Isn't that the truth

Alright, I want all of you to give something a try. Ready?

The next time someone tells you, or ponders aloud, that you’re guaranteed success if you offer the customer a great experience, I want you to say … “BULLSHIT”!

That’s right, I’m calling out that ‘great lie’. I’m also calling out every other thought-leader/expert/pundit that spreads this nonsense.

If you’re thinking that I’m a fatalist, let me share a couple of points. Firstly, I’m not a fatalist, I’m a realist. I deal with the above mentioned everyday and I know that it’s manageable. Secondly, the relevant, and more significant, point is that a great customer experience alone guarantees you nothing. The great customer experience as a ‘nice to have’ is a dodo; it is now an assumption, an expectation.

Welcome to the new economy; the economy of the self-educated consumer who sees value in simplicity but who also expects to have their cake and eat it, too.

This economy allows that consumer to do all the research about a product, service, company, or concept well before they ever speak to a sales person.  They tend to know what they want and have a pretty good idea of what we should pay for it.

Beyond that, they EXPECT to have a great purchasing experience and put the onus of providing that great experience on the company.

And you know what?

The sooner you accept this reality, the sooner you get back to the business of being in business.

And you know why?

Because each and every day the ‘great lie’ about customer experience is perpetuated. Real game-changing customer service is a Unicorn. You hear about it all the time but rarely see it. When teaching about the best customer experiences, only two or three companies come to mind which is quite pathetic, given there are millions and millions of businesses out there.

Guess what? This creates an opportunity.

If customer experience from one company to another in your industry isn’t significantly demarcated then work hard to ensure that your organization dependably, consistently, provides good customer experience.

Then, prepare for battle.  Know that your customers are armed with more knowledge about you, and about your competition, than ever before. Be prepared for the potential to spar over price.

Customer expectations today are high.  We want it all, value to most of us is in not sacrificing anything; if our businesses deliver at a high level AND give a good price then this type of buoyancy for the customer is achieved. Take heart; don’t throw in the towel just because you’ve been lied to … A LOT!  After all, people pay more money to hear stories about unicorns and leprechauns rather than the truth of the new economy.

Rather, embrace the opportunity and do it better than anyone else.  After all if there were such a thing as a triple-entendre, it would be the idea of great value, with great service, at a great price.

Happy Selling!

Fail Gracefully to Achieve Self Awareness

It’s a challenge to quantify the self-described leadership pundits who claim to offer “quick fix” advice to aspiring leaders in the form of books, blogs, speaking engagements, and seminars.

Their answer to great leadership is often: “Open the box. Add boiling water. Voila! Instant Excellence!”

But excellence isn’t instant. It cannot be so easily defined and, certainly, not so easily ascertained because leadership is a complex recipe involving diverse ingredients.

In previous posts, I have touched upon the Four Intangibles of Successful Leadership:

• Honesty – Tell and live by the truth
• Humility – Be truly humble within yourself and toward others
• Empathy – Seek first to understand and respect others’ reality
• Integrity – Consistently do the right thing, at all times, in all situations

I believe that a lack of any of the above doesn’t eliminate the ability to lead but rather lessens the ability to lead brilliantly.

To achieve the intangibles, you get no magic box nor bean and certainly no bean stalk; you are not given a treasure map. The secret to attaining these absolute and critical intangible qualities resides in “Self Awareness”.

What is it?

Most people don’t recognize their deficiencies because they are not actually self aware.  Becoming more self aware can happen in many ways and I contend that the most common path for people to gain self-awareness is to fail graciously.

Failing gracefully is the act of maximizing the learning opportunity associated with each and every failure that one experiences. It is to reach inside of an unsuccessful attempt and find the moral, the lessons, and the virtues that the event has provided and to apply that to future opportunities.

