Deals…

I had coffee with a friend of mine recently.  He’s moving away from the corporate world and into the entrepreneurial world.  Going out on his own in today’s marketplace?  Well, I admire his intestinal fortitude! 

Even in the best of circumstances it’s hard to launch a successful venture.  I remember talking with a winery owner years ago.  He had made a killing in the technology/corporate world and decided to move his family to the western slope of Colorado and open a winery.  The value of his stock options was more than enough to make a total career, “right turn”.  He told me after being “out on his own” for a few years he learned: 

How do you make $1 Million in the wine business?  Start with $10 Million. 

Those nagging little things called expenses can dampen an entrepreneur’s enthusiasm (and ruin the wine).  I understand the attraction of working for yourself; being the boss; captain of your ship.  But… careful what we ask for: 

If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job.  And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic! 

Michael E. Gerber 

To be clear, my friend is certainly not a lunatic.  He has great experience, is an expert in his field, and has the full support of his wife and family.  He’s ready for the test: 

Business is a place where everything we know how to do is tested by what we don't know how to do, and the conflict between the two is what creates growth. 

Michael E. Gerber 

In my personal, entrepreneurial days I slipped out-of-balance between the delivery/fulfillment side of the equation while simultaneously prospecting for new business.  As a sales professional,  I knew the research had been consistent over the years (still is).  The key to being successful when in business on your own?  It’s the revenue!  Or, as I liked to quip when asked how I was doing, “Nothing a deal or two wouldn’t solve”. 

Ah yes.  The deals!  I think Mark Cuban agrees with his Rule #4:

Today, one can have the slickest, AI-driven marketing presence.  The easiest and most user-friendly commerce site.  Great reviews; excellent back-office operations; a well thought out business plan; even nice shoes.  But without deals, all that goes for naught.  Unless you have a boat load of money from your (previous) corporate job and stock options. 

My friend tried out his sales “pitch” on me.  I liked it.  I liked his web site, too.  All in all, everything looked good.  When I asked how many deals he’s closed he replied, “Well, I have an appointment with a prospect next Monday.  They sound very interested.  And, I’m doing networking events.” 

Uh-Oh.  An appointment; prospects; sounds interested; networking.  I didn’t have to say it.  He knows, I know, and you know, those aren’t the same thing as deals.  Our conversation reminded me that throughout my sales career (and brief stint as a consultant), when faced with problems, pressures, and expenses my daily mantra became, “Nothing a deal or two wouldn’t solve.” 

I suggested he try it out. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Customer Service?

I don’t mean to trigger negativity; lots of things are going wrong these days.  You, me, and Roger?  Well, we have a choice: 

If things go wrong, don’t go with them. 

Roger Babson 

My wife is a seller on Amazon Handmade.  If you buy on Amazon you might not know that Amazon controls all correspondence between buyers and sellers.  The seller cannot directly contact a buyer – all emails and phone calls flow through Amazon’s computers; text is not available.  Soo, if there is a problem with a customer’s order AND if there’s a problem with the seller’s account on Amazon, that combination creates a real problem. 

Now this particular problem was miniscule when compared to the words “Southwest Airlines” but to my wife who has maintained a perfect, on time shipping record with Amazon for the past four years and received exclusively 5-star reviews from her customers, the problem was anything but miniscule. 

On December 17^th, due to suspected credit card fraud on her account, Amazon locked her out of her seller’s log-in plunging my wife into Amazon’s technology abyss.  To get through to Amazon Seller Customer Service she first had to log into her account; Amazon had locked her out of her account; no other Amazon Customer Service department could help her. 

Every single day for the next 12 days she received an email from Amazon’s computers  instructing her to log into her account and rectify the discrepancy.  Every single day for the next 12 days she replied to Amazon’s computers plus called Amazon’s Customer Service department re-informing them that first they had to unlock her account access.  

Every           single            day… 

But one thing for sure; when you wrestle with a 500-pound gorilla, you rest when the gorilla wants to. 

Unknown Sage 

Meanwhile… she had this personalized horse halter order for a new customer in Georgia.  She had sent the finished halter prior to December 17^th, but the customer (emailing through Amazon’s computers) said she didn’t receive it.  (The package was probably sitting among the airline baggage we all saw pictures of.) 

My wife decided to make a replacement but; she didn’t have the customer’s contact information or order details (all that was stored in the Amazon computer she was locked out of).  She did have a copy of the customer’s delivery address. 

Googling the customer’s name and address amazingly a phone number and email appeared.  Unfortunately, that contact information must have been outdated; her call wouldn’t go through and her email bounced.  However, Google listed neighbors of her customer and their phone numbers.  My wife started calling.  Undaunted, she called until reaching someone. 

To that someone, my wife explained why she was trying to contact this person’s neighbor.  She was convincing enough that this good Samaritan gave my wife her neighbor’s number and said she would text her neighbor to let her know my wife would be calling.  When my wife called; her customer answered.  My wife explained why she was going around Amazon’s computers; and the customer provided the specifics of the horse halter she originally ordered. 

My wife manufactured the replacement halter and drove it directly to the post office for delivery within two hours of that call.  The customer’s horse halter (a Christmas gift for her 16-year-old daughter) was now in USPS’ (and God’s) hands. 

