Chuck Terry’s Blog

Entries from September 2009

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

September 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment

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For more than sixty years America’s greatest road racing event, the Indianapolis 500, has started with the famous phrase, “Gentleman, start your engines.”  After reading a Wall Street Journal article in which Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared, “the recession is very likely over at this point”, it occurred to me that his words could have the same exciting effect on business as this now famous phrase has on racing fans.

Drawing a parallel to the famous car race is pretty easy as it relates to preparing for an economic rebound.  In racing, long before the engines turn over to start the race, the mechanics and race teams have labored for countless hours to make sure the car is in perfect racing form.  Only one car will take home the checkered flag; so all the stops are pulled out to make sure the car is ready to make the most of the opportunity.  After spending what seems like an eternity in the recession of 2008-09, it may finally be race time for businesses in the U.S. as well.  The question is will your business be in top racing form and ready to make the most of the upcoming opportunity?

 Here is a pre-race (pre-rebound) checklist that you should consider in the coming weeks:

1)      Operations:  Many companies have cut back on operating staff, production capability, and put off capital investment in equipment during the recession.  It is time to “check the car over” to make sure all elements of the operating areas of your company are up the challenge of an improving economy.

2)      Sales:  Some companies have even made cuts in sales — reducing staff, delaying training initiatives, and cutting compensation to the sales team. It is time to “check the engine” to make sure it is race ready. The sales team is the engine that drives all companies, and now is the time to ensure yours is “tuned up,” motivated and ready to go.

3)      Administrative:  One area that has been hit hard during the recession is the vital administrative team that supports the sales and operating areas of the business.  I liken these professionals to the race crew that works in the pits to ensure the driver has what he needs to stay competitive throughout the race.  Is your “pit crew” fully staffed, energized, and ready to race?

 The Indianapolis 500 only comes once a year and the opportunity to get off the starting line quickly after a long recession may not (hopefully) come again for many years.  Now is certainly the time to make sure you get a fast start and are positioned to win the race for market share in the strengthening economy. All the indicators are there that “race time” is drawing near. Will you make the most of your opportunity?

 

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Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Categories: Business · Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · customers · dps sales training
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Hidden Danger in Customer Satisfaction

September 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment

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Attaining high marks in customer satisfaction is a universal goal in the business community.  There are dozens of business books at your local bookstore and probably hundreds more in print extolling the virtues of keeping your customers delighted with your products and services.  In a recent blog titled The New Human Nature of Sales, I referred to the fact that today’s customer wants exactly what they want, in their own unique way; or to quote Burger King, to “have it their way.”   What effort could be more worthwhile than the pursuit of customer satisfaction?  So where is the danger?

 The danger lurks in continually evaluating customer satisfaction based solely upon what the customer prefers within your individual and current menu of offerings.  The deception is exaggerated when companies which put too much emphasis on customer satisfaction scores to evaluate their success.  Companies are often misled by high customer satisfaction scores, only to learn too late that they have lost market share to their competitors.  How could this be if they are delivering such high customer satisfaction ratings? It is pretty simple…failure to innovate.

 What happens when someone approaches one of your satisfied customers and offers them a product or service that can do everything yours can, plus something new and cool the customer didn’t even know was possible?  Your “satisfied” customer just had the rating scale of customer satisfaction reset for them by the competitor providing them a capability or feature they would have never thought of on their own.  You were giving them exactly what they wanted until they found out they could have all that you offered and more!

In their book, The Experience Economy, Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine describe a phenomenon known as “customer sacrifice” that shows the danger of reliance on customer satisfaction surveys.  It is a scenario I know all too well.  I travel a LOT; and up until several years ago, my airline of choice carried Pepsi products on their planes.  I do a good deal of work with Coca-Cola and am very loyal to their products.   Upon boarding the plan, I would consistently ask the flight attendant for a Diet coke; to which she replied, “We don’t have Coke, is Pepsi okay?”  I am sure you have heard this exact exchange at your local restaurants hundreds of times.  After a while, I began ordering Pepsi, even though what I truly wanted was Coke.  The airline’s customer satisfaction report would only have reflected that I ordered a Pepsi, they gave me a Pepsi, and thus, a perfect score was registered in that column. There lies the danger… customer satisfaction surveys capture neither this type of customer compromise nor the “customer didn’t know something more was possible” scenario I referenced earlier.

