Those Annoying Committed Customers

As a professional speaker, I spend plenty of time traveling. So much time that I have earned top tier standing with my principal travel partners, Delta Air Lines (www.delta.com), Hilton Hotels (www.hilton.com), and Hertz Car Rental (www.hertz.com). When I founded Rising Above Enterprises in 2001, I knew that staying fiercely devoted to travel partners would pay off with the advantages of each partner’s elite program – first class upgrades, suites, premium automobiles, and much more. I am surely not a high maintenance traveler, but acknowledgement, comfort, and convenience is pleasant. I speak well of my trusted travel partners. And, in most cases, these partners speak highly of me with their service, attention, assistance, and recognition.

Until last week.

Flying home from a series of speaking engagements in Austin, TX, I sat next to the general manager of one of the Hilton family of hotels. Upon discovering his management responsibility with one my most excellent travel partners, I discussed my loyalty to the Hilton family and proudly informed him that I was a Diamond VIP with Hilton. I said this with much satisfaction and discussed the countless ways that I make certain I stay at a Hilton family hotel, even when a bit inopportune. I went on for a moment about how much I have the benefit of driving the lion’s share of my lodging needs to Hilton.

This manager proceeded to inform me – to my face – about how many of his peers have an aversion to their Diamond members. We’re deprived. We desire too much. We anticipate a red carpet salutation. We force them to walk non-VIP guests to a different hotel when we Diamond guests make a last minute, guaranteed reservations.

You’re reading this right. A manager told one of his top guests that he, in actuality, did not like those in the category.

We undoubtedly recognize that it is important to recognize, acknowledge, and reward those customers who select your business most. It’s a simple, yet powerful, method to let your best customers discern that you appreciate them for preferring you. In a world of consumer choice, when your business is often a commodity, it’s significant to thank your best customers early and often.

However, as this hotel manager scolded me for being at the apex of his loyalty listing, I speculated about what kinds of conversations take place about best customers at his management level. Were we partners in the growth of their enterprise or just nuisances in for another night? Were we a solid stream of revenue or a group who wanted more than our night’s stay was worth? Were we a budding word-of-mouth advocate or just another guest looking for a late check out and forcing housekeeping to clean a room in the early afternoon?

If managers cling to these views, how does this transform to service? In spite of everything, hotel managers chat about paramount methods to offer better-quality customer service. If managers detest top tier customers in their peer conversations, doesn’t it make sense that the matching outlook flows over to the front line at the front desk? Might I one day hear upon check in: “Welcome back, Mr. Rendel. It’s a dreadful opportunity to have you with us as a Diamond VIP. Now, rather than upgrade you or give you admittance to the Towers level, we have placed you in a smoking room next to the service elevator. Your internet connection is blocked and the toilet doesn’t work. Use the one in the lobby. And please don’t come back.”

Your finest customers want a motive to come back. Your dialogues at the management and front line level – about these leading customers – dictate your mind-set and service. This molds your customers’ experience. Hold upper level conversations about the business value of those who choose you most. Confer about their profitability. Discuss ways to reward them and techniques to add to their revenue. Listen to their criticisms and discuss your compelling concerns about their needs.

Hold frontline conversations about your most frequent customers. Explain their importance. Put in plain words that their selection drives your business growth. Thank your best customers for choosing you. Communicate customer requests and responses to management. Fix problems without delay.

Be an E1™ business. Give E1™ service. Provide E1™ experiences.

Just don’t tell your best customers how much you find them objectionable.

 

 

Tweet Tweet

It’s official. I am a Tweeter. Or is it Twitterer? Or is it Twit? Whatsoever, it’s at www.twitter.com/jeffrendel. If you need a speedy snapshot of Twitter – it’s email, texting, and LinkedIn, all in one. And you have 140 characters or less to state your case.

I’ve fought the social networking craze for a while. Granted, I consider myself a very youthful 41 years old, but isn’t Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and MySpace for kids? Don’t most use Facebook for ridiculous communications about what one is eating, watching on television, or doing with their standby time? Seriously, I’ve observed some of these types of posts – and an extensive list of uniformly profligate responses. My day after day life isn’t so stirring that you need to know how I’m feeling, when I’m working out, or what I find amusing (with a mandatory “hee hee” following the post). I already operate several websites – isn’t that sufficient? What’s the bona fide business value of social networking? Really.

