Thank You For Flying DareAir

The scene is set – a young trainee First Officer starts his first day at his new employer – DareAir.

 F.O: Good morning – I’m reporting for duty today – I’m the new trainee

 Manager: Ah yes, good morning Travers! Are you all set for your first flight today?

 F.O: Flight, Sir? Er… I’m a trainee… I was rather hoping I would get to learn how to fly the aircraft first?

 Manager: Nonsense, lad! We could see that you had all of the right minerals to be an excellent pilot when we interviewed you!

 F.O: Right, Sir…. And what aircraft will I be flying today?

 Manager: The new Airbus A350 – the flagship of our fleet!

 F.O: Sir… I only have certification to fly a Cessna…

 Manager: You’ll soon pick it up! After all, the principle is the same! We’ve got a training course booked for you but that’s six weeks away and we’ve got passengers to fly!

 In the real world it’s inconceivable that this situation would arise but in some industries it is still a regular occurrence – bring someone new into the business and let them ‘crack on’ without giving them any of the knowledge, skills or processes to be able to do the job required to a good standard.

 So why does this happen? “I want to see if he’s any good before I waste money training him” or “I can’t wait until the next sales induction – I need bodies on the road/ shop floor” are two of the more common reasons given by poor and ineffective managers to not train their salespeople.

 It’s fair to say that we are currently trading in a challenging marketplace with fewer customers being even more careful about how they spend their money. In this difficult environment we should be ramping up our focus on training, not cutting it.

 Why? Because recruitment is expensive – the more we ‘burn’ our sales teams the harder it becomes to attract the right people – and inevitably we have to spend more money to incentivise people to join the business. 

 Also (and crucially) if we recruit the right people, train them comprehensively BEFORE we put them in front of customers, coach them on an ongoing basis and create the right environment through an inclusive management style to enable individuals to flourish then there is a large possibility that they will stay with us.

I don’t know about you, but I won’t be flying with DareAir any time soon!

Shall We Call in An Expert… Or Ruin It by Ourselves?

I’ve always loved music; participants in some of my courses over the years will have encountered it being used to signal breaks and lunch or utilised in the background when group exercises are running. 

In particular, I have always loved the bass guitar; from early memories of listening to John Deacon in Queen, Paul McCartney, Dee Murray (who for many years was Elton John’s bass player) and others, it was always bass lines that drew me in.

Back in 2011 I was encouraged by my then partner (and now wife) Nicola to learn to play the bass guitar, so I embarked on the journey (which I’m still on!). Now, once I’d decided to do it, I sought the advice of a close friend (and bass player) who gave me some invaluable tips. Firstly, don’t scrimp when choosing your instrument – cheap is not good when it comes to buying. The problem with cheap bass guitars is that they can be far more difficult to play and when you’re learning, you need something that is really well made. You can get a new bass guitar for £99 but its playability and tone will match the price tag. After taking advice, I purchased a second-hand Japanese-made Aria bass made in the 80s that was perfect. 

The second tip he gave me was to get lessons from a proper bass player and not a guitarist who ‘dabbles’. This way you get to learn the fundamentals and create the right habits from day one – this will help you to develop as a player and not instil bad habits and hit a plateau that many self-taught musicians reach.

There are many parallels that can be drawn between this analogy and training in business. Our front-line staff in sales & service are often the deciding factor in whether our customers choose to return and recommend us. If a new starter is given poor quality tools that are difficult to use it will make their job harder, and if they don’t receive the right training from an expert right at the start of their journey they will inevitably develop bad habits and cut corners because they don’t know what they don’t know.

I was talking to an acquaintance recently who recalled the story of a dealership local to him. Aftersales was struggling; Service Advisors didn’t have the skills required to confidently sell genuine parts and workshop hours and customers were taking their cars elsewhere for the work to be done. The sensible solution would have been to put a training plan in place, deliver it and then set some clear KPIs to measure its effectiveness. What they actually did was increase their labour rate to offset to downturn in hours sold!

The moral of this story is this – the investment that you make in your people by giving them world-class, bespoke training that is tailored to your business will pay you back handsomely; a £99 solution won’t.

You've Bought a Mooch!

You’ve Bought a Mooch!

You’ve Bought a Mooch!

Back in June I wrote a blog which referenced some events in my early career as a car sales executive. At that time my sales manager was a marvellous character called Steve Wright (no, not that one!). Steve was instrumental in making me a much better and more effective salesperson by coaching & instilling business disciplines and standards, most of which have stayed with me to this day.

 Now, I will state for the record that I wasn’t the best sales executive in the dealership – that honour fell to my colleague who was simply hungrier, more tenacious and relentless in his pursuit of prospects. This tenacity sometimes manifested itself in a slightly less than customer-centric way, but it was the early 90s and manufacturers were a long way away from measuring customer satisfaction at that point!

So, because I was the ‘nice guy’, I sometimes had fallow periods. The sales funnel became emptier and I became more desperate. Happily, these periods were few and far between (in the interests of balance I was/am a very capable salesperson!) but during such times I would be looking to do a deal with pretty much anyone.

I do believe in the power of the Universe (what you give out you tend to get back) and when you’re desperate for a sale the Universe will provide you with a less than ideal potential customer. Steve used to call them a ‘Mooch’ – the type of person that despite having had the shirt off your back and shaken hands with you would then demand your shoes as well as ‘part of the deal’. 

