The James J. Palmeri Company
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Business Know-How Newsletter Mar 09, 2010 10:00AM Connect to Your Customers on Their Terms What is it that your customers value? Is it a live person answering their call? Being able to get information from your web site or in email? Find out why focusing on your customer's preferences is the surest path to a thriving business. Mar 09, 2010 10:00AM 10 Tips to Take Your Customer Service from Drab to Fab You can spend thousands of dollars on an ad campaign, only to have it all go to waste if your customers are put off by the service they receive when they actually enter your business. If you think your customers are less than impressed by your employees then give your customer service a makeover with these 10 tips. Mar 09, 2010 10:00AM Building and Managing Your Reputation on Facebook Having a Facebook page for your business can help you connect with customers and others in your industry. Here are some ways you can make the most of your Facebook reputation. Mar 09, 2010 10:00AM Bullet-Proofing Your Business in Today's Economy Businesses are facing difficult times right now, and the sad fact is that not all of them can survive. But there are some things you can do to position your business to handle the difficult days that still lie ahead and increases the chances that it will survive to see sunnier days. Mar 02, 2010 10:00AM How to Spot Fraudulent Census Takers The Census Bureau is about to begin its once-a-decade count of the population, and crooks and scam artists are already attempting to take advantage of trusting individuals and businesses. The best way to protect yourself is to know how to recognize both real and fake census workers. Mar 02, 2010 10:00AM 7 Steps to More Customer Referrals One of the best ways to increase revenue and profits in a tough economy is to get more new customers who are already sold on your product, service or brand. Here are seven things you can do to get more referrals in your business. Copyright 2010 by Attard Communications, Inc. Business Know-How is a registered trademark of Attard Communications, Inc.
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Passion, Marketing, & Success
By James J. Palmeri, The James J. Palmeri Co.
I have been accused by former business associates of becoming too emotional, too passionate about my business. Well, my answer is and was quite simple. TOUGH LUCK! More people should be that way. Passion: it should be the backbone of every business. In an age when corporate profits and P/E ratios and return on investment become the mantras by which our corporate leaders lead, it should be refreshing when someone takes something personally.
Take it personally - some people call it market research. I call it asking the customer what they like or disliked about your product. You can spend thousands of dollars hiring consultants to "develop, distribute, sample, compile, tabulate, and report" your customers spending habits. (Note: if you would like to hire my company to waste this money, I won't let you!) Talk to your customers. Thank those who complained. They could have easily just never used your services again and you would never know what type of service your company was providing.
Spend time with your customer. My favorite commercial is the one with the boss telling his sales managers how he received a call from an "old customer who used to be a friend." The customer told him how he called the company and got voice mail, then was contacted by fax and returned the order by another fax. He was not happy when he had to give feedback via e-mail. The boss then proceeded to hand out airline tickets so that the managers could go and SEE the clients. We live in such a fast paced age, it is almost a way of life to see "how fast" we can accomplish something so that we can go on to the next issue. Slow down.
Who are these customers we are talking about? Just three. That's all. You should be able to handle them:
A set of just three customers. All people who care about you. If they didn't, they wouldn't still be around you. Ask each of them the same questions. How is the company approaching issues? How are you approaching issues? How am I approaching issues? You may be surprised at the answers you get. The closer you are to these three customers, the more accurate and honest answers you will get. Be willing and available to take criticism. Be open for it. Encourage it. Be thick-skinned. There will be times when you will need it.
Know the difference between Marketing and Advertising. That 3 by 5 advertisement in the local newspaper is not marketing. Know your marketing budget could be $0.00 with the right attitude towards the three customer groups above. Your passion will be marketed by you and your people. When passion for your business is contagious, success is not far behind. Knowing all your customers will keep you ahead of the curve. You will have the time to talk with your people instead of dealing with everyday issues like negotiating better insurance rates, communicating new government mandates, and paying your taxes. These things will become a breeze when your partners, co-workers and family are behind you.
