choose by the gig or unlimited plus for a limited time get a $250 prepaid card when you buy any new samsung. xfinity mobile. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. click, call, or visit an xfinity store today. good morning, everyone. coming up on msnbc's "your business" -- mystery shopping in the digital age. i go undercover to help a greeting card company acquire customers. why you need to think of yourself as a technology company no matter what it is you sell. and david kohler on the dangers of becoming insulated. we're going to help you grow fast and work smart. that's all coming up next on "your business." >> "your business" is sponsored by american express open. helping you get business done.

>> hi, there. i'm jj ramberg. welcome to "your business." picture this. an army of people going to stores around the country to let you know how you're doing as a company. checking out your product displays if you're a manufacturer, evaluating your salespeople if you're a retailer. mystery shoppers giving you realtime information. that is what the app moby sets up. i recently downloaded it and went on a secret shopping mission for a greeting card company who is using this technology to give them an edge over the competition. ♪ it's a wednesday afternoon and i have left my office at nbc to go on a mission. i have signed up with a secret shopping app called mobee and smartphone in hand i'm handed to the madison avenue pharmacy and department store here in new

york city. i wanted to see how this thing works so i downloaded the app. i became a mobee bee and now i'm on a mission. i have to find some greeting cards from a company called love pop. lovepop is working with the company wiser solutions. the brains behind mobee. for my time and work i earn points which i can convert into the gift card and love pop gets fast and affordable realtime data. >> we have the largest retailers as customers but we have a large number of what i call the up and comer brands. so lovepop is a great example a local brand that wanted to move into the mass market and we're helping them get insight into what's happening in a broad range of stores across the country. which is something they wouldn't be able to do on their own. >> lovepop's innovative approach is obvious. the minute you see their

product. >> when you open a lovepop the first reaction is just this wow. how do you make that? how does this work? and then you start looking at all the little details and appreciate what we have put into that and in terms of the craftsmanship. >> since they launched in 2014, technology has been a cornerstone of lovepop's business. from the laser cutting machines they use, to the data they're collecting out in the field that the stores carrying the products, lovepop is shaking things one a totally new approach to the well established greeting card business. >> the greeting card business is a $7 billion industry and about 100 years old, and it has two major players. we feel it's kind of lost its magic and it's no longer as special as it was. we're completely reinventing that with a different business model, different way to speak to our customers. >> the mobee app has given me specific instructions of what to

do. once i complete one task it moves me on to the next. >> take a photo of the display. got it. next. and the most critical part of the task for the folks at lovepop is checking on the condition of the card. >> we think about ourselves not just as a card but a small gift and part of that is the experience of opening a lovepop and seeing what's hidden inside. that's really hard to show in a retail environment and there's a lot of damage. there's a lot of work that goes into making sure that a lovepop display is in good shape. >> that's where i come in. sample lovepop cards display that are damaged in any way? here's a sample. these cards are beautiful by the way. so cool. also they should get taller people to do this. because i'm having to stand on my toes to look at this. but i don't see any that are damaged. everything looks great.

okay. so no, nothing is damaged. a small fish in a large pond, lovepop is using the immediate insight people like me are giving them as a competitive advantage. they're getting near realtime information on everything from inventory, quality control and whether or not new product releases like the new game of throne cards are out on display. >> i have to ask a sales associate if they have the lovepop "game of thrones" card. i would buy it if they have one. do you have the lovepop "game of thrones" card? >> we do have one. >> oh. >> the green one, the dragon. >> oh, that's so cool. for any "game of thrones" fan. i feel like this is good customer acquisition also because now i'm going to buy one. the answer is yes. >> what mobee has allowed us to do is understand what's happening in the store and in a way that we were never able to before. we're able to see what the

display looks like in the store. we're able to see what products they're showing prominently, what products are not shown as prominently. we're able to know where the display is in the store. we're able to just see a lot of information that is otherwise very, very tricky to get. >> until recently, secret shoppers were trained and deployed to collect this with pen and paper. >> oftentimes you see them with the clip board and the pen with no photographs, et cetera. it got the job done, yet the delivery of that data took weeks or months. there was no photographs. the data wasn't structured, it needed to be transcribed. it wasn't searchable or actionable. >> the beauty of this technology is the ability to level the playing field. so smaller companies can now compete with larger ones. collecting realtime data, customize and relevant to them at almost any point in time by mobilizing this enthusiastic

crowd of users. >> most of your large brands will have a merchandising company that helps them in the store, stocking shelves, changing prices, et cetera. the small brands don't have the ability to bring in a large-scale merchandising company so they're largely on their open. so we're the eyes and the ears inside the store to help them recognize and identify when they need to take action in the store. >> the last thing i have, did i encounter any issues that make this mission difficult? i didn't. photos uploaded, i just got some points. landing big orders can be a dream come true for many business owners but as easily as those big orders can come, they can also go. the owner of a virginia printing company was left reeling when his larger clients took a step back because they were tight on cash. it was a major hit. and he had to rethink everything. start, with the refocus on smaller clients who kept his company afloat.

