September 23, 2016 by

Is It A Banking Problem or a Culture and Leadership Problem?

Is It A Banking Problem or a Culture and Leadership Problem?One of the high profile business stories this week is about Wells Fargo. CEO John Stumpf was called to Washington D.C. to be heard and then flogged by the politicians. Rather than review the entire situation which is widely available for your review online and at CNBC here is a quick and dirty review.
People who worked at Wells Fargo were reportedly for years creating fake accounts for a variety of bank products utilizing the identity of real banking customers. From my reading and listening it does not appear any of the customers funds were stolen, however, this remains a serious issue as credit report impacts, identity theft and more may have been the result of some of these activities.

At this time over 5,300 people have been let go from Wells Fargo. On CNBC it was stated that none of the people who were let go were anyone we would know or hear about, however, it is possible some were branch managers. One of the quotes from CEO John Stumpf was that this was an issue created by the behavior of low level employees. As a side note the person in charge of the entire unit is leaving the company along with a bonus in the high millions. Feel free to check out the various stories if you are interested in the reported details as more information is released and the stories to date are verified.

The bottom line is this about culture and leadership. Stop there – end of story.

In fact here is a challenge, if there is a person in the Wells Fargo organization with a budget contact me. We will speak or meet and begin a program for your team, division, Branch(s), organization which will return value almost immediately. Everything right now being thrown out there by your internal trainers and PR folks is about CYA.

What we will work on is values based leadership. In essence this is the missing element.

Everyone in the organization was / is graded by numbers and statistics. Let’s face the facts from day one were all 5,300 people who were let go people who had criminal intent on their mind when they began their careers at Wells Fargo? Up until a week ago the majority of these folks were upstanding citizens in their communities. These folks did their 9 to 5 and were doing what they thought they needed to do to get by.

They were and their managers were incentivized by the system set up by Wells Fargo – the culture. This is the culture potentially prevalent in numerous banking institutions.

What if instead the metrics measured the value of a new customer? A customer who had a business and two children and has been married for five years. What is the value of getting to know this customer where the bank is writing the mortgage and maybe a home equity loan, providing credit cards, debit cards, college loans, car loans, insurance and potentially investment accounts?

What is the lifetime value of a customer who knows your name and has your cell phone number just in case they need something?

A leader does not have to be a CEO or a C anything. A leader is a person who knows when to lead. When it is time to take action. Now is that time at Wells Fargo. Consider the small snowball which is rolled down the mountain and it picks up speed on the way down and becomes a huge round ball of snow. This is the type of momentum and culture change we will start by beginning with you and your team right now at Wells Fargo.

Are you up for the challenge? For once lead from the front and not from a spreadsheet.

Contact Mitch Tublin

This is a blog. A weekly Award Winning blog written for over six years each week by Mitch Tublin, Feel free to subscribe here. It is not meant to be or advertised to be reporting the news. Everything is based upon my opinion or my understanding. Hope that works for you and keeps you interested. You are always free to comment in the comments area. Your readership is appreciated. Let others know about “Navigating Your Course for Success” so we grow our community. Smooth Sailing.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Business Structure, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,
May 20, 2016 by

Do You Consider Price Structure and Packages In Your Business?

Pricing Structure In Your BusinessOn numerous occasions a new client will express a need for assistance in setting up the pricing structure for their business.

Then the qualifier comes in as they explain at great length why for  their specific business looking at other pricing structures and packages would never work as their business was ‘different’. As you have may have already imagined they need to be told ‘really’? That is basically a bunch of CR**!

Of course this would not be said to my client, or would it?

You just never know until you are there do you?

Here is the thing, while your business may be different, everyone out in the world, the  potential customers and clients have become trained as consumers!

What do you mean by that Mitch? How about a few examples and you might see what is going on in terms of pricing and packages every single day all around us.

Let’s begin with a regional grocery store such as Stop N Shop.  Often when they are advertising an item for sale the discount is contingent upon purchased at least $75 worth (some amount) of other grocery items.

The key here is the price structure. The item for sale must be at a discount large enough to gather crowd interest.  Once the crowd interest is there, the fine print about purchasing at least $75 worth of groceries is lost in the excitement.

On the check out line while waiting you notice all of the chewing gum packs are offered at three packs for the price of two. Again this is price structure as well as  packaging the sale offer.

Another strategy in place while partnering with a brand is the offer to gift you a future $5 coupon as a credit if you purchase a certain dollar amount of a specific brand of products during a period of time.

Now you might be thinking, Mitch has lost his mind with these references to the grocery store. Not at all. The margins are thin at the grocery store. These methods of pricing and pricing structures are in use at the grocery store because they work. The consumer is enticed to make the purchases. More importantly for our purposes is the consumer becomes trained to behave in a certain way.

Let’s consider the case of hiring a lawyer to assist us in a certain legal matter. Typically a lawyer will request a retainer. Since they are lawyers there will be all kinds of wording in the agreement about hourly rates and how the billing will be presented and recorded. We all know a lawyer is a professional so we do not ask for a coupon or a discount. We need their advice and we sign up and we pay.

