My thought was to send him a note and let him know that as I had read his email on a phone, that much detail was too much to manage on such a small screen and the fact that I care enough to respond should have been a happy event. Not an opportunity to point out where I had made a mistake.  I also mused on what this said about his management style when he was so quick to correct a total stranger from whom he wanted help.  But as I went to hit send, I wondered, what would this accomplish?  Best case he would take my words to heart, not be so quick to judge and take care of people more in the future.  But is that really likely?  I decided that it wasn’t.  So now I have a bad feeling about this individual and he’ll never know.  I did not share the experience with the person who got his resume from me so it will probably never amount to anything, but if I’m ever called on to deal with him, it won’t be something I want to do.

So the point here is, think about your email responses before you make them.  If you send someone an email, be sure that on whatever device they have they can get the salient points.  Be sure it isn’t going to take too much time to get to those points and that the points are what they need right away.  At some level leaving some questions to later means the person will start a dialogue with you to get the answers and isn’t that what you want any way?

Also, if someone misses something or makes a mistake, don’t automatically forward your original message with the information highlighted unless you want the other person to feel bad.  Instead, think of a couple scenarios where they would have missed it to help yourself feel good and answer it again.  Maybe add a little more detail or phrase it differently.   I laughed at Disney when the trainer told us the most common question people ask on Main St. is what time is the 3:30 parade?  While the question itself sounds stupid, we all know of a ton of situations where something is scheduled for a specific time and doesn’t happen then.  Also, if you aren’t where the parade begins, you aren’t really asking when it begins, you are asking when it will go by the space you are standing in.  The trainer went further to say the staff are all trained to answer the intent of the question with when the parade will go by the spot where they are and then also to refer people to great places to be able to see, or where there are seats, or other helpful hints.  No one feels stupid – in fact, it is part of a better experience.

So today I didn’t send the two paragraph response putting this person in his place for being obnoxious.  But it also made me think more about the emails I did send this morning and how they might be taken.  Just re-reading an email before hitting send can make all the difference.

First, when going into a meeting, turn off your cell phone.  That’s an easy thing and no one should have to be reminded.  Take out your pen, and put your cell phone on vibrate.

Next, if you are in a public place, put your cell phone on vibrate.  The meeting we were having was in a small coffee shop so when the person at the next table received a phone call.  It rang so loud we all jumped.

When you answer the phone, think about the people around you.  I can’t tell you how many conversations I can recount to you from the last week of paying attention that were people just talking loudly on their cell phones.  I’m tempted to start commenting – wouldn’t the person on the phone be surprised?!

Keep conversations short when you are in public.  In you are in line somewhere or at a restaurant, keep it short. It is frustrating when you are holding up the world so you can finish your conversation.  And exactly how is a company suppose to provide you customer service if you are on the phone the whole time?

Be conscious of when you check your phone during a conversation with someone else.  If you know there’s an important call coming in that you have to take, warn the person up front.  If the phone rings and it might be a school or other issue, let the person know you have to check for that reason.  Otherwise, focus on the person in front of you and let the phone go for awhile.

And just to invoke a little common sense, if it would be reasonable for another person to say, “shhhh” to you in that location, don’t take a phone call. The library, a church, a lobby of an office, a movie theater, a quiet restaurant, etc. are all places we would shush you so do it yourself!

The bottom line here is as the face of your company, your behavior speaks volumes about who you are and what your company is about.  If you are rude with your phone, regardless of your intentions, your company will be judged that way.  If you take my call and are in public, I will wonder who can hear what we’re saying and how conscience you are of confidentiality.  If you infringe on my lunch or meeting with your phone, I will assume you are insensitive and don’t care about other people.  Not the right messages, right?

1. If you find something interesting, stick your whole face in to really investigate it. Sometimes you will be unhappy with what gets on your nose, but more often it is something fascinating!

2. Dream big – some day you really might catch the bunny if you just stick to it and believe you can.

3. Leave your mark in many places (I know, this is gross but go with me) –  the more people who know you were there the better!

4.  Move quickly and decisively. Don’t dilly dally around.

5. If you come to a decision point, consult those you need to and make a quick decision. Even if you don’t get to go the way you want, moving forward is better than standing still.

