Archive for Remarkability
Three Oscar Lessons for Your Annual Staff Celebration
Posted by: | CommentsFar too often, annual staff celebrations are left to the last minute or simply rehashes of the previous year’s shindig, when they should be something far more. Last evening’s Oscar awards show clearly points out three classy lessons for how to make your annual celebration something memorable.
1. Make it an Event – The Oscars Awards show isn’t just another awards show, it is THE event actors and actresses look forward to attending (as well as movie lovers everywhere from the comfort of their homes). Months of preparations go into the event. From set designs to scripts, from outfits to jewelry, from presenters to seating arrangements, and from the red carpet to the parties afterwards, the Oscars are an event.
Now, obviously, most small and medium-sized businesses can’t afford to put on an event like the Oscars, but you can create AN event that your people will look forward to every year. You can make it a formal affair so that everyone dresses their best. You can put together or hire some local talent for a small “production.” You can allocate enough of your budget to make your employees feel special. You can put together a team three to six months ahead of time to work on it so that they/you have time to make something remarkable happen.
Your annual celebration event doesn’t have to be a last minute affair that’s just thrown together. Make it an event–and your people will look forward to it–and they will feel far more valued!
2. Make Your Comments Heartfelt and Well-Prepared – One of the nice traditions from the past several years is towards the end of the evening when they’re getting ready to choose the best actor and actress recipients, they have one person who’s worked with the nominee get up and say something nice about them. Five nominees, five short “speeches.” Some of the people making these comments are clearly not very close to the nominee. Some of them try to say something funny. But the ones that are most memorable, like Michelle Pfeiffer’s comments last evening about Jeff Bridges, are heartfelt and well-prepared.
She didn’t try to be funny or glib or light. She spoke from her heart and spoke of how much she admired Jeff and his work–as well as his commitment to his family (believe it or not, he’s someone in Hollywood who has been married for 33 years). Jeff was moved to tears, And so were we. I’ve forgotten most of the funny comments (other than Tim Robbins’ comments about Morgan Freeman–which would only make sense if you heard them), but I haven’t forgotten her comments to Jeff–nor the level of emotion they evoked. I doubt Jeff will forget them either.
In other words, don’t just wing your comments about your employees. If you’re going to honor them, honor them. Take the time to say something that’ll move them, that let’s you know how much you appreciate them, and that will evoke an emotion in everyone hearing them. There are times for roasts and light humor. But when you want to honor someone and make them feel it, speak from your heart and let them feel it.
3. Get as Many People as Possible Involved – In far too many SMBs, too many leaders think, “If I want this to be something that my people appreciate, I need to just let them attend. I’ll take care of all the details.” But that’s wrong thinking. How many actors and actresses do you think think, “Boy, I hope they don’t ask me to be a presenter this year!” Buzz! They want to participate. Or how many actors or actresses think, “I hope they don’t send me a ballot or ask my opinion.” Etc.
When something is classy, people want to participate (it’s when it’s just thrown together that they don’t). Furthermore, as a leader, you should know, “What people help create, they own.”
Get as many of your people as possible involved in creating and delivering your annual celebration event. Make it special. Make it the highlight of the year. Make it something everyone looks forward to. And not only will your people want to play a part–they’ll also feel more valued and appreciated–and happier to be on your team–which sounds like a win-win to me!
To your accelerated success!
P.S. If you’ve ever been a part of a great annual celebration, write what happened (or what you did) in the comments section below. Share the wealth.
P.P.S. The three key questions are
1. What would make this year’s celebration an event that people will remember (and not just a rehash of last year)?
2. What can I (or others) say that will move our awards’ recipients emotionally?
3. How can we get as many people as possible involved in this event (starting at least three to six months out)?
The Quickest Way to Enhance Any Communication You’re Having
Posted by: | CommentsIf you could find one idea or technique that could quickly and “almost miraculously” transform any communication you’re engaged in–from speaking at a community event to leading a team training or meeting to talking with a loved one to writing a letter or blog post–what would that be worth to you?
Or if you could avoid the pain of missed communication–from frustration and conflict to lost opportunities and sales. Or if you could avoid doing or saying something that might injure a key relationship–what would that be worth to you? I’m guessing a lot. Well, get ready because you’re about to get that one idea/technique–and it won’t cost you a thing.
