You Have to Know Where You’re Going to Drive There

Allow me to give brief Driving Directions today: just turn right at Big Bright Bulb, “Ideas and Advice for the Smallest Businesses With the Smallest Budgets,” where I’m delighted to be discussing your Vision with a cool crowd. (Yes, yours! You’d better go!)

You know I’m obsessed with your success, both here at the MCE Blog and at VisionPoints. I had a great time guest-posting about one of the most essential aspects of your small venture for Crystal at Big Bright bulb.

I really connect with the message at Bx3—that there are more resources available right now than ever before for the smallest businesses, who have the agility to be able to run with new ideas before the Big Boys have even made it through exploratory committees. She wants to be a hub for microbusiness tips and tools, and she’s on her way. Crystal realized that one way to make my comments shorter was to ask if I’d like to write a guest post, and I jumped at the chance.

As Crystal says, “Whether you agree heartily, disagree with vigor, or are kinda meh about it, leave a comment so we can all know how you feel.”

See you there!

Thanks, Crystal.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Being in Business Is for…

Converting prospects to paying customers

Nothing more. One rule to work by. You may argue about all the other lovely reasons you are in business, but if nobody’s paying you to do or to make something, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby.

In light of this rule, everything you do in business must have one of two things as its main purpose:

Finding prospects or Convincing them to buy

Designing Maximum Customer Experience is for convincing current customers to buy and spread the word, so that you find more prospects to convince to buy and spread the word…

This can make more money and should give you peace of mind and may give you more free time (or maybe less). But at its core, Experience Design is like any other business activity, from writing a blog to ordering fancier menus or imprinted pens to putting in a new CRM system to hiring that rockstar whose résumé is on your desk.

If you don’t believe it will convert (more) prospects to paying customers, don’t do it.

You are in business to make sales, or you are not in business. Thinking about a new gimmick, a new initiative, a new direction, a new hire? Ask: Will it help us convert prospects to paying customers? The answer isn’t always direct and obvious, but it is critical that you consider it and can answer Yes, short-term or long-term. If not, don’t throw your money out the window.

Do you throw money out the window with pretty but purposeless design, “marketing” that never brings in a soul, or service providers that don’t aid the bottom line?

Try this exercise: What if you could only deduct those business expenses that can actually expand your business? Which purchases would you have to eliminate? Track the tangible results of a suspected low-performer this month. If it’s not converting prospects to paying customers, ditch it!

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Are You Ready to Be a Visionary?

This is part eleven of 13 in the Experience Design 101 series. For links to all the articles in this series, click here.

Not much happens without a dream.

And for something great to happen,

There must be a great dream.”

—Robert K. Greenleaf, former Director of Management Research for AT&T (from his book Servant Leadership, 1977)

In an affectionate biographical spot on Turner Classic Movies, Gary Cooper’s daughter Maria Cooper Janis says that her father knew what the public expected of his work. “Just make me the hero,” he told writer Niven Busch, “and everything will be fine.” Cooper clearly had the Vision to see the whole arc of his career pretty early on, and it gave his film roles a cohesive feeling that contributed to his stardom. We know what to expect when we think of classic film stars such as Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Cooper. Far from seeing this as typecasting, they saw it as part of maintaining a strong connection with their audience.

Cooper’s Model for Business Development

Call it Cooper’s model for business development. In part five we talked about crafting a Vision statement and finding your Purpose. With your research and planning backing you up, now envision how you want your company’s future to arc. Concentrate on that arc to connect with your audience of customers and prospects. As Stephen Covey wrote, “… [in] business…. the extent to which you begin with the end in mind often determines whether or not you are able to create a successful enterprise.” Write out every aspect of this arc. When you get typecast by the public, you don’t want to be surprised. You want to be able to point to your Vision and know that you’ve been typecast as the leaders in what you provide, because you aimed for it with Pinpoint precision and carefully made it happen.

