Think back five or 10 years ago. Who would have predicted people would pay $4 for a cup of coffee? Fast-casual? Full-service restaurants offering carry-out? Salads and low-carb meals as a large portion of quick-serve restaurant menus? People paying $2 for “breath strips”? Consider that last one. The company didn’t try to make their mouthwash 1 percent better than the competition—they created a new market for their product.

The key is the employees. You can’t treat them like mushrooms (in the dark and fed manure). Take a new approach—use new methods and incentives to add shelf-life to the effectiveness.

As I wrote last month, my high school let us skip finals if we had a C average or better and one or no absences the second semester. In an effort to help people graduate more quickly (and try to keep tuition down), colleges have come up with some interesting ideas to solve some of their issues:

• Take more than 12 hours in a semester and pay no additional cost for the extra hours. An industrious student could take 15 or 18 hours and pay the same tuition as those taking 12 hours (and graduate more quickly).
• Maintain a B average or better and receive a discount on your tuition. Colleges are rewarding things that should already be occurring (but in reality aren't). Will these incentives change everyone's behavior? No, but it will impact those with the potential to get done more quickly and less expensively. These are out-on-the-edge ideas to try to solve their problems.

What about the education of our workforce? Today's kids, our employees, think DVD—random access to any portion of a movie, with plenty of bonus material. VHS? Boring, static, and not controlled by the user. Is your training program T.O.D. (Training on Demand)—access to what is needed right now? Here are some ideas to help get out on the edge…of success:

• Think like Pokemon. Kids today use silly cards to learn how to play a game. Companies from Carvel Ice Cream to McAlister's Deli use color cards with specs, recipes, and presentation standards within an employee's reach. Why? Quick-reference while assisting guests or preparing products, as well as being able to quiz employees during lulls in the business. Constant reinforcement breeds habits. Good habits breed success. Easy to create and inexpensive, but effective.
• Screen-capture software to create narrated, full-motion help files for POS and management back-office functions. Most people won't read a manual to figure out how to use software (and forget things taught to them long ago if not used daily). Paper is 2-D and we live and learn in a 3-D world. Place these help files on the register or the back-office PC. Cashier or manager can't remember how to do a particular function? Open the file, hear and see how it's done. Problem solved by T.O.D.
• Move your videos to DVD. Chains from Hard Rock Caf? to Chick-fil-A have made the move. It's still essentially video, but it allows you to break up a video into short two- to three-minute segments. Watch the short video clip then practice the skill. Return to watch the next section, practice, and so on.
• Create incentive systems and contests to encourage on-going learning and development as well as rewards for desired behaviors like suggestive selling or following recipes. Works for colleges and will work for you.
• Learn from others. Companies such as Disney, Hard Rock Caf?, and Zingerman's Deli all offer classes to learn how they create their culture and service programs. Can't go see them? Why not create a series of roundtable discussions amongst your employees and/or other locations (for instance, the ones leading your company in sales, service levels, retention, or profits)? The answers ar
  CAD CAM - What Is It?
  The words CAD CAM are tossed around quite a bit in manufacturing circles, but what is it really? When we say CAD/CAM, do we really know what we are talking about? In my experience many of us do not. A simple definition is a good place to start. Computer-Aided-Design, and Computer-Aided-Manufacturing.Look around you, whether you are at home, or in the office. Almost everything you see around you was probably designed on a computer. With the exception of buildings that were made before the 1970’s and any antique furniture you may have around you at home, a v
  the dark and fed manure). Take a new approach—use new methods and incentives to add shelf-life to the effectiveness.

  As I wrote last month, my high school let us skip finals if we had a C average or better and one or no absences the second semester. In an effort to help people graduate more quickly (and try to keep tuition down), colleges have come up with some interesting ideas to solve some of their issues:

  • Take more than 12 hours in a semester and pay no additional cost for the extra hours. An industrious student could take 15 or 18 hours and pay the same tuition as those taking 12 hours (and graduate more quickly).
  • Maintain a B average or better and receive a discount on your tuition. Colleges are rewarding things that should already be occurring (but in reality aren't). Will these incentives change everyone's behavior? No, but it will impact those with the potential to get done more quickly and less expensively. These are out-on-the-edge ideas to try to solve their problems.

  What about the education of our workforce? Today's kids, our employees, think DVD—random access to any portion of a movie, with plenty of bonus material. VHS? Boring, static, and not controlled by the user. Is your training program T.O.D. (Training on Demand)—access to what is needed right now? Here are some ideas to help get out on the edge…of success:

  • Think like Pokemon. Kids today use silly cards to learn how to play a game. Companies from Carvel Ice Cream to McAlister's Deli use color cards with specs, recipes, and presentation standards within an employee's reach. Why? Quick-reference while assisting guests or preparing products, as well as being able to quiz employees during lulls in the business. Constant reinforcement breeds habits. Good habits breed success. Easy to create and inexpensive, but effective.
  • Screen-capture software to create narrated, full-motion help files for POS and management back-office functions. Most people won't read a manual to figure out how to use software (and forget things taught to them long ago if not used daily). Paper is 2-D and we live and learn in a 3-D world. Place these help files on the register or the back-office PC. Cashier or manager can't remember how to do a particular function? Open the file, hear and see how it's done. Problem solved by T.O.D.
  • Move your videos to DVD. Chains from Hard Rock Caf? to Chick-fil-A have made the move. It's still essentially video, but it allows you to break up a video into short two- to three-minute segments. Watch the short video clip then practice the skill. Return to watch the next section, practice, and so on.
  • Create incentive systems and contests to encourage on-going learning and development as well as rewards for desired behaviors like suggestive selling or following recipes. Works for colleges and will work for you.
  • Learn from others. Companies such as Disney, Hard Rock Caf?, and Zingerman's Deli all offer classes to learn how they create their culture and service programs. Can't go see them? Why not create a series of roundtable discussions amongst your employees and/or other locations (for instance, the ones leading your company in sales, service levels, retention, or profits)? The answers a
    How to Motivate a Franchise Team
    Keeping a Franchise Team motivated is not easy. You see Franchisees are people, people from all walks of life and each one is different. However you can motivate a franchise organization to run like a well-oiled machines or a world class sports team. How so you ask? By constantly reviewing your system, going over your marketing play book and evaluating what you are doing wrong and what you are doing great.As the Founder of a franchise company I always made sure to do this and I offered a financial incentive for those team members who wanted to join the collective
    incentives change everyone's behavior? No, but it will impact those with the potential to get done more quickly and less expensively. These are out-on-the-edge ideas to try to solve their problems.