Now how do we put this information into use ourselves?

First of all if you are interested in this topic go here as in the next few weeks you may be invited to a special call all about pricing in your business and a Question and Answer period will be part of the call as well.

Second is what is your product or service worth to you? What do you believe it is worth?

In closing for this article, what is the value to the customer, to the client?

If you would like to privately discuss your business and your pricing strategy with Mitch click here.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, business consultant and professional speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Planning, Business Strategy, Business Structure Tagged With: , , , , ,
September 24, 2015 by

Dreaming About Starting Your Own Business?

Starting Your Own BusinessAre you dreaming about starting your own business? Many people who have a job working for a company dream about starting their own business. The majority of these folks do not act on their dreams. The story about why we should follow up on our dreams is a story for another day! Really – promise to send that one out soon!

For the few people in the minority, who do in fact take action on their dream to start their own business, the reality of starting and running your own business is a serious and potentially overwhelming endeavor.

For anyone currently in a job who is ready to take action on their dream to start their own business here are three main areas to focus on as you move along the timeline of your journey.

STAGE ONE – PLANNING

While you are still employed – which means you are bringing home the bacon – plan! The first part of the plan is a review of self. This would be begin with your mindset and personality. Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The second part is what is the business – the actual way to earn money? Is this a product or a service? What is the competition? What makes you different? Will people pay you for what you are going to deliver or sell?

There are numerous other initial aspects to planning. Many of these may be uncovered by taking a few assessments such as to uncover your leadership skills and abilities. These assessment results should be reviewed with you and a certified coach. Other items range from creating a financial plan, securing professional support such as a Lawyer, an Accountant and an online expert for developing websites and more. A trusted advisor will be able to guide you through this process.

STAGE TWO – TAKE ACTION STEPS

In this stage you may still be employed for a period of time. Once you are ready to begin networking in person, advertising your new business and creating the legal entity it would be wise to double check your rules of employment. Often rules do exist which state you are not permitted to run your own business while being employed by your current employer. This would especially be the case if the industry is similar to the one you are currently working in. In either case, in a perfect world you would keep your current job until there is a predetermined amount of cash flow coming in from your new business. Therefore do not leave your job as long as you are able to keep working while you create your new business.

In this second stage you would begin to determine your niche, your ideal client profile, develop your brand, your website and your social media profile for your business. A trusted advisor will be able to guide you through this process.

STAGE THREE – PUSH START!

This is the stage when you are open for business. The initial part of this stage is to double and triple check everything you have done so far and make certain you are ready to start!

Typically items which were left to set up at this point are banking, online credit card processing, marketing consistently, your sales funnel and much more.

As you are able to see running your own business may be more work than having that job where your dreams first moved you to go in this direction. The best investment you will make if you plan to start your own business is to establish a relationship with a trusted advisor who will be able to work with you as you progress in this process. The last thing you want to do is try to go down this path all by yourself!

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive coach and business consultant who resides in Stamford, CT.

If you are considering starting your own business or already running a business speak with Mitch and potentially there will be an opportunity for you to work with him as your trusted advisor. –>> Sign up here for a free twenty minute call <<–

Filed Under: Business Planning, Business Strategy, Business Structure Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 18, 2015 by

Have You Ever Considered An Advisory Board For Your Business?

advisory-boardDo you have an advisory board for your business? An entrepreneur or a small business owner should definitely have an advisory board. Let’s review a few reasons why it is so critical to set up and regularly meet with an advisory board.

To begin – “It is lonely at the top.”

The assumption and often the reality is the buck stops here, at the top, or if you are alone in your business. As the CEO or lone business owner you must undertake numerous activities which you may have absolutely zero experience or expertise in.

An advisory board might be made up of people who have many of the skill sets the lead entrepreneur or small business owner may not possess. Their advice and potentially their actual assistance diving in would be an amazing asset to have at your finger tips.

You might hang a mirror in your office and discuss everything with yourself. Alternatively with an advisory board there is a sounding board to engage with and discuss ideas, concepts and issues. Depending upon the level of expertise in the members of your advisory board you will be able to have discussions with them about business opportunities, challenges inside the business and with the competition, decisions of paths to take and company growing pains.

This might be the first step for you – assess where you have knowledge and experience gaps and recruit people who have this knowledge and experience to be on your advisory board.

One of the great fears entrepreneurs and small business owners have about creating an advisory board is their need to now share all of their business information with other people who are in many cases, initially at least, complete strangers. A way to keep everyone above board is to create and execute for each individual a non-disclosure agreement and some type of non-compete agreement.

This might sound a bit too formal for some people who want to keep everything casual. Do not fall into this trap with anything to do with your business. It is a business, not a hobby – correct? Act and behave in this manner – like a person who runs a business! 

There is great power in leverage. An advisory board provides one area of leverage.  More than one great mind trying to call every shot and meet and every deadline.

