Mindset

Gamify Your Moves

By Alan Boyd | Published on 02/12/2023

Vintage shot of my client: Palm Beach Shores Resort

When I first opened my practice in 2009 I didn’t imagine that I’d be advising a 256-suite oceanfront resort.

In 2012, I helped a startup paddle board rental company (Paddle Boarding Palm Beach) blow up online.

They became so dominant that Get Wet Watersports (one of their competitors) made a defensive acquisition to acquire them circa 2016.

Get Wet Watersports retained me to do the same thing for them online that I had done with the paddle board co.

Word spread to the Palm Beach Shores Resort brass… and for them, I was able to rapidly identify, diagnose, and solve a hiccup in the resort’s online booking checkout process.

That single improvement translated to a 23% increase in their annual online booking revenue (going on seven years now).

From there I attracted interest from the likes of the Sailfish Marina, Blue Heron Fishing Fleet, and the Bahamas Paradise Cruiseline in the port of Palm Beach among others.

In 2018, the CEO of the cruise line called my cell and said that he had a problem.

The stakeholders had purchased a second cruise ship that was about to come online but the first ship still wasn’t at capacity.

He was spending a fortune on advertising and asked if I could review the website for potential bottlenecks.

Even though they had an internal marketing team and a vendor agency of record (AOR) with a well-known firm out of Miami – they were stuck spinning their propellers.

Within a week, I diagnosed the root cause of the problem (which had nothing to do with their website) and submitted a sales deck that offered to reveal the solution in exchange for points on the move.

Good times.

That single thread of events started with a startup paddleboarding client and escalated to an emerging watersports company, an iconic fishing fleet, a landmark resort, an expanding cruise line, and many layers in between that continue to this day.

One thing I always advise business leaders on is to look at their business from a strategic perspective and to ‘gamify’ their moves.

Have fun with it.

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Winners and Losers

By Alan Boyd | Published on 07/12/2022

After working directly with dozens of business owners and leaders in the trenches over the last 13 years I’ve noticed some key patterns that consistently lead to success.

Winners:

Are solution-oriented
Keep their head on a swivel
Do the right thing
Have a long-term vision
Keep moving forward
Assume responsibility
Investment minded
Value long-lasting relationships

Losers:

Bitch, moan, complain
Victim mentality
Only think about themselves
Looking for a quick buck
Living in the past
Feel helpless, blame others
Just want the lowest price
Turn and burn reputation

As a consultant with a boutique outfit, the biggest thing I’m listening for on the initial call is:

Am I speaking with a winner?

If yes, I’ll let them know that I am at their service.

Protect your time, surround yourself with winners, and reach up always.

Referrals and Intros

By Alan Boyd | Published on 06/13/2022

Do you know what people in business love getting?

A great referral.

Especially when the referrer takes the time to provide some feedback or insight on why the person you’re referring them to could be a great asset.

You can easily connect the dots in two ways:

When someone you know is looking for (or you anticipate they will need) service/product XYZ and you refer them to someone in your network
When two people you know have different types of businesses but have the same buyers or audience (e.g pool company and screen company)

It doesn’t take much effort and everybody wins.

Shooting a quick email intro or giving out a name and contact details takes two minutes.

For example, there are people you’ve known for years or decades who know the caliber of your work and have never once sent you a referral. And then there are others who are constantly referring new business leads and connections.

You should choose the be like the latter.

It makes you more valuable and helps create economies.

Disclaimer

Some people are scared to refer others because if either of the two parties has a bad experience they think that comes back on them.

If that’s a concern of yours, of course, use your discretion.

For example, I won’t send a referral that I knew would be a problem for the party receiving the referral, and I won’t refer people to people/businesses who aren’t quality and attentive.

Just make sure you trust the two parties and let it fly. You’ll likely do more help than harm. If something doesn’t feel right to them they can make their own decisions on how to move forward or not.

What to do when you get a great referral or connection?

DO:

Speak highly of the person who referred you.
Treat the referee like a VIP on the initial call/exchange. ‘Hey we want to make sure that anybody that gets referred by [person] gets the best treatment.’
Afterward, pick up the phone and call the person who sent the referral or made the connection! The same day you get the referral.
Regardless of the quality of the referral/connection thank them for thinking of you and if something comes of their connection, let them know how it went.
Ask them what the conversation was like leading up to when they referred you to get into the mind of the prospect and the person who provided the referral. This is a great opportunity to update the person who referred you with what you’re up to which helps them improve their next pitch.
Keep track of who sends you multiple referrals and do something nice for them and send a gift or commission if the connection leads to business.

DON’T:

Say anything negative about the person who was referred to you to the person who referred them, it’s just not tactful.
Slack off or treat the referral poorly. If they are not a great fit, or you’re too busy to move forward, just let them know that.
Procrastinate about calling the person who referred you and thanking them.

The Bottom Line

Every time you meet someone in business you should be thinking ‘who do I know in my network that both parties might benefit from knowing each other’ and then take action by connecting the dots.