My Christmas Gift to you

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Bob Carter

Bob Carter

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
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Jun 16, 2000
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I received a very nice call from one of our trade pubs people asking for my help yesterday. She was looking for fresh perspectives on business and had seen my musings here and thought some of them might be worth examining.We both quickly agreed that often my message gets lost in the rheotoric. She offered some well received constructive criticsm on my delivery and the need to offer another point of view. One thing lead to another(we spoke for over 30 mins), and we concurred I might have something valid to say and that message might be better served with a "kinder, gentler" approach.

So to make up for past transgressions, may I offer something in a conciliatory mood?

My wish(your gift) is to have a gigantic paradigm shift by our industry next year. Now this gift may be like that scratchy woolen sweater that often gets put on a shelf after a polite "Thanks" and never used again or it might be used on a chilly day to offer comfort and protection.Use it as you see fit

And that Shift is the following: Instead of viewing yourself as a picture framer in business, view yourself as a businessperson that does picture framing. It might be a simple shift, or it could be a quantum leap. But, if we asked 100 framers how they rated themselves as framers, the pridictable answer would be most think of themselves as very skillful and compotent.

Now view yourself as a businessperson.As skillful, as compotent? My point is if there is an area that needs work, maybe a lot of work, it's in that arena.If you start viewing decisions from this new perspective, I'll promise you won't suffer in your workmanship; but a balance might yield better results than current. And who doesn't want to improve?

And since we all are looking at Harvest Season with little time to change, make this next year's goal.

And the easiest suggestion is change your point of view. See your business as a equilateral triangle: the 3 sides equal in importance. One leg is quality, one leg is profit and the third leg is fun. One cannot out do the other. If you don't produce quality work, you probably won't get the profit you need. If you don't get the profit, it can't be fun. If you're not having fun at work, it's hard to produce quality. If you can't produce quality, you can't...well, you get the drift.

I'll leave this tidbit to start, but like most of you, we will be short of time.But this is the most fun time of year; it's also the most profitable time. It needs to be the most quality conscious time of the year. So, I won't expand too much, time permitting. But next year-no excuses.

So thanks to Debbie in thinking of me as being a source of help (she helped me)and I'll try and repay the favor with this idea, that hopefully, might help you.
 
Bob, thank you for your gift. As you often speak of your business education, I add (again) that I don’t have any “formal” business education; just the fact that I read and study constantly.

It’s odd, but I’ve always thought of myself as a business owner first. And not only a business owner, but also an entrepreneur as well, and definitely a capitalist! (As old hippie Republican, I'm a strange duck, indeed!)

I was raised in a family of staunch Democrats, and everyone had a “something” they did in addition to their jobs. One uncle owned several small businesses. My mother sewed for people, and my grandfather sold eggs and vegetables. So I was indoctrinated with “making a profit” at a very early age. But with that concept of making a profit also came the balance of treating the customer well. In fact, my grandfather had a reputation (one of which I’ve proudly acquired as well) of “not being able to count”. If you bought a dozen ears of corn from Pop, you always got at least 13, and most likely 14 or 15 ears. That was my earliest education.

There’s a long (and probably boring) story of why my business is still a “home based” business, but it’s primarily due to family illnesses and other responsibilities and directions that we’ve chosen to take. However, that doesn’t change my “attitude” toward my business. The fact is: I own a business that does custom framing as well as repair and restoration of antiques. I make a profit and take VERY good care of my customers. And yes, “I’m self-employed, and I love my boss!” Most days I even go so far as to say, “You mean I get PAID??!! to do this!?”

Betty


[This message has been edited by B. Newman (edited December 01, 2001).]
 
And now, let me add, that one thing I don't like about the internet (forums and e-mail, etc.) is that you can't use "tone of voice". Think of how many times each day we derive what someone means from how they say it.
Never mind all those cute icons, I can never remember how to use them, or what they mean anyway.

