Surprisingly, the best price and best value is at the bottom of the customer's priority list. See what's at the top.
Why does a customer buy from one vendor rather than another? According to research recently conducted by The Rain Group (detailed report here), customers tend to buy from sellers who are superlative at the following tasks:
1. Bring New Perspectives and Ideas
If customers could diagnose their own problems and come up with
workable solutions on their own, they would do so. The reason that
they're turning to you and your firm is that they're stuck and need your
help. Therefore, you must be able to bring something new to the table.
2. Be Willing to Collaborate
Customers absolutely do NOT want you to sell them something, even
something that's wonderful. They want you to work with them to achieve a
mutual goal, by being responsive to the customer's concerns and ways of
doing business. Ideally, customers want you to become integral to their success.
3. Have Confidence In Your Ability to Achieve Results
Customers will not buy from you if you can't persuade them that you,
your firm, and your firms offerings will truly achieve the promised
results. It is nearly impossible to persuade a customer to believe in
these things unless you yourself believe in them. You must make your
confidence contagious.
4. Listen, Really Listen, to the Customer
When they're describing themselves and their needs, customers sense immediately
when somebody is just waiting for a break in the conversation in order
to launch into a sales pitch. In order to really listen, you must
suppress your own inner-voice and forget your goals. It's about the
customer, not about you.
5. Understand ALL the Customer's Needs
It's not enough to "connect the dots" between customer needs and your
company's offering. You must also connect with the individuals who will
be affected by your offering, and understand how buying from you will
satisfy their personal needs, like career advancement and job security.
6. Help the Customer Avoid Potential Pitfalls
Here's where many sellers fall flat. Customers know that every
business decision entails risk but they also want your help to minimize
that risk. They want to know what could go wrong and what has gone wrong in similar situations, and what steps you're taking to make sure these problems won't recur.
7. Craft a Compelling Solution
Solution selling is definitely not dead. Customers want and expect
you to have the basic selling skill of defining and proposing a workable
solution. What's different now though is that the ability to do this is
the "price of entry" and not enough, by itself, to win in a competitive
sales situation.
8. Communicate the Purchasing Process
Customers hate it when sellers dance around issues like price,
discounts, availability, total cost, add-on options, and so forth. They
want you to be able to tell them, in plain and simple language, what's
involved in a purchase and how that purchase will take place. No
surprises. No last minute upsells.
9. Connect Personally With the Customer
Ultimately, every selling situation involves making a connection
between two individuals who like and trust each other. As a great sales
guru once said: "All things being equal, most people would rather buy
from somebody they like... and that's true even when all things aren't
equal."
10. Provide Value That's Superior to Other Options
And here, finally, at the No. 10 spot (below everything else) comes
the price and how that price compares to similar offerings. Unless you
can prove that buying from you is the right business decision for the
customer, the customer can and should buy elsewhere.
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/10-things-every-customer-wants.html
Showing posts with label Customer Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Customer Service. Show all posts
3/15/13
Master the Art of Customer Loyalty
If you don't have a loyalty program, you're not taking advantage of your happiest customers. Here's how to get started.
Marketing your small business is easier said than done. Maybe you’ve tried Google AdWords or created a Facebook page but were disappointed with the results or complexity. You may have considered daily deals but realized that selling products at negative gross margin to one-time customers is not a winning combination. So what’s your next move?
There are no silver bullets in marketing, but I learned one important lesson from the Fortune 500 clients I consulted for at McKinsey--the power of customer loyalty. For many small businesses, loyalty marketing may be the only marketing they need, because it builds upon their greatest asset: their most satisfied customers. Bain & Company famously wrote that it costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Though you probably can’t invest in loyalty like a Fortune 500 company would, there are steps small businesses can take to begin loyalty marketing.
First, invest in service. Zappos pioneered the mantra that customer service is the new marketing. An American Express study showed that 70 percent of Americans would spend more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. Service is the strength of most small businesses, so you should be able to do this well immediately.
Second, build a robust loyalty program that:
http://www.inc.com/victor-ho/master-the-art-of-customer-loyalty.html
Marketing your small business is easier said than done. Maybe you’ve tried Google AdWords or created a Facebook page but were disappointed with the results or complexity. You may have considered daily deals but realized that selling products at negative gross margin to one-time customers is not a winning combination. So what’s your next move?
There are no silver bullets in marketing, but I learned one important lesson from the Fortune 500 clients I consulted for at McKinsey--the power of customer loyalty. For many small businesses, loyalty marketing may be the only marketing they need, because it builds upon their greatest asset: their most satisfied customers. Bain & Company famously wrote that it costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Though you probably can’t invest in loyalty like a Fortune 500 company would, there are steps small businesses can take to begin loyalty marketing.
First, invest in service. Zappos pioneered the mantra that customer service is the new marketing. An American Express study showed that 70 percent of Americans would spend more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. Service is the strength of most small businesses, so you should be able to do this well immediately.
Second, build a robust loyalty program that:
- Increases Customer Visits. Remember the first time you joined an airline frequent flyer program? Initially you were probably comfortable spreading your miles across a few airlines, but as you neared a reward in one, you started to stick with your preferred airline. And then once you experienced the benefits of airline status, you were hooked. When you build your loyalty program, make the first reward easily attainable, so customers experience the thrill of getting a reward early on. Then add additional tiers to earn even more memorable rewards and maybe bonuses after a certain number of visits. Even if you use a simple punch card, you should be able to launch this kind of program. Companies that implement simple visit-based loyalty programs can increase customer visits by 30 percent with very little cost.
- Increases Spend Per Visit. As a second step, consider rewarding customers not just based on visits but spend. For example, if you are a restaurant, give a point for every $5 in spend. This encourages customers to not only come more frequently but also spend more per visit. This has a multiplicative impact on sales.
- Increases Revenue from Promotions. Fortune 500 companies love loyalty program signups because you are no longer just an anonymous customer to them. Once you’ve joined, they have your contact info and can reach you with promotions. Do you collect emails when you sign up customers to your loyalty program? It’s a small step that will give you an additional revenue stream when you send them relevant promotions on holidays or special events.
- Increases Word-of-Mouth. Do you encourage your loyalty program participants to follow you on social media as well? You’ll have another channel to share news and promotions, and they can amplify word-of-mouth about your business to hundreds of friends.
http://www.inc.com/victor-ho/master-the-art-of-customer-loyalty.html
3/1/13
Stellar Customer Experience: 4 Tips
I've been thinking a lot about our customer experience lately as
we'll soon be making some sweeping changes to the way we do business at my online marketing company VerticalResponse.
