Tracy B., Fraser C. - TurboCoach[c] a powerful system for achieving breakthrough career success (2005)(en)

Know Your Customers	31

characteristics of your very best customers. Sort all your customers according to how they stack up against the best performers. You should be able to see quickly who your highestvalue customers are. Today, many companies follow this procedure in order to focus more and more of their time and attention on their highest-value customers and on acquiring more customers like them. At the same time, they spend less and less time on their lower-value customers. In many cases, they encourage their lower-value customers to do business with other companies.

The story of a successful entrepreneur we know illustrates this concept. He recently applied this sorting process to his customer base. He determined that a small segment (20 percent) of his customers contributed a very large share (80 percent) of his sales volume and an equally large share (80 percent) of his profits. His response to this was to ‘‘fire’’ the 80 percent of his lower-value customers that contributed 20 percent or less of his revenues. He identified other companies in his industry that he felt could service them better and handed off those customers, one by one. He was then free to concentrate all his attention and energy on his higher-value customers. Within one year, his business and his personal income doubled. Would this strategy work for you?

Application Exercise

1.Who are your most important internal customers?

2.What are the special requirements of your internal customers?

32

TurboCoach

3.Who are your most valuable external customers?

4.Who could be your external customers?

5.Who should be your external customers?

6.Which external customers are you going to ‘‘fire’’— that is, which should you stop doing business with?

7.What actions do you commit to take immediately as a result of insights gained in this chapter?

‘‘The shoe that fits one person pinches another.’’

CARL GUSTAV JUNG

CHAPTER 5

Identify Your Areas

of Excellence

‘‘I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.’’

WALTER CRONKITE

Can you identify your areas of excellence? YES NO

If you know your areas of excellence, do you know how to develop them to achieve the greatest possible results in your career or busi-

ness? YES NO

.............................................................

This chapter examines how you can isolate and identify your areas of excellence, those key result areas where extraordinary achievement can bring about extraordinary results. The Application Exercise at the end of the chapter will help you to spotlight those areas of your work that tap your highest levels of excellence, joy, and

energy.

......................................................

33

This page intentionally left blank

YOU HAVE SPECIAL GIFTS AND ABILITIES; if you develop them properly, you can use them to achieve all your goals in life. If you are committed to mastering the circumstances of your life, to realizing your dreams, to creating a thriving career or business and leading a fulfilling and creative life, you must uncover these special gifts and abilities and dedicate yourself to developing and sharpening them. Five markers will tell you when you are headed in the right direction on this journey of self-discovery. When you are actively pursuing an area that engages any of your special gifts or abilities, you will find that:

1.You excel at the activity. Your performance is not merely good; it is outstanding.

36

TurboCoach

2.You experience real joy in the activity. You find it more than pleasant or interesting; you revel in the experience.

3.You are stimulated, engaged, and you feel energized. You may have been frazzled and exhausted moments before, but you come to life when you are involved in this activity.

4.Your energy is contagious. Those around you are likewise energized.

5.You are motivated to continuously improve these unique gifts and abilities. You set your own performance benchmarks for these skills, and they are at the highest level. Your motivation is internal, fueled by your realization that these talents, developed properly, will lead you to realize your most treasured goals and dreams.

If we are lucky, we have known someone who has achieved this happy balance of self-discovery and self-discipline. If we have worked with such a person, we are fortunate indeed, because we have had the chance to observe firsthand someone who holds the key to living a truly fulfilling life. Study and follow the example of this person.

You will be truly successful only to the degree to which you recognize and cultivate your special gifts and abilities. Only then will you balance external achievements with a sense of inner satisfaction.

Identify Your Areas of Excellence	37

Application Exercise

1.In what areas are you not merely good but excellent?

2.Which of your business activities bring you the most joy?

3.Which of your business activities most energize you?

4.In what activities are you engaged when you notice people around you becoming energized?

5.In what areas of your business do you find yourself most eager to learn and grow?

6.What are the core competencies you will need in order to be in the top 10 percent of your field three to five years from now?

7.What actions do you commit to take immediately as a result of insights gained in this chapter?

‘‘Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except the best.’’

HENRY VAN DYKE

This page intentionally left blank

CHAPTER 6

Remove Your Critical

Constraints

‘‘Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.’’

EDWARD R. MURROW

Have you identified the critical constraints to achieving your major career and business goals? YES NO

Have you determined strategies to overcome these critical constraints?

YES NO

.............................................................

This chapter examines how you can determine the elements in your life, both personal and professional, internal and external, that hold you back from being the person you want to be and achieving the goals you want to achieve. The Application Exercise at the end of this chapter invites you to explore your major career or business goals, the critical constraints to achieving career or business suc-

cess, and strategies for overcoming these constraints.

....................................................

39

This page intentionally left blank