Do you have a Service and Confidentiality Agreement?

A great customer relationship is based on trust - and a trusted relationship is based on a foundation of clarity, clear expectations and no surprises.

It’s like a marriage - and a marriage (in Jewish  law is governed by a “Ketuba” which is read in full at the wedding.)

Similarly, your relationship with your customer should be governed by a well-crafted, customer focussed  Service and Confidentiality Agreement (SCA)  which defines what your customer can fairly expect, how you plan to deliver that service - and of course - what you expect  of them 

Your customers have to know that you put them first.

So what is a Service and Confidentiality Agreement an SCA 

Your SCA is an  agreement between you and your customers and makes sure you both have a clear and concise definition of services, responsibilities, timelines, and guarantees.

It will  deliver clear advantages to you and your customers and should be an integral part of your customer onboarding  process.

It should  specify exactly what is (and is not) covered, document roles and responsibilities of both parties, and define service prerequisites that set you up for success. 

When you’re clear on expectations, you’ll be able to measure and manage the user experience in a meaningful way and position yourself as a trusted advisor. 

The better your agreement, the more you and your clients benefit.

Your SCA delivers peace of mind to your customers, who can refer to agreed-upon deliverables, see clearly defined terms of service, and access specific instructions for support and escalation.

Since your SLA is a legal document, you also want to make sure a qualified legal professional who understands the industry and any relevant verticals or regulatory considerations reviews it.

Some of the things  to include 

• Your availability and contact details
• Fees and Payment Schedule
• Taxes
• A clear explanation of your service
• Your brand promise 
•  Inclusions and Exclusions - identify specifically what is and is not covered to avoid confusion on both sides.
• Performance Measurement - Include that you Address concerns immediately, so your customers feel heard Monitor compliance by measuring your progress against SCA goals. Rely on reporting to help you keep customers aware of how you’re meeting and exceeding your SCA  promises. (Regular feedback forms) 
• Your guarantee  
• Incident Management Process and Response Time
• Limitation of Liability
• Service Requirements
• Minimum Standards 
• Confidentiality
• Security
• Reporting. Providing real-time performance to customers through automated reporting provides full transparency into the real status of the agreed upon metrics.

  “If used correctly, the SCA Agreement can be your most effective sales tool and the ultimate source of your profit and protection.”

Regular review of your SCA 

  “It costs approximately six times more to attract a new client than to retain an old one.”

Things change in every relationship, and your relationship with your customer is no different. 

On a pre-established, regular schedule, you should meet with your customer to revisit your SCA and make sure it is still meeting the needs of both parties. If it isn’t, you might need to refresh.

5 reasons why it might be time to refresh your SCA 

You’re offering a new service. Don’t set yourself up for failure by allowing new services— with new requirements—to be governed by an old SCA

Your team is struggling to meet timelines.

If you can’t meet current SCA expectations, especially if it’s because you’re constantly delivering higher quality work, it’s time to renegotiate.

If you’re  losing customers to SCA- related disputes, especially at a higher rate than the industry average, it’s time to make some changes.

It’s confusing. If you’re constantly getting questions about a

particular section of your SLA, rewrite it for clarity.

It isn’t keeping up.

Technology changes fast, and sometimes your

SCA might not reflect the change. Use revision time to update your standards and stay competitive.

It’s all about customer satisfaction 

Your business is only as good as your reputation - and a solid reputation is based on the satisfaction of your customers .

Customer Satisfaction is the key to success

“90% of customers who are satisfied with you  will recommend and refer you to your peers.”

The 7 Paradoxes of Entrepreneurship

A great article written by Tony Nagy - foundation member of our BBG Innovation Forum!

Tobi Talks about the 7 Paradoxes of Entrepreneurship

If you are an entrepreneur - all the power to you....... welcome to club fear!! 

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon driven by creativity and imagination and can be quite a tricky process for the uninitiated, due to a number of counterintuitive paradoxes that entrepreneurs have to contend with, in order to be successful. Let’s take a look at seven of these paradoxes.

