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“Double Your Profits in 6 Months or Less” by Bob Fifer – Book Review

by Jamie Gorman on June 16, 2010

Tomorrow morning the Greater Warrenton Chamber of Commerce is hosting a seminar “Doubling Your Profits” at the Warrenton Visitor Center.  Angela Smith from Fauquier Springs Country Club will be sharing her personal experience of doubling profits by following the guidance from Bob Fifer’s book, “Double Your Profits in 6 Months or Less”.  At Angela’s recommendation I read the book and am looking forward to hearing which of the 78 steps she used and found most useful.

Be Serious About Profitability!

There are some great ideas on how to both cut expenses and increase revenue in this book, but it is not for the faint of heart.  In the first “step” Mr. Fifer warns the unsuspecting that the book is written for those who are serious about profitability, and if you aren’t serious, many of the steps will seem harsh, especially the ones that deal with suppliers and employees.  However, I would recommend it for small business owners because it will seriously challenge many of the discretionary “needs” that we have.

A Teaser! Some of My Favorites

Step 4: What Does “The Best” Mean? – 1. Never settle for status quo  2. Be a Meritocracy, i.e reward based on performance, period.  3. We’re here to make a profit, don’t apologize (step 5)  These are culture changing definitions of being the best.

Step 7: Strategic vs. Non-Strategic Costs – He recommends categorizing every cost into “Strategic”, those that clearly bring in business and improve the bottom line, and “Non-Strategic”, the rest.  Once categorized, outspend your competition for strategic costs and ruthlessly cut non-strategic costs to the bone.  I love this attitude, and although Mr. Fifer later bashes accounting reports (for the sake of reporting), he might agree that using Quickbooks categories to help identify these would be useful.

Step 25: Go to Bid, Frequently – He uses frequent bids or the threat of frequent bids as a tactic for draining price concessions from suppliers, and it will work.  However, it also forces suppliers to review their own costs and helps identify the new techniques and technologies that may be available from the last bid.

Step 39: If You Never Fire an Employee, You Can’t Have an Excellent Business – This one may surprise those that know me, but if you are going to be the best and a meritocracy, you can’t tolerate poor performance and the reality is that it will happen.  Putting up with it is not fair to the top performers and it’s not fair to the poor performers who are probably in the wrong job – help push them to the right job. (See “Straight From the Gut” by Jack Welch of GE fame)

Step 75: Invest in Your Sales Force-No Investment Will Yield a Greater Return – Enough said.

This is only a teaser in comparison to what you can learn by reading the entire book.  I can’t wait to hear Angela’s direct experience of implementation and have the opportunity to ask questions tomorrow morning.  If you are local to Warrenton, VA don’t miss this opportunity!  See you there.

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What I Learned This Week – 6/12/2010

by Jamie Gorman on June 12, 2010

Another great week of weather and business.  If you are willing to listen and reflect there are always oppotunities to learn.

Who Cares?

A great tip came from Asha Sedalia Bruot of ASHA Public Relations during a MAPS committee meeting this week.  When preparing to write your next press release, ask yourself “Who Cares?”.  Her point was that choosing the right audience is a must in deciding what to write, how to write and which media channels might be interested.  The upcoming MAPS (Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations Strategies) Conference on September 22nd will be focused on developing a good public relations strategy – more to come!

“Customer Service” should always be top of mind

Kris Johnson of the PWCGM Chamber shared a story at Friday’s MB3 breakfast that we can all probably relate to.  She was calling a relatively new member to offer a sponsorship opportunity and was deep into her explanation of the benefits of this particular sponsorship.  The member gently interrupted and jokingly said, “Oh, you’re calling to sell a sponsorship, I thought you were calling to thank me for membership and see if all is well”.   Knowing Kris and her record of customer service, she surely recovered and impressed by the end of the call.  Her point was that we can all learn much more about customer service Wednesday at the Insight Series Luncheon “Customer Service” , with guest speaker Bobbie Walker, Partnership Marketing Education Director for Virginia Tourism Corporation, but this was a quick reminder for me.  Everyone says that repeat business is the most profitable, but make sure you have successfully delivered on the previous sale before launching into the next!

