If I were a fan, I’d boo me too…

The baseball season, at least for the Atlanta Braves, is over, sadly over – but there’s a message that lingers on.

Case in point, Dan Uggla, the multi-million dollar man who couldn’t bat his weight for the first few months of the season.  Counted on to be the long baller and the .260 hitter he’d always been, Uggla struggled mightily.  The pithy quote from Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench was applicable: “Slumps are like a soft bed. They’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.”

Most every big leaguer goes through a slump, but not for nearly four months. The unwritten rule of fandom is the higher the salary, the closer the scrutiny. And, as was to be expected, some fans got on him.  They paid their money and they were exercising their right to pass judgment on General Manager Frank Wren’s biggest decision.  Boos could be heard at the park, frustration could be heard on  sports talk radio.

So what did Uggla do? Break bats? Blame playing for a new manager?  Feign minor injury?  Avoid the media and their questions? Did Uggla grumble and grouse?  No, in the vernacular, he “manned up.”  Baseball executive Paul Richards had a salient snippet to the point a few years back that applies not only to the business of baseball, but to business as a whole. “Trust your gut,” said Richards, “don’t cover your butt; they pay you to do what is right.”

The season was half over, Manager Fredi Gonzalez could have swallowed hard and asked Uggla to work it out in the minors; the Braves were in a race to make the playoffs. Maybe General Manager Wren opposed it – we’ll never know because Gonzalez did what was right.

Uggla could taken his money, moped and written 2011 off as a bad year. We know  he didn’t; he stuck with it – ultimately showing fans what they’d paid to see. “If I were a fan,” said Uggla in a June radio interview, I’d be booing me too.” Whoa, vulnerability and accountability.  By season’s premature end,  the  scrappy second baseman who had remained accessible to reporters throughout, had raised his average nearly 100 points, ending with a .233 batting average and 36 home runs – more home runs than the 31 year old  had ever before hit in the majors.

What happens at your place when someone fails to meet expectations? Do they get top level management’s support?  Do they grumble, point fingers, hide from accountability, or do they accept responsibility and “man up” Dan Uggla style?

What if that same person then made lewd suggestive gestures towards a family of customers who had been offended by his comments and then threatened physical violence, what would have happen?

That would likely be in violation of your company’s values and culture, be bad business; they would be gone; fired with cause.

Not so with my hometown Atlanta Braves.   Team President John Schuerholz is quoted as saying, “The Atlanta Braves organization prides itself on being one that values integrity, diversity, professionalism and respect…” and he then abdicated his responsibility to discipline his errant employee leaving it up to Major League Baseball.

Baseball is a business.  Pitching Coach Roger McDowell’s response to being heckled reflects poorly on the game of baseball in general and the Atlanta Braves in particular.  He violated what Schuerholz claims to be the team’s (read: company’s) values.

Does the name John Rocker ring a bell?

Rocker’s rant was featured in Sports Illustrated and he, not the game, became the focus wherever the Braves played that year.  You would have thought an organization “that prides itself on being one that values integrity, diversity, professionalism and respect” would have learned its lesson.

McDowell, a former major league pitcher, hurled his slurs and made his threats in a public arena, yet cowardly apologized in a written statement.

The decision as what to do should have never ended up in Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s lap. McDowell is an employee of the Braves. Either Schuerholz or General Manager Frank Wren, one or the other, should have seized the initiative and shown that the values the organization’s claims really do mean something and fired McDowell.

Now a show boating attorney who has never seen a TV camera she didn’t love is getting involved and the circus begins.

Ironically, another former major league pitcher, years ago, had a pithy quote appropriate to the occasion.  Former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Vernon Law said, “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.”

The Braves have now failed two tests: John Rocker and now Roger McDowell.

When will they learn the lesson?

Through all the economic chaos, with most business leaders struggling up the tough side of the mountain, it’s good to step back and realize there are some, albeit a diminished number, who are having good years.  One with which I am familiar, having worked with him now for more than 10 years, is succeeding, profiting,  not through luck, but through a consistent application of a strong management system, a diversification of product offerings and tapping into the sage counsel of other CEOs  committed to his success.

