A Tale of two Restaurants...

As I now feel that I know many of the good restaurants in Cincinnati the mystique of traveling to dinner has been wearing on me. I have been yearning to find something fantastic in Dayton, specifically the Oregon District Restaurants. Call it my “Acres of Diamonds” realization.

It was the best of times…

After doing some research online and asking around I found out about Coco’s. This restaurant is located at 515 Wayne Avenue spitting distance from the Oregon District. As I entered, without reservations, I found the atmosphere was unique to say the least. It is a smaller place inside but they make great use of the space. Think of a gaudy Bravo that gets too crowded and loud. I opted so sit on the patio where there was an older gentleman playing a keyboard. He was fantastic and made the night very enjoyable.

On to the real reason to go: I ordered the chicken Slovlaki with feta smashed potatoes. The food was quite amazing. Everything on the menu had some unique twist and the sides went perfectly with the main course. Although I despise the markups, the white wine was reasonably priced all things considered.

Coco’s give you many reasons to go back: The atmosphere is great. I recommend the patio if the weather is cooperating. The food was excellently prepared and the entrees leave you wanting more. I believe the final bill was around $120 including tip. I felt like I got a good value from my experience. We were definitely taken care of.

It was the worst of times…

After my Coco’s experience I decided to take my next adventure to the heart of the Oregon District. Pacchia has been a name passed around the Dayton community for years. They have been a presence in the Oregon District since for many years. I was eager to see how this local favorite would stack up against Coco’s.

Based on reputation alone I called for reservations. We were planning on eating at 6:30 on a Friday. When you walk in it is part Starbucks and part restaurant. There is a coffee bar immediately to your right and the restaurant area is to your left. Not what I expected, but I was not discouraged. When we arrived it became obvious that reservations were not needed as there were only two other couples seated. Even by 8:45 the restaurant was only ever half full.

I again ordered a bottle of white, to match our meals, which was painfully overpriced. Our waitress poured the wine into our red wine glasses and never touched the bottle again. An unfortunate oversight. The pork I ordered was spiced to taste fantastic but the twice baked potato was in need of some help. My meal was 75% of what I desired. My date also stated that her Ahi Tuna was not the best. The overall experience leaves much to desire as the final bill came to $135. Ouch.

Maybe next time I should stick to my favorite restaurant in Dayton: J. Alexanders and their Prime Rib and Smashed Potatoes. Lesson learned.

The most impressive thing about the iPhone - Hint: It's not the phone

Although the much hyped iPhone which is the latest convergence of technologies (one part cell phone, one part music/video player, one part Blackberry, two parts cool) that technological advancement is not the most impressive part of the iPhone.

What the iPhone should be remembered for is the ridiculous amount of hype that surrounds its entrance into the marketplace. I cannot remember or think of a more anticipated product. It all started with a video that I saw on C|net.com that had the iPhone encased in glass and rotating in a circle at some tech convention. No one could touch it or even get close.

After that first appearance the media blitz started. Steve Jobs did what he does best: Promote. He introduced it at MacWorld and the media still could not get their hands on it. He just played with hisnew gadget on stage. This caused what seemed like a diagnosable disease "iPhone paranoia". You could not go a week without reading about the iPhone. There were articles on cnn.com, in The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and on every single tech blog worth its' salt.

Seve Jobs, like all great magicians, presented his latest feat of engineering and then did a most unexpected thing: He pulled back. Nature abhors a vacuum. Next, it was the media's turn to step in and fill that void with wild speculation. Speculate they did.

So, what is the most impressive thing you ask? I'll tell you. The most impressive thing about the iPhone is that Steve Jobs manipulated almost every channel of media distribution and it cost him close to nothing. The iPhone was written about everywhere. Why would you pay for an advertisement on page 4 of the news paper when your story is already on the front page?

I hope there will be a case study written about this media manipulating product. Because the story is yet to unfold. As the iPhone is being released (as I write this that will be tomorrow) Friday expect throngs of teenagers, some of whom will be covered on TV at no cost to Steve Jobs, to use their Word of Mouth to ensure the iPhones' success.

I would say look for more examples of free marketing for the iPhone, but you wont have to. It will be everywhere.

wis.dm - Question Everything

Will this be the newest craze in social networking? Or just a flash in the pan? It is really up to us!

Wis.dm (wisdom) is the latest site to use a domain name hack to create a very clever site. I was reading in the Wall Street Journal about a week ago and came across an article about Wis.dm and their attempt to draw from the wisdom of the masses. (insert another victory cry for the "Wiki" movement)

The site functions very slowly right now, so be patient if you decide to pay them a visit. It operates kind of like Digg.com where it is user content driven. Rather than submitting articles, you submit a "yes or no" question. After you have racked your brain to be the single most clever question creator you know your question is submitted other users can comment, vote "yes" or "no", and discuss your topic. Everything from Terrorism to "does your car have leather seats?" is currently being submitted.

After people decide if they will comment or vote your question is ranked on popularity and the most popular questions bubble up to the top for the greatest number of users to vote/discuss/decide on your question.

So I ask you: Will this site be the latest craze? Please select "yes" or "no"

Moe's vs. Chipotle

VS



Let the battle for Brown Street begin.

There is a new player in town attempting to take down the juggernaut that is Chipotle. It was only last week that I realized we were getting a Moe's

Although Chipotle has a special place in my heart with their cilantro rice, their super fast service, their $5.25 chicken burritos and their ridiculously high employee turnover I went against my better judgment and decided to try Moe's anyway.

I, however, did not go it alone. I brought a few close friends with me who are equally biased toward Chipotle. As you navigate Moe's menu you notice that they have strange names for everything. My choice? The Joey Bag of Donuts (see comparable Chipotle's Chicken burrito).

Below is my scientific rating scale developed through qualitative and quantitative methods and extensive research:

Scale - 1 to 5 (1 being the worst and 5 being the best)

The Service:
Chipotle - 5
Moe's - 3

Moe's was slower and was not as busy. I give them a get out of jail free card because it was their first week. Perfection like Chipotle's assembly line takes time.

The Food:
Chipotle - 5
Moe's - 4

Although it was different, both were equally delicious. Moe's food did come with complimentary chips, which is a huge bonus. Also Moe's had a few more options than Chipotle. That being said, Chipotle's meat was better tasting and their burritos really are bigger.

