■ Relational joy with the Lord and others

■ investing in the health of our mind, body and soul

■ Intentionally developing our organization and market presence

■ Time for deep reflection and creative thought

  Indeed, if we travel through life with very little ‘margin,’ we’ll soon be overloaded with the many small, reactionary crises that naturally sprout from such habits.

 This modern sickness has become a ‘badge of courage’ for many! Proud of our ability to ‘keep all the plates spinning’ in such a breathless lifestyle, we often live like hamsters on a wheel! Many actually strive to live this way. Today’s mythical ‘super woman’ is one example of such thinking. You know the celebrated image: topflight executive, spouse, gourmet homemaker, and soccer mom, and church/community volunteer. While a few among us may be so supremely organized as to be able to pull-off such an expansive multi-tasking assignment, most either ‘crash and burn’ or severely neglect vital priorities in order to pursue such an idealized existence.

 Instead, we need a godly perspective on our priorities during this short life in the flesh if we’re to restore the balance needed to regain our emotional, spiritual, physical, financial, and time reserves in an ever-quickening digital age.  Our families, businesses, testimony, and eternal legacy depend on it!

  “Lord, teach me so to conceive time as an unrepeatable gift that I might live my life serenely with Your values in mind so that my life is lived to the full.”

Our pricing policies influence how buyers interact with us and actually help to shape their behavior, which is why training and discipline in this area is so important. Our sales and order desk people should work to engage and understand the buyer upfront by asking a series of questions to ‘profile’ their objectives, personal perspective and readiness.  Based on their answers, we’d alter our presentation to maximize the fit of our offer.

Understanding the customer’s exact role in the buying process, along with what and why they’re buying, lets us to zero-in on their expectations. This helps us to meet or exceed these expectations, thereby justifying a healthy price for our products or services. Taking the time to initially engage and profile the customer enables us to understand how they’ll buy. Remember, they buy emotionally and justify intellectually. We must satisfy both needs so as not to derail the purchase. Customers don’t like the feeling of being sold something. They like to buy while being confirmed in the wisdom of their decision. Even when our selling offer is fairly standardized, customers want to feel that we’ve tailored something for just for them.

A customer’s experience with us generally involves three dimensions: quality (i.e., brand reputation,  features, durability, fitness for use), service (i.e., responsiveness, delivery, warranty, field support, ‘moments of truth’), and price (actually perceived value). Quality is now a prerequisite for long-term participation in most markets. Without it, you’ll be discounting prices and incurring cost premiums just to stay in relationship with skeptical customers. It’s service excellence that often separates outstanding companies from mediocre ones. Think about companies such as Disney, FedEx, Lexus, Ritz-Carlton, and American Express. They’re all ‘premium’ companies, offering a superior service experience that enables them to set the price in their field. It’s easy to match someone else’s price, but tough to match a well-run company’s service! Consider these results from a Rockefeller Corporation study on why customers defect:

• 4% die or move away
• 14% buy from a friend or a competitor
• 14% are dissatisfied with an aspect of the offering
• 68% believe you don’t care about them

Face it, if everyone were price conscious we’d all be driving Hyundais or Kias. Most people aren’t price sensitive as much as they’re value conscious. Studies show that just 15-35% of consumers consider price to be the chief factor. More than 60% don’t consider price at all and 80% remember the brand, not the price. In every product category, ‘high-involvement’ buyers outnumber ‘price-fixated’ shoppers more than two-to-one.

With this in mind, for pricing to become a core competency in our business we must take specific steps with our team to understand and incorporate the ‘five Cs’ of value:

• Comprehend value to customers (i.e., understand segment-based value drivers)
• Create value for customers (i.e., create/deliver segment-based value solutions)
• Communicate the value you create (i.e., tell them upfront and reinforce it later)
• Convince target customers to pay for value (must profile/know them to do this)
• Capture value with strategic and disciplined pricing based on value, not cost

At the end of the day, what we’re selling is value. If we can’t communicate this value, our team can’t maximize it and capture it with price during each customer engagement. By ignoring what drives customer value, we give the customer the upper hand in negotiations, resulting in lower pricing and profits.

