DW's Blog

Service Companies Sell A Promise

by DW Green — November 4, 2015

Offering exceptional customer service is indeed a powerful way to differentiate your store in the marketplace. How do you distinguish yourself as a leader in service excellence?Most retail businesses in America believe they offer good customer service, but in reality the opposite is probably more accurate. Why? With the daily demands of performing repetitive tasks in a highly productive environment, employees are often oblivious to customers and their needs. Customer service is typically given lip service by managers, who view training and developing employees to provide an exceptional customer experience as a low priority in a cost-controlling, low-margin industry. Ironically, it is just such an investment in employee training and development that can increase sales exponentially. While operational efficiencies are essential to superior corporate performance, they should not hinder the company’s ability to gain a customer service advantage.For a retailer to gain a customer service advantage over its competitors, a serious investment of resources to train employees is critical. It is also imperative to have in place vehicles that foster communication between the customer and store, including regular interaction between top management and customers. Why is this important? Because customer service is one thing, but exceptional customer service is another thing entirely. It’s not enough that every customer is acknowledged by every employee they meet on every...

by DW Green — October 28, 2015

“They’re beginning to get on my nerves. Who are those guys?” Butch Cassidy asked the Sundance Kid.Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s and Walgreens recently transformed their brands. Wendy’s has passed Burger King and is number two in market share. And Walgreens is now re-inventing the drugstore experience. Why not your company? I wholeheartedly believe that every food retailer has a unique opportunity to reimagine and transform its brand and own a distinct market position. If we have learned anything from alternative formats, it’s been lost sales and the fact that retailers must be different enough from their competitors to gain an advantage. In the long run, investing resources to develop a meaningful brand is much more powerful than promotional games and gimmicks that might boost short-term sales. The Fresh Market is a great example. Once a regional niche player they are now expanding nationwide. The Fresh Market is a purpose driven brand that connects emotionally with consumers with its own blend of customer service and great food experience.There is a great book, The Primes, by Chris McGoff, that distinguishes change from transformation. (www.theprimes.com/) According to McGoff, change is about fixing or improving the past while transformation creates the future. “In change mode, the desire to improve the past directs what we do. Change is about making the system better...

by DW Green — October 22, 2015

This is for our clients, our vendors, and staff at DW Green Company. I acknowledge your authenticity and contribution that each of you bring to the world every day.“Every single being has an amazing, unfathomable gift that only meeting life head-on and heart-on will reveal. And we can’t fully know our gift alone. We need each other to discover the gift, to believe in the gift. And then, to learn how to use it. The challenge for each of us is not to discount our gift because of the indifference of others, and not to abdicate our gift because of the various weights we’re forced to carry.What does it mean to have a gift? For the lamp, the light it was shaped to carry is its gift. Without a light, a lamp has no purpose. For a person, we are shaped by experience to reveal the light we carry. For a person, how that light comes through us is its gift. And a life cut off from the work of its heart has no purpose. Our call in the midst of our days is to discover the gift that connects our heart with our hands, to discover the light that fills the lamp of life we are given. Once discovered, our work is to never let the light of our gift go out.A lamp can light any patch of ground, the hand filled with heart can light anything it touches. The various skills of the world are how the gifted hand moves.Through our gift, we bring our portion of life-force back into the world. Each of us is born a heart’s length from everything that ever li...

by DW Green — October 15, 2015

Finding Inner Courage by Mark Nepo is an excellent book and I highly recommend reading it. In the introduction Nepo writes; “What does courage mean? How we hold this question is important. It’s interesting that the question, what does it mean? In Spanish, que quire deicer?, literally translates as, what does it want to say? The difference inherent in the Spanish view is that whatever holds meaning is alive and has its own vital authority and, therefore, demands us to be in relationship to it in order to learn its meaning. English view readies us to apprehend meaning, while Spanish view readies us to experience meaning.”Okay, interesting quote you might say, but what does it have to do with business? In a word…everything. What does your business mean? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to your stakeholders? Human beings are meaning making machines. When our relationships and our experiences are meaningful, we are confident and comfortable with our decisions, our choices and this meaningful connection enhances our overall sense of happiness and well-being.A company’s “reasons to believe” are deeply rooted in its purpose and meaning. It’s critical that a company’s purpose and meaning are fully expressed in designed experiences, culture, value offerings and communications; ultimately creating faith and trust in the brand by all its stakeholders. This comprehensive and holistic approach to purpo...

by DW Green — October 8, 2015

The generational longevity of a company.

The manager of a living company understands that keeping the company alive means handing it over to a successor in at least the same health that it was in when he or she took charge. To do that, a manager must let people grow in a community that is held together by clearly stated values. The manager must place commitment to people before assets, respect for innovation before devotion to policy, the messiness of learning before orderly procedures, and the perpetuation of the community before all other concerns.Living companies are willing to scuttle assets in order to survive. To them, assets—and profits—are like oxygen: necessary for life but not the purpose of life. These companies know that assets are just means to earning a living. A company run according to a different model scuttles people to save its plant and equipment, which it considers the essence of its being. If such a company were in the car rental business, for example, it would see itself as existing to rent cars. The company’s fleet would be considered its primary asset, and its purpose would be to make profits for shareholders. If such companies find themselves in trouble, they get rid of people. I believe that employees are a company’s primary asset and that a company’s purpose is survival, which means developing and nurturing their employees potential.Managers must decide how to position the human element in their companies. They ca...

by DW Green — October 1, 2015

Town and Country Markets, one of our Seattle area clients, recently completed an extensive remodel project of their store in Bainbridge Island Washington. To use the word “extensive” to describe the magnitude of the remodel is an understatement! The store was initially built in the 1950’s on very challenging terrain. And while the remodel required more than 18 months to complete, the end result was truly amazing! It’s a beautiful, beautiful store.The depth of planning and communication, both internally with staff and externally with vendors and the community were impeccable. Obviously a work plan is critical. But clearly communicating the plan to all employees and customers minimizes the discomfort and inconvenience while allowing everyone to be a part of the process.We offer our heartfelt congratulations to the T&C leadership team, impassioned staff, gifted store designers, and talented construction company personnel for their dedication and exceptional work. We acknowledge the community of Bainbridge Island, as well, for their support and understanding of the lengthy remodel process.The story below appeared in Town & Country’s bi-monthly newsletter, the Bridge.

