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Seeds For Thought
Using Observation As Your Guidepost
Every business encounter you make every day gives you the opportunity to observe, evaluate and improve your own business.You're already a sort of marketing expert by virtue of your life as an active and experienced consumer. Now, all that's different is that you are a small business owner yourself. So, now, as you visit other businesses, you will become used to observing such things as the physical layout of stores, employee behavior and management strategy. What seems to be working in these businesses and where does there seem to be room for improvement? The opportunity to find new ideas doesn't stop there. Every time you pick up a newspaper or a magazine, you should take note of the advertising. Remember, it's advertising that draws people to use your product or service. What types of advertising by other companies, inside and outside of your business field, seem to be effective? Why? Look, listen and learn. Continually strive to further your self-education through observation. You want your business to stay vital and alive. You don't want your business to go stale. If you do, you'll become bored and stale. Be an observer. Look at other businesses to find what they are doing right and wrong. By constantly looking at what other companies are doing, you will be constantly challenging yourself to come up with new ideas to infuse life and interest into your own business. In the beginning of your business career, as you evaluate other businesses, observation will be a deliberate effort. But, in short order, the habit of observation will become second nature and automatic. And observation will invariably produce a wellspring of ideas which will turn into possibilities for improving your business. It is in your Action Principles -
Here is a sampling of questions that might occur to you as you observe other businesses. The Store - ExteriorIs there access to public transportation? Is the parking adequate? Is the exterior lighting sufficient? Is the type of business of this store consistent with neighboring stores? Do this store and neighboring stores draw customers to one another? Does the main store sign draw your eye to the store? Do the store windows draw you to want to enter the store? If there is landscaping, is it professional and maintained? Is the overall appearance of the store exterior pleasant? The Store - InteriorDo you feel welcomed? Is the floor plan open or cluttered? Does the merchandise seem to be attractively displayed? Are the shelves well stocked? Are items properly sized and priced? Does the store stock a wide variety/selection of merchandise? Do signs easily direct you to different departments? Does the lighting seem adequate? Is pleasant background music playing? Are the fitting rooms adequate? Are the restrooms adequate? Does all the space in the store seem to be well utilized? Are the sales associates appropriately dressed, pleasant and attentive? The AdsIs the ad in the correct section to draw the right consumers? Does the ad have eye appeal? Why? Does the ad have good placement within the publication and on the page? How effective is the size of the ad in delivering the advertiser's message? Do the copy and graphics deliver the advertiser's message? Is there a call to action in the copy? Which ads have shown their effectiveness by their tenure in the publication? The ExtrasIs the packaging used attractive? Is the company's name effectively advertised on the packaging? Is the company's Internet address (URL) on all packaging? Does the company have a liberal return policy? Is the manager accessible to hear complaints? Are employee and/or customer suggestions encouraged? Does the company's "Sale and Promotion" seem to be effective? Does the company try to make their products easy to buy by accepting personal checks, credit cards, lay-a-ways or on-line ordering? Is service offered immediately after the purchase by providing, for example, a loading dock, assistance with putting packages in customer's cars or some type of delivery service? Are on-site repairs offered? Are loaners offered? Are service contracts offered? Does anyone contact the customer after the sale to gauge their satisfaction? Does the company offer a gift mailing service? Does the company offer gift wrapping and is the wrapping complimentary or a profit item? Does the company encourage the purchase of gift certificates? The EmployeesAre you greeted with a hello when you enter the store? Are you thanked following a purchase? Are the employees attractively and appropriately dressed? Do employees seem preoccupied or anxious to help? Is an apology made for waiting if you've had to wait? Do the employees appear knowledgeable about what they are selling? Do employees make an effort to increase sales for the company by offering complimentary items: dessert with a meal or socks with shoes or a printer with a computer? The Lopez Goff Gallery
At thirty-one, Ana Lopez is the membership secretary for the city's art museum. Her job entails membership services, including: writing a monthly newsletter informing members of coming events at the museum; running opening night wine and cheese receptions for members; handling members' requests and problems, and recruiting members. She also handles online membership requests.The bottom line is that Ana is expected to keep members happy and if the members are happy, then museum management can expect minimal resistance to fund raising activities. Every job at the museum and the museum itself depends on the funds, which must be constantly collected. Ana is a promoter. Her job is to get members excited about museum activities so that when it comes time to ask for donations, the wallets open. Here is the basic pitch. Give us money to support our charitable good works. Take your tax deductions. Attend a black tie "Evening With The Stars" where you are sure to be seen by, and have an opportunity to associate with, the right people, the "in" people, the power of the city. And, at the gala, you just might make the gossip columns. This is the business side of the non-profit arts organization. Ana is a pragmatist. Ana has always had her eyes and ears open to the real world. The museum needs money. The museum gets money through grants, endowments, gifts, galas, the gift shop, and the restaurant. Ana understands her role in the process. She likes the job and feels lucky to have it. Few Fine Arts college graduates are able to find a job and actually make a living in the Fine Arts. Ana's job is not particularly demanding. It is almost boring. However, one of the fun parts is frequently interacting with some of the city's highest-ranking movers, shakers, and fakers. She works in a place she loves, the