Pierre Panos fled the violence of his native South Africa in the early 90s after accomplishing the equivalency of a CPA (and spending five years in management with Coopers and Lybrand there) and gaining experience in several food service ventures.  Not sure where he wanted to migrate, he composed a matrix of all things important to the young couple in a new country – wherever it may be and graded the possibilities, ultimately choosing The United States and Atlanta.

Here, he applied his restaurant background, earning equity as he turned around a marginal mid-price point operation. Next, Panos created a new concept: Stoney River Steakhouse. Panos and his partner ultimately sold the Stoney River concept and their two local stores (and 2 under construction in Chicago) to the O’Charley’s chain. He then bought out his partner in a popular suburban mid-price point restaurant, Brookwood Grill, and began to diversify.

The 46 year old Panos bought several Papa John’s franchise stores, revamped the Brookwood Grill, and ultimately created yet another new dining concept: F2O – Fresh to Order. Papa Johns is at the low end when it comes to the average ticket, F2O is somewhere in the nine to ten dollars range for lunch and restaurants like the Brookwood Grill usually have price points in the mid-20s.

Choosing good people who are screened and tested to ensure alliance with clearly defined values, Panos likely has a layer of management others would see as a cost, and unnecessary expense.  For Pierre it is an investment – a solid core of trusted chiefs who allow him the luxury to work on his businesses, not just in it. The result is that during a down economy, a time when many restaurants are taking it on the chin, some failing to survive, Panos’ company, QSAmerica (www.QSAmerica.com) has enjoyed two good years, very good, despite a dour, downturned economy.

His Papa John’s stores (he is now their third largest franchisee) in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Florida, out-perform the chain’s national average.  His F2O restaurants here in Atlanta, and one in Chattanooga, are in the black and attracting a long line of franchise seekers.   To this point, the numbers cruncher turned restaurateur has opted to keep the majority company-owned while “testing” the franchise possibility with a couple stores. Ask, and the modest South African will tell you that a rigid compliance with Vistage speaker Will Phillips motivational business quote, “The essentials to successful management are good people, roles and rules.”

To which Panos would likely add diversification.

Bud Carter

Senior Chairman Vistage Atlanta

Publisher of Chairman Carter’s Collection of Pithy Quotes (Business quotes designed to improve your bottom line, or, at the least, your disposition). www.Businessquotes.com

It was Bowers, in his presentation in May 2009, who said that the old axiom, “Faster, better, cheaper – your choice, any two,” no longer applies. That, in fact, being able to provide your company’s product/service, better, faster and cheaper is now the price of admission in order to even be considered. “It is,” he said, “the new definition of Capitalism.”

Sam asks a key question: “What are you providing now that your customer does not value?” According to Bowers, “The concept of Value Added bankrupts more companies than any other.” Then, one other pithy quote to reiterate his point: “When you’re better than good enough, your price is too high.”

Bowers and subtlety, you have undoubtedly noted, are strangers. One of his comments is already on the web site, Businessquotes.com: “Looking for a place where price is not a factor today,” he said, “is going to be a long, lonely search in a dark jungle.”

Noting the chaotic economy already prevailing when he spoke, Bowers said, “The recession will end when consumers can no longer delay the purchase of durable goods.”  It made sense when Sam said it and it looks like we’re nearing that point now, 22 months later.

And not a day too soon.

What would you change if you had the power, the authority?

I’m not up for the rigors (and likely revelations) that go along with running for office, but I am open to being named Emperor. And as your Emperor, here are the Top 10 Things I would change immediately (if not sooner):

1)      Order all billboards taken down. They are eyesores that detract from the beauty of nature and distract drivers.  Sidebar: The members of the Georgia House, in their infinite wisdom, recently voted to allow “vista pruning,” cutting down those terrible trees that stand between the billboard and the roadway. Claimed they were helping save jobs.

2)      Bury all utility lines. Another eyesore eliminated, a hazard for inebriated drivers removed, and no more concern about ice laden wires toppling in the aftermath of storms and pulling the plug on power for thousands of customers.

