The story of the missing TV

A friend came for supper after we’d moved house. Whilst showing her around I mentioned that I wanted to sell my old TV and get a new small, flat screen one to fit into the bedroom. Shortly afterwards she received an e-flyer advertising a limited special on TVs from a well known store. She forwarded it to me pointing out the one that looked perfect for my needs. The price was excellent, less than half the normal price.

I noted that it was a limited offer and that one could go in store or order online. There are no stores close to me so I went online to see if I could still place an order.  I was thrilled when the order was accepted and I received confirmation of my payment. There had been an option for free delivery if you were prepared to wait a bit, I think it said 5 to 10 days. I opted for that.

Eight days later I emailed asking when delivery could be expected. No reply. The next day I called the online orders help desk but couldn’t get through. In trying to find help I landed up at the Customer Resolution Desk and was assured I’d be hearing from someone by the following morning. 

The following day, a Friday, there was a call around midday from the manager of the closest branch explaining that “the system had been down for two days” but he now had my query and a lady would be calling me to arrange delivery. That evening I received an automated response to my original query giving me a reference number and stating that they are "passionate about customer service". Then nothing.

Late on the Monday I landed up at the Customer Resolution Desk again. After many attempts from them to connect me with someone who would attend to my query I received a call the following evening from the admin lady at the branch who said “We can’t fulfill the order because the stock was finished the day the “clearance” started. We have checked with all the other branches and no one has stock left. We can’t give you a different TV because they cost more than you have paid.”

I explained, “That’s not acceptable. You took the order and my money and I now want a tv set. Please relay this to the branch manager and ask him to call me to tell me what he has sorted out.”

Two days later I was again talking to the Cust Res Dept. but this time I was asking for the name and number or email address of the MD/CEO. The information was given quite willingly all be it that it was for the wrong CEO. What a disconnect when staff don’t know who the “big boss” is.

After going round in circles with the switchboard I eventually emailed my issue to the CEO. I received a very prompt reply from him politely explaining that he was the wrong individual and redirecting my email to the correct CEO. Within one hour of that I had, had a call from the Regional Manager to say that a different TV would be supplied and checking I was okay with that and the admin lady had confirmed the delivery for the next day!

I was very happy with the outcome. The TV is working great. And I received calls from both the admin lady and the Regional Manager to check that it was received in good order.

I am not surprised that the problem got resolved once I escalated it to the top. I am sorry that I had to waste the time of two CEOs to achieve it. 

At the same time the second one is ultimately responsible for that being necessary. My experience exposed some serious flaws in the business, some in the IT systems and some in the people. One sees combinations of these same problems in many companies. 

• Why does the online ordering system allow the processing of orders it can’t fulfill?
• How can a paid up order lie in the system unfulfilled and unnoticed?
• Why does the help desk line not get answered?
• Is the Customer Resolution Desk able to achieve its purpose, add value?  
• Why is the branch manager handing off tricky cases to an admin person?
• Why does the branch manager not appreciate the value of customer service versus the cost price of one item?
• How empowered are the branches?
• Why do the staff not know who the CEO is? Would it make a difference if they did?
• How many other customers are having bad experiences which aren’t reaching the desk of the CEO but are reaching the ear of their friends or the pages of social media?

I don’t expect junior staff to have the authority to resolve all problems. What all staff do need is training to recognise legitimate issues and for them to be able to access appropriate support quickly. Middle managers need to be able to see big picture as well as deal with detail. They need to balance cost and risk, and be able to deal with potential conflict appropriately.

I spoke to many different staff members during the whole episode. Many were average, some had poor interpersonal skills and others stood out. When I wrote to the CEO I had included a compliment for one of the staff in the Cust Res Dept. It was clear that he had the intent to help, he communicated clearly and the first time I called he paid enough attention to hear my surname and find my order himself before I could give him the order number. There is potential which if given the right environment can flourish and make a difference. I hope he will go far in his work life.

Wherever you sit in your organisation are you able to deliver the very best service to your customers? Are your people able to deliver the very best? Are the systems and processes really working? Do they produce value? Is what has been designed on paper actually happening, or working, on the ground?

Where is the missing TV in your department?

Looking backwards

We frequently hear that we need to have a vision, that we should look ahead, keep our eye on the goal. But some years ago a wise person told me that we also have to look backwards.

Why look backwards?