The first paradox is you “lose money to make money”; so, what does that actually mean? Well, a startup enterprise is a blank canvas and a learning environment, and the founder has to try and figure it out, and “experiment”, and collect data, much like a scientist. Naturally, these experiments don’t always work, and they can drain your resources completely, if not managed carefully. For example, you have just launched an online business, but you are not sure about your marketing tactics, so you start experimenting with different things, based on your customer personas. Things such as Facebook, Instagram, SEO, LinkedIn, etc. Some will work and some won’t work depending on how well the entrepreneur has identified their target market and the message they are sending out.  Each experiment will cost money, how much will depend on the entrepreneur’s budget and how they allocate and manage their budget.

The second paradox is you “relinquish wealth to create it”, (the entrepreneur’s or others’). This is simply the capital investment required to start the business. Now, of course, some businesses don’t require a lot of capital to start, but as the business grows it will require some form of finance (such as debt) or investment (equity). For example, the entrepreneur could be required to second-mortgage their property in order to obtain finance from the bank, so all those years of paying off their mortgage, is now handed back to the bank, and furthermore, all those years of wealth creation could actually be lost.

The third paradox is you “experience failure to experience success”. Every seasoned entrepreneur knows this is true. Success is not just a fork in the road; it’s not whether you either succeed, or not, but rather it’s a series of trial and errors until that unique success formula is discovered. The problem with most entrepreneurs is they give up too early, either through disappointment, exhaustion, lack of capital, or marriage breakup. Something to consider here is that the average entrepreneur “fails” or nine or ten times before they succeed. So, if you are wondering if you are a failure, then think again, you may still have a long way to go; there may still be lots of room for your success. As the famous US baseballer Babe Ruth once said, “Every strike brings me closer to a home run”. Probability-wise, this is also correct, try something enough times and you will succeed, (provided one learns something from each failure, and they are able to correct it). So, the development of resilience and persistence is the key here, and a final thought, nothing great comes from doing something easy.

The fourth paradox is “planning the “unplannable”. Anyone that’s ever started a business will know that if you write a business plan, it is pretty much useless, after the first three months. In my experience of starting my own businesses and coaching and mentoring others over the last 28 years, I don’t think I have ever seen a business start and stay the same course over time. Businesses continually pivot, in order to survive, especially at the startup stage, when they are figuring out what to do. This is purely dictated by the market, (the customer’s needs and wants), the industry, and its competitive pressures.

In my first business in the early 90s, I set-up a surf t-shirt manufacturing business, where I spent three months, full-time, writing a business plan, (which I was ever so proud of), and buying all the required equipment to print t-shirts. After, 3 months, one of my customers asked me if I could do snowboard wear. Now, in the early 90s, snowboarding was a “hot” and burgeoning industry, with very little local competition, so I said yes! I was able to completely transform my business into a snowboard garment manufacturing company, almost immediately. Within 2 years, I was already exporting to Switzerland, New Zealand, and Japan. My original business plan completely lost track.

Instead of a business plan, an entrepreneur must be guided by his/her vision, which includes their ideology and core purpose, as these rarely ever change. They should study the market carefully and listen to the customer, and then focus on creating their product/service. Then spend time figuring out strategies to build their market dominant position over time. Now, this will change as the market changes and competitive pressures increase, but will most likely take a lot longer. The tactics, which is what most business plans are built on, can change on a daily basis, hence the likelihood of it quickly being out of date.

Instead of writing a business plan, the entrepreneur should spend that time learning how to get a customer, then create a framework of how they will bring their resources together. Using, tools such as the Business Model Canvas can be very helpful and time-saver. The key here is to be flexible and open to opportunities, as you are learning, but also turning to be focused on building one thing and doing it well, (again another paradox here).

The fifth paradox is “creating chaos to create order”. Now, this is very counterintuitive, however, creativity comes from our imagination, and this is where the "sparks of genius" lie. One also has to acknowledge that there is a fine line between genius and madness. It actually stems from the same point, and this point is often mired in chaos. However, the entrepreneur must be able to take that “chaos”, and bring “order” to it, to be able to execute it. Here is where the “genius” ability emerges; that ability to take that “madness” and put it into some form of “order” that can make sense to the “real” world.

The sixth paradox is “creative thinking “outside the box” for innovation but requiring discipline and focus to execute”. Now, this is linked to the previous paradox and goes without saying, entrepreneurs need to look at something from an imaginative perspective, or some kind of uncontrolled thought, which can often even tinge on “madness” (as this is where genius lies). However, to be successful in execution requires some form of order, including discipline and focus, otherwise, it ends up being chaotic and dysfunctional, which will lead to underperformance, and worst case, failure.

