Clear Thoughts™
Ann Latham
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It's All About Value - FInding and Honing Your Competitive Edge
(Referenced handout available here: What Do People Value? This talk was presented to the Pioneer Valley Toastmasters in 2007.)
What do your competitors provide?
What do your marketing materials say? Your employees?
© 2010 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Brilliant Growth Strategy!
Now here is a brilliant growth strategy for the auto industry:
Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Car Dashboards
If you help drivers crash more cars, you can sell more cars! What could be better?!
And with any luck, all those air bags and other safety devices that you've concentrated on in the past will prevent you from killing off your entire market.
Has anyone stopped to really picture the risks? Are the risks unlikely? This feature will not be used only by passengers or drivers in parked or fully stopped cars. If you think otherwise, I'd like to sell you a bridge. You could tow it home today because it simply floats above the river and requires no supporting structure. Are the risks trivial? A car flying down the highway essentially without a driver is not just a pesky little matter, it is a weapon of mass destruction.
Pretending that self-discipline will rule when providing a device that caters completely to instant gratification is akin to believing that Santa Claus and his old-fashioned sleigh could deliver ice cream in July worldwide without it melting.
Pursuing profits is one thing. Killing your customers and innocent bystanders and creating a devastating legacy ought to be something else.
I think you will lose though. After you spend good money developing and marketing your new toy car, it will either be outlawed or you will be sued to the hilt by people injured by your killing machines. Like providing alcohol to a minor, I think this crime will also come home to roost.
© 2010 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
I'm Your Customer, Not Your Confidant!
The phone rang as I was trying to finish up a little project before a 1:30 appointment. It was the salesman scheduled by the regional office to visit my home the next day. He needed to reschedule.
Unfortunately, that is not what he told me. Instead, he told me about his son's flight time and how he couldn't get to the airport from here fast enough. He listed every town he was scheduled to visit all over New England on Wednesday and then did the same for Thursday. There were no openings on Wednesday or Thursday anyway. He never let my response regarding best times dampen his enthusiastic narrative, nor influence his suggested times. I was watching the clock tick down to 1:30 as I heard about surgery appointments, more towns, and his frustrations with the regional office. Maybe I would like to just place an order over the phone now if I knew what I wanted? I repeated for the fourth time that a late afternoon or evening was needed. I was about to suggest he call me back when he had found three possibilities when he finally found one in the evening that was just fine, thank you.
Nice enough guy. Friendly. But now I wonder if I will ever be able to get him to shut up and leave if I let him into my house. I am not predisposed to listen to him, never mind to buy from him. (Maybe this is why the regional office does the scheduling!)
What was he picturing on the other end of the line? Someone with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and impervious to dysfunction and disorder? Or was it all about him with no thought given to the other end of the line at all? This is not the way to sell anything!
And if YOU have sales people like him, that is not the way to run your business! Do you know if you do? What kind of face are you presenting to potential customers? Do you know why your best sales people out-sell the others? Do you know why sales calls fail? If not, you've got some work to do!
© 2010 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Reflections
On a dreary day in December when I wasn't feeling particularly upbeat, I set out to write a holiday letter recapping the year. By the time I had finished recording the highlights and remembering many wonderful occasions and people, I felt much better and more excited about the year ahead. You don't have to send such a letter to anyone, but it is still worth writing.
It is easy to get caught up in the rush, forget the high points, dwell on the low points, and lose track of the bigger picture. If you haven't done it already, take the time now or in the next few days to reflect on your professional and personal accomplishments and activities in 2009. Uncover and smile about the high points. Don't compare your accomplishments to anyone else. Feel good about the progress you made, the fun you had, the relationships you built, the people you helped, the lessons you learned, and more.
Then picture yourself doing this again a year from now. What do you want to be writing about then when you look back at the highlights of 2010?
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Avoid Doomed New Year's Resolutions!
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Bonuses and Bashes in a Recession
This is a tough year for year-end bonuses and holiday bashes. Many businesses are worried about disappointing people if they drop year-end traditions on the one hand and angering people if they spend money that "could go toward more important things like salaries and jobs" on the other. So what's a business to do?
