Acknowledging the Power of Your Words

In my early twenties, I managed a popular chain restaurant – a very successful company with hundreds of locations worldwide. I’ll always remember what our CEO said at that time…

“People are customers until they’ve chosen to enter [our restaurant], at which point they become guests.”

A simple word substitution can help to create a culture shift inside of an organization. Consumers (people) can be thought of differently – more favorably – simply by being thoughtful of the word(s) we use to describe them. Additionally, this can cause a chain reaction. When a consumer hears her merchant referring to her as their “guest,” it feels different – much warmer than “customer.” Think for a moment of what each word implies — A “customer” can feel distant  (cold) while a “guest” feels connected (warm). When working with my clients, I advise them to eliminate the word “customer” from their company’s vernacular, if it feels appropriate for their industry to do so. Some recommended replacements are client, guest, patient, fan, or member. If none of these seem to fit, or you cannot seem to find an acceptable and appropriate alternate for your industry, consider using customer, but only as a last resort.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” ~Mark Twain

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© Copyright 2010 – Driven To Excel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tags: client, customer, fan, guest, imply, implying, Mark Twain, member, patient, vocabulary

Could you possibly be annoying your clients?

Doesn’t anyone else notice this? Should I say something?

Recently, I was waiting for a haircut and couldn’t help but notice an annoying sound – a fuzzy, static-filled radio station. The salon was playing (well, attempting to play) music and its radio reception was terrible. In fact, it was downright annoying and distracting. I gave up trying to read my magazine and found myself thinking, Doesn’t anyone else notice this? Have the owners and employees become numb to it? They must know this isn’t good for business. Should I say something?

Why is this a big deal? A salon’s, #1 job is to create an experience for its clients. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we (the clients) are taking in the sights and sounds, smells and textures of every business we enter. All these things – small and large – contribute to our experience. It’s easy to see how static-spewing speakers will make a negative impression. Problem is, many businesses don’t see these annoyances as a big deal. Some may have initially, but then become numb to the problem. I remember having dinner with friends on the patio of a nice local restaurant a few summers ago. We couldn’t believe how heavy and, therefore, how loud their big iron patio chairs were. Every time we – or any other patio guests – scooted our chairs in our out, it was like nails on a chalkboard. Big, heavy, iron nails. All we could do was laugh at how ridiculous – and preventable – this was. What an oversight!

What do your clients have to overcome, or endure, in order to fully experience your company and its products or services?

Take a cue from movie theater owners. They understand the seriousness of “experience wreckers.” Over the years, we’ve seen theaters become more soundproof, so you don’t hear the action thriller playing next door while you’re trying to enjoy a romantic comedy. We now enjoy an unobstructed view of the screen because the owners installed expensive tiered seating. They’ve even created clever ways of telling us to silence our own cell phones.

Here are a few more annoyances you may have experienced for yourself:

• A wobbly table and/or chair
• Trouble finding a company’s phone number on its website
• Visiting a website only to be jolted by music that automatically begins playing (without your permission)
• A busy front door that slams shut each time, instead of closing gently
• A ceiling fan blowing cold air directly on you
• An offensive odor
• Overhearing inappropriate language from employees
• Sun in your eyes from a poorly shaded window
• A shrill, constantly-ringing business telephone
• A cold rush of air every time another patron enters
• A loud electronic door chime
• Sticky floors
• And, perhaps worst of all, deafening silence

What do all these examples have in common? (more…)

Tags: annoyance, annoying, creating the experience, Double Tree, experience, Fridays at Four, NABOE, Ron Wills, social media

Understanding, Harnessing and Leveraging the Power of Social Media for Business Leadership

If 80% of success is showing up, then how are you and your company showing up … online? Do you keep hearing about “leveraging social media for business” but see challenges in connecting the dots? And what’s your social media policy for the workplace: do you discourage it or embrace it? Does your website fall into the category of static … or is there some level of freshness and interaction?

Social Media is not the future of business leadership … it’s the now.

The Compelling Numbers

300,000 = the number of new Twitter users EACH DAY!
400,000,000+ = the number of Facebook users
60,000 = the number of people you are 2 degrees from, on Linkedin, with only 250 connections
70% = the number of Facebook users outside of the United States
2,000,000,000 = the number of YouTube Videos viewed EACH DAY
24 = Hours of Video uploaded to YouTube each MINUTE
35+ = Fastest Growing Age Group on Facebook and Twitter

On Friday, May 28th I shared with the Leadership Breakfast of Virginia how to position you and your company as the go-to, resource, expert, or even thought leader of your industry (Powerpoint shared below). Attendees discovered how to tap into an endless referral source, remain top-of-mind for existing clients and open the door (more fully) for client engagement.

. . . . .

By the way, don’t use Social Media to

be a “Me Monster” [Related Video] >>

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© Copyright 2010 – Driven To Excel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tags: Blog, Cooley, facebook, Leadership, Leadership Breakfast, Linkedin, Ping, social media, twitter, Wordpress, YouTube

Doctors have yet to figure this out … how about you and your company?

Yesterday, I visited my Orthopedist and learned I had been suffering from Lateral Epicondylitis — otherwise known as Tennis Elbow. After receiving the recommended shot of cortisone, I was placed in two braces — one to keep my wrist stationary and another that uses a gel pack to press down and immobilize the tendon near the elbow. Overall, my time with my doctor was very pleasant and his staff was friendly and competent. This feeling changed slightly, after I left…

You see, the doctor had given me three handouts before he sent me on my way. Here’s the exact (total) verbiage from one of those forms:

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AFTER YOUR INJECTION …..

The night of the injection, ice the hand/wrist down for 10 minutes out of every hour for 3-4 hours.

The next day, begin to soak the hand in hot water for 5 minutes squeezing a sponge or rubber ball, then cold water for 2 minutes, twice a day for 3 weeks.

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Simple and straight forward enough, right? Except, here are a list of questions and concerns that later ensued:

1. He had told me to replace the words “hand/wrist” with “arm” … or did he say “elbow?” When it came time to soak, I couldn’t remember. And why wasn’t I getting a handout specific to my condition?

2. Not until I retyped their form’s verbiage here did I realize that I was supposed to ice it for 10 minutes, every hour last night. For some reason, I read it that first time as, 10 minutes every 3-4 hours (I guess my brain didn’t catch the “out of”) — oh well, too late now. (Can I be the only one ever to have read it that way?)

3. How hot is “hot” and how cold is “cold,” for the water? A simple adverb probably could have answered this.

4. It says to “squeeze a sponge or rubber ball” — hmmm … does that mean squeeze and hold or squeeze, release, repeat? Additionally, am I supposed to do the same after switching to the cold water? This isn’t clear.

Let’s call it “Patient-Brain”

The challenge is, when you’re at your doctor’s office, you don’t often realize what you should have asked until after you leave. He covered many things and I didn’t catch it all. (Ooh, that just gave me an idea for the docs — if you’re not going to update your FAQ’s or handouts, how about providing us patients with your office logo’d pen and notepad to take our own notes?)

Oh, and to boot, this form was clearly (or should I say not-so-clearly) a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. The contact information and the names of the 7 associates were so blurry that most were illegible.

He told me that he sees this condition 3-5 times per day and he’s been in practice for a few decades. Shouldn’t the patient-with-tennis-elbow system be completely flawless –  impeccable — by now?

So how might this apply to you and your company?… (more…)

Tags: Critical Thinking, Dr., FAQ, impeccable, Lateral Epicondylitis, leading, Tennis Elbow

LOOK! …where you want to go >>

Look familiar? Our state highway administrations carve these rumble strips (seen on left) into the shoulders of our roads and especially in areas where we are prone to fall asleep at the wheel. So a fair assumption, from the title here, might be that I wanted to write about the business metaphor for … falling asleep at the wheel. Nope. Good guess, though.

Elaine has been cutting my hair for many years and we usually talk about what’s new. Well, her youngest son just started driving and I said, “Wow, I can’t even imagine how stressful that must be for a parent.” She went on to tell me how — to her amazement and wonder — her son (wide awake) recently drifted over into the rumble strips. She just shook her head after sharing this with me, so I asked if I could share a coaching tip…

“Tell your son: LOOK! …where you want to go,” I said. It’s that simple — so simple, in fact, it almost seems too easy. How could it be so easy? If you ask aircraft pilots, motorcycle instructors and driving teachers, this may be the most valuable advice they could ever share. I, myself, learned this from taking a motorcycle safety course and I’ve heard this same advice from someone who has learned to fly a military jet…

Remember when you were a kid, riding along on your bicycle? Every once in a while you’d see a twig or branch on your path, right? Do you remember what would happen if you fixated on that obstacle? (more…)

Tags: acknowledge, automobile, bad habit, car, driving, Elaine, good habit, highway, life lesson, Look, motorcycle, pilot, rumble strips

Let ‘em see you sweat

Friday night, we went to see one of our favorite comedians, Brian Regan at another one of his sold-out shows. One of the funniest and most-applauded moments of the show was when Brian messed up a joke. He came clean about it and then went off into an unscripted direction for the next five minutes or so. The fans LOVED it! What had us all so appreciative and entertained is what makes this so interesting…

Analyzing the connection we all felt in that situation, and our reaction to his blunder, had me wondering what similarly makes those TV & movie bloopers, out-takes and gag reels so great. Why are those mistakes often funnier (better) than the carefully scripted and masterfully executed scenes?

The magic is in the authenticity. Watching an actor or comedian mess up their lines isn’t even the best part … it’s what comes next. Often these professionals will then let loose, go off in their own improvisational direction, and/or just completely surrender to their own imperfections and sometimes even laugh uncontrollably. For the viewer this is magical and here’s why. We get to see a very human side of these … human beings. It’s quite endearing to witness their mistakes and watch how they react in these situations. All of a sudden, they become so real, just like you and me. We get to see an instant transformation that shows us a side that we rarely get an opportunity to see.

So how does this apply to business? (more…)

Tags: Authenticity, Bloopers, Blunders, Brian Regan, Gag Reels, Human, Humanness, Outtakes, Talking Stain

Do Your People Follow the Letter of the Law?

Saving the baby and the bath water

Last week, I attended a Dan Pink event in DC (hosted by Michelle James). Somehow the conversation turned to call centers and Dan made an interesting and funny observation… Imagine dealing with a company via their call center, getting great service and expressing how you felt about it, only to receive a standardized (robotic) response from the person on the other end. It might go something like this:

What are you looking for, when dealing with a company either in person or via phone, e-mail, social media, or otherwise? I’m looking for (more…)

Tags: Call center, Dan Pink, human experience, human interaction, Letter of the Law, Michelle James, Spirit of the Law