Successful Blog

Why we should stop saying, “I’m terrible with names”

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By Lindsey Tolino

 

The first time I heard it was when I was in middle school. On the first day of school, our teacher said it with little emotional engagement. He coupled it with a remark that at some point, maybe a few weeks in, he would eventually have everyone’s down. I remember it rubbing me the wrong way even then.

“I’m terrible with names.”

I’ve always felt like someone devalues me when they say it. They don’t mean to. They are citing an insufficiency in themselves. I know that.

But when someone tells you that they’re terrible with names, they are essentially saying that you aren’t important enough to remember your name.

Name tag

 

I know this because you know whose names I don’t forget? My husband’s. My dog’s. My family’s. My friends’. People I want to get to know. People whose work I extol.

And just so you know, I’m terrible with names.

I’m usually selfishly worrying about what’s in my teeth and I don’t catch what you said. “Did she say Sheryl or Carol?” I hate when I do that.

However, I shouldn’t tell you that I’m terrible with names simply because I’m bad at listening to you. If I do tell you that, it’s like I think that it’s an acceptable character trait. And I don’t think it is. I want to get better at it. I want to listen well and show people I value them.

Though forgetting names shouldn’t be acceptable, it does show that you’re a normal human if you struggle with it. But you don’t want to be seen as normal, right? You want to be remarkable, so don’t identify yourself with the cliché of being terrible with names.

If you can’t remember someone’s name, simply tell them how you remember them, but that you can’t recall their name. It will at least make them feel valued that you remembered them in some capacity and most people understand that names can be evasive at times.

If you just met them a few moments ago, you can simply apologize and ask for their name again. Just don’t qualify the lapse in memory by saying you’re terrible with names. No one wants to hear that.

We all want to know that we are valued. So let’s not minimize each other by saying “I’m terrible with names.”

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is an intentional creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Image info: Original royalty-free image from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1428915

Why You Should Want Better For Your Customers Than They Want For Themselves

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By Lindsey Tolino

Do your kids want pizza for every meal but you want better for them? I don’t have kids but I have been one long enough to know that they don’t always want what’s best for themselves. If we’re being honest, we’re like children in this too. We want things that may not be best for ourselves.

Sad Pizza

A little over a year ago, I was working at a bakery-cafe and a customer asked if the baked goods had trans fat in them. As a fairly fanatical trans-fat-hater, I was sad to say I wasn’t sure, so I pulled out the book of ingredients. I was astounded to read almost every single pastry was loaded with the stuff.

I was especially surprised since this bakery-cafe appealed to health-conscious, higher-educated consumers. The bakery-cafe fronted like it esteemed customer health, while it was sneaking cheap, artificial, poisonous fats into the fairly expensive baked goods. The customer that had inquired was viscerally upset.

The image of the bakery-cafe was shattered for me that day. I thought that they wanted what was best for their customers. Turns out, they wanted what was best for their bottom line. That day I thought about how a great business cares about what’s best for their customers, not necessarily about what their customers want.

The customer that inquired was the only one who ever asked me about it. People assumed or at least weren’t questioning to know. But that didn’t change the fact that the cafe should have wanted what is best for them. They could have used butter or another natural fat and still made it taste as good. Instead, they exalted their bottom line above what was best for their customers.

Businesses are responsible for what they know. If they know that something isn’t good for their customers, they should want better for them.

I go to Planet Fitness. I like a lot of things about it. But the thing I haven’t been able to comprehend is the monthly free pizza and bagels they give to customers. I think that Planet Fitness may have done a target market study and found that their customers like bagels and pizza (who doesn’t really?).

But I’m bothered by it, because they should want better for their customers. Though it’s a no judgement zone (which I totally can get behind), that doesn’t mean I want my gym to spur on my unhealthy behavior. Pizza and bagels may be what the customers want, but Planet Fitness should want better for their customers. Instead of investing in monthly junk food, it makes more missional sense for them to encourage healthy eating. People are there to get in shape and it’s confusing to have your gym seemingly sabotaging your goals.

I love businesses that I can trust. When my dad was in auction school, he taught me the phrase Caveat emptor, which means “let the buyer beware.” As a customer, I am generally suspicious of every business. I can’t trust them until they prove it to me.

