Courtesy of David Lim and reported by Agence France Presse:

July 3, 2009
Think positive? Think again
WASHINGTON - REPEATING positive statements such as ‘I am a lovable person’
or ‘I will succeed’ makes some people feel worse about themselves instead of
raising their self-esteem, a study showed on Thursday.

‘From at least as far back as Norman Vincent Peale’s (1952) ‘The Power of
Positive Thinking,’ the media have advocated saying favourable things to
oneself,’ said the study by Canadian psychologists, which was published in
‘Psychological Science.’

It cites a popular self-help magazine that advises its readers to: ‘Try
chanting: I’m powerful, I’m strong, and nothing in this world can stop me,’
but says the practice doesn’t work for everyone.

Positive self-statements make people who are already down on themselves feel
worse rather than better, found the study conducted by psychologists Joanne
Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the
University of New Brunswick.

For the study, the psychologists asked people with low self-esteem and
people with high self-esteem to repeat the phrase: ‘I am a lovable person,’
and then measured participants’ moods and feelings about themselves.

What they found is that individuals who started out with low self-esteem
felt worse after repeating the positive self-statement.

‘I think that what happens is that when a low self-esteem person repeats
positive thoughts, they probably have contradictory thoughts,’ Ms Wood told
AFP.

‘So, if they’re saying ‘I’m a lovable person,’ they might be thinking,
‘Well, I’m not always lovable’ or ‘I’m not lovable in this way,’ and these
contradictory thoughts may overwhelm the positive thoughts,’ she said.

Although positive thinking does appear to be effective when it’s part of a
broader programme of therapy, on its own it tends to have the reverse effect
of what it is supposed to do, said Ms Wood, urging self-help books,
magazines and TV shows to stop sending a message that just chanting a
positive mantra will raise self-esteem.

‘It’s frustrating to people when they try it and it doesn’t work for them,’
Ms Wood told AFP. — AFP

Everyone seems to talk about another lesson in futility in wandering through their days. Let’s look at what smart consultants (and any professional services provider) can pragmatically do to effectively and efficiently attract clients and customers.

I learn these things from merely walking around and observing. This is easy for an introvert, I have no need to start conversations with anyone.

1. People like to be heard, to finish a sentence, and to express themselves. Keep quiet. Let the other person talk. I’ve been led to the wrong places in the same store three times because the clerk merely hears a word (”music”) and takes me to the wrong place, all the while babbling on. (This is especially tough for speakers, who feel they need to speak even when not actually being paid to do so.)

2. Discriminate amongst those complaints, requests, and whinings which are legitimate and illegitimate. Nor every gravamen is valid or worth action. I’ll replace a damaged book even if it’s the postal service’s fault, but I’m not moving a workshop location because someone has a tough plane connection. Don’t allow yourself to be a ping pong ball. Be the referee.

3. Responsiveness is the heart and soul of service and building relationships. My observation is that virtually no one expects to actually reach the person they are calling these days. However, your willingness and ability to respond to phone and email messages within a reasonably short time will win you admiration and set the tone for what clients can come to expect from you.

4. Never take things personally. An unhappy client, a complaint, a clear setback—none is a personal reflection on you or your value as a human being. Separate your efficacy from you self-worth. Just because something isn’t done well or doesn’t meet expectations doesn’t mean you are a failure or didn’t put forth your best effort. (Women are worse at this than men, in my experience. Please send your letters to the complaint department, where they will be carefully read.) Distinguish between your intent and your result. The latter sometimes isn’t what we hope for, but so long as the former is correct and legitimate, you can always try again.

5. Be seen and be present. The best of brands constantly maintain a public image, and the worst of brands are at least trying to do so. Don’t shy away from a fight or debate in a good cause. I responded to a reporter’s inquiry yesterday about measuring training by telling her it was seldom measured, and then the wrong way, because there is a vested interest NOT to measure it. This is beyond stochastic. The result was that she was on the phone within 30 minutes interviewing me. Take your place among thought leaders in your field, or think of something else.

