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Small Business

Business Culture Series: Do what you say.

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In the world of small business, we’ve all heard this story:

 

“I thought the vendor was going to do X but they only did Y and now I feel like we overpaid.”

“I thought we were clear at the contract phase what our services include, but now we’ve got an unhappy customer.”

“I guess we have different points of view around what ‘as soon as possible’ means. The deadline was missed.”

What we focus on when coming to an agreement about a scope of work are the details. We make sure we’ve asked the proper questions to be sure we are on the same page with our customer. If we walk away from a contract meeting having never realized we were at different places with our understanding, then we’ve set ourselves up to not be successful.

We’re careful with our questions and are sure to follow-through. How many times have you heard about a business who “overpromises and under delivers?” It’s a common phrase, and one with which we do not want our business associated.

We are sure to get clear direction, absolute understanding and then we are able to come through for our customers.

My latest video in this series gives more insight and direction to this simple, but important, task.

Take a look at your list of questions and be sure you’ve got it covered when you leave your next big sales meeting. Reach out if you’ve got any questions.

https://youtu.be/_3uFQmW_7xM

Business Culture Series: Team Members

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At ECT we are a small business with a decent-sized team. Everyone on our team specializes in their own area of expertise and we all are in it for the good of the customer.

What we know on our end is the way you make people feel matters. And if were to call everyone who works at ECT an “employee” that sounds different and feels different than “team members.” We choose to embrace our team as a whole the members on that team as individuals.

We decided long ago we would always refer to each other as team members. Not only does it make people feel better, it affects the purpose of the title. Being a part of a team and working toward a common goal for the customer makes you excited to get up and get to work. You feel less of a “cog in a wheel” and more like an important part of what we’re doing here – and that’s how it should be.

Everyone says the customer comes first, right? But at ECT we consider our team members equal with our customer. If we’re all working to deliver for the customer, well we certainly can’t do it without a full field.

It comes down to respect. Our team members stay a long time because they know they are respected here for what they bring to the table. For more on this subject, watch my recent video:

Business Culture Series: What you Focus on Expands

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Today, I come to you with another great strategy we remind ourselves of everyday at ECT Services.

Working in groups provides its own specific nuances, no matter what your industry your business is in. When you have a team of people, some will see a glass half-full, some will see it half-empty and some may question whether the glass even exists at all. But together, a team needs to work toward the common goal of succeeding for its customers.

What I’ve learned through my experience is that attitude is everything, and that’s essentially what I mean by “what you focus on expands.” Attitude drives behavior and that behavior affects the strategy for accomplishing a task. This is true not just in work but in life, as most business culture-related ideas are.

Basically, no matter if you woke up on the right side of the bed or the wrong side, you can affect how your day will unfold simply by focusing on how you want it to go.

Of course, we all have to be prepared for a Plan B and for things to not go as planned, but if you keep your focus on the big picture, then you’ll be able to let the good parts of the day expand.

Think about it and see if you can start putting this into action. If you can do it, and share with your team, chances are they can do it as well and be successful.

I’d love to know how you’re implementing these business culture ideas into your daily life.

Embracing inclusion as business owners.

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Last night in the NFL history was made with an all-black officiating crew as the Los Angeles Rams played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As I watched the coverage of this story, it dawned on me, as a sports fan, that I’m not sure I ever thought about what that meant. I’ve been watching sports my entire life and I’m not sure I ever watched and thought “why do so many of the referees look like me?” But to many Americans, it has.

Lately I’ve been learning a lot about this subject. Through my involvement in local networking groups such as One Southern Indiana, Leadership Louisville, GLI and the Chamber of St. Matthews, I have had the opportunity to attend seminars and workshops focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Just last week I attended “Moving Forward Together: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” a program by Louisville Business First.

One of the speakers at that event dug into the concept of code-switching, a concept I had heard of but hadn’t really dug into. Code-switching is a way of talking in a different nuance from one group of people to another, and we are all subconsciously guilty of doing it. Even Former President Obama was known to code-switch and it’s talked about in the Former First Lady’s book. It’s not something we do on purpose, but it does seem prevalent from culture to culture.

We need to create an environment where code-switching isn’t required. We shouldn’t expect people to “check themselves at the door.” Let’s all be who we are in our workspace, homelife and schools. As business owners let’s embrace this opportunity and model it for our teams. 2021 can be the year we have a better understanding of all the players on our team.

Our team continues to strive to learn more everyday about how we can be more inclusive, how we can take into account our diverse group of customers and team members.

Let’s all, as business owners, continue learning as we enter 2021. Let’s make it a priority that we not do things the way they’ve always been done as diversity is concerned. Let’s pay attention to what we are learning, continue to read and listen to experts and help move our local and global communities forward, together.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to attend these types of events, and to have a team who is on board with learning and adapting and being open-minded to be sure we are making inclusivity a priority.

I hope you have a safe, Happy Thanksgiving this week.