Did you know that Groundhog Day has been around since 1841?
Well, it is true!
Punxsutawney Phil has been coming out of his burrow, once a year, for 173 years!...AND he still looks the same! He never changes!
Is your business changing? Are you adapting to changing times?... or does it look the same as it did ten, five, or even two years ago?
Top Three Ways to Continuously Improve Your Business:
1. Network! - not just once a year...EVERY week, get out of your burrow!
2. Sunny day and business is booming? That shadow you see is your competition. "Keep your friends close, and your competition closer."
3. Avoid the "Bill Murray Effect"... live by "Giver's Gain"...the good you do will come back to you and to your business.
Happy Belated Groundhog Day!
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Five Fundamental Business Paradigms
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Leaders are always on stage. Their attitudes are contagious. Their attitudes have the power to create an epidemic of negativity or success.
Leaders pull their teams “up the hill”, face them, and do not turn their backs. Old school managers push employees.
Leaders develop others. Leaders understand when people need to be led and when to let people take the lead.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Drop the word Change (negative connotation) and replace with Continuous Improvement.
Need a consistent and credible W.I.I.F.M. (What's In It For Me)
Listen to concerns, be empathetic….but stay the course.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
The organization’s customer service must add value to the customers’ lives. Your customers must feel good about their relationship with your organization.
The organization’s customer service must add value to the employees’ lives. Your employees must feel good about their relationship with your customers.
Customer Service is not work. It is an integral part of everyone’s job, practiced by all team members, and modeled by leaders at all times.
INITIATIVE ROLLOUTS
Grass roots development (pilot), plant the seed with the front line employees and with guidance have them grow the ideas, creates ownership….then recognize the individuals or teams.
A top-level commitment to invest in “true” training.
(5-step process; Intro, show, try, feedback, follow up)
Sustain the process by instilling a continuous improvement mentality and start building a bridge for that improvement to avoid “flavor of the month” ‘isms.
BUSINESS TURNAROUND
First, revisit the above 4 foundation skills to determine the current state of the organization.
- Business turnaround often calls for leadership changes, improved change management skills, ratcheted up customer service, and the introduction of new initiatives.
- The organization must identify a vision and constantly focus on its achievement. Invite ideas and actions from everyone.
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Thursday, January 16, 2014
Think Small, Stay Small
A collection of "Really?!" one-liners, business owners or potential business owners have shared with me in my free consultation sessions. Many became clients and I have helped them. The rest? Oh well, I hope they found help somewhere.
Here we go...
"Do I really need a logo and branding, I thought only big businesses had that."
"Well, I want to make more money but I don't trust people."
"Do I have a vision and mission statement for my business? Not at all, do I need one?"
"I really don't plan too much or even have a strategic plan...I kinda just see how things happen."
"I want to open a restaurant because I love to cook, I'm a hard worker, and I have the support of my family...isn't that enough?"
"No, I have never worked in retail, but this new franchise opportunity this guy was talking about sounds great!"
" ...not sure if my business is up or down from last year, but I do know my bills are getting paid."
"What's a target market?"
"My point of difference? I offer great service."
"There is enough free help out there...I don't need to pay for it."
"What measurements do I have in place?...they are all right here (as he pointed to his head)."
" What is horizontal growth?"
"I have more clients then I can handle...I don't need any help."
I have so many more I can share, but you get the point. Now I admit, when I started my own business five years ago I said some of the same things, that is why I hired a coach...enough said.
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Here we go...
"Do I really need a logo and branding, I thought only big businesses had that."
"Well, I want to make more money but I don't trust people."
"Do I have a vision and mission statement for my business? Not at all, do I need one?"
"I really don't plan too much or even have a strategic plan...I kinda just see how things happen."
"I want to open a restaurant because I love to cook, I'm a hard worker, and I have the support of my family...isn't that enough?"
"No, I have never worked in retail, but this new franchise opportunity this guy was talking about sounds great!"
" ...not sure if my business is up or down from last year, but I do know my bills are getting paid."
"What's a target market?"
"My point of difference? I offer great service."
"There is enough free help out there...I don't need to pay for it."
"What measurements do I have in place?...they are all right here (as he pointed to his head)."
" What is horizontal growth?"
"I have more clients then I can handle...I don't need any help."
I have so many more I can share, but you get the point. Now I admit, when I started my own business five years ago I said some of the same things, that is why I hired a coach...enough said.
