Customer Engagement Marketing

Customer Engagement Marketing

Connecting with customers moves your brand ahead. Engaging with customers requires a creative, sustained and dedicated effort. Earning customers produces growth. Retaining customers is high priority. A retained customer spreads the word relating to your quality, innovation and proven history.
Customer retention returns customers that have experienced the efforts of your successful group. Superior treatment allows retained customers to return year after year to purchase your products and services. A retained customer becomes an extension of your brand and becomes an evangelist that helps your team to identify and win new customers.

Introducing new customers to your brand takes time, focus and investment. Investing in new customers is a wise choice. Like all expenditures, success is benefited by a marketing aim that hits the center of your audience. While retained customers make up the core of your business, new customers are the springboard toward growth. A diligent effort to acquire new customers is a must, yet at all times the service provided to retain customers should remain in balance. Pouring the company glass half full with opportunity does little good if retained customers spill out. Your competition is more than happy to clean up the puddle of customers left on the table.

Understanding your customers is the component that breeds interaction. Engaging customers is vital. Retained and new customers that are engaged with your brand sustain growth. If your customers are successful then your company is more likely to be successful. Successful companies attract the right customers, and mutual benefits expand to transform new customers into retained customers. Success is contagious.

For many companies, marketing takes on a narrow focus. Products are made and ads are placed. Too often companies believe that customers sit around thinking only about your brand. The reality is that customers are faced with myriad choices. Dreaming nightly about the products and services of only one company most likely occurs when a customer feels slighted. Your customers have much on their plates, and the goal of standing out must consider all of the distractions customers face daily. Budget, family responsibilities, and competition from all of the companies in your niche market vie for customer attention. How can your company possibly be remembered 24/7?

Customer Engagement is the answer. A cycle that engages your customers in a repeated fashion creates excitement. Accepting that you must reach out to your customers on a continuous basis is paramount to growth. Once you truly accept that customers have much to think about, you can create engagement by understanding the challenge. The nuances of your obstacles may vary, but the goal is simply to accept that if you want your products to be remembered, then a continuous stream of reminders should be delivered to the doorstep of your base. Customers come to you due to need. Solid marketing draws them in through brand visibility. Giving them a reason to come back is obvious—creating specific retention strategies is the golden ticket.

Engagement depends on how well your team aims at the target presented by your customers. The truth is that customers are really unable to stand around all day thinking of your company. Often, companies make a critical error in judgment by thinking that giant groups place your brand in the center of their world.

Reality dictates that your customers are extremely busy. It takes all of their energy to maintain “their” company. Your products and services are nearly an afterthought as compared to the demands faced by people you covet the most. While we all would like our brand to be at the center of the competitive circle, the moments that a broad base of customers are really staring at your brand occur more often when your group plans an event or promotion.

Creating a promotional ticker tape parade every day is difficult and costly. Even if you can pull off historic events daily, then the brand exposure created becomes the expected norm from your customers. In other words, customers simply are unable to place your brand on a pedestal on a daily basis—they are busy. For your customers to be successful they are required to participate in a well-rounded life. Your customers need family and friends. They need a variety of products to establish the customer support that allows them to flourish.

Center Circle Marketing creates opportunity for your team. Strategic events that place your brand front and center create an energized and memorable “Face In” customer experience.

While there are an unlimited number of ways to place your brand in the Center Circle of marketing, planning tilts the odds in your favor. Trade Shows allow you to place your brand in front of large groups by targeting customers you want most. When customers make the effort to travel to your booth, a “full attention” opportunity commences.

Your potential new customer, or your retained customer, is facing in at your trade show booth. Astute companies arm their booth with new products, tools and services. Companies that succeed realize that relationship building is a high priority. Successful companies are prepped for the arrival of trade show customers. The full arsenal is presented fully in your booth by your people that can cement relationships in a face to face meeting. Companies that truly grasp how rare it is to have customers singularly focused on your brand prevail. Seize the moment, as your competition is probably one aisle away.

Special events bring “face in” customers to you. If you know the needs of your customers, then planning a monthly or yearly event creates real engagement. Special events put on by your organization are energized by your customers. Open houses or educational seminars designed to share knowledge and build relationships are proven. Timing your event to coincide with another local target market event will help increase the number of customers that attend.

Accessing customers at their place of business ensures engagement. While travel comes with expense, the cost may convert a potential new customer into a retained customer.

Sharing specific knowledge with your customers is a Center Circle activity. Creating original content and placing it on your company website gives your customers a reason to visit your site often on a regular basis. A steady stream of original ideas identifies your company as a trusted advisor. Knowledge sharing promotes “Centered” sales while providing a meaningful service. Content with real impact whets the appetite, prompting your customers to come back for the full meal deal of education. Customers are starved for real information that provides deep understanding.

Daily, your customers are pulled in many directions. The wallet share you gain is directly proportional to how well you engage customers by blasting impressions from multiple directions. Customers wander away from your brand in their effort to keep up with the demands of their day. Our goal is to provide direction that turns them toward us.

Companies increase brand visibility with a continuous stream of promotion and new products. Effort Marketing is ongoing, and initiative takes brands out of headquarters and makes them a visible sign on the road of discovery.

Companies that take their brand out of their headquarters and onto the road create more face time resulting in meaningful engagement.

Taking advantage of social media interaction by providing sustained original content helps your customers to place your brand on the front burner, helping them to focus through the sea of competitive distraction.

Support from print ads, product catalogs and a dynamic website expands the horizon, allowing your team to reach in to address customer needs. Products are enhanced when the distribution of information is heard by the customers you rely upon. Branding that is coupled with relationship building catapults your company to the middle of the circle.

