If you own or manage a business, what problems are you solving today? Does your business understand its problem solving role? If it does not, give it a good lesson. If your business does not recognize the problems it solves, start giving it some new lessons on how to recognize its problem solving roles.
Once you help your business to understand how it is designed to solve problems make sure the people who help you run your business understand how to solve problems. Your associates, managers, assistants, warehouse staff, drivers, technicians, clerks, accountants and employees are all part of the whole problem solving mechanisms your business provides. Solutions are your key success component. The more solutions your business learns to provide the more successful your model becomes. If you do not understand this philosophy, it can be a good thing to learn it.
Many leaders grow tired of handling problems. It happens to me every day. Some problems have a way of wearing a person down. When some of those problems grow strong enough to cause the leader to quit working on solving them, that business model will slow down in volume sales. Solving problems is one of the keys to producing higher revenues. When the business model slows its ability to solve problems in an efficient manner the customers will search around to find someone else to solve their problems. The customers will go somewhere else. All the customer wants to do is make sure they have toilet paper conveniently placed with an adequate supply when they need it. What's more, the customer does not want to go the extra mile to get that problem solved. The customer does not want to pay too much, drive too far, hunt to hard, park too far away, nor wait too long in line. The customer finds all of these additional problems a problem. They do not want to solve their problem by managing new problems. A good business model works hard to solve all of these problems for them.
Deeper yet, the customer does not want to think about any issues that may get into their way while they are trying to solve their problems. Whoever causes additional problems to occur, we will call them 'consumer quirks', add strength to the problem the consumer is trying to solve. A business model who provides more obstacles for the customer to weave through to solve their problems will be the business who the customer will blame if something goes wrong. Being the business of blame is not the best way to build increasing volumes.
Do your employees, managers, yourself and your business model understand the proper marketing of 'consumer quirks?' Misunderstanding 'consumer quirks' have quietly and permanently damaged many business models. Business is all about solving problems, not adding to them. Producing and feeding 'consumer quirks' is a contribution a great business should not provide. It has a tendency to increase the magnitude of the problems a customer is trying to solve instead of solving them. These resistance policies become 'consumer quirks.' We have a tendency to blame the consumer for these little quirks. We sometimes believe the consumer is asking too much. Does your business model think in this way? Did you know the consumer likes fashionable displays? Maybe you do not like them, but they do. Have you decided to refrain from producing fashionable displays? Why? Your customer loves them. Oh, I get it, its a 'consumer quirk.' It is their fault, right? Wrong. Give them fashionable displays when they like fashionable displays. Take fashionable displays away when they quit liking them. Get it? It is never about what you like to do. It is always about what they like to experience. Feed their 'quirks.' Solve their problems.
Let us look at an example of one of those resistance policies business models offer to add more problems to the customers experience. If a customer has a problem with some product they purchased from you, how easy is it for them to solve that problem when they call your business for help? Do they get an electronic phone 'tree' message that requires the irritated consumer to be additionally patient with your business model while they listen to instructions so they can properly 'select' the number to get the right department to begin the work on solving their problem? Does your business actually market some of these types of 'consumer quirk' dislikes? Why? Who is this type of method convenient for, you or the consumer? I do not know about anyone else, but I actually avoid doing business with those types of business models. If I have legitimate choices in my marketplace to go somewhere else to do my business, I intentionally and subconsciously avoid the ones who do this type of stuff. I have experienced some not-so-good treatment from the 'phone tree' process for solving my problems. Let's examine deeper how our business models create more problems like this.
I made a note of her telephone number and promised to call around to see who could sell her the product she needed. I made a few quick phone calls to a variety of potential suppliers. I called her back with my recommendation. It took about seven minutes to develop her solution. She was appreciative and thanked me for the tips. Later she called me back to report the purchase of over $500 worth of product from the retail source I recommended. She thanked me again. We solved her problem.
Several problems were solved in this transaction. Let's analyze this customer experience.
The first problem solved in this experience was a hidden problem. The hidden problem was that this customer did not want to be wrong in her pursuit to solve her problem. She wanted to be 'right' with her choice. She made the decision to call a person instead of a business to solve her problem. The person she called does not supply the product she was searching to find. Several businesses in the area supply that product, yet she did not call them. She did not want to be wrong with her search. She went to someone she trusted. This is a deeper problem to solve. Most standard clerks would miss this signal. In this incident she wanted to be 'right' with her choice. I will share with you the reason why she needed to be 'right' with her choice, at the end of this post.
In the meantime, let's review the experience.
This customer selected a person, not a business to solve her problem. Most customers do not want to be wrong in their choices. Being wrong is a problem to them. Remember to allow customers to be correct in their choices. Sometimes it means going the extra mile doing the things you do not normally do. Do them anyway, especially if it helps the customer to be correct. Teach your business model and its employees how to become accountable solution providers. Teach your business and employees how to be 'eager' to solve customer problems.
