Clear Thoughts™ Blog
By Ann Latham
Ann Latham
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Listen or Lose
In the midst of the biggest power outage ever to darken the Northeast, three days in at our house, I received a call, presumably from no more than 100 miles away, but obviously in the lit half of the state. My alma mater wanted money.
I wanted lights, running water, heat, a hot shower, and a refrigerator with the power to stay cold.
Had he been calling from California, it would have been more understandable. But he wasn't. And here he was consuming the battery of my only form of communication. My only means of calling for help, should it come to that. Why do you suppose I wasn't feeling patient, friendly, and generous?
It is too easy to plow through our daily routines oblivious to the possibility of death, famine, pestilence, and other hardships until it walks into our own lives. "How are you today?" roles off the tongue with ease, though many people barely pause for a response. Then the spiel begins without regard for the situation or mood you've just dialed or walked into.
Are you bent on:
- Achieving your goal?
- Completing the script?
- Making a sale?
- Getting to your destination as fast as possible?
- Impressing others?
- Winning?
If so, you are in danger of losing. It takes two to tango. Forget about the other person at your own peril. Stop, look, and listen! More specifically:
- Scan the morning news so you aren't clueless about major disasters, community issues, and, sometimes, personal tragedy.
- Entertain the possibility that the other person has priorities that differ from yours.
- Remind yourself that unless you are on the playing field, win/win is the best strategy.
- Ask questions. (How are you? Is this still a good time to talk? Here is what I was hoping to achieve, how about you?)
- Be flexible.
- Stop, look, and listen!
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
We Weren't Told Nothin'!
We have a weird bathroom. When we first moved in, we couldn't imagine why the previous owner had not installed any towel racks. It took one trip to the local plumbing fixture store to learn why. None of the standard rods are the right length for any of the spaces in our bathroom.
Nonetheless, we picked out a style we wanted, one which was not on display, and inquired about the outer dimensions of various options. No one seemed able to tell us whether the length listed in the catalog was the measurement of the rod available for hanging, the distance between the centers of the wall mounts, or the outer dimension of the entire assembly. Guesses were easy to come by; definitive answers were not. So we did without.
A year later we returned, repeated the exercise exactly, and left with the same decision: to do without.
This past summer, we returned once more. I was determined to have towel racks.
It took a new employee about 30 seconds to tell us that it didn't matter. None of the rods came attached to the wall mounts. All we had to do was cut the rods to our desired length with a hack saw.
I was stunned. How could those other employees not have known that? Why hadn't someone told us that several years earlier? How exactly do you train employees to be that unhelpful?
So we placed our order. That was June 25th. We were told it would be a few weeks. We weren't told it would be a few weeks before the factory would process our order. We weren't told it would be 8 weeks after that for the order to be completed. We weren't told that "the order has shipped from Sweden" meant 3 more weeks. We certainly weren't told we would make so many phone calls and get so many non-responses while waiting more than 3 months.
Do you suppose that new employee, the one who tells customers helpful things, left right after we placed our order?
How about your employees?
- Do your employees help solve customer problems?
- Do they return phone calls promptly?
- Do they take initiative to keep customers informed?
If you aren't certain they do, find out. These are simple, bare minimum steps to sales and repeat business.
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
Don't Throw Your Customer Under the Bus!
I am tickled pink by the incredibly green mileage of my new blue Prius, but red with anger over the yellow highlighted "Excellent" ratings on the sample customer satisfaction survey handed to me by the salesman as I drove off. "If I get less then 90%, Toyota will throw me under the bus," he said.
Toyota wants feedback that the salesman fears and, as a result, the customer suffers. If the salesman does a lousy job, you have three choices:
- Tell the truth and constantly wonder about the bus
- Avoid email and phone calls asking for feedback
- Lie
That is an ugly choice. Furthermore, it invalidates all the data they are collecting. And I do mean all. I heard the same line when I last bought a Toyota ten years ago. The sickening memory came back to me as soon as I heard it again.
How do you prevent such lunacy?