Understanding that your customers actually think about things other than your company is an opportunity. Groups that clear the path of customer distractions become partners and trusted advisors. Inverting the Marketing Circle focuses your company in a “Face Out” direction, attracting new and retained customers to your Center Circle. Ongoing effort will complete your circle with the combined energy of customers that power your brand.

Go Forward – Move Ahead
Jeff Butcher

The Twelve Month Trade Show

The Twelve Month Trade Show

Social media, video chats, email and the phone are dandy, but meeting in person is the way to engage fully with customers. Face to face is the way to get business done, as dynamic conversation opens the door to new possibilities.
When you can have real time in front of your customers, versus screen time in front of your screen of choice, expansion of ideas results in real profit—both personal and financial. Answers from an email question lead to an end. Live conversations lead to beginnings.
If you are going to go through the fiscal and physical expense of making a customer visit, then being prepared is an important step. Simply showing up can leave a negative impression, and your time and expense can be wasted. Plan a strategy, bring some visuals, hit your key points and leave behind materials that allow your customer to remember you the next day.
Since meeting face to face is undeniably crucial to relationship building and growth, wise leaders plan a strategy to reach as many customers and key vendors during the year as possible. Delegating travel helps, but often a visit from a top leader in an organization creates the questions to attract long term and substantial business. All the players coming together in one place creates an abundance of new ideas.
Traveling to every customer is far from financially possible, and the time away comes at a price. The solution is participating in an industry trade show. Every industry has a variety of trade shows, and attending them all falls in the “tough” category.
In racing, the Performance Racing Industry Show is built to cultivate face to face meetings.
Indianapolis is an intimate location. Plus, social gatherings are within walking distance—I would bet that business that begins in the show hall is followed up by intense relationship building out on the town.
The value of PRI is big—customers from all parts of the world come to see your products. More importantly, customers come to build relationships, and the products you present are simply the vehicle utilized to cement relationships both new and old. International customers swarm toward new products as the worldwide crowd has limited opportunity to meet your group in person.
Exhibiting at a trade show means that you are there to participate versus to just hang out. Because small business is inherently understaffed, preparation for the show often turns into a last minute thrash.
Waiting to build your show presentation until the last minute devalues the expense and energy required to make a true impact at the show. Your twelve month calendar should have tasks embedded each month to maximize benefit and minimize the craziness that occurs if you wait until the last minute for show planning.
Strategy to maximize your show presence should begin while the current year show is in progress. If your company is committed to being at the show year after year then it is extremely wise to begin preparation for next year’s trade show while the current year show is still in progress. Customers arrive expecting to see your new products and your people. “What’s New” should be the featured section of your booth.
Amortizing knowledge gained in one year over the life of your business creates a return that pays back year after year. A case in point would be realizing that the dealer you signed up at the show will likely be with you for years. Treated properly, the dealer signed up this year will remain with your business for eternity. Astute leaders place maximum effort into respecting their customers, and most often a new dealer becomes a lifelong representative for your product line.
Your loyal employees grasp the need for customer retention, so customer attraction is a worthy goal at any trade show.
Show preparation is vital, but in no case should plans for the future interrupt relationship building. The trick is to double up on planning details as you go. Building a file while face to face with shipping companies, hotel staff, and trade show services can all be duplicated for the following year while you are doing the work required for the current year. A few simple notes taken along the way will allow you to make needed adjustments that you can implement after the show.
“How many catalogs did we give away last year”? Writing it down ensures that you are efficient the next time around.
Planning time for the following year can be dramatically reduced if you jot down the improvements you would like for the next show that comes in a quick twelve months. How many years in a row have you been standing in your freshly built booth only to ask yourself about how you need better catalog racks—just as you had said last year and the year before and so on.
Saving time is great, yet the real win comes in creating a better booth in future years, and simple documentation will maximize the return on your investment while presenting your company in the best light.
Customers have traveled far to see you and your products—being prepared is vital to winning new business. Note taking should be moderated so that real ideas make it into future booths. If you overwhelm yourself with too many notes you risk skipping those items that are most critical.
Once you return home from any show your tired body is welcomed by an overflowing email inbox. Following up on all those great leads you garnered at the show is job one. By the time you get through the pile of work and family needs waiting for you—the chance to miss ordering those new catalog racks is a vague thought that evaporates through the demands of your daily routine.
The goal is to take action as needs are noticed. A simple paper tablet works—placing a task with a due date on your smartphone, tablet or laptop is efficient. Those pop-up reminders give you timely reminders to implement continuous improvement.
Building a file “as you go” takes more discipline than time. A few photos of your booth from different angles will be a needed asset as you plan for the following year. Keeping any kind of note taking device nearby improves organization and action. When a great idea pops into your head you can send yourself an email from your phone, allowing you to organize in the comfort of your office.
What corrections and improvements are needed? What wish list things do you want? What was simply forgotten? How many catalogs did we give away? Utilizing a digital device with date reminder takes seconds, and the device can do the remembering for you while focusing your time on customers.
With discipline, you can take your “built as you go” notes and delegate as many items as possible in your post show review meeting. Taking on the “must have” projects should begin well in advance of the next show, and planning should convert from a last minute thrash to a twelve month regimented process that has at least one improvement task being accomplished each and every month preceding the next show.
Many arrangements can be renewed if they are to your liking (hotels, shipping, electricity, signage, booth services, etc.). Improved display items can be ordered, and you can build the show for the following year while everything is still fresh in your mind. Standing in your booth, with the visuals that provide obvious clues to improvement, makes it easy to document benefits for the next time around.
It is amazing how hard it is to remember important things when you are in your office, but how familiar those things become as they scream back into your memory the second you return to the show hall. Unfortunately, once you arrive at your booth it is too late to implement obvious improvements that you forgot about from the prior year.
Show arrangements handled efficiently provide extra energy that can be placed in your people and in your customers. It is equally important to document “wins” that you discover. Setting a positive reminder for the following year ensures that you can repeat success.
Meeting people at their location allows them to demonstrate the pride they have in their business. You are able to see them in action, and sharing knowledge is based on what you witness with your own eyes. The goal is to accept that visiting all of your customers is difficult, and you should respect that your customers will face many pressures and distractions during your visit—time is precious when you are welcomed into the building of your customers.
Trade shows are extremely efficient and provide an environment where customers are primed to do business. A customer that attends a trade show is ready to learn and leaves distractions from home behind. Trade show attendees are programmed to do business, and the formatted schedule of the show creates a subtle deadline to get things done now versus later.
The Performance Racing Industry Show brings with it the advantage of excitement. The entire industry builds a city within the Indianapolis Convention Center in a matter of hours. The booths glimmer with new products and real people bask in the hope of a successful new year. “The Show” is filled with customers that arrive with focus and purpose. Real people create a unified message that comes with the vision to improve the industry as a whole.
The singular purpose of Exhibitors and Attendees is structured, as everyone in the hall is there to learn and grow. The show becomes the Game Day arena. The players come together in playoff form ready to take advantage of the place where business gets done.
PRI provides an experience that is unique. The electricity is the result of months of planning that is executed in an almost invisible fashion by the PRI Staff. Exhibitors put in equal effort, resulting in an event that is a yearly gathering to share information for mutual gain.
Since you know that the stadium will be filled with eager buyers, a playoff atmosphere is ensured. Naturally, your team should come prepared and ready to play. The Show is one week on the calendar. Success comes to the people that have come ready to perform. The event is the stage that provides opportunity. Planning is a twelve month effort.
Companies that immerse themselves in value-building exercises excel. Absorbing benefit is contagious. Evolution comes to those that open the doors of opportunity. Attending the multitude of scheduled show events leads to other events, both scheduled and random, that many are yet to discover. Finding opportunity at PRI is easy. Growth is as simple as navigating the highly organized PRI Show Guide.
True winners at the show are those that leave spectators behind and commit to participating. There are several doors to choose from—open one up and take a chance on what you will find inside.
Go Forward – Move Ahead
Jeff Butcher

