December 9, 2010

Twenty HUGE Subjects NOT Taught in Business Schools

This Article is a summary of a number of Articles I wrote on this topic over the past few weeks.I thought it might be helpful to summarize my points for you.

In addition, as I write this I a reading Set Godin’s latest book ‘Linchpin’ and the Chapter ‘Indoctrination: How We Got Here’. Seth’s thesis is that schools these days teach ‘Mediocre Compliance’. Learning rules. Applying the formula. Note-taking. Have good handwriting. Don’t challenge authority. All of which is aimed to produce, as he calls them, ‘a replaceable cog in a giant machine’. Terrific insight into a societal problem that I recognize and constantly oppose through my work.

The gap between school teachings and what is REALLY needed for organizations to thrive and survive in the new markets that are unfolding is WIDE and is getting WIDER. Approaching CHASM proportions in fact. And yet, I don’t see much change being done to address the issue. To not be too unkind, however, there are some pockets of positive change occurring - Queens School of Business in Toronoto, Canada for example - but for the most part academics in business are following the same-old, same-old and NOT creating ‘people products’ that will lead our organizations to be Remarkable, compelling, indispensable and DiFFERENT.

In Linchpin, Seth declares in his ‘New World of Work’ Chapter:“You don’t become indispensable merely because you are different. BUT the only way to be indispensable is to be different.”

Taking his cue, then, here are the Twenty BE DiFFERENT Topics that absolutely MUST find their way into business school teachings:

1. EXECUTION
2. EXECUTION
3. EXECUTION
4. EXECUTION
5. EXECUTION - if you’re not shipping stuff, what are you doing?
6. Customer Learning - continuous process of going deep on what your fans are all about. Way beyond ho-hum market research.
7. Customer ‘Secrets’ - not just what they want, but what they covet in their lives.
8. Value-Based Holistic Offers (VBHO) - product focus loses. Easy to copy. Eventually ends up in a price war. VBHO’s package VALUE based on the customer secrets discovered. Makes you DiFFERENT, indispensable and followed.
9. Serving Customers Model - serve them don’t service them. Put your organization in their control. Inject Humanity back into what you do. Makes you amazing and ‘can’t live without’.
10. Vary the Treatment Principle - everyone is different and needs to be treated as such. One-service-policy-for-all won’t satisfy your most precious assets.
11. ‘Right’ solutions rarely exist - the business world is too complex to be ‘formulaized’. Teach flexibility, open-mindedness, Plan ‘B’ thinking.
12. Successful Failing - the more failures with a heathy dose of learning from them = more successes. Punish failure ONLY if you want compliance, policy-pushers and order takers.
13. The ‘Customerized’ Organization - the frontline Rules! Build your hierarchy to serve them. Passionate, turned on frontliner followers will deliver fan loyalists.
14. Screw-ups build customer loyalty - a successful WOW service recovery results in a more loyal customer than if the screw-up never happened. Seems to me that anything that critical should be taught. OOPS. I forgot we teach people to NOT make mistakes…
15. Ignore the competition - focus on what you should be doing to dazzle your customers and prevent them from leaving rather than worry about the bad guys entering.
16. Delivery IS Strategic - if, you can’t ship, how much progress do you really make. Get it out the door!
17. Apologizing IS Strategic - at the heart of a mind-blowing service recovery is THE most strategic phrase ever…. ‘I’m Sorry’.
18. Internal Service Measurement IS Strategic - if you can’t dazzle on the inside, chances are that you won’t be able to do it on the outside.
19. Losing a Sale IS Strategic - its not about the transaction, its about the long term relationship. If you can’t deal with a short term need your client has, suck it up. YOU find the solution elsewhere.
20. Storytelling IS Strategic - storytelling breathes life into a vision or strategy. It appeals to our right brain emotional being which controls the drive to act. Storytelling is an Art. Teach it. Make it a plank in your strategy.

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Posted 12.9.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 6, 2010

Competencies to Covet: The Full-Meal Deal

Lots is written on what to look for when you hire people. First of all, hiring is really not the right word. You HIRE to fill a job but you RECRUIT to bring in the right human essence to breathe life into your Strategic Game Plan. This Article is all about what to look for in people who will excel in doing the SIMPLE things required to serve customers, be effective team members, be loyal to your organization and committed to getting the job done.

Here are the ABSOLUTE Competencies that should drive your People Recruitment Plan:

> LIFELONG LEARNER—If you’re not learning you’re dead (or soon will be). Look for evidence that prospects have been active learners. What areas are they interested in? Who have they learned from? How can their learnings be put to use in your organization?

> INFECTION AGENT—the ability to “infect others” with the virus of your Strategic Game Plan is critical in terms of executing it. Some people have the interest, passion and tenacity to get others excited about advancing the cause. Find them!

> LISTENING—you can’t discover Customer “Secrets” and create dazzling Customer Moments if you are not a 100% Listener.

> APOLOGIZING—a successful Recovery Act after you have screwed a customer around begins with “I’m Sorry”. Make sure you covet people who do this naturally. Some can’t. Some don’t want to.

