This year at the Louisville RVIA (rv industry assocaition) trade show their was a hope in the air that wasn't there last year.  Such a difference from last year.  Even with the show being quite a bit smaller (it was still huge:) dealers and vendors we spoke with all felt the same way.

Ron, Shauna, and I attended this year and had a great time meeting with dealerships, getting to see the new products, and catching up with friends.

Looking forward to some great things in 2010!

It's been a few years now that I take our vehicles to the quicklube for oil changes and fluids maintenance. Whether you think that's a complete waste of money, like my dad, or you do it yourself it doens't matter ... just continue reading...

If you've been into a quicklube type establishment lately it's quite an experience in its own right. Aside from the fact that they use technology well to keep tabs on your maintenance history and if you can get over the techs yelling out what they just completed ... have you noticed the LARGE menu of services they have available on the walls? All kinds of services related to fluids, wipers, lights, tire rotations, and 5 different kinds of oil changes. Oil changes for old cars, new cars, high mileage cars, basic oil, and pure synthetics. So that's what I'm used to when it comes to oil changes. Choices with good explanations that I can understand and make decisions on.

For major repairs I take my vehicles to more of a traditional 'auto garage'. Today I was having a mechanical issue so I tookmy car there. Because I was there, my car also needed an oil change, and it was convenient I asked the attendant for an oil change as well. Because my car has 166,000 miles on it I asked for a blend of oil for higher mileage cars and I got a dumb and confused look. He kinda sputtered and muttered a bit and then came up with a 'high mileage oil change service'. You know the kind ... the made up kind.

That was when it all clicked. My Menu Selling Moment of Truth. As I looked around there weren't any large menus on the walls that I could (or he could for that matter) choose from. Nothing that gave me (or him) the information I needed to make an informed, confident decision about my high mileage oil change.

We do so many different Internet marketing things for our clients and we've done a less than stellar job of putting them into a menu that both makes it easy for them to understand and also for us to remember and explain. You can bet that in the near future we'll be putting those menus of available services up!

What about you and your business? Are the products and services you offer displayed in an easy to understand, expected, and predictable way?

Until next time...

I was reading an article recently and came across the following beneficial team behaviors:

Tame the email. Sometimes emailing doesn't make sense to communicate effectively and efficiently. Pick up the phone. It avoids misunderstandings.

Tribalism is alive so kill it. Tribalism is what happens when barriers create destructive, competitive behavior. Keep the communication flowing.

Discipline matters more than talent. A strong work ethic can outperform pure talent.

Bring the passion. Ask yourself, What can I do to make my work better?

Learn to lose like a kid. Whatever the disappointment is, mourn it, then move on.

Respect everything. The work, the client, each other.

Taken from The Peaceable Kingdom by Stand Richards.

Had a great conversation with the owner of a RV Dealership today. It's so encouraging to be able to sit back and listen to the pain points and desires of business owners and feel 100% confident inside that we can be of help to them without even having to stretch any of my words.

From the folks we have on staff at InteractRV, to the technology we use, to the marketing methodology we apply ... it's always improving, but I don't have to say ... yeah we can do that and then go back and ask our tech or marketing folks 'can we really do that'.

Having quality folks to work with and being able to get real results for our RV dealership clients ... what a great time to be in business.

Have you ever started a business? If you have and it has been any length of time you'll understand what I mean when I say that it can be consuming. If you've ever lived with or had a friend that started a business you probably know what I mean.

It's so easy to get consumed because you have to do everything ... sales, product/service development, customer service, accounting, and even empty the trash. Then over time your business grows (hopefully). You earn more clients. You start to hire folks to help with customer service and accounting. You start to take feedback from those around you on what you should do and how you might do it. Without even knowing it you might even start relying too much on those around you. Sounds kinda crazy, but it happens ... it happened to me.

I had forgotten that it was my intuition and vision that had gotten us to where we were. The folks that work at IWI are great folks and all of them dedicated to our success as a company. I care for each and every one of them.

What I was doing wasn't their fault. They were giving feedback that I had asked for. What had happened was my fault. I was taking feedback and then NOT making the decisions that needed to be made. It's not like IWI was on a decline or we had made some terrible decisions or that we were losing clients. Not at all.

The type of decisions that I had made years ago that started the run up to where we are now ... those decisions weren't going to carry us forever. It was time to start making the tough calls again. Sometimes the unpopular calls. Not arrogant or uneducated decisions, just tough ones.

Well, the time has come for me to grow up a bit and grab that bull by the horns once more. The future is looking bright for not just us as a company, but for our clients and their successes.

Oh, by the way I still take out my own trash!