Think Different

THINK DIFFERENT           

Do any of you remember the Apple Computer campaign from fourteen years ago?  If you don’t then you should go to You Tube and perform a search for Think Different.  A business owner suggested this to me last week after I completed a talk on Creating a Service Brand. 

This one minute commercial features black and white images of several 20^th century icons, including Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Thomas Edison.  It is suggested that these icons helped change the world.  Clearly, everyone depicted in this commercial had a profound effect on business, music and politics.  The commercial begins with the following voiceover: “Here’s to the crazy ones.  The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.  The ones who see things differently.”  The commercial goes on to suggest that these icons broke the rules in order to create an enduring legacy.  They helped change the world by thinking differently.

Carve a minute out of your day and take a look at this commercial.  Some of you will remember it and for those of you who don’t, you are in for a treat.  I am certain that you will find it inspirational.  Maybe even motivational. 

And now I would like to throw down a challenge.  I am not going to suggest that after viewing the Think Different advertisement you will become motivated enough to change the world, but perhaps you will find in yourselves to change your world.  The business world you are now in probably has you focused solely on profitability.  You may be looking at ways where you can increase profits.  Maybe you are looking at accessorial fees, fuel surcharges and other means of capturing revenue without growing your business.  Perhaps you feel that you cannot grow your business.  Perhaps you forgot how to grow your business.  Well I’m going to challenge you to forget about profits.  That’s right….forget about profits for a few minutes and focus, instead, on creating a positive customer experience.  I am not suggesting that you operate your business at a loss.  What I am suggesting that you focus less on you and more on your client.

Here are a few questions you should be asking yourself:

·         Is it easy for my customers to do business with me?

·         Do I know why my loyal customers remain loyal?

·         Does my business receive referrals?

·         Am I doing everything I can to make the buying experience enjoyable for my customers?

Challenge yourselves to create an environment where your clients “want” to do business with you.  Challenge your team to remain focused on the customer.  Don’t look for ways where you can profit off your client’s backs, such as through hidden fees and accessorial charges.  Instead grow your business through the creation of memorable customer experiences.  Look for ways where you and your team can exceed your client’s expectations.  Be different than your competition.  Be different within your industry.  Be different in your approach.  Be different to yourself and your team.  Be different to your customers.  But first, you must Think Different.

Autonomy

Autonomy

How much greatness are you willing to bestow upon people?  Do you encourage or stifle autonomy?  Does your organization celebrate individual success?  Do you possess the capacity to bring your teammates out of a gravitational pull?  Do these questions make sense to you?

Let me explain.  Oftentimes there’s an imbalance between corporate policy and customer service.  In order to create an Above and Beyond Culture, you must be prepared to allow your team to make immediate decisions.  That is, decisions which leave your clients in a positive emotional state.  The only way to accomplish that is to encourage an atmosphere of autonomy.  Everyone in your organization should be looking for ways to exceed customer expectations.  This cannot be accomplished if corporate policy prevents your employees from delivering immediate solutions.  “Let me check with my supervisor,” is the last thing an irate customer wants to hear. 

I recently held a series of seminars for a mail order company that was re-engineering their Culture of Service.  The owner had expressed concern regarding his staff.  He felt that they were merely “going through the motions” and he suspected that the internal chain of command was responsible for this malaise.  During the course of the seminars it became apparent that most of the employees were frustrated by their inability to create instant client satisfaction.  Every complaint had to be reviewed by management before a solution could be provided.  Most of the employees dreaded a client complaint because of their inability to provide a solution without first going to their supervisor.  This delay often created frustration for the employees and the clients.  Asking for approval was corporate policy.

It soon became apparent that most of the front line employees knew how to turn a complaint into a WOW. Unfortunately, their lack of autonomy was creating a gravitational pull on them and the organization. Ownership agreed to a two month test period where the employees would be empowered to provide solutions without first seeking management approval.

This is what I found when I returned two months later: 

The entire team was upbeat and enthusiastic.  I discovered the call center had created their own contest; they were competing among themselves to see who could come up with the best customer service story.  One person stood up and told everyone how she used to dread client complaints, but now she looked forward to them.  She now identified a customer concern as an opportunity to exceed expectations.  Several employees indicated that their ability to provide immediate solutions had assisted them in strengthening client relationships. As a result the organization was experiencing sales growth.  The call center had become energized and exciting.

Take a look at some of the policies you currently have in place and ask the following: 

Can some policies be streamlined, or eliminated?  Do these policies hamstring your team and keep them from creating memorable customer experiences?  Are these policies in place to protect short-term profits?  Do they put client loyalty at risk? 

As you answer these questions, be sure to remember that excellent customer service is not about policy or procedure.  Excellent customer service is about excellent behavior.  Challenge yourself to bestow greatness on to your team and you will encourage excellent behavior. 

Gut Instincts

Gut Instincts

January 31, 2011

How many of us have been guilty of having made a bad hire?  You know what I mean.  You brought the wrong person into your organization.  You didn’t do it on purpose.  In fact, you were certain that you had made a good hire.  The aftermath can be destructive: diminished morale, lower productivity not to mention dealing with your own self doubt.  What happened? You thought you did everything right.  You went through all the proper steps: several interviews, more interviews, group interviews maybe even a dinner interview.  You asked all the right questions: What would you do in this, or that situation? What was your greatest accomplishment?  What was your worst mistake and what did you do to make it right?  How do you handle conflict?  You also performed a background check and spoke with past employers and checked references.  You’re certain that you have chosen the perfect candidate and you make an offer.  They accept and you set a start date.  Everything should work out fine.  Sometimes it doesn’t.  Usually you know within the first couple of days when you made a mistake.  What happened?  You did everything right. Or did you?  Did you follow your gut instinct or were you blinded by the candidate’s ability to interview well?  Did this candidate tell you everything you wanted hear?  Chances are that while you were busy listening to the candidate you weren’t listening to yourself.

Stories about bad hires always come up when I work with clients on creating Non-Negotiable Hiring Standards.  I can assist anyone in establishing hiring standards, but there is no substitute for gut instinct.  Clients often tell me that they chose to ignore their instincts because the candidate possessed all the necessary skills or traits.  As a result they heard what they wanted to hear.  I must admit that I made these same mistakes and then had to live with my bad decisions.  We live with these mistakes longer than we should.  I have news for you: it never gets better.  If a new hired isn’t on their best behavior at the beginning of the relationship don’t expect things to improve.  Having Non-Negotiable Hiring Standards is critical, but they are only effective when dovetailed with your own gut instinct.

Later this week I’m going to share an amazing story about gut instinct.  This story was told to me by a client and as you will find out, sometimes the most innocuous comment or gesture can set off your internal alarm system.      

Self Respect

Self Respect

February 1, 2011

In today’s newspaper I came across a very interesting article.  It was titled, Pitcher Spurns $12 Million, to Keep Self-Respect.  Imagine that, there’s actually someone out there who would pass up $12 million in order to retain their own self-respect.  We don’t hear too many stories like that, especially during this difficult economy.  In fact, we usually hear the opposite. Take for instance the bonuses being handed out on Wall Street.  Not much self-respect there.  The very same people who brought us to the brink of financial collapse……well, enough about that.  I’m sure we’ll all tired of that story.

Now, back to the pitcher who values his self-respect: Gil Meche is a 32-year-old right- handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.  Or, should I say, he was a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.  Gil Meche announced his retirement today.  The article goes on to quote Meche, “When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it.”  He goes on, “Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad.”  He felt bad.  How about that?  Now here’s a man with a conscience to go along with his self-respect.  Apparently those two virtues are symbiotic.  I am sure some people would consider Gil Meche a fool.  After all, the usual battle-cry sounds like this: Take all you can.

To highlight the fact that Mr. Meche was playing against type, the reporter cites a couple of examples where players continued to take all they could even though they were unable to play. In 1998, Lenny Dykstra took $5.5 million from the Phillies even though he had played his last game in 1996.  Mo Vaughn took $15 million from the Mets in 2004 despite an arthritic knee that had ended his career the year before.  Now that’s more like it!  That’s what we expect, Take all you can.

Mr. Meche, who had undergone two shoulder surgeries and felt he could no longer pitch effectively, goes on to say, “This isn’t about being a hero.  Making that amount of money…..it just wasn’t the right thing to do.”  How refreshing!  I am sure that this lesson in humility and honor will not be lost on his three children.  I know it wasn’t lost on me.

Gil Meche made a decision based in part on his own core values.  How many times in our own lives are we challenged with difficult decisions?  Do we always rely on our core values to assist us in making sound choices?  I guess we have all been guilty, at one time or another, of compromising ourselves for financial benefit.  However, it is more important than ever for us to set the example for our children, our friends and our colleagues.  Let’s challenge ourselves to make the right decisions for the right reasons.  Let us lead by our actions.  And when we’re challenged as to why we didn’t compromise our values in order to gain some benefit we can say, just as Gil Meche said, “It just wasn’t the right thing to do.”