In many flooring businesses, it seems that sales personnel are too often operating without knowing where the “goal line” is. Imagine a football player who is running with the ball down the side line not knowing how far he has to advance to score a touchdown. As he runs by the coach he might hear…
There is a saying “if written directions alone would suffice, the library wouldn’t need to have the rest of the school attached”. This should serve as a clear reminder to all in management who are guilty of directing novice staff members with comments such as “it’s in your manual” or “the information is online”. While…
There is a saying that one should “never confuse activity with results”. We all know someone who is just “busy, busy, busy” all day long, but at the end of the day they never seem to have gotten much accomplished. As I often say, “they were majoring in minors”. If the saying “perfect practice makes…
When my daughter was young, my wife insisted that she eat at least three bites of everything that she was served for dinner. She did this partially out of principle, but largely to ensure that she was getting a balanced diet. I particularly remember one night when she finally ate three spoonfuls of by then…
One of the perils of traveling frequently is that you are constantly exposed to others who can make you sick. They won’t infect you in the typical way with their germs, but rather with their bad attitudes. If you spend much time at airports, hotels and restaurants you will be exposed to enough indifference, phony…
As I write this on the Tenth Anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies, it seems impossible not to feel patriotic. How sad is it that most of us are moved to feel this way only when reminded of one horrific Tuesday morning. Why can’t we show the unity and patriotism that was exhibited in the days…
For years we have believed that the written word typically takes priority over the spoken word. It was presumed that published information had been subjected to some form of review and editing process. I am beginning to doubt the validity of this premise today. Blogs, social media postings, etc. are being made available to us…
While viewing the CNBC program “Titans” featuring Southwest Airlines Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher recently, I heard a quote that should be adopted as a mission statement for all service based businesses. He stated “Think small and act small and we will get bigger. Think big and act big and we will get smaller.” Wow! Think…
I had my batteries recharged in Kansas City last week. No, not the electrical kind, but rather the internal batteries that keep you moving and motivated. This phenomenon occurred while attending the annual CFI Convention. Most of what is written and said about the installation trade these days is neither encouraging nor kind. I have…
Recently I was in a self-checkout lane at a Kroger’s store while an attendant literally stood and watched me. The signage above the machines stated “for your convenience”. What am I missing here? It’s more convenient for me to be observed than it is to be assisted? Since when? The only way that a scanning…
My wife and I recently spent a week taking a 1300 mile odyssey touring on vacation. Driving this amount of distance we passed a great number of flooring stores. Several days into our trip, I asked over lunch what stores she had seen that impressed her. The sad reality is that she could only remember…
When opening my mail this morning, I received a reminder that is worth sharing. I received a hand written note of appreciation from an acquaintance. It was 41 words on a 4 x6 inch card. It likely took one minute to write and cost 44 cents to mail. Not much time and not much money…