SimpleBiz360™ Podcast

Today we break out the coffee as we look at the business concept of creating “wiggle room.”

Is wiggle room good, or bad for business? Join us as we examine both sides of this two-sided, topical coin. The bottom line, as always, is how can “wiggle room” affect the customer experience? This show contains a few, thought-provoking questions that only business owners, operators, managers, and executives can answer! Enjoy the Holidays!

Believe. Receive. Rejoice.

How about a little constructive fun to disrupt the rhythm of routine business?

First, gather the troops, and head to the conference room with pen and pad in hand! Next, ask everyone to “BE THE CUSTOMER” for this exercise. The third step is to focus on the concepts of simplicity, streamlining, one-click processing, time conservation and ease of use. The fourth step is to list all the things you ask your customers to do, in order to process their business. Now, from the buyer vantage point, compare the “TO DO” customer workload, against the concepts we wrote down in step three. Lastly, work together to modify any workload that causes your customers aggravation, confusion, hunting, pecking, excessive questioning, and loss of rebuy enthusiasm. We kick things off with a couple of ideas for examination and contemplation. Cheers!

Never sending, or collecting on invoices happens far too often.

The previous sentence sounds ridiculous! However, it is true for small, medium, and large companies. Reasons for this are usually rooted in the lack of systems or adequate procedures. Very few customers will volunteer to pay an invoice they never received. Today we flush out, and ask critical questions about this Silent Business Killer (SBK), We encourage all businesses not to leave hard-earned money on the table.

Customers love suppliers that consistently demonstrate customer-pleasing core values.

Corporate growth spurts can become very hectic and overwhelming. During expansion mode it is often difficult to maintain the core values that were once the glue of the smaller enterprise. The reasons for this are varied, but in many cases, value training is overshadowed by mechanical, and procedural training. So how do we get back to the glue that made the small company unique and attractive to customers? Today we look at some ideas to ensure that we never lose our bedrock values to the high-speed shuffle of expansion.

Imagine a well-intentioned phone call that gets really ugly in 20 seconds?

This happened to me recently. Why? The answer is simple…I let my professional guard down. I initiated the call in a casual manner, while I multi-tasked in the background. Twenty seconds into the call I ran into a POW!!! Why? I made two mistakes that I have been avoiding since 1985. For a large part of my career, I paid the bills by making 40-50 phone calls per day. Now, as a former trainer, phone specialist, and experience consultant, I fell victim to being out of phone practice. It was me who led that call to go awry! Today, we reacquaint ourselves with a trio of guardrails designed to keep our calls healthy and productive in customer-pleasing ways.

FYI: This podcast couples up with E213.

For many of us, phone conversations are happening less and less compared to 10, or 20 years ago. The same trend is happening in business. Is it time to rebuild those verbal muscles?

Today we look at this evolution, and ask ourselves some relevant questions. Are we ready to receive, or make difficult phone calls? What happens when a simple business conversation takes a quick turn, and then suddenly things get heavy? Should business owners and operators look at telephone engagement as a trainable skill set, almost like an athlete who trains for the game? Would role-playing help our customer-facing associates? We layout vital questions that connect to Podcast E214, which airs on 11/23/23.

No reply has now become one of the favorite ways for buyers to say no.

As business owners and operators, this style of saying “NO” may seem inviting for
our own use. After all, we can avoid confrontation by never having to explain
our decisions. However, this trend could also be packed with a trailer load of
negative effects on our business! True, trust-building partnerships will not be
healthy with vendors who cannot take the time to explain the "why."
On the flip side, ghosting from a current customer is firm indicator that a
business relationship is probably a one-way partnership in disguise? Join us as
we discuss how business owners can use this shallow, and weak trend to our
advantage.

Do our customers see us as true client-success partners, clinical processors, or servant stewards of their time and money?

What kind of customer service experiences are we delivering to paying customers? It is incumbent on ownership, executives, and managers, to fully understand the impact service departments have on buyers. The buck stops with those three capacities of the corporate machine. The current business climate will bury companies that deliver unacceptable transactional care. Customers deserve to engage with CS Reps who have servant hearts, and they deserve CS departments that are built on the cornerstone of quality stewardship. Anything less will lead to a merry-go-round of new customer acquisition, just to replace recent defectors! Join us for a fast show that asks some
transformative questions.

The question for this show is an age-old chin-rubber. Are business shortcuts really worth it?

What are the typical end results on the backside of vendor claims that the four-hour job can be completed in two hours, or that four-day job can be wrapped up two days? In my life, the results are mixed, with the highest percentage leaning towards low quality of work. Reality dictates that rapid job completion is often associated with a host of unwanted problems for customers. So, the various questions for today center on how we value quality of work, versus speed of work? Where do our customers weigh in on this? Are there ways for vendors to deliver both speed, and quality? Join us for a fast show designed to facilitate healthy thoughts and ideas about making customers happy.