Give Your SELF A Chance!

     Well, unless you’re a major bank or automaker, you’re probably not going to see much of any meaningful stimulus plan benefits coming your way anytime soon. So, here’s how to make your own: “Your Own Personal Stimulus Plan” requires three things.

     All three are FREE (How about that? Not a bad start, huh?).

     Okay, the first of these, which you will need in order to make the most of the other two, is best summed up by staying on this same site, different page, and clicking here: http://halalpiar.com/?page_id=35 (sorry I haven’t yet mastered the little techie trick of consolidating this link into one word).

     Anyway, you need only to spend 60 seconds on this link page to get it. And–on top of everything else–I guarantee that if you treat the exercise seriously and do it faithfully just 1-3 times a day (for a minute each, even while doing something else!)–in just one week!–you will feel and be happier, healthier, more productive, and have a stronger sense of self-control. You will be more personally stimulated and better equipped to rally your own economy! 

What have you got to lose besides stress and upset feelings? I know. Right! And FREE! What more could you ask for? How can I be so sure? Because it’s worked for 20,000 out of 20,000 people I’ve taught it to who have treated it seriously and who have done it faithfully.

     Let go of doubt, skepticism, dubiousness (now there’s a word!) and just allow yourself to be receptive for 60 seconds. 6 0  S E C O N D S !!! Your age and level of health have no bearing on effectiveness here. Give your SELF a chance to be and feel better every day.

     Okay, now comes the second and third things (you thought I forgot?). These may be even easier now that you’ve mastered the first. Here’s the “Personal Stimulus Plan” deal:

     Go find yourself some person who is younger than 7 years-old and spend an hour with her or him…listening, singing, dancing, playing, whatever floats this youngster’s boat. Get down on the floor (or at least eye level) and enjoy the company. Be sure to listen 80% of the time! Learn something from this child, and learn something about youself in the process.     

     Next (and this need not be the same day, but as soon as possible afterward): Go find yourself some person who is older than 80 years-old and spend an hour with him or her…listening, singing, dancing, playing, whatever floats this oldster’s boat. Ask questions. Listen. Get into her or his “head space” and enjoy what you experience as you learn something new and as you learn something new about you.

Take the new stimulated you to work and watch what happens. It’s not, btw, a bad idea to give this little plan legs every quarter, every month, even every week.

OPEN MINDS OPEN DOORS! Happy Entrepreneuring!

Good Night and God Bless You!  halalpiar     

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“Is what I am doing right now

helping me get

where I want to go?”

     This is a very Gestalt question in some ways because it prompts a focus on the here-and-now, present, what’s-happening moment that’s right smack in front of your face (…which mentally and emotionally, is the healthiest place your mind can be!).

     In other ways, though, it may seem too futuristic a focus for Gestalt purists because it could be construed to be entertaining or spotlighting the destination or finish line instead of the here-and-now journey. 

     But no matter how you philosophize it, the bottom line is that the question works!

     In fact, the more often you consider this question, the greater its impact. Of course, you are the only one who can answer it. And it should probably go without saying that it can only be as effective as you are honest with yourself. But what will prompt you to ask yourself in the first place?

     If it’s not beneath you, or too contrived, or too childish, there really and truly is no better way than to plaster your life with it. Print it out in different sizes and colors with different fonts. [If you’re the artistic type, try different shapes and illustrations to go with the words–a clock, a goalpost, a stack of money, a portrayal of you as the boss, or physically fit, or in perfect health, or whatever result you seek.]

     Next, tape the different versions to your bathroom mirror, your closet shelf, the inside of your refrigerator, your dashboard or sunvisor. Put a small version on your watchband or watchface frame, your rearview mirror, inside your wallet or pocketbook, inside your briefcase, on your TV screen frame and remote control, on your computer monitor, as a screen-saver . . . anyplace you will see it during the day . . . and leave these question prompts up for three weeks.

     Take them down in 21 days, when you will hopefully no longer need them (at least if and until you find yourself drifting back into wasteful behavior patterns: dwelling too much on the past, for example, which is over and you can do nothing about anyway, or worrying too much about the future which hasn’t come yet, and may never anyway!).

     This brings us back to the journey. It is more fun and healthier all-around to be tuned in to where you are instead of where you expect to end, but that doesn’t mean you should gloss over your goals. Always keep them (your goals) on the horizon you aim for, but pay closest attention to each step you take–as you take it–instead of tripping over your own feet while you become preoccupied fixing your gaze on the distant target.

     My question: Is whatever you are doing right now helping you get where you want to go? Your answer?

Good Night and God Bless You!  halalpiar     

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“We’d punch in, then get lost!”

     I not so long ago interviewed two young men who were employed by a major hospital as administrative assistants, assigned to departments that were noted for transcience and frequent physical relocations. Both had been collecting paychecks and full benefits for more than a year. Neither ever did any work, and no one (including their assigned supervisors) knew who they were.

     They would punch in on the timeclock every day and then “get lost,” as they put it, in the corporate healthcare mechanism. They admitted to frequenting the hospital lunchroom; the neighborhood coffeeshop; and the hospital grounds, parking lot, and roof! Sometimes, they even went fishing!

     At day’s end, they would punch out and go home. My report to hospital executives was met not by astonishment as you might expect, but by ambivalance. “Oh, well. that’s to be expected in an organization this big and diverse,” said one of the financial VP’s.

     Well, you can certainly read all kinds of things into that little scenerio, but my first thought–once I got past the shock–was one of gratefulness at not having a business that was so chaotic and out of touch with reality.

     But then as I began peeking through other corporate keyholes, so to speak, I discovered an avalanche of disrespect and undermining “take-whatever-I-can-get” attitudes, from Fortune 500 boardrooms, to monster sales organizations.

     Oh, I’ve often thought, if only every entrepreneur could have seen and experienced the outright theft of time (and supplies) that happens every day in nearly every large company. If only entrepreneuriual types could have a realistic perspective of:

A) What they’re up against in competing with “the big boys,” they’d be a lot less intimidated and far less concerned with the idea of losing customers and prospects to such bumbling, self-absorbed organizations, and 

B) What they might expect to have to deal with as their businesses grow, so they could act now to prevent the kinds of lethargic and outright law-breaking attitudes that many large businesses breed.

     There are many things we as small business owners/operators and managers can learn by watching our big business brothers and sisters. One of these is to focus on companies known for productive motivation.

     You can expect to see heavy emphasis on management making small frequent rewards for good behavior–and even failures when they are achieved through earnest, good faith efforts. Such recognition policies keep good people, and keep good people on task!

     Keeping the best employees takes time, attention and effort. It takes the ability to maintain a sense of balance and good humor in each encounter each day with each employee.

     It takes an awareness–like it or not–that others see management (especially owners) as parents. They watch every move, listen to every word, and strive to please with words and deeds. What a great opportunity that just knowing this, presents as a pathway to enhance your (and their) prospects for business success.

     “Your People Are Your Most Important Asset!”

Good Night and God Bless You!  halalpiar     

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Who Woulda Thunk It?

I’ve been running across so many situations lately I could only categorize as unlikely business bets that I’m wondering about this economy spawning an epidemic of them, and whether I might indeed indulge the sensibilities of visitors to this blog with periodic excursions into business unliklihood. What say you?

     First, though seemingly unlikely on the surface, is the speculative category of business that I’ll simply label as a “SHORE BET” because it goes like this: You can be sure (shore?) that all the weeping and gnashing of business owner, manager and entrepreneur teeth (alotta gnashing, right!) is taking place inland. Inland? What’s that supposed to mean?

     Businesses located on coastlines— oceans, bays, lakes, rivers –are more insulated from economic downturns I am told repeatedly by coastal business owners. What? Are you sober? You have research? No. I have instincts and experience. I have ears that listen to business owners and operators who have weathered some tough financial storms.

     An increasing number of (perhaps wishful, but) confident-sounding people are of the conviction that businesses that depend on waterfront industries and (especially) tourism, are actually gathering strength in anticipation of the further collapse of inland business cousins.

     They say that when people have fewer dollars to part with for vacations, they don’t cancel vacations, they travel closer to home, and they look for self-sufficient environments where thay can pay all-inclusive fees that include meals and other amenities. They look for areas that provide inexpensive assorted entertainment and amusement choices and full range food and beverage options.

     Naturally, I think about where I live in coastal Delaware, and the magnificent seashore here that is beginning to host more and more vacationers (and year-long weekenders) from NY, NJ, PA, VA, MD, and NC than ever before. It’s almost like our coastline has been quietly waiting to be discovered by nearby state travelers who are finding vacation rewards so abundant that they wonder why they ever headed for all those crowded Florida destinations to start with.

NEXT, is baseball mud!

     As long as we have baseball, we’ll have baseball mud…highly specialized “Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud” that has been helping professional baseball pitchers get a better grip on the ball…that comes from a special secret location in a hidden New Jersey swamp!

     Now, talk about an unlikely business bet! Imagine Mr. Blackburne coming to you for startup capital in 1938.

     “Well, I got me this magic mud that professional baseball leagues will be buying from me for over 70 years. They’re going to age it for a month and a half. We’re going to sell them three-pound vats, two for each team in the majors, and that’ll hold them a full season…”

     “Yeah, right, mud, uhuh, sure, okay, well I’m not sure that’s such a good investment, Mr. B…”

     The amazing part is it’s true! And the company is highly successful. [Who woulda thunk it?]

Good Night and God Bless You!  halalpiar     

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Twitter Is What It Is. Period.

     Hardly a day passes anymore when I don’t hear some business or professional practice owner or operator or manager, or an entrepreneur talk nervously about “not getting the Twitter thing.”

     Usually, the fearful comments end with some justification for not dipping a toe in the water by cavalierly tossing off a laundry list of non-business-related “Tweets” that they saw or heard about. Twitter won’t have any value to you if you start out seeking for it to BE something.

     Twitter is what it is. While there appear to be some basic Twitter Etiquette guidelines, they seem to me to only be for the benefit of those who want them. And many Twitter users simply don’t care what those folks want. Other than for legal purposes, and in abiding with contractual agreements, there is no right or wrong Twitter use. The medium is free to flow as those who use it choose for it to flow for themselves.

     So, unlike any other media, Twitter has a mind all its own and those who work and play with it find it far exceeds what most people would probably define as a “social” vehicle. It is both one-way and two-way (and actually a multiple-way) form of communication.

     Many believe the whole purpose of Twitter is to acquire and constantly add as many “followers” as humanly possible so that every statement they make will be seen by 88 skillion people that they’ve attracted. Many others could care less about massive followings and are looking instead for people with similar interests. And so it goes on and on, varying according to human nature and whimsy.

     Twitter participants can be categorized (some steady and ongoing, and others changing with the wind) as sometimes or all the time or alternatingly or multiplicitingly fitting what we might characterize, in no particular order, as:

Parent~~Adult~~Child~~Crusader~~Politico~~Professor~~

Preacher~~Motivator~~Problem-Maker~~Problem-Presenter

~~Problem-Solver~~Popularity Contestant~~ Control Freak

~~Bitch~~Networker~~Tree-Hugger~~Active Adventurer~~

Business Promoter~~Teeny Bopper~~Flake~~Peacenik-Hippie (yeah, still a few of these around)

~~Animal Lover~~Mystic~~Goofball~~Irate Egotist~~Joker

~~Gay Pride Activist~~Black Rights Activist~~Womens

Rights Activist~~News Reporter~~Rhymer~~Dear Abby

~~Counselor~~Advisor~~Consultant~~Game Player~~

Headline Writer~~Cartoonist~~Recruiter~~ Solicitor~~

Salesperson~~Shrink~~Sports Fanatic~~Political Fanatic

~~Religious Fanatic~~ADD YOUR OWN 80 OR 90 MORE

TO THIS LIST!

     The point is that if you have a business or professional practice and the above cluster of characters have scared you away from making good solid business use of this social media phenomenon, you are not thinking like a true entrepreneur.

     You need to try it before deciding it’s not for you. Isn’t that what you would do with anything else? Don’t choose to feel intimidated by Twitter just because you don’t get it. It’s really quite simple. And, in fact, as I noted many months ago, it forces you to strengthen two major communication tools: Conciseness and Persuasion, plus it requires high level focus on the “here-and-now” present moment, which is also a critically strong business building block.

     There is no rule about having to get addicted to Twitter, though many apparently are (and even brag about it)! You can plug and promote business and professional practice ideas, products and services in a way that gets response– in just 10-15 minutes a day! (Yes, I’ll tell you how for free if you call me: 302.933.0116)

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  Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

  Open Minds Open Doors 

   Thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

  Make today a GREAT day for someone!

READY . . . SET . . .

Security? Check. Employee I.D. badges? Check. Food and beverage service areas? Check. Trash pails? Check. Entertainment and sound system set-ups? Check. Parking? Check. Clean up? Check. Handouts? Check. Prizes for drawings? Check. News conference agenda? Check…

     Tonight’s grand opening of a new (years-in-the-making) BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealerships state-of-the-art-one-of-a-kind building sets the stage for an entire regional business community journey into economic recovery.

     But nothing about coordinating two diverse and highly competitive luxury car-makers interests under one single roof has been easy or accidental. Tonight’s event promises to host over 700 people. Many of the RSVP’s came from BMW and Mercedes-Benz owners who want to see the new sales and service center firsthand because it is such an exceptional facility.

     The owner/customers will get a better understanding of the fiber optics communication systems that allow this unique building to be in instantaneous purchase, service, and repair communication with car-maker headquarters in Germany.

     They’ll see the green process that recycles used car oil into heating the huge service-bay area. Building tours will also highlight owner observation windows and closed circuit TV system that allow owners to monitor technician work on their vehicles, among many other features.   

So what are you getting from this special event announcement? 

1) Businesses that plan ahead for better customer service capabilities AS they continue to manage day-to-day activities, eventually come to the day of reckoning, and economic conditions need not have and negative or delaying impact on that day, or days that follow

2) Regarding the invitations, keep focused on the truism that the best source of business is existing and past business, and continue to knock yourself out to please your past and present customers above all other marketing targets

3) If you think this kind of razzmatazz is only worthy of pursuit by abandoning other functions like customer service, think again. Cherishing and nurturing long-term customer and community relationships all the while is what makes it all work. 

4) When you have something new and exciting to bring to market, turn your tendancy to brag into a commitment to share and show appreciation to the community that supports your business. What goes around comes around.  

BOTTOM LINE? Don’t let exaggerated media reports get you so focused on business survival tactics that you start to overlook the need for planning. Planning needs to stay in the mix. It will give birth down the road to those big “15 minutes of fame” type moments when your business can step into the spotlight and get the boost it deserves. If you’ve dropped this ball because of economic woes, pick it back up and run with it . . . before your competitor recovers the fumble!  

God Bless You and Good Night!  halalpiar     

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Happy St. Patrick‘s Day!

What happens for you on this day every year? Do you get up and put on green clothes? Pig out on corned beef and cabbage? (This “traditional” meal is an Americanism, by the way. Like pizza not coming from Italy, the Irish eat spareribs and sauerkraut on St. Patrick’s Day!)

     Maybe you eat green bagels (ah, many of these in New York, but positively not an Irish thing!) Can you even find a florist with any green carnations left? Do you get smashed on green beer and end up with a hangover on March 18th?

Or is today just a day like any other?

     Y’know what? I think that if you think this day is just like any other, you have a problem needs fixin’ because what you’re really saying is that everyday is just like every other one, that nothing much changes and that nothing much is special, except maybe Fridays at 5pm and your birthday, right?

     Well, hopefully this isn’t you we’re talking about, but maybe you know someone who fits that description? And if you do, maybe wish her or him Happy Birthday more often!

     The secret of a prosperous business is to practice the secret of a prosperous life. The trouble is that practically no people get this until they achieve AARP status. The secret, after all, of a prosperous life only comes with the hindsight and wisdom of age and the kinds of genuine appreciation and gratefulness that only come from deep, deep inside.

     To me, it’s a lot like learning the positive and productive life changes that come from discovering the simplicity, value, consciousness and energy flow that come from deep breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click this link for a free, 60-second, 4-step “how to” that can change your life. No sales pitch. No gimmicks. Just a valuable “how to” that you’re likely to wish you’d learned long ago!       

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     What can we do to come to realizations like this sooner in life? Maybe nothing. Maybe we just need to be grateful to have finally grabbed the brass ring (whoops! showing my merry-go-round age again!). and we should just take it and run!

     Well, breathing and running can get us nowhere if we’re living on a treadmill and afraid to step off. Breathing and running won’t take us where we want to go if we don’t believe in ourselves. and believe that we have the ability to get there, wherever “there” is for each of us.      

The point is that EVERY day –St. Patrick’s Day and the day after St. Patrick’s Day included— is a new opportunity to be the best that we can be, to do the best that we can do!

It’s a new opportunity to move another step closer to the “there” that we want to get to, the “difference” we want to make.

     Making your life happen the way that you want it to happen is 100% in your mind. It is your CHOICE! When you find your brain falling out and weakening and upset feelings coming in, STOP! Take a deep breath, focus your mind on where you are and what you want and start going there.

     Dump the upset baggage and go forward. Make today and tomorrow and the next day, and the next, EACH the special day that you deserve to have. Choose it! Use it! STOP with the excuses! Do it!

God Bless You and

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

EVERY DAY! 

 # # #

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

It’s really okay to provide

customers with service!

      A town, the town I live in, that I transplanted to from a lifetime of neurotic urban sprawl, is–will wonders never cease– a town where total strangers smile and wave to you as you drive by at 25mph. People actually talk with you in stores, on line at the bank or post office (there are no elevators in this town, but if there were, I’m sure no one would be staring vacantly at the floor numbers).

     Other towns I’ve been in (try the lower half of New York, and virtually anyplace in New Jersey, for example), when you stop your car for a railroad crossing train to go through, the first move is to close your windows and lock your doors; the second is to watch nervously in your side and rearview mirrors. You know, for the boogyman!

     In my town, passing trains actually prompt people to get out of their cars and walk around and say “Howdy! How you likin’ this weather?” or if your plates are from out-of-state, “Just passing through, are you? Need any help gettin’ where you’re goin’?” or if there’re kids in your car, “There’s a great hot dog place up ahead, near the ocean; kids all like goin’ there.”

     Here is a town where people hold doors open for other people behind them, even if they’re 10-15 feet back! In this town, when you dial a wrong number, the person answering is likely to say, well it’s nice talkin’ with you anyway, and you have a nice day now, y’hear?”

     Neighbors make time to stop and chat, but respect your schedule if you look like you’re in a rush. And none of this matters, by the way, whether you’re old, young, black, white, or purple with yellow polka-dots. By the way, we’re not totally in the sticks; we do have three traffic lights, and we are only half an hour from one of the biggest tourist cities in the U.S.

     The two square-block downtown is a hodgepodge of dilapidated remnant buildings, left over from zero variance days, so it’s not the manicured, symmetrical, organized, architectured, yuppy storefront suburb town with coordinated brick and mortar and smoked glass windows that mark increasing numbers of American towns. But you know what? It doesn’t matter because no one who lives here cares. And there’s only one “For Rent” sign.

     Folks still shop at Joe’s Hardware, creaking their way down wood-floored aisles hunting for a 19-cent cotter pin, and the local “dollar store” for bargains. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we all love the new BJ’s discount shopping club because prices are better and our friends all work there, but there are no chain restaurants unless you count a couple of fastfood stops on the outskirts.

     People here work hard, many on some kind of farm or in some farm or (being 15-20 minutes from the ocean) tourist-related business. And the bottom line is that businesses here are not suffering as much as most other places around the country.

     Why? A few hundred reasons. Here are two: 

1) People at work charge forward with their heads down and their eyes and minds focused on what’s in front of them doing the best they can “here and now” and doing what needs to be done, instead of dwelling on past upsets and injustices or worrying about working 30 seconds past 5pm, or tomorrow’s chores. And when they’re not at work, they’re busy being kind to one another.

2) People support one another in business and in life, even those they compete with in the marketplace. They share news, weather reports, births, deaths, celebrations and meals together. Businesses support the community and the community supports the businesses. Now, there’s a notion!

Need I say more? What could your business and your customer service efforts learn from this lifestyle, and this town? Give it a couple of minutes thought. You might surprise yourself!     God Bless You and Good Night!    halalpiar     

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Aloha Hal!

What better way can I say thank you for such an earnest and thoughtful response to my 3/11/09 blog post criticizing the U.S. Postal Service, than to reproduce the complete (as received, with no editing) comment… and extend my heartfelt appreciation to Postmaster Tom McCarthy? THANK YOU, TOM!

(Special thanks too to my good friend Judy Vorfeld for facilitating this exchange.)

Oh, if only our government could practice this kind of give and take which helps achieve both improved productivity and improved customer relations!    

Well, It’s good to see we have customers who care enough about the Postal Service to offer their ideas on how we can become better. [RESPONSE AND REFERENCE IS TO 3/11/09 BLOG POST BELOW, OR IN MAR ’09 ARCHIVES ON THIS SITE]

Here’s my spin—point by point.

1. Wasting time and money on surveys? Totally agree. We spend an enormous amount of money on surveys. However, the real problem is that we do not act on customers’ comments, or for that matter, lack of comments. For example: We have a Voice of the Employee survey that goes to each of our 650,000 employees every year. Although employees are paid on the clock to take the survey, I believe our response rate has never gone over 72%. Non-response says a lot.
2. Because most district managers have little-to-no background in sales and marketing, they fail to realize the other side of the budget equation—revenue generation. Most managers were promoted because of their ability to cut workhours. They really haven’t a clue about sales and marketing. Fortunately that mind-set changing. But we are so far behind that it’s going to be hard to catch up.
3. I’m not exactly sure what you are referring to about bad products. There are some products that not very popular, and the Postal Service is constantly evaluating them. Some customers feel we shouldn’t sell retail merchandise, that it’s a waste of time, and we should concentrate on selling stamps. But in 2007, Official Licensed Retail Products generated over $70 million. However, I will agree that often we fail to take innovation to completion.
4. I don’t know any FedX or UPS driver that has the time to market and sell. They constantly under the microscope. FedX even has wireless video tracking their drivers and making sure they are under a strict time schedule. A few years ago the Postal Service initiated Carrier Connect, Business Connect and Carrier Pickup. These programs encourage city and rural carriers notice what businesses use our competitors and then forward those leads to our Business Development Team, who will then contact customers to sell our products and services. A few years ago the Postal Service created the Postal Ambassador program. In each of our 80 districts across the nation, a select team of city carriers, clerks, and postmasters were sent to Chicago for intensive training in media, marketing and sales. I was fortunate to be selected as the Hawaii district Postmaster Postal Ambassador. The idea was to have districts take advantage of Postal Ambassadors to market and sell products and services to businesses, train clerks, and act as a public relations person for the media. But as you stated in #3, we failed to take it to completion and as a result, the program fizzled, mostly due to managers who could only see value in cutting costs.
5. Email delivery service sounds something like a service we offered years ago with fax. A customer could fax a letter to a post office, and then the letter would be placed in the customer’s mailbox. It didn’t do well, so the service got axed. But I certainly would like to hear your idea.
6. Social media is powerful but I can tell you this: Most postmasters are fried by the end of the day. We are micromanaged to the tenth degree. There is little room for innovation or creativity, and many must endure 2, 3, and 4 hour telecoms that are unbearable.
7. Customer service training is where we really fail. We desperately need sales training. But the powers that be see it as a huge expenditure. We actually have a number of web-based training, but for the most part, I feel they are useless. There is nothing that compares to real-life class situation with interaction and Q & As.
8. PO box in every box? Hmmmm do we charge double???
9. Recruiting community groups to garden and landscape sounds great until the lawyers look at liability issues that come with it—not to mention contract issues with employee unions. However, here in Hawaii we have had a post office on Kauai have a grammar school paint a beautiful mural on the post wall. But we needed all sorts of approval from higher sources.
10. I’m all with you on community events. It is one of the best ways to network and connect with customers. And here in Hawaii we do those type or activities. Many postmasters across the nation are involved in community events such as the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Marrow Donor program, and many, many other events, including community fairs, parades, and business expos. I personally have manned marketing booths at conventions, Kona coffee festivals, Ironman World Triathlon Championship in Kona, and given workshops to coffee and mac nut farmers here on the Big Island of Hawaii. I know of many other postmasters who do similar kinds of sales and marketing in their communities.
11. Most of us would love to sell advertising space—especially on postage stamps, but we are regulated by the Postal Rate Commission, Postal Board of Governors, Congress, and some very limiting laws—lobbied no less by our competitors.
12. Same as above.
13. Every office should have some type of table for customers to rest their heavy parcels on. If your office doesn’t have one, I suggest you request the postmaster to install one. Tell your post office that if they can’t afford one, you’ll go to the competition—if nothing happens, write to the district manager. .
14. Music? Don’t you love hearing the clerks singing their song: Is there anything fragile, liquid, or perishable? Would you like to send it Express? Would you like insurance or delivery confirmation? etc, etc. Did you know that some offices have a television set to keep customers mind off the wait time in line. Many offices do have music but I’ve experienced situations where the customer complained about the music. Maybe we should hand out iPods while waiting in line to listen to your preferred music?
15. Our goal is to make it a positive experience. That’s why we hire Mystery shoppers and put a huge amount of pressure on offices who do not achieved the 5 minute wait time in line goal. There are all sorts of other things that an office is evaluated on, too.
16. A little note slipped into a mail box? I’ll tell you a story. One of my carriers had slipped a letter into a customer’s mailbox and the customer complained because there was no postage stamp on it. They said we were violating our own law—that anything in a mailbox must have postage on it. Strange but true. However, we have many carriers who very much care about their customers. I had a rural carrier who would deliver mail to one of her customers, and then after work go shopping for groceries for her, because the customer was elderly and could not drive or go outside. If you only knew the good and heartwarming stories, you’re thoughts would surely change.
17. Barter? That could become dangerous. Besides, we’ve got rules and regulations regulated by red tape regulators.
18. We do direct mail training workshops. You can also go online to our website and practically get a masters degree in mailing. We also have a small business development team in each district. Ask your postmaster for more information or go on usps.com website and search for direct mail….coffee not included.
19. We have over 7 million customers visiting our retail outlets every day. That’s real-time blog. And if you consider we have something in the neighborhood of a million hits a day on our usps.com website, that would be one big blog.
20. USPS.com has the whole spiel. If you want more information, ask your postmaster to give you the phone number for the business development team in their district. They’d be more than happy to help.
21. We have publications with direct mail information, rates, and tips on how to use direct mail to grow your business. I regularly order these pamphlets and place them in our business customers’ mailboxes.
22. For years Congress and postal laws had our hands tied. We could not give discounts. Fortunately, a few years ago, congress passed the Postal Reform bill. We now have more freedom to offer discounts and make special deals. Unfortunately, we are not moving fast enough.
23. This could possibly be under consideration. We do offer discounts for business customers who prepare their mail properly and comply with automation requirements.

