Coming out smelling like roses – Successful selling to the reluctant in Los Angeles

 

[red rose*]

My bi-annual trip to Los Angeles to see my aging mother does also lead to marketing insights as I have written about before. This time, I discovered how a successful chain actually caters to a customer that does not even want to enter their shop and thus created loyalty. I will also add a few actual humorous street signs just in case the tone of the material is too heavy.

I begin with a confession: As long as I can remember,  I cannot stand entering the perfume area of department stores. The cacophony of odors create a mélange that is far heavier and more unpleasant than that of my garden compost pile, at least in my opinion. 

Therefore, it was with heavy heart and nose that I entered the world of scent to purchase a perfume for my beloved daughter. Ah, what parents are willing to do for their children! An employee at the first department store pointed toward a vague wall where someone told they were out of the product. The salesperson at the second department store also said the product was missing but had the “gentilesse” to tell me that I may find it at Sephora. As I approached the door of my last chance, the overly fragrant breeze emanating from the store was already starting to get me to regret my decision to try it out. Fortunately, two sales people standing strategically at the door immediately smiled at me and asked what I was looking for. After hearing the name of the perfume that I needed, one of them immediately proceeded to enter the store, without me, and returned saying that they also were out of the product. She then suggested that I could have it shipped for free and it would arrive within three days. Two minutes later, I had provided my delivery and payment information and was back into the fresh air of the mall (everything is relative). My trip was Sephora was successful in terms of both finding the product and not suffering unduly.

I would even say that I would return there to buy more perfume for my daughter because their service matched the requirements of this unwilling buyer.  First, they had enough trained staff to efficiently handle my transaction. The employees were familiar with both the store’s inventory and procedures. Third, they treated me with respect although I am far from representing their target audience. It went from “Ca pue! to “Ca peut” [“it stinks” to “it is possible”]. My experience reinforced my opinion that service, not price, is the dominant factor in customer impression. Sephora came out smelling like roses.

On a less serious note, I present two pictures from actual, long-standing signs on the street near my hotel. There are no marketing lessons in implied but still they are somehow worthy of note:

 

[street for axe-throwing store]

This is called having a narrow niche!

 

[hotel sign "color TV]

What is the last year you could even purchase black and white purchases?

 

Lastly, since it’s my blog and I can post any picture I want to, here is my 95-year-old mother in whose honor I travel to LA twice a year:

 

my mother

For those going on vacation this summer, enjoy.

 

*Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

Picture credit: Rose

                          

Foreign teaching

 

[Inca king and queen*]

As Susan Dray wrote in one of her recent posts, going on vacation is a great opportunity to observe and learn not only ways of conducting life but also conducting business. On my just completed family visit to Los Angeles, I visited many commercial establishments, not always by choice, and gained valuable insight how to attain high prices and create a distinctive brand as well as a negative lesson on how to lose potential customers, which is no less important.

[clothes rack]

One business lesson reinforced by this trip was the vital connection between high prices and personal service. I took my 95-year mother to an upscale clothes boutique and watched for an hour and a half how the staff of three women made each of the customers feel like a queen. They greeted them by the first name, carefully choose their clothing, brought it to them in the dressing room, complimented them when appropriate and let me them choose at their speed. When it came to pay the bill, they gave each a discount, more symbolic than anything else given the income status of these women, thus providing each of the customers the feeling that not only had they bought beautiful clothing but paid less for it. It was clear that these women would return when they again needed an outfit for a special event. The store was able to sell at high-end prices because it had sufficient help, treated their customers professionally and friendly and created the image of a good value in terms of quality and price.

[donut assortment]

On the other economic scale, I stopped for a snack at one of the umpteen small donut shops in Los Angeles. Their names, physical layout and menu are essentially identical. However, one distinguished itself enough to lead me to return with its spirit of its service, quality of its food and unique atmosphere. The woman at the cash register had a huge smile (despite opening the shop at 05:00) and exuded genuine warmness. The bagel sandwich I ordered was both tasty and far less expensive than its Starbucks cousin. What really sold me was the classical music in the background, a Chopin concerto if I identified it correctly, which made my breakfast even more pleasant. I certainly did not expect that atmosphere at a donut shop. I then noticed that most of the customers were regulars that ate their donuts and sandwiches in the shop, attesting to the hominess of the place. Despite being at a first view a carbon copy of countless other similar business, this donut shop was special and personal, an ideal for all business in competitive fields.

