September 17, 2021 - Are You Looking at Reality from the Right Perspective?

Main Idea:

When you look out the window and it is dark, is it night time?  When an employee tells you that a customer is being unreasonable, do you know if that is correct?  Can someone tell you the truth and still be completely wrong?  If your financial statements show that you are losing money, is that a bad thing?

Expansion of the Idea:

I have a picture in one of my conference rooms that shows a winding garden path.  There are a million pictures that show garden paths.  The unusual thing about this picture is that if you stand to one side and look at it, the picture shows summer.  If you move three feet to the left, it will show the same picture in winter.  This technique is called lenticular display.  When I saw this at an art show, I immediately bought it.  This is a great reminder to me to look for reality from multiple points of view.

Most of us get into ruts in how we see our business, our employees, our friends and even our enemies.  It is easier and quicker to take the previous view of the world and just use that.  And that will work for a period of time.  However, the world is changing rapidly.  For anyone in a service business, you may or may not need to be located close to your customers.  Amazon has completely changed retail and distribution businesses. There is disruption everywhere and you can’t afford to be the last person at a game of musical chairs.  We need to look at everything from multiple perspectives, including those of our customers and employees.  There is no real definition of reality.  There are just multiple facets of it. 

Likewise, there is no perfect way to address this situation.  The most important thing is to realize that our perspective may seem right for us but it isn’t always right for others.  By looking at all points of view, we may find better solutions for all interactions.  This could include:

• Learning more about your customer, employee or vendor

• Asking questions on different perspectives

• Invest time to see how your products or services are used

• Look back at some recent conflicts, lost employees or customers to see if there was some information that you were unaware

One of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits for Highly Successful People was to seek first to understand and then to be understood.  I think a completely consistent version of this would be to seek first to understand and then build a better solution.   

Places to Start Looking at Different Versions of Reality:

1. Are there issues going on in your business that you don’t understand

2. Revisit important conversations you had with team members to see if your understanding of that conversation was the same

3. Meet with clients to understand their view of what you offer them

4. Talk to outside advisors, including your banker to evaluate their perspective of your service offering

5. Spend some time watching how work is done in your business

6. Ask your team if there are areas that they think you should focus on

I plan on having a zoom conference call on Constraints and Conflict Resolution on October 27 at 1pm CDT. This will explain how to identify your constraints and use the constraint to grow your business.  I know that this sounds like an oxymoron but it works.  I will also introduce a special conflict resolution process to help in your thinking. Looking at reality from different perspectives is absolutely critical to exploit the constraints. This zoom call will be beneficial for all managers, whether in a business or nonprofit.  If you are interested in reserving your spot, please email me at your earliest convenience. 

July 30, 2021 – Do You Have Friction?

Main Idea:

What causes you to hesitate to go to a ball game?  Do you enjoy upgrading your cell phone? Why do you hesitate to go to the dentist?  How much fun is it taking a 3 year old to the grocery store with candy everywhere?  Do you dread having to swap out your work computer?

Expansion of the Idea:

I was recently notified by my cell phone company that my phone will no longer work after January 1, 2022 due to technology changes.  My phone isn’t that old but technology is constantly changing.  I hate changing phones for two reasons.  First, it takes a week to get the new phone working with all of the apps.  Second, the terms of the deal on the phone are always changing and I never know if I am getting a good deal or a bad deal.  As a result, I put off replacing phones or upgrading when I should. 

I was reminded of the basic concept of business friction in a book that I recently read called Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption by Jeff Rosenblum and Jordan Berg.  The whole concept is that we should be creating passionate fans of our businesses by eliminating friction that exists in our industries and in our businesses.  I know that I had tried to make my business easier to do business with but this concept of friction goes much deeper.  Eliminating friction is about creating businesses that our customers are passionate about.  It is putting us in alignment with our customers. 

General examples of friction could be:

• No one answers the phone

• Website is out of date and doesn’t address questions

• Cost of switching services is too great

• Service problems are not fixed quickly

Specific examples of friction could look like this:

• CPA firm – tax surprises

• Law firm – surprise on the bill

• Retail store – long lines or insufficient inventory

• Distribution company – packages are delivered late

• Construction industry – inability to adhere to time tables

• Service industry – won’t tell you when they will be there

• Auto repair – car isn’t fixed after you pick it up

• Lawn maintenance – ruts from cutting right after rain

Friction is everywhere. In the past couple of years Covid has amplified the problem.  I know in my industry the biggest issue is business and tax surprises.  To the extent that I have been successful in helping clients plan better, I have reduced friction.  But I know that I have a lot of other friction points that I need to improve on.  All of us have these problems.  It is up to us to identify what these friction points are and then to create systems and policies to help eliminate them or at least mitigate them.  Some things are out of our control.  However, even when things go wrong and they will, we can communicate with our customers and keep them informed.  Sometimes that is all we need to do. 

