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Rare Bird Blog

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

Friday, December 19, 2008

It's been an interesting week. I had the opportunity to have a heart to heart with a friend and longtime client yesterday who asked for a little more... A little more attention, a little more time, a little more responsiveness. Our conversation reminded me how difficult it can be to manage growth and expectations at the same time.

When I received this story from my sister today, it was yet another reminder that we *all* play a role in delivering exemplary customer service... all we have to do is do it. No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Best-selling business author Harvey Mackay tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point:

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said:

"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement."

Taken aback, I read the card. It said:

Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

I was blown away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside: spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you Like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

I said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."

Almost stuttering, I said, "I'll take a Diet Coke."

Handing me my drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."

As we were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card. "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day and let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

"Tell me, Wally," I asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

"He had just written a book called "You'll See It When You Believe It." Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck; be an eagle! Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cars were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it that has paid off for you," I said.

"It sure has," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today; I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the cab driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

[Note: Thanks, Nancy, for trusting us enough to have that conversation. And for reminding me that the Rare Bird's success has been due in no small part to soaring like eagles, not quacking like ducks. -Jim]

Labels: business consulting, customer service

Focus on the message to survive the recession

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

As my old boss used to say, "cutting your marketing budget to save money is like stopping your watch to save time." It seems to be common knowledge among both business owners and marketers that a recession is the absolute worst time to cut your marketing budget. While knowing what not to do is important, it's better to know what you should do.

To help, a recent Knowledge@Wharton article offered some helpful advice that's worth considering: "The first reaction is to cut, cut, cut, and advertising is one of the first things to go," says Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader, adding that as companies slash advertising in a downturn, they leave empty space in consumers' minds for aggressive marketers to make strong inroads. Today's economy "provides an unusual opportunity to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd," says Fader, "but it takes a lot of courage and convincing to get senior management on board with that."

But as Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish points out, weakened demand causes the cost of many of these services to go down. "If your company has something to say that is relevant in this environment, it's going to be more efficient to say it now than to say it in better times," says Lodish.

Most interesting, however, is recent research that demonstrates just how powerful this economic downturn can be for companies that take advantage of the environment. According to the article, "a McGraw-Hill Research study looking at 600 companies from 1980 to 1985 found that those businesses which chose to maintain or raise their level of advertising expenditures during the 1981 and 1982 recession had significantly higher sales after the economy recovered. Specifically, companies that advertised aggressively during the recession had sales 256% higher than those that did not continue to advertise."

Some key concepts for success:

• Craft messages that reflect the times and explain how you can benefit the consumer
• Without dwelling on the economic conditions, realize that certain products require a straight-up approach; be authentic
• Focus on a goal-oriented message that helps people plan for the future
• While some can craft messages based on price, choose value instead
• Luxury products should appeal to emotion, highlighting the escapism, emotional release and comfort in difficult times
• Regardless of the tactic you choose, stay true to your brand

Other gems await... Be sure to read the entire article for more.

Labels: marketing, strategy, writing

Succeed in business: get the equation right

Monday, December 1, 2008

There are enough gems in this short two-page article to keep any business owner churning through possibilities and thought for some time, but the one that grabbed my attention may be the simplest (and should be the most obvious):

Start with what the customer wants and go from there.

This BusinessWeek article is about New York restaurateur Jonathan Rapp and his journey building a sustainable enterprise in the small town of Chester, Connecticut.

He left New York thinking his experience and reputation would be enough to succeed in the small town. He quickly learned otherwise. Says Rapp: "By Year Two, the trouble signs were too numerous to miss. Numbers were declining for both customers and revenue. There was a persistent drumbeat of criticism of virtually every aspect of the restaurant, except the food. No matter what we did, we couldn't shake the perception that we were too expensive, too “New York-y” (a nasty epithet here), and on top of that, had inconsistent, aloof service and a menu that was too limited."

He thought of selling, but after running the numbers realized he had nothing to sell. Quitting was also an unfavorable option, so he chose to take stock and try to turn the enterprise around. "I realized that I had the equation backwards," said Rapp. "I was making decisions based on what I wanted. In our own minds, we were the best restaurant around—but the fact was, we weren't connecting with our customers." Marketing Guru Seth Godin is fond of saying that you shouldn't create a product and then find a market for it. Instead, you should find out what the market wants and then create that product. This sounds like sage and obvious advice, but Rapp's story illustrates how easy it is to overlook it in practice.

So he fired his 'talented chef' that wouldn't adapt, formed a focus group of customers, and really dug into the community vibe of the small town. Specifically, he:

• Remodeled the restaurant to be cozier and more comfortable (less New York-y, to be sure)
• Began asking his customers what they wanted from a local restaurant
• Changed hours to be more accessible to when customers wanted to be customers (opening for lunch and dinner)
• Began communicating with customers on a regular basis to let them know what was happening in and around their 'community' restaurant
• Began collaborating with local artists, businesses and even other restaurants to create events and to reinforce their image as a member of an unique, thriving village.

But the best idea may be the purest, something Rapp calls "Dinners at the Farm." Dinners at the Farm is "a summertime series of outdoor dinners that we put on in the fields of local farms. The food, 100% locally produced, is cooked from scratch on our bright red 1955 Ford fire truck kitchen. Each dinner benefits a local agricultural nonprofit. Over the past two seasons, we have donated $28,000 and purchased over $50,000 worth of food and wine from local producers. More than 150 guests show up on any given night."

The short article is worth the read.

Labels: business consulting, marketing, strategy