Dottem » Smart Business

Advice for a CEO

tonjac — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:01:58 +0000

Tomorrow morning I am advising my organization’s equivalent of a CEO on getting started with social media. I have my thoughts, which will be a future post, but I want to make sure I’m not missing anything major.

What would you include on the list of essential examples, resources and advice?

Now THIS is Customer Service!

tonjac — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:13:19 +0000

My husband is an avid Pepsi drinker. At a restaurant, when he orders Pepsi and is met with “Is Coke okay?” he’ll grimace and carry on and give the server a good-natured bad time. “Ugggh. Welllll, okaayy. If I have no other choice I guess I’ll settle for Coke. But I’ll tip really big if you go get me a Pepsi somewhere.” It’s usually met with a chuckle and life goes on.

Well, today life changed at the Red Robin in Turlock. He just called me from the restaurant to say that his server, Brandi, sent someone across the street to buy him a Pepsi! This has never happened before and it made our day! Thank you, Brandi, and thank you, Red Robin, for allowing an atmosphere of freedom for your staff to exceed customers’ expectations.

He’s still at lunch, but I can assure you, he will be leaving her a nice big tip!

Rework and Simple Church

tonjac — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:17:09 +0000

These books are identical twins separated at birth. Their DNA is the same and that’s what you notice: simple wins.

Rework is the anecdotal, easy-to-read inspiration. Simple Church has the research statistics to back it up. (But it’s easy to read too.) One’s focus is business, the other’s is churches. But their similarities confirm that simple is not a fad. It’s a necessity.

Too much is bad for us. That’s why we get fat. And why we need seven-digit phone numbers. Heck, even too much water kills. If it’s so obvious, why do so many organizations miss it? If you’re struggling, stop looking at what you can add and start looking at what you need to get rid of so you can focus on your core. Then do that better than anyone.

Do you even know what your core is? Might want to start there.

Do You Hire To Think or To Feel?

tonjac — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:39:40 +0000

I read a tweet recently that said, “You’re hired to think, not to feel.” While this may be true in many cases, I don’t think it belongs on anyone’s list of best practices. Compartmentalizing ourselves is what’s led to so many of our problems. Bringing your passion, your empathy, your humanity, your memory of what it’s like to be on the customer side of the transaction – these things can only enhance the experience your clients have with your organization. And that can only improve your business.

Bottom line: don’t check your brain OR your heart at the door of your office.

Can Your Business Survive Without a Web Site?

tonjac — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:55 +0000

I’ve been surprised, driving around Modesto, to see so many vehicles and signs advertising a business without a Web site in view. A name and phone number, yes, but nothing else. Unfortunately, to a growing percentage of people, you don’t exist if you’re not online. I’m not the only one who’s reluctant to call - people want to check you out anonymously first. And younger consumers, raised online, think it’s downright strange to call a business. But does an organization need a fancy Web site to thrive or even survive?

Presence? Yes. Fancy? Not necessarily.

There are probably folks flourishing in a niche using solely word of mouth but they are rare. What’s more, word of mouth is spreading increasingly online these days, so even if you’re not intentionally making an online presence, you have one.

You need to manage it. You have two choices.

A site of your own. Simple or fancy, traditional or blog, whatever fits you. Why matters is that you engage your clients and attend to the details with excellence.

Leverage existing sites. Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, Twitter, etc. These are valuable tools but relying solely on them is a bit risky:

They’re not under your control so you’re at their mercy if there are problems or changes.
They’ll fluctuate in popularity. What’s hot will cool. (Geocities? MySpace?) You need to pay attention to what’s coming next or get left behind.

A client’s awareness of and interaction with you will continue to evolve. The key is to know where they are and be there. Your name and number on your car is not enough any more.

What do you think? Do you know of a success story that uses no online promotion?

Good: Dutch Hollow Tulips has a basic site which features content from their Facebook page where customers are raving about their tulips.

Poor: Who is TelePacific? Why do I need you? Why would I ever call you? And you have too many figures in your number. It's not clever, it bugs me.

I Haven’t Followed My Own Advice

tonjac — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:16:40 +0000

I was asked recently to give a local business owner some advice about Twitter. As I thought about what I would say to her, I realized I wasn’t following my own advice.

It comes down to this: it’s not really about Twitter. It’s about managing the public face of your business. It just so happens that currently, Twitter is a really good way to do that. There are all kinds of other social media tools to help as well, but those are topics for future conversations.

People are tired of dealing with bureaucracies and mindless policies. They want to do business with people who care about their issues. They want to interact. They are real people who want to talk to real people.

In 2009 as I considered freelancing, this concept was really important to me. I am a real person with faults and strengths. I have expertise I can offer you. I intended to use this space, and some of my time on Twitter, to share things I learned about how to communicate better.

But somewhere I got lost in the fear that it had to be perfect. I forgot the conversation and the process. I let doubt crowd out the chance to grow and improve. Twitter became almost completely fluff (except for the valuable relationships I’ve made) and this space lay dormant.

Last week I read this on Michael Hyatt’s interview with Seth Godin:

Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.

This is what I want to do. Leave you better than I found you. Help you get closer to where you’d like to go.

So I’m not going to worry that this space isn’t completed yet. That my portfolio isn’t posted yet. That I don’t have all the bells and whistles done. That’s the process. Maybe down the road you’ll help me with some of that. But first let me ask you:

How can I help you?

Is it futile?

tonjac — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:30:20 +0000

Smart businesses empower employees to take initiative, right? I thought so until I read this.

I understand prudence and safety. I do.

But I can’t recommend policies that groom a force of worker bees who only know how to say, “It’s not my job.”

What kind of employees are you developing?