The Value:
Chipotle - 4
Moe's - 5
Moe's gives you free chips and a complimentary salsa bar. Their burritos are only a few cents more and you get all of the extras.

The Overall experience:
Chipotle - 5
Moe's - 4.9

I had to let Chipotle win this due to my bias toward tin corrugated sheeting affixed with screws and bolts.

The Winner:
Chipotle with 19 out of 20 points
Moe's - 16.9 points

It was close, and I was scared that my test might betray a restaurant that has been so good to me, but it was worth it. Whew...I need a burrito!

Reactee - Cause a Reaction

Reactee.com is a perfect example of using something that is ubiquitous, old, and tired in a completely new and revolutionary way.

How it works:
Setp 1 - Go online, create your shirt with your slogan or key word
Step 2 - Reactee sends you your personalized shirt
Setp 3 - When people see your shirt they text your key word to the number on your shirt
Step 4 - The person who texted your shirt receives a personalized message

As of right now these are basically being advertised as a way to promote your own band or political agenda. e.g. the "Save the Reef" where you text REEF; or the "Obama for President "text word Obama. They must have been reading my post on the Micro Lending for their inspiration for this T-shirt. Another cool feature is if you make a shirt, it is available for others to order it as well. So your idea can spread with no real work on your part. Which is exactly what Guerrilla Marketing is all about.

The limit to this product is your own creativity. Although this is meant for a grass roots movement I can imagine a much broader application than just walking the fine line of being "cool" and borderline "nerd" at the same time.

UD MBA Program wins accolades

As I am currently a member of the University of Dayton MBA Program it is nice to be reassured that the rigorous program is alive and well fulfilling its mission: To produce future leaders.

Some background: This case competition is open to all Ohio MBA Programs. UD has won First, Second, and Third place in a tri-fecta sweep for a number of consecutive years. UD has developed a sterling reputation winning 1st place 7 of the last 8 years with 6 of those coming in consecutive years.

See Link and the copied Text below:
http://universityofdayton.blogs.com/newsinfo/2007/05/mba_students_ta.html

May 17, 2007

MBA students take first place ... again

University of Dayton graduate business students continue to prove they are the people to turn to for that winning small business plan.

For the second straight year — and seven of the past eight years — a UD graduate business team won the Ohio Graduate Business Student Case Competition.

UD’s team of Lyalya Esadova, Amy Smith, Connor McCracken, Eric King and Chris Thunander won on the strength of its plan for Hearthstone Inn in Cedarville, Ohio. The team won $3,000 for its winning presentation made last month in Columbus.

“They did an absolutely sterling job that will help that small business into the future,” said Joe Schenk, associate professor of management.

Schenk and Tom Winning, a UD executive-in-residence, advised the team along with Mike Bodey from the Small Business Development Center at Wright State University.

The competition is open to all Ohio colleges with graduate business or accounting programs and students pursuing a master’s in business administration, master’s of science of management or master’s of accounting degree. Judges evaluate teams’ oral presentations, case studies and solutions for Ohio Small Business Development Center clients.

Ohio Department of Development officials hope the competition provides graduate business students an opportunity to work on practical business problems, contributes to Ohio’s economic development and enhances links between Ohio’s graduate business programs and business and industry.

Small Business Development Centers of Ohio, Small Business Administration, Palo Alto Software and Kent State University sponsored the competition along with the Ohio Department of Development.

Bachelor Party Basics

As I am now finding myself still single while my two best friends are getting married this summer I have been quite busy filling up my weekends with bachelor parties. Neither of my friends chose the typical clubs of ill repute, and in fact they both chose very different ways to celebrate their last nights as a free man.

Party#1 a.k.a. The All American bachelor party

The first bachelor party that I will attend will be an all day event. At noon we take a "party bus" down to Cincinnati. I am kind of frightened as to what exactly this entails as I have been on a few that were not exactly sea worthy. When we arrive at the Reds Stadium we will be pampered in the Diamond Seats (@ $202 a pop - I was not happy to find this out) and drink and eat ourselves silly as the diamond seats are all inclusive. We will do our best to get the $202 value from all beverages, I assure you. After we have had our fill of America's favorite pastime we will then party bus-it back up to Dayton where we will crash at the groom-to-be's house.

Total Cost: $350 with tickets, party bus, and beer on party bus.

Party#2 a.k.a. The UD style bachelor party

The following weekend I will be hosting a hog roast at the other Groom's house. Due to my best man responsibilities I will have a much greater authority in what happens. We will roast a complete hog in the driveway, and yes, apple in mouth, of his newly purchased abode. The bourbon spread will be diverse and luxurious as he is from Kentucky. Also, cornhole and other UD drinking games will be rampant (see flip cup). As many of our professors will be attending as well as: My dad; His dad; and the bride's dad. This may sound fairly tame, but I assure you the bride's dad will be the craziest of all of us, and after our parents and professors attended our UD graduation party I am sure they know what to expect.

After the hog roast we will then go to the Olde Tavern, which is where the Montgonery Inn used to be in Madeira. We will then finish off the night with a night cap and a bonfire in the back yard.

Total Cost: $350 - Bourbon ($150); Hog($80); Taxis($60); Bar Tab split ($60)

Two different styles, two different men. One goal: Party like it's your last night of freedom. Good luck Gents! I will leave you with a word of advice:

A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.
-Phyllis Diller

Dayton City School Levy

For those of you living in Dayton you must realize that Dayton Public Schools, whose reputation is and has been suffering for years, just failed another levy.

As it has been proven time and time again property values are highly correlated with the quality of the public school districts therein. You can see this in communities like Oakwood which has never failed a school levy. Oakwood borders the City of Dayton school districts and if I would really want to prove my point I would put on this blog a 2000 Sq. Ft. home in Oakwood and a similar home in close proximity in Dayton. I will spare you the analysis, you can do that on your own.

So the real question is why did Dayton fail their much needed levy? I ran across a blog that gave some interesting insight. The author suggests that they do marketing research to see what the market will bear (i.e. what 50.01% of citizens will actually agree to). Also the author states that they need to treat their school system like a brand and compares the Dayton Public School system to Nike.