We Did It!

By Jason Brown, Town & Country Markets Inc., Marketing

At long last, the remodel project at Town & Country Market Bainbridge is complete! Over the past 18 months, T&C a...

by DW Green — September 23, 2015

I’ve been trying to eliminate or at least minimize my internal judgments of people, behavior, and events. But Holy Judgment Day Batman, as humans, is non-judging even possible? It’s like trying to stop incessant thinking. Heck, experienced meditators can’t completely silence their minds.So with non-judging in mind, I merely question the veracity of Conventional Wisdom. So often I hear, “Well it must be the right way to do it, because that’s what the competition does.” Or “We’ve always done it that way.” Or “That’s how I was trained”. Or “That’s how I have always done it”. Or “Conventional wisdom says such and such.” And so on and so on…Conventional wisdom stifles creativity. Conventional wisdom is not necessarily even true. Conventional wisdom is often seen as an obstacle to the acceptance of newly acquired information, to introducing new theories and explanations, and often operates as an obstacle that must be overcome by legitimate revisionism. Despite new information to the contrary, conventional wisdom has a property similar to inertia that opposes the introduction of contrary belief, sometimes to the point of absurd denial of the new information set by persons strongly holding an outdated (conventional) view. This inertia is due to the content of conventional wisdom, ideas that are convenient, appealing and deeply assumed by the public or an organization, which hang on to them even as they grow outdated. This inertia c...

by DW Green — September 16, 2015

Since professional football teams are kicking off a new season perhaps another sports to business analogy is in order. Or perhaps not, but here’s one just the same. Winning teams exemplify qualities like preparation, teamwork, execution, heart, wholeheartedness, determination, courage, purpose, tenacity, talent, passion and self-confidence. From a brand perspective, the ultimate value of a professional sports team is in the emotional connection it creates with its fans. Enduring franchises, like the Packers, Cowboys and Steelers, consistently provide their fans with a reason to believe in their team. Whether it’s a championship season or a mediocre one, the fans remain faithful to their team. This team loyalty isn’t based on superficial marketing or slick advertising. It’s rooted in the hearts of the fans, in their love, in their passion for the team, and in their community. Our brand foundation work has similar roots. On the surface many retailers tell us they are about quality products, value pricing and exceptional service. Some retailers insist they’re only about offering low prices. Our brand foundation process is an exploration into the deeper meaning and purpose of an organization and how it can connect with all its stakeholders. The process requires hard work, collaboration, open mindedness, and creative thinking. We believe that all independent retailers who are good at what they do, have the mettle to prosper and gr...

by DW Green — September 9, 2015

Our office was open Labor Day. My staff requested to trade Labor Day for Christmas Eve as a paid holiday. We had a productive day of work, as most of our client’s headquarters were closed. The highlight of the day was a Labor Day Pot Luck Lunch organized by Aubrie and Emauni, staff designers. Everyone contributed to the delicious feast. Tasty desserts like Pumpkin Cheesecake with Graham Cracker crust, tart Key Lime pie and delicious Razzleberry pie! Plus homemade guacamole dip, dandy deviled eggs, crisp salad, Buffalo Wings, sandwiches and even Otter Pops! It was a lot of fun, great food, great stories and laughter.I was deeply touched by the energy of our talented team. Each expressing themselves every day in so many ways, in a fast paced business, in their own unique, creative and personal way. They bring so much joy, pleasure and happiness to me. They are an outstanding staff. All are hard working, conscientious, passionate, dedicated and authentic. I respect and honor each of them for who they are as individuals and for what they contribute to DW Green and to our client’s businesses every day. Segue to the more meaningful energy of being real or “Mana”.“Mana” is a term originally used in Polynesian and Melanesian cultures to describe an extraordinary power of force residing in a person or an object, a sort of spiritual electricity that charges anyone who touches it. Carl Jung later defined the term as “the unconsciousness influence ...

by DW Green — September 3, 2015

“To thine own self be true” writes William Shakespeare in Hamlet. “Let your conscious be your guide” the Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio and then asks Jiminy Cricket to serve as Pinocchio’s conscious. Integrity is an important and powerful quality. To be referred to as a person of integrity is the ultimate compliment. I have come to realize that my life experience is about the journey toward wholeness, and to seek wholeness, is to live from a place of integrity. To me, conscious is the psychic energy of awareness. Conscious is the alarm that goes off when integrity is at risk, when wholeness is splintered. “The meeting of our inner and outer lives is called integrity, and the health of our integrity often determines our inner strength and resilience in meeting the outer world. This is the purpose of integrity, to balance the outer forces of existence with the inner forces of spirit,” Mark Nepo, The Exquisite Risk. One of the most useful definitions of integrity comes from Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man: Integrity is the ability to listen to a place inside oneself that doesn’t change, even though the life that carries it may change. So living from integrity is when our actions, our outer life are in sync with our inner life; our heart, our soul, the essence of our being. Businesses too must live from integrity. When the actions of a business are incongruent with their beliefs and values and essence, crises will inevitably arise. The cons...