Missing the train

I knew where I was going in the big box office supplies store. I go there regularly, though not often enough that my face is known. When I got to the aisle I needed, I walked past two employees.

They were deep in conversation. I quickly figured out that one was probably in training. As I came within earshot, the trainee was explaining how he had rearranged a section of the stock on the shelf. The trainer explained how to handle the uncertainty of that process more effectively.

The trainer then said "Have you been offering tech services?"

I prepared to answer some questions, as I was staring at wireless routers with my back to the two men.

"I don't even know how," said the trainee.

"It's easy. I'll show you," said the trainer, turning to a computer at the end of the aisle.

I picked up my router and walked to the front of the store, slightly stunned.

The trainer had been doing a wonderful job. He was clear, thoughtful, articulate. He handled the trainee well, asking exactly the right questions. He was great.

Except.

Except for the fact that a customer walked past him, stood 3 feet from him, and walked away without the trainer ever acknowledging the customer's presence.


I didn't need help. I knew what I needed and got it. I don't go there for customer service, I go there because it's the only office store between home and work. What the trainer taught the trainee, however, is that talking with the boss is always more important that talking with a customer. Learning the details is always more important than offering a greeting. The system is always more important than the relationships.

I'm hoping that someday, the trainee gets wild and rebellious, transcends everything he ever was taught, and smiles at me.

Contributor Jon Swanson has another great customer service story, real people work in chains.

[Photo of Peruvian train, from Becky McCray's Flickr.]

They are coming

"Serving fine concessions since 2008"

That's the branding statement for the Homerun Hut. It's the concession stand at a local athletic club.

After some years of inconsistent operations, a young couple took on the operation for the summer. Her dad is the club president and opened the door.

They are a good pair. They've been dating for almost four years. She goes to school in Chicago, he in Fort Wayne.

The young man put up the cash for the inventory at the beginning of the summer. They have a typical menu of snacks: walking tacos, hot dogs, candy, freezer pops, popcorn, and soft drinks, sport drinks and water.

Every item is priced thoughtfully, shopped carefully and selected strategically. In fact, suggest a product and they will have an answer as to why they do or don't carry it.

After a few bad Monday nights ($15-$30 gross) they closed the stand for those nights. But Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they are open.

Andrew is 21. He's been working for a few years in a soccer store. He's on his second owner, for the store that is.

He was full of ideas when he started. (We had visited the store a lot.) He runs the website, runs the eBay store. He added a blog to the store website as a way to keep it updated.

He's on his third major in school, but this one makes the most sense. (He has another three semesters in school.) Because of this major, he has an internship at the local paper this summer.

If you are keeping track, this 21-year old has three jobs this summer. He's working in ebusiness for a bricks and mortar store, he's a small business manager, and a starting journalist.

And he's a normal nice kid.

There are young people who are driven. There are people who are millionaires at 13. There are people who grow paper routes into massive money machines. There are a handful of those kind of people.

There are, however, a lot of kids like Andrew. Laid back, hard workers, responsible, flexible. Normal. Next door.

But they are full of creativity and wisdom for the small business owner who decides to listen to the ideas of a 21 year old.

After all, they know a whole lot more about 21 year olds...than you do.

Creating a community

Lynn sold her business. She had to. Her husband? Lung cancer, early retirement, no more insurance. So she needed a real job with real benefits.

It's not that she didn't have a real job. She taught dance. For fifteen years she ran Lynn's Academie of Dance. But that's not enough of a real job to pay the bills for a family, for insurance.

So she sold the dance school.

On Saturday they had a recital. Forty-five girls, from 4 to 18.

It was probably like many dance recitals in many places.

But here's Lynn's legacy. Many dancers weren't built like dancers. Not like the ballet dancers you see in the Joffrey. Not like the hip hop dancers in the videos, not like the tap dancers in the shows.

