Lawrence Fine

I wanted to purchase a book from amazon.com the other day and they had the book available (for 2/3 the price of a local bookstore). When I went to checkout, I realized if I ordered one more book, I would get free shipping.

It simply made sense for me to buy another book in order to save on shipping.

Do you give an incentive to people to spend more money with you? Knowing how much it costs to “acquire” another customer, doesn’t it make sense to make it easier for your current customers to spend more money with you?

If you are involved with a membership based organization, would it make sense to offer a discount for groups to join as opposed to one price for all? It might lower your per member price but increase your overall revenue. As long as the discounted price still covers expenses plus some, doesn’t it make sense to offer a group discount?

If you have a product, do you give your customers incentives to buy more?

Some groups go overboard on the upsell but if you can do it in a way so that the customer benefits and so do you, isn’t it worth trying?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

There is a small wine shop here in Charleston WV in Capitol Market (http://www.capitolmarket.net/wineandcheese.htm) and they do something very simple and very logical to make it easier for their customers to buy from them.

When you purchase wine at The Wine Shop, they give you the option of having your purchase recorded in their database under your name. The reason this is such a great idea is if you purchase some wine there, and like it, you can go back and have them look up exactly what you purchased so you can buy again. Also, if you don’t like something, you can make sure not to buy that again. This is one advantage to their database.

A second advantage to the database is if you are looking to purchase wine for someone else, it can help make sure you purchase something they will like.

Recently, a family came over for dinner and they brought a bottle of wine. They picked it out by checking the database and choosing something I had purchased recently.

This made me think about how rare it is for businesses to make it easy to buy from them. When a person calls a hotel, are they able to look to see whether this person has stayed with them before? If they have stayed before, would it make sense to look to see what type of a room they were in and offer something similar (or maybe even an upgrade). If, the last time they stayed, they asked for a cot, would it make sense to offer a suite as an alternative.

When I order books from Amazon.com, they make it easy to place the order. Once I login, they have my shipping address and billing information. With one or two clicks, I can place my order and be done (and shortly afterwards, I receive the confirmation and shipping information).

Is there a way to make buying easier from you?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

Recently, I have started collecting various types of West Virginia glass. Some of the best known (and my favorite) is from Blenko. Sadly, they recently announced they had shut down production. A week ago, I went to their visitor center to look at purchasing some glass and when I asked one of their employees what year a piece was made she looked at me with a look of disbelief and I realized she knew very little about what she was selling.

Contrast that to Chuck and Connie at The Purple Moon (http://www.thepurplemoon.com/) , which is where I have bought the WV Glass I do own. They frequently can tell you the time period a piece was made, the designer, how rare the piece is etc.

Would you rather buy from the person who doesn’t know their product or the person who does?

Most people would agree it’s more enjoyable buying from someone who knows what they are selling and can be honest and knowledgeable in what they have to say.

Keeping in mind that we all are selling something (whether it’s a product, service, ourselves etc) the question is, do you know enough about what you are selling to make the buyer feel comfortable buying?

If you are a realtor, it’s not enough to just know the basics about the house, but a buyer is most likely also going to want to know about the neighborhood, shopping opportunities, schools etc.

If you run a camp, it’s not enough to just know the price, dates and location. A potential camper is going to want to know about staff, curriculum etc.

If you are an attorney, it’s not enough to know the law, you also need to know how the law applies to potential clients.

Recently, I was at a Tea Room and asked the employee how many of the MANY products that they offered, he had tasted. He said “almost every one because I want to be able to answer any questions a person might have”. Do you make the effort to know your products like this person has done?

Knowing your product is something everyone should make the effort to do but sadly, not enough do.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

Everyone has things they would like to change (if not everyone, almost everyone). Whether it’s getting in shape, getting a new job, reconnecting with someone special, losing weight or any of hundreds of other possibilities, people have something (or things) they want to change.

There are many reasons why you can’t make the change but at some point, you have to start asking yourself when you will stop making excuses and instead start doing something positive

While there are many reasons you can’t get in shape (you need to find a place to work out, you need to find the time etc) the reality is, if you want to get in shape, you can.

If you don’t like your job, there are many reasons not to change (the economy is bad and there aren’t many jobs out there, seniority at your current position etc), if you start actively looking for a new job (and are willing to look outside of the normal “help wanted” pages) there are opportunities out there.

There are many reasons why you shouldn’t make a change but rather than looking for reasons not to do something, realize the only thing that is stopping you from making positive changes….is yourself

Those who are looking for excuses will accomplish exactly what they expect, which is nothing.

