The Richwood Report

This can be good news or bad. Planning and preparation can make the difference. Dave Kahle the sales coach has some good suggestions for how to get ready for the new year.

"Ready, shoot, aim." Unfortunately, that's the all too common description of the field salesperson's modus operandi. In a misguided attempt to stay busy and see as many people as possible, too many salespeople subscribe to the theory that any activity is good activity.

There was a time when this was true. Customers had more time, sales was a simpler job, and any conversation with a prospect or customer was a good thing. But times have changed, and the job of the salesperson has become much more complex. The pressure on the salesperson to make good decisions about the effective use of his time has never been greater. Salespeople now must confront an overwhelming number of potential "things to do," and that requires them to make decisions about which customers in which to invest their time, to prioritize their activities every day, and to continually choose from a menu of possible activities. In other words, salespeople must now engage in strategic planning.

If activity and busy-ness necessarily made progress then a hamster in an exercise wheel would be the picture of progress. Real progress, though comes only from channeling your effort in the direction of your goals.

Don't let others plan your life. "Life offers two great gifts - time, and the ability to choose how we spend it. Planning is a process of choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan, then we choose to have others plan for us.
- Richard I. Winword

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.
- Jim Rohn

I use nothing but the best ingredients. My cookies are always baked fresh. I price cookies so that you cannot make them at home for any less. And I still give cookies away.

Who said that? It was Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies and she is telling the truth about what took her from startup to over $250 million in annual sales from 600 stores around the world. We can all learn from success, no matter what kind of success. Quality and good customer relations work in any business.

The more people tried to convince Rose that a cookie business would never work, the more she dug in her heels. After all, hadn’t she spent the better part of her life perfecting this recipe? And didn’t friends, family, and her husband’s clients devour her cookies by the plateful, even as they dismissed her dream? Even Randy Fields was among the naysayers. Still, he gave Rose his support and together they were rejected by numerous banks before finally getting a loan to open a store.

By noon on her first day of business — August 18, 1977, at Debbi’s Chocolate Chippery in Palo Alto, California — Rose had not made a single sale. So she went out on the street and started giving her cookies away, and soon people were coming in to buy them. "Randy had made a bet that I couldn’t make $50 in sales that first day, but I did," says Rose. "What emerged from that was setting goals in increments. If goals are within reach, they don’t look so daunting." That methodology eventually helped her predict customer count and revenue, and allocate staffing. "It’s all tied to a very simple principle that’s called hour-by-hour management," she says, "and today colleges use it as a case study in business efficiency."

Not only did she give cookies away the first day of business, today cookies in the stores are given to charity if they are not sold in two hours. Employees can take home free cookies, creating good will within the company. The cookies are so good people keep buying more. Read more about her life and business here and here.

If you make New Year's Resolutions, you could do worse than these. Whatever you call it, the process of deliberately tuning up your performance will make you better at what you do.

He who stops being better stops being good.--Oliver Cromwell

Richwood belt cleaners, impact saddles and idlers were chosen for the BHP EKATI Panda Underground Project, a $182 million project scheduled to begin production in 2005. Scroll to the bottom of the article under "Featured Suppliers" for the link to Richwood. Distributor Western Belting and Hose received the order. The BHP Billiton press release is here. Equipment for the project must be exceptionally reliable and durable for the extreme operating conditions and remote site.
Equipment for the project must be hauled over the seasonally-available ice highway by Robinson's Trucking, a specialist in this type of transportation. It's a big job, and hazardous. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) There's some very impressive wallpaper from Robinson Trucking here. Richwood salutes BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. and McIntosh Engineering, our contact for the project.

A number of sales-related articles here have emphasized that people buy from people they trust, not necessarily from people they like. Another aspect of that truth is that people buy from people they see as safe, that is, the most likely supplier to help them keep their job. For most of us, the decisions we make in our jobs determine our futures. Here is an article on how to use testimonials to show customers how trustworthy your company is.

I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
~ Wayne Gretzky

Really. Complaints are a good sign, according to this article. Why?

