Archive for Marketing
Need Some Inspiration?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’re at all like me, chances are you have some favorite quotes that you return to over an over again to pick you up and get your headed in the right direction.
I remember, shortly after my board coup several years ago, the movie “Rocky Balboa” came out and in the middle of the movie, Rocky made the following comment to his son,
“It ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward–that’s how winning is done!”
I immediately put that quote up on my credenza and still look at it to this day. To me, that’s the power of a great quote. In just a few words, it can say so much.
In light of that, over the July 4th weekend, I decided to create my own favorite quote site. As a consultant and professional speaker, I’m regularly on the look out for great quotes. So, rather than horde them for myself, in the spirit of Tom Peters (when you go to the site, you’ll understand that comment), I’ve decided to make them available to everyone.
So, rather than bore you with more content, let me encourage you to go to the site and read some great inspirational business-oriented quotes. I think you’ll enjoy them! Oh, and the URL is pretty easy to remember
Note: I just created the site Saturday evening so some of the topics only have a few quotes, while others have quite a few. But over time, the approximately 400 quotes will grow. The site is still under 48 hours old. Just bookmark it and return to it whenever you either need some inspiration or you’re putting together a talk or training session and need the perfect quote to make the perfect point.
To your accelerated success!
Alex Bogusky Is Wrong! Leaders Should Learn More From Failure
Posted by: | CommentsIn a video post on the Fast Company site, Alex Bogusky, co-chair of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, 
argues that the classic business mantra of learning from failure is just plain wrong. In his world (and at his company), he doesn’t debrief failure or lost accounts or why a campaign isn’t working (which I find hard to believe). Rather he wants to focus on successes not failure because he thinks that learning from failure creates a culture of fear.
Moreover, he states that when his company loses a bid or contract, he simple throws away any vestige of that client in their offices and moves on as if that client or bid never existed. In his world, they’ve never lost a bid because if they didn’t get the contract then it isn’t a client they would have wanted to work with.
Besides the fact that I find it hard to believe that his company actually works this way (like they’ve never fired someone for underperforming or they only evaluate based on successes), I find it just bad advice. The reality is that most businesses need to do more learning from failure–not less.
As a consultant, I spend my life walking into companies where problems exist (and they exist in every company, including Bogusky’s). And I have yet to find any company that is really great at evaluation and learning from failure. Most business leaders are so busy trying to stay on top of all their work, that they rarely ever take time to stop and learn from their failures/missed opportunities/mistakes etc. Therefore, they tend to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. As the saying goes (slightly altered),
“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Now, if a leader or manager is a blamer (i.e. a bad leader or manager) then that is a problem–but not with the idea of learning from failure. Rather it’s a failure of the leader/manager to carry out their job well. Likewise, if they’re creating a culture of fear vs. trust, then that’s a leadership issue, not an evaluation problem.
Great leader/managers know that learning from the past, both positive and negative, is essential to improving and optimizing the future. They understand that if there’s a problem, it’s not a person who’s the problem, it’s the system. And the only way to fix the system is to debrief and make sure that they and their team have learned from what happened so that the same problem isn’t repeated. No learning = ongoing problem.
So don’t listen to Alex on this one. Increase your learning from failure (and success). Invest more time in evaluating what happened so that you can both eliminate/minimize any problems and optimize/leverage any successes. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and. And in most cases, there’s not enough learning going on. So I’d argue that you need to increase your learnings so you can increase your successes!
To your accelerated success!
P.S. If you want to know the five questions you should always ask when evaluating, click here>>
Is It Time for a Makeover for Your Business (A Lesson from BusinessWeek)
Posted by: | CommentsWhen was the last time you did a website makeover? Or changed the interior design of your workspace/office/store? Or more importantly, changed the way you do business? Or changed the way you market what you offer? Or even changed what you offer?
Most leaders underestimate the power of a makeover–and the speed at which they ought to be undertaken these days. It’s not unusual for someone to be surfing the web these days and think, “Wow! That site looks so … 2009,” and we’re only four months into 2010 (as of the writing of this post).
Next week (starting April 26th) marks the public makeover of a business icon–BusinessWeek (which was bought by Bloomberg back on December 1, 2009). They’ve even created a section on their website describing all the changes.
http://inside.businessweek.com/
Now, I haven’t seen the new remade version, but I do love what they’ve done to prep readers about the makeover. So, here are four lessons worth learning from them about creating a makeover.
