September 2, 2010

Five HUGE Things Not Taught in Business Schools

“O(B) = f(XX). The blueness of one’s ocean (think competitive advantage as defined in the popular book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’) is directly proportional to one’s eXcellence in eXecution/XX. If one finds a strategic blue ocean one will ..... be copied,immediately; the ONLY defense, possibility of sustaining success is XX/eXcellence in eXecution.”—- Tom Peter’s from his latest book ‘The Little BIG Things’:

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”—- Peter Drucker

If these gurus speak forcefully and often about the need to execute, it is clearly a competency we need to equip our business school grads with.

Hence the top five academic - real world Relevance Gaps:
1. EXECUTION
2. EXECUTION
3. EXECUTION
4. EXECUTION
5. EXECUTION

OK perhaps a bit of overkill on my part but the point has to be made: this is a CHASM OF GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS!

Execution Teaching Topics:
> Be Anal about Execution! Anality is Strategic. Covet this competency.
> The Strategic Game Plan document must be 1/8” thick on the plan essence and 2” thick on execution.
> Theory is great, but without pristine (even inelegant) execution it produces ZERO results hence is worthless. How about evaluating the performance of a business school on the extent to which their ‘stuff’ has been successfully put into practice?
> Planning on the Run mobilizes a ‘Plan B’ mentality. No ‘Plan A’ has EVER worked the way its authors had intended. Plan >> Execute >> Learn >> Adjust >> Execute ...
> Recruit doers whose passion is to actually get things done. Anti-Pontificators Wanted! Left-brained Specialists not so much.
> Cut the CRAP. Blow up the thing that are no longer relevant to your strategy and/or prevent you from making progress. The ‘Grunge’ (thanks Tom Peters) must go in an organization, otherwise you get stuck in the present and can’t move forward.
> CEO’s - Chief Execution Officers are critically in need. Real strategic stuff. Execution Leaders will determine the success of any plan.
> CEO needs to be the Strategy Hawk who lives and dies by the success of strategy implementation.
> Cross-functional teaming. Results are delivered across the organization not through silos. If people are not working effectively together, dysfunction is created and results aren’t.
> Teach ‘the politics of execution’ in an organizational world full of biased people, power seekers and personal motives.

Curriculum designers: there you have the new course list to enhance the relevance of your graduates when they enter the business world.

Cheers, Roy

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Related Blog Articles on Execution
The A, B, C’s of Execution

Posted 9.2.10 at 08:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 31, 2010

A Dazzling Moment = BE PeRSONAL AND BE SiMPLE

A Dazzling service experience has a very specific outcome for the customer. They are left respected, cared for, sometimes speechless and gasping for breath. Dazzling Moments are created by people. People who actually care about human beings and who get joy from serving them.

In his new book Linchpin, Seth talks about the emotional labor that is expended by artists in giving a Gift to others. In this case the Gift is the experience delivered to another human being without any expectation of a return for the favor other than enjoyment. Gift givers are the serving folks we all must covet if we want our organizations to be remarkable, memorable, indispensable and around for a long time.

There are two key things we need to keep in mind as we aspire to giving a Gift of a Dazzling Moment:

First, focus on the individual. BE PeRSONAL. Look for ways to make the experience they have with you more personal. Look at the experience from their point of view and ask the question “What could we do to make their experience more enjoyable, easier and respectful of their time with you?”. And make sure you are flexible in how you treat people recognizing that each person is DiFFERENT and should receive their own personal brand of service. Workshop the BE PeRSONAL task with your team and ask a sample of your customers how you can make their experience with you More personal.

Lululemon does many things right. They post their customer’s names on the fitting room doors (AND they confirm the spelling if uncertain). They have what I call “The 3-minute check” procedure where a sales rep checks in with the customer to see if they need another size, color etc. They don’t leave a person in the fitting room stranded (and asking their spouse to go get another size - I hate having to do that!).

Second, keep it SiMPLE. A Dazzling Moment is about simple human acts: caring, smiling, respect, humor and enjoyment. These outcomes don’t require a complex set of service algorithms and procedures. In fact quite the opposite. Complexity breeds confusion and separateness for people. SiMPLE service acts create closeness, intimacy and happiness. Consider the Godin “Gift” metaphor. What simple Gifts can you give to your customers while they grace you with their presence? Human-to-human kindness? Goes a long way to keep ‘em coming back.