I’m the Problem and The Solution

Hubris cripples humility; foregoing the former can seem an unconquerable foe. To the hubristic, humility is a four letter word; the probability of giving credit, where due, can be a painful prospect. How do I know? I struggled with this and, at times, still do. However, I have no doubt that achieving greater humility improves my ability to lead.

I became appreciably more humble upon failing several times in my career due to excessive arrogance; in one circumstance, it nearly cost me my job.  In another, it cost me a promotion.  After a number of missed opportunities, I gained the  awareness that I was the problem and that I held the solution.

The Issue of Control

The acknowledgement of my hubris came only through failing gracefully.  The decision to alter my perspective came to me because I began to understand the importance of control.  To self actualize and achieve the intangible leadership qualities, one must first recognize that one DOES control one’s situation. I contend that, inherently, most people don’t really change. I do believe, however, that the only way to achieve deep and sustainable improvement is through genuine incorporation of the Four Intangibles.

What it all Means

There is no absolute, formulaic solution to great leadership; there isn’t one book in the world that can accurately represent the entire concept.  Leadership is a process. There is no alpha and no omega.  Great leadership is achieved through continuous learning, application, and enlightenment.  Only when you appreciate, understand, and genuinely dedicate yourself to applying the Four Intangibles will you achieve the next level of leadership.

But first….you must fail gracefully.

Amidst a firestorm, a friend and colleague of mine by the name of Erik Sover said to me, “You can’t teach give a shi*.

What a funny quip, I remember thinking to myself.  Then wondering if this bold statement could be true.  How could the world be so perverse that you can’t teach someone to care? In reality, the real question we should ask ourselves is can you teach someone to care about what you care about?  I would contend that the answer is no if their reason for caring is strictly for your benefit.

Problem Surfacing: If you are a leader or business owner this may be the genesis of a tremendous quagmire.  If your people don’t care about the same things you do, are they going to represent your company, brand, product, service, etc the way they need to be to drive maximum success?

The answer is NO!

This begs a question? Why should the employees care about what you do.  At the root of this question lies your answer.

First, managers are notorious for driving tasks and failing to relate.  “You need to do this because that is how I want it done” or “If you like your job you will do it this way.” Both hollow threats or catalysts for a revolving door.

Second, they shouldn’t. But, they do care about their success which in summation of all the supporting cast equals the organizations success. So how do we unleash their inner desire to care?

Leadership is the key to this riddle.  If I were a leader, how would I help my teams to genuinely care about the vision of the company? To deliver at the highest level every time? To make sure our customers are satisfied beyond their expectations?

I parallel it to your childhood, why did you do what you were told? Probably because you feared the consequences, not because you agreed with what you were told.  Did it motivate you in any way?

Quote Office Space “It only makes me do just enough not to get fired,” or grounded as a child.

In short, there are 2 major considerations here that both warrant lengthy discussions (most to be had at a later time)

1. Motivation – No matter how much you wish they would be, people aren’t motivated to make you successful.  They are sometimes motivated by money, power, prestige, or survival (and other ways too).  So if you think they are going to do you a favor to be nice, I would think again. (If you believe that, you probably are way over your head)

2. Power – It is critical that leaders understand that the most influential power does not come from your title, reward, or coerciveness.  It really comes from your know how, and your track record.  We will call that Knowledge and Referent Power.  In short, you cannot lead people consistently by crossing your arms, paying them more, or scaring them.  People will respond to you out of respect for your accomplishments, your passion, and your track record for success

So can you teach Give a Shi*?

The answer is yes, but you can’t teach it for the reason’s that you may give a (sh)it.

Leaders…Know that!

I pick up a smaller bottle and I walk up to the clerk, and he says “That will be $3.02.” Holding 4 singles in my hand, and not really interested in a pocketful of change, I ask him “How much for the larger bottle with tax?”  He replies with some number less than four bucks and I respond “You know what, cancel the small,  I’ll take the large!”

