How to Transform Common Business Problems Into Million-Dollar, Strategic Breakthroughs… By: Robert Stover 8:00 AM Tuesday Tustin, California Dear Business Leader,         Consider these two, million-dollar facts, about your business…         Fact one: As a business leader, one of the most important strategic resources you possess is your mind. How you invest your thinking-time has a profound influence on the success and prosperity of your business.         Fact two: An hour focused on one challenge or opportunity in your business may only return a fraction of profits as the same amount of brain-power applied to a different challenge or opportunity.         My goal in this issue of the Strategy Matters newsletter is to give you a Simple-Simon strategic thinking tool you can use to transform daily, common, business challenges and problems into million-dollar breakthroughs.         Here’s the problem…         Precisely because you are the business leader, you face a daily flurry of employee, market, product and customer issues.         Yes, these issues need to be addressed. And probably by you. But they bring a hidden opportunity cost with them. Every minute you spend on them is a minute you don't spend thinking or acting on strategic leverage points that could multiply the wealth of your business.         Fortunately, there is a simple thinking tool I call Purpose Focused Thinking (PFT) that will help you convert daily problems into strategic leverage points.         In fact, in a bit here, I’ll share how this thinking process lead to a sales team increasing their sales 300% in just two weeks.         But before we look at the method, let’s first look at the problem with our traditional approaches to problems.         Take this example:         The problem hits – a business owner learns his sales people aren’t selling to expectations. So, the search for a root cause begins… Are they slacking-off on call-time? Are the newer salespeople not closing well? Is it their objection handling skills? Presentation skills?         Our business owner does some quick investigation and research. The call and prospecting time is up. But the sales people all say they are getting a lot more financial objections due to a down turn in the market. You check with some other businesses in your space, and yes, they are all feeling the pinch.         Eureka!         “We need sales training on objection handling – call a sales trainer or two, tell ‘em we need objection handling skills.”         Be honest, that looks like a sane way to make decisions. It’s by the book: See a problem, research and get to the root cause of it, analyze your options, make the best choice. Execute!         Yet, I can tell you from experience that this sales team “may” increase sales 10% over 3 months.          Here’s the worst part…         Our hero has passed on an opportunity to increase sales by 300% in 2 weeks.         What was the error you ask?         Was it an error of analysis – they really needed closing techniques, or cold call training, not objection handling? Maybe it was presentation skills?         Nope.         Or was it an error of approach – the business owner didn’t involve the telemarketing department in a company wide, cross-functional brainstorming session?         Nope.         The mistake our hero made above was to focus on causes – not purposes. On means not ends.         What’s wrong with that?         Especially when you consider it’s the type of problem solving most of us rely on day in and day out.         In fact, it’s the model the medical establishment relies on to return us to health. It’s the system that auto mechanics use. It’s the system sales trainers use. It’s the method most MBA’s use. And it’s the method many consultants use. Surprisingly, this approach often reduces your opportunities to create a breakthrough.         When we use this approach, we overlook another method of solving problems: Purpose Focused Thinking. And PFT often leads us to strategic leverage points and breakthroughs.         How is it different?         Purpose focused thinking looks at a problem and doesn’t’ ask, “What’s wrong?” but rather, “What are we really trying to achieve here?” “Why do we want to solve this problem in the first place?”         Questioning the purpose, goals and objectives of solving a problem or executing a specific solution automatically shifts your thinking up a strategic level. And the higher the strategic level you solve a problem at, the greater the results – not matter how small the effort. The master key to breakthroughs?         Get off problems, causes and solutions. Focus instead on Goals, Objectives and Purposes.         Here’s how…         There’s a simple, 4-step process that breaks your thinking out of the problem-solution box and gets it focused on purposes.         •First, phrase your problem as a challenge. “How might we...X?”         •Second, explore the purposes of achieving that challenge with, “Why?”         •Third, phrase each new purpose in a “How might we…X” challenge and then question it’s purpose with another “Why?”         •Fourth, once you are satisfied you’ve gone up enough strategic levels, only then start brainstorming the solution by asking, “What’s stopping or preventing us from          achieving X Purpose?”                  It looks like this… Why? | How Might We? | What’s Stopping Us?         Let’s go back to our hero and watch him put this breakthrough thinking in action (this time we’ll assume his sales manager already did the analysis and is walking in asking for money for the sales training on objection handling. And, I’m going to take this example further than you would in day-to-day practice to make a point). Sales Mgr: “Hey, Bob, we I need a $3000 bucks to bring in a sales trainer to help us handle objections – you know how tough it’s getting out there for them.” Owner: “Well, Why? What are we trying to accomplish with objection handling?” Sales Mgr: It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it, increase sales.” Owner: So, do you want to have the team better at handling objections or do you want increased sales? Sales Mgr: “Increased sales I guess…but we need…” Owner: And why do we want to increase sales? Sales Mgr: Again, bring more revenue into the company. Owner: “Well, why do we want to increase revenue?” Blank stare… Sales Mgr: “Are you serious? Okay, here’s the truth…if we had more cash flowing