Archive | December, 2006

Sit On The Same Side Of The Table

by on December 29, 2006 in Business

It’s end of year, which means trying to get my life back into focus. As an example, over this past Christmas holiday, I spent some time getting our new home in order. Interspersed with all the yuletide merriment, I decided to get medieval on all the unpacked boxes and disorganized clutter that had accumulated over the past six months.

The psychic rewards of this end of year cleaning blowout have been great…not only do I know where things are, I found a lot of items I had been searching for recently, including some past issues of my favorite magazines. Last night, with a glass of shiraz in hand and the girls in bed, I sat with the September 2006 issue of Fast Company which happens to be focused on customer service (it’s the one with Lewis Black looking like he’s in the first stages of trying to pass a kidney stone).

Inside the issue is an article on Danny Meyer, a successful New York restaurateur, who believes his winning edge comes down to hospitality. Big deal, right? We might expect a restaurant, as well as a hotel, spa, or even theme park to focus on hospitality. But, take a minute to fully consider Danny’s concept of hospitality:

Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in any transaction. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side.

Danny encourages us to elevate the idea of a transaction beyond the usual impersonal financial payment for a product or service. All that typically gets us on the corporate side is a headache where the customer demands ever-increasing levels of service because they’ve handed over their hard-earned money. And who can blame the customer anyway? Many companies have done their very best to betray their customers’ trust by focusing only on the business’ end of that transaction (read: bottom-line profits). In the end, this narrow view of the transaction simply devolves into the all too-familiar customer/corporation antagonism.

Instead, what would happen if we think of the transaction as a binding force for a relationship? How would our business change if we acknowledged that a transaction is not only a financial exchange, but also an exchange of feelings, hopes, and dreams? What if instead of sitting across from our customers at the table, we chose to sit on the same side? A fella isn’t just buying a new silk shirt, he’s buying an image that makes him feel more attractive. A group of friends aren’t just eating dinner, they’re paying for an experience that accentuates their time together. A non-profit organization isn’t purchasing for a new piece of software, they’re buying a tool that will help them be more successful at delivering on their mission. There’s so much more to the customer’s side of the transaction, but it’s up to the business to learn what it is and make the attempt to fulfill it (fully bearing in mind that this ideal isn’t always possible).

As you begin plotting out business goals for 2007, consider the impact of sitting on the same side of the table as your customers. If you have a disgruntled customer or client, ask what it would take for them to believe that you are on their side.

What are you doing today to create an active spirit of hospitality?

Wild World Of Sports: Don’t Pull An Erickson

by on December 11, 2006 in Work

If you’re a manager or other stripe of executive who happens to leave one organization for another, I implore you not to pull an “Erickson.” What’s an Erickson, you ask? It’s a decidedly anti-leader move that firmly and publicly announces how much the current company and its employees have held you back from greatness. Why is it called an Erickson? Consider this most recent scenario as reported by ESPN:

Dennis Erickson informed his players of his plans to leave Idaho at a team meeting Sunday before he boarded a private jet to Phoenix for the official announcement that he would become head coach at Arizona State, and the players’ reactions were mostly indifferent — until he left the room.

You know you have a problem when your head honcho tells his players he’s leaving and all he gets is indifference. But then, after your coach tells you that he’s off somewhere else to claim his glory…well, perhaps that might explain it. Here’s how one player recalls the meeting:

It was kind of weird with Erickson talking and telling us he thinks he can win a national championship at Arizona State. It makes us realize the doubt he had in us. I guess he has to do what he has to do. 

Most of us have left organizations for reasons connected to our own sense of purpose. We need to move on in order to fulfill our purpose. Sometimes we might just leave for reasons like the ones that Erickson offered: the current organization isn’t set up for our own success. But for Pete’s sake, don’t go and broadcast it to your staff! Here’s why…not only does it insult your past work, but it likely will follow you in the future. How are you feeling if you’re a player at Arizona State right now? How many of them are thinking, “Oh goodie, Dennis Erickson thinks he can bring a National Championship here.” Perhaps the sentiment is, ”Crap, here’s yet another coach who will leave us when something better comes along. Just a month ago, his players at Idaho thought he was there to build a program.”

Again, we all leave organizations when we are ready to move on (unless we’re kicked out or laid off which is a whole other topic). The lesson that Dennis Erickson teaches us is when we do move on, do it with some grace.