Hawaii Business Magazine - Bank of Hawaii Luncheon
Partners in Success
In February of this year I was honored as a small business person by Hawaii Business Magazine and Bank of Hawaii. When David Tumilowicz, Publisher of Hawaii Business Magazine called me last month asking me to speak at the annual small business luncheon on October 9, I was honored again, and of course agreed.
Always Selling
Of course I asked if I could bring along a few books to sign for those interested. Masae was on hand early to set up the book table.
Morton’s Ala Moana
Morton’s Restaurant at Ala Moana was the scene of the event, and set quite a nice table.
All Smiles
I am always smiling when given the opportunity to present my favorite subject; success!
“Excuse Me!”
The Caesar’s Salad was well prepared, and looked delicious, but I was sure I smelled something “fishy”, and as a 40+ year vegetarian I had to question it. As you might imagine, there was “just a little” anchovy paste in the dressing, and the waiter was quick to replace it with a different dressing.
The Perfect Host
My host David Tumilowicz and I chuckled about the misunderstanding and compared a few notes before he introduced me.
The Economy
My message to the 95 or so people in the audience was to stay positive and search for evidence to the contrary of the dismal news being touted by the press. I cited some examples of sensational headlines and how they compared to the facts. Just type the word economy into the search box in this Blog to see the many posts I have written on this subject. This is a time when people need something positive and I can always find it.
The Proof
With the permission of owner Joe Green, I cited the record breaking month that Surf-n-Sea in Haleiwa had in September. While I agreed not to reveal the exact numbers, it was obvious, even from the back of the room that he did better than last year, or any other of the 43 years the store has been in business. Haleiwa is home to dozens of surf shops, mostly selling the same thing, but none of them can cite the level of success seen at Surf-n-Sea. The reason is the attitude and behavior of the salespeople in that store.
I challenged the crowd to be optimistic, and tout the successes around them. I ask everyone to do that. When the media spreads doom and gloom, (and they will) just refuse to participate.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I still think Ron has his head in the sand. Everything around me is going down like the Titanic, and this guy keeps talking like there’s something we can do about it.
If I was in that audience I would have asked a question or two that couldn’t be answered.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Why am I not completely shocked that Reality Check is having financial problems?
October 11th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I wish that “Positive Thinking” was a course offered at UH.
The stuff that Ron teaches and preaches should be a required part of our book learning, so that we don’t have to wait until we get out there in the real world to learn the real world lessons.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I’m with 101. I heard Ron speak on Maui many years ago and his words have stayed with me since. We do create our own reality, and we do it with our thinking. Think your way into success and if you don’t have a copy of Success Made Easy, get one today, it just may change your life.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Aloha Ron Here:
This was sent without my knowing who wrote it, but I surely do agree with it; I hope that you do too.
————————————–
Are You Grateful for this Current Downturn?
Chances are pretty high that you’re thinking, “Are you nuts? How can someone be grateful for a downturn? Being grateful for an upturn makes sense.
But
for a downturn–that’s just plain ridiculous.” But it’s not.
Why? Because downturns, like every other obstacle, always demonstrate at least one thing–they always expose weakness. And for that, you and I should always be grateful.
When the economy is doing well, weaknesses get overlooked. “Why pay attention to that problem when we’re still making money.” Why? Because nothing lasts forever. Every market goes up and every market goes down.
The
wise among us make changes before they have to. But for the rest of us, we need downturns to force us to make the changes we need to make.
In good times, we tolerate employees who don’t perform well. We put up with marketing “campaigns” that are feeble at best. We don’t do the hard work of creating winning strategies that create competitive advantages. We live with systems and procedures that haven’t been optimized. And we put up with less than excellent work.
However, in downturns, we’re forced to confront our weaknesses. We’re forced to confront our poor marketing attempts, our growing list of receivables, our poor cash flow management, our poor employee morale, our poor leadership, our poor strategy formulation and execution, our poor customer service, our poor retention strategies, our poor referral systems, etc.
In other words, you and I need downturns to force us to do what we should have been doing all along–and for that we should be grateful.
But the best news of all is that when this market recovers (and it will), if you do the hard work now, you will be leading a better, stronger, more productive, more efficient, better led and better marketed company–and that is a good thing!
So refuse to give in to the negativity of the day. Be grateful for this downturn–and use it to make the changes you need to make. Develop a better marketing plan and tools. Become a better leader and manager. Drive productivity gains. Let go of employees you should have let go of two years ago. Rebuild your financial model. Improve your customer service. Test and revise your sales scripts to increase conversion rates. Etc.
Trust me, if you do this, there is a day coming when you’ll say, “That downturn in ‘08 was one of the best things that ever happened to our company.” We all prefer comfort. But comfort rarely produces the best in us, struggle does. So embrace this downturn, use it and choose to be grateful for it–you’ll be surprised at the difference that attitude change makes!
October 12th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Ron; I’m betting my bottom dollar (safe bet) that you wrote this yourself. It sure does sound like you. Who else would dare take such an optimistic stand in the face of such an obvious disaster?
These are bad times pure and simple; get down off of your high horse and accept reality. Our only hope is that John McCain will be elected soon enough to get things turned around. I wish the election were tomorrow.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I’m starting to wonder if you, Ron, are “Reality Check,” just trying to stir things up on your blog.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Great essay Ron. So very true, every word. Even in a downturn, which I call a reset, there are still a percentage of people buying stuff. Sell some merchandise on Craigs List and eBay, they are doing really well. Our salespeople who have an outstanding customer service quality keep selling, Those who have personality plus keep selling. Creative thinkers who never just waited for a sale keep selling. If the people don’t come to you, you have to go to them. People have to like you to buy from you anyway. Nobody wants to be around a “drip”. Always look at the bright side of life. It is time to do whatever has to be done to meet the challenge. It’s like when people that are hurting just get drunk and destroy themselves even more, Others will give things proper perspective and rise above a difficult outcome. Even in business, keep trying to do what ever it takes to get it done. There will be businesses going down, that means more business for others. When the going gets tough, the tough get going certainly applies here. If you can’t handle it you shouldn’t be in business in the first place. Whatever it takes!
October 16th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Ron,
It was a great message and a fun presentation, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Your friend Curtis said many nice things about you and your impact on his business.
Thanks