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Sure, you read it right. Hippo, not Happy.
Here is why you should have a very happy Hippo New Year:
- The male hippo weighs an average of 3300-4000 pounds, with the heaviest recorded at 9900 pounds.
- The female only weighs 2900-3300 pounds.
- Hippos are from 11 to 17 feet long, with tiny feet and legs.
- Hippos almost always live in a river bed, in the mud or with 95% of their body under water. So, you have big, old, weirdly shaped animal who lives in the mud, and can't do much except eat 150 pounds of grass a day and make babies.
So you think they are simply a dumb, muddy, fat but cute animal. Boy, are you wrong about hippos.
- On land they run up to 19 mph, faster than we can.
- They swim underwater at 5 mph, coming up for air once only every 5 minutes. We can swim 1/2 that speed, above water!
- The bulls are very protective of their wives and their children.
So if you see only 5% of something, you have to do research before you form an opinion. If you see an empty building about to be renovated, find out if it is a project for you. If a weird customer walks in, listen to the complete job they need done before you say you are not interested. A geeky guy comes in looking for a job, and before you say, "Are you kidding?", he fixes that computer bug you have had for three months.
Let's start the new year with an open mind on every possible business action. Don't say "No", before you do the homework.
Lastly, from my family to yours: Have a healthy, hippo happy, safe and prosperous New Year.
A couple of months back, after the Boston Red Sox lost their manager and general manager, I sent a note to the owners that I was available for either position.
The phone didn't ring.
OK, I lived through it, saddened, but still able to function. On Sunday night opportunity reared its head again. I was ready. I could do it. Here's why:
Kim Jung Il, the exalted leader of North Korea died of a massive heart attack. Now, most people around the world are OK with this. But I saw opportunity. I wrote a note to the People's Congress laying out my credentials to take over North Korea, and my plan to improve the whole country.
First, I told them about my time as a baseball coach, bringing different teams together. We would battle on the fields, but afterwards, we would still be friends. This proved my ability to be tough, yet still maintain a friendly leadership role.
Then I told them about my business career. I managed a company of 250 workers, who spoke many languages, and was able to communicate with all of them. I described going to Glass Trade Shows, which was kind of like going to a session of the UN. You want to stand out in the crowd, drawing people to your side.
Then came my master plan. I would take over North Korea, and manage it like a business. My prediction is that we would be profitable in two years. And then, we would do the plan's finale. General Electric is, to me, the most successful company around. They take good care of their people, give great medical insurance, and do a superb job of training leaders.
My plan then, was to let GE buy North Korea as a new business unit. All of the citizens would immediately go on their medical insurance plan, and all would get sick time and two weeks vacation. Their lives would be immeasurably improved. GE is a multi-national corporation, so they would have an easy time integrating North Korea into the conglomerate. The army there would slowly become workers on a world-wide solar and wind energy project. The nuclear bombs North Korea owns would be used in power plants.
GE would get rich owning its own country, everyone would come out ahead, and as the ruling leader, I would get stock options. It doesn't get better than this.
Alas, the phone didn't ring this morning, and a twenty-nine year old kid was handed the title "The Great Successor". I bet he didn't get any stock options.
You can add dollars to your sales total by selling everyday items around your glass shop as holiday gifts! It doesn't require a penny of investment, just some time and creativity.
First, clean up your showroom. Get rid of all the junk that has been sitting in the corners for a year or two. If you don't remember the job you ordered the samples for, get rid of them. Clean every piece of glass in your showroom. Make your showroom sparkle!
Now, here is what you can sell, and at tidy little profit. Professional grade glass cleaner. You have a couple of cases out back. Put up a simple display, add a sign and you are set. Double your cost of the cleaner...be sure to add your inbound freight.
Glass gloves, the perfect glove for the home mechanic. Many stores sell them as the perfect gardening glove. Glass cutters are also great for the home mechanic section of your display. Put out a couple boxes of razor blades, too. You have a dozen tape measures you just received from CRL. Put these out for sale. Safety glasses, too. You don't have to match the prices at the big box store. These sales are all impulse items and price is not relevant.
Do you have tubes of caulking in back? Now that is a silly question. Of course you do. Put them near your register, they will sell. Do you have bottles of plastic cleaner? Sell them. How about sanding belts? Sell them as the cloth belt that is better than the paper belts sold at the hardware store.
Do you have mirror accessories--like mirrored switch plates? Don't store them in back--put them right up front by the register! Something as simple as desk buttons will sell for a dime each.
