by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Sales, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Hugging is a mindset
— From Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results by Jack Mitchell
Jack Mitchell is the Chairman of the Mitchell Stores. These high-end apparel boutiques provide such exceptional customer service, that Mitchell Stores is a case study at Harvard Business School.
What makes Jack Mitchell and his stores so special? The fact that they hug their customers. Mitchell says, “In some instances, we physically hug the customers—I’ve seen sales associates actually give customers a bear hug and then dance with them around the floor—but we mainly metaphorically hug them by showering them with attention in a way that every business ought to but doesn’t. […] That’s what Mitchell’s is about: making people say ‘Wow!’ ” And it’s true, I kept thinking wow! many times as I read through Hug Your Customers.
Mitchell defines hugging “as a mindset more than a physical act. It’s a way of thinking about customers… in the simplest sense, a hug is anything that exceeds a customer’s expectations.” For instance, Mitchell recalls a time when the new Chief Financial Officer of a large corporation went into his store. He (Mitchell) greeted him and congratulated him on his company’s stock rising $5 the previous day. Needless to say, the CFO was blown away. That’s what he means by a metaphoric hug.
And just as clothing, hugs come in all sizes: one time Mitchell flew a suit on a corporate jet to Tokyo for the son of a customer who needed it the next day. He also recalls lending his very own top coat to a customer who needed it right away (and happened to be the same size) while the customer’s coat arrived two days later. And at another point a customer brought in a dress she had purchased at another luxury store to get it altered in a hurry, and they did it for her.
It’s important to highlight that everyone hugs differently, “and that’s the way it should be,” says Mitchell. “You adopt the hug that works for you and your customer… Some people are comfortable giving a bear hug. Others recoil at anything too physical. That’s fine. Those people like to shake hands, or give a high five, or look you in the eye, or send personal notes.”
Mitchell states that one of the best hugs is a letter of thanks, and it’s a bonus hug if it’s handwritten or if you handwrite a note on the side of a typed letter. As an exercise, he once sat down to write a list of different hugs and got to 33 before his hand started cramping. I suggest you do the same for your customers or clients. What can you do for them that will create that wow! response? I’m adding below some of the hugs in Mitchell’s list hoping they will spark some ideas in you (some of them won’t apply to your business, but think about equivalents that work for you).
- Offer someone a beverage or snack
- Carry their bags to the car
- Send a birthday card
- Send an anniversary card
- Remember names
- Sew on a button
- Press pants
- Call when you say you will
- Send flowers on a holiday
- Send flowers after a big sale
- Call and invite to lunch at the store
- Make reservations for someone at an exclusive restaurant
- Get tickets to a ball game or the theater
- Open the store after hours for private appointments
- Have a liberal return policy that allows you to give money back with a smile
- Call another store to get something you don’t have
- Show product knowledge
- Smile
- Resolve credit issues instantly
- Give a firm handshake
- Look a customer in the eye as a friend who cares
- Exchange business cards
- Telephone someone who’s sick to show you care
- Send an email (especially to people who travel internationally)
- Listen
Happy hugging!
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of the ways in which you can hug your customers. You’ll be surprised as to the difference that even small details can make!
FUTURE: Adopt the hugging mindset. Keep your list of hugs handy and keep adding to it. Get together with your team and brainwrite ways in which you can hug your customers more and more often. Determine which hugs you can turn into policies so as to serve your clients better and offer an exceptional experience.
Know someone who needs a hug? Send this post to that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 55 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Check the ego
— From Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
We all have an ego, and that’s a good thing. It pushes us to do bigger and better things, it fuels our desire to win, and drives us to succeed. But if we let it take the lead, it becomes a destructive force that “clouds our judgment and prevents us from seeing the world as it is,” say Leif Babin and Jocko Willink, authors of Extreme Ownership.
Further, if left unchecked, “ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism… Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.”
As philosopher and writer Michel de Montaigne said “I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself.” So, if ego has these two sides, how do we make sure that it doesn’t hijack us to take over but stays on the miracle side instead?
The authors say that it the ego must be in check at all times and we must operate with a high degree of humility. “Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team… strive to be confident, but not cocky.”
Babin relays a story of one of his clients: this was a manager faced with a superintendent subordinate who had more knowledge and experience than him. The subordinate had taken action—without running it first by the manager—that would cost the company lots of money.
