computer

Your best resource

You never know just how much you rely on something until it’s gone. You know what I mean, like the time your computer crashed and all your contact information and files were suddenly inaccessible. Or the time your power went out and you couldn’t answer the phones on a business day. Or the time you had an incredibly important meeting just an hour away and the printer decided to go kaput. We’ve all been there.

Besides all these technological tools, what about the people we rely on so much? What if we didn’t have the team that makes the gears of our businesses turn? Sometimes we take these people for granted and don’t appreciate just how much they do for us and our companies. Imagine walking into work one morning and finding out each and every one of your associates was out sick. To me, that would be tough!

Joe Kiedinger

Action Plan: So, this week, observe just how well your team keeps the ball rolling. Notice how they all play an integral role in the success of the company. And then thank them for it! Our people are our very best resources!

A funny thing happened over Thanksgiving!

I hope you enjoy this story. 

 Background: Danica and I purchased a commercial building over a year ago and have our office on the second floor. The first floor has two tenants who lease from us: a restaurant and a hair salon.

 What happened: Over the Thanksgiving holiday, our salon tenant abandoned his lease obligations, took his computer, and sent a text to me saying he was done! There were two stylists still working at the salon. Danica and I immediately reached out to them, and we all met at the salon the Saturday evening of Thanksgiving weekend to discuss the situation.

 As you can imagine, these two individuals, Travis and Rossemary, were beside themselves. They were on the verge of panicking. First, their schedule was in the computer that the owner removed. Second, they didn’t know if they still had jobs! Danica and I told them we would take over the salon. We decided to rename it and create a Servant Leadership experience for all its current and future stylists as well as its current and future customers. So that’s what we’re doing. Thank goodness we own a marketing firm! In three days, we renamed it Salon Fifty Four (based partly on its address: 154 N. Broadway, Green Bay), changed the sign and got things moving.

 However, through the transition of trying to find existing clients and dealing with the phone change, we are still trying to reach out to let people know that Rossemary and Travis are still in business! I’m hoping you can help me. I would take it as a personal favor if you would be so kind as to schedule one hair cut, color and styling, keratin treatment, or eyebrow waxing or threading. You can call either Rossemary or Travis at 920-432-0601. Bring in this Wisdom and receive 20% off any treatment as a THANK YOU!

 I hope you don’t mind this plug. It literally happened so fast but I believe things happen for a reason. We’re excited about this new adventure, and I feel that we’ll be successful in our efforts at making Salon Fifty Four Green Bay’s premier location for talent and experience. Danica is loving it! What’s thrilling for me is that this is an opportunity to take our system and insert it into a hospitality business that we control. Lot’s of fun! 

Here’s to the many adventures you will experience in 2012. Remember, with every situation there is an opportunity. Seize them!

 Joe Kiedinger

 ACTION PLAN: Consider liking us on Facebook at facebook/salonfiftyfourgb

Where Have All the Sales People Gone?

Do you remember the good ol’ days when sales people would approach you as you shopped a store? You still see it in commissioned structures like car dealerships and some furniture stores. Do you remember when this commissioned structure was widely used, and how, at times, you would feel pressured by the sales force? I miss it. I mean it—I really miss it.

I was wanting to purchase a Mac Book Pro and a video camera yesterday at an unnamed retail store that thinks they’re the BEST… oopsy! In making my way through the store to the computer section, I spotted a sales associate who was working with a couple in the Mac area. The couple left for a moment, and seeing my opportunity I began asking the sales associate some simple questions to verify that this was the model I wanted. The couple then came back and the sales associate pushed me off to nobody. All I wanted was for him to get me the computer so I could leave. I knew what I wanted.

I looked around the store and all five sales people that I could see were with customers (this was probably a 70,000-square-foot store). I felt abandoned and alone. I finally cornered a guy who told me he knew nothing about cameras and a little about computers. “I’ll take it!” I thought. I grabbed what I thought I needed, and left!  I hated it.

Like most things, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. The great thing about commissioned sales people is that they’re motivated to cross-train themselves on multiple products and departments. The more they know, the more they sell, the more they make.

When Danica and I went to Sears about a year ago to buy a flat screen TV and a refrigerator, the sales team knew their stuff. It was refreshing to be treated like we were important. Yes, indeed, I miss commissioned sales people. From now on, I’m going where professional sales people are making money based on what they know and how they treat me.

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: What messages are your associates sending that you may not be aware of?