An Experience of a Life-Time

My wife Patty and I spent almost all of April on a vacation in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore. Eighteen days were spent on board The Crystal Symphony cruise ship. Crystal is and up-scale, up-service and up-priced cruise line. Fares are at least double Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, etc.

If you’re smart, you’re NOT trying to be the lowest priced alternative in your business in your market. That’s a great way to go out-of-business.

While you don’t necessarily need to be the most expensive choice, you should be offering a premium product or service and giving exceptional customer service that warrants a premium price.

When you deliver a premium product or service
to your customer it’s hard for them to go back to ordinary

Note that word experience in the title of this article.

I’ve been on about eight cruises and I’ve enjoyed them all, but NONE was close to the emotional experience of Crystal.

Can you make what you do an emotional experience?

Go to the internet. Google Louis Armstrong’s, “What a Wonderful World” and start playing it now.

Picture this. You grew up in a lower income family. Vacations were great. You loved them. You got to see your cousins, every year.

I certainly never pictured myself on a luxury cruise ship in Bali, Indonesia.

You’ve been aboard for seven days now. You’ve been served by wonderful people from all over the globe. People who learn your name, find out something special about you, know when it’s time for you to switch from iced tea to a martini, ask where your brother and his wife are when they don’t see them with you, people who give you a sincere smile that shines from their entire face.

You’ve just had a wonderful time ashore discovering a exotic new land. You’re dressing for a casual dinner. You realize you’re leaving port so you step out onto your balcony as the sun sets and you hear Louis Armstrong’s, “What a Wonderful World” playing over the ships speakers.

“I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world”

Now you hear a winsome single cry from the ships fog horn.

By the time we left our last port, everyone was outside to hear Louis Armstrong and wiping away tears. No one on that cruise will ever hear that song again and not think of their Crystal Cruise.

The ship’s captain said it well on the last night with an old Irish toast.

Here’s to tall ships.
Here’s to small ships.
Here’s to all the ships on the sea.
But the best ships are friendships so
Here’s to you and ME!
Until we meet again.

And yes, we made new friends. With only 850 passengers, verses up to 6,680 on the biggest ships it was easy to meet people. We plan to visit Willie and Elaine Montgomery in Ireland in two years.

Yes, Crystal does some BIG things that help build that emotional experience. Their ships are smaller. Their food is 5 star every night. You can dine in the main dining room, or four specialty restaurants, and not pay extra (OK, you paid thousands EXTRA up front – but don’t miss the free specialty restaurants). You get free premium alcohol (free?).

But the reality is, it’s the little things that made the emotional difference. The waiters in the restaurants. The servers by the pool and lounges. The maids! The maître d’ who knew your name by day two, knew waiter and table you wanted, and then joked with you when he saw you at specialty restaurant rather than his main dining room.

What did it cost to play Louis Armstrong over the ships intercom – nothing?

What did it cost for the captain to give his wonderful toast – nothing?

What does it cost to hire and train staff the delivers Make-You-Happy Customer Service? Yep, there is a cost for this, but I contend hiring and training to deliver exceptional customer service has the biggest cost benefit ratio of anything you can do.

Click here and discover how to create customer service so good that people come back time and time again and enthusiastically tell other about you.

We Messed Up FAR TOO OFTEN

I became a customer service GEEK in 1981 when I read Tom Peters and Robert Waterman’s book, In Search of Excellence.  I was then thrilled to hear they made a documentary on the book and it was going to be shown on PBS.  I recorded the show onto my VHS.

Every employee I’ve had (that’s well over 300) since then has watches the customer service sections of that documentary.  Since I wore out my recording, I eventually bought the VHS and then the DVD.

From 1981 on, we were REALLY GOOD at listening to our clients, putting ourselves into every client interaction and make things right when we messed up.

By 1991, we had grown dramatically, and while we did a great job of making things right when we messed up, we messed up far too often.  We wasted a bunch of time and money fixing things and I was totally burned out being the know- it-all King Solomon.