Beyond the amazing personal realization that His Spirit lives in us once we come to Him in faith (Jn 14:16-17), and that this promise is eternal so that no one can ever snatch us out of His hand (Jn 10:27-30), God has ordained this wonderful union for a purpose: that the world may know (Jn 13:34-35). He is the vine and we are His branches (Jn 15:5). In John 17:20, Jesus prays that others will know Him through our message. Scripture reminds us that our example of living and working together in unity (Ps 133:1, Ro 15:5-6, Eph 4:1-3) glorifies Christ and helps others to see the truth. We use our spiritual gift s and callings for this purpose so that the Body of Christ may be built up in unity (Eph 4:12-13).

In the process of pursuing and promoting this Christ-centered ‘oneness’ in all God-given structures and relationships, others will be drawn toward a saving relationship with our eternal bridegroom, Jesus. Alternatively, when we lust after other ‘idols,’ or hunger to be personally ‘significant’ or fulfilled, we cripple our witness. Are you currently feeling incapable of having much of a transformational impact through your life and business? If so, reread this devotional and remind yourself of the truth that our faith can move mountains (Mt 17:21) and that He who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world (1Jn 4:4).

Let’s talk.
• Would others observe that you find your significance and satisfaction as a child of God and disciple of Christ? How does your leadership actively demonstrate thankfulness, submission to God and His Word, and the pursuit of unity with other believers?

• What’s currently derailing you from the intimacy, unity and oneness with Christ that transforms relationships and communities in this life?

Let’s begin our implementation focus by looking at the leadership practices which Reichheld’s research determined to be common among companies enjoying the greatest loyalty from customers and employees. Loyalty Rules highlights business practices that read like a C12 playbook, including the Golden Rule, pursuing excellence, simplicity, honesty, fairness, respect, personal accountability, and performance pay. These traits were distilled into six ‘loyalty principles’ to help to shape metrics, compensation systems, organizational development, strategy, and operations. As we review each element, make a mental note as to how your company fares.

Six Pillars of Loyalty

 Play to win/win: Profiting at the expense of partners is a shortcut to a ‘dead end’! Focus solely on opportunities/niches where you can become the best. Align partners around overarching objectives to upgrade the customer experience, and insist on win/win solutions. Shed distractions, sharpen plans and processes, and teach win/win behavior. Paul also taught this, saying, “Let each of you ‘look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.’” (Php 2:4).

 Be picky: Membership is a privilege! Loyalty requires making choices. Cultivate business relationships only when both sides can provide special value or you’ll soon dilute your value and be special to no one. Choose employees, customers, and suppliers carefully, through a win/win lens. Invest in their success and stick with them for the long-term… if they earn the privilege through performance. Loyalty is a two-way street!

 Keep it simple: Complexity is the enemy of speed and flexibility! Clarify the values and rules that govern all decisions. Use small teams to maximize responsiveness, flexibility and accountability. Maintain simple, stable, visual scorekeeping. Reduce overhead ‘interference’ by growing your business without growing HQ staff. Focus on continuous improvement and ‘the future.’ Remember, whatever doesn’t add customer value is waste!

 Reward the right results: Worthy partners deserve worthy goals! Align performance targets so that all partners stretch, together, for worthy goals. Share the benefits while strengthening the company. Don’t confuse long-term value with short-term profits, or loyalty with tenure. Measure the right things and fix ‘misalignments.’ Reward loyalty among employees, suppliers and customers with win/win growth and development opportunities.

 Listen hard, talk straight: Long-term relationships require honest, two-way communication and learning! Loyalty is based on trust, and trust requires reliable and accurate information. Deepen working relationships using feedback tools and joint forums to drive improvement. Listen to input, prioritize issues, and act on what you hear. Shared learning and understanding yields clearer priorities, coordinated actions, and superior results. Nothing magnifies the ‘loyalty effect’ like trust rooted in an open exchange of information and ideas. Confront ‘brutal facts’ in a way that exemplifies the truth being spoken in love (e.g., regular report cards, real-time metrics)!

 Preach what you practice: Actions often speak louder than words, but together they’re unbeatable! Clarify your principles and communicate them with passion. They’re the gravitational center for organization focus and loyalty, enabling your partners to understand, buy in, and become truly loyal. Put it in writing, talk the walk, continually teach and reinforce these practices. Celebrate internal heroes, share edifying stories and illustrative case studies. Continually cast the vision of where we’re going and how we’ll get there, based on mutually earned loyalty.