I remember distinctly during a fallow period dealing with a prospect and being desperate to sell them a car and Steve saying to me: “Do you really want to own a Mooch?” This wasn’t disrespectful language or behaviour towards a customer, it was Steve being able to look objectively at the customer in question, their behaviour and deducing (accurately, as it turned out) that they would be an absolute nightmare as a long-term customer.

Which leads me to my point (and question) – How many times are we comfortable with being able to say to a prospect who has all of the hallmarks of being problematic and ultimately very costly: “Thank you for your enquiry, but we’re not going to able to do business”? My belief is that happy customers who are loyal and regularly refer others to us are always profitable and that the opposite applies to the ones who, despite everything we do, will never be happy.

So, in a challenging market that doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of improvement in the foreseeable future, is it a good business practice to turn a potential customer away? I’m interested to hear your views.

The LinkedIn Chimp

Many of my delegates will know that I’m a big fan of self-development; in the duration of any given programme I’ll normally make references to books I’ve read or courses that I’ve attended that have helped me to grow and develop as an individual. I’m currently re-visiting The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters and am finding it hugely insightful all over again.

Without giving too much away for those who haven’t read it, the book talks about dealing with an emotional, sometimes destructive part of our brain that tries to take over and dominate our thoughts and behaviour and how we are able, with self-awareness, to recognise when the ‘chimp’ is trying to take control.

I’ve recently slowly re-introduced myself to social media, having taken a significant break from it and have been fascinated and appalled in equal measure to see the amount of people who have a chimp in control of their words and actions, from angry, ranting posts from people lambasting others for daring to see the world in a different way to them to vicious personal attacks on others who, in all probability, the perpetrator has never met. In many ways it is a dangerous enabler that allows people to subject others to what amounts to bullying.

In some respects, you might expect to see this on behaviour on Facebook or Twitter but more surprisingly for me are the amount of ‘chimps’ that are having free-reign on LinkedIn. I’ve always considered LinkedIn to be a platform where professionals can connect, share their experiences, ask advice or interact with others who are specialists in their field. However, of late I’ve seen more and more examples of ‘chimps’ taking control.

For me, there’s a simple solution to this. We all have a chimp (mine is called ‘Axl’ and wears a studded leather jacket!) and we can recognise the signs if we are intelligent and self-aware enough of when the chimp is taking over. My chimp is very active, and I apply a rule when I can feel the emotion taking over – I ask myself the question (calmly) ‘is the action you’re about to take going to be helpful in the long term?’ If it isn’t, let it go.

I also have another coping strategy which works; if you want to send an absolutely furious email to someone then go ahead and write it – but don’t put the recipients name in the ‘To’ field and save it to the draft folder. Re-visit the email again 24 hours later when the chimp has calmed down – either amend it or (as happens 99% of the time) delete it. If people applied to same logic to social media then the world would be a much calmer place.

Modern Manners

There is an organisation in London called Debrett’s; they have existed since 1769 and are experts in, amongst other things, social skills. According to The Financial Times ‘Britons seeking advice on etiquette and lineage have been able to turn to Debrett’s for almost 250 years.’ I think I’m going to need to enlist the help of Debrett’s because I’m confused about some business etiquette I’ve experienced very recently.

I was discussing Emotional Intelligence with my delegates a short time ago and about how we have the ability to refine and improve our personal and social confidence through understanding our own behaviour and those of others. A key attribute of any learning and development facilitator is the possession of Emotional Intelligence and knowing in which circumstances it is best to not react emotionally and ‘let it go’.

Rewind to my early years as a salesperson and I had much less self-awareness and, in all honesty, self-control. I was brutally schooled in the discipline of conducting follow-up calls. If a customer had made an enquiry (through their own free will) then it was my job to always ensure there was a positive, diarised next action with that customer until they made a purchase or were deemed by my Sales Manager to be ‘lost’ – and heaven help you if you tried to ‘lost sale’ it before the Manager had agreed!

Now, at that time I hated follow-ups because I convinced myself if they hadn’t bought on the spot then they wouldn’t buy now, and it almost became a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the modern era we now know the critical importance of getting it right first time as the gestation period of a retail buyer has reduced massively. The other reason I disliked them was rejection; I was, and still am to a slightly lesser extent, sensitive – not a great attribute for a salesperson perhaps but the flip side I was/am able to empathise with people and take the time to take a genuine interest in them & understand their circumstances.

Forward-wind to today; I’ve been self-employed for nearly 5 years and enjoy a very close working relationship with my key clients. When I’m asked to provide a quotation for a new piece of work I will (wherever possible) visit the client, gain an in-depth understanding of their needs and prepare a summary of content, structure and cost. I was asked recently to provide a quotation for a new prospective customer – I visited the client and did all of the above. 

I followed up my submission of the quotation a short time afterwards (as per my brutal schooling) and was asked to make some changes, which I duly did. I then followed that amended quotation up with another call to which met with approval subject to final sign-off and dates were provisionally booked in my diary.

I have subsequently tried to contact the potential client by telephone on 6 occasions and sent three separate e-mails. It is apparent that the project has either been postponed, cancelled or the work has been awarded elsewhere as there has been no response to any of my attempts to contact them.

And this is where I need Debrett’s help. Because I’m not sure if this is now modern business etiquette? Is it now acceptable for a business to approach another business asking for their help and then ignore them when they try to contact you (after significant work and effort has gone in to provide a solution)? Or, did my brutal schooling in relentless follow-up process contribute to this failure? Or is it a lucky escape for me because based on their business etiquette their culture is, at best, questionable? Over to you on this one, readers, because I’m genuinely stumped!

