The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Fifty years ago, it was a man’s world.  The majority of women who were in business were secretaries and personal assistants.  Women rarely ran the show.  That has since changed … a lot.  In fact, the very nature of business has been overhauled and re-invented since women began to move up the management/entrepreneurial ladder.

The male approach to business:  Men tend to manage with a big stick.  We see business in terms of warfare and sports rivalries.  We go head to head with our competitors in a winner-take-all-loser-get-nothing race to conquer and achieve victory.  We’re not all that big on cooperation.  Our pecking order tends to be top-down vertical. 

I remember that’s pretty much how it was when I entered the corporate world in 1977.  All key managers were men, and the president of the company openly pitted his vice presidents against each other.  The rivalries were ferocious.  The idea was to work long hours, survive the contest, and beat the competitors both in and outside the corporation.

The female approach to business:  Gradually, women began working their way into positions of authority and responsibility.  At first, there was the stereotype that women made lousy bosses.  Even many women thought so and openly said they’d rather have a male boss than a female boss any time.  (Many said the same about the then-male-dominated field of gynecology, too.)

Well, today, women are not only accepted as managers, but many business-owning entrepreneurs are female.  Here are a few stats, courtesy of The Center for Women’s Business Research:

• Fifteen of the Fortune 500 companies have women as CEOs.
• More than 10 million U.S. businesses have women as either 50% partners or outright owners.
• Twenty percent of all businesses that earn $1 million or more are owned by women.

The feminine advantage:  Especially in the area of small business and especially in today’s tough-as-nails economy, women have transformed how many businesses work.  For one thing, women tend to focus on cooperation and community rather than competition and go-it-alone-individualism.  Their management style tends to be flatter, more horizontal, lacking the pecking order. 

Most of all, while men tend to be solitary, women tend to be more natural as networkers.  They know that, very often, a series of related businesses can do much better when they share marketing efforts and research.  They also tend to help each other through tough times. 

Oh, and just for the record, many of the female entrepreneurs and managers I know are just as ambitious and hard-driving as the men.  Most just do it with more finesse.

The bottom line:  When looking at business management, look at individuals who bring the best of both sexes, from the relentless, never-say-die drive of men to the determined relationship-building skills of women.  – JRI

SMALL STONES TO THE REAR!

by John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Can one foolish statement make or break your business?  Well, this is a story I heard at least 45 years ago from a man, a friend and mentor, who experienced it at least 20 years before that.  It was one snapshot moment that made him a lifelong enemy of one of the world’s most famous jewelry store.

Joe was a young man about to pop “The Question” to his girlfriend, Marlene.  He had been given a smallish diamond ring, a family heirloom, for the occasion.  However, it needed to be refit and resized.  To Joe, it was the biggest, most beautiful, and most important diamond ring in the world. 

Excited and proud, he brought the ring into Tiffany’s in New York City.  Grinning from ear to ear, he approached the first counter in the store, held out the ring, and said he needed to have it resized for his soon-to-be-fiancée.  As Joe told me the story years later, he remembers that the man behind the counter looked first at him and then down at the ring, and then he announced in an icy cold tone, “Small stones to the rear.”

Pop!  There went Joe’s balloon.  Crushed!  Shattered!  Deflated!  I suspect he hesitated, took a step to the rear of the store, and then paused again.  All I do know for sure is that he then turned on his heels, walked out of the world’s most famous jewelry store, and never returned … ever.

Now, I suspect that this snide, pretentious fop was not indicative of Tiffany’s customer service policy.  Still, there he was, at the front of the store, in the role of greeter.  (There’s a Wal-Mart joke in here somewhere, but we’ll skip it.)  All I do know for sure is that it took just one stupid, thoughtless comment to destroy what could have become a positive, profitable, decades-long relationship.

The point:  (1) Teach your people the why and how of quality customer service; and (2) get rid of those employees who do not buy into the program.  Any questions?

That having been said: Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  And keep in mind that quality customer service is money in the bank … while bad customer service means big losses in sales and profits.  – JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

As a hands-on manager-owner, your most important business-building tool is your attitude. 

I saw a great example of how this works a few months ago when meeting with two fast-food restaurant managers, both affiliated with the same chain.  The stores were almost identical in terms of demographics, and both relied heavily on part-time teenagers as their primary source of labor.

One manager complained that she could not get good help, that teenagers today did not know how to work or want to learn.  When speaking about her team, she seethed with annoyance.  She had nothing positive to say about her employees and had a great deal of turnover. 

