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| Subject: Retail Processes Are Important | |
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Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
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Date Posted: 10:21:09 03/28/19 Thu Before getting into the discussion below from 2009, I'm clarifying why retail processes are important. You need superior service to compete with discount stores. Sometimes, people choose businesses based on confidence. You should inspire confidence by using knowledge & systems to guide people to select the best options. When people get their expected results, they'll have confidence to buy from you again. As you increase your reputation, you'll be more persuasive when you advertise. Use a solid reputation & statistics to persuade people to buy solutions instead of wishfully thinking they'll avoid problems. Tell people what'll happen without your offers to solve, mitigate & prevent problems. Explain how you reduce customers' risks more than discount stores. Make Your Business More Successful With Policies, Plans & Procedures Chet Holmes advised using 3 Ps: policies, plans & procedures to make businesses successful. A major reason for using 3 Ps is optimizing business practices. Those 3 Ps have various purposes & definitions. Now I'm focusing on producing value for customers. Policy: Deciding which results are valuable & requiring actions to produce & offer those results Plan: Organizing actions & resources to fulfill policy requirements Procedure/Process: Steps to fulfill plans When you develop optimal processes, you can avoid mistakes by using the same steps. You can produce quick, consistent results with smooth practiced processes, instead of making things up each time. Well-practiced processes become subconscious routines & increase in effectiveness & efficiency. Subconscious routines use less energy than conscious thoughts, so you can reduce stress & fatigue with processes. Steps in developing & finishing sales efforts are processes: order & store inventory, design ads & displays, then serve customers when they respond. You can use processes to show customers how to use products to produce & maintain results. Acquiring Processes This discussion (below) started with the issue of nascent processes. Refined processes become nascent when they're used in a different environment. It can be hard to determine if processes will fully satisfy a purpose until they're refined. So, you might need to keep nascent processes separate until you're finished testing. You can acquire processes by: 1) hiring employees or consultants; 2) buying businesses; 3) observation & 4) reading case studies. When you audition processes, you should consider these issues: Which results did the processes originally produce? Do those results fit customers' current conditions? When customers need slightly different results, you can adapt processes by adding &/or removing aspects. Which other (potential) problems can these processes prevent or solve? To solve different problems, you'll probably need to change steps &/or materials. Those changes can temporarily decrease the effectiveness & efficiency, so allow time for practice. Updating Your Store With Processes As Customers' Conditions Change As customers' conditions change, you can develop processes to adapt your store & services. Compare what customers usually buy for seasons with what they'll need for new solutions & improvements. You might prioritize inventory & services based on changes customers are least prepared for. Will previous products & services fulfill customers' evolving needs? Determine if you can prioritize inventory & services based on changes competitors are least qualified for. You should develop testing processes for sales methods, so you can track results & adopt what works. When you do it, you can optimally market new solutions & improvements. Processes, Tactics & Strategies Synonyms like tactic, process & method can be interchanged. I tried to avoid confusion. I've written about processes, tactics & strategies in other posts, so now I'm just focusing on developing tactical processes. Discount stores refine processes to reduce costs. Local retailers can reduce costs & create value with processes. In “Bottom-Up Marketing", Al Ries & Jack Trout described a strategy as a coherent marketing direction & encompassing coherent marketing activities & a tactic as an idea. Marketing mix activities must be coherently focused on the tactic. They used NyQuil as an example. The tactic was developing a nighttime cold remedy, which dictated the strategy of introducing NyQuil as a cold remedy. I've adapted that for retailing. Marketing tactics & strategies determine how products & services are offered. Customer service tactics & strategies should help customers get needed results with products & services. Processes should fulfill your strategic & tactical framework. Your marketing tactic can promise solutions for specific problem categories. Your marketing strategy can be compatible marketing activities to promote your tactic. In-store processes would help people find the best solution for a specific problem. Strategies set directions & activities for stores to serve customers. Tactics should show how stores, products & services are valuable for customers. Processes can apply that value by guiding customers. After promotions attract customers, processes can guide store staff & customers to combine products & services to produce benefits. Strategies can link processes & tactics, so customers recognize product & service value, so they buy benefits to gain results. Develop processes to diagnose customers' conditions to help customers choose products/services & plan improvement/solution projects. Diagnostic processes are ways to observe