Resolve or Not

I just love Seth Godin. He is a prolific thinker and blogger. He is creative. He's edgy. He enthusiastically approaches the world and questions convention and observes success and idiocy and talks about it.

Whether or not you make resolutions each year, your world has been seriously rocked these past two years... if you have been alive at all during this time. We used to say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. That is still true, but I believe it is not only insanity, but a recipe for your demise.

When you have time to ponder over these next few days heading into 2010, please access Seth's FREE book. It's chock full of thoughts and ideas from today's preeminent thinkers.

See if you find an attitude or an idea that you can implement next year to create your new successes and leave these past two years in the dust that they deserve to be in.

Isness and Oughtness

In the President's lecture upon receiving his Nobel Prize this morning, he quoted Dr. King: "I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present condition makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."

I thought, why is it that I can't recall hearing that before? But more than that, I thought why hasn't that been repeated over and over again over these 40-50 years since it was first uttered?

I am so moved by that thought and think maybe our mundane lives are not exactly what this thought is meant to inspire, it seems so huge, so gigantic a thought that it can inspire an entire nation.

Despite that though, I think, I must on a regular basis examine my 'isness' and aspire to my 'oughtness'.

How, now really, can that be a bad thing? How can that be anything but a good thing for any of us?

Is This the Party to Whom I Am Speaking?

You already know by now that I am old, and you are too if you recognize the title to the post. The hilarious Liky Tomlin did a routine on the Laugh In show of a telephone operator. (You're also old if you know what a telephone operator is.)

Anyway, she demonstrated really bad customer service skills and it was very funny because we've all experienced bureaucracies and bad service. It's not really funny while it's happening though, just later when you commiserate with your friends. And commiserate you do.

Consider sometime the amount of money you spend to get the phones to ring. Most advertising is aimed specifically at this goal. From your radio, TV, and print to your website(s) which is even tracked to verify that the caller got the number to call from the website.

You might even have spent money and the most expensive resource, time, to train your staff how to handle the incoming phone calls.

But have you ever mystery shopped yourself? You will find that much of the time, you are not putting your organization's best foot forward.

Take me for example. I call multiple dealerships every day and I am astounded at how poorly some dealerships route my call to the person I am trying to contact. I hear things like "yeah", "i don't know if he's here...", "why are you calling?", "what is your name?", "who were you calling for?" (that one after I've sat there several minutes alone). Most times, I phone a person's cell phone because I know they will answer if they can, and if not, I can leave my own message. If I leave a message with reception I don't know if it ever gets to the intended party, because I end up calling again. So either the message isn't delivered or the person chooses not to call back. Either way there is a broken process in your organization. And that doesn't even get at the initial aggravation which is the lackluster performance of the person answering your phone.

Every time your phone rings it should sound like a cash register. It is money. Whether it is buying a car, setting an appointment for service, or ordering parts, the caller wants to spend some money.

Do you have the right person, system, and process to be absolutely sure your customers have a chance to speak to the person that will help them spend money in your store?

You'll never know unless you call and test it. And nothing will change unless every person who picks up a phone is accountable to perform to your standards of excellence.

Why Ask Why

The difference between focusing on what you do well and stubbornly resisting change may be slight except for the mental rationale behind it.

The organization that knows their strengths and leverages the hell out of them is at the top of their pack.

Those that constantly say "that's not what we do" on the other hand are behind technically and financially, are always cutting expenses, tell stories about "bad" customers, have high employee turnover, etc.

But they are comfortable in their forest. They cannot see the trees of opportunity poking up now even in this rocky economic time.

Don't forget to ask, "why?" and especially "why not?"

If the only reason you don't do something is because you never did, that's not a good reason. Now is the perfect time to try majorly different things so you can achieve majorly different and better results.

Why can't we play differently? How are the new economic rules creating opportunities for us to leverage our strengths?

Me and Dentists and Help

Yet another dental escapade has me singing the Delighted Customer tune.

I have several crowns on my teeth. Why my favorite type of candy has to be chewy, gummy, jelly types is beyond me, but crowns and chewy candies do not mix. Plus, I love candy.

I was sitting in my hotel room one recent evening, watching a favorite show on TV and chewing some chewy, gummy candies. I should say candy, because it was the first piece I put in my mouth when my crown came off.

Oh, that feeling. You know it instantly. I ejected everything out of my mouth and wiped the red candy bits from the crown.

Great. Now I have a loose crown and am afraid it's going to come off in the night and choke me. I power through and rise early to find a Walmart and buy some temporary adhesive. Stick it on and arrive on time at my appointed dealer.

I get one sentence out of my mouth and the dang crown comes loose! So I try to nonchalantly hold it down with my tongue and talk and finish up my presentation with the loose tooth. Uggh!

When I get out, I use the GPS on my phone to find a dentist, rush in and beg the ladies at the desk to fit me in to their 9:30 hour with the dentist to glue my crown back on.

To my chagrin, this is an orthodontist. But, to my delight, the crew empathize with me and begin making calls to find a dentist who can help. They phoned several, and eventually found one for me. They even drew me a map to the office.

It sounds so simple now, but believe me, I was so relieved, so ecstatic that they would and did help me. These people in another town who will never have a chance to gain my business, who will never have me refer someone to then, yet they efficiently helped me. Ahhh, it is great to run across Good Samaritans.

These professionals COULD NOT have done that if they weren't experts at customer service. They absolutely COULD NOT have successfully and cheerfully done what they did if they didn't go about their jobs all day every day with enthusiasm and joy at helping people.

They proved another point for me that our brains kick in to another gear when someone needs help. We really do well at helping. Managing then becomes a job of setting that context for your staff... you are here to help (versus serve, or service). People come in to your business because they need help, you are there to provide help.

You will have a difficult job teaching professionalism, even customer service to adults that apply at your employ. But you definitely can hire for that. And you can set the expectation from the start that helping is what we do. It makes a difference in your customer's experience and morale at spending money with you and it makes a difference in your bottom line to have this type of staff on board.

Answer yourself honestly and ask if every person in your employ would have performed this way to a wayfaring stranger walking into your building. If you even pause, or if any person would not, then my question to you is "Why are they taking up your space?"

Don't Help Him; He's Drowning

I still remember a lesson from swimming class when I was a sophomore in high school... yes that was eons ago. Anyway, the point was made that while people are drowning, thrashing around, fighting for their life, that is the wrong time to jump in and try to save them. Their panic will cause them to climb on top of you and not allow you to pull them to safety, possibly even drowning you in the struggle. Instead, the instructor advised that you let the person wear out and then jump in and pull their tired, hopefully limp, bodies to safety.

This is similar also to the successful method for escaping an undertow in the ocean. Instead of madly paddling toward the shore, the swimmer should ride along with the tow parallel to the shore until they are eventually released and then can successfully make their way to the shore.

It is counter-intuitive in the moment to not fight and struggle, but makes perfect logic if you are able to step out of the moment and analyze.

I can't help but draw a similarity between my stubbornly clinging to a method or tool because I am comfortable and have succeeded this way before. Yet, when things are not progressing, that stubborn clinging keeps me repeating the same thing but hoping for different results.

I must not wear myself out, but somehow try to become limp and either allow myself to be pulled to safety, or watch to see logically another way out of my predicament.

