Now we find a new term… intrapreneurship… being batted around and added to the unofficial lexicon of commerce. Now what does that mean? Well, originally, the term intrapreneurship was coined to describe the process of driving entrepreneurial thinking and processes typical of start-ups and small businesses into and throughout large enterprise to promote creativity and positive change that sometimes gets lost or slowed as companies grow. It is a strategy of pushing deeper into the enterprise the authority and empowerment to effect change through the application of legitimate thought leadership, process re-engineering, and best practice creation/deployment. The end result is a large organization or enterprise that does not move like a sloth… that is agile and nimble… and that improves its ability to anticipate and gear up for changes in market conditions and capitalize upon emerging commercial opportunities.

The funny thing is… I am not certain that the concept of intrapreneurship isn’t just as relevant to the management and operation of small-to-medium enterprises (SME’s) as it is to large corporations. In my opinion, most small-to-medium businesses are still operating with a “plantation” mentality. In many cases, a single individual, typically the founder of the business, or a small ownership or executive management group, continue to lead the business in a manner consistent with a model that Jim Collins describes in his book, Good to Great, as “a shining star with a thousand helpers”. We at the executive/ownership level many times act as if we are feudal landowners possessing infinite wisdom and to whom all worldly resources have been rightfully assigned. Our regular routine is simply to summon all of our minions to the front lawn each morning so that we can assign tasks and responsibilities and then send them back into battle to do our bidding.

Intrapreneurship within small business dictates that the most accurate operational analysis be performed and necessary adjustments to product and process be recommended or made by those individuals that are closest to the work and in direct contact with the market. Scary, isn’t it? How do we adopt a new paradigm in which tactical business direction, measurement, and control is exercised though a distributed rather than a centralized model? It starts with the adoption of an intrapreneurial approach and attitude by all top-level executives or management. First, you must delegate authority for important aspects of your business. But you cannot pass the buck. You can empower individuals and delegate authority, but you can never delegate responsibility. As far as your Board of Directors is concerned, the responsibility for financial performance resides with the executive team regardless of how much authority has been bestowed upon other individuals within the organization. Secondly, the delegation of authority must carry with it an equal assignment of accountability. Each individual to whom authority has been assigned must also be provided a clear set of objectives (Key Performance Indicators – KPI’s) and be subject to an easy-to-administer measurement and reporting system so that each individual always knows where he/she stands against formal objectives and goals.

Exemplary intrapreneurial leadership requires an almost perfect blend of empowerment and accountability. Empowerment with no accountability is anarchy. Accountability with no empowerment is paralysis. An unbalanced operating model in either direction will kill your company or render it impotent. It takes both ingredients in equal measures to achieve an effective intrapreneurial operating model.

Wow. That prescription surely seems incredibly simple and unassuming today. Why… every medication that I receive from the pharmacy comes in a bag containing circulars and precautionary statements that take at least 15 minutes to read (I generally don’t), and the pill bottle itself provides every possible warning known to man. I guess there is no option these days due to the proliferation of medical lawsuits and the cost associated with such, but this communication overload/redundancy has migrated to almost every other societal arena, making it almost impossible to discern essential information from the trivial or anecdotal. E-mail is an excellent example of a once powerful communication medium whose effectiveness has been exponentially diluted due to information bloat. Even a cup of coffee procured at almost any quick service restaurant warns us repeatedly in bold print… on the cup… at least 4 or 5 times… that we must exercise CAUTION!… because what we are about to drink… is hot. I hope so.

If there is one lesson that this phenomenon has taught me, it is that those of us in places (not positions) of leadership (and that is all of us) must separate the wheat from the chaff before opening our mouths or putting fingers to keyboard. My experience indicates that the less someone has a grasp of the subject matter, the longer they have to expound upon it to get at the core issue. The fact is… when you know something really, really well… the less words it takes to explain it.

All of us are blessed with a sphere of influence on some scale. Our spheres of influence are comprised of those individuals with whom we have some sort of interaction or relationship… personal, business, social, etc. To varying degrees, these individuals pay some attention to what we say. On the personal and social fronts, conversations and discussions are carried out on multiple levels and with varying nuances, and although there are guidelines for decorum, all rules and guidelines are somewhat fuzzy. But when it comes to business… and it is my turn to hold court or take the floor… I better deliver something of value that those within earshot can take back to the office, plant, or department and implement. Our audiences really don’t care how good we are or how much we know; what they care about is what we can tell them to do that will improve the operational and financial performance of their department or business.

