SurveyGuru

Category: News

  • Have you ever lost a very important customer?

     

    Do you treat all customers the same?

     

    You shouldn’t.  And here’s why.

     

    You’ve possibly heard of the 80:20 rule – sometimes known as the Pareto principle.  The principle tells us that a minority of causes – roughly 20% – are responsible for a majority of the effects – roughly 80%.  Now the “20” number isn’t precise.  Neither is the “80”.  Indeed they don’t even need to add up to 100.  The importance of the principle for you is that it applies in your business – a minority of causes are responsible for a majority of the effects.

     

    Imagine you have 100 customers.  Imagine 20 of them are in category “A” which is responsible for 80% of your profit and the remaining 80 are in category “B” which is responsible for the other 20% of your profit.  Let’s assume further that all “A” customers contribute equal amounts of profit – and that all “B” customers do too.

     

    The typical “A” customer will contribute 80/20 or 4.00% of your profit.  The typical “B” customer will contribute 20/80 or 0.25% of your profit.

     

    What’s the ratio of 4% to 0.25%?  It’s 16!  “A” customers are 16 more times profitable for you than “B” customers.

     

    Now imagine you’ve €1000 or ÂŁ1000 or $1000 or your currency of choice to spend on cultivating relationships with customers.  Or you have 100 hours of your limited time.  Where are your scarce resources best spent?  On an “A” customer or a “B”?  Should you treat them both the same?

     

    Another way of looking at this is to ask what happens if you lose an “A” customer.  One thing that happens is that you lose 4% of your profit.  But you’d also then need to gain 16 new “B” customers to replace the profit from that single “A” customer.

     

    So let’s get practical.  Knowing is one thing.  And now you know.  But what can you actually do with this sort of insight?  A recent example in my own business might help you.  Last night I launched a customer satisfaction survey.  Did I send the (online) survey to all my customers?  No.  I sent it to a subset – a group of “A” customers.  All things being equal, it’s the “A” customers I listen to more.  All “A” customers are important – I’d hate to lose any of them!

     

    Identify your “A” customers if you don’t already know them.  Cultivate your relationships with them.  Seek out more of them.  Then you’ll be leveraging Pareto for profit!

     

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  • Which to increase – employee satisfaction or employee engagement?

     

    If you were choosing whether to increase your employees’ satisfaction or their engagement – which would you choose?

     

    Or would you even consider there to be any difference between the two?

     

    Perhaps you’re like some of the employers whom I’ve been talking to recently about this.  They use the two terms interchangeably without having a clear picture of what, if anything, distinguishes them.

     

    Well in strict definition terms there is a difference.  Employee satisfaction is just that – an employee having their needs met in terms of their jobs and work environment.  But satisfied employees might not necessarily be engaged – and this is because engagement means more.  It’s about commitment, passion, and what employees do with their discretionary effort.

     

    Now we don’t live in a world where strict definitions rule us.  Put two employees in the same role and treat them the same and there’ll often be – indeed there’ll probably be – a difference in their engagement levels.  This is because we’re all unique individuals.  And our attitudes differ.  For example, one person might be more positive than another.  One person might deal better with authority than another.

     

    You want to avoid your satisfied employees being too cosy.   I worked for a company once which cut the salaries of people in the same pay grade by the exact same amount.  The goal was to avoid redundancies.   The goal was achieved.  And ordinary employees were “satisfied”.  But was it a good thing?  What effect did this have on the highly motivated and high achieving employees?  Was an opportunity to get rid of deadwood lost?

     

    So ordinary “satisfaction” isn’t always a good thing.  And your policies can affect that as can the profile you develop of the person whom you hopw to recruit.  In contrast, it’s always good for you to have engaged employees.

     

    I’m not being pedantic here.  Let’s not get hung up on terms.  It’s perfectly legitimate for you to use the word “satisfaction” to encompass those elements of engagement I mentioned earlier – commitment, passion & the use of discretionary effort.

     

    The actual label you use – be it “satisfaction” or “engagement” – is not a crucial point.  What is important is for you to be mindful of the impact on your organisation of your employees’ commitment levels and the extent to which they’re emotionally invested in your organisation’s welfare.

     

    This post has dealt with a complex distinction.  If I’ve provoked any disagreement, confusion, questions or comments then please email me.  I’d be glad to respond to you personally – or perhaps in a future post if I think that’ll be instructive to others.

     

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  • To the aliens we’re aliens

    I was chatting with my son Aidan.  He’s 6 – and thankfully still full of curiosity.

     

    He asked me “Daddy do you think there are aliens?”

     

    “Yep”

     

    “Why?”

     

    “Because there’s a gazillion stars like our sun and at least one of them has to have a planet going around it with something living on it.”

     

    “Do you know what Dad?”

