Dale Furtwengler - The Invaluable Leader: February 2007

The Invaluable Leader by Dale Furtwengler

Redefining the Target
Monday, February 26, 2007

How do you define your ideal customer?

You may want to consider a values-based approach.

Nine months ago I began identifying my ideal customer by the characteristics they possess instead of the demographics of their business. The result is incredible. Not only am I attracting the right clientele, I'm attracting them at much faster rate.

It's worked so well that I've begun coaching my clients on this approach. They are experiencing the same result. What makes this approach so powerful? The values-based approach offers several advantages:

they know what values are important to their success and their customers' success
they communicate values with more passion and excitement than demographic data afford
it's easy to work with customers who share similar values
people with similar values are more likely to refer others to them
customers pay more to work with people who share their values

Once you've redefined your ideal customer using this values-based approach, incorporate those values in your 30-second elevator speech, your marketing materials and your sales calls.

Using the values-based approach allows you to learn quickly who is and who is not a good customer for your business. It's much easier to walk away from propsects when you know that they don't possess the values you need for a mutually-rewarding relationship.

It's counter-intuitive, but defining your ideal customers in terms of values will help you attract more profitabile and more enjoyable customers.

My goal is to make this blog as useful and relevant as possible for you and your business. If you'd like me to address a specific topic, send me a note at dale@furtwengler.com

Physics and Surveys
Monday, February 19, 2007

How can physicists help us with our surveys?

By acknowledging the influence of the observer

Brian Greene's books, The Elegant Universe and the Fabric of the Cosmos, offer wonderful insights into the world of physics, http://superstringtheory.com/people/bgreene.html.

One of the things that struck me as I read his books is the awareness that physicists have of the influence their observations exert on what they're observing. They understand that what their experiments influence the results they get.

This is true in the business world as well. The surveys we develop for customers, vendors or employees are going to influence the responses we get.

Straight forward questions "Do you like product A?" are like a pass/fail grades; you know whether you made the grade, but not why.

Ranking questions such as "Rank these benefits in terms of importance to you." are influenced by the situational context you establish for that question. If you don't define the situation, you lose much of the interpretive value of the responses. Another potential problem with ranking questions is that respondents are typically passionate about one or two options offered; the others get very similar rankings making it difficult to assess their true importance.

Open-ended questions, "What do you like about our purchase order system? What don't you like about it?", afford more information, but make it difficult to classify results.

When developing surveys, don't overlook the influence your questions are having. Balance your survey results by incorporating all three types of questions - straightforward, ranking and open-ended. This allows you to capture the specific information you desire about your offering, the person's frame of mind at the time of the survey and their demographic information. This approach allows you to gain a broader context in which to evaluate the results.

It's counter-intuitive, but the observer always influences the observed.

If there are topics you'd like to see addressed in The Invaluable Leader, please send your idea in an email to me at dale@furtwengler.com

Measure Twice, Cut Once
Monday, February 12, 2007

This old carpenter's saw applies to business as well.

Two measurements - isolation and integration

As a CPA, I've been asked to prepare analyses on variety of opportunities and challenges faced by my clients. One of the things that I've learned is to measure twice. Why?

Since I have not achieved perfection (nor do I think I ever will) checking my calculations makes sense. More importantly, though, I've found a dual approach to measurement is extremely helpful. The approachs are isolation and integration.

First, I measure the unknown quantity in isolation - holding all other factors constant. This affords the opportunity to identify causal relationships. Once those relationships are identified, I integrate my findings into a more holistic view of the situation measuring the relative impact each factor has on the outcome.

By combining the narrow view of isolation with the more encompassing view of integration, I find a balance to decision making that serves me well. Using a dual approach to measurement may be counter-intuitive, but it has helped me avoid mistakes I would have made using only one measurement.

If there are topics that you'd like me to address, please email me at dale@furtwengler.com.

Are Leaders Born or Made? Part II
Monday, February 05, 2007

Reader reaction

Thank you!

A couple of weeks ago The Invaluable Leader topic "Are Leaders Born or Made?" raised a lot of questions. Readers asked:

How do you define leader?
Aren't you making a case that leaders are made?
Can someone who leads in one situation be called a leader?

These are great questions and, thanks to you, these questions have helped me clarify my thoughts on the subject.

Without fully realizing it, I was making a distinction between situational leadership and general leadership. There are people who can lead in specific situations, but aren't able to extend that capability to other situations. Others, the ones we typically call leaders, are able to apply their leadership skills in any situation.

By defining a person's leadership capabilities as either situational or general we can expand our pool of leadership talent and the number of projects our organizations can handle.

It's counter-intuitive, but general leaders can expand their group's capacity by assigning projects to situational leaders. In the process they free themselves to deal with issues for which no situational leadership exists.

Hopefully the changes we've made in the comments section will make it easier for you to post comments. Simply click "other" or "anonymous" to avoid having to sign in, write your comment then hit "login and publish." If you choose "other" feel free to sign your name or use a pseudonym in the comment box.

The Invaluable Leader readers and I will benefit from your wisdom. Please share your thoughts through the comment section. If you still have trouble posting comments, email me at dale@furtwengler.com. Let me know that you're having a problem and share your thoughts in that email. I'll make sure that our readers see your comment. Thank you for sharing your wisdom!

Dale Furtwengler

Dale Furtwengler is an internationally acclaimed author whose work is recommended by:

University of Glasgow
University of New South Wales
Australian Institute of Management

If you'd like to make your life easier while creating enviable results, subscribe to my special reports for step-by-step instructions on becoming invaluable. Back issues are available.

