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My mother turns 90 next week.  I’m bringing her to a concert in the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

 

The online booking form included the question : “Would you like to receive details as to events… by Email”.  “Yes” and “No” were available from a pull-down menu – but neither was pre-selected.  However it was necessary to answer the question before proceeding.

 

That was an approach I hadn’t seen before.  The Concert Hall wants its customers to join its email list but there is no cheeky default “Yes” that needed to be de-selected.

 

You’re seeing this blog because you’ve chosen to view it.  But have you ever been added to the email list of a product or service provider without giving your permission?  Or because you neglected to uncheck that little box in the bottom of an opt-in page that exhorted you to “click here if you do not want to receive emails”?

 

Was it water off a duck’s back or did it bug you as much as it bugs me?  For example, I’d love if those check boxes had to be left unchecked by default!

 

And on the flip-side – have you ever added anyone to your own email list without their prior agreement?

 

This topic of emails and permissions comes up a lot with my clients when we’re considering using an online survey as a research tool.

 

It is important to avoid spamming people.  (I just typed spam into google and there were 814,000,000 results.) And it’s desirable to avoid annoying people.  But you won’t go too far wrong if you just avoid doing to others what you don’t want done to you!

 

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I get too many emails. Now most days I do empty my in-tray – but I only manage to do that because I’m filing the emails in a series of sub-folders. And to be honest there are some sub-folders, e.g., the “to be read” one, that I hardly ever look in.

 

Last week, rather than just continue to let the number of archived emails increase, I decided to stem the tide – to reduce the number I receive.

 

So I started clicking unsubscribe buttons. So far it has been fairly simple – usually a one-click operation – though on one occasion I needed to email one company asking to be removed because they didn’t have an unsubscribe link.

 

But there was one that really took the biscuit : the footer in their email said that it was necessary to login in order to adjust email preferences.  So I tried to log in – only to be presented with the following:

 

I was unable to log in because my account had “been locked as a security precaution”.  And I was told I could reactivate my account by clicking on a “reset password link” that was nowhere to be seen!

 

Eventually I got things sorted.  But that’s the point – eventually is too late!  That company made it difficult for me to unsubscribe – firstly through their process and secondly through some performance issue at their end.

 

Do you make life difficult for your customers?

 

If the answer is “yes” then fix it.

 

If the answer is “no” make sure you’re saying “no” because you know it rather than because you hope it.

 

And if you don’t know the answer, or if you’re unsure, ask your customers!  I can help you with that if you want help – just get in touch and we can talk more.

 

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Some of you know I support Leeds.   (We’re talking football here!)

 

And you may remember a post I wrote back in April talking about Neil Warnock – the Leeds manager – and his failure to take responsibility for results. The team’s problems were always someone else’s fault.

 

At the time Leeds were in 12th position – 8 points adrift of the playoff positions.

 

Fast forward 10 months and earlier today Leeds were in guess what position?

 

Yep 12th!

 

And guess how many points adrift of the playoff position?

 

Yep – 8 points!

 

Warnock also said in April that an overhaul was needed. Well he’s had that too –
only 3 of the team from April played in their most recent game last Sunday.

 

But does he accept responsibility?

 

The answer is still no.

 

Instead he says that as the fans “see the opportunity [of promotion to the Premiership] fading the manager has got to be the scapegoat”. So he announces that he’s a scapegoat.

 

And if that’s not enough he also goes on to say “with what has gone on behind the scenes over the last 12 months I think I deserve a medal”.

 

You may (rightly) criticise his attitude. He’s patently failing to look in the mirror.

 

But are you?

 

Are you asking how can you do better?

 

How can you deliver superior customer service?

 

How can you better engage your employees?

 

How can you improve your own effectiveness?

 

Get in touch if you’d like help asking these questions and getting answers that give you actionable insights.

 

One morning recently I tried contacting a government agency.  Things must have been very busy for them because…

 

Their phone was not being answered by a live human being.

 

Neither was it answered by one of those messages that directs you to press different numbers for different departments.

 

And neither was it possible to even leave a message.  No messages were being accepted.

 

And their answering message said to phone back in the afternoon.

 

How about that!

 

So things weren’t getting off to a very positive start!

 

However, because I was in a rush, I decided to email them – just on the off-chance that emails were being monitored even though phone-calls were not being answered.

 

I got an automated reply to that email that included the statement that they “endeavour to respond to 100% of emails within 30 working days”.

 

No – that’s not a typo – that’s 30 working days – or 6 weeks to most people!

 

But there’s more…  Just in case I’d get this crazy idea that the 6 weeks was a worst case scenario, the reply also said that “delivery of this service can vary during peak periods and we appreciate your patience”.

 

So it might even be more than 6 weeks.

 

Someone somewhere designed that auto-reply.  And it’s probable that someone senior to them approved it.

 

Why?  The background may have been depleted or over-stretched resources.  And their motive was presumably to set expectations that they would then try and exceed.

 

What do you do in terms of setting expectations for your customers?  Do you deliberately err on the side of caution to give yourself a cushion?  Or are you aggressive with your intended delivery time?  Or does it depend on the situation?  Both approaches can have merit.  It’s realistic to build in contingencies but giving yourself a real deadline can also be a motivator.

 

Whatever you do be pragmatic – don’t back yourself into a corner on aggression and don’t be too lax either to the point of inviting ridicule like the government agency.

 

And measure – ask your customers what their expectations are – and use their answers to help guide you.

