A change of scenery

I met a few friends or business connections today in two locations here in the Seattle-Bellevue area. I met one person at the Bellevue Hyatt Hotel and another at the University Village Starbucks (near UW).

The Hyatt had a huge addition put on over the past two years and has been open for a few months. The connecting area between the original hotel lobby and the new one is a gorgeous atrium- a very attractive and comfortable place to sit and converse. The new tower has new ballrooms and meeting rooms and the entire facility says ‘1^st Class’. If I was visiting Bellevue or the eastside on business this is where I would stay.

The Starbucks in U-Village has been remodeled also. It’s well done- very warm and comfortable and it strikes me as a step away from the almost too sterile, too perfect, too predictable Starbucks that we see everywhere. In my opinion, Starbucks has been in need of an upgraded and different look at their stores for quite a while. I don’t know if this is a test store for them or not. To me, the colors and mood of the place seem more coffeehouse like, and I liked it.

Whatever business you’re in, it probably makes sense to hit the reset button periodically to refresh your image. Every major company does this and small businesses would be wise to do so also. McDonalds comes up with a new slogan every year or so. Microsoft uses their Windows logo and colors in new ways. Nordstrom has been gradually changing the interiors of their main stores. IBM does variations on its famous logo and its tag lines. The auto companies change their messaging to fit the buying public’s latest hot button.

The world around you is constantly changing. Your customers are always looking for something new and/or different. What are you doing to reinvent yourself and be seen as fresh, exciting and relevant?

© 2009 Peter E. McDowell

PERFORMA Business Development

Different View/ Better Results

pete@performabusdev.com

email me to request getting my e-newsletter!

Web @ http://www.performabusdev.com

Blog @ http://petemcd.wordpress.com/

Connect with Pete on biznik, Contribution Networking Party, Eastside Entrepreneurs, Facebook, Linked In, Plaxo and Twitter.

Recapping the business

I’m always attempting to convey points of view and information that have real value for people in business- things for you to think about and possibly nudge to get you to take action to improve your situation.

Recently, my newsletter and blog articles have stressed the need for business owners and managers to relook at or continually look at their businesses to see what needs to be different in order to move forward. This is strategic thinking first, followed by tactical thinking and execution. I’m no different than many of you! I do the same with my business and have evolved my offering and messaging over the past year to better reflect what it is that I do.

Friday Musings on profits, competition and marketing

Sometimes I get curious. I read things in newspapers or magazines and actually start to think about the stories- imagine that! Today, a few things in the Wall Street Journal (the Journal or WSJ) caught my eye. First, remember all of the blowhard congressmen/women and Senators pushing and shoving their way into cameras and mic’s a year or so ago to rail about the ‘obscene windfall profits’ the oil companies were raking in, in 2008? Next, I noticed that price wars are intensifying. The Journal reported that Safeway, long a lower cost grocery store operation, is losing ground to competitors, notably Wal-Mart, Costco and Kroger. And finally, I saw that catalogs such as those mailed out by L.L. Bean, Pottery Barn and the like are still very much a part of the marketing plans for these businesses.

Relationships Matter- Lesson Three is all about respect

So many people today don’t respect others. They put up with them, but they don’t respect them. In building a personal or business relationship with someone, my hierarchy is to first decide that you are going to like the person. Then, work to build trust. Finally, out of trust should come respect.

Relationships Matter- Lesson Two with four elements of trust

…in any relationship that has an expectation of mutual gain (however defined), some level of trust must exist…perhaps not in a criminal activity, but in the world most of us live in. Trust is a key part of the relationship and it follows likeability. If initially one or two people do not like each other, then trust is not possible.