[newpaper ads]

As a reminder of how not to run a business. I picked up a local weekly newspaper whose target audience would be quite relevant to me. Unfortunately, their lack of urgency and interest made sure that I would never spend any money on advertising in it. I called the advertising manager in the morning but was told that she was on the other line and would get back to me shortly. Shortly never arrived but I called back again that morning. She answered and provided me with several pricing options. I asked her to send the specifics to my email, whose spelling was confirmed over the phone. She then told me that she would send me the proposal “that afternoon”. I failed to understand why such a 5-minute task would need to be postponed to the afternoon but was still willing to be tolerant. More than a week later, I had yet to receive any proposal. As my late father would say, that is no way to run a railroad. Customers appreciate promptness and urgency. If they are not important at the sales stage, they will most probably not exist after the sale.

[coffee and patisserie]

As a side note, company names are important even if ignorance can be excused. I stopped at a cozy little expresso shop, filled with couches and cushions, and ordered a coffee and a pain au chocolat. (I can highly recommend the latter). The name of the café is La Laiderie, which had bothered me every time passed it previously. The reason finally clicked: laid means ugly in French; To be fair,  the name is actually composed of the various first names of the owners’ children. While appropriate in LA, the name faces some issues in other places. I suppose many other establishmen names do not travel well.

As the expression goes, a word to the wise is sufficient. Even experienced entrepreneurs need occasional reminders of correct business practice and the importance of making customers feel like kings and queens. It is far less expensive to do this by observing others than making your own errors. As the essential rules of business are essentially identical worldwide, a perspective person can even learn when touring abroad. Now, I am happily back home and back to work and just a little wiser from my trip.

Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

All pictures via Pixibay.

LA signing and the art of the translation

 

[Ventura Blvd, Encino with light traffic*]

I took a two-week break from posting blogs due to a family visit to Los Angeles. On my twice-daily trips to my mother’s house from the hotel in the San Fernando Valley, I had plenty of time to notice interesting billboards along the way and even consider how they would be translated. On the flight back, I realized how these signposts illustrate the craft of translation.

Mental Health Matters – This simple three-word text is subject to interpretation depending whether the word matters is a noun, verb or part of a name. In the first case, it would mean issues of emotional stability, which would refer to some counseling service, quite necessary in these Corona times. In the second case, it states that emotional health is important, which is obvious, without saying what should be done about it. In actuality, the text plays on the well-known group Black Lives Matters, and states the name of a charity. “Mental Health Matters” demonstrates why context and cultural knowledge matter.

Corky’s We Control Pets – The advertising message is completely clear in the American context but poses issues in translation. Since the company deals with rats and other nuisances, it is obvious that people pay Corky to get rid of their pests. Yet, the word “control” is translated in most languages as to limit, master or expertly use, none of which applicable in this case. The translator that sticks closely to the dictionary translation, at least in many languages, loses the main point of the message. Professional translation goes beyond word-to-word replacement and requires complete control of the vocabulary nuances.

Serious injury lawyers – The nature of the English language renders this sentence ambiguous, allowing a double meaning. In contrast with most languages, the only English nouns that have gender are natural, e.g., boys, girls, men and women. Thus, adjectives have only one form and do not reflect the gender or number of the noun they describe. In most other language, an adjective in a plural, feminine form must be used with plural, feminine noun, as in les grandes villes in French. In this sentence, we start with the adjective, serious, which is followed by a singular noun, injury, and a plural noun, attorneys, with no grammatical clue to which noun the adjective refers. So, it is possible that the attorneys handle matters of a serious injury, the attorneys are serious or both.  While the first is probably the primary meaning, as a marketing text, the additional implication of legal competence is vital to the message. Thus, the translator must be aware of the purpose of the text so as not to injure its message.

Thus, even a routine drive down Ventura Boulevard can provide food for professional thought. For purchasers of translation, it is vital that the chosen translator is aware of the cultural context, lexical complexity and intended purpose of any text. As for translators, they ignore any of those at their peril. By the way, it is good to be back home in Israel.

* Caption pictures to allow the blind full access to the Internet.

Travel jitters

I travel abroad every year, mainly to visit family and, more recently, to attend translation conferences.  A meaningful, often the most pleasurable, part of any trip, for better or worse, is the planning, expectations and gut feeling before departure. These often begin months before and slowly develop until suddenly, for me at least, thinking about the trip creates a certain emotional feeling.

