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I admit it. The pace of business, technology and complexity has taken us away from the three basic premises of what we need to do best:
1. Take an order
2. Ship an order
3. Get paid for an order

While the basic premises are so simple, execution is not. We get wrapped up with “solutions” that give us “outs” but more times than not, do not address the core. For instance, let’s take the process of taking an order. Getting put on hold for minutes waiting to speak to a live person has become so common, why focus on expediting the wait period? In fact, we hired a third-party provider to answer our calls after 60 to enhance our service levels. While this alleviated long wait periods, the level of service from our third-party provider was below standards.

Getting back to the gold standard is what TNG  used to do: Answer the phone in 3 rings or less. In an era where customer service continues to decline and more consumers are up in arms over this issue, and companies must control costs to stay in business, this gold standard is difficult to accomplish. But if we are going to deliver on our mission of 100% Customer Success, it’s time to try.

We tossed out our third-party provider and are hiring additional talent. We will achieve our objective and while there will be occasional lapses, the level of service for this basic premise will be world class.

The second premise, ship an order, we do quite well. But it’s not the gold standard. While we invested more than $4 million into SAP since October 2008, only now are we getting to a point where the data is being transformed properly. We still need another 12-18 months. But we now have an effective VP of Purchasing that is closing the gap quickly and positive changes will take place.

If there is one thing every person at TNG knows about me, it’s that I despise being out of stock. Yes, there are times that key suppliers (CND Shellac in this instance) are out of stock and there is nothing we can do. And while we may be in stock 99% of our top 200 items and 97% of everything else, we need to be better. And we will be.

The gold standard is that our customers place an order and that the order ships complete and arrives perfectly intact. This is world class and this is what TNG is known for. We will not disappoint.

The third premise is one that we have refined well and will continue to assist our customers through the “cloud” movement. TNG was first to eliminate shipping C.O.D. (and saving our customers $10.95 per order). TNG was first to use ACH payment (and saving even more fees). TNG was first to send invoices and shipping notifications electronically. When it comes to shipping and payment fees, I can say we are the best in class and will continue to maintain the gold standard and improve yet even more.

I admit it. Our team of over 200 TNG talent admit it too. There is no team more dedicated and focused on achieving the gold standard. The past 25 years has been quite a ride; we are focused like never before on the next 25 years. Thank you for your understanding and partnership as we get back to the gold standard.

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One of the questions in Gallup Organization’s customer engagement survey (AKA CE11) is “Can you imagine a world without?”

When Gallup sent out the survey on our behalf, our customers had to answer the question “Can you imagine a world without TNG.”

When I address a group of people with this question, I typically get the following companies mentioned:

• Apple
• Nike
• Coke
• Costco
• Walmart

Let’s take Apple for instance. If Apple vanished tomorrow, what would Apple users do? How has Apple shaped its customers lives and how much does its customers depend on the company each day?

Yet while Apple is now the biggest tech company value wise, it is getting thumbs down on several issues, recently its antenna problem with its new iPhone 4. Also, people are yapping that Apple is too big to care about its customers like it used to when it was much smaller and that Apple is too corporate. Steve Jobs in fact will address the antenna issue Friday; it will be interesting to get his take on this.

But what if Apple said we did our thing and we are retiring? What if Walmart said they want to be the new high price leader? What if Nike said watching TV is healthier than running so who needs athletic shoes? Can you imagine a Coke drinker drinking Pepsi?

What companies come to mind that you could not live without? I would bet the list would be less than five.

What does it take to be a company people can’t life without? Plenty. I will be talking more about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, TNG has ranked in the top 95th percentile with your customers as it pertains to that question. For that, we are quite proud. As we continue to rock and roll (remember Grand Funk Railroad?), we hope that you could not imagine a world without us.

Happy Thursday!

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According to a recent article in the Detroit Free Press, massage therapy is growing by leaps and bounds. And not in the typical places you would expect.

