Tag, you’re it

When I was a kid, my cousins and I played “tag” a lot. Tag differs from hide-and-seek in that it lacks some of the organization that the latter game has.
There wasn’t much strategy involved in tag. Sure, we’d count to ten or some such number- but that was usually followed by bedlam more than the professional-sounding concept of seeking.
We would simply run around after one another, tag someone (oftentimes we would tag quite hard), yell “You’re it” and then run around some more.
Sometimes, our past customers must feel like they are “it.” We work so hard to find customers and persuade customers and close customers. But then once we have them, once they are tagged, we just start running around again. We make them chase us from there on out.
It is more bedlam than strategy, and it could be costing you money.

It’s H.E.R.E.!

The Newsmagazine Network’s new Shop H.E.R.E. program is officially underway. Check out out some of these amazing offers from locally owned businesses:

Allstate- Leslie North
Stop by our office for a free insurance quote and receive a $10 gift card

Amant’s Floor Services
15% off any floor cleaning service

Annex Two
20% off your entire purchase – every Monday

A Walk In Tub Store
$500.00 off purchase of any walk-in tub

Ballwin Nursery
$10 off any plant, tree or shrub purchase of $50 or more

Best Tutoring
$50 off a complete math assessment or 20% off any spring break or summer course

Brewer’s Flooring & Sales Inc.
Free floor cleaning kit with any flooring purchase.

Caregivers Inn
$500 cash back on your 2nd month’s rent

Chevy’s Fresh Mex- Ellisville
Buy one entrée, get one of equal or lesser value free!
Valid at Ellisville location only. Valid thru March 31.

ChildBloom Guitar Program
$10 off registration

Classic Green Lawn Care
1 free mow w/signed annual mowing contract
or 1 free treatment w/signed annual fertilization contract

Claymont Auto Repair
Starting April $5.00 off an oil change, lube and filter

Clear Window Technology Inc.
$25 off any advertised special

Computer Bryte Kids, LLC
$25 off an 8-week session

Consign By Design
$5 off any item

David Rubin Law
Call David Rubin For Discount

Decorating Den – Nancy Barrett
$50 off a $500 order or $100 off a $1,000 order

Designs of The Interior
Save 15% on any custom design order or full-priced showroom merchandise not valid with any other offer.

Devereaux Home Repair
Free Trip Charge $40 Value

Diamond & Jewelry Broker
Free jewelry cleaning and inspection. 10% off any existing offer.

El Azteca
Buy one entrée get second entrée 1/2 off

Elegant Child
Free registration fee (value $100)

Ellisville Hearing Center
10% Off already discounted hearing aids and hearing aid repairs

Hair Color Xperts Salon
$5.00 off any service 10% off retail

Home Green Home
$50 off a comprehensive home energy audit

Jeff Computers
10% off service, 5% off parts

Jive & Wail
Buy one entrée and receive a 2nd entrée half off. (of equal or lesser value) Valid Sunday thru Thursday only. Not valid with other offers

Little Gym
Free Trial Visit. Call to schedule

Mid-America Flooring
Free Tftex (4×6) area rug collection of your choice. Value $400

Molly Maid – St. Charles
2 free tickets to cardinals game with every service plan over 6 months. (Cannot guarantee dates to game)

My Tiger Lily
All handbags & luggage 30% off. Expires 3/1/09

Ozenkoski Bakery
Buy one gooey butter cake get second cake 1/2 off.

Patterson Wealth Management
Come in for a free consultation and receive a $15 gift card

Planet Fun
Buy one pizza, get one pizza of equal of lesser value free

Positive Paws Pet Training
$20.00 off customized 4 week training program -
Free in home consultation

Professional Painters
Free ceiling painted with interior room job

Pulse
$20 off your purchase of $50 or more
(Offer only good on in-store items. Discounted purchases are final)

RAZORBALL.NET
3 Free Months of hosting with any new website customer contract

Richbuilt Basements & Remodeling
10% Off any job over $5,000.

Salon Visions
15% off any service

Sandy’s Carpetworld, Inc.
Additional 10% off regular & sale prices on any room size remnant in store

Sarah’s Café
Buy one get one free thru March.
(Breakfast or lunch only, must be equal or lesser value)

Seal St. Louis
$75 Gift certificate to Lowes or Home Depot with any service over $1,000

St. Peters Academy of Dance
20% off your 1st month of dance – new dancers only

Studio West Salon & Spa
$5.00 off hair cut or 10 highlights for $15.00 new clients only

Switch Fitness
$10 off monthly fees with a 12-month contract

Three French Hens
15% off entire purchase, excludes sale items, thru 3/31/2009

Training Tails On The Go LLC.
$20 Off 4 week (1 hour per week) training commitment

Trusty Maid Service of Chesterfield, LLC
Select regular service & receive the 4th cleaning visit for free

Vineyards Wine and Spirits
Call or stop by for discount

Visiting Angels Homecare
First 2 hours of services free to new customers with 12 hours or more of scheduled service per week.