> HUMAN BEING LOVERS—Dazzling customers is all about taking care of them and it can’t be done if your people would rather be doing something else other than dealing with humans. It’s always amazed me how a customer quickly gets that the server really doesn’t like their job!

> HIGH PAIN TOLERANCE—greatness doesn’t come without disappointment and pain along the way. Resilience pays off.

> BORN DESIRE TO SERVE —again, memorable Customer Moments are possible ONLY through employees that have the natural ability and desire to serve others. Find them. Nurture them. Protect them. Hug them. Reward them. Cherish them.

> ABILITY TO FAIL SUCCESSFULLY—Progress requires people trying stuff and failing along the way. That’s innovation. But failing is only useful and strategic if the learning from it advances us toward our Strategic Game Plan. Failing begets LEARNING.

> FRIEND-MAKING—deep customer relationships result in a revenue stream that goes on forever. Such connections depend on trust… and friendship.

> STORYTELLING—stories “breathe life” into a strategy. They paint pictures of what it looks like when a Strategic Game Plan is being successfully executed in the field. You need people who can “light their eyes up” with a story about some aspect of your strategy. Talk the event. Talk the person. Talk…..

> SIMPLE THINKER—BE DiFFERENT is simplicity. Execution is simplicity. Elegance that can’t be implemented is worthless. Think Simple. Find Simple. Dumb EVERYTHING down.

> @CONNECT—think about this one from an internal perspective. Results (i.e. delivering what the customer wants) are produced through processes working ACROSS the organization and vertically. A customer Order is created in Sales; fulfilled in Operations and billed in Accounting. A team of people engage together to get the job done. This requires the ability to CONNECT with others and build effective relationships with them. Service breakdowns often occur when a link in the teamwork chain breaks. Constant CONNECTIONS go a long way to avoiding such problems.

> REACTION MANIAC —a HUGE aspect of surviving a major (or minor for that matter) screw-up is responding to what has occurred in the right (read as “Loyalty Building”) way. The truth is, a successful Recovery actually builds Customer Loyalty MORE than if the mistake never happened. Counter-intuitive I know, but true. Remember the BE DiFFERENT formula: Service Recovery = FIX it + Do the UNEXPECTED (the Dazzle Factor).

> MELLOW YELLOW —you really do need folks that react well under extreme pressure. See Competency above. STOP—PAUSE—THINK—RESPOND THOUGHTFULLY. This is tough to train people in (sometimes I think it is impossible). Covet the Competency.

> “I’LL REMEMBER YOU”—Memories….. the fact is a good memory will go a long way to dazzling a customer. It shows you paid attention the last time you connected with the person. It shows you care enough to remember. True story: this year’s vacation at the Maui Ocean Club in Kaanapali Maui. Mellisa greets us as we check in. First thing she says “Welcome home Mr. and Mrs. Osing. How are the book sales going? Have you written your second book yet?”. Impressive. Dazzling. A Memorable Moment for me. A story to tell.

> CONSTRUCTIVE EMULATOR—tough to come up with an original idea these days. Go find someone else’s idea that excites you. Morph it to work in your organization. Execute it with passion. Infect others with the Desire. A BE DiFFERENT copying skill is worth its weight in gold…. and survivability.

> NANO-INCH SEEKER—there’s no such thing as a Silver Bullet. Progress is made by having a distinguishing Strategic Game Plan and executing it flawlessly…. inch-by-inch-by-inch. Get an inch of progress FAST. Look for people who have demonstrated this capability.

> CUSTOMER EMPATHY—can you look at yourself through the customer’s eyes? No, I mean REALLY look. Objectively. Compassionately. Solution-mindedly. It’s not about your organization; it’s about the Customer Moment and you need Practising Empathizers if you want raving lunatic fans as customers (which we all do).

So how did you do? Out of the Competencies I discussed, what percentage does your organization Covet? 100%—you’re dreaming! Over 50%—you’re on the right track and have the RIGHT momentum going. Less than 50%—you need a Competencies to Covet Plan (probably a renewed Strategic Game Plan to provide a new context for your organization should precede this).

Final note: Competency Coveting is NOT an HR matter. It is the responsibility of senior leaders to ensure the right people with the right skills, experience, aptitude and attitude are in the right places to EXECUTE your Strategic Game Plan. Delegation of this task is simply not an option.

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Posted 12.6.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 4, 2010

Behind most Business Failures is a lack of BE DiFFERENT

The majority of business failure is due in large part to the lack of organizational survival skills. So what’s the solution? How do you develop these skills? What are the things that an organization should do to immunize itself against the shocks of external events?

The answer can be boiled down to this: If you are not different you are dead or you soon will be. In other words, to be able to survive, an organization needs to position itself uniquely in the marketplace.

It must be able to carve out a special place in the customer’s mind so that loyalty is not only created but also has a long life. An organization must Be Different.

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that if the external environment is changing faster than the inside of an organization, the end is near. You need to recognize and keep pace with the dynamics impacting your business, and if you fail to do so, it will not be a question of whether or not your organization will die; it will be a matter of when.