symptoms & ask questions to determine causes & effects. After a diagnosis, you can find ways to stop or mitigate causes & decrease or eliminate negative effects. You can use your product knowledge to determine what will solve problems & if solutions will also prevent problem recurrences. Customer Service Processes In the Performance Enhancement Quotient "PEQ" Program, Jay Abraham & Chet Holmes advised using strategies to make tactics more effective. Abraham & Holmes used retail examples. Jay Abraham said a retailer tested approaches like this: When people walked in, the store staff asked, "And what ad brought you into the store today?" Jay said, "That produced 300% more ultimate sales. You won't know what's going to work masterfully unless you test." This is an edited example from Chet Holmes: I'm the salesman in this store & I say, "Hi, what are you looking for?" The guy says, "I'm looking for couches." I say, "This way to couches." On the way to the couches, I say to the customer, "Is it your first time in the store? We've been in business for 47 years. We do this, we do that …" This is designed with all these strategic layers you're trying to accomplish. These examples can be combined with questions & statements to help customers decide which options to buy. Hillary considered buying a store. Without policies, plans & procedures (3 Ps), there's not much to buy except physical assets & possibly a customer list. Physical assets can be bought from other sources. Customers might not return after a store is sold unless there's still consistent value. Stores can offer consistent value by establishing & optimizing 3 Ps. Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything. Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved. When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/ http://www.voy.com/31049/ Copyright 2009 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved. This blog post was transferred from another service. Subject: I'm confused about Nascent Processes Author: Hillary Date: 03/12/09 I realize you've written about Clayton M. Christensen & processes because they're important. I've listened to his audio books. I'm trying to wrap my mind around the process concepts. A small competitor & his part-time employees are struggling. We've talked about some kind of merger, strategic alliance, joint venture or whatever buzz word would apply. If we can agree on a price, I could consider buying the store & possibly hiring the (former) owner & part-timers. It seems they did some things correctly, but not enough to keep the store alive in this economy. How can I know if I should let them do what they did before & what I should change? Subject: Nascent Processes & Profitability Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 03/13/09 In reply to: Hillary's message, "I'm confused about Nascent Processes" on 03/12/09 Hi Hillary, Thanks for using this forum. I realize I may be going beyond the answer you want, but I want to be sure the issues are covered & understood. You could be referring only to processes, but why have a process unless it's needed to profitably sell a product/service? I don't know your whole situation, here's the short answer: Let them do what satisfies a profitable customer base. Change what's barely profitable or breaking even. Eliminate what costs you too much to do/offer. You should read some or all of what I'm writing to more fully explain & validate the short answer. You may've noticed other threads in this forum are long & in multiple parts. This thread will be in multiple parts, too. I don't know when I'll finish it. I tend to reread & rewrite quite a bit. So, far I've written over 6 pages. Some things I wrote directly relate to your question & my short answer. Other parts are analogies to help explain some concepts. Small businesses can sometimes sell things profitably when big businesses can't. But some businesses barely hang on while selling outdated products & low-demand services. Some retailers keep products in stock because they made an investment when they bought the products & wholesalers/liquidators won't buy the outdated products. Be careful about buying a store that stocks outdated products. Part of your due diligence should determine if there is (or could reasonably be) profitable demand for the products. Is that store unprofitable because of the inventory, business practices or both? A discussion of how to profitably buy a store can be complicated. As a marketing consultant, I could help you with some issues, but you definitely need legal & accounting guidance. I'm not licensed or qualified to get deeply into legal & accounting issues. A store near me sold some discontinued products (for a very low price) to an employee who used some of those in his hobbies. He personally sold some of those also when people asked for them. The retailer was no longer liable for those. The retailer got some money for the products & opened his storage & display space again. Since he sold the products for such low prices, the Return On Investment may have been low. While the products consumed space & some labor, the Return On Assets was extremely low. Storage & display space can be expensive assets. ROI is critical, but low ROA dooms many businesses. Maybe you can sell old inventory through online auctions or classified ads. A few customers may benefit from something that isn't profitable & may be sold at or below break-even. If it's legal, you may sell some individual products or case lots to a group. Let them divide it, then you wouldn't pay somebody to open the boxes, then unpack & offer the products. There are some circumstances, when this would be illegal. Some examples: prescriptions & anything requiring a background check or some kind of legal verification. If other (possibly skilled) processing &/or