So, are you more like a baby monkey, or a kitten? Your attitude I’m speaking of. Let’s differentiate them by the way they handle stress. When a kitten is confused or in danger, it will do nothing but sit there and mew for it’s mother hoping the mother will come save it. The monkey, however, when in danger will run and jump on the back of its’ mother and find safety on the mothers back. Don’t just cry for help when faced with a challenge or problem. Be willing to seek the answer … to take action for your self to resolve the problem.

Now go be like a monkey.

(and yes, I know that is not a monkey but I like the picture)

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
~ Thomas Edison

Fear not a hard day’s labor.

There’s a lot of talk lately about the importance of differentiation — differentiation of the firm and differentiation of the you. This idea is rightfully termed “The Brand Called You”. Peter Montoya has the book (I haven’t read it yet but plan to). Many other authors write about the same thing - Seth Godin, Harry Beckwith, Tom Peters. It’s a down right popular topic of late. On of my favorite books on topic is The Proverbial Crackerjack by Dale Henry. It’s a great book and a very entertaining read - I highly recommend it.

Garr Reynolds (Presentation Zen guru) has a portion of his presentation Differentiation & Engagement on his blog. In his presentation, Garr states “If you are not a brand, you will be a commodity.” How true this is. Our biggest struggle as professional engineers, especially geotechnical engineers, seems to be the battle against commodity. Commodity is our own fault but we just can’t seem to fight the pull — that need to get more work. So, we often turn our back on the practice of price bidding. We give in. Well, I’m off topic on a rant.

So, the key to success (and not being commodity) is differentiation; both of the firm and you as an individual. Check out the reading list, watch Garr’s presentation and be different. Surprise your client (exceed his expectations)!

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

As a company we spend significant time and expense to attend association meetings, client events and civic functions. The primary purpose for doing this is to meet people, and to increase the awareness and visibility of yourself and Aquaterra in the marketplace. If done properly and consistently this is one of the best ways to build your business and grow income. This skill or activity is called networking, and networking is key to both your personal and Aquaterra’s success.

The definition of networking is the exchange of information, ideas and resources with business and/or social contacts. Networking is about:

• Getting known by those that can help build your business.
• Creating momentum toward achieving business and career success.
• Getting together with business and social contacts and turning them into clients and friends.
• Building and nurturing long-term relationships.
• Building a people resource bank that pays interest and dividends that compound annually for life.

Successful networking will result in more business contacts, more sales, more business and community knowledge, more profit and more fun!

So, how good are you and your staff at this important business skill called networking? Do you really manage this process and have a game plan for networking success? To get started you need to answer the following questions.

1. Where do you network now?
2. Where should you network?
3. Where do your best clients and prospects network? (Ask your clients/prospects)
4. What are the best organizations or associations to join and get involved with?
5. Who are the ten key people you want to meet? (People that can impact your business)
6. Which are the ten key companies you want to do business with? (Companies that are important to your business that need our services that aren’t currently using Aquaterra)
7. What are your networking goals?

Once you have answered the above questions, you will have the basis to put in place a plan to maximize the networking success of your office and yourself. Now the key becomes working your plan and being proficient at networking. I have been to numerous events and functions during my career and offer the following networking fundamentals.

• Pre-plan the event or outing€¦do your homework and be prepared. (Who is coming to the event? Do you have an attendee list or membership roster? Whom do you want to meet?
• Never be late€¦show up early and stay late. (Association meetings and important civic events should be unbreakable appointments that you put on your calendar)
• Pick and choose the people you talk to carefully.
• Lose your friend and co-workers€¦split up! (Don’t shadow each other around or sit together)
• Don’t sit, stand or talk to the same old people€¦take a risk and talk to strangers!
• Don’t stand by yourself or sit at an empty table€¦empty has no value.
• Don’t follow the crowd€¦follow your clients and the money.
• Get involved, get involved, and get involved! (Be a leader and get on a committee or on the Board)
• Assume everyone you meet has valuable information.
• Have your 1-minute Aquaterra commercial memorized.
• Don’t waste time; spend a maximum of 5 minutes with each stranger.
• Your job when networking is to screen people and to gather/share information
• Don’t butt in or be rude.
• Eat early or don’t eat and don’t drink when mingling and networking.
• Don’t smoke or chew gum.
• Don’t sell Aquaterra€¦sell an appointment to discuss ways you can help each other.
• Follow-up, follow-up and follow-up.

