Put it out there.

Ever been involved with a project that's time has come?

Maybe you've worked hard to place a new idea in the heads of your superiors, and today is your presentation. The official introduction of your plan. Maybe you have children? This could be their recital, the performance that shows the instructor, your peers and their friends what they've been practicing. It's as much your "coming out" as it is theirs, you want it to go perfectly and have them show well. This is after all, an outcropping of your efforts. Another example? I run. I prepare with a goal, an event, a date, and an intended outcome. So for me, it's race day. If you do well, no one can ever take your time from you - it stays as a testament to your preparation, skill and ability to perform when it counts. This is the feeling I had on my trip to Australia. The EmbroidMe VISION project is ready to use. It's taken many months to get to this place. What started as an idea for improvement is now here for the franchisees to see and embrace. They've seen and heard all about it, how could they not. We touted it as the system of the future at last year's Expo in Las Vegas. Back then, the prognosis was that we'd have most of it done for the Expo and release it slowly in June. Improvements, some obstacles and the daunting migration of EMeBOSS data kept us from releasing any viable version in 2012. The delay was an annoyance to some, but most understood that we have been adding to and improving the system all the way since April's Expo, so the vibe was still "we have the right idea and the plan is working."

The Regional Meeting swing in Australia was loosely in place in the beginning of December when Evan Foster, National Director, visited Florida for our year end meetings. We determined that this system would be ready to launch, so we decided to include this as the "meat" of the four meetings. I had planned on going over and having someone from Trade Only accompany me for the demos. It went back and forth, Martin Varley or Tracey Peyton, one of these two would be the best presenters of the system. Tracey was giving the nod a mere three days before the trip began, which made for some interesting prep and dialogue on a very long journey over the Pacific. This was Tracey's first trip to Australia and what a schedule we had for her. Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, all in 6 days with a day on each side for travel and some time adjustment. She really leaned into the assignment, putting together four stellar demonstrations across Australia. We answered questions, shored up concerns about cloud computing and security and showed new capabilities. We left each city with our franchisees impressed and ready to adopt the VISION system. In all but one location we had a 100% sign-up percentage. This trip was a success on two fronts. The software was the star, it will allow the stores to better manage and promote their businesses. We also made excellent connections face to face with some fantastic people. Our Expos allow for franchisees to interact with the Corporate people, but store visits and an appreciation for what happens each day in their lives is paramount. I love life in the field ~ for this reason.

I am not the sole person responsible for the EmbroidMe VISION system. For maybe the first time ever on a project of this type, we pooled our resources to include corporate, training, field and franchisees to build and sharpen the deliverable. This was exciting because I got to pull the wraps off in front of excited customers who will use it everyday. I know most of the franchisees, so the intro and dialogue was easy. I like to bring a human side to the presentations, telling the inside story of how the ideas and development crafted what we had to introduce.I think people appreciate and deserve that. Credibility soars when you expose your challenges and frailties next to your successes. People understand. They believe. Then they trust.

All the work and thoughts culminate in that moment when you take that step forward and put it out there. Would it fall on welcome ears? Had our planning and year-plus of work on VISION hit the mark? The only way to know would be to dedicate the time and resources to show the franchisees in person. The response was very enthusiastic. Our store owners saw the value in pressing forward with this new venture which made the tightly-scheduled trip more enjoyable along the way. Special mention to franchisees that extended their hospitality to us on their weekends and free time. I have a wonderful collection of friends that are due my best hospitality when they visit Florida. Yes, this is you, Pete and Margie Gardner, Karren and Matt Fitzpatrick.

I went around the world in a week. I did my part and helped make the Regional Meetings interesting for our franchisees. The project doesn't end with this tour of Australia. We push a familiar plan into place now, the launch phase. Training and implementation. This we will do well, our past experiences have been good here, this will be duplication of that success. When you're in the midst of the tough stuff on a project of this size, you wish for the day that people see and appreciate what you've done. My day came, four different times in four different cities! It's forward from here.

 

- dm

Momentum!

They will. I know it. Our franchisees in Australia and New Zealand are really digging into our Aussie Expo 2011. We brought so much "out of the box" material, things to discuss, new ideas, it will stick.  They will put many of the things we introduced into their businesses. It's exciting to be a part of it. I don't like the long trip, maybe that would be better if I flew business class!

ShopSIGNARAMA is a topic in need of smoothing over... franchisees here will experience what the USA already lived through last year. I think this year's conference will be a turning point for the material I brought. With Ray, Jim and Evan touting social media use and customer service prior to me rolling through a four-point plan for improvement, the chances are good more will become involved and get engaged. I look forward to more followers on Twitter, friends and such on Facebook, and connections on Linkedin.

The future is very bright for these franchisees. They are isolated from most of the world and they just plow through our program chasing their countrymen, some of the best performers in our system! I'm glad to see the positive impact our trip is making this year.

Planning Ahead. Again.

I'm spearheading our company's efforts at our 2011 Australasian Expo this year, from the USA perspective. Honestly, the heavy lifting is being done by our experts in Australia, my role this year is to mesh what the corporate team needs to see happen with what's really occurring on the ground in Australia.  I love doing these events, I consider it like a chess match. My job is to keep a few moves ahead of the attendees and their conference experience, a few moves ahead of our USA team who will arrive and expect everything to be just right, and a few moves in front of any potential pitfalls or goof ups that could arise. Challenges include: 

• Budgeting, forecasting and paying for the event.
• Arranging the education to match with what our franchisees consider valuable.
• Putting suppliers and attendees (our customers!) needs and wants in persepective.
• Learning about the venue and possibilities from 12,000 miles away. Once I arrive, I'll have maybe a day to make changes if necessary, then it's showtime.
• Filling the event with levity and fun. I fear if I wasn't involved, it would swing to "all work, no play," not what our franchisees are looking for. Allow me to add the sugar.
• Putting together a presentation on social, mobile and trends for our attendees.
• Getting mentor shirts for everyone in our mentor program before the event. And have them arrive in Australia on time.
• Bringing all the proper goodies to make the event smooth: projectors, converters, passport, winter clothes!
• Taking too many pictures, as I'm known to do at these things.
• Arranging pertinent and fun coffee break and intro music.
• Organizing some kind of start up - launch for the event.
• Dinner with our mentor chairpersons once in Melbourne.

These things are not really all challenges, they are things I have to consider, arrange and conquer before the end of the month. Plan Ahead Events is one of our franchise brands, I'm back doing what started this concept in the first place. And I love the prospects of getting it all right.