Lisbeth Calandrino::

Ramona's restaurant quietly sits on Lark Street in Albany, New York. There isn't much signage and you have to walk down a step to enter the restaurant. If you're a regular, Ramona is sure to greet you with a big smile and a genuine hello. She remembers your name, your boyfriend's name, your dog's name, what you like to eat and anything else you've told her.

What makes Ramona’s special is, well, Ramona. She's entering her 8th year of business, which means she's come far. While undercapitalized and on a shoe-string budget, she's succeeding for no reason other than her entrepreneurial spirit. Her goal is to not only have good, simple food, but to help feed the hungry and those in need. When I'm home, I have breakfast and lunch at Ramona's — not only to get fed but also to find out what's going on in the neighborhood. Ramona pretty much knows everything that goes on in the neighborhood.

Like other single entrepreneurs, Ramona is tired, but she loves her customers, loves knowing that her customers like her and her food. She also loves being part of the neighborhood. I know that if I needed anything, I could call Ramona. She goes above and beyond running a restaurant.

How has Ramona made it? Here's what I gather from talking to her:

1. Keep it simple; know what you can do and what you can't do. At one point Ramona tried to extend her hours and take in a partner; it didn't work. Her regular customers didn't like it without Ramona.

2. Do what you know. Ramona tried to make the menu more sophisticated; instead of hamburgers and omelets, she added soups and shrimp dishes; customers clamored for the hamburgers and omelets and the shrimp went bad.

3. Love your customers, all of them. They're what keep you in business.

4. Know what's special about each of your customers; remember their names and what they like to eat. (Remember to save something for their pets.)

5. Reinvest your money back in your business. Ramona has painted and bought new equipment.

6. Talk with your customers; ask how they feel about your food and your service. Ask if there's anything they would like you to do to make it a better experience.

7. Keep in touch with your customers by phone or by email. One of Ramona's long time customers, who lived alone, had not been in for breakfast for several weeks. Ramona called and eventually found out that he had died. Ramona was very close to her customer, he also helped with her computer, and she wished she had kept in better touch. "My customers are my friends," says Ramona, "and I need to keep track of them."

A good motto for anyone in business.

A builder friend of mine, Ron Cassella, commented on what it takes to "know the customer." Most of his work is concentrated in downtown Albany, which is the historic area of the city. Period homes with strict historical renovation guidelines from the color of your house to the placement of an outside air conditioner.

By the way, most of Ronnie’s customers are female. Ronnie has seen this change over the past 10 years—prior to that time Ronnie was used to working with men and most of his work was supervising large roofing crews. When the market changed, so did Ronnie.

Lis: What makes a good customer?
Ronnie: A customer that is educated on the process. I spend considerable time educating my customers on the process. What it takes to renovate a house and what costs. For instance customers want you to shop with them and help them pick out the right things—especially women. They want to build a relationship with you and sometimes jobs take years to complete so you have that relationship. But I have to charge for shopping! One hour is precious to me. So first I educate customers on the process of renovation. 

Lis: Have the home shows hurt or helped your business?
Ronnie: They have done both. Sometimes I think they watch too much Bob Villa and programs like this. It looks so simple to move walls, build closets and make changes to an existing structure that customers don’t understand the costs. It’s helped give customers knowledge about what they might want. I don’t have to do all of the thinking for them. Often times the customer can be very creative which makes for more interesting work as well a increasing the scope of the project—they get these ideas from the television shows.

Lis: What’s been your biggest influence in your business?
Ronnie: I grew up with 10 sisters, and I was the youngest child. They taught me how to dress, to pay attention to detail and to understand color and cooking;  in order to survive I had to learn skills that I would have never learned. All of these things are skills and interests that most women have; it’s helped me build rapport and trust with my customer.

Lis: What was the hardest thing for you to learn through the years?
Ronnie: I think it was understanding that when it comes to rehab it’s never simple and once you take down a wall you never know what’s behind it or what you’ll need to do when you get there. 25 years ago I bought an 1856 shell of a house on Pearl Street in Albany and it’s been my labor of love as well as my school. I fell in love with the detail of the house; not having a lot of money, I began to work on “recreating” the look. I realized that my eye for detail and patience paid off. Those long hours I spent with my sisters proved to be valuable.

Lis: Ronnie, can you give me 10 lessons you’ve learned though the years that have helped you be a better business person.
Ronnie: Yes and most of them I learned the hard way but they’ve paid off.

1. Always take your customer’s phone calls. Some people send everything to voice mail; I always pick up the phone no matter what. They are always very surprised but I’ve been able to troubleshoot and prevent bigger things from occurring.

2. Write everything down. I get talking to customers and it’s easy to forget what you said you would do, how much time it would take or even what you talked about. Particularly if you’re doing several jobs.

