Category Archives: Shared values

Two Kinds of Salons

29 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Branding, Developing talent, Management, Shared values

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lyra-car-seat-vicki_mxtkqt

If you have young children, or if you know someone who has, you are probably familiar with this experience. Let’s say mom and dad need to drive a couple hours to help an old friend who is moving from her apartment into her new home. Mom and dad tell the kids, “We’re going in the car to visit Lauren. Grab your toys and let’s go.”

Unless you are blessed in a special way, not long after you get in the car the kids start to fidget. They get easily bored and you immediately begin entertaining them, playing with them, distracting them, bribing them, and eventually sometimes we get mad at them. If we step back, it’s easy to diagnose the situation. Young children are not ready for confined spaces for long periods—especially when the endeavor has nothing to do with them or their interests.

Now, let’s think about a time when you and your friends decided to do something together. Insert your own example, but let’s say you and three of your besties decide to go to the beach for the weekend. Someone says, “You wanna go to the shore this weekend?” and those who make the choice say, “Oh heck yeah!” That’s kind of it. In an instant everyone realizes where they are (inland), they know who’s going (people who they have something in common with), and they know where they’re going (to get sand between their toes). Everyone makes a choice. Everyone wants to switch it up. Everyone understands the beach is fun on weekends. Everyone is onboard. No one needs to be convinced to go and no one needs to be taught how to have fun.

  • 90% of the salons I have known operate in what I call, “The kids in the car seat” world.
  • 100% of us should strive to make the “Weekend at the beach” our reality.

So, how do we do that? It starts with your True Brand Story.

When you strap the kids in a car seat they have little understanding of why you’re taking away their personal freedom for two hours. When you invite your friends to the shore, everyone already knows the “story” and if they want to go they buy in naturally.

Your True Brand Story has several chapters but here is the bottom line: You need to be able to describe to your team, and your job applicants, Who you are (your purpose), What you stand for (your values), and where you’re going (your vision). Children won’t be able to understand what you’re saying but young adults with a true passion for our business and their potential careers will.

Your job is to develop your story into a compelling tale that captures the imaginations of the professionally-minded and attracts them to come with you on the journey of a lifetime. As the saying goes, “Your mom doesn’t work here,” let’s just make sure she leaves the car seats at home too.

Active Listening

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by in Concentrating effort, Contribution, leadership, Management, Shared values

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Listening-6

Leaders and managers want to be heard, understood, and to be part of our communities just like anyone else. We appreciate it when people listen to our ideas and try to connect with us because it makes us feel good. That alone should be enough to motivate us to listen and try to understand others. As leaders and managers we often give ourselves too much permission to talk when we should be reminding ourselves to listen.

We always need to model the behavior we expect to see in our organizations. Given that, we have a special obligation to listen and to listen well. Here is a quick summary of the key “active listening” skills we should demonstrate in our personal and professional lives.

  • Attention/Focus. Devote your attention to the other person. Find a place that allows you to do that.
  • Interest. Take a true interest in the person and what s/he is saying. This isn’t a good time to go through the motions.
  • Take Time. Set aside time to listen instead of trying to multi-task. Schedule private appointments when necessary to ensure you have enough time.
  • Body Language. Listen to words, posture, gestures, and tone of voice. Provide plenty of eye contact and use all your senses to understand the other person.
  • Validate. Reassure the speaker that you see their point of view. Even if you don’t yet agree, it’s important you validate his or her point of view.
  • Repeat/Clarify. Repeat what you heard in your own words. “So what I hear you saying is….” is not just a cliché. It allows you to explain what you heard and allows the speaker to verify s/he got her message across.
  • Ask clarifying questions. Rather than interrogating your partner, ask her or him some clarifying questions to solidify your understanding. For example: “When you said (blank) could you clarify what you meant?” “Could you say that a different way so I make sure I understand?” “I’m not sure I understand. Could you go over (blank) again with me?”
  • Feelings. When it’s appropriate, probe for feelings. Communication is not only about what a person thinks. It’s also about how s/he feels about what s/he thinks.
  • Counter Argument. Do not waste your listening time planning what to say. Sit tight. Let the speaker finish and then interact with him or her. Save your counter arguments—if any—until you’re certain you understand the other party.

Thanks for listening. Now, what did you hear and how will you put it into action?

Instant MBA

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by in Branding, Concentrating effort, Customers, Management, Results, Shared values

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Printing Money
Every new salon is created with a “License to print money,” because the money making potential in our industry is virtually unlimited. To use your “license,” you need an activation key but only 5-10% of all salons know how to obtain it. What is this secret activation key? It is:

Knowing the difference between running your salon and managing your salon.

Here is how you can start managing your salon today.

