It’s been said that on a plane trip, President George Bush senior personally wrote 40 notes of appreciation to various members of his staff. When his aides compared their notes, they discovered that every one of them was different. You can imagine how much each person appreciated his or her note. And most of them probably still have them. Personal expressions of appreciation can be great motivators. Recognizing your team members for their contributions is an important part of leadership. When people are properly recognized, they are likely to continue engaging in business with you. The ideal workplace is one where people are happy, productive, and proud of their accomplishments. Acknowledgment and rewards go a long way toward making a happy workplace.

Make acknowledgment an everyday activity, and be sure to be authentic – people can tell when you are not being authentic. Great leaders notice what their team members do, not only the accomplishments but also the effort. Imagine how you would feel if someone not only noticed the completion of your project, but also commended you on how you mastered the difficult aspects or how creative you were. Someone noticed! Someone cared enough to say something! It feels good to be noticed or to know that someone cares. Financial and non-financial rewards provide incentives to team members. Whatever kind of rewards you choose to give be sure they will be valued by the recipients. Imagine how the legal secretary felt every Christmas when his boss gave him several bottles of expensive wine even though the secretary had often told the lawyer that he was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. The reward really needs to match the values of the recipient in order to be truly appreciated. Reward each employee according to what motivates them personally, such as giving:

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The Franchise Magazine:

House-Hut Estate Agents has announced plans to step up its recruitment of franchise owners. “Now was probably the best time for a decade to enter the estate agency industry,” said Franchise Director Maria Mitchell. “We have just gone through a housing recession in which we have seen a massive reduction in the number of estate agencies. Those like House-Hut who have come through unscathed are in an excellent position to take advantage of the much reduced competition as the market picks up. House-Hut in fact used the recession to its advantage by honing and improving its systems and financial structures so that our turnover has increased and franchise owner profit margins will be bigger than ever.” 

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Dayton Daily News:

It was during a golf trip to South Carolina more than a year ago that Chris Mastin got his first taste of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries fast-casual restaurant.

“It was, bar none, the best burger and fries I’ve had,” Mastin said.

Good enough that he and a handful of other investors, whom he declined to name, have decided to bring the concept to Dayton.

Mastin’s group inked a franchise agreement with the Virginia-based restaurant chain about six months ago. The agreement covers not only Dayton, but also Chillicothe and Ashland in Ohio, as well as Richmond, Ind., said Mastin, a former vice president with Ladd Industries.

But in the near term, the group will focus on Dayton.

The first Five Guys restaurant, at 1057 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, will launch Oct. 19, Mastin said.

The group also wants to open another store in Beavercreek, preferably this year, and they have begun scouting locations there, he said. Further plans call for them to add a third location near the University of Dayton.

Each store will employ 25.

The eatery’s stripped-down menu includes burgers and hotdogs, veggie and grilled-cheese sandwiches and, of course, fries. Toppings, which are free, range from ketchup and mustard to jalapeno peppers. The average check for a meal of a single-patty hamburger, fries and a drink, weighs in at $8.75.

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EVliving.com:

When Jim Thompson committed to open Dutch Bros. Coffee shops throughout the Valley in 2006, he did not foresee the economic crisis that was to follow.

“We didn’t know there was going to be a recession,” the franchisee for the greater Phoenix area said, “but we had spent so darn much money in the process…our decision was to go ahead with it.”

But fears of the lagging economy affecting this discretionary-income-driven business seem distant and Thompson looks forward to the future.

A drive-thru, a small patio and a royal blue roof make Dutch Bros. hard to miss on the Northwest corner of North Gilbert and East McKellips roads in Mesa.

Thompson opened this store on Aug. 28, making it the fifth Arizona Dutch Bros. to open in 10 months, and gave away 2,500 free drinks that day. It was “the biggest grand opening” out of all Valley locations, said Thompson.

The next day, the Mesa store recorded almost $2,000 in sales, which made it “the highest dollar sales” of all Arizona Dutch Bros. to date, according to Thompson. “It’s like a community (in Mesa),” he said. “The people were actually waiting for us to be there.”