Doctors can prescribe because they know how to diagnose and they know what will help. In business, the same requirements apply to us. If necessary, diagnose first by asking intelligent and insightful questions, then… be prescriptive! Aspire to be an expert… and execute to such a high level of proficiency… in one or more business arenas or disciplines… that you can prescribe one or two or three actions that when implemented will almost surely improve the business performance of the area or department under the purview of the listener(s). Be clear, precise, simple, long on thought and short on words… but be prescriptive. It’s risky, because your knowledge and expertise and experience is fully exposed and on display for the entire world to see. Success or failure will be visible and vocal and right up front. Failure will be almost impossible to hide.

Clear instruction and guidance is what business leaders crave. And need. Take a risk. Write ‘em a prescription…

Have we ever thought about looking at this from the customer’s point of view? This may seem trite and somewhat unrelated, but we may be shortchanging ourselves when we promise our customers that we are going to construct and deliver for them a solution that is 100% of what they need. Sometimes we find that markets have historically been constructed and executed with a primary emphasis on product or service, but not on both. And when we realize that we need to place increased emphasis on the other side of the equation because of changing market conditions, advancements in technology and materials, or competitive pressures, we usually try and determine how we can reassign/redeploy existing resources to address the new and emerging market requirements. Obviously this is a reasonable approach, especially when we are doing everything possible to control costs, but is it the right strategy? As Paul Lemberg, author of the book, Be Unreasonable, states, “Sometimes, you have to be unreasonable to be unbeatable.

Reasonableness tells us that we can’t end up with anything better than 100%. When we try and re-swizzle an existing resource pool to address a new and growing set of challenges, and commensurate opportunities, we achieve the traditional 100% solution, with focus on product and service split 50/50—or 60/40—or maybe even 90/10. And that is what we tell our prospects and customers—that we are redeploying our resources in a manner that will allow us to serve them better and/or improve our company’s operational and financial performance.

As the old saying goes, what we are actually doing is “robbing from Peter to pay Paul”. But we don’t have to. In the apparel industry, we realized early on that the market itself was actually a collection of a number of smaller sub-markets. Our heritage was in the retail sub-market, where service mattered, but product was clearly the focal point. Our future was in the Uniform sub-market, where it was all about service. But we didn’t craft a solution that placed 50% of the emphasis upon product and 50% on service. Instead, we conceived the concept of “The 200% Model”. What would happen if we created product with 100% of the style, quality, durability, and performance of the retail world and married that product to the world-class service of the Uniform world? Would it take more resources? Yes? Did it require additional investment? Yes. Has it cost more? No. Here’s why. By making sure that we have specialists, not generalists, on our account teams that are adept and skilled at crafting and delivering both game-breaking product and service offerings in an integrated fashion to our customer base, we have been able to increase our customer retention rate and identify and capitalize upon additional cross-selling and up-selling opportunities within our existing accounts. The customers are happier as they have access to a more comprehensive solution set (but still within our sweet spot) without expanding their vendor base, and we are thrilled because we are fostering long-term relationships and customer loyalty, the primary common factor among companies that experience sustained growth in revenue and profitability.

Don’t be lazy. 100% won’t cut it. Figure out what your “200% Solution” model looks like and start building it. If you don’t have to squint to identify the opportunity at which the solution is aimed, payback is just around the corner!

It took about four nanoseconds for that act to really get under my skin. I guess our society has advanced to the point and we are so smart that we can now be selective as to what we are willing to learn based not on the value of the content, but the style by which it is delivered. It would seem to me that such an attitude most certainly retards the learning process as it keeps outside the door any knowledge that might be delivered in a manner that just doesn’t suit us. I don’t know a lot, but I do know that in competitive business landscapes with individuals at all levels vying for significance, value, position, and money, not all criticism is offered with the purest of motives or the sweetest tone. Some of it stems from jealousy, some from competitiveness, some from insecurity, and some from just plain old meanness! And yes, some criticism does originate from individuals that truly are trying to help us achieve our full potential as employees and as human beings. But the ratio of the Pareto Principle probably applies to this phenomenon as it does in many other situations. I wouldn’t be surprised if 80% of all criticism is delivered with a less-than perfect approach and some ulterior motive.