Well, there it is. And I agree. It would be a terrible waste of assets, resources, and some super-nice people if we don’t listen to our customers and become better at what we do.

Thanks again for your thoughts.
Tom McCarthy tmpm@mac.com
Postmaster
Holualoa HI 96725

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Assuming it’s 2009

wherever you are…

     “Somethings never change,” we’ve heard, but they DO! Assuming it’s 2009 wherever you are, and  you’re at least vaguely interested in surviving– your business or professional practice development efforts must start to reach out for and embrace UNusual approaches to winning and keeping customers, clients and patients.  

     “Great!” you say, “but what ARE they?” Brrrrraaaaaaaat! Wrong question!

     What you need to know –because every doctor, lawyer and business owner is different from every other doctor, lawyer and business owner– is how to get started figuring out what UNusual approaches will work for YOU.

     The first step is to evaluate what has and hasn’t worked for you in the past. [Even if the business or practice is a new one, you still know what qualities, characteristics, methodologies, approaches and behaviors have worked for you in your life to help you get to where you are; go with those to start!]

     Once you’ve isolated the strengths of your best past messages, make a brainstorm list of new and different ways you can apply those messages. Do not edit or critique your initial list; don’t talk yourself out of putting an idea down, even if it involves using carrier pigeons! Why? Because dumb ideas that you don’t eliminate along the way will lead to sensible worthwhile ones. Take a break. Then return with your critical red ink and eliminate, combine and consolidate thoughts.

     Online social networks like Twitter www.Twitter.com are quickly providing (for FREE) a massive referral base for those willing to invest some budgeted time and energy. www.BizBrag.com allows you (for FREE) to post a free news release about some newsworthy aspect of your business or professional practice every day if you choose.

     BizBrag even lets you set these up so they are emailed to prime customers or clients or patients. Or you can send your own personalized emails out urging your contacts to tune you in (to your releases, or your videos that you can put on www.YouTube.com and other sites). With a webcam, you can produce (for FREE) your own mini-series of lectures or seminars and email them out or post them.

     If you have a website, you probably also have (a FREE) blog capability built into it. And even if you don’t, blog sites are basically free or close to free anyway. No time to write blogs? Hire a professional blog writer who can capture your style and “voice” and represent topics you choose, for you! 

     And blogs need not be great literary works. I know an eye surgeon who’s a wizbang photographer and uses his blog site to show off his photos, along with one-line captions urging check-ups, etc. Another fills blog entries with great motivational quotes and appointment reminders.

     Professionals dependent on referrals from other professionals can develop blog posts (and ultimately deliver bound together printouts) on areas involving their specialties and special interests. An orthopedic surgeon with a special interest in sports medicine can generate referrals with booklets made of blog posts on rotator cuff or tennis elbow treatments and exercises for coaches, trainers and physical therapists. 

     Positive impressions of being an accepted authority can also be made with mailings to personal injury lawyers. All of the above become potential referrers to the surgeon. And there’s not a business alive that can’t stand to do more catering to past and present customers –the best source of business– with UNusual approaches.    halalpiar

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