A Common Sense LEAP to Success

 

L for Learning

E for Expertise

A for Action

P for Planning

 

Learning should not be something that ends when we finish school. A scary statistic of note is that the current shelf life of a college education is only 18 months. WOW—that would mean mine expired about 25 years ago! So what are we doing to stay current in this fast changing world?

 

As a customer service speaker and trainer, I often attend educational conferences that will enhance my presentation abilities. Speakers and trainers are a confessed group of habitual learners, yet it still amazes me to see the “superstars” who consistently show up at these conferences. They know that they cannot afford to become obsolete in their industry and more importantly know that they “don’t know it all.”

 

What about you? Have you planned educational opportunities for both you and your staff members? I often see that management attends seminars and training but that the same investment is not made for front-line staffers. Remember that your support staff often is the touch point for your business and that training for this level is critical for success.

 

Expertise is defined by Webster’s simply as “skill”. If you do take advantage of learning opportunities, you must leverage the skills learned by incorporating them into your marketing plan. What differentiates your expertise from your top competitors? Make the market aware of your specific expertise and your sales process will be an easier one. 

 

In the information age, we must refine the information that we pass on to customers and prospects. A potential customer will many times only give you a quick glance. Being able to articulate your expertise and how that will help a client in his or her business is critical to your ability to develop a relationship.

 

Action is where the performance of your expertise becomes critical. A good ‘8′ is better than a perfect ’10.’ What do I mean by this? Action TODAY is better than thinking about the perfect scenario tomorrow. The most successful businesses learn to ACT quickly and therefore beat competitors to the punch. What specific action do you plan to take in what is left of this quarter that is bold and beyond anything you have tried before?

 

Plan to succeed in the remainder of this year. TODAY is the day to take a LEAP to success! Map out your Learning, your Expertise, and your Action in a written Plan and your success will be exponentially multiplied. Look at the processes and systems that are in place in your business to support your success plan. The old saying that doing what we have always done and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. 

 

We all have great visions at the beginning of a new year and then LIFE gets in the way. Perhaps mid-year is a great time to LEAP forward with a rekindled excitement about success strategies for YOUR business. After all, tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of the year! You still have to make the most of it. Good luck? Yes. I wish you that, but I know that luck seldom has a lot to do with it!