Secrets of Entrepreneurship – Find out what people want

By Jerry Bellune

Business guru Tom Peers called it strategic listening.
It is critical to harvesting ideas from all sources.
By listening we can create alliances and partnerships.
We can quit competing and start working with others.

When sales suck, we have to start listening.
In “Ice to Eskimos,” Jon Spoelstra tells what he did.
He calls it selling a product nobody wants.
Jon used it in turning around the New Jersey Nets.
They were the worst basketball team in the NBA.
That was not just on the court and in the stands.
At the bank, they were money losers. Dead broke.
Few fans. Low ticket and hot dog sales. You name it.

Jon sat with the few fans and get to know them.
He came up with strategies to attract more fans.
One was to advertise the stars on visiting teams.
“Come see (star’s name) play at the Nets arena.”
Believe it or not, this attracted more people.
Jon injected fun into the experience.
The fan base grew as fans brought their friends.
He did goofy things to attract the media’s attention.
He even considered an outrageous team name change.
It worked. Attendance began to build.
People looked forward to Nets’ home games.
I recommend his book to you highly.

We faced this in turning around losing businesses.
The first thing we did was strategic listening.
Wherever two or three were gathered, we listened.
We joined every group in town that would have us.
We got involved in community and volunteer groups.

That was a good beginning. Then we stepped it up.
We took over a failing local charity and built it up.
We held a launch party and invited all prospects.
We started a business networking group.
We published newsletters for clients and prospects.
We used media to attract people to all of this.

Want to attract more fans to your business?
Email me for details about our STAR funshop.
You’ll discover what great successes have done.
This will give you a blueprint for greater success.

Next: Entrepreneurial life lessons.

Want to share this with a friend? Be my guest.
We only ask that you tell them where it came from.
Invite them to send me their email address.
They can reach me at [email protected]
I’ll email this strategy letter to them each week.
©2016 The Bellune Company, Inc.
Neither MidlandsBiz.com nor The Bellune Company, Inc. makes any warranty as to the results that may be achieved from using this information. ©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reprint or circulate may be obtained by emailing [email protected]

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