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Great business quote:

Treating all your customers the same? Prepare for bankruptcy.

Times are tough and likely slow getting appreciably better. The customer is now King. Right?

Maybe not.

Marketing guru Jim Cecil expresses concern lest too many try to put too many on the pedestal.  Jim, in a great business quote, contends, “If you treat all your customers equally, you’re headed for bankruptcy.” And I think he’s right.

During times when each revenue dollar is as important, are you really utilizing available time effectively by trying to convince all your customers that they are the “chosen one,” or focusing efforts on those who really are – that 20% of the customer base that provides 80% of your sales.

It’s a lot like the dilemma Sales Managers face … should they spend a disproportionate chunk of their available time with the low performing salesmen, or with those already bringing in the big bucks?  We all have a tendency  to go where the pain is the sharpest, the squeaky wheel the loudest, and focus on the poor performers, when, in fact, that same amount of time would produce far greater returns invested in those on the leading edge of the bell curve.

Cecil’s comment suggests that those who truly are providing the biggest slice of your sales should also get the lion’s share of your attention.

Russ Walden, former CEO of Ridgewood Properties, uttered a salient snippet during his Vistage meeting one day when he said, “The most unfair practice is the equal treatment of unequals.” To which I would add, “be they salesmen or clients.”

What do you think?

Bud Carter

www.businessquotes.com

“Don’t vote. You’ll only encourage them…”

There’s a message in the fact that two television comedians were able to attract a huge throng to Washington this past week…

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert claimed their massive gathering was non partisan … it’s purpose was in its name, “The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” For my part the “fear” is the fear that politics as we’ve come to know it, will only continue, never mind accelerate its degeneration.

Think about it; more than a hundred thousand people took a day off and reached into their own pockets to go to the nation’s capitol not to promote a party or a candidate, but to urge civility – a restoration of sanity to the political process. To say “enough is enough.” And to quote one of my Vistage members here (Charles Lipman, CEO of DiversiTech), to contend that “reasonable people can disagree without being disagreeable.”

As someone who has never voted a straight party ticket, I keep looking for potential statesmen, regardless their party label, rather than politicians.  Candidates who put the good of the country before the good of their party. Shine a light rather than light a fire. Statesmen instead of politicians.

Examples? Sam Nunn comes to mind first. Then people like Barry Goldwater and Everett Dirksen.  Who would you add to that list?

The mud slinging, the vicious TV ads, this campaign season (hopefully ending this evening) here in Georgia are the worse I can remember.  Then, in recent travels, I’ve seen some of the same ads ripping other candidates in other states. Same message, different targets. Every election I come to the conclusion that candidates have spent as much as they can possibly spend, and gotten as low as they can possibly go – and then am forced to the same conclusion the next election. And shouldn’t we be able to know who is footing the bill for all the ?

At some point, some newspaper publisher, some radio or television station general manager will make headlines and win bi-partisan public respect and national acclaim by refusing to print or broadcast attack ads.

Not voting is certainly an option; voting for third party candidates is also an option, but what will happen tomorrow when I go into the booth, is that like millions of other Americans I will end up voting against someone rather than voting for someone. Opting for the lesser of evils. Sad commentary.  My biggest fear is not that a specific candidate will win or lose, but that there’ll have to be a run-off and we’ll be subjected to yet more of this.

Peggy Noonan once said, “Voters think Washington is a whorehouse and every four years they get a chance to elect a new piano player.”

The last word on the subject goes to former President Gerald Ford who said, “Things are more like they are now than they have ever been.”

Yes, and isn’t it a shame.

Bud Carter – author “Pithy Quotes” – www.businessquotes.com

When Bobby Cox retired as Manager of the Braves the team lost its leader, and the world of business outside  baseball lost a great role model. The player’s CEO in cleats may have left the stadium, but he left behind some lessons worth remembering.

Much of “the Bobby Cox” way of doing things has application to business.  Ask anyone who has ever played (read: worked for him) and they’ll say Cox was a player’s manager.  More than one noted that Bobby always “had his back.”  He stood up for his for players whether it be to get between them and an errant umpire, or with the front office at contract time – Bobby was there for them, always treating them with respect.  Would the people who work with you be able to say the same thing?

The fourth winingest manager in Major League history made his expectations clear at one meeting at the start of Spring Training each year.  That was it; he wasn’t big on meetings. Do the people you work with have a clear understanding of your expectations? What you will and will not tolerate?

