Are you watching your costs and expenses? I certainly hope so; I know I am. This week I want to warn you of something. There are a lot of great deals out there right now; many are worth taking advantage of; many aren’t. Recently, a contractor friend of mine in Dayton called me and said he had a Bobcat (skid steer loader) that I should buy from him. He told me he paid 32K for the machine and it was in great shape and he would sell it to me for 20K. I told him I didn’t need a Bobcat and he said, “I really need the money, how about 17K?” I have 5 Bobcats; I don’t need a sixth one, and even though it was a great deal, if I don’t need it, I’m not going to buy it. Cash is king, folks; preserve as much of it as you can and be smart. Spend money on things that make sense, but don’t spend money on things you don’t need. Now is a time to make investments in your people and yourself; get them ready for the recovery. But don’t add assets that are going to be idle and sell the assets you aren’t using.

Well, Thanksgiving is this week so it’s time for me to tell you thanks. Thanks for the referrals, thanks for purchasing my products, and thanks most importantly for allowing me to spend a few moments with you each week.

People often tell me what a great company we have at Grunder Landscaping Company. Others tell me how much they appreciate my speaking talents and thank me for coming to their part of the world to share my ideas. My response is always the same. “Thank you! Without good clients, I wouldn’t have anyone to work with!” So, this week, I thank you for all that you have done for me. Smile today knowing that you help me get my message out and motivate me to work hard at sharing ideas that help you grow yourself and your business.

But, there’s something else I want you to do, I want you to make sure you say thank you to those who have helped you and take some time to reflect back on what you’re thankful for. Things like family, friends, good health, and a safe country are just a few of the blessings I have in my life. What’s going on in your life that you are grateful for? How about stopping what you are doing right now and sending a note, making a call, or dropping an e-mail to someone who you appreciate. You’ll feel better and they will too!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

My wife teaches kindergarten and recently they ordered lunch from a local restaurant. It’s a small place. I’ve been in there but haven’t been there for a while and won’t go back. Here’s why. This is an e-mail from one of my wife’s fellow teachers to all the teachers in the school:

Subject: Warning…XXXXXXXXX

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:09:09 -0400
From: XXXXXX

To: AllTeachers@
WARNING!!
The 1st and 2nd grade teachers ordered XXXXXXX today in honor of Monica’s birthday. When the order was delivered to us by a parent, I realized that my lunch had not been included. I called XXXXXXXXX to ask if someone could possibly deliver it to the school, the owner (Elaine) argued with me that there was no error on XXXXXXX’s behalf. Finally, she said that she would be “flexible” and give me my money back if I came in to the restaurant. This was absolutely their error. Once she realized it, she continued to be condescending and rude. She also proceeded to tell me that, “This is not Indonesia. You won’t starve. I’m sure that you have friends who will share their lunch with you.”

I am appalled at the way I was treated, especially considering that we order from this restaurant frequently for birthdays.

XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
First Grade Teacher
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
A National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence

Needless to say, that wasn’t a very smart way to react to a problem. Smart companies know the lifetime value of a client; they know how important it is to listen to an angry client. They should have said I’m sorry and hand delivered the sandwich right away with something extra. Common sense isn’t so common anymore, folks.

There are a lot of people who are struggling in business, but be thankful for what you’ve got and don’t get grumpy. The only difference between a rut and grave is the depth and getting angry at clients who aren’t happy just isn’t smart business. This small restaurant just lost all the business of my wife’s school and imagine how many people those teachers are going to tell about the treatment they received. I told a few friends that used to go there what they did. The internet has given voice to many that 15 years ago didn’t have one. It’s good for business, as long as you do a good job. If you don’t, people can post all kinds of things on all kinds of sites and they can send e-mails off to thousands in a second. Check out this blog post from the founder of Selling Power magazine. Do you think Salesforce.com is regretting their treatment of Gerhard now?

My businesses aren’t perfect; some of you reading this weekly Great Idea may have experienced one of our mistakes. But we’ll never run from them. We admit we’re wrong, sometimes even when we’re not, to save a client and, in my book, that’s a GREAT IDEA. Use your common sense in running your business.

Here are my 4 steps to handling an upset client:

1. Seek first to understand
2. Don’t get upset right away
3. Ask the client what they want you to do
4. Apologize, take action, learn, and move on with a smile on your face

Hello, folks. My Great Idea covers all types of things. This week I want to talk to you about your health. On February 11, 2009, I tipped the scales at 213 pounds; I tell people that and they don’t believe it. When people guess my weight, they are normally off by more than 20 pounds; I’m not sure if they’re just being nice or they need to get their eyes checked. Anyway, I had continued to work out, just not hard enough, and my love of donuts with my son had caught up to me. I was disgusted to see that I weighed that much. Motivated by the fact that I have no business weighing 213 pounds and by the fact that I take pride in my fitness, I began to work out more vigorously and watch closely what I was eating. I have some good news, I am down to 200, which is where I need to be and I am going to see if I can lose 5 more pounds in the next couple of months.

I’m not an expert on fitness; my friend Joe Owens is. He has taught me a lot about eating right and working out. This week, I’m hoping to motivate some of you who have let your health go to do something to help yourself. It all starts with eating right and here’s an excellent article from The Wall Street Journal that highlights many of the things I have learned from my buddy Joe.

And, just so you can see I really do work out, here’s a photo of Joe and me at our 6:00 am workout in my basement. I took the photo with the timer on the camera, as I’m the only one up at that hour in my house, so please excuse the quality!

I hope to talk to you in the next couple months as a sub 200 man for the first time in 5 years!

My great idea for this week is a simple one. Many of you who receive this weekly tidbit know I have a family. Here’s a photo of my proudest accomplishment.

Marty and his family at a 5K run Grunder Landscaping sponsored. This was a way to help the community, have some fun, stay in shape and, most importantly, do something together as a family.

And I’m not so young anymore; I’m 41, been married 16 years and have a young lady in high school who will be driving soon. Time seems to be slipping away. But, I want my kids to remember their childhood, so I am trying to spend as much time as I can with them. And with school and all the activities associated with it, I’m going to make sure we do plenty of things together as a family.

I’m going to take the kids to several University of Dayton Basketball Games soon. I’m going to take them to Graeter’s for ice cream, Bill’s Donut Shop for donuts, and play plenty of pool in the basement. None of these deals will cost much money, but we’ll have a blast and hopefully my relationship with them will only get better. I also want them to be good parents one day as well. One of my mentors told me once that success was “applause at home” and I can’t argue with that.

Your family will never remember how much money you spent on them, but they will always remember how much time you spent with them. So, my GREAT IDEA this week is to go spend some time with your family. Work will still be there when you get back!