Security & Sound Systems
Erika Engle reported in her Friday Honolulu Star Bulletin article that Security & Sound Systems is the first Hawaii business to win a national Retailer of the Year award from Mobile Electronics Magazine. President Kent Izuka said that he was among the magazine’s top 12 installers in 2005.

Special Delivery
Some of you may recall this Blog story on Valentine’s Day when I delivered a Retail Selling Made Easy audio book to Kent via limo. When I saw the Star Bulletin story yesterday, I called Kent and congratulated him. Today I went to see his business.

20 Year History
Kent started out as an installer while in high school, getting paid for doing what he loved doing. Seven years later he took over the company. He is still doing what he loves doing, but now he has four employees to help with the installations. When you find something you love to do, you never “work” a day in your life.

$700 Sale
I had the opportunity to listen in as Kent helped this customer get just the right car alarm, and then add on the hood alarm and rear direction camera. The service is as good as his selling skill. He was able to assure her that they would have her car ready for her when she returns from a walk around the block to get some lunch. I witnessed several happy customers while I was in there, and those that know me know that I am not that easily impressed.

Years of Awards
There were almost as many trophies and awards on display as there was merchandise. These awards amount to a testament of good business, good merchandise and good service. They have obviously done a great job over the years and I found Kent to be open to new ideas and desirous of going to an even higher level. There’s no complacency here.

Lots to Sell
Kent stayed busy selling the entire time that I was in the store. The sound systems, cameras, security devices all make for a “candy store” for the auto enthusiast, and we have no shortage of those in Hawaii.
Congratulations Kent, I am looking forward to meeting with you (away from the store) to share more thoughts and ideas for your expanded success.

It Only Takes One
I continue to hear people “crying the blues”, claiming that people are worried about the economy and not shopping. All you need to do is take a walk through Ala Moana Shopping Center or Waikiki just about any day and you can see evidence to the contrary. It’s the old “half glass of water” thing; how do you see it; half full or half empty? Those seeing it half empty will be “chicken little” busy looking for places to cut expenses in areas where the optimistic will be spending more and thus passing up their competition.
I received e-mail the other day from an AT&T manager who had just read Success Made Easy upon returning to Hawaii from Europe. This is part of what she said:

“Aloha Ron,
Thank you so much for your kind offer to deliver Success Made Easy to the airport before I left. I received it when I arrived home and was able to read most of the book over the weekend. I hope to finish it tonight. I will be recommending this book in my Selling for Success class tomorrow. Reading every day for personal and professional improvement is mandatory for me, and I include this philosophy in my classes. I love the story about Bill Wyland hoping the tough economic times last longer so that he can get all of his competitor’s good locations. That is classic Bill.”

Park It
Further evidence of the spending going on at Ala Moana is seen when trying to find a parking place. Part of that problem is the space set aside for valet parking that is not being used. The parking lot was full when I took this photo. Why drive around for a half hour only to find a parking place in the sun, 100 yards away? Just pull up to the valet here or at Niemen Marcus and let them park it for you while you shop. It’s Easy!

Apple Mania
Perhaps the strongest evidence of all that people are spending money can be seen just about any day or night by peering into the Apple Store where the prices are high, the lines are long and the service is terrific.     

Have a SENSE of URGENCY
Last night (late last night) my wife asked me to do something with a piece of her art on this Blog. I got right up and headed to my office. She said, “You don’t have to do it now, just be sure to remember it”. My reply was, “Doing things now is my way of remembering to do them”. It only took me a few minutes to do it. It is so easy to put off doing things that are not urgent, and then when a bunch of them become urgent all at once it’s “stress time”. You may even find yourself being in a state where you have so much to do that you do nothing at all.

Overload
Things done under stress are just not done as well. That’s one of the things I love about Sundays. That’s my creative day; it’s the day nobody is asking me to do something. It’s the day that I had “time” to write all of my books. It’s a great day for me to get things done, and done well.
Today’s technology has provided us with many tools to be organized, and remember to do things. Outlook Reminders for example will put an intended “to do task” in your face as often as you want it to. The problem with these high tech programs is that they also make procrastination as easy as accomplishment. With the click of a key you can move a task that you wanted to do this morning to tomorrow morning, then the next, and the next, until it becomes urgent and you HAVE TO Do It Now.
In Success Made Easy I say, (something like) “It takes less time to do it than to decide if to do it”. Or, as the late great W. Clement Stone said, “When deciding when to do something, just DO IT NOW!” That works for me. Give it a try. 

