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Measure and Reward

I’ve often used some form of the quote, “What gets measured, gets managed.”  If you don’t measure what you’re doing, you don’t know if it is improving or getting worse.

Last week, I was reminded of a simple change in that statement that raises it to brand new heights.

What gets measured and rewarded, gets improved.

Measuring is only the first step. Rewarding the behavior you seek will lead to you getting more of that behavior. Rewarding the behavior shows your staff what is important to you. Rewards in the workplace are the scorecards by which your staff rate themselves.

Do this. Get a reward.
Do more of this. Get more rewards.

That is simple enough for everyone to understand.

Rewards don’t have to be huge. They don’t even have to be monetary. Praise is a reward. The more public the praise, the bigger the reward. Recognition is a reward. Recognize those who have done well at your next meeting. Honors are a reward. Whenever we had no groups signed up for our Saturday morning flag-raising ceremony, I would honor one staff person by picking that person to raise the flag and telling everyone else why I chose them. The pride they beamed was worth far more than a gift card to a local restaurant or an extra vacation day (although those do make good monetary rewards that are far more memorable than cash).

Measure and reward the behaviors you want improved. You’ll get more of what you want.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You’ll also get less of what you don’t want. It won’t take long under this kind of system for you to find out who doesn’t want to put in the effort and doesn’t fit in to your system. Although it is never fun to fire anyone, the best way to get the staff you want is to get the right people in the right jobs.

PPS Tim Miles and Roy H Williams both brought this concept of Rewards to light during our Shareworthy Customer Service workshop last week. Yeah, I like to work with really smart people.

Every 80 Years

“The reason history must repeat itself is because we pay so little attention to it the first time.” -Blackie Sherrod

Go back in time to the early 1940’s.  What was happening?  Easy question… World War II.

Go back another 80 years to the 1860’s.  What was happening?  Another easy question… The Civil War.

Go back another 80 years to the 1780’s.  What was happening?  If you said The Revolutionary War, you get an A for history.

See a pattern?

It goes back for centuries through the Western World.  1700’s? Great Northern War. 1620’s? The Thirty Year War and so on…

Every eighty years, like clockwork.  In fact, there is a well documented pattern of a shift between two general mentalities of the population of the Western World, a shift between the two extremes of “Me” and “We” that has been swinging like a pendulum for the last 3000 years.  It takes eighty years to complete a cycle from one extreme to the other and back again.

We’re currently heading toward the peak extreme of another “We” generation, one that has caused wars and conflicts for centuries.  Knowing these two extremes, how we get there as a population and what to expect as we approach another peak is possibly the most important information you can have.

I want you to have this info.  

I have been studying this pendulum swing since the first time I heard about it from Roy H. Williams at Wizard Academy in 2005 and the evidence blew me away.  I’ve seen it in the toy industry, in the baby industry, in retail as a whole.  I’ve seen it in politics, in advertising, in the movies and music.  I’ve seen it in our schools, in our homes and even online.  Now Roy has teamed up with Michael Drew to present you with two ways to understand this pendulum shift and how it affects the world around you better than ever before.

The first is their book which launched today – Pendulum (link to Amazon order page but don’t go there until you read the next paragraph).

The second is the creation of the Pendulum in Action website.  Follow that link and it will take you to a special offer where you can get the book for only the cost of shipping ($7) and also get access to five modules/presentations on the Pendulum Swing and how to understand it from the perspective of your business.

Talk about ROI?  Those will be the best seven dollars you spend.     Ever.      Go click that second link now.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If it isn’t the best $7 you spent on your business, tell me why.  I’ll send you something else also worth more than $7 to make up for it.  Yeah, I believe it that much I’m willing to stand behind someone else’s work with my own money.

PPS Yes, the pattern says in the 2020’s we could most certainly be at war.  I’m not trying to sound apocalyptic or anything, but the pattern has existed for millennium   Knowing it and knowing what to do about it are the first steps to preventing the worst from happening.

Get the Wizard for FREE!

You all know I am a huge fan of Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads.  I have trained at Wizard Academy and owe much of my success to the lessons I learned there.  I am also a devoted follower of Roy’s Monday Morning Memo.

For me it all started with his book Wizard of Ads, the first in a trilogy that I read cover to cover to cover to cover to cover.  Best set of business books I have ever read. Period.

Right now you can download all three books in pdf for FREE!  Yes, FREE!  (Don’t ask me why.  The Wizard did not tell me, nor do I get anything for telling you.)

Just go to…  http://www.rhw.com/youll-laugh-youll-cry/

Now!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you want the printed version, go here.  It will cost you $25 plus shipping.  Either way, your ROI is through the roof on this.

Magnetic Love and Hate

Take two magnets and push them together.  See how well they connect.  If they are strong enough, one can actually attract the other one to it.

Now turn one magnet around.  See how it pushes the other magnet away?

