Here is what Jeffrey Gitomer says about Customer Reality

• I don’t want to wait on the phone
• I especially don’t want to listen to your self-serving messages as I wait.
• I don’t want to wait on line.
• I don’t want to be told no.
• I don’t want your excuses about why you can’t.
• I don’t want to hear about your policy….

I suggest that after reading the above, have a friend call your office or number posing as a client (not you, your voice will be recognized), pretend to have a problem and see how it is handled.  Is the person answering friendly?  Helpful?  Reassuring?  Did they get the right person to return a call?  And so on and so on.  Any glitches?  Time for a meeting with office and management staff.  Time to FIXIT!

When your company was new and it cosisted of just you and "Joe",meetings consisted of talking to each other as you drove to an install, or bumped into each  other in the hall.  Then you added people and suddenly, there was the all-important Monday Meeting.  And it was truly important, a way to get valuable info to the others.  Then, time went on and these meetings seemed to take on a life of their own.  Coffee and doughnuts were served but the meeting itself seemed intrusive, the wrong people were there, and stuff got lost anyway.  What to do?

Meetings are not written in stone and not all personnel need to be at every meeting.  As you add staff and grow both in size and in geography, you need to periodically customize who needs to be present.  Someone needs to invite those that need to be there and they or someone else needs to set up a real and valid agenda.  The point I’m trying to make is that meetings need to be valuable and effective or get rid of them or at the least, cut down on frequency.

Consider "mini-meetings" held with only two or three people off site.  A good example of this would be when your Operations Manager meets at a local fast food site with a couple of techs to review that weeks routes and special needs or the addition of a new account.  It is also the perfect time and place to hand over needed equipment or a replacement plant.  Just be sure to cover all yur bases and get the most out of the meeting. 

Then there are the Companywide Meetings.  These meetings put you right out there and if you just slough it off, you risk looking foolish, amateurish, or both.  Have a Meeting of Key people to plan this meeting.  Pick an important 10 minute topic.  It may be Safety or whatever.  Just make sure it is of import to every one attending and also have a written Key Points sheet to hand out.  You probably onlly need one meeting companywide a year.  It is more to introduce everyone and keep everyone in step.  Whatever the topics, keep them brief and to the point.  Don’t let anyone hog the stage.  And lastly, have food, recognition for employees who have achieved goals and always, always pay people for their time while attending. 

The main thing is to stop, think, and plan so that your meetings are productive.  If not, fuggedaboudit.

OK.  OK.  You’re up to your knees in Poinsettia and here I am asking about your Green Plant maintenance frequency.  Hmmph!

Well, its important and I encourage you to look at how often you are doing what you do and figuring out if weekly, 10 day or 2 week intervals would work for some of your accounts.  Why?  Because this is the one thing you have control of that can and will impact your bottom line.  Yes, gas is down again, but, trust me, it will rise.  Employees are worried about jobs so the pressure for raises is low, but, trust me that will change.  The time to institute a change is at the beginning of the year after Holiday Takedown subsides.  Pull out a pen and paper and a route sheet and an Accounts List and see where you can start.

I mention this now because a TOPsider customer called to place an order (thank you Bruce) and when he heard my voice he just had to thank me for pushing him to do this.  He says it has totally changed his business for the better and put many $$ in his pocket.

You’re Welcome.

What Will We Wear?   Most small interiorscape companies wear coordinated outfits.  These may consist of no more than a "golf" shirt with a name tag or company name and  logo on front or back, or they may be a fabric shirt with a collar.  Usually the bottom half sports khaki or navy slacks.  Jeans may be permitted but make sure they are clean, unstained, and have no rips or tears.

Other Options     Some companies make a statement by wearing brightly colored tropical shirts.  These can still have name tags and logos on them.  Everyone in the field wears the same shirts and they become a visual "icon".  And, in areas that have cold, colder climates, employees are provided with an outerwear jacket  in a coordinating or matching color so the "uniform" look is carried through completely.  Make sure these items are well made and provide adquate protection from the elements. 

Never, Nevers   Regardless of the climate, sleeveless shirts are never appropriate and low cut tops the same.  Keep your look clean, identifiable, and professional.  I have always like the short or long sleeved cloth shirt with epaulets on the shoulders. 

The Agony of Da Feet   One of the areas usually overlooked is the shoe.  Yes, sports shoewear is OK as long as it is clean and not falling apart.  Flip flops or open sandals are a bad thing not just from an appearance standpoint but also as a safety issue. 

Summing Up      One company I know, keeps a full length mirror next to the warehouse facility door that most techs use when exiting.  As a matter of course, everyone passes it a couple of times a day.  Not a bad way to reinforce company policy regarding the non uniform uniform.  Now go out there and get ‘em tiger.

