The Business Brickyard

Feeling a little stuck trying to generate some business changing ideas? Here is just one small way to jump start some new ideas and put them into action. Start by asking yourself..

"What 20 ton weight is dragging down your entire industry?"

Maybe it's eroding prices. Maybe it's supply chain issues. Maybe clients are running to the Internet. Maybe a competitor is kicking your ass. Whatever they are, write them down.

Now list 5 solutions that would totally reverse each one (no matter how strange or impossible they may feel in your mind). Now take each one of those solutions and write out the specific steps/action plan that you would need to take to make that solution real.

Start 1 of these action plans each month and then check the cash account in 12 months.

Repeat as necessary.

(Just going through the process will break you out of your day to day routine, let you challenge the "It's just the way it is" thoughts in your mind and give you some open space to work ON your business).

Anyone have other ideas that have helped them generate some fresh ideas? Please share in the comments.

My local bank has 12 teller windows. I have never been there when more than 3 had tellers were behind them. I have never been there when there was not a long line.

There is a large chain of "super" Drug Stores in New York called Duane Reade (Recently acquired by Walgreen's). They all have approx. 8-10 cash registers and I have never been there when more than 2 had staff behind them (Most of the time it is only 1). This is so universally true at every Duane Reade that I now refer to every other company that creates this illogical and customer maddening experience as the "Duane Reade of _____"

In both cases, managers are around that observe these long lines and NEVER rally other staff to clear it or jump behind the register/window themselves.

Now, I am not the most patient person in the world. But, I do not think that anyone enjoys waiting in a line up to 10-20 minutes. Is that just the way it has to be to keep expenses down?

My local Whole Foods Market has over 35 cash registers (all staffed) and a person at the head of the line that continually directs people to the next open register. The line is often over 50 people long and I have never waited more than 5 minutes.

There is a hotel in Germany that picks you up from the airport, lets you order dinner from the car so it is waiting for you and they check you into the hotel when you get to your room.

How much effort does it really take to focus on that most important moment when your customers are about to pay you? Why would anything else come first?

Are there any times when your customers are "waiting in line" to use your product or service? If there is, the most important big idea/innovation for you to execute this year would be to fix it.

The Diner in my somewhat sleepy town is painfully empty. It is as painfully empty as most any store or restaurant you walk by these days. No doubt this change causes incredible stress to the owner of each business leaving them way too much time to consider all the extra things they could do to try to change their fortunes. We are all there or worried we will be there.

But let's turn those thoughts around. How could you do LESS to change your fortunes? Consider that people actually do NOT want more from you and would welcome you giving them an amazingly great and simple moment. If there ever was a time that the saying "Longing for simpler times" rings true it is now. I hope that fact remains long after the recession is over.

So why can't that Diner end the stress that comes from maintaining that enormous menu that is trying to please everyone? What if they just focused on making the PERFECT burger, fries and shake? Every ounce of energy focused into a finite offering that will be extraordinary.

No more. No less.

In the process, they will have reinvented their business. They will have found a way to be different than their competitors. They will have found a way to have people start talking about them again and spreading the word. Not from that extra mailer or ugly banner with a "buy one get one free" offer. Just connect to what people went to Diners for in simpler times and deliver it with perfection.

The Shake Shack in New York does just that and the lines run around the block....and back.

And it is true for every business.

What did "simpler times" in your industry look like? What is the Burger, Fries and Shake of your industry? Of your specific business? Are they the absolute best anyone could ever find?

For me, there are two ways to deliver a presentation.

1) Open up each slide in your presentation and read it.
2) Present your talk while the slides open up behind you reinforcing your point and entertaining your audience.

I read to my 3 year old son before he goes to sleep. I don't want to have that effect my audience.

But memorizing a 70+ slide presentation is a tall order and, unless your are a trained actor, will still sound like you are reading.

When I give a talk, I am trying to have a conversation with my audience. I am working hard to remind them of business skills that have been lost along the way and shake them by the shoulders to do the hard work it will take to make their businesses extraordinary. That will never happen if I am reading to them or reciting from memory. Never.

I have a lot of topics to cover and I don't want to leave the stage feeling I missed any key points. And I am sure you feel the same about your presentations.

My solution? I gave myself sign posts. I added very small symbols in the bottom corner of slides that were quick mental cues of what was coming next. They let me, and only me, know when there is a video coming next that needs a lead in or lets me ask a big question to the audience and then, click, have the answer pop up for extra impact.

The more I play with this "trick" the more I am able to present my content in a natural and conversational way without constantly stopping to think what comes next or find myself reading the slides to my audience.

The sign posts need not be elaborate. A colored square, your company logo in a different color than what is on the other slides or a small symbol that cues you as to what is next will all work well and be imperceptible to your audience.

But, you say, isn't that cheating? Hey, we are not in school anymore.

Ultimately, this is about removing the stress and worry that comes from presenting so you can move people with your passion and personality instead of your reading skills.

If you don't find ways to present with as much comfort as possible then the only people cheated will be your audience.

When I went back and added these into my presentations I no longer worried about jumping into a slide that I did not set up properly. I could build my concepts freely knowing how the next slide would support me. My talks instantly picked up some power and put me in greater control of the entire experience.

Yes, it is simple. But simple solutions work best. Always have. Always will.

Give it a try with your next presentation or open up your last one and see where sign posts could have helped you engage more and memorize less.

I recently watched an old interview Charlie Rose did with Danger Mouse. In it, he referenced a great quote from this NY Times article...

"What changed everything was when I got into Woody Allen,... When I got to college, I saw 'Manhattan' and 'Deconstructing Harry. I thought to myself: Why do I relate so much to this white 60-year-old Jewish guy? Why do I understand his neurosis? So I just started watching all of his movies. And what I realized is that they worked because Woody Allen was an auteur: he did his Thing, and that particular Thing was completely his own"

"I don't make a band's next album," he says. "I don't like making someone else's songs better. I'm not interested in that. This is where the Woody Allen thing comes back in. I have to be in control of the project I'm doing. I can create different kinds of musical worlds, but the artist needs the desire to go into that world. I won't fight with people to try and make the sounds I hear inside my head. What I want is for the leader of a group to come to me, and then I lead that person. Because even with some of my favorite bands, I only like 30 or 40 percent of what they do. I'd want to make that 30 percent into the whole album.''

Given the great challenges AND opportunities we all face this year I thought the below was a good post to re-post.

A few years ago, the New York Yankees were in a neck and neck battle as they tried to win their division against their long time rival the Boston Red Sox, way too many years ago now to remember, catcher Jorge Posada gave out T-shirts to his teammates that said ..

"Grind It" on the front and "There is no trying, there is only doing or not doing" on the back.

As I hear one anecdote after another about the fear that is our there in the offices around the country and globe (The word "scared" has come up more than I can ever remember) I thought of the "grind it" story and how appropriate it is as a mantra to getting through these challenging times. And challenging is a much better word than scared.

A challenge can either be accepted or rejected. A challenge can be attacked. The challenge can be identified and the steps needed to meet and defeat that challenge can be listed.

Do you want to be scared about what you cannot control or competing against a challenge that you can? Serious question.

In order to get through any prolonged challenge you need to keep your head about you, have a plan as simple as it is powerful and then...

GRIND IT!

As the saying goes, "Everything old is new again."

Hershey's and Coke each bring back their old and beloved jingles. Even Horse-and-Plow Farming is making a comeback. Fashion from decades ago always comes back into style.

So why not follow that idea path and apply it to whatever business you are in?

Figure out the "golden" or "good old days" of your market or industry. Any way to bring that experience back to your clients? Moments that make you have fond memories of the past are some great moments. No?

The complexity of life nowadays creates an increasing need for more moments of simplicity and fun. If we all long for the beauty of "simpler times" why wouldn't you explore it as a unique twist to your business strategy?

I am not suggesting that you don't keep innovating, embracing technology, increasing efficiency, etc...

But...What could be more powerful than a brilliant combination of the old and the new?

Do AT&T executives experience dropped calls when they use their cell phones?

Do travel agency execs ever try to book their own tickets online?

Do Doctors go to a Doctor, wait in the waiting room for 30 minutes to receive 5 minutes of medical attention?

Does Michael Dell order his laptop by calling 1-800-WWW-DELL and sit on hold for 30 minutes?

Southwest execs fly their airline all the time and it shows in the execution of all the basics that seem to elude their competitors.

It is not your customers job to help you raise the bar far beyond their expectations. It is YOURS. Ironically, delivering just the "Perfect Basic" of your business with creativity and innovation is FAR beyond their expectations.

Be the cell phone company that focuses on calls that never drop.

Be the travel agency that does something extra on every trip that makes each one an amazing (And less lonely) experience.

Be the PC retailer that has really knowledgeable people answering the phones in 3-5 rings.

Be the Doctor that always takes patients on time and spends enough time with them to dramatically improve their total health.

Your turn... What is the one core basic you must do with perfection, every single time, in order to prove your purpose and promise?

____________________________________
(Your perfect basic)

Remember.. Innovation Doesn't Have To Be Sexy!

Note: CBS even has a program on now that helps CEO's get a customer and employee eye view of their organizations.

Why are so many companies trapped in "me too" strategies and seem allergic to ideas that are very new or very different?

Fear.

Fear of the unknown
Fear of the new
Fear of being wrong and many more..

We see it way too often. We experience it ourselves. It often disguises itself in rationalizations, denial or the quick disposal of new ideas.

Great solutions that move your business up to the next level do not come from giving in to the fear the problem triggers.

What you do that forces yourself to execute outside your comfort zone turns fear into Power.

There is a giant sign above the doors at my local JP Morgan Chase bank that reads:

"Thank You For Coming.
Service Excellence Is Our Goal"

Thanks and noted. What I want to know is .. SO WHAT?

Am I comforted by this fact? Do I really care what their "goal" is?

This is one of the largest financial institutions in the world that would probably love to sell me a laundry list of add-on products and services. The marketing department decided they would put up the most prominent sign in the place to tell me about a vague hope they have for themselves.

How much better would I feel if their #1 goal was MY financial excellence?

Save your money on signage and tell me something that is important to me and then go out of your way to prove it to me.

Make me feel like a truly special customer every time I interact with you, even though you are a global giant, and you simply can't lose.