John C. Maxwell once stated. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” When we talk about Leadership, Taking Ownership is the most essential quality of any leader. Most of the time I’ve seen people start finding faults on others, blame on the situations and circumstances. Without question, every person makes mistakes. From the rookie new to the job to experienced executives, mistakes happen. It is part of what makes us human. The key issue is how we deal with them – both for the leader who made the mistake and also for whom the mistake was made.

Leaders don’t seek or welcome mistakes, yet by its very nature, mistakes offer a gift to leaders who rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves and their organizations. Almost anyone can lead but not many can lead and take responsibility when issues go awry. True leaders take responsibility and build confidence and trust instead of blaming fate, the economy, politics, customers, shippers, taxes etc. They control what they can control and cope with the rest. Leaders seem to know or learn that a sense of control over our situations defines one of the most basic of human needs. When we feel in control of a situation, we feel empowered and focused.  When we don’t, we get discouraged, and in the worst-case scenario, we start to feel like victims or aggressors.

And there are many that operate from the notion that failure is not an option. Oh yes it is. Failure is a perfect option and sometimes it does not require having to say you’re sorry. Many today would argue that America is not innovative. Many would argue that organizations are finding ways to make money rather than use money to make things. Mistakes make things. Our entire American history is paved from numerous failures. Columbus took the wrong route to America, Standish could not land the Mayflower in Virginia, Edison failed over 1000 times before he created the light bulb and Steve Jobs closed a company called NeXt because the software was way ahead of its time!

No matter what happens to us, no one else can tell us what to feel about it. When you realize you have power over how you respond, you take away the feeling of victimhood. Mistakes are not about victimhood they are about leading and learning. The more mistakes the more you learn.

When you uncover a mistake, admit it and move on. When you behave badly, apologize and move on. This sort of consistency will do more to build trust in your organization than any other singular activity. People want to know what you stand for. If you send conflicting messages and defend those who have done damage, you compromise good will. Organizations aren’t perfect and neither are the policies, procedures, practices and people. The concern is that many organizations attempt to seek perfection. There is no such thing. Seek success. Perfection does not exist and it creates arrogance and inconsistency. It illustrates I am better than you. Leaders do not control teams and they do not control leaders they work collaboratively to move the organization forward by serving its customers well.

When leaders make mistakes, it compromises attitude and willingness to work collaboratively. It establishes a “we” and “they” environment. We imagine dire consequences instead of objectively seeing mistakes as setbacks, not disasters. During times of adversity, there is much we can’t control, but what we can control is our attitude.

So when mistakes occur, acknowledge the issue, make the alterations and move on. Don’t deny seriousness but don’t blame people, external events, or the elusive “they”. And if you created the error leaders need to admit it to.

 (c) 2011. Drew Stevens Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Customer Alchemy

While conducting a recent workshop one of the participants asked me about trends that I see. I informed the audience that we are in an age where customer-to-customer influences mean everything. With the use of the Internet with its spontaneous method of instant communication, customers quickly inform others about the good bad or indifference about products and services.

To that end, it is vital for all organizations (profit and non-profit) to engage more frequently in customer service. Service is as much a part of the marketing and branding process as sales, in fact it might be even more important. The reason is that we are in a service-based economy. What that means to organizations is a need to constantly engage clients so their equity speaks well of your business to promote your brand. In an age of connectivity brand helps visibility as well as revenue vitality.

Organizations then need to ensure the following:

1. Hire the right people that are concerned with servicing the customer.  There is a major difference in the manner an enthusiastic employee handles clients. Tom had a computer issue as was told by the representative they would remain on the line until the issue was repaired. Tom since purchased 8 computers from the firm.
2. The pen is still mightier than the posting. While the amount of email and texting messages get lost or forgotten. Clients’ love receiving gratuity cards in the mail thanking them for business or congratulating them on a special event. The closer you become with clients they more they trust you and conduct business with you.
3. Constantly engage in conversation. As clients become more familiar with you the relationship grows. Similar to any other relationship the more they know you they want to tell others. The qualitative feedback helps grow the brand as others learn about the organization. Even Facebook and Linkedin grew their brand by sustaining client relationships and community.
4. Make life easy. Simply return calls as promised or follow up when needed. Bill has called his service provider four times and still has not received a return call. Clients have too many choices today; don't allow your clients to become a casualty of stupidity.
5. Do something nice. Everyone likes a surprise. I frequent a wonderful Chinese restaurant every week. A few weeks ago I asked Kelly the owner for Dim Sum. The restaurant does not make it they buy it. Three days later she arrived at my front door with plates full- at no charge! Customer appreciation is the best provider of brand value.
6. Service must be consistent. Customer service must exist in paper, your website, your marketing materials- everything. Customer equity is built with relentless consistency.
7.  Learn how to handle the truth. Never trust anything to instinct or fate. If you truly desire customer centric relationships then you must mystery shop the business. Tools used for mystery shopping assessments range from simple questionnaires to complete audio and video recordings. Mystery shopping can be used in any industry, with the most common venues being retail stores, hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, fast food chains, and banks.

Improving customer loyalty helps costs. Loyal customers generate more revenue. Loyal customers with more experience with your brand typically will be more efficient to service. For customers returning again and again there will be a history of working together and understanding expectations and procedures that simply makes doing business together easier.

Yet loyalty cannot occur unless there is proper customer service. Service must be culturally embedded in the organization. It must be the walk and talk of your company and it must be the reasons why it exists. See it from your customer’s eyes so that you can create enough chemistry using the organizations best ingredients.

What are some ingredients in your customer service formula? Place your comments in the area below.

© 2011. Drew Stevens PhD. All rights reserved.