Bobby’s players knew they were expected to always give their best, that there’d be no music blaring in the locker room, that they would wear a coat and tie on trips, be accountable to reporter’s questions and always, always respect the game.

The stories of  the slow learners abound: A pitcher new to the team who failed to cover first base got called to the manager’s office after the game. Waiting before he was summoned in, he feared pending outrage.  Instead, while he fidgeted, Cox shuffled some papers on his desk, paused, looked up, and  quietly said, “We can’t have that here.”   That was it. “We can’t have that here.”

When Otis Nixon was arrested for drugs he was history – drugs are not part of the Atlanta team’s culture. Five years later, after a proven rehabilitation, Cox and the Braves welcomed him back.   Andruw Jones loafed chasing after a fly ball in a meaningless game and was startled to be taken out of the game in the middle of an inning. Message delivered: respect the game.

Atlantans are used to reading comments of players who are traded here. The usual comment is always something along the line that “I’ve always wanted to play for Bobby Cox.”  The Atlanta Braves have a reputation as an outstanding workplace – what is your company’s reputation? Is your company generally regarded as one of the better places to work in your community?  What would your people say if you retired tomorrow?

Sports teams, like businesses, tend to reflect the character and the values of its leader.

Future Hall of Fame player Chipper Jones said that for the 15 years he played for Bobby Cox (read: that he was hired by and worked for), he always tried to “make Bobby proud.” That’s quite a compliment for someone to pay their boss. Could you say that of the person to whom you report?  And what about those who report to you?

Baseball’s CEO in cleats was a leader as well as a manager, but lest we forget, Bobby was once fired by the Braves,  the front office brass said he was “too nice” and the team “had plateaued”. Five years later, Cox was rehired and the lessons to be learned from a historic run of unprecedented success began.

Bud Carter

Check  out my famous business quotes at www.businessquotes.com

The Perfect Barbecue

Necessity is a mother….

If you buy the premise that the perfect barbecue restaurant is a joint… a joint in a terrible neighborhood you normally would never consider driving through, has bars on the windows and just enough grease on the table to write your initials, I’ve found it: Fincher’s in Macon now 75 years old and likely the only joint whose fare has been savored in space. Astronaut Sonny Carter feted the shuttle’s crew with his hometown barbecue in space in 1989.

Several hundred miles south, there’s Brady’s Backyard Barbecue in Safe Harbor, Florida, not quite six years old.  Brady’s and Fincher’s are the subject of this business obsessed blogger’s ongoing pursuit of the perfect barbecue.

Jake Fincher and his family have been serving this most basic of all food groups since 1935; it is their business, a family business in a town particularly hard hit by the economy. Exiting I-75, you instinctively lock your car doors as you drive past boarded-up homes, cars on cement blocks , and t-shirted young men who, in better times, would be at work … and you can almost drive past before spotting the sign and the too many vacant stalls for what was a drive in restaurant.  The “car hop” on a stool near the corner of the building has his head burrowed in his chest and wakes non-too-pleased to see us headed for the front door.

The bars protect front plate glass windows in serious need of a washing. Inside Fincher’s, you’ll find a world class barbecue joint with food every bit as authentic.  Fincher’s ribs are, to quote a southern expression, enough to make you “want to slap your mama.” Ditto the pulled pork – moist, with enough fat left to capture the full flavor of the smoke, and hand cut, deep fat fried French fries. Life is good.

So what do Jake Fincher in Macon and Brady Fisher in Safe Harbor have in common besides being high on Chairman Carter’s list of great barbecue?  They’re businessmen and their ability to put butts in their seats (and bring them back time and time again – and have them order catering) is their livelihood.  In Jake’s case, that’s who he is, all he’s done – the business has been the family’s business for 75 years.  In Brady’s case, it’s a passion that became, of necessity, a profession.

Brady Fisher’s successful Florida based title business virtually evaporated when the economy soured, so Brady, who, heretofore was one of that area’s more successful citizens had to start thinking about how he was going to pay the bills.  He’d cooked for friends for years, so he, his wife and family took the plunge renting a small house just of Main Street, sent out flyers, and cooked up “a mess of barbecue.”  Said Fisher, “I looked at my wife that first day, and asked what if nobody comes to eat this stuff.”

