Eight Lessons For Building A Company People Want to Work For

Today’s job market is incredibly tight. Most anyone who wants to work, can find a job. Unemployment levels are at their lowest levels in the past 50 years. The current environment places a premium on the need to provide a workplace and culture that attracts and retains best-in-class talent. 

 

Netflix’ former chief talent officer Patty McCord recently recorded a TED talk offering 8 lessons for building a company people enjoy working for.

 

Lesson One: Your Employees Are Adults

 

Think about the rules that govern your workplace. Do you really have to tell people when they need to arrive and when they need to leave, whether or not to take their vacation, what days off they can have, etc.? Do you have rules and regulations that treat your team members more like children than adults? Most team members have obligations such as car and housing payments. They most likely want to make a difference in the world. McCord advises decorative plumbing and hardware showroom owners to start with the assumption that your team members come to work every day to do an amazing job. When you create a culture around "amazing", be prepared to be surprised at what you will receive.

 

Lesson Two: The Job of Management Is Team Building

 

The key role of managers is to build great teams. The metrics that matter most are the happiness of your customers, team members, suppliers, installers, etc. Do you focus on the amazing or do you measure performance based on how well someone follows the rules, shows up on time or asks for permission?

 

Lesson Three: People Want To Do Work That Means Something

 

Careers are journeys. It’s unreasonable to expect someone to spend their entire career with your organization. Don’t keep people for the sake of keeping them. Instead, focus on creating a company that is a great place to be from. That way, anyone who leaves your organization can be a brand ambassador. When you spread that kind of excitement throughout the world, your company becomes much better and an employer of choice.

 

Lesson Four: Everyone In Your Company Should Understand Your Business

 

Start with the assumption that your team members are smart adults. The most important thing to teach those smart people is how your company works. Constantly teach each other what you do, why it matters, what is measured and what goodness looks like.

 

Lesson Five: Everyone Should Be Able to Handle the Truth

 

Do you really believe that it helps your team and your company to only give feedback once a year at their annual performance review? How often do we practice giving feedback? Tell your team the truth about what they do at the moment they are doing it, both right and wrong.

 

Lesson 6: Live Your Values

 

If you have a leadership position, the most important thing you can do is to live the company values. If your organization promotes professionalism as a value, you need to be on time for all meetings. People can’t be what they can’t see.

 

Lesson 7: All Start Up Ideas Are Stupid

 

Ten years ago, if you were asked to invest in a company that rents out rooms in people’s homes that you could find on the Internet instead of staying at a hotel, would you have opened your checkbook? All start-up ideas are stupid, otherwise someone would have already done them.

 

Lesson 8: Every Company Needs to Embrace Change

 

It’s an exciting world that is constantly changing. The more you embrace change, the more successful you will become and the more fun you will have.

How to Successfully Install a Wall Mount Vanity, by Phil Hotarek (Lutz Bath & Kitchen), an Education Committee Member

So you decided to purchase a wall mount vanity, or at the least are seriously considering it. What is not to like? It is hygienic, aesthetically clean, minimal, and functional. It instantly turns your bathroom into a modern, functional space that you fall in love with. There are several critical variables in preparation of the installation process that are a must before proceeding.

1) You Need to Hire a Professional 
- Quite possibly, the most cringe-worthy mistake is spending thousands of dollars on a luxury product and then cutting corners on the labor. Decorative plumbing products, which include wall mount vanities, have a very thorough design and are produced with every last detail inspected throughout the process. How do we know? We have visited many of these factories and have watched first hand the manufacturing process from concept to completion. The bottom line is, you want an installer who matches the thoroughness and detail of the manufacturer. Hiring a common handyman or someone completely unfamiliar or inexperienced with these decorative products will end up costing you way more money down the line.

2) Play it Safe, Install Backing - Before hanging anything on the wall, make sure you have proper backing in the wall. What is backing? A solid 2 x 4 wood frame that is installed to bear the weight of the wall mount vanity. Do not hang the vanity on sheet rock and anchors. You could run into a serious safety issue. (See the picture accompanying the article, which shows a solid wood backing installed above the plumbing to bear the weight of the wall mount vanity.)

3) Cross Reference the Location of the Plumbing - When you purchase a wall mount vanity, it will come with a specification sheet and installation instructions. These documents clearly indicate the location of the plumbing required for a proper installation. The drain location and the water connections are critical because the drawers have to fit and function in the space. If improperly installed, you may have a drawer that sticks out (cannot close all the way) or the vanity itself won't be able to be hung due to an obstruction.

4) Purchase the Correct Drain - You may not think that the type of trap you purchase is important, but it really is. There are several different designs of traps and depending on the design of your vanity, you may not have much flexibility in which trap you use. What is a trap? It is the tubular drain line assembly that connects your sink to the drain itself. Some may require a Bottle Trap, while others may require a Space Saving Siphon.

5) Inspect the Vanity and Product Before Installing - Before installing the vanity and any other product, be sure to thoroughly inspect the vanity for damage during shipping or that the right product was shipped. Although we like to think that everything arrives in perfect condition, unfortunately mistakes happen. When they do, the product can and will be replaced at no cost to you. However, these issues must be taken care of before installing the vanity. Why? Installing the product may void replacement under warranty for liability purposes. Be thorough, inspect the product before having it installed for peace of mind and the prevention of any unwanted costs down the line.

Overcoming the Fear of Cold Calling

Making cold calls is a fact of life for sales professionals. It's part of the job. However, a recent study found that nearly 50 percent of sales professionals are afraid of making cold calls. The primary reasons for cold calling reluctance are the fear of sounding too much like a sales professional and fear of failure, according to Weldon Long, author of Consistency Selling in an HBR blog post. 

 

Weldon advises sales professionals to get over the fact that they sound like a sales person because that is what they are. He recommends that sales professionals recognize that selling is an honorable profession. Sales professionals in kitchen and bath showrooms improve the quality of their customers' lives, enhance the value of their homes, solve problems, avoid unnecessary expenses and improve the quality of family time, among other benefits. Weldon relates that sales professionals should be comfortable being a sales person because that is what they are. "When you dial someone's phone number or walk into their office, remember this: You are there to help them improve their lives and businesses. Be proud of that."

 

Demonstrating value is key to cold calling effectiveness. Look through the lens of the person with whom you want to establish a business relationship. What is it about your showroom that creates value for the customer? With KBIS coming up, a possible approach could be, "Hi, we just returned from the largest kitchen and bath trade show in North America and have written a summary of style and design trends we found at the show. Would you like a copy? I'd be happy to email you one if you would like to share your email address with me?" Another option, "Our showroom has started a new blog to help our customers and partners keep their fingers on the pulse of new technologies, trends and products. Would you like us to email you a copy or add you to our distribution list?"

 

If your sales professionals don't make cold calls because they are afraid they will fail, that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. To overcome this fear, Weldon recommends role-playing with coworkers who may be experiencing similar anxieties. The primary reason for role play is to remind the brain that there is nothing to fear in making a cold call. The worst thing that can happen is that nothing happens. Another strategy for overcoming fears of the cold call is to offer something of value to the prospect. It may be a trend analysis, new product information, new project information or something else that creates value to your customer. 

 

Making cold calls is essential to sales success. Weldon reminds us that the services sales professionals provide are valuable because more often than not, sales professionals help their clients and customers solve problems. That is priceless.

A Good Laugh Is Good For Business

There are business benefits to laughter in the showroom.  According to Alison Beard’s Harvard Business Review article, Leading With Humor, laughter in the workplace reduces stress and boredom, increases engagement and well-being and spurs not only creativity and collaboration, but also analytical precision and productivity.

A little self-deprecation goes a long way.  When you laugh as the receiving end of a joke, your mental load is lightened.  According to the Mayo Clinic, when you laugh at yourself it causes your brain to release endorphins and can also stimulate circulation and increase muscle relaxation, both of which help reduce the adverse effects of stress.  When you reduce stress in the workplace, you increase productivity and lower absenteeism.  Remember though that not all humor is productive.  Off-color jokes can be a turn off and a potential liability for the company.  Good clean jokes that don’t demean anyone are good for business.  Harvard Medical School professor Carl Marci claims, “Laugher is a social signal among humans.  It’s like a punctuation mark.”

The Key to Retail Success

The headlines continue to feature retail meltdowns headlined by Sears, Toys R Us, Walgreen/Rite Aid, Gap, Mattress Firm, et al.  Yet online etailers are expanding their brick-and-mortar presence, most notably Amazon books and Amazon Go, Warby Parker, Bonobos and Caspar. What’s the key to brick-and-mortar success?  Data, finds a new study by Harvard Business Review and Snowflake Computing.  Companies that make data-based decisions have the best chance to survive.  However, the study found that only five percent of retail and consumer packaged goods companies are considered data-driven.

Retailers across all spectrums should consider that they need to obtain better insight into customer needs and expectations in order to speed up their decision making while improving processes and cost efficiencies.  However, few companies with these stated goals are actually making inroads to achieve them, primarily because they do not believe they have the analytical abilities to change. The HBR/Snowflake Computing survey results were mirrored by a Retail Systems Research July 2018 survey that found retail winners believe that data is a strategic asset and critical to their retail success.  

Not surprisingly Amazon and other competitors encroaching on their market were cited as the top business challenge driving innovation, according to the Retail Systems Research survey.  Other areas where data-driven retailers are out performing others are:

• Operational efficiencies needed to fund customer initiatives
• Ability to meet the rising customer expectations
• Investors demand for innovation
• Retailers with long term leases need to develop strategies to become more productive
• Other retailers moving more quickly 

How to Become More Customer-Centric

Some walk the walk while others just talk the talk.  When someone makes an effort to visit your showroom, what type of experience should they expect?  What can you do to build trust and become an invaluable resource to your customers and prospects?  Everyone claims that they offer great customer service. but great customer service is no longer a competitive advantage.  To most of your clients, great customer service is an expectation.  To become a true customer-centric showroom, according to Denise Lee Yohn, author of What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest, you must:

• Identify customers’ emotional needs, understand the reasons for those needs and respond effectively and appropriately to them.  
• Hire customer-centric team members that make their customers’ needs their highest priority.
• Establish systems and protocols that enable every member of your team to adopt a customer-centric mindset.
• Every member of your team affects your brands and is involved in customer service.  Those responsible for deliveries, operations and back-office functions also need to understand and appreciate a customer's needs.
• Tie compensation to customer-centricity. What can your team members do to enhance the showroom experience?  

Yohn illustrates the last point by using Adobe as an example.  That company offers short-term cash incentives that reflect the company’s revenue performance and customer success measures, such as retention.  

Remember, a customer-centric showroom provides services that are best suited for their clients, not necessarily the easiest ones for the showroom.