WHEN FACING A TOUGH decision, whether personal or business, Chip and Dan Heath recommend the 10/10/10 rule, which asks you to think how you will feel about the decision 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now, and 10 years from now.
“Perhaps our worst enemy in resolving conflicts is short-term emotion, which can be an unreliable adviser,” they write in their best-selling book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.
If, for example, you’ve been avoiding a difficult conversation with a staff member, then you’re letting short-term emotion (fear) rule you. “If you commit to having the conversation, then 10 minutes from now you’ll probably be anxious, but 10 months from now, won’t you be glad you did it?” they say. Or maybe you’ll just view it as a trifling matter not worth getting worked up about. The important thing is that you remove some of the visceral emotion from the occasion.
partnering
Become a Wedding Expert
Money-making idea: Promote services that will allow pets to participate in spring weddings.
Spring is wedding season. And it’s likely that you have customers who are getting married who would love to include their pets in their weddings, if only they knew how easy it is. Reach out to local wedding organizers and ask if you can put a flier in their store and/or a link on their website. And add “wedding assistance for pets” to the list of services on your website. You can sell or rent doggie tuxedos, cumberbunds, dresses and veils. Have a selection of wedding-cake toppers that include the marrying couple and their favorite pet. Even offer your services as pet handler at a wedding.
team-building
Lunch Roulette
If you have a fairly large staff that doesn’t always seem to communicate as well as it could, try “lunch roulette” — a game developed by pharmaceuticals manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim. Participants select a date — or dates — when they are free for lunch, then they click a “Match Me” button, and a lunch date and calendar reminder are emailed. (Numbers in a hat would work just as well.) After that, all they need to do is show up with an open mind. “Both can learn something from the other,” says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, who reported on the idea in Harvard Business Review. “Lunch roulette not only produces unexpected pairings but often sparks unexpected conversations,” she says.
hard talks
Serve up a Sandwich
You may have already heard of the concept of giving “sandwich” criticisms to employees. (Short version: Say something nice, make your criticism, end with something nice.) One more thing to watch out for, says T.J. Schier, author of Send Flowers to the Living, is using the word “but” as part of the sandwich. That one word can ruin the taste of the whole sandwich. Instead, use “and,” as in: “Jane, normally you are my best employee, and it’s critical you are here on time so you can do that awesome job. Now get out there and make it happen.”
marketing
Serve up a Sandwich (2)
Your biggest sales event of the year is here, and you want to make sure that you’re jam-packed with customers. You’ve spent big on advertising and done heavy direct mailing. What else can you do? On the day of the sale, hire people to wear sandwich boards promoting the sale in big red letters. (“50% Off! Today Only!”) Have them stand at major intersections near your business.
rescue
ICE Can Save a Life
Here’s something small you can do today that may save lives in the future. Ask your employees to designate ICE numbers in their mobile phones. ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency.” Putting the “ICE” designation in front of a person’s name makes it easier to contact them immediately in the event of an emergency.
WEBSITE
Publicize Your Hours
Challenge: Call a friend, and tell him to go to your website and see how quickly he can find your business hours. Did it take 10 seconds? Awesome, you’re doing great. Twenty seconds? OK, not bad, but you might improve visiblity of this important information. Thirty seconds or more? Make a change in your design to ensure that business hours, phone and address are super-easy to find. Because that’s what people are most often looking for when they visit your website.
SIGNS
Go with the Flow
Do you have traffic that goes behind your business? Yes? Do you have signage behind your business that’s designed to draw that traffic? No? Mary Gillen of IdeaSiteForBusiness.com suggests you get busy. Check out the traffic flow around your location and place signs to attract the attention of the busiest traffic flow.