This actual feeling can vary. Given that the reasons for my travel do not give me limited options on where I can go, I have experienced emotions ranging from dread to joy.  Prior to attending a conference in Bialystok, Poland, the birthplace of my grandmother, I felt very tense at the mere thought of going to Poland, probably because its legacy for the Jews.  In practice, the conference was excellent but Poland was indeed a complex experience for me emotionally as I saw bits of Poland of yesterday, today and tomorrow. I do not regret that trip at all but it was challenging in that sense.

I fly to LA twice a year.  My feelings about my city of birth have generally been highly negative but have now reached neutrality, a sort of progress.  I didn’t like the place when I was growing up nor do I do today.  However, I can somehow ignore it for two weeks during my parental visits. As Tom Lehrer said in the song National Brotherhood Week, be grateful that it does not last all year.

Last year, my wife and I attended a conference in Valencia, Spain. Aside from the worry on how I would cope with the Spanish, I expected the venue to be a fun place. I am fond of European cities, at least for short visits, and looked forward to the friendly atmosphere.  I was not disappointed.  Spain is indeed a warm country to visit in both meanings of the word. By the way, I coped with the Spanish with no problem thanks to my Italian.

France is my mother’s homeland and dear to my heart.  I lived there on and off for short period and have family there. Unfortunately, the last time I visited was some 9 years ago for my daughter’s bat mitzvah. The mere thought of visiting it sends me into extasy, then and now. My excitement for France may be more nostalgic than reality based but we are planning a long, trip to it once circumstances allow.

I am now flying to China to visit my wife’s daughter. Unfortunately, circumstances limit the trip to a week. So, I and my wife will get a taste of China, which I believe it will be a treat.  We have been told to be ready for a truly foreign experience in terms of way of life, manners, food, etc., unlike any place we have ever been. Psychologically, this trip will be the first time where I will be, as Heinlein wrote, a stranger in a strange land. This sentiment creates some anxiety but also quite a lot of excitement. I go with no concrete expectations apart from seeing the different.

I know that when I get on the train to go the airport, the reality of my upcoming trip will hit me, as always. These jitters are an essential part of the travel experience that I hope never to lose. They say that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. I cannot imagine not loving to visit new places.

Out and About in Los Angeles and Israel

Any person that has travelled around the world and drove a car knows that road cultures vary. In other words, when in Rome, drive like a Roman or don’t drive. (I recommend the latter.) The differences arise from the physical road conditions but also the education and temperament of the drivers themselves.

Compare driving in Los Angeles (and most of the west coast of the US) with the pleasure of motoring in Israel. LA, being a metropolis, not a city, requires people to drive.  For most of the population, public transportation is not an effective option for commuting. Therefore, the roads are wide and bi-directional while the highways generally have at least three lanes in each direction.  Given the number of cars in Southern California, the infrastructure is still not sufficient, but at least there is room to maneuver. Excluding the Sunday driver, a rather unpredictable creature, most LA drivers know the roads, avoid last minute decisions, don’t double park and know how to yield. Amazingly, LA drivers are expert in smoothly merging into freeway lanes.  I am not sure whether it is genetics or training but it seems almost unnatural. The fact that Angelinos spend so much time in their vehicles paradoxically causes them to relax, not tense up. They are even willing to wait until the red light to make the left turn when they are in the middle of the intersection, one of the mysteries of LA driving as far as my Israeli-born wife is concerned.  All in all, like good jazz, by staying cool and thinking ahead, driving in LA is not terribly challenging once you get in the flow of it.

Israel, being in the Mediterranean, is another story indeed.  The government has tried to improve the infrastructure but there are far too many two lane roads. The less said about their banking, the better. The most important factors are psychological. Two assumptions seem rather rampant: It is my father’s road since he paid taxes; rules are for other people (or mere suggestions, albeit strong ones). Combine that with the summer heat, patience is not a common virtue here. Most drivers act as if they are alone on the road and do their best to ignore the presence of other motorists. The fact that everybody else is traveling at 100 kph (62 mph) has no impact on the need or desire to travel at 130 kph (86 mph). There are some local variations. I live in the Galilee, surrounded by Arab villages, where driving licenses and seat belts are considered recommended but not required. I know that I am getting close to home when the driver in front of me is going 20 kpm faster or slower than the speed limit, oblivious to the danger s/he is creating. Tel Aviv is a special place. The roads are very crowded while parking is more valuable than gold. The meek need to use public transportation, which is quite convenient and effective, since they will be unable to even leave their parking spot since nobody will let them enter the traffic lane. The approach to driving mirrors the oft used local expression what doesn’t work by force requires twice as much as force. In other words, possession is nine tenths of the law. It helps to have a SUV in that sense since its physical presence is so imposing. On the bright side, it is a good place for people that enjoy adrenalin and cursing.  To make it clear, in Tel Aviv, I use public transportation.  LA driving did not prepare for that challenge.

