by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools, Wellbeing
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 7 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The 10 Es of great customer service
— From Woo, Wow, and Win: Service Design, Strategy, and the Art of Customer Delight by Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O’Connell
As we get closer to Thanksgiving here in the U.S., I’ve been seeing more and more offers from retailers who have started their Black Friday sales early this year.
Thinking how much people like to buy stuff, I was surprised recently when I read, “people derive more happiness from new experiences—a day by the sea, a night at the opera—than from new things.”
It makes perfect sense in light of the fact that “the pleasure of a new object diminishes over time (as every child knows on December 26), while the pleasure of experience grows (as every adult knows, enjoying those warm holiday memories).”
So, knowing this, how can we create great customer service and a memorable experience, no matter how big or small a product or service we sell?
The answer for designing great service that is delivered expertly, according to Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O’Connell, authors of Woo, Wow and Win, is to find “alignment among your strategic goals, your customer’s wants and needs, and what actually happens between you.”
And that alignment is a function of the following 10 E’s working together:
1. Empathy: “Developing products, services and experiences from the customer’s point of view; taking full account of how your customers use and interact with you.”
2. Expectation: “Ensuring that customers know what to expect from their interaction with you.”
3. Emotion: “Knowing the emotions your customer brings to your relationship, and guiding customers to a satisfied feeling about working with you.”
4. Elegance: “Providing offers that are clean, simple, easy to work with, and complete—nothing superfluous, nothing omitted.”
5. Engagement: “Communicating with customers—and they with you—at every point of contact, to understand their experience and how to improve it.”
6. Execution: “Reliably meeting all the expectations you have set.”
7. Engineering: “Possessing technical excellence (for example, compared to peers, but also general business standards) and eliminating waste of materials, time and effort, so that no extraneous effort is necessary on the part of you or your customer.”
8. Economics: “Pricing your services appropriately, so that the customer gets value for money and you the profit you expect.”
9. Experimentation: “Building processes for improvement and innovation into the daily work of your business; developing capabilities to develop and roll out new offerings.”
10. Equivalence: “Managing the customer, your team, and partner organizations so that you, the seller/service provider, are satisfied too.”
As you can see, the first five Es are focused on the customer’s side of the equation, and the last five ones are focused mostly on you.
These elements come together to create a system to build great customer service. But, “To what end?” the authors asked an expert in service design.
The answer?
Relationships. The goal of great customer service is to build a relationship with the customer; otherwise it’s merely a transaction.
“It is difficult to think of a transaction between a buyer and a seller that cannot be made more valuable to both parties by adding at least the possibility of a relationship beyond the transaction itself.”
What’s an instance of great customer service that you have received where you were happy to create a relationship with the seller? Please let me know here in the comments, I always love to hear these kinds of stories!
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the role you play in selling your products/services. How many Es can you apply toward creating great customer service in your business?
FUTURE: Study the customer’s journey and look at every touch point. What kind of relationship would you want to build (or strengthen) with your customers?
Want to build great customer service? Please share this post with your colleagues so that all of you can be in alignment: Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 21 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: ASAP is stressful, use it wisely
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
The post on being conscious about the language we use left me thinking about other words and sayings that have become common—but shouldn’t be.
One of those is ASAP or As Soon As Possible.
ASAP is stressful because it always denotes urgency. ASAP means drop everything and pay attention to this.
I get stressed out—and know a lot of people who do too—when colleagues used ASAP liberally, like salt on their food. That’s why I loved what Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson say about it in their awesome book Rework:
ASAP is poison.
Stop saying ASAP. We get it. It’s implied. Everyone wants things done as soon as they can be done.
When you turn into one of these people who adds ASAP to the end of every request, you’re saying everything is high priority. And when everything is high priority, nothing is. (Funny how everything is a top priority until you actually have to prioritize things.)
ASAP is inflationary. It devalues any request that doesn’t say ASAP. Before you know it, the only way to get anything done is by putting the ASAP sticker on it.
Most things just don’t warrant that kind of hysteria. If a task doesn’t get done this very instant, nobody is going to die. Nobody is going to lose their job. It won’t cost the company a ton of money. What it will do is create artificial stress, which leads to burnout and worse.
So reserve your use of emergency language for true emergencies. The kind where there are direct, measurable consequences to inaction. For everything else, chill out.
What other words or phrases have you come across that you’d like to veto from our language? Let me know in the comments here and I’ll write a post about it!
ACTION
TODAY: The authors are right in saying, “When everything is high priority, nothing is.” Take a moment to prioritize your schedule today and for the rest of the week so that you’re not telling yourself “ASAP” unconsciously and operating under unneeded stress!
FUTURE: Do you know someone who operates in ASAP mode all the time? Grab a cup of coffee with that person, and share your willingness to work as a team, but be candid in mentioning that seeing ASAP so often is very stressful and thus underproductive. Set up a system to work together that will (1) ensure you get the projects on time, and (2) enable you to know when projects are really urgent to devote your whole attention to them. I’ve found that a cup of coffee works wonders for most things: it creates bonds of friendship, better understanding among colleagues, and much willingness to work together (and have coffee again in a future).