On December 23^rd the customer informed my wife she received her daughter’s gift and all was well. 

Now THAT’s what I call Customer Service! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

It’s not impossible…

I enjoy being amazed; don’t you?  My wife and I have been watching The Food That Built America on The History Channel (www.history.com ), showcasing the stories of people becoming entrepreneurs and overcoming “the impossible”.  Today, in modern science; medicine; technology; space travel; virtually every field there are breakthroughs occurring around us that were once considered unattainable.  

We might agree that not all innovations serve the common good of mankind and there are many elements in our lives, our neighborhoods, our country, and throughout the world waiting for someone to think differently in order to overcome the impossible:  

The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. 

Albert Einstein 

Nonetheless, I am continuously encouraged by the daily brilliance we are witnessing.  I have always been awed and amazed by accomplishments once deemed impossible.  Of course, awesomeness and overcoming the impossible are nothing new.  Mankind has been achieving those heights throughout our history.  When you think about it, what amazes you?  Here’s another example from The History Channel:  

How did they do that so long ago without the benefit of today’s “modernness”?  I’m not sure, but perhaps they first started by deciding it was not impossible, and went from there. 

One of my favorite books, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 © by David McCullough details the degree of steadfastness needed to build what others had previously failed at and what many submitted was impossible to build: 

For anyone to picture the volume of earth that had to be removed to build the Panama Canal was an all but hopeless proportion.  Statistics were broadcast - 15,700,000 cubic yards in 1907, an incredible 37,000,000 cubic yards in 1908 - but such figures were really beyond comprehension.  What was 1,000,000 cubic yards of dirt?  In weight?  In volume?  In effort?... A train of dirt cars carrying the total excavation at Panama would circle the world four times at the equator. 

Circle the world at the equator four times?  How do you comprehend that? 

Here’s another excerpt: 

Construction of the canal would consume more than 61,000,000 pounds of dynamite, a greater amount of explosive energy than had been expended in all the nation's wars until that time. 

Talk about reallocating the collective technology of the time for the benefit of building the Panama Canal.  Using dynamite for good instead of war and the destruction of mankind?  (Short-lived unfortunately, as WWI started soon after the canal opened).  

What do you suppose the country’s military defense budget was a century ago?  How much of that was diverted to building a canal?  Yes, the world was quite different back then.  And I agree that our modern military-industrial-complex overcomes the impossible all the time.  I cite one of their motto’s often:

The difficult we do immediately.  The impossible takes a little longer.                             

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Imagine the application of our determination: 

Its costs had been enormous.  No single construction effort in American history had exacted such a price in dollars or in human life. 

David McCullough 

He was referencing American history.  Ancient historians did not record the construction costs of building the pyramids.  Of course, there’s more to our world than construction projects and war. 

So here’s to us; all of us; everyone, every day who face seemingly insurmountable odds but refuse to turn back.  Here’s to all who decide - it’s not “impossible”. 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Just pretend…

I know we missed NCAA Division I March Madness for the first time since… well… madness in March was created by NCAA men’s basketball.  Like all other sports; professional, college, high school, even the Olympics; we are missing opportunities to see greatness on the fields of play.

Don’t you wish the President came on television today and said, “April Fools!  I suspect that will not happen.  So, where do we find the strength to deal with our current events?  Where do we find avenues for relief?  Where can we watch greatness being achieved - in sports or otherwise? 

Do you know people who have achieved greatness and didn’t believe they were capable of being great?  I’m not talking about super stars’ “public” image (ranging from quiet confidence to over-the-top arrogance).  I’m talking about how people think of themselves deep down inside.

Our health care workers are achieving greatness, yes?  Is that how they think of themselves?  Or our teachers – many of them learning for themselves how to lead “distance teaching” for the first time.  Or you and me and every other ordinary person; sheltering in place while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy.

Don’t worry about self-doubts; second-thoughts; fear.  If we don’t think of ourselves as being great, we can still apply lessons learned from basketball.

Take the Chicago Bulls for instance.  I’m from Chicago; a Phil Jackson fan; and was there when the Bulls won multiple NBA titles.  I was also living in Chicago during the days before Michael Jordan and before those great championship teams:

Former NBA center and coach Johnny Kerr said his biggest test as a coach came when he coached the then-expansion team the Chicago Bulls and his biggest player was 6'8" Erwin Mueller.

We had lost seven in a row and I decided to give a psychological pep talk before a game with the Celtics, Kerr said.  I told Bob Boozer to go out and pretend he was the best scorer in basketball.  I told Jerry Sloan to pretend he was the best defensive guard.  I told Guy Rodgers to pretend he could run an offense better than any other guard, and I told Erwin Mueller to pretend he was the best rebounding, shot-blocking, scoring center in the game.  We lost the game by 17.

 

I was pacing around the locker room afterward trying to figure out what to say when Mueller walked up, put his arm around me, and said, “Don't worry about it Coach.  Just pretend we won." 

         James S. Hewett

    

Inspiring.  If we don’t think of ourselves as great enough to conquer today’s daily challenges, we can always just pretend, true?  I think it comes down to thinking we can:

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

          If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

              It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out in the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow’s will –

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or later that man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

                                  Unknown Sage

I think we can – and I’m not pretending!

                              GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.