Until:

• The April 2009 edition of Fast Company headlined, “The Kid Who Made Obama President.” It’s an impressive model on the business potential of social networking.
• I found out that Dell attributed $1 million of sales to social networking through Twitter. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to all of Dell’s revenue, but it did not entail any marketing costs – just people talking about Dell. And sales followed.
• Some of my heroes – the highest earners in professional speaking – are harnessing this new marketing to broaden their speaking, writing, and consulting businesses. Maybe I’m an idiot, but I’m no fool. Something must be worthwhile in social networking.

Chasing your competition, to keep up, runs opposite to E1™ thinking. We blaze our own trails, right? You bet — Until those paths become worn, predictable, and comfortable. That was me with reference to social networking. I needed to transform because industry – where my clients earn their keep and so do I – was linking in, adding friends, and tweeting.

Here’s the lesson in E1™ living. How often do we find ourselves pretty relaxed in life and business? “What’s working is working and I’ll change when I’m ready,” we pronounce. Opportunities to grow, innovate, and progress become visible every day. How often do we see them? How often do we steer clear of them? How often do we investigate them? How often do we look for ways that these openings may help us realize elite results? It’s infrequent that the opportunity involves a total renovation, but it allows us to make small modifications to improve our life and endeavors.

I’m energized about tweeting. Believe me, I won’t tweet to tell jokes, proclaim scores, or let those who follow my tweet be on familiar terms with my haphazard thoughts, experiences, or opinions. I’ll leave that to those who, beyond doubt, believe that humankind cares about the ins and outs of what they’re up to on an hour-by-hour basis. News flash: We don’t.

I’ll tweet to help your business grow. I’ll tweet to help you grow in life. I’ll tweet because it makes me better. It’s a chance to connect with other professionals that I might not otherwise. It’s a chance to add to my book of business through a network of tweets. It’s a new direction for marketing. It’s changing – a bit – for the better.

It’s an example of everyday E1™ living.

Elite thinking. Elite choices. Elite actions. Elite results. That’s E1™ — in 140 characters or less.

Competitors and Critics – Find Them and Listen

Isn’t it remarkable how we often pay no attention to the successes of our competition because it may shed light on our deficiency? Or how we delicately minimize the achievement of others because – well – it’s theirs and not ours? Or how we set aside those who pass judgment on our thinking, choices, and actions because those detractors are badly informed, unacquainted, and invidious?

Here’s an E1™ thought – Gladly seek to appreciate what your competitors do better than you; Fervently distinguish why some have enormous success; and, Take your critics’ denigrations as a way to bolster your rationale for thinking, choosing, and doing the way you do.

Competitors (or, at least, those with results you want to achieve)

Several months back, I attended a get-together of professional speakers where a fellow professional speaker presented his typical, keynote speech and, subsequently, those attending could learn how he researched, prepared, and presented this address. I was incredibly excited to go. This speaker is a VIP in the world of those who speak professionally. His fees are in the five figure range (that’s before the decimal point). He lives and travels globally. Pretty impressive, and I like to spend time with people who make an impact on me.

The speech stunk. Granted, as a professional speaker, I observe and pay attention with a more veteran set of eyes and ears, but this speech was not first-rate. Frankly, I’m better – much better.

Now, non-E1™ thinkers and doers would depart the meeting with the “waste-of-time” mind-set that I clearly could have cultivated. However, in spite of how much better-quality I believe my skills to be, this man makes plenty of money in the corporate market for business speeches. Where I may hold greater skills on the platform, I needed to gain knowledge about the marketing of his speeches and services. And, man, I did.

After a confidential hour with him and a load of profuse notes, I overhauled my business model. I expanded my marketing scope and tactics. I set a revenue map that – with vigorous endeavor – is its own stimulus plan. What could have been pessimistic, I made encouraging.

We face competitors – or those with elite results – on a daily basis. We have a choice in how we examine and learn from them. We can put emphasis on, and nitpick, the flaws or we can have a high regard for the end result, inquisitive about their systems for success. All we need to do is ask and, like most E1™ thinkers and doers, they are pleased to impart.

Use this approach the next time you: Respect some parenting skills; Notice a friend at the gym that is in excellent physical shape; Observe a neighbor reading an attention-grabbing book (and not some junk tabloid from the market rack); Hear of a colleague who increased sales in a depressed economy; Come across that younger-than-you person who has zero debt, including the mortgage. Make use of it far and wide with people who have the sort of “fruit on the tree” that you aspire toward.

