Working on Purpose

I was thinking the other day about when I first graduated from college and began working in the family business. I am a lifelong student of business with a keen interest in how to drive growth and long-term success. From the very beginning I have dreamt of taking our business to even greater heights, which would be an amazing accomplishment based on how successful my parents have been in founding and establishing our company. Not just so I could reap the rewards and benefits for myself but so that we could build something together that everyone with a stake in the business could take pride in.

I remember back in those early days reading and thinking a lot about writing a Corporate Mission Statement. It was the hot management topic of the day in the business world and was being used to foster growth and ingenuity at a time when business and economic growth was practically guaranteed. The exuberance of the developing world economy and companies with newly defined corporate missions fueled a time of impressive growth and fostered the dreams of a young business grad looking to make his mark on his company and the greater marketplace. It was a dream that lived for over a decade and consumed too much of my time. It propelled me to seek and earn an MBA to add even more business acumen seeking to bring my value and worth forward in new and exciting ways.

Fast forward a few years and here we are in 2011. A lot of business fads have come and gone. So have a lot of businesses. It is a cruel world to own any kind of business these days but whether in times of great gains or great losses, great advances in technologies and efficiencies or great setbacks in ability to secure financing or credit one thing has remained the same and will long after I am gone. Human nature.

We all have deep rooted desires. Many are as different as each individual person, however when it comes to work we all have some basic needs: to be recognized and compensated for our efforts, to learn, to be challenged and to have a feeling that what we do matters. As a business owner I walk a fine line between working in the business versus working on the business. While there are many things I enjoy doing and can easily justify spending my entire day get involved in the minutiae of my business it is imperative for the long-term success of my business that I always have an eye on the future.

About a year ago I started working on a project that quickly grabbed my interest. How could we take our 300 plus year old company and revive and reinvigorate ourselves from the inside out? How do we use the successes of our past as a platform to catapult us to new heights that I have been dreaming about for 25 years? Even in a difficult economy! With a fair investment of time and a little money I have found some answers and we are just beginning to implement some of our findings. The tide has turned, the winds have changed and corporately, we are all uniting together around some common language and purposes.

I look forward to sharing specific ideas and results in upcoming posts but for now here are some of the questions we asked ourselves that I think are worthy for consideration by any individual or corporation aspiring to greater things. Why do we exist? What needs and desires drive us towards our intended outcomes? Who and what do we hope to become? What purpose we were created to fulfill that we can uniquely fill in a way that makes a difference for all of our consumers, customers and stakeholders?

Best wishes for some purposeful contemplation!

The Art of the Ask

I've written in previous posts about the importance of staying in touch with customers, constituents and contacts.  In the age of e-mail, instant messaging and social media I think people are actually delighted to have face to face or person to person conversations today.  At least all of those over the age of 21.

So it occurs to me and I've been reading up a lot lately, how do you get people to slow down and find out what is really going inside and around the people you're meeting and talking with?  It is my experience, especially in a situation where you may be trying to get someone to think differently and to take on your way of thinking that both parties will try to do whatever they can to begin and end the conversation as quickly as possible.  If you get people to say "yes" enough times then the thinking goes they will say "yes" when you ask them to agree with your line of thinking or buying what you're trying to sell them.  This model is as outdated as command and control corporations where the marching orders are read every morning and the soldiers fall in line or they get replaced. 

In another attempt to verify the old adage of my father is absolutely 100% correct I can say again if it was easy anybody could do it.  Most people don't, though.  What's that you ask?  My answer is yes!  If you're not totally confused yet hang in for another sentence or so.  To answer your question with another question (one of the techniques that shows you are mastering the skill) my question to you is "How good are you at asking questions?"  It seems obvious but just in case I don't mean innocuous yes or no or mindless questions such as:

• How are you today?
• What's new with you?
• How's business?
• Can you believe the weather we're having?

You have just asked questions that require slightly less thought to answer than you put in to asking them.  In fact if you're asking them of people who have limited time to talk to you anyway you're wasting both of your times and on some level outright looking stupid in their mind's eye.