3)      Remove speed bumps.  These manmade monstrosities succeed only in profiting auto shops specializing in alignment work. Sidebar: the management of one Atlanta office building has painted stripes similar to what you see on speed bumps in their parking lot.  What happens? Cars slow down as if they were actual speed bumps.

4)      Make all political offices one term.  The President would serve for seven years, members of the US Senate for six and House members would be voted to four year terms – on a staggered basis. Sidebar: Journalist Peggy Noonan is quoted on www.BusinessQuotes.com as saying, “Voters think Washington is a whorehouse and every four years they get to elect a new piano player.  As Emperor, I’d leave the piano player and the girls upstairs alone, and start shuffling out the good ole boys in the backroom.

5)      Require the television networks (and local stations) to maintain the volume of their commercials at the same level as that of their programs. They actually do pump up the volume for commercials.

6)      Order full disclosure of all cash paid to or for the benefit of any and all publicly elected official as well as the bureaucrats they appoint.  Money spent in this arena is clearly designed to help gain access, access leads to influence and then to power, and power corrupts.

7)      Allow the residents (qualified voters) of every state to vote whether they want to be able to buy liquor on Sunday, gamble legally and/or give special tax breaks to attract new industry. Sidebar: A former Georgia Governor pre empted a public vote on a lottery for years; citing “moral grounds.”  The lottery approved by the voters after Joe Frank Harris left office has funneled literally billions of dollars into education.

8)      Ban the following words from all political debate: “They, Them, Nazi, Neo, Fascist, Anti American, Always, Never, and None.”

9)      Legally prohibit anyone par boiling or baking meat (regardless how much sauce they slather on) from offering it to the public as “Barbecue.”

10)  Eject from the theater (only after photographing and posting the picture) anyone caught talking during a movie.

Those are the things I’d change. That’s my list.  What would you do were you to become Emperor?  Post yours and I’ll compile and we’ll see how others react.

Your Emperor In Waiting.

Well, their head of Marketing says it’s because they’d rather give away millions of pizzas than spend three million dollars for a 30 second commercial – but that’s less than a complete answer. The fact is potential recipients must register online to be eligible and the national chain is likely to grow its email data base by tens of millions.   Then with a monster data base that cost them next to nothing to generate, they will be able to direct market on a personal basis to millions of Americans for next to nothing.

Who benefits? Well, certainly all those who register in the unlikely event the game goes into overtime (it never has) but the biggest winner has to be the Papa Johns chain. They have already generated millions of dollars in free advertising with news coverage of their promotion, and their local franchisees who certainly are getting their money’s worth given the franchises’ marketing fee.

If you remember, Denny’s started this a number of big bowls back when they announced Grand Slam breakfasts were on the house the next morning.  Local papers had pictures of the long lines, all four of the national networks had the story on their evening news the next day and a sheepish Denny’s CEO told a USA Today reporter they’d garnered 50 million dollars in free publicity before the day was done, never mind all the first time customers, the folks who hadn’t been to Denny’s for a long while and, by the way, the margin on the drinks folks ordered with those breakfasts almost paid the cost of the meal.

SEO guru Brad Fallon said it best more than three years ago when he told my CEO groups, “If you give it away, you can sell a lot more.”  That proved the case for Denny’s, but now Papa Johns has one upped the competition. PJ’s is now able to sell a lot more (as a result of their huge new data base) to a lot more without having to give anything away …  in fact, by doing no more than holding a news conference.

And think of all publicity they’ll get if the game does go into overtime.  I don’t know who will win the football game, but the winner of the Marketing competition is clear.

Barbecue, to this point, has proven the one niche with which the mass market folks have had trouble. Famous Daves and Smokey Bones are but two examples.  Now, however, there may be an aberration about to make good on a big scale.  A ramshackle restaurant getting its start in the Deep South appears poised for explosive growth.  And all because a dumpster diver was looking for something to do with his “stuff.”

