Don’t Lose You’re A$$

Some time ago I heard this story from one of my supervisors and it has stuck with me through the years. It goes like this:

A long time ago there was an old man, his grandson, and a donkey. It just so happened that the child’s parents had perished when he was just a baby and his grandfather had been raising him since that tragedy. The old man was very poor and they would spend their years together traveling from town to town trying to find work for the old man to feed and clothe the two of them and feed their pet.

One day as they were traveling through the country, they came up on a large town. As they approached the town the old man was walking the donkey with his grandchild atop the mule. Just as they entered the town they could hear the town folk scoffing at them.” Can you believe that kid? He is making that old man walk while he sits comfortably atop the mule. He has no respect for the elderly.”

The young boy jumped off the donkey and told his grandfather to get up on the mule and he would walk through the town guiding the donkey. They got a little further down the street and they could hear the peoples disparaging remarks. “Can you believe that old man sitting atop that mule, while the poor boy is forced to walk? How can he live with himself? That poor boy must be exhausted!”

The grandfather decided to pull the boy up with him and they would ride together. “Now that should take care of everything”, the old man thought. However, just a few more blocks and the contemptuous taunting continued. “Wow, can you believe those two? That poor mule must be ready to keel over with all that weight he is carrying. They should be turned in for animal cruelty. “

At this point the man and the child decided they would both get down and walk. “There”, said the old man, “now we are all walking that should appease everyone.” But alas, the vituperation continued. “Look at those two idiots exclaimed one man. They are walking next to a perfectly good mule, what a waste!”

Completely out of ideas the two stopped and started discussing how to approach this dilemma. The two tried brainstorming and were sure they could come up with a solution to stop these verbal attacks. As the two continued to ponder over a solution the mule wondered off, slipped into a steep sided pond and drowned. What is the moral of this story? If you try to please everyone you will end up losing your…..A$$.

Over the years I have talked with many people whose singular goal is to make everyone happy, one hundred percent of the time. The problem with that is that every one’s perceptions are different. You never know what someone else’s idea of value or quality is, and therefore it is hard to please everyone. While this should be everyone’s goal, you have to understand your business’s limitations. You should never base your internal structure, purpose, or mission on what others think. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t listen to criticism. However, you need to understand your objectives and your limitations. You should try to offer your customers the best product or service you can provide and have the wisdom to know what doesn’t fit your business. In the end you will be able to make almost everyone happy and you won’t lose your……..A$$.

That’s The Way We Have Always Done It!

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. It is definitely a little long for a blog post. However, there is a good lesson within this story, and well worth the read. Hope you enjoy! 

A story about change:

The other day I was a helping a customer with some ideas on how to improve their customer service. The owner had many complaints from his customers about rude behavior from his staff and being treated poorly from the moment they walked into their establishment. The owner said he was dedicated to making every customer feel special. However, it was getting lost somehow in translation from him to his staff. We talked on the phone and agreed to meet at his establishment.

When I arrived, I walked in the door and was completely ignored for about 30 minutes. Now if I was in a hundred thousand square foot facility, maybe I could understand this treatment, maybe, but probably not. However, I was actually standing in an establishment that was considerably smaller. In fact, when I walked in I could see all corners of the store, as well as all six employees standing around as if they had nothing to do.

I approached one of the employees and asked them if the owner was available to speak with me. The woman rolled her eyes and walked away. I stood there completely perplexed. Was she going to get him? Did she just completely blow me off? I had no idea. So I waited a few moments and pretended to shop around the store. Approximately five minutes later the owner came out and introduced himself to me, “Hi you must be Lucky? We spoke on the phone my name is John.”

“Hello John”, I said. “Do you have someplace we can sit and talk privately?”

 John said sure, but wanted to give me a quick tour of his facility first. I agreed and we started on the grand tour.

