Caveat to Complexity

With each step of more complex technology there is a caveat for the participant. The division of labor and specialization of pin making was vastly more productive, but for the worker there was a deadening routinization of work. With the assembly line there was a forced march pace for the worker, along with a limited sense of accomplishment if all you were doing was putting on the rear view mirror.
With the Internet, and especially Social Networking, there is an illusion of “relationships” and “friends” that is built online. You may have 264 “friends” or 537 connections. At the very least, certain dangers must be borne in mind with Social Networking. The first I’ll categorize as Tenous Connections, the second as “Living in a Virtual World and the third as “Are We Men or Mitochondria.
Tenous Connections – Are the friends or connections persons that we really know? Would we recommend each of them to someone else as reputable and skilled business persons? Would we trust them with information about our business? If the answers to these questions about these individuals is no, what is the nature of the friends and connections we make on Social Networking sites?
Virtual World – Is the Social Networking space that we are working in allowing us to achieve more ROI for our business, or is it a virtual world that beckons to us and pulls us more and more into it, without producing sufficient tangible results for our business, or results that take so much time to achieve that it is counter-productive?
Are We Men or Mitochondria? – It appears that the power source of the cell (for all nucleated cells) in living organisms, the mitochondria, once had an individual life of its own, instead of being just a subservient organelle in a cell. It sometimes seems to me that when I’m on the Internet too long, especially when I am involved in Social Networking interactions, that I am losing my autonomy and am driven by external sources, like the mitochondria. Are we, like the assembly line workers of Henry Ford, vulnerable to a loss of autonomy, this time not due to physical production quotas, but due to our captivity to the Social Networking space and its tenous, but ever-increasing connections?

Do you give sirsees and lagniappes? Southern in its usage, a sirsee is a small, inexpensive gift that lets the recipient know you’re thinking of them. A lagniappe – a French  word commonly used in Louisiana – is a small little extra given as a thank you. Business people can give sirsees and lagniappes to their customers as a way to  promote and grow their relationships.

Although they’re similar – small, inexpensive gifts – they’re given at different times and for different reasons.

Sirsees (pronounced SIR-see; no one is sure how it’s spelled though: sirsee, sursee, surcy) are sent out of the blue, given unexpectedly. We usually send little thank you gifts to our best customers during Christmas, but what if you did it at unusual times of the year? Send your customers a small sapling on Arbor Day, a flag pin on Flag Day, or a local coffee shop gift card on their birthday. (Vote with your dollars and support your local area merchants!)

The sirsee does a couple of things for you. First, it puts your name and face in front of your customer one more time. It’s a reminder that you exist, you’ve done  business with them, and that you’re kind and helpful. It further cements the relationship, and hopefully takes it to a more personal level than just vendor-client. (Remember, people buy from people they like.)

Don’t just give one to your best customers. They already like you, and you already have a great relationship with them. Instead, give them to some of your newer customers and smaller customers; they could become some of your best customers too.

The added bonus is that in some cases, a sirsee can cost a lot less than a personal visit in terms of time on the road, mileage, gas, and even lunch or coffee. If your time is typically worth $25 an hour, and you spend an hour driving to and from your appointment, spend an hour meeting with your client, and it cost $5 in gas just to get here, you just spent $55. Plus, in two hours, you only put yourself in front of one client.

But for $5 apiece, you could reach 11 clients for the same amount of money, and get it done in two hours. How’s that for efficiency? The sirsee should not take place of a client visit. But if you meet with them once a month, you can add a 13th “visit” to your schedule with that $5 gift.

Lagniappe (pronounced LAN-yap) is another term we get from the South. It’s a French term (by way of the American Spanish phrase, la ñapa) that means an extra or unexpected gift, usually given to a customer by a merchant.

When you go to a restaurant and they give you a little mint with your bill, that’s a lagniappe. When Enterprise Rent-A-Car gives you a free ride to their office, that’s a  lagniappe. When a printer throws in an extra 100 business cards with your 1,000 card order, that’s a lagniappe.

It’s a great way to show customers that you appreciate their business without breaking out the thank you cards for every order. But you don’t need to do it every day, or it becomes expected, and doesn’t have the same effect when you only do it once in a while.

A lagniappe is not a special offer, like giving a free piece of software with every laptop purchase, or real estate agents who gave away HD TVs with every home purchase. It’s small, it’s a spur of the moment thing, and it’s not expensive. (Although I’m accepting any and all HD TVs any real estate agents want to send my way.)

Sirsees and lagniappes are excellent ways to improve customer service without breaking the bank. Done properly, they’ll increase your business, because your customers will know you care about them, and that you will always do that little extra to earn and keep their business. In exchange, the customers may return a little more frequently, spend a little more money, and tell their friends about the great experience they had with you.

