A potential client asked Stan Levenson to make his company look so good that it would have a waiting list of people who wanted to work
at it. But when Levenson talked to current and former employees, he found the business ran like a sweatshop. The potential client told
Levenson that it was only his job to make the man look good, but instead of simply following through on the man’s demands, Levenson
told that potential client to clean up the company internally before Levenson could promote it externally. Levenson is CEO of Levenson &
Brinker Public Relations, one of three marketing services companies comprising The Levenson Group of Cos., which he co-founded with
his wife, Barbara, and it is his dedication to doing things the right way that has helped the couple grow the group to $100 million in billings
last year. Smart Business spoke with Levenson about following your instincts and the importance of a positive attitude.
Trust your instincts when hiring. Your instincts
are important. When you meet someone,
you either are turned off and they don’t
have to get into their philosophy — it’s
an emotionalism that you feel good
about somebody — or you keep them at
a distance because you’re not sure of
where they’re coming from.
It’s important to listen and hear their
attitudes and reflect certain character,
personality — not unlike a shrink who
does a diagnosis before giving a remedy
or a doctor conducting an examination
before prescribing a medication.
Focus on benefits, not attributes. When a new
employee interviews, rather than telling
him how fortunate he’ll be to join us
because we’re this, this and this, I’d
much rather share with him what some
of our folks have accomplished for
themselves professionally and personally by being in our family.
The same with products that our clients
might have. No longer do we focus on the
attributes of the product as it relates to
the ingredients. We talk about the benefits
that those products and services will
instill in the users and consumers.
You see that so often in cosmetics and
soap — you don’t care about the ingredients in a bar of soap, but you hear how
good it will make you feel and the lovely
lifestyle you will have and how confidence-building it will be, so we like to focus on
benefits.
Hire prepared people. I love to hear someone
with a real positive attitude, enthusiastic
and also one that does their homework.
To give you an example, for individuals
looking for their first entry-level position, if one comes in and says, ‘I want
this job so bad. I’ve heard of you all, and
I’m wanting to liberate myself from my
folks, have my own apartment, have my
own car,’ I understand where they’re
coming from because we all relate to
that, but that person is one scenario.
Another person comes in and says, ‘Mr.
Levenson, you’re the kind of company where I think I can really contribute to
your success. I read where you worked on
this account and how you did this and
how come you didn’t do this when their
competitor is doing this? I think I can
attract new business and strengthen your
services.’
Again, benefits selling. I look for that
attitude, enthusiasm and preparation. It’s
easy to get enthusiastic and just throw
out ideas, but today, you have to be very
well-informed.
If someone hasn’t done their homework
about who we are and who we serve, then
it’s incomplete. Every company has its criteria. Some do testing, and that’s all important, but overall attitude and enthusiasm
and a caring attitude is so important.
See other points of view. There is more than
one way to view a situation. The more
informed you are, the sharper your focus
becomes. We all wear different lenses in
our glasses, and one person may perceive a situation to be one thing and
another person another thing.
It’s not so much trusting your folks, but
it’s having the confidence in them that
they command. They may make a decision that you don’t agree with, but if you
can understand their rationale for making it, you can respect it unless that
rationale is flawed.
Create balance. When you’re consumed in
your work, you can be more productive
and successful with balance than just
keep grinding, so you need to call time
out and on a daily basis have some
interest in being with family and not
getting into your work.
It really too depends on your work
and the type of work you do. We do a
lot of retail work for clients, like Zale
Corp., so if we’re out on a weekend
going to a movie at the mall, and if we
see a jewelry store, we’ll always check
it out, even if it’s a weekend and
leisure.
Your passion for work can be healthy,
but certainly, wherever possible, it
should be managed.
Understand your clients. It’s important to
understand the needs and interests of
your clients and what they want to
accomplish.
We do a lot of role playing. We anticipate needs and interests of our clients.
We dramatize and demonstrate leadership, so if they say, ‘Here’s what we want
you to do,’ we want to go way beyond
faithfully executing their requests. We
want to say, ‘What about this, or let’s
think about this.’
Say thanks. The interest in nurturing your
folks and being a coach as well as a
cheerleader is something we believe in.
Recognition and incentives are an
important element to a successful culture. I also think encouragement and
extending appreciation for good work —
we always appreciate someone saying,
‘Nice job,’ or sending a note and saying,
‘We’re really proud of you for what
you’ve accomplished.’
We like to do that, and it gives us great
pride to applaud the success of our people because it’s the company’s success,
but it’s also a stimulant for their own
growth and fulfillment.
HOW TO REACH: The Levenson Group of Cos., (214) 932-6000
or www.levensonandhill.com