I Heart Jury Duty (and NY, Which Is Irrelevant)

I'm the guy in the front row, 3rd from the left.

You know what I look forward to (other than going to work each day as a tax consultant)? I bet you guessed jury duty, didn’t you?

I’m a pretty exciting guy, huh? Jury-duty-loving tax consultant.

Jury duty is great. You get a lunch break. You get paid. $15! A day!

Also, it’s probably the one and only time where openly judging someone is completely socially acceptable.

Okay, so you are probably thinking I’m being a smart aleck. To be fair, in most cases, you would be right. It’s virtually impossible for me to refrain from making witty remarks. (In the interest of full disclosure, my wife would use the word “irritating” instead of “witty.” It’s just semantics though.)

But in all actuality, I love jury duty, and not just because it’s the closest I’ll ever come to being Matlock.

And herein lies my problem: Attorneys never pick tax consultants as jurors. Accountants listen to well. (Also something my wife would dispute.*)

Though I have been called to jury duty many, many times, I have only served on a jury twice. And both times, I have learned a ton.

The first jury trial I had the pleasure of participating in was a civil trial between General Motors and MTA. I felt like a badass. I was referee watching two titans duke it out. This was Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield. Rumble in the courtroom jungle.

The jury had no sympathy for either company. There were two expert witnesses—one representing each side of the case.

The first expert—the fellow representing the MTA—wore a bright, plaid sport coat and a not-so-terrific tie. It was way too wide. (If you only take away one thing from today’s blog, let it be this advice: Always remember to wear thin ties and never wear plaid when testifying!) The expert was also a little argumentative and defensive, particularly when cross-examined.

He might or might not have known his stuff. I couldn’t tell because I was too busy being annoyed by his abrasive attitude. (And the stains on his tie – did he have soup for lunch?)

Then General Motors sent its expert to the stand. GM’s expert was wearing a smart, respectable, solid suit, not to mention a thin tie. He looked at the jury when he answered questions. He may or may not have known his stuff, but I was convinced that he did. He was in control. He was calm, and he didn’t try to fight with the attorney who was cross-examining him.

From this I learned how to be the better expert witness in everyday life. How you approach testimony in court is how you need to approach everyday life. Be more like the GM expert witness and less like Mr. Wide Tie.

(This blog is not affiliated with the MTA or General Motors.)

(I like both products.)

(Kudos to cars and buses.)

Being a good listener starts with small things – like listening to the waiter explain why your egg sandwich is taking so long. And the same holds true in dealing with clients, employers, and employees in business. When talking to an upset client, employer, or employee, remind yourself not to feel attacked. If you listen for the attack, you won’t hear the question, and you will respond defensively.

If you listen to the question, and then you think about what information the other person needs to better understand your position, and then calmly deliver that information, then you will respond more directly, and you will sound more competent.

Your client, your boss, your employee will think you are smart, even if you aren’t. Here’s something I know to be true: People will believe you are smarter if you want to help them and demonstrate that you can help them, even if you are not. By the way I am definitely not smart. You might think I’m smart because I’m a tax consultant, but think again. (I like jury duty for God’s sake.) But people keep turning to me for help, trusting my wisdom. It’s because I’m a good listener. It’s because I want to help them.

Today’s challenge: If you start feeling defensive, take a deep breath and remember to listen for the question. Respond calmly, with the intention of helping the other person understand your position. Answer to the best of your ability, and ask questions when you aren’t clear.

*Teasing my wife in my blog is one of the ways I flirt with her. I know that makes my romantic skills slightly questionable, but for the record, my wife is pretty darn amazing and she never nags. Well, hardly ever. At least not today. It’s 6 a.m., and she’s still sleeping.   

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What Is an Entrepreneur?

Jean-Baptiste

I have a question for you: What is an entrepreneur? 

And don’t worry … this isn’t a pop quiz. One of these days, I’ll spring a pop quiz on you, but today’s not the day. Always be prepared, though.

Let’s get back to my question …

What is an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur: man, I love that word. (Cue the chorus of hallelujahs.) It’s so majestic. It just rolls of the tongue: entrepreneur. Please take a second to say that word out loud. Awesome, right?

Anyway, the classic definition of an entrepreneur is someone who starts his own business. And last weekend, I learned that a French economist named Jean-Baptiste Say first coined the phrase “entrepreneur.” Jean-Baptiste (we’re on a first names basis) lived from 1767 to 1832 and lived thru the French Revolution.

So what is an entrepreneur according to Jean-Baptiste? He says it’s someone who takes resources from a lower level to a higher level of productivity.

That’s different from someone who starts a business, isn’t it? I haven’t lived thru the French Revolution, and I don’t have a hyphenated first name, but I’m quite positive that Jean-Baptiste’s original definition is not the same as the classic definition. It’s not the same thing.

Your mind is probably spinning at this point. Questions must be going off like wildfire in your head. Is this true? Has the definition of entrepreneur really changed over time? If this is true, what else is true? Is the world really flat? Does Santa Clause exist?

Calm down. We can get through this together.