He need not have worried, not only did they come, they literally ordered, and ate them out of rented home and into a larger Main Street storefront around the corner and down the block.

President Harry Truman had a great business quote when he said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Now Fisher, like Fincher has opted for the risk/rewards of entrepreneurism and staked his family’s financial future on a narrow niche in the food service business: barbecue.  They have chosen a tough business, margins are thin, food costs average north of 30% and the competition is keen. Even the chains are trying their hand at barbecue, albeit doing a poor job.

One of the men is continuing a family legacy; the other is in the business as the result of a family necessity. And, take it from a guy who has spent a lifetime in pursuit of the perfect barbecue, both are serving up world class ‘cue.

Within 100 miles of Macon, find Fincher’s and enjoy. Near Tampa/Clearwater?  Make your way to Brady’s Backyard Barbecue, savor exceptional St. Louis cut ribs (your choice of three sauces – one a unique mango ‘cue concoction), or excellent pulled pork   and don’t forget to ask for their Cornbread pudding;  never had anything like it anywhere –and neither have you.

Barbecue, for most folks, is what they do on a weekend: fuel up the grill and toss something on it.  For Jake Fincher and Brady Fisher it is what they do for a living. It is my experience that the success of many businesses is tied not only to the quality of the product or service, but also to the focus and passion of its leader. That be true, Jake and Brad should be, pardon the pun, in Fat City.

Bud Carter

Chairman Vistage Atlanta

Author of the motivational business quotes book titled:  Chairman Carter’s Collection of Pithy Quotes

Pithy quote: Blah, blah, blah

Want to pay less?  Sometimes you don’t even have to ask. Sales Force Magazine claims 75% of sales people offer a lower price before it’s ever asked for.”

“Most of us,” claims Florida consultant Jaynie Smith (www.smartadvantage.com), “will buy value if we know what it is.”  Value is defined in a company’s competitive advantage, its positioning. How the company values its difference with the competition. Their “unfair advantage.”

Smith is one of Vistage International’s top speakers.  Another of that elite group, Kansascitian Jack Kaine lectures that “concessions made outside the sight of the other party are of no value in a negotiation. A salient snippet of sage wisdom applicable to insecure salesmen who believe they need to cut the price just to get through the door.

Smith asks the CEOs who come to hear her, to identify their competitive advantage(s). Most, as was the case when she met with a group of my CEOs recently, suggest items such as “outstanding customer service,” “our people,” or “our quality.”

Her response? “Blah, blah, blah.” Not quantifiable.

The question she urges be answered is “why us?”  And she suggests that answer be crisp and quantifiable.  A magazine ad for Zurich insurance contends their  programs are as efficient as a well-run factory, citing “have achieved, on average, a 13% reduction in claims frequency and reduced costs by more than an average of 25%. Perhaps that explains why more than 60% of the manufacturers on the Fortune 1000 list are Zurich customers.”  Zurich has made clear what its competitive advantages are by quantifying them for the marketplace.

The salty Smith suggests companies should look for “only statements” about their company –‘only,’ she contends, “provides a competitive advantage.” Examples she offers include, “We are the only company offering xxxx.”  Or, “we increased xxxx by  xx%” – whatever the Xs are.

“Ninety-five percent of employees lack agreement as to their company’s competitive edge,” she contends. Not sure? Then try this exercise:  Identify what you perceive your competitive advantage to be, and then ask your employees what they see it to be, and go a step further and get the viewpoint of your customers. Aligned? Not likely. “There is a sharp disparity,” the Florida consultant says, “between what management and their subordinates believe is important to their customers.”  A business quote worth remembering.

Complicating matters, Smith contends, “prospects don’t value the same things as customers” and urges research, double blind studies, to find out from your customers and from those you would like to be your customers, what they value – and there will be differences never mind both have checkbooks. CEOs, of course, are resisting spending during this severe economic downturn. Smith suggests it’s all in the math and asks, “Would you spend 10 to 40 thousand dollars to get the information necessary to help you close 10% more business?” If so, it’s an investment, not a cost.

“Most businesses today,” Jaynie Smith claims, “are playing chicken in the price game,”  leaving money on the table before the potential customer ever comes into the room. How about you?  What’s your competitive, your unfair advantage?

Bud Carter

Senior Vistage Chairman and Author of  “Pithy Quotes” The Ultimate Book of  Famous Motivational Quotes