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May 7, 2008 Leave a Comment

How to compete with competitors

“If you’re playing your competitor’s game, you’re going to lose.”

– David Yoffie

Follow the leader is a fine game to play – if you are a child. It is, however, a losing strategy in life and in business.

In my experience, I have found it easier to compete when I have been the under-dog. Less was expected of me. My goals were sharper. I looked for every opportunity to take advantage of the weaknesses of my competitors. An under-dog can do several things to gain market share:

  • If your competitor processes orders in two days, strive to turn orders around in one day.
  • If they open late and close early, do the opposite – open early and close late
  • If they offer a wide selection of products, do the opposite – find a niche market and carry a deep selection. And hire staff who care deeply about your niche and passionately serve your customers.
  • Find out what your customers value the most – and fill it for them.

Don’t play your competitors game. Play your game! Find your competitive advantage. Give your customers lots of reasons to do business with you.

Worry about your customer – not about your competitor.

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May 6, 2008 3 Comments

What to do when your busness is under siege

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we are curious – and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

– Walt Disney

How do you compete with “free? That has been the challenge facing the retail music store model since the year 2000. When most of the recorded music we listen to has been obtained digitally – legally or illegaly – how do you motivate customers to visit your shop to puchase Audio CDs?

There is no one easy answer. However, if you want to discover 8 possible answers then I suggest you read John Tozzi’s excellent article in Business Week Magazine – “From Bricks and Mortar to Digital Music Master.” 

This article details the eight steps that one New York City retailer – Other Music – is taking to respond to the challenge. 

Click here to read the article and also take time to view the slide show that accompanies it. Here are a few of the tips the owners and staff of Other Music are using to stay competitive and to lure customers to shop with them – online and in-store:

  • Sell MP3 Downloadson your own site. Apple’s iTunes Store does not carry every piece of music! Other music specializes in selling – and promoting – the music produced by Independent Record labels and individual groups.
  • Sell vintage LP Albums and other collectibles on auction sites such as eBay and Amazon. You may reach new customers and the prices that these collectibles fetch will almost always be higher than what you would have priced them at. The power of a free market!
  • Don’t print and mail a catalog! Put your catalog on-line and automate the mail order process.
  • Electronic Newsletters – allow you to stay visible to your customers. The more visible you are, the more value your customers will see in doing business with you.
  • Handwritten Reviews of Music by your staff. Showcase the great knowledge that you staff has about the music that your customers want to find. This is one of the greatest competitive edges that a small, independent music store has – exploint it! And… leverage it – use these reviews in your catalogs and newsletters.

Think that you can’t compete? You can, but it does require you to try some new things. Take your first step – read the Business Week article and make a plan to implement one of these eight tips this month. Not only will you see a difference … so will your staff… and so will your customers – new and old!

 

 

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May 5, 2008 Leave a Comment

Respect is the best incentive

“The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It’s terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stock boys.”

– Sam Walton

Carmine Gallo wrote an article for Business Week Magazine last month that is required reading for any manager:

“A Simple Employee Incentive”: Taking the time to give people your undivided attention can do more for retention and engagement than gift cards and other goodies.

I frequently hear business leaders say, “We listen to our customers. That is the key to our success.”

I rarely hear business leaders say, “We listen to our employees. We actively seek out and listen to their opinions.”

As a manager, do you maintain an “open door policy?” Most managers do. But what do you do when your staff pass through your open door?

  • Do you look up briefly, ask them what is on their mind and then … continue to read your e-mail?
  • Do you act annoyed that they just “dropped by” to talk?
  • Do you really care about what they have to say? If you don’t then why say, “My door is always open.”?

Here is a brief excerpt from Carmine Gallo’s article:

“When you’re face to face with a colleague, employee, or customer, and you check text messages or Blackberry e-mail, you’re communicating something—you are telling that person that whoever is on the other end of the message is the most important person in that conversation.

In your next conversation with one of your employees, try speaking as if he or she is the most important person in the room at the moment. Look him in the eye, avoid interruptions, ignore gadgets, and ask questions about his interests. It’s the simplest, least expensive, and most effective incentive available.”

Take Carmine’s advice to heart. Better yet… put it into practice today! Don’t tell people that you care… show them that you care about them. Give them your full, undivided attention. Respect is the best incentive.

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May 5, 2008 Leave a Comment

Simple, strategic questions

“Judge others by their questions rather than by their answers.”

– Voltaire

I found the perfect sequel to my previous post (“The difference between what and how”)  I found it on Chris Garrett’s blog. His article is titled,  “Who, What and So What?” Read it – you will be glad that you did so.

Here is a short excerpt from Chris’ article:

“When you are writing, what is your first thought?

If it is what you are going to write, I expect that would put you in with the majority.