I learned to trust my mom when I was little, after I hurt myself jumping on the bed when she told me not to. I discovered she had my best interests in mind, even when I didn’t. Similarly, I learn a business can be trusted when I discover that they want better for me than I want for myself. When I discover this, I naturally trust, support and praise a business.

When I find that a business implies that it’s for my health, but then hides trans fat in my baked goods, it has the opposite effect. Trust is broken. My interactions with the business becomes transactional and about what each party can get out of it. I am forever suspicious.

The way to gain customer trust is to want better for your customers than they want for themselves.

Customer trust is vital to the health of your business. Your mom wouldn’t give you pizza for every meal just because you wanted it. My mom didn’t want me to jump on the bed because I could get hurt. Don’t give your customers what they want, give them better than they want. A truly great business owner is looking for what is best for their customers before they even request it.

Image info: Royalty-free image from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1196126.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is an intentional creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

How To Get Out Of The Habit Of Concealing Flaws

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By Lindsey Tolino

I’ve had acne since 7th grade. It’s been 15 years now. By the second year of my struggle with acne, I learned to conceal it. I have bought countless bottles of concealer in 14 years. I have learned how to conceal my flaws well.

Makeup

We’re taught to conceal. Not to admit our flaws, but to bury them under a mask. This is true of our businesses too. I’ve seen businesses try to conceal their flaws with social media campaigns, investing in more marketing and pouring energy into public relations, all trying to change public perception without resolving the underlying problems.

When you live with something for 15 years, you hardly even notice it. It becomes a part of life. But, every once and a while, the acne is painful.

Then I notice it.

I think about addressing it, maybe trying to resolve it. But once the pain subsides, I mostly go back to living with it.

Is it like this in your business?

If I stopped wearing makeup to conceal my acne, then I’d have to face the reality that I have it and should do something to resolve it. This is what so many businesses need to do. We need to stop concealing our flaws. We need to stop blinding ourselves to the fact that employees are unhappy, that sales are lower than expected and that our businesses aren’t as healthy as we’d hoped.

But I can’t just stop wearing concealer and say “I love this face of mine, pimples and all.” Because I don’t love it. I don’t want to have broken, unhealthy skin.

We can’t just stop concealing our business flaws and say “I love this business, high turnover and all.” Because if we’re honest, we don’t love it.

We don’t want to have broken, unhealthy businesses.

Our businesses aren’t perfect, but we can’t simply cover it with concealer and expect it to get better. We can’t be content to blindly love them in all their imperfection. We need to care that things aren’t healthy. We need to resolve core issues to make them healthier.

We need to do this if we want to have sustainable, profitable businesses.

So how do we resolve issues in our businesses instead of trying to conceal them?

1. Acknowledge that our businesses have flaws that are making them unhealthy.

This is often presented in a variety of symptoms such as high turnover, high customer complaints or a low number of repeat customers.

2. Investigate the flaws.

At this point, you have to resist the desire to simply treat the symptoms, because ultimately you want to cure the disease. You have to resist the urge to hurriedly pour money into marketing, to hire better salesman or to increase employee salaries. You have to investigate to make sure you understand the underlying cause of the symptoms. This may mean inviting honest conversations with your employees, scrutinizing finances and digging into your own thought process.

3. Decide how much you want to invest in resolving flaws in order to create a sustainable business.

This is an important step, not only to plan out what you’re able to invest, but also to intentionally move forward in resolving issues. When you’ve decided to set money and time aside to resolve an issue, it makes it easier to execute the plan.

4. Work to resolve the issue with what you decided to invest.

Don’t get discouraged in the process. Be persistent and do what you can with what you have.

5. Evaluate and repeat as needed.

Your consistent hard work to resolve issues at their core will benefit your business. When you stop trying to conceal flaws and invest in resolving core issues, you put your business on a healthier, more sustainable path.

Image info: Royalty-free image from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/909988.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is a young creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

What The Bill Cosby Scandal Has To With The Viability Of Your Business

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By Lindsey Tolino

Would the allegations against Bill Cosby be less shocking if he were a football player? Or a rich businessman? Or a playboy-type actor? Would it be less shocking if they were against Charlie Sheen or Dustin Diamond?

