Imagine you sign up for a service which you believe will help you rent your place out for a week. You sign the papers, pay the invoice and find a tenant. Woo hoo! The renter goes through the same service you signed up for, and you feel a trustworthy agreement was made. Then you come home to damage beyond your wildest imagination. To make matters worse, you realize that nobody – not you, not the company through which the agreement was made – knows who this renter was. Fake information was used and you were left with a life turned upside down.

That’s what happened to a customer of AirBNB, and most people who heard this heartbreaking story of unwarranted destruction and devastation asked the same question: If this could happen, what the heck were those membership fees for? There were really no background checks, no security measures, nothing. As the customer pointed out, it was pretty much just like Craigslist with fees, but no warnings.

The micro (one person’s experience) became macro: if this could happen to one, could it happen to many?

And then there was a really thoughtful response from AirBNB. It was good – it shows thinking about the future. (Also, props to them for using a promoted tweet to spread the word – nice thinking!)

The customer, who is also a blogger, has been chronicling the experience in detail. The reply to the statement from AirBNB was honest. Basically – the feeling is: That’s nice. Happy you’re thinking about the future. But what about the micro here? It’s not over for this one customer who is putting a life back in order. I hope that AirBNB goes back to the micro intent here. Make it right for one AND all.

When micro doesn’t go macro

A few months ago, I wrote about my feelings of apathy for ADT. Well, they heard about it and got in touch. I heard from a customer service representative, had a service call, and my problems were solved. After a few years of frustration, a single blog post and a few tweets were all it took. Instead of the typical fee for a service call, they sent someone to fix what was installed incorrectly for no charge. Of course I was happy MY problem was solved. When the follow up call came, I said it was all fixed now (3+ years later!) and they went on their way. But I’ve wondered: what really changed!? Other customers are living what I lived with simply because it was too painful to do anything about it. They may not be bloggers or tweeters.

The micro AND the macro

There are times you need to step back and look at both sides of the coin. If ONE customer has an issue, it’s critical to realize it’s probably an issue MANY customers are having. What can you do to proactively address the issue?

At the same time, sometimes addressing the macro isn’t enough. You need to go back to the one customer, the one issue and ensure that it’s resolved.

How does your organization handle the one-off customer fires? Are they quickly extinguished and forgotten? When do you take the time to examine the macro of the issue? Complaints are a gift. Resolution is a prize. But only if you make it work for one and all.

Photo credit lucy_hill via Creative Commons

 

As humans, we like to fool ourselves. At best, it’s a way to be kind to ourselves (“It’s ok to eat this on vacation!”) and at worst a way to maintain excuses (“I’m too tired to exercise”). As business leaders, however, it can be the worst kind of risky. When you try to look at your own project, business, or even employees without a sharply tuned critical eye, you end up with a viewpoint that inevitably provides some data, but not necessarily the right kind.

I evaluate other organizations’ experiences every day. I work hard to maintain a true third-party perspective, because I know what happens when you’re on the inside looking further in. You make assumptions, based on history. You acknowledge success based on completing a project, whether it is working for your customers, or the business, or not. You hear what you want to hear from existing customers and employees, regardless of what they’re really trying to tell you. But I’m also realistic. We run businesses because we want to do it ourselves. We don’t need to hire an outside consultant for every little glitch. We are often our biggest critics, right? (If you just shouted, “that’s an excuse!” you’re catching on.)

Following are six ways I recommend to truly gain an outside perspective on your company:

1. Google It! It’s no secret to search yourself to see how others might see you. But what about your customers? Your competition? Your employees? Do a few different searches on a few different search engines to see how a prospect, a job seeker, or a blog reader might first gain an impression about you and your organization. Click through the links presented and ask yourself, “Is this putting our best foot forward?”
2. Mystery Shop Your Organization: Call into your business as a prospect. See what happens. Really listen and think of it as Acting with a capital A! Dive into your character, think about your motivation before you call. Then listen carefully and take notes. If you were actually that person, would you buy? Why or why not?
3. Gather Communications from the Last 30 Days: Take a critical eye and review your blog posts, your newsletter, your invoices and anything else you’ve sent to customers. Do they each represent your brand in the same way? Would you bother reading it if you hadn’t sent it?
4. Review Your Employee Interactions and Communications from the Last 14 Days: Within the last two weeks, have you dragged your employees into more than three meetings? Have you sent emails you now see were rude, curt, or unappreciative? How are they paid? Is it cold? Are there conflicting pieces of communication about your future, your vision or your plans? Employees are looking for a clear path. Make sure you’ve delivered that to them.
5. Call a Few Customers, Past and Present: The trick here is asking the right questions. Don’t ask “What could we have done to keep you?” It’s too open-ended and most of the time, we humans really don’t know! Ask “What did the competition offer that made it more attractive for you to leave?” Don’t make these calls about sales – make them about listening. And a cautionary note – it’s hard NOT to hear what you want to hear and it’s difficult (believe it or not) for customers to say what they REALLY think to you, especially if you’ve had a personal relationship. You will get the *partial* truth, at best.
6. Hire A Third Party: I know I said this isn’t always an option, but nothing can give you the gift of perspective faster. Even by taking the steps above, we’re still likely to read the communications with the voice in our head saying, “Oh that email wasn’t written well because that was the day when everything hit the fan and I was in a bad mood!” Or, seeing nothing wrong with the invoices we send because they are accurate and paid on time. That’s not the same as someone reviewing your experience from the customers’ perspective. Humans, it turns out, are tricky. We love to fool ourselves. So do yourself a favor and ask another human to be your eyes and ears when it matters most.

