Persistence Pays Off from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
Archive for the ‘Approach’ Category
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Persistence Pays Off
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
McDonalds, Greyhound, and The Bun Lady
A few years ago I saw on interview with Cordia Harrington, on Donny Deutsch’s show The Big Idea. It really struck a cord with me and I think of it and refer to it frequently. When stuck or frustrated, I sometimes think, "What would Cordia do?" So I thought I would share the bullet points with you.
* Cordia Harrington opened a McDonalds restaurant in Effingham, Illinois, population 10,000.
* Her McDonalds wasn’t doing well and she needed a way to drive traffic to this rural location. So she borrowed the money to buy a Greyhound Bus franchise and put the bus stop right on the corner of her McDonalds parking lot. (I didn’t know Greyhound bus stops were franchises. Interesting.) On a normal day, 88 buses would stop daily, and over 120 buses a day stopped during the summer. Sales took off, and Cordia’s McDonalds became one of the top forty in the US. She was able to open two more McDonalds in the Midwest.
* During this time she was put on the McDonalds bun committee, the group that oversaw quality and consistency of the hamburger buns. Cordia learned a lot and decided that she could produce buns for McDonalds more efficiently than the current producers.
* Today, she is CEO of The Bun Company with three high volume bakeries, which supply buns and English muffins worldwide to McDonalds and other food distributors.
* Cordia Harrington also started a trucking company, Bun Lady Trucking, to make sure that her buns get to market on time.
Cordia Harrington sums up her philosophy, saying “Instead of moaning and complaining, you have to take that energy, when problems happen, and put it towards taking you to the next level.”
The lesson: If you have a problem, look at it from every angle, and then fix it by taking control of the situation.
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Do NOT Underestimate The Power Of Good Customer Service
I had a different post for today, but I had a great first-hand experience with customer service last week and wanted to share the lesson.
I have been preparing for tonight’s free online class. I had been practicing using the free-trial version of Webex, and everything was great. But when I officially signed up and started practicing with my live site I ran into transmission problems. I won’t go into the painful tech-y details, but here are the events:
My new Webex site was “not responding”.
The Webex tech woman had me check several settings on my computer and we tried to start a new meeting and the problem was still there. She ran a trace and said it was a problem with my Internet provider and I would need to contact them.
I called SBCGlobal, sent them the report from the Webex woman. They ran a bunch of tests and concluded that the problem was not with them, but with either Webex or Level3, a third party that leased server space to large companies. SBCGlobal had no contact info for this company.
I found contact info online and called their support department (I was determined to ride this train to the end of the line).
Even though I was not a direct customer, they ran a bunch of tests for me (how cool is that) and concluded the problem was with Webex.
This all took place over 5 hours, no break (and no dinner) – it was awful.
I contacted Webex the next morning and got a different tech support person. He read my support ticket and knew immediately what the problem was, helped me fix it, and I was good to go within 20 minutes.
So…
Yes, the first person jumped the gun and sent me on a wild goose chase, but because she and every subsequent support person I dealt with was professional, nice, patient, and genuinely wanted to help me fix the problem, I never developed bad feelings toward any of the companies. I had every right to say "To hell with Webex, I’ll go with another company", but the attitude of their support personnel (and everyone else along the way) kept me from going to that dark place. And now I’m set up and ready to go ahead with my free call tonight at 6pm, and with my 8-week online course.
People want to be heard, and they want to be treated as if they matter. I was treated that way, and because of it, I continued to love Webex, even through the pain. Keep that in mind the next time a customer comes to you for help or with a complaint. They are not an intrusion, they are the reason you are in business.
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Time Management (It’s Like Dieting, But With your Time)
If you’re trying to manage your time, you’ll have much more success if you understand how you’re currently spending it. It’s much like trying to improve your diet before understanding your current eating habits. All the diet experts say that logging your food is one of the keys to weight loss success, and logging your activities is the key to getting the most out of your day.
A good approach is to log how you spend your time for 7-10 days. Some of you may be surprised at the pockets of unproductive time you see. And by unproductive, I don’t mean recreation or rest, I mean wasted time: time spent playing Farmville, watching “nothing in particular” on TV, or staring with dread at your to-do list.
Once you see how you’re spending your time, productive or otherwise, you will be better able to plan your weeks. Get rid of the "junk food", and make your time count. And that means including plenty of time for yourself, your family, and your friends.
When you’re ready to start planning, I recommend downloading the spreadsheet from www.my168hours.com. It is a basic Excel spreadsheet that lists the 168 hours of the week, by day. (It’s so simple, you could create it yourself, but why?) You can then use this sheet to plan your week.
It may take a few tries before creating a schedule that is right for you, mainly because in the beginning, you’ll probably over-schedule. You have to keep in mind, just because there’s an empty timeslot on the chart doesn’t mean you can squeeze in one more task. Our energy and focus is limited by more than a filled chart.
For new business owners, time management is one of the most important things to master, especially if you’re going it alone. And especially, especially if you have kids and/or are keeping your day job while you get started. Don’t give up before you even start - before saying “I have no time to start my business”, find out if that’s actually true.
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Shedding The Hats
Shedding The Hats from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Customer Loyalty – A Lesson From Vince Gilligan
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Count To 10
Count To 10 from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
What We Can Learn From Cats & Dogs
I was at a friend’s house the other week and his cat was in the yard chasing something in the ivy. I was both freaked out and grossed out, knowing she was probably chasing a mouse or a rat. I wanted to bring her inside, but he said, “She’d never forgive me because she’s doing her job, and she loves it.”
He was right. And dogs are the same way. Instead of decreasing the rodent population, their job is to protect the home and family. And they love it. It’s in their nature. So here’s what we can learn from cats and dogs about our work:
If it feels “right”, it’s what you’re meant to be doing.
Of course, this is a variation on the much overused “Follow your bliss/passion/dream”, but I think it’s better. The words passion, bliss, and dream evoke visions of artsy creations and lofty pursuits. And that’s perfectly fine, if what you love to do is artsy or lofty. But what about the person whose “passion” is being an electrician, or computer programmer, or something else in the less-than-sexy realm?
Whether you’re looking for your perfect job, or getting ready to start your own business, don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Just make sure your decision feels right to you.
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Procrastination & MultiTasking
During the last few weeks I’ve been struggling with procrastination. In an effort to get myself moving again, I spent part of the weekend trying to figure out what was keeping me from moving forward, and I realized I was trying to accomplish too many things at one time. And one thing I know for sure is, our brains are not good at multi-tasking. In fact I proved it to myself when my progress recently came to a halt.
As a refresher, here’s some information from last year’s post on multi-tasking.
Research shows that our brains can only focus on one thing at a time. You can probably handle a couple of basic things at one time, like grating cheese and talking to your mom on the phone, but not several things that require concentration.
Experiments that measured brain activity during multitasking have shown several different negative effects. First, regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination are activated, leaving less energy for the areas that are used for learning and remembering. Basically, you are just processing the information. There is little comprehension and you are probably not committing anything to memory. Second (and I think much worse), increased levels of stress related hormones are present during multitasking. Stress related hormones are very hard on the body, so multitasking is unhealthy.
You will have much more success, and a greater sense of control, if you build a clear and manageable to-do list. Then work your way through it, one task at a time. You’ll actually get more done, and more out of what you do finish.
This post helped me get my to-do list under control and moving forward, again, and I hope it will do the same for you.
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Have You Been Dumped By A Customer?
If your product or service is a just a one-time purchase, you’re less likely to know how your customer feels about you and your company. If they’re unhappy they may complain to a few friends, and won't ever recommend you. And if the opportunity arises, they will steer potential customers away from your business. But you probably won't ever hear about it, unless they feel totally ripped off.
Even if you do have a one-time purchase sort of business, customer satisfaction is important. Beyond the obvious reason of integrity, your customers are your best marketing tool, so you want them to be satisfied.
I used the service of a company many months ago. It was a one-time service and when I got the finished product I wrote to thank them, and ask a few questions. I never heard from them. I wrote one more time and called and left a message. I never heard back from them. As recently as a month ago, they were still in business. I am baffled.
Whether it’s true or not, their lack of response made me feel that once they got my payment, they were done with me, because they offered a one-time service. I saw it as unappreciation at its best. When it comes to your customers, their perception of you and your company is everything. Which is why, although their service was good enough, I will never recommend this company to anyone.
When someone trades their hard earned money for your product or service, treat the person with consideration, even if you’ll never see them again. They are going to go out in the world as a walking advertisement for your company, so make sure their message will be a positive one.