John spent the next 40 minutes showing me all of the different products he had in inventory. He showed me all of the money he had spent, and how he spared no expense on the real Italian marble floors, to the travertine tiled dressing room. He was very proud of this place and it was obvious he spent a lot of time and money to establish a specific feel when someone walked into the store. He went on to tell me how he had Mary Vinotelli, a very well know interior designer in the area, hand pick each decoration and design the entire layout of the store to make sure if felt open, friendly, and upscale.

I will admit, seeing this place through his eyes, the establishment was very plush and had a certain level of panache in its motif. However, I immediately went back to my experience when I arrived. I told John, we really needed to talk in private. I appreciated the tour and he does have a magnificent establishment, but we needed to dig past the luxurious façade of the store and get to the root of his problem.

We went up into his office where he had me take a seat across the desk from him and closed the door. John took his seat on the other side of the desk and said, “So what do you want to talk about? You seem very concerned and yet you haven’t been here but a few minutes. How can you already have drawn conclusions about my store in such a short amount of time? Was it something I said?”

 I told John, “The fact is that I have been here for over an hour. I spent the first 30 minutes being completely ignored, and the next 40 minutes being lead around your store being shown the esthetics of your facility which really have nothing to do with your customer’s complaints.”

 I went on and explained my experience when I arrived with his staff, and he was outraged. He stood up from behind his desk and stormed down the stairs. As I followed him I could hear John’s booming voice demanding to speak with Sarah. It was as if he knew immediately who the person was I was speaking about.

As Sarah came out of the back stock room, John went off yelling at her. If that wasn’t bad enough he actually had customers in the store while he completely demoralized this poor girl. I jumped in and told John, “Enough! Let’s go back up stairs.” He wanted Sarah to leave and told her she was fired before I could get him up stairs.

Once we got back into his office I told him that his reaction was inexcusable. I explained that first off you don’t treat your team members like that, and second off, you never discipline a team member in front of anyone else, let alone customers. John was quickly aggravated and told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. He has always been the same way with subordinates and that it has always worked. I told John, that I was there to help, but if he really believed what he said, then I would leave. John quickly calmed down and asked me what he needed to do. I explained to him that I would need to talk with his team first, and that he needed to apologize to Sarah and get her back.

John tried to talk with Sarah but she wouldn’t talk to him. She was done. He had berated her for the last time. Her response was, “With the scraps we get paid, it just isn’t worth it.” Sarah left with tears still welling up in her eyes.

Over the next few hours I spoke with each of the remaining employees. It was as if they were each reading off the same cue cards. They all had the same complaints. Low pay based on commission, no structure as far as who does what in the store, most of them never knew what hours they were supposed to work until a day or two before, and of course John’s curmudgeon attitude and temper tantrums.

Once I was done interviewing them, I headed back up to John’s office. I said, “John I have some very difficult things to say to you and you are not going to like it. But if you want to fix the issues you are having, then I suggest you take a deep breath and listen to what I have to say.” John agreed and had me go on.

I began, “First of all John, from what I have been told by your employees, you are not paying them a wage that is commensurate with their responsibilities…”

 Once again John blew up, “Awe poor things! They don’t make enough money!” John then accused me of being a tree hugging hippie and said, “I suppose you would just pay them whatever they wanted, sit in a drum circle and puff, puff, pass? No one ever thinks they make enough money.” John continued, “You know, this is not my first business. I have owned and operated over six different businesses successfully and never had this problem before. The pay I am offering them is exactly the same structure I have used in all six endeavors. If they hustle rather than sit on their butts they can make good money. But they are just too lazy!”

I stopped John and told him. “Look this isn’t my first rodeo either and I am not a pot smoking hippie. I have helped more people than you know with turning their businesses around and helping improve their overall customer experience. I know what the standard rates are for a retail business such as this, as well as the basic commission structures. And John, I am afraid you are not even in the ball park. While you may be right about your other six businesses, I can’t make that determination since I have no information on those individual operations. Things change from market to market, town to town; even things like the local demographics can greatly change how you need to compensate your employees or what causes a great customer experience. What may be a great experience for a 28-year-old woman may not be a great experience for a 65-year-old man. There is no ‘one solution’ that works for every business model. You need to do the research for that market in that town and for your type of business. Simple things like the volume of the music, or the type of music you play for that matter can have drastic results on the experience your customers will take away from their visit.”

