Byron Ingraham

Empowering Entrepreneurs To Success

Why the 80/20 Principle Matters!

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80/20 principle | ByronIngraham.com | 80/20 | Pareto PrincipleHave you heard of the 80/20 principle?

If you haven’t heard of the 80/20 Principle, it was originally developed by Italian economist Vilfredo Paredo, that simply states 80% of our results come from 20% of our activity.  When you look at your productivity throughout your day, how much of it is truly productive?  How many meetings are truly necessary? What relationships that you have created are truly beneficial to both your life and business?  When we take a step back we will often be surprised at the results because we assume that all of our efforts lead to the same results, but it is actually the contrary.  Only approximately 20% leads us to our goals.

The 80/20 Principle in Business Relationships

How many times have you been to a networking event that you have made an effort to connect with as many people as possible with very little results?  When I first started networking I did this many times, but soon realized that it was not productive.  Instead I made a point to connect with a much smaller number of people to build quality relationships.  It was at this point things reached a turning point, as the people I began to be introduced to were of higher caliper with stronger relationships with their sphere of influence.  I made it a point to focus on creating quality relationships that lead to creating connections for people that were beneficial for all parties.  When I look back at the ratio, it comes down to around 20% of my network that I’m truly engaged with on a regular basis.  Ask yourself, how big is your network and what percentage are you truly engaged with on a regular basis? Does it mirror the 80/20 principle?

How do I use the 80/20 principle in my business?

In any business you have to take a look and see where the greatest amount of business is coming from.  For instance lets talk about referrals.  If you are an active networker, you will realize that the majority of your referrals will come from certain industries, certain spheres of influence, etc.  It is these groups that you should focus on the most as that is the simplest thing you can do to increase your business without making dramatic changes.  As an example lets use an ice cream store that has only 3 flavors in the beginning, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.  Now supposed after a month of operating they realized that they were selling more chocolate than any other flavor and customers were providing feedback that they wanted more options with chocolate.  The obvious choice would be to offer exactly what they are looking for, more variations of chocolate to increase your sales.  In most businesses by narrowing our focus down to what is generating the most revenue, then asking our clients what they are wanting we can find the simplest ways of increasing our business utilizing the 80/20 principle.  The more you keep the 80/20 principle in mind in business the greater the chances you will have of achieving the success you are looking for.

Why Listening Matters

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Why Listening Matters | ByronIngraham.comWhy Listening Matters

Why Listening Matters is something I often ask myself and I come up with the same conclusion every time.  If you are not listening you are not truly communicating.  I had an interesting experience that brought this thought to mind today while in the local mall.  How many times have you walked through the mall and been approached by a sales person wanting to get you interested in their product or service?  If you are like me it probably has been quite a few times.  But on this occasion it definitely struck me at how some people in sales do not know how to listen, yet alone ask the right question.

On this occasion when walking through the mall, a salesperson says to me I can show you how to save money on your home phone service.  I paused for a moment and told him politely no thank you but I do not use a home phone service.  This encounter illustrates what happens far too often in sales, the making of assumptions of what people might need, instead of asking them if you can help them.  Instead of Listening by asking the right question to initiate the conversation, many salespeople are taught to be overly aggressive and ultimately push away potential clients or customers.  Ask yourself how do you communicate with clients or customers for the first time.  Are you listening or are you telling?

How to start listening

The key to listening if you are meeting someone face to face is body language.  The way a person sits or stands will tell you quite a bit about how they want to be communicated with.  I recommend that you take the time to read up on body language to learn more about how this can help you.  But its important to understand because when you begin verbal communication it will give you insights into how you should proceed with the conversation.  But the important thing is to ask questions that lead to responses that are more than yes or no.  In doing so you are able to begin listening for clues and insights into what matters to the person about a particular topic and can discover what you may be able to potentially offer to help them.

Can Sales happen without Listening?

Of course sales can happen without listening, but ask yourself what the likelihood of the person coming back a second or third time if you were more interested in the sale than building a relationship.  Some of the most successful businesses take the time to listen and build a relationship with their clients and customers.  In today’s business world, nothing is more important than the relationship with clients.  Take a moment and evaluate your listening skills to see how they measure up and what you can do to improve them to ultimately increase your potential business.

Social Media for Prospecting 101

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Social Media for Prospecting | ByronIngraham.comSocial Media For Prospecting 101

So many times people forget that to grow a business you absolutely must prospect for new clients and customers as they will not automatically come banging down your door.  There is a misconception that if you simply put up a sign, people will automatically come to you.  Lets face it, in today’s economy its more important than ever to get back to the basics of prospecting to help each other build their businesses.  One of the simplest ways of growing your business is to start using Social Media for Prospecting.

Can you use Social Media for Prospecting?

You can most definitely use Social Media for Prospecting.  Lets look at what prospecting is.  Prospecting is the art of creating relationships that lead to business transactions.  The only difference between using Social Media for Prospecting and doing it in person is the distance involved between people you are building the relationship with.  With social media no longer do you have the barrier of distance preventing you from connecting with someone.  One significant advantage of using Social Media for Prospecting is the relationship building process.  You have the ability to create lasting relationships with more frequent touch points with the people you are wanting to connect with that ultimately increases the likelihood of making business happen.  After all people do business with those they know like and trust, and Social Media is a great way to make this happen.

So How do you use Social Media for Prospecting?

To use Social Media for Prospecting you have to know who your target audience is, as it does not help to connect with the wrong group of people.  Once you have your target audience identified, you have to engage them with communication that matters, not trying to pitch them on your latest and greatest gadget.  Its more important than ever that you take the time to build the relationship as we are all bombarded by people who want to sell us on their goods and services without any type of a relationship present.  The most important thing is to come from the heart and be genuine in creating a lasting relationship that ultimately leads to business.  Remember when Social Media For Prospecting is used properly, there will always be a never ending supply of new clients and customers for your business.

 

Being Authentic

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Being Authentic | Byroningraham.comBeing Authentic?

What is so important about being authentic?  In today’s fast paced world where everyone is more connected than ever, there is a trend of people not being as authentic as they used to.  If you were to look back in history you would find that there were many times that a handshake was all that was needed to make something happen.  Now that is not the case, as there are more people than ever who are not being authentic to themselves and the community around them.  Ask yourself this, how many people in your life right now can you identify as not being authentic?

Why does Being Authentic Matter?

Being authentic is by far one of the most important things anyone can do in life, as its one of the qualities and traits that no one can ever take from you.  How many people have you met that lost everything in the world, or had the worst string of luck yet they remained authentic to themselves?  I’m sure you have seen your fair share of people who are authentic and those that are far from it.  When you remain authentic to yourself you are able to attract people to you because of honesty and integrity who ultimately will attract more people.

How can I start Being Authentic?

You can simply start being authentic by being yourself and not trying to be someone else.  People who know like and trust you will love you for who you are instead of trying to be something your not.  We are surrounded by people who are trying to constantly trying to impress others by not being true to themselves and it stands out.  Ask yourself who you are at your core, then ask those who are closest to you how they view you.  They will help provide insight into who we are at the core.  Those who are closest to us will not be afraid of telling us why they like us and what makes us special.  Use that information to gain insight into why people want to be around you, then expand upon it on what makes you happy deep inside.  Once you pull back the layers that have been built up on because of society you will discover the being authentic is one of the simplest things in life to do.

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