  What about the education of our workforce? Today's kids, our employees, think DVD—random access to any portion of a movie, with plenty of bonus material. VHS? Boring, static, and not controlled by the user. Is your training program T.O.D. (Training on Demand)—access to what is needed right now? Here are some ideas to help get out on the edge…of success:

  • Think like Pokemon. Kids today use silly cards to learn how to play a game. Companies from Carvel Ice Cream to McAlister's Deli use color cards with specs, recipes, and presentation standards within an employee's reach. Why? Quick-reference while assisting guests or preparing products, as well as being able to quiz employees during lulls in the business. Constant reinforcement breeds habits. Good habits breed success. Easy to create and inexpensive, but effective.
  • Screen-capture software to create narrated, full-motion help files for POS and management back-office functions. Most people won't read a manual to figure out how to use software (and forget things taught to them long ago if not used daily). Paper is 2-D and we live and learn in a 3-D world. Place these help files on the register or the back-office PC. Cashier or manager can't remember how to do a particular function? Open the file, hear and see how it's done. Problem solved by T.O.D.
  • Move your videos to DVD. Chains from Hard Rock Caf? to Chick-fil-A have made the move. It's still essentially video, but it allows you to break up a video into short two- to three-minute segments. Watch the short video clip then practice the skill. Return to watch the next section, practice, and so on.
  • Create incentive systems and contests to encourage on-going learning and development as well as rewards for desired behaviors like suggestive selling or following recipes. Works for colleges and will work for you.
  • Learn from others. Companies such as Disney, Hard Rock Caf?, and Zingerman's Deli all offer classes to learn how they create their culture and service programs. Can't go see them? Why not create a series of roundtable discussions amongst your employees and/or other locations (for instance, the ones leading your company in sales, service levels, retention, or profits)? The answers a
    Are You Missing Out on Free & Easy Marketing?
    Did you know there's something you do every single day that you could be using as an opportunity to market your business?What is it?Sending email. How many email messages do you send in a day? I recently went back and counted the messages in my Sent folder. I use several email accounts, but in just one of them I found an average of 10-12 messages a day. That's 70-84 message per week!Two Chances for Free PromotionDid you realize every time you send out an email, you have two opportunities to market your business?#1 With Your E
    e assisting guests or preparing products, as well as being able to quiz employees during lulls in the business. Constant reinforcement breeds habits. Good habits breed success. Easy to create and inexpensive, but effective.
  • Screen-capture software to create narrated, full-motion help files for POS and management back-office functions. Most people won't read a manual to figure out how to use software (and forget things taught to them long ago if not used daily). Paper is 2-D and we live and learn in a 3-D world. Place these help files on the register or the back-office PC. Cashier or manager can't remember how to do a particular function? Open the file, hear and see how it's done. Problem solved by T.O.D.
  • Move your videos to DVD. Chains from Hard Rock Caf? to Chick-fil-A have made the move. It's still essentially video, but it allows you to break up a video into short two- to three-minute segments. Watch the short video clip then practice the skill. Return to watch the next section, practice, and so on.
  • Create incentive systems and contests to encourage on-going learning and development as well as rewards for desired behaviors like suggestive selling or following recipes. Works for colleges and will work for you.
  • Learn from others. Companies such as Disney, Hard Rock Caf?, and Zingerman's Deli all offer classes to learn how they create their culture and service programs. Can't go see them? Why not create a series of roundtable discussions amongst your employees and/or other locations (for instance, the ones leading your company in sales, service levels, retention, or profits)? The answers a
    Advertising and the Over All Marketing Plan
    Many small time wannabe marketers who write marketing, advertising and sleazy sales books will have you believe that the over all marketing plan is the quintessential reason for success or failure in your business. Indeed business plans and marketing plans are of value but before you start a business you have no idea where it will take you.As an entrepreneur you may plan to have a certain market mix and then find the customers are leading you a different way, as they want to buy something else and more of it than less.You cannot fight the flow of such thin
    ill essentially video, but it allows you to break up a video into short two- to three-minute segments. Watch the short video clip then practice the skill. Return to watch the next section, practice, and so on.
  • Create incentive systems and contests to encourage on-going learning and development as well as rewards for desired behaviors like suggestive selling or following recipes. Works for colleges and will work for you.
  • Learn from others. Companies such as Disney, Hard Rock Caf?, and Zingerman's Deli all offer classes to learn how they create their culture and service programs. Can't go see them? Why not create a series of roundtable discussions amongst your employees and/or other locations (for instance, the ones leading your company in sales, service levels, retention, or profits)? The answers are there; they're just waiting to be discovered.

  Mazes are solved quickly by starting at the end and working backwards. Take the same approach to your training and service. What do you want it to look like? Start from that point and work towards where you are today. If you start where you currently are, you'll make plenty of mistakes, backtrack frequently, and take a long time to get where you want.