28. August 2010 by Bob Griffin.

I was speaking with a class of management students this week at the University of Georgia.  My topic was on getting customers, but I veered off topic a little when we got to communication to customers and word-of-mouth marketing.  I mentioned that bad word of mouth marketing - the media saying bad things about you or your business - can actually help you if it is played well.  Since it was a group of students and Thursday is the unofficial start to the weekend, I was impressed when they sat up and took notice of my statement.

There are exact times and places when bad word-of-mouth marketing works when nothing else will.   Seems counter-intuitive, but it is true and we have real world examples of this to point to.  BP has been dragged through the mud (or mucky oil if you wish) with little hope of recovery.  When the oil platform exploded and people died, that was a low point for them.  When millions of gallons of oil washed up on shore killing wildlife and the economy of several states, that was another low point.  It seemed that there was no end to the bad news and the CEO, Tony Hayward, was not helping the situation…except he was.

When bad things happen (and bad things will always happen) you have two ways of handling it.  Fight it or deal with it.   The first part, fighting it, seems to be what Tony wanted to do and we can see how far that got him.  He was covering his company’s rump with as much actions as he could stand, but he was ill prepared to make much positive change since he really did not understand why everyone was upset with him.  He wanted things to “go back to normal” as fast as possible since the accidents did not impact him directly.  He was mad and all of the actions he showed indicated he wanted to fight back.  To the families who lost a loved one or the people who live and work by the Gulf coast, they wanted to fight too.  One man against a population who have been harmed is ugly.

So, when the cap was attached to the pipe and the oil stopped gushing out of the well, they fired old Tony.  Look back and you will see, the bad press for the most part stopped as well.  All of the bad word-of-mouth marketing ended when the target - Tony Hayward - left the scene.  BP and the Board of Directors were smart enough to see that they had a chance to let the bad press go when they let Tony go.  No face to the business means the press is unable to fight and the population has no target for tough words.  Did the problem go away? No, but the bad word-of-mouth marketing was carried away on Tony’s shoulders.  Now, any news is going to be compared with the bad news that Tony endured.

Timing is everything.  If they fired Tony before they capped the well, it would still be BP that was the bad guy.  With a built in bad guy, they waited and made the change when good news was available.  BP is a media savvy company.

I was going to add in examples of other industries and celebrities, but you get the idea.  Since bad things happen, you have a choice in what you can do.  Fighting is sometimes an option.  Tony Hayward thought so.  BP let him fight. Then, they let him go away with the bad press.  Will BP bounce back? Yes.  Exxon did and they did the same thing with the Captain Joe Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez.  There are ways to let things work out without losing your business.  Are you ready for all of the kinds word-of-mouth marketing?

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30. June 2010 by Bob Griffin.

I teach business skills every day.  There are people that I deal with who have many more years of experience in business and have many more degrees from prestigious colleges, but there is always something that I can suggest that has merit to adding customers and sales or reducing costs. Business, like some of our readers have noticed, has many angles and can be approached with a new view even after centuries of sales.

The reason I mention this is that I had my finest achievement recently and it involved a businessman that is headstrong, stubborn, and doesn’t listen to me most of the time.  I guess I need to restate a few things.  He does listen.  He just never let me know he was paying attention.  Business skills are learned as much as they are a part of a person’s personality.  I would rate his skills before this past weekend as high in personality but low in business acumen.

Once the weekend hit, I learned how wrong I was.  He had learned the lessons I taught about how to build a brand and I learned a few things myself.

To say that I saw the best businessman in any industry at work is an understatement.  I saw him stop traffic…I mean he stopped traffic!  People got out of their cars and spent money right there at the street.  He is beyond a doubt the very best.

• I saw him stand at the front counter and grab people’s attention with a wave and smile.
• He was charming and polite.
• He asked customers for the sale and then asked them if they wanted more.  He asked enough questions until he got to the word “No”.
• He was fast serving them.
• He was quick to close the sale.
• He mentioned that they could stop back for more later…for an additional fee.
• He thanked them warmly and continued to be polite.
• He knew the sale did not end the relationship with the customer.
• He asked them to mention the products to friends.

