Off the Shelf

Delegating Customer Service

Flying this week reminded my how frequently companies delegate customer service activities back to the customer. It's like delegating backwards. Just in the airline industry alone, customers now handle their own baggage (carry on), print our own boarding passes, directly make our own reservations, and bring our own food (which was really never a bad idea). Many retailers have scan machines so customers can check their own prices, many financial institutions have automated services and websites where customers never interact with a human being.

While many of these innovations are good and make things easy, don't you think that many times they also get in the way of helping the company brands succeed? Zappos, for example, has a unique way of giving me a lot to do, but also a way of extending themselves so I don't feel neglected or not able to contact them directly. I think AMEX also strikes a nice balance between "delegating" services but also giving me easy access to someone to whom I can talk when I have a problem or have a question. Apple is also a company to imitate for unbelievably good support and service. For example, I love the chat feature in the store because if I don't need help, I can go about my business, but if I have a question, someone is there, ready for me.

Companies who delegate too much or don't give customers balance between delegation and a real human being lose. 

• They lose the opportunity to talk to customers. This is huge. How do they know what's going on with their product of service if they don't listen and interact with live customers?

• They lose branding opportunities. They are setting their brand up to be defined by the customer as unfriendly, uncaring and rigid.

• They trade efficiency and short-term cost savings for longer term damage. They are measuring results incorrectly and ignoring the long-term opportunity that customer loyalty and trust can bring to any organization.

What do you think? Do you like having these responsibilities delegated back to you? What about your organization, how have you kept in contact with your customers, but also maintained cost efficiency?

Handlebars, Program Code and Motivated Employees

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting Logos Bible Software. We are fortunate to have them as partners with us as they are the backbone of the software portion of our Bible and Reference business. We have over 650 resources in Logos format and their program is simply the best. Bob Pritchett and his team do a phenomenal job for us and hundreds of thousands of happy users.

Several things struck me while we were there. First, they have a tremendous passion for the customer. It became obvious that they want to talk to users, solve any learning concerns and truly serve them.

What also struck me was their commitment to their employees. Being a software company obviously programmers and software development people are the heart beat of the organization. Keeping them motivated and happy is a good thing because it translates to quality software, employee retention and ultimately satisfied customers.

About a year ago, Logos’ IT Manager, Jim Straatman submitted a novel idea. Since Bob is always asking his employees for ways to make Logos a better place to work, Jim suggested a putting a Bike Repair shop in the back of the main developer room. Since so many employees ride their bikes to work (the offices are in Bellingham, WA) Bob agreed.

Logos has about 170 employees and the Bike Shop is open to all of them. They have everything you’d find in a professional bike shop and all you’d ever need to fix a bike. According to Ryan Burns, “If I were to ballpark it, I’d say 40-50 people have used the shop.”

The shop is open all the time, according to Ryan, and employees can stop by whenever they want. He goes on to say, “Obviously working on your bike isn’t ‘work’ so people are encouraged to  use it during breaks and before or after work,”

Logos even has specially designed bike shirts.

Logos employees are very encouraged by their Bike Shop. It seems that even those who are not bikers appreciate it. Ryan adds, “It shows Logos is a company that cares about and listens to employees. Like I said, I don’t bike, but I tell people how cool it is to work for Logos, I inevitably mention that we have a Bike Shop in our office.”

And for those winter months? The Bike Shop becomes a Ski and Snowboard repair shop completely outfitted with a turning stand,  hot wax, P-tex and everything else a person would need to have their equipment in shape before they hit the slopes.

Bob and his team have set a great example that I need to follow.

The Power of Gathering Input

Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a consultant for a local technology firm. We’ve known each other for years and I always appreciate his insights and ideas. While he knows a lot about publishing and the marketplace, he’s not in the industry so he doesn’t have the normal biases or institutional memory. I came away from our time together inspired and much more informed than I was when we began an hour earlier.

I don’t know about you, but I have a small network of close friends who give me tremendous input. If you don’t have such a group, I’d highly recommend that you seek out people who are willing to just hang with you and talk about their market or ministry, what they are seeing as trends, how their organization is responding and what they think about your industry. It’s an invaluable way to get advice and input as often the best input comes from someone who brings to the table a totally different point of view or comes from a totally different place than you do.

The most successful leaders I’ve known feel comfortable asking for the input of others whenever they need it. They make no attempt to project an image of the all-knowing executive.

Why would you want to seek input from people outside your market or business?

• It’s the highest form of compliment. These are wonderful and knowledgeable people. By demonstrating that you think highly enough of someone to share your personal challenges or invite them into helping you solve problems is a way to express esteem to them.

• It allows for new perspectives. The outside people who regularly give me great input also bring different angles, different views and refreshing insights. I can then take their thoughts and use them to help my business or myself be better or create completely new paradigms.

• It gives me a new set of eyes. Unfortunately many times I miss the obvious because I’ve stared at it so long it’s become part of the scenery. Gathering outside input gives me fresh eyes.

• It gives me a new information set. We drown ourselves in data and information in our own markets and sometimes it’s good to hear new information from other areas that, when it’s all glued together, affect trends I’m seeing here.

I learned a long time ago that there are many people much brighter than me who can give me input and advice that cuts to the chase. 

Do you regularly hang out with people who can help stretch your thinking to new ideas and perspectives?

Gaining a Better Perspective

Andy Andrews book, The Noticer, has had a tremendous affect me (full disclosure I work for the publisher, Thomas Nelson and I consider Andy a friend, but trust me, neither has anything to do with this post).

In the book, Andy introduces us to Jones. He’s the noticer and he speaks clearly into not only Andy’s life but ours as well.

Jones spoke into my life in two areas: Perspective and choice.

Andy relates this story (and for space I’ll paraphrase). He living in a hole beneath the Orange Beach pier. He meets Jones and he begins to see life a bit differently. One day Jones brings Andy lunch. Being homeless Andy is anticipating something special. When Jones arrives he hands Andy a can of Vienna sausages and a can of sardines. They sit on the beach and eat.

Jones notices Andy’s not happy. He tells him, “Your problem is that your eating Vienna sausages and sardines from a can sitting in the sand. Me, I’m enjoying surf and turf with an ocean view. It’s all about your perspective.”

I don’t know about you, but that hit me between the eyes. How many times have I missed something special because I was looking at the event from a negative perspective? Or a skewed perspective that didn’t allow me to see all the possibilities or possible outcomes? It’s really much more than simply seeing the glass as half full versus half empty.

Since finishing the book I’ve worked hard on my perspective. I have to tell you that it hasn’t been easy, but it’s certainly been extremely worthwhile when I remembered Jones and surf and turf by the ocean.

How do you gain the best perspective? What can help you to trigger the best way to look at something? I’d appreciate your thoughts, and ideas on how to change perspective to see things differently.

The X and Y of Buy - How Men and Women Make Buying Decisions

I spend a lot of time studying and applying temperaments to my leadership and team building. I find it extremely important to know people, understand how best I can communicate with them and also how to put them in their areas of strength. Understanding temperaments helps me to that, plus a lot more.

There's also a lot to be said for as well for understanding gender differences. My personal Bible for this understanding, from a marketing perspective, is Michele Miller's The Soccer Mom Myth. It's an excellent tool for anyone trying to market and communicate to female customers and I highly recommend it.

The other day I was introduced to a new book from Thomas Nelson (yes, my employer) titled The X and Y of Buy by Elizabeth Pace. The book makes a very compelling case that in order to reach your audience (and at the same time get the sale) it is essential to know what separates the genders - what makes them different, unique and two distinct audiences for your presentation.

Like Soccer Mom, the X and Y of Buy provides a good amount of research and brain study that is gender focused. This research sets the stage for Pace's compelling arguments on presenting and selling to each gender. Her premise is that the genders are different and unique (they think differently, they react differently and innately have different communication needs), so you might as well treat them that way and present accordingly so each can clearly "hear" and understand your message.

The book is an good read and provides some very practical advice, even for non-selling situations. I wouild recommend it to anyone wanting to know gender differences and how they work in personal and business situations, especially when you are presenting or specifically selling.

Aligning Team Values and Your Vision

 A couple of weeks ago I posted an article about how team values shape your division/company/organization's culture. I offered a free assessment that I've used to determine your team's values (if you didn't get yours, just leave a comment and I'll send you the PDF).

I hadn't used the Values tool with my own team for five years and thought it would be an interesting excercise to see how the team's Value outlook had changed. The team has certainly changed. How, I wondered, had the values changed.

FIve years ago the team values were:

• Family Commitment
• Integrity
• Quality
• Excellence
• and a tie between Competence, Hard Work and Trust

Today, the team values are:

• Innovation
• Wisdom
• Hard Work
• Teamwork
• Family Commitment

It's quite a difference with only Hard Work and Family Commitment carrying over.

The next step in the exercise is for the team to clearly define these values. Any of these words can mean many things to each person. Consequently, our next step is to have the team define each word so my leadership team can know the boundaries of each word and how to maximize the culture accordingly. 

For example, Innovation to me means "executing creative ideas". To the team members it may mean simply "creative thinking". As a leader I need to know how they define the words and work towards alignment of the values to the overall goals of my area of responsibility. Alignment of culture to vision is key because in the end that's what gets the unit to the goals. Mis-alignment causes problems as people are feeling like they are working out of sync with their values. This feeling leads to poor execution and turnover.

What does your team value? Do those values align with your mission and vision?

Honest Leadership

Good leaders are never afraid of communicating truth to their people. Every time we stop shy of the truth we cheat ourselves and, worst of all, we rob our people of opportunity and personal growth.

We all need to be upfront and honest with our people about the situation, the marketplace, the competition, resources and performance. It’s the best way to maximize the organization and them.

Here are some random thoughts on why we must be honest:

·         It helps them grow. The best way to help an employee grow is to tell them the truth. Holding back in a attempt to be “kind” won’t help them isolate areas for improvement, recognize blind spots or grow. And, as an aside, please don’t wait for some annual review time to help them. Communicate honestly and communicate as frequently as possible.

·         It helps them solve problems. Most of the time the answers you need to grow your business, get out of the hole or do something different are right there in your people’s heads. By telling them the truth about the situation you’ll tap into their creativity and problem solving abilities. Telling them the truth will unleash tremendous solutions.

·         It gets them aligned. Whether the news is good or bad having your people aligned with your vision and the reality creates tremendous team strength and synergy.

·         It gets the right team in place. As hard as it is, and I’ve learned this lesson, honest communication about performance and other employee issues helps leaders to get the right team. People who won’t listen, will leave and people with a learning spirit will stay and be valuable team members.

Kouzes and Posner’s landmark book, The Leadership Challenge, relates, “in every survey we conducted, honesty was selected more often than any other leadership characteristic.”

The Importance of a Balanced Team

Jeff Seton’s  recent Blog on the personality secrets of the American Idol judges was, once again, a good reminder of the importance of a balanced team. He points out that the addition of Kara DioGuardi rounded out the team to include someone who can focus on “operational” or technical aspects of the singer and the competition. He includes some Myers-Briggs information to assist the reader in seeing the new and, more balanced, approach.

 

Teams need balance. Your team and mine need people who represent different ideas, experience, temperaments and strengths.

Why?

Some reasons:

Balance brings diversity. Having people with differing strengths, backgrounds and ideas brings a natural diversity.

Diversity brings multiple opinions that enrich discussion if the leader is open and patient.

Multiple opinions and discussion lead to quality decisions. Too often leaders want quick decisions or don’t have the patience to allow good discussions that lead to quality decisions. Quality decisions come out of patience and a desire to hear all sides of the issue. Too often the size of the agenda or the meeting’s timeframe dictates the outcome rather than the strength of balanced discussion and quality decisions.

As you assemble your team or prepare meetings remember the importance of balance. Seek to hear from everyone’s perspective and drive hard for quality decisions over rapidly ticking off the agenda items.

Putting People in the Right Spots

One part of my job that gives me tremendous personal satisfaction is making sure people are working in the right spot. Not only is this personally satisfying, I feel strongly that doing this is ultimately the best for the organization.

Over the years I’ve tried several things to help me do this and I’ve settled on two tools that are invaluable to me as I try to maximize my employee’s efforts and get them in the right spot. Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with simply asking the employee some questions and observing where they seem to gather energy and what tasks or projects seem to drain them. But, from my experience these two tools are the best way to help them settle into the right spot and their best zone:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I’ve used several temperament tools, but I find this one to be most effective in helping me with my people. Basically the instrument is segmented into four preference categories and it gives you an opportunity to completely understand an individual from those preferences. By doing this you’ll not only better understand the individual, you’ll be able to help them in the context of the team structure.

StrengthFinders. Once I read Marcus Buckingham’s book, Now, Discover Your Strengths, I realized I had a different tool to help me. With StrengthFinders you can easily determine people’s five highest ranked strengths and again, not only understand them better, but also put them into situations that fuel their strengths and their personal satisfation. Consequently, they are more productive, happier and feel a sense of accomplishment.

It’s vital to put people in their most effective working zones and if you’re not using these two tools, I highly recommend that you give them a try and see the positive results for your employees, your team, your organization and yourself.

Managing the Spiral of Change

In most organizations change is inevitable. The cycle is something like this – a new idea is created. This idea can come from many sources, either external or internal, but mostly change starts with an idea, that “aha!” moment.

The idea is disused and debated. It’s morphed and fine-tuned.

Then, the team or individual finds peace with it and is ready to launch it to the next group or function within the organization. He or she presents the idea with passion, perfected PowerPoint or Keynote slides, they may even wear a killer outfit just to add to the excitement. But, when they are finished they hear the dull roar of silence. They proudly present the idea and FLOP it hits the floor with a thud. What happened?

Before we go there, lets continue the story. Our leader (idea generator) talks and cajoles and sells their idea to this next level. They finally get it! So, the next step is to take the idea to the next level in the organization and guess what happens? It once again hits the floor with a thud with a new group of people. What happened?

It’s called the spiral of change. One person or one level of the organization gets an idea and each time they present the idea to the next level it takes them a lot of work to get the same excitement they feel about it. What happens is they don’t understand the spiral.

When you or your team has an idea and then need to take it to another group or team, in reality your thinking is way ahead of them. Your personal spiral is several rungs ahead of where they are – they haven’t even heard of the idea and you expect them to immediately be at the same place you are. Believe me, this won’t happen very often.

I see it all the time in our product meetings. The person who has the passion for the product has to work hard to get others to accept it, and then when they take it to another level (our Sales team for example) they have to work hard again. Why? Each new team is at the bottom of the spiral. They must be brought (or pulled) up to the same level on the spiral if you expect to successfully implement the idea or change.

The best way I’ve found to do this is by “making meaning” for the next group. When I take time to make meaning and give them the context, the purpose, the felt need and the strategy they seem to come up the spiral must quickly and more ready to embrace the change or new idea.

Making meaning is an integral part of your team building arsenal if you expect people to come alongside you and follow you (especially during change). Making meaning for the team brings peace to the team as well as a level of significant trust. People are quicker to accept the change if they fully understand the why behind the change and their role in the new tomorrow. With meaning, the spiral of change flattens.