“Hogwash!” said John. “This is the way I have been doing it successfully for decades!”

“Well, then John”, I said, “Maybe you should be called Lucky! The fact is the only thing that tells me; is that you have been doing it wrong for decades.”

As I tried to discuss with John the other issues, I kept getting the same response. “That is the way I have done if for decades.” Finally I just told him, “John stop! The reality is John, that if you are not willing to change you are not going to change the attitude of this store, even if you were to fire everyone and start with a whole new staff. You have to understand, the first step to great customer service is how you treat your team.”

 John looked at me completely befuddled. “That’s right- they- are- your- team”, I spelled out for him. “You need to understand that the experience your customers will have will come from the overall team goals and message. You need to treat your team the way you want them to treat your customers. If you are condescending to your team they will in turn be condescending to your customers. When you can’t even make a simple schedule a week ahead of time, that tells your team you don’t care, so why should they? Only once you have accepted that philosophy and implemented structure, so your team knows what their roles are and what the common goal is, do you have any chance of getting the results you desire. While there are many other things that will contribute to the overall customer experience, nothing will have the same significant results as following these basic rules. Business is all about people and it doesn’t matter which side of the counter they are on, they all want that great experience.”

John’s face was turning red. His anger had reached new heights. John exclaimed, “Who do you think you are? I brought you here to help me figure out what is wrong with my employees, and you are trying to put the whole thing on me? As if to say, that it is my entire fault? I have had enough of your Barney themed; ‘I love you- you love me’ nonsense!”

 I told John I was sorry he felt that way and that I was afraid I was not going to be able to help him and wished him a good day. While I can’t remember exactly the words he used as I left his establishment, I do remember they we very creative.

Later, when I got back to my office, I put together a package that I sent to John. In it was a check refunding him his money and a copy of Spencer Johnson’s book, Who Moved My Cheese, with a note wishing him my most sincere hopes for his success.

This story is about change. Most everyone hates change and is afraid of reaching outside of the box. However, with no great risk comes- no great reward. I am always amazed by how many people get into a bad situation and just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, only to be mystified about why things won’t get better. As Henry Ford once said, “If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get what you always have gotten”.

As life continues to change you need to move along with it. If you stay in one place and always continue to do things the exact same way, eventually you and your business will become obsolete. Pay attention to what is happening. Try to predict where the market is heading, and make changes to compensate for the move. Stay ahead of the curve and always be an innovator. That is what Henry Ford meant by his statement. Change is the one thing that will never change, and you don’t want to get caught doing things the way you always have done them.

Communication 101, Shut Up!

This article is about communication. The number one answer when people are asked about what’s wrong with their company is: communication. How is this possible in our electronic world where everyone is always on the phone, texting, tweeting, insta-gramming, face booking (if that is a word?) and every other type of social media that exists? The answer is simple. Everyone is talking but no one is listening.

I just finished reading Dale Carnegie’s book (HTWFAIP) for the third time. In the book he talks about how important listening is when it comes to building relationships. Yes, I have posted other articles about this in the past, but this article is taking a slightly different slant. Either way this is a point that needs to be brought up over and over again. Why? Because corporate communication as a whole, is still just as bad as it has been for decades.