I was proud.  I was very proud.

The “man” is my 8 year old son.  He asked me a few weeks ago to help him start his own business.  Knowing that an 8 year old doesn’t think small and would want to lease space for a store front if I let him, I worked a deal with him to build a lemonade stand if he was willing to follow my rules for business.  Little man has heard me talk about business since before he could talk, so I knew he heard the Bulldog Rules for Business, but I did not realize how much he had taken them to heart and was able to demonstrate them and make money.

I built the lemonade stand and he paid for the cups and the lemonade mix.  We were going to freshly squeeze the lemons, but we decided to make profits instead.  There is always an element of profitability that every good businessman must take into account.  The task of running the booth was his alone.  I stood by and ended up assisting (I filled cups with ice), but I did not engage the customers.  That was his job and I did not want to artificially increase sales by stepping over his management.

To say that I was stressed in watching my son run a small business in my driveway is an understatement.  I wanted to help, take over, manage the station, and control the sales.  That is what “Type A” personalities do…we jump in and get it done.  This, however, was my chance to see if I am a good coach.  I wanted to see if the lessons I preach can be lived on a very small scale and make a big impact.  It worked!

Little man was amazing.  He did stop traffic.  He even sold lemonade to the lady driving that infernal ice cream truck with the horrible music.  She stopped right in front of his stand and bought from him.  She was impressed with his sales ability (He asked her if she wanted two cups since it was such a hot day).  He sold to neighbors, his friends, and anyone who happened down our street that morning. He started selling lemonade at 9:00am.  I can’t drink lemonade that early.  I still taste toothpaste at 9:00am, but people bought and loved it.

Like I do in every article on Business Bulldog, I want to know if your team is following the rules that an eight year old made look easy.  The Bulldog Rules for Business are common sense, but powerful when followed.  Can you have the enthusiasm of an eight year old every day and with every sale?  Can you speak clearly and ask for the sale and then ask for more from the customers without sounding like you are selling to them?  Do you ask your customers to send friends to your store?  Do you ask how they like your products and service?  My son did and now he has a following of people who want to come back for more.

As for using a powdered mix instead of fresh lemons, the customers loved the experience, so it didn’t matter.  It isn’t all about the product.  The best situations to get a sale involve the product, the engagement, and the environment.  Get these things right and the sales will come.  The drink was good enough leaving room for profits without cheating customers.  The engagement of the sale to the customers was better than they would have gotten at 100 times the price.  Finally, he maintained a clean, good looking environment for customers to feel confident they were getting a good product.  How about your store?

That old saying, “When life gives you lemons - make lemonade” is a good one.  A better saying is “Start with the lemons and make money”.

**Side note:  He sold between 60 and 70 glasses of lemonade in just a few hours.  I don’t know the exact number because many customers were giving him 100 percent tips!

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3. June 2010 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

Amazing how quickly things can go wrong and how everyone can know about it.  Ask Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, how fast his head was spinning from news of the broken pipe a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico.  Being the top dog means you have to lead the pack.  Did he step up and bark out good orders?  Nope.  He wasn’t, and isn’t prepared.

How does this relate to your business?  You don’t drill for oil or have a major international brand.  It is just you in your store working as hard as you can to pay the bills and grow your business.  Change “oil spill” for “customer made sick” or “product injury” and you can see where things along your own pipeline from vendor to your shelf to the customer can get quickly out of hand.

Are you ready for disaster?

When you think about all the things that can go wrong, do you think you are ready to handle them or are you hoping that bad things avoid your business?  Countless owners live in fear of something bad happening, but never do anything about it.  If you, for some unknown reason to me, do not have business interruption insurance, get it.

Just like BP, you know that something is going to happen.  Something that makes you sweat, stay up at night, and worry that you won’t have an income.  Or, even worse, you have to pay large sums of money just to stay in business. Bulldog Rule # 6 - Failing to plan for your day, week, month, and year is unacceptable  is one heck of a rule to follow when everyone around you is looking at clear skies and ignoring the bad weather approaching.