6. Be accessible. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal recently about Mercedes dealerships that close at 5 pm in California, so that business people can’t get there after work. Funny, I thought car sales were down. There are banks and pharmacies here open almost 24 hours a day. That’s how you build loyalty. Do people know how to find you? Are you still using generic domains like yahoo and AOL (”amateurs on line”), or do you have your own domain? If I type your name into search engines will I find you? Do you personally respond to comments on your blog and elsewhere? Is your contact information obvious on your web site, and do you have a physical address in your signature file (or should I somehow shove the book you wanted into the computer)?

7. Act with speed. Don’t be distrait when not appropriate. My auto people respond immediately. My cable people do not. The bank has short lines and very polite tellers who enjoy their work. The post office does not. Guess who gets the benefit of the doubt with me any time something goes haywire? Fedex does what it says it will. The phone company is another matter. Are you highly responsive and accurate? Are you gaining people’s trust?

The silliest event I ever attended was an IMC (Institute of Management Consultants) chapter meeting in Princeton, NJ about 10 years or so ago. (I had a red Ferrari, that’s how I measure time. And I’m not unhappy with the IMC—I’m keynoting their annual conference in Reno later this year.) But at this meeting, where about 50 people had turned out to hear me (presumably), the president asked EVERY person to introduce themselves and explain their business.

So they took well over an hour basically telling lies to other people who were not their customers in any way, shape, or form. What would have been better would have been their best 10 seconds on how they improve the client’s condition. (And still better, simply introducing me.) My wife, a sharp analyst of human nature, was outraged at the wasted time and inanity (we had driven five hours to be there). “These people,” she said, “can’t possibly be successful if this is what they think is important.”

Amen to that. Start to engage in an exercise in utility. See what you can do to think of the client, welcome the client, and develop the client. That’s the road to thriving.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

The Dow has risen 838+ for the second quarter of 2009, up 11%, the best quarter since 2003.

Click Here for entire series table of contents

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

Here is a sample of areas in the economy currently hiring at a healthy rate:

Retail
Health Care
Professional Business Services
Financial
Insurance
Hotel and Hospitality
Food Services

There are tens of thousands of organizations and firms in those areas which can constitute your prospects. What are you doing to attract them to you?

You never know when your times comes. We are not here to stick our toes in the water, we are here to make waves. Listen to Alan’s fascinating story and his own close encounter.

 

 Standard Podcast [5:19m]: Play Now | Download

and now also on iTunes

Click Here for entire podcast series table of contents

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

I have a space for two people in a four-person Shameless Promotion Workshop, which will be my third one:
http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/shameless_promotion.php

Send me an email (alan@summitconsulting.com) if you’re interested, or just sign up at that address. The two-days will be scheduled at mutual convenience. The fee includes lodging, gourmet meals and wine, and local transportation.

From today’s New York Times, “Despite Recession, High Demand for Skilled Labor,” by Louis Uchitelle, an excerpt:

Some jobs need qualified help:

“Welder is one, employers report. Critical care nurse is another. Electrical lineman is yet another, particularly those skilled in stringing high-voltage wires across the landscape. Special education teachers are in demand. So are geotechnical engineers, trained in geology as well as engineering, a combination sought for oil field work. Respiratory therapists, who help the ill breathe, are not easily found, at least not by the Permanente Medical Group, which employs more than 30,000 health professionals. And with infrastructure spending now on the rise, civil engineers are in demand to supervise the work.”

As consultants, you have to find the demand. There are segments doing well. As an experienced consultant, you can make that “perfect weld” that most can’t. Find the business and make it your prospect.

Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader, and Alan at their book signing in the Campbell Apartments at Grand Central Station in New York, for “The Power of Strategic Commitment: Achieving Extraordinary Results Through TOTAL Alignment and Engagement”

This is an article I published recently in Rob Nixon’s “Proactive,” June 2009, in Australia (info@RobNixon.com).