I had become a slave to my business.  It seemed like I was always responding to things and taking care of problems.  I had no time for myself.  It was not fun.

I decided I didn’t want my business to grow anymore.  It seemed like the only things that grew as fast as my business were my headaches, and I sure as heck didn’t want any more employees… talk about headaches.  I might as well have been a babysitter.  I in fact, considered throwing in the towel and going back into sales.

Happily, that wasn’t the end of the story.

By 2005 I owned 5 profitable businesses and loved what I did.

But what happened?

How did I go from a guy who didn’t want to expand his business, who had more headaches than he could handle, to a guy whose business has grown dramatically, added four more businesses, loves his work, has the time he wants to spend with his wife, kids, and grandkids, has time for his many hobbies, and recently sold that original business for millions more than like businesses?

Now, since 1995, when I go on vacation, I never get interrupted.  I come back refreshed and excited to get back to work.  Instead of problems, I come back to a business running as well, or better, than when I left.

Before I sold my big business, I went on a 3-week Mediterranean cruise, with no cell phone and no email.  I told my Vice President of Operations the ship I was on, and I told her “You’ll have to figure out how to get in touch with me if you need me.”  I knew she wouldn’t need me.  Like I said, since around 1995 when I go on vacation, I never get interrupted.

How does the business get better while you’re gone?

It’s the system.  The entire system is designed for continuous improvement whether you’re there or not.

I invented THE small business management system that made me more money, made my job infinitely easier and more enjoyable… a system that our employees love and in fact led to us being named “The Best Small Business to Work for in Washington State” by Washington CEO Magazine.

It’s a system that creates great clients who love doing business with you.  At the same time it gives you, the owner, more time to work on the important things in your business: more time for your family, more time for your friends, more time for yourself and it is simply a lot more fun.

What they teach in business school doesn’t work for small businesses – I know, I’m and business school graduate.  I was using that crap when I was burned out!

Do you think this system just might work for you?  Frankly, it’s not right for everyone, so why don’t you schedule a free 30 minute consultation with me to see if it will work for you.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to sell you anything.  We’ll simply have a conversation.  If it’s not right for you, it’s not right.  I’ll learn about you.  You’ll learn about me.  We’ll still stay in touch and remain friends.

Go here to pick a time to schedule our 30 minute consultation https://keith12.youcanbook.me/

Stay in Shape and Live Your Bucket List NOW

I was talking with Grant Miller, the owner of Sun Your Buns Tanning Salons in Eire, Pennsylvania, about the Make-You-Happy Management System before I brought it to market and he said, “You’re showing business owners how to ‘Live Their Bucket List Now.'”  Hench, the name of this newsletter.

In living your bucket list I suggest you have at least one bucket list item tied to your health.  With that, instead of eating right and exercise to just stay healthy, you’re eating right and exercise to achieve something specific on your bucket list.

Here’s an example.  We live on a lake in the Seattle area and I’ve been a pretty good water skier since I was in my early teens.  One of the things on my bucket list was to water ski a hard, good, strong slalom run on my 60th birthday.

That meant I needed to stay somewhat flexible, and maintain my upper and lower body in good shape.

In July I crossed “ski a hard, good, strong slalom run on my 60th birthday” off my bucket list.

So now I can relax, and let myself go right… NOT!

My next ‘staying in shape’ bullet list item is, ‘ski (snow) Exterminator, hard and strong with my grandson, Carson.’

Exterminator is called exterminator for a reason.  It is STEEP.  It will be about 8 years before Carson can safely ski Exterminor.  That means I’m going to have to stay in great shape until I’m 68.

But Wait, There’s More…

Whitney turns 2 next year, so it will be time for her to start skiing and of course, I need to ski Exterminator with her too.  So… I’m going to need to stay in great shape until I’m 71, so I can ski Exterminator hard and strong with her!

Learn how to live your bucket list now when your read my book, “How to Control Your Business and Your Life.”

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), How to Control Your Business and your Life, Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

All Wealth is Based on Systems

All Wealth is Based on Systems

My friend and mentor Dan Kennedy says, “All Wealth is Based on Systems”

When it’s time to sell your business, what is it worth if you’re critical to it?  Not much!