When I see other businesses that do a bang up job with their customer
experience, I take copious notes of how we might incorporate it into the
way we'll do things.
I'd like to focus on a company that originated in San Francisco called One Medical. If you can believe it, they're reinventing the dreaded doctor's office visit! I've broken it down into four customer experience touch points that make a difference for this business and that all of us might learn from.
1. Ease of Use, Right From the Start
You might hear about One Medical from a friend like me, and go to their friendly website where you might sign up and become a member, or log in. Then you see which physicians are available in a location, or a time slot that's convenient for you (Same day? Yup!) and you can make your appointment. Easy? You bet.
Lesson: Ask someone who doesn't know about your business how they feel about visiting your store or website. Is it the experience you want to portray?
2. Comfortable and Short Wait Time
Every One Medical location has nice, tasteful decor. There aren't a bunch of cheap chairs all facing each other, and no cheesy magazines from last month that an employee brought in. The waiting area is divided into comfortable sections and you get a warm and friendly greeting from someone sitting at a desk, not in back of a glass wall with a bunch of color-coded folders behind them. Plus, you always get seen on time. Waiting becomes a comfortable experience.
Lesson: Is your location set up to reflect your business? Are you edgy or subdued? Does your website reflect how you want your business portrayed? Does your team greet your visitors the way you want them to?
3. Friendly and Informational Visit
Each physician has a comfortable office with a laptop where they document your consultation directly into your account so you have a record of it. They put off a kind, approachable vibe, and never make you feel rushed. A rarity these days when most doctors have about 15 minutes tops, to spend with you.
Lesson: Are your salespeople dressed casually or suited up? How do you want them to speak to visitors whether they call in or come to your business? Is the interaction with your team and your business the way you want it to be? Send some people in and have them describe how they perceive what your biz is all about.
4. Quick Follow-up
One Medical physicians email your prescription directly to the pharmacy of your choice (no paper here) and they email you after your visit to find out how you're feeling.
What's more is you can email your physician anything you want to ask, at any time and expect to get an answer within a few hours!
Lesson: Are you thanking your customers for buying? What does your confirmation email say? Does it reflect your style, or is it too stuffy for how you want to sound? Are you set up to get back to customers quickly with chat, or a phone call, or do you even follow up?
Whether your business is online, offline, or both, take a note of everywhere a customer or a potential customer has to interact with you and form their quick opinion. Then make some changes like we are and give your customer experience a clean bill of health!
http://www.inc.com/janine-popick/stellar-customer-experience-4-tips.html
I'd like to focus on a company that originated in San Francisco called One Medical. If you can believe it, they're reinventing the dreaded doctor's office visit! I've broken it down into four customer experience touch points that make a difference for this business and that all of us might learn from.
1. Ease of Use, Right From the Start
You might hear about One Medical from a friend like me, and go to their friendly website where you might sign up and become a member, or log in. Then you see which physicians are available in a location, or a time slot that's convenient for you (Same day? Yup!) and you can make your appointment. Easy? You bet.
Lesson: Ask someone who doesn't know about your business how they feel about visiting your store or website. Is it the experience you want to portray?
2. Comfortable and Short Wait Time
Every One Medical location has nice, tasteful decor. There aren't a bunch of cheap chairs all facing each other, and no cheesy magazines from last month that an employee brought in. The waiting area is divided into comfortable sections and you get a warm and friendly greeting from someone sitting at a desk, not in back of a glass wall with a bunch of color-coded folders behind them. Plus, you always get seen on time. Waiting becomes a comfortable experience.
Lesson: Is your location set up to reflect your business? Are you edgy or subdued? Does your website reflect how you want your business portrayed? Does your team greet your visitors the way you want them to?
3. Friendly and Informational Visit
Each physician has a comfortable office with a laptop where they document your consultation directly into your account so you have a record of it. They put off a kind, approachable vibe, and never make you feel rushed. A rarity these days when most doctors have about 15 minutes tops, to spend with you.
Lesson: Are your salespeople dressed casually or suited up? How do you want them to speak to visitors whether they call in or come to your business? Is the interaction with your team and your business the way you want it to be? Send some people in and have them describe how they perceive what your biz is all about.
4. Quick Follow-up
One Medical physicians email your prescription directly to the pharmacy of your choice (no paper here) and they email you after your visit to find out how you're feeling.
What's more is you can email your physician anything you want to ask, at any time and expect to get an answer within a few hours!
Lesson: Are you thanking your customers for buying? What does your confirmation email say? Does it reflect your style, or is it too stuffy for how you want to sound? Are you set up to get back to customers quickly with chat, or a phone call, or do you even follow up?
Whether your business is online, offline, or both, take a note of everywhere a customer or a potential customer has to interact with you and form their quick opinion. Then make some changes like we are and give your customer experience a clean bill of health!
http://www.inc.com/janine-popick/stellar-customer-experience-4-tips.html
1/3/13
Convert Community Goodwill Into Cash
You've worked hard to build your company's reputation in the local
community. Convert that goodwill to real value as you prepare to sell
your business.
Valuation can make or break the sale of your business. If your company is overvalued, it won't capture the attention of serious buyers and can languish in the marketplace for years. But undervaluation can be just as problematic. Although your business will sell more quickly, it may also mean sacrificing the financial objectives you hope to accomplish from the sale.
In the business-for-sale marketplace, overvaluation happens more frequently than undervaluation. For years, the seller has worked hard to build the company's reputation in the community, so when it's time to sell the business the intangible value of the company's reputation should be factored into the sale price, right?
The value of a company's relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders is called goodwill--and it does have real value for buyers. But to realize that value in the final sale price, business sellers need to execute strategies designed to convert goodwill to demonstrated business value.
How to Demonstrate the Value of Goodwill
As a small business owner, it's in your best interest to start making a case for the goodwill value of your company as early as possible. The more time and energy you invest in creating tangible measurements of your company's relationships, the easier it will be to demonstrate its goodwill value to prospective buyers.
With adequate planning, it's possible to increase your company's sale price by strategically documenting foundational elements of goodwill value.
1. Measure customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty is a reflection of your company's relationships in the local community. Although most business owners recognize the importance of loyalty improvements, relatively few owners establish loyalty goals and document the achievement of loyalty milestones for buyers.