How To Be a World Champion

I’ve always enjoyed watching Formula 1; the magic ingredients for me are how technology and the man behind the wheel combine to produce a winning blend at the conclusion of a long, gruelling season. What should not be underestimated is the role that mindset, attitude & belief play in winning a World Championship – And it’s not just the driver that this applies to, it is every single member of the team.

But where does this positive mindset stem from? Ultimately, we all control our own attitude and it is our ability to cope with pressure and setbacks that helps us to maintain a helpful perspective on the challenges that we face. Arguably, the behaviour of the leader is even more important – their words and actions can have a massive influence on the productivity and morale of those around them.

As business owners (and therefore leaders) we can sometimes be in an extremely lonely and isolated position; we routinely have to deal with pressure and set-backs and we can face severely testing situations that really draw on our energy reserves – and we often have no one to confide in or coach us on how to develop a coping strategy.

Formula 1 drivers are at the peak of their mental and physical fitness, but the true greats of the sport have turned to coaches to help them find a competitive edge. One of the great things about having a coach is they don’t have to know anything about your profession – they simply assist with unlocking the potential that’s within the person being coached. The big caveat with any form of coaching is you have to be open to the idea that it is a positive thing that will help you.

At the conclusion of last season, many people were speculating that Valtteri Bottas (a driver with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team) would be replaced by the end of the 2019 season when his contract expires due to his underperformance during 2018. At the first race of the 2019 season in Australia, Bottas won, finishing comfortably ahead of his 5-times World Champion team mate, having overtaken him at the first corner after the start. 

His boss Toto Wolff had this to say at the end of the race - "How he recovered from being written off, not up for the job in the second half of the season last year, scoring one of the most dominant victories in recent days, just shows us human potential and how much it is a mind game. It is for me also a bit of fairytale - don't let others break you, believe in yourself. And he has just showed us the whole weekend."

Sometimes that steely reserve and belief is strengthened by external help – I have helped several business leaders with one-to-one coaching that has had a profound effect on their personal and business performance – and I have a coach myself, the wonderful Su Carlson – because inspirational trainers sometimes need inspiration from others.

Life's What Happens...

John Lennon wrote the lyric ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans’in his song Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy); the song was recorded back in 1980 but the sentiment still rings true. The reason I’m referencing this song is based on my observation of normal, everyday behaviour in 2019 and how it relates to learning and personal development.

 As part of some of my leadership programmes we discuss David Kolb’s learning cycle. In essence, we all go through a process of learning based on having an actual experience, reflecting on what we have learned, plan what we may do differently next time when faced with the same circumstances and then go and try it again, putting into practice our additional knowledge & experience.

 I’ve recently been spending a lot of time in the Middle East as I’m setting up a business there in addition to my existing one in the UK. It goes without saying that many facets of life in Dubai and the other Emirates are very different and the only way to really understand and learn is to put Kolb’s model into practice and actively go out and have real-life experiences.

 Whilst I’ve been there, I’ve noticed just how many people simply live life through their mobile phones – they don’t have real-life experiences. I had a business meeting and decided to take the tram and Metro to my appointment. The tram crosses a bridge over the Dubai Marina and first thing in the morning it is stunning – the combination of sunlight reflecting on clear blue water and the backdrop of yachts and high-rise buildings. I looked around the carriage at my fellow passengers to see if anyone else was enjoying the vista and all of them were totally immersed in whatever was on their phones.

 In my last blog I reflected on the relentless march of technology and the impact it is having on our retail experience and again I’m drawn to the same conclusion. It is fantastic that we’re all able to look at a used car, do a price/specification comparison, find the retailer and contact them all through our mobile device.

 The transaction itself still should be a human experience – otherwise how are we going to build value in our proposition and convince a potential customer to spend their money with us rather than a potentially cheaper competitor? We need to be able create ‘moments of magic’ for our customers in order to transform a transactional process into something that creates a customer for life and someone who will be a vocal advocate of our business. The trick, therefore is to embrace a blended approach – but never forget that there is a human being with thoughts, feelings and emotions at the heart of the buying decision.

 On January 1st, 2019 I deactivated the Facebook accounts for both my business and my personal page. There were lots of reasons but primarily it was adding nothing to my business, and I was finding myself spending more and more time being distracted by it. After 3 months I wasn’t missing it in any way – because I was learning and developing my own skills through real experiences and not through a screen. If John Lennon had been around now the song could have been titled ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re looking at your phone’

Video Killed The Radio Star?

Recently I introduced some of my delegates to some of the elements contained in ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhardt Tolle, and about focusing on what we can do now in the present rather than things that have already happened in the past. It appears I don’t apply this principle to my music collection as there is very little contained within it that is contemporary or ‘now’!

In light of this, whilst on shuffle in the training room, The Buggles started playing and in particular their 1979 hit ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. The lyrical gist is about technology taking over from people and the fear that children of the current generation would not appreciate the past.

This got me thinking about the current state of the retail motor industry; more and more technology is not only being introduced into the cars themselves but into the retail experience itself. Augmented reality and online configurators etc. are now ‘old hat’ and the march towards an even more advanced purchasing experience continues at a breath-taking pace.

For some, this technology is not accessible, viable or cost effective so does this mean that they are disadvantaged in any way? Perhaps, but reading a post on LinkedIn recently brought into sharp focus the thing that still hasn’t changed in my 32 years of industry experience – and that is the huge inconsistencies still apparent in the customer buying experience. 

