastering your time (with our Default diary)? Getting Your Goals (with our Stairway to Heaven) or Mastering Your Money (with the Financial Checklist)?
You’ll find all of them in our facebook 90dayplanningfree group (link above) – join and let us know what YOU will look at standardising and let’s see how we can help you.
2 – YOUR MARKETING/LINKEDIN TIP
I have something to show you.
It’s an example of a different way that you can bring value to your audience on LinkedIn.
No teaching, or entertaining, or any of that.
Simply, helping. Here it is:
Do you see how smart this is?
What a simple post, but what a great way to get engagement from the community.
With this type of post, Justin’s content stopped being only “one-way” and it became something that will actually create & deepen relationships for him.
Now, the key is that Justin actually delivered on his promise. I encourage you to take a look at the full post here and read his responses to the comments he received.
So, what’s the takeaway for you?
Think about simple ways that you can actually help your audience by answering a question for them.
Sharing your knowledge in a post is great, but it’s static as well.
By taking the approach that Justin took, you’re making your content more dynamic and bringing value that’s more personalised and tailored to the needs of your audience.
Solution:
One of our most popular downloads over the years has been ‘The 9 Points to a Powerful Personal Profile’. Yet so many have seen it, maybe even downloaded it but maybe not implemented it? Or maybe not revisited it?
Those who have tell us about the extra business they’ve won, and the right kind of enquiries that they are getting since making these really simple changes.
Want a copy? Click here: http://resources.90dayplanning.co.uk/9-Points