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How to make me want to punch you in the face

by | Sep 13, 2010 | Passion, Shift, Work

I’m not a violent guy. Well, most of the times I’m not.

Sometimes, though, I seem to forget all my manners and I imagine I’m grabbing some deeply unhelpful rep called Randal, and shaking him until he gets rid of the crap he keeps in his ears.

But I don’t do it. Partly because I don’t feel like going to jail, and partly because somebody has yet to invent a way to do that by phone or email.

What puts me in this state of darkness? Glad you asked!

Please Kick The Shit Out Of Me!
photo credit: laverrue

The beginning of the story: do you care about the experience?

More specifically, do you care about the experience of your clients, customers, and whoever you’re doing something for?

You want to provide a service, that is useful and appreciated, so you care.

You probably remember a situation when a clerk, let’s call him Randal, was complaining, and you even felt like you were bothering him. You thought “Why are you doing this job if you hate it so much?”.

And you really, really, don’t want your customers to feel the way you did.

So yes, you care. And you try to make sure each experience is the best possible. You want to improve your service so your customers are happy.

But you can’t always know what goes on in your customer’s mind.

Where you ask for feedback

So you ask for feedback. I mean, you know your customer knows best what she wants in her encounter with you and your services.

And you’re not the only one asking for feedback, the big ones do it too.

Let’s say Randal Corp. is a big Internet service provider. They record the support calls so that the “customer support experience” can be improved. They even send an email after a call to the support asking for a small 30 seconds feedback. So small that the only thing they ask you to do is click on a simple radio button to express whether the customer rep was competent and helpful. They don’t give you the opportunity to ask why the h*** they don’t provide support via email!

And why? Because they don’t want to know. Because they don’t actually want to improve the experience, they just want to rank it, to normalize it, so that it’s appropriate, not so that it’s good, or better. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they give the opportunity to send forms via email? Or – God forbid – put them on the web so their customers don’t have to spend 15 minutes waiting on a call then wait a week for the forms to arrive?

Where you get feedback

I want to make things better. This is who am I at the core. And I’m pretty good at pointing out things that could be improved. But more importantly, I’m a (potential) customer willing to help.

This is a message for the Randal Corps of the world: Most of the time you ask for feedback. Often, I give it. Sometimes you answer. Most of the times you make me understand that my suggestions won’t go further than the Trash mailbox. If by chance, you not only listen, but hear me, and I ask you to keep me posted on the elements that prevent me from buying from Randal Corp., why do I never hear from you ever again?

You say you care about your “customers”, but don’t understand it is always one at a time!

Where I want to matter

I want to be cared for. When you tell me you care, because you want feedback, I trust you, and I give. Then you do whatever you want with my gifts and forget about me. Why don’t you go until the end?

What I learn from your actions is that you want to use me and dispose of me.

Then I just want to punch you in the face, because, seriously, it’d be so easy to do it right.

Where you do it right

If you are passionate about the experience, and if you listen, I mean really listen to me, make me feel that I care, I’ll be devoted to you, I’ll help you grow and serve your clients better than ever, I’ll bring you new customers, and a wealth of ideas and services I want to buy from you.

But that brings up a question: do you want a relationship with me, or do you just want me to buy stuff from you?

Be passionate about your customers experience, and you’ll get loyal fans. Be a Randal, pretend to care and don’t follow through, and not only your customers will not care about you, they’ll jump ship as soon as something looks better on the other side.

If you’re not passionate about your customers, are you serving anyone but yourself?

No Randals were harmed in the making of this post (though I certainly thought about it).

How a system can help you attain your goal

by | Aug 31, 2010 | Productivity

Who needs another constraint in their lives? Between jobs, opening hours, taxes, and other rules, systems have a bad rep. Not surprising, they are limiting your freedom.

The magic box

motion gears -team force
photo credit: ralphbijker

But systems aren’t all bad, if you learn to use them well, they can be used to help you attain your goals.

How come?

  • They give a direction, helping you visualize the goal
  • They create space to focus
  • In time, they provide the comfort of a known situation and process

But be careful, not all systems are created equal.

Think outside the box

For a system to be truly effective for you, its goals and limitations need to be clear, which means, you have to look at it from the outside.

No system if all-encompassing, they are all limited. Decide what you want a system for, and look for the limits of the system, so that you are not subconsciously constrained by them.

Let’s take an example. If you want to do some exercise to keep in shape, you know that a certain regularity is needed. Depending on how you feel in your body and mind, you could need to show up once a week, or every day.

Let’s say you decide to run twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, at 6.30 am, for 30 minutes, before you go to work. So, that’s your system. Sounds good? Take a minute to imagine what its limits are.

Done? Here’s what I came up with:

  • I have to wake up one hour earlier than usual. Can I do it?
  • What happens when I’m tired or don’t feel like running?
  • What if it rains?
  • If for whatever reason I miss one day, do I try to catch up the next day or do I just skip it?

These are all questions which hit the limits of the system. When building a system, you want to make sure that all aspects are covered so it’s effective. For example:

  • Find a running buddy to get support and accountability, it’s way easier to show up when someone’s counting on you.
  • Run everyday (or 5 days a week), so it can become a habit and you don’t have to change your all routine each odd day you planned to run.
  • Decide beforehand the amount of rain you’re willing to sustain, and a contingency plan in case you can’t run, don’t skip!
  • Be willing to change the plan if it’s for a better one long-term, otherwise, you’ll simply destroy the system for a short-term gain.

Every habit or lifestyle decision we make is in its own way a system. I am a vegetarian, my system is that I don’t eat meat or fish, even if they are the only things available (never happened). I trust and depend on that system. I know that when I started, had I tried to be vegetarian, I wouldn’t have been able to cope to the social pressure, but I created a box, a system, then trusted and followed it. It’s been 19 months, and counting.

Create within the box

Now that you’ve built the box, it is time to have fun and be creative. The system is meant to help you show up, and in the long term, attain your goal. But once you’ve showed up, it’s up to you to create whatever you want. You can make a challenge to run 10 miles in 90 minutes, or run slowly for 30 minutes then sprint until you’re exhausted.

If you want to create a system to help you write a book, the system will need to give you both limits (you can’t do anything else for an hour) and a space to create (you have a full hour to create!). You could try to write the worst draft you possibly can on one day, then the best one the next. Make it entertaining.

Me? I’m trying raw food, new ingredients, new ways of preparing and consuming food. I am much clearer on the effects of food on my body and mind. When you try different things, you learn. The system allows you to try.

Love the box

Ultimately, a system helps you show up, it works if you trust it enough to respect and follow it, so that it becomes a dependable part of your life.

Once you depend on a system, you don’t need to worry so much about your goal. If you run three times a week with a partner, each and every week, you won’t worry anymore that you “should” do something to keep in shape, it’ll be taken care of, by the system.

What’s one system that allows you to thrive?