Now Go out there and get ‘em Tiger.

Have you ever watched someone trim a tree?  Unless they are a professional, it is usually one ornament at a time.  The hand goes down, grabs an ornament, the hand goes up, they climb the ladder, they come down from the ladder.  This goes on for an interminable time period, over and over and over again. 

From a time management point of view this is excruciating.  Long ago I watched someone do just this on a Holiday job we were installing and agonized as the time we’d allotted quickly grew and grew til the job was never going to be profitable.  Sheer agony.

That is when I asked Sara our Holiday Chief Elf (not the one hanging the one by one ornaments), what could we do to save time and speed things up.  Sara, bless her heart, showed me the trick she used for decorating large trees.  To get ornamentation that fit the scale of 12 and 16 foot and larger trees, Sara made up what she called "elements".  Some call them swags, others have other names.  No matter what you call them, they are several regular size ornaments with bows or strands or silk flowers attatched so that the finished piece is both beautiful and LARGE!  These "elements" are made in the facility beforehand by a crew that copies them from a prototype Sara made in advance and then placed on the tree on site.

Talk about time savings.  48 times instead of 480.  Piece of cake.  Storage is easy too, just wrap and box and they will be ready for next year. 

I tell you all this even if you already know about this and even if Holiday is many, many months away,  because periodically I run into a ’scaper still playing the onesy-twosy game and because by applying this same principle to just about every thing your business does, you can save steps, time, materials, and stress.  And, that, as Martha Stewart would say, "Is a good thing". 

Some of us only provide Poinsettias, some install 40 foot trees, whole Villages, and Exterior Holiday extravaganzas.  Wherever you fall on the Holiday scale, the disruption of schedules, shorter work weeks, and delivery demands on top of the regular maintenance work results in..stress. 

How to Combat it?  
First, just accept that there will be glitches and discombobulations.  To minimize it as much as possible, think back to Christmas Past.  What went wrong?  Not enough ornaments?  Shipments didn’t arrive?  How did you handle it then and was that, in retrospect, the best way? 

Our Holiday business was  from 250,000 to over 350,000 dollars each year.  Oh, it didn’t start out that big.  It started with 120 poinsettia and a  seven foot tree.  Ten years later it was 350,000 bucks.  During those ten years we made every mistake that could be made but we also had one Rule.  Never make the same mistake twice.  Remember and fix it for the next year.  And that is how we ended up with the Mistake Book. 

Write it Down  
Every glitch had its solution, every solution was reviewed and improved upon.  For example, I discovered one year when a shipment of ornaments failed to show up, that Lowe’s and Target carried great substitutes and for not much more than we would have paid delivered to our door.   Need more lights?  Same thing.  So after that learning year, we never again worried if a product failed to show up.  Solution?  Less stress.

People Are Your Greatest Asset.  Take Care of Them  
Not only is work stressful at this time of year, but life at home is at well.  Families need to shop for themselves and friends.  Extra company shows up.  School and Church demands increase.  Time is valuable.  With this in mind, consider allowing full time workers the ability to take some of their vacation or sick day allotment to get personal things done or, even better, during that 2 week time period from December 19 to Jan 1 when set up is pretty much done and take down has yet to start. 

Along with time, money is also scarce for families.  If you give year end bonuses, consider handing them out early December or mid December instead of waiting until the last week.  This way people can use it when they need it.  And, if the bonus is relatively small consider a gift card to a store like Walmart or a local Grocery. 

Sometimes You Just Need a Hug 
A couple of companies I know hire a Masseuse to come in to their facility on Thanksgiving weekend when all their crews are installing jobs.  Then they schedule people so they can stop by the facility and get a 10 minute neck and shoulder massage.  It isn’t that costly and it sure feels great.  Most of all it is what it says.  "We care about and appreciate you".  That and a hot cuppa something can make all the difference.
 
Thank You 
And lastly, tell them.  Tell them how much you appreciate their work.  Tell them in front of everyone.  Tell them often.  And sometime in the middle of December hand each one a beautifully dressed poinsettia for their own homes.  Happy Holidays.

Holiday Safety
As we head into the Holiday season I’m reminded of Holidays past.  Most are a blur of red poinsettia and sparkle that won’t come off your hands and face, but some years stand out for other reasons.  There was the year we set up the 20-foot live poinsettia tree and the year we decorated the Riverboat and made it snow inside over the 30-foot tree.  And then there are the years remembered but not because of an outstanding design but because of something sad.  Like the year one of our installers was taking down a wreath and fell off the 10-foot ladder breaking his leg in two places.  Or the year another Holiday Elf fell back off the loading dock.
As I write this e-tip it is still September.  Still time to have a company meeting and review safety measures.  Still time to give out that ounce of prevention and save a pound cure.  From proper footwear to ladder work, from proper lifting techniques to how best to anchor a tree or wreath.  An hour spent now could save bones, dollars, and workmen comp claims up the road.  So, please take the time.  Have a safety procedures meeting.