Gas Mileage, Gravity and Centrifugal Force

I learned this week that a late model Toyota Avalon can go from Warrenton, VA to the PWCGM office in Manassas, then to the Western Chamber Office in Gainesville and finally to the Sheetz in Haymarket with the orange gas light on.  In further news, on that same day I learned that a well placed gas cap wedged between the rear windshield and the trunk will last against wind and centrifugal force from the Sheetz in Haymarket to Warrenton and that 2 of 5 people on the road will take the time to slow down and try to point that out to a motorist on a cell phone.  And for those kind people – Ok, ok, I know now what you were trying to tell me!  Thank-you!

Shout Out!

News and events on the friends of SigmaBiz

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to my little sis Kristy MacIntyre and her husband Jamie at MacIntyre Engineering!  Congratulations to the “Rev Man”, Scot Small of RevBuilders who hosted a wonderful Grand Opening at his new office in Gainesville this week.  I heard that Chow Now was featured in an article in an upcoming Flavor Magazine – looking forward to reading that.  My daughter Jessica Gorman finished a summer semester of classes in France this week, with flying colors I’m sure.  Way to go Jess!  And finally, a big Sigma Shout Out to all the recent graduates of Leadership Prince William “Third is Superb” class.   I hear nothing but great things about this program and they are currently recruiting for the next session.  Congratulations!

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What I Learned this Week – 5/29/2010

by Jamie Gorman on May 29, 2010

Fifty Years is a Long Time!

Small Business Owners and Mentors Jim and Marion GormanStarted the week on Sunday with my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration!  Wow, a lot can happen in 50 years.  Amazing how many lives you can impact, it was a page right out of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  Got me thinking how what I learned from my parents has affected me as a husband, father and….business owner.  You see, when my parents were about my age, Dad quit his job and they bought Sleepy Hollow Campground in Schellsburg, PA.  Neither one of them had a business degree or any experience owning a business, but they were passionate and determined to make it work.  I’m certain that the joys and struggles of that experience are what sparked my love for working with small business owners.  There aren’t many things in the world more satisfying than helping a passionate, determined business owner with a great idea, become a great business person that turned that idea into a successful business.

The campground was sold long ago and they followed another path.  Dad is retired and Mom is working on her writing career (that she started just a few years ago).  Thanks to both of you for the inspiration and example of having the guts to follow your heart, dreams and God’s will.  Congratulations on a great 50 years!

Social Networking Boosts Regular Networking

Earlier in the week I posted a book review on SigmaBiz Blog for Terry Bean’s The Universal Guide to Business Networking.  After posting, I tweeted, commented and sent Terry an email letting him know I posted and inviting him to comment if I missed anything.  I didn’t know Terry, but we traded a few emails and he even gave me a call to talk, which was impressive since he recommended a follow-up call as a tip in his book.  It was pretty cool to have a published author contact me directly, and we had a nice quick conversation about leveraging social networking tools for your local business network.  We aren’t planning Thanksgiving together, but it shows how solid social networking techniques can more easily open good business relationships.  Thanks Terry.

Example Two.  I finally met Jeff Crites of Brick and Click, right here in my home town.  I’ve been following Jeff on Twitter and Facebook and subscribing to his blog for a few months now.  We finally met at a Greater Warrenton Chamber luncheon on Wednesday.  He’s the first one that I’ve met face-to-face after first meeting through online social networking.  It was pretty cool because instead of that awkward discussion on what we do and who we know, we were able to jump right into a solid conversation on social networking (his expertise) and business education (my expertise).  Jeff even explained how to do “lists” on Twitter to help me manage followers!  Social media provides a great way to get over the initial awkwardness of meeting new people in person, and you can use it to build and improve your network.

Shout Out!