6. Following the same course on a regular basis is fine but periodically, change it up! Going out of your comfort zone may yield new things to experience (see #1).

7. If there is something new on your route, it is important to notice, investigate (again, see #1) and know what it is about. Knowing your market is key.

8. If someone new comes along, greet them as a friend first. Offer to play, be nice, show you are a good guy. You never know what they have to offer.

9. If someone else is walking as well, be sure you keep up. Getting left behind isn’t fun – and you may have to drag your cohorts with you to do it.

10. Always clean up your messes. It isn’t right to leave them and they may end up in someone else’s space which is not being a good neighbor.

11. Just because the big dogs walked there, doesn’t mean you have to as well. Sometimes it is good to know where they went and go somewhere else. Why try to compete with that?

T’was the week before Christmas and worry I did.
How to get it all done? Websites, plans and a bid!
The phones were still ringing and email came in.
The tweets and the posts only add to the din.

Most people had chosen to take the day off.
But I own a small business, so to that I just scoff.
I continued to work, to create and to plan.
Who could get it all done? Well clearly I can!

When out in the street there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Up the stairs, down the hall I flew like a flash.
Out the door I did go, with the dog I did dash.

The sun glinting off the new-fallen snow
And my breath hung in the air when I called out a “yo!”
Because what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a sparkly person who made marketing a career.

With her tools at the ready, she clearly had the scoop,
I knew in a moment she was with The Pedestal Group.
She listened intently, her face quite serious.
And understood my stress without creating a fuss.

Before I could blink she had cleaned up the place!
The marketing was handled, the projects on pace!
She filled in the details, and with a smile so merry,
She did everything that was needed and necessary.

We sat down together and drew up our plan
To meet the needs in aught 12 – a full year span.
We detailed out each step and made sure it was right.
And made sure there was wiggle room – use it I might.

And with that she departed, a smile on her face.
Knowing I would now go on to my home base.
Secure in the knowledge that things were complete.
To get some hot chocolate and put up my feet.

As I got in the car and turned onto the street,
I turned on the radio and got down to the beat.
Then I saw I had a note with one last goal to set -
Plan now for next year, and make it the best one yet!

Sorry for the short post today, but I’m keeping it simple!

Imagine for a moment what he has to accomplish.  His immediate customers are his residents and they have to be comfortable, safe, taken care of and be able to live their lives the way they choose. But then, you also have to figure in his service to their families because as we age more and more people are involved in our care. In addition, you have the community and the Masons who all have opinions on what he’s doing and how. He has to answer the cold, financial questions about caring for our older population as well as manage the real caring that goes on. And THEN he has to dream of the future and set the strategic vision for the organization.

So other than a huge respect and admiration for Jay, what’s the point Kath?  Well, in your business, how much is your culture on purpose and how much has happened by accident?  By nature Jay is an engaging and thoughtful person. It is part of why he has the job he does. But you have characteristics that are why you have your job as well.  Do you remember what they are?  Do you review customer interactions in the context of how your culture is being communicated?  Not to belabor the point, but for instance. If Jay asked one of his residents to help another, they would do so because that is the culture he has built among his customers.  If you called a client and asked them to help another client, would they agree?  Are you enough of a part of their organization that you could do that?

Or think about this. Each time you pick up the phone, what are you thinking?  ”I don’t have time for this call” or “What does the caller ID tell me?” or “Cool! Who could this be?”.  You know there are people out there that say, “cool! I have YOU on the phone”.  Do you give that feeling to your customers?  Or do they hear, the caller ID told me it is you – what do you want?

Culture has to be deliberate and it carries through to more than just your internal team especially if you are a small business.  Your customers should be able to describe your culture and have it match your strategic goals. Just like Jay’s.

I blew it off and went about my day but ran into several people (meaning more than 2) talking about their customers. They weren’t talking about how smart they are, or what they do right. (I know, you’re shocked) It was all about what these people were screwing up on a daily basis. And it got me thinking about AT&T. Is that how I’m seen as an AT&T customer by them? They haven’t spoken to me in over a year. These people I was talking to had more recently spoken with their customers and yet their opinion was also extremely negative.