What do you think? When is it vital to bring in the outside perspective?

Photo Credit:  _moonpie

 

Yesterday, my friend ( and occasional foe, but that’s another story) Gini Dietrich blogged over at Spin Sucks about how Gary Vaynerchuk used a (misleading? misrepresented?) statistic to prove a point in his book The Thank You Economy. Let’s just say it caused QUITE the conversation. (And I’m not bitter because I had the guest post on the same day. Nope, not at all!)

I’ll let you investigate on your own and peruse the comments here.

One result of the conversation – some of which was outright bashing – was the subject himself, Gary Vaynerchuk, joining in the discussion and addressing the comments head-on. What was ultimately refreshing about it was his focus on learning, even when he had to repeat over and over that he both agreed with what most were saying AND he was sorry he upset anyone.

Feedback is something I’ve tackled in this blog and with clients. It’s never easy. Accepting feedback for what it is – a gift – is difficult.

Gary was gracious, sometimes frustrated, and always HUMAN. It was an excellent lesson in how to accept feedback, even when you don’t like what someone is saying. Here are a few lessons Gary taught all of us:

• Listen first.
  • While some commenters just wanted to join in the chorus and sing along with the Gary-bashing, there were at least kernels of truth in what they said. Gary patiently and repeatedly said “I learned from” or “Thank you…”
• It’s ok to ask questions.
  • In some cases, defending yourself is as simple as asking the question. “Did you read the whole chapter?” He asked these questions without resorting to ALL CAPITALS or other freaking! devices to show his frustration and immediately cause an uproar. They were simple, honest questions.
• Humans get frustrated.
  • After 122 comments (and counting) of many people saying the same thing, some of whom started by saying “I’m so sick of…” anyone might feel the heat. Gary expressed frustration but mostly turned it around by saying “I GET IT! I really do!”
• You can acknowledge missteps without admitting failure.
  • Some companies/leaders get so hung up on not wanting to join a conversation because it would be “admitting defeat.” Gary basically said he learned from this, but didn’t need to say he was WRONG with a capital W.

The basic lesson for all of us is to pace ourselves when responding to this type of feedback. I thought both Gini and Gary handled their parts of the conversation well. And I give Gary a lot of credit for just showing up!

Full Disclosure: I make no bones about being a fan of both of these people, as I mentioned in the comments of Gini’s post. I don’t receive anything from either of them, except for the ways they educate me!

Photo Credit: TheFemGeek

 

How many times are we asked these questions: What does success mean to you? How do you define it?

It’s not about money.

It’s not about fame.

Or is it?

For me, it’s about having a balance and feeling good and achieving goals and occasionally eating really, really good chocolate and drinking some fabulous wine with people who “get me,” after a day of doing something awesome and outside with my kids. But in this success dream, the kids are in bed.

But it’s tricky and elusive. And I’m still figuring out exactly what balance means. Or doesn’t mean. Or something.

Because with balance, comes too much responsibility. It’s not really balance at all, is it? It’s the shifting of tectonic plates. Every. Darn. Day.

Here are some of the things I’m currently behind on:

1. Oh, wait, first I have to find the library books that are due today.

2. I’m the worst room mother ever. I seriously don’t know what I was thinking when I volunteered. And so I’m behind in those duties. Teacher gifts, etc. are typically the to-do’s I think of at 4 am.

3. I haven’t made dinner in a long time. My husband, thank goodness, is a much better cook and makes us wonderful meals most nights. But I am not unaware of the looks I get when I say he is the cook. I am failing, apparently, at this spousal duty.

4. I have not reviewed and reconciled my business accounting in a while. I have a system for this. I’m just not always following it.