museum, a repository of centuries of creative genius. Not bad, so what's the problem? The problem is with Ana. She had always thought that getting a job at the museum would be her dream career. However, now after seven years she's getting restless. The tedium is outweighing the glamour. And, the pay is low and with the constant call for budgetary belt tightening, a nice raise is not on the horizon. Well, since most of Ana's young artists suffer in silence, so has she. But, now that she's pushing age 30, the time has come to move ahead but, to where and how? At her museum, and really at most museums, the opportunities for advancement are limited. Could she become a curator or museum director? Perhaps. In twenty years, with much more schooling, much more financial sacrifice, many more contacts, and a tremendous amount of quiet subservience and luck, perhaps she might be offered a middle management museum position. Perhaps, in thirty years, she might make it to the top. Who wants to live on "mights" and "maybes"? Ana comes from a large family with more love than money. Ana has a big plus going for her. She is an optimist. Ana has a positive mental attitude. She listens to that little voice in her head telling her that she can be special. Ana wasn't the prettiest girl. She didn't have the best figure. She wasn't an athlete. She wasn't the most popular. She wasn't the smartest. However, Ana was determined. She was pretty enough to be a success. And, smart enough to be a success. And, perhaps most importantly, Ana could see her life ahead from where she stood. Ana could envision and believe in her own success. Even as a little girl, Ana was able to see the end from the beginning. From age eight, she would baby sit to earn money to buy the toys she wanted. At twelve, the toys became clothes. The baby sitting gave way to an errand running service for senior citizens. She had two other girls working for her. By seventeen, she was the head night cashier at the supermarket and earning money for college. Why was Ana able to see and anticipate the end results of labor? Why was work so obvious a tool to Ana and equally a mystery to many of her peers? You want something. You work for it. You are independent. If you expect it to be handed to you, you are dependent to someone else's whim. What was the mystery? It was clear to Ana in high school that her family did not have the money to send her to college. It was equally clear to Ana that while her part-time work might support her living expenses through college, she wasn't earning enough money additionally to cover her college tuition. She could hope for a scholarship. But why? Why should she wait until the middle of her senior year in high school to find out if she had been chosen on someone else's whim to receive a scholarship? Too risky. Loans? Loans were a possibility but taking loans meant mortgaging her future. Find a better way. And, Ana did. She joined the National Guard. Was this move a totally crazy and inappropriate thing for an eighteen year old girl to do? Not if you knew Ana. After only 120 days of active duty and in exchange for six years of once-a-month meetings and two weeks a year at summer camp, the National Guard paid Ana's college tuition at a state college. Ana is now Sgt. Lopez and a senior staff member of the National Guard monthly newsletter. Her National Guard pay has served her well as supplementary income. Now, Ana, nearly at the end of her enlistment and a college graduate, is offered the opportunity to attend O.C.S., Officer Candidate School. As events unfold, this is an opportunity she will decline. Ana marched her own way through college, supporting herself. And, learning was easy, majoring in a subject she loved, art. At Ana's high school, only 50% of those who started high school stayed for graduation. She did. Only 10% went on to a four-year college. She did. Very few made the dean's list. She did. As Ana led her life, in her neighborhood, she became more and more the role model. Ana was a reluctant role model. To her, the secrets to success weren't that complicated. What was the mystery that her peers claimed they didn't understand? If you want to succeed: look ahead, make a plan, work the plan and you'll succeed. Where was the mystery? Why complain? No one wants to listen to you anyway. Ana's pet peeve is the often shown commercial of the poor minority student laying a guilt trip on his parents because THEY can't come up with money for him to attend college. The family is shown with heads bowed at the kitchen table. What's wrong with this kid? Can't he work? Get a loan? Go to a state college? Join the Army? This kid doesn't need a helping hand. He needs a good swift kick. During the years following high school, Ana juggled school, a part-time job at the museum, volunteer work at the museum and her military responsibilities. Ana is a worker. And, Ana is working at finding a path for her future. Having been a volunteer at the museum, Ana didn't even have to apply for the membership job; she was offered the job. Why advertise the job? Ana was the natural choice. The inevitable opportunity happened by chance or fate to Ana, as inevitably opportunities seem to spring for all who seriously seek their fortunes. For the last two years, Ana has volunteered some of her free time working for the local educational television station's Auction Week. One night of the Auction Week is Art Night. And for two months prior to the auction, the station asks viewers to donate paintings, prints and sculptures. Ana has assisted in cataloguing the fine art works. Of the more than 500 works of art to be auctioned, Ana is personally attracted to six separate signed limited edition prints. She feels that depending upon the level of bidding fever, one may fall to the gavel within her budget. On the night of the auction, Ana becomes the successful bidder on one of the prints. The print is a late Salvador Dali graphic, a low numbered edition, signed and dated by Dali. The retail value is listed at $1,000. Ana's successful bid is $350. The Dali had been presented at 11:30PM when, apparently, most art devotees, serious collectors and dealers were already tucked in bed. Wow! Ana figured she really had herself a bargain. Since most of the city's art dealers were museum members, Ana was on a name recognition basis with more than a few. Some of the dealers were all art. Some were all business. The best seemed to be able to have an ability to blend the opposites. Since she had to have her Dali print framed, she called Sandy Bernstein, a noted city art dealer. Ana's meeting with Sandy was to change her life. Lesson Eleven ResourcesGo to Lesson Twelve5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16Index
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