YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW.

CIRCUMSTANCES

Many times in our lives it seems that circumstances are absolutely piled high against or sometimes in favor of us. We all wonder sometimes if we have any personal control of our destiny at all.  Many in the Christian Religion believe that it is at times like this we relied on our FAITH and TRUST in God to get thru this circumstances.

I suggest that there are 3 different choices you can make when faced with circumstances no matter which side of the board, (positive or negative) those circumstances are stacked.

     1. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE PAST AND REMAIN THERE.
     2. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO EMBRACE THE PRESENT AND BE THERE.
     3. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LOOK EXPECTANTLY TOWARDS THE FUTURE.

Now I know which of these 3 I try to always choose, but let's look at each choice and see the reasoning behind the choices.

•       If you choose the accept and remain in the past you are saying that nothing you or anyone else can do will change what has happened and you will forget all of your goals, dreams, and desires for life and wallow in your own self pity. 
•      If you embrace the present and fully be there and stay there then you see no chance of improving your situation and you don't even want to consider playing the "WHAT IF" game. You realize the past is gone and forgotten but you discount how you can improve your future.
•      If you choose to look expectantly towards the future then even when you make mistakes today or have made them in the past, you are still free to choose to change your situation and improve your possibilities for tomorrow. You can live life to the fullest possible potential. Even when you make more mistakes or stumble you still know that you control your destiny tomorrow and that your future is still able to happen as you want it.

My plan is to trust my past as experience, live in the present, but always commit to looking expectantly towards the future. Every day I experience the joy of watching how my future plans are coming along and how my past experiences are valuable in helping me correct my path forward. Even in the toughest times, I know that I enjoy that life transforming miracle of tomorrow. What about you?  How do you choose to live YOUR LIFE?  You do have a choice you know.

These are my thoughts on this subject, what are yours?
Steve

Changing Landscape of Business

Before the current recession it was fairly easy to go into business and stay profitable in business (and actually stay in business) due to the amount of money flowing within our economy.  Since 2006/2007 that situation has changed dramatically. In my business, (ceramic tile and stone business) our market has dropped 39% overall. In markets like Georgia it is bad, but unfortunately, it is even worse in some other markets.  I just saw a report this past week that said in Georgia the ceramic tile and stone business lost 33.6% of our contractor businesses and another 31% of our dealer/distributor businesses.

Think for a moment about the food industry, how many restaurants have come and gone in the past few years?  Many of those had excellent food taste and great service, yet they are gone. That is a business that has a very low cost of entry and raw materials are very inexpensive yet making a profit is almost impossible in these times between labor costs, energy costs, and the loss of disposable income for the potential customers.  In most home goods the technology improvements have absolutely killed all the profit margins for businesses.  Folks find something they like, want, or need and then shop the Internet to get to the absolute bottom price, usually doesn't include shipping costs, and the local business that started the process either has to make no money on selling their inventory or they lose the sale - either way they lose.

So what is the answer?  Folks a lot smarter than I am will have to come back with thoughts on that but I can tell you that I'm thankful that (A) I'm not in the retail business today, (B) I have a good job and available income to spend on my families wants/needs, and (C) most days I seem more likely to spend just slightly more to purchase something locally and maybe pay very slightly more, but seem to feel in my mind that I receive MUCH more value for my money then shipping it off via the Internet. I find myself using the local hardware store more today than ever before because when I consider the very small price difference I find the value of the education I receive from the folks working at the hardware store to teach me about the product I'm considering is worth far more than the price I'm paying.  Same with my insurance and my bank - local agent/branch seems to be worth it to me.  Am I alone in this?

Please do some comparison shopping this week and let me know your thoughts on this issue.
Steve

Remembering the Past

Today, September 11th is one of those days when many Americans stop and remember the past. Most of us can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing when the attacks happened.

As a private pilot I've heard many stories about others who were flying that day and ordered to land at the nearest field, no matter how close or far they were from their intended destination.  Some didn't have their radio's tuned into Air Traffic Control and those lucky few were met by military fighter jets who got their attention very quickly and helped motivate them to land with hand signals.

I was down at the Georgia Pacific HQ building in downtown Atlanta getting a few last minute things together for my trip at 11 am to New York City for a trade show.  As I left my office nothing seemed amiss, however at the front lobby desk the security had shut down the building and as I approached dragging my luggage they asked where I was intending on going.  I told them and they ordered me to return to my office upstairs and await further instructions. WOW! Never happened at GP before!  I wondered what I had done wrong.  As I approached the elevators I heard several friends discussing the situation and by the time I'd returned upstairs to my office everyone was gathered around very small TVs watching the events unfold.  I saw the second plane hit the second tower on TV.  SILENCE and complete STUNNED reaction from the 50-60 of us gathered around the TV.  Soon the telephones rang and everyone was ordered to evacuate the building, we heard at that same time on TV that all tall buildings in Atlanta were ordered to evacuate.