Vouga Elder Law
Free One Hour Consulation (a $180 Value)

Wells & Company
10% off any item sale items excluded

Wild Bird Center
Buy 5 pounds seeds, get 5 pounds Free
(limit one per customer, per visit)

Card Carrying

The Shop H.E.R.E. Club Card program allows you to receive exclusive discount offers and unique benefits at hundreds of locally-owned businesses. Plus, a dollar spent at a locally-owned business has three times the local economic impact of a dollar spent with a national retailer. So you are not just saving money, you are Helping to Energize the Region’s Economy. Every business that we have profiled in this special issue is a Shop H.E.R.E. member. Join today to start receiving exclusive offers at these and more great local businesses.

Fallen City

Dear O’Fallon:

This letter serves as notice that I will be resigning my position as a citizen of O’Fallon, effective immediately.

No, seriously, I quit.

I just can’t take it any more. For years, I have watched this city receive accolade after accolade- safest city, best place to live, fastest growing- and every time we win an award it is quickly followed up by some sort of scandal. The scandals never come from regular citizens like me. Oh no, it is always our fine elected officials who screw everything up. I mean, just look at what is happening right now. Our former police chief Jerry Schulte, who we were told chose to retire early, just applied to replace… himself!

Why the sudden need to return to work? Because the city administrator, Bob Lowery Jr., has suddenly stopped coming in to work. Is there any indication from our elected officials as to what is really going on? Of course not. They obviously think that we, the citizens of O’Fallon, are truly stupid. Nobody over there wants to tell us where Bob Lowery is right now, or why his attorney is sending cease and desist letters to every member of the council. Was he fired? No comment. Administrative leave? Not sure. Well, somebody should check under his desk then. Maybe he’s been here the whole time and everything is going just dandy.

In regards to Schulte, can we admit now, finally, that he was fired? Of course not. He’s just reapplying to make a point they say. Yes, I get that. The point he is trying to make is that he was fired! It is not like all this started recently either. Remember when we got the piece of metal from 9/11 and this wonderfully patriotic city was so proud to display it? Even that great moment was tainted by drama when pieces of the memorial came up missing.

Here is what is really bothering me. I love O’Fallon. I love everything you are supposed to love about the city you live in. Great schools, nice homes, good neighbors, acceptable taxes, decent city services. Why can’t we get the whole package and actually have a city government who doesn’t treat all of us like morons?

But alas, it is not to be right now. I quit you, O’Fallon. I will consider renewing my citizenship in April after the election. But only if we vote out every member of the council who has claimed to be unsure of what is going on in the personnel department right now. The I will apply for my old job as citizen.

Sincerely, A concerned ex-citizen

Can you spare some change?

For some reason, I cannot stop thinking about Seth Godin’s “If you could change your life, would you?” post. Talk about resonating.

The slight tweak on this concept that keeps popping up lately has been: If money were no object, would you…?

Consider these:

-If money were no object, would you keep working at all? What would you do? Why aren’t you doing it right now?

-If money were no object, how would you advertise your business? Ever considered that choosing to advertise that way could make money less of an object?

-If money were no object, where would you travel? Why haven’t you started saving for that trip yet?

-If money were no object, who would you hire? What qualities does that person possess that you could look for in more affordable alternatives?

-If money were no object, what technology would you acquire? Could you acquire it now and let it pay for itself?

-If money were no object, where would you live? How much does a studio apartment cost there right now?

-If money were no object, would you change your life? How? Why? Is money the real object to that happening?

The only thing people talk about these days is money and change. The two are never really as intertwined as we think they are.

Get off our backs

A federal commission that the U.S. Congress created is expected to recommend a roughly 50 percent increase in fuel taxes at the end of this month. The reason? Motorists are driving less, thereby lessening the tax revenue that the government collects, thereby creating a shortfall in the federal government’s budget to fix roads and bridges.

Read that last sentence again. It is important.

Now ask yourself this: Does it not stand to reason that if motorists are really driving less it should follow that roads and bridges would require less maintenance? That is why it was established as a use tax in the first place. Secondly, are we really expected to believe that motorists are driving more than 50 percent less?   