We all read these posts from our own points of view. If you like or don't like what Bob said, and how he said it, then you may or may not like how I responded to him.

I appreciate people like Bob and the many teachers we have in our industry. Heck, that IS where I get my education! But,just like school,there may be some teachers we like better than others, that doesn't mean the others aren't good teachers, they're just different.

Thanks again, Bob.

Betty
 
Thanks, Betty. I know on occassion I do get a little full of myself. My intention is to share, not to preach. Even if it comes off that way. I really am trying to be as non-confrontational as possible.

I rarely take any offense(not longer than 3 or 4 minutes).

I do think it important to share, and I hope the stuff I spout is useable. We all need to make more money, and I hope, if nothing else, I offer another perspective
 
Alot of profits are missed right at the selling counter. I think the biggest mistake many make is what a customer will, or won't spend. Too many framers worry about saving a $.10 on a mat, instead of how to get another $10.00 out of a customer. I'll bet many framers out there sell with the thought of saving the customer money, rather than making more money for themselves. All of my salespeople are instructed not to sell from their own pocketbook. I have one salesperson who's average sale has risen from $125.00 to over $200.00. I have pushed education this year. For me and my staff. You'd be surprised how much more you can sell if you sound like you know what you are talking about. Tell me, does being a better salesperson fall under the catagory of framer or businessperson? A little of both, perhaps? A framer can design the package, but a businessperson must sell it. The SMART businessperson however, sqeezes every dollar out of the sale he can.
 
In reply to Bobs section on having fun , we try to indoctrinate it into our daily business all of the time.
When people are happy it always translates into a more productive day.
One of the things we do is to offer at times is a free lunch to our sales people for various added additions to a framing job. It might be selling a third mat, or an additional filet on jobs. It is amazing how quick our average job goes up in price and we all have fun doing it.
Happy framing all.
Accent
 
In response to Bob's original message (I'm not sure how to use the quote thing yet) I'd like to clear the air after my Thomas Kinkade rant last week.

I feel like I may have stepped on some people's feelings and I don't want to garner a reputation for being a jerk (I'm a really nice guy, I promise).

For those of you that responded...what you said provoked some thought about the subject and clearly made a difference.

Thanks!

Don
 
It's good to hear from ol' FYA buddy, Pam. I loved her straight shooting then and she's on the mark now.

The easiest profit builder available, better than buying well, is selling well. She is absolutely right that it is probably the most commonly overlooked component in all of our stores.

A good salesperson is worth every penny; a great salesperson is worth their weight in gold. Thank you for bringing up the easiest correction all of us can make.Education is key.

One way we reward our counterpeople is with a commission program in addition to their hourly rate. It provides a couple of useful tools. The first is it is measureable. The second is that it provides an incentive. And if you have salespeople that aren't incentive driven, they may be better suited to stay in the back. Everybody has a skill; this might help you find it.

The other benefit of a commission program is that it is open ended. An employee can earn as much as they can with a direct benefit to you-more sales. When an employee wants more money from me, it's an easy answer-Sell more. And to reward further we do have a staggered percentage designed to recognize top producers. And at this time of year, it can be some serious change. Boy, does it keep them selling.

Thanks, Pam, for bringing up an overlooked quick fix to a lot of problems.
 
Bob, could I enquire further as to how you manage to keep commission based sales working for you? Is it simply because there are only limited numbers of staff in your stores or do you have a rotation system that works in a fair manner?
Thanks
Lance
 
Hi Lance-It's always a struggle to keep good help. We try to provide hourly wages that are comparable in the retail arena, and then we add to that our commission package. We've had several people indicate to us that the commission gives them a livable wage. But like all tools, we have to monitor the package to ensure it's doing what we expect.

You'll need to expand on the fair rotation comment. I don't understand what you are asking. And on specifics on personnel and pay matters, I would prefer you contact me privately. I'll try to help if I can.

Could you share any incentive programs you offer your staff? I'm always looking for better ideas.

