Month: March 2019

Is your company obsessed with your customers?

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment
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Let me take a few minutes to share lessons from an interesting interview with the founder of Amazon.com. A few minutes into the discussion at the Internet Association Gala 2017, Jeff Bezos, shares the secrets of Amazon’s success. The beauty behind the success of most great companies is that the reasons are so simple. The secrets are so obvious, you can hardly consider them secrets. Amazons secret sauce is the same.

Jeff outlined a few very simple principles behind Amazon’s success. These principles earned him the title of the richest man in America for the first-time.

1) Amazons culture does not simply focus on customer experience. They turn this statement into a passion with a focus on ‘Customer Obsession.’ There are different models that different companies use instead like; competitor obsession, product obsession, industry obsession and so on.

2) Even if customers are happy, they still want something better. It is Amazon’s job to constantly invent new things that provide an even better customer experience.

3) Don’t focus on the short term, have a long-term view. Have a five-year view. Don’t just look at having a good next Quarter. He mentioned that quarter results are already baked. Quarter results are based on management decisions years ago. Focusing on the future changes the way you plan and focus your energy.

4) Experimentation and failing is supported in Amazon. Innovation goes together with customer obsession.

5) Identify 2-3 big ideas and force great execution. For Amazon, it’s low prices, fast delivery, and vast selection. Ten years from today no customer in his right mind would go to Amazon and request a slower delivery. No customer will request for higher prices and less selection. These are obvious things. Big ideas are often so obvious that we don’t see them.

6) Most overnight success takes about ten years. Hard work and perseverance is needed to create an ‘overnight’ success.

Companies cannot claim that their Invention is disruptive. New products and services are not and cannot be disruptive. Only customer acceptance is disruptive. Why are customers going to like it? Why would customers buy your product or service?

Lots of people dispense advise and tips. However, when the tip comes from someone valued at $109 Billion running a 22-year-old company valued at $702.5 Billion then one thing is for certain. The tip may be worth thinking about from the perspective of our own companies.

We are only as good as our people

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment
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If there is one thing that a first-time manager or leader needs to comprehend deep in their heart is that we are only as good as our people. Jack Welch, one of the best management gurus, rightfully said that 80% of a great manager’s job is people.

A great manager spends most of his/her time interviewing and screening candidates, mentoring high potential employees, providing performance feedback, developing people, motivating the team, understanding their needs, providing them the necessary information to perform their jobs.

It is quite unfortunate that today’s managers and leaders do not spend enough time on people. Their lack of attention and focus on developing their people creates a vicious circle. Since they do not spend time developing their people, they end up doing their direct reports job. When they do their direct reports job, their direct reports do not develop. When their direct reports stagnate, they cannot perform as expected. Since they cannot perform as expected, their boss (you) end up doing their jobs and back to square one again.

We often think that doing the job of our employee is faster than taking the time developing our direct reports to do the tasks. We think that if we delegate the work, they will probably do a bad job and we will end-up re-doing the work. Our false logic dictates that if this is the case then we might as well save time and do the job myself.

Great managers think long term. Great leaders think about sustainable solutions and not just band aids. When we spend time and a lot of effort developing our direct reports, we are investing in a better future for us and the company. Eventually, our direct reports will do such a great job that we can set them on auto-pilot. This will allow us the time to do what we should be doing, leading and developing our people.

You and your company cannot go wrong when you focus on your people agenda 0 selecting, developing and promoting the right people.

Customer Service Recovery

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment
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Customer service, customer obsession, customer experience are buzz words that are prevalent nowadays. It is very important, even critical, for companies to be customer-centric. No customers mean no revenues. Simply, the goal is to attract customers, keep them coming back and get them to refer us to their friends.

However, we sometimes fail in our delivery of service. What do we do then? How do we recover irate customers? Customers that we failed to service correctly. We have two options; we recover them or we don’t.

We were at Pizza Hut Robinsons Galleria three days ago. Our experience with that branch was terrible. A spoon drops in front of a server as she finishes taking our order. She simply ignores it, does not bother picking the spoon from the floor and walks away. We needed to remind them about the mushroom soups we ordered. The soup (appetizer) was not served at the start of the meal but in the middle. The chicken we ordered was served after we finished our large size pizzas – two of them in fact. As expected, we could not eat the chicken we ordered anymore.

As we were leaving we passed by the restaurant manager who’s back was turned to us. He did not bother thanking us for coming. The restaurant manager was busy scrolling through his Facebook account.

Yesterday, we went to a newly opened restaurant – DC Superheroes Café. It was the first day of their soft opening. As expected, we faced a lot of issues. However, the difference in service recovery between the Café and Pizza Hut was glaring. Pizza Hut did not bother recovering their unhappy customers.

DC Superheroes Café clearly showed great effort apologizing for their short-comings and making up for it. The owners themselves walked over to apologize and asked for our suggestions. The servers kept their smiles as they tried their best to cope up with the process inefficiencies. By the end of our meal, the owner of the Café had become chummy with our ten-year-old son. As we left we are more forgiving of the issues we faced with DC Superheroes Café. We will be dropping by again the next time we are in SM MegaMall.

Customer Service Recovery at its best and worst. Service Recovery makes for a huge difference in customer experience.

Do you have a Service Recovery policy or process in place?

