What If?

When was the last time you asked the question about your business that started with “what if”? Andy Gove, the past CEO of Intel, preached that we should run our business with that edge of fear of what could happen IF…. Our greatest sources of information about our businesses are from our customers and frontline people. And yet how many of us truly take advantage of this wealth of information? When was the last time you surveyed your customers to find out what they like the most about your business and what they liked the least about your business? Have you ever asked the question: what would it take for someone to stop doing business with you? What ideas have you gathered from your employees that could help increase your business?

Many of you are saying to yourself that you talk to your customers every day and that you listen to their feedback. But sometimes we have to formalize it a bit more because one or two responses to questions that might be posed differently won’t uncover the information you need.

A case in point. Near where I live is a White Hen Convenience Store. It was owned and operated by a wonderful, hard-working family that kept the shelves full, kept their prices competitive, and kept the store immaculately clean. On top of the mechanical things such as these, the father, the wife, and the son were all nice out-going people. They always had a smile and a friendly greeting or a cute one-liner. There was a family member there almost every hour that the business was open. Along with the normal convenience items, they had developed a wonderful morning coffee business where a wide variety of flavors and styles were offered. They also had a great take-out sandwich business. Although they had some signage about the sandwiches, the customer had to know that they sold sandwiches because it was out of the norm of the typical White Hen. What could go wrong? Why did the family end up selling their business for much less than they had ever expected and how could it have been avoided?

The store was located in a small strip center of 8-9 businesses. The first blow to this location came when the landlord rented out one of the spaces to a Dunkin’ Donuts. Although people loved the White Hen and the people who ran it, the coffee, bagels, and donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts are almost addictive, and in New England this franchise almost has a cult following. So, the coffee business from the White Hen was cut significantly by the opening of the Dunkin’ Donuts. White Hen tried to compete with lower prices, but that wasn’t the reason they were losing business.

Although this shopping center always had a pizza and sandwich shop, White Hen was able to compete well because the quality of their sandwiches was better than the existing sandwich store. Plus the sit-down area of the sandwich store was extremely limited. When a new owner bought the sandwich store, he took over an empty store next door, provided seating, and remodeled the location. The quality of the food from the new owner was now the same as White Hen and even the selection was similar, but there was a place where customers could sit.

So what does it all mean? Before these two events took place, the owners of the White Hen felt invincible. They felt that their business was solid and they didn’t have much to worry about. My question is did they ever ask the question—what if? What if Starbucks were to come in? What if Dunkin’ Donuts were to come in? What would it take to have a customer go someplace else? Are you asking yourself the “what ifs”? Are you asking your customers and employees the “what ifs”? Too many times we take existing business for granted and fail to look for the newest, latest, or greatest. Do we spend enough time thinking of ways to insure that our existing customer returns? What would it take for your best customer to leave you?

The bottom line is I don’t know if there is anything that this White Hen could do to prevent the loss of sales in the coffee and sandwich departments. But what they could have done is look for alternative profit centers to make up for this loss of revenue. It isn’t any different than other businesses that has a category killer, discounter, or specialist, with whom they are forced to compete. Look for your niches and keep asking the question—what if? And don’t stop asking your customers.

By the way how are you enjoying these articles and how do you think they could be improved? Let me know and I promise to send you my Top 10 Lists.

What have you done for me lately?

I don’t know if I’m about to kill a sacred cow or just uncover a myth or a golden opportunity, but whatever you want to call it, I have become convinced that just because you have been in business for 10, 20, 30, or 50 years isn’t the differentiator that countless businesses think that it is. Many businesses will lead their positioning and advertising saying that they have been in business for so many years, as if to say “Aren’t we great? We have satisfied a lot of customers and we can satisfy you too”. The bottom line is if you don’t have what the customer wants, when they want it, at a price that they want to pay for it, and presented and distributed the way they want it, they couldn’t care how long you have been in business.