Critics

Yesterday, I finished the book, SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless. In summary, the author wrote a well-researched and supported piece stating that a multi-billion dollar industry exists for people to “get-rich-get-better-get-healed-NOW!” And he’s correct. And I’m a branch of that industry. I was in store for a rough night.

I put in plain words the general idea of the book to my wife that night and, after a reasonably energetic dialogue, she passed on to me that, “The explanation of why people do not carry out what their SHAM book tells them they can, is not the book’s burden. It’s their responsibility. How many self-help books are never read past page 50?”

As we wrapped up our tête-à-tête, I became conscious that there is an E1™ element to self-help. Small percentages, in point of fact, do what’s required to “get-rich-get-better-get-healed NOW!” That small percentage works out to about one percent, an Elite One Percent™.

My far-away and roundabout critic, the author, helped me increase the spotlight of my enterprise. In short, he obliquely and inadvertently challenged me to: 1) Speak and write only that which is well-researched and supported; and, 2) Track, show evidence of, and confirm any claims of how my systems improve sales, service, leadership, and life. That I’ll do. I won’t seek to prove him mistaken; As an alternative, I’ll seek to realize that what I put forward is accurate and based on fact.

What about your critics? Can you learn from their denigrations, stay true to your values, and continue moving forward? I believe you can. Use this method of learning the next time you’re judged and sized up because you: Skip church to enjoy a desirable, quiet morning with your family – or a not so quiet morning if the kids want to rough-house; Pass on the weekly Happy Hour to be home in time for dinner; Order steamed vegetables with your hamburger; Insist on the proper pronunciation and enunciation of words (too many lazy letter lovers and mumblers); Drive your car for ten years so you can pay cash for the next car; and, Set out to expand your business when the disbelievers look forward to hearing that you need to pull back.

Learning from your competitors and critics is not a frequent course in life. But, who wants to chase the other 99 percent?

Elite thinking. Elite choices. Elite actions. Elite results. That’s E1™.

 

 

Need regular innovation? Ask your customers and colleagues.

Innovation is such an attention-grabbing notion. The word single-handedly brings up images of Skunk Works, Lockheed Martin’s nom de plume for its sophisticated development programs. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of well-known aircraft designs – the U-2, SR-71, F-117, and F-22. The expression “skunk works” is broadly used in business to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked with working on advanced or hush-hush projects.

Many times, after I give a keynote speech on innovation, I am frequently asked, “Where do we start? Do we have an offsite retreat? Do we lease an out-of-the-way warehouse? Do we hire the mad scientist of our industry?”

“You can,” I reply. “But, you do not need to go to such length. Innovation can be exceptionally official – and at times it should – however, immense ideas are right below your nose.” Here is how to find it.

Conventional wisdom (thinking like the other 99 percent) states that organizations seeking innovation need to employ creative staff, leave them alone, and golden ideas will spring forth. Then, sales, marketing, engineering, and finance people can settle on how to put the ideas into practice and profit. In the macro sense, this is spot on. But, this line of attack requires a lot of money and time.

As an alternative, let’s focus on everyday innovation. Let’s include our customers and colleagues.

A friend of mine is the president of a mid-sized regional financial institution. He employs about 600 people, serves 100,000 customers, and manages two billion dollars in assets. He believes that the finest businesses listen to their customers formally and repeatedly. Each quarter, he works with a subset of his customer base in order to harness their voices and hear their needs. He believes it’s his most valuable sales and marketing tool. He asks his customers what they believe is essential for them to continue using his bank’s products and services for life. From these exchanges, he builds products that correspond to his customers’ business and personal needs for the future.

Another friend is the founder and chief executive officer for a 25-store grocery chain. Each month, he walks the aisles of every store. He chats with his customers. He asks them about merchandising, variety, hours, spotlessness, experience, staff, and the list goes on. He asks them what they purchase at other grocery stores and why. He pays 12 customers $100 for two hours of their time in a personal meeting with him. No managers, just him and his customers. And he drives improvement based on their pointers.

We can engage staff in innovation, too. One of my clients is a top-rated restaurant in South Miami Beach, FL. It’s been the top rated restaurant for seven years. How does it stay on top, remain innovative, and rest on the leading edge in the hyper-competitive world of South Beach dining? The owner gives each employee $75 per quarter and dispatches each person to a meal at a competitor’s place of business. Job titles do not matter, because each job carries its own amount of innovation. Each person’s mission is to determine – in the eyes of their own job – what the competition is doing well and disappointingly. Each person’s deliverable is one proposal that they believe may well benefit their restaurant. The results are innovative thoughts, products, processes, and systems.

