LinkedIn | David Asarnow | Life is Precious. Time is Short

Life is precious, and time is short. We never know what tomorrow holds, so why wait to make an impact? After losing my mother-in-law last week, this truth hits harder than ever.

We’re here to change lives, to make a difference. Let’s not waste the time we have on this beautiful earth—start today, and make every moment count.

Business Nitrogen

Focusing on Serving instead of Doing

Hey fellow entrepreneurs! Ever feel like you’re always in go-go-go mode? After 35 years of non-stop hustle, I’m here to share some insights that might just change your perspective. At 55, I’m reflecting on what I missed and what I don’t want to miss moving forward. The key? Shift your focus from just doing to truly serving.

Inspired by the book “The Goal” by Eliyahu Goldratt, I realized we often become the bottleneck in our own businesses. By focusing on our health, surrounding ourselves with people who align with our core values, and leveraging digital tools, we can create more meaningful, balanced lives.

Watch the full video to learn how you can start serving more and overwhelming yourself less. If this resonates with you, drop a comment below and share your thoughts!

ActiveCampaign Certified

Rate Your Client Value Meter

You’ve likely heard that it’s less expensive to retain an existing client than it is to acquire a new one, right? 

Believe it or not, it’s a pretty notable difference…

The first sale always takes more time, energy, effort, and investment. Acquiring a new client can cost up to 5X more than retaining or growing an existing one. 

Plus, there’s an increased success rate of selling to a client that has previously bought from you…

A 50% increase! 

So why do so many companies get so laser focused on attracting new clients that they essentially ignore their current clients?   

To understand better, let’s first get crystal clear on what client value is…

Client value is the level of satisfaction your clients feel towards your business. It can be calculated in several ways, but for this particular case let’s think of it as how much are they spending with you year-over-year. 

As far as cost of acquisition vs. the cost of retaining. If you’re always burning through ad revenue and other acquisition channels, it adds up. 

Some of those allocated funds could go to new product development, R&D, better software, incentive bonuses, client appreciation, etc. 

There are a lot of ways to spend money to grow a business. Acquiring clients is obviously a crucial one, but sometimes solely focusing on that directs money away from some other very important activities too.

I knew two partners at a bank in Tampa years ago. One of the partners was always hustling new clients. Because he was spending so much time chasing new business, many of his existing client relationships suffered, and therefore migrated elsewhere.

His partner, a veteran Entrepreneur who had actually built and exited a few companies in his life, had four main clients that he catered to EVERY week.  He rarely got involved with chasing new business. 

To some it would seem pretty static, but year-over-year the veteran Entrepreneur outperformed his partner just by focusing on his core clients, their investments, their needs, their portfolios, etc. 

It may seem counterintuitive to think this way, but good clients that you keep delighting can help create the ultimate advantage for a business. 

Let’s never forget that raving clients turn into cheerleaders. 

Cheerleaders create referrals. 

What is the cost of a referral? 

In most cases, absolutely nothing.

Let’s also not forget what we Entrepreneurs are pretty infamous for…Shiny Object Syndrome. 

My team teases me all the time when I go off on a tangent in the middle of discussing something else on our agenda…“Squirrel!” is jokingly uttered amongst my team.  

Let’s face it. It can be fun to chase the next big client. It can be fun to rebrand and do interesting creative things with your business. It can be fun to be “out in front.” All those are good things (and of course should be done), but to focus on them completely and ignore other core business building principles is NOT going to get you where you REALLY want to go in your business in the time frame you want to get there.

Plus, remember, the constant “chase” can burn out your team (always chasing something “new” and never allowing them to finish what they’ve started). 

Here’s another biggie…Opportunity cost.  The time taken away from your existing clients…Who are primed for repeat purchases and upsells if they trust you. 

All this said, there is something else that matters too.

Your Branding. 

Sometimes people interchange branding for client value, but I’m here to tell you, they are VERY different. 

Here’s a question…Do you solely base every one of your purchasing decisions on the item’s functional value (i.e., what can it do for you)? 

Of course not. 

Products and services are purchased for reasons much more complex than simply because you “need” them.  

As human beings we’re more likely to make our purchase based on the emotions the product or service stirs up inside of us (i.e., what does it make me feel like)? As far as buying decisions are concerned, our logic informs, but our emotions persuade. 

There are three factors that come into play when determining what products and services you purchase and who you trust to deliver them: 

These are Emotional, Functional, and Social components. 

Now, when you position your product or service in relation to each of these components, what you are accomplishing is what us marketers call “branding”.  

Branding allows you to resonate with your target market on a much deeper level. Not only that, statistics have shown time and again that people are willing to pay more for brands they recognize and have positive feelings towards. 

