A Propensity for Cantankerosity

     Not only have hard economic times  wrought hard times for business, they’ve also turned a lot of previously pleasant customers into snot-nosed, demanding, arrogant, cranky brats! In their worrisome preoccupation with getting the most value for their dollar, many customers have become much more demanding and unreasonable.

     The bad, low-trust reputations  of big-business bankers and automakers —underscored by the sea of incompetency that’s home to government administrators and politicians who haven’t a shred of business experience or know-how— have trickled down to a point where beat-up consumers are distrusting even the small, local supermarket and neighborhood newsstand.

     The manager of an upscale hotel,  who is as honest and customer-attentive as anyone who’s ever walked, reports his Guests have been getting increased service and complaining more. Service demands on the hotel’s already high-performance-level staff have no direct bearing on  accommodations, amenities, or services.

• One man created an uproar because he parked under a tree overnight and ended up with sap on his windshield. The staff spent an hour trying to clean off the sap, but their efforts weren’t sufficient or quick enough for the man’s liking. He left in a barrage of complaints and threats.
• A visiting couple made a ruckus over not having enough to do because it rained so much during their stay. Their access to movie selections, spa, fully stocked library and fully-equipped game room, plus endless nearby attractions was apparently not sufficient.

     A local farmer  tells me people are taking thirteen ears of corn and paying for twelve.      

     A retailer  known for offering discounted merchandise, much of it with minimal markup has been besieged lately with customers looking to make price deals below his costs.

     Yes, there are many examples  of the new consumer pushiness, but the bottom line remains unchanged for business owners and managers:

     The Customer Is ALWAYS Right!

     Unless physical harm  is represented, or someone is clearly breaking the law (unfortunately, it’s not worth the phone call to sic the police on someone who’s stolen one ear of corn!), you and your people have to suck it up and cater to the cantankerous.

     Like it or not,  we have to accept that it’s all part of the change of life on this planet that’s surfaced with the bad global economy. There is really only one solution if you expect to stay in business today and tomorrow: “KILL ‘EM WITH KINDNESS!” 

# # #  

Whaddayou, a head case?

You think business is 

in cruise control?

     Are you on some other planet?  I heard someone say today that he thought business was holding steady and that this economic slump would be over soon. Those of you who know me know I am the eternal optimist. I always believe that –no matter what the odds–  things will work out for the best, and soon!

     But, this economy is out of control.  It’s one thing to think and act confidently and to believe in yourself and in what you’re capable of accomplishing. But it’s quite another to think that everything’s going to move out of your way as you stride forward. That’s like saying you’re a great swimmer so the tsunami that’s coming is no big deal.

     Sorry to have to be the messenger  (please don’t shoot!), but REALITY is that things are NOT going to move out of your way just because you have self-confidence. In today’s economy, you need a whole lot more than that. You need innovation, perseverance, and integrity.

• INNOVATION. If you are not coming up with a clear, new idea (SOME idea; it doesn’t have to be Earth-shattering), and seeing that idea all the way through to implementation EVERY WEEK, your business is not likely to survive another year!

• PERSEVERANCE. If you are not determinedly and tenaciously driving your business forward on a DAY-TO-DAY basis, your business is not likely to survive another month! 

• INTEGRITY. If you are not demonstrating HIGH TRUST evidence of integrity (doing the right thing even when nobody is looking) in EVERY business dealing you have every single hour of every single day, your business is not likely to survive another week!   

     Well,  here’s the good news:

     ALL OF IT–Innovation, Perseverance, Integrity– is a CHOICE!  You can choose to practice all three of these important qualities every day… every day! You simply need to make your mind up that self-confidence alone, without direction, accomplishes nothing. 

     But you can make  the conscious choice to make self-confidence work FOR you, right now by exercising innovation, perseverance and integrity in your very next encounter with an employee, customer, vendor, referrer, delivery or maintenance person, and the next human being you meet…and every one thereafter!  