Another client is an auto dealer. Looking for ways to innovate and get better, the president tasked each Parts & Service Department employee with pinpointing 15 thoughts on how operations could improve. He broke the 15-ideas request into three categories: 1) List five ways you can get better at your job; 2) List five ways we can get better as a department; and, 3) List five ways I can get better as a boss. “Think like an owner, because you own your job,” he said. For 15 ideas, he paid each person $150, a total investment of $1,500. The results? In one year, cash flow increased $60,000, customer satisfaction scores were at their five-year high, and productivity metrics improved 60 percent. All of the ideas came from front line leaders.

The final word on innovation? Invest in the practice. Read the white papers. Take part in the ad hoc committees. Invest in your association’s applied research councils. However, don’t overlook the bona fide authorities on your company. Your customers will tell you what they desire for the future. Ask them. Your colleagues will tell you what will cause business to be even more industrious and money-making. Ask them. Make your customers and colleagues a part of your everyday innovation.

Long Live the Middle Managers – Your Enterprise Depends On Them

Sunday evening, Rick Wagoner, then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Motors, resigned at the request of the White House. His replacement was General Motors’ Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson. And the pressure to perform is on.

More important, we live in an age in which CEOs are glorified one day and pulled to pieces the next, often by the same champions and critics. It is not that a “cult of personality” has developed around leaders, but the supposition that the fundamental determinant of accomplishment in nearly all organizations is the individuality of the CEO. Press features about the achievement or breakdown of a business time and again call attention to the identity and persona of the top manager. Boards of directors – even the government — have bought into this notion. When a company is doing poorly or when there is a felt need to get on in a new direction, the initial impulse is to swap managers at the top. Often, the inclination is to cut out the middle as well. The latter thought might be the weightiest.

I believe that the proper determinant of leadership, continuity, and success is not from the top – it’s from the middle.

It would be unwise to contend that the CEO is not pertinent to organizational functioning, and it would be just as thoughtless to maintain that no business should ever trim down its managerial ranks. However, the fundamental spirit of the times is wrong. As a group, middle managers are vital, indeed central, to an organization’s achievement. Middle managers execute much of the day-to-day toil of the organization, but further than this, they are much like executives in that they are in charge of making countless judgment calls, exceptions, waivers, and trade-offs that form the firm’s success. They are furthermore the strategic communications conduit from senior management down through the lines. They are dedicated to their vocation, and with their expertise, endeavor to carry out at an elevated – perhaps CEO-like – level.

When American sociologist C. Wright Mills performed his ground-breaking work in the 1950s on the ascent of white-collar workers and societies, he contended that bureaucracies overwhelmed the individual city worker, robbing him or her of all independent thought and turning him into a sort of a robot, oppressed, but cheerful. He or she earned a salary, but became alienated from the world because of an inability to affect or change it. Regarding middle managers, he described them in reproachful expressions:

“You are the cog and the beltline of the bureaucratic machinery itself…and such power as you wield is a borrowed thing. Yours is the subordinate’s mark, yours is the canned talk…you are the servant of decision, the assistant of authority.”

Management literature followed this row, jam-packed with judgmental references to middle management. At a more matter-of-fact level, consulting firms earned their daily bread counseling their clients to gut managerial ranks.

In short, while it was lonely at the top, it sucked to be in the middle.

No more. As stated above – I believe that the proper determinant of leadership, continuity, and success is not from the top – it’s from the middle.

Middle managers are well aware that their states of affairs have changed and their grasp on their jobs is more questionable than in the past. They are more disbelieving of top management than they were before and, in some regard, are estranged from their organizations. However, these leaders are committed to their work and get substantial fulfillment from it. The increase of informal and project teams has given many more range and self-rule than they experienced in the times of yore. Middle managers are progressively arriving at a levelheaded balance of work and private life, and they are clear in explaining these preferences and in drawing boundaries.

Middle management has moved to and fro from being indistinguishable to being an object. Both points of view are wide of the mark. Middle managers should be respected for what they supply and should be distinguished as a cache to be developed. Such an attitude is more precise and improved and would be more industrious for all concerned.

Your enterprise depends upon your middle managers. Grow them. You just may promote them to CEO one day.