Dutch Bros. customer and self-proclaimed former Starbucks fiend, Jodi Alexander, said “I taste the burnt espresso there (at Starbucks), so I love that there’s a Dutch Bros. close-by now. And it’s nice that I don’t have to take my son out his car seat; we can just drive right through.”

A drive-thru is key to competing with a nearby Starbucks, according to professional coffee house consultant, Alex Fisenko’s website, espressobusiness.com.

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Business Wire:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Blimpie America’s Sub Shop (blimpie.com) is making dinner an easier and more affordable meal with a new dinner-time tiered menu.

Starting Oct. 5, 2009, Blimpie locations nationwide will feature new dinner time specials with subs priced at three affordable prices.

* $4 6” subs after 4 pm – Turkey Bacon Cheddar on Pretzel Bread, Ham and Swiss on Pretzel Bread, and Buffalo Chicken Pepperoni on Ciabatta
* $5 12” subs all day – The Club, Tuna, Veggie & Cheese, BLT, Ham & Swiss, Meatball Parmigiana, and Ham, Salami & Provolone
* $6 12” subs after 4 pm – Philly Cheese Steak and Chicken Cheddar Bacon Ranch

“As easy as it is to stop by Blimpie for lunch, it’s now even easier to swing by after work and pick up a filling, made-to-order dinner for yourself or the family,” said Kate Unger, vice president of marketing for Blimpie. “With the country being more mindful of every penny, Blimpie wants to offer customers great deals all day long, especially dinner.”

Sandwich and Dinner Time Facts

* The sandwich is a staple in American cuisine. In fact, according to the book, American Sandwich by Becky Mercuri, an average American eats approximately 193 sandwiches each year.
* Blimpie’s new dinner-time menu offers dinner for a family of four starting at just $16.
* Choosing a sub for dinner can be an easy way to sneak in a serving or two of vegetables before the end of the day.
* The new Blimpie dinner time specials offer guests 13 different subs – that’s a new sub every day for nearly two weeks!
* A sandwich doesn’t have to mean a cold dinner.

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Times Live:

Johannesburg restaurateur Ben Filmater spoke to Hilary Biller while whipping up his party trick, New Orleans gumbo

You recently sold the South African and African rights to Mugg & Bean, a concept you started in 1996. Where did it begin?

Working in food is something I have wanted to do my whole life.

I’ve been in the restaurant business in Johannesburg since 1979 [Filmater owned the restaurants Linger Longer, Scratch Daniels, Fat Franks and Leipoldts] – there were many in the early days. Mugg & Bean is really a product of all those influences and getting to a point where we had a mechanism of franchising. It was based on a Chicago style of restaurant my wife Judi and I liked, that was really the seed. We sat in this coffee shop in 1992 and thought this may fly in South Africa. At the time, we were going broke and things were tough. One forgets that the economies were as bad as they are at the moment.

You must have so many food memories over the years. Are there some that stand out?

I have many good memories. My fondest is a simple meal of grilled veal cutlet with onion sauce, mashed potato and pearl onions I enjoyed at a diner in San Francisco. I think that’s what food is about: the more simple it is the better. I get very impatient with people who overwork food.

Another of my finest meals was in France 15 years ago – slices of fresh ham, fresh asparagus, a piece of bread and a glass of wine. Delicious.

Relinquishing your interests in Mugg and Bean locally, what will you be doing?

I love travelling.

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Larry Sharpe of Neo-Sage states that when two companies are similar, it’s the little things that differentiate them. If your company is similar to your competitors, things such as smiles, warm greetings, or eye contact might just tip the balance in your favor. If each “little thing” is represented by a marble, and you compare the weight of your marbles with your competitions’ marbles, you will find that the difference in those “little things” add up. They tip the scale in one direction or the other.

Here’s an example that contrasts three different situations and their levels of service. Notice how many “marbles” each situation is worth:

Jack eats out for lunch every day. He likes to try new restaurants, and returns often to the restaurants that he likes. This week, Jack has decided to try three new restaurants in his neighborhood.

