Squeeze the Orange

Seems my artistic talents are not ready for the art gallery but the staff seemed to love the white board session I held today.

The story time we had today was about a rocket ship that ran on orange juice. We all were responsible for squeezing the oranges to keep the ship moving faster and faster to our goal of the New World!!

The idea was to cement everyone around the concept that this company is run by a group called WE and not ME. We all matter and when some people are not giving their 100% it can effect all of us and the outcome of our goals. Like in any business we all want to come to work and be surrounded with others who are pulling their weight and contributing as much as you are. If a company does not set the standard for excellence then it will be the A players who leave because they are working with C players.

This fun session was a way to show as a company we are all on the rocket ship together heading to a new exciting future and we only want people on the journey who love getting up every morning for the ride and the reward. This is something we talk about a lot at Costless - if you are not happy, it's ok to find a place where you can be happy. We always want to have this discussion openly and boldly with all our staff and in return our staff feel open to let us know what we can do to make their journey here at Costless the happiest it can be.

I wouldn't have it any other way and I would be heart brokered to know a staff member hated coming to work at Costless every or any day. We just want to Work Happy.

Culture: The Competitive Advantage

What a great speaker we just had at our Vegas Internet show! Jim Fitzgibbon, the past president of Four Seasons Resorts.

The title of his presentation was "Culture: The Competitive Advantage" so I was all ears.

Jim didn't disappoint, with a fantastic speech about his history with Four Seasons, and the many ways he built one of the most respected brands, thru his passion for company culture and developing his people. He captivated us with some fantastic stories and lots of take away quotes. Here are a few:

1. Mantra - 3P (People Product then Profit)

2. Train people on the small details a thousand times and the big things take care of themselves

3. Any time you stay at a Four Seasons, ask the manager to attend the morning staff huddle. They love to have guests visit and see culture and accountability in action. One part of the huddle sounds interesting, when they ask everyone "What mistakes did you make yesterday, and what did you do about it?"

4. "Culture is what employees do when you are not watching"

5. It's about Trust

6. My favorite was Jim's story and quote from Herb Kelleher, the Chairman of Southwest Airlines, on what was their secret weapon was. "It's our culture and people - Our competitors could copy everything in our strategy tomorrow but can never copy our culture and they know it"

Jim wrapped up his talk by giving away 7 nights at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora @ $1800 per night. It was a software developer from Norway who won, and when asked who we would take with him on the trip, the guys eyes popped open and he said "I don't know, I don't have a girlfriend!"

Cheers

Calvin

I'm sure we can beat that Office Depot Price on Paper ;-)

Here is a screenshot a customer shared with us about copy paper being sold at Officedepot.ca.

Save a negative 47% off the list price. Hummmmm, not such a great deal.

The great news is Costless Express sells paper at about half that price.

Tell you what, for reading my blog - I'll sell you a box of paper for $24.99! Add #273199 - 8.5x11 white 92 brite paper with your order when you call in and tell your account manager you saw "Calvin's Corner Paper Deal". Let's run the offer as one box per order till July 22, 2011.

Thanks so much for buying local, and keeping your money here in our community. Did you know 70% of all dollars spent with the American-owned big box retailers like Office Depot leave our community?

Design your success plan for 2011

Have you created your 90-day micro strategy for 2011? If not, access these tools to design your success plan for 2011.

Courtesy of my good friends over at CultureSync - the authors of the book Tribal Leadership. Click here to get your free audio copy of the book.

If you have created a micro strategy or are wondering what a micro strategy is, then let's review:

1. Did you clear the cobwebs from your mind? Are you now focused and committed to a great outcome about 90 days out? Great!

2. Did you identify an abundance of resources that will enable you you to achieve it within that time? Great!

3. Did you identify all the key behaviors that must be be completed to deliver that outcome? Great!

Sounds like you have an "unlocked strategy" and are ready for action.

There is now only one thing left to do...

Execute the behaviors on your strategy until your outcome is achieved.

That is it. Period.

