The Change Dude’s Blog

Talk It Up

Businesses are networks.  Networks of people drive the business to succeed or fail.  The information that travels across these networks sets the tone for the coming year.

Renewing commitments for the upcoming year to customers, associates and shareholders take the stage at this time of year.  Organizations tend to keep all this really exciting activity close to the vest.  Confidentiality of all the exciting actions planned for 2011 is typical until the full strategy is complete.  Now is the the time to “talk it up”. 

Org charts are being rewritten, sales forecasts being aligned, strategic initiatives approved and staffed in preparation for 2011.  Engaging your organization’s networks to align with the new years’ goals is crucial.  Sending emails to tell the networks what the plans are don’t engage, Webinars don’t engage, teleconferences don’t engage; People engage one another.

Teams pull together best when they talk to each other.  High performing teams like military special operations teams, championship athletic teams and top performing business units talk to each other in very specific terms with a precision of language that drives rapid, coordinated action.

Building a communication program to engage people in change, no matter how small,  must execute at the grass roots level.  I’ve been designing and implementing top down cascading communication programs for decades.  Prior to widespread leadership through better emails the cascade worked very well.  Since email mania has overtaken corporate communication the cascade process has lost much of its effectiveness, no one has time to read their corporate junk mail.

Use the “grapevines” within your organization to communicate and build commitment.  Inform widely through every method available.  Lever the informal internal networks to get the message out.

Most importantly keep the conversation constantly moving by talking up the plans for 2011.

November 19, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Politicians…are they Leaders?

Immersed in the never ending onslaught of political rhetoric during this election cycle offers a wonderful opportunity for leadership research.  As I struggle with how to place my vote in the upcoming mid-term election and am forced to wade through the veneers of each candidate I use a short checklist.

Those that aspire to lead exhibit a few traits that make others willing to follow:

1. Construction and clear communication of a compelling story.  Storytelling is crucial to leading.  Leaders capture attention and energy by truly understanding their audience and shaping their story in ways that compel others to follow.
2. Understanding and managing complexity.  Today’s leader recognizes the speed of change in this century and has the ability to quickly appreciate and action plan against ever changing trends.
3. Active listening.  Listening to others is crucial in my leaders.  Leaders don’t know everything and shouldn’t be so arrogant as to think they do.  By truly listening and actively engaging in dialogue with others leaders build a strong connection to their followers needs, perceptions and behaviors.
4. Authenticity. My leaders are real people.  Leaders must participate in the group they intend to lead.  I look for leaders that shop at grocery stores, occasionally spill a drink or make a mistake.  Scripting makes me very nervous in leadership.  If my leader has trouble speaking extemporaneously, I fear they can not effectively make decisions.
5. Value Empowerment.  My leaders use their knowledge to empower others, not manipulate others to act.  Success in leadership is defined by the success of their followers not personal accumulation of power and wealth.

Are politicians leaders?  How many political aspirants exhibit the traits demanded of leaders?  Most are great story tellers, some are even authentic but very few listen and empower.  I challenge everyone to answer the question that I ask myself during the election cycle.  Which of these candidates would I hire to lead my firm?

October 21, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hooray for Plan B

Today’s miraculous rescue of 33 trapped miners in Chile is inspiring.  Even more inspiring the success is due to Plan B.  Congratulations to all those that worked tirelessly to bring those miners to the surface and best wishes to the miners as they emerge from deep in the earth’s rocks.

As I watched each miner ascend from the rocks I kept thinking about Plan B.  It seems to me that an awful lot of projects actually succeed with the second best idea on the table.  

Plan A, or the first best option, is typically based on everything working out absolutely perfectly.  The right budget, people, tools, timeline, weather are all ideally planned in synchronous balance to achieve the desired result.  In some quarters this plan is know as a fantasy.

Once everyone realizes that Plan A would be awesome then the contingency Plan B is developed.  Fraught with reality, all the potential constraints of execution Plan B becomes the route to take when Plan A inevitably crashes, as it routinely does.

Action management reflects the highest level of sophistication in the management sciences.  It is conscious control of a complex set of activities to achieve a desired result.  There are many moving parts and hundred of variables to consider when managing action to achieve the goal.  Critical path definition is crucial to discern where tweaks will most likely have to be made to the action plan.  Skillfully managing action may fall into the hands of anyone in an organization’s hierarchy. 

Critical to success of managing action is the can-do attitude that Chilean leadership and the miners themselves exhibited over the past 70 days.  Here are the lessons the incredible rescue have reminded us of:

1. Set a clear goal – rescue 33 men trapped 2400 feet under solid rock
2. Initiate action immediately – even the smallest step forward begins to mobilize resources
3. Define multiple alternate paths to success – Plan B saved the day
4. Lead for action – Chilean leadership reached across the globe for ideas, resources and support.  A coalition of passionate people worked collaboratively to beat every timeline they set.
5. Be flexible – There is never a single answer to any complex problem, prepare to flex and modify.
6. Build trust – The miners were never told untruths.  Leadership were clear and honest at every step of the rescue attempt.  No false hope, false promises or empty rhetoric was at play, just the harsh reality of the challenge.
7. Mobilize every stakeholder – Every citizen of Chile was invested and mobilized to support the rescue effort.  Information was abundant and readily accessible. 
8. Celebrate – As each of the miners stepped out of the capsule a celebration ensued.  Thirty-three individual celebrations were held because every life saved may have been the last.  Each rescue a small victory until the last man emerged.

I was moved by the rescue of these working miners I knew nothing more of than they were trapped by circumstance.  Success was a product of global collaboration, strong leadership, steely-eyed focus and thousands of hours of hard work.  This is an object case, a reminder, a lesson that anything is possible when the objective is clear, the goal is noble and spirit is willing.

October 14, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Customer Service Week 2010

Contact center professionals, frontline service professionals and everyone associated with putting a little WOW! into a customer’s day, it’s a week to celebrate.

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to be part of the customer service industry for many years assisting my clients in their quest to offer flawless, professional service to their customers.  There is no more exciting place to work than a dynamic customer focused service group.  Every professional has their customer at top of mind in every interaction.  Thank you for the work you do and the way it’s done.

Customer Service Week is a wonderful opportunity to remind the organization how important the customer service process, people and technology are to the success of the business.  As a senior leader take a  moment out of your day this week to visit with your customer service staff.  Offer a thank you for a very challenging job well done.  Take the time to hear their anecdotes and listen to their advice for improving the customer experience.

In today’s business world a customer service professional may be the only interface between a brand and it’s customers other than the product itself.  Recognize the incredible challenges of customer service professionals in maintaining their poise during difficult conversations and tracking down solutions to unusual problems while smiling all the way.

In my travels over the past ten days I’ve experienced 6 hours of flight delays, a hotel stay with no hot water, a hotel key that refused to open my door and late arriving ground transportation. Through all those annoyances for me, the customer,  service professionals did everything within their power to make the experience better.

My favorite 2010 customer service story occurred about 6 weeks ago at the San Antonio airport.  Weather caused a 3 hour flight delay negating all connections scheduled for every passenger.  Over the course of the next 2 hours a customer service manager along with 2 gate agents rebooked about 80% of the passengers.  What was remarkable to me was the number of times the customer service manager picked up the phone to personally intervene on behalf of passengers with the reservations staff.  At one point he personally went to the baggage area to retrieve luggage for a customer when line staff were unavailable.  It’s that dedication to service that builds brand advocacy.

Customer service professionals are the face of your business  celebrate their efforts.

October 4, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Caution: Distracted Leadership

Flying home from a client meeting yesterday I read a piece in USA Today about distracted driving.  When I finished it reminded me of so many business leaders today that lead by exception as a result of the multitude of distractions around them.  Email, mobile phone, desk phone, personal commitments, professional commitments, blogs, dogs and personal logs.  With all these distractions it’s so easy to forget to actually lead an organization.  Way to busy being distracted.

Driving distractions like eating a full 3 course lunch while racing down the freeway at 70 MPH, or doing your nails, or the most common culprit- texting,  can cause some serious accidents to happen. 

Leaders do similar things.  Responding to emails while staff present their latest and greatest innovation, walking away from a conversation about a serious customer issue as the cell phone rings, or my personal favorite – “can’t deal with that business issue right now I have a technology problem with my smart phone”. 

Although multi-tasking is a critical skill to master as a leader, so to is prioritizing.  Stephen Covey talks of the urgent versus the important.  So often today because of the connectedness of society we instinctively prioritize the urgent over the important because the important takes too much time to resolve.

In pursuit of reducing the number of distracted leaders and the multitude of rework costs wasted as a result I suggest the following:

1. Email is a communication tool that replaced the infamous ‘memo’. Treat them that way.  Read and respond to email when time allows.  Email reading does not prioritize over listening actively to the conversation or meeting you have committed to participate in as an active member.  This results in fewer follow-on meetings to rehash what was missed while answering erroneously urgent ‘memos’.