© - Copywritten 2007
The James J. Palmeri Company
By: James J. Palmeri, The James J. Palmeri Company
Corporate Stiffs Need OIL*
*Outstanding Internal Leadership
What is oil? We have all seen the colorfully marketed cans lined up in our motor parts store or local discount department store with names like Valvoline, STP, or Pennzoil. We have seen certain name brands emblazoned upon the sides of race cars, sports stadiums, and gas stations. It is highly competitive and marketed product. And it’s cheap!! Its use is simple - keep the moving parts inside any machine from wearing away at each other, causing friction, reducing the heat buildup, and most importantly, extending the life of the machine.
So what is the oil in the service industry machine? Some may say employee compensations packages; some would argue that it is the facility in which they work, while others just don’t care since it’s just a job to them.
In the late 1980s and 1990s we heard the words Quality and Customer Service thrown about with the same carelessness as the word Love. We practiced Total Quality Management. Ford said that Quality was Job #1. Customer Service seminars sprouted like gas stations at a new interstate exit. We talked about changing corporate culture. Work smarter, not harder was the mantra. Middle managers were hired, business expanded. Materialism became the motivation for success. Everyone attended the nicely “packaged” corporate training. We all wore team apparel, not from our favorite baseball team, but rather from our favorite corporate team. RAH, RAH, RAH, pass me the Rolex.
What happened? Why did things fall apart? When did we stop looking for long-term quality results and customer focus and start focusing on monthly profit and loss statements as our only barometer? A politician could blame it on “it’s the economy stupid,” but it is much more than that. In a service economy, we built human machines. We installed, at the factory, some lubricant and we shipped these machines to glittering office buildings in corporate centers. Whose responsibility was it to check the OIL? And more importantly, which brands were we supposed to use. While many “Instruction” manuals (otherwise known as the latest management concept) came with these human machines, no formula or mention of OIL was ever included.
As we moved away from manufacturing and production, America moved to a service economy. Therefore, our capital overhead is no longer mechanical devices, but rather human productive machinery. Since corporate “rightsizing”, many workers feel that they have become machines. More work expected to be produced from their sweat, yet little maintenance has been performed.
The OIL needed in the service industry is Outstanding Internal Leadership. It is the lubricant that keeps all parts of the organization functioning properly and smoothly. Like the oil we talked about above, it’s cheap!! Although, with high priced consultants, we can probably make it a premium brand. It doesn’t cost large amounts of money to insert this concept into the organization, and it certainly will reduce the wearing away caused by friction, and if it reduces heat, then our executives would be clamoring for it’s use.
The key words are Internal and Leadership. And, if you are going to work with either in a non-outstanding way, then don’t go through the motions.
There are three types of customers in the world. Internal customers include those with whom you work. External customers are those to whom you sell your product. Intimate customers are your family, or those who act as such, who which you need to keep your life and integrity plan in check.
Assumptions that Intimate customers are accepted as paramount are accepted. But, in business, the Internal Customer needs the OIL. The old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the OIL may not be more meaningful than in this context. While some may think the adage is negative, the human machine needs attention and maintenance. As we have said, it doesn’t take much.
Workers are starving for Leadership. During the flattened corporate structure of the quality movement, while the empowerment band was made broadened, the common sense of purpose was too often relegated to the mission statement printed on the back of the corporate identification badge. The lack of a leader to wave the flag and delineate the purpose of the organization has caused this disconnect. Studies are showing that many middle managers do not have the leadership skills needed to be the CEOs of the future. Their consensus building approach, while working to gather buy-in from co-workers, becomes paralysis when needing to make the hard decisions top paid leaders executives are required to make. Current management must practice the Outstanding Internal Leadership model to create our future leaders.