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Friday, January 3, 2014
Three "Gives" for 2014
Give people confidence,
by reminding acquaintances of your name.
-Did you ever forget someone's name that you should have remembered?
Think about how you felt during the conversation.
Give people hope,
by answering your phone,
“… how can I help you?”
- Opened ended questions are always more inviting and productive.
Give people peace of mind,
by confirming receipt of their email or text.
-Did you ever send a very important email or text and wonder if he or she ever received it?
Simple, yet very impactful and rewarding. Start "giving" today!
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Monday, December 23, 2013
New Year, New Opportunities.
From my 1980's archives-
“…NEW YEAR, NEW OPPORTUNITIES…
FROM HOUR ONE OF DAY ONE, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CAREER, WILL BE BENCHMARKED BY YOUR ACTIONS PUT FORTH AT THIS
TIME…BE ASSERTIVE, BE POSITIVE, BE A WINNER.”
q Daily /
weekly planner…get yourself organized (calendars, charts, files).
q Business
plan; plan your work and work your plan.
q Things you have let go…
Procrastination ends now!
q Personal
growth and health. If you are not having fun….that’s your fault.
q Know where
you ended the year; sales/gross/budget and move forward, set goals.
q Training;
in your absence does someone know what to do? Are you being aggressive about
getting yourself trained…success does not
come to you, you must go get it!
q Team
communication/meetings, share the knowledge, and create a sense of
ownership. Meet one on one with
employees, what are their future plans?
q Customers
/Clients, get out of your shell and talk to them, if this is new to you, call
one a day.
q Recognition… “Reward
want you want repeated”.
q You set the
standard; You are on a stage. “Attitudes
are Contagious”.
q Be a LEADER, not just a manager. “Call it a
problem & it will BE one, Call it an opportunity, and you will HAVE one.”
q “The
customer may not always be right , but they are still the customer” Ray B.
q Think like
a customer: present a professional image, smile and eye contact, seek
out customer contact, solve customer problems, use proper body language, thank
every customer.
q “…you’re
only as good as your last solution.” “we learn from yesterdays we live for
tomorrows”.
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Friday, December 13, 2013
A Christmas Eve Story
***Reposting from 2010***
It was 5:00 pm Christmas Eve 1989, and I was locking the front door of the supermarket where I was Store Manager.
Over the years, I had made it a tradition for me to be the "closer" of the store on Christmas Eve.
Inside the store, my employees were rushing around counting their register tills, sweeping the floor, and generally preparing the store for closing down, so they all could rush home to their families for Christmas.
At approximately 5:30pm, I heard someone tapping on the front door.
“I just got off work and I need to shop for my family", the gentleman on the other side of the glass door shouted.
“Sorry, we are closed.” I answered.
“Please, I really need to shop and you are the only grocery store open.”
In the background several of my employees yelled out to me… “Mr. Gambone, I hope you don’t let him in, we all want to go home.”
I turned to my office manager and said , “Cindy, I feel bad for this guy…will you stick around with me until we get him checked out.”
She looked at me with a frown, “Well, I hope he only needs a few things, OK.”
We let him in…he was very gracious, grabbed a buggy and started to shop.
“I’ll only take a few minutes,” he said.
Then all of a sudden, he turned around and looked at Cindy and me in desperation… “Shit!..I’m sorry for swearing, but I left my wallet in my overalls at work….I can’t believe this!!!”
He abandoned the buggy and started walking towards the front door to leave.
Cindy looked at me and said… “Well, I guess we can leave now.”
“Hold on!” I said… “Sir, you pick up what you need and come back the day after Christmas and pay us.”
Cindy looked at me as if I was crazy. The gentleman was overjoyed and continued to shop.
When he completed his shopping, Cindy and I checked him out and bagged his groceries. He purchased lots of milk, cereal, bread and basic groceries along with some gift-wrap and children’s toys.
We wished him a Merry Christmas as he left and Cindy and I locked up and went home to our families.
...............the gentleman never returned...................
Yes, I took some heat from my boss when he found out…but that’s okay. I knew in my heart that it was right thing to do at the time.
It is moments like this is my life when I am reminded of the words a mentor of mine once shared with me early in my career...“The good you do, will come back to you.” Lou Z.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may you and your family have a glorious New Year.
Bob Gambone, The Pecan Pie Guy!
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It was 5:00 pm Christmas Eve 1989, and I was locking the front door of the supermarket where I was Store Manager.
Over the years, I had made it a tradition for me to be the "closer" of the store on Christmas Eve.
Inside the store, my employees were rushing around counting their register tills, sweeping the floor, and generally preparing the store for closing down, so they all could rush home to their families for Christmas.
At approximately 5:30pm, I heard someone tapping on the front door.
“I just got off work and I need to shop for my family", the gentleman on the other side of the glass door shouted.
“Sorry, we are closed.” I answered.
“Please, I really need to shop and you are the only grocery store open.”
In the background several of my employees yelled out to me… “Mr. Gambone, I hope you don’t let him in, we all want to go home.”
I turned to my office manager and said , “Cindy, I feel bad for this guy…will you stick around with me until we get him checked out.”
She looked at me with a frown, “Well, I hope he only needs a few things, OK.”
We let him in…he was very gracious, grabbed a buggy and started to shop.
“I’ll only take a few minutes,” he said.
Then all of a sudden, he turned around and looked at Cindy and me in desperation… “Shit!..I’m sorry for swearing, but I left my wallet in my overalls at work….I can’t believe this!!!”
He abandoned the buggy and started walking towards the front door to leave.
Cindy looked at me and said… “Well, I guess we can leave now.”
“Hold on!” I said… “Sir, you pick up what you need and come back the day after Christmas and pay us.”
Cindy looked at me as if I was crazy. The gentleman was overjoyed and continued to shop.
When he completed his shopping, Cindy and I checked him out and bagged his groceries. He purchased lots of milk, cereal, bread and basic groceries along with some gift-wrap and children’s toys.
We wished him a Merry Christmas as he left and Cindy and I locked up and went home to our families.
...............the gentleman never returned...................
Yes, I took some heat from my boss when he found out…but that’s okay. I knew in my heart that it was right thing to do at the time.
It is moments like this is my life when I am reminded of the words a mentor of mine once shared with me early in my career...“The good you do, will come back to you.” Lou Z.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may you and your family have a glorious New Year.
Bob Gambone, The Pecan Pie Guy!
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Sunday, December 8, 2013
Lou, The Nabisco Guy
...A Holiday Memory...
Lou, The Nabisco Guy, never used selling strategies …Lou had a culture of “selling.”
I was 23 years old when I first met Lou. He was the region’s number one salesman for Nabisco from 1974 to 1985.
One day I was eating lunch with Lou and asked,
“Lou, so what do you do, to be so good at selling?....can you share some tips?”
Lou replied, shaking his head and smiling, “Bob there is really no magical tips, but I do have five core beliefs about selling.”
1.) Love and believe in your product.
2.) People like to buy, but not to be sold to.
3.) I never sell anything, I solve people’s problems.
4.) Never talk yourself out of a sale.
5.) and….Never close a sale, open an opportunity.
Lou died in 1985 from a heart attack at the early age of 63.
Lou’s culture of selling has lived on. Those who adopt it become very successful.
To be the best, you need to have more than just strategies, you first need a culture, a core belief.
Dr.Ivan Misner, New York Times best selling author and founder of BNI (Business Network International) says it best, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Around the holidays, when I enjoy my favorite Nabisco crackers, I always think of Lou…
Lou, The Nabisco Guy.
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Lou, The Nabisco Guy, never used selling strategies …Lou had a culture of “selling.”
I was 23 years old when I first met Lou. He was the region’s number one salesman for Nabisco from 1974 to 1985.
One day I was eating lunch with Lou and asked,
“Lou, so what do you do, to be so good at selling?....can you share some tips?”
Lou replied, shaking his head and smiling, “Bob there is really no magical tips, but I do have five core beliefs about selling.”
1.) Love and believe in your product.
2.) People like to buy, but not to be sold to.
3.) I never sell anything, I solve people’s problems.
4.) Never talk yourself out of a sale.
5.) and….Never close a sale, open an opportunity.
Lou died in 1985 from a heart attack at the early age of 63.
Lou’s culture of selling has lived on. Those who adopt it become very successful.
To be the best, you need to have more than just strategies, you first need a culture, a core belief.
Dr.Ivan Misner, New York Times best selling author and founder of BNI (Business Network International) says it best, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Around the holidays, when I enjoy my favorite Nabisco crackers, I always think of Lou…
Lou, The Nabisco Guy.
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