The Innovation Club Blog

May 11, 2011

I learned something today that (once again) proves cross-pollinating ideas from outside of your industry will make you appear to be a genius. PPG makes paint. In fact, if you wreck your car and take it to a body shop there is a good chance they will match your car color with a PPG paint. PPG is famous for innovating but last year when they were about to introduce their new waterborne paint products (better color match to your original color and environmentally greener) they knew it would be a struggle to get body shops to change old habits. The problem was this. Body shops needed a simple step-by-step implementation plan. “What do I do 9 months before we change over?” “How about 6 months out?” “What do we do a week before we make the shift?”

Lucky for upper management there was a woman in the office who had recently been to a lot of weddings. Every bride knows there is a wedding planner checklist. The checklist shows what to do 1 year before the wedding, 9 months from the wedding date, 3 months out, and what to do every day up to the wedding ceremony so that nothing falls through the cracks. She suggested that PPG adapt such a “planner” to the Waterborne paint launch. Genius! PPG took a common idea from the wedding industry and revolutionized the paint industry. Guess what…their competitors are now trying to copy the PPG body shop retraining model…but they are too late. Body shops have already been in training for a year…with PPG.

May 3, 2011

I just came from Phoenix where I spoke at a meeting for Peter Piper Pizza. I got a tour of one of their stores and, as a father of a five-year old, I’ve been to just about every Pizza and Indoor Playground and Video Arcade known to man. But I have never been to one where the pizza was soooo good. I wrote about the “flight to quality” last week but Peter Piper has raised the bar on Pizza against ANY Pizza Parlor. I raved about them when I came home and I was surprised more people don’t know about this “hidden” gem.  But here is where they really shine…innovation. Each manager is in a constant contest to think of new ways to improve marketing and store operations.  When I was there, a former store manager, Shanon Scally, reinvented the birthday experience for the kids who have a party at Peter Piper. Every birthday boy or girl can create his or her own custom pizza (at the table) and the pizza chefs will cook it for you. Sounds simple, right? That’s how most brilliant ideas are perceived. I called Shanon a “former manager” because she’s been kicked upstairs. Her ingenuity was so inspiring that upper management gave her a job in the head office. Great ideas are good for business…but even better for your career.

April 24, 2011

In this post-recession recovery phase many of the winners realized that Quality it King! People and companies are not going to “leave money on the table” when demand tells them the first dollars spent are on higher end goods and services. Hilton and other upscale hotels are experiencing a bounce back in demand and therefore don’t see a reason to discount. Cabot Hosiery Mills used to depend only on making private label athletic socks for big box stores. But when they started making their own (higher end) Darn Tough Vermont outdoor socks, business is booming. And dang, you should see the most recent 4-year revenue chart for Hardees and Carl’s Jr. restaurants. Their Six Dollar Burgers (and other menu items) created one of the most beautiful growth charts you’ve ever seen. In a world of cheap fast food problem companies, these upscale burger chains had to be asking, “What recession.” Carl’s Jr. just introduced the first Char Broiled Turkey Burger. I’ve had one. It’s delicious and gooey. Now that’s something a lesser priced chain just can’t do. Makes you hungry doesn’t it?

April 20, 2011

I spoke for a unique event comprised of only 24 high level managers. The guest speakers were Colin Powell, Tom Peters, and Jack Welch. As you probably know, Jack was the longtime CEO of the world’s largest company, General Electric. Welch was known as “Neutron Jack” because of his explosive (and highly effective) management style. I asked him if he thought he had earned that nickname. He didn’t hesitate, “I Probably deserved it. I made it a practice to routinely fire the bottom 10% of our workforce. But you know what, it was never a surprise to anybody. They knew if they were in the bottom 10% they weren’t performing. Chances are they didn’t like their job anyway. We let them go with dignity and everybody moves on the way they should.”

We can all learn from Jack Welch. If you’re “carrying” the bottom 10% of your ineffective workforce in the hope they can turn around their performance…maybe its time to face reality.