NW Racing Legends

NW Racing Legends
Note: This article is a bit of a personal story, but the content applies in business. Or, you can go with that I wrote it just to make a few people I admire know that their lives matter. Performance Racing Industry was kind enough to publish it - and I am glad they did.

Admiration of legends captivates participants that aspire to achieve a fraction of the greatness displayed by the leaders of any game.

Arnold Palmer continues to amaze, and his contribution is backed by the striking power of his loyal army of fans. Arnie’s Army lives on as his living legend continues to grow. Golf is his game—he made it so.

Games ask us to perform at our highest level in the face of the best competition. Putting the white ball in the cup is surprisingly similar to being given a cup after winning a race.

When our leaders move beyond the playing limits of their respective sport, the true legends continue to excel for the duration of the career of life. Learning from their wisdom is what motivates mortals and stirs the passion of people that aspire to feel a fraction of the greatness that legends display. The playing days of greats stretches into the grandeur of eternity.

Arnold Palmer is the pro that continues to lead. He continues to teach, lead and inspire by simply being himself. His mere presence produces the awe of greatness that has been hand woven from the fabric of royalty. Luckily, the legend that is Arnold Palmer is able to feel the reward of appreciation, as his legend is still etching itself in time.

Arnold Palmer played with style—his own style. The perspiration of his legendary swing is replaced by the brilliance of sustained inspiration. Arnold was the spectacle, and now he is the pinnacle. Years of wisdom sets a bar that is the envy of peers and casual fans alike. Those he touches feel important, and that is why he is firmly established in the lore of historical prominence.

Arnold represents a playing era which places an indelible stamp in time. In all sport, it is natural to compare the era of today to that of the past. The debates that competition in the past was fiercer than that of today will rage on until the sun swallows the earth. The gravity of time has allowed the grains of sand to transfer poetically from Palmer’s hourglass of life. The remaining grains on top of his hourglass may be less in quantity, but every grain is packed with history. The spark of Palmer’s playing days is now the embers of history. We can appreciate the legend that provokes positive emotion.

Racing has many eras. Many a racing bench has heard the argument that racing was better in years past. The endless debate is what keeps the green one waving and the checkered one falling. Thinking back to the past reminds racing elders of days when racing was better. Rivalries were stronger and competition was fierce. Grandstands were packed and fans were filled with passion demonstrated by alcohol-enhanced fist fights of the day.

Competitors of today will insist that it is harder than ever to win. Technology and higher expenses make winning a real achievement. When I think back to the leaders of the past I can think of those that committed to getting the most. At the time, pure focus on winning didn’t allow me to appreciate the contributions of so many that sacrificed so I could compete. Winning was the only thought, and it blinded me from noticing all those that did the selfless work of putting on the show.

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Racing in the Northwest is still filled with great racers, but the competition and events are more fragmented. Fans still come, but the grandstands are dotted with too much empty space, and squeezing together to make room for more butts on the bleachers has yet to return. Car counts in the past were strong, and my series had full fields. A top five finish was hard fought every night out.

I wish I could go back and see my leaders in the way that I admire Arnold Palmer. The Northwest racing scene has many definable eras. In my day I could count on Melinda Moulaison to have her Northwest Racing Enterprises parts trailer at every event. Melinda knew what parts to stock, and she carried inventory that serviced the NW Tour series.