The other manager, on the other hand, liked his staff and openly expressed his pleasure at their youthful exuberance and energy.  He had nothing but praise for his workers; he also  had about one-third the turnover as the other manager. 

What was the difference?  Attitude!  That was it, and everything else flowed from that.  When it came to their employees, I asked both managers three key questions:  “Who hired them?  Who trained them?  Who kept the slackers on staff?”  

The first manager, desperate for help, hired pretty much anyone willing to fill out an application.  Her training was spotty and on-the-fly.  She also filled out the weekly schedule without consulting her employees.  “These are your hours,” she told them.  No wonder she had an attitude problem with her team.  They caught it from her.

 The second manager, on the other hand, carefully screened all applicants.  He knew that hiring the wrong person was worse than being short-staffed.  He took his time.  He also either personally trained all new hires or had his assistant manager do the job.  For the first three months on the job, no employee was more than a quick shout-out from a supervisor when he or she had a question, and the employees were encouraged to ask lots of questions.  As a result, the training was monitored, consistent and thorough. 

 He was also quick to correct a mistake.  When an employee came on board with a bad attitude or proved to be less than reliable, he let that person go as quickly as possible.  That way, his good employees saw that he was fair and not asking them to pick up for a slacker.   

Finally, he worked with his employees when it came time for scheduling.  It was a team effort.  And when a conflict arose, he either helped resolve it or jumped in himself to fill the gap. He also put in double time during final exam time, so his employees could focus on their studies.    

Most of all, all that he did was nothing more than a reflection of his positive attitude toward his employees and his business.  He treated his team with respect, while also insisting that they work hard.  He was committed to them and, in turn, they were committed to him.

The bottom line:  If you have problems growing your business and/or keeping good help, do a little honest soul searching.  Remember, when a business succeeds, all credit should go to the employees.  And when your business struggles or you have morale and attitude problems, that is because YOU are doing something wrong. 

So, work hard, make money, have fun … and make sure you bring the right attitude to your business every day.  – JRI  

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur    

209  Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.TheFreestyleEntreprenuer.com

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

It’s that time … time to set goals.  Start thinking about where you want to be by the end of 2012. 

 Are goals important?  In business, they’re everything.  If you don’t know where you want to go, you’ll never get there … or, well, you get the picture.  More to the point, you’ll just wander around, stumbling along, drifting from one day’s pressing moment to another, putting out fires and getting nowhere. 

 As a friend once said: “I’m not sure where we’re going, but we’re making darn good time.”  Without goals, if you do achieve anything of value, it will be by chance, pure luck.  Most of all, you can end up putting out a lot of time and effort for very little return.  A very inefficient way to do business.   

 Goals give us focus.  More to the point, they enable us to concentrate our energy and resources on the things that matter and not let us become distracted by the thing that don’t.  I know people who have three or four key goals.  That’s all they need.  However, those goals give them direction for  what they will be doing every day. 

 Goals expand our limits.  Without goals, we can usually do the work of mortals.  With goals, we can expand and grow, reach beyond our capabilities.  (Yes, imagine that:  beyond our capabilities!)  You can establish new boundaries, set records, achieve great things.  When I’m really on task, I can do the work of three people.  Nobody ever went beyond his or her average, every-day limits without a goal to do so. 

 How to set goals you can achieve:

1. Decide what you want.  Take your time.  Better yet, take a few days away from the office/work just to ponder what you really want  to achieve in 2012.
2. Keep the list short.  In fact, the fewer goals the better.  You do not need a two- or three-page list.  That can become distracting in itself.  Instead, imagine having just one or two rock-solid goals.  For example, how about this one?  “I will unlock the secret of seminar sales and become one of the top ten trainers in my organization by December 31, 2012.”  Imagine concentrating all your efforts on that one goal.  Can’t lose.    
3. Make them yours … not your spouse’s, not your father’s, not what you think someone else wants of you.  If you answer to boss, work out your goals together.  Do not just sit back and have the boss tell you your goals.  That will not work.  They must be yours.  What do YOU want to achieve in 2012? I once decided that I should have a goal of becoming a multi-millionaire within two  years.  It never felt right, and, as it turned out, it was the longest, most miserable two weeks of my life.  No, I did not achieve my goal in two weeks.  It took me two weeks to realize that the goal of money was not what I wanted.  It did not motivate me.  I realized that I wanted the things money could buy, not the money itself.  So, I retooled my goals.  
4. Make them lofty, so you have to stretch a bit, but not so high that there is no way you can achieve them.  Challenge yourself; make yourself break a sweat.  Remember that goal  above about becoming “one of the top ten trainers”?  Well, why not shoot for the Number One spot?  Again, why not?  Somebody has to be there.  Why not you?   
5. Make them specific.  The more specific, the better.  A general goal would be, “Get in shape.”  But a specific goal would say, “Get in shape by joining a health club and working out 3 days a week, and losing 20 pounds within two months.” 
6. Make them measurable.  They need to have numbers, as in:  “I will make three sales a week” or “I will increase my gross sales by 15% by the end of 2012.”  If your goal is just to “increase sales,” well, good luck; that is not measurable. 
7. Make them attainable.   In other words, they must be realistic.  No, this is not a contradiction of the fourth goal above, which is to make your goals lofty.  But they must be realistic.  For example, if you are a soft blob today, a lofty but realistic goal may be to run a marathon by the end of next year.  (My brother did in it three months, though the first one nearly killed him.)  However, the goal of winning a marathon, of taking the number one spot, may be too much for one year.  Save that one for year two or three.  The problem with setting goals that are pie-in-the sky impossible is that they are in fact self-destructive.  Not only will they be almost impossible to achieve, but they will discourage you from trying.
8. Make them timely.  Do not set a goal that takes 40 years to achieve.  Set goals that can be met within 12 or 24 months.  I like to have three levels of goals:  short (30 days), mid-range (30 days to six months), and annual goals (achievable by the end of a year).  I also have long-range goals, such as retirement by age 65, but these are outgrowths of smaller, shorter goals.  The point is that they must be timely.  Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure.  This also anchors them within a timeframe. 
9. Translate your goals into daily activities.  Break up your goals into bite-size pieces.  Example:  Let’s say I want to become a top trainer.  That may mean, as one activity, that I need to observe each of today’s top ten trainers at least once during the coming year, so one activity may be observe one a month, starting  in January.  Another activity may be to rehearse and train one hour a day, five days a week, to perfect my skills.    
10. Focus only on the things you want.  The idea of goals is that they are exclusive.  Do not get sidetracked doing non-goal-achieving activities.  Concentrate exclusively on the things that will get you where you want to be.      

 So, work hard, make money, have fun … and set your goals for 2012. 

John R. Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

john@TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com

The Freestyle Entrepreneur – winner of the 2010 Top 35 Entrepreneur Blog awards from OnLine MBA.

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur    

209  Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.TheFreestyleEntreprenuer.com

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.

DEFINITION OF A SALES PROFESSIONAL

by John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

The sales professional makes the difference when it comes to both making the sale and maximizing the sale. This is perhaps best illustrated in an anecdote told by an associate years ago.  When asked, “What’s a salesperson?” he replied:

 “Let me tell you what a salesperson is. A fellow walked into a department store and asked for a sales job. Since the applicant had no previous sales experience, the man­ager was naturally leery. But having a soft heart, he said, ‘I’ll give you one day to prove yourself. You can start right away in sporting goods.’

“Later in the day, the sales manager dropped by to see how his new salesman was doing and found him talking to a customer. ‘You’ve made a good selection. This is a terrific fishing rod, the best we carry. But you know, the really big fish aren’t by the shore. You have to get out into the middle of the lake. What you need is a boat.’

“The customer hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed. The salesman went on. ‘Of course, by the time you row out to where the really big fish are biting, you’ll be too exhausted to enjoy yourself. Fortunately, we have a motor that’s just right for that boat. And you won’t find it for a better price anywhere in town.’ The customer couldn’t turn down a deal like that, so he bought the motor, too. ‘Now, that should just about do it,’ the salesman concluded, and then hesitated. ‘How are you going to get that boat to the lake?” he asked. The customer didn’t know, and it wasn’t long before the new salesman had sold him a trailer.

“When the customer left, the sales manager came rush­ing over. ‘You’re terrific! You just made the single big­gest sale in the history of our store! And just think, all because the customer came in to buy a fishing pole.’

“The new salesman looked at the sales manager and said, ‘He didn’t come in to buy a fishing pole. He wandered in, and we started chatting. When he mentioned that his wife was in the next department buying shoes because she was going to her sister’s for the weekend, I told him it sounded like a dull couple of days for him and asked if he’d ever thought of taking up fishing.’ Now that’s a salesman!”

So work hard, make money, have fun … and sell like you mean it.

by John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

[If you have a story of business success or failure – how you did something amazing right or downright stupidly wrong, and would care to share it – send me an email with as much detail as possible.  If your tale is chosen, I will feature it here and send you a copy of my book, The Back to Basics Book of Selling.]