Having already rung up the small water the clerk looked at me and he said “I Can’t.” After a long stare, I ask him if that is really the case (What do you mean you can’t!!!), and he pointed to the register as the culprit stopping him from allowing me to spend MORE money.  He then explains to me that it is requires a manager to cancel the transaction.  Finally, he flags down a manager who voids the transaction, and I leave with the large bottle of water and without the pocketful of change. (Win-Win…almost)

As I walked away from the store, I was trying to figure out why the purchase of a bottle of water ended up being such a poor experience for me.  Then it dawned on me, the words “I Can’t” need to be removed from the language of anyone who ever deals with customers (probably should just be removed period).

Looking in hindsight at the situation, I think about how the clerk could have handled the situation.

“Oh Mr. Customer, you want the larger water, no problem, I have to go grab my manager to void the transaction since I can’t do that.

The rest is history.  When you look at the situation, that is what ended up happening, but instead of taking the “I can” approach, he told me why “He Can’t.” In the process he ruined the experience for me, and it was completely needless.

Ok, I’m sure that some people are thinking… C’mon, the clerk at an airport general store? Well the fact is, in this case, it was a general store, it was a low wage employee, and I’m pretty much a captive customer.

What about in the professional world, in your business, for your company, in your life.  Is there ever a situation where “I can’t” is the right answer to give a customer?

I’d like to offer that the answer is almost in every case NO! In almost any customer request, there is an opportunity to take that request, and whether the answer is yes or no, provide the customer a positive experience by handling it the right day.

• Note: I do believe there is a time to “Fire” a client, and if there is a point where can’t is because you don’t want to, or the relationship isn’t profitable, or the customer is just plain unreasonable, then that is what you should do.

I have another great example of this phenomenon in a professional setting.  This past year our organization made a massive investment in time, money, and resources to upgrade our enterprise and customer resource systems (ERP/CRM). (Massive meaning 7 figure lifetime investment)

After much deliberation and under the duress of being told late in one quarter that we had to sign the agreement or prices were going to go up, we chose a company called Netsuite as our provider. Netsuite is a SAAS that has a really solid platform, and although we didn’t appreciate the high pressure sales tactics,  our company was really excited about it because we really were long over due to upgrade our systems, and this product seemed to be the best fit.

During the sales process, we developed what Netsuite called a Statement of Work.  This is where in a document we outlined what each company would offer.  When we signed the contract, we also had to sign the statement of work.  At that time, we were told not to worry about exact details, we would work through that during implementation.

Funny thing, is during the implementation process, I counted at least 50 times where I was told by our senior level IT project consultants that “I can’t” help you because your request isn’t in the statement of work. (I guess that is what they meant when they said work it out)

There it is again, that darn word “Can’t!”

Whether our requests were reasonable or not, I look at situations like this and I think.  Using the word can’t does nothing but drive a dagger between the supplier and our organization.  There is a chance that the answer is no, but the word can’t still never needs to be used as a way to brush off a request.

Suggestion for a way to have handled any of the 50 aforementioned requests…

• Mr. Customer, first let me see if I understand what you are asking for (gain understanding).  Ok, now I see what you are looking for and I can understand why you feel that is important (empathy).  Here is what we are able to do (or let me find out…) to help you with the situation. (consultative approach)

Notice that in the above scenario, the supplier at no time ever commits to my request.  However, through better understanding and validating the need, the supplier has provided me a much higher level of satisfaction.

The secret to this is that anyone dealing with a client, partner, customer, etc, needs to know that we as buyers want 2 things from our suppliers.  We want to be understood and we want our needs to be validated.  This is more than anything a psychological need, but in doing so, our buying experience is a better one.

Bottom line, in the customer experience and even more so in life,  “I can’t” is eminently lazy.  It is nothing more than a way to blow off the request and/or show lack of character and competence.  As a leader of people, I would strongly recommend the words are taken out of your and your team’s vocabulary and immediately replaced with an approach that embraces those that put food on our plates.  And remember…

“The customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer.”