Born on the bayou (Ocean Springs, Mississippi), The Shed Barbeque and Blues Joint, is just that and less.   The restaurants (I’ve been to two) appear to be patched together by neighborhood kids building a ground level tree house.  The décor is decidedly sparse and certainly patron provided: think old tools, car parts, signed dollar bills, sports gear, tie dyed shirts, business cards etc., nailed, stapled all about. Tables, in some instances, are doors on saw horses and you’ll have a tough time finding any two chairs that match.  Table cloths?  Wet Wipes?  Valet parking? You’ve got to be kidding.

Why? Because real barbecue addicts know that the best barbecue is usually is found in some building in severe disrepair in a bad section of town with bars on the windows and just enough grease on the table for you to be able to write your initials.  Think of three great barbecue joints: Finchers in Macon, Georgia, McNeeleys in Memphis, Tennessee, and McMillan’s in Whistler, Alabama, as prime examples.  The two Shed locations I visited were both well off the main drag and in areas where appearance and/or restrictive zoning was not an issue.

Food at The Shed is fairly priced ( plates with two sides range from $8.99 for chicken sausage, or pork, to $9.99 for beef brisket and 11 or 12.99 for spare or baby back ribs plus a couple sides) and better than  average. The sauce is a thick molasses based concoction. Four sides are offered: baked beans (promoted as ‘famous), Cole slaw, macaroni salad and potato salad. Collards and French fries were conspicuous by their absence. Everything comes with pickles and onions. All in all, better than average.

The colorfully written menu notes at the bottom, “Oh yes, there are more Sheds. Each one totally unique, no cookie cutter franchise stuff for The Shed.”   The others, at this point, are in Gulfport, Mississippi, Scott and Mobile, Alabama and Destin, Florida.

Ironically, it may have been the former CEO of  Porsche, Peter Schutz, who put it best when he said, “If you listen, your customers will explain your business to you.”  Shed founder Brad Orrison (a self confessed dumpster diver while at Ole Miss) obviously has listened to his customer base and knows the DNA of the true barbecue fan, and is betting on the theory that “if (he) you build(s) it, they will come,” and one may be coming near you soon.  Enjoy.

Why, because as Vistage member and speaker Brad Fallon said years ago, “If you give it away, you can sell a lot more.”  In Burger King’s case, it wasn’t just about selling more coffee. It was about selling more of everything; the folks at Denny’s proved that following their announcement at the Super Bowl several bowls back.

A TV ad during the event announced Denny’s would be serving free “Grand Slam” breakfasts to all who asked the next morning.  The next evening, every network TV newscast, most local newscasts and the next morning’s daily all featured stories of the long lines outside the Denny’s in their communities.   A few days later, Denny’s CEO admitted to a USA Today reporter that the promotion had brought many folks back who hadn’t been to a Denny’s in years, attracted new customers who had never been inside, and, by the way, most everyone bought coffee or a soft drink to go along with their free breakfast.

Those in the restaurant business will tell you that their margin on drinks is a multiple of what they make on the food. And the Denny’s chain logged more than one hundred million dollars worth of free publicity that served to significantly raise the brand’s profile.

So, if you’re in business, but not necessarily the CEO or owner, the question becomes what can you give away that will attract business? For many, the answer is ‘expertise.’  Ever stop to wonder about “the why” in back of all those emailed newsletters you receive that offer unsolicited (and unpaid) business tips? It is information being provided you free that others charge a fee to provide.  The hope of the originator is that the reader will provide the sender with credibility and recognize a degree of expertise – and then assume if the sender offers this for free, there must be a lot more in back of it –  and then makes a decision to spend for more.  They are buying because they got a taste, something of value (a cup of coffee, a breakfast, a few Sales tips) for free.

Some decorators give away ideas as to how you can improve the look, feel of your home in hopes you will hire them. Some Search Engine Optimization folks offer suggestions for improving your web site’s rating. Burger King gave away coffee.

What do you have for sale?  What could you give away that might open the door to that sale? Not a key chain, not a letter opener or a Swiss pocket knife, but something of value that ties closely to your core product or service.

What can you give away for free, no strings, no conditions, that will be of value to the recipient and cause them, at some point, to want – and be willing to pay – for more?  Yes, it is counter intuitive, but you will sell a lot more… ask at Denny’s.

