ENOUGH!!! This discussion is only for good stories.

[Jerry Levinson]

All right everyone I'm tired of bitching and complaing. Right NOW I'm only interested in good stories.
Tell me of a good business opportunity, a good business relationship, a good customer. What good positive dealings have you had and what is working for you right now.
Just for this disucssion, NO WHINNING, COMPLAINING, WHIMPERING, CRYING, AND ESPECIALLY NO KAFETCHING!!!!!

I'll start, we just had a decent home show with some great prospects.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with 10 real estate agents to present Blind Devotion to them and offer them $100 gift cards to give to their customers.
I hired a new sales person who is not only taking care of the leads I have given her but she is also hustling and networking to bring in business.
Speaking of networking I just joined a new BNI Group which is a great way to pick up leads, build relationships, and meet other business people who's goals are to increase business for you and them.
I also just signed up with the Home Show to have a permanent display on Baseline and Stapley next to Kohls. These people are spending over $300,000 a month advertising these permanent Home Show showrooms.

We just sold a $3,000 shutter job and we have several customers shutters being installed this week.

Now what great business have you had, what customers suprised you, have you started any good programs to move your business forward? Share the fight, Share your success and let's take on the day!!

[Karen Barnes]

Last week, I started working on some drapery panels. The fabric was a horizontal stripe. The designer stapled a swatch of the fabric to the workorder with the stripe placed vertical. Right then, I knew that the designer didn't know the stripe was horizontal. I gave her a quick call to mention it. She didn't realize that the stripe was horizontal and the design called for a vertical stripe! This fabric had been on back order for weeks...she felt sick about it.

Just a couple of month previous, I saw a picture of a drapery panel in Phoenix Home and Garden magazine with vertical stripes. What was different about this panel is there were horizontal pleats sewn into the drapery about 1/3 of the way down and then again at 2/3. Right away, I realized that this was a horizontal stripe, turned vertical, then sewn together to make the panel long enough. The pleats were sewn in to hide the seams. (I hope you are all still following this!).

I told the designer about it and e-mailed the picture to her. She was thrilled that there was a solution and thankfully there was enough fabric to do this. Her comment in an e-mail to me after the install:

"I wanted to let you know that drapery installation went beautifully. The client said they are perfect, and they are! The design, the fabric, the hardware, the fabrication -- it all came together wonderfully! I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for always doing such quality work and being so professional. It seems to be more difficult all the time to find one or the other, but especially both."

Whoo-hoo! That made my day!

Karen Barnes
The Elegant Window
Gilbert, AZ

[Jerry Levinson]

That's cool, Honestly Karen I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between Horizontal and Vertical before I got into the blind business. All I can say is thank god they called the ones that go up and down Vertical Blinds.

You probably know your good but it's sure nice to be validated. Congratulations, good story.

Who's next?

Karen Barnes said:

Last week, I started working on some drapery panels. The fabric was a horizontal stripe. The designer stapled a swatch of the fabric to the workorder with the stripe placed vertical. Right then, I knew that the designer didn't know the stripe was horizontal. I gave her a quick call to mention it. She didn't realize that the stripe was horizontal and the design called for a vertical stripe! This fabric had been on back order for weeks...she felt sick about it.

Just a couple of month previous, I saw a picture of a drapery panel in Phoenix Home and Garden magazine with vertical stripes. What was different about this panel is there were horizontal pleats sewn into the drapery about 1/3 of the way down and then again at 2/3. Right away, I realized that this was a horizontal stripe, turned vertical, then sewn together to make the panel long enough. The pleats were sewn in to hide the seams. (I hope you are all still following this!).

I told the designer about it and e-mailed the picture to her. She was thrilled that there was a solution and thankfully there was enough fabric to do this. Her comment in an e-mail to me after the install:

"I wanted to let you know that drapery installation went beautifully. The client said they are perfect, and they are! The design, the fabric, the hardware, the fabrication -- it all came together wonderfully! I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for always doing such quality work and being so professional. It seems to be more difficult all the time to find one or the other, but especially both."

Whoo-hoo! That made my day!

Karen Barnes
The Elegant Window
Gilbert, AZ

[Paula Tocker]

In Paula's world where everything is light, bright, clean and shiny, there is always new and exciting opportunities! The Fabric Talker social network has inspired me to connect, reconnect and think about how we do business and what a great design community we have. Helping anyone, whether they are a retail customer, manufacturer, interior designer, or workroom find the right products and solutions for their design projects is immensely satisfying.

So Jerry, you inspired me to create a social function "Marketing in a Tough Market" to bring us all together to listen to and network with others who can help us through these challenging economic times. Steven Groves, Michael Goodman, and Sandy Rogers are donating their time and proffessional expertise to give us perspective and ideas on how to maximize our business efforts. Besides, there will be food and beverages. I encourage you all to attend!

[Michael D Goodman]

Very cool Jerry. I worked with an organization that was very networking oriented and one of the franchisee's in San Diego got involved with BNI. We discovered you could attend any BNI a couple times before you had to join and as a member you could go to about any meeting as a visitor.

That allowed the guy in San Diego to meet all the members there and create relationships with any group he visited. If they didn't have what he did (computer back up) he could create referral relationships with them also. It worked out very well for that group.

[Paula Tocker]

I have been invited to join a BNI - I would welcome anyone's comment or feedback.

[Jerry Levinson]

Huh I don't know exactly how that would work for you. I just joined a pretty good BNI group that meets Wednesday's at 9:00. It's great networking but a bit expensive if you can't see the return.
What category are you entering under?
Are you going or are you going to send Brian?
I've been a part of networking groups in the past and it does take about 6 months to start getting benefits out of it unless your in a category such as Carpet Cleaner, Auto Glass, Pest Control, Handyman, HVAC, or a common service type of category.
The group I was in went for about 5 years before we broke up and we all still refer each other as well as do business with each other.
Paula, I think it's time you cut to the chase here. You started this tool for networking in the industry and even though it's a little slow going it's brilliant and in time is going to be a monster. You are doing a lot of networking with other various types of groups trying to figure out a niche or to draw more business. Honestly I don't think you're just bored and trying to kill a few hours each day.
You should tap this group for ideas to draw business into H&R Sales. Whether it's marketing ideas or networking you haven't ever come out and ask for suggestions on other ways to draw traffic into the store.

Are you trying to increase business or am I way off base here?

Paula Tocker said:

I have been invited to join a BNI - I would welcome anyone's comment or feedback.

[Paula's Little Girl]

My company is a perfect paradox in this market climate. As other industries tighten their belts, our business is BOOMING! More and more midsized companies are beginning to understand the cost to benefit ratio of comprehensive on-line marketing is radically skewed in their favor. They can now see fully integrated advertising that includes easily tracked and interpreted ROI numbers, market trending and multimedia presence at lower cost then traditional (Old School) advertising.
We are finally in a place where the "market" is forcing companies to begin to understand that marketing is now a "pull" industry and no longer a "push" industry....
Yea US!