Massage therapy is no longer the once-a-year indulgence or special treat one gets at a spa. Sure plenty of spas are still doing massages, but the growth is coming from the health care field. For the first time, massage therapy is considered to be a health care benefit and therapists themselves health care professionals.

Hospitals, therapy centers, chiropractors and other venues are using massage therapy as a healing process. The article goes on to state that massage therapy reduces stress and provides many other benefits.

This is good news for salons and spas. While it’s nice that more and more hospitals are opening wellness centers, I would rather step into a nice spa. But for hospitals, it makes perfect sense. Plenty of people are going to hospitals for many reasons so why not turn the hospital experience into something positive.

One thing the article didn’t mention is that TNG offers advanced massage courses through Biotone. We have noticed that many courses are sold-out and it points to the trend of more people getting into the industry. It’s good work, rewarding and you get to listen to spa music all day long.

Personally, I like a massage with the same frequency of a pedicure: monthly. But I can certainly get used to having them weekly.

Happy Monday!

No business is cool these days unless they have the official Twitter logo AND official Facebook logo on their website’s home page.

As recently as ten years ago, most people opened up the Yellow Pages to find a business that they were looking for along with a phone number. Yellow Pages were a big business for both the phone companies and directory publishers. When was the last time you opened one up?

As recently as five years ago, most people were content that the business they liked had a website, contact info, about us, showed some products and shipped to their home.  While those websites still exist since over half of all e-commerce companies do less than $1 Million in annual sales, they are way behind the curve.

TNG was the first pro beauty company to have a website back in 1995. I cannot tell you how many versions we have gone through but I will brag that our current version is the best one. I also established the first CEO pro beauty blog and to this day, I think I’m still the only one doing it.

But that’s not enough. People love to Tweet on Twitter and post on Facebook. After a bunch of research, we found that what our followers like best to see on theses sites are photos and videos. Now whenever possible, that’s what we are posting. Thanks to our Tweet guy, Eddie, we have it grooving.

Truthfully, all this social networking is a lot of work. People had NO time before this craze, I’m still wondering where they find the time now. Regardless, I have always found hard work is the best source of good luck.

And by all means, please visit us on Twitter and Facebook and post your photo and Tweet/post.

Happy Thursday!

In the midst of the worse recession; in the middle of the slowest month of the year; and when most people are taking vacation days, TNG rocked yesterday like it was the era of prosperity.

The day started with our Kemon on Tour event at the Taylor store. Aaron Michael and Randy once again wowed the group. It was intriguing to witness hairdressers actually learning something new that they thought they mastered over the past 30 years.

We had veterans of 36, 29, 27 and 19 years. Most used Matrix and L’Oreal products and complained about gray coverage, shine and fading. But along the way, they learned about technique, chemistry, color wheels, tone-on-tones, lifting, highlighting, bleach, and most of all, they learned themselves hands-on.

They all fell in love with Kemon. But what I think hairdressers like these are really falling in love with is that someone cares enough to reach out to them and get them excited about color and products again. And even veterans are finally coming around and saying "it’s not too late to learn."

And that’s what I’m most excited about. The Academy was hopping all day with the Kemon "Bob" course. Over 50 were on hand to learn from our Bob experts, Janan Delly and Denisa Cito (Michigan Hairdresser of the Year).

In the S.P.A. Academy, a be PRO advanced makeup workshop was going on where makeup artists were learning new tricks of the trade.

The grand finale was the Moroccanoil launch event at night. I grilled cheeseburgers and salmon burgers while Liz and Dan took care of the details. Anthony, MO’s guest artist dazzled the audience with his 7 languages and humor to go along with the languages. The 150 in the audience soaked up the knowledge and left energized and excited. Special guests on hand were Miss Michigan, Nicole Blaszczyk, as well as Jon Jordan, fashion reporter for WDIV Channel 4.

All in all, nearly 250 industry peers sought out to learn something new, get motivated about their careers and bring a new level of excitement to their salons. When it comes to education, TNG rocks.

Happy Tuesday!