Costco Connection - August 2011

FRESHviews
WALLY AMOS:BE POSITIVE

IT HAS BEEN said that common sense is not
so common. When I was an agent in show
business, attending a recording session or a
television taping, and the performer would
miss a lyric or flub a line, the producer or
director would stop the tape, have a friendly
chat with the artist, and announce, “OK, let’s
do another take. We’re rolling, take 25.”
Why is it when people make a “mis–take”
in business we get so angry, and our re-
sponse is anything but friendly? It would help
us all to remember the times we made a
mis–take and to realize we are all in training
and in the process of becoming a better par-
ent, student, friend, employer and employee.

I can clearly remember the times I caught an employee burning a rack with

20 trays of cookies, and just before I yelled, a little voice reminded me of the times I burned cookies. I settled down, explained Common sense

Wally Amos is the founder of Uncle Wally’s Muffin Company. You can reach him at www. wallyamos.com.

M On “Co

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Get ready, get started

MOST BUSINESS owners feel it’s mission accomplished when they make a sale or close a deal. Not so for Costco member Chris Zane, owner of Zane’s Cycles in Branford, Connecticut. “At Zane’s, we’ve failed if all we’ve done is complete a transaction with a customer,” he writes in Reinventing the Wheel: The Science of Creating Lifetime Customers (BenBella Books, 2011; www.chriszane.com). That’s because success lies not in a single sale, but in establish- ing a connection with a customer that can last a lifetime. It sounds odd to pooh-pooh a sale, but here’s why: Zane, who has run his bike shop since 1980, has figured out that an average customer will spend $12,500 on bike products and services over his or her lifetime. Thus, Zane’s philosophy is to go far beyond expectations to create customers for life.

Some of his offers are pretty extreme:
• A lifetime service guarantee
for every bike, covering parts,
labor and even tune-ups
• Flat-tire insurance—for a
one-time fee, Zane’s fixes
flats forever
• A trade-in program for kids’
bikes, lasting 10 years (or more)

These measures, Zane concedes, don’t come free. But in terms of their long-term payoff, they add up to smart business expenses.

Is it working? Zane’s Cycles is experiencing annual sales growth of 23 percent, with sales of $15 million from retail and corporate customers.

For any business, Zane says, strong connections with customers are at the heart of long-term success. Of course, the specific ways of making those connections change from business to business.

He says, “No matter what kind of business you run, you should be in the relationship-building and experience-sell-ing business, because that is how you will find the greatest success.” C

PHOTODISC

the tremendous loss incurred when we burn cookies—ingredients, labor, time, etc.—and told the employee to do another take, only the next time more carefully. Patience and periodic explaining can go a long way in encouraging your employees through their mis–take.

I am reminded of another popular quote: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In personal or business relationships, a little tender love and care can go a long way toward increasing productivity and loyalty.

In looking for ways to save money and time and motivate your employees, a good starting point might be to examine how you treat your people. It costs a lot more to train a new employee than it does to help and encourage your current employees to get each “take” right. Your employees are your most important assets. Happy, positive employees create a strong bottom line.

So, remember one more age-old saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” As they say, it’s just good common sense. C

The true value of
customer service

ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS, mark November 14–20 on your calendar. That’s Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), with thousands of events in more than 100 coun- tries, aimed at entrepreneurs everywhere. Activities include virtual and face- to-face events, large-scale com- petitions and intimate networking gatherings. “Global Entrepre- neurship Week 2011 will [feature] more than 40,000 events, engaging roughly 40 million entrepreneurs in more than 110 countries around the world,” says Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Created by the Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation ( www.kauffman.org),
the world’s largest foundation dedicated to
entrepreneurship, GEW will feature programs
and competitions at local colleges, high
schools, government agencies and entrepre-
neurial support organizations for budding
entrepreneurs. Each participating organiza-
tion is encouraged to create its own unique
event, and GEW offers four featured activi-
ties in which aspiring and existing entrepre-
neurs alike can participate.
Startup Open: Open to entrepre-
neurs who have just started, or are
about to start, a new venture.
The 50 most promising start-
ups will be recognized as
“The GEW 50.”
Cleantech Open
Global Ideas Competi-
tion: Sharing the best
clean technology ideas
from around the world,
finalists will deliver a five-
minute pitch to an audience of
investors and entrepreneurs, with
a chance at winning $100,000 in sup-
port and services to help turn their idea into
a business.
Your Big Year: Two winners will receive
a yearlong trip around the world, meeting
leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs in
different countries. Participants must be over
the age of 18 and register by September 1.

e h i r t IMAGE SOURCE

Startup Weekend: Developers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts will gather to share ideas and launch new start-ups. Attendees in dozens of cities will determine the most promising concepts, focusing on customer development, idea validation and creating a viable product, competing for prizes to help speed them to launch.