The Right Way Works! - jeff korhan

Relationship Selling - Plant the Right Seeds!

How often do you tell your colleagues what they do well?  This is probably one of their unique qualities that makes the relationship valuable.  When you recognize their unique contributions to your business relationship, you validate, reinforce, and most importantly, value what they bring to the relationship.

I recently had a client thank me for following up - as requested -  on our ongoing dialogue to bring a relationship selling program to his organization.  It was a simple, even off-hand comment that I appreciated.  It made me ask myself how often I recognize the contributions others make to my work.  How often do I plant those seeds that grow into sustainable relationships? When we do this it shows the right kind of leadership.

This past weekend I saw the film "Smart People."  I'm not sure if I got all of the subtle messages in this 'think piece,' but I'm fairly certain one of them was to make a connection with people in a personal way.  Get to know the people you are engaged with.  In my opinion, this is the Right Way to operate a business.  All of our intellectual knowledge is meaningless if there isn't a personal connection.  This is what  builds relationships!  So, thanks Jason for your kind words about what I do well in our business relationship.  I appreciate it, and will carry that with me in my work with other clients.

Green Industry Selling the Right Way

Today I gave a presentation to a group of down-to-earth green industry professionals at the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association Winter Seminar.  It's always fun to help people grow their business, but it was an especially enjoyable day for me because it was an ILCA event just like this one nearly 20 years ago where my eyes were opened to the professionalism shared by other peers when I started my landscape business.  Not many of those folks were here today, but the next generation is moving up, and that is exciting to see the enthusiasm continue to grow.

Now that the 'going green' thing - or whatever we are calling this wave of green awareness over the last few years is reaching a crescendo, I'm already hearing talk that ... this too will pass.  That may be true to some extent, but not as far as this industry is concerned.  I received an education myself today that the quality and caliber of green industry individuals, as well as the quality of projects they are producing, is continuing to rise to new levels -- including sound eco-systems that are evidently de-rigeur in certain municipalities.

The topic for the day was Selling The Right Way.  Interesting to me to work together on this with a group of ecologists, arborists, and landscape architects.  And why not?  As we discussed today, sales is only helping people to get exactly what they want - the best overall complement of value - as defined by a whole new set of parameters in our increasingly professional industry.  I wish them all well!

Selling The Right Way is Transparent

Yesterday I gave my Selling the Right Way! presentation at the annual Green Industry Conference sponsored by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET).  The audience was more than receptive - they get it! We really had a great time.   We learned that selling today has to be very transparent.  Why?  Because we are living in a reality-based world.  Nobody is fooled by the old sales and marketing tricks that used to work. We are conditioned to size up a situation very quickly - the sales professional - their company - and their product and service.  Customers want results and they want them now. 

This is good news !  Now we all get what we want sooner if we know how to deliver.  Customers are demanding that we shorten our sell cycles - get to the point - cut to the chase!  If we can do that, and they can show us the money, then everyone wins.  A great deal of our Q and A discussion centered on this point - getting customers to make a commitment quickly.  Virtually all are very willing to do this if we can get out of our own way and make the right things happen. It just takes a repeatable process where we take control of the situation and clearly demonstrate we care about that customer.  That's what I think of as the right way - everyone wins -everyone gets what they want when the sales professional and their organization have their act together.  We just have to be as transparent (i.e. honest and genuine) as possible - because everything we do has a ripple effect that not only sells the customer in front of us, but often leads to the referral of their friends!  The Right Way does Work.

Customer Service - It's the Heart of Your Business

After speaking this past weekend at the Summer Symposium of The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), I've been contemplating the fact that great customer service is nothing more than consistently performing  to the expectations of your clients.  Too often we stop doing what works to try the latest idea.  Companies need new ideas to grow, but not at the expense of what helped them develop their unique position in their marketplace.  As simple as it may seem, one of the greatest challenges in business is to perform consistently - every day - without exception.  It's a nice goal to consider.  Maybe this goal with a backup plan or two could enable you to transform your industry -- ? 

