Are you going up hill?

I subscribe to John Maxwell's "Maximum Impact Club", so each month I receive a CD lesson to review (along with a mini-booklet).

The one I just completed (Volume 13, Number 2) was really great. It was titled "Truths About Leadership".

John made a statement in the lesson that really stood out to me, and I think provides some sense of encouragement to leaders who feel they're always going "against the wind".

John stated, "You can tell when you're on the road to success, it's up-hill all the way."

Now how powerful is that!?!

Though, as leaders, we can often tell we are making progress, sometimes that progress seems to be filled with pain and resistance. When you review yourself through the filter of John's statement, then it helps make sense why this is happening.

Do you have any thoughts and/or examples of how you've felt this way as a leader (and remember, John's other famous saying is that "...everyone is a leader of someone...")? Please click the comment link below and share your stories.

Thanks!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://joeypeacock.com/

Full-Service

Full-service gas stations are almost like the 8-track cassettes of years past...just a memory. I can typically only find full-service stations in small towns now. I bet most people born after 1990 don't even know what a full-service gas station is (okay, or 8-tracks either).

Years ago, all gas stations were full-service. Self-service would have been considered an insult. A full-service gas station would fill your gas tank, wash your windows, check your oil and air in your tires for you...without asking! You never had to get out of your vehicle---you just sat there while someone else provided you all the customer service you needed. There were even "bays" for you to get a service job, or tires changed/installed, and some would even do electrical repairs like AC, alternator, distributor, etc. work! A true "one stop shop" for your vehicles health.

You don't know what you've missed if you never have pulled in to a full-service station.

Personally, I'm fortunate enough to work right next to a full-service gas station. Ricky McDougald is the head-chess over there and this guy is all about customer service.

I've never seen Ricky upset or mad, and I've seen him with more than he and his team could handle. He knows so much about what he does, but is so humble about it. I've seen him "plug a tire" (repair a hole in a tire for those of us who are not mechanically gifted) and not charge anything for it...unreal! If Ricky doesn't have the part you need, he'll personally walk down the street to the local Auto Parts store and pick up the right part for you.

Ricky also makes every customer fill at home...they have comfortable chairs inside with an awesome air conditioner system that keeps you cool on a hot Florida summer day. Or, if you want, they have a really nice wooden bench out front (in the shade by-the-way) that you can wait/rest on & read the paper, and even visit with friends or other customers while you're there. Mayberry has nothing on Ricky!

So if you ever have the fortune of traveling through Blountstown, Florida, take a moment and stop by McDougald's Station on Hwy. 71 for an ice-cold drink and a full-service tank of gas. You will not regret it.

Do you know a local business like this? I'd like to hear your story of a business that goes out of their way to serve their customers like Ricky does. Please add in the comment section (link below).

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://joeypeacock.com/

Nobody Can See The Wizard...?

The Wizard of Oz...a great, classic movie. One of my favorites! In fact, I have a special collectors edition laser disc of the movie (yes, I said laser disc---UGH!).

To me, one of the memorable lines of the movie is when the door man to Emerald City says, "Nobody gets in to see the Wizard! Not no way, not no how!" Of course in the end we understand why.

But, my fondness of the movie is besides the point of my message here: I know of a business, which I frequently go to and do business with, and in this business there are some "classic movie" posters around the place---one of them being the "Wizard of Oz". Since my wife and I enjoy watching classic movies, I've found this an interesting and pleasing side-note to the business. And the business has nothing to do with the entertainment industry, movies or anything with electronics or technology.

But here's the thing that most stands out to me about this business---over the door that leads to where the owner is, there is a sign with the above mentioned quote from the Wizard of Oz movie, "...Nobody gets to see the Wizard...". I think that in some way, the sign is a joke and relates to their Wizard of Oz poster, but then again it maybe is the way the owner thinks.

In all the times I've been in the business the owner has never once, no not once, ever greeted me, spoken to me or even thanked me for doing business there. I've never seen him come out to offer any of this to anyone else either. Hard to believe isn't it?