     Right now!

     How hard is that?  As hard as you choose to make it!

# # #

FREE blog subscription: Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open Minds Open Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Listening skills alone 

do not a good boss make!

     Just when you thought  you were doing a great job of  communicating because you’ve been working so hard at listening better and more actively and more attentively, along comes this snot-nose blog writer to tell you that you’re only halfway there!

     Careful listening is a wonderful thing,  and it gets you to the fifty-yard line every time. But if you’re not taking ACTION on what you hear from your staff and associates, and if you’re not giving the source of the ideas and information due credit, touchdowns are not in your future!

     You’ve heard about  criticize in private and praise in public? Well you can’t do too much (genuine) praise of good ideas, good behavior, good attempts (even when they fail!), good attitudes, good productivity, good referrals and networking, good overall performance.

     If your response to this  is to off-handedly toss a mumbled “Yeah, right!” on the table, you need to seriously question if you are getting too old too fast. When was the last time you were the object of some one’s sincere praise? How did it feel? What action did it prompt?

     Every time you can  express appreciation for innovative, success-driven thinking and behavior, and of course in public, you are fostering more positive thinking and action by that individual, and by everyone else around. Trophies, plaques and certificates are nice, but there’s nothing like an on-the-spot exuberant compliment and accreditation, a pat on the back.

     Small, frequent on-the-spot rewards  for a job well done (or well-attempted) have always served to motivate and encourage repeat positive performance better and much more effectively than any other form of “attaboy” treatment.

     Pulling an employee  (not physically, I should probably mention!) from her work station to thank her for a great effort in front of whoever is there (customers, other staffers, vendors, passerby, delivery people) and treating her at that moment to coffee, or lunch or a walk around the block will generate more positiveness than annual award dinners and golf outings.

     Spontaneity counts!    

     Nurturing  company-wide opportunities to contribute counts!

The feeling that one’s opinion counts in the grand scheme of things provides an enhanced sense of self-worth, and people who feel good about themselves because of the work they do, will in turn feel good about the employer who makes this possible.”

—Martin Yate from KEEPING THE BEST And Other Thoughts on Building a Super Competitive Workforce 

# # #

FREE blog subscription: Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US 302.933.0116

Open Minds Open Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“It’s not the economy, stupid!”

Anonymous paraphrase of some political statement

     From organizational development studies,  we know that the solution to every group problem lies within the group. From business success and failure analytics, we know the solution to every business problem lies within the business.

     Stop looking out the window for answers.  It’s NOT the economy that’s the problem. And the answer isn’t outside. The problem and the solution are HOW YOU DEAL with the economy!

Get this “throwing in the towel” and “folding up the tent” and “boarding up the windows” and “closing on Fridays” and “cutting back hours” mindset out of your mind.

You are not the Post Office!

You are not the government!

You are an entrepreneur.

YOU are better than that!

ANYone can quit when the going gets tough.

Success takes courage.

     Show some gumption, you!

     You were full of spunk  when you started your business. Did you lose your spunk when you lost your marbles when you lost you mind thinking that “too much other stuff was to blame?

     Have you chosen  for the economy, the market, the competition, the cost of raw materials, the overpriced goods and services, the disastrous fuel prices and cost of shipping, the lack of customers, incompetent employees, and overkill regulatory compliances to de-rail your business onto a failure track?

     Well? Did you?  Are you STILL using all this nonsense as an excuse for not working your sales pipeline? For not training your employees? For raising your own prices to keep from absorbing supplier cost increases? For not getting on-the-job as early as you used to? For delegating sales functions? For cutting back to “no-frills” customer service?

     PSSSSSSST:  No one else can sell your business products/services as well as YOU can! And no one else can appreciate and serve your customers as well as you. It’s your business; it’s your baby! Get back out there and start talking it up!

