What do we think about our customers?

My mom was buying some anti-congestion medication this past week. She asked the pharmacy tech for the OTC version (which they keep behind the counter). My mom requested two boxes and the tech said “We’ll see.” The tech continued to make my mom feel like a criminal throughout the rest of the process until the tech finally relinquished the medication.

We know not everyone is trustworthy all the time, including our customers. But what a mistake it is to err on the side of distrusting them. When we assume the worst of our customers, we aren’t as friendly, caring or helpful as we should be. If we count them as tasks we need to complete or obstacles to accomplish sales, we will not be as successful as we could be. And worst of all, if we stereotype them as we see them, we miss out on serving them excellently.

All of this starts in our thoughts. When we see a customer what do we think? Do we think a woman is poor if she has messy hair? She could be a busy mom. Do we think a man is rich if we see him in a suit? It could have been donated to him. We all fall into it. But stereotypes don’t help us serve people best.

When we see a customer what should we think?

We should see them as human, like we are. We should think about the honor it is to serve another person. We should feel thankful to have the skills and ability to serve them. We should feel grateful we are needed to serve them.

And all that should lead us to listen to them, to make their needs the priority and to serve them the best we can.

And let’s not forget about the consequences when we continue to entertain stereotypes about customers. My mom told me about her experience at the pharmacy because of the negative emotional impact it had on her. Negative word-of-mouth is a natural consequence of poor service due to our stereotypes.

The best customer service starts in our thoughts about our customers.

What do you think about your customers?

 

Image info: Photo by Adam Przewoski, found on Unsplash.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+ .

Sometimes we get discouraged that we can’t do the grand things we aspire to and in our discouragement, we don’t even attempt the small things. The problem with that is that often it’s the small, non-glamorous acts that can make all the difference in our organizations.

I experienced it several years ago. I had been working for one week cleaning classrooms when my boss decided to join me. I was immediately intimidated as she took up a rag and wiped down tables with me. I was sure she had a bigger agenda – maybe to reprimand me for an earlier performance or maybe to lay down the law of the land. I wasn’t sure, but I was cautious and careful as I continued to clean.

She asked me about myself and it seemed like she actually cared. She cleaned diligently. She spent several hours with me and I found she didn’t have any agenda except to get to know me better and to serve me. I felt incredibly loved.

That one sacrificial act by my boss set the tone. I was inspired to give my absolute best. I felt safe and cared for. I felt served and seen.

A small act of love can set the tone for those around you. But love always costs us something. It might mean you have to set aside your busy schedule for a morning. It might mean you stay late so your co-worker can leave early. Maybe it means that you humbly do work you feel like is beneath you. Ultimately, it means that you don’t exercise all the rights that come with being a leader, but instead you serve in love.

When we’re focused on adding value to the bottom line, we may miss opportunities to add value to those around us. It’s really hard to rip ourselves from our never-ending work (and there are times when it may be unwise to do so), but if we’re always inescapably swamped, we’ll always miss out on bettering our organizations by serving others.

When you love, you change things. I worked harder and more sacrificially because of my boss’s leadership. I respected and trusted her much more than many other bosses I’ve had. And my boss didn’t just serve me, she poured herself out for many others as well. She has added so much value to the world through her sacrificial love. The world is unmistakably better because she’s in it.

Let’s add value to the world, not take from it. Let’s make sure that those around us are seen, loved and served. Yes, it will cost us. But I bet the benefits of our sacrifices will far outweigh the costs.

 

Image info: Original image by Ed Gregory.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+ .

We moved from Pittsburgh to Raleigh in early Spring 2014. Now we’ve moved back from Raleigh to Pittsburgh this fall. It’s hard to sort through your stuff, pack it up and move it several states over. It’s even harder to leave relationships you’ve started, knowing they won’t be the same when you’re hundreds of miles apart. Moving is hard.

But it’s even harder to stay. It’s hard to maintain relationships come hell or high water (or children or distance). It’s hard to go to the same job year after year and put 100% in each day. It’s easier to quit. It’s easier to walk away. It’s easier to run.

You can do something for a brief moment that is beautiful and valuable. But those who consistently put in the sacrificial work are the ones that make the most sustainable difference.

Consistency is hard. But its rewards are great.

Why consistency is hard:

1. Rewards aren’t immediate.
2. New is exciting. Think about a new job, a new house, a new love – they all offer hope of something greater than what we already know. So new is inherently exciting and consistency generally isn’t.
3. Consistency can mean you’re unseen. When you are consistent, people may take your consistency for granted and you may feel unseen. However, a benefit of your consistency is that random drama likely won’t follow you like a bad penny.

Why consistency is worth it:

1. Trust is built over time. Healthy relationships are formed through mutual trust. And healthy relationships are rare and valuable. They are mutually life-giving, beneficial and enriching.
2. We can be improved through consistency. When we deny ourselves and consistently sacrifice for others, we become better people. We find when we give our lives away, we are better for it.
3. We achieve great feats through consistency. Great achievements are completed by consistent work. A marathon, a skyscraper and a life-well lived are all built through consistent steps. Those who have consistently sacrificed themselves for others are the greats of history.

We might decide to move a mountain in a major life-decision moment. But it’s in our day-to-day consistent work that we actually move the mountain, shovel by shovel. It’s when we are consistent in the seemingly mundane and the boring steps that we actually create major change.

Let’s encourage each other in consistency, in the less-than-glamorous day-to-day. Because we are all changing the landscape, one shovel at a time.

 

 

Image info: Original image by Paul E. Harrer.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+ .

I fall under this lie a lot – that I have to live like I gotta get mine.  If I’m not out for me, who else will be, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

Think about your closest relationship – maybe with a spouse, a friend or a family member. Think about a time when you approached that relationship solely with a “gotta get mine” mentality. How did that go? How would it go if you did that all the time with them?

Ok, but that’s personal relationships. It’s different in business, isn’t it?

I sat down with a few businessmen a month or so ago. I asked them what is the greatest lesson they’ve learned in business. The eldest two affirmed that they’ve learned the value of giving something away and not strapping people for money for everything they do. They’ve experienced growth in their business when they haven’t nickel-and-dimed people, but instead have been generous with their skills and connections.

We know this intuitively, don’t we? We dislike paying people who feel like they’re only out for themselves. Trust is an essential component of business.  And we don’t usually feel like we can trust people who seek their own interests over ours.

And we also know the opposite is true – we more easily trust individuals who sacrifice for us.  I trust my mom with my life because of how much she’s sacrificed for me. And there are a few select others I trust because of how they have served me so thoroughly. You’ve got people like this too. 

“Gotta get mine” isn’t really accurate either. It’s backwards. If we truly were out for our own interests, we would seek to serve others. We would probably be happier and run more sustainable businesses if our primary focus was on serving others. In fact, the people I know that constantly focus on themselves are the most miserable people I know.

“Gotta get mine” is unsustainable in business and in life because we live and do business with people. We need to be able to trust each other if we want to do well. We’re all better if we’re out for each other’s best, rather than our own. Let’s bury “gotta get mine.”

 

Image info: Original image by Death To The Stock Photo.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Any type of growth is hard. It’s hard to grow and not lose who you are – physically, personally and in your business. No matter what, there’s always going to be something you leave behind.

When you were a child, you left behind your short stature and your nose-picking (did you leave that behind?) to grow taller and become an adult. But when you grew up, you kept part of you – maybe it was your mom’s nose or your humorous personality. Sure, you changed, but you were still you.

In your business, things are more fluid, you don’t have permanent fixtures that remain by default, like your mom’s nose does. It can be a much harder process to grow your business, leave the baby stuff behind, but keep your core intact.

So that’s what we’re diving into – how to grow and keep your core intact. It’s actually a simple process, but we tend to ignore it when we’re growing our businesses. It’s essential, though, if we want to keep our core intact.

How to still be you and grow:

• Assess your core:
  • What are your businesses core strengths? Why do your customers keep coming back? What makes your business unique? What brings in the most revenue?
• Find the superfluous and bottlenecks:
  • What could you leave behind and few would notice (i.e. processes, products, etc.)? What feels like it’s holding you back?
• After you’ve done steps 1 & 2, make a plan to intentionally protect and pour into the core while you cut/fix the superfluous and bottlenecks. Then follow your plan and adjust as needed.

But what does this look like practically?

Say you run a bakery and your sales are growing so fast, it’s hard to keep up. The bakery’s tagline is “Fresh. Local. Handmade.” You bake everyday, multiple times a day so everything is fresh. You use only local ingredients and you deliver locally. You make every item by hand. Your best seller is your blueberry oatmeal bars. Customers are happy with the quality, which you attribute to the items being fresh. Your customers love that you use only local ingredients and that you have local delivery. You’ve gotten good WOM advertising because of your local delivery. This is your core. Some things haven’t been working great – a gluten free line hasn’t been selling, expanding delivery to further counties hasn’t been promising and your inventory system can’t keep up. You’ve also spent money on advertising space in a local publication that hasn’t yielded a solid return. These are your superfluous and bottleneck items and.

From this assessment, you should be able to create a logical plan that helps you keep your core intact as you grow. This means you should continue to focus on fresh and local and protect and grow those strengths. However, no one seems to notice or care that items are handmade. You’ve been looking into a machine that can make your oatmeal bars in less time, for less labor, which would help you meet market needs. Since you’ve assessed your core and know what you need to protect, you can more clearly make that decisions.

When businesses grow, they move toward chaos. It takes intentional persistence to ensure your business’s core stays intact while it grows. If you commit to protect your business’s core as it grows, you’ll likely find that you still have the essential parts intact, just like you still had your mom’s nose after you went through puberty.

 

Image info: Original image by John French.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Your business is not your home.

Your home, with all its aesthetics and function, is largely to serve you and those you live with. If you like a piece of art, you buy it and hang it in your house and enjoy it. If you want a newer refrigerator in your kitchen, you buy one to replace your old one.

But your business is not your home. It’s primary purpose is not to serve you. Your business exists to serve others. That’s not to say that you can’t spend money in your business on things you like, you can – but that shouldn’t be your priority. Your priority should be to serve customers and employees with your business spending.

Serving others with your business spending isn’t only the right and most fulfilling thing to do, it’s also the wisest. Spending your business funds only on what you want, and not on what serves others best, is foolish.

Case in point:

Last year, Reader’s Digest published a short article on the National Guard’s sponsorship of Nascar. The article explained how the National Guard spent $136 million over 5 years on the sponsorship, but only yielded 20 potential recruits, with none joining. Missouri senator Claire McCaskill was cited as saying that the issue was due to marketing to the wrong demographic as most race-car fans are from 35 to 54 years old, but the National Guard seeks 18-to-24-year-olds.

It’s hard to understand why the National Guard initially decided to sponsor Nascar, since the demographics were so dissonant. But it’s clear from that case that we can’t make marketing spending decisions based solely on what we want or what we think would be cool.

In order to get the highest ROI for our marketing funds, we need to spend on what best serves our customers. We know this. But we also know how tempting it is to spend on putting our business names on something shiny, even if it doesn’t best serve our customers.

To run great businesses, we must sacrifice our desires to better serve others. We all have limited resources. The businesses that use every last resource to sustainably serve others well will be the businesses that succeed.

So let’s not worry about spending our marketing dollars on what we like. Let’s examine the best ways to reach out to and serve our customers with those funds. After all, we’re not in business to serve ourselves. We can use our homes for that. We’re in business to serve others.

 

Image info: Original, royalty-free photo from Kaboompics.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.