Golden Practices Blog

Unanimous: Firms Should Conduct More Client Satisfaction Interviews

A lovely recap appears on Jim Hassett's blog (that's Jim, to the right) of the survey method banter over the past few days/weeks that also turned into something of a survey purpose banter.

He summarizes with a clear point raised by another law firm consultant, Peter Johnson:

"...we all agree on the single most important fact: Law [& accounting] firms should conduct more client satisfaction interviews. This matters more than any disagreements about exactly how to conduct them."

I couldn't agree more. (above emphasis mine)

We all also seem to agree that the primary purpose of the survey is to strengthen the relationship with the customer.

None of us seem to disagree that the surveys fall into the area of marketing probably because we all recognize that current and future business hinges on the strength of each customer relationship.

Well summarized, Mr. Hassett! (And as a fellow genealogist, I appreciate your thorough research on the subject and good citations...)

And special thanks also to Pat Lamb and Dan Hull for their enthusiasm in keeping the conversation alive.

On a *Much* Lighter Note...

Way off the topic of business practices, I came upon this amazing website: The Cloud Appreciation Society

Maybe it's the winter doldrums, but this had me absolutely mesmerized and I find myself in much lighter spirits. Take a few minutes to appreciate these intriguing moments sponsored by Mother Nature and captured forever in photos...

*photo is by Jorn C Olsen - his site is very cool, too.

Benefits of a Skilled Neutral in Customer Interviews

This is a follow-on to my post yesterday about using a neutral party to conduct general customer satisfaction interviews. I feel strongly that it is less productive (not wrong or bad, just less useful to the firm) for members of the firm, particularly partners/owners, to lead or even attend these sessions. I'll explain.

Candor was a key reason I pointed to, yesterday. Even if the relationship partner isn't there, the customer may feel that telling another partner (especially a senior partner) about an issue will somehow hurt their service partner or come back to haunt them.

But there is more to it than that.

I pretty regularly speak with firms' happiest clients, interviewing them for testimonials and case studies. Almost every single interview -- and these are under the BEST of circumstances, they have agreed to say nice things about the firm -- includes at least one or two, "so, this is off the record, right?" intros to a situation that developed.

The customer wants to know that this won't get back to the firm, or to a certain partner, and I absolutely keep that trust. However, as a pretty skilled diplomat -- when I care to exhibit that trait (disclaimer for those who know me most when I'm not holding back!) -- I will usually find a way to encourage the customer to raise the issue him- or herself with the firm and underscoring the value of getting it on the table.

That example is not in a service interview so maybe you're wondering where I'm going with this pertaining to satisfaction surveys. Well, two places, actually.

1) A neutral interviewer will hear more blunt reports about service because the customer doesn't have to slow down to be sensitive about feelings, or even to organize their feelings, before expressing his or her top of mind thoughts.

2) A skilled interviewer will be able to better manage the interview to stay on track, keep the customer comfortable (by never becoming defensive or reactive), and can be especially constructive by encouraging the client to broach the firm with what would otherwise have been unspoken concerns. Often times, just getting the words off ones chest helps a person realize a problem wasn't as big as s/he thought.

Further, a skilled interviewer is like a good journalist. He or she knows how to ask the really amazing questions, in just the right way, to get the good info behind the initial statement.

My lawyer readers are probably thinking..hey, we are skilled in cross-examination, we know how to ask the really good questions. Okay. But when someone is talking about your own business/company, it's near impossible to ask clarifying questions with absolutely no bias. Not to mention, the last perception you'd want to create is to seem like you are grilling a customer! :-)

Okay, so, moving along...

There was a great post/article today called "How Marketing Research Can Benefit a Small Business" on Small Business Trends' blog by guest columnist Joy Levin. The article talks about gathering customer opinions as part of good market research. Here is what the post says about it:

... There are various forms of qualitative studies, including focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and newer techniques called ethnography. What sets these apart from the user conferences mentioned above, are several factors:

• They are typically led by an objective moderator, so participants often will provide more honest and less biased feedback.

