BE DiFFERENT or be dead Blog by Roy Osing

@passion4retail Gerry Spitzner “@royOsing a pleasure to follow your blog. Getting better all the time.”

August 20, 2010

WHO to SERVE? Your Choice

I read an interesting blog article recently by Seth Godin titled Choosing Your Customers. Seth’s view which I agree with is that you really have a choice who to do business with. The marketer has an array of tools to select the Fans she wants: the Value provided, price and distribution to name a few.

I would like to add another dimension to the discussion, however, as I don’t think Seth goes far enough. Customer selection is much more than a marketing task. It is a fundamental element of an organization’s strategy. And the selection decision needs to be integrated with the overall direction the company intends to take.

Let me explain. The Strategy Creation Process I have talked extensively about involves answering three questions. For the complete discussion check out the blog Articles referenced below. For my purposes here I will talk about only the first two questions.
1. HOW BIG do you want to be? Start with your overall growth goals. Do you want to grow top line revenue by 10% over the next 12 months or 25%? It makes a difference. A 25% growth target is more aggressive and more risky and will require a different strategy than a 10% growth goal.

2. WHO do you want to SERVE? This is the customer selection decision. And it needs to b made within the context of the HOW BIG question. This is where Seth’s Article in my view oversimplified the issue. The customer choice needs to be made within the context of HOW BIG. It can’t be made on its own using micro-marketing tools. A 25% growth goal requires a customer group that has the latent potential to deliver that type of growth. Selecting a group of customers based on any other criteria will result in missed financial targets.

Bottom Line: Choose a group of customers that has the inherent capability to satisfy your growth goals, THEN use marketing tools to attract and keep them.

Cheers, Roy

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Posted 8.20.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 18, 2010

A Dazzling Recovery Strategy Requires Ten Deliberate Steps

Chip Bell, in his latest customer service book, “Take Their Breath Away” refers to the process to ensure that the appropriate organizational mechanisms to recover from a service mishap, broken promise or breakdown as ‘Betrayal Management’.

Here is my short-hand version of the Leadership Acts that must be played out if Dazzling Recovery is to be a way of life in any business:

> Service Strategy - dazzling recovery doesn’t happen through serendipity. It requires a comprehensive strategy defining the outcomes expected and the way to achieve them. Focus on EXECUTION. EXECUTION.
> Togetherness - the relationship between the customer, the breakdown event and the organization must be TIGHT. Seamless recovery demands all components working unbelievably well together.
> Connectivity - establish hyper-communications to enable the recovery process: customer contact when the disaster event happens, follow up, status reports and final resolution.
> ‘Secrets’ - if you don’t know the secrets of the person screwed over, you have little chance to dazzle. Find out what would the customer would NOT expect. Remember, a Dazzling Recovery = Fixing the mistake + Doing the Unexpected. The Surprise Factor.
> Problem Solving - amazing skill wanted in this area that are second-to-none.
> Celebration - recognize and reward Service Recovery Heroes.
> Story Telling - dazzling recovery stories are continually filling the airwaves breathing life into the Recovery Strategy.
> Training - give employees the skills to EXECUTE dazzling recovery is a high priority.
> ‘The Right to Act’ - empower people responsibly to ensure that the earth is moved to enact the dazzle process.
> Measurement - set recovery objectives and measure constantly. Post results in the workplace.
> Accountability - bake recovery expectations into leader Performance Plans. Make it matter.

Final point: make sure you have people in the recovery process that ‘like humans’. Employees that actually care about rectifying the breakdown event and going the extra mile to blow the customer away are needed. Human being indifference will only result in a more infuriated customer who will leave and tell others how bad you are.

Cheers, Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Posted 8.18.10 at 05:36 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 17, 2010

Webinar: How to Distinguish Yourself From the Faceless Herd

Join me for a complementary 1 hour Webinar Sept. 15, 2010 at 11:30 Pacific Time. I will be discussing my BE DiFFERENT Practices that have proven to be successful in making organizations stand out from the competitive crowd.

If you want your organization to BE Cared about, Remarkable and Indispensable to your fans CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND TO REGISTER

Posted 8.17.10 at 06:59 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 16, 2010