by Janine Allis
First, you must demonstrate that a real organisation is behind your company. Highlight the expertise you offer and the services you provide. Show potential customers or associates that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your brand. Make sure your company is accessible, transparent and easily contactable. Ensure that your business premises have a professional appearance and your employees a professional manner.
The next step seems simple but is often more difficult: follow through on your pledges. In my position, I get promises every day. Initially, I take people's word that they will do what they say — and then I wait and see what happens. Do they get back to me on the day they said they would? Do they deliver the expertise they've presented to me? If not, their trustworthiness immediately starts to wane. Your business will achieve credibility through actions.
I expect a few young guns are reading this book, so here is the best piece of advice I can give anyone who is under 35: you are just playing at business. You cannot hope to understand all the complexities and issues because many of you will be facing them for the first time. You may be thinking, How dare she say that? What would she know? I know because that is what I was doing, learning about it as quickly as I could. In the early years, you are learning every day and the more you are in business the more you know what you do not know.
Don't get me wrong — the older business heads love your energy and enthusiasm to attack the day with vigour and purpose. But don't for a second think your smooth-talking, fast-thinking ways have anyone fooled — unless, of course, you have complete credibility.
I have been in many board meetings (and on Shark Tank) where hot young executives come in to present their big plan that's going to change the world. The old heads listen intently, enjoying the show. They nod approvingly and the young execs leave — and then the old heads tell the truth about their impressions of the performance. And trust me — it can be more scathing than the judges on reality talent shows (including Shark Tank!). The success or failure of the young gun will come down to one word: credibility. Were the person and, more importantly, the information and evidence of success presented credible? Remember: to be incredible you must be credible.
Pro tips
Here are the most important components of building your credibility:
Credibility grows from honesty and transparency. If you start with a measure of integrity and throw in some hard work, delivering on your promises, positive results will begin to flourish.
Don't overcommit. When you're starting out, it is often difficult to say no to work or to clients. Unfortunately, this can mean you take on so much that you can't deliver the right results to anyone. Your credibility will be shot to pieces before you even begin! Promise only what you can definitely supply — or find a way to make it happen!
Credibility must emanate from every level of a business. Once again, it comes down to finding the right people for the job. If you believe that an employee is not delivering and is causing holes to appear in your reliability, be rigorous in fixing the problem.
Communication
Everyone talks about good communication … but how do you go about it? When we think about ‘communicating', most people tend to have talking in mind. However, communication comes in many forms, including verbal, social media, email and other written communication (remember that thing we used to do?). Given that we spend so much time emailing and texting, it can be overwhelming when you're faced with the prospect of speaking to a group of people. You don't have an opportunity to ‘backspace' or ‘delete' if you blush, stutter or stumble through a speech.
Good presentation skills offer you the opportunity to leave a positive and lasting impression on others. You don't want to be remembered for the number of times you flicked your hair or adjusted your tie. If you are, your message is hopelessly lost. Make no mistake — the audience will judge you on your performance.
Do you need some work in this area? Not sure? Try taking a video of yourself in action. Is that the image you want to project or are you cringing at your performance the whole way through? (Don't worry if you're a bit embarrassed by the sound of your own voice at first — most of us are.)
Confidence is the key to a good presentation and you can gain the poise you need by practising and refining your skills. Plenty of courses in public speaking are available. They cover all the essentials — dealing with nerves, projecting your voice, cultivating the right image through your appearance, delivering your key message and the secret of the ‘pause' — as well as other skills you can nurture and adopt.
Most tutors will advise that your natural style should not be changed completely. The best course of action is to refine and improve your inherent ability. If you attempt to adopt a totally foreign persona, you will come across as insincere. This is an important aspect I have learned about communication and developing your communication style — be true to yourself. It's fine to take tips from other people, but still do it in your way.
I have been asked to tell the Boost story a number of times and, in the early days, I could never quite do the story justice — the way I told it just wasn't quite right and I knew I wasn't communicating the ideas clearly enough. Then I saw a presentation by Simon Hammond, who had put us in his top 20 list of wonderful brands. He is one of the few people we have come across who truly understands the power of the brand.
We heard he did a great presentation on brands so we asked him to present at our annual conference. His presentation was wow! It was a show, complete with music and interesting snippets from the internet on marketing ideas. He made us laugh and almost cry with the emotion of his presentation. I was so impressed that I asked him afterwards if he could help me formulate my story into a great presentation. We spent weeks (and weeks) pulling it together and getting to the truth of the story, and also the true essence of what I am naturally like as a presenter.
We found my presentation could vary greatly from day to day, depending on the audience. In essence, I was a confident player if I felt like I had engaged with the audience — if they laughed and nodded, my presentation was pretty good (if I do say so myself). But if I didn't feel like I had connected with the audience, it was normally a disaster. Simon assisted me with understanding who I am and what my natural style is, with the added help of a few videos and props to ensure my communication is consistent. The main point has always stayed with me — whatever you do, be you.