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	Redefining the Target Monday, February 26, 2007 How do you define your ideal customer? *You may want to consider a values-based approach.* Nine months ago I began identifying my ideal customer by the characteristics they possess instead of the demographics of their business. The result is incredible. Not only am I attracting the right clientele, I'm attracting them at much faster rate. It's worked so well that I've begun coaching my clients on this approach. They are experiencing the same result. What makes this approach so powerful? The values-based approach offers several advantages: they know what values are important to their success and their customers' success they communicate values with more passion and excitement than demographic data afford it's easy to work with customers who share similar values people with similar values are more likely to refer others to them customers pay more to work with people who share their values Once you've redefined your ideal customer using this values-based approach, incorporate those values in your 30-second elevator speech, your marketing materials and your sales calls. Using the values-based approach allows you to learn quickly who is and who is not a good customer for your business. It's much easier to walk away from propsects when you know that they don't possess the values you need for a mutually-rewarding relationship. It's counter-intuitive, but defining your ideal customers in terms of values will help you attract more profitabile and more enjoyable customers. *My goal is to make this blog as useful and relevant as possible for you and your business. If you'd like me to address a specific topic, send me a note at dale@furtwengler.com* 0 comments Physics and Surveys Monday, February 19, 2007 How can physicists help us with our surveys? *By acknowledging the influence of the observer* Brian Greene's books, The Elegant Universe and the Fabric of the Cosmos, offer wonderful insights into the world of physics, http://superstringtheory.com/people/bgreene.html. One of the things that struck me as I read his books is the awareness that physicists have of the influence their observations exert on what they're observing. They understand that what their experiments influence the results they get. This is true in the business world as well. The surveys we develop for customers, vendors or employees are going to influence the responses we get. Straight forward questions "Do you like product A?" are like a pass/fail grades; you know whether you made the grade, but not why. Ranking questions such as "Rank these benefits in terms of importance to you." are influenced by the situational context you establish for that question. If you don't define the situation, you lose much of the interpretive value of the responses. Another potential problem with ranking questions is that respondents are typically passionate about one or two options offered; the others get very similar rankings making it difficult to assess their true importance. Open-ended questions, "What do you like about our purchase order system? What don't you like about it?", afford more information, but make it difficult to classify results. When developing surveys, don't overlook the influence your questions are having. Balance your survey results by incorporating all three types of questions - straightforward, ranking and open-ended. This allows you to capture the specific information you desire about your offering, the person's frame of mind at the time of the survey and their demographic information. This approach allows you to gain a broader context in which to evaluate the results. It's counter-intuitive, but the observer always influences the observed. *If there are topics you'd like to see addressed in The Invaluable Leader, please send your idea in an email to me at* *dale@furtwengler.com* 0 comments Measure Twice, Cut Once Monday, February 12, 2007 This old carpenter's saw applies to business as well. *Two measurements - isolation and integration* As a CPA, I've been asked to prepare analyses on variety of opportunities and challenges faced by my clients. One of the things that I've learned is to measure twice. Why? Since I have not achieved perfection (nor do I think I ever will) checking my calculations makes sense. More importantly, though, I've found a dual approach to measurement is extremely helpful. The approachs are isolation and integration. First, I measure the unknown quantity in isolation - holding all other factors constant. This affords the opportunity to identify causal relationships. Once those relationships are identified, I integrate my findings into a more holistic view of the situation measuring the relative impact each factor has on the outcome. By combining the narrow view of isolation with the more encompassing view of integration, I find a balance to decision making that serves me well. Using a dual approach to measurement may be counter-intuitive, but it has helped me avoid mistakes I would have made using only one measurement. *If there are topics that you'd like me to address, please email me at* *dale@furtwengler.com. 0 comments Are Leaders Born or Made? Part II Monday, February 05, 2007 Reader reaction* *Thank you!* A couple of weeks ago The Invaluable Leader topic "Are Leaders Born or Made?" raised a lot of questions. Readers asked: How do you define leader? Aren't you making a case that leaders are made? Can someone who leads in one situation be called a leader? These are great questions and, thanks to you, these questions have helped me clarify my thoughts on the subject. Without fully realizing it, I was making a distinction between situational leadership and general leadership. There are people who can lead in specific situations, but aren't able to extend that capability to other situations. Others, the ones we typically call leaders, are able to apply their leadership skills in any situation. By defining a person's leadership capabilities as either situational or general we can expand our pool of leadership talent and the number of projects our organizations can handle. It's counter-intuitive, but general leaders can expand their group's capacity by assigning projects to situational leaders. In the process they free themselves to deal with issues for which no situational leadership exists. Hopefully the changes we've made in the comments section will make it easier for you to post comments. Simply click "other" or "anonymous" to avoid having to sign in, write your comment then hit "login and publish." If you choose "other" feel free to sign your name or use a pseudonym in the comment box. *The Invaluable Leader readers and I will benefit from your wisdom. Please share your thoughts through the comment section. If you still have trouble posting comments, email me at* *dale@furtwengler.com. Let me know that you're having a problem and share your thoughts in that email. I'll make sure that our readers see your comment. Thank you for sharing your wisdom!*** 0 comments	Dale Furtwengler is an internationally acclaimed author whose work is recommended by: University of Glasgow University of New South Wales Australian Institute of Management If you'd like to make your life easier while creating enviable results, subscribe to my special reports for step-by-step instructions on becoming invaluable. Back issues are available. March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008