“Their Emergency Room scores for patient satisfaction was rated one of the best of hospitals across the country. And yet if they focused on controlling quality, they might be undermining patient trust and respect.” “How is that,” I ask? My conversations are with Todd, a medical resident who recently returned from a rotation of various departments in this distant and admired hospital. “When an 8 year old comes into the ER, his diagnosis might immediately indicate administering an anti-inflammatory like Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Normally we doctors, who get our value from knowing all the answers might prescribe and be done
Continue Reading
Archives for Creativity
Charisma starts with Mission . . . and it is probably not yours
“You know if you take off your glasses you will do better.” “What?” Mario, my good friend and I had picked up ping pong paddles in the clubhouse of the Hilton Head resort we were staying at. After missing several returns, he suggested that I take OFF my glasses, that they were hindering my perceptions. Off they came and whamo, I started to connect with every volley. Aren”t glasses supposed to help? But what if your learned basics are different than your altered world (with glasses)? The first element in creating Business Charisma is to reconsider your Mission. Oh sure,
Continue Reading
Charisma is Going Past Customer Wow . . . Birthdays for 102 year olds at Wendy'' Hamburgers . . . and a Banjo Too
This particular chain of Wendy”s Hamburger restaurants are consistently the most profitable, and productive in the country (actually they are the top . . .but for confidentiality I need to keep their identity secret.) In a few weeks I will be working with a group of their key managers. In preparation I take a provided lunch coupon to one of their locations for some “research”. I mean . . . this is a Wendy”s. How can you make French fries special.As I pull into the parking lot, every space is full. Finally, w-a-y in the back I find an empty
Continue Reading
If you are a hotel and providing fresh cookes . . . is that enough? In Pursuit of Hotel "Je Ne Sais Quoi" (the special something that guests are looking for)
I pulled into the Ritz Carlton only to have my car descended upon by a crack team of Bell Captains. By the time I was walking down the hall to my room I had been accosted by at least 8 trained professionals who all had the mad plot of making my customer experience “needle” pin against the “wow” part of the scale. It took me the rest of my three day stay to figure out how they provided an off the chart guest experience. I thought I would discover some secret technology that allowed them to communicate between themselves about
Continue Reading
Gaping Headwound and Amish SnickerDoodle Cookies – Motivate your customers? Thank you . . . I think I will.
I didn””t see the nail poking out, until after the board hit the ceiling and the business end burrowed itself into my forehead. There is something cool about opening the door and your wife seeing blood running down your face. (not to worry, it looked a lot worse than it really was). A few years ago I was speaking to 600 Amish businessmen. It was lunch and 6 of us were surrounding a table, eating the box lunches and talking. I pulled out the cellophane wrapped Snicker Doodle cookie and commented on it being labeled “Homemade Snicker Doodle”. I pointed
Continue Reading
Beam Me Up Scotty . . . The 3 Types of Marketing and Sales
It was a hot summer day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong said those immortal words, “Hey this place looks like southern Arizona . . . now what?” To stand on a different planet (or moon) is a major “Ah-ha” for mankind. We have been there before. Columbus, Einstein, and Captain James T. Kirk. What? There are three phases to sales and marketing. Three distinct processes. Each has a different focus. All three result in revenue. But each evokes a different type of customer response. Let’s call them the 3 T’s. Transaction > Transformation > Transportation Transaction This is the world
Continue Reading
Being Cool is over the horizon of the average.
Facebook is not cool. Recent findings of note indicate that the social media site is loosing some of its cachet with the teen crowd. There is a real value in exclusivity. Does that $80,0000 dollar import sedan get a gas mileage that is 3 times better than the American sedan, while selling for 3 times the price? Is it’s sound system three times better? The fact is that there is real value in the unique, the niche. The $30,000 watch may only be a ten thousandth of a second more accurate than the $100 watch . . . but the
Continue Reading
Ice Cream and the Civil War – The Next Steps for Providing the Value that YOUR Members Want
The South attacked from the north. And the North attacked from the south. What insights from the battle of Gettysburg are there for associations? Consider some basic principles. Transactions grow up into Transformation As business matures, and competition increases, most products and services become more transactional. Specialized offerings get more competition, which forces everyone to sharpen their pricing, or get some sort of edge. Eventually products become so generic that the market evolves into a “big box store” or morphs into high value offerings. Consider the overrun of Sears by Wal-Mart (transaction) and Nordstrom (transformation). When you want a makeover
Continue Reading
What keeps people from Selling More
Their creative nature. . . .”Squirrel!” They get distracted Time Management (see #1) Lack of coaching (see #1 & #2) Lack of direction and clarity (see #3) Status Quo maintenance – “this is the way it has always been done” Self Esteem issues To little product knowledge To much product knowledge Lack of faith in the product Lack of a Sales Plan (see #4) Lack of Creativity and Innovation (thinking outside the box) Lack of new ideas (see #11) Lack of new prospects (see #10, 11, 12) Using old methods of selling Don’t understand the market and the new dynamics (our
Continue Reading
The New Rules for Branding – Getting Edgy or Getting Lost in the Noise of YOUR Marketplace
The biggest enemy to your business these days is being average. With mass customization, free information, and a tight economy, you need to drive your branding image. What are the new rules for branding? 1 – It must have a plot or a storyline. Think Disney. Chipotle has it’s brown bags with stories on them. Harley is about terrorizing small towns (see previous blog post) 2. It must be unique to stand out. Unless you have a BHAC (Big Hairy Audacious Concept) you have beige, average, pedestrian. 3. It must fill a need or create a new mind set for
Continue Reading