Imagine you were sailing from Durban to Mauritius. That takes a few days on a cruise liner. As you leave Durban all you see in front of you is blue ocean. As you look forwards towards your goal of Mauritius it looks as though you are standing still. But if you look back towards Durban it is easy to see how first the harbour and then the Durban coastline gradually becomes smaller and smaller as you move away.

An occasional look backwards is important when the vision is a long distance one, when the goal takes a while to reach.

Many of us find ourselves in the middle of a change process. Perhaps our company is making changes yet again. Or maybe we are going through a transition in our own lives. Sometimes it feels as though we will never get to the end, that we will be in a permanent state of flux. It can be hard to stay motivated when the end looks far away. Looking back to see where we have come from allows a fresh perspective.

Last year I saw a performance of Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold and the Boys”. In this play set in 1950 Port Elizabeth, we see racism and bigotry play out in the interaction between a young boy and his mother’s employees. It reminded me of growing up in South Africa in the 70’s. It contrasted starkly with how I, my friends and my colleagues interact with people of all races nowadays.

As we left the theatre there was a family ahead of us with teenage daughters. I overheard them talking to their father. They were saying it was just a play and no one would have said those things in real life. Their father was trying to explain the realities of apartheid in that South Africa. He could look back and see a change. They only know the ‘new South Africa’.

This year I saw Bailey Snyman’s dance play “Moffie” which highlights the attitude to homosexuals in the SADF of the early 80’s. This coincided with the time most of my friends did their national service. Whilst there is still prejudice in 2012 we now have legal same sex marriages and much of society is more accepting of sexual preference.

And then a couple of weeks ago we went to a screening of “Searching for Sugar Man”, the film about Rodriguez (well worth seeing). As a teenager I remember listening over and over to my sister’s Cold Fact album and singing along to “I wonder”. The film flashes back to Cape Town in the late 70’s, showing its natural beauty, but also the obvious signs of apartheid like the “nie blanke” signs. There are also a few old news clips of protests and an SABC employee shows how the banned tracks on the LP were scratched to prevent them being played.

What all these films or plays had in common was that they made me look backwards. All this looking backwards created some perspective for me on where we are at in South Africa today. We still live in a most imperfect society but many things have changed for the better since the 50’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Occasionally looking backwards allows us to measure how far we have come, it encourages us that we are making progress and it inspires us to keep on moving forwards towards our goal.

In your own life have you been working towards something for quite awhile? Does it feel like you are always striving but perhaps not getting there?

Take a moment, look back, see how far you have come. Recognise your achievement. And then look ahead and move on.

Take the pressure off yourself

“You don’t look yourself,” was the greeting from a friend on meeting me for our final committee meeting of the year. “I am tired,” I replied. “The last couple of weeks I have just been chasing my tail and barely meeting deadlines.” As I said it, it struck me that this was most unusual for me. What had gone wrong?

Into my head came a picture of Stephen Covey’s four quadrants.

Ideally we should spend most of our time doing activities that fall into Quadrant 2 – important but not yet urgent.

I had instead slipped into being in Quadrant 1 – important and urgent.

I haven’t done that for many years. I make a point of planning and prioritising, of saying No when necessary and of remaining in the moment rather than worrying about what may be coming. However somehow that went pear shaped at the beginning of December. By the time I realised what I had done I was feeling drained and dissatisfied.

I am now back in Quadrant 2 and feeling so much better.

If two weeks of that made me so tired, what do months and months of it do to us? And what’s more it is an unproductive space, so all that stress and strain is achieving even less.

Perhaps this is a good time for each of us to evaluate where we are working from and if that isn’t a productive, enjoyable space to make a plan to change it now?

(Originally written in December 2011)

Sell Like a Doctor

The best sales line in the world is this:

"Please confirm that I understand your business correctly..." [Depending on the type of business you are in, you can change the word "business" to something more pertinent like: requirements, situation, problem, etc.]

These are not my own words. They come from an e-mail written by Scott Cundill (http://www.majesticway.net/). I thought he was so on the money that I asked his permission to share this with acknowledgement.

I often find myself saying to clients "This is how I understand what you have told me. Please stop me if I am getting it wrong ...".

I am an optometrist by training so I know how to take a case history, diagnose and prescribe. I even believe that sales is about meeting a need. However I am not sure that I have really been following the method so I was greatful for Scott's reminder. I hope it helps some of you.

Scott continues
Never, ever begin a sale by blindly listing all the services you offer and then hoping like hell that the client just happens to want one of them. Does a doctor sit back and tell you all the treatments he can offer before he knows what's wrong with you? Of course not!

Think like a doctor!