My team works a lot on branding with Entrepreneurs and their organizations, and I’m here to tell you what you stand for does matter. How you present your company to the world matters. How you resonate with your clients and prospective clients matters.

So ask yourself this…If you have the sleekest, most beautiful brand in the world, and you don’t take care of core client needs, how long is your business REALLY going to last? 

Your branding might get them in the door, but it sure as heck won’t keep them there. 

A while back, American Express found 33% of customers will consider switching companies after just one instance of poor customer service.

Your sustainable, competitive advantage is right there in your client value. 

So how do you focus on client value more?

Honestly, it begins with eating your own “dog food”. 

Start by going through some of your processes. 

Look at your client onboarding. Look at your client journey. Look real hard at your value ladder.

Listen to how your clients are communicated to. 

Send emails with surveys and get feedback. 

Send some marketing assets and written communications to friends and family and get their feedback. 

Does it tell a clear story? Is the CTA clear? 

Does it represent you as how you want to be seen?

Working on your own process will identify where the gaps might be. 

Then ask yourself if you’re creating a connection with your clients beyond just the products themselves. Would they have a reason to care about you and what it is you sell? 

Are you telling them cool, interesting, relevant stories? 

Are you greeting them on their birthday? (Seems small, but it can feel huge in your client’s mind). 

Listen to them. Schedule 30-minute conversations with existing clients. Take the time to understand their needs. Put off some internal meetings to understand your clients better.

Don’t stop connecting with the people who have trust in you.

Do you stop focusing on branding?

NO!

Focus on both and realize there’s an interplay between them – branding helps reel them in, and their experience with you helps keep them there. 

No one cares about a funny IG photo when they can’t get their core questions answered; and in this day and age of infinite competition, no one even cares tremendously about category dominance if the customer experience suffers. 

Many giants have been slayed in the past 20 years in part because the upstarts found better ways to engage customers–faster and more intuitive. 

How can WE help you drive client value?

We’ve worked with many clients solely on their client value efforts. 

That means workflows, emails to customers, communication style, offerings, and even the hiring side of the business. Think about it. If you hire C-players, expect they will act like C-Players and treat your clients that way. If you hire the right team members, they will value your clients—creating a symbiotic ecosystem. 

However, most Entrepreneurs I know aren’t very good at hiring for their businesses. They are too busy and focused on other things. Some that are forced to hire their own team members (left to their own devices), really don’t know what to look for (in some cases they don’t know who or what they really need). We can help with that too. 

Both directly and indirectly, having the right team in place will not only help your company grow and scale, your client value will reach a new level. 

To your success, 

David 

P.S. Recruitment and Hiring is the #1 Entrepreneurial Blind Spot which is why most avoid it like the plague… 

Let’s face it, the entire process can be utterly frustrating & time consuming, AND often results in attracting and hiring the WRONG talent for your team and/or business. 

But what if ALL the heavy-lifting was done for you, and you were only handed the highest qualified candidates that checked every box you were looking for? 

Head to this link to see if Nitrogen Hiring Network™ could be your talent recruitment solution. 

P.P.S. Not sure how to find and attract more of your ideal clients? If you have a proven high ticket offer, we know EXACTLY how to fill your pipeline with a constant stream of qualified and highly-motivated leads through our exclusive Leads on Demand™ program.

Simply click this link for more details.

David Asarnow

Do You Create Results with 100% Certainty?

In the last edition of The Infinite Business Newsletter, I talked about the vital importance of innovation (aka continual improvement). 

The commitment to always be striving for new, better and different allows your company to stay relevant and service your clients even better. 

I’m always shocked to discover most businesses fail to use one of the most powerful tools in their tool box when it comes to finding out EXACTLY how to service their clients better (Maybe it’s obvious, therefore it’s often missed)...

And if you aren’t doing this to some degree in your business, it’s never too late to start…  

One of the quickest ways to innovate and take steps to improve your business is by asking the most important person or people in your business.

Who are the most important people in any business?

Your clients. 

Your clients are the BEST people to go to when you seek improvement suggestions, ideas for new products or services, or to discover future wants, needs, and desires. 

How do you really get inside the mind of your future clients? By asking your best clients…As they once were your prospect.

The wealth of invaluable information and insight you can gain just by having a conversation with a client is absolutely priceless. 

Which is why I’m so surprised more business owners don’t utilize this approach.  

One business owner I know created something called a “Client Council”.  He runs a very successful service business that specializes in HVAC.  Each year he selects 10 of his best clients and asks them if they’d like to be a part of his Client Council. As a council member, they agree to give him insight and input on anything he sends them (marketing pieces, offers, new service ideas, etc.) and they give their honest feedback.  

