This week Merge was one of the sponsors at the Greenville Chamber’s CEO Connection. The keynote was given by Terry Bowden. Here’s what he says on Creating a Winning Business:

1. Want to be the best. It all starts here. The desire to be the best instills excellence across the organization. If you aren’t the best, don’t want to be the best or don’t believe you can be the best, then why are you in business? Winners, whether that’s a CEO, company or team strive to be the best.

2. Willing to pay the price. If you’re in business long enough, you know the piper will come calling eventually. Adversity, obstacles, crisis, etc. will come down the pike sooner are later. Are you going to fold or pay the price? Will your company do what it takes to be the best? There will be a price to pay.

One price to pay is the ever changing business landscape. Does your company change and adapt? Being in the web business, I get to see this every day. There are companies that are willing to adapt, and so they invest in their web site (they’re our clients). There are other companies that aren’t willing to pay the price–they want a cheap web site or the price is too high. They end up not adapting.

3. Work together as a team. It’s an abused quote, but Jim Collins says “Get the right people on the bus and in the right seats.” You can have the right people, but if they aren’t working as a team, forget about it. Remember the Dream Team that got blown out in the Olympics? You can want to be the best, you can be willing to pay the price, but if your company isn’t playing as a team, it’s all over.

4. Each member of the team must take responsibility. Terry told a great story about his offensive secretary at Auburn when they went undefeated. She meticulously prepared the playbook every Friday. When Auburn beat Alabama that year, she knew it was because of how she so neatly put that book together.

Terry says we have to use the “but for” logical approach, on an individual basis. But for my effort but for my ability but for my responsibility we succeed. Everyone’s participation–from the janitor to the secretary to the controller to the CEO is crucial to a company’s success. What if the offensive secretary decided to slack off that week? What if she decided the playbook could wait until Monday or that surely Terry didn’t want all of the plays in the playbook? But for…her effort, ability and responsibility, Auburn won.

Bottom Line: To succeed, you have to want to be the best, be willing to pay the price, work as a team and have each person do their part (take responsibility).

Thanks Terry. To have Terry Bowden speak at your event: http://www.terrybowden.com/public_speaking.html

Trust. It’s amazing how much our economy depends on this simple virtue.

Ebay is all about trust (I’ll prepay you and trust that you’ll ship it).
USPS mail (I trust that if I put this check in the mail, you’re going to deliver it).
Employer / employee relationship (I trust you’ll do the work and you trust that I will pay you).

When trust is established, transactions move seamlessly. But trust must be earned. What are you doing in your business, relationships or even on your web sites to build trust? Without it, you’ll have a hard time succeeding.

Look at your website. Does it convey that you are trustworthy? If not, what can you do to improve that?

Here are some ideas:
- add testimonials
- add a guarantee
- list your high-profile customers who have entrusted you already

Bottom line: Build trust to build your business.

Do you remember your last purchase you made on the web (or used the web to make the purchase)?

I do. It was an upgrade to Merge’s phone system, TalkSwitch.

The structure of the purchase was web site -> phone call -> purchase. There was no real way to do what I wanted to do on the web site. That usually would aggravate me, but in this case I was okay. Why? I felt like I needed to talk to somebody.

But what the web site did was get me all the way from where I was to where I needed to speak to somebody. It got me to the next step in the process. The way it did that is it provided me a plethora of information about all of their products, features, pricing and a nifty product comparison chart. I basically had a couple of very specific questions that I knew the web site wouldn’t answer. So I picked up the phone and called.

They answered. I asked my question. They answered the question. I ordered. And during the order process, they added some more valuable information to the process. I was impressed.

The Bottom Line: Web sites don’t live in an isolated bubble. They are an integral part of your company’s marketing tools. Make sure the web site fits into everything else that you do.

P.S. Not only was the TalkSwitch buying experience great, but so is their product. They have IP Phones and their main product is a very affordable “big company” phone system for small companies. I highly recommend you visit TalkSwitch’s web site. Who knows, you may end up buying one!

Today I attended training on “Building Effective Boards” for non-profit boards.

Merge is a for profit company mind you, but I currently serve on a non-profit board. So I wanted to sharpen my board skillz. (Yeah, that’s with a z.)

Here was one take-a-way today: the #1 reason people give is:

They know about the organization (65%–the leading indicator by far). You might have thought the leading reason people give is because they believe in the cause, the non-profit is really efficient with donations, etc., but nope, it’s: “Does the donor know about your non-profit?”