Another advantage of your own advisory board is the network of the members. This becomes another group of people who will become familiar with you and your business.

One of the best early decisions in setting up a new business, breathing life into an old business or operating more effectively in your business is to set up an advisory board that meets at least one time every three months or so. Reach out and begin now if you do not have one.

Mitch Tublin is a business consultant, certified coach and professional speaker based in Stamford, CT.

If you are ready to set up your advisory board and want Mitch to work with you on the process contact Mitch here.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Business Structure, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,
May 14, 2015 by

Rolling On A Highway

car-trafficThe majority of us drive on an interstate or some type of highway a few times a week or more. On a three lane highway, ever notice the impact of someone who is driving a car in the center lane, yet, at a reduced speed of ten to fifteen MPH less than the speed limit which may have them clocked at twenty to twenty five MPH less than the majority of traffic? The impact is almost always an accident waiting to happen. The left lane is constantly flowing past this car in a steady stream of vehicles. The right lane has cars lining up to pass as well only slightly less organized and flowing than the left lane.

Meanwhile the three, four or five cars directly behind the center lane driver are feeling stuck as they came upon this unexpectedly and now feel trapped not able to readily get into the left lane to pass or the right lane to sneak by as well.

All of this is an accident waiting to happen and what makes matters worse is the driver in the center lane taking their time and driving along has absolutely no idea! They have no clue or awareness of the havoc they wreak out on the road behind them.

If the picture is not clear from the example of the driver, consider the crew team rowing in their shell. In a practice session or in a race each stroke must be in synch with everyone else’s stroke. The style and execution of the stroke must be the same. Any disruption to this timed team effort will cost them time and knock speed off their progress.

In many ways this is what happens to a team when there is one person who is not pulling their weight or not choosing to fit in with the team. They begin to become a burden to everyone else on the team. The team may need to sidestep around them and their assigned tasks or roles on a project in order to complete their assigned goals.

Depending upon the severity and the cost to the team and the business, these individuals must be dealt with. There is a possibility working regularly with an Executive Coach may create the change necessary to salvage a team mate. It is a disservice to the rest of the members of the team and to the offending person not to address the issue.

This is a fact which transcends the size of an organization.

The truth as stated by John C. Maxwell: “Team Work, Makes The Dream Work”.

Mitch Tublin is a business consultant and an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Have someone who needs to become a better team player? >> Contact Mitch Tublin Here <<

 

Filed Under: Business Structure, Communication, Managing People, Relationships Tagged With: , , , ,
April 24, 2015 by

U DRIVE U TEXT U PAY – Are U DISTRACTED at Work?

U DRIVE   U TEXT   U PAY

distracted-at-workThis is the latest slogan in use to get the attention of the numerous already very distracted drivers of vehicles. The point is – it is a warning that you will be getting a fairly expensive moving violation ticket if you are caught texting while driving. The amount of the fine gets progressively higher as you are issued the next ticket for this offense.

The more important point of this slogan and the effort by the local and State Police is the prevention of the recently higher and higher number of accidents caused by distracted drivers. The numbers are staggering. At least ten percent of drivers are utilizing, looking at or holding onto some type of electronic hand held device while driving. The ten percent number seems low to me based upon my unscientific look around at other drivers while driving. Probably should not do that either as it is distracting.

What may be even worse is the children in the car see the driver texting while driving. Think about it – these are the future drivers who will model what they are seeing from the passenger seat when they are the one behind the wheel.

Which brings me to the point of this article – Are U DISTRACTED at work? The most recent survey conducted of the workforce in the U.S.A. and the U.K. reflected 28 percent to 35 percent of the workforce are fully disengaged from their work, while at work. Close to 44 percent do not respect or even like their managers or leadership at their workplace.

These numbers tell many stories. In fact, these figures would easily support an article about leadership, motivation, culture and much more. For now let’s focus on distractions in the workplace. Specifically, if the distracted driving epidemic exists and pervades our society out on the roads, similarly the handheld devices are a cause for distraction at work.

Further the desktop PC, laptop or any connection to the world outside may be a cause for distractions in the workplace. Here is the rub. A workplace in a lock down mode is setting itself up for a huge problem. The up and coming workforce in the age group under 35 years old right now is not interested in working in this type of an environment. Ask anyone in this age group and they will tell you they are able to quickly scan a few sites or newsfeeds and be caught up on anything going on anywhere on any topic. In a few minutes they are able to assess who is thinking about what on any topic with a few taps on the keys going through their social media accounts.

These are not distractions. These are attributes and tools to be properly utilized in the context of the position in the business held by this person. Unfortunately in many cases the job description is crafted by legal or by someone who has rewritten the former job description from a 1980’s manual.

It is time to assess what is a distraction at work and what attributes may be brought to the table to add value by enabling the broader utilization of the internet in a variety of job functions.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Would you like to have a new culture in your business and workplace? Contact Mitch for a consultation to make this a reality

Filed Under: Business Environment, Business Structure Tagged With: , , , , ,
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