Eagles and Artists

We have been lucky to have become acquainted with two superb artists this fall, one in Florida and the other right here in Janesville, Iowa.  Both specialize in carving, but from what I have seen are talented in other media as well.   I have seen drawings, paintings, etc from both of them.  

Here is a life sized eagle carved from a log by Terry Dengler of Janesville.  This was commissioned by my wife as a Christmas gift for me.  I am most pleased, as you might guess by reading my blog post of two weeks ago.  I am not happy with my photo, as it does not really capture the piece very well. 

To the right is a Tiki which Mike Bryan of Palm Bay, Florida carved for us and we gave to one of our daughters for Christmas.  Again, the photo is not the best.

Both Mike and Terry are experimenting with a new carving medium right now and I will let you know about it within a few weeks.    Oh yeah, for big pieces like these, they do most of their work with a chainsaw!

Below is an eagle in a tree across the river from my house, which I photographed a few days ago using Canon SX50 which has a 50X optical zoom.  A tripod is a necessity.

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It is Christmas, not just a holiday!

OPINION:   Below is a response I yesterday sent to a friend who was attempting to be "politically correct" by wishing me a "happy holiday" at the conclusion of an email.

 

Please do not use the term “holiday” when we all know that it is Christmas that we are celebrating.  All those “nattering nabobs” who call it a holiday rather than acknowledging the real reason (and denying prayer and everything else) need to NOT take the holiday off and not be paid for it, etc.  It is Christmas, dammit, not just a holiday!    Those who are offended by calling it what it is, need to get over it, rather than the rest of us denying it so we don’t upset them.  BTW, I’ll bet we are in the majority.   Thanks for reading my mini-rant!

-----rich

Braden responded "Haha. I love it and couldn't agree anymore!  I love it! Merry Christmas and take care Rich!

  

If "nattering nabobs" is not familiar to you, yo can "Google it" and learn about Spiro Agnew, a former Vice-President of the United States. 

Follow-up:
Six hours after I posted above, I read a piece "Huckabee weighs in on Duck Dynasty" controversy.  l have never watched Duck Dynasty, though I know the story of the Robertson family and the bios of at some of the family members.  Thus I had not paid much attention to the firestorm of controversy during the past week.  

Suddenly, I have realized that I have "done a Phil" by expressing my personal opinion, even though it conflicts with the view of what is probably a minority of our population.  But what a loud and vocal bunch they are!  There will be no sanctions against me, but we must all be able to express our opinion without fear of retribution.

That is a central core of the foundation of our country!

Click here to read the Huckabee story from CBS News.com

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The Eyes of the Eagle

I have been fascinated by bald eagles for quite some time.  Ten years ago, when designing our new house, I did not want the overhang on the back porch (overlooking the river) to be too great so "I would be able to see the eagles."  Mission accomplished.  In the winter, when the leaves are gone from the trees, we see eagles nearly every day.  In the summer, we only see eagles when we are not under the trees.

My college friend, Burt, and his wife Marilyn, "retired to Iowa" after 40 years in the Dallas area. (They are both Iowa natives, with family here, including their daughter.)  They live very near the Mississippi River and Burt spends time every winter photographing eagles, primarily near Lock & Dam 14.  Over the last few years, he has sent me some great eagle pictures, but this one may be the best.  It appeared in my email on Friday the 13th (of December).  It is with his permission that I publish it.  After a career as a software developer, he has become an advanced photographer and eagle expert.  The eyes on the original that he sent me really caught my attention, especially when I enlarged it on my tablet.

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40 years of Richway

Yesterday we had a luncheon at Richway to celebrate 40 years of Richway.  At the end, I was asked if I had anything I would like to say.  Me being me, I did.

I went through a brief history, which actually started 41 years ago this month (December) in a two car garage and my basement and in a few minutes took us to the present day with some of the "physical" things.  But, as I explained, that is not the history that is most relevant.  The most relevant history is about people.  There are lots of people who have contributed to our forty years.  Some from the past and some are still part of Richway.  It is all these people who helped us establish "what we are" for our customers.  I recalled groups of people working until 2 or 3 or later in the morning to complete a rush order for a customer (this happened several times), people working New Years Eve to meet our customer's needs, and other examples of "busting butt" for our customers.  We rather routinely went beyond what our customers expected and we still do. 

