A 'rewarding' catalogue – for customers and employees

Every so often, Glue receives a catalogue from the premiums and incentives organization 4imprint. What is commendable about this selling tool is that they not only have very clear photos and pricing info about their wares, they also subtly sell their own corporate culture.

They do this by frequently having their own employees holding or wearing the merchandise, and by naming the employees (first name only) along with their years of employment with the company.

What a great way to foster employee pride and drive engagement while helping customers see the product in a realistic setting. Bravo!

When book shopping time is short...

Despite the best efforts of customer service rep. Steve at the Chapters / Indigo store at Manulife Centre, the two copies of The Challenger Sale: Taking Control Of The Customer Conversation by Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon that their website showed as in-stock were both on customer holds and thus unavailable.

At this point, the ever-trusty AbeBooks.com digitally rides to the rescue!

Not only was I able to order the book noted above, but also Achieve Sales Excellence: The 7 Customer Rules for Becoming the New Sales Professional by Howard Stevens and Theodore Kinni.

Expected delivery time: should be less than 8 days for both books!

10 ways to strengthen employee engagement

I've just completed a new whitepaper that shares my thoughts on how organizations of all kinds can take action to enhance their workplace environment and boost employee engagement. (You can download the document by visiting my LinkedIn page at Tim Morawetz.)

The 10 ways presented in the whitepaper are:

Give   inspiration
          instruction
          information
          informality
          interaction
          influence
          initiative
          input
          incentive
          intensity

I hope you'll take the time to download it and read it... I welcome your comments!

How would your employees handle a 'pop-up show'?

An organization's internal culture is one of its most important and precious assets (or liabilities, as the case may be.) 

Because culture is so intangible, it can be hard to assess – and harder still to first establish or to change. But there's little doubt that culture has an enormous influence on how successfully employees collaborate with one another and how effectively they interact with customers.

Consider the role of corporate culture in the situation recently cited by Globe and Mail columnist John Warrillow in his article about the unexpected appearance of a 'pop-up' piano performance in a retail environment. Would your staff feel right thanking the pianist with the gift card, or would they feel it necessary to quash the fun? 

Virgin's Richard Branson, in a Canadian Business column on customer service excellence, advocates 'first to know, first to handle'; empowering employees who first encounter a problem to make every effort to solve it on the spot.

In these days of greater demand for top talent, be sure to unleash the best instincts of your people by fostering and reinforcing a positive organizational culture.

  

How employees can help put the 'corner store' feeling back in retailing

In the current issue of the American Marketing Association's Marketing News magazine, columnist Don E. Schultz suggests that today's shoppers long for the intimacy and caring service once provided at their local butcher, baker or dairy deliveryman.

He contends that retailers wishing to survive in today's hyper-competitive environment must possess three attributes:

• Fast: Like Spanish clothing retailer Zara, merchants need to respond quickly to changing consumer tastes.

• Friendly: Like the Apple store where employees are taught not to sell, retailers need friendly people, friendly products, friendly atmosphere and friendly shopping.

• Focused: Here, Schultz cites online retailer Zappos as having narrowed its mission to one thing, namely making customer service their true competitive differentiator.

I believe that retail employees – as well as their managers – play a key role in delivering on these priorities:

• Fast: Employees can listen carefully to customer comments and requests on the floor of the store; pay attention to market trends on their own as consumers; then feed their insights back to the company to accelerate innovation. (For this to be successful, the company needs an easy system for collecting such feedback, and needs to build receptiveness for such employee engagement into its culture.)

• Friendly: Employees are chiefly responsible for providing customers with helpful and friendly service. Staff need to understand the products they sell, and know the store's policies on returns, exchanges and the like. (This means that management should provide adequate employee training about products and service delivery, and should consider some form of recognition program to motivate employees to deliver the best customer experience.)

• Focused: Identifying the company's focus – then communicating it to employees in a manner that they can act upon it – is a prime responsibility of management.

AMA members may read the full article by clicking here.

Water-glasses with balls... a 'Real Sports' highlight!