On Monday, Jack visits the first new restaurant – the food is great, but when the server spills a glass of iced tea on Jack’s lap, he is obviously upset. The server gets Jack a towel and apologizes for the inconvenience, but the server seems to be annoyed by what happened – almost like it was Jack’s fault. After cleaning up the mess, the server doesn’t say anything else to Jack.

On Tuesday, Jack eats lunch at the second new neighborhood restaurant. The food is also excellent.  But when one of the servers accidentally dumps a tray of drinks into his lap, Jack’s lunch experience is ruined. The server apologizes, provides Jack with some towels to clean up the mess, and offers to buy Jack his lunch. The server apologizes again as Jack leaves the restaurant and invites Jack to come back soon.

On Wednesday, Jack eats lunch at the third new restaurant. The food is very good, but not quite as delicious as the other two restaurants. But it’s not Jack’s week.

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Each week, I talk to business owners who dream of having a mature customer base that provides them with lots of repeat business. But when I ask them what they’re doing to make that dream a reality, too often they answer with something like:

“Well, the longer I’m in the industry, the more customers I work with and the more I’ll get repeat business and referrals.” When I hear that, I think to myself, “uh-oh!!!” Why? Because that is a very passive mindset that can cost you millions of dollars over the course of a business!

You see, as the months go by, your past customers just aren’t thinking about you anymore. That’s the cold, hard truth. And no matter how great your service was, your customers are busy living their lives – odds are, they won’t remember you. And they definitely won’t mention your name at the next family picnic when uncle Jack starts talking about the pains your product or service fixes.

Am I saying that good service won’t help you get a referral here and there? Of course not!

What I am saying is that if you want a strong customer base that is the backbone of your business, you must actively, systematically and methodically BUILD YOUR CUSTOMER BASE. To build your customer base, you must start with a Living, Breathing Customer Database.

Your customer database should be much more than the prospect and customer records in your spreadsheets or file cabinet. It should be more than your Outlook files or your contact management program. Your customer database should be all of this and more, combined into one, easy to-use computer program that stores all meaningful information about every contact, every prospect and every customer who can help you build your business.

So, what do I mean when I say you need a “living, breathing customer database?”

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Marketing is defined as a suite of principles and strategies you use in your business to persuade your target market to contact your business. Marketing is beneficial to your business because it:

• Establishes awareness that your business exists
• Promotes branding and name recognition
• Provides general information about your business or your products / services
• When done well, it creates trust and credibility
• Distinguishes your business from the competition
• Communicates new products and services

The key to effective marketing is to send a message that resonates with your target market, attracts them to your business, and compels them to contact you.

To support and inspire your marketing strategy, here are 7 fundamental marketing principles. The absence of any of these principles can undermine the effectiveness of your marketing:

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Your business has evolved, and it will continue to evolve, as long as you let it. It is part of the evolution of who you are and what you are becoming. It is part of the evolution of your skills, knowledge, experience, beliefs, purpose, and dreams.

You have probably already evolved from a participant in someone else’s business to a participant in your business. That’s just the beginning.

Businesses tend to take on a natural progression in their evolutionary cycle of which there are four phases:

Start-up Phase: The Start-up phase is not sustainable as a “business”. It is meant to be temporary and transitional, as the business owner figures out how to run the business. There is often a conflict between spending time doing the work of the business and spending time building the infrastructure of the business so that it can be sustainable. In many cases, the start-up phase is stretched beyond a temporary period and it becomes the default business model, as indicated by a lack of systems, poor organization, lack of vision, and routine chaos. In the Start-up Phase, the business owner’s mindset is that of an individual contributor, such as, “I have to do everything myself.”

Development Phase: During the Development Phase, the business owner is conscious of the need to develop his or her business acumen, but is sometimes overly focused on or distracted by doing the hands-on work of the business. The business relies heavily or entirely on the owner’s skill, knowledge, and experience and the business will not operate without the owner’s direct involvement. The mindset during the Development Phase is that of an individual contributor, but with the awareness that a shift in mindset is needed to be more sustainable.

Maturity Phase: The skillpreneur is focused on execution and strategy.