2. Face-to-face beats mobile phone ring 90% of the time.  Wish I could say 100% but there are some calls where urgent does equal important.  Each cell phone ring should not equate to an instant answer, hence the ignore button.  Overall result, fewer scheduled meetings to review what was being discussed when distracted by your pocket ringing.

3. Establish distraction boundaries. Select time in each day where everything gets turned off, other than the wet-ware (your brain) to think through a truly vexing challenge to conclusion. 

In my work I am privileged to assist executives in overcoming complex business challenges.  Challenges significant enough to seek outside counsel.  Throughout the work day I see leaders so distracted by the urgent they fail to solve the important challenges right in front of them.  Don’t be a statistic.  When leading, lead without distraction.

September 29, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Balancing Act-Customers & Shareholders

Who’s on first?  Executives have always had to balance operational efficiency and customer needs, these days it’s akin to juggling roaring chain saws. Frugal customers looking for the best possible value have the ability to switch brands and service providers with the click of a mouse while Wall Street continues to push for every shiny penny of earnings. There is very little room on either side of the scale for movement. 

Domestic airlines have made their choice, earnings.  Recently released revenues from incremental charges for baggage, legroom and in-flight snacks have added $1.85 billion to one airline alone.  Passengers are increasingly unhappy and dread the flying experience.  Tolerance for all the annoyance from air carriers apparently stems from relatively low fares.  We’re seeing value for money so accepting reduced service levels is acceptable.  Consumers understand that in today’s economy something in the value equation must be sacrificed.

Strategies are becoming focused on providing  more for less for more.  Offering a better value for more customers is crucial to growth. Providing the more isn’t about volume but about value.  Value in 2010 comes in differing forms for each customer.  The challenge is divining the true value proposition of your business for a majority of your customers.

Finding the sweet spot where operational efficiency and customer engagement are in perfect balance is the challenge and the opportunity for innovation.  The recently announced $35 lap top is a wonderful example. Any opportunity to reduce the effort customers must exert while doing business with you is a significant win. 

Critical to holding existing customers and building for the future relies on the core competency of quickly turning customer needs, perceptions and value drivers into innovative alternatives.  Examples of these innovation abound.  From the use of mobile handhelds to make bank deposits by snapping a picture of the check to offering liberal return policies or the implementation of virtual service representatives.

Shareholder value growth and customer engagement rely on your ability to find the right balance.

July 27, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Enchanting Captive Customers

Rap, Rap, Rap, Bang, Bang, Bang went the door.  It was a representative of my local utility getting my attention earlier this week.  My turn to get a brand spanking new, state of the art Smart Meter.  How cool is that.  This awesome technology allows my home to be monitored constantly by the electric company so they can help my community more aggressively use power wisely. 

Since most utilities in the country are franchised markets without competition and controlled by Public Utility Commissions what can these companies do to enchant their captive customer?  Why should they care to build customer advocacy at all?  As Henry Ford said “You can have that car in any color you’d like, as long as it’s black”  I’m paraphrasing, but you get the point. 

Fact is, any company that has a franchised strangle hold on a market be it a cable provider, waste services company, gas company et.al need their customers to be advocates.  It’s critical that these essential service providers operate at a zero defect level of quality just to keep customers satisfied.  In order for their customers to approve rate increases, service changes and infrastructure investments a superior level of advocacy must be achieved.

Having clients in these industries challenges myself and my colleagues daily to advise them in raising advocacy.  The answers are all about raising the customer experience bar.  Flawless service delivery is expected, period.  No extra points for keeping the lights on or picking up the trash as promised.  However, having bills that can be read easily, phone inquiries answered promptly and professionally, truck drivers and repair staff that are courteous and professional do offer opportunities.

Enchanting customers in these essential service industries is all about not what you do…but how it’s done.

1. Focus not only on providing defect free service but defect free interactions.  Train and develop customer interaction skills in everyone that represents the brand.
2. Proactively communicate to customers in every way possible about even the slightest disruption of service.
3. Ensure that customers understand what they are paying for in simple terms. 
4. Inspire every associate to bring their best to every interaction.
5. Vigilantly gather and share customer feedback throughout the organization.

May 8, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Things Change…I have a Blackberry

Handsping begot Treo and finally I’ve broken down and begot a Blackberry. 

