The article for this month goes along with the experiences I shared about the eateries. "Sounds of Silence" is a collection of interactions we have observed people having with other individuals whose job is to be selling products and services. The point of these lessons is that our competition cannot compete with us when we give great customer service, and we cannot compete when we fail to deliver great customer service.

Whether your business sells products and/or services, you will find that every product has a season to it. Pieces of equipment used by a service business have the same thing; a seasonality to the usage of that equipment. Using products we sell as an example, "open to buy" is observing from the past and detecting the seasonality of the sales of that product. You want plenty of the item on hand as the peak selling season begins. As soon as you hit that sales peak, you want the quantity on hand to diminish.

Selling down that inventory, you can use the cash to buy inventory for a different item whose selling season is heading toward it peak. And, you may have a need for the shelf space as one item sells down and another increases in sales.

So, we have multiple tools for you this month. A PowerPoint from a class we have created on "Open to Buy", a mp4 file you can listen to online or download to hear how "Open to Buy" works, and the Excel file we use as a template for the class.

Friends and family tell me there are many times I am a somewhat blunt in the way I say something. My comment about enjoying the business has been that none of your customers nor any employees of your business can enjoy the business unless you do so first. Sometimes I ask if an owner is having a good time with their business. The answer expected, and traditionally received is a simple, "Yes".

And my response is, "You forgot to tell your face". When I say this during a presentation, I can count on a sizable laugh from the audience. I think this is because they all know so many individuals this comment could be directed to.

I believe it was Neil Bonnett, a NASCAR driver killed in a practice run in 1994 (NASCAR fans help me out here), who was known for looking in the mirror every morning and singing this piece from the musical, "Oklahoma": "Oh what a beautiful morning. Oh what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feeling, everything's going my way".

What a great start to the day. You, your staff and your customers will love it.

We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.