What got you here won’t get you there.

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment
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Change is inevitable. The formula that drove a company to success in the past is not necessarily the same formula that will drive its growth in the future. Holding on to the secret sauce that got you here is a sure recipe for disaster.

Film based cameras drove Kodak to the peak of its success. Holding on to that same formula was what drove them to near extinction. Founded in 1888 by George Eastman and Henry Strong, it amassed a huge market following. When digital cameras started entering its market, Kodak dismissed it as a mere fad. They felt they were too big to fail. From 2003 to 2011, Kodak had to shed 47,000 jobs. They closed 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs. It had not made a profit since 2004 and were eating through its cash reserves.

In January 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection. It was never the same again. Holding on to the formula that drove their success caused their downfall.

The same thing almost happened to the giant IBM. Leasing Mainframe computers drove its massive success worldwide. Big Blue was thought of too big to fail as well. Computers started to shrink in size and grow in processing power. The economies of scale started dropping the price of mini-computers and servers that became accessible to companies. There was a massive exodus of customers that almost bankrupted the computer giant. As IBM’s CEO & Chairman from 1993 to 2002, Lou Gerstners management and leadership style helped save the company. It was under his leadership that IBM moved away from its original cash cow of leasing computer boxes and into Technology Services. The leader that saved the company was the first IBM CEO hired outside the company. That was a big leap from its old culture of raising future leaders from the ranks.

Some companies back here in the Philippines are pretty much in a similar boat. Companies that grew to significant success are often the hardest ones to change. They often have difficulty letting go of the formula that got them to where they are right now. Even the way a start-up is grown into a significant player in the market can have challenges. In the early days, start-up’s can make rapid decisions because it is usually centered on one or two people – the founders. Decisions are quick, customer service is intimate with a few clients in the beginning. Activities are personally overseen and micro-managed by the founders.

Years pass by and the company grows into a significant size. The group of 4-5 employees grew into an army of 5,000 to 8,000. Decisions slow down. Micromanaging starts to affect customer service. Delivery dates start to slip. Uncollected accounts receivables start to balloon. Cash flow starts getting affected.

The same formula that helped grow a start-up is the same formula that’s causing their downfall. Management model must change. Professional managers need to be brought in. Processes need documentation, job descriptions need to be designed, goals must be cascaded, performance dashboards need to be created and reviewed.

Companies need to transform every so often to survive and even thrive in the marketplace.

In changing times like these, companies often need to bring outsiders to help assess and map out a plan. Companies such ours come in and help transform organizations. From succession development to organizational development, companies can often benefit from outsiders that can tell you exactly as it is. No agenda, no frills, just plain truth. An honest view with recommendations on how to transform can make a big difference.

What got your company to where you are in your industry? Will it bring you the same level of success in the next 5, 10, 15 years?

ORA/BED

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

Finger pointing.jpgFinger pointing and excuses seem to make up part of most corporate culture. You often hear, it’s not me it was another person that failed to deliver. I waited for the other department to reply but they never did. In my consulting years here in the Philippines, I witness this behaviour from entry level employees to a number of high ranking executives.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover a simple approach to making people aware of their finger pointing behaviour. The approach was shared by the Managing Director of an ad agency. It is called ORA / BED.

The ORA / BED phrase has two parts. On the left side or on the top of the line we have ORA. ORA stands for Ownership, Responsible, Accountable. All positive traits of a successful leader, manager or employee.

At the bottom you have BED. This stands for Blaming, Excuses and Denial. They are all negative behaviours.

The way it is used is three parts. First, explain the meaning of ORA / BED. Second, have it posted on collaterals to serve as a reminder. Third, whenever discussions turn negative (BED), you just have to remind everyone to keep the discussion in ORA. Personally, I say ‘Hey guys let’s keep the discussion above the line. Let’s keep it in ORA.’ It helps people become conscious of their behaviour.

Since I started using this in the groups I manage and clients I mentor, the discussions I get are more positive and productive.

Try it. ORA / BED. It’s deceptively simple. It’s so simple that it works.

ORA / BED

~ jordan

Finger pointing and excuses seem to make up part of most corporate culture. You often hear, it’s not me it was another person that failed to deliver. I waited for the other department to reply but they never did. In my consulting years here in the Philippines, I witness this behaviour from entry level employees to a number of high ranking executives.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover a simple approach to making people aware of their finger pointing behaviour. The approach was shared by the Managing Director of an ad agency. It is called ORA / BED.

The ORA / BED phrase has two parts. On the left side or on the top of the line we have ORA. ORA stands for Ownership, Responsible, Accountable. All positive traits of a successful leader, manager or employee.

At the bottom you have BED. This stands for Blaming, Excuses and Denial. They are all negative behaviours.

The way it is used is three parts. First, explain the meaning of ORA / BED. Second, have it posted on collaterals to serve as a reminder. Third, whenever discussions turn negative (BED), you just have to remind everyone to keep the discussion in ORA. Personally, I say ‘Hey guys let’s keep the discussion above the line. Let’s keep it in ORA.’ It helps people become conscious of their behaviour.

Since I started using this in the groups I manage and clients I mentor, the discussions I get are more positive and productive.

Try it. ORA / BED. It’s deceptively simple. It’s so simple that it works.