2. Document customer service outcomes.
Businesses with strong customer service programs can benefit from positive word-of-mouth, advocacy on social media sites and other advantages. In addition to archiving positive customer comments and customer service interactions, create mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of your customer service efforts (e.g. average response time improvements, customer survey results, etc.).
3. Prioritize employee retention and development.
Employee relationships play an important role in determining the goodwill value of a small business. Buyers are willing to pay more for stable companies that can demonstrate above average employee retention rates and organized employee development programs.
4. Differentiate your products and brand.
Businesses that offer a unique product or service have a tendency to pique buyers' interest. By differentiating your business from other local providers, you can significantly improve its goodwill value--especially if you can demonstrate that customers perceive your business as the community's sole provider an in-demand product or service offering.
5. Benchmark everything.
Benchmarking is the key to demonstrating the cash value of goodwill. Sellers that make the biggest impact with buyers in the business-for-sale marketplace gauge loyalty, retention and other measurements against industry and regional benchmarks to quantify the company's intangible value.
Most small businesses have at least some goodwill value that can be converted into cash value during a business sale. However, the quantification of goodwill can be nuanced, so it's advisable to consult a business valuation professional before you assign actual dollar figures to the value of your company's relationships with customers, employees and other stakeholders.
http://www.inc.com/mike-handelsman/convert-community-goodwill-into-cash.html
Valuation can make or break the sale of your business. If your company is overvalued, it won't capture the attention of serious buyers and can languish in the marketplace for years. But undervaluation can be just as problematic. Although your business will sell more quickly, it may also mean sacrificing the financial objectives you hope to accomplish from the sale.
In the business-for-sale marketplace, overvaluation happens more frequently than undervaluation. For years, the seller has worked hard to build the company's reputation in the community, so when it's time to sell the business the intangible value of the company's reputation should be factored into the sale price, right?
The value of a company's relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders is called goodwill--and it does have real value for buyers. But to realize that value in the final sale price, business sellers need to execute strategies designed to convert goodwill to demonstrated business value.
How to Demonstrate the Value of Goodwill
As a small business owner, it's in your best interest to start making a case for the goodwill value of your company as early as possible. The more time and energy you invest in creating tangible measurements of your company's relationships, the easier it will be to demonstrate its goodwill value to prospective buyers.
With adequate planning, it's possible to increase your company's sale price by strategically documenting foundational elements of goodwill value.
1. Measure customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty is a reflection of your company's relationships in the local community. Although most business owners recognize the importance of loyalty improvements, relatively few owners establish loyalty goals and document the achievement of loyalty milestones for buyers.
2. Document customer service outcomes.
Businesses with strong customer service programs can benefit from positive word-of-mouth, advocacy on social media sites and other advantages. In addition to archiving positive customer comments and customer service interactions, create mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of your customer service efforts (e.g. average response time improvements, customer survey results, etc.).
3. Prioritize employee retention and development.
Employee relationships play an important role in determining the goodwill value of a small business. Buyers are willing to pay more for stable companies that can demonstrate above average employee retention rates and organized employee development programs.
4. Differentiate your products and brand.
Businesses that offer a unique product or service have a tendency to pique buyers' interest. By differentiating your business from other local providers, you can significantly improve its goodwill value--especially if you can demonstrate that customers perceive your business as the community's sole provider an in-demand product or service offering.
5. Benchmark everything.
Benchmarking is the key to demonstrating the cash value of goodwill. Sellers that make the biggest impact with buyers in the business-for-sale marketplace gauge loyalty, retention and other measurements against industry and regional benchmarks to quantify the company's intangible value.
Most small businesses have at least some goodwill value that can be converted into cash value during a business sale. However, the quantification of goodwill can be nuanced, so it's advisable to consult a business valuation professional before you assign actual dollar figures to the value of your company's relationships with customers, employees and other stakeholders.
http://www.inc.com/mike-handelsman/convert-community-goodwill-into-cash.html
12/7/12
5 Surefire Ways to Piss Off Customers
We’ve all had customer service nightmares that never should have
happened. I don’t know about you, but I’ve come to expect that sort of
thing from big companies like AT&T and Best Buy. Don’t even get me
started on insurance and power companies.
What really gets me is when small businesses shoot themselves in the foot by screwing up in ways that have nothing to do with their core products or services. Let me be blunt about this. These days, customers have nearly limitless choices. If you think you can get away with subpar customer service, logistics or any other function that impacts your customer’s experience with your brand, think again.
What’s sad is that there’s just no excuse for it. E-commerce and automation solutions make it easy for small companies to operate like the pros. There are all sorts of choices for outsourcing noncore functions to professional firms that get things done like clockwork. And there’s never been a better time to hire good people at competitive wages who would kill for a decent job.
Is it any wonder that you can pick just about any market and find one company that consistently gets things done right while a nearly identical competitor can’t manage a single flawless transaction?
Since I know you don’t want to be in the latter category, here are five common pitfalls that every business should avoid like the plague.
1. Fail to deliver. With all the great logistics services available from the likes of UPS and FedEx, there’s simply no excuse for failing to deliver product to a customer as promised. And yet, it happens all the time. Either the tracking information is wrong, they deliver the wrong product, they show up on the wrong day, or they don’t show up at all.
2. Waste your customer’s precious time -- and test their patience. How much time do you spend on the phone or online just trying to figure out what’s gone wrong and get it taken care of? And you never seem to get a straight answer until you’ve asked to speak with whoever’s in charge or threatened to take your business elsewhere.
3. Create problems out of thin air. Let’s face it. Not all customers are fun to deal with. And since I have the attention span and patience of a two year-old, I could never deal with the general public. Still, you’d think companies could do better than having customer service people who are like crazed lunatics that went off their meds.
4. Ignore feedback (or make it hard to give it). In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp, you’d think companies would clue in to the fact that, if they don’t take feedback to heart or make it easy for customers to get in touch with them, they’re going to get eviscerated in a very public way, which is never a good thing. And yet, some companies make it nearly impossible for you to contact them directly.
5. Hamstring employees. The most important thing I learned in quality training back in the 80s was that 90 percent of all problems are management problems. If anything, the real number’s actually higher. So most of the problem situations we attribute to individuals on the front line are actually caused by bad management and flawed processes. Go figure.
Now, here’s an example of how one small business somehow managed to nail four of the five pitfalls--in a single transaction.
