Radish Sprouts

Six Steps to Creating the Life Your Want

Assess and Plan

What time is it? Now is the time. If not now, when?

Think back to one year ago. You were on the verge of ending the year. Perhaps you were finishing up loose ends. You were on the cusp of starting a fresh New Year. Was the year all that you dreamed and wished? Why? Why not?

One thing is for sure — the year flew by more quickly than expected. Each month, week, and day had great potential. Did you achieve what you wanted? This New Year has 365 precious days, days that you can choose to live life to the fullest or not.

As we end one year and transition to the new one, here are a few things to do.

Six Steps to Creating the Life Your Want

 

	ASSESS. What were your goals? How did you do in attaining them? Looking back, what would you change / release / purge if you could? Don't over analyze this. Just let it flow. Write it down.
	CONNECT. Ask for feedback. What people whom you respect can provide you with valuable insights on your last year? Give them a call. Or if they're not reachable, ask yourself what would that person say to me? Is this what you need to hear?
	GO DEEP. Inside each of us are seven chakra centers. Many people believe, including the Native Americans, that there is a symbolic power animal associated with each chakra and it has great wisdom. Get to know your animals through a meditation and invite them to share their wisdom with you. What do they tell you about your last year and about priorities for the New Year?
	PREPARE. Gather all the insights from within and outside yourself. Put them in the back of your mind. Sleep on them. Meditate and let them percolate. Pray and ask for guidance. Take notes. Let a new understanding emerge.
	ENVISION. See yourself living the New Year and standing at year's end. What does your vision look like? How does it feel to you to fulfill it?
	PLAN. When you are ready and with your vision in mind, put together a list of your top 3-5 areas of focus to attain your vision. What do you need to do to bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to go? Create a written list of the steps in your plan. What is a word or simple phrase that encapsulates its theme?

Summary

The time is now to create the life you want. Don't wait. Assess, connect, go deep, prepare, envision, and plan. Then as Lao Tzu says, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Take that first step.

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com, www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com)

all rights reserved.  Copyright 2016 Theresa Szczurek

 

Be Grateful: Three Tips and a Meditation

This is the season for Gratitude. Be grateful. What are you thankful for?

WHEN THE DAY IS DONE, BE GRATEFUL. Each night before I drift to sleep in my comfy, warm bed, I appreciate having a bed and a home and so much more. Many people in the world today don't have this luxury. I think of my Grandmother, who at the age of 15 left the poverty of rural Poland with her 17-year-old brother to find a land of opportunity in America. She never saw her homeland again or the relatives she left behind, yet she made new friends and built a family here.

I often think of this prayer. It's a chant from an ancient loving kindness meditation.
    May all who are in need find a comforting, safe home.
    May all be well and healthy.
    May all be happy.

WHEN THE NEW DAY BREAKS, BE GRATEFUL. Each morning as you start the day, breathe in energy and appreciate the opportunities. As Henry David Thoreau suggests, "Live deliberately... live deep and suck all the morrow of life." This is the time to reaffirm your passion, align it with a meaningful purpose, pursue it with all your heart and all your soul, and assess progress throughout.

THROUGHOUT THE DAY, BE GRATEFUL. Each moment with each breath brings the occasion to appreciate. Too often we don't stop to notice. Our lives are busy, hectic, and crazed with a seemingly infinite to-do list. There may even be a 'fear of stopping.' What will it take for you to stop and appreciate? Give yourself the challenge to stop. Every time the phone rings, a text comes in, the door bell rings or you eat something, be grateful for this one small thing. Especially appreciate the blessing of friends and co-workers. Tell them often how much you treasure the gift of their camaraderie.

Meditate on Appreciation

Sit comfortably, preferably in a quiet place without too many distractions. If possible, sit with upright posture aligning your head over your heart. Close your eyes, if possible. If not, just look into the distance with a softened, non-focused gaze. Take in a deep breath and exhale slowly, letting out all the tensions and preoccupations of the day. Relax.

Start with yourself, because without appreciating yourself, it is close to impossible to be grateful to others. Hold a picture of yourself in your mind.

See yourself physically expressing gratitude to yourself in whatever way is right for you. Imagine using your 'hands,' or physical being, giving a handshake, hug, smile, standing ovation, or other sign of appreciation.

Then using your 'head,' recite the following affirmation inwardly, "I appreciate all you have and will continue to do in pursuing this passionate purpose. You are making a meaningful difference. You are making progress. You are competent. Thank you for being you." Modify this affirmation until it's right for you.

Then with your 'heart,' send feelings of love, appreciation, and gratitude. Feel yourself being showered with thankfulness. A smile comes to your face, a warm glow sweeps over your body, and waves of good feelings permeate throughout and radiate everywhere.

Now gradually expand the focus of this meditation to others for whom you are appreciative. Hold a picture of one fellow being after another, or a group together. See yourself physically expressing thanks to the person or people. Recite the affirmation. Feel a loving connection.

As you wish, expand the focus to encompass spiritual forces in the Universe.

When the time is right and you want to end the meditation, slowly bring your awareness back to your situation and space.

Summary

Suck the morrow of life. Live deliberately. Live passionately. Be grateful. Stop and notice. Meditate and appreciate. Be thankful for the opportunities of the day and the friends that bless the way.

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)  copyright 2015.  All rights reserved.

SELF-CONFIDENCE: A Case Study on Building Confidence

Are You as Confident as You Can Be?

As the core foundation for human development, full trust in self and others — confidence — is the most important element of the healthy self. Oakleigh Thorne II, environmental educator, tells us, "The key to finding and pursuing a worthwhile purpose is developing self-esteem. Nature is a builder of self-esteem."

Confident people generate high self-esteem. People with high self-esteem know their own worth. They have a favorable impression, respect, appreciation, and belief in themselves. Thus, Passionate Pursuers pack high self-esteem, with confidence, for their journey. Follow Goethe's advice, "Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live."

How to Strengthen Your Self-Confidence and Esteem

People in my Pursuit of Passionate Purpose study report that early responsibility during the growing-up years, supportive inputs from external sources, banishment of self-doubt, and use of positive feedback loops all serve to strengthen self-esteem and self-confidence.

It is encouraging to know that people can take steps to create more confidence. Pursuit of a passionate purpose in itself stimulates assurance. No one says it better than Mark Plaatjes, 1993 world marathon champion, "Believe in yourself. The one who wins is the one who wants it the most — the one with the most self-confidence."

A Case Study on Building Confidence

I love being a Girl Scout. Why? Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. It's 2.8 million strong in the USA — 2 million girls and 800,000 adults who believe girls can change the world. Through membership in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), Girl Scouts are part of a worldwide family of more than 10 million girls and adults in 144 countries. The Girl Scouts Movement is the largest girl-serving organization in the country and has the largest girl-led business in the country — the annual Cookie Program.

I was a Girl Scout growing up and now I'm a lifetime member and co-advisor for high-school scouts. I can still see the transformation in my own daughter's self-confidence through Girl Scouting. As a first-grade Brownie, she was shy and quiet. When she attempted to sell her first box of Girl Scout cookies, she doubted herself.

Over the years, however, she learned how to run her own cookie business, setting increasingly bigger goals to fund her Girl Scout travels. She spoke confidently with her many customers, managed delivery, and did follow-up with thank-you notes. In the process she established a positive feedback loop, learned what worked and what didn't, and sold thousands of boxes of cookies. By taking early responsibility for cookie sales and many girl-led Girl Scout projects, Annie built her self-confidence and esteem.

Summary

Passionate pursuers have high self-confidence and esteem. They build full trust in self and others by taking early responsibility during the growing-up years, getting supportive inputs from external sources, banishing self-doubt, and using positive feedback loops. What are you doing to build self-confidence and esteem in yourself, your kids, and your staff? Start now.

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

All rights reserved. Copyright ©2015 Theresa M. Szczurek.

OPTIMISIM: Tips to Keep on the Sunny Side of Life

Is it a sunny day?  Regardless of whether there are clouds, rain, or sunshine outside, the answer lies within you.  Successful Passionate Pursuers have Optimism.  They carry a hopeful, upbeat disposition and believe that good prevails. 

 

WHAT IS OPTIMISM?

 

My theme in 2015 is “Be a SUNFLOWER.™”  Each letter of the word aligns with one of the traits of successful Passionate Pursuers. O stands for Optimism.  From page 52 of Pursuit of Passionate Purpose, “Norman Vincent Peale in The Power of Positive Thinking popularized and humanized the importance of a can-do outlook using examples of real people. People with a positive attitude carry a hopeful, upbeat disposition with the believe that good ultimately overcomes evil.”

 

INSIGHTS FROM A LABYRINTH WALK

 

During a week-long meditation retreat in the mountains led by Shinzen Young (www.shinzen.org), I walked the outside labyrinth.  Merriam-Webster defines a labyrinth as a place that has many confusing paths or passages, something that is extremely complicated or difficult to understand.  However http://www.veriditas.org/guidelines has this to say about a spiritual, meditation labyrinth, "The labyrinth is not a maze. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. It has a single circuitous path that winds its way into the center. The person walking it uses the same path to return from the center and the entrance then becomes the exit. The path is in full view, which allows a person to be quiet and focus internally.

 

Generally there are three stages to the walk: releasing on the way in, receiving in the center and returning when you follow the return path back out of the labyrinth. Symbolically, and sometimes actually, you are taking back out into the world that which you have received."

 

Here are my insights.

 

1. Be grateful for those who have helped bring you to where you are now and those who have come this way before, have shown the way, and have tended the path.

 

2. Keep going.  Put one foot in front of another.  The journey brings the joys, satisfaction, and learning of life. Sometime it looks like you are so close to the finish, but there may be a long way to go. There may be obstacles along the way, don't let that stop you.

 

3. Rest and appreciate.  See the beauty and small, little flowers along life's way.  Hear the birds chirp.  What messages do they bring?  Feel the air with a touch of moisture, notice the dew sparkling in the morning sunlight.  Enjoy the diversity and difference of each stone along the path.

 

4. Savor your progress.  Pat yourself on the back for what you have accomplished.

 

5. Be optimistic.  Just like sunflowers which turn to the sun, raise your face to the light.  Find hope and the bright spots in life's journey. Remember and sing the popular American song, Keep On the Sunny Side

 

KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE

This song was originally written in 1899 by Ada Blenkhorn (1858–1927) with music by J. Howard Entwisle (1866–1903) and  popularized in a 1928 recording by the Carter Family

There's a dark and a troubled side of life;

There's a bright and a sunny side, too;

Tho' we meet with the darkness and strife,

The sunny side we also may view.

[chorus]

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life;

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,

If we keep on the sunny side of life.

 

Summary.

 

Life and work is a spiritual journey, whether you realize it or not.  Similar to walking a labyrinth, have hope as you notice, learn, appreciate, and continue along the way. Keep on the sunny side of life.

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com; www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com; www.RadishSystems.com)

copyright 2015 all rights reserved.

It's Your CHOICE: Four Tips to Turn a Good Day into Great Day

Have you noticed?  Life and work bring many surprises, opportunities, challenges, and unexpected changes.  It can be a jungle out there.  Peace, health, and wealth may be illusive.  You may wonder, “Over what do I have control?” 

 

In Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, Sarah Ban Breathnach provides guidance, “The one thing we do have absolute control over is the quality of our days.  Even when we’re grief stricken, racked with pain, sick from worry, deeply depressed, squeezed by circumstances – how we greet, meet, and complete each day is our choosing.”

 

Henry David Thoreau agrees, “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.”

 

Practical Pointers.

 

1. Greet each day in a grateful, positive way.  Try this from Ban Breathnach, “Thank you for the gift of this wonderful day.” 

 

2. Use the Self-fulfilling Prophesy in a Positive Way.  According to businessdictionary.com, a self-fulfilling prophesy is defined as any positive or negative expectation about circumstances, events, or people that may affect a person’s behavior toward them in a manner that causes those expectations to be fulfilled.  Expect a GREAT day. Ban Breathnach continues, “Days that are expected to be wonderful before they begin turn out to be so much more frequently than days greeted with grumbling.”

 

3. Shift your perspective.  “Even loosy days possess hidden wonder.  Sometimes all you need is a moment of attitude adjustment to shift your perception of an entire afternoon and move forward into a pleasant evening,” learned Ban Breathnach.

 

4. Invest your energy.  Put your heart, head, and hand (or physical) energy into your day.  “All days are wonderful in direct proportion to the creative energy invested in them.  No investment, no return.  Weather does not seem to affect the experiment.  Gray, cold, and rainy days spent in an office are just as susceptible to the warming influence of enthusiasm as are sunny days spent lying in a hammock sipping sangria,” explains Ban Breathnach. 

