Where’s The Value?

I went to my first ever dawn service for Anzac day in Australia. I love the Anzac spirit and how it grows each year. While my boys struggled getting up at 4.50am, they got into the spirit of things when they put on their Anzac badges. It’s great as a young country to honour and respect those who served to protect our country and the freedom we experience each day. The enormous essence of courage, gratitude, love and respect I felt this morning stirred my heart to make a difference and deeply reminded me how lucky we are to be living in this great country.

I am currently spending much of my time researching new and established experts in the new economy. I’ve discovered in the past it was easy to build a business with a story. But these days, people demand more depth and distinction. People want to find congruent leaders out there and demand value before they invest their hard earned dollars in any more opportunities. People want to connect with like-minded progressive entrepreneurs who understand them and want to learn and grow. That’s why I love the mastermind environment.

As Jan discovered at the Adelaide Mastermind recently, it was an insightful and impactful experience. I found her testimonial very moving and have included part of it here for you because I think it represents the collective voice of the group:

“Mastermind is self-less. There is no agenda, personal or otherwise. So much so, that I and the other entrepreneurs felt so comfortable being able to share small confidences within the group. Mastermind has given us the tools that now unquestioningly drive our business in the direction we wanted.
Chen?s vision and generous personality drove that. He astonished us with a multitude of ideas – coming up with something new and different for each of the varying businesses. No one felt left out. Mastermind is quite clearly a unifying and empowering group.
Chen Tay is a driving force. He is a visionary and an indisputable leader in business prosperity. We are enormously grateful for his invaluable assistance.”

Jan Richards-Galliford
Director & Principal Photographer
Atticus Jack Photography

I’ve always tried to provide the best value to people regardless of what environment I’m in. You see, I love to learn and love to help others and have built a whole business around it. The mastermind was filled with people from Facebook. Social media has changed the rules of the game. As I have discovered from my Stepup Mastermind Group meetings, people demand greater transparency and truth. Truth cuts to the core and ignores all the ego that serves to protect you. Because it’s not about you, it’s about getting back to the core fundamental of service. In the new economy, it’s all about service. In fact, I read an article from http://www.facebook.com/l/7473e;Fastcompany.com that spoke about how ‘customer service’ was the new marketing.”

Too many empires grow too fast and people forget the core business they are in. As Peter Drucker famously asked, “What business are you in?” In the past, I was told the only business was the “marketing” business but as you grow your business, you’ll discover that “sales and marketing” is only one component of your business. While you cannot ignore sales and should be selling at every opportunity, the new economy demands you present value before you are given an opportunity to sell. Your relationship with your customers will not only grow your business, but it will impact your influence and credibility in the marketplace, especially with social media.

Recently, Dan Kennedy gave me great distinction I want to share with you. He discussed how many entrepreneurs were solely focused on acquiring new customers for new cashflow. However, the reality was that your current customers provided the cashflow to fund the acquisition of new customers. So while it’s important to decide how much you are willing to spend to “buy” a customer, don’t forget to look after your existing customers and add extra value to your existing customer relationships.

I had a client ask me last week that if seminar promoters were finding it difficult to fill bums on seats, then how can you be different? While on the surface, this question may seem like it only applies to one industry, the lesson affects many industries. You see, the current problems facing the seminar industry is that no one is innovating the game or providing outstanding value. There is no BIG event, only a string of consistent and predictable events which breeds a culture of familiarity.

Value comes from delivering what you say you are going to do and following up with your customers to ensure they are completely happy with the experience with you. In some cases, it’s also great to send them a follow up gift to remind them of their experience and add extra depth to the customer’s experience. You will not always get your value proposition right as not everyone will be your customer, but when you define your value and communicate it, you’ll be amazed at how the “right” people get attracted to your message.
The Mastermind experience reminds me how the principle of value allows you to connect or reconnect with your best clients.

The next series of Masterminds will be in Gold Coast and Sydney. There are some pre-release spots opening this week and CWC members will get priority. Please indicate you are a CWC member if you register.

Here’s the link:

http://www.facebook.com/l/7473e;www.chenurl.com/o0

Remember, nothing is missing…value is everything so prioritize it.

P.S I have received incredible feedback from the Adelaide Mastermind group and have been fielding enquiries about further events. As these events are spaced out, some people have asked if it was possible to consult with me one on one. I have decided to free up some of my schedule and add this extra service for Conversation with Chen members at reduced rates to ensure you get the clarity and momentum you need. Look out for your mid-week edition if you are interested. Enjoy your week.