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The old adage “you can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink” is an extremely pertinent one in the world of Sales & Marketing. For instance, let’s use this adage as the metaphor that it is:

The Horse: Though not the most flattering thing with which to associate a consumer, the horse truly represents the consumer. Like a horse, the consumer is constantly being directed onto different paths; yet ultimately goes to where they are led. Which factors cause a horse to be successfully led to a particular destination? In truth, the answer is quite simple.

Persistence: Imagine if a rider attempted to guide the horse to the right – yet the horse refused to move. The rider would not throw their hands in the air, give up, and make other plans. The rider is persistent in their efforts to move the horse, whether that action entails gently speaking to the horse, whipping the horse, or pulling at the horse’s reins; eventually the horse will move.

Familiarity (Rapport): Riders and horses spend months (if not years) becoming acquainted with each other. The harmony that exists between a horse familiar with its rider (and vice versa) is unmatched. The rider knows exactly how to control their horse, how to maneuver it, and how to recover from falls. Furthermore, the horse trusts its rider. As a result, the horse performs at an optimal level.

Sticks and Carrots (Customer Service): Though the horse trusts its rider, it will not perform at the height of its ability unless there is a reward system in place. When the horse is responsive and agile, the rider rewards it with a treat. As a result, the horse associates good performance with a tasty reward. This positive reinforcement technique inspires the horse to maintain its heightened performance; it wants to be rewarded for its actions.

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Allow me to share a little anecdote about a friend of mine – for this story’s sake, I’ll call him Bill.

Bill works in midtown, and due to his extremely rigorous work schedule, he rarely has time to prepare his lunch prior to coming into work. Bill’s favorite cuisine has always been Asian food – especially Chinese food. Luckily for Bill, there exist seven Chinese food restaurants within a 2-block radius of his office. Bill, or one of his assistants, could very easily walk downstairs and pick up his order; doing so would both save time and money (when you account for delivery charge and a tip).

However, the restaurant from which Bill chooses to order his Chinese food is located nine blocks away from his office. Furthermore, Bill’s office location is at the absolute end of the vicinity to which this particular restaurant is willing to send a delivery person. As a result, Bill must wait longer than he’d like to wait for his food. In addition, because of the distance traveled, he must leave a generous tip for the delivery person. The food is better-than-average Chinese food, but it is certainly no more tasty or creative than the majority of Chinese food available in the city.

So, why does Bill insist on ordering from this particular restaurant?

Bill is extremely allergic to peanuts. On top of that, Bill’s doctor informed him that he must lower his sodium intake. As you may have been able to guess, the explanation process of his dietary needs is both a difficult and lengthy one. However, Bill’s favorite Chinese food restaurant was extremely accommodating when the restaurants closest to his office were not; all of the local restaurants seemed bothered and put-off by Bill’s requests. Yet, a close friend of Bill’s suggested a Chinese food restaurant to him – this restaurant is now the ONLY Chinese food that Bill will order.

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One of the most important principles of being a business owner is to run your business; don’t let it run you. To run your business is to create a vision of what is possible – a vision that’s bigger than doing the day-to-day work associated with your skill or trade. To lead your business is to forge a path based on your strengths and to take inventory of your weaknesses so that you can fill in the gaps.

To run your business is to leverage the opportunities that present themselves and to find the resources that you need. To run your business is to become aware of the limiting beliefs that you hold and replace them with beliefs that empower you, motivate you, and propel you forward. To run your business is to own a business and have a balanced life, not have the business run you.

Letting your business run you means:

• You settle for what is, and ignore what can be.
• You spend your time doing the day-to-day tasks that you are familiar with and comfortable doing.
• You ARE the business – that without your time and energy, the business is nothing.

To determine if you are running your business or if it is running you, keep a daily activities list for one week. Every 15-30 minutes, momentarily stop whatever you are doing and make a note of what you did during that time period.

Keep your notes brief – you don’t need to write a novel and you don’t want to spend more time writing your notes than getting the work done. Do not judge the activities you are writing down, just write them down. You will analyze your activities with your coach when you are done collecting your notes for one week.

After one week of writing down your activities, take a good look at what you have written.