Finally, the seventh paradox is “too much order and you lose creativity” the antithesis of the previous two paradoxes. When there is too much control, it often leads to bureaucracy, which completely kills creativity. In order to remain creative, an organisation must be flat, focused, and nimble, and encourage diversity and tolerance of failure.

So, as you can see there are many paradoxes to contend with, and the most successful entrepreneurs are able to have insight into these paradoxes. They are able to create strategies to overcome these paradoxes via fluid responses, built on flexibility and resilience, but also, they are able to be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. They have a knack for being able to let things go and not get attached to them.

If you can think of any more paradoxes of entrepreneurship, please let me know.

Written by Tobi Nagy 

What causes prices such as diamonds, Bitcoin and gold to rise?

Wanna grow value?

Create Scarcity 

Scarcity is Something that is in short supply, high demand, and available within a limited timeframe.

Cookie experiment 

In 1975 this experiment saw 200 undergrad students taste and rate cookies that they believed were either in limited or abundant supply. 

Cookies believed to be in limited supply were rated as significantly more likeable and attractive than those believed to be in abundance. 

Students  were willing to pay 11% more for the cookies they believed were ‘in short supply’.

Why? 

we’re always craving what we’re told we can’t have. 

Does abundance have value? Only if you can make it mores scarce or more limited and more ‘diamond than ‘rock’.

Can you create scarcity ?

one ‘penthouse” on the top floor of a building that’s bigger and better than the rest 

one “front row” at a concert”

“Bitcoin is the result of an artificial constraint (from $1 - $25k and rising )

Nike deciding to only produce 150 pairs of ‘Pigeon Dunks’, resulting in camp outs, riots and 4,000% mark ups on eBay.

Diamonds - De Beers have created and controlled the global diamond market by controlling the majority of the world’s diamonds, which are stockpiled in heavily guarded vaults.

The ‘diamonds are forever’ line has positioned diamonds 💎 as exclusive 

play up the exclusivity and pride of ownership!

Great Insite by Dan Monheit (https://hardhat.medium.com/the-why-10-why-do-people-pay-so-much-for-diamonds-41062b483023) 

In the sheer beauty of delight, laughter is contagious

Photo taken October 11th 2020

Great insight by Christine McDougall - creating a subtropical world - a brilliant speaker , author and #BBG presenter - feeling happy and optimistic .....

In the sheer beauty of delight, laughter is contagious

We humans are complex. Within us is a cast of characters, some who remain hidden, others who lead, and others who show up at the most inappropriate times.

No matter our age, we all have a child within. That child can be a brat, throwing tantrums when we do not get our way. Or a nature child, blissed out by bees. An eternal child, a Peter Pan, refusing to grow up. A playful child, full of mischief and delight.

Finding avenues for our child to come out and play in healthy ways….to discard the responsibilities of the grown up, even for a moment, to roll around on the floor laughing, to delight in the silly…to play…this is critical for our mental, emotional and spiritual health.

If we do not allow this the dark side of our child will show up in very inappropriate ways. We will throw tantrums, tell stories filled with alternative facts, disintegrate into the bully in the playground.

Lucky am I to have found a partner and playmate whose inner child and mine are so delightfully matched. 

I have not laughed so hard at such crazy, silly, delightfully stupid things in decades. The child in me plays with such freedom and ease….not required to be smart, intelligent, upright, responsible. Just for a moment. 

An observer from the outside might think we are entirely crazy…yet in the sheer beauty of delight, laughter is contagious. 

Oh, to laugh…now that is an antidote to so much of human created ills. 

#beautyofbeginnings #beautifulbusiness #socialentrepreneur #syntropicenterprise #syntropic #syntropy #syntropicworld #worldwithafuture #businessreimagined #cleancommunication

Has you or your business reached a ceiling?

Your business can scale ..... but no matter what you do ..... you can’t get past that “ceiling” or “lid” of revenue.... the number of clients that you can serve..... the profit you can make......

What is that constraint ? 

You have a great business .... and you see businesses not as good as yours - scale nationally or globally and sell for 100s of millions of dollars and even reach that unicorn! 

