Stepping over Dollars to Pick Up Dimes

Recent Facebook posts have depicted many many reflective and spiritual statements and graphics.  Some thanked God for being able to get out of bed this morning. Others were thankful that God let them live this far unto their lives. Still others were just happy to have survived a recent life threatening physical tragedy or emotionally painful event. 

These very same people, no doubt, have businesses, work for companies or teach, lawyer account for and doctor other people. Do  they carry their spirituality to their chosen work lives? 

I would like to think the answer is a resounding “Yes.”  However; I have seen far fewer Facebook posts about the same thankfulness they show for each other than they might show for their business…and thus their customers.

Because when you have a business, it’s about satisfying the customer, exceeding his or her expectations and, if we recognized this more frequently - almost in a spiritual way - we wouldn’t need the thousands of customer service training classes, remedial training and just common sense training that is so pervasive in the business community today. 

Here is a recent example of making it hard to do business.

I was preparing to celebrate my wife’s birthday, a fairly significant number, may I add, and used the “Open Table” on line service.  All went smooth until I decided to call the restaurant. I dialed up the noted establishment and spoke to the maître d. I pleasantly asked her if I could bring a cake since my wife’s best friend had been baking birthday cakes for her, lo these many years, for umpteen years and could we continue the tradition.  

She answered, "absolutely…not!"  I was astounded and asked her to reconsider. She then responded that “we sell birthday cakes for $100 or $10 a slice. Since I was expecting a dozen or so people, I was getting annoyed with her attitude and suggested that I might take my business elsewhere if she didn’t deliver some satisfactory answers. 

She simply said, “Fine, should I cancel your reservation?”  “Let me speak to the manager”, I said.” “I am the manager", she said. In one swift movement, I hung up the phone and made a reservation somewhere else where, several days later, we were joyously received and I was able to bring my wife's birthday cake to the celebration.

Now how spiritual was this woman in her business? How much did she really care about her customers? How much did she empathize with me? How much did she put herself in my shoes? How much did she really appreciate the fact that I was willing to be her customer and if I had a good time, I would recommend the establishment to my friends. How much did she care about being spiritual and kind in her business? Not at all.  She blew off a fairly expensive dinner for 12; revenue her establishment would have received over “a silly policy” issue.

If you think this is a rare occasion, fly 100,000 miles a year with me and find out about the "unfriendly skies." Or try to return a product you bought on line, even if it had a 100% money back guarantee.  Good luck finding a phone number or a process to send it back.

These silly policy issues, all too often, put a lot of pressure on front line people to defend the owner's decisions.  Intuitively they know that your policies just, "ain't right."  

Lots of turnover, recently?  Could be a sign that your employees were always playing defense over your unfriendly policies, never getting a chance to do the right thing and deciding to find a better place to earn their wages. Check yourself if you like finding people doing something wrong as opposed to doing something right.

So why do we do these things? Simply because it was marginally better for the owner and not necessarily for the customer. What will happen to their business when loyal customers wake up and realize that, if they can't get from your establishment what they can easily obtain from other establishments, they will eventually choose a competitor's products or services, switch allegiances and never return to your establishment or buy your service again.

Please, please  think about if you are doing anything to make it harder for your customer to buy your product or service.  Try to be your customer for a few days and see what is making them, perhaps, "not like you as much as they used to."  Just look at your sales and see if they have been steadily eroding? Is that a sign of something that you can fix and not "the economy."

 

Nevertheless, I suspect that the manager with whom I spoke to at the first restaurant, in her private life, might very well be a spiritual and generous soul. Let us hope.

And that’s why I am never going to go to Ninos Restaurant at 1354 1^st Avenue ( 1^st avenue and 72^nd street in NYC. 

 Sometimes we step over dollars to pick up dimes.

Running To Daylight

With the July 4^th weekend now over, many of us are still working our centers,  hoping for a little rain and  some open play bowling gains. Yet, some of us have closed based upon past results. Whichever category you fall, the hard truth is  "NOW" starts the “fall league flooring season.” 

From here to the start of the season is about 6 to 8 weeks (42 to 56 days); not a lot of time to do all that needs to be done

I’m not going to dwell on all you need to do starting with:  (just some examples) but want to talk about some new methods you can think about which have borne fruit in the past:

·      calling last season’s league bowlers

·      calling secretaries

·      contacting dropouts

·      holding league meetings

·      establishing league benefits

·      speaking to summer bowlers

·      selling open play summer bowlers

·      selling Kids Bowl Fee parents and kids

·      making sure you have short season leagues in place

·      emailing, Facebook, twitter – the whole social media campaign

·      referral programs

·      employee incentives

·      direct mail

Here are a couple of ideas to think about right now and implement tomorrow:

1.       Invite those corporate party people you last saw in December for a FREE awesome August bowling party. Send emails, text messages and then direct mail. And finally call them. You will get lots of food and beverage income plus the opportunity to talk with them about 8 or 10 week or an every other week bowling party league. Remind them that it doesn’t have to be the same people on each team every night.

2.      Do a sales blitz against local stores in your market and invite them in on one or two available nights of free bowling from 6pm to midnight.  Just bring in their coupon that you delivered or get their email and send it that way.  This sets up a selling situation to sell a short have a ball league for 8 or 10 weeks either at 630pm or 930pm depending on their hours. Hit at least 100 stores.

3.      Set up a few band nights the last two weekends in August and invite appropriate age demos (that match the band’s music) to come into the center for $5.  Bowling is extra.  Have a great short season league ready to sell these folks that include music, bowling equipment and maybe tickets to a concert in your home town or close to your town.

4.     Host a fund raiser with the animal shelter and use your venue to raise money for the shelter. Advertise this on local radio and or cable TV. Have the animal shelter email their “donors” and let people bring their dogs to the center and host a dog contest OUTSIDE OF THE CENTER. Have a fund raiser league for the animal shelter for 10 to 12 weeks or every other week or even once a month

Keep thinking about new ideas.  Because in today’s environment you have to exceed the  customer's expectation…every time.

Did You Know?

1- Did you know that with all the hoopla about the new digital world we live in, people are still spending more time watching Television than they
spend on the internet and most of the time they spend on the internet is...watching television?!?!?

2- Did you know that it is more important to ask an employee "what did you learn" than to find out if he was successful.  Focusing on winning, accountability and all that good stuff is certainly important, but it is even more important that you find out what the employee learned while doing her assignment so you can document and share that with other employees.