By 
A couple of years ago, I was standing in an unacceptably long line, waiting to pay for my purchase at Borders. I counted ten people in front of me, six people behind me, one person working a registry, and a manager who was playing the role of a disengaged observer. After paying for my purchase, I asked if I could talk to him. He accepted.
Anticipating a tirade, he began to apologize for the staffing shortage, then added the following: “You know, sir, you really shouldn’t even be working today.” He wanted to yell, scream or throw something, but he was too stunned to express ANY emotion. I stared at him in disbelief for about five seconds and then asked the following:
“Sir, I’m in the business of helping executives, entrepreneurs and companies create and sustain success. I’m always interested in the changing competitive environment and the pressure it puts on established businesses. Can I ask you a couple of questions?” I could see the rush of blood return to his face as she replied, “Yes, of course.”
I continued: “If I can buy this book (pointing to my purchase) for 20 or 30 percent less money on Amazon, why should I buy it here?” His response was, and this is no lie or exaggeration, “Personal Service.” I asked him to explain to me what he meant by that. She looked at me like she had a third eye in the middle of her forehead and said, “Why don’t you return your book and buy it on Amazon?”
Now there is personal service.
Continuing: One of the things I DO (or rather, DO) like about this chain is the kiosks they have for customers to “self-search” for books. Sometimes I’m not quite sure of a title or author, and my search requires multiple entries. Doing it myself is more convenient than giving information over and over again to a store clerk. A couple of months ago, I was shopping for a specific book at Borders itself and used a newsstand to find my book. Once I finished my search, I realized that I didn’t have a pencil to write down the information. Sitting next to me, a store clerk was busy copying something from a printed report onto another sheet of paper. I leaned over and asked, “Excuse me. It seems I forgot to bring a pencil. Do you have one I could borrow?” He raised his head, looked at me with disdain and just said “no”. I waited for a minute, hoping, “No, but I’ll go get you one.” Or “No, I’m in the middle of something. If you can wait a minute, I’ll find you one.” All I got was a very terse “no.”
I didn’t keep my cool so well this time. I stood up, looked at him, waved my arms and asked out loud, “Is that it?” He looked at me as I continued, “A paying customer needs a pencil and instead of bringing him one, the best thing he can do is NO.”
He said nothing. I ran to the cash register and grabbed two pencils. The tellers were laughing, probably because of my histrionics. I went back to my kiosk, handed the guy one of them, and said, “Here’s a pencil. When the next person asks for one, you can respond as if you value their business, rather than the way you did.” He took the pencil without even raising his head or responding verbally.
In case you missed the recent Borders print stories, here’s the short version: They’re dead! They have stopped paying publishers for books. Most retail experts estimate that within 90 days, its doors will be closed for good. Most of these same experts, however, cite “strategy” as the reason for their demise. They were always “a day late and a dollar short” in anticipating and responding to competitive changes. While that explanation is true, it is insufficient.
For any business to be successful, a strong strategy must be complemented by violent execution. I choose the word “violent” intentionally. Successful execution must be impatient, intense, enthusiastic, and obsessive. You should SHOUT the following to customers: “We covet (the word ‘want’ just isn’t strong enough) your business and we intend to prove it!” Too many people at Borders were “mailing in” their effort.
One of my favorite quotes is: “A fish rots from the head.” I never met the CEO of him, but I wonder…
On the contrary… we have Nordstrom.
Several years ago I had just bought a suit at Nordstrom: a spectacular dark brown Hart, Schaffner and Marx Gold Trumpeter.
It was my first time wearing this suit and I had just finished admiring myself in the bathroom mirror. Yes, I looked good! Absorbed and distracted by my own stupidity, I went into my garage to get into my SUV and tore a hose off the rear windshield wiper. No one was around to blame. I know; Look!
I called my salesman, Rudolph Ruiz, and asked if there could be a way for his tailor to re-weave the material in some way so that the tear would be less obvious. He asked me to bring the suit to take a look at it.
A few days later, I left the suit. Nordstrom’s tailor later determined that his condition was irrevocable. Rudolph called me with the bad news, added that he had a workaround, and asked me to come by to discuss it. He kept asking me what I had in mind until I got to Nordstrom and revealed a selection of suits that he said he could choose a replacement from, for FREE!
I was speechless. Nordstrom had no complicity in my stupidity, and yet my salesperson offered me a replacement, for free! I considered the alternatives he had selected for me, which included a $1,200 Joseph Abboud and a Hickey-Freeman, made my selection, and got out before Rudolph changed his mind.
Nordstrom gets it!
Here’s the real deal:
If you are a CEO or if you work for a CEO, you are paid to create value for your constituents/stakeholders. That’s job #1. Your primary constituents are your company’s paying customers; they pay your salary. Your company is simply a transfer mechanism. We developed the following simple seven-step process to help customers do just that:
* Identify your company’s target customers
* Discern the dimensions of value that require
* Qualify/quantify those dimensions with performance categories and metrics
* Carry out
* Extent
* Develop and implement corrective actions to fill performance gaps
*Start again
Customer satisfaction is a never-ending process. Today’s competitive advantage is tomorrow’s competitive requirement. Tomorrow’s competitive requirement is tomorrow’s competitive insufficiency. Competitive strategy and ruthless execution are two sides of the same competitive coin.
Move!
Copyright 2011 Rand Golletz. All rights reserved.