Making money was secondary to ensuring that every car was ready for the green flag. Melinda worked hard and ran her business with the passion of a race team. More than once, Melinda supplied parts on a handshake so that all teams could make the starting lineup. Melinda was vital to the series and her participation was about passion—financial stuff was secondary. She prepared her parts trailer as if it were going to line up on the starting grid. I wish I could have been more vocal in relating to what Melinda did for the Northwest racing scene, as she did a lot. So did Doug Jefferies, Dave Fuge and many more.

The peers of my racing era worked hard, and as time goes on some of the people I battled at the track found that health issues placed too few grains of sand in their hourglass. John King was a tough racer and prominent Northwest crew chief. He was also a good family man, and his wife Beth was with him every step of the way. Winning and losing made zero difference to Beth—pride in her family was her definition of winning. John did the things to make her proud often.

John King won his share of races as a NW crew chief. John worked with many, including NW legend Ron Eaton. King was knowledgeable about every bolt on a race car. While battling health issues, John moved out of the crew chief role and took on officiating at South Sound Speedway. He bent all the rules as a competitor, and his knowledge served the South Sound tech line well.

Just a few months ago I had a discussion with South Sound promoter Nick Behn. We chatted about how John went about the business of tech. Nick talked about how there was a balance in applying the rules so that competition was fair, but applying the rules rigidly sent too many cars home.  John, like all tech officials, was underappreciated and had to battle teams relating to the application of rules—he had to battle the promoter, too, that searched for the balance of fairness and full fields. King was tough, but being fair came from his core.

King’s toughness helped him battle cancer publically for a long time. I am not sure which battle was tougher. Enforcing rules is extremely hard; battling health is something John just did—fanfare not required. John King was a racer, and he made decisions based on his unwavering support for the sport he lived. Recently, cancer shortened his time, but the tenacity he displayed gave him the resolve to officiate in the style he believed in. John King left his mark, and wife Beth knows the health battle was hard.

Often, dealing with racers in the tech line was harder for John, as he refused to let health dictate his actions. Racers took their toll, but cancer took a NW legend before his peers could truly recognize the great contribution he made in racing. I wish we took notice of legends while they could enjoy a few accolades. Wife Beth knows and can always be proud of the legend that lived in her home. King John lives on, and his family can take at least one accolade from me.

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The NW Tour, known as “The Tour,” was a NASCAR sanctioned series, and Daytona provided the framework back in the late eighties. NW competitors put on a show and traveled 20 times a year, bringing big-time Stock Car racing to small West Coast towns. The yearly Northwest vs. Southwest clash in Phoenix was the Super Bowl, pitting the NW against the California-dominated SW Tour.

Daytona is a long way from the Northwest, and their rules simply didn’t consider the needs and limitations faced by West Coast racing. The sands of “The Beach” drifted differently than the dunes of the West.

I often found myself debating the color of grey when it came to getting my cars through the NW tech line. Cheating the rules was never my style, and I always prepared cars between the lines of the unwritten rules. Admittedly, I pushed the limits to keep up with the competition that had more money in their tow rigs than my teams had in their entire operations. Burnt green money colored the trees of California. Finding green on rain-painted Washington trees was easy. Finding NW green on numbered paper was elusive.

I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but Northwest Tour Series Director Gib Repass was the unsung legend of my era in NW racing. His faithful army came to battle and could be counted on week after week and year after year. Daytona considered anything west of the Rockies to be California, creating language barriers that left much up to interpretation.

Washington, Oregon, and California were just one big state from the view of the world headquarters of Stock Car racing. As the rule book traveled across country, something was lost in its implementation as it landed in the NW hands of Gib Repass.  

More than once I found myself “discussing” the definition of legal. Apparently I pushed the window, but always made it through the tech line with flying colors, or maybe with colorful metaphors flying—I can’t remember! Gib often saw things in black and white while I painted my shades of grey at least 50 ways.

The Gib Repass-led “Tour” used Arnold Palmer like wisdom to contain the personalities of a variety of race teams. Gib was an old-school guy and a good man. Repass understood how to blend the needs of well-funded teams and skillfully hand-tailored rules for teams with fewer resources, giving them a fair chance to compete.

Gib understood the needs of the hard-working lower buck teams, as he was a former driver and car owner that scrapped and scrimped so that he could race his blue #40. He knew racing from all sides. His driving and car owner knowledge allowed him to view the work and expenses all too well. Gib gave the benefit of the doubt often and left it behind. Never once did he use a break given in the past to support a call in the present. What was done was done, and each week was new.

More than once I battled Repass, as I would fight for my vision of the rules. Gib was sneaky smart, and he applied rules in a fashion that created more than full fields. “B” mains were common, and his choices made sure the playing field was level. Even when he helped out a low buck team, he balanced the field with amazing dexterity, making sure that one-eye-closed calls didn’t affect race day outcomes.

Today, the A mains in the NW are half full. B mains are yet to return, even though fields are beginning to grow. The passion and rivalries of yesteryear are on the mend, but something is missing in comparison. This era is still searching for its stamp.

Gib lived the small-town life and ran a big-time series. He had the unwavering support of his loving wife Jean. Jean Repass would manage the “Tour” finances and checked teams in the back gate with the stability and consistency that allowed Gib to focus on his Tour Director demands. Her devotion and quiet demeanor made it easy to see how they had a life-long marriage.

Gib assembled a loyal tech team that was part of his entourage, and it seemed his tech team was together forever. Roy Selby, Jim Michelson, Norm and GB were mainstays on the Repass officiating crew—there were many more, but these guys are the ones I liked to pick on.

