These owners know about good and bad economic times, people issues, client problems, operational struggles and financial concerns. They know, from history, what is required to pay the bills and meet client needs.
So, if they know all of these things... why do seminars, best practices groups, conventions, and consultants exist? They exist because business owners are compelled to know what they don't know. The things they don't know are what could put them out of business.
My first day on the job at a construction equipment rental, sales, and maintenance company taught me this lesson very well. I was told to travel with one of our clients to a highway construction job site on my first day. The trip took about 2 hours (one way) to get to the site, an hour at the site, and 2 hours coming home. I didn't speak more than 5 minutes the entire trip. The COO of this road contractor was one of the most successful contractors in the Western U.S. and knew that he had to teach me as much as possible in this trip. I was going to be making decisions in the equipment company he was depending upon for his job success.
He taught me a lot about the business basics on the way to the site and then showed me how rock crushing equipment worked and how it processed to asphalt and was put on the road. We stood on the crushing equipment while the rocks were being crushed and screened (I am sure I still have dust in places I can't mention). I saw how critical every step was in the process and how much money could be lost if something went wrong. He gave me insights to how much money could be lost if the operation were to be shut down for just one hour.
When we finished he gave me a lesson that made an impact on my career. He said "decisions are made in business based on what we know. If we don't know something, we have to guess. That is tough and risky. When we know something it gives us confidence, "even if it is bad news or something we don't want to hear". He concluded by saying, "A business owner craves knowing what they don't know so they can make better decisions and be more productive".
His message meant two things to me.
1. If we know something (his machine can't be fixed in time or a rental machine won't be there on time, etc.) we have to tell him immediately upon learning so he can make the necessary decision. If he doesn't know this information, no matter how bad the news is, he can't make a good decision.
2. He wants to know any information that can help him run his business better. If we have experience, best practices, ideas, or strategies that will help him be more successful, he is passionate about getting it.
What can a business learn from this lesson?
1. Tell your clients any information that would be necessary for them to know, as soon as you learn the information. Holding back information that could cause them to make a bad decision could be detrimental to your relationship with them. My mentor at the job site above closed the day with a strong statement... "bad news will get your butt chewed out but no news will get you fired!".
2. A client needs your expertise and advice. If you have a method of giving them insights on their business with your expertise, and can put a plan together to help them be more successful, you will bring them value. Don't just sell them your product. That is not good enough. Give them insights to best practices, cost reducing ideas, increased revenue opportunities, and anything they "may not know". When you help them know what they don't know, you become more valuable. When you give them plans to improve on "what they don't know", then you really become valuable.
Business owners want to be more profitable, help their clients, hire and retain top employees, and have great owner satisfaction. Giving analysis and insights to help them with clarity and learning "what they don't know" is valuable. Giving them a plan to improve their business, based on these insights, is a bonus.
Insurance Agencies in the Sitkins International Network use this model to help their clients. The model begins by doing an analysis on the risk management issues in the company. They identify, based on their strong expertise, where a business may spend money they don't want or need to spend in the areas of benefits costs and potential risk issues. They focus on three areas of Total Cost of Risk and Total Cost of Benefits: Preventive costs, direct costs, and indirect costs.
The analysis is put into an indexing process to prioritize the risk management issues and give insights to what a business "may not know". After the assessment is complete, the agency provides a "plan" to help the client proactively manage these issues and reach specific goals.
I have spoken to hundreds of business owners who have communicated the great value of this process. The insights given from this process allows for them to know "what they don't know" and then have direction on how to improve their business.
To contact a Sitkins International Agency, you can email Patrick@Sitkins.com and he will connect you with an agency in your area who does this analysis.
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