An Inspiring Entrepreneur

I get very excited about the success of innovative entrepreneurs.  I recently heard about one and want to share his story with you.  Bren Smith was a fisherman on the east coast of the United States.  After cod stocks crashed, he found making a living from fishing increasingly in peril so he looked for a different way to work with the sea.  He tried cultivating oysters on Long Island Sound, but hurricanes devastated his beds two years in a row.  “He was on the verge of bankruptcy,” stated Charlie Yarish, a professor of marine biology at the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Yarish recommended to Bren that he plant beds of sugar kelp, a local seaweed that was planted after hurricane season was past, had a mild flavor, and was often used for animal feed and fertilizer.  While several thousand varieties of seaweed exist, not all are edible.  “Only twenty globally are actually farmed.  Some are quite toxic,” noted Dr. Yarish.

That gave Bren an epiphany.  “We can create jobs here from this.  We can protect and improve the environment.  We don’t have to choose between the two.” 

He now operates one of the largest seaweed hatcheries in the United States.  He has tanks full of developing kelp spores and a harvesting room heavily used in the spring when his team brings in the seaweed and processes it to sell.  After blanching the seaweed in 170 degree water, the kelp turns a vivid green.  Bren sells it fresh and frozen, sometimes in the form of noodles.  His customers include Google cafeteria, Yale University, restaurants, and wholesalers.  He has sold out his crop the last four years. 

Bren didn’t stop there.

He has added additional crops to what he calls his “3D ocean farm.”  “We call it that because we're using the entire water column,” he explains.   “If you can stack crops on top of each other it's just really efficient. You don't use large plots of ocean. But you get so much food.”

Underneath the seaweed, he loaded baby mussels into netting.  “Off those same lines we have scallops and below the whole system we have cages with oysters in them,” he adds.

Bren has turned from a fisherman to a farmer.  He’s encouraging other fishermen to follow his lead.  “We have to make a transition, that heartbreaking move, from being a hunter to a farmer,” he states, “but you get to own your boat, succeed or fail on your terms, and have the pride of feeding our country.” 

He has extended the reach of his passion by starting a non-profit organization named Greenwave which helps others get into ocean farming.  Those getting into the business learn on Bren’s farm, are helped in getting the permit for a plot of ocean to farm, and receive Bren’s personal supervision in the planting of their initial crop.  Greenwave provides the seed and guarantees to purchase 80% of their harvests for the first two years.  With an initial investment of ten to twenty thousand dollars and a boat, these new farmers can receive a small profit the first year and make up to one hundred thousand dollars annually later, according to Bren‘s projections.

One of  Bren’s challenges is having the public eat more seaweed.  A big hurdle in that effort is the negative connotation of the word “seaweed.”  Chef and author Barton Seaver, who has released an entire book on seaweed recipes, recommends throwing out the name seaweed and calling the food sea greens.  That equates the food with something healthy that consumers know and like.  Seavor has incorporated sea greens into well-cooked recipes and promotes it as tasty and rich in calcium, iron, fiber, and anti-oxidants.   

The potential for ocean farming to change the lives of fisherman and consumers has motivated Bren.  “The oceans are a blank slate.  For my generation, this is an exciting moment.  I can farm and grow food, but I can also soak up carbon and nitrogen with the seaweed while creating jobs and giving people the opportunity to start small businesses.”

He can do all this while living his dream of working on the water.  Bren is an inspiring entrepreneur.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What inspiring entrepreneur story have you heard lately?  E-mail me your answer.

A Real Customer Bonus

Yesterday I attended one of the Spring Shred Days event hosted by Royal Credit Union, the financial institution with which I do business.  During the hour and a half time frame of a Shred Day at a designated branch, each Royal Credit Union member and member of the general public has the opportunity to bring up to two file-size boxes of papers to shred.  The papers are taken from the person and immediately placed in one of the trucks of a local shredding company to be professionally shredded.

Royal Credit Union does an excellent job promoting, preparing, and executing the event.  Arriving forty-five minutes into yesterday’s event, I found a long line that kept increasing.  Despite that, I moved through the process in ten minutes.  The event was well-staffed, and those working were quick and knew precisely what to do.  As the guy who helped me closed my car door I complimented, “You guys are doing an excellent job!”

