As many of you know, I do quite a bit of public speaking. Most of my engagements focus on social engagement and customer experience, specifically helping business people figure out how to better connect with their customers, fans, and clients.
There are a few questions I can always count on getting during or after the session:
“But what if nobody in the organization is empowered to make the changes you mention? Who’s job is this change you refer to?”
Out of all the frequently asked questions in my sessions, this is that one that gets me the most amped up, ready to pounce. My reaction is normally summed up by a quote overheard in the hallways of SXSW 2009 a few weeks ago:
“If you know something’s wrong…fucking fix it!”
We’ve come to see that fear dictates many of our external facing business decisions, giving rise to massive Terms of Service agreements, NDAs, massive Legal team power, and other protectionist tactics. But it continues to surprise me how afraid we are of our bosses, colleagues, and management teams.
Whose job is it to fix things we recognize as problematic? Ours! It is every employee’s obligation to stand up for their customers, to be on the look out for ways to improve the company.
When I started at LEGO, I was a Senior Web Producer who saw instantly that the Adult Enthusiast community was being completely overlooked. I took on a few extra hours a week to help them. Those few hours turn into an official part of my job, and then my entire job. I didn’t ask for permission, I just started fixing it.
Surprisingly, especially for me, nobody told me to mind my own business or focus on my “real job”. They started seeing results I was producing and asked me to take on more and more and more of those duties.
The trick to making this process work is to use a tactic I call Success by 1000 Paper Cuts. The idea is simple: start with the biggest element of activity that you can do without having to get full blown approvals, budget sign offs, or legal approvals. A single paper cut barely gets notice, but enough of them and you can cut off a limb.
Start small, create success, share results.
The repeat over and over again until you have a collection of successes that represent a landmark. Bundle that landmark up and show it off. Use the landmark to get permission to bigger and radical and perhaps more expensive projects, but only by the new increment.
Start just a bit bigger, create success, share results.
So what are the small things you’re going to do today to impact change and improve your customer experience?
Shawn Morton
April 2nd, 2009 12:45
Jake, couldn't agree more with this approach. It is how we've been able to get so many social media projects rolling at Nationwide.
Rhonda Rice
April 2nd, 2009 14:50
This I like very much. Agree 100%. Take the step forward and build up the momentum for positive change.
Dara
April 3rd, 2009 7:37
Jake--You hit the nail on the head. I talked about this at my WOMMA Webinar this past Wednesday. If only we could do word of mouth marketing without fixing customer service issues--it would be a lot easier! It's hard to work across functional silos to fix problems--it takes leadership and relationship building. But you are right--it's my responsibility as an employee and the payoff--better services--is huge. Dara, depaulquad.com
bruce christensen
April 3rd, 2009 9:11
Today your post has inspired me to make a small contribution (paper cut) to saving the name of the Party.
It concerns me that this fun-loving, social word is being associated with bad behavior.
I realize that I fight against many popular and accepted activities, but someone needs to do something to protect the good name of the Party.
I am slicing this first paper cut with the hope that we can all see the Party as the pillar of social support once again.
Derek Schin
April 3rd, 2009 17:33
Nice article Jake. One thing, though. You said: "The idea is simple: start with the smallest element of activity that you can do without having to get full blown approvals, budget sign offs, or legal approvals."
I know you're going for the idea of small changes here, so this is kind of counter-intuitive, but I think your advice is better if you substitute the word "smallest" with "biggest." Right?
Derek
Jake McKee
April 4th, 2009 12:43
Derek, nice catch! I'm fixing now!
Shaun Abrahamson
April 4th, 2009 23:36
Couldnt agree more. I think in some ways, having to prove through gradual success, is better than have to respond to "get me a community" or "I need something viral".
Authority Networker
April 23rd, 2009 16:20
Traditional marketing methods don't work as well as they used to. Most people today aren’t very receptive on being ’sold’ on something. They are tired of this method for business, and a new method is now available that will make everything easier and natural…it's called attraction marketing. In incorporating this authority networker method formula into your business, you act as an educator as well as a seller while you develop ongoing relationships with clients. The results will be much more favorable then if you were to try to hard-sell everything.
Authority Networker
April 23rd, 2009 17:20
Traditional marketing methods don't work as well as they used to. Most people today aren’t very receptive on being ’sold’ on something. They are tired of this method for business, and a new method is now available that will make everything easier and natural…it's called attraction marketing. In incorporating this authority networker method formula into your business, you act as an educator as well as a seller while you develop ongoing relationships with clients. The results will be much more favorable then if you were to try to hard-sell everything.