I’ll tell you right now why I work with micro businesses. There aren’t people anywhere in the world more interesting than micro business owners. They all have a unique story on how they got started and have fascinating backgrounds. In addition, they are on the whole a really nice bunch of people because they have to do everything themselves so if you can actually help them, they are very appreciative. And they don’t have a lot of the baggage that comes with other groups of people. So if you ask me to tell you about my customers, get comfy. Or set a timer. Because I have a ball sharing their business successes with others.

So now I ask you – how do you describe your clients? What words do you use in your head as well as to others? If I ran into you at the coffee shop and asked how things are going, would you have a positive story to tell or a negative? If all these answers aren’t positive, make some phone calls. Check in with your clients and see what’s going on. I think you will find there’s a reason you work with the people you do and you’ll change your tune. Now if we could just get AT&T to stop advertising on SyFy……

What do you mean, Kath? Well, let’s say you are frustrated that your employees don’t innovate enough. Rather than look at it for the seven hundredth time as how to “fix” the employees, take a look at yourself. Do you always come up with a bunch of ideas? Is it possible your employees feel like they don’t have to because you will? Or, if they do come up with ideas, do you always have a better one? (I worked for her – it wasn’t her fault, she really did have better ideas. But WOW was that tough on people trying to help!) Maybe it is time to let someone else have the floor even if the idea isn’t the absolute best so they can feel they contributed. Then the next time it isn’t a blow to the ego but a teaming up of ideas.

Or, maybe the problem is someone you work with (or live with) NEVER does a particular thing you want them to do. Have you bothered to find out why not? Maybe there’s a reason. It is possible they just hate doing it which then becomes a question of how badly you want it done by that person. But maybe the problem is how you are asking.

A friend of mine has a great exercise he does with groups. He gives you a piece of paper with a whole bunch of random letters on it like this:

Then he says, “cross out ten letters”. So you dutifully cross out 10 letters. Except if you look at it, the phrase, ” ten letters” is there.

And when you get it right, what’s left is something meaningful. In this case “givers gain” because this was for a BNI meeting and that is their slogan.

The point is, here is a super straight forward directive that actually isn’t.

So I encourage you to take a week and look at your problems with a fresh eye. Ask yourself, where am I in this problem?

It is time to go back and make sure the rest of the world can talk to us, use our products and follow what we are saying.  There is no reason in the world to use your business short hand with customers unless they have been down this road before.  Don’t expect them to know WHY your product does what it does.  Did you know if you put in your documentation a couple different ways people use your product they might find another reason to use your product and it becomes even more indispensable?  Gold!

And if you are thinking, no one reads the documentation, think again.  I bought a baking stone from Pampered Chef years ago.  It came with this stand that was a little weird but worked to keep the hot stone high off the counter so I didn’t scorch my counter when I used it.  I was at a friend’s house and she had the same stone.  Only her stand was actually a rack – you put under the stone so you have handles to put it in the oven and take it out.  How did she know to use it that way? She read the directions.  Genius.   Guess what I do now when I buy cookware!

So sit down and think about how you would explain what you do with a client to your mother, or your grandfather or someone who doesn’t know it.  They love you and want to understand so there’s no judgment or  grumpy.  Then recognize that if you define a jargony term for me and I get to use it later as if I know it, I get an ego boost. Bonus!  Next time you are with a new client, tell them WHY your product or service does what it does, tell them HOW they interact with it, and make sure they know what they need to know.  You’ll keep customers longer, I promise.

And by the way – I still use my handles as a stand.  And so does my friend now!

With this particular client, it is extremely rare for him to call and not get me.  Or if I can’t answer right then, he hears back pretty quickly.  So when he didn’t get me and he needed help, he immediately went to thinking I wasn’t available.  And actually, this example isn’t as far out as it sounds.  I often get voice mails at the end of the day that start, “you’re probably gone for the day” and it may only be 4:30.

So, take a look at your process.  What are those norms customers come to expect?   Pay close attention to those things you pride yourself on – fast turn around, responsiveness, etc.  What if you have a situation where your normal response isn’t possible?  Can you do something to let the customer know everything is okay but in this one instance things are different?

