RACE – How to Outshine Your Competition

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
— Winston S. Churchill

Good morning; the sunrise is breathtaking, the coffee is fantastic, and it's just my wife and me here today: no guests, no company, just us and our animals. It's 6:30 on a Sunday morning; we have brunch planned with friends, then we will pick up our old lady Forerunner and spend the afternoon at our mountain top chalet.

A wonderful day yesterday; Josie and her pup Kona stayed with us on Friday night. She and Bay got into the hot tub; the dogs played well together. Although it might be the first alpha Parker has met, watching both navigate their new friendship was interesting.

We left about 11:00 and headed to Mount Falcon West Trail Head. The four of us with the dogs did a 2-mile hike, the first one of the season; it was warm, a great first hike. We left there and went to the Sit and Bull. If ever in Denver, make your way to the Sit and Bull. Great food, a mountain bar, it's one of our favorite stops.

We headed back home; the girls headed back to Denver for a night downtown. Finally, we headed to Brooks to get our Toyota Forerunner with 240,000 miles; her battery died. I asked some friends if they had jumper cables; the battery was dead. I figured I would deal with it this morning.

We headed home, got cleaned up, and went back to Brooks to meet the owner's Dave and Nicole, two people in our community we adore. We have a lot in common with them, and they both have hearts of gold. We sat down for a drink before heading to our final destination, Twin Forks; as we sat, Nicole's son joined us, and I asked Andrew if he could change a battery? He laughed? "Can't everyone?"  He asked me for my keys, I gave him cash for a battery and his labor, and he said it would be done when you get back from dinner. Our community is rich with helpful, loving people.

Nicole drove us to Twin Forks; it's was our third time there; we met the owner, and I shared what we did for money, honey. The meal was outstanding, but I will warn you they are very proud of their wine. So if you make it to the Sit and Bull for a drink, I would suggest having reservations at Twin Forks, another mountain community gem. One of the things we love about Dave and Nicole is they like to dine early to get home and get to bed early. We made it home by 7:30, caught a show, and were in bed by 9:00. I got nine glorious hours of sleep. 

It will get brutally cold here this week, more snow, maybe a couple of snow days. But, I don't mind getting stuck here; it's one of the reasons we bought the place. Plus, most of our meetings are virtual to run from our various virtual offices. So, as I woke up, I wondered what allows a company to separate itself from its competition? I thought of an acronym and figured I'd give it a whirl.  

The acronym is RACE; I think my friends at NPR would be happy with the choice. The R stands for responsive. If you are responsive to your client's needs, you will rarely lose a client, and your clients will share with others how connected you are. When a client has a need, identify the need, get clarity and then execute in a reasonable time frame.  

The A stands for availability. Gone are the days of a Monday through Friday 8:00 to 5:00 existence. But, to compete in today's world, you better be never closed. So, if you call our company no matter the time, you will get a real live human being. I had a client call me one night at about 7:30 about a commercial driver issue; we discussed the problem and got a resolution. My client's mother was with him when he called, she is also in the insurance industry and works for another agency. His mother said, "no insurance agent answers the phone on a Friday at 7:30 p.m., keep him as long as you can." As of today, they are still clients.

The C stands for consistent, be consistent with your level of service. Nothing is ever perfect, humans make mistakes, but if you can turn 95% of the service requests around in a responsive, available way, your clients will have a hard time moving on to another firm. Make sure that all team members understand the company playbook, terminate those who can't follow the rules, build a team of independent curious individuals, and watch your company soar.

The E stands for energy. As the owner of a company, I know that my energy is contagious; if my energy is low, my team's energy will be low. But, conversely, if I come into every interaction with positive energy, it transfers to the others. Energy is essential in every aspect of life; make sure you are using the E to benefit your team, clients, and vendors.

It's Sunday Funday; make sure you take advantage of all this day has to offer. Look around and remember that this was created by something bigger than us, and if you are a little out of sorts, you can lean on that being. You are never alone; no matter your plight, you can navigate with the help of the universe. Life is hard, but not impossible; never think you cannot weather the storm, you will never be given more than you can handle, trust me, I know.

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
— Winston S. Churchill