Bud Carter, www.businessquotes.com

Most have electronic relationships (or is that an oxymoron?) with established suppliers, the Amazons of the world;  but for those in search of a specific product, a web search is typically the first order of business: go to Google, enter the product, and then check out the first three or four firms  showing atop the first page.   And that, as it turns out, may not be such a good thing.

Sunday’s New York Times headlined their story about Vitaly Borker “A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web.”  My choice would have been “Bad Guy Makes Big Bucks Abusing the Web.” Long story short, Borker’s company has a history of unimaginably poor customer service and, believe it or not, selling a lot more because of it. The more customers his company abuses, the more customers they get.

How?  Well, you don’t want to be one of his dissatisfied customers. Borker (who uses more than one name) routinely responds first with curt emails, then frequently follows with profanity laced emails. Then if the customer remains adamant in his demand for a refund or by stopping payment,, the newspaper account say his responses have escalated to threats of physical violence.

Frustrated, many take to the internet to warn others. But by blasting the New Yorker online, by joining groups seeking to publicize the abuse he heaps on customers, they, albeit unwittingly, drive up his ratings on the search engines, so instead of being somewhere on page six, his company ranks even higher on the web page than the name brands of the eye glasses he advertises.  Boasts Borker, “I out rank the designer’s own web site.” And the higher your position on the search engines, the more people who will visit your site and, hence, the more people likely to buy.

Borker, who works out of his home, caught onto this Catch 22 quickly and has made it a practice to go far beyond reason to agitate initially and then literally threaten those who had the misfortune to buy from him and then seek to return their designer eye glasses.  His record is one  of threatening to take disgruntled customers to small claims court, and later emailing copies of “documents” showing a suit has been filled. If the consumer persists he has escalated to the point of emailing pictures of the customer’s home (to prove he knows where to find them), noting “I am watching you.” He typically doesn’t stop until the customer surrenders and withdraws his stop payment order.

The Times quotes Borker as saying, “I’m not a sales girl at Macy’s following a customer around the store to make sure you’re happy.”  Nor is he interested in doing business with those who have researched his company and read the scathing reviews. The Black Bart of the internet knows there are far more potential customers than those he has already alienated, and those are the folks whose money he wants.  He literally makes more money by abusing his customers and then gaming the system.   The more people go online to complain about Borker and his company, the higher his ranking; the higher his ranking, the more business he does. And yet who can fault consumers trying to caution others who may be in the market for the same product.

What’s the answer?  Research.  Know our vendor before you make an online purchase… and, as the  DecorMyEyes.com has proven, those resting atop  Google’s first page are not, by placement alone, guaranteed to be quality merchants.

Bud Carter, check out my web site www.businessquotes.com – home of “Pithy Quotes”

For most, today is the day we remember that President Kennedy was shot and killed.  It is also, however, the day that Stan Musial was born…   and today The Man celebrates his 90th as the newly named recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom…

Stan The Man follows DiMaggio, Williams, Clemente, Frank and Jackie Robinson and Buck O’Neil in receiving the honor… and likely is being so honored only because the owner of the Cardinals mounted an overt effort utilizing the social media, pressure on the US Senators in Missouri and neighboring Illinois, and a educational cartoon character called Flat Stan.

For me, the pride of a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania, takes on even a more personal appeal.  He was Mother’s all-time favorite; “My Stanley” was the way she referred to him.   I opted for his restaurant, Musial and Biggies, for my first bachelor dinner.  Note, I said “first;” the restaurant lasted longer.

And when it came time for my folks to celebrate either their 65th or 70th wedding anniversary, I’m not sure which, I contacted his office and Stan Musial sent a personal note which was framed and showcased in a far more prominent place  than the letter from President Clinton.

As a kid, my younger brother and I pressured our folks to hang around the ballpark, Sportsman’s Park, long after the game so we could get autographs…  sometime in September 1951, the Cardinals played Cincinnati and there in my autograph book are the signatures of Nipper Jones,  Del Rice and Stan Musial …  Musial, not once, but twice.

Stan Musial was not only a great ballplayer, a successful businessman (he was also President of a bank) but a great citizen - a good guy who just happened to hit .331.

Happy birthday Stan