Political Blunder
This article in the Honolulu Advertiser tells the story, but fails to mention my feelings. I never rode the Superferry during its short stay in Hawaii, and possibly never would have. Three hours is just too long for me to spend getting from one island to another when I can fly in 20 minutes. In spite of that, I was moved close to tears when I looked out from my lanai on Saturday to see the Superferry heading out of town for the last time. Its sad energy reached all the way up to where I was standing. We used to watch it sail proudly by every day on it’s journey to and from Maui, but this time the direction was different as was the feeling. It had its tail between its legs, beaten down one last time by the Hawaii political machine.

“Hawaii Hotels Barely 68% Full”
That was the headline for THIS STORY in Pacific Business News. It’s another example of the negative sensationalism that may sell papers, but does nothing to help the current state of affairs. You need to read the article carefully to discover what’s behind the headline. Deeper in the story we see that:

• Oahu occupancy declined 6.5 percentage points to 72.5 percent.
• Maui occupancy was off 13.2 percentage points to 68.4 percent.
• Kauai occupancy plunged 15.2 percentage points to 64.6 percent.
• Big Island occupancy tumbled 19.3 percentage points to 57.2 percent.

If you are looking for the positive side of things, as I always am, please notice that the largest % fallout is on the Big Island and Kauai, where the total numbers of people are surely the lowest. Oahu, where the most people are is ONLY down 6.5% from last year, or better said “93.5% of last year.” Why can’t that be the headline? That’s a lot of people, and they are NOT people who have lost their jobs and homes. They are people spending money on a Hawaiian vacation.

The press needs to give us a break and skew the news in a positive way. The truth is the same either way. The problem lies in the perception of people who don’t bother to read past the headlines or fail to stop and think about what they are really saying.

LOL
Give yourself a break. Murders, plane crashes and the economy grab the headlines these days. I guess they always have. In spite of all that’s ugly, you can still find something to laugh about. Bring some humor into your workday. Humor makes everyone feel better about anything. Make your customers laugh and they will like you. People buy from people they like. It’s all so easy, and all so important. Did you hear the one about…?

“Sukoshi”
This is a “re-birth” of this information from the early days of this Blog. We are still seeing large numbers of Japanese visitors in the United States, and I continuue to see American salespeople feeling handicapped because they cannot speak Japanese. It’s a fact that you don’t need to speak Japanese to sell to the Japanese!

English Taught in Japan
Japanese students today must take 6 years of English to graduate from High School.
Anyone under 40 (approx.) has had major exposure to English.
The older the person, the less practiced the English is.
Many Japanese hide their English abilities for 2 big reasons:

1. They are not comfortable with their pronunciation, and do not want to embarrass themselves.

2. They can understand you, but you can’t understand them. Nice buying edge.

Your goal with this program is to get your Japanese customers to admit to their understanding of English, at least a little bit, (sukoshi). You can achieve this by demonstrating your interest in their language, and your willingness to mispronounce it.

To help you, I offer what I call Hauole Phonetics, in parenthesis.

It all starts with the GREETING…The first impression in Japan, for customers is a greeting at the door with “IRRASSHAIMASE”, (ear-ah-shy-maw-say), meaning, “Welcome to our store”. This is good to know, however (unless you are Japanese), your initial greeting should be in English. You do not want to sound patronizing.

In Hawaii say, “Aloha”, they will have fun returning the greeting, and you have already begun to establish communication.

You can now (if you want to) add to “Aloha” with a follow up comment, in Japanese, as clumsy as you might say it.

OPTIONAL GREETING ADDITIONS:

Welcome IRRASSHAIMASE (pronounced> ear-ah-shy-mah-say)
Good Morning OHA YO GOZAIMASU (pronounced> ohio-go-zye-moss)
Good Afternoon KONNICHIWA (pronounced> cone-eech-chi-wah)
Good Evening KONBANWA (pronounced> cone-bon-wah)

Your first 2 Japanese phrases to learn are:

1.) “Do you understand English?” - EIGO GA WAKARIMASU KA? (pronounced> Egg-oh-gah-wa-car-eee- moss-ka)
Nine times out of ten your customer will reply, “Sukoshi” (a little bit). Then you say:

2.) “I don’t understand Japanese.” - NIHONGO GA WAKARIMASEN (pronounced> knee-hone-go-gah-wah- car-eee-moss-sen )
More times than not, your customer will laugh, and communication has begun.

Using these two phrases will begin communication and establish which language will be used. Copy them; carry them with you and practice them until you have it down. Any other Japanese phrases you can learn will serve to add to this experience and your communication, but none are necessary beyond this point with most customers.

In future posts I will add more information on selling to the Japenese.

Better and Better
I am amazed by the continued development of Apple’s iPhone capabilities. I bought my first one a year or so ago because of its intuitive nature and large number of uses. They continue to issue updates which I download via iTunes, and each time it gets better. I held off getting the 3G, thinking I didn’t need the increased speed or GPS, but once I got it I was blown away by the improvements.

More and More
Then came the Applications. In January, just a couple of short months ago, Jerry Kohl asked me if I have some cool applications on my iPhone. I didn’t even know they existed. Now I have more than 20 of them; most of which I find myself using a lot. Many are free, others cost as little as 99 cents, and I haven’t paid more than $4 for any of them. With a touch of my finger I can find restauraunts, movies, stores or just about anything else around where I happen to be. The iPhone will listen to music and tell me what the tune is and all about the artist. With Pandora I can tell it which musicians I like and it will search the world finding radio stations playing their songs and send them through my ear buds endlessly. Excercising has never been so easy. I can locate recipes and books. iTalk turns my iphone into a recorder and allows me to label and then save and or e-mail what I have recorded. There is a MobileFiles application that synchs and sends selected files from my computer to the iPhone. And if I ever need a laugh there’s iFart. That’s one you need to hear to appreciate.

