Surf’s Up!
Every year Hawaii features its Triple Crown of Surfing and everyone is hoping for the biggest waves possible.

“And the Winner Is…”
It’s quite an honor to win any of these events and historically the top surfers in the world are there hoping to get this year’s trophy.

Congratulations Joe Green
Joe Green is the owner of Surf-n-Sea, a 15 year client of ours. Joe has many talents. Besides building an enormously successful surf shop in Haleiwa, he is an accomplished surfer himself as well as being a talented musician and song writer. Something that started out as a hobby has become a new venture for Joe; making custom ukuleles. This year the Triple Crown of Surfing commissioned Joe to make custom ukuleles to be given out as trophies.

To see them CLICK HERE:

A few months ago I dropped in on Joe at his North Shore home to see his ukulele workshop. I was amazed to learn how much work goes into this craft, so I made this brief YouTube of the process.

To see it, CLICK HERE: I think you will be amazed too.

RIP
I was extremely sorry to hear about the passing of Howard Konrad. Howard was the proud founder of Lahaina Scrimshaw and Jessica’s Gems. He was always happy to remind me that he was my very first client when I started Success Dynamics in 1991. He also prided himself to be the first to pay me every month with a handwritten check. We shared a lot of good times these past 20 years as well as weathering some storms. In spite of some of the tough times, Howard never backed off when it came to providing his team a sit down breakfast on the 2nd Thursday of the month which included $100 and $50 bills for top salespeople, and drawing winners.
Howard is survived by his ever supportive wife Cheryl and daughter Jessica whom Jessica’s Gems was named after.
Howard was loved by all of his employees.
We will all miss you Howie.

Opportunity Abounds
This is the sort of news that I love to get in the morning;

Aloha Ron,
I see that Hawaiian Accessories had a record setting month in March. Nothing seems to slow these guys down. Doing their Morning Reports is a pleasure for me. I love seeing records broken.
Tammy Morris 
Success Dynamics - Morning Report Team

Hawaiian Accessories is a 20 year old company, and a long time client of ours, so setting new records is nothing to be taken lightly. For me this acheivement is especially rewarding haven taken this company “under my arm” personally just a few short years ago. Curtis started doing all of the things we suggest. In addition to the Morning Report, we started having monthly Success Rallies, Monthly Contests, and Opprtunity Shopping. We revised the compensation program, hired new people, and gave them the attention needed.
The next time that someone tells you that business is “slow”, just send him or her a link to this post, or better yet give me a call. This is a great time to stand out above the rest.

So Exciting!
I had the pleasure of making six presentations to this wonderful group of Brighton Store Managers from all over the country while they were “conferencing” on Maui this week. I get to meet a lot of enthusiastic people, but none more excitable than these people are. Mahalo for the opportunity.

Too Excited!
I must have been too excited on Monday evening following dinner with several Brighton managers at Leilani’s in Whaler’s Village. I failed to see the uneven sidewalk when walking back to the Hyatt Regency, stumbled and took a dive. I made a “five point landing” with my knees hitting first, then my fingers followed by my right shoulder, rib cage and finally the side of my face. I posted a photo of my fingers at the time on Facebook and was told that it was “gross.” Yes it was, I’m sorry for that.

Should I or Shouldn’t I?
Doctors on Call at the hotel was closed, so security came to my room and patched me up enough that I could make my two presentations Tuesday morning. I’m not fond of going to the doctor, so I debated as if to go at all. Jerry suggested that I go to the clinic at Whalers Village and I am glad that I did. I saw a good example of empathy as they cleaned the sand out of the wounds, poured a stinging disinfectant all over them, and gave me a painful Tetanus shot in the arm. The doctor there told me that if I hadn’t treated these wounds there was a 97% chance they would get infected, which could possibly lead to “Lock-Jaw:” not very good for my profession. In the days that followed my left foot started swelling and reached the point where I could hardly walk on it.

Making Sure
I reluctantly went to the hospital for X-Rays. I saw an orthopedic surgeon and after reviewing the x-rays he assured me that there were no fractures. YEAH! He then prescribed lots of rest and “TLC” at home; Yeah, Right!

“Doctor Retail”
He then sent an assistant in to show me some “relief options.” It felt as though I was at Nordstrom as he had me try on various orthopedic boots and shoes. After being convinced that none of them was going to increase the healing, I said, “I’ll think about it” and hobbled away in my Converse shoes. I’m glad he hadn’t read Retail Selling Made Easy. One “Okay but…” and I might be wearing something very unfashionable.

Michael Han
Congratulations to Michael Han and the entire Wedding Ring Shop team. Retail Merchants of Hawaii presented Michael with the 2010 HO’OKELA Oahu Retailer of the year award at their annual luncheon today.
We at Success Dynamics are proud to have had several of our clients win this award over the past 20 years and are looking to many more in the years to come.

Whaler’s Village - Don Reaser - 2004

Maui Dive Shop - Jeff Strahn - 2004

And Buys At Lahaina Scrimshaw
The room was abuzz when I arrived for my monthly Success Rally with Lahaina Scrimshaw this month. Paris Hilton had just been in their Front St. Store. She bought an exotic butterfly in acrylic and 6 Jimmy Hepp photos. She spent $975. Everywhere I went people were talking about her being there, but not everyone was selling. People buy when people sell.
To see more of Paris shopping CLICK HERE: And remember; celebrities buy too.

