Business Coach | Inspect Never Expect
This business coach post explains why you must inspect and never expect.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Never assume, because when you do, it makes an ass out of you and me.” Well, this business coach phrase has never been more true than when you are managing people or money. In order to manage effectively in a country where situational morality is now the norm and the majority of the people no longer worry about any eternal consequences for their earthly actions, you must assume that everyone is lying to you at all times. In order for you to succeed, you are going to have to set up weekly times in which you (or some of the rare people that you can actually trust) must inspect each element of your company’s workflow to make sure it is being done right. You might have a great business coach plan and great systems in place, but your business will struggle mightily if you or a trusted individual are not taking time out each week to inspect the things you expect your employees to do correctly.
President George Washington once said, “I cannot tell a lie,” but your most recent hire is not former President George Washington. In every business both large and small that I have consulted with, I have discovered that things have a way of slipping through the cracks if there is not a business coach and accountability system in place to monitor the behavior and activities of all individuals. In fact, I am so confident in this concept of “Inspect, Never Expect,” that I would strongly advise you to work off the assumption that everyone is lying. Work off the assumption that I am lying now. Work off of the assumption that everything that is bogus. Do your research and if you find credible information validating what I am saying, then you should accept it as truth. If the information I’m saying cannot be proven, then work off of the assumption that what I am saying is wrong. By doing this, you will save yourself a lot of personal heartache and frustration, but more importantly, you will end up developing incredible accountability and business coach systems that will allow your business ensured success and growth. Show me a company that does not have systems in place to verify that high-quality standards of their products and services are being adhered to, and I will show you a company that is financially struggling or is on the verge of collapse.
Think for a moment about all of the truly incredible brands. Picture them in your mind. As an example, picture Disney World in your mind’s eye. They see millions and millions of customers every day and yet the overwhelming majority of their guests report having an incredible experience with each and every visit to the theme park. Yet, in small and medium-sized businesses throughout the country, we struggle to maintain a high-quality standard. In fact, the more customers they have, the worse the quality gets. Thus, we now have a ton of business owners walking around our communities saying crazy things like, “Well I’m trying to keep my business small so that I can keep the quality high.” What kind of nonsense thinking is this? If being small meant being the best, then Apple would have had one employee who is now dead. If this kind of thinking has been limiting the growth of your company, then you simply must begin to change your thinking immediately. You must begin saying, “Our company is going to offer the best quality on the planet and we are going to be massive.”
After speaking at one event in New Mexico, I was approached by the disc jockey who was going to be entertaining the guests after their day spent learning. He wore a very sharp brown suit and was well groomed. He seemed sincere in his questioning, so I had no reason to suspect that his brain was in fact four times smaller than that of the average human. Because of the way he looked and the way he approached me, I had no reason to believe that he had less vision than a blind mind . However, after about four sentences, I was convinced that this guy was in need of a complete lobotomy. He said, “Excuse me Clay, I heard you speak and I wanted to ask you a couple of quick questions.” I said, “Sure, Boss, how can I help you?” He then replied, “Well I own a DJ company and I know that you started one of the nation’s largest wedding entertainment companies. So I guess I was wondering, how you are ok with sacrificing quality for growth?” I looked at him and gave him what probably appeared to be the Darth Vader Look Of Death, but I kept myself composed while speaking. I replied, “Could you repeat the question? I guess I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” He confidently said, “Well, you know I’m really focused on quality, so I personally do the events myself and I have two other guys I can trust.” I said, “Well that’s great.” He said, “Well you know, I heard you speak and I’ve always wondered how people like you can justify sacrificing quality for quantity.” I then realized that this man was the dumbest man on the planet. I figured that I should take at least thirty seconds to force feed him some meaningful thoughts and concepts into his otherwise empty head. I replied, “Boss, how long have you been DJ’ing?” He happily replied with a big grin on his face, “I’ve been doing this for over 25 years. Yeah, sometimes it’s hard to believe how time flies by.” I then said, “Man, we are looking at the world from two very different perspectives. You are assuming that if you are big, your quality has to go down, and I am 100% sure that it is a proven business coach fact that your quality has to rise dramatically as you increase in size, if you are to succeed. Apple has made incredible products and Steve Jobs wasn’t some dude personally making computers out of his living room for the past 20 years. Sure, he and Woz started out of the garage, but they didn’t stay there because they wanted to maintain a high quality standard. Sure, Walt Disney started out doing his own animation, but as Disney grew, he delegated and eventually churned through enough people until he found some animators that were as good or better than he was. Man, what’s the point of even owning a business if you are going to aim for something so small? You’ve got to get serious about adding as much value to the planet as possible if you are going to make a dent in the universe and actually make some real money.” He retorted, “Well that’s easy for you to say, you don’t have to deal with the kind of horrible employees I have to deal with.” I realize again as I type that this guy was not wanting to get help or receive business coach or answers to his questions, he was just wanting to complain about life. He seemed to hate his life, yet he didn’t have the courage to try to do things differently. I sincerely think that guy just didn’t understand the whole concept of cause and effect. Don’t start sounding like this guy. If you do sound like this guy currently, take a moment to pull your head out of your butt. Life will smell much sweeter.
In order to help you build the ultimate business machine that is capable of growing in massive qualities, you are going to need to get to work creating the following accountability systems:
- Develop a system to verify how much time your team is actually spending marketing your products and services.
- Develop a system to verify that your website is being optimized and updated correctly.
- Develop a system to verify what percentage of your leads comes from your various marketing activities.
- Develop a system to verify that your team is answering the phone correctly.
- Develop a system to verify that your pricing and package structures are being followed.
- Develop a system to verify that emails are being sent out correctly and in the right format.
- Develop a system to verify that your services and products are physically being delivered on time and in good condition.
- Develop a system to verify that you clients are happy with the products and services you provide.
- Develop a system for reimbursements so that you know you are only paying for items and services that were actually purchased for business use.
My friend, you must develop a verification system for anything in your business that you expect to happen. You must then inspect everything that you expect to happen. And what you accept will become what you should expect. Marinate on those deep thoughts for awhile, and then start taking some action steps to make sure that you have proper accountability systems in place. To schedule a free business coach session or receive a free Comprehensive Business Analysis, visit us. We can help you build a profitable, successful, and booming business.