In my case I promised the client if I were going on vacation he would get notice.  In fact, all my clients would.  In the past, I’ve been able to manage the calls quickly and still enjoyed my vacation so that works too.  But it was really important that we have that conversation so he is confident he can get help when he needs it.  What confidence do you need to ensure?

A friend of mine sent an email to someone and said something sarcastic. It is difficult to be sarcastic in email but in her head, it was hilarious.  When it was received, the person took it at face value – in their head they weren’t being sarcastic. And the ensuing conversation was all kinds of trouble for no reason.  In fact, when I was shown the email I immediately pointed out the first person was being sarcastic and suddenly the receiver felt very foolish.  Her reason was she was busy and stressed at work when she read it, so she read it from her point of view – in her voice.

So what’s the point?  Well, when you read an email from someone you know, read it in their voice if you can.  It will help interpret things so much better.  If you don’t know the person, assume formality. There’s nothing worse than thinking someone is joking when they aren’t.  Awkward!   And when writing an email, keep in mind the person receiving it won’t start in your voice – they start in theirs.  So even if they know you well, they may not think about that right off.  Since I’ve had my revelation I have sent a couple emails with instructions at the top to read it as if I was saying it.  The feedback has been hilarious – people said the emails got much funnier because I am funny. I’m not even there!

What other tips do you have in our digital media world to help people avoid this kind of problem?

Obviously, setting expectations up front is key.  Everyone should understand, in writing, what is going to happen.  But as the videos show, clients often know the rules and yet try to change the game after the fact.  I think the restaurant is the best example.  The prices were stated on the menu, the couple ate and enjoyed what they ordered, but now want to negotiate down the price.  At the end, they finally agree to pay what they should but with the expectation that they learn how to make the food at home.  For those of us who trade time for money, this isn’t as funny a video as it should be.  Even without the tools, training and experience, the client wants to bring the service “in house”.

So what can you do to prevent THIS?  You set expectations at the beginning, but the real key I think here is to make sure you continue to sell your client on what you bring to the table.  If something looks easy, the client assumes it is.  It is a delicate balance but it is critical to get it right. Some things that can help:

Never talk about the value of your service being tied to your own expenses. Recently I had someone tell me I had to appreciate her costs because she had 5 people on staff. Bottom line, not my problem. If it isn’t worth what you are charging me for the value I receive, I’ll negotiate – and negotiate hard.  For instance, did all 5 people actually touch MY project?

What you do isn’t “easy” or “simple”.  It is cake for me to re-route email into a folder in Outlook through a rule.  I’ve done it a million times. It is a simple task because I’ve done it as many times as I have, I use rules all the time to help keep myself organized, and I spent the time to figure out how to make that work.  I’m not saying it is brain surgery, but at the same time the PROCESS to achieve the result is simple – the RESULT it achieves is not.  Meaning, if I create a rule for a client and route email directly so she doesn’t have to manage 20-100 emails a day, how much time have I given her back each day?  Isn’t that worth the $15 it would cost?  Seems like a no-brainer.  But I have to make sure she understands that it is the RESULT that is important – not how simple or easy it was to get there.

The hardest one – recognize that for every client who negotiates, you can get one that understands your value.  The hair salon client in the video should either get a haircut and that’s it or kicked out. She clearly has no business in that chair or has some reason to believe it is reasonable to negotiate like that. The stylist doesn’t care if her husband likes highlights and it isn’t his job to worry about it.  He needs to get clients who appreciate what he does and how he does it versus someone who would treat him like that. A very polite, “I’ll be happy to take care of you, but prices are not negotiable” should end the discussion.  By negotiating, you’ve set yourself up for all kinds of headaches. Because people like that LOVE to tell their friends about the “great deal” they got.  And then you get more clients like them.  Go for the ones that get what you do.

So have a laugh, and then look at your clients to see which ones could have segments on this video themselves.  If you have any, it is time to start phasing them out.  Do a little negotiating yourself!

But obviously fun camera stunts is not the point.  The point is, from the camera’s point of view, the activity seems totally different.  The hula-hooper (we’ll just make that a word) had no idea the video would look the way it does. Even if she did, she had to really stop and think what it would look like.  My hunch is they expected it to make a person really dizzy. (But, kudos for even considering there is another perspective!)  So, how can you attach a camera to the other side of your interactions?  Do you have someone you can trust to give you that kind of feedback?  Someone who has experienced your customer interaction from the other side that could really show you what it looks like?