A winery uses a boutique next-day service for wine club deliveries. The service notified me that they’d be delivering on a Monday. Since it’s wine, they needed an adult signature. I was there. They weren’t. Three days later, they supposedly attempted delivery and said nobody was there. But I was there. All day.
I’ve probably gotten wine deliveries from a hundred wineries via UPS and FedEx over the past 20 years.
Never had a problem.
So, there’s a problem with this little delivery service, right? Not so fast. The wine club director wasn’t buying it. First, she made excuses for why the delivery never went out on Monday and then questioned the authenticity of my story, saying, “Why would a delivery service make something up?” Yup, she really said that.
Furthermore, she insisted I provide an alternative address where an adult would be around to sign for the delivery. I asked to speak with whoever’s in charge, and she said, “That’s me.” So I cancelled my club membership and sought a way to contact the winery owner, but there was none. So I posted on Yelp and called it a day.
For all I know, the owner is the problem and the seemingly shrill, agitated wine club director was caught between a dumb boss, a bad delivery service, and a customer. I doubt it, but you never know. In any case, that’s one winemaker whose product I can probably live without. Which is sad because, well, he made pretty good wine.
Don’t let that happen to your business.
http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/5-screw-ups-that-can-kill-your-business.html
What really gets me is when small businesses shoot themselves in the foot by screwing up in ways that have nothing to do with their core products or services. Let me be blunt about this. These days, customers have nearly limitless choices. If you think you can get away with subpar customer service, logistics or any other function that impacts your customer’s experience with your brand, think again.
What’s sad is that there’s just no excuse for it. E-commerce and automation solutions make it easy for small companies to operate like the pros. There are all sorts of choices for outsourcing noncore functions to professional firms that get things done like clockwork. And there’s never been a better time to hire good people at competitive wages who would kill for a decent job.
Is it any wonder that you can pick just about any market and find one company that consistently gets things done right while a nearly identical competitor can’t manage a single flawless transaction?
Since I know you don’t want to be in the latter category, here are five common pitfalls that every business should avoid like the plague.
1. Fail to deliver. With all the great logistics services available from the likes of UPS and FedEx, there’s simply no excuse for failing to deliver product to a customer as promised. And yet, it happens all the time. Either the tracking information is wrong, they deliver the wrong product, they show up on the wrong day, or they don’t show up at all.
2. Waste your customer’s precious time -- and test their patience. How much time do you spend on the phone or online just trying to figure out what’s gone wrong and get it taken care of? And you never seem to get a straight answer until you’ve asked to speak with whoever’s in charge or threatened to take your business elsewhere.
3. Create problems out of thin air. Let’s face it. Not all customers are fun to deal with. And since I have the attention span and patience of a two year-old, I could never deal with the general public. Still, you’d think companies could do better than having customer service people who are like crazed lunatics that went off their meds.
4. Ignore feedback (or make it hard to give it). In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp, you’d think companies would clue in to the fact that, if they don’t take feedback to heart or make it easy for customers to get in touch with them, they’re going to get eviscerated in a very public way, which is never a good thing. And yet, some companies make it nearly impossible for you to contact them directly.
5. Hamstring employees. The most important thing I learned in quality training back in the 80s was that 90 percent of all problems are management problems. If anything, the real number’s actually higher. So most of the problem situations we attribute to individuals on the front line are actually caused by bad management and flawed processes. Go figure.
Now, here’s an example of how one small business somehow managed to nail four of the five pitfalls--in a single transaction.
A winery uses a boutique next-day service for wine club deliveries. The service notified me that they’d be delivering on a Monday. Since it’s wine, they needed an adult signature. I was there. They weren’t. Three days later, they supposedly attempted delivery and said nobody was there. But I was there. All day.
I’ve probably gotten wine deliveries from a hundred wineries via UPS and FedEx over the past 20 years.
Never had a problem.
So, there’s a problem with this little delivery service, right? Not so fast. The wine club director wasn’t buying it. First, she made excuses for why the delivery never went out on Monday and then questioned the authenticity of my story, saying, “Why would a delivery service make something up?” Yup, she really said that.
Furthermore, she insisted I provide an alternative address where an adult would be around to sign for the delivery. I asked to speak with whoever’s in charge, and she said, “That’s me.” So I cancelled my club membership and sought a way to contact the winery owner, but there was none. So I posted on Yelp and called it a day.
For all I know, the owner is the problem and the seemingly shrill, agitated wine club director was caught between a dumb boss, a bad delivery service, and a customer. I doubt it, but you never know. In any case, that’s one winemaker whose product I can probably live without. Which is sad because, well, he made pretty good wine.
Don’t let that happen to your business.
http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/5-screw-ups-that-can-kill-your-business.html
11/20/12
How to Cultivate Truly Loyal Customers
"How do I create loyal customers?" a reader emailed recently. Good
question: Customer loyalty is an issue every business owner cares about
greatly.
So I turned to Larry Freed, CEO of Foresee, a global leader in customer experience analytics, for the answer. He graciously allowed me to share the tips below from his book Managing Forward: How to Move from Measuring the Past to Managing the Future, a great read if you're interested in better satisfying your customers.
"In business terms, I think of loyalty as a faithfulness or allegiance to a company or brand," Freed says. "In short, when I am loyal to a company, that company is my first choice."
But in broader terms, Freed says there are four basic forms of customer loyalty:
Purchased Loyalty
The best example of purchased loyalty is a customer rewards program. Other examples include memberships, coupons, and rebates.
Basically, purchased loyalty pays customers to be loyal, and there is nothing wrong with that practice. In many industries and market sectors the purchased loyalty strategy works extremely well.
The main problem with it is that purchased loyalty can be easily stolen because the customer is loyal to the program, not the company.
Say you have a frequent flier account with a particular airline. If the only reason you are a loyal customer of that airline is its points system, then when another airline offers a more advantageous system you will immediately switch.
Every business wants a sustainable competitive advantage and a purchased loyalty program can provide one--even though it can be very tough to sustain.
Purchased loyalty can also produce unintended consequences. Some programs condition customers to expect deals, discounts, and loyalty rewards, causing many to be loyal to the deal or discount and not to your business.
Convenience Loyalty
The local market, the corner dry cleaner, the coffee shop on your way to work. You might be loyal to those businesses simply because they're convenient. You're likely to remain loyal unless competitors come along who are equally or even more convenient.