In return for all that people have given to Richway, we have tried to give something back.  A sense of belonging and contributing to something.  The opportunity to go home at night knowing that they have been appreciated and that their ideas and thoughts have validity.  I have often said that we give people a lot of rope; they can hang themselves or swing just like in a great big swing.  They can laugh and have fun.  It is important to laugh and have fun at work.  We have tried to give opportunities for a sense of accomplishment, self worth, and job satisfaction.  We have not always been successful, but that has been the goal.

Finally, I told them that if you read my blog (this one) you would see recurring themes:  Success takes hard work.  The importance of customer service.  And lastly the story from my mother that has been a guiding principle for me:  To succeed you must do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and you must do it regardless of whether you want to do it or not.


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We bust ours to keep you on schedule!

Thanksgiving Remembered

I am posting this on Thanksgiving Day.   It is easy to lose track of all that we have to be thankful for, but our abundance is overwhelming.  It reminds me also of my post from July 13, 2013, in which I noted that there are two types of people:

1. Those who are thankful for all that they have, regardless of how little "all" may be.

2. Those who are unhappy because of what they don't have, regardless of how much they do have.


At the time I wrote, "Most of us know which is our own predominant 'type'"  but I am not so sure about that.  I suspect the thankful know themselves, but the others may not recognize themselves for what they are.

Click to read about the first Thanksgiving  which was celebrated by the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower. 

I am a Mayflower Descendent, from Richard Warren.   My maternal grandmother did a lot of genealogy research in the 1950's and 1960's to complete an extensive family tree.    But, The Mayflower Society notes on their website that "Today, tens of millions of Americans have at least one ancestor who was among this group of early settlers."  Thus, being a "Mayflower Descendent" is not really such a big deal.

CLICK HERE to read about Richard Warren      from Wikipedia



   


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Happiness is Positive Cash Flow

This slogan was from Boardroom Reports, a business newsletter to which I subscribed for many years.  "Watch the cash" became sort of a mantra for me by necessity, because a lot of times there was not any too much.  Frederick Adler was the author of a book by the same name (which I never bought) which was published by Boardroom Reports.  I did not buy the tee shirt either, but I did buy  the concept. The founder of Boardroom Reports recently died. The original newsletter is no longer published.


No matter how much profit you are making (on paper), if you do not have positive cash flow, sooner or later you will be in trouble.

 

This is an original 1982 tee shirt

The Janesville volleyball team won the State Championship in Class 1A last Friday evening.  My Congratulations to them. Coach Shelly Sorensen attributes it, in part, to hard work on the team's part which began when the current seniors were in fourth grade.  I have been planning a "Secrets of a Master Coach" post for a number of months and this makes it even more compelling.  Whatever all the reasons are, it points out once again:  

Success takes hard work!     

(By both the team and the coaches).

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Errors -- Errors -- Errors

Every time I decide to read back through old entries to this blog, I find errors.  Many of my regular readers have probably already spotted them, but said nothing.  Just today I removed a "before" where I had a "before before" and changed "morale" to "moral" (as in the moral of the story).  There are more, I am sure.

That is why I usually asked someone to proofread important things before I considered them final.  (They usually found errors too)  Most of the time, I know better, but it is hard to proofread your own work, at least for me.

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BTW      US Senator Chuck Grassley  sometimes uses   -30-  in his website, especially if he is publishing a Senate Floor speech he has made.

You have every right to complain

about bad customer service.

And a huge obligation to compliment good customer service!

 

When our children were growing up, I used to tell them this often.  And much to their chagrin (or worse) I demonstrated what I meant.
  
It embarrassed them when I complained and they did not realize that few other people bothered to compliment good service.

Not infrequently, I would go into a restaurant kitchen, seeking a manager, so I could tell them about good service or good food.  Once, I even asked a server to bring the chef out to the table.  She agreed, not quite knowing why.  When he arrived, I told him my Grouper Escabeche was excellent and gave him a $10 tip for my $25 meal.  I figured the chef seldom gets to hear directly when his creation has excited a customer in a positive way, but they need to hear it.  (If a customer is unhappy, the chef may get it back in the kitchen for some sort of "rework.")  Later, the server confided that the chef was her boyfriend of some three years and he had never had that kind of compliment. [BTW .. I still go into kitchens.]

