Posted on Fri, Aug 20, 2010
Posted by Mike Ferretti on August 20, 2010
SMILE. Simple word and we all know its power. Marketers have used it for years, think of all of the smiles in Coke campaigns, but it remains the most effective tool for communicating good customer service.
I fly a lot and almost all of it is with Delta. To the point that I recognize some of their team members. The flight I am currently on is a milestone for me as I join the Million Mile Club somewhere over mid-America. I rarely get anywhere on direct flights, so my normal routine is to sleep for my first leg. That certainly was the plan today. I usually fly first class via complimentary upgrades because of all of my miles, which means breakfast. The woman greeting us as we boarded was one I recognized, but not for good reasons. I remember her because she wakes all sleepers in first class up to ask if we want breakfast. I once asked her why she did that instead of letting us sleep and either make the choice to miss cold cereal or have it later. According to her manual, she is supposed to get a direct yes or no from all of us. I doubt it says to wake us up and frown but that is exactly what she does….so, I settled in and decided to grab a quick nap before the inevitable.
Imagine my surprise when I woke up naturally some while later. Someone else was working this cabin today. I slept. I woke up. I looked around. And as soon as I was obviously awake and settled, the fight attendant smiled and asked me if I wanted anything. I really didn’t, but it made me think of the power of management styles. Sometime in her life, the person that wakes us up had something happen that told her she would always follow the rules, no matter what or how obviously wrong. While the attendant today felt empowered enough let me sleep.
I know I might be stretching things but in a world of Steven Slater, it is obvious how the two groups of people most likely to impact what I think of an airline are the flight attendants and the traffic controllers. Since ATC is a government function, airlines better make sure the flight attendants are good because they can’t control weather or what number I am in line for take off.
Service matters to me. I hope that shows when you visit a Great
Harvest. I hope we have created a culture where your experience is outstanding. If we haven’t, please let me know. If we have, smile back at the person that gives one to you. Little things do matter.
Thanks for reading.
Posted on Thu, Jul 08, 2010
Posted by Kate Ord on July 9, 2010
Every year I’ll buy the latest, best-selling marketing books to see if Great Harvest is on the right track. I look to see if there’s something new, exciting, or innovative being pronounced. I love that strong marketing fundamentals never go out of style!
My latest read was John Jantsch’s book “The Referral Engine.” Jantsch is also the well-known blogger/author of “Duct Tape Marketing.”
In both books he emphasizes the importance of the fundamentals for a successful business.
Big picture – there are no short cuts!
1) The product you are selling must be incredible. Why else would someone return for more? Why else would anyone whole-heartedly recommend your product?
2) Customer service must be genuine and inspired by a desire to delight customers.
3) The shopping experience must connect with the target audience’s values through all touch points – staff, products, store ambiance, displays, promotional materials, community outreach and more.
Jantsch outlines the dynamics behind referrals, and they are:
1) People are hard-wired to make referrals…it’s part of our social nature.
2) Referrals involve risk, so educating customers about the emotional and logical uniqueness of your product is important.
3) Nobody talks about a boring business.
4) Consistent excellence builds trust and referrals.
5) Delighted customers love to provide testimonials.
6) Most businesses don’t have a systematic approach to encourage referrals.
Jantsch tells readers to stop crossing their fingers and hoping all will go well. He stresses the importance of meeting people’s expectations, keeping promises, and owning up to mistakes and correcting them.
My favorite part of the book discussed a business strategy focused on employees. We’ve all worked for employers who made us feel valued and who never doubted our potential to succeed. Those are the type of employers that nurture top performers.
Jantsch recommends treating your employees like a valued 
customer because, in turn, they will represent the brand in a positive manner.
Step one: hire the right people – “find people for fit, shared values and a passion for excellence,” and then train them correctly and create standards. Every employee should understand their performance is directly tied to the generation of referrals from customers by providing over-the-top awesome products and service.
There is a cool profile in the book about New Belgium Brewing Company, the third largest craft brewer in the United States. New Belgium’s CEO Kim Jordan created an open-book approach to employee management and offers employees an ownership stake in the company after one year of employment. She educates employees about ALL aspects of the business. She’s proud of the corporate culture because employees are empowered to care about the products, the costs and each other. As a result of her “open book” policy, Jordan’s employees became less wasteful, more efficient and inspired.