I will guarantee you that somebody that maintains an attitude of receptivity when receiving criticism from another individual, regardless of how it is delivered, will learn and grow faster than one that “goes deaf” when the approach used by the messenger is impolite, rude, vindictive, or inappropriate.

I learned many years ago to turn off all filters when criticism comes my way. I try and take it all in and offer no reaction to the messenger except to thank them for sharing what they think and how they feel. Then—when I am alone—I review all the points that were made and try to objectively evaluate the degree of validity in what was shared. If I am lucky, I find some truth in the content that helps me recognize shortcomings of which I may have been unaware or simply didn’t want to face or admit. Those discoveries provide an immediate opportunity to learn and grow—and an opportunity to go back to the person that criticized me and thank them for helping me see where I can improve. It really doesn’t matter if 80% of what they told me was rubbish and completely untrue, I try and concentrate on the 20% that can be leveraged to increase my knowledge, value, and impact.

Get the last laugh on all the people that are trying to “get you” by being overly critical of you or your efforts. Ignore their delivery and use whatever truth they share with you, be it ever small sometimes, for your own advantage. You won’t believe how fast your pace of learning will accelerate and how small some of them begin to look in your rear view mirror.

When it comes to uniforms, one size or style definitely does not fit all. The need for a made-to-fit/made-to-order program exists on three levels. They are…

• Industry
• Brand
• Role

At the industry level, we discover that different types of businesses exhibit unique functional requirements, operate in varying climates and environments, and employ unique roles and positions. Grocery stores and supermarkets require versatile apparel that looks good and provides comfort while performing a wide range of tasks both inside and outside the store. Airline, hospitality, and hotel environments require crisper, more formal looks that stay that way throughout the day regardless of activity. Food service and restaurants place a high priority on stain resistance and cleanliness. Industrial and maintenance operations require ease of movement and apparel that keeps the wearer comfortable across a broad range of temperatures. And the list goes on…

At the brand level, nobody wants to be commoditized. We don’t want to walk around the corner and into another place of business and see the same apparel that we are wearing. After our physical facility, the first element of our business noticed by our customer is usually an employee. How that employee is dressed either supports and enhances our desired brand identity or detracts from it. What we desire is a uniform that instantly identifies our brand to the customer, reinforces our brand image, and delivers a competitive advantage.

Drive down one final level and you will quickly find that this same degree of differentiation exists at the individual role level, as well. Hotel desk clerks execute a different set of responsibilities from housekeepers. Flight attendants travel in a completely different orbit from their colleagues that handle baggage and work on the ramp. And teenagers that bus tables at casual dining establishments don’t have much in common with pharmacists wearing white coats that work for a national chain of drug stores. The conclusion? Unique roles with unique responsibilities require apparel that is designed to tackle everyday responsibilities with efficiency and comfort—and look good doing it.

OOBE possesses broad and deep experience serving a unique set of industries whose personnel look their best and are equipped to work most efficiently when dressed in OOBE uniform collections that are industry-specific and role-engineered. In this light, OOBE has introduced a new feature at oobe.com that provides some thoughtful insight and guidance for the 6 primary industries that we serve. Those industries are…

• Hospitality & Hotel
• Grocery Stores & Supermarkets
• Food Service
• Resorts, Theme Parks, & Cruise Lines
• Specialty Retail & Service
• Transportation & Freight

Click on each industry above to learn more about the insight and guidance we have to offer.

What are you doing to personalize your business for your customers?