News and events on the friends of SigmaBiz

I attended the PWC-GM Chamber Excellence in Business Awards Luncheon on Tuesday.  It’s amazing how much time and resources our members are willing to provide for the building of our local business community!  Congratulations to all winners:

BR Associates – Business of the Year (up to 5 employees)

Cardinal Bank – Louis E. Maroon Business of the Year (6-15 employees)

Advantage Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation LLC – Business of the Year (16-34 employees)

TML – A Xerox Company – Business of the Year (35+ employees)

City of Manassas Park – Behind the Scenes Business

Jamie Medders, Tri-Ed Tutoring, LLC - Behind the Scenes Individual

Michelle Riordan, Photography By Exposure - Rookie of the Year

 Sue Seymour, BB&T – Chamber Member of the Year

 Prince William County Public Schools and SPARK – Nonprofit Arts & Education Member of the Year: (formerly called the Education Foundation for Prince William County Public Schools)

Prince William Healthcare Auxiliary – Nonprofit Community Service Member of the Year:

 Deb Jewell, The Traveling Vineyard and Vanessa Watson, City of Manassas Park – Karen F. Brown Spirit Award

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the universal guide to business networking, by Terry Bean (@terrybean) – Book Review

by Jamie Gorman on May 24, 2010

To be perfectly honest, I almost put the book down after the first ten pages, but because it received a strong endorsement from social networking guru Chris Brogan I endeavored to persevere.  I’m very glad I did, because once I got through the universal connection philosophy stuff, with several references to “The Secret” that drag down the first chapter, I found a great networking philosophy and some wonderful tips for improving anyone’s networking game.

The book is broken down logically to discuss the preparation, execution and follow-up for networking events and for networking online.  As someone focused on educating small business owners and not just giving them quick tips, I especially liked this outline.  By laying it out in this way Terry followed the foundational steps for starting any marketing effort – Audience, Objectives, Message and Delivery/Follow-up.

“Understand What You Seek”, is one section title but also an overarching theme in the book.  It was a good reminder that as my business grows and changes, I need to review what it is that I want my network to do.  Terry touches on this concept throughout the book and then brings it home in the last section where he summarizes “The ASK”, his version of that 30-60 second self introduction that we all struggle to perfect.  He also does a great job rolling this concept into the choices and decisions of who you should be targeting to meet, both in person and in your online networking.

“How to Work a Room.”  This is one of the most practical pieces on networking that I have seen.  Terry gets to some of the core concepts of meeting people in a large group setting.  Being approachable with a smile, how to remember names, polite ways to enter and exit a conversation and even what to say, oops, I mean ASK, when you meet people.  The ideas and suggestions he uses are especially good for those folks who are over the fear of working the big room, but not sure how to make it most effective.  WARNING, shameless self promotion: For those still petrified of the big room, check out “Business Networking for the Non-networker”.

“How To Separate Yourself From Most People You Just Met”  What a great way to start a chapter on follow-up!  Terry even points out in the opening sentences that we all know the answer is follow-up, and yet it is probably the biggest point of failure, not only in networking, but in our general marketing efforts.  Thank-you Terry for letting me off the hook and not insisting that a hand-written thank-you note is the only acceptable follow-up!  The “After You Network” chapter provides a great process for timing, method and content of follow-ups, including one of my favorite lines from the book – “Here’s the reality, following up with someone 2 weeks after you met them, is still better than not following up with them at all.”

Overall, Terry has provided a pretty good guide and an easy read for improving your networking skills.  The ASK approach is an interesting and unique way of looking at that 30-60 second self introduction that we all struggle to perfect.  But more importantly it lays the foundation for adding value to a network that will then add value to you in return.  Maybe that’s where the “universe” fits into the discussion?!?  I recommend this book for any small business owner who has decided that personal networking is an important part of their marketing strategy.

Learn more about Terry Bean and his networking techniques at http://terrybean.magntize.com

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What I Learned This Week – 5/22/2010

by Jamie Gorman on May 22, 2010

One of the best things about educating small business owners is that many times you get to learn right along with them.  The “YouTube: Grow Your Business with Online Video” class we hosted with Abe Erickson was a great learning experience for me – Abe presented a great segment on shooting online video with a shoestring budget.  We will probably repeat this class in July.

Speed and Accuracy, Serving Customers

The first lesson comes from Andy Budd of Country Chevrolet as he presented “Exhilarating Customer Service” as part of the Greater Warrenton Chamber Series, “Accelerating Your Business Out of the Recession”.  Andy covered a lot of great points but what hit me were his two most important things; Speed and Accuracy.  Do it fast and do it right!  When it comes down to it, delivery is the best way to satisfy customers and doing it fast and doing it right are a great place to start.  That must be why the Corvettes are out front down at Country.

Your Customer Book, Communicating Value

A struggle for many in the service sector, especially those who provide continuing services, is to constantly remind customers of their value and not be taken for granted.  Sandie Barkeit, owner of Deer Park Cleaning, in her effort to ensure open communications with her customers places a notebook at each customer site.  The notebook lists out all tasks agreed in the contract and each one is checked off by the member of the cleaning team that completes it.  This way, customers who work during the day can check that things were cleaned per the contract at night and leave notes.  It also serves as a reminder to the customer of the work that is being completed while they’re not there to observe.  If you provide continuing services to customers, how are you ensuring customers are periodically reminded of your value to them, what is your book?  Thanks Sandie for a great presentation at B2B Networking in Gainesville this week!

Shout Out

 News and Events on the Friends of SigmaBiz

Kenna Cuomo, owner of Kenna’s Cookies was featured on WUSA Channel 9 news making her shortbread cookies.  Click here to see the video.  Kenna, we’d love to hear the whole story – please leave a comment.  BB&T’s new Heathcote Branch in Haymarket, VA was a top performer last month.  Branch Manager Amelia Stansell and her crew are doing a great job serving the community and especially their small business customers.  They also have cookies and coffee in the lobby!  Prince William – Greater Manassas Chamber Excellence in Business Awards on Tuesday, Greater Warrenton Chamber May Member Luncheon on Wednesday and “Business Networking for the Non-networker” free class at Sigma College of Small Business on Tuesday evening.  Have a great week!

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Business Networking for the Non-networker

by Jamie Gorman on May 19, 2010

Which One Are You?

Last year I attended a Brown Bag seminar at the Prince William County – Greater Manassas Chamber of Chamber of Commerce in Manassas, VA.  The topic was on “networking” and presented by a couple of the chambers best.  As we covered the different tips and tricks for how to work a room, how to target the right people, polite ways to transition between leads and setting goals I noticed something.  With about 20 people in the room, about half were heavy participants in the conversation, adding comments and suggestions and asking questions – these are the networkers.  The other half were content to sit quietly, listen and hope that they didn’t somehow get the spotlight turned on them – these are the non-networkers!  Which one of these is you?

The sharp contrast struck me and I realized that most of the great networking tips out there today are either to help people who are already natural networkers improve or require a non-networker to change the core essence of who they are, unlikely in a one hour seminar.  So, I decided to build a class around some tips and techniques that I have used to overcome my life as a “Non-networker”.  The class is called “Business Networking for the Non-networker” and is offered free at Sigma College of Small Business, both live in person and live online.

Non-networker Networking Tips:

  1. Realize the importance of the network – Continually remind yourself why networking is part of your marketing strategy.  It will help your patience, discipline and courage.
  2. Time and Touches – A quality network takes time and multiple touch points
  3. Referral Principle – A new contact’s referral is more likely than their business
  4. Meet Small, Build Big – Use small groups to meet new people then reinforce in big groups
  5. Forced Opportunity Principle – Develop techniques where an easy action forces networking.

When you approach building a professional network as a long term marketing strategy rather than a quick sell opportunity, it removes some of the stress in meeting new people.  It puts you in the mind set of building new relationships that may result in a direct sale, but more importantly will probably result in multiple referrals!

The class “Business Networking for the Non-networker” is a free class offered by Sigma College of Small Business.  If you are interested in attending live in person or live online get more information here.

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Twitter Power by Joel Comm (@joelcomm) – Book Review

by Jamie Gorman on May 12, 2010

Relationship.

To summarize Twitter Power by Joel Comm (@joelcomm) in one word, I’d have to pick “relationship”.  And, the more I read and learn about this new magic marketing fairy dust called social networking, the more I see that these are just new tools for good networkers to be great networkers.  Joel does a great job of laying out how we can specifically use Twitter to help build relationships and our networks.