Questions to Consider:

1. Make a list of the top 5 friction points in dealing with your business.

2. Add on the next 10 friction points.

3. Discuss this with your team and add on additional friction points.

4. Make a plan to work on the points

January 29, 2021 – Are You Thankful?

Main Idea:

When was the last time you wrote a thank you note?  When was the last time you received one?  Are they even relevant in the digital era?  What do they accomplish?

Expansion of the Idea:

A few weeks ago, my wife bought an article of clothing online.  During this past year, most people have transitioned to buying most things online.  Online shopping is great because of the convenience.  The downside is the loss of connection.  The buyers are isolated and make the purchases.  The sellers aren’t connected to their customers.  What was unusual when my wife received her purchase was that within a day or two, she received a handwritten thank you note from the particular store that fulfilled her online order.  It was a very nice note written by the store manager.  My wife was surprised by the note.  She could not understand how the store manager could take time to write that note.

What is the impact of a simple thank you note?  Do you think that store has created a better connection with my wife and with all of their customers? 

They probably don’t write a thank you note for all orders.  But even if it 1%, they have improved their relationships by a lot.  The positive goodwill will generate referrals.  More importantly, I think it sets a tone of thankfulness inside the company.  I would guess that the store manager is probably a good boss.  That would create a whole cycle of better service and loyalty which will improve our businesses. 

What does this mean for us?

I know I could definitely improve in this area.  While I think I am thankful, I know I can express it more often.  In the current environment, it is so easy to get caught up with all of our problems.  And, every business has some issues right now.  When this occupies all of our time, it is easy to get focused on ourselves.  We lose sight of all of the important people in our businesses and our lives.  Here are some of the people that might need to be considered:

• Spouses and Family

• Employees

• Customers

• Vendors

• Advisors

• Support people, such as delivery people

• Referral sources

Each of us has some specific people that are really important to us.  We need to make sure we show our thanks.  A handwritten note might be best.  Sometimes, it might be just a quick response to a text or email.  Anything we can do to improve connections will benefit us personally and our businesses.  But it all starts with us deciding that we are thankful.

Your Action Plan:

1. Who are you thankful for? 

2. Write a note.

September 11, 2020 – Is Customer Service Dead? (Part 2)

Main Idea:

Have you seen great customer service lately?  Is your team capable of giving great customer service?  Have they been doing so lately?  What has been missing?

Expansion of the Idea:

Do you remember where you were 19 years ago today?  Chances are you remember that day vividly.  Our nation absorbed a punch to the gut and we floundered for a few weeks.  Even after that, most businesses were disrupted for quite some time.  The stock market was dropping and no one really had good answers.  The real problem was that there was a sense of isolation.  When bad things happen, we tend to get into our own shells and we don’t want to come out. 

How did we get out of that?

The key to our recovery from 9/11 was between our ears.  We made very good choices for a while.  We came together as a nation.  We decided that we were not going to let 9/11 define us.  A lot of very good things happened in the couple of years after 9/11.  Obviously, we never want that to happen again, but we became less concerned about ourselves and more concerned about others.

We have some of the same problems now with the pandemic.  It has isolated us and created a lot of hardship for a lot of the world.  We don’t have the same social networks that we used to have. For our small businesses, our employees are not able to interact with each other and with customers like they are used to.  Something is lost. 

Just like after 9/11, we can fix a lot of our problems ourselves.  For small business owners, this starts with you.  Small business owners are facing unprecedented levels of financial issues, employee issues, supply chain problems and technology issues.  It is very easy to retreat and get into a “me versus them” mentality.  Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we can reach out to people who lift us up.  We can look for help to figure out our business issues.  We were made to be social and to interact with others.  When we do this, we can fix ourselves.  Then we can help support our team and then ultimately our customers.  Our job during this period in time is to connect people even more so than normal.  When we do that, attitudes will improve and that will have a tremendous impact on customer service. 

