Systems, authenticity and marketing

How important are solid business systems? In the last month, we had more staff turnover and disruption than I would wish on anyone; individually the reasons all make sense and, while we can draw some collective conclusions for the reasons, the losses were painful.

But the business is rebounding effectively, operations continue uninterrupted, and while client service continued seamlessly through the transition, it will now improve because of lessons learned and new processes and improvements put in place.

Systems, of course, saved the day. I turned on our "recruiting and employee selection" system several times, and it worked to quickly allow us to make the correct choices. But we modified the rules and processes by adapting, listening, and respecting some flexibility --- this allowed me to speed up some critical hiring decisions, while minimizing risk of bad choices.

Then, the new employees (in one case, a returning employee) generally knew what to do because we have established operating procedures. They of course need some guidance for the exceptions and special circumstances that occur less often, but generally, they could find out what to do and when.

Fair enough. Systems can save a business. But can they make one?

Systems-focused people advocate building the systems into your business from day one. They say you should visualize your end-result and then design all your operations to fit a structured, systematic model -- to avoid the seat-of-your-pants and chaotic environment where your personality and bad choices rule the day.

There are merits in these approaches; you certainly wouldn't want to make all the mistakes I made in my early days (and still do now!)

But there is a problem with this approach, and it is "authenticity". I sense if your business is excessively systematized at the beginning, the creative spark which defines it may be lost. You also risk putting on airs about being something you are not.

If you are operating a part-time, one person Internet marketing service you are not a "Professional Contractors Association" even if the materials you have systematically devised are as good as any I've seen for truly professional associations. (Is that a mixed review? Yes, but you should really read Steve Seller's stuff. His resources are excellent. See yesterday's blog posting for the relevant links.)

Then, can you solve your marketing problems with marketing systems? Here, again, the answer is yes, with a big caution. I'm really wary of prepackaged and ready-to-go solutions sold by third party vendors. These are probably much better than the seat-of-your-pants and hope-for-the-best approaches most start-up businesses use, but I sense the best systems are the ones you build yourself, by combining the best practices and advice of others with your own personality, temperament and values.

Sellers acknowledges he is a systems person, but he learned (through purchase of a bad franchise) that systems themselves don't work if they aren't right for the particular business and market you are serving.

One-size-fits all marketing solutions for contractors may deliver core value and can save you a lot of time on the learning curve, but they won't respect your individuality and may be a mismatch for who you actually are.

In other words, learn from others, use systems, but be sure to devise something that is right for you. And be real.

(P.S. The bi-weekly newsletter is a little late -- I expect it will be ready later today but you may receive it tomorrow morning.)

Finding your lucky bucket

Phoenix Mine co-owner Alvin Mosch leads our group through his gold mine and tourist site near Idaho Springs, Colorado. In the lower picture, a couple of people touch the Lucky Bucket, hoping their dreams will come true. Mosch says they often do -- and I believe him.

Stories are told, says Alvin Mosch, of amazing good fortune from people who have touched, held, or hugged the Phoenix Mine's Lucky Bucket. People dreaming of wealth, health, accomplishment, (even someone nominated for a Nobel Prize and hoping to win it) have touched the bucket. Priests, nuns, bishops, cardinals, virtually the entire hierarchy of the Catholic Church have been in the mine, as well, and after these religious visits, strange and seemingly implausible things have happened, Mosch says.

Oh yeah, there is also a grave site in the mine. A frequent visitor, his health failing, asked to be buried there. Mosch said his mine isn't licensed as a cemetery. No problem, the deceased person's relatives said -- he's been cremated. So Mosch placed a marker near where the ashes were spread after a brief ceremony. (Mosch uses the opportunity to explain to tourists why the client died -- smoking -- and encourages the young people not to take up the habit.)

If all of this seems somewhat unreal, and utterly unrelated to this blog's topic, please bear with me. Mosch's mine site is no fancy conventional tourist attraction. You need to go on a somewhat out-of-the-way and poorly marked property. Don't expect gift shops or even a concession stand where you can purchase some drinks. (But you can take a stab at panning for gold, for $5.00 for the day.)

But this place has something that few tourist sites have -- authenticity.