A long time ago, during my wanderlust days, I started a Jimmy Buffett store, The Last Mango in Paradise, on St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.  It had winner written all over it. 

Though the choice of St. Thomas was not perfect (the island is rife with racial tension and has a very bad business climate), the business plan was rock solid.  I projected that we would be in the black and making profits by the end of one year, and from there I projected profits growing by 15% or more a year.  It was a winner, with a terrific and multi-generational market, based on the ongoing popularity of the singer Jimmy Buffett. 

However, I made two mistakes, both involving personnel:  First, in a long moment of mental stupidity, I made my wife (a second wife, with no financial stake in my life) at that time my equal business partner.  I did this even though (1) she had zero business experience, other than as a clerk in various retail stores; and (2) the investment capital consisted 100 percent of my money.  (See this one coming yet?  I didn’t.  Oh, but there is more.)

Second, I hired my wife’s daughter and – just to prove how stupid a person can be when he puts his mind to it – the daughter’s boyfriend.

From the beginning, right after all the legal documents were signed, I knew I was in trouble.  As a businessman, I know that running a business involves continual (if not continuous) attention to detail.  Once we had the store up and running, I devoted my days, endlessly, to finding ways to increase sales by a percent or two here and there, as well as cutting expenses by a few cents here, a dollar or two there. 

Meanwhile, my wife (ex-wife today and long gone, by the way) thought that running a business meant sitting behind the counter and ringing up sales.  Just as bad, we ended up padding the daughter and boyfriend’s hours.  Why?  Because they needed the money.  In the end, challenged at every turn, I watched the business go under, right when it should have begun to take off and make money. 

The moral to the story:  A business exists to make money.  It is NOT a social (or family) welfare program.  If it had it to do over again, I would have hired the wife as an employee (if at all) and never have hired the daughter and boyfriend … except maybe from time to time, on a part-time basis. 

So, lesson learned.  Several hundred thousand dollars poorer, but a lot wiser … and still kicking!  It was a great idea, one destined to make lots of money for someone.  However, I made several important decisions for the wrong reasons.  They cost me big time. 

When it comes to your business, be hard-nosed.  No matter what friends, family and the social engineers may say (none of whom is going to risk a penny of his/her own money in your business), a business exists to make things and to make money.

So work hard, make money, have fun … and keep control of your business.   

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Pain or gain?  That is why people buy – always! 

As Entrepreneur Dan Paulson points out in his book, Apples to Apples: How to Stand out From Your Competition, “every purchase is an emotional purchase.”

Your product or service either takes away the pain (I need a car or else I must walk to work.) or offers some kind of gain (My new phone does more and costs less.) 

Your job?  It is to help them either understand the pain of not taking a desired action (If you do not buy this product for your business, you will fall behind your competitors.), or to see how this new product or service will make their lives better/easier/happier/etc. (Investing in this class will show you how to get more done in less time, giving you more time for your family.) 

What to do:  When crafting your marketing materials and sales presentation, always keep the pain-and-gain concepts clearly in mind.  One or both are the reasons behind all decisions to buy or not to buy.   

Work hard.  Make money.  Have Fun.  And sell to the key elements of pain or gain. –

John R. Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

“Every purchase is an emotional purchase….  People are primarily motivated to buy by two factors – pleasure and pain.  A business has to offer products or services that reduce pain, increase pleasure, or do both.” – Dan Paulson, president, InVision Business Development

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Want to build a loyal clientele?  Then sell “membership” in your special club.  No, you do not need an online enrollment (though airlines and hotel chains find this effective).  Nothing formal like that.  Just do like Starbucks does:  Make customers feel that, when they do business there, they are part of something special … and that in turn makes them special.

 We all love feeling special, unique, valued, part of something beyond ourselves.  That’s why I grocery shop where the owner calls out, “Hey, John!” when I walk through the door; why I bank where my dog gets treats; or why I like to stay in the hotel that actually has my first name posted in the lobby when I arrive, because I’m a club member.

 I also love getting the you’re-special discount.  Years ago, when I spent a year playing and working on St. Maarten in the Caribbean, all I had to do was say “I live here” to get five or ten percent off my purchase in an island store.  I loved it.  It’s not about the money so much as just feeling a part of something.  I belonged.

 That’s why I was delighted the other day to walk into a fairly new, laid-back-but-upscale restaurant (Skalliwags) in my home down of Algoma, Wisconsin, and see a small note on the chalkboard menu over the bar that said:  “10% discount for locals.  Not only was the food excellent and the service good, but I also felt appreciated, part of that club.  So, come February, when the tourists have all beat feet for Florida, I’ll make a point of going back to this restaurant.  Why?  Because they value my local business, and they understand that it is local business that keeps the lights on in the off season. 