What if you’re not only, not critical, but the business gets better whether you’re there or not?  What is your business worth now when it’s time to sell?  You know the answer.

When you get Buy-In from your team, have Systems in place for everything you do, an effective Performance Feedback System, and Systems to consistently deliver world class customer service your business will improve whether you’re there or not.

The goal I have with all of my clients is to make them irrelevant to the day-to-day, then week-to-week, and then month-to-month operations of their business, so they can create real wealth.

A few years ago I went on a three-week Mediterranean cruise.  When I left I told our operations manager what cruise line I was on, and the ship, that’s it.

I knew I wasn’t going to get a phone call.  That’s why I didn’t need to worry about giving her any more information, or getting an international phone number for three weeks.  For the last 20 years, while on vacation, I’ve never gotten a phone call from work.  That’s the freedom you get when you have the proper Systems in place.

But what’s even better than no phone calls, is that when I got back, the business was running better than when I left.  When you have the right systems in place, that’s what happens.

In the E-Myth Revisited Michael Gerber says,

“Let systems run the business and people run the systems.  People come and go but systems remain constant.”

One of the reasons systems give you true freedom is that when you have the right systems in place, and you have turn over in your business, things continue to get better rather than having to learn everything all over again.

When you hire someone, over time, the knowledge the person has at that job rises.

Without Systems (everything in writing) what happens when they leave?  The knowledge is gone and someone is back to training the new person one-on-one in everything that needs to be done.

Over-time you’re lucky if you make any progress.

But what if you have systems?  That is, written documentation for everything that the person does.  What happens to knowledge when someone leaves and you have systems?

It’s that simple.  When they leave, and everything they do is documented, how hard is it to replace the person and get the new person up to speed?  Just think of the amount of time you’ll save.

Watch this hour long video to Discover You Can Create The Systems You Need to Become Wealthy:

Exposed!!! Owner of Company Named, “Best Business To Work For In Washington State” is a “Ruthless Manager

It was reported today that Keith Lee, the owner of American Retail Supply, which was named the Best Small Business to Work for in Washington State by Washington CEO Magazine is a Ruthless Manager.

How is that?  How can the owner of the company named “The Best Small Business to Work for in Washington State” now be revealed as the co-author of the New Edition of No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits?

It was revealed today that Dan Kennedy, the author of numerous No B.S. books, chose Keith Lee as the co-author for his newest edition of No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits.

Our intrepid reporter, Lois Lane, caught up with Mr. Lee as he was sneaking into his office today and asked him how he could head the Best Business to Work for in Washington State and be a Ruthless Manager.

Mr. Lee replied… “I don’t choose the names for Mr. Kennedy’s books, and Dan and I don’t agree on everything, but when it comes to managing a business and the people in it; we agree much more than we disagree.”

Keith pointed to page 14 in the No B.S. book where Dan Kennedy writes about business owners, “And one thing they all have in common: gripes, complaints, disappointments, frustrations, pain and agony with regard to their employees.  Much of this has to do with unreasonable expectations and a misunderstanding of the actual nature of employer-employee relationships.  Some of it lies squarely at the fault of the business owner for failing in one or more of the Three Requirements for Having Employees: Leadership, Management, Supervision.”

Mr. Lee continued, “While I don’t think the nature of the employer-employee relationship need be as adversarial as Dan, the expectations and the nature of the relationship needs to be addressed during the employees’ first day of employment.  With our DVD training business owners who use our Make-You-Happy Management System set those expectations during the first hour of employment.”

Mr. Lee agrees wholeheartedly with Mr. Kennedy’s statement that business owners failing in one or more of the Three Requirements for Having Employees is the cause of many of their headaches.

Mr. Lee says, “Business owners usually lead, manage and supervise as they were led, managed and supervised, or how they learned in business school; neither of which work very well.”

