Archive for May, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-30
Posted by: | Comments- 13 key characteristics of a great startup culture http://bit.ly/bBlr2 #
- Has anyone seen the lost 20 Agurot coins? http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088219.html #
- Israel unemployment rate up to 7.6% in first quarter of 2009 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088673.html #
- Fischer upbeat on 2010 GDP growth http://bit.ly/B5nMD
/JPArticle/ShowFull # - Israpreneur just became a PR3! Hope everyone enjoys the content. Please come & sign up so you won’t miss a post and tell your friends! #
After 7 years my Aliyah Dream is Finally Complete! Hunts Vanilla Pudding Comes to Israel
Posted by: | CommentsMy wife called me in the office yesterday and said “You will never believe what I just bought for you at the Makolet”. I was a bit busy so I asked her just to tell me and then the euphoria set in. “Hunts Vanilla Pudding!” she answered. And just like that my Aliyah that I started 7 years ago on the very first Nefesh B’Nefesh flight has become complete.
For the last 35 years when anyone would ask me what my favorit food was in the whole world the answer is always the same “Hunts Vanilla Pudding”. I simply could not get enough of the stuff and I’m sure that this is the closest taste to Mana for Shamayim that we have today.
(As I right this, and I kid you not, my two year old is crying since he saw the pudding and my wife asked if I could give him one and I said No. She said she is giving him one anyway and when I go to the makolet I could by more. “But what if they are out?” I ask her in all seriousness.)
Anyway, the obesession started when I was a little kid when the puddings use to come in little tin tuna can type of things. I found a pic of the packaging online as you can see here.
My favorite lunches where when my Mom would put one of these babies into the bag. It brightened my whole day.
When I made Aliyah I realized that this is something I’m going to have to sacrafice with moving to Israel. I figured there was no way it would ever be imported since Israel was known for their puddings and was even an accepted breakfast for kids. And the truth be told the puddings in Israel are ok, just not as good as Hunts Snack Packs. In the end I came to terms with it and I figured from time to time I can get someone to bring some back from the States or I could pick some up myself.
But I have been filled with frustration since last year. My parents went to the states and as a Birthday Present they bought me a four pack of the pudding. It would have been the best present ever except that it was the “lite” version. You know, the one that comes without the taste. So that was a huge disappointment for me, but about a month later I went to the States myself and I made sure that I would not make the same mistake. I bought my self a couple of 4 packs the day before I was leaving back to Israel. When I was packing my bags I realized that I could not pack them in my luggage since they could get squished and opened up and that would be not cool. So I kept the treasures in my carry on making sure to have them close.
Well, when I was going through security them stopped me and guess what they took out of my carry on? That’s right, my Hunts Vanilla Pudding. Apparently they were a bomb threat. I was so disturbed making up stories on how one of my kids needed it because of a medical condition and the man basically gave me two choices.
1. Leave them there to be thrown out
or
2. Eat them on the spot
I will leave which one of the two I chose up to your imagination.
In anycase it seems I will have no more worries since my local makolet in Ramat Bet Shemesh now has them! When I came home early I went straight to my prize to make sure it was the real deal. Below are a couple of pictures for your review. At first I was a bit nervous because for some reason the word “Hunts” was missing from the packaging even though the rest looked the same. Then I looked at the pudding themselves and Thank Hashem it said Hunts and was the real deal.
It is incredible that I am able to wait till Shavous tonight before I have one in order to make my Chag really special. Ok, gotta run to the makolet. Apparently we still need a couple of things!
Chag Samayach everyone!
How to Make Your Products and Services Stand Out – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsCLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST PART IN THIS SERIES
In Part 1 we pointed out that your customers will flock to your products and services only if they feel that you really get it; you understand them better than anyone else.
We noticed that many companies never create such a passionate following because they rely on surveys and focus groups which, even when well designed, are limited. There is a distinction, we observed, between Market Research and Market Understanding.
Today, we share some more insights for you to consider.
· The hands-down most powerful way to develop a deep understanding of your customers is to get out there to listen and observe. As often as not, the customer will say one thing, but their behavior will show something else. This isn’t malicious; they probably aren’t even aware of the discrepancy.
· Psychology speaks of the difference between our Espoused Theory of Action and our Theory In Use.* We often talk about what we want, and do something else. So both listening and observing give you a full picture. Ask open questions and then watch their behavior.
Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, was known for his non-stop visits to retail stores; his own and competitors. He would get down on the floor and measure the width of aisles, take note of the lighting and so on and try to understand how that affected the shoppers.
When Google was developing the now ubiquitous Gmail, they would sit and watch how different people used their email, taking notes.
The CEO of a local company that was going to soon be offering software for call centers, took a part time job at a call center so he could understand what the lowly rep really needed to do a better job.
Proctor & Gamble has learned that they will gain a deeper understanding by just following and watching a handful of typical customers over several weeks than they can by surveying thousands of people.
Does your company do anything comparable?