     

    “What son?”

     

    “To the aliens we’re aliens!”

     

    Aidan magically has perspective.  All business owners need it too.  The age of the customer is upon us – customers and potential customers have power.  They constitute your market.  They can choose you.  Or dismiss you.  Or be completely unaware of you.

     

    So there’s your challenge.  Be honest.  Can you view your business as they view it?

     

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  • Asking for advice and then ignoring it

    Today my son happened to be with me when the post arrived.  One of the pieces was a monthly bulletin I get on marketing – from someone who refers to himself as the Evil Bald Genius.

     

    The envelope itself was a good example of direct marketing – it had a real stamp, it used a personal-type font, it had a return address that wasn’t a company, it had a caricature of the Evil Bald Genius (EBG) and it said “your awesome newsletter is inside”.  All these elements helped get it delivered, into the hands of its intended recipient – that would be moi – and opened.

     

    My naturally curious son Seán asked me “What is it about?”  I said it contains advice that helps me in my business.  Seán, in his wisdom, then said “Do you take it?”

     

    Now that provoked a couple of reactions.

     

    Firstly I smiled proudly.  Seán wasn’t rolling his eyes and being a smartass.  He’s all of 8  years old – and was simply asking a straightforward question – a very wise question.

     

    Secondly I took a moment to ask myself honestly if indeed I take the EBG’s advice and act on it.

     

    Now I’m guessing that all of us have received unsolicited advice in life – and it’s one of my own pet peeves.  But when I willingly pay someone for advice, get it, agree with it and then fail to act on it – what does that make me?  There are a number of adjectives that could be used – and “fool” would be among them!

     

    I advise my own clients.  They pay me to make informed recommendations to them on what they need to do in order to improve their businesses – or their organisations if they’re a non-profit.

     

    Are you paying anyone for advice?  Are you acting on that advice?  And, if not, what word would you use to describe your inaction?

     

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    And by the way, if you want advice on marketing, – check out the EBG’s marketing mastermind group that I’m a member of.  I recommend it – though not if you’re faint of heart!

     

  • Texas Republicans and customer perspectives

    On July 4th, Independence Day in the world’s oldest republican democracy, it’s appropriate perhaps to have an American theme to the blog.

     

    So – one of my favourite iPhone apps is NPR – America’s National Public Radio. And today I was listening to an NPR story discussing whether Hispanics can ever become supporters in large numbers of the Republican Party.

     

    Opinions are split within the party. Some think it can never happen – and fear the long-term consequence for the Republicans in the state. One of those though who disagrees is Mike Gibson, chairman of the party in one of the state’s counties.

     

    And how does he think the Republican Party can appeal more to Hispanics and other minority groups?

     

    Simple : “What we have to do is go and reach them where they are — not make them come to us”.

     

    What he is saying applies to business too.

     

    Here are three yes/no questions for you :

     

    Do you look at things from the perspective of your customers?

     

    Do you know what they want or need?

     

    Are you offering them what they want or need?

     

    If you’ve answered “No” to any of those questions then do whatever you need to do to make the answers all “Yes”.

     

    And if you need help I’m here to help.

     

    Happy 4th of July!

     

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  • Trust allows us to overcome hiccups

    Recently I was doing some weeding in my mother’s garden – a garden where my brother-in-law is working on turning some of his fingers green.

     

    Well it transpires I actually wasn’t weeding.  I found this out when my brother-in-law came running over to me telling me in extremely colourful language to leave his carrots alone – the carrots he had lovingly grown from seed!

     

    Now he and I get along very well.  And I’m glad we do – partly because he’s 4 inches taller than me and about 25 lbs heavier!   We got over our little hiccup and had a good laugh about it.

     

    How did we manage that?

     

    Simple.  We’ve built a good relationship over more than 20 years and we know, like and trust each other.

     

    Do you have relationships like that with your customers and suppliers?  Of course sometimes purchases or sales in business are purely transactional.  And sometimes the nature of the transaction is that it’s a one-off, e.g., engaging a funeral director.

     

    But other times a sale can and should be viewed as the beginning of a relationship.  And such relationships can be nurtured.  Then, even if you pull up that customer’s carrots, you’ve a chance of recovering!

     

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  • Ever issue a conditional apology?

    When you make a mistake do you try and hide it?  Or maybe jump through hoops in an effort to explain?  Or perhaps offer a conditional apology?

     

    Conditional apologies drive me nuts.

     

    A recent example occurred last week when the Irish Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, was speaking in the Dáil.  (The Dáil is the lower house of Ireland’s legislative branch.)

     

    Minister Shatter said “If Deputy Wallace feels that I did him some personal wrong by mentioning it, then I have no problem in saying I am sorry.”