• A trained professional can also handle different types of respondents, from those who tend to be very vocal to those who are less likely to speak.

• They are in a controlled setting, and the moderator has a pre-defined script so that the most important issues at hand are addressed.

• A variety of techniques can be used, in order to get at the thinking behind customer discussions and behavior.

This is a really good article in general, but I thought it nicely substantiated the rationale behind involving a neutral as well as the importance of using someone skilled in these sorts of interviews.

There is still good discussion going on about this on Dan Hull's blog and Pat Lamb's blog. Pat says that he has "always believed that the senior members of firm leadership should do the surveys since their presence underscores the importance of the process." and, to that, I think that it is a good sentiment that can be accomplished equally by the senior leaders being the ones to call, on behalf of the firm, to request the customer's important feedback through the neutral person.

What do you think? Please, chime in!

Satisfaction Survey or Marketing Pitch? Pick One.

I just caught up with Dan Hull's post on What About Clients? about Polling the Real Jury. The subject is conducting personal interviews to gauge service and there is discussion on a few blogs about it. I've sounded off with a comment to Dan's post.

This is a slightly tidied up version:

I respectfully disagree with the point about having someone from the firm present when conducting a personal satisfaction survey. Send in a neutral third party if you want the truth. Period. (I'm not saying that to get people to hire me to do it, either. Quite frankly, it is not my favorite thing to do.)

I've done in-person surveys many times -- sometimes with a non-service team partner and more often without. When the managing partner or a senior partner is involved, the client will not spill as much. I guarantee it. If you want candor, leave all the partners out of the meeting.

Also, if there is any reason to suspect even a hint of a service issue, for goodness sake, don't be in there conducting a general service survey in the first place. Get the managing partner in there to specifically ask about and discuss the problem with resolution front of mind. The MP is the person to handle an issue especially if a seems to be a communication or relationship problem with some or all of the current service team.

Lastly, I absolutely oppose the approach Jim Hassett endorses of asking at the end of the survey about who else might need your services.  Please!  Asking that question completely undermines the purpose of your meeting. When the marketing starts (WIIFTF: What's In It For The Firm), it is quite clear that you're not just there out of sincere interest in the customer's feelings, you're also there to make more money.

Never, ever, mix caring for the customer with something so self-serving. Think this builds trust?

It'd be like feigning interest in my husband's day before asking if he minds my going away with the girls for the weekend. It's not sincere. It's manipulative.

Think clients can't see through that? Think again.

There is a time and a place to ask your client directly for a referral and it is NOT during a satisfaction survey.

Reserve a referral request for when your customer provides you with an unsolicited compliment on your job well done!

Passion, Professional Fulfullment, and David Maister

David Maister greatly impressed me when he keynoted at Association of Accounting Administrators' conference last June. I had seen David speak at least four times prior (always great information) but this last time, I noticed something had changed.

His June message included much emphasis on pursuit of fulfillment for the practitioner: professional fulfillment resulting in personal fulfillment. He's consistently been a "quality of life" proponent and a "do the right thing" person, but there was definitely a more spirit-related angle to his teachings.

I don't believe that it's because "touchy-feely" is his new personal cause. Rather, I believe David is trying to tap into, and inspire in people, the root source of major positive change in firms.

Even in my own practice (significantly dwarfed by the number of firms David has seen!) I can attest to the fact that the practitioners who actually evolve toward having/running the "better firm" (that most claim they want) are those who want it to such an extent that they make it personal.

Without that level of devotion and determination--passion--in the leader or leaders of a firm, "better" simply won't happen.  Achieving better becomes the ultimate professional fulfillment when it has become personal.

David Maister just launched his new blog (added to my blogroll immediately) and he described his blog's name: Passion, People & Principles.