The interesting thing is that you don’t necessarily have to be better than your competitors; you just have to be different. I am not suggesting that you can get away with providing shoddy products and services or marginal customer service; rather that you find a way to redefine yourself as different from others in the marketplace and give customers what they want in the quality they expect.

The challenge is to create meaningful and compelling differences that will separate you from your competition, and to articulate these differences to your target customers in a way that will convince them to do business with your organization and no one else. A meaningful difference is value, provided that it combines a high must matter factor to the customer with a low currently satisfied factor. It is something that is really important to the customer and is currently not satisfied by any supplier in the market.

You need to get the customer’s attention, clear the message clutter, and then tell them in very clear and specific terms why they only have one choice, and that choice is you. This process requires that your organization develop and communicate a value proposition to the market that is truly unique.

Cheers,
Roy

Recent Articles
Competencies to Covet: The Full Meal Deal
BE DiFFERENT YOU! How to Win
BE DiFFERENT YOU! Dissect your Competition
Roy’s Rule of Three

Posted 12.4.10 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 2, 2010

BE DiFFERENT YOU! How to WIN

It all boils down to being able to state how you intend to satisfy the requirements of your target customer (the Foxes WHO you intend to SERVE) in a unique and compelling way.

As I stated in other Articles, organizations can use the ONLY Statement as the vehicle to express BE DiFFERENT. This approach can be used equally as effectively at the personal level.
‘I am the ONLY one in our organization that ...’ is a statement that will clearly place YOU in the lead and leave others in the dust. And if you think you have put something together that you think expresses your uniqueness go test it out on your mentors, Foxes and others in the organization.

Your ONLY Claim must meet the following tests:
1. Your only statement must address a relevant, compelling and high priority need for your organization. To claim you are truly special at something that is simply not relevant at that particular point in time is futile and will get you nowhere. For example, if your business has significant marketing challenges and you attest to your unique brilliance in inventory control you will not likely dazzle others and get a leg up on your internal competition. Climb the mountain that is THE challenge for your organization so that when you make your only claim others will sit up and take notice because it resonates loudly with the issues leadership is struggling with.
2. Your only statement must be true. Others must attest to the fact that the words and music line up; that you consistently demonstrate the values and behaviors expressed in the statement. If you claim to be unique at something that isn’t true or that you demonstrate inconsistently, others will see it and you will suffer a major set-back.
Consider this example of an only statement for YOU.
‘I am the only person in my organization that has the demonstrated critical marketing skills and experience to lead the transformation required from a transaction based monopoly to a customer driven competitive business.’

Constantly measuring your ONLY Statement is exceedingly important to ensure YOU are delivering its value every day and that the uniqueness you claim continues to be a high priority for your organization. Develop a simple Only Report Card and get your Foxes, mentors, colleagues and other leaders to rate you every month on the ONLY claims you are making. Their perception of YOU is reality so stay close to them and listen to what they have to say.

Here’s an example of an Only Report Card. Rate each statement on a scale of one to five (five being the most positive response).
1. The company considers competitive marketing skills to be a critical competency that needs to be developed to be successful in the evolving competitive market…
2. Roy has a proven background of marketing experience that is relevant to transforming our organization to a competitive enterprise…
3. Roy has the necessary marketing skills to create our marketing function as a core competency that gives our organization a strategic advantage in the market…
4. Roy is the only person in our organization who possesses the essential combination of demonstrated experience and skills to lead our marketing team into the brave new competitive world…

If the score on the first statement is not a ‘5’, STOP! It means that you are claiming uniqueness on a competency that is not an organizational issue at the moment. As discussed earlier this is tantamount to having the right answer to the wrong problem and your only claim will resonate with no one. Go back to the drawing board, reassess the top challenge facing your organization and develop a new only statement for YOU. Then go back to the measurement process.

If your score on statement number one is ‘5’ and your scores on statements two and three are less than ‘4 ’ you need to provide more demonstrated evidence on delivering the only value you claim to provide. It could be that you are deficient in certain aspects - like you don’t really have the depth of experience you claim you have - or that you are not perceived by others to possess them.

Address any real deficiencies and keep measuring. If it is a perceived deficiency, consider communicating more effectively with people on your background and achievements.
If your score on statement number five is less than ‘4’ it means that you have strong competitors who are also viewed to possess the value your only statement claims. Your audience is not getting what you do as different and you are being included in a bucket with others who are tagged with similar traits. This is not good. You must communicate more clearly on your activities and accomplishments and always relate them back to your only claim.

Incorporate your ONLY statement in your HOW to WIN strategy:
‘I will compete and WIN by demonstrating my unique marketing knowledge in Customer Learning, Customer Secrets and Holistic Offer creation to help the organization move from a regulated monopoly world to an intensely competitive one requiring an obsessive focus on the customer and delivering them highly differentiated value.’

That would work. Stay tuned for the next YOU Article.

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Other YOU Articles
The Context for BE DiFFERENT YOU
Change Leaders Needed
Covet the Fox
Follow Remarkable Mentors
Dissect Your Competition
HOW to WIN

Posted 12.2.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)