Here are a few PeRSONAL and SiMPLE acts that I have personally experienced:
- quoting my name off of my credit card/debit card receipt after a retail purchase.
- having a bottle of wine (based on my personal preference) waiting for me in my stateroom on a cruise.
- picking up and returning my vehicle for a scheduled servicing.
- faster delivery of a purchased product than what I was promised.
- getting the first round of cocktails free when we return after a lengthy absence to at our favorite lounge in Whistler.
- receiving a SURPRISE 10% off of our drycleaning bill to thank us for being loyal customers.

PeRSONAL and SiMPLE service enhancements for each member of your tribe. The returns will be extraordinary.

Cheers, Roy
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Other Serving Articles
Have You Had a High Definition Moment Lately?
Are You a Customer Opportunity Spotter?
Create Your Service Strategy
The Serving Customers Model
Dazzle Your Customers: The Four-Step Process

Posted 8.31.10 at 06:23 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 30, 2010

Gift #5 from BE DiFFERENT or be dead

Check out the the ...Learning Points for Section Five of my book.

In addition my Blog Articles on Sales provide a deeper dive on the material.

I hope you enjoyed my five Gifts to you and are intrigued enough to go get a copy of my work. Spread the word!

Cheers, Roy

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Gifts
Gift #1 The Strategic Context for BE DiFFERENT
Gift #2 Strategy Creation
Gift #3 Marketing
Gift #4 Serving Customers
Gift #5 Sales

Posted 8.30.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 25, 2010

That Uncomfortable Feeling

I recently had the opportunity to present my book, BE DiFFERENT or be dead to an energetic group of book lovers at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington. As an aside, this store REALLY understands how to promote this type of an event and make the Author feel welcomed and valued.

After my formal presentation of the highlights of my book, an engaging conversation ensued over the BE DiFFERENT Practice of selecting WHO you want to SERVE in your strategy and then treating these folks in a special way - unlike the way you would treat the rest of your customers. The notion here is that you need to carefully select the customer group that you want to apply your scarce resources to - typically the group that has the greatest potential of satisfying your growth goals - and then loving them to death in order to create raving loyal fans.

This one particular woman was very uncomfortable with the prospect of varying the way she treated her customers and in particular doing something ‘out of the ordinary’ for any particular group. In fact she said she wouldn’t feel right doing it.

Of course, to many businesses selecting a particular group of customers to treat in a special way is a new approach. Retailers generally don’t do it. Everyone is treated the same way whether they are high value customers (i.e. people who generate significant wealth for the business) low value or no value.

I think there are a few reasons why they choose not to vary the way they treat their customers:
> they don’t know who their high value customers are. They are not able to identify them.
> if they DO know who they are, they don’t spend any time trying to discover the ‘Secrets’ of this Class A group. If you don’t know their Secrets it’s tough to give them extraordinary treatment.
> they don’t have a great deal of repeat business so they don’t think the discipline is worth it.
> it’s way easier to treat everyone the same.

Regardless of the reason, creating unique experiences for those customers who give a business a disproportionate amount of revenue deserves DiFFERENT treatment. If you don’t, expect your ‘Lowest Common Denominator’ strategy to see many of your top customers opt-out of your business. You’ll be left with the vagrants and an unhealthy bottom line.

My message to this retailer:
>> know your high value customers.
>> keep track of how much all of your customers spend with you. Focus on the precious few that give you 80% of your revenue.
>> keep records of what products they buy. The more you know about their purchase behavior the better you be at delivering dazzling service to them
>> get to know your Top Guns by name. And their spouse. And their children.
>> discover their Secrets. Be a note-taking maniac.
>> ask questions. Show an interest in them as human beings and what they are all about.
>> LISTEN to them.
>> problem solve. Amazing what happens when you help them out.

The ‘Worthy’ deserve your special attention. Do it and separate yourself from most others who won’t do it cause it’s too much trouble and takes too much time. You will be astounded by the return!

Cheers, Roy

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Related Blog Articles:
Customer Secrets
Dazzling Customers

Posted 8.25.10 at 08:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)