Second, when I made my first call to a supplier who stocks this particular type of weed killer I received a friendly clerk on the phone. The clerk did not recognize the name of the product I was searching to find. I asked the clerk if she could either check to see if they carry it or hand the phone over to someone who might know the product. Her answer was something we often hear when a clerk is under-trained and less responsive to consumer needs. She said, "I don't know if we have anyone here that would know what you are looking for." I politely closed down my conversation and hung up. This business would not qualify to be on the list of recommendations I will offer to my friend. This business made no effort to solve my problem. They will not get her business.
The next phone call was placed to a retail firm I know has the product. I have seen it placed in the isles of this big box store many times. I know they have it. One of the requests from my caller was that she needed to buy this product packaged in 50 pound bags. I was certain this supplier did not stock this particular product in that type of packaging quantity. However, I called the big box retailer to give it a try. I was greeted with my initial call to this retailer by the typical 'phone tree.' It was a recording that provided a "push-the-right-button" customer greeting answering system. None of the choices offered on the message machine 'fit' the product description I was searching to find. The recording gave me five choices to select. None of the five choices matched the product I was looking to buy so I waited for the end of the message and pushed the number for customer service. The young lady from customer service who answered the phone asked me what I was looking for. When I described the product, she thought it would be in the building materials department. She also felt compelled to proceed further and tell me what number on the phone menu would lead me to that product in the future. She then told me she could transfer me to that department right now if I wanted to get more information. She asked me this question, "Would you like me to transfer you now?" I grinned inside. I had the urge to say something rude like this, "No, Ma'am...don't transfer me...I just wanted to know what department number on the phone tree you guys use to identify this particular product! This has been a real problem for me lately!"
Does your business actually do these silly things? Do your employees react to customer requests in this fashion? How do they solve problems?
Guess what happened next? She transferred me to the building department and the line was accidentally cut off. I had to re-dial and call her back. This set of circumstances begs some interesting questions. How is this business model doing with its level of managing 'customer quirks' in this process? Is this business model feeding the problem or solving it?
I called back. I decided to do the 'phone tree' correctly this time. I want to avoid getting another system lesson from the customer service gal if I come straight back to her with the same request. So this time I pushed #2 on the phone to get the building materials department she described. A guy answered the phone. He asked what I was looking for. When I described what product I was looking for he said that product would be in the garden department, not the building department. He said I got the wrong department for that product request. I asked if he could transfer me to the garden department. He said, "No. He could not." He explained that he was new this week and was in training right now and had not yet learned how to transfer phone calls with this system. He apologized but told me I would need to hang up and call back. He suggested I ask for the customer service clerk this time. I think you are beginning to she what I mean when I say, 'customer quirks.'
Sometimes employees tend to consider the impatience from customers as quirks. Before I hung up on this call, I asked him if he could walk the phone to someone in the garden department so I would not have to go back to the re-dial process and get the original customer service clerk, the one that gave me the incorrect lead, and a subtle lecture as a prize. He considered my request as one of those 'customer quirks' every good employee learns how to deal with in their jobs. Here was his reply, "I can't do that right now, my supervisor is training a few of us right now on how to operate the fork-lift safely. I am sorry." I asked him if his supervisor was standing nearby. Here is what he said, "Yes." Ladies and gentlemen, this is a true story and you all know it is true. My question is this. Does your business model behave in this fashion? If so, why? Is this business model feeding the problem or solving it? I am now beginning to suspect that the lady who called me did not actually call me first. Maybe she had already traveled this route I am on. Maybe.
I hung up the phone, did not call the garden department and found the $500 worth of product somewhere else. I found a different retailer who had the product in the sizes she wanted to buy. The business that solved my problem the best received my business trade. It is a simple equation. Solve the customers problems, get the business.
Does your business model work to solve the customers problems? Does your business model push customer problems aside and create more problems for the customer to manage? Do your employees excuse the system they are being trained to represent and fail to consider the consumer's needs? Do your employees complain about many of the problems customers are trying to solve? Who expects good service, the customer with problem solving 'quirks' or the employees looking for more job convenience? Business is all about solving problems. Does your business model know how to solve problems? Have you trained your business to become good at solving customer problems? Do the employees who process your business model understand how to solve customer problems? Are your employees eager to solve the problems customer bring in or are they eager to shift them off to someone else?
It might be worth the exercise to do an experiment on this subject. I am sure the manager of the big box retailer in this example does not approach customer problems the same way his employees approached it. I doubt he knows how little they tried to solve my problem. In fact, I do not believe he would be excited to learn how poorly they handled the opportunity. Check to see how your model solves customer problems. Use a 'test' customer to give your employees an unusual problem to solve. See how they respond. You might be shocked.
By the way, I promised to share with you why the lady who called me needed to be 'right' with solving her problem. She was given the assignment by her boss to head a large donation project for a local historical society project cleaning up around some grounds near a Pioneer Cemetery plus a historic road and bridge. The crew of many volunteers were on hand ready to go do the work in several locations. Some local businesses donated farm equipment to help with the project. She needed this product as soon as possible in the quantities the equipment would handle. She was also pre-occupied with directing many of the volunteers on the other parts of the large project. She had a problem to solve. She was short on time. She had money in hand. Now you know the rest of the story, you know her 'quirks.'
Until next time...
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