 Poinsettia Organizing
And, speaking of poinsettia, you probably use them in several ways but, for the most part, you use the 6” red plant placed into a watertight decorative container or basket with saucer inside or speedcover.  You may or may not add a bow, and away you go.  Suggestion – standardize, standardize, and organize.  There is nothing worse than holding up a crew waiting in a vehicle while one-person hunts all over the facility for the basket or the saucer.  Figure out what you are doing and how.  Set the components in stacks so that everyone knows where they are and can see them as they sprint to load the truck.  Standardization and organization - the keys to a very Merry Holiday.

Fabricating Tips 
One of the crises that happens each year is that you buy Holiday Product back in Jan or Feb long before the new jobs are sold.  Then, come September, you find yourself out of the 4" red and gold balls you need for that big job.  Like a bunny you get on the phone to order from you importer only to be told, "no more available".  What to do?  Check out your local floral wholesaler and, even, your local Home Depot, Lowe’s and any other retail store for product that will meet your needs.  So what if you have to pay 2 bucks instead of 1.50?  Retail prices are still low due to seasonal demand and the ability of the retail venue to pay less than you pay, is just a fact of life since they buy such huge quantities.  So, save yourself some grief.  Buy it locally and get it done.

Here’s One More Thing to Do
If you are the owner of a plantscaping business you know how hard it is to get everyone on the same page.  Oh, you have your weekly meetings and there’s the Company Manual but, still, it’s a challenge to get everyone feeling comfortable about the company status and the future.  In other words, Bucky, what have you done about employee morale lately?  Keeping employees well informed and feeling good about the company and their job is tricky.  Some companies that have 20 or more employees have an in house newsletter that is distributed once a month.  Desktop published, it introduces and welcomes new employees, lists momentous occasions such as birthdays and graduations, applauds a salesperson for meeting goals or getting a new account and so on.  The key factor here is that everyone likes to be recognized and there is nothing more pleasing to the eye and ear than the sound of one’s own name.

 Still other companies have the Annual Holiday Party.  This doesn’t have to be an expensive affair; just a way of winding down after a pressure filled few weeks of Holiday installs.  We used to have a “Trashing of the Poinsettias” hoop toss.  There were small prizes and a lot of laughs.  Held at a local bowling alley, everyone dressed casual had a great barbecue dinner and a great time.  Sometimes this was the only time some of the techs in outlying territories got to meet and greet other techs.  We also had a Summer Picnic.  This event was held at a farm owned by one of our employees.  We brought in food and games and everyone including families was invited.   One  opportunity afforded by a get together with everyone there is to acknowledge outstanding employees in front of their families.   What pride .

Still other companies have a Night at the Ballgame.  Whatever form it takes, company social events like this, when well thought out, can be very unifying and foster an atmosphere of teamwork that carries over into the workplace.  And, by the way, don’t let these wonderful moments disappear into the ether.  Appoint someone company photographer and keep a record of these events.  Someday when we are all in Green Acres (the Retirement Home for Interiorscapers), you’ll want to pull out all those memories along with pictures of your grandkids.  I mean, your company is your baby too.

The Company Retreat 
Another way we’d keep everyone in the loop was to every couple of year’s hold a Company Retreat.  A local university located in a beautiful rural setting just a few miles from our city had a lodge and rooms available for just this purpose.  Check out your nearby state parks.  They might offer similar accommodations.  We’d go on Saturday and leave on Sunday spending one night.  For this type of meeting preparation and execution is everything.  We would formulate an agenda that dealt with all the immediate concerns as well as the long-term stuff.  Attendees would include owner(s), Ops Managers, Sales, Office Manager, and so on.  And, because we didn’t want to just be going in circles for two days, we would hire a professional facilitator to lead the meeting.

What would we talk about?  Long range plans for the company, how we could grow, what procedures made sense, you name it.  Everyone had an opportunity well in advance to provide topics they wanted to cover.  Various people were asked to give status reports, you get the idea.  This was far more than recognizing employees, it said that we valued their opinion and that they were a major part of the Company.  Did it work?  The first year we were not highly successful.  My fault.  It’s hard as an owner to hear people telling you that not every idea you have is golden.  However, by the second year we were much better and by the fourth time it was terrific.  And the fallout, if you work it properly, is amazing.  Everyone feels empowered.  Their ideas and comments are being heard.  Pretty heady stuff.

 Warning
Now, a word of warning - Do not try this approach if you are unwilling to let others have a say or if you tend to shoot every idea down.  If that is your situation, go back to the ballgames and picnics.  If you do decide to try this, however, let the facilitator do his job and listen, listen, listen.  Truth is that whether picnic, retreat, or newsletter you need to thank the people you work with and do it, whenever appropriate, in front of others.

