Does your rule to deal with a single occurrence of misdeed adversely affect the other 99% of your customers?

How many of you have experienced the broad hand of “justice” due to a fellow associates selfish behavior? Have you not felt slighted because of a broad and over-arching policy that restricts everyone due to a few people’s negligence?

Now, think of how your customers feel when you implement broad and sweeping ”policies” because of one moment of pain or exposure.

It is easy to become myopic - and see only the pain inflicted by one instance of wrong-doing.

In business we must resist striking hard and fast rules due to a moment of pain; we must forcibly calm ourselves and step away from the situation to allow our mind an opportunity to calm down, relax, and regain perspective.

All to often we find ourselves reacting to a situation rather than planning on how to proactively avoid it. Surely, sometimes painful or difficult tasks cannot be avoided - only endured. However, throughout the experience we must maintain our sights upon the greater vision of our goal; If we focus too intently upon the hurdle right in front of us we may just miss where to place our foot on the other side.

By maintaining the obstacle in front of us in the peripheral of our mind’s eye and focusing on the goal ahead of us can we prevent ourselves from be pulled back into the daily grind of act-and-react so many in Corporate Americans fail to see past - and help us keep the relative stress at bay.

So next time you are tempted to jump the gun and react - remember, your ability to clearly perceive the issue at hand and decide upon an appropriate response is a clear indication of your character as a person.

Do not allow this moment to define you, but allow yourself to define this as your moment.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Justin Foster posted a great article on change over at his blog, BrandMilitia, entitled ‘The Bubble‘. This is a great commentary on how we all tend to become myopic in our focus in life.

You have to get out of your bubble to see and embrace change.  This is true with people and companies.  Seth Godin refers to it as the fundamentalist v. the curious. 

Too many people involved in marketing live in a bubble where they have no one challenging them; no one introducing new ideas.  Everyone is sniffing their own fumes … and either getting high or suffocating. 

Marketing use to be the realm of curiosity, but too many people are simply playing it safe.  They are trading a false sense of control for the reality that their brand belongs to the customer.

The bubble gives you false data; unrealistic viewpoints.

In the bubble, your shiny new TV ad sounds and looks great.  In reality, nobody saw it.

In the bubble, your brochures perfectly outline your value proposition.  In reality, nobody read it.

In the bubble, your employees have memorized your mission statement.  In reality, nobody cares.

So … get out of the bubble.  Listen to your people and your customers.  In fact, don’t get out of the bubble, break it so that no one else is in it.  The worse thing to do?  Paint the inside of the bubble so that you can’t see out.  Then you are in a shell …

Justin has been posting some really thought provoking articles. You should be sure to check out his blog. His link is included above and in the sidebar.

I just wrapped up the first read of a book a friend of mine gave me - called Raving Fans. This is book about turning good customer service into Raving Fan service. Here’s a quote that really struck me,

What we have are systems. Not rules. Rules create robots. Not systems. Systems are predetermined ways to achieve results. The emphasis has to be on achieving the result, not the system for the system’s sake. That’s the difference between systems and rules. With a rule the emphasis is on the procedure, not necessarily the result. We have rules about smoking within ten feet of a gasoline pump. We have systems for delivering service.

The purpose of of systems is to ensure consistency, not create robots. Rules do that. Our team members have to create the Raving Fanexperience for our customers every time. Systems give you a floor, not a ceiling…

I know I have been guilty of allowing a system to turn into a procedure, a rule rather than a reason why. You must understand that vision helps you keep perspective. Systems have to be flexible because the world is always changing whether you like it or not. The system helps you keep consistency and deliver a consistent service level - the system itself is NOT the service level; That is an important distinction.

Several years ago, WatchGuard Technologies was recommended to me to manage our SMB perimeter security. I did some homework, and found that it had an attractive user interface, great reviews in business journals, and had a competitive pricing module. So I bought one for our firewall defense. I also began recommending and selling these to a few of my consulting clients - and everything went fairly well.

This was until I needed service. WatchGuard had just recently off-shored their support and I evidently didn’t buy gold support - which really slowed down my response time to issues. It was taking me days to get technical issues resolved and weeks to get contract issues resolved. The service was horrible.

I was just about fed up with their whole organization and lousy customer support. There were times when I felt like I was trying to throw money at them and they just kept putting up more walls. Something changed… About 18 months ago, it was like a light started going off.

I started getting calls back from the helpdesk within minutes instead of hours. I could not only get expert advice from sales engineers, but advice from multiple levels of individuals, and best of all - when something got goofed in my order they made it right and quick.

On Monday I had the most amazing experience, and I’m hooked. I had been going back and forth with technical support via their interactive ticketing system online, and got to a point where something had to be done. Out of the blue, almost as if the engineer had felt my frustration and concern through the web portal,  he simply offered an RMA.

I was used to having to go through a battery of tests to PROVE it was their issue. I mean, the problem might have been a half dozen other things, but it almost seemed as if my experience had reached some predetermined, internal threshold at WatchGuard, and they quickly moved to intercept mounting frustration.

I felt a little guilty of not conducting my technical due dilligence, and the engineer did offer a utility to conduct some testing. However, after reading some of the documentation, it was going to require some travel to our branch office 2 hours away to run. I responded back that it would take me a couple of days to schedule the visit, and to my surprise, the engineer simply authorized the replacement right there. Wow!

I am scheduled to replace Tuesday, and even though it is a minor irritation to have to go through the swap out, it’s man-made and things like that do break. I wouldn’t have a job if not, right? (that’s rhetorical, by the way).

Let me tell you above all else, I am impressed with the dramatic turn around in WatchGuard’s focus on their customer. They got back to the basics that made them what they are, and I highly recommend their offerings for the SMB, but make sure you get their gold-level technical support. Overall though, I would give WatchGuard high marks for customer support and focus.

Update: April 29, 2008

I thought I would post this update. I drove out to our branch office today, and within 20 minutes had a fully operational system, and this even included an .1 upgrade to correct some security issues. … WatchGuard, you are making things too easy on me. Pretty soon, I may just end up like the Maytag repairman!

Let’s say you got into work. It’s a normal day. You have a few things on your plate today, and have some time slotted off to handle a few fires that you know will pop-up. You’ve made your rounds to say high to a few people, and have your coffee cup in hand. You ease into your desk and begin ticking through the list of things you need to tackle first. You are slipping into your daily groove!

Then, without warning, Judith walks into your office and lays into you about the fact that she has to get some bills paid today and the STUPID computer is acting up again. She goes on to comment on how this problem just keeps getting worse and worse and wished that someone cared about what she had to do around this place!

How are you feeling at this point?

What just happened is happening all across the corporate world - on phone conversations and in e-mails -a glaring lack of approach.  Judith demonstrated a complete disregard for your space, your workload, and how you were feeling. In other words, she doesn’t care about you or your issues; she is not part of your team because she is not interested in whether you succeed or not.

In my article, “Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?” we looked at why stereotypes developed for “the computer guy”. When you hear problem after problem, wouldn’t you tend to begin discounting the customer as well?

You might. However, the key to building bridges to your customers is simply building relationships with them. So here are few keys to building rapport with your end-users.

1. Before you begin every conversation, say “hello”, “hi”, or even “howdy”
2. Spend at least 3-5 minutes “catching-up”
3. Offer empathy; do not be condescending
4. Clarify and repeat your understanding of the issue
5. Communicate expectations
6. Offer solutions, not excuses or blame
7. Follow-up next time you see them

This list is not exhaustive, but if followed, will greatly aid you in gaining brownie points with your end-users.

So this still doesn’t help you with Judith, does it? She was the one that came barging in…  What’s interesting in this case is you can still be the hero. Apply these steps, maybe with a little more insistency, and you may be greeted at first with a sheepish grin of embarrassment, but eventually you will see that warm smile come back out.

As the saying goes, “fix the customer, not the problem”. In focusing on how Judith is doing as a person, you may be surprised to find you are aligning to the needs of any business’s first priority - customer satisfaction. True customer satisfaction can only come when you understand the motivations and needs of your customer.

In today’s rapidly moving world, savvy businesses rely on every business unit to ‘play the game’. Each business unit must understand its function as part of the whole much like an arm, a lung, or a brain plays its role to help the body function.

IT is no different, and must not only understand the business goals, but actively pursue bringing value to the business. To do so, technology leaders must 1) align themselves with business units, 2) listen and don’t be defensive, 3)innovate, 4) and offer customers choices not obstacles.

Align:

Technology leaders find themselves working with and for more tech savvy CXO’s and business unit leaders. The landscape has shifted and executives expect delivery of results not excuses. By aligning yourself with your business units’ initiatives you have the best chance of understanding the drivers that make your company successful. This will give you a chance to bring technology to bear in order to help solve the problems and avoid becoming an obstacle contributing to why a business unit can’t achieve its goals.

Listen:

Know you culture. IT must learn not only to listen, but to whom it must listen. Don’t get defensive when confronted with problems and don’t accuse them of whining. You must learn to be direct but professional and encourage your customers on how to approach you professionally. Even if someone seems to be attacking your personally, you must maintain a level of control. Remember who your customers are, and what the business priorities are. But most importantly ensure your customers understand the priorities you have and where their priorities fall in relation to your overall strategic goals.

Innovate:

Innovation is not only coming up with good ideas yourself, but understanding good ideas flow in and throughout the people in your company everyday. Ensure you are seeking out advice from not only business unit leaders, but people on the front line as well. In seeking mind share, individuals will begin seeing that you care about their needs and aren’t just making decisions in your ‘ivory tower’.

Choice:

Give your customers choices not obstacles. IT has been stereotyped as the constant nay-sayer. It is important that your customers understand why somethings can and cannot be done. Give them choices, and put the decisions in their hands. You may find they begin helping you achieve your goals if they align with their own. Once they begin walking in your shoes, they may just take a step back.

It is also important to understand that you should not place artificial obstacles in your customers’ or business unit leaders’ path as the daily business will present enough of these. It is not enough to have a reason why something cannot be done - have alternative solutions to the problem and you will find this wins you a great deal of political capital.

In summary, gone are the days where IT could hide behind the mystique of technology. Executives and customers alike are more technology savvy than ever and can see through your ruse. You must seek to align yourself with your company’s business units by building relationship and listening to their needs as well as understanding their challenges. Last, continually look for ways to innovate, and don’t allow yourself or your team to become stagnant.

If you are following these goals, you will most likely find frustration in bumping against glass ceilings. To be successful you must persevere adversity by staying focused on the goals. Success does not come from being the almighty gatekeeper but in seeking to build bridges to cross the canyons of adversity as a team.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Today we discuss the blurring of technology lines. In a recent article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 8 influencer in the DMS space this year:

8. The blurring of technology lines.  What does your business need? Copiers? Scanners? Records management? Content management?  Document management? Business process management?  E-mail management?  Most likely, all of the above in some configuration. And the solution providers who can help end users figure out the appropriate configuration – they won’t all be the same – will find end users racing to their door.

John strikes a cord with this article. It resonates a simple truth, “Add value to your customers’ business and make them clients for life.” More than ever, companies are looking for answers. They hire analysts and accounts to give them a clue about what’s going on in this rat race. They hire consultants to spin a web and show them a future where they are rich and wise. They hire marketing and public relations firms to package all of this up and put a nice bow on top…

What happened to common sense?

To some extent, people are a little scared about all of this technology being thrown at them. In reality, it’s a lot of F.U.D. Combine this with the intent of some opportunistic individuals who are looking to capitalize on a little ‘man behind the curtain’ (so to speak). So what’s this common sense nonsense all about, anyway?

 For those of you who haven’t read Jim Collins’ Good to Great, get it, read it, and sleep with it! I can’t tell you one book that a business should live by… It’s not a bible by any means, but it has some good ole fashion common sense advise. Collins goes on to say that you have to have the right people in the right seats on the bus and get the wrong people off.

With all of this waving of fists and frothing of mouths going on about the ‘document industry’ people keep missing the one truth that a business is not four walls and a roof, it is a group of like minded and passionate individuals working as a team. File that!