Behind the scenes the NW tech guys had their wives contributing. Much unseen work is required to put on a traveling circus each week—year-end banquets were bonus material for added work. All of the invisible work was done for the pure joy of it, as getting paid any real money was outside of what Daytona passed to the Repass-led team. The better halves of these guys did so much thankless work without the true recognition that they deserved. I do wish I could go back and thank the tech team and their partners in life.

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I remember being a thorn in the side of the NW tech team on more than one occasion. Ok, it was a lot of occasions. Working 10-hour days at a day job and then going to the race shop every night until well past midnight created a strong opinion come Saturday night. I am afraid to admit that the thorn from me would be described by the officiating team as a “royal pain in the arse.”

I am certain that more than one NW race team misses the days that Gib Repass and team led the NW Racing scene—they were a devoted team.

When the NW Tour came to town, it was an event. Many races were in small towns, and when NASCAR came to compete, the regional stars had plenty of devoted local fans. Gib and Jean Repass did a ton to hold it all together. Plenty of us complained about officiating, as the heat of the moment blinded us to the commitment that Repass and team brought to our era.

Looking back I can see the legend, and it is easy to say that the Gib Repass-led officiating crew made an impact on the NW Racing scene. Sure, we have tons of people that belong in the NW Hall of Fame. Racing had full fields and full grandstands with Gib at the helm. A fair man worked hard to manage each race team based on their merits. His wisdom bound a group together. Our group just did not realize how good they had it.

Looking back, we can all see it now. Gib, Jean, Roy, GB, Jim, Norm and many more led racing and put their stamp on a time and created an era. Gib was taken from us far too soon, and his leadership becomes more recognized each and every day—I am sure he runs a clean tech line upstairs and smiles upon us kids that have the grey hair we gave to him.

The team he assembled worked hard, and were there every week doing the thankless work while pulling out the thorns put in their sides by me and many others.

Gib has moved on to a better place and is survived by wife Jean. The life of a Series Director is tough. The job is filled with management of many personalities. Egos must be herded forward in an environment where emotions are elevated to the highest levels.

Gib Repass stamped an era that is captured in time. The photos of the past are merely a reflection of the impression he made. I wish I could have known that one day I would view Gib Repass just as I appreciate the living legend that is Arnold Palmer. The two men are the same, but inspire from completely different worlds.

Truth be told, I wish I would have told Gib he was great back then, as I sure know it now. I didn’t know how then, but can easily do it now. So Gib, thanks man—the next Arnold Palmer is on me.

Go Forward
Move Ahead

Jeff Butcher

Photo courtesy of Loran Payne

Empowering Ideas

Empowering Ideas

Creating a new idea is a special accomplishment. While special, just because you think up an idea, it pays to consider that ownership of ideas belongs to more than just the individual. Ideas only take on life when they are supported by groups that are larger than the singularity that created inspiration. Feel good about inspiring others and your ideas will take on larger-than-life expectations. If you revere those that went out on the limb with you in support of the idea presented, you will find a higher level of success than you could find on your own.

Ideas are truly owned by the groups of people that pledge their belief. Ideas that are void of support muddle in the quicksand of challenge. Life is sucked out of creations before they are allowed to breathe if we are unable to motivate those around us to share in the fun. To inhale full lungs of inspiration, ideas need the energy of groups. Groups can range from just two people to the entire planet. Ownership and prosperity occur when the needed backing pushes thought into processes that can be implemented at costing that is equal to the profit potential. Profit potential can be measured in dollars, but it sometimes has more value if measured in workplace satisfaction. Great ideas are often about more than just money.

Ownership of ideas is found in the groundswell of activity that believers provide. Believing is contagious. Thank goodness for those creators of ideas that are dynamic enough to evangelize greatness for mass acceptance. By being appreciative and respectful, ideas are allowed to prosper when ownership is shared by those that promote the infant concepts to a level that allows more than just one person to see the benefits of thought. Traction of global acceptance is owned by all that participate. Joy is found in the inspiration that sets an original concept in motion. As more people become aware of new ideas, it seems reasonable that the odds of idea adoption are increased.

Ideas that bounce around one brain are just passing thoughts that are short on benefit. Ideas that connect the minds of many are truly owned by the groups that support them. True leaders grasp that “their” idea was never theirs, and original concepts are spurred forward by the flowing barrage of inspiration that funnels influence into a package that can be carried by others.

Every minute of every day creates interactions within our personal ecosystem. The connection of people and processes in our visible world inspires thoughts that can be put into practice. Value is found by volunteering ownership of our original thoughts to all that choose to believe. Empowerment is found at the idea ownership level. Contagious belief is the power source that fuels sustainable efforts, thus expanding ownership of ideas to more than a single individual.

Great ideas grow based on the passion of people that are willing to promote the goal. Passion pushes ideas to the stage of exponential belief. Shared ownership propels initiatives into the spotlight. Entire organizations or customer groups become stock holders in ideas simply by participating.

A concept is yours for only the amount of time that the idea is contained within your internal self. At the point your idea becomes external, innovation expands based on the passion and participation of groups you reach. If you relinquish ownership of an idea in its infancy, you increase the odds that group ownership will allow your creation to find its true potential. Pride and satisfaction squeeze ego aside, allowing those that participate to feel the inclusion of idea ownership. Partnering in ownership fuels motivation, and intellectual greed is tossed into the trash bin of waste. People that provide ornaments of idea enhancement are eager to evangelize their actions into what often becomes an entity that is larger than the concept individually stumbled upon.

At idea inception, at least some credit must be given to society, to the people around you, and to the groups that inspired you to think of a solution. The path of identification that allowed you to understand a problem was absolutely created by the environment you live in. Ownership truly belongs to all that contributed comments and actions, giving your brain the ingredients of inspiration. Those that spurred the tiny inputs along the way paved the path toward a shared solution.