Was it REALLY 50 Years Ago -?
I received a phone call yesterday from Terry Peterson inviting me to attend the “50 Year Re-Union” of my high school graduating class. It was a real déjà vu moment as we tossed names and stories about. He is still married to Thelma Manning, one of our schoolmates, while I have said, “I do” six times in the same number of years. Terry said that would probably qualify me as the winner of the “most times married” award. I wonder if I will also get the “longest hair on a guy” award. I am sure that the competition will much fiercer for the least amount of hair left.

Harvey’s Broiler
Cruising Harvey’s was the thing to do, especially on Friday night. That looks a little like my 50 Ford sitting there. It was a consistent parade of cars showing off their latest tuck and roll upholstery, and sounding off the glass pack mufflers. 

The Warren Golden Bears
The event will be held back in Downey, California, and include a “brown bag lunch tour” of the Warren High School Campus, where we were the first graduating class from the school. I’m not someone who likes to dwell on the past, and as scary as “50″ sounds, hearing that 42 of our classmates have already moved on to the hereafter was even scarier.
This should be a real blast. If any of the “Class of 59″ happen to see this Blog I hope you will post a comment about yourself, and if you send me a picture from “then”, or better yet “now”. I will include it in this post as an update.
You can also register your profile here for free. That should help Terry and the other organizers prepare for this.

FINAL (I Hope) Update:

3/22 - 10 AM - Jimmy showed up right on time, and spent close to two hours helping me with questions, and sourcing out a problem in the Outlook synching going back to when we imported all of the numbers from my old Razor in an attempt to get the Palm Centro working.
Another problem was in the way I had originally (and wrongly) entered my contacts into Outlook Express (years ago) and then moved them into Outlook when I updated (and upgraded) a year ago. I am now (slowly) working my way through my Outlook contacts, removing duplications, eliminating dead addresses (literally)  and changing the “Display As” settings to be able to synch with the iPhone.
The good news is that all is working, and I am rapidly falling in love with my iPhone.

WHEW!!!

Update:
3/21 at 8:10 PM

9 AM This Morning: I was the first person in the door at AT&T this morning; they were still counting the cash from yesterday, or setting it up for today.

Full Circle
The manager greeted me and apologized for the problems I have been having, and asked if I had considered getting the iPhone. I reminded him that I had originally come in to get the iPhone, but that the information I received turned me off. He apologized again, told me that they want to keep my business, and said that Jimmy is very up on the iPhone and that if I wanted to try it and had any problems that Jimmy could even come to my house to help me.

Jimmy on the Job
I said, “How about Jimmy getting in my car, with me, right now, and we go do just that?” He approved, so up to my office we went. Jimmy showed me how the iPhone works and I must admit I loved it right away. Now, he just had to make it work with my computer.

Working Uder Pressure
Jimmy spent close to three hours synching my computer up with the iPhone, getting the three e-mail addresses to work, and showing me how to use it. Remember now, I’m the guy never intending to touch a keyboard in my life. 

Team AT&T
1:30 PM - We returned to AT&T all smiles. I thanked Boyd, Jimmy and Richard for all of their assistance, and off I went, excited about using my new tool (Masae calls it a toy). I expected this picture to be the happy ending to this saga. Masae and I went to lunch at 2 PM and I began showing her how cool it is, BUT it wouldn’t send e-mail from one of my addresses.

That Does It!
I pictured myself just slamming it into the ground, but instead I called Jimmy and told him the problem. He began to tell me about a web site where I could go to get help, and I said, “No, I am bringing that phone to you right now along with my old Razor phone. I am going to leave it with you and go to my 3:30 appointment, and then return to AT&T. At that time I want it working, or everything returned to my Razor.” He said, “Okay”, and that’s what I did.
4:30 PM - I returned to AT&T and was informed that all was fixed. The problem was one wrong setting. I thanked everyone again and left. When I got to my car I decided to send e-mail to someone, and guess what… that’s right; NO GO! I went right back inside and discovered that some of the e-mail addresses in my Outlook did not get synched into the iPhone address book. I left somewhat discouraged and when I got home discovered just how many that was; TOO MANY!
Jimmy will be here at 10 AM in the morning; stay tuned. I am counting on a happy ending yet, as I really do like that phone.

