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I was talking to a client last week who is worried.  His employees have let standards slip in the speed with which they get back to customers.  It’s a little thing – but one he needs to address.  Here’s a recent post on how the little things can be important.

I was reminded of my client’s issue this morning when the doorbell rang.  It was Stephen the postman with a package.  I wasn’t on a call so I opened the door and we had a quick friendly chat.  He mentioned that he had seen the windows open so he knew I was inside.

Do you see what he did?  He knew that I’d prefer to take the package off him rather than have to drive to the depot 3 miles away to collect it.  He had the initiative to see the open windows and judge that I might be inside.  And he took the time to ring the bell and see if I’d answer.

Now he’ll probably get no pay increase for that attitude.  He’ll probably get no pat on the back from his employer.  He just wants to do a good job.  He’s internally motivated.

Would it help how your company is viewed by your customers if all of your employees were acting like Stephen?  If you’re interested in uncovering more about what your employees are thinking and what could improve their performance then get in touch.  It might be that an employee survey is warranted – or perhaps an interactive workshop.  But let’s talk and we can explore further.

In my business I take a close look at my financial numbers on (at least) a monthly basis.  Now I decided recently that I’d like to be able to finalise my monthly accounts on the 1^st of the month.  There’s no problem getting most of the information necessary for that – including stuff like receipts, online access to my business bank account, etc.  The one missing piece is my business credit card – the statement doesn’t arrive for a further week and I don’t have online access to the transactions.

Now I recently did get the hardcopy form which I need to fill out and return to the bank in order to get that online access.  And I’ll do so this month.  But it got me thinking…

Why should I have to fill out the form and get it to the bank (via post, fax, or scan+email)?  Now the cynics among you might say why doesn’t Brendan simply do the work rather than blogging about it!  Fair point.  And there’s also the possibility that a form is necessary because of legal financial regulation.

But there’s also the possibility that the bank simply wasn’t thinking of how it could make life easy for customers.  When a business customer is applying for a credit card would it take much to ask them if they want online access?

Is there anything that you could do right now to make life easier for your customers?  If there is – just do it.  And if you think there isn’t, or if you’re wondering if there is, be humble and just ask them!  Let me know if you want help asking them!

A large majority (80%) of Irish Garda (Police) stations reported just one crime or less per day in 2011. Now it is undoubtedly difficult to ascertain the precise number of crimes committed – as some proportion of crimes are inevitably unreported. But the low number of crimes reported has brought into focus the question of how many Garda stations are actually required.

Some argue that the low numbers of reported crime means that some of the Garda stations can be closed to help save money. Others argue the exact opposite – that the low numbers indicate successful policing – and also that many other offences that are not strictly classified as crimes also need to be dealt with by the Gardaí. Indeed the words of the 19th century British Prime Minister Robert Peel have been invoked as he claimed that “The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it”.

Now who is right? It’s hard to know isn’t it? The arguments from both sides are based on the same data. Data can be looked at through many lenses. Data can be manipulated. Data can be used selectively by those with a vested interest. And data can also be innocently misinterpreted.

What’s important to realise is that data is only one step along the path towards gaining an accurate understanding of an issue. Sometimes more extensive data is needed to explore additional angles. Sometimes objectivity is needed to remove vested interests from the debate.

If you want the objective truth, and you are grappling with how to gather and/or interpret data, get in touch and let’s see if I can help you.

Imagine if your doctor deliberately started scheduling appointments to be 5 minutes longer. Imagine if they actively facilitated email contact with you. Imagine if they were available for after-hours appointments without an emergency needing to have happened. Too good to be true?

This is exactly the approach being taken by a San Francisco doctor – Larry Shore. He is thinking of his patients as customers and he wants to make them happy. “Who are your customers? What do they want? Try to meet those needs” is his approach. This article provides more detail.

Of course there are extra costs incurred with this approach. But Shore aims to recoup the cost by getting his patients’ insurance companies to pay him more. He hopes they’ll do this as healthier patients will make less insurance claims.

Now you might think that his model isn’t feasible in other countries where people pay for doctor visits directly and/or where the government pays. But there is still something very refreshing about his outlook – one many businesses could benefit from adopting! He’s interested in his bottom line. But he also wants what’s best for his customers. And he’s trying to put together a system that works for all stakeholders.

Do you know who your customers are? Do you know what they want? Are you meeting those needs? If you can answer “Yes” to those 3 questions then well done! If not, then SurveyGuru can help you. Get in touch and we’ll take it from there!

Recently I ran a workshop for a group of people who are all considering starting their own businesses. The topic was “Exploring The Opportunity” and I was there to offer some insight into market research – what it is, why to do it, how to do it, etc.

All the attendees were planning to seek external funding to help support their efforts – funding that would in part depend on evidence of diligent (and promising) market research having been carried out.

During the lively workshop one woman asked me “What should I do?” She was wracked with indecision. She had her research goal clearly defined. She had her questionnaire designed. She had her target population clearly defined. She had all the contact information she needed for the people from whom she wanted answers. But she was stuck!

Why? She couldn’t decide what research methodology to use. Should she email them? Call them? Call to them? Pull them into a focus group?

