Some of you may recall that, among my diversified coaching work, I’ve coached Miss America and Miss Rhode Island candidates in interviewing, the most important part of the scoring system. I’m pleased to report that one of them, Ashley Bickford, third runner-up last year, has just won the Miss Rhode Island competition and will compete in January for Miss America. Aside from winning the fitness, talent, academic, and gown competitions, she took first place in the interviews!
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If you consult with small business owners, good luck. Usually, you won’t have to leave the owner’s office.
Small business owners are their own worst enemy, because they understand the CONTENT of their endeavor, but not the PROCESS of acquiring business.
There is a relatively new, upscale cheese shop on Main Street here. My wife and I procrastinated, but finally drove over to try it out. At 10:30 on a Tuesday morning it was the sole closed shop among everything on the thoroughfare! There was no sign of business hours, though there was a leaking air conditioner.
I called the store later in the day and the owner told me, “Yeah, we open at 10:30.” No apology, no offer to help us if we’d care to stop in and introduce ourselves, nothing.
We show up later, and here is what happened (WH) and what should have happened (WSHH):
WH: I asked for mimolette, and the employee says, “We sold out an hour ago.”
WSHH: “I’m sorry, we’re out at the moment, but can I order some for you that will be here in 48 hours?”
WH: The owner sits by a computer, shopping for car parts on Ebay.
WSHH: The owner introduces himself and says he’ll be happy to arrange for any special orders for us, and hopes we’ll mention the shop to our friends. (My wife’s Mercedes convertible is parked outside his door.)
WH: The employee is dressed very casually and doesn’t use gloves to cut or wrap the cheese.
WSHH: The employee conforms to common sanitary codes and laws, and looks clean and well groomed.
WH: Our choices are totaled up, bagged, and we’re charged and given our change.
WSHH: We’re graciously thanked, and the shop’s business card is handed to us.
Later, we found the store owner and employee both sitting outside the shop smoking. This place will not last through the year. The town really could use this shop—there is a high-end wine shop just two doors away—but the cheese shop is almost always empty. Small wonder.
I tell new consultants that this is really the marketing business, so stop telling me about your methodology, because no one cares. Small business is also the marketing business, and merely filling the shelves with merchandise is the equivalent of throwing your methodology in my face. The value is in the experience, not solely the product or service.
Only the “Soup Nazi” in Seinfeld could defy this rule, and he’s no longer in business.
© Alan Weiss 2007. All rights reserved.
PS: I’d encourage readers to hit “comment” and submit their worst small business misadventures and experiences. Don’t worry, I won’t compile them into another Turkey Gumbo for the Misbegotten.
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These are two of the Tall Ships sailing around an island in Newport, as seen from a friend’s house. Nineteen ships total.
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A woman named “Mary Leo” has been writing me for two weeks trying to order 200 copies of Million Dollar Consulting. She used no signature file, poor English, and didn’t respond to rudimentary requests from me. I told her that I would ship when the credit card had been cleared by the bank (not just approved on my terminal). After three declines on the terminal, the one acceptance was rejected a week later by the bank. She had given me a California shipping address for the books, and kept insisting they be sent immediately. The credit card numbers were all stolen, of course. And I’d bet that she was really from Nigeria or some other scam center, and not California.
I’ve learned to identify suspect requests and I pass this on to readers who have products to sell: Don’t be over-anxious. There are people who spend more time trying to gain money dishonestly than they would have to invest to make it legitimately.
Along these lines, who would purchase marketing advice from a spammer who sends you blast emails touting a marketing service? Or a web “expert” who first tells you that you have a horrible web site (in other words, you’re stupid)? Or an “investment manager” who calls at 8:30 at night to offer exceptional bargains (why isn’t he retired and living in Tahiti if he’s an “expert” investor)?
The customer isn’t always right, and a source claiming expertise–despite testimonials, “guarantees,” and all sorts of hyperbole–isn’t always expert. Be careful about to whom you sell and from whom you buy. IBM can affort to make a million dollar mistake and live with it, but a small business will be hurt by a $10,000 mistake. And if you actually believe that someone in Africa wants to send you a million dollars to get it safely out of the country, I’d suggest you find someone to get you to rehab.
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