Those who look for ways to make positive changes will also accomplish exactly what they expect, which is possibly something significant.

It’s easy to look at external factors and let them beat you down but those who can look past those, will inevitably be successful

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

Too often, when something goes well, everyone wants the credit. Then, when things go wrong, no one will take responsibility for the blame.

The good leader does the exact opposite. When things are going well, they give everyone else the credit. The good leader knows that giving others the credit will make them feel better and ultimately, that will usually result in even more good work.

When things are going poorly, rather than blaming the others, they take the responsibility (because ultimately, as was discussed in the previous post, the leader is responsible). By doing this, the people they are leading know their leader has their back.

The funny thing is that the people who take credit and give blame are usually found out sooner than later. The people who take blame and give credit are the ones who succeed in the long run

Take blame, give credit and good things will happen.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
2 Comments »

Many people in positions of power seem to misunderstand the differences between authority and responsibility. Too many want the authority but are afraid to assume the responsibility.

An example of this is the manager who has the task of making sure a project is done. This manager would be given both the authority and responsibility to accomplish this task.

The manager might then delegate to an employee the tasks needed to do the project. In doing so, they can delegate the authority and can give the employee some responsibility but in the long run, the manager is ultimately responsible if the project isn’t done properly and on time.

While the authority to do something can be delegated, ultimately, the person given the assignment originally is the one who will be held accountable for the project.

If I hire a General Contractor to build a house and the electrician he contracts with to wire the house does a poor job, it will come back on the General Contractor to get the problems fixed. He delegated the authority but is still responsible for the completion of the project.

If I ask an employee to finish a web site and he enlists the help of other people to help, if the site isn’t done properly and on time, I don’t want to hear about how the other people didn’t do what he wanted. Ultimately, this employee has to take responsibility for the project and make sure it’s done and done on time.

When a person is given the authority and responsibility to do something and chooses to delegate to others (which frequently makes a great deal of sense), it’s important for this person to know they are still, ultimately responsible. This means that they should be regularly monitoring the others to make sure things are progressing smoothly and making themselves available to help when needed.

If you do have ultimate responsibility for a project, and things don’t seem to be going as smoothly as you hope, it’s MUCH better to enlist the help of others. This might mean delegating down to a coworker and employee or, it might mean delegating up (asking for help from people with more knowledge or experience).

It’s important to understand that ultimately, authority can be delegated but responsibility, once given, stays with you till the end.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

Recently I went to hear the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra play It was a concert for middle school students and they were demonstrating how the use of pacing, tone and sound can convey a message, even when there are no words.

As the conductor explained what they were trying to demonstrate, you could see a number of the students rolling their eyes and snickering.

Then the orchestra started to play. As their pace quickened (sorry if this isn’t correct terminology but hopefully you understand what I mean) the students became more excited and moved forward in their seats. When the pace slowed, they sat back a bit and waited anxiously. The percussions started up and the excitement returned. Then there was a soft solo by a violinist and the room became completely quiet so everyone could hear.

The concert only lasted 45 minutes and at the end, the students gave a very excited and very genuine ovation.

This made me think about people speaking. When people give presentations, they frequently spend a great deal of time on the content and not nearly enough time on the way they present the content.

Do you think about your intonation, pacing, volume etc? Do you realize how much you can affect the final message with things other than the actual words?

If you are excited about something, make sure the excitement is “heard” in your voice as well as your words. If you want to get someones attention, alter your volume. Sometimes, this means speaking louder and other times it means speaking softer..

There is much you can do to convey your message outside of just the choice of words. Give this some thought and you can become a better communicator

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
No Comments »

A little over 20 years ago, I lost my voice for almost 5 months. At first, it was quite a traumatic experience, however, in a relatively short time, it became a great learning opportunity.

Since I didn’t know how to sign, and my handwriting was (and is) deplorable I didn’t worry about responding to people and instead, I simply listened.

I had read about how many people don’t listen and instead are thinking about what they want to say next, however, I hadn’t realized how much I was doing this until I could no longer respond.

All of a sudden, I was listening and truly hearing what others were saying. I learned so much more and started to regret everything I had missed previously because I hadn’t really listened.

Unfortunately, I sometimes forget this valuable lesson and have to be reminded but when I find myself not paying attention or not really understanding, I simply remind myself to shut up and listen.

It’s a great lesson for all, give it a try sometime and see how much you learn

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
1 Comment »