One of the primary reasons people don't complete their strategy is that they have fallen into one of their habitual pitfalls, rather than doing the required actions. These are the areas where you " drift ."

There are certain behaviors that support effective leadership, falling into a pitfall is not one of them.

Enjoy the tools and create your 90-day micro strategy.

Cheers,

Calvin

Maybe next year...

Maybe next year...
The economy will be going gangbusters
Your knowledge will reach critical mass
Your boss will give you the go ahead (and agree to take the heat if things don't work out)
Your family situation will be stable
The competition will stop innovating
Someone else will drive the carpool, freeing up a few hours a week
There won't be any computer viruses to deal with, and
Your neighbour will return the lawnmower.

Then...
You can ship, you can launch your project, you can make the impact you've been planning on.
Of course, all of these things won't happen. Why not ship anyway?

[While others were hiding last year, new products were launched, new subscriptions were sold and new companies came into being. While they were laying low, websites got new traffic, organizations grew, and contracts were signed. While they were stuck, money was being lent, star employees were hired and trust was built.

Most of all, art got created.

That's okay, though, because it's all going to happen again in 2011. It's not too late, just later than it was.]

My last blog entry for 2010 courtesy of Seth Godin.
2011 is going to be a landmark year at Costless Express - Seth.....we promise to "ship" this year and not wait!

Cheers,
Calvin

Tech's Biggest Surprise of 2010: The Rise of Groupon

So, did you get a Groupon for Christmas? A spa visit or a dinner for two at the Pan Pacific?

It sure would feel great to have a gift like that under the tree and the best part is knowing your gift giver didn't pay full retail.

Not a Grouponian just yet? Let me fill you in:

In April, Groupon was worth $1 billion. By November, it was worth $6 billion. In other words, the group-buying website's average value is growing by more than $20 million in value per day. That makes it the fastest growing company in history.

Chew on that one.

Groupon now has more than 3,000 employees selling brands on the daily deal business model. And business is booming. Now the company is shooting for greatness after turning down Google's $6 billion offer. The eventual Groupon IPO will be the most anticipated public offering since Google (unless Facebook beats them to the punch).

Nobody could have predicted that Groupon and the group buying business model would explode like it did in 2010, not even Groupon's founders. Local business and advertising has been changed forever by the flood of daily deals that now permeate the web. And remember this: We have yet to see the limits of the Groupon phenomenon.

Cheers,
Calvin

Brian Tracey

This morning was an early one - up at 4:45am. I was off early to work to pick up 3 of our sales staff and then head downtown for a 7:30 -Noon seminar with the world famous Brian Tracey.

Thru an organization I belong to called EO, we were fortunate to have Brian Tracey spend an incredible 4 hours with our chapter. Mr. Tracey usually works with Fortune 500 companies, or speaks to rooms of hundreds or even thousands at a time, so we were very excited to have him in an intimate setting of just under 100.

A few weeks back, I put an open invitation out to our sales team and asked for a short letter on why they felt they should be invited to attend the event. The three letters I did choose were from Lisa, Michelle and Sidney. They wrote wonderful letters and were very passionate about persuing growth and learning - one of our 10 Core Values. It was great to spend some one-on-one time with them and I know they were excited too. Even before we arrived at the event in the morning, we already had some great discussions and ideas about new initiatives in the car. It was energizing to hear from the front lines on how to improve our company and the customer experience.

Here is a bit of info on what Mr. Tracey covered during our time together. I personally came away with several insights and great ideas I could implement right away.

Cheers,
Calvin

Learn how to out-think, out-market, out-sell and out-compete in any market. Brian Tracy teaches you the SEVEN essentials for business growth and increased profitability. You learn practical, proven strategies and tactics you can apply immediately to get better business results.