Yes, it would. The alleged acts wouldn’t be any less deplorable, but the shock would be less. Bill Cosby may not be guilty. However, the allegations alone are enough to incite public outrage.

shattered glass

I watched Bill Cosby as a kid and loved him. His TV show character was inherently trustable. He did Jell-O commercials with children. He wore those sweaters. His public image was a funny family man.

He never branded himself as a bad boy. He created an image of a lovable, trustable man. Though the Cosby show was fictional, Bill’s public image was largely his Mr. Huxtable character. When I read the allegations I was sickened.

I still don’t know what’s true. Regardless, I had to deal with the shattering of a character I loved and enjoyed.

Whether or not the allegations prove true, there will always be some level in which Bill Cosby has become tainted.

In fact, TV Land has already pulled Cosby show reruns and NBC stopped the development of a Bill Cosby comedy show.

Netflix delayed his comedy special.

More recently, one of his upcoming live shows in Canada is to be protested by a women’s group.

Cosby’s image is being utterly crushed under these allegations.

And so, what can we learn from the Bill Cosby scandal?

1. You can single-handedly destroy an entire entity with a counter-character action.
2. Nothing is hidden that will not come to light.

If you do something against your business branding, as a customer, I will end our relationship. There are so many other businesses out there competing for me and I want to make sure my money and loyalty goes an entity that I can trust to be consistent.

We hate even a whiff of inconsistency. We have expectations of businesses based on what they said they are about. If a business fails the expectations they’ve created, people will walk.

If your business is about serving quality food, then serve the best quality food every single day.

If your business is about fast service, then deliver the fastest service every single time.

You don’t have to be perfect at everything. You just have to consistently deliver what you said you’re all about.

There’s something else that’s bothersome about this Bill Cosby scandal – how Mr. Cosby has dealt with it so far. When someone is accused of something they didn’t do, it is expected that they would be outraged and vehemently deny it. That has not occurred, which has created chasms of doubt as to his innocence and has further degraded the perception of his character.

So how do you avoid bringing your business down?

First, know the image you’re presenting of your business.

Second, maintain the image you’ve created.

Third, if you fail at maintaining your image, bring it to light yourself, apologize and get back to who you are.

Alternatively, apologize for the lack of consistency, be honest and redirect about who you are. Don’t make maintaining money streams that are based on a facade more important than your integrity. It will catch up with you and crush your brand when it does.

You create your business entity. You decide what you will portray. However, you must maintain the character of that which you create. If you do not maintain it, you can ensure you will lose customers. There are just too many other businesses out there vying for them.

When you feel the sting of a celebrity, a business or a friend letting you down, let that be a reminder of the responsibility that you carry. You must maintain the brand you create. Consistency is vital. Your viability depends on it.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is a young creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Image info: Royalty-free image by Brano Hudak from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1006530.

A Mission Bigger Than You Are For The New Year

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By Lindsey Tolino

Blake Mycoskie’s TOMS is an amazing business feat, no?

It’s a business set up with enough profit margin that a pair of shoes can be given away for each pair purchased. Even more notably, it’s a business that sells itself because customers have an immediate role in the mission through a simple purchase.

It’s amazing how much time and money people donate to organizations they want to support. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 62.2 million people volunteered through or for an organization from Sept 2012 to Sept 2013. Additionally, Americans gave away $335.17 billion in 2013, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.

Why would people give away this much time and money?

It may be as simple as this – for a chance to make a difference.

blue sky

Maybe people do it to feel better about themselves, maybe to become who they want to be, maybe they want to spend time with others who are volunteering, or maybe it’s guilt-motivated. But all of that pales in comparison with the motivation of feeling like you’re making a difference. We all have lofty thoughts and ideas of how we’d like to change the world, but we have limited resources and time. Consequently, we are happy to give to organizations that are changing the world in a way that we’d like to do.

We want to have a role in a mission that is greater than ourselves, that has an impact bigger than ourselves and that benefits more people than just ourselves.

What does this have to do with your business?

When you have a mission statement that your business can accomplish on its own and that benefits only your business, you create no space for customers to play a role in a greater mission. You limit their role to only profiting your business, rather than to being able to change the world with their dollars.

Selling great products with quality service is admirable. But if that is your mission, then it limits your business, your impact and your customers’ buy-in. An internal-profiting, able-to-accomplish-on-your-own-effort-mission is not really a mission, it’s a business goal.