There are printing companies that have made a living by selling golden stickers celebrating a business’ anniversary in increments of 5—5 years, 10 years, 15 years, etc. Maybe if you are deciding between doing business with 2 different companies that are equal in quality, price, and delivery, perhaps the longevity of a business is that added bonus. Businesses stay in business for years because they stay current, competitive, and are on a never-ending quest of self improvement--finding the latest marketing strategies that will put their business in the lead.

It hit me this past week as I cleaned out the home I lived in for the past 33 years (Yes, we finally sold it!) and looked at all of the different projects, marketing pieces, and advertising that I initiated for my various businesses over that time period. I realized that my greatest asset was not any single marketing or advertising initiative or campaign. It was the constant flow of different and interesting ideas that kept my businesses competitive. In short, it’s not one idea but rather the continued trying of new ideas.

Businesses evolve, grow, expand, and great business people do the same thing. One of my favorite lines is “when the horse is dead, get off of it”. Why do businesses continue to do business in ways that worked years ago? I have seen businesses that have run into difficulties when the owners are not willing to make changes and improvements. They use the line “we’ve always done it this way and have been successful.” Then they add “after all, we have been in business for 50 years doing it that way”. Maybe that’s why companies like Amazon, Blue Nile, and Zappos have built million dollar businesses online in less than 10 years, experimenting with new concepts and new ideas.

One of my pet peeves is going into a business and seeing pictures on the walls of the founders. I appreciate one picture or plaque that helps to create an emotional connection to a business. But when you start to see family albums on the wall you ask yourself what the founder of the business would think of it.

A business stays in business because they continuously service the needs and wants of the “ever changing” customer. That’s why the older businesses must stay on the cutting edge and why new businesses today have opportunities unheard of a generation ago. This is also the reason why old businesses have become harder to sell since length of business does not guarantee anything. Conversely, new businesses are easier to start because a fresh, new approach and a better idea can attract customers and generate more revenue than just saying that you’ve been in business for a long time. Venture capital people are more than willing to invest in new concepts rather than in established businesses. As a society we have accepted change. We seek out the new, the interesting, and the different rather than how long someone has been in business. Even in moving and storage there are companies that are 75 years old but Pods is changing the way we even think about moving. Is it time for you to change the way you think? Is it time to look at your business a different way? Is it time to change or maybe it’s the time to start to think about changing.

When Do You Recommend Your Competition?

I received a wonderful email this week from the famous J.L.Schmidt, the director of the Nebraska Main Street Program. J.L. is always uncovering interesting customer service scenarios that make you think. He shared a situation about how he would send an annual gift to the local rental car office thanking them for good service, but in reality, insuring that he would get that extra service in the future. That in itself is a worthwhile tip for any of us. How often do we compliment or reward the vendors that have served us well?

However, the story continued when J.L. needed to reserve an automobile in another city and didn’t have the greatest customer service with the local office in the other town. He then called his contact, asking for a favor to see if this office would have more clout in the other city. It turned out that his local office was no more successful than J.L. was. But, that local office took the next step and made a reservation for a car with one of their competitors.

There’s the question--would you have done that? Would you have gone the extra mile? Certainly, that person did not have to do it, but it really became a WOW, something that we are talking about. We all talk about exceeding expectations. This is a classic case of exceeding expectations.

One side of me says—what a wonderful thing! But the more practical side says that the customer could experience this higher level of service and satisfaction and never return to the business. In that case, nice guys finish last.

The next question is when do you refer someone to your competitor? Or should you ever refer someone to your competitor? I believe that there are certain situations, such as the one that J.L. described, where you should absolutely make the referral. Here is a sampling of situations:

• The most obvious is when you don’t have or sell what the customer is interested in. They might purchase other things from you, but not this.
• When the customer has not yet made a commitment and you know that they need to shop around. Suggest your competitor but just make sure that you are better than your competitor.
• When you feel secure about who you are and what you do.
• When you are trying to keep people in your geographical shopping area.
• When the customer is a real pain and you want to aggravate your competitor, you are usually happy to refer them! (I hesitated in putting this one in, but as I brainstormed ideas, it kept coming up and I felt that it should be included!)
• The last and probably most important point of all is that it is just the right thing to do for that customer.