3/20 at 8:10 PM - What a nightmare this has been! I am perhaps more frustrated now than ever. Something has told me for a long time not to mess with a handheld device, and I have failed to follow my feelings. After re-installing the software this evening and running the hot synch, it was worse than ever. I have another four hours of my time down the drain, and I command (and get) $500 an hour for teaching customer service.
I don’t think I am technically aware enough to even describe what’s happening. All I want at this time is to get my Razor back in working order, and my contract reverted back where it was - expired. That will leave my options open should I ever decide to do something crazy like this again.

3/20 at 4:30 PM - The latest is that I have a new Palm Centro that appears to be working. They suggested that the problem could have been caused by the hot synching process and I was told to call them if it happens again and they will look into that for me. Next is to do the scary hot synch and hope that I still have all of my data afterwards.

3/20 at 2 PM - This story is getting uglier by the minute. E-mail access from the AT&T Palm Centro has been erratic all day. I have shut it down and rebooted it numerous times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. So, back to AT&T I went. This time I said that I need to deal with someone familiar with this product. Are you ready for this? The answer was, “None of us have been trained on it”. I was shocked and asked, “How many of these have you sold?” Are you ready for this? The answer was, “One.”
I said, “What do you suggest I do?” He said, “Well you could get a Blackberry, they are very reliable”. I reminded him that this all started with an attempt to upgrade my Palm Pilot and that the Blackberry would not synch with my Palm software. I asked, “What do you suggest?” He said, “Well, we could replace the sim card, or the machine itself, but I cannot guarantee you that it will work.” I asked, “What would YOU do?” He said, “I would get a new machine”.
So, as I type, my new AT&T Palm Centro is being set up, and I have come to my office to get the e-mail passwords for it. Once that is done I need to ask Jay to come back over here and synch my e-mail addresses and other data into the new machine. If that doesn’t work I will do one of two things;
1.) Give the Sprint Palm Centro a shot and leave AT&T for good. 
2.) Buy a new “simple” Palm Pilot and go back to hauling the laptop around.
If I get to this point, the answers I get from Sprint will determine my direction.
Stay Tuned!

UPDATE:

3/20 - 8:45 AM - The saga continues… When I logged in this morning it could not “locate the server”. I shut down and tried again… same thing. After the third re-start it worked! While that was nice, this is not something I will be able to live with, especially when traveling. I have been receiving a fair amount of e-mail on this situation, like this one I got this morning:

Ron,
How do they define “shutting it down” once a day?
I’ve never done this and have not had any problems.
Thx,
Pete

My friend Pete got his Centro from Sprint. I am starting to wonder if just MAYBE this is an AT&T issue. If so, I will be trotting down the street. I have been with AT&T (formerly Honolulu Cellular, then AT&T, then, Cingular, and back to AT&T) for about 25 years now. I would surely like to see this loyalty rewarded. 

3/18 I returned to AT&T and the tech there was able to get the e-mail working by changing outgoing settings we had set up. Don’t ask me why they worked the night before. While there I found out how to use the camera; cool!

3/19 I was starting to feel comfortable an continuing my self education. I was able to send and receive e-mail this morning. I went to the mall and bought some higher powered reading glasses. Then this afternoon it would not send or receive e-mail. Grrrr! I returned to AT&T and they were able to make it work by removing and replacing the battery. I commented that this is NOT something I want to do myself. I was then told that I need to be sure to shut it down completely at least once a day. My previous instructions were to do this every few days. I left happy again. Later, at dinner it would not send or receive e-mail. Grrrr! I shut it down and re-booted and it worked. I am now thinking that I may need to shut it down after every hot synch with my computer. I will find that out. This just doesn’t sound right to me.  

3/17

Well, I decided to go for it and buy the new Palm Centro from AT&T. As is often times the case, it all sounded pretty easy in the store.

Jay Jurick

My good friend, Palm Pilot and Internet Guru Jay Jurick then spent the next six hours in my office synching it into my two computers and setting up the e-mail. It worked once and then decided not to.
 