Help someone get out of ASAP mode by sharing this post via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Celebration, Collaboration, Growth, Leadership, Mindset
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Gary Vee’s philosophy on leadership
— From #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness by Gary Vaynerchuk
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been poring over all the leadership books I own, working on distilling some of the most important lessons on leadership for a keynote that I’ll be giving this month to a Fortune 500 Company.
This has been a super fun endeavor, and a titanic one at that, because I could talk about this topic for hours without end, and I only have one hour. Yes, 60 minutes, Q&A included. The time has become a beautiful constraint as it has forced me to focus only on the key points and pick the most relevant stories. The presentation is going to be awesome!
I will be sharing with you tidbits of my talk as future posts. Yet, in the meantime, I wanted to share with you today this excerpt about Gary Vee’s philosophy on leadership. It comes from Gary Vaynerchuck’s (“Gary Vee”) book called #AskGaryVee. Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur that I deeply admire and respect, and I hope you enjoy reading his take on leadership as much as I do.
Cheers!
My philosophy on leadership is very simple: Everything in business stems from the top, whether you’re the boss of two people in a three-person team or the head of a Fortune 500 Company. And everything that happens in a company is 100 percent the CEO’s fault. After all, the CEO is the person who puts people into a position to make good or bad decisions. It’s no accident that when some companies change their CEO they go from winners to losers or vice versa. It may be the most important variable for success in running a business.
Being a leader today is a greater challenge than ever because of social media. It has completely changed the nature of the job. You used to be able to—no, leaders were expected to talk from the top of a mountain. You’d make your proclamation and not worry much about hearing anything back, certainly not in real time. But now that our communication channels have given everyone a voice, whatever you say from on high may invite a reaction. You might get it in-house, or you might get it from the masses. […]
The only effective way to truly lead is to practice and model the behavior you want to see in others. […] I know my team is watching me. I can’t tell them to go the extra mile if I’m not willing to do it myself. If the DNA from any business stems from the top, the top has to ensure that its values, beliefs, and attitudes trickle down to shape the culture and encourage a productive, innovative, creative, and even happy environment.
One hallmark of a good leader is to ask questions. It’s the best way to show your team you recognize they’re more than just cogs in a wheel. “Hey, how are things going?” “How’s the new baby?” “What are you excited about lately?” “Do you have any ideas you’d like to discuss?” It’s also the best way to solve problems. Don’t ever start offering solutions before asking tons of questions: “Why are we two weeks behind?” “What do you think is the issue?” “What do you need?” And then for God’s sake, listen. Be compassionate. Be fair. Hire people who embody those characteristics, too. Celebrate successes, and when you have to reprimand, hark back to all the times you screwed up and remember that those mistakes have everything to do with who you are today. Great leaders aren’t born, they’re made.
[…] Look in the mirror and think about what you do well and how you could do even better. Leadership needs to be a big pillar in your development…
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the way in which you lead: yourself and others. In which areas are you awesome and in which do you need improvement? Ask the people that you lead for feedback, they will tell you where you’re strong and where you’re not.
FUTURE: Be intentional about your leadership and values on a daily basis: put the work into becoming the leader you want to be, so that others will want to follow you. Preach by example.
Know someone who rocks as a leader? Please share this post! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Marketing, Opportunity, Planning
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 51 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The best definition of marketing you’ll ever find
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
I love marketing, and this is the best definition of marketing I’ve found so far. It’s just one word:
EVERYTHING.
Whaaaat?!
Yes: marketing is everything.
Most people tend to think that Marketing is a Department or a few, specific activities within a company. It’s not. At least that is not the definition of marketing that Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, abide by in their book Rework.
The authors say the following about Marketing:
“Marketing is something everyone in your company is doing 24/7/365.
Just as you cannot not communicate, you cannot not market:
- Every time you answer the phone, it’s marketing.
- Every time you send an email, it’s marketing.
- Every time someone uses your product, it’s marketing.
- Every word you write on your website is marketing.
- If you build software, every error message is marketing.
- If you’re in the restaurant business, the after-dinner mint is marketing.
- If you’re in the retail business, the checkout counter is marketing.
- If you’re in a service business, your invoice is marketing.
Recognize that all of these little things are more important than choosing which piece of swag to throw into a conference goodie bag. Marketing isn’t just a few individual events. It’s the sum total of everything you do.”
Very few people and companies recognize and embrace that marketing is everything that you and company do: from beginning to end of the buyer’s journey.
Isn’t this the best definition of marketing you’ve encountered too? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Embrace this new definition of marketing and the fact that marketing is indeed everything: as part of your company you and your employees or colleagues represent it all the time. What is the image of your company that you, your colleagues, and all your actions give to the world? Is this image in alignment with what you want and should portray according to the company’s mission, vision, and values?
FUTURE: Make it a habit of conducting a periodic marketing “audit” where you look at the touch points for the customer/client. Determine what the best way to represent your company would be for each particular point to be in alignment with your mission, vision, and values.
