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Advice: Savor the Challenge
Posted on December 15th, 2009 No commentswanted to pass along great advice from tony phillips of little rock, arkansas. i played football against the guy several times, and he was always a great competitor. “waiting for things to get better before taking action? things won’t get better until you go ahead and get yourself moving forward. the best time to start is always now. no matter what the outside circumstances may be, the most effective strategy is to get your inner strength revved up and rolling right away. if you’re waiting for things to be perfect, then you could wait forever. instead, grab hold of what is here and now. make positive use of it. excuses for delaying may be reasonable and impressive, but those excuses won’t move you forward. circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. even the smallest effort is better than doing nothing. small efforts that bring results motivate you to take bigger, more effective steps. you know from experience that you can do what you set your mind to do. set your mind on the best of what can be. savor the challenge of making it happen.”
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Followup: Customers Pay it Forward at Diner
Posted on December 15th, 2009 No commentsyesterday, i closed my post on “service more important than ever to venues” with the notion that customers also need to do the right thing. we’re in it together, i argued (speaking to the unstable state of our economy and the fragile relationship of producers and consumers in it). well, check out the below video. shared by fellow splashkit expert kara allan.
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Service More Important Than Ever to Venues
Posted on December 14th, 2009 No commentsat a time in virginia where patrons are far more scarce (it’s winter, there are new no smoking laws in effect, the economy remains a jumble, etc.) i am amazed that any venue can cut corners on service. if you treat customers indifferently or poorly when they’re already struggling to justify a night on the town, then you’re asking to take a hit revenue-wise. it shouldn’t be too difficult to replace poor performers with so many out of work and hungry for additional income. you may even be able to hire someone who provides more productivity for less than you’re accustomed to spending. on the flip side, customers should do their part by being a little forgiving when it comes to a business they frequent that’s facing challenges. look around. ask questions. is there anything you can do to help a bad situation for a venue you like? after all, we’re all in this together.
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Egomania Thrives in a Confused Economy
Posted on December 2nd, 2009 No commentsconsider this tale from a new client of mine: i’m from the midwest where anyone behaving like this would be shunned immediately. we had an ‘all hands’ meeting recently and our ceo asked the semi-rhetorical question, “what’s the most important asset this company has?” stupidly, people started offering answers. he listened briefly but then barked, “no! it’s me. no one has my skills, my contacts, my credibility. before I came, this company was a failure.” (the latter, by the way, is not true). did it again in a presentation with our sales team. he walked to the front of the room and wrote on the whiteboard: FAILURE. “this is what this place was before I came,” he said. then he began crowing about how only he really understood the customer’s needs. while he does have insight and vision, he’s such a bully and his achilles heel is that he’s never able to listen to anyone else with ideas or input. swear on the bible. he actually says “no one is more important or smarter than i am.” unreal! funny how this behavior runs rampant where people are unsure of themselves.
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