Be Different or be dead

October 14, 2010

Why a customer beating is something to be cherished

Source: Unsplash

Why a customer beating is something to be cherished.

The ability to take a punch is one of the most critical strategic issues facing organizations these days and yet few view it as an opportunity to thrill their loyal customers.

It’s not particularly pleasant when you are on the receiving end of your customer’s wrath. It can be terrifying, intimidating and painful.
Someone else is in control and your first impulse is to try and deal with the situation and escape FAST.

Get it over with and escape the pain seems to be the favoured response by companies these days.

The ‘get it over with’ phrase usually involves quoting company policy as the explanation for the customer’s annoyance that they should accept.
This NEVER works as it was probably a company policy that made the customer go postal in the first place.

It’s not the frontline employee’s fault that customer complaint moments go very wrong.

Organizations generally don’t understand the latent power they have if they respond the right way, and even if they did they rarely go as far as defining the specific way the situation should be dealt with i.e. the behaviours required to successfully handle the situation.

Enlightened organizations strive to serve their customers in a remarkable way and make themselves indispensable get it.

They are able to turn the other cheek and realize the benefit of being bullied, harassed and beaten up by their most precious assets.

‘Take-a-punch’ opportunities

◾️ Realize its nothing personal. Your fan is pissed at your organization and the way it’s have treated them. If you can’t get to an objective plane you simply won’t be able to take care of the situation.

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and look at the circumstances from their point of view. Wouldn’t you be upset if you were treated the same way?

◾️ Treat this experience as a source of learning. You are getting the real deal. The customer is telling you how they really feel. You are getting their secrets in no uncertain terms.

Listen and Learn how to change policy and procedures so they serve what the customer wants instead of infuriating them.

◾️ Look at this as a gift of service recovery that will actually build customer loyalty.
Create a dazzling moment for them by not only solving their problem but also adding the surprise factor - something thoughtful they did not expect.

◾️ As long as they are screaming at you they haven’t left. If your organization wasn’t serving them in any meaningful way, they wouldn’t be chastising you.
They would be gone. And they would be telling everyone they connect with how rotten you are.

Bottom line… develop your own take-a-punch strategy for serving customers if you want to enjoy the financial fruits of loyal and caring fans.

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

• Posted 10.14.10 at 11:00 am by Roy Osing
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October 4, 2010

Can new breakthrough technologies make you successful?

Source: Unsplash

Can new breakthrough technologies make you successful?

Does your business plan declare your intent to use technology to differentiate your organization from your competition?

There seems to be an abundance of technology push in the marketing world these days. Almost an obsession with the cool things technology can do; the complicated tasks it can perform as opposed to the value it creates for people.

Technology is a means to an end

PERIOD. It’s a means to create value for those you choose to serve. The emphasis needs to be on the solutions it produces rather than on the technical characteristics of the delivery machine.

Technology myopia inhibits the successful execution of a value creation strategy. It takes your eye off the prize: creating meaningful compelling value which enriches peoples’ lives.

It results in product flogging which emphasizes what you supply and not what the benefits the customer covets.

Marketing seems to be asymmetric in its approach to technology vs. value creation. Marketing practices follow technology advances rather than lead them

Technology gets most of the attention which explains why businesses have so much difficulty carving out a position that will distinguish themselves from the herd.

Technology can be copied. And it will. It’s easier to push technology than create a unique value proposition that addresses the high priority needs of your customers.

My advice: be mindful and thoughtful when you techno-speak.

Carefully undress your technology to expose the capabilities you need to deliver value to your customers.

And take it further to expose the experiences It can create for your customers.

Focus on these elements of the technology as opposed to the myriad of potential things it can do.

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

• Posted 10.4.10 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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August 9, 2010

An easy 6-step checklist to be different from your competitors

Source: Unsplash

An easy 6-step checklist to be different from your competitors.

Every business plan deals with how an organization intends to differentiate itself from their competition.

The ONLY statement should be the way to express your distinctive competitive position in the market. If you can declare yourself as “We are the ONLY ones that…..” the blur of non-unique competitve claims will fade away and your organization will stand clearly in focus to thrive and survive!

Your checklist to being the one and ONLY.

Your ONLY statement must:

✅ Address the high priority needs, interests, desires, secrets of your target customers. Being the ONLY one on something that doesn’t matter to your fans will achieve nothing. If it doesn’t matter to them you will talk about it at your own peril.

✅ Be true. Claiming you are the ONLY one at something that your customers don’t believe is deadly. Make sure you test your ONLY with your customers. In addition to getting feedback on it’s believability you are likely to get input to make your statement even better.

✅ Express value creation. Product flogging has a limited life. Unique value creation has longevity that is difficult to copy by others in the herd. Focus on the solution that is being provided and you are getting closer to the element of value.

✅ Be brief. If it takes you 2 pages to explain your ONLY position you’ve missed it. ONLY is a ‘nano-statement’ that shouldn’t require you to take a second breath.

✅ Be compelling. It has to have some WOW! emotional appeal to capture the hearts of your customers. Avoid being pedantic and terribly intellectual.

✅ Get employee juices flowing. ONLY is a war-rallying-cry of sorts. It defines the hill you are claiming and dares the herd to climb it.
Your employees have to FEEL what it says. What it requires of each and every one of them to win the battle.

The ONLY journey.

You need to be on it.

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

• Posted 8.9.10 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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August 7, 2010

Why no one notices you if you’re trying to be perfect

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Why no one notices you if you’re trying to be perfect.

Linchpin by Seth Godin has this nugget on perfection.

He declares that “... asymptotes are sort of boring” and asserts that successive improvements made in an organization get less and less noticed as they approach the state of perfection.

Makes sense.

The first 50% is noticeable and maybe even the next 25%. But as the improvement process continues over months (and probably years) you will eventually get to the stage where 1% improvements are made and are not noticed.

Who notices 1%? Very few if any. Certainly not enough people to warrant the investment to achieve the 1%.

Seth’s observations have these very specific implications:

▪️ If you’re not noticeable you will be ignored. Being ignored in a hungry herd of competitors is a deadly place to be. How do you get NOTICED? Make big changes in your organization that capture the imagination of your fans.

▪️ Beware of benchmarking. By its very nature, benchmarking encourages incremental change over time. Noticeability Factor = low; BE DiFFERENT Factor = low.

▪️ Focus on creating remarkable and ‘gaspworthy’ change that distinguishes your organization from the competitive blur. The quest for zero defects is laudable but who notices things that actually work the way they are suppose to?

▪️ Get more comfortable with making the odd mistake. Seth argues that creating anything remarkable is an art form, and ‘Art is never defect-free’.

The reality is that organizations will never eradicate mistakes and defects; people and technology aren’t capable of it. So why covet error-free if it is the impossible dream? And no one notices your progress along the way!

▪️ Put our energy into getting Distinctive, Unique, Remarkable, Unbelievable and Take-their-breath-away stuff that is almost right.

Appeal to the emotions of your customers with services and solutions that blow them away. If you do, do you think they will be ok with the odd mistake or error?

Remember, you don’t have to be better, best or perfect but you have to be remarkable and different. 

Spend your time seeking noteworthy change rather than increments of improvement.

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

• Posted 8.7.10 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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