assembly would be necessary, they may find somebody to do it or you could teach them. If there aren't other sources or possible options for people to get what they need, you'll end up determining what you can afford to do. I don't recommend cutting off a supply unless there's no practical way you can provide what people need without jeopardizing yourself or your business. If it's just an issue of desire & not need, you may end up dropping it. As nations, businesses & people progress, there's less demand for some things. It's part of modern life. Subject: Re: I'm confused about Nascent Processes Author: Hillary Date Posted: 04/10/09 In reply to: Hillary's message, "I'm confused about Nascent Processes" on 03/12/09 Hi Dennis, Thank you for helping me. I thought of writing earlier but I'm not sure how much more I can sure of. I could specify which products we'd stock, but it could change quickly, especially with spring. There are plenty of traveling retailers. They remind me of "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves." By the time we know they're setting up, they promote, sell quickly & leave. There are flea markets & the sellers vary. Some major stores have pop-up stores. Some of these have guarantees so we can't use guarantees as a benefit. The other stores owner I might buy out or merge with & I think our problem may be we stock too much of the same things. But I've read more than one store with the same products can bring more people in. It doesn't mean we have to sell all of the same things. We can't afford for suppliers to know how much trouble we may be in. Also if customers think we won't be here, they may not be our customer. Though the traveling stores have enough luck. We're not being dishonest; we know people over react & may think we're worse off than we are if they suspect anything. Are there things you teach us to help us succeed even if we change products? Thanks Subject: Creating Superior Value With Marketing & Retail Processes Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 04/13/09 In reply to: Hillary's message, "Re: I'm confused about Nascent Processes" on 04/10/09 Hi Hillary, Peter Drucker's insight: Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you've got. I agree with that as long as the culture isn't counterproductive or destructive. A big part of a culture is its values: what's considered valuable & ethical. Processes are ways to produce & conserve what's valued. Many retail processes should work for a variety of products & customers, so you should be able to adapt if you change product categories. Without a specific specialty, I don't know which benefits you would offer compared to the competitors you wrote about. Flea market vendors & traveling retailers may have specialized product knowledge. They may be able to answer questions & give good advice. There are more things to consider in risk reversal than just offering guarantees. Even if the full price is refunded, a problem isn't solved. If a shirt rips because of substandard material, a customer is entitled to a refund, but the refund doesn't solve the problem. Money, a credit or a refund check won't cover a person's back or keep him/her warm. Here's an educated guess (I've extrapolated based on mail-order & Internet marketing): Traveling retailers probably have office addresses; but without physical stores, they can't quickly remedy problems. Maybe they can send a replacement, but it's not instant. If a customer doesn't have enough money to buy a replacement, s/he has to wait for a traveling retailer to receive & inspect a returned product. Then the financial transaction is handled. Even if a credit/debit card account is credited, the customer still doesn't have the solution s/he tried to buy. To get a problem solved quickly, s/he needs to buy a replacement product from a different retailer who hasn't left town. I haven't bought from any of those transients, so I don't know what happens when products are defective. If this is accurate & a lawyer approves, your message to their prospects could be: Saving Money Isn't Always A Bargain "Are you thinking of buying a ‘bargain' from a transient retailer? You'd be better buy at least 2, so you might still have 1 to use while you wait for your refund. There are reasons for products to be so cheap. There are also reasons for things to be made in places we can't see. How young are the workers (slaves) who make those ‘bargains'? How many hours per day do they work? How much pollution is in their air & water? "Yes, these issues ARE important to you. It's hard for overworked children to concentrate on work when they & their families are sick. When they're distracted, they don't make good products. "Will a transient retailer talk to you about these issues? Not unless you ask, but don't expect real answers. Transient retailers just want you to buy, so they can take your money & run to the next city." Since I'm not licensed to give legal advice; a lawyer should guide you before you try attacking competitors. But I'll warn you- Do NOT specify a transient retailer by name. As long as you don't accuse specific retailers, if they want to admit they resemble your remarks enough to object, they'd be vulnerable to your criticism, then they'd be vulnerable to public criticism. If they don't think they resemble an unnamed retailer you criticize, why would they object? If you were to specify a business & what you claim isn't completely accurate you could be completely sued for libel/slander or defamation. That's besides the negative effects on your reputation. Here's another possible theme you could test if it's accurate: "Where Do You Get The Best Value For Your Money? Going to flea markets & buying inexpensive used items can be fun. But some sellers are FLEE markets because after they get your money they FLEE! They're