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I'm just getting on a plane for my second leg of my twice-a-year trip back to the US.
This week, I'll be spending a half-day in Michigan with a private client who hired me to train his sales team on how to convert more prospects to customers using Unlock The Game.
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Grandma Pearl and me at my sister's wedding last year
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The second half of the day will be spent with his live chat "sales" team, who have been trained using ChatWise , our proprietary sales process for converting website visitors into qualified leads and sales.
I rarely take on private clients these days, primarily because of the travel involved and the sense of loss that I feel when I leave my home, waiving goodbye to my wife Michelle, sons Toby and Nathan, and our new beautiful daughter Jaime.
There's always that tug-of-war between wanting to be home with my family so they feel the stability I can provide, versus going out to the business world to share my expertise and knowledge to help others become successful.
The latter slowly taking a second position to the first.
Later this week, I'll be in Cleveland with my executive team, meeting with Dan Kennedy as part of his Platinum Mastermind group.
The entrepreneurs in that group are some of the sharpest in the world, which continues to compel me to fly to Ohio each year.
And of course, Dan's insights on how to think differently when the majority think the same, is certainly compelling enough to make the trip worth while.
Then on Saturday, I'm meeting with Perry Marshall at his home in Chicago to brainstorm our businesses together to see what "out-of-the-box" ideas we can both come up with.
Despite all this business "jet fuel" coming my way this week, the highlight of this trip, and all my trips, are the two days I spend with my 96-year old grandmother in San Diego, grandma Pearl as we call her.
Grandma Pearl is battling with knee pains, blood issues and a lack of energy - but despite that, her mind is sharp as a tack, especially her business mind.
She and my grandfather used to own a store in Boston that sold freezers, which came fully stocked with frozen meat. That was their way of adding value to a commodity product.
That was over 50 years ago.
I asked her this weekend how she compares her memories of the Depression with what's happening in our economy today.
Her answers are rich in wisdom, rivaling even the most well-known business gurus dispensing their advice for a fee.
I'd encourage you to read her answers a few times, think about them, then let them fill you with confidence and inspiration for our future.
What's your opinion on our current economy versus what you experienced during the Depression?
"Well, I can remember those days pretty clearly. Luckily your grandfather and I always had food on our table to feed us and your father - that was primarily because of our idea of being in the "meat business" even though we sold freezers.
I remember seeing bankers standing in their fancy suits at street corners selling apples. But now I'm seeing bankers without a job using their Apple computers to carve out a new life for themselves looking for jobs on the Internet.
We never had the Internet back then Ari, and that to me is one of the major differences that will separate this economy from what I experienced back then.
The Internet opens someone in their living room to global resources and opportunities never ever imagined back then. But of course, it will only be the resilient and open-minded business people who will profit from those opportunities."
(Ari's note: Grandma Pearl doesn't own a computer and she has never seen a website. She reads a lot.)
Can someone become successful and wealthy during economic trying times like this?
"Look Ari, there are millionaires made in good times and in bad times.so the lesson there is the "times" have nothing to do with it.
The folks out there who get caught up in all the negativity that is dispensed by the media are the ones who can only see fear and not opportunity.unfortunately that is most people.
If you're going to read the news, it's important to read it separating yourself from it. Read it as an observer only, not as someone who is subject to what they are reading.
Read between the lines and look for the silver lining, because behind every negative news story is a turnaround success story waiting to happen. Everyone loves a come-back success story, but many people aren't willing to put in the risk and hard work to create one of their own.
My advice is to follow business leaders who are unphased by the current conditions of the economy and most importantly, run from the ones who solely blame the economy for their businesses not doing well."
What are some tactical strategies a business person can do to protect their most precious asset: the happy paying customer?
"Always add value to your customer's experience with you, rather than cutting the cost of what they are paying to be your customer.
The other day our van took us to do some shopping at the grocery store. After putting a few items into my basket, I brought the items to the cashier to pay for them. Next to the cashier was a stack of coupons that clearly were marketing coupons designed to bring in new or existing customers into the store.
I wasn't really sure why they were sitting on the cashier's counter in plain sight of already paying customers in the store, which I was one of.
After the cashier rang up my items, without even saying anything, he reached for the coupon, swiped it under his scanner, and I automatically got a 15% discount off of everything I bought.
That made no sense to me.
If I was the owner of that store and saw what just happened, I would have fired the manager of the store for leaving those in full view of paying customers who were ALREADY in the store.
I'd also fire the cashier for not having enough common sense to question the manager on the reason why customers should get an automatic discount, even if they were perfectly happy paying full price.
Conventional thinking would be that the cashier gave me a discount to make me happy so I'd come back and shop there again. Certainly, to a certain extent, that may make a difference for some people.
But on the flipside, that's just giving a way hard earned revenues for absolutely no reason at all.
The smarter thing to do, would have been to incent me to come back and spend MORE with them by offering some kind of promotion to bring me back in more often.like maybe giving me tickets to meeting a local celebrity if I spend at least $50 next time I'm in the store.
As I said before, always add value to your customer's experience with you, rather than cut the cost of what they are paying to be your customer."
For business owners struggling in this economy, what's your advice to them?
"The biggest challenge they really have is being willing to put a mirror in front of themselves and saying 'What elements of my business can't I see that are fundamental to me losing a customer?'
It's so easy to blame the "economy" for a business falling apart because there's comfort in people saying 'It's not your fault, you just got caught up in the economy like everyone else.'
Closely examine what it takes to help a customer buy what you have and you'll see where you're true opportunity lies.
Do you remember when we tried to go to that restaurant last night that supposedly was struggling because of the "economy" and we couldn't find any street parking near by.so we left and went to another restaurant instead?
They have a parking problem which could easily be one of the reasons why they have an "economy" problem.
The little things matter to keeping customers coming back. The people who think from the customer point of view will always prevail in the long term.
(Ari's note: Grandma Pearl is hanging in there, despite her age -- and I can't wait to see her again on my next trip, hopefully in August.)
To your success,
P.S. Not a member of our Unlock The Game Inner Circle? Join us here
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