Convenience loyalty can apply online as well, although less commonly. If you own the right real estate on a home page or portal you may create loyalty through convenience.
Still, convenience advantages online are generally fleeting.
That's why location matters... until it doesn't.
Restricted Loyalty
Restricted loyalty exists when there is no other game in town. Your cable company may enjoy restricted loyalty, especially if you live in a rural setting and there is no competition. (Although it is easy to argue that other options do exist, like online services.)
Utilities tend to enjoy restricted loyalty. Most cities do not have multiple electricity providers.
A corporate travel program with a company like American Express may be a form of restricted loyalty, especially if you feel no other programs are competitive. Arguably some Walmart locations enjoy a form of restricted loyalty with a dollop of convenience loyalty mixed in. If Walmart is the only game in your town you naturally are "loyal." When customers have no options, loyalty is their only choice.
Constraints often create loyalty. Restricted loyalty is great for a business--if you can get it and maintain it--but restricted loyalty is increasingly a thing of the past. Competition exists in almost every consumer situation, both within an industry or category and in the larger marketplace.
Companies compete, especially in down economies, for a larger share of wallet--across industries and across markets.
True Loyalty
True loyalty is earned loyalty. True loyalty is undying allegiance to a brand or product based on an incredible level of satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction breeds true loyalty. When you are highly satisfied, when your needs are completely met and your expectations are consistently met and even exceeded, you simply cannot imagine using another product or service.
True loyalty is the holy grail of customer satisfaction and is something every business should aspire to create.
How?
Clearly the ultimate goal for almost every business is to create and foster true loyalty. When you measure the right things, listen to your customers, and make changes and improvements that will increase customer satisfaction, you can create truly loyal customers.
That's great: Loyal customers come back. You don't have to pay to acquire and keep them. Loyal customers are more profitable as well since new customers are much more expensive to acquire.
But in order to achieve true loyalty you must first measure loyalty the right way.
For example, measuring a potential behavior, such as likelihood to recommend, does not measure loyalty. Likelihood to recommend measures positive word of mouth. We worked with a fantasy sports provider and found that 27% of its users said they would not be likely to recommend... but only 3% said they were actually likely to share that kind of feedback with others.
The fact that, when asked, people said they were not likely to recommend the service did not automatically mean they would volunteer that information to someone else.
The key is to understand customer needs and expectations, measure your results, and make changes that positively impact the customer experience and meet the real needs of customers. Creating truly loyal customers by satisfying customers is a long-term, sustainable advantage.
So don't be lazy. Purchased loyalty has its place as long as you also practice fiscal responsibility. (After all, it's easy to satisfy your customers if you don't have to be fiscally responsible. Simply spend what you want!)
Convenience loyalty can be wonderful, especially if you choose the right locations or modes of delivery. And restricted loyalty is great if you can get it.
But those forms of loyalty are difficult to obtain and tend to yield fleeting advantages.
True loyalty, based on customer satisfaction, is the ultimate goal of any business and the only true long-term competitive advantage.
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-cultivate-truly-loyal-customers.html
So I turned to Larry Freed, CEO of Foresee, a global leader in customer experience analytics, for the answer. He graciously allowed me to share the tips below from his book Managing Forward: How to Move from Measuring the Past to Managing the Future, a great read if you're interested in better satisfying your customers.
"In business terms, I think of loyalty as a faithfulness or allegiance to a company or brand," Freed says. "In short, when I am loyal to a company, that company is my first choice."
But in broader terms, Freed says there are four basic forms of customer loyalty:
Purchased Loyalty
The best example of purchased loyalty is a customer rewards program. Other examples include memberships, coupons, and rebates.
Basically, purchased loyalty pays customers to be loyal, and there is nothing wrong with that practice. In many industries and market sectors the purchased loyalty strategy works extremely well.
The main problem with it is that purchased loyalty can be easily stolen because the customer is loyal to the program, not the company.
Say you have a frequent flier account with a particular airline. If the only reason you are a loyal customer of that airline is its points system, then when another airline offers a more advantageous system you will immediately switch.
Every business wants a sustainable competitive advantage and a purchased loyalty program can provide one--even though it can be very tough to sustain.
Purchased loyalty can also produce unintended consequences. Some programs condition customers to expect deals, discounts, and loyalty rewards, causing many to be loyal to the deal or discount and not to your business.
Convenience Loyalty
The local market, the corner dry cleaner, the coffee shop on your way to work. You might be loyal to those businesses simply because they're convenient. You're likely to remain loyal unless competitors come along who are equally or even more convenient.
Convenience loyalty can apply online as well, although less commonly. If you own the right real estate on a home page or portal you may create loyalty through convenience.
Still, convenience advantages online are generally fleeting.
That's why location matters... until it doesn't.
Restricted Loyalty
Restricted loyalty exists when there is no other game in town. Your cable company may enjoy restricted loyalty, especially if you live in a rural setting and there is no competition. (Although it is easy to argue that other options do exist, like online services.)
Utilities tend to enjoy restricted loyalty. Most cities do not have multiple electricity providers.
A corporate travel program with a company like American Express may be a form of restricted loyalty, especially if you feel no other programs are competitive. Arguably some Walmart locations enjoy a form of restricted loyalty with a dollop of convenience loyalty mixed in. If Walmart is the only game in your town you naturally are "loyal." When customers have no options, loyalty is their only choice.
Constraints often create loyalty. Restricted loyalty is great for a business--if you can get it and maintain it--but restricted loyalty is increasingly a thing of the past. Competition exists in almost every consumer situation, both within an industry or category and in the larger marketplace.
Companies compete, especially in down economies, for a larger share of wallet--across industries and across markets.
True Loyalty
True loyalty is earned loyalty. True loyalty is undying allegiance to a brand or product based on an incredible level of satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction breeds true loyalty. When you are highly satisfied, when your needs are completely met and your expectations are consistently met and even exceeded, you simply cannot imagine using another product or service.
True loyalty is the holy grail of customer satisfaction and is something every business should aspire to create.
How?
Clearly the ultimate goal for almost every business is to create and foster true loyalty. When you measure the right things, listen to your customers, and make changes and improvements that will increase customer satisfaction, you can create truly loyal customers.
That's great: Loyal customers come back. You don't have to pay to acquire and keep them. Loyal customers are more profitable as well since new customers are much more expensive to acquire.
But in order to achieve true loyalty you must first measure loyalty the right way.