Next Step:
I will go back to AT&T tomorrow to see if they can get the e-mail to send and receive, as well as to get some tutorial on MANY other confusing features. The camera seems to take nice photos, but I cannot figure out where they go, and NO, we could not get the Palm software to synch into my two computers. Remember; I am the “retired guy” that was never going to touch a computer!!!

Here’s where this started 30 days ago ————————–

Pretty Slick, But…

People keep telling me how cool their iPhone is, but my eyes start glazing over as they attempt to impress me by demonstrating all of the features. Each time I get one of these “demonstrations” I feel completely unsold and sure that this isn’t the phone for me.

While at lunch the other day John Alves, president of Pacific Basin Communications gave me the best presentation yet. He held up his iPhone and said, “The instruction manual is only 8 pages, and is the size of this phone.” Now that was language I could relate to.

My mind was now opened up, so on Sunday I decided to drop by my at&t dealer to see what else I could learn. I came into the store, signed in, found the iPhone displays and began a self tutorial with one of the model phones. I giggled inside as I was able to easily add a link to this Blog on the home page of the demo phone.

I was doing a pretty good job of selling myself on the iPhone when I heard my name called. I told the salesperson that I was interested in the iPhone but had some questions. I was a bit surprised when he walked me to the register area instead of the iPhone models, but I followed him. Holding up my Razor phone I asked, “Can the data in here be transferred to the iPhone?” He quickly replied, “No”. Bad Answer! I suspected otherwise and said, “Really?” His response was, “Well not easily, it’s very complicated to do that”. Bad Answer!

When trying to succeed as a customer I don’t give up easily, so I said, “I don’t care how complicated it is, as long as you can do it”. He said, “We are not allowed to do it, you would have to do it yourself”. I was losing interest rapidly, but asked, “I have multiple e-mail addresses, can they all work on this phone?” He said, “No, only one”. Bad Answer!

Palm Centro
He then said that the new Palm Centro could handle as many as 10 e-mail addresses. I said, “Show me how that works”, and he said, “I can’t, it won’t be released until the 15th of the month”. I asked if there is a brochure or something that I could look at, and he said, “No, but you could Google it”, and wrote “Palm Centro” on a “Post It Note” for me. I thanked him and left. NO SALE!

I came home and typed Palm Centro into Google. The first thing I saw was that the phone was actually released in 2007 by Sprint. As I looked through the various Google links I found this You Tube Palm Centro tutorial. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why couldn’t I get a presentation like this in the store?” I guess that I will stick with my Razor phone, at least until I run into a real “salesperson” somewhere.

World Class Artist

While on Maui the other day to conduct my monthly Success Rally at Pictures Plus, I was delighted to reconnect with world renowned artist James Coleman. James was there to do a show that evening at the gallery. I have always admired his work, and found him to be an all around great guy.

Walt Disney Influence
Jim’s roots go all the way back to his days with Disney Studios in the 70’s, where he worked as an animation background designer working on nine feature films and over 30 short subjects. Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast came to life with James Coleman’s background images.
Today you can find Jim’s art in some of the most prominent and respected galleries in North America, the Orient and the Hawaiian Islands.

Watching the Master at Work
I told Masae that James Coleman would be demonstrating his skills at the Wyland Gallery in Waikiki on Saturday evening. Being an artist herself, and a long time James Coleman admirer, she jumped at the opportunity to meet James and watch him paint.

Masae’s Studio at Uraku Tower
I invited Jim and his son, Scott Coleman to visit us at our Uraku Tower home, see Masae’s studio and have a look at the Morning Report to see how it works in an art gallery. Jim’s art is currently featured in close to 100 art galleries. He and Scott agreed that this would be a great addition to help many of them enjoy even greater success. I am looking forward to helping them make this happen.

A Choice Worth Considering

One of my favorite sayings is, “There are two types of people in the world; those who get what they want and those who take what they get”. I’m not sure if I read that somewhere or came up with it myself, but I am sure that it’s true. Those that choose to “get what they want” decide just what it is, and then take action.

Lights; Camera; Action!

Life is a lot like a movie where you get to write the script. Write it the way you want it, and then when the lights come on (the sun comes up) and the camera starts rolling (time is going by) take action. It’s a lot easier to sit back and wait for something to happen and then respond to it. Choose to be proactive as compared to reactive. Be the person making things happen, not the one watching.