How do you smash through that barrier ????

There’s a magic formula - a recipe for success - a system - ..... what is it and how can You  get it? 

Michael Sheargold shares with us in the 10X Edge - that your business is a reflection of you - and won’t reach the heights greater than the leader. 

Let me share with you a story that may give you an insight - it certainly has been an eye opener for me - and when I saw “The Founder”  with Tom Hanks acting as Ray Kroc .... I could totally relate to him!!!

the Ray Kroc - McDonald’s  Story 

Ray saw the opportunity to duplicate and scale globally a hugely successful restaurant - run by the McDonald Brothers - the brothers  had the systems - but did not have the vision to grow. Ray got the rights - paid out the brothers a relatively insignificant sum upfront and a downstream set of payments ..... and built Mcdonalds .

Ray broke through the leadership lid - and eventually paid out the brothers for a fraction of its worth .

Insight 1 

A business will only grow to the vision of its leader ..... or to the lid of its leader ..... 

Behind the Golden Arches - Ray Kroc - the character 

1. Super salesmen - was 52 years old , broke, had a vision , got a break 
2. Surrounded himself with the best people with no restaurant experience - blue ocean strategy - we will innovate faster than we will copy 
3. They were not in hamburger business - they were in real estate business - owning promo commercial real estate - his finance guy came up with the idea and gave him the model .... of buying the property and leasing it to the franchisee . Ray saw it as a way to control the franchisee - to ensure he would follow the process 
4. Was he delusional - was he the maladaptive dreamer? 

Michael Gerber the Emyth - talks about how Ray Kroc became successful

Insight 2 Vision and Chutzpah 

A 52 year old peddlar - selling  milkshake machine to McDonald’s  and came out with the rights to a franchise .....

Insight 3 :- building a system that will scale

 - working on not in - from 30,000 foot! 

You got to get out of the world to transform 

Worked on not in the business .....

Thousands went in hamburger business - not going anywhere - no growth - 

Ray Kroc Created a franchise prototype - worked on it. McDonald’s built to grow  - Infallible turnkey system 

Kroc could see from 30k feet the System - hiring kids with minimal wage - providing hamburgers - 

The system works - so you don’t have to 

Insight 4. Have great people around you 

The genius was buying the corner blocks and leasing it to franchisees - listened to his team - incorporated into model 

Insight 5 -it’s not about the system - it’s about innovating 

oneco - it’s about smashing  through the lid - it’s about having a purpose - a vision that you can see, taste and smell - and get other people to believe 

Oneco - it’s the brand - it speaks it says it performs it produces it 

Ray Kroc could see the system. The design of oneco. The yellow arches on every prime block 

It Stands alone and is seperate  from all others - the brand the company that stands alone 

Do you think Ray Kroc was destined to succeed - or do you think much of his success was based on circumstance??

JR’s Members only Sydney Meeting

How are you all

It was excellent to see so many of you on the session with Ahmad Imam.  This is a reminder of our : BBG CBD Board Members Only Forum on Thursday morning.  All details below:

  *   This will be the opportunity for smaller breakout rooms where you get to meet other people in the BBG network, build relationships and live the values of BBG which is to learn collaborate and grow though knowing, liking and trusting people in your network.

  *   It is also a tine to hear different perspectives and insights on a business challenge you may be experiencing, an idea you want to test out, an ability to tap into a Brains Trust of remarkable like-minded generous business people. I like to refer to this as your own Board of Directors.  We have been doing this in The Eastern Suburbs group for the last 18 months and it has been most effective for the team.

  *   A time to reflect on the key take outs and insights of the previous month’s Thought Starter and how you are implementing or utilising the learnings in your business and how the BBG CBD Board Members can help with this.

  *   We will be holding these on the 2nd Thursday of the month and I will be sending you a regular invite shortly.

Please look out for the invite for our upcoming Thought Starters too. We are confirming our speakers at the moment.

There is a link to the meeting below so all you need to do is click.

If you have any suggestions or ideas, I love feedback it helps me and the people around me grow, so please share.

Judith-Rose Max is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Have an amazing week

Warm regards

Judith-Rose Max

M:         0414 702 054

E:         judith@miratocoaching.com<mailto:judith@miratocoaching.com>

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