Sometimes It's Good to Blow

I was on vacation last week. Many public restrooms were experienced. There was a stand out in San Jose'. After I washed my hands I walked over to the wall for what I thought would be the standard hand dryer or towel dispenser, but the thing on the wall wasn't standard.

It looked like an upside down opened-up hair clip. I figured out from the picture on the apparatus that I was supposed to put my hands fingertips down and pull my hands up. It was the coolest thing because it was an "air blade" that used a very high pressured air to wipe the moisture from my hands. Worked spectacularly.

Look at it here.

I hadn't given it another thought until I ran across an article today about Dyson who is the manufacturer and how they invented a new blade-less fan when they were inventing the air blade.

What an exciting company they are. Think how fun it would be to work there. Everybody knows who they are, and wants what they have, even if they can't or won't shell out the bucks to own one of their vacuums or fans or whatever.

I can't help it, I am inspired by excellence in every form. Now that was delightful.

Lloyd Schiller is My New Best Friend

If you're tuned in to service business, you already know the name of Lloyd Schiller. We were fortunate enough to hear Lloyd last week in Detroit. He is so energetic, so smart, so "let's go after what we want." His enthusiasm and desire to win are contagious.

Here's a sample of something that he shared:

• Customer with just 1 positive service visit = 33% intend to buy next vehicle there (Toyota survey)
• Customer with 5 positive service visits = 67% intend to buy next vehicle there
• Customers who like their advisor = 71% intend to buy their next vehicle there (JD Power survey)

Email Me and request my notes - there are too many ideas to put here, so let me know if you want a big list that I captured from him.

Day 2: Detroit

There are several buzz words bantied about to describe customer retention, but the terms aren't as important as the foundation of the value in retaining customers. You will start to see and hear things like CSSR, Free Agent Initiative, Customer Lifecyle Managerment, Customer Retention. The important thing here again, is the philosophical root. We need to retain our customers and take effective action to keep everyone on board.
Intuitively you know that this is true, that it is an important pursuit. As your resident analysis, let me share a few stats that apply: customers who have an outstanding experience are SIXTEEN times more likely to bring their vehicle back to your dealerhsip to service and maintain their vehicles as customers who have less than an outstanding experience. These same customers who have an outstanding experience are FIVE times more likely to repurchase another vehicle from your dealership.
Knowing these extreme return probabilities, it behooves us to figure out ways to be outstanding. Let's break down the word: OUT STANDING. Our charge is to be different in a great way from other experiences that our customers have. Remembering again that our customers do not simply compare you to other vehicle dealerships. On the contrary, they compare you to Walmart, Spangles, Amazon, Holiday Inn, United Airlines, Quik Trip, the DAV, zappos, Home Depot, the dry cleaners, the grocery store, etc. Literally every place your customers do business is a comparison point to you. Your job is to STAND OUT as different, nay, better than these commonplace places.
As I told you yesterday, two fantastic tools will be available at no charge next year to all SFE dealers that will help you define your retention and aid in managing and increasing it: DealerPulse Pro 2.0 and Preferred Owner Program.
The market shift is transforming our business like it never has before right now, and we have Free Agents that will soon need to be courted and won.
I'm anxious to get busy with you using these new tools... plus, more great news here is that you don't even have to wait til January to start using them. You can enroll at no charge now before the January rush and start benefiting now. Woohoo! Let's roll!

Day 1: Detroit

Straight from Mark LaNeve’s mouth was the description of the pillars to “great retail execution”. The pillars are Free Agent Initiatives, Essential Business Elements, Mark of Excellence, and Standards for Excellence.

Some things are the same and some things are very, very different. The timeline of all the things that have happened in the industry and in particular at GM over the past year are breathtaking in their stature. And they all set up the situation at hand and the fight and focus that GM has for succeeding, for coming back, for getting back on top.

I like this fight and this spirit. I like the fact that great experiences are the focus and the foundation. I am happy to see that because it really is what our focus and foundation of SFE has been… to be excellent, to grow, to exceed our customer’s expectations, to be more profitable.

Anyway, you guys are going to be thrilled to see how SFE is shaping up for 2010. Here’s just a couple of the components INCLUDED next year:

• GM Preferred Owner Program
• DealerPulse Pro 2.0
• CSI at same or minor adjustment
• Digital Performance Bonus as stand-alone bonus opportunity
• New Bonus Pay-outs based on Quarterly SalesYear-End Adjustment Bonus Opportunity

And, all this for the Same Enrollment Fee!

I’ll fill you in on all the details soon. October is enrollment month, so watch for details in the mail and you’ll be able to view the new process manual on www.gmsfelive.com starting October 5th.

More news tomorrow, so tune in!

It Was Their Last Chance

Everybody wanted bacon-burgers but me so that meant I had to go pickup so I could pick out my different meal. I really wanted a salad and told myself the asian chicken would be really good. Love the dressing, love the almonds, love the crunchy noodles.

So off I go to the drive up, give the order, pay and then pull up to the pick up window and hear the dreaded words: "could you pull forward, your grill order will be 8 minutes cuz we're out of chicken?"

You're out of chicken at 12:30? How can you be out of chicken? We could substitute a BLT salad. She had no idea the irony of that so-called substitution. No, I'll wait.

So yeah, I'm miffed but thinking it will be worth it to have the crunchy salad. I just turn up the tunes and try to enjoy the chance to do nothing without feeling guilty.

Drive the meals back to the gang, unwrap our lunches and what do I find? A dry salad, no dressing, no almonds, no crunchy noodles. You can't be serious! I imagine I am McEnroe throwing a tantrum on the court. If I was a Yosemite Sam, the smoke would be shooting out my ears and the train whistle blowing. Not to mention the unmentionable cursing noises coming from my lips.

I can't even articulate how angry I was. Here's a clue. It happened 3 days ago and I am just now able to sit down and write about it.

Sometimes a mistake really impacts people. And this one impacted me. I will never go to that restaurant again. No, not that chain anywhere in the world. Because it makes me relive that day and the incompetence that I was subjected to. I'm mad, it smarts, and that was their last chance. The asian salad must have crunchy noodles! It must be delivered properly and completely. You don't get a second chance to deliver what it is that you say you are delivering!

The Powdered Cream Has Got to Go

Okay, okay, you’ve done everything to help your customers spend more money with you while waiting for their vehicle repair. Now go sit in their chairs for an hour and tell me if you want to do it. Is that area comfortable? Probably not tremendously. Here are some ideas for how to make the wait more comfortable, but remember, this is only after you have made as much money out of the area as possible (see yesterday’s rant):

• Wi-Fi
• Tables and chairs where I can work on my laptop
• Food and beverage – better yet, why not follow the lead of a Minnesota dealer who negotiated with a neighboring sandwich shop for discounts on their sandwiches for every customer that the dealer delivers there each day? Why wouldn’t your next door fast food space give your customers $2 off or a free drink if you guaranteed them 10 or 20 customers every single weekday between 11 & 2?
• Lose the powdered creamer... yuk!
• Test drive in a new vehicle
• Appraisal of my vehicle
• Discounts or coupons for completing in-depth surveys on the dealership’s service
• Up to date magazines… have you looked at your offerings lately? Please!
• Play area for my tots
• Massage chair
• Something else to do – run your shuttle to the nearby home center or discount store or nail salon or someplace that your customers could shop while waiting

Captivity Can Equal Dollars

Can you think of another demographic more perfect to market to than customers waiting for their vehicle to be serviced? They are current users of your product, they are probably bored, and they are definitely captive. Yet I have yet to enter a dealership that is taking full opportunity of this audience.