Leaders from green industry companies across the U.S. shared some of their secrets during our 90 minutes together - my favorite?  -- "its the little things that make a big difference."  There is no magic bullet.  A complimentary rose bush is remembered for as long as it continues to flourish - its fragrance and color reminding the client of a favorable experience.  Too often we try to be bigger and better, when all we need to be is different.  In our society of constant change, different is a little extra at the right time - combined with consistent service - friendly, cheerful, caring, appreciative....you name the descriptor, because it only matters to you and your customer.  Only you know why your customers favor you over your competitors.  Maybe they just like you better - and there is nothing at all difficult about being likable if you truly love your work and the people you serve.  I doubt customer service is secondary to you, or you wouldn't have read through this far.  No, I suspect customer service is the heart of your business. Its that one thing that means something to you and your customer - that thing that connects you and your customer in a way that changes both of you -- forever.  Great customer service is the right way to do business - which is why it works!

The Green Thread - It Works!

Everybody seems to be talking about green these days.  What does it really mean to be green?  Well, start by just looking around.  Green is the most predominant color in the universe- and therefore, it is an overriding energy that connects all of us.  From basis physics we all learned colors vibrate at different frequencies - and therefore have different energies.  So you could say there is a green 'thread' that connects all of us - an energy that we all share.  Does this sound too 'woo-woo?'   If you spend any time in nature at all you know it energizes you - it gives you creative thoughts - it nourishes you.  I just can't believe this is an accidental thing. 

We ARE creatures of nature and when we become more aware of that we realize green is about awareness.  It's about who we are, what we do during our short time on this planet, and why we are doing it.  Green is the awareness that we have a responsibility to ourselves and everyone that is connected to us, which is why the current green movement to save the planet may just work.  The trick may just be all of us making the effort to maintain the connection and not break that thread.  It can work!

When Something's Not Right its Wrong

It occurred to me today that when you work on fixing what is not rightfully your responsibility, you are doing the wrong thing.  Why?  Because your time and talent and energy should be focused on doing the right thing.  It reminded me of the verse from Bob Dylan's You're Gonna Make Lonesome When You Go - "when something is not right its wrong!"

So what's wrong?  It's wrong, for example, to expect others to clean up your mess.   While we can't possibly finish the job, we baby boomers have a responsibility to leave this planet in a better condition than it appears to be presently heading.  It would be wrong to expect our children to fix what's already broken.  We have to do the right thing for them.

This brings me to the genesis of my thought.  Today a customer asked me to fix a condition that pre-existed my company's work on a project.  I used to do this - and at no charge.  Why not, I reasoned, I'm already there and it's not worth debating.  This all saved me from confronting the reality that I was cleaning up someone else's mess in the name of "customer service."  It was a convenient lie I fed myself.  Unfortunately, I've come to realize this isn't how the universe works.  It only creates a low state of consciousness. It's not the proper resolution, unless you're in the charity business, which I'm not.  And even charities work for a specific purpose or reason.

When you take on responsibilities that aren't rightfully yours, you feel compromised.  You owe it to yourself, your company, and your customer to do the right thing.  When we all do this, responsibility and accountability all fall into the right places and then the whole system is lifted up because now we are all working for the right reasons - we're all being true to ourselves and not feeling that low state of making the wrong choice.  Right choices are grounded in the right reasons - which is why they deliver the right results!

Grow Your Business The Right Way

A few nights ago I was sitting in my screened porch enjoying the scents and sounds of the evening rain storm.  When I wandered inside to the pantry for a snack, I was struck with how many products today are labeled 'organic' - from chips to raisins to even wine and more!  I wondered if organic really means something or if it's the latest 'flavor' that is being marketed to us consumers. 