 

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Last Friday my son and I drove by a hotel here in Kilkenny.  We were looking for a hot chocolate for him.  There were three flagpoles outside the hotel – for the European Union, Kilkenny & Ireland.  The Irish flag had fallen to the very bottom of its flagpole and was lying on the ground.  And the other 2 flags were visibly frayed around the edges.

 

The overall impression was one of neglect.  And being Irish I was also upset at seeing our flag treated that way.

 

We went elsewhere for the hot chocolate.

 

Is your business exhibiting any signs of neglect?  Are your customers getting the level of service that they expect?  Are you providing them with the range of products and/or services that they’re looking for?

 

Go to the other side of the counter (literally and/or figuratively) and take a look in at your business.

 

One good way to do this is to ask your customers.  And if you’re worried about them being guilty of idle flattery give them an anonymous means of providing their feedback.

 

What’s the worst that can happen?  Maybe embarrassment.

 

What’s the best that can happen?  Increased sales from customers who view you more favourably.

 

I drove by the same hotel this evening – 3 days later.  Surely the situation had been rectified?

 

Nope!  There had been no change in the flag situation.

 

If you want to avoid losing sales get in touch to see how I can help you see your business as your customers (and prospective customers) do.  Interviews, online surveys, questionnaires & focus groups are among the tools I can use to help you.

 

I’m a big football fan and I’ve just finished a book celebrating Alex Ferguson’s “25 Years At The Top”.  You may know about Ferguson but, if you don’t, he’s widely regarded as the most successful football manager ever.

 

I reckon though that his approach to the management of Manchester United contains lessons that can easily be applied to business.

 

One quote in particular caught my attention : “As manager, it is my job to cut through the emotion and disappointment to reach honest conclusions on which to base our planning and strategy for the future.  I have to analyse what went wrong and what we got right.  I must focus on getting everything into perspective so that we can make the right decisions going forward.  Naturally I must not fall into the trap of making excuses for any shortcomings”.

 

Let’s look a little closer at this:

 

When looking at what has happened he detaches himself from the emotion.

 

He examines what has happened under a bright light – no hiding.

 

He looks for the positives (so as to reinforce them) and the negatives (so as to take remedial action).

 

He intentionally seeks the big picture so as to inform his decision-making.

 

And he avoids self-righteousness.

 

If you want help looking at your business in this way to see how to drive it forward get in touch!

 

PS : I’ll post the results of the President Obama vox pop later today!

 

PPS : I’m not a Man United fan and still thought the book was good :-).

 

Sometimes a change is good – so today’s blog post is a bit different. I’m guessing you know that Barack Obama will be publicly sworn into office today. As he begins his second term I thought it would be interesting to find out what you think the focus of his efforts should be and what you think that focus actually will be. I’ll feed the results back to you later this week. Ok – have your say in a quick 2-question vox pop here.

 

PS : For those among you interested in history this will be his fourth swearing-in ceremony. Four years ago he and the Chief Justice fluffed their lines so two goes were necessary. And yesterday he had the official swearing-in at a private (though filmed) ceremony in the White House’s Blue Room. He shares this distinction (four swearing-in ceremonies) with FDR who was elected four times.

 

PPS : If you want me to put together anv vox pops for you just let me know.

 

You’ve measured the satisfaction level of your customers at two different times and you’ve seen the level increase.  Can you conclude that you’ve been making your customers happier?

 

It’s tempting to conclude “yes” isn’t it?  But not so fast…  What if, for example, business and consumer sentiment has been improving over the same period because of an improving economy?

 

What if such sentiment has increased by 10% while your customers’ satisfaction level has increased by 5%?  You can do the maths.  In that scenario you might actually be hampering your customers’ satisfaction levels.

 

I thought about this today after I came across a story describing a Dutch study that showed that “teenagers who took part in organized sports had a more positive self image and greater self esteem than teens who weren’t physically active”.

 

Did their involvement enhance their self image and/or increase their self-esteem?  Or are such teenagers simply attracted more to sport than their peers with less positive self image or lesser self esteem?

 

If you want to know if you are making your customers happier then do these 3 things – in this order:  measure, take focussed action and re-measure!

 

Hilary Clinton was in Dublin yesterday.  She met our Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny and our President Michael D. Higgins.  One of her other engagements was to give a speech at a meeting of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

 

According to the Irish Times, she said that “one of the most important things she had learned in politics was to take criticism seriously but not personally”.  And she was also quoted as saying that “oftentimes your critic can turn out to be your best friend”.  Now the context of her comments was freedom of expression on the internet.  But what she said is entirely applicable to business too.

 

A lot of work I do involves helping companies find out what their customers are thinking.  I do this using a variety of methodologies – including interviews, online surveys & focus groups.

 

Independent though of the methodology used, a common outcome of this work is that companies hear negative opinions from their customers.  This can be difficult for some clients to take – they can get upset and even defensive – and even sometimes seek to rationalise to me (but I suspect largely to themselves) why the customer is wrong.

 

But what I always stress is that negative feedback that you hear is a lever – a lever that can drive a company forward.

 

If every metric is coming back saying you’re perfect that may be good for your ego – but what help is it to your business?  None.   What are you going to do differently if that happens?  Nothing.

 

That’s an extreme case – but I’m just using it to make a point.  If every metric comes back with a perfect score then something is wrong with the research – because no company delivers perfect customer service!

 

Negative feedback is a glass half-full.  It offers companies data that can be used to decide on ways to drive the company forward.  If this is of interest to you get in touch and we’ll see what can be done for your company!