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The Donald Cooper March Business Newsletter


Volume 5,  Issue 3 - March 2006

Donald’s “Quote of the Month”

" Very few people actually get fired.  They quit, they give up, they stop trying, but since they have no place else to go, they keep showing up and hope you won't notice!"
 
Greetings ~firstname~.  We have several excellent and thought-provoking articles for you this month...all of which will take about 8 minutes to read.
 
To view our Newsletter as a PDF version, click here. 
 

1. How many of your staff have "quit", but keep coming in anyway...and whose fault is it?

(time to read this article is about 70 seconds)

Printable version.

Failure to deal with non-performance is one of the biggest problems facing many businesses today.  A 2005 survey of thousands of Canadian employees shows that 25% of those questioned admitted that the only reason they show up at work is for their paycheck.  They have absolutely no interest in their job, the customers, the rest of the team, or the bottom line.
 
We’ve all heard the old expression that “one bad apple can spoil the bunch”.  Well, what about 25% “bad apples”?  What are they doing to your business?
 
You might think that 25% number is extraordinarily high but in his latest book Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, says that in his experience about 20% of employees in any company are dragging the business down and need to be dealt with it.
 
The first question here is how many of those people are just deadbeats and how many of them are working in businesses that are so badly run that they'd destroy anyone’s soul?  These are the businesses that are physically, emotionally or financially unhealthy places to be.  Businesses where the good people leave and only the deadbeats are left.  So, be honest…is your business a deadbeat ‘magnet’?  Have you, for whatever reason, created an unhealthy business environment in which only people who don’t care can survive?
 
Note: If you’d like some real and affordable help in creating a more positive business environment that will attract more capable employees and more profitable customers, click here for more information.

Another possibility is that in a tight labour market you’ve hired people who have no possibility of success.  You’ve settled for second or third best…and it’s killing you.  So, you give up and tell yourself that,  “You just can’t find good people any more!”  But the truth is that, even in a tight labour market, the best people have to work for somebody…why not for you?
 
Is your business such a great place to work that the best people in your area or industry regularly come to you, resume in hand, looking for career opportunities? If not, why not?  Where are they working now…and why?
 
Rather than wasting your energy complaining that you can’t find good people any more, take 30 minutes, sit down with some of the best minds and hearts in your business to ask and honestly answer these two simple questions…
 
1.
What kind of business do the best people in our industry want to work for?…and,
2. 
What must we do to become that kind of business?
 
Then, commit to becoming the best business to work for your target employees.  
 
A third possibility is that your current hiring process is not effectively screening out deadbeats or poor performers. Not having the right people in every part of your organization carries a huge cost in lost business, inefficiency, frustration and missed opportunity!

Are you looking for the right people?  Do you have a clear understanding of the type of people you need to deliver your customer promise, achieve your profit commitments and grow the business? 
 
Do you know where to look for these people?  Do you have an interview process that works?  Do you ever hire after just one interview?  Do you have some of your best people re-interview candidates?

Do you test candidates in any way?  Do you have clear standards of performance, appearance and behavior that you have them to commit to before you hire them?  Do you always check references, asking specific questions to get specific answers? .
 
Do you get new team members off to the right start?  Do you have a “Welcome to Our Team”  package including your company history, company values, staff rules, awards won, differences you’ve made in the community or the planet?  Do you give them something to be proud of from day one?  Do you continually train and develop your staff to either do what they do better or to take on new responsibilities in your business?
 
Have you created an environment that acknowledges and rewards individual and team performance?  How about a simple “thank you” every day…or are you just too busy for that?
 
We’ve developed a clear, step-by-step process that greatly improves the likelihood that you’ll hire keep and nurture great people.  It’s called “The 8 Essential Steps to Finding & Keeping the Best Staff!”   For more help, click here.
 
Even if you do all of this, you’ll still have some team members who just don’t perform.  They’re dragging you down and you need to deal with them.  Here are five steps that will be helpful…
 
1.
Make sure that non-performers are clear about what’s expected of them.
2.
Determine if they're in the right job for them. Often, just by getting problem staff in a job that's better suited to their skills or personality, they become stars.
3.
Make sure that they have the skills, information, “tools”, resources and empowerment to do the job they’ve been given.
4.
Make sure that some personal challenge in their lives is not causing them to be temporarily “off their game”.  How can you support them and help them with this?  If the personal challenge that they face has to do with something like gambling or drug addiction, they’re probably not rescuable. It may be time to “cut bait”.
5.
Agree on and document a specific date by when they will be performing as required.   Monitor their performance, then follow up on the agreed date. If they aren’t performing as required at that point, it’s probably time to invite them to make an alternate career decision.
 