Diagnose the situation by consulting with the patient, not selling to them. Get them talking about their business or issue - that's what they are passionate about!

• Don't start with an introduction about who you are and where you come from
• Don't use PowerPoint unless you absolutely have to (and only at the end)
• Don't demo a product until you know what problem it will fix!
• Listen, listen, listen... don't talk, talk, talk! (and coming from me, that's a BIG statement!)

Next time you meet with a prospect, try using this killer line. I guarantee you'll see a wonderful change!

What services will you pay for?

I have a friend who is the “Admin Handyman”. He recently sent me a solution to something a little out of the ordinary that I was trying to do in MS Outlook. I was over the moon and replied with thanks, asking how he found it when I had spent ages searching for the solution.

His reply was - One of the services I offer is Internet Research. More often than not I do this for nothing, as in your case, when I hear something at a meeting or in a conversation. I should, of course, charge. If I had said I will research the answer for you at a cost per hour would you have paid me, irrespective of the result, i.e. for the time I have taken to do the research?

I thought his question was an interesting one and one which may be of interest to many of the readers. People make choices based on perceived value for money and fulfilment of a need.

I sent Peter the following answer - I suppose it’s back to the balance between time and finances – does one have the time to do the research without intruding on one’s core business and family time or does one have the money to pay someone else to do it? In most cases the cost of getting someone else to do the work will probably work out a lot cheaper than doing it oneself.

You raised some interesting questions around the issue of value associated with internet research.

I think it is a balance between cost and need.

In general I am very wary of giving a go ahead for IT problem solving work that is based on a cost per hour basis. This is because I know how time consuming it can be – whether we are solving it on the machine or researching a solution – and how virtually impossible it is to estimate up front how long it will take.

If something will not work at all and it is imperative that I get it sorted out, then I would generally have to pay whatever it takes.

However most of the time resolving a problem is only worthwhile within a certain cost. Let’s say the limit is R500. Then so long as I can get a solution for R500, I want it. If it will either cost more than this or I risk paying the money and not getting a solution for it, then I will either do without or try it myself.

The reason trying it myself is still worthwhile is that

• I am in a position to say when it is no longer worth trying
• I may well learn something useful along the way
• I can choose to see it as “recreational” and do it instead of watching TV etc.

I think having internet research as a paying service for clients who are cost sensitive may require the following:

• Define clearly what the required outcome is
• Estimate how long that will take you
• Give a fixed quote ie a quote for the job regardless of how much or little time it takes you. The client will then accept or reject that based on the perceived value to themselves of having the task accomplished

If one is doing a fair bit of this there will be some jobs you gain on and some you lose on, so it will work out fairly in the end. The more you do it, the more accurate the quoting will become.

The logic in this answer can be applied to many services. Is it relevant to your business? Do you “buy” in this way yourself?

If you need to contact Peter for virtual or onsite admin services or internet research drop him a mail at peter@adminhandyman.co.za and tell him Alison gave you the recommendation.

Do you have an empty swimming pool?

I recently shared a great story on this blog that I had received from Adele Howell-Pryce, and I gave her credit for it. I have since been contacted by Bernadette Doyle, apparently the original author, as per the comment below.

I apologise for unintentionally using Bernadette's work without credit.

It is a great story with a message for all of us. My copy and paste function does not want to work, so unfortunately I cannot replace the article, therefore I am removing it. The link to Bernadette's original is given in her comment below. Enjoy!

Lessons from Barbara Cassani

Today’s thoughts are especially for those of you who are either managers or business owners – and anyone else who is interested.

Yesterday we awoke very early to an extremely cold autumn morning on our small boat on the Vaal Dam. So I climbed back under the duvet for a few hours of great reading. I was reading “Go - An Airline Adventure” by Barbara Cassani. The Sunday Times (probably the UK one) says it is “One of the business reads of the year” and I agree wholeheartedly. In March 1997, Barbara Cassani was asked to set up and run a low cost airline for BA. She turned a profit in three years, led a management buyout and eventually sold the company for £374 million, just four years after its launch.

Surprisingly for a story about a business started with corporate money, this is a story of entrepreneurship. This lady used guts and chutzpah coupled with excellent people skills and sound business analysis to do what very few thought possible. The book is a really enjoyable read whilst at the same time sharing a great deal that we can all learn from.

Some of the points I picked up on:
· The management team of Go were always clear on the company’s purpose – “To be Europe’s best low cost airline. - To provide best prices with the best no-frills service.”