>> i wouldn't have a business to save my business. >> chip tompkins says clients like klein and wheeler have made his business a success that it is today. >> it was the right answer at the right time. >> the owner of we think in ink in ash land, virginia, knows small business people like rebecca and jock need to be responsible with their spending. >> when you're a small business owner your reaction time is crucial. being able to respond quickly is everything. >> what we have today may be great for today, but in five months as our business evolves and changes that needs to be able to change with us. >> rebecca the owner of rba auctions online and jock the owner of old dominion mechanical don't want to waste money on printed money on brochures or business cards. >> capital and cash is really

important and it can make the difference between us being able to do a job and not able to do a job. >> you're susceptible to busy seasons and slower seasons and upswings and downswings in the economy. >> that's why chip has made it his mission to help. >> we specialize in doing short runs for the customers that are in sort of a growth mode. >> chip knows all too well what it's like to walk in their shoes. >> we're talking about small ma and pa businesses, businesses that are trying to grow and don't have a whole lot of cash. >> he tries to encourage them to small orders as often as you like. >> imagine if you're the customer and your printer comes in and says why are you ordering so many, you don't need to. i'll give you the same price instead of buying 500 or 2,000 you can buy a hundred and then when something changes we'll print you hundred more. >> in 2008, the bottom fell out, and customers disappeared and chip knew he needed to make a

change. even though chip had been doing smaller runs all along, the light bulb went off. >> they loved it. it was not hard to sell. >> he actively pursued more b2b relationships in order to save his company and his message was clear -- >> why buy so many? you'll throw half of them away it's silly to buy that many. let's make it easy to buy a few. >> rebecca knows that chip is always willing to help. no matter the size of her order. >> if i called chip and be like i need 36 of this because i have 36 attorneys that i want to mail this to, he'd be like okay. i wouldn't have to order 50. i can scale it and proportionate to my project. >> ordering small is something that most customers think about. he had to get them to reconsider ordering bill and jock says chip's prices are just what a small business owner needs. >> it's part of the solution he brings to us. it's not only just smaller runs but competitive pricing that really works for us.

>> this model also gives some flexibility. if urgent requests come in, the staff can handle them. >> when i've got 20 orders in the shop and somebody comes in with a unique need they have to have it by 3:00, i can button line it and it doesn't hurt anything because it only 20 minutes. >> jock like many customers also sought chip's advice for ways to grow his company. >> i'm not a marketing person. i'm not an advertising guy. i need someone to help us design the products and that's where they're great. >> even though competitors have taken notice of the strategy, other printers in the area haven't really followed suit. >> they think i'm crazy. that's fine. >> smaller orders have benefited we think in ink, but they have created a little bit more work too. >> 12 orders to make up 5,000 for the year means 12 invoices and collecting the money 12 times and depositing it 12 times, et cetera, et cetera. so from that perspective, it's a little bit more challenging.

>> but in the end it's worth the hassle. chip says these small orders have meant big business for now and the future. >> instead of trying to reinvent who you are, figure out who you are and tell the world about it and we didn't change what we do. we just changed how we do it, changed our message and it was really fun. to future proof your business you have to be focused on technology even if you don't think of yourself as a tech company. a lot of people are scared thinking how am i going to survive in the future? you can do it, but you have to be aware. so we have aaron shapiro, the founder of huge, focused on digital technology and marketing. >> thank you for having me. >> so you consult fortune 500 companies and we think that the companies have it done, they know how to deal with technology now and the digital future because they have so much money. >> you'd be surprised, jj. a lot of big companies are

scared about the future. they have been doing one thing really well and guess what the world has really changed and now they have to rethink their entire business. >> the world is changing so fast. >> so fast. >> when we think of our business and then we think of how our business works with technology, let's talk about consumer facing businesses for a second, how do you think about transforming your business to a digital experience? >> the first place is think about the users. if you can solve their problems easier than anyone else, your company will win. think of uber. you can raise your hand and get a taxi or pick up the phone and they made it easier than anyone else as being a click of the button. >> it's distelling everything down to that one problem. >> that's right. that's the whole thing companies have to do. how do you make your business super simple and just make it idiot proof for people to do business for you. >> well, there are flower delivery companies that i know

they have made it easy. they attach to my address book. i want this flower, it gets there on an app. the service is actually no different than what i was using before. but the process of getting that service is much easier. >> that's the secret to the modern technology. if you think about that example, a lot of the companies do is they use data, the future of the internet is about future and machine learning. they send you offers before it's your birthday or you get flowers for the special loved one. >> let's dig into this. i think data everyone knows, machine learning is a big scary word for a lot of people. >> it's scary, the cyborgs will come and take over the world. >> but i have a medium sized company. how should i be thinking about machine learning when it comes to my company? >> there are two ways to think about machine learning. the first is think about voice interfaces. over the holiday season, 30 million alexa devices were sold. that means more and more will

communicate through voice like everyone uses an app. ai, it's a fancy way to say that the computers can learn from the data that you have to provide better and better services. for example, under armour has a fitness app and it learns about the data and information that you have and that it recommends the perfect gear to improve your athletic performance. every business can use machine learning to create the personalized services. >> just taking the data, and then creating experiences or whatever it is for your users and so you should be collecting this data. >> that's right. collect collect collect. that's the internet. >> but it becomes a little overbearing depending on the size of your company to use that data, right to parse through it and use it in a way that may or may not help you by uber targeting these people. >> it can become overbearing. but lots of small companies do this as well. for example, my mom is a dentist out in long island. she's the last person you would think as internet savvy, but literally 90% of the customers come over the internet.

she can do search optization, reminders it's your six month check in. if my mom can do it, anyone can be successful. >> you have to think of yourself as a tech company, even if you think you're doing nothing with technology. >> that's right. like it or not, amazon and google are your biggest friends and enemies. you have to organize your business that way, it means thinking about everything through a digital first technology. if your internet is not front and center with your business you need to be successful. >> you need to be thinking do i come up first in the search engines. if someone searches for coffee cups am i working in the way that the amazon algorithm notices me and puts me up higher? >> that's right. and they make them front and center to your business to drive the company's growth and strategy. >> right, interesting. well, thank you so much. >> thank you or the having me. >> absolutely.

thank you. even if you have an open door policy, it can be hard to connect with your staff on a personal level. so here are five ways to build a stronger relationship with your team. one, use technology to connect. encourage your employees to friend you on all of your work appropriate social media accounts and allow them to text, call or e-mail you directly with any questions or concerns. two, answer every correspondence. it's not enough to just give your employees your e-mail address, you have to get back to them to avoid coming off as distant or unconcerned. three, offer profit sharing. this gets everyone on the same page and gets them to be able to share in the rewards if things go well. four, prioritize quality time. you need plenty of face time with your employees to build a relationship with them. so carve out time to give them formal feedback but also time to have fun. and five, give them ample time

off. work stress can lead to burnout and bring out the worst in everyone so make sure that people not only have time off, but actually take it. when we come back, your company is growing fast. so how do you maintain its culture? do not sink your business. dave kohler on why design, trust and opportunity will keep your business above water. sponsored by american express open, helping you turn your ideas into reality with money and know how so you can get business done. for purchas? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye!

we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. we're very focused on keeping a good culture in our company and as we grow rapidly how do you maintain that small company feel while you're growing at such a rapid pace? >> that is a fantastic question. and my advice is to be totally uncompromising in your hiring filter when it comes to finding people who resonate with your company values and mission. if that person is going to be managing other people, they're going to be really responsible for just safeguarding that mission and value so that's the one thing you can't compromise on. if you have ever looked at buying a new kitchen faucet or a bathtub, there's a chance you

have seen the word kohler. they have been a leading american manufacturing company since it was founded in 1873. we sat down with fourth generation president and ceo david kohler at the company headquarters in the town they helped put on the sat down wit generation president and ceo david kohler in the town they helped put on the map, kohler, wisconsin. why isolation is never a good thing in this learning from the pros. ♪ >> it's amazing when you look at products how much hasn't changed and how much has really changed over the years. you with one thing is true when you think about how fast technology is moving. you have to change your speed of development and become much more agile, working with other

partners to make sure you can continue to drive development and innovation ahead of the markets. we're also looking not just as next year, but five years out, ten years out. that's the only way we can really drive advancement around the technologies and the products we need for the future. we have had electronic products in our line over a decade. but this was our first year at ces is. we wanted to go on the main stage where the tech companies are playing. we see an inflection point in the future of our industry and really all industry around driving and merging technology into existing products and platforms. there's always a danger to get isolated, continue to be told what they want to hear and everything is filtered. and it is best to get energy and ideas on the front lines with other associates on the front lines as well as in the market with customers.

so i spend a lot of my time on the front lines in markets visiting with our customers and team members, understanding what we can do better as a company and what we do well as a company. that gives me the fuel, energy, and drive to come back and help make the company better. everything is about design and differentiation. an organization is about design. how you design your organization to succeed. a product is about design. your business is about design. and you can see what's important in a company by how they spend their time. you always have is to be careful that you are not creating bureaucracy or slowing things down. so you have to manage that. but the things that are truly important to the business, to that success and credibility, we all need to make sure we're spending plenty of time in the details on those things. is and design is one of those. and we're not going to take anything to market that we don't believe is unique, special, and

really reflect our brands. being in a family business, one of the things that's most important are those relationships. so i have two sisters that work closely with he me and on the board of directors. and we have had to spend a lot of time the last 15 years really building a relationship with trust that didn't exist at the beginning. we respect each other's strengths and differences. we come together in the toughest times and can work together. so that's the most important foundation. you can't collectively own and steward a company if you don't have a solid underpinning relationship with trust. there's an incredible opportunity to innovate in the most minute areas. we are still innovating in toilets, sinks, and faucets

today. and we have been in this business forever. you can make anything smart and different today. in our straoerbgs the plumbing industry was seen in the '20s and '30s as a commodity industry. and i credit my fore fathers and my father and their generation of leadership for taking this industry and turning it into a more fashion and design-driven industry. so anything can be made into a differentiated unique premium different product. and that's the challenge is to find that opportunity. >> we now have the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business. katrina is the founder and ceo of boje chocolate. we profiled her on this show. and scott gerber is ceo of the community company and co author of" super connector" stop

networking and start building business relationships that matter. good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> i love the name of your book. >> thank you. >> the word networking -- >> doesn't it make you want to take a shower afterwards? >> i love meeting new people and talking to them. so let's start with you. your tip? >> every business needs to build a contributor relationship. >> con extent contributor network? >> for your blog? >> your voice and ethos can be out there, share your story. or the stories of things that matter in your local community. the things that matter to help you have a distinctive voice in the market. it is going to help stand your brand out. for example, if you're a restaurant, you don't want contributors to be talking about food. if your brand stands for things like neighborhood, local, community, maybe you will start media property about local sports and coaches and other people that you can a accredit. >> what do you mean media.

>> build your own blog, instagram site. what makes the most accepts to your brand. but telling other people's stories. so you are co-leading conversations versus being on the sidelines. they are also looking for ways to convene around other people that share like-minded views. so the idea that they will be with other coaches in the case of the restaurant or if you're a logistics company and you want an innovation blog, being with other people that are authoritati authoritative, ultimately they are getting a message out there that matters. >> interesting idea. and your company is all about story telling. >> yeah. >> what's one tip that you have. your company is 20 years old now. >> yeah. if you're not evolving, you're dying. there is so much disruption in thinking. without that our brand wouldn't be able to pivot. i never say a recipe is perfect. it is 75% there.

because then you can constantly evolve an idea. and i think that's really important. it is not just old experiences but step out and have new ideas and take risks and evolve. >> so when you launched your company 20 years ago you put check lat together with all of these weird ingredients, curry, wasabi and bacon. it hadn't been done before. do you continue to have disruptions or is it more of an evolution for you? >> i think at the core it is all about experience, for example. but you can always innovate things into new platforms. beverage, cafe, wellness. you know i started a new brand because i didn't want to bring super premium voge in. so more act is assessable price

point. that was a unique sell. it worked really well because we had the infrastructure to support. >> i have seen both of your companies evolve so much over the past many years. it has been incredible to see. thanks for coming on. >> thanks. this week's your biz selfie comes from emerald bilbrew, emerald uniforms in lillington, north carolina. they are both nurses. they decided to open their own store when they had difficulty finding the right sized scrubs. take a selfie of you and your business in the background. include the name of your business and its location. hashtag it. thank you all so much for joining us. we love hearing from you. so if you have any questions or comments or just want to say hi,

accepted an e-mail to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. also if you have a s.e.c., head over to openforum.com/yourbusiness. we put up all the segments from today's show, plus a whole lot more. and you can connect with us on all of our digital and social medium platforms as well. one last thing. we have a new podcast called been there. built that. i get to have conversations with people like ka tri na who was on the show today and warbby parker. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm jj ramberg. remember, we make your business our business. i don't like it. oh. nuh uh. yeah. ahhhhh. mm-mm. oh. yeah. ah. agh. d-d-d... no. hmmm. uh... huh.

yeah. uh... huh. in business, there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you. so we're doing it. yes. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. ♪ morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. the news on thursday, president trump is going to sit down with kim jong-un will reverberate all weekend, every channel. i thought we would kick it off this morning. joining me through of the best beltway reporters. alana shore of political and the "washing