Perception is Powerful
By: Chris Stanton-Cook | Posted: 09th November 2006
Perception is powerful.
In one of the courses I facilitate, for members of the building industry qualifying for a contractors licence, I ask two questions to get the delegates to think about their business.
The first is "Why are you in Business? Tell me what is the reason you are in business".
The second is "What do you want from your business? Tell me your objectives".
While I haven't kept the statistical data I can say, in most courses over the last 6 years, the split between perception and tangible responses is very close to 50/50, (the range of answers is from +/- 5% of each group of between 25 to 40 people, 10-12 times a year).
Some of the tangible answers are -
• Make money
• Build a business
• Create financial wealth
• Buy "toys"
• Income to provide for family -
o Living
o Education
o Estate
• Leave a legacy to the community
Some of the perception answers are -
• To be in control
• Be successful
• Gain a good reputation
• Take on the challenge
• Be respected by my peers
• Choose my lifestyle
• Be a leader -
o Children
o Peers
o Employees
o Community
The constancy of the responses show that it is as important to consider the perception aspects of your business as it does the tangible aspects.
How is your industry perceived in the marketplace?
Do you know how your customers, competitors, peers and others perceive your business?
How could you find out what these people think of your business?
What could you do with this information if you could get it?
Your answers to these questions will depend on a number of factors.
• How clear you are about your personal objectives.
• Your understanding of your marketplace.
• The clarity of the vision for your business.
• Your commitment to the business mission.
An exercise for you
List 5-7 power words that are characteristics of how you want people to perceive or see your business.
For each word score the business perception on a scale of 1 - 7. Give a score of "1" when it is very unlikely that outsiders would agree and "7" when it is almost certain that outsiders would agree.
Calculate the gap between "7", where you want to be, and where you are. This gives you good indication of what areas you need to work on. For example a gap of 5 will require more work than a gap of 2.
Devise several strategies to bridge the gaps.
Choose the most promising strategy for each word and make it into an action plan. Make sure each plan is clear, says who is responsible for each step and has time boundaries clearly defined.
Implement the plan.
NOW you have set up a program to take you from where you are today to where you want to get to. Ensure you have well defined "milestones" to enable you to gauge your progress. Monitor your progress and reward yourself as you achieve each "milestone".
©Chris Stanton-Cook BBus GradDipAdvAccg CA
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Tags: money, marketplace, statistical data, peers, perception, legacy, clarity, lifestyle, education, exercise, good reputation, 6 years, delegates, constancy, personal objectives, business mission