April 15, 2011

As you can tell, I love to talk about cookies. Why? Because chocolate chip cookies are irresistible – and have such an immediately profitable customer response! I was at the Subway sandwich shop launch of “Breakfast Now At Subway.” The room held about 1,500 owners and managers and I was lucky enough to eavesdrop on some of the networking. One of the most amazing and obvious innovations I heard was what Subway does when they open a new location. Of course,  there is a short term “test” announcement campaign but one of the most effective forms of marketing is when the store manager literally walks around his or her new business neighborhood - with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  The cost is only 18 cents per cookie and it is common for a manager to hand out up to three-dozen cookies within 48 hours. For $36 dollars, the warm cookies are the perfect icebreaker. Can you think of a better way to market your business for $36 bucks? I can’t. In fact, I’m going to send Cookie Bouquets to my top 50 clients as a thank you. A lot better than handing out a pen with my name on it ;-)

April 8, 2011

I was on the phone with a friend at Northup Grumman and he was telling me that he recently hired several engineers between the ages of 66 and 72. He needs help on the new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and these “retired” experts have too much experience and brains to ignore. Older people matter. So why do we get seduced into thinking that only people under 40 are the most popular demographic?  The fact is that medical science is now allowing men and women to stay healthy and work long past the old retirement age of 65.  “Active Senior” is the new moniker that best describes the energy and enthusiasm of the older demo. Did you know that there are 85,000 Americans over 100 years old? Usually their homes are paid for, they don’t have kids to put through college. They can travel and buy pretty much anything they want. In other words, the largest part of their money is discretionary and if you can interest them they are extremely loyal.  Bottom line. Be nicer to old folks. They might be paying for your next house.

April 2, 2011

I grew up in the Seattle area so I was always familiar with the customer “obsessiveness” of the Nordstrom stores. So, when I was writing ARE YOU RELEVANT? I made a call to Bruce Nordstrom. It wasn’t as hard as you’d think. Bruce answers his own phone! I asked him, “Your company is legendary for your service. Can you please describe your hiring process and your training program?” I will never forget what he told me.

“Ross, we don’t really have a formal training program. We leave the training up to their parents. We want people who were raised with character and a good attitude.  And as far as hiring, we like to find people from the Midwestern United States because they usually grew up doing chores. We like people who are used to being responsible and accountable for a job.”

In his two decades as the CEO, Bruce Nordstrom took his company from $200 million to over a billion…with a very simple philosophy about human capital. Sometimes we overcomplicate and overthink our business decisions when we should be thinking about leveraging our most obvious strengths.

March 20, 2011

I am not talking about a novel or personal autobiography here. I’m talking about writing a business book - about your business. Conrad Hilton wrote the book, “Be My Guest” and put it in every one of his hotel rooms. The book was not only an interesting tale of his journey in the hotel business but it was a published brand promise. The book put every employee’s “feet to the fire” about how customers should be treated at Hilton. ReMax, the real estate company, has a book written about their rocky ride to fame (Everybody Wins!). Precor, the fitness equipment manufacturer, wrote a self-published book called “The Greatest Business Book Ever Written” which is full of inspiring customer and team member stories. Even Boston’s/Boston Pizza has a self-published book about their company. Writing a book about your company builds pride in your organization. It’s your manifesto. And these days its incredibly cheap to do. Look up “on demand publishing” and you’ll see that for under $700 you can have a book in your hands within 90 days.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t matter that your ends up on the New York Times Best Seller list. What matters is that your book ends up in your customer’s hands. After all, THEY are the people who can advance your brand faster than the New York Times.

March 12, 2011

Last year, I spoke for Toyota and was pleasantly shocked to hear that several of the Toyota dealers had installed Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Machines in their parts departments. The idea was that the aroma of warm cookies might draw people in. And, of course it worked. Turns out that people love the wafting scent of chocolate chip cookies (no doubt why Doubletree Inns offer you two of them when you check into their hotels). Anyway, a week later I attended a big grocery convention and told them the Toyota cookie story.  Six weeks later, I got a letter in the mail from the owner of a small grocery store in Buffalo, Wyoming who said, “I went straight home from that convention and hired a “cookie lady.” She is our front door greeter - and she stands there with warm cookies from 11:30am to 3:30pm and we cannot believe the positive customer response. It’s like we’ve given our customers the greatest Christmas gift ever…and they can’t wait to tell their friends and neighbors.”

From auto parts to hotel guests to grocery customers…everybody loves cookies! Why not give a few away and see what happens to your business?