3. Explain in detail what the customer should expect on a job. How long it should take if nothing happens after you tear the wall down.

4. Take photos of the job as you go along; if you rip a wall down, take a photo of it before you took it down and what it looked like after it was down. Customers can’t always remember what it looked like or how much work it took to remove the wall.

5. Give customers options as you go along with the work; get the customer involved with the process—give them ownership. Always remember it’s their home not yours and they should get what they want.

6. Never forget that you’re the expert. If it can’t be done or you think it shouldn’t be done it’s your responsibility to tell the customer and stick by your guns. Of course you have to follow your building codes and sometimes the outcome can’t be what the customer wants. Maybe it’s a transition molding that you need on the floor but the step is too high; you may be asking for a lawsuit from someone who trips on the molding. It’s not desirable to have the customer “sign off” on a procedure that you really don’t think should be done even if it falls within codes.

7. Get plenty of written references and photos of jobs that you’ve done. Your great customers will be happy to talk with new customers; referrals are the best business you can get and most of your business will come from referrals—I stopped advertising years ago.

8. Get to know your customer’s lifestyle, look at where they live and what they’ve put in their homes; what do they value? Many times I’ve had customers say they want to save money and then I remind them of how they like to live and where they invested their money in their last house. Renovating a home is an investment not an expense—it should be what you love and want and support your lifestyle. If a customer really likes to cook and entertain they shouldn’t skimp on their kitchen.

9. Help customers understand that changes cost money and it’s wise to think things through before they ask you to go ahead. One of my customers had three doors in this tiny room; the question was which ones should be closed and which one should be the entrance door. Believe it or not, she had me change the entrance three times. After the first one I told her that every time we changed it there would be a charge; she said keep changing it until I like it—and so we did. The best way is not always evident.

10. Remember the customer’s home is extremely important to them; it maybe the only home they ever renovate. You must treat each customer and each home as if it’s special—to you. Get excited, take an interest and be genuine.

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed." - Booker T. Washington

About 15 years ago I consulted for a company in the Cleveland market. On a trip to one of their stores the frustrated owner remarked to me "What am I to do?" His customers were speaking Spanish and he was losing business. In my mind it was a simple solution—hire Spanish speaking salespeople or teach the ones he had Spanish. This same problem occurred while I was doing training for another store in Ohio; the store was disturbed that a Hispanic grocery store was opening next door and the flooring store was getting many customers who did not speak English. Again the cry was, why can’t they all speak English? I guess the answer is: because they don’t. According to the research firm HispanTelligence, there area bout 40 million Latinos who make up 15% of the US population with a purchasing power of about $1 trillion by 2010. That’s a pretty big target market.

As I surf my TV channels, I see there are more Spanish speaking language channels than ever before.  Having traveled abroad it appears to me that in other countries residents speak multiple languages, it’s like going to kindergarten, you just learn. In the United States, it’s my experience that somehow we think that everyone should speak our language. Sure it would make it easier but maybe it’s what’s called globalization — not elitism or that the world rises and sets on the United States.

Do you have to speak English in the U.S. to succeed?  The C.R.I. publishes their specifications for installers in Spanish.

At the turn of the century, immigrants tried to assimilate to America.  And language was a big part in the assimilation process.  So a lot of immigrant families had an English-only rule. My mother spoke Italian with my grandparents but would not teach me how to speaking Italian—what a waste. My grandparents spoke English but when they didn’t want the grandchildren to understand what they were saying they spoke Italian.

I was speaking with my accountant the other day who was explaining he had to pick up his three year old daughter from language school; his adopted daughter is of Chinese origin—at this point she is fluent in Chinese as well as English. About as fluent as a 3 year old can be with any language. What was interesting was his desire for her to learn her native language and understand her heritage.

What we’re talking about is marketing, knowing who your customers are and then what influences them to buy. There was an expression: when in Rome do as the Romans do.

Speaking of being Italian

Several years ago I got the urge to be Italian. I mean, I am Italian but I mean real Italian. I started by holding  Italian Night dinners— where everyone has too much to drink, too much to eat, someone spills wine on the white table cloth we eat too much garlic and kiss everyone. The men all cook, and somebody even makes candy.

Did I mention the women do the dishes and the men smoke cigars?

The night became so popular that non-Italians wanted to attend. I’m planning my next one but you have to have been before, know someone or been to Italy to come. I’ll also have lots of photos of all my Italian friends. So the event is getting bigger, and that’s what an Italian family is about, lots of  warm people with those  deep set brown eyes that seem to go on forever.

I also joined the local American Italian Museum in Albany, New York after running into my cousin Nicholas Cozzolino in the Italian market. I hadn’t seen him in about a year but he has his own Italian “food mates,” studies Italian and has been to Italy several times. Boy am I behind.

I recently found out there is a trans-fat-free cannoli. Instead of frying the shell, it’s now baked.

