Putting it in perspective

"Serving people an enjoyable experience."

-Michael Gill

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What's in a goal?

goal /goʊl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[gohl]

–noun

1.	the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

I find it interesting that the term "end" appears in the definition of a goal. Outside of sports do you really view the goal as the end?

In sales, the word "goal" is really just a synonym for benchmark. In January we all get new benchmarks (our boss will call them goals). And by September she'll be hounding you why you haven't beat your goal yet. But according to the definition, the goal is the end?

So have we taken goals for granted?

Don't you expect that your sales team will surpass its goal? Haven't you found yourself judging your best salespeople by the amount they pass their goal?-- I have.

Shouldn't the goal be something to aspire to and not just something to surpass?
Because when was the last time we saw a baseball player keep running the bases once he gets home?

Looking back

I found this video on the Catch-up Lady's blog today and find it a sobering reminder of the past.



Of course its quite funny, but it serves a purpose--given all the technology that we have access to today are we really faster?

In 13 years what will we look back at and ask ourselves-- how did we ever manage?

GM vs. Lexus

"You could start a fire on Lexus dealership lot and not get any help." This was a quote from our keynote speaker yesterday, in reference to the products you sell.

Think about for a second.

When you walk on a GM lot, how long does it take to get help? A minute, maybe two?

What about a Lexus lot? Does anyone help you?

This argument isn't indicative of just GM or Lexus, it has to do with public perception and desirability. Lexus knows that its products are desired, GM tries to make up in its desirability by approaching you immediately. By no means do you sacrifice customer service, but what would happen if you didn't call a customer back right away? Would you lose the sale? Depends on your product right? And I also think it has to do with your level of service. A customer will wait if they know when you call them back they will get 100% of your attention.

Here's and Idea for you...
In order to create desirability in your product it has to start with your service. Multi-tasking is a term that doesn't exist in customer service. Period. You do need to do many things at once, just not with a customer's time. When you talk to to them or interact with them it's 100% all the time, every time.

Unique is better than best

Every Friday I enjoy going to Burger King for lunch. But the other day a coworker suggested Hardee's. I scoffed at the idea- why do you want to go to that grease pit? But he insisted they had cleaned up their act.

So we went. I was ready for a huge disappointment, but much to my surprise they had in fact made the whole experience better. In fact it was so overwhelming that I went back the next day! Of course it didn't hurt that they gave me a coupon.

I was please to find the experience the same if not better! They gave me the discount off and let me keep the coupon.

So let's talk burgers. They do it better. Period. They serve them "pub style" half wrapped in paper (that makes a sound just like in the commercials). And they come in a basket. Inside they have guy specific advertising and movie trailers playing by the soda machines . One really neat nich idea is they ask you "for here, or take it with you?" not to go! Brilliant! One more thing--the burgers are all cooked to order, not nuked to order like other places.

So they not only do the burger thing better, but they do it uniquely! I came back for the quality burger but I was more enticed to come back for the uniqueness of the experience.

Here is an idea for you...
In everything you do shooting to be better is always the goal. But when was the last time you aimed to be the most unique?

I received a phone call from a customer the other day thanking me for sending out such "fun" e-mails. She enjoyed trying to figure out what was in each of them by the subject line-which is always unique. I aimed for her attention and chose to be unique to get it.