Create a Customer

Every institution must create certain benefits. The role of business—your business—is to create a customer. No matter if you’re a creative, a geek, a hipster, or just a regular person, your only concern at work is delivering what your customers value. Everything else is either secondary or an outright distraction.

Communicate Your Vision

Your first priority as a leader is to constantly communicate and reinforce the values, purpose, and vision of your salon. The time you currently spend on everything else must come after you describe what you stand for, why you’re here, and the future you are creating.

Develop a Shared Understanding

If there is a trick between Running Your Salon and Managing Your Salon it is to create a shift in thinking from “I” to “We.” No one is exempt from this rule of management. If effort in your salon is individual, energies will be scattered. When effort is concentrated you will make a powerful impact together.

Understand Your Guests

Recognizing is not understanding. Know specifics for every guest. Name, age, significant other, children, visit frequency, likes/dislikes, recent issues or triumphs, satisfaction/trust level, income, job, upbringing, etc. To create a customer you must know who they are and why they want what they want.

Write Job Descriptions

Describe every job in writing and include at least: Job Title, Results, Measures, and Behaviors. Provide performance feedback on these topics during every one-on-one before addressing anything else.

Hire Good People

In addition to skill, talent, and artistic ability you need to identify, select, and retain good people. “Good” people have solid values, a strong work ethic, and good intentions. Remember, it is far easier to teach a good person how to be a better hairdresser than to teach a better hairdresser how to be a good person.

Train as Well as Educate

Continuing education is proven for success in our industry. What 90% of salon owners overlook is training employees to succeed in living out their values, sharing a common purpose, and creating a better future together through service to their guests. Model this behavior and communicate it too.

 

Going too Far

03 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Concentrating effort, Contribution, Developing talent, Effectiveness, Management, Shared values

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circa 1933: American film actress & sex symbol, Mae West (1892 - 1980). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

I like restraint, if it doesn’t go too far. Mae West

In my business experience, I haven’t met (m)any people who learned at home—or at school—how businesses essentially work or how to behave within an organization. Like other roles in our lives, mother, daughter, friend, spouse, etc., we learn by experience and figure things out by the seat of our pants.

In “What is Management?” I proposed the basis of how businesses work. I encourage you to come back to these 11 bullet points until they are second-nature. We spend so much of our time working in organizations while actually ignoring the context of business and its requirements of us as leaders, managers, and employees.

My clients often ask for my input on difficult employee situations that inevitably occur. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t begin my response by first reflecting on “How Business Works.” As I listen to situations, clarify goals, and probe for motivations one thing crops up time and time again—the issue of restraint, or self-control.

At a very basic level, organizations simply cannot function unless everyone has achieved some minimum level of maturity. We don’t work well together unless each of us takes responsibility for our own behavior and exercises control over our own urges which may come from any direction; absentmindedness, fear, power, self-image, control, and so on.

Management has a reasonable expectation that employees will conduct themselves responsibly, with restraint, and even professionally. Employees must take responsibility for their role at work, recognizing its basic requirements, the same way they take responsibility in their roles as mother, daughter, friend, and spouse.

Employees have a reasonable expectation that Management will conduct themselves responsibly, with restraint, and to “do” management instead of just tasks. It is on them to provide leadership, goals, clear communication, and constantly state and reiterate the importance of values, purpose, and the company’s vision. Management must take responsibility for their role in the organization and not confuse it with power, control, micromanaging, dismissiveness, and the like.

Mae West was quite a character. For organizations to excel what we need is a lot of character.

What is Management?

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by in Branding, Concentrating effort, Continuous improvement, Contribution, Customers, Developing talent, Effectiveness, Management, Results, Shared values

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Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.
Peter F. Drucker

Because few of us have had bosses who were trained managers, and because few of us have received specialized training in management, we tend to think management is some kind of gut-feel thing. In fact, there is much that is known about management as it has been defined, studied, and systematically improved over the past century. Management is endlessly fascinating and, at the same time, it is not rocket science. For our mutual benefit, and so we have a shorthand way of understanding what we’re talking about when we say “management,” here it is on one page. Again, thanks and props to Mr. Drucker.

ROLE OF BUSINESS

To create a customer.

ROLE OF PROFIT

To serve as validation that customer needs are being met.

ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE/LEADER

To know the Purpose, Vision, and Values of an organization and to constantly communicate them.

ROLE OF THE MANAGER

To make our work productive and to help workers achieve results.