I can still remember exactly where I was when someone first introduced me to the principle of The Crooked Wire. I was in New York City visiting a firm with whom we had formed a sales and distribution alliance to address a particular segment of the corporate apparel market. Their CEO described to us the strategy that their company had adopted to help foster a competitive advantage within the markets that they served. He called this strategy, or principle, “The Crooked Wire”. In a nutshell, the principle of the Crooked Wire involves a relentless focus upon the creation and delivery of innovative products and/or services that create unexpected and unmatched (by the competition) business value for the customer, and as a result, put crooks, or bends, in our value proposition that runs through the customer’s organization. These crooks, or bends, make it difficult for the customer to extract us, or pull us out, of their business, even when times are tough, and helps ensure long-term customer loyalty.

As weak as I am in the arena of creativity, my first thoughts were that I was enthralled with the idea, but I doubted our company’s ability to conceptualize, architect, create, deploy, and deliver new, fresh, and game-breaking deliverables that an industry as old as ours had not seen or experienced before. So I talked up this new philosophy for a few months and used it in some of our internal training sessions, but it remained as much of a concept as anything. In recent months, however, I became impressed with the need to reevaluate our toolset that we use to sustain and support our existing customer base due to the increasing challenge of adding new customers and growing the top line in this economy. I became convinced that the primary differentiator between companies that succeed and those that fail in this environment is service.

Our Customer Service department’s mantra is Concierge-Class Customer Care, or C4 for short. With minimal expectations of what might come of my request, I asked the leader of this area to come up with four or five new service offerings that would be a real surprise to our customer base, but that would be met with an attitude of, “We’ve never thought of that, but that is exactly what we need!”

It was not my idea that made this effort successful; it was the creativity of the business leader to which I assigned this task. She created a contest with a celebration for the entire Customer Service team if they could conceive and craft new customer service offerings that would be adopted by our largest and most significant customers. The ideas that were put forth were not only creative and very unique within our industry, they accomplished five strategic objectives:

1. Increased and improved communication with our customer
2. Decreased cost for both the customer and our company
3. Improved the timeliness of invoice delivery and payment while reducing cost at the same time
4. Decreased the negative real and emotional impact of back orders and out-of-stock situations by providing more options for the customer
5. Created a competitive advantage for both the customer and our company

I won’t give away the competitive advantages created by telling you the services that we proposed, but I am meeting today with our largest customer to finalize the deployment plans and schedules for these new deliverables. The customer is thrilled, our C4 employees have a renewed sense of pride in their value and contribution to our company, OOBE has increased our competitive advantage within our market space, and financial benefit will accrue to both the customers and our company. I can’t think of a better end result.

You don’t have to be overly creative or innovative to make the Crooked Wire work for your company. Just solicit input from those that know your business and your customers the best… your employees. You’ll be amazed at what you discover.

I have been guilty at times of letting large discount retailers and the prolific availability of private label merchandise convince me that the brand name itself is of less importance to the consumer today. And with the explosion of outsourcing and license arrangements making it almost impossible to know who actually designs and produces the final article for the company whose label it carries, I am always a little leery of adopting brand favorites and brand patterns in my buying habits.

I recently read an article, however, that is not only making me rethink my position, but has actually enlightened me as to how we can use the current situation to actually strengthen our brand position with our consumers. Bruce Temkin, Vice President&Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, recently published an article titled, “Customer Experience Correlates to Loyalty”. In this article, Bruce reports the results of a survey completed in October 2008 that measured brand loyalty based upon customer experience. The three components of loyalty measured against customer experience were:

• Reluctance to switch business from a company
• Willingness to buy another product from another company
• Likelihood to recommend a company to a friend or colleague

Of the 4700 respondents cited, and I quote, “there was at least a medium level of correlation between customer experience and brand loyalty; in most cases the correlation was much higher.” The most interesting fact, however, was that the correlation between customer experience and brand loyalty had increased since a similar study had been conducted in Q3 2007.

My takeaway from all of this is that the consumer is looking for something to hang his/her hat on—something or someone that they can trust. In a day when nobody is quite sure who makes what, where it is being made, and who is making it, the consumer is diligently seeking an easier way to discern quality workmanship and good value. In a nutshell, the consumer is looking for brands that perform consistently in which they can place their confidence without having to execute a due diligence process every time they make a purchase of any sizable amount.