Needless to say the manager was very upset. His ego had taken a hit because the subordinate had not cleared the action with him. With Babin’s help, the manager was able to check his ego and realize that the action may not have been deliberately done to hurt him or to see how much the subordinate could get away with. The manager said, “I’m sure he [the subordinate] thought he was doing the best for the immediate situation as it presented itself.” Over the ensuing conversation, Babin and the manager came to the conclusion that the subordinate acted in good faith, yet was unaware of the big picture. Thus, the subordinate’s action, taken without running it first by the manager, had cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was the responsibility of the manager to explain the overall plan and mission to all subordinates, so that they could see the impact of their actions.
Had Babin and the manager not spoken, the manager would have likely confronted the subordinate and it would have resulted in a clash of egos. Instead, Babin recommended to the manager to take Extreme Ownership and not point fingers, but take full responsibility. Here’s what Babin said to the manager:
“This isn’t his fault, it’s yours. You are in charge, so the fact that he didn’t follow procedure is your fault. And you have to believe that, because it’s true. When you talk to him [the subordinate] you need to start the conversation like this: ‘Our team made a mistake and it’s my fault. It’s my fault because I obviously wasn’t as clear as I should have been in explaining why we have these procedures in place and how not following them can cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. You are an extremely skilled and knowledgeable superintendent. You know more about this business than I ever will. It was up to me to make sure you know the parameters we have to work within and why some decisions have got to be run through me. Now, I need to fix this so it doesn’t happen again.’ ”
Our egos don’t like to take blame, so it’s natural for anyone in a leadership position to find where the blame lies when something goes wrong in the work of a team. However, it’s incumbent upon us to check our egos and to make sure everyone knows how their actions fit in the big picture. The bottom line: “It’s about the mission and how best to accomplish it.”
Happy leading with ego in check!
ACTION
TODAY: Are you the leader of a team or part of a team? Do you and everyone on your team know how each individual’s work fits into the big picture? If not, explain to all or ask your leader. This will save you and your team much heartache!
FUTURE: As you embark on new projects, always seek to communicate to your team what the overall mission is and how each member fits within it. Take full responsibility and extreme ownership of everything that happens. Operate with humility and check your ego constantly, that way you’ll ensure it will drive you to succeed.
Know someone who needs to check their ego? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Don’t hold yourself accountable
— From The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want by Dave Kerpen
Dave Kerpen, author of The Art of People tells a story in which the members of his eight-person entrepreneurial group kept missing each of their goals.
This was a group that met monthly, and over the previous year, the members of the group had been working on achieving some personal goals. However, these eight successful and driven, otherwise super-achievers, were not hitting the mark.
As they were wondering what was happening for them to keep coming short of their goals, one of the members named Ben said, “We’re not hitting our goals because we’re not accountable enough. Starting today, we’ll each have a goal accountability partner. You are to check in with your partner at least once a week. First up, reassess all goals together and make sure they’re SMART goals (Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound). Then, instead of you updating the group at our monthly meeting with your progress, your partner will update the group on how well you’re doing and you will update the group on how well your partner is doing.”
What do you think happened over the next months? Yes, everybody hit their goals.
Instead of us holding ourselves accountable, Kerpen says, “we should be letting others hold us accountable for our successes and failures. Why? Because when you are accountable to another human being you trust and respect, it makes you want to work harder to achieve the goals you set.”
An additional advantage of being accountable to another person is that you realize how lame your excuses are: while in your mind a rainy day sounds reasonable enough not to go to the gym, your accountability partner won’t let you get away with it. Also, one accountability partner to help you and whom you can help is ideal, says Kerpen, because “when you’re accountable to too many people, it’s like being accountable to no one.”
This accountability-buddy system works particularly well in a business setting too. Kerpen gives us three keys to making this happen:
- Assign accountability partners who trust and respect each other.
- Set SMART goals together.
- Check in at least once a week, ideally twice a week, with one another.
Whether for business or personal goals, this last point on checking in doesn’t have to take long, a quick email will do—the important part is to be accountable to the other person.
Happy accountability!
ACTION
TODAY: Think about the benefits of finding an accountability partner. What goals are you struggling with that you’d like to see achieved with your buddy’s help? Make a call or send an email, and invite that person to help you in exchange for you helping as well. You don’t have to have a larger group to report to, it can be just the two of you. And it doesn’t have to take too much time: you can check in every week via email and visit by phone, video or in person once a month.
