Paul Avins / Igniting Business Results

Lessons in Culture & Customer services worth a Billion!

I get a lot of e-mails offering videos that give no value, but this is just too POWERFUL not to share with you.

This is from the CEO of Zappos.com a shoe retailer in the US that in less than 10 years went from Start-up to over $1 billion in sales! Yes I did get that number right...

In fact they have just been bought by Amazon. Tony Hsieh (CEO) sold his first company to Microsoft, so do you think he knows what he's talking about?

http://www.undergroundonlineseminar.com/zappos/?16880

Included in this video are:
• The 4 top things he's learnt on the way to a billion in sales - miss these and you're missing a fortune...

• Why you must chase your vision and NOT the money ...

• The three key elements that drive repeat customers and why only 2 matter ...

• The 10 core values that have built a team of over 800 who live them 24/7 ...

• The lesson from a story about pizza that will have you crying with laughter ...

• He even gives you his work e-mail so you can drop him a line!!!

• How to put "fanatical" customer service to work in your business to truly create WOW! (Zappos.com enjoys 75% repeat business from their customers. This translates to lower marketing costs.)

All you have to do is give Yanik Silver, promoter of the event Tony spoke at, your e-mail address and you'll get instant access. Trust me, you'll need about 1 hour to watch this all the way through as he is just so down to earth and open - even sharing his Margin!!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. http://www.undergroundonlineseminar.com/zappos/?16880

Have a Great Week.

Paul

Turn Dead Time into Wealth Time

There is a direct link between the relevant knowledge which you have and which you implement, and the level of your success in the market place.
This has been a guiding principle in my whole business life.
Start today investing in YOU. It's the best investment you'll ever make:
 
* Read Books

* Listen to CDs in your car or on an iPod at the gym

* Watch Educational DVDs

* Attend Seminars

* Get a Coach

Key Point: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!
:)

So did you get off the fence?

Last week I sent you an e-mail and challenged you to make it a "get off the fence" week. To DO something you had been putting off for a while. So.....Did you TAKE ACTION? If you did - well done.  Please tell me all about it on my Blog www.PaulAvinsBlog.com and you may end up as a story in a book I am planning called -----------> Rev It UP! If not NOW is your chance! As they say in Kung Fu Panda, (watched this with JJ at the weekend....several times) . 'The past is behind you, the future in front, all you have is the gift of NOW - That's why it's called the PRESENT. ' Have a great week and let me know what RESULTS you get on my Blog www.PaulAvinsBlog.com Until next week... Take MASSIVE Action ...

Still a great time to make £oney

So.....only read on if you want a proven, powerful technique guaranteed to increase your wealth.

You do? Great!

This tip is so simple yet so powerful - be sure you don't underestimate it !

Step 1 - Set up a daily reminder in your outlook for 15 mins at the same time every day - middle of the day works well.

Step 2 - Name this task - "Wealth Generating Time!" (sales generating for your employees works as well)

Step 3 - Commit to doing one thing every day during this time that will increase your wealth. Here are some examples of things I have done in the past:
:- Rung up and got a refund on a product
:- Get a cheaper quote for insurance etc
:- Looked at potential investment properties on Rightmove / Call an Estate agent
:- Called a client who stopped buying from me in last 90 days and asked 'Why?'
:- Looked into renting out e.g. a room and/or a car park space, etc. 

Step 4 - Take MASSIVE consistent action and do it EVERY day - let me know how you do after 30 days.
 
If you have an activity that you think will deliver cash flow and wealth in just 15 mins a day let me know - it may go into my next book!

Feel free to share you wins with the team.

National Get Off the Fence Week.

OK, as I have been away in Spain all last week celebrating my wife Sue's 40th Birthday, I'll make this brief... What decision have you been sitting on the fence over? If you're anything like me, at times we all need the fence panel removed before we can move forward. Funny thing is most of the time we are concerned about 'making the right decision' when what we need to do is make the decision - then go to work to make the decision right! So.....what fence do you need to get off this week?  Why not ring five prospects and say it's 'National Get off the Fence' week - so what's their decision ? Either way, you'll get to move forward with a new client or find space for another new one to arrive - and have some FUN in the process! Until next week... Take MASSIVE Action

The number 1 business question

One of my Business Coaches (yes, even I need a coach !), asked me a great question - so I thought I would share it with you. . .
Who are the 250 most important relationships to your business? -- and who are the 50 most vital?
This is a very powerful and strategic question -- We've started our list for PA Enterprises Ltd – business advisors, Wealth Club Members, media-contacts, suppliers, partners, strategic alliances, and of course a key list of customers. Asking this question will force you to examine your short and long term strategies, which must be clear if you're to decide the right 250!
An excellent exercise for your next weekly, monthly, or quarterly meeting…..take action and start making your list today.

