When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. - John Lennon
As many of you know, I work at Western Canada’s largest self-serve automotive dismantling/recycling store. Yes, I work at an auto-wrecker. But it’s not just an everyday run of the mill auto dismantling recycling facility: it is a used Auto-Parts Retail Outlet. I told you that to tell you this:
People don't buy things from companies, they buy ideas.
Customers don’t realise what they are buying; for this reason, many staff equally do not realise what they are selling; therefore, all parties involved believe that they are buying and selling used car parts from a field full of old cars. WRONG.
We sell ideas. We not only sell ideas, we sell knowledge. The biggest “idea” we sell is that we are going to do whatever we can do to help the customer “believe” so that they leave satisfied and we create the IDEA that it is a good idea to come back again one day. Of course, optimally they do go home with someTHING as well.
Companies call this “creating repeat clientele” and see it from an economic/financial standpoint:
Repeat clients=Greater Revenue=Higher Profits
Of course, companies are in the business of making money, but it has become increasingly apparent to me over the last few years that many companies (as well as many individuals) do not know WHY they do what they do. Do companies and individuals simply want to make money (to please shareholders and bring home a paycheque), or is there a greater good that can be accomplished by doing what they do? Companies want to create demand for their customers. But WHY? If we have customers that still come to us to buy THINGS, we aren't selling ourselves properly. We haven’t created the DESIRE for them to come back…You can buy things anywhere, after all.
Companies tell us WHAT to do, but they don’t tell us WHY we should do it, so it is difficult for these companies to have truly engaged staff. Of course, some staff will take it upon themselves to find why they do things or what makes them happy, but without engaged staff you just have people going through the motions and not actually believing in what they are doing. Happiness is everything and if you aren’t happy doing what you do, don’t do it. Each day you have to ask yourself why you do what you do in order to be successful; if money is the ONLY reason that you go to work, then you should likely reconsider what you do for work.
Personally, I wholeheartedly believe that I go to work each day to help people. Companies look at quarterly reports and financial statements and write missions statements, but they are ultimately accountable to two groups: stakeholders (including shareholders and employees) and their customers (who rely on the company’s services for their own wellbeing). So if the company is not doing what is right for the customer, writing mission statements doesn't mean anything.
Corporations (which I have interchangeably called companies) often give their stores or branches or locations (or whatever you would like to call it) many tools to be successful. Tools can be in the shape of coupons, promotional sales, extended warranties, loyalty cards, radio or print ads, etc. but if the employees are not using these tools to their full potential, these tools are useless: this ends up failing the company (because of wasted investment (both creatively and financially)), the employee(by not living up to full potential) and in turn, the customer (who suffers the most). Promotions are designed to give all parties a mutually beneficial result.
Remember:
Remember:
"We miss 100% of sales we do not ask for", and
“You can’t buy something you don’t know exists”.
Poor customer service comes in many forms. Some might think having to bag their own groceries is unacceptable. Some might not like the prices of something and believe it is the fault of the cashier (caused by customers’ unrealistic expectations). Some might think that when a customer service agent is blatantly rude that they should their business elsewhere. I agree with (and only with) the latter.
Having worked in customer service and sales for the better part of the last 15 years, I can assure you it is a two-way street. Customers bring money, but good customer service brings the clients back. Customers often lash out; unacceptable. Employees of companies can also lash back: MORE unacceptable.
Sometimes all it takes to put things in perspective is to take half a step back and to put yourself in the shoes of the other side. Picture yourself talking to you and see how that makes you feel. Maybe the employee is slouching over or avoiding eye contact or seems to be more concerned with what their co-worker is having for lunch than what the customer is ready and willing to spend money on (ie WANTS and/or NEEDS). Angry customers should consider how they would like to be spoken to and conversely, lazy employees should consider how they would like to be treated when they go to a different store run by a different company. Everyone is a customer, but not everyone is a customer service agent. Having said that, it is not all about courtesy, but it is all about respect.
When I started working at Pick-n-Pull, I was a 19 year old student who needed a part time job to pay for my partying habits. I worked there because I had friends who worked there and it was convenient and fun. I also got to learn about cars but really I didn’t care about cars and still don’t. I never thought that 7 years later (after being gone from the company for almost 3 years) I would get a phone call from the newly promoted Store Manager (who started the month before I did) to ask if I would like to be a part of his sales management team. I would consider this among my top two greatest professional accomplishments. I have been successful in my career so far for one main reason: I do everything I do because I believe in what I am doing and I try to have a good time while I do it.
Every day, my goal is to learn something new. I learn from my manager, I learn from my staff and I learn from my customers. I learn about how to manage, I learn about how to be compassionate, I learn about cars and most of all I learn about how to teach other people how to learn like I do. I walk through the doors every morning interested in getting better at something. Business is about meeting goals and making contacts or new customers or whatever but it is really truly about doing something that you love to do and being happy.
I don't LOVE stacking up tires or buying cars or filling antifreeze or cleaning batteries but I love helping people. As it turns out, by doing these simple things, I can help make people’s (customers and staff) lives better.
I want to come to work to work hard and have fun while I do that. I know you all want that too.
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
You like what you read, watch this for further insight: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html