“Thanks,” he replied.  “We’re trying.”

As I drove away, I thought about how businesses are constantly searching for “extras” to give customers.  In doing so, the business’s goals are to differentiate itself to the customer and strengthen its relationship with the customer by giving something customers do not receive at other businesses.  Whether management knows it or not, many businesses offer expertise that their customers value.  Some businesses give away items or food to achieve these goals.  Most businesses end up giving a reduced price, thinking that means the most to their customers. 

While customers want to save money, that’s not what strengthens a relationship with a business or differentiates a business in their minds.  After all, price is something that any business can affect.  However, not all businesses can give expert advice.  Not all businesses take the time to be certain their customers are satisfied and had their problems solved.  Not all businesses offer Shred Days.

Shred Days is a unique event because identity theft is a major concern these days.  Shredding papers that contain identity information is a step in avoiding identity theft.  For most people, taking the time to shred these papers or contact a professional shredding service is likely not going to happen.  Just having to show up with your papers to be shredded is much easier.  Royal Credit Union adds to that ease by offering Shred Days five different days at five different branch locations.  In order not to interfere with normal business, the times are either before or after the day’s business hours.    

The event strengthens Royal Credit Union’s relationship with its customers because its shows concern for customers’ identity through Shred Days.  The organization makes it easy for customers to shred sensitive papers.  Its staff handles the documents and hires the professional company to do the shredding.  The business does something that no other business is offering, shredding, and it gives all of this for free. 

That’s a real customer bonus.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What real customer bonus have you encountered?  E-mail me your answer.

A Major Concern

On two separate days last week I took my two German Shepherds into emBark for a bath and nail trim.  Heather, the owner and founder of the business, is a client of mine.  As I drove away the second day, I realized that I wanted to share with you what I had encountered. 

That day I had my young Shepherd who is almost two.  Stephanie, who was to give him a bath, said, “I love Shepherds and have two of my own.  My older one is four and the young one will be two in April.”

“So you know how long it takes a Shepherd to mature?” I quizzed.

“Oh, yes, my young guy is still quite a puppy,” she replied. 

Our conversation was much longer, but I won’t bore you with all the details.  I am giving you this excerpt to show how she and Alana, the second employee who was helping me get checked in, enjoy talking about dogs in general and, of course, their dogs in particular.

Their love of dogs showed in their interactions with mine.  They treated them as they would treat their own dogs, with loving kindness.  They gently encouraged the dog they were handling down the hall to the grooming room.  They spoke to the dogs in positive tones. 

When dealing with me, they asked questions to clarify exactly what I wanted them to do with each dog, how to reach me when the bath and nail trim were done, and how I wanted to pay for the service. 
   
As I drove home with my dog the second day, I thought about one of my major concerns for entrepreneurs such as Heather who owns emBark.  That concern is for the entrepreneur to make the transition from working in the business to working on the business.  An indicator of this is the owner hiring and training staff that handle customers the same way the owner does.  The staff are an extension of the owner’s enthusiasm for the business and its customers.  In this case, that enthusiasm is for dogs and dog owners.

Her staff embody the business’s tag line, “Owning a dog is a journey…Are you ready to emBARK?”

Why is this so important?

A business’s staff are its most important marketing tool.  They are the ones who ensure that what the business wants to achieve with its customers actually happens.  If they do not deliver the product or service as the business owner intends, the business is not fulfilling its promise to customers, and that likely causes them to be unhappy.  When they do deliver it, customers are happy, and the business thrives.

That reinforces the owner’s actions to work on the business rather than in it and to hire and train people in the manner that she has been doing.

Are you working on your business or in it?  Have you hired and trained your staff to treat customers as you want them to be treated?

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What example do you have of how you are working on your business? E-mail me your answer.                     

Are You Listening?

