I Don't Like Pennies, But Nick Does

Nick would not likely be considered as an example of the upwardly mobile sort. He is a bit frail, has a goatee, his head is shaved-somewhat, he wears black & white low profile Converse and he works at a convenience store. I know this about Nick because I purchased a large cup of House-Blend coffee from him.

What I also learned about Nick is that he is a great compliment to the Kum & Go Convenience Store brand. My purchase was $2.77 for which I gave Nick a $5.00 bill. The coffee was $1.77 and
Nick asked me if I would like to contribute $1.00 to
Habitat for Humanity, which I was glad to do. Nick not only sold me coffee, he sold me on helping others in need.

Kum & Go has one of those point of sale devices that spits your change out into that little chute on the customer side of the counter. My change should have been $2.23. but it wasn't. It was $2.25. The reason for that is Nick had put two cents of his own money into the register so I would not have more annoying pennies. I don't like pennies. This was extremely considerate on Nick's part. Because of Nick,  I would not have to repeatedly reach into the chute to gather my pennies and I would not have more pennies in my pocket. I don't like pennies.

I submit that Nick is actually an aggressively upwardly mobile business man. He is so focused on the customer experience that he puts about $1.00 of his own change into a bowl next to his register every day so he can provide customers some change when needed, or when it lightens the penny load. Nick, apparently likes pennies and even if you don't use Nick's pennies you will get his high energy behavior delivering exceptional customer service.

How simple, yet brilliant is that.

Nick greatly and deliberately improves the customer experience by investing some of his own resources.

Delivering distinguishing and exceptional customer service does not usually require much. By adding just a few figurative pennies to your efforts you can dominate the competition. Great customer service is the competitive advantage and bad customer service is a wildfire that consumes every aspect of the business in it's path. Nick gets it, do you?

Grey Matters in Important Matters

The diagnosis is serious. The treatment protocol is complicated. The issue demands immediate action and will get worse if not attended to. The only viable option is delicate surgery. The one decision to be made is which doctor to use. The choices are a doc who has preformed about 50 of the complicated procedures and a doc who has preformed over 1,000. You, as the patient, need to choose.

You are 5-miles in the air traveling at over 500 mph when the alarm chimes sound, the seat belt sign is illuminated and the pilot announces that your flight will experience some very turbulent weather for the duration and the landing is going to be unusually rough. The pilot has over 40 years experience flying commercially, the co-pilot has 2 years experience flying commercially. You can have the pilots change seats whereby the co-pilot with 2-years exerience is flying the aircraft or you can remain in the hands of the 40-year veteran. You, as the passenger, get to choose.

You are in the wrong place at the wrong time and are caught up in a mess, whereby it appears that you are part of a massive unlawful disturbance. Today's technology has caught you on camera and law enforcement is currently tracking you down. Even though you were not intentionally part of the disturbance and left quickly when things erupted, the police think because you were there you were part of the problem and they show up at your door, with a warrant for your arrest. A friend knows two attorneys that he is recommending. One has vast experience in criminal law and one is 2-years out of law school. Choose which attorney and remember, you are sitting in a jail cell.

Now what?

Whenever there is a choice between vast experience combined with successful accomplishments and barely experienced with almost no successful accomplishments, always choose the former.

The cosmetic look may suggest to you a reason to question the capabilities with the greying temples and all, but do not judge these seasoned individuals by the maturing covers. When, matters are as important as the scenarios described earlier in this writing, you are much better off if you commit to seasoned knowledge rather than the; "I am doing the best I can for you, with the little experience I have."

The matters do not need to rise to the level of those mentioned earlier in order for you to choose the individual who has been there and done that. People who have fought the battles and won or lost have the point-of-reference and will make reasoned decisions, while they employ the knowledge acquired, by experience. This group can accelerate the process by navigating carefully.

The other group does not have the experience and has not fought the battles. They don't know what they don't know and you will pay the price.

Grey matters in important matters.

When You Are In, Get Out!

Golf is a challenging game. So challenging that it can, for many, hardly be considered a game. Darrell Royal, the legendary coach of the Texas Longhorn Football team once said something to the effect that, squaring the golf club face to the ball at the point of impact, while executing a golf swing is one of the most difficult athletic skills to master. There are not many golfers that would disagree!

One of the unwritten tips to enjoying golf is that when you are in trouble the immediate and only objective must be to get out of trouble. Golf courses are designed to make the game challenging and that is why there are so many trouble spots on the course. These troubles consist of; sand, trees, bushes, water, hills and on some courses, railroad ties! These troubles are easy to get into and can be very tough to get out of. But you simply must get out. The simple solution is often the best solution. 

So when you hit a bad shot and find yourself in trouble, get out of trouble. Many amateur golfers stand over a golf ball that is deep in trouble and imagine that they can hit a shot that the professionals would never attempt. They select the wrong club, take a stand and swing away. The result is predictable and they find themselves in more trouble than they there were in prior to the risky shot. 

When you are in trouble, your only immediate focus should be to simply and quickly get out of trouble. Learning to get out of trouble can be a tough lesson to learn and master. Mistakes in business and life happen and it is far less important why it happened and who is at fault than it is to get things headed back in the right direction. Once you have handled the initial issue that caused the trouble,  you can move on to causes and find out who and why. But discovering who and why is not nearly as important as quickly defusing the situation. Even if you have to take ownership of trouble you did not create, the aggrieved will value your efforts to make their life better by confronting and when appropriate, handling the issue yourself. 

So when you are in, get out!

I Know A Guy

Guy is a generic label that applies to male and female here in the south. This story is about a male guy but could have easily been about a female.

I know a guy who has served in every professional role from rookie sales person to president. He was willing to do it wrong until he got it right.

