Organizing the Core Trinity

In Michael Gerber’s book, The E-Myth, he describes the Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician. The Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician will all make decisions using different input but the entrepreneur tends take more risks and makes decisions more quickly. Bijoy Goswami’s book, The Human Fabric, describes a less clinical definition of the same trinity using the Relator, Maven and Evangelist. Both of these authors have outlined a very important concept – the trinity.

The point here is that there are three individual personas that make up a decision-making core team. Just as a stool with three legs, your core power trinity becomes a stable foundation for the growth of your business. You cannot and should not build a business without all three divergent and complimentary personalities.

You can explore the persona definitions from these brilliant authors on your own but it comes down to creating a system of decision-making based on the vision, potential and reality of the business. Your business is a promise and these three individuals ensure that promises are kept regardless of human factors, weather and acts of God. The very simple system of having these people in place is that you ask questions about the business in unique ways. Which of these statements describes you best?

  • I will share and promote the promises we can make to strangers and friends and be a constant provider of ideas and opportunities.
  • I will determine if the promises are capable of being fulfilled with our resources and at what price.
  • I will manage the promises the business makes until they are completed and the customer is satisfied.

Knowing you cannot be more than one, which one are you? When making decisions, are you knowledge-driven, relationship-driven, or action-driven? Decisions are where the business gets real so you must have a system by which you can make them solid and well-rounded and your core power trinity achieves that.

Hire For Values

Choose to hire people who live according to values that you respect rather than focusing on specific skills. Someone who is living to a higher order – loyal, loving, committed, of integrity, as just a few examples – exudes a feeling that you know when you encounter it, and that is a person who will make the right choice when under duress.

For example, if a customer has a problem at closing time, the person without values could cut that person off and handle the situation abruptly (which means you have to fix it later IF you get the chance); however, a person with values will likely choose to hang in with that customer to resolve the situation to its most reasonable outcome. And that’s the difference that you will experience from your hiring decision.

That being said, whenever there is a question about integrity, dig into a given task and institute a process to handle it so you don’t have to rely on that individual’s values to run your business. It can also be helpful to make sure your guiding principles are visible and known to each employee to support their ability to consistently make good decisions aligned with your values.

Key Point: Think twice before hiring friends. While your friends might be talented, they also know you as a friend. In a stress situation, they could default to getting personal rather sticking to business. They might also expect you to cut them slack. And, in a worst case scenario, it becomes that much more difficult to let them go if that’s needed.

So, choosing who to do what in the fulfillment of your work in the early stages of your business will not be difficult because everything is going to need someone to do something. Once you are functional enough to have employees, your guiding principle is that you have to do less. Try to manage what is executed with people who are lower cost resources than you are; that means that you are one of the higher cost resources for your company. Your time is an asset that may be irreplaceable. Your influence and tenacity to bring the business to life and sell product to people who want to buy it, to bring solutions to a market who you’ve determined needs and desires it, to show its capabilities, will take you far in the business. As a company, not so far…

Your goal is to reproduce your enthusiasm to the people you hire so that they live and breathe it along with you on a daily and operational basis. If, for any reason, your employees either can’t or won’t catch the enthusiasm, have a conversation – find out what’s happening. This could be an indicator of something in their personal life that needs attention. When the people around you have happy, healthy, balanced, whole lives, they bring that to work with them. If they are having challenges, maybe they need the invitation and support to handle something. But, lastly, if they really cannot work up the enthusiasm for what your business is about, it could be that they really aren’t a fit for your business. In that case, let them go and move on. The good ones will thank you and the bad ones will curse you on their way out the door.

“Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can’t tell you whether someone will fit into a company’s culture. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, you need to cut your losses and move on.”

~ Howard Schultz, Founder of Starbucks

Attention, Interest, Decision, Action – Make it effortless

In today’s marketplace, people are exposed to services, ideas, products but they actually close the wall on that purchase attributed to factors like money, the economy, etc. The reality is that today’s potential consumer wants to compare, investigate and do the research to get the best deal. Today’s buyer thinks that way due to technology as it has literally exposed and made accessible the world’s products so that every person can be their own bargain detective. Within seconds, the internet allows anyone to compare thousands of products to find the best not by just feature, function and price but also through human experience and story. How you represent yourself in business will be echoed throughout many different lenses which is poignantly different than it was not so long ago.

The personal recounting about a particular product has more validity and perceived integrity than a brochure. This phenomenon is the result of social media because people seek human connection and communication. It used to be that people shared across the fence with their neighbor and got referrals from their friends to a good dentist (or whatever) and a relationship grew from the original fence talk… people want to feed their innate need to communicate and social media makes it really easy. It used to be basic human communication but the pace of life has changed and so have the mediums of our communications. However, the basic premise is still the same… most successful companies early on are successful because of personal referrals. The challenge – and the win – is to be repeatable in delivering a quality experience and/or solution.

As you define your business model and products / services valuation, then becoming repeatable to network of people who can refer you into new opportunities becomes your primary focus. If your offerings are strong, you shouldn’t have to sell yourself or your products / services. People like Zig Ziglar or Glen Garry Glen Ross that advocate the ‘ABC’ method of business (Always Be Closing) are operating from the traditional model of a salesperson. However, in today’s world of contemporary business, you should never have to force a close nor a person to pay your invoice or to sign a contract. In fact, your business solution should be so compelling that the transaction is fluid if not completely transparent. If that isn’t what you experience, then either something is not clearly explained about you or the collateral isn’t good enough to make transaction simple (and there are many examples of products that generate income because of their simplicity – think Blueblockers sunglasses, Oreck vacuums, Costco volume buying, etc.).

At the height of the technology boom in the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was so much happening and becoming available that it was all complex and you needed someone to explain it to you. That was the role of the salesperson then… today, a one year-old child can operate an iPod so you know there is a new emergence of human cognitive ability beginning to surface. It’s no longer enough to be that informative, knowledgeable salesperson… instead, your product or service must be so crystallized and potentially mass customizable that the role of the salesperson becomes null.

Today’s salesperson really needs to NOT explain their offerings in great detail; instead, their role is to give exposure to what they have or do and then let the potential customer ‘mature’ the sales process by asking questions and becoming their own detective. No longer can a salesperson just walk in and close a deal. Business today is not like selling a car. People will poke you and ask questions – that is the new process. They will kick more of your tires than they will buy.

And, when they have the right message, momentum and price point, the transactions will be simple.