Business Newsletter ~ Issue 6, Volume 11 ~ Dec 2007
NOTE: For a printable PDF version of this Newsletter click-here. |
Donald's "Quote of the Month"
"We only have so many hours in our day, our week...and, in fact, in our entire life. We can't do everything, or be everywhere. So, when we say "yes" to one thing or to one person, we're saying "no" to other things and to other people. As we head towards a new year, let's make sure that we're saying our "yeses" and our "nos" to the right things...and the right people."
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Whatever your faith, culture or heritage, you're probably celebrating something this month...so happy "whatever you celebrate" to you! We have several timely, thought-provoking articles below and some wonderful recipes...all of which will take about 6 minutes to read.
1. A few great "seasonal" recipes for you:
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Let's get the really good stuff out of the way first...recipes.
A) Last month I mentioned my amazing recipe for Seafood Chowder. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the download connection, so many folks missed out. Here it is again...with a download that works. Just click-here for the world's most amazing seafood chowder.
B) Next are the world's best and simplest Shortbread Cookies. This recipe for traditional melt-in-your-mouth Christmas shortbread cookies has only 3 ingredients...but they'll be the best you've ever tasted. Just click-here.
C) One more great cookie recipe. These amazing Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal and Pecan Cookies were originally made famous by a small bakery in Dorset, Ontario. We used to fly into Dorset in my brother John's seaplane just to buy these cookies. They were that good. But, one day, the bakery owner did a costing on the cookies and determined that he was losing money on them...so, rather than just putting the price up, he stopped making the cookies.
The lady who worked in the bakery took pity on us and secretly gave us the recipe...and now, we share it with you here.
2. If you don't want to spend Christmas in the kitchen, here's a tip from Sharen, our wonderful Director of Marketing:
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Christmas day is supposed to be a joyful time in many homes...but the truth is it's often more stressful than joyful. The solution is simple...and affordable. Many hotels offer complete turkey "dinners to go" for 8 to 10 people at a very reasonable price. You show up at the hotel at your scheduled time on Christmas Day, they load everything in your car and home you go with delicious, piping-hot festive food prepared by professionals.
Last year, Sharen, our very wise Director of Marketing, pre-ordered such a Christmas "Turkey-to-Go" from her local Delta Hotel for her family and guests, for just $165 total.
At about $16.00 per person, including all the trimmings and dessert...that's a real bargoon. And, she got to spend the entire day with her family. A hotel near you is probably offering a similar program. So, skip the feelings of guilt and let someone else take the stress out of your Christmas. You didn't make your own presents, print your own Christmas cards or grow your own tree. You "outsourced" all of that...so why do you have to cook your own dinner?
3. The Christmas Tree Man:
(time to read this article is about 70 seconds)
Note: This true story is one of our Newsletter traditions. We include it each December and folks love it, over and over again...
I often caution clients about the danger of "judging" customers by how they're dressed, or by whom they appear to be. Back in my days as a retailer of ladies fashions and gifts, I learned a powerful and moving lesson from "The Christmas Tree Man".
Our staff came to me one day to express concern about an unshaven, disheveled and generally unwashed gentleman who kept coming into our store. As he shuffled through our ladies clothing and gift departments he would glance out the window every few minutes and then, sometimes, he would rush out the door empty-handed. This process was repeated several times each day ...sometimes resulting in a purchase and sometimes in yet another mysterious disappearance.
When he did buy he always paid cash from a huge roll of bills with an old elastic band wound twice around it. But mostly he would look out the window, then rush out the door...and this strange behavior was spooking our staff.
When they started making some very unflattering assumptions about this unusual character I assured them that there was probably a logical explanation and I promised to chat with him on his next visit.
Sure enough, a few hours later he reappeared. I approached him, explaining that our staff was quite intrigued by his mysterious comings and goings. "Oh", he said, "I'm the Christmas Tree man. That's my Christmas tree lot just down the road with the little house trailer. I grow the trees on my farm up north, you know, and then I come down here for three weeks each year to sell them.
I work all alone so I have no time off to buy gifts and I don't get back home until well after midnight on Christmas Eve. So, whenever I have a few minutes, I rush up here to shop. I really love your store. You have wonderful things and every day I choose a few gifts for the ladies on my list."
"But you keep looking out the window," I said. "Oh," he replied, "I'm just checking to see if anyone has pulled into my lot to buy a tree. And if they have, I've got to rush back before they leave, or I won't get the business. You can't replant those trees you know. Once they're cut, they're cut.
By the way" he said, "I know that I don't look like your usual customer. In fact, I probably look a bit scary and I guess I don't smell too good either. I don't have much more than a bed and a stove in my little trailer. No place to wash up. There's not a lot of money in real Christmas trees anymore, you know. It's kind of sad. But your staff, they're so wonderful. They treat me with respect and I really appreciate that!"