Her question was a legitimate one – but it was as if she couldn’t bring herself to do anything until she knew the exact right thing to do. Does that ever happen to you? She was paralysed by analysis. And what happens then? Nothing. Indecision means a dead end – no momentum, no results from research to help guide you and, in her case, no funding.

With a few quick questions I was able to uncover that she had time on her hands and that a number of her targets had their businesses close to where she lived. So I recommended to her to call those particular people and ask if she could go talk to them. Now maybe they’d say no. Or maybe she’d talk to them but find out that she’d need more data from other people. But at least she’d be along the road, doing and learning – and building momentum.

Get in touch if you want help putting momentum into your market research efforts –whatever stage you are at.

Last week my wife and I went out for a meal one evening – we don’t do it too often but our daughter was heading off on a 3-week holiday and had offered to stay home that night to mind her younger brothers while she packed.

We strolled the streets of Kilkenny – a small city in the South East of Ireland where we live – wondering what restaurant we’d go to. Fortunately one of the benefits of a recession is that there is no need to make reservations mid-week! Anyway, we stopped outside one restaurant and looked at the menu. It was badly faded under its perspex cover. And because of that one thing we moved on – and the restaurant lost a potential sale.

First impressions count. It’s like how a single broken window in a building indicates to its viewers or inhabitants that it is being neglected. And neglect can cause a downward spiral. It is the same in a business. Of course the business-owner needs to keep an eye on the big things – and avoid their time being consumed by trivial tasks. But fixing the broken windows too is important. Do you know what your “broken window” is? Are you fixing the broken windows that come to your attention? Get in touch if you’d like help uncovering what broken windows your marketplace is seeing in your business.

I was designing an online customer satisfaction survey recently for a client – and I had included a question asking my client’s customers how they thought my client could improve. It’s a common question to ask in such surveys. Though its form can differ, its core purpose is always the same – to learn what can be done to improve the customer’s experience.

When I design a survey I always go over it with clients to get their reaction – they may have valid suggestions to make that improve the survey. When this particular client and I were reviewing the designed survey one of their team asked for that particular question about improvement to be removed! I of course asked why – they’re paying me for my judgement and I only make changes to a survey if the change will improve the survey. (On rare occasions a client overrules me but that’s a story for another day.) Anyway their answer really surprised me – “people will think that we think that we need to improve”!

Exactly! You want customers to honestly feel that you’re open to improvement. You want them to feel listened to. You want to avoid them thinking that you’re arrogant and that you take them for granted. You want them to feel valued. In asking such a question the glass isn’t half-full. It’s 100% full. The best companies in the world are the best companies in the world partly because they keep this attitude to the forefront of their thinking. Of course customers aren’t always right. But they should always be listened to – and humbly!

Thankfully my client took this on board and the question was retained. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss finding out how you can improve.

In mid-June my wife called her bank’s credit card services. The credit card was about to expire and the replacement had failed to arrive. We were about to leave on holidays for two weeks and she wanted to see if she could get the replacement before we set off. She waited impatiently on hold for 15 minutes before getting to talk to a human being. During that 15 minutes was she told where she was in the queue? No. Was she told what the typical expected hold-time was? No. She just got to listen over and over again to a cheap recording of boring music – interspersed with irritating and useless apologies for being kept waiting.

When she did eventually get to talk to someone she happened to mention the fact that she had been waiting for 15 minutes. And guess what the customer service representative said in reply? “Ah 15 isn’t bad – sure it can sometimes be 30 or 40!” Incredible? I suspect many of you actually have similar stories to tell. I hear far more complaints than compliments about the customer service that my friends and family experience.

But what about the customer satisfaction you deliver in your own business? Have you asked your customers whether they’re ever irritated and, if so, by what? Do you know what they want you to change? To do differently? To stop doing? And if you do know these answers – are you acting on them? Knowing but not acting is no better than not knowing. It may even be worse if your customers know you’ve asked them and then they fail to see any result. So go on – leave your fear and ego aside and hold up that mirror to your own business. You have the chance to improve what you do and how you do it. And how do you think that might affect your bottom line? Get in touch if you want to explore this further – I’d be glad to help you.

Joey Barton is a strongly-opinionated English footballer. He is also (in)famous for certain reasons – most recently for getting sent off in the last game of the season between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers. And it wasn’t just the sending off – before leaving the field of play he “embellished” things by kicking a player in the back of the leg and then attempted to head-butt another. He would have been advised to keep his head down for a while. But no – yesterday Joey once again took to twitter to pronounce on his own quality and the England squad for the Euros. My favourite tweet is this gem : “I am over qualified to pass judgement on this. Not only have a played in the Prem for 10yrs but I’ve played with and against most of them”.

So – what has this got to do with business? Simple : Joey Barton has a higher opinion of himself than others do. And the same occurs in business too. One American study from some years ago found that “80% of senior managers believe their company is doing an excellent job of serving its customers” whereas “only 8% of their customers agree”.

Joey also wondered on twitter yesterday why “people giving me loads about England saying “cant get in squad etc”. On ability I walk in the squad, on behaviour i don’t”. Ability is one thing. Personal behaviour is another. Maybe he should add performance into that mix!

Are you among the 72% of delusional managers? There is only one way to find out – listen to the voice of your customer! Get in touch if you want some guidance or help with this.