 Take a good look around your business.  Is there customer sacrifice occurring?  Have customers gotten comfortable ordering what you have instead of what they truly desire?  Are your competitors developing or already offering innovations that could reset the bar on customer satisfaction?

The customer satisfaction challenge is always evolving — just as the bicycle document delivery companies learned when someone offered their clients a fax machine.  Now the fax machine has been rendered nearly obsolete by e-mail attachments.  Resolve to be the one to reset the bar, rather than the one contentedly reading favorable customer satisfaction reports while another provider resets the bar for you.

 

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Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Categories: Business · Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · customers · dps sales training
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5 GREAT LESSONS OF TEAM SPORTS

September 9, 2009 · 1 Comment

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As an ex-athlete myself, I obviously have a bias in this arena; but over the years, I have noticed a correlation between athletes (or ex-athletes) and the presence of certain professional qualities that provide a competitive advantage in the business arena. The other day, I was having a conversation with my twelve year old son about this very subject.  He plays hockey in Colorado and I was explaining to him that the lessons he is learning from playing sports are lessons that will serve him well the rest of his life. With that in mind, here are some of the insights I shared with my twelve year old son about how organized sports are preparing him for his professional career (just in case the pro hockey dream doesn’t pan out):

1)      The Value of Hard Work and Sacrifice:  In this day and age, I see more and more job applicants entering the work place with a well developed sense of entitlement.  In competitive sports, you quickly learn that the only benefit to “just showing up” is a juice box at the end of the game.  If you want to play, you have to work hard to earn your opportunity.  If you slack off, there is always someone nipping at your heels to get your spot.  In order to devote the time to work hard, you have to be willing to sacrifice. While your buddies are playing video games, hanging out with their friends, or watching Hannah Montana, you are practicing hard to get better at your sport. The value of that work ethic is more critical now than it has ever been in the professional world. 

2)      Insights from Winning and Losing: In competitive sports you experience the euphoria of winning, and the pain of losing.  More importantly, you appreciate the preparation and effort behind the win, and the need to identify and correct the mistakes that caused your loss. You learn to enjoy the win but respect your opponent and not become a poor sport. You will probably face them again. Win or lose, you learn from the experience, resist dwelling on the outcome and focus ahead to the next game.  Anyone in sales will attest to the power of resilience.

3)      Learning How to Be Coached: I have been a fly fishing guide as a hobby for many years, and have taught hundreds of beginners to fly fish.  I can attest firsthand that athletes consistently master the technical skills of casting a fly rod much faster than those with no athletic background.  Why?  Because they know how to be coached. They have mastered the skill of translating verbal instructions into physical actions. I have seen the same correlation in sales training, where the goal is to get beyond the transfer of information to a change in behavior.  The ability to be coached obviously translates to every sector of the business world, from your first gig at the burger stand all the way through to the corner office in corporate America.

4)      The Power of Teamwork: In any team sport, you quickly learn the value of being a good teammate.  From learning to cheer your teammates on to celebrating the outcomes of a well played event, it all has application in the business world. One of the important lessons you learn is that no matter what position you play, doing your job to the best of your ability is critical to the entire TEAM winning.  Whether you are the quarterback or the right guard, both jobs being done effectively are critical to winning. It is a pretty common saying that there is no “I” in team. People who have played competitive sports have learned how to be good teammates on the job long before they reach the work place.

5)      True Leadership:  Leadership is such an integral part of team sports.  I can think of no other environment so rich in opportunities to learn and practice the essential skills of leadership, such as leading by example, encouraging those who are struggling, and inspiring your teammates through your words and actions.  In sports and in business, some of the strongest leaders on a team may not have the official designation of captain/manager/vice president, but their contribution is every bit as valuable. 

There you have it, pretty much just as I explained it to my son. This is not intended to imply that a background in organized sports is necessary to succeed in business; rather, to recognize and evoke valuable skills that may already reside within each of us.

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Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Categories: Business · Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · customers · dps sales training
Tagged: , , , , , , ,