I’m also thinking about this because I know a business owner who is making mistakes that are from a lack of sitting in the other person’s shoes. She is reacting too fast and not paying attention to the details giving off a vibe that she really doesn’t care. Also her responses are very canned so she gives the impression she doesn’t want the business. It is frustrating to watch because she isn’t like that – she’s really caring and is just overly excited to get the business. So I have to find a way to sit her down and talk to her about these problems without hurting her feelings. Personally I would like to see her succeed but I don’t have any vested interest in her business. If she takes the discussion well, she can learn from it.  If not, well, we’ll have some weird interactions at some networking events but otherwise it won’t bother me.  But at the same time it will take time out of my day to do something that isn’t pleasant and may hurt her feelings. So I’m in a quandary.

So, rather than be this individual and put me in this position with you (please don’t!) – I ask you:  What have you done lately to put yourself in place of your customers?  Have you done the little things like called yourself when you aren’t there?  If it rings 18 times while it forwards to multiple numbers I will guarantee you are losing calls. Or, if your voice mail goes on forever, people give up.  In this cell phone world, people make calls as they are walking into meetings and have people staring at them waiting for them to get done!  (If you have to leave a bunch of information at the beginning of your message, start it with the key to skip the message.)  Have you filled out your forms, or given yourself a proposal?  What information do you really want and need?  Make that easy.  Have you tried to file your emails and then look them up by subject?  Blank subjects or subjects that aren’t related to something specific (i.e. “Thought you might be interested” vs. “Interesting article on Widgets”) means if the person wants to go back and pull that out they have a hard time.

If you have a coworker, use them to walk through your processes as a client.  Have them ask “why” you are doing everything you are doing.  Most things should be self-evident but if it isn’t, that’s when you have to question.  Because the key to remember is the customer, like the camera, sees the hula-hooper going around it vs. the other way around!

Because we get too much email right now.  The average person takes 30-60 seconds reading any given email. If you receive just 60 emails, you’ve spent an hour on that just cognitively processing them.  If you have to open and read, that time goes up.  How much time do you suppose you spend reading email?

So these gentlemen have tried to come up with a list of rules for email to help streamline the process. For instance, they both recommend using “EOM” (end of message) at the end of subject lines if that’s all there is to an email.  Imagine if you got four emails that had subjects with enough information in them that you got the information you needed, and then it said EOM so you knew you didn’t have to open them.  Cool, huh?

How about another one – NNTR (no need to reply).  It would no longer be necessary to send an “LOL” or a “Great!” back on something because the person indicated they weren’t expecting a reply.  In fact, they went to the trouble of telling you NOT to respond.  Nice.

In Seth’s list, his final question is genius – if you had to spend 42 cents to send the exact same message, would you?  Can you imagine how many fewer messages we would receive if everyone used that as a gauge?

My favorite idea from Chris is to offer multiple choice answers rather than open ended questions.  If you need one of four-six responses, list those for the person so they could respond with “A” or “E” rather than try to guess what you want to hear with a big long answer.

So stop and think before you send your next email.  Are the people receiving it going to want or need it?  Should I cut down on the CC list?  Is there anything in the email that shouldn’t be forwarded to other people (keep those issues to phone)?  Am I managing this email or just pushing it like a piece of paper out the door? If I’m not managing it, does that mean I’m wasting the other person’s time?   Let’s make email more productive!

EOM

So what?  Well, if your marketing to a group of “nobodies”, you have an opportunity to really make them feel special.  It isn’t that no one is buying books anymore, it is just that I’m unique in that I don’t have an eReader so I want a regular book.  The bookstores can appeal to me and bring me in – make me feel special.  In their eyes, I’m “better” than the non-book-buying person so they can say so.  They track every one of my purchases through my frequent shopper account so USE THAT INFORMATION.

There are many industries selling to “nobodies”.  Make them a niche, give them special privileges including perks for bringing along non-nobodies and see what happens.  If you can turn your nobodies into somebodies in your business, they will stay with you for life.  After all, no one wants to be a nobody!