The quality of your questions gives you a leg up on 95% of the population (and your competitors) for several reasons.  Here is a list of a few and I assure you there are more:

• It shows people you care
• It causes people to open up and be more honest about their feelings and motivations
• It demands that you become a better listener
• It takes the pressure off of your meeting, especially if it is with someone you just met or are trying to sell to or persuade to think differently about a product, service, or point of view
• It puts you in a position of leading the conversation while the other person feels like they are the ones doing all the speaking and thereby in control
• It produces results

Try it out for a week and see if you don't get different (better) results in your personal, professional and social conversations.  Need a few suggestions?  Let me get you started:

Instead of....
How's business?
Give this a try...
What are your business goals for this month?  Quarter? Year?
Followed by....
What are you focusing on to help deliver these results?
Further enhanced by...
How are you partnering with your vendors and involving your employees to ensure the results you need?

One more...
Instead of...
How are you today?
Try...
Tell me the most fun (insert any other adjective, i.e. exciting) thing that happened to you today?
Drop the...
What's up?
Instead say...
What are you planning for fun this upcoming weekend?  Next week?  This month?

You get the idea and you can come up with better ones than I did.  The key is to practice - every day.  The goal is to get people to talking about themselves, to tell you what has their attention, what they are interested in and what motivates and moves them.  All of this from a simple question?  I'll close again by answering a question with a question:

How do you expect to get different and better results in all areas of your life if you're not willing to try something new?  I'm just askin'.....

How to WOW!

I had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the FN Platform show which runs alongside the MAGIC Show in Las Vegas last week.  It is one of my favorite weeks of the year not just because Las Vegas is my personal grown up Disneyland but because for one of only two times during the year all of my friends, customers and acquaintances from within the shoe industry come together under on roof to renew old relationships, meet new people and commiserate on the future of our industry and the economy as a whole. 

The show itself is almost anti-climatic just like the wedding ceremony or the prom dance.  What I mean is that there is so much preparation, planning and work that goes in to what gets done once the actual event rolls around that it's actually a relief to just get to the opening day of the show and to be able to put all those weeks of meetings and hours of work in to action.  While I suspect that everyone puts the same amount of work into preparing for the show as we do it is interesting to watch and see how people do things differently and how our expectations vary.  There are three very distinct approaches with not very surprising results:

The Show Up Hopers: These well meaning folks just can't understand why business is so slow and are happy to proclaim to anyone who will listen what a bust the show is.  The funny thing is these folks seemingly do little or nothing to prepare to make a great first impression on their customers and prospects and they even more inexplicably assume that "if they build it, they will come."  What's more their preparation weeks and months ahead of the show seems to match their first impression and they do very little to intentionally drive traffic to their booth.  That's a hard way to make a living in today's world.  And a long three days to sit in an empty booth and watch all the business go somewhere else.

The Steady Eddies: Nothing really wrong with these folks at all.  They are consistent, reliable, loyal and (dare I say) predictable.  They pretty much do the same thing every time and their same customers come to see them just like they do every show.  They are happy with the status quo and as long as they see all the "regulars" it's a good show.  This is where the majority of us live not just at shows but in our day to day roles and jobs.  Do enough to be successful but skirt the extra degree or two of effort it takes to really make things happen.

Those Who WOW!: Sadly, I can count the number of these folks that I saw last week on one hand.  Sure, they had great looking products but so do a lot of their competitors.  These guys went above and beyond to stand out.  They had a great strategy for how to generate interest, attract new customers and WOW everyone that walked in the booth.  They had a well executed theme and strategy and from what I could tell it paid off - BIG TIME.  Not only were customers talking about it but so were competitors. 

Admittedly, we fell way too much in to the steady Eddy category and didn't do nearly enough to WOW! last week.  It's not easy because it means every day you have to push yourself and not let up.  You have to not accept good from yourself or anyone else - you demand greatness!  There are always plenty of reasons why things don't turn out quite the way we wish - and we are experts at justifying the reasons why.  Steady as she goes.....

I would rather push myself to keep searching "How to WOW."  It's hard work, it's uncomfortable, it tests your patience and sticktoitiveness but it seems to me the results are all worth it.  I hope next time they are all talking about me!

What I did on my summer vacation, Part 2

Well, I never intended to leave a 6 week gap between posts but life has a funny way of getting in the way while we're busy making plans!

It seems that while I was busy thinking about creating value I wasn't spending enough time making it happen!  So in the last several weeks several of my colleagues and I have rolled up our sleeves and tried to connect more intimately with our customers as well as our coworkers to learn more about what's happening and specifically what their needs are.  The results?  Some of the most exciting ideas, plans and strategies that we have done for with our customers and especially end consumers in mind in the history of our business.  But I'm not ready to let that cat out of the bag quite yet!

Here's what I can say... looking at yourself honestly, being critical and analytical about who you are, what you do and why you exist in this world and ultimately why you and your business matters is hard work.  But like my dad always said, "if it was easy, anybody could do it."  I hate it when he's right and the fact that the older I get the wiser my dad is and the more sense he makes!  Unfortunately, most people never take or make the time for such an investigative approach to business and life. 

So here's some thoughts and some questions for you to ponder this week: why do you exist?  What unique qualities were you created with that can best be used for the benefit of others?  What is your vision for where you will ultimately wind up?  What plans do you need to put in place to get there?  Intentions are just ideas that never go much farther than the idea itself.  ACTIONS move you towards the directions you need to go which will lead you to the destinations you have set for yourself to reach. 

In conclusion, which destinations are you shooting for?  What ACTIONS do you need to start taking to lead you in the right direction?  Just as importantly, what do you need to STOP doing so that you can more effectively work on what you need to START doing?
I used to have a college professor who I thought was one of the smartest guys I ever met.  He used to tell our class all the time "it's not the destination, it's the journey!"  At the time I thought there was a lot of wisdom behind that but the only problem is I have wasted a lot of years enjoying the journey only to wake up and realize I don't know where the heck I'm going and while I had fun getting nowhere there are some places I really would like to end up before I get to the end of the road.

Thank goodness, thanks to some hard work, personal sould searching and encouragement from friends and colleagues I have stopped wandering and started working on a road map.  What direction are you heading in?

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

Well, much to my chagrin and due to no lack of effort I took the week off last week to spend a fun filled week at Thee Camp.  What? Never heard of it?  It's my church's youth camp for grades 7-12.  So along with 50 or so other adult counselors and staff from my church and about 250 of my closest 13-18 year old friends I took the long holiday weekend to venture to Camp Tejas in the (hot) beautiful Texas Hill Country for a week of fun, faith and fellowship.  If I've had a better 6 days in my life since I myself was a student I would be hard pressed to remember them.  Besides, we could all use to act like teenagers every now and then, couldn't we? 

So how does church camp relate to business and to serving your customers?  In just about every way possible, my friend!  If I were to write of all the lessons and takeaways from last week I would probably short circuit the capacity of my blog site so let me summarize as best as possible my top 3 takeaways from last week.

First, the more you give, the more you receive.  I admit I was tentative about going.  I have never been to a summer camp before in my life as a youth or an adult.  The first couple of days I was kind of hanging out in "observation mode" hoping to interact with a few students I knew pretty well before going on the trip.  To make a long story short, by the end of the trip I was totally immersed in meeting kids I had never met before, reaching out to find out what their needs and concerns were and interjecting myself as best as possible with answers to their questions and suggestions on how to live life more abundantly.  My only regret in reaching out to the kids I spoke with is that I didn't do more, sooner.  What I discovered was that the more I went out of my way to meet my customers, if you will, the more I wanted to do for them - and the more they asked and confided in me.  It was a tough first step but after the first steps doors opened up wide for opportunities.  Boom!