In your business, this precise aim will guide your actions (Does this activity or offshoot fit with our Vision?) and provide benchmarks (Are we reaching the market we’ve Pinpointed? Are we providing the ideal solution that creates great Customer Experience?). Gary Cooper may have known what he was aiming for, but some of his quirky early roles show it took some time for him to align his strengths and goals, with the road he was on.

A Visionary Leader

“Me? A Visionary leader?” you say. Many owners of smaller businesses are initially uncomfortable in this role. Here’s where your planning pays off: A clearly defined and executed Vision is the hook that gets you, your staff, your customers, and prospective customers excited about and involved in your success. A Pinpointed definition and direction for your firm creates loyal fans, and makes introducing yourself and your business easier. When you take on the responsibility of being a Visionary for your firm, you’ll share your secret instead of “prospecting” or “networking,” knowing that you have a unique offering of value to others.

Your enthusiasm can make Visionaries of others, too: Think of Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos, with their infectious energy and unshakeable belief in helping customers with their offerings. Their devotees preach about Apple and Amazon as fervently as any Gary Cooper fan ever told a friend, “You’ve got to go see Sergeant York. What an experience!”

The Best Customer Experience

Ready? Be a Visionary. It’s an adventure in left-side-of-the-brain planning and right-side creativity. Having that Vision in place is a lot less risky than running a company, gambling your future, without the end in mind. Pinpoint your goals, your strengths, your customers’ needs, and your ability to deliver. Position your firm to align with your Vision across all aspects of customer experience, and get your customers saying, “You’ve got to try this new company. They were so focused on getting me what I needed. They’re the best at what they do, and it’s a great experience dealing with them.”

Quien no se aventura, no pasa la mar.”

—Proverb [“He who has no adventures, cannot cross the sea.”]

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Next up in the series: Part Twelve: How to put Experience Design to work, today: 11 Tips

P.S. If you’re enjoying the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, subscribe today (at top left) and get updates delivered by email or RSS. It’s easy and it’s free!

Firm Growth (Not) Guaranteed

This is part nine of 13 in the Experience Design 101 series. For links to all the articles in this series, click here.

In the previous post in this series we discussed how to measure the ROI of Experience Design. I wish I could say that when all the research, planning, and building is done, growth of your business is effortlessly guaranteed.

Growth is measurable, but not guaranteed, because fully implementing Experience Design is not just about finishing construction, printing, a website re-launch, or a major event. Experience Design does not come together without that volatile element, human interaction. Interactions happen every day, whether you design them or not. Planned Interactive Design eases a lot of that volatility, and like other elements of good Experience Design, gives you a roadmap to follow as you go forward with your plans for growth.

Buy-in is crucial

In aiming for Maximum Customer Experience, “buy-in” is whether a stakeholder understands, believes in, and is willing to be a part of getting your message across to others. Are they committed to the same goals you are? Do they identify with who you are? In other words, do they “buy it” or not?

Who is a stakeholder? A short list includes management, staff, and investors (internal stakeholders); suppliers, customers, prospective customers, and as you become well-known, the general public (external stakeholders). Each of these has a chance to affect how well your business runs by their enthusiasm and devotion to your Vision. In a perfect world, your stakeholders can even become fans. All stakeholders are partners in Maximum Customer Experience for better or for worse, and everybody’s a stakeholder.

You read in part 5 about defining your Vision—the message, talents, viewpoints, and values which are your strengths. Do staff understand and contribute to your goals? Your internal stakeholders—management and staff—will make or break your Experience Design. Do you know if you have their buy-in?

America the Ungrateful?

In an October 23 blog article, Seth Godin alerted readers to news about one of my favorite big boys. “In the middle of its biggest growth spurt ever, …Apple fired 800 of its employees for stealing. They were caught grabbing $100 rebates on the iPhones Apple had given them for free.” I was astonished to read that one of my Maximum Customer Experience heroes apparently has a problem with incomplete buy-in. Apple would not tolerate it, however, and firing these employees sends a message to internal stakeholders and external fans that integrity is a major core value at Apple.