1. Teaser campaigns still work. The Bloomberg team has done a great job of promoting the change. If you’re a reader of BusinessWeek, then you know they’ve been talking about “change is coming,” for awhile. And while it’s nothing more than an old school teaser campaign–it’s working. I’ve been reading BusinessWeek for years–and I haven’t been this interested/excited in years.
2. Use video to tell the story of the change. If you go to their website, you’ll see a series of videos from the editor describing the change. Vision casting is usually done best with video (actually it’s best done live, but that’s not an option here). So having Josh Tyrangiel share his vision that, “We take people on journeys … and introduce them to concepts and people that will impact their lives for years, even decades …” was the right decision.
3. Use powerful, short image building phrases to describe the changes. Rather than impress us with their vast vocabulary skills, the design team has done a great job of picking up key phrases we can all understand immediately.
* Reinvented. Redesigned. Reimagined (the tagline for the change)
* More Clarity. More Energy. More Impact (each with four short sub-points defining the changes)
4. Remember that “Look and Feel”/Design matters. While story will always be first and foremost (and should be for a magazine), the Bloomberg team understands that the look and feel of a site or magazine (or whatever you’re producing for the public) does matter. The vast majority of people bring their eyes with them. And whether they want to admit it or not, within seconds, they’ve “judged the book by its cover.” Within seconds they’ve either decided, “culture current” or “old school,” or …
So, as you look at what you and your company are producing and offering, are you in need of a makeover? Is your website or are your other marketing materials in need of a makeover? Is your business model in need of a makeover?
If so, then you may want to take a page from the Bloomberg BusinessWeek playbook in order to make sure that your makeover works for you and your purposes.
To your accelerated success!
P.S. When was the last time your website had a new design. If it’s been more than 12 months, chances are it’s time for a face lift. One of the reasons I’m such a huge fan of WordPress (besides the fact it’s free and that it’s easy to edit) is that WordPress separates out the content and the theme/skin/template. So with one click of a button, you can change the whole “look and feel” of a site without having to change any of the content. In around five seconds you can have a whole new look. Then, you can update the content and layout when you have time.
New Free Report on Fast Growth Released Today!
Posted by: | CommentsWant to Know How You Can Immediately Begin to Grow Your Business Faster Than You Ever Have Before—While Increasing Your Ability to Lead It More Effectively?
If so, you’ll want to immediately get your hands on the new free report I just released today entitled, “The Seven Secrets of Fast Growth Companies.”
Inside it you’ll discover,
• The number one differentiator between slow and fast growth companies
• The two key elements you need to use to create a fast growth culture
• A simple practice that can radically reduce the time it takes to implement anything
• A lesson from a Harvard professor that can change the way you think forever about your products and services
• A top team practice that can change any meeting you run—and make it more effective.
• The one metric you need to use before choosing any growth idea if you want to be an accelerated growth company
• How you can create a business that’ll scale fast
• How to avoid letting your market think you’re just like “everyone else.”
• How you can create a business that works 24/7, especially when you’re not around.
• And the number one mistake that most CEOs of small and medium-sized make
To get your copy immediately, just fill in the form in the right hand column entitled, “Interested in the 7 Secrets of Fast Growth Companies?” and then click the submit button, “Send it to me now!”
Then after you read it, post your comments below!
Five Lessons from Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade
Posted by: | CommentsIf you haven’t seen the article yet, Fortune Magazine has declared Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade. In their own words,
How’s this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley.
Not a bad story, is it? 
Furthermore, at the start of the decade, Apple had a market cap of “just” $5B. It now hovers around $170B (slightly larger than Google). What that means is that despite the market crashes of the dot.com boom and last year, if you had invested $1,000 in Apple in 2000, your investment would now be worth over $7500 (I think most of us would gladly accept that). And finally, Jobs has been instrumental in changing four completely different industries–computers, music, media and mobile phones—three of those in the past decade.
Any way you add it up, the past 33 years have been a pretty incredible run for Steve Jobs—and we’ve all benefitted—even if you’re a PC. But the question for you and me is, “What can we learn from him that can make a difference in our businesses?” Here are my top five lessons.
1. Improve on the next new thing. What’s fascinating about Jobs and Apple is that Apple has become the symbol for innovation. However, Apple rarely creates anything entirely new. In fact, one of Steve Jobs’ comments on this subject years ago was, “We look for the next new thing and then make it better.” In other words, Apple didn’t invent the mp3 player, they just made it better. They didn’t invent the cell phone, they just made it better. They look for trends they think are going to be big—and then figure out how to make that “new thing” infinitely better.