“Who for” is perhaps a more important part of the equation. Connecting to your audience, bringing them something value, means addressing who they are.

A much overlooked aspect though is “So What?”. What should the reader take away? Where is the benefit? Why should we listen to you?”

Great advice! And not just for bloggers. Why?

  • Do you sell a product or service? Does your prospective client clearly see the “So what’s in it for me?”
  • Are you a manager? Do you delegate tasks? Does your staff clearly see the “So what’s in it for me?”
  • Do you send out e-mail messages? Does your audience clearly see the “So what’s in it for me?”

If you are not getting the results that you hoped for, go back and review your message. Re-read it from your audience’s perspective. Do you make it easy for them to see the “So what’s in it for me?”

If your answer is “No,” then it is time for you to revisit what you write and how you phrase it or say it.

Peter Drucker reminds us that:

“It is the recipient who communicates… Unless there is someone who hears, there is no communication. There is only noise.”

People see, hear and act through the filter of “What’s in it for me.”

It does not matter what you want or what you write or what you say. That is not enough to get your audience to see, hear or act on your suggestions.

It does not matter who you are. Do you connect with your audience? Do they see themselves in the picture that you are painting with the words that you write; the words that you speak?

Give your audience the answer to the question, “So what?” Why? Because it does matter – to them!

  

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May 3, 2008 Leave a Comment

The difference between what and how

“Once the ‘what’ is decided, the ‘how’ always follows. We must not make the ‘how’ an excuse for not facing and accepting the ‘what.'”

– Pearl S. Buck

I train a number of clients to improve their project management skills. The first – and most important – step in the process is to clearly identify and agree on the ‘What.’ What problem, exactly are you planning to solve? What opportunity, exactly, are you planning to take advantage of?

You define the “what”  – your goal – by asking a series of questions that begin with the word “Why.” One popular methodology is to use the question and answer system known as “The 5 whys.” Asking and answering a series of “why” questions will enable you to get to the “root problem” that you are planning to solve.

The root problem is your “What.”

Unfortunately, many projects fail because we are too anxious to start working on the “how.” And as Pearl S. Buck cautions us, “we must not make the “how” an excuse for not facing and accepting the What.”

“Our plans miscarry if they have no aim. When a man does not know which harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

What is our goal? What is our real problem / opportunity? Is everyone on your team able to answer these questions clearly? Do you all agree on “why” this problem / opportunity is important to solve or pursue?

If not, this is the likely scene in your place of business:

“A lot of people run full speed with incredible urgency in the wrong direction.” – Justin Menkes

Ask simple, strategic questions. Then listen to the response. If the response only reveals the explicit reason – the symptom – then continue to ask questions, and listen until you discover the implicit reason – the root cause of the problem. The late, great management guru Peter Drucker said it best:

“My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.”

Once you agree on where you are going, determining how to get there becomes much easier. There will always more than one way to reach your destination – the ‘What.’ Never allow discussion of the ‘how’ to precede or interfere with your rigorous pursuit of the ‘What.’

In my training classes, we work several exercises around Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “”Six Honest Serving Men.”

“I keep six honest serving men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who”

Learn to ask questions. Listen. Understand the difference between the “What’ and the ‘how.’ Lead with the “What” and manage the ‘how.’ 

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May 2, 2008 Leave a Comment

Why are we meeting?

“The two words information and communication are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things.Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”

– Sydney J. Harris

What do you think about meetings? Think about a recent meeting that you attended. Did it save you time? Or was it a waste of your time?

I hear a lot of groaning and complaining about meetings. Is this a fair description of the meetings at your business?

“Meetings – where minutes are kept and hours are wasted.”

As a manager, do you confuse information with communication? Are you giving out? Or are you getting through? Does your team merely pass along information? Or have they learned how to effectively communicate with each other about what is really important?

Business Week Magazine has an interesting article – “How to Make Meetings Matter” – online. It’s a short article. I recommend that you click through to read it as well as the accompanying eight-step “Playbook.”

Properly structured, meetings are the way the we do business. Properly run, meetings are also the place where a company’s culture is perpetuated. In the Business Week “Case Study,” the C.E.O. of the company that altered its meetings says, “it’s about building a tribe, not broadcasting information.”

 The “classic” article on meetings is – “The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings – and Seven Seps to Salvation”– by Eric Matson. It was originally published in FastCompany Magazine in 2005. Click through to read it – and learn from it!

The Seven Sins are:

  1. People don’t take meetings seriously
  2. Meetings are too long
  3. People wander off the topic
  4. Nothing happens once the meeting ends
  5. People don’t tell the truth
  6. Meetings are always missing important information, so they postpone critical decisions
  7. Meetings never get better

How many deadly sins did you commit during your meetings this week? At least one, I am sure. What are you going to do about it? Look at Sin #7. You can start by reading Eric Matson’s article. Make that your first step to salvation.