Driving back to my home in Peachtree Corners I called my wife and they were watching in her office also and she said they too were leaving shortly - as you can imagine the highways were packed but everyone was driving extremely courteously which for Atlanta traffic was also very different. The next several days passed in a blur, very few folks went to work, everyone was glued to the TV for more details and to see and try to understand this situation.  Today, 11 years later, we are still trying to understand this situation!

Oh, how our lives have changed, yet somehow, even if a little bit, the American Spirit grew even stronger because of this sad event.  Just as other national disaster events like Pearl Harbor have changed us as a country we still grew stronger and September 11th I'm sure will be no different.

Today, for a moment, please stop and remember the past, remember the event, remember who we are as a people and a country. And above all else, please Count Your Blessings.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

20 Minutes

Can such a small amount of time as 20 minutes make a difference in anything? 

I've been pondering this question for more than a week now and I need help making up my mind about this. We all seem to receive the exact same amount of time in a day, 1440 minutes, yet some folks seem to accomplish so much more that I do with their time.  What really baffles me is they seem so relaxed and calm while accomplishing piles more than I do.  How do they do it?

As I lived in the past several weeks I keep getting hints about 20 minutes:
- The preacher at church service last Sunday morning suggested I spend the FIRST 20 minutes of each day in prayer and quiet time with God.  Now I absolutely KNOW that this is great quality time and it makes a difference in my life, but really? Only 20 minutes?
- A time management expert was being interviewed and talked about dividing every task into 20 minute segments to accomplish it. Focusing on any subject for 20 solid uninterrupted minutes will guarantee you accomplishment he claimed. Gee, every time management course or goal setting course I've taken always talked about the longer the time frame the more certain the outcome.  If you plan short you accomplish short - now this is saying exactly the opposite.
- A friend was talking about how he has changed his outlook on life by looking at 20 minute time segments, that is, if something won't matter 20 minutes from now why should you bother having it matter right now?  Live fully in the minute you are in he said,  but always be aware of the important things that you want to accomplish in life and ask if this 20 minutes is adding to that goal.
- The opposite discussion on the radio,  was about how 20 minutes can completely change your life from pleasure to sadness or sorrow. Heart attack, car accident, etc.

I even attempted to ponder this seemliness unanswerable question for 20 straight minutes and discovered that I fell asleep while quietly thinking.........

This is one of those times I don't believe I have the answer and need YOUR help to think through this question - What difference can or has 20 minutes made in your life? 

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Strength

John Maxwell has an inspirational Word of the Day video that he sends via email daily and one of the words that he has yet to discuss is STRENGTH.  I've sent him an email asking him for his thoughts on this word, but while we wait to see where John takes it I thought I'd give it a shot.

Webster's defines Strength, when used as a noun as "The state or quality of being strong; force; power."  They go on to list toughness, durability, potency, concentration, intensity and force.

Webster's Thesaurus gives us Synonyms for Strength such as: vigor, brawn, energy, vitality, stoutness, toughness, sturdiness, soundness, and tenacity.  The Antonyms include: Weakness, feebleness, loss or lack of energy.

Now many of those positive qualities impress upon me the correct thoughts when I hear the word Strength, but I really like that Tenacity term.  Tenacity and perseverance are both favorites of mine whenever I think about finishing something in a strong manner.  Starting strong is always important, but unless you finish strong you may never get noticed.

At work, USG, we are revising a marketing slogan and a full marketing plan around the tag line that USG has used for years with our Durock Cement Backer Board - i.e., "STRENGTH BENEATH THE SURFACE!"  While working on this campaign I've become even more of a fan of that work STRENGTH and the many ways you can express it.  How about the level of support behind the product in the research, marketing, production, sales, service, and other support services that make not only a product but also a company a leader!  It's often been said that you can have a fantastic product but if nobody knows about it or can purchase it, then you've wasted your time creating it.  Opposite side of that coin is the hype marketing you see so often on late night TV pushing a truly terrible product in such a great marketing campaign that you throw your money away on it.

I believe that STRENGTH is one of those multi-faceted words that opens the imagination and allows you vast space to attach meanings. 

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

What is YOUR Job #1?

Remember the old Ford media campaign about "Quality is Job 1?"  Ford ran that when times were the toughest for the American Auto Industry and it seemed to work.  Maybe you should think right now (since times still aren't so great) about how you are viewing quality in everything you do.