Efforts more effectively climb the mountain of success if they are accepted by more than a single mind. It does little good to own an idea that nobody is aware of. Your so-called idea only finds prosperity when awareness of groups feels enough ownership to take chances and exert enthusiastic energy to pass on the concept to the next link in the chain. Connecting ideas to groups that can utilize the concept completes the process of positive change. What you retain is the creativity to repeat the process that inspires the next great idea, giving the world around you something new to own.

Go Forward – Move Ahead

Jeff Butcher

Customers Are Business

Customers Are Business

Customers are business. If you buy into the simple concept that business is lifeless without customers, then it follows that “your” customers are “your” business. The complications beyond this thought are the distractions that derail visible activities, yet your efforts will be more efficient if you keep your mind on simplicity.

It is simple—customers are business. The equation is more personal if stated, Your Customers = Your Business.

Since customers sustain business, then taking action on customer input will create more activities that can enhance the customer's perceived value of your efforts. The math is simple. More Customers = More Business. Absolute sales dollar volume and profits are the result of increased activity that compels customers to engage with your team.

For today, when I refer to business, I am opening up the door to the thought that business and activity is effectively the same thing. The equation adapts to consider that visible activity will help your business grow, and the equation evolves further; More Customer Perceived Activity = More Customer Engagement. Activity seen by those outside your walls drives profit to the bottom line. Action creates customers that want to engage with your group, paving a path for customers to follow back again and again.

Business is a compilation of activities, products, services, employees and so on. The bottom line (Profit) is a measurement tool. Profit is created by the daily efforts within your internal and external visible reach. The bottom line is at the bottom for a reason. The entire list of top-down exercises is what makes up the variables that produce sustainable profit. Effort from the top fills the funnel of success as it bounces through the Pachinko Palace of challenges that faces your team.

Allowing your effort to produce bottom line profit is the natural goal. “Customers are business.” The simple thought is what provokes your group to engage with customers to create valuable customer retention.

Value is a business element that leaders control. Value is the intangible that companies must create to win long-term customers. Remember, if you agree that “Customers are Business,” then it pays to take action on the needs of your core customers.

The customer is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to the interpretation and realization of the “value” created by your group. Value is determined by the outside world, and good companies tailor products and services around feedback from core customers. Ideas supported by the expertise of what your group can create will result in sustainable activity. Value is created when external customers take notice and deem your efforts to be worthy of spending their hard-earned dollars with products and services produced by your team.

The equation expands—More Customers that “feel” value = more Business. Noticeable activity follows and good management takes care that the Pachinko Ball of value is managed to avoid unnecessary expenses that can erode potential profits. Managing expenses is a vital part of business, yet expense management is proportional to the activities that create perceived value.

Customer Service is a worthy activity that builds customer relationships. Even great companies, with fabulous products and services, eventually run into a customer with a problem. When a problem is managed well through outstanding customer service, the customer gains additional respect for your company and the initial problem provides an opportunity.

Often, a well handled customer issue creates a customer experience that is positively remembered, and the memory is better than if there were never a problem at all. Customers appreciate being taken care of, and when issues are handled in a quick and courteous fashion the customer “remembers” the experience as a positive activity.

Customer service is an art. Customers have been trained by large corporations to dread calling in for service. Long hold times, untrained or rude staff, constant transfers, dropped calls and a simple lack of care have created customer fear long before they call your company. In fact, some customers never call to report issues, as the hassle of poor customer service invades their lives all too often.

When customers avoid calling it is very detrimental to companies, as they lose the ability to collect needed feedback. Customers can be left with a bad taste even though your company was more than willing to help out. When customer fear prevents your customers from calling, the equation equals lost business. Taking care of all of your customers creates a groundswell of positive word of mouth communication.

In niche businesses stories get around, so your customers will repeat great customer service stories often.

When your company receives a customer service call it should be considered a welcomed opportunity. Good companies “want” to cure customer issues and build a long-lasting bond when given the chance. Always keep in mind that you know in advance that you can help a customer, but the customer is already callused by poor treatment from the past. Customers need to feel that you are going to take care of them in the first few seconds of the conversation.

The trick is to encourage the customer to talk out the issue in a casual and conversational way. Once you understand the problem, you can choose the resolution process that meets the situation. In their effort to help, customer service people can ask too many questions upfront, and these questions can make customers feel that the questions are designed to find a way out of taking care of the issue.

Tell valuable customers that you can help as soon as they have described the issue. Follow-up questions can be asked after customers have completely delivered their concerns. By communicating your desire to help first, follow-up questions become welcomed. Starting with questions can make your customer feel “questioned,” and recovering from this territory is nearly impossible.

Quality companies truly want to hear from their customers. Customer service is an engaging one-on-one “activity.”

Our customers can be a wealth of great ideas. Great ideas = Great Activities. Activities lead to new business and increased profits.

It is beneficial to listen to ideas that could add new products or services to your lineup. Use caution, as it is easy to fall into the trap of only hearing what you want to hear. Your preconceived thoughts can be reinforced by customer requests. Create activities that meet a wide audience. Be sure that ideas for new products or services have real merit.

Taking action on new product ideas is an activity that is “noticed” by your customers. Activity that is seen by the external world manufactures sustainable growth. Targeting activities aimed at your core audience gains traction. Taking on every idea leads to wandering and waste.

Produce activities that will be seen by your customers. After all, your customer is your business.

Go Forward – Move Ahead

Jeff Butcher

Trade Show Game Plan

Trade Show Game Plan

Centralizing your industry focus in one location reduces travel expenses and places your products in an environment of excitement. Industry buzz adds to promotions, making Trade Shows the perfect vehicle to promote your company.