So the strategy of non-profits is to make sure potential donors know them. And when I say “know,” I’m not talking “about” them. That donors know the organization. They know the mission, the purpose, how they run, who the people are, etc. There are many, many ways to do that. Surely part of that approach is their digital strategy, right? Most likely a newsletter + blog + online video + web site, or a combination there of assists them in this mission.

I truly hope they’re leveraging the web to help their donor base “know them” (it’s only a $300 Billion market). If not, I think they’d see donations go up if they executed such a digital strategy.

And by the way–if knowledge is key for non-profits, do you think that applies to the selling process for “for-profits?” How well does your web site allow prospects to get to know your company?

Most business owners write a business plan and then “shelve” it for the next 360 days. Come late December, they pick it up, dust it off and tweak it for the new year.

An effective business plan is one that lives and breathes, and therefore is constantly reviewed. Don’t wait until December or January. Do it in May, or August or October. Plan to review it once a month or once a quarter.

What you put into is what you’ll get out of it holds true for your business plan. Put more into it by reviewing and tweaking it more often throughout the year.

And keep this in mind: Reviewing your plan is not for the business plan itself; it’s to benefit your business.

(By the way, the same goes for your web site…).

It seems business, if not life, is a lot about managing expectations. I’ve been going to school on this topic with clients, employees and vendors. Here are five tips that I’ve learned to better manage expectations:

1) Know what you want. In order to set an expectation, you have to know what the expectation is in the first place. Define in your head first what it is what you want. If you haven’t taken the time to really know what it is you want, then the person can’t possibly meet an unknown expectation.

2) Communicate (explicitly) what you want. Be explicit. I’ve found myself asking for a task to be completed by an employee and lo’ and behold, that task doesn’t get completed. Why? I didn’t detail out what the task was. I was too general. Be explicit and specific.

3) Set a deadline. It seems mean or something to set a deadline. I’ve learned, if there’s not a deadline, then it will get done when it gets done–and that’s a long time.

4) Get an agreement. Expectations must be understood. It’s crucial to go back over what is expected and very deliberately agree with both parties what the expectations are.

5) Write it down. It’s hard to (literally) manage your expectations when you don’t write them down. You may ask 10 things of 10 different people, but you can only keep track of a couple of those items in your head, so it’s inevitable your expectations won’t be met. At the time of the agreement, write down the expectation and the due date so you can dutifully follow-up and keep track.

Merge recently moved offices and I was in need of purchasing a new desk. Looking at the options, nothing really excited me…but in the back of my mind, I remember seeing a stand-up desk somewhere, and that really intrigued me.

So I searched and found standupdesks.com and discovered I could get a custom built stand-up desk (made out of solid, real wood) less expensive than what I could get a cheaper laminate desk for.

The only question I had to ask myself is, “Do I really want to stand up all day?”

There was only one way to find out: start using a stand-up desk. The only problem is I didn’t want to plunk down more than $1k if I in fact didn’t like it. So I went to Lowe’s and bought a temporary solution, a workbench ($79). My friend, Rush Wilson from across the street, saw my temporary stand-up desk stacked on books (in my effort to get the height right) and brought over some bed-risers in their stead (brilliant). Now, I think I have the height about right (my desk comes up to–well, right below my belt line).

The most common question I get asked is, “How could you stand up all day?” My reply is that people in retail do it all the time, waiters, cooks or anyone in hospitality does it all day long, so why can’t an office worker? The truth of the matter is this though: If I had to stand up all day long at my desk, I probably wouldn’t do it. I figured in my business I’m in meetings at least half my day and so I’m sitting at least half the day. So the maximum time I’ll have in any given day is probably 4 hours. The second solution to this question is that I have a bar stool (Linens-n-Things, $39) that I can rest on if I’m doing something prolonged. I’ve found I’ve used it for long phone calls, if I’m going through a bunch of paperwork or if I’ve just been standing in one spot for over 45 minutes or so.

I’m amazed at how much I move around throughout the day, whether it’s to talk with Team Merge, go to the bathroom (TMI?) or refill my coffee cup.