· Peter Drucker observed that knowledge is the “one and only distinct resource of any business. Other resources, money or physical equipment, for instance, do not confer any distinction. What does make a business distinct and what is its peculiar resource is its ability to use knowledge of all kinds – from scientific and technical knowledge to social, economic, and managerial knowledge…”
Your knowledge, or understanding, of your customer will give you a distinct advantage.
· What is it that you want to understand, anyway? You want to be able to write a page in their diary. It isn’t enough to say that you are looking for women between 40 and 65 or teenagers who like clothes or companies looking to save money on their operations. If you really want to be able to speak their language, to get them to sit up, take notice and say “That’s interesting. Tell me more!” You need to understand much more than how they use your product – or your competitor’s.
· In my own consulting business I’ve come to understand that the client whose business I can really help is not just the CEO of a growing company. I’ve come to see that I can be far more valuable when the owner or CEO:
-
- Has their attention focused on one business at a time.
- Has a track record of both successes and failures.
- Has the maturity to appreciate that the wise thing is not to pinch pennies and do everything in-house, but to focus on results. And where those results can be achieved faster and more reliably with outside expertise, that’s a wise investment.
- Loves what they are doing and deeply believes that their company is a vehicle to improving lives.
- Has a healthy ego, not a big ego.
- Isn’t obsessed with growth for growth’s sake. Understands that if the company makes a bigger positive impact, the customers will reward them financially.
- Understands that it isn’t about big hits and big wins, but about small steps, consistently and persistently, over a prolonged period of time.
- Isn’t looking for a free lunch. Honestly and deeply believes in setting up win-win relationships with everyone they deal with.
· At the end of the day, the degree that your company stands out will be in direct proportion to how deeply your market feels you “get it.” Everything else can be copied rather easily. Acquire a deeper understanding, continually deepen it and you’ll always be a step ahead.
Is your market understanding deep and nuanced enough? What are you doing to continuously deepen it? To stay current with changes? Is it enough?
What questions do you have on this subject? Reply and I’ll do my best to answer them immediately or in a future article.
Are your customers excited about your products and services? Have you been surprised and perplexed by a low level of interest? We’ve found that the answers lie in taking bold small steps, again and again and again.
Be in touch,
Dov Gordon
+972-2-992-0396
PS – If you are involved in Pay-Per-Click marketing, Google Adwords and the like, you should check out Glenn Livingstone’s 17 FREE AdWords Cheat Sheets, Videos, and MP3s. I’ve learned a lot from Glenn and sent some of his free materials to grateful clients.
Glenn has a very strong business background consulting for dozens of companies like AT&T, Lipton, Novartis, Whirlpool,and many, many more. And, also unlike many of the Internet marketing “gurus,” Glenn successfully built 17 of his own AdWords projects in markets having NOTHING TO DO with internet
marketing. Glenn’s emails are one of the few I always read. http://www.PayPerClickSearchMarketing.com/r/a.php?MzYyj
* These terms were coined by Chris Argyris of Harvard Business School in the context of his decades of research into “learning organizations” and “action learning.”
Aroma gets it right! Kudos to them for always being customer centric
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I have become a big fan of Aroma ever since moving to Israel. The place is always clean, the food delicious, the portions large and the coffee the best in Israel (My wife can’t get enough of their Ice Coffee).
But what really makes them stick out is there customer service. They always look to do the right thing and even go beyond what they need to in order to make their clients happy. I don’t know if this is the way in all their branches, but it is the way in the Bet Shemesh branch. Yester I was waiting online for my order and I noticed a women next to me who was also waiting. Her two cups of coffee where ready and she was just waiting for her sandwhich. It took about 10 minutes, longer then usual, but when her sandwich came out the guy working behind the bar took the two cups of coffee (as seen in the picture above) and insisted on making her two new fresh cups of coffee.
I was stunned as the women was ready to walk out with her order, was probably happy with her order, did not ask for a new order etc. But that was not it! The guy could have microwaved the coffee to heat it up and being only 10 minutes old could have given it back as good as new, yet he was not satisfied with as good as new, he made sure she got new! And it was not like he had all the time in the world as their were other customers also waiting for their orders. Watching this made me waiting for my order worth it.
This is a prime example of what makes a company successful in Israel. If every business followed the way Aroma treats their customers there would be much more satisfied customers and less unemployment or businesses closing.
Don’t be just another number, make yourself count!
Posted by: | CommentsAKA – Making your CV stickout when trying to get a job in Israel
I have spoken about this idea in the past and I will say it again and again. Don’t be just another number, make yourself count! If you see a job you want, show them that you want it. Don’t just send in a CV like everyone else, make yours stick out like a sore thumb! You want your CV to be at the top of the pile. The whole point of the CV is to get the interview not to get the job. Once you are at the interview that is your time to shine.
Take a look at this link: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/30-artistic-and-creative-resumes/
You will see 30 creative CV’s that will get your creative juices flowing. When you redo yours, send it in to us so we can post your creativity and help yo get noticed.
