Posts Tagged ‘transparency’
Trust Your Wince-tincts
Trust Your Wince-tincts
We Wince. And wincing is a big deal.
Think about the Wince: our eyes squint up, we squeeze our shoulders together and we wish just for that moment, that we weren’t there to see or hear whatever it is that is making us wince.
Wincing is not good. Not good at all. But it can help you figure out stuff for the better.
Sometimes bad acting will make you wince (Hugh Grant comes to mind). Some movies are 2 hours of a Wince fest (I’m still scarred by that kid movie Chicken Run a decade ago). Nick Jonas as Marius in Les Miserable 25th anniversary show is probably this century’s greatest wince to date. But many times you wince in the marketplace or at work. That’s something we can fix.
In the marketplace you often sense in advance the wince is coming like when the store clerk says to the customer in front of you “ Do you have a rewards card?” then you wince and immediately drop your eyes to the ground. Why? Because you know what’s coming – the horrible cross sell -“Would you like to sign up for one..?” And the wincing isn’t over because its your turn now –you’re about to get the same WinceDom from the clerk. Ugh.
I wince when the waiter gets too familiar too soon and leans down and just about cuddles up next to me to share the day’s specials (just as he was trained to do I am sure). I Wince at the airport when I hear the gate agent say “And now we welcome our Delta Super Flyers, Northwest Perks Puppies, Frequent Flyer Super Dupers and Platinum Star Cadets” or whatever it is they say. It’s so rote and boring and there are just so many titles that it is meaningless and downright embarrassing. I also wince when I hear at the end of a phone call; “Have we met all of your needs and are you satisfied with your experience with me today?” This is a Wince slap no matter how I feel. Ugh. What do you think I’m gonna do if I’m not happy? Pick a fight? Just tell me “Thank you for your business” and let me go.
I’ve come to think that Wince is a very good word and tell for uncomfortable sales and service. It’s a great descriptor and is great for identifying those moments that need real help and that need to be fixed because wincing is very truthful. You have a hard time faking or making up a wince on the fly – It’s just the way it is. Those moments you wince in any experience are called Wince Points.
Wince Points are no fun. We should make them go away.
What about you? What are the Wince Points for you? When you listen to your colleagues over the wall or listen to client interactions remotely, or along side a sales rep in the field; what makes you wince?
I wince with my eyes squeezed shut when I hear stuff like “I’m calling just to check in…” or “We have 1/2 off anything new if want something”. I wince when I see vendor slides that begin with their credentials and not what they’ve learned about me first. I wince when I see 10 bullets on a WebEx, hear a dog barking in the background in a virtual meeting, see an unchanged automated invitation to me to connect on Linked in, read emails with suggested times to meet but no indication of time zone and I wince when someone tells me to consider then earth when deciding whether to print this document just to name a few more.
Wince Points are everywhere.
Focus on the winces. And trust your “Wince-tincts”. They are truthful and honest moments. Make a plan, create a process, get a training or get some coaching to help get rid of the winces.
If it makes you wince, there is something wrong with that moment. Don’t fight it, just go and fix it.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Stumped
Stumped
Nobel Prize winning Psychologist Daniel Kahneman said “The remarkable thing about your mental life is that you are rarely ever stumped.”
How interesting. This little quote has roiled around in my head for a month. Can’t shake it.
Think about how true it is. Heck, I’m gonna do this or I’m gonna do that. Or goshdarnit, I’m going to do nothing! Bottom line is most of the time, I know what I’m gonna do. And most of the time we make judgements and decisions in a flash and rarely are stumped or stuck in a quandary.
I read Kahneman’s quote in the Heath Brothers latest book called “Decisive” ( big thumbs up from me). The book has some compelling methods to help us all make better decisions of course ( if we ever allow ourselves to be stumped) but that’s for a later blog or two.
Lets just chat a bit about the stumped thing. Stumped is what I think we should be more of. Here’s why:
- When was the last time you talked to a prospect, did some great discovery, built credibility and commonality, talked pain points and said, ” You know, you’ve given me some things to think about and I’m not sure exactly what the best thing to do is, let me get back to you in a couple of days.” Answer? Never. You’re in sales, you’re never stumped and you and I both know it.
- When was the last time you launched a project to tackle a problem and didn’t pretty much have the answer already embalzoned in your brain about what you think is the right solution? Way less than you think. You’re not stumped. No Never. Not you. You can, like nobody else, see the future clearly.
- When was the last time you didn’t judge, label or categorize someone you just met because you were so comfortable with “waiting and seeing” what this person was really about? Not often enough. You’re never stumped when it comes to giving an opinion on the new person even if you just give that opinion to yourself.
The you here is me ( and yes, likely you too).