Here is the opportunity for us: We need to make sure we take control of our brand(s). The first rule of warfare is, “Control the Battlefield”. If there has ever been a time that we are in a battle for market share and profitability, it is now. Our companies may outsource design, utilize contract manufacturers for production, and ship from a 3PL distribution center… but it is still on our shoulders to provide a positive experience for our customers. There is an old saying, “You can delegate authority, but you can’t delegate responsibility.” We are responsible for the brand experience. The buck stops with us… the brand with whom the customer is familiar.

Ensure that all of your supply chain and distribution channel partners understand your brand identity and your customers’ expectations. Then measure everything that matters with every trading partner. If it’s broken, fix it or replace it… quickly. If you don’t, you may maintain brand recognition in the marketplace, but not for the reasons you want.

Give your customers a reason to trust your brand without giving it a second thought. Every day… every product… every time.

In recent years, OOBE has crafted a suite of 3-step progressions to help our company visualize how to materially elevate our performance across all disciplines and processes. What we have discovered is that the path to maturity and improved performance in all disciplines—and especially within the customer care area— follows a progression of “React. Respond. Anticipate”.

The most elemental and unrehearsed response to market/customer needs is to react. Something unexpected (usually negative) happens upon us and we are suddenly under pressure to deliver a solution to the customer—quickly. It may be that the customer urgently needs an answer to a question, a product for an unexpected requirement, or a lower price to justify placement of an order. The problem with reacting is that we are caught off guard, and many times the speed with which we must assemble and deliver a solution compromises the quality of our output and puts us in the position of delivering a marginal, or worse, wrong, solution to the customer.

The next level of performance demands responsiveness. Responsiveness sounds good—for example—“We provide responsive customer service!” Being responsive, rather than reactive, injects structure into our solution creation and delivery process and provides us a better chance of adequately addressing the customer’s requirement(s) with our deliverables. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, my perspective is that the only difference between react and respond is a little bit of time, thought, and prayer! The problem with being responsive is, somebody else discovered/identified the need and enlightened me. Usually that somebody is one of our customers, which puts them in the position of appearing to know more about market needs and customer requirements than we do, and yet we are supposed to be the experts and leaders within our field. Maybe not.

The most elevated level of customer leadership on our behalf exhibits itself when we demonstrate the ability to anticipate. Most of us can recognize prevailing needs and opportunities within our markets and customer base, but how many of us can effectively answer the question, “What is it that my customers will be craving 2 – 3 years from now?” Fashion provides a good subject to illustrate this point. Many individuals can recognize good style. Some of us may even be a little ahead of the curve in that we have an affinity for styles that may just be emerging this year, but next year are all the rage. However, there is a big difference between those individuals that possess the ability to recognize and select style, and those individuals that create style. Individuals that create style are rare. They have the unique ability to project where the market is headed, to anticipate the styles that customers will find desirable and attractive, and to create silhouettes and designs that are ultimately converted into apparel that flies off the shelves.

The generation of long-term customer loyalty that results in market leadership and a sustainable business model is largely dependent upon our ability to anticipate where our markets and customers are headed. Product lifecycles are so short these days that in many cases (not all), the lion’s share of the market proceeds and rewards go to those companies that provide the first legitimate solution that addresses heretofore unrecognized or emerging market/customer requirements. If our early and exclusive entries that address new business opportunities are reliable and are “fit for their intended purpose”, then we have the chance to take home much, if not most, of the prize money.

I encourage you to buy into the paradigm of anticipation. Think ahead for your customer. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Understanding and applying “The Principle of the Crooked Wire” will help you in this process. But we’ll cover that topic next time.

I start every day from the position of, “I know I can be wrong.” The effective lifespan of best practices, procedures, and tools gets compressed every day due to the increasing pace of change in almost every business segment in which all of our companies compete. The best-in-class business process that we formulated last month and executed to perfection last week to generate stellar results on the report my controller presented to me today may actually be moving rapidly toward obsolescence because of advancements in technology, systems, automation, communication, etc., not to mention unexpected, game-breaking product and service introductions from our competition that instantly change the competitive landscape and market dynamics. As hard as it is to believe—and even harder to absorb, adopt, and embody—experience, which has always been viewed as an asset in almost all situations, can today actually erode into a liability, at a rate that is mind-boggling. When I interview a job candidate today, and they excitedly describe “how we used to do it in my previous company” five years ago, the thought that sometimes rockets through my head is that I can almost guarantee that the process they describe either won’t work or will not be competitive today.