No matter if I agree with every point or not, I was impressed with the new perspective.

I give you Esrati.com

http://esrati.com/?p=265

InBubbleWrap

Free business books? Yes please.

www.InBubbleWrap.com is a very creative marketing tool. It operates as a hybrid blog/sweepstakes for business books. You can enter once a day for your chance to win a free book.

Every day you can log in to see the latest offering from the site. The books are donated by 1-800-CEO-READ and there is always a clever description of the days offering in their entertaining description of the book of the day.

You can read the partial description of the book on the In Bubble Wrap page but if you want to dig further into the book and click to "read more" you will find yourself at the CEO READ website. It is integrated beautifully and is a fantastic example of Guerrilla Marketing (Guerrilla Marketing, is an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget).

• There are no ads on the website.
  
• Only those readers interested in the books description end up clicking to find out more about the book
  
• Qualified "leads" being generated for his site
  
• There is a new offering every week day so you must visit daily to enter
  
• Helps make it part of our daily routine
  
• The site most likely gives away a few books per every thousand hits
  
• costs very little
  

And now, I thought it was such a novel (pun intended) idea that I have now done some advertising for him. I can also profess that it is legit as I have actually won a book about business blogging from the site.

Dayton Marketing Community

If you are not frequenting the Dayton Marketing Community squidoo page and you are in Marketing in Dayton you are behind the curve.

For those of you who do not already know, this is a page that is maintained by a local marketing account executive. I find it to be very useful to keep abreast on the latest marketing buzz in the Dayton community. Think of it as a one stop shop for marketing info. This is the type of page that once you realize what it does you get a "why didn't I think of that?" feeling.

Impressive features I use:

• Dayton Daily News aggregation of headlines
• Dayton Community Google Calendar mash up (NEW)
  
• List of professional organizations in the Dayton Area
• Job Search (Thankfully I have not used this one yet)
  

I have been using this page for a few months now and it is getting to the point that it is more of a reference tool than your usual squidoo page. There is so much information that is readily available it is no wonder it is ranked #93 currently in the business section.

The bar has been raised. Bravo.

Makers Mark Bourbon House and Lounge

This weekend as I was at the Derby I visited one of the swankiest bars in Louisville. The Makers Mark Lounge . It is, in my opinion, the crown jewel of Louisville's famous 4th street live scene.

As you walk from the street you are greeted with a red lit wall of bottles and the scene is something to behold. The 58 foot long bar is outdone by what must be 100 bottles of bourbon behind it. As you sit down there is a sheer curtain that you can pull around your table for more privacy and most of the lighting is provided by candles put in glass vases that are dipped in that famous red wax. It is a fantastic experience.

So if you are planning on attending the Derby next year, or just find yourself in downtown Louisville, make this your after party.

Kentucky Derby

Each May there is only one event that I look forward to: The Derby.

A friend of mine introduced me to the Derby a few years ago and I was able to attend, in the infield, the 130th running of the race. Ever since I have been hooked.

The images that the Kentucky Derby evokes are usually of women wearing excessively large hats, men in suits, gambling, Churchill downs, and Mint Juleps. However there is quite another side of the Derby that should be on everyone's "To see before I die" list.

The Infield
The infield must be entered via tunnels. The original ones were built in 1937 to allow better accessibility for racing enthusiasts. Getting to the tunnel from the turnstiles is like crossing traffic and resembles the video game "Frogger." People run amok, obstructing its entrance, and many are staggering drunk. If people aren't careful, crossing at the precise moment, some imbecile might knock them to the ground. They then risk being trampled and possibly having belongings stolen - most notably pride.

Once inside, there is silliness in all directions. People swarm like bees. Some dress in various costumes, and no outfit is too casual. Families spread blankets, while others pitch tents. Elderly folk in wheelchairs sit aside children in strollers. Beach balls are bounced, footballs are tossed and Frisbees are thrown. Little boys and girls play tag.

People behaving like total savages bump shoulders with women carrying toddlers. One can be amid a zoo of lunacy one second, and among a family bonding the next. There is nothing that can prepare an infield virgin for what they witness during initial contact.

The 40 acre spread is filled with college students and blue collar workers. Because is costs $40 to get in there is a certain sense of commrodery that comes along with it. The last time I attended this event it rained hard for probably half an hour. This turned into a slip and slide for the masses. Mud was flying, people were actually swimming in the water and everyone had a blast.

So when you flip on your TV this first Saturday in May, please remember that the least of us will be having the most fun.

Skybus

There is a new game in town with regard to the airline industry: Skybus.

They are a start up airline out of Columbus that is in a word a minimalist. Hopefully this initiated change throughout the industry. They are a low cost provider of airline travel. It is refreshing that someone took out all of those idiotic "perks" that no one used anyway. This airline makes sense, and they don't take themselves too seriously. Check out their rules for flying:

The Skybus Rules of Flying

(A.K.A. How we keep our tickets so darn cheap.)

1. Don’t pay for everyone else’s baggage.

On Skybus, you pay only for what you check. The first two bags are 5 bucks apiece. After that, it’s $50 a bag (yeah, so pack smartly). Less baggage means faster turnaround and cheaper tickets. Fair deal?

2. Hungry? Thirsty? Bring cash.

Most people love our full cocktail bar and food menu, but if you’re not into that, it won’t cost you a penny. Why should your ticket cost include your neighbor’s dinner? That also goes for blankets and pillows–which, by the way, you get to keep if you buy. Oh, and don’t sneak food onboard unless you brought enough for the whole plane.

3. Bring a book.

We’re not big fans of fancy in-flight entertainment systems. So grab that best seller at the airport, or buy a Sudoku puzzle onboard if you’re feeling brainy. You’ll touch down before you know it.

4. Don’t call us.

We don’t have a phone number. Seriously. We’d love to chat, but those phone banks are expensive. And a good website like skybus.com is even more convenient.

5. Don't be late. We won't wait.

Please arrive no later than 30 minutes before takeoff, or we’ll leave without you. Really. By that time, there won’t even be anyone to check your bag. It’s nothing against you–we just have to keep our flights on time, or things get expensive in a hurry.

