Multichannel Magic » Leadership

Have an Authentic Happy New Year!

Debra Ellis — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:08:29 +0000

The best thing about January 1 is the opportunity to start with a clean slate and make it the best year of your life. This year has a bonus because it is the start of a new decade. Where do you want to be in ten years? Everything is changing so fast it is impossible to predict what will happen in the next decade, but one thing is certain – you don’t want to look back and say “what do I have to show for the last ten years?”

The best way to make it a great decade is to use your voice to celebrate life and encourage others. In a world of political correctness and shock jocks, authenticity and niceness is increasingly rare and much more valuable. Share your story, your ideas, and your passion with your unique perspective and a smile. Become an adventurer and try something new every month, week, or day (choose your own pace).

I intend to follow my own advice. In the weeks to come, I’ll share my adventures and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I hope that you’ll share yours, too. Why not start now? What are you planning for 2010 that you’ve never tried before?

No related posts.

If You are Remodeling Your Business, Start with the Attitude

Debra Ellis — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:36:05 +0000

McDonald’s restaurants in the Asheville, NC area are remodeling. Some buildings have been razed while others are retrofitted. During the updating process, one vital component was overlooked. Management’s attitude toward customers needs some work. A recent experience left me not “lovin’ it.”

The McDonald’s restaurant closest to my home reopened recently after remodeling. Last Saturday, my family and I decided that we would check it out. (My children were particularly interested in the playroom.)

My parents joined us on the excursion. They ordered sandwiches, fries, and senior coffees. The young man taking the order rang it up and stated the price. As my father was paying, the supervisor on duty instructed the cashier to change the order. He said that sandwiches, fries, and a drink had to be charged as a meal. The order was changed and the total was about 10% more.

When large coffee cups were placed on the tray, my mother told the cashier that they wanted small coffees. The supervisor quickly returned and said, “We will give you small cups if you want, but you are still paying the same price.” My parents kept the large cups and vowed to never return to that McDonald’s. (Note to McD’s: There are other playrooms available.)

A Trip to Dante’s Inferno

The experience reminded me of a visit to a catalog company several years ago. The President told me that their facility was limiting their growth. He wanted my recommendations as to whether they should relocate or retrofit.

The building was friendly from the outside, but when you crossed the threshold, everything changed. I must have missed the “Abandon all hope, you who enter here” sign. If I had seen it, surely I would have run.

It appeared that working at that company sucked the life out of everyone. No one smiled. Some were noticeably nervous when I asked questions. Others refused to answer without approval from the President. I had never experienced anything like that before (or since) with an initial consultation.

It turned out that the company had an excellent marketing and merchandising team. Together, they created beautiful catalogs filled with perfect items for their carefully targeted market. This strategy had propelled the catalog to approximately $10 million dollars in annual sales. Then it hit a brick wall. The growth stopped.

There were lots of contributing factors. Things like two week order turnaround, poor quality items substitutions, and a customer service department that couldn’t define “customer” or “service” with a dictionary helped. But, they weren’t the cause.

The disease that ultimately killed the company was a bad attitude. The President believed that customers, employees, and vendors existed to serve him. No one could anticipate what would cause him to erupt in anger, so everyone tiptoed around issues.

Bad attitudes destroy companies.

They are infectious, spreading rapidly throughout the organization. Your relationship with your customers is only as good as their last experience. A bad attitude undermines the best strategies, marketing, and locations. Your only option is to eliminate the bad attitude.

If you are the leader and your employees are infected, find the source and correct it. If it is environmental, change it. If it is an individual or group, terminate them. If you are an employee and your leader is infected, find a new leader. Today is a great day to update your resume.

Following the Leader Belongs on the Playground, not in the Boardroom

Debra Ellis — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:34:49 +0000

It is tempting to copy the policies and strategies of the leading companies in your industry. After all, they are at the top and seemingly set the standard for everyone else. Conventional wisdom says that failure to follow their lead is the path to corporate suicide.

Really? Let’s take a step back in history. Did Jobs and Wozniak follow IBM when they founded Apple? Which company created the model for Zappos to duplicate? If Apple and Zappos had followed existing examples, we wouldn’t have those two cool companies today. We would have cloned versions of the industry leaders or a couple of more bankruptcies to discuss.

Instead of simply mimicking the companies at the top, study them to find out why they are the leaders. (Notice that I didn’t say the best. Being a market leader doesn’t mean that you are the best. It only means that you are in the front.) Once you discover their strengths and weaknesses use the information to create your unique model. Duplicate the strengths and capitalize on the weaknesses. Throw in a little foresight and you will be on your way to capturing market share.

While you are in learning mode, study the losers in your industry. Why did they fail? More than likely, they were duplicating their competition. What void did they leave? Is there an opportunity for you? Then move along to other industries. If you approach the process with an open mind and innovative thought, you will find a wealth of ideas to grow your business.

Learning from the successes and failures of other companies is sound business practice. Innovation comes from education and thought. It leads you down a different path from following the leader and is the only way to the top.

But, you already knew that, didn’t you?

Optimism: Denial, Delusional, or Key to Success?

Debra Ellis — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:30:52 +0000

I tend to be an optimist. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have moments of “woe is me”, but most of the time, I see the silver lining instead of the storm cloud.

It is my belief that we all have a choice. We can sit around complaining about how our leaders are failing, the economy is failing, and the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

Or, we can spend our time thinking about new ways to inspire our customers, improve our business, help our neighbor, and make the world a better place. I choose the latter.

My choice generated some interesting responses last week. It started with one of my office mates. My response to his “How are you today?” on Monday was “I’m great. It is a beautiful day, I love my office, work is fun, and life is great!” His response? “Thank you, Pollyanna. Did you forget to watch the news this morning?”

No, I didn’t forget to see the news. I just refused to focus on the gloom and doom that raises ratings.

Later in the week, I received an email with words like “denial”, “delusional”, and “out of touch,” in response to an article I wrote about growing your business during tough economical times.

Downturns, recessions, and depressions come and go. What we do during them determines how quickly we move out of them and what happens when we do. I have to be optimistic because my experience has proven that it works.

When I graduated from college, the unemployment rate was 9.7%. I was a relatively new engineer (I had some summer intern experience) competing against people with 15-20 years experience who were willing to take entry level positions.

My job search ended with a position in a prominent catalog consulting firm. It wasn’t easy. I sent over a thousand resumes. While I received many rejections, most of my efforts were ignored. If I had spent my time looking at the unemployment rate and the responses (or lack of), instead of working to find a job, my life would be very different.

Less than 10 years later, catalog companies were closing at a scary rate. I took a position at a small company that was struggling to grow in an economic downturn. Three years later the company had quadrupled in size.

I would like to say that I did it by myself, but I didn’t. It was a team effort by a group of people working together to make it happen. It was my privilege to lead them.

Our first step was to be positive. We looked at what we could do instead of what we couldn’t. We did many other things, too. But, they are for another post.

The positive attitude made the difference. Without it, every thing else we did wouldn’t have been as effective. Our environment opened the door for opportunities we might have missed.

Optimism will do the same for your company. Even if your corporate attitude is currently dismal, you can turn it around. Start by eliminating “can’t” from your conversations.

Telling people not to say “can’t” won’t work. They will find creative ways to say it differently. Instead, require them to find two positive alternatives every time they say something can’t be done. You may even have to up it to five for the hardliners. I promise that it will help your business because being optimistic is the key to success.

Our current economic situation is different from previous downturns. We have a global, multichannel market filled with opportunity instead of a localized one. Start today finding new ways to grow your company.