For example, measuring a potential behavior, such as likelihood to recommend, does not measure loyalty. Likelihood to recommend measures positive word of mouth. We worked with a fantasy sports provider and found that 27% of its users said they would not be likely to recommend... but only 3% said they were actually likely to share that kind of feedback with others.
The fact that, when asked, people said they were not likely to recommend the service did not automatically mean they would volunteer that information to someone else.
The key is to understand customer needs and expectations, measure your results, and make changes that positively impact the customer experience and meet the real needs of customers. Creating truly loyal customers by satisfying customers is a long-term, sustainable advantage.
So don't be lazy. Purchased loyalty has its place as long as you also practice fiscal responsibility. (After all, it's easy to satisfy your customers if you don't have to be fiscally responsible. Simply spend what you want!)
Convenience loyalty can be wonderful, especially if you choose the right locations or modes of delivery. And restricted loyalty is great if you can get it.
But those forms of loyalty are difficult to obtain and tend to yield fleeting advantages.
True loyalty, based on customer satisfaction, is the ultimate goal of any business and the only true long-term competitive advantage.
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-cultivate-truly-loyal-customers.html
10/8/12
Guy Kawasaki: Enchant Customers Like Apple, Zappos & Virgin
Investor and author Guy Kawasaki says the business world needs more
charm. Here's his 10-step formula to enchant customers--and build a
great big company.
If you want your company to be the next Apple, Zappos, or Virgin, take a page from their playbooks: Enchant your customers.
To do that, Guy Kawasaki, the investor,
author, and former Apple "chief evangelist," boiled down a modern
entrepreneur's goals at the Inc. 500|5000 in Phoenix on Friday like
this: "You want the quality of Apple, the trustworthiness of Zappos, and
the likeability of Richard Branson."
In his book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, and in his speech, Kawasaki outlined the path to "enchantment" in 10 steps.
Here they are:
1. Be Likeable
It's simple. You cannot achieve
anything if people do not like you. When Kawasaki met Virgin founder
Sir Richard Branson, Branson asked Kawasaki if he flew Virgin. "When I
said that I was a United Global Services member, he got down on his
knees and started polishing my shoes with his jacket. This is the
moment I started flying Virgin," Kawasaki said.
2. Be Trustworthy
"You
can like Charlie Sheen--that doesn't mean you trust Charlie Sheen,"
Kawasaki said. Trust is never a given, so your company needs to be
proactive and project an air of trust, he added. One easy way to extend
the first hand of trust to your customers is by giving them something,
with no strings attached. As an example, Zappos gives customers
unlimited free shipping both ways.
3. Perfect Your Product or Service
It's a lot easier to enchant
people with great stuff than crap. "I have tried it both ways," says
Kawasaki. So how can you tell if your product or service is 'great
stuff?' It's great, says Kawasaki, if it's "deep, intelligent,
complete, empowering, and elegant."
4. Tell a Great Story
Your company needs an origin
story. Look no further than eBay, with its founding story of Pierre
Omidyar wanting to enrich his girlfriend's ability to trade Pez
dispensers (her alleged hobby). It's a cute story, but a "total
bullshit story," Kawasaki chides. "But you need a story."
5. Overcome Resistance
Kawasaki says it might be tough
to get a parent to buy a kid a shoot-em-up game. But what about a game
that's marketed as an educational toy? Sure, parents will buy that.
Other ways to overcome resistance: show social proof--your friends are
doing it!--or providing data as evidence.
6. Make Your Enchantment Enduring
At Grateful Dead concerts, there
was a special area for show taping. The band wasn't worried about
piracy; they wanted the concert to endure over time. How can you apply
this to your business? Invoke reciprocation at every chance you get.
When someone says "thank you," the optimal response isn't "you're
welcome," Kawasaki says. It's "I know you would do the same for me."
7. Be a Great Presenter
When speaking to a group,
customize the introduction to your audience. Kawasaki does this by
showing an intro slide of him doing something the local people--be it in
Edinburgh or Istanbul--can relate to, like eating haggis or trying on a
fez at a bazaar. Keep your presentation short. Kawasaki says the
optimal formula for a presentation is 20 minutes and 10 slides, using
30-point font.
8. Use Technology
"It's
a great time to enchant people with technology, because technology is
fast, free, and ubiquitous," Kawasaki says. But there will always be
speed bumps when new technology is involved. (Think: An indecipherable
captcha screen.) Get rid of it, or risk losing customers.
9. Enchant Up
How
do you impress your boss? "When your boss asks you to do something,
you drop everything else, and do it," says Kawasaki. If it's a big
project, you should drop everything and make a prototype--fast. Draft
an early rendering, and ask your boss if that's what she's looking for.
10. Enchant Down
If you're the boss, you
need to not only enchant your customers, but also your employees. One
easy way: "Show that you are willing to suck it up," Kawasaki says.
Bottom line: Get your hands dirty.
10/3/12
7 Ways to Make Customers Love You
The greatest compliment anyone can receive in the business world is "I just love working with you." That's especially true when that compliment comes from customers, because it means that you'll be getting their business time and time again.
Here are the seven rules for getting customers to love working with you, based upon conversations with Jeffrey Gitomer, author of the The Sales Bible and Dr. Earl Taylor, master trainer at Dale Carnegie:
1. Make building the relationship more important than making the sale.
2. Create opportunities for the customer to buy, rather than opportunities for you to sell.
3. Have meaningful conversations and never give a sales pitch.
4. Be curious about the customer as a person and let the friendship evolve from that.
5. Don't try to be a hero who swoops in to solve the customer's problem.
6. Believe in your heart that you and your firm are the best at what you do.
7. Deliver exactly what you promised to deliver, no matter what.
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/7-ways-to-make-customers-love-you.html
Here are the seven rules for getting customers to love working with you, based upon conversations with Jeffrey Gitomer, author of the The Sales Bible and Dr. Earl Taylor, master trainer at Dale Carnegie:
1. Make building the relationship more important than making the sale.
2. Create opportunities for the customer to buy, rather than opportunities for you to sell.
3. Have meaningful conversations and never give a sales pitch.
4. Be curious about the customer as a person and let the friendship evolve from that.
5. Don't try to be a hero who swoops in to solve the customer's problem.
6. Believe in your heart that you and your firm are the best at what you do.
7. Deliver exactly what you promised to deliver, no matter what.
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/7-ways-to-make-customers-love-you.html
9/21/12
Don't Just Buy Local, Buy Personal
Buying local is great, but to really support local entrepreneurs, go one step farther and buy personal.