Performance Reviews Suck

Mr. Lee pointed to Performance Management.  Every business owner knows that they need a Performance Management System but the only type of system they know about is Performance Reviews and they know that Performance Reviews Suck.  With this the business owner continues with Performance Reviews knowing that they suck, or they stop them altogether, and are left with no Performance Management System.

Mr. Lee informed this reporter than Dan Kennedy agrees that Performance Reviews are “like looking in your rearview mirror to drive your car.”  Mr. Kennedy’s tells the story of how the late Mike Vance, who worked personally with Walt Disney on the original Disney University and other projects, laughed and scoffed at standardized annual or quarterly ‘performance reviews.”

Mr. Lee’s management system replaces Performance Reviews with Personal Development Interviews.

Mr. Lee went on to explain.  “Just listen to what they’re called.  Which would you rather give… a Performance Review or a Personal Development Interview?  Would you rather review someone’s performance, or develop someone?

What if you’re on the receiving end?  Would you like your performance reviewed or would you rather have someone work proactively to develop you?

Which do you think gets better results, developing people and coaching them or reviewing their performance after the fact?

Traditional management focuses on catching people doing things wrong.  If every time I do something wrong the boss catches me, but he doesn’t catch me when I do things right, my creativity is stymied and I stop using my creativity, stop stepping out front, and stop helping the organization grow by using my creativity.

Conversely, when we start catching people doing things right, we encourage empowerment.  People start to do things in the organization.  Productivity improves on an ongoing basis.  Improvement doesn’t just come from management but from the whole organization interacting with each other and picking each other up.  The organization is permeated with a motivating environment.

Another benefit of this type of management is you create a learning organization.  Researchers tell us that as we move forward, people are going to stay with organizations where they have an opportunity to grow and learn.  There are going to be many more skilled positions than there are people to fill them.  And if there are a lot of skilled positions and not enough people to fill them, money isn’t going to make the difference.  Money is going to be a given.  You’re going to have to pay in the competitive market to get good people.  But they want to work in a place where they can grow, where they can enjoy themselves, where they can use their creativity to help the organization grow, and that happens in a learning organization.  That’s exactly why my company, American Retail Supply was named the Best Company to Work for in Washington, by Washington CEO Magazine.”

You can get Keith’s hardcopy book (not an e-book), How to Control Your Business and your Life, Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

Leading & Motivating by Brian Tracy

*Note from Keith:

Brian Tracy is an absolute living legend.  Brian’s goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined.  His exciting talks and seminars on Leadership, Selling, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity and Success Psychology bring about immediate changes and long-term results, and you can bet his articles will inspire the same in YOU to bring about huge, long-term success.

Here is an article from Brian Tracy that reinforces the principles in the Make-You-Happy Management System.

Leading and Motivating

By Brian Tracy

It’s been said that Leadership is not what you do, but who you are.  This, however, is only partially true.  Leadership is very much who you are, but it cannot be divorced from what you do.  Who you are represents the inner person, and what you do represents the outer person.  Each is dependent on the other for maximum effectiveness.

The starting point of motivational leadership is to begin seeing yourself as a role model, seeing yourself as an example to others.  A key characteristic of leaders is that they set high standards of accountability for themselves and for their behaviors.  They assume that other are watching them and then setting their own standards by what they do.  In business, there are several kinds of power.  Two of these are position power and ascribed power.

Position power is the power that comes with a job title or position in any organization. If you become a manager in a company, you automatically have certain powers and privileges that go along with your rank.  You can order people about and make certain decisions.  You can be a leader whether or not anyone likes you.

Ascribed power is the power you gain because of the kind of person you are.  In every organization, there are people who are inordinately influential and looked up to by others, even though their positions may not be high up on the organizational chart.  These are the men and women who are genuine leaders because of the quality of the people they have become, because of their characters and their personalities.

Over the years, we have been led to believe that leaders are those who stride boldly about, exude power and confidence, tive orders for others to carry out.  However, that is old school.  The leader of today is the one who asks questions, listens carefully, plans diligently and then builds consensus among all those who are necessary for achieving the goals.  The leader does not try to do it by himself or herself.  The leader gets things done by helping others to do them.