I know this because I am just as guilty as everyone else. Each time I read Carnegie’s book I swear I am going to work on my two major flaws. One is that I have a bad habit of interrupting people when they are talking to me. I never mean any disrespect, and I really do care about what they have to say. However, in my head, I already know where they are going and what they are going to say. So in an attempt to save time, I will interrupt them and try to answer their question before it is asked. No one can know what is in someone else’s head and it doesn’t matter if I am right or wrong about what the point was they were trying to make. If I haven’t allowed them the chance to present their point, really give them a chance to be heard, they are not going to listen to what I have to say. And even if they do, they will more than likely walk away with a feeling that I don’t really care about them. It is embarrassing to me when I catch myself doing it, and I continue to struggle with eliminating this from my bad habits list. As John Maxwell once said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know you care”. Whenever someone is interrupted and unable to complete their thought, you will have a hard time convincing them that you really care no matter how much you do for them.

The other bad habit I have is that I am always trying to fix everyone’s problems. This comes from the fact that I really do want to help them. However, many times people don’t want help. They just want someone to listen to them. In John Gray’s book Men are from Mars / Women are from Venus, he explains the difference between men wanting to fix problems and women just wanting a sympathetic ear. While I don’t agree that this is true of all men and women, I do believe that everyone, at times, just wants someone to listen to them without offering advice or direction. Again, I am ashamed to say that I have not completely corrected this flaw either. However, I have made tremendous improvement and will continue my diligence in eradicating both of these habits from my repertoire, permanently.

All too often in business we get caught up in our own schedules and the demands of our jobs. We cannot allow these distractions to affect our team. It is more important than I could ever state here that your team knows you care and that you are there to help them should they need your help. However, you cannot listen to their problems if you are talking over them. Your team cannot grow if you fix all of their problems for them. With all of this in mind, sometimes the best thing you can do as a manager to communicate is to: shut up and listen. Putting yourself in the other person’s place and fully understanding their position before you do anything, is communication 101!

Author’s Note: I have exposed some of my flaws in this article to help illustrate how important good communication is amongst your team. Please do not take the time to send me comments bashing me about these flaws, since I think I have pretty clearly explained that I know they are not acceptable. However, just like with anything, the first step to fixing a problem is identifying and admitting you have that problem.

The World’s Greatest Teaching

This week's article is about the greatest teaching of all time. It is the one teaching that transcends religion, income level, political standing, or any other possibly separating ideals or background. It is one of the best teachings for leadership, parenting, internal happiness, and any other motivating force. This teaching will make you richer than you could ever imagine, yet costs nothing to obtain. So what is it? The answer is to: “Do on to others as you would have them do unto you”.

In the spirit of the holiday season this article is all about giving back. If you live your life according to the principle of ‘do onto others’, you will have a substantially positive impact on other people's lives and will reap a greater reward than any monetary gains you could ever achieve. All the greatest leaders not only knew this principle, but they practiced it every day.

Too many people today focus on what they don't have and follow more of a ‘do onto others before they do onto you’, philosophy. You will find a much more fulfilling life and be a much better leader, spouse, friend, parent, etc... If you spend more time counting your blessings and paying it forward. This time of year is not about spending and what you will receive. It is about giving and how you can make other’s lives better.

While the people who really know me, already know the amount of time and money I dedicate to giving back, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision for you. However, there are no excuses for not giving back. Just start out with baby steps. Instead of walking by the ringing bell in front of the stores, go ahead and drop your spare change in the little red pail. Instead of scowling at the homeless person sleeping in the park, stop by a local drive-thru, and give them a meal.

It doesn't have to be about money. In today’s economy many people are strapped for cash, but are blessed with talents, and time. Donate your time or talents to a local charity or to your church. Again, baby steps at first, just plan on spending one hour a month making someone else’s life better. Come on, anyone can find one hour a month, right?

Heck, sometimes something as simple as a smile and some encouraging words can completely change another person’s day. You have been given the greatest gift there is, life. So why not exercise the greatest teaching of all time and pay it forward?

Thank you and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and Happy Holidays and Best Wishes to those who celebrate another way, or not at all.

What Is Your Succession Plan?

In my previous article I spoke about delegation and the importance of having internal succession plans in place. In today’s article I wanted to quickly expand upon succession plans and the importance of always training your replacement.

It has been my experience that having a succession plan in place is a key factor missing amongst many companies. However, there is no greater value for internal structure. A strong, well defined, succession plan allows your internal team to clearly see the path to career advancement. It allows everyone to know what is required, and what needs to be accomplished in order to move up the company ladder. Furthermore, it allows team members to transition from one position to another, rather than being thrown into the pool and left to sink or swim with little to no training.

While there are many internal benefits to having a well defined succession plan, the largest benefit is with the customer experience. In many companies account managers are left in charge of an account with no backup. This requires them to be on-call 24 x 7; I even heard a story about one account manager that was taking calls on his wedding day! Eventually they will burn out and you will lose them. Meanwhile the customer still has needs and you are scrambling trying to fit someone into an account manager’s position with no training for that account. This causes stress on the customer’s side as well as adding to your daily anxiety. By having a well defined succession plan and having multiple people cross-trained with each position, you take the pressure off the single account manager, allowing them to reboot and take needed time off. This will avoid the burn out stage and hopefully keep them happy in their position and more productive. However, if an account manager does decide to leave for another reason, you will be in a good position to continue the same level of service and the entire transition will be invisible to your customer.

I am not going to get into specifics on how to build a succession plan, there is plenty enough information on the web if you are so inclined. However, hopefully this article has expressed the importance of building and implementing such a plan. If you do not have a plan in place and you are not currently cross-training your managers, you will eventually find yourself in a very difficult position and franticaly searching for a replacement, at which point you will remember this article. While it takes months, even years sometimes, to win a new customer, it only takes seconds to lose them. So take the time now and prepare a succession plan for your business. You will be in a much better place structurally, your customers can continue to receive the same level of service they have come to love and your team will be much happier and more productive.

To Delegate Or Not To Delegate?

One question I receive quite often is; how are you able to get so much done when there are so few hours in the day? I usually answer with; I don’t waste any time sleeping. There will be plenty of time to rest when I am dead. While yes I do spend many hours working on all the different hats I have in the ring (usually about 16 hours a day), I spend little time being non-productive. I don’t waste much time watching TV or reading fiction. If I do watch TV or read it is usually something non-fiction or based on factual information that I can use to improve an aspect of my life. However, even though I do have a few weaknesses for mindless TV entertainment, I try to keep the time sitting in front of a TV to a minimum and am still trying to cut it out completely so I can gain a few more hours a week of productive time. I have often wondered if there has ever been a study done that correlates the relationship between hours of TV watched and a person’s average income and/or success. If anyone does know of such a study please share it with me, I would love to look at that research.

Now don’t get me wrong and please don’t start posting that I am missing out on life and family. Part of what I call productive time includes personal and family time that I schedule in the same as any other important tasks. I spend a lot of time with my family and several hours a week on myself. I have always tried to keep a well balanced life. But enough about how I schedule my time, let’s get to the meat of this article.

One reason I am afforded the luxury of being able to accomplish so much in short amounts of time, is because I don’t major in minor things. I have a phenomenal team around me, whose talents are exceptional. I have made it a point to surround myself with the best team in the industry and I know they have my back and the company’s best interest at heart. So I make sure that I delegate many things to this team and allow them the opportunity to shine. By empowering my team I allow them to feel the experience of hitting the homeruns and keep them striving for more. Also, by delegating tasks it leaves me more time to focus on places that I feel need my special attention.

So how should you decide what gets delegated? Good question! I don’t claim to have the perfect formula, however, I will share my method of deciding what to delegate. While there may be many more reasons, below are the three basics that I have used over the years to decide on what needs to be delegated.

1.        Don’t do any job you hate doing. You will only get frustrated, put it off until the last minute, and do a bad job once you complete it. Delegate it to someone who loves that job and is an expert. They will enjoy doing it and the end product will be exceptional.
2.        Don’t waste time doing something someone else can do. Too many times I have seen examples of executives spending time on tasks that anyone can do. You should only focus on things that require your level of expertise and experience. Just the other day I was speaking to a VP who told me he was delivering materials to the job site. This is a perfect example of wasted talents.
3.        Is what you are working on going to improve your business, the customer experience, or your team’s work environment? If it doesn’t encompass these areas then you are getting involved in the day to day operations and spending your time doing the job of your operations manager. If you spend time working in your business, no one is working on your business.

While I realize that these rules apply to business owners, the same logic can be used for whatever position you hold. You need to understand your role and make sure your time is invested in the tasks required to be successful in that role. Unless the job you are doing can only be done by you, you should consider delegating that task and focus your time on efforts that require your special skills.

Over the years I have had many managers that didn’t want to delegate tasks. In part they felt they had better job security if they were the only ones who knew how to do those specific tasks. I can tell you from a senior manager position, that is extremely frustrating and the easiest way to get on my bad side. Nothing in a business should be dependent on one person. As I have mentioned in previous articles, you need to have cross-training built into your standard processes. Your ability to properly build and implement a solid succession plan will gain more value than anything else you can work on when it comes to internal structure. It will also take a lot of pressure off your team and give a clear career path to each team member, which in turn, will make for a better work environment and better team morale.

So don’t get caught up in fear and stop putting the weight of the world on your shoulders. I believe that the true sign of a great manager is the ability to know what and when to delegate. So if you want to be successful and still have time for balance in your life, then you need to learn when to delegate or not to delegate, that is the question!

You Never Know Where Your Next Customer May Come From

In my previous article I mentioned how important it is to act professional because you never know where your next big opportunity may come from. In this article I wanted to dig a little deeper into that statement because it is about more than just being professional.

Don’t ever kid yourself, you are always on stage and you are always being judged, as I pointed out in two previous articles “First Impressions” and “Stage Right”. In those articles I expressed the importance of always acting professional because of the fact that you are always being watched and judged. However, another key reason is; that you never know what circumstances may lead to winning the trust of your next customer.

I have developed many lifelong relationships with customers. However, I never knew where I was going to meet them or where the next one may come from. In many cases they were referrals from relationships I had made, but one outstanding customer that comes to mind, came from an unexpected source.

I have always loved my job and for one specific reason. I am in the business of helping people. Whether it is helping internal team members accomplish their career goals, or helping customers by providing them with solutions to their problems, I have always loved helping others.

The one area most people over look when it comes to helping others, is other businesses. I have always made it a point to do what I can to help other businesses succeed. Not just businesses where I can gain a benefit, but anyone I can help, in anyway. This held true with a salesperson I met who was with Stanley Steamer Carpet Cleaning. Now in most cases, an electrical services provider would just grin, nod and move on when they met a carpet cleaning company sales person. However, staying true to my personal commitment to try to help everyone, we connected, and I was actually able to really help him out by sending him a lot of work when I had customers that needed those services. (Let me clearly state, this was only after we had a serious talk about how important my network is and how I will not jeopardize the trust of my network by recommending someone that doesn't follow the same guiding principles to which I strictly adhere.)

Once he had earned my trust I was able to freely recommend his services knowing that he would do what he promised and provide an excellent, quality service. I did that in an effort to help him and the company he worked for, not ever expecting that there would be any return on my efforts. However, as it turned out, nearly a year later, this particular sales person ended up having a relative that received a job managing two 40 story towers in the downtown area. He recommended us to his relative and it has now turned into a great relationship where we provide electrical and systems services to both buildings. I have many examples of similar circumstances where I received a recommendation from an unexpected source, yet I am always pleasantly surprised when it happens.

I have attended more networking functions than I care to admit, and I always see the Feeders working the rooms. However, I believe, that you must give four times as much as you take if you want to build a meaningful relationship. So if you stop “selling” and start helping you may just find an unlimited amount of true partners within your network, singing your praises. If not, at least you helped others, and there is no better feeling. So stay honest and try to help others every chance you get, because you never know where your next customer may come from.