Sometimes, a little unsolicited advice is the best kind.
Whenever they're around, I up my game just a little bit more.
They sympathize with me when I lose, cheer me on when I play a hard game, and are my biggest fans.
And they give me the best insight to who I am.
They impact how I see myself and help me grow.
They care about my development and inspire me to be the best me I can be.
They are few.
They are impactful.
They are my heroes.
I wanna be them when I grow up.
To be able to give to someone like they have done for me.
And they have made all the difference.
Showing posts with label genuine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genuine. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Trust
Yesterday, I went to my local Big Lots saver store to find a retractable sword for my Toastmaster's meeting (don't ask).
I ended up purchasing several giant mugs I plan to paint. While unloading the clinking ceramics into my car, I realized I had been overcharged for 2 extra mugs. That's a $6 dollar mistake in their favor. At this point, I'm wondering...is it really worth my time to go haggle and harass these poor checkout clerks over 2 silly ceramic mugs? My time is worth more than that.
I decided to try it out. I loaded all the mugs back into the cart, and took them back in. Politely, I pointed out the mistake to the clerk who had helped me. I offered that instead of trying to do a return, I would gladly just take 2 extra mugs to speed things up. By the time I got back to the line, another clerk had taken over the register. Here we go, I thought...
To my surprise, the new clerk took me for my word. She said that was fine, and let me roll out the door, 2 pre-paid-for extra mugs in hand.
Many businesses have ceased to trust their customers. They force them to wait in line, fill out paperwork, go through hoops to correct mistakes that may not have even been theirs. It's easy to pin the Big with Lots of blame for our cynicism when there's all the hoops to go through. Unfortunately, I know from my experiences that it's necessary.
We as customers haven't made it easy for businesses to trust us. We are no longer genuinely interested in creating a fair exchange of our hard earned money for valuable goods and services. Many folks plain outright steal, cheat, lie, and embezzle their way into a good deal. What's up with that?
It's so refreshing to have an interaction with a business that treats us like human beings. When they take us at face value, trust their customer and are on the same side as us... we all win.
It's like the story of the woman who would order a pair of zillion dollar designer shoes from Zappos.com on Monday, wear them through the week to work, and then return them at the end of the week. Zappo's corporate culture allowed the customer to be right (although, in my opinion, she was completely wrong). Can you imagine the buzz that created around her office? She must have looked like the fool, while Zappo's got a word of mouth reputation for making customers feel human again.
It's a genuine interest in creating the win-win for customer and for business. When we do that, our customers feel safe with us, and trust us enough to refer their friends, family and neighbors.
So to you at Big Lots, thanks for trusting me. I'll be back with my $6 bucks to spend it with you.
 |
| Giant "burled wood" mugs I painted with Cathy last year |
I decided to try it out. I loaded all the mugs back into the cart, and took them back in. Politely, I pointed out the mistake to the clerk who had helped me. I offered that instead of trying to do a return, I would gladly just take 2 extra mugs to speed things up. By the time I got back to the line, another clerk had taken over the register. Here we go, I thought...
To my surprise, the new clerk took me for my word. She said that was fine, and let me roll out the door, 2 pre-paid-for extra mugs in hand.
Many businesses have ceased to trust their customers. They force them to wait in line, fill out paperwork, go through hoops to correct mistakes that may not have even been theirs. It's easy to pin the Big with Lots of blame for our cynicism when there's all the hoops to go through. Unfortunately, I know from my experiences that it's necessary.
We as customers haven't made it easy for businesses to trust us. We are no longer genuinely interested in creating a fair exchange of our hard earned money for valuable goods and services. Many folks plain outright steal, cheat, lie, and embezzle their way into a good deal. What's up with that?
It's so refreshing to have an interaction with a business that treats us like human beings. When they take us at face value, trust their customer and are on the same side as us... we all win.
It's like the story of the woman who would order a pair of zillion dollar designer shoes from Zappos.com on Monday, wear them through the week to work, and then return them at the end of the week. Zappo's corporate culture allowed the customer to be right (although, in my opinion, she was completely wrong). Can you imagine the buzz that created around her office? She must have looked like the fool, while Zappo's got a word of mouth reputation for making customers feel human again.
It's a genuine interest in creating the win-win for customer and for business. When we do that, our customers feel safe with us, and trust us enough to refer their friends, family and neighbors.
So to you at Big Lots, thanks for trusting me. I'll be back with my $6 bucks to spend it with you.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Genuine
The first book I downloaded from the Amazon Kindle lending library this week was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. (Kindle = best gift I ever received. Thanks, Barb!).
