ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - April 9, 1999

I DON'T KNOW
I am reminded again what a powerful position "I don't know" is. When you think you "know," it is easy to stop listening, to stop looking at new possibilities, to appear arrogant and pig-headed. (Did you ever work for somebody like that?) But when a staff member says, "What should we do?" and your first response is, "I don't know. Let's look at this for a second.," it will slow your mind down. You will tend to ask more and better questions. You will get new and better information. You will avoid misunderstandings. You will not jump to conclusions. You will tend to consider other points of view. You will learn something. Ultimately you will do less work because your staff will become more involved in the process.

A note from the Doc:
Lest I be misunderstood, if the question is something like, "The place is on fire. What should we do?," or "One of the busboys is in a fistfight with a guest. What should we do?," it is appropriate for you to take immediate action!

GIFT CERTIFICATES
Two weeks ago, Jerry Mistretta asked about ways to keep gift certificates from being counterfeited. Here are some of the responses:

From Ed Priest of Chez Suzette in Lubbock, Texas:
We have found it useful to use numbered certificates, dated and initialed by the issuing person, and embossed with a customized hand embosser (very much like the ones you would use for a corporate seal). These are relatively inexpensive and it is unlikely that anyone who might present a fake certificate will have one readily available. Of course, you have to make sure that your staff members who have access to the certificates and embosser are trustworthy.

From Brad Strom of Simek's Meats in Burnsville, Minnesota:
What my company is using is a heavy weight, glossy, card stock certificate. On the front of the certificate it has our company logo, the amount the certificate is good for as well as a spot for the person giving the gift to sign. On the back it has all of our store locations, a pre-printed number on the certificate and the stub that we keep, and a place for our employee to sign their name, a store abbreviation and the date of purchase. In 12 years of using this certificate and other slightly different variations of it, I can't recall once instance of a forgery. They are sent out in packs of 200 numbered in sequence and are accompanied by 2 pages with all of the numbers of the certificates listed and columns for the date of purchase, the amount it was issued for, and the date it was redeemed.

From Char Conklin and Dan Millstone of Black Dog Grafix in Lake Worth, Florida:
We just thought we could pass on how we produce gift certificates for our existing restaurant business clients. There are many ways to prevent counterfeiting gift certificates:
#1. I don't know what your logo colors consist of, but reproducing any metallic or foil is next to impossible on a color copier.
#2. Gift Certificates should be numbered with a special internal code on both the certificate and the stub, which is left in your store.
#3. Sometimes using a unique (special order) paper stock can be helpful.
#4. Have your managers authorize the certificate with their signature using a blue ink pen. That is a difficult color to reproduce.

A note from the Doc:
Thanks to everyone who stepped up to help Jerry with his question. Collectively, we can do anything.

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