It doesn't matter what you think or have heard. Influence is all around you. You are influenced by who you hang out with. You are influenced by what you see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. You are influenced by the data you take in. You also influence those around you.
The Law of Influence – The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence, Nothing More, Nothing Less.
This is the second law in John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Before I go further, I would like encourage everyone to head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of this wonderful book.
On a more personal note today I conducted several interviews with managers in the Arlington area. It was for a small business class I am taking this semester. All of my class was assigned the task due to the projected increase in business due to the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium here in Arlington. Well, I went to the first place I thought most obvious - the bookstore for the campus. The objective of this project was to interview small businesses in the area. What occurred not only shocked me but made me think of the power of word of mouth.
What happened was I entered the store and was promptly told the manager was not on the floor but in the back. Red flag emmediately. In all management classes I've taken the indication is the general manager should be on the floor of the store. Delegation. Make sure your business is being run right when your there be involved with the customers. Well there were a few customers in the store. The manager was found a few minutes later. I introduced myself as a student at the university seeking a 15 minute interview. He promptly denied my request and said he had too much going on. I asked if I could reschedule for another day and he promptly said he was too busy.
A quick tip about PR - don't tick off your clientel. What could have cost him 15 minutes will cost him now the word of mouth reputation.
I will no longer recomend that store.
I'll admit I was upset. But the value isn't in the act itself but the experience thereafter. The value is in the lesson learned. When I own or run my own business (again) I will evaluate decisions a lot more carefully than I have in the past. I mean easy math.
Let's say I have 3 classes this semester with 40-50 people. I inform my classmates who inform their classmates who inform their friends... and so forth and so on. All of a sudden half the campus realizes that the management at this particular store doesn't really care about its customers but instead is just in business for money. The other store accross the street is looking really good at this juncture.
Now I'm actually not going to campaign for this stores demise. Instead I'll just dust my feet off and take my business elsewhere.
Point is: Be careful how you treat people. You never know they might just be your customers one day. Your reputation is a fragile thing. Guard it well. One bad customer tells at least ten other people of a bad experience.
I told 43 today alone. All simpathetic because they had similar experiences.
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Capstone Project- Perspectives on the Gospel
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3 comments:
So, what's the name of the store? Or did I miss it? Love you
Yes, yesterday and today, I have dealt with an insurance Co. The front line people, were very curtious and helpful, even when I was getting tired and a little ticked off. They would call the underwriting department to find out if they had everything needed. After 3 letters, 6 faxes, 14 phone calls and 2 days, I finaly got the end result. I must say that I was weary, angry and disapointed in how underwriting handled things. Each phone call after a fax was very frustrating because they would tell me there was something else I needed to do, had neglected to do, could not do. If they had just had me talk to the underwriter directly and told me exactly what was needed the less time, frustration and anxiety it would have caused me the customer.
My work ethic has undergone a slow change over the few years that I have worked at Red Losbter, sometimes better than others when I lapse into laziness, apathy and/or greed. It has changed in two related ways. First, my understanding of work has changed from it being a necessary part of life but disconnected from 'the Christian life' to it being one of the important tasks we have as creatures of a Creator who himself set the example by working six days and resting one. Not only that, he placed the first man in a garden where he was to tend it and this was before the Fall and work was enjoyable to him. Despite the presence of 'thorns and thistles' now, we are still created to work, to form creation in a variety of ways. In other words, work is good and ,without spiritualizing it, is glorifying to God. The other way my work ethic has changed and how this relates to your post is the way in which I think of my customers. I still often wrongly think about them as a means (an often annoying means) to getting paid. But really they are as CS Lewis said (and this is a paraphrase) every person you meet is either an eternal joy or an eternal horror. He was talking about how we will all end up, either in God's heavenly joyful kingdom or away from him in hell. And also, in trying to not think of people as a means to an end, I try to think, 'these people all have dreams, goals, desires, problems, joys, stories, memories just like me.'
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