5. My office is too messy.

6. I should have lots of things for my business that I don’t have yet – a Facebook page (you’ll “like” me, right!?), a newsletter, some other things.

7. I haven’t seen some of my friends in way too long. And by “see,” I mean literally, with my own two eyes, look into their eyes, and not from an avatar. We are far-flung across the great swath of Illinois we mistakenly call “the Chicago suburbs” and the effort to see each other becomes too much. I think of them often, but can’t seem to make a date stick where a kid doesn’t get sick or a speaking gig magically happens after I’ve given up on the organizers.

8. I read, but not as much as I like. I have no excuse for this. It just doesn’t always happen.

9. I’m lucky enough to come from a big family and should see all them more often.

So why 9? Because #10 will occur to me somewhere between drifting to sleep and 6 a.m.

What does this have to do with success? When I really think about what I DO have time for, I realize I’m living my dream already.

• I spend a lot of time with my kids and my husband. It’s not all glamorous – there are many moments spent running around looking for shoes or baseball mitts, but they are mine. And I adore them. I see the little moments that lead to so many other things.
• I kick off work by 5 pretty much every day. Sometimes I’ll work after the kids are asleep, but for the most part I am off the clock early, which I love.
• I love my client work. I sometimes go overboard focusing on this instead of my business, but who could blame me? I work with nice people all over the country and we get to improve lives a little bit each day. I know that sounds grandiose and self-important. It is. I admit it.
• I have friends all over the world thanks to my tweets and posts and comments. This fact never ceases to amaze me.
• I live on a great block where waving to neighbors is really connecting with friends. We are part of a larger community that helps us connect with one another and raise our kids together and feel good about where we live. No small feat.

My success dream is still there – I have some things to do and still want to achieve more. But when I start going down the “oh no, I’m behind and I’m not successful” path, I can quickly realize I’m living the dream. Even on a sexy Saturday night when I’m toting around a laundry basket.

Photo Credits: alter1fo & Toban Black

 

1. What the heck is Empire Avenue and why are people I’ve never heard of buying my stock?

3. Why do some people you’ve met 10 times still act like they have no idea who you are when you meet them for the 11th time?

4.Don’t underestimate how awesome it is to have good neighbors. It’s pretty awesome.

5. The people who spend the majority of their time complaining about others are typically the ones who blame others for their misfortune instead of sucking it up and realizing they had something to do with it.

6. Those who claimed they “started with nothing” probably don’t know what nothing is. Nothing is not a stable family, college education and a roof over your head.

7. Generosity is an awesome trait. Don’t knock it and say someone’s weak because of it.

8. Look around every once in a while and take stock of how lucky you are.

9. There is no such thing as work/life balance. It’s a circus high-wire act pretty much every day. And that’s not just for working moms.

10. Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: Drifter Jen

 

Child abuse in any form is a horrid and pervasive issue. Kids every day are abused, exploited, neglected, trafficked, maimed, and worse. It’s not an easy thing to really WANT to be aware of, so the fact we’re talking about it at all is a milestone.

But, then what? Profile pictures turn back into our friends’ familiar faces, and we go on with our lives. There may be a few news stories and blogs, but then what?

Passion can make us crazy. The fact our lexicon includes the phrase “passion killing” implies some craziness. Passion about a cause like this one can do the same.

Every day, I think about how lucky my kids are. No, not because we’re the best parents (we’re not) or can grant all their material wishes (no way), but because they have a community of family, friends, neighbors and systems to support their growth in healthy ways. They worry about what treat they get after dinner and if I’ll let them watch tv, but their real concerns are minimal. They eat, sleep, learn, play and get loved every day. Not all kids are that lucky. If there’s ever an issue to break our collective heart, it’s child abuse and exploitation.

So…what outcome is this campaign seeking? I’ve wondered this and decided a few days ago to post a link to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children‘s donation site…. and encourage all of us to give. I know lots of people posted similar links, and it was because we felt compelled to do something aside from just “raising awareness.”

It’s not uncommon, however, to see this sort of thing happen, not just with a cause but also with a project, a plan, or a business objective. We humans are emotional creatures. We lock into an idea like “I’m against child abuse” or “I think this project would be cool” and we believe saying it enough or changing our picture will generate some sort of outcome. Before taking the NEXT step, whatever that is, consider the question, “what outcome will matter?” It’s amazing how many meetings you can stop dead in their tracks by asking the simple question, “Why are we doing this again?”

So, change your picture, discuss the campaign, and act. Part of why I wanted to explore this issue is because I’m hoping this blog will continue the conversation a little bit longer. It’s all about the outcome.

Have another favorite non-profit organization dedicated to this cause that could use some attention? Feel free to post the link in the comments.

 

Sound familiar?

