Whether it's a love or a business relationship, we believe these rules apply for successfully working together:
1. Microscopic truth 2. Listening at three levels--Is this what you said? Is this what you mean? Is this what you want? 3. Pushing each other to reach their highest potential. 4. Time apart to create your best work. 5. Truey enjoying each other's company. 6. Trust 7. Commitment to working out any issues.
Big Dudes--Where Muscians Go to Find the Tools of Their Trade
Musicians of all ages find each trip in Big Dudes Music City a new experience. Vintage guitars hang on the wall next to brand new Fenders and Martins. Prices are as low or lower than the giant national chains. Yet it is the atmosphere of the staff who all are professional musicians that makes Big Dudes a draw for anyone who loves to make music. Nationally gold and platinum bands shop the walls of Big Dudes regularly looking the right instruments for their gigs reguraly. Big Dudes is their music store with an ever changing vintage collection of guitars and keyboards and audio systems to their wall collection of new musical tools.
"An army without secret agents is exactly like a man without eyes or ears." Sun Tzu
I've spent my life conducting personal interviews with my clients' ideal customers. They know why they choose my customers' products. After 40 interviews I've got a solid idea of my client's and my client's competitors strengths and weaknesses.
I get frustrated when my clients don't listen to their customers after I've spent a few weeks conducting hour long personal interviews. I feel worse when I don't listen to my own research.
Recently, I conducted research for Big Dudes located in the center of Kansas City's live music district. Ninety-nine percent of the customers I interviewed said they were professional musicians. They play until 1:00 am then go home to watch television. They turn off the TV at 7:30 am, then they go to bed.
They get out of bed at 3:00 PM. They stop at Big Dudes before 6:00 PM to pick up any gear they need before their nightly gig. By 7:00PM they're playing their instrument in front of a live audience. They done playing by 1:00 AM, another day done as a professional musician.
We ran our Big Dude's commercials based on our customer research. Our spots ran from 1:00AM to 7:30AM. Sales went up 15% the first month of the schedule.
With this success, I thought maybe we can lure suburban moms and dads to downtown KC to buy at Big Dudes. Ignoring my own research, I moved half the spots into prime time based on Nielsen ratings. Sales dropped 50% for 3 weeks.
"The Dude" let me know he needed more customers fast. I moved the spots back to the 1:00 AM to 7:30 AM schedule. Sales grew every week for next six weeks. This week they are up 60% above the first week that I moved half the schedule into prime time.
What is the rule of retail I relearned? Eighty percent of your business comes from within a 5 mile radius of your store. If you want a different audience--open a store within 5 miles of their homes.
Listen to your competitive intelligence. Or die a bloody sales death because you flew without eyes and ears, and your mind wide open.
Twenty-five hundred years ago Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War. Washington, Clausewitz, Mao, Lenin, MacArthur, Stilwell, Patton all memorized what this ancient Chinese general preached in 13 short chapters war.
If your company is 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 10th in market share, your a guerrilla. Pay attention to Sun Tzu's simple suggestion, "Attack a place the enemy does not protect." Small companies survive even become giants in their specialty listening to this simple advice.
Enterprise Rental Cars focused on auto-body repair shops. Enterprise promised to reward consumers who crashed their cars by personally delivering a rental to the body shop. They also rewarded the body shop with a commission.
Hertz, Avis, General, Budget, Thrifty all attacked each other for the airport business traveler. They paid no attention to this little company focusing on renting cars to people who crashed their cars. Now Enterprise is the largest rental car company in the world.
Don't forget Sam Walton's strategy. He attacked the small towns with his Wal-Mart stores for 10 years before he went head to head against K-Mart. He killed them.
Lou Anne Hummel, owner of Priority Physician Placement uses her e-mail newsletter to keep her 1000 and growing doctor clients aware of opportunities in Kansas City and the Heart of America region --Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.
It's not uncommon for Lou Anne to receive 300 responses from interested doctors the week she e-mails the newsletter.
Doctors appreciate the short, one page piece, containing two short stories of openings in the region.
Lou Ann also includes a video section with two to four 30 second to one minute videos on additional opportunities. Within five minutes, physicians know where the opportunities are in the Midwest.
We must use our gifts for the betterment of mankind. Let the Children Play is a project Jimmy "The Kid" Keown and I work with monthly. One Arab scientist and one Jewish artist pulled together a group of interfaith leaders from Buddhist to Catholic to Hindu to Muslim and Jewish, in search of peace between Palestine and Israel. Here are the videos we shot of the founders.
Born in Palestine, scientist Achmed El-Sharif and Born in Israel, artist Sam Nachum sponsor Kansas City walk to collect toys for the children rocketed in Gaza and Israel Traumatized by war as children, Sam and Achmed came to America as adults, Achmed to study science; Sam to chisel portraits in stone. Both men found their success in Kansas City, now, together, they plan to help the children of Gaza and Israel suffering from adults rocketing each other. Their dream is to see the day when Arab and Jewish children play soccer together on the same team, even if this dream should seem impossible to adults on both sides of the conflict today. They believe it will happen, it must happen in the future to heal the wounds of decades of war. Achmed Sharif and Sam Nachum experienced the 1967 war between Egypt and Israel as children. Both lost their childhood homes during the conflict, changing their lives forever. They met by accident at a discussion on the recent rocket attacks between Gaza and Israel. They decided to help the children on both sides of this war. It’s time for the children to be allowed to be children, the two decided after discussing the rocketing. Together, Sam and Achmed formed a 501C non-profit organization called Let the Children Play. They also created a website letthechildrenplayforpeace.org. On October 22nd, they’re sponsoring a one mile walk from Washington Park in downtown Kansas City, across the street from Crown Center, to the Rime Center a Buddhist Temple just on the one west on the side of I 35. Tickets for the walk are $10 dollars. Those who walk will be served lunch. A truck will be at the site to collect soccer balls, and other approved, non-war toys. A list of suggested toys can be found on the letthechildrenplayforpeace.org website. Kansas City leaders in both business and government will walk in the march for toys. The walk begins at 12:00 noon October 22nd. At 6:00 PM October 22, 2009, Kansas City school children and their parents will hold a candle light vigil on the international bridge overlooking Bush Creek on the Plaza. Kansas City’s Women of the Drum will a peace dance in conjunction with the vigil.
