We’ve been talking about how you create a valuable customer experience – very much like eating an elephant – one bite at a time.  Again, you don’t do it all at once.

Finally, let’s talk about Bite #3  –  Show Me The Money.

Okay, really, who could forget Tom Cruise screaming into the phone “Show me the money” to Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire.

But, does anyone remember what prompts that memorable response?  Jerry asks, “What can I do for you?”

And that’s how it starts….one little question.

So, now that we’ve Hired the Right People, Taught Them How To Fish, we simply ask the question (”What can we do for you?”) and follow-through.  How hard can that be?

Creating a loyal customer is about engaging them in the business at hand.  You are partners in success.  Your are partners in growth.  You are partners in problem solving.  You are partners in communication.  And you are partners in commitment.  Make it happen.  Every day.

As Lisa Ford, the creator of “How to Give Exceptional Customer Service,” the #1 selling business
video series in the U.S. for over 3 years and renowned speaker on Customer Service states, “The difference must show up in the service experience.”  She goes on to state, “Make certain you hire smart to start. Revamp your training efforts so customer service is being taught and empowerment is a part of the company’s culture. Create service standards as a part of the process. I have a bias that without standards everything is left to chance.”

No one likes to be let down.  No one likes to disappoint someone else.  So, now that we’ve asked the question, we must follow-through in honoring our commitment to our partners in success.  Unfortunately, sometimes, things get in our way.  How we handle that obstacle makes a difference.  Perhaps we have processes that need improved, perhaps we have policies that are outdated, perhaps we need additional skills, knowledge and training ourselves.

Identifying those needs and taking action to address them allows us to meet our commitments and “Show Them The Money”.  Remember, we’re the one’s asking the question.  Be prepared for the answer.

M

Posted under Business & Process Innovation, Customers, Employees, General

We started last week talking about how you create a valuable customer experience – very much like eating an elephant – one bite at a time.  Again, you don’t do it all at once.

So, let’s talk about Bite #2  –  Teach Me To Fish.

Make sure your Learning and Development areas are providing the best Customer Service training available.  Spend the money and spend the time.  It’s worth it.  It’s worth it more in this area, than in almost any other.  Teach everyone to fish…

Create certifications around Customer Service.  Role Play around Customer Service.  Institute active listening sessions to catch someone doing something right – representing the kind of approach you value.  Celebrate successful customer service practices.  Hold them up – Hold them up high!  Make that your new gold standard.

The largest part of teaching me to fish is also teaching how to listen.  Each one of us has an opportunity to be a better listener.  And in doing so, we hear the real needs of our customers.  Engaging our customer in how to best meet those needs creates superior customer experiences.

As Kristin Anderson and Ron Zemke call out in Knock Your Socks Off Customer Service,  “As far as customers are concerned you are the company. This is not a burden, but the core of your job. You hold in your hands the power to keep customers coming back — perhaps even to make or break the company.”

Now that we’ve Hired the Right People and we’ve Taught Them To Fish, what’s next?  That’s for next week…..see you then!

M

Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership

You know how the saying goes right?  “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.”  The same goes for creating valuable customer experiences.  You don’t do it all at once.  Impossible.

But what bite do you take first?

#1.  Hire the Right People! Another old saying…”Hire for attitude, not just aptitude” or “Hire for attitude, train for skill“.   (Side note – great article by Peter Carbonara in Fast Company)

We’re working with Walker Information on creating a stronger Customer Loyalty program.  One of the first things we are choosing to focus on is our number one customer – our employees.  If we don’t have engaged employees, why would our customers want to engage with us?

Employee Recognition is front and center for a successful Customer Loyalty program.  From our highest leader, we walk the talk and work to create a recognition environment everyday.  In creating and maintaining a strong Recognition culture, Gallup’s research shows that for employees to feel valued and committed to a workplace, they need to receive some form of recognition every seven days… Something to think about.

As employees feel valued and engaged, the customer’s experience improves and the business performance is enhanced.  How much it is enhanced is up to you.

What are some of the ways you can think of to recognize your employees?  Are you doing it every seven days?  Put it on your calendar.  Make it a priority.  It makes a difference.

Bite #2, next week….

M

Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership

Selling a house is like an on-going Customer Experience Survey.  I don’t necessarily want to call it a “Loyalty” survey…but as I write this I think, perhaps I could call it that as well.  In essence a Customer Loyalty survey is asking a basic question, “Would you recommend this company (insert house) to others (insert friends)?”

So, at its base level, recommendation is a good thing, even when selling a house.  Only, of course, if the original customer doesn’t plan on buying “my” house is a recommendation the next best thing.

But getting a house ready has all of the elements of a business creating a strategic advantage in the marketplace for as many viable customers as possible.  They, the customer, want to see a well manicured lawn, an uncluttered appearance outside and in.  They want to walk in the door and feel at home – comfortable…kick your shoes off and stay awhile.  They want to be able to see themselves creating a home inside these four walls.

I’ve even created a little flyer that sits on the kitchen island that thanks people for taking the time to visit.  And as for feedback, my realtor has a website where we can gather input from all of the customers who’ve seen the house.

As for Avnet, we work with a great organization – Walker Information.  Very much like selling a house, except on a much larger scale, we survey our customers to find out what they are thinking and what they are saying.  As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know about it, how can you be expected to fix it?”

We prepare our business strategies, execute our plans, ask for feedback, make adjustments, and re-create our business strategies so we can better meet the needs of our business partners.  Then we do it all over again.  Only by creating that collaborative environment can both parties win.  We need open and honest dialogue on how to improve and what opportunities exist for growth.

Without this dialogue, we would struggle to excel in our given environments – house or business.

Next week I’ll be starting a series on how we work with Walker Information to create just such an environment for constant improvement.  In the meantime, wish me luck on selling my house!

Sold!

M

Posted under Customers, Value Proposition

I’m not sure if you’re old enough to remember those great old movies that had simple plot lines and were guaranteed to have a happy ending, but With Six You Get Eggroll is one of those movies from the 60’s….1968 to be exact.  Doris Day’s last feature film and George Carlin’s first.  Go figure!

There was a formula back then for successful happy-ending-feel-good movies.  Most of those movies involved such big names as Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, etc.  There are simply too many to name and my blog really shouldn’t be that long!  When you have the time, you simply must check out:  Pillow Talk, That Touch of Mink, Yours, Mine and Ours.  Classic, Timeless….Simply Amazing.  No way to walk away without a smile on your face.

They worked because they knew the audience, then and now.  They did their homework to see what was needed, what was missing and how to best meet that need.  A formula if you will.  It works for movies, but does it work for other businesses?  Perhaps….in the form of “4+2 = Sustained Business Success”.

In studying 160 companies, Harvard Business School professor Nitin Nohria along with William Joyce and Bruce Roberson looked for common management practices that promote success.  They discovered business basics matter.

“We learned, for example, that it doesn’t really matter if you implement ERP software or a CRM system; it matters very much, though, that whatever technology you choose to implement you execute it flawlessly. Similarly, it matters little whether you centralize or decentralize your business as long as you pay attention to simplifying the way your organization is structured.”

Check out “4+2 = Sustained Business Success” and tell me what you think.  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3578.html

M

Posted under Business & Process Innovation, Customers, Employees, General, Leadership