In exchange for their council “work” he gives them 20% off any service in his company for an entire year. He  also extends a new customer one time 20% off coupon to any friends or family that live in the area (brilliant how he wove a referral strategy into this program)!

By having this ongoing council, he gets continual insight and feedback on what he is doing, or would like to do. 

He also attains new customers from these referrals. 

What’s also important to note, is he selects new council members each year, giving him a variety of people to test his marketing on. 

The positioning is perfectly structured for his clients too.  First, it’s not a HUGE commitment (only 1 year). It also makes the client feel special to be a part of an exclusive and unique group. Let’s face it, they have probably never been asked to be a part of something like his council ever before. It also gives them the opportunity to become the hero to any friends or family that need HVAC work done…As they hold the key to getting them 20% off their first service call. 

People like to be the heroes and have solutions to help people, which is why people will go out of their way to recommend any product or service they know could help someone (especially with the added bonus of saving them some money). 

It’s a win-win-win for everyone.  

Another business owner I know takes his clients out for Client Appreciation dinners. He invites 3 or 4 clients and their spouses to a restaurant for dinner on him, as a way of thanking them for their business. In their time together, he is able to ask them as a collective group what they think about new products and services he’s thinking of offering in his business. He gets to find out what’s changing in their lives which gives him even more ideas on how to improve his business as well. He schedules these dinners twice a year, and has for the last 20 years. 

Now you might be thinking, “I don’t have the ability to meet with my clients one-on-one.”  

If you don’t have that ability to meet in person with clients, simply call them. 

Many times with our clients, I’ll randomly hop on a meeting they have scheduled with my team just to check in and ask them how they are doing. If one of these clients is someone I think would be a perfect candidate for a new program we are offering, I’ll ask them if they’d be interested in scheduling a one-on-one with me to discuss in greater detail.

Another EASY way to get insight and input from your clients is by sending them regular surveys on a consistent basis. You can send them by email or direct mail. I highly recommend implementing this strategy in your business no matter what, and in addition to any other thing you do. 

Sending out “How are we doing?” surveys on a regular basis shows your clients you really care about the level of service you provide them (that you are always looking for ways to improve). It also gets you information you need. 

It’s easy for anyone to set something like this up in their business. Remember, people want to share their experiences…They desire to feel heard. 

One last example that I couldn’t resist including because it’s so good… 

I heard about this approach from a mastermind I attended. The business owner ran live events at least twice a year for high school students interested in the field of medicine.

His main marketing vehicle was direct mail. His company established a successful “control” and had tested a few new strategies and vehicles to no avail in beating their existing “control”. 

One day as he was talking to his CMO about what to test next, and she suggested it was time to start testing different messaging. Messaging that really resonated with the parents and the students. 

“How would we know what to test?,” He said. She then said, “We ask them.” A bit confused, he asked, “Who?”she said, “Our prospects”.  

Here’s where it gets interesting…

They brainstormed various ways to attain all the relevant information they would need to guide them to create the perfect messaging. They knew in order to get it right, with 100% certainty (and in the shortest amount of time before the next event), they would need to do something extreme. 

They landed on what they called a “Prospect Tour”. They chose 10 prospects at random that agreed to meet with both of them in person. They then flew around the country to visit each of the prospects and their families.   

Extreme? Yes. 

But what they were able to discover in a few weeks of talking to prospects one-on-one was absolutely eye-opening. Not only did they gain insight on objections they never considered, they achieved their ultimate goal (which was to collect exact verbiage directly from their prospects that they could use in their copy).  Messaging that ended up resonating on such a deeper level with their prospective audience. 

I hope these examples gave you some ideas on how you too can gain insight quite easily from prospective clients and existing clients to help propel your business forward. 

Think about integrating any one of these strategies (or variations of them) in your marketing efforts.  At the very least, get a survey out to your clients every 6 months, even if it's just one question you ask them. It’ll pay dividends in the long run, and quickly elevates your business to new heights if you take what you learn and make necessary changes to continually improve. 

To your success, 

David

ActiveCampaign Certified

Obstacles rooting your future?

Oftentimes, failure to attain our goals and realize our full potential is a direct result of our limiting belief system.  

We all have them. Our beliefs are deep seeded (basically anchored) in our subconscious mind. 

For example, have you ever caught yourself making a statement like, “I’m not good at time management” or “I’m terrible with numbers so I won’t understand financials”? 

These are examples of limiting beliefs that people  construct in their mind that they then think to be true. 

