Mistakes we should all avoid
Author: Lorne Peasland

Where do you start a list like that? We all make mistakes. It's part of being human. I couldn't count mine.

But to be really effective in our work, we should be aware of some basic causes of mistakes, and do what we can to develop the habit of viewing the responsibility of making decisions as a way of creating or avoiding mistakes.

At it's most basic level, being an independent small business person means working alone at the task of getting people to follow you. You're your own boss and probably don't have a mentor traveling around with you, or available at a moment's notice. Not that they're not out there, it's just that entrepreneurship sponsorship in Canada hasn't evolved that far, yet. But that's another story.

You're in the business of getting people to follow you, like it or not. Like it or not, that means you're a leader, and there are some things that leaders - whether home-based or otherwise - have to know before they can convince people to follow them, or become their customers.

First off, you don't want people to obey you, you want them to follow you. That's not semantics - it's attitude. By wanting them to follow you, you add a little humility to the process.

People will only do what they want to do, so if you want them to follow you - do business with you - you have to get them to agree with your desire to lead them. Most people want to be led, in one way or another. Therein lies the task - identifying that prospective customer's need to be led, and satisfying it.

What words or actions can you express that will cause potential customers to want you to lead them? It's deceptively simple, really. First, understand that people do what their logic and emotions tell them to do, not necessarily what someone else tells them to do, so look to uncover their emotional bonds to the products or services you're selling and empathize genuinely with their opinions and beliefs. That doesn't mean lying to them or agreeing with everything they say. It means understanding it. Only by understanding the foundations of a person's opinions and beliefs can we begin to formulate a strategy for turning those opinions and beliefs to your advantage. And don't argue with them, either. That will only guarantee you a lost sale, 99% of the time (I actually had a client who loved to argue and rewarded my ability to argue with more and more business, but he was certainly the exception!).

Second, allow the other person to provide the motivation. No leader, however skilled, can motivate others - you can only cause followers to motivate themselves. Accomplished leaders feed needs.

If you want to lead anything - from your household to your own business, from a local charity to something in the greater sphere of human endeavor, avoid these four common mistakes:

*Refusing to accept personal responsibility and accountability. Mistakes happen. Don't blame them on others, even if it was out of their control, and don't fall victim to the "poor me" syndrome. If someone lets you down, get over it.

*Concentrating on the problem, rather than the objective. In other words, seeing the fence, as opposed to the grass on the other side. Keep yourself and your customers and employees focused on the goal of a good relationship.

*Trying to control results, rather than influence thinking. Get people to focus on the thinking that produces feelings, and how those feelings produce activities that get results.

*Overestimating where everyone is, on the playing field. People can only run so fast. Make sure you're not asking them to outperform themselves, or live up to unrealistic expectations.

Home-based business people have to think about these things, all the time - in no less a role than as their own coach. That's not an easy thing to do. In fact, it's near impossible, as you race around every day performing every little function, as well as the major ones, involved in running your business. But if you're going to be successful, in life as well as business, you have to know where you stand on the leadership scale - where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

Take time each day, at some quiet time and when you can be undisturbed for just fifteen minutes, and think about the four common mistakes of would-be leaders, outlined above. Think about how you can make sure they don't happen to you when you have to make a decision on how to motivate someone, or lead them to their chequebook. You'll find that after a few weeks, it becomes second nature to think about your approach to sales as a leadership issue, and the results will surprise you. It's good practice.








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The Publisher of HomeBizNews, Lorne Peasland, is a former advertising agency owner and national media consultant, the founder and past-president of the Canadian Home & Micro Business Federation, and author of "Influencing Public Opinion - A Communications Primer For Political Candidates, Community Activists, and Special Interest Group Spokespeople" (ISBN 0-9697364-0-1). He is a home-based marketing consultant, writer and speaker, and can be contacted through either of his web pages at http://www.accept.ca/homebiznews/lorne.html or http://www.accept.ca/homebiznews/pms2.html, via e-mail at lorne@pacificcoast.net., or by phone at 250-708-0250.

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