FUTURE: An accountability partner will help you achieve your goals and you will do the same for him or her. But how about those times when you have a very specific goal in mind? Think about a combo accountability and guidance. Could you find a partner to keep you accountable who can answer specific questions and guide you too? Could you do this for him/her too with your experience and expertise? This may need a bit more digging to find the right person, but it could be immensely helpful for both because you are exchanging accountability and expertise at once.
How about sharing this post with your accountability buddy? Send it to him or her via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
We’ve all been there: we have a lightbulb moment with what seems to be a fantastic idea, and we feel such a rush that we want to stop everything and focus solely on bringing our idea to life.
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, authors of Rework, say, “By all means, have as many great ideas as you can. Get excited about them. Just don’t act in the heat of the moment.”
Why not?
“The enthusiasm you have for an idea is not an accurate indicator of its true worth. What seems like a sure-fire hit right now often gets downgraded to just a ‘nice to have’ by morning… and [it] isn’t worth putting everything else on hold. […] So let your latest grand ideas cool off for a while first.”
The authors suggest writing down the ideas and coming back to them a few days later, when we can evaluate them with a calm, cool mind.
Seth Godin, marketing guru, wrote in his blog, “Someone asked me where I get all my good ideas, explaining that it takes him a month or two to come up with one and I seem to have more than that. I asked him how many bad ideas he has every month. He paused and said, ‘none.’ And there, you see, is the problem.” (Source) “Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them.” (Source) And in his book Linchpin, Godin writes, “All the creativity books in the world aren’t going to help you if you’re unwilling to have lousy, lame and even dangerously bad ideas.”
Fried and Hansson make a very good point. And when combined with Godin’s, that enthusiasm should fuel us to keep coming up with ideas, without regard for whether they are good or bad. Once we write them down and examine them later, we can prioritize the ones that truly have merit.
To sum up, don’t be afraid to have bad ideas. Just don’t act on them when they first arrive, because at that moment they seem fantastic. Keep your enthusiasm for producing more and more ideas: the more bad ideas you have, the better your good ideas will be.
Happy ideating!
ACTION
TODAY: Stuck on something and at a loss for ideas? (Remember there’s no such thing as a shortage of ideas.) How about trying deliberately to come up with 3 horrible and terrible ideas? Once you’ve picked yourself up from the floor and stopped laughing, then you’ll be able to come up with a more sensible list to help you out on whatever you are trying to do. That list will still have many bad ideas, but simply look for the good ones as you separate wheat from chaff.
FUTURE: Make a list of as-many-ideas-as-you-can-come-up-with to help you out on whatever you are stuck. Park it somewhere for a day or two, and then come back to sift through the ideas. The benefit of letting the ideas sit for a period of time is that your mind will also be clearer on what you need. Then you can start evaluating the merits and worthiness of each idea you had, and after that you can start to implement the very best.
Know someone who needs ideas? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 54 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Reflective thinking
— From Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work by John C. Maxwell
In Thinking for a Change, John C. Maxwell makes a very good case for why we should take time to reflect on our experiences, big and small, good and bad. He says that reflective thinking gives us valuable benefits such as true perspective, because as a result of reflecting, you can put an experience into perspective, evaluate its timing and appreciate things that went unnoticed before.
Also, our confidence in decision-making increases. “Have you ever made a snap judgment and later wondered if you did the right thing? Everybody has. Reflective thinking can help to diffuse that doubt. It also gives you confidence for the next decision. Once you’ve reflected on an issue, you don’t have to repeat every step of the thinking process when you’re faced with it again. You’ve got mental road markers from having been there before. That compresses and speeds up thinking time—and it gives you confidence.”
Another significant point is that reflective thinking takes experience and turns it into insight. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “We should be careful to get out of an experience all the wisdom that is in it—not like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again—and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.”
Yet in our crazy world where there is little time and where reflection and self-examination don’t come naturally, how should we incorporate this practice to reap the benefits?
Maxwell suggests setting aside time for reflection, and making sure that we are removed from distractions and interruptions. He also suggests going over your journal, if you have one, but if you don’t, your calendar is a great tool to review where you’ve been, what you’ve done and the progress you’ve made.
The most important thing, however is to ask the right questions and to put the thoughts derived from our reflections into action. “The value you receive from reflecting will depend on the kinds of questions you ask yourself. The better the questions, the more gold you will mine from your thinking.”
When Maxwell reflects, he thinks about his values, relationships and experiences. Here are some sample questions he shares. Feel free to use what you need and modify however you see fit to suit your experience and style.
- What have I learned today that will help me grow?