Some may call the OIL an internal customer service program. To some, a corporate survival culture. In truth, its just many little ingredients mixed together to get the best blend of attention to your co-workers. Managers need to lubricate the organization by spreading themselves evenly around its departments. They must know what each department does and why they do it. Sometimes, more than understanding the process, the coworkers must believe that you care about the process. Take the time to let them explain their needs. Do not let middle managers translate for you. Like motor-oil, departments within your organization may need different “grades” for its particular function. These “grades” can come in many forms including, time spent, R&D ideas, or simply human resource basic. Accept the differences; do not lobby for your prejudices.
Sincere attention to co-workers and constant maintenance of the service culture is necessary. Just like an internal combustion engine, the oil regularly needs to be replenished. No difference in industry. There must be a consistent schedule of human maintenance. To view OIL as a program would be to self limit your expectations. You may have a leased automobile on a maintenance schedule that includes an oil change, which begs the question of sustenance. Is this OIL culture one for a finite period of time, or is it truly to grow the business long term. We should never look at business with a shelf life of five years or 60,000 sales with a warranty. If you are a leader, you hang out there, within the uncertainty, to create long-term success.
Machines are often evaluated, especially in terms of cost accounting, in machine hours. Overhead of products is often calculated based on the number of widgets that flow through a machine divided by the number of hours that machine needs to run before overall. Throw in depreciation, and we have a linear accountant’s view of the world of costing. But how do you evaluate the human machine. Is there the “proper” amount of maintenance? Do you have only certain mechanics that can work on this machine? Will we rely solely on our human resource departments or front line supervisors? While these “mechanics” can all help with certain specialties, it is the leader of the organization who has to provide the mission of the company and carry out the dissemination of the message.
John Heinz, the great pickle magnate was credited with the management term M.B.A. Management By walking Around. When was the last time you, as the Leader in your organization, spent time talking with the security guard at your parking lot booth? Don’t be surprised to find that they will know the pulse and attitude of your building more than many of your managers. Don’t make token appearances at company functions. Immerse yourself in what is truly affecting the internal customers of your organization. DO NOT let your “handlers” sugarcoat the situation, especially as it regards morale. Happy people create happy products. Happy products create happy consumers. Happy consumers create happy investors. As juvenile as this may sound, it was apparent to the security guard.
Who are the leaders that worry about the internal customers? Not just the highly paid executives. All employees can and should be the leaders of their organizations. They need only a few tools to work on the machine. They must know the mission, feel they can make a difference in supporting that mission, and have the full support of all supervisory staff to succeed in that mission.
Sometimes OIL has to be completely changed instead of just replenished in some machines. This happens in human under two harsh conditions. Either the Mission or Leadership changes. This is not fatal and not to time for the machine to break. Rather it is a time to possibly just change brands or change grades. Change is a constant. But even with these changes, the OIL is crucial to the smooth operation of the Human Machine.
OIL – Outstanding Internal Leadership
© - Copy written 2002
The James J. Palmeri Company
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By Beth W. Orenstein For Eastern PA Business Journal
Palmeri Corp. is a company on the move, literally and figuratively. Headquartered in the Forks Industrial Park since 1993, the company provides transportation for people and products.
Jim Palmeri, 38, claims Palmeri Corp., which has its roots in a business his father started in 1945, is the largest transportation company in the Lehigh Valley.
Palmeri operates not only school and tour buses but also a retail travel agency in Nazareth, trucking services, Gray Line of the Poconos, a racecar business, Para-transit service (specialized vans for the disabled and the elderly) and airport van services.
"We do a lot of different things," says Jim Palmeri, who runs many of the family company's transportation businesses as well as a funeral home in Martins Creek.
His older brother, Carl, runs the trucking lines and school bus operation while cousin Charlie Palmeri handles the Para-transit business. Palmeri has operated buses for the Bangor Area School District for 36 years. Since 1988, the Palmeri Motorcoach division also has provided Lehigh and Northampton Transit Authority's specialized van service for the disabled and senior citizens.