So, in your realm, what are the next new things or new trends you’re observing in your market space? How can you create a better product and/or service that can improve on the current offerings in that market space?
2. Change before you have to. As a long standing card carrying Mac Addict, one of my favorite sites is MacRumors. And one of my favorite parts of the site is the buyer’s guide which tracks the time between new iterations of a product (and let’s you know where they are in cycle). Even when Apple is making good money, they keep introducing new models or discontinuing old models so that none of their competitors can catch up (i.e. they change before they have to).
I’ll never forget the day Steve Jobs was talking about the iPod mini and how it was the most successful launch they had ever had up to that point in time. And then he said, “And that’s why today we’re killing the iPod mini … (dramatic pause) … and introducing the iPod nano!” Who else would have killed a cash cow right in the middle of a growth cycle? Only Steve and crew!
So, what products and/or services have you been riding for too long? Do you need to revamp or upgrade any of them? Do you need to discontinue any of them? And/or what new thing do you have in the pipeline?
3. Eliminate what ticks people off. The supposed story of the iPhone is that a bunch of Apple execs were at a meeting when they were all complaining, tangentially, about their cell phones. In the midst of that discussion someone said, “We’re all a bunch of bright people. We should be able to do this better.” Or if you had ever tried to download an app several years ago and load it on a Palm device, you know it was a major pain (it ticked people off). What Apple did with the App store was/is nothing short of remarkable. Or if you had ever tried to download music and put it on your mp3 player pre-iPod, you know it was a major pain. The iPod and iTunes store combo simply eliminated that piece of the puzzle that just ticked people off.
So, what are the issues that tick off the people in your market space? Find the key ones and design a simple solution to solve that problem.
4. Repurpose what you can. If you haven’t been in the Apple fold, you could easily miss this, but Apple is great about repurposing ideas and technology. For example, back in the 90’s, if you wanted to see a movie trailer on the internet, the best place was to go to the Apple site, which highlighted movie trailers and their product Quicktime. But that experience and built in infrastructure for movies made streaming music for the iTunes store infinitely easier. And the experience of the iTunes store made creating the App store for the iPhone infinitely easier. Or the Safari browser for the Mac, made it infinitely easier to create a great web experience on the iPhone (which was night and day ahead of Palm and Blackberry when it debuted). Or the experience with NeXT, led to Mac OS X. On and on you could go. The, “Apple Way,” is not just to create something new, but to repurpose what they already know into a different arena.
So what do you know or have or do that could be repurposed to create a new product or service for your market?
5. Think big and small at the same time. Some leaders are just big picture people. Others are just small picture people. However, what makes Steve so powerful is that he’s both. Steve gets it that executives need to make big picture, bold strategic moves (like canceling several product lines in ‘97 and focusing on just four products). However, he’s also famous for being nit picky and focused on the very intricate details of the business–especially when it comes to design issues and market messaging. As he said to Ken Segall (who used to be at Chiat/Day, the ad agency) on day, “The third word in the fourth paragraph isn’t right. You might like to think about that one.”
Looking back on your history, are you more of a big picture person? Or a small picture kind of person? Whichever one you are, how could you add the other to your wheelhouse and become more versatile ?
So, there you have it, “Five Lessons from Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade.” The only question remaining is, “What are you going to do in the next few moments in response to it?”
To your accelerated success!
Steve Jobs’ Presentation Secrets
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve ever watched Steve Jobs do a product launch, you know you’ve watched a master communicator. And if you’ve ever wondered if you could ever communicate as effectively as Steve, there’s good news for you. Business Week Small Biz columnist, Carmine Gallo, has just published a book on “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs.” And BW, has just run a photo gallery outlining the 15 major lessons from the book.
The ones I found most interesting and can probably help you the most were as follows.
- Plan in Analog – In other words, before Steve and his team move to Keynote (the Mac version of Powerpoint) and other digital options, he starts by creating/writing a storyboard, similar to a movie. And just like any good story teller, he builds anticipation and plans for surprises. When was the last time you did that?
