Dear {FirstName},

We hope you've been enjoying your Monday Morning Motivator. If you've received this issue for the first time - welcome aboard! It only takes a couple of minutes to start your week off right with the MMM! Be encouraged by the success or great ideas of others in your business community.

What Is Your Blind Spot?

Answer: If you knew, it wouldn't be a blind spot.

As we are on the eve of a new year that will present many challenges and changes, the following message by Roy Williams is extremely relevant.

There are 7 common blind spots with 4 common causes.

The most common blind spots have to do with…

1. customer profiling.
What traits do your customers have in common other than the fact they all buy from you? Are you seeing your customers as they really are, or are you seeing them as you wish them to be? False profiling leads to expensive mistakes.

2. reputation.
Consider the people who don’t buy from you. Are they buying elsewhere because they haven’t heard about your company, or is it because they have? I’ve never met a business owner willing to believe their company had a bad reputation.

3. relevance.
Most “unique selling propositions” are irrelevant to the customer. Are your ads answering questions no one was asking?

4. location.
Yesterday’s right location is tomorrow’s wrong one. Has the future arrived and left you behind in a weird part of town? Or did you fall into the happy trap of cheap rent only to find yourself invisible?

5. staff.
How consistently is your staff delivering the experience you’ve crafted for your customer? The fact that your staff is perky and happy doesn’t always mean they’re doing their jobs. Have you been confusing attitude with performance? Are you one of those big-hearted bosses who will excuse incompetence as long as the employee seems loyal and sincere?

6. price credibility.
Do you know the prices of your competitors in your product or service category? Or do your customers know more than you? If you say to me, “I don’t worry about what the competition is doing, I just worry about what we’re doing,” I swear I’ll slap you.

7. media myths.
Are you anxious to find a more effective media? If so, you’ve got really bad ads. I’ve never seen a company fail because they were using the wrong media or reaching the wrong people. But I’ve seen thousands fail because they were saying the wrong things. A powerful message will produce results in any media.

The most common causes of blind spots are…

1. entitlement.
Do you believe your business deserves to grow each year simply because it’s had another birthday?

2. preference and denial.
Do you mistakenly believe that other peope think like you do? Are you so focused on your goals that you can’t see reality? Have you attended one-too-many positive thinking seminars? If so, you’re on dangerous ground, amigo. “Well, that can’t be true because, well, it just can’t.” Is this really your answer?

3. misinformation.
Do you usually believe what you’re told? A dinner companion says to you, “The food here is terrible. I’m never coming back.” But when the smiling manager arrives at the table and asks, “How was everything?” your companion replies, “It was great.” Are the people around you telling you what you want to hear? Are you part of a group of business friends who telephone each other for false reassurance?

4. risk aversion.
Did you work hard to “build up your business” and now you’re taking it easy a little, enjoying the fruits of your labor? Congratulations. That warm glow you’re feeling means you’re about to be toast. If you’re not acutely aware of your competitive environment, you’re coasting, losing momentum and in danger of being overtaken. You became a self-made man or woman because you took big chances when you had little to lose, right? But now that life is good, you abandoned this aggressive behavior and expect good things to happen because “you earned it.” Remember the tired old elephant whose butt you kicked to get where you are today? The new elephant is you.

Am I your enemy or your friend?

This was a dangerous memo for me to write because folks tend to be sensitive about their weaknesses. So if at any time you felt belittled, insulted or offended while reading this memo, there’s a pretty good chance we found your blind spot.

Have a great week unless you choose otherwise.

Drago

PS - "THIS IS F******IN AWSOME! My whole team, the COO and the animators are impressed and excited." "You Guys ROCK!" To see the video that created this reaction click Go2Productions turn up the speakers and enjoy !

PPS - Are You Winning The Service Game? This month our partners at The Extraordinary Leader Program bring us a "Master of Masters" in the realm of Service Excellence! She's Theo Gilbert-Jamison, author, speaker, and consultant on world-class customer service excellence and profitability.

Take a look at her bio Theo Gilbert-Jamison and review her website www.psbydesign.com then sign up for this opportunity to hear a World Class Speaker compliments of the Extraordinary Leader & The Adam Advertising Group.

Please email support@thecoachingdept.com to register for this EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 1 pm PST (4 pm EST)

If you have missed a MMM you can catch up in our MMM Archive Section  

Success Profile

This week we would like to recognize Awni and Sherri Abu-Ulba and their amazing team at Spa Utopia.

Spa Utopia is an award-winning Spa & Salon; with many stylists who have accumulated provincial, national and international awards and recognition. Awni & Sherri have truly created a world class facility as their name would suggest. They invite you to any of their three locations to experience "The Utopia Difference" or you can go online to purchase your loved one the coveted "Red Envelope Gift Card" it's always a welcomed gift! To find out more visit SpaUtopia.ca

The Adam Advertising Group is proud to play a small role in the on-going success of many of the companies featured in the MMM.

Can The Adam Advertising Group help your business, or do you have a success story we should hear about? Contact Drago Adam at drago@AdamAdGroup.com or call 1 866 923 - 6477

PS : We wanted to say Thank You for sharing your Monday Mornings with us, and also for the positive feedback we receive weekly. The MMM started three years ago with 35 subscribers, today's issue is going out to over
15,303 Weekly Subscribers.