This brings us to five of the qualities that you already have to a certain degree and that you can develop further to stand out from the people around you in a very short period of time.

The first quality is vision.

This is the one single quality that, more than anything separates leaders from followers.  Leaders have vision.  Followers do not. Leaders have the ability to stand back and see the big picture.  Followers are caught up in day-to-day activities.  Leaders have developed the ability to fix their eyes on the horizon and see greater possibilities.  Followers are those whose eyes are fixed on the ground in front of them and who are so busy that they seldom look at themselves and their activities in a larger context.

The most motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to “Be the best!”  Many people don’t yet realize that excellent performance in serving other people is an absolute basic essential for survival in the economy of the future.  Many individuals and companies still adhere to the idea that as long as they are no worse than anyone else, they can remain in business.  That is just plain silly!  It is prehistoric thinking.  We are now in the age of excellence.  Customers assume that they will get excellent quality, and if they don’t, they will go to your competitors so fast, people’s heads will spin.

The second quality, which is perhaps the single most respected quality of leaders, is integrity.

Integrity is complete, unflinching honesty with regard to everything that you say and do.  Integrity underlies all the other qualities.  Your measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life.

Integrity means this: When someone asks you at the end of the day, “Did you do your very best?” you can look him in the eye and say, “Yes!”  Integrity means this: When someone asks you if you could’ve done better, you can honestly say, “No, I did everything I possibly could.”

Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings.  It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.  Integrity means that you tell the truth, and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships.  Integrity means that you deal straightforwardly with people and situations and that you do not compromise what you believe to be true.

The third quality is courage.

It is the chief distinguishing characteristic of the true leader.  It is almost always visible in the leader’s words and actions.  It is absolutely indispensable to success, happiness and the ability to motivate other people to be the best they can be.

In a way, it is easy to develop a big vision for yourself and for the person you want to be.  It is easy to commit yourself to living with complete integrity.  But it requires incredible courage to follow through on your vision and on your commitments.  You see, as soon as you set a high goal or standard for yourself, you will run into all kinds of difficulties and setbacks.  You will be surrounded by temptations to compromise your values and your vision.  You will feel an almost irresistible urge to “get along by going along.”  Your desire to earn the respect and cooperation of others can easily lead to the abandonment of your principles, and here is where courage comes in.

The forth quality of motivational leadership is realism.

Realism is a form of intellectual honesty.  The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes it were.  This objectivity, this refusal to engage in self-delusion, is a mark of the true leader.

Those who exhibit the quality of realism do not trust to luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems will go away by themselves.  These all are examples of self-delusion, of living in a fantasyland.

The motivational leader insists on seeing things exactly as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way. As a motivational leader, you get the facts, whatever they are.  You deal with people honestly and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth.  This doesn’t mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing the truth in the best way you know how.

The fifth quality of motivational leadership is responsibility.

This is perhaps the hardest of all to develop.  The acceptance of responsibility means that, as Harry Truman said, “The buck stops here.”

The game of life is very competitive.  Sometimes, great success and great failure are separated by a very small distance.  In watching the playoffs in basketball, baseball, and football, we see htat the winner can be decided by a single point, and that single point can rest on a single action or inaction, on that part of a single team member at a critical part of the game.

Life is very much like competitive sports.  Very small things that you do, or don’t do, can either give you the edge that leads to victory or take away your edge at the critical moment.  This principle is especially true with regard to accepting responsibility for yourself and for everything that happens to you.

You become a motivational leader by motivating yourself.  And you motivate yourself by striving toward excellence, by committing yourself to becoming everything you are capable of becoming.  You motivate yourself by throwing your whole heart into doing your job in an excellent fashion.  You motivate yourself and others by continually looking for ways to help others to improve their lives and achieve their goals.  You become a motivational leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.

Your main job is to take complete control of your personal evolution and become a leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.

