I Need Some Magic

Although Tom Connellan’s book, “Inside the Magic Kingdom” isn’t new, it is very fresh for the time. The book describes the secret sauce is for the mega amusement company to continue to have loyal customers who come back over and over again and don’t mind paying for the experience. It’s not about adorable creatures, mystical heroes or the most thrilling rides in an amusement park. As a matter fact you can find all of that less than 5 miles away, but the loyal Disney followers pass by it to find the magic. The magic is a state of mind. Everyone’s state of mind – the customers, the employees, the vendors, the creators – everyone.

I would propose that the key’s to Disney’s success that Connellan reveals, apply to just about any business interested in building passionate customer loyalty. The book is chock full of mind shifting ideas. Here are the concepts and just some of the great quotes that might just get you and your teams thinking.

 1. Your competition may not be who you think. “If someone else satisfies customers better than, no matter what type of business, you suffer by comparison.”

2. Pay fantastic attention to detail. “Quality is not about limited possibilities. Quality is about unlimited possibilities.”

3. Everyone walks the talk “Everyone needs to focus on providing what customers want – even people who never come in direct contact with customers”

4. Everything walks the talk “The trick is to turn common sense into common practice”

5. Customers are best heard through many ears. “If you overlook information from employees, you overlook probably the most valuable source of customer information you have.”

6. Reward recognize and celebrate. “People treat customers the same way they get treated.”

7. Everyone makes a difference. “To achieve good teamwork and optimize customer loyalty, you have to break down silos.”

8. Continuous pursuit of excellence. “Just when everyone is saying how great you are is when you’re most vulnerable”

Thanks to Tom Connellan for writing this great instructions guide to bring out the best in others and in business – “Inside the Magic Kingdom.”

Lead on!

I Need To Know How To Hold ‘Em and When to Fold ‘Em

When you are selling your own services, one of the most difficult things to do is to set your own price.  When I work with entrepreneurial or emerging consultant clients, we typically go through an exercise to determine market value, cost of good/services, market share strategy and regional pricing tolerance (where applicable).  However, the after that data driven exercise, complaints start to creep up regarding reducing prices and “free/pro-bono” work eating up too much time without any return.  Here are five things to do to avoid losing your livelihood and your sanity. 

1. Find out early in the sales process what the client’s budget is.  You want to ask them a budget question before they ask you a price question. If their budget is in line, then proceed.  If it is not, then quickly let them know that their budget is below your standard pricing.
2. Help them afford you – if you are consulting to help a company save money, then you can structure your contract to be your full price but has two pay components.  A base price (their budget) plus the savings realized up to 5% over your standard fee with a guaranteed minimum (your fee).   If you are facilitating a workshop, you can structure the contract to be your full price which includes the base fee for the workshop plus X number of presold workbooks.  They can either gift the workbooks to their employees, or ask the employees to pay for workbooks to make up the budget gap.  The key is to keep each invoice at or above your market value. 
3. No free-bies unless there is WIFM value (What’s In-it For Me).  If you can garner exposure (verified in advance), marketing, a chance to sell other products, etc. then it is a good idea to do some “free-in exchange for” work.  But be cautious.  For some crazy reason, friends and family often assume you want to work for free.  What’s up with that?  You can politely but directly say “that is something do for clients, and my fees are X.  If that is not something you’re comfortable with, I completely understand and I’d be glad to point you in another direction.”   When was the last time you asked an attorney friend to review a contract for you for free or an architect friend to draw up some plans for your new beach house?  Hopefully never.
4. When you are asked (in case you don’t get that budget question in first) “what is your fee, say something.  Even if it is “what is your budget?’.  Anything is better than, “um” “well” or nothing.  That’s the first clue that you are flexible or will negotiate – i.e. talked down.  If you have a price and stick with it, you can at least say it confidently and work on the details of the project as the conversation progresses.
5. Hold your own.  Don’t change price based on pressure of the prospect.  If they indicate the price is too high, ask them why they feel that way.   Ask them what they were expecting and where they are getting their price base from.  You may learn that a competitor is charging less – and you may have to either explain how your services differ or be willing to match price.  At some point if there is a competitive pricing issue you have to decide if you want to “compete” on a price, quality, or product differentiation.  Or, you may decide that you don’t want to compete and fold ‘em and move on to the next opportunity.    