· Barbara (the CEO) stated from the outset that ‘employees must know they matter and customers must get genuine value for money’. And she stuck to this even when it meant some very tough decisions. After 9-11, when other airlines had to lay off staff, Go did not. They had regular GO MAD awards for people who made a difference and all staff received personal thank you’s and birthday messages from the CEO. Go reintroduced pre assigned seating because the normal low cost push and shove method created excessive stress for the traveller.

· At the same time she is a tough, determined, driven lady – no push over. She is a perfect example of what I often speak about - making sure people are treated well does not mean being soft.

· Go demonstrated another of my favourites - marrying human and business needs results in a profitable company with happy people working in it. They had tremendous spirit resulting in staff and management often going much further than the extra mile to handle emergencies. Barbara calls this their Warrior Spirit.

· This Warrior Spirit was part of the culture Barbara and her management team created at Go. It was a culture of all working together to make the company successful. Barbara comments on how there will always be operational glitches in a low cost operation. At these times only with the goodwill of the employees pulls the business through. She says you cannot buy this goodwill. I agree but would add that you can earn it through treating everyone authentically, kindly, fairly, equally but uniquely.

· Barbara’s communication skills really stood out for me. She communicated as openly and as frequently as possible with staff and customers using many methods but mostly verbal – either in person or with podcasts. This was emulated by her management and staff so that when emergencies occurred at airports that were beyond their control, they still managed to keep their customers – because they talked to them!

· She and her team stuck to the company’s values; were high energy; made tough decisions and found creative solutions.

Barbara writes, "Business models don't make profits, people do.
Passion, honesty and emotional commitment to people and the business produces excellence; mediocrity is the result without them."

I think this is a must read for business owners and managers. And this coming long weekend is a great opportunity to snuggle in and read. (The ISBN number is 0 7515 3560 5.)

Recession?

At a business networking function on Tuesday evening, the guest speaker spoke about a recession and us needing to open our eyes to it. I didn’t see the purpose in that.

I spoke to quite a few people at the dinner who are not feeling pessimistic. They don’t deny that globally a big shake up is taking place. They just don’t feel it is “the end of the world”. In fact one or two said “This is Africa’s time.”

We are not in a recession. Maybe we will still go into one, maybe we won’t. What do we achieve by focusing on the possibility? How does it make us feel any better or prevent it or get us out of it?

The speaker suggested that we shouldn’t be spending money on extravagant luxuries. I agree with that, if the spending means using credit and increasing your debt. As individuals the lesson we can take out of the current circumstances is that debt is a trap. Take small but continual steps to get yourself out of any debt you may already have and don’t create any additional debt without careful consideration.

It seems to me as a lay person that everything in international finance and economics is cyclical. And those cycles benefit some and hinder others. When interest rates are high those with bonds and loans cringe, but pensioners with investments rejoice. Then they come down and the response swings over. When dollars are expensive in rands the importers cry, whilst the exporters rejoice. Despite all the doom and gloom stories there are astute businessmen preparing to make a lot of money right now.

I suggest we each need to find where we can make present circumstances work for us. As an example my work with staff and managers, when embraced, results in increased efficiency and productivity. In tight economic times smart companies realize they can no longer afford to be wasteful with their human resource. They need to be more productive in order to be profitable. I need to capitalize on that. What can you capitalize on?

The Violinist

Welcome back to Insights from the Hive. I hope you found tons of enjoyment over the festive season.

When I received the following true story, from a friend yesterday, I found it very thought provoking; a good way to start off this new year. (I have added a little more info that I found on the internet.)

My theme for this year is doing something differently. For all of us some things worked well for us in 2008 and some didn’t. To move forward in our personal lives as well as our businesses or jobs we need to do at least one thing differently. What are you going to do differently in 2009?

A Violinist in the Metro

It was a cold January morning in 2007. A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and began to play a violin. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, over a thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money down and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, a man leaned against the wall to listen but then looked at his watch and started to walk on again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tried to hurry him along but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time.
This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 7 people stopped to listen to him and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded. There was no recognition.

The incognito violinist in the baseball cap was in fact Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played some of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a 300 year old Stradivarius violin.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seats averaged $100. During the nearly 45 minutes he played in the subway only one person had recognised him. That person gave a $20 tip.

This was an experiment organized by columnist Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.
The question was: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour
Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Does the value change if we place a higher price on accessing it? (Business owners think about perceived value of your product or service).

Wishing you all a very special 2009. One in which you make time for self, for special moments with loved ones, for gratitude for living and for the world around you.