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TOP OF THE WEEK TO YOU!
(by realwired! CEO, Brenda Dohring)
Top of the Week to You! is designed to offer the inside scoop and latest of what's important in the world of technology as it relates to the commercial real estate industry. |
Is it Natural Selection?
I live in Florida. It doesn't get really cold here. When I first moved here 30 years ago from Michigan, I found it really odd that it didn't get cold at night in the summers. I now think summer nights are cold. I threw away all my winter things when I came here from the cold, cold north. But now I have a couple of really warm coats, some gloves, and scarves and hats. I feel I need these things. I look forward to using them. I really get cold. But no, this isn't a column about global warming or climate shifting; it is about how we shift our thinking and how long it takes.
The weather in Florida hasn't changed much since I arrived. I checked NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (my favorite web site because I like to sail) so I believe that to be factual. Now I'll bet my coats don't compare to what those of you who live in the northern climates have. First, you probably have several. I have two. You wouldn't think of keeping a coat and repairing it as long I as will. Heck the lining of mine has sprung leaks so many times it looks like a quilt. I even patched it with duct tape once. Why do I keep my coat so long? Because I feel I can't justify the need to get a new one because I don't wear it as often as you do. Really. While it seems each year I wear my coat more often, so it's definitely a succession thing, I know I'll never wear it as often as my northern friends.
Now, my children grew up having coats from the time they were little. I imposed my "needs" on them. I call this natural selection of the best kind - relying on the definition that natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population. As I see it, we have many, many "populations". In the population of business, I believe we closely follow "natural selection". I generally wish the selection process went quicker, so I am definitely in the "push the envelope" group. I get frustrated when I see people resisting upgrading their talents and software. It seems to me they treat those things like I do my coat. I tell myself, "It's not that big a deal. I don't use it that often." I still remember a time when I didn't even need it. But look at my children...they grew up "needing" a coat. They grew up having to constantly change and learn new technologies. They don't understand not having to learn and use the latest tech tools and software. They always had a coat. They expect to need it. They've always had good software. They expect that too. And so should we. We use software every day and to patch it like I do my coat isn't smart.
I hope it doesn't always take a generation for natural selection to take place when it comes to expecting to have to upgrade our technology regularly. Ideally, we push the envelope and influence change rather than let it happen "naturally". Surely this recession we're in will push things along a bit faster as it shines a new light on "survival of the fittest"! Surely we'll learn from our children, not just teach them. |
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Sales/Marketing Tip
Perfectly Unclear
A favorite insult has long been, "he has a firm grasp on the obvious." (We won't address here what it says about me that I even have a favorite insult.) Over the years I've gotten some mileage from this clever little line. Yet with distressing frequency I'm reminded that the joke may be on me. Perhaps I'm a victim of early senility, for sometimes I too find the obvious elusive.
It happens to me in all areas of life but is most apparent in the world of gadgetry. Case in point: after months of determined resistance I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to understand Twitter. On the off chance that you don't know what I'm talking about let me explain. Twitter is a way to broadcast and receive very simple text messages on the computers and especially the cell phones of self-selected consenting users. Twitter is simplicity itself. That's the point. Brief is beautiful. But it turns out that there is a learning curve journey that must be undertaken to publish the one-line note.
I wanted to know the answer to the simplest (or so I thought) of questions, how do would-be followers (those who want to receive my mini missives) sign up to do so? I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to send them the proper link.
FAQs, Help searches, Google queries, nothing yielded an answer to what would seem to be the most fundamental of questions. Surely everyone who ever used the app needed this information to do so. It was a Twitter teaser that absorbed several hours of my valuable time. It drove me crazy (admittedly not a long drive).
You need not write me with the answer. I finally figured it out. I don't remember how now, my brain having suppressed memory of the whole experience in an attempt to preserve what little remains of my sanity. [Should, for whatever the misguided reason, you desire to follow me, the answer is: http://twitter.com/saleskills].