Brian Tracy is legendary in the fields of Management, Leadership, and Sales.  He has produced more than 300 audio/video programs and has written over 40 books.  www.BrianTracy.com

Beating The Odds – Part 2

Beating The Odds – Part 2

We’re picking up our conversation on one of our great clients at American Retail Supply, McLendon’s Hardware, which has seven locations throughout the Seattle area.  To review part one, refer to the last blog post (Beating The Odds).

Competition Makes Them Better

I’ve done a lot of research over the years on how to compete with the national chains.  I’ve been sharing that information with my clients in my monthly newsletter for 21 years and my bi-weekly email retail tip since 2004.  In my research I found that those companies that survive and thrive look at the new competition as a challenge to get better themselves.  McLendon’s has done this also.

For years McLendon’s knew they should be looking into better automating their inventory and point-of-sale computer system.  When the retail giants came to town they made the investment in their future but also were sure to invest in new software that really helped them stay focused on their customers and not allowing the software to take away from their exceptional customer service.

Other areas in which McLendon feels the competition has made them better are display, advertising and pricing.  McLendon says, “We never really concentrated on end caps other than to put things on them.  Now we have a person in every store hire just to do that.”

McLendon’s realizes that with the big guys right down the street they need to be much more aware of price competition so they can be seen as having “good” prices.  Their advertising person consistently pushes to have “hot buys” in their ads.

What can you learn from the competition to make you better?

Variable Pricing Structure

McLendon refers to his variable pricing structure as A item, B item, C item pricing.  “A” items are very competitive, commodity items, that everyone uses and everyone knows the price.  McLendon knows his prices must be “good” on these items.  They don’t need to be the same or lower than the retail giants, but they need to be very close.  “B” and “C” items are not as competitively priced and the company can get better markups.  Sadly, too many independent retailers refuse to accept this type of pricing strategy.

Buy Right

McLendon’s, like many who compete well with the mass merchandisers, is a member of a buying group.  They buy a lot of their product though True Value.  With the exception of direct import items, McLendon feels their costs are in line with the retail giants.  But he believes the retail giants often get advertising allowances that he does not get.

Don’t Compete Directly With the Retail Giants

McLendon’s knows their niche-huge selection and great service.  In addition, McLendon’s now very carefully considers location as a niche when opening a new store.  When opening a new store McLendon asks, “Is it their market?”

The retail giants in the hardware business like to be near freeways and locations that attract large number of people.  McLendon’s looks for a niche that is not close to freeways, has a good population base, but isn’t a place that the retail giants are likely to put a store that requires a huge population to support.

This is huge.  How can you position your product and/or services to go where the competition ain’t?

Brand Names

A strategy retailers like to use to compete with the retail giants is to carry brands that the giants don’t carry.  In the past, McLendon’s tried to carry brands that the big guy didn’t carry.  With the number of competitors now in the market, and the huge popularity of a few brands in the hardware business, that strategy doesn’t really work.  As a whole, McLendon’s tends to carry quality brand products.

Hours of Operation

Historically hours of operation for McLendon’s shows the company’s long roots and reflect the work ethic in the community – early to bed, early to rise. The company has always opened early and closed early.  Today they’re finding they need to extend those hours.

Store used to close on Sundays.  Today, Sunday is the company’s second busiest day of the week.  McLendon’s stores used to close at 6:00 PM.  Now they close at 8:00.

Temporary Sales Decline

McLendon’s has found that retail giants moving into their market is a cause for concern and an opportunity to improve, but it is not a cause for panic.

Like retailers across the country, McLendon’s has found that stores sales drop somewhat when a retail giant opens a store close to McLendon’s.  but like many independents, McLendon finds that within nine months sales are back to where they were before and growing… maybe not growing as fast as they did before the big guys moved in, but growing.

You Can Thrive

Mike McLendon and McLendon’s Hardware have proven that yes, you can thrive in the shadow of the retail giants and compete with them, but not directly against them.  McLendon’s focuses on a broad product line, great customer service, and a niche location to not only survive, but thrive in the shadow of retail giants.

