Donald Rossberg

A friend of mine sent me a link to the keynote address from the ConnectWise Summit this month.  One of the principles that the speaker (Verne Harnish) tried to convey was that we should all be playing to win.  He also mentioned that many people are simply playing not to lose.  Now on the surface these two statements seem the same but nothing could be further from the truth.

When you play to win, you are actively innovating and finding ways to be a leader in your field.  Those playing to not to lose are simply trying to get by and bunker down.  Playing not to lose in business is a quick way to go out of business in this highly competitive and recessed market.  In essence, playing to win means being pro-active and focused.  Playing not to lose means being distracted and operating on fear.  I want to address some ways we can use technology to help us play to win instead of simply playing not to lose…

1) Website / Internet Solutions

Many people are talking about SEO and other things to make their website a more productive tool.  For many, their website is simply a static page or perhaps even a nice looking flash page with text.  This is not going to inspire anyone to contact you.

Your website should be one of your best sales tools.  Offer solutions and packages, feature coupons or incentives.  Give them a reason to fill out a form or pick up a phone.  If your site is simply a brochure you are losing business and don’t even know it.

2) Get Mobile!

For many people, the phrase “going to work” congers up thoughts of cubicles and conference rooms.  In today’s economy and business climate, businesses need to be seen and heard more often.  This cannot be done from a desk, or conference table.  While not every industry is able to go without these things, it is important for all industries to employ mobile technology that allows people to work from anywhere.

Employees are far more productive and able to form the relationships critical to business when allowed to work from home or a networking event or anywhere else they need to be as well.  Every company should have the ability to let employees connect in from the outside world and work wherever the opportunity presents itself.

3) An Ounce of Prevention…

Its an old saying we are all familiar with…”an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  This is especially true in technology.  There have been a number of recent news reports of data breaches and even foreign governments who are targeting businesses for hacking purposes.  With more and more of our world going digital and going green, technology is mandetory to make it work.

Recently Health Net, Inc. reported a data breach that affected 1.5 million people.  They lost patient data including medical records, social security numbers and other information because an employee lost a portable hard drive.  This could have been avoided had the drive been encrypted.  (read article here…http://tinyurl.com/yhftqkx)

4) People Power

Regardless of what technology you use in your business, the reality is that people are the most common point of failure.  Many in our workforce either do not possess the skills or don’t desire to learn about technology and as a result they compromise business and network integrity.  Employees need to be able to remember a 8-10 character password, know how to lock a computer among others.

Technology needs to be a focus of business training and your business plan.  When your people are properly trained, productivity and performance improve, not to mention costly security mistakes and data breaches are significantly reduced.  It is rare that a data breach occurs because of the IT department, it is usually a well intentioned person who didn’t think about security.  I can promise that if you are training your employees on technology then they will become more productive and valuable to your team.

Businesses cannot claim to be playing to win if they are not focusing heavily on technology and maintaining it.  In the end, what determines if you are playing to win versus playing not to lose is how you approach the challenges of the time.  Technology is not going away and businesses must adapt to stay relevant.

As we approach the end of 2009, begin now to make your business win and become active.  Passively bunkering down during a tough economic time will only lead to business failure.  Technology can help you reach new markets, improve your business processes and make you profitable if properly used.  Good luck to everyone, go out and WIN!