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| ISBN-13: | 9781938416378 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | River Grove Books |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2013 |
| Pages: | 182 |
| Sales rank: | 463,407 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.42(d) |
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C.A.R.E. LEADERSHIP
8 Principles That Will Transform the Culture of Your Business and Unleash the Full Potential of Your Team
By PETER VAN STRALEN
River Grove Books
Copyright © 2013 Sunshine Brands and Peter van StralenAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-938416-37-8
CHAPTER 1
CUSTOMERS FIRST
"Taking care of the customer and leaving them happy comes before all else, including making money. As a rule, the money will follow when you do this religiously." —TIM VAN STRALEN
Principle #1
CREATE A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE A CULTURE OF WOW!
Today we operate in a hypercompetitive market. Simply providing a good product or service may enable survival, but it will not ensure long-term success. To excel you need to be much more. Companies that learn how to create a remarkable experience for their customers each and every time they deliver a product or service have an advantage in what some have described as the "experience economy."
THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
The term "experience economy" is based on the notion that services are beginning to look more and more like commodities. Because of the number of competitors in the marketplace, customers have difficulty differentiating one service provider from another. They all seem to use the same tools and equipment, generally look the same, and all provide the same quality of service. Whether this is true or not doesn't matter; perception is reality.
In the absence of any perceived difference in value, then, the customer will choose the lowest price every time. The only way to make a sale in this situation is to keep dropping your prices until you are the lowest. Is this what you want your unique position in the market to be?
If you have ever purchased and used an Apple product you will have shared in the complete experience that Steve Jobs and his team worked so hard to create. He obsessed over the experience. Everything from the design of the store or the speed of the website where you purchased the item shaped your experience—before you ever opened the box. The ease of opening the packaging and the look and feel of the product reinforced your emotional connection to your purchase and to the Apple brand.
Apple knew that just having a phone that worked wouldn't be good enough; all phones on the market work well. Image, design, quality, functionality, and exceptional customer service all combine to create a customer experience that has become legendary. The result is an almost cult-like following. People line up outside for days to be among the first to experience new Apple products as they are released into the market.
For you to thrive in today's marketplace, of course you must offer a great product or flawless service. But then, your customers have to be left with a good feeling about the experience they've had with your company. It is this feeling that forms their perception of your brand.
Three components are required for you to thrive in the experience economy: be different, be remarkable, and be consistent.
1. BE DIFFERENT
To stand out in a crowded marketplace you have to be noticeably different from your competition. Our family started in the landscape maintenance business, an industry with a low barrier to entry and low starting capital requirement. This encourages many new start-ups to enter the marketplace each year. They operate with little overhead and offer their services at low prices. At first this caused us concern, but we quickly learned how to use this situation to our advantage.
Since it was easy to get into the industry, the market became populated with unreliable, untrained, and unprofessional competitors. We were able to stand out in the marketplace by exceeding customer expectations. Perceptions can be more powerful than reality, so we set about discovering what the perception of the landscaping industry was in the minds of our customers. This was so critical that we didn't want to leave it to guesswork, so we asked a lot of questions. Informally, we asked people what their frustrations were with the industry and why they were planning to switch service providers.
What we heard was that poor service quality and low professionalism were big problems. Many companies were operating with unreliable equipment operated by shady-looking employees. They were rushing through their jobs and cutting corners—delivering substandard service.
People told us that pricing appeared opportunistic and unpredictable. Despite the low prices, people were still feeling gouged. They wanted to pay fair yet competitive prices. They weren't satisfied with the value they were receiving.
Commercial clients in particular complained that contractors would perform work without proper protective equipment and operate in an unsafe manner. They were looking for a contractor who was dedicated to ongoing training and safety.
We also heard that reliability was virtually nonexistent in the industry. Clients would say, "I can't rely on my landscaper. They don't show up when they say they will, and they are never available when I try to contact them. When I leave a message, they take forever to get back to me."
Lastly, we heard that customers wanted a service provider who subscribed to and made an effort toward the use of environmentally sustainable practices. There is a growing priority within our target customers for green products and services.
Once we collected the data, we used it to analyze our existing service offering. What emerged from our analysis was a system we call SCORE™. It stands for:
• Service Quality and Professionalism;
• Competitive and Fair Pricing;
• Ongoing Training and Safety;
• Reliable Service and Communications;
• Environmental and Social Sustainability
Next we wrote out our unique marketplace differences in a way that could be memorized and easily recited when asked. "What makes you different from all the other companies out there?" is by far the question we get asked the most. Here's what we tell them:
Clean, shiny trucks
Friendly, uniformed personnel
Three-hour call-back guarantee
State-of-the-art equipment, sharpened daily
Quality-control reports, delivered monthly
Each of our five key differences is backed up by a system that ensures their consistent delivery. Internally, we call these our five promises.