Where do you start?  How about at the front door?  Or better yet, start with your lease.  Does it provide for floods, damage to the building, or any number of calamities that can happen to keep your front door from being opened?  Even if you are already in a lease and it doesn’t come up for renewal for years, ask for a rider to the lease that gives you a break on the rent until you are back open.  If the landlord won’t help, then you know you either have to move when the lease ends or add more insurance to what you already have.

Inside the store, train your team to be ready for anything bad.  Robbery, fire, customer accidents, and many other things can happen depending on your business.  If your employees are not trained well in what to do, things can go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.  I have been in far too many stores that have been robbed at gunpoint.  Since I personally trained the team working, the robber left with money and no one was hurt.  You can earn more money.  You can’t replace a life.

Everyone has a job to do in a crisis.  The counter person calls the police, ambulance, or fire department.  The customers are cared for and kept calm.  They will need to stay in the store until the police arrive.  You can’t keep them in the store against their will.  If they want to leave, ask for their name and phone number. Once everything is settled down, the need employees write down what they saw and heard.  The Manager needs to be a calm voice.  If you do not have a “Drama Free” Manager, start looking for one.  Anxiety can lead to bad decision and a reactionary Manager will already be a point of crisis in the business.

Plan and then train.  Simple?  It is.  If BP had planned better for broken pipes a mile underwater, they would not have had much coverage by the media.  Their stock wouldn’t have lost a third of it’s value and they would be pumping oil instead of hiding from the media.

Be ready for whatever can happen and rest well knowing you can handle any crisis.

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28. March 2010 by Noel Guilford.

If you ever wanna know what it feels like to be Chicken Little then just spend some time talking with a room full of business owners. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the blame is totally human nature. We struggle with planning what we are going to get when we go to the grocery store, so it’s no wonder how the day to day of a small business owner can consume all reason. This type of “business on the fly” can pass for common place until you realize that the lack of sleep has warped your sense of reality just a little bit.

Those few businesses outside this crazy world seem like an oasis but let me tell you that it was no accident.  You wonder how so and so is still doing so well, or what the big secret is right? Here it is, how to fortify your business.

Quality Product and/or Service

If you have something to sell make sure its worth you selling it, and make sure it’s worth buying. As tempting as it may be to tap the well of the latest fad you will find that well dries up very quickly. Stick with the oldies but goodies, give customers what they want, when they want it and how they like it.

*NOTE* address this area for difficulty with generating leads or traffic into the business 

Build a Reputation of Consistency - Earn consumers trust

Consumers/customers expect, no they “demand” that if they are required to pay a specific cost, that they will receive quality that matches, and most times exceeds their expectation. If  customers are provided with consistency, they will respond with consistency and that goes both ways.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the frequency of repeat business 

Customer Service/ Interaction that is remarkable

With any luck your customers are talking about you to someone who is a potential customer. The question is what are they saying as your spokesperson. If your business is strong in this area many customers will forgive your slips in consistency as people spend money at businesses they like. Equally if they are unimpressed or unsatisfied with your personnel and the service they provide, be sure they feel the same about the business and it’s owners.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the decline in customer counts/ lost customers

Business Economics with Priorities

I’m assuming that for those in business ownership, server boredom did not drive them to the decision. So with the objective of making a profit in mind let’s get our priorities strait. First in line is paying for the expense of doing business, next is paying your employee’s. Third is paying the business itself, and lastly you get paid. If you are an employee then you get paid a lot sooner. Lastly if there is very little wiggle room due to an enormous overhead you are in a losing battle and need to reformat your business model or call it quits as soon as possible.

*NOTE* address this area when there are problems showing a profit in spite of acceptable numbers in sales and customer counts.

Can you still run a business without building a foundation of these four things? I’m sure its possible. I’m also sure that its possible for a mule to win a horse race, but its not likely that I will see that either.

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9. March 2010 by Monique Guilford.

