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The role of your tribe

November 16, 2010 in Company Culture, Connecting, Customer Service, General, Marketing, Publishing, Reads, Social Networking with 0 Comments

We all lead a tribe. We have communities who look to us to guide them, such as: your family, small church group, employees, co-workers, customers, bridge club, and neighborhood watch.  The list goes on and on. Some are small and some big.  What we don’t often talk about is the role they play.

You have decided what nascent group to lead, gathered them together, and created something for them to go crazy about. Now the work really begins. Give them ways to share, connect, engage, hang out, play, take part in and create even more. Once you do that the rest will be pretty easy.  They will share more than you ever could have asked, connected even more people and created tribes of their own.

Then when you’ve that  you can move on to the next thing and do it all over again. Now isn’t this fun?

Learn more about tribes from Seth Godin by reading…you guessed it, Tribes.

Is your service valuable?

November 11, 2010 in Connecting, Customer Service, General, Marketing with 1 Comment

Connecting with people is rewarding in many different ways, but it is also profitable.  Good connections can become business transactions.  Sometimes good connectors may feel awkward writing business proposals for someone they have built a friendship with.  However, an open and honest business offer is not only pragmatic, it protects friendships.  An exchange of services must be spelled out explicitly to avoid presumption.  When people are in need of a particular service, they don’t mind paying for it.  People who avoid discussing money openly may harm relationships in the long run.

This is important especially when you are beginning your business.  Being candid in business is always better than being vague.  Honesty is synonymous with integrity in many instances.  So when you have a service that is worth paying for, set a price and spell it out clearly.  Mutual respect will be the result.

(My wife wrote this post since it took me four failed drafts.  She did let me add the last sentence though)

Schedulicity- eliminating no-shows and phone-tag

November 10, 2010 in Connecting, Customer Service, General, Tools with 0 Comments

This new section on tools for the connector and influencer will have many guests post.  Here is the first by Sabrina Walters who is a licensed marriage and family therapist.  Sabrina also is  a certified instructor for the Core Values Index (CVI) assessment tool.

Time and time again, just when I’ve settled down for a movie or dinner out with the family I would get a call from a client. Since I am a therapist, I always try to answer my calls since you never know when you are facing a crisis. However more than half the time it ends up being someone who just wants to make or change an appointment. In most cases I didn’t have my date book handy, so a long game of “phone-tag” ensues.  No one really enjoys this game, not to mention the precious time taken away from family and friends.

The other aggravating problem is the “no-show” This most often occurs when a client can’t remember when their appointment is scheduled. Now, I am just as unorganized as some of my forgetful clients, so I can totally understand this. With Schedulicity, I have resolved 99% percent these problems. Most of my clients prefer to book online at their convenience. They love receiving the texts and emails confirming and reminding them of their appointments and I love them showing up for their appointments. On top of these conveniences, the reports provided by Schedulicity give me accurate information for billing purposes as well. I couldn’t be happier with Schedulicity, their responsiveness to my questions and the services I have received from them. It has paid for itself several times over through decreased “no-shows”.

Noticing good

October 21, 2010 in Company Culture, Customer Service, Marketing, Rants, Social Networking with 7 Comments

There is always so much going on around us that we don’t have eyes to see. People are innovating and creating great art. Instead we spend our time pointing out the negative. We are slighted in a customer service exchange or something is wrong with our order. We are quick to complain.  What we often seem to not do is notice good.

I am pleasantly surprised at the response when I point out something good being done. People react.  Today gratitude, just as much as promoting, is a new type of currency. Like no other time in history can a compliment in public travel around the world  via word of mouth.  Relationships online and off are strengthened by noticing good.

Cold food or poor service is common.  Remarkability and gratitude are rare.

They need to be thirsty

September 1, 2010 in Customer Service, Marketing, Rants, Raves with 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I spent time with two thirsty men.  They were passionate about their business, innovative, and already on their way to leading a tribe.  Wake owns an electric bike Shop called The Ebike Store in Portland Oregon and Jason is the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette. So why do I call them thirsty?  Without pitching my services, they were compelled to ask more about what I do and how I do it.  No matter what service you provide, unless someone needs it, and actually understands they need it, then you really are wasting your time and theirs.

A while back a young ambitious college age painting contractor came by my house and offered his company’s service.  After letting him do his pitch I informed him that I was not interested.  He went on to tell me that my house was in need of a new paint job and it could not wait another year.  What he did not know is that I painted houses and businesses when I was his age and the house at the time in fact had about two years left before it needed painting.  Plus, when I am ready to paint, I will be doing it myself.  His problem was simple, I was neither in need of what he offered nor was he able to convince me otherwise.  I was not thirsty.

Now a better salesman could have convinced me otherwise, but it takes a lot of effort at the risk of an unsatisfied customer and your brand being damaged.  If you spend all your time offering a service they were not really interested in the first place, chances are they will not value it in the long run.

“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”  It seemed like an odd statement to my young ears, until I witnessed it my self.  When I was ten years old it was my chore to get our horses to drink water before our long day on the trail.  We usually had 5 or 6 horses on our extended trips into the Wallowa Mountains, and there was always one stubborn one that would not drink.  As much as I tried I could not put my ten year old weight into dragging him to the stream.  It was futile.

Later in the day though he was the first to put all his energy into making a bee-line to the lake at the end of the day.  He was finally thirsty.  This goes with most businesses I encounter.  They are bombarded daily by salespeople who offer ways for them to make their business more profitable.  Some offer real value and others are just wasting their time with snake oil.  The difference for you comes when you can connect with the ones that are seeking what you offer and see the value in it.  They are the ones that will benefit and in the long run. They will also be the first ones that will tell anyone they can about how you helped them.

I have learned this after many attempts to convince those that are just not thirsty.  Keep listening and doing what you do best.  If you truly are doing a remarkable job, the businesses that are a great match for you will be easy to find.

An Entrepreneurial Genius: My Dad

June 18, 2010 in Customer Service, General, Raves with 9 Comments

If you’ve eaten at a Shari’s you’ve experienced the entrepreneurial genius of my dad.

You know the old Denny’s design, and those rocks on top of so many coffee-shop roofs? Well, dad came up with that look when starting out as an architect and designer for Sambo’s Restaurant way back in the day. He went on to start a 7 chain restaurant named after his little brother Dan called Fancy Dan’s with my mom. They had locations throughout Oregon and Washington.

After that he opened a place along the Oregon Trail called The Blue Bucket. It had the most incredible homemade barley soup I have ever had, served up in a really cool cast iron bowl.

Next came the Shari’s venture. Today it is still the the only design patented restaurant and has nearly 100 outlets.

With a few projects in between, Dad has never stop innovating. Those projects include helping his friend Horst Mager (yeah that is the fondue recipe we all love) of the Rheinlander and Gustav’s fame with menu development, to designing, building and running an incredible hotel called the Rogue Regency in southern Oregon.

He currently owns and operates Callahans Siskiyou Lodge with his wife Donna, right below Mt. Ashland south of Ashland on the Southern Oregon border.  After the lodge burned to the ground in 2006, dad went to task to design and build a lodge that today amazes and entertains guests year round with it’s rustic but elegant world class service and accommodations.

This week I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on all dad has taught me about business.  Most of all he instilled in me an innovative spirit.  He has a passion to design and give customers a grand experience.  He is a businessman at heart. A friend reminded me of dad’s two hospitality rules a few weeks back:  A. Never ask how everything was when you are cashing out. It’s too late!   B. Never ask if a customer wants more coffee; just fill the cup.

I hope one day to have my own business legacy.  Happy fathers day dad!

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