Be Different or be dead

January 12, 2013

Why the ONLY statement must be about what really matters to people

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Why the ONLY statement must be about what really matters to people.

“We are the ONLY ones that .... “ is the claim that will distinguish your organization from everyone else.

It’s not about being better, best, number 1, leading or the top at anything.

It’s about being the ONLY one that does what you do>.

But your ONLY must be relevant (it must address something people care about) and it must be true (you must deliver it consistently, all day, every day)

A local radio station in Vancouver proudly states the following as their ONLY statement.

“CKWX is the ONLY radio station offering traffic and weather every 10 minutes on the 1’s.”

Interpretation: every 10 minutes they update their listeners on local traffic and weather conditions, and they claim that they are the only station that does it.

Let’s test it. Is it true? Yes it is. They deliver updates every 10 minutes as they claim.

Is it relevant? This is where I have an issue. Another radio station in the area provides continuous traffic and weather information. AM730 only provides traffic and weather. They do nothing else.

Why claim uniqueness on something that is clearly inferior to what someone else does?

People who care about getting traffic updates, for example, when they need it wouldn’t value waiting every 10 minutes to get it on CKWX when they can tune in to AM730 and get it instantly.

Make sure your ONLY talks to a capability that you have, a product or service you deliver that really matters to people.

Getting a traffic update every 10 minutes when I can get updates all the time clearly is inferior and lacks the relevance criteria of being a good ONLY.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 1.12.13 at 10:32 am by Roy Osing
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January 7, 2013

5 simple ways to make your organization awesome for customers

Source: Pexels

5 simple ways to make your organization awesome for customers.

Organizations are challenged to define what makes them special in the marketplace; to provide a compelling reason why people should buy from them and only them

Here are 5 ways you can find your way to uniqueness that your customers will honour.

◾️Declare and live the screaming imperative to stand-out NOT fit-in. Common, copycat, follower organizations are invisible to consumers and are ignored. They are dying or dead.

◾️Success starts and ends with your fans. The people who care about what you do, talk to others about you and are forever loyal to you. Never forsake them.
Always give them the best deals.

Don’t insult them by offering only non-customers special incentives to switch to you from their current supplier.
Trust that if you invest your resources in them, they will spend more with you and enable your organization to grow.

◾️Create value, don’t flog products. Seek to inspire your fans. Do whatever you can to leave ‘em feeling breathless, happy, honored, amazed, surprised and delighted.

It’s not about your product and the gee-wiz things it can do. It’s about the feelings it arouses when it is consumed in your organizational context.
PS. if you think you can survive in the long run by offering low prices, you’re so wrong!

◾️Be relevant to your customers. Know what their burning issues are. Play to them. If the value you offer doesn’t address their top wants and desires, who will care about you? Right. No one.

◾️Be unique. BE the ONLY one that does what you do. Create the ONLY Statement for your organization.

“We are The ONLY ones that….” is the only meaningful ultimate expression of distinctiveness

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 1.7.13 at 09:06 am by Roy Osing
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December 31, 2012

What is the best way to measure the quality of your service?

Source: Pexels

What gets measured gets done. And it’s exceedingly important to measure how well you are serving your loyal customers.

Decide what metric you need to monitor your progress to your goals. Measure regularly. Take action on what you learn from measuring your results.

And never be put off by the argument that you can’t measure what you want to — anything can be measured.

I have seen some measurement systems rely on a formula to derive the service result; it’s not a good idea. I have rarely seen this approach work.

A service objective like X (overall customer satisfaction) = 2Y (where Y could represent how long it takes for a call center rep to answer an incoming call) + 9Z (where Z could represent how long the rep was on the customer call to deal with their request) won’t motivate people to achieve X.

They won’t understand it — how do they know the formula is right? — and won’t have much control over producing the result.

You don’t need a complicated algorithm to drive measurement.

Keep measurement simple. It needn’t require heavy lifting systems technology and records processing. In fact the simpler the better.

Use customer perception surveys as the basis to measure the quality of your customer service.

Declare 3 service elements that are critical to you and ask a customer on a regular basis how you’re doing.

Ask them if their service experience with you was memorable — were they dazzled?

And act on what they say.

Some organizations use internal statistics as the basis of service measurement. For example, the length of time to fulfil an order as determined by the statistics produced by their internal systems.

Although this measure has value, the real question to ask is “How did the customer enjoy the experience of placing their order and receiving the product?”
The order fulfilment time may very well be a good diagnostic tool for unsatisfactory answers to the question.

Be cautious of relying on internal measures as your measurement focus.

Use the customer perception measure — an expression from the market is worth listening to.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.31.12 at 10:23 am by Roy Osing
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December 13, 2012

Why is Baboo in Mumbai absolutely amazing at creating unforgettable experiences?

Source: Pexels

Why is Baboo in Mumbai India absolutely amazing at creating unforgettable experiences?

Mumbai, India.

It never ceases to amaze me how critical frontline people are in terms of creating lasting impressions on the people they touch

We have Baboo as our driver for the day. We easily negotiate a fare for the day. We ask him to show us the main points of interest and hit some of the better shopping areas. Off we go.

Mumbai is certainly a city of contrasts. Baboo doesn’t hide the poverty from us. He doesn’t make excuses for it. It simply is, and he factually reports on it. In fact, he actively embraces this side of his city to explain who is living in such conditions, and what they do to survive.

Like it or not, he puts the reality in our faces for us to understand.

He takes us to the Crawford Market where “Papa” (no doubt a colleague he has used many times before) guides us through a mosaic of businesses offering everything from fruits and vegetables to live animals.

Goats and birds occupy the premises. Men sleep above their cubicle stores. Not the pristine conditions of a modern supermarket, but Papa proudly delivers to us the amazing olfactory stimuli of the wonderful spices offered by his market friends.

Sellers are friendly. Not pushy. Remarkable in a very caring way.

Baboo asks questions. Many questions. And he listens intently. You know he wants to create the right experience for us. Shopping? What are we looking for? “No problem, I know a place.” is his consistent reply. And he delivers.

His excitement over what he discovers his own city is contagious.

We stumble upon the Tiffin-Wallahs,  locals who pick up and deliver lunches to workers throughout the city. Mumbai is the only place in the world with this pick up and delivery system he tells us — another delightful harmless story.

They are loading the lunches on their bicycles for delivery. At Baboo’s shouts of encouragement, we jump from the car and snap pictures of this scarce opportunity.

You would think we’ve stumbled on an ancient treasure.

Maybe we have.

Baboo tells us what Gandhi allegedly said ‘Someone is always right’. And he adds his own spin: The customer is always right. Then goes on to explain to us how important it is to make sure tourists see the many faces of his City in a way that makes them comfortable.

Maybe they will talk about his City. Maybe they will return. He hopes.

After more shopping stops, lunch (and shopping) at The Taj Mahal Hotel, and a visit to the Outdoor Laundry area we are safely delivered back to our ship. Baboo asks more questions. ‘Were we happy with him today?’; ‘Did he do what we wanted of him?

We assure him that he was amazing and we stumble out of his chariot, exhausted.

Again, like Nasr in Petra, Jordan and Mohamed in Safaga, Egypt, I have discovered someone who passionately gets it.

A simple philosophy. Challenging and volatile environments. Executed brilliantly.

Leaving memories to cherish forever.

Thanks Baboo.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.13.12 at 10:43 am by Roy Osing
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