00:00:12another edition of modeling the masters
00:00:13I believe that the fastest and most
00:00:15effective way to grow your business is
00:00:17to model the strategies of people who
00:00:19have already done what you’re trying to
00:00:21do so today we’re going to look at how a
00:00:23young man who couldn’t hold down a
00:00:24steady job and couldn’t get his mind off
00:00:27of thinking about hunting and fishing
00:00:28turn his passion into a business and
00:00:31would go on to be named one of the top
00:00:33ten entrepreneurs of the 20th century by
00:00:36the Wall Street Journal this is the
00:00:38story of LL Bean and the top three
00:00:40lessons and you can learn from his
00:00:42success
00:00:44Leon Leon wood beam was an inventor
00:00:47author outdoor enthusiast and founder of
00:00:50the company LL Bean as a young man beam
00:00:52couldn’t hold a steady job and drifted
00:00:54from place to place
00:00:55who would much rather be out hunting and
00:00:57fishing than working for someone else
00:00:59after a series of outdoor expeditions
00:01:01being returned home with his feet
00:01:03soaking wet because it wasn’t a good
00:01:05shoe that could keep them dry he set out
00:01:07to solve the problem by visiting a local
00:01:09cobbler and creating the new shoe for
00:01:11outdoorsmen he called it the Maine
00:01:13hunting shoe bean got a list of hunting
00:01:16license holders set up shop in his
00:01:18brother’s basement and drafted a letter
00:01:20to be sent by a male to his list bean
00:01:23road outside of your gun nothing is so
00:01:26important to your outfit as your
00:01:27Footwear you cannot expect success
00:01:30hunting deer or moose if your feet are
00:01:32not properly dressed the letter was a
00:01:34success and he sold a hundred pairs only
00:01:37to have 90 of them returned because they
00:01:39broke apart being refunded his customers
00:01:42too money took out a loan to modify the
00:01:44design and began selling again by the
00:01:47time Bean died in 1967 company sales had
00:01:50passed four million dollars per year and
00:01:52the Wall Street Journal named him one of
00:01:54the top ten entrepreneurs of the 20th
00:01:56century today with over 1.7 billion
00:01:59dollars in annual sales LL Bean remains
00:02:02one of the most successful family-run
00:02:04businesses in the United States by
00:02:07following what excited him and by taking
00:02:09action LL Bean was able to transform
00:02:12himself from men who couldn’t hold down
00:02:14a steady job into one of the top 10
00:02:16entrepreneurs of the 20th century to
00:02:19help you transform your business here
00:02:21are three action items and you can learn
00:02:23from LL Bean
00:02:25action atom number one care for your
00:02:28customers if you want people to keep
00:02:31buying from you and tell their friends
00:02:32to buy as well you need to care about
00:02:35their well-being and provide as good an
00:02:36experience as possible for them this is
00:02:39especially true in industries where
00:02:40there isn’t really that much that’s
00:02:42different between what you’re offering
00:02:43or what your competitor is selling the
00:02:45differentiating factor that will make
00:02:47customers want to buy from you is the
00:02:49customer service and the experience that
00:02:51you give them beans name became
00:02:53synonymous with outstanding customer
00:02:55service one of his policies was the 100%
00:02:58money-back guarantee with no expiration
00:03:00date no matter how long ago you bought
00:03:03his products bean would refund you all
00:03:05of your money if you weren’t completely
00:03:07satisfied he even paid for the postage
00:03:09for you to mail it back to him knowing
00:03:12that his customers were hunters and
00:03:13fishermen who often needed equipment in
00:03:15the middle of the night bean also threw
00:03:17away the keys a historian Freeport and
00:03:19kept it open 24 hours a day 365 days a
00:03:22year to give them a better experience
00:03:24it’s only been closed twice in its
00:03:27history according to bean no sale is
00:03:31really complete until the product is
00:03:32worn out and the customer satisfied a
00:03:35customer is the most important person
00:03:37ever in this office in person or by mail
00:03:40above all we wish to avoid having a
00:03:43dissatisfied customer we consider our
00:03:46customers a part of our organization and