gone & so is YOUR MONEY! "It's maddening enough to get people's adrenalin flowing. Adrenalin/ epinephrine is your Fight or Flight hormone. When you deal with FLEE markets, your epinephrine is wasted. You can't fight because your enemy has taken flight. "Some people are frustrated again when they try to exchange cheap, worn out, broken & defective FLEE market stuff in our store. We can't afford to take it in exchange because suppliers we buy inventory from won't accept it. We don't offer anything that bad & neither do our suppliers. "We accept exchanges of products sold from our inventory. If we'd accept FLEE market stuff, we'd be stuck with it. We wouldn't try to sell it to anybody. We'd have to throw it away; so if we accept it, we'd be throwing our money away." (It implies FLEE market customers threw their money away without directly insulting them. This message doesn't call them fools.) Now back to the potential merger or store purchase- Profitable Processes When a person or business has a new (nascent) process, it may be hard to determine its efficacy. A process may only be effective (& cost-effective) when it's done proficiently & efficiently. Efficiency & proficiency depend on practice & making adjustments. I'm using efficacy & effective to mean achieving maximum, optimal & intended results. I'm using efficient to mean achieving maximum & optimal results without wasting time, money & other resources. Peter Drucker's insights: "Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." You probably already know about the problems of integrating or not integrating what people or other businesses do. It's vital - for morale & progress - to make decisions about integration based on results, not on how the processes were learned or developed. Too many people dismiss things if they weren't involved in creating or developing them. Even if you know better than to do it, the other business owner & employees may discriminate against what they think is foreign. This is insulting for those whose knowledge is rejected. Even if you buy the other store & the other business owner works for you (as opposed to being a full partner), you should do your best to agree about whose processes will be used - before you make a commitment. S/he may "understand" (assume) you intend to leave things as they are. Misunderstandings can lead to seller's & buyer's remorse. Legally ending the arrangement could be more expensive - in money & time - than the merger or purchase that started it. It may be challenging to objectively determine which processes are more effective or efficient. If the result(s) are similar, profitably produced & customers gladly pay profitable prices for the value, some details aren't worth debating. But determine what you'll tolerate & what's unacceptable. Peter Drucker's insight: Executives owe it to the organization & to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs. The only "problem" inherent in a different process may be the hassle & expense of learning it. Whether people consciously &/or subconsciously resist, some passively undermine what they don't like. They do things slowly, they procrastinate &/or they do low quality work. The only "innovation" they may produce is negative. They cost a business more than their "efforts" are worth. Peter Drucker's insight: Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has 2 - & only 2 - basic functions: marketing & innovation. Marketing & innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business. To positively differentiate your store(s) for consumers, you need real solutions worth marketing. Differentiation as an employer can help you retain & recruit good workers. But sometimes, people won't like tasks or ways (processes) they're expected to do tasks. They may adamantly believe their way of doing things is better. Or they may disagree about how necessary some tasks are. It's great to have a fun job & business, but sometimes we (& employees) need to put up with hassles involved with creating value. We need to learn to do things to solve customers' problems even if it doesn't immediately solve our problems. If your potential partner & employees won't do what creates more value for customers, it's best to know it early so you don't make the wrong decisions. Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything. Copyright 2009 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved. When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/ http://www.voy.com/31049/ Subject: I disagree with a universal concept of processes Author: Doubter Date: 04/22/09 In reply to: Hillary's message, "I'm confused about Nascent Processes" on 03/12/09 I can understand how processes are important for manufacturers to produce consistent products and for big retailers that depend on logistics. But small retailers get preproduced inventory that's shipped to us by logistics companies. We get small amounts of various products; we open boxes and put products on shelves and racks - end of "process". When I try to get productive conversations going about how we can effectively compete with big retailers, some members want to talk about processes. When I asked how they came up with their ideas, guess whose name came up! I read some of your stuff and it applies, but now you've gone off in another direction - maybe right maybe wrong depends on the stores and circumstances. I'd like to open-minded about this, but it seems creating and practicing processes requires more time than it's worth. Processes, as you and Clayton M. Christensen have written, are set to create the same results over and over. This produces a one-size-fits-all or one-size-fits-none result. For those who serve homogenous groups, it may be good, but few small retailers can afford to do it. We need to serve whomever comes in and serve as they