As leaders prone to pride and works of righteousness, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we’re somehow becoming more Christ-like by our own efforts. Sure, we know we’re saved by grace, but we’d like to think that our works make us more holy. In the heat of the daily battle we can forget that, apart from our identity in Christ, what we bring to the party – even on our best day – is “as filthy rags”(Isa 64:6). By leaning on our own righteousness, we damage our testimony with each offense, and push away many to whom we’re called to minister by our self-righteous behavior. In truth, our holiness depends on faithfully abiding in Jesus, which is made possible by His grace. John Piper recently said, “Grace isn’t simply leniency when we’ve sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.” For believers, God’s grace is active in saving us in Christ, sanctifying us in His image, and bringing us safely home!

Confident in God’s grace, we have the privilege of presenting ourselves, in gratitude, as living sacrifices and His ambassadors! When selfless works flow out of a heart that is grateful for such unmerited favor, others can often begin to see the reality of Christ’s love and gospel. With this truth in mind, let’s consider a few questions:

■Jesus told Paul that His “grace is sufficient” and His “power is made perfect in weakness.” How does this relate to us today as servant leaders and shepherds in the workplace?

■Do we behave or communicate as if “God is fortunate to have us on His team”?How can our ‘righteous’ behavior, often rooted in a misplaced sense of guilt or pride, create a stumbling block to others who truly need to hear Christ’s gospel of grace?

■Practically speaking, what does ‘humble reliance’ look like for us and how can this open the door with others to sharing the hope we have in Christ?

 “If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus coming to the Fairground Saturday,” that’s advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations. If the town’s citizens go the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales.”

  While humorous, the above quote captures the reality for many of us with respect to marketing… so many words, but so little understanding, focus and disciplined application. Although few business owners and CEOs imagine themselves to be topnotch ‘marketers,’ marketing is merely a broad banner flying over several fairly straight-forward business responsibilities. Getting a handle on a few key aspects of marketing – out of the continuing barrage of supposedly indispensable ‘new’ ideas pushed by consultants and business writers – will serve us well in building a growing enterprise.

So, What is Marketing?

 Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. It (1) identifies unfulfilled needs and desires, (2) defines, measures, and quantifies the size of the identified market and its profit potential, and (3) pinpoints the market segments that the company is capable of serving best, and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.

  Based on this definition, marketing clearly isn’t solely the responsibility of a specific department or key supplier, but rather an integrated subject requiring top management leadership and company-wide team effort. Marketing involves thoughtful strategic planning based on an accurate understanding of current capabilities and marketplace opportunities, on-going customer feedback and analysis of market trends, and a variety of ways to communicate to and stimulate target markets to spur profitable sales growth.

   Is improved marketing on the mind of the typical Christian business owner? In a recent nationwide survey of C12 members, improved strategic planning ranked as the single most pressing identified need (with 98% expressing current interest) from among a list of 19 specific business skills!

  In classic marketing lingo, once we’ve identified and analyzed the various market segments, strategically selected our target market segments, and considered how to best position ourselves to that target, we establish the optimum ‘marketing mix’ for each of our offerings by selecting the ideal set of choices from among ‘the four Ps’:

Product: the good or service that is designed, produced, and offered for sale

Price: the cost or exchange required for the customer to obtain our product

Place: marketing/distribution channels where our product is available

Promotion: encompasses all sales communication aimed at creating awareness and attraction, including advertising, selling, sales promotion, merchandising, and public relations

 Marketing Consistent with Our Purpose and Values

 Before we leave the subject of marketing, let’s talk briefly about shaping our marketing messages consistent with our stated purpose and core principles as Christians. It’s so easy to fall into the typical advertising appeals and positioning statements of our times which appeal to human vanity and idolatry. As ambassadors of Christ, our focus should be on excellence in our service to others, while avoiding manipulation, exaggerated claims, fleshly appeals and deceptive offers that would do damage to our testimony and harm those we are privileged to serve. Marketing messages that are excessively self-congratulatory or feed ungodly desires, behavior, or thinking should be avoided. We should aim to point others to God’s best and highest purposes with trustworthy, best-in-class service of their legitimate needs in a manner that honors God, is family friendly, and encourages the eternal perspective. As Jesus said, “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” (Jn 5:44).

 At the end of the day, excellent marketing is an expression of stewardship of the company He has given us to run for Him!