My connection was looking to buy a new vehicle and experienced the same old problems of complacency, poor process and a lack of management control and involvement in the guest’s experience. Which leads me back to the technology issue – it’s irrelevant if the customer isn’t at the centre of it and the dealership isn’t providing a world-class guest experience.

I love technology when its easy to use, practical and relevant but it strikes me that the primary aim of any profitable and volume-driven sales department should be a maniacal focus on the customer experience and treating every single one as a valued prospect and not an inconvenient suspect – and technology won’t help with attitude, enthusiasm and mind-set.

 As a post script, its interesting that 40 years on from The Buggles hit, more and more people are returning to listening to vinyl. It may be old technology, but the listener is rewarded with an experience that is real and authentic. The world of automotive could learn a thing or two from this.

Bin the Training!!!

Many things in life are certain – the changing of the seasons, tides… (there’s a theme song here, isn’t there?!) and one of the things that is most certain is that when times get tough for a business the cost base gets cut. Aside from people (which should be the most valuable commodity any business can have) the other costs that get cut are inevitably marketing and training.

I had a conversation recently with a manager; he had identified that he has a skill deficiency in his service department – his Service Advisors lack confidence in selling ‘red’ work and struggle in dealing with price objections relating to fast-fit competitors. Through our past association he knew that I would be able to show a demonstrable, significant and sustainable return on investment if I was able to deliver a training programme to help bridge the skill gaps. 

However, the leaders of the business weren’t keen on spending money. I offered to deliver the programme free of charge on the understanding that when we could prove that the KPIs were being achieved and the business was performing to a higher standard then the training would be chargeable - I guess you know the answer as to whether they took me up on the offer or not. To my knowledge, the Service Advisors still are still failing to maximise on profit opportunities and the business is losing revenue as a result.

Onto a more enlightened business; the same challenging trading climate but this Managing Director had the vision to invest in his sales team. Over the course of 2018 they were out of the business for 7 days in total and we covered a myriad of topics relevant to their role.

At the conclusion of the programme they were invited to conduct a presentation to the key stakeholders in the business and this was the brief I gave them:

During the course of 2018 you attended four separate training modules covering personal awareness, presentation skills, relationship building and creating desire and negotiation and closing.

We purposely decided not to ask you to complete a post-course evaluation and instead wanted to give you the opportunity to demonstrate what your key take-outs were from the learning that took place.

With this in mind we would like to ask you to construct a 10-minute presentation which you are then going to deliver to the key stakeholders in the business. You have total creative freedom in terms of what the format and content of the presentation is, but the following should be considered:

·     What were my main ‘lightbulb’ moments?

·     How has the learning transferred into the workplace?

·     Are there any examples you can give of skills/knowledge/behaviour learned during the programme that resulted in a positive customer outcome?

·     Are there any examples of the learning that took place resulting in increased revenue for the business?

·     How have you personally grown/evolved/changed as a result of the programme?

These are just a few things to consider – the stakeholders of the business will be interested to see what the return on investment has been on the business as well as you as an individual.

There will be 5 minutes allocated at the end of each presentation for you to answer questions.

During these presentations numerous examples were given by the participants of where their learning had transferred into demonstrable increased revenue for the business; revenue that would not have been achieved without the behaviour, skills and knowledge learned during the training. By my rough calculations on the examples given, the training paid for itself 8 times over.

Makes you wonder why a business wouldn’t invest in the development of their people (particularly in challenging trading conditions) doesn’t it?

Face Time

I’ve been in the automotive industry for 31 years now and although there have been some seismic changes to the customer’s buying experience and their subsequent expectations, some things will always remain unchanged yet vitally important. For me, one of those things is the value of building a strong relationship with our customers. 

This may be an over-share but I’m going to tell you about a recent event in my business life that made me reflect on this. I was asked to provide a quotation for some sales training for some new employees who had been recruited from outside of the industry and there were some very specific and important learning outcomes that were required from the training.

I diligently worked on the proposal and costings and submitted it as requested, but here’s the thing… Because of the geographical challenges I opted to conduct my initial consultation and fact-find on the telephone. Now, telephone skills are one of my favourite topics and I like to think I can ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to conducting this element of my business, but I failed to win the work. It was awarded to a competitor.

It’s always good practice to reflect on the outcomes of each opportunity to do business, whether you get the sale or not – What went well? What didn’t go quite so well? And the killer question I always ask: ‘What would you do differently next time?’ So, I thought about this and realised something really important had been overlooked.

When we sell cars profitably there are a number of factors that are key: paying the right price for the stock (and therefore pricing it competitively), preparing it quickly and presenting it well both physically and online etc. We live in a connected, online world and inevitably business is done over the telephone and online, but there is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting.

According to Albert Mehrabian’s study in the 1960s there is a massive amount influence that non-verbal behaviour has on the impact that you have on another person. When we sell cars, the most profitable deals are done with customers with whom we have rapport and mutual trust and respect. Whichever way you look at it, unless it is repeat business it’s much harder to do this on the phone.

So, my learning from this? When I next have an opportunity to do business with similar geographical challenges I will get face-to-face (or at the very least Skype) with my potential customer because the strongest relationship that we have with customers who purchase vehicles is always the one we have face-to-face, over a coffee.

Lacking Focus

My last blog concerned the retail shopping experience and how, if done well, it can turn a shopper into a buyer. I’m going to share with you another experience I had recently, this one being a distressed purchase. In the automotive world we have customers who are potentially ‘distressed’ – no one really looks forward to having their car serviced and having to pay for it which is why the customer’s experience is everything.