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In 1983, Howard Schultz was inspired to buy the Starbucks Coffee Company, and according to his book Pour Your Heart into It - this occurred because of a cup of watered-down, bland instant coffee that he was served on a flight to Canada. On that flight, he was inspired to bring a European-caliber appreciation for coffee to the United States. Prior to the arrival of Starbucks, many Americans had never heard or, let alone tasted cappuccinos, lattes, and espresso. However, the price to maintain such pristine coffee houses would prove to be very costly – Schultz would never be able to charge $3.00 for a cup of premium coffee while a gas station was charging $.75 for a cup of coffee. Yet, he was convinced that if he could introduce the United States to a “coffee culture”, his new company would become one of the most recognized brands in the world.

Schultz opened up Starbuck’s coffee houses that were furnished to look like a combination of a living room and a reading room. The soft lamps and the plush décor were more than inviting. The menu suggested that one needed to be sophisticated to order coffee from there; he introduced new terms and concepts just for ordering coffee. The baristas (Starbucks employees) educated their customers about coffee in a brand new and passionate light. Rather than purchasing a Styrofoam cup of bland coffee from a gas station, coffee purchases became personal and social experiences.

Schultz’s main goal was to have his employees forge relationships with his customers through education, while creating real personal relationships with them. Soon enough, “Community Activity” boards hung in Starbucks – Community and town meetings were consistently being held in local Starbucks.

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In order to be successful with your marketing and sales efforts, you must be clear and confident in knowing, discussing, and delivering the benefits of your services or product. Many sales people and business owners know their facts and features very well. Unfortunately, those alone will not always lead to a sale. To ensure more sales, you must also be able to communicate the benefit of the product or service.

How many times have you heard the line, “we are a full service…” or “we’ve been in business for 30 years,” or “we’re an award winning company.” All of these items are nice to know; they are great facts and features, but what do they mean to the customer?

• What will they ultimately get from your solution
• What solutions are you providing?

Here are some examples:

Certified Public Accountant

• Feature: “We offer expert tax advice.”
• Benefit: “If the IRS knocks on your door, you can have peace of mind, knowing that your taxes are expertly prepared.”

Massage Therapist

• Feature: “I’m a fully licensed and experienced massage therapist.”
• Benefit: “My massage will release the tension in you muscles so that you no longer feel the pain you are experiencing.”

Business Coach

• Feature: “I have built many businesses.”
• Benefit: “After our business evaluation, we will implement a step-by-step plan that will have you gain more clients in the least amount of time with less effort and confusion. Your business will become sustainable, profitable, and independent.”

Action Step: Think about your own offerings and how your customers ultimately benefit from its use.

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One of the hallmarks of world-class customer service is how your company manages customer service failures. When a customer speaks up with a complaint, it’s time to listen. Think of the complaint as a gift, and you will see it as an opportunity to learn rather than something to avoid or resist.

The few courageous customers who complain are giving you the gift of their feedback and their experience. It doesn’t matter if they are right or wrong. They are being courageous in their willingness to speak up.

Your goal is to turn customers, who experience service failures, into raving fans. You do this by applying the customer service skills, such as listening and asking questions, to the situations where customer service failures occur.

The most important aspect of managing a complaint, regardless of how upset or angry the customer is, is to stay calm. If you get defensive or uptight when a customer approaches you with a complaint, you will probably make the situation worse.

Action Steps – Follow these steps when you receive a complaint:

1. Listen carefully to the complaint.
2. Express empathy.
3. Offer a solution.
4. Ensure the solution is implemented.
5. Follow-up with the customer to make sure he / she is satisfied.
6. Notify the proper people within the company (or your vendor) so that this type of complaint doesn’t happen again. This ensures future, lasting change.

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If you’re like most small business owners, you have a basic understanding of marketing and why you need to do it. However, most small business owners these days are forgetting the basic goal that effective marketing will archive and are reducing their marketing efforts because of an “economic downturn.”

The text book definition of marketing is that it is the suite of principles and strategies you use in your business to persuade your target market to contact your business. Simply stated, your marketing must create desire for your product or service.

