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Just Say Yes!

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Just Say Yes!

Founder and managing member Ron Slee modifies the Nike slogan in this week’s blog, as he asks readers to “Just Say Yes!”

Nike started it didn’t they? Just Do It. How could you forget it as it was and continues to be everywhere? I was reminded of that yesterday during a Zoom meeting with Steve Clegg of Winsby. We were having a discussion about finance and forecasting when the discussion turned to questions that are asked of dealers. Steve opined that there are too many answers to questions that are posed by customers to dealers. Many are met with a response of another questions. Seeking more information or clarity. Steve suggested that there was a better approach to the questions that are asked of dealers. The questioner is really just asking for help. So why not respond with a simple YES. I can do that for you. I can help. I will get it for you. Take the problem the concern away from the customer.

A few weeks ago, in another discussion with another group of people, Mets Kramer and Stephanie Smith the same point came up from a different direction. When the customers come to your website what are they doing? We changed our website to ask a question on the landing page. Right in the middle of the page and it zooms towards you and away from you so you can hardly miss it. We ask “Need Help Finding Something? Click Here.” And you are taken to a series of choices available to the visitor from the website. It is making a difference for our website visitors. I had not taken into consideration that there is a such a large volume of information on our site. I know where everything is so why shouldn’t everyone else? That is what in the teaching profession we call the curse of knowledge.

Customers are looking for solutions not answer. That was my take away when Steve presented that thought to me.

Recently I wrote about us living in “The Golden Age of Information.” We can get answers to nearly anything. Just ask “Google” or “Siri” or “Alexa.” Our access to information is amazing to consider. It used to be a barrier to entry to our industry, dealers in the capital goods world, information. That is no longer true. The problem is that too many of us still are thinking that our sales force is available to give information to customers. That our sales force is a group of people that act as if they are “walking brochures.” 

Our customers do their own research at their convenience and when they are ready to do something then they call us. Alex Kraft has understood this and created a wonderful tool for customers and dealers and the sales force. He has created an internet-based tool that uses text messages to announce that a customer has a need and is looking for a machine. That information is texted to the clients of his Company Heave. He has answered the question with YES. Going further he is asking the sales force who receive the texts “Do you want to help?”

Dale Hanna and Foresight Intelligence eliminate the need for questions with their SMS program which sends text messages to customers that are having work done onf their equipment. Rather than playing phone tag to find out the status of a repair between the customer and the dealer service department, which typically requires a few calls to connect, Foresight has a system that sends a text to each customer, at their choice, of any action of their machine. It could be an inspection, it could be a quotation, it could be pictures, it is rather slick, if you ask me. There is no longer the NEED, to ask the questions to get a status update. You get that update at the “speed of text.” That doesn’t eliminate the customer’s ability to talk to the dealership, it changes what the conversation is about.   

Just say YES. A rather simplistic approach to an issue of concern to your customers.

Simon Sinek has become famous with his question “WHY.” This is part of one of the most viewed TED talks “Start with Why.” He poses three questions in his “Golden Circle.” What do you do” How do you do it? Why do you do it? It has become rather commonplace now for people to explore the answers to these three questions. The magic is that the WHY is not for the money. It is for some deeper meaning. It goes to the heart of who you are and what you believe. If you haven’t already watched the TED talk, I strongly urge you to take the time and do it.

 That talk touches the same point as the “Just Say YES” message here. The customer is looking for help. For something. Whatever it is just say YES. I used to respond to customers when they called me and said they had a problem “No Sir, you don’t have a problem, I do.” It caused a few pauses I know but the customer “Got It” I was taking on their problem I was going to find an answer. I was going to solve it for them. I say YES. What do you do?

The Time is Now.

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Reflections

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Reflections

We have written over the past three or four weeks about coaching and leadership. Perhaps it is time to reflect a bit on this.

It all starts with each of us wanting to do a good job. That comes from active and passive participation in the work that we do and the life that we live. Perhaps the work portion of our lives is the easier one. The life we live can be either very challenging or you become a victim of circumstances and you let those circumstances dominate your life. In other words, you give up on yourself. That goes to the Nike tag line “Just Do It.” Jimmy Valvano, when he was in the latter stages of his fight with cancer, gives us a better approach. “Never Give Up.” No matter what you face you can overcome it if you give it a good and honest fight. Learn more, train more, practice more, listen more, dream more, care more.

Eleanor Roosevelt is famous for her quote of “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” It always intrigues me as to why some people let that happen to them. Why is that?

Curiosity is another attribute that I believe is critical to our beings. We can learn through asking “why,” and children spend more than a year of their early lives doing nothing but ask that question. Quoting Ted Kennedy at the funeral of his brother Robert, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” This is something I believe we should take more to heart. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do things this way? How long have we done things this way? I came to an epiphany when I started studying change in a serious way. We are taught to resist change in every manner possible. From how we are parented with specific rules – don’t do that – to our schooling – this is how you do that – to our jobs – how we are taught to do our jobs. All of those lead us to be somewhat resistant to or suspicious of change. Japanese culture introduced me to Kaizen. Change everything you do, make it better or easier or more efficient, every day, if even just a tiny bit. That to me is a more reasonable approach to life.

Another aspect of leadership and coaching is that we must create followers before anything else will happen. That seems to be quite obvious but many of us fail at this when we start issuing mandates and “orders.” How many people will follow you because they want to if you are all about giving orders? Simon Sinek in his book “Leaders Eat Last” uses in the foreword a Lt General from the Marine Corps who describes meal time in the Marines. The enlisted men and served first and they eat first. Keep them happy and healthy and things will be alright.

I have a reading list on my consulting web site, www.rjslee.com, I call it the reading list for interested people. There are many wonderful books with incredibly meaningful suggestions and ideas to think about. Patrick Lenioni comes to mind with his books – The Three Signs of a Miserable Job and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Easy to read parables with incredibly helpful advice. There are many more books there to enjoy and learn from for interested people. There are also over twenty years of monthly columns, from Industry publications, on the parts and service and product support sales and marketing subjects.

However, in each of my classroom sessions I always ask how many have read a business book that will help them with their jobs. In the last month or quarter. Sadly, not many hands go up.
Another thing that I like to do at each class is to ask some questions. That is the Socratic method to teaching.

 What is the definition of Ignorance?
 What is the definition of Stupidity?
 What is the definition of Insanity?

This causes some difficulty for the room. Ignorance is not knowing what to do. Stupidity is knowing what to do and not doing it. Insanity is continuing to do with you have always done expecting different results. I then tell them that at the end of the class they will no long be ignorant because they will know what to do. I leave them with the last two choices – Stupidity or Insanity. No one in the room is insane so in truth I am challenging them to take advantage of what they have learned and do something with it. If they don’t, well, that is plain stupid, isn’t it?

The Time is NOW.