They then become beliefs that falsely define you, and keep you from making good choices. They limit you from taking advantage of opportunities. They keep you “stuck” and unable to move forward.  They remain in your subconscious as “truths”, therefore your conscious mind believes them to be true and acts accordingly. 

Ultimately, limiting beliefs keep us trapped in a negative state of mind and therefore become the root obstacles that deter us from living the life we truly desire.

What causes our limiting beliefs? 

Interestingly enough, it starts fairly early for all of us. As children, around the age of 2, the number of connections (synapses) between brain cells doubles. Synapses are where learning occurs, so during this time period (usually this critical stage lasts until about the age of 7), children learn much faster and absorb more. In addition to learning, belief systems are constructed. 

 Growing up, your parents probably had morals and values they tried to instill in you. It could be things such as what career path you should take, what you deserve, how to treat others, etc. From that you end up forming your own limiting beliefs based on what you learned, and what you were told. 

Later in life, we have other people who influence our belief system.  From childhood well into adulthood, the people we surround ourselves with definitely affect our belief system (whether they are authority figures, friends, family, spouses and people we respect). Each have a profound impact on what you accept as “truth”.  

Which is why I firmly believe that the people we surround ourselves with the most have the biggest influence on our behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and results. 

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn said it best: 

      “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

So be careful who you choose to spend your time with!

One of the biggest secrets to my success has to do with ongoing mentorship from those I admire. I always have 5 mentors that I learn from at one given time. Some I might have direct contact with, some I might not. 

For those I don’t have contact with, I can still learn from them. I can read books they’ve written, listen to podcasts they broadcast, or watch videos they’ve created.

The key is to keep learning from others who are doing, or have done what it is you are looking to do. Mentorship provides an invaluable learning experience (at any age). 

Experiences play a big role in shaping our beliefs too. When we experience something (negative or positive) we draw conclusions afterward. When we draw negative consultations from experiences, we create negative beliefs that can strongly shape limiting beliefs. 

For some of us, eliminating these limiting beliefs must start with letting go of the pain or trauma we have associated with it. 

Whether it’s forgiving ourselves for mistakes we’ve made, or forgiving others who have betrayed or hurt us, we must let the pain go. 

With that being said, I’ve found that pain can also be a great teacher.

It gives us the opportunity to achieve gratitude. The more we can focus on gratitude and appreciation (even from the most painful things that we’ve endured or encountered), the easier it becomes for us to learn how to move forward and do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again (or how to do it differently next time).

In any case, we must re-program the story that is anchored in our past, so it doesn’t root our future…

Most of us set goals for our future. Where we want to be, what we want to have, what we want to accomplish. 

Sadly many people never reach goals they’ve set even with all the tools and resources at their disposal. 

Limiting beliefs directly affect the outcome of reaching goals, dreams, and aspirations.

Surprisingly, the failure of reaching a goal doesn’t have to do with the false belief that you can’t achieve it. 

Not exactly, anyway. 

It really begins with the belief of whether we feel we deserve it or not; whether we are worthy or not.

You must believe you are worthy of it and deserve it before you can even believe you can achieve it. 

Do you see the person who deserves what you want when you look at your reflection in the mirror? 

                   Am I worth what I want? 

                 Do I deserve what I want? 

If your answer is no, this is where you need to start reprogramming your beliefs, as if you don’t believe you are worth it or deserve it, you won’t achieve it.

The last HUGE obstacle keeping people from reaching their goals is failure to take massive action, and do what others aren’t willing to do.

Maybe they don't like what they hear, or they are so afraid of failure that they simply back off and give up. 

Did you know that the people who have experienced the most failures are also the most successful? 

My advice: Start showing up. 

Show up for yourself. 

Show up for what you’ve committed to. 

And stop striving for perfection. Because perfect is the enemy of done.

My last piece of advice to help you reach your goals supports your worthiness and the actions you take.  

To set goals, we need a vision. 

That vision is our inspiration. To stay motivated and get things done, we need to see a way to make it happen. The most important thing about setting goals is to set goals that are meaningful to you, and you can only accomplish what you can envision.

I love using vision boards to set goals. 

A vision board is a picture or collage that helps you make decisions and direct your actions toward your goal. 

Visualizing success in images or drawings creates a mental image of your goal and helps you identify what steps need to be taken to achieve it.

Another process I also recommend you start that I also teach many other Entrepreneurs is something I call E.V.A. It stands for: 

E - Envision

V - Visualize

A - Action

This process should be started after you conquer limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Only then can you take steps to move you closer to your goals and aspirations using this formula that took me over 30 years to refine and perfect.

If you'd like a free copy of the EVA process, simply message me and I can send it to you!

To your success, 

David

Business Nitrogen