So, who's not performing in your business?  Who's driving away customers, or costing you money, or upsetting the team?  Who can be rescued...and who needs to be dealt with?  Make a list, create an action plan and get on with it.  I can't think of anything more important for you to do in your business this week!
 

2. A simple way to get much more out of the next Conference or Trade Show you attend:

(time to read this article is about 40 seconds)

In the past few months I’ve spoken at Conferences and Trade Shows for the landscaping, auto parts, building materials, consumer electronics and pizza industries.  At every one of these events I asked audiences the same question, “How many of you have come to this event with a list of about 4 specific things that you need to focus on and learn more about to grow your business and your bottom line?”…and no hands go up.  Nobody has a list.
 
At International Pizza Expo, the huge Las Vegas event that draws thousands of restaurateurs from around the world, a number of folks stayed after my presentation last week to ask questions.  One lady told me about her incredible success in adding a pizza drive-through to her restaurant.  A man from Calgary then chirped in that he’d been thinking of doing that for two years but hadn’t gotten around to it.  Quite accidentally, he then got a ton of helpful information about what to do and what not to do from this lady.
 
The point is, it happened accidentally and it may not have happened at all.  We all need to be much more intentional in our business.  Take good luck when it comes…but don’t count on it.
 
The man from Calgary should have had a list of things to find out more about that included “opening a pizza drive-through” with a list of specific questions to ask to find out everything he needs to know.  He should have been on a mission to talk with the dozen or so industry consultants who were at the Conference about how to do it and who already does it best.  He should have talked with suppliers, then with the editor of Pizza Today Magazine and with other restaurateurs.

So, before you head off to your next Conference or Trade Show, will you make a list or will you wander aimlessly about, hoping that something wonderful will accidentally come your way? 
  

3.  There are actually 4 kinds of training...don't lump them all together:

(time to read this article is about 35 seconds)

I got into a big discussion about training with a client recently and, in the process, we came up with four different kinds of training that shouldn’t just be lumped together.   This was a simple but powerful insight for my client, so I thought I’d pass it on…no charge!
 
You should be training your people…
1. 
To perform their current job more effectively by improving their skills, knowledge or attitudes.
2. 
To embrace and effectively use new processes, policies, equipment or technologies.
3. 
To take on greater responsibility to grow your business and their careers...and, 
4. 
To do some other job because theirs is about to become redundant.
 
 
So, here's a useful little reality check...
a)
Are you constantly providing training to help all of your people perform their current job more effectively? 
b)
Do you ever introduce new processes, policies, equipment or technologies without the proper training and then wonder what went wrong?
c)
Have you identified those people in your organization who have the ability and the desire to help you grow the business…and are you preparing them to do that?
d)
When certain jobs are going to be phased out, do you train good people to do some other job...or do you just let them go and lose all of your investment in them? 
 
How would you rate your business on these four kinds of training...and what do you need to do to improve?
 
 

4.  The incredible power of defining your business by how you help...not by what you sell!

(time to read this article is about 65 seconds)

Most businesses make the mistake of defining themselves by what they sell or by how they do business today.  They’re internally focused and it’s all about them.  Central to my transformational work with companies is to have them simply redefine themselves by how they HELP their target customers.  Then, to determine all the help that those customers might need and, finally, to deliver some of that help…better than their competitors.  These three simple steps usually create more customer-owning ideas than they know what to do with!
 
Walgreens Pharmacies in the USA get it.  They recently introduced a service that will help customers choose the best medical drug plan for them. You simply bring in your list of meds to any Walgreens location; they’ll run your list through their computer and immediately tell you which drug plan is best for you.  It's a big help for folks and it positions Walgreens as the "caring coach".  Very clever!

The folks at Coldwell Banker Real Estate understand that we’re all confused about how to choose the best real estate agent for us.  So, on their website, they provide four questions to ask any prospective agent, along with the answers that you should get…and why those answers are important.  By giving us the “inside scoop” on how to find the best agent, they position themselves at the head of the pack.  They become the trusted expert.

Progressive Direct Auto Insurance is absolutely committed to helping folks pick the lowest cost insurer for them.  So, when Progressive gives a quote, they also include quotes for the same type of insurance from two or three of their competitors.   A gutsy move?  Sure it is. But it has made them the third largest auto insurer in America.  What are you absolutely committed to…and how gutsy are you prepared to be?

