Archive for May, 2008
Friday, May 30th, 2008
The movie, 50 First Dates, starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, is billed as a romantic comedy. But I see it as a business movie.
In the film, Sandler’s character, Henry, and Barrymore’s character, Lucy, meet one day and have a great time. However, the next day Lucy doesn’t remember Henry, due to a memory problem that erases the previous day’s memories each night. So, their relationship has to start anew each day.
This is just what it’s like to do business with most companies. Aren’t there stores in which you’ve shopped for years, that still greet you with an impersonal, “May I help you?” as if you’re entering for the first time? How many restaurants remember that you don’t like pickles on your burger, from one visit to the next? Why do I need to repeat my customer service problem to successive AT&T operators?
So many things that seem outlandish in real life, such as a person not remembering yesterday, are taken for granted in business. More convinced than ever: The best business practices reflect the basic truths of everyday life.
Posted in We relationships | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
I don’t get it.
I recognize that this isn’t new news. But I just saw a Southwest Airlines commercial for their Business Select program, and, after all these months, I still don’t get it.
One of the charms - and differentiating features - of Southwest has always been their “everyman” personality. No first class, no preferential seating (unless you show up early), and a complete lack of pretension.
Business Select is a program that gives privileges to frequent business travelers. That, in itself, is not a problem (of course). But the ad I just saw has one customer loudly proclaiming how happy he is to be in the Business Select program, while his friend says, “Shh. Be quiet. If you talk about it loudly everyone will want to be part of it.”
That’s not Southwest. Way too exclusionary. If I’m sitting near the front of a coach section and I see a flight attendant close the curtain behind first class, I know I must be on American, United, Delta or Northwest. Southwest has never created a class system. Everyone has a fair shot, and that’s a big part of makes them special.
What’s next, a special bathroom for Business Select members? (Sound crazy? That’s exactly what other airlines do for first class passengers.)
Posted in Brand Harmony | 3 Comments »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Here’s a relationship-building-encounter thought for today:
As you interact with a customer, consider what it will take to have your customer think, “This could have only happened with me. I am not getting the ’standard treatment.’ I am being treated in a way that recognizes and honors who I am.”
Customers have very sensitive antennae that tell them when they are getting a cookie-cutter, scripted, pulled-from-inventory sort of treatment. Yes, it’s more efficient to treat customers in a standard way. But, when it comes to building relationships, it is much less effective.
Posted in Customer Encounters | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Ok, this is a pretty crappy ad. But I find it more persuasive (and genuine) than “The Great American Lager.”
Posted in Brute Force Branding, Marketing | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
One of the most important components of a relationship-building encounter is conversation, based on genuine dialogue. As Martin Buber wrote in his 1930 essay, Dialogue, what often passes for conversation is nothing more than “monologue disguised as dialogue.”
Conversation, and the difference between monologue and dialogue, has recently been a frequent topic of discussion with my clients and workshop participants. This opportunity to spend so much time conversing about conversation has clarified things for me, and here’s what I think:
In genuine dialogue, neither person is hiding an inner monologue. You are not talking to yourself in the background. You are talking with each other, and only with each other.
It’s not that you can’t be thinking while you are talking. Of course you are. But are your thoughts directed into the conversation, or are they part of a competing, plotting, inner monologue? Does the other person have a second voice in his head, hidden from you yet obscuring the true meaning of what you hear him say?
This is the intersection between being fully present and conversation. If you are talking to yourself, you can’t be in true dialogue with another person.
Posted in Conversation | 8 Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
My father, Shelby Yastrow, is one of the most un-litigious lawyers you will ever meet. He was general counsel of McDonald’s at a time when they had no written vendor contracts – just handshakes.
Dad told me of advice he got from one of his first mentors, Glenn Seidenfeld, shortly after completing law school: “If you have a good relationship, you don’t need a contract and you’ll never look at it; if you have a bad relationship, no contract is good enough.”
Posted in We relationships | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
Here’s something to notice today, as you interact with people: Are you both fully present as you interact, or are either of you distracted, with your minds in another place and time?
The first step to creating a relationship-building encounter, instead of a relationship-eroding transaction, is for you and the person with whom you are interacting to be 100% present, fully-engaged in the moment.
Throughout the day today, pay attention, and in each interaction you have with another person rate how present each of you were. Maybe you were on a cell phone call as you paid for things at Walgreens. Don’t give yourself a high grade on that one - 30%, max. Maybe you could tell that your client was checking emails while you talked to him on the phone. He was certainly less that 100% present.
On the other hand, maybe you and another person had a great discussion about a project, and for 20 minutes neither of you was distracted by anything. Give yourselves an A+, 100%. Or you went into an appliance store and a sales clerk completely engaged with you and helped you figure out the perfect flat screen for your living room. Grade both of you highly.
Being present, fully engaged in the moment, is tough, especially in our multi-tasking, over-busy, deadline-driven world. But, even though being fully present is difficult, you can’t have a relationship-building encounter with a customer if you aren’t 100% there, engaged in the moment. So the choice is clear. Be scattered, giving your customers a portion of your attention, and have transactions. Or, be fully present, engaged in the moment, and have the chance at relationship-building encounter.
If you haven’t downloaded my free ebook, Encounters, please do. (Or, see Chapter 2 in We) There are many tips for helping yourself be fully-present in a customer encounter, and ideas for inviting your customer to be engaged in the moment with you.
But, for today, just notice. Pay attention to the level of engagement in your interactions.
And remember, if you answer your cell phone or check your Blackberry while you are talking with someone, you are not fully present. Like being absent on the day of a pop quiz, your grade will drop. Resist the temptation! Be there!
Posted in Customer Encounters | 4 Comments »
