September, 2019 - One Less Dog In The Hunt

September 24, 2019April 11, 2020

Convenient for who?

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Rule Number One: The customer is always right.

Rule Number Two: In the event the customer is not right, refer to Rule Number One.

These rules used to be among the first taught to new employees. The truth is the customer isn’t always right and you often have to revert to rule number two. If you’ve ever lived, worked, breathed retail you know that sometimes the customer just gets it wrong. Not wrong in what they want, just wrong in what you are able to give. Maybe there are restrictions. Perhaps Uncle Sam (and I mean the US Government, not Sam Walton) says you have to do it a certain way. Maybe the decision would require an executive approval. Maybe what they want isn’t really something that is good for them. Your job is to come to a conclusion which makes the customer right or at least satisfied. Still, the idea behind the rules are important, and a good company adapts to the needs of the customer, not the other way around.

Yet, more and more in today’s market we see retailers trying to force the customer to conform to what is best for the retailer rather than adapting to the wants and needs of the customer. Oh, to be sure, they’d never admit it. They always mask it with an effort in improved customer satisfaction. They would say they are just striving to provide a more convenient atmosphere or they are trying to make the shopping experience more customer friendly.

September 17, 2019April 11, 2020

A niche! A niche! Scratch it.

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I’ve read ~~all~~… ~~most~~… okay, some of the blogs out there that tell you how to blog. ~~They all~~ The ones I’ve read tell you to start out by finding your niche. I’ve seen several that list seven standard blog categories: How To Make Money, Personal Finance, Health and Fitness, Food, Beauty and Fashion, Lifestyle, Personal Development. Another list adds in Travel, Weddings, and Product Reviews. Of course the Google list of blog categories puts those little lists of seven to ten categories to shame.

There are so many “experts” out there that you’d be moving back and forth like a five year old waiting at the door of a single stall gas station bathroom if you were trying to follow all their directions. But the one thing they ~~all~~ say is, “You have to find your niche.” A niche must be important if that many people can come to a consensus on something in such a divided world. You’d probably have better odds of winning the Power Ball than getting that many people to agree on anything else.

September 12, 2019April 11, 2020

Peace At Last

There’s this little place nestled between the mountains; a small community cradled in a lovely green valley which seemed to be lost to time and tedium. It’s the kind of place that is so wonderful that you want to keep it all too yourself, but it’s also so incredible that you just can’t keep the secret. I know; I’ve lived the struggle. It even entered my writing by giving me the starting place for a novel.

When a friend introduced me to the place, I immediately felt like it was my soul’s home. It was quiet and peaceful. Just being there seemed to recharge that place inside which holds the essence of life. While the soul absorbed the energy of nature, the eyes took in the beauty; the nose took in the fresh scents; the ears took in the calming sounds; the mind marveled at creation. And relatively few people seemed to know of its existence. Full disclosure: My friend’s family was introduced to the place by someone else who had discovered it, and so its presence was slowly passed on.

September 1, 2019April 11, 2020

Push, Pull, or Get Out of the Way?

There are probably as many quotes, hints, directions, or steps focused on being a good leader as there are stars in the universe. Books have been written, seminars are booked and filled, speakers are paid — all to tell you what it means to be a good leader and how to get there.

So what, you ask, does this No Name former retail manager have to add to the dung pile? Not much really. It’s all been said. I’d rather tell you what a leader is not.

A leader is not someone who only accomplishes his goals through fear. Yes, you might feel the military would argue with this statement to an extent, but honestly, military trainers are trying to accomplish something greater than the leader of a business. They are trying to instill instincts that will keep that person alive. They are enhancing human response in a way that the soldier will be able to handle life and death situations. They are trying to weed out the weak, and they have a captive audience.