1. Become a GREAT Leader: The seven roles and responsibilities of business leadership that determine success or failure;
2. Build a GREAT Business: Learn the indispensable elements of planning and execution required for increased sales and profitability;
3. Offer a GREAT Product or Service: The single factor that determines 90% of your success- how to develop it, measure it, improve it;
4. Attract GREAT People in Every Position: How to find, interview, hire, manage and motivate a team of top people;
5. Develop a GREAT Marketing Plan: Attract a continuous flow of qualified prospects who are eager to buy what you sell;
6. Perfect a GREAT Sales Process: Learn how to prospect, build trust, identify customer needs, present persuasively, overcome objections and close the sale;
7. Create a GREAT Customer Experience: Learn how to meet expectations, exceed expectations, delight and amaze your customers so they buy again and again, and eagerly refer you to others.

My Mom is our biggest supporter at Costless Express

Todd Suomu, Nico Human, and Calvin Johnson.
Picture courtesy of BCFPA

Great News!
We have just signed a deal to be the Official Supplier to the BC Food Processors Association!

Funny how things come together. It all started when I met David Eto at a wedding in the summer. It was actually my mom who was chatting with guests, and when she met David she thought he and I should meet since we were both in the food business. So she paired the two of us up on the lawn outside the house where the wedding reception was being held and made introductions. David and I had a great chat and had lots in common, including BC Children's Hospital involvement. From that meeting, David and I agreed to stay in touch and go for lunch.

About a month later, we got together for sushi and decided there was an opportunity to create an affinity program for the BC Food Processors Association, an organization David was closely involved in. From that lunch things moved pretty quick, involving Nico Human the CEO of the Association. We created a program for the association that would offer savings far greater than any individual company could achieve on their own - even it they had the best programs with Grand and Toy or Staples. Association members will see immediate savings on their Office Supplies, Break room, Janitorial, Printing, Toners, Paper and even the little paper booties they wear on their feet in a food plant!!

Last week we signed the deal, and this week it was announced to the 1500 companies that are part of the association. We are all very excited to bring value to the association, especially now that Costless Express is a member of the BC Food Processors Association.

Oh... and THANKS MOM!!!!
Cheers,
Calvin

Visiting Zappos

At Costless Express we are obsessed with WOWing customers and offering the best customer service possible in an environment that breeds the best employee culture possible. So it would only make sense that we learn how to be the best by having close ties with one of the best companies in customer service.

For us, we feel Zappos.com exemplifies the culture and service ethics we strive for each day. If you are not aware of Zappos, then you only need to know that they went from zero sales to ONE Billion in sales in under 10 years, and the success can be directly attributed to WOWing customers with service. Check out http://www.zappos.com/ for starters and I'll fill in more about them later.

Over the past year we have had a close relationship with Zappos and the team there has answered any questions we threw at them from hiring practices to service statistics and even how they build their culture.

This weekend we were invited down to tour the Zappos headquarters in Las Vegas and then to attend a VIP party for their staff, vendors and close friends.

All I can say about the party at this point is it has something to do with a BUS and a BOOK.

There are so many stories to tell and video to share that I'll break it up over the next few weeks. I'll also post an 11 part video series of the main highlights of the tour onto our YouTube channel  and share some fun pictures on our Facebook gallery.

Cheers,
Calvin

We're in Business In Vancouver!

Check out this great article in Business in Vancouver! They've interviewed Calvin about the local office supply business, single sourcing, and our Price Spider technology. (Great photo of Calvin, too!)

Save 8% at G&T — "Just don't log in"

I had a similar circumstance to the Office Depot story I wrote about on September 1st, but with Grand & Toy. We were quoting on supplies for a large company who used G&T. The purchaser was too busy to give us his data so instead he just supplied us his user name and password to the G&T website.

We logged in and did an in-depth analysis and found some perplexing yet exciting discoveries.

When we met again with the prospective customer, I said "I can save you 8% on your whole G&T budget in three words - DON'T LOG IN"

What we found was, if the customer DID NOT use the User Name and Password when he went to the G&T website, the prices were actually cheaper over all. Have you had any experiences like this dealing with a big box company like G&T or CORPORATE EXPRESS? I would love to know.

Cheers,
Calvin

Ahhh, Good Old Office Depot. Busted Again.

If you Google about them, you'll find many stories recently about different US state agencies and corporations suing or investigating them for incorrect pricing. Even Ahhnold in California is investigating them.

