You need to know your talents – and lack of them.
You have to know your stuff if you want to succeed. But being technically competent in the core
part of your business is not the be-all-and-end-all. There are other things even more important
if you want to build a successful, profitable enterprise. Your experience and training does not always
reward you for the things that are useful in the real business world. Sometimes it even encourages behaviour that
will be detrimental to your future business.
People use the environment to make value judgments about the
character and talents of the people in that environment. For good or bad, we do use the personal
appearance of others to make judgments about their character and value. Do not expect your customers to value the
same things that you and your peers value.
The way you appear to do something is often more important than what you
do.
Concerning what you
do:
·
Logic – what people think is powerful
·
Emotion – what people feel is far more powerful
still!!
·
People don’t always value technical
excellence…sometimes they just tolerate it.
Introducing the CNE’s
Customers judge your expertise in areas they do not
understand by your expertise in areas which they do.
When you pay attention to detail in the very visible,
non-technical part of your business, clients will tend to judge your core
product or service as also having the same level of quality control. So these little things that are quite
inessential for doing your job (and which don’t impress your peers at all)
nevertheless seem to play a great part in persuading customers that you and
your people are good at what you do.
So CNE’s are not really non-essentials at all. In fact they are highly critical to any
business.
That said…because they seem to be so unimportant it is often
hard to find the time to systemize them…it’s far easier to justify the time to
develop systems so that the main areas of your business are taken care of
predictably.
Super CNE’s
·
They persuade uninvolved third parties to say
nice things about your business.
·
Word of mouth is a powerful, speedy and cost
effective way of marketing your business.
·
People value relationships above everything
else.
·
I need to understand the power of the CNE’s to
effortlessly do ‘good’ in my business.
How To Create CNE’s
Step 1: Choose an area that will convince customers
that you’re good at your core business.
e.g. an electrician
who creates a system for cleaning up after himself so that the work area is
absolutely spotless, i.e.
• A
detailed description of the method
• A
checklist
• A
system for reporting
• A
small clean-up box with cloths, cleaning fluids, small vacuum, rubber gloves
etc
e.g. a dentist who
has immaculately clean walls, floors and carpets etc doesn’t have to worry
about posting impersonal notices about how they sterilize the instruments
e.g. a dental
laboratory that presents caps with care to a dentist will have find that the
dentists are far less likely to regard the quality of the cap suspiciously
e.g. a bank that
sends out a statement that’s plain, easy to read and human is far more likely
to keep customers happy than one that looks like it’s from an automatic blood-scanning
machine & which is full of cold, impersonal words
No matter how good you say you are. It often takes a
well-designed CNE to convince people that what you say is true.
Step 2: Make sure everyone in your work team
understands the power of the CNE.
The way to persuade
people to be vigilant and tireless in their creation & maintenance of CNE’s
is to educate them to the real importance of the seemingly non-essentials.
You must show your people that it’s in their best interests
to impress your customers…and then that CNE’s really WOW customers.
Step 3: Make a system to ensure that the task is
always completed flawlessly.
Design simple, routine systems to do your CNE’s the same way every time – without a lot of
effort or brainpower (which would be silly).
Systems = consistency
Some effort to set them up but once perfected they’ll take
little effort or thought.
The outcome is…simple systems that make a