Get Your Marketing Wheels in Gear

Marketing Questions Your Team Should Be Discussing Regularly:

1. Are we dedicating enough time to creating new marketing ideas?
2. What is a marketing strategy that works better than it seems like it should?
3. How are we deciding who is in our target market?
4. What is our best marketing tool and why?
5. What is our most cost-effective marketing tool?
6. How are we deciding which media outlets to use?
7. How are we capturing and using comments from satisfied customers?
8. How are we measuring the success of marketing strategies?
9. How has our marketing changed over the past few years?
10. What is the source of our largest frustration related to marketing?
11. What company or organization has the best (coolest, most creative, most cost-effective, etc.) marketing ideas?  Why?
12. What marketing tool or strategy do we need to stop using?

Marketing Ideas to Consider:

• All great marketing starts with a great product or service to market.  Be great.
• Value people first, excellent work second, everything else third.
• Understand the most influential drivers that bring business in, bring business back and drive business away.
• Stay connected with and bring surprise value to your "Torchbearer 23 List" - 23 contacts that carry the torch for you and/or your business. (Read more about Torchbearers below.)  Never ask them for anything, though.  Just stay connected and serve his/her needs when you can.
• Learn where, when and how to start customer relationships.
• Learn where, when and how your competition is starting customer relationships.
• Make the most of your raving fans.
• Foster relationships that will lead to piggy-back, plan B, or other ways to provide value-added options for new customers.
• Create brainstorming moments with your team: Assign an unbiased discussion leader, capture everything, no filters, no initial judgments, pick one or two ideas to try on at low-cost. 

Brainstorming Rules:

• Schedule periodic brainstorming sessions to keep a steady flow of ideas flowing.
• Have an unbiased discussion leader who is in charge of keeping the discussion going.
• Capture everything.  Flip-chart ideas in the moment.  Take a picture of each one when the session is over and save those images for later.
• No filtering of ideas - no matter the cost, the legality, the chance of success, etc.  
• Keep initial judgments quiet.  There will be a time to give pros and cons.  A brainstorming session is not that time.
• At the end of the session, pick a few low to no-cost ideas and try them on.  Also, pick a few that will require resources to implement and make sure those ideas live to be discussed another day.

A Torchbearer:

1. Thirsty for helping company/organization grow.
2. Owns a strong allegiance.
3. Values and fosters relationships.
4. Gains part of identity from organization.
5. Clearly understands his/her role.
6. Knows and believes in company/organization's core values.
7. Speaks positively about the organization, it's leadership and it's members.

These ideas were shared as part one of a three-part series of business development seminars I presented for the BBB Serving Central Oklahoma on May 20, 2015.  Learn more about the series and value the BBB can bring to your business here.

Service Minded: 12 Principles Revisited

I have been training a ton lately on customer service.  Here are the direct links to the posts overviewing each of the 12 Principles of Remarkable Customer Service:

The 7-Iron Principle - Excellent service is elemental.
The Chicken Little Principle - Emphasize the positive.
The Open Space Principle - Build on what works.
The Platinum Rule Principle - Do unto others as they'd like done unto them.
The Tony Bennett Principle - Have a veteran's expertise and a novice's energy.
The Irving Principle - Get clear on why you are successful.
The Fresh Air Principle - Ask great questions.
The Toddler Principle - Friendly first.
The Toyota Principle - Enable and encourage problem solving right now.
The Walking Billboard Principle - You are the brand.
The YourSpace Principle - Your way + My way = Our way.
The Thunder Principle - Have one face for the organization.

Contact me when you'd like to discuss my customer service keynote and/or seminar training options.

Skill Assessment: The "Ready to Serve" Elected Student Leader

Hundreds of our clients are student organizations.  Places where young leaders learn the joys and discomforts of "being in charge". If you are a student leader, think deeply about how your actions and thoughts align with the follow two keys to success and my specific tips for each.  If you have direct influence over a student leader, please share these.

1. There is a difference between the skills it takes to get elected and the skills it takes to serve.  Go into your year of service with a growth mindset.  Be open to coaching and sharpening of your skills.  You will receive instruction you will need this year and that you can use for a lifetime.  Don't miss it.

Take notes, ask for specific feedback, don't make excuses, work to improve, mirror success you see around you, take responsibility, be honest with your weaknesses, be humble with your strengths.

2. A team of talented leaders does not make a talented team; that takes a team of talented team-focused leaders.  Serve each other just as passionately and purposefully as you serve the members.  Leaders leading leaders is difficult because of big personalities, people not afraid to speak their mind, people used to getting their way, etc.  This can lead to disagreements, arguments and hurt feelings.  Just know those are growing pains to success.  Work through them, not around them.  If you contribute positively to your team mates, your "team" will last much longer than one year. 