The front end – the facade, the interactions, the content development, the client deliveries – are important. They’re sexy and fun and full of feedback for me. Yes, I’m a creature dependent on feedback. I thrive on the audience, the comments, the clients, the “people.”

Technology, in all its front-end glory, has a complicated and mysterious backdrop full of connections and equations that I don’t understand. I don’t understand most of it, but just enough to be dangerous. In other words, I’m no technologist, but I understand what is possible.

So I knew I had to act. But I just didn’t want to. I could keep focusing on the flashy front end that I love. I kept putting up with the somewhat insignificant but growing list of annoyances and improvements I wanted to make.

Finally, I decided to stop putting up with stuff. Take some of the time I dedicate to the front end deadlines and put that time and energy towards the back end.

It took longer than I expected to buff and shine the technology supporting this facade than I would have liked. By then, I had other obligations to attend to before I could test it all out. I had become accustomed to NOT writing often.

And then I heard from some of you. And it made me want to come back and reap the rewards of working on the not-so-sexy side of things.

The back-end of things – technology, processes, evaluations, planning, debriefs, laundry, scheduling, etc. – is not sexy or fun. It’s not what we put on resumes, discuss at cocktail parties or share in blogs. We don’t get excited or passionate about what maintenance does for us or our clients or customers.

But trust me, it’s worth it.

So I’m back after client work, business travels and an extremely relaxing vacation with my husband. I have a renewed commitment to maintenance. It’s not exciting or exhilarating, but it’s important.

So help me out. What are some areas of maintenance or “back end” items you struggle with? How do you get motivated?

And thanks for sticking around.  The relationships I’ve built here are motivation in themselves.

(Photo credit: GogDog)

 

1. The world continues to revolve, even when you are lazing away in a hammock snuggling with your sons.

2. Stepping away provides perspective you cannot get any other way. Period.

3. Family and time with the people you love is more energizing than caffeine, deadlines or big fancy events.

I’m back with a clear head and excited about what’s next. Hope you have grabbed a few days with the people you love this summer. You still have time.

 

YOU, yes you, have been supportive, funny, demanding and awesomely honest with me this year, and I thank you for all of it.

• I feel lucky every day.
• I am better/worse at this than I expected. (This depends on the day!)
• My clients rock. I mean, really, truly rock in a way that I can connect with and support.
• I am not where I want to be, but I am further than I thought.
• This journey is worth the fight. The destination is now.
• Hip hop, jazz, neo-folk and classical music are the necessary fuel for my workday. And show tunes punctuate in all the right places (see title).
• Getting outside once a day is absolutely necessary, even with deadlines.
• When people tell me they don’t understand social media, I feel incredibly blessed to have created rich relationships through it.
• It gets better every day, although some days are better than others.
• A work in progress is a fine description – and one I plan on labeling me forever.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me, and thank you for all the tremendous support. Here’s to Year 2!

 

I used to laugh when I heard people say things like this. “What do you mean you’re in your own way?” I’d chuckle, shrugging my shoulders at the very idea of it.

Now, though, I feel like the poster child. This week, I fell behind in some important things (like blog writing) and had a mini-working-mom-I-CAN’T-TAKE-IT meltdown. Why? Because I’m getting in my own way. I’m taking on too much and relaxing too little and pretty good at making excuses about why it’s like that.

I’m doing a lot of analysis lately. That’s not unusual – I spend the majority of my time with clients analyzing processes, web sites, communications and strategies. But lately I’ve been using those same techniques to analyze how I’m doing things. Can I make it better? How about more efficient? Am I making things more difficult than they need to be?

The answers? Yes. Yes. And YES!

One technique I’ve used is tracking my time for everything. It’s amazing how aware this makes me. If I drift or wander or get distracted, I see that little timer telling me it’s time to focus. I’ve also taken to a simple review at the end of the day. What went well? What didn’t? What did I learn? And a big one: What will I do differently next time?

Sometimes those answers are hard to read. But I’m learning. One big a ha – I let interruptions get the best of me. Seems so obvious now, but I prioritize others who happen to get my attention IMMEDIATELY, with no analysis of priority or thought. It’s challenging – but I’m getting better. I also am pretty darn good at beating myself up. I know this is common, too, and I in no way try to be a martyr. I get in my way when I allow that voice inside to say things like: “why didn’t you learn this the first time!?” Learning is a journey, not a destination.

I’m a lucky gal – I have friends, family, and all you amazing people to support me and help me grow. Guess who gets in the way?

Yep. That poster child again.

So why am I writing about this on a blog supposedly focused on customer experience? Because it happens to all of us. And I’d like some help removing the obstacle in front of me labeled “ME.”