The title of my blog derives from a comment made by Tom Peters who observed in his blog that ”...(it’s) interesting how all these gurus—e.g. Stan Davis, Gary Hamel, David Maister—come to put People & Passion first as they age. Hmmm…”

I believe Peters' observation is meaningful. These "gurus" seem to all agree that people and steadfast passion (...devotion, determination, commitment...) are required to affect the sort of change necessary for typical organizations to become amazing ones.

Welcome to blogging, David. It's good to see you here.

Need Quotes for a Presentation?

Garr Reynolds compiled a list of several resources to find quotes for presentations. Reynolds is the author of Presentation Zen, a blog you should follow if you create presentations with any frequency.

He also offers a few tips on how to (and not to) use quotes.

A couple tips I'll add:

• Don't feel like you must precede every section with a quote -- it's okay, and can have more impact, if you just do it once or twice.
• Relevance is key. People get bored and gloss over on the quote thing if they aren't spot on, and spot on is hard to find.
• Offering a pointed quote at the end of a section or subject can serve to emphasize it, or it's importance, nicely, and can be more effective than placing the quote at the beginning when the reader/audience doesn't have a context (yet) in which to apply the quote.

Inspiration for Rebuilding New Orleans

On Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day, Wynton Marsalis spoke at the formal reopening of Tulane University. This is off-topic for my blog but I thought very worthwhile to share.

I appreciate Ernie Svenson's post today about Marsalis' speech which is truly, as Ernie says, both stirring and thought-provoking. Marsalis artfully combined the subject of generational responsibililities, the work of Dr. King, the rebuilding of New Orleans, and the power of youth.

Check it out.

Pricing on Purpose

The newest book by the incredibly brilliant Ron Baker is now available here from the publisher.

I had the privilege of reading Ron's transcript of Pricing on Purpose and found it to be his best publication, yet. The book is written for the general business world while his previous book, Firm of the Future (FOF), is geared specifically to professional service firms.

Many of the same concepts are in both books. Ron aggregates his findings for pricing in advance and provides the models for doing so through his thorough research enhanced by his own observations and his introduction of the New Business Equation (aka the New Practice Equation in Firm of the Future).

In Firm of the Future, however, he also builds the powerful case for Burying the Billable Hour and Trashing the Timesheet.

In fact, anyone who reads him can no longer effectively debate whether value pricing should replace hourly billing. In FOF, Ron even presents "how" and shows other firms are available as resources, case studies, and examples.

So why hasn't value pricing taken hold in more firms by now?

Here's my take. Warning! Soapbox follows. If you are soapbox adverse, just buy the book(s) and quit reading my post (until after you've read his work!)

For the readers of Ron's books, the greatest challenge isn't embracing the truths he illuminates. The challenge is to care enough about the future of their firm to experience the pains in changing. Like childbirth (sorry, Ron) the joy after the "event" far overshadows the misery in getting there. (If that were untrue, no woman would bear a 2nd child!)

The greatest "pains" in converting (and, likewise, the challenges overcome by the 300+ firms that have already implemented this model) seem to be:

1) gaining enough courage to effectively argue the merit of this change with other partners

2) fear of the unknown and confidence it is the right decision

3) belief that the alternate KPIs and methods are grounded and more effective than timesheets (like there are no lies on those!), and

4) the gumption to deal with change in general

It does take hard work to change.

And why would most partners with only 10-15 years left to practice want to rock the boat? Change the way things are done? Naw. "If we can just hold on to the current system until I retire, then I won't have to deal with it..."

The current way "isn't that bad," they say.

If it's not bad, then why don't more up & coming accountants want to be partners?

Why do good supervisors and managers leave to go into industry at an increasing rate?

The current system is worse than broken. Hourly billing, tracking time and related goals are cancers in firms that, everyday, drive people to exercise behaviors that are in direct opposition to the best interest of the firm, killing profitability and morale, and creating a micromanaging culture that saps creativity and destroys the spirit of the knowledge-workers firms employ. Further, the system encourages anti-customer-service behavior and it is in direct conflict with marketing.