The Case for Value Based Fees
In the “Stubborn” Professions

Alan Weiss

Value-based fees are becoming increasingly popular with consultants, since I pioneered the movement in the early 90s with the publication of Million Dollar Consulting, now in its fourth edition, and reinforced with Value Based Fees a few years ago, now in its second edition.
A “value-based fee” is a fee that is based on your contribution to the results the client achieves. Specifically, when asked about the basis for fees, I reply, “My fee is based on my contribution to the value you’ve stipulated you’ll be receiving, providing an excellent ROI for you and equitable compensation for me.”
That’s how partners treat each other.

Why doesn’t everyone see the light?

If you leave $50,000 “on the table” each year because you’ve failed to charge that equitable compensation, in ten years you’re a half-million dollars poorer, and that is revenue you will never, ever recapture. If that number is $100,000, then you’re a million dollars poorer.
Moreover, billing based on hours, days, or any time unit is inherently unethical because it is in conflict with the client: The client is best served when issues are resolved and improved quickly, but the service provider is best served when the time involved is lengthy. Solving a problem or improving a condition in a half-day is extraordinarily valuable for the client, but impoverishes the service provider who is billing by the time unit.
Time-based billing is based on the inherently ridiculous notion that one’s time is valuable. Consequently, an attorney diligently tracks every six minutes (which, in turn, takes another minute!) as if that time looking up an address or reading a letter is as important as the time convincing a jury or achieving a settlement.
In the US in the past year, the average attorney was earning less than $100,000. That’s after four years of undergraduate school, three years of law school, and the appropriate start-up, and with a ton of debt. (The average general practice physician was earning $125,000, and the average surgeon—non specialist—was earning about $200,000. These are not extraordinary salaries by current standards. I earn seven figures as an independent consultant working out of my home 20 hours a week.)
Why is it that all service providers don’t move toward more lucrative and equitable fee standards?

Origins and self-worth

One problem is that the origins of accounting firms (and many consultancies grow out of accounting operations) are based on hourly charges. Partners have fought their way up through that structure, and are not about to change it once they are in the corner office or sharing in major bonuses.
But what stops smaller, boutique shops or even solo practitioners? I’ve observed that it’s usually a function of poor self-worth. When you don’t consider yourself a peer of the buyer and you don’t establish a relationship of equals, then you tend to rely on less personal representations of worth: methodology, hours, materials, reports. The problem is that everyone does that, so it makes you a commodity subject to tremendous price pressure.
After all, if you’re going to audit my books, and so is she, then why shouldn’t I simply find the cheapest hourly rate? When things are reduced to a commodity, we lose sight that all service providers aren’t equal. Take the attorneys: Some charge much more by the hour because they have better reputations, win more cases, went to better schools, have more support. Yet they simply raise the hourly rate rather than charge based on results. (With the exception of contingency fees, where attorneys try to circumvent the limited hourly billing by taking a “piece of the legal action.”)
Accountancies and accountants bring varying value and can differentiate themselves from the competition IF they take the time to establish peer-level relationships AND charge based on their differentiated value, not the same hour that everyone else is using.

What to do?

Take a tough look at your practice. Understand the potential value you uniquely possess, and then help the client or prospect to understand the value of meeting the objectives the two of you will work to achieve. Treat every new client this way, and try to transition every existing high-potential client, by providing more perceived value (e.g., proactive intervention, unlimited access, etc.).
You’ll find that you’re able to provide dramatic results, with less labor intensity, with no “meter running,” and with far greater profitability. And you’ll no longer be in potential ethical conflicts with your own clients.
Believe me, that’s worth more than an hour of your time.

Alan Weiss, PhD has visited Australia 14 times among his 57 countries, and has the strongest independent consulting brand in the world. He has authored 32 books appearing in 9 languages. You can find his work on http://www.contrarianconsulting.com or http://www.summitconsulting.com, and you can follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BentleyGTCSpeed.