Zappos the game changer
Last weekend I was fortunate to tour the headquarters of one of the most successful companies of the last decade, Zappos.com. Over ten years, Zappos went from zero to over $1.2 billion in sales. Over the past year, Zappos was acquired by a larger internet retailer for over $1 billion dollars. They did all this by selling shoes on the internet, or did they? What can we learn from their success?
My first lesson -- don't listen to your friends. Go out and follow your dreams. Can you imagine how many people told the founders to give up trying to sell SHOES on the internet? This company is a clear example to anyone who has a dream and is working hard to make it happen. Don't stop.
Second lesson -- you can't just sell shoes on the internet. Zappos doesn't see a shoe store, they are a customer service company that happens to have a good website with shoes on it. Their written goal in every customer interaction is to get the customer to say "wow". This is what keeps loyal customers, not cheap shoes.
Third, employees, the people at Zappos, are the $1 billion opportunity. Invest in people, stay interested in employees, create leaders, motivate, and reward people and you will make lots of money. The energetic employees at Zappos are intensely focused on one thing -- making the customer happy (not selling the cheapest shoes). That's what zappos does.
You put all those things together and you have a billion $ opportunity.
At Signature Community we see ourselves as a customer service company, not as a landlord. Our goal is to keep residents for life and we know that the only way that will happen, is if our residents love us.
We understand at Signature, that residents have a choice and can find four walls and a refrigerator anywhere; but the sense of community at Signature Community, will not be replicated anywhere. That's the Signature advantage.
Employees at Signature Community do have a very different life than our competitors. First we work harder, work smarter, and have more fun. Take for example our interaction with residents. When a resident comes in with a problem or a payment issue, our goal is to solve their problem and get them to say "Wow", Signature cares". The best example of this is our Signature Community Resident Works Program. When a resident falls behind on their rent we offer them a job based on their interest or specialties. Currently we have residents working in sales, plumbing, carpentry, technology, and office help. We even started a resident training program. If this isn't stimulus, I don't know what is.
What makes Signature different and why do residents love Signature Community? They don't live here because we have the prettiest kitchens or baths they live here because we are a Signature Community. Exactly, why people spend billions of dollars a year in shoes from zappos.
Thanks for making it happen at Signature Community.
Nick
I hate roller coasters and have hated them since I was 7 years old. At amusement parks, my family would go on the big roller coasters and I would watch from the safety of the merry go round.
The irony is that every day I ask people to do something they feel is tough and outside their comfort zone. I ask managers to be sales people, maintenance techs to be customer service agents, banks to be distressed debt buyers, smokers to stop smoking, worriers to stop worrying and risk-takers to be conservative. My idea of Signature Community and my life in general is that you have to keep pushing the envelope if you want to be better. Life is truly lived when you are outside your comfort zones.
Back to roller coasters. As everyone has probably seen this past week in Olympic coverage the wildest ride in Canada right now is the Olympic bobsled run. So what better way to get me out of my comfort zone than to jump into a sled going down a mountain at 60 mph. I did it. And loved it.
I did what I ask you to do everyday. Get out of your comfort zone and make things happen. For the company, for your family, for you personally. Go take risk, get in trouble, have fun. It will change your life.
Please share your stories of doing something outside your comfort zone.
Thanks for making it happen at Signature Community.
Attach is a video of a bobsled run and photo of us at finish. Thanks.
Differences between winning and losing
Recently I have been spending as much time as I can, watching the Winter Olympics with my kids. I believe the Olympics are one of the greatest mediums to show how a focused effort can produce outstanding results. While I do agree that there is a significant correlation between genetics and athletic ability, that however is only a small part of the equation. My unscientific opinion is that 10% of the population is genetically predisposed to some type of athletic Endeavour. After that, it's all in your head. Your ability to push harder, last longer, get up earlier, give up more, are going to be the difference between standing on the podium or watching from the couch.
I am not saying that everyone should be out there skiing at 70 mph. I do believe that what Olympic athletes do is no different than you and I. They just picked something they love, focused a lot of effort on it and are taking a huge risk to succeed. Just think if your 4 years of efforts were decided by a 6 inch lead. My feeling is that our lives are decided by those inches, every day. We are all Olympians in our own ways. Winners and sometimes losers every day.
At Signature Community we have been in a race for the past 2 months to renew as many leases as we can. We have a game plan in place to keep every resident possible. We have been throwing parties, visiting residents door by door, offering resident's jobs to stay with us. Our rates of renewal last year were phenomenal from an industry perspective, but our gold winning goals set for this year will make that look like me skiing next to Lindsey Vonn. We are going for top of podium gold metal status.
The other day I was watching the women's mogul skiing and this young woman was at the top of the hill waiting her turn. The camera was in her face with probably a billion people watching and the look on her face was complete relaxation, concentration, focus and optimism. It was so apparent in her eyes that my youngest daughter (5yrs old) said she is really focused. She went down the hill in this zone and was incredible!
When I hear stories about what Signature team members are doing for our residents; I know that as a company, we are as focused as that young skier making her way down the slopes. Nothing can stop us from winning when are in the zone.
Thanks for making it happen at Signature. You are champions.
Nick
Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.
The Colts were favored to win last Sunday's Super Bowl, but in the truest sense of never counting out the underdog, the Saints pulled off an incredible win. When they received the trophy you could tell that they were not there for the money, they were there to win for them selves and for the people of New Orleans. They were there for the city that was feeling abandoned and left for dead just 6 years earlier. They were there to show the world that even with little help, they rebuilt. They turned a homeless shelter into a house of champions.
Of all the great feats accomplished, it not only takes great talent and hard work, but it takes heart. Last Sunday was an evening were heart and passion trumped experience and skill. That is the way every athletic event should be played.
At Signature Community we play with heart and passion everyday. Some of our properties are up against incredible odds, yet they we are still playing to win. We have markets where more than 20% of our residents have recently lost their jobs, where hurricanes have ravaged buildings, areas where crime and drug gangs have attempted to move-in, you name it and its happened at a Signature Community in this past year or so. At Signature Community we have not taken it sitting down. For unemployed residents, we have a Signature Help Work Program so that residents can work off their past due balances. We have residents in almost every market in the country now working off their balances while serving the Signature Community.
We also have team members that go the extra yard for our success. Like Kristen in Richmond, VA who was up until 2AM salting parking lots and fixing electrical breakers during a record snowstorm. Matt in KC who worked with an unemployed resident to start cleaning hallways to pay her back rent.
We may be the underdogs in this fight but don't count us out. We are winners!
Thanks for making it happen with Signature Community.
Nick
Managing a winning team!
This past football season has been exciting and I can't wait to see the upcoming Super Bowl showdown between two great teams, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. While they are not competing in the Super Bowl, one team which really stood out for me this past season was the New York Jets. A recent NY Times front page story about Rex Ryan, went into great detail on how it was the rookie Coach's leadership that turned around the Jets and made them a Super Bowl contender. While Coach Ryan's leadership turned this team around, he did not do it alone. Coach Ryan spoke loudly and often about the talent that surrounded him, until the players believed every word he said. Rex Ryan changed the way people felt about coming to work. But the team's hard work, great talent and enthusiasm made all the difference. Too often, the press glorifies one leader when there is a whole team that is actually making it happen. Ultimately, the New York Jets great turnaround story reminds me of the great turnaround we made at Signature Community in 2009.
We had the same winning record with Signature this past year.
We started with a team that didn't communicate, lost a lot of money, had no bench strength, and everybody was running in different directions. We changed that by setting out clear goals (97% occupancy, 70% resident retention and operating in the black); we created a real time communication protocol (daily huddles and weekly calls, training and best practice calls); we engaged one another (Signature Ideas Teams); we are creating a bench (STAR Center training), we even look like a winning team (Signature shirts).
The differences are pretty clear from just 15 months ago and will continue to get better with a team of 100 working on making us better, not just a team of three. Over the past year, we have changed our culture from complacency to urgency, from bureaucracy to lean and from good to great. Everyone at Signature jumped in and made this happen and can take pride in the fact that we are a better company today because of your contributions.
Great job everyone for getting us on the right track!
Thanks for making it happen in 2009
Nick