6. Don’t expect an army of gate agents.

You probably won’t see any agents at the gate until boarding time. Remain calm! Just print your boarding pass at skybus.com and relish in the savings.

7. Yeah, we’ve got preferred seats. Sort of.

There are no fancy reclining beds onboard, but you can pay 10 bucks extra to board our brand-new A319 airplanes before anyone else.

8. Tickets are nonrefundable.

Refunding a ticket costs everyone, so we don’t allow it. Of course, our tickets are so cheap it wouldn’t have been much of a refund anyway. If you need to change a ticket, your punishment for breaking a date with us is $40.

9. Bigger is not better.

Big airports can be a big pain. We choose less crowded and more convenient secondary airports for better punctuality and, of course, lower prices.

10. No spontaneous dancing in the aisle.

We realize you might be excited about paying a ridiculously low fare, but please refrain from any unbridled dancing onboard. This includes jumping for joy, disruptive cheering, and celebratory break dancing.

Stadium Hunt!

Stadium hunt: Information and directions to hundreds of stadiums across the US.

A friend of mine that now lives in DC has been busy at work compiling a database of stadiums for almost every sporting event. The premise of the site is really quite simple. Aggregate information on most major stadiums in one place:

• MLB
• NCAA Basketball
• NHL
• NFL
• NCAA Football
• NBA

He claims it is still in beta format, but it is already quite refined. The best part of this mash up is that you get the satellite image as well as a link to order tickets for that venue. Very clever. Also he is a benevolent dictator: There is a suggestion button.

Great idea. Fun site. It might just inspire you to take that road trip. Enjoy!

Blame Canada!

I was in Vancouver Canada over the Easter long weekend. Which leads me to a very unique experience that I hope you all will take note of if you are in the service industry.

The reason for my visit to Canada was an International Association of E-Business conference. My father was publishing two papers at this conference and so my mom and I tagged along. Thanks to the University of Dayton fitting the bill the hotel was free, the rental car was free, and we stayed in the swankiest place in town: Robson Street. Right up my alley and all I had to do was pay for a plane ticket.

We found this very unique restaurant called The Bread Garden that served excellent breakfast food and we found ourselves visiting this place again and again for breakfast. We loved, and still love this place. I do not want our experience to negatively reflect on the quality of the restaurant. In fact, I wish we had one in Dayton. Our third visit led to an unexpected result. As we were eating breakfast my mom went to get something from her purse only to find out it was not there. We searched the entire restaurant only to find it had been stolen. Of course everything in her purse had been stolen as well: Passport; Cell phone; wallet (a few hundred dollars); and medication. We called the police, filed a report, and the Constable was amazingly helpful. After this terrible experience I have come to have nothing but respect for the police system in Vancouver. In 2010 when they host the Olympics I feel confident they will protect everyone with the same professionalism that we experienced. Kudos to them, they were more than helpful.

We did all that we could do including canceling cards, getting legal paperwork to get across the border, and changing our keys to the hotel room. So, as I was explaining the situation to the hotel manager to my surprise she actually showed a great amount of sympathy. She apologized for our loss and said that she hoped it did not reflect poorly on our experience in the city. She gave me numbers to all the major credit card companies and the police department. I did not have the heart to tell her we just spent the entire morning already calling them. After this my family then made sure our new keys worked at the room and went to lunch to try and forget about the purse. Upon our arrival back at the hotel room we found that the hotel manager had made us a visit. She had placed a tray on the table with M&M's in a champagne glass, popcorn, beverages, and a hand written note expressing her sorrow for our loss and that all of our local calls we had made would be complimentary.

This bears repeating: She was not the restaurant owner where we were robbed. She was the hotel manager. Talk about impressive customer service! Granted, our hotel was fantastic, but this is going above and beyond. Complimentary phone calls which we did not ask for, complimentary candy and popcorn, and a hand written note (almost a thing of the past anymore). It was completely unexpected, and actually made my mother cry. For all of you customer service professionals: When is the last time your service made someone cry?

Bravo. If I ever come back to Vancouver, and the chances are likely, The Pacific Palisades is the only hotel in which I will stay. Please see the pictures I took of the tray and the card.

What a lesson I learned: Your customers problems are your problems. If you can help solve problems for your customer that you never created, you are looked upon as a hero.

The process of buying a car

I have decided to buy my first car. After seeing the cost and frequency of repairs increase for my 1992 Cadillac Seville over the past two years I have come to the decision that it is time.

Being in the auto industry you would think I would have some fabulously sneaky insider knowledge about how to bend over dealers and get a screaming deal. Unfortunately, even though I have been through extensive training on dealerships, it basically comes down to sales and a basic working knowledge of the structure of dealerships. There really are no tricks.

Here is what I have heard from truth or rumor:

• Do not tell them the final price you want to pay
• Do not tell them you have a trade until after the price is negotiated
• Tell them you have been shopping around
• Get 3rd party financing from your local bank or credit union
• Come to them at the end of the month to get a better deal
  

This list is certainly not exhaustive, but I am sure it is nothing new to anyone reading this. We are all basically clueless. In order to minimize my cluelessness I tried to find out more.

How I began my search:
I did a ton of research on www.automotive.com which is a site that makes its money by dealers and private individuals listing their cars for sale. They have some of the best and most accurate listings that I have found when comparing competitors sites. They also have an exhaustive analysis of just about every single car being sold on the market.

Further Research:
After my research was complete I took a stroll to a dealership last Sunday, when they were closed, and looked at the brand of car that I wanted and what they had on the lot. I am looking for a 2003 so there was naturally a limited selection.

Why I made the decision to look now:
I was not planning on doing anything until I received my tax return, typical I know, but alas my car broke down again. Another $500.00 for the water pump. I guess I would break too if I had to pump 160,000 miles of water. Regardless that was my reason to contact the dealership. I was fearing that next big repair that would be the big repair. So there you have my buying motivation: Fear.

First Contact:
This morning, after driving my car to the shop and consequently arriving late to work, I got a wild hair and contacted the local dealership via their lead generation tool ...err website. you know the drill. You can click to view their inventory and if you do not see what you want you can fill out their form with all of the information. I clicked send and not one minute later I got a generic e-mail from the dealership telling me I would be contacted in 24 hours. It was probably 5 minutes after that that Shawn, my dealership representative, sent me an e-mail requesting more information. Impressive.