Of course, these days much of our business communication is non-verbal, or at least not face to face. By investing in the latest technology for your office you will speed up the flow of information. Embrace new technology and make it work for you.
Ask your colleagues, associates and contacts how they like to communicate, and work within their preferences. Some people like the effortless speed of an email; others favour the more personal touch of a phone call.
Regarding email, be sure to investigate correct etiquette and read your emails thoroughly before clicking the ‘Send' button. (Be wary of ‘Reply all'!) Be courteous and remember that the ramifications of an email can be with you a long time; email can be subpoenaed in a court of law!
On the subject of phone calls, don't do anything else while talking to someone on the telephone — it degrades the conversation. The sound of your fingers typing on a keyboard is a sure sign to the person on the other end of the line that you place little importance on the person and the conversation.
Pro tips
Here's how to polish your communication skills:
A professional speaking or presentation course is an investment in your business future.
Be professional in all your business communications, be they typed or spoken.
Learn to use technology to your advantage.
Give all your attention to the person to whom you're speaking, whether it's face to face or on the phone.
Treat email communication with care. It may be an instant medium, but the message can come back to haunt you.
Poor communication i
s the number one reason for conflict.
Customers
As Boost has grown, I've found that I've gotten further away from the ‘on the ground' customer experience. As the manager of a growing company, you ultimately move on to the next level of development in your business, delegating tasks to others. You become more removed from the day-to-day running of the company — and you can miss the simplest problems. Try not to make this mistake and never be a stranger to the frontline. Don't ignore the very hand that feeds you.
I work hard to counter any movement away from the frontline. It's vital to continue to tap into the root of your business, and for me that means going into a random Boost store and queuing up with the other customers. Or when I'm in the office I might answer a ringing phone — any phone. If it's a customer wanting to vent frustrations or even give positive feedback, I talk to that person one on one. I ask questions about the company and the level of service received; I ask for people's opinions. It's a simple task, but an extremely valuable exercise because it allows me to derail potential problems that may be quietly simmering away.
One tool we use to encourage feedback is our Boost Juice guarantee. Every store displays this guarantee, and you can also find it on our website. If you do not have a good experience, let us know and we'll fix the problem. And we absolutely do fix it, every time. What's more, we offer customers a number of easy ways to get in touch with us, and we employ several staff members to take care of customers and respond to customer feedback, including one full-time staff member, a weekend support person and two social media coordinators.
Resolving customer complaints immediately and effectively is critical; our policy at Boost is to respond within 24 hours. Customers are usually so grateful (and surprised) to receive a response, their problems are easily resolved. This is a vital and mostly unseen part of our marketing strategy.
Whole books are dedicated to the subject of creating and keeping loyal customers, so the main thing I am going to stress is this: love your customers; truly love them. And if you are the leader of your company, make sure that every day you find out what your customers are thinking and wanting; this knowledge will flow through to influence all your behaviour.
Get angry when your customers aren't treated well, and fix every customer problem with vigour — they are your life support system. Hire frontline staff who like people. Every Boost store has a multitude of talented people, specifically chosen for the role they need to play in the customer's experience. We've even given each role names. ‘Eva', who is bright and bubbly, is on the front counter greeting the customer. ‘Ian', introverted but super-diligent and process-orientated, is making the smoothies. And finally ‘Beth', a real extrovert, is on the last station — pour up. This person is the last impression customers get of the brand, so (hopefully) she hands over the finished product with a big smile. We don't always get this process right, but it is indoctrinated into our belief and it is what we strive for.
Make the love of your customer an absolute pillar of your company's beliefs and you're on the way to success.
Pro tips
Here's how to focus on your customers:
No matter what your position in a company, never take your customer base for granted. Keep in touch with your market and respond quickly to its needs.
Small problems can become large if not dealt with quickly. Put systems in place to ensure customers never feel ignored.
Customer liaison is vital, and should be part of your marketing strategy. Word of mouth is your best friend — and can be your worst enemy if you don't address issues.
Putting the systems in place
Is your business ready to grow? Have you got the systems in place to support your operation if you experienced sudden, unexpected growth? Ask yourself the following:
Do you know what kind of business structure you're trying to grow?
Do you have a mid- and long-term business plan?
Have you developed good systems to support day-to-day operations?
Have you developed good systems to support your future growth plan?
Is your team fully trained and supportive of your business systems?
Does your business stand out from the pack? If not, what are you doing about it?
Are you developing the characteristics that will give your business the edge?
PART IV
SEEKING INVESTORS, MENTORS AND ACQUISITIONS
Any new business is hungry for cash, and Boost was no different. In 2002, we needed more money to grow and we had two choices: get other investors into the business or find the money ourselves. We decided that we didn't want to sell down by taking on additional investors, because it would be like working for someone again and that was the last thing we wanted. However, this didn't change the fact that we needed cash and fast. We decided to jump off that entrepreneurial cliff — and then went from strength to strength (with one or two major speedbumps).
7
SCALING UP FOR THE WIN
In 2002, the banks wouldn't touch us with a ten-foot pole because our only asset was our family home (which the bank already owned most of), so we had to find money some other way. My greatest fear was losing the house that Jeff and I had worked so hard for. (Admittedly, Jeff worked really hard to buy our house. While I was gallivanting around the world, Jeff was saving money. He purchased his first house as a 19-year-old — who does that? He was saving for a house and I was sailing around the world with David Bowie. The ‘Gods of Yin and Yang' must have had a good laugh when they put us together. But he had assets and I had debt — a perfect match in my opinion.)
In the end, we risked it all. We sold our only asset, the family home, and invested all the money into the business. We packed up the kids and moved the family and the business into a rental for two years.
Picking the right mentor
By the end of 2002, we had opened 15 stores and were going strong. There were 50 stores opened by the end of 2003. I could see a permanent frown on my brow — it seemed to have cut deeper into my forehead every morning. I was learning as quickly as I could. I did not have mentors; in fact, I did not have friends. I did not have time to sit down for a coffee let alone a chat. One morning in 2002, I was sitting at my desk when I saw a note to call Geoff Harris. I had spent most of my adult life abroad so I certainly was not up with the ‘who's who' in business (and these were still the early days of Google), but it turned out this Geoff person wanted to meet and discuss the business. Geoff wasn't the first person to show interest in the business, and we were very guarded about who we wanted to ‘play' with. We did not know much, but we did know that we wanted great people around us to enjoy the journey with. We had already rejected many, many offers from people to get involved.
However, Jeff and I decided I should meet with Geoff Harris at a cafe. We sat down and he showed me the latest BRW Rich List. (BRW is the Australian business bible.) Upon reading his name and his worth in the Rich List, I spilt my entire coffee onto his lap and note pad. Not the best start to a relationship. Now, you may be thinking, What a show-off, but he simply wanted to show us that he was not a tyre-kicker. Geoff was someone genuinely interested in us and our business. I quickly learned what I probably should have known already — he was the co-founder of Flight Centre, one of Australia's great success stories. And, for the record, you could not find a more generous, kind, loyal and considerate man on the planet.
Recognising a winner brand and a cultural fit
In 2002 Geoff Harris was starting to wind down his day-to-day duties at Flight Centre and was looking for a young brand where he could assist the owners in growing their business. After reviewing a number of brands in 2001, he came across the Boost Juice store in Melbourne's Doncaster Westfield. According to Geoff, ‘I quickly recognised that the brand was a potential winner in the “healthy to go” sector just as people were starting to realise how unhealthy the traditional burger and chicken “to go” outlets could be.
‘I phoned Janine and talked abo
ut how she was going and the challenges she was facing with a young family and a fast-growth business. Janine and I met at a local coffee shop to further discuss the business to see if we were “culturally” compatible and our business goals were aligned. It was a great meeting and it was clear that culturally it was a fit. Janine was so enthusiastic about her brand and business that, in a gesture of enthusiasm, she split the entire contents of her coffee all over my newly acquired leather diary. The stains and the stuck-together pages were a constant reminder of that meeting and of Boost. After that meeting we agreed to meet again, this time with Jeff. After meeting both of them, I was excited about the prospect of becoming involved with this retail start-up.
‘There was no question in my mind that Janine was a “young gun” on the go with plenty of energy and a great concept, and total honesty. She just needed some rounding at the edges and a sounding board for her growth as she ramped up the business across Australia (and later overseas).
‘The other key element in my deciding to invest was that Jeff Allis was part of the deal — and that was vital, because his marketing and ideas “grunt”, combined with his radio background, added a unique element to the partnership, as did his backup and support for Janine'.
Over the next four months, Geoff gave us ‘precious gems' of strategic business foresight and never asked for anything in return. By the fifth month, we were ready for him to get involved.
Some months prior to this decision, I had stopped doing the accounts and hired a CFO. I quickly discovered this recruitment decision was a mistake and I learned the first lesson in hiring the right people. The CFO I hired was previously employed by a business that had gone belly up. I'd assumed this would have given her hard-learned knowledge on what not to do; I was wrong. The figures we presented to Geoff Harris to review seemed to be all wrong. When his accountant said not to move forward, because there were problems with the integrity of the figures, I was alerted to our CFO problem. It wasn't that she wasn't trying; it was just that the job was too big for her.