Cut your cutoff 1/8" mirror into 2" x 2" squares, seam the edges, and sell pocket mirrors for a buck. These are great as stocking stuffers. Some people will place a sticker with their name on the backing. A little advertising doesn't hurt either.
Sell gift certificates for a windshield replacement, or a new mirror, or a table top! You get the cash flow now. It doesn't get better than this for a retailer.
It's easy. A little creativity and you will make some unexpected sales this year.
All right, who are you?
- Old Man Scrooge
- A Hard Working Joe
- Part of the 1/10th of 1
Old man Scrooge wouldn't own a computer. If your are in the 1/10th, you won't be reading this blog. So, you are a hard working Joe.
Looking at the calendar, it is time to decide on your holiday gift program for your employees. Yes, it was a very tough year for most of us. (In my consulting business, we have one full-time employee, my wife Elaine. I told her that she was getting a new set of flannel PJ's. Without the feet. It was a tough year.)
Your employees know the year you have had. Nonetheless, they do expect something. You have given a cash gift for years, and just about everyone counts on the bonus for their holiday budgeting.
If you had a good year, then surely thanking your employees should be high on your list. Giving a gift to smiling employee is better than giving to an ornery, back-charging customer. The customer won't change their attitude, while giving to an employee is the perfect investment in your company.
But, and there is always a but, for the 85% of us who didn't have a good year, what do we do? You need some kind of plan for your gift-giving. The easy way out, give everyone a week's pay. This way is simple and won't cause waves. The more complicated, but in the long-run, much better way, is to set a budget, maybe equal to the one week payroll, and then give more to the people that worked their hearts out, and less to the folks that are out the door at 5:00 on the second.
This takes more work: good employee reviews, solid feedback sessions, and speaking with the grumpy people who get less than the full week. You will be a hero to some folks, but Scrooge to others. People will say you gave more to Stan because he supports the Mets, or seriously, some will make claims of prejudice on your part. You have to decide if the reward and encouragement to the stars on your team are worth the effort.
For my part, I feel it is worth the effort...provided you have the employee reviews in file. Recognizing the hard workers is worth it. They will continue to work hard. But if everyone gets the same amount, what is the incentive to work hard? Sure there is self-pride, but at this time of the year, cash is king.
What if the year says your bonuses/gifts have to cut down. Tell your people ASAP; don't wait for the day you hand out the checks. Families will need to adjust their budgets. If you do cut gifts, don't under any circumstances, get a new car for yourself, redecorate your office, or buy new equipment in December, under he guise of spending money before the tax-year ends. You will never see worse morale if gifts are cut and other spending goes on.
Tis the holiday season. I figured this out watching TV last night. In a one-hour show, there were 19 different ads for holiday gifts. Subtle, oh-so subtle. I imagine it is even greater on kids' shows on Saturday morning.
The question is what to do in your business environment with vendors and customers. (We'll talk about 'with employees' next week.) Of course, you want to say thanks to your key customers, and a nice gift is always appreciated. But can you do better than the cookie tray or bottle of cheer? I'll bet a nickel that none of your customers buy from you because of holiday gifts...it is because you offer quality service at a price that fits their budget. An extra $25 or $50 gift in December will not keep them as a customer.
I want to share two special companies' programs with you. First is a company here in NH, a financial advisor that I work with. They send a letter to all of their customers asking them to make a donation to any recognized charity, anywhere in the country. The customers mail the check to the advisor, and then they match it and forward to the charity. There is a maximum amount of $120 per family. So, my donation is doubled, the charities come out ahead and everyone feels great about it. I don't want another bottle of booze and my particular charity benefits. I really like this program and while it is not the main reason to work with the company, it does let me know they care about people and charity as much as they do about earning fees.
The other company is Galaxy Glass in New Jersey. It is owned by Eugene Negrin, who is a fellow blogger here on the USGNN. While I worked at Floral Glass, Eugene would always send me a cookie tin filled with delicious rugalech, a traditional eastern European cookie. I always thanked him for thinking of me and when I left work, Eugene tracked me down here and started sending the tins to my home. I always looked forward to them, because you don't get this kind of cookie in New Hampshire. This year, I received a note telling me that Eugene was discontinuing the cookie program as he felt that it was more important to donate to charity this year than to give out the cookies. The charities win, Eugene feels good, I don't get the calories, and the world takes one small step towards being a better place. This is truly a better example of holiday spirit than a box of cookies.
You do have to give a guy on the loading dock his bottle. When you think of something for the owners and managers of your vendors and customers, let them know you are honoring them with a donation to a local food bank or a national charity. I know that will be more appreciated than the calories.
