With the cutbacks in sales staff, those remaining are working additional hours and should certainly feel the pressure to making sales. Consequently there are a lot of worried and tired folks out there. Our first stop was a kiosk at Quincy Market. The owner, sitting on a stool, never made an attempt to acknowledge our presence. When my wife finally went over it was as if the owner was “doing us a favor” to wait on us. After a few minutes of conversation she seemed to perk up and as my wife engaged her in further dialogue the owner became more animated and actually became interested in what was being said. The result was she made a sale, but how many others would have simply walked away? How many of you would you have tolerated her attitude? Were it not for my wife, I would have walked within seconds.

Entering several other shops we were met with less than enthusiastic greetings, if any at all. The clerks looked like “deer in the headlights.” The lackluster greeting of “may I help you” was matched with our “no thanks, just looking.” In a boutique department store we watched a manufacturer’s rep. sharing product knowledge with the associates who, it was obvious, were not that interested.

Even in a top-of-the-line department store we experienced a mixture of “don’t bother me” or “do I have to leave the group I am chatting with” body language. Eventually we did find several energetic sales associates and made a couple of small purchases. Our interest (and our spending) picked up when we were engaged with those showing a genuine caring attitude.

It makes no difference if you are an individual proprietor or the manager of a large department store because employees who deal with your client’s day in and day out are representing you. The challenge for all retailers is to meet or exceed a customer’s expectations. Ken Blanchard, in his book “Raving Fans,” hits the nail on the head with his rules for creating exceptional and loyal customers. I recommend it highly. Click here for my “Recommended Reading” link.

I’d love to hear your customer service stories. With your permission I’ll publish them on this site and let them be a lesson to all. Take a moment to write me your favorites;

Best,

Coach Katz

Remember you are in business to market your products and services but you are NOT in the business of financing your customers. If you have an outstanding bank loan and are paying interest while your accounts receivables are 60, 90 days or older, you are in reality financing your customers’ business; paying unnecessary interest while (in the majority of the cases) your clients are paying you none.

Consider some of these concepts to increase cash flow from overdue accounts:

* Take credit cards to reduce the number of outstanding accounts. Switch balances from old outstanding accounts to credit cards.

* Eliminate adding any new accounts by taking only credit cards. Credit card fees are less than “carrying an account.”

* Establish a formal collection process.

* Make sure all statements are going out on time and the same time each month.

* If a 30 account is not paid in 45 days call the customer and ask them “when can I expect a check?” Even a partial payment is better than nothing.

* It may be necessary to set up a payment schedule that will bring in cash from each owing customer each month. Train the customer to pay something monthly. The longer a customer delays payments the harder it is to collect.

* If there has been no payment in 60 days repeat the process. There is a tendency for many to remain in “denial” or simply not believe you are serious about payments.

* If no payment has been received or payment arrangements made within 75 days, write a letter that the account will be turned over for collection. Send the letter FEDEX, UPS or certified mail. This will add to the urgency.

* After 90 days turn the account over to a collection agency and let them take it from there. Typical fees are 50% but at least you may still get something.

The old adage, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, applies here. Take action now. Don’t put off the collection process. It works!

Unfortunately this encounter takes place far too often. Why? College is safe from the real world and breeds procrastination when it comes to planning a career. Years ago, I remember having the same uncomfortable thoughts and have devoted a great deal of my life working with students in career planning and helping them overcome their fear of “life after college.”

Most of us know what we do NOT want as a career. Professionals such as lawyers, accountants, doctors, etc. have a direction and follow a curriculum that supports those careers. But what about the business major or liberal arts major?

Here are some ideas to get you started in planning your career choices.

1. List on paper your likes and dislikes regarding career choices.
2. Place the positive choices in priority
3. Research the opportunities in these fields
4. Locate a mentor to support your efforts
5. Create a resume that “separates you from the pack”
6. Learn the techniques of networking and creating “centers of influences”
7. And most of all don’t procrastinate!

These steps, if done diligently, will focus you and should create a proactive attitude for this most important step in your life. If you want some help give me a call. I’ve had lots of success in helping young folks bridge the gap between the college dorm and the business world. Its six months until graduation and the odds of securing a job are NOT in your favor in our current economic downturn.

I want to thank all my clients and referral networks for giving me the opportunity to be selected. You can read the story by clicking on the link

For all of you connected in any way with The Citadel you can rest assured that the institution is in very capable hands and is turning out fine young leaders who will shape our world tomorrow. The traditions of the Honor Court, the leadership lab (life in the barracks) and the striving for excellence are being well maintained. The long grey line continues to grow strong, continuing the life cycle beginning with the student/leader maturing into business, professional, the arts and military positions all over the globe.

I wear the ring and am so very proud to say I do.