Magnets are governed by universal laws of physics.  The stronger the magnet’s ability to attract, the more it will also repel.  Your advertising works the same way.

You cannot attract everyone.  It is impossible to be everything to everyone.  So focus on those you wish to attract the most (hint: like the magnet, it is those who are already aligned with your way of doing business), knowing full well that the stronger you try to attract them, the more you will repel others (who weren’t aligned with your way of business in the first place.)

Your goal should be to have an ample supply of people who love your advertising and hate it.  No middle ground.  The opposite of love isn’t hate, it is indifference.  And the worst thing your ads can stir up would be indifference.  If they do, you’ve just wasted your money.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Yeah, I learned that from the Wizard.  Have you signed up for his free Monday Morning Memo?  It is the first email I read every Monday morning.

Different Campaigns for Different Customers

I learned this from Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads…

I use radio as my primary source of branding advertising trying to attract the Relational Customer.  But I also use radio for my one and only Transactional Customer event – our Summer Fun Sale.  Both campaigns are on the same medium but trying to reach completely different people.  Sound crazy?  Not really.

Both types of customers listen to the same radio stations.  But they listen to different types of ads.

So each campaign has its very own signature, style, and scheduling.

The Relational campaign is me telling stories in a relaxed voice, carrying on a conversation with people who share my values and the emotions I am selling.  The campaign runs continuously year-round.  The ads change every month, but the message doesn’t.  It is all about having fun, helping others, education and nostalgia, told through stories and scenarios painted for the listening audience.

The Transactional campaign is rushed.  I speak faster.  I speak more excitedly.  I speak louder.  I speak with urgency.  I shout out facts.  Date.  Time.  Place.  What’s the deal.  The whole tone and tenor is different.  In fact, some of my regular customers ask me what I was “on” when I recorded it.  The Transactional customers don’t notice.  They just show up for the sale.

I also stack the sale ads.  They start running three days before the event and run once an hour right into the first couple hours of the event.  The repetition adds to the urgency and fires up the Transactional customer.

Do you have a signature and style to your advertising campaign or is it just whatever the latest ad salesperson sold you?  One way grows your business.  The other way just grows theirs.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS   I use radio.  You might prefer another method.  All mediums have a way they work, and many ways they don’t.  Unfortunately, your ad salesperson usually doesn’t know (or care) how his own medium works best.  Do your research.  There are 93 posts on this blog about Advertising and half of the blogs I follow are about advertising.  That ought to be enough to get you started. If you need more, hire me (I do more than just seminars).

Same Advice, Different Day

Seems like I have been giving the same advice to many different types of businesses lately.  I hope I’m not becoming a one-trick pony.  The advice is solid, though.  In fact, I believe it is the foundation to everything else you do for your business.

It is the foundation to the type of products you sell.
It is the foundation to the type of services you offer.
It is the foundation to the way you design and decorate your store.
It is the foundation to the type of people you hire.
It is the foundation to the training you give your staff.
It is the foundation to the way you serve your customers.
It is the foundation to the way you market and advertise your business.
It is the foundation to every decision you make for your business.

Do you know your Core Values?  Do you have a Character Diamond?  (Hint: they are one and the same.)

Read this eBook first (it’s free).  Then download these worksheets (also free).  You’ll have a Character Diamond to guide you in everything you do. (If you have any problems with this, send me an email.)

Why do I give this info away free?  So that all the rest of the stuff we discuss will make infinitely more sense. I have way more than one trick* in my stable.  This is just the first one you have to figure out to be able to get all the other ones right.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS *It really isn’t a “trick”.  I don’t believe in tricks.  I believe in a solid foundation based on smart principles that never change.  And this foundation is the basis of everything I do both in my toy store and right here on this blog.  That is why it is the first download on my Freebies page.

PPS  I also have to give a lot of credit to Roy H. Williams aka The Wizard of Ads and David Freeman for teaching this stuff to me in the first place.

Be Proud of Your Pricing

How much?


Well… before I tell you that, let me tell you all that you get.

We’ve all had that moment.  The customer wants to get to the bottom line before you’ve had a chance to talk up the product.  You hesitate because you are afraid the customer will balk at the price.  You know it is higher than the competitors, but with good reasons.  You think, if only you could get those reasons out first…

But if you think that way, you are thinking wrong.  

Roy H. Williams taught this to me first.  Jeff Sexton wrote a great blog using Roy’s explanation.  Here is my take.

If someone asks you the price, be proud of your price.  Take a deep breath and answer with… the price.  Yes, tell them price right up front.  The first word out of your mouth should be a number.

Then immediately tell them all they will get for that price.

How much?

$259.99 and that includes the the cup holders and the security bar so that you have options for your older child to be able to climb in and out on her own.  It also includes these self-leveling wheels that are rubber so that it will be quieter while you walk, allowing your baby to sleep better and you not to be so annoyed at the clacking racket the plastic wheels make.  It also has this simple one-hand folding technique so that if you have a toddler in one arm you can still fold it and slide it into the trunk with your other arm.  It also includes...