00:03:48we want them to feel free to make any
00:03:50criticism they see fit in regard to our
00:03:52merchandise or service action item
00:03:56number two be your target market one of
00:04:00the best ways to do market research and
00:04:01really know if you’re onto something or
00:04:03not is to be your own customer does your
00:04:06product or service work as you would
00:04:07like it to would you be willing to pay
00:04:10money for it does it solve a real
00:04:12problem the more you’re a part of your
00:04:14target market the better your chance
00:04:16you’ll have to create a product or
00:04:18service that will really sell you’ll
00:04:20know because it helps make what you’re
00:04:21currently doing better faster or somehow
00:04:24more effective beans passion was hunting
00:04:27and fishing it’s what led him to create
00:04:29the Maine hunting shoe I kept him
00:04:31inspired to continue growing his
00:04:32business whether his executives wanted
00:04:35to launch a new fishing rod shirt or 10
00:04:37being insisted on personally testing all
00:04:40of his products because it had his name
00:04:42on it and it needed his personal seal of
00:04:44approval after the failure of his very
00:04:47first Maine hunting shoe he always took
00:04:49his products out into the real world to
00:04:51make sure they worked before they were
00:04:53sold even when his team around him
00:04:55advised that they were better uses of
00:04:57his time and someone else could do it if
00:05:00it worked for him he knew his customers
00:05:02would like it because he was one of them
00:05:04bean once wrote in his catalog it is no
00:05:07longer necessary for you to experiment
00:05:09with hundreds of flies to determine the
00:05:11few that will catch fish we’ve done that
00:05:14experimenting for you being continued
00:05:16being a part of his target market for as
00:05:18long as he could hold a fishing rod and
00:05:19lace up his boots action Adam number
00:05:24three network entrepreneurs often aren’t
00:05:27great at promoting themselves and
00:05:29networking many of us are happiest when
00:05:31we’re working on a new product or
00:05:33providing the service instead of
00:05:34actually getting out there and selling
00:05:36but getting your product or service into
00:05:38the hands of the right people can often
00:05:40make or break your company and you need
00:05:42to be an effective networker
00:05:43to make sure that they know what you’ve
00:05:44got bean was always an outdoorsman at
00:05:47heart but he knew how to network and
00:05:49promote his business after the avid
00:05:52hunter started buying his products being
00:05:54made a point of connecting with
00:05:55high-profile people to introduce them to
00:05:57his company everyone from Franklin
00:06:00Roosevelt to Babe Ruth the John Wayne
00:06:02found about his products and began using
00:06:04them bean also sponsored high-profile
00:06:07athletes like the 1932 Macmillan Arctic
00:06:10expedition team who wore his boots on
00:06:12their expedition but you didn’t have to
00:06:15be famous for being to let you know what
00:06:17he did as one local writer from Maine
00:06:19wrote of being if you drop in to shake
00:06:22his hand you get home to find his
00:06:24catalog in your mailbox be your target
00:06:31market and network
00:06:33to finish up this video I wanted to
00:06:35share one of my favorite true stories
00:06:37about alveen and some of his best quotes
00:06:41when bean first threw away the keys to
00:06:44his store and invited hunters and
00:06:45fishermen to come visit the store
00:06:47whenever they wanted he installed a
00:06:49late-night Bell to allow people to ring
00:06:50for assistance customers who arrived
00:06:53late at night would see the Bell and
00:06:54assign that ride push once a minute
00:06:56until clerk appears pushing a bell would
00:06:59bring a watchman and often even being
00:07:01himself to come help the customer no
00:07:03matter what time of day it was
00:07:14you
00:07:46thank you for joining me for another
00:07:48edition of Mali two masters if you liked
00:07:50the video and want to see more please
00:07:52give it a thumbs up I’d also love to
00:07:54hear your thoughts and feedback if you
00:07:56want to leave a comment below the video
00:07:57and stay tuned for the next episode
00:08:06you
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