He has always been close to sales and revenue generation, independent of the duties associated with the various positions held. He won and lost his edge and won it back again.

His beginning professional sales path was filled with hurdles, not the least of which was absolutely no experience and almost no training, nor did he have the coveted college diploma. This guy thought that selling was all about talking. In the beginning of his sales career, he was a poor professional listener.

He was an outsider with nothing but a "must-do" attitude. A "must-do" attitude is different from a "can-do" or "will-do" attitude. A "must-do" attitude is more closely linked to survival than any other mindset.

In 1518 AD during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, a guy named Hernan Cortes, who was a Spanish commander ordered his men to scuttled their ships, after landing on the Mexican shore, so they would have to conquer or perish. This is the prime example of a "must-do" attitude where the stakes are higher than you, or this guy I know, face in their professional lives. Cortez' "must-do" attitude was do or die.

Many learned and judgmental folks would have taken the position that without all of the education, experience or impressive resume, this guy was doomed to fail or at best be a tolerated under performer. Success was significant because this guy learned that he was only as good as the people he surrounded himself with. He chose wisely with whom he would associate.

The results, trusted clients and loyal employees show that without anything much more than a "must-do" attitude, this guy has enjoyed the fruits of dedicated effort. He is a really good professional listener now.

You may know a guy just like this guy I know, or you may be that guy. Listen to the guy inside and don't put too much faith, if any at all, in the guys outside until they prove worthy.

Thankful For What I Cannot Touch

Fittingly, this piece may have been published last week. The timing is intentional as thanksgiving is a daily opportunity.

The sense of touch is one of the most fantastic senses of all.

The touch of a loving hand.

The touch of the green grass under our bare feet on a beautiful spring day.

The touch of cool rain.

The touch of clean bed sheets.

These are some of the wonderful things we can touch and enjoy the experience and for these I am thankful.

However some of the most important things in my life, I cannot touch and they are the very things I am most thankful for.

I cannot touch love, but I can feel it. For love that I can feel, I am thankful.

I cannot touch friendship, but I can feel it. For friendship I can feel, I am thankful.

I cannot touch compassion, caring or concern but I can thankfully feel them.

I cannot touch the contentment of a full stomach, but I can feel it. For an abundant harvest, I am thankful.

I cannot touch well being, but I can feel it. For the blessing of health, I am thankful.

I cannot touch freedom, but I can feel it. I cannot touch the gratitude I have for the men and women that served and are serving in the U.S. military, but I hope they can feel how thankful I am for their commitment. Nor can I touch the security I feel because so many brave individuals have decided to pursue a professional career as a law enforcement officer, emergency medical technician or as firemen. For a secure feeling, I am thankful.

I cannot touch God, but I can feel His Spirit in me. For the Holy Ghost I am grateful and one day I know my God will call me home to touch His loving face. 

For the Blessed Hope, I am thankful.

Fried Chicken and Vacuum Cleaners

Consider Harland Sanders and James Dyson.

These visionary and creative individuals enjoyed monstrous success in industries already filled with monstrous successes. If you had asked the public, prior to these individuals introducing their new ideas to their respective and established markets, if the world needed more fried chicken or another vacuum cleaner the majority would have likely said, absolutely not.

Although he probably never said it, Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent office in 1889 is accused of saying; "that everything that can be invented, has been invented." However unlikely it is that this is an accurate statement, it accurately represents the attitude of too many people. These are the people that see no reason to improve or reinvent anything. If it ain't broke..... Why not consider breaking it, just a bit!

Colonel Harland Sanders and James Dyson saw their industries and their opportunities differently. Where others saw the present as adequate, these visionaries saw things that were not, as if they were.

Colonel Sanders knew he had a great idea in his unique blend of spices used to enhance the flavor of fried chicken. He called on over a thousand restaurants before someone said they would try his idea.
(He was in his mid 60's when he started!)

James Dyson was already an accomplished inventor when one day he saw a giant cyclone mechanical device that was used to remove sawdust from a lumber yard processing facility and wondered if the same principles could be used in a vacuum cleaner. Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, he had an incredible machine that had no bags and did not lose suction.

The original Kentucky Fried Chicken has been a massive success and if you have every used a Tyson vacuum cleaner, you know why the company is so very successful.

Does your industry need a new innovative idea? Don't just accept things the way they are, just because they are that way. You can't afford to wait on someone else. Many very innovative and monstrous ideas originated from people just like you and are basically minor improvements to an already existing product or service. Consider fried chicken and vacuum cleaners, think differently and take a bite out of the status quo.

Tactics

The United States Army has learned, by virtue of countless experiences, how to tactically attack the enemy. Many of these battle tested tactics, have not changed significantly over many, many years. They remain unchanged for one very simple reason. They work.

The technology has really changed. Weapons that used to be somewhat accurate are now more technically advanced and these technological advances have made these soldiers and the weapons they use far more effective.

Soldiers in the Army are highly trained on how to use the established and successful tactics and how to accurately use the sophisticated weaponry. The mix of established tactics and modern day weaponry is incredibly effective.

And so it should be in sales. There are established sales tactics that must be adhered to in order to achieve the desired results. Simply because there are a million "shiny new digital toys" in your industry does not give you permission to abandon selling tactics that are battle tested.

New technology can be powerfully seductive and has lead many organizations down the yellow brick road only to find that the bricks are crumbling beneath their hurried feet. They replaced common sense methods with uncommon abandonment of logical and methodical processes and there is always a price to pay. Sales fundamental tactics are labeled as such because they (dare I say it) are tactically fundamental to your success.

Learning the new technology, products and services will empower you to help your clients, when it makes sense for the client. Doing so at the expense of successful tactics and proven products, will likely delay and absolutely subvert the process.