What do you do to delight your customers?  Your biggest opportunity to delight comes when you do something totally unexpected.

Today I want to share a story about doing that for one of my clients.  Just a couple of weeks ago I was working with a large telecom company in the midwest.  They had asked me to put together a custom project leadership curriculum for their enterprise project team.

The program combined

• Simple Methodology,
• Key principles to “influence without authority,”
• Actionable communication ideas, and
• Specific tools to improve projects

We started with their team, their terminology, and their processes.  I brought in some simple and memorable ideas and tools that they have already begun to use to improve their projects.

We’re also doing a follow up coaching program (calls every 2 weeks) to help reinforce the ideas from the class.

The team loves it and the leadership is very pleased with the successes that are coming from the training.

They are happy with the outcome, and so am I.  That’s enough, right?

That’s what most businesses call a success – but isn’t that what you expect when you buy a product or a service?  That it will meet your technical requirements and accomplish the goals you set for it?

Does meeting expectations bring delight?  It won’t.

I decided to do something fun with them.  While I was there I captured some photos and a little video of the class going through the program.  Just this week I worked with my intern to create a 1 minute promo video commemorating the class.  It was fun to create the video.  What was more fun was listening to my sponsor as he watched it for the first time.  It was unexpected, fun and done well.  He laughed out loud.  I could tell that I had delighted him.  I made a memory for him – and gave him something that he could share with his team and an unexpected surprise for THEM.  Here’s an example of a simple video (it’s my family at Christmas 2012.)

What can you do to delight your clients?  It doesn’t have to be expensive.  Be creative!

FYI – I’ve got a phenomenal podcast coming up soon with Joey Coleman on creating amazing, memorable customer experiences.  I can’t wait to share it with you!  Be sure to subscribe to my podcast so you won’t miss out!

Doing something fun and unexpected can yield results like this!

I have been speaking with a CEO over the last two years about making investments in his team.

When I offered to come in to do some work with his people, “Joe” said

“Tom, I just don’t have the money right now to spend on equipping my people.  Let’s talk about that later, ok?”

I’ve met quite a few “Joes” in my time, and I understand.  It’s never an urgent thing to quip your people.  No one ever yells at you about it.  Interestingly, the Blanchard company estimates that

“The average organization is forfeiting over $1M/year in untapped potential.”

• What ideas do you have that your organization can’t do today?
• What could you achieve with an additional $1M in productivity?

Getting back to Joe.  Just last week I learned that over the last month his entire sales team has moved to other organizations.  Every. Single. Person.

Joe’s revenues are entirely tied to those team members.

Worse than that, he can’t service his customers – and now customers are calling the sales guys at their new jobs looking for help that Joe simply can’t provide right now.

Instead of spending a relatively small amount on planning, equipping and leading his team, now Joe is saddled with a crisis, AND he has to cover so many more costs, too!

• The cost of covering the position while vacant
• The cost of finding replacements
• The cost of getting the new team members up to speed
• Lost revenue from customers leaving to go to companies that CAN service them today

“Taking no action is often the most expensive option of all” – Ken Blanchard Companies

I am not trying to throw Joe under the bus here.  Joe’s a good guy who made some poor choices leading his team, and now he’s in a crisis.  It makes me sad to see good folks needlessly suffering.

Does this sound familiar?  Here are three ideas to make a difference with your team today:

1. Connect – take 5 minutes today and go to a team member’s office – ask about their weekend activities, their family, their hobbies, their charitable work – ANYTHING but work or tasks.
2. Catch them doing something well, and reward them for it – a Starbucks $5 gift card, a handwritten note, an ice cream cone – it doesn’t have to be expensive.
3. Create a plan with them to help them grow to the next level.  Identify a growth opportunity that interests them, and lay out the steps and timeline to help them get there.

When you’re ready to do more, consider making an investment in time and skills for your team members – This is often far less expensive than you might fear it will be, and can pay huge dividends in

• employee engagement,
• customer satisfaction,
• repeat business,
• referrals and more.

If that’s where you are, give me a call.  I’d be happy to help.  Before you know it, your team will be as happy as this young lady!

This week we ended up with an unexpected room painting project (long story.)

I have to say that I’m not a great painter.  I’m a marginally competent painter who can get the job done, but it’s not my favorite thing to do.

I didn’t know that this project would give me an opportunity to be reminded of a timeless truth.  One of my mentors shared with me the law of gestation.  Farmers know that they can’t plant today, fertilize and water like mad and harvest tomorrow.  There’s a period of time for things to gestate – to grow to maturity.

So what does that have to do with painting?  Or with leadership?

It turns out that the paint that I was using was just about the same color as the original wall color when it was wet, and dries to a darker shade.

What does this mean practically?  It means that it’s virtually impossible for me to get the paint on consistently.  Invariably I find that after the paint has dried there are swaths of wall which were almost completely painted, and areas which remain free of the new paint.

And here’s the point.  While it is wet, it’s not possible to tell where the new paint is (or isn’t.)  The only thing to do is wait.

This happens in business, too.  You start to pull a team together.  You give them tools, vision, and work, and then all you can  do is wait for the natural processes to happen.  Just like the farmer you’ll need to water, weed and feed the “crop” but you can’t rush it.

You just have to wait, just like I did with the paint.  Interestingly enough, when you’ve equipped your team well, and provided the resources (including time) you can be amazed by the results.

What do you need to wait for right now?

PS – The room (eventually) turned out well.  And I had a great helper in the process!