I’ve pitched an idea or a solution well before I knew what I should really do – I should have been stumped. I’ve launched a project ( just this week as a matter of fact) tackling a problem that I am brazen enough to think I already know the answer to, until my LEAN mentor smacked me upside the head and said “You need to be stumped in the beginning for this thing to work.” I’ve judged someone in just 20 minutes of conversation and another in probably 30 seconds – and did it not long ago either – both are awful things to do. Not fair and frankly, stupid. Stumped is what I needed to be there and always.
Not being stumped can get us into trouble; that’s the message here. Conversely, being stumped can do some great things like impress the hell out of a customer and get them the best help possible. Being stumped can get your problem solved better because you didn’t presume you knew the damn answer. And being stumped is certainly the best way to treat people you meet all the time and to get the most and the best out of that relationship.
Stumped ain’t bad. Stumped is good. So all you people out there with the answers ( and that means you too McCarthy) quit talking to me, I gotta work these things out like I don’t have any idea.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
No Wins, Not Quite
No Wins, Not Quite
This High School football team didn’t win a single game this year. Not one.
But you’d never know it looking at the faces of the kids and everyone else I saw at the season-ending banquet on Saturday.
I didn’t get to see many Varsity games this year with the kickoff times being mostly held at 4pm on Friday nights. But I know that what had to be tough games to watch, would likely carry over into a somewhat depressed pall cast over the season ending banquet. How could there not be, having gone this year without a single win and having just one win last year.
But what I saw was a room full of cheering parents, proud young men and a half a dozen coaches who spoke of their players as if they were their very own kids.
I saw a Head Coach who talked glowingly and positively about every player from Freshman to Senior as they were introduced. It wasn’t what you think; time flew. He found something unique and great to say about each. He found affirmative things to say about their work ethic, their progress, their spirit, their unselfish willingness to help each other and refreshingly for many, their outstanding grades.
My son didn’t play a down this year having suffered a pre –season injury requiring surgery but he had his name called and was acknowledged for his commitment to supporting the team throughout the year. He wore not only a tie (that was as required for all players) but a broad smile shaking the hands of coaches and teammates as he walked onto the floor.
There was continued talk of overcoming more injuries and obstacles, of learning new positions and new offenses, of learning a new culture and of responsibility and accountability. There was talk about the honorable values and the unique contributions of team captions, assistant coaches and supporters all around.
There was talk of shunning the individual accomplishment and focusing on bonding as a team, in a concerted effort with a common focus. There was talk about reaching out to each other and encouraging each other to work together not just during football season but all year round. And finally, there was talk that in the end of all this important stuff, one of many great results, (but not nearly the only one), will be some games to be won.
It’s trite of course, but these games are not the lead story – at least for the gatherings of these young men who yearn to push a ball across a goal line just a bit more than their competitor. My guess is that if there were two seasons of winning records already under his belt, this Head Coach would have talked about the same things.
I sat there thinking how wonderful these presentations and speeches were and asked myself how different are they than what the gatherings of families, groups or even companies in good times or in bad should be hearing? These messages are the ones that we and not just our sons benefit from. These messages are at the root of what is valuable, at the root of what drives achievement across a wide swath of life.
Thanks for the pep talk Coach. Thanks for the shot in the arm of prioritization and principles. Better luck next year in that win / loss thing but regardless, there’s no doubt you’ll truly win.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
The Perfect I’m Sorry
The Perfect “I’m Sorry”
I was in awe and actually stunned last week. Like the cool, slow motion, jaw dropping kind of stunned. Really I was.
I had realized right then, while sitting there next to Eric and listening to both he and the upset customer, that I had never ever heard it like that before. And I have heard thousands and thousands of customer service calls over these last 25 years.
Until last Wednesday I don’t think I’ve ever heard those two words said just like that and in that way.
“I’m sorry”.
But alas, here is how he said it! He said “I’m sorry” and then said nothing. Nothing! You know, the dead air kind of nothing, the “you can hear a pin drop” kind of nothingness.
The two words “I’m sorry” weren’t rendered meaningless by adding moronic drivel like “…..that happened” or “…we did that” or ”…this happened to you” or “…we made a mistake” or “ …we won’t do it again” . None of those polluted words were suffixed to the most perfect “I’m sorry” I’ve ever heard.
That’s it. Two words. “I’m sorry”. And then, no more sounds. No clickety clack keyboard sounds of moving on. No blathering, babbling or god forbid – cross selling. Not even a cough. Nothing – just nothing.
Wait was important. Wait for it to sink in is what I realized he was doing. Wait for it to really mean something to the customer.
And then, on the other end of the line, the soft voice of the customer finally, agonizingly and mercifully said “OK”.
Perfect. That’s all Eric needed to hear.
Think about his choice of using those particular words. There is so much personal lasting ownership in the two words “I’m sorry” when they are left the heck alone. There is vulnerability and sincerity in just those two words and in exactly those two words.