This commission, the awkwardly named National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing (NCSTIF), would have us believe that the answers are “no” to the first question and “yes” to the second. They are prepared to recommend that taxpayers pony up an additional 10 cents per gallon on top of the current 18 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24 cents per gallon on diesel.

But wait, it gets better. They also will recommend that individual states increase their fuel taxes, make greater use of toll roads and rush-hour driving fees, and that all of this should be tied to inflation so that the taxes continue to increase on their own.

West Newsmagazine’s recommendation is as follows: Federal government, get off our backs.

The one bright spot in this bleak economy has been lower fuel prices. Our homes are worth less, our investments are worth less, our jobs are less secure, but all that harsh reality has been softened just a bit because finally, after several years of skyrocketing prices, gas is affordable again.

Now we, the taxpayers, are supposed to care that the federal government is facing a “budget shortfall”? Every business in America and every family in America is facing a budget shortfall right now. It is called a recession. We are all in this together.

But guess what? The businesses and the families cannot arbitrarily decide to create brand new revenue through taxes, so they have had to make some difficult decisions. They have had to cut budgets. They have had to spend less. They have made themselves more efficient. It is a rather simple concept called fiscal responsibility. Does that phrase ring a bell, Washington D.C.?

No, of course it does not. Instead, our government’s plan is to raise our taxes. Their plan is to give out more speeding tickets to offset less retail sales tax. Their plan is to keep our real estate taxes artificially inflated through bogus assessments. Their plan is to use our money to make sure they do not have to make the same kind of hard choices that everybody living in the real world is making right now.

It is time for our elected officials to better understand real world conditions. At the end of the day, it will not be some bailout or stimulus plan or roads project that gets us out of this economic mess. It will be the American consumer, the American taxpayer, deciding to spend money again. At some point the fear will subside and the people of this great country will scream “Enough already!”

Enough with the bad news. Enough with the doom and gloom. Enough with all of it. We, the American people, will fix this problem. All we need is for government to get off our backs.

13 wishes for 2009

St. Louis County

Intelligent transportation planning 

The western half of the new I-64 looks amazing and was finished ahead of schedule. Now the county is looking for nearly $2 billion from the federal government by way of President-elect Obama’s proposed stimulus package. This money could help fund some other much-needed infrastructure projects, such as the completion of Highway 141. An infusion of cash would also be a great help to Metro, who has been forced to cancel all bus service west of I-270 beginning in March due to a budget shortfall.   

 

Television

Make the switch

Go ahead and transition to digital signal already. We get it. We are educated. Get on with it. Those “Snuggy” blanket-with-sleeves commercials sure will look sharp in digital.

 

Wildwood

Planning & Zoning resolutions

Since its inception, nothing has gotten built in Wildwood without a struggle. Now the city has two major projects on the drawing board that will serve as bellwethers for the future. Plans for a new Target in Town Center are once again under consideration and Hidden Valley owner Tim Boyd has submitted a revised plan to the city for building some 80 attached dwellings on the ski resort property. Both developments fall well outside of the city’s master plan. So far, the city seems amenable to these new projects and ideas, but does this open the development floodgates in our favorite planned city?

 

Small Business

Return to basics

The customer is now and always has been king. When everybody is dropping prices, customer service becomes the great equalizer. Return phone calls faster. Shake more hands. Say thank you to everybody. Don’t just want more business, earn more business.

 

Big Business

Remember how to be small

2009 will favor the swift and innovative, two traits generally found more often in small business than big. Big business will have to adjust to the world around them more quickly than ever this year, because no one wants to hear the phrase “too big to fail” anymore. 

 

Chesterfield

Time for transition

Chesterfield has everything going for it: Phenomenal demographics, increasing population, wildly successful retail center, low crime, high employment, solid commercial and residential development. 2009 is the year for this city to decide to be great. It is time for this city to choose to create the highest standard of living anywhere in the United States. Invest in the perks great cities have like parks and the arts. Be wildly supportive of the small businesses that help craft your identity. In 2009, Chesterfield can become he shining city on the hill. 

 

The Big Three

A new message

Ford, Chrysler and GM didn’t lose the product development war, they lost the marketing war. “Buy American” stopped working when Nissan and Toyota opened factories in Alabama and Tennessee. American car companies were left without a message. They can earn back their relevance by synchronizing their message and their product. The solution to the Big Three’s problems will not come from one product that a million people buy. The solution will come when they launch 100 new products that ten thousand people each absolutely must have. 