When customers are looking for carpet, Home Depot offers a pamphlet called “Taking the mystery out of buying carpet…a helpful guide to an intelligent purchase.”  They’re helping confused customers to make an intelligent purchase. This is brilliant marketing.
 
In a recent conversation with the Managing Director of a large accounting and auditing firm we got talking about what kind of help their clients need and how that could be proactively delivered in a way that would add compelling, relationship building value.  
 
We determined that, for most of their clients, there was a real need for managers and supervisors at all levels to better understand the numbers side of their department and of the whole business.  If you don’t understand the numbers, you don’t understand the business and things can get badly out of whack in a hurry.
 
So, I suggested that their firm offer regular Seminars for their clients’ managers and supervisors on...
 
1.
How to create monthly and annual performance and expense commitments for their areas of responsibility. 
2.
How those commitments fit together to create a total business plan and profit commitment.
3.
How to use daily, weekly and monthly financial reports to proactively manage their area.
4.
How the rest of the business is affected if they don’t deliver on their commitments. 
 
This kind of help, well delivered, could make a huge difference in their clients’ financial performance while building long-term relationships that could not easily be severed.
 
So, what kind of help do your target customers need to wisely choose and effectively use what you sell?  What kind of help do they need in any way related to doing business with you?   And how will you redefine and reinvent your business to deliver some of that help…better than your competitors?


5.  Bits & Pieces:

(time to read this section is about 60 seconds)

Item #1: If you think your business is in a real cost squeeze, think of this bit of information the next time you order a pizza.  A large pepperoni pizza sells today, all across America, for the same $10.99 as it did 20 years ago.  Every element of cost from cheese to labour to utilities has increased tremendously; but the selling price hasn’t moved up a penny.
 
So, the next time you order a pizza, order a few extra toppings and a drink.  On that they can make money.

Item #2:  50% of Canadians will need a blood transfusion at some time in their life, but only 4% of eligible Canadians ever give blood.  My guess is that this ratio probably holds true in the rest of the world as well.  So…roll up your sleeves folks.
 
Item #3:  What other business could make millions of dollars while ticking off 97% of their customers? 

I accidentally had a meeting with a company in the online casino business a few months ago.  I say “accidentally” because, had I known what they did for a living, I wouldn’t have met with them.

Just for fun, I asked them how many of their customers lose money…and the answer was 97%.  WOW…tick off 97% of your customers and make millions.  The world just gets goofier and goofier!

Item #4: It’s early yet, but this could turn out to be the understatement of the year. Alan Crotzer, a Florida man released from prison after 24 years when DNA evidence proved him innocent, told Larry King on CNN, “No, I’m not bitter.  I’m just a little disappointed in the system.”

WOW…24 years of his life wasted behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit and Alan is just “a little disappointed”.  That kind of makes the guy who I saw go ballistic in the Las Vegas airport last week because his plane was 20 minutes late, look like a bit of an over-reactor.

Item #5:  We have lots of readers in the hospitality, hotel, tourism and restaurant business and this one’s for them.  If you’re looking for more brilliant marketing and amazing special event ideas than you’d know what to do with, go to the website of The Little Inn of Bayfield at www.littleinn.com.

These folks, located on the shores of Lake Huron, Ontario, are masters of the art of creating endless experiences and adventures that draw people to their Inn and their community 12 months of the year. 

While you’re on their website be sure to sign up for their free seasonal E-Newsletter which is an ongoing graduate course in hospitality marketing.  Their March Newsletter has just been sent out.  Be sure to request it when you sign up. 
 

6. How could "doing the math" for your customers increase your sales?

(time to read this article is about 90 seconds)

A few years ago, as I walked into a Wal-Mart store here in Canada, I found right in front of me two shopping carts chuck full of exactly the same assortment of merchandise.  A sign over cart #1 read, “Total cost of this merchandise at Zellers…$146.98” (for our international readers, Zellers is Wal-Mart’s main competitor here in Canada).  

A similar sign over cart #2 read, “Total cost of this same merchandise at Wal-Mart…$129.39.  You save $17.59!”  They did the math for me, then graphically put it right where I couldn’t miss it and they convinced me for all time that Wal-Mart will save me money.  Like them or not, this is brilliant!

When ING Direct Bank came onto the North American scene several years ago with their “no branches, low overhead, deal with us on the Internet and save” approach, who would have thought that they’d do so well?  But they too do the math for their target customers and the numbers are impressive.  