Who’s Economy?

This latest article in PBN speaks of the “economy” as if it were some sort of living creature effecting anyone and everyone and is beyond their control. I continue to maintain that “economy” is a state of mind, and that everyone has his or her own economy.
The word economy can be traced back to the Greek word oikonomos, “One who manages a household.” Note the word “One” in here. Each person must “manage” his or her own economy. Managing one’s economy does NOT mean NOT spending money. I often times see people “cut here” and “cut there” until they cut their own throats. 

Dead Sea in Israel
The reason the Dead Sea is dead is because there is no outlet. A live body of water has both an inlet and an outlet for water to flow. So must a business. I think of it as “Dollars Incoming” and “Dollars Outgoing”. You bring about what you think about, so think more about your dollars incoming than you do your dollars outgoing and your business will thrive. To quote my father, “Volume will make up for a multitude of sins”. Being a bit “sinful” with money, I have always put strong emphasis on the incoming side of my business, and it has worked. My economy is just fine. I hope that yours is too.

The Best Table in Town
Sometimes I forget where the best place to eat is; HOME! After several days in “Computer Hell”, I decided to treat Masae and myself to an early Sunday Dinner somewhere at Ala Moana. There are so many places to choose from, that it’s not always an easy decision.

CPK
The first choice was California Pizza Kitchen. I was delighted to not see a line at the door. We went in and I held up two fingers. The hostess reached out with a beeper and said, “It will be about 20 minutes; our wait staff isn’t here yet”. I was shocked and said, “No thanks, we’ll go next door”. That’s one I have never heard before.

Ruby’s
As we entered Ruby Tuesday I watched the host (on his 2-way headset) talking with a co-worker elsewhere in the restaurant. Without looking at me, or saying anything at all, he handed a hostess two menus, and gave her a table number to take us to. I stared at him and said, “Aloha”. When he looked up I said, “I would prefer a table, not a booth, with floor level chairs.” By the time we reached our table we were freezing in there. Masae put on a jacket and asked me if I thought I would be able to survive the cold. Realizing that they were not likely to warm the place up just for me, I said, “No, let’s go”, and out the door we went. No one noticed our departure.

Macaroni Grill
The last time that I went to Macaroni Grill was the day they opened, and the manager comped our lunch due to the slow service. That memory has always stuck with me, but I decided to give them another try.
As we walked in I was surprised to see how empty the place was, but figured with that being the case, we would get some great service. I was wrong! After being seated for several minutes a waiter rushed by our table announcing, with no eye contact, something like, “I will be with you in a minute”. After sitting there another 10 minutes I went up to the receptionist and asked if we could be moved somewhere with a more responsive wait person. She said, “Sure” and directed me to the other side of the restaurant pointing to a large booth. I asked, “Can we have one of these normal tables with chairs?” There was six to eight empty 4-tops right there. She said, “Wait here, I will need to go ask the hostess.” When she returned, she took us into the bar area.
By now I was ready for a drink, so I thought to myself, “Super?” Well, after sitting there for another five or 10 minutes another waiter sailed by, stopped and wrote his name (in crayon) on the paper table “cloth”, and said, “My name is Chase, your waiter is real busy right now, but he will be with you shortly.” I said, “No, if we are going to stay here, you are going to have to be our savior, I am tired of waiting, and am ready for a drink”. He agreed and took our order. Well, he actually gave us an order form to write in what we wanted. That was different. Half way through our meal he returned to say, “Your drinks will be out shortly”.

Take Home?
And the food; well here’s what we left on the table after our $60 meal. Chase asked if we wanted a “doggie bag” to take that home. We don’t have a dog, so we left it.

