Done Here, Felt Everywhere: Behavior Matters More Than Ever

The Gulf oilrig explosion and its aftermath is an example of how what we do (or fail to do) impacts others we don’t know in ways we haven’t even considered. Did the relentless push to drill, baby, drill faster to save money and to get the oil (revenue) flowing as quickly as possible compromise BP’s values? Lives have been lost; livelihoods are endangered; ecosystems and economies may never recover. Even my condo in Hilton Head has seen an increase in rentals because vacationers don’t want to risk a holiday on the Gulf coast. The ripple effect will be felt globally through many channels in very quantifiable ways.

We are so intertwined and so connected, thanks to technology and the Internet; we are so darned global that more of us have the power to impact other people’s lives than ever. So, how we behave; how we treat others and how we build trust with employees and customers have an exponential impact on them, on others we can’t even identify and on our own businesses.

Leaders: this is where you come in.

The CEO of BP can hug all the fisherman in Louisiana he wants but if he put profit before ethical behavior (by short circuiting safety for example), what does that say to his employees in terms of their own behaviors? How should customers react? What has this done to BP’s prized Brand? Judging by recent loyalty scores for Toyota, for example, customers and would-be buyers take time to recover when confidence is shaken.

BP’s Values are Progressive, Responsible, Innovative and Performance-driven. It looks good on a web site but do they influence behaviors and decisions? Time will tell and the whole world will be judging.

As a leader, Tony Hayward needs to demonstrate how he and his company will rise above PR, litigation and playing the blame game to behave in a way that inspires confidence and trust. That behavior will ricochet around the world in social media channels and news outlets as fast as the bad news is traveling. His recent performance on Capital Hill suggests that this is not a lesson Mr. Hayward has learned yet.

Dov Seidman, author of the book, How, says that we all now live in the “Era of Behavior”. He argues that too many of us are behaving by situational values or whatever the situation allows. Sustainable values on the other hand inspire us to do what should be done in every situation; they strengthen relationships for the long-term and reinforce our reputation in the global networks that drive our brand performance.

If how we behave doesn't match what we say on web sites, in annual reports or corporate communications, how successful do you think we will be with issues like employee engagement, customer commitment or organizational culture change? Behavior matters. End of story.

We Don't Own the Customer Relationship and What We Can Do About It

Ah, those halcyon days when companies owned the customer relationship and decided what the buyer needed to know and when she needed to know it. When advertising on television or in newspapers were the only way to capture the attention of a rapt audience. We built it, however indifferently, and they came.

Well, that was then and here we are now. I came across again a great book published ten years ago, titled “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and its preamble struck me as more true now than when it was first published. “We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. We are human beings – and our reach exceeds our grasp. Deal with it.”

In thinking about how our companies can change the conversation with customers, I believe it’s the whole company that engages and creates the moments of truth. Frankly it amazes me that I can still come across stories as I did last weekend in the New York Times about the complete failure of a major airline to deal effectively with a reasonable request for a refund. It wasn’t just the unbelievably difficult voice mail navigation or the lack of a human to speak with or the conflicting information provided by different departments but also the arrogance of a senior employee who blamed the customer for not being able discern the difference between a Customer Refund Department and a Customer Relations Department (huh??). Oh yes, we still hold our customers hostage, but those opportunities are fewer and the more often these stories are repeated online and the dinosaur company that still doesn’t get it is named, the more the customer manifesto gains strength. Did this story just make you sit up? Remind you of your own company? Uh oh.

Here are a few thoughts in the context of engaging the whole company to create effective human networks:

Strategy: How do you define your market? It’s a human network of conversations that are smarter and more informed than ever. If you aren’t providing information and support, your markets are finding it among themselves and making you irrelevant.

Leadership: Are you having a conversation with your markets or providing talking points, corporate communications and PR? Markets can move quickly – away from you.

Culture: is it command and control you seek or hands on knowledge and respect?

Employees: This group is remarkably like your markets because they, too, are human beings who want information, support and conversations. Are you building networks for them to have meaningful exchanges? If you think your intranet fulfills this requirement, look at it again. Or, read about what Proctor and Gamble did to build its very successful networks for employees and customers.

Customers: They have a voice and they want to use it. You have a voice and they want to hear it. Not in brochures or web sites that have no substance. Not in the scripted “dialogue” with your call center. As the Manifesto summed it up, “You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.”

We can invest in all the technology and processes our CFO will allow but if we don’t build in the human desire for connection and conversation, we will be talking to ourselves.

Five Things I Learned From the Men on a Submarine

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about customer (no)service during a recent buying experience and it prompted some interesting discussion with Adrian Bashford in Ontario. People who responded to the blog were unanimous in their agreement that leadership is accountable for the customer relationship. That led to the question: where do leaders learn skills other than finance, marketing and operations? Adrian suggested that the lack of military training in our leadership ranks over the past few decades might be at the heart of the problem. My first reaction, was “heck no” but it got me thinking about an experience I had a few years ago when I spent two days with the officers and men of the USS Nebraska at the King’s Bay Nuclear Submarine base in Georgia. Adrian might be on to something.

• Values Guide Every Decision: every man knew the Navy’s core values and the expectation that behaviors and decisions were guided by those values.

• It’s About the Mission: The purpose of each 3-month trip under the ocean was well understood by all men on the boat; it was the plan of execution.

• Train to the Mission: training was embedded in every task during a voyage and was reinforced during dry dock periods. Every training session included an After Action Review. Nothing long or drawn out, just What Happened? What Was Supposed to Happen? What Accounted for the Difference? What Will We Do Differently Next Time? During those days and nights at sea, the men were engaged in learning and studying for their exams to move to the next position.