 

Manchester Road

Act your age

Manchester Road, once the thriving center of West County retail, has taken a backseat to new and shiny Chesterfield Valley. Several developments along the thoroughfare have tried to make the old seem new again. A better idea is to celebrate the road’s unique qualities, to let the road be old. Let the big-box stores move to the Valley and replace them with ten new small retailers. Make Manchester Road charming and leave the uber-volume business to somebody else.

 

The Economy

Loosen up

The current recession is being driven by an overall feeling of tightness. Traditional lenders have tightened up, credit card companies have tightened up, so families and individuals have tightened up. Everybody seriously needs to loosen up. If lenders start to loosen up, and businesses start to loosen up, then shoppers will start to loosen up. Consumer confidence is not a myth, it is a necessity. 

 

St. Charles County

A new identity

For thirty years, St. Charles County’s identity has been summed up in one word: Growth. As a result of that identity, the county relies way too heavily on retail sales tax and the construction industry. Now that growth is done. With over sixty percent of the county’s revenue generated by retail sales and more than ten percent of the population employed in the construction trade, the current economic difficulties threaten to hit St. Charles County harder than neighboring areas. County leaders would be wise to follow the lead of the Economic Development Council and work to create sustainable, new economy jobs. The county’s new identity should be that of the technological corridor for Missouri. 

 

O’Fallon

Peace for the police

2009 opens with another odd exit for an O’Fallon Police Chief. Jerry Schulte, a 34-year veteran of the department, abruptly resigned last week and there are allegations that Schulte chose this action in lieu of being fired. Schulte took over as chief in 2005 following the controversial firing of then-chief Steve Talbot. O’Fallon has enjoyed a run of great press over the last few years, recently being named one of America’s “Safest Cities” and “Best Places to Live.” The responsibility for smoothing out the rough edges within the police department falls squarely on the shoulders of City Administrator Bob Lowery, who has a wealth of experience in this area. Lowery can either choose to use that experience to fix the squeaky-wheel department, or he can choose to be too heavy-handed and really gum up the works.

 

St. Peters

Tenants for Premier 370

Just when it seems that Premier 370 has cleared its last hurdle, the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance returns with more lawsuits. Unfortunately, the real hurdle for St. Peters’ controversial development is a lack of signed tenants. Dayton Freight is building a 30,000 square-foot facility in Premier 370, but as it stands right now they are only confirmed tenant. The 75 jobs Dayton brings with them are a great start, but it is now time for the city and its development partners to get aggressive about bringing in some new economy employers who can help change the game in St. Peters favor. 

 

Wine Country

Become a destination

Everyone is supportive of making Augusta/ Defiance wine country a true tourist destination in 2009. The St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau has made this a priority, and they are putting their money where their priorities are. The CVB and the county will get people to try out the area this year, but it will be up to the shops and wineries themselves to keep people coming back. It should be easier to navigate the area, with better signage and safer roads. There should be a focus on maintaining a diverse group of shops and the wineries need to ensure that their interior charm matches the glorious external views.

Who do you think you are?

Most businesses suffer from an identity crisis. They have no idea who they are, what problem they can solve, who their competition is, or who their best customers are. In normal times, businesses with no self-awareness can limp along- not quite going broke but not quite successful either. We all know these businesses. They are the ones who make everything harder than it needs to be.

Why do they make everything harder? Because an identity crisis is the beginning of a vicious, vicious circle. If you don’t know who you are, you don’t know how to help others. If you don’t know how to help others, somebody else absolutely will. And the worse part of the circle, if you don’t know who you are you don’t even know who you want to or are capable of being a help to.

If you don’t know exactly who you are, you have zero chance of success. Read that again. Zero chance of success. The current economic climate will showcase that more than ever before.

Here is why:

- You will spend all your money chasing after prospects who will never, ever use your product or service. If your marketing cannot be a laser, you will be forced to use a shotgun. Shotguns cause collateral damage. You will be the collateral damage.

- The best possible outcome with a less than ideal customer is that the customer will be satisfied. Many businesses have actually convinced themselves that a satisfied customer is the best possible outcome. Untrue. A satisfied customer goes home, sits on their couch, sips a glass of red wine and never thinks about your business again. However, when you interact with your best possible customer, you will know how to thrill them. You will know how to wow them. A thrilled customer (Ken Blanchard calls them Raving Fans) will go home, sit on their couch, sip some red wine and call, text, email or blog about how amazing your service or product is. They will become your marketing.

