Constructive discontent allows differing opinions, paradoxes, conflicts, and dilemmas to come out in the open where they can be used as valuable business tools! Following are some ways you can start here and now in your business to use this powerful strategy for unlocking group intelligence.

Be a centered leader. Talk slowly and calmly without denying emotions and without becoming reactive to them. Change the rhythm of dialogue to allow safe discord and enable creativity to emerge from open minds and hearts.

Stay open, curious, and empathetic. When you lose self-control, others feel unsafe to speak openly and honestly and collaboration is extinguished. Learn from your instinctive anger or resistance instead of protecting your position.

Withhold response and listen harder to maximize understanding and potential opportunity. Look for points of alignment and remember that feelings are facts to the person experiencing them.

Utilize the Emotional Intelligence of the whole group. Encourage each person to share what he or she thinks and feels without judgment. Affirm and encourage others who express alternative opinions so they feel heard and respected.

Ask questions while you advocate for your position. Clearly state your feelings and thinking process and ask others to do the same. Doing this builds trust and understanding in the midst of discord.

Find cooperative possibilities. Look for concrete ways you and the others will benefit by cooperating. Harness the energy of conflict to create better solutions for all involved. To loosen perspectives, you might ask, “What will happen if we don’t work together?”

Speak from personal experience. Share how you learn—or struggle to learn—from this or similar situations. Encourage others to share their experiences. Using this approach can bypass defensive or adversarial positions, generate empathy, and create openness.

Say no when you mean no. Say you don’t know when you don’t know. You can be firm without disrespecting or disregarding others’ rights, views or feelings.

Follow through with your projected or promised outcomes. Be clear about any commitments you make during dialogue and then keep them.

Harness the transformational power of anger.Deeply caring discussions often include passionate conflict and brief flashes of anger; they make conversation alive and real. Anger can spark courage and creativity, correct injustices, stimulate progress and create tremendous productive energy when it is appropriately expressed and channeled.

Being specific about your disappointment in any unmet expectation promotes a more trusting and resilient relationship.

Accept that there will be some who, no matter what you do to reach them, will not be constructive, no matter what. Acknowledge this fact without letting it get to your heart. Accept their attitude, bypass their support for things that matter to you, and move them on to something that does inspire them (and off your team).

Mine the gold of gripes. Get pet peeves out in the open to increase productivity and profitability. Unresolved or ignored frustrations and complaints are killers of personal initiative. People may give up griping, but they don’t give up the gripe.

Can you think of ways to cultivate constructive discontent in your business?

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© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

Unlocking a group intelligence that is greater than your own will always enhance the creative potential of your business. By keeping issues and possibilities open as long as possible—accepting disagreement and discontent—you have greater access to innovation and success.

Some business leaders are afraid of conflicts and disputes. They shy away from acknowledging and channeling valuable input from team members, because they are not skilled at handling disagreements. As a result, they forfeit the creative energy that is available when constructive discontent is valued and put to use in ways that can transform a business. High-level cooperation can emerge naturally, even when many independent-minded team members are in far-flung places with no dominating central authority.

As an owner or manager, your team looks to you to channel differing ideas, opinions and feelings into transformative actions. Like any business skill, constructive discontent grows stronger and more valuable with regular use. You can use the following tactics as ‘rules to live by’ to help you develop that aspect of management and make the most of constructive discontent:

• Extend respect and trust.
• Stay open, curious, and empathetic.
• Learn from resistance and criticism.
• Be aware that contention stimulates quality and innovation.
• Recognize that discontent about how things are right now, direction to do something different, and movement toward change must exceed the mindsets, beliefs, and attitudes of the status quo.
• Remember that the inability to experience or express anger in a healthy way gets you and others stuck in ongoing conflict.
• Be gutsy enough to clarify or challenge assumptions and spark a shift in attention.
• Get out of the way so the answer can be found, rather than needing to tell others the answer.

There is nothing to fear from discontent… unless you ignore it or shut it down.

Soon we’ll post some ways to make the most of constructive discontent in your business. Stay tuned!
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© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

These days it seems there are a million marketing opportunities available.  Traditional offline marketing strategies can still work, but the world of online marketing has exploded.  It seems there’s a new ‘next best thing’ in the social media world every month.

So how do you keep up?

First, you need to be very clear on the future vision for your business.  Evaluate what’s working and what isn’t.  Make a firm decision on the steps you need to take in order to achieve your goals.

Next you have to know your clients.  What are their interests?  Where do they hang out?  What social media and online marketing platforms do they use?

Remember, you don’t have to know everything about every platform – just enough to know what will work for you.  Each platform has different pros, cons and uses.

Having a strong presence online is essential to giving your brand credibility.  Be sure your clients are finding you when they’re looking.  These days it’s guaranteed that your leads are doing their research online before they contact you.

Once you’ve decided on your next steps, you can either automate processes and/or get help in implementing them.  It’s essential that you’re first clear on your brand, target markets and goals, in order to effectively communicate with your audience, team and clients.

It isn’t as tough as it seems.  With a clear future vision for your business, everything else falls into place organically.

Tamara Smith

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© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

Many business owners are focused on finding new customers and at the same time holding on to those they already have. Most service and product based businesses spend most of their time catering to the wants and needs of new customers. Knowing which types of customers they should be concentrating on isn’t something they usually think about.

Which customers are the best for your business?

Those who need something tend to be looking for a particular item. While this item could be something you provide, often the need-based customer is one who will purchase only once if your product or service is not something that they will need often. Concentrating your marketing and advertising efforts on  this type of customer can bring in more sales at one time but then you’ll find there is a downturn in your business. When the specific item/s that these customers need is purchased, you are once again out there looking for new sales prospects.

One way you can benefit from sales of this type is to foresee the need before others are aware that the market is even available. Another way is to turn them into loyal customers by interacting with them. All of your need based customers have the potential to become long term loyal customers if you find out what their long term needs are.

The best customer for any business is the repeat or loyal customer. Focusing on keeping the customers you already have while still providing what they will need at a later date combines the best of both worlds. These types of customers can make up more than 50% of your sales while representing no more than 20% of your customer base. These are the customers you should be keeping in touch with. By email newsletter, telephone calls or mail, make sure to touch base and remind them that you have new products or services that they will want.

Ask for their input on future offers. What do they need that you can provide? How can you improve on the items they presently purchase from you? Offer your loyal customers discounts and specials that are available only to them. This will help keep them coming back and show them that you value their business. The secret is to make sure they feel special and they will return to your business time after time.

Your loyal customers are those that should be influencing your marketing decisions. Knowing that their opinions are valued, they may recommend you to others. Always remember that these customers provide the foundation for your business, treat them well and you will notice the growth in your business.

Chris Draper

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© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

image courtesy of Pedro Kwezi