• People hoard hours instead of delegating work and teaching their juniors critical new skills.
• Partners hang on to fee-sensitive, high-maintenance customers that are a drain on firm resources, eating away at profitability.
• People are left with too little time to develop new skills, processes, products and industry knowledge that would result in greater profitability and more customer satisfaction (thus more referrals).
• Compensation based upon chargeable hours further exacerbates the problems by dis-incentivizing even a basic level of investment in the future of the organization.

Just how many firms are happy with their current comp structure, anyway? I can't think of ONE.

As a percentage of total firms, it's true that not many firms have shown they have the vision and resolve to tackle this change--even those that admit it is the right thing to do.

(A good time to note: honestly, I'm not selling anything here...other than a concept...and it's free)

But those who have tackled it know it works. They know it is right. They know they are working fewer hours for fewer clients and making more money. They know they are happier and so are their people. They believe they waited TOO LONG to do this...they should have done it earlier. What does that say?

They're now doing right by their firms by investing in their best people and in good processes. People are happier and motivated to continuously improve the client experience which, almost miraculously to them (but it's no surprise to marketers!) increases referral business exponentially! Yes, marketing becomes EASIER when you eliminate billable hours. And attracting and retaining the best, most talented people is easier, too. This helps resolve the succession problem.

You don't have to believe me. But you should believe the people in the firms who've done this.

Several belong to VeraSage, the think tank founded by Ron Baker and his friend, CPA, Dan Morris. Talk to Dan Morris about his practice, or ask Paul O'Byrne or Peter Byers. Or the numerous others who have changed. Read Ron's book and contact the partners who've made the leap.

Before you dismiss this change as impossible for you, realize that there are people out there who will help you get there. Just for the price of watching you succeed.

Thank you for your time. :-)

<stepping gingerly off of soapbox>

Reinventing Your Firm, Ingredients for Success

To accompany my Business Lies post, the following list by Sam Decker of the Decker Marketing Blog is also quite good for new business ventures.

But even more important than passing this list on to clients is for you to realize that your firm should really study, pursue and achieve these characteristics to enable your firm to break out from the pack.

Specialization is a topic on my mind lately as is Distinction. This list of powerful success ingredients suggests exactly where firms should look to innovate and reinvent themselves. I welcome your comments.

25 Characteristics of The Ideal Startup

1. Defendable and differentiated
2. Competitive cost structure
3. Attractive partnership opportunities
4. Repeat customers
5. Word of mouth opportunity
6. Memorable product and name
7. Potential for PR
8. Attractive to be bought or merged
9. Scaleable staff and systems
10. Scaleable product -- build once, sell many times
11. Uncomplicated
12. Focus
13. Niche market or fragmented industry
14. High velocity and large market / industry
15. High perceived value
16. Product can be accessorized – revenue synergies
17. Healthy cash flow –> margin x velocity
18. Demonstrable felt need, demand – does it hit a primal chord?
19. Business can be measured for improvement
20. Can claim leadership
21. Sales model is scaleable and predictable
22. Product evokes emotion
23. Can make big wins – big customers
24. Limited exposure to legal issues
25. Own relationship with and information about customers

1. Defendable and differentiated
2. Competitive cost structure
3. Attractive partnership opportunities
4. Repeat customers
5. Word of mouth opportunity
6. Memorable product and name
7. Potential for PR
8. Attractive to be bought or merged
9. Scaleable staff and systems
10. Scaleable product -- build once, sell many times
11. Uncomplicated
12. Focus
13. Niche market or fragmented industry
14. High velocity and large market / industry
15. High perceived value
16. Product can be accessorized – revenue synergies
17. Healthy cash flow –> margin x velocity
18. Demonstrable felt need, demand – does it hit a primal chord?
19. Business can be measured for improvement
20. Can claim leadership
21. Sales model is scaleable and predictable
22. Product evokes emotion
23. Can make big wins – big customers
24. Limited exposure to legal issues
25. Own relationship with and information about customers

Business Lies

One of my current favorite blogs (my RSS feeds are getting out of control!) is Let the Good Times Roll by Guy Kawasaki. 

