Making Things Right

Haggar Clothing has a cute series of ads on You Tube that strikes a chord with me. We moved into a new home recently and my interactions with both the cable company and satellite tv were anything but pleasant. Just watching the above ad reminded me of the basic premise of their "service" which is basically you have to sacrifice a day of your life if you want to do business with us. This is sort of understandable given the fact that they have no real way of knowing how complex any individual installation and set up will be. What seems inexcuseable is the lack of communication when they are running late and outside the 4 or 5 hour time window given. It's then over-the-top when they show up past the time window and without the necessary material... but wait there's more... do they put you to the top of the list... Nope... you have to wait another week to 10 days for a new appointment.

...getting them to bill you for what their representative agrees to by phone has been another challenge. My wife has spent unbelievable amounts of time on the phone trying to get the billing correct.

All companies give poor service from time to time. The difference is that the great ones... as the Haggar ad suggests, "Make It Right". Making it right may mean a heart felt apology. But it also may mean providing a more tangible recognition or compensation for the value of the customers time. A few years ago I totally blew off an appointment. I was so embarrassed that I caused 5 people to lose an hour of their valuable time that I went out and bought each a $20.00 gift certificate to a local restautant. I paid for it out of my own pocket.

I have blogged on Service Recovery before. Starbucks has given me gift certificates on more than one occassion for blowing it. They clearly get it and empower their people to make things right. Meryn's Department Stores sadly went out of business last year after the founder sold it to a group who didn't have the same attention to service and detail. I still vividly remember the Christmas when the Mervyns clerk gave me 15% off my purchase for waiting in a line he decided was unreasonably lengthy. That gesture bought my business for several years.

Go "Make It Right" in your business... and if you get a creative impulse from the You Tube next time you have problems with your cable service provider, so be it.

Fix The Product/Service!

Dilbert is a comic strip that runs in most local newspapers. I often read it with a nervous chuckle because the scenarios strip author Scott Adams depicts are way too close to reality in some organizations I've had experience with. Some days I think Dilbert would more aptly be referred to as a "Tragedy Strip". The 3 panel above is suggestive of the all too common strategy of trying to fix core problems with the basic product and service with intensified or clever sales efforts. I can't tell you how many sales meetings I've been in where it was suggested that the way to fix an essentially flawed but fixable problem was slicker sales language or as Dilbert would say "Jargon".

If you're a "Servant Salesperson" and not just a regular sales person it must become a central part of your job description to fix the product or service you sell. Your job is not only to represent the company to the customer/client but also to represent the client/customer to the company. You are a salesperson or influencer on both occassions. This often involves speaking truth to power and may on occassion even put your job in jeopardy.

One of my favorite authors is Harry Beckwith. I think all three of his books can be found in the Servant Selling Bookstore. His first one, Selling the Invisible, starts right in with this topic in the very first chapter titled, The Greatest Misconception About Marketing.

Beckwith begins: "In a free association test, most people - including most people in business - will equate the word "marketing" with selling and advertising: pushing the goods.

In this popular view, marketing means taking what you have and shoving it down buyers' throats. 'We need better marketing' invariably means 'We need to get our name out' -with ads, publicity, and maybe some direct mail.

Unfortunately , this focus on getting the word outside distracts companies from the inside, and from the first rule of marketing. The core of marketing is the service itself.

I am not suggesting that if you build a better service, the world will beat a path to your door. Many "better services" are foundering because of rotten marketing. Nor am I suggesting that getting the word out is enough. Getting the word out and attracting people to a flawed service is the preferred strategy for killing a service company.

The first step to marketing is your service.

Why Are Some Businesses (And Salespeople) More Successful Than Others?

I have been going back through some old cassette tape programs. (For those of you that are scratching your head on term "cassette tape"... I'm sure Wikipedia must have some elaborate explanation)... but I digress...

I cued up one called "Your Secret Wealth" developed by marketing guru Jay Abraham. I think people often listen to these programs hoping to find ways to be more clever and psychologically manipulative in belief that those are the "qualities" that lead to big success. I believe in solid technique and great tools when it comes to sales and marketing, but all my 50 plus years of experience points toward offering value, stellar customer experience, and an effective way of getting the word out.