When I think of organic I think of things that happen naturally - almost without effort.  Organic growth, whether in nature - or in business, such as internet search engine optimization (SEO) - implies that organic is a better way because it's more sustainable in the long term.  I'm an educated consumer, so I know, for example, that wild salmon is better than salmon raised in farms where cholorinated products are used to control the undesirable growth of pathogens.  For some reason wild salmon doesn't even cost more.  At least that has been my experience.  I do know that organic SEO is cheaper and more effective than pay per click.  Organic is really taking a natural approach.  I suppose natural has connotations that don't work as well in commerce today and we need a descriptor that does.  Enter Organic.

What we are really after is results.  If you want to get the right results, you can achieve them in many ways.  But if your approach is the right one - the natural way - then you are most likely in harmony with what sustains that result.  This applies in nature as well as commerce.  Interesting, isn't it?  This takes me right back to my rainstorm.  You can't replicate that.  Something is lost when we don't follow the right or natural path for obtaining desired results.  I'm suggesting that organic is more about "the way" and less about the product."  If you want to acheive the right results in your business - sustainable sales, service and customers -  you need to think about "growing" your business organically - which simply means doing the right things in the right way.  Your value system will give you clues to the right way - then you just have to 'grow from what you know.'

Be Ready for the Opportunity to Make a Difference for Your Customer

Does your staff know how far they can go to help your customer?  I had an experience yesterday that raised this question for me.  I was returning to the airport from a speaking engagement to fellow green industry professionals.  Here’s what happened. Just as the shuttle dropped me off at the Louisville, Kentucky airport, I realized my cell phone was missing.  I stepped inside the terminal and looked around. My first thought was every person here probably has a cell phone with unlimited minutes that I could borrow.  Nevertheless, I asked for the nearest pay phone. A couple of dollars in quarters produced no results.  I suppose I needed a calling card. Yet, who carries a calling card today when you can just use your cell phone?  I hustled over to the Fifth Third Bank to get more change.  The manager allowed me to use her phone to call the hotel to track down my phone.  After numerous calls and discussions with the staff members at the Galt House Hotel , my cell phone was discovered at the shuttle desk.  A quick minded bell captain drove it over to me and I made the last flight out to Chicago that evening.  Whew! 

The manager at the bank was just closing when I arrived, yet she stayed an extra thirty minutes just to help me out. The bell captain from the hotel used his personal car to bring me the phone so I could make the flight.  Wow! Clearly, there was no hesitation for either of these kind souls regarding the best action to take.  In less than thirty minutes, my perception of their respective companies jumped a huge notch - all because of one kind act. 

The call of duty beyond the ordinary only comes once in a while, and you have to know in advance what to do.  Is your staff clear about how far you want them to go to please a customer – even when it’s outside of their normal duties?  While considering that, let me ask you how much loyalty you think you can build if your staff is trained to recognize opportunities like this for demonstrating exceptional customer service?  I'll tell you one thing; I plan to be at this same hotel and airport later this year and will be sure to stop and say thank you again to these fine individuals - and their managers too!

Focus on Your Existing Customer

Are you planning for inevitable changes in your business? What might those changes be?  Too often we accept the status quo without strategically planning for what’s next, despite the rapid changes in our society.  I own and operate a snow and Ice management company, a sister company to my green industry business, and we recently ran out of salt for our de-icing operations. In an effort to preserve cash flow we reduced our inventories too low and had to make spot purchases on the open market at a premium price.  We preserved our level of service, but at a price.  As we waited and waited for our usual supplier to come through, we were ultimately informed of the truth – they were supplying the needs of municipalities ahead of ours.  We weren’t happy about this, but we understood.

My question is what situation will you find yourself if necessary materials that ensure your company’s profitable operations are abruptly taken away?  These materials could be a valued commodity such as fuel or power.  It could also be labor, both skilled and unskilled. Can you include customers in that mix? Absolutely – especially if you are treating your customers as a commodity.  The more you fail to nurture your existing customer base, the more likely this valuable resource is going to be taken away by a competitor.  It’s prudent to plan for change – but if you focus on your existing customer now, the effect of any changes will be much less significant.