Build Your Foundation First

by | Sep 24, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo


#TBT For Throw Back Thursday, I’m really stepping back in time, 10 years. In 2005, my wife and I were doing some outdoor home improvements which inspired the following which I wrote back then, from the ScLoHo archives:

Never confuse the foundation with the design of your project.

These words of wisdom can be applied to almost anything, but what brought it to mind was a pallet of paving bricks in my backyard. My wife is excellent when it comes to having a sense of style and design in most cases. Me? I have my own style that has been influenced by others in my life, but between the two of us, I usually let her have her way and I like her ideas.

The paving bricks are part of a project that she initiated in our backyard to build a brick patio. As Kathy focused on the design she wanted and I assisted with some of the grunt work, we came to realize that the foundation of this patio was not turning out right and we had differences in our approach to solve the problem. Basically in the end, I insisted that we get the foundation the way it needed to be, and then the design that she wanted could be accomplished afterwards.

How is your business operating? Do you have the basics in place? That could be a legal adviser, accountant, banker, along with the rest of your business plan? Or are you the type who is just going to “wing it”? Please get the foundation in place first, then you can play with the design of your business.

And in case you haven’t done so yet, include a marketer to your staff of advisers and experts. Someone who is honest and not just a yes man, someone who can give you valuable advise based on what you need. There is a difference between an advertising salesperson and a marketer who sells advertising.

The Brick Patio? It took longer to build but it was built on a firm foundation.

How Can You Be More Customer Friendly

by | Aug 25, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom

 From the ScLoHo 2008 archives:

From the Business Turn Around site:

How NOT to embarrass your customer

Oops_abby_petsmart_2 Providing a good customer experience isn’t always about what you add to your business. Sometimes it’s about what you take away – like the potential for a customer’s embarrassment.

Meet “Abby” in the photo to the left. While shopping …

with Abby at our neighborhood pet store, Frances saw these cleanup stations at the end of several aisles, as well as one at the entrance.

Are there potentially embarrassing moments for your customers in your business? Breakables displayed too low so that a customer’s jacket can brush them off into the floor. Extension cords across the floor that could trip up a customer. No paper in the washroom.

Inviting pet owners to bring their pets into the store is also an invitation for an accident. Petco knows that. But, when it happens to your pet, it’s still embarrassing. Petco tries to minimize that embarrassment by making it as easy as possible for the customer to clean it up.