Monthly Archives: July 2016

July 8, 2016 · 8:52 am

Expecting A Cobb And Getting A Dud

I want us to ruminate on a Cobb Salad this Foodie Friday.  It’s one of my favorite dishes and if I see it on a menu while I’m out for lunch there is a reasonably good chance that will be what I order. That’s exactly what I did yesterday and the “cobb salad” that showed up raised a business point in my mind. 

Unless they’re designated by some special qualifier such as “Crab Cobb”, any Cobb Salad has the same basic components.  The “EAT COBB” mnemonic can be used to remember them – egg, avocado, tomato, chicken, onion, bacon, and blue cheese. These items are generally diced and placed on a bed of greens. The dressing is usually a basic vinaigrette but I’ve had great versions with other dressings. The point is that when I order a Cobb, my expectation is that I will get the aforementioned pieces combined into a delicious whole. As I read the description of yesterday’s Cobb on the menu, there was nothing that dissuaded me from that opinion.

What showed up, however, bore little resemblance to what was described or to my expectations. Black olives? Well, that’s an infrequent variation. Half a chicken breast pretty much in one piece? Two red onion rings? No, my friends, this impostor in Cobb clothing was NOT at all what I expected, which is the business point. Every customer interaction comes with expectations. They might be very specific as was the case with the salad or they might be more general – attentive, responsive service, for example. Part of our job in providing value as we solve customer problems is to understand and to exceed whatever those expectations might be. Ignoring those expectations can result in a bad customer experience.

Yesterday’s lunch was perfectly pleasant and had the thing I ordered been just called something other than a Cobb there wouldn’t have been an issue in my mind (nor would I have ordered it). Setting expectations that go unmet is bad business. Like my salad yesterday, it leaves customers unfulfilled, which is not a formula for repeat business.

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July 7, 2016 · 8:33 am

One Ear At A Time

Today’s screed comes courtesy of my mom. While I’m doing the writing, she provided the inspiration for some business thinking. Isn’t that what moms do? 

I’m in Florida with my folks. My mom is having a procedure today and they’ll need a little help while she is recuperating. There was a little drama late yesterday about what time we are to go to the hospital. At one point she had a cell phone in one ear and a landline in the other as she tried to speak with a doctor and the doctor’s nurse. These were entirely separate conversations, mind you, and not some mashed-up form of a conference call. Combine that with my dad’s kibbitzing from the couch and it was quite a scene. Her attention was quite divided and it was actually comical listening to the circular conversations and the obvious lack of progress.

I described the scene to someone afterward and they remarked that you really can’t hear either conversation when you’re not focused, which is our business thought today. How many people do you know who claim to be great a multitasking? I’m here to tell you that they’re lying:

The short answer to whether people can really multitask is no. Multitasking is a myth. The human brain can not perform two tasks that require high-level brain function at once. Low-level functions like breathing and pumping blood aren’t considered in multitasking, only tasks you have to “think” about. What actually happens when you think you are multitasking is that you are rapidly switching between tasks.

In other words, we really can only pay attention to one ear at a time or one task at a time yet many of us insist on trying to do several contemporaneously. My guess is that each task takes longer than if we’d paid full attention to it and that the quality of the result is lower as well. I’m just as guilty as you are of trying to do too many things at once but I’m going to remember my mom and a phone in each ear as I try to change my ways. You?

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July 6, 2016 · 9:22 am

Open Your Ears

First things first: I swear this post isn’t about golf.ClickZ

I recently joined a new golf club. What has impressed me so far has been the proactive customer service.  After almost every round I receive a quick (5 questions) survey about my experience at the club that day. Was the course in good shape? The food ok? Any staff issues? I also received a survey last week since it was the end of a half-year. That was a more in-depth questionnaire (but not burdensome). I know, by the way, that these are being read because I made a comment on one of them and the club GM sought me out to answer it in person after my next round. I’ll admit that this is an extreme and I can see where it might be annoying for many consumers to have a follow-up post-mortem after each interaction.

I’ll also admit that I’m baffled by the companies that ignore the basic customer feedback mechanisms they already have in place. Name a business without a Twitter account or a Facebook page or at least a website with a “contact us” button. Pretty hard to do. Yet studies show that 45% of consumers will abandon a purchase if they can’t get answers to their questions. They use social channels to get them and yet businesses keep ignoring them. At least a third of these interactions go unanswered.

So in the words of the Jerky Boys, open your ears, jackass. As you can see in the graphic from ClickZ, the differences in long-term results for a business are very tied to how that business services its customers. Negative experiences have ripples as dissatisfied folks tell their friends, post reviews, and go elsewhere. If they’re doing so via social channels, and most are, then isn’t it incumbent upon every business to listen and react? Especially to the customers who come to you for a response first?

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