Second, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  For 6 whole days I completely unplugged from the world.  No email, no social media, no texting.  Nothing.  By day 2 my mind was filled with fresh new thoughts, ideas and implementations to make my business, my family and my life a better place for me and those I share it with.  I cannot recall when the last time is that I really had time to just sit and think.  About nothing.  And everything.  What a powerful lesson it was for me.  I don't know how but I am determined to find more "white space" in my schedule to plan.  It may cost me scratching some things off of my "To Do" list in the short term (and indeed my list has grown exponentially as a result) but I am already more effective, intentional and relational with my customers and stakeholders than I have been in years. 

Finally, sleep is way over rated.  With the help of the 11 8th graders in my cabin I found myself going to bed most nights at a time that had a 2 or 3 as the first number on the clock.  I have never been much of a sleeper although in the months leading up to my experience I had found myself requiring more and more.  With my new found attitude towards serving others, planning and thinking more in terms of leaving a legacy I have more energy than I have had again in longer than I can remember.  I literally am only sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night but I wake up in the (early) morning ready to jump out of bed and attack the plans I have laid out for the day ahead.  Woo Hoo!!  Honestly, I tried once or twice while at camp to catch an afternoon nap and my mind just wouldn't let me rest.  I admit that I may be wired a little different than most but I can only tell you that my creativity and energy level is off the charts.  The more energized I get, the less sleep I seem to require. 

So, I wonder how this might play out for some of you?  Since I began several weeks ago this blog is and has been all about creating value for constituents and customers.  Don't sit on the sidelines.  Get in tight with your customers and don't be afraid to get dirty and sweat a little bit!  I bet the more you ask the more opportunities you'll have to be the one to provide the answers. 

I wonder how you might work in some time to be alone with your thoughts to organize and re prioritize your life?  It can't be done in a small amount of time but the benefits are life changing and life giving.  What are you doing this weekend?  Really?

Finally, don't lose a week, a day, an hour to do what matters most.  You may be able to circle back and make up for lost time but every hour we spend is an investment and if we squander the time we lose the interest - in more ways than one. 

Hope you find your Thee Camp today!  Can I get an Amen!?

Life Lessons

Earlier this week I had one of those "trips from hell" that happen on occasion for those who travel frequently for business.  To make a long story short, I spent a long week one afternoon and evening in the Mobile (Alabama) regional airport.  Due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, my flight was ultimately cancelled and I was forced to spend an extra night that I hadn't packed or planned for.  Out of the misery of my experiences came a few wonderful lessons on how to deliver value even if business is tough, your customers are not happy to do business with you and you become the scapegoat for everything from the economy to what your customer had for breakfast.   

Lesson #1: There are some customers that no matter how hard you try you can neither deliver value nor make happy.  There was a woman who by the time the evening was over had blamed everyone at the airlines, airport and even fellow passengers for all her troubles.  My advice to the worn out gate agent was to essentially fire this customer and get on to the business of serving the customers who actually needed and wanted her help.  Eventually that's exactly what happened and EVERYONE was much better off as soon as it did.  Does this bring any particular customer(s) to mind for you?

Lesson #2: No matter how difficult things are, no matter how hard your customers are struggling, there are always opportunities to create and give value to your customers.  The best way is to take time to listen to their needs and then address them as directly, impactfully and positively as possible.  This is exactly what all representatives of the airline did not only for me as an elite member of their frequent flier program but for each and every (rational) customer that was affected.  They explained the situation, they gave us options on how best to meet our travel needs and made sure that (eventually) everyone got to their destinations.  I wish I could say that this type of service happened all the time in the airline industry but we all know different.  What creative ways can you think of to bring value to your customer  - even if it means giving business to the competition?

Lesson #3: Go out of your way to meet your customer's needs.  After a long and rather exhausting afternoon and evening I was booked in to a nearby hotel, compliments of the airline.  Upon my arrival I was greeted by an ultra friendly front desk clerk who seemed to almost know I was coming and who once I gave my name to used it a number of times to tell me about the hotel and the services offered.  By now it was getting late in the evening I inquired as to how long the hotel restaurant was going to be open.  Her response not only eased my fears of eating dinner out of a vending machine but it down right shocked (and delighted) me.  Get this: "the restaurant closes at 10:00 but you go to your room, relax, change, whatever you want to do.  I will make sure they are ready for you whenever you arrive."  I would like to tell you that the airline had put me up at a luxurious hotel that is nationally known for outstanding service (at a luxury price) but we all know different.  What silly company policies or procedures keep you from doing what is ultimately best to earn customer loyalty and trust?

