The Value of Number 1

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In the real-time digital business world, we have the ability to measure more of everything. We track everything right down to the smallest detail, continually segmenting the data down to the tiniest sub-group.  The result is that we have a lot more companies that are number one at something and more and more companies market themselves as number one.

We are a nation of people that are in love with the idea of being number one and we’ll spend great sums of money, sell things at a loss and even mislead customers in order to be the statistical number one. Being number one in a market share segment or number one in volume doesn’t mean much to consumers, it might not even mean that you’re profitable. The only number one that really matters is being number one in the minds of your customers. Period.

If you strive to be number one with your customers, ask them if they would recommend you to others. There is a way to measure this called Net Promoter Score, NPS for short. Many companies are aware of this metric, but few seem to really embrace it as a measure for success. They are instead stuck on profits and profits are important. However, if you want to grow profits in a sustainable manner, focus on improving the experience you provide for your customers and continually strive to make them happy. Profits will follow.

According to the latest Satmetrix Net Promoter industry benchmark report, USAA Banking has the highest NPS score in the US. Their customers love them. More importantly, their customers recommend them to others in search of banking services. Amazon, a company that doesn’t really provide a bricks and mortar, face to face experience for their customers yet dominates their industry, boasts an NPS score that puts the online retail giant right behind USAA.  

If you want to be number one at something, why not strive to be number one in the minds of your customers? It’s the only number one that really matters.

Learn more about how you might measure up.
http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/compare/

Failure to Communicate

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Almost every company has motivational posters hanging on their walls. These posters typically feature words like teamwork, commitment and excellence. In order to get the most out of their workforce, a great many companies also conduct ongoing structured motivational training that focuses on how to become highly successful, work more efficiently as a team or think out of the box. These are well intentioned efforts that most often lead nowhere.

I believe the determining factor in the success or failure of this training comes down to one simple concept: happiness. Happy workplaces are fueled by camaraderie and the joy of hard work. Workplaces polluted with unhappiness are broken, mean spirited, dysfunctional and unproductive. The root cause of workplace unhappiness is a lack of another simple concept: civility. I am continuously shocked by the number of stories I hear about leaders and coworkers actually screaming at people in the workplace. You can’t have teamwork, commitment or excellence in an unhappy workplace. To fix a broken workplace you have to throw out all of the standard-issue, corporate motivational teaching and get more basic. You have to actually teach civility.

To combat workplace meanies I have designed a poster that reminds people to practice civility in the workplace. Download it for free from our blog and hang it on your office wall. It’ll keep the meanies at bay like garlic to a vampire.

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Fat – an Adaptation Blog Radio post

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Take a listen to “Fat” – our first in a series of Adaptation Blog Radio posts that are meant to make you think differently about yourself or your business.

Why Not?

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Organizations that have a history of success are often the most resistant to change. Many established companies that have been successful in the past are not as successful as they used to be, so they go looking for new ideas hoping to rekindle the triumphant flames of yesteryear. They create internal teams to explore new ideas or hire consultants to help them infuse a fresh perspective into their company’s thinking.

Many bright people show up at subsequent meetings with truly wonderful, well thought out, potentially game changing ideas. Yet the presentation of a new vision is often followed by a long period of uncomfortable silence. The hum of the air conditioner is the only audible sound as a seemingly disinterested group sits in muted awkwardness, unwilling to continue the conversation for fear of admonishment. Then some manager type is often the first person to offer an opinion and leads the group in an aimless discussion explaining WHY the idea will never work.

Here is a short list of the most common reasons Why an idea will never work.

That’s just not possible.
We’ll never do that here.
They will never agree to it.
That’s not how we do it.
We’re too small (big) to think like that.
I’ll never get that approved.
We don’t have the man power.
The salesmen will never do it.
It’s too hard.
The IT guys hate it.
It’s not the corporate way.
It will take too long.
Can you give us an example of another company that’s done that successfully?

Companies unable to change are at risk of becoming irrelevant. The first step in avoiding this fate is to build a culture that nurtures and encourages those brave enough to keep the conversation going by asking Why Not?

Change is natural

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Change is necessary for people, businesses and governments to grow and thrive. But, for some reason most people fear change with a passion. The inability to change ruins lives, causes businesses to fail and topples governments. Learning to embrace change, to welcome it as if it were as natural as breathing air, is the key to all growth and happiness.

I can’t think of a better way of explaining why you should not fear change than a samurai named Yamamoto Tsunetomo did centuries ago in his book Hagakure.

“THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED FROM A RAINSTORM. WHEN MEETING WITH A SUDDEN SHOWER, YOU TRY NOT TO GET WET AND RUN QUICKLY ALONG THE ROAD. BUT DOING SUCH THINGS AS PASSING UNDER THE EAVES OF HOUSES, YOU STILL GET WET. WHEN YOU ARE RESOLVED FROM THE BEGINNING, YOU WILL NOT BE PERPLEXED, THOUGH YOU STILL GET THE SAME SOAKING. THIS UNDERSTANDING EXTENDS TO EVERYTHING.”