• Only Warheads Exist in Silos: the men worked in cohesive groups, teaching their jobs to others and learning new jobs from more experienced men. The most dangerous element of a voyage is fire and each man not only knew what he was supposed to do but how to do another man’s job if necessary.

• Every Man is a Leader: rank did not preclude a man speaking up if he felt that a decision by a superior went against either the Navy’s Core Values or the Mission. This was an expectation that was constantly reinforced by the Captain and the Chief of the Boat.

It's a lot easier to run a business or manage one when people know what the expected behaviors are and act accordingly; understand why they are doing what they are doing; cooperate to achieve common results and are confident that if they speak up, they will be heard. If you’re aligned with Mission and Values, everyone is a Leader and everyone understands the accountability piece.

Isn’t it better to build the foundation at the front end instead of trying to fix things in the organization that should never have broken? Is your mission inspiring? Have your values retained their meaning over time? What do you do to learn the hard(er) skills of leadership?

Making Customers Matter: Eight Things You Can Do Right Now

We are all trying hard, I think, to get back on track with employees and customers after a particularly difficult time over the past 18 months or so.

In my video blog, I discuss a unique concept that you can apply today to create a positive environment for employees as well as a great customer experience.

Do you see The Spillover Effect in your companies? Are the eight drivers some of the behaviors and outcomes that you focus on for better results?

Why What Customers Want Has Changed (Maybe Forever)

It’s a tricky thing these days to try to figure out what customers want and what keeps them coming back to you. Here are four thoughts based on what I’ve been seeing recently:

· Sometimes “Good” is Good Enough: we got so comfortable with ‘excellence’ and ‘superior’ and other adjectives that define our value proposition; then the world fell off a cliff in 2007/2008. If you have taken your customers’ collective pulse lately, you might be surprised to find out that “good” is fine and that loading them up with features and benefits they might think are nice but won’t pay for, shrinks your bottom line. This is Southwest Airline's strategy and it seems to be working really well for them.

· Customers Want to Buy: Customers are so smart and informed. By the time they contact you or you do a sales call, they’ve already been online, searched Twitter and Google and asked their friends on Facebook about you and several of your competitors (yes, even B2B). They’ve got their shortlist and if you’re not on it, bludgeoning them with a sales pitch, drip emails or telemarketing calls won’t work. They want to buy; not be sold to.

· Faster.Better.Cheaper or Way Cool (or what?) Who are your customers and why do they buy from you? Instead of segments, try developing personas for major customer types. It is eye-opening when you think about customers as people with names, jobs, etc. Tailoring marketing messages and channels for personas is more effective because it's more personal and training front line staff is easier as well.

· Don’t Skimp on the Experience: Customers still want to have an experience that matches their expectations. Using personas can help define what those expectations are and once you know them, you can decide whether this is a customer group you can profitably handle or whether you should target personas that are a better fit with your existing business.

Are you looking at customers with fresh eyes? Are they account numbers or do they have personas?

Got a Game Plan? Dispelling Some Myths

What's your game plan? Do you have one? Despite the rumors that strategy is dead, it's never been more important to know where you're going and how you're going to get there.

First, let's dispel some myths about creating a game plan:

Things Move Too Fast - No Time: unless you have unlimited resources and access to capital, it's never been more important to get a handle on how you're going to be more successful.

It's Too Hard: The old process of a never-ending planning cycle has had its day. You can use just 5 steps to get from Purpose to Execution. That's it. Five steps.

We Do Fine Without One: Are you sure about that? If you can't draw a straight line from programs, initiatives and campaigns to the business results you want, you may seem fine but you'll do a lot better with some direction. Without a game plan, how do your employees understand where the company is going and how they can play their part?

In the video clip below, I outline the five steps to get a successful game plan:

As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, ' if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.'

What process do you use to get your game plan? Are you actively engaging in strategic thinking or just bumping along?

5 Things Your Customers Should Never Hear

I'm shocked at how some companies seem to have divorced the word "service" from the word "customer". What has happened?

Just recently, my customer experiences with a well-known brand have been frustrating and unpleasant. Here are the five comments I heard from this company that finally drove me to a competitor. And, I was thrilled to be paying twice what I would have paid otherwise because the experience was so incredible.

It's Not My Job: I don't care about your job description. If you are speaking to me and I didn't get through to the night watchman by mistake, at least make an attempt to be helpful. Your voice mail system is friendlier but it can't help me.

Those Are the Rules: I'm the profit center or hadn't you noticed? I'd like to give you $1000 but your rules are getting in the way.

That's Another Department: Your silos don't interest me. Your web site said I could have that color.

We Don't Know When That Part Will Be Available: Then why did your web site let me build a configuration with that part?

My Supervisor Will Just Tell You the Same Thing: Let's see what s/he says when I Twitter and blog about this experience.

Somewhere along the line, this company thought it could get by with third-class service but no one can afford to do that these days. Maybe it was a cost-saving measure but skimping on service is a losing strategy.

Clearly no one at my former technology supplier thought to connect those moments of truth that roll up into a customer experience otherwise the web site would have been in sync with its supply chain. How can you let that happen when you've promoted a build-it-yourself-you-can-have-it-in-three-days experience as your competitive advantage?

I don't blame the sales/service representative. After all, those are the rules. And, he sounded as dejected as I felt by the end of our painful encounter. Someone at that company lost two customers; never to return. I wonder when the higher-ups will notice that a rush for the door is impacting earnings. I cannot be alone by the looks of their competitor's store when I walked in to buy my new laptop. People were stacked up like cords of wood.

Service isn't something that's nice to have: it will make or break all of us who sell something (which is all of us). What are YOU doing about your service? What are the things you never want to hear from your customers? Here's the one thing I don't want to hear: Good-bye.