This evening, my son and I treated ourselves to watching the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Buffalo Sabres pre-season hockey game on a flatscreen TV from the comfort of a booth at the wonderful new Real Sports Bar and Grill, located adjacent to the Air Canada Centre – a sensitively renovated Art Deco building, by the way!

As per my family's lunchtime visit a few weeks ago, the food was excellent, the staff friendly, the service attentive and the atmosphere lively due to the presence of many groups of sports fans. These are the necessities for success in their competitive business.

But Real Sports recognizes the need for extra little surprises that help create the truly memorable customer experience.

The interior design features eerily lit decorative chandeliers made from hundreds of fanned-out hockey-stick blades. Above one of the bars is a ceiling patterned on a giant basketball net, with tabletops featuring real parquet flooring from the ACC. And your side-order of French Fries comes in a little metal basket that's a miniature copy of a real french-fryer basket!

But what was the highlight for me was discovering that the bottoms of the water-glasses contained small recesses in the form of sports balls – baseballs, golf-balls, footballs and basketballs.

Side view of 'golf-ball' water-glass held up in front of our booth's TV screen showing Leafs game.

 In my view, demonstrating such care for even the subtlest aspects of the customer experience is a sure-fire way to win the hearts of even the most demanding fans!

How to judge the quality of your constituent communications

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Back in the late 1970s, when I was studying architecture at Carleton University in Ottawa, I was introduced to the phrase: "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight," which was co-authored by English author and diplomat Sir Henry Wotton (1568 – 1639), in his work The Elements of Architecture (1624; a free translation of Vitruvius' de Architectura).

In essence, the phrase "commodity, firmness and delight" means that an excellent work of architecture is functional (the size and arrangement of its spaces meet the practical needs of its users); well built (it uses materials and technology wisely and efficiently); and pleasing to the eye (it is beautiful or meets the intangible needs of its users).

Since my career has transitioned away from architecture, I've become convinced that  all marketing-communications 'artefacts' (whether in print, digital or live media) can also be judged by these same three, time-tested criteria.

In other words, I suggest we should ask ourselves the following questions when assessing 'creative' work:

1. Does it accomplish its business objectives – whether that means simply informing, persuading or striving to change behaviour?
2. Is it crafted intelligently – completed in a reasonable time, without excessive expenditure, and in a suitably durable yet environmentally friendly manner?
3. Does it connect with people and touch their hearts – or at least speak to them as human beings rather than as 'automatons' programmed only to consume?

I just discovered that there's a toolkit called the Design Quality Indicator, first developed in the UK, devoted to assessing the quality of buildings according to Wotton's big-three. The DQI toolkit is solely distributed in North America by DQI USA, LLC, which even has a YouTube commercial promoting the toolkit!

Perhaps it's time to approach internal stakeholder communications with this same broad yet disciplined perspective? If so, let's talk...

'Engaged' employees aren't enough

Until yesterday, I thought that having 'engaged' employees was sufficient as the first step in making customers – and 'shareholders' – happy (i.e., enduring organizational success).

But then I began reading Hundred Percenters: Challenge your employees to give it their all, and they'll give you even more, by Mark Murphy.

In the book, he argues that the real goal of leaders is not simply to create a workplace where employees are happy or satisfied (i.e., engaged), but rather to make work "fulfilling and enriching and ultimately to position people to achieve great results."

Murphy, who is chairman and CEO of consulting company Leadership IQ, says the two differentiating factors that result in 100% Leadership are 'connection' and 'challenge.' Connection is the strength of the emotional connection that leaders build with their employees, while challenge is how far leaders push their people to achieve greatness.

If you construct a matrix of this factors, you get Avoider leaders (low emotional connection, low challenge); Intimidators  (low connection, high challenge); Appeasers (high connection, low challenge); and 100% leaders (high connection, high challenge).

He suggests that Appeasers are satisfied with employee engagement, but that 100% leaders "...push us hard. But when they do, they teach us something about ourselves. They help us achieve extraordinary things. And they give us real opportunities for deep and lasting fulfillment." 

To me, most employees indeed want to work in an organization where they can make a tangible contribution, and where they can feel excited and proud about this contribution.

So, I'm going to think about 'energized employees' instead of simply 'engaged employees' as the real objective, with 'being energized' meaning being personally connected to the challenge of achieving great things on the job.

Leadership insights for not-for-profit executive directors

Ideas for maximizing the contribution of your board of directors

I had the pleasure of serving as ‘scribe’ for a recent kitchen-table dialogue workshop, entitled ‘The NFP Executive Director: Their Leadership and the Role of the Board,’ that was organized and moderated by Alan Kay of The Glasgow Group. The July 6 session was attended by 10 people, most of whom are seasoned not-for-profit (NFP) executive directors (EDs).

The following are some of the key insights and observations for EDs arising from the workshop:

• Primary board role is strategic – The board’s fundamental role is to help guide the strategic direction of the NFP. This is frequently initiated by a strategic planning session. “A key ED challenge is avoiding ‘pernicious micro-control’ on the part of the board.” “The board should be ‘nose in, fingers out’ regarding the work of the ED and staff.”
• Board member qualifications – Simply possessing an understanding of, or passion for, the cause is no longer sufficient. Board members today should bring solid skills in such areas as finance, marketing, communications, governance to be considered. Willingness to fundraise on behalf of the organization (cash or in-kind) should be expected.
• Ensure role clarity – One ED described his stakeholders as a triangle, involving his association’s staff, its membership, and its board. Having clearly defined roles enables these three groups to work together. Another said, “My organization can flourish if I’ve been able to forge a relationship with my board chair that’s grounded in trust and discipline.” Another ED prepared a formal governance manual documenting relevant roles, responsibilities and processes.
• Handling board meetings – Recognizing that the ED doesn’t lead or control board meetings, you should still try to be the ‘air traffic controller’ in plotting with the board chair each meeting’s agenda to avoid nasty surprises. Maybe even write the chair’s speaking notes.
• Relationship with board chair – Beware of having too strong a relationship with the board chair, as it can undermine the relationship or commitment of other board members.
• Board training – Initial training only is inadequate. Ongoing education about the board’s role and governance process is essential for boards to keep on delivering value to the NFP. If you’re having difficulty selling this idea, find another NFP that’s doing it and get them to sell its value to your board leaders.
• Staff / board interaction – Consider bringing key staff members to early board meetings to introduce them and help foster trust, role ownership and engagement. But be careful to avoid allowing board members to make direct requests of staff without going through you.
• Permanent board committees – They may not always be necessary; consider striking ad hoc committees driven by specific requirements, which can help reduce the size of your board and lead to faster and better decision-making.
• Be seen in the field – As an ED, you have a ceremonial role to visibly demonstrate leadership and support for the cause by attending local events and activities. Remember to thanks volunteers and staff for their commitment. “People will see what you’re doing more than hear what you say.”
• Who’s the best leader – Question whether the NFP’s founder is still the right person to lead the organization today. Is their passion for the cause impeding current effectiveness now that the NFP has grown and matured? If it is, consider succession planning to get the most appropriate leadership in place.
• Consider alliances or beyond – As the need for NFPs to ‘do more with less’ intensifies, seek out other NFPs with complementary missions with whom you can share resources. If your mandates substantially duplicate one another, even contemplate one NFP acquiring the other to create a stronger organization that’s better able to achieve the mission. Try to look beyond the natural imperative of protecting turf in favour of the greater good. 

Suggested reading:
Alan Kay’s blog: 8 ways to enhance your Executive Director leadership skills using Solutions Focus;
The 13 commandments of better leadership in NFP organizations; 8 ways to merge your not-for-profit organization and become stronger
Book: The Truth About What Nonprofit Boards Want: The Nine Little Things That Matter Most, by June J. Bradham

 

Building a customer-centred business

Some solutions on how to put the customer at the centre of your organization.

I was pleased to participate as one of nine panelists in a kitchen-table dialogue on June 23, 2010 – led by moderator Alan Kay of The Glasgow Group and hosted by Rick Wolfe of PostStone Corporation – about how companies can get past thinking about brands and become truly customer-centred.



Examples of organizations that are considered customer-centred

• Tim Horton’s – a brand that’s become an icon by tapping into the Canadian experience.
• Life Choice Foods – a virtual company that offers top-quality kid-friendly organic foods.
• Amazon – an online retailer that understands past purchase patterns and presents relevant recommendations.
• Zappos – an online retailer with an explicit set of family core values.
• Zip (Netflix in the U.S.) – an easy-to-use, hassle-free home DVD rental service.
• Best Buy – uses information from employees to better understand customer preferences.
• L.L. Bean – a retailer offering guaranteed customer satisfaction across all touchpoints.

Some barriers to putting customers at the centre

• Leadership bias – CEOs/CFOs do not generally gain exposure to a customer mindset in their education or their career path. 
• Insufficient analytics – despite plenty of data, few businesses seem to have succeeded in integrating all their information to compile a realistic 360-degree view of their customers’ value to the business.  
• Organizational structure – with the Marketing department owning the brand in many ‘siloed’ organizations, it’s hard to get the entire business focused on the customer. The job of a traditional leader is to provide predictable results to shareholders, and organizations have been narrowly structured to ensure profitability.

Some solutions for being customer-centric

* Begin with the business’s existing information resources, use business intelligence to identify and understand the most valuable customers, then ask them how you can best meet their needs. (We’ve never had more capability to identify and understand customers.)

* Don’t start with your widget and then look for customers; instead, start further upstream by ask a group of prospects what they need, then design the widget accordingly.

* Start by being employee-centric:

• Hire the right staff. (North America tends to value ‘talkers’ instead of ‘listening,’ which needs to be built into the company’s value system.) 
• Inform them about the company’s progress.
• Value them by asking for their input.
• Report back to them on what you’re doing with their input (or explain why you’re not doing something.) 
• Reward them for their successes. 

* Leverage a ‘use-case process’ (a user-centric perspective, drawn from the software business) in thinking about the business:

• Who are our various users?
• Why are they coming? 
• Where are they coming from? 
• What are they trying to do? 
• How long do they stay (determined using today’s metrics)?

* Remember the singular, customer-focused vision of some of the great entrepreneurs (e.g., Jeff Bezos of Amazon; Steve Jobs of Apple; Ray Kroc of McDonald’s). But things get tough when the leader passes the torch. After a few years in the value of death after the death of Sam Walton, Lee Scott of Wal-Mart transformed the company’s focus on eliminating waste to cut prices into a focus on environmental sustainability.

* A customer-centric vision must be strongly held and acted upon by the senior leadership team, but then ‘given up’ by the leadership team and handed over to people in the organization for their input. Ask them four questions:

1. Where did our company come from? (where were we yesterday?)
2. What are we today? (how do we appear to you now?)
3. Where should we be in five years? (what would you like us to be?)
4. Do you have any ideas of how we’ll get there?

Senior leaders should be sponsors who clear barriers, but not run the team. With this autonomy, the teams will spend money responsibly to help address the improvement opportunities.

* Thanks to social media today, we can listen to millions of people for their ideas. Make the customer the expert in the changes they want made. However, be conscious of how you’ll use the input you gain!

* Be conscious of what you’re selling: the tangible product (which doesn’t change), versus the brand (which is fluid).

On brands and branding

• “A brand is not what you think you are, but what they (the customer) think you are.”
• “The brand is the value we give our customers; it’s what we stand for with them. If we can consistently present this message throughout the organization at all levels, then everyone will gets it; this is what we’re about.”

Some quotable quotes

• “Being customer-centric is a lot of work, and you can’t lie. You have to make real connections; you can’t hide behind your desk. It takes courage.”
• “Don’t confuse the ‘scoreboard’ with the ‘game.’ Profit is the scoreboard, and it’s more important to some than to others. But the game – for instance, providing nutrition to the mass market in Canada – is what’s important. If we play the game well, the score will take care of itself. The customer-focused game is what we should be take pride in.”
• “Don’t suck up [to your boss], suck down [by telling your boss what your people have done].

 Some further reading

• "But what do we want people to do?" Article by Andy Gould in AdAge: http://bit.ly/9rgP2Y 

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