There are things you can do to make their wait more comfortable, but how about making their wait more lucrative?

Tell me why you don’t have catalogs or order forms or a kiosk set at the GM Accessories site so customers can see ideas for making their vehicle more “me” or more cool or more comfortable or more workable.

Tell me why you don’t have a Dealership store with car-themed stuff, cleaning or maintaining supplies, duplicate keys, touch-up paint, clothing, and ready-to-buy accessories.

Tell me why there isn’t compelling OnStar or XM radio information, hopefully electronically, for those who haven’t yet signed up or could use an upgrade.

We’re captive. We’re bored. We want to shop. Do you honestly think that the airline’s in-flight shopping catalogs would still be in print if those weren’t generating some serious cash? Please.

Password Please

I know it's bad when I've forgotten my password just to sign in to my blog. oops. Just to let you know, this little experiment had two purposes:

1. KEEP ME WRITING. I'm a writer and if I don't, I rust. this was a way to keep me writing stuff that's fit for other people to read. lately, I've been writing more bodice rippers than blogs and that's okay for a change, but I'm getting back today, to blogging.
2. KEEP YOU INFORMED. It's really hard to send emails out to all 25 dealerships that I support without several of them coming back. yeah, if there is something critical it gets a phone call or a personally addressed email, but the day to day is best addressed here.

I know my password now. I'm in. I'm on.

I Have a Perfect Pair

Drummers know the name Vic Firth. He's a drummer, but most famous for making drumsticks. Working with what was available wasn't good enough for him. He wanted perfectly matched straight sticks and had to manufacture them himself to get them. The industry had the attitude that perfectly straight sticks could not be made and that you could not pair sticks. Vic did not resign himself to this attitude.

He was determined that it could be done and he did it. Now he makes the product that everyone wants, commands about 60% of the market, and wants 95%. Every drummer aspires to own a pair of Vic Firth sticks. I'm not a drummer but I am a cook, so when I found out that he put his drumstick expertise to work on pepper and salt mills, I had to have them... they are spectacular.

Vic's motto is to always be an unsatisfied customer. But the statements from his staff impress me even more. They say "we don't put caps on our standards". "We are constantly modifying." "We are constantly looking for improvements."

And that's the point. That passion to be the best, to daily look for a better way, to have the expertise at a thing and putting your energy at it. Now that's excellence.

If you'll excuse me, I've got some modifications to make.

Out-Polite

I didn’t come up with this term myself… darn it. I heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy… Anyway, I love it and I am going to use it: “Don’t just out perform, out-polite”. Even without a whole bunch of explanation, you know what it means. And recently I had a fantastic experience at a high end restaurant that totally makes the point.

Check it out. I was in a big city and we went to a famous steak house, Morton’s. You may have been there; if not, imagine Disney in a tux. From the time that we entered the building, politeness was poured on us.

The first thing that stood out to me was when we were seated, and the table was beautiful and had wonderful china, crystal, silver and white napkins, the server instantly pulled up the napkins and told us since we were wearing dark colors she wanted to replace the napkins with black so we wouldn’t have a lap covered with white lint when we left. That was way cool! I have never, ever had anyone do that before. I don’t think I’ve ever had lint on my clothes from a napkin, but the fact that she made big deal of noticing us and making that change was so impressive and made me feel special. Was there a cost to this? I can’t see how it would cost the restaurant more to have half white and half black napkins, so my answer is no. It was free and it made a huge positive impact.

The next things were rather typical, “have you been here before”, “here is what we are famous for”, where are you from”, “may I take your drink order”. These were all done and done well. Here was the best part though, he directed us to where the ladies room is! Now you guys probably think that is nothing, but us women really appreciated this. I mean, there is never a time when you don’t visit the ladies room. You know the main reason that women go to the ladies room in a group? So we won’t feel stupid searching around a strange place for the ladies room… there is safety in numbers. The point is that the server anticipated our need and provided the information to us before we ever needed it. This is my favorite thing he did all evening. Was there a cost to this? Of course not. Totally free, totally unexpected, totally exceeded expectations.

The food was the best ever. I mean it, it was THE best steak I have ever eaten. It was also the most expensive meal I have ever bought for just me… it cost as much as usually 3 or 4 people eat for. The server presented live examples of the steaks, showed us the vegetables, the desserts (which the soufflé has to be ordered at the beginning of the meal if you want). Then after this mouth-watering display, gave us menus to read. Brought the food on beautiful dishes, warmed plates, special steak knives etc. took orders for more drinks, for dessert (if you want a non-souffle dessert)… oooh, here was a great twist: offered two forks to take the guilt out of dessert and offered a take home box to make it even more guilt-free.

Finally, now this really was the coup de gras. They escorted us to the door which they opened when we finished. Didn’t just wait in the back for us to leave so they could come out and scoop up their tips, actually came and pulled out the table (it was a booth), escorted us to the door and opened it and bid us farewell until next time.

Fantastic experience. The product was outstanding, but I would not have happily paid for it if the service had not been outstanding. The three people I encountered personally there out-polited every service person I have ever encountered. I speak constantly and enthusiastically about them to everyone I know. Their out-politeness is the best and cheapest advertising they could ever do and it is the longest lasting.

Why is it that we don’t do this? Why in the world will managers who are so intent on cutting expenses, not rely on this tactic to grow business? Help me to understand why this is not the smartest investment we can make in our day to day operation. Because you cannot. Maybe you did not think of it before. So try doing it. Try out-politing. You do not need special skills, steal these ideas and apply to your operation, you can do them. Then look for the differences, the money, the productivity, the efficiency, the reciprocation, the return customers, the referrals. The rave reviews are just waiting to be written for you.

It's not the Kids

What are the demographics of online users? Your typical reply will be that it's teenagers and twenty-somethings. But your reply is not based in fact. The thing is, people with stable jobs, with income, with time, with grown kids, are online. This article on the demographics of online users reveals who is online and what they're doing. They are using it for research, for finding out what's hot, for looking up their old school chums, etc. They are what some of you will admit is your favorite customer type: married 50-somethings.
Get out of that stale old box you've put yourself in and realize that your internet shoppers are your shoppers, period. They are using the internet to check you out, to arm themselves, to make appointments, to decide what to purchase, to learn how to purchase, to become comfortable with their purchase. They are the people you've always sold to. They are taking a different route to you now, but they are still coming. Are you responding, are you connecting, are you paying attention?
They have money to spend. Pay attention.