Lesson #4: Going above and beyond will earn future business.  I was also given a voucher for a free cab ride to and from the airport.  At the end of my long ordeal I was just thinking about getting to the hotel, getting out of my business suit and getting something to eat.  Little did I ever expect to receive anything more than mindless chatter from a local cabbie.  It was pouring rain at the point I came out to get in the cab.  The driver quickly jumped out and ran around to meet me at the curb and said "sir, please step down the walkway underneath the awning so your suit doesn't get soaked!"  Nice gesture, especially since she herself got soaked in an effort to keep me from doing so.  Not only that but again seeming to know my situation on the way to the hotel she asked what time my flight was the next morning and what time I wanted to be picked up.  Knowing I had to be picked up at 5:00 a.m. and the fact that it was 9:00 p.m. at the time I tried to decline her offer and have the hotel arrange transportation for me.  She would have none of it and the next morning was there right on time.  I now have her business card logged in to my contacts and can assure you if I ever need cab service in that city again I know who to call.  I will also refer any friends who live in Mobile who might need taxi service.  I would like to tell you that's just what I expected but we all know different.  How can you give sacrifically of yourself to inspire customers to keep coming back and refer you to their friends?

WOW!

There are many more lessons that I am leaving out in the interest of brevity.  Think about it though, how can you apply each of these lessons to working with and creating value for your customers?  It's not magic, it just takes the little one extra degree of effort (212 degree reference again).  Each one of them not only made what might have been a terrible experience better but I can assure you they earned my future business when I return to that town again.  Business may be tough, things may not be going your way, customers may be demanding more than ever but you can ALWAYS find a way to make a positive difference for your customers that they will long remember. 

I'd like to tell you that you can try to stay the course, ride out the tough economy and that business will eventually come back and your old way of thinking and selling will earn back your customer's business when it does - BUT WE ALL KNOW DIFFERENT.

Give Me Value

As I have mentioned, I have been in sales a long time.  Since the day I began selling paper subscriptions when I was 10 years old I learned and studied the basics of selling.  I learned over and over again to show up early, outwork my competition and above all else sell FAB's!  Features, Advantages and Benefits, that is.  While there is nothing really inherently wrong with the way I was taught and the style I developed, the world has changed.

As the economy turned and all of us are learning to live with less it has squeezed the salespeople who are still out there selling the same way they have their whole careers.  As a result, for many, many reasons customers have a lot more buying power and salespeople are left to compete primarily on price.  It's a difficult and frustrating way to make a living. 

To succeed in sales today you have to be able to quickly, clearly and concisely show your customers where and how you provide value, whether you provide a product or a service.  The more tangible and quantifiable the benefit(s), the better.  It sounds easy but it isn't. 

It's easy to stick to the tried and true FAB's and indeed it may continue to work - on a much smaller scale.  I believe to not only survive but also thrive in today's marketplace we all need to be crystal clear on what our value message is and why it makes a difference. 

Why do I say it isn't easy?  Because I am living it first hand.  I own and help manage a very successful independently owned business that for three decades survived on making FABulous products.  Like everyone I know in sales, however I have far too many competitors and not nearly enough customers to maintain my business in status quo mode.  I am forcing myself to change the way I think about doing business because I am not ready to settle for good (the enemy of great).  I want to work along with my committed stakeholders to make our business greater than it has ever been.

One of the ways I have started thinking about creating value is by authoring a meaningful blog and sharing my value message with others.  To that end and as always, I hope you will share your comments, ideas, success stories and opinions with me and that you will pass this post along to your friends, coworkers and contacts who will see the value in following me.

This week consider:
1. What is my value message?
2. How can I most clearly communicate it?
3. Why does it matter to my customers?

If we answer these questions correctly greatness will be knocking on our doors!