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SBT Houston Staff July 2013

FROM THE

Publisher STEVE LEVINE

RECOGNITION I have been privileged this past year to be able to attend many conferences where the highlight is an awards presentation to those members who have achieved greatness and are deserving of the recognition. Most of these individuals did not set out seeking recognition for their efforts. Their accomplishments had more to do with their wanting to be of assistance to others. Still, all are proud of their accomplishments and the recognition was a nice bonus. Recently, her honor, Annise Parker, the Mayor of Houston, honored Barbara, John, and I (along with Dirk Cummins, National President of the MainStreet Chamber) with a Proclamation that honored SBT Magazine’s and MainStreet Chamber Houston’s concurrent 1st year in business and our accomplishments in serving Houston's start-up entrepreneurs and small business owners. Mayor Parker also honored us with her request to be a contributing columnist to the magazine. Her first article ran in the June issue and her second article is in this issue. Her column is proof that we are “on the right track.” I am sure that there are 100's of Houston-based magazines and I am yet to find one that carries her column. Our greatest recognition of a “job well done” comes from you, our readers, thanking us for creating a magazine for small business owners who think big! Most have confirmed that they were able to start their business and/or grow their business every day utilizing the content of the magazine. John, Barbara, and I are very appreciative of their testimonials and humbled by our contributions to their accomplishments. Our cover honoree(s) this month, Leeshan, James, and Ceyan Birney of Stone Mountain Properties have achieved accolades and recognition not only in the U.S. but internationally, as well. Barbara, Eric, and I were honored to attend her company meeting held to recognize her managers, staff, and clients and we were (quite literally) overwhelmed by their generosity. It certainly validated that success is always in proportion to your generosity and your efforts.

Barbara, Steve and Brooke Vallaire

Speaking of “generosity”, generosity is one of the key qualifications that we use to nominate and select our cover honorees. Our cover honorees must generously give back to the community and/or the industry that they serve. Before I let you get started on this month's issue, I would like to call your attention to a new feature in the magazine where we recognize a young entrepreneur. Our first “Youthpreneuer” is Ms. Brooke Vallaire of Vallaire's Fashion Design. Brooke was introduced to us by our April 2013 cover honoree, Ms. Kim Roxie. Brooke is a most amazing young lady (16 years old) with an incredible talent. Since we met Brooke, we have really enjoyed getting to know her and her terrific mom, Shareca and watch Brooke blossom in the last few months. Barbara and I are certain that in the near future you will see Vallaire's as a major brand on the runways of the world. It is time for me to let you start enjoying this month's issue. Mayor Annise Parker presenting the proclamation to Steve, Barbara and Dirk Cummins

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Good Reading, Good Sales, & Success to You, Steve Levine Executive Publisher

President John Cruise Executive Publisher Steve Levine Associate Publisher / Creative Director Barbara Davis-Levine Contributing Editors Tammy Moshay Devon Ray Battaglia Business Development/PR Bill Huff Donna Rooney Susan Repka Graphic Design Vanessa Vara Malka Levy Photographers Eric Kleiman Contributing Writers Errol Allen Don Brown Barbara Davis Dr. John Demartini Mila Golovine Lorraine Grubbs Bruce Hurta Jeff Jones Tina Marie Jones Craig Klein Bertrand McHenry Hank Moore Mike Muhney Amy Olivieri Mayor Annise Parker Devon Ray George Rose Rita Santamaria Pam Terry Holly Uverity Jack Warkenthien Doug Winnie Aimee Woodall Chief Advisor Hank Moore Publisher’s Advisory Board Cyndi Barnett John Cruise Dirk Cummins April Day Dr. John Demartini Maya Durnovo Kathie Edwards Leonard Faucher Leisa Holland Nelson David Holt Richard Huebner Julie Marie Irvin Jeffrey Jones Steven Kay Darryl King Craig Klein Wea Lee Bertrand McHenry Hank Moore Lisa M. Morton Mike Muhney Maria Rios Rita Santamaria Allen Shapiro Pam Terry Linda Toyota Jack Warkenthien Doug Winnie Aaron Young

Phone: 832-460-2020 E-Mail: Steve.Levine@SBTMagazine.net Or Write: Small Business Today 5380 West 34th Street, Ste 230 Houston, TX 77092 See us on the web at www.SBTMagazine.net

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 3

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 4

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INSIDE

HOUSTON JUly 2013 EDITION

IN THIS ISSUE What’s Holding You Back? 8 The Fine Art of Delivery Mastery 9 Ten Basic Principles of Business Success 10 New City-Sponsored Smart Phone App Helps Job Market and City’s Minority/Women Contracting Program Expanded 11

LEESHAN, JAMES AND CEYAN BIRNEY-

STONE MOUNTAIN PROPERTIES

Brooke Vallaire Houston's "Hautest" Young Fashion Designer

IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY - DETERMINATION, RENOVATION, & INNOVATION

Why a Company Would Improve? 12 No More Excuses: Your Small Business CAN Create Great Content 14 Hi, I’m your Personal Chief Financial Officer 15 A Blended Lesson 17 Financial Resources For Women in Business 20 Why Email Marketing Is An Essential Part of the Sales Process 21 Is Success Based On Luck or Working Smarter? 22 The Small Business Blueprint for Great Customer Service 23 Manage Your Reputation, Not Relationships 25 What Is Customer Service? 26 Doing Business the Chinese Way 27 Getting Organized: My Favorite Outlook Calendar Tips 28 Who Has “Skin in the Game?” 29 Have You Seen the Toilet? 30 Designing the Ultimate Referral Marketing System 37 Entrepreneurs Dilema 38 Passion, the #1 Principle of Confident Speakers 42

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WOULD YOU OR YOUR COMPANY LIKE TO BE PROFILED IN OUR NEXT ISSUE?

CONGRATULATIONS COHORT 6! EVERYTHING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW

HOUSTON EDITION PUBLISHER: STEVE LEVINE SMALL BUSINESS MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. 5380 WEST 34TH ST. STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER: STEVE LEVINE PRESIDENT: JOHN CRUISE PHONE: 832-460-2020 www.SBTMagazine.net ADVERTISING RATES ON REQUEST. BULK THIRD CLASS MAIL PAID IN TUCSON, AZ. POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND NOTICES ON FORM 3579 TO 5380 WEST 34TH ST. STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092 ALTHOUGH EVERY PRECAUTION IS TAKEN TO ENSURE ACCURACY OF PUBLISHED MATERIALS, SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINIONS EXPRESSED OR FACTS SUPPLIED BY ITS AUTHORS. COPYRIGHT 2012, LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 5

Leeshan, James, and Ceyan Birney -

Stone Mountain Properties It’s All About Family – Determination, Renovation, & Innovation By Barbara R. Davis

The Birney family of Stone Mountain Properties are Ceyan, James, and Leeshan.

rowing up in Taiwan, Leeshan Chuang Birney was greatly influenced by her father’s entrepreneurial spirit and the success that he had with his small, thriving building supply business. After graduating from Taiwan Normal University, Leeshan taught nutrition at a nursing school. The principal of the school really liked and respected Leeshan for her devotion to her profession and recommended that she go to the U.S. and study nutrition and hospital food services. Afterwards, she could come back and help the patients in her country which was underdeveloped and lacking quality food services at the time. Leeshan liked the idea of getting her education in the U.S. On the other hand, Leeshan’s parents did not want her leaving Taiwan to go to an unknown place, mainly because she was a woman. With great determination and ambition, Leeshan did everything possible in getting a permit to go to the U.S., but it wasn’t until her principal encouraged her father to help by giving her an airline ticket and money to come to the U.S. was she finally able to get her permit. Leeshan was accepted at Columbia University in New York City where she studied nutrition and Hunter College where she took classes in institutional management and food purchasing. During that time, she had to work to support herself because the government of Taiwan did not allow money to be sent out of the country. She was fortunate to get a job in a hospital and worked in various departments. In spite of the language barrier (she had to learn English), Leeshan was able to get a Master’s Degree in Nutrition and also became a licensed dietician in just two years! That’s a pretty amazing feat when you consider that there were several English speaking students who didn’t pass the exams!!! After getting her MS, Leeshan was able to get the support from the AAUW (American Association of University Women) and received a fellowship that covered her expenses in attaining an advanced degree in nutrition. She first enrolled in a class that

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 6

she thought would help her to speak better English. As it turned out, she misunderstood that the Public Speaking course had nothing to do with correcting one’s English. Even so, Leeshan managed to commandeer the entire class into helping her improve her English speaking skills! One of Leeshan’s first impressions of a particular male classmate was very negative. “When I first saw him, I didn’t like him. Maybe it is an Asian thing but I thought he wasn’t very polite because he had his feet up on a desk. Later on, I forgave him. He had a baby face so I treated like a little brother,” recalled Leeshan. His name was James Birney and he was majoring in Finance at NYU. Leeshan started helping him study for his courses and he started making better grades. James encouraged Leeshan to change her major and get an MBA because it would provide her an opportunity to get a better job. By then, Leeshan had decided that she was no longer interested in the field of nutrition because she would have to do research in order to get an advanced degree which required her to kill laboratory mice. She had done it once and that was one time too many! Leeshan had heard of men getting their MBA but never a woman getting one. In the field of nutrition, most of her peers and professors were women. In addition, all of her professors were spinsters. Leeshan did not want to be a spinster nor a stay-athome mom; she wanted to have her cake and eat it too! Really enjoying her MBA classes and all of the diverse subjects she studied, Leeshan’s favorite were economics and the law of supply and demand. They made a lot of sense to her. She was able to support herself by getting a full time job as a research assistant and because of her excellent grade point average, she was able to get a tuition scholarship.

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Mayling means plum flower, the Chinese national flower which is also the first flower that blooms in the winter. Four years later, Leeshan gave birth to their third and last child, a daughter whom they named Shanlenn who was named in memory of Leeshan’s Buddhist mother who had passed away in 1976. Shanlenn means fragrant Lotus blossom in Chinese and Buddhists believe that Buddha sits on a Lotus blossom. When Ceyan was five, the Birneys moved from New York City to Millburn Township in New Jersey so that Ceyan could attend a better quality public school than the public schools in NYC. Still working on Wall Street, Mr. Birney commuted back and forth so that his children could have a better quality of education there in New Jersey. By the 1970s, Taiwan was no longer an underdeveloped country and the people had become more prosperous. In the 1980’s, they had become concerned about Communists taking over the country. Mrs. Birney’s sister in Taiwan wanted to put some money into the U.S., so James helped her invest in the stock market.

Leeshan and James are very proud of all three of their children, daughter Shanlenn (left), Mayling (right), and Ceyan (center). After attending Columbia for two years and then wanting to switch her major and her university, there was some confusion with the Department of Immigrations. Due to a glitch in the system, Leeshan was notified that she would have to return to Taiwan because they believed she had completed her studies and no longer entitled to a student visa. The only way she would be allowed to stay was if she was married to a U.S. citizen. She had been dating James for two years but had not thought about marrying him. She had been more of a friend to him who always helped him study. James didn’t like to study, but with Leeshan’s help he got A’s. James didn’t want Leeshan to go back to Taiwan because he enjoyed her companionship and he liked getting good grades, so he asked her to marry him. They rushed to get married in August of that year so that she could continue going to school in September. The funny thing is that a few weeks after they got married, Leeshan received a letter from Immigrations saying that she could stay in the U.S. because they had made a mistake! In spite of that, neither James nor Leeshan would have changed a thing and were happy that they did get married.

Still not happy about the situation in Taiwan, Leeshan’s sister wanted a “piece of America” because she saw how cheap the land in the U.S. was compared to the land in little Taiwan. Leeshan’s sister had gotten a real estate Broker to help her find an income-producing property. After the Broker found the property, Leeshan’s sister asked James for his opinion about it because she had always valued his great intellect and analytical mind. James told her, “No, that’s not good enough. Keep on looking.” Leeshan’s sister continued having the Broker search for other properties until they came across an 18 unit apartment. James did a 10 year projection and stated, “This property is going to make you money!” After getting James’ stamp of approval, Leeshan’s sister set up with the Broker to manage the property for a 10 percent fee and have a 10 percent partnership. It was also agreed that the Birneys would have a 30 percent partnership and Leeshan’s sister and brother-in-law would have the remaining 60 percent. Before the closing, the Broker handed James paperwork that she wanted him to sign. As it turned out, this paperwork was an agreement that if they were to sell the property again, the Broker would be guaranteed as the listing Broker. On top of that, the Broker wanted to be the managing agent for a high fee and not what was originally agreed upon.

Leeshan’s father was able to come to the U.S. after the wedding but her mother wasn’t able to come due to poor health. When Leeshan’s father first met James, he liked him very much but warned Leeshan that James was too nice and would not be good in business. He told Leeshan to watch out for him so that no one would take advantage of him in business. Mr. Birney interjected, “She’s been the protective temple lion ever since!” Once Leeshan and James were married, James got a job as an analyst on Wall Street for an institutional brokerage. He was working in the research division and had a good salary. After Leeshan got her MBA, she had their first child, a son whom they name Ceyan Douglas. In Chinese, Ceyan means rising sun. Leeshan remarked, “Ceyan was born December 24th, 1970. He was my Christmas present!” Leeshan stayed at home to care for her son because she didn’t want anyone else doing it. Nearly two years later, Mrs. Birney received another “Christmas present” but this time it was December 30th when she had their second child, a daughter whom they named Mayling. In Chinese,

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The Birney's son Ceyan and daughter-in-law Cynthia are responsible for Stone Mountain's New Jersey operations Continued on page 34 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 7

EDITORIAL FEATURE

What’s Holding You Back?

THE BUSINESS OF REAL ESTATE

By Rita Santamaria

uccess is not easily defined. You know it when it happens to you and you feel it when it occurs to you in various life activities. Most individuals desire success in all aspects of life whether it is personal or business success. If you are not achieving what you deserve, here are some helpful suggestions. One must be personally motivated. Others cannot motivate you to change behavior. Sales agents must have the personal drive and leap of faith to start each day with a can do spirit. Where does it come from? I believe it comes from the courage to believe in ones’ self. Courage means dealing with fear. The fear sales people work under is the fear of having to meet strangers and fear of being rejected when asking for business loyalty. We know the outcome will be rewarding if we take the plunge but jumping in can be scary. Overcoming fear is the foundation for making the necessary change in your life that allows you to engage in the rewards that come with being successful. Changing a life style or habit that is not working is the first step to success. Seeking a balance between personal and business is imperative in your personal success story. Too much personal time spent on tasks that you enjoy eventually causes your business success to suffer to the extent the personal time is less enjoyable. Too much time spent on business activities can be a detriment to your personal life. Self-talk about making changes to get back on the right track is important. Following through on those changes is imperative. Who in your life will be supportive to help you move into your new success

routine? Sharing your plans for change with someone that can encourage you is helpful. That person’s support of you is equally important. Passion for your success is the lightning rod that drives you into action. Self- discipline will keep you engaged in your passion. It’s easy to get caught up in daily activities and lose focus of your success plan. Put your plan on the calendar with date, time and activity you will be engaged in for your map to success.

yourself to believe there isn’t enough time for your goals. Evaluate your schedule and carve out the purposeful hours in the day that afford you the opportunities to be successful.

Rita Santamaria is the owner of Champions School of Real Estate in Houston TX. Champions have campuses in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and On-line Campus. For more information www.ChampionsSchool.com

Everyone has the same amount of time during the day. So don’t allow

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 8

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

The Fine Art of Delivery Mastery By Doug Winnie

ow and why do customers buy and buy again? One of the most important factors is called “Delivery Mastery.”

7. You don't want to lose customers through bad delivery. 8. Consistency of Delivery is the Goal.

Delivery Mastery is all about providing a consistent product delivered in a consistent manner to the customereach and everytime. Just as Steve Wynn has done with building theme-based casinos, you too can create consistency in delivering your product and service. In this article we will discuss all four areas of Delivery Mastery, including: Supply Mastery, Quality Mastery, Ease to Buy Mastery, and Service Mastery.

We’ve all experienced a poor quality product. Whether a used car, food poisoning, or lost luggage, each wouldn’t happen if someone was paying better attention. A small change could prevent a non-returning customer from becoming a vocal, unhappy and loud heckler to your business.

How would you rank your business, on a scale of 1 to 10, (10 is best)? • • • • •

We continuously work to improve our product delivery. We use surveys to ask our customers how we are doing. We evaluate the responses and address them to improve customer satisfaction. Team members are monitored against customer satisfaction. Procedures are documented and a flowchart has been created. Scripts are in place to greet customers. The team brainstorms on ways to exceed customer expectations.

Quality Mastery.

Questions and thoughts on Quality Mastery: 1. There is no way to get a customer back if you can't deliver what they buy at the standard they expect. 2. Delivering what you promise helps you grow. 3. Are you losing customers due to low quality? 4. What areas do you deliver well and where do you struggle? 5. Investigate customer complaints. 6. Mystery shop. 7. Make sure the customer gets what they paid for. Ease to Buy Mastery.

By consistently working on your Delivery Mastery you will grow your client base because you are creating Raving Fans. Be sure to read Raving Fans, by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles.

In my last business we purchased lots of IT hardware on our American Express cards. A local, fairly large supplier of products we used did nottake American Express. We love Amex because they made it easy to produce expense reports and track purchases - a task that became hard and time consuming if I used my personal credit cards. So we stopped shopping at this establishment (interesting point - we spent over $1,000,000 on hardware & software).

Supply Mastery

Questions and thoughts to consider on Easy to Buy Mastery:

A few years ago one of my staff mentioned the competition was undercutting us. They were quoting prices for the same product at about half what we were quoting and they quickly sold out. I thought, WOW, offer items you can’t deliver at prices below your competition - a very interesting marketing idea. When they didn't supply the product they lost customers. And we were right there to pick up the business.

1. Companies make it too hard to buy. 2. Simple things right through to complex business policies. 3. The ‘but it’s our policy’ response. 4. We want easy to know about... 5. Easy to find... 6. Easy to see/know what you have... 7. Easy to pay... 8. Easy to come back... 9. Mystery shoppers... 10. Customer surveys... 11. Plain ‘common sense’.

• •

We provided a great product at a value-based price, the customer stayed with us, and the competition disappeared. Here are some questions and thoughts on Supply Mastery: 1. Can customers get what they pay for? 2. Is delivery on time? 3. Can the company consistently make, buy or deliver the products and services? 4. Are there Supply Chain Bottlenecks? 5. Basic Delivery is vital for growth. 6. How much sales increase can you handle?

Service Mastery. last area of Mastery is Service Mastery. Who do you know who provides great service? At the top of the list are probably Southwest Airlines, Nordstrom’s, and Zappo’s. Is your company receiving rave reviews, praise, and recommendations from your clients? You want and need raving fans in order to be a successful company. If you Continued on page 41

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 9

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Ten Basic Principles of Business Success By Dr. John Demartini

few of the primary keys to becoming successful in business include having a clear intent or purpose, a truly inspiring vision, a grand message to share, a genuine social calling and a targeted niche to serve. From these initial basics arise the primary strategic objectives you would love to accomplish or achieve and a plan for their implementation. Here are ten basic principles of business that I hope will assist you to succeed. 1. FIND A NEED IN THE MARKET PLACE: The first component in building a business is finding out what the world demands, what services, what problems, what needs the world has. If you don’t fill a need, there’s no business. When I was nine years old, I went to my dad and asked if I could earn some money and he told me that all the things that he needed were done, so if I wanted to make money I had to go to the neighbors. So I went to the neighbors and asked them what needs they had, what problems I could solve for them. As a result of that, by asking and being willing to do a service, I was able to earn extra money. So the first principle of business success is identifying the needs of the society and then directly or indirectly filling those needs. In other words - either you with your services, your skills or your products filling a need or your broker, or somebody else who is producing the product and service to fill the need. But whatever it is, it’s necessary to find a need. 2. FIND WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO: Ideally you want to find what inspires you and produce and sell what you love to do most. This is in addition to filling peoples’ needs. So if you can identify what the needs are and then find the ones you are inspired to fill, you have two components: a need from society and a desire inside you to fill it. Those two components are very empowering. When you can’t wait to get up in the morning and bring a service to people, people can’t wait to get that service. 3. IDENTIFY THE HIGHEST PRIORITY ACTIONS THAT WILL HELP YOU FULFILL THOSE NEEDS: Prioritize the primary actions that it takes to fulfill those

needs and identify what the highest priority secondary actions are that will help you fulfill those primary actions. Make sure that you are working on top priority actions and delegating the low priority actions. If you are doing things that are most important and you are doing them with inspiration, you are going to increase your business. 4. STRUCTURE YOUR BUSINESS IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT MAXIMIZES ITS PROFITS: You want to reduce redundancies, make sure you are not doing things that are superfluous and make sure you are doing things most effectively and efficiently. Scan your daily actions quarterly to assure your maximal productivity. 5. SAVE A PORTION OF YOUR PROFITS AND BUILD A CUSHION OF LIQUIDITY: When you have a cushion of liquidity, you automatically have more stability in the business, you have higher quality clients, you’ll end up attracting more opportunities and you won’t be desperate. You’ll be inspired to select the quality of clients that you choose. 6. INVEST A PORTION OF YOUR MONEY: Make sure your money is working for you and you are not working all your life for your money. 7. COMMUNICATE THE PRODUCT IN THE VALUES AND NEEDS OF YOUR EMPLOYEES AND CLIENTS. When you are inspiring you team, make sure you are communicating in their values - their individual values are what they are inspired to do. Nobody goes to work for the sake of work; they go to work to fulfill their values. If you communicate the vision of the company and job duties in terms of peoples’ values, they are inspired by what they do and they produce more. Also, make sure you are communicating effectively in sales, advertising and marketing within your clients’ values and needs. Not only do you need to discover what those are, but you constantly need to keep at the forefront of what they are as they change. Keep getting feedback from your customers to assist you in filling their needs. Make sure that you are honorContinued on page 36

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 10

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

New City-Sponsored Smart Phone App Helps Job Market and City’s Minority/ Women Contracting Program Expanded. By Mayor Annise Parker

great city is many things. And it starts with opportunity. My economic philosophy is simple: I don’t believe in trickle down, I believe in building up. To that end, I am proud about two announcements that can help small businesses. The first is the launch of a new citywide online platform to help Houstonians find jobs and help employers quickly find qualified applicants to fill openings. “Tweetmyjobs Houston” uses innovative technology to combine the popularity of social media and the convenience of a smart phone application. The free service already has more than 150,000 Houston job postings from entry level to senior level corporate positions. Houston is the biggest economic success story in America, but the best can always get better. This free and user-friendly online tool is the new way to find a job and hire in Houston. It will greatly simplify the hiring process, providing any employer, regardless of size, with the same fast and free access to the best and brightest recruits available. Likewise, job seekers will have instant and direct access to thousands of jobs via Facebook, Twitter, email or their mobile phone. It’s possible to walk down the street and view on your smart phone all the jobs available in your immediate proximity. This is truly a game-changer for Houston. Tweetmyjobs Houston is available at www.houston.tweetmyjobs.com www.SBTMagazine.net

or in the application store for your mobile device. Just push a button to find jobs or to post a job listing to every corner of the digital landscape. The unique integration with Twitter and Facebook allows job seekers to receive job notifications via text message, email or through social media. It’s also possible to see if Facebook friends are connected with the hiring company. The online platform will allow the city to track the number of residents pursuing job opportunities, the type of positions being sought, the level of position and the industries in which job seekers want to work. It will also be able to show the number of jobs employers are posting over time as well as the type, industry and location of available opportunities. Tweet My Jobs, Houston is being funded through a $350,000 grant from the Houston Housing Finance Corporation. It will be administered by the City’s Office of Business Opportunity. Expanded Minority/Women Contracting Program Houston City Council has approved enhancements to the City’s 30-year old goal-oriented Minority/Womenowned/Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) contracting program. Due to council’s action, women-owned businesses will be reinstated to the program, the citywide goal for construction contracts will increase from 14 percent to 34 percent and the participation requirements for

disabled veterans will be relaxed. The changes are the end result of a new study comparing the number of MWSBE firms utilized on city contracts to the number of companies available in the marketplace. The Houston business environment is as diverse as its population. It is only fair that participation in city contracting opportunities reflect this diversity. These changes, which have wide support in the contracting community, will help ensure that historically underutilized small, minority and women-owned companies will get a fair chance to compete for city construction work. The City of Houston implemented its MWSBE program in 1984. It remained largely unchanged until 2009 when a lawsuit required the removal and replacement of women owned businesses with small Business Enterprises until a comprehensive construction industry disparity study could be performed. The results of the study completed in April 2012 indicated a need for doubling of the citywide MWSBE construction contracts goal.

In addition to the reinstatement of women owned firms and the higher goal for construction contracts, OBO is implementing the following procedures to enhance the program’s effectiveness:Review the MWSBE Program every five years •

Expand the geographic boundaries to include two new Continued on page 13

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 11

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Why a Company Would Improve?

BIG PICTURE OF BUSINESS

The Art of Learning From Failure to Get Better. By Hank Moore / Corporate Strategist™

Success is just in front of our faces. Yet, we often fail to see it coming. Too many companies live with their heads in the sand. Many go down in defeat because it was never on their radar to change. A colleague recently complained about her corporation: “Things are much the same at this company, and I don't see much changing unless leadership does.” The answer is that companies need not roll over and accept less than the best. And yes, it takes courage to get management unstuck in their ways. In fact, 92 percent of all problems in organizations stem from poor management decisions. The Biggest Mistakes Many of Us Have Made Abilities, Talents •

aking the same mistakes more than twice, without M studying the mitigating factors.

•

aking incidents out of context and misdiagnosing T situations.

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Rationalizing occurrences, after the fact.

•

ppearing self-contained, therefore precluding others A from wanting to help me.

•

I nability to cultivate other people's support of me at the times that I needed it most.

Resources •

ttempting projects without the proper resources to A do the job well.

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ot knowing people with sufficient pull and power. N Thinking that friends would help introduce me to or help me network with key influentials.

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howing proper respect to other people and assuming S that they would show or were capable of showing comparable respect to others.

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oing favors for others without asking anything D in return...if I expected quid pro quo at a later time. Not telling people what I wanted and then being disappointed that they did not read minds or deliver favors of their own volition.

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efriending people who were too needy...always B taking without offering to reciprocate. Continuing to feed their needs...a one-way relationship.

•

icking the wrong causes to champion at the wrong P times and with insufficient resources.

•

orking with the false assumption that people want W and need comparable things. Incorrectly assuming that all would pursue their agendas fairly. A better understanding of personality types, human motivations and behavioral factors would have provided insight to handle situations on a customized basis.

•

ffering highly creative ideas and brain power to those O who could not grasp their brilliance...especially to those who were fishing for free ideas they could then market as their own.

Circumstances Beyond Our Control •

orking with equipment, resources and people from W a source without my standards of quality control and trying to make the best of bad situations.

•

hanging trends, upon which I could not capitalize but C which others could.

Miscalculations

•

ailure to employ effective networking techniques F early enough in my career path.

•

I ncorrectly estimating the time necessary to do something well.

•

I nability to finely develop the powers of people participating in the networking process.

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etting blindsided because I did not do enough G research.

Other People

•

Failure to plan sufficiently ahead, at the right times.

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Setting sights too low. Not thinking big enough.

Accepting people at their words without questioning.

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and

resources

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Timing •

Offering advice before it was solicited.

•

eeling pressured to offer solutions before diagnosing F situations properly.

•

Not thinking of enough angles and possibilities sooner.

Marketplace-External Factors •

Not reading the opportunities soon enough.

•

ot being able to spot, create or capitalize upon N emerging trends at their beginnings. Stages of Mistakes

One learns three times more clearly when witnessing and analyzing the failures of others they know or have followed. History teaches us about cycles, trends, misapplications of resources, wrong approaches and vacuums of thought. People must apply history to their own lives-situations. If we document our own successes, then these case studies will make us more successful in the future. Gradations of Learning from Mistakes 1. Distance one's self from one's actions. 2. Become self-critical. 3. Recognize that actions have consequences.

1. D iscovering errors (sensory-motor, sounds-language and logical selection).

4. Begin accepting responsibility for the consequences.

2. Recognizing mistakes.

6. Learn how to learn from mistakes.

3. S eparating successful elements from failures we do not need to duplicate.

7. Accept fallibility, become open to critical feedback and modify actions accordingly.

5. Learn how to eliminate errors.

4. Learning from mistakes. 5. Learning from success. 6. M entoring yourself and others toward a higher stream of knowledge.

Hank Moore/Corporate Strategist 713-668-0664 http: www.hankmoore.com Email Hank at hankmoore4218@sbcglobal.net

7. T he wisdom that comes from making mistakes, comprehending their outcomes, and developing a knowledge base to achieve success. Gradations of Failing 1. Not seeing the warning signs. 2. D istinguishing among friends, enemies and the majority group, those who could care less about you but who will tap whatever resources available to get their needs met. 3. Never seeing victories as quite enough. 4. F eeling that someone else -- everyone else -- wins when you fail. 5. Repeating self-defeating behaviors. 6. Holding unrealistic views. 7. Thinking that you never fail...that failing is for other people and organizations. Why We Must Fail in Order to Succeed Learning the stumbling blocks of failure prepares one to attain true success. Fear is the biggest contributor to failure, and it can be a motivator for success. You cannot make problems go away, simply by ignoring that they exist. Everybody fails at things for which they are not suited. The process of learning what one is best suited to do is not a failure...it is a great success. Learn from the best and the worst. People who make the biggest bungling mistakes are showing you pitfalls to avoid. Many of us make the same mistakes over and over again. That is to be expected and teaches us volumes, preparing us for success. There is no plan that is fool-proof. One plans, learns, reviews and plans further. One learns three times more from failure than success.

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Continued from page 11 New City-Sponsored Smart Phone App Helps Job Market...

counties: San Jacinto and Austin Counties •

Revise the Good Faith Efforts Policy

•

Require contractors to submit their plans for meeting the Good Faith Efforts at the time of bid submission

•

Implement a three-year MWSBE certification

•

Standardize department accountability for monitoring of contract compliance and goal waivers

•

Utilize the Disabled Veterans definition of the Department of Defense or Veteran Affairs when considering disabled veterans for inclusion in the Persons with Disabilities Business Enterprise portion of the program.

Only certified MWSBE firms are eligible to fulfill goal requirements on city contracts. City of Houston Certification is also accepted by the following agencies: • METRO • Port of Houston Authority • Houston Independent School District • Houston Community College • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Houston Housing Authority • Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts • Texas Department of Transportation • Airport Transportation Agencies Statewide Visit http://www.houstontx.gov/obo/certification.html for more information on certification.

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 13

EDITORIAL FEATURE

No More Excuses: Your Small Business CAN Create Great Content MARKETING STRATEGIES Amy Olivieri

By Amy Olivieri, Constant Contact Regional Development Director

ontent marketing is a hot topic in the marketing world right now. You’ve probably heard plenty about it, including many misconceptions. As a result, you may have established certain opinions or doubts about whether or not creating content is a worthwhile investment. Well, it is! Content is currency on the Internet. It’s what people consume, share, and it’s what can get your small business found. Before you throw in the towel and give up on the idea of content marketing completely, here are some ways to overcome these common challenges. 1. I’m an awful writer—I can’t create great content! “I can’t create content…” isn’t a sentiment any business owner needs to accept, especially if the reason has something to do with your proficiency as a writer. In reality, great content is all about answering the questions of your audience. It’s why someone visits your website or checks out your content in the first place: to learn more about your business and see what you can do to help them. So whether you’re writing about products, services, events and promotions, or just sharing your expertise about your industry—you already have those answers. Now all you need is a strategy for turning those answers into great content for your readers. 2. I don’t have the time! I have a business to run. Small business owners have never had more access to easy-to-use tools for content creation. Take your smartphone for example. Your smartphone is essentially the modern day Swiss Army knife of content creation. Whether it’s snapping pictures,

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 14

shooting videos, recording audio or taking notes—business owners have never had access to a more valuable resource for creating content. And with the convenience of a mobile device, you can create engaging content without it disrupting your schedule or taking away from running your business. 3. How will creating content get people to buy my product/service? Not all the stuff you create for your marketing is going to lead people directly to buy, and writing with a sales mentality is a sure-fire way to undermine your content marketing. The real value of content is that it gives your audience the opportunity to get to know, like, and trust you over time. And people do business with those they know, like, and trust. Content allows you to get 85 percent of the way there. That doesn’t mean you can’t talk about yourself or your products. Just keep in mind; people are much more interested in what your products will do for them, than what selling them will do for you. Facing your content roadblocks While there may still be plenty of roadblocks along the way, you can create great content. The trick is, not letting those roadblocks or your doubts stand in the way of creating stuff customers will love and want to tell their friends about.

Amy E. Olivieri is Regional Development Director of Constant Contact. Reach her at: aolivieri@constantcontact.com or (713) 401-2841 www.constantcontact.com/amy-olivieri

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Your Next Step Hi, I’m your Personal Chief Financial Officer By Jack Warkenthien

ouldn’t it be nice to have your own CFO? This professional always has your interests—front and center—as (s)he watches your back. That’s right: your assets are protected, retirement is mapped out, your estate is planned, taxes are prepared, and all risks are managed. In addition, your CFO is an expert in all areas related to insurance—life, health, property & casualty and others. Wanna talk debt consolidation, mortgage refinancing, mortgages? No problem. How do you feel so far? BANKRUPT PREMIER ATHLETES I can name a few premier athletes that WISHED they had such a professional team on their side. Evander Holyfield (see picture attached) has made more than $250 million and it is almost all gone. The bank recently foreclosed on his 54,000 square-foot pad outside of Atlanta. The landscaping was immaculate, though he still owes $500 thousand to the landscaping firm who tends to his yard. His Personal CFO surely would have said that 109 rooms in a home are superfluous. Scotty Pippen, one of my favorite Chicago Bulls in their six-pack Championship run, made over $120 million in the NBA. Then he bought a jet. It was the worst investment in a portfolio of clunkers that never soared. Scotty’s bankroll plummeted to a $9 million dollar debt to lawyers and banks. His Personal CFO would have reminded him that it costs $50,000 just to fix the windshield on one of these babies. See you in

coach, Scotty! Finally, the heavyweight (pun intended) of all elite athletes: Mike Tyson, the most famous athlete for losing his fortune. Mike won more than $400 million dollars, and at one point, he lost everything—except the chump change it took to tattoo his face. Heck, I love pets as much as the next guy, but I’d probably pass on a white tiger, since Mike’s bill was $4,500 per month in the care and feeding of the feline. There’s a large market basket of reasons why you don’t want to “Be Like Mike,” but the one that rises off the canvas to the top of the list: no Personal CFO to lend him guidance, expertise, support, and discipline to watch his assets. YOUR PERSONAL CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER The idea is not that farfetched. Though the odds of you finding one financially astute person who’s an expert in all areas, are slim to none—and Slim left town—there are some exceptional Insurance & Investment Advisory Services firms who can offer a TEAM of experts. Learn what questions to ask, and start your search. Here’s where to start… COMMON FINANCIAL CONCERNS Almost everyone has financial “challenges” in their life. Not everyone chooses to face them, and do something about them. Ignoring them is a decision, and not a very good one at that. Acknowledge the ones you have, and find a firm you can trust to educate you on your choices. What

concerns do you have? Retirement income needs? Estate taxes? Are you saving for college? Going through a divorce? Death in the family? Lawsuits bringing you down? Are you rolling over a 401(k) from a previous employer? Any one or more of these may be new to you, but there are professionals out there who face these financial hurdles multiple times every day. The more honest you can be about your own personal situation, the more helpful your Personal CFO (or TEAM) can be to you. FINANCIAL SERVICES NEEDED No solutions—or solutions providers—are ‘one size fits all’. The same heat that melts the butter hardens the egg. There are a myriad of services you may have a need for, from retirement funding to pension/ profit sharing, from IRA Rollovers to 401(k), 457, 402(b) Plans, or any one of many insurance offerings (Life/ Disability/Health/Property & Casualty, etc). Seek a firm that is NOT tied to one product vendor or discipline. You need a customized plan—one that is uniquely tailored to your needs. Your Personal CFO will bring you many service offerings to assure you that you’ll be able to make a prudent and educated choice for your future. SPECIALIZED SERVICES Maybe you’re like me, and you own or manage a Small Business. We love the entrepreneurial spirit, but being one introduces us to many specialized challenges and needs. If you’re such a person, you need a Personal CFO who’s savvy in areas Continued on page 36

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 16

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

A Blended Lesson By Aimee Woodall

ast month I had to end a longstanding relationship. I brokeup with KitchenAid.

My blender exploded, and not in a subtle way. Here I was, mid-smoothie, and the plastic piece that sits between the base and the top (which I now know is called the “Coupler”) burst into a million tiny pieces – so much for breakfast. So I tweeted to the person running the KitchenAid Twitter account asking them for help and including a picture of my broken blender. And I waited. They did something right. They responded with: “We’re sorry to see this. The blender you have has not been manufactured for several years. The coupler is a replaceable part.” But the company did something wrong, too. First off, the person running the KitchenAid Twitter account basically told me my blender was old. Sure, the blender was getting on in years, but it’s KitchenAid. It’s meant to last a lifetime. Did I fall for branding that doesn’t uphold to those standards? Second, the person running the account tweeted me a link to buy the part. Upon further research, the part costs almost $10 with shipping. If our agency were advising KitchenAid, I would say, without hesitation: “BUY THE PART. Send it to her. Knock her socks off and make her fall in love with KitchenAid all over again.” Imagine if the scenario had played out differently. Imagine if they had

said “OH NO! You know what, we’re sending you a present. You’ll have the part within a week. Sorry if it foiled your blending plans.” And then, a week later, I get the part in the mail.

Agency friend and follower, Brianna Land, read our post. And, while she thanked me for the lesson in “good/ bad PR,” she also inspired a second set of advice.

You know what I would do? I’d write a blog post about amazing customer service. I’d pitch it to PR Daily. I’d tweet to and about @KitchenAidUSA, talking about how wonderful they and their products are. And I’d keep loyally buying KitchenAid products― probably for the rest of my life.

PAY ATTENTION

All for the cost of $10, shipping included. We, as those responsible for the customer experience, need to rethink the little things, because in social media, the little things are the BIG things. You might think, “S,o KitchenAid lost one customer, what’s the big deal?” But when you lose one customer on social media it is a big deal. That interaction was public. Anyone can see, anyone deciding to buy a blender. KitchenAid may have lost them, as well. Plus, followers have influence. If I tweet (or a-hem, write a column) about the experience, KitchenAid could lose many more customers than just one. A tiny bit of love can go a long, long way. Especially when smoothies are involved. But something good came out of this negative customer-service experience. After I wrote a blog post about this, a delivery came to the office the very next day. And it was a fabulous, brand-spanking-new blender.

Brianna follows The Black Sheep Agency blog, and she’s a friend of ours on social media. From time to time, she interacts with us, and (apparently) reads our posts. This time, she clearly read all the way to the end and saw my note. “P.S. Somebody send me a blender!” And while I was mostly joking, she decided to take it to heart and sent me a surprise the following day. TAKE NOTE OF DETAILS If you saw the photo of the blender shrapnel I posted, you may have noticed that my old (to use a KitchenAid-induced adjective) blender was red. And, wouldn’t you know it, so was the one that Brianna sent. Details are important, especially when those details keep your kitchen color-coordinated. ACT FAST When we received the package the very next day, I expected it to be an Amazon shipment of books we ordered for the office. Never did I imagine someone would actually send me a blender –– much less send one immediately. The timeliness of the action made it even better. SURPRISE THEM Things that are unexpected are memorable and talked about. This is Continued on page 19

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 17

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Odds of a child becoming a professional athlete: 1 in 16,000 Odds of a child being diagnosed with autism: 1 in 88

Some signs to look for: No big smiles or other joyful expressions by 6 months.

No babbling by 12 months.

No words by 16 months.

To learn more of the signs of autism, visit autismspeaks.org ÂŠ 2012 Autism Speaks Inc. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Autism Speaksâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time To Listenâ&#x20AC;? & design are trademarks owned by Autism Speaks Inc. All rights reserved.

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 18

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BTM_hispanicchamber_ad.pdf 1 3/27/2013 3:30:25 PM

Continued from page 17 A Blended Lesson

a repeated mantra in our office. And what Brianna did was completely unexpected. I immediately took to Twitter to start a conversation with her, and we met later in the week to grab drinks and talk collaboration. Surprise evokes emotion, and emotion evokes action. Never underestimate the positive impact an unexpected gesture can create –– especially when it comes to your customers. While much of this seems basic, it’s amazing how infrequently this advice is followed. Social media isn’t that different from the IRL world. It might seem easy to shrug off an interaction made over social media. (KitchenAid, I’m looking at you.) But more and more, the lines between life online and off-line are blurring. We have to treat online interactions with the same care and consideration we use in real life. We appreciate thoughtful, kind, creative people in real life, so we appreciate thoughtful, kind, creative social media accounts. We also appreciate free blenders. Aimee Woodall/Black Sheep can be contacted at 832.971.7725 or email her at aimee@theblacksheepagency.com Theblacksheepagency.com

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International Summit & Business Expo Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 7:30AM - 10:30AM DoubleTree Hilton, 6 East Greenway Plaza

CMY

Energy Summit & Business Expo

Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 11:30AM - 1:00PM Hilton - University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd.

Procurement Summit & Business Expo

Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 7:30AM - 10:30AM Hilton - University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd.

Health Summit & Business Expo

Wednesday, August 28, 2013, 7:30AM - 10:30AM Hilton Americas - Downtown, 1600 Lamar St.

Elected Officials Reception

Thursday, September 26, 2013, 5:30PM - 7:00PM Hotel Zaza, 5701 Main St.

Networking and Business Development Breakfast Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 7:30AM - 9:00AM Hilton - University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd.

Call (713) 644-7070 or visit us at www.houstonhispanicchamber.com

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 19

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Financial Resources For Women in Business Ideas for small businesses to survive and thrive in today’s economy George Rose Wells Fargo V.P.

By George Rose, Wells Fargo V.P., Business Relationship Manager

here’s one topic we hear about most often when we talk to women who are building their own businesses: Obtaining financing can feel like a daunting task. We also talk with too many business owners who are unaware of the many resources available to help them access capital. We want to change that and make more women aware of their options. Today there’s a growing list of government, non-profit and private organizations that provide resources for women in business. Here are a few to consider:  Financial service providers that have a special focus on women-owned businesses: More financial institutions are recognizing the importance and growth of the segment – nearly 30 percent of businesses are owned by women today. As a result, more financial institutions are adding services and programs specially geared toward helping women learn about financing options and how to obtain a small business loan. At Wells Fargo, for example, we recently committed to lend a cumulative total of $55 billion to women-owned businesses by 2020, in addition to offering numerous resources for small businesses.  U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): The SBA operates Women’s Business Centers across the country – a network of educational centers designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses. When a business owner is ready for a loan, she may want to consider an SBA loan, which is offered through banks and other lending institutions. SBA loan products, such as SBA 7(a) and 504 loans, can be good options for some creditworthy small business owners who may not able to obtain conventional loans or loan terms that meet their business needs.  National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO): With more than 5,000 members and 60 chapters, NAWBO is

a valuable resource helping to propel women business owners into greater economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. Once you’re ready to apply for a loan, there are a few questions any lender will ask: How much do you need? What will you do with the financing? How will you pay it back? Your success in securing a loan will depend on your answers. To help maximize your chances, before you approach a lender, make sure to do your homework in each of these key areas. How much do you need? This the most fundamental question. Having a precise answer is the first step in proving that you’re prepared. If you aren’t sure how much to ask for, revisit your business plan and business financials first. Look at what you have available, and what you project you will need to reach your goals, then do the math. Why do you need it? This is really a two-part question. Lenders are interested in knowing whether you’re seeking financing to solve a problem, or to seize an opportunity. You should maintain an up-to-date business plan that you revise regularly as your business grows. If you’re just getting started, you can find plenty of guidance online, such as this step-by-step guide available at Wells Fargo’s Business Insight Resource Center: https:// wellsfargobusinessinsights.com/businessstages/startup/writing-business-plan How will you repay your loan? The last question requires the most detailed documentation. Start with your current financials to show how much cash your business generates now. Then prepare cash flow projections: your best estimates of how much you anticipate generating after you receive the loan. Include principal and interest payments in the forecasts, and keep the loan terms within bank policy guidelines. Continued on page 41

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Why Email Marketing Is An Essential Part of the Sales Process By Craig Klein, CEO of SalesNexus

t a recent eMarketing Association conference, the lesson learned was just how the biggest brands in the world struggle with exactly the same issues as small businesses. Everyone, big and small, is struggling to do the basics like maintain an up to date prospect and customer list, get relevant messages in front of the right people at the right time and measure the results and glean actionable intelligence. From this simple observation, we can conclude some important facts… 1. It’s not about the technology – big brands have access to all the options. They still struggle. To choose, to implement and to execute. 2. It’s not easy – if it was, we’d all be doing it right? 3. Measuring success is elusive – everyone seems to know it’s important and valuable but, it feels like a leap of faith. Email Marketing is done by the person down the hall Marketing, advertising, and emails… that’s for the marketing folks. And then they become prospects and they become the property of the sales people – for good reason, of course. Sales people do what they do, they do it well and we love them for it. But it is treated somewhat like a marketing black hole. The last thing you want to do as a marketer is step on the sales people’s toes with the wrong email message for instance.

But every sales process fundamentally inefficient…

Does your sales process look like this.... 1. Network 2. Follow up call 3. Qualify 4. Demo/presentation/meeting 5. Proposal 6. Close What percentage make it all the way through that funnel? 20 percent? For most businesses, 30 percent close rate would be incredible! The cardinal sin of sales people is that they leave the other 70 or 80 percent of the “leads” for dead on the side of the road. Most companies don’t even do a good job of collecting these “dead leads” in any sort of crm software . In fairness, it’s not really their fault. They’re paid to close deals. They stay focused on the deals they can close. So, an email marketing strategy that tailors messages to prospects as they move through the funnel, at the pace they move through the funnel, keeps them in the funnel. Even those that by all accounts have left the funnel altogether, can be nurtured right back into the funnel, when they’re ready. The numbers are overwhelmingly compelling. Here’s an example: •

100 Leads per month x 26 weeks = 2600 leads in 6 months x 70% = 1,820 “unclosed leads” in 6 months.

•

A decent email marketing campaign can bring 1 percent of those leads back into the funnel each month. So, that’s 18 “warmed up” leads each month

and if you close 30 percent of those that’s five extra sales each month. That’s a 17 percent increase in sales! Og Mandino, one of the godfathers of sales wisdom said: “I am likening to a grain of wheat, which faces one of three futures. The wheat can be placed in a sack and dumped in a stall until it is fed to swine. Or it can be ground to flour and made into bread. Or it can be placed in the earth and allowed to grow until it’s golden head divides and produces a thousand grains from the one.” Which are you choosing today? If you don’t have a system that quickly puts leads into a “hopper” to nurture them as soon as they “stall” in the sales process, then you’re just grinding up leads for feed. You’re throwing away the ones that stall. Why not plant them in fertile ground to grow into more? Most often people say, “I don't have time” or “The technology is just too overwhelming” or “I don't know how to create those emails.” Good news! - if you understand how to identify your customers "pain," you can focus sales time on the most qualified leads and develop emails that nurture the rest. This will make your sales time superefficient and start growing lead garden! The idea is to create content pieces, articles, whitepapers, videos, blog Continued on page 43

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 21

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Is Success Based On Luck or Working Smarter? By: Jeffrey D. Jones, ASA, CBA, CBI Jeffrey D. Jones

uck often appears to be the reason for success. The following story is about the listing and sale of a midsize landscaping company by my business brokerage firm. The lucky part of the transaction was that I got the referral of the business owner from the Small Business Development Center in Lufkin, TX, and two months latter this same agency referred the buyer to me for the closing of an $800,000 deal. The seller now thinks I was lucky and made a fast buck with very little work. Finding good businesses for sale at a reasonable price is one of the most difficult aspects of our business. We get our listings of businesses for sale by way of advertising on various websites, promoting our own website, using direct mail, using telemarketing, and developing our referral sources which include accountants, attorneys, lenders, real estate brokers, past clients, and governmental agencies that deal with business owners. However, it is our referral sources that we have built up over time that generate the best business leads of both sellers and buyers. Most business owners will say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If the price is right, I will sell.â&#x20AC;? Of course Buyers say the same thing, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If the price is right I will buy. Here are two important facts. First, fair market value is rarely sufficient to motivate a business owner to sell. Secondly, only about 25 percent of all businesses for sale actually sell. The reason that most businesses do not sell is that they are overpriced. A business owner has to be motivated to sell for reasons other than the amount of money they can get for their business. During my meeting with the business owner, I made my recommendation as to the price and terms of sale that would be needed to make the deal happen. Of course, the business owner already had high expectations based on the information provided to her by the SBDC, and expected to get over $1 million in cash at closing. I then had to convince the owner that the price recommended by the SBDC was too high and would severely restrict the number of buyer prospects who would even be willing to submit offers. Furthermore, it was likely that she would have to provide owner financing

for part of the purchase price. After several hours of explanations, I was able to convince the owner to list the business at $800,000 and to offer owner financing. Each month we get several hundred Buyer Prospects who contact our office about businesses we have for sale. Again, some of our best Buyer Prospects come to us from our referral sources that we have developed over the years. Another fact of our business is that only about two percent of all the people who dream of getting into their own business ever actually do so. There are two essential ingredients required for someone to go into business for himself or herself. These ingredients are money and guts. Frankly, it is often more an issue of guts than money that prevents most people from actually going into their own business. While many people dream of owning their own business, the reality is that only about two percent of the adult population in the U.S. own a business. Everyone else is what we call closet entrepreneurs. So finding a buyer who wants a particular business, lives near the business, has the money to buy the business, and has the guts to do it is like finding a needle in a haystack. In the case of the landscape company, the man who ended up purchasing the business was a young man with a family farming background, and currently working for a large publicly held lumber company. He had been notified that he was being laid off due to cutbacks in his company. He came to the SBDC seeking advice on another business he was considering buying. In this case, the staff of the SBDC had advised him that the asking price of the seller was too high, and then they recommended he contact me about a landscaping company we had for sale. After he signed a confidentiality agreement, I provided him the information regarding the company. I then arranged a meeting between him and the business owner, which went very well. In fact, following the meeting, he signed an earnest money contact to purchase the business at the price and terms of sale I had recommended. The Buyer Prospect told me he appreciated the way we valued the business, as opposed to the other deal he was looking at where the Continued on page 37

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

The Small Business Blueprint for Great Customer Service By Lorraine Grubbs

magine making a one-time decision to place the fate of your entire company in the hands of your Customers. If your well-placed faith in the good relationship with your Customers is right, you get to stay in business. If not, you’re history. Such was the case for Southwest Airlines post-9/11. They began to get requests for refunds from customers who had purchased tickets but were now afraid to fly. Their competitors decided to allow the refund, but tack on a “refund penalty” to cover their cost and lost revenue. Not Southwest. They put themselves in their customers’ shoes. They thought, “Why should we penalize people who had become fearful of flying due to circumstances beyond their control?” So, they took a risk and decided to offer full refunds to anyone who asked with no penalties. They were counting on their customers not making a “bank run” refund request. Why? Because over the years, they had developed a great relationship with their customers. And they were right. In fact, not only did many of them not ask for a refund, Southwest was overwhelmed when many of their customers sent their tickets in with notes saying “Southwest Airlines, take this ticket and keep it. I don’t want my money back…I just want you in business in five years and today you need the money more than I do.” Where does that kind of loyalty come from? Can small businesses build that kind of loyalty? Everyone is in the customer service industry; you just happen to provide a service or produce a product. Customer service is a mindset that should be established from the birth of any company. It’s a living, breathing philosophy that manifests itself in everything you do. It should be a way of life, a credo, and a mantra. Your employees should ooze it from their pores. Customer service should reside in your mission statement, your meetings, and your celebrations. It should start at the beginning of an employee’s time with your company and be rewarded and recognized throughout the employee’s career. So, how do you do that? By implementing the following customer service principles in your small business.

The Keys to the Kingdom Employees should be empowered to “do the right thing” versus doing what’s right. Empowerment is one of the most powerful tools a company can utilize to ensure that customers are taken care of when things don’t go as planned. To be comfortable giving that right to your employees, you must be confident in their ability to make good decisions. That will be the case if you have hired and trained them correctly. With empowerment, however, comes the risk that your employee will make mistakes. How you, as the leader, handle those mistakes is paramount to whether your employees will continue making decisions or default to the rule book with phrases such as,” Sorry, there is nothing I can do.” And employees, like customers, talk. A wrong move on management’s part in reference to empowerment can demotivate not only that employee, but also others who hear the story. The secret to empowering employees is to give them the keys to the kingdom and let them know you trust them to use the keys wisely. Give employees the ground rules, but also give them the latitude to bend the rules. Empowerment is a powerful tool that can make the employees feel like owners of the company and, after all, who takes care of a company better than an owner? With empowerment, your Employees will return positive results again and again. We are Family When you see your customers through the eyes of friendship and family, you start to do things for them that you usually do only for your family and friends. Specifically, send your most frequent customers a birthday card. Know your frequent customers’ names. Know their children and spouses’ names. Live the adage “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. Invite your customers to participate in company events. Ask them to judge employee contests. It will make them feel special and your employees will get to know them outside of the “work” environment. Fun, Fun, Fun Have fun! When people have fun on the job, they will be more apt to show up, have a great attitude and deliver Continued on page 43

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 23

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Manage Your Reputation, Not Relationships By Mike Muhney

s the co-inventor of ACT!, the product credited as the catalyst for the Customer Relationship Management industry, I’m surprisingly not a champion of the concept of “managing relationships” at all. I don’t think entering data, scheduling activities, or even communicating with someone amounts to “management” in any meaningful way. Even if the concept of managing customer relationships was the premise for the industry, the actual result is really a tool for Management to oversee an employee’s activity, communication, and progress with their customers and prospects – not the employee’s tool for building or maintaining meaningful relationships. Networking Alone Isn’t the Answer It’s never just what you know, but whom you know that matters. But anyone can rent a list of names. No matter what industry you’re in, the quality of your connections trumps the quantity of names in your database. Attending events, shaking hands, collecting business cards— nothing wrong with that, per se. But the person with the most cards doesn’t win. Reporting Activity Isn’t the Answer Proving that you called, met, or emailed a contact shows activity, yes, but it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate the true value of that connection. Those intrinsic aspects of human relationships don’t show up on spreadsheets or communication logs. Building and maintaining relationships takes time, intensity, trust, and reciprocity, none of which are accurately reflected by a status report. CRM Isn’t the Answer According to a study by Gartner, the leading Information Technology research firm, (http://www.gartner.com/ newsroom/id/2004216) only 50 percent of Fortune-1000 companies using CRM systems reap a significant return on their investment. Hence, it’s time for a new perspective! I wholeheartedly believe that meaningful relationships lead to success in business and in our personal lives, too, but that’s a subject for a separate article. Without meaningful relationships, our chance of success wanes, perhaps to the point of nonexistence. Manage Your Reputation Instead

requires a very slight shift, from Customer Relationship Management to Customer Reputation Management. You can manage the ways in which you build and maintain the perception of your reputation with customers and prospects. When you demonstrate professionalism, concern, and commitment to helping others succeed, trust is the result. Trust that the other person is important enough to you to record the details you learn about them. Trust that you will do what you say that you will do. Trust that may even earn you that all-coveted referral. The Deciding Factor You may not be able to manage another person simply by entering information in an application. However, if you use those tools to remember the details others forget, you’ll stand apart from your competitors who may or may not offer a better product or service. With each interaction, you can prove that all things being equal, your reputation is the deciding factor. Reputation Management 101 Maintaining your reputation requires discernment, diligence, and discipline in each of the relationships you’ve built. Strong relationships don’t happen by accident. As your relationships grow stronger, so will your reputation. The foundation of authenticity and trust, once established must be furthered. Every entrepreneur is a business, a personal brand. There’s an adage that business is like an automobile. It won’t run by itself except downhill. The quality of your reputation, good or bad, will be reflected in your success. Looking at it from that perspective intensifies the reasons to use relationship management and organizational tools. After all, who doesn’t want to put their best foot forward? Especially when it impacts your bottom-line! CRM systems can only help you to manage contacts, calendars, and communications, but when you do so with diligence and professionalism, the natural result is a good reputation. Mike Muhney is the co-inventor of ACT!, is now the CEO & co-founder of VIPorbit Software, creators of VIPorbit relationship management apps for iPhone & iPad. viporbit.com

If you can’t manage others to achieve success, how do you get there? By managing yourself! This new perspective www.SBTMagazine.net

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

What Is Customer Service? By Errol D. Allen

While being interviewed on a local radio show, one of the co-hosts posed this question - "Errol, exactly what is customer service?" I don't ever remember being asked that particular question but here's my reply -"Customer service is a methodology that when put in motion, creates a customer's experience." This definition is not specific to any particular industry nor does the size of the organization matter. Now someone is probably wondering what I mean by methodology. When defining customer service as a methodology, I'm speaking of the systems that an organization chooses to put in place to provide a customer experience. Ok, now someone may be asking "Errol, now what systems are you referring to? Allow me to explain. When determining what your organization's customer service methodology will be, you are actually determining the experience your customer will receive when interacting with those within your organization. For instance, when your customer calls and your inbound call methodology dictates that persons answering calls will perform certain tasks while on the call and do so within a certain time frame, those requirements lead to the customer's experience. When that person's performance review and salary increase is tied to their success in meeting the goals of that inbound call strategy, this too determines the customer's experience with your organization. If your strategy induces

this person to be more concerned with meeting goals than taking the necessary steps and time for each customer's situation, this too creates an experience. When creating core values for your organization, you are creating an experience for your customer. If words such as integrity, honesty, respect and valued are included in your core values, your customer should experience these words when interacting with your organization. Core values are the frame-work from which your customer service methodology is created. Every component of your strategy should be grounded in your core values. When choosing your training methodology, once again you're creating an experience for your customer. Your customer is depending upon customer contact personnel to be experts on your products and services. Keep the customer's experience in mind when developing training programs. I suggest focusing on creating ambassadors for your organization. Are customer contact personnel educated on your various products or services? Have they actually utilized or experienced your products or services for themselves in order to gain the customer's perspective? What tools will they need to provide a great customer experience? Be sure to equip them with basic soft skills training as one's ability to be pleasant and professional goes a long way in creating a positive customer experience.

When choosing who gets the opportunity to be the face of your organization through your hiring methodology, here again you're creating an experience for your customer. It's important to carefully establish your hiring criteria. What characteristics are critical for your customer contact personnel? Is industry experience more important than personality traits? Remember, you're attempting to create a great customer experience. Your hiring choices will bear fruit! Make sure it's good fruit! When exercising your personnel management methodology, remember that this too creates an experience for your customer. Just as you must strive to make sound customer contact personnel hiring decisions, it's even more important to utilize sound management practices. Make sure managers have the proper tools required for this position - people skills, products and services knowledge, coaching skills, leadership skills and a good comprehensive understanding of the organization. Should your customer contact personnel become frustrated with management practices; your customer will eventually be impacted. Employee turnover, discontent and low productivity all create an experience for your customer. Manage employees in a way that will certainly lead to a great customer experience. When developing complaint resolution methodology - you got it - you're creating an experience for your customer. We all know that Continued on page 41

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Doing Business the Chinese Way By Ludmila (Mila) Rusakova Golovine

hina is the second economy in the world with the largest global population at 1.3 billion people. As the recent Great Recession has impacted other countries’ economies, China’s economy is still growing by leaps and bounds. As its prosperity rises, so does the consumer power in the country itself. All of these factors are making China an attractive place to invest in and market goods and services. Nevertheless, boasting more than 5,000 years of history the Chinese have a distinct and distinguished culture. It is only by being cognizant of and paying deference to this culture that one can successfully operate in business cooperation with the Chinese.

equivalent of face in Western culture would be honor; however it does have some characteristics that are different. While honor can be lost in Western culture it is difficult to give honor to someone. In Chinese culture this is done quite regularly. It is important to know the manifestations of face and how they are used. Firstly, diu-mian-zi occurs when your actions have been exposed to other people resulting in the loss of face. This should be avoided at all costs. Once you have lost face you have lost all credibility in Chinese eyes. Secondly, gei-mian-zi is giving face to others by showing respect and having others give face to you.

their mentality and expresses your experience and maturity. Once this is done, your impression on your Chinese counterpart should improve dramatically. Any businessperson wishing to collaborate with the Chinese but understand and be proficient in all the manifestations of face. Otherwise, failure will surely follow.

When meeting with the Chinese, please bear in mind that Chinese culture is very reserved and calm, especially in physicality. It is considered rude to pat someone on the back or to place your arm around the person. In addition, do not demonstrate with large movements as they are considered aggressive. Maintaining self-control is a When meeting with the Having a basic understanding highly regarded value among of Confucianism is crucial the Chinese. If you can Chinese, please bear in mind to anyone wishing to do demonstrate this value, then that Chinese culture is business with the Chinese. you will be well received by very reserved and calm, Confucianism is an ethical and your counterparts. Upon the philosophical system, which initial meeting, it is customary especially in physicality. has served as the Chinese to shake hands and give a societal structure for about slight bow. The handshake 2,500 years. Put quite simply, should be brief and not this philosophy professes too firm, lest your Chinese that relationships and hierarchy are Showing proper etiquette, demeanor, counterpart deem you aggressive. important. In this doctrine, everyone and respect does this. Giving face Gift giving is an expected aspect is supposed to know his or her to your Chinese counterparts will of Chinese business. Very often in place, show mutual respect, and greatly endear you to them and they the West, this practice is sometimes exist in harmony. Avoiding conflict will feel more comfortable about badly viewed but in Chinese culture and maintaining a correct outward the prospect of doing business it is quite common. Nevertheless, demeanor maintain this dynamic. together. Finally, there is liu-mian- it is imperative that the gift giving Therefore, it is important to always zi, the concept of saving face. This be done in front of a third party. occurs when mistakes are avoided keep calm and avoid any argument. and wisdom in action is displayed. Otherwise, your Chinese counterpart In connection with Confucianism is Saving face demonstrates to the may misjudge the situation and the concept of “face.” The closest Chinese that you truly understand believe that the gift has some strings

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Getting Organized: My Favorite Outlook Calendar Tips By Holly Uverity CPO®, Office Organizers

Holly Uverity

any people use Outlook to manage their time, schedule appointments and keep up with their projects. Outlook is such a powerful productivity tool that it can be tough to fully learn how to use all the power of each of the modules. Here are a few of my favorite Outlook calendar tips; I encourage you to try some or all of them to see if they’ll work for you.

the hours of your workday as well as changing the days of your workweek. Outlook defaults to a standard work schedule of Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. How that looks in your calendar is that the time blocks both before 8 am and after 5 pm, as well as those on Saturday and Sunday, are a darker color than the other time blocks because they are outside of the standardized work hours. If you’d prefer to see your calendar reflecting the times and Change the Time Increments days you actually work, it’s in this window that Outlook defaults to time increments of half an you make those selections. hour, so you’ll see a dark line every hour with a fainter line every half hour. If it works better The first section in that window is called ‘Work for you to see a different time increment, it’s Hours’; if it’s currently set at 8 am to 5 pm easy to change. Simply right click in the white and you work from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, just space to the left of the calendar where the times change the times in the boxes. Do the same are listed. When you right click, you will see for the days of the week – if your work week several options to create new appointments is Tuesday thru Saturday, simply choose those and new events, and you will also see the time days as your work week days. Once you’ve increments that Outlook offers. Just choose made these changes, you’ll notice that your one and see how it changes how your calendar color blocks on your calendar will change to looks. Some professional’s bill every six reflect the new dates and times you’ve chosen. minutes so Outlook offers you that option as Change the Font - Change the Color well. If you’re not happy with the color and/or font Add or Change a Time Zone

If you live and work in two different time zones, it can be helpful to see them both at the same time. Also, if you are traveling and spending time in two time zones, it would be important for your calendar to always reflect the time zone you are in. To add or change a time zone, right click in the white space to the left of the calendar and one of the last options on that menu is ‘Change Time Zone.’ Click on that and a window will open. On that window, in about the middle of the page is a Time Zone section; it’s there that you can both change your time zone (simply click on the arrow and menu of available time zones will open) and/or add another one. When you click on ‘Add Another One,’ your options will change from gray to black so you can pick your second time zone.

that Outlook is using, this window is where you change those as well. Scroll to the section called ‘Display Options.’ It’s here that you can choose a new font, a new size for the default font and a new color for your calendar. For some people, using a particular color has meaning so if that’s the case with you, I encourage you to change the color. Play around with both color and font until you find the combination that works best for you. These are just a few of my favorite customizations in Outlook’s calendar; I believe that everyone should take a few minutes and make those customizations that will have the most impact. The better the tool works for you, the more inclined you’ll be to use it…and the more successful you will be.

Holly Uverity, CPO® is the owner of Office Organizers – The Entrepreneur’s Organizer. Change the Days of Your Workweek She can be reached at 281.655.5022, While you’ve got that window open, scroll to the www.OfficeOrganizers.com or top and you will see options for both changing www.FB.com/OfficeOrganizers Change the Hours of Your Workweek

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Who Has “Skin in the Game?” By Bruce Hurta

hen applying for a small business loan, do not be surprised to hear your lender discuss “skin in the game.” What does “skin in the game” mean to the lender? It means “investment”, or it means “equity.” Your lender is going to want to know who has it in the transaction you are discussing. By loaning you funds for your small business, your lender will have significant “skin in the game,” or investment in your business. Your lender, however, is not a traditional equity partner. Your lender will not reap the reward from extra profits earned by a very successful business. He will only earn his loan interest and fees; therefore, he wants to make sure your investment is suitable for the risk the lender is taking with your loan. Every loan transaction will have a level of investment, on the part of the business owners, with which the lender finds comfort. Predicting the success of a business, and the resulting satisfactory repayment of a small business loan, is not an exact science. Every small business lender has its own individual appetite for the types and sizes of loans it wants to fund. By the same token, each lender will find comfort in granting the loan based upon the level of investment made by the borrower. Following are examples of a small business owner’s “skin in the game,” which a small business lender will like to see: Dollar investment – The lender will compute a debt-toequity ratio, and compare it to industry averages and other financial benchmarks, to determine if the borrower has adequate skin in the game. Part of that investment includes a measure of the dollars invested in the business by the owner compared to dollars he has received from loans.

at the borrower’s assets offered as collateral for the loan. He may also accept other assets outside the business, pledged as additional collateral, in lieu of more cash contribution. Seller investment – Not all small business lenders will accept seller investment to help a buyer of small business assets to qualify for financing. The Small Business Administration rules, however, allow the SBA lender to accept seller standby financing for a portion of the buyer’s qualifying equity. There is a catch. The seller debt needs to “act like” equity. That means the seller will sign an SBA Standby Agreement agreeing to delay requiring payments until the SBA loan is satisfied first. It also means the SBA lender will have first lien rights on the business assets sold by the selling note holder who is permitted to file a second lien on these assets. The standby creditor earns and accrues interest on his loan, but he receives no cash payment until the SBA loan is paid off first. You are now prepared for responses to your small business lender’s inquiries about your “skin in the game.” Happy hunting! May you find the small business loan terms that best match the needs of your business!

For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Bruce Hurta, Business Lending Manager at Members Choice Credit Union. 281.754.1112 office bhurta@mccu.com Follow Bruce’s Blog: http://brucehurta.wordpress.com/mccu.com

Collateral investment – Even though the lender will look at the borrower’s dollar investment in the business as a measure of contributed equity, the lender will also look

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Have You Seen the Toilet? By N D Brown

oilet. Rest room. Facilities. Ladies. Gents. Whatever you call it you might be overlooking a small yet possibly powerful part of your brand's marketing plan.

I have also lost count of the number of times a female has returned to the table appalled at how dirty the toilet was. If the toilet the customers see, and use, looks that bad, what about the rest of the place?

My early fatherhood came back to me the other day when I overheard a young mother's irritated voice explain to her small daughter she had just gone to the toilet in the last store so how could she possibly need to go again? But what mother, or father, is going to risk an accident? So off they went.

You have probably heard of Bucee's, the highway convenience store chain that has blown the hinges off the roadside store business. Bucee's promotes with fun messages on highway billboards suggesting you really do need to wait 50 miles because Buc -ees is just ahead.

During my time as the father of a young daughter, I vividly recall my wife's continuing lament on filthy toilets. My daughter rarely had to “go,” she just wanted make an inspection! But it was her mother who really made the inspection. A marketer would have to wonder how often that inspection changed her attitude toward the brand? I work with clients helping develop marketing plans and those inspection stories have taught me a lesson: I ALWAYS check out the toilets. These small seemingly insignificant rooms can tell a great deal about a company, a retailer, a restaurant, a doctor's office, a corporation, and the list goes on. You run a small business and I bet you have a facility somewhere, so get up right now and take a look at the toilet your customers or clients or employees use. Is a just a tiny detail? Or is it a huge statement about your brand culture? I have lost count of the number of times I have returned to my restaurant table and suggested everyone should visit the toilet before leaving. Yes eyebrows often go up, but when the toilet is that impressive I think it should be admired! It is part of the brand!

Buc-ee's knows toilets are their business. They have taken that overlooked merchandising opportunity and made it one of the pillars of their brand.

airline since its founding, smokes! As a result, while the building and the airplanes and the hangers are no-smoking areas the toilets are the only places where people can smoke! Probably unique in today's office buildings. When the supreme leaders of a company are humorously noted for smoking, then allowing smoking in the toilets surrounded by the photo pantheon of good times then smoking becomes part of the culture. They made smoking only in the toilets an in joke. Toilets are part of the fun of their brand By now I hope you have taken a peek at your toilets. Tidy? Clean? A place you would want your mother to visit?

Of course they sell gas and soda and beer and all the snacks anyone would expect to find at a highway convenience store. But Buc-ee's has moved everything up a notch. The surprising merchandise has become legendary and getting awards for cleanest restrooms in America is a major part of the Bucees brand. Buc-ee's super clean toilets are really what get drivers and their passengers to wait 50 more miles passing store after store.

I am willing to go out on a creaking limb and suggest there was nothing in there about your company. Nothing about what you sell. Nothing about why you want people to do business with you.

For years I have suggested every CEO I work with make it a point to visit 2702 Love Field Dr, Dallas, TX 75235. That's Southwest Airline's address.

The Navy got it. While I was in flight training the toilets, or in Navy lingo “the heads,” were filled with safety messages. Behind the door of each stall was a magazine rack holding the latest issue of ANYMOUSE, a monthly publication explaining safety errors that should have been avoided. The USN made its heads work by communicating the importance safety. Are your heads working?

When you step through the door, you will know why Southwest is the success it is. The building vibrates with energy and fun. The walls are covered with pictures of Southwest employees celebrating one event after another. You can feel that the people you see enjoy working at Southwest Airlines. Southwest's founder, Herb Kelleher, smokes. Colleen Barnett, President Emeritus who has been with the

If it wasn't sparkling clean than shame on you and fix it today. Then think about the customers, employees, clients, visitors who enter the toilets to spend a few minutes. Are you missing a communication opportunity?

You're thinking what's that got to do with my brand? I'm not a retailer with customers walking in off the street. I am not running a restaurant. I'm not running an airline. Continued on page 36

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Continued from page 7 diligence, Leeshan learned that there was no rent control on properties where tenants had moved in after 1976. So if the property values increased from $400 to $600 a month, she was able to increase the rent reflecting that. Mrs. Birney became quite skilled as a “stay-at-home” mom and property manager. By the time five years had rolled by, she had increased the number of units they owned from 18 to 300 and from one location to four - South Orange, Hoboken, Short Hills, and Newark. Unfortunately by this time, Mr. Birney was not as happy with his own job situation. He had a disagreement with the top two controlling partners in how things should be done and he wanted out.

Ceyan is being groomed to take over the leadership of the family business. The Birneys would not agree to the Broker’s demands. As a result, the Broker left the day before closing. All night long, Leeshan worried about what she should do. She didn’t want to tell her sister that everything had fallen apart nor did she want to lose the 10 percent that she had put down as earnest money. The Birneys didn’t have an additional 10 percent to put down at closing because the rest of their money was tied up in the stock market. Leeshan called her father who was in Taiwan and asked him if he could help loan her the 10 percent. Instead, he gave her the money as a wedding gift. Fortunately, Leeshan’s brother, who was visiting her at the time, had enough money on him to cover the 10 percent until Leeshan’s father could reimburse him when he returned. Mrs. Birney contemplated, “I don’t know anything about managing properties but it’s the right thing to do.” James told Leeshan, “You’re on your own. Don’t bother me. It’s your decision; you go do it.” Knowing how busy he was with his own work, Leeshan understood. That weekend after closing, Leeshan was bombarded with calls about all the things that weren’t right. Mrs. Birney told each caller she would be there Monday and look at what was wrong. After she hung up the phone, she started going through the yellow pages trying to find people to take care of each problem. When they came to fix the problems, Leeshan would watch everything they did. She asked a lot of questions and quickly learned to do things herself. One day, the faucet was leaking at home and her husband said to her, “Go call someone.” To her husband’s surprise, Leeshan replied, “No, I’ll show you how to do it!”

James and Leeshan agreed that he should leave because she could use more help too with the property management. The first thing he did was computerize everything. He also was able to help greatly by cashing out his interest as a junior partner and using it to renovate their properties. As they paid down the mortgages, they then used those properties as collateral to finance additional properties. They ended up with almost 100 percent borrowed money to buy a 10 million dollar property (Short Hills Terrace) that was on 10 acres of land! According to James, Leeshan wanted to buy the property because it was across from where their daughter, Shanlenn, attended elementary school. This way she could come to their office every day and have lunch with her mother plus have her own office to do her homework! The Short Hills Terrace Apartments were very run down at the time but the visionary in Mrs. Birney was able to see its true potential. It also helped that she had input from the analytical Mr. Birney. Mrs. Birney’s self-confidence won over a banker in the building adjacent to the 10-acre property because she convinced him to lend her an additional million dollars for renovations! As it turned out, it was a very shrewd business decision because the property values have increased greatly since then. Presently, Short Hills is one of the highest end residential communities in the state of New Jersey. It is home to many senior executives and controlling stockholders of some of the largest corporations in the United States and their families and the median family income is over $200,000.

Mrs. Birney was doing a great job on mechanical issues until it got cold outside and found that the heat wasn’t working. She immediately called someone to take care of the problem. The repairman came out and simply pushed a button and left but not before collecting a hefty service call fee! From then on, Leeshan knew where the button was to push. She also learned about dishwashers, reset buttons, toilets, and circuit breakers. In addition to the knowledge that Leeshan developed over time in property management, she also learned about important legal facts that could greatly affect the profitability. One of those areas involved rent control. Always reading and doing her due

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 32

The Birneys recognized their senior staff members for their dedication and commitment to their communities at the company's Awards Banquet.

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In 1987, James had thought about retiring but changed his mind because he wasn’t that old. Leeshan and he decided to expand somewhere outside of New Jersey. They looked at three cities: Denver, Dallas, and Houston. Based on the stock market principles of buy low - sell high, they made bids in all three cities but it wasn’t until 1989 that an offer was finally accepted. That was in Houston at the Walden of Westchase Apartments where the Birneys personally reside today. At the time, the property was totally rundown and 50 of the units were uninhabitable due to their leaky roofs. In addition, Leeshan was remaining in New Jersey because the children were still in school, so it was going to be up to Mr. Birney in handling the management. Without having any experience or the patience to run a property, he hired a management company to run things. By the end of the first year, James had gone through three management companies and was still dissatisfied. He eventually came to terms that he would have to manage the property himself if things were going to be done right. The apartment leasing business in Houston was quite different from what the Birneys had been accustomed to in New Jersey. In Jersey, if Leeshan would tell an apartment locater that a unit was available, it would have been rented by the same afternoon. The occupancy rate was very high there too. Also in New Jersey, the apartment locaters were paid by the renters to help them find a place. Leeshan was told that she would be lucky if she had 90 percent occupancy in the Houston market and that she would have to pay apartment locaters the first month rent as a commission. The Birneys knew that they would have to come up with some novel ideas if they were going to attract more tenants. Phase 1 of their renovations included fixing the roof, putting up a security gate, and painting the interior. Phase 2 dealt with renovating the exterior by adding and improving the landscaping. Mr. Birney did such a spectacular job in designing the landscaping that it was given a national award. Some of the special features designed by the innovative Mr. Birney included a waterfall, a bubbling "Stonehenge" moss rock spa, and a dramatic, rolling terrain dotted with Pennsylvania flagstone decks, benches, and tables. When new construction started coming up in the area, James knew that the only way to compete with it would be by renovating the inside of the units, so Phase 3 began. It was James idea to remove all of the carpeting and replace it with ceramic tile and wood laminate flooring. In addition, all of the windows were replaced with energy-saving windows. Mr. Birney stated, “We were the first property in Houston to have high speed internet!” The establishment of a 100 megabit switched network that enabled residents to communicate, collaborate, and contribute with their employer, with their family, and/or with their friends all from the comfort of home was an extremely unique concept of Mr. Birney’s! “That's what we call our integrated living environment…residents can fully enjoy our designer living space surrounded by a garden oasis and be able to surf the Web at lightning-fast speeds anywhere they are onsite,” said James. The Birneys have now expanded to additional areas of SW Houston. Each time they have purchased a new property they do renovations. Every little detail is well-thought out, including the colors of the exterior paint and the landscaping. The first property they purchased in the Chinatown area of Houston was SunBlossom Gardens. They then purchased SunBlossom

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Cottages, SunBlossom Woods, SunBlossom Woodlake, SunBlossom Louisville, and finally SunBlossom Mountain. Each office has a manager, an assistant, and a maintenance crew and is run similar to a small city but the difference is that the team is taught to treat residents like family. They have done such a great job that some of the residents have become employees. Another special aspect is that the Birney’s help Asian refugees find jobs with their contacts in the community. If they can’t help them find a job with others, they train them and give them a job in their landscaping division. They also educate the family in how to use the appliances and have after school programs for the children.

The Birneys appreciate the support that they receive from the Chinese Community Center and recognized them at the company's Awards Banquet. The Birney family recently had a large celebration to recognize a milestone for Stone Mountain Properties which now exceeds 2,500 units. When they had first entered the Houston apartment scene, they were forewarned that they would be lucky if they had 90 percent occupancy. They are celebrating the fact that they have now exceeded 95 percent occupancy and in some cases are at 100 percent! At the celebration, they recognized those connected with the Chinese Community Center who have played a major role in promoting their properties. In addition, they recognized long-term residents and outstanding management teams. Those in attendance were provided with great entertainment, wonderful food, and special gifts. Besides their apartment complexes, the Birneys now have two office buildings in Houston - Gray Falls and Briarpark which is a 97,000 square foot, four-building office park. They also own SunBlossom Center Office Warehouse and SunBlossom Village Mr. Storage which is on 8.8 acres. The Birney’s long term plans are to borrow against the SunBlossom Village property that is paid off and use it to develop a senior citizen apartment complex in back on the acreage and possibly make the rest of the area a mixed-use commercial space. They also foresee redeveloping some of their apartment complexes in the distant future. Leeshan regularly participates and contributes generously to civic, community, and educational groups. Her involvement has included: Director in the Houston Housing Finance Corporation, Marketing Committee Chairman on the Asian American Business Council, Board Member of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, Advisory Board Member of the Chinese Community Center,

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She is now working for Microsoft and living in Beijing, China with her husband, Justin Colby and their two children.

Grey Falls office building is located at 2550 Grey Falls Dr. in Houston

One would be remiss if the next generation and successor of Stone Mountain Properties was not mentioned. First born son, Ceyan Birney, who is now married to wife, Cynthia, has been working in the business since his mother started it when he was 10 years old. He would help type notices for the tenants and program the first tenant directory in basic programming language. Later, over the years, he would do a little of everything from helping mow the lawn, to repairing toilets, to representing the company in landlord-tenant court. “The bottom line really is I’ve grown up in the company business and have been happy to contribute to its success over the years,” stated Ceyan. Ceyan continued, “By next year, I will have completed a Masters

Advisory Board for the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women, Member of the Fundraising Committee for the Asian Chamber of Commerce, Planning Board Commissioner in the City of Houston, Honorable Vice-Chairman in the Houston – Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce, and Board Member of Dance of Asian American Dance Company. Mrs. Birney has received countless recognition locally, nationally, and internationally for her achievements, contributions, and community service. Leeshan has also been recognized by both Houston Mayor Bill White and Houston Mayor Anise Parker. After Hurricane Katrina occurred, Stone Mountain Properties generously provided 38 furnished units to “Katrina refugees” that included linens, utensils, and household goods. Recently, Mrs. Birney received the great honor of being featured on a Chinese postage stamp and a US postage stamp honoring Chinese entrepreneurs. Oldest daughter, Mayling is a graduate from Harvard University with a BS in Government, an MS in Economics at the London School of Economics, and a PhD in Political Science at Yale University. She currently resides in London where she is an Associate Professor at the London School of Economics. Youngest daughter, Shanlenn is a graduate of Brown University and received a BS in Biology and an MBA at Harvard University.

The Birney's New Jersey holdings include the Short Hills Apartments located at 830 Morris Turnpike and offices on the right. Both are located in Short Hills, NJ.

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SunBlossom Cottages is one of 11 rental communities owned by Stone Mountain Properties in Houston and is located on 10,300 Harwin Drive in Houston. in Real Estate from NYU and I’m very grateful for the education that’s been afforded to me.” Inheriting his mother’s selfconfidence and entrepreneurial spirit and his father’s creative and analytical mind, Ceyan has come up with an innovative revenue management software program that was instituted last year. It allows them to adjust rents as often as they need to as it is based on the demand in the marketplace. This is very similar to the revenue models used by the airlines, car rental companies, and hotels where pricing changes daily, depending on demand. Other apartment groups are now taking Stone Mountain Properties’ lead as the ones to follow as the industry standard! “I am very happy to continue innovating and growing the company together with my wife Cynthia and taking it to all new levels,” added Ceyan. When Ceyan and his sisters were younger, Leeshan would go back and forth from New Jersey to Houston to help James. When they got older, she hired a manager in New Jersey and moved to Houston. When Ceyan was old enough, he started going back and forth. Presently, Ceyan runs the New Jersey properties which have now expanded to include the office building that is adjacent to the family’s Short Hills Terrace 10acre property. Once a Class C rated office space, it is now rated as a Class A since they renovated it! That truly is an example of how one family has soared in the competitive apartment industry through determination, renovation, and innovation!

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Key Take-Away Points 1. You always have to have a business plan and then be able to execute your plan. 2. You need to put 100 percent effort into your business. The commitment has to be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If our managers can’t be reached, the tenants know that we are personally on call. We have even handled calls while we were in China! 3. Cash runs a business. You have to have money to invest and to improve. If you want to compete with others in your field, you have to do it better. You have to be outstanding and that requires money. 4. You can’t be stingy either. If things are broken, you have to spend money to fix them. You have to have reserves of your own money set aside. You can’t always depend on a bank. 5. If you are dealing with a bank, make sure it is a local one that you can build up a relationship with. 6. You need to be the company that other companies copy as the industry standard which means you need to be always looking for ways to improve your business. 7. To grow your business, you must continue to be at the top of your game and the only way to do that is through ongoing education on what is current. 8. You must have patience and vision because success doesn’t happen overnight. 9. Always stay connected to your community and do things that benefit them. 10. Find ways to show your appreciation to your clients. Award them for their longevity with your company. 11. Recognize your employees and award them when they accomplish company goals and are doing an outstanding job servicing your clients. 12. You have to be prepared to hang in there and stay the course. 13. It helps to be a family-run business. It gives clients confidence in knowing that there will be continuity when a successor takes over. 14. Be creative. Be unique. Think outside the box. www.SBTMagazine.net

SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 35

Continued from page 15 Hi, I'm your Personal Chief Financial Officer

relating to Business Disability Insurance, SEP IRAs, Succession Planning, Defined Benefit Plans, Buy/Sell Agreements, Key Man Insurance, and other ‘alphabet soup’ plans. Don’t be intimidated by any of these products or services. Just be sure your financial services firm can address these areas with experience and expertise. It’s not a sign of weakness to ask questions. Rather it’s a sign of strength. The best way to stay small is to deal with small-minded thinkers when it comes to growing your business—or portfolio.

National National Association Association of of Women Women Business Business Owners Owners Houston Houston Chapter Chapter Connecting Connecting Women Women Who Who Mean Mean Business Business

TWO-MINUTE WARNING Kenny Anderson piled up over $60 million in NBA dollars before he filed for bankruptcy in 2005. How did he dribble away all of his millions? Easy. He kept eight cars in the garage of his five-bedroom Beverly Hills home, and gave himself a monthly allowance of $10,000 that he dubbed “hanging out money.” My, what would HIS Personal CFO say, about that much money being unaccounted for? In summary, you’ll be far ahead of the game by just keeping track of your spending and investment habits. Now, pair that with the expertise of a TEAM of financial specialists, and you have something special. Just as any athletic endeavor is a team sport, so is the coordination of your financial future. Don’t go it alone. Otherwise, you may never enjoy that ‘nothing but net’ shot in your future!

Jack Warkenthien, CEO, NextStep Solutions. Email him at: jwarkenthien@nextstep-solutions.com or call him at 832-344-6998 www.nextstep-solutions.com

Why NAWBO? • Women own an estimated 10.6 million businesses in the United States • They employ 19.1 million workers (1 in 7) • Their businesses account for $2.5 trillion in sales • Women business owners are philanthropically active: seven in 10 volunteer at least once per month; 31% contribute $5,000 or more to charity annually; 15% give $10,000 or more. Shouldn’t you be involved in an organization that takes women business owners seriously? To find out more log onto www.nawbohouston.org or call 713-487-8475

Continued from page 10 10 Basic Principles of Business Success

ing their needs and get feedback regularly for those needs – don’t live on assumptions. 8. MAKE SURE YOU EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS VISION. You’ll only grow to the level of the vision and if you are not expanding the vision, you’ll plateau the business and you’ll plateau your wealth. 9. PUT ENERGY INTO INNOVATION AND RESEARCH. Keep your eyes open for new customer opportunities and new ways of presenting products or services for those opportunities. You need to put energy into innovation and research. When you are constantly at the cutting edge, in the frontiers of research and innovation, you tend to draw more opportunities to you and lead the way.

About Dr. John Demartini Dr. John Demartini, a native of Houston, is a world renowned human behavior specialist, success consultant, educator and internationally published author. He is the founder of the Demartini Institute, a private research and education organization headquartered in Houston with a curriculum of over 72 different courses covering multiple aspects of human development. For more information and to download a free Value Determination Process Workbook, please visit www.DrDemartini.com. SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 36

Continued from page 30 Have You Seen the Toilet?

You have a business. You have employees. You have clients or customers or vendors. You have toilets. Don't over look those small rooms. They make a major statement about you and your brand. The toilet should be part of your marketing program Toilet Tips • • • •

Make sure your toilets reflect the attention to detail and quality you have in your brand. The time people spend in the toilets is another opportunity to inform and sell. Make promotional and company material available. You are paying for that toilet. Make sure you are using it.

N D Brown is a Principal of brownchild ltd inc 3754 Sunset \Houston TX 77005 You can reach him at 713 807 9000 or cell 713 822 8370 don.brown@brownchild.com, www.brownchild.com www.SBTMagazine.net

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Designing the Ultimate Referral Marketing System! By Bertrand McHenry

n my business people often ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I teach business owners how to develop entire Referral Marketing Systems that will lead to a steady and predictable stream of personally recommended business. Many people will then tell me that they’ve been doing what I’ve been teaching for the last 20 – 25 years…they also claim that their entire business is based on “word of mouth”. Yet when I begin asking how they intentionally design their Referral Marketing Systems so that they can predict revenue…they have no answer. The key words here are predictability, and systems! Your job of selling and marketing can become a lot easier if you learn the proper way to intentionally design your network, find referral partners and develop your predictable Referral Marketing System Use the following seven steps to model and build your Referral Marketing System. Step #1 – Who is in your referral target market(s)? – Create a target list of companies and individuals who can be motivated to refer. This can be clients or a network of related businesses. Many of your clients are already referring to you, ask them if they’d be interested in systematizing that process. Start with these folks Step #2 – Identify your ideal client – In order to receive high quality referrals you must be able to quickly communicate the exact type of person or business that makes a great referral. Who do you like working with the most and who brings you the most revenue? This is not a mutually exclusive question. Leaving this part of the process out invites an attitude of trying to please everyone Step #3 – Create and develop your Unique Selling Proposition USP or your Emotionally Based Marketing Theme EBM –What do you bring of value to the market place? What is unique about how you do what you do that not one other person can claim? This helps to differentiate you from the rest of the “experts” in your field. Step #4 – Design a referral education system – Referral sources can only promote you in the market place if they know what makes an excellent referral for you and that means they must know quite a bit about you and your company. Design a short training manual that addresses key phrases for them to listen for, conversation starters, how to qualify a referral for you, how to talk about you and your company and how to make the introduction. Step #5 – Devise and share your referral offer and system –This is key to motivating referral sources to continue to

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refer to you and mostly you. Paying them for referrals rarely works long term, however most are motivated by recognition and regular deposits into the relationship. Include them in your networking events, introduce them regularly, develop a “preferred referral partner” plaque and award it to them, take pictures and submit it to the local publications. In short get creative and remain genuine! Step #6 – Create a referral conversion strategy – what good are referral leads if they don’t become referral clients? You must map out a specific set of steps that will allow you to convert your referrals. A referred lead is a warm lead, but in some cases, they may actually have higher expectation, due to the referral. So keep the referral partner abreast of the progress all along the way. Make sure your approach to the referral is professional and that you move the sales process along…no need to be pushy here but remember that the referral came to you with a time stamp on them, don’t allow it to expire or you may lose the sale and a referral partner! Step #7 – Create your follow-up strategy – to bring your referral system full circle you need to devise two followup steps. 1) a process of keeping in touch or marketing to the referrals that do not immediately become clients and 2) a way to continually keep the referral source in the loop at every stage of the selling/marketing process. Communicating on a regular basis shows respect to the relationship and their effort and helps to keep them motivated as a referral partner. Find creative ways to recognize their efforts on your behalf. Remember a Referral Partner is someone who has systems built into their weekly activities that support the growth of your business! How many people do you think are willing to do that? That’s right, not many…so when we find these gems let’s take the time to cultivate and nurture these relationships! Set aside time to follow through on the steps outlined above and then execute your referral marketing system week in and week out and you will soon realize a steady stream of personally recommended referrals, who come to you already well versed of the value you can provide, seeking to do business with you!. Bertrand McHenry, President of Referral Institute Houston, 281-401-9852 bertrand@referralinstitutehouston.com www.referralinstitutehouston.com SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 37

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Entrepreneur’s Dilemma By Tina Marie Jones

Tina Marie Jones

hen it comes to our health and wellness we all have the best of intentions. I have yet to meet a business owner who’s goal is to run themselves into the ground and ignore their health. But let’s be honest : Even with the best of intentions living the life of an entrepreneur can take it’s toll on our health. With early morning meetings, long days, and work weeks that span 7 days, all of our best intentions to serve our clients, grow our business and make the most of our opportunities can create a habit of putting ourselves last. However, in order to reach the success we desire, with business and in our personal lives, it is incredibly important to create a habit of healthy choices and time for our wellness. Here are three easy tips to be a role model healthy entrepreneur: 1) Schedule aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day. I worked with a sales person who made 6+ sales calls on average a day which took her all over the city, in and out of her car, up and down stair cases and such. She wondered with all the activity she had why she was gaining weight instead of losing it, especially in the summer heat. Physical activity was in her day - yes - but was it sustained aerobic activity for 30 minutes or more? No. As entrepreneurs we face a good amount of stress in our day, all of which tax our systems and actually send the body into survival mode aiding it’s natural responses to store weight versus burn it off. Starting the day with a 30 minute workout allows you to destress, wake up naturally with great circulation and place yourself as your #1 priority in your day. Most business owner’s discover in a short time that continued patterns of early morning workouts actually build stamina and result in requirements for less sleep, more energy through out their day, increased mental acuity and an overall positive attitude. All in all, a morning workout pays off many times over. 2) Put down the energy drinks, sodas, and coffee. I am not generally popular with this item of advice. When my clients commit to a program to wean themselves off caffeine and other stimulants, they are surprised at how energized they feel after just 30 days. They

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also note how they not only feel amazingly healthy but how they also lost, on average, 8 - 10 pounds of body weight. Most love the quick boost these drinks can provide, especially when projects are needing attention and mental focus is waning yet the long term damaging effects to the body can be costly. Your adrenals, kidneys, heart, brain and muscles all will love you more if you set out to replace artificial stimulants with what the body really desires: water. We can feel drained and experience “brain fog” not from being tired, but from being dehydrated. Over the next 30 days, take a personal challenge to drink more water. Follow this formula to discover what amount you require: Your Body Weight divided by two plus 10. Ex. 180 pounds / 2 = 90 ounces + 10 = 100 ounces. Divide up the water through our your day. 100 ounces/8 hours = ten 8 ounce glasses of water a day. Set an alarm on your smart phone to remind yourself to drink a glass of water every hour to an hour and a half. 3) Take healthy snacks with you. Many of the business owners I work with confess to loving the fast food drive through. Those colorful meal deal menus can lure you in and have you secretly enjoy french fries and high calorie meals in the privacy of your own car. The solution : take your meals with you. Keep a health bar or small bag of mixed nuts in the car. Start off your day with breakfast even if it is a boiled egg or protein bar. Providing your body with sustained protein in smaller amounts throughout the day will cut hunger and increase your mental clarity, and keep your energy level through your day. Reaching success with your business is only great if you have the energy and health to enjoy it. Be a role model healthy entrepreneur for your staff, clients and family. Set a goal to put yourself and your health first on your appointments for your day. Your clients will appreciate your new level of attention and dedication to your job when you are healthy and happy. Tina Marie Jones, President, Tina Marie Jones & Company, Consultants, Coaches & Advisors. www.tinamariejones.com, tinamariejones@mac. com, 888-721-4204 www.SBTMagazine.net

print + identity

Custom logo design

digital

Do you have the creative team to reinforce your brand?

stationery systems

Marketing Collateral

annual reports & long documents

Is your brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online presence engaging dedicated users?

