Tom Shay's e-ret@iler conversations

Everyone needs to have a confirmation that you have done things correctly; this morning I received a confirmation.

Visiting with a doctor in the hall of his office, a lady walked by and said hello to the doctor. The lady and the doctor were friends who lived near each other. Sensing she did not recognize me, I said hello. I turned to the doctor and stated my observation. The doctor joined the conversation and asked if she recognized me. She did not, which was understandable as we had not seen each other in over a decade.

The doctor told her where she would know me from; one of the locations being the business I previously owned. She said hello and gave a hug. Then came her comment. “I really miss your store”, she said.

I said thank you and that I missed many of my customers like her. Now, my store is still in business. Apparently, she sees a difference in ‘the store’ she shops in now and ‘my store’.

All of us have an opportunity to make our business be a ‘my’ in the mind of a customer. We have ‘my doctor’, ‘my mechanic’ and other people and businesses and people that we qualify as a ‘my’.

To this lady, my business was a ‘my’ in her life. Now the business is just another business. I appreciate your confirmation that I was doing it right. How is your business doing? Are you a ‘my’?

The last 24 hours have me seeing two business deaths. I also saw another close last month. Of the tw in the past 24 hours, one was a chain, and as I did not do business there I saw it as just another empty storefront in an area that has its share of problems. They simply closed Friday night and told their staff it was over. Of course I hate seeing people in the business lose their jobs.

During the good times of a couple of years ago, the area was doing OK in spite of all the mistakes they were making. This is why our country had too many businesses – there was plenty of money to support every business. As the money dried up, businesses went away.

The second business, while still open is displaying the sure signs of death that will occur in the next few weeks. I am glad as I walked by this morning, that they were not open today. I hate seeing people I know and having to watch them dance around questions and comments by other customers.

I knew this would be happening as the owner closed two of their four locations just before Christmas. Then, as their e-newsletter announced promotions, the sales included more items and much simpler pricing; like 50 percent off everything in this category and 40 percent off everything in another category.

Looking in the windows this morning, the stock is very depleted.

Unlike the card stop that closed last month, these people were doing all kinds of things right. There was a lot of C.V.S. marketing, a good location, and an attractive sales floor.

The card shop owner has another location in a mall. The location they closed looked like it last remodeled in the 70’s. They did nothing on their own; all of their marketing came as a result of the name brand cards they sold. You can easily see why the card shop closed. And they will likely close their mall location if the mall experiences problems because the store does nothing to help themselves.

But the one I saw this morning is the one that bothers me the most. They tried so hard and if someone deserved to make a go of it, of the two that have gone and the one soon to go, they deserved the most to win.

Walt lives in a beautiful part of western North Carolina. As I have worked with communities in his area, I was pleased to have him attend a presentation. Walt has a really neat business called Smokey Mountain Dog Bakery. He has been written up in several magazines and has everything necessary to put a smile on your dog’s face. And as the saying go, ‘if doggie ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Just ask my dog, Rusty.

In response to comments I made in the February e-retailer newsletter, here is what Walt had to say:

http://www.mtndogbakery.com

We have all seen the t-shirt with the expression, runs with scissors, on it. It is meant to refer to someone doing something they know they shouldn’t. We need to have a t-shirt we can give to business owners to point out the same thing to them – they are doing things they shouldn’t be doing – or aren’t doing what they should be doing.

Here are examples from my personal experiences in the past week. I was interested in purchasing a watch I had seen in a store in a different part of the country. As I googled to find their contact information I decided to use their online contact form instead of calling.

I have filled it out twice. They have never contacted me. They have my email and my phone; I am not hard to find. Either their business is so good they can’t deal with inquiries or they are doing their own version of ‘running with scissors’. It is called ignoring the customer. It doesn’t inspire me to visit their store the next time I am in the area, either.

The second example is sent to me by a friend, telling of their attempts to help a business. My thought is that this business does not need help; it needs to close down and the owner needs to get a job. Here is this example:

We have a new businesses that opened here a while ago.  They are a small business, a café.  They have great food and the place looks amazing.  Their problem is they spent a large chunk of their capital on remodeling even though the place looked fine before.

