From my perspective, the economy is soft and money is a bit tighter for all of us.  I have pondered the use of promotion codes in the past.  Sure, I want more business, but is it the right thing to do?  Our product costs have increased substantially over the past few years as have rent, utilities, and labor costs.  We have increased prices a little, but not enough to keep pace with the expenses.  So now I am faced with another question: do I raise prices again and then try to use other sales tactics, such as discount or promotion codes?

As a consumer, I hate the tactics of some businesses (like furniture companies or mattress companies) that mark up products half of the year, only to significantly discount them the other half.  I am sure that works for them, but does anyone who buys awards and trophies want their supplier to apply such a tactic?  My gut says “no” – I think that most people expect to receive great products, service and prices every day of the year.

I value the internet as a great source of knowledge for the consumer.  I also feel it serves as a tool for customers to ensure they are getting a good deal.  My blog serves as an outlet for me to share my thoughts/ideas and as a way for me to test business strategies.  In the interest of testing out the use of promotion codes in my trophy & awards business, I am going to offer a promotion code good for 10% off.  Use the code: awardsgurutest08 , on the last page of the checkout, from now until August 31st, 2008 as a gesture of goodwill to see how good we are at what we do.  I am not going to raise prices and then give you a discount - this is off of our great everyday prices.  I hope that we will beat your expectations of what an online trophy & awards supplier should be.  Make sure to check out our extensive line of acrylic awards, plaques, crystal awards as well as our sports trophies!

Thanks for being a reader of my blog!  Your readership and support is appreciated!

I am looking for people to help.  If your company has problems with the following, I may be able to assist:

Motivation

Sales

Employee retention

Feeling appreciated

Job satisfaction

All you need to do is send an email to me (jeff@trophies2go.com) - please provide me with a brief description of your problem.  What you will get in return is not a sales job; I pledge to listen (or read) your concerns, gain background information by asking you a series of questions and then offering potential solutions.  Free advice from someone with 15 years of experience?  Yes…that is what I am willing to offer.

As my 38^th birthday approaches, I realize that the past 5 years has given me a tremendous amount of life experience and business knowledge.  I am finally getting into a groove and feel comfortable with my role in life.  While I celebrate that accomplishment, I am also somewhat disturbed with the next generation.

First of all, I would like to exclude my current co-workers from these thoughts.  Right now, I have 7 highly capable and motivated people under the age of 21.  For them, I am very appreciative of the hard work and passion they bring.

What I want to discuss, however, is the others who have come and gone.   I have noticed some trends over the past few years that I have trouble with.  I am unsure of what the solution is, but hopefully there is a solution out there somewhere…

I can boil the tendencies down to 3 items: motivation, work ethic and entitlement.

Motivation:

Showing up – Does it really take that much effort to show up for work?

Finding work – Is it really necessary to hold your hand for each task?

Staying focused – Do you really need a break after a half hour?

Goofing off – Do you really need to find humor in everything you do?

Socialization – Can you spend some time on a task without making it a social event?

Sitting down – Are you motivated enough to actually stand up while you work?

Work Ethic:

Pace of work – Yes, you can get a lot done in 5 minutes, but can you keep it up for 2 hours? 4 hours?

Quality of work – Can you care enough about your work that you are proud of it?

Ability – Do you know how to work?  Or just how to text?

Entitlement:

Breaks – Do you need a break every half hour?  Or hour?

Pay – Can you begin at a starting wage, or do you already deserve what everyone else is making?

Advancement – Once you master a task, can you stick with it a while before thinking you should be doing your supervisor’s job?

Pay #2 – Do you deserve the pay of someone who has been working longer than yourself?

So here is my $.02 worth of advice to the next generation of workers.  Show up, do your job well, work hard and expect less.  There is opportunity in this world if you are able to learn these traits.  You might not get rich by the age of 25, but you will have the skills necessary to succeed later in life.

Maybe I am idealistic and getting old and crusty, but really, has our society changed that much that the younger generation doesn’t have a clue?  I am a fan of having fun.  I am willing to provide a special place to work.  I am willing to be generous and forgiving.  All I ask in return is to be flexible, motivated and hard working.  My thanks go out to Jeremy, Ryan, Justin K., Justin M., Erin, Hilary and Donna for being just that.  Hopefully others in your generation can follow by example.

This is a real story from Lakewood, Washington.  The scenario is a t-ball team without a willing volunteer to be coach.  Stepping up to the plate: Kelly Conlon.  While Kelly has a busy work life, multiple kids and stressors that most of us face, his t-ball team was without a coach/mentor to his child and 13 other 5-6 year olds.  Instead of pointing to the other parents and asking them to take on the role, Kelly raised his hand and said, “I will do it.”  That leap of faith is inspiration for this article.  The rest of the story is typical of many t-ball teams around the county; kids not knowing the sport, not having developed skills and not having the attention span to make it through a game.

Well, I just attended the team’s last game, and am I impressed!  The kids knew their positions, abided by the rules and had fun, too!  Since I am in the business of recognition, I want to highlight Kelly’s delivery of the end of the year trophies.  While most of the youth trophy presentations I have seen have been a spectacle for both the parents and children, Kelly focused on just the kids.  He got down on one knee and spoke loud enough to be heard by all, yet he spoke directly to each child.  He highlighted 2-3 positive attributes each child learned or possessed throughout the season and presented them with a small trophy and certificate from the league.

While I feel the trophy and certificate are long-lasting symbols of the child’s accomplishment, the words that were spoken are perhaps more important.  Each child left with a sense of accomplishment and pride that serve as a foundation for future achievements.  They know they can finish something.  They know they can be a part of a team.  They know that as an individual, they were a significant part of a team.

In speaking to Kelly after the game, he felt honored to teach the kids.  He felt like he witnessed growth in their teamwork, physical skills and in their attitude.  If you ask him if he received enough recognition for teaching them, he would say that he didn’t need any because the joy he received was greater than what he put into it.

This story is repeated by the hundreds each sports season around the county.  My hat is off to Kelly and the rest of the parents who accept the challenge of teaching our children structure, responsibility and rules.  These people are to be commended for giving more than their share of effort.

Great Job!

Passion runs deep for entrepreneurs.  I am no exception…especially when I feel I have been a victim of crime.  Although internet fraud is a crime, it is hard to trace and hard to prosecute.  This article is not aimed at the crook who steals from merchants, but more at the dysfunctional system that is in place to process transactions.  Is this system more at fault than the person who fraudulently uses a credit card?  You can decide.  Here is my latest story.

In June, we received an order for 15-20 plaques – including shipping the total for the order was $450ish.  The billing address and shipping address did not match, but the last name did.  This is a common occurrence for us.  The engraving information was odd, so per our protocol, I called the issuing card company to verify the legitimacy of the card.  The fraud department of the card company verified the address and was dumbfounded when I asked to call the cardholder to ask them if they placed the order.  Nobody answered the cardholder’s phone (if they even made the call) and the fraud department told me that the transaction was fine and to go ahead and ship their order and charge their card.  Needless to say, 3 weeks later, we received a ‘chargeback’ or notice that the cardholder was disputing the charge.  I called the fraud department back and confronted them on why they said the charge was OK.  Their response was vague and they told me their responsibility was to protect the cardholder.

So who is protecting the merchant?

After realizing I would get nowhere with the cardholder’s credit card processor, I called my own processor.  These are the people who we pay 2-3% of each transaction.  I thought there would be some sort of process that if the merchant checked and double checked the authenticity of the credit card, there would be some sort of backup insurance to protect the merchant.  Although very friendly and understanding, the conversation yielded the end result that they have no liability either.

So I ask the question, who is holding the liability?

Is it the cardholder?  No…no matter what they do, they dispute the charge and don’t have to pay.

Is it Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover? No, they simply process the transaction and play middle man in disputes.

My logic brings me to this conclusion…The cardholder passes blame to the credit card company.  They pass blame onto the merchant.  The merchant gets screwed.