Day 3

2 Major Topics :

Sales Workbench
If you think your sales process takes too long, contains too much duplication of efforts, has too many chances for mistakes (especially with all the incentives, stackable and not) Sales Workbench is here to save the day. omg, the things you can do here are great. AND, specific access to parts and pieces of the tool can be customized for every single employee who you want to give access. Don't worry if you have an employee you don't want in vehicle locator, just customize his profile for whatever portions of the process you want him to have. It's is so great though that once you find out a customer name, you can start building their profile and you only have to do it once, no need to ask and ask for customer data throughout the sales process. You can build or find a vehicle, price it, see what incentives he is eligible for, apply incentives and not accidentally stack one in there that isn't allowed, enroll in OnStar and XM. Whew. Love the productivity possibilities. And just think how impressed your customers will be when your sales consultants are using technology to capture their data and build their deal. Cool. Very cool.

Digital
The presenter was David Kain of the Kain Automotive Group: how to sell successfully on the internet. Thanks to the internet, your inventory is spread everywhere, shoppers consider the internet the showroom, shoppers value anonymity and access, and they want to see and not just hear about why you are the place to spend their money. You don't have to be a research junkie like me to appreciate his statistics, because they were few, but powerful.

• 92% of shoppers purchase from a dealer OTHER than where they started
• 24% bought the model they intended to buy when they started shopping
• 42% bought a pre-owned vehicle even though they started out shopping for new

The opportunities await us to contact our shoppers quickly, artistically well, continually, and with options. Have you heard me say this before? Yes, of course. Because that's what sells vehicles.

Marching order #1 is perfect your phone skills. Wow, did he make his point here. The phone's got to be your primary tool. When we get a lead, we have to electronically respond and it better be quick and good, no great. But mainly, we have to skillfully make a phone connection with that shopper. And that is where our opportunity for winning is. The opportunity is there because we really stink at it. Here are some more powerful statistics from 8000 dealerships surveyed by NADA:

• 74% of inbound phone calls, dealerships did not ask for an appointment
• 84% quoted a price, discounts, or price for a trade on an incoming phone call
• 66% didn't ask for the customer's phone number
• 42% didn't ask the customer's name
• 68% told the customer to sell vehicle themselves and NOT trade it in at the dealership

The great news is that this is achievable, it is not hard to figure out, it is made up of things that we know we should be doing, that we can do... I will help you. Let's get busy.

Day 2 - new GM and SFE

What a cool unveiling today!  I saw the revised, no, overhauled DealerPulse Pro 2.0 today.  You are going to love this tool for tracking your customer retention.  It is so simple.  It is so deep.  It's really got it going on.  
Up to now, all I really knew was that the retention metric was changing from 2 customer pay visits within 12 months to 1 customer pay visit within 12 months.  That's a good thing.  It is more realistic to track that way.

What I saw today was how completely streamlined the navigation is.  Right when you log in you have a dashboard of your stats.  You can print a 2-page executive summary that shows all the stats in graphic form.  You can quickly and easily pull customer lists with a huge array of criteria.  Who's spending money, how often, on what, who isn't spending money, how can we target customers to market to, which employees are successfully retaining employees.

This is a tool you can use to make decisions and take actions that can really hit your bottom line.

And guess what?  You get it for FREE!  

If you have DealerPulse Pro 1.0, just by enrolling now you can eliminate your monthly fees.  

If you don't have DealerPulse Pro enroll now for free.  No set up fee, nothing.

Watch for your sign up letter containing your password and let's get this thing started.

new GM and SFE

I'm in an old hotel in Cleveland... beautiful and historical, but a really R E A L L Y slow internet connection, so I will keep this short.
Day 1 at the National SFE meeting - good news about new GM and new SFE:
* SFE is operational even through the bankruptcy of GM
* I've told you this before, but it's really special, so I'm telling you again; Maritz has Critical Vendor Status and so continues to receive payments from GM
* SFE payments continue for all brands/dealerships participating in new GM
* Q3 & Q4 SFE payments will be made
* VERY EXCITING - plans, BIG plans are being made for SFE for 2010
* SFE will be new - it is evolving, BUT the fundamentals that are our strength will not change; i.e. dealership presence of facilitators, focus on customer experience and dealership profitability.
* VItal for us all to embrace change AND perform. Think sales, CSI, customer retention, and digital.

What Windshield Time Does To Me

Check out my latest yard art acquisition: rusty barbed wire ball! (Actually I brought this home in April.) I've been coveting one of these for 3 or 4 years but they are always out of reach behind some farmer's fence... besides, how am I gonna hoist this bad boy into the trunk of the Saab all by myself. Not to mention wearing a dress or sandals or whatever. I finally got serious when I actually drove past a shop selling these down in southeast Kansas one day only to be disappointed that the shop was out of business and up for auction.
All the way home I schemed on how to get one. I went online and searched for rusty barbed wire, barbed wire balls, pasture art, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I decided to try Craig's List asking for my prize. Not even one hour went by when I got a response from a fellow with several in his field mine for the taking.
I lured my husband into bringing his Colorado out to a Burns Kansas pasture where he and the farmer hoisted my selected prize into the bed of the truck.
Cool. Love my trophy. And it was free except for the hauling.
It was so cool that my request came back so quickly.
What's this got to do with excellence? Everything. I was a consumer, I was a shopper, even though I gave the farmer no money, I got what I wanted and he got what he wanted. The excellence part was the quick response, the ease of dealing with the merchant, ease of acquisition. Honestly, this transaction set some standards for me. I'll be subconsciously measuring other transactions against this one.
Moral of the Story: your customers don't simply compare you to other car dealers, they compare you to every other vendor and transaction in their experience. Do yourself a favor and harvest excellent actions from your experiences. Learn and borrow from Disney, Starbuck's, Dillon's, eBay, Facebook, and every mom-and-pop favored business you come across.

Lessons Refined

I noticed a presumptuous little list of learnings from a babe trumpeting his wisdom on his 28th birthday. No wait, it was his impending 28th birthday. He isn’t even 28 yet. Not to be a snob. Not to be one of those old people everyone hates who walked 4 miles to school everyday in the snow and has seen it all, but it was just funny to me that a not-yet-28-year-old was dispensing life lessons.
Then I read them and some were pretty good. Being the perfectionist that I am, I have added my own 40-something-year-old comments and hope that Marc will forgive my audacity (he does, after all, run a really cool blog, so I have masses to learn from him.)
1. If you’re smiling right now, you’re doing something right.
2. The biggest mistake you can make is doing nothing because you’re scared to make a mistake.
3. No matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something. Win-Win. Sorry Marc, but this is just not so. Experiences sometimes are bad, really bad and through no fault of our own. The one correct point here is that if we are wise we will learn something, but it has that caveat. There are still areas at which I, all of us, continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over, we don’t learn, so that’s why I say if we are wise. Maybe it should be if we can stop long enough, step back, and think about things, THEN we will learn from them.
4. If you catch yourself working hard and loving every minute of it, don’t stop. You’re on to something big. Because hard work ain’t hard when you concentrate on your passions. Baloney. Don’t confuse hard with difficult or unpleasant. Hard is okay. Loving every minute of it? I am unconvinced that anybody could ever do that, but I’m all for trying.
5. It’s not about getting a chance, it’s about taking a chance. You’ll rarely be 100% sure it will work. But you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Sometimes you just have to go for it! This is a repeat of #2. The concept is good, stop sitting around on your duff and do something. I just don’t think it bears repeating within such a short list. Look out, #6 is another take on it… I am seeing a theme here, I think we've uncovered Marc's brand.
6. Complaining is like slapping yourself for slapping yourself. It doesn’t solve the problem, it just hurts you more. Again, I have to refine the term, although I love the slapping analogy. Complaining can be good when you have an improvement in mind. Now whining is another thing. Whining does not solve the problem.
7. There’s a big difference between knowing and doing. Knowledge is basically useless without action.
8. You can’t change who you are. You can only change what you know and how you apply this knowledge.
9. It is okay to be angry. It is never okay to be cruel.
10. Remember, change happens for a reason. Roll with it. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. Change happens regardless of whether there is a reason that we realize or can fathom. Sometimes time is just going and that’s why things are different, you know, decaying. Anyway, my opinion is that “rolling with it” is kind of like being unconscious and sort of keeping on with what you’ve been doing. It’s conventional. It is not living intentionally. A more fitting final lesson to me is anticipation. Imagining where the “puck is headed” rather than waiting for it to land in the goal. That interest in looking forward and deciding how I intend to act, not always just react, is a big powerful piece of wisdom.
I deleted some of the “light” lessons, so click here if you want to read Marc’s complete list.