- When determining any course of action, think about what could go wrong so you can avoid bad decisions and take preventive action.
- Follow up, especially on any action as important as this, to see if it is really working.
- Talk to your customers in multiple ways so you are sure to get the whole story.
- Shop your own shop - anonymously, of course - to get a first hand look at the customer experience.
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
"Uncommon Meetings" Now Available!
Uncommon Meetings - 7 Quick Tips for Better Results in Half the Time by Ann Latham is now available in print and ebook editions on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and uncommonclarity.com.
Uncommon Meetings is short and powerful, just as every meeting should be. People who follow these seven tips will definitely get better results in half the time.
How many total hours are you and your employees spending in meetings each month? What would it be worth to you if you could cut that time in half, dramatically improve the results, and reduce the number of attendees? Start saving that time and money now! Read this book today!
How many total hours are you and your employees spending in meetings each month? What would it be worth to you if you could cut that time in half, dramatically improve the results, and reduce the number of attendees? Start saving that time and money now! Read this book today!
“‘Uncommon Meetings’ is a must read for everyone in any organization, not just top management.”
Al Kasper, President & COO, Savage Sports Corporation
Al Kasper, President & COO, Savage Sports Corporation
“To achieve your desired outcomes in less time and with fewer people, read this book! It has great tips and memorable examples for improving meetings and is concise and clear as well. All and all, a huge value for anyone who spends a lot of time in meetings as I do.”
Simon Lingard, Director of R&D, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Simon Lingard, Director of R&D, Aspen Technology, Inc.
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
When is it Critical to Clarify?
A recent article in The New York Times generated several responses on a forum I frequent. The only problem was I could not believe they had all read the same article I had read. Each person reacted to a different component of the article. Latched on and took off. At the same time, each assumed the others were reacting to the same thing. The reality was they simply weren't talking to each other. They thought they were, but they weren't.
It was unbelievable, but it wasn't. I see this every day.
I remember the first meeting I attended at a new job many years ago. I sat at the table and listened. I was too new to contribute. However, at some point, I was just too confused to remain silent, despite being a total Swedish introverted engineer.
"Do you think he just agreed with you?"
It seemed a ridiculous question.
"What do you think he just said?"
Another ridiculous question.
But it was the best I could muster. And it saved the meeting.
These two were talking, but neither was listening. Both were keying off totally different issues. They heard what they wanted to hear and pressed forward. Others in the meeting also chimed in when they thought they heard something with which they wanted to agree or disagree.
Maybe only the Swedish introverted engineers are listening carefully enough to notice, but this is not uncommon. It literally happens every day. All around you. It is a wonder communication succeeds at all.
Clarify before countering. Clarify before challenging. Clarify before agreeing. In short, clarify.
Listening helps too.
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
The Easiest Way to Avoid Customers
I attended a teleconference this past week during which I learned some interesting things. I wanted to follow up with a quick phone call to the presenter. My experience in that endeavor reveals the easiest way to avoid customers. You may be doing the same thing and not even realize it. Here is my story:
I googled the company name. The result was nothing but confusing. The only references to that company were on secondary websites (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn). There was no reference to "that company.com."
The company's Facebook page had no contact information. It didn't have anything else either, for that matter. Another secondary site had a link to "that company.com"and it redirected me to "another company.com." Apparently the company name has been changed recently. When I finally arrive there, I can tell that I have found the right website, but I am many minutes in at this point. How many people would have quit by now?
The website has no "Contact Us" option. It has no contact information at the bottom of any of the pages I visit. When I click on the "Hire Us" link, I am faced with a form to fill out. It has lots of boxes. I don't stick around long enough to see what the form requires. Come to think of it, I never scrolled down to see if there was contact information below the form. I was long gone and on to other things. I didn't want to even think about the hoops I might have to jump through had I found a phone number.
Now I have no idea if a successful contact at this point might have led to me hiring this company. What I know for certain is that this company couldn't have done much more to avoid my call.
- How hard is it for potential customers to get in touch with you?