Use a sandwich!  Not literally, but think of a sandwich as a concept.  First, give the associate some positive feedback, then “sandwich the corrective criticism” in the middle and finish with a motivating comment about how you will work with the individual to improve their performance.  The individual should feel as if they have been “fed” encouragement and will respond accordingly.

Now compare these answers to your business.  Do you have a business plan?  A business plan is the map for planning your future.  Without it, anything you do is okay for there is neither plan nor accountability to keep you on course.  Your dashboard in your car tells you when to fill up your tank, check your oil or service your engine.  The dashboard in your business is your budget.  Do you have one?  How do you know what your cash flow requirements are?  Do you have too much or too little inventory? Are the expenses being managed successfully?

A business plan (okay, map) and a budget (okay, dashboard) are two of the most basic fundamentals of any business.  Don’t the dollars from the business pay for the vacation?

How do you listen effectively?  By using your THREE ears:

1. The first ear is to listen to what people are saying.
2. The second is to listen to what people are NOT telling you.
3. The third and most difficult one is to listen to what people want to say but are unable to express their thoughts and ideas.

We naturally hear others talking but spend too little time listening to what is being said.  Without truly listening, the words do not register and the idea or thought trying to be shared is usually lost. As one begins to improve listening skills it becomes noticeable what is not being discussed.  By listening to the discussion points it becomes more apparent as to what has been omitted from the conversation and by asking the proper questions other pertinent information becomes part of the conversation.

As one’s listening skills are sharpened, attention can be turned to what the other person is having difficulty expressing. Probing through questions helps the other person gather their thoughts and provide additional information.  There are many individuals who are better “thinking out loud” rather than to themselves. Improving the art of listening creates a win-win for all those involved and helps to eliminate “surface thinking.”  Often, the real thought or solution is hidden and needs to be discovered.

Success approaches, their firms grow and now a new element emerges—the business aspects of the practice.  New associates and partners join the firm and create communication issues.  Expectations are undefined and files are not attended to as promptly or as effectively as when the office was smaller and there were fewer people involved.

Client service begins to wane, fires must be put out, conflicts arise and a crisis environment begins taking hold of the once smooth-running machine. Morale takes a nosedive and what was once a fun place to work quickly becomes drudgery.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it’s all a matter of gaining control over the crisis environment and becoming proactive, both with the practice itself and the business elements that, in reality, protect the practice.

Think of the practice as enfolded in a cocoon of business fundamentals.  Best practices of business support the “art” being practiced.  When a practice is treated like a business, attention can be redirected.  Instead of going from crisis to crisis, clients can now be handled in the manner that was originally intended.

So how does one do this?  What is the secret? The simple answer is to utilize the basic fundamentals of business.  In my opinion, business is not hard.  It’s people who make business hard. Proper planning and effective communications (the most basic of business fundamentals) are overlooked and there goes any decent “return of the time expended.”  Fees begin to melt away due to poor or ineffective business methods.  More hours are spent to make less income.

Most practices evolve rather than being planned. As an example, two lawyers who have been friends for years decide to leave their individual law firms and open their own practice.  Each has a different specialty of law and the chemistry works between the two. All is going well.  The client base increases and now there is a need to add a paralegal and a secretary.  These individuals are hired and the partners breathe a sign of relief knowing they can direct all of their time and energy on their clients.

But here comes trouble!  The paralegal performs well and more work is “dumped” into her lap. The secretary is overwhelmed with paperwork, filing and emails and neither understands the expectations of the partners. The partners are not interested in defining anything as their time is totally booked, regardless of how productive they are. “I’ll get to it later,” is a common retort.  Additionally, the two lawyers feel they are paying good money to both of the support staff and the latter should naturally understand what is expected of them.  Soon there is a blowup caused by frustration and a lose-lose situation is created; a loss for the partners, the staff and most of all the clients.

When asked why a Position Development Plan was not created for the paralegal or the secretary, the answer is typically “I didn’t have the time.”  That is false efficiency.  If the time was taken to discuss how to do the “right things the first time” and expectations were clear, then the time taken to correct the situation would have been minimal.  A good rule of thumb: if it takes one time unit to perform a given task efficiency, then it takes four time units to correct any deficiencies. This is obviously not a productive use of time.  Remember, time is money.

In my book, “A Journey with Mac,” this situation is explained fully and I describe how to properly plan and communicate effectively to avoid repeating the same error.  The remaining fundamentals are spelled out in an easy and fun read.

Who said a professional cannot also be a successful businessperson? Don’t make your practice more complicated and frustrating by continuing to use “natural evolvement” as a business plan.  It just doesn’t work.  Learn the fundamentals to create a practice that is successful, rewarding and enjoyable.