Were these people underpaid, overworked, feeling wronged by Apple, or just spoiled? Their company hands them a great new gadget tons of people drool over and stand in line for, but it’s not enough. This sense of resentment and entitlement seems ready to rot our sense of right and wrong in America, the bountiful (and sometimes ungrateful).

Well-done to Apple for having the courage to fire these folks. Slapping their hands would have demoralized the internal stakeholders who would never think of biting the hand that feeds them, and would have nipped away at external stakeholders’ faith in the company. Apple used this crisis to ask for loyalty inside the company and out. Either you buy in to our Vision, or you don’t. It could even be a polarizing statement, but to stand by their Vision they took that chance.

Interactive Design and Purpose

You can not control the human element, in business or in life. In business, however, you do need to be designing and directing the human element. I can walk in to a McDonald’s—the same McDonald’s, mind you—at three different times of day/ days of the week and have three vastly different experiences. If you doubt the truth of this, try these next week:

1) Monday, 8:45 am; 2) Wednesday, 2:15 pm; 3) Saturday, 11:00 pm (or as close to closing as your bedtime allows; this requires a McD’s that is not 24-hour, obviously).

I do not know where you live, but I will nearly guarantee you:

1) Rushed, but efficient; 2) Unhurried, uninterested, probably dirty, likely serving fairly old food; 3) Annoyed, self-interested (loud, gossipy/giggly), unwilling to accommodate special requests, possibly limiting the menu to items they can cook on the apparatus they haven’t cleaned yet.

Is this because McDonald’s, the corporation, does not value Interactive Experience? Not at all. (In fairness, I have run into a few rare exceptions to this rule as I travel. If you live near one, just know that you are lucky.) This is because in Interactive Design, the top advantage you, the small- to medium-business owner have over the big boys, is your size. The smaller you are, the more closely you can tie your company’s Purpose in with your staff’s understanding of Who You Are.

When you work on defining your Vision, discuss Purpose with staff; get their take on your strengths and opportunities; make sure they understand how vital they are to your growth. Staff communicate how much they value the firm in everything from body language to attire to actual verbal clues. You can not control your external stakeholders, except indirectly through messaging. You can insist that your internal stakeholders project the Vision they’ve helped craft, in all their interactions with customers, suppliers, and the public. That messaging is worth thousands in advertising. When you surround yourself with people who understand and believe in your Purpose as fervently as you are, you can expect them to help turn others into fans, too.

Customer Interaction with “Propheteers”

Having the biggest fans of your firm (“propheteers”) on the inside is the best way to keep the message strong. As you grow, find your internal “Propheteers,” and reward them as they continue to instill your Vision in your growing staff. One Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs is great, but you will need many as you grow. Only then can you avoid the plight of the McDonald’s of a Thousand Faces, where I never know the quality of the service I’ll receive, or the quality of what I’ll be served.

The guarantee

Interactive Design is the key element most smaller firms miss. Improving human-to-human interactions with planning and considered research is a critical factor you can start to take advantage of today. No advertisement can deliver messaging to make your new Experience Design hum like your own internal stakeholders can.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Next up in the series: Part Ten: Uniqueness and innovation: What have you got that I haven’t got?

P.S. If you’re enjoying the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, subscribe today (at top left) and get updates delivered by email or RSS. It’s easy and it’s free!

Who Do You Think You Are?

This is part five of 13 in the Experience Design 101 series. For links to all the articles in this series, click here.

Pete in Real Life

Ever since he was in his twenties, Pete had been thinking of a career in hospitality. A computer engineer working in government communications, his work had once been incredibly creative. Pete had a hand in shaping technology’s role for the government. As the dawn of technology came to a close, Pete slogged through rounds of forms, meetings, occasional approvals, and more frequent defeats, wishing for a destiny he was in charge of. For years as jumping through government hoops and engineering itself became more monotonous and less creative, he imagined another life, and let new ideas swirl. A great restaurant experience could get him thinking of owning a bistro or a pizza place; a restless desire to be someplace else made him dream out loud of owning a bed & breakfast or an out-of-the-way inn.