Discover more ways to improve your business by requesting one of my free books: How to Control Your Business and Your Life and The Happy Customer Handbook

by Keith Lee

Beating The Odds

No matter what business you’re in, you likely have competition from a discounter, national chain, huge franchise, or something along those lines.  Regardless of the competition or the industry we can all learn from those who survive and are thriving in the face of this competition.  This article is about one of those businesses who are beating the odds and what you can learn from them.

You might know that I own American Retail Supply (www.AmericanRetailSupply.com) We provide independent retailers with the things they need to run their stores – the bags they give you, displays, fixtures, marking equipment, point-of-sale computer system, etc.

Let me ask you a few questions. Think back 20 years, or even 10.  How many independent drug stores do you see now versus 20 years ago?  Pet stores?  Department Stores?  Office supply stores?  Hardware stores?  The list goes on and on, and the answer is the same:  NOT MANY.

In those 20 years, while the market has shrunk dramatically, our sales at American Retail Supply have grown more than 10 times.  But this month’s article is not about my business, it’s about one of our clients who has beaten the odds and huge competition from the “BIG GUYS” and not only survived, but thrived.

McLendon Hardware opened in 1926.  Today they have 7 stores and continue to grow while Home Depot and Lowes blanket the market area with new stores.  At the same time that the entry of these retail giants forced the biggest regional hardware chain into bankruptcy, McLendon’s continues to thrive and open new stores.

How do they do it?  How does McLendon’s Hardware continue to grow, survive, and thrive while the old leader in the market has gone bankrupt?  I interviewed the president of McLendon Hardware, Mike McLendon, a few years ago to find their secrets, and you can use these same secrets to thrive in your market place.  Throughout this article I’ll use italics to ask you questions about using the ideas previously discussed in your business.

Find a Niche and Fill It

McLendon’s niche hasn’t changed in 87 years… Their niche – SERVICE, SELECTION, and LOCATION.

McLendon says they see themselves as being more family oriented than their competition.  That makes sense coming from an 87 year-old family business.  McLendon says, “People come to a hardware store because they have a problem, and they want to be able to go home and fix the problem themselves.  And they want to be able to understand something about the problem.  That’s one of the reasons we stay in business.  People think we can help them with their problem, they get the solution, go home and fix it, and they’re happy.”

Seems kind of simple, right?  Give your niche what they want.  McLendon’s wide breadth of products and friendly, helpful staff, insures that customers go home with solutions that make them happy!

What makes you different?  As my mentor Dan Kennedy says, “Why should someone do business with you versus every other option in your business category?” 

I shop at McLendon’s Hardware.  Here are just a few examples of their selection and great service.

I had a chip in my bathroom sink that I wanted to repair.  I went to the national chain about a half mile from my house.  They had one color – white.  My sink is cream.  I drove 5 more miles to McLendon’s.  They had the exact color match and 50 other colors!

What do you offer that your clients can’t get from the competition?

I needed a Philips head screw driver bit for my power drill.  I went down to McLendon’s, and like always quickly found someone to help me.  She suggested a bit and then said, “Here, try this one also.  We just got them in.  You can have it for free.  Let me know what you think of it.” Are you kidding me?!?!

It really is the little things.  What can you do to surprise and delight your clients with the little things?

I traced a leak in my hot water tank to the flexible copper tubing water inlet hose.  I took the old hose to McLendon’s where again someone was ready to help me.  Instead of just handing me the hose and letting me go, the sales person took an extra 30 seconds to tell me exactly how to install the hose.  His information made the job much easier and the repair will last longer.

What information, education, expert advice can you give to you clients that your competition doesn’t?

I’ve learned my lesson.  I now drive right past the national chain and go a few more miles to McLendon every time.  For me, McLendon is right on the mark.  When I go to other hardware stores, because it’s convenient, I often leave discouraged.  When I go to McLendon’s I go home with the solution to my problem.  McLendon tells me he often hears customers saying, “I should have just come here in the first place.”

What can you do to create loyal customers who, even if more convenient, don’t even think about going somewhere else?