Don't Be Stale

I can't believe how much shopping and pre-shopping I've been doing on the internet lately. The reason I can't believe it is because I'm already an avid internet user, but I've never done so much comparing as it seems I'm doing now.
Guess what? So are your shoppers. The first way to turn me off on a vendor is a crummy web site. Don't be guilty of it or your shoppers will never be your customers or clients or whatever you want to call those who actually spend money with you. Over 80% of your customers are shopping your web site before they ever contact you. Don't assume that the number of official leads is an accurate count on who's looking you up on the internet... that's so 20th century.
So anyway back to the site... sure, the obvious things like a service special for winterizing your vehicle when it's now June stands out like a really dumb thing to have posted on your site. And believe me, I could look at a dozen dealership websites today and half of them would be committing this sin.
But also, how about being relevant? How about using this fantastic tool to REALLY, affordably, communicate directly with your shoppers? Have you let people know what you are doing to keep your doors open? How 'bout adjusting your marketing pitch? How relevant are you and your product? Here's a non-vehicle example: the iPhone. With the change in the economy, it's evolved from a status symbol to a money-saving replacement for multiple devices--a home phone, a media player, a game console, and an on-the-go computer. The "cool factor" is still there, but the change in messaging allows consumers to feel responsible while buying what was once perceived exclusively as a luxury item.
Put your thinking cap on! Be flexible. Be a designer. Tune into the world and entice them to you with what's "green", what's patriotic, what's a wise purchasing decision, what's efficient, etc. Don't let the environment create your message. Put your own optimistic and engaging message out there.
Oh yeah, if you haven't shopped your site lately, shame on you... take a look and try to see it as your shoppers see it. I know you'll see an opportunity that is crying to be addressed.

Are They Just Whiners

I recently read a great article in the newspaper travel section on how to complain. A vacationer had had a terrible experience at Disney and couldn’t get satisfaction afterward. The lesson here wasn't so much how to complain, although that was the point, but from my perspective, it was how to receive complaints. And even an iconic organization like Disney apparently falls victim to being human. That's sort of a relief, but in the end the lesson should be learned by us all.
Here's the deal; the vacationer had a bad experience at Disney and after getting home drafted an overly complete laundry list of all of the pains and inconveniences suffered during their stay. The travel expert explained to the vacationer that they had made too long a list of ills and came off looking like a whiner. What they should have done, and he did for them to get a resolution, was to narrow down their complaints to one or two significant problems and offer Disney a way to make things right. Thinking as a consumer, vacationer, abused customer, I realize that that is what we never ever do. We have one pretty significant "beef", but then when we retell the story in our heads and to all of our friends, we add in all the extra slights that may or may not have occurred in order to bolster our charges of what a sub-par organization we have come across. Think about it. You do it. I know you do. Even those who think they never fib, they are always of the highest moral integrity do it. It's as though we have to fortify our complaint to prove how our slight must've happened because everything else was wrong too. In Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, he notes the way that Rudy Giuliani cleaned up Times Square started with the subways and diligently, daily removing graffiti. We all, even criminals, make a judgment that a sloppy place, covered with graffiti isn't well cared for; crime could occur with less a chance of getting caught than in a tidy place which we reason has more "eyes" and wouldn't allow crime.
That same reasoning carries over to where we will do business. If it is clean, tidy, up-to-date, then the business must be clean, tidy, and up-to-date. If the business area is dirty, untidy, run down, then the business must be shady, cheating, behind the times, etc. It so doesn't matter if the logic is faulty, or if you know instances that prove it wrong. It's in people's heads so we just have to deal with it as if it is true. Because it is.
Now for you taking complaints, yeah, I know I took the long way around the bush to get here, but stay with me. Your customers seldom really bring complaints to you. It really takes a lot to muster the courage to speak up and tell you what you've done wrong. So when they do, they fortify their complaint with everything else that is slightly wrong that to them obviously contributes to the ultimate offense they have suffered. They will not ever simply say, "you surprised me with a higher price on my repair invoice." Oh no, they will tell you that you didn't greet them courteously, you didn't take the time to hear their real needs, you didn't offer them a ride to work, you didn't keep them informed of the status of their repair, you took too long to deliver the vehicle to them, you did not deliver the vehicle in as pristinely clean a condition as they brought it in, etc., etc., etc.
Soooooo, when you hear a big list of issues from your customer, resist with all your might the temptation to label them a whiner. Instead, listen. Listen with both your ears. Take note of every item. Then ask the customer to prioritize their problems… is it the price of the repair above all? Remember, they are fortifying their story for you, you must resist the temptation to dismiss them and instead be like a forensic investigator looking for the root problem. Find out what the customer would like for you to do to make things right, to retain them as a customer.
And then do it. Do it joyfully. Do it quickly. Do it with ceremony and flourish. And move on with joy that you have corrected a problem and retained a customer. That story will be told and retold and to your benefit vs. what will be told and the dollars that will not be spent with you otherwise.
btw – this is not just a vehicle servicing story, this is about every type of service that any business provides. AND, this is big, with that list of things that you captured, go out and attend to them too because those "little" things should not be happening to give anyone ammunition to load a faulty story about you and your organization.

Make It Convenient

What's the major influence for where customers do business wherever they do business: CONVENIENCE. Other things play, but that's the major influencer. Here's a convenience I just got from my dentist that makes my point.

I received a paper postcard from my dentist a month or so ago telling me that I needed to call and make an appointment for my 6-month check-up. I was surprised because I was sure that I had made my appointment the last time I was in… BIG mistake on their part! If you are not setting up the next appointment while the customer is there, you are making a HUGE mistake. Estimate when they should come in, find out the day of the week and time of day they prefer and set an appointment!

Okay, so I did call in but it was a Friday afternoon and the office was closed. I forgot about the appointment and didn’t try again. Now, here’s the point to the story: today I got an email including a link to the dentist's website to set my appointment. Guess what I did? That’s right, I clicked on the link and made an appointment.