They are pretty much built like the kids you see in the ordinary classrooms in the ordinary schools in the ordinary towns. Some of them live with Down's Syndrome. Some of them live with numbers on the BMI that are higher than recommended. In skin color, in distance from nose to toes, they varied. One of them even had white hair.

And all of these kids (and 5 adult students) flew. They spun, they tapped, they leapt, they laughed. Their pieces told stories. They leaned on each other. They lifted each other. Even for a non-dance observer, there was something happening that was, well, special.

And near the end, they did their own thing. They wrote their own tribute to Lynn, with their bodies, they wrote. Together the kids created. The older kids led the little ones on and off, carefully. And they danced with abandon, with passion. And they each went to her as the piece finished for one last touch.

Lynn hired teachers to teach from her heart. She allowed in kids who none of us would imagine could walk straight, let alone dance. And every single one of them flew straight from the stage to our hearts.

In fifteen years, Lynn Kuti created a community of young people that cared and created and did better than they dreamed. And in the meantime, they danced.

Small business people can do that, can create communities.

You can do that.

The work of their hands

They were giving us furniture. For our church. Beautiful furniture. The kind of furniture you find in hospitals or coffee stores or waiting areas in malls.

It wasn't because we are a church, really, but because five days out of seven they use part of our parking lot. And they have meetings in our building sometimes. And we don't charge. And so the management gave us some furniture.

It wasn't management, however, that brought the furniture across the parking lot. It was three of the people who made the furniture, three of the people who crafted the sofas and chairs.

They carried it in like they cared, like they were proud of what they had made. They looked around, as if they wanted to be sure this would be a good home.

They looked at the furniture already in the room, the furniture being replaced. And then they began to tell us that we could replace the covers on that as well. "Recovery," one of them said. "It can all be reused." It says that on the website, in the promotional material...but he really believed it. "1988," another one said, having turned the chair upside down. "That was some of the first of that kind." She was pleased that it had lasted well.

They laughed with us, helped us see what we could do with the old stuff, talked about how to treat the new stuff.

For these workers from Wieland, this wasn't a commodity, this was their life. They had poured themselves into this furniture. They cared about how it would be used, how it would add value to someone else's life.

They loved the work of their hands. It mattered.

I was humbled that day. And challenged. To care that much.

--------------------------

Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

As much as they do

The advertising is already starting. It's Olympics time. During the next two months we'll get tired of all the advertising. Everyone will be doing an athletics theme, a rings theme, a Chinese theme, a five-interlocking coffee stains theme. I know that sounds a little cynical, but I don't mean it that way. In fact, all those ads could be part of changing your life.

The Olympics is a collection of stories of hope, of overcoming insurmountable odds, of underdogs, of longshots. (In a sense, it's like a meeting of small business owners.)
What always happens to me during this three month period every few years is to be convicted. I wonder whether I care about anything as much as these athletes care about their event.

• Do I concentrate on details of anything as much as a sprinter thinks of how her fingers are placed right before the starting gun?
• Do I practice the basic routines of anything the way a distance runner stretches and lifts weights and eats and rests?
• Do I focus on the finish line or any deadline as much as the marathon runner?
• Do I build toward success one life at a time the way a weightlifter adds weights?
• Do I look for diversity the way an all-around gymnast or decathalete works?
• Do I build solid handoff relationships the way that relay teams focus on passing the baton?

Rather than getting even more depressed by our lack of athletic ability, train like an Olympian this summer.

Pick just one of these areas to work on for the next three months. Use every Olympic commercial you see or hear as a reminder to work on that area. Trim distractions out of your life for just this time.

Having done that, we'll be able to watch the competition this year and cheer for ourselves, knowing that we have written another chapter in the story of unlikely people doing amazing things.

----------------------

Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting everyday perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

More than just another small business

Just (adverb): merely, only.
Usage: a way to acknowledge insignificance.
Example: I'm just a small business owner. I've just got one employee. It's just a small town.

We all use it. We use it all the time.

We are in the middle of a conference, listening to the speaker, hearing great wisdom and success. We think, "But I'm just a...."

We are talking at a family reunion and rich uncle Dave from New York asks us if we have any plans for the future. We shuffle our feet and say, "No, I guess I'm just going to ..."

We are reading a terrific explanation of marketing our business, and it sounds wonderful. But then we look at our workspace in the back bedroom and think, "I just don't..."

I hear it. I hear it all the time.

And I want to shake someone.

Next time you are feeling insignificant about where you live or where your business is or how much experience or education you have, try an experiment:

Before you respond to whoever is asking the question, think about the one employee you do have who no one else would take a chance on. Think of the four customers you do have who think that your service is amazing because you remembered their birthdays. Think of the time you looked around and realized how much you love seeing a fawn in the backyard. Think about the time that you were felt so integrated into your community that when that house caught on fire you wept and then ran to help.

Think about all that and then say, "I have the privilege to be..."

If the other person is listening at all, they will stop and think, "I wish I cared that much."

-----------------------

Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

Contributor Jon Swanson

I don't need to introduce Jon because you've already met him. He's been a regular reader and occasional contributor around here since 2006. Now he's contributing regularly, so I thought I'd tell you a bit more about him.

Jon works as a pastor, but he understands business better than many so-called business people. He may claim to be too chicken to be an entrepreneur, but he wrote the best small business post that I have ever read. He gets that it is about people, relationships, service, and yes, even love.

He offers insight from a customer's perspective, and he is a storyteller. He knows how to choose just the right words to get his point across, clearly and simply. Not surprising, given his background in teaching communication.

Jon's regular internet home is Levite Chronicles, where he talks about faith, family, productivity, and relationship. I love how he looks "at normal things in odd ways and difficult things in simple ways."

I hope you'll join me in making Jon feel welcome.

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Free upgrade

By Jon Swanson

I rented a car on Hotwire. They gave me Avis as the best price. We got to the airport and the counter person said, "would you like a free upgrade to a convertible?" I was still flying and so I hesitated. "The weather will be much nicer this weekend," she said. I agreed.

We walked out to the designated parking space and saw a silver Mustang convertible. "That's not ours, is it?" said Nancy. Her eyes lit up. It was.

I told my dad. He got excited for us.

We went for a drive with the top down the next morning while waiting for friends, listening to birds, smelling trees, looking at an unfamiliar New England town. We got back to our hotel as they showed up. "A convertible? No way!"

He and I drove on I 495 with the top down. After playing at the park, we took the 6 and 8 year old for a ride.

More friends showed up. "A convertible?"

A couple days later, the three guys, not always known for being macho, climbed in the car to get meat for grilling.

Late that evening, a three-year-old got up. She had been sick all afternoon and hadn't been around for the rides. It was dark, but the car was leaving in the morning. So we went for a ride, she and her dad in the back seat.

"The stars are following us," she said softly.

It was a free upgrade, something that cost Avis nothing, and they already had been the lowest price rental agency. But their free upgrade changed lives.

What do you have, what can you offer a customer, what small thoughtful gesture can you make that will delight a three-year-old in Maine...or your town?


Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

[Photo by Jon on Flickr. Used with permission.]

To understand your customers look in the mirror

By Jon Swanson

You wonder about your customers, whey they don't come back, why they choose others. But look at how you function... as a customer.

Not for your business, but for your personal life (and I know, small business owners have no personal life. But just pretend with me for a moment).

When you need gas, how do you choose?
When someone ignores you at a store, how do you feel?
When you walk into a store, do you want help or do you want to find it yourself?

Now that you are thinking about how you are, remember that there are a billion people NOT like you. If you have tailored the shopping experience in your business to match your preferences, there may be some of those 1 billion people who will feel very uncomfortable and will not want to come back.

So as you think through the shopping experience in your business, think about people like you... and people who are the opposite.

Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

Say NO gracefully

Part of being a successful entrepreneur is saying "no."

Small businesses are constantly hit with offers from potential suppliers, hopeful partners, and even potential customers. Then there are the constant requests for free help, volunteer work, donations, and even jobs. You can't possibly do it all. Let's face it. Being in business means saying "no" a lot.

There are positives to saying no.

What could possibly be positive about telling someone no?

• It keeps you focused on your business. It's your business, and your butt on the line. Learn to say no.
  
  
• It frees up that person to move on to their next prospect. What, you didn't realize they have a next prospect? Yeah, it's true, and you probably aren't the first on their list. So say no so they can move on.
  
  
• It lets you focus on projects that are core to your business or your heart. If you said yes to every single thing, you couldn't do any of them well.
  
  
• It makes you realize that you have a target market. If you can't say no to clients or projects that are a bad fit, you'll end up scattering your efforts all over.
  
  
• It keeps you in business. If you said yes to every donation request, you would go broke. It's hard to say no to the kids' Easter Egg hunt, but you might need to.

Twitterer Elaine Helm said it this way, "Saying no is good for you. And for those on the receiving end."

So when you say no, remember that. You are helping yourself and them by knowing what is right for you and what isn't.

Finding the words

Here are three steps to find the right words to say no gracefully.

1. Acknowledge the importance of the request.
2. Turn them down.
3. Optional: offer an alternative.

Chris Brogan asked Twitter for some help finding the right words to say no, nicely. GeekMommy gave good examples acknowledging the request.

• "Thank you! But I'm sorry I'll have to turn you down... I just can't work it out right now."
  
  
• "It would be a pleasure to work with you at some point, but I'm over-committed as it is right now. I'm sorry I'll have to say no."
  
  
• "Wow, thank you for the offer. I'm flattered, I just can't fit it in right now."

I added this way of acknowledging the request, a variation of one I read somewhere.

• "I'm glad that you asked. It's an important project, and I'm glad you're doing it. I won't be able to join, but wish you the best."

Jon Swanson came up with some good ways to offer alternatives.

• Give them a short burst of your time.
  "I can give you 15 minutes to help you figure out how you can not need me."

• Offer them an alternative prospect.
  "I'm sorry, I wish I could do that as well as _______. Wait. Maybe she's available. May I check?"

Harveymilk had a suggestion for when a request surprises you.

• "interim 'no'= 'let me get back to you'. Often gives you the time to get to an appropriate no."

What other ways can you add to offer alternatives when saying no?

And, just a moment of honesty here. We all struggle with this. Every single one of us. It's tough to tell people no. Here's the end of our Twitter exchange on saying no.

• chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - very nice response.
• BeckyMcCray @chrisbrogan Now I just need to use it more. :)
• chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - oh, we don't follow OUR OWN advice. That's silly.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Best small business post ever

Jon Swanson, formerly the Entrepreneurial Chicken, is writing about small business again. He helped again this year with a training event for a small retail cooperative.

What I heard today made me more optimistic about the presentations in any time in the past 6 years of doing this.

Today, one of the groups said, “We want to be the information source for ___”. Another group said, “we could take laptops with __ software out to the customers and design right on the spot.” Another person said, “We won’t do television advertising, but we can take pictures of our customers working and put them on our website.” Another group spent the bulk of their time talking about the people side of the solution, the staffing changes that would need to be part of the solution for the company in the case study.

Here were mostly department managers from comparatively small business saying that what can make them successful is moving out of the product business into the information and relationship business. They aren’t selling hammers and nails, they are selling houses and homes and lives.

I did my best to encourage them, within the confines of my role. I wanted to say, “YES!!!” In taking on big, you can try to undercut their margins which will fail. You can try to duplicate their advertising budget, which will fail. You can try to out program them, which will fail. Or you can try to outlove them. (I know, it’s business, but at the core of relationship marketing must be relationship, which, at some level, has to be about love.) And the big boxes, whatever their industry: food, church, hardware, furniture, departments, are not fundamentally about outloving anyone.

For the rest of the story about art and crayons and Small is the New Big, visit Jon at Levite Chronicles.

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Promoting your media to the offline world

Chris Brogan wrote a great post about promoting your media to the online world. That made me think about increasing your audience by reaching out to new people.

Jon Swanson and I decided to collaborate on a follow up, how to promote your online 2.0 media to the offline 0.0 world.

Here are my suggestions:

• Talk about it. Tell people what you are working on. Ask for their opinion.
• Invite offline friends and experts to co-author or contribute.
• Mention your media project in your regular printed materials.
• Print business cards specifically for your blog or podcast. (credit: Vaspers)
• Put it in your bio and resume.
• Teach a class on how to create new media.
• Reprint your writings in offline venues: newspapers, newsletters, journals.

And here are Jon's ideas:

• On your regular business card include the data for your Flickr and blog and LinkedIn and...
• Talk about it all the time.
• Use online friends as references for 0.0 jobs.
• Collect your posts and print as a book.*
• Email your posts from reader to people who only check email.
• Have low expectations so you are more subtle.
• Talk about online friends as real friends.
• Get family members involved.

*In fact, compilations of all kinds of media would make great handouts. Booklets, audios, workbooks, PDFs, etc.

What other ideas do you have for reaching new people?


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Starting a business is like throwing a party

It's like you want to throw a big costume party.

You call a few friends, "hey, I'm going to throw a costume party." "Great idea!"
We make supportive noises, offer a few ideas, and say we'll be glad to help. Because we are, we will be, glad to help.

Then you work out a bit more on your own, and you send out the invitations, and you prepare like mad.

And you wait. Nervously. For guests you *hope* will arrive. "What if no one comes to my party?"

We all get that feeling. "What if they don't drink on Halloween this year?" "What if no one turns up for the services?" "What if PodCamp is a big flop?" You know, it is absolutely universal.

The waiting is the killer.

But when you actually get started, a few friends turn up early, and you get busy with them, and then suddenly, there is a party happening.

You have a network. You've positioned yourself and done all that self-selling already.
You are like a well known hostess. (you're giggling now, aren't you?)
If you announce your party, people will show up. Really.

The waiting is much worse than the reality.

"But imagine throwing a party and then charging at the door. FREE is easy. Getting people to pay is ridiculous. Isn't it?"

What on earth makes you think that it is that much harder to get people to pay?? It's not!

It's just a business. Really, just like any business on the face of the earth. If it's valuable to you, you'll pay for it.

If you put on the invitation that there's a cover charge, people will get it. They only get upset when you SURPRISE them by charging at the door.

[Thanks to Jon Swanson for encouraging me to post this.]

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Social Media for Small Business

What is social media, and why does any small business person care? Social media is a way to connect with other people. Fight small town isolation! Connect to the wider world.

• Connect with others in your industry for insight, networking and support.
• Connect with potential customers or suppliers for new business opportunities.
• Connect with inspirational and creative people for a boost, ideas and challenging questions.
  

The tools are blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and many more. (Want a bit more explanation? Try Simplified Online Marketing, about the types of online presence.)

Jon Swanson explains more about the power of connecting with people through social media in a comment on Susan Reynolds' blog.

"I think it's the immediacy and the individuals - which is what makes working in a great office or with a great team so compelling. To be able to show up at work (or whatever the relationship focal point) and chat and go back to the task at hand and to ask someone about the task and to tune out and to come back in...

"I've worked in places with that give and take...and it feels like this. But this goes wherever you go, and you get to pick who you are chatting with, and a lot of the people are very very bright and very very creative and very very caring."

AnnOhio has a Twitter PSA for Newbies

twitter is about the people... add a few more people.. interact.. connect... engage... be part of the community--laugh!

I put it this way on Michael Valiant's site:

It’s all about the people. This is true of many meaningful pursuits.

When I worked for the local newspaper, the best part was making connections with people. I’ve heard many others say on leaving a job that they won’t miss the work, but will miss the people they connected with.

When I joined a professional group, other members told me the best part was the people I would meet and become friends with. They were right.

When I ran for elected office, the best part was the wonderful people I met. I’ve heard many, many politicians say the same at the end of their own campaigns.

How has social media changed my life? It’s all about the people I have met and connected with.

Chris Brogan has written a Newbies' Guide to Twitter. It helps make sense of how Twitter and other social media instant conversations can be used.

Examples of Small Biz Twitter Uses

Mike Sansone has an example for group project management via Twitter.

"One way companies can use Twitter, especially virtual companies, is to create a page or panel with each of their team's Twitter plug-ins."

Rex Hammock used Twitter to maintain contact with his website readers.

"I've set up an "away" message on my blog that displays tweets - http://tinyurl.com/2vljch"

Susan Reynolds is getting all kinds of advice from trusted sources, her Twitter friends.

"Presto. Instant networking. Like Google but with personal insights."

Naresh found a way to support customers with Twitter.

"I used twitter with my support ticket system. Make it private, add your personal account, and get IM messages via instant messenger. Works like a charm"

He also used Twitter as a notepad.

"link for self http://tinyurl.com/3ywyer"

randelaw used Twitter to announce his commitment. Publicly stating your commitment can help make it feel real to you.

"Be it resolved: On or before 1/1 there will be a redesigned company web site up that reflects what we recommend to our clients"

Twitter is...

newmediajim telling this producer that Twitter is sort of like if LinkedIn were having a cocktail party.

vaspers Twitter feedback is immediate, public, & unpredictable (e.g. skeptical, harsh). Twitter is rushing river of brevities.

mikesansone Twitter is an RSS feed for our brain. I subscribe to smart ones

vaspers Twitter is so trivial. After spending time on more serious sites and pursuits, to come here is like going to an insane asylum.

Quotes about Social Media from Small Biz People

digitalvillages I've been social computing on several levels today. There isn't one model for Social Media. There are multiple levels and a different tools

vaspers You are a Media Venue. http://tinyurl.com/2gxg9b

digitalvillages What is the value of social interaction for the individual? Why do singers write songs? Some nobody listens. The same with Social Media.
Why do birds sing? They don't have a business plan and no plans to meet a venture capitalist. They don't even have powerpoints.

digitalvillages Social Media is all about people bringing their ideas & thoughts to a common platform.Content sounds like cement. Ideas are building bricks!

badbanana To me, socnets break down the country club doors. I don't need to kiss the rings of rich old white guys for favors. Status is destroyed.
The new marketplace of ideas is wide open to anyone with a computer and the curiosity to sign up for a free online service.
Here, we're not judged by our clothes. Our lack of monogrammed shirts. It's our humanity and our ideas and our talents that matter.

vaspers Writers club member: "Blogs are garbage." Vaspers: "90% of talking is garbage. Are you going to stop talking? How's about radio, TV, phone?"

vaspers Publisher likes my blog so much, wants me to write monthly column on computer & web topics. http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2007/aug
Thus, a blog is a powerful tool for gaining clients, customers, writing opportunities, publicity, etc. Use blog to educate, give free info.

vaspers Remember, the Web Revolution is about Transparency and User Empowerment, Consumer Info, Peer Recommendation. Base web strategy on these.
People are expecting video virtual tours at web sites. Web 2.0 is more interactive, participatory, multi-media, and co-creative with users.

misc i reflexively reach for my "subscribe" bookmarklet when i mean to hit my "add to del.icio.us." feeds are the new bookmarks. coz i said so.

goldiekatsu I find it interesting how people believe technology will change social structures when it is the people who must make the change.

vaspers Wise woman said "if people stare at you, put on a show."

erincarter the social web is starting to feel like the apartment you live in during college. always partying, always meeting new people just next door.

Overload?

And just in case you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of this, join MMcAllen.

mmcallen I have become antisocial media. I will be over here in the corner.

By the way, MMcAllen only took a short break. He came back for the people.

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