Over the years, my wife and I have sent letters to hotels and motels praising extraordinary service, sought out and thanked store managers for special help received from someone on the floor, and thanked people directly for their attentiveness or going beyond doing only "what is expected."  

More and more, we are becoming a service economy.  Even for us who make products, our service, more than any other thing, will set us apart from our competitors! 

 

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Colonoscopy

I originally started this post while "recovering" from a colonoscopy earlier earlier that day.   If you have not had one and you are over 55 or 60, you should!  I had my first one six years ago and polyps were discovered and removed. Three years ago, another colonoscopy and more polyps.  Thus, I have just had another, with you guessed it, more polyps, which were removed.

These were flat polyps, "so come back in one year!"  Flat polyps are more difficult to detect and remove, so having a skilled, diligent, and experienced physician is especially important.  Flat polyps are more dangerous that other types, so they are tracked more closely. 

Entrepreneurs , lawyers and doctors all seem to have a level of belief about their invincibility and hence put off such screening tests as colonoscopies.  I have a friend, a lawyer, who does "not want anybody messing around with putting any chemicals into me which will affect my brain" and thus he will not consider a colonoscopy, even though he is over 65.

I once had a doctor tell me that he believed doctors had an "extremely high and unhealthy level of feeling of invincibility   ---  just like lawyers, and entrepreneurs, (including farmers)."

You have to believe strongly in yourself in lots of careers!!!!!!!!

But no matter what your level of self perceived invincibility,    

GET A COLONOSCOPY.

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Customer Service at (insert your favorite store here)

My wife is hard to fit for clothing.  She is skinny.  Thus she has a hard time finding clothes that are small enough.

In our metro area we have two Buckle stores.  (They cater mostly to younger people who are more likely to be smaller, though they have a wide range of sizes) 

My wife usually goes to store "C" where they are always friendly and helpful.  A couple of days ago, she went to store "W" because she was in that area.  She told them the size jeans she was looking for.  Most of the staff was disinterested, but not busy.  One person said "we don't have that, but how would you like to try on" a larger size.  My wife said no, that would be too large.  So the salesperson tried again with the larger size idea, because "I know we have that size."  No one made an effort to look for the waist size my wife asked for.  Frustrated, to say the least, she left.

At store "C" she was greeted near the door by a salesperson who asked, (with enthusiasm) how she could be helped.  She told the person the size and style of jeans she needed.  The person (college aged) asked her name and then said to a couple of other staff members who were not busy "Karen is looking for waist size "X", can you help find some."  The store was abuzz with activity.  They found some and Karen bought them and passed out compliments to staff members in  the process. 

That is why she keeps going back to the Buckle in the College Square Mall.

She has talked before of their customer service and I have observed myself the level of attention and service at the College Square store.  We had assumed it was a corporate culture, but now I think it may be a local store manager more than a corporate culture.

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I struck a nerve

Special mid-week post

I have had lots of comments about last Friday's car dealership piece.  Most of them were about the "air of superiority" and "arrogance" of car sales people.  One person told me of a saleswoman for a dealership that grew from a modest building into a larger new and fancy building.  The ego and demeanor of the saleswoman seemed to grow worse even faster, so my reader stopped even trying to buy from her.  I suspect that maybe she was given a choice of becoming "big dealer like" in her sales approach or leaving the company.

Others mentioned that they, too, had a "good" purchasing experience at a smaller dealership at some point in the past.  One even told of a good experience at a big high volume dealership.  One lady said she rather liked the games and deal-making.  I should add that she is a very effective purchasing manager for her company.

A couple commented about car salesmen they knew on and off the job  --- and the difference in personalities they exhibited both places.


Following are two direct quotes from people who are professional salesmen and have been for some time.


"Buying a car is THE worst... My experience like yours has been most of these guys are incompetent hacks hiding behind their arrogant facade."

