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That was the slogan for Coca-Cola back in 1969. And it appears to still be the motto today. Take a look at this interview of Coca-Cola CEO and Chairman Muhtar Kent. He’s interviewed by Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A. Included are the following messages:
- Walk in the shoes of your customer–Muhtar spends an enormous amount of time traveling and visiting the some 200 countries where Coke products are sold.
- “Call it a vision. Paint a picture that is simple, graspable, understandable…find a compelling way to continue to communicate that and you need to make sure people are inspired by it.”
- “A good brand is a promise kept.”
- “You’ve got to always ask yourself the question, what are the promises? Are we keeping them? Are we ahead of those promises?
- “Consumers no longer voting for products simply and only because how good it tastes…It’s the moral contract. It’s about the character of us that produced those brands.”
These same messages are in alignment with our book, Lead With Your Customer. They are sustainable steps you must take in order to be successful in building a compelling brand and a high-performing culture.
Much has been said of benchmarking – the act of looking to best-in-class companies and measuring yourself against their methods. Of course, the expectation is to gauge how you compare with industry leaders, identify where you can improve, and adjust your methods to achieve those same best-in-class results. Most fail because they are going about benchmarking in the wrong way.
The second-most common mistake is to simply adopt what the benchmark is doing. This often fails because your culture and/or circumstances are different than the benchmark organization. The better approach is to adapt their methods so they make sense in your unique situation. Consider how you can improve the best practice by tailoring it to your business.
But the biggest mistake, by far, is that people tend to focus only on the benchmark’s tactics. Attempting to copy present-day actions will certainly help – but only in the short term. The problem with this approach is that legitimate industry-leading organizations are continuously improving. To adopt a best practice and stick with it will only ensure that your competition will eventually pass you by. A fatal mistake.
The key characteristics of world-class companies that make them different and better are not just what they do – but how they think! Why do they consider things the way they do? What are the priorities? What are the non-negotiables? How do they create consistency when circumstances are constantly changing? How do they deal with all the swirling details that we all have to juggle and, with essentially the same resources, achieve better results?
When you benchmark the right way, you gain insights that matter – and that make a long-lasting improvement to the health of your business. The choice is yours: tap into the solutions that will spark your sustainable breakthrough or adopt a short-term approach that will struggle to gain traction and will ultimately fail.
What would a world-class benchmark decide to do if they were you?
 In an unusual core vision, the Department of Finance for NYC chose to focus on helping its constituents to make it easier to due their duty in paying their taxes. That amount exceeded what most sovereign nations take in. One of the biggest challenges the public sector faces (and most other organizations for that matter) is getting its people pointed in the right direction. At World Class Benchmarking work with organizations to create a succinct core vision. Not some verbiage that sits on a plaque, per se, but a clear and succinct declaration of the organization’s purpose. It communicates a message and priority internally–one that should serve as a litmus test for everything the organization undertakes. It’s a widespread statement that creates an image of the organization’s higher purpose.
Such statements are found in private sector organizations such as Disney whose core vision is “We Create Happiness.” As Tom Sellers, and Bob Waterman stated in their landmark work, “In Search of Excellence”:
“Whether or not they are as fanatic in their service obsession as Frito, IBM or Disney, the excellent companies all seem to have powerful service themes that pervade the institutions.”
Here are some examples of public sector service mission statements we’ve helped public sector organizations over the years to create:
“We protect the public, the employees, and the offenders.”–Iowa State Department of Corrections
“We help put America through school.” –Department of Education, U.S. Federal Student Aid
“DAS is government’s partner in achieving results.” –Iowa State Department of Administrative Services
“We help people pay the right amount on time.” –New York City, Department of Finance
“Building Community Together.”–City of Sammamish
Whether you’re in the public, private or non-profit sector, ask yourself:
- Do I have a succinct declaration of my organization’s real purpose?
- Does it communicate a clear expectation internally of what matters most?
- Does it create an image I want to project of my organization?
- Is everyone on board with that core vision? How do I get co-workers on board with the mission?
- How does my role tie into the core vision of the organization? How does everyone’s role tie into that mission?
Our book, Lead With Your Customer, showcases other examples of a core vision as well as the operating values that should accompany such a declaration.
 Press event being held in La Guardia while we were waiting for our next plane.
It’s a natural inclination with any organization to “hunker down” as the winds of a major economic turndown overwhelms everyone throughout the country. But World Class organizations manage to forge on in such a way that when the dust settles, they emerge ready to take advantage of the turnaround.
Well the dust has settled, and as I stepped off my plane on Sunday at New York’s La Guardia Airport I was delighted to see greeting us was scores of red and blue balloons along with complimentary cookies for passengers boarding. All of this was in celebration of Delta inaugurating a terminal expansion and 100 new delta flights out of that airport. While no additional slots were added to LGA’s total number, it is the largest airline expansion in the last 40 years at La Guardia. With this expansion they are able to offer 26 new destinations from that terminal, as well as 700 new jobs.
I admit that I’m a member of Delta’s SkyMiles program with Platinum status. I travel a lot. I think a lot about the quality of service I receive from Delta. My colleagues who flew Northwest Air was concerned that quality would go down when they merged with Delta. It didn’t help that the merger came as the economy was going bust. But my experience has been that service at Delta has improved, and probably has benefited from that merger. As their marketing declares: “Building a Better Airline. Not Just a Bigger One. More Flights. More Destinations. More Work to be Done.”
I think that’s a great message for all organizations: “Building a Better Company. Not Just a Bigger One. More Opportunities. More Business. More Work to be Done.” Now’s the time to act. Whether you think the economy is improving or not. Now’s the time to act.
Recently we had an exciting culinary team building program here in Orlando. It’s a popular event with groups who are trying to do something different in building their esprit de corps. Prior to the event we do facilitate a short session around some key concepts in team dynamics. Then we head to the UCF Rosen School of Hospitality where we divide the groups into teams. After some initial instruction, we assign them a station, each filled with ingredients of something they have to cook. They are in charge of a main dish, a staple/vegetable, and a dessert. The results are pretty amazing–not just with the food, but with the experience. Take a look!
 Discovering your ingredients and deciding what to cook!
 So many choices...so little time!  Busy at work in a full kitchen that can accommodate up to several dozen cooks!
 Now this is serious grilling!  Showing off your masterpiece! And eating it too! Looks like fun? Come join us! If you’re heading down to Orlando and you’re looking for a great event, please call us at 800-4WCB-NOW to talk about all of the great choices in hosting a terrific group event.
The Setting says much about the culture at Zappos.
In July of 2011 we were in Las Vegas hosting an Executive Session for SHRM. There we had a chance to visit and go behind the scenes with the Wynn Hotel, Whole Foods, and The Las Vegas Convention & Visitor’s Authority. All were terrific. It was a great experience! They were all terrific hosts.
While there we also visited Zappos. We had hoped they would be part of our tour, but unfortunately, they don’t do tours during the weekend, which is when we were visiting. Still, we had a great experience visiting with them afterwards. If you are in Las Vegas–Visit Zappos!
There was much to share on the tour, but one of the great things discussed was their customer surveys. They only ask three questions on the survey. Question 1 and 3 were fairly standard questions about satisfaction and so forth. But Question 2 really was a winner: Would you hire this person in your own business?
Such a question really encompasses so many things about the service experience with a particular employee. I like it–partly because I’ve never heard that question used before, but partly because it makes you really stop and think about the answer.
How about you? Do you have a unique question that you use when doing customer surveys? Or do you have a unique approach for doing customer surveys? Let us know.
Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World
I have to admit, I wasn’t too much of a fan of Cirque du Soleil until I read The Spark: Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All, created by Lyn Heward and written by John U. Bacon. The book, short and readable as is, was amazing in its ability to shape whole new paradigms about how we work and live.
One of the more interesting insights was that many of the performers came from athletic/sports careers such as gymnastics. Their world for many years was about competition, about being the best. The challenge is to change that and create an artistic, but collaborative experience where they all come together.
One example of this was a team of artists practicing a bungee ballet. To the narrator in the story, just seeing them fall to within ten feet of the floor then rocket back upward toward the ceiling would create a “wow”. But the coach was much less impressed.
“Alex, this is not a solo act!” he yelled out to one of them. “We only have one month left-this will not do! You must pay attention to your partners. You must sense the rhythm, you must feel it and respond to it! Only then can you express yourself to the audience…Now let’s try again.”
That’s coaching we all deserve to have. We should all be more aware, more in sync, more in response to those we work with daily. Imagine how our customers would respond if we did!
We took this picture when I was with The Disney Institute a number of years ago. Everything in the box actually belongs to my family, including the picture of my grandmother Checketts as a small child, and a quilt made by my grandmother Kober.
We took the picture as part of a Disney Institute program entitled Disney’s Approach to Quality Service for Healthcare Professionals. The story is told that a woman came to collect the belongings of her mother who had passed away and who had been in a rest home for a number of years. The woman had come to build relationships and get to know the staff at the rest home. In her mind, they had become like family. But when she went to retrieve the belongings, she found them waiting for her thrown in a cardboard box. The attention to handling those belongings was jarring to the woman, and she commented to the staff member on duty how upsetting it was to her to see those belongings carelessly thrown into a cardboard box.
The staff learned a huge lesson and subsequently created a different process for handling the belongings of the deceased in a way that it would be almost more of a gift when the family members came to pick them up. It’s a little way of showing how you care not just for the patient, but for all of your customers.
However, here’s the twist. Where did this bad habit originate. Truth be told, employees treat customers the same way we treat them. And how do we usually handle an employee when his employment has been terminated?
With a cardboard box.
Here’s a common problem organizations face–they’re not holding employees sufficiently accountable for delivering on their responsibility. This ultimately impacts your bottom line. Instead, use this 4 step process:
1. Did I fail to make it clear that it was your responsibility? If so, make it clear. If not, ask
2. Do you know how to do it? If not, then train them. If so, then
3. Is there something/someone preventing you from doing it? If so, change that. If these 3 are settled & s/he still does not do what they are suppposed to do,
4. Fire them immediately. They’ve admitted they can do their job, they just don’t want to. Get rid of that cancer ASAP. Not always easy, but it IS that simple!
It seems that in a political year like 2012 the word trust comes up more than any other time. Trust is such an intangible item, yet so critical in any setting–particularly in the workplace.
What is trust?
Trust is defined as a felt sense of safety. Trust arises as one develops an assurance that another person intends her/him no harm. Hence, the key to successful team performance or collaboration is to create an increasing sense of safety for everyone. The lack of trust is a major opportunity for many organizations. It requires considering the following ideas/concepts:
- The opposite of trust is control.
- We pay a high cost for low trust.
- Like a bank account, trust fluctuates depending on the deposits and withdrawals we put into the relationships we have with others.
- Trust is eroded through broken promises. It’s better to not make a promise at all than to make one and break it.
Trust is enhanced through the following behaviors:
- Sharing relevant information.
- Reducing control.
- Allowing for mutual influence.
- Clarifying mutual expectations.
- Meeting or exceeding expectations.
Next time you get with your team, as the following:
- What are the critical messages for our area in terms of trust?
- In what ways do we find trust manifested in our organization?
- Where could we improve trust in our area?
- What are the barriers to creating greater trust?
- How could we better build relationships of trust with others?
- How could we help positively influence others in acting consistent with this standard?
Want a great book that really digs deeply at the concept of trust? We highly recommend Vitality: Igniting Your Organization’s Spirit, by Dr. Chuck and Mary Lofy. You can obtain a copy at Amazon.
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Lead With Your Customer Program Call us today at 407-4WCB-NOW to reserve your place at our next Lead With Your Customer Program being held in Orlando May 22nd - 25th. As you benchmark great organizations here in Central Florida you will walk away from this powerful program with new ideas for taking your organization to the next level! Call today!
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