Make 4 Agreements with Yourself
In business, being honest with your customer is one of the most important attributes a business can have. In today’s day and age, more than any other time in history, this is critical. People are smart. People are informed. People see through anything that isn’t honest and it is as important as anything.
The customers of the future are the children of today and the “Pivotals” are the up and coming generation, right behind the Millennials. The Pivotals make decisions based on the values of a company as much as any other aspects. They have lots of choices when buying and they are as informed as any generation has ever been. They make choices based on more than price or product. They make choices based on their beliefs and their heart.
It’s critical to be honest with yourself as a business. Make these four agreements with yourself in your business dealings and you will have the kind of success you are trying to achieve:
- Always be excellent.
- Be impeccable with your word.
- Never take anything personally.
- Never make assumptions.
This advice will be life-changing, not only personally, but in business. It will allow you to continuously seek excellence while building excellent relationships with family, friends, colleagues AND opponents.
One of the most important things in business – in any industry – is not to be afraid of change, whether or not you initiate it. Change brings growth opportunities, and if you don’t change or adapt to market conditions or within your firm, you stay stagnant and risk becoming obsolete. In the sports business, failure by most teams can be traced back to a lack of adjusting to changing market conditions. Always be ready to embrace and/or initiate change based on market conditions, customer demand, product life cycle and other factors. The expression “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is not something that should be followed in business, especially moving forward in 2020.
“There’s not much you can’t live with, fix or apologize for. Give it your best, but don’t worry – it all will work out and be really good.” For a perfectionist like me, this advice, provided many years ago by former U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Marilyn McAfee, has proven invaluable. Through her words, I find the strength to release any nagging fear of failure and readily embrace each new professional project, initiative and set of responsibilities. I am eager to take chances, understanding that I can always modify my course of action along the way.
To truly, holistically, get ahead, you have to love what you do. Opportunities will arrive for short-term cash or status gain, but when you look back, it will be the accomplishments you were most passionate about pursuing that deliver gratification. This all starts with finding your “why.” It rarely comes first, or even third, but iteration is the vehicle to clarity.
Look five to fifteen years into your career or organization and see if you can see yourself in the roles of your leaders. If you cannot, then make a career change or corporate move. Or – become an entrepreneur!
Parker Associates works extensively on understanding your market, your consumer, and your goals. We don’t take guesses, we take the time and commit the resources to researching the market and the consumer to make sure we get it right. We are YOUR advocate by being the CONSUMER’S advocate.
Spend time looking at what you are trying to acquire, develop, or sell to learn how you can improve the success of what you are offering. Parker Associates helps understand the consumer by answering WHO will buy, WHAT they will buy, and HOW they will buy it. When the research is completed and the analysis is done, having the answers to these questions will reveal what will provide the best success for your project. Keep asking WHO, WHAT, and HOW and keep developing to fit the need.
The Parker Associates process starts with a confidential review and consultation to learn more about our processes. Then Contact Us to put Parker Associates to work for you.
David WB Parker is a principal of Parker Associates of Jacksonville, Florida, marketing consultants to the real estate industry; President of PTC Computer Solutions, IT Specialist, and an active real estate sales professional with Barclay’s Real Estate Group based in Jacksonville, FL. He can be reached at 904-607-8763 or via email davidp@ptccomputersolutions.com.