Here are some questions to consider:

1. Am I connected with my team and customers?

2. Does my team feel isolated?

3. Do my customers feel connected to our businesses?

4. When was the last time I called a customer or team member for no apparent reason?

5. What can I do to help team morale?

On this day of remembrance, be thankful that we live in the United States and have the freedoms that we do.  Thank a first responder for their service which is the ultimate in customer service.

September 4, 2020 – Is Customer Service Dead? (Part 1)

Main Idea:

Have you struggled getting your calls returned?  Are you able to solve your online problems or questions?  Does everything take 50% more time to do?  Do you feel that there is just a missing link in all transactions?

Expansion of the Idea:

I have noticed that small businesses have not been operating at peak efficiency since Covid 19.  I have been trying to get a window replaced at the office.  This should have been a two-week process.  Instead it has been a couple of months and I don’t know when it will get done.  This may not be fault of the glass repair business as they may be waiting on the glass company.  But it is a supply chain problem or a service issue.  They could have called me and told me that they were having delays in getting the glass and I would have been perfectly fine.  The problem is that I am left not knowing what is going on. 

Covid 19 has completely upended business and how we operate daily.  We have been forced to adapt and try things just to survive.  There have been financial implications as well as complete shutdowns of a number of industries and slowdowns for most of the rest.  There are a lot of people working from home and as a result the normal workflow has completely changed. 

Most small business owners thought that this was a 2 or 3 month issue and as a result only put patches on their operations and systems.  However, it is clear that this is a longer-term problem and our systems need to be redesigned or at a minimum need to be modified to accommodate a different way of creating a superior customer experience. 

Have you driven past a Chick Fil A in the past three months?  It almost doesn’t matter what time you drive by them.  They are always busy.  I thought that there is no way I would get into one of their drive throughs.  That was the case until my wife and I had the grandchildren for a week.  I was amazed at how quickly they ran cars through the drive through.  They could only have done that if they completely changed their procedures and systems.  While they may not be doing quite the volume that they did before Covid 19, they are completely maximizing their potential.  And they are doing it through systems and great customer service.

It is clear that our world is going to be changed for a while, and we need to plan for the future.  We need to look hard at our systems from our customers point of view.  Here are some questions to consider:

1. If we have employees working from home, have we optimized the customer interfaces?

2. Is our website streamlined for remote access?

3. Do we need to bring employees together more often because of the separation?  (This can be virtual but it needs to be intentional.)

4. Have we looked at our supply chains to determine if there are changes in vendors?

5. Do we have systems to keep customers informed?

6. Do we have systems to keep employees informed?

7. Do we need to change our physical space?

I hope you have a great Labor Day weekend. 

July 1, 2010 - Do I Like Going To Work?

Main Idea

Why did everyone like Woody on “Cheers”?  Do you get up in the morning and look forward to work?  Did you ever?  What is the difference in the productivity when you did look forward to work versus the times where you dreaded going to work? 

Expansion of Idea

All of us have a choice every day.  We can cheerfully go to work and look forward to helping our team, our customers and ourselves.  Or, we can go to work with an attitude that life sucks, work sucks and in general have a pity party for ourselves.  We have all had days where we lean towards the pity party.  And, in general, we get what we expect on those days.  The day drags on, our team members treat us like garbage, and you just hope that you do not talk to too many customers or else you will be losing a bunch of business. 

A much better approach is to look forward to the day.  How can we help others?  What can we learn?  How can we improve our business and ourselves?  What new friends can we make?  When we approach life with enthusiasm, it becomes contagious.  Our coworkers catch it.  Our customers catch it.  Work becomes a much better place to be.  When you go into a business, you can normally tell in the first 10 minutes if there is energy and enthusiasm or if life has been completely sucked out of it.  Who would you rather deal with, a business with energy or one that is depressing?  What do your customers think of your business?  Enthusiasm is one of the cornerstones to building a great business and a great life.   Without it, we will not succeed.  With it, the sky’s the limit.  PASS IT ON!!!!

Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Do I look forward to going to work? 

2. How can I bring more enthusiasm and energy to work?

3. If I am lacking enthusiasm, do I know why?  What can I do to fix it?

4. Are there coworkers that I can help?

June 16, 2010 - Are You Charging the Right Prices?

Main Idea

Have you ever picked out something to buy, taken it to the cash register, and been told by the sales clerk that the price is less than what was marked on the shelf?

Expansion of Idea

Yesterday, I went into Office Depot to pick up some thank you cards.  The cost on the shelf was $7.00.  When I went to pay for the cards, the cost was $4.50.  This says a couple of things.  First, I don’t have a clue what I should be paying for these cards.  Beyond that, the store lost $2.50 on my sale.  Third, how many sales did they miss because they marked it at $7.00 when it possibly should have been marked at $4.50.  I don’t really know what price it should have been marked at.  I liked the cards at $7.00 because it wasn’t that much money and the cards were what I was looking for.  Either way, the store was probably either losing sales or losing profits because of a system issue.  By itself this is not the big of a deal.  However, I have had this happen to me a fair amount over the last year. 

• How much money have you left on the table because of a system issue in billing customers? 

• How many customers have you turned into ex-customers because they think your prices are too high as a result of a coding error? 

• Are you maximizing your revenue by not allowing true sales to be properly charged and collected? 

• Are you doing something for free that you should be charging for? 

• Are your systems too lax and money is literally walking out the door? 

• Do you truly know what fair market value is for your products? 

• Have you compared them with your competition? 

• Do you know what your costs are and whether or not you are making money on all of your products? 

Even if you think that this is not a problem, it is a good idea to periodically check your systems.  Most of the problems I see are with major companies and they have whole teams of people checking this stuff.  Small businesses think that they don’t have the time to double check this.  But then they wonder why they are having cash flow problems.  In the last two weeks I have learned about two different small businesses near my home that have gone out of business.  I have been in both of these in the past and their customer service was very good in one business and in the other business was good.  Is it possible that they had sales that they did not collect for? 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Evaluate your sales pricing

2. Evaluate your sales systems

3. Evaluate your return policies

4. Look for unexpected events such as pricing issues.  Are there bigger systems issues?

June 3, 2010 - Are You Staying in Touch with Your Customers?

Main Idea

How close are you to your best friend?  What relationships can not be broken?  When relationships are broken, what is the real cause?

Expansion of Idea

If you think about your best friend and the years of your relationship, what is one constant in the relationship?  Generally, it is contact.  You talk once a week or exchange emails.  You understand each other and there is constant interaction.  There is probably less interaction than when you were a teenager but there is still some consistent interaction.  If you have a problem you know who to call. 

Why would your business be any different?  Do you have your business relationships set up so that you know who to call if you have a problem?   If your copier fails, you have someone who you trust to fix it.  If you have a legal issue, hopefully you have a good attorney to call.  If you have an insurance claim, you should have a good insurance agent to help you through the problem.   Do your customers view you as the go to person to help them with not just your products and services but to be a resource for their business? 

Most of us have not developed that level of relationship with our customers.  However, when we do, we are developing loyalty, referrals, and friendships.  We are also making our workplaces a better place to work.  It is not necessarily hard to develop that level of relationship.    It is extremely hard to develop the discipline to stay in touch with our customers and continue to stay in touch with them even if there is no immediate benefit. 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Call a customer for no apparent reason.

2. Thank a customer for no apparent reason.

3. Send a newspaper or magazine article that would be of interest to the customer. 

4. Show them you care!!!

May 21, 2010 - Does Your Business Create a Buzz?

Main Idea

Are there businesses or stores that you can’t stop talking about?  Do your friends get tired of hearing about them?  Do you have customers that talk about your business like that?

Expansion of Idea

Word of mouth advertising is the best way to generate new customers.  Every sales guru in the world will say the same thing.  Yet most of us do not focus on this as a way to get business.  We spend our time and resources on direct mail, cold sales calls, websites and email blasts.  We absolutely need to do these marketing steps and there are definitely benefits of these methods. 

However, generating a buzz by creating raving fans can do more for our businesses than any other marketing campaign.  For one thing, it solidifies our relationships with our customers.  That, by itself, is enough of a reason to work on this.  This buzz also provides a secondary benefit because people talk.  And when people talk and are excited about something, it catches on.  Word spreads and you start getting referrals.  Does Apple really need to promote the I-phone any more?  There is a third and largely ignored benefit of creating a company with a buzz.  It energizes your team.  When you are doing great work for customers, it can fire up your whole team.  It can transform a normal business into a place where people love to work.

The real issue for most of us is to focus on creating the buzz.  Do you show up at work trying to figure out how to create a buzz for your customers?  Are you intentional about adding value to the customer and also about improving the systems and processes in your business?  How can you take a boring business (like a CPA firm) and turn it into a business that has raving fans in the marketplace?  For my firm and for most of my clients, our long-term success is directly tied to how well we handle these issues by creating advocates for our firm. Satisfaction is not an option.  We have failed if we just satisfied our customers.    

Points to ponder:

1. Are your clients satisfied?  Or, are they raving fans?

2. What could you do to raise the service levels?

3. What could you do to add value?

4. Read the book “Raving Fans” to get some ideas on raising customer service.

May 13, 2010 - Do Mistakes Breed More Mistakes?

Main Idea

Have you ever made a mistake and when you tried to fix it you actually compounded the mistake?  Why are certain clients or projects jinxed? 

Expansion of Idea

My son and I had lunch yesterday at a new restaurant near my office.  His sandwich came without hot sauce which it was supposed to have.  We mentioned it to the waitress who told the manager.  He brought out the sauce about five minutes later.  He apologized and said that the sandwich was on the restaurant.  The food was good, the waitress was friendly and the restaurant will be out of business in 6 months.  The manager did not come back and check on the food.  In addition, he failed to take the charge off the bill.  It wasn’t a big deal but it shows the lack of follow through. 

When we make mistakes and all of us make them, it seems to me that those mistakes seem to attract more mistakes as we are trying to fix the first mistake.  Mistakes give us a chance to raise our service and instead we tend to go further in the hole.  Toyota’s service recovery with the floor mats is a great example.  If they had owned up to the problems right away, the whole issue would have gone away in a matter of days or maybe weeks.  Instead, it became a discussion for way too long and ended up costing them a lot of money. 

I recently read a book called “Integrity” by Henry Cloud.  In it, he says that one of the characteristics of successful people is that they embrace negative issues.  He talks about one executive who leans into the negative problems.  When we actually lean into problems and address them completely and quickly, our businesses can grow.  People respect us and choose to do business with firms that deal with issues.  When we dismiss the problems or do not focus on them, then our businesses will die.  Do you want to grow or do you want to die?

Points to ponder:

1. How does my firm handle problems?

2. Do I know what to do when there is a problem?

3. Do I need additional training?

4. Do I lean into problems or do I run away?

February 25, 2010 - Where is the Current Taking You?

Main Idea

What do you floating on a raft down the Mississippi River, and you sitting at your desk at work have in common?

Expansion of Idea

The answer is that for most of us, we are going to go where the current takes us.  In other words, we are going to take the path of least resistance.  It is human nature to do a task in the easiest manner possible.  We do not like to create confrontations.  We are too busy and do not have time to finish the project properly. 

Do you take the time to make sure a customer or employee is really the right fit for your company?  Do you take the time to do your due diligence when evaluating a long-term partnership?  Do you ever take the time to stop and think about what you might need to reevaluate?  Do you tell your boss that you cannot take on another duty because your existing duties are going to suffer? 

We are afraid to rock the boat and question how things are done.  We are afraid to suggest a better way.  We are afraid to tell a potential customer that we are not the right fit for their business.  We are afraid to tell a customer that he really needs something different than what he is ordering.  WE ARE AFRAID.  As a result, we give the client what they order instead of what they need.  By doing this we sell everyone short.  We meet short term sales goals but we may miss guaranteeing a long-term client by providing a solution that is truly perfect for them.  We fail to have that tough conversation with an employee because we are afraid of hurting their feelings.  In the process, we guarantee mediocrity for the employee and for the business. 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Think about where the current is taking you.

2. Are there any areas of your life where you have been riding the current instead of doing the tough job of fighting it?

3. Are you happy with where it is going?

4. Do you have the energy to change where you are going?

5. Should you change where you are going?

February 17, 2010 - Are Little Errors Driving You Crazy?

Main Idea

Do you struggle with little errors in your business?  Do you have a strong desire to do things perfectly?  How do you balance your desire for perfection with the fact that, as humans, we do make errors?

Expansion of Idea

There was a study of mountain climbing fatalities on Mount Everest from 1921 through 2006 and of the 212 fatalities, 56% of them died on the way down.  That is after they reached their goal.  Another 17% died on the way down after deciding that they could not get to the top. 

I thought about this after I had a discussion with a client recently who was struggling with his team members making little errors.  Overall, they are doing a great job and the number of errors is extremely small compared to the volume of transactions that they handle.  A lot of factors could be contributing to these errors.  Sometimes fatigue or hunger or a general lack of personal balance can create some issues. 

I personally believe that a lot of problems occur when we are not as busy.  If you go into a restaurant during a slow time, I think the odds of bad service go up considerably.  The waiters are not focused on you.  It is human nature.  My point is that we can make mistakes anytime.   During our busy times we have to be very careful.  However, we can probably control more of the mistakes during our slower times by careful focus on our goals and our jobs.  Those goals have to be that our jobs are critical to giving the customer service that our customers need and deserve.

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Brainstorm with your team about when you do make mistakes.

2. Decide if there are any systems that can be implemented to reduce the mistakes. 

3. Build awareness of potential problems during slower times by talking to your team about this.

January 6, 2010 - Do You Embrace The Problems?

Main Idea

How do you handle customers that are upset or are returning product?  Is this a chore or an opportunity to give great service?  How does your team approach these areas?

Expansion of Idea

Possibly the only thing worse than the Christmas season for retailers is the two weeks right after when they have to deal with customers who are returning items.  Personally, I would rather have a root canal than return a gift to a store right after Christmas.  People can get rather irritable.  They wait in long lines to return items, they have out of town family staying with them that stayed one day too long, and their kids are telling them that they are bored with nothing to do.  Tension can run high. 

Every business has some of these times.  In my office, we have clients who have had their tax return finalized for two months and then they get to looking at it on April 12 and they realize that they forgot to tell us about a $10,000 charitable contribution.  We are scrambling to meet the April 15 deadline and we do not want to redo a return that we thought we were finished with.  These are the times that separate normal businesses from businesses that have great customer loyalty.  When people are upset or when tensions run high, opportunities exist to raise your service levels to new highs. 

If you think about the companies that you are most loyal to, it is very possible that you may have had a problem with them sometime in the past. The way that they handled it cemented your relationship with them.  Or alternatively, when they mishandle problems, you vow to never go back to them.  The point is that these are special occasions to build deeper and more long-lasting client relationships.  The choice is yours.

Here are some things to think about:

• What are your policies on customer returns or complaints?

• Do you view these situations as a marketing opportunity?

• Have you trained your team in how to handle the problems?

• Do you learn from the mistakes to improve your existing systems?

October 28, 2009 - How Do We Give Extraordinary Customer Service?

Main Idea

How does a parent work two jobs to support their family?  What kind of fuel drives that person?  How does an exhausted employee take care of the last customer of the day as well as the first customer of the day?  Why do people volunteer to serve in the armed forces in Afghanistan?

Expansion of Idea

Extraordinary customer service can only come from people who can give of themselves.  When you are in a dark mood, afraid, worried, insecure or just in a funk, you do not have anything to give to the people you work with, your family and friends and your customers.  It is almost impossible to give great service if you aren’t properly prepared to give great service. 

The thing that fuels the mom, the dedicated employee or the soldier, is a spirit of thankfulness.  When you go into companies that give great service, you find employees that appreciate the opportunity to work, to serve and to help others.  That spirit is contagious and all of a sudden, you have a great experience.  You want to continue to do business with them.  This is an attitude that only you can fix.  Even the most thankful person in the world has to constantly work on this. 

I was reading this morning and was reminded of the need for me to stay thankful.  I thought about it and reminded myself what I am thankful for.  They are:

• My faith

• My wife and kids and the rest of my family

• My team at work, Stacey, Becky and Heather

• My clients and business relationships

You will have different things that you are thankful for.  But the point is to remind yourself what they are.   Only by focusing on your blessings can you be of service to others. 

                                            THANK YOU                                       

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• What am I thankful for?

• Express your thanks to those people.

September 9, 2009 - What are Your Performance Standards?

Main Idea

Do you do the same thing every time you perform a business function?  Does it help?  Does it hurt?  Do your employees and associates know what to do when a customer shows up at your door or on the phone?  Are your customers treated the same every time?  Does it matter who the customer is?

Expansion of Idea

I have been reading a book about Bill Walsh who was the legendary coach of the San Francisco 49’ers.  He used to get upset if a wide receiver ran a route at 12 feet and 6 inches instead of at precisely 12 feet.  The reason is that their whole offense was built on precision and timing.  That was one of the key ingredients for success.  Most of us would look at the difference of 6 inches in a passing route and we would not think it is a big deal.  But for Bill Walsh, it was the difference between being Super Bowl champions and being a normal football team.  He had performance standards for all aspects of the business, including respect for others.   He created these standards so that teamwork could be elevated to the highest level. 

Companies that operate at extremely high levels have some version of these types of standards.  They have thought through the parts of their businesses that are critical to the business.  These standards are the cornerstone of teamwork, customer service, and interpersonal communication.  All of our businesses could implement these to solidify our values and our systems. 

Everyone in my office knows the standards for answering my office phones or responding to clients.  Everyone in my office knows the standards for dealing with each other and with customers.  We have standards for completing tax returns and financial statements.  All of these are critical in timely completion of duties, quality control, and helping our clients achieve their goals. 

If you do have standards in place, it is a good time to critically evaluate the standards.  If you do not have any in place, then this is a great area to pull all of your team together and focus on creating teamwork and raising your business.

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

1. Are there any inconsistencies in our operations?

2. Do people sometimes not know what to do?

3. Do you have the teamwork that you are looking for?

4. Document the areas where you can standardize the performance. 

July 29, 2009 - Do You Have a Client Evaluation Plan?

Main Idea

Do you have clients who drag down your whole organization?  When those clients call, does everyone run for cover?  After they leave your business, is there one big gripe session?

Expansion of Idea

Several years ago, we started evaluating our clients on an ABCD basis.  A clients are generally our more profitable clients who we enjoy working with.  They tend to be bigger accounts because we are doing more with them.  B clients are solid bread and butter accounts who are good to work with but we are not quite as involved with them as with the A clients.  C clients are those who don’t always pay attention to our advice, or may get a little behind in their bills and are not always a delight to work with.  D clients are ones who suck the life out of us or, alternatively, we are not the best fit and our services don’t line up with what they really need.  We have made it a policy to get rid of the D clients as soon as practical.  We have done some of this every year. 

Even with the economy in the tank, in the past year I have resigned from several accounts.  The reason that it still makes sense is that it is consistent with my stated goal of providing value to our clients.  I am only compensated if my firm adds value to our clients.  When we stop adding value, then we need to move on.  That frees up resources so that we can improve our services to our A or B clients.  We also can use that time to help our C clients become B clients.  (Of course, if they choose not to improve, then they will be next year’s D clients.)  Our real goal is to keep helping our clients improve their businesses.  Small minorities of clients can actually do damage to our other client relationships.  That is something that I cannot afford to let happen. 

Areas to Start:

1. List your clients either individually or by type or by region. 

2. Identify the parameters of ABC & D clients

3. Assign your clients a grade

4. Fire the D clients

5. Work on a plan to help C clients become B clients and for B clients to become A clients

July 23, 2009 - Is Satisfactory Customer Service Actually Satisfactory?

Main Idea

Do you like to go to businesses where everyone just does their job?  Everyone has been in places where the employees are competent and the service is okay.  How do you feel when everything was satisfactory? 

Expansion of Idea

Satisfactory is definitely better than unsatisfactory.  But if we want to grow our businesses, satisfactory should truly be viewed as an enemy.  We need to take the extra step in serving our customers. 

This past week, I was helping my son, Mark, with a condo that he is remodeling.  I went to Lowe’s for him and purchased a refrigerator on Monday.  They were able to look up his account because he had purchased a couple of other appliances there.  The Lowe’s employee remembered Mark’s situation because Mark was under a very tight timeline to get this condo fixed up.  I asked if they could deliver it on Tuesday morning because we had a plumber coming in the afternoon.  The guy said unfortunately they could not deliver it until the afternoon.  The next morning, I showed up at Mark’s condo at 7:30 am and there was the Lowe’s delivery guy knocking on the door.  I told him I thought he was coming in the afternoon.  He said that the sales guy had asked if they could get this delivered first thing to help Mark out to make the whole project go smoother.  This blew me away.  I tried to give the Lowe’s delivery guy a tip for going out of his way and he told me that they were not allowed to accept tips.  I had quite the opposite experience with Home Depot when we were finishing our basement.  (That is a story for another week.)  The employees at Lowe’s took an extra step which makes a huge difference in customer loyalty.  I would much rather shop at Lowe’s than Home Depot.  And the only difference is a couple of extra steps that two employees took that has no impact on their pay but has a huge impact on customer perception of value.

Areas to Start:

1. Look at your customer service.  Identify one thing that could be added that might add value.

2. Focus on listening to the customers. 

3. Celebrate the employees that have taken the extra step.  New business is not far behind.

June 3, 2009 - Do You WOW Your Customers?

Main Idea

When’s the last time you visited a restaurant or store and left with a sensation of WOW? Are your interactions okay/boring/satisfying/forgettable?  What do your customers think of their interactions with you?  If you have not gotten a referral in a while, then your customers have not experienced a “WOW”.

Expansion of Idea

What is “WOW”?  Why is it important?  You can define WOW in a lot of different ways, but by definition it is not satisfaction.  It is exhilaration, delight, joy, surprise, awe, admiration.  Customers have to love your product, service, business, team members, follow through, phone support, accounting department, delivery, website and environment.  When these are performed adequately, you may or may not keep the customer’s business.  But if you are trying to get customers for life, you need to WOW them. 

My favorite example of this is in the movie “Miracle on 34th Street”.  (Yes, I have referred to this before.)  Santa Claus refers a customer to Gimble’s because Macy’s did not have the right toy.  This customer tells the toy department manager that in the past she had no use for Macy’s but because of this, she is a customer for life.  She was WOW’d.  She walked away muttering that she did not believe what happened. 

A small gesture can create a customer for life.  Some of the things that WOW customers are unexpected surprises such as thanking them for business or sending them a newspaper article that might help them.  When was the last time you called a customer after a sale to check on the receipt of the service or product?  It does not take money to take service to the next level.  It takes the right attitude, hard work, creativity and a keen desire to pay attention to the customers. 

Areas to Start:

1. Try to WOW your team.  Show them the true meaning of WOW.

2. Brainstorm with your team on how to WOW your customers.

3. Empower the team to WOW your customers.

4. Celebrate the successes!!!!!

May 27, 2009 - Is Honesty Really the Best Policy?

Main Idea

Have you ever found a great deal in an advertisement, only to find there are hidden fees involved? Or been solicited with a “too good to be true” product or service? How many times has a car dealership told you that the most expensive car is the best in the lot? Have you ever read the small print on a television commercial?

Expansion of Idea

It can be quite frustrating as a consumer to try to pick out the small pieces of fact in a sales pitch full of fabrication. What does your company do to ease the frustration of your customers? Some companies choose to outright lie with false advertising, or to omit pertinent information when trying to make a sale. Lying to a customer to get them to purchase your product or service may be a short-term gain, but will eventually ruin your reputation. Without trust, your customers will no longer be your customers.

The best way to take care of your clients is to create lasting, meaningful relationships with them. To do that, they must be able to consistently rely on you, your company, and your word. If you start the business relationship with honesty, and maintain truthfulness and transparency in all aspects of your company, you will have a customer for life. Beyond that, you will gain an advocate that will spread the word to the people they know to spend their money with you. After all, word of mouth referrals in business are the very best form of advertisement. 

As Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics, once said, “Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.” This business principle has obviously worked well for the Mary Kay Empire, as 2007 business revenue was upwards of $2 billion dollars world wide!

Areas to Start:

1. Follow through on your promises

2. Fess up if you mess up.

3. Tell the truth (no matter how bad it makes you look)

4. Ask for feedback

May 6, 2009 - Are You Listening to Your Customer's Feedback?

Main Idea

Why do college basketball teams play so much better at home versus on the road?  When you were in school, why did you get a grade on your tests?  Why do we routinely fight employee performance reviews? 

Expansion of Idea

Obtaining and using feedback is critical to growing your business. The only way we can compete is to continually improve our performance.  Asking probing questions to get into the mind of your customer will give you a better idea of the customer’s experience. Satisfied customers may still leave you for a competitor if the price is right. They may not be so quick to leave, however, if they are approached and asked what could be done differently to better serve them.

Feedback should not be viewed to solve one isolated issue. The purpose of valuable feedback is to improve your systems and improve the customer experience. Objectively review a list of some of your lost clients. Why did they leave? What might have been done differently to save the relationship? With every displeased customer, there are probably several more that haven’t spoken up. Perhaps that one unhappy person is a red flag to a faulty process that is creating many unhappy clients. Once you have received feedback, you should follow up and thank the customer. Let them know their issue is being worked on, and when they may expect resolution.

Customers will continue to provide invaluable feedback when they feel that it is going to improve their experience. Don’t wait for your competitor to ask what your client needs are!

Areas to Start:

1. Send F&F a note on the weekly business ideas.

2. Identify your feedback systems

3. Evaluate whether they could be improved.

4. Learn from your lost customers

5. Give employees feedback to keep them on the right track