A small business near me closed down. I feel terrible because it's partly my fault.
Every entrepreneur has big dreams. Many have small budgets, though, so they do the best they can.
They hope for great word of mouth since they have no marketing budget. They hope quality and service will turn an otherwise terrible location into a destination. They have passion and desire in abundance, and hope hard work and persistence will overcome any roadblocks.
In short, they hope.
And every day, people like me crush their hopes.
Granted in this case I'm only a little to blame. I knew the little clothing store was doomed the day it opened. It seemed obvious, just from driving by, that the owner loves clothing and fashion and hoped to build a business out of that passion, but it seemed just as obvious the business would eventually fail.
We've all seen entrepreneurs open new ventures that we can tell will soon go under. I'm sure you drive by a few every day. (If you're like me you sometimes make a little mental bet on how long they'll stay open. Six months is usually a safe estimate.)
I never stopped in this particular store. While I could say was more convenient to shop elsewhere, the truth is I didn't stop in because I never saw any cars in the parking lot. I was uncomfortable with how I would feel, and how the owner would feel, if I looked around and didn't buy anything.
I would feel guilty. I'm sure you've walked out of a store empty-handed and felt like you somehow let an eager, enthusiastic, bright-eyed owner down.
The owner would feel disappointed. Every business is an extension of its owner, and when a business is struggling perspective is in short supply.
You know you won't make every sale, of course, but remembering that it's business, not personal, is almost impossible. The customer who doesn't make a purchase in some small way rejects your business... and therefore, by extension, rejects you.
Each potential customer carries the power of validation or rejection.
That's a power I didn't want. But I should have, because I could have made a difference, however small.
Each of us can make that difference. Instead of buying local, go a step further and buy personal.
Put aside price/value calculations and rational market theory and survival of the fittest and take a chance on a new or struggling entrepreneur. Buy a few items from a local mom and pop. Hire the small restaurant down the road to cater a non-critical event. Call a new vendor and ask for a quote.
Sure, you already have established vendor relationships in place, but why not give other small businesses the opportunity to win you over? In the process you may find a great new vendor... or you might not.
But what's the worst that can happen?
You might spend a little more. The meal might not be great. The quote might miss the mark. That's okay. No matter what happens, be gracious. Be complimentary. Say something nice. Say thank you.
Pick a small business and give it a chance. Will you, alone, keep it afloat?
Of course you won't. I couldn't have saved that clothing store. But I could still have made a meaningful, even if momentary, difference.
At the heart of every business is a person with a dream, and few things are sadder than realizing your life will fall short of your dreams.
So stop in. Take a look around. Provide a moment of hope.
A little extra hope may be all that entrepreneur needs to keep going.
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/dont-just-buy-local-buy-personal.html
A small business near me closed down. I feel terrible because it's partly my fault.
Every entrepreneur has big dreams. Many have small budgets, though, so they do the best they can.
They hope for great word of mouth since they have no marketing budget. They hope quality and service will turn an otherwise terrible location into a destination. They have passion and desire in abundance, and hope hard work and persistence will overcome any roadblocks.
In short, they hope.
And every day, people like me crush their hopes.
Granted in this case I'm only a little to blame. I knew the little clothing store was doomed the day it opened. It seemed obvious, just from driving by, that the owner loves clothing and fashion and hoped to build a business out of that passion, but it seemed just as obvious the business would eventually fail.
We've all seen entrepreneurs open new ventures that we can tell will soon go under. I'm sure you drive by a few every day. (If you're like me you sometimes make a little mental bet on how long they'll stay open. Six months is usually a safe estimate.)
I never stopped in this particular store. While I could say was more convenient to shop elsewhere, the truth is I didn't stop in because I never saw any cars in the parking lot. I was uncomfortable with how I would feel, and how the owner would feel, if I looked around and didn't buy anything.
I would feel guilty. I'm sure you've walked out of a store empty-handed and felt like you somehow let an eager, enthusiastic, bright-eyed owner down.
The owner would feel disappointed. Every business is an extension of its owner, and when a business is struggling perspective is in short supply.
You know you won't make every sale, of course, but remembering that it's business, not personal, is almost impossible. The customer who doesn't make a purchase in some small way rejects your business... and therefore, by extension, rejects you.
Each potential customer carries the power of validation or rejection.
That's a power I didn't want. But I should have, because I could have made a difference, however small.
Each of us can make that difference. Instead of buying local, go a step further and buy personal.
Put aside price/value calculations and rational market theory and survival of the fittest and take a chance on a new or struggling entrepreneur. Buy a few items from a local mom and pop. Hire the small restaurant down the road to cater a non-critical event. Call a new vendor and ask for a quote.
Sure, you already have established vendor relationships in place, but why not give other small businesses the opportunity to win you over? In the process you may find a great new vendor... or you might not.
But what's the worst that can happen?
You might spend a little more. The meal might not be great. The quote might miss the mark. That's okay. No matter what happens, be gracious. Be complimentary. Say something nice. Say thank you.
Pick a small business and give it a chance. Will you, alone, keep it afloat?
Of course you won't. I couldn't have saved that clothing store. But I could still have made a meaningful, even if momentary, difference.
At the heart of every business is a person with a dream, and few things are sadder than realizing your life will fall short of your dreams.
So stop in. Take a look around. Provide a moment of hope.
A little extra hope may be all that entrepreneur needs to keep going.
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/dont-just-buy-local-buy-personal.html
6/20/12
Is This Your Employees' Idea of Service?
When an employee flipped off a key customer, this CEO realized his company had a culture problem. Here's how he fixed it.
Many years ago, I received a call from an irate customer. "Your driver," she yelled, "dropped off our fruit and then gave me the finger!"
After calming her down and assuring her that we would correct the situation, I caught up with the delivery driver. "What happened?" I asked.
"Traffic was bad," he said, "and I was running 15 minutes behind. On top of that when I got to the office my normal contact wasn't there. This woman came out of nowhere and started yelling at me that I was late and to put the fruit in her conference room and not in the kitchen where I normally do. So I put the fruit on the table like I do every week and threw up my hands and left."
"That woman," I said, "was your normal contact's boss." I paused. "Why would you do something like that and not try to figure out how you could make the situation better and help her?"
The driver looked at me skeptically and said: "My dad taught me a long time ago that if someone disrepects you then you have to disrespect them right back."