Jay posed the question on tape 3, "Why are some businesses far more successful than others? and then proceeded to answer it this way:

"Without being protracted, let me give you the answer.

They have identified and understand better than their competition exactly what their customers want and need and they furnish it and they provide it.

As a paying proposition, as a business of which you are the captain, you have to understand what your customer.... whoever he or she or it may be wants and needs and you've got to be able to render or supply or provide it better, more advantageously, and this is a key... more evidently so they recognize what you are doing for them...

And that basically is what drives businesses to great success and will drive you to great success in all aspects of your life and financial well-being through the secret wealth principle."

Jay continues after giving 3 outstanding examples:

"One of the biggest philosophical breakthroughs we have established in the business arena is teaching people how to adopt an attitude of what I'll call a super-servant... because what your goal in life, in business, in jobs must be is to identify how many more and better and continuous ways you can help or serve or fulfill or clarify the non-verbalized needs and desires of your customer or marketplace.

The moment you switch your focus from internal to external, from self-serving to self-less, from what's in it for me to how can I be a super-servant....

How can I enrich the life, the business, the profitability, the satisfaction, or the happiness of the other side, your own situation starts improving massively!"

Some run on sentences.... but beautifully put.

Access" As A Way To Serve Your Customers and Clients

I was doing a coaching session with a Realtor yesterday talking about ways he could more effectively promote his business. I coach that great selling always begins with great service and one way or another my early sessions usually end up with some discussion of access. I knew this particular realtor offered stellar service on this point always either picking up or returning his calls very promptly.

My favorite image of "Access" is a very young John Kennedy Jr. or "John John" as he was called then, under his father's desk. He had access. We all give special access to those we love most. When my cell phone rings and I see it's my wife, I always pick up. She has access.

My father built several successful businesses from scratch. One was a temporary personnel business that catered to manufacturing companies that often ran shifts 24 hours a day. His "Unique Service Proposition" was taking a pager or cell phone to bed with him everynight. He also had "Minutemen" temporaries that could be ready to walk out the door in the middle of the night to take a temporary assignment on a minutes notice. When a night shift foreman called because a worker called in sick, didn't show, or they had to do an extra run of something, dad could be reached immediately. That's Access!!! And he built his business on this unprecedented willingness to be inconvenienced.

How can you give your customers better access? It seems like we live in a sea of businesses all to willingly to allow their customers to dangle on hold or spend an eternity navigating the phone tree in voice mail.


In one of my favorite books, You, Inc - The Art of Selling Yourself by Harry and Christine Beckwith they tell the story of a professional association that commissioned a study poling over 300 clients. They asked one simple question: “As a client, what do you value most?” They assumed that answers like fees and technical skills or competence would rise to the top.

When the study came back, fees ranked 9th and technical skills ranked 8th. What ranked first? “The individual’s demonstrated interest in developing a long-term relationship with my company.” The Beckwith couple thought the answer that came in 2nd was equally interesting: “The speed with which my phone calls are returned”.

Accessibility is square one in customer service. I heard about a customer the other day who was on hold for 1 1/2 Hours. That customer will go to another vendor when she has a chance.

Expectations of accessibility have skyrocketed in recent years for salespeople in the field. When I went to work as a field marketing rep expectations of a returned phone call within 24-48 hours was the norm. Today as a manager I actually get calls from irritated customers who placed a call to one of my reps 2-3 hours earlier and are upset because they “still” haven’t heard from them. The reason can be summed up in two words… cell phones. The expectation is that a marketing rep can return phone calls immediately.

Part of the solution may be to educate your customers about your work day and realities that include 2 hour meetings and long drives through territory with out cell coverage. Beyond that it’s critical to be in your voice mail at 8 am, 12 noon, and 5 pm without fail and block out 20—30 minutes after each check in to return phone calls.

Back to the Beckwith Story. In a follow up survey, the people who placed “speed of response” toward the top of their list were asked, “Does the person need to answer your questions when they return your call?” Those surveyed answered “No”. As it turned out all anyone wanted was a prompt call back. No one expected questions to be answered or problems solved immediately.

The Beckwith Story concluded that callers only wanted what most people yearn for everyday: They want to feel important to another person. People desire a quick response because it communicates, You are important to me.

Adapted from You, Inc by Harry and Christine Beckwith, Warner Business Books, New York, New York