However, if your grand mission is to change the ethical standards of developing world suppliers by the way you do business — how much more motivated are customers to support you?

A mission that is seemingly unattainable and requires support and action from multiple parties creates a clear role for customers to play. When it is clear that you need customers to accomplish your mission (like TOMS’ one for one – no shoes could be given unless they were purchased), customers can see their role and assume it. Where there is no obvious need for customers to get involved, they won’t.

I’m not telling you to create a manipulative business model with a mission that cons customers into buying in. It should be genuine. People can, and are often looking to, sniff out fake promises.

Yet, at the end of the day, do you really want your business to have been all about your own profit? Or do you want it to have made some bigger impact in the world? If it’s the latter, simply say that. Make it your mission. You can’t do it alone. When you create room for others to help, those who want the same world impact will buy in. They’ll support the business and market it with more credibility than you can. You’ll be in it together. Only then will you make a difference in the world beyond your own profit.

The upcoming new year is reminder that the future is a chance to make a change. If your business’s main mission is self-profit, 2015 holds the hope to make it about a bigger purpose.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is a young creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Image info: Royalty-free image by Ryan McGuire from http://www.gratisography.com/

First Grade Jelly Donut Marketing

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By Lindsey Tolino

First grade jelly donut day was legendary. Our teacher put a jelly donut on each student’s desk. She explained how squeezing out a little jelly from the donut was similar to how we squeeze letters out of words to make contractions.

I have few memories from that age, but I will never forget sitting at my desk, in awe of the donut and my teacher’s wisdom.

jelly donuts

Every time I think of elementary school, unique teaching methods, contractions or jelly donuts, I think of my first grade teacher. I think of how she cared enough for us to buy us donuts and how she made a correlation to contractions that I will always remember. No other elementary school teacher is as memorable to me.

In grad school I learned that you need potential customers to see an ad a certain number of times before they retain it or it influences them in some way. After too many impressions, it essentially becomes white noise and makes no impact on them.

To have your customers truly remember your business, you don’t need to follow traditional advertising and bombard them with typical sales copy.

You simply need to create a personalized, memorable experience.

That seems impossible though, right? It sounds like you don’t have the time for that. But it actually can be more simple than you think.

I had a personalized, memorable experience at a business just the other day.

I don’t think I had talked to anyone that morning except via text. It was late afternoon when I parked at the cafe. I was going to do some work. I felt fixated, machine-like. I walked up to the counter.

“Hi, is that your white car out there?” the cashier asked.

Expecting her to say my lights were on, I replied “yes” and looked outside at my car. No lights on.

“Oh, are you from Pennsylvania?”

“Yeah.” Oh, she had seen the license plate.

“Me too…”

We talked about where we were from, why we moved to Raleigh and how we were liking it. Through that short conversation, she moved me out of my one-minded, lonely, mechanistic mentality into feeling like a human again.

I was so thankful for her initiating that conversation. It was such a simple thing she did and yet it felt profound and memorable to me.

Traditional marketing has value, but creating a personalized, memorable experience for your customer is incomparably better.

So what is the key to creating a personalized, memorable experience for your customers?

The simplest, and perhaps the best way — you treat them like people.

My first grade teacher didn’t see us as students that she was obligated to teach contractions to. She saw us as children with senses (taste!), emotions and abilities. She created an experience she knew would be memorable for us that fit with her teaching objective.

The cashier didn’t see me as simply a customer she was obligated to wait on. She saw me as a person, from Pennsylvania like her, with experiences and a story. She reached out and connected with me as a person, when she wasn’t obligated to.

We simply need to see that our customers are not obligations to serve in order to make money from them. They are people with senses, emotions, abilities, experiences and stories. They are people that desire connection, respect, relationships and love.

If you thoughtfully care for them as people, you will naturally create personalized experiences for them. When customers feel cared for by you, it will be memorable.

They will come back because they will remember you.

Jelly donuts changed my world in first grade. A simple conversation with a cashier changed my perspective that day. It may take a smaller action than you think to be memorable to your customers. The key is simply caring for them as people.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is a young creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino (https://twitter.com/LindseyTolino) or connect with her on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/108697943813402809826/posts).

Image credit: via Steve Campisi (http://www.freeimages.com/photo/758304).