Now I’ve always thought of myself as an entrepreneur in the classic sense, but now that I know about Jean-Baptiste, it occurs to me that everyone out there could be an entrepreneur. You don’t have to start your own business. Everyone out there has resources, and everyone out there has the license to bring those resources to a higher level of productivity.

I think that deserves a full on “HALLELUJAH!”

Now, this might scare some people because if you are an entrepreneur, you have a degree of responsibility for using the resources at your disposal wisely. And truth be told, elevating resources to a higher level is a great responsibility. Some people would rather keep their head down and just punch in and out without trying for anything more.

But today, I challenge you to imagine what the world would be like if we were all entrepreneurs working at the highest level of productivity. I just got chills. I’m writing this outside in the snow so that could be the reason for the chills, but still … it would be an amazing thing and we would reach new levels that this world hasn’t seen.

So think about what goes on during your day. And when something is bugging you, ask “What is an entrepreneur, and what would he or she do?” And then start talking about the problem or solution. Talk with your supervisor, tell your friend, tell your significant other. Shine a light on it and start looking for solutions. That’s the only way to make it better, to be more productive. The very thought process of you looking for these opportunities will make you perform better. Got it, people? I mean … entrepreneurs.

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The Price is Right

The Price is Right

 

When you buy a car, you are given a price. You don’t care how much it has cost the car company to build that car. You either decide the car is either valuable to you or not (with perhaps a little bargaining here and there, unless you are my wife, in which case you just buy the car). Some people buy Bentley’s, some people buy Kia’s. Either car gets them to the same place in the same amount of time. Sure, a Ferrari might get you there a little quicker, but that’s beside the point. (And anyway who needs to get to the grocery store at 120 mph? Maybe someone with digestive problems, but I’m really getting way off topic here.)

The point is that people buy things for different reasons. For a North Dakotan, seat warmers might be worth a thousand bucks; if you live in Arizona, your bum will never get chilly enough to turn the seat warmers on. Whatever the reason, at the end of the day when customers put down their hard-earned cash for your product or services, they are deciding that what you have to offer is worth the price.

If you are doing the job right, your clients are buying things that you think they ought to value. They will be more inclined to value these things if they are presented the right way. Price, obviously, is a prime component in your product’s presentation. For instance, let us say you own a carpet cleaning business and you would like to charge seventy-eight million dollars per cleaning. In that case, Bill Gates is probably your really only true potential client. If he passes, you’re going to have to rethink your rates.

So how you do make sure your prices are both fair and justifiable to both the client and yourself? For starters, remember that pricing is not about efficiency; it’s about effectiveness. Setting fair and justifiable prices is not about how fast you get something done—or even how good you get it done. (Although doing a bad job isn’t ideal; always do your best for crying out loud!)

Pricing is about the effect your product and/or services have on your customer. Does the product or service meet the goals you promise it meets? If the answer is yes and your customer buys it, the price is right. Our old friend Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach says that there is only one person important in confirming your product.   It is the person that writes the check!

I don’t mind plugging the hot dog establishment in Hollywood called Pinks but, in fact, they don’t need my plug. More often than not, the line to get a hot dog there is like the lines that formed when Star Wars first came out and people couldn’t get tickets on the Internet ‘cause Al Gore was still a few years away from inventing it.

Is a hot dog worth waiting hours on end for? The people in line at Pinks obviously think so. That’s a perfect example of clients placing a value on something greater than its general cost. They’re willing to wait because to them it’s worth it. In fact, often times, businesses price their products much less than many of their customers are willing pay for the value they receive.  Crazy but it is true!  You see, many people see values, other than the specific, first impression, value of an item they purchase.  A hot dog is not a hot dog when it is a Pinks hot dog.  A car is not a car when it is a Ferrari.

Thinking about the various values that we deliver when we offer our product or service is important.  Have you stopped to assess the REAL VALUE you deliver?  If you have, then it is likely you have confidence in the value of your product.

This brings up a very important point. Too many undervalue the service or product they deliver.  Since your product is in many ways a reflection of you, as is the price, you really cannot accurately estimate the value of what you provide without taking a moment to accurately assess your own worth. Presenting a product and standing by its price has a lot to do with projecting confidence in that product. To have that kind of confidence, you must first have that kind of confidence in yourself. It’s amazing the amount of people walking around without an adequate amount of self-confidence. Half the battle of self-confidence is simply deciding that you are worth it. Believe it and it will be true.  Don’t be afraid to test what the sophisticates call “Price Point”.  Don’t set a price just because it is the same price of other comparable products?  Why create a product that someone else created before you unless you can bring greater value to that product than others?

Selling your product or service coming from a confident place, delivering value that your customers want and confirmed by the dollar votes of your customers confirms that THE PRICE IS RIGHT.

Today’s challenge:

Make a list of all the things about you that are of value – not economic value, but personal. Think out of the box. Which non economic values does your product or service speak to or enhance?  When speaking about and most importantly pricing your product or service,   see how that new understanding effects what you believe that product or service is worth.