It is also, as advertised, a real, functioning, working mine. (Tourists cannot actually visit the working veins, of course; the problems with safety regulations would really make that difficult.) But you can see a real ore vein, and get a sense of the challenges and dreams of working in and running a gold mine. You can also play around with plenty of cliches about gold. (In a corner of the 'box office' is a sign: "The Golden Rule: Those that have the gold make the rules.") Mosch has created a wonderful hybrid business; one that can certainly do well when gold prices reach record levels, and still do well when they decline -- as tourists will come and see for themselves, and pay for the privilege.

Vivian discovered the Phoenix Mine advertising card as we were preparing to visit another mine, which advertised all the trappings -- including a gift shop. The Phoenix's prices seemed to be slightly lower, but the thing that touched us the most is that we would not be visiting a packaged tourist site; we would be going to an operating mine. The advertisement said:

Gold Mine

A SAFE WAY TO SEE A WORKING UNDERGROUND MINE

Where REAL MINERS Still Push Tons of Gold and Silver Ore in Small Rail Cars Just as They did 100 Years Ago.

Mosch of course doesn't run all the tours personally -- he has a motley crew of friends and old-time miners who can handle that job (and some real miners to get the ore from the other veins, especially when the price of gold reaches $900 or more). I haven't checked out his stories about the Nobel Prize winner who hugged the Lucky Bucket and won the prize; or whether indeed the Pheonix Mars Mission is actually named after his mine, but I believe him.

His Lucky Bucket is filled with dollar bills, from people like me who know the money really will be contributed to charity -- we aren't worried about chasing down and verifying whether he has a tax ID number.

In our businesses, of course, we should never down rate the importance of own authenticity, if we have it, and if we don't, ask why. When we follow other people's systems, when we play by rules that we don't really believe, or when we strive to provide "excellent customer service" while gritting our teeth in frustration, maybe we should remember or seek our own Lucky Bucket. If we are real, and our clients perceive it, we will find great things happen sometimes just with a touch, or hug, and some spiritual gold in our heart and veins.

Authenticity
There is an irony in marketing. The most successful technique to attract new clients and profitable business occurs naturally. You do nothing, and the clients arrive. Your business is successful, it seems, almost without effort.
The reason you are successful has much less to your marketing methodology than your authenticity. Your business rings true with clients in such an effective and evocative manner that they love doing business with you. They tell their friends, who try you out. And these friends are so satisfied, they tell their friends. Your restraint on growth is not a lack of clients -- it is your capacity to administer and oversee the right kind of employees who will ensure your business model and standards are maintained.
Compare this approach to the "traditional" marketing concepts which involve quite a bit of gaming and manipulation. In the worst excesses, you pound enough people with your message, in the most abrupt and least costly manner possible, so that even if a few decide to try your service out, you can make some cash. Hmm. Think spam. Or telemarketing calls. Or, worse, computerized telemarketing calls telling you "you qualify for a mortgage". Fun ... not.
Or think about publicity, blogs, and communication techniques designed to get you to buy something. Sometimes this stuff works, really well. Just don't be caught running a mine in Utah. People can often see through though your BS. If they don't, they may fall for your gimmick once or twice; but will they buy more, permanently.
So, is it really true, the saying: "If you need to sell it, why would anyone buy it?" Partly, I think. If, for example, you are in the business of designing hospitals, or building post offices, or if you are a renovation siding contractor, you had better be darn good at what you do for the natural marketing to take place. (Or, at least, the only one anywhere nearby designing hospitals, or installing siding. Think post-Katrina Louisiana.)
The partly is that you CAN use marketing skills and techniques to enhance, encourage, and amplify the natural processes, if you are authentic, sincere, and your underlying values are clear. You can justify the marketing costs in an incremental, logical manner. Your payback from effective marketing can far exceed your existing business structure, and take you to a new level of success.
Be real.

Note: I searched for 'cover art' after writing this article, and discovered this page link to Authenticity: Simple Strategies for Greater Meaning and Purpose at Work and at Home by George and Sedena Cappannelli. Is the book the real thing? Can't be sure -- haven't read it yet. No Amazon.com reviews, either. But there is nothing negative, either, and their points (at least the ones I can see in free previews) ring true to me.