Chapter 02: Camp Bow-Wow: Innovative Management

Summary

Sue, the owner of a Camp Bow Wow facility, dispels the myth of managers as idle, revealing the demanding role of managing people and honing interpersonal skills. She shares her journey from working in corporate environments to running her own business, emphasizing the importance of customer service and staff training. Sue discusses the challenges of balancing efficiency with a personal touch in customer interactions and the need for patience and coaching within her team. Her experience has evolved from handling every aspect of the business to now leading a supportive management team, allowing her to create a more relaxed culture for both staff and herself.

Takeaways

• 😮 Misunderstanding Management: Sue initially thought managers did little work, but later realized the complexity of managing people and tasks.
• 🐾 Dogs vs. People: Dogs are described as simple, loving, and sweet, contrasting with the more challenging nature of managing people.
• 🏢 Previous Experience: Sue's past work in GE and oil and gas industries provided her with valuable managerial experience.
• 👩‍🏫 A Difficult but Educational Manager: Sue learned a lot from a challenging manager who pushed her to think both about details and the bigger picture.
• 🌱 Starting a Business: Sue bought 'Camp' two and a half years ago, starting with a flat organizational structure.
• 🌟 Aiming for Excellence: Sue's goal is to make her business the best in Boulder and within the Camp Bow Wow system.
• 🛠️ Evolving Expectations: Customers now expect more value for their money, requiring higher levels of customer service and offerings.
• 🤹‍♂️ Multi-Tasking Staff: Camp Bow Wow's model involves staff doing a variety of tasks, from caring for dogs to handling customer service.
• 🔄 Balancing Efficiency and Care: Sue emphasizes the importance of effective customer service that conveys genuine care for both the customers and their dogs.
• 💡 Coaching for Improvement: Sue is focusing on coaching her team to address issues and improve interactions with both customers and dogs.
• 📈 Personal Growth: Sue is working on being more patient and understanding with her team, acknowledging the need for repeated communication for clarity.
• 🏆 Transition from Solo to Team: Sue has transitioned from doing everything herself to having a supportive management team, significantly easing her workload and allowing for better work-life balance.

Q & A

What was Sue's initial misconception about managers?

Sue initially thought that managers sat around in offices and did nothing, but she later realized that managing involves a lot of work, particularly in managing people and developing people skills.

How does Sue describe the difference between managing dogs and managing people?

Sue finds dogs to be simple, happy, loving, and sweet, whereas people are more difficult and harder to train.

What did Sue learn from her difficult manager at GE?

Despite the challenging experience, Sue learned a significant amount from her manager at GE, who pushed her to consider both the big picture and the details.

What was the initial structure of Sue's staff when she started her business?

When Sue started her business, it was just her and a staff at the same level with a very flat structure.

What is Sue's goal for her business in terms of customer service?

Sue aims to provide such a high level of customer service that even if customers have a difficult problem, they feel that everything possible has been done to address it.

How has customer expectation affected Sue's business?

Customer expectations have increased, requiring Sue's business to improve its level of customer service and offerings to match what customers are willing to pay for.

What is the role of camp counselors at Camp Bow Wow?

Camp counselors at Camp Bow Wow are responsible for a variety of tasks including taking care of the dogs, answering phones, booking reservations, and managing the front desk.

What was one of the best decisions Sue made for her camp?

One of the best decisions Sue made was establishing a position that focuses on customer service, which helped balance the efficiency and effectiveness of interactions with customers.

Why is effective customer service more important than efficiency in Sue's business?

Effective customer service is crucial because it communicates to customers that the business cares about them and their dogs, which encourages them to return, whereas efficiency alone might not foster the same connection.

What are some of Sue's self-improvement goals as a manager?

Sue's self-improvement goals include making more time to coach her team, addressing problems effectively, and being more patient with her team to ensure they fully understand her instructions.

How has Sue's experience changed from two years ago to the present?

Sue's experience has drastically improved due to the support of a management team that has taken on much of the burden, allowing her to establish better work-life boundaries.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Managerial Misconceptions and People Skills

Sue, the owner of a Camp Bow Wow franchise, dispels the myth that managers are idle, revealing the demanding role of managing people, which involves improving interpersonal skills and ensuring organization. She contrasts the simplicity of dogs with the complexity of human management. Sue reflects on her past experiences in the oil and gas industry and at GE, where she learned valuable lessons from a difficult but effective manager. She emphasizes the importance of a relaxed culture and the challenges of promoting staff to leadership roles. Sue's goal is to provide exceptional customer service and to be the best in the Camp Bow Wow system, addressing customer problems thoroughly.

05:01

📈 Evolving Expectations and Balancing Customer Service

The script discusses the evolving expectations of customers who demand more value for their money, necessitating an improvement in customer service and offerings. Sue shares the challenges of managing a business where staff must handle multiple tasks, including caring for dogs, answering phones, and managing reservations. She highlights the difficulty of balancing customer service with the well-being of the dogs. Sue also talks about the importance of personal connection in customer service, the need to communicate effectively with customers about their dogs' experiences, and the tension between efficiency and effectiveness in a customer-oriented business environment.

🔄 Adapting to Growth and the Importance of Patience

Sue reflects on her personal growth as a manager, recognizing the need to be patient with her team and to provide coaching and support. She acknowledges the importance of addressing issues between team members and their interactions with the dogs. Sue's experience has changed significantly from being overwhelmed with business operations to having a supportive management team that alleviates her burden, allowing her to establish boundaries between work and personal life. The narrative ends with Sue's commitment to self-improvement, particularly in patience and effective management.

Keywords

💡Managers

Managers are individuals responsible for overseeing and directing the work of a team. In the context of the video, the speaker initially had a misconception about managers, thinking they did little work. However, the speaker later acknowledges the substantial effort involved in managing people, including enhancing organizational skills and ensuring team members are in the right place at the right time. The speaker's experience as a manager at GE and in the oil and gas industry provided a deeper understanding of the role's complexities.

💡People Skills

People skills refer to the ability to effectively interact, communicate, and work with others. The video emphasizes the importance of these skills for managers, as they must not only manage tasks but also the interpersonal dynamics within their team. The speaker's realization that managing people requires a significant amount of work on one's own people skills is a key takeaway from their experiences.

💡Customer Service

Customer service is the assistance and advice provided to customers before, during, and after a purchase. The video highlights the need for exceptional customer service in the business the speaker owns, emphasizing that customers expect more for their money and thus the level of service must be higher to meet their expectations. The speaker discusses the challenge of balancing customer service with the care of the dogs, indicating the high standards they aim to achieve.

💡Dog Care

Dog care involves looking after the health, safety, and well-being of dogs. In the video, the speaker contrasts the simplicity and predictability of dogs with the complexity of managing people. Dog care is a core service provided by the business, and the speaker mentions the importance of ensuring that dogs are safe and happy, which is a critical part of their customer service commitment.

💡Camp Bow Wow

Camp Bow Wow is a brand or system that the speaker's business is a part of. It is a dog care facility where the speaker aims to be the best within the Boulder area and within the entire Camp Bow Wow system. The speaker's goal is for customers to feel that every effort has been made to address any issues they might have, reflecting the high standards of service they strive for.

💡Staff

Staff refers to the employees of an organization. The speaker mentions starting their business with a flat structure and a team at the same level. As the business grew, they promoted and mentored staff like Candace into leadership positions, which is indicative of the growth and development opportunities within the company.

💡Leadership

Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization. The video discusses the speaker's journey from a flat staff structure to establishing a management team, which took on responsibilities and relieved the speaker of some burdens. The development of leadership within the company is a key aspect of the speaker's self-improvement and business growth.

💡Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

Efficiency is the ability to do things in the least time and with the least effort, while effectiveness is the ability to produce a desired result. The speaker discusses the tension between being efficient and effective in customer service, emphasizing the importance of making customers feel cared for and known, which is more aligned with effectiveness.

💡Coaching

Coaching in a business context refers to the process of helping employees improve their skills and performance. The speaker mentions making time to coach their team as a part of their self-improvement, indicating the importance they place on developing their staff's capabilities and resolving issues through direct communication and guidance.

💡Patience

Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. The speaker identifies patience as a key area for self-improvement, particularly in dealing with their team. They recognize the need to be patient with their staff, understanding that repetition and clarification may be necessary for effective communication and learning.

💡Self-Improvement

Self-improvement involves the process of personal development and striving to become better in various aspects of life. The speaker discusses several areas of self-improvement, such as making time for coaching the team and being more patient. These efforts reflect a commitment to personal growth and enhancing their effectiveness as a manager.

Highlights

Misconception about managers being idle corrected with the revelation of their significant workload and people management responsibilities.

Comparison between the simplicity of dogs and the complexity of managing people.

The speaker, Sue, shares her background in various industries including GE and oil and gas, and her current role as the owner of a business.

Learning from a difficult manager who emphasized the importance of both big picture and detail understanding.

Sue's initial business structure was flat with a focus on a relaxed culture for staff and herself.

The desire to be the best in the Camp Bow Wow system and in Boulder, setting high expectations for customer service.

The challenge of meeting increased customer expectations for value and service.

The dual role of camp counselors in taking care of dogs and handling customer service.

The difficulty in balancing customer service efficiency with the need for a personal connection.

The importance of effective communication with customers regarding their dogs' experiences.

The tension between operational efficiency and providing a personal touch in customer service.

Sue's self-improvement goals, including better coaching and addressing team issues.

The significance of patience in management and the need for repeated communication for understanding.

The transformation in Sue's experience from being consumed by the business to having a supportive management team.

The personal impact of establishing boundaries and achieving a better work-life balance.

Transcripts

um the biggest misconception I had about

managers was that they sat around in

offices and kind of did nothing my name

is

I was really wrong it's a lot of work

it's a lot of managing people and

working on your own people skills and

making sure everybody's organized and

where they're supposed to be at the

right time

dogs are pretty simple they're happy and

loving and

they're really just kind of sweet

whereas people are a little more

difficult they're way harder to train

yeah so before this I worked for GE for

years and years and before that oil and

gas when I was in manager positions

through most of that hi I'm Sue I'm the

owner of campaign

I had this manager that was just

miserable to work for but taught me an

incredible amount she's one of those

people that took joy in

um

making me uncomfortable every time I

went into her office with a question if

I was up here looking at the big picture

she asked me questions about the detail

and the next time I'd go in and ask you

know questions about the detail and

she'd want to know about the big picture

so I we were always on different pages

but when I look back on it I learned

more from her probably than anybody else

but it was painful so I bought the cam

two and a half years ago and when I

started it was just me and a staff that

was all at the same level and a very

flat structure I definitely went into it

wanting my own more relaxed culture not

just for my staff but for myself as well

once I started getting people like

Candace where I could start promoting

them and mentoring them into more lead

positions I did it

um I want to be the best I want to be

the best of all the facilities like this

in Boulder I want to be the best in the

Camp Bow Wow system as a whole I mean my

expectations are that the customer even

if they're dealing with a really

difficult problem with us that they come

away knowing that we've done everything

we could to address it

for a half day okay perfect

I think the big thing that we've had to

react to is that people are still

spending money on bringing their dogs in

but they're expecting a whole lot more

for their dollars so the level of

customer service has to be that much

better and the level of our offerings

has to has to match their expectations

the hardest part of my job as a manager

is trying to juggle the customer service

side with the dog side so making sure

that the customers are happy also that

we're doing what we need to do to keep

the dog safe and happy the the model for

most Camp bow wows is the camp

counselors

do a little bit of everything so they do

they take care of the dogs they answer

the phones they book reservations do the

front desk the works and I had a lot of

people on staff who were fantastic with

the dogs and miserable with customer

service

or good with the customers but couldn't

run a credit card properly one of the

best things I did for this camp and

Candace was a part of it was

establishing a position where she's here

in the mornings and then she leaves she

comes back in the afternoons customers

service I mean it has to be

effective as opposed to efficient

because it's important for them to know

that you care and that you care about

their dogs and if you're just trying to

be efficient and that's not going to

make them want to come back and it's not

going to make them feel like you know

them or that you know their dog they

want to know how their dog did they want

to know if they got along and if they

didn't get along then you know with

other dogs then we need to let them know

and we need to do it in a way that you

know is going to convey the best message

to them I can see that sort of tension

the the efficiency

um

you you're almost tripping over those

two things every time a line of

customers is out here waiting to get

their dogs because you're trying to do

the customer service and make them feel

like that personal connection that we

talked about before but you're also

trying to get the dogs out here quickly

and get the payments done and so I think

she balances that literally every time

she checks out a dog

there's a couple things my list for

self-improvement I think everybody has a

couple a big thing I'm learning to make

more time for is making sure I really

coach my team making sure that if there

are problems even between people or

between their interactions with the dogs

that I really make time to sit down with

them and just talk it over and give them

ways to kind of narrow that in and kind

of improve on that as opposed to just

you know worrying about all the little

operational things that we have to get

done probably my biggest my biggest one

is being more patient making sure that

I'm patient with my team that just

because I said it once doesn't mean that

they understood it completely

um and that you know I need to work on

that as a manager

to try to be more effective with them I

mean the difference in my experience

from two years ago to today is hard to

even put into words because it was just

me doing absolutely everything I was

I was consumed with the business and now

I've got a management team that supports

me I have a management team that takes a

lot of that burden off of me so it's

easier for me to kind of put boundaries

around work for myself on a personal

level it's it's hard to even describe

the difference as huge

[Music]