Recently, we had more snow in Dayton, Ohio, than we’ve had in years. We do get snow every year, but we don’t get a lot of it, so when it snows, it does cause a lot of people to do strange things. Basically, I see a lot of overreaction and people who just seem to think the world is going to stop turning. There are rushes on toilet paper, milk, bread, and the like. Stores close so their employees can go home and it probably makes business sense because people aren’t out shopping. But this week I want to talk about two companies that did some nice things that made them stand out. These were small gestures but they are some examples we entrepreneurs can learn from.

First, Time Warner of Dayton. They are the largest cable TV, high speed Internet, and phone provider in our region. I have a TV that uses one of their universal remotes and it wasn’t working. On my way home from work on a very snowy day when everything was closed, their store at the mall by my office was still open. In fact, they looked to be about the only store open. I parked my truck in the snow-covered lot and waddled through the 9″ of snow on the ground. As I got to the door, one of the employees saw I was carrying a remote and took off running to the back of the store. I came in through the first door, pounded the snow off my feet and walked through the second door to the counter. Before I could say a word, a man was running from the back saying, “I got it, I got it.” The lady at the counter said, “He has your new remote coming.” The man came right to me and handed me the remote with a smile. I said, “Don’t you need to know my name?” He said, “Nope, we knew you’re a client; those are our remotes; sorry it didn’t work; have a good evening.” Amazing, if you ask me.

How many times has the issue been obvious to the employee of the business you were doing business with, only to hear them say, “Can I help you?” or never demonstrate one ounce of anticipation? It happens all the time so if your company does it like these Time Warner employees did, you tend to remember it. Kudos to Time Warner and thanks for the good story.

I then drove home and when I walked in the door, my home phone was ringing. It was Waste Management with an automated call to tell me, “Due to the bad weather and our desire to have our drivers be safe, we will not be able to pick up the trash but will get it the next day.” I was impressed and saw another lesson, this one being proactive communication is a great way to show a client you care.

As you go about your business in the coming weeks, find ways to anticipate your client’s needs and then do that and find ways to communicate better with your clients. These are two little things that make a big difference and if huge companies like Time Warner Cable and Waste Management can do it, then why can’t we small business owners do it? After all, we don’t need to form a committee to do these things; we just decide to do it and then do it.

This week’s Great Idea comes from my friend and client Darinda Reis, who owns and operates a Funeral Home in Dayton, Ohio. She is a smart lady who has been working hard to improve her business. I have been admittedly challenged with trying to find ways to help her market her Funeral Home. So while I’ve got your attention, if you have some suggestions on how to market a Funeral Home, post them in the comments! Here was her response to my Great Idea about the power of a compliment and one a few months ago about customer service:

Hi, Marty!
I read your Great Idea for 1/25 regarding compliments. I am guilty of not sharing my appreciation sometimes and it is a goal to work on that. As I read your thoughts, I was reminded of something you shared as a Great Idea story, at least a few months ago, maybe longer. In that message, you shared how Lisa (Marty’s wife) received an email from a fellow teacher “warning” about terrible customer service from a local restaurant. This email went out to all of the staff at the school and who knows how many others letting them know how the business made a mistake and, then, missed the opportunity to make things right with the customer. The email, not only conveyed the mistake, but also the arrogance and rude attitude of the management to numerous customers and potential customers. The passion of the writer was more than apparent and would be a motivator for me. (I must admit I am curious as to the name of restaurant.)

I can’t help but wonder how many times I have missed the opportunity to send a message to countless others in an urgent fashion, the way the teacher did, sharing my experience with great customer service. I am embarrassed to think about how I might have helped another business attract more customers without the business spending a dime. In addition, a message sent might make a difference in the attitude and actions of the business to validate their actions. Shouldn’t I be as passionate about excellent customer service as I am about poor service? Nothing helps us more, as business owners, than positive comments conveyed to others from satisfied customers.
Having said that, thank you again for taking an interest in me and my business. Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions. I do appreciate you. Perhaps you might motivate others to take the time to send an email or memo about a positive experience with a business.

Darinda….what you said there is so well put. We all do need to try and spend some time compliments those who do a good job.

Talk to you next week. And if you have an idea for Darinda, please post it below!

I am a member of an Optimist Club. In their publication was a cute little story about a boy and his report card. Here it is:

A Big Creed Supporter

A 9-year-old boy arrived home from school one day to find his father waiting for him, holding the boy’s report card filled with poor grades. “What do you have to say about this?” the father asked. “Well, Dad,” the boy replied, “you can be proud of me. At least you know I haven’t been cheating.”

Now, that’s optimism!

Courtesy of the Optimist Club of San Fernando
Sylmar, California

As a young student I did get very good grades. As I moved up to high school and then college, school became tough for me. In fact, it wasn’t until my last year at the University of Dayton that I finally figured out how to study and how to learn. My problem was if I wasn’t passionate about the subject, I had a very hard time concentrating on it. Today, I find myself trying to spend most of my time in my strength zone. But there are certain things that I am not very excited about that must be learned and studied. For example, I’m not a huge fan of analyzing financial statements. However, as the owner of a few businesses, I must work on that. So this year I am meeting with one of my board members for an hour each month to go through my statements with him and get better at something I don’t like to do.