How do you have a business and not have some conversation or interaction...of any form...with the people who give you their money?!?

Today, I ask you to re-evaluate your business. Is it customer friendly? Does someone either in a leadership position or even the owner meet, greet, interact, talk with the customers that come to your store? Does your store have posted signs that discourage interaction?

If you have any similar situations where you've seen this happen to you, or if you know of a business that for whatever reason isn't customer friendly, I'd love to hear your comments (see link below).

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™


http://joeypeacock.com/

Raving Fans...

I've just completed the Satmetrix Net Promoter® Conference and Certification this past week. It was an incredible conference with many great speakers including Charles Schwab President & CEO Walt Bettinger, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and Intuit President & CEO Brad Smith to name a few. Blogger and author Joseph Jaffe also entertained us as well and caused us to reconsider how businesses market to their intended audiences.

After the conference, the certification part of Net Promoter® begin...three days of intensive training, case studies and lessons.

All this because my best friend asked me "Does your company use NPS?"

How does a simple question like that turn my career into an incredible new journey?

I've always been passionate for the customer and have always known that the experience the customer has with your business and what they tell their friend & colleagues will often make or break you company. I believe the success I had years ago in my short-term financial services business as well as my decade plus electronics business was mainly due to the service---and customer experience---that I provided my clients. I also believe that the success I've personally had in FairPoint Communications has been because we had (for the teams I've lead) a true focus on delivering world-class service in every customer interaction.

Have all those interactions been world-class? No. Unfortunately that's not possible. But when you focus everything you do around that philosophy, then you're bound to have a lot more success than failure.

In the Net Promoter® Score (NPS) program, customers who are most happy with you and refer your business to their friends & colleagues are called "Promoters". At FairPoint Communicatios, we've always referred to them as "Raving Fans!" (from the Ken Blanchard book).

It seems like every business would understand that happy (loyal) customers are the foundation for a successful long-term and profitable company...but for some reason all businesses don't make that their ultimate focus.

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://joeypeacock.com/

Do Businesses Really Care About Creating Customer Loyalty?

I visited a couple of local businesses the other day, and based on my experiences, I'm wondering if businesses are truly concerned about creating customer loyalty.

Let me share my experiences...

I went to a local fast food restaurant. Now, you may think that fast food restaurants aren't really concerned with customer service, much less customer loyalty because all customer's are interested in is food, fast (and let me add that most chain stores are locally owned and operated). But I disagree, just ask Chick-fil-A, they really care. And I really care too. What difference should it matter whether I'm sitting down in a fine restaurant or stopping by a chain? I still desire a friendly face from someone who wants to provide great service.

At this chain, the employees (all of them) acted as if someone were holding them hostage to work there. There was never a "thank you" or "your welcome" or "how may I help you". I got a "Can I take your order?" and, then as I've found common to this particular store, "...we don't have..." this and that, and a "that isn't ready and will take 20 minutes to cook" like I was putting them out!

I was the second guy in line, but more people came in after me and all got the same cold, put-off treatment. Let me also add here that all this happened right at supper time when they should have expected a crowd to come in and was prepared with appropriate food to deliver.

After about a 20 minute wait, and then not getting exactly what I ordered, I then got home to find food that was, let me say, questionable...you wouldn't find me recommending this place to my friends and colleagues. I also wouldn't say they created a loyal customer out of me either. And other than the fact that I will not state the name of the location here, you could truly call me a detractor to their business.

For the other business, I saw one of their sales people who in the middle of our casual conversation added, half-joking half-serious, "...let me sell you some (product name)." I thought, who trained them in their sales skills and how do they feel this is an appropriate approach to moving their products?? I gave the "I'm not really interested now" reply and that was it. I actually believe the person wanted to sell me their product, but the approach and follow-up were completely unprofessional.

I just can't understand how in our current economy that business owners are not focusing on training their teams to deliver world-class service with every customer interaction!!

Whether you provide your team books to read on the subject, provide on-line training, leader motivation in weekly team discussions, or by bringing someone in to lead a team meeting, growing profits is directly related to how well your employees provide a great experience with your business. But isn't this really Business 101?

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://joeypeacock.com/

The Lessons I Learned While At A Funeral

My Uncle passed away over the Christmas holidays; he was my dad’s oldest sister’s husband and a favorite of mine. He was 78 years old and had been married to my aunt for 59 years and 11 months. He loved to fish and loved to eat mullet (me too!). He was a great guy. I don’t know of anyone who ever heard him say a cuss word. My uncle never had wealth, never traveled the world, never had a big house or fancy cars. But he was loved by all that knew him.

He was a handyman by trade and there’s no appliance he couldn’t fix. People called him all the time, even after years of retirement, to come repair something that was broken. No matter where he went people knew him and talked with him. They always referred others to him if they knew someone with an appliance problem---regardless of business or personal.

I thought about the lessons of life while I was at the funeral and, with your permission, wanted to share my thoughts with you here. Though the list isn’t that long, I think each is extremely powerful and, if each are focused on as becoming a main part of our life, the three are more than enough to keep a person occupied:

• How People Perceive You
  Do I have a high likeability factor? When people see me, do they dread a conversation with me or am I inviting & pleasant? Do all my stories revolve around me or them? All these factors are important if you’re a salesperson (and everyone is a salesperson!) as well. Are you pleasant in appearance and attitude when you’re with your customers? Are they glad to see you because you bring them value?
• Serving Others Is The Most Important Thing
  When my uncle passed away, he didn’t take anything with him----no money, no grand exit, nothing. So if we come into this world with nothing, and we take nothing with us…then what’s my purpose? Spend your time serving others…either by your hands or your gifts (charity). And however it is that I serve others? I need to do it to the absolute best (world-class) that I can. In business, you need to have this same philosophy: provide your customers with world-class service & solutions and they’ll tell everyone they know about you. Or, as I like to say, “…give them face and serve them to death”.
• What Will Your Legacy Be?
  Though as much as we try to avoid the subject, it happens to all of us eventually. We’re promised no duration of time. So what will my legacy be when I leave? Haven’t you ever been to a store you enjoy doing business with and find that your favorite salesperson has left (retired, moved, etc.), but now you have a great new person supporting you who you hit it off with? Build your business around the legacy of world-class service provided by building long-term relationships.

For all my personal e-mails that I share with family, friends, etc., I always end it with a quote that I wanted to share with you today that I thought related to this message:

"It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference."
~Tom Brokaw

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://www.joeypeacock.com/

Grow Yourself and Your Business

How do your grow your business? Especially now in these tough economic times? How do you create CUSTOMER LOYALTY that keeps your customers coming back to your business and not the competitions? You have to first make sure you’re growing yourself and those on your team.

One of the very first steps you need to do is establish within the culture of your business that everyone employed at your company has the role of a salesperson.

Though sales people have been given a bad rap over the years (some rightfully so, but these are the “bad apples” in some barrels), that’s no reason that you should avoid this reality.

Of course your front-line sales people know that everyone is in sales; but whether you’re in the accounting department, HR, the service team, call center, are an executive, etc., everyone is in fact “selling” your company---for good or bad.

Every time someone answers your phone they’re selling the customer with their friendliness, their attitude and their willingness to provide the solution the caller is asking for. Every time your service team provides an installation or service repair, their professionalism, their expertise and their attitude in working with the customer is selling that person on whether this will be the first, or last, time they do business with you. Every time your collections department resolves a dispute with your customers, they are selling your business in how easy this process was or wasn’t. And you can be assured that your customers will tell their family, friends and colleagues the positive, or negative, results that they experienced in all of this.

If you’re serious about providing world-class customer service and over delivering on value, start with yourself & your team and make sure everyone is creating customer loyalty and watch your business grow!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business."™

http://www.joeypeacock.com/