Networking involves you taking people risks and investing yourself. Just introduce yourself to people you don’t know and use the fundamentals above. And, use the following five key questions to qualify and determine if the stranger (new potential client and friend) is someone worth having in your network.

1. What does your firm do?
2. What is your position with your firm?
3. How long have you been with your firm?
4. What is your target market?
5. Who are your clients?

(Be sure to take notes, pay attention and be polite.)

Asking the above questions will help you determine the potential value of networking with this person and whether they have the potential to help you build your business.

To really make your network “work”, the primary rule is to stay in touch and follow-up. Good networkers share information and exchange ideas. They give first and give again€¦remember networking is the exchange of information, ideas and resources. Becoming a successful networker takes commitment, persistence, patience and time. Mastery of this skill will result in you being seen as a leader and in more business for Aquaterra.

“But I am shy and not good at this!” I know that is what some of you are saying. Or perhaps you have some other reason or excuse for why you can’t or won’t network better. In response I offer the following advice.

• There are no strangers, only friends we haven’t met.
• Shyness is a habit not a trait (Do physicians tell parents in the delivery room€¦we have a problem your kid is shy!)
• Practice and plan for success€¦don’t haphazardly network or just wing-it.
• Involve all appropriate staff in networking and networking events€¦use the power of your team!
• Look in the mirror and challenge yourself€¦have fun, be passionate and be enthusiastic. (And, you will build your business and grow income!)

Applying the above information will best position you to network, build your business and profit!

- Ricky

I have college-age children, and when I hear those words, I brace for the worse and pray for the best. Getting “a grade” is a fundamental form of feedback about performance. Feedback is an important ingredient to successfully managing a business with over 100 people. I think that this is particularly true for a professional and technical services company like Aquaterra. Hearing from our staff about their likes and dislikes, their problems and suggestions for solutions, etc. is imperative to us as we chart our course for the future.

In our recent annual office managers’ retreat, we reviewed a survey that we had our employees complete. This feedback proved to be an excellent means to allow our introspection. What did we glean from this survey? Here are the most obvious findings.

• We are effectively moving toward becoming the preeminent earth science and engineering firm in the Southeast, and we are confident that our service is superior, but we should not become complacent or overconfident, and we have a long way to go.
• Our employees are extremely proud to let people know that we work for Aquaterra.
• We are content with the growth rate of Aquaterra.
• Our internal training efforts are helpful, and the employees look forward to them.
• We feel adequately challenged in our positions and we enjoy going to work, but we are working very hard and we feel the stress.

All in all, I think that if this were a grade on a report card, we got an A-. I am quite satisfied to know that our employees are proud to be a part of our firm and that they believe that we are on course with our vision and growing at a healthy pace. Obviously, I like the fact that our efforts to provide training are appreciated. I acknowledge that we work hard, and that is good. We can be well satisfied with hard work; our clients deserve it, and we need to work hard to excel at what we do and to be satisfied. Da Vinci said “A well spent day brings happy sleep.”

Stress? That is an issue that we know can’t be avoided, but we can work to deal with it in a creative manner. We work in a time that demands the intense efforts of our technical and professional staff to provide our services on an immediate basis like never before, and recruiting more like-minded staff is a challenge for our profession. This issue of stress is something that we will continue to work on, and we will set this as a priority for our company as we move forward.

I like our report card. We are doing many things very right.
- Vic

This weeks quote is brought to us by Ricky -

“Do today what others won’t, so you can do tomorrow what others can’t” ~ Zig Ziglar