How many things do you have in your life that you need to be doing that you don’t like to do? The list is probably pretty short, but there is a list. This week, think about confronting those weaknesses head on and making some progress. Maybe you don’t like to exercise, not many people do, but we all know we need to learn how, right? Maybe you don’t like to eat at your spouse’s favorite restaurant, but isn’t it time you did that? Maybe you don’t like to write thank you notes, but isn’t it time you did that? Maybe you need to learn more about sales? We can all learn something about that.

We are all better to spend our time on our strengths. But there are certain critical tasks and duties that simply can’t be delegated and you need to do them. I know it and you know it. So what are we waiting for?

Recently a young entrepreneur I was having lunch with asked a great question. He is going into the second year of his business and is a little concerned that he is doing all he could and should do to make his business work. He asked me, “What should entrepreneurs be doing right now?” Well, here’s what I told him. There are a lot of things; here are the top 3.

1) Getting out and about. Nothing is accomplished by sitting back and complaining. If you do nothing, nothing will happen, so now’s the time to get to work. I would be calling on clients, visiting them whenever possible and I would be asking them what you can do to improve your business. I would also be looking for new clients as well. They are literally everywhere. Think about what makes up your current clients, what’s common about them. Find others like the ones you have. Take them to lunch, search LinkedIn and Facebook for them and get to any networking event you can where they might be. When you Make Friends, you Make Sales.

2) Planning for the Year Ahead. There is no doubt that things will turn around; we just don’t know when. So, now is the time to be planning for the future. Have 2 plans, one for the best case scenario and one for what most likely will happen. Oh, sure, you can do one for the worst case, but I choose not to think about that right now. I have way too much confidence in myself. After all, you’ve gotten this far, right? Things to think about are as follows: What are gross sales going to be? Profits? What will you spend on marketing? What are the best measurements to follow and track your success? Revenue per employee is a good one, for example. Spend some time thinking about what you did not do well in the last 2 years and put a plan in place to make improvements. I am amazed at how few people do this. They just wake up every day and go to work and never fix the things that are broken. Businesses are a lot like cars; if you take care of them, repair the broken items, they tend to perform very well for a long period of time.

3) Tell and Show your people you appreciate them. A lot of companies have a team full of scared people. There aren’t many of us who don’t know firsthand the struggles the last 2 years have brought to people. The best thing you can do with your team is to be honest. Tell them the truth. They need to see information. Share your sales with them, at least. If you don’t want to share your profit numbers, then talk about your business in terms that they can understand. Think about what you would want to know if you worked at the company you own and try to do that. I’m amazed at what 100 bucks worth of pizzas do for morale. And I’m equally amazed at what a little 10-minute talk with a teammate can do for them and for you. Just tell them you appreciate them and show it by looking them in the eye and asking them how they are doing. The latter is affordable no matter what your budget is.

While I’ve got you, thanks for allowing me to come into your world for about 3 minutes each week. Might I ask a favor of you? If you like this week’s message, would you please forward it on to 5 of your friends and tell them to sign up for my weekly Great Idea? I’m trying to grow my business and sure could use your help. Also, if you’re on Facebook or LinkedIn, I am too and I’d love to add you to my lists.

See how easy it was to ask for help? Why can’t you do the same to help grow your own business?

Talk to you next week. Don’t forget to sign up for GROW! 2010….it would be silly to miss this event; trust me on that one.

Hello! My Great Idea this week is for you come see me on February 18-20th in Dayton, Ohio, by attending GROW! GROW! 2010 is a very unique, focused learning opportunity for you. We have been confronted with an economy and a business environment similar to nothing most of us have ever seen. You need to have a plan on how to deal with your future. You can’t continue to run by the seat of your pants and just deal with whatever hits you as best as you can.

If you truly believe things can and will get better, then I want to you to spend 3 days with me in Dayton, Ohio, and leave with a sense of purpose and excitement that maybe you have lost. I think it’s easy to be discouraged and sit back and hope things get better. There’s nothing wrong with hoping, as long as you are “doing” in the process. When you sit back and do nothing, nothing is going to happen.

There are all kinds of reasons why you should attend this life-changing event. And I’m sure you have all kinds of reasons why you can’t attend. The world is full of dreamers but there aren’t near as many doers! Be a doer and come see me; we only have room for 100 folks and we do expect to sell this event out in the next 14 days. For around 700 bucks you’ll get a dose of education, inspiration, and motivation that you can’t easily find anywhere else. Remember, I’m an entrepreneur who is living, eating, and breathing this economy right now as I successfully run Grunder Landscaping Company. I know I can help you and I hope you’ll let me. See you in a couple of weeks in warm and sunny Dayton, Ohio. (Okay, so that’s a lie, but the Marriott is warm and toasty and we’ll have plenty of fun.)

Let me help you make 2010 all it could be; let me show you how to do more than survive; let me show you how to thrive!

Click here for more details on GROW!2010