 

Diary of a Start-up.

 

A high school friend recently visited me.  She had me read a very detailed horoscope for my upcoming birthday month October.  It predicted with two upcoming eclipses, there were major, positive career developments coming my way.  Well, I don’t normally read these predictions, but this helped me set a positive expectation.  It shifted my perspective. It activated my use of the “Attraction Strategy” as described in my book Pursuit of Passionate Purpose.

 

Low and behold in exactly the stated timeframe, the forecast delivered:  a new partner found Radish with exactly the right skills, attitude, and contacts to leverage our core competencies and product.  In our discussions, that partner said, “This is a partnership made in heaven.  It may be serendipity, but we are very excited to work together.”  Other good things began and continue to happen with new customers, additions to our team, positive response to our newest product offering, and much more. 

 

Conclusion.

 

The quality of your day is self-determined.  It is your choice.  “It doesn’t matter whether a day is good or bad.  What matters is what we do with it,” concluded Ban Breathnach.  You can turn a good day into a great day.  You can turn a good life into a great life.  Begin now!

 Theresa M. Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com; www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com; www.RadishSystems.com)

TRANSITIONS: Process and Pointers for Successful Change

You’ve been through it.  We all have.  It’s when the winds of change start blowing.  Transition is coming.  It may be in your personal life or in your professional life.  These times are upon me now.  Our daughter Annie is heading off to college.  How could 18 years go by so fast?  I am filled with memories, thoughts, dreams, and intense feelings… There is enjoying every moment we still have left in the ending – packing, driving to college, and helping her move into that dorm room.  There is the sadness of leaving behind the life we have had together and experiencing emptiness.  There is joy and anticipation for her and my new beginning. 

 

I recall leaving for college.  I was excited to leave home, spread my wings to fly, and embark on the next BIG phase of my life.  The sky was the limit.  I was ‘Born Ready’ for this new beginning.  My mom was not. I recall the sad look on my mom’s face as I was leaving.  My daughter is ready.  I am getting ready.  What about you? How do you react to these life transitions?

 

What is Transition?

 

Webster.com defines ‘transition’ as a passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another.  Change.  A movement, development, or evolution.

 

What Major Transitions Stand Out for You?

 

Transitions, big and small, are part of both our personal and professional lives.  Think back on your life – what transitions have you experienced?    Leaving home to go to the next phase of your life, starting a first long-term job, getting married, losing a job, ending a relationship, death of a loved one, moving to another part of the country, getting pregnant,  bringing a child into this world, starting a new company, and so many more.  What have you learned from these times in your life?

 

Process for Transitions.

 

In his seminal book Transitions, William Bridges, explains that there is a three-phase process:

1. Every transition begins with an Ending. 
2. Next we move into the Neutral Zone.  This time is meant to be a moratorium from the conventional activity of our everyday existence.  In the Pursuit of Passionate Purpose terminology, I call this going in-between and becoming an In-between’er. 
3. Then we make a New Beginning.

 

Practical Pointers for Successful Transitions.

 

1.  Recognize this is a process.  It is okay to take time and allow. Be kind and patient.

 

2.  Learn from Endings.  It is important to let ourselves or others in transition react to endings.  Our endings are often brought about by the very acts and words that we believed would keep things going. 

 

3.  Surrender to Renewal.  In the neutral-zone, give in to the emptiness and stop struggling to escape it.   The process of transformation is essentially a death and rebirth process.  The gap between the old and new life is a source of renewal.  Bridges makes recommendations for finding meaning in the Neutral Zone: 

• Find a regular time and place to be alone.
• Begin a log of neutral zone experiences.
• Take this pause in the action of your life to write an autobiography
• Take this opportunity to discover what you really want.  Here, as explained in Pursuit of Passionate Purpose,  is the ‘Know and Nurture the Person’ work that helps you find your passion.
• Think of what would be unlived in your life if it ended today.
• Take a few days to go on your own version of a passion journey. “The more you leave behind, the more room you have to find something new.”

 

4.  Make a New Beginning.  Bridges makes these recommendations:

• When we are ready to make a beginning, you will shortly find an opportunity.  Settle for inner signals – a faint intimation of something different from your inner wiser self, a hint from some comment that you can not forget, a dream.
• Stop getting ready and act.  Be courageous.
• Begin to identify yourself with the final result of the new beginning.  Visualize it.  Feel it.  Hear the crowds roar!
• Take things step by step (Use the Persistence Strategy’s divide-and-conquer approach). 

