My 2004 Chevy flunked the state inspection the other day, and it kicked me over the edge to buy a new car. In my area of New Hampshire you don't have the option of going from dealer-to-dealer looking for deals. There is one Chevy dealer and one Ford dealer, along with all of the imports. I was only going to buy American, so I had two choices.
The Chevy dealer has a very small showroom, only four cars fit in. Two of the cars were antiques, not for sale. Just there to draw traffic in. Even though they were cool to look at, the car I wanted to buy was nowhere near. It was a nice day so we walked out on the lot. If it had been raining, or in the winter, I would have left without seeing a car. The lesson for you: Show off what you sell. Don't put things in your glass showroom or waiting room that have no meaning to what you sell. It is nice to show tradition in a small way, some pictures of your family, but your main impetus has to be showing products you currently work with and make money from. The person is in your waiting room or showroom; they don't have to be convinced to come in the door!
The salesman did a good job of working with me, and I may buy his car. I met the owner of the dealership and he was proud of his antiques, but didn't discuss the car I was about to buy. A business no-no.
My next stop was the Ford dealer. The had a much larger showroom, and the car I wanted was right there. I sat in it 15 seconds after entering the showroom. This had an impact. But wait...there is more.
While the salesman walked away from me to research a question on paying by credit card ( I wanted the airline miles), the radio station that was being played overly loud in the showroom had TWO commercials for other car dealers. I listened to the competition in their showroom. If buying in imported car was on my target list, there it was...a very good deal on the style of car I wanted.
SiriusXM radio, on an all music package is only $9.99 a month , no commercials, and has 65 music channels, serving every taste in music. Come on now...isn't that better than hearing a competitor's ad in your own store. Also, when you play the local station, there is usually a political point of view. If you play a conservative radio station, you will upset half of the population...and of course you will upset the other half if you play a station with a liberal bias. Your showroom is not the place to promote an agenda other than selling your product!
Don't place magazines in your showroom that feature religion, guns, or politics. There are enough construction, home improvement, architectural and decorating magazines around that every thing in your showroom should encourage customers to ask you questions about glass. Every one of your vendors should give you catalog sheets or brochures that will help you develop business.
Make sure your customer bathrooms are spotless. A dirty bathroom will guarantee that customer will not return to your shop in the future. Are you the great-nephew of Elvis Presley? If you are not, his picture should not be in your showroom. The best things for your walls are actual job pictures of your work and testimonial letters from your customers.
If you have a coffee pot for customers, make sure it is clean and refreshed often. If you have a vending machine for coffee or snacks, keep it clean and well stocked. Don't depend on a traveling route salesman to come in and clean it. The machine represents you and the pride you have in your establishment and your work.
You have a captive audience for a few minutes; use it to your advantage in the glass business.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
US Airlines Collect $3.4 Billion In Baggage Fees
In 2010, US Airlines collected $3.4 billion in those annoying baggage fees, up 24% from 2009. This is what an industry does when they can't raise prices, but costs go up. Doesn't this sound a lot like the energy surcharge? If you are a glass shop anywhere in the world, you have competition; you just can't start charging a new fee that your customers will pay because they have no choice. You have competition, so what can you do?
The airport serving where I live has two carriers, Southwest and US Air. I try to fly Southwest on trips simply because of the baggage fee. But, there are no Southwest-type options for us in the glass business. Each glass shop has too many competitors to be the one that stands out. The advertising budget to let the community know what you are offering would certainly be greater than the increased business you could bring in.
Just about everyone charges a minimum for a service call; you may be able to raise that a little. What you can do is charge more where it costs you more. If a customer needs a service call where you will have to pay overtime, such as 6:00 in the morning, or 7:00 at night, you can charge a premium for labor. Not for your time in doing a quote, however. Your time is just part of overhead in giving estimates or following up on a job.
Make sure you charge for tolls you pay going to the job. Mention this in your quote. If you are going to a secure site, like an airport, and need to spend an hour in line waiting for security clearance, be sure to include this cost in your estimate as a separate line item.
On your estimate and invoice, clearly state your terms, and be sure to add a phrase detailing an additional 1.5% charge for bills over 60 days past due, no matter what the agreed payment schedule is. If customers don't keep the schedule, you should charge this premium.
If the customer asks you to remove extra construction debris, then it is alright to charge for your labor and the extra cost of your dumpster or dumping fees. Sure you want to be a nice guy and do something extra for your customer, but don't do something that directly costs you money.
Don't be afraid to charge for a second visit to a customer when they weren't ready for you on your first scheduled visit. You load your truck, and schedule the day; if they didn't have the courtesy to tell you in advance to hold off, then they should pay you.
Make sure you know what your fabricator is going to charge you for oversize glass, special edge work or shape cutting, rush service or anything out of the ordinary, and be sure to quote this up-front. You should also add your mark-up to these additional fees.
On all of your quotes, be sure to add a time escalator. If the customer calls you back in six months and says they are ready for the job, it may be very tough to honor the old quote.
In my opinion the best extra you can give a customer is doing exactly what they ask for in the original quote. Do the job neatly and leave the job site with your product perfectly clean. Have them sign off that the glass is fine before you leave. If you do great work, at your quoted pricing, you will get referrals, which are the best source of work for any glass shop.
The airport serving where I live has two carriers, Southwest and US Air. I try to fly Southwest on trips simply because of the baggage fee. But, there are no Southwest-type options for us in the glass business. Each glass shop has too many competitors to be the one that stands out. The advertising budget to let the community know what you are offering would certainly be greater than the increased business you could bring in.
Just about everyone charges a minimum for a service call; you may be able to raise that a little. What you can do is charge more where it costs you more. If a customer needs a service call where you will have to pay overtime, such as 6:00 in the morning, or 7:00 at night, you can charge a premium for labor. Not for your time in doing a quote, however. Your time is just part of overhead in giving estimates or following up on a job.
Make sure you charge for tolls you pay going to the job. Mention this in your quote. If you are going to a secure site, like an airport, and need to spend an hour in line waiting for security clearance, be sure to include this cost in your estimate as a separate line item.
On your estimate and invoice, clearly state your terms, and be sure to add a phrase detailing an additional 1.5% charge for bills over 60 days past due, no matter what the agreed payment schedule is. If customers don't keep the schedule, you should charge this premium.
If the customer asks you to remove extra construction debris, then it is alright to charge for your labor and the extra cost of your dumpster or dumping fees. Sure you want to be a nice guy and do something extra for your customer, but don't do something that directly costs you money.
Don't be afraid to charge for a second visit to a customer when they weren't ready for you on your first scheduled visit. You load your truck, and schedule the day; if they didn't have the courtesy to tell you in advance to hold off, then they should pay you.
Make sure you know what your fabricator is going to charge you for oversize glass, special edge work or shape cutting, rush service or anything out of the ordinary, and be sure to quote this up-front. You should also add your mark-up to these additional fees.
On all of your quotes, be sure to add a time escalator. If the customer calls you back in six months and says they are ready for the job, it may be very tough to honor the old quote.
In my opinion the best extra you can give a customer is doing exactly what they ask for in the original quote. Do the job neatly and leave the job site with your product perfectly clean. Have them sign off that the glass is fine before you leave. If you do great work, at your quoted pricing, you will get referrals, which are the best source of work for any glass shop.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
What Anthony Weiner Can Teach Every Businessman In America
Anthony Weiner is a US Congressman from Queens, New York City. He has been in the news lately for first denying that he sent some lewd twitters and messages to women. He originally claimed that someone 'hacked' into his personal accounts and sent the photos. A couple of days later he reversed himself, said he did indeed send the messages, and apologized to his pregnant wife, his constituency and to the Congress of the United States.
He then went on to say that this was not a serious enough problem to require him to resign from Congress. That statement is more obscene than the stupid pictures he sent.
When people look up to someone who does something so patently stupid and immature, causing them to become so disappointed that they lose faith in the system---whether it is Congress or your business---employees will lose their desire to work for you.
You are the leader of your business. In our case you are probably in the glass business. You have the responsibility to lead professionally. If you make a mistake like mismeasuring a job, that is part of our lives. But if you make a moral mistake, and your company learns of it, you will no longer have your employees' respect or enthusiasm to help you run a profitable business.
As an owner or manager you have no choice. You must take responsibility for your actions. No choice. I just heard a follow-up story on CNN where they stated 53% of Weiner's congressional district thought it was OK for him to stay in his job, while 35% thought he should resign. What would happen in your company if 35% of your employees thought you were unfit to lead. They would begin looking for other employers; they certainly would lose their dedication to your business.
You went into business to create your own future and to make a good living. Don't let something stupid get in the way. Watch for this in your senior managers, watch for this throughout your organization. Make sure you have a confidential communication system for all employees to contact you in the event they feel there has been sexual or any other type of harrassment.
Don't let something stupid ruin your life or business.
He then went on to say that this was not a serious enough problem to require him to resign from Congress. That statement is more obscene than the stupid pictures he sent.
When people look up to someone who does something so patently stupid and immature, causing them to become so disappointed that they lose faith in the system---whether it is Congress or your business---employees will lose their desire to work for you.
You are the leader of your business. In our case you are probably in the glass business. You have the responsibility to lead professionally. If you make a mistake like mismeasuring a job, that is part of our lives. But if you make a moral mistake, and your company learns of it, you will no longer have your employees' respect or enthusiasm to help you run a profitable business.
As an owner or manager you have no choice. You must take responsibility for your actions. No choice. I just heard a follow-up story on CNN where they stated 53% of Weiner's congressional district thought it was OK for him to stay in his job, while 35% thought he should resign. What would happen in your company if 35% of your employees thought you were unfit to lead. They would begin looking for other employers; they certainly would lose their dedication to your business.
You went into business to create your own future and to make a good living. Don't let something stupid get in the way. Watch for this in your senior managers, watch for this throughout your organization. Make sure you have a confidential communication system for all employees to contact you in the event they feel there has been sexual or any other type of harrassment.
Don't let something stupid ruin your life or business.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
What's The One Thing A Company Leader Shouldn't Do?
Of course, you could jump out of an airplane without a parachute, but you shouldn't. Or, you can try to dig a hole to the center of the earth, but not likely. This isn't what I am talking about. The one thing a business leader shouldn't do is have a bad day and let it show to everyone else in the organization.
We all have bad days, no one is immune. Whether business related or personal, once in a while, you have a day this is so upsetting that it gets to you. As a business owner or manager, though, you have the responsibility not to let that bad day take your company down too.
Maybe you publicly yell at Mary for doing something stupid, rather than taking her aside for a private thought, you then ruin every one's day who heard you. If Bill mismeasures a job, and you let the whole company know it, you drag down every one's morale.
If you know you are having a bad day, step away from the business for an hour. Go sit in your car. Get a cup of coffee. When you get your sense of calm back, go back to work.
I am not saying it is wrong to be upset at work. Often times you have to show your disappointment or frustration to an employee. But do it correctly, and be a professional. Don't drag a whole department down because you are upset with one person. And don't let this one person drag you down. You have a business to run, and if one person is hampering the team effort, take the appropriate steps.
If you are upset with your kid's report card, don't bring that to work. If you worried about losing money on a job, get the figures, understand what you have to, and go on. Being Grandpa Grumpy won't help the company pull ahead.
We all have bad days, no one is immune. Whether business related or personal, once in a while, you have a day this is so upsetting that it gets to you. As a business owner or manager, though, you have the responsibility not to let that bad day take your company down too.
Maybe you publicly yell at Mary for doing something stupid, rather than taking her aside for a private thought, you then ruin every one's day who heard you. If Bill mismeasures a job, and you let the whole company know it, you drag down every one's morale.
If you know you are having a bad day, step away from the business for an hour. Go sit in your car. Get a cup of coffee. When you get your sense of calm back, go back to work.
I am not saying it is wrong to be upset at work. Often times you have to show your disappointment or frustration to an employee. But do it correctly, and be a professional. Don't drag a whole department down because you are upset with one person. And don't let this one person drag you down. You have a business to run, and if one person is hampering the team effort, take the appropriate steps.
If you are upset with your kid's report card, don't bring that to work. If you worried about losing money on a job, get the figures, understand what you have to, and go on. Being Grandpa Grumpy won't help the company pull ahead.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What Keeps You Up At Night?
Is it cash flow? Is it getting new business? Is it a personnel quagmire? Is it a personal or family problem? Is it all of these?
I am the kind of a guy who needs a full eight hours of sleep, and usually nine. I am so jealous of people that live on four or five hours a night. They have so much more time to worry! But I do get restful sleep and don't worry about my problems. Here's a couple of tips to forget your troubles for eight hours a night. No, my blog has not changed to a medical advice chat. But we can look at ways to help clear your mind and get that problem solved.
Keep an active 'To-Do' list on your desk, your computer or IPad. Once your write a problem or an idea down on paper, ignore it until you get back to your desk. Put it out of your mind. This takes practice. Force yourself to think, "It is on my list, and I will get to it when I get to it." This really works if everyday you spend some time on your list. It may only be fifteen or twenty minutes, but you will cross items off your list.
Also, keep a pad of paper and pencil next to your bed. When you wake up at night thinking of a particular idea or problem, write it down. Don't stay up hoping to remember it for the morning. Write it down, get it out of your mind now, and look at it when you get up.
Don't let the no-sleepers rob you of energy to run the business. If you come to work dragging your backside, you will not be efficient, you won't work safely, and you'll set a lousy example for your team.
I am the kind of a guy who needs a full eight hours of sleep, and usually nine. I am so jealous of people that live on four or five hours a night. They have so much more time to worry! But I do get restful sleep and don't worry about my problems. Here's a couple of tips to forget your troubles for eight hours a night. No, my blog has not changed to a medical advice chat. But we can look at ways to help clear your mind and get that problem solved.
Keep an active 'To-Do' list on your desk, your computer or IPad. Once your write a problem or an idea down on paper, ignore it until you get back to your desk. Put it out of your mind. This takes practice. Force yourself to think, "It is on my list, and I will get to it when I get to it." This really works if everyday you spend some time on your list. It may only be fifteen or twenty minutes, but you will cross items off your list.
Also, keep a pad of paper and pencil next to your bed. When you wake up at night thinking of a particular idea or problem, write it down. Don't stay up hoping to remember it for the morning. Write it down, get it out of your mind now, and look at it when you get up.
- Now that you have a to-do list with, let's say, thirty items, let's rate them as easy-to-do, a pain-in-the-neck, or a no-sleeper.
- Knock off the easy ones ASAP. Let's say you have fifteen left, of which five are the no-sleepers.
- Keep telling yourself it is on your list and you will get to it when you get to it. Take one of the five and invest time and energy to solve it. If you can't solve it, (and there will be ones you can't solve...accept it) move on.
Don't let the no-sleepers rob you of energy to run the business. If you come to work dragging your backside, you will not be efficient, you won't work safely, and you'll set a lousy example for your team.
Monday, May 23, 2011
What Do You Do With Your "D" List Customers
We all have them. We may not want them as they cost us more than they make us. The take up more time than we can afford to give. They give grief without allowing us to make a fair profit. They are the "D" list customers. The bottom of your barrel. What's a company to do?
List all of your customers in an high-to-low format, based on last year's sales. Note where the top 90% of sales come from, and all customers below that line get the grade of D. If you are like most glass businesses, these D-listers call for quotes, but you never get the work, ask for samples, but you never get the order or give you work that you just can't make a buck on.
On the other hand, some D folks may actually have good potential and you should jump at the chance to bring them up your ladder. If you have 100 accounts on your computer, the top 50 will give you 90% of your business, with the bottom 50% being one-time buyers, serial quoters and very small users of your services.
Here some things you can do to improve your bottom line.
List all of your customers in an high-to-low format, based on last year's sales. Note where the top 90% of sales come from, and all customers below that line get the grade of D. If you are like most glass businesses, these D-listers call for quotes, but you never get the work, ask for samples, but you never get the order or give you work that you just can't make a buck on.
On the other hand, some D folks may actually have good potential and you should jump at the chance to bring them up your ladder. If you have 100 accounts on your computer, the top 50 will give you 90% of your business, with the bottom 50% being one-time buyers, serial quoters and very small users of your services.
Here some things you can do to improve your bottom line.
- Go over the accounts one-by-one and make a phone call to each one asking if they are still in need of your services. Ask them when their need will be, now or in the future. You'll probably find that half of your list will decline to be on your mailing or call out list.
- Next, look at the ones that do have potential. Make a personal visit with the key decision maker; make your case for them to include you in their buying program. Let them know you will work hard for their business. If they don't quote with you or do any business in the next 120 days, give them one more phone call. If this still doesn't pan out, check to see if you are speaking with the correct decision maker. It is fairly common that multiple people at firms will ask for quotes or place orders, and you need to get someone else's attention. If you still strike out, delete from your list.
- With the ones still left, if they quote you a couple of times and you don't get any orders, politely refuse their quote request the next time around, explaining that you don't have the time to be used as a quoting source just to get your numbers bounced around. Be firm, but polite. You may gain their respect, but if not, you have lost nothing.
- When you get repeated requests for samples with no follow-up orders, explain that in the future samples will be charged for. Give them an incentive to order from you. If you charge $50 for samples, give them a $100 rebate on the order. This will get attention.
- Hold an open house, and only invite the D list customers. Any that show up, you will gladly continue working with. And with no A list customers there, you will focus on the D people, which shows them you are attentive to their needs.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Do You Have Backup Lights On Your Buffalo?
Suppose you are out for a day's ride on your pet buffalo, (OK, bison), and you realize that you were supposed to turn left at the last tree and you went straight ahead. So, you put your buffalo in reverse and go back and take the turn. Now, a buffalo goes slow enough that you don't need backup lights or a beeper. And if this is at night, you shouldn't be backing up on your buffalo anyway.
The bottom line is: who the heck cares...but speaking of backups...
Last week my trusty five-year old best friend, Paul's laptop, folded its keys and went for the long sleep. No warning. It is now recycled.
And I didn't panic. even though I couldn't transfer my data to my new best friend. I had my laptop backed up to an extra hard drive and on one of the internet back up services. The on line service cost about $60 a year, which is the best insurance I ever bought.
Hey out there...every small business that doesn't have an IT person in your company, it is your job to back up your computer every day and make sure your backup is in a different location than your computer. Every day some one's business is hit by lightning, or a flash flood, or a drop from the side of your desk.
Don't wait, place an external drive on your computer (usually under $100) or search for 'online backup' on Google or Bing. Do it now. Don't wait, and don't make up any silly excuses like your buffalo ate your internet cords.
The bottom line is: who the heck cares...but speaking of backups...
Last week my trusty five-year old best friend, Paul's laptop, folded its keys and went for the long sleep. No warning. It is now recycled.
And I didn't panic. even though I couldn't transfer my data to my new best friend. I had my laptop backed up to an extra hard drive and on one of the internet back up services. The on line service cost about $60 a year, which is the best insurance I ever bought.
Hey out there...every small business that doesn't have an IT person in your company, it is your job to back up your computer every day and make sure your backup is in a different location than your computer. Every day some one's business is hit by lightning, or a flash flood, or a drop from the side of your desk.
Don't wait, place an external drive on your computer (usually under $100) or search for 'online backup' on Google or Bing. Do it now. Don't wait, and don't make up any silly excuses like your buffalo ate your internet cords.
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