     PSSSSSSST:  SALES is the ONLY activity that brings in money! Turning off lights, doing your own books and taking out your own trash are nice economical and ecological things to do, but THEY DON’T BRING IN MONEY! 

     When you can cut out  the excuses, and realize that making your business successful in spite of what everyone around you may seem to be saying (because THEY haven’t learned to cut out the excuses) IS A CHOICE. You CHOOSE your behavior. And you CHOOSE your business’s behavior. It is just as easy (in fact easier) to choose success as it is to choose failure.

     Get your glove and get in the game, and step up to the plate when it’s time to make things happen. PSSSSSSST: Like…NOW?! 

# # #  

Next time someone calls you

“Four i’s,” say thank you!

Radio station WIIFM  (What’s In It For Me?) has been on the air now for over 30 years that I can remember, as the acronym for reminding marketers and advertisers and salespeople that benefits, not features, are what people buy! You want to make a sale? Tell prospects how they’ll benefit, not how great you are!

Okay,  you got that, right? So what’re the “Four-i’s” in SMALL BUSiiNESS STiiMULUS?

Here it is,  all you acronym fanatics (and don’t say I never gave you anything!):

• Intelligence –

Cause literally EVERYone outside Federal and state government circles knows that ONLY small business job creation will reverse this sick economy, and that small business owners must rise above the meaningless token incentives being waved around… and go for the gold under their own steam!

• Innovation –

Cause everybody has ideas, but very few see them through to completion!

• Impression –

Cause you never get a second first one!

• Integrity –

Cause without it, you have no business and no chance of survival in ANY kind of economy! Doing the right thing all of the time means having no exceptions.

     The bottom line is  that if you are lacking in even one 0f these four I’s, you are in big-time trouble, and need to get on the stick before 9am tomorrow morning! And, incidentally, none of these qualities, values, characteristics, whatever you want to call them, costs anything.

In fact,  all four involve conscious daily choices to pursue them. When you have Intelligence, and know your market, know your industry, know your competition, know your product and service benefits (and features) and know what you’re up against with narrow-minded government perspectives that will only provide lip-service instead of solid support, you will be in the best possible position to move your business forward.

     When you choose  innovation and innovative thinking, you are choosing to see every step of the birthing process for launching a new idea. That focus alone will carry the best ideas forward and lose the unproductive ones quickly along the way.

     When you realize  that no one will take the trouble to judge your business twice and that your first impression must be the one that flies, you will be well on the way to achieving the acceptance levels you seek. This means not settling for inferior marketing, advertising, sales, promotion, merchandising, and public relations programs and materials.

     Integrity is the backbone of business.  The recent failures of giant corporate entities have underscored the truth of this point. The day-to-day failures and successes of small businesses are 100% attributable to having and consistently demonstrating high levels of trust and integrity or not. Failures blamed on under-capitalization are failures of poor management. Failures of poor management can inevitably be traced back to failures of integrity.

Heed the Four i’s  as if they were your own two i’s because in the end, the i’s have it!

# # #

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”    [Thomas Jefferson]

Hal@Businessworks.US         931.854.0474

Guidance to 500+ Successful Business Startups

Creating Record-Sales for Clients Since 1981!

And now’s the time to prune the

brittle dead and the overgrown.

     In this second straight year  of continuing economic setbacks for you and your business, you have no doubt suffered losses —money and people— you would certainly have preferred to avoid. And now you’re sitting out on the farthest-most limb of your company tree, saw in hand.

     Well, scramble back down  and spare that big old branch. It may not look altogether healthy, but there’s some green stuff coming out of those barren bark areas, and it’ll survive and thrive if you just —instead— get out the pruning shears for one last ruthless sweep of the brittle dead and the overgrown.   

     But, wait, you say,  you’ve done this already, just months ago! Well, if you’ll promise to shoot the message and not the messenger, I’ll take the risk of telling you that you need to consider it again. When overgrown shrubs and dead branches are lopped off, more nutrients go into growing that which remains and the discarded pieces will return to life in some other form.