Now, of course it takes some work to determine how to create desire for your project or service, but (here’s the key), if you don’t broadcast your marketing message consistently and with an ongoing basis, your marketing will most certainly fail and you will have lost much or all of your efforts. Plus, this key will hold true no matter what the current economic environment. Whether the economy is up or it is down; consistent, ongoing marketing will always win over no or little marketing.

Many business owners become overwhelmed with the thought of marketing.  Keep this in mind … your marketing doesn’t need to be “perfect” or “expensive,” it just needs to be consistent and ongoing. “Good enough” is often “good enough.” And, just remember this; marginal marketing that is consistent and ongoing is always better than perfect marketing that never makes it out the door.

Action Steps – Follow these steps and you will certainly see results:

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Dun & Bradstreet reports that “businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years (of business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.” The Lessons in this module, The Six P’s of Success, are dedicated to helping you thrive, not just survive in your business.

By enhancing and leveraging your abilities related to passion, patience, persistence, positive attitude, planning, and practice, you establish a strong foundation upon which your business can rest. In fact, the Six P’s are like the pillars that support you and your business. Engage yourself fully in the Lessons of this module and strengthen the pillars that will keep you in business for a long time.

If you will think of success as a journey, rather than a specific outcome, you will enjoy the process of building a successful business.

Here are the P’s:

Passion: When you follow your passion, you are so much more motivated to do things well and to spend the time required to execute your plan. Passion makes you spring out of the bed each morning, happy to start your new day doing what you love.

Patience: When it comes to business, patience is an important attribute for achieving goals, acquiring clients, developing a business strategy, working through challenges, accruing capital, and other long-term tasks. These things take time.

Persistence: There are very few ventures that succeed on the first try. A famous actor once said, “it only took me 10 years to become an overnight success.” Without persistence, no one would ever succeed.

Positive Attitude: Thomas Edision once said while trying to invent the electric light bulb, “I have gotten a lot of results.

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When it comes to face-to-face networking, you should focus on two varieties:

1. Attending meetings or events where you will likely find your target market.
2. Attending meetings or events where you will likely build your Bridges of Influence.

There is a good chance that you already know who your target market is and that you are already attending networking events to find that target market (if not, check out my marketing resources at SkillPreneur.com). Though, many business owners who I work with fail to pay attention to events where they will find people who can be their Bridges of Influence.

Your Bridges of Influence are different than your target market. These are the people who won’t be buying your products and services, but they know the people who will. For example, if you are an interior designer, your Bridges of Influence could include realtors, home builders, and contractors. These are the groups of people who have direct contact with the home owners who can benefit from your service.

Your Bridges of Influence are the people who can create a connection between you and your target market by endorsing your credibility. They provide an introduction between you and your prospects, and help you initiate a relationship that builds trust quickly.

To foster relationships with your Bridges of Influence, start by locating them. Figure out where they congregate, the meetings and events they attend, and attend those meetings (or be a speaker at those meetings).

Take Action

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What level of support should I expect from my Public Relations Agency?
The simple answer is as much support as you’ll allow them to give.  They can be a powerful and economic extension of your management team or you can treat them simply as vendors … the choice is yours.

There are some basic levels of support you should expect from your PR counsel, regardless of your situation or goal.

First of all, you should expect objective counsel and recommendations, not “yes” persons.  When you’re wrong, they should strongly disagree with you.  When you’re right, they should agree just as strongly.  Usually though there is a middle ground of agreement and when that is reached the agency should be solidly behind the decision.

The agency should be thoroughly familiar with your organization, your direction, your products, your competition, your channels of distribution and even your customers.  That means that you have to make the effort to make this information available.  They should be constantly on the prowl to gather that information as well as an external extension of the company so they can best present your view and products.  The best ways to gain this knowledge and expertise is by pulling booth duty at trade shows working with attendees; visiting company partners, resellers and users around the country; and constantly reading the pertinent trade and consumer media.

Next, you should have counsel that is continually prodding you into action, not vice versa.  Nothing is worse than continually having to go to the agency to ask whether or not you should be doing something in this or that area.  Your public relations counsel should be continually searching for print, on-line and speaking opportunities for you to promote your company / product image and industry position.

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