I was watching the premier episode of Studio 60,, a television show that takes place in the backstage scenes of a fictional late-night Saturday Night Live type show.
The character played by Matthew Perry was talking to the star actress just before she was going on. She asks Perry's character why, during the dress rehearsal, she gave a line that didn't get a laugh, while during the read-through, it did. The line was "Can you please pass the butter?”
"What am I doing wrong?" she asked.
Perry responded with a line any businessperson should keep at the front of their mind: "You asked for the laugh." "And?" asked the actress. Perry replied "In the read-through, you asked for the butter."
Whether you are a salesperson, a brand manager or the CEO, it is easy to forget that focusing on the result instead of focusing on the execution leads, more often than not, to a failure to get the result.
So, stop focusing on "record-breaking profits" and start focusing on "record-breaking value creation" for your customer and clients. Stop focusing on "making a sale" and start focusing on "understanding your client better than they understand themselves." That kind of execution leads to a truly remarkable client experience and more growth.
You see, when you focus on the right things, the results just happen. You'll get the laugh - and the profit.