LIDO

On Kitchen Nightmares this week was really a business lesson. It told the story of a college graduate that wanted to work for herself and bought a business (Resteraunt) had been running that business for 5 years and was struggling.

Ramsey really came out and did a great job of quickly identifying the issues. Infact he gave the owner a homework assignment and she also quickly identified the problems as well.

1. Clean
2. Attractive dining area.
3. Good fresh food
4. Simple menu
5. I cant remember this one.

And Ramsey added destroying their old computer system. It could not properly run the business. IE you need the right tools to do business.

In addition to the above Ramsey ran the owner into the bathroom to cry for quite a while. I believe this is his process. Break them down, make the owner open their eyes so they can see the real problems and then build them up.

Somthing that became obvious to me is that you can get comfortable in your enviornment and without constantly changing, everything seems ok. Even as bad as that environment is, it can seem ok.

Last piece that struck home was that Ramsey made the owner work in the kitchen. Somthing she had never done. It was clear that you have to know the back end to your business to really be prepared to make strategic change.

Man am I old.

Looking around that college class and seeing how young those students look really made me feel old. We were discussing marketing and technology. It quickly made me feel even that much older!

1. They all had cell phones when in HS. The portable phone didnt even exist when I graduated HS.

2. They have Internet on those phones. Internet as we know it didnt exist when I graduated HS.

3. They all have laptops in class. Their cell phone has more storage and processing than my computer had total. (Really about 10 of them)

4. They network. In HS all we had were our "Group"

5. We used a library. Why would they? They have more information available on their phone then we had in the library.

6. They have to pay over double for their school than I did.

7. They can take classes on-line. Like mentioned earlier. There was no on-line.

These are just a few things that have changed in less than 20 years. (Closer to 15). Think what the next 15 years will bring?

Me teaching a college class?

Yea, pretty scary! I will let you know how it goes.

Yea the future is looking bright!

I know you were expecting some deep thinking here. Nope. The weather forcast is showing a possible 60 degree day on the weekend!

It has been so long and I am so tired of snow.

Keeping it shut

Some of the most powerfull statements can be made by keeping your mouth shut.

Do not underestimate the power of a moment of silence. That can be in sales when you ask for the close and wait. I have had training that says the next person that speaks loses. While I do not really agree with this approach, in sales there should not be a loser.

Trust me, there are many times in which I wish I would just leave the silence alone.

Update to Undercover Boss for this week

One word. Staged.

As Jenifer said, what are the odds that a manager would have a new employee call in a problem (The lighting) on the first day?

Look, I get it, clearly they are going to have the CEO's spend days with employees that are positive and getting after it. Even that is starting to have a theme. An employee that has over come all, an employee that has a serious health issue. Yea, it makes for good TV. However is that all the imagination they can come up with?

OK it was just one episode. I will look for better next week.

How do you teach people to speak to business owners?

Not only sales people, but they are definitely involved. Most sales reps and others do not spend much time speaking directly to business owners. More important, if they are speaking with business owners (C-Level People) if they are doing a poor job, many of these clevel people will not tell them. They will nod and smile and then never attend another meeting again.

I get that experience through HTG and other sources. Now the trick is moving that knowledge on. Your thoughts would be appreciated!