     When you let go  of marginal employees, you are strengthening the organization and you are giving everybody a chance to reinvent themselves. They may not like it; they may suffer for it; they may not see it as an opportunity, but in the end they’ll be happier for finding work situations that are better suited to them.

     UNLIKE trees and shrubs,  you are dealing with human emotions and frailties, so a realistic tone of understanding, empathy, active listening, and genuine helpfulness is what you must offer as your end of the trade-off. Losing a job is equal to losing a life for many because it’s such a devastating blow to the ego and self-esteem.

     You must be tuned into  that dynamic and do everything possible to help ease the life transition your business survival needs are prompting. Yes, you must be firm in making and communicating your decisions, but you must also be willing to listen, eager to refer, agreeable to compensate, and share in the responsibility. Why? Because it comes with being a leader.

     And why now?  Because as we let go, we grow. Because the longer we hold onto weak, unproductive, marginal employees, the closer we come to the point of no return, where it’s simply too late to let go and too late to survive.

     Just keep in mind  that there is also a time for every purpose under heaven, and that one purpose of a leader is to show heart in helping the downtrodden to see the light, while showing courage in inspiring the strongest of remaining forces to move forward, onward and upward for the collective good.

# # #  

Input aways welcome: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in    subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  

# # #

This blog free via list-protected email: click RSS Feed above…$1.99/mo on  AMAZON Kindle. Creative? Add your own 7 words to the 318-day 7-Word Story (under RSS) We’re making it up as we go!  GET Hal Alpiar short story in Sept. release book from Nightengale Press: THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING Amazon, B&N, OR order special (signed by Hal) pre-publication $22.45 total check only (includes s&h), payable & mail to: TheWriterWorks.com, LLC @PO Box 1236, Millsboro, DE 19966. Include continental US ship-to address. 9/13 is Grandparent’s Day!

Are You Juggling Seagulls?

     With the economy  nipping at your hindquarters, if it’s beginning to feel like there simply are not enough hours in the day, you’re probably not on the verge of the nervous breakdown you’re thinking you’re on. You’re probably just juggling seagulls!

     Oh, right,  well that makes everything okay now, doesn’t it? I mean anyone can do that little trick if she just puts her mind to it. Seagulls are, after all, very cooperative creatures and will surely do whatever you might ask of them. “Roll over, Jonathan!”

     Serious,  we already know that time and tide wait for no man. One of our parents said that once. So (the other parent probably said) time marches on. What this means is that since you can’t change time, you CAN change two things that use it up: Tasks and Takers.

     Tasks.  The simple answer here is to delegate. You’re worried that no one else will do the tasks the way you do them? Guess what? You’ve no doubt heard that SOME things never change?

     Well, others not doing stuff the way you do stuff  is one of those things that never changes. Extract your ego! Accept the fact that if others do things differently than you, the world will not end, and that getting the tasks done is what’s important. 

     On the more complicated front,  when you just can’t bite the proverbial bullet (which certainly has to hurt one’s teeth), then accept the fact that EVERYthing you do doesn’t have to be letter perfect (unless you’re an editor!), and make your mind up that getting the task done is what’s important. (Hmmm, did I say that before?)

     Okay, you’ve got the time deal  and the tasking functions covered, so there’s just one more nasty little seagull to catch up with and confront: Takers! These are people who have no regard for your time or sense of urgency and will–consciously or unconsciously– take every conceivable minute of your time up, if you let them.

     Aha,  therein lies the complete juggling trick! Yeah. Don’t let them. Period. But that’s hard, you say, especially when one of them’s your mother-in-law. Yeah, well, spit happens you know. The bottom line is that people will not take advantage of your time if you make an active choice to not allow it.