Your team members will thank you for it – by starting to take your meetings seriously – Sin #1. Because they are starting to see that you do!

Please take a few minutes to share your meeting stories with our readers. You can write a meeting “horror” story. Or you can share a meeting “success” story. add you comments below.

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May 1, 2008 Leave a Comment

Why study music?

“Music is the shorthand of emotion.”

– Tolstoy

I started working out of my home office two years ago, The greatest benefit that I have received from this change is that I am now able to play my piano for 45 minutes each day that I am in town. I’ve played the piano more often in these last two years than at any time since I gave up my professional career thirty-one years ago.

Certainly, playing the piano each day helps to reduce my stress level. But there are numerous other benefits:

  • My listening skills improve
  • My speaking skills improve
  • My reading skills improve
  • My story-telling skills improve

Daniel Pink has an interesting post on his blog – “A whole new reason to hit the keyboard.”  Here’s a snippet from his very short article:

“I may be the least musical person you’ve ever encountered.  And that’s something I’ve long regretted.  Now comes evidence deepening that regret, but offering a way for my kids to become more whole-minded than their dad.”

He refers to a new study – “Music Builds Bridges in the Brain” – that proves that children who take music lessons – and practice diligently – show dramatic improvement in the connection between the two hemispheres of the brain.

There are two points that I would like to make:

  1. Notice Mr. Pink’s regret that he did not take/continue his music lessons. However, he now realizes how much his children will benefit from the study of music – and diligent practice. And he wants this for his children. Wouldn’t you? Don’t you yearn for a society populated with more whole-minded citizens?
  2. What steps will Mr. Pink – and you, too – take to help make it possible for your / our children to have the opportunity to take music lessons? To become more “whole-minded?” How can we encourage them to want to practice?

The first step that you can take is to gather information. Start here – Click this “Link” to go to the Support Music website. This is a “grass roots” website. It is designed to enable each member of your community to access the pertinent information, tips, talking points and scientific data to make the case for music education in your community. You can make a difference. We can help to shape a society that has more “whole-minded” citizens. Take the first step today. Go to www.supportmusic.com!

Mr. Pink – thank you for writing about this scientific study. You have a very prominent public personna. Your articles reach many people. Thank you for sharing your desire to see that your children “become more whole-minded than their dad.” Thank you for sharing your regret that you are not currently making music.

Take comfort in knowing that you are not alone. According to recent public opinion polls, 82% of the people who do not currently play an instrument wish that they did.

Why not start now? What is holding you back? I am addressing anyone who wishes that they and their children were actively making music. “Wanna Play?”

Now, I am going to go play my piano. Now, I am going to have some fun!

 

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April 30, 2008 Leave a Comment

Why do busy people get more work done?

“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.”

– Nolan Bushnell

I attended a conference last week and a number of people asked me the same question, “How do you find the time to post a new article on your blog each day?” Even some members of the trade press asked me this question.

The simple answer is, I schedule the time to write the articles. You can never “find the time” to do something. If you really want to get it done you must schedule it.

For example, If you say, “Let’s get together soon,” you will never get together except by accident. You will not “find the time” to do so. You must say, “I would like to have lunch with you next week. Do you prefer Tuesday or Thursday?”

There is an old saying:

“If you need to get a job completed, give it to the busiest person that you know.”

There is also a corollary saying: ”

Your most productive day at work is the day prior to your vacation. You make more decisions. You delegate more tasks. You leave your office with a clean desktop.”

Patsi Krakoff  of “The Blog Squad” has a terrific article on this topic – “Blog Writing: How to find the time…”I recommend that you read it, even if you do not write a blog. Patsi explains why we are attracted to activities that give us an immediate response. And why we delay activities, such as writing a blog, that do not offer the same immediate gratification. Here is a short excerpt:

“I don’t think time is really the issue. It’s seeing results. You don’t have to “find the time” for something that’s important for business. You certainly find time to deposit checks into your bank account, so why would you wait to post “when you have time?”

I think the issue is not seeing the potential payoffs from blog writing because they are long term and subtle.”

I realize that maintaining a daily regimen of posting on my blog is important to my business as a speaker, trainer and consultant. Because I place a high priority on delivering relevant content on a daily basis, I schedule the time to research and write my articles. I am successful at doing so – for the most part. I do not always have enough material planned in advance for those days when “stuff” intrudes on my life. But I am learning to make improvements there.

I picked up several good ideas last week at the conference. But if I am going to take action on these ideas, I must schedule the time to beging to implement them.  As Nolan Bushnell said, I must be “the person who gets out of the shower, dries himself and does something about it who makes a difference.”