Don't try to earn the approval or attention of your team - give yours generously to them first, celebrate each other's success, encourage publicly, say thank you, listen actively, spend time together even when you don't have to, be nice, give constructive comments in private, sacrifice for each other, build your team mates up with your words when they aren't around, randomly call to say hi, say I'm sorry, invest time really getting to know them.

Good luck and let us know how we can help!

General: The Act of Pure Leadership

There are many different acts of leadership.  However, for an action to be a pure act of leadership it must require the leader to employ the following three personal characteristics:

Altruism - the act must be selfless and driven by a concern for others.
Tenacity - the act must involve a great challenge that requires discipline and grit to complete.
Vision - the act must push the envelope; bring to life a reality that others can't see or have refused to believe is possible.

Using this metric, ask yourself these three questions:

How often do I act entirely out of the selfless concern for others?
Am I working on projects and ideas that challenge me?
In what areas of my personal and professional life am I risking big?

Your answers to these three questions are a meaningful measurement of your leadership effectiveness and strength.

Service Minded: The Thunder Principle

This is the final post of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

Thunder Principle
Have one face for the organization.

Our final principle comes straight from the chief customer service conductor of Oklahoma City's NBA team - the Thunder. I called my friend Pete Winemiller and asked him one important question, "What is the primary tool you and your team use to help create the fabulous customer experience at Thunder basketball games?" He said, "We carry one face for the organization."  He went on to explain that no matter who you work for (the Thunder, Coke, Pizza Hut, the NBA, etc.), it is vital for everyone to operate as one team in the arena when interacting with customers.

This principle is especially important for any organization with multiple vendors, project groups, buildings, stores, sites, etc. There is nothing more disheartening for a customer than to hear a team member talk down about or blame a member of their own staff.  It leaves a bad taste in the mouth and does nothing to enhance the organization's image or to improve the customer's experience.

Here are a few ideas on how to put the Thunder Principle into action to create a culture of team-oriented customer service excellence:

1. Always talk up team members, departments, etc. that aren't present
2. Move information, people, actions down the line in the most complete fashion possible
3. Take care of a problem if you can without just passing the buck
4. Be on time
5. Do your work
6. Think about how your actions impact a team member not present
7. Leave your area/project/etc. clean and prepared for the next crew

The Thunder Principle is the perfect manifestation of excellent customer service because it is based on the thinking that everyone is ultimately on the same team - me, my team mates and my customers. We are all wanting the same thing, we just have different approaches to get there and those differences can cause seemingly unsolvable problems. The "one face" mindset allows us to start on the same team and is the best way to end on the same team, as well!

Service Minded: The YourSpace Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

YourSpace Principle
Your way + My way = Our Way.

The hallmark principle of excellent customer service is being others-focused. This manifests in many ways. One of the most powerful is the mindset of always seeking to understand where the customer is coming from, finding out their point of view, really listening to their opinions and concerns, etc. Then taking that data, combining it with the information you are armed with and acting out the YourSpace Principle - Your way + My way = Our way.

This isn't just pretending to listen for the purpose of making the customer feel heard. The YourSpace Principle is a methodology designed for four purposes:

1. Leaving the customer feeling appreciated
2. Gathering useful information from his or her side of the situation
3. Providing the customer a clear explanation of your side
4. Moving forward with a plan aimed at satisfying both sides' needs

Better information, empowered customers, collaborative decisions - all winning outcomes for excellent customer service interactions.

Next up, the Thunder Principle - Have one face for the organization...

Service Minded: Walking Billboard Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.



Walking Billboard Principle
You are the brand.

This is one of the simplest customer service principles to understand and one of the most difficult to pull off successfully and completely. The Walking Billboard Principle states, "You are the brand." This means that when the customer interacts with you, the are essentially interacting with your entire organization. If they like you, they like your company. If they are upset with you, they are upset with the institution. And vice-versa. They might be frustrated with you, even it is your company they are frustrated with.

This principle illuminates the fact that you must always be mindful of your words and actions. They don't live in a silo - isolated from making an impact beyond that one situation. They have a long tail. This is another reason why great customer service organizations are surgical when it comes to hiring people whose values and beliefs align with the organization's values and beliefs. It is easier to "be the brand" when you don't have to fake it.

Up next: The YourSpace Principle - Your way + my way = our way...

Service Minded: Toyota Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.



Toyota Principle
Enable and encourage problem solving right now.