     “Excuse me,  but I need to be on my phone (in my office, at a meeting, working on a speech, visiting the bathroom) right this minute. Perhaps you can catch me a week from Thursday when I’m on the road; just call my cell phone (which will certainly be on it’s last charge bar by then).”

     If you are getting stressed  from juggling seagulls, either give up juggling, or move farther inland.   

# # #  

Input aways welcome: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in    subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  

# # #

This blog free via list-protected email: click RSS Feed above…$1.99/mo on  AMAZON Kindle. Creative? Add your own 7 words to the 315-day 7-Word Story (under RSS) We’re making it up as we go!  GET Hal Alpiar short story in Sept. release book from Nightengale Press: THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING Amazon, B&N, OR order special (signed by Hal) pre-publication $22.45 total check only (includes s&h), payable & mail to: TheWriterWorks.com, LLC @PO Box 1236, Millsboro, DE 19966. Include continental US ship-to address. 9/13 is Grandparent’s Day!

Not just tech triumphs, the

PO is a self-fulfilling sinking

You think it’s not coming?  You must be a fantasizer, or you work for the post office! Direct mail, thanks to the US Post Office (AKA US Postal Service) as we know it, is dying a slow, painful suffocating death.

How can that be?  Because direct mail–like commercials being the mainstay of broadcast media–is the mainstay of the US Post Office (AKA US Postal Service), and the US Post Office is on the way to gasping its last few breaths.

I noted here  a few days ago that the US Postal Service is reported to have processed 203 billion pieces of mail during 2008. (That’s 7.700 pieces per second!) Now does that sound like an entity that’s going out of business?

Well, consider that during the same time period,  CTIA reported over one TRILLION text messages were sent. And are you ready for this one? Radicali Group reports –for 2008– that 210 BILLION EMAILS were sent PER DAY. Do the math!

Now take a hard look  at US Postal Service management. It’s a sea of incompetency, which should actually not be any surprise considering the totality of federal government incompetency when it comes to anything involving business.

And no need  to look any further than the banks, automakers, lack of job creation due to 100% lack of small business savvy and support [except for  tokenism from the equally incompetent SBA (Small Business Administration) run, of course, by big business]… or the ridiculous “forced healthcare” proposals on the table. Maybe we should be forced to buy stamps!

Here.  Try a quick review of these two gem blog posts from this past March: the first was mine, criticizing the US Postal Service and the second was from a postmaster who politely tried to defend and then subscribed to the bulk of criticism. (I reproduced his reply in full.)

They speak for themselves  http://halalpiar.com/2009/03/23-lifelines-tossed-to-the-post-office/ and http://halalpiar.com/2009/03/hawaii-postmaster-responds-to-postal-service-critique/

It’s beginning to look  like it’s going to take more suffering before government gets a wake-up call that the only answer to our economic woes is going to come from small business job creation and the privatization of government agencies.

Unless agencies  like US Postal Services can be run like real businesses by being market competitive and operated for profit, they will cease to exist. The Post Office is on its way out. And like a sinking ship’s treasures, it’s taking the direct mail industry along with it.

# # #  

Input aways welcome:

Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! 

It’s the Lightening Up

of Corporate America!

     You’re a management trainer and corporate economic climates have taken the wind out of your sails. You’re looking around for community college adult education courses to run. You’re doing drips and drabs of HR consulting with some old friends. Times are tighter than your shoelaces. 

     Stop beating yourself up; stop doing all the things you’ve always advised and taught others to not do. Take some of those deep breaths you advocate. The message is this: L-I-G-H-T-E-N    U-P ! Lighten up the programs you’re proposing. Companies do not want any in-depth, heavy-duty, psycho-analytic training programs for their managers right now!

     They want L-I-G-H-T agendas combined with good relaxing fun and team-building. Corporate America may be stupid about growing business and productivity ratios and revenue streams and job creation, but they know when it’s time to lighten up the stress that their loyal managers have been shouldering. 

     And it’s time now.

