My Morning WalkNew day, uninterrupted thoughts

Who hasn’t seen “A Christmas Story”? It’s a classic that gets watched in our house every holiday season. So many humorous situations keep families rolling with laughter even when they’ve seen the movie 50 times. Who can forget the one where Ralphie, after checking the mailbox every day for about two weeks, FINALLY gets his Secret Society Decoder Pen. He slams the mailbox closed and runs into the house, full of anticipation of the message revealed by his secret pen. He feels like a CIA agent, the Agent Cody Banks of the last generation. Is he ever pumped!

Ralphie runs upstairs to the bathroom, locks the door and rips open the package. There’s the pen and the secret code. He gets to work. Meanwhile his little brother is knocking on the door. Nature’s calling, but Ralphie keeps plugging away at that message, oblivious to his brother’s dilemma. The pounding gets louder in the scene, both from the door and Ralphie’s racing heart. What does this message say? Whatever it is will change the world, he knows it! Keep going, push through and figure it out, for humanity’s sake! Finally the message is revealed: Remember what it was? DRINK MORE OVALTINE. Even better was Ralphie’s response: “Son of a B****!!!” After all of that buildup came a tremendous letdown.

Fast forward about 50 years from the setting of the movie. Last night my wife discovered a QR code on the newspaper, so she grabbed her Android and I my Blackberry, each one equipped with code readers. Kind of a “quick draw” competition if you will. We each pointed and shot the code, then waited for the phones to decode the message, like we were using Ralphie’s decoder pen. Within 30 seconds the message was revealed: It said: “Here’s the Deal”…It was a site that directed us to a coupon for a restaurant we’d never heard of in a place we never go.

Therein lies the dilemma: We have all of this new technology that could be used to help people, build business, and attract and maintain attention. Or, we could put QR codes all over the place that tell us to “Drink More Ovaltine”. I think we can do better than that.

While I was outside this morning clearing snow from the insane blizzard that pummeled Iowa City and the entire Midwest last night, a fond memory passed through my head…This is EXACTLY what my dad used to do in winter. In an instant I was 10 again, and my mind raced with thoughts of him getting out of bed at 3 o’clock in the morning to start the tractor with the scoop on the front, blade on the back and tire chains on the 3-point hitch—just in case he needed them—and headed off on his 2-mile trip to Cambridge to clear parking lots and driveways.

Dad was a farmer. Although he had a ninth-grade education, he had impeccable math skills and used a paper and pencil to calculate things like harvest yields and fertiziler applications. He was the kind of man who would do anything for anyone and never ask for anything in return. In winter (the off-season), businesses would pay him for clearing snow from their parking lots, and most people would pay him for clearing snow from their driveways, but never more than they could afford…he insisted (and you didn’t argue.) As a 10-year-old it was pretty cool to see dad come home at 8 p.m. after 16 hours in a tractor with a pocket full of tens and twenties. It’s taken me a long time to realize that it wasn’t all about the money for dad. I think that, even though he got paid, it was more about being able to help others and bail them out of a tough situation (deep snow with only a shovel to move it) that drove him.

Dad led by example, and the thought of him jumped into my head at 7 a.m. today. As I was running my snowblower, clearing the driveways for my neighbors, I remembered dad in that tractor. Perhaps that’s why I felt such joy when I looked at the “you’ve got to be kidding me” expressions of the people who didn’t have to shovel 16 inches of snow by hand. He died 11 years ago Friday…February 4th, 2000. Even though he’s no longer here, his example will live forever in my memory. Thank you, dad, for all you did for me and others. I’ll always love you.

Thank you, Mark Zuckerberg, for Facebook. What a concept. Finally now we can get through the multiple personalities dilemma—you know the one—being one person at work, then someone totally different at home, and even someone else in social settings and networking events. The idea that started out as a way for college students to connect without leaving their dorm rooms has quickly become the glass door on closets previously filled with skeletons. Wow.

Progress can be a scary thing, but after listening to Eddie Money’s “I Wanna Go Back”: “I can’t go back…I know.” Springsteen’s “Glory Days” are in the past and today we face, or “Facebook” the future. The industrial age changed the world with the introduction of mass production, economies of scale, assembly-lines and factory workers. The primary goal was to increase profits by cutting costs and improving operational efficiencies. All well and good. Until the information age.

At that point consumers began researching what actually went into the products they were purchasing AND what the margins were on those products. Never again would an automobile dealer get a significant margin over invoice for a new car…the buyer KNEW what invoice was. KBB.com told them! Edmunds.com coached them about how to negotiate. Consumer Reports provided feedback from actual buyer experiences about the product and J.D. Power and Associates validated the dealership they were purchasing from. Only one thing was missing: The personal characteristics of the salesperson completing the transaction were relatively insignificant to the decision to purchase. Admittedly customers did relate to some reps better than others, but historically, the salespeople were not researched prior to the purchase decisions themselves. There was really no way to do that without building a long-term relationship over many years of repeat purchases…UNTIL NOW.

Welcome to the Transparency Age. Like it or not, it’s here to stay. And if you want to thrive in this environment, you’re going to have to participate in order to be trusted. Opening yourself up to the rest of the world will become the norm. Privacy is a factor, and issues with privacy have been well-documented relative to Facebook, but overall we will be influenced by others to provide information we are EXPECTED to share. Even though this is is not the final phase of this revolution (a future post will outline at least one more), it is certainly time to clean out the closets.

Just heard a radio ad promoting “60 days to social media success” and HAD to post. Although this may be possible in some markets and with some prospects, the promise of immediate gratification in social media is usually about as valid as the promise of finding a spouse in one night out at the bars. Do the organizations making these promises actually believe they have a “perfect formula” for accelerated relationship-building that will enable the client seeking answers to find them in 60 days? Sorry folks, it takes a lot longer than that to build a meaningful relationship…That IS what you’re looking for, right? If not, should it then be assumed that you don’t CARE about the people you serve or get involved with?

Who is this ad targeting? Simple: It’s a B2B ad looking for panicked business owners who suddenly realize they are behind and want to catch up with this trend by YESTERDAY. Everything is fast and easy, right? Everything except relationships.

Advertising has always been about the “easy solution”. Who has the time for anything else? Just throw out a hundred and two will stick. I’m not concerned about the two that bite and get frustrated after 6 months, not 60 days, that their plans are not working like this organization has promised. I’m concerned about the 98 who are skeptical about the opportunity that is in front of them because someone is making a traditional promise that is just too good to be true. Those 98 don’t know who to trust because they’ve been burned before. Please, 98, don’t give up. There are realistic people out there who value relationships and will treat you right. You just can’t find them in a radio ad. Look me up on Facebook. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I’ll introduce you to the same great people that have helped me develop my business over the last TWO YEARS. (The icons at the top of this page are links.)

Make it a great day.

What is an ad, really? Has anyone ever given a donation to a charity and at the same time provided their company logo? Why? Is a donation a transaction or a gift? By definition, a donation is the act of giving or bestowing. Why is credit even desired for the donation? The most logical reason is that the donor wishes to acknowledge public support of a cause. That’s really the only plausible answer. If no transaction is expected and the cause is truly believed in, what’s your point?

Prediction: Social media is going to have a huge impact on this phenomenon and it is going to significantly impact who consumers choose to trust with their livelihoods/money/friendships/decisions in the very near future. If there’s one thing social media is big on promoting it’s transparency. The internet is one giant background check. If someone provides financial support to a specific cause with the expectation of receiving a transactional financial gain from the donation, it’s a hypocritical gift…otherwise known as a bribe. Bribes are usually big news in the political world, but we either engage in them or passively observe them every day in the business world. Certainly, businesses can give “gifts” to schools and non-profit organizations and get recognized on the “donor list”. That’s acceptable IF THAT’S WHERE THE HEART IS. Skepticism should and does arise when it’s discovered that the donor has no personal interest at stake in the organization besides the transactional expectation. And if he/she doesn’t have such an interest? Sorry, folks, that’s called advertising and they’re not really supporting your cause…They’re looking for ROI.

There is a huge gray area between advertising and marketing versus charitable giving. One sets a transactional expectation and the other does not. Social media is all about giving more than you get in return. It’s built on the word-of-mouth premise that if someone does something nice for me, I want to reciprocate that act NOT WITH MONEY, but with kindness. It’s the word-of-mouth around the character that generates ROI, not the financial significance of the donation. In other words, successful businesses of the future will pay it forward.

On the doorstep last Friday sat a box which contained this book. “That’s unusual” I thought, since I didn’t order it. Inside the cover was a note from the ultimate “Linchpin”, a person whom I’ve never met who has become a tremendous mentor. Again, thank you for your generosity.

I picked up the book and started reading it this week. It’s really tough to put down because the theories are so timely and thought-provoking that the “hamsters” in my head are making the little wheel turn 100 miles-per-hour. Lisa Gansky persents a conceptual shift from an ownership mentality to a sharing mentality. Her most significant example is that of “Zipcar”, a car-sharing concept that would revolutionize the way we live in America, but she shares highlights from many other organizations as well.

This is an awesome read (so far). If you’re interested in learning more, post a comment and I’ll try to help you out.

Remember the good old days when your parents were sitting at the dining room table with the insurance guy who came knocking on the door at 6:30 pm? We were all done with dinner, mom had the dishes done and counters clean and the kids were watching TV in the living room (being seen and not heard). The visitor came in and made some small talk and then got down to business. After about an hour or so, mom and dad decided to purchase that policy the salesperson had been presenting, they all shook hands and the man was off to his next stop. (We still have that policy today, by the way.)

Oh, how times change. What is YOUR family doing at 6:30 pm in the year 2010? If you’re like my wife and I, your family isn’t sitting together at the dinner table until at least 7, if they are sitting together at all. Between dance, football, baseball, soccer, basketball, band, parent association meetings, and just breathing after work, there’s barely time to make dinner (when there are even groceries in the refrigerator!) With all that happening, what is your response to the phone ringing at 6:30? What’s your reaction to a stranger who rings the doorbell at 7:00? Times have changed, right? So why do we keep pursuing “sales” in the same way we always have?

How many million people are on do-not-solicit lists? How many million people have canceled their land-line phone service? How many million people own DVR’s? How many million people watch TV on the internet instead of network TV, cable, or dish? How many newspapers have one-half the content they had 10 years ago? How many magazines are now extinct because traditional ads they used to sell became ineffective and were essentially ignored? How many SPAM e-mails do you delete from your inbox each day because you don’t want to fill out the obnoxiously long “unsubscribe” request, even though you never knowingly subscribed in the first place?!!!! How many hundred mailers do you get in your mailbox every month? Based on the trend of increasing postage prices, there should be a time coming in the near future where such mailings are cost-prohibitive. Then what??? Do all businesses just lock the doors or do they need to find a way to help people and not sell them?

Feel free to dispute any or all of these points, but in the end, change will win. Success depends on how we adapt.

How do you go about obtaining leads from internet lead providers? Buy them every week, have them sent to your e-mail inbox, and you or your team member quote the prospects, right? Hopefully you “earn” the business because of your “johnny-on-the-spot” technique. It’s even more likely if you impress them with your knowledge and background. Historically, that was enough to allow you to encourage the customer to be loyal enough to keep them from looking for a cheaper rate through at least ONE renewal cycle. NOT.

When you buy leads from internet vendors, can anyone confirm what happens at the 6-month or annual renewal? It’s an unconfirmed rumor that they are sent, by the lead aggregator, no matter if they are insured by your company or someone else, a REMINDER TO SHOP FOR RATES. So, let’s say you insure a customer with company X. They may be getting a REMINDER to shop rates not only at Companies A,B, C, and D, but also with your Company X, and the representative with Company X may NOT be from YOUR OFFICE.

How do companies overcome this potentially devastating breakdown in loyalty perpetuated by lead aggregators? Build loyalty through relationships BEFORE they can be destroyed by reminders to start shopping again.

When do advantages perceived as “unfair” become classified as “Karma”?  For some, manipulating the system can be a function of daily living.  Looking for loopholes in the tax and legal systems, gray areas in the rule book, or duplicate credits in the promotions handbook are all ways to get ahead, but at what cost? 

Eventually, these perceived advantages will get exposed…then what happens?

Maybe the quiet “worker bees” will get their shot.  Maybe the people flying “under the radar” will suddenly appear in the center of the target.  Or maybe, just maybe, the underdogs will come out on top.  Life’s a big game with a lot of rules, but if you play the game correctly, everyone’s a winner.  Isn’t that how it should be?

Reading some comments posted this week on various social media sites, then seeing the recent proposal by the postal service to increase rates again leads me to this question:  “When are businesses going to ‘get it’?” 

What happens when MOST people get irrelevant, impersonal mail?  It goes in the trash without being opened, at least in my house.  Let’s then say that stamps get to fifty cents.  There’s a nice, round number.  Fifty-cent pieces are nice, round coins. 

Imagine walking down the sidewalk and noticing a penny on the ground…Do we bend over to pick it up these days?  My kids would, but honestly, I’d walk right by.  How about a quarter?  Now THAT gets my attention.  A quarter is one-fifth the value of a soda at the local convenience store…It’s the equivalent of a 20% discount!   So, what if there was a fifty-cent piece on the ground?  Goes without saying, right?  Not sure about you, but I’m DIVING for that sucker!

At what point does a stamp become a liability?  At what point are businesses forced into alternative methods of connecting to customers and prospects?  And at what point are businesses going to tailor timely, relevant messages to specific groups of people instead of sending the same mass mail message to everyone without regard for their interests?   

While you walk around pondering those thoughts, can I follow you and pick up all those 50-cent pieces you’re throwing on the ground?