I suspect he already knew what I also had just realized sitting next to him. That using an “I apologize” or any variation of that is just not the same when you compare. I’ve heard it a million times and truth be told, it antiseptically washes over people. “I apologize” rings emptily of what you did while “I’m sorry” rings importantly of how you feel.
You (and I) have two words to practice now with the 3rd part being the perfect silence that follows. I never expected to get taught such a wonderful service lesson on a late Wednesday afternoon from a guy I never met before named Eric who has been on the phones for only 4 precious months. And over the years and maybe even in this blog, I’ve written inaccurately now it seems, about how to apologize and make amends with customers in need. For that I simply say
I’m sorry.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
An Inspired 28 Minutes
An Inspired 28 Minutes
You don’t need to know who Curtis Martin is. You don’t even need to know football.
All you need is 28 minutes to watch his induction speech into the Football Hall of Fame this month.
It’s got nothing to do with football or winning or awards or records.
It has everything to do with a higher and nobler purpose in whatever it is you do.
And I promise you, it is one of the most inspiring, moving and worthwhile 28 minutes you’ll ever spend.
It may even change you.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
The Laminator
The Laminator
This is the actual machine pictured in Kansas City.
It has its own cubicle The Laminator does, right outside the Site Leader Dale’s office. Really it does. It is the only thing on this desk right near the front door. And it deservedly has this space all to itself because of all the good work it does.
The Laminator’s work was plastered everywhere in the KC facility I visited. Laminated Certificates were hanging from the shelves, the monitors and the walls. For some folks, they even hung from the ceiling.
I sat with some employees for a bit that day. A few had evidently received many certificates from The Laminator and I was kind of surprised by the care in which these were displayed and hung in their cubicle spaces.
I commented to one person I was talking with who had a dozen or so in his cube and said “Wow look at all of those…” and with what I admit was more pride than I expected, he grinned and said “ Yeah, pretty cool eh?”
The other folks I sat with seemed similarly proud of them. Dale’s center had a pretty good vibe and I couldn’t help but think this emphasis on recognition had something to do with it.
Flying back home that night it got me thinking about that darn laminator and how we need more of those around these parts. But of course what I really walked away with is how important it is to recognize and be recognized.
Sure some of us, we tend brush the need off with comments mostly to ourselves like “Who cares” or “It’s no big deal” or “People know they are valuable” but if we are honest – recognition is a big deal. If we are honest, we do look twice at that email from the boss that says “good job” or “great point”. If we are honest, we do look at the comment from the blog reader or the person that liked your status update. If we are honest, we do smile a little inside when we get a little public recognition be it your name called out in a meeting or yes, on a certificate for all to see.
The Laminator knows this. The Laminator is as honest as they come. A little heat, a little plastic and Voila! - it’s a shot in the arm for someone. There are dozens of other ways to recognize people and I’m sure Dale and his team is using more than just The Laminator.
But here’s a thought – if you have an empty desk and a need for a bit more acknowledgement of good people and good work, fill that space with a laminator. It does a darn good job.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Show Rooming Is Our Fault
Show Rooming Is Our Fault
Target got all a tither last week firing off letters to their suppliers demanding they either reduce their costs or focus on giving Target more unique and exclusive products to sell in their stores.
Problem is that folks go to Target, look at a product, touch it, hold it, feel it, ask questions about it and then turn around and go online and buy the same thing cheaper from some online company that doesn’t have the costs to bear for the brick and mortar, the labor and all the rest.
They call it Show Rooming and brick and mortar retailers like Target are getting sick of it.
But Target is mad at the wrong people. It’s not the supplier that’s the problem – it’s us.
Maybe it was the way I was brought up or where I’ve worked but there’s something wrong about using one company to learn and see everything about a product and then going out and buying it online ( or anywhere else for that matter.) And it happens a lot.
There’s something wrong with walking into the local hardware store, getting that advice on which paint to use to cover paneling, spending some time at the color wheel and then saying “Thanks man!” while jumping in the car to speed off to the superstore to get the exact same paint a little cheaper.
There’s something wrong when the Veterinarian examines your dog, hands you the product she needs to stay healthy and you put it down sheepishly saying “gee I can’t get that right now” only to go on line, look for the same product and order it there for 3 bucks cheaper.
There’s something wrong with going to a car dealer, working the sales rep for 2 days, getting all the answers, taking that test drive and getting all of it down on paper to then neatly fold it, slip it into your back pocket and then shopping around with all this new knowledge to get better price from some other dealer who sells the same model car.
And it happens to you too.
It’s not real different in sales either when you spend 3 weeks educating a prospect about a solution, prepare a proposal and that prospect takes your proposal and their new education, then turns it over to a competitor and says “Beat that”. That happens, that’s life but that’s Show Rooming a Sales Rep and that ain’t right.