Have you seen the Last Lecture video? I mean, really seen it? Not just watched the clips? Whether or not you agree or disagree with the content (Another post for another day...) you gotta admit this Randy guy is seriously, honestly, frankly one of the most genuine people you've ever seen on video.
He shows up and is who he is. And now reading the book, his philosophy of showing up just as he is is even more clear to me. He's arrogant. He's egotistical. He's smart. He's funny. He's sarcastic and witty. He's probably one of those smart a$$3s who drove me crazy in high school calculus class 'cause I just didn't get it.
But he's authentically, genuinely... him.
Three separate conversations in the last three weeks were about showing up genuinely in business. Two were with women who are, for lack of easier explanation, trying to act like men in their respective businesses. I know all about this feeling. I get it a lot.
Now, this is NOT a discussion on whether men or women are better at sales... I'm just saying that sometimes I feel like the only way to succeed in business is by showing up as a hard hitting, strong closing sales MAN. Some days I feel like I have to show up as the used car salesman to be able to progress at all at work. I have to put on my pantsuit (not the cute one, either...) and wrap my hair tightly in a bun at the nape of my neck to disguise the fact that I'm of the fairer sex.
This is just so not me. I'd rather show up in Birkenstocks and blue jeans than a suit or... God forbid... pantyhose. I'm uncomfortable strong-arming someone into a sale they aren't comfortable with. But some days I think this is how I must be to get to what I want. And the same for these two ladies. They compare their successes to other people in their industries and think they have to change themselves into something they're not in order to "make it big."
How about a different kind of comparison? How about comparing ourselves to our genuine selves?
Surprisingly, is the more in-touch I am with who I genuinely, authentically am, the better I do. The more relaxed and confident I am in me being me, Birkenstocks and all, the more I find customers who are looking for just that. And weirdly, the more uptight I get about having to change myself to fit the mold and pretend to be someone else, the more I try and squeeze my thighs into the control top pantyhose, the more I push away people who would have otherwise been great clients.
If a customer wants the experience of the strong-armed sales guy, this just simply ain't the one for you. Pass 'em to your competitor. On the other hand, there are customers out there looking for you... the authentic, genuine you. (This is the person who wants that caring and that nurturing relationship that only you can provide, to my two lady readers).
Seems backward I know. But look at Randy. Arrogant, egotistical and all. He showed up genuinely...exactly as he was... and had massive success for it.
Have you seen the Last Lecture video? I mean, really seen it? Not just watched the clips? Whether or not you agree or disagree with the content (Another post for another day...) you gotta admit this Randy guy is seriously, honestly, frankly one of the most genuine people you've ever seen on video.
He shows up and is who he is. And now reading the book, his philosophy of showing up just as he is is even more clear to me. He's arrogant. He's egotistical. He's smart. He's funny. He's sarcastic and witty. He's probably one of those smart a$$3s who drove me crazy in high school calculus class 'cause I just didn't get it.
But he's authentically, genuinely... him.
Three separate conversations in the last three weeks were about showing up genuinely in business. Two were with women who are, for lack of easier explanation, trying to act like men in their respective businesses. I know all about this feeling. I get it a lot.
Now, this is NOT a discussion on whether men or women are better at sales... I'm just saying that sometimes I feel like the only way to succeed in business is by showing up as a hard hitting, strong closing sales MAN. Some days I feel like I have to show up as the used car salesman to be able to progress at all at work. I have to put on my pantsuit (not the cute one, either...) and wrap my hair tightly in a bun at the nape of my neck to disguise the fact that I'm of the fairer sex.
This is just so not me. I'd rather show up in Birkenstocks and blue jeans than a suit or... God forbid... pantyhose. I'm uncomfortable strong-arming someone into a sale they aren't comfortable with. But some days I think this is how I must be to get to what I want. And the same for these two ladies. They compare their successes to other people in their industries and think they have to change themselves into something they're not in order to "make it big."
How about a different kind of comparison? How about comparing ourselves to our genuine selves?
Surprisingly, is the more in-touch I am with who I genuinely, authentically am, the better I do. The more relaxed and confident I am in me being me, Birkenstocks and all, the more I find customers who are looking for just that. And weirdly, the more uptight I get about having to change myself to fit the mold and pretend to be someone else, the more I try and squeeze my thighs into the control top pantyhose, the more I push away people who would have otherwise been great clients.
If a customer wants the experience of the strong-armed sales guy, this just simply ain't the one for you. Pass 'em to your competitor. On the other hand, there are customers out there looking for you... the authentic, genuine you. (This is the person who wants that caring and that nurturing relationship that only you can provide, to my two lady readers).
Seems backward I know. But look at Randy. Arrogant, egotistical and all. He showed up genuinely...exactly as he was... and had massive success for it.
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