how not to do things
Sometimes the best ideas on how to run your business come from looking at unsuccessful companies. Learning what not to do can be just as vital as learning what to do.
With that in mind, one of the founding partners of Unlimited Mileage sent me an exemplary list of How to Lose Friends and Infuraiate People. Most of us have been guilty of at least one of these from time to time, but reading them together in this context is a wonderful wake-up call.
Some particularly salient points:
- Be stingy with your thank you’s. After all, they just make people feel like you should be paying them more money.
- Permit inequities and conflict to persist. Remember that you’re too important to deal with employees’ petty tiffs.
- Give people the illusion of empowerment. Tell them they have control over a process, and hold them accountable for the results, but then micro-manage the process to meet your pre-determined ends.
It's all about the people.
Doesn't matter how great your widget is, how much money you have backing you, if you don't take care of your people your business will never be as strong as it could be.
Good lessons to learn.
when I run my own business #3
Some thinking about accountability and what leadership means.
Gleaned from a Fast Company article:
“The first lesson I learned as a plebe came from an upperclassman yelling in my face. He told me that there were four acceptable answers: 'Yes, sir'; 'No, sir'; 'No excuse, sir'; and 'Sir, I do not understand.' He'd ask, 'Why aren't your shoes shined?' and I'd say, 'Well, it was muddy, and I didn't have time.' He'd be all over me. He was trying to teach me something: If you have to take men up a hill and write letters to their moms that night, there's literally no excuse. If you have to lay off thousands of people from your company, there's no excuse. You should have seen it coming and done something about it.”
--James Kimsey, '62, founding CEO, America Online
Some leaders forget that leadership is not just about the fame and the $50 million yearly bonus. It's the same as driving a car - your eyes should be on the road far ahead of you, not just three feet in front. Driving a company is like driving a great big Hummer of a car, with those rules in mind.
quotes from HBS
I was very excited to find that Harvard Business School runs an online magazine. If I can't afford to go there, I will at least soak up as much as I can of what they have to say:
Why building customer loyalty is important:
“[F]or strong customer-facing businesses, our research has shown that a 5% increase in customer loyalty can lead to 40% to 90% increases in the lifetime value of a customer across a variety of industries—from automotive services to advertising.”
On building a cult brand:
“Cult brands dare to be different, observed Matt Ragas, a panelist and co-author of The Power of Cult Branding. Cult brands sell lifestyles, not just a product or service, he added. But cult branding is not a viable path for every company. Most companies don't have the risk-taking mentality. In cult branding, the management and marketers behind it are willing to take big risks and they understand the potential payoff.”
On customer-focused business success:
“The first lesson is that a singular customer focus must be part of the corporate DNA; it has to be systemic within the organization. So to answer your question, every employee is involved from top to bottom, and bottom to top. This is the second lesson we can learn from the quality champions; you have to work it from both ends. The role of upper management is a combination of preacher and cheerleader and the front-line employees must be allowed to participate, and contribute, through cross-functional teams. This is also important because it allows a company to achieve some quick results. The last lesson is that success requires a champion, someone with a singular focus that keeps employees from falling back into the old way of doing things and keeps the teams working together. Possibly, as you suggested, a customer experience manager.”
lessons learned from retail #1
No matter how little you pay them or how thankless their job is, people still want to do a good job.
People want to do a good job because they care. Because it's a matter of personal pride. Because a job done well is more enjoyable than a job done with half a heart or half a mind. This is true for most people. The guy who handles the trash, for example — if something falls from one of the trash cans, he stops and picks it up. No matter how small. The lady who Windexes the glass doors at work, for another — if someone comes by just as she's finishing the door and puts their hand all over the glass when pushing the door open, she cleans it again. It's a matter of pride. It's what she does for a living.
Conversely, people rarely screw up on purpose or because they don't care. Everyone is in the same boat you are. They're trying to do the best they can. If they screw up they need help. Advice. Guidance. Correction. You know. Help. As opposed to the occasionally popular berating, belittling, demeaning or demoralizing.
when I run my own business #2
It's so easy to get out of touch with the day-to-day workings of your company once you get past a certain level. Suddenly your entire day is meetings, emails, and reports (those you have to write and those you have to read).
I don't want to let that happen to me. As I've said before, it's the middle-tier (and even lower) people who have their hands in the muck and who have enough exposure and knowledge about the company to really come up with great ideas. They can help the business. And if you involve them in the decision-making process, they may just feel appreciated enough to stick around and help your company grow. Because it's their company too.
So, when I run my own business, once a month will be Run the Company For a Day.
Any employee who wants to — and I do mean any employee — can run the company for a day. Simple rules, of course. No hiring, no firing, no outlandish purchases. But answer phone calls, attend meetings, have their opinion not only heard but acted upon, be the person people look to for decisions and opinions, spend some time thinking about the future of the company.
What will I (as President of this Angie McKaig Omnimedia Company) be doing that day?
The other person's job. Right in there. Whatever is it that they do, I'll be doing it. I may not know how. People will have to train me and show me. I might foul up. So might that person sitting in my chair for a day. But that's OK. We're both learning, and will benefit from the knowledge.
I'll get to see the company from their perspective. I'll get to see how someone else thinks the company should be run. I'll get ideas for what might be lacking in the company - be it business process or morale.
And my staff will hopefully get the message that I trust them, their opinions are valued, that no job is unimportant in the company, and that they can make a difference. Not just on RC Day, but every day.
I know how important an idea this is. I never want to forget it.
when I run my own business #1
Have you ever noticed that at many companies it is the middle-tier people who have the best handle on the business? They understand the guts of the operation and also have enough information and knowledge to have ideas about what the company's direction should be. Unfortunately, middle-tier people rarely get the opportunity to just chat one-on-one with people who have the power to make these ideas happen.
Sometimes, even if you have the chat it doesn't do any good, and management Knows Whats Best because after all, they spend all day in their office dealing with paperwork, reading reports, talking to shareholders.
When I run my own business I will talk every single day with middle tier people. No formal meetings where they're called into my office to sit across from my big imposing desk, or around an imposing boardroom table with other high-level managers. I'll stop by their desk instead, just to shoot the shit, and casually bring up things and let the ideas fly. Two heads are better than one and five better than... you get the idea.
I think the president's walk is incredibly important. Go for a walk, for goodness sake, through your own company, and do it quietly. Don't talk, listen to what the people say. Soak it all up and apply it to your business. I will do the walk every single day.
I don't want to forget knowing this.
B2B and brand loyalty
Usually when you hear about building brand loyalty in the youth of today they're referring to B2C companies. Car makers, financial institutions and more bombard college and university students with offers and deals to start building brand loyalty now, while they're still poor and young and impressionable. The hope is that if you get them while they're young, they'll stay with your company when they do have money.
Why can't this work for B2B as well?
Case in point: my current employer is a stock photo agency. We're not the biggest and there are lethal competitors out there. Kids coming out of design school may not even know our name, but they will know the name of our competitors. So where will these kids go when they need stock photos? Isn't too hard to figure out.
But what if we got these kids in school? We could give them free access to our high-res stock photos for use on school projects. No other stock photo agency is doing this. If it was free, and our pictures were good, they'd use this service a great deal during school. When they graduated, they would already be familiar with our products and our services and how the whole thing works; as well, they'd have a sense of loyalty because of our goodwill.
Who do you think they would buy pictures from when out in the real world? Exactly.
There are many ways this could apply to a B2B situation. Get them in college. Build brand loyalty early. Keep it through goodwill and excellent service.
College students are the customers of tomorrow.