In addition to the below post, I would also like to add a new twist.  Last year I talked about “retreat and recharge” which is all still VERY relevant.  This year I want to add “REINVENT”.  The business world is moving at such a fast pace it is hard for all of us to keep up.  We also see forces changing our business models almost daily.  Tom Friedman, in today’s New York Times, talked about how 10 years ago Facebook, Twitter, 4G, the iPhone, and the Ipad did not even exist!  Can you imagine a world without all of these “things”??  Pretty impossible.  But with all of this new technology comes the need to harness it for our specific needs… and that is where REINVENTION comes in.  It is no longer enough to just have a forum of advisers where you can share ideas. It is no longer enough to just “take a business time out” to recharge.  It is no longer enough to have a renewed sense of energy.  We also now need to constantly REINVENT our business so we stay relevant for today’s ever changing business world.

So please reread last year’s post and keep in mind the idea of REINVENTION along with everything I wrote.  And as always, ENJOY.

Oh, and remember the Rolling Stones are back on tour!!! Don’t miss it!!!

Recently we have made a number of changes with our Account Executive sales team and our internal team.  Our goal is always to offer the best partnership, product, and service to all of our partners, and I work tirelessly (mostly) behind the scenes to make this a reality.

When we made these changes, I reached out to a number of our retail partners to say hello, check in, thank them for their continued support, and inform them of the changes we were making.  I was very surprised to hear from a few people (only a few – but still want to address it!) that they felt I had either been aloof or uninterested in their business since I had not previously been checking in or staying in contact enough, or not sitting down at a trade show.

I want to say to all of our friends and partners this is definitely NOT the case.  While in the past I may have overly deferred to our sales team to be the main point of contact with our partners, I have always been 1000% involved in all decisions and all planning at Legacie and I feel terrible that some people would think I, or any member of the Robinson family, was not interested.   If anything, we care too much.

If anyone has felt this way I apologize and will do my best to make sure it does not happen again.  I always call any new partner to say hello and introduce myself and welcome them to our extended family… and while there is never enough time, I thought I was staying in contact with everyone.  For those that have felt differently, I again apologize.

Thanks for listening, and please know we have a very open door policy and B. Robinson and Legacie.  Please feel free to call or email any time and I will always make sure to respond to any question/comment/complain/suggestion, etc.

Thanks,

Cliff

This year, what I noticed (in addition to the need to have a boutique/luxe strategy) is the incredible CHOICE that is now available to all ECPs.  There must be more than a hundred booths showcasing luxe or boutique product and half of them seem to be new this year.  This fact alone should convince all ECPs of the need to look at this segment of the market and to begin to develop a strategy for this kind of product.  While most pavilions and booths seem to be less exciting and losing energy, the trend pavilion is busy.

And that’s my second observation. In year’s past I heard English, Italian, French, and German in the trend pavilion.  Now I am hearing Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Portuguese, Hindi, and many other languages.  Every good retailer and distributor around the world is beginning to seek out new product they want to support for 2013 and beyond.

This year I personally met new people from Jordan, Libya, Turkey, Morocco, Peru, India, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile. EVERY market around the world is catching on to this trend of boutique and luxe product.  Everyone is looking to stand out from the crowded market place of popular price brands that can be found everywhere.

I urge any ECP looking to build an optical practice to think about this phenomenon and begin to develop your own point of view and your own boutique/luxe strategy.

Vision Expo East is around the corner - a perfect time to begin your strategy!

A few things that really stuck with me.

 1.  Jack White totally rocks.  PERIOD.  There is no one today making such awesome music so consistently.  I urge everyone to go listen to the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, Dead Weather, and Jack White solo.  How many people in such a short time span can have 4 projects that are all excellent??  He was robbed not winning whatever category he was nominated for.  His ALBUM was the best this past year.

 2. I hope the Alabama Shakes can keep it going.  For my money they were the best new band (maybe not most popular new band)  and I look forward to seeing if my thoughts can come true long term.