I Need to Know What to Do.

The number 1 reason people leave a job/company is lack of leadership. 

People make decisions to join a company based on four straightforward criteria.  The need that is their most pressing issue carries the most weight so as the list proceeds if the first requirement is met – the others carry less weight.  Conversely, if the first requirement is not met, each following requirement becomes more important in sequential order. Prior to the recent economic downturn the order for decision making went something like this –

1. Who I work for?  – if the leadership requirements are met the rest are less important.
2. What will I do?  Will I love, like, tolerate, or stomach it?  If no. 1 is met, I’ll move further down that list.  If no. 1 is not met I will need to really like/love what I do to “stomach” the boss.
3. Where will I live? – Do I have geographic constraints that I want/require?  I may forgive 1 and 2, if I can live/be where I need to.
4. How much will I make? – If the others are met, money may not be an issue.  Other rewards take over.  However, if 1, 2, and 3 are not met – it needs to be the “offer of a lifetime”.

I have seen that the economic climate has created new level of financial stress on the un/under employed.  Many decisions are being made with no. 4 in the first position, with a much lower threshold for acceptance.  Taking a job “just for to have one – or a paycheck” is a major cause for poor performance, stress related health issues, and resentment in the workplace.

My prediction is that when unemployment rate begins to drop, many people will have a burning desire to address the emptiness of job dissatisfaction and be interested in reordering the criteria back to leadership. 

Are the people joining or leaving your team, doing so because of  you or your signature on their paycheck .  . . or both?

I Need A Gift

Positive and constructive feedback is a gift that you can give and receive, but unfortunately, most people aren’t very good at it because it is not being viewed as a gift.  When someone tells you that something you are doing is disruptive, ineffective or problematic they are saying, “Hey, I care about your success. You can be better.”  The problem is that if we are in the wrong frame of mind we hear, “You don’t measure up; you’ll never make it; everyone else is passing you in the fast lane.”   It’s silly but it’s true. 

Growth leaders seek the gift for themselves and their teams.  They put their head in the right spot and seek the feedback.  They embrace the idea that they are not perfect and want to know what’s in their blind spots.  They also want to know what they do well so they do more of that.  Here’s the most important part.  When they get feedback they do something with it.  Even if they don’t agree with the feedback, someone elses perception is their reality and the receiver of the feedback now has the knowledge to do something different to change others’ perception.   Knowledge is power. 

Many companies conduct 360 degree feedback assessments to provide their leaders with input from many other individuals of all different levels within a company who interact with the employee.  I am a huge believer in 360 reviews but because they are administered every 12-24 months, the feedback is often not as timely as needed.

Another source of getting feedback is to administer feedback assessments on yourself every 3 to 6 months.  Send people you work for, with, and lead, a letter (email will work if you provide an option for anonyminity) and ask them to invest in your development by sending you back their thoughts on these three questions:

• What should I start doing that I’m not doing now?
• What should I stop doing that?
• What should I continue doing?

And lastly, if you make it a point to ask for continuous feedback it will be easy to receive and easy to give.  At first people might have a hard time giving you candid feedback, but if you consistently ask others to tell you how you’re doing, they will.  They’ll probably ask you for your opinion in return.  And then the gift keeps giving.

Guidelines for asking for feedback:

• Ask for something specific – “What do you think was the weakest part and strongest part of the presentation?”  Not –“So, what you think?”
• Give people permission to tell you the truth – “I really respect your insights.  I’d like to know what I can do better the next time.”
• Thank them for the gift.  “I really appreciate your opinion.  Thank you for being willing to help me improve.”
• Ask for feedforward.  “I’m gearing up for my next presentation.  What can I do to make it valuable to the attendees?”

Guidelines for giving feedback:

• Focus as much on the positive as the constructive feedback.  “I saw everyone taking notes when you unveiled your goals with such excitement.  The whole team is onboard with the new plan. Great job.” 
• Talk about your observations and feelings.  “I love the way you make everyone feel at ease at our staff meetings.  However, some of the small talk takes up a lot of time and I miss the chance to workout some of the business issues.  How about inviting everyone to dail in five minutes early for some social time?”
• Offer a solutions, not just criticism. “I feel disconnected because you are not very visible on the floor.  It would be great if you could walk around the department in the afternoons.”
• Use facts not “suspicions” It is not helpful to say “I get the sense that everyone is unhappy.” 
• If the feedback is unsolicited, prepare them for it.  “I have made some observations lately that I’d like to share with you.  Could I come by this afternoon to discuss my feedback with you?

