When one considers some of the bad news in the headlines, things look discouraging: the economy, the war in Iraq, gas prices, pollution, global warming, the credit crisis, and the stock market crash, just to name a few. George S. May said: “I don’t believe too much in looking back. If you’ve done well, you’re too inclined to become smug. If you’ve done poorly, you’re inclined to become discouraged. Keep looking ahead - yesterday’s done with - think about today and tomorrow.”

In spite of the current state of economic and financial affairs, the United States of America has proven to be a resilient nation of innovators. When the going gets tough, Americans get tougher and better. Even when things look bad, Americans have continued to do exactly what Mr. May said; we have looked forward.

Time Magazine recently published an article about 10 things that have never happened before:

1. A Former First Couple Switches Roles - Past President Bill Clinton tried to be a supportive spouse and a former First Lady Hillary Clinton emerged as a political powerhouse.

2. Superdelegates Finally Have a Say - After Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory over Jimmy Carter in 1980, Democratic Party insiders created the monsters known as superdelegates. The superdelegates sealed Senator

Hillary Clinton’s fate in the 2008 presidential election.

3. Wrong Track Sky-High - From the moment Obama entered the race, he presented himself as the candidate of fundamental change - with a biography, campaign strategy and set of priorities to match.

4. Outsiders In - 2008 is the first year since 1928 in which neither an incumbent President nor Vice President ran for the top slot. The die was effectively cast before the general-election process began.

5. Selling History - Barack Obama’s supporters craved a piece of the Obama brand, and for that, the campaign made them pay in all sorts of ingenious ways. Want an Obama blue t-shirt with the “O” logo? All yours in return for just three things: your money, your contact information and, ultimately, your vote.

6. An African American but Not Just an African American - The past four decades have been truly revolutionary in American politics, with a significant increase in the number of minority elected officials, greater voter participation by nonwhites and symbolic runs for President by Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson and Alan Keyes. Obama owes those trailblazers a debt, but his ascendance was the product of something very different from those previous WhiteHouse bids: not only was race not Obama’s signature dimension by any measure, but - with the exception of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy - it was barely an issue at all.

7. Best Reality Show Ever - Politics is show business for ugly people, the old joke goes, but the 2008 campaign was just plain show business, with a cast of fascinating if not always camera-ready players.

8. Internet Fund-Raising Comes of Age - Obama’s foremost advantages, and what allowed him to break all records, were Web savviness and volume.

9. Mooseburgers, Snow Machines and Serious Politics - In a stunning, star-making two-month burst of attention, Sarah Palin took her home state of Alaska into every American living room.

10. An October Surprise (in September) - Never has one eleventh-hour external event so transformed the trajectory of a presidential campaign. On a single day Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy,

Bank of America salvaged a troubled Merrill Lynch, the Dow dropped 500 points, while McCain famously declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

It was the start of a big, bad political catastrophe for McCain and Republican candidates all over the country.

We have come a long way as a nation by electing the first African American president. We have demonstrated to the world that we have healed from the wounds of a very painful and embarrassing chapter in our history by electing a president based on his qualifications…the only thing that really matters. What does this have to do with us at GSMIC?

We at the George S. May International Company have adopted a policy and practice of continuous improvement, which has served us well. We learn from the past, listen to our clients and employees,enjoy the compliments and correct our mistakes, but always look forward.

This is a never-ending effort and must include everybody. We have to maintain our quality standards, our policies and procedures and at the same time search for revisions and improvements of the current method of operation. I encourage every one of you to come up with ideas that can improve your job, your performance, your work conditions and any company process or procedure. I encourage everyone to take initiative and share your ideas with co-workers, so that everyone may benefit. Anything we can do to individually promote personal growth will benefit us all.

There is an atmosphere of hope in the air; we hear about it on TV and radio and read about it in the media. We believe that events in our lives will bring a positive outcome, things will turn out for the best and we will get what we want. However, let’s not confuse hope with optimism.

Hope is an emotion but optimism is the result of rational thinking. Achieving a positive outcome and creating the basis for optimism is always in the planning. Planning is a chain of actions aimed toward a very specific outcome. Planning to succeed, as opposed to simply hoping for success, is the key to optimism. Optimism can always be actualized when specific goals are set and actions taken in the direction of the intended outcome. Continuous movement and continuous improvement allow us to continue as the innovators we are.

This is our goal as a firm, this is our mission: to teach anyone who comes into contact with us, whether employees, clients, vendors, etc. how to plan for and realize success.

It is my desire that every employee at every level of the George S. May International Company embrace and create a corporate environment whereby this time next year, we will have our own set of 10 firsts. I invite you to join me in creating an innovative, progressive, and successful 2009.

There are many elements that contribute to client satisfaction.

Quality management systems that work well. . . outstanding customer service. . .and great value are three key contributors that should be goals for everyone everyday, whatever their position. These help satisfy clients. Follow-up with clients is also important. Our Client For Life Program is designed to gain client satisfaction and increase client retention. It’s helped us move in that direction. And we need to continue striving for even greater client satisfaction.

We should always use the concept: “What does the client want” as a guiding light to clearly see our way to client satisfaction. Client satisfaction must be our ultimate goal. We may think we know what a client needs. We may know from experience what a client needs. However, only the client can tell us he or she is satisfied with our work, and that is the measure of our success. Taking a “positive” approach to all the work we accomplish is one way we can bring about client satisfaction. But this idea is not limited to only the people in the field working with prospects and clients. Each of us has our own “clients.” These are the people we work for. Consider the people you support as your own personal clients. This way everyone in our Company will understand the importance of client satisfaction.

However, there are times when good work alone is not enough to differentiate ourselves. This is because when we work with prospects and clients, we enter THEIR world. Our world is filled with the projects, policies and procedures that will provide the kind of systems, service and value clients expect. Today, however, they expect more. An added way to influence and register our interest in prospects and clients is on the basis of our corporate citizenship.

In this issue you’ll read about a variety of activities the Company, as well as individuals, have taken to extend our reach into different communities. These benefit the Company, as well as benefiting the organizations and the individual. Some examples include: sponsoring golf tournaments for the Rotary and Better Business Bureau, involvement in the Taste of Polonia and Polish Discovery Festival, becoming a corporate member of the Polish-American Chamber of Commerce, Torch Award sponsorship and various individual projects. I urge you to read these articles and think about how you could extend your reach and our influence for everyone’s benefit.

At a recent sales meeting I was asked by an SR: What is the greatest obstacle to a successful career in the Sales Department? “It is YOU,” I said without hesitation

Throughout the years we have learned that self motivation is the key to success, in any job. Lack of self motivation is the number one destroyer of careers. This is particularly true in our Sales Department where our representatives have to motivate themselves, day in and day out, to leave the comfort of their home and venture out into the “hostile” world of prospects and clients…or is it?

The answer is in your mind-set. It is a matter of commitment. How committed are you to your career? How has that commitment changed over time?

At the same meeting, during lunch, a conversation took place about the current, most popular TV shows. As one SR was able to describe every TV show out there, another SR made a profound statement. He said: ” I don’t know how you get the time to keep up on all of this.” The room fell into a deafening silence.

I guess if your career seems to be taking a negative turn, but you somehow are able to keep up on all your favorite TV shows, it speaks volumes about your level of commitment. It says that you are not
spending enough time improving your skills and working on bettering your career. if a great career really
matters to you, your actions will show it.

Success equals personal commitment. Successful people are dedicated to learning more and more. They have an insatiable appetite for new materials and tools that will help them to do a better job. Your level of commitment plays a key role in the process of creating a fulfilling career. It is very simple- lack of commitment equals lousy results.

During the past three years we, as a company, have embraced a culture of Continuous Improvement. This couldn’t happen without strong commitment by everyone in all levels of the organization. Continuous improvement requires dedication and a willingness to be guided by objective information. There is no doubt that our Company’s culture is evolving. We have learned that we as a group can change our culture,
because the culture is influenced by us as much as it influences us. Our open-door policy, on all levels of management, has empowered our employees to do what’s right.

Our goal is to do right by our clients and our company; meaning everyone has the power to do their job, to openly speak to another department’s personnel, to help clients, to find a “better solution” when necessary, and so on. Continuous Improvement means constantly making changes and adapting by receiving and using information, and evaluating the effectiveness of these changes.

As changes should never be made in a vacuum, Continuous Improvement is highly dependent on the use of objective information. Only with objective measures can we get a good handle on what is working well and what is not. When we make a change, we can see if it is working well and work with other people to make adjustments. No one will argue with information and numbers that reflect a true picture of success or failure

We are now experiencing the strongest business success we’ve had in the last 5 years. Aside from sales and profit, employee satisfaction surveys indicate the highest job satisfaction and approval rating we’ve had in many years. Thanks to you our strategy seems to be working well.

Jason Crowley - Southern Divisional Sales Manager

Each sales person has six “Sales Senses.” If you aren’t using them, you are missing opportunities because these give you important support for your selling efforts.

The sense of confidence: Your “presence” or the “air” you have about you that’s bred by preparation and previous wins. The best part about confidence is that it is contagious. You can give it to your prospect. (Don’t confuse confidence with its evil twin, arrogance.)

The sense of positive anticipation: Everyone has read the best book on the subject before the age of five, “The Little Engine That Could.” I think I can, I think I can. Thinking you can is 50% of the outcome. (So is thinking that you can’t.)

The sense of determination: Hanging in there no matter what. Determination is having the prospect tell you “no” and you hear it as “not yet.”

The sense of achievement: Everyone subconsciously strives for his or her goals. Sensing achievement comes from a replay of the satisfaction you gained from making your last sale. Remember how good it felt.

The sense of winning: Everyone wants to win, but only a few actually do. That’s because the will to prepare to win must exceed the will to win.

The sense of success: This is the hardest sense to master, because you must sense it before you actually achieve it. That calm feeling of money in the bank. An “I can do it” attitude. A well-lighted path in front of you. The sense of positive purpose.

The George S. May International Company’s Survey Analysis is an excellent way to find out:

• Break-Even Point
• Key Operating Ratios
• Cost Control Effectiveness
• Organizational Problems
• Growth Potential
• Profit Potential
• Quality Systems Status, and Much More!

Profit Analysis:

Unlike the clients’s CPA or Chartered Accountant, who works with the financial history of a business as it relate to income tax implications, our Survey Analyst works with the profit potential of the business as it relates to the future. Our Analyst can do nothing to impact the past, but his or her work can substantially improve the profit picture for the future of that client.

Our Analyst during the Survey will perform a profit analysis pointing out areas of waste and inefficiency. This study will include a calculation to a tenth of a percentage point the profit potential of the business. Areas of lost profit opportunity will be discussed with the client in a manner that the client will have a clear picture of where to improve the financial well being of the business through profit management. This profit analysis could demonstrate thousands of dollars of lost profit for the average business.

NOTE: This part of the Survey is worth the $350.00 Survey fee by itself.

Human Resource Analysis

Most business owners have no idea of the productivity levels of their employees. Add to this, the fact that most have no method to evaluate employee morale.

It is not uncommon for the business owner to believe that all of the employees are content with their jobs and are working at full capacity. Our experience with over 10,000 new Surveys a year clearly demonstrates that most businesses do not maximize their human resources. The Survey Analyst uses questionnaires together with employee interviews and the power of observation to report on the level of productivity and employee morale.

When the Analyst arrives at the client, the Analyst has never met the employees before and will no doubt, never see them again. Our Analyst is not influenced by relatives or friends of the business owner. The business owner will get an objective review of the utilization factor of the employees for the first time.

NOTE: The review of human resources is worth the $350.00 Survey fee by itself.

Most small-business owners
Feels credit relief is critical to their survival, but 60.2 percent don’t think it will come in time. The management consulting firm George S. May International poll of 750 small business owners across the U.S. showed the top three expectations from the new administration as being credit relief (35.1 percent), affordable health care for employees (32.6 percent) and tax rebates or incentive (32.3 percent). In addition to late credit relief, 53.7 percent of respondents believe health care costs will rise in 2009, while 29.6 percent said health care costs will stay the same, and 16.7 percent believe costs will decrease.

Despite the slowing economy, U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose in the third quarter, according to an analysis released Thursday. The report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that online advertising revenue totaled almost $5.9 billion in the third quarter, up 11 percent from the same period last year. It marked a 2 percent rise from the second quarter.

New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year. The government said new applications for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 542,000 from a downwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week, the highest level of claim since July 1992. The four-week average of claims, which smoothes out fluctuation, was even worse; it rose to 506,500, the highest in more than 25 years.

The economy’s health worsened in October as stocks, building permits and consumer expectations all fell. The New York based Conference Board said its monthly forecast of economic activity declined 0.8 percent in October. Over the last seven months, the index declined at a 4.7 percent annual rate, faster than any decline since 2001.

Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers: Flexible and Focused

Saturday, November 01, 2008
By Jonathan Katz

By targeting niche products and staying nimble, small and mid-sized manufacturers prove they can play with the big boys.

One area where many small and mid-sized manufacturers often find themselves lacking is in the process of cost accounting, says Joe Vogel, senior staff executive at small and mid-sized business consulting firm George S May International Co. In some cases, small companies haven’t invested in reporting systems that gather enough data from the shop floor to measure productivity, Vogel says. "When an operator is not doing something that’s directly making parts, you need to know what that is, and not only measure what that is but monitor and manage that cost," he says. When Vogel enters small manufacturing operations he often finds them using low-level accounting software such as QuickBooks to manage their costs. His firm helps clients establish accounting systems that can categorize direct and indirect costs.

Another area that all manufacturers are struggling with is skilled labor. This means small and mid-sized manufacturers will need to be equally innovative with their job recruitment strategies as they are with their marketing tactics. Marlin Steel Wire tries to woo workers with four-day workweeks of 10-hour days, a family-friendly atmosphere — the company bookkeeper is permitted to bring her one-year-old daughter into the office — and bonus programs for plant-floor workers who meet their targets, which have been particularly successful, according to Greenblatt. "I’ve created 20-something entrepreneurs here, and they’re all extremely focused on enriching themselves, and because of that, they’re pumping out a lot of stuff, and we’re extremely productive."

Small businesses reduced to survival mode

By Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer
In print: Sunday, December 14, 2008

TAMPA — Like many of the small-business owners crammed into the classroom-sized seminar, Judi Belanger had a problem.

Her Ruskin-based pet-sitting business, This Little One Stayed Home, was handling up to 15 customers a day until business dramatically fell off in September. She’s lucky to pull in one or two new customers a month.

"Money is tight and people aren’t traveling and leaving their pets," Belanger told fellow entrepreneurs during a Small Business Survival Expo last week. Organizers for Hillsborough County’s Small Business Information Center pulled together the expo in less than three weeks and were part-encouraged/part-dismayed when almost 400 people showed up.

"We’ve never done something like this before," Beth Calhoun, an expo coordinator, said before adding in a half-whisper, "Things have never been so bad before."

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