The two posts I'm going to point you to don't directly help the practices of CPAs, lawyers, or financial advisors, but if you are ever exposed to people who are either seeking capital or offering it at some point or another, you may find this of interest.

Check out these back-to-back posts of Guy's:

The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs

and

The Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists

Hire a Marketer and Substitute Your Judgement for Theirs. Not.

Chicago attorney Patrick Lamb says in his blog that he has been enjoying these discussions on branding--a multi-blog thread initiated by Dan Hull of What About Clients and added to by Tom Kane and me.

In his post, Pat expresses an observation about attorneys that also holds true for accountants:

As a profession, we are conservative, change resistant, risk averse and incredibly unimaginative.  Sheep-like in terms of how we follow each other....

Here's one way these characteristics manifest themselves.  Hire a gifted marketing director, and then try to substitute the lawyer's [sub: accountant's] judgment for the marketing director's.  Because we lawyers know so much.

In the past 12 years, I have seen so many truly gifted marketers suppressed, overridden, and ultimately rendered ineffective because of the accountants or lawyers they work for. Ask any marketer or consultant to the professions and they can name at least several.

As a lawyer or accountant (or consultant), equate it to a customer who refuses again and again to heed your advice. Then imagine that same customer coming to you repeatedly to justify the value you bring to the relationship demanding ROI and results. Yet they haven't taken most of your advice.

The frustration you experience in that situation is only a taste of what a marketer you've hired feels because you are their ONLY customer. 

That's why marketers leave firms in a matter of a couple of years. And that's why results aren't half as amazing as they'd be if you'd listen to your marketer and act on a lot more of their advice.

Thanks, Pat, for saying what you said publicly. I know you think very highly of your firm's gifted marketer and, for that, both you and she are very fortunate and you are both much better positioned for success!

How to Collect Info & Track Leads for Follow-Up

Q.

I feel like our firm needs a mechanism to "collect" information about all of our opportunities so that we are certain to do the appropriate follow up. What should we use?

A.

The best way to achieve this is with a customer relationship management (CRM) system because such a system will prompt you (or anyone else) to actually DO the followup item: make the call, send the letter, etc. When you go through the CRM implementation process, your firm would develop the optimal "lists" (specific to you) as to what information you want to collect and how you want to categorize it. (more on this below)

The problem, though, is that a CRM system takes big commitment from--I'd say the majority of--the firm in order to be effective. But then again, so does the effective implementation of a paper or electronic form to capture feedback. The biggest challenge of all is getting people to consistently fill out either paper forms OR enter their communication results into a CRM.

It takes a culture change.

The CRM is infinitely more powerful than a "form" because other people can access/read the info and, when it is used for customer information/interactions too (HIGHLY recommended) it enables you to dramatically escalate customer service through increased internal communication.

Capturing information on customers, I'd argue, is even more important than capturing info about leads. This is the case with one of my client firms who implemented a leading, high-end CRM program (over $120K) because "we can't afford not to" after nearly losing a $100K/yr client due to a communication glitch about what the customer expected and when.

But don't be put off by that price. A CRM, even at a low price-point such as ACT!, Maximizer, or Goldmine, can help you immensely.

Beware, however, because I find that partners and others don't often "get behind" the contact documentation process unless they spend a lot of money on it (where they have lots of skin in the game) and, even then, the key influential people in the firm have to really understand and BELIEVE the value of capturing and USING the information so they can appreciate why they are taking these extra steps. The good news is, the steps become habit pretty quickly for most. Enforcing the need to use the process is important.

The above firm actually dismissed a 40-something partner for reasons that included the fact that he wouldn't enter his activities as required. Failing to do so hampered the firm's ability to capture and meet customer expectations.

The hidden benefit of using a CRM to track activities is that marketing activity/result reports are a snap to generate without having to painfully (manually) extract information from people individually--a process subject to much unintentional omission.