But we like the commission plus program, and especially at this time of year. Most of my people will earn a couple of bucks/hour extra.When we get more in sales, they get more in pay. It's like a direct revenue sharing program, but I'd love to hear other programs that will reinforce Pam's excellent point on salesmanship.
 
Bob, the rotation plan I refer to is when you have the "quiet" periods during the day when there are more sales staff than there are customers in the showroom. Keeping a system in place that actually works for us is a perpetual nightmare.
Another major factor for us is with the vast range of product that we carry and the product knowledge required to sell products from the different departments, with commission based sales it was always hard to get a someone with photographic knowledge to let a sale for framing go to the appropriate person for fear of losing money from their own pocket.
Another major hurdle for us is the fact that we have staff in the lab who serve at the counter, however not on the floor. It appears unfair when some staff are on commission and others are not, especially at this time of year.
 
Hi Lance-I guess there always will be inequities, and those I just don't have an answer.

We do hire by trade; in our stores, we have mangers, sales designers and framers. Hopefully we hire the personality to fit the skill. Of the three, the least paid per hour are the designers. The commission program was developed , in part, to address that problem. But someone with proven skills as a framer should, rightly, earn more than a brand new designer. But if that designer is good, really good, they can make it up.

How do you remedy the same problems you ask about. I always am interested in better methods.But the inequities of pay are always going to be with us. But, please share your solutions.
 
I look at sales averages every two weeks, so I know who is consistently the better salesperson. THAT is the individual I want at the front counter. I don't want employees fighting over who gets the next customer. I prefer to use a reward system. Do consistently good work, whether it be framing or selling, make money for the store, don't screw up or off, follow the rules set down, get paid more. Simple. Other rewards-extra paid time off, a fatter Christmas bonus. I am considering giving health insurance to my part-timer, she's doing such a good job. We do have an incentive progarm in place for the manager of my second store. She receives a percentage over a certain dollar amount of sales each month. I haven't seen where this has made any difference in her sales, and I wish I could remove it. Bob, I think a good designer is just as important as a good framer, and just as hard to come by. A little hint for upgarding sales-I have taken all mouldings under $10.00'and placed them on a separate wall, or down low. The more expensive mouldings are what the customer sees. My sales people are instructed to go to the "reasonably priced" mouldings only as a last resort,(or if they really do look better). Try it-it works!
 
Pam, again brings up great points. But, before we go any further,Congratulations are in order to her for winning Third place in the Open Framing division listed in this month's PPFA Newsletter. It proves that being a good craftsman and a good businessperson go hand in hand. Congratulations!

And she is perfect in her analysis of who gets paid what. The best will be paid the most.True for designers or framers. We also take Pam's approach on monitoring productivity. We use commissions paid as a tool, but we also track CoG figures by designer. Those that produce the most sales are just as important as those that produce the most Gross Profit Dollars. It just seems to be the same people that lead one category, lead the other.

Great points, Pam
 
Bob, we use performance based pay for all of the staff which is reviewed as often as need be (usually once a month). Sales staff are expected to meet their minimums and improve by reasonable amounts, this is totalled up weekly and the next weeks budget is allocated for each member which is broken down by the rostered hours from the previous years figures. At a glance on the POS any staff member can see how they are doing for both customers numbers and average sale (more information is readily accessible). If there is a problem with someone not achieving their target they are "coached" in the appropriate manner to try and rectify the problem.

Workshop and lab staff are paid for the work they are able to do with acceptable quality on an hourly basis, this is timed and checked at regular intervals throughout the month (without staff knowledge of when this happens).
 
We had hourly and salaried employees. Benefits for salaried (full time who had made a long term commitment) included commission (framing only, not art), health insurance, disability and bonuses (cash & getting frames at cost).

Bob, I have always found your posts to be informative and straight to the point. Your insight and knowledge is invaluable and has been incredibly helpful to me. I think it is wonderful to have access to people with your background who are so willing to share. Thank you.
 
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