It was at that moment that I realized not everyone had the same definition of customer service that I did.
How do you communicate your customer service values to people who may have never had a good service experience or models of positive ways to treat people? You need to go past just defining what you do and explain why you do it. And this explanation--your philosophy of business--needs to permeate the entire culture and find its way into all of your processes in order to be truly impactful.
The FruitGuys 5Rs©
I spent a good year after that delivery driver experience thinking about how to articulate the company's values to my staff and embed them in everything we do at our fruit delivery business. I realized that those values weren't just about treating our customers in a certain way, they were about the way we treated each other, our peers, our suppliers, our customers, and even the world at large. I needed a system, a philosophy, that allowed for self-reflection, so that when people came up against a challenge in their workday they had a tool to assess themselves as to how they did and how they could improve.
What came out of that year was the 5Rs©--a series of five questions that are deeply aligned with our ethics at The FruitGuys and drive our pursuit of greater meaning through decisions we make every day at work.
Be Respectful:
"Have we been respectful at all times?" This first question in our 5Rs© process is key. To us, respect comes from a place of equality rather than status or forced authority. This means that we should be respectful of people not because (like a police officer) they have power over us, but because they are human just like us.
Be Responsive:
"Have we been responsive to people's needs?" We talk about the difference between reacting (which tends to be emotional and often without thought) and responding. You need to observe, listen, and understand the problem and think about what solutions will produce positive outcomes in a timely manner.
Be Realistic:
"Have we been realistic about what we can and/or can't do?" This is one that is often overlooked but it's deeply important to admit when you can't do something. This is not to say that you can't strive or push to accomplish goals, but setting realistic expectations with clients, vendors, and other business partners is really the base from which success or failure will flow. We want to clearly assess potential roadblocks and be realistic about what it will take to be successful in our delivery of service.
Be Responsible:
"Have we all taken personal responsibility for outcomes?" Running a business that is growing is like running a lengthening relay race in which you keep adding runners. The points at which you pass the baton will become greater and greater and you need to make sure that everyone in the organization takes personal responsibility for not just his or her leg of the race, but the handoff, the approach, and the departure of that baton. If everyone in the chain does this--takes the kind of responsibility that touches their work and the work of others--then you have a much stronger system in which everyone constantly communicates.
Be Remembered Positively:
"Will our actions allow us to be remembered positively?" If, in your analysis of how you solved or didn't solve a problem, the first four Rs don't give you insight, then this last one acts as a catch-all. If you can't walk away from an interaction, scenario, project, or experience and feel that you will be remembered positively, then something went wrong and you need to figure out what that was. This last R truly drives more than just our philosophy of customer service at The FruitGuys, it drives our mission and desire to do good and create positive environments. It reinforces what I think is an inherent cultural value at our company--being humanists as business people who care about positive outcomes and healthy lives.
Many years ago, I received a call from an irate customer. "Your driver," she yelled, "dropped off our fruit and then gave me the finger!"
After calming her down and assuring her that we would correct the situation, I caught up with the delivery driver. "What happened?" I asked.
"Traffic was bad," he said, "and I was running 15 minutes behind. On top of that when I got to the office my normal contact wasn't there. This woman came out of nowhere and started yelling at me that I was late and to put the fruit in her conference room and not in the kitchen where I normally do. So I put the fruit on the table like I do every week and threw up my hands and left."
"That woman," I said, "was your normal contact's boss." I paused. "Why would you do something like that and not try to figure out how you could make the situation better and help her?"
The driver looked at me skeptically and said: "My dad taught me a long time ago that if someone disrepects you then you have to disrespect them right back."
It was at that moment that I realized not everyone had the same definition of customer service that I did.
How do you communicate your customer service values to people who may have never had a good service experience or models of positive ways to treat people? You need to go past just defining what you do and explain why you do it. And this explanation--your philosophy of business--needs to permeate the entire culture and find its way into all of your processes in order to be truly impactful.
The FruitGuys 5Rs©
I spent a good year after that delivery driver experience thinking about how to articulate the company's values to my staff and embed them in everything we do at our fruit delivery business. I realized that those values weren't just about treating our customers in a certain way, they were about the way we treated each other, our peers, our suppliers, our customers, and even the world at large. I needed a system, a philosophy, that allowed for self-reflection, so that when people came up against a challenge in their workday they had a tool to assess themselves as to how they did and how they could improve.
What came out of that year was the 5Rs©--a series of five questions that are deeply aligned with our ethics at The FruitGuys and drive our pursuit of greater meaning through decisions we make every day at work.
Be Respectful:
"Have we been respectful at all times?" This first question in our 5Rs© process is key. To us, respect comes from a place of equality rather than status or forced authority. This means that we should be respectful of people not because (like a police officer) they have power over us, but because they are human just like us.
Be Responsive:
"Have we been responsive to people's needs?" We talk about the difference between reacting (which tends to be emotional and often without thought) and responding. You need to observe, listen, and understand the problem and think about what solutions will produce positive outcomes in a timely manner.
Be Realistic:
"Have we been realistic about what we can and/or can't do?" This is one that is often overlooked but it's deeply important to admit when you can't do something. This is not to say that you can't strive or push to accomplish goals, but setting realistic expectations with clients, vendors, and other business partners is really the base from which success or failure will flow. We want to clearly assess potential roadblocks and be realistic about what it will take to be successful in our delivery of service.
Be Responsible:
"Have we all taken personal responsibility for outcomes?" Running a business that is growing is like running a lengthening relay race in which you keep adding runners. The points at which you pass the baton will become greater and greater and you need to make sure that everyone in the organization takes personal responsibility for not just his or her leg of the race, but the handoff, the approach, and the departure of that baton. If everyone in the chain does this--takes the kind of responsibility that touches their work and the work of others--then you have a much stronger system in which everyone constantly communicates.
Be Remembered Positively:
"Will our actions allow us to be remembered positively?" If, in your analysis of how you solved or didn't solve a problem, the first four Rs don't give you insight, then this last one acts as a catch-all. If you can't walk away from an interaction, scenario, project, or experience and feel that you will be remembered positively, then something went wrong and you need to figure out what that was. This last R truly drives more than just our philosophy of customer service at The FruitGuys, it drives our mission and desire to do good and create positive environments. It reinforces what I think is an inherent cultural value at our company--being humanists as business people who care about positive outcomes and healthy lives.
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