Do you see how the price appears to go down the more benefits you list after saying the price?  When you start with the price and then list the benefits (all the stuff following the words “so that”), the customer thinks wow, what a bargain.  Reverse the order – tell the benefits first – and with every benefit you list the customer expects the price to go up.

Same price, same benefits, different perceptions.  Say the price first, then make it go down perceptually by listing all the benefits immediately after.  Plus, when you say the price first, you are showing that you have pride in the price, which instills confidence in your customer.  And that is always a good thing.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  For more on how perception affects pricing, check out my eBook Pricing for Profit (free download).

Heart and Mind

The mind uses logic to justify what the heart desires.

Roy H. Williams taught me that back in 2005 and I have shared it with countless other retailers since.
Win the heart and you win the mind. But what does it mean to win the heart?
It means to win the right hemisphere of the brain where emotions and colors and sounds and images exist.
It means to win the right brain of connections and patterns and relationships.
It means to win the right brain that does not care about logic or labels.
It means to win the right brain, the part that never sleeps.
You do that with emotions.
You do that with relationships.
You do that with patterns.
You do that with music and sound.
You do that with surprise and delight.
You do that with stories.
Can you tell a story about your store that will connect emotionally with your potential customers? It will be far more powerful than any facts or data.
I ran this ad in December 2005, again in 2007, and again in 2009.
He left Detroit 9am Christmas Eve. Someone somewhere had to have the one toy his sweet little six year old wanted. Six cities, seven stores later he stood travel weary in front of me. “I suppose you don’t have any Simon games either.” As I handed over the last of the Simon games he smiled and said, “God bless you.” Believe me, he already has. Merry Christmas from Toy House in downtown Jackson. We’re here to make you smile.
No facts. No data. Just a true story about my first Christmas Eve on the sales floor back in 1980. Would you believe the three years I ran it are three of the best holiday seasons in the last 20 years?
Win the heart (the right side of the brain). You know how.
-Phil Wrzesinski

Universal Laws are Universal – Use Them

Newton’s second law states simply that Force = Mass x Acceleration.

That law is accepted as fact. It is a Universal law. That means it applies to everything.

Including your business.

Force = Mass x Acceleration
Impact = Size of idea (mass) x Speed at which it is delivered (acceleration)

If you have a great business idea and you deliver that idea quickly and succinctly, you will make a big impact. If you have a lousy idea and take forever to deliver it… Yeah, you get the picture.

You can even break that down to your advertising. Do you know why sound bites work so well? Big idea delivered in few words. Build your ads the same way. Make it about one and only one really big point. Deliver that point as simply as possible. Watch the needle move.

Tap into the laws of the universe and you can make them work to your advantage.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I learned this from Roy H. Williams at Wizard Academy. You should go there some day.

Do it Until it is Easy

I have always been pretty good at understanding Advertising. The stuff I have learned from Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, just makes total sense to me.

I have always had a knack for teaching and training the staff. Once I created my own system for hiring, I’ve been sought out as a guru for Hiring and Training seminars.

I have always been pretty good at understanding how to better manage your Inventory. My seminars on this topic have been some of the highest rated talks I have given.

My Achilles heel has been the Financials. Oh, I know ’em. Have to when you run a business like mine. But knowing them and understanding them has been two different things.

Until last night…

I gave my first ever presentation on Understanding the Financials of a Retail Business to a group of business owners. Like me, they all considered their grasp of the accounting side of business to be their weakest. But in less than 90 minutes they all understood how to read a Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement . More importantly, they figured out how to use both of those reports to budget, manage cash flow and inventory, and make mid-year corrections.

How did I do it? How did I take something difficult and make it understandable? The same way a professional golfer masters a new shot. I worked at it. For me that meant writing a book about it.

Last fall the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association asked if I would write a book to help other toy retailers understand their financials. I said, “Yes!” and got busy figuring out how to do it. The book will be ready by June and can be purchased from ASTRA.

More importantly, however, the process taught me that I can take something hard and make it easy. I just have to work at it. Better yet, last night the business owners in the room unanimously agreed that I had accomplished my goal – to help them understand their financials, too. That made the work all the more worthwhile.

You can do it, too. Just keep doing the hard stuff until it becomes easy. Surprisingly, for most of us that learning curve is pretty quick. Getting started is the only real challenge.

-Phil Wrzesinski

PS I am currently reworking my eBook on this topic and hope to publish the new one soon. It is an overly simplified version of the ASTRA book. I’ll let you know here when I get it done. If you want more details, advanced ideas, and a comparison to toy industry averages, you will want to purchase the book. Check with the ASTRA office. I think they are taking pre-orders now.