We Know When He Died

We Know When He Died


Yesterday Amy and I sat in the kitchen eating a quiet lunch of cheese and summer sausage. MacGyver lay on the floor with his chin resting on the windowsill. I motioned for Amy to look at him; at that very moment we heard a deep sound, the window actually moved and rattled, MacGyver jumped up. At that moment a man died, instantly. As a crow flies, we were about nine tenths of a mile from the crash.

We learned later, on TV news, that two drivers were apparently drag racing on one of Scottsdale's heavily used streets; police estimate they were, at least, moving at 70 miles per hour, side by side at the moment of impact with a car making a legal left turn. That car was torn into pieces, ejecting the driver, whose body was found almost 200 feet from point of impact. The other drivers were released from the hospital that evening, one with a broken arm, the other with minor bruises, and immediately arrested and jailed on second degree murder charges.

This morning we read the short article in the paper and learned that the deceased was a man Amy had worked with in the past: A man who had done much community service during his life.

I know this has nothing to do with selling, marketing, managing or operating a business, at least not on first thought, but maybe it does. It does because to succeed and be happy in these daily pursuits, we must have and execute personal responsibility. Everything we do, everyday, is done on the assumption that people around us will take personal responsibility in their work, their lives. These two drivers, one 42 the other 26, failed to do so in this instance.

The deceased had made that same left turn at least once a day for years. He undoubtedly looked and saw these oncoming cars, noted their distance and assumed they were driving at the 45 mph limit or perhaps 50 mph as every one does on that street. He "knew" he had ample had time to make the turn, he did not pause to judge their speed, realize it was not "normal" and how quickly they would be upon him. He took personal responsibility as he habitually did all his life. He was consistent in this and assumed those drivers were also. Their inconsistency in taking personal responsibility has destroyed their lives. The number of other drivers witnessing the crash and the physical evidence ensures they will spend many years in prison. The people that depend on them for comfort, love and sustenance, will have to rebuild their lives, also.

What a waste.

Please be consistent in taking personal responsibility in every part of your life, for your sake, for the sake of all who know, love and depend on you.

Wesley (Wes) Zimmerman

Employees 1st, Customers 2nd, Shareholders Last

Employees 1st, Customers 2nd, Shareholders Last


Last evening I had a wonderful experience. I met a man who is filled with enthusiasm for life, learning and helping others. We talked for about thirty minutes and he never mentioned money, either as a commodity, goal or measure of success. This is unusual in today's culture where money is the yardstick for measuring everything from happiness to the ability to be elected president. I have no doubt that he has been successful in most of his endeavors. His dress and intimate knowledge of cities and countries I have visited, attest to monetary success. As we talked and shared experiences it was clear that his values are the foundation of his success in life as a whole.

Raised on a farm in the Middle West like me, he is proud of his ability to analyze a problem or set back, devise more that one way to solve or overcome it and use the one that makes the most sense in terms of the people affected and business results. "That's what comes with growing up on a farm."

In business and management his guiding principle has been employees first, customers second, shareholders last. When questioned about this order of priority he explains that the people working in the business are its only true asset because they create customer and supplier goodwill, which, he says is the sustaining asset of the business; investing shareholders always realize a high return with this approach. In every business he has started, owned, or managed his practice has been to carefully hire the best people, give them responsibility, pay them accordingly and well, and constantly communicate his respect for them as individuals.

He is a happy man.

Reminds me of my Dad and other truly happy, successful people I've known.

How do you measure success?

Wesley (Wes) Zimmerman

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Attitude Quotes

All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions
- Leonardo da Vinci

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes


If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.

- William Blake (1757–1827), British poet, painter, engraver.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 14, "A Memorable Fancy," (c. 1793),

A Four And Five Star Day

A Four And Five Star Day


On Friday morning Amy informed me that the horoscope writer in the Arizona Republic said she would have a four star day and I would have a five star day. Yeh!

It was a day when her arthritis became abominably painful. This has the effect of making her more than a tad impatient with everything, everybody and above all, me. I support my sweetheart as best I can under these conditions, usually by simply holding her in my arms at intervals, but today she would not take time for that. She had a big schedule of unavoidable activities requiring physical movement

I had some work to do in the house, some to do in my home office and then driving to ten different locations to do shopping, and set up book signings at several retail locations. Getting out of the house was a relief. A short time after I started my errands she called to say she had decided we should have Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. I happen to love this dish and quickly agreed to stop at the Safeway for a can of condensed Cream of Chicken soup and drop it off at home before completing my errands. This proved to be the first of a series of unhappy incidents; sort of like the first step in a crash ladder described in the Zinger Success Ladder Or Crash Ladder

We like and use Safeway brand products. In the case of soups they are stocked at random among the Campbell soup varieties in a fancy space saving, dispenser rack, furnished by the makers of Campbell soups. I knew from experience where the Cream of Chicken was located in that five foot high by six-foot long apparatus. I grabbed two cans and checked out quickly.

Arriving home I placed them on the kitchen counter in the grocery bag. I then went quickly to freezer to extract two packages of chicken thighs to defrost. I did this quickly, I was running late.

Arriving at my first coffee shop book retailer I found I had left my invoice forms at the office. These are usually in the car but had been removed. They had one book remaining and the rule there is no invoice, no book, and no payment. I said I would come back on Monday. At the next retail stop, I found I had not made enough flyers announcing next Friday's book reading and signing. A customer took one of the flyers and announced he was taking it home to remind him to come back next week. Great, but that underscored the need for more flyers. This made a long trip necessary on Monday. Disappointing but not another step in the crash ladder.

I finished my errands and asked Amy if she would like to sit and relax by the fire, with a bit of Port Wine. We did that and fell asleep. We got to the kitchen to start the Chicken and Dumplings at the time we usually sit down to eat. I proceeded to take the thawed chicken thighs out of their freezer bags and discovered one bag contained previously barbecued chicken. Amy was far less than pleased. I rushed to get two uncooked ones from the freezer and began a microwave defrost operation. Then,

"These cans are Cream Of Mushroom, not Cream Of Chicken soup. You have to read the labels on the cans!"

"I'll go to the store at once and get the correct soup."

Amy was close to tears. At the store I read the can labels and found that Cream Of Mushroom was in all but one of the dispensers marked Cream Of Chicken. That was why I had the wrong stuff at home. I informed the store assistant manager of the problem while checking out.

"That explains all the people coming back to get the right soup."

At home things went well until the Dumplings did not rise. They were flat, semi impervious to that great gravy, totally unleavened. Turns out Amy had found a full unopened box of Bisquick in the back of the pantry and had not checked the sell by date. It was more than a year overdue. I ate them out of stubbornness.

So much for horoscopes and four and five star days.

Don't bet on Astrology, think before you leave the office and always read labels.

We laughed about it next day and I thought you would, too.

Wes Zimmerman

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.

- Camille Pissarro

Blogging, Web Selling, What I've Learned.

Blogging, Web Selling,

What I've Learned.

The first person to respond to last weeks blog, Surprising Search Terms, was Bill Austin, our Web Master and designer. He asked, "What have you learned?"

I have learned several things.

o The idea that a percentage of visitors will buy and therefore increasing traffic will build sales is a myth. We do not wander around the Internet shopping just for the fun of it. We do it to fill a need for information, to find a specific product or service, to gain help in solving a problem, or to satisfy our curiosity about something we have heard about from others.

I say this because diligent tracking of web site, book orders shows that only two percent have resulted from accidentally landing on our web site. This research reveals that at least 50% of sales have come from folks that used the exact web address to get there, then looked at the information and either ordered before leaving the site, or came back one or two times before ordering. Direct contact with buyers tells us they went to the site as a result of seeing a display in an independent coffee house counter display, hearing people talking about the book, or because someone they respected told them to buy it.

o Content is key; a thirteen copy book order resulted when a buyer's wife heard two people talking about the book and suggested he look it up to use in his planned sales meeting, He searched on "perception:" "As I read about it on the site, I knew it was perfect for my sales people."

o The carefully chosen words we thought would bring people to our site were used no more than 15% of the time. My name has drawn many visitors to the site. Individual words in the title and content of the site have been the key to about 40% of the visits that resulted in sales.

o People visit a site more than once before deciding a product meets their needs.

o Price is not an issue. 99% of those who click on the buy button and see the price do buy. The price does not deter them.

o People buy from a person; we've always known and taught this and it is no different on the Internet. Reading my Blogs gives a person a chance to know me and leads to sales over time.

These are specifics; the underlying lesson to me is that our Web site is a sales presentation. "I cannot buy from you, until I know you exist." is the first sentence you see in my book. "I will not buy your product until I know how it will help me reach my goals." is the second sentence.

Your site must educate; does yours?