Category: employees

The skills that matter

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Since we’ve been going through a massive growth spurt at rentoid – I’ve been thinking about the skills which matter. The skills which will take us from start up – to business. That stuff that happens after we’ve proved our concept and people are getting involved in what we do. And here’s my conculsions:

1. Project management. We must get the stuff done we’ve been talking about with our customers quickly. They haven’t got time to wait for us to get our act together. We must deliver our promises, or lose them forever.

2. Leadership. Keep the team inspired and motivated, while maintaining the culture we believe in and have already created. Just because we are starting to achieve our goals doesn’t mean we need to invent systems, create paperwork and lose trust for each other. This is where we prove there is another way to do things in business & life.

3. Maintain Momentum. Go ‘back to back’ in sporting parlance. The ability to maintain public interest and is difficult after unpaid national TV coverage. We’ve got to keep the tap running, keep communicating and getting coverage. This is where communication frequency becomes way more important than communication depth.

Another great way to keep ’em talking about rentoid?

We make sure we deliver on all the stuff we said we’d do – refer point 1.

Your call

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

(read in digital voice)

Hello, (pause)

Your call is important to us. We are unable to take you call at this time. (what?)

If you wish to change your account details press 1

If you’d like to listen to your account balance press 2

If you’d like to make a payment press 3

If you’d like to hear these options again press 4

If you wish to talk to an operator press 0 – the expected wait time is: 17 minutes…..

I hang up. My call is not important to them.

What surprises me is that companies spend millions on TV advertising attempting to create an interaction with potential customers who aren’t listening. Then when people try to interact with the same company, they get given the machine – the finger.

Most companies invest in the wrong area.  Automation is only a benefit when it increases interactions with people. When it facilitates the conversation, not circumvents it. It’s a classic case of balance sheet marketing.

Everything big companies do here is wrong.

Start ups: Talk to your people. Give them a real phone number to ring with a real person at the end of the line. Be there when they call. Have a conversation. Make it personal. Over invest in this area.

Singapore Series

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

On a recent business trip to Singapore I was surprised at how much cool stuff I saw. Not just start ups, but general marketing insight. It’s my general belief ( & many others) that globalisation has taken some of the joy away from travel. It’s harder to find new stuff, different concepts, and fresh ideas. Things just cross boundaries so much quicker now with the advent of $10 air tickets and the web.

But to my pleasure, it’s still out there if you look hard enough. So enjoy the next week’s blog entiries sub branded the “Singapore Series”.

Singapore personified!

By the way: How many brands are positively identified by their employees?

Indecisiveness

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The ability to make decisions is crucial. Maybe it’s why we escaped our cubicle – to make our own decisions. But this insight doesn’t stop us from occasionally facing moments of indecisiveness.

 

Here’s what to do – Outsource it.

 

Not literally, but metaphysically. We should ask ourselves what our most revered and respected entrepreneurs would do. And just do that. Done, decision made.

 

The fact is we know what they (Insert favorite entrepreneurs name here: Branson, Jobs, Brin, Bezos ?) would do, because we’ve read so much about them, we’ve seen them in action, so we know exactly how they’d act. And often, the have the courage and conviction we strive for.

 

So when in doubt, just be them.

Mind your language

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The slight nuances of language are vital. When we hear people’s words, we can see into their soul.

 

Do people work for you, or with you?

 

Same thing? Not really. Not at all in fact.

 

Working for you

Working with you

Directive

Collaborative

Authoritarian

Decentralised

Divergent goals

Convergent goals

Business expense

Revenue generator

Employee

Partner

 Working for you

When people ‘work for you’, we subconsciously kybosh their potential as idea merchants and problem solvers. This is a mistake at all levels in any organization.  

When we work with people, our minds open and our world changes.

 

The payment method or equity position of those working with us is irrelevant, what is relevant is how we view our people. And that view is determined by the language we use, in this instance and many others.

Career promises

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Often corporations make hollow promises to actual and prospective employees about their career. People worry about career prosepects at employers, when all they need to remember is this:

People have careers,

Companies have jobs.

Entrepreneurs are like footballers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Footballers (or any sports person) have good form and bad form. Some are heroes and always play well…. others have fleeting moments and some are inconsistent but sometimes brilliant.

 

As entrepreneurs we ought aim to be like ‘the’ footballer… not just a footballer in the league… But the MVP.

 

It’s hard to understand why some footballers have got the raw talent, the opportunity in the big league, but never seem to reach their potential.

 

Chances are – we too are that person – but in business.

 

We’ve been told by our friends and colleagues that we’ve got the talent to make it happen. They believe in us, but we’re not there – yet. That said, we should refer to ‘that football player’ we all have in our mind already. The guy who could be an absolute hero if he just pulled it all together… The training, the preparation, the diet, the mental application, the team effort, the professionalism. (free feel to name / discuss him in the comments) It’s the same with our start up. The idea, and our potential is only part of the equation. In fact, it’s really just like getting drafted. We’ve got along way to go.

 

 

If we’re going to play, we may as well behave like the MVP. Do it all. Aim for perfection and strive to extract every ounce of the gifts we’ve been given. As we know the MVP is never the guy with the most raw talent. It’s usually the guy who maximizes their potential.

 

Let’s do all the stuff we know we should in order to be the best. Otherwise, what’s the point?