Tag Archives: Needs

Answer 3 Questions to Improve Employee Engagement

Posted on 14 June 2010 by | 2 Comments

We say the words.  We create the power point decks.  We even grant ill-begotten awards to [ostensibly] motivate our teams.  (An iPod for a deaf employee, you must be joking?)  But without answering 3 simple questions, your company has little hope of having the kind of engaged employees who make a material difference (over $350B each year by some estimates) to company value:

  1. Why am I Here? – Map an employee’s role to the greater “cause”.  How does an employee make a difference?
  2. Can I Make an Impact? – We may know why we are performing a job and how that job impacts the bottom line of the company.  But if employees see no possible way to succeed, they give up.  If our teams can’t answer “so what?” we end up with educated but ineffectual employees.
  3. WIIFM? – What’s in it for me?  Employees appreciate rewards, but be careful.  For some the reward is accomplishing the task while for others the reward may come in more tangible forms.  Regardless, mismatching the reward with an employee’s needs breeds dissatisfaction and disengagement.

It shouldn’t be “news” that companies with engaged employees outperform those staffed by the “walking wounded”.  Given the preponderance of evidence (read this article on employee engagement or this Wharton article for more background) it’s clear we have a long way to go.

The pivot point is that even though engagement is a shared responsibility of employees and companies, it starts with us!

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Posted in Necessary for Success

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Remember… What You Say Counts

Posted on 4 January 2010 by | 1 Comment

When I’m engaged in selecting a technology vendor I often rely on a simple heuristic to discern whether I am getting a vendor or a partner, whether I am getting a company focused on their success or one that recognizes that my success is their success.

The method (remember I mentioned it was simple) is to count how many times they say words that matter to you.  Or mention concepts of importance to your success.  When you are beginning the process of selecting a vendor listen to what they say.

If the people you interact with use words like “customer, satisfaction, value, use” their culture is likely focused on your success.  You may have a good vendor and a partner if the:

  • Conversation is focused on your needs
  • Discussion seeks to uncover what your company is trying to achieve
  • Discovering your business objectives is the vendor’s key purpose

If your vendor uses words like “product, specification, function” you can be sure their culture is focused on producing a quality product.  As Seinfeld might say, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”  But savvy buyers realize that even quality products are better with great service.  Even if the product looks good, you may have a bad vendor if the:

  • Selection/conversation is a monologue versus dialogue
  • Monologue focuses on what the vendor’s product does

Of course you still have to make a technology selection.  (Does the vendor/product meet your needs?)  But you also have to be on the look out for nuances in the discussion.  About five years ago I was charged with making a vendor selection for communications services which we would use to create a new service offering.  After a comprehensive RFP process we whittled the list from ten companies to two — AT&T and Sprint.  The products themselves were commodities and had few differences in price, functionality, and quality.  One vendor asked “why” we were planning to use the service and “how” we envisioned delivering value to our customers.  Guess which vendor won the business?  Guess which vendor acted like a partner in our success?  The other vendor?  They never really understood the concept even with repeated prompting.  (Drop me a note if you want to know the winner.)

The pivot point is that given the choice between companies with similar capabilities, choose the company that has your interests as their goal.  Choose the company that is willing to demonstrate that commitment over and over again.  Many companies can compete with one another on an equal footing with regard to technology.  Few companies beat the company that is focused on, engaged in, and dedicated to their customers’ success.

How do you tell if you’ve selected a customer-focused company?

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Posted in Customer Service, How to Deliver Customer Service, Influential Factors - Helpful, The Right Kind of Customer Service

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Third World or Disney World?

Posted on 5 November 2009 by | Leave a comment

I urge you to read an article titled “At the Base of the Pyramid”.  I disagree with much of it, but I guarantee a thought-provoking article.

For instance:

  • P&G states that “the real hurdle to cross when introducing a new product, in any market, is helping the consumer understand the benefit of doing something in a different way.”
  • Consumers “haven’t been conditioned to think that the products being offered are something one would even buy.” Sounds like consumers need a ringing bell to jump-start their Pavlovian response into purchasing bliss.
  • Marketers “must make the idea of paying money for the products seem natural, and they must induce consumers to fit those goods into their long-held routines.”

What?!

The fact that companies can induce customers into making a purchase is part of what makes capitalism work, but it also plays a part (think fast food) in why 18.9% of adults in the healthiest state (Colorado) are clinically obese.  Can slick marketing increase sales?  Sure, but at what cost?  Instead:

  • Make products valuable to consumers so paying is natural.  Then there will be no need to induce them to purchase.
  • Start with the consumer and deliver a product that meets a need.  That alone should provide the foundation for a business plan.

The pivot point is that we will all be better off if we identify what consumers need, versus what we can get them to pay for.  It doesn’t matter whether the market is the Third World or Disney World.

(Towards the end of the article you’ll notice that the author’s intent is to encourage (and enlist) community support when developing a market.  Part of that development is to:  see which products might be useful, determine which ones would be profitable to ultimately answer the question of which products consumers will value.  Now that makes sense!)

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Posted in Influential Factors - Harmful, Influential Factors - Helpful, Uncategorized

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