Jim laughs off a suggestion that Palmeri Corp. is bucking today's corporate trend of concentrating on your core business. "We attempt to make this company different," he says, "to do what other people don't."
The company has more than 170 employees and annual sales of more than $7 million, says Jim, adding, however, that he doesn't pay too close attention to the numbers because they make him nervous.
A longtime friend and business colleague, Bob Buesing, owner of East Coast Touring Co. in Forks Township, believes the Palmeri companies are successful largely because of Jim's not being afraid to take chances. "His personality is to succeed," Buesing says.
"People said he was nuts to spend the money" on the company's 160,000-square-foot facility on 8.3 acres in Forks, but he did it anyway, Buesing says. People thought he was crazy when he bid on the contract to provide Para-transit for LANTA. Now he has a similar contract with Carbon County.
He also operates van service for Continental Airlines between Lehigh Valley and Newark International airports and from Youngstown and Akron, Ohio, to Cleveland's Hopkins International.
That's why he's driving a red Corvette convertible - he took the gambles and has made the most of every opportunity," says Buesing.
Armando Greco, executive director of LANTA, recalls having had some "pretty spirited discussions" during contract negotiations with Jim, but, Greco says, "the bottom line is we've always worked together to be sure the service delivered to the customer is excellent."
Palmeri has come a long way from its start as a fuel service. James Palmeri, Sr., the son of Sicilian immigrants, launched the business after World War II with one coal truck. Every night, he would drive his truck to the coalmines of Beaver Meadows, near Hazleton. At dawn, he would rumble back to Northampton County where he would shovel his load - the rationed "serviceman's quota" - out of the bed of the enormous black truck.
As the enterprise grew, his wife, Bessie, helped out. Eventually the company made the transition from coal to heating oil. Today it delivers a number of commodities, including water for cisterns and swimming pools.
Carl Palmeri joined forces with his dad to form Palmeri and Son, which concentrates on excavating and trucking, in 1972. Jim's route into the family business was more circuitous. He remembers helping wash the school buses as a kid, having to drag a ladder over to be able to reach the windows.
But after graduating from Easton Area High School, he went to Northampton Community College, where he was a member of its first graduating class of funeral directors. He then opened what is now the only funeral home in Martin's Creek in 1980.
Jim also was driving Formula 2000 racecars, which he describes as the minor league of the Indy circuit. He developed a passion for racing as a kid, going with his dad to the old Nazareth raceway.
"It's Dad's fault," he says. "He got me interested." Jim envisioned life as a funeral director and racecar driver "until I figured out you need money to do that," he says with a laugh. Martin's Creek is a small town, he says, and it's hard to make money when there are less than 30 funerals a year.
Jim joined the family company to help with the bookkeeping the same year he opened his funeral home. His duties quickly expanded. Today he is president.
The division of labor between him and his older brother was by mutual consent and interests, he says.
Although the tour motorcoach business Jim started in 1983 demands much of his attention, he still drives the family race car business - Palmeri Motorsports Limited - and operates the funeral home, in which he lives in an apartment with his wife, Carol, and two daughters, Emily and Gina.
His parents live on the first and second floors of the large home, originally built by Easton's Chauncey Howell (grandfather of a New York television personality, also Chauncey Howell) for his wife.
Jim, who trained at the Buck Baker Driving School in South Carolina and the Bertil Roos Driving School in the Poconos, competes in an average of 10 to 15 races a year.
His racing trophies line the bookcase of his office, sharing space with biographies of business icons Lee Iacocca, Donald Trump and Sam Walton.
The European-made Palmeri racecar is available for corporate events. James Palmeri Sr. - who will be 77 in September - still goes to work every morning at 5:30 a.m. and puts in a full 12 hours. "He loves being around the buses," Jim says.
Jim credits his father's work ethic for his own success.
"Dad never was afraid to go to work after dinner because he had another load of oil to haul," Jim says. "Seeing that, I think you get instilled with a certain set of values."