in you could invest more in product development and give the sales team something they could actually sell! Or, spend more on marketing and give my sales team some cover-fire in the market.” Owner: “So, you’re saying that better products and marketing would make us more competitive?” Sales Mgr: “Yea.” Owner: “Why do you want us to be more competitive?” Sales Mgr: “Man, you are slow today. Being more competitive would give us greater market share.” Owner: “Why do we want more market share?” Sales Mgr: “Because we’ll grow faster.” Owner: “And why do we want to grow faster?” Sales Mgr: “I guess ultimately we’ll have greater profits.” Owner: “And why do we want to have greater profits?” Sales Mgr: “Well, it will give us more stability as a company. More security.” Owner: “Why do we want to be more secure? Is that the reason we exists as a company?” Sales Mgr: “Well, I think we owe it to employees to provide secure employment.” Owner: “But is that the only reason we are running the business? To provide stable employment?” Sales Mgr: “No. There’s shareholders. Giving them a good return.” Owner: “That’s it? The sole reason you and I come to work and solve problems with telemarketers is to provide secure employment and make the stockholders rich?” Silence. Owner: “Let me ask you, what about our customers? Does having a secure business serve them in any meaningful way?” Sales Mgr: “Ummm…. You know, our X-5 solution saved the Acme Corp from bankruptcy…and increased Galactic corps sales 15%.” Owner: “Alright, so, let’s choose what strategic level we solve this problem at… Saving the universe may be a little aggressive given our time financial constraints, but why don’t you spend some more time brainstorming around ways we might increase sales, rather than ways to handle objections. And I’m going to get the guys in marketing and product development to put their heads together on our offerings and how we are bringing them to market – fair enough?” Obviously, this example of the thinking process is extreme. Sort of. In reality you may just move up one level – but that one level will be enough to dramatically improve your results. Further, you may have taken a few of the “Why’s” in different directions. Every problem will actually have a few paths it can take as you move up through the strategic levels. But quickly, here are a few elements from this example it’s critical you notice. Number one: Your opportunities for breakthrough expand exponentially as you move up. Moving up a level doesn’t cost you options. It expands them. The more options you have to face a problem with, the greater the likelihood you come up with a breakthrough. Number two: Using this model you will become a much more fluid problem solver. You can quickly move up and down the levels and explore options using three simple questions. Number three: Even a small solution at a higher level will create greater results than massive effort and expense implemented at a lower level. Number four: As you move up the levels, more and more departments become involved. This forces synergy between departments rather than solving problems in a vacuum.         Now, here’s a case study demonstrating how a client used PFT to achieve a stunning breakthrough – in less time than the original solutions. A Breakthrough Thinking Case Study:         A client came to me with the exact problem/solution set stated above. They were facing a tough market and determined that they needed better objection handling for their inside sales team to deal with it.         I asked a simple question, “Do you want to handle objections better – or increase sales?”         They answered, “Sales”.         So we turned their sales model on end...         Historically their team would cold call on a Real Estate office manger and begin to pitch an $1800 video training package. They would close 1 out of 20 prospects. The sales cycle was 6-weeks long.         Instead, we simply had the sales team call and say, “I’ve got a package of info here about how to increase your team’s production – but it may not even make sense for you. Let me ask you a few questions…” They would then set an appointment 3 days out and send a package, including a video sampler, sales letter with inducement for immediate purchase and a list of topics covered in the training.         What happened next created magic…         They would then shoot a fax over to the prospect informing them that the package would be going out via express mail – and included a testimonial from a customer who created great results with the program. The next day another fax went out informing the prospect that his or her package had been shipped – and another killer testimonial. The third day, another fax would arrive informing the prospect to keep an eye out for the package and a reminder of their appointment the following day. Within two, short weeks sales jolted 300% on an $1800 product. And the close ratio went from selling 1 in 20 to 4 in 20.         And these breakthrough results were made possible because the business owner and his team were willing shift one, small, strategic level up.         And speaking of sales teams…         This same thinking process can be used by your sales people to open the minds of prospects and out-maneuver competitors.         By asking questions that force prospects to think about purposes, your sales people gain a critical ability to create opportunities and “un-position” competitors.          For example:         The loan industry is brutally competitive on rates and fees. And prospects go after the lowest rates like heat seeking missiles. We taught Loan Originators to stop these rate-shopping prospects dead in their tracks with this simple question...         Prospect: “What are your rates?”         Loan Officer: “I’m sorry, did you say the lowest rates…or the lowest total cost loan?”         That single question knocked prospects off their original solution of “low rates” and got them focused on the real purpose, “lowest total cost loan”. This bought the loan originators the time they needed to educate and inform prospects and establish themselves as trusted advisors.         All right, in a future issue of the newsletter, I’ll show you how to leverage the higher levels of Purpose Focused Thinking to revolutionize your business.         But right now…          You’ve got some problems to solve… Copyright 2007 Robert Stover All rights reserved