 As a small-business owner, how do you create that club-membership mentality?  Here are six powerful yet simple ideas:

1. Give a discount to locals or to past or existing customers.  It need not be big, but make sure it is in your brochure and on your website. 
2. Start the buy-ten-get-one-free punch card.  Some people live for those kind of discounts.  And whenever they whip out their cards to get punched, they’re reminding you that they’re one of your priority customers. 
3. Acknowledge and greet every customer like he/she is your best friend and a truly valued customer.  A hearty “Welcome, come in!” helps build instant relationships.  Never let a customer wander in without a greeting.    
4. Learn their names.  No, this is not always possible.  However, every time you are able to greet someone by name builds the relationship that much more.
5. Ask their opinions.  If you are experimenting with a new recipe, offer a taste; if you are considering adding or discontinuing a product, ask what they think.  Not only does this provide instant market research, but it gives customers a sense of “ownership”  in your business.  (An alternate, highly effective approach:   Ask them  how you might improve a product or service.  The answers will be quite different from those to the standard question:  “How was everything today, folks?”  
6. Throw in a freebie.  In a restaurant, ask your valued customers once in a while if they’d like a cup of coffee … on the house.  Or in a retail store, throw in a 25-cent piece of candy for the kids at checkout.  (When my family wandered into a business supply store 26 years ago as we explored the new town to which we had just moved, the owner gave each of my children a little toy.  Neither they nor I have ever forgotten it.) 

 Most of all, do not – ever – take your customers for granted.  They are your lifeblood.  You need them.  Make darn sure you do not miss any opportunity to let them know how much you appreciate their business. 

Work hard. Make money.  Have fun.  And make your customers part of your special club.  — JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

“Thankls yo for your ordr.  We will skip it iwtnng two wbusi9ness days.” 

Ever get an email, letter or memo like that?  Sure, that may be an extreme example.  However, we all see messages like this way more often than we should.  (And, yes, I admit, typos get by me from time to time.  They happen; however, I work hard to reduce them.) 

It’s a three-fold problem:  First, thanks to the internet, we receive and send a ton of email these days.  As a result, the potential for errors is high.  Second, thanks to the pace of business, we’re in a hurry.  When we receive those hundred or more emails each day, we are tempted to fire off responses  in a mad rush.  Third, thanks to a broken educational system, we’re not learning solid writing skills in school anymore.  I’m seeing younger men and women who lack a knowledge of many of the basic writing skills.    

Still, no excuses, when we let sloppy copy get out the door or slip through the internet, here is what is says about us:

• We are uneducated.  Even if we have five college degrees, our writing says we need to go back to third grade.

• We’re lazy, irresponsible, and unmotivated, not even willing to take just ten minutes to read through and proof our copy before sending it out.

• We do not have an eye for detail.  In other words, we’re sloppy. 

Most of all, poor writing hurts our credibility.   Most errors creep into our copy because we’re in a hurry.  That’s understandable.  We’re busy, and we end up firing off emails, memos and letters at breakneck speed.  Still, sloppy copy hurts us, and it can hit us where it hurts most … in our bottom line.    

What to do:

1. Proof-read your copy.  If it is worth sending out, take ten minutes to make sure it is right.  Don’t have the time?  Then come in 30 minutes early each day.  If it is worth writing, it is worth getting right.

1. Get someone else to proof your copy, especially if you are weak in your writing skills.  Delegate it to someone who knows the difference between “effect” and “affect,” or when to use “who” and when to use “whom.”

1. Don’t ever think that it does not matter.  A lot of folks think it is very important.  I have seen people lose contracts because the prospect caught a basic spelling/grammar error that destroyed the sender’s credibility.  Remember, some people love and appreciate words and writing.  They will take offense (and judge the writer harshly) when spelling and grammatical errors go out.

1. Take a course to improve your writing skills.  A one- or two-day seminar on basic grammar and proofreading can improve your writing dramatically.  It is that important.  Just do it.

The bottom line:  Poor writing skills can cost you money, alienate customers, and make you look incompetent. 

Work hard. Make money.  Have fun.  And when you write your next letter or email, take the time to write it right!  — JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur – winner of the 2010 Top 35 Entrepreneur Blog awards from OnLine MBA.

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur    

209  Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.TheFreestyleEntreprenuer.com

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.