I did some research on New Belgium, and it is a truly remarkable company! I especially love that the brewery is powered by wind. That definitely fits in with my values. New Belgium also produces my favorite beer “Mothership Wit” -- an organic wheat beer infused with coriander. It tastes amazing, and I know the ingredients are excellent and inventive. My husband and I always make a special stop at the Good Food Store in Missoula, MT (a mere 175 miles away) for our favorite brew. I also proudly serve it and recommend it to friends.
This is referral marketing 101 – I find an interesting product, I try it and it exceeds my expectation, I now actively seek it out and tell others about it, and I feel the company shares my values and the values of my friends. Did I mention the product is a bargain? No. Because it isn’t. It’s priced as I feel it should be…as a premium, high-quality, enjoyable product. .
This brings me to the last take away from this outstanding book. People are not incredibly motivated to refer a business on price comparison, in fact prospects often anticipate paying more for a referred product. So a low-price strategy can actually reduce referrals.
Mothership Wit is not the least expensive micro-brew beer in the grocery store, but I just happen to think it’s a
cut above in taste and quality.
Similarly, Great Harvest breads and sweets are not priced to compete with Wonderbread and Hostess Ding Dongs for the same reason. Great Harvest attracts customers who LOVE the taste of scratch-made bread made with the freshest ingredients.
So is there a product out there that you will go out of your way to purchase and refer to others? I mentioned New Belgium. Another company I support and refer others to consistently is Aveda.
How about you? Share your stories about businesses that delighted you and motivated you to tell others about their products and/or services!
Posted on Tue, Jun 08, 2010
Posted by Bonnie Harry on June 8, 2010
Jim and Robin Condie took over the Clackamas Great Harvest in February 2006. The store was thirteen years old. Over the past seven years, they've nearly doubled the sales and have had a lot of fun in the process. Jim was an attorney is his prior life (still licensed) and Robin worked in the Biotech industry (immunology). Robin laughingly told me the bakery is much more fun than her prior work! They were tired of commuting and loved Great Harvest and the idea of doing their own business. They jumped at the chance to buy the Clackamas Great Harvest when they heard it was for sale.
As with any small family business, their secrets to success have included a lot of hard work and focus on the things that matter. Robin admits that part of their success is their great location - right next to a Nordstrom Rack in a shopping center with high identity. As we all know, potential doesn't always translate to success. It requires the right management.
Jim and Robin are hands-on. They don't have managers. They work with the crew and do the training. This keeps them in touch with the day-to-day workings of the business. In a bakery where everything is made daily from scratch (it's a production facility as well as retail), being in close touch with the business and the crew is critical for success.
What about their crew? It's an understatement to say when I 
visited them, I was impressed. Their people were attentive, enthusiastic, caring, really one of the best crews I've encountered in my 22 years with Great Harvest. I asked Robin about the crew. Her response was "I love them. We have an awesome crew." I've learned over the years that owners are not just "lucky" to have good people. It's a result of how they manage. I asked Robin what their secrets were in developing such a great crew. How do they empower them, encourage them?
Robin says it's based on trust and being open, vulnerable, flexible and teachable. She didn't just mean the crew - it applies to all of them, including Jim and her. They want people to express their opinions, to come up with new ideas. She says their crew is smart. The team training model is "to be open to what other people have to say."
They always give positive feedback when a crew member takes care of something, goes the extra mile. And they've developed a peer system where crew members call out their peers in a positive way. In essence, the crew holds each other accountable. Robin told me about exercises and games they play to show the importance of all supporting each other and being team players. She stopped at one point, concerned she might be embarrassing herself telling about the games! Quite the contrary. I was fascinated by how effective these exercises are in getting the point across - plus they're a fun bonding experience as well.
The team spirit extends to the customers. Getting to know customers' names and preferences and including them in the fun is stressed. Robin told me "Life is about connecting to everybody." It's no wonder customers enjoy coming to this store. Not only are the products outstanding, the atmosphere is inviting and fun with a wonderful friendly, positive group of people to meet you when you step in the door. Congrats to Jim and Robin and their crew for creating a great refreshing oasis in a hectic world.
Have you ever been to the Clackamas bakery? Do you have any favorite Great Harvest people stories to share?