Twitter Tie In
Just yesterday I downloaded TwitterFon which lets me (or you) make live Twitter posts on the move, and even attach photographs stored in the iPhone, or take a picture with the iPhone and  and attach either of them.

Multiply This X $400 to $500
Apple sold 13.7 million iPhones in 2008, and they are not finished yet. This article just published yesterday announces the new iPhone 3.0 which will allow you to sell or buy goods and services via the iPhone. What can be next?

It’s Here!
Like it or not, the cyber revolution is upon us.

Embrace It!
You cannot outrun technology; it’s too big, it’s moving too fast.

Big, expensive and Cool
I had computers like this in the 60’s and 70’s, but the technology was so complicated that I didn’t even try to touch them.

Early Geeks
We hired people much different than us to move those big discs around. They were very smart; what they did was a mystery, and they intimidated the rest of us with their knowledge. As I look back on it, those computers didn’t do near as much as your cell phone does today.

Mo Betta!
In the 80’s I hung it up for a simpler life, surfing in Hawaii. All I had to think about every day was if to surf at Queens or Canoes; both in Waikiki. I was determined to never touch a computer. After all, I didn’t even know how to type.

My Phobia
The truth was that I was afraid of the fast moving technolgy. As I ventured into the business world in Hawaii I continued to shy away from what was “the future.”

Mobile To Da Max
The first time an emplyee brought a PC to work I accused him of playing games in his office. Soon we won’t even have brick and mortar offices. Today you can work from anywhere, all because of technology.

“Tweeting”
I was moved to compose this post today as a result of my latest “brain strain” called Twitter. Two weeks ago I said, “No way” when asked if I am “Tweeting” yet. Now I find myself drilling down into all of the benefits and possibilities of this latest “easy” technology. See what I mean right HERE!

Pipe Dream
If nothing else I may be seeing a glimpse of my life long after I want to “work’ any more. Don’t worry Honey, that’s not tomorrow.

Something Worth Repeating
Here are some of the benefits of the avocado:
• They contains around 25% of the calories and total fat of dairy butter, by weight
• When compared ounce for ounce they provide more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, and potassium than other fruits.
• Avocados are the number-one fruit source of beta-sitosterol, a substance that lowers total cholesterol better than a low fat diet, and even improves HDL cholesterol.
• It also provides vitamin C and vitamin B6, and about one-third of your daily requirement of folate, a nutrient that helps neutralize excess levels of heart attack-causing homocysteine.

Serving Suggestion:
You can use it in place of spreads like butter or mayonnaise.
Avocado Fact:
The green, smooth-skinned Florida avocados have less fat and fewer calories than the smaller, rough-skinned California kind.
Ways to increase consumption of avocados:
You can use fresh avocado on sandwiches and toast for a healthy breakfast snack.

Dip It!
Avocados can also be used as a delicious dip, especially if you use yogurt instead of mayonnaise and add some roasted garlic.

Tip from Me:
If you have yet to discover Veganaise; get some. You will never use mayanaise again.

Recruit Some Help
The reasons to quit smoking are many; staying healthy is at the top of the list. Just about every smoker I know says, “I know that I should quit.” I know from experience that it is easier said than done. I quit 40 years ago and can still remember the battle. In Success Made Easy I quoted myself as saying, “It’s easy to quit smoking; I’ve done it hundreds of times.”
This article in CBS News makes the case that smokers who quit with company do better than those that go at it all alone. Check it out, pass it along, just maybe you will save a life.

“I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the Mickey out of the consumer.”
-Richard Branson

I have always been fond of that quote. Find the “Mickey” in your business and keep it in there.

Disneyland
I lived in Southern California when the first Disneyland was being built. I leased a jewelry counter inside Disneyland several years later. As a merchant at Disneyland I had to follow more rules than most retailers do today. Disney knew their customer, and they were not about to let some retailer in the park take the magic away. They have a rule at Disney that says, “You are not allowed to ever be seen out of character by a customer.” That would be a good rule for everyone in business to follow.

Not at Disneyland
Imagine going to Disneyland and seeing Mickey Mouse on break reading a newspaper or talking on the telephone. It won’t happen. They have secret underground tunnels for employees to take their breaks.

Watchful Eyes
As I travel about, I am always on the lookout for examples of people doing it the right way and the wrong way. I call my photo collection “People at Work” and I am always adding to it. Following are a few of my favorites that you would NEVER see at Disneyland.

Reading the news may be important, but not while on the job.

Smoking is not allowed in Hawaii businesses. It’s the law.

Text Messaging has become a very popular activity.

Eating on the job is not cool. Customers are not likely to interupt someone’s lunch to buy something.

Entertainment. Some “salespeople” even watch a DVD while enjoying lunch.

Crossword puzzles require a lot of thought and focus, in this case at the expense of the customer.

Super Bowl Sunday. I’ve even seen special devises rigged up to improve the video viewing and sound.

Multi-tasking is an important talent, and some have it down pretty good.

And the winner is…
The “salespeople” in these photos all have one thing in common, and that’s when someone asks them how sales are, they have the same answer, “It’s so slow.” And it is the truth!

Aim At the Target
This msnbc article shows a photo of about 200 people lined up at the Salt Lake location and tells of more than 1,000 turning up at Kapolei for the opening of the first Target Stores in Hawaii on Wednesday morning.
It’s hard to beleive that these people are suffering so badly from the current “econimic crisis” that they decided to wait in line for hours to spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need. This is just one more example that people ARE spending money when motivated to do so. Too many retailers are sitting back and crying the blues about the econmomy rather than figuring out how to get people buying in their stores.