So maybe you haven't been on the Continuous Appointment bandwagon. Maybe you don't think you have the staff to make outbound calls to invite customers for appointments. Maybe you are spending a lot of $$$ sending out paper postcards with coupons and invitations. Why not try email marketing to touch your existing customers and invite them over for a Pit Stop, or a Goodwrench Car Care Package or a "gee, we haven't seen you in awhile" check-up. Try a simple message with an appointment scheduling link... make sure the email isn’t too cluttered with info that the appointment link is not the major stand-out item.

Oh, and start collecting your customer's email addresses. Like I really have to say this, but customer info isn't complete if it doesn't contain an email address.

Techy Things That You Should Know How To Do

• LEARN TO TYPE FOR GOODNESS SAKE. If you are one of those people who did not take Typing in school, you have just been hunting and pecking and two-fingering your keyboard. Aargghh! Get busy, be productive, be efficient, stop wasting time. Go to this site: http://www.typing-lessons.org/ and learn how to do it right.

• HOW TO TYPE AN URL IN YOUR BROWSER- if you want to go to a dot com site, you don't have to memorize that whole line. I definitely suggest you bookmark sites that you frequent, meanwhile if someone tells you to go to a dot com site, click in your url box to activate it, then type the word… here's the trick, hold down the Crtl key while tapping the Enter key. It will automatically add the http, www, and/or com to the site for you. Got it? Now try finding these sites yourself: kansasboatdocks, amazon, weather, craigslist, youtube, gmexcellence

• HOW TO DO A GOOGLE SEARCH – don't you hate it when you get results you didn't want? It's not the browser's fault, it's yours. Sometimes just typing in Chevrolet or Acadia or Girls Gone Wild will get you what you want. Learn to use the plus and minus sign operators which tell it to search for exactly a certain word or eliminating other words. This is good for terminology that is global and applies to vast ranges of topics. For example, if you want to find out about dolphins but not the football team type in dolphins –football and Google will know to eliminate any football references. If you want info on the newspaper The Onion, type in +The Onion to make sure it gives you returns including "the"and not a bunch of things on vegetables. Tip: do not put a space between the + or – and the word. Here's a great little site if you want more search coaching: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/06/20-tips-for-more-efficient-google.html

It's Between Your Ears

Are you a penguin or a peacock? It is easy to assume that we are open, that we value other styles and perspectives. Sometimes if we just look around us we will see that we are a bunch of penguins. The danger there is that as our world is changing, even disintegrating beneath us, our comfort at always doing the same things traps us and sentences us to failure. Watch this.

Fu Man Chu

So today was another one filled with windshield time and lots of familiar prairie on each side. I plugged in my MP3.
These are tough days, we all are worried, we all feel affected by things so out of our control, so out of any control, so much different and worse than we remember ever being. We vent, we complain, we retract. I hear it every day and it is exhausting.
I was thinking about what really helps, what really makes a difference to our success when we are so frozen with fear. And then the lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks… "Some day, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dyin'." (click dyin' to hear Tim sing it.)
This song is not the notion of a bucket list – all those things we want to see/do/accomplish before we kick the bucket. It's about being purposeful.
As I listened I couldn't help but think that it so applies to our car business woes. What will we do now that we've been given this death sentence?
Will we walk away from the car business? Will we stay in fighting and doing what we've excelled at all along? Will we not even listen to the death sentence and keep going along as if nothing has changed?
My cousin was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was dead in 6 weeks. The physicians didn't tell her "we can cure this" or, "you have 6 weeks to live". Nobody said anything so concrete. It was all just let's do this surgery and that treatment and all was lost in a whirl of activity.
I don't want to do that. I don't want to not think, to not be me. I don't want someone else "driving". I don't want to go along on someone else's agenda and then be gone or look back and realize that I didn't make choices, that I didn't live like I was dyin'.
In other words, is every day spent doing what I want to do? Am I thoughtful about where I spend my energy? Is it fun? If not, then why am I doing it? If not, what is keeping me from watching the eagle fly, being the friend a friend would want, going 2.7 on a bull named Fu Man Chu?
Your business is your business. My passion is that you are spending your energy on your passion. My role is to tell you when your baby is ugly, to give you the outside perspective, to question you, to applaud you, to say, live like you were dyin! Stop doing things that drain without repaying. Start doing things that you want to do, that make money, that support your interests, that fulfill your dreams for your life's work.
You have no time to lose. Because the death sentence has been pronounced. The car business is never going to be like it has been again. We are living at a tipping point. I am an American and I think that this is the best place in the world to be. We are the only ones to say it is our constitutional right to pursue happiness. We conquer things. We win. We figure out how to thrive. Lots of industries have come and gone. Lots of great ideas have come and been bettered. For me and my house, we are working to be part of the next great thing in this best place because the alternative, for me, is unthinkable.

Demographics that Fit

I was blithely calling this a milestone year; major birthdays for my husband and me, milestone wedding anniversary. I don't know, it just seemed sort of exciting. That is until I received an invitation to join the AARP today. Come on! At least wait until AFTER my milestone birthday... it's over six months away. I suddenly realized that I am not in a rush to enter that demographic. I mean honestly, when you think of the AARP you think of blue-haired ladies with gloves and colored pocket books.
We all take ourselves pretty seriously, we have a picture of ourselves, what we look like, how cool we are, how smart we seem, if our butt seems bigger in these pants... well maybe just the females think about that one.
This way we see ourselves is how we choose what to buy and where we buy it. Think about the vehicle you drive, the restaurants you return to again and again, the stores you choose to patronize. CTS drivers vs. Aveo drivers vs. Outlook drivers. Steakhouse patrons vs. all-you-can-eat patrons vs. sports bar patrons. Walmart patrons vs. Target patrons vs. Ace Hardware patrons. Of course we mix it up a bit, it isn't all so neat and segregated, but there is a pattern.
So look around you and you usually see more of yourself. It's almost like a pack. We want to belong. We want to be comfortable. That, I think is the reason some people return to your dealership again and again, and others not so much. It isn't the price, it isn't the location. It's the feeling that they "fit" there. Your stage is set for certain people to feel a certain way whether you've realized it or not. The question is, can you open your arms any wider and embrace (figuritively, of course) your customers so more of them feel more comfortable spending money in your facility?

How Do I Give You Feedback

I have a loyalty card for my grocery store. I go there for a lot of reasons and now the loyalty card is a perk that just makes the decision easier even if I only need to pick up one thing. Anyway, I was doing my weekly shopping the other day and was irritated by the bagger. And I reminded myself that this is a recurring problem. I don't like the way they bag my groceries and I get a little irritated every time I leave the store. It's not a giant thing, but it is irritating. They put all the cans and bottles that I buy in the same bag so that it weighs 122 pounds and then my other bag has chips and bread and weighs 2 pounds. They try to give me a couple of plastic bags even though I brought in my own canvas bags. But it shows that they don't understand me as a customer (trying to reduce plastic consumption and waste), or as a user (have to use a hoist to get one bag from the car into my house because it's so lopsidedly heavy). They just look simple-minded, not thoughtful, not delighting.
As I was pushing my cart to my car I realized that there isn't an easy way to give feedback to them. I mean, I could tell the bagger he's doing it badly. I could demonstrate how I want it done. I could step up at the counter and give them a piece of my mind, but how effective would that be? Am I sure I would get this now "trained" bagger the next time I come in? Am I sure that he would be open to my instruction once I gave it? No on both accounts. Should I go home and type up a letter, or go to their website to give them a piece of my mind? I could, but I don't. The thing is, even though I have my loyalty card, the store is convenient, I prefer it over other stores, every single time I leave there, I am not delighted or even pleasantly satisfied. And they don't even know that. The only feedback they solicit is whether I "found everything" when I step up to the cashier. That is not the mark of an excellent organization. All I'm saying is that my loyalty is at risk because they assume I will be back. They assume they are doing a good enough job because nobody is yelling and screaming at them. They assume they will be as busy today and they were yesterday. As Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) would say, "big mistake, huge!"