Now, 2 months into it, they do not have the capital to keep open, and the banks will not loan to them because they are brand new.  I am doing what I can to promote their business.  I have told them how important it is to market their products, and I suggested they do a daily special and fax it to all of the city departments and businesses located nearby.  After seeing nothing, I asked them about it again, and I was told they do not have a fax machine, and I recommended they invest in one.

A week or so later, they still did not have  a fax machine and are in doubt on how they can stay open.  I asked them to email to me a daily special that I would print and fax for them, hoping that upon seeing the success, they would go out immediately and buy one.

I received the email, and it was not a daily special, but just 6 items off the menu with nothing special about it – no deal and no call of action to the customer.  I then formatted something for them and advised them if they are promoting a daily special, and people come in to buy it and the item is the same price as on the menu, it is not a special.

After a while I created the format for them on a daily special and last week on Thursday after having not received anything I called them and worked out a trial run which I faxed to my list of contacts at 10.30 am.  When I talked to them at 1.30, they told me they had sold out of everything.

Staff here told me the food was great, people friendly, service slow.  I touched bases with them to tell them the input and asked them to send me an email Sunday night with Monday’s specials and I would send it out again a few more times, and at that time, they would need to invest in a fax.

Well, it is Monday morning at 8.45 am, and still no email.  If you have any words of advice for me the share with them, I would appreciate it.

I think my initial advice still stands. These two examples of businesses give any other small business a bad name. What possesses people to even open a business if they aren’t going to take care of customers?

Runs with scissors may be a great t-shirt saying. Maybe we need one that is ‘doesn’t get the concept of being in business’.

Just my thoughts. Tom Shay

Tom Shay in Franklin, NC interviewing the mayor, Joe Collins on the importance of a Main Street program. This interview was a part of an educational session in which we were demonstrating how to use hipcast and wordpress.

There is a problem in business when you pay someone an hourly wage and expect that to take care of your giving great customer service. Let me share this morning’s example.

I walked into the nearby Ace Hardware store with a list of items I needed to make some home repairs. The first two employees I passed were busy having a personal conversation with each other. The third employee was busy texting someone. As I found the aisle I needed, there was an employee there who was busy with merchandise. That person did walk by me and said, ‘excuse me’. (Note: no ‘hello’ or offer to assist).

In selecting items I walked through more than half of the approximately 6,000 square foot store. On the way to the register with my six items, I passed another employee who smiled. I walked to the counter and waited for someone to show up to take my money.

In giving the change to me, the cashier did not count it back to me or say anything. I was the only customer in the store.

The lesson? If the neighborhood store is going to give service like this, why shouldn’t the customer go to the box store which has a much larger selection? For some customers the box store is even closer.

This staff does not care about customer service because they are not paid to care about customer service; they are simply paid to be there. How are things done in your business? Does it make a difference to the salesperson if the customer has a great experience? Does it make a difference to the salesperson if the customer buys something?

If not, I see your problem. Do you see it?

The last afternoon of the year in the office; the decade of the ’00’s’ – how will I look at thee, let me count the ways.

I first think of family – I lost two very important people in my life – my grandmother and my father. After being hospitalized once in the 1970’s for an elective surgery, I would have to stop to count how many health challenges and hospitalizations I had in the last decade.

I think of business – It is much further along and more profitable than it was a decade ago. There were plenty of ups and downs, but I did get through it in a better position than I started.

I think of friends – There are so many more that I have met in the last decade that mean so much to me. I also think of those that have had a very rough decade – both personally and business wise.

I think of knowledge – There are so many more ways I can help others from what I have learned through experience, friendship and books.

Even with the good that is happened, I am glad this decade is over and look forward to the decade of the ‘teens’. There will be many challenges – business and personal wise. Simply because of age, I know there are several family members that are very close to me that I anticipate I will lose in the coming decade. I will enjoy all the time I can have with them.

Business will have challenges. With the gained knowledge, and experience, I am better prepared to face them. I hope you are too.

Thank you family, friends, clients, and those I have met at trade shows, conferences and continuing education events. You have blessed my life and I  hope I have given something to yours.

Let’s go forward and make it a great decade.

Our electronic guru, Bruce Geroux is working to have all of our blogs post to our twitter feed. Stay tuned!