The activity info outlined below *creates* your criteria for report generation and can easily be tailored to tie to your firm's individual, practice group, and/or firm level marketing plans. My experience shows this can save you (the marketing department) weeks of report creation time at the end of your tracking year, plus you can generate interim reports to see progress.

Again, though, the key is getting stuff entered. As they say, garbage in, garbage out. That's why a cultural change is paramount to success. The dozen or so CRM companies can cite hundreds of "failure to implement" stories--though most probably won't bring them up in the sales process!

Below are specific activity types and information we've tracked using both sophisticated systems and "over-the-counter" packages.

More on Distinction by Actions

The other day, I posted on firms needing to distinguish themselves more effectively.

I feel the need to add this...

I'd like to emphasize that the claims of "actions" must be readily apparent in a brochure or website. If they aren't evident just by their nature (e.g. no charge for phone calls, no hourly billing, etc) then they must be substantiated somehow or another (testimonials, case studies, etc).

Let me express: service quality isn't going to be impressive enough as a differentiator. Most firms pay lip service to things like "responsive," "on time," or "proactive" in their brochures or on the web. These are basic expectations, folks. No one can argue that they should be the rule, not the exception! Just as competence is expected by a paying customer, so is good service.

In marketing, nearly every firm now claims the above traits (though few consistently deliver) so while doing these might actually make you different, claiming them doesn't at all differentiate you, rather it throws you right into the pack. And citing these as advantages of working with your firms just shows how low the bar is within the profession, doesn't it?

All this "timely, proactive" stuff just sounds like blah-blah-blah to the customer who has found that firms don't usually do a good job despite their claims. Great. Now we have false advertising. And on stuff that should be a gimme. But I digress.

Real distinction, in my mind, is stuff like:

Value pricing in advance (using fixed price agreements and change orders as necessary)

Specialization in an industry or a narrow area of practice whereby you become highly visible in the circles of your customers

Humanizing your people: some do it through unique bios/bio photos and others do it by featuring "a day in the life" of their people

Service packaging/bundling for instance offering a level of all-inclusive services such as the "concierge model" with no charging for phone calls or other access to you

Not tracking time (trash the timesheet) -- think how much law or accounting students are drawn to these firms!! It is undeniable.

There is a price to pay--an investment--in becoming distinct. Most firms won't DO these things because they aren't easy. And they are non-traditional. They are different. Innovative. Not safe.

But customers and recruits eat them up.

The results are worth the effort.

Innovation's Importance to Sustained Above Average Profits & the Role of Your People

I posted previously "What Innovation *Really* Looks Like" inspired by Seth Godin's innovation curve (at right). My post was picked up on FORTUNE's Business Innovation blog. A week or so later they featured a post from Innovation Creators, a new blog by Rod Boothby, a manager in Ernst & Young's Financial Advisory Services practice. Innovation Creators is an outstanding blog that now graces my Great Blogs list.

My post emphasized two things:

1) the importance of strategizing how you will endure the challenges between departure from the comfortable present and the point at which you can reap the rewards of your innovation: increased profits
2) the importance of listening to your people--they have what you need for innovation yet firms stifle them terribly!

As a blog, Innovation Creator's emphasis is:

Successful innovation is not about the ideas; it’s about the people. If you want innovation, you have to enable your innovation creators.

When most people talk about innovation, they rattle on about how to generate ideas. They use words like brainstorm. Most organizations are filled with people who constantly generate new ideas. The problem isn’t generating the ideas. The problem is three fold:

how to share enough information to generate useful ideas

how to motivate people to share their good ideas

how to make sure that good ideas are heard, fairly examined, and acted upon.

Boothby illustrates that "repeating innovation is critical to sustaining above average long-term profits" (at left) and acknowledges the dips that occur between innovations. I, personally, call these "investment dips."

Boothby says: "To generate innovation, companies need to focus not on the end product, but instead on enabling their innovation creators."

Helping companies proceed, Boothby authored: "Turning Knowledge Workers into Innovation Creators" This excellent paper is available on the Web or you can download his 38-page PDF version.