Basically, their low overhead allows them to sell mortgages for about a quarter of a percent lower than most other financial institutions.  So, if most banks are at, lets say 6%, ING Direct will give you a mortgage for 5.75%.  Now, intuitively, that doesn’t seem like a compelling difference.  So, ING does the math for you.  They ran commercials here in Canada explaining that on the price of the average Canadian home a ¼% lower mortgage rate means that you’ll own your home mortgage-free 15 years sooner and pay $45,000 less interest.  Now, did that get your attention?    

A successful investment advisor, struggling to get people in their 20’s to get serious about saving and investing sooner rather than later, presents some compelling math to his young prospects.  He shows them that by investing just $50 a month from age 25 to age 65 the $24,000 that they’ve set aside will have grown to $1,225,000 by age 65.  But, if they wait until they’re 45 and try to play catch up by investing $100 a month, they’ll still have invested a total of $24,000 but it will only have grown to $140,000 by age 65.

How can this be, you ask? Compound interest over time is a powerful thing, but it’s not intuitive.  No one would have guessed that.  They have to see the math.

So, is there compelling math that your customers need to see?   Is there a “numbers” story that you’re not telling that’s hurting your sales and your bottom line?  If so, how will you “do the math” for your customers so that they understand the true value of what you sell?
 

7. Is your Industry Association of local Chamber of Commerce planning a conference this year?

(time to read this section is about 20 seconds)

My powerful, new presentation on “How to sell more, manage smarter, make more money…and have a life!” is helping business owners and managers around the world to fundamentally rethink and reinvent themselves to create compelling customer-owning value and long-term profitability.

You could be a hero to your Industry Association or local Chamber of Commerce just by suggesting that they take a hard look at booking this presentation.  Or, your own company may need to rethink, refocus and re-energize itself in order to be a more profitable market leader in 3 to 5 years.

This program can be delivered as a 90 minute Keynote, a half-day Workshop…or a full-day “Boot Camp”.  To receive an Electronic Brochure about this transformational program, just click here.  

Warning: This program is not for wimps!  I ask tough questions and challenge tired old  assumptions about what’s really wrong with business today…and what really needs fixing. The process requires integrity, self-awareness, optimism, the courage to face reality and a willingness to change.  
 

8.  Our "Quiz of the Month":

(time to read this section is about 30 seconds)

"Thanks" to all of you who answered our February Quiz question which was, “The Italian economy is the _____ largest economy in the world.”
 
And the Bonus Question which was... "Which countries economies, in order from top to bottom, are bigger than Italy's?"
 
Answer:
Italy has the world's sixth largest economy.
 
Bonus Question answer:  USA, Japan, Germany, UK and France.
 
Congratulations Chris O'Neill of Sirius Solutions in New Brunswick, Canada,  this month’s winner who selected as his prize our “Simple Truth About Leadership” DVD Seminar.
 

 
This month’s Quiz: 
 
In article #6 above we talk about the success of ING Direct Bank in North America.  In fact, they're now a major factor around the world.  The question is... “In what country is their head office located?”
 
Bonus question:  What do the initials ING stand for?  

Send your guess to Sharen Skene, our wonderful Director of Marketing, at sharen@donaldcooper.com.  Each correct answer received within three days will go into the ‘pot’ and one winner will be randomly selected.  The winner will receive their choice of any of our excellent Video Seminars worth $60 to $80. 

BONUS:  If you also answer the bonus question correctly, you’ll get to pick two of our wonderful Video Seminars.


9.  Chuckles & Hugs!

(time to read this section is about 15 seconds)

5 things you could do at work to support your request for "stress leave":
 
I’m hearing more and more these days about employees going on “stress leave”.  One frustrated manager told me recently that he was afraid to speak to his assistant about her poor attitude and performance because she could simply claim eligibility for a four-month paid  “stress leave” and walk out the door.  
 
So, if you’d like to cash in on this “stress leave” thing, here are five things that you can do to indicate that you need a little time off.
 
1.
At lunchtime, sit in your car in the company parking lot with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars to make them slow down. 
2.
 Page yourself over the intercom.  Don't disguise your voice.
3.
Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they'd like fries with that.
4.
As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
5.
Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy".
 
Have a nice four months off.  
 
 

10. That’s all for this month!



"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 sign up at www.donaldcooper.com.
 
Kindest regards!! 
Donald Cooper,  MBA
Canadian 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.

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THE DONALD COOPER CORPORATION
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