     I had my own management training company for many years. I ran over 2,000 workshops and training programs, and had over 20,000 participants in 50 different cities and half a dozen different countries.

     It was everything from Maslow’s Hierarchy to Quality Circles, One-Minute Manager, TA, Theory X, TheoryY, Theory Z, Empowerment, Assertiveness Training, Anger Management, and my own inventions: Corporate Entrepreneurship, Doctorpreneurs and Teacherpreneurs.  

     Then is not now. Then corporate executives charged trainers with the responsibility to teach them how to be better, more effective, more efficient, more productive executives and how to be better humans. This took some doing, and tons of analytical diagnostics and psychotherapy.

     Today, the word is L I G H T. As in S I M P L E and having F U N while gaining firsthand leadership and teamwork experiences with fellow employees. A best buddy of mine, Kevin Bousquet, who runs Interlaken Inn Executive Resort & Conference Center www.InterlakenInn.com in Northwest Connecticut, agrees.

     You may have seen my plugs here for Interlaken. It truly is THE premier business escape (2 hours/NYC and 3 hours/BOS) with the finest location, facility, amenities, meals, service AND budget-conscious prices that any management trainer or meeting planner will find. (If you call, tell Kristy I sent you and get a special gift!)

     Kevin tells me that the programs that are having the most success are those with the least stress and the most fun. Not all fun and games, but fun and learning. Interlaken’s Executive Ropes Course, lakefront boating and golf options and gourmet challenge programs are the busiest and most talked-about. Dump the heavy stuff!

Think of it as the Lightening Up of Corporate America!  

# # #  

Input always welcome: Hal@BusinessWorks.US

(”Businessworks” in subject line) or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals and God bless you! 

2nd only to the government,

big business gets an F

All of us who own and operate or manage a small or medium sized business know that the world’s most incompetent excuses for “businesspeople” reside in dark, damp little squirrel holes of government and academia buildings. They are the poster boys and girls for business stupidity.

But right after these poor ignorant, unrealistic souls, maybe not even a full rung lower on the ladder, are the braindead, money-wasting corporate executives who spend half their lives in limos, cabs, commuter train barcars, business class airline seats, and fancy restaurants.

These are the hot-shot 9 to 5 executives who travel better, eat and drink better and live better, higher-income lifestyles than either the government doo-dahs or the academic muckity-mucks.

But that doesn’t make them smart, or productive, or successful.

Most of them are none of those.

It simply makes them people who don’t have what it takes to start and build and grow their own business ventures, but who are not quite as stupid as those who work for those who get elected.

They are also a hair more savvy than those who merely pretend to know what it’s all about, and who instead of doing, end up teaching young people how to do and not do the things they themselves don’t know how to do and not do.

It’s interesting to me, by the way, that so many of these corporate suits seem to think they are Henry Ford’s and Bill Gates’s and Mary Kay’s when they get anywhere near a calculator or Excel spreadsheet.

Reality is that this country is in dire economic straits today because of corporate mentalities that STILL don’t get it, that STILL are unproductive, that STILL squander taxpayer (and stockholder) money left and right. (Actually, I have fresh evidence from today, if anyone’s interested in details.)

What’s wrong with all this is not just the consequences of incompetence but the systems that breed it: educational institutions, government agencies, and Fortune 500 corporations.

How do I know this? Before spending most of my career as a small business owner/operator, I was a college professor, a government employee and a Fortune 500 executive. That’s like the been there, done that thing.

Thankfully, I saw early on that none of these (academia, government, corporate) paths held out any promise of a successful life journey for anyone with energy and ambition and common sense and basic business instincts.

And here’s what I conclude: 

. . . when we can ween ourselves from societal dependence on misguided government, fantasyworld academia, and thieving corporate America . . . and put wind behind the sails of small business . . . only then, will we turn this ship around! 

# # #  

 Hal@TheWriterWorks.com or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. 

Go for your goals, good night and God bless you!