 

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April 29, 2008 Leave a Comment

10 Tips for Engaging Your Customers

“The customer only wants two things – show me you care about me personally, and tell me what you’re going to do for me now.”

– Jeffrey Gitomer

I recently discovered Chris Garrett’s Blog – “The Business of Blogging and New Media.” His recent post, “Engaging Readers,” could just as easily been titled “Engaging Customers.” And the same principles apply whether you are writing a blog or operating a retail business.

So, by adapting Chris Garrett’s article, here are 10 solid tips for engaging your customers:

  1. Motivation – When you clearly understand what each of your customers want, they will eagerly buy what they need.
  2. Attraction – Engage you customers on as many levels as possible: how your store looks, feels, smells. What “vibe” do you generate. How “open” is your store. Are your customers magnetically drawn to visit your store or website?
  3. Incentive – As Jeffrey Gitomer says, your customers want you to “tell me what you are going to do for me now.”As in an “internet-minute!”
  4. Encouragement – Ask questions that encourage your customers to talk about the thing they love the most – to talk about themselves. To talk about what they need. To talk about what they want.
  5. Interaction – Remember – you, too,  love to talk about yourself and your products. Don’t do this! Involve your customers – see point #3.
  6. Value – How much value do your customers receive from your business? Remember, your customer defines what is valuable – to them! Ask them. What do they find to be most valuable? Least valuable? You may be surprised.
  7. Community – People do want to be connected with others who share their interests and values. What are you doing to encourage this connection. What events  or social gatherings have you scheduled for your store? What are you doing to reach out to the larger community?
  8. Loyalty – Read Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless.”
  9. Connection – Do a self-assessment. Do you still love what you are doing? If not, it will be difficult to be “present” for your customers. How “visible” are you to your customers? Are you interested in your customers? or … merely interested in your customer’s business? Do you show them that you care about them personally?
  10. Experience – View your business from your customer’s point of view. How easy is it to do business in your store? How friendly is your staff? How well do you exceed your customers’ expectations?

OK – whether it is your blog or your business, remember:

A blog without readers, isn’t.

A business without customers, isn’t.

Engage your readers. Talk with them, not at them.

Engage your customers. Show them that you care about them personally. Make it clear what you are going to do for them now!

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April 28, 2008 Leave a Comment

Why did we choose this restaurant?

How many restaurants are in your city? Or in a city that you are planning to visit? Which one will you recommend – without hesitation. Or should I say, which one would you make a reservation for?

What makes one restaurant stand apart from the others? Is it the food? The ambience? Or the people?

This afternoon, my wife & I were finishing up our trip to Boston. We had our minds – and appetites – set on sitting at an Oyster Bar and slurping away. We took a cab downtown only to find the restaurant closed because of a natural gas leak.

To put it mildly, we were greatly disappointed.

But just a few bloks away was Hanover St. – a street filled with Italian restaurants. We had dined on this street earlier in the week and thought that we should try another one of the many Italian restaurants crowded in this area of town. But which one to choose?

Our choice was made for us! By Guilio- a wonderfully vital 70-year old man. He saw us looking at the menu from the street. And then … he just appeared and said,”If you come into my restaurant, I promise that you will have a wonderful experience.” And it was!

Guilio sat us by the window and quickly said, “Michael, come over and take care of our new friends!”

Both Guilio and Michael took very good care of us. Lots of good-natured banter; lots of insider tips about the menu; lots of personal care. The food was great. But Guilio and Michael turned this into a truly memorable meal – one that my wife and I will recount to our friends and colleagues for many years to come!

We will send them lots of business based up our recommendation. Wouldn’t you like to have lots of unsolicited referrals for your business?

You can – just delight your customer. Make thier experience with you a memorable one. Those memories will turn into stories told. Those stories will in turn become referrals for your business. The best advertising you caan’t buy – word-of mouth recommendations!

The best part of the day with Guilio & Michael? Easy!

My wife wanted to take a box of Cannoli’s back to our family. There is a great Italian pastry shop up the street from the restaurant. But there was a problem – a line of 25 people waiting to get inside to join another line to order some Italian pastries.

That’s when Michael took charge of the situation. He took my wife by the hand and said, “Come with me.” He went into the pastry shop and went right to the front of the line, He whispered a few words to the owner. Within a few minutes, he presented my wife with a perfectly wrapped box of Cannolis – specially packaged for the plane trip home.

By the time they returned to the restaurant, I had already decided that Michael was going to receive a very large tip from me. And my recommendation that all of my friends patronize his restaurant.

The food was great. The ambience was warm. But it was the people – Guilio and Michael who made the meal memorable. You can bet that we will return there soon – and often!

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