- Focus on Benefits – Even though Steve is usually revealing updates to products, he doesn’t focus on the product. Instead, he focuses his comments on the benefits that come from using that product. Similar to the old adage, “No one needs a drill, everyone needs holes,” Steve keeps drilling down on benefits, as you can see in the following image for why developers should create Apps for the iPhone.
- Create Twitter Friendly Headlines - I love this one. If you look at the number of words on a typical PPT slide, vs. a Jobs’ slide, it’s almost humorous. Steve is notorious for minimalism. So, for example, when he introduced the MacBook Air, the title slide simply said, “World’s thinnest notebook.” Can you position your products with just three to five words?
- Create Visual Slides – I actually watched the webcast when Steve was introducing the MacBook Air and I can remember this slide. The image of a laptop inside an envelope was powerful. Not much more needed to be said. Note also how uncluttered the image is. Take a look at your last Powerpoint presentation. How many words were on your average slide?
- Use Props – Another common feature of most of Jobs’ presentations is that he always does some kind of demonstration. Frequently he sits down at his Mac and then you watch the screen to see in real time something that he’s doing. It might be to demonstrate the ease of creating a movie in iMovie or retrieving a lost file in Time Machine or playing around with new cool app on the iPhone. What can you use besides your voice and PPT slides?
- Practice a Lot – This is one of my favorites. I’m forever telling speakers they need to practice more before they get up to speak. While Steve’s presentations may come off very relaxed and unrehearsed, they’re anything but. He prepares for days for every moment of the presentation. Now, while you may not have days, you should at least run through your talk two or three times before presenting it.
Well, those were my favorite six. But you can see the whole presentation at BW by clicking here. However, don’t forget to print this list of six things out and use it the next time you have to give a presentation. Taking your cues from Steve Jobs isn’t a bad model to follow!
To your accelerated success!
Is Perfection Getting in Your Way?
Posted by: | CommentsI was at a conference this past week when one of the speakers, a copywriter by the name of Ray Edwards, nailed me–in a positive way.
The way he got to me was by asking two simple questions. Showing a picture of a MacDonald’s hamburger, he asked,
1. How would you describe the quality of a MacDonald’s hamburger?
2. Who sells the most hamburgers in the world?
Point made. Point received.
I don’t know about you, but I often get stuck by trying to make something “perfect.” I have three books, several new talks, and a couple of projects all stuck in varying states of completion–not because I can’t get them done–but because I want to make them PERFECT!
In the literary world, it’s the equivalent of wanting to write, “The Next Great American Novel.” It’s the desire to want to write something that “no one else has written.” Or to say something so compelling that newswires will want to pick it up, blogs will want to make it viral, TV reporters will want to call for interviews, and schools of business will want to make it required reading (of course, by this point, you’ve already figured out–this guy lacks reality–exactly!).
It’s this longing to do something perfect, to do something that causes people to take notice, that tends to hinder so many of us. When, in reality, we ought to set our sights a little lower. While I may want to write the “ultimate” guide to growing a business, there is no such ultimate book to be written.
In the mean time, while I’m waiting to create the perfect/ultimate book, others are publishing their books and making money–and the people I could be helping out are missing out.
Likewise, in your world, chances are (if you’ve been infected with the disease of perfectionism), you’re doing something similar. You have projects on hold, products that haven’t been launched, services that haven’t gone public, talks and letters that haven’t been written, and presentations that haven’t seen the light of day, etc. Not because you can’t get them done, but because you’re waiting until the thing you’re working on is … well, perfect.
But in a business environment, perfection is not the goal–it’s an impediment. In fact, when Ray was speaking I wrote in my notes, “Perfection > leads to procrastination > which leads to poverty.”
While you or I may want to create the perfect burger (metaphorically), the reality is that someone else (MacDonalds, in this case), is making a ton of money while we’re still in the design phase.
So, if your goal is making money, or influencing others, or meeting a critical need or want for your target market, then you’ll want to revisit this MacDonald’s hamburger metaphor again and again. Make sure you beat down the perfection monster. And whatever you do, make sure you get what you’re working on out in the world. As I’ve said for years,
“Excellence is not perfection. Excellence is doing the best you can with what you’ve got in the amount of time you’ve got to get it done.”
So what projects have you been holding off on or delaying because of perfectionism? And how much more money (or whatever metric your project works with) could you be making if you stopped waiting for perfection and just got that thing out in the marketplace?
To your accelerated success!