My wife and I will be soon visiting Ireland for a vacation.  We decided not to rent a car and drive because the culture is so different, i.e. they drive on the left side of the road. (UK patriots, please note that I didn’t use the word wrong.)  I am looking forward to see how the Irish are out and about. I would also like hear about driving culture in other countries.

California Hope

Recently, I have spent time in the hospital with close family members suffering from UTI’s (Urinal Track Infection) in Israel and California. I will relate the differences in the hospital environment as the Japanese treat height differences: the person next to the tall one, i.e. accentuating the positive.

California, with all its problems, often is willing to invest in a vital need even if the budget is tight.  For example, under current California law, a nurse in a regular ward takes care of no more than four patients.  In practice, this meant that the nurses treating my father were attentive and patient. They were able to use their sense of humor to lower high tension situations.  Not only that, the fact that the ward was equipped with electrical IV pumps meant that they did not have constantly check the IV flows of their patient.  This meant that even at the end of their 12 hours shifts, they were pleasant and professional.  As has been said about going to prison, the punishment is being to the hospital; no more is needed.

On the same note, it should be noted in California’s favor that, albeit imposed by the judicial system, the prison system is finally starting to try to treat the sources of problems of its inmates instead of just incarcerate them.  Granted, there is a large disproportion between the amount of available resources and scale of the problem. However, there is no doubt some prisoners are not born criminals but instead people that need help. 

Alas, nothing is perfect. The condition of LA roads continues to shock and distress.  The veins and arteries of Los Angeles are truly clogged by cholesterol of awful surfacing (as well as cars of course).  The state government could clearly do a better job maintaining them.

California is well known for being ahead of its time in terms of seeking solutions. The development for electrical cars began as a mandate from California decades ago when it realized that it could never really “beat” air pollution over the long term. This attitude is clearly preferable, as an example, to that of the government of Venezuela, which has decided to deal with the problem of high inflation (68% annually) by not publishing inflation data. It would be funny if it was not tragic.

Disappearing garbage

In my town in Israel and most towns worldwide, ten years ago, the husband (or other family member if he was not available) took out the garbage because, obviously, the garbage was full and possibly smelly.  Today, in Israel, without carrot or stick so to speak, garbage has shrunk to the point that the garbage bin smells long before it fills up. My main garbage bag in the kitchen contains what used to collect hourly in the small bag in the “triangle” by the sink.  In other words, at least in the house (but unfortunately not on television), we produce less and less refuse.

To explain, all large plastic bottles are put in a box to be transferred to recycling bins located in every neighborhood. Plastic wrapping and other food packaging goes to a recently introduced bin in our neighborhood recycling center.  We use the few plastic bags that we bring home, mainly when buying fruits and vegetables, for our cats’ waste. Glass and plastic beverage bottles are collected and brought to the supermarket for a rebate.  All paper, which my office produces too much of, is placed in a recycle bin in that same center.  Organic material without fat is put in our compost bin in our garden.  The neighborhood cats happily consume the chicken fat or bones, no waste there.  All that is left is the tissues consumed fighting my seasonal allergies and some scraps from the plates, which eventually create an unpleasant odor and have to be dumped.

In Israel, the placement of neighborhood recycling centers has quietly made this revolution possible without financial rewards, except in the case of beverage bottles, or penalties.  Admittedly, not everybody recycles but the sheer convenience of it gradually is bringing along, even the most insular families.  The proof is that the recycling bins fill up very quickly. In Los Angeles, the city provides three garbage bins, one each for household garbage, garden waste and recyclables, with the first being the smallest. In the West, garbage reduction has become necessary and possible.  Other cities set the garbage fee based on volume.  I am happy to admit that this is one culture change that I fully support.

I would be interested in hearing on how your locale is treating the issue.

A Tale of 3 Cities

Being a Jew in the United States, France, and Israel are distinctly different experiences and something that I have experienced.  During the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza, which is hopefully finished, I saw the status of Jews faced with a vocal anti-Israeli/Jew local population in all three countries.  I intentionally linked Jew/Israeli because in the eyes of our “enemies”, the terms are in effect synonymous.  To paraphrase J. P. Sartre, a Jew is a Jew because the world considers him so.