Help someone see how everything is marketing by sharing this post via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be conscious of your language
— From Attention Pays: How to Drive Profitability, Productivity, and Accountability by Neen James
Attention Pays is a fantastic book by Neen James that my friend Jeanette Bronée gave me – thanks Jeanette!
The book is all about being intentional and conscious in the way we handle and apply our attention: towards people, our work, the planet, and ourselves.
One of the things James highlights is being very conscious of our language: “Due to our distracted and often split attention, we aren’t always purposeful in how we choose our words and actions.”
And she goes on to ask, “Do the words you use provide positive or negative attention?”
She, in turn, points to Chad Hymas, author of the book Doing What Must Be Done, who often challenges audiences to use inclusive and collaborative language by asking, “Where can you replace the words I, me, my, with you, we, and ours?”
James also suggests we “Remove overused, cliché phrases and replace them with words that help build a stronger personal brand.” And she offers the following chart for some of her least favorite words and her suggested replacements. She says, “Listen to how often you use these words and consider changing them.”
| Remove from your language: |
Replace with: |
| But or However |
Simply make your point and stop talking; replace with and. |
| Problem or issue |
Challenge or opportunity (which implies a solution |
| Should |
Would you consider |
| They work for me |
They work with me |
| My team |
Our team |
| Take it to the next level |
Accelerate results, create progress or improve performance |
| Push the envelope |
Explore boundaries or overcome objections |
| Outside the box |
Creative, innovative, ground-breaking |
This exercise reminds me, indeed, of the importance of language, not only as we use it with others, but with ourselves as well.
Years ago, my wonderful mentor and dear friend Monte Lee-Wen had me do an exercise to permanently get rid of disempowering words and phrases, such as I need to, I can’t, I ought to, (but) How?, Impossible. I wrote them down (in English and also in Spanish since the latter is my native language) and then I watched them burn. Here are the pics for you. It was a very powerful exercise for me, since it deleted (physically and mentally too) those words from my vocabulary. Ever since, it has enabled me to use, instead, empowering thoughts and words to replace them. I highly recommend you do this too with the words that bring you down.
Cards
Words burning
Words burnt
Language is powerful, use it intentionally to your benefit and that of everyone around you! Make a habit of using words and phrases that, like a rising tide, will lift all boats around you.
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the words that you use. Are they empowering and lifting yourself and others or are then bringing you down and draining your energy?
FUTURE: Be aware of the language you use when you speak, write, and—especially—when you think. What you say to others and to yourself has the power to motivate or erode trust and confidence.
Know someone who would like this post? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 50 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Write a great last chapter-Part 2
— From Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
Yesterday we learned Danny Meyer’s approach to mistakes: writing a great last chapter. “The worst mistake,” he says, “is not to figure out some way to end up in a better place after having made a mistake.”
Today, Meyer expands on his philosophy for handling/addressing mistakes and why it’s important to learn from them.
In his restaurant business, “when something goes wrong, it is essential for the manager on whose watch the mistake occurred to make every effort to connect with the guest within 24 hours.” Depending on your business, the time frame for connecting may be different, but it is indeed essential to connect with the affected party.
The author says, “No matter how much you try to erase what has happened, you cannot.” And he adds, “Why wait for a second or third letter from somebody who has now cc’d his report of your fallibility and culpability to the Chamber of Commerce, the restaurant critic of The New York Times, and the Zagat Survey? Instead, take initiative.”
The initiative that Meyer suggests—and takes—is as follows:
1. Respond graciously, and do so at once. “You know you’re going to resolve the mistake eventually. It’s always a lot less costly to resolve the matter at the outset.”
2. Err on the side of generosity. “Apologize and make sure the value of the redemption is worth more than the cost of the initial mistake.”
3. Always write a great last chapter. “People love to share stories of adversity. Use this powerful force to your advantage by writing the closing statement the way you want it told. Use all your imagination and creativity in thinking about your response.”
4. Learn from the mistake. “Use every new mistake as a teaching tool with your employees [or colleagues]. Unless the mistake involved a lack of integrity, the person who made it has actually helped your team by providing you with new opportunities to improve.”
5. Make new mistakes every day. “Don’t waste time repeating the old ones.”
These last two points showcase one of the reasons why Meyer has been so successful. He is not afraid of him or his staff making mistakes, he knows it’s a natural part of life and business, and he welcomes the lessons and improvements that each mistake brings.
If you want to learn more about Meyer’s story and his philosophy about hospitality, my friend Don Crawford kindly pointed me to this recent podcast. Thanks, Don, it’s awesome! If you have a resource that goes well with a particular post and you’d like me to share it, please let me know, I’ll be happy to do so. 🙂
ACTION
TODAY: Hindsight is always 20/20, but in this case it can definitely help: think of a mistake you’ve done in the past. How could you have solved it in a more timely way and written a great last chapter? Do this exercise a few times, focusing on a different mistake each time. By imagining how the process and the ending could be different, you’ll be getting ideas as to how to handle future mistakes applying Meyer’s philosophy.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of incorporating Meyer’s five initiative points above to your life and business. You and your team will be able to handle and learn from mistakes in a much better way!
Know someone who would like this approach to mistakes? Please share this post: Email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