Finding Good People

With the national chains coming into town, finding and keeping god employees has become a bigger challenge.  The big guys can often afford to pay more.  But McLendon’s relies on great help to send customers home with solutions.  How do they do that?

McLendon’s attracts employees who want to be more than just a clerk.  Trades people are attracted to McLendon’s.  They have a tool guy who was a contractor and didn’t want to be a contractor anymore.  He likes his job, he likes the people, and he gets the regular hours he wanted.

A journeyman electrician hurt his back and couldn’t work as an electrician, so now he works at McLendon’s.

The new store manager at the Kent store started at McLendon’s when he was in high school.  McLendon finds that people may leave the company to go to work for a new competitor, but they often come back to McLendon’s.

What can you do to attract the kind of employees you want, and will give your customers Out-Nordstrom Nordstrom Customer Service, without having to pay premium wages?

There’s more to this article, but you’re going to have to wait until part 2 of this series next month when I reveal the six core strategies McLendon’s is using to not only survive in the shadow of the retail giants, but thrive.  Stay tuned!

See how the Out-Nordstrom Nordstrom Customer Service System can help you

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Find out more about the Make-You-Happy Management System

Temptations by Dan Kennedy

Dan Kennedy

Intro given by Keith Lee

Dan Kennedy is not only the leading expert in Marketing; he is the highest paid Copywriter in the world and is my personal mentor.  Everything Dan says to do, I do because I know what an impact it has had and will continue to have on my businesses.  If you are a small business owner looking to grow your business you’d be wrong to NOT listen to Dan.

Temptations by Dan Kennedy

Success and productivity are not the same things nor does maximum productivity necessarily translated to success. You might, for example, achieve a very high level of productivity at cold-calling prospecting and pushing through CEO’s doors in order to sell your services, but come to understand that you do not feel at all successful as a result; instead, perpetually stressed and anxious, demeaned by the ‘numbers game’ and the rejection; burnt-out…and come to realize you would have been better served devoting productive energy to building a marketing system that brought interested prospects to you.

As you set out to get a far stronger grip on your time, to enhance your performance, it’s important to be constantly assessing your reasons for doing so and the validity of the objectives you are pursuing and achieving.

Entrepreneurs tend to be under more constant assault than executives or others, so it is easier to lose grip on the thread that leads through the muddle to the prize. Prizes you don’t really want to get set up in front of you by others, and you race to get to them while losing the critical thinking that questions the appropriateness of the prize. This takes your time and invests it where it can’t get a desirable return. Entrepreneurs are, by conditioned habit, often by ingrained compulsion, perhaps even by nature Problem Solvers and Mountain Climbers. It’s what we do. But not every problem is one you need to solve or should care about solving. Not every mountain you are led to needs conquered by you.

My racehorses are incapable of critical thinking. They are bred and trained and conditioned nearly from birth to race. They are notable and fierce and automatic competitors. When I climb into the sulky and drive the horse to the track, get him moving behind the starting gate amongst the other horses, never, never, never does he stop and think—gee, maybe this is a race I don’t need to run. But you and I are capable of such critical thinking. We can reign ourselves in. As entrepreneurs, we are automatic competitors, automatic problem-solvers, automatic mountain climbers—but we are capable of overriding our automatic inclinations.

If you put a business problem or opportunity in front of a true entrepreneur, he automatically leaps upon it and begins solving it or capitalizing on it. He reacts as if a lion is thrown a hunk of raw, red meat. The lion will respond even if he has just had a big meal and is not hungry.

The entrepreneur will respond even if he has more on his plate than he can handle, no need to respond, no time to respond. In this way, entrepreneurs are dangerous to themselves.

You can reduce that danger with more disciplined time management. With entire weeks scheduled and scripted in advance, the new and unexpected must take a place in line, patiently wait, and instead of reacting impulsively, you can attend to it more calmly and thoughtfully. One of my principles is that nothing is ever as bad or as good as it initially appears. Before acting hastily based on first impressions, each new thing—problem or opportunity—must be carefully inspected.

Temptations by Dan Kennedy

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