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, most of the population was Jewish, meaning the high school was basically empty on Yom Kippur.  That being said, this Jewishness was against an empty background because almost all non-Jews in the area do not care about it.  This lack of contrast means that most American Jews have to “exaggerate” in some way to define themselves as Jews.  Some are politically active, especially in raising money for Israel and expressing Israeli’s interest in the U.S.  Others become religious in a country where keeping the Sabbath is truly a challenge (outside New York).  Some even join the Israeli army, as the late Max Steinberg, who died in Operation Protective Edge. Some strive to install some kind of Jewish identity in their children.  Many do nothing and fully blend into the American landscape, often marrying non-Jews (it happens to the best of families).  Being Jewish in the United States is an effort.

By contrast, being Jewish in France, at least in my experience, is fate.  Being Jewish in an overwhelmingly Catholic country has never been easy since anti-Semitism has always been part of the Catholic Church culture.  If you add a Muslim element to the mix, the situation can turn nasty quickly.  The attack on the synagogue during a recent anti-Israel demonstration is a prime example.  If parents tell their children not to wear a kipppa on their way to school as a matter of safety, it shows that Jews in France feel like a threatened minority, even if the silent majority of French strongly prefer the Jews to the Arabs.  As a French Jew, you have two options, tread softly in France or immigrate to Israel.

There, Jewishness is printed on your ID card and gives you automatic membership in a tribe, whether you want it or not.  The Middle East has always been a tribal society: Jewish, Arab (Muslim or Christian), and Druze, to name the most dominant.  A Jew walking in to an Arab village or an Arab walking in a Jewish city is identified as such even if no hostility is intended or shown.  It is a matter of identification, not racism.  In its crudest term, Hamas makes no distinction between left and right or religious and secular Jews. The person’s actual believes are irrelevant.  In comparison to the United States and France, Jews in Israel identify themselves and are identified as Jews as a basic part of social life.  This does not necessarily prevent relations with the other tribes but clearly sets the scene. Being Jewish in Israel happens quite naturally and creates a feeling of strength.

You can be Jewish in Los Angeles, Paris or Tel Aviv.  Granted that it is an individual decision, I feel Israel is a much more natural (if not always easier) place to be Jewish. To paraphrase George Orwell, I would rather be down and out in Tel Aviv (or Karmiel) than Paris or London.

The Weather of My Life

As a stereotypical wandering Jew, I have been privileged to experience many types and descriptions of weather in my life.  On a linguistic note, the most interesting aspect is the terminology or lack thereof describing them.  I present a brief autobiographical weather tour.

I grew up in L.A., a city loved by many but not by me.  In LA, in the sixties, we had the famous Sig Alert, a measurement of smog, a wonderful American combination in itself of smoke and fog.  As I recall, at Sig 1, it was recommended that people with breathing problems stay home; At Sig 2, the schools were closed; at Sig 3, factories were closed.  I understand that pollution SIGgy days no longer occur in LA or they just don’t report them.

I lived in Paris for six months.  Maybe because I was young, I don’t remember anybody talking about the weather at all.  Apparently, they were too busy talking about the latest restaurant or the previous/next vacation.  There is something to be said for this approach.

I then moved to Oregon.  The Pacific Northwest, western Oregon and Washington, offers a long list of jokes about the climate: it rains twice a year, from January to June and June to January and Oregonians don’t tan, they rust, to name a few.  In reality, a good year is three months without rain while a bad year is one month without rain.  Granted, generally the rain is not strong, closely resembling a permanent drizzle.  Similar to the Japanese approach to describing a short person, avoidance, i.e. the person next to the tall man, Oregonians talk about the sun, not the rain: There may be sun today or No chance of the sun breaking through today.  This is an example of reference by ignoring.

I now live in Israel, where rain is a blessing and reason for a blessing.  In fact, interestingly, there are words to describe the first and last rain of the season, יורה [yoreh] and מלקוש [malkosh], respectively.  At this moment, I am enjoying a late version of the latter on Shevuot, rendering me a bit sad that I won’t hear the sound of rain drops until October or November.  Alas, instead we will have חמסין [hamsine], an Arabic word meaning 50, or שרב [sharav], the Hebrew word referring to days with a hot, eastern desert wind, which sucks out all of the oxygen and drives everybody crazy.  This phenomenon is more common worldwide, called the Santa Ana winds in L.A. for example.  Yet, it does have a special word locally.

So, if you have a unique weather term in your part of the world, let me know.  I will be happy to share it.