On the way to the shore this weekend my nine-year-old son received a phone call in the car on his cell phone. The conversation went something like this.

Nine-Year-Old:  It did.

Nine-Year-Old:  I don't have a car.  I have a skateboard and a bicycle.

Nine-Year-Old:  Dad, what is a warranty?

Dad:  There are different types of warranties.  Why do you ask?

Nine-Year-Old:  I just got a call on my cell phone and the person told me the warranty on my car had expired and asked if I would like to renew it.  I told them I didn't have a car; I have a skateboard and a bicycle.

My older son who is fourteen overheard the conversation and said he had received the same call last week.

My nine-year-old is smart enough not to give out personal information to strangers. What would have happened if another child was asked for credit card information and knew where to find it and gave it out?

I have been receiving voicemail messages letting me know the warranty on my Audi has expired.  In the messages they further explained that if I wanted to renew the warranty I needed to call a specific phone number. When I called I was asked if I wanted to renew my warranty agreement. I asked, "What are the terms of my current agreement?"

I was informed that due to security measures they could not reveal that information to me. My response was, "Let me see if I understand this call. You called me to let me know the warranty on my car has expired and would I like to renew it? When I ask what the terms are of my current agreement you tell me you can not reveal this information to your apparent customer." The salesperson responded, "Yes, that is correct. Would you like to renew?" I asked the salesperson to tell me more.  With that the salesperson, who by the way was in no way associated with Audi, described a ton of benefits that included a hotel room, a rental car, food allowance and telephone calls. After listening to ten minutes of the benefits list I went comatose from information overload. I think they may even have offered a babysitter as long as my child was in the car at the time of the breakdown of my transmission, I was not using a cell phone, my child had eaten a hearty breakfast, the breakdown had not occurred on a weekday before 9:00am on a major highway or after 9:00am on a local road and my child was on the way to school.

The fee for this service was a deposit of $495.00 in addition to $285.00 per month for a period of five years. I asked the salesperson to send a contract to my e-mail address so I could review the details of the agreement. I was told that because my car was a 2006 they could not send me an e-mail.  The agreement had to be conducted by phone and they would be happy to take my credit card to start the renewal of my warranty. I politely thanked them for the fantastic offer but then declined.

What were they thinking? Yes, some of these scam artists are so enamored by their ability to come up with these scams they miss the obvious.

Yesterday I was in the supermarket buying some groceries.  There was a woman in front of me at the cash register who had a coupon for free iceberg lettuce.  When it came time for the clerk to ring up the discounts and coupons much to the surprise of the customer the free coupon was for a bag of cut iceberg lettuce and not for a whole head of iceberg lettuce which is what the customer had. The customer immediately said, "I don't want it.  I will get take it out of my bag." The customer also said, "I don't like iceberg lettuce anyway."

So here we have a customer who was willing to take something for free but didn't really like what she was getting.  What was the intention of the chain store when they wanted to give something away free?  To show appreciation, to give the lettuce away in hopes someone would now buy salad dressing, buy a bowl to put it in, or something else?

I couldn't help commenting to the cashier about the conversation I had overheard.  She smiled and said, "Nothing is free.  She probably paid for it in another way with another purchase."  Now we have a customer that walked away not from something free but what she had paid for in another way and didn't want to go through the effort of getting what she was really entitled to. Webster's Dictionary defines free as, "free of charge, without charge, at no cost, complimentary, on the house."

A dear friend, Moshe Rosenberg once told me, "If it is free I don't want it."  He tells a story of when he went to the store to buy batteries for his flashlight.  The clerk said to him, "If you buy this package you get the flashlight free."  He said, "No, I do not want it."  He told me that she looked at him like he had just fallen from the moon.

I was at lunch with two friends and told Moshe's story.  As we ordered lunch the waitress said, "We have free soup today."  I said, "No thank you.  I don't want it."  She said, "But it is free."  I said, "I know but no thank you."  She brought the soup anyway which was actually lightly colored water with two string beans at the bottom of the bowl.  Each string bean could not have been more than an inch long.  I could not contain my self and broke out laughing.  Now if someone really wanted the free soup they would have been sadly disappointed and the free soup would have done more damage than good.

When I first moved to Long Valley we received an envelope of free coupons.  One of the coupons was for a free haircut.  I called and made an appointment.  On the day of the haircut I was seated in a chair, my hair was cut in less than ten minutes and I was out the door without one word from the hair stylist.  My guess was that since they were doing it for free they needed to get me out of the chair so they could get a paying customer in the chair.  I gave a tip and left never to return.

Here are my closing comments.  As a business owner if you are giving something away free, think it through.  If you are a consumer and someone wants to give you something free, it probably doesn't have much value anyway.

This past week I went to Canastota, New York for my cousin Craig's funeral.  Canastota is a small village off the New York Thruway.  For many years its claim to fame was Rocky Gracciano's Restaurant and the Boxing Hall of Fame.  Over the past couple of years they gained a Best Western Hotel, a McDonalds and a large gas station.  As you travel past these monuments of today you enter Main Street where the speed limit is twenty-five miles per hour.  There are no apartment buildings and no large office buildings.  Everything is for the most part as it was for many years.  On the surface there appeared not much change had taken place in this sleepy village and yet there was a major transformational shift that took fifty-one years to take place.

After graduation from college Craig went back to Canastota and went into business with his long time friend Arny.  Craig's Kegs was a place to buy your beer and soda.  Craig also started a catering business that supported the local college in addition to private parties.  He also opened a delicatessen in another town and was quite the entrepreneur.

At Craig's funeral there was not one mention of his business accomplishments.  Not that they were not important, they were.  The focus was on something different.  The focus was on a transformation that had been taking place for fifty-one years which is how old Craig was when he passed away.

At the church the priest who conducted the service and Craig's best friend, Jim Stokes spoke about Craig's generosity, his caring, and his ability to share of himself in every way.  Craig was there for people when they where in most need.  They told how Craig brought boys into his business while they were still in school and then saw them off to start their own businesses and careers.  They spoke about his love for animals and all the charitable work he did to protect animals.  They also talked about how he would find boys in trouble with the law and help them back to the correct way to live their lives.

Stories will not be told about how many kegs of beer he sold or how his sandwiches were made.  Not about how many parties he catered but how he changed and influenced so many lives.  Here is a man that made a difference in people's lives that will live on from generation to generation. People will remember Craig Turrisi and how he changed people's lives.

Craig was a wealthy man.  I cannot speak of his financial wealth but of a different type of wealth.  The line at his funeral went on forever.  The line was made up of young children to older senior citizens.  Friends had come to say thank you for being in my life, thank you for demonstrating your values, principles and ethics, and for one last time, good-bye.

Craig's wealth is in the friends he has and the memories he left them with which will never be affected by the economy, Wall Street or any other world condition.

Now what is this is really about?  I believe we are in the financial mess we are in because of a breakdown in the values and principles of some companies and their leaders.  We need to run our businesses based on respect for the people we have working with us, our customers and our vendors.  We must be driven by principles of honesty and fair play. We need to go back to the highest of values and principles that must never be violated. We know how we got here, now the process must be reversed.  Greed must be replaced with generosity, dishonesty with honesty, and falsehood with truthfulness.

Sometimes talented individuals will join an organization with the potential to be successful and still fail.  One of the contributing factors to potential failure is either the lack of or a weak onboarding process.  Weak onboard processes are typically the result of leaders assuming new members understand the culture, the processes and systems and the knowledge base required to be successful.  A strong onboard process will identify the knowledge base, the skills, the strengths and the attributes necessary of high levels of top performers.  The onboard process further outlines what information needs to be disseminated to the new candidate in addition to the expectations of the new candidate. 

For example, on Day 1 of the new relationship what do we want the candidate to know about?  On Day 2 what are the expectations relating to performance and what information will be disseminated?  What are the expectations of performance on Day 3 and what information will be disseminated?

The onboarding process could in general last from 30 to 90 days and sometimes more. The length of the onboard process is typically driven by the length of the learning curve.  Another element of the onboard process is the daily, weekly and monthly observations of the new hire's absorption of knowledge, behavior and results produced. 

A strong onboard process will support an accelerated learning curve as well as expedited results.  A weak onboard process will support an extended learning curve in addition to a prolonged period of time before results are achieved.

 

During lunch this past weekend our family had a conversation about what it takes to be successful. In general terms our conversation centered around the fact that there are two types of people in the business environment. There are successful business people and there are those that are not. I pointed out that in working with some high level executives in leadership positions I observed while they had the opportunity to create outstanding results they did not.

Business people and our children have the ability to produce outstanding results and when they don't it is directly related to not learning some basic skills associated with success.

The first skill associated with Preparing for Life and Personal Success is Personal Accountability. Personal Accountability is a measure of the capacity to be answerable for ones own personal actions all of the time. The second skill is Accepting Personal Responsibility for the consequences of our actions and to not blame others or outside circumstances for the lack of personal success. The third skill is to maintain a Personal Commitment to our objectives regardless of the results of the decisions that were made. The fourth skill is to Learn from Mistakes and recognize when we reach a roadblock on the path to success it is the universe's way of showing us the flaws in our thinking or our approach so we can do course correction.

These four skills apply to business, education, sports and personal relationships. If you are in agreement I invite you to share these concepts with your children.

During my internet research for a product for my company I found three companies that seemed to fit the profile I was looking for. I made contact with each of the companies and received two return phone calls. One of the callers returned my phone call and because he could not reach me at the moment left me a voice mail. I returned his phone call and have yet to receive a response. Throughout the next to weeks the second company and I made several attempts to reach each other. He called me during the day, evenings and weekends until we finally had the opportunity to speak. Here is how the conversation went.

Sales Rep:  Mr. Turrisi.

Me:  Yes.

Sales Rep:  I see you are interested in XYZ product.

Me:  Yes, I am.

Sales Rep:  Good.  Do you see XYZ product as something you can use in your business?

Me:  I do.

Sales Rep:  Do you see that making an investment in this product could help your business?

Me:  Yes, I do, which is why I made contact with your company. I researched your product among others and made a decision that you and one other company most suited my needs.Unfortanely for them they never retuned my call.

Sales Rep:  I see.  So have you made a decision to use our product?

Me:  Yes.

Sales Rep:  Do you know what our product costs?

Me:  Yes. It is a no brainer.

Sales Rep:  So you like our product, it is in your budget, you see it can bring value to your company and you see yourself using it.

Me: YES.  (What I did not say was, "PLEASE LET ME BUY YOUR PRODUCT SO I CAN GET ON WITH MY LIFE!")

Sales Rep:  So when can I get together by phone with you and your wife?

Me:  WHAT!?!

Sales Rep:  I would like to speak with you and your wife to make sure she is in agreement.

Me : Are you kidding me?  Is this a joke?

Sales Rep:  No.  This is our policy.

Me:  Look my friend, I am ready to give you my credit card, make the purchase and become your customer and you want to talk with my wife?

Sales Rep:  Yes

Me:  I can't believe this! I am not buying aluminum siding, replacement windows for my house or deciding on what color to paint our bathroom. I am looking to buy XYZ for my company and my wife is not part of the decision process. With that the sales representative hung up and has not been heard from since. They also continue to send  commercials to my e-mail which I have since blocked.

UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

 

 

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend some time with two long time friends and business owners. The conversation centered around two questions, "What is your life purpose?" And, "What are you passionate about as a business owner and provider of goods and services?"

We agreed that on one level our purpose is to sell our goods and services in the marketplace, make money to generate a profit, and provide jobs and income for our employees.

While these are certainly valid we agreed there is much more. For example, what would have to happen for one to really be passionate about what they do? So passionate they generate an excitement within themselves that also radiates out to the people around them. The conclusion we came to was that there are Four Secrets to Success and Personal Fulfillment that would fuel passion every day.

 

1- You have to be really good at what you do.

2- You have to really enjoy what you do. Enjoy what you do so much it is more like play than work.

3- You have to be able to make money at what you do.

4- And above all, you must make a contribution to society. A contribution is not necessarily the product, but the impact you have on individuals and companies.

 

One of my colleagues was very clear that he is not building houses.   He is building homes that contribute to the quality of a family's life. He creates an environment that contributes to family lifestyles. He even went as far as to say he is totally committed to quality. My other colleague provides beauty that can be used by designers. She went on to say that she is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure her customers are completely satisfied.

I personally look forward to going to work every day. I leave the house with a sense of excitement on a daily basis and look forward to making a difference.

The question I ask my self every day is, "What do I need to do today to service my clients in the best possible way, provide an environment so my staff experiences a partner relationship, can make a contribution, and are able leave at the end of the day energized, and create an environment where we all live and work each day like we are on vacation?"

As you may have observed I have been describing real life situations which I have experienced in my Blogs followed by an explanation of the business application.

At the bottom of each Blog there is an area for you to comment.  Enter your name, e-mail address and web site address along with your comment.

Now here comes the big question. Why should you comment?

The Blog sphere is an internet environment that allows for an exchange of information on a particular posted topic. You may agree or disagree with the Blog. The idea is to create a conversation. Whether you agree or disagree it is always important to do it professionally.

How do you benefit? By responding to my Blogs, people will read your responses and by doing so you will be putting your self in the public view. People could potentially contact you for your services or products. They may refer you to another person, you could be seen as an expert based on how you comment, and you could make a new friend or business acquaintance or even get business. Look at this as another opportunity to be in the public eye.

YOU HAVE EVERTHING TO GAIN AND NOTHING TO LOSE AND IT IS FUN. GIVE IT A TRY NOW.

Here is another tip. Create your blog in a word document and do a spell check. After the spell check, cut your response and paste it in the comments section. Check the box at the bottom that says, "Check here to get an e-mail when someone replies." When someone makes a contribution to the conversation you will be notified.

 

On Monday I attended an inbound marketing conference in Boston. The first session started at 8:15am. Our lunch break started at 12:30. As I came out of the meeting room looking forward to the lunch break I was met by a salesperson who had up until that time attended to her trade show booth.

As soon as she saw me, she swooped down on me and started her pitch.  She was just like a bird of prey after its' next meal. People were coming out of the room behind me; she was standing in front of me as I attempted to go to the buffet.

As I moved toward the buffet table she continued to walk and talk, block and mentally tackle. She finally had to stop or she would have been pinned between the buffet table and another exhibit table.

I don't have any idea what she was saying and quite frankly I did not care. All I could make out was her mouth was moving and noise coming out.  I believe she had said something that had to do with a Bow and Math. I wanted to have lunch and she did not care.

The Top Performing Salesperson might have attempted to join us for lunch, made an attempt to establish a relationship, and been more strategic. The Top Performer might have said, "Am I getting you at a bad time?" Or possibly, "After lunch come visit me at my booth. I may have something you might be able to use to grow your business."

Hey lady, just because it was important to you, why do you think it was important to me? Get out of my face! Do you know what common courtesy is? You were so interested in what you wanted to sell you didn't give two hoots about me or my agenda. GRRRRR!!!

Here is your chance to tell the world what you hate about unprofessional salespeople.  Register your complaint now in the comments section to the right and we will post them on the web.