want to be served. Since we have to charge higher prices because of our lower volume, we have tailor-fit every service to everybody who comes in. We don't sell enough of the same products to the same kind of people to warrant using the same processes over and over. Using a common or standardized process to serve individuals violates what Stephen R. Covey wrote about being efficient with things and effective with people. Processes are formed for efficiency. Success with people depends on effectiveness. Based on other things you wrote, you respect Covey. Some customers ask me questions they couldn't get answered in discount or big high-end stores. I can't always produce premanufactured - via processes - answers. I thought for a while I misunderstood what you claim about processes, but members of our group understand it the same way. It'd seem we're not all misunderstanding but it's possible. We don't all agree. Maybe we could/would agree if we had some universal examples. I know there are apt to be individual cases of useful processes, but it seems you're claiming the concept is universal. Subject: Increase Customers' Confidence With Processes Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date: 04/23/09 In reply to: Doubter's message, "I disagree with a universal concept of processes" on 04/22/09 Thank you for responding. It seems you may be asking for clarification. We may not agree even after I clarify these points. I don't know of any universal examples of processes. Without an in-depth study of an individual business & ability to test methods in that business, I can't develop a definitive, tailored process. It wouldn't be right to reveal proprietary, behind-the-scenes methods of businesses without owners' permission. I could provide some guidelines. I think the main misunderstanding is about the length or size of processes. A process can be simple & still improve efficiency & effectiveness. Example: You can have pens & paper near your phones. If you don't have a telephone headset & you're right handed, you can determine when you take phone calls, you'll pick up your hand set, then place it by your left ear. Then you can pick up a pen with your right hand & be ready to write on paper. A simple process like this may seem unusually & unnecessarily regimented until you consider the benefits. You'd be ready to hold a phone hand set between your left shoulder & head, then be able to write notes about what customers want when they call. Your notes could be passed to your staff to do what a customer wants. I'm not implying you waste time, but I'm using a "you" viewpoint to communicate this concept. This process would cut down on time being wasted if you look for a pen or paper during a call. You'd be less apt to drop your phone hand set because you wouldn't have to transfer it between your hands while you talk & hold a pen. You'd probably reduce the necessity to ask customers to repeat things. This short process would be efficient with things & increase effectiveness & benefits for you & customers. This process could be almost universal, but cobblers & other craft-oriented people probably wouldn't use it. Some service providers don't accept calls because it slows their workflow. Note: Some cobblers either don't publish their business phone numbers &/or list their home phone numbers. Reason: Customers call to ask if their shoes have been fixed, but if they didn't call, cobblers could spend more time fixing because they'd spend less time handling phones & talking. I advise cobblers & others to use numbered work order receipts & answering machines. When a customer leaves shoes, boots, etc. to be fixed, they'd get a numbered receipt. When their footwear is ready, that number would be listed. They could call & listen to an outgoing message that includes the numbers from the receipts. The list numbers would indicate which footwear has been fixed. Their numbers would be listed for a few days or a week at the longest. If customers still didn't pick up their completed footwear, it wouldn't be listed any longer. I talked with a cobbler who was frustrated because so many customers called & interrupted his work. He stopped publishing his business phone number. Then he was frustrated because people weren't coming back to get their fixed footwear. Do you think the customers didn't want to waste time going back to a cobbler shop unless they knew the work was completed? If they kept returning to the shop just to ask about their footwear before the work was done, they'd still unnecessarily interrupt a cobbler. Now with the Internet, a cobbler can have a simple web site & update the list of numbers of completed work orders. Why use numbers instead of names? Because some people would be concerned about their privacy being violated. A process could be developed to expedite posting the numbers &/or updating the list in the answering machine outgoing messages. Depending on the questions customers ask & the answers you provide, you may benefit from having a place for your books, magazines & notes, plus a quick way to find information in those sources. Processes can be used to create efficient results for people. For those who expect fast service - faster than big (giants) & medium (ogres) retailers offer - if you don't serve them with at least the speed they expect, they may choose a different store. Consumers may feel if they end up waiting for service no matter which store they shop in, they might as well buy from giants & ogres who charge lower prices. Depending how efficiently & effectively, giants & ogres train workers; customers could be dissatisfied with the service no matter how low the prices are. Giants & ogres tend to focus on efficiency with things & skimp on effectiveness with people. Because of a lack of processes, small retailers may frustrate consumers