Finally, an opportunity presented itself and Pete dove in. Today, five years later, the computer is used only for accounting and for booking guests, and he and his wife Roxann live the dream, the owners of the Panorama Motel in Hampton, New York.

From all about communications systems to all about communicating with guests is a huge leap, but it wasn’t made without years of envisioning his true career priorities: creative freedom, contact with end-users, the gratification of projects that wrap up in a night (like a meal or a stay) rather than the tedium of open-ended, unclear, micromanaged tech projects. Pete knew what was wrong and what would fix it with absolute clarity before he took the leap.

Who Do You Think You Are?

In her excellent book, Wildly Sophisticated, Nicole Williams tells the of the moment she knew she had to define herself. Unlike Pete’s long road, she had been challenged to define a Purpose all at once. She shaped her personal direction, and her company’s, with the simple question, Who Do You Think You Are?

Don’t think you know who you are? If you’re a small-to-medium-business owner, you got into your business with a Vision. Maybe you think you stumbled upon it, but I disagree. Whether it was a lifelong itch like Pete’s or just an undefined drive to do what you do like Nicole’s, your Vision is there.

Your firm’s Purpose should be an extension of your Vision, and if not I expect you are banging your head as Pete did in engineering. Discover the Vision you bring to your firm and get your goals in line.

Four essential questions:

• What got you into this business?

What is it you hope to share with your customers? Is it great food, or timesaving methods, a way to save money, a memorable evening, a hobby?

• If I cornered you at a party, what would you love to talk my ear off about?

How does it connect to your business? Maybe caring for iguanas in your off-time has a lot to do with caring for clients at your retirement village. Or maybe, you’re ready to sell the village and open a pet store. Think about it.

• How do you know when you’ve found an employee who’s really special?

Does he or she have a particular skill, or knowledge base, or is it their attitude, their presentation? Imagining your ideal employee will tell you loads about your goals for your firm. Whether the candidate who gets you thinking about possibilities is a number-cruncher, a storyteller, or a Harvard MBA, is directly related to where you want your firm to go.

• What do you spend most of your time doing on an ideal day? Is it the same as it was when you began?

Like the ideal candidate, the ideal day should get you thinking about what you value about your business. Pay particular attention to changes over time. If a day when sales are racing in (ideal) now leaves you mired in paperwork (not necessarily ideal), when originally it would mean you were deep in design, or sales, or customer service, do you need to rein something in? Or do you prefer the paperwork to the presentations?

The Broad View of Possibilities

Use these questions as a jumping-off point for more well-directed research. Vision is not for the faint of heart. To really define it you need to Dream Big. Bring all of your optimism. Vision is about the broad view of possibilities, not about roadblocks. Think long-term: your firm’s Purpose will not be implemented in a day, so envision the future—in six months, a year, three years, where do you want to go? Craft a Vision statement for your company using this research.

Purpose=Vision+Direction+Buy-In

Take the time to really look at how you are utilizing your Vision. Consider all aspects of your Customer Experience: Does your customer service communicate the Vision? Your website? How about your marketing methods? If your Vision is of personalized services, can banner ads ever communicate that? If you envision being a friendly, quickservice leader, are all your interactions aiming for that? If your products say high-end, but your representatives’ attitudes and attire say careless, don’t expect maximum growth.

So, who do you think you are? Do you think staff and customers buy in to your Vision? With a well-directed Purpose followed consistently, your Vision and theirs will soon be aligned, creating growth opportunities to power your firm forward.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Next up in the series: Part Six: The long, winding road to the top (of the mind)

P.S. If you’re enjoying the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, subscribe today (at top left) and get updates delivered by email or RSS. It’s easy and it’s free!