People need a bit of celebrating, socializing, and acknowledgement of their efforts and accomplishments. Here are some ideas I've collected from clients and other sources.
- Hold a holiday potluck in the office and share recipes or hold it at the CEOs home instead of going out
- Have a meal catered on site instead of eating at an expensive restaurant
- Celebrate with a luncheon instead of dinner, which is generally more expensive
- Close the open bar
- Provide hors d'oeuvres at a restaurant after work and let employees buy their own drinks after the first round
- Hold the holiday party on a weekday, not a weekend when rates are usually higher and parties last longer
- Take everyone bowling instead of hosting a sit-down meal
- Combine your party with those of other organizations - suppliers, customers, neighbors - to reduce per person costs
- Participate in an open holiday party hosted by a restaurant or caterer
- Encourage departments to go out together for a long, but unsubsidized, lunch
- Encourage smaller parties in several private homes and provide hams or deli platters, etc., to ease the burden on the hosts
- Arrange for employees to volunteer together at a food kitchen, shelter, or other charitable activity during a paid work day in December
- Reserve one or more parking slots closest to the door for use by employees selected for special acknowledgement each month by peers
- Celebrate with periodic (monthly or bi-monthly) breakfasts starting in December and running throughout 2010
- Honor a different department at each breakfast
- Barter with cash-strapped customers to obtain suitable gifts for employees or departments
- Make the rounds to thank employees face to face for their contributions to the business
- Clear the snow off employee cars after the first snowstorm of the season or periodically during the winter
- Meet employees at the door in the morning after New Year's to shake their hand, thank them, and wish them a great New Year
- Hold an office decorating contest and restrict materials to recycled paper and tape and give employees time to create
- Give employees an extra paid day or half day off before the holidays in lieu of a bonus
- Hold a white elephant gift exchange where everyone contributes an inexpensive gift
- Recruit or hire musicians and meet in the cafeteria to sing and hear each other's traditional carols and songs
- Have groups of employees rewrite traditional holiday song lyrics to extol their work group accomplishments and then enjoy the performances
Whatever you choose, do it with sincerity and not with guilt. Show your appreciation, celebrate this year's successes, have some fun, and build hope, enthusiasm, and camaraderie that will strengthen your company's ability to face the challenges of the new year.
If you have other ideas, please feel free to comment!
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Innovation: 'Eureka' Moments Are Necessary But Not Sufficient
In a WSJ article on finding the next great idea, experts recommend relaxing if you want to generate great ideas. It mentions star-gazing, washing dishes, and playing ping-pong as ways to free the mind and allow the subconscious to hatch ideas. I totally agree. From my experience, I would add walking and showering to that list. I often bemoan the fact that my voice recorder isn't waterproof because great ideas can slip back into the subconscious as quickly as they surface.
Jay Walker of Walker Digital disagrees and advocates endless questions and rigorous analysis.
No need to disagree here. Both views make sense but are addressing different steps in the innovation process:
- Letting the subconscious work and spit out random thoughts is one thing.
- Feeding the subconscious with questions (e.g., about customer challenges) and broad inputs from diverse people, ideas, and events is another critical component. NPR did a story recently on innovative periods in history and noted that ideas flourish when you reach a critical mass of people and inputs. Too few people, too little stimulus, and too little knowledge leads to little innovation.
- Fleeting ideas are great, but capturing them is another challenge. I may record my latest idea as soon as I return from a walk or I may forget. The right kind of environment, brainstorming and questions can help resurface these ideas so they can be captured and cultivated.
- The rigorous analysis comes last. Generating streams of ideas is necessary, but not sufficient, for innovation. Culling those ideas carefully is essential so you can focus and devote resources to the best.
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Breaking Up is Easy To Do - Another Lip Service Innovation
Somehow I managed to run out of ink, leaving my printer beeping at me in the middle of a document. This is a rather intolerable situation so I called a hard-working local store owner, ordered some ink cartridges, and provided a VISA number over the phone so my husband could easily pick them up for me on his way home from work. I was pleased when he arrived, but, alas, there was no receipt for my records. My husband said the two boxes and a piece of paper were together when he went to the counter but he was handed only the boxes. I emailed the store, explained the situation, and asked if they could email me the exact amount for my records.
What do you think happened next?
- I received a phone call immediately apologizing and asking me if I would prefer an email receipt immediately or the original by mail the next day.
- I received an apologetic email right away telling me that the original receipt would be in the mail the next day, which it was.
- I received an email apologizing, thanking me for my purchase, and providing the total, a description of my purchase, the purchase date, and method of payment.
- I received an email telling me my husband must have lost the receipt and providing only an approximation of the total.
Unfortunately, the owner of this business chose number 4. How do you think I feel about that? What would Staples have done? How much would it have cost this guy in time and money to choose 1, 2 or 3?
Not only did this guy annoy me but this is a gift that will keep on giving until I finally get my credit card statement and can straighten out my books. It may seem a tiny transgression but I see him quite differently now. The little local business owner can never afford to come off as less helpful and flexible than the big guys.
Today's Lesson: When a simple effort will make your customer's life easier,
do it promptly and graciously, even if you are certain the customer made a mistake.
Anything less is a "Lip Service Innovation."
(Read about the origins of Lip Service Innovation and the first of this series.)
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Recipe for Success: Ask Why and Act On The Answer
Over a period of many months, Comcast called me two times to see if I would like to add digital voice. They quoted a great introductory offer and a competitive rate to follow. Calls like this aren't uncommon, but what they did next is surprisingly unusual. When I turned them down, they asked why. I usually have my reasons, yet amazingly, almost no one ever asks.
The first time they called and asked I told them I didn't want to lose phone service during a power failure. Several months later, we repeated this discussion. Only this time, they had an answer. They would install a battery pack that would allow us to talk for seven hours during a power failure. There would be no additional extra charge. The battery pack would be installed out of the way in the basement. "Can we do that for you on Thursday?"
Perhaps the second caller was simply better informed than the first. However, it is also possible that they are actively collecting answers to there queries of why, looking for solutions to those objections, and calling prospective customers back as soon as the solutions are available.
Why is this so rare?
Increase your sales and improve your offerings with four simple steps:
- Ask why when your offer is rejected.
- Track the reasons.
- Find and make improvements that show a promising ROI.
- Contact your customers with your improved offer.
- Doesn't interrupt dinner
- Doesn't take too long
- Results in actual improvements
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
Good Cause, Good Advice, Free Shipping - What's Not To Like?
Ann Latham announces book proceeds to benefit Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts
| Clear Thoughts - Pragmatic Gems of Better Business Thinking by Ann Latham is now available and for the month of November all proceeds from books purchased from here will be donated to the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts. "Education, freedom from violence, and a fair shot at success are critical ingredients for individual success," says Ann, president of Uncommon Clarity, Inc., a western Massachusetts consulting firm. "And individual success is what fuels our country. The more people who thrive, innovate, and contribute to our society, the better for all of us. By helping the women and girls of western Massachusetts succeed, we help ourselves." The Women's Fund of Western Mass is dedicated to this mission. |
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Clear Thoughts contains thirty-two concise articles that will provoke, motivate and provide immediately applicable advice for getting better results. Each is a quick read and provides great value. Jane Lansing, Vice President of Marketing at Emerson Process Management called Clear Thoughts "the fresh, grounding breath of perspective that every executive needs in order to see clearly despite the daily chaos." This opportunity to help the Women's Fund, and receive free shipping on all books, is effective throughout the month of November. For more information, visit UncommonClarity.com and WomensFund.net or call 413-527-3737. Read a review of this book in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. | |
 | Ann Latham is president of Uncommon Clarity, Inc., a Massachusetts-based consulting firm focused on improving individual and organizational performance. She consults, coaches, writes, and speaks on a variety of workplace topics and was recently tapped as an expert source by BusinessWeek, Forbes, and MSNBC. |
© 2009 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.
