Myriad conference speakers stress service
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 31, 2003
Kamuela, Hawaii — Despite a lagging economy, San Diego-based Myriad Software said it posted strong growth last year and plans to do it again in 2003.
That was the message by the founders of the 13-year retail technology company to a software users' group at the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort here on the big island of Hawaii.
Carolyn Crowley and Russell Higgins, partners who started the company 13 years ago, said Myriad's customer base had grown 15% over the past year. They said the company's target customer is the smaller retailer who averages about 10 users on a system.
The four-day event here was the company's ninth annual users' conference and included a "state of the company" address, a keynote speaker, and breakout workshops centered around the company's software and industry issues. It ended with an awards banquet in which three participants were honored for their work with the company and its software. Next year's conference will return to San Diego.
Myriad underwent several structural changes last year, with Crowley and Higgins exchanging corporate responsibilities and the company adding to its middle management. The addition of more staff is expected this year, the speakers said, which will strengthen Myriad to accomplish the goals it has established.
A series of Myriad managers told users that it has a renewed emphasis on service, product development and support services. The company, for instance, separated its help desk functions from training, which has improved help time. The training staff added personnel, increased training time for clients and developed an internal training program to keep staff up to date on improvements.
The company implemented more than 200 enhancements to existing programs, not inclusive of larger projects. And the company is working on technology to access information in manufacturers' plants (such as where an order is at a particular time), information in other systems (such as credit card applications), information about product on the showroom floor and information from the warehouse.
The company also is involved in a number of sales and marketing projects, including customer care calls, strengthening its referral program, Web site development, increased direct mail, branding efforts, and a fall ad campaign. In addition, Myriad, in association with the National Home Furnishings Assn., is the sponsor of a retail panel and cyber café and coffee bar at this week's High Point market.
Earlier, conference participants heard a keynote address by "corporate comedian" Mark Mayfield, who mixed business with humor to get across points on staying sane while being successful.
He said managers should throw out the biblical Golden Rule and replace it with the Golden Rule of Human Relations: "Do unto others as they want to be done unto." The old rule, he said, while good in many venues, doesn't work as well in human relations. "It implies that everyone is equal and breaks down teamwork," he said. Employees don't want managers to be equal or on the same level; they want them to be leaders, he said.
Mayfield had everyone laughing when he played a numbers game with his audience in which he got members to place themselves in four personality groups: Jerks, Nerds, Wimps, and Mouths.
Jerks, he said, like to get the job done, are aggressive, and leave a tornado of debris in their wake.
Nerds are analytical, precise, organized and actually read instruction books. "Jerks have to have them," Mayfield said.
Wimps are real team players, Mayfield said. They like harmony, they're sensitive, caring, warm. "They're the most important to any unit. They're the glue that keeps everything together," he said.
Mouths are very expressive, Mayfield said. They like to talk, they're creative, they're expressive.
In human relations, it doesn't matter what personality type you are, he said. "What matters is if you're able to shift with who you're dealing with." For instance, if you're a Jerk but can become a Wimp to appease an angry customer, you've won the battle, he said.
"If you start moving toward someone else, they'll start moving toward you," he added. "Mirror them, copy them. If you want to make people comfortable, go to their comfort zone."
Mayfield, who has appeared on stage with Paul Newman, Peter Frampton, Colin Powell and Bob Newhart, also gave his audience tips on managing stress. Exercise, communicate, see the humor in things and relax, he said. To relax, practice deep breathing — inhaling through the nose, expanding the gut with air, and exhaling through the mouth.
"One minute of deep breathing per hour is more important from a philosophical standpoint than a 30-minute coffee break twice a day," he said.
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