First quote:
I responded to his further inquiry and let him know what I wanted:(this is basically verbatim the e-mail I sent)

• 2003
  
• 30-50k miles
  
• price range of $18,000 to$ 24,000
• Anything but Red exterior
  
• Sunroof, Brembo brakes, spoiler, leather, no Navigation, 19inch performance wheels etc...
  

Based on my research there are probably 30 of these cars listed as of today in Dayton/Cincinnati/Columbus. Not exactly a rare car. Shawn responded back within an hour with a 2006, Red, 18 inch wheels, no spoiler, stock brakes, with Navigation and the price was $41,000.00 and was only good until 8:00pm today. Final offer.

Here's your test as a consumer: How did he do meeting my stated, specific requirements?

Idiots:
I politely responded that while I am sure that car was great, it met none of my requirements. It is not hard to imagine what happened on his end. The dealer probably told him that he has some 2006 that didn't sell and he is simply pushing it on everyone possible. It is the typical sales technique of "one size fits all" or "throw it on the wall and see what sticks". I filled out the form they specifically created for lead generation and they did not use any of that information.

*Insert rant*

Unfortunately that is where I am currently in the sales process and this article is getting quite long.

To be continued...

Jeff Schmidt Cadillac

If you have been paying attention to television commercials for Cadillacs recently and you live in Dayton you are probably aware that Jeff Schmidt just purchased Roberts Cadillac. It is now Jeff Schmidt Cadillac. As stated in the Dayton Daily News Mr. Schmidt is planning on "attracting a younger crowd" to the Cadillac market. Say What!?!

Per my father (who has a Ph.D in Marketing and follows these kinds of things) the median age of a man who purchases a Cadillac STS is 52 years old. The median age of a man who purchases a Cadillac DTS (The flagship car) is 56 years old. These are descriptors that help define what Marketers would call a Target Market. There are many reasons for this high median age you can probably name a few without any help.

• The cost of a new STS is $49,775.00 per Jeff's website. The cost of a DTS is $54,685.00 fully loaded.
• The styling, while chiseled and modern looking, is not what this younger demographic is after. (see Pontiac G6 with it's new curved lines and convertible 2-Door option.)
• 4-door large wheel base luxury sedans do not sell to families who have parents in their 40's and need practical cars (i.e. a Minivan)

I assume Mr. Schmidt is meaning someone in their 40's when he claims to reach the younger market. See above description and think of the 40 year olds you know: Do they have $50,000 to spend on a car? Will they allow their pre-teens to haul their muddy soccer gear all around town in a new STS?

Marketing 101. The answer to the questions above is "No". As we learned in our consumer behavior courses, the target market selects the product. Not the other way around. Groups of people are naturally drawn to products for specific reasons. If you try to "push" or suggest a product to a group outside of the primary target market your marketing efforts will have a very minimal effect.

From what I can tell Mr. Schmidt is doing his very best to be different. Understandably so as he bought a failing dealership. He does need to do something. Age, however, is not the place to change the game. Perhaps he should focus on service, possibly he could throw in an extra year of that fantastic OnStar service. He could maybe even buy the first "X" people who purchase a Cadillac a round of golf for 4 at a local swanky country club.

What ever he decides it needs to appeal to the same group that buys Cadillacs normally. Think 50+. What do they like to do? What is their stage of life? Where do they travel? Who is their peer group? Who are they trying to impress? What is their primary reason to purchase?

I wish Mr. Schmidt the best. But unfortunately his current model will not work in the long run. He is making a classic mistake. He is trying to change the customer base, rather than focusing on the customer.

Woot!

Woot! Stands for " I Want One Of Those"

Woot! is probably the best example of the power of the internet that I have found for consumer products. It is also the perfect example of the power of economies of scale. For those of you who do not know here is a little about Woot!

Woot! is a website that offers only one product every day at Midnight for discounted price. They give pictures, descriptions, even a clever blog that talks about the product. Most of these products have some kind of technical theme. I have seen everything from headphones to padlocks listed. Every day it is some new surprise.

In regard to price, I have checked around and it is almost always the best deal going no matter what product. How can they do this? Volume. Their economies of scale are phenomenal. Every day there is a different market and a different consumer base that is attracted to that market. Products that seem to have no real place anywhere else fly off of the shelves of Woot. Some of these products are sold out before I get to work at 8:00AM.

They are also very clever in the information that they give out. You never know exactly how many they have in stock, but they do have histogram graphs letting you know how man people purchased this product and at what time.

I am not sure if this was intentional but Woot! has built this off of the QVC phenomenon we are all so familiar with. QVC sells one product for a limited period of time, and they have written the book on television sales. Not only do you get to view the product, learn a little bit about it, but it is also entertaining. Woot! has captured all three of these aspects.

What is next...Woot! TV?

Stay tuned to find out.

Watch UD Basketball online for free

On the Dayton Flyers official site all of you Flyer fans from across the country can watch UD Basketball for free. They just added a feature supported by CSTV that allows you to stream the live feed onto your computer. I hope that this will continue with the NCAA tournament when we make it (Crossing fingers)

You will need the latest version of Internet Explorer (which pains me since I am an avid Firefox user) and the latest version of Windows Media Player as well. Unfortunately those are kind of annoying to upgrade to, but well worth it I assure you.

Other than the stiff software requirements I am pretty excited about this. I also was messing around on the site and found out that you can stream many of the games earlier in the season as well. So for all of you that missed a home game...enjoy!

Go Flyers!

Churchills Tea Room - Cincinnati, OH

For all of you tea lovers I am writing this to share with you a true gem in the downtown shopping district of Cincinnati.

My enjoyment of tea started in college with my roommate Mike. He is a purveyor of all things expensive: cigars, Audi's, wine, speaker systems, Rolex watches, etc... He started buying loose leaf tea and brewing it as a hang over cure. I had always been fascinated with tea, and this really pushed me over the edge in regard to interest. After buying my first cast iron tea kettle I started buying loose leaf teas and trying all kinds of hot and iced tea. I now have many tea kettles, my most prized being from my trip last summer to Hong Kong, China, of the Yixing (pronounced ee-Shing) variety, that was hand made by a master potter. I picked up one for Mike as well. He was very grateful.