"Right on!  I have often felt in the years of car buying experience the feeling that we weren’t good enough to buy a vehicle from the dealership we visited.  Always made sure that I was nicely dressed, clean shaven and had deodorant on.  Did not seem to make a difference."  

I once looked at a used flat-bed equipment trailer at a dealership near here.  When I noted that the frame was rather badly rusted, the salesman replied:  "If the next guy does not notice that, it will be his problem, not ours, as soon as he pulls it off the lot."  The salesman was the son of the owner!!!!    I have never visited that dealership again in 15 years. 

So there you have it folks.  It seems fairly universal, especially in the larger dealerships. 

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. 

If I owned a car dealership........

I hate to buy vehicles.  I don't like the games that are often played.  And I don't like the attitude of most car sales people.  Dammit!  You people are not superior to the general population.  I have known some who seem to turn on "the switch" when they walk into the dealership to go to work, even though they are decent people otherwise.

This week I bought a new minivan (my favorite vehicle body type) from a dealership in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, just across the Mississippi River from Iowa's East Coast.  Sut Hill Motors is now my prototype for the way I would run a dealership.  They sell both Chrysler and Ford products.

Using the internet, I had originally narrowed my search to two dealerships, one in Iowa and one in Florida, near Cocoa Beach.  The Iowa Guys played their version of "the game" immediately, so they were gone!  The Florida guys waited until the last minute to play the game, when the price was suddenly $200 higher than it should have been.

Reopen the search.  Find exactly what I want at Sut Hill.  Send email. Talk to salesman Ryan Deegan.  In a few minutes he called back with a price.  I gave a "buy signal" and then he said "I think we can get you another $750 "Chrysler Loyalty" rebate".  Deal sealed  -----  even if the added rebate didn't materialize.  (It did)

A couple of days later, we drove the hour and a half to "Prairie" to pick it up.  The building, neither large nor fancy, was staffed by friendly "real" people.  Took care of the "paperwork" with a nice (and competent) lady named Beth Keeney and then Ryan introduced me to Mr. Sut Hill.  We visited for a few minutes during which he told me he had owned dealerships in Iowa and as far away as Sarasota, Florida.  I'll bet every one of them has been run the same way!    Real and honest people, intent on helping their customers genuinely get the best deal they can give them on a vehicle.  Refreshing and rare in the "car business."  Any of the "master salesmen" I have profiled in previous posts would fit right in at Sut Hill.

If you are interested in a new Ford or Chrysler product, (and probably any brand of used vehicle) you should check out Sut Hill.  I am sure you will not regret it. 


If you like to play games and be surrounded by people who like to swagger around acting like you are clearly slightly inferior to them, go to most other dealerships.  I know there are others like Sut Hill, but they are hard to find.

This has been an unpaid and unsolicited testimonial ----  and clearly biased by my experience.


Click to meet the Sut Hill staff

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Secrets from two master salesmen ... the final "episode"

I have known Kevin for about twenty five years and we have bought a lot of magazine advertising space from him.  Like the others whose secrets I have shared, his style is not flashy or pushy, but gets the job done...well.

His Secrets:

Try to be a good listener and find out what the prospect is looking for and then meet his or her needs

Deliver what I promise

Go beyond just being reliable and "nice"

I have always thought of Kevin's approach as that of a consultant who just happens to have a product to sell that meets some, but not all of "your" needs.  He helps with a whole program, not necessarily just his magazine.

Finally, my friend Stan, whom I have known a long time, is another consultative salesman.  Stan has been our commercial insurance agent for a long time.  He "watches out" for us and his other clients to make sure that we have the right coverage and at the appropriate price. 

Rather recently, the large and respected agency for which Stan works has run a series of TV commercials locally in which the main theme is just exactly what Stan has done for years --- consult and watch for clients and help them manage risk.  I like to think that they have seen his success and realized this approach builds long term satisfied clients. 

Another thing about Stan.  He shows up,  just like every other master salesman I have profiled.  It is hard work to be successful.  The last agent we had before Stan, (a long time ago) thought that showing up once a year a month before renewal was adequate.  It was not and he lost our business.  He was a nice guy, but that alone was not enough.