Website development & Maintenance

Mobile site design & development

proposals + presentations

social Media Branding

e-newsletters & digital Campaigns

Are new markets responsive to your brand?

The quick, brown fox jumps over a lazy dog. The quick, brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.

trade show Booth design

electronic presentations (e-Books & powerpoints)

proposal Management, development & design

Creative. dedicated. responsive.

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SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE JULY 2013 | PG 40

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Continued from page 16 Financial Resources...

Continued from page 26 What Is Customer Service?

If the loan is secured by collateral, be prepared to explain exactly what tangible assets you can offer as a guarantee. Examples are equipment, a house or a car. In addition to collateral, how much cash will you personally put into the business? When outlining your debts and assets, consider including your personal financial information as well. This will help the lender get a sense of your personal financial stability.

sometimes mistakes are made or things get left undone. When these errors happen, the need for a quick and thorough resolution is paramount. Is your methodology in this area customer friendly? Does every resolution require a supervisor/manager's approval or are your customer contact personnel equipped with options for a speedy resolution? Are you tracking customer complaints for patterns and trends? Doing so allows one to identify possible operational issues which once corrected will alleviate repeat complaints which in turn you guessed it - creates a positive customer experience.

Once you’ve prepared your proposal and collected the necessary information and documents to back it up, you’re ready to talk to potential lenders. Be sure that you can explain clearly what you intend to do with the loan and why you expect the venture to succeed. Finally, be prepared to discuss your own business qualifications. Because the success of a small business largely depends on leadership, your skills and knowledge are an important part of your company’s profile. When you’ve done your research, have all your documents in order, and can credibly answer your lender’s questions, you’ve greatly improved your chances of securing capital and launching your business. Make sure to take advantage of the resources available to women business owners. The more you know about your options, the better chance of success.

When choosing the methodology to get your customer's opinion regarding your products or services - one more time - you're creating an experience for your customer. We all know the value in getting the customer's opinion. Most love the opportunity to let you know what they think of your organization. Make it easy for them to do so as the more customer feedback you receive, the more data you have to make decisions. Do you need to make adjustments to your product or services? Do your customer contact personnel need additional training? Provide regular feedback opportunities in order to stay current on what's important to your customer.

George Rose is a Wells Fargo Vice President, Business Banking Relationship Manager. He has served in small business banking in Houston TX for over 10 years George can be reached via email: george.rose@wellsfargo.com.

These various methodology components create an organizational customer service system which in turn creates customer experiences. Examine your methodologies to insure that they all are geared toward providing what's important to your customer. Now put them all in motion and create great customer experiences!

Continued from page 9 The Fine Art of Delivery Mastery

Errol Allen – Customer Service Engineer can be emailed at errol@errolallenconsulting.com or call him at 1-800-830-4167 www.errolallenconsulting.com

are not receiving frequent comments from happy clients, you need to rethink your position. So, we ask, “What does the Raving Fan experience look like?” Don’t hold back with your ideas! Capture the description of the experience and then work week after week to make it happen. Questions and thoughts to consider on Service Mastery: 1. How do you measure your level of customer service? 2. Be sure the basics of a smile and good service are in place. 3. Where is bad service causing you to lose business? 4. Does the solution need a fresh set of eyes? 5. Training people to care. 6. Replace people who don't care about service. 7. Common Sense will prevail. Consistently working on your Delivery Mastery will grow your client base because you are creating Raving Fans. customers into raving, spending fans can revolutionize your business.

Continued from page 18 Is Success Based On Luck or Working Smarter?

owner was unrealistic in his expectations. After a short due diligence period, the deal closed. Both the Seller and Buyer were very happy with the final deal; albeit, the Seller still believes I was just lucky. I believe that the smarter I work, the luckier I become.. Jeff Jones is President of Advanced Business Brokers, Inc. and Certified Appraisers, Inc. 10500 Northwest Frwy., Suite 200, Houston, TX 77092. www.advancedbb.com ., jdj@advancedbb.com.

For more education and motivation regarding this and other topics relating to accelerating business success, contact Doug Winnie at 713-936-3814, dougwinnie@ actioncoach.com, or at www.BusinessAsATool.com. www.SBTMagazine.net

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

Passion, the #1 Principle of Confident Speakers By Pam Terry

Pam Terry

ould you like to be a confident, in-demand speaker? Whether you want to get business from speaking or you want to impress management, the number one essential when giving a presentation is your passion about three things: your topic, the audience, and your presentation skills. When you think about passion in a presentation, you normally and generally think of only being passionate about your topic, but your topic is only one piece of a three prong approach. Each one of the three is vitally important. And being passionate about each one builds upon the other. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” “Enthusiasm” derives from the ancient Greek word, “enthousiasme,” which ultimately comes from the adjective, “entheos” meaning “God within.” When you are enthused about something or passionate about something, it’s really a “God thing.” It’s something that inspires you and that translates to your audience. Steve Jobs was passionate about technology; and, you could say that he was even more passionate about how technology could impact and alter people’s lives. Real impact comes from being passionate about the difference you are making for people. You can easily see that passion is a driving force. Passion about your topic will drive you to develop valuable content that’s relevant and interesting. Passion causes you to strive for more, to be better, to improve. Passion about your topic will cause you to have the best content you can have, to prepare in advance and to practice. Let’s face it, without passion, without caring, you’ll wing it and that would not be a good idea! Rambling and not staying focused are hallmarks of winging it. This pours water on your passion. Being passionate about the difference and the

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value you are providing for your audience is a hallmark for confident speakers. It’s key then to be passionate about your topic and your audience and to use that passion to prepare. When preparing a presentation, ask yourself these questions: How will my presentation alter the lives of my audience? How will it make their lives better? What value will it provide for them? What does the audience want? What need am I going to fill for them? Once you have answered these questions, make those answers your objective – to meet the needs and wants of the audience. Share your objective with your audience in your introduction and in your close. And, if you don’t know what they want or need, you’d better find out. Develop a passion for your audience and let it drive you to give them value. They will love you for it. This quote by Luciano Pavarotti sums it up perfectly, “Some singers want the audience to love them. I love the audience.” The more that you work on your presentation and what your audience wants, the more inspired you will become which will feed your passion. And look at what it is about your topic that really inspires you. That inspiration is what you want to convey to your audience. Inspiration and passion go hand in hand like a hand and glove. Thirdly, by being passionate about your speaking skills, you will naturally become a more confident speaker. We are unlimited in our ability to improve, to get better, because each of us is a creative being. We can always add to. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to grow and create and to become more skilled, getting better and better. The top athletes and musicians continue to improve because they are passionate about their craft, they are passionate about their art, and so they continually work to improve their skills even though they are already at the top! Being passionate about improving your speaking skills means learning, practicing and reviewing

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the fundamentals of effective presentation skills. The fundamentals include knowledge (power) about your topic, audience and speaking skills (like how to connect with your audience), preparation, and practice. And, now you have the 4 P’s: Passion, Power (Knowledge), Preparation, and Practice.

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When you begin with passion about your topic, audience, and speaking skills, you lay a solid foundation from which to build your confidence and master your skills.

In terms of actual negotiations, a Westerner must be very patient and be prepared for long-term negotiations. The Chinese are shrewd negotiators. They prefer to take their time. In addition, they like to negotiate with multiple companies in order to achieve the best deal possible. Consequently, a Westerner’s patience can sometimes be put to its limits. It is crucial to be as expressionless as possible for it is at this point where all of the aforementioned values of face, self-control, and respect come into play. Any deviation from them will be noticed by the Chinese counterpart and could have a negative effect on the business at hand. It is further advisable that the Westerner be prepared to make concessions on a deal. The Chinese like the feeling of gaining concessions. Therefore, begin your negotiations asking for more than you can settle for. This action will allow you to make those necessary concessions. In this way, everyone will be left with a sense of accomplishment.

Pam Terry is a speaker coach and communications trainer. For more info, visit www.pamterry.com and www. SpeakUpStandOutConnect.com. You can reach Pam at 832-276-4153 or pam@pamterry.com.

Continued from page 23 The Small Business....

great customer service. Implement fun in your interview process. One time I was asked, “When was the last time you laughed at yourself?” You want employees who will take their jobs seriously, but not themselves. Create a “fun” atmosphere in your workplace. Create airplane-flying contests, impromptu hake sake games, and have a Halloween contest. Invite your Customers too! Keep Customers at the Forefront of Employees’ Minds Be strategic about finding ways to include the customer in your daily business. Have employees come up with ideas to recognize them. The “nicest” customer, the “funniest” customer, the customer with the ugliest driver’s license photo…

attached. Also it is important that the gift reflect the Chinese counterpart’s status and title. Therefore, proper research must be done before the gift is selected.

While it is true that the Chinese business culture can be somewhat intimidating to a Westerner, it is important to realize that by engaging in cultural sensitivity and keeping a calm demeanor, one can achieve success. Through willingness to research, openness to accept difference and ability to adapt one can definitely do business the Chinese way. Ludmila (Mila) Rusakova Golovine , Founder, CEO and President, MasterWord Services, Inc., can be reached at mgolovine@masterword.com or 281-589-0810 or via www.masterword.com

Feature your customers on your walls, in your newsletters and in your company videos. Consider creating a MOM committee to review operational failures. Ask your employees, “If this had happened to your Mom, would you be happy with the way she was treated?” Keep an empty chair in all meetings to remind employees to always consider the customer. Write a message “Provided by our Customers” on every employee’s paycheck to remind them of the customers’ importance. Anytime the word customer is written, capitalize it to stress their importance. These customer service principles are the cornerstone that will help your company create customer loyalty. It’s not rocket science… it’s common sense. Start today. Empower your employees, give them the keys to the kingdom, treat your customers like family and have fun… then watch your customer loyalty go through the roof! Lorraine Grubbs is the president of Lessons in Loyalty. You can contact Lorraine at 281-813-0305 or by email at lorrainegrubbs@gmail.co www.lessonsinloyalty.com

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Continued from page 21 Why Email Marketing Is...

posts, etc. that talk about solutions to the pains your customers suffer from and your product addresses. Our recent ebook, “The Magic 5 of Content Based Emails that Drive Sales ” discusses how to create these email pieces and leverage them into future sales. It’s available free at http://www.salesnexus.com/sales-growthwebinar-series Craig is the founder of SalesNexus.com, a leading provider of CRM, Email Marketing and Lead Generation solutions to business 2 business sales teams. Craig is the founder of SalesNexus.com. a leading provider of CRM, Email Marketing and Lead Generation solutions to business 2 business sales teams.

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LOOKING LOOKING FOR FOR AN... AN...

LOOKING LOOKING FOR FOR A... A...

ATTORNEY? ATTORNEY?

TITLE TITLE AGENT? AGENT? LOOKING LOOKING FOR FOR A... A...

LOOKING LOOKING FOR FOR A... A...

REAL REAL ESTATE ESTATE AGENT? AGENT?

MORTGAGE MORTGAGE BROKER? BROKER?

WHERE YOU GO TO WORK

713-681-7001

Advertiser’s Index

Autism Speaks ............................................................... 18

Keystone Resources .....................................................39

Brooke Vallaire ............................................................... 4

Laughlin & Associates ................................................. 18

Champions School of Business Development ............... 1

NAWBO ..........................................................................36

Champions School of Real Estate ................................ 8

Sales Nexus ............................................................... 24

Courthouse Direct ......................................................... 44

Steven Kay ....................................................................40

Cruise & Hughes ........................................... Back Cover

Suzanne Chadwell/OFI

Deborah Healon Interiors

TG Design ....................................................................31

....................................... 19

HCC Cohort 6 Congratulations

................................ 16

Houston Hispanic Chamber .......................................19

WBEA

..............................................18

.......................................................................2

Westpark Communications ................. Inside Front Cover

Houston Minority Supplier Development Council .......... .............................................................Inside Back Cover

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