DONE! 1-Feb >>> 8:05 AM to Oahu Arriv. 11:35 AM Flt. #HA35
DONE! 1-Feb >>> 6 PM Success Rally Surf-n-Sea
DONE! 2-Feb >>> 2 PM Meeting with Curtis at Ala Moana
DONE! 2-Feb >>> 4 PM Interview Carlton Handley at HA Ala Moana
DONE! 3-Feb >>> 1 PM Meet Vondra Cael at HCC
DONE! 3-Feb >>> 2:45 PM Meeting Opal Fields - Starbucks
DONE! 3-Feb >>> 4 PM Meeting with Aaron A Feliciano HA Ala Moana
DONE! 3-Feb >>> 5 PM meting with Melvin Robert Roche Opal Fields
DONE! 3-Feb >>> Time and PLace TBD - Dinner with Carsten
DONE! 4-Feb >>> 3 PM Meet Sean Knight IMP Treehouse
DONE! 5-Feb >>> 1:15 PM Meeting at Opal Fields - Ward
DONE! 5-Feb >>> 3 PM Meet Gilbert Wizeman
DONE! 5-Feb >>> 3:30 PM Interview Kawika HCC
DONE! 6-Feb >>> 7:45 AM Success Rally Hawaiian Accessories
DONE! 6-Feb >>> 9 AM Sales Leaders Meeting with Hawaiian Accessories
DONE! 6-Feb >>> 12 PM Interview Alexandra Wildisan at Opal Fields
DONE! 7-Feb >>> 8:30 AM Success Rally Opal Fields
DONE! 8-Feb >>> 11 AM Interview Lisa Lumas at Opal Fields
DONE! 9-Feb >>> 10 AM Opal Fields Management Meeting
DONE! 9-Feb >>> 11:30 AM Lunch Pete Martinez PU Uraku
DONE! 9-Feb >>> 2 PM Meet Pam Chambers Honolulu Design Center
DONE! 10-Feb >>> 9:30 AM Meeting Mike Han
DONE! 10-Feb >>> 2:15 PM Flt.#56 to Maui
DONE! 11-Feb >>> 7:30 AM Lahaina Scrimshaw Rally
DONE! 11-Feb >>> 9:30 AM Rally Pictures Plus on Maui
DONE! 11-Feb >>> 12:30 PM Flt.#59 to Oahu
DONE! 11-Feb >>> 3 PM Meeting Madden Corp - Beachwalk
DONE! 11-Feb >>>5 PM Blue Hawaii Opening Downtown
DONE! 12-Feb >>> 10 AM Jeff Higa
DONE! 12-Feb >>> 4:30 PM Success Rally Loco Boutique Ala Moana
DONE! 13-Feb >>> 3 PM Success Rally Loco Boutique Waikiki
DONE! 14-Feb >>> 7:30 AM Avery at Uraku
DONE! 14-Feb >>> 9:30 AM Breakfast Mike Han and Hearts on Fire - Longhi’s
DONE! 15-Feb >>> 2 PM Interview with DASIA LEAAIOALII
DONE! 16-Feb >>> 10 AM Opal Fields Manager Meeting at Ward
DONE! 16-Feb >>> 5:30 PM Sales and Marketing Executives Dinner
DONE! 17-Feb >>> 11:30 AM Opal Fields Store Time
DONE! 18-Feb >>> 11:30 Ala Moana and Waikiki Hawaiian Accessories
DONE! 19-Feb >>> 11 AM Meet Lisa Marsh Kahala Mall
DONE! 19-Feb >>> 12:30 PM Coffee Meeting James Kerr at B&N Kahala
DONE! 19-Feb >>> 3:30 PM Jeff Higa
DONE! 20-Feb >>> 2:30 PM Interview Adriana Gradillas
DONE! 21-Feb >>> 9 AM Meeting at Opal Fields
DONE! 21-Feb >>> 11 AM Avery at Uraku
DONE! 22-Feb >>> 12 PM Interview George Smith HA Ala Moana
DONE! 22-Feb >>> 1 PM Interview Adam Vala
DONE! 22-Feb >>> 2 PM Interview Curtis Stranghoener
DONE! 23-Feb >>> 8:30 AM Outrigger Rally
DONE! 23-Feb >>> 10 AM Opal Fields Manager Meeting at Ward
DONE! 23-Feb >>> 3 PM Meeting with Curtis at HA Ala Moana
DONE! 24-Feb >>> 8 AM Succes Rally at Hyatt Waikiki
DONE! 24-Feb >>> 9 AM Interview following raly
DONE! 25-Feb >>> 1 PM Interview ELENA CALDERONE - Opal Fields
DONE! 26-Feb >>> 10 AM Jeff Higa
DONE! 26-Feb >>> 3 PM Loco Boutique Manager’s Meeting
DONE! 28-Feb >>> 9 AM Avery at Uraku