Toyota adopted a new set of management principles (under the direction of management guru Peter Drucker) that set out to move away from their old controlling and rigid top-down structure and move closer to a true teamwork system. These changes created a culture of responsibility across all levels and gave each employee the autonomy to decide how to best reach a clear set of objectives. An example is a change on the production line that allowed anyone to stop the line immediately when they caught a mistake. The old way involved paperwork up and down the chain before any action could be taken. 

Are your people empowered to and enabled with the tools to serve your customers to the best of their ability? Do they feel like they can question processes and practices without retribution? Can they solve problems on their own or do they always have to "get permission"? When you enable and encourage problem solving in the moment not only do customers get served better, but your staff takes more ownership.

Up next: The Walking Billboard Principle - You are the brand...

Service Minded: Toddler Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.






Toddler Principle
Friendly first.

Our newborn loves to smile. Most babies do. However, our newest little one's frequency, consistency and intensity of her smiles are higher than most. It certainly makes for a fun parenting experience. When she smiles it is nearly impossible to not smile back. This raw, pure interaction serves as a reminder that we were born to smile and the best customer-oriented people live to smile.

Its not always on their face - that's not genuine or natural. However, it is their home base and they start there with customers. The Toddler Principle is about starting with a positive emotion and then moving forward from there. No matter what is going on in your world, when a customer enters into it - stop, make eye contact, smile and give a friendly greeting. It is amazing how many good things show up when you start with friendly first.

Up next: Toyota Principle - Enable and encourage problem solving right now...

Service Minded: The Fresh Air Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

The Fresh Air Principle
Ask great questions.

When I am traveling my primary source of entertainment is my music and podcast library. One of my favorite podcasts is the daily radio interview show Fresh Air. Terry Gross is the host. Rarely does an episode go by without a guest making the comment, "That is a great question, Terry." She (and her team) script out excellent questions that get right to the heart of the matter.

Great customer service professionals love questions. They enjoy it when customers ask questions (because it is a sign of interest and because it provides an opportunity to solve a problem or serve a need for the customer) and they thrive on asking customers questions.  Here is a short list of questions you should be asking regularly:

• How can we help you today?
• How are you today?
• What concerns do you have?
• How can we make this better for you?
• What else can we do for you?
• What questions do you have?
• How did you hear about us?

Up next, the Toddler Principle - Friendly First...

Service Minded: The Irving Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

The Irving Principle
Get clear on why you are successful.

The Vienna Beef Co. had a problem after they moved into their brand new production center in the Chicago area. Even with 40 years of experience, something was wrong - their hot dogs didn't taste the same. Same spices, same process, different taste. They spent 18 months researching the problem and discovered it was Irving's fault. Their previous plant was a cobbled together chain of old manufacturing buildings in Chicago. Irving was the man who pushed the cart of cold, newly formed hot dogs 30-minutes across the plant to the next step in the process. This trip was unnecessary in the new plant because the two steps were right next to each other for efficiency purposes. The only problem was that Irving's 30-minute walk allowed the dogs to warm up. This proved to be a critical step in creating their signature taste.

The Vienna Beef Co. had enjoyed success for years, but wasn't totally clear on why. Great customer service organizations are infatuated with learning why customers keep coming back. This, obviously, is a major reason why they do.  They understand it, embrace it, train against it and continually adjust for it.

Up next, the Fresh Air Principle - Ask Great Questions...

Service Minded: The Tony Bennett Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

The Tony Bennett Principle
Have a veteran's expertise and a novice's energy.

A common affliction in the world of dealing with customers is atrophy of the attitude. We used to be excited to see customers, but with age/time/experience/challenges/etc. comes a dampened enthusiasm for work and customer interaction. The great standards singer, Tony Bennett, was once asked how he continually gives great performances after years of singing the same songs. He says that even though he has sung I Left My Heart in San Francisco thousands of times live, he imagines (and knows for a fact) that many of his audience members have never seen him sing it live. This allows him to have the energy and presence of a novice even though he has the years and expertise of a veteran. Apply Tony's lesson to your world and treat the 4,056th customer with the same spark and freshness you gave to the first.

Up Next, the Irving Principle - Gain Clarity on What Makes You Successful...

Service Minded: The Platinum Rule Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

Platinum Rule Principle
Do unto others like they'd like done unto them.

Fellow speaker and leadership consultant, Tony Alessandra, took the golden rule and added some leadership value to it.  He created the Platinum Rule - Do unto others as they'd like done unto them.  Although very important, the golden rule is rooted in " me first - you second thinking".  It states that I will treat you like I want to be treated.  The platinum rule takes the me out of the equation.  It says that I will treat you like you want to be treated because I have taken the time to learn about you and find out how you want to be treated. It is the ultimate act of leadership (being service-minded) and great customer service.