There is a lot of study and discussion about how our memory works. Authors such as Malcolm Gladwell and Daniel Kahneman talk about the concept of “The availability heuristic.” Availability describes what’s happening when, “Something just ‘pops’ into our heads.” In the hustle-bustle of daily management, how we respond to (or lead) a situation is often determined by what pops into our heads. The results can be pretty random. Instead, I ask you to train your memory until the following model of how business works pops into your head. That will help you put things into perspective, help you lead for results, and solve situations in more effective ways. For every business situation you face it’s far better to rely on this model than to just wing it.

HOW BUSINESS “WORKS”

  • There is a customer need.
  • There is a better idea to satisfy the customer need.
  • Values, Purpose, and Vision concentrate the effort of multiple people.
  • An organization is formed to divide the work.
  • Each job is described so its contribution is clear.
  • People who share in the Values, Purpose, and Vision are hired.
  • Employees use self-control and contribution to guide the work they do and how they do it.
  • Customers are satisfied.
  • The business earns revenue, and eventually profit, as validation of its success.
  • The business shares their monetary and other success with employees.
  • The business invests so that meeting customer needs can continue.

The Power of the Branding Framework

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Branding, Concentrating effort, Management, Shared values

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Framework
A branding framework, “brand DNA,” or “brand book,” is essential knowledge about who we are as an organization, where we’re headed, and what we stand for. A proper framework invites us to think deeply about our business and then puts us in position to communicate our brand to any audience. Example audiences include internal ones like our employees and managers; external ones like advertising agencies, web developers, and other suppliers; and above all it lets us communicate effectively to our customers, “clients,” or “guests.” A branding framework covers a lot of territory from internal strategic intentions to external marketing messages and, therefore, is one of our organization’s most important documented knowledge.

BRANDING DEFINED

It is very common for people to use the word “branding” and for it to mean different things to different people. It is natural for an advertising agency to say the word branding and for it to mean an ad campaign. To a graphic artist, branding usually means a logo or other symbol they designed. We are going to define branding as something much bigger than an advertisement or a logo. For us, branding is:

The total impact of the organization on our clients and the marketplace.

A brand is composed of hundreds of little fragments of client perception. Our logo, our website, the retail products we carry, the way we dress, our salons’ interiors, the way an individual client was treated by a receptionist and then how she described that to a friend. Every little interaction and every way our clients come into contact with us, our staff and our salons comes together to create an image. It all builds up to create our brand. Stated another way,

Our brand = what we stand for; but not just in our minds: Primarily in the minds of our clients.

WHY A FRAMEWORK?

The most practical reason we want to invest time in creating a branding framework for our organization is because no two people are alike and it is very rare for any two people to describe the same company the same way. The more “technical” reason for our framework is to create continuity in our brand story and to connect all those little fragments of perception in the minds of our clients in just the right way so they choose us instead of our competition. That also goes for attracting talented people who want to come to work for us. They need to know who we are, where we’re going, and what we stand for because we want to work with people who value the same things we value and want to be part of a journey that is bigger than any one of us. Finally, it also goes for those of us currently on the team. We want to make a difference. We want to make our mark. We want all our hard work to mean something and to pay off. Pulling our branding framework together will bring us together in old and new ways.

By taking the time to get clarity about what’s important, to document it in a way that creates a common understanding among us, and then to communicate what we believe to our clients with one voice has the potential to be one of the most powerful things we do.

The Same, But Different

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Customer Experience, Customers, Shared values

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I am pleased to introduce you to Mike Bird from mikeandthecustomer.com. This guest post from Mike is a must-read for anyone interested in customer service–especially how it translates across cultures.

Virgin Atlantic

“We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.” – Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost

I have led customer service transformation projects all over the World, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is this: the customer experience of service is not the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

So if you try (as many companies do) to take a customer service strategy which worked in the USA and move it to your UK operation, thinking that the same things which worked in America will work in the UK, then I’m sorry: you will be entering a world of pain. 

I want to save you some of this pain. So here are some of the things to watch for, if you ever find yourself taking customer service thinking from the US to the UK. 

  • British people usually do not want a stranger to wish them a nice day. It is not part of normal conversation and to many British ears, it sounds fake and insincere.
  • British people normally do want to talk to someone to help sort out their problem.  But they don’t want to have a conversation about anything other than their problem. Discussion of how they feel, their health or their families is a distraction and an intrusion.
  • British people do not express enthusiasm easily, except at sporting events.  Even then, it will be qualified. “What a great goal!”  “Yes, but he should have scored earlier.” If your business is aiming to measure customer advocacy (such as through Net Promoter Score, or some such), such reluctance can make getting good NPS scores hard.
  • British people love to complain about companies, but they hate complaining to companies.  Britons normally try to avoid conversational conflict, which is why UK conversation is so punctuated by words like “…sorry…” and “…thank you…” It also means that they avoid complaining unless they feel a real need to do so.
    It is quite normal, for example, even after quite dreadful service, for a British person to apologise for making a complaint. So an organisation that gets only a few complaints, should not assume that everything is good–-these complaints could be the tip of a substantial iceberg.
  • By the same token, Britons use “I’m sorry,” in many different ways, situations and meanings.  And if you hear this combination “I’m sorry, but with the greatest respect…,” be very careful. It usually means the opposite.

