Do you like your customers?
Listen to Coach Steve talks about
“Serving Authentically”
Who are you serving in your business? Take a minute and reflect on the cross section of the customers and clients that exchange their money for your value. Do you like them? I know this is a funny question, but really, do you like doing business with the people that you do business with? If you can’t answer a solid and quick yes to that question then it’s because you are not clear who YOU are in business. You have unconsciously, like many of us, allowed yourself to serve whoever comes in the door. And whoever comes in the door does not necessarily align with what you know deep down is why you got into business in the first place. It’s likely that you’ve not yet made, or made recently, what I call an Authenticity Calibration in your business.
To authenticate your business you must first decide who and how you want to be represented in the
marketplace. You do this by asking some pretty introspective questions of yourself. Consider these:
- Why am I in business in the first place? Is it for money, or for a bigger purpose?
- When I conceptualized my business, who did I imagine serving and in what way and for how long?
- What is my ideal role in the business? Am I more suited in sales or product development or administration or service delivery? And if I’m more suited in one of those areas am I trying to hard to be the master CEO that runs all these things as though I’m an expert in each.
- How long do I intend to do this and how am I going to get out of it when I want to?
- Is there more in life I intend to live then what I’m living now as a business owner or leader?
- Is my personality being reflected through my business as I intend?
- Do my employees and my business image properly represent me – my values and my principles in the marketplace?
So just keep going with these types of questions. Introspectively, honestly and in a penetrating way examine whether your principles, your integrity, desire, passion, values, intention, ethic – these things are truly connecting and reflect with what you do in your business, who your business serves and who you hire and what personality your business projects as a result.
The bottom line rests in the following challenge: Make an impeccable connection between what you value and how your business expresses that. This can’t be contrived and it can’t be faked. These things reflect YOU.
Now, are you comfortable with that? Does that connection seem right? Is it accurate? When you can answer “yes” to this description of alignment you have adequately connected who you are, with who you serve, and you have become more authentic in serving your marketplace.
When you make this calibration you’ll find a fresh, new energy for getting things done. Suddenly you find ways to attract the customers that you enjoy serving and sending those you don’t to other solutions. You find, build and keep employees and partners that compliment you and reflect your values. Your image in the marketplace becomes less cloudy and more understandable. Marketing messages resonate, sales efforts produce more results and with more profitable clients, people are buying and buying without challenge to your price.
Challenge yourself to examine honestly whether you are authentic in your business and whether your business authentically represents you and your persona. Be authentic.