Feedback creates a platform for growth.  And, although growth can be painful at times, is necessary to become the man or woman you are capable of being. 

Lead on!

If you are interested in help starting a feedback process in your company, team or life, contact me at New Day Solutions, Inc. lday@newdaysolutionsinc.com.  We’re dedicated to helping businesses and individuals achieve their goals.

I Need A Good Reputation

Nobody’s making money until someone sells something.  So, who is really responsible for sales?  I would argue that anyone in any position is selling whether they’re asking for the buy or not. People sell loyalty by providing excellent customer service, we sell trust by doing the right thing, we sell product by solving a need/problem – and most importantly we sell “word of mouth and word of mouse” advertizing, good and bad, whenever we interact with a customer or prospect.

We all prefer to buy when we know someone else has already had a good experience. Social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) has become a Mecca of resources for recommendations. Just post the question “has anyone ever bought XYZ from ABC?” and see what you get back! And, as human beings we are wired to want to help people succeed who are doing a good job, so we tell people freely when that is true. So there’s the good news – you get to choose.  Create a culture where you/your team consistently provide(s) positive customer experiences and you will get more business  . . .  or not. 

Here’s the scary news – there have been recent studies that found that 84% of consumers will tell someone else about a bad experience, which was up from 67% in 2006. And how easy is it to use email, FB, Twitter, or even the news media to proliferate a public warning? One mouse click away.

Forrester.com recently published a research study where it asked more than 4,500 consumers how often they talk about experiences with companies in twelve industries. It turns out that more consumers talk about good experiences than bad experiences with eight of the industries. Retailers and banks have the most consumers saying good things about them, and credit card providers, health insurance plans, Internet service providers, and TV service providers have the most consumers saying bad things. This negative bias is worst for airlines. As it turns out, Gen Xers and Older Boomers share news about a negative experience most frequently.

All industries and services take heed. More consumers share positive experiences and consumers tell more people about negative experiences.  Here’s the bottom line; people are talking. Whether the experience is good or bad, the consumer is going to tell someone about it. What do you want them saying about you, your product and your company?

I Need Some Courage (Ode to Dorothy Part 1)

Managerial courage – what is that?  I would propose that it can be summed up by saying “doing the right thing is always the right thing to do”.  Not the easiest thing to do.  Leaders who demonstrate courage develop: loyal followers, trust from their leaders, and three cheers from the shareholders.  Sounds great – so why is it a topic for development?  Demonstrating courage is not for the faint of heart – it can also topple empires, cause friction, cost money and/or your job and can be really hard to do. 

Wait – “but you just said….. which is it”? BOTH!   But choosing the courageous “right” route  always has a better outcome than if you didn’t.  Merom Klein (author of “The Courage to Act”) said this: “Courage is the turbo-charging required to succeed when it isn’t enough to choose what’s easy, self-indulgent or politically expedient. It’s a personal choice. We don’t show courage when we’re doing the right thing under duress or because higher-ups are monitoring our compliance, but when we choose to rise to a challenge out of our own free will and sense of honor.”

When finding your courage – you’ll find the wellness of the human spirit behind each decision – it may take peeling a few layers back, but it’s true.  Consider these three areas to consider when finding your courage –

Honesty – be frank but encouraging with performance feedback.  Telling someone that their performance is lacking is one of the most difficult things a leader does.  But think, if you weren’t honest – the employee wouldn’t grow, the business would suffer, and the trust between the leader and the employee would not be able to flourish.

Integrity – what you say (or withhold), write (or don’t document), or do (or don’t) should always be able to be printed on the front page of the WSJ and result in you keeping your friends, job, and staying you out of prison.

Humility – it takes courage to admit that you are wrong, don’t know the answer, or made a mistake because we are somehow wired to think that those admissions would cause us to lose favor with those whom are important.  Well, we have that backwards – when we admit those types of things, those who are really important will take favor with us because they will embrace our humanness and genuinely want to do their part to help us remedy our short comings.  

Here’s to being courageous!

Lead on!

Lori

http://www.newdaysolutionsinc.com