I learned this idea/technique from a minister and author from England named John Stott. In his classic book on pastoral communication (also known as preaching :-), Stott introduced a concept he calls quadruple thinking–and it’s brilliant! The basic idea is this. It occurs in four parts (hence the phrase, quadruple thinking).
1. You think of what you want to say
2. You think of how the person you’re communicating to will hear what you have to say
3. You rethink what you have to say
4. So they will hear what you want them to hear.
Brilliant! In other words, if you or I want to be more effective communicators (and as a leader of a small or medium-sized business or organization you ought to want to be), then
We don’t have the luxury of ever just saying what we want to say.
Why? Because communication always involves two (or more) people. And that means that the other person must ALWAYS be factored into the equation.
For example: You’re in a rush and under a lot of pressure. You call in one of your employees and say, “Here’s an assignment, just make it happen.” You don’t have a lot of time to spell out what you want done–after all, they’re an adult, they can figure it out. And furthermore, you don’t want to be known as a micro-manager. So you just hand out an assignment. Unfortunately, the person you handed that assignment to is, in Myers-Briggs language, an SJ.
SJs are great workers. They make up roughly 40% of the population. They follow assignments. They get things done. BUT ONE THING that SJs don’t do well is create from scratch. SJs like to do things right. However, if they don’t know what right is, they get stumped–which is why SJs LOVE DIRECTIONS. They like their leaders to spell out details.
So while you may think you communicated clearly to your employee, the reality is you didn’t. If, on the other hand, you were employing quadruple thinking, you might have thought. “Let’s see, Barb is an SJ. As an SJ, Barb is going to want lots of direction on this assignment. So, I better clear out 15 minutes to talk with her about this assignment today.”
On the other hand, if Bob is an NT (in Myers Briggs language–and NTs don’t like lots of direction) then your quadruple thinking conversation might go like this. “Let’s see, Bob is an NT. NTs hate to be straight-jacketed with lots of direction and control so I better just walk by Bob’s desk and give him this assignment and a due date.”
Remember, the goal of communication isn’t simply to process sounds out of our minds into words on paper, screen or air. The goal of communication is to connect with another human being for a specific result or reason. Therefore, they must always be factored into the conversation.
Now, in one sense, this seems so blatantly obvious, that it shouldn’t have to be stated. But it’s not. Common sense is not common practice. Every day in every workplace (or home), miscommunication takes place. And while neither you nor I can’t completely eliminate it, we can greatly reduce it by practicing this one simple technique: Quadruple Thinking!
1. You think of what you want to say
2. You think of how the person you’re communicating to will hear what you have to say
3. You rethink what you have to say
4. So they will hear what you want them to hear.
Go ahead, give it a try! If you really get it, this should change every conversation and communication you ever have from this day forward–that is, if you want to be an effective leader and communicator.
To your accelerated success!
P.S. Let me know what you think of this idea in the comments section 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!
Originality and Commonality: A Powerful One-Two Punch!
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever noticed that most people like to live life in an either/or world? Either we buy a sports car or a minivan. Either we go to the beach or the mountains for vacation this year. Either we locate in a busy location or an isolated one. Either we focus on one product or a slew of products. Either we focus on one niche or on everyone.
The problem, of course, with an either/or world is that it rarely reflects reality because life is rarely that clean. Rather it’s full of contradictions and surprises. One of which is that originality and commonality go hand in hand together.
In an either/or world that doesn’t make sense. Either you’re original or your common. But, in the real world, being completely original isn’t an easy road to success. Just ask the creator of the first fax machine (Bain, 1843) or first cell phone or first anything. It’s not that easy to create an entirely new market.
When people read books like, “Blue Ocean Strategy,” they tend to think that the key to success is to come up with an entirely new idea (a new blue ocean). But if you take a look at the examples in the book you’ll notice they weren’t entirely new at all.
Cirque du Soleil wasn’t the first circus. Southwest wasn’t the first airplane company. Curves wasn’t the first health fitness facility. Etc.
All three of those examples are part of huge industries. The entertainment industry is huge. It’s common. But Cirque du Soleil’s genius was to do something original in a big market (i.e. a circus for adults with one ring vs. three and no live animals).
Southwest’s genius was to do point-to-point (i.e. non-hub), fun, no frills flights to tier two cities. Curves’ genius was to do a women’s only club with minimal equipment in a circle (a low-cost, quick, gender specific workout).
In other words, rather than look where there wasn’t a lot of competition, they looked for a very competitive market (the common part) and then looked for an uncommon way/original way to meet the needs of that market.
So, if you’re in a town full of pizza joints, that doesn’t mean you can’t start another pizza joint. Maybe you should start a gourmet one (if there isn’t one yet). Or maybe the people in you town just love fast food. If that’s the case, you might want to start a different kind of fast food restaurant (maybe BBQ wings). Or maybe your market simply loves Italian food. In that case, you could start a northern or southern Italian or even a sicilian restaurant. Etc.
Ultimately, it comes down to buyers. And what do they want? In general, they usually want something similar to what they already like/have–just a little different. This is not to downplay new and disruptive technologies. Just an observation about what fast growth companies do.
As a twenty-five year fan of Apple, I’ve drunk the kool-aid. But most of Apple’s successes haven’t come from being the first at something. 
The iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player. And the iPhone certainly wasn’t the first cell phone. But Apple, usually referred to as, “the most innovative company on the planet,” usually has winners when it looks at what people already want and then makes something original in that field.
So, if you want to build a wildly successful company, you might want to look where there’s a lot of competition (the common part) and then come up with a unique solution to that market’s wants and needs (the original part). It’s not an either/or, but rather a both/and that usually wins in the real world. So do your best to eliminate either/or thinking in your company. Both/and thinking is a much better route to go! Originality and commonality are a powerful one-two punch when used correctly.
To your accelerated success!
It’s Not About Your Product!
Posted by: | CommentsI received an email from my mother last evening about a social experiment that the Washington Post conducted two years ago with Joshua Bell, the world famous violinist. That said, I think the real value of the experiment drives home an incredibly important message for business owners and senior executives.
The basic story line goes like this (note: hang in there, this has a great ending).
To test their ideas, the Washington Post had Joshua Bell, dress like a street musician and play six Bach violin concertos for 45 minutes on a cold January morning at a DC Metro stop. During that time frame, approximately 2,000 people passed by him on their way to work–only a few of whom stopped to listen.
All totaled, by the time he was finished 45 minutes later, only six people had stopped long enough to listen for any length of time and only 20 people had given him any money. The total take for 45 minutes of Joshua Bell’s playing time that morning at the DC Metro stop, $32. The applause, none.
Now, what makes that so remarkable, is that Bell often plays to sold-out audiences in the best performance halls around the world, he’s undoubtedly one of the best violinists on planet earth, he plays on a $3.5 million violin, he normally charges around $100 per person to hear him perform (e.g. 1500 people x $100 = $150,000), and he normally plays to standing ovations (I know, I’ve seen him play).
So, let’s recap what happened. The same Joshua Bell, playing on the same $3.5M violin, playing six of the most beautiful violin concertos of all time–and with the same brilliance as he normally does in a performance hall (where the receipts might be anywhere from $100K-$150K) only walked away with $32 and a few people willing to stop for a few minutes to listen.
So, what made the difference? It wasn’t the product (Bell playing Bach on his $3.5M violin), was it? No! It was the context, the perception of value, and the packaging of the product that made the difference–NOT the product itself.
But isn’t that exactly the mistake that most businesses make. They keep thinking it’s about their product or service. So they keep talking about their product or service as though that were everything–but it’s not. Whenever anyone gets sucked into focusing on how great their product or service is, they’re almost always sucked into a commodity mindset (and they end up with $32 playing on a DC Metro stop).
However, there is another alternative. The other alternative is to boost the perceived value. Looking at Bell’s normal marketing plan, changing the venue (i.e. the packaging) to a first-class performance hall, like the Kennedy Center, changes his perceived value immensely. Raising his ticket prices, changes his perceived value.
Doing PR on TV and radio, increases his perceived value. Winning competitions increases his perceived value. Being the featured violinist in Hollywood films increases his perceived value. Playing alongside some of the greatest violinists and conductors, increases his perceived value. Letting people know he plays on a $3.5M violin increases his perceived value. Sharing testimonials of listeners, conductors, and famous people increases his perceived value. Etc.
In other words, it’s not the product itself that creates the value. Whether Bell is playing at a DC Metro Stop or at the Kennedy Center, it’s still the same product. However, the difference in perceived value is the difference between $32 and $150,000.
