When Presidents tell the truth

When Presidents tell the truth

Indian Wells, California

“And you thought only small businesses do things inefficiently!”

(Can’t read the full email – click here for the online version.)

We made it to Southern California. Across high mountain ranges covered in snow and deserts, like the Mojave – dry and dusty yet eerily beautiful.

This week and next is one of the biggest tennis tournaments on the calendar, Indian Wells – the brainchild of Oracle founder, Larry Ellison. For a tennis fan, there is likely not a better venue. Both men and women are playing, with many of the top singles players opting to play doubles as well.

This year we were fortunate to be able to stay at a distant cousin’s “cottage” only 10 minutes away from the venue. What I thought was going to be a nice condo in a decent neighborhood, ended up being a good-sized house, in a very swank, gated community. 

Who needs friends when you’ve got such family connections? 😊

Naturally, in such a community, keeping the common and private grounds looking immaculate, is full-time work for a large crew of men and women. On perhaps the first or second day we were here, we got to witness a few of them at work.

While trimming the hedge of the building next door, a worker accidentally knocked off some lattice. Soon, it was not enough for just him to solve the problem, but 3 others came by to lend a hand. Sort of. One did the work, while the other three offered their expert opinion on how to fix it.

Then there was the interesting incident at the tournament on Friday, when a system of rain came down and play was suspended for several hours. The “system” used to try and dry the courts was not what one would expect from an organization like this.

First, came one guy with a court squeegee. It’s a roller system many clubs have to push excess water off the court, to speed up the drying process. It was obvious this was going to take ages to get done, with just one man.

So the worker left. 

10 minutes later he comes back with 4 or 5 more of these rollers but no workers. Dozens of fans then quickly came forward to help out. The crowd cheers. 

This fan participation act, however, was frowned upon by the paid security folks, who came on and firmly dissuaded the volunteers to go back to their seats.

The last act, saw a couple of grounds keepers come onto the court, with leaf blower machines. These guys are working like a fellow using toothpicks instead of chop sticks to dry the court, with the umpire and a fellow in charge of the ball kids, using towels to “polish” off the drying. 

It was a comical and painful way to watch a large organization attempt to get play back under way.

What lesson can you learn from this for your business?

Firstly, do not assume that just because a competitor is bigger than you that they are always prepared for adverse events or even, efficient with their solutions. You can almost always, provide a better, higher quality service; especially if you target a niche market.

Secondly, remember this truism from President Reagan; “trust but verify”! 

Trust your staff and team are doing their job efficiently and effectively, but be sure to check on them often, to be sure. 

Until next week, 

Stay healthy and focus on profit! 

 - Hugh 

The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

P.S. If you own or operate a business that uses appointments to drive sales, and you could use more, this month, we’ve developed a new system where we can get you all the appointments you want, or you don’t pay! Check it out here. 

★ BECOME A HIGHLY PAID BUSINESS COACH WITH #1 COACHING PLATFORM ★

I am looking for individuals to help handle the exploding global demand for business

coaching services. I’m willing to train [at my expense] the right individual with a

passion for wanting to help small business owners become successful.

NO travel - work from home. $225,000 first year income. If you or someone you

know is interested, click here and an 8 minute video will explain it all.