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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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…)
What you can learn in 40 seconds from Google’s CEO
A billion-dollar tip (or 2) in under a minute
My friend and colleague, Myron Radio, must feel as strongly about this 40-second video as I do — He has a link to it, at the bottom of every e-mail he sends out.
There are two related — yet very distinct — messages in this short clip from an interview with Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt. I was so inspired by both topics and really wanted to share an observation, especially since I’m wondering if most viewers will only see the obvious one. I’d love to know what you think…
The Obvious:
Eric Schmidt’s tip on hiring a coach may already be a familiar one to you. The most recent observation and parallel you could draw from coaching has to do with our Olympics. For the last 16 days, we’ve watched in awe as the world’s top athletes have endured what most of us would consider unfathomable.
These Olympians achieve such greatness in their area of expertise that there is only enough room (in the world) for a select few to even compete on their level.
So, what can a business owner, CXO, manager or salesperson learn from these elite few? You guessed it: coaching is what helped get them there and coaching is what helps keep them there. A coach can help you navigate your path to success and a coach can help you maintain your existing success. Every Olympian has reached great success and every one of them has a coach. Every single one. Shouldn’t you?
“The one thing people are never good at … is seeing themselves as others see them.” ~Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
The Not-So Obvious:
Okay, this is the part of the video (below) that really got me excited. It’s related to the Driven To Excel tag line, “Aligning Behavior … with Mission.” At the end of this video clip, Eric Schmidt says, ”The one thing people are never good at … is seeing themselves as others see them.” So true, right? If you’ve ever taken a personality test, you know exactly what he’s talking about. At a recent leadership meeting, our facilitator took us through an interactive exercise involving the four personality types. What was most fascinating to me was that the group’s perception of each individual was usually completely different from that of the individual. In other words, you could think (perceive) that your dominant personality trait is influence while everyone around you sees (perceives) it as dominance — two distinctly different personality types. And perception is reality…
The same holds true for your organization. How are you (your organization; team) showing up for others? If you saw this ad (left) in the paper, what would you “make true” about the “county?” They’re spending $250k! … to advertise … A LACK OF FUNDS?!?
Just today, I was visiting the web site of a marketing company … a marketing company. The site consists of one single page of (boring, me-centric) text (not one single picture) and the founder’s personal email address at the bottom. What would you “make true” about this company? Obviously, the founder doesn’t see herself (her company) the way others might. She’s simply unaware of how she’s showing up in the world. Maslow might classify this as unconscious incompetence. She doesn’t know … what she doesn’t know. I’m sure I’m guilty of this from time to time … aren’t we all?
I see it every day; everywhere I turn. A self-proclaimed “seafood restaurant” serving frozen fish, an Architect’s flimsy-thin business card, an Editor with misspellings and grammar faux pas on his brochures, a financial planner driving a Yugo, a depressed-looking comedian, a real estate agent … well, you get the idea.
While these might be the examples of obvious and blatant misalignment, the more subtle ones are all around us too. And all of these things are gathered as evidence, both consciously and unconsciously, by onlookers. QUESTION: Based on the “evidence,” what are your potential clients “making true” about you?
By Bob Burg and John David Mann, coauthors of Go-Givers Sell More*
“I’m no good at selling!” Have you ever heard someone say that? Or maybe said it yourself? (Now, tell the truth.)
We hear it all the time. Everyone who is not in sales thinks, “I could never sell” — and most people who are in sales secretly think the same thing.
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There is a reason people feel this way: most of us look at sales backwards. Backwards how? In the most fundamental ways.
For example.
They see sales as convincing people to do something they don’t want to do. It’s not: it is about learning what people do want to do and then helping them do that.
They think sales is about taking advantage of others. Not so: in fact, it’s about giving others more advantage.
Most people think of sales as a talking business. Nope: it’s really a listening business.
Classic sales training focuses on the “close.” The true sales greats hardly notice the close — they are too busy focusing on the open.
But the biggest inversion of all, the great upside-down misconception about sales, is that it is an effort to get other people to do something. Ask most anyone to define sales and you will hear some variation of this: “Sales is getting people to buy something.”
The truth about sales is that it isn’t about getting at all. Sales at its best, at its most effective, is precisely the opposite: it is about (more…)
With all the “me,” where’s the “we” and the “you?”
How To Win Clients By Providing Value
“…but enough about me, lets talk about you…what do you think about me?”
The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% in 2008*
Have you noticed? Social media is blowing up these days and I believe one of the biggest reasons for that, is that (more…)
“Why do I need Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter? I’ve gotten along just fine without them!”
A Look at Social Media and How it Can Benefit You
If you’re just getting involved with social media, or only know what you’ve heard, I’m inviting you to let go of any preconceived notions you may have as you read on.
Facebook friends, Twitter tweets, Linked-In connections – no matter how computer-phobic you think you are, you’ve probably had, or overheard, at least one conversation today that involved one of these three terms. They’re part of a growing phenomenon called social media, which refers to technology designed for the express purpose of keeping people in touch via the Internet and/or their communication device (phone, Blackberry, computer) of choice.
Some people dismiss these technologies as entertainment for tweens or Hollywood starlets, when in fact they offer tremendous potential to promote your business or a favorite cause to literally thousands of people (Facebook alone has more than 200 million users). Imagine being able to spread the word to an audience of that size – for free. Over the next two months we’ll examine ways to harness these powerful tools and put them to work for you. For starters, here’s a demonstration of the power of Facebook I find particularly touching:
Kritika Singh - Facebook Group
“Help to send Kritika’s body home” … Given only a week, how do you reach your own circle – and across the globe – to raise thousands of dollars in support of a worthy cause? My girlfriend, Maggie, is the accounting director for a small university in Virginia. In November, one of its 380 students, Kritika Singh, was killed in an auto accident. Kritika’s parents could not afford to ship their daughter’s body home to Nepal and asked if the university could help with expenses – it would cost about $15,000. (more…)
The mother of a 13-year-old told me a very interesting story. After she encouraged him to do so, her son wrote a thank-you card to his grandmother in response to a recent gift he’d received … he wrote it with pen and paper in text language!
“Tx grnma 4 the awesome new fone. Mus’ve cost u alotta $$. U rock!”
According to Nielsen*, “During the second quarter of 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber placed or received 204 phone calls each month. In comparison, the average mobile customer sent or received 357 text messages per month.”
Did you know that we experience 1/20th the number of human interactions today, as compared to just 20 years ago? Put another way, Baby Boomers grew up with 20 times more human interactions than Generation Y (approximate current ages 9 to 29).
While this is certainly startling, it’s also clear as to why it’s so true. Often, when I hear a Baby Boomer say, “These kids today!” what I’m hearing is a frustration around a “disconnect” that they’re feeling.
How is it possible that we only have a twentieth of what we had just 20 years ago, with regard to human interaction? (more…)
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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…