Yes, you will lose some business with these referrals, but businesses with a customer focused attitude will always do well in the long run. One of my basic tenants of business is that we do business with people we like. It is hard not to like an individual and a business that is concerned about what’s right for the customer.

Two Tips for the Price of One

This week I have two issues I need to share so the tip is a double header! The first tip is:

I Broke The Rules, or Do As I Say, Not As I Did… Sorry

Many times in this column I will give examples of good or bad customer service, different or unusual marketing techniques, or just an idea that might improve you life or business a little. I have gotten myself in trouble when I have criticized some businesses but this week I must criticize myself for two different issues.

First, for something my new IT company did to last week’s newsletter. (There I go-- trying to pass the blame onto someone else. Ever do that?) It wasn’t a big thing and they didn’t even realize they did something I didn’t like. (They will be surprised when they read this one.) The mistake was the ad for my Retail Boot Camps came first before the content. That is not the way to do business; you give first. Ads should rarely occur before the content. We changed the format to leave announcements on the side--not to junk it up with a box on top. I didn’t start and continue this site because of the ads. I did it to keep in touch with people and hopefully make a difference in some businesses and people.

I am writing about it because the latest statistics are proving that businesses that are just sending sale or price announcements aren’t getting opened after the first few messages. I promise I will never do that again. Please don’t misunderstand-- I want people to attend my workshops but I don’t want the integrity of this vehicle compromised for one event. No sale is ever as important as the next sale to the same customer.

While I am confessing I need to apologize for one more thing I haven’t done. I need to say I am sorry to all of the friends and readers of this column for my lack in getting back to you over the last 3 months. My writing schedule has been intense and tomorrow I will start on the 1467 emails I need to deal with.
Lastly, I promised I would share little tidbits from my new book due out in October which has gone through what I hope will be the last name change. The Online Solution …the five formula steps to small business success. I just want to share the dedication of this book.

As we go through our lives we meet a lot of people-- some we get to know quite well and stay in our lives for years and years, while others float by during various periods in our lives, like college or a job. We think we could never live without them but somehow we drift away. Some touch us for just an instant but that instant can last lifetime. This book is being dedicated to someone who fits into that brief moment in time.

The person’s name is Betty Hill and she is the owner of the Theatrical Shop in West Des Moines, Iowa. As of this writing, Betty is 83 give or take a year, but she doesn’t look a day over 65. Betty was the first person whom I saw that was being successful online., She became an inspiration for writing this book. Betty started her first website when she was 79 years old and doesn’t have one but has 7 sites. When some people are picking retirement homes and relaxing in Florida, Betty was picking domain names. When some people her age are figuring out Medicare benefits, Betty was working on search engine optimization.

You might say she did it because she had to work. No, on the contrary Betty is an extremely successful business woman. Not only does she own the Theatrical Shop, she also owns two dance schools and several pieces of property in town as well. She is a self- made, financially very independent woman who is still vital, active, and always looking for ways to improve. Age isn’t a number-- it’s an attitude and Betty Hill has an attitude for business and living.

What Betty did was made me aware of the thousands of small business people who learned how online commerce works and integrated it into their own business, and then made a business of that initiative. Thanks Betty for opening my eyes and sending me off on the path that created this book. My favorite expression now when someone tells me it can’t be done, I say, “Betty did and she is 80. God Bless Betty Hill and all of the other Betty Hills in this world who don’t say, “Why do that?” But say, “Why not.” The least I could do was dedicate it to Betty as a thank you and as an inspiration as to the possibilities on online commerce, business, and life. I tip my hat to you. You made a difference.