So back to Cincinnati, there is a place called Churchills Tea Room that is located in Tower Place downtown. There is this delightful British woman who owns the tea shop, and she has done a marvelous job with the place. High Tea is served 6 days a week and they also have a large variety of tea to choose from off of the shelf. Probably the most enjoyable part of visiting this shop is having a discussion with the owner. I find id fascinating and intriguing being around someone who is such an expert. The desserts she makes are quite delicious, and the view from the prized window seat is not bad either. Hint: There is only one window seat, so if you plan on people watching you had better make reservations!

After visiting on many occasions I now choose to buy all of my tea from this unique place to support their efforts to reinvigorate downtown. I also have brought many friends to spend the afternoon enjoying High Tea and having insightful conversations. It takes about 45 minutes from my house to get down there, but as of yet I have never regretted the drive.

Prosper - Micro lending brought to the masses

A while ago I was reading in the Wall Street Journal, for those of us who are regulars it is called simply "The Journal", about the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. He started the Grameen bank in India that gave out micro-credit loans. These are very small loans given to poor entrepreneurs in third world nations. The impact of these banks is amazing. It stimulates economic development, and fuels the capitalist fire like few other things can. This, of course, does a number of wonderful things economically, politically, and socially for these countries.

Fortunately, I do not live in India. However, I plan on traveling there some day. So how can I start doing something like supporting a micro-credit loan program in Dayton, OH of all places?

Enter www.prosper.com. Prosper is the online version of the Grameen bank. I have been enjoying a 12% return on my investment for about a year now. In the spirit of Micro-credit loans I started small. A mere $250.00 deposit and I was ready to lend. It works similar to Ebay. People basically auction their requests for capital with a detailed description and the lowest rates from the people willing to lend the money win. Lenders, such as my self, bid on these requests with what ever return that they would deem acceptable from their investment. Once the full loan amount is funded the auction closes and the loan is financed.

Prosper has thought of the risks involved and it is compulsory to attach a credit agency to these accounts so that if they were to default, the agency will represent you and get most of your money back. Also, all of those wanting money have their credit score attached. The amount of information is very nice, and makes for a very secure and safe lending environment. The best part of this process is that you can manage your own risk. Do you want to get a higher return? Say, 20%? Well, the people you will lend to will have a credit rating much lower than those expecting an 8% return. The amount of risk you accept is up to you.

I however decided to split my $250.00 between two people. One is paying off credit cards. The other is much closer to my heart. He is getting his MBA and is in sales. Bravo! Though I am not worthy of any Nobel prize, I certainly am enjoying participating in an idea that achieved that status.

Zillow - Realestate Estimator

http://www.zillow.com/

Although Zillow (like "Pillow") claims to be in Beta, it is a very polished Web 2.0 application for anyone looking for a house. It has the look and feel of Google Maps and it overlays houses and housing prices. Although it is not 100% accurate it basically uses sale prices of the neighborhood and comparable houses, "comps", to estimate the value of the house at which you are looking. Zillow calls this a Zestimate.

It definitely gave me piece of mind when buying my first home. I realized that the neighborhood I was looking in was on average worth $XXX,XXX.xx and that the specific sq. ft. requirement and bedroom requirement would put me around that price. It can also pull tax records so that you can estimate what you will be paying when Uncle Sam comes knocking.

Useful, easy and fun to look all of your neighbors and friends houses. Enjoy!

Infiniti G35 Coupe Yuppie Mobile

Automobile
–noun

1.	a passenger vehicle designed for operation on ordinary roads and typically having four wheels and a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine.

Yuppie Mobile
-noun
1. an Infiniti G35 Coupe

Now that I have been making money for a few years I have come to the decision that after buying my house, the next thing I need is a new car. My dad gave me his Cadillac STS when I graduated from UD and it now has 157,000 miles on it. While I do enjoy floating around, and I do mean floating, in a Cadillac the time has come to change my ride. The Cadillac image is not exactly what I was looking for. After all, how many 24 year olds do you know driving an STS?

So, after a long search looking at Honda S2000's, Nissan 350Z's, and Lexus ES 330's I have decided that the Infiniti G35 Coupe is the car for me. A guy in my MBA class has one: black on black, 293 horse power, spoiler, harmonic exhaust, zero lift aerodynamics...I was in love. We went out one night after class and opened up the engine. I about swallowed my tongue. He had the wheels squealing up the entrance ramp to I-75. Damn! My Cadillac's 4.9l V8 could not keep up with this smaller, faster V6. I was impressed and a little shocked at the speed. Plus, most of the Infinity's come with upgraded rims and spoilers in the coupe model.

I was not expecting to ever own an Infiniti, but after my thrilling test drive I hope to be able to get one soon enough. Expect to see me bragging about it in 4 months.

*Crossing my fingers*

Dayton Flyers NCAA Basketball

I have been going to the UD Basketball games for about 15 years of my life. As my family is closely tied to the University of Dayton in a number of ways, we have been Flyer fans for quite some time. I can even remember back when we first got tickets in the nose bleed section so that my sister and I could run around be be kids without disturbing the game for anyone else who actually cared. I can also remember the senior season of Negel Knight who would later be drafted into the NBA. The Dayton community has supported the team with out reservation for many years and I am proud to be a part of that community.

Within the past week the Flyers have added another page to the history of Dayton basketball: Brian Roberts scored his 1,000th point. Only 36 other players for UD have achieved such a status. This accomplishment speaks for itself. I am normally not one to glorify athletes, but from personal experience Brian Roberts is not your normal NCAA student athlete. He is actually smart, lacks the ego that has become so tiresome in college sports, and he unselfishly produces on the court. In short; a leader.

In the most recent game on Saturday against La Salle how does Brian Roberts respond to breaking the 1,000 point barrier? He scores 34 points and wins the game with his unfailing free throw shooting. He is routinely over 80% at the line, but on Saturday, in the last 2 minutes of the game, he was 7 for 7.