Keep asking questions of yourself!

Four questions to make you mon.ey

How great was it this weekend to finally be reminded that this IS summer. I hope you got to enjoy some downtime from your business and household chores :) Now we are back to the mediocre weather and business as usual! SO, on to this week's topic...............'Strategic Questions' .... Now hold on before you go to close this e-mail : THESE ARE DIFFERENT! Why? Well....let me show you. Take a few moments from "doing" to think about your answers to these important and powerful questions ... 1. What COULD your objectives be?  For this week, month or quarter? Now list as many of them as you can... 2. What SHOULD your objectives be?  Narrow it down - focus on high pay-off activities... 3. What MUST the objectives be?  Narrow it down - if your life depended on it, what would you definitely get done this week to move your business forward.  Make sure you know WHY this MUST happen for you... 4. What WILL the objective be?  NOW get specific, be clear and KNOW what the first action is you are going to take ... then TAKE IT!!!  Hope you enjoyed these questions and feel free to use them as often as you need to in order keep focused and keep moving forward. Have a great week. Paul

Business Lessons from the race track ...

I couldn't have illustrated the power of people working together better than at a recent Rockingham Race Track day, with my Mastermind Coaching Clients. Mastermind clients enjoy all the benefits of the Wealth Club.* Plus, extra coaching throughout the year culminating in an intense 2 day High Performance Workshop and one day racing fast cars . . . We started at the go-cart track. Some people listened to the instructions and followed them exactly . . . others put their foot down to see how fast they could get round! You need elements of both in business. I wanted everyone to see the difference between how a go-cart start-up business behaves against a high performance well oiled machine. The next activity, a race simulator, was so life like that the intense concentration required at the terminal made this more gruelling than the actual thing! Over lunch we compared what we had learnt. From our executive box we could see panoramic views of Ferraris being put through their paces, the track that had become so familiar to us looked very different from up here! Isn't it great to be able to see the whole picture? On to the pit stop, where our instructor pushed us to perform smarter. At times we hated him and thought we knew better, but he was a great coach, letting us learn for ourselves the strengths of teams pulling together, the more people that spoke up the stronger the team became; and, surprise surprise, communication really is the key to everything! No rest for high performing teams; helmeted again and behind the wheel of rallying cars. In business, as on rally tracks, you take risks. If you are prepared when your business appears to skid from under you, you won't be afraid to bring it back on course. The last event of a full day was 'off road'. Rules learnt on the smooth tracks didn't help on terrain of hills and fords. And, with team members in the back of the land rovers, it's interesting how differently you drive when you are taking others along with you. With wide grins and tired bodies we heard the scores, feeling a sense of personal achievement and belonging to a high performing team. . .. . . The most important lesson we took with us from the day was to take time from our businesses in order to keep learning and reinforcing lessons we already know. We owe that to ourselves. Have a Turbo Charged Week!

"What do you need to let go of in your business?"

Hi,

As we pass the longest day of the year and enter the second half of the year I have a question for you.

If nature is a very powerful force, which I think we can all agree, and The Law of a Vacuum exists and works, which I think we all know is true on some level then…

here’s my question - “What are you holding onto that you should be releasing in your business to create space for things you want to move into?”

You may want to STOP and read that again a few times. It’s a very thought provoking question.

Perhaps your answer is one of the following:

·         A C/D grade client who is sucking the energy out of you

·         A poor supplier who is constantly letting you down

·         A team member who is just not up to the mark

·         A product that is no longer delivering the sales it used to

·         A market that has moved on or has no cash to spend right now

·         A marketing method that used to deliver but now sucks cash out

·         A sales person who can no longer hit his/her targets

Whatever, it is for you to commit to clear it out this week or before the end on June.

Have a great week and enjoy creating positive space in your business.

PS – You can now follow me @ www.Twitter.com/paulavins or connect with me on www.facebook.com/paulavins

How Pants was The Apprentice Last week...?

I watched the UK version of The Apprentice in horror last Wednesday as supposedly the brightest and the best young business brains in Britian came up with an idea so bad for a marketing campaign that my 3 year son old could have done better.

Why did somebody with an IQ above 10 not wake up and think...."Hang on, we are going to have to walk into Sir Alan's boardroom and justify why we called a new product PANTS! I think he may just have an issue with that."

Had all their little grey cells just gone to sleep or were they just that lacking in creativity?

Yes, the Project Manager should have been fired for letting this disaster ever happen, especially as she claimed to have a background in advertising. But my question is 'Why was the body count not higher with the idiot who came up with the idea as well?'

Come on! In the real world there would have been many more people thrown out for such bad judgment. I love the programme, but, if I am honest, the US version with Trump has my vote over the UK version, it's close, but please can we have more reality into this so called reality TV show.

Up the pressure and fire more than one person at a time.