You can't stop customers from defecting if you never hear about their problems. Giving customers a way to complain can represent a golden opportunity. Listening and responding appropriately minimizes the damage unhappy customers can create for your business. The average upset customer tells nine people. One in five tells more than 20 people.

Furthermore, a complaint is an opportunity to repair and strengthen the relationship.

Companies should welcome complaints and make it easy for customers to provide feedback. After all, customers who take the time to complain still have some confidence in the organization. Although they may be complaining, at least they are still talking to you. Those who complain are exhibiting a degree of loyalty and a genuine desire to get their problem fixed.

Furthermore, of those who do complain, 56 to 70 per cent will do business with your company again if the complaint is resolved. That goes up to 96 per cent if the complaint is resolved quickly!

One company that decided to listen seriously to customers' complaints was British Airways.

British Airways is a notable example of an organization that has encouraged customer feedback. By installing video booths at Heathrow Airport, it gave angry customers an easy way to sound off. The taped complaints were sent to top management, giving them an unfiltered glimpse into passenger frustration. Their focus on responding to customer complaints paid off. It shed its "bloody awful" image and has become known as one of the best airlines in the world.

Read the whole article for suggestions on responding in concrete ways.

There are two ways to have more money. One is to make more and the other is to spend more wisely. The Mortgage Professor can help you make better decisions about mortgages. If you are planning to buy or sell your home or refinance, do not miss this site. There are calculators to help make decisions between one deal and another, and spreadsheets to manage different types of mortgages. Another section that could save you money is Mistakes to Avoid. The Professor is retired from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the oldest business school in the United States. He may know a thing or two.

This new site has a lot of good free articles on selling. Your value proposition is the short statement of the primary benefit your product offers to the customer. When a customer asks, "Why should I buy your product?", your value proposition tells him in a short direct statement. A helpful explanation with examples is here.

The CEMA Winter Bulletin is up. The good news for the bulk conveyor business is that both orders and shipments show an increase for the first half of 2004 and that the increase is expected to continue. Charts for bulk, unit, and total sales and shipments on page 3.

For those who enjoyed the post on the Consumer Price Index, here is a link to an article from a man who compiled his own. He consulted old magazines, catalogs, memory and other sources to compare current conditions with those in 1968. There are a lot of interesting comparisons and a discussion of what makes economic progress. For a really revealing comparison, look particularly at costs for education, food and housing. Here's a sample of his conclusions:

Let’s look at the data from the perspective of income growth. Total unadjusted US wages and salaries grew from $465 billion in 1968 to $5249 billion in 2004, a growth factor of 11.29. If we divide by the population growth factor of 1.48, we get a nominal per-capita wage growth of 7.62. This means that if we use the Freebuck.com inflation rate, real aggregate personal income was negative during the last 36 years because prices rose faster than wages.

The aggregate per-capita income figures stated above apply to the population in general, both working and non-working. We now have a much greater percentage of the adult population working as shown by the civilian labor force which grew by a factor of 1.91. This means that per-worker income growth (real individual wages and salaries) is in decline. In fact real wages have dropped substantially using the new inflation calculation. This result validates the widespread belief that two incomes are now needed to provide a family with an adequate standard of living.

I knew I should have bought that guitar in 1968!

When you look at belt cleaner applications for be sure to consider bearing mount frames. They can't be used where chutework or other obstructions are present but if the head is in the open they can be lifesavers and easily justify the additional cost.
Benefits:

1. Smaller and lighter
2. Avoid more complex mountings
3. Cleaner brackets are positioned at the factory. No field location of the cleaner is necessary.
4. Where two cleaners are mounted, both can usually be placed on a single set of frames.
5. Where heads are moved often, bearing mount frames allow the cleaners to be removed to prevent damage.
6. Models are available to provide for removal of the cleaner without removing bearing bolts.

When requesting bearing mount frames for an installation, include bearing information (bearing manufacturer's part number or complete dimensions) and information on the bearing mounting plate, pulley, and bolts. New bolts are furnished with each set of frames.

Merriam-Webster says that blog was the most-looked-up word on its dictionary site last year, CNN reports. The other 9 of the top ten are in the article. Bookmark the link for online dictionary checks. There is also an online thesaurus and other handy information.