You owe it to yourself to read this piece.

There's one last thing I can't resist mentioning. In his chapter "The Solution: How to Bake Innovation into Your Organization's DNA" he states:

Few Firms Get the Point of Differentiation.

How hard is your firm working to differentiate itself?

Either in your customer marketplace or talent marketplace, it is very likely that while you are trying so hard to differentiate yourselves, you are all doing it the SAME WAY. It's not helping you to be truly DISTINCTIVE.

Noted in a recent post on the What About Clients? blog by Dan Hull is the following telling comment of a third-year University of Chicago law student (at an event attended by law firms of 5-1500 people) when asked:

"Based on websites, brochures and materials sent to law student recruits, could she differentiate between the many firms with which she was interviewing?"

She paused for a long time before answering. Finally, she responded as nicely as she could. "Frankly, based on the materials, all of you seem to be exactly the same."

My theory? 

Remember, your brochures, websites, etc, are just words. And pictures.

Distinction is about ACTION.

Your words and images in your marketing materials will only be distinct if they demonstrate what you DO DIFFERENTLY from everyone else.

You can't fake differentiation in a brochure or on a Web site through design elements, taglines and word choices.

So, are you actually DOING anything differently from other firms? Saying you're different is not enough. Be honest. Ask yourself...

Are you really distinctive?

If so, tell the story. If not, you might want to start distinguishing yourself from the rest. Either via specialization, employee policies, unique leadership structure, or something even more powerful.

When you are competing for amazing customers and brilliant talent, you've got to prove you're worthy of them.

Saying "No" As Part of Your Strategy for 2006

Happy 2006!

A new beginning. It's either another year to pretty much do the same ol' thing or it's a year to set about making better, more doable goals than ever before.

As someone who participates in or leads innumerable brainstorming sessions (even if I'm by myself!) I'm well aware there is an abundance of great ideas. Some of those great ideas turn out to be not the best ideas because of circumstances--further research shows they won't provide the advantage or result desired.

Most of those great ideas aren't practical to implement. Resources (energy, money, leadership) are limited. And as Grandpa often reminded me, "Anything worth doing is worth doing right."

So what to do this year to make things different? Better? More effective? Say no.

Decker Marketing has a neat post outlining 12 Places to Say No. The 12 are listed below. See Sam Decker's blog for more details and the sources of inspiration (to him) for each.

Strategic Plan for 2006 -- 12 Places to Say No
(*italics are my comments)

1. What strategies, initiatives and activities will you say "no" to?

There is great feeling focus, empowerment, and impact when everyone agrees on paper the activities that will not be done.

2. What measurements will you ignore?

...pay close attention to [those]...related to customer satisfaction and the levers that directly drive growth, margin, operating expense and ROI.

(Ignore those that emphasize destructive behaviors and are LAGGING indicators, such as charge hours and realization--focus on LEADING indicators, KPIs that contribute to growth)

3. What customers will you not target?
Who is your ideal prospect, client or customer? If you haven’t identified them, you should. Then, articulate who you will not target. Finally, make decisions on segments of your customers that deserve "platinum” treatment, and those who don’t.

4. What relationships will you not keep?

People are the key to a company’s success. Therefore, people who aren’t working out are draining effectiveness and risking success...."Life is like 6 sides of a dice. There is no seventh side. You have to choose where, how and with whom you spend those 6 sides…and how much time you spend on each side."

5. What competitors will you not follow?

Most companies should only pay close attention to a couple of competitors. If you try to pay attention to the entire set of competitors in a large industry, you spend too little time focusing on the customer.

6. What will you remove from your web site?

Web sites are magnets for content and pages that build up over time. Eventually, many of these pages get one visit per month. It’s often why large companies do a redesign every 2-3 years…get an outside perspective.

7. What money will you not spend?

Every dollar spent in an organization should be thought of as an investment towards greater operating income -- even petty cash. With this in mind, what things, or even entire budget categories, will you not spend?