- How many clicks, phone calls, and menu options must they navigate to get the information they need to buy your products or services?
- Do you force them to fill out anonymous forms and then wonder whether they will ever get a response?
- Are you more worried about avoiding spam than getting business?
- Do you let them contact you using the means (phone, email, etc.) they prefer?
- Do you think avoiding sales people is more important than being accessible to customers?
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
It's Easy to Trust a Banana
Are your products as simple as a banana? Do they provide instant recognition? Have no moving parts? Sell for a fairly small and stable price? Require no installation? No explanation? No registration? No warranty?
If yes, your products, like a banana, can be sold without building trust. Trust is not a big factor in the sale of a banana. It's easy to trust a banana.
Unless, of course, you are dealing with someone who has never seen a banana. But then, the banana is no longer simple, is it?
For everything else, relationships matter because trust matters. If people don't trust you, they won't trust that you:
- Have their best interests in mind.
- Are offering them something that really meets their needs.
- Are offering a fair price.
- Are providing a quality product or service.
- Will help resolve unanticipated problems.
How do you build trust? While the specifics vary depending on your sales channel, the basics always apply:
- Listen more than you speak.
- Focus first on their situation, not your products and services.
- Demonstrate your expertise and interest in improving their situation by asking intelligent questions and providing good advice.
In short, concentrate on helping, not selling. If you can't do that, go sell bananas!
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
The Merits of Frenzy and Freaking Out
The stock market is swinging wildly and so a journalist asks me if I, or people I know, are freaking out and canceling plans. Why not?
Let's whip the frenzy to even greater heights! If everyone reads about people canceling plans like theirs, than they can freak out and cancel as well! Everyone can freak. We can spread the panic, put more people out of work, and damage more businesses. And for what reason? Because someone else freaked. That's good enough reason, right?
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
I Won't Hire Great People and You Shouldn't Either
Ever heard of Elance.com?
It's a website where freelancers all over the world can compete for jobs involving everything from design work to admin support to ghostwriting. Those doing the hiring can readily view the track records of those providing services - previous project titles, customer comments, and cumulative Elance earnings, which makes it easy to narrow your search to serious, competent, and reliable providers. When project opportunities are posted, freelancers respond with proposals. May the best proposal win!
Prepared with a relatively small project, I decided to give Elance a try. I posted my project providing quite a bit of detail as to what was required, my concerns, and my desired outcomes. I gave it a one week response window since I was in a hurry to get some action before leaving on vacation. The responses fell in too categories:
- "I'm great!"
- "This is how I can help you."
The second, and smaller, group, responded directly and specifically to my requirements, concerns, and desired outcomes. They demonstrated their expertise by educating me. Their comments made it clear they understood my needs better than I did. In short, their proposals were focused on me, my project, and my desired outcomes. These were the people whose track records I reviewed with care to see which I thought would take the most care to not only do what I asked, but also take care of the things I didn't know to ask.
I won't hire the "Great People" and you shouldn't either. Hire the people determined to produce great results!
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.
The Nearly Departed - Are Your Employees Included?
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal claimed that three fourths of all departing employees would not recommend their employer to others, up from 42% three years ago.
Granted, things have been tough for a few years, but do you know how your employees feel about their jobs at this point?
Despite continued high unemployment, I know of far too many companies struggling to fill openings with high quality candidates. Your high quality employees may not yet realize they are in demand but once they get wind of another opportunity, will they flee?
Now is a really good time to find out how they feel!
How? Ask how things are going. Consider questions such as:
- What would make your job easier?
- What do you like best and least about your current position?
- Would you recommend a friend apply for a job here? If not, why not?
Listen carefully. If they won't answer, you've got a big part of your answer.
But don't just listen. You have to make changes too. And don't feel obligated to make the first change suggested. Dig a little deeper and find out what would really be good for both your employees and the company.
If you need some help managing the conversation and/or identifying smart changes, call Uncommon Clarity, Inc. toll free at 800-527-0087.
© 2011 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.