Posted on Wed, Apr 14, 2010
Posted by Kate Ord on April 14, 2010
We recently received some pretty cool recognition. Great Harvest Franchising was named to Outside Magazine's 2010 "Best Places to Work." First, I totally love Outside Magazine. Second, I think Great Harvest attracts employees, bakery owners and customers who fit the spirit of the publication - people who care about work/life 
balance, fitness, nutrition, and living life to the fullest. We are pretty blessed that the Great Harvest franchise office is located in a small southwestern Montana town near world-class fly fishing, hiking, biking, skiing and more. Yellowstone National Park is practically in our back yard. Living life to the fullest in Dillon, Montana is really not hard to do.
Ultimately, "Best Places to Work" selection was based on employee-satisfaction surveys addressing benefits, compensation, policies, job satisfaction, environmental initiatives, and community outreach programs. These results were analyzed by Best Companies Group experts, who selected the top 50 companies that also enhanced their employees' enjoyment of active endeavors, and environmental and social involvement.
The second bit of recognition we received was being named to 
Worldblu's "Most Democratic Workplace" list. This is an international honor, and it's the fourth time Great Harvest has received it. WorldBlu specializes in organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership. WorldBlu looks at how unique democratic practices contribute to profitability, high performance and engagement.
When we look at the names of the great businesses on these lists, we are so honored to be included!
Working with Great Harvest for the past three years has been an eye opener for me. Everyone has a voice, and the collection of voices brings forth great ideas. It's not that everyone gets their way. That is called anarchy. Someone still has to be in charge and make final decisions, but only after everyone has the opportunity to provide input. As it's said, "knowledge is power," and the more knowledge we share at Great Harvest, the better the end result...even if it ends up being very different than what you originally envisioned.
The longevity and success of Great Harvest speaks volumes about the value of democratic principles in the workplace. That's because democratic practices are central to empowering people, and people who are empowered are also engaged in their own destiny and run amazing and profitable bakeries.
So I'd like to know your best employment experiences. Maybe you had a boss who brought out the best in you? Perhaps there was a beloved policy that made your life better? Or did you help create a product or service you were proud to stand behind? Please share!
Posted on Fri, Jan 15, 2010
Posted by Debbie Huber on Jan. 15, 2010
You would not guess Mike Young is a rock star if you met him on the street. I mean a "rock star" in the sense of an amazing small business owner who is a remarkable role model for other business owners.
True confessions -- the first time I met Mike, I thought he was too uptight and corporate for this loose and fun culture. I wasn't convinced he'd be a good bakery owner. Then he won me, and the rest of us, over and now owns the Great Harvest Bread Co. in Jackson, Mississippi. Lucky for us!
After Christmas, I heard a story from Mike's field representative at the franchise office about his bakery's holiday party. He had a small gathering at his house for his employees to thank them for all their work. Usually, he takes them out to a really nice restaurant for a holiday party after Christmas when they are caught up on their sleep -- the holidays are the busiest time of the year in a bakery! But this year, they had heard about a family that was drowning in medical bills due to a child's illness, and were about to be evicted. The employees came to Mike and asked him to use their party money to help this family instead. They all personally contributed cash to the fund too and were able to pay a full month of the family's rent so they could stay in their home.
I thought that was a cool story, so I called Mike to ask if I could 
write about this "random act of kindness." That's where the story started going down an unexpected path for me. As I was talking to Mike and pulling details from him about how the employees came up with this idea, I realized that Mike has created a culture in his business where something like this would happen. It's really NOT a random act.
Mike understands the value of his employees to his small business. He told me his number one challenge is to find and keep good employees. He defines a good employee as someone who has at least two-thirds of his commitment and passion for the business. He knows it's unrealistic to expect more than that, so he doesn't stress the team out with expectations that won't be met.
He created a team that executed flawlessly through the busiest time of the year by taking care of them individually. One of his employees is a musician -- he loaned her the money to buy a $10,000 harp and she paid him back within a year. He has also loaned money to employees for kids' eye glasses, a car, college tuition and parents' funeral expenses. My mouth was dropping as I heard this. Definitely not a best practice from business school, but Mike nonchalantly says "my employees know that if they need something, we'll help each other out. This same thing happens between employees here, too."
Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! What do you think? Would you do the same for your employees?