So, as you look at your products and services, what can you start doing NOW to increase the perceived value of what you offer? Remember, you don’t want to focus on your product or service alone. You want to focus on increasing the perceived value of what you offer–and when you do that, you’ll immediately begin making more and more money for the same product or service–just like Joshua Bell!
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!
Are You Sizzling Hot?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen your prospects and customers think about you, do they think, “I have to have that!” Or, “I need to go there!” Or “I need to use them!” Or is it more of a more of a, “Let me think about it.” Or a “I’ll get back to you.” Or, “I’m doing my due diligence,” kind of thing?“
It’s an important question if you want to grow an accelerated growth company.
If you’re not sure, then just think back over the past few years. Think Twitter. Facebook. Myspace. Apple. Starbucks. Google. Netflix. And Dancing with the Stars (Note: I don’t watch :-), however it is consistently in the top ten shows, according to Nielson–though I’m much more of a 24 kind of guy).
Each of those companies (and shows) has grown significantly because they were sizzling hot and word of mouth took off.
So when was the last time you (and your team) asked, “Is what we’re doing sizzling hot?”
Or similar questions like, “Are we addressing a big pain or problem that needs to be solved?” “Are our customers raving about us?” “Are the media and our target market beating down our doors to get to us?”
If not, then maybe those are the kinds of questions you need to ask—and then answer. I’ve found very few businesses that ask (and answer) those kinds of questions, even though they’re vital to a company’s success.
And don’t think your business is different. A few week’s ago I met Seth Goldman, the CEO of Honest Tea (which is President Obama’s favorite drink). If Seth and his team can make colored water sizzling hot, you can make what you do, sizzling hot as well. Your category and niche are irrelevant.
So, how can you make what you do sizzling hot over the next three months?
To your accelerated success!
Don’t Make an Omni Mistake!
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever set out to create a system in your business that deliberately irritated or disappointed your customers? Probably not. But if I asked, “Have you ever done so?” The answer would probably be, “Yes!”
I had one of those experiences the other week. I was speaking at a convention in Orlando that was held at the beautiful Omni Hotel Resort at Champions Gate. It was around 9:00 a.m., on the morning of my presentation on “The Four Keys of Accelerated Growth,” when it dawned on me that my talk went from 10:15 a.m. until noon, which was also check out time.
So, I thought, “Why don’t I just call and request a late check out time so I don’t have to pack up right now.” At that moment I went over to the phone next to the bed and saw the following button entitled, “Prompt Response.” Note: It’s the first button on the second row from the bottom (you can click on the image for a larger image)
When I saw that, I thought, “What a great name for a button to call down to the front desk or operator,” and promptly pushed the button. Unfortunately, what happened next was anything but prompt.
It took 15, yes 15 rings before the operator picked up the call. She asked, “How may I help you?” I said, “I’d like to get a late check out for my room.” She said, “Let me transfer you to the front desk.” After which I then waited, catch this, for 60 rings BEFORE I hung up (i.e. no one at the front desk ever picked up the call).
Forget how terrible that was (systems mistakes at every level) and instead think back to the expectation that was set by the button, “Prompt response.” When you hear the phrase, “Prompt response”, how many rings do you expect before someone picks up the line? I’m guessing that while your normal assumption is probably three or four rings, when you hear the word, “Prompt,” it probably means, “On the first or second ring.”
In other words, when the Omni Hotel made a decision to change the normal first button on a hotel phone from “Front Desk” to “Prompt Response,” they created a whole new set of expectations. This wasn’t just a cute marketing phrase, it was a whole new level of expectations they created that needed a whole new level of systems to ensure that it would always be executed perfectly–24 hours a day.
It’s irrelevant if they pick up on the first or second ring 80 percent of the time. For the 20 percent of us who don’t get the standard level of service, it’s even worse than if they hadn’t used the phrase, “Prompt response.” And I’m pretty sure than in anyone’s book, 75 rings doesn’t meet the standard expectation that Omni management set with their cool new first button.
So, as you look at your business, what are the standard expectations that your customers and potential customers have of you? What expectations have you set with your marketing and materials? How often do you meet those expectations? If the answer is anything less than 100%, I’d encourage you to start there.