What's happened is that with new web crawling technology (like our Price Spider) and powerful computer analytics, the big box office supply companies are getting caught with their proverbial pricing hand in the cookie jar. In the past, customers and small competitors never had the technology to data mine the confusing contracts and look for compliance, or review if they were getting a better price than the regular public.

Former account manager in Office Depot's Business Solutions Division, David Sherwin, a protected whistle-blower in Florida where the company is headquartered, has been credited with the launching of the investigations.

Have a look at this news story from Television Station CBS Atlanta.

Cheers,
Calvin

Price Spider

If you scroll down to my July 1st post, you'll read about my new software toy we called SMART SCRAPER.

Well, it's been over a month since we started using it, and it was time to think up a bit better name. Smart Scraper and the putty knife graphic seemed OK at the time, but as we continued to say the name, it just sounded more and more like something from a late night infomercial. So after much deliberation, voting and heated debate, we officially changed the name to PRICE SPIDER!

We have now done an analysis on over 15,300 office supply items we sell using the software. We entered several factors such as - Strength of the Canadian dollar, lower negotiated office supply pricing from our suppliers, items we purchase in bulk, how much space and cash flow the items take in our warehouse and — most importantly — what Staples, Office Depot, Grand & Toy and others are selling the items for.

Of the 15,300 items we ran through Price Spider, there were almost 5000 matches apples-to-apples against the competition. These items we guarantee are lower than the competition. On the remaining 9500 items, we decided to lower our prices! (800 items we kept the same price.) What this means to you the customer is that most items in our 2009 Big Book catalogue are now lower than the published price you see on the pages!

Our customers couldn't believe it today as our sales people started telling them that thousands of items have just DROPPED IN PRICE! Ask your other suppliers that you buy office supplies from if they are lowering their prices. The strong dollar and aggressive pricing from the wholesalers have reduced costs, and they should pass on the savings I think.

On the flip side though, when oil prices go up, the dollar goes down or the economy starts ramping up (or all three) - inflation will kick in, and prices will start going up and so will the need for us to raise prices.

But for now - THANKS PRICE SPIDER!

Cheers,
Calvin

Have Some Cake!

My new Business Development Manager, Kristi, is incredible at getting to the decision maker when she calls prospects. She is working on a list right now of "Fortune 500" companies in Vancouver and promoting our Office Coffee Service.
She is a real pro and doesn't give up 'til she gets me an appointment. Well, recently she came across a company who foiled her attempts at every angle. She just could not get past the gate keeper or phone system. Nobody would give her the contact name of the purchaser for their breakroom supplies. But… in her many attempts calling, she did find out the company was in the midst of reviewing their current supplier, so she knew time was of the essence and this called for something special.

Here is her solution to get the attention of the mystery person in charge of making the decisions: A cake with the inscription "You can have your cake and eat it too! Let Costless Express save you dough!"

I personally took down the cake, and the receptionist was blown away, saying nobody has ever done something like that, and she hopes we win the account because we were just so original and determined.
I can say we did make contact with the Executive Assistant to the President. Seems all the right people had some cake today!
Having fun, one customer at a time!
Calvin

Boys And Their Toys!

I'm super excited about my new TOY. Can you guess? Not a boat… Not a motor cycle… Not a camera, video game, laptop or giant BBQ.
No, my new toy is SOFTWARE.
SMART SCRAPER I call it. And what it does is take an Excel file of item numbers from products we sell and tells me what my competitors price is and item number off their web site. Very cool!! I have worked with the company, who developed software & technology for about 10 years on other reporting tools they have custom made for me. When I saw this technology being used by another of their customers, I knew I wanted it for Costless.
Today, I ran a report of the top 4000 Office Supply items we sold last quarter, and loaded it into our new SMART SCRAPER. Then, I pointed the software at Staples.ca website to see who had the best pricing on each item. The results were amazing!
We had the lowest prices on about 82% of the items, some were significantly lower. On the remaining 18%, we were now able to adjust our sell price to beat Staples. The SMART SCRAPER will also monitor when Staples changes a price and give me a list of the changes, with date and new price. Also, the SMART SCRAPER will make more matches over time, as we clean the data on items that did not have a match: items where the pack size was different, or there was no direct item number match. With ongoing data management, we plan to have 8,000 matches to Staples (about the number of items they sell), and then work on Office Depot and Grand and Toy.
Imagine, in your business, if you could push a button and see how your prices compare to your competition?
Cheers
Calvin

Costless Express Beats Staples Prices by 45%!