The Christmas tree man spent almost $3000 in our store over a three-week period. He came and he went, he came and he went, day after day, always looking out the window, sometimes rushing to serve a customer...and at the end, on Christmas Eve, before he left for home, he brought each of us a real Christmas tree!
4. Attention clients and "fans" in the Oshawa/ Pickering/ Clarington area:
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Here's an excellent opportunity to attend a full-day Donald Cooper Management "Boot Camp" for a VERY reasonable price.
I'm delivering my one-day Management Boot Camp for business owners and managers in Clarington, ON on February 6, 2008.
This full-day Boot Camp is organized by the
Municipality
of
Clarington
and The Clarington Board of Trade. For all of our clients and fans in this area, here is a great opportunity to get me for a day...for only $75 per person.
Note to businesses outside of Clarington: Registrations will be accepted but not confirmed until Monday, January 21, 2008, based on availability.
For more information, contact Jennifer Stycuk at jstycuk@clarington.net or 1-800-563-1195. Click-here for an overview of this program and registration form.
5. Let's stop this Christmas Bonus nonsense!
(time to read this section is about 75 seconds)
Printable version of this article.
Paying your staff a bonus to coincide with the birth of a baby 2000+ years ago makes absolutely no sense at all. There...I said it!
Jesus wasn't even born on December 25th. Most scholars agree that he was born some time around March 21st. The Church cleverly chose December 25th to celebrate in order to tie in with an existing pagan festival of "the sun god" in an attempt to interest pagans in Christianity. This was probably the world's first example of "stealth marketing"...but I digress.
So, why not give your staff a "First Day of Spring Bonus", a "Halloween Bonus" or, better yet, a "Thanksgiving Bonus"?
Bonuses should be earned based on performance and not based on scripture, time of year or some manufactured holiday. If you want to give your staff a Christmas gift, that's great...but it has nothing to do with performance. Give them a turkey, a box of cookies or a nativity scene hand painted in China.
Christmas Bonuses may be well-intentioned...but they're mostly ineffective. To tie bonuses to performance, consider these 4 steps...
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First, be clear about what specific things must happen in every part of the business, in the next year, to deliver your commitments to customers, to your bottom line, to your staff team, to your community and to the planet...and your commitment to create an extraordinary, profitable and sustainable future. |
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Then, you need to engage your team in these outcomes, get agreement as to who will do what, by when to make them happen and then make sure that the training, processes and resources are in place to support the team. |
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You need specific performance commitments for each team member and there needs to be an effective way to measure that performance, not just at the end of the year but throughout the year so that corrective action can be taken, if necessary, before it's too late. |
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Finally, everyone needs to know what their reward will be for success...and what the consequences will be for failure. |
Sure, this is a lot more work than slipping into a Santa Suit and passing out Christmas bonuses based on some faint hope that the business actually made a profit this year...but the 4 steps outlined above are what effective management is all about. It's your choice!
6. Bits and Pieces:
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Item #1: Here's an interesting observation from my brother John who, although retired, sits on a number of Boards and community action committees. Here's what he sees..."First class managers hire 1st class people and 2nd class managers hire 3rd class people."
So, who are you hiring?
Item #2: According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer, male reindeer drop their antlers before mid-December. Female reindeer keep their antlers until after they give birth in the spring.
Therefore, since Santa's reindeer all have antlers in late December, every one of them, from Blitzen to Rudolf, has to be a girl.
We should've known...only women could drag a big fat guy in a red velvet suit in a sleigh full of gifts all around the world in just one night...and not get lost.
Item #3: The world's largest Ferrari dealership is now in Shanghai, China.
Item #4: In November we flew from Toronto to Vancouver and then on to Maui on WestJet, the Canadian airline based on the Southwest airline model. WestJet staff are super nice and their fares are reasonable...but we both had badly aching bums at the end of each flight. So, their ads should say, "Great staff...sore bum!".
I fly over 100 times a year and I've never had such a sore bum. This reminded me that most businesses have a "WOW" factor but they also have a "bugger off" factor. Nobody gets everything right. But here's the thing...your "WOW" factor should be slightly bigger than your "bugger off" factor. For WestJet, their chirpy staff are a WOW, but, for me, the sore bum thing is a much bigger "bugger off" factor.
What is your "WOW" factor and what might be driving your customers away...and what are you doing to fix that?
Item #5: According to a recent survey, the average person who buys a $10 stock believes that it will go to $40 in the foreseeable future. Yes...and they probably also believe in Santa Claus.
Item #6: Speaking of Santa Claus, the giving of gifts at this time of year actually predates Christianity. It was a pagan custom to signify the lengthening of the days in the northern hemisphere, starting on December 22nd. The early Christian Church tried to outlaw the custom, but people cherished it too much to let it go.
So, the church leaders sought a Christian justification for the practice. The justification was found in the three wise men's gifts to the infant Jesus and gift giving has never looked back.