When I was VP of Sales for a large flooring distributor we had a banner hanging across our customer service area that read: "If you don't have the time to do the job right currently, where will you find the time to redo it and correct your mistakes?"  I loved that banner and just seeing it boldly on the wall our customer service folks lowered their mistake level significantly. 

I currently involved in bringing a new product to market for USG.  Everyone on the team wanted this new product to be introduced by early LAST spring - didn't happen.  By Mid-year - didn't happen!  Why? Because we all care about quality, and without meeting the quality standards that we set for this product during our planning of the product we just don't feel we want to bring it out until it is right.  I my opinion, it is far worse to delay an introduction than it is to introduce a product and then have to pull it off the market and rework it and then try to again convince those same customers that THIS TIME we've gotten it right!!

Yes it does take a little more time, and a lot more effort, to comply with your stated goals and standards, whether they are for Quality or anything else, but in the long term relationship of supplier/customer I believe it pays huge dividends to do it correctly the first time.

On my computer monitor, right on top of my list of activities that are shown, is the warning "KEEP THE MAIN THING AS THE MAIN THING!" under that I have another list of: CHOICES, INFLUENCES, HABITS, QUESTIONS.  Those 4 items help me to focus on the important items for my role.  Nothing original, but necessary for me to insure that I keep my #1 job as my #1 job every day. 

One final hint, under the QUESTIONS headline I have the old standby of: WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? and SO WHAT?   Those qualifiers help me really understand more deeply the issues that I'm dealing with so that I can produce Quality as MY JOB 1 in whatever I'm doing that day.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Customer Service or Lack thereof.....

Many articles have been written about how to do great customer service no matter what segment of business you are engaged in, however, last Saturday I experienced a service provider that completely missed all the articles and yet believe they have fantastic customer service.  Allow me to explain and hopefully keep someone else from losing a customer.

We have a dog and visit a vet on an annual basis, nothing unusual so far, but our vet finally decided to retire and he sold his practice to a group of two new, just out of school, vet's.  They completely disregarded all the principles and everything our Doctor had built his practice around.  They quickly got rid of the long time office staff, who made the visits more pleasant as well as ran the office quickly and efficiently.  Then when those two failed (about 8 months) they again sold the practice to several new doctors, who again are recently out of vet school, and they not only didn't return to the standards of before but actually made the practice much more user friendly - for themselves - forgetting completely about the customers and our needs, like Saturday visits for those of us who both work.

As I usually preach to everyone else, I chose to vote with my feet and we got our record from the past 6 years of visits and found a new vet.  During this search process we decided since we spend so many weekends up at our Lake house we would use a vet up in that area.  We asked several local friends who they used and it turns out they most all recommended the same vet clinic.  In fact, one of our friends are very close neighbors to the vet and we've even had dinner together once. Seems like a perfect choice doesn't it.

Here's where the story gets sticky. My wife called not only this clinic but 3 others up in that general area just to check out the prices and levels of service, plus be sure that they in fact did have Saturday hours - and all did. We went to the highly recommended clinic and we were impressed when we walked in that only 3 other clients were ahead of us. Our old vet in Norcross, on a Saturday morning, usually had 20 + waiting and it took him about an hour and a half to get to us.  We were thrilled!   Our joy turned sour after the first hour passed and only 1 person in the waiting room was seen.  At about the 2 hour point I stood up and announced that I'd had enough of this rudeness and was ready to leave and go somewhere else. At that point in time the person behind the counter quickly found a way to get us into the exam room.  Where we waited another 30+ minutes. 

How does this all tie into customer service?  Well while we were sitting there waiting at least 5 others, obviously friends of the staff of the clinic, walked right in, never sat down, just walked back into the back and had their pets taken care of and then left.  No, the clinic doesn't take appointments. No these weren't emergencies (unless you consider trimming nails an emergency) and finally, no the vet who has the great reputation wasn't the one in the clinic.  It seems he too has decided that to better improve his practice he brings in a young, recent vet school grad, do you notice a pattern developing here,  to work on Saturdays so he can enjoy his weekend.

So here is my punchline - we will continue our search for a more consumer friendly vet clinic where the customers are treated well, but that "SPECIAL" customers are treated the same as the rest of the customers. It's not much money involved, we only spent about $200 but rest assured someone else will be the recipients of my money on the next visit. What if they are treating 100 other clients this same way?   Is this happening in your business?  Are you forgetting about keeping the new customer pipeline filled while pampering your existing customers? Maybe on day, just for fun, you stop what you are doing and walk out into your waiting room to ask the customers you haven't yet seen how they feel about your customer service rating!!!!  Maybe provide a feedback card like the fast food places do so your customers can tell you without disclosing who they are.  I assure you any cost is cheaper than losing a customer you should have had for life.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve