The House of Estell

Once every other month on a Friday night, my wife and myself join one of two teams from our Sunday School class and serve at a local homeless shelter. Well, it’s much more than a “homeless shelter”, its’ goal is “to move people from homelessness to permanent housing”. Our role, while we are there, is to work the cafeteria line and serve the food, OR IS IT.  I have been thinking about it and what the word “serve” means.  http://www.merriam-webster.com/ gives as the primary definition “to give (food or drink) to someone at a meal, in a restaurant, etc.”. Sure, we do that, but if you dig down a little into the definition you find some other interesting aspects of “serving”. a) “to be a servant to“, b) “to give the service and respect due to”, c)”to furnish or supply with something needed or desired”, d) “to answer the needs of”. Isn’t “serving ” so much more that just handing out food?

I think that the third definition is the most telling “to furnish or supply with something needed or desired”. If we are going to the ministry to serve, are we supplying the individuals there with something they need or desire?

Estell runs a tight ship

Certainly food is maybe a primary need, but there is an opportunity to serve the individuals in many other ways.  Giving respect, looking someone in the eye, being cheerful and encouraging and accepting, there are a significant number of different ways to serve individuals. There is so much more to serving than just handing out food.

And, even more telling, is serving those that we serve with. Estell is the ministry individual that runs the kitchen area and does an incredible job. Day after day, she works with countless volunteer groups and individuals that come and go. It has been fun to get to know her a little bit and start to work on finding out what serving her means. What are her “needs and desires”?

I’m sure than we do a very inadequate job of truly serving the individuals that we come in contact with in the short time we are engaged at the shelter, but I need to make it my goal to look at serving in terms of the whole picture!!

But wait, there’s more. Let’s transfer those thoughts to the business world and McDonald Containers. If we say we want to “serve our customers”. What does that mean?

Is all we are doing is just serving up products? Is that the extent of it? I hope not. Our goal needs to be serving in the broadest sense. To be a great company or supplier, we need to do so much more than just “serve up products”. We need to “to answer the needs of”. That need may be product today, but tomorrow it may be some advice on where to find cremation tags or the best place to look for the address of the Swiss Consulate.

In order to deserve your business and be worthy of the confidence we want you to place in us, we are striving to meet all the definitions of serving. It is our goal to improve every day in that quest to serve.

How are we doing? We want you to tell us if our service level is where you need it to be. Are your needs being met in the areas that you trust us with? PLEASE, give us call and let us know, drop a note on this post, email me at jwfaber@mcdonaldcontainers.com or leave a comment on the website at http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com.

Thanks,

Jim

 

 

 

 

“Choose wisely”

I’ve been thinking about relationships over the last month or so and had a number of thoughts come to mind regarding teamwork, cooperation and working with other companies.

2 Corinthians 6:14 says “Do not be unequally yoked”.

Unequally yoked

I believe Paul is talking here about interpersonal relationships and relationships between Christians and non-Christians, but I think it has some real application in the business world and how companies work together.

I have had an increasing number of situations that have arisen where I have felt that another company that we work with does not have the same level of commitment to customers and customer service that we have. It so happens that it is our goal to ship “every order, every day, out the door”. We are not always successful in achieving that goal and it is not always what the customer needs, but it continues to be our goal.

This goal gets increasing difficult to accomplish as you get later in the day. Orders received at 8:30AM are easy to ship, orders at 12:00 can be more complicated and orders received at 4:00PM can be downright challenging. It is almost impossible if your freight company is not on the same page with your goal and will not pick up after a certain time late in the day. I’m not trying to whine here, (ok, maybe a little), but it made me consider what it means to be “unequally yoked”.

To deliver a product or service to an end-user at the right place at the time at the right price, is an incredible venture. A cremation container, for example, starts as a tree in a forest. The tree is harvested, turned into paper and wood (plywood and lumber), milled, shipped, formed into cardboard box, assembled and shipped to a funeral home and offered to a family for use with a loved one. The chain of companies that touch the materials or assist the product in its journey are numerous. All of these companies are yoked together to deliver that product to that family in their time of need.

I would argue that that process is most effective and most efficient when those companies are “equally yoked”. That is, that the companies have the same goals of customer service at each step of the way. Anywhere that companies are not on the same page in terms of their goals (and service levels), there will be problems and disruptions.

So, what’s the lesson here? When choosing a company to work with, whether that is a supplier or a contractor or anyone to work with, consider who they are and how they fit with your goals, motivations and service expectations. Make sure that you “yoke” yourself to other companies that will pull in the same direction as you will.

 

In just a couple of words, “choose wisely“.

We, here at McDonald Containers, believe that we are a company that is on the same page as companies that are committed to customer service at the highest level. We would welcome an opportunity to talk to you about being “equally yoked” to provide the level of service and products that you need for the families that you serve.

Please contact us if you have any feedback or need further information. Comments are welcome on this blog, at our website http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com or calling us at 800-888-0753.

Remember, “we must all hang together, or assuredly, we will all hang separately”. That one from Benjamin Franklin.

Hmmm, I need to still consider what to do about our freight company.

Thanks for reading,

Jim

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

As I was getting ready to type in my father’s second installment of “Managing People Principles”, I was thinking about what to use as a introduction.  The line from Cool Hand Luke came to mind. Because, after all, isn’t most of managing people about communicating. Communicating expectations, communicating culture, communicating feedback, communicating, communicating, communicating. I don’t know if I have ever watched Cool Hand Luke and so I thought that maybe I should  find out what it is about before using a quote from it.  So, I went to the authoritative site for all things movies (www. imdb.com) and read the comments and storyline write-up on the movie. The site stated:

“Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, “You’re an original, that’s what you are!” Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.”

Wow, I think that this storyline is from a company I used to work at. How many managers have employees that refuse “to buckle under authority” and feel that they need to “crush” that employee until they finally break?

Captain, Road Prison 36

That certainly gives some food for thought. I guess that makes my father’s write-up  even more fitting.

You may remember that a month or so ago, he did a piece about A, B, and C employees and the need to work employees up to be more motivated and engaged to be more productive and fulfilled. My question to him was “Good advice, now how do you go about doing that?”

Here is his next installment:

Be sincere and helpful – Pick a time and place to meet with the employee. Be sincere, because it shows that you mean what you say. Remember that you need their help to make your work place more productive and efficient. Tell them that this meeting is to help both of you.

Start with a question they can answer with a yes or no such as “Do you like your work?”. If they say “yes”, ask them what they like about their work. If they say “no”, ask them what they don’t like about their work.

That will give you a clue about their attitude and having to come to work. It is important for the employee to do most of the talking because you need that feedback in order to help them to become part of the team. Their answer will help you to suggest solutions to change their attitude and help them to be more cooperative.

Another good question that I have used is “If you were the manager, what would you change?” I have been surprised at some of the answers that I received. They have been very helpful because they look at it from a different perspective.

More good stuff, Dad, thanks. Which of the two communication methods are evident in your management style? Man, this stuff is not easy.

I think I’ll work on my dad to see if I can convince him to write part three and share some more of his hard-earned wisdom. Until then, let us know any comments you have, Facebook, twitter, http://www.mcdonaldcontainers or here on the blog.

Thanks,

Jim

“What not to wear” – management version

My wife and daughter like to watch the TLC show “What not to wear”. My understanding is that they want to volunteer someone from our family for participation on the show. (It couldn’t be me, could it?). The premise of the show is that Stacy and Clinton (the stars) take a individual that had been nominated by “friends” or family and give them a fashion makeover. The nominee had evidently lost track of what style is, didn’t know what was appropriate or had just gotten lazy about their appearance and needed a lot of help getting back on track. It is often amazing the transformation that these individuals go through and the change it makes to their life.

Isn’t the same thing true for many of us in management positions. Don’t many of us forget, get lazy or just not know how to be a great manager. I know that I am a guilty party.

Stacy and Clinton from “What not to wear”

So, I thought it would be good to hear from someone again that has spent their life in “fashion” to give us some makeover pointers. My dad was in the banking industry (primarily at the branch level) managing people for over 40 years. I asked him again (see blog from last year) to help us out. Here’s part one of his reply:

A style of management

I’ve learned by experience how to become more productive. My attitude with employees is to work side by side with them and help them to feel a part of management when goals are accomplished and profits are increased. Sharing concerns when things do not go smooth can lead to solutions and get people on the right track again.

I believe there are 3 kinds of employees:

Group 3: People that will only do what you ask them to do. They are late for work, take longer lunch hours and are absent a lot.

Group 2: People who are willing to do anything  you ask them to do, show up for work on time and take very few sick days.

Group 1: “The cream of the crop.”  They are willing to do everything that you ask them to and also look for work to be done to keep busy. They realize that when everybody works together, more can be accomplished in less time. They also will make suggestions to improve work systems and good work relationships.

The challenge for you as a manager is to move group 3 to group 2 and move group 2 to group 1. You will find that your work is less stressful and you will have more time to accomplish your work. No more late hours because there will be less interruptions and you are able to keep on schedule.

Small rewards for good work such as a smile and/or thank you will help the employees to realize there are reasons to pitch in when everybody is busy.

Great stuff, dad, thanks. But, how to move those employees from group 3 to group 2 and group 2 to group 1? Stay tuned for the next episode. Part 2 is on it’s way.

On “What not to wear”, one of the problems is getting the participant to give up their old habits and take what they’ve learned and apply it, so too with managers. Think about it.

Does this employee classification system help your thought process on how you manage your people? On the flip side, as an employee, which group are you in?

Let us know your thoughts, either here, on Facebook, twitter or our site at http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com

Hey, are you sure parachute pants aren’t still cool?

Jim

“I don’t get no respect”

Wow, this may be the first time I have actually disagreed with a dictionary. I’ve had a couple of situations in the last couple of months that have had me chewing on some thoughts about respect. What is it? What does it mean to respect someone or something? Is there a lack of respect in today’s culture? Why? What is the starting point for respect?

Let me start with  a definition that I found (online of course). Respect is “A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.” Really?! As I was rumbling around the web looking at other people’s thoughts about respect and then tweeting some great quotes, I found myself stumbling across this saying a number of times “Respect is something that is earned, not something given”.

I guess I would have to disagree with both the definition and the quote. It seems to me that respect is a starting point and not something that has  to be earned or is deserved by someone because of their accomplishments.  Stating that respect is something that is “earned” or “deserved” would naturally infer that some people or things are undeserving of respect. This would seem to come from the prospective that only those things / people that we “value” are then worthy of our respect and if we don’t value something or someone then we do not owe them respect.

So, maybe respect is something that comes out of our value system. I guess that I would argue that everyone is of value (created in the image of God) and therefore is deserving of respect. Others, I suppose, have a different value system and do not see value in all people and do not deserve respect. BIG PROBLEM. Many of our relational difficulties occur because they don’t start from a place of respect.

Why this post? In a number of situations recently, individuals and companies, I’ve observed, have shown a lack of respect (and in turn value) to customers and others. It has been extremely disappointing to me. It seems to happen especially frequently in the political arena, not only among politicians, but also normal citizens to the leaders of our country. I think that if we could all work from a place of mutual respect (given not always earned), we can certainly move forward with less agitation.

So, too, in the business world. Respect for our customers comes not only from who we are and what we believe, but also from the value that we place on each and everyone that visits our website, posts on our Facebook page, subscribes to our tweets, views our YouTube videos, emails comments and even CALLS US ON THE PHONE. I hope that the respect that we have comes through in each and every contact that you have with us.

Please, give us some feedback. We “value and respect” your comments. Post them here or at http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com.

Jim

Scotty, we need more power!!!

In honor of the opening of the new Star Trek movie this weekend, I wanted to start with a quote from the original “Captain Kirk”.

As always, this post is a result of some things that I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ve been chewing on some thoughts about “power”. What is power? How does power work? Who has power? Is power good or bad? How do we as a company use power, manage power and engage in relationships where we may not have power?

First of all, on a personal level, I believe that everyone has power. I’ve heard the phase that some people use that they “feel powerless”, but I think that, even thought they don’t feel it, they still have power.

We need more power!!

Power to change things, to improve people’s lives, to influence others, to succeed, to do what they want to do. People are as “powerless” as they let themselves be. Last Sunday at the churches that we attend, I saw two illustrations of pastors using their power (as revered, respected individuals) to encourage, cheer and brighten individuals (EXCELLENT).

I don’t care who you are or in what situation I’m in, we all have power. There are so many examples everyday of people using power in a negative way, whether it’s to cut someone down, to treat someone poorly or to somehow take advantage of someone by use of their power. How much better it is to use the power we have in a positive way.

Companies, as well, have power. Power to provide great service or poor service. Power to make a fair profit or use their power to make an unfair profit. Have you ever been at the mercy of a company in an emergency? I get extremely upset when I watch an expose of a repair company that uses its power to gouge customers. How about other situations where a company may use its’ power to the disadvantage of its’ customer (shame, shame).

We, here at McDonald Containers, are trying to make sure that, with whatever power we have, we use it to brighten your day, help you serve families and provide you with the most price competitive, high quality great service products that you can get in the cremation and shipping supplies industry.

Visit us at http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com and let us know. With our “great power” are we fufilling our “great responsibility”. You knew that I couldn’t end without fitting that in somewhere.

Hey man, we love you guys.

Thanks,
Jim

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!

We recently discovered some fun little trinkets. They are little solar powered “bobble toys”, for lack of a better word. The toys are small, usually only about 4″ tall, and have movement powered by a solar cell. The figures run anywhere from a daisy complete with moving leaves and flower to a bumblebee to elephants and bears. Set somewhere with light, they move constantly with heads (or flowers) bobbling back and forth. My wife, Dawn, has a penguin mounted to her dashboard.

Solar powered penguin mounted on Dawn’s dashboard

There is so much movement that it is sometimes hard to believe that it is powered by the solar cell and not the movement of the car. My daughter was in the car with some friends and it took some convincing by her to prove to them that the movement was from the solar cell. If fact, Dawn and myself were out one day with her car and her penguin was quite active in the bright sunshine. She observed that it seemed to be moving with the motion of my driving and he was scared and with his arms out was going “WHOA”. I countered that I thought he was having a great deal of fun and had his arms out going “Wheeeeeeee!!!!”.

I’m not sure which of the two options it was but it got me thinking again about the relationship that businesses have with their customers. Many of the businesses that I deal with I have either a “Whoa” or “Whee” attitude to. Some of the businesses I don’t look forward to interacting with and wish that they were “better drivers”. Other businesses are great fun to work with and I look forward to calling and ordering or just contacting them.

How about your business or my business? Do your and my customers look forward to going for a ride with us? Or do they put on their seatbelt first thing, close their eyes and hang on for dear life.

Our goal at McDonald Containers is to have you look forward to the day when you call us to place an order or just call to let us know your college team beat up on our college team. We want to have you raise your arms in the air and gleefully yell out “wheeeeeee” when you ride with us.

Hey, stop at your local dollar store and pick up one of these little “solar bobble heads”. They are great fun for a buck. Or, drop us a note at http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com or on the form below and we will send one out to the first 10 funeral homes that request one.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Comment and / or Funeral Home Mailing Address

Submit

Δ

Here’s hoping your ride is a fun one,

Jim

“Pick me, Pick me.”

A couple of things happened in the last month that got me thinking. Do you remember those playground experiences where sides were being chosen for some type of activity? How terrifing is that! No one wants to be the last one picked (or left out). Isn’t it great that we don’t have to go through that anymore as adults, or do we?

     My son, Brad, has started a new company “Sceneyouthere”. It’s a photography / advertising small business that using photography at events to promote products and advertisers. He made his first sale about two weeks ago and was very excited. Someone “picked him”.

     My daughter, Michelle, is a senior at ClemsonUniversity and is starting to work the resume pretty hard with the hope that someone will “pick her”.

    It struck me that very few of us ever really escape the horror of waiting and hoping that someone in some way will “pick us”. Whether its as an employer, a friend, a spouse, a customer, we all still are in situations where we join “Donkey” saying “Pick me, Pick me, Ooh, Ooh.”

  Even in social settings, we find ourselves in the unenviable situation of being new to our surroundings and want desperately to have someone pick us.

 The shoe can sometimes be on the other foot, though. Isn’t great to be in the position of being the “picker”. Oh, the power. How easy is it to abuse that power instead of using that power to contribute to someone else’s self worth or self image.

  Well, I’m getting a little off track. I, too, am asking for people to “pick me”. We sent out a direct mail piece last week to a significant number of funeral homes and crematories asking them to “pick us” here at McDonald Containers.  So, here I wait by the phone to see if they will pick us. We feel that we  deliver the products and services that would make anyone happy to have picked us.

     If you’re one of those individuals that are considering which company to pick to provide you with your cremation containers and shipping supplies, I hope you will visit us at www.mcdonaldcontainers.com and “PICK US”.

     As always, I appreciate comments and feedback. Oh, and by the way, we really like it when you “PICK US”.

Thanks,

Jim

“We’re here to see the tapestries!”

A couple of weekends ago, my wife Dawn and myself were in Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit my parents. The occasion was my dad’s 80th birthday. We had a great time. We went with them to my father’s “cousins” reunion and then to Chicago to visit my sister.

It reminded me how grateful I am to have to have wonderful parents that gave me a childhood that few people enjoy. The positive influence that they have had on my life will continue for the rest of my life. I thought about Edith Schaeffer’s biography named “The Tapestry”. She makes the point that our lives are a living tapestry that God is weaving.

I believe that God used my parents to set the “warp” (the base thread of a weaving) of my life.  Other people and experiences have since then are the weft (the cross threads) of the tapestry, combining with the warp to create the picture that is my life.  Our lives become a picture of the threads that are our experiences.  Each individual thread contributes to overall color and beauty of the work in process.

Dad, weaving some more threads

 I think businesses are the same. When someone looks at or works with a business, what is the tapestry that they see? The business owner sets the warp of the design, the base, the pattern, the image he (or she) is trying to build. He uses suppliers, customers, employees and the community as the weft to develop the tapestry. 

I love the concept of a business as a tapestry.  As I work on relationships with vendors, customers, employees and my community, I am trying to be aware that each of these have an impact on the tapestry that we are weaving. There are some thread in our tapestry that may need some attention. Either they are not contributing to the picture or worse yet, they may be creating an image that we don’t want.  

I hope that you consider McDonald Containers as an important thread in the tapestry that you are weaving, if you are one of our customers. We are working hard to make sure that our thread in your tapestry is not one that you feel needs to be removed. 

We would welcome some feedback about your thoughts. How can we be a brighter thread in your tapestry? Are we contributing or distracting from the image that you are creating in your tapestry?If you’re not a customer, do you have a thread that needs replacing? We would love to take to you about cremation containers and shipping trays. Visit us at www.mcdonaldcontainers.com, or call us at 800-333-0128, or leave a comment with this blog entry!!

Oh, the title? You knew it was from Raiders, right?

Jim

If I only knew then, what I know now!!!!

I’ve been writing blog entries for almost a year now and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve tried to take an opportunity to share some thoughts about running a business and our committment to customer service. I have also tried to show that we try to be a learning organization and whenever I go somewhere or experience something it provides a chance to grow as a person or as a company.

My daughter, Michelle, was writing a paper for a class at Clemson a few months back about leadership and we talked about being a “learning leader”. We felt that great leaders are always learning and growing. I was thinking about that some more and I remembered a conversation that I had with my father a while back about some of his experiences in his 40 some years in retail banking. WOW, a lot of lessons learned and knowledge gained. So, I asked him if he would be willing to share some of what he has learned over his career in this blog. He reluctantly agreed.

What a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from 40 years of people management and customer interaction. I am looking forward to consuming his wisdom over the next few months.

We’ll start with a little bit of his experiences with McDonald Containers. This from my dad, Warren Faber (sometime West Coast sales rep):

Vacationing in Switzerland

Each year, the first week of November, my wife and I travel from Michigan to Arizona and stay four months in Green Valley, Arizona and two months with our oldest daughter in San Diego, California. Over the last couple of years, we made several business calls for our son, who owns McDonald Containers. The purpose of those calls was to get feed back from the customers as to service and product satisfaction. We hoped that it also showed the human side of the business and not just the every day activity it takes to operate a business. Jim has a masters degree in advertising and a CPA degree in accounting and he has a strong interest in people. This is an excellent combination to run a successful business. In 2011, we left home on November 6^th and made business calls during that week. The lst call was in Iowa, then Missouri, next Kansas, then Oklahoma, then Arkansas, and the last call was in El Paso, Texas. The response was the same each call. The product was superior and the service was excellent. It is possible that not every customer is completely happy with service and product, but I know that Jim has addressed every problem and learned from the feed back. He wants feedback both good and not good so that both the company and customer will have a good business relationship.

Thanks, dad.  I’m looking forward to hearing more from him over the next few months. As always, we love to hear from you. Visit us at www.mcdonaldcontainers.com.

Jim