     

    The deputy in question, Mick Wallace, had allegedly been cautioned by the Garda (Irish police) for use of a mobile phone while driving – and had been let go with just a caution.  Mick Wallace felt that the Minister shouldn’t have had that information and also shouldn’t have disclosed it in the Dáil.

     

    In business if you’re not making some mistakes then you’re either doing nothing (of worth) or else you’re a liar!

     

    We all make mistakes.  And if yours are not visible to you then ask your customers – they should be able to tell you about one or two!

     

    And whenever you find out that you’ve messed up, admit it, apologise, fix whatever went wrong (if it’s fixable) and then move on.  And if the mess involves a customer or supplier then some sort of gesture might be in order.

     

    And do this fast – that’ll minimise the damage done and will also show integrity.  And that might just be a sound business investment!

     

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  • Why are the pigeons fat?

    On Monday I was in Dublin for meetings with existing and prospective customers.  When the work was finished I took a few minutes to enjoy the sunshine on a park bench in the wonderful St. Stephen’s Green.

     

    I found myself looking at the pigeons.  And they were ALL fat.  (Excuse the poor resolution of the photo – hopefully there’ll be more megapixels on my next phone upgrade!)

     

    But back to the pigeons…   Why were they fat?   It’s obvious – they know where to find food.

     

    And where do they find the food?  Yep – right where they found it the last time.

     

    Dubliners of all ages have fed the pigeons in St. Stephens’s Green for generations.  And hopefully they’ll still be doing it when I’m 6 feet under.  Those pigeons’ ancestors were probably fat too!

     

    So who has fed your business recently?  And which of those feeders has fed you the best?  And are you keeping in touch with the best feeders?  And proactively thinking of how you can help them in their businesses?

     

    Of course it’s prudent to source new feeders for the future.  But they should supplement the ones already feeding you well!

     

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  • If lots of people are irritated…

    One of LinkedIn’s changes over the past year has been the introduction of endorsements.  If you’ve encountered pop-up suggestions of whom you could endorse and for what, then you’ll know what I mean.  And you’ll also know how easy it is to give these endorsements.

     

    Opinions differ on this – but I do know that some people find the feature very irritating.  They feel that the value and credibility of endorsements is low because the endorsements are being given too freely by people.

     

    For example, if you’ve been endorsed by someone who cannot vouch for your expertise in the endorsed area then you may be concerned at the validity of the endorsements.

     

    What I find very interesting is that there are discussions happening on LinkedIn itself where people are expressing such criticisms and frustrations.  For example Trudy Arthurs (www.dancingleopards.com) recently said, “I wonder if Linkedin are aware of the level of irritation this fast-becoming-meaningless pop-up is causing? If so, and if they are into listening to what their customers are saying – I look forward to the removal of this useless irritation.”

     

    Whatever your own opinion of the endorsements, I have more general questions to pose to you about your own business :

     

    Do you know whether your customers are talking to each other about your offering?

     

    Is there a vocal minority of them complaining about something?

     

    Can you hear or read what is being said?

     

    Do you engage with them on the issues raised?

     

    If you’ve answered “no” to that last question I’d be curious as to the reason.  Is it that the complaining customers are of little importance?  Is it that you simply disagree with them?  Or could it be that you just want them to go away?

     

    If you sense that this is an area to which you might need to give more attention then get in touch and we’ll take it from there.

     

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    And if you’ve any reactions use the comment box further down the page!

  • Self Praise Is No Praise

    My sons were sick yesterday so I took some time off to spend with them. They improved as the day wore on and we ended up outside playing football.

     

    I was in goals and Aidan (6) took a shot which I managed to save. “Great save” I exclaimed. “Self praise is no praise” was his retort. We laughed. I’ve been trying to teach him humility and he had turned the tables.

     

    The incident reminded me of the regularity with which companies and organisations blow their own trumpet – without any basis for so doing.

     

    Have you ever experienced customer service of a lower quality than the provider says they provide?

     

    If you’re like me the answer’s a resounding “yes”.

     

    Where does this disconnect come from?

     

    Well it can obviously be because the provider doesn’t actually ask their customers about the customer service they receive – the providers simply believe they’re doing a great job.

     

    And, even if they do ask their customers, they may be asking the wrong questions or even asking the right questions in the wrong way!

     

    In contrast, here’s an example of a business going about things the right way.

     

    The lesson?  A good policy is to avoid saying something unless you know you can back it up.

     

    And if you do want to use positive stories as part of your marketing – then perhaps let such positive stories come from your customers as opposed to from yourself!

     

    If you don’t have such positive stories well then there’s an action for you – to either ask for them or to earn them!  Get in touch if you want help getting those stories!

     

    Meanwhile, next time I’m playing with my sons, I’ll try and praise them rather than myself!

     

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    And if you’ve any reactions use the comment box further down the page!