Soon  ---- a summary of Master Salesmen.   And then --- Secrets of a Master Marketer.

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Connecting with your audience

Last Saturday night my wife and I attended a concert by Jimmy Buffett, which was opened by Jackson Browne, a headliner in his in own right.  We had a great time, just as my friend Kyle said we would.  Alpine Valley Music Theater, southwest of Milwaukee, is a great open air venue

Regular readers will know that customer service, reasons for success, and numbers are all hot buttons for me.  I rarely am anywhere for very long without thinking about at least one of the three and Saturday was no exception.

On the way back to our motel we talked about several things, including the fact that Jimmy seemed to be having fun all the time. He was interacting with the audience in a way that they (we) felt and shared in his fun.  He was connected with his audience (and his band)!  Jackson Browne was similarly connected.

Think about it.  If you want to succeed in most things you are doing that involve an "audience" you HAVE to connect with your audience.  This is true whether you are teaching, preaching, parenting, selling widgets, healing, serving food, or many other things.  

Read doctor reviews by patients sometime.  Are the ratings based on medicine or customer service and connection to patients?  Most ratings seem based on such things as "did I have to wait long?   was the staff "nice"    was the doctor "nice"  etc.       "medicine" is rarely mentioned.  I want both -----  good medicine and "nice"  (nice = connected).

Take a look at the top pro athletes.  Usually the ones with the most endorsement money work hard to connect with the fans.  I have read that NASCAR management insists that drivers work at connecting with fans because they know this is an important part of creating a large customer base.

We had some of the best seats in the house! (8 rows back, 2 seats off center).  My wife was the top bidder for a Jimmy Buffett package at a Skin Cancer charity auction held as part of a surfing tournament in Cocoa Beach last November.  Kelly Slater is an 11 time world surfing champion, a native of Cocoa Beach, and the sponsor (with his two brothers ) of a big invitational surf tournament in Cocoa Beach.  And he is a friend of Jimmy Buffett's.  BTW-----  the Slater family does not just put their names out there!  They connect!   As an example, Kelly's sister in law, April really directly runs the charity auction.  We went to her house to pick up the Buffet Package and couple of other items my wife "won".

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What is -30- ????

Back in the day  -30-  was used by a reporter typing a story to indicate the end of a news story.  It is generally considered that the use of  -30-  largely ended with the advent of the computer or at least the end of the typewriter.  I was never a reporter and never really used -30-.  I was the editor of The Iowa Transit, the student engineering magazine for two years.  I don't recall that I ever received an article or story with -30- at the end. 

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Delta IV rocket launch Augsut 7, 2013

Below are two photos of a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center).  These were taken by my niece, Emi Larson, Weds evening August 7.  The package was a WGS-6 communications satellite for the US Air Force.  You can see how it lit up the water near shore. 

 

Click here to read story about launch from NASAspaceflight.com 

Thanks Emi!

 My wife was present for the final night-time shuttle launch a few years ago.  She reported at the time that it lit up the whole beach and sent tingles up her spine.

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Are we fulfilling your expectations???

In my post of last Friday (August 2), I noted that I would often (usually) ask newer employees "Are we fulfilling your expectations here at Richway?"  To me, that was a perfectly normal question, but, apparently it is sort of radical to some.  After all, according to "the radical bunch" isn't the new employee's job to meet our expectations, not our job to meet his expectations.

Everybody starts a new job with a set of expectations, which almost certainly include an expectation that it will be "better" than their previous job.  The better job we do in meeting those expectations, including our demonstration of awareness and concern, the more likely we will have a satisfied and productive staff member for a long term.

BTW    I would usually ask at least a couple of times a few weeks apart and would sometimes get feedback I could act upon.

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MBWA or MBAQ???

In 1982 Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote of "management by walking around" [MBWA] in their book In Search of Excellence.  This was how HP founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard ran their company, long before it was a computer company.  This was a management style which I used a lot even before reading of it.  I tried to get out most days and circulate through the plant to talk to people.  I also tried to spend a least a couple minutes in everybody's office.  Sometimes it was just a simple "Good morning"  but often I would ask a question.   One of our staff members, who had read about "management by walking around" told me one day that my style might better be called "management by asking questions"   MBAQ was born!

One question I often asked during the first few weeks or months of somebody joining Richway was "are we fulfilling your expectations here at Richway?"  As I noted in the post of a while ago   ----"Thanks for asking"  ------    people appreciate your concern.  It must be genuine and you must act on their answer when appropriate.


Of course you find out useful information.  Importantly, you build an atmosphere where even without you asking questions, people volunteer or raise issues.

Not all my questions were work related.  I asked some about them and their families, their hobbies, and their children because I wanted to know them.  Sometimes I even heard about health problems for them or family.  You have to be prepared to take time to listen if the answer is long or it starts a dialog.

Whether it is MBWA or MBAQ or whatever term you wish to call it, you are interacting with all your staff members, getting to know them (and letting them get to know you)  establishing a dialog and communication and learning about what is going on in your organization.  "Priceless" to quote the tagline of a TV commercial.


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Secrets from another master salesman.

Here is a secret from another Master Salesman whom I have known for a number of years.  When I first asked him what his secret to success was, he emailed me something he had prepared for a presentation at a sales meeting of his current employer a couple of years ago.  He has consistently been  their top sales person.   (He had been our Director of Sales and Marketing for a number of years before leaving to take another position).

A few weeks later I asked Dana for the most important "secret" and he responded by saying that the most important was to "SHOW UP"

He told me  he makes from 9 to 12 meaningful sales calls (in person) a day two days a week, usually on Monday and Tuesday.  The rest of week is devoted to follow-up paperwork, emails, phone calls, etc from the two days of sales calls.

Of course there is a lot more to being a Master Salesman than just one or two "secrets".   I have one more Master Salesman who's secret(s) I will be sharing in the coming weeks.  Then I will try to summarize what I have learned from them in a later post.

______________________
Here is what Dana originally sent me.

I was asked to share on this very topic two years ago for a sales conference call.  In summary, the following is an overview of my presentation:

I always present myself as being in a support role in any transaction.  It is not about me.  It is about satisfying the needs of the client.  It is also about satisfying the needs of co-workers who I rely on to help get the deal completed.  My reward comes in the form of compensation and internal satisfaction that I am getting things done.  I have yet to find anyone willing to buy my awards and accolades.  They are nice when received, but do nothing for me afterwards.  Awards are for living in the past.  The next deal is in the future.

I also embrace the idea of "showing up".  I work with over 100 major clients.  Showing up itself can be quite a task.  I have a system that has worked well for the four years that I have been with my company.  Though it is impossible to map exactly what your schedule can be, I have a good idea of where I need to be two weeks before I travel.  I visit clients that both bring in a lot of volume, but still take the time to see those that bring in little to nothing.  There is no greater reward for me than to get a deal from a client that has not used us much in the past.  It gives us that opportunity to exceed their expectations and secure more deals in the future.
 

My clients have more sources for their business needs than ever.  My clients can be either supporters or detractors of my companies message.  We need to continue to take care of them.  My job is to spread my message message within these locations.   With the competition as fierce as it is, I need to know what the competition provides and what they do not provide the clients that I work with.  We all pretty much provide the same type of product.  I find that it is most important to do the things that our competition doesn’t do.  They do not show up like we do.  They do not model themselves with the personal touch that my company is known for.  The clients that I work with value the fact that we are available. They value the fact that I care.  You cannot act that part.  If you don't care about the clients that you serve, then you will not be successful.  NEVER.  NEVER.  NEVER.  They are smart.  Do not insult their intelligence by acting like you care about their needs when in reality all you care about is your own.  If you are a selfish salesperson, you may make sales, but you will NEVER be world class.

I work with a fantastic team.  Our team has been able to exceed the goals set for our group.  Any one of us could be talking today and the message would be the same.  We could not do it without the great team support.  Many times, the clients call them direct because they have the confidence in their knowledge and dedication to their needs.  They do not disappoint.  Our team is strong because of them.  We keep in constant communication within our team and share in our success and failures.  Circus jugglers work alone.  Don't make your career a circus act!!!  Work together in sharing knowledge and that is beneficial to us all in surpassing volume goals.  Win as a team.

____________________________________

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