Be Different or be dead

August 7, 2010

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

Source: Unsplash

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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July 26, 2010

Why an executive leader is necessary to support customers

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Why an executive leader is necessary to support customers.

The “Chief” designation is well used in organizations these days: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer are but a few positions that carry this prestigious tag.

The serving side of a business (some call it the service side) gets short shrift however.

Very few companies have established a Chief of this side of the business.

The CSO — Chief Serving Officer — must in my view be established in any organization who has a strategy to acquire and retain loyal customers

This is a huge mistake! If serving is a critical component of your strategy you need single finger accountability to a senior executive for the flawless delivery of both coire service and dazzling customer experiences.

Diluting the responsibility across the organization will simply not work. It won’t get the attention required. Nor the focus. It requires a champion who can sit in executive team meetings and hammer the table when actions in the organization are preventing raving customer fans from being secured.

Here’s the CSO position description:

▪️ Create and execute the service strategy of the organization.&

▪️ Re-engineer customer serving processes from the customer’s point of view.

▪️ Develop the ABSOLUTELY-MUST-HAVE-WILL-TAKE-NOTHING-LESS competencies of frontline positions.

▪️ Define the recruitment process to be used in bringing on Customer Servers.

▪️ Get the value of the frontline leader position re-valued in the organization to be THE MOST STRATEGIC POSITION EVER.

▪️ Be the ultimate guardian of customer moments of truth. Watch them. Evaluate them. Improve them. Coach. Coach. Coach.

▪️ Kill dumb rules - the internal rules and policies that infuriate customers.

▪️ Set up dumb rules committees throughout the organization to seek out and cleanse the internal environment of stuff that makes no sense to customers.

▪️ Be THE advocate for the frontline. Protect them. Nurture them. Celebrate with them. Help them. Be the do-whatever-it-takes person to make sure they can delight customers.

▪️ Set up customer feedback panels to hear the truth about how you serve them. Get the CEO involved as well. The entire executive team. Leaders need to hear how your serving is perceived.

▪️ Assume the role of Chief Storytelling Officer. Get out in front of people with stories that breathe life in the service strategy.

▪️ Pay homage to service heroes. Know who they are and the names of their kids.

These are strategic acts that must be performed to stand-out in the way you serve your customers.

Put a CSO in place to make it happen.

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

• Posted 7.26.10 at 12:00 pm by Roy Osing
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June 24, 2010

14 important roles that define an epic frontline leader

Source: Unsplash

14 important roles that define an epic frontline leader.

The frontline leader position is THE most important position given the critical strategic role it plays carying out the business plan of the organization.

Most organizations aspire to provide exemplary customer service, but they need amazing frontline leaders to pull it off.

This is the job description for the position.

▪️Barrier basher — eliminates the grunge in the workplace;

▪️Roadblock destroyer — removes impediments to getting the job done;

▪️Execution maniac — has only one focus; act quickly with purpose;

▪️One-and-only people server — understands that if their team isn’t served well, nothing happens;

▪️Dumb-it-down fanatic — knows that simple gets done;‘complex doesn’t;

▪️Ultimate cheerleader — keeps the energy up for the team;

▪️Praise lavisher — looks for opportunities to recognize and reward team mates;

▪️Celebration host — loves celebrations of team performance; takes personal responsibility to make them happen;

▪️Recognizer and rewarder of dazzling moments of service — looks for examples of people dazzling customers; makes a big issue of it;

▪️Chief custodian of the customer moment — puts their personal fingerprints on how customers are to be treated;

▪️Relentless advocate of the frontline on the inside — protects and advocates for their team to others in the organization; fights for what they need;

▪️Customer “secret” gatherer — is addicted to discovering the hidden desires of customers and using the knowledge to serve them better;

▪️Service recovery addict — turns the organization upside down to fix a problem when there is a service failure. Has personal contact with the customer at all times;

▪️Get-me-the-results — extremely results focused; creates a sense of urgency for the team to deliver.

Recruit individuals who have the ability to perform these responsibilities consistently.

Hold them accountable to perform these 14 roles in a superlative manner.

Pay them for doing this stuff.

The result?

Customer moments that will create fans and advocates for your business for life.

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

• Posted 6.24.10 at 01:00 pm by Roy Osing
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January 22, 2010

How to empower employees and serve customers in an amazing way

Source: Pexels

How to empower employees and serve customers in an amazing way.

Let me be clear: when I speak of empowerment I am referring to it as it applies to customers, and how to use it to serve a strategic purpose.

Many organizations unfortunately fear the notion of empowering people.

A common myth is that if you allow people to do what they believe is necessary they will ‘give away the farm’; they will break the rules; they will disrupt the rhythm of the organization and create needless stress and strain.

Nonsense. These beliefs come from a misunderstanding of what empowerment really is.

Empowerment is the provision of specific degrees of freedom to employees consistent with the strategy of the organization.

What it is and what it’s not

▪️it is bending the rules of the organization in specific circumstances for specific customers; it is not allowing rule bending for all circumstances and for any customer.

Rule bending is a critical component of the Service Strategy of an organization and results in dazzled customers with deep loyalty to the firm. It must be allowed but only under controlled circumstances.

▪️it is a planned course of action with its own set of rules in terms of the process an employee is to follow and the options available to them; it is not doing whatever an employee thinks is right at the time.

▪️it is being a few things to selected customers; it is not being anything to all customers.

▪️the actions allowed are defined directly from the strategy of the organization; they are not invented on the run.

▪️ the effectiveness of empowerment is measured against the desired outcomes; it is not ‘winging it’ and let the chips fall where they may.

▪️it is a proactive set of activities; it is not an unplanned reactive event.

▪️empowerment is contained within a ‘box’ with rigidly defined parameters and behaviors expected of an employee; it is not unfettered activity with no boundaries.

Critically examine your business plan and define the critical operations areas where empowering employees would be helpful to achieving the results expected.

Create an empowerment plan: which customers are to be included; what operations activities are ‘empowerable’ (like service recovery, service sign-up etc.); what measurable outcomes are expected and what behaviors must an employee exhibit - i.e. what is the empowerment process to be followed.

Honour your empowerment champions.

Tell stories of what they did to paint a picture of what success looks like.

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

• Posted 1.22.10 at 03:48 pm by Roy Osing
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