Your Dog is Fat

So my dad told me my dog is fat.  I do not respond well to negative feedback about my dog.  Especially since her appearance is all about me.  He might as well've said "you made your dog fat."  That is how it sounded in my head.  Then I told myself, "well, he is old"  and "he says things bluntly" and "oh no, what if I am killing my dog with too much food?".  Anxiety, anxiety.  Even at my age, and at his age, that is what my father sometimes does to me.

Meanwhile, I have cut back on treats... for her I mean.  He would never tell me I am getting fat.  Anyway, I digress.  I have gotten back into the habit of daily walks or play time.  The weather is great and it is easier to be outside now, so we will both take advantage of it to tone up a bit.  Even though I still don't think she is fat, exercise is good for everybody even if they aren't fat. 

There are things that are said that stick with you.  It is hard to say what words will resonate, or stick around and have an influence, but to me that is a little bit inspirational.  Even though I did not give him any satisfaction at the time that he was telling me something to do differently, I did sort of obsess about it and did some things differently.

Your customer too might not say yes today when you suggest something.  But you have to keep trying.  You have to keep looking out for them, sharing your expertise, counseling, and nudging.  That is your lot.  It will pay off, oh yes it will.  Unless of course you tell your customer her dog is fat.  Then there is no way she will buy from you.  Forget about it. 

Back from Detroit

I was in Detroit last week at the SFE Facilitator Learning Event. Lots of updates, new expectations, new ideas, etc. It's too much to put into one post so I'm gonna use several posts and share it in smaller chunks.

As we were closing up on Friday, Mark LaNeve came in and made some memorable comments. Here's what I got from him:

• GM has 3 focus areas for this year: Digital Selling, Customer Retention, Preferred Owner Program
  
• What is critical: execution on every play, every day
• SFE is GM's ability to communicate with the best dealerships. As long as there is a GM, there will be an SFE. Lots of things have changed, many things have been eliminated, SFE is critical and it is still here.
• Fully expect SFE dealerships to be standing after the planned 40% dealership reduction because these dealerships have the highest customer satisfaction/retention and the highest profitability
• With vehicle sales going down, customer retention is critical to GM's and every dealer's survival. Our focus has got to be on how to keep every customer we get and use tools effectively to maintain them.
  
• We've got the products: ALL divisions of GM are above average in the latest J.D.Power survey results on customer satisfcation with the vehicle. Now we have to focus on the customer experience - making it in the customer's eyes: convenient, competitive in value, and a personal relationship with local dealer.
  

CSI tracking

I've taken this link off the top of the blog: Email Me FOR THE 2009 Excel CSI TRACKING WORKSHEET, for a GREAT reason!  

Starting fresh for Q2 when you log in to DealerPulse, you will see a new row called quarter-to-date that will show your up-to-the-minute CSI score for the quarter.

Finally, after we've lobbied for almost 5 years, DealerPulse will publish, only for SFE dealerships to see, your up to the day CSI score for the SFE quarter.

Wa-hoo!  Watch for it!

Ya Do What Ya Gotta Do

Once a year I see my doctor for an annual check up and she gives me a referral appointment letter to the imaging center to set another appointment for a mammogram. First off, I don't look forward to any appointment with any doctor, but the mammogram is definitely at the bottom of the list of places I don't want to go. But go I do. After all, this test has saved 1000s of lives, my mother-in-law and sister included, by revealing something that shouldn't be growing there so it can be removed before it goes too far.
So I make my appointment and I go, and I don't wear deodorant that day like they tell me. If you haven't had this done before, I will explain the procedure. A mammogram is like an x-ray that is gotten by two cold metal plates smashing your boob to as flat and even a pancake as is possible. The technician smashes the right one from top to bottom, then from side to side, then she smashes the left one from top to bottom, then from side to side. Then you stand there and wait while she looks at the pictures to make sure she got a good picture, and most of the time she comes back and re-smashes one of your boobs again.
The word "smash" is a kind term for what she does to me. It pinches and squeezes. No that's not bad enough either. It feels like a car backed over just your boob and then parked there and you couldn't get out from under it. And if you don't have boobs, then think of another body part that sticks away from your body and having a car park on it. But I tell myself that it is necessary and that I can take it and that the alternative is worse. Frankly, it hurts like hell. And you have to stand there and not breathe while the picture is taken. But you have done it before so you know you can survive it again. Also, it's pretty embarrassing to have someone grab your boob and position it between plates so they can smash it. You're in a semi-darkened room (nice touch this is so you feel a little less embarrassed), half-naked (oh good, I can keep my pants on at least), and the technician has to pull your boob up and onto a plate and the whole time you are imagining that she wishes you had bigger boobs too (yes, of course I wish they were bigger). Don't be disillusioned on size though because it hurts to have them smashed if they are big or medium (I refuse to say small).
The mammogram technician makes this assault on me and I leave saying thank you! I don't hold her personally responsible for my pain, and I even feel a little embarrassed for her having to manipulate strangers boobs all day like that. But I digress. My point is that she is caring, she is sometimes funny, she averts her eyes, she makes sure her hands are warm, and she is respectful during a painful and embarrassing procedure.
It occurred to me today as I was dropping off my car for a tire rotation that the service consultants could use a lesson from the mammogram technician. They seldom call me by name, they are in a hurry to check me in, they don't want to hear my whole story about my car's issues, they can't tell me how long it will take or when or if they will update me about what's happening to my mechanical baby. They neglect to do things that would make me more comfortable and more forgiving of the pain and time spent when I leave my mechanical baby in their capable hands.

Be Here Now

I read a great list from Jeffrey Gitomer today on things to do to prevent your customers from getting "ill" or sick of you. It fits right in with the Starbuck's application questions on what excellent customer service an applicant has delivered. It occurs to me multiple times a day that there is a lot of talk about customer service because we crave it, and we crave it because we aren't getting it, and we aren't getting it because...???
Dunno.
I think most of the problems I have are from not being totally present. Spending so much time in a unconscious state. Tell me that's not why half the people on the road are on their cell phones? Come on, do we really have to do more than one thing at a time? It is rather ridiculous, but then it is rather the norm.
I laughed during the holidays when I was feeding 30 some-odd relatives a big meal. Never see all these bodies in the same place except on Thanksgiving, but I digress, that is sooo totally another story. But as I was stuffing some eggs, or carving the turkey, or pouring drinks, I looked out at the living room and noticed that half the people had laptops or Blackberries on which they were feverishly typing away. The irony is immense. Here we all are, we have to gather as a family to eat together, but we can't even stand a day without checking in with our gang and find out what they're doing, or eating, or wishing they weren't.
I have another resolution and it took me a couple of months to come up with it, but that is to "be here now". That was a mantra that I used to give out at the beginning of training sessions back in my previous life when I was teaching managers how to be managers but they didn't want to be taught to be managers. When we were in that space, reading and talking and planning, the participants had to be told to "be here now" and separate their brains from their workspace, their employees, their customers. The point was to spend your time purposefully and get the most out of the time and effort when you are putting in the time and effort.
I want to do that more often... BE HERE NOW.
As I take off down the mountain tomorrow, (yes, I will be snow skiing in lovely Winter Park for the next few days) I fully intend to "be here now". I will let you know how that goes. I bet one or two work associates creep into my dreams or subconscious, but I am going to do my best to push you out and not think about you again until next week.