It’s a lot like stealing I think. For too many people it’s not a problem to take insight, or time, or commitment, or ideas only to use them against the very people and places that were so skilled or gracious in giving them to you in the first place by going somewhere else to buy.
That’s called Show Rooming and nope, even though its rampant and even a source of pride for some, I don’t like it one bit.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Your Cheatin’ Start
I was young when I learned that if you combine working hard and cheating you often get something that actually pays off.
I sat at the piano when I was 8. The M*A*S*H song was the first real tune I played plunking out each note quite shocked that it actually sounded remotely like the theme song.
I haven’t stopped playing since. But my story doesn’t blossom into me learning to really play the piano and how I got to play a couple of gigs for Journey or for Springsteen when they came to town. I’m not a good piano player by any stretch.
I need that music in front of me. I taught myself the guitar chords symbols to play on the piano and know enough sight reading to plunk out the melody in the right hand. I cheat.
But I work hard at cheating so that most people can’t tell I’m staring at the guitar chord symbols as I accompany anyone who cares to sing. I even play in church on occasion in front of sometimes hundreds of people.
They don’t realize how much hard work this is for me and that I am in fact, cheating. But they seem to like it. That can’t be all bad.
In fact, it’s not bad at all, it’s OK – Happens all the time.
- Your boss or your colleague is sooooo good at coaching people. It comes so naturally to them. You on the other hand, sit at your desk and bang out “How to deal with conflict in the workplace…” like 4 times a week on Google looking for a darn answer. You find it. You print it off. You sweat it. It works. Tis’ that combo of hard work and cheating payin’ off.
- Your buddy’s closing deals like Vin Diesel in the movie Boiler Room and yet he looks like he just rolled out of bed most of the time. You listen over the wall and start stealing his lines left and right with what he’s saying to customers. You try em’. You memorize em’. You steal em’ for a week and soon you start landing deals. Tis’ that combo of hard work and cheating paying off.
- The team needs an answer. It’s brainstorming time. Have to find a way to drive some more sales. You are clueless, tired and it’s been a long week. You trip over a book that fell off some table you walked by, pick it up, pour over it and find the answer. You go to meeting. You share the idea. You don’t (gulp) share that you accidentally found the answer in a book you tripped over. Tis’ that combo of hard work and cheating paying off.
Here’s the deal. Hard work mixed with cheating has its place. Sometimes it’s for a specific need at a specific time. Sometimes like my piano playing, it’s forever.
When it comes easy to you it comes easy to you. When it doesn’t, that combination of hard work and bit of cheatin’ can get you some darn good results and no worries, nobody needs to know.
And for those of you aghast that I could condone cheating well, let’s just call it like it should be called in this case – stealing shamelessly.
Gotta run, have to “practice” some Billy Joel.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Odd Duck
What would you be if you believed that the real selling began after you closed a sale?
What would you be if you believed that the real service began after the phone call ends?
What would you be if you believed that real customer value began with what you believe and not what you have?
What would you be if you believed that your real job began with what you think and not with what you do?
Heck, what would you be if you believed that the real meaning of life begins with what you leave ahead and not what you leave behind?
Answer: You would be the most beautiful and wonderfully odd duck of a person, performer or company.
Ever.
****
P.S. Everywhere you see the word “be” in a question, swap in the word “do”, go grab a pencil and answer it. At length.
Then do it.
Odd Duck you will be. How wonderful.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Lois’ Lessons
I think of how good it is to create opportunities for others, for that is really the best you can do. What we do with those opportunities of course, is up to us.
I think of how good it is to heed the advice of “offer it up and move on!” That counsel is authored by many, yet so few of us act accordingly with any consistency. We should pledge to do better.
I think of how good it is to unexpectedly just send a note or a check or even yourself to someone in need. And to do it unannounced and tell it to no one. There is something so pure about that.
I think of how good it is not to waste time. It’s never coming back. Spend those “down” times learning or helping or creating something if not for yourself, then at least for someone else.
I think of how good it is to make those individuals close to you feel like it is just you and them; and that “No, there is no one else but you” that I focus on or care about. If you can pull that off, you are wondrous.
I think of how good it is to spend a life in the care or protection of others as a career and as a parent. Blessed are those that don’t leave work at work, but rather without missing a beat, bring the best of that work home every single night.
**
I think of these things because later today my family and I will more formally remember someone who taught me so much about what you read here. I was not my Mother’s greatest student in these lessons but am smart enough to know they do live tattered and duct taped somewhere within me.
She centered her life on caring; on making you feel like you “were the only one” she was thinking about and always surprised or helped when you never expected it. Above all, she made, prayed and worked very hard to make opportunities for us.
Her passing this week is difficult but an opportunity at home or at work for all of us, especially me. Be more purposeful about embracing the lessons of my mother, Lois.
Go ahead and steal shamelessly from her (but don’t tell anyone); she’d like that.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