Building Relationships

Building relationships is a theme throughout the book and most of the techniques and tips are focused on improving your capability to build relationships.  Here are a few of the techniques I thought were especially helpful and unique:

  • Reply and Retweet – this is how you use Twitter to have discussions with your Twitter network and how to gently refer and recommend their thoughts to your followers.  Joel stresses the importance of the reply and re-tweet throughout the book in much the same way I stress listening and referring in my business networking classes
  • Build Your Profile, Then Your Followers – When you sign up for Twitter is quickly takes you to a screen where you can search your email accounts to find potential followers.  Joel recommends skipping this step and coming back to it after you have built your profile and followed a few others to get a feel for Twitter.  It’s the networking equivalent to establish a good message and listen first before speaking.
  • Add Value – by providing information, discussion and a personal touch along with your promotion.  If all you provide is promotion, your followers will not see the value and will most likely drop you.  Joel offers some great techniques for mixing the types of tweets and setting up a schedule that adds value.

Twitter Power was a pretty good and easy read, and in addition to these and other techniques for use, Joel provides directions on how to customize your Twitter site, build applications around Twitter and more.  He closes the book with some good reference chapters, including third party tools to leverage your Twitter presence and a 30-day calendar that reinforces the techniques throughout the book.

Thanks Joel for sharing your knowledge and experience in a way that was both understandable and enjoyable.  I recommend this book for anyone who wants to make Twitter part of their marketing strategy.

This post is dedicated to my good friend Tom Schultz, CEO of Acuity Audiovisual.  He gave it to me so he wouldn’t have to be on Twitter, but I’ll get him there eventually!  thanks Tom

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What I Learned This Week – 5/8/2010

by Jamie Gorman on May 8, 2010

Already May and it’s kicking off with a bang!  There is a lot going on in business and community – get involved.

What to Do with “No”

Jenn Rader of Fund$cribe presented a Brown Bag seminar this week on writing grants.  Very similar to a normal sales process, she recommended continually working to build longer term relationships with grant providers.  One specific suggestion was to send a thank-you note, even when you DON’T get the grant.  A great way to start setting yourself up for the next sale.

This point was further driven home for me with a story from Jan Sutton of Farmer’s Insurance, in an after-class discussion we were having.  In her early days of cold calling, Jan caught one women on a ladder decorating the Christmas tree and she caught an ear full, an obvious “NO”.  Since she was using the phone book and had an address, Jan took the time to write out a Christmas card, apologizing for the bad timing and suggesting that the woman call her after the holidays.  That family became Farmer’s customers for several years!  (Follow Jan on her new Twitter account @jsuttoninsuranc)

Some of the best long-term relationships that I’ve had with customers were a result of how I dealt with a bad situation and my reaction to “NO”.

Lead v. Referral, A Grudge Match

Wednesday’s Piedmont Professionals, always a great source of networking and learning, were asked by Terry Dixon of Castle Realty the difference between a “lead” and a “referral”.  A referral, of course, is backed by a person known and trusted by the prospective customer, leading to a much warmer introduction.  This definition was reinforced later in the week with a story from Sandie Barkeit of Deer Park Cleaning Services.  Sandie was just getting into her presentation of the quality commercial cleaning service provided by Deer Park to a referral she received from Cliff Glier from Touching Hearts at Home.  She was abruptly stopped mid-sentence and told, “Cliff referred you, which is good enough for us.  Just show us your pricing and let’s get started.”  The Referral wins every time!

Shout Out!

News and Events on the Friends of SigmaBiz

The Partnership for Warrenton and all the participating businesses put on a great “First Night” in old town Warrenton, VA last evening.  Food, wine, moon bounce, live music – there is something for everyone the first Friday evening of every month.  On Mother’s Day, May 8th,  Hospice of the Rapidan will be hosting their 8th Annual Butterfly Celebration, complete with Butterfly Release, at Germanna Community College.  Businesses looking for some high visibility in a high traffic area, combined with helping a great cause need to see Vince Buono of Costco.  For $250 you can have your company above the cash registers at Costco in Manassas, VA and proceeds benefit the Children’s Miracle Network.   Fauquier Faith Partners is holding their “Defeet” Abuse 5K run on Saturday, May 15.  Email ffpmoreinfo@yahoo.com for more info.   John Stewart of Vantage Economics announced this week that his Vantage Leading Economic Index is positive for the first time since 2007.  Amidst some stock market turmoil this week, this is a pretty good sign for the economy as a whole.  You can get Johns weekly newsletter for 4 weeks free and learn how to leverage the economy to be more successful in business.

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