Here are some purported benefits of a stand-up desk:

-Helps back pain (I have none, so n/a, but perhaps will prevent?)
-Helps posture (I’m a chronic sloucher when sitting–or standing for that matter–I notice I have better posture when at the stand-up desk)
-More energy (I concur and have experienced such)
-Clearer thinking (I think this is in line with more energy)
-Better on the phone (more aggressive, on your toes–literally)
-More engaged and prone to less procrastination, surfing the web, etc. (yes, I’ve seen improvements here too)
-Can Relax (when you stand you’re brain says you’re working, when you sit (now) you’re brain says relax)

Some Drawback’s I’ve noticed

-My feet are sore (after about 10 days of doing this–supposedly you get over it and people have recommended the gel mats retailers use)
-Phone. I have a credenza behind me where my phone is, so I have to go back and forth to my computer to dial numbers. Sort of annoying. When I get the bigger stand-up desk, hopefully everything can live there.
-Guests. Talking to people who come into your office is a little awkward as there’s no where for them to sit, and if they did, you’re still standing. I am thinking about getting other stools for guests. I also will have a small conference table in my office to address this, but not everybody has such room.
-Weird. It’s just unusual so when people come into my office and see a stand-up desk they can’t help but think what is wrong with me.
-Accessing (paper) files. Bending down to the filing cabinet is not as easy or ergonomic I’m sure as when sitting.
-Non-level. Merge lives in a 100+ year old building and the floor to my office slopes quite a bit. I notice I shift my feet often due to this slope.

The pros thus far have outweighed the cons. I’ll probably be placing my order soon for my desk. I need to play with the height a little more to make sure I get that right. But so far, the stand-up desk experiment is a success. I highly recommend it if you’re considering–but do the cheap trial version (total about $100) before buying the real deal.

Here’s a great discussion from 37signals.com about stand-up desks.

PULSE had its bi-monthly Leadership Seminar at the West End Community Center, with a panel discussing the topic: “Leadership Lessons Learned from Running a Business.”

The Panel was moderated by Merus Refreshments CEO, Steve Baily. Panelists were:

-Steve Hoffman, Skyline Exhibits and Design
-Jason Freeman, J. Freeman & Associates
-Stacy Coulter, Spa at West End

Some great quotes/nuggets:

“If you love doing what your doing, you’ll never work another day in your life.”
-J.Freeman

“Who’s a control freak? To grow [your company], you have to let go and delegate.”
-Stacy Coulter

“You can’t be a leader if nobody’s going to follow you.”
-Steve Hoffman

One of the biggest take aways from the day was the idea of “You, Inc.”–or running your own personal company within your company. From an employer’s perspective, this translates into empowering your employees to take ownership in their area of the business. Stacy Coulter mentioned before she started Spa at West End, that her prior employer challenged her to be in charge of “Stacy, Inc.” She saw everything differently then. She owned what she was doing and that made all of the difference in the world.

PULSE had over 80 participants in attendance.

Yesterday my four-year-old asked me to help her learn how to ride her bike. Her balance has a way to come…so I helped her quite a bit, with my arms to either side of her and she a pinball between them trying to stay upright as we went along.

And then I let her go.

The results were staggering. When I took away my support, she went 2-3 times further on her own.

By default, I directly relate this to business. I find that at Merge, I need to let go of the following:

-Employees (not let them go per se, but let them work). I need to get out of the way and let them do their thing. They can go farther without me than with me.
-The Creative. Trust the creative “process.” I tend to want to know how we come up with things, the rhymes and reasons for what we create. I need to get out of the way and let the creatives do their thing.
-Vendors. Trust them to do the job they say they are going to do. I’m going to start letting go earlier.

Wanting to be in control stunts our growth. To go farther, just let go and trust that people will give their best effort without you.

We’ve all heard it and said it. But if there was a test where your life depended on it, could you define the following terms?:

-Mission
-Values
-Vision
-Strategy
-Measurement

Ok, values and measurement are easy. But I sense you’re nervous about vision and mission. Defined:

-Mission (Why we exist)
-Values (What we believe and how we will behave)
-Vision (What we want to be)
-Strategy (What our competitive game plan will be)
-Measurement (How we will monitor and implement the strategy)

What I love about business blocking and tackling is it relates so well to your digital strategy. Why does your web site exist (8 out of 10 execs don’t have a good answer for this). How are your values communicated through your web site? What do you want it to be (the vision)? We often ask, in two years from now, what would you like to say your web site did for your company? What is the overall strategy–how are you going to competitively compete amongst 100’s, if not 1,000’s of other web sites? And lastly, what is your plan for measuring the web site’s results?

Mission and Vision. Strategy and Measurement. How does your web site measure up?

Oh, there’s so much to having more than just a web site. For your web site to matter, it will need to answer these questions.

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adapted from HBR’s 2008 article Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?