Chasing away the BB demons for nearly a decade by bobbing and weaving through other devices I’ve finally been captured by the evil gods of RIM.  It’s all about personal change.  Living life with a little verve meant to neither succumb to the BB nor the iPhone while others ran like sheep in a pack to the mass market of conformance with the trend of the day.  Alas I have become one of them. 

Leaving my old friend behind meant learning a new language, discarding my accessories and changing well worn behaviors for new paths to my email, calendar and address book.  Over the past few days, as more of the BB has unfolded itself to me in thumb-to-machine combat, tasks are becoming more commonplace, less labored.  I’m adapting to this new technology. 

As time passes the memory of Treo and Motorola will disappear leaving nothing but BB muscle memory in its place.  Soon I will become one with the BB as so many around me have over the years.  Change is good.

Resisting RIM and Apple smart phones offered the great opportunity to be different, not be like all the others as they talked incessantly into their “calculators”.  By joining the pack and becoming “one of them” I know that not far behind will be increasing acts of rude behavior.  The urge to author emails during a conversation or even worse, text.  But I will resist and maintain eye contact even when my lunch partner refuses to put down the evil box. 

Adapting to technology doesn’t mean losing yourself.  Adapting and being proficient is all about understanding how best to use the new tool in ways that enhance what needs to get done.  Whether it’s a new phone or a new piece of business technology the process is very much the same. Making the commitment to change is the key.  Focusing on the value the change brings ensures growth and perpetual renewal.

April 14, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Trapped by Customer Satisfaction

My last business trip resulted in no less than 4 feedback opportunities,  the airline, the hotel, the rental car company and the travel agency.  Each of these organizations sought my feedback to help improve my customer experience.  Marvelous.

It seems that every time I buy a product or service the provider offers me the opportunity to give them some feedback through a customer survey.  Although the feedback opportunities are wonderful my service providers are mired in the details of asking about the logistics of their service.  Executing flawlessly merely provides them feedback that they delivered what I expected.  Useful information but empty.

Many of my clients that are in the early stages of truly understanding what drives loyalty and advocacy focus on the details of executing a process without failure.  High quality service is the metric being captured.  Quality isn’t enough today to enchant customers.

Voice of the customer programs are falling behind by focusing primarily on the quality of the experience.  Today’s leader takes the next step and teases out what drives customers to extol the virtues of the experience.

Does your organization know what customers love about you?

The whole love thing sounds a little squishy doesn’t it.  That’s the challenge.  Gaining the emotional connection with customers is truly the goal of any business.  Emotional connection drives loyalty and advocacy.  The Walt Disney Company knows what guests love about their experience, Apple knows what users love about their products, do you?

The next time you review customer feedback results see if you have the answer to these questions:

1. What did you love about your experience with us today?
2. Is there anything about your experience that you’ll tell your friends not to miss about your experience with us?
3. If you could change one single thing about your experience what would that be?

Look beyond the quality of the experience to the heart of the experience to truly enchant your customers.

April 8, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Winners Keep Winning

Customer satisfaction results for 2010 are off the presses and the verdict remains….about the same as 2009.  Amazing how the same companies keep popping up as offering the finest customer service and building loyalty year after year.  In reviewing Business Week’s Customer Service Champions and Satmetrix’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) winners the brands that are expected to be on those lists are there in force – USAA, Apple, and Amazon have star billing once again.

What makes these brands so enduring and endearing to their customers is their focus on the customer experience.  Despite a challenging economy in 2009 these brands continued to invest in bringing only the best solutions and services to their customer base.  Not exactly an exercise in astrophysics, just old fashioned caring for your customers.

Passion for products, innovation in design, belief in doing the right thing for customers and employees are the hallmarks of these perennially successful companies.

Strong leadership that puts customers first secures commitment to advocacy for these outstanding brands.

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to visit a number of business units for a client to determine why some are building advocacy with their customers at twice the rate of others.  Although our findings are not yet complete the trend is very clear and is determined by 3 foundational components:

1. Leadership – a focus on customers and employees that puts productivity and efficiency in the background as a result versus a task

2. Engagement – constant and continuous interaction with customers and employees at a personal level

3. Teamwork – evidence that every member of the business is operating with the same goals and objectives in mind supporting one another in every way available

My experiences consistently point to challenges in building a customer centric culture come from a deep seated focus on productivity metrics.  Building relationships both internally and externally yield higher returns in the long term than driving down cost per interaction. 

Build a team that is committed to their customers and to each other.  Next year you may make the Customer Service all-star team.

March 22, 2010 Posted by thechangedude | Uncategorized | Leave a comment