I find that customers compare prices before choosing a supplier, this makes sense. But with over 25,000 office supplies, what items do you compare, and what is the item number from each competitor so you can make an "apples to apples" comparison. Oh, and what if one supplier sells in a different pack size? Arrgggh, it can drive a customer crazy comparing prices!
Well, good news from Costless Express. Did you know we do all that work for you? Send us a stack of invoices, and we will match up our items and send you the prices. Best of all, we have a cost comparison of the 100 most commonly used office supply items as compared to STAPLES. We beat Staples' prices by 45%!
The reason we choose Staples is we find them to be the lowest cost of our competitors - with Grand and Toy being the highest. (If you buy from Grand and Toy, the lowest discount we have seen from their catalogue prices is 45%, and the highest 69% - most are at 56%.)
Please ask your sales rep for a copy of our current Staples Cost Comparison or download a copy once you login to our website. It is a great reference tool to find the top 100 common items. You can also see the list's items online in your Favorites drop-down menu, under the GLOBAL LIST area, on the left side tool bar.
Cheers,
Calvin

Grand & Toy's New Fee

You heard it here first! On top of their $1.00 fuel charge, Grand and Toy is adding a minimum order fee! Any orders under $50.00 will be charged a $5.00 handling fee. This charge adds them to the ranks of Staples and Office Depot, who have always had a minimum order fee.
G&T has done a good job of spinning the fee under the cloak of some environmental initiate.
Order more, less often… hmm, where have I heard that before?
G&T is right though, less orders delivered equals less trucks on the road. Something I have been preaching for years, and why our customers value our single source service (with NO MINIMUM order, I might add).
Only Costless Express can supply Office Supplies, Coffee, Janitorial, Food, Snacks, Milk, Fruit and Furniture all in one delivery. Try that, G&T!
Cheers
Calvin

Just My Opinion

I'm feeling a bit sad lately about what I think the economy has driven some competitors to reduce themselves to.
Yesterday I wrote about a new company selling office supplies in Vancouver, called E. Madill from Nanaimo BC. Recently they sent out a price sheet to random businesses in downtown Vancouver boasting they were "The Cheapest!" and guaranteeing "We beat all competitors prices" on their catalogue cover. Then last week I had a complaint from a good customer about them.
Now I have been in business for 20 years, and have seen many competitors, including Staples, Corporate Express and Office Depot, come to Vancouver, so I'm OK with competition. I support small business, and believe there's room for everyone in the marketplace, especially when it comes to other local independent stationers like Mills Basics (good job on beating out the big guys and being the official office supplier to the Olympics BTW). So when a small office supply company resorts to big statements like E. Madill has, it sets a bad tone for what a local office supplier should act like.
My good customer of 12 years called to let me know she had a sales person from E. Madill drop off a catalogue. She said she kindly told them she was not interested and had a great relationship with Costless Express. Since that day E. Madill had called her repeatedly, to the point she say is almost harassment. She said they keep telling her they will under cut anyone's prices by 10% and sent a HOT SHEET showcasing their low low prices on the top selling items. This sheet was faxed over to me by her, and we used it in our recent cost comparison.
What I found is the prices on their top selling items were not as competitive as Costless Express, and in most cases not even as low as Staples (ask for the comparison if you would like to see). Second was that many other popular items not on their HOT SHEET but on their website were priced exceptionally high in comparison to the average market price (we priced out 700 items). I can only assume that they plan to win customers by marketing they are the cheapest, undercut a few items to appease unsuspecting customers, and then make it all back and then some on the other items when the customer isn't looking.
I have known the owner of E. Madill (Ehren Madill) for a few years now. I see him a few times each year at industry trade shows, and he is about my age - 40, with a young family. So I gave him a ring. What I tried to mentioned to him was how his sales people used tactics that left a negative impression on customers. Also, I explained, independent stationers usually support each other. Hey, all is fair in yadda yadda... but if Costless were to go into battle over a customer, it would be against Staples or G&T, not trash-talking an independent like Mills. Why fight against another local business, when it's Staples selling a billion dollars each year in Canada?
While Ehren and I chatted, he said he lets his sales people win business however they see fit. No prisoners. They were on commission, and as long as they brought in the sales, he was fine with how they did it.
Like I said, I'm feeling a bit sad that this is the service a local independent office products supplier has been reduced to. Good luck, Ehren.
Calvin

Who Has The Best Prices?

Who has the best prices on all office supplies in Vancouver? Is it Costless Express, the big American giants like Staples or Grand & Toy, or other local independent stationers?
(Drum roll)... None of the above!
Let me explain.
There are over 25,000 items in our catalogue, and I would be hard pressed to tell you Costless Express has the best price on every single item every single day. The same is true for all our competition. No one company has the best price on EVERYTHING all the time (although some competitors' marketing would seem to differ). How do I know? We check.
Each quarter at Costless Express, we research each competitor and look at their sell prices on the top few hundred items (sometimes up to 500 items). That's all most offices ever buy; the top few hundred items, like file folders, sticky notes, pens, staples, copy paper and the like. These are the items where a customer wants to know their office supply company is saving them money. After the top items are out of the way, a customer wants to know pricing is competitive on the remaining 24,800ish items and if they happen to find it at a lower price somewhere else - that their supplier will beat the price. Costless Express and most other competitors offer a "we will beat anyone's price" policy, but the customer may need to do a bit of leg work first to find the lower "delivered" price. Possibly they saw it on special somewhere else.
So I bet you want to know how we stacked up to the mighty STAPLES on price. How about 42.9% cheaper on the top 130 items!
How about against a small company from Vancouver Island called E. Madill Office Supply? 39.7% cheaper on the top 130 items!
If you would like to see the side by side comparison in an excel file, please call your Fantastic Account Manager and they will email you a copy.
On a side note about Grand and Toy - I recently won a nice sized account away from them by doing a cost analysis of their purchases and comparing the prices to our own. What I found was this customer received a 58% discount on the catalogue items not marked NET (if it is a NET item, the G&T discount does not apply). The customer had given me his web user name and password so I could collect the data in real time.
When I met with him, I said I could save him 10% in three words. DON'T LOG IN!
If he were to just use the street prices online from G&T, he would have been farther ahead than with his discount. Don't ask me why G&T did this, but I want to offer a big THANKS to them for a nice new customer.
To wrap this up, I guess what I'm saying is I try to offer our customers a sharp price on the items that matter most and fair prices on everything else. No games or bait and switch like some other competitors seem to try. Costless Express customers save the most and get the best prices everyday.
Cheers,
Calvin

A Customer Email

Received a nice email from a customer today by way of our sales department.

It's nice to know our prices are almost too low to be true! The email reads as follows:

From: James
Sent: December 5, 2008 7:04 PM
Subject: Re: Fair Trade Coffee for Offices
Hi,
Thanks for sending me this. I'm hoping this week to setup a meeting with a few people from the executive and show my research. Based on what you sent me it looks like switching to Ethical Bean will only be a nominal cost to us, as it's almost the same as we currently pay for our coffee (if we buy from you that is). I'm really excited about this and based on what I've heard from you and Jeff, I feel like your company would be the best fit for us (now all I have to do is convince the rest of my company!).
I am a little curious about one thing and I hope I'm not over stepping my bounds. The cost estimate another company gave us for Ethical Bean Coffee was almost double the price you sent me for the same amount of coffee (I believe it was the same type as well). I'm not quite sure how to explain that and I think my colleagues would be interested as well.
Cheers,
James