The above is an example, by no means the only one, of what should be obvious being anything but. The general format is: To change the Vebitz access the Flotz tab. Simple enough. But on which page is the Flotz tab? And exactly where on the page do I look? To the developer these things are the stuff of everyday life. To someone whose "lost" glasses are, after anguished search, eventually discovered on the bridge of his nose, these directions might as well be written in Swahili. I still don't know where to look.
Aware that I may be just as guilty as the next guy, I've embraced my new mantra: "Nothing is obvious". What's clear to me may be utterly fathomless to the person to whom I'm speaking, not because they're dumb, but rather, because what's common knowledge in my world isn't in theirs.
Your prospect will likely never tell you when they're lost at sea. They'll nod their heads and pretend to understand and quietly tell themselves that they don't understand well enough to make a purchase yet. They'll tell you that they want to think it over.
Now you know what they mean.
Mark Fitzgerald, Sales Training Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida provides this column weekly. Mr. Fitzgerald provides both group and customized sales training for professionals and companies. For more information, please contact him by telephone at 813-831-5555, via email at mark@saleskills.com or visit www.saleskills.com. |
Lenny's Sub Shop operates 175 locations nationwide. The restaurants, serving subs and other sandwiches along with salads, occupy spaces of 1,500 sq.ft. to 2,400 sq.ft. in endcaps of entertainment, specialty and strip centers, in addition to downtown/urban locations. Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing markets during the coming 18 months. Typical leases run five years. The company prefers to locate in areas with strong daytime demographics. The company is franchising. For more information, contact Andrew Bryant, Lenny's Sub Shop, 8295 Tournament Drive, Suite 200, Memphis, TN 38125; Web site: www.lennys.com
Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits operates 1,870 locations nationwide and internationally. The fast food restaurants, serving Cajun-inspired fried chicken, occupy spaces of 2,000 sq.ft. to 3,000 sq.ft. in inline spaces and freestanding locations. Growth opportunities are sought nationwide during the coming 18 months. For more information, contact Bob Faller, Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits, 5555 Glen Ridge Connector Northeast, Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30342
Austin Sonic, Inc. trades as Sonic Drive-In at 62 locations throughout TX. The fast food drive-in restaurants occupy spaces of 1,320 sq.ft. in freestanding locations. Plans call for six openings throughout the existing market during the coming 18 months. Preferred cotenants include Wal*Mart and Target. Preferred demographics include a population of 30,000 within a three-mile radius earning an average household income of $30,000. For more information, contact Jerry Conway, Austin Sonic, Inc., PO Box 17788, Austin, TX 78760
Miami Subs Corp. trades as Miami Subs, Pizza and Grill at 60 locations throughout FL, IN, NC, NJ, NY and SC, in addition to the Cayman Islands, Turkey and Romania. The fast casual restaurants, featuring subs, salads, wings, burgers, gyros, hot dogs, pizza and desserts in addition to delivery service, occupy spaces of 300 sq.ft. to 3,000 sq.ft. in strip centers, malls, gas stations, convenience stores and freestanding locations. Plans call for 60 openings nationwide and internationally during the coming 18 months. Typical leases run 20 years with two, five-year options. Preferred demographics include a population of 65,000 within a five-mile radius earning an average household income of $50,000. The company is franchising. For more information, contact Rich Rudner, Miami Subs Corp., 6300 Northwest 31st Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309; Web site: www.miamisubs.com
Slumberland, Inc. trades as Slumberland Furniture and Slumberland Clearance Centers at 115 locations throughout IA, IL, KS, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, SD and WI. The stores, featuring a full-line of furniture as well as a specialty mattress department, occupy spaces from 20,000 sq.ft. to 45,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations. Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing markets during the coming 18 months. The company is franchising. For more information, contact Michael Larson, Slumberland, Inc., 3060 Centerville Road, Little Canada, MN 55117; Web site: www.slumberland.com
Like these leads? Want more? Go to the Dealmakers website for a FREE Trial subscription to The Dealmakers, the nation's weekly news source on retail real estate. |
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