8. What meetings will you decline?

...choosing meetings is a conscious decision every executive needs to make. The meetings should be used to make strategic decisions, where multiple functions are involved. Decline or delegate informational meetings.

9. What trips will you not make?

I can't deny the power of 'showing up' in person....great things happen when I show up and interact with customers and colleagues. Nonetheless, trips are very time consuming…consider how you can use technology to replace trips, and only travel when it can make a big impact towards your primary goals.

10. What slides will you not create?

Early in my career, I believed the audience should know as much as possible....the audience probably cared about the information that was on two slides. The “less is more” principle definitely applies to presentations.

11. What will you not say?

[A particular man in high regard]...sticks with a principle of saying nothing that does not move the ‘agenda’ forward or uplift others....By consciously choosing 2 or 3 things not to say this year (or ways to say them), perhaps you can ironically discover what’s ‘missing’ from your leadership effectiveness.

12. What thoughts will you not entertain?

I’ve come to realize that everyone (even great leaders) have thoughts of inadequacy. It seems the great leaders choose to remove those thoughts when they appear. Don’t tolerate negative thoughts about yourself or others. If that doesn’t work, then as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do the act, and the attitude follows.”

So, here's to a year of great success and choosing to say "no" strategically!

1. What strategies, initiatives and activities will you say "no" to?

There is great feeling focus, empowerment, and impact when everyone agrees on paper the activities that will not be done.

2. What measurements will you ignore?

...pay close attention to [those]...related to customer satisfaction and the levers that directly drive growth, margin, operating expense and ROI.

(Ignore those that emphasize destructive behaviors and are LAGGING indicators, such as charge hours and realization--focus on LEADING indicators, KPIs that contribute to growth)

3. What customers will you not target?
Who is your ideal prospect, client or customer? If you haven’t identified them, you should. Then, articulate who you will not target. Finally, make decisions on segments of your customers that deserve "platinum” treatment, and those who don’t.

4. What relationships will you not keep?

People are the key to a company’s success. Therefore, people who aren’t working out are draining effectiveness and risking success...."Life is like 6 sides of a dice. There is no seventh side. You have to choose where, how and with whom you spend those 6 sides…and how much time you spend on each side."

5. What competitors will you not follow?

Most companies should only pay close attention to a couple of competitors. If you try to pay attention to the entire set of competitors in a large industry, you spend too little time focusing on the customer.

6. What will you remove from your web site?

Web sites are magnets for content and pages that build up over time. Eventually, many of these pages get one visit per month. It’s often why large companies do a redesign every 2-3 years…get an outside perspective.

7. What money will you not spend?

Every dollar spent in an organization should be thought of as an investment towards greater operating income -- even petty cash. With this in mind, what things, or even entire budget categories, will you not spend?

8. What meetings will you decline?

...choosing meetings is a conscious decision every executive needs to make. The meetings should be used to make strategic decisions, where multiple functions are involved. Decline or delegate informational meetings.

9. What trips will you not make?

I can't deny the power of 'showing up' in person....great things happen when I show up and interact with customers and colleagues. Nonetheless, trips are very time consuming…consider how you can use technology to replace trips, and only travel when it can make a big impact towards your primary goals.

10. What slides will you not create?

Early in my career, I believed the audience should know as much as possible....the audience probably cared about the information that was on two slides. The “less is more” principle definitely applies to presentations.

11. What will you not say?

[A particular man in high regard]...sticks with a principle of saying nothing that does not move the ‘agenda’ forward or uplift others....By consciously choosing 2 or 3 things not to say this year (or ways to say them), perhaps you can ironically discover what’s ‘missing’ from your leadership effectiveness.

12. What thoughts will you not entertain?

I’ve come to realize that everyone (even great leaders) have thoughts of inadequacy. It seems the great leaders choose to remove those thoughts when they appear. Don’t tolerate negative thoughts about yourself or others. If that doesn’t work, then as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do the act, and the attitude follows.”

So, here's to a year of great success and choosing to say "no" strategically!