What is Your Real Business?

People mistakenly believe that the business they’re in is the article they sell. “We’re in the automobile business.” “We’re in the clothing business.” We’re in the jewelry business.” They always mention the item sold, not the product fulfilled.

At Apple, the product isn’t an iPhone or an iPad. Those are instruments they sell, but access to the world is their true product. At L’Oreal, the commodity is cosmetics, but the true product they deliver is the hope (or promise) of beauty. In the jewelry business, items of adornment are finished pieces of gold, silver, diamonds and colored gemstones — beautiful as they are — but the true product delivered is love, status, and emotional fulfillment.

You see, the commodity is what your customers actually walk out with, but the product is what your customers feel when they leave. Too often, we take the romance and the emotion out of selling without realizing the devastating effect it can have on our customers. We rob them of the joy they should feel when we reduce beautiful jewelry to mere commodities, instead of emotional collectables for life’s special occasions.

I’m a consultant and coach. But I’m not in the consulting business. I’m in the advice and solutions business. The sooner we get our arms around our true business, the more our business will grow, and the better off our clients will be.

There are Three Key Things Jewelers Must Not Do:

1) Sell diamonds with laboratory reports that have artificially “sweetened” grades and fail to inform consumers.

2) Sell diamond jewelry with artificially high appraisal documents that dupe consumers into thinking they got a better deal than they did.

3) Fail to disclose information about gem treatments that consumers should be apprised of before purchasing an item.

I know this stuff happens all the time and credible jewelers find themselves at a serious disadvantage when it does… [more]

Here’s something to think about…

If leadership is one of the most necessary attributes in business, management is not far behind. Leadership sets vision and direction, but management monitors progress and improves efficiency. Without good management, a business cannot create the systems and processes necessary to compete in a fast-changing world.

Good leadership and management are essential for every successful business. Make certain you have both.

Here are a few Business and Life Tips to think about:

Business Tips

• When you mess up, fess up. People are much more understanding when you own up to your mistakes, rather than copping out on them.
• If you want to get things done, hire people who seek responsibility for the right reasons and empower them to get those things done.
• Defeat is a one-time loss in an area of life or business. This isn’t failure. It can be made to be success if we learn and grow from it.

Life Tips

• Make your views known to others in a thoughtful and constructive way. How we say things is more important than what we say.
• We need to spend more time taking care of our priorities in life, not the busy work that stifles our creativity and saps our energy.
• The benefit of caring for people lies in the fact that you have a chance to influence them for good. The alternative leaves no such option.

Tags: Advice, Business Tips, Character, Developing Leaders, Drive, Ethics, Integrity, Leadership Skills, Learning, Life Tips, The Mind of a Leader, Values