Go delve into your heritage, video some conversations between you and your grandma or grandpa if you’re lucky to have them around. Part of what makes you special are the traditions in your life and your heritage.

Hey, write me some notes about your family.

"As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round." -Ben Hogan 1912-1997, American Golfer

How’s this for advertising:

Falso Service Experts for Lennox — count on your NATE–Certified, background-checked, drug-tested technicians to fix it right the first time."

I don’t know what NATE-Certified means, and while the rest seems pretty ominous, they’re right: any professional coming into the privacy of our homes should go through a screening process. Would this form of screening (and advertising) work for your business?

Sign in elevator: “Elevator shut down. Energy Conservation during non-peak hours!" The logo is a cute electric light bulb with a tree in the middle and the slogan, "Go green!"

If you listen long enough you hear the greatest things. I just came across an interesting study online about word-of-mouth business.  According to studies done by buzz agencies and aired on Good Morning America, women are twice as likely to purchase a product if their friends tell them that it’s good. Are you familiar with the fast-drying nail polish OPI in a pen? The manufacturers hired the firm SheSpeaks to drum up excitement. SheSpeaks sent the product to 9,000 women asking them to try it and share coupons with friends. The result: SheSpeaks says 120,000 Nic’s Sticks were sold based on the campaign, which is 13-times the original giveway. SheSpeaks says the redemption rate for the coupons distributed by its marketers was 300 percent greater than the rate of redemption for the same $1-off coupon inserted in magazines! The power of the Internet. Go to GMA and look at the various studies, maybe you could adopt one of these to your business.

For years I thought that in order to make money your business had to be different. All the marketing classes talk about a business's "USP," or unique selling proposition. I know plenty of businesses that are different but they don’t make any mone. In fact, many of them have gone out of business. One that comes to mind is an electronics store called The Wiz, which had the tag line "Nobody beats the Wiz."  I wonder if the name, different as it was, actually helped them go out of business? Truth was, nobody did beat the Wiz, because they had the lowest price. But it wasn't long before they were gone. What does "differentiation" mean unless it adds to your bottom line?

Maybe it’s not just being different — maybe there’s a missing component. The missing component is the customer and how the customer feels about your differentiation. Does the difference really matter to them? I talk to retailers who tell me that the most important part of the ad is their family and their children—they say everyone remarks how good they look. My question is, can you connect the children and the number of sales? No one can answer the question with any statistics.

I notice in many beauty salons the hairstylists have strange color hair and hair styles—most not desired by most customers! In fact it somewhat frightens me that I might be the recipient of one of those colors or one of those haircuts. They certainly are different but I don’t see many of those haircuts or those colors on top of the average person. Maybe they should ask their customers what kind of looks they want and then wear those cuts and those colors. If you have blue-haired customers maybe it would be wise to have a stylist with blue hair? How many people have you seen going out of the salon with those colors and cuts?

This started me thinking, what really makes a difference? A year ago I attended a workshop in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on Building your Competitive Advantage, given by author and speaker Jaynie Smith.  One evening, driving in my car and listening to NPR, I heard Jaynie Smith talking about her book on building a competive advantage. Everything she said made sense to me.I stopped at the nearest Barnes and Noble and bought the book. After reading it I made a point to call. We decided to meet in Ft.Lauderdale at one of my seminars so I could ask her about her book.  One of the most important things that Jaynie said was that building your competitive advantage can do one very important thing for your business: it can free you from price-based competition.

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After watching the Olympics, all I can say is I really feel like a slacker. Listening to the training schedules, the pressure involved, etc. No matter what my age I could never bend over like that!

Anyone who knows me has heard me talk about small windows of opportunities in life. All of a sudden it’s there–your shot at stardom, fame or wealth. Speedo and Visa — who sponsor Michael Phelps — certainly got their money’s worth. But there’s also Michael’s mom, Debbie, who was spotted wearing clothes from Chicos. Apparently she’s a loyal customer, and Chicos, for their part, has been getting free exposure.

According to the company, customers have been calling and asking where they can get the jacket they saw her wearing. As a loyal customer, they sent her a $100 gift certificate and wished her son the best of luck in the Games. Now they’ve gone a step further: they’ve offered her a line of clothing exclusively at Chicos called the Debbie Phelps Collection.

Since then, the crew at Good morning America and other T.V. personalities have been seen sporting her garb. “She is the hero behind the hero,” says Dan Mintz of the ad agency DMG. Will it help Chicos, which also owns White House/Black Market — a favorite of mine in West Palm Beach? Let’s hope so. According to USA Today, the company was down 18.5 percent from July.

What does this mean for you?

Getting real customers to advertise for you. A customer who can be spotted sporting your rug or hardwood floor — or who’s willing to become your cosumer expert.

Remember to pay attention, and don’t let an opportunity slip by!