Of course, these are hopeless generalisations, but they do have a truth at the core:  British people, like all customers, want to receive customer service which fixes their problems promptly–with emotional honesty and respect, on their terms.

And, of course, for companies like Virgin Atlantic or first direct Bank or Hiscox Insurance that do get customer service right in the UK, the rewards can be massive.

So is it harder to get customer service right in the UK or the US?  In my experience, it is equally hard on both sides of the pond; it is just that the challenges, in many ways, are different.

Mike is Customer Strategist with MikeAndTheCustomer.com where he helps companies turnaround their customer experience. Find more fresh thinking and practical advice about the customer at www.MikeAndTheCustomer.com or follow Mike on Twitter @Bird_Mike

Just for fun: What British People Say, Versus What They Mean

Partner of the Quarter

09 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Customers, Management, Results, Shared values

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Trophy

On a recent visit to a nationally known coffee shop this sign was prominently posted at the bar where the drinks are picked up,

Partner of the Quarter
 
2nd Quarter 2013
Presented to
Ashley Capitola*
 
Our Partners
 
We’re called partners
because it’s not just a job
it’s our passion.
Together we embrace diversity
to create a place where each of us
can be ourselves.
We always treat each other with
respect and dignity.
And we hold each other to that standard.
 

What do you think of this message? What do you think about placing it prominently within the retail space? What do you think customers see when they read this message?

I’ll give my opinions in a future post.

*Name changed for privacy.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

Engineer Your Customer Experience

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Shared values

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Customer Service, Brand Advocate, Lucavia Consulting

Created: The Happiest Place On Earth

Earlier, I dropped into BestBuy looking for a gift. Sometime ago they must have implemented a greeting policy for their personnel. For a time, they would look right at you, smile, and greet you as you walked in. That devolved into a “Hi,” or “Welcome to BestBuy” that was sort of lobbed in your general direction but not at you personally. Now the greeting is gone and you’re invisible again.

The Apple Store: When you enter you’re always greeted and someone speaks directly to you (sometimes they smile!). Customers shop, learn, and discuss their needs with a small army of Apple staff members so no one ever waits long for personal service. I realize it’s familiar now but I’m still impressed with their checkout process. It’s just so cool when your sales guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out his iPod touch, takes your payment, activates your product, and emails your receipt.

So, the obvious question is, what makes the difference between these two experiences? They are both branded experiences. That is, we have come expect a certain kind of experience with each brand. BestBuy’s is what it is. Apple’s doesn’t just happen by chance. Seemingly effortless and organic it’s something they’ve invested in, iterated on, and improved year after year. Apple’s experience is one of the ways they consciously strive to transform customers into brand advocates with the hope that those brand advocates will “evangelize” the Apple message by telling their friends (or blogging about it).

Lucavìa Consulting engineers positive branded experiences and uses them to: 1) Increase the power of your brand, 2) Mobilize your staff toward a shared goal, and 3) Transform your customers into brand advocates who can’t wait to return and eager to tell their friends about you.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

How To Transform Customers into Advocates

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Shared values

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Customer Experience, Brand Advocate, Lucavia Consulting

Your brand image is composed of hundreds of little connected fragments of customer perception. Your logo, your business card, your products, the way you dress, your store/storefront/offices, the way customers are treated by your staff and then what they tell their friends. Every little interaction and every way your customers come into contact with you, your staff, and your messaging comes together to create an image. It all builds up to create your brand. Your brand = what you stand for; but not just in your mind: primarily in the minds of your customers.

It’s important to make each of these little interactions and perceptions add up to something you intend—something that keeps your customers coming back with passion. Taking ownership of the total customer experience is the single most important step you can take and it is one where you have an enormous amount of control. It’s far more powerful than any advertisement or inbound/outbound promotion—and you can invest in it every single day.

From the time a new customer starts looking for a new place to shop, to the time they return, to the time they refer their friends; you are in relationship with them. The more responsibility you take for how they perceive and experience your brand, the more opportunity you have to make a good impression, satisfy their needs, and develop a positive lasting image in their minds. But, of course, this comes with responsibility; it requires you to think outside your four walls, beyond the time your customer spends directly in front of you, and it requires a clear plan of action to make them feel qualitatively better after every interaction.

If you would like to learn more about creating a Transformative Customer Experience for your business, please contact me.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved