Experience v. Explanation

How many times have we been victim of or the perpetrator of explaining rather than creating the forum for an experience?  The answer is - far too many!  When we remember that people (we) like to buy but don't like to be sold, it's easier to halt the boring fact-filled presentations and actually listen and learn what a buyer (or we) expect from a relationship.

Be Your Best Self

We are all asked to adapt and embrace change - sometimes more frequently than we are willing to accept.  However, when we are part of a large organization and change is thrust upon us, we need to remember that all of our actions impact our customers.  Though our competence with new systems may be minimal, our sincerity in working through the changes on their behalf will be the stories positively retold.

When I react as I'd like to be treated or know (from asking) that a customer would like to be treated, I am able to put my best self forward.

Amazing Postal Service

As expected, my 4:25 p.m. Southwest flight arrived early.  Traffic moved smoothly.  For those who don't procrastinate, it's worth mentioning that today is the deadline for filing 2010 U.S. Income Tax Returns.  Our long-time CPA had slogged through the paperwork we provided and our family returns were waiting for signatures, money and postage.  I completed all of the necessary steps and arrived at my neighborhood Post Office at their 5:30 p.m. closing time.  An accommodating supervisor spared me the 20 minute self-serve ordeal and allowed me to be their last customer of the day.  The customer service representative at the window handled my transaction in 2 minutes or less and provided a receipt that our 5 returns were posted to their various destinations.

There are wonderfully helpful people everywhere.  When we receive amazing service, one way to pay it forward is to share the experience.

Rules to Break & Laws to Follow by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, PhD

In their instructive book,  Rules to Break & Laws to Follow – How Your Business Can Beat the Crisis of Short-Termism,  Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, PhD share their helpful research.

Many predictions are based upon totally false assumptions – use of cars worldwide would be limited to number of chauffeurs; telephones limited by human operators making connections – blinded by current business model

Rules to Break:

1. Best measure of success is current sales and profit
2. With right sales and marketing effort, you can always get more customers
3. Company value is created by offering differentiated products and services

12 Laws to Follow:

1. Long-term value is as important as current sales and profit. (Examine most resented fees. A $100 customer who has been with the company for 10 years has generated $12,000 in revenue and is likely to generate twice that much if loyal for another 20 years.)
2. Create the most possible value from the customers and prospects available to you. (Not all associates sell the organizations whole range of products to their assigned customer.)
3. Earn and keep the trust of your customers. (Treat the customer the way you would want to be treated.)
4. Treat each customer with the fairness you would want if you were that customer. (Respect customer’s interest; don’t just sell the product being promoted.)
5. To earn your customers’ trust, first earn your employees’ trust.
6. With no customer equity you will have no future earnings. (Create a good enough experience that customers keep buying.)
7. Culture will drive value or drag value. (Front-line employee is the company to the customer. Culture is what employees do when no one is looking.)
8. If being fair to customers conflicts with company’s financial goals, fix the business model.
9. Always use technology to create more trust. (Use technology to improve the customer’s life and you’ll probably sell more products.)
10. Customers may forgive honest mistakes but they will never forgive dishonesty. (Customer trust can be destroyed all at once or with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence.)
11. Success requires constant innovation. (Encourage creativity.)
12. Dissent and diversity drive creativity and innovation. (A group of only experts tend not to make best decisions because they are less likely to investigate alternatives. Don’t succumb to groupthink.)