Hug a Soldier

I spent an hour this morning helping the members of the Grandview High School football team assemble goodie packages for our servicemen and women overseas. It was touching to see the young men spend time signing cards and footballs and carefully selecting items to go into boxes for their soldier. Many younger siblings were involved as well, judging from the pile of hand made letters; each carefully colored and thoughtfully created.

Now is the time to have your residents come together to create care packages for the troops to receive by the holidays. Not only will it make a service man or woman feel good, your residents will feel good as well. The United States Postal service website, http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/ will help you get started.

Keepin' on the Sunny Side

With all the glooming and dooming going on today, I think some optimism is in order. John Zogby, in "The Way We’ll Be – The Zogby Report on The Transformation of the American Dream" writes that Starbucks recently asked him to provide a quote for its “The Way I See It” series. He sent Starbucks the following quote:

"In three decades of polling, I‘ve found that while individuals make mistakes in judgment, America as a whole rarely does. A collective wisdom emerges from a poll or vote that is far greater than the sum of its parts."

Collectively, we will always do the right thing. I find that refreshing.

Library, Library, More Than a Book...

"Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card."
Rumor has it that going to the library is back in vogue. Makes sense since everything is free, (unless of course, like me, you tend to misplace your library books and do not find them until 3 weeks after the due date). You can check out movies, music, reading materials and have access to every magazine and newspaper in the world and surf the web all in on easy stop. But wait – there’s more!

On a recent visit to my neighborhood library, I stopped by the coffee shop and purchased a Latte’, which in itself is quite remarkable, considering that as a teen I got busted in the West Bend Community Memorial Library for trying to smuggle in a thermos of Tab cola. I also ventured beyond the usual, and discovered a myriad of resources available to me. Two meeting rooms, each with a capacity of 100, are available for $30 dollars per hour. What a great place to hold a leasing or staff meeting!

Monthly programs and events, (the majority of which are free), include “Living Green” sessions, an opportunity to give blood, 30 minute lawyer consults, English conversation circles and a variety of kids programs.

Think about how you might incorporate neighborhood library offerings into your resident retention programs to add value and a sense of community to the village your residents call home.

The next time you find yourself out and about, make sure you check your library out.

Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

The economy is bad. Time to trim the fat. The first thing to go - promotional expense. Second thing to go - training. In a struggling economy, those are the worst decisions that can be made. If you slash the promotional and training budget today, the pain is not immediate. You won’t notice any impact for 6 weeks, and no huge changes for 3 months. Sooner or later, however, you will lose - to the competitor that kept his cool and kept on promoting. You see, while your community no longer exists to the consumer, theirs does. Your competitor is taking steps to maintain and increase market share and ensure a strong capture rate. In the process, you’ll be smoked.

When times get tough, your job is to promote more, not less, and make sure your team is the best the industry offers. Keep bringing people through the door and then ensure the deal is closed. In a faltering economy, there are always businesses that seem to defy the odds. Those companies get creative and stay visible.

Now is the time to:
• Evaluate your promotional sources to determine what is working and what isn’t. Take the money from what isn’t and put it into what is.
• Evaluate your team. Make some tough decisions. You want the best, the brightest and consistent performers. Once you have your “A” team, Invest money to train them. Spend time with them. Make sure that your promotional efforts result in either new or renewed residents.
• Hold weekly marketing meetings with your team. Where can you be better? Where can you have greater impact on the client experience?
• Stay the course and don’t panic. Even if you have no money, make sure you are visible. Take your brightest talent and teach them how to conduct effective outreach. Make sure they feel comfortable and will deliver a positive, professional representation of your company and the community.

Keep your momentum going. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow with a “Chicken Little” reaction today.
Lori Snider

I Used To Hate Best Buy

I used to hate Best Buy. My boys, on the other hand, never seemed to have a problem with the glaring fluorescent lights and cacophony of noise from televisions, video games, laptops, stereo systems, etc. 30 seconds into a visit, my head starts to pound in reaction to the overwhelming assault of electronics, all competing for my attention. When I go to Best Buy, I can’t get out soon enough. Last Friday, I visited a Best Buy that had recently opened near my home. I prepared myself to get in an out as fast as possible. Deflect the assault.

From the time I entered, I knew something was different. There was carpet on the floor. Numerous skylights filtered in natural light. I sensed some noise, but it was not overwhelming. A series of pod style displays invited me to shop, to browse. Amazingly, I could see over the display racks. What was going on here? Turns out, Best Buy has received a woman’s touch. For their newest store in Aurora, CO, Best Buy turned to women customers and asked them to help with a design overhaul. The result is a far more pleasant shopping experience. The new store features electronic products working together in homelike “rooms”, and the warehouse style blue interiors, and corresponding metal shelving, have been replaced with wood paneling and carpets. I struck up a conversation with a female manager, who enthusiastically showed me around the store, and informed me that 55% of the store employees were women. Impressive.

It is estimated that women influence 80% of all buying decisions. What are you doing to appeal to them?

What's That Smell?

I love the smell of fresh Play Doh and Crayola crayons. I am not as fond of the smell coming from my teenage son’s gym bag. When I smell lilacs, I am instantly a child standing in my Gran’s bedroom smelling her perfume. Funny, how a smell can immediately transport you to a different place and time. In his new book, “Whiff! - The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age”, www.WHIFFbook.com, C. Russell Brumfield states that each of us has stored a vast catalogue of imprinted feelings and responses to specific aromas. All kinds of memories are associated with the more than 10,000 smells we can each identify. We feel smell, but we can’t describe it. Brumfield uses the example of a dog. When it barks, we acknowledge its communication as a bark. When we touch it, we describe it as “furry”. What does it smell like? Most would answer “a dog”. What we smell we automatically feel, so we absently acknowledge that feeling and move on. often without ever naming it. So I ask you, where do the smells in your community transport your client? Where do they transport you? How might the smells be diminishing value perception? Think about it. Then act on it.