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1. Defining your Dominant Selling Idea (DSI) Our DSI is a unifying, energizing, focusing, trust-building, clutter-removing, lean-value-creating notion – a motivating difference at the moment of the purchase decision – that communicates our #1 position in a ‘desirable specialty’ that’s important to our target customers. That’s a mouthful, but unless we’re able to define our DSI, we won’t be able to ‘attach it’ to our name… a requirement for branding. Our DSI fuses our name to a #1 specialty in the customer’s mind. Remember, our customers must ‘cut through the fog’ of competing suppliers in an instant, hopefully as follows: Industry  Category  Specialty  #1 in Specialty  Our Brand Name

  First, we must articulate our clear ownable specialty. To view us as #1 at something, customers must first relate us to a specialty category, even if we have to invent it! When internal combustion engines became commonplace, Evinrude coined the term ‘outboard motor’ and dominated its growing niche. After airplanes became pervasive, proliferating specialty categories enabled leadership positions to be carved out in jets (vs. propeller-driven), fighter jets (vs. passenger/freight/corporate), supersonic (vs. subsonic), and stealth (vs. radar detectable). Boeing became #1 in the ‘jumbo jet’ category, just as many automakers now hope to be #1 in ‘hybrid cars.’ Within the global auto industry, little Subaru has become #1 in the “SUV Wagon” category and Volvo is branded as “the world’s safest car.”

After defining our clear ownable specialty, we can now develop our DSI. Imagination helps. For example, Rolaids invented the term “Acid Indigestion,’ Hall’s coined “Vapor Action,” and Metamucil renamed flea seed fiber as “100% Natural Psyllium.” To be powerful and memorable, our DSI should be as concise as possible (e.g., M&Ms–Melts in Your Mouth not in Your Hands; Allstate–The Good Hands People).

Ideally, our DSI will possess five ‘selling attributes’:

◊ Superlative – we’re best-in-class at something

◊ Important – that ‘something’ really matters

◊ Believable – there are logical reasons why this is the case

◊ Memorable – an emotional, easy-to-remember, ‘hook’ related to needs and wants

◊ Tangible – real and trusted based on our actual performance

 Once we have a DSI, we can use four vital supporting elements to bring it to life.

2. Your Company or Product Line’s Name When our name accentuates our DSI, we’ve got a powerful one-two punch! A descriptive and memorable name is best. Initials, family surnames, and innocuous labels can, of course, become familiar and meaningful in time (e.g., Toyota, Sears, IBM, etc.), but it’s far better to have a name that’s:

◊ Directly supportive of our DSI

◊ Descriptive, memorable, or evocative

◊ Ownable and protectable

◊ Easy and pleasing to say

Consider these communicative names that seem to have a built-in DSI: DieHard Batteries, Invisible Fence, Home ATM Software, Egg Beaters, Ball Park Franks, Super Bowl. Compare their marketing power to generic names such as Acme, Universal, Smith, etc.

3. Your Tagline This valuable selling tool supports your DSI by clearly ‘promising a difference’ that customers want to buy. Like your name, it will ideally be concise, colorful, evocative and memorable. Here are a few famous ones:

◊ Timex – Takes a Licking and keeps on Ticking

◊ Bounty – The Quicker-Picker-Upper

◊ Prudential – Get a Piece of the Rock

◊ Black Flag Roach Motel – Roaches Check In, but They Don’t Check Out.

◊ Visa – It’s Everywhere You Want to Be

4. Key Visuals While graphic design gives a brand consistency, key visuals demonstrate the performance and proof of your DSI at a glance, demonstrating that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Many are, in effect, instantaneous selling demos. A few examples:

◊ Masterlock – rifle bullet blasting through

◊ Tropicana – an orange with a straw in it

◊ Milk Industry – white milk mustache

◊ Crazy Glue – helmeted guy stuck to football goal crossbar

◊ Michelin Tire – secure smiling baby sitting in tire

5. Making it Real We either perform in such a way to make our DSI real or we don’t. Nothing kills a great brand message faster than poor follow-through.

Strong marketing creates great anticipation that can quickly turn into anger, a sense of betrayal, and a dead brand! Team unity and alignment, consistent with our company’s purpose and values, is essential to success. Assess how customers experience your DSI and evaluate your performance at each ‘touch point’ to ensure each element of the customer experience resonates with your promise.

What have we learned? Brands really matter! They’re accessible to all types and sizes of companies who consistently communicate their Dominant Selling Idea using readily available tools. Finally, they involve leadership focus and teamwork more than money to implement.