Since Trade Shows come with the associated expenses, it is wise to think about your goals when attending or exhibiting any shows. Looking beyond the obvious will enhance many facets of your organization. Trade Shows place shoppers and vendors in a room that sets the mood for a proactive business shopping experience.

Advance planning will help you to gain the most benefit. Everyone at a show is busy. Setting up meetings in advance, with a time range, will prepare customers or vendors so they are aware of your presence. Being flexible will help you to see more products and people.

Setting a hard time at a Trade Show is difficult, and a time window creates the best opportunity for your contacts to be on the lookout for you.

When exhibiting—most companies are good at bringing their exciting products and company catalog. A well-designed booth welcomes your customers into your mobile store in an inviting fashion. Booths with open spaces guide even timid customers to learn about your company and products. Preparing your mind in advance of the show allows you to look between the colorful booths to find the true hidden gems of information that can be found in every corner of the hall.

When displaying—be prepared to answer “the” question in an effective, informative and concise fashion. “The” question is asked at every show—every time. One hundred percent of the people that enter your booth will ask your people “What is new?” Usually, customers ask about new products before they even say hello.

A new product at a Trade Show generates conversation that is fueled by the customer. Trade Shows turn the sales equation around, and answering questions replaces selling. Rehearsing sound bites for each new product will help your team to gain the most attention for your company and products.

New products generate excitement, and proper display promotes items in an atmosphere where customers are looking to learn or buy. This special moment in time is when astute show planners display their people.

People in your organization are paramount in creating year-round business. Taking the time to meet your customers lays the groundwork for repeat sales. Face to face conversations allow your organization to overcome future problems and issues. Customers that know the people in your company feel safe in communications based on the familiarity that is gained at the show.

While we all enjoy the revenue stream that comes with selling products, networking might be more important than selling at a show. Keeping a pulse on the industry identifies new trends that are entering your marketplace. Getting outside the walls of your building opens doors to new opportunities. Accidental meetings in the hallway, or after show hours, often produce new ideas that can be implemented as soon as you get home.

Open minds look for opportunity. Seek out networking opportunities and make them happen by actively going beyond the comfort zone of those contacts you already know. Make it a priority to make several new contacts at every event.

At a Trade Show, people are prepared to meet new people, and those that put themselves out there first get more done. Meeting new people leads to new ideas. Might new ideas result in improved infrastructure at your company? Maybe you learn about a promotion that you can emulate and tailor for your group? Maybe you will find a cost-saving idea, or perhaps find a new service that improves efficiency back home?

Educational opportunities are abundant at Trade Shows. As hard as they try, Trade Show employees are often amazed at how often the education opportunities at shows are missed by attendees and exhibitors alike. Seminars are a great source of information, and many of them are offered at zero cost. Attending as many educational opportunities that are pertinent to your company is sound business.

Too often, people seek out others that provide information that mirrors their own opinions. Effort should be placed on looking for feedback that cultivates positive change. Feedback given directly from users provides the fodder to improve products and customer service.

Customers at Trade Shows are happy to share experiences. Often, a customer brings a problem to light in a helpful way. Loyal customers enjoy providing feedback in a manner that is positive, helping to cure issues relating to product performance. Longtime customers are happy to help improve your company, leading to real change. Knowledge is gained and corrective action can be taken before problems become a haunting online complaint.

Keeping a pulse on the industry inspires new thoughts that might push your company in new directions. Looking for ideas that help your company evolve should be a point of focus. A stale idea seen in a competitor’s booth can help you to visualize areas of improvement for your company. Getting out there and witnessing what the industry group is doing provides the motivation for your team to generate new ideas and opens the doors of change.

The all too familiar landscape of our office walls can lock us in ideas of the past. Trade Shows add vivid scenery to the imagination, inspiring new visions that can be implemented, allowing you to move future potential into today’s reality.

Go Forward – Move Ahead

Jeff Butcher

Driving Business

Established roads can set you on your way and ultimately wind around business challenges, driving you away from sound business decisions. The roads of positive change drive you and your business along a more direct route, making the trip fun, rewarding and profitable. Your business and employees will thrive if your drive includes a road map that is embraced by all. Going along for the ride is replaced by the excitement and anticipation that accompanies participation. The destination of success is one sweet ride.

To truly drive your business, setting destiny in your favor, it pays to educate your team while painting a detailed description of the ultimate destination. It seems reasonable that the road to success will lead to opportunity if you and your team grasp the overall concept of where you hope to end up. Defining the destination is step one in implementing your route to growth and continuous improvement. Painting a clear vision empowers the group to collaboratively create their own milestones, rest stops and high-speed zones. A clear picture of the intended destinations allows engaged team members to reroute based on ownership of contributions that move the group. Drive requires that the entire team is willing to get behind the wheel. With everyone in the car, the view out the front windshield creates piercing focus, and the eyes of the team move forward enthusiastically.

The rear view mirror can provide source material and historical perspective—or it can take eyes off the mission, as looking back can be where the library of distraction prevents travel to new places. The question “Are we there yet?” fades behind the hills of the past when the group uses the winds of change to fill balloons of future prosperity. With buy-in from all, forks in the road are eagerly taken and the blur of noise seen out the side windows is replaced by the resolve of winning groups that revel in the changing landscape known as success.

Accepting the status quo is often the easy route for those that become comfortable in familiar surroundings. Fear and the patterns of culture memory should be supplanted by the hope and belief of inspired change. Being locked in the past is the speed bump that can derail any new initiative. To achieve, new projects need the energy supplied by groups. True leadership puts away the “Boss Card” and trades commands for evangelism. Believers in ideas move forward on their own merit and with passion that exists within the potential of our future leaders. Commands work well when the boss is watching—the breakdowns occur when overbearing managers turn their back. Astute leaders know that the synergy of a group accomplishes goals even when valued employees are out of sight. The best teams feel the freedom to place a light on the shortcomings of new ideas. Through empowered discussion, employees that feel valued participate by adding to new endeavors. Leaders can always pull out the boss card, but using it sparingly improves morale, overcomes, and gets more done.

Motor State Distributing exemplifies great leadership. History shows that George Lane noticed a need to supply racers with the parts they needed. George transformed his racing hobby, and in 1964 he took one small step for his racing company—one giant step for the racing kind. He worked hard to deliver great customer service and built a business from a one-man shop and humble beginnings. George identified a market and set out to solve the parts supply challenge that faced racers of the day—the Internet was still years away. In time the business grew, and George used wisdom to grow with the times. Growth requires help. Help requires trust. Today, the family tree known as the Lane family participates in the operation of what was once a one-man operation. Clear role definition allows well over 100 people to perform. Doug Lane has accepted the Warehouse Distributor of the Year trophy at SEMA multiple times.

To accomplish such success, George and Doug rely on many. David Lane provides modern warehousing techniques that are the envy of all distribution centers. Longtime dedicated employees such as Curt Spalding head up new initiatives, increasing the footprint and visibility of what George started many years ago. George could have stayed a garage-style business, but I believe he knew that empowerment would help him to achieve. The Lane legacy lives on within the walls of Motor State, and mentorship prevails in every corner of the building.

Scott Wahlstrom guides promotions, and longtime employee Craig Mullauer manages a knowledgeable sales staff with grace. I could point out other companies that have been successful, but my goal here is to diagnose and provide motivation for all businesses to take steps of improvement. Motor State recognizes that the power of trust has transformed a black and white photo containing a few race parts and one George Lane into a brain trust of amazing people that believes in mentorship.

The dedicated Motor State staff, ranging from accounting, to customer service, to sales, to shipping, to creative, to spin-off companies, eagerly embraces empowerment. The leadership style provides freedom for all employees to find the opportunity that suits their individual goals. The group that is defined as Motor State embraces the ideals George Lane laid out years ago, and they have been given the freedom to take the original ideals to new levels that go beyond what one person could do.

In a very short time, Darren Lane has become an active participant in the Motor State fold, taking on the challenges that the digital age presents. At a young age, Darren has taken his education, racing knowledge and self-imposed talents to heights that could only occur due to the willing mentorship and support voluntarily given by the entire staff in Michigan. A staff that chooses to be involved creates an atmosphere of continuous improvement. Dustin Lane is lurking in the background, providing new technologies that are rooted in the plan for success inspired by Grandfather George Lane not so many years ago. I can hardly wait to witness what the future holds for Karianne Lane—her contribution could be within the business, or perhaps her family values will propel the Motor State gang to places that would be impossible without her future guidance and support. I know Doug Lane excels due to the support from his wife Kim—business success is a ton more fun when family support inspires.

George Lane had a plan—he implemented it well and provided clear guidance for hundreds of people around him to excel. Respect is easy when you witness the true five- tool player—family, integrity, vision, empowerment and trust. George foresaw his life plan, and taking a second to remember your long- and short-term plan is sound advice.

Leadership should set things in motion and allow the group to build on needed strategies. Guidelines should be set, and teams that are free to pursue and grow ideas, without hard rules, come up with amazing creativity. If your leadership style forces your will upon others, then you end up with the IQ, energy and power of just one person—you! Letting employees go with their beliefs builds energy within the combined resources that work with you. Why not give your team some leeway and see what they come up with? The combined IQ and creativity of many will consider all of the challenges from angles that enjoy sightlines from a point of expertise. Ideas are enhanced and waste is reduced.

The concept of giving your team leeway is based on the context that you have provided clear direction. Often, leaders or management face challenges that must consider the big picture. Individuals on the team may not have access to certain information, so it is natural that leaders should set guidelines and goals. Freedom within the team is great—chaos is short of what we are after. Empowering teams should come with check-in and participation from management. If you set the direction, you should also set boundaries to ensure that freedom is contained within the context and budget of any project.

We are all busy, and if we had time to stare at the efforts of our employees 10 hours a day, then we would probably have fewer employees. In sport and in management, analogies help to set the scene for success. For me, a train of great ideas is an excellent reference for a descriptive analogy. At the start of any task, big or small, I ask my team to think about the direction that has been set, and place them face forward with a healthy dose of conversation and debate.

Once agreement creates the framework of progress, I work hard to let employees make many decisions. In exchange for the freedom, I ask that teammates stay on the railroad tracks that we agreed upon. Trusted employees can wander off the railroad tracks and onto the railroad ties based on their own discretion and knowledge. I think we call this empowerment! We can also let our talent adjust and make their own decisions when initiatives take them off the creosote coated railroad ties and onto the gravel covered railroad bed. In the event great employees find themselves falling off the mound of the gravel railroad bed, then that is the point in time when they should stroll back to management for a fine-tuning of goals.

Knowing when the direction has found the hard curves of risk is paramount in creating an environment that is free of the fear of mistakes. Fear is paralyzing. Freedom is enlightening. The best employees seek out additional project detail when the gravel of the railroad bed crumbles beneath their shoes, sending them off-balance and potentially derailing an important or expensive idea. True leadership empowers teammates to find the edge of empowerment on their own. The best creativity occurs when employees find the limits of direction and circle back for more communication based on their own initiative. It is at the edge of limitation where answers to the biggest challenges culminate in the sea of sustainable satisfaction and progress.

Go Forward – Move Ahead

Jeff Butcher