The Biggest Loser

 Business coaching has often been compared to athletic coaching, and I’ve used this analogy many times to help others understand what we do.  One of the main concepts that is similar between the two is the idea that coaches recommend conditioning and exercises, set up the game plan and motivate the athlete, but ultimately it’s the athlete that plays the game and wins or loses based on their ability to compete effectively.

My new favorite analogy uses the trainers on “The Biggest Loser” television show.  If you’ve seen this program, you know that trainers Jillian and Bob are critical to the success of the competitors in achieving their weight loss goals.  They do it with excellent coaching skills that get results even for those who are “not the Biggest Loser!”  Let’s look at the similarities with business coaching.

• Jillian and Bob don’t seem to set weight loss goals for the competitors.  Instead they set life goals.  They discuss the question of “what do you want your life to look like?” which is a much higher motivational subject than the simple goal of losing an arbitrary number of pounds.  In business coaching we often start with the same idea because our businesses ought to support our lives and can only do so when we are clear about what our life should look like.

• Jillian and Bob don’t live with the competitors, who seem to be on their own for a good part of their day.  They can’t lose the weight for them.  So Bob & Jillian come in, go to the gym, guide the workouts and leave.  Business coaches (which may be very different from consultants) do not work in the business with the client.  Rather they meet, measure and review progress, help set new tasks and leave the client to enact the goals agreed upon.

• “The Biggest Loser” trainers teach.  They educate the competitors about diet, food properties, proper exercise techniques, how the body uses energy and more.  Education is a huge component of business coaching as well, as it gives owners options for overcoming hurdles, ideas for better systems and best practices that have proven results in other similar situations.

• Trainers Bob and Jillian are amazing motivators.  One minute they are screaming at a competitor to push through to the end of a difficult routine and the next minute they are sitting down quietly and asking questions about their emotional well-being or hugging them for a job well done.  In my business coaching practice, I admit I don’t do much screaming.  But we do provide frank, sometimes painful assessment of what we see of a client’s business that an owner might be in denial about.  And we celebrate our clients’ successes to reinforce the positive behavior that caused them.

• “The Biggest Loser” keeps score.  Every week the contestants have to get on the scale to see the stark reality of the weight they’ve lost… or not!  Contestants also learn to count their calories, read food labels, and in other ways measure their progress.  Keeping score is part of business coaching as well and is actually a motivator as clients see progress and validation of their efforts.

If you’re curious about what a business coach does, hopefully this analogy helps.  Who do you know who would like help creating a business that supports their life goals?  Or who would value someone to teach and measure progress but leave them to do the work?  Or who could use the motivation and accountability to accomplish their goals?  Or who needs help figuring out how to keep score in their business?  Ask them to give us a call:  920-449-5130

Your success is our only business!

Jerry Baltus

In the late 1940s I became aware of customer loyalty. I noticed that Millard, my dad, always bought his gas at the same Texaco station near our house in Topeka, Kansas. Millard never let the gas gauge fall below a certain point because he liked to keep track of mileage for every tank full. He kept a record book of mileages, and to make it easy, he’d always buy ten gallons of gas. That way, he could divide the 235 miles per tank in his head by just moving the decimal point one position to the left, giving him 23.5 MPG. Even now, 60 years later, I can still see that Texaco station in my visual memory. When it came time for me to buy tires for my 1937 Ford I bought them at dad’s favorite station. You can see how customer loyalty rubs off.

When I worked at Earl Jennings’ Sinclair station in the middle fifties, we had a customer, Mr. Blue, whom I will say was totally loyal. He came in one day and told Earl that he had bad news. “Earl, you have water in your gasoline.” Earl jumped up from his chair, pulled out his testing rod, put some water detecting chemicals on the end of it, poked it down into the fill tube, and reported that, “Yes, Jim, you’re right. How did you find out?” “Earl, it cost me $100 to have my fuel system in my Chevy cleaned out. The mechanic said it was filled with water.” “Jim, I want to pay for your repairs.” “No Earl, I’ve been your customer for 32 years and I don’t blame you. However, you should probably fix those holding tanks.”

Later in my college years, I worked a few months in Blaylock’s Drugstore on Tenth Street in Topeka. Customers would come in and say things like: “I’d like a bottle of Acetylsalicylic acid”. Of course they were teasing but were surprised when I knew they wanted aspirin. Of course customer loyalty worked both ways. When I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to change the pills in these diet bottles with the pills in the laxative bottle?” I thought of doing that little trick decades before somebody actually tried it. Remember that upset? It’s the reason we have unopenable bottles with unremovable seals under the caps.

When I operated my first mower shop in Charleston, Illinois in 1980, I bought my parts from Don Hutton’s Auto Parts store. The small engine parts salesman, Don Whitacre, visited me in my shop annually to inventory my parts. Mr. Hutton, who was too macho to wear a seat belt, collided head on with another ½ ton van and regrettably died, I grieved for a long time. He was such a good man and generous. I had a wonderful deep sense of customer loyalty with him and Mr. Whitacre.

When I had my little Jack’s Fixit Shop in Chandler, Texas, the shop was right next door to Jerry Kidd’s Convenience store and gas station. Jerry was in our church choir where I sang tenor, played flute, and pipe organ. I discussed customer loyalty one afternoon with Jerry and complained that I could find little or no reason to build customer loyalty with his station, because it seemed like every time I went there to pay for my purchase, there stood an unfamiliar clerk. “How do you expect me to grow my loyalty when I never see the same face twice in a month?” “Yes, Jack, (I was called Jack in Chandler.) we’re going to have a meeting about that problem tomorrow.” As far as I know, the meeting participants never solved the problem.

Now, these many years later, I have a loyal relationship with Mike Symes’ BP station in Hudson, Wisconsin. I always buy fuel at Mike’s, have him install riding mower tires and tubes, refer lots of my customers to him because he sells non-ethanol fuel, and generally have a good time teasing him. One time, as I fueled my Ford Escape, the back of the car started to shudder. When I looked over, there was Mike shaking the car from side to side……. Relentless teenager.

Mike refers two or three mower repair customers to me each week. The customer loyalty program works both ways for us.

Finally, I went to visit my small engine parts distributor when I first started repairing machines in Hudson. By chance, a young man named Justin met me at the front desk. He obviously was new to the job, didn’t know much about parts or how to look them up. So, I pledged to always call upon him for part ordering and technical assistance. Now, about three years later, he’ll even go into the warehouse and count the teeth on a gear if I ask. Now that’s an undeniable fruit of customer loyalty.

Robert February 2011

PS. Some of my repair customers have such strong loyalty to me, they’ve brought over a dozen jobs to me since 2006!

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As customers come and go through my repair shop, I’m amazed at the diversity of their habits. For instance, I had this customer I’ll call Jon. Jon drives a black BMW convertible, dresses in $800 suits, walks very vertically, and surrounds himself with an aura of entitlement. He’s an insurance executive in a small town agency downtown. Because of the aura he exudes, he’d be able to walk into the head offices of Aetna or Prudential without drawing attention to himself. The receptionist would probably mark him as a Vice President.

When he brings me a piece of equipment to repair, he wants it tomorrow, because he’s got a desperately important job to complete at home. I’ve visited his homesite on the north side of town and know that it really couldn’t make that much difference to the state of international affairs if he never cut his grass or raked his leaves: he lives behind a grove of trees and one can hardly see his place.

Jon always leaves my shop with, “I’ll come back tomorrow at the same time to pick up my machine”. He has no thought about the possibility that other customers might come first. As far as he’s concerned, there are no other customers. He must think I keep this shop filled with equipment to keep up the image of being busy. I need to practice fixing machines so I’ll be ready to fix Jon’s machine as fast and efficiently as possible. Oh yes, and since I’m fast and quick, that means I won’t charge much money.

Jon always wants a re-do on his repair job. Even though his little blower is ten years old and in need of replacement, he wants it to run better than new when it leaves my shop. “Well, I’ll take it home and try it, but if it doesn’t work right, I’ll bring it back for adjustment.”

This past week I lent him my own excellent blower to use for one day while I “adjusted” his mediocre blower. One week later, it became clear that he was using my blower to clear out the leaves for unimagined acres of forest. I didn’t intend for him to keep it so long so I drove to his house on the seventh night of the week: about 8:30 p.m. I knew he’d be home, hiding in his forest with all the lights in the house off. However, I could see the faint stirrings of light from his TV. I demanded the return of my blower. He obliged, but reluctantly: in his bare feet and silken lounging apparel.

The next day, he came to pick up his blower which I’d completely dismantled and reassembled to repair a loose cylinder head. “This doesn’t have much power. It starts better, but it just isn’t right.” “Yes, Jon, I know it isn’t like new. It’s over ten years old”. “It just isn’t right. I’ll try it and let you know.” The “let you know” part of this discussion is the “I’ll decide if your $45.00 bill is too high to pay.”

To relieve myself of the agony of chasing him for the $45.00, I said, “Take it. Don’t bring it back and we’ll call it even.” In other words, I’ll sacrifice my $45.00 for the assurance that Jon takes his future repair work elsewhere. I’m going to practice saying, “Please take your snowblower to Jake out on Vine Street. He’ll be able to repair your machine.” I don’t want to see Jon again.

On the other side of the spectrum, there’s Mr. Matruska on the east side of town. I took his snowblower, riding mower, and chainsaw back to him yesterday. When he saw the $272.00 bill for the three pieces, he reached into this truck glove box, pulled out three one hundred dollar bills and said, “I didn’t expect the job to be so inexpensive. Also, I’m really surprised you returned the work so soon. Keep the change. I’m going to give your business card to my son in Hammond. Do you pick up work fifteen miles east?”

To myself I’m thinking, “Thank you, Mr. Matruska. For your kind of customer, I’d drive to Chicago six hours down the road. Excuse me while I erase the unkind thoughts I’ve carried in my head for a couple of days about Jon, the entitled insurance man. You make my faith in the goodness of people grow. Thank you. Thank you. Again and again.

What kind of a customer are you?

–         Flute November 2008

P.S. And then there is the little wife who brings her husband’s chainsaw for repair. “We’re not sure we want to repair this old thing. If it costs more than $45.00, we’ll probably want to buy a new one. Be sure to call us with an estimate.”

When I discover that the sprocket has split in two, the fuel lines are broken, and the carburetor needs to be replaced, I call the husband, who says, “Sure. Fix it. Whatever it takes.”

There are only 2 things an employee needs:

1. economic conditions met
2. psychological conditions met

Once you handle the money issue, then it’s time to handle the other. In order to do that, most research says that the psychological needs of employees are success, achievement and flexibility in their schedule and work conditions. More specifically, who do they report to, where is their office, where is their support system, do they have a friend? This takes getting to know the employee personally—spending time with them, asking questions, following up with verbal communication as well as training.

Most managers focus on performance and results. If they see that the employee isn’t carrying their load, the manager takes up the slack—in other words, does the employee’s job. Unfortunately when that happens, you create a morale and trust issue. The morale issue comes from the employees because they are not allowed to do their jobs and the trust issue comes from the manager because s/he doesn’t think the employee can do a good job. So it’s a lose/lose situation for all!

Being a good manager is not only about doing things right, it’s about doing the right thing. Today, it’s about communicating just in time—when the employee needs it—and training, training, training.

There are still some managers out there who hire someone thinking they know how to do it all and then just leave them alone. It doesn’t work for anyone. Challenge your staff to do more and stop doing their work for them! Everyone, including you, will be happier and the results will show!

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About Linda Talley
Linda Talley, a change and growth expert and business coach, is the recognized authority on how to use words and language to create the results you want in your business and personal life. Author of The Daily Win, Business Finesse: Dealing With Sticky Situations in the Workplace for Managers and Business Finesse: How to Say the Right Thing at the Right Time, Linda is a creative thinker in the areas of customer service, culture change, team relationships and communication.

Contact: Linda Talley
936-856-5920
linda@lindatalley.com

By now you have probably heard the “R” word.  The papers, magazines, TV and radio are all talking about it.  So it must be true, right?

So if we are entering a recession, does that mean all businesses are going to suffer?  My guess is while many will, there are an elite few that will thrive in this downturn.  The truth is in every industry and in every economy there are winner companies that do far better than their competitors.  Sometimes these companies go beyond one downturn (there’s always someone who can ride a trend) and be a perennial favorite.  What does it take to be one of those businesses?

Many businesses I talk with believe loyalty is a myth.  With the globalization of our economy and the commoditization of goods and services, many believe the customer only sticks around until someone else lowers the price.  What most are missing is VALUE.  If there is no discernible value in the product or service offered, it would be foolish to pay more than the lowest price.  The purpose of the business is to create value in their product or service, thus creating loyalty.  So how do you do that?

1. What do your customers want?  Seems like an easy question to answer, but it’s not.  Truth is, many businesses don’t know.  Most will tell me its their quality or service.  Guess what.  ALMOST EVERYBODY says its their quality and service.  So if everybody says they have the best quality and service, how do you make your decision?
2. Deliver customer expectations + 1.  Customers are loyal when somebody wows their socks off.  Buying is an emotional decision.  The stronger your positive emotional connection is to the customer, the more likely you will have them coming back to you again and again.
3. Stop measuring customer satisfaction.  Companies spend millions each year on this.  If somebody sends me one more survey to measure my satisfaction I’ll scream!  Just because the customer is satisfied doesn’t mean they are loyal.  Even IF they say they will recommend you to a friend in your survey.  Unless you really suck we all say that.
4. Create a clear Vision.  Where are you going?  What do you want your company to become?  Create some clarity for the direction of your company by creating a Vision that means something to you.  Put away the thesaurus and clearly define what you are passionate about becoming.  Nobody reads, nor do they remember, a vision statement that is a page long and requires a Rhode’s Scholar to interpret.
5. Start Loyalty From Within.  If your people don’t buy your BS, nobody else will.  Your business has to be a place where people want to work.  It should be fun!  People should be bragging to their friends that they have such a great job, that they love the people they work with, that they are given the freedom to be successful, and that they are passionate about what they do.  No internal loyalty = no customer loyalty.
6. Change your attitude.  You are probably still thinking that it (creating loyalty) can’t be done.  That’s your reality, and as long as you always believe that, you will never prove me wrong.  In order to get different results, you have to believe other possibilities exist.

Now you have a choice.  You can live in a recession and struggle to get by, or you can make things happen to grow your business.  The more loyal customers you have, the greater your chances for success.  Still don’t believe loyalty exists?  Better go see Steve Jobs.  There are MP3 players and there is the IPod.  Which do you have?