Are You Giving People Reasons Not To Do Business With You?

We all know we are living in uncertain economic times, and maintaining your business let alone growing it is not easy right now. But I wonder if we are making it even harder than it has to be. Have we really taken stock of what changes have occurred with the economy, our target market and our customers, and how those changes need to impact how we do business.

A few years ago, the economy was riding high, money flowed like water, and consumers were spending freely. Pretty much if you opened your doors you could grow your business. Today, the economy is constantly changing, money is tight, and the consumer wants value for the money they spend. Attracting and retaining customers in this economy requires a different approach.  You need to create an amazing customer experience consistently, you need to be easy to do business with, and you need to promote and protect your brand reputation. Exceeding in all three areas will ensure you grow your business; falling down in even one will make the job far harder than it has to be.

Let me share an example. I called yesterday to schedule a physical therapy appointment. The only time I had available was Tuesday at 5 p.m. All their therapists were booked at this time. But instead of telling me I would have to schedule for the next week, the receptionist suggested she check with their other location to see if she could "borrow" one of their therapists. She called the other location, booked the therapist and called me right back to confirm.

Now think about that. A few years ago (when patients were busting through the door to make these appointments) that level of service may not have happened. On the other hand, that practice is full despite the economy, because they understand the power of the patient experience has on keeping their book full. This was so easy for me. I told the receptionist what I needed, and she "colored outside the lines" to make it work. Taking all the responsibility to confirm the new therapist, make the appointment, and call me back to confirm. She made me feel valued, because she did it all to accommodate my schedule. Will that business grow? Yes, they make it easy for regular patients to keep their appointments, and give us reasons to send referrals.
Her's a little different example. I am researching schools that offer a different type of coaching certification than I currently have. My goal this year is to get certified in this area as well. I found one that offered a program that had been highly recommended to me, and worked well with my schedule. I first went to the schools website, but I was so overwhelmed with programs and course information, and I could not quite figure out the dates of classes offered or how to register. So I called the school, and after pressing several buttons was put through to registration. The woman I spoke with was very nice. She laughed as she told me that their site needed to be updated and she knows it is confusing. She let me know the dates I was looking for were not even confirmed,  and she hoped they would be ready in a week or so. She told me to check the website over the next couple of weeks.

Now, think about this. I was on the phone, ready to buy, and ready to send them a check for $5,000. Not only did the woman admit to me they were not prepared, and that their current information was not up-to-date; she made it my responsibility to do business with and spend money with them. She never asked my name, my interest, or even offered to follow-up with me once the site was updated. She gave me plenty of reasons not to do business with them. Needless to say, that interaction told me all I needed to know about the coaching school. I moved on to another program and gave another school my $5000.

I realize times are tough, and growing a business is not easy, but you need to ask yourself are you giving people reasons not do to business with you? Here is an exercise you can easily do at your next team meeting that will help you answer that question:

1. Have everyone on your team bring in one example of a frustrating or exceptional customer experience they have had
2. One by one share those experiences with the group
3. Than ask yourselves, as a team, what happens, given the same situation, with a customer in our office
4. Discuss and then implement the changes you identify that would give customers even more reasons to do business with you.

This exercise is so easy to do, and gives you great perspective on how you can consistently improve your customer experience. Doing business these days is not easy, but making sure at every turn you welcome the opportunities you get, will help you go from surviving this economy to thriving in this economy!

Are You Choosing The Right Leaders?

Studies show that less than fifteen percent of our success in life is based on our technical skill and eighty-five percent is based on our ability to get along and work well with others. I believe that statistic holds true for companies too, and even more so in uncertain economic times.

If companies want to succeed they need to be innovative, collaborative, highly efficient and produce hard tangible results. There is no doubt you need great people to to do all of this, but just having great people on your team won't get you the results you are looking for. You need great people who understand and promote the value of working together, and who can inspire and lead others to do the same.

Often leaders are promoted and valued for their talents and skills, when leadership is truly about the ability to get along and connect with others. The role of a leader is to influence and inspire the behavior of others to enlist their support in the achievement of a common goal.  This takes a high level of self awareness, emotional maturity, and a commitment to continue to grow and develop your people skills.

So are you choosing the right leaders? Are you supporting their efforts to grow and enhance their people skills? Do you value those qualities in your organization?

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your leaders:
1. What specific things do they do to help others be successful in the organization?
2. Do they promote teamwork and collaboration within and across departments?
3. What have they done in the last year to mentor, coach and develop others in the organization?
4. Who else in the organization would credit the support and help of this leader with their personal success?
5. Are they respected by their peers? Do they treat their peers with respect?

If you answered negatively to any of those questions, I would challenge you that you have a leadership issue on your hands and one you need to address sooner rather than later. While I encourage you to invest time in helping these individuals become successful, I caution you from trying to "save" them. People have to want to grow and change, it is not something you can force upon them. Spending your time and energy here, without seeing early signs of true change, can be very costly to the organization in the long run.
If you answered positively to those questions, then you have a leader on your hands. Invest your time here, and see what support they need from you to continue to grow and develop. Putting your time, effort and resources into this individual will prove so much more profitable for you personally and the company. You'll grow more leaders, create even more collaboration and partnership, and produce even more powerful results.
 
We are living in uncertain economic times, and trust and value have become the new return on investment our employees and our customers are looking for, making what we offer a commodity and how we offer it our competitive edge. You need the best leaders on your team to both succeed and achieve the results you want. Choose wisely, and your job and your success will come fast and will be sustainable!