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Writer's pictureMark Lipton

Words of Wisdom

I spent Wednesday with my mother. She spent our time together dispensing the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of her nearly 81-years.


At least what of it she could remember!


They say that there is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. For example, if you know that a tomato is a fruit, you have knowledge. But if you know that tomatoes don’t belong in a fruit salad; you have wisdom!


On Wednesday mom dispensed that, “The secret to happiness is the right mirror!”


Which I think, is knowledge and wisdom!


Monday, November 30th, at 9 AM, perhaps as some of you are reading this blog, I will be having what I expect will be my final pre-launch daily “stand-up” meeting of THE Revolution web and e-commerce sites project.


Built by hand, by an independent paint dealer. For independent paint dealers!


The first if which is for Town Line Paint in Malden, Massachusetts.


If all goes as planned, on our call tomorrow I will give the instructions which will put the final piece in place: point the existing Town Line URL to the new site which we now call viable. Not advanced yet. That comes later. But more than minimally.


I’m told that this step of re-mapping the URL may take as many as a few days. Which means, I’m late!


THE plan to go live though, didn’t have the same plan as I did. Last week, small functionality and database issues which others might have considered picayune, stopped me from pulling the trigger and releasing the site.


Something about only having one chance to make a first impression.


Thanksgiving was not this year, but the food was still good. My sous and I prepared a slimmed-down version of the feast we might serve the fourth Thursday of every OTHER November!


Perhaps out of habit?


Masking up, we brought half to my “in-laws.” A (very) rare night off for my “mother-in-law,” Connie. Whose job it is to feed the family, holiday or otherwise!


And so between eating turkey alone with my Guy (with a FaceTime visit from THE Buck), flying my drone and taking pictures at one of the two historic covered bridges in Connecticut and ruining a batch of chicken soup in a canning process that went bad in EXACTLY the way Guy told me it would (she made me tell you that), I spent much of my time over the Thanksgiving break shopping for paint on the development version of the site we are preparing to launch.


One of a Kind


The work of testing the site’s functions, mostly falls on the development team. I have my say meaning I point out problems. But the flow of data, path to purchase and load times can all be assessed and repaired better by other members of the eight-person team who have helped me get the site to this point. From a functionality standpoint, they know the site every bit as well as I do and so I leave it to them to do their job.


Leaving me time to make sure that the paint part, is perfect.


DIY Customers Shop by Color


Paint stores get to work after the consumer selects a color. Then, counter-staff pairs that color with a product based on the customer’s expressed needs. By asking the “Holy Trinity” of paint questions, “are you painting inside or outside?” “how much shine do you like?” and “what quality level do you prefer?” you can recommend the right product for likely 90% of all in-store interactions.


The web and e-commerce sites of the Revolution function in primarily the same way: the consumer picks a color, answers the “Holy Trinity” and THE Revolution becomes your counter staff as it immediately suggests the right product to do the job. With accompanying product information and videos where they exist.


Not a listing of products! A digital sales counter!


Back to my weekend, each one of those possible outcomes of-course needs to be checked by a paint person. The developers don’t know the difference between Grand Entrance high gloss and Super Hide flat!


I checked each permutation myself to ensure the correct outcome. I enjoyed spending the time with all the products! A nice connection to my years in my family’s stores.


All while doing a final check of the pricing (which is set by the dealer of-course, but I still can spot mistakes which a developer never would), product placement (for example we recommend premium roller covers with premium and super-premium paints) and the product categorizations (so only abrasives display when the customer selects abrasives in the menu).


Late last week I whined to a friend that I was going to be a few days late delivering this site. He replied, “In a very short time, a three-day delay will be meaningless!”


Which he said with knowledge of how hard I worked to get the site out right on-time.


But his words were still wisdom!



















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