Leadership certainly does not need to be wrong. But leadership is not as much about being right as it is about being clear. My father-in-law unexpectedly became president of a corporation at a fairly young age due to the sudden departure of one or more top-level executives at the company with whom he was employed. I asked him how he knew what to do when he was thrust into his new position of president so abruptly. His answer was, “You simply have to assume the position. You are not going to be right all of the time. In fact, you only need to be right 51% of the time. It just needs to be the right 51%!”

Choose clarity over certainty. Either individually or collectively, define your critical financial and operational objectives, crystallize your strategies, and construct your action plans in such a way that they can pass the test of stunning clarity. Our roles demand that we paint for our companies a clear picture of success, and that we detail exactly what we are going to do, and how we are going to do it. The reason we can’t or aren’t doing this today is that we haven’t invested the time to distill the myriad of options in front of us to the purest essence of mission and method so that everyone in our company knows “the one thing” we want to accomplish and knows exactly what they need to do to help.

Possessing the perfect plan is usually not a requirement for success. The third best plan will generally work just fine. It simply needs to be clear, everyone needs to know their role, and everyone must execute.

Be direct. Be concise. Be clear. The results will surprise you.

I am not a marketer. I am a seller with some capabilities in the arena of financial management. But it has become clear to me that the survival of our business… and many businesses today… depends upon our ability to widen our marketing net, and to use a baseball analogy, get more times at bat. With revenue per customer generally on the decline, we must increase our customer base to sustain or achieve acceptable revenue and profit levels. And with customer attrition rates rising due to an elevated number of businesses disappearing from the landscape due to bankruptcy and extinction, not to mention mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions, it becomes doubly important to engage a broader prospect base and generate leads at a faster pace than ever before.

Here’s the dilemma. How do we do this without increasing our marketing spend when budgets are tight or being slashed?

1. Adopt a “Hedgehog” concept (as proposed by Jim Collins) . What is the one stable or growing market, industry, or type of customer to which you can provide the best business model, product/service quality, and value? Identify this market clearly, focus all your internal resources upon it, refine your business model to support it, and deliver a singular message and integrated product/service suite that resonates loudly and clearly with this specific niche. Yes, this is risky, but my experience is that focus is the only way to leverage resources and become the best in your field. Take a “rifle shot” approach rather than a “shotgun” one.
2. Rebuild your database around a single industry niche that you have identified as your prime market. Identify the best-of-the best. Get the right names in the right companies. Working on second rate leads/prospects when times are slow does not change the fact that these are marginal prospects. Be intentional… not opportunistic. Spend more time proactively contacting your prime suspects rather than dealing with companies that may contact you but are not high-potential opportunities.
3. Measure marketing effectiveness. Marketing effectiveness is hard enough to measure anyway. You cannot evaluate that which you cannot measure. Implement marketing initiatives and programs that will allow you to count and know who read, who came, who checked the box, who wore, etc. In other words, execute tactical marketing campaigns focused upon very well-defined universes of target accounts or individuals using tracking and monitoring mechanisms or systems that clearly indicate those individuals that give evidence of being interested in your product or service suite. Separate the wheat from the chaff.
4. Follow-up. That sounds simple, but very few companies do it well. Meet face-to-face very week with your sales and marketing staff collectively. Distribute the leads. Provide clear instruction as to the lead follow-up process. Give specific deadlines as to when each step is to be completed. Meet next week. Unless there is some incredibly justifiable reason why an individual has not followed-up his/her leads, reassign the leads to other people. In our company, we don’t have territories. We use a philosophy that we call “O-squared”. This stands for “Organize around Opportunity”. Lead assignment here is not equal… but it is fair. If one salesperson proves more effective than others in following-up and selling to the hospitality industry, for example, guess what… he/she gets most, if not all, of the leads in the hospitality industry. Performance is rewarded from the beginning. Follow-up matters. Sales are the byproduct and result of timely, professional follow-up.

As the doctor said… “Take two of these and call me in the morning.”  In this case, try all four and we’ll take this further next week.