When a person decides to become a franchisee, I do not believe that he or she says, “This is my opportunity to bring havoc upon my customers” or “This is my opportunity to sink my business by running all of my help away.”  I believe that most franchisees enter into an organization with good intentions for the organization and for the people that work for them.  After observing my husband for six years as a business consultant for a major corporation, it is my belief that most franchisees want to run a lucrative business, one that will be there for them through their retirement years.  Most businesses that have withstood the test of time have had exemplary leaders.  Leaders such as Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart), Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald’s Restaurant), Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft), and Robert Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television) just to name a few, have all had common characteristics of exemplary leaders.

The Merriam – Webster Online Dictionary (2010) describes exemplary as deserving imitation because of excellence.  Kouzes and Posner (2002) believe that when getting extraordinary goals accomplished within organizations, leaders engage in the following Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:
 
Model the Way.
Simply put, do not ask your employees to complete a task that you are unwilling to do yourself; regardless if there is pay or not.  We all have our limits on a job and employees get a kick out of life when they see owners of the organization or upper management completing some of the same tasks that they have to accomplish while working.  Exemplary leaders know that they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards. They must model the behavior that they expect of others (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  So, go ahead, do not be afraid to let that employee see you scrubbing a toilet or taking the trash out.  This will give the employees the opportunity to see you (the leader) in a different light and they may gain a new respect for you.

Inspire a Shared Vision
Since the beginning of time, every organization, every social movement, begins with a dream (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  Leaders inspire a shared vision, not command it.  When people have a vision or when they share and believe in a common vision, they are more so inclined to work efficiently towards achieving the goals of the organization.  The key words here are: shared vision.  When visions are only shared by leaders the visions become insufficient to create an organized movement or significant change in the company (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  If there are no constituents, there are no leaders.  Remember, people follow the person first, then the plan.

Challenge the Process.
Leaders seek and accept challenge (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  Warren Bennis writes, “as weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.”  Exemplary leaders challenge the status quo (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  There is not one leader that exists that claims to have achieved personal greatness by keeping things the same and remaining inside the box.

Enable Others To Act
Exemplary leaders empower constituents to feel strong and capable (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  People will not perform at their best or remain committed to the organization (or you) if leaders make them feel weak, dependent, or alienated.  Let’s face it, no one wants to work for a company in which they are “brain dead” while at work.  Employees like to be “free to do their own thing” (Sergiovanni, 2005).  Encourage creativity among your staff (especially, according to renowned motivational speaker Eric Chester, your Generation Yers) and watch the growth of your business.  Employees thrive in businesses in which they are trusted to make the right decisions (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).

Encourage the Heart.
It is part of the leaders’ job to show appreciation for people’s contribution and to create a culture of celebration (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  This is a matter in which “real will recognize real”.  Hard working employees like to be sincerely recognized for all of their hard work.  The rewards do not have to always come in the form of money.  Recognizing an employee for their hard work during a staff meeting, assigning a parking spot closer to the building for a month, or posting an employee’s picture and biography for Employee of the Month are a few examples of a non-monetary rewards.  Recognition is not just an opportunity to celebrate, it is a chance to recognize the accomplishments and encourage the hearts of the employee.  Employees will not respond well to pretentious ceremonies that create a false sense of camaraderie (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).


So now what?  Now that I have all of this information, how do I implement these tips into my organization?  As an exemplary leader in training, you should take every sincere opportunity that will allow you to slowly integrate these tips within your organization.  You should reflect upon the outcomes by keeping a journal and make necessary adjustments.  According to Kouzes and Posner (2002), leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who chose to follow.  Remember the goals for your business.  Keep your vision close to your heart.  If you have difficulty with implementing some of this traits, seek out a leader who aspirers to take their leadership skills to the next level.  Improving your relationship with your constituents through these traits will empower them to get extraordinary things done on a regular basis.

Source:

exemplary. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exemplary

Fullan, M. (2007).  Understanding change (3^rd ed.).  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The five examples of exemplary leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sergiovanni, T. (2005).  The principalship: Manager to leader.  Retrieved from:  www.cnx.org/content/m12924/latest

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