 

Summary.

 

Transitions are a part of life.  The process includes ending, going in-between into the neutral zone, and then making a new beginning.  Finally you will be ready, then act!

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com; www.TMSworld.com; www.RadishSystems.com)

Dakin’s Tips for “1ST DOLLAR REVENUE”

Cash is king.  It is the oxygen of a business; without it your company is dead.  There are two primary sources of business cash:  revenue and capital funds.   Generating revenue is the best approach.  The goal is to create a sustainable business model which produces revenues, lots of it.  This keeps your firm alive.  Without revenues, you need to raise funds or die.

 

In a recent workshop for competitors of the CSU Blue Ocean Challenge (#CSUBlueOcean), Karl Dakin, of Dakin Capital Services shared his “7 Steps to 1^st Dollar Revenue.”  

 

Three of Dakin’s Steps to 1^st Dollar Revenue. 

 

1. Develop, Sell, Build.    Can you rearrange the order from the typical process of develop, build, sell?  If you can sell and receive payment before you build, you can finance the production by sales revenue.  This is what a growing number of entrepreneurs do for their projects with www.kickstarter.com  and www.indiegogo.com   But it does not end there.  Tesla Motors, the hot electric car company, sold and got full pre-payment for 100s of cars.  They used this to fund the development and production effort.   You can too! What is the advantage you provide to early buyers?

 

2. Components & Pieces.  Does one component of your product have value on its own, without the complete system?  Perhaps you don’t have to wait to generate some revenue until you have the complete system.   Is there one piece which is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP in the words of Steven Blank)?  Bring the MVP to market, get feedback, generate some revenue, and validate your market. 

 

3. Competitions.    Businesses young and old can find competitions that will push your innovation forward with a purpose.  There can be cash prizes and other valuable services made available to winners.  What competitions can you enter?  Sign up at iStart to receive notice of competitions.  Seek out other websites that can keep you informed.    For example, Radish Systems applied to the CSU Blue Ocean Enterprise Challenge.  Out of 120 growing businesses that applied, only 16 were selected for the Enterprise Track competition which has a $250,000 grand prize.  Radish is one of them! Come see the pitch day at the Venture Fest on May 24, 2014 in Fort Collins, CO. Learn more at http://blueoceanchallenge.com/   

 

Summary.  Be on the look out for Dakin’s book, coming soon, for the rest of his valuable tips.  Go to www.SeedCapital2-0.com and sign up for Karl Dakin’s blog.  In the meantime, get creative.  Believe anything is possible.  Take action now to be a bigger part of your firm’s revenue scene. 

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

SEEKING MORE EXITS – Part II.

It’s the ultimate goal of an entrepreneurial venture – a good exit. Yet the odds are against the entrepreneur – most ventures fail.  It often is a harder journey than expected.  Getting to a good exit typically requires a bold vision, the right team, persistence, many pivots, hard work, some luck, and much more.  For those on the right track, however, it’s never too early to prepare for an exit.  At the recent Colorado Capital Conference (www.coloradocapitalconference.org) sponsored by Rockies Venture Club (RVC), an all-star cast of successful entrepreneurs shared their stories and lessons learned.   See “Seeking More Exits – Part I” for the first three Practical Pointers.

 

Here are three more Practical Pointers from recent Colorado entrepreneurial stars that may help you attract good exits:

 

4. Discern and live by CORE VALUES.  For Rally Software, 2013 has held unprecedented recognition and success.  Following its successful April 2013 public offering, Rally delivered on its founding promise to give back to the community and donated more than $1.3 million to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado and the Rally for Impact Foundation.  It was just ranked No. 182 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. WOW! CEO and co-founder Tim Miller said, "The success we've experienced and the awards we've received this year are tremendous validation of all our core values and a reflection of our employees’ dedication and hard work."  Ryan Martens, co-founder and CTO, shared at #2013CCC, “Our unique culture is based on five core values:  trust & respect, collaboration, create your own reality, living agile, and balance work & life.  We state those values, make them visible, hire/fire around these, and live them. It’s not about the money.  I wasn’t afraid to be diluted. We didn’t plan for an IPO but it became a reality that this was a nice path.  Our team executed flawlessly and the JOBS Act helped.”