- How and when can I apply it to my life?
- To whom did I add value today?
- How do I know I added value to that person?
- What did I do with someone else that made both of us better?
- Can we do something else together to continue our mutual success?
- Did I lead by example today?
- What did I encounter today to which I need to give more thinking time? Are there lessons to be learned?
- What went wrong? Could I have changed it? What do I need to do differently next time?
Happy reflecting!
ACTION
TODAY: Take a few minutes to reflect on your day today. Set aside some time and ask yourself questions. Based on the answers, set actions for the future. How did it go? What did you learn?
FUTURE: Set aside a specific time and place for your reflective thinking. Maxwell suggests doing this for 21 days to turn it into a regular practice.
Know someone who could benefit from reflective thinking? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Habits, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 39 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Siesta, coffee and 5 steps to a perfect nap
— From WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink
I can’t take naps. Well, technically I can, but they always last between 3 and 5 hours with at least an additional 20-30 minutes to shake the grogginess and be fully awake. That rules them out of my regular life and leaves them either in the luxury category when I’m on vacation, or in the rescue category when I’m so sleep deprived that a nap is a preferred alternative to the state of zombieness.
Dan Pink, author of WHEN, had a similar dislike for naps: “when I’ve awoken from these slumbers, I usually feel woozy, wobbly and befuddled—shrouded in a haze of grogginess and enveloped in a larger cloud of shame.”
However, after doing research for his excellent book about timing, Pink changed his mind and became nap devotee. “Naps, research shows, confer two key benefits: They improve cognitive performance and they boost mental and physical health. […] The returns from napping extend beyond [alertness and] vigilance. An afternoon nap extends the brain’s capacity to learn… boosts short-term [and] associative memory… and improves our overall health.” (Hmmmm, I may try this after all, but clearly following Pink’s formula below, not mine…)
Pink found out that the so-called power naps—the ones that produce these great results—last anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes, no more. Once you wake up, you are fully rested and ready to take on where you left off. If you sleep longer, then sleep inertia (grogginess) kicks in and you’ll spend time trying to awaken your mind as Pink used to do: “splashing water on [his] face, shaking his upper body like a soaked golden retriever and searching desk drawers for candy to get some sugar into [his] system.”
There’s a further powerful secret that Pink shares from his research, and you can use it to boost your mental alertness by the time you wake up: caffeine. Most likely in the form of coffee. But it’s not coffee ingested after waking up, instead, it’s taken before your nap.
Whaaaaat?!
Yes. You read that right. Let me introduce you to the napuccino: “the coffee-then-nap combination [that] is the ideal technique for staving off sleepiness and increasing performance.” So, how does this work? “Since caffeine takes about twenty-five minutes to enter the bloodstream, [you get] a secondary boost… by the time [your] nap is ending [and you’re awaking].”
Pink offers five steps to take a perfect nap:
- Find your afternoon low time. “You’ll likely see a consistent block of time when things begin to go south, which for many people is about 7 hours after waking. This is your optimal nap time.”
- Create a peaceful environment. “Turn off your phone notifications. If you’ve got a door, close it. If you’ve got a couch, use it. To insulate yourself from sound and light, try earplugs or headphones and an eye mask.”
- Down a cup of coffee. “Seriously. The most efficient nap is the nappuccino. If you’re not a coffee drinker, search online for an alternative drink that provides about two hundred milligrams of caffeine. (If you avoid caffeine, skip this step.)”
- Set a timer on your phone for twenty-five minutes. “Since it takes most people about seven minutes to nod off, the twenty-five minute countdown clock is ideal. And, of course, when you wake up, the caffeine is beginning to kick in.”
- Repeat consistently. “There’s some evidence that habitual nappers get more from their naps than infrequent nappers. So if you have the flexibility to take a regular afternoon nap, consider making it a common ritual. If you don’t have the flexibility, then pick days when you’re really dipping—when you haven’t gotten enough sleep the day before of the stress and demands of the day are weightier than usual. You’ll feel a difference.
Happy napping!
ACTION
TODAY: Try taking one of these power naps and see how it goes. Pay close attention to how you feel. Please let me know!
FUTURE: Give regular napping a shot. The research on the benefits of napping is astonishing. Give yourself the opportunity to try out this hidden gem for better health and cognition. I know I will. If it doesn’t work out for you, you can always leave it aside and go back to zero napping, but you may find a wonderful way to become more alert, productive and healthy.
Know someone who could use a nap? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