Ring Them Bells
I knew a Sales Manger at one of the larger companies who, whenever one of the sales staff reached their goal or sold an account, she would ring a huge bell.  The sound would echo throughout the office.  It got a few laughs but everyone knew that so and so had done something terrific.  It was very inspiring.

Now go out there and get ‘em, Tiger

What’s a Tri-TOP?  Well, in my never-ending quest to find a new place to put plants we introduced Tri-TOPs, the triangular planter from TOPsiders.  Got a corner in a cubicle you’d like a plant?  Sidemount a Tri-TOP.  Want an unusual shape atop a file cabinet?  Place a series of three Tri-TOPs.  Looking for a different type of wall planter?  Yep, Tri-TOPs!  And, for the ultimate in the unusual, think of all those long narrow office hallways.  No room for a floor plant?  Mount two or three Tri-TOPs above each other in the corner and create a living “fountain of greenery”.  Tri-TOPs come in all our standard colors except for black and none of the metallic finishes, they hold one six inch plant.

My Interiorscape company, Something Different, was originally founded with myself and two other partners. Now ninety-nine percent of the time we got along great but every once in a while we would disagree. I’d fuss and fume and vent to a dear friend. Each time he would look across the dinner table and when I had calmed down he’d quietly ask, “And what does it say in the Company Manual?”

I’d continue to humph and phumph and go on venting. A few weeks later the same thing would happen and so on and so on and this went on for five or six years. I’d get upset and he would listen and then ask, “What does it say in the Company Manual?”

I Finally Got it.
Then one day it dawned on me that my friend was absolutely right. We needed a COmpany Manual. A book that had all the rules, expectations, human resource information, in short, all the stuff that owners and employees alike could reference.

My Mission
I begged, borrowed and stole Company Manuals from other ’scaper friends in other cities and used their Manuals as templates and after a few long weekends we had the first of many Company Manuals.

A Work In Progress
Today you can find on the web templates for everything from wills, to divorce decrees to Company Manuals (www.employeemanual.com). If you don’t have one, you need to put this on your to do list. In fact, I don’t see how you can operate without one particularly one that addresses employee issues.

Just remember that every so often you’ll need to update your Manual. There will always be items to add and items to change or delete. It is a living document that defines your company from Mission Statement to Employee Termination guidelines and it is always changing.

Start Small
Pull up a template from the web and start filling things in. Before long you will have the foundation and can add sections at a realistic pace. Before you know it, you will have a Company Manual and, I guarantee you, you will sleep better at night.

Go Joe!
Everyone loved our new salesperson, Joe. Tall, blonde, great smile – everybody agreed he was sure to be successful, so we hired Joe. Timed passed and Joe became everyone’s buddy. He could talk sports with the guys and go to lunch with the girls. Everyone loved Joe. Just one itty-bitty problem. He wasn’t selling much. Oh, he always had something in the works, something on the horizon. In fact, several potential jobs had been on his sales board for months, eleven months to be precise, but very few materialized. I thought about letting Joe go but each time I did, I backed down. Heck, everyone loved Joe! Such a great smile and well, I hated confrontation. Holiday came and went and Joe sold a couple of jobs but still way below his quota. Yet, it was nice to have an extra pair of hands to carry wreaths and trees, I reasoned. Once a week Joe and I would meet to review his sales efforts. I learned to hate those meetings.

 All Talk No Action
Joe would flash that great smile and he’d tell me about the rotten economy, the corporate cut backs, the lousy weather. We even grieved over the the local football team’s defeat. Still – few sales so while I sold at one end, Joe cost the company money and time and sold—very little. Finally, after almost two years I mustered up every bit of moxie I had and told Joe – “GO!” The company threw him a big going away party and wished him luck,‘cause, heck, everyone loved Joe.

The Moral To The Story
Now, friends, there is a moral to this sad tale of Joe. In every company there is a “Joe” or a “Joan”. They may be in sales or be the company account person. They may be a supervisor or a tech. They may even be a relative. Whatever their position, their charisma and personality mask deficiencies. Deficiencies that suck the soul out of a small, entrepreneurial business. If you have a "Joe” currently on your payroll, I want you to stop reading this blog and go over to a mirror.

 Be Honest With Yourself
Look yourself square in the eye and repeat after me, “I am not in business to care for someone else’s child. My business is my baby and I have to protect it. Joe must go!”
 If necessary repeat the above and then, let Joe go! In a couple of months after Joe’s replacement sells that huge job (funny how the economy got better so fast), call me and let me know how it’s going – after Joe goes. Now go out there and get ‘em Tiger!