Dear Mike,

What's the ROI of the questions you answer?

The Hotshot Rule

Kat Cole is one of the most successful business turnaround artists in the country.

Starting as a hostess at Hooters, she went on to become Executive VP of the company.

She made her fame saving failing businesses, such as Cinnabon. At 34, she was the youngest ever CEO to appear on the TV Show Undercover Boss. She now leads Athletic Greens.

She counsels every struggling business leader to ask themself "If I was fired, what would my replacement do? Why wait?"

This thought experiment works as well for individual contributors as it does for business leaders. What would a hotshot do in your situation?

What if you Charged 10X?

The next thought experiment comes from famous author, investor and blogger Seth Godin.

He poses the question "What if you were forced to charge ten times as much for your product or service? What would you do?

Before you brush off the question as ridiculous, think for a minute how many businesses today charge ten times more than their competition. It's not impossible at all. But if forces you to think differently about your value proposition and customer experience.

Here are just a few brands that currently charge ten times more than others in their field:

Rolex charges ten times more than Seiko, but doesn't keep better time
Amedei Porcelana chocolate bars cost $20.00, 10x more than Hershey
A Four Seasons hotel room is 10X more than a Hilton
A Ferrari is 10X a Toyota
A high end Apple iPhone is 10X a flip phone, and so on.

What would you need to change in your branding, your customer experience, your marketing, and your quality in order to charge ten times more? Now take a second look at all those premium brands. In nearly every case, they also make more PROFIT than their cheaper rivals. The more you charge, the more you can invest to improve your value.

What Would Cause you to Change your Mind?

The third thought experiment comes from Michael Shermer, author, podcaster, and founder of Skeptic Magazine.

Shermer prides himself on his ability to have cordial conversations with people who have deeply held beliefs that they seem unable and unwilling to alter.

He engages in public debates with conspiracy theorists, fringe scientists, Holocaust deniers, and fanatics of all flavors.

When debating with these individuals, he is always respectful and listens carefully without losing his composure. He realizes he probably can't change the debater's mind, but he can impact the opinions of the audience and viewers.

When debating someone who, for example believes the Earth is Flat or the Moon Landings were staged, he will ask a simple question. "What evidence would you need to see in order for you to change your mind?" The answer for most people would be "absolutely nothing", but remember, his real target is the audience. The audience will then think about the issue themselves, and open the door to changing their opinion

We also have deeply held beliefs, which are also difficult to change. Let's say a customer states "Cisco products are terrible" or "Managed Services are too expensive", or "Crowdstrike is controlled by the Russian KGB". We've all heard prejudiced comments like these before. Do you throw your hands up and give up? It's hard to turn that around, but a start is to ask them the hypothetical question "what would you need to see....?"

What's Going to Say the Same?

The fourth and final thought experiment comes from Morgan Housel, author of the recent book "Same as Ever". His fascinating premise is we spend so much time wondering what's going to change. What's new? What's trending? "What's the future going to look like? We rarely ask "what's NOT going to change?"

He cites Jeff Bezos, who says "I don't know what the future will look like. Nobody does. But I do believe in 50 years people will still want low prices and fast delivery. That's not going to change, and we build our business around that."

What's not going to change in your business? Are you working to optimize those things?

Questions Drive Creativity and Innovation

One final thought:

Google spends less than one thousandth of a cent to answer each question posed by a Google search. They earn about 6 cents per answer from the promotional ads. That gives them an ROI of six thousand to one!

What's the ROI of the questions you answer?

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Ancient History

Meet the "Hit Mann"

Mike Schmidtmann coaches business owners and sales leaders across the USA. He works to drive results in sales recruiting, new business development, and profitability.

Mike led sales for Inacom Communications for ten years. then founded and built a $30 Million business unit for SPS.

Mike produces the award-winning Trans4mers webinar series on IT sales and management subjects. He is a frequent public speaker on business topics.

He lives on a farm in Northern Virginia with his family and assorted horses, alpacas, goats and dogs.

Play "Stump the Chump"

E-Mail Mike with a vexing and perplexing question and you'll get a telling and compelling reply.

Mike Schmidtmann

 (703) 408 - 9103

Mike@Trans4mers.net

www.MikeSchmidtmann.com