A week ago Tuesday my roommate was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.  After hours in emergency, she spent three days in critical care and three days in intermediate care.  She is currently in rehab.  During some very tense hours, I had several conversations with medical personnel, some of which were helpful and some frustrating.  Reflecting upon these interactions, I was reminded of the importance of listening.  I wanted to share my thoughts with you on the parts of the conversations that were not helpful and those that were positive.

The most frustrating and least helpful part of these conversations was too much talking at me.  Instead of taking time to listen, these people just kept pushing and reiterating what they wanted to say.  They were consumed with stating their points of view.  They did not seem interested in hearing what I had to say. If I had the audacity to question what they said, they dismissed me.  Their message that they were right and anything I had to say was wrong came through loud and clear.  Talking to them was not a two-way communication; it was like talking to a wall. 

They made me remember a quote from Zig Ziglar.  “We have two ears and one mouth.  We ought to use them in that ratio.  We should listen twice as much as we talk.”

Those who did listen asked questions.  They used the questions to clarify what I had asked, reflect back what I had said, and gather additional information.  All of these moved our communications forward and truly created an exchange.  I felt engaged, not isolated.  They gained information that could help my roommate.

As a result of these exchanges, they showed genuine interest in helping her and in speaking with me to do so. 

In the hurried pace of our lives, sometimes we don’t intend not to show interest.  We just neglect to take time to listen and ask questions.  We may not intend to frustrate our customers. 

But we do.

Being the recipient of not being heard prompted me to think about listening.  I was reminded how much we like and respect those who take the time to listen.  I realized how differently the customer feels when he or she thinks that a complaint is heard.  While you as a businessperson may not be able to change a situation for various reasons, the customer will likely accept the result more easily when you have a two-way communication.        

Take time to listen to your customers.  Don’t pretend to listen.  Actually engage your customers by asking questions and showing genuine interest.  If you have truly listened, after every interaction you will be able to state what you learned. 

End your conversations by asking yourself, “What do I know now that I didn’t know before that conversation?”

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What example do you have of how listening built a customer relationship? E-mail me your answer.

How Does Your Business’s Web Site Measure Up?

“We just uploaded a new Web site,” Dave said as I walked to the door.  “Take a look at it and let me know what you think.”

“I will,” I replied.

“And this site,” he added, “we can change ourselves instead of needing to contact someone else to do it.”

“That is great!” I heartily approved.

When I returned to my office, I set aside a few minutes and eagerly opened Dave’s site.  I was impressed.  The site accomplished my top three criteria for a Web site.  First, the site immediately communicated Dave’s business‘s unique selling proposition.  Using attractive, appealing, and inviting images and text, the site showed the beauty of Dave’s facility. From the time you drive into the parking lot and with each step you take throughout the building and the gardens, Dave’s place vibrates magnificence. Every bit is meticulously groomed.  Dave’s staff members are alert to keeping both the gardens and the building looking their best all day long.  The photos on the site accurately reflect this attention to detail and the resulting loveliness of the place.

Second, the site is very easy to navigate.  A visitor can quickly find information on the facility, the gardens, and holding an event at the place.  Whether the visitor wants to have a wedding, banquet, or meeting, examples of each, the availability of amenities, and how to reserve the space are right at the visitor’s fingertips.  That gives the visitor what he or she needs to make a decision.

Finally, every business owner ought to be able to update the site in-house.  The only time someone outside the business needs to touch a site is when a major upgrade is being done.  Otherwise someone who works in the business, understands it, and has daily contact with the owner and/or manager is the one to do the changes.  That gives the business more control, the ability to act quickly, and the maximum use of the site.

I clearly saw that the site had been designed by an outsider looking in, thinking through what a visitor would want to know, and approaching the site from the viewpoint of a customer.  Since Dave has always been extremely customer-focused, that did not surprise me.  His business’s new site now also reflects that attitude. 

How does your Web site measure up with these three criteria?  Does it project your business’s unique selling proposition?  Is it easy to navigate?  Can you make changes to it in-house? 

Have a customer look at it and answer the first two questions.  Let me know the answers to all three.  Take a look at Dave’s business’s site at thefloriangardens.com.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How does your Web site measure up with these three criteria?  E-mail me your answer.