too. With the right processes, small retailers can lower their expenses (because they'd be more efficient) & satisfy more customers (because they'd be more effective). Some processes will only solve a limited number of problems (maybe only 1). Each resulting solution may fit only specific people or situations, but hopefully those solutions would be satisfactory. Using a process would probably speed up the services. Then there'd be more time to solve less common problems. Selling more solutions resulting from processes could bring in more money because using processes would increase the speed & accuracy of actions. There'd be less wasted time & materials. Customers, business owners & workers would be less frustrated. It could also improve ego-strength because results could be consistently positive. Confident people are apt to inspire the confidence of others. Confident, reassured customers are more apt to return & refer others. Confident people are apt to try & succeed in solving less common & possibly more complex problems. Subject: More Clarification Is In Order Author: GRand Master Date: 04/23/09 In reply to: Doubter 's message, "I disagree with a universal concept of processes" on 04/22/09 Doubter, Dennis, Ladies, & Gentlemen: I'd better clarify more points for our host. Some people may wonder what a process about taking phone calls has to do with marketing. Everything in business should be related to marketing because it affects customer's experiences. Even Accounting? Yep! Anything that affects how much money is invested in presenting merchandise and serving customers is related to marketing. Whatever influences customers' perception of a business is related to marketing. Employees loudly chewing gum matters too. Do you think, "Answering a phone and other simple things are no-brainers"? After you have a good process, it can be a no-brainer. A big reason for having processes to make some things so routine they're ALMOST no-brainers. But if you or employees completely disengage your brains, you're apt to make mistakes. Some people want to multitask, others would prefer not, but feel forced to do it. Develop processes to make multitasking a viable option - as long you're not face-to-face with customers. Even if your conscious mind is totally focused with them while your hands and subconscious are doing something routine, customers are apt to feel you're paying attention to them. It's true, even if they multitask while they talk to you. Double standard? Sure. Unfair? Probably so. Analogy: Think of baseball games and other childhood events. Somebody supplied a ball and bat or other necessary equipment. That person demanded that the others follow his/her rules, right? If the others didn't accept his/her rules, they didn't play because its owner took the necessary equipment back. The necessary equipment in this case is the money a prospect will pay you if you follow his/her rules. If you want him/her to pay, you've got to play - by their rules. Ego-strength?! As a business owner, you may have enough under normal circumstances. But if you're frustrated by playing by others' rules, things going wrong, complaints, high expenses & low income, etc. Your confidence may be strong, but shaken. Another analogy: Rodney Dangerfield said something like: "This morning I picked up my shirt - a button fell off. I picked up my brief case - the handle fell off. I'm afraid to go to the bathroom!" Going to the bathroom probably wouldn't cause a fall off, but it can seem like it would. It's an example of shaken confidence. Why would a process make a difference? When you have a successful way to do something, you're apt to be successful with it again. If you make it up as you go along every time, you won't always have the same level of success. After a few strike-outs, it's harder to get back up to the plate & be confident of hitting a homerun or even just a base hit. Subconsciously, if you keep making mistakes, those mistakes can become habits. This makes it more imperative to set up successful processes - even for mundane tasks - to get your brain on a successful track. Have you noticed anybody making a mistake, then be a bit miffed & make the same mistake again? After that, he or she is angry, but his/her subconscious is focused on the mistake instead of the desired results. So, he or she makes the same mistake again. It's like the story of the baseball team manager who told a pitcher which pitch not to throw because the batter hit many home-runs off that particular pitch. The pitcher then threw that pitch & that batter got another home-run. Why? The pitcher focused on the wrong pitch instead of focusing on a right pitch. Successful processes focus people's subconscious minds on doing what's right so the right things block thoughts of the wrong things. What Dennis wrote about the cobbler and interrupting calls from customers is an example of a business owner and customers in a contest of wills. Dennis got lucky again by suggesting a good compromise. This message is getting long so I won't elaborate much. But read what Stephen R. Covey in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" about synergistic Win/Win solutions that are better & mutually beneficial. Develop ways for customers, employees and business owners to benefit. But when there are slight inconveniences for business owners and employees when they make things convenient for customers, deal with it. That's business. Customers aren't always right. Business owners and employees have rights too. But if you want customers to pay, you've got to play - by their rules. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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| Education & Training Are Critical | Dennis S. Vogel | 10:29:00 03/28/19 Thu |
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