You should have a firm policy in your company about accepting gifts. We allowed employees to receive gifts from vendors or customers, up to specified value; $25 was the level when I left. They had to let managment know they received a gift, and we would write a corporate thank you note. Did everyone tell us? Of course not, but most did. We encouraged vendors to notify the office when they gave gifts to our employees. We also encouraged employees to share their gifts with others in their departments. We discouraged vendors from sending gifts to employees' homes. Although, I do remember a very beautiful cut glass bowl that was sent to my home by LOF. I told Chuck Kaplanek, the owner, about the gift, and he received one at home also. My wife still uses the bowl, and I remember LOF when I see it. This is a rare occurance. Most gifts get forgotton about ten minutes after the sales rep leaves them in the office!
Thanks for reading today...there will be more on gifts for the holiday season next week.
In a word, NO.
This is not a political blog, after all, our reason for being together is the glass industry. To me, leadership is making the right decisions, even if they are unpopular, and then teaching why it was the right decision to the people you are responsible for. Not everyone will agree with you, but they will respect you for your honesty and reasoning. You can't keep changing your position on subject A or B. But if variables change, like the economy, you may have to thoughtfully change.
Let's say your glass shop has never had a layoff. Now, this year, you have to go there to save the entire company. You do have to make this unpopular decision, and that is when you become a leader.
You have to decide what benefits will be paid for, and how much the company will contribute. Your obligation is to the whole company; if you balance the needs here, you will be a leader. There is a current phrase, 'stake holders', that defines who you are responsible to. You run a glass shop; your stake holders are:
- The ownership of the company, whether one or two partners, or thousands of shareholders
- Your employees, every single one of them
- Your customers
- Your community, defined anywhere from local to regional to national
- Yourself, so that you can sleep at night with the decisions you've made
If you balance all these groups' needs, you are a great leader. You will make decisions that ownership may not agree with, but you can convince them that long-term stability is better than short-term profits. Research all of the facts about a decision that is needed. Test drive it by asking key people what their opinions are. Look at similar companies and what they have done and use that as a template, maybe copying or doing the opposite!
Don't flip-flop, going different directions every year. Don't put off a decision and hope the need for it goes away. Don't knowingly make the wrong decision, just to be popular. So you say, why not, I own this place, I can make any decision I want! Because you will begin to see turnover in your employees as soon as the market begins to grow. Your best people will go where they will be respected for the work they do and the honesty of the leadership.
Your customers will look around for a different vendor if your service policies change or your prices are not predictable. You can raise prices, but do it above-board...not with silly hidden fees or changes in how your bill for travel.
And for how you serve your community, just do the right thing, even if it may temporarily hurt you. Just look at Penn State to understand what sweeping bad news under the rug will do to your reputation.
If you can place your head on the pillow and sleep well, and have served your stakeholders, you, Sir or Ma'am, are a leader.
Fie, Foe and Fum are not bad. But it is their brother Fee that has me the most upset. Why can't businesses quote a price that actually relates to what we are paying. Just this morning my wife bought two things on line, some tickets to a play and she sent a fruit basket to a family as the father of a friend passed away.
On each purchase, brother Fee tacked on over 20% to the purchase price. Paying shipping is OK, but Internet handling fees, and rush service charges are slowly pushing us back to local bricks and mortar stores. I buy a lot of books, and my wife pointed out to me, just a few minutes ago, a local book shop is having a great sale. I will visit this store in person. And when I visit in person, I always end up spending more than I would have on the Internet. Browsing among many items is always more fun in person.
Back to the wicked brother, Mr. Fee. Airline fares, train tickets and every other form of travel, other than walking or riding your bicycle has a fee attached. My cell phone bill is 21% fees! There is now a cell company advertising a flat rate, including all fees. When my current contract expires, that's where I will be heading. We all have fees in our businesses, but we call this overhead. I don't know any glass shops that add fees for the taxes they have to pay, or because they go into rural areas. Your service call may be higher, the farther away from your office, but you don't charge that to everyone as a fee. Would you get any business if you did?
Does this effect us in the glass business? You Betcha! Energy surcharges, delivery surcharges, waiting time, recycling fees and so on. When you quote your customers a price, make it all inclusive. If your competitors add on after-sale charges, then be sure to advertise that you don't. Keep it simple and your customers will be happier, which means you will be happier, too.
Blog follow-up---I recently wrote about my applying for a job at the Boston Red Sox, and I figured that it was a done deal. As a show of support, I now understand quite a few of my regular readers wrote to the Red Sox, asking them to hire me. There was a common thread, too. They all wanted me to get away from the glass industry. It was sweet of them to try to help me.