- If you don’t know who you are, you will forget why you exist. Many businesses believe they need to sell their product. Untrue. They need to solve their customers problems. Problem solvers, not sales people. Your customers problems are your best opportunity. When people invest with you instead of buy from you, when you have a cure instead of a product, or when you provide solutions instead of adding expenses you will become successful. 

Here are a few local companies that know exactly who the heck they are:

Becky’s Carpet and Tile Superstore

Susan Lynn’s

Mattresses and More

Beware the digital

When television’s overly vaunted digital transition takes place, let’s not participate. We must be very smart about this- and proceed quietly. 

Have you ever seen the news media work harder to get us to do something than they have worked to make sure that we understand the change from analog to digital television programming? There is something more than meets the eye going on here.

The switch from analog to digital was mandated by the federal government. Which means that the news media and the government are the two entities desperate to have us make this switch. Is there any way that little partnership could actually benefit us?

The real issue here, though, is the old analog signal. What is that going to be used for now that the public “is not allowed” to view it? There is only one thing that makes sense. Alien communication.

But seriously, what opportunities exist for your business in the digital transition? Can you use it to win customer share in some way?

Restaurants could host a digital day party. Electricians could advertise a digital TV accessibility test. Interior designers could advertise new ways to decorate around digital, flat screen televisions. General handymen could become wall-mounted television experts. Any retail location could add traffic by becoming an analog television recycling location.

Anything that is marketed this hard by somebody else can be a benefit to your business. Keep an eye out for opportunity.

It’s always service

I went to our local Chevy’s Restaurant for lunch the other day and was pleased to see that a gentleman named Dave Tinker was back running the place. Dave is one of the owners of the restaurant and had previously run the day-to-day operations as well. A few years ago, Dave started spending all his time at his other store and left “my” Chevy’s to be run by a manager.

It was pretty noticeable when Dave was gone. The food was still pretty good, and the place was still pretty clean, and the staff was still pretty nice. I left there every time feeling pretty satisfied. But without even noticing, I stopped going in as much. I could feel pretty satisfied at any number of area restaurants.

So when I saw Dave back I was excited, but surprised. This location is really struggling, Dave told me. His other store was doing great, but business was way off at this location. When I asked him why, he answered without missing a beat.

“Service,” he said. “It’s always service.”

Whenever this topic comes up, business people are generally in agreement. Customer service is a difference maker. Every single business claims it as a priority. Every business owner believes providing better service can make them more money. Every business believes they do it well, or at least pretty well.

In contrast, consumers view service as an anachronism. Customer service has gone the way of the buffalo and the Commodore 64. Customers don’t believe they are ever served well (anymore) so they have stopped looking for service at all. Service stations have been replaced by convenience stores, express checkout by self checkout, service desks by answer terminals.

Why the disparity? How can a business owner turn this seeming problem into an opportunity? How can business leverage customer disappointment into customer joy?

The simple answer is this: You do it by doing it.

People like Dave Tinker are going to make their customer service better by making the demand for it front and center. He is going to do it by doing it.

Dave is going to leverage people’s low expectations into extremely high delivery of service in a simple, straightforward manner. When you eat at a Chevy’s restaurant, you are entitled to free chips and salsa. At every restaurant, eventually they bring you free chips and salsa. Dave is going to make sure that your free chips and salsa are there quickly when you sit down and that they stay full throughout the course of the meal. A small thing to be sure, but it makes all the difference.

Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer generally considered the gold standard for modern customer service, focuses on two main priorities for delivering their WOW service: They have a lot of shoes (more than anybody else) and they will deliver your shoes quickly (faster than anybody else).

By focusing extensively on those two simple priorities, Zappos can deliver on their service promise every time, and can often truly impress a customer by doing anything above those two priorities. They started by raising customer expectations (by the way- did anybody ever think that the shoes they ordered took too long to show up? I didn’t, but now I think about it and I am actually disappointed with every other shoe retailer who doesn’t deliver my shoes really, really fast), then they consistently met those higher expectations, and then they started exceeding those expectations on a regular basis and ended up WOWing so many of their customers that they sold over $800 million in shoes and accessories in 2007.

So the question is this- what can you do to wow your customers? What can you do to make your customers write you a letter and tell you how much they enjoyed buying your product? Pay attention to that last statement- It is not about how much they enjoyed using your product, it is about how much they enjoyed buying your product. They gave you money and loved doing it.

If you can wow your customers regardless of the product, you can get them to buy more and more from you- even when the economy is frightening.