Why? Because the first step to creating WOW, is to eliminate all unWOW. And the place to start eliminating unWOW is wherever you’re not meeting the standard expectations your customers have of you (like getting a prompt response).
Toward accelerating your success!
Note: This is a great exercise to do with your staff or with a customer advisory board.
Not Your Father’s Arby’s
Posted by: | CommentsReinvention is at the heart of all great businesses--and one of the keys to becoming more remarkable. For those of us who do strategy work, it’s at the very heart and core of what we do. In other words, what a company has been in the past does not have to equate to what it will be in the future.
For example, let’s take something you’re probably familiar with, Arby’s. When you think of Arby’s (probably from the 70’s or 80’s), what do you think of? My guess is a typical fast food restaurant with small roast beef sandwiches and that special Arby’s sauce (or Horsey sauce).
If you’re like me, you probably also remember they were an alternative to a hamburger-driven fast-food market, but otherwise there wasn’t anything impressive about them. In fact, most of the Arby’s I stopped at over the years were dirty and their bathrooms were even worse.
But that image all changed for me because an Arby’s franchisee in Richmond, VA has reinvented his stores. My wife and I, along with our youngest daughter, were on our way to see our eldest daughter at her college in High Point, NC (http://www.highpoint.edu) this past weekend. We just happened to get off at exit 86B and at the end of the street, there just happened to be this big, beautiful (fast-food) restaurant called Arby’s. Intrigued we went in–and boy, were we in for a surprise.
The first things I noticed were the furnishings. The entire place was gorgeous! Panera Bread and Starbucks were a step down from this. The next thing I noticed was that there were no signs with the menu items listed–so where do you find out what you can order? At this Arby’s, you actually use a real graphically well designed menu with items that I’ve never seen on a fast food restaurant menu (like a chicken salad with real rotisserie chicken, red grapes, granny smith apples and chopped pecans. Note: I later learned that the owner was trained at the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America, which explained a lot of things :-).
When we placed our order, we were given a digital device to let us know when our food was ready (so we didn’t have to wait in line). When my daughter’s chicken sandwich came, it didn’t come with any lettuce so she started to walk up to the counter when a manager saw her and asked, “May I help you?”
My daughter, who’s always polite said, “I don’t mean to be a bother . . .” To which the manager said, “Oh, be a bother.” She then said, “Okay then, I’d like some lettuce on this chicken sandwich.” To which he said, “Shredded or whole leaf?” “Whole leaf.” He then said, “Great. Now, feel free to go back to your table, I’ll take care of this for you.” He personally took care of it and then brought it to our table. As I was watching this I was thinking, “Is this really an Arby’s?”
As my wife and I were eating our sandwiches (turkey and swiss on whole grain) we were both impressed and then noticed that our sandwiches weren’t made up of the typical deli sliced turkey meat. So we asked and found out that every day, at this Arby’s, they cook their own turkeys and chickens on a rotisserie. So, the turkey we had in our sandwiches, which tasted incredible, really was like the fresh turkey you have the day after Thanksgiving.
And I haven’t even mentioned the bathrooms, which were immaculate. In fact, I even wrote an article about this on my website. It’s a customer service article entitled, “It’s all about the Restroom (and toilet paper)” You can access it at
http://makeitremarkable.com/its-all-about-the-restroom.htm
Without belaboring the point any longer, there’s no question in my mind that this was not the Arby’s of my past. It wasn’t dirty and dingy. The food wasn’t small and cheap. And the staff weren’t disengaged and oblivious. It was a completely reinvented Arby’s. The facility was beautiful with soaring height and was impeccably clean. The food was incredibly delicious and fresh and unique. And the staff were polite and helpful. It was everything a weary traveler could have wanted. In fact, we purposely planned to have dinner on the way home at the same restaurant. Why? Because it was remarkable. It was a completely reinvented Arby’s.
So, as you take a look at your business, how can you reinvent what you are? Find a place of differentiation (regardless of your past) and stake out that new ground. Then once you seek to create that place, seek to eliminate all unWOW and then exceed your customer’s expectations. If you do those three things, you’ll be well on your way to creating a new and improved you (plus you’ll end up garnering a lot of raving fans in the process).
P.S. If you’re traveling through the Richmond VA area anytime, don’t forget to stop at exit 86B (or any of the other Arby’s owned by Richard Ripp and The Restaurant Company).