There are two misconceptions about our businesses which we should guard against. First, is my business really what I think it is? Secondly, do my customers perceive my business as I do?

Am I really able to view my business clearly and articulate its business model? Because our business has grown with us, we may be living in the past with respect to our understanding of our company. Construction companies may have been our most important customers in the past, and we may erroneously overrate them now, because of an emotional sweet spot we have for those businesses crucial to our development.

We have a gut-level feel of our business and our priorities for action. It is necessary to add a systematic checklist to generate a more objective view of our business — customers, competitors, most valued assets, etc. This checklist must enable us to examine each part of our business and its contribution to our profits and its specific ROI. The analysis from such a checklist is less prone to historical bias and contamination from an aura about customers we like best.

The second question — how do customers view your business — relates to potential misperceptions of what your business is. Your goal may be to sell items to the affluent, but the message given off by your product and advertising may be middle tier.

We need to ask our customers what message is given by our company, explicitly or implicitly. A questionnaire to past customers or just a few incisive questions to potential prospects may help us pinpoint the mismatch between what we wish our business to be and how it is in the minds of potential or actual customers.

For information on the Business to Business Marketing Seminar to be held by Indy Smallbiz with major sponsorship by PS Executive Center, Inc. and sponsorship by Redwall Live, will take place February 26, 2009. For more information about the seminar, email johng@indysmallbiz.com

I would like to thank Lou Begnel, of FEBE (Entrepreneur Group) for his help in identifying Blogs for reproduction in Indy Smallbiz.

John Gifford can be reached at johng@indysmallbiz.com.

Everyone has written an article about how to cope with, withstand, thrive during, or ignore the current econonic situation, so I might as well write one of my own.

There are 3 focus areas I am going to highlight as they relate to the economic downturn:
1) Use of like-minded groups to help you weather the economic storm
2) Targeting the affluent demographic
3) Not every lead is a good lead

It is important to think positively, while the media (not Indy Smallbiz) focus on bankruptcies, lowest quarterly earnings, and other dire and dour projections.

It is also necessary to focus on most efficient strategies for your business and actual opportunities that are placed before you by the slowing economy (higher interest by persons in risk management, whether insurance, investing, or health).

Finally, the sluggishness and lassitude induced by the doom-sayers has to be counter-acted by continuing to do what you need to do. It is important for you to be a member of a group that has these three goals in mind. A group that you meet with that focuses on actionables, that looks for the positive opportunities, and which holds everyone accountable  is a necessity. I am not talking a particular brand name group, but a monthly, if not bi-weekly group, is needed during this pessimistic period.

When I think of the current economy, I look for places where there is still money. The metaphor I will use for money will be snow. In Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in the Winter and on into April, everything is covered with snow. As we move into May, much of the snow is melting — that is the start of our economic downturn (“money is melting”). As we continue into June and July, the melt continues.

In August, we have the greatest meltdown. Still, in those high, narrow ravines where the sun almost never reaches, snow is still present — this corresponds to the affluent. These relicts of wealth, the affluent, may have less money now that before, but they still have a lot. If you have a business that can target the affluent with products or services that are a business within your business, you may be able to find snow in the ravine — money — even in August. Especially if you have a clever means of marketing or packaging it — affordable luxury. Or, package it with a “green” slant (induce guilt) or combine with a charity for an event for marketing. Look for where the snow still is, and you may be able to make a snowball, or even a snowman (snowperson).

Even in a difficult recession it pays to maintain your differentiation, rather than accepting all customers (granted, there may be a little fudging around the edges). By making clear who you are may go far in maintaining your existing customers, because they see you are a specialist uniquely equipped to meet their needs. By maintaining focus and providing add-ons to your existing customers, you are able to hang on to them, and may even sell them additional products/services.

Furthermore, your likelihood of receiving referrals will be enhanced. When the economy improves, your business will be even better because you have been defining your brand  carefully and increasing mindshare during the down periods.

I would like to call your attention to the Business Seminars and Events Calendar on page 17. If someone has a Small Business-related seminar, please email me the information at
johng@indysmallbiz.com.

On page 9, we have the first of the Blog of the Month, which is written by Robby Slaughter. Each month we’ll reprint an online blog. If you wish to nominate someone’s particularly
interesting blog piece, again email me at johng@indysmallbiz.com

The Jeffrey Gitomer Seminar on Nov. 7 was very enjoyable and would like to thank Jeffrey for his cordial treatment of the Staff of Indy Smallbiz. Starting with this issue, we are proud to have exclusive rights in Indianapolis to run Jeffrey Gitomer’s Column. Also, thanks to Sara Riggenbach of his staff for work in bringing about the collaboration with Indy Smallbiz.

John Gifford can be reached at
johng@indybiz.com.