What About Me

I tried to complete the Starbuck's application (see yesterday's post) and thought two things:

1. How hard should it be to tell about a time when I delivered excellent customer service? In other words, should it be such a part of my performance, that I have trouble narrowing it down to just one instance? Or am I so "busy" that I don't have time to deliver excellent customer service?
   
2. Not just for hiring, although I think you're nuts if you don't include it on your job applications, but for day-in-day-out self reporting. If you asked your staff to submit a story every month or once a quarter or twice a year, think what that would do. Not only does it show that you value service, it drives your employees to that performance, AND you start building those service stories about your business. Your culture becomes service because it isn't just written on a plaque on a wall, but something that every employee strives to deliver so they can tell about it
   

Set the Standard & Have Them Give an Example

I've written and talked to you before about Starbuck's as an example, make that THE BEST, example of customer service. I ran across another reason for their consistency and high levels of performance: their job application.

You can pick it up at any physical Starbuck's location, or you can download a copy online. You cannot complete the app online for a retail position, you must download the application, print it, complete it, and take it to a physical Starbuck's. That's a very good thing.

Here's the excellent part, here is the standard that they set before you even interview for a job. They ask four important questions on the front page of the app - even before they have you chronicle your work experience. They are:

1. Have you ever visited a Starbuck's coffee location? Where? Describe your experience.
2. What do you like about coffee?
3. Why would you like to work for Starbuck's Coffee Company?
4. Describe a specific situation where you have provided excellent customer service in your most recent position. Why was it effective?

WOW! Those are powerful questions. They gather important information on several levels. First, they prune out the uninitiated, the inarticulate, and the people just filling out apps to verify that they are looking for work. Second, they give the Starbuck's manager insight into what the applicant values. Third, they make you prove that you've successfully done the MOST IMPORTANT thing to them: provided excellent customer service. Finally, it shows the applicant what Starbuck's values most.

What an outstanding way to start employees out on the right track before they begin their first day. What an outstanding way to help you filter the applications you receive. What an outstanding way to set a standard, a standard of excellence.

Right now, go look at your job application forms. If this isn't included on yours, why not? Look at your advertising for applicants. If this sort of standard is not evident, why not? If you want excellent employees, and delighted customers, you have no reason not to set excellent standards in the way you recruit and the way you hire. Your training and orientation can't undo non-service orientation. It can't create service orientation. They've got to bring that to the party. Set this standard now and see what happens to your selection pool, to your turnover rate, and especially to your customers' experiences.

Milestones

Today's a milestone. A new president is sworn into office and brings a new team all full of energy and enthusiasm. That enthusiasm is so infectuous. Whether the enthusiasm or the skills pay a more important part of success, undeniably they both play off each other. Think of a time when you were so confident and enthusiastic and felt like you had a clean sheet to start writing on. That's what milestones do. Every year when the calendar starts again, we feel enthusiastic that this clean sheet can mean something better.

While we watch this new administration start we are anticipating better things. Even though the economy has taken center stage in a very bad way these past few months, today I'm willing to think about something else. I am willing to suspend belief and have hope that a new page will start being wrtten on and better things will be written.

And now that it's finally here, the launch of the Obama presidency, I want to hear plans and ideas that are fresh and powerful.

Likewise, and I bet you know where I'm going, it's the best time ever to think big things, to try something fresh and powerful. Why not? Really, why not try something new in this moment when our enthusiasm should be bigger? Our goal setting is a good thing. We give ourselves the permission to dream and more importantly, permission to stop doing the things that we know aren't as good as we could be, we have permission to start doing things differently and even better.

Nose Hair

Can't believe I have to say this, but guys, please, keep your nose hairs trimmed. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how well you answer questions, how shiny that new car is, how well you repaired my vehicle... if you have a hair bush coming out of your nose, I can't pay attention. Remember that especially if you are tall, most of us are looking up into your nose, so if the hairs are unruly, we see them. Yuck. Even if I'm sitting next to you, if hairs are coming out of your nose, I can't pay attention to anything else because the hair is grossing me out.

Subliminal

Did you see the story in Sunday's Parade magazine on subliminal advertising? What caught my eye was the point on background music. It said that if background music has a beat that is faster than the human heart beat, then shoppers shop quickly and therefore buy less. The slower the beat of the music, the more time shoppers take. Music also directs us to certain products. For instance the researchers tested wine buyers and found that French-sounding music resulted in 77% of consumers buying French wine, while German-sounding music encouraged consumers to buy German wine. When the shoppers were interviewed after check out only 1 in 44 mentioned the music.
What I extracted from this is the whole of the shopping experience is critical! We talk about creating a great experience for our customers and some of us have done a great job at focusing on speed, and friendliness, and clear explanations. How much attention do we pay to all aspects of our shoppers experience? What does the driveway look and feel like, what's the temperature, how comfortable are the chairs for sitting in longer than 30 minutes, how hot is the coffee, WHAT SOUNDS ARE THEY SUBJECTED TO (musical and otherwise).
Just makes me go "hmmm", now that's a project for a CIT!

It Takes All Kinds

Are your familiar with the terms Finders, Minders, and Grinders? I ran across this in a book i was reading and really like the concept. Originally I think the terms come from law firms, but see how it translates for you. In a nutshell, here it is:
FINDERS go out and find business or work. Sometimes they are called "rainmakers"
MINDERS perform all the administrative tasks and coordinate all the work coming in so it get done
GRINDERS "grind" out the actual work that the company promises it will do
It's the best model of a team when I think of it. I mean, you can't be successful without all three and one depends on the others. If you have all Grinders, then what work will they perform without Finders bringing it in? If you have all Finders and Grinders, what will happen if there are no Minders to organize the work, pay the bills, etc.?
What makes us look down on the other types is all about our personal preference. As you were reading the definitions, you already categorized yourself into one function. That's your preference, your comfort zone. You are good at it. Nobody is really comfortable or excellent at all three. You might be able to do one or another in a pinch, for limited stretches of time, to limited success. But you're best at one of them. The problem comes when you devalue on of the others. If you don't see how they compliment you or how you depend on them, then you are in deep trouble.
Try to categorize all your job functions this way. Then use this as an interview question when you're trying to fill a position, how does the applicant categorize her/himself: as a Finder, a Minder, or a Grinder? If you're hiring Finders, you don't want someone who sees himself as a Grinder in that position. It's all aobut fit. You can teach tasks, but you want them to bring with them their strengths in the approach they take to the work.