 3.  Alicia Keys should host and headline every awards show, halftime show, and tribute show forever!  There is not too much finer than listening to her sit at the piano and play and sing.

courtesy mtv.com

 4.   I feel old!!!  I hadn’t even heard of some of the performers.  I have heard most of the songs but had no idea who was behind them.  I need to stop watching Phineas and Ferb and Backyardigans and get back into the swing of adult (or at least almost adult) pop culture.

 5.  At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I have to admit I watched the Grammys and got more depressed as the show went on.  I actually liked most of the music and thought the performances were all really good.  What depressed me was that while we seem to have GREAT pop music these days, where are the Bob Marley’s or Carole King’s or Elton John’s of today? Will Miguel, Fun., Frank Ocean, or even the Lumineers be here in 20 years? Who is going to pull together a star studded tribute to the Levon Helm of this generation?  I watched as Carrie Underwood paid tribute to Carole King…  what are we going to do in 30 years from now?  Is someone really going to sing Carrie Underwood songs?? Who is writing/performing the music we will want to honor in 30 years?  Elton John was “passing the torch” to Ed Sheeran (who is really good I think) but will Ed Sheeran really pass the torch 10 or 20 or 30 years from now???  Is digital music and the internet killing the album and band-oriented music I love??  Time will tell.  But I am not optimistic:).

John Shearer/Invision/AP

Kevin Winter/WireImage.com

Don’t get me wrong — I think pop music is great and has an important place in our lives… but is the music of today going to last the way Elton, Carole, Levon, Bob, Bruce, Mick/Keith, John/Paul, etc. etc. have lasted for so many years??

 6.  And to finish on a more positive note — I think the Black Keys are really good and I hope the keep making music.  They have that raw rock performance reminiscent of the great rock bands.  And I really don’t particularly like pop music but I am appreciating it more and more these days.  Justin Timberlake is just cool, I admit it

Kevin Winter/WireImage.com

And a non-Grammy tip — listen to Gary Clark Jr.   This guy’s got game!

 And last but not least — WHY DIDN’T PRINCE PERFORM????  We don’t want to see him hand out awards — we want to see him bring the house down — Like Chuck D and LL!!

What did you think – do you think I’m being too critical?

Without further ado, here are my 2013 Resolutions.  Check back with me in December to see how many I was able to keep!

Make MORE time for healthy living – I’m a huge fan of Soul Cycle and always try to get to at least one class per week.  It can be tough to fit in exercise between working full-time , being a husband and a father to 3 energetic kids, but it’s so important to take some time to clear your head and keep your body in check.

The second part of this quest for a healthy 2013 is eating better – I have a new kitchen on the way (more on this soon – it’s more entertaining than you might think) and am trying to commit to organic and farm fresh food whenever possible.  And of course I always want to watch the portion control.  I am a total foodie and tend to way over-eat every night.  As much as I love it, I am not getting any younger so need to keep it in check.

And lastly – keep up with my skiing, tennis and get back out and do some hiking and biking when the weather gets better.

Learn Something New – I recently tweeted an article from one of my favorite sources, HBR, on this very topic.  In 2013, I will try to step outside the daily routine and expand my horizons.  A few things I want to do and might realistically accomplish:

• Start playing piano again and learn guitar
• Become WAY MORE functionally literate in the digital business world.  So much is happening at the speed of sound and I feel I am missing some of the key trends for the future.  I at least have started to read the NYT and more magazines on my iPad.  It’s a start
• Find time to read more (so I can learn more).  I can’t believe I am saying it, but the train commute is just not enough time to catch up with all I like to read.
• I could even watch Fox News to get an alternate perspective on what is going on in the world .  That would certainly be something new for me!

Organization – This is a BIG ONE for 2013.  We are in the process of implementing many efficiency initiatives at our company -  everything from more streamlined order entry, to better accounting practices and reporting functionality, to revamping our warehouse space.  I am always looking for ways to make my business and personal life more efficient – check out my tips on apps that I’ve been enjoying – and will continue this into 2013.

Visit a New Place – Since my wife and I have 3 young kids, it has been a lot harder to travel for pleasure. I used to be able to visit new cities or places in conjunction with biz travel and now I just want to be home with the family.  As the kids get a little older, I hope 2013 gives me a little time to steal a day or two while on a business trip.  Some places on my hit list: Dubai, Sao Paolo and Rio, Prague.  And for pure fun – Bhutan, Patagonia, and Iceland.  I won’t make it to all of them in 2013 but I will certainly try!