 

5. Get CUSTOMER Validation.   John Spiers, CEO and Founder of NexGen Storage, also has a story of entrepreneurial lightning striking twice, first with his sale of LeftHand Networks to HP and this year’s sales of NexGen to Fusion-io for $119M.  “Don’t be afraid to follow your passion.  Remember that ‘the only thing to fear is fear itself.’  Don’t get discouraged.  Be able to pivot.  Listen to the advice from others. The CEO must never stop raising money – spend 50% of the time fundraising even after you just close a round.  Keep talking and building relationships.  A good CFO is very important and worth the weight of gold. Build a great product and company, the rest will come.  Having customer validation is the most important thing.”

 

6. Build relationship with possible ACQUIRERS.  Steve Georgis, CEO of LineRate (acquired by F5), learned many hard lessons as a CEO.  “It is possible to raise too much money.  At Network Photonics, we raised $120M.  What kind of exit do you need to be a success?  There exist uncontrollable market factors – we did our company launch in NYC on 9-11.  Sometimes emerging markets do not emerge.  After the bubble burst, our two biggest customers were gone.  We gave a lot of that money back.  Now with LineRate we deliberately asked, who are possible acquirers?  They were possible competitors.  With board approval, we decided to engage and tell them what we were doing.  It is never too early to think of exit strategy and to determine who are possible acquirers, what would be their reasons for acquiring us, and how we would validate the market for them.  We only told half the story – we told them what we did, we did not tell them we had a different way.”

 

Have hope.  Consider Meg Hansson, Lifetime Esprit Entrepreneur Award winner in BoulderCounty and inventor of the baby carrier, who has 8 start-ups behind her including the successful acquisition of her company Gerry Baby Products to Evenflo. There are many stories of good exits.

 

As Peter Adams, Executive Director, RVC said, “Promote exits.”  Let others know that good things are happening.  Entrepreneurs, start with the end in mind!

 

 Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

SOLVE PAIN TO FIND GAIN: Five Tips to Create Income from Innovation

Companies strive to innovate.  Innovation alone is not enough for a company to succeed.  The key is to ensure that a new product or service solves a real problem or satisfies a need.

 

“If you create a new product that addresses a company’s or consumer’s number one or two ‘pain point’ or problem, your company will see success,” said Matt Larson, chief executive officer of Confio Corporation during a CEO Roundtable in Boulder, CO  sponsored by the Boulder County Business Report.  “If you look at a thousand companies that are addressing ‘pain’ instead of ‘nice-to-have,’ the odds of them being successful are higher.”

 

Radish Systems Case Study:    VISUAL IVR EASES THE PAIN.

The Situation.  It is well known that Interactive Voice Response (IVRs) are a serious pain for callers, especially mobile callers who want ever-faster, ever-easier transactions. IVRs in Mobility are a disaster for the customer experience due to any number of interface and device issues which result in even higher abandonment rates.  Worse yet, complex IVRs with long phone trees don't efficiently deliver information or easily allow transfer to live agents.

The Solution.  To solve this problem, Radish Systems just introduced its Visual IVR solution. Here's what others are saying:

 

"Radish Systems recently released the ChoiceView REST API for Visual IVR. This release is significant as it is the only solution that has the ability to currently turn outdated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems into next generation Visual IVRs that can operate with any network, phone, and just about all mobile devices."

  Carolyn J. Dawson, August 14, 2012, TMCnet.com

With a True Visual IVR customers instantly see menus while hearing information, tap choices on their smart device, rapidly move through screens in much less time than it takes to speak the options, and receive visual and voice responses.   Visual IVRs cut call time and costs, by more than half in most situations, increase understanding by 50% or more, and improve mobile user satisfaction and engagement. 

“Radish Systems’ ChoiceView mobile platform and applications offer contact centers additional options to service their customers and provide innovative ways for clients to interact through live visual communications,” said Monica Tarr, SPS contact center consulting practice director. “Visual IVR provides a unique experience for smartphone users and maps caller behavior to business processes.”

Learn more:

  1. See a Visual IVR in action at the video demo link at www.radishsystems.com.

  2. Get the free white paper presentation, "Why Visual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for Mobile?" at www.radishsystems.com/products/the-choiceview-ivr/.

  3. Start using the ChoiceView Rest API to enhance your IVR and the ChoiceView SDK to enable your mobile app. Get it at www.radishsystems.com/for-developers/.

4. Ease the pain. Nominate companies you'd like to see improve their IVR at www.radishsystems.com/ease-the-pain/.

5.  Try ChoiceView NOW.  Download the free mobile app from the Apple and Android App Stores.  Try the demo.

 

Five Tips to Creating Income from Innovation.

 

1. Find the Pain. Look for pain points or unmet needs in the marketplace.

 

1. Innovate and Determine a Solution.  Do you have a potential solution to the problem?  Define it.

 

1. Test the Marketplace.  Talk to prospective customers, confirm the problem, and test the solution.  Is your solution a must-have?  Learn as much as you can on how to make the solution a necessity.

 

1. Iterate.  Take what you learned from the marketplace and improve your solution.  Then test some more until a prospect says, “We need what you are offering right now and we will pay you for it.”  

1. Learn from the Pros.  Successful entrepreneur Steven Blank offers the free online Lean LaunchPad course.  “What we now know is that startups search for business models while existing companies execute them. A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and repeatable business model. This Lean LaunchPad class will teach you how to efficiently search for your scalable and repeatable Business Model Design and Customer Development.”

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

Six Pointers to Developing Your Business and Personal Theme

Does your business have a theme to focus its top priority strategic efforts? Do you have a personal theme for 2012? 

For decades, I have personally had an annual theme.  Friends would tell me that they looked forward to reading my annual holiday letter and learning my theme.  Over the years it has varied including: Out of Darkness, Into Light (after finishing the Ph.D. program); Year of the Book; Back to the Core (after the book tour realigning on my consulting practice); Focus, Finish, Fly; Believe and Act, and many more.  My theme has encapsulated my priorities and kept me going in the right direction.  For 2012, my theme comes from Pam Watson Korbel’s book by the same name, “More Money, Less Work, More Fun!”

Why have a Theme?  As Keith Cupp, President of Gazelles Coaching, says, “Your Theme helps your organization’s Quarterly Priorities or “Main Thing” come alive in the organization, resulting in Focus, Energy and Alignment across departments and team members.” Here are some suggestions from Keith Cupp ([email protected]) a top-notch Gazelles Business Coach.

Six Practical Pointers to Developing Your Theme:

1.  Do your strategic plan first.  Determine what are your BIG rocks or main priorities for the quarter or year.  How will you measure the successful outcome?  Is there one Main Thing or Priority?

2.  Brainstorm on possible Themes based on the Top Priority.  Be creative, out of the box, distinctive, and odd.

3.  Evaluate the candidate Themes, ensuring they are relevant to your culture, workforce demographic and touch on a point of reference in your team member’s minds (e.g. a current trend, or movie, etc.).

 

4.  For the winning Theme, brainstorm with your team and determine the Theme Name, Reward and 3-5 ways to communicate your theme (e.g. skits, emails, posters).

 

5.  Choose a leader who will be accountable to develop a Theme Roll Out

Plan to the entire company.

 

6.  Roll out the Theme at an all Company meeting, with an introduction by

the Chief Executive (and perhaps a “leading role” by the CEO in a skit).

Four Hands Case Study.

Rich Russakoff ([email protected]), shared the theme of one of his clients.  Four Hands (www.fourhands.com) is a a global manufacturer, wholesaler, and importer of innovative home furnishings. The 2005 Goal was to do $26 million. At the end of the first quarter, they were seeing that results were a little short of budget.  They realized that they were not maximizing opportunities to really align and focus people.

 

Theme. They used the 7.7.7 theme to emphasize their goals:

1)     $7 million in revenue in Q2 (to catch up and get  back on budget)

2)     $700,000 bottom line (to control expenses and insure profit sharing)

3)     $7 million in open orders (to insure 3rd quarter results)

 

The challenge for each employee was to help manage costs and increase profitability.

 

Results.  7.7.7 was a very successful theme

• hit the first goal of $7.5 million in revenues
• hit $900k bottom line
• got to $8 million in open orders

 

Reward. Company celebrated success with a party and put 20% more into profit sharing.  Most importantly, this theme put them on track for 2nd half of year, where they ended at $29 million.

Theresa Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.TMSworld.com)