A few ways customer service professionals operate from the Platinum Rule are:  being more aware of others, mirroring body language to put the other person at ease, asking questions to learn about each customer's unique situation, etc.

Personalize.  Customize.  Humanize.

Up next, the Tony Bennett Principle - Have a Veteran's Expertise and a Novice's Energy...

Service Minded: The Open Space Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

Open Space Principle
Build on what works.

A marriage counselor was working with an overly negative woman. She had a laundry list of her husband's faults and would focus on them every session. The counselor eventually mandated that the woman only say positive things about her spouse during the sessions. This continued for weeks until the counselor knew the lady was ready to be taught a very important lesson.

The counselor asked the lady to draw a circle on a paper and place a dot in it for every one of her husband's faults (she still remembered them). After a few moments she was asked to look into the circle and write down the first word that came to mind. She said dots. The counselor then pulled out the two lists of her husband's traits - positives and negatives. The positives list was longer and the lady was floored. She looked in the circle and only saw dots (the negatives) even though there were more positives (open space).  She has been looking at her husband and only seeing negatives even though he has many more positives. She didn't need to fix what was wrong with her husband as much as she needed to fix her own habit of only focusing on the negatives.

Great customer service has a foundation of building on what works, internally and externally, and spreading those strategies, tactics, concepts, policies and behaviors across the system. You can't fix every problem, foresee every challenge or make the customer experience perfect.  You can create a culture where your team actively chooses to take what is working and maximize it to the point where the negatives almost become irrelevant.  (Almost...)

Up next, the Platinum Rule Principle - Do unto others like they'd like done unto them...

Service Minded: The Chicken Little Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

Chicken Little Principle
Emphasize the positive.

Chicken Little's famous phrase is "the sky is falling." Chicken Littles in the real world are those people who brighten the room when they leave the room. There is no place in great customer service for intentionally negative people. Service to others many times begins with taking a negative situation, a challenging conversation or a seemingly unsolvable problem and approaching it with a sense of optimism and a positive attitude. Get better at helping others by starting with and emphasizing the positive before you deal with or in lieu of focusing on the negative.

Up next, The Open Space Principle - Build on what works...

Service Minded: The 7-Iron Principle

This is part of a series highlighting the 12 Excellent Service Principles.

7-iron Principle
Excellent service is elemental.

A few years ago a neighbor of mine was having trouble learning to play golf. He was trying to learn how to hit every club on the driving range. I told him to take two weeks and only practice with two clubs:

• The putter - because half of your score comes from putting.
• The 7-iron - because it is relatively easy to hit and the basic golf swing is a 7-iron swing with either a longer or shorter club in your hand.

He came back a week later and was ecstatic with his immediate success. Teaching the muscles to hit a 7-iron 150 yards and straight is an effective method for any beginning golfer to get a fast start to mastering other clubs and, at some point, the game of golf. 

Great customer service is the 7-iron of success in any organization that deals heavily with people. Once those lessons are learned and mastered, many other keys to greatness (teamwork, creativity, problem solving, etc.) have a fighting chance to grow and flourish.


Up next, The Chicken Little Principle - Emphasize the Positive...

Service Minded: The 12 Excellent Service Principles

Today marks the beginning of a 12-part series on great customer service. These posts apply specifically to any leader who interacts with customers (clients, shoppers, students, audience members, etc.), but is also relevant to anyone who would like to improve his or her people skills and build stronger relationships. The best leaders are those who operate from a base of service mindedness. How can I help you? How can I make your day better? What do you need from me so you can do your job more effectively? These are the questions guiding the service minded leader through the day. These 12 principles will illuminate what lives on the other side of those questions.

We begin tomorrow...

Service Mindedness: Manage the Person Publicly and the Process Privately

I landed at the Kansas City airport at 9 am after a full night of two flights and one very uncomfortable hour of sleep. I am scheduled to speak in Junction City, Kansas that night at 7 pm. Needless to say, sleep is a very high priority. I called the hotel where the conference was being held and where I had a room booked for that night and requested an early (as possible) check in. The front desk lady says no way, so I asked to be transferred to the person in charge of handling the conference attendees' rooms - the event coordinator. After some discussion back and forth she ended our conversation saying, "Come on. I am sure we can get you a room early."

What made this statement even more important was I actually had another option. A friend of mine, Bill Cordes, lives between the airport and the hotel and I could have caught almost seven hours of sleep at his place. But, I believed the event coordinator that I could get in early and away I went.

I arrived at 11 am. No rooms.

I checked back at Noon. No rooms.

I checked back at 1:30. No rooms.

It was 2:20 when I was able to get a room.

At this point, I obviously had two choices. Get upset (which is not healthy in any case, but certainly not when jet lag, a headache and a looming performance that night are mixed with it.) Or I could write a blog post about how sometimes businesses fall down when their front line team default to a strict rule-based interaction with customers instead of relationship-based interaction. Most of the interaction with the customer needs to revolve around their experience in the situation, not on the rules dictating the situation.

Action Lessons for the Courtyard by Marriott:

- When delivering bad news, give reason and context. All I was told by the front desk was, no rooms are available. As a frequent traveler who has checked in early at hotels many, many times, I understand the process. People check out. Cleaning staff starts cleaning. Rooms begin to become available. The "available" status is a one-at-a-time process, not "all of a sudden every room is available." Even with this understanding, no comments were given beyond the absolute basic information - rooms are available at 3.

- When making a promise (which is what the event coordinator essentially did), work your tail off to deliver as promised and/or communicate the process of trying to deliver on it. I was at the hotel for hours and never heard from the event coordinator who told me to come on because a room would surely be available. Radio silence the entire time. She never tracked me down (I told her what time I would be arriving.)

- Make exceptions for hardships. I clearly communicated my unique situation. Red eye flight. No sleep. Have to speak to the group that night. I was treated like any other person (and certainly others wanted to check in early) who simply wanted to put their bags in their room before the meeting started. Even if you don't want to leave it up to the front desk to make those decisions, create a process that makes certain rooms available for people in those situations. I.e. - everyone knows 3 pm is the check in time. However, we know we have people who want to check in early all the time. Let's implement a process that is proactive to prepare for smiles from our customers, instead of frowns.

- Be vocal about your desire to solve the problem - even if you don't see it as a problem. I actually overheard the front desk staff say to each other, "it says clearly in all the contracts that check in is after three."

A few weeks ago I attended a conference in southern California where the keynote speaker's main theme was "Go Human." Keith Hawkins' point, and my point to not just this hotel, but any business/organization who stays afloat primarily by convincing people to buy their products or services, is to take care of the person publicly and manage the process privately.


- Posted from the road using my iPad

Service Mindedness: The Elected Student Leader's Credo

The Elected Student Leader's Credo.
Thoughts on Intentional Leadership

I will lead and always remember what it is like to follow.

I will speak my voice and listen when you are doing the same.

I will be me and let you be you.

I will not pretend to be perfect and not expect that from you.

I will lift you up and give thanks when you return the favor.

I will live a clean-powerful-positive life and help you do the same.

I will focus on how we are the same and not worry about how we are different.

I will choose to smile and let you smile when you choose to.

I will look for the good in myself and in you.

I will learn from those who have come before and leave a challenge for those yet to come.

I will change where change is needed and remain the same where it is not.

I will arrive early and stay late.

I will strive to do valuable, meaningful work and help you do the same.

I will be clear in voice, motive and action and strive to understand you.

I will remember my job is to serve and every day find a way to take you to work with me.

Teaching PLI: PLI Required Reading List

There is a great new book titled "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time." The authors have put together a fabulous collection and did a great job in the book of summarizing the main points of these classics and new-classics. I personally have my reading to-do list done for the year, as I have only read 31 of the 100.

The other great benefit of this book to our PLI teachers and trainers is that it inspired a "PLI Required Reading List." This list certainly isn't all-inclusive, but it is a great place to start to get your students doing some out-of-class, non-curriculum PLI reading.

Again, the following books are all in Jack and Todd's new book. So, you can get a quick synopsis of each by reading their new book. Click on the ^ after each to go directly to that book's 800CEOREAD page, where you can read about the book and/or buy it. If there is more than one book listed in an Essential, I put an * to donate the one I would recommend most.

Vision
Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will^
What Should I Do With My Life?*^

Integrity
Questions of Character^

Innovativeness
The Art of Innovation^
The Innovator's Dilemma^
Orbiting the Giant Hairball*^
The Creative Habit^

Wise Judgement
Influence*^
The Power of Intuition^

Service Mindedness
(This being a business book list, there isn't a book about service leadership. All the service books listed are about customer service.)

Goal Processing
Getting Things Done^

Skill Assessment
Now, Discover Your Strengths^

Emotional Maturity
Emotional Intelligence^

Fostering Relationships
How to Win Friends and Influence People*^
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team^
The Team Handbook^

Masterful Communication
Made to Stick*^
The Story Factor^
Never Give In!^

Following is a list of the books that I would recommend you have your students read, but they just don't fit nicely into one of the Ten Essentials:

General
The Leadership Challenge^
Leadership Is An Art*^
The Leadership Moment^
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People^