Como Hotels and Resorts

Christophe Simon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Make Time for Old Friends –There is nothing more important to me than friends and family and although I feel like I am very fortunate so see most of mine often, it never feels like enough time.

(Re-)Implement “Date Night” – because she deserves it!  and Because we always have good intentions that fall by the wayside.

Last but NOT least – Always work to be a better manager and leader at our company. I firmly believe people can learn new things every day and I always try to stick by this motto.  If I am continuing to learn and grow, I can help everyone on our team do the same.  This is the best way to maintain our unique point of view in the market and make sure we are always offering a unique value to all of our wonderful partners and team members.

Happy 2013 to all!!

Some excerpted words from President Obama (the full link is here) :

As a nation, we are left with some hard questions. Someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around. With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves — our child — is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice. And every parent knows there is nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet, we also know that with that child’s very first step, and each step after that, they are separating from us; that we won’t — that we can’t always be there for them. They’ll suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments. And we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear…. This is our first task — caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right…. We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end.…. There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have — for our children, for our families, for each other.

———–

And now the music to help us feel better:

I couldn’t let the 12/12/12 concert pass without dropping a few lines about it.  Mick dubbed it “the greatest collection of old British guys ever assembled at MSG” and he was not wrong!!  It not only featured everyone from The Who to Roger Waters to the Stones to a cool McCartney/Nirvana thing, it also benefited the Robin Hood Relief Fund.  New York City and the surrounding metropolitan areas were SO severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy and it was nice to see the music and film industries organize a high-profile event in order to raise money for the rebuilding efforts.

And aside from the real reason for the show, it was also an AWESOME show.  My personal highlights (which you should check out – or even better – BUY on iTunes to support the relief efforts):

Eddie Vedder singing the Dave Gilmour parts of Comfortably Numb

Bruce and Jon Bon Jovi – the Jersey Boys – singing Born to Run

Alicia Keys to close the show with New York was brilliant.

And really it was ALL awesome.

 And continuing in this week of great concerts was not one, but two, Rolling Stones shows (and the Who doing Quadrophenia the week before… a good concert week for me!).  Last Thursday I ventured out to the Prudential Center in Newark for the first of their 50^th Anniversary concerts that I would attend.  John Mayer joined on guitar for ‘Respectable’ but perhaps more interesting, the band played a request that fans had voted for on the new Rolling Stones app.  (side note – I told you that embracing technology was a huge trend! If the Stones can do it, so can you!) Also of note was the return of Mick Taylor – it was his first time playing with the band in U.S. since 1981.  And he KILLED it on Midnight Rambler.

Saturday night was EVEN BETTER as we were lucky enough to be sitting in the 5^th row in the friends and family section.  We were seated next to Mick’s longtime companion L’wren Scott and Keith’s wife Patti Hanson.  And right there in front of us was Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Squier, and Chris Rock.  The show was awesome before it even began.  Amazing highlights were:

Lady Gaga belting out Gimme Shelter with Mick.

Mick Taylor repeating his awesome guitar work on Midnight Rambler.

Bruce joining the Stones for Tumblin Dice.

The Trinity Wall St Choir singing You Can’t Always Get What you Want.

And of course just being so close to the band made for an amazing special evening and a necessary break from the sadness of the weekend.

Check out their set lists for night 1 and night 2 if you’re interested.

The sheer number of apps that are now available can be overwhelming so it’s always nice to hear what is working for others.  With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to share a few that I have recently begun to use in both my business and personal lives that I find to be completely worthwhile.

Notes Plus

This easy to use app allows you to make notes on documents either in your own handwriting or with text.  It has a clean user interface and can be a total lifesaver for taking notes on the go.  It essentially functions as a notepad – no more random post-its and slips of paper!

iAnnotate

A great tool for reading, sharing and annotating PDFs.  You have the option to choose from pen, highlighter, typewriter, stamps, notes, underline, strikethrough, photo, voice recording, and date stamp functions.