Will Roberts have the same long term impact at Negel Knight? Maybe not. Will Roberts continue his basketball stardom into the NBA? Most likely not. In Dayton our stars come and go, and we only get them for a short for years. Our only chance is to watch them play in college, and that is why UD basketball is so special. That is why our fan base is so strong. The fan base roots for the team, not the players. It seems Roberts is rooting the same way.

GO FLYERS!!

Marketing Disaster

The category of products that I am selling currently has been around for over 25 years. However, the product I sell is brand new and has some truly innovative and groundbreaking features. It is more expensive, and works better than any product out there. It has the chance to truly dominate the marketplace. I was specifically recruited from Xerox to join this new product team and make sure that is takes off like a rocket. Coming from Xerox I realize the value of a high priced product that delivers a premium value. If you have ever sold on price, shame on you. The real money, and skill, is in the premium products that demand a premium price.

For any of you who have been in sales you realize that you control only a precious small portion of the success of any product. It is the job of the salesperson to help the customer recognize that there is a difference between their current state, and their desired state. We have to help them realize that they are dissatisfied with their current state and get them all "hot and frothy", as we said at Xerox, about the new product (desired state). Truth be told, that is only a very small part of a total strategic plan for any product. The first step is to get your potential customers aware that this new product even exists. Enter the Marketing team.

To give some background: Our sales team and Marketing team almost never work together. We had a few ceremonial meetings in the beginning and they actually had a hand in training us. Other than the first two weeks of employment we might have seen our marketing team, which consists of two people total, three times for about an hour each occurrence. Three hours in 7 months! Other than the obvious problems that are caused by the lack of time spent together there has been a relatively cordial relationship between the two teams.

About 4 months ago we received an e-mail from Marketing describing their "Marketing Plan". It consisted of sending out mass mailers to every dealer in the country by franchise. They were breaking those down by specific franchises in the order of best chance of success. The first mailer should have the most success. This is not necessarily a bad plan, but sending a mailer to everyone? What happened to target markets? I could go into a diatribe on target markets having a degree in Marketing, but I will not. So, the mailers went out and the response faxes came back. The sales team was excited about getting responses and we jumped on the chance to call these "hot and frothy" customers. Here were the response rates:

• 2281 letters mailed
• 51 Leads (2.5% response rate)
• 1 unit sold @ $XX,xxx.xx NET OT and $Xxx.xx NET Monthly
• 25 open prospects

Lets break this down.

• 2.5% response rate
• Sounds good right? 2.5% might be good for a random sample mailing however this was mailed to only our current customers. The average for a mailer of this type can be between 8% and 25% as defined by marketing standards. The 2.5% category is for things like your Sunday coupon circular.
  
• 1 Unit sold
• Out of 2281 potential customers that is a close rate of .04384%. Not even half of a percent. You might have a better chance selling vacuums door to door.
  
• 25 open prospects
• No one on the sales team even knows what this means. We have many more than 25 prospects but most of those came from our own out-bound activity. Not from the list.

The Verdict: Failure.

Here are rough estimates of the cost of the campaign only for material:

• Postage: $.21 for bulk X 2281 = $479.01
• Printing costs (I did come from Xerox after all): $.03 x $68.43
• Envelopes: $.02 x 2281 = $45.62

Grand Total Materials = $593.06

Without giving exact numbers our Return on Investment was less than 2% only on material costs. This does not include paying salaries, heat, light, time, etc... In terms of an investment. we would have been better off buying a 6 month Savings Bond.

But, have no fear. We have just been told that the next mailer is right around the corner. If we keep this up, we might just get that 1 sale out of 2281 that is just sitting there ripe for the picking.

Adobe Gilas in Dayton

I am not sure if any of you Daytonians have been aching for a Yuppie bar like I have, but I believe we now have our first. Adobe Gilas recently has opened at The Greene. I was out with some people from Reynolds & Reynolds at the Funny Bone Comedy Club, also at the Greene, to meet some of the other sales reps that work on the east coast. We left the comedy club and heard this music coming from a non-descript second story bar. There were a few people standing outside and we decided to ask what was going on.

As it turns out it was the opening night for Adobe Gilas. You needed a special pass to get in, but because it was so late they let our group of 10+ in without any fuss. Also, they did not have their liquor license yet so all of the alcohol was FREE. What a screwed up law: If you have a liquor license you have to charge for alcohol, but if you dont have one currently you can only give it out for free.

Believe me when I tell you that we all took advantage of this new found alcohol induced freedom. It was a fabulous time. The music was a little too loud, the waitresses were georgous, the yuppies were out in full effect. I've found my bar. I have since been there probably half a dozen times with friends and co-workers. Adobe Gilas is exactly what Dayton needed.

Montgomery Inn BBQ

This weekend I drove down to Mederia, a suburb on the north east side of Cincinnati, to visit my best friend, Michael, and his fiancee, Angela and our mutual friend Laura. Despite the rainy 40 degree weather we managed to keep busy indoors. Specifically I went down there to help them move into their new house and do menial tasks such as affixing felt to the bottom of all of their furniture and lifting the heavy objects as directed.

We probably spent three hours doing the heavy lifting before we realized that everyone was getting a little hungry. Before I came down I did mention going to dinner, and Angela made reservations at a Cincinnati favorite called The Montgomery Inn. They have three locations including a very nice boathouse on the Ohio River. The Origional restaurant was closest to Mike's new house and it is my personal favorite. To give you an idea the wait on a typical weekend we called around 5:30 and made reservations for 7:30. By the time we got there the wait was over 3 hours. We arrived at 7:25 and still had to wait half an hour to sit down. Mike described the place fairly accurately when he said "This place prints money." Everyone who was waiting to sit was drinking and enjoying their saratoga chips that you dip into the same BBQ sauce that your ribs are smothered in.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Montgomery Inn it is actually quite famous. Celebrities from all over the world have eaten there and many actually endorse the ribs. Bob Hope used to order them on all of his USO tours, for example. The Montgomery Inn has been rated in any number of BBQ magazines as the #1 restaurant in the country. It certainly lived up to its billing. I could not eat all of the "King slab" and fortunately got a to-go box and ate them for lunch the next afternoon.

The after dinner portion of the night was spent in Mike's basement playing pool and drinking Christmas Ale. Definitely my favorite holiday brew. The perfect topper to the night.