My distressed purchase was optical – I needed an eye test. I’ll start by saying that the company involved (a well-known High Street brand) have a great CRM process. I was e-mailed and informed that it had been two years since my last eye test and to book an appointment -all of which could be done online by clicking a link in the e-mail. So far, so good.

And then it all started to unravel. Why? Because of the staff. I went into the shop at the agreed time (my partner had arranged her eye test at the same time too). We were told to sit and wait in an area that looked like a doctor’s waiting room; after an extraordinary wait (25 minutes later than the allocated time) I was put through the process – and it was utterly devoid of any ‘human’ moments. Interestingly (and without explanation) despite my appointment being before my partner’s she was seen first. During the wait we weren’t offered any refreshments or explanation of why it was taking so long. Despite being well-staffed nobody appeared to possess the ability to build rapport or create a guest experience.

At the conclusion of the tests I was informed that my prescription had changed, and I would need new lenses. I was then sat at a desk and subjected to one of the most amateur upsell attempts I’ve ever come across – apparently, I needed to buy glasses with a blue hint to them but wasn’t offered any comprehensible benefits to paying the (quite significant) extra money. I declined and £260 and an hour and a half later (that was just the lenses, I wasn’t entertaining the idea of buying frames) we left.

It got me thinking about our world in automotive. If we provide customers with a personalised service, explain to them clearly how our process works and how long things are going to take (but also gain a thorough understanding of what the customer wants, needs, expects and how our process will help them achieve these things) we should be able to deliver a first-class experience – this in turn drives loyalty and promotes referrals as well.

Based on my less than ‘express’ experience I’ll be taking my business elsewhere in 2 years’ time – I know where I should’ve gone…

It's All About The Experience

Over the course of the last few weekends I have had to venture out into the world of High Street retail, predominantly to purchase clothes. I may be a little old fashioned, but I like to try things on; there really is no substitute for seeing and feeling the goods before you buy. 

Here’s how it went; On one visit I drove to the city and spent a fractious 20 minutes trying to find a space in a multi-storey car park that allegedly wasn’t full. I ventured into several shops to be greeted with either antipathy, disinterest or (mostly) I was ignored. Furthermore, the goods that I was attracted to weren’t available in my size to try. I ended up spending money on a frighteningly priced coffee and returned home, somewhat dazed, frazzled and totally underwhelmed.

The news is currently featuring stories about the demise and decline of traditional High street retail; how the internet has deemed this route to market as being an anachronism that has no relevance in the modern world – and this got me thinking. Motor retail is going through a seismic change at the moment with more and more manufacturers looking to modernise and overhaul the route to market by embracing modern technology. In many cases this means that the customer is being steered more and more towards an online purchase.

I do need to make it clear I’m not some kind of Luddite who views ‘all of this new-fangled technology’ with fear and suspicion. I believe that in many cases the consumer will prefer to conduct their research online and, in many cases, buy as well because of the poor customer experience that they receive in a face-to-face retail environment.

And this is where we have the opportunity to shine. Regardless of technology, the vast majority of purchasing decisions are made based on the customer’s experience. Was I made to feel like a valued guest? Did they actively listen to me? Did I feel like I was helped and assisted in the decision to buy the right car for me rather than being ‘sold to’? Was I given a great demonstration? Was the product immaculately prepared and presented? These simple things make a profound difference but if the people providing the experience don’t know how to build rapport, qualify and listen actively the customer will receive a transactional buying experience at best and this in turn drives more people to an online purchase.

In the interests of balance, whilst I was out I visited a shoe shop. The staff were energetic, focussed, smiling, present and totally ‘in the moment’ with a maniacal focus on the customers in the shop, even though it was a busy Saturday afternoon. Their process was blisteringly good - I hadn’t even gone in to buy but was treated so well I left with a cheeky pair of Converse that I didn’t really need but, because of the experience, I wanted.

There’s hope for face-to-face retail based on this. 

This Is Your Captain Speaking

This is a story about true leadership. We recently enjoyed a 10-night break in Lanzarote; holidays and down-time are important to allow your batteries to re-charge and (in my case) do some strategic thinking and planning for the business in the future. At the conclusion of our holiday we headed back to the airport and checked in for our flight.

I never have particularly high expectations for a holiday charter flight, so I wasn’t massively surprised when the flight was delayed. Some people who were queuing at the gate were starting to get quite annoyed and vocal at the lack of information coming from the airline and inevitably ‘Chinese Whispers’ came into effect.

Eventually we boarded the aircraft with a sizeable number of the passengers visibly angry at the situation and ready to vent their frustration. Whilst all of this was going on I was observing the body language of the cabin crew – one in particular was showing signs of significant stress – red faced, sweating (and at one point resting his head in his hands). There was evidently a problem with the PA system as the captain then appeared, deep in conversation on a mobile phone whilst unscrewing an overhead panel to try and do a reset. I’m deducing the cabin crew staff member was preparing himself to have to deliver the bad news to an already quite irritable group of passengers.

All of this had the makings of a significant inconvenience; the passengers could see what was going on and the atmosphere on board was becoming more tense and negative. The problem appeared to then be rectified, all passengers had boarded and seated, and we waited… and waited. It was then that something remarkable happened.

The PA sprang into life and a voice asked us to look towards the front of the aircraft – the voice belonged to the Captain. He spoke authoritatively, eloquently and openly. He asked the passengers who were annoyed and upset to shake their fists at him; he then went on to say that the delay was nothing to do with the cabin crew and that it was unacceptable for anyone to direct their frustrations at them. He explained that as captain he had the ultimate responsibility for everyone’s safety, that they couldn’t fly without a functioning PA system and also explained the origin of that aircraft’s journey that day and how a combination of factors had led to it being late.

What really impressed me was his leadership. Many managers in the same situation would have been quite content to sit in their office and let the team with the fall-out, but he didn’t. He took responsibility for the situation and protected his team from a potentially ill-tempered 4-hour flight back. I’ve travelled by air a reasonable amount but have never seen the captain of an aircraft do this before.

So, step forward, Captain Adrian Hebbs of Thomas Cook Airlines. You showed great leadership and I for one was very pleased that you were in charge that day. I hope I got your name right; I scribbled it down as we were taxiing to the stand and the PA wasn’t the best!

Saving It For A Special Occasion

30 years ago, I was working in a Volkswagen Audi dealership cleaning cars. I remember distinctly a customer (I can still recall his name!) coming in to collect his new car – An Audi Coupé Quattro Turbo in red (I think the colour was called Tornado Red?!). This car was something special; 200 bhp and a presence and build quality that set it apart from other cars on sale in late 80s. I looked wistfully at that car in March 1988 and wondered if I’d ever be able to afford anything like it.

Forward-wind to last year and I had lunch with a former colleague and good friend. He told me a story about his late father; he was given a very special bottle of whisky for his birthday and he kept it in the cupboard saying that he was ‘saving it for a special occasion’. The years rolled by and every time the family asked if he was going to open it, their enquiry was always met with the same answer: “I’m saving it for a special occasion”.

Recently his father sadly passed away and while the family were sorting through his effects they came across the unopened bottle. Hearing this story touched me quite profoundly and really made me consider some of the choices that I’ve made. I’m naturally quite risk averse and I saw echoes of my own behaviour in my friend’s father’s.

I’ve worked hard to make a success of my business since starting in late 2014 and it has sometimes been at the expense of work/life balance. It has also, at times, caused considerable stress to both myself and those closest to me but my overwhelming feeling looking back on the last 4 years is one of pride - Thirty years ago I was cleaning cars and now I have my own successful business.

The point of this story? There are no guarantees running a company (particularly at the moment) and it would be easy (and some would say extremely prudent) to keep expenditure to an absolute minimum. But I haven’t. I’m celebrating a milestone birthday this year and in reality, I’ve got less years ahead than are behind me – so I’ve opened my whisky in the form of a new car. Obviously, the Coupé Quattro Turbo is long gone but I’ve bought the modern-day equivalent (minus the Coupé bit!) and I love it.

Sometimes you have to seize the day, celebrate achievements and milestones and remember that the special occasion is happening right now.

First Impressions Count!

Whenever delegates attend a learning & development activity they can have a variety of different mind-sets and these are influenced by a number of factors: Did they receive a pre-course briefing from their manager to explain why they have been selected and what the learning objectives are? Have they had a really traumatic and negative training experience in the past? Did they have a stressful journey to the venue? The mind-set that we all have affects the way people perceive us.

In recent weeks I’ve been delivering a sales programme covering a variety of diverse and interesting topics and one of the first things I ask them to do is quite uncomfortable for them – I ask them to write their first impressions of everyone else in the room on a post-it note and give it to the person. The purpose of the exercise is to raise the individuals’ awareness of the immediate impact they can have on a prospective customer.

A golden rule in my book as a facilitator is that I never ask a person attending a learning activity to do something I’m not willing to do myself, therefore I asked all of the people who attended over the last 5 weeks to give their feedback on the first impressions that they had of me. Some of it surprised me but the most important thing about feedback is that when delivered correctly it can help an individual to improve.

I learned that from some people’s perspective their initial impression was that I was ‘crazy’ and ‘doesn’t take life too seriously’. Another simply stated 'Poor Man's Paul Hollywood!' The reality is I’m none those things (except maybe the Paul Hollywood bit!), but my behaviour was interpreted that way by some of my delegates. On the back of this feedback I have consciously been far more ‘in the moment’ and ‘present’ when I meet new people for the first time and very mindful of the words that I use along with my overall communication style.

My question to you all is how often do you seek objective feedback and if you do, what do you do with it? Self-awareness and Emotional Intelligence are tremendous attributes to possess but they both need to be worked on and continuously improved. 

The comments that I received stung a bit initially but have really helped me to improve. Feedback truly is ‘the breakfast of champions’!

Job Done

Some of the blogs that I’ve written of late have highlighted examples where either sales process, customer experience or both simultaneously have failed, resulting in lost opportunities and frustration. So, for this month’s musing I thought it would be good to highlight an example where it all went right.

My sister needed to change her car, an ancient 17-year-old diesel Corsa. She contacted me and asked me if I knew anyone in the industry who would look after her – she had absolutely no reference point in buying a car from a dealer having never done it before. I suggested to her that she deal with a local business; apart from the fact I’m 220 miles away I always believe that spending your money with a local business should ensure that they will want to look after you once you’ve purchased.

She drew up a shortlist of the cars that she wanted to view and set about making some appointments. What is worth noting here is that she was very, very nervous – she found the idea of visiting dealers quite daunting and had a very real fear of being patronised or not taken seriously. I’m not going to highlight the poor experiences as this covers ground I’ve talked about before but needless to say there are still lots of examples of dealers failing to manage their enquiries effectively or create an environment that encourages customers to buy.

The one I’m going to focus on is the dealer who got it spot-on and this is what happened. The Sales Executive involved initially didn’t talk about cars or attempt a ‘paint-by-numbers’ qualification of needs – he talked to my sister, took an interest in her as a person and built not only a great rapport with her but crucially (and these are my sister’s words) “He just got me”.

He continued to build rapport and tailor the car’s features and benefits around her and her lifestyle. Once the demonstration had been carried out (again tailored to her typical useage) it was pretty much a done deal; there was no attempt at an early “If I get the figures right are you buying now?” close, just a focused presentation that created an overwhelming desire to buy.

After the order was taken the sales executive sent her a personalised CitNOW video (lots of use of her name) of the car shining in the valeting bay along with a presentation re-stating her buying motives. When she came in to collect it he had remembered it was her birthday and filled the car with balloons.

The following day the dealer’s Facebook page featured a post with her collecting the car – the unbridled joy in her face wasn’t forced!

So, put people first and spend time understanding them and profitable business will follow. I may have been able to source a car for a little bit less than she spent but it would have been a transaction and not the great experience that she ended up having – profitable customers are happy customers.

Choose Your Words Carefully

Running a business can be stressful; whether you have a handful of staff or a cast of thousands the key to success is through your people. Now, assuming your recruitment processes are good (therein lies another entirely different blog!) and that you have a capable team then the rest is simple – it’s just managing them, right?!

There is an equation that I often use when running workshops to help managers drive high performing teams: Ability + Willingness + Opportunity = Performance. I’ll talk about ability and willingness in a future blog; today I want to focus on the ‘Opportunity’ element of the equation. The manager or leader creates this because it is a mix of elements such as processes, structures and strategies and deeper factors such as culture and climate. In fact, research from many sources has shown that it is climate more than any other factor that influences individual and organisational performance.

I was recently barricaded into my office developing two brand new programmes, one of which is a leadership programme aimed specifically at managers of field sales teams. Managing sales people can be a delicate exercise; balancing both performance and behaviour can be challenging with some individuals, particularly if they are working remotely.

Whilst I was researching this programme I revisited Steven Covey’s Leadership Model. If you’re not familiar with his work I can highly recommend ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’; its available either in print or an audio book and is hugely enlightening. Covey’s Leadership Model is interesting because it challenges leaders to look at their words and behaviour and consider the possible effects that these could have on their teams (the ‘Opportunity' element of the equation). In essence the model considers for topics:

1: Inspiring Trust - You build relationships of trust through both your character and competence and you also extend trust to others. You show others that you believe in their capacity to live up to certain expectations, to deliver on promises, and to achieve clarity on key goals. You don’t inspire trust by micromanaging and second guessing every step people make.

2: Clarify Purpose - The second is to clarify purpose. Great leaders involve their people in the communication process to create the goals to be achieved. If people are involved in the process, they psychologically own it and you create a situation where people are on the same page about what is really important — mission, vision, values, and goals.

3: Align Systems - This means that you don’t allow there to be conflict between what you say is important and what you measure. For instance, many times organisations claim that people are important but in fact the structures and systems, including accounting, make them an expense or cost centre rather than an asset and the most significant resource.

4: Unleash Talent - When you inspire trust and share a common purpose with aligned systems, you empower people. Their talent is unleashed so that their capacity, their intelligence, their creativity, and their resourcefulness is utilised.

Looking at these topics it’s not difficult to see how the use of words (either written or verbal) can impact on your effectiveness as a manager – choose them carefully.

Bad Apple

I was reflecting recently on how many iconic High Street names have disappeared over recent times and the reasons why they became irrelevant and therefore unsustainable. The Internet has obviously had a profound effect with consumers enjoying shopping from the comfort of their own homes whilst expecting instant retail gratification with next day delivery.

There are some retail outlets that are bucking the trend however and still manage to attract shoppers into their stores to spend money. One example of this is Apple; every time I pass their store in Solihull it is always bustling and full of consumers.

Now I will admit at this point to having been a massive fan of Apple products – from the Mac in my office, the MacBook Pro that is with me on the road, my iPad and iPhone - they all work together beautifully. I also use Logic Pro, which is an Apple digital audio workstation where I can write and record music using Apple hardware – it is intuitive, easy to use and works brilliantly.

I recently found myself in Solihull and decided that I wanted to look at updating my iPhone 6 plus; it is 3 years old and has been all around the world with me. There’s nothing wrong with it but I thought it would be nice to update it and give my phone to my partner so she can upgrade her iPhone 5.

Here’s where it all started to go wrong- I approached a member of staff and asked for some help in comparing products so I could choose the right one for me but was informed I needed to ‘check-in’ with the person at the front. So off I went back to the entrance and repeated my requirement. I was told to ‘wait there’ until someone was available (it felt a bit like being told to stand in the naughty corner). I waited and watched as the amply staffed store employees all enjoyed chatting to each other; I will point out now that this was late morning on a weekday so hardly a peak footfall time. After 10 minutes I gave up waiting and left.

A few days later my partner went into the store to enquire about another product – the same pantomime ensued but she at least got to talk to someone. She wanted to know about technical specifications and was pointed in the direction of the Internet because (and I quote) “All of the information you need is there”. So what is the point of an Apple Store if you’re either a: ignored or b: sent off to look online? My loyalty as a customer is being seriously tested and for the first time in nearly 10 years I’m considering other brands and operating systems.

Automotive retail is going through a similarly turbulent time at the moment and the biggest USP that good retailers have is their ability to focus 100% on the customer’s needs. Retail might be changing but the old adage that ‘people buy from people’ still rings true – something that Apple should be mindful of because if they continue to fail to deliver any kind of customer experience their loyal consumers will slowly but surely desert them.

Is Classroom Learning Dying?

In my last blog I was ruminating about the industry’s perception of training and whether it is viewed as an investment or a cost. I was with another training provider a few weeks ago who told me that he believes 2 or 3-day ‘classroom’ based training is becoming less relevant because it doesn’t meet the needs of modern businesses – they can’t afford to ‘lose’ staff for this period of time. This viewpoint fascinates me and I’d be interested to know if you agree or disagree?

My question is this – how do you equip your teams with the skills required to give you a competitive edge if you’re not prepared to invest in their development? Does online learning really give a person at the sharp end of the business any demonstrable skills or does it simply increase knowledge? How much learning can actually take place in an hour on site with the distraction of the business happening all around?

I’ve run eleven 2-day workshops with Service Advisors so far this year, helping them to sell more VHC red work, overcoming objections and delivering a world-class aftersales experience. There has been a seismic improvement in attitude and confidence over this time – On the second day we spend all day practicing real-life scenarios and the delegate feedback at the conclusion of each programme has been overwhelmingly positive.

More than that because we create a true simulation of a customer visit by using an actor we show a tangible outcome to the training and the delegates are able to demonstrate their ability. I could not have achieved those learning outcomes without my client understanding that they needed to ‘lose’ some members of their teams in order to gain a long-term benefit.

In addition, the training incentive has been supported and attended by all of the key stakeholders in the business from the top down – that way everyone knows what behaviours and actions are required and the managers are able to coach and support their teams in achieving the KPIs. The financials so far speak volumes and the training has paid for itself many times over in the 6 months since it started.

So is there a place for ‘bite-sized’ learning when it comes to equipping your teams with demonstrable skills that will increase the revenue of the business? Can e-learning achieve the same results as a classroom-based activity where the participants are given time to carry out safe practice?

A final thought for you: If an airline made a commercial decision that training pilots in a simulator was too costly because of the time they spend away from the cockpit and they’re better off ‘learning on the job’ and/or through personal study modules would you fly with them?

Mind The GAP?

A friend of mine recently asked for my help; she was looking to opt-out of her company car scheme and buy a vehicle of her own.  After conducting research online she discovered two used vehicles of interest at a main dealer; she then telephoned the dealer to arrange to see them.

When we arrived, everything was as you’d expect (plush décor, great coffee etc.) but something fairly fundamental was awry. The first car we looked at (and the one which was her preference) was unprepared. So, despite having been marketed and advertised online the car was in no fit state to be shown to a retail customer – every wheel was curbed, the interior showed all the signs of a very hard (and not particularly cherished) life. It also drove accordingly.

So, that left her with the other choice that happily was prepped. Following a test drive she fell in love with it and made it very clear to the Sales Executive that subject to the figures adding up she was buying today and wished to take delivery in 48 hours. Its worth mentioning at this point that the Sales Executive was new to the brand; he was honest about the fact he was still learning about his products but what he lacked in knowledge he made up for in enthusiasm.

Enter the Business Manager… Now, despite having told him the budget she needed to stick to (and the worked example that was on their website) he proceeded to come in with a monthly figure 25% higher. Then followed lots of pained noises (from him, not us) and various attempts at trying to move us north of the figure. I asked him how long the car had been in stock and it transpired it was 24 hours away from being overage. Miraculously she got to within her budget with no additional deposit.

The next hurdle was return to invoice GAP. She had already told him that he had a captive audience on this product and that (particularly as the car was on PCP) it was something that she wanted to have for her own peace of mind. The price of this was over £500 (!) so we asked him to sharpen his pencil and we’d talk when she came in to collect.

The handover day arrived and then commenced the battle – 30 minutes ensued before he arrived at his best price, which was double the cost of the same policy if purchased online. Now here’s the rub – both myself and my friend work in the automotive industry and having both been in vehicle sales roles understand and empathise with the challenges that the role presents. In light of this she told him that she fully understood why his policy was more expensive and that she would be prepared to pay more for it – the online provider’s price was £130 but she was prepared to pay £250 for his.

He spent 15 minutes tapping away on his laptop (we thought that he was refining his offer) before he proudly turned his screen around and showing us Google Earth and an aerial picture of the premises that the other provider trades from followed by an attempt to discredit them based on this. Now, if you do a Google Earth search on my business you’ll find a 5 metre by 3-metre building at the bottom of my garden that is my office; it has no bearing on my ability, knowledge, professionalism or client focus.

Interestingly, aside from consistently stating that their policy was underwritten by AXA, he was unable to tell me any benefits that his product had over the one she was considering (which incidentally has a 5-star 2017 Defaqto rating).

At this point my friend actually asked him to desist as it was (and I quote) “killing the buzz of collecting my new car”. She proceeded to be shown the controls of the car whilst I purchased the other GAP policy on my phone.

On reflection it’s not hard to identify where this all went horribly wrong and it is (as always) the basics. Aside from the unprepared car, this is all about the sales experience and the lack of awareness that the Business Manager had about the impact his behaviour was having on the customer. My friend will not remember this purchasing experience because of the enthusiasm of the Sales Executive but the behaviour of the Business Manager. The lack of empathy, absence of listening skills, poor product knowledge and the amateur attempt to discredit the competition all point towards a real training need. However, when times get tough one of the first ‘costs’ that gets cut in business is training. Funny old world, isn’t it?