It’s common at Surf-n-Sea in Haleiwa

Eddie Crawford - Store Manager 

At one of our regular manager’s Success Rallies at Surf-n-Sea on a Sunday morning, the manager, Eddie Crawford shared a very interesting story with us. He said that he received a call a while back from a local bank. He said that a very pleasant woman told him that they were doing an Economic Outlook Survey, and asked him if he would answer a few questions. One of the initial questions was, “Looking ahead do you anticipate sales to be the same as last year, down 10%, or down 20%?” Eddie laughed and asked, “Where’s the up option?” Eddie said that she was taken back by his reply and said, “Nobody is answering like that.” A few minutes later she asked about staffing; “Do you plan to maintain the staff you have, cut back by 10% or cut back by 20%?” Eddie again asked, “What about increasing it, that’s what we want to do?” She said, “Oh, I forgot, I’m talking to the optimist.”
Surf-n-Sea survived the Gulf War in 1991. When “911″ hit it was business as usual at Surf-n-Sea while others placed “Going Out Of Business” signs in their windows. When there were two major landslides shutting Haleiwa off from the rest of the island, sales kept right on climbing. Then came the so called recession. Eddie has good cause for his optimism. Sales continue to go up year after year.

Success Rally
I have been meeting with the staff at Surf-n-Sea in Haleiwa for close to 15 years. I have seen (and even caused) many changes in that time frame. One of those changes has been an increase in sales that is close to 10 times from where it was. Another change required a willingness to get outside of their current comfort zone and embrace the system; Pro-Active, No Pressure Selling.

“Aloha”
Salespeople began greeting customers and attending monthly “Success Rallies.” Next was a willingness to provide all new employees with their own copy of Retail Selling Made Easy. The Morning Report then came along, and Surf-n-Sea was one of the very first companies in Hawaii to get it, even in its initial raw form.

Be the Optimist

To enjoy continued sales in any economy,  tune out any negative thinking, and become an optimist like Eddie Crawford, owner Joe Green and the pro-active staff at Surf-n-Sea. It’s Easy! You can do it too.

Little Thing, Big Impression
I was totally blown away when I pulled into the parking lot at The Madden Corp. this morning and saw this sign on the front parking spot. I know that they have 150 employees that might like to park in that spot. Even though it was temporary, it made me feel very special. It was the thought that mattered; doing something they didn’t have to do. It was a great reminder to me of the power of recognition. Something like this is so easy to do, yet so few people would even think about it.

Big Guy Small Frame
While at Cutter Chevrolet checking up on their Morning Report, manager Terry Bennett took me back into the garage to meet Kevin, their top big engine mechanic. This guy fixes engines on big trucks and busses, yet he was moved so much by seeing his name at the top of their Morning Report recognizing his production success, that he had it framed.
What can you do today to recognize and impress someone?

Happy Birthday
Hildgund Jewelry is celebrating 136 years in business in a very unique way. 136 gift wrapped jewelry boxes are being  placed around town in different locations throughout the month of December. Each one contains a valuable piece of  jewelry. The deal is simple; finders keepers!

Bruce Bucky - Owner
I had coffee today with Bruce Bucky to congratulate him on this promotion. He shared some of the experiences to date  placing these boxes, and watching people actually walk right by them. Even though there’s a card on the box saying what  it is, many people didn’t read it, and turned it in as lost. To prove this, he handed me a gift box and told me to put it somewhere.

Never Walk by Opportunity
I first placed it on a table and sure enough people walked right by without seeing it. Next I moved it over to the table where the cream and sugar are. Again, it was overlooked, except by an employee who looked at it and commented, “Oh, somebody left this.” She did not pick it up or read it. Finally I put it on the floor, and it was amazing to see people walk by without noticing it.

Winner
Finally Isaac spotted it and told the receptionist to go pick it up. She didn’t, so he did. Now he has something nice to take home this evening. The gifts vary in value, but total $50,000.

What to Do?
As we left, Bruce gave me another gift box, told me to put it somewhere and let him know what happens. Stand by, this one is  valued at $200. I feel like Santa Claus.

Island Air Terminal
Several records were set during my recent trip to Maui. The first was the number of people at the sleepy little inter-island terminal. One of the reasons I like to fly out of this terminal is the small amount of traffic, making for easy, and hassle free checking in. Not this time. I have been flying in and out of this terminal for 28 years now and have NEVER seen it like this. My thought was, “What recession?”

Kaanapali Morning
One of the enjoyable things about Maui is waking up in Kaanapali. I normally stay at the Westin Maui, but this time it was overbooked and I could not get a room. I took this picture from my room at the Sheraton just down the beach. They were at near capacity, but I got in. My thought was, “What recession?”

Whalers Village Shopping Center
I have been doing Success Rallies for the merchants at Whalers Village for 18 years now. We meet at Leilani’s on the Beach. During that time I have seen attendance as low as 10 people, and as high as 50 or 60.

7:45 AM
The rally starts at 8 AM. I often joke that you have to get there early to get a back row seat. As you can see that was the case today.

7:50 AM
Five minutes later they are lining up to get in. The coffee is hot and the pastries are tasty.

7:55 AM
Besides hearing me talk and getting coffee and sugar, the attendees also get free parking stickers. Signing up for that usually creates a bottle neck getting in the restaurant.

8 AM - Showtime
By 8 AM the place is packed and it’s time to learn something. My topic today was “befriending” your customers in a way that makes them want to return to your store to buy more as well as referring you to those they know and meet. One suggestion was having your customers pose with their purchase and promise them that you will post their photo on line to share wiith their friends back home.

It’s a Record
Before leaving this morning I congratulated them on a record turnout and asked them to pose for this photo promising that it would be on my blog for them to see in the morning.

Another Record
One last record set this morning was in coffee and pastry consumption. Mahalo Whalers Village for 18 years of success; I’ll see you soon.