Xerox Sales Training: Find your Monopoly!

A little about Xerox sales training:

Xerox has what is called "client centered selling". It is their self-developed sales training (more on exactly what that is below). When you start at Xerox you go through a 3 month training phase where every day you have to read and know these 3-ring binders of information. They soon become the bane of your existence. I stacked them up at one point and they were taller than I was (I'm 6'2"). You are on conference calls usually 3 times a week and a trainer is on the phone with your training team. The training team was made up of about 20 people from across the country.

After this training over the phone you take tests almost daily. These tests ask everything from "what type of a stapler does a Docucolor 240 have?" to "What is the difference between a Token ring network and a Microsoft Exchange server?" It is intense. They product train the crap out of you and your test results are stack ranked against your class. It is made completely public and is a great source of stress. Your managers see it, the other senior reps in the office see it, and t cooasionally a VP gets on the conference call and asks questions like "Who is the #1 trainee? They also ask "Who are the bottom two people, I want them to stay on after to call so we can talk." They are not messing around and will expose you. It can be a very embarrassing time if you are not at the top of the class.

So, after the product training is over the sales training begins. Out fo the 20 that started only 18 of us made it to Dallas. Those bottom two were unfortunately not asked to continue. They flew the 18 that were left to Dallas, TX where I got off of my plane to a chauffeured black Lincoln limo was waiting next to a driver holding a large sign with my name on it. I literally uttered "Holy shit, I have arrived!" This was my type of business trip! I have traveled extensively across the US and internationally (see future blogs) with my family so I knew what to expect and I know exactly what travel is like. Believe me when I tell you Xerox takes care of their trainees. In the limo was a number of different beverages that I managed to enjoy in the 25 minute drive from Dallas Ft. Worth airport to Lewisville. It was awesome and made me love the company. But I digress...

Client Centered Selling
The next day sales training began. I wont go too much into detail but basically Xerox trains you to sell anything, not only copiers. They give you the tools, that they are continuously reinventing, to position your product better than anyone else. I left a week of sales training and I came in a piece of coal, and exited a diamond. It was intense, it was stressful, it was amazing. Of the 18 that entered only 16 were left. On the second to last day at lunch our trainer came to our table and said "Would Jeff and Angela please join me?" They never came back. In Client Centeres Selling we were tested twice daily. They are long and not easy. They had gotten below a 90% on two tests in a row. They were excused from sales training.

To give you an example of what the sales training is like compared to what you are used to: The OLD way of selling is using what I like to call the "word tricks". We've all heard them, they are as overused like pick-up lines at a bar and include: Shall we use my pen or yours? Or If I could _____ would you _____? Or Wouldn't it be worth the additional cost to allow you to do ______ faster/better/more accurately?

Xerox sales training basically can be summed in in a few words: Find your monopoly. This is my summarization, not theirs, but I think it speaks volumes. Every premium priced product has more options then a standard priced product. Think Lexus vs. Toyota or Sony vs. Sanyo. If you are sold those products in a way that makes you believe that you cannot live without one of the premium options, and that is emphasised in presentations again and again you start to really believe it. Soon, that option is more important to you than price. If this is all done correctly it actually becomes your(the customers') idea that that option is 100% necessary. It is developing this Monopoly in your customers mind that is so powerful in sales. Without it you are only competing on price. Every product has a Monopoly, even commodities. If you cannot find it, you are simply not a good sales person. So I ask you: What is your product/companies monopoly?

Xerox - Finding A First Job

So you have graduated...now what.

I graduated from the University of Dayton in may of 2005 and had been applying for all sorts of sales jobs. I had applied to every type of company from American Income Life Insurance to a start up company that sold mobile bar-coding layouts for huge factories. I must have had applied for 30 jobs and had been through at least as many interviews. My search ended with my realization that I was going to be selling copiers for the first part of my life.

I had been contacting a number of businesses in the Dayton, OH area and had narrowed my search to a few well known companies: NCR, IBM, Xerox, Procter and Gamble, MeadWestvaco etc... I had high aspirations and was willing to do just about anything to not end up like some of my friends working for Localsmallcompany Inc. I wanted to be branded and have a pedigree so that when I left my first job, my second employer would say, "I want you to meet Kevin, our newest employee. He worked at ________ ."

When I was an intern at Reynolds and Reynolds in college I noticed that people always said that, "Kathy is our number one sales rep this year. She came from IBM." They mentioned that as if it was no surprise that she was successful here. I wanted that. Kathy was riding the coat tails of a company that she no longer worked for. She always humbly pushed off the compliment, which only made people talk about it more.

Well, IBM never returned my call even though I had the help of my sales professor, who worked for IBM for 15 years, passing out my resume to his old IBM-ers. In fact, of all of those companies mentioned only about half had contacted me at all. Xerox, however did. I must have sent Leah, Xerox's Dayton sales manager, three resumes and half a dozen e-mails from January to May and finally she returned my repeated request for a job. Lucky for both of us she was jsut in time. Another local copier company that sold Konica Minolta had been calling me and I was in the interview process with them as well. In fact they had an offer on the table before I had even heard from Leah. This was a huge advantage: I had ammo. Unlike most college graduates I already had leverage, and with a competitor!

I met Leah and toward the end of the interview when she asked me who else I had been talking to I made sure to mention Konica Minolta. She asked a few other questions about them and the rest is history. I started with Xerox and began a journey that I could only have imagined.

I thought I knew a lot about sales.

I was about to find out that I did not.

A little about myself

Greetings!

Welcome to my first attempt at creating a business focused Sales Blog. As I have traversed through my early career in sales I feel I have experiences that I want to share. I have been through Xerox's legendary sales training and recently through a much smaller sales program with my current employer, Reynolds and Reynolds.

As a 24 year old sales professional who is also a full time MBA student I have a unique perspective on the business world. I am torn between the practical business methods from the usual 8-5 grind and the theoretical and ideal academic world. The MBA program is quite the frustrating experience (more on that later) as I am learning new perspectives on business that no one else I work with can really seem to understand. I have all of the intuition and ideas of management, yet due to age and lack of experience I am stuck in the "produce first, promote second" mindset.

I hope that all of you 20 somethings can relate.

Great selling!