Ham, Cheese and Hold The Anger Please...

I recently spent an extended period of time in a small Montana town with a surprising selection of gastronomic offerings; Mexican, Thai, Italian, Greek, wonderful bakeries and at least two creperies.

During a conversation with a local grad student she summarized her reluctance to visit one of the creperies by commenting "I prefer food without the anger, thank you very much". Her comment referenced an employee who worked for one of the creperies and practiced the consistent habit of taking an order sans the glint of a smile (more likely an annoyed reluctance).  Pouring the batter on the griddle, this employee would proceed to slap the customer's chosen ingredients on the crepe with an attitude of anger and unrest.  Extra cheese??? (heavy sigh), Ham...Ka-whack!  Detaching the delicate creation from the griddle this employee would slap it on the plate and shove it towards the intended recipient before proceeding to delight yet another customer.....yes, this was consistent, predictable behavior, not just one bad day.

Wow; what a story and what a poignant end result;  a non-raving fan.  Looking for the learning in this story?   If you own a business where you and/or your employees interface with the public - be mindful of the attitude you portray to your customers.  Sure, all of us have challenging moments ( a recent Jet Blue flight attendant comes to mind) and times when we are not at our best, but in this case the behavior was so predictable that the patron opted to no longer frequent the business.

I believe every businesses with a public/consumer interface will experience invaluable benefit (and ROI) from integrating personality profiling in their hiring practices. A simple profile can provide accurate information about an individual's skills, and temperament enabling you to place them in a position where they and your business will thrive.  Well known profiles include DISC, The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Meyers-Briggs and my personal favorite the PREP Profile which can be customized to job position and existing management personalities. http://www.prep-profiles.com/.   In Jim Collin's phraseology  It's about "getting the right people in the right seats on the bus".

This summer finds me around 500 miles from my Portland Oregon Home in Helena, MT.  Recently, while sitting on a park bench on a warm afternoon, a woman, who by appearances was likely homeless approached,  paused as I looked up, then advanced towards me when I smiled.  With a brief hesitation and a  (mostly toothless) grin she asked if I could do her a favor.  Assuming (incorrectly) the question that was to follow, I replied, "possibly, what is it you need?"  Her  response was " Do you think you could just take a minute and talk with me?" What followed was an interaction where she mostly talked; I mostly listened.  My new friend walked away shortly thereafter asking if I would talk with her again if we happened across each other.

What does this brief interaction have to do with successful business?  Quite a bit actually. A few take a way's include: 1) Avoid assumptions based on circumstances, surroundings or appearances.  2) Listen: This woman, just like our customers are hungry to be "heard";  a reminder for us to refrain from interrupting conversation and  offering our presumed immediate solution.  Be attentive, let customers talk; then respond. One of the highest needs of human behavior is the need to understand and be understood.    3) Slow down. I admit this is one of the harder points to practice in  our culture of  moving fast and  full, but  again customers that become customers for "life" want to feel their needs are important and worth your time.   4) Be kind...smile...make eye contact. It is absolutely amazing to me the power of a smile!  The need for genuine respect in our often  impersonal world is one of the highest values we can provide to our customers.

" You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read".

Taking literary license and a spin towards the business owner;  I suggest that "Your business/career will be the same in five years as it is today except for the people you meet and the books you read".  (Let me qualify "books you've read" to include all avenues available to learning, whether they be books, trainings, educational courses, etc.)

Given the above, I venture into the blogosphere following a theme; speaking to the books I read or the people I meet.

In Work The System, (The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less (http://www.workthesystem.com), author Sam Carpenter comments:  "Too many corporate managers and small business owners see their businesses and the world as a complex mass of sights, sounds, and events".  Speaking to the foundational reason for business mediocrity and failure,  he goes on to state "The leader isn’t seeing the mechanisms that are producing the bad results. If a leader is blind to the mechanics, he or she won’t be able to climb out of the morass."

I unequivocally agree. Whether you are a seasoned business leader or recent start-up, failure to understand the mechanics of your business and create systems and procedures  in written form to support those mechanics will result in business chaos, stress, and mediocrity.

Statistics indicate employees who lack understanding of employer expectations and company operating procedures cost employers as much as $2,733 per employee per year in lost time and inefficiency. The "math" is easy; stressed employees that lack an understanding of expectations, policies and procedures will result in unstable, unpredictable products and/or customer service.

Conversely, when employees know what is expected of them, where to find what they need and how things are done, everyone benefits. Employees are more productive, less frustrated and more customer centric, clients and customers find interactions professional and seamless, and  the company saves money and increases efficiency by minimizing training time and downtime.

Whats my point?  Create standard operating procedures for every step of your business, write them out, keep them current and make sure to respect and support your employees by training them step-by-step.   You'll increase the caliber of your staff, the value of your business and the experience of your customer.  The satisfied customer is your best business strategy.

In his bestselling book , Rule #1, author Phil Town spells out in exceptionally clear and absolute terms that rules dictate the success or the failure of investing.  In short; "rules" undergird solid decisions by keeping us from reacting emotionally and motivating us to evaluate information thereby resulting in informed decisions.  In that, when we pursue a course of action, (based on solid information and pre-determined guidelines, i.e., "rules") we can rest confidentially in those decisions and place our mental, emotional, creative and physical efforts elsewhere.  Does it involve some planning, investment of time and resources upfront?  Absolutely, but the back end pay off makes for a tangible ROI.

This same mindset towards "rules" can be applied to the success or the failure of a business in the nano-second it takes to click "send".  Statistics indicate 53 % of companies lack a policy to govern email retention & deletion,  67% allow individual end users to determine how long messages are kept by the company and  66% lack  archiving technology required to manage  retention, litigation holds and e-Discovery.  In today's litigious society the derailment or demise of a business lies in the click of the "send" button. Take the upfront time to protect your future success by establishing some "rules" around these communication channels.  Need help getting started?  http://www.infotech.com offers free downloadable templates to create email and mobile use policies.

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