In closing, I would like to give a giant, you are a loser shout out to the person who used Ms. Crawford’s credit card.  This person signed for the package at the address of 3279 BELLE GROVE, Memphis, TN, 38115.  The Miss Black Continental Newcomer or Mr. Black Continental Newcomer organization should be ashamed there are people out there using stolen cards to promote your group.

Our company is about providing meaningful recognition. Often I am faced with the question of “what EXACTLY IS meaningful recognition.” For me, it is the expression of a heartfelt acknowledgement of what someone else has done. While we can only scratch the surface of telling the countless stories that define the term, I am going to start a series of posts that begin to shed light on the importance of meaningful recognition. I welcome your thoughts and feedback in this section. While I attempt to focus on a few of the stories I see, please feel free to share your stories as well.

We are proud to announce this quarter’s ‘Awards for a Cause’ charity – Habitat for Humanity of East King County.  Each quarter, Trophies2Go.com chooses a charity or cause to rally behind.  This quarter we are doing so by featuring several products and donating a set amount per item sold to Habitat for Humanity.  To view these products, click http://www.trophies2go.com/charities.  In addition to our financial contribution, Two members of our staff are actively involved with Habitat for Humanity on a regular basis. Janice works at the East King County office and on build sites in the area. Her daughter, Hilary, (also the newest member of our staff here at Trophies2Go), volunteers with the Wilfrid Laurier University chapter, where she goes to school in Waterloo, Ontario.

We applaud Janice and Hilary’s volunteerism and will strive to find ways over the next few months to make an impact with a larger group effort.

Here is more information about Habitat for Humanity:

Habitat for Humanity is a faith-based organization that makes comfortable living available to families in need at manageable rates. Contrary to popular belief, Habitat for Humanity does not simply give away houses. Instead, the recipient is required to put in 500 hours of work on the site and can then purchase the house at a lowered rate with 0% interest on loans. For many, this makes a world of difference.

Though Habitat is a faith-based organization, not all volunteers are Christian, or do the recipients of houses have to be Christian in order to be eligible. Many schools and universities have their own chapters and volunteers can choose to donate their time over spring break to travel with their chapter to an area in special need of help in what’s called the Collegiate Challenge.

Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has since built over 200,000 houses and supplied as many families with a comfortable means of living. Since the East King County chapter’s creation in 1988, 72 houses have been built across Bellevue, Carnation, Redmond, Snoqualmie, Kirkland, Newcastle, Sammamish and Issaquah.

If you think you’d like to volunteer with Habitat, or simply learn more about their organization, visit www.habitatekc.org.

Recognition is important in the workplace as well as in the home.  It can come in different forms and can be applied at different times.  One of my favorite reasons for using recognition is motivation.

At home, I use recognition to motivate my children and use it to acknowledge and appreciate my wife.  The easiest way is to use informal day-to-day recognition.  Although sometimes I fall short, words of affirmation are a great motivator in keeping the family functioning.  Simple things like thanking my wife for cooking dinner, taking care of the yard or running errands in support of the family unit really charge her up and help motivate her to continue on…just surviving in today’s busy society can be a challenge - verbalizing to your spouse can affect the happiness of the family!  Same for the kids.  My oldest daughter is very smart and sensitive.  By praising her with atta-boys (or atta-girls), her spirit seems to be lifted.  In turn, she then seems receptive and motivated to doing homework and chores.  She also seems excited and energized to be a part of the family.

We also have a somewhat hokey family tradition.  We have a family ‘trophy’ comprised of a horse and 2 dogs that is titled ‘The Anderson Family Trophy’.  Each night (well, almost each night) the person who has the trophy recognizes another family member who did exceptionally well that day.  At dinner, the presenter gives the trophy to the winner and shares with the family why they deserve the award.  For us, it ends up pretty evenly distributed (as to not hurt anyone’s feelings), but the result is amazing.  We all feel like we are a part of a positive family.  This formal recognition is a great way to celebrate the accomplishments of the day.

