Same Old, Same Old

I am in the first year of serving on the board at my local golf club and one of the members came up to me the other day and asked me how my year had been on the board and more specifically what had the board accomplished? As I told him the issues that we had been dealing with he said "same old, same old, nothing ever changes."  As I got to thinking about that later I started thinking about some of the things we had worked on including decreasing membership and financial strains and realized that these are certainly some of the same issues and challenges that every business that I work with faces, only it's customers instead of members. We had embarked on a membership drive and brought in about 30 new trial members, unfortunately our focus was so driven in areas of cost control that we forgot about creating an experience for those trial members that made it so they wanted to maintain their memberships after the trial period was up, no different than a business trying to bring in and keep new customers. As many businesses do, we lost focus on delivering a great customer experience and were so focused on the ultimate bottom line results that we didn't deliver enough to keep many of these trial members. I would challenge our board and committees just as I challenge the businesses I work with to deliver a great customer experience so that you keep your members or customers. It is much easier to grow your business through existing customers versus constantly trying to get new customers.  Delivering a great customer experience doesn't necessarily have to cost a great deal of money, service is one way to deliver a great experience, at our club the service levels had dropped and it was believed that is was because of cost cuts, when in reality it was a whole approach to delivering great service that had changed and there was no expectations that great service should always be delivered. Creating a "wow" customer experience is something that every business needs to focus on not only to keep it's existing customers but to create "word of mouth" marketing to attract new customers. As I am writing this blog our financial markets are in turmoil and I read an interesting editorial on the plane today talking about how the financial services industry had a "herd mentality" down this path to problems. I also believe that they and the federal government completely lost their focus on their customers; they were so driven by bottom line results and greed that they lost focus on the customer and now it is costing them and all of us dearly.  Every business whether it's my golf club or a financial services company must think about delivering to the customer an experience that first and foremost keeps them being a customer and second drives more revenue and through the experience brings in more customers. As you look at your business remember that there is only 3 ways to grow a business; more customers, more sales from existing customers and larger sales from existing customers and the latter two are by far and away the most profitable.

The Bed and Breakfast

I am writing this as I am flying home from spending a week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and recharging my batteries (which, by the way, every business owner should do at least twice a year to keep your thinking fresh!). I spent the week at a bed and breakfast and got to observe a small business up close and personal. During my stay, I noticed two critical areas in this business that could make or break them. The first area was positive: the place delivered outstanding customer service. In talking with the owner, Steve, it was very obvious that he was very committed to providing a high level of customer service and had empowered his team to make sure that everything they did created a positive experience for the customer.

This was most evident at one point during the week, when a problem arose with a reservation. One of their rooms had been double-booked, and Steve was going to have to make a customer leave that supposedly had booked their room for an extra night. He handled the situation beautifully by booking the customer in another bed and breakfast of higher value and footed the bill for that night, resulting in what I’m sure was a very satisfied customer.

The next key area wasn’t so positive. Shortly after the double-booking incident, I overheard Steve talking to someone on the phone, complaining about how every time he leaves the place goes to hell and how he had major dissension in the ranks. Almost every afternoon, his executive chef was heard ranting and raving in rather colorful language about the morning shift and one individual in particular. Now these things happen in any business; however, this ranting and raving happened within clear earshot of any guest staying in the building and not only was it clear how unhappy he was but also that these situations were very detrimental to Steve as the owner. He had a critical issue with leadership and team and needs to get everyone on the same page. By making sure everyone first understands the service standards that Steve wants to uphold, he can then make it clear that if issues arise, they should be dealt with behind closed doors — not within earshot of his guests.

If I were advising Steve, the first thing I would suggest to him is to meet with his executive chef and make it understood that if he has issues he needs to bring them to Steve. If someone is not upholding the service and quality standards, then proper training and communication with them is absolutely critical. Then if things don’t improve, then obviously changes need to be made.