Dan Miller tells a humorous, but insightful story about a limo driver who says that his job is temporary until he can start his own limo service. When asked how long he has had his “temporary”, he replies, “Twelve years.”
Most of us are probably aware of individuals who spend a lot of time talking about what they are going to do “someday”. They dream about future exploits but do nothing about accomplishing them today. And then, they wake up and find that years have passed and they are no closer to their alleged goal.
There is certainly nothing wrong with having dreams. Setting goals and envisioning what life would be like if they were achieved can provide valuable inspiration and motivation. This is even more true when our goals are long-term. But dreams alone will get us nowhere—we must also take action.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Zappos
I recently read about Zappos on Zig Ziglar’s blog. At first I thought this was a joke, as the company sells shoes online. The idea struck me as bizarre—I couldn’t imagine anyone buying a pair of shoes without first trying them on. But they must be doing something right, as Amazon.com recently bought Zappos for about $928 million.
From what I have read, a large part of the success of Zappos is attributed to the company being a fun place to work. Indeed, one of their “ten commandments” is “Create fun and a little weirdness”. This may seem like an odd directive, but employees embrace the atmosphere that exists at Zappos. And that is reflected in their customer service. For example, if a customer mentions having a bad day, she might find flowers on her doorstep the next morning.
Such offbeat tactics might seem silly, but they have created a growing legion of loyal customers. And that is always a good thing. Sometimes all it takes is a little imagination.
From what I have read, a large part of the success of Zappos is attributed to the company being a fun place to work. Indeed, one of their “ten commandments” is “Create fun and a little weirdness”. This may seem like an odd directive, but employees embrace the atmosphere that exists at Zappos. And that is reflected in their customer service. For example, if a customer mentions having a bad day, she might find flowers on her doorstep the next morning.
Such offbeat tactics might seem silly, but they have created a growing legion of loyal customers. And that is always a good thing. Sometimes all it takes is a little imagination.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Lessons from Child Rearing
Even though I don’t have children, I find the topic of child-rearing interesting. Getting Things Done—a personal productivity site—recently had an interesting post involving children. The author was going to spend the day with his children, and involved them in planning the day.
They began by listing some of the activities they wanted to do. They then identified how long each activity would take—there is no sense in trying to cram 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack. I won’t relate the entire story, but it turned out to be a fun day for everyone.
The lesson in the story is directly applicable to small business owners. Often, we simply dictate to our employees how things will be. After all, we are the boss and if they don’t like it… But this often gets us results different from what we want and expect. We don’t get “buy in”.
Like the parent who involved his children in planning the day, we should involve our employees in the decision making process. This doesn’t mean that we give in to whatever ideas they come up with, but it does mean that we give their ideas serious consideration. Not only are they more likely to approve of the results, and therefore implement them, there is a good chance that they will have some better ideas.
I certainly don’t mean to equate children and employees, but in a certain sense there is a similarity. In both relationships, we have the final authority. In both relationships, we are looked upon as the expert and the guiding force. We are the leader. While this requires a firm hand, it does not mean that we should be dictators.
I am familiar with parents who tell their children to do something “because I said so”. This hardly helps the child understand the rationale behind the directive. However, when the parent explains his reasons (in a manner the child can understand), the results can be much more satisfactory to all involved. The same applies to our employees.
They began by listing some of the activities they wanted to do. They then identified how long each activity would take—there is no sense in trying to cram 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack. I won’t relate the entire story, but it turned out to be a fun day for everyone.
The lesson in the story is directly applicable to small business owners. Often, we simply dictate to our employees how things will be. After all, we are the boss and if they don’t like it… But this often gets us results different from what we want and expect. We don’t get “buy in”.
Like the parent who involved his children in planning the day, we should involve our employees in the decision making process. This doesn’t mean that we give in to whatever ideas they come up with, but it does mean that we give their ideas serious consideration. Not only are they more likely to approve of the results, and therefore implement them, there is a good chance that they will have some better ideas.
I certainly don’t mean to equate children and employees, but in a certain sense there is a similarity. In both relationships, we have the final authority. In both relationships, we are looked upon as the expert and the guiding force. We are the leader. While this requires a firm hand, it does not mean that we should be dictators.
I am familiar with parents who tell their children to do something “because I said so”. This hardly helps the child understand the rationale behind the directive. However, when the parent explains his reasons (in a manner the child can understand), the results can be much more satisfactory to all involved. The same applies to our employees.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Empowering Customer Service
Bill Hogg tells how Home Depot recently impressed him because an employee was empowered. An employee offered to discount an item to match a sale price. When asked why he did this, the employee responded, “I am empowered to make our customers happy”.
This may seem like a simple thing, and in many ways it is. But are your employees empowered to make customers happy? Certainly, we don’t want them arbitrarily giving away work or discounting prices, but there are many other ways to make a customer happy.
A simple example recently occurred with my company. When I originally met with the customer, they did not want their garage door painted. I went through my normal explanation as to why I thought it best to paint the door, but the customer persisted. However, on the first day of the job my supervisor raised the issue, pointing out that the door was going to look dull and worn after everything else was painted.
He did this without prompting from me. He recognized that the customer would be more satisfied with the door painted, and the customer quickly agreed. Because he was empowered, the supervisor created a situation that is beneficial to everyone.
This may seem like a simple thing, and in many ways it is. But are your employees empowered to make customers happy? Certainly, we don’t want them arbitrarily giving away work or discounting prices, but there are many other ways to make a customer happy.
A simple example recently occurred with my company. When I originally met with the customer, they did not want their garage door painted. I went through my normal explanation as to why I thought it best to paint the door, but the customer persisted. However, on the first day of the job my supervisor raised the issue, pointing out that the door was going to look dull and worn after everything else was painted.
He did this without prompting from me. He recognized that the customer would be more satisfied with the door painted, and the customer quickly agreed. Because he was empowered, the supervisor created a situation that is beneficial to everyone.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Acting in One’s Self-Interest
Mark Forster has an interesting post on a topic near and dear to me—acting in one’s self-interest. As he correctly points out, this is often taken to mean “do unto others, before they do unto you.” But as Mark explains:
Business is a perfect example of this principle. We own a business with the goal of making a profit—we are pursuing our own self-interest. But we cannot achieve this if we charge outrageous rates, attempt to underpay employees and treat them poorly, cheat customers, and engage in other activities that might seem to have short-term benefits. The result of such actions is that we will have difficulty getting customers and keeping employees, which ultimately is not in our self-interest.
In fact this is the very reverse of acting in one’s own best interests, since it can hardly be thought to be in anyone’s best interests to alienate other people so that they will not cooperate.
The results of confusing acting in one’s own best interests with a narrow mean-spiritedness are disastrous.
Business is a perfect example of this principle. We own a business with the goal of making a profit—we are pursuing our own self-interest. But we cannot achieve this if we charge outrageous rates, attempt to underpay employees and treat them poorly, cheat customers, and engage in other activities that might seem to have short-term benefits. The result of such actions is that we will have difficulty getting customers and keeping employees, which ultimately is not in our self-interest.
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