SyncSpace

A virtual, zoomable, digital drawing space that can be shared in real time over the net.  The possibilities here are endless!

Handshake

We recently implemented this for our Legacie salesforce and it has changed the way we do business. Our customer service team has much more time to focus on offering quality service now that order entry is automated.  Handshake allows you to write and receive orders on the iPad, iPhone & web.  You can also load catalogs & line sheets.  Just an overall incredibly powerful and easy-to-use tool.

Expensify

 A fantastic app that makes expense reporting so much easier – you can sync with your credit cards and bank accounts to track purchases as they happen.  You can even  turn your phone in to a receipt scanner by snapping a picture of the receipt!

Uber

You literally have a car and driver on call if you use this app – you can request a private car in any city the service is available and the app lets your driver know where to pick you up and then lets you know exactly how long until the car arrives. At the end of your ride, the fare is charged to your credit card on file (no need to tip).  Amazing!

That’s a quick roundup of what I’ve been using. Am I missing out on any other great apps – if so, I’d love to know what you recommend.

For a business milestone, it was great to see that the luxury sector continues to grow at 10+% per year. As a big proponent of incorporating a luxury strategy into one’s store or practice, I was pleased to see a WWD article this morning that validates a lot of what I have been speaking about in my continuing education series – The Luxury Market: How to Stand Out From the Crowd.

The study, conducted by Bain & Company in cooperation with Fondazione Altagamma, Italy’s luxury goods association, found that the global luxury market is up 10 percent compared to last year with projected future growth of 13%.  It is also expected to continue to grow and is on track to easily outpace the rest of the market.  Admittedly, this is related in part to China’s continuing consumption of luxury goods.  [Side note: one of our newest brand partners, Ivanka Trump, recently launched a fine jewelry store in China and clearly understands the country’s importance, as she noted in her interview with the Wall Street Journal.]

However, not to be dismissed is the insatiable domestic demand for luxury accessories. According to the study, accessories, including eyewear, have become the core category in personal luxury goods.

It is important to recognize this fact when building an assortment for your store/practice.   To reiterate a previous post, aside from its proven growth in the marketplace, luxury product also offers a variety of benefits including higher margins, higher price points for greater sales volume and the opportunity to stand out from the competition.

It is refreshing in today’s world to see any good economic news come out so I hope you will take a moment to be optimistic and also consider the importance of a luxury strategy and why it is an essential component of any assortment.

Do you agree?  Have you recently implemented a new product assortment and seen positive results (or negative)?

In the quest to make that perfect connection with your patient/consumer, you have to remember that not everyone will have the same desire as you to go the extra mile. Your desire may be to sell luxury product, but a staff member may be more comfortable taking the “easy way out” and selling the first item a patient sees.   The unfortunate reality is that not everyone is as motivated as an owner to create a long-lasting connection or to raise the average retail selling price in the store/practice. Thus, we sometimes have to incentivize the team to represent the practice/store in the manner you want, and to achieve the goals you want to achieve.

Strategies to consider when motivating a staff to sell luxury products:

• Offer incentives – contests (rewards for selling a certain number of frames over a certain price-point), spiffs (compensation for reaching certain sales goals), etc.  I hate to admit it, but nothing works better than this.  We have years of experience working with retailers and whenever we offer a contest or spiff, our sales increase.  We would all like to think our product sells itself, but incentives do help.

• Ask your sales representative if the brand (if it is branded product) offers discounts for other categories within the brand – a watch, a handbag, apparel, shoes, etc. People love “stuff” and will be more motivated to sell a brand they wear themselves.

• Work with companies so the employees can wear the luxury product you want to sell.  Again, people love to wear expensive frames AND this will help sell the product if the staff “supports it”.

• Celebrate the success – there is no greater motivator than celebrations.  People, by nature, want to do well and want to be rewarded… Have an impromptu party at the end of the day.  Bring lunch in for the team.  Announce to the office when a special frame has been sold.  Do something to celebrate the goals you want to achieve…  Drive people to the behavior you want to encourage.

MAKE IT FUN.  BE CREATIVE.  If you keep things fun and creative, the team will thrive and you will reach your ultimate goal of selling more luxury product AND creating a great connection with your patients.