The habitual use of these systems ensures that they are implemented consistently. They have been "institutionalized" in the way we operate—part of our DNA. These systems help us to create a remarkable experience for our customers. They allow us to compete at a world-class level, affording us the opportunity to solicit a more discerning customer.
2. BE REMARKABLE
One way to be remarkable is to go above and beyond the expectations of your customers. Let me share a remarkable experience that I've had. A few years ago my wife and I attended a leadership conference that took place on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, The Jewel of the Sea. Each day we attended meetings and training sessions in various conference rooms throughout the ship. While we were out, the cleaning staff would clean our room—this is the basic level of service we would have expected. If we had returned to find the room in the same condition as when we left it that morning, we would have not only been disappointed, but also we might have called the front desk to complain. If the cleaning staff did a great job, as was expected, the service probably would have gone unnoticed.
However, the team working on The Jewel of the Sea understands that in order to inspire passengers to share their experiences, the crew and staff have to be remarkable and give more than is expected. They have taught their cleaning team how to fold towels creatively into little animals. This cost them nothing other than a few extra minutes of their time ... but it did help to create a remarkable experience!
I've told lots of people about this experience and showed them these pictures of the little dog and the elephant that they folded and left in the cabin room to greet us when we returned. This small gesture was an excellent example of a team member doing something out of the ordinary to enhance a guest's overall experience.
In our line of business, our customers don't come to us; we go to them. So, if our teams arrive at a customer's property and the garbage cans or recycle bins are down by the road, then the team brings them up to the garage. If an irrigation technician is going into a customer's house, he will slip on a pair of boot covers to show respect and care for the customer's flooring.
We take ownership and do whatever it takes to make customers feel important. We may get a coffee for a guest or make sure we greet them at the door. Maybe it's sending a handwritten note to say "thank you." No one needs to ask permission before going the extra mile. Every team member has a budgeted "culture fund" expense line and is free to spend it as needed. Often, of course, the best experiences are from the heart and cost little or nothing to create.
Doing something extraordinary to create a remarkable experience for our customers makes them feel special—like a guest at a high-end resort. When customers feel special, you earn their loyalty. When the experience is remarkable, they talk about it to their friends and colleagues. But what happens if we are inconsistent? Inconsistency confuses and eventually alienates the customer. So ...
3. BE CONSISTENT
Consider this scenario: Susan Smith hires us to cut her lawn because she has heard so much about us from a friend. She is also really looking for a change from the unreliable and unprofessional people who currently perform the service; she doesn't feel comfortable around them. After hearing about The Grounds Guys from her friend she says to herself, "Friendly, uniformed personnel; clean, shiny trucks. I have got to see this."
The first day of service is on Monday, so she makes sure that she is home to see the team arrive and mow her lawn. Sure enough, the team arrives as scheduled. They park on the road. As promised, the truck is "clean and shiny," gleaming with professionalism and quality. The team gets out in full uniform, smiles and waves to her as she sips her coffee on the front porch, and immediately begins their work. "Wow!" she says. "This is a real treat!" One team member picks up the garbage bins that had been emptied and are sitting upside down at the end of the driveway and carries them up to the garage. The team goes about their duties in a safe and professional manner, and it seems like everybody knows exactly what they need to do. The team finishes the service, leaving her property smelling like freshly mowed grass and looking amazing. Every detail was looked after and she can see the team leader doing a final inspection while the rest of the team loads up the equipment. "Great job!" she says as they leave.
"That was an amazing experience. I've got to tell somebody about this. I wonder who Mom uses at her condo? She's on the board of directors there. I'll give her a call," she thinks to herself.
Susan's mother is not thrilled with the people who manage the property at her condo and complains that they are unreliable. Susan invites her mom to come over for coffee on Monday morning and to enjoy The Grounds Guys experience.
I think you can see where this is going. What happens if the team that shows up on Monday is inconsistent in their approach? What if this time they skipped washing the truck because they didn't feel like it? What if a few team members wore jeans or were in a bad mood and didn't smile or wave? What if they left the garbage cans this time and just kicked them aside?
Inconsistency kills trust and makes liars out of everyone making brand promises. It damages the reputation of your brand. You can't afford it.
CHAPTER 2
ATTITUDE
If you can ignite a fire within them, you will not need to keep lighting a fire under them.
Principle #2
HAVE FUN AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO A CULTURE OF PASSION!
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do!" —STEVE JOBS
Having fun and loving what you do is an important part of our culture. In fact, many great leaders would say that it is their secret to success. Being a leader is not easy. If it were, everyone would do it. Anyone who has attained a high level of success in anything will tell you that success only comes through hard work.
Read about Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, or Steve Jobs. These leaders attained success only after experiencing many failures and putting in many hours of hard work. As leaders and business builders, we often find ourselves in challenging situations that require us to step out of our comfort zone. We also know that being in business for ourselves or working for a progressive, entrepreneurial company can be very rewarding. If viewed with the right attitude, it can be a lot of fun, too.
CHANGE WHAT YOU LOVE
Stepping out of our comfort zone to do the things that we don't like to do—or may even fail at—is not fun, but it is the only way to grow. In business, when you find yourself comfortable and cozy, you are in grave danger of becoming extinct. This is a fast-paced world. What worked ten or even five years ago may be obsolete today. Our minds are programmed to interpret discomfort as pain, so we avoid it at all costs. Change is uncomfortable so we remain stagnant. To be successful in business and to have fun (despite the discomfort) we have to reprogram our thinking. We need to see discomfort as our path to growth and learning. We must embrace the feeling and push ourselves out of our comfort zone.
A few years ago my brothers and I hired a personal trainer to help us get into shape. At first I resented the way he pushed us; my body ached all over! But after a while I began to see results: I had more energy and I felt great. I learned to love the soreness in my shoulders and arms, because I knew it was making me stronger. I recall leaving on a business trip that prevented me from going to the gym. After a day on the road I began to notice something missing: the soreness in my arms. I started getting up early to jog and do push-ups to bring back the sensation of worked muscles that I had learned to love.
Have you ever had to get up and speak in front of a group of strangers? Do you remember how you felt? Remember the knot in your stomach, the sweaty palms, the dryness in your mouth? Train yourself to love that feeling; this is a prerequisite to growth. Once you eagerly welcome the chance to experience life outside of your comfort zone, what was once pain becomes fun—and what was comfortable becomes the pain of an opportunity lost. If you want to have fun and love what you do, then learn to love the challenges that you face in your business. Without challenges and discomfort there is no growth. And if you're not growing, you're going backwards.
MAKE TIME FOR FUN
Having fun at work is so important that you have to make time for it and make it happen. I'm not sure how this tradition got started, but we had a lot of fun fitting everyone who worked for us with a nickname. After a while a name would appear that suited a team member, and it would stick. They weren't always flattering names, but if the team member liked it—or at least didn't protest too much—the name would catch on, and that was it. Names like Pirate, Crusty the Clown, Happy, Sleepy, Grey, Middle, Whitey, Jacket, The New Guy, and The New Guy's Brother would be used so exclusively that even their own parents started using them. Middle, for example, always sat in the center seat of the truck, and Jacket wore his uniform jacket even on the hottest days of the summer. What really surprised us was that he also wore only the same jacket in the frigid winter months. One fellow's nickname was Wormy, not because he had worms, but probably because of his willingness to get in the dirt and "get-r-done." He is still working for the company, sixteen years later. This became a real source of fun at work, except maybe for people in the payroll office, who would receive pay records with nicknames on them and reply, "I don't see any 'Pirates' in the system."
Years later I was volunteering at our local fire hall and a gentleman came up and introduced himself to me. With a big smile on his face he said, "Hi, I'm Whitey's dad." He went on to say that his son, who had worked for us while going to college, was now married with a few children. He said Whitey speaks fondly of the years he worked for us and said that the values he learned have helped him not only in his professional life but also as a father.
We also took time every summer to have what we call "Sunshine Day." It's a day where we shut down operations and take everybody off to do something fun, like paintball, go-cart racing, or even wakeboarding at the lake. Paintball was always a favorite, and our team members would eagerly look forward to Sunshine Day. To make it fun we would set up paintball teams: van Stralens against the team members. This worked well until one year we realized our company had grown too big for that arrangement. Fifty against ten was bad odds, and my brothers and I got shot up pretty bad. As we nursed our bruises we thought of other games we could play that would be less painful. Today Sunshine Day has become a tradition practiced by all of our locations to let team members know that we value and appreciate them. We think it's important to have fun and love what you do.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from C.A.R.E. LEADERSHIP by PETER VAN STRALEN. Copyright © 2013 Sunshine Brands and Peter van Stralen. Excerpted by permission of River Grove Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword, by Dina Dwyer-Owens.................... ix
Introduction: How We Got Here.................... 1
How to Build a Culture of CARE™ in Your Organization.................... 41
Part 1: Customers First.................... 61
Part 2: Attitude.................... 71
Part 3: Respect.................... 115
Part 4: Enjoy Life in the Process.................... 157
About the Author.................... 167