Failure: The Secret to Sucess ~Video
Posted by: | CommentsFunny, I just posted about this very topic about a month ago here. And now Honda has released a great video about failure leading to success. I wonder if they read my post first 
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-23
Posted by: | Comments- Israeli founds world’s first tuition-free online university http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085884.html #
- Israeli unemployment rate expected to hit 8% next year http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086335.html #
- Terrorists Using Facebook http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131417 #
- Jewish College Drop-out becomes a Doctor http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090520/NEWS/905200364/1001/RSS09 #
- How to use Twitter to build your personal brand http://bit.ly/oPWgY #
Just A Thought: Running on the Treadmill and Running a Business
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Yesterday I was able to pump myself up enough to go on the treadmill. (Note To Self: something I should be doing everyday). As I was on it I was feeling pretty good about myself and as I was getting to the end of my 30 minute fast walk session I started wondering if my colleagues at work would notice a difference. And then I laughed at myself. Sure I was feeling great, but going on the treadmill once every three months? Is that something I really think would be noticable? Of course not!
But we live in the “instant gratification nation”. We want to see results instantly and if we don’t, then we lose what ever pumped up feeling we had right before. But the truth is if you want to succeed in losing weight or getting healthy you need to be both patient and consistent in order to achieve any success and the same is true when you are running or starting a business. If after you open up shop and your store is not flooded with customers you may get discouraged. “How dare the entire city not come out to my store on the first day of business!”. But that is not reality. Just like with loosing weight, to see reall success it may take many months or even years, but if you stay patient and consistent you will reach success!
Should you pay a recruiter In Israel a fee to find you a job?
Posted by: | CommentsI just saw the following posts on an email list. Take a read and then I’ll post my comments and I would love to hear yours.
Someone told me about a company that’s charging people looking for work 100 NIS per month to help them find a job.
Where I come from, it’s the hiring companies that pay the headhunters, not the potential employees.
Otherwise, what’s the motivation for them to find someone a job, as long as they’re being paid by the month?!
Am I crazy? Am I missing something, or is this a ripoff scheme? Are things *so* different in this country? Is this another example of right-to-left?
Mike
Not only that but once they find you a job, you need to pay them something every month out of your salary.
Sara
Now my first feeling after reading this was to jump on the guy trying to ripoff people in their time of need, but before I do lets first see if there is some way it would make some sense.
When you are in need of a job, I’m sure you would be willing to pay 100 NIS or even 1000 NIS if someone could find you a job that you would be happy with. So if I said I will give you a job that includes a salary and benefits and all you have to do is give me a few hundred NIS is there anyone outhere that would not pay that fee?
So the question is not really on the service, but it then becomes a question of the person offering you the service. We are assuming that the guy is just looking to make some money off people to “find them a job” and not really putting any effort into actually finding you a job.
Now lets say this guy has found 10 jobs for all 10 people that came to him in April. Let’s also say he gave you the names of those 10 people and you called each of them and they call confirmed that this guy helped them successfully get a job. Would you then still feel he is ripping you off?
So you need to put things in perspective and look into the person offering the service and do proper due diligience. Then you can come to a conclusion.
The “normal” way of doing recruiting and this is how all the big firms do it is to charge the employer a monthly fee to help find the best candidates for an open position and then they also take between 1-3 months of the persons salary as a commission. In todays current market most of these firms will drop the retainer fee and work just on commission.
How to Make Your Products and Services Stand Out – Part 1.
Posted by: | CommentsThe company with the deepest understanding, the deepest awareness of the very real motivations, fears, passions, and aspirations of their customers, will develop the innovative and profitable products and services.
There is almost always a gap, often a tremendous gap, between what we believe to be the reasons our customers buy from us and the real reasons they buy from us. And studies show that we are very likely to believe that our business is different and the last sentence doesn’t apply to us. (Wiggle out of that one. 
Far too many companies are afraid – yes downright scared – to ask the customers what they really, honestly think and feel. They are afraid of what the customers may say. They choose short term comfort and long term mediocrity over short term pain and long term excellence. So they do market research.
You don’t need to do market research. You do need to acquire market understanding. Deep understanding. And much of what passes for market research will not help you understand because…
Market research is an activity, an input. Market understanding it an output, a result.
Most market research fails to give market understanding because the objectives of the research are poorly articulated and there’s too much focus on the methodology, the activity.
Always begin by asking “What do we most want to understand? Why?” and “How will we use the information once we collect it? Why?”
Most quantitative surveys are poorly structured; even downright reckless. They generate answers that should not be used for decision making. Did you read about my experience taking a survey about cottage cheese?
The best market understanding is achieved when (1) you really, really care about the customer and (2) you are not afraid of what they may tell you because you’re willing to suffer some pain today so you can be excellent – and really stand out – tomorrow.
Look out Next Week for Part 2