7. Do you know who and what's really making money in your business?
(time to read this piece is about 30 seconds)
In November I did a 10-city tour for one of the world's largest automotive companies. While doing my "homework" for this assignment I discovered that what drives the bottom line for car dealerships has changed drastically over the years and many dealership owners were not focused on their new realities.
Here's how things have changed...
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In 1985 new car sales generated 78% of an average car dealer's bottom line. But in 2007 that has fallen to 31% of total profitability. |
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Used car sales generated 7% of the bottom line in 1985, but by 2007 that has grown to 17%. |
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Service and parts generated only 15% of dealership profitability in 1985 but in 2007 that has grown to an amazing 52% of an average dealer's bottom line. |
Sadly, in many car dealerships, the "sales guys" still get most of the attention and praise, while the service and parts folks who drive 52% of the bottom line are thought to be second-class citizens.
So, who and what is driving your bottom line...and how is that changing? Are you providing the resources and support to the areas of your business that deserve them? Are you "thanking" and rewarding the right people...or, are you still focused on the past?
8. What's unacceptable in your business?
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Printable version of this article.
I think that we must all become much more clear about what is and what is not acceptable in our business. Everywhere I go, there seems to be a slacking of standards and a belief that customers will put up with just about anything. Let's try a little reality check...
For example, is it acceptable for an aircraft to arrive on time, in good weather, at the Halifax Airport and then wait 40 minutes on the tarmac for a particular gate when 5 other gates are vacant, simply because they have only one ramp crew for all 6 gates?
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Acceptable |
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Unacceptable |
Is it acceptable for a hotel to sell your confirmed room to someone else and turn you away at one AM, even though you have guaranteed your late arrival with your credit card?
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Acceptable |
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Unacceptable |
Is it acceptable for all the staff in a restaurant to disappear at the end of your meal so that after waiting 10 minutes for someone to appear, you actually have to get up from your table and walk into the kitchen to interrupt a "staff kitchen party" to get your bill?
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Acceptable |
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Unacceptable |
And, finally, how about a sign in the lobby of a major corporation that says, "Please excuse our appearance, it's our Casual Friday."
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It's acceptable to look so awful that you have to apologize. |
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It's unacceptable |
Clearly, we need to rethink what's acceptable and what's not. In your business, is it acceptable to show up late for work, or for meetings, or to miss deadlines or sales or profit commitments? And, if so, how much is all of that costing you?
Is it acceptable to show up looking like a bum, or to treat others with disrespect? Is it acceptable to have less of a sense of urgency than is required to thrill customers and operate effectively? Is it acceptable to make the same errors over and over again...and learn nothing from them?
Is it acceptable to give someone a job and not the training, the tools or the empowerment to do it? Is it acceptable for employees to be injured or to die on the job because of an unsafe workplace? You'd think not...but it happens every day.
What will you do, in every part of your business, to be much more clear about what's acceptable...and what's not?
9. Our "Quiz of the Month":
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Thanks to all of you who tried to answer our November Quiz Question, "Name the Chinese city (population 7 million) that was under German rule for many years and, to this day, features homes, commercial buildings, hotels, churches and cobblestone streets in the century-old Bavarian style."
The answer is the Chinese port city of Qingdao (or otherwise known as Tsingtao).
Congratulations to Chris Mallman of The Wardrobe Workshop in Toronto, ON. She has chosen our DVD on "How to sell more, manage smarter, make more money...and have a life" as her prize.
This month's Quiz Question:
As I write this December Newsletter, I'm looking out my office window at about 3 feet of snow and temperatures of minus 15 degrees here at our country home north of Toronto. It has just occurred to me that a number of my friends and clients, in other parts of the world, combine Christmas Holidays with their annual Summer Vacation. This month's quiz Question is...name one of those countries.
Send your guess to Sharen Skene, our wonderful Director of Marketing, at sharen@donaldcooper.com. Each correct answer received within 10 days will go into the 'pot' and one winner will be randomly selected. The winner will receive his or her choice of any of our excellent DVD Seminars.
10. That's all for this month:
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Thanks for all of your great feedback and suggestions. We especially love to hear of your successes using our insights.
Don't forget to visit our Free Articles section on our website for lots more valuable info on how to sell more, manage smarter and make more money in your business.
Also, let us know what you'd like to hear more about...or less about. And, do send us your stories and examples of great, horrible or just plain bizarre business practices that you find in your travels.
Finally, if you know of others, anywhere in the world, who will find value in this E-Newsletter, we'll appreciate your sending this along to them and inviting them to subscribe at www.donaldcooper.com.
Donald Cooper, MBA
Certified Speaking Professional
Member of the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame
For information about booking Donald for your company or Association, contact Sharen Skene our wonderful Director of Marketing at Sharen@donaldcooper.com.
Back Issues of our Newsletters are available on our website (along with lots of other valuable articles and implementation tools). |
Donald Cooper, MBA
Certified Speaking Professional
Member of the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame