I am investing time today to complete all of my follow-up messages. Last week I was at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville, TN. A major trade show. I returned with a envelope filled with business cards and scraps of paper with scribbled notes.

Today, I am committed to entering each new contact into my database. I will also write notes to follow up on each conversation or lead. Finally, I will review all of my notes and handouts and properly file them for future reference or action.

I have “marked myself out” of the office for today. It is really a good idea – extend your convention by one extra day. Devote that time to decompress and to debrief what just took place.

When you consider all of the time, money and resources that you put into planning for and attending a major business event, this make a lot of sense.

What good is the convention unless you actually follow up on the opportunities that you created during the show?

What are your thoughts on this topic? Please take a few minutes to share your comments below.

I’ll post some further thoughts on this tomorrow morning.

I got that call yesterday. Actually, I got 5 or 6 frantic calls yesterday. As soon as my plane landed in Boston, my cell phone rang and rang. The unexpected had happened. They wanted to know if I could respond?

“Yes,” I said, “I will. I am prepared.”

Unfortunately, the keynote speaker for this conference had a sudden death in the family. Of course he left town immediately. Wouldn’t you? I would have.

So… I will deliver the keynote today. I am confident that it will be successful. I am always prepared. I am always ready.

I’ll let you know more tomorrow….

He was in a nostalgic mood and decided to “Google my name” to see what came up. Lo and behold, he found my website and sent me an email. I’ll bet that it has been over 40 years since we last spoke. This is a photo of our combo, “The Variations,” playing an 8th grade dance for my elementary school back in 1964. That is me on the (amplified) Accordion! Jimmy on Sax and Rick on Drums. Seersucker sports coats and blue pants complete the costume! Unbelievable!

Our group broke up during my Junior year in High School and that was the last that I ever heard from any of the guys until Bob sent me his email last night. I went searching through my archives to find a photo – here it is – VINTAGE!

We used to rehearse in the basement at my parent’s house. We usually played one or two gigs each weekend – everything from a Bowling Banquet to a Wedding Reception. My dad would transport us to th job in his Plumer’s truck.

I later “upgraded” to a Farfisa (portable) organ with a Leslie Speaker. Still – we never had a Bass Player. Either we were “too cheap” to split the pot 5 ways or I was that good at adding the necessary bass lines – I doubt that!

We played “cover versions” of the hits of The Beach Boys, the groups from The English Invasion – Dave Clark 5, etc. The showstopper in those days was “Wipeout!” So 60’s. So much fun! Such great memories!

Bob writes to tell me that he is still playing – down at the Jersey Shore and at over 1,000 weddings. Way to go!

Hey maybe we should reunite and enter into another “Battle of the Bands” contest. I remember that we got 2nd prize in one of them back in Philadelphia, PA- at the (long defunct) Lit Brothers Department Store. I remember that our prizes were a box of chocolates – 1 box for each. I remember giving my chocolates to my mother. It was “Mother’s Day” that weekend – How convenient!

Do any of you have similar memories? Anyone still playing in a group? “Wanna Play?”

Share your stories with our readers. add your comments below.

- Frank A. Clark

Acutally, I think that we grow as a result of both agreement and disagreement.

Recently, I was training a group to develop their coaching and mentoring skills. At the end of the day, we asked each participant to share their “take-aways” with the group. Quite a few expressed relief that the techniques they learned during the session reinforced what they were already doing. They needed the comfort of confirmation. Their self-confidence grew. They will continue to gain skills and grow – to the extent that they resist staying comfortable.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” - John Wooden

It is natural to seek agreement. It is unnatural – for most of us – to seek out a different point of view. The opposing argument. The other side of the coin. We fear the unknown. We resist change.

The problem comes when we seem to reach agreement too quickly. Have we looked at all of the possibilities? When we are too eager to see things turn out right, have we overlooked what could go wrong?

“When there are two people in a business who always agree, one of them is unnecessary.” – William Wrigley, Jr.

I enjoy participating in trade association meetings. I get to satisfy my need to be around people who share a common goal. My core beliefs. But I also enjoy the opportunity to grow as a result of “managed conflict.” Seminars and conversations that challenge my point of view. My perceptions. My comfort level. That is how I learn. It’s how I evolve.

“Difference of opinion leads to enquiry, and enquiry to the truth.” – Thomas Jefferson

In my experience, the companies that fail to evolve – to manage the growth of their business – are those that do not seek out opposing points of view. They don’t challenge themselves. But they like to complain.  They are not interested in exploring other approaches to their business They yearn for a return to the way things used to be. The good old days. And they are usually absent from association meetings.

“Conversation means being able to disagree and still continue the discussion.” – Dwight MacDonald

It’s great to seek out comfort. Enjoy it. But don’t cocoon. If you are interested in growth – personal or professional – seek out opportunities for disagreement. Join a sharing group, seek out networking opportunities, participate in your industry association meetings. Find a comfortable place to disagree.

“The reward for always listening when you’d rather be talking is wisdom.” – Anonymous 

- George Bernard Shaw

I’ll be speaking at a few trade shows and educational association meetings in the next few weeks. As I prepare my presentations and remarks, I have been thinking about the value of associations, sharing groups and networking.

The real value – for me – in attending a trade show is not to look for potential customers (if I am a manufacturer or a service provider.) And it is not to look to deals or to pick up a new line of goods (if I am a retailer.) No, no no.

That is exchanging one apple for another apple (as in my opening quote from G.B. Shaw) Goods and services change hands every day. I sell you something in exchange for your payment. That is a transaction. Neither of us was enriched.

Yes, the manufacturer received money in exchange for his goods; so his or her banking balance was temporarily increased. But soon enough, they will be depleting the account to pay for materials to manufacture additional goods to be sold.

Ah – but the exchange of ideas. That is a different story. A story that I am preparing to tell during my speeches and presentations.

If I pick up – and implement – just one idea from the trade show, I have found a wonderful opportunity to enhance my business. To grow my business. To maximize my opportunities. I am enriched.

Sometimes, I get an idea from a business partner; sometimes from a speech or a presentation. But I find that the best ideas usually come from a peer. Something that has worked for them. Something that I can adapt to fit my situation.

And, of course, I feel obligated to return the favor. To share an idea that has worked for me. This is the Law of Reciprocity. Now we are both enriched. I still have my original idea and have picked up at least one more.

The market place is expanded. This is the Law of Abundance. (from Brian Tracy’s Blog.)

Look for ideas – they are every where.

I also have found that the more ideas that I share with others, the more ideas I get back in return!

- Turkish proverb

Here is another “take-away” from the professional association conference that I attended last week in Tucson, AZ. Several of the sessions were devoted to establishing and maintaining your “Corporate Culture.” In the world of music products retailing, no one does this better than George Hines, the President of George’s Music – an eleven-store chain with locations in both Pennsylvania and Florida. George presented a session titled, “Company Culture & Success in an Ever-Changing Industry.”

George and his managers put an extraordinary amount of effort into the process of hiring each employee. The end-results are that George’s Music has probably the lowest staff-turnover ration in the industry and each of their customers receives exceptional fine service. George is constantly training, monitoring and coaching his staff to achieve the highest levels of sales and service possible.

One of my “take-aways” from this session was the way George’s Music celebrates their newest associates:

1) Two weeks before their first day of work, George Hines personally writes and addresses a “Welcome to George’s Music” greeting card. It is send to the new associates home address – before they even start working at George’s!

2) On their first day at work, each new associate is give a cake and a welcoming lunch – complete with introductions. George, humorously said, “Why wait until their last day working for me to give them a cake? By then, it is too late for both the employer and the employee!”

3) Similar to the “Welcome to George’s Music” card, each associate receives a hand-written card – at their home – on each anniversary date of their employment.

There are many other systems and processes that George’s staff employ to ensure a strong “corporate culture.” There is no question that paying careful attention to the care and development of each associate means that each customer who visits George’s stores or website feels special – and they are more likely to become lifetime customers and an excellent source of referrals.

Investing time and energy in the “recruitment and retention” of your employees pays a huge long-term benefit to any company – of any size. Let’s reflect on George’s comment that waiting to give a celebration cake on an employees’ last day at work is “wrong-term” thinking! The same is true of the “employee exit interview.” Shouldn’t you take the time to find out what is going on with your associates while they are working for you? Yes, you can pick up valuable information from a candid employee’s “exit interview.” But … by then it is too late – it is reactive. Perhaps you wanted to retain them, and now they are going to work for your competitor!

So… why not start to hold “retention interviews” with your staff. No, not those dreaded annual staff review meetings – they are far too stressful. Try this instead:

1) At three-year or five-year anniversary dates, ask your associates what rewards and benefits have inspired them to remain working for you. Conversely, you might ask them about anything that might have tempted them to quit or look for other employment.

2) You will notice that the longer each associate remains with your firm, their needs and wants – their “motivators’ will change – actually they will evolve. Make sure that you also evolve. This may be the time to move this associate to a more rewarding position in your company – perhaps they can become a mentor to other associates. This is a great way to grow your “corporate culture!”

Several time during the conference, presenters mentioned Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines. Here are Herb’s “colorful” comments on Company Culture:

Herb and George are both correct: Your competitors can never copy your company culture. That is your key to achieving a competitive edge. Start establishing yours today. Continue to invest in your associates. Teach them, grow them and empower them. You will receive many long-term returns on your investment.

- Sharon Jordan-Evans, Executive Coach

One of the themes at the conference I attended last week was “The Engaged Employee.” Jackie Freiberg, co-author of the business book best-seller “Guts!,” was the keynote speaker. She taught us how to “Blow the Doors Off Service-as-Usual.” The essence of the talk was that you will never be able to provide extraordinary service to your “external” customers (the ones whose business allows you to pay the bills) until you start to grow, teach and empower your “internal” customers (the ones who do the work.)

Employers who are unable or unwilling to “grow, teach and empower” their employees can not remain competitive in the marketplace. Both customers and your workforce demand that you do so. It is expected. They must be “engaged” with you and your business. Otherwise …, as the opening quote states, “(they) will go someplace else.”

Customers expect to be “WOW-ed” when they enter your store or sample your services. That is the standard. Nothing less will do. If you do not provide this level of service – actually, an experience – “(they) will go someplace else.”

Do you “WOW” your customers? Every time? Have you grown, taught and empowered your staff to “WOW” your customers? What is the “experience” that both your employees and your customers feel when they enter your place of business?

Jackie Frieberg’s keynote address to the National Association of School Music Dealers (NASMD) reflected the results of the Gallup Organization’s Q12 survey. This is a 12-question assessment of employee “engagement” levels. (Click here for a short article on the Q12 survey.) The results of more than 3 million employee responses show that:

29% of the U.S. workforce is “engaged” – they perform at consistently high levels.

55% of the U.S. workforce is “not engaged” – they are neither positive nor negative towards their work.

16% of the U.S. workforce is “actively disengaged” – they actually undermine what “engaged” employees accomplish.

These are startling numbers! I will address the impact of these results in greater detail in another post. However, how can any business even contemplate “WOW-ing” their customers if only 30% of their staff are “engaged” in their work, their mission and their purpose – to create and retain customers?

Unfortunately, more times than not, the reason that most employees “check out” both literally and figuratively from their workplace is – their boss, their manager, the business owner. Bad bosses are not merely a nuisance, they are a lethal weapon.

First, they drive off their “engaged” workers because they either refuse to or are unable to “grow, teach and empower” their staff.

And then, their customers leave – or never come inside – because the business does not “WOW” them.

The service and products are merely ordinary. Why? Because the “engaged” workers have already left – they now work for a competitor! A competitor who was committed to growing, teaching and empowering them – creating a “fully engaged” workforce – and creating lots of customers as well.

As you know, I strongly encourage all of my clients and colleagues to become active in a professional association. I believe that it makes the difference for any individual who is interested in building a career instead of just holding a series of jobs. Professional associations are also vital to the success of any business. I always enjoy witnessing the friendships renewed and initiated during the social and networking events at an association meeting.

This is especially important for managers. Building a support system of colleagues who work in your industry – who share many of the same problems and frustrations that you do – is a key to your success. In my experience, I have seen managers who had been close to total burnout suddenly revive – once they had the opportunity to share information with, learn from their peers who work at similar stores around the country.

For me, the week was wonderful! I had so many opportunities to meet with my friends in the music industry. I enjoy attending educational sessions with my peers and then sharing our opinions and learning opportunities with each other. This year’s sessions were very well planned. I especially appreciate the time and effort that each “outside” speaker devoted to learning the problems and intricacies of the school music dealers. The speakers offered specific suggestions (as opposed to general concepts) that each audience member could put to work in their business right away.

It really is amazing how much energy I expend at an association meeting. The days start early and I tend to go non-stop until I return to my room late at night. I operate at a high level of engagement during the meetings. There is so much information to absorb and process each day.

I will be sharing some of this information with you in the next few weeks. It was important for me to step away for a few days – and to really work on making my business better. I will start applying some of what I learned – now!

- Seth Godin

It is difficult to be brief. Try it! State your opinion in a few words as possible. How do you explain your business or service to a total stranger in just a few words – words that the stranger can easily understand? It is a tough task, isn’t it? And yet, increasingly that is what we have to do to retain current customers and to attract new ones. To be noticed – to stand out from the crowd – to move people to take action we must master the art of brevity.

One of the best business summaries I know came from Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon Cosmetics. He said:

“In the factory we make cosmetics, in the store we sell hope.”

Brilliant! All in twelve words. And they are the “right words” because they work. The listener can clearly understand the process and visualize the outcome. The outcome for each customer will be unique because each will define “hope” in their own way.

Will that “hope” renew, revitalize, rejuvenate, restore, rekindle or reinvent? Each customer will choose one or more of these answers – and probably one or more of Revlon’s cosmetics. Being brief, concise and “on-target” has a real payoff.

A few days ago, I wrote an article titled, “The Long and the Short of It.” I commented on the enjoyment and benefit I got from a new book by Dr. Frank Luntz – “Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear.” Buy this book! Put it’s principles into practice. Reap the rewards! “Renew, revitalize, rejuvenate, rekindle, reinvent” is one of Luntz’s “Twenty-one words and phrases for the Twenty-first Century.” They work.

How am I planning to put this principle into practice? Follow this scenario:

1) My consulting practice has been open for less than a year. I am looking for new clients. More precisely, I am looking at companies whose employees have known me for most of the thirty years I have worked in the music products industry. But how are they looking at me?

2) Problem: They do not really know how my services can help them. Solution: I have to able to get their attention and motivate them to “take the next step” to learning how my services can benefit their business. And … I have to do this in thirty seconds or less!

3) Fortunately, I have help! I am trying to master the principles that Milo O. Frank expressed in his 1986 business book classic, “How to Get Your Point Across in Thirty Seconds or Less.”

4) I just registered to attend a conference later this month where I will have a chance to network with many of my potential clients. Now the real work starts. And it starts by getting a list of the registered attendees and planning my approach to each one. I can’t choose a “one-size-fits all” approach – that will not work. Why not? Because Milo O. Frank showed my why it will not work in his book – and many other marketing and communications experts confirm that this approach is ineffective.

5) I must study each potential client – as an individual business with their unique challenges. I must discover what those challenges are; why they exist and what I might suggest as the remedy. I must write out an “elevator pitch” for each potential client. I must become totally familiar with the individuals who will attend this conference. Before the conference starts, I need to get my company’s name into the consciences. I must be “visible and valuable.” I’ll send each one an email or a postcard telling them that I am looking forward to seeing them at the conference.

6) The rest is up to me – how well I execute my plan. How well I can state my case in thirty seconds or less. How close I can come to stating my position in eight words or less. How effective I can be at getting and maintaining their interest. My goal, when delivering my “elevator pitch,” is not to get a contract; not to close the sale. No, no, no. It is simply to get their attention and get them to take the next step – agree to let me contact them with more details, set up a time to meet, etc.

WOW! That’s a lot of work. Hours of preparation will go into making a thirty second presentation. But it will be worth it. I have confidence that my plan will pay off – that I will convince a number of potential clients to take the next step. That I will be one-step close to gaining new clients.

I’ve tried to make this post personal.. All communications need to be personal. I think that you can visualize your own situation here. Try to adapt and follow my action plan – whether you are asking your boss for a raise or a promotion; planning an advertising campaign; giving a speech.. The basic principles are the same:

Set your goal; determine what you can do for or offer your client; understand the best way to communicate to each individual client; organize your “pitch” so that your client can easily understand you; develop a “hook” to grab their attention; make a connection; take the next step.

Easy to say – difficult to do. But if were easy, then … (you fill in the answer!)

- Oliver Goldsmith

Many years ago, I heard one of my mentors say something similar:  “Teachers teach as they were taught.”  We are all the result of the sum of our experience.  If our life / business experiences have been narrow or limited in scope, then, predictably, that is how we will lead, sell, conduct meetings, communicate, etc.  If you – as the employer or manager – are not getting the desired results from your staff despite your best efforts, then I have a suggestion for you:

Invest in your employees.  Broaden their experiences.  Expose them to good role models.  Bring in some qualified outside training programs.  Send your employees to professional association meetings – you'd be surprised how many are close to home.  Set up a book club / discussion group.  In short, try different approaches until you find something that starts to work.  Just do not continue with the “same old, same old” systems and expect different results – that is the definition of “insanity!”

At many of the association meetings that I attend, we often hear, “If you bring back just one idea from this conference and implement it in your store, you have more than covered the costs of this trip.”  How true.  Of course, getting the one idea is the easy part.  Actually implementing it in your store requires real work – dedication and leadership.

One tip that I have been using with success this year:   I delay my first day back to office work.  That means that if I fly home from a conference on Sunday, I act as though I am still at the conference on Monday.  I use that day to “wrap up” the ideas that I gained at the conference.  I enter new contacts into my database, I write notes and send emails to the people that I met at the conference.  I set up my action plan for actually implementing the ideas that I want to put to work.

On my first day (physically) back from the conference, I completely resist the temptation to:

1) Open the mail that accumulated during my time away at the conference.

2) Respond to any message or email that is not time-sensitive.

3) Get back into “office mode.”

This small change has helped me to start to achieve much more – the real reason that I wanted to go to the conference in the first place.  I recommend that you take some small amount of time (maybe it is only a few hours) to finish up what you started at the conference before throwing yourself back into the “day-to-day” routines.  An added benefit – it gives your staff some extra time to actually make decisions on their own.

Make your return to work special – set up a time to share the ideas and information that you gathered at the conference with your staff.  Try, as much as possible, to have them “feel what it was like” at the conference - share pictures, autographs, etc.  Make it special.  This is especially important if you sent some of your employees to a conference or training session – have them share what the y learned or experienced with you and the rest of the staff. 

Turn your business into a seat of continuous learning.  Set up the models that you want your staff to emulate or be inspired by.  And don't forget to include yourself – everyone can benefit from a “kick in the pants” now and then!

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