Give Away Your Best Ideas
Posted by: | CommentsIf you want to succeed quickly, especially in the information/ professional services arena, you’ll want to practice this idea. However, you can also apply this principle to your leadership or parenting or networking, etc.
Again, just like yesterday, I want to acknowledge Eben Pagan for sharing this concept. The metaphor he uses to explain it is perfect. Let’s say you decide to cut a CD and you want to release a song to radio stations across the US to drive sales of your album. Which conversation are you going to have with your team.
2. “Which of these twelve tracks is our best?”
Obviously the second. You always release the song (or in our case, idea), which you think has the greatest likelihood of becoming a hit. Your goal is that they’ll love the song so much that they’ll want to buy the CD. It’s not the worst song that you want to release for free but the best.
Now, if you’re like most people, you’re probably thinking, “But if I give them my best ideas for free, why would they want to buy my product/service?” Answer, the same reason why you buy the CD. The song entices you/teases you to buy the whole. And when you buy your CD, are you ticked off that the musician includes the song you hear for free on the radio? Of course not. You’d be disappointed if they didn’t!
The reality is that most people don’t get what we say the first time we say it. They may think they do, but they don’t. And even if they do, they forget. I may tell a leader,
“As a leader, you need to cast vision every day in every communication you send out–that means every conversation, every letter, every memo, every message. You need to constantly tell your people, ‘This is who we are. This is where we’re going. This is what we’re becoming. This is why we do what we do. Etc’ As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to cast vision and you virtually can’t overdo it. So just cast vision every day in every way and your leadership capacity will rise.”
That is a rock solid idea. Most leaders will acknowledge it. Some will actually do it . . . for a couple of days. But virtually every leader I’ve ever worked with needs to be reminded of that idea over and over again.
In other words, if you’re afraid of giving away your best ideas for free, don’t be. Give them away. Demonstrate your value. Allow people to see your expertise. And you’ll start attracting more and more
people to you.
So, what are your best ideas? Take your area of expertise and make a list of your best ideas for doing something or solving something? Think through the most pressing needs of the people you’re trying to
help. Then take your best idea for solving their most pressing problem and bingo–you’ve got a hit!!!
Don’t wait until tomorrow to do this. Take out a piece of paper right now and make two columns. On the left side, list your best ideas. On the right, list your prospects and/or customers’ most pressing needs/ problems. Then link the best ideas with their most pressing problems and start giving those best ideas away!
To your accelerated success!
How to Connect and Motivate More People to Listen
Posted by: | CommentsDo you ever feel, when writing a letter or giving a speech, that you’re just not connecting well to most of the people in your audience? Or ever feel stuck when trying to write copy for a sales letter? If you have, I’ve got some great advice that will make any of those situations infinitely better.
I was listening to a free audio segment by Eben Pagan as he was promoting his new product launch. During that interview, another internet marketer, Frank Kern, asked him to share one of the best ideas from his new product. To which Eben said something like, “Sure, it’s the idea of using frameworks when structuring a letter or having a conversation.”
He then went on to say that he got this first framework from David Kolb of Harvard and it’s related to the four different learning styles people have. However, before he shared the four styles, he made two comments that I think are incredibly valuable and worth remembering.
2. Which means that most people aren’t effectively communicating with the majority of people when they teach (or write or communicate) since they’re not using all four styles.
Both of those insights are dead on! He then went on to share the four different learning styles
2. The What learning style – This kind of person likes to hear
content, theories, systems, history, etc.
3. The How learning style – This kind of person wants to hear the
practical steps of how to actually do the thing.
4. The What If learning style – This kind of person needs to know how to make this happen RICHT NOW and what the implications of that will be.
That’s brilliant! It’s such a simple outline and easy framework to use. For example, using this very subject, you’ve already seen the “WHY”. The intro asked you a couple of questions, plus the two points about communicating in your own style means that you’re not connecting with most people if you don’t use these four styles.
The WHAT, was the content related to David Kolb and the four learning styles. I’m a WHAT learner and you can see that clearly, for example, after relating the four styles I said, “That’s brilliant.”
However, we haven’t gotten to the HOW yet so some of you aren’t happy yet. The solution is to offer some practical how to’s. For example, I could say, “If you want to increase your ability to connect with all four styles, before you write a single word of your letter, speech or sales copy, write out these four words at the top of your paper, ‘Why? What? How? and What if?’ Then, answer them. Never ever communicate with a group of people without answering all four questions.”
Finally, for the WHAT IF people, I might say, “What I want you to do RIGHT NOW, before you move on to the next thing on your to do list is to make a list of the people you work with and what you think their primary learning style is. Then, the next time you talk with them today, communicate in that style and see what happens. Don’t wait until you have to write a letter or give a speech. Do it right now! And watch the difference.”
In other words, by covering all four styles, you’ll automatically increase the percentage of people who will actually hear what you’re saying in the way that they want to hear it. What a radical idea! So go do it NOW!
To your accelerated growth!
Shame on You Home Depot!
Posted by: Bruce Johnson | Comments (6)Now, before I explain the title of this post, let me give you some background. Unlike a lot of people, I’m not a home fix-it kind of guy. My father, who was a college professor, earned his way through college as a carpenter and is incredibly skilled in carpentry and home repair.
My brother is a programmer who’s picked up our father’s skill set at starting (and occasionally completing :-) home projects. And even my wife, who’s a nurse, has become a home fix-it kind of person. In fact, my father finally gave up a few years ago trying to give me tools for Christmas–and now gives them to my wife. So, my confession, up front, is that I’m not a Home Depot kind of guy.
That said, last Thursday, my father sent me a list of things he needed from Home Depot to complete the installation of a new sliding glass door at my home. Not necessarily excited by the task, I got in my car and drove over to the local Home Depot, with my list in tow, and entered “The Unfamiliar Zone.”
I call it that because it’s all out of my comfort zone. And in my previous journeys to Home Depot, I’ve rarely met anyone who’s been exceptionally helpful. Despite advertising to the contrary, most of the time I ask a question of someone at Home Depot, they point down the concrete pathway and says, “I think that’s on aisle … about halfway down on your right.” Thanks!
However, last Thursday, that all changed. As I walked into Home Depot (at the lumber entrance), a Home Depot employee was walking towards me and, probably noticing my pained look, asked, “Can I help you?” To which I quickly replied, “Absolutely!”
He asked, “What do you need help with?” I pulled out the list my father had sent me by email and said, “My father sent me a list of items he needs to complete the installation of our new sliding glass door.”
He (his name is Shadi–picture below) said, “Can I see the list?” “Absolutely!” As soon as he saw what I needed (chair rail, floor base and trim) he took hold of my cart (one of the lumber ones) and started walking me toward the correct area of the store. As we were walking Shadi asked, “Do you know the sizes of each of these? And what kind of trim or chair rail you need?” Etc.
Fortunately, I had taken measurements and photos with my iPhone so I could show someone what I needed (since I knew I didn’t have the right vocabulary). He said, “Perfect. I know exactly what you need.”
And then Shadi did something wonderful, he literally walked me to each of the three places where I needed to get what was on the list, pulled out what I needed out, cut the wood into the exact lengths I needed, and even helped me save some money. It was truly wonderful. In fact, I even said, “This is like having a personal shopper!”
So, why did I title this post, “Shame on You Home Depot!”?
Because when we were done and I had shared with Shadi how much I really appreciated everything he had done for me (and he did it rather quickly, by the way), I asked, “So, Shadi, do you have a comment card I can fill out on you about how terrific your service was?” He could only reply, “No!”
I continued, “Well, is there a manager I can talk with?” He politely said, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing. It was my pleasure.” As I walked to the front of the store, I kept looking for a manager to share my story with–and couldn’t find one. I asked the cashier, “Do you have any comment cards I can fill out?” She said, “No!” I said, ‘Really?“ And she said, “The only thing we have is a computer way down at the other end that you can log onto and fill something out.” End of story. Fortunately, Shadi had walked to the front of the store by then so I could grab a photo of him with my iPhone (which you can see below).
But shame on Home Depot for not making it easy for someone like me to brag on one of their employees! They should be collecting these stories and sharing them in every location all the time. Great customer service doesn’t just happen. You have to cast vision about it. And nothing speaks louder than a compliment from a customer about a great service experience.
So, how about you? Do you have a system in place that makes it easy to capture customer testimonies? Do you use multiple capture methods? Do you have some Shadi’s that you need to lift up? Do you regularly cast vision about great customer service? Etc.
At the end of the day, you and I don’t know Home Depot by their executive team. We know Home Depot (and every other business) based on the Shadi’s of the world–the people we actually interact with. And the same goes for you and your company. So who are the “Shadi’s” of your company? And how are you going to make heroes out of them today?
To your accelerated success!