In the workplace, informal recognition takes on the same tone.  Words of affirmation - to everyone - seems like it boosts morale and makes the job at hand more fun.  Although my co-workers may not realize this, but my day-to-day informal recognition includes a simple ‘Thanks’ when someone leaves.  It may be pretty simple to deliver, but I really think that acknowledging someone for putting in a solid days work is crucial to happiness.  I am very grateful when each of my co-workers spends a day out of their life with me.  Sure they get paid, but they could get paid anywhere, yet they choose to spend it at my company and help in our quest to provide recognition to others.  Other simple ways to informally recognize can include notes, cards, and thanks in the presence of others.

Symbols of formal recognition are what we provide.   I feel this is as important as informal recognition as it provides a sense of permanency to the accomplishment.  For kids, a simple trophy not only helps celebrate the completion of the season, but also motivates them to try harder next time and provides a feeling of ‘that was cool, I can’t wait until next season’.  For adults in the workplace, formal recognition is more complex.  Formal recognition is (and should be) thought out in advance.  Strategy, measurement and delivery of formal recognition should be pre-planned and aligned with the goals of the program.  Some of the most successful sales, service or training recognition programs we see are created with longevity in mind.  These programs have management buy-in, are taken very seriously, and are flexible enough to change.  The results of a successful formal recognition program are people who genuinely want to contribute to their company.  I feel that is a tremendous tool for any leader of a company or organization to understand and use.

As always, your thoughts and questions are welcome.  We at trophies2go.com are here to assist in whatever way possible…

As promised, we are acting on our environmental stewardship.  The latest item now complete is our lighting retrofit.  We partnered with the Light Doctor (Mountlake Terrace, WA) and Puget Sound Energy to dramatically cut our lighting cost to our 5000 square foot facility.  I am hopeful that our energy usage from lighting will be cut by 2/3!  That is right; our energy use from lighting will be 1/3 of what it was just a few days ago!  Talk about a decrease in carbon footprint!

Initially, both myself and landlord were concerned about the color and amount of light that we would get out of the change, but check out the pictures below.  They are taken without a flash and are unedited.

Display area before                                                           Display area after

Conference room before                            Conference room after

I want to personally thank Willy of the Light Doctor for his patience and great service as well as Lee from Puget Sound Energy for his commitment to the environment and financial subsidy to make this project happen.

I think we have significantly improved our lighting, saved energy, and helped the environment at the same time.  To me, that is part of what being the leader of meaningful recognition is all about!

I don’t know if you’d agree with me, but I think no matter how modest a person may be, inside every person is a yearning to be recognized…to be validated.  This is only natural.  We all feel insecurities, often unconsciously, and when someone validates us as a person or recognizes something we have done that is of worth to us, we feel that it was worth our efforts.   In a sense, it is when we are validated or affirmed by other people that we feel that life is indeed worth living. 

It is the same principle in the workplace.  Being validated is very important for employees to feel that they are valuable, that their contribution has meaning to the company, and that without their efforts, things wouldn’t work.  They need to feel and know that they are needed. It is the sense of pride that drives people to do better.

Warning – deep thought on pride, here.

Friedrich Nietzsche considers pride as a master set of values which acknowledges the good and the noble, and rejects the weak and insipid.  Without pride, a person will lack self-esteem—one the greatest driving forces of motivation.   Pride, the emotion of having a strong sense of self-respect and having belief in one’s abilities and capabilities, drives people to do better.  It is the emotion that gives people the strength to pursue something grand, brilliant, exceptional, even feats that are seemingly impossible. 

How do you motivate people?  By instilling pride in them.  How do you do that?   When you make an incentive the primary goal, the challenge also ends in the attainment of the incentive – you achieve the goal of being rewarded with the money, the gadget, the trip, etc.  These are all temporary motivators that fail to provide a deeper sense of fulfillment.  A better long-term motivator is giving recognition awards (of course in the form of plaques, acrylic awards or crystal awards provided by Trophies2go.com) or other gifts that honors or signifies performance.  In this case, the feat and the recognition are more important than the item itself.  The recognition award becomes the symbol of the achievement, and it also becomes a vehicle for re-experiencing the achievement.  When receiving an award, the motivation doesn’t end with the acceptance of the award.  The award will also instill pride and self-esteem, giving the person more reasons to do better, and to pursue higher goals.