Setting Goals

With a new week starts a new adventure. Today marks the first day towards cutting out unnecessary expenses for the next 30 days. Hopefully this goes well and after 30 days, I will have a new norm to live by. This change was prompted by multiple things but the biggest driver is the amount of time I waste while I'm wasting money on things like a late morning breakfast or late afternoon lunch.

The goals of this cost cutting adventure are more than just monetary, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Save $1,000 between 9/17/2012 and 10/19/2012
• Start waking up early enough to eat breakfast at home instead of at Daisy's on 15th Street in Plano which I highly recommend
• Cut lunch down to 1 hour and a limit of $10.00 per day, max
• Lose 5 pounds (trust me it's related to the dietary aspects of not eating out)
• And lastly, I want to spend my free time doing something that requires me to be outside, in my garage, or active in some way. No more sitting around when I can be bettering myself.

Date	Description	Orig Amt	New Amt	Saved
9.18.2012	Leftover pizza for dinner	$0.00	$25.00	$25.00
9.18.2012	Adjacent Solutions bought lunch	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
9.18.2012	Coffee at the office for breakfast	$13.88	$.25	$13.53
9.17.2012	Picked up a tab for a buddy	$36.00	$65.00	$-30.00
9.17.2012	Short lunch at Vickery	$35.00	$10.00	$25.00
9.17.2012	Coffee at the office for breakfast	$13.88	$.25	$13.53
Total Saved:				$47.08

What's wrong with... setting real expectations with clients.

In my first blog ladies and gentlemen, I want to give my thoughts on setting realistic expectations when selling products or services. It seems like in today's society, the name of the game is misdirection, miscommunication, distraction, and stretching the truth to make the sell at all costs. But today I ask why? what's wrong with setting real expectations with whatever you happen to be peddling.

At one time or another each of us were probably taught the lesson "on lie leads to another". The pursuit of additional revenue, even a few tenths of an additional margin percentage, has lead many corporations and sales people to the end result of setting non-realistic product and service expectations. This is unfair to clients and consumers alike.

Life would be so much easier if we were honest in answering at a minimum the following questions:

1. How much should it cost?
2. How long will it take?
3. How will it work/perform?
4. Why should I buy this?
5. Lastly, will this meet my needs/requirements?

As a side note, for those of you who are asking what I think are some advantages of setting real expectations, here you go.

1. The client will trust you even if they aren't happy with the answer
2. A client that trusts you is a client that will continue to come to you as a trusted advisor
3. Taking the uncertainty out of the equation means one less reason for the client to delay payment
4. Being honest with clients put your competitors who aren't at a disadvantage. They have to keep lying to cover up previous lies.
   

Want to improve your business, set yourself apart from your competitors, or have higher client satisfaction then set the right expectations. If you don't know the answers to the questions then you are worse off then previously thought.

Well that's it for tonight.
jcoreil