Who Comes First?

The other day I was at the service counter to mail a book for my publishing company.  I had handed the person behind the counter my package, and she had placed the package on the scale to weigh it when the phone rang.  She answered the phone and listened to why the person was calling.  She did not tell that person that she was in the process of helping another customer.

She continued her conversation for a time.  Suddenly she hurried over to the computer in front of me, grabbed a post-it-note, and hastily wrote down a credit card number with expiration date.  She input the credit card number she had written into the computer with an amount of $4.29.  She thanked the person on the phone, finished her conversation, and hung up.  Then she turned back to me, apologized, and told me the situation.    

The person on phone had gotten home with an item that didn’t get rung up and, thus, had not paid for it.  She was calling to pay the $4.29 for the item.

I think the lady behind the service counter had become quite flustered when the person on the phone had stated that she had not paid for all her items and wanted to do so.  All the store employee could think of was getting the money as quickly as possible.  She acted as if the customer might hang up and not pay if the transaction was not handled quickly.

I became a secondary concern.

As I am certain you are thinking, the store employee made an error after she answered the phone.  When she realized what she needed to do for the customer on the phone, she ought to have told the customer that she was helping another customer.  She should have asked the customer on the phone to wait and returned to help me.  She also could have asked me if I would mind if she handled the customer on the phone before she finished processing my package.  Either way, she was discourteous to me by leaving me waiting while she handled the phone customer. 

She also erred in writing down the credit card number and expiration date in front of me on a post-it-note.  That number could have been copied by me or someone behind me.  I did not see her rip up post-it-note when she was finished with it, either.  Her exposure of a credit card number with an expiration date left the store liable with the credit card company had someone stolen that information.  A error of that nature could cost the store a great deal.  She would have been smarter to input the credit card number directly into the computer without writing it down. 

Reviewing this situation, I thought that the store’s management needs to check on the training of their personnel at the service counter, partly for liability issues and mostly for customer attention.  The service counter employee definitely made me feel that I was not the most important customer even though she was into processing my package when the phone rang. 

How are your employees handling customers?  Who comes first?  Are they exposing your company to liability unnecessarily?

Check on this.  See what errors are being made.  Correct them through training to keep customers happy and reduce your company’s risk.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is Who comes first with your employees?  E-mail me your answer.

It’s Not Business as Usual, Anymore

In a recent conversation, a customer of mine was telling me about some bold moves she was considering in her business.  “These moves would better serve my profitable customers,” she stated.  “They would also give my staff the opportunity to give their full attention to my customers.”

“You know your customers,” I agreed.  “You also know what you and your staff need to do to give them your best efforts.”

“Remember that conference I recently attended?” she asked.

“I do.  How did that go?” I wondered.

“We had one session where we shared what we were doing that was working well,” she responded.  “When I told them about the changes I had already made in my business, they were shocked.  None of them could believe that those changes wouldn’t hurt my bottom line.  When I told them that since making the changes I have consistently had double-digit increases in sales and a stronger bottom line, they didn‘t know what to say.”

“I’m not surprised,” I offered.  “Most businesspeople have not identified their target market.  They take the customers who come in the door and don’t seek out the profitable ones.  They haven’t pinpointed their profitable customers, either.  They’ve never created a marketing plan and, thus, do not use their marketing efforts to cultivate more business with customers who will bring them profitable revenue.”

“That certainly was true with them,” she said.

We operate our businesses in such a dynamic environment today that if you are conducting your business as you always have done without stopping to take a look at what’s happening with your profitable customers, your business is likely headed for trouble.  To find out how your business fares, answer these questions:

Who are your profitable customers? 
What percentage of your customers are profitable? 
What do your profitable customers want? 
What can you do to transact more business with them?

Today knowing and catering to your profitable customers makes the difference in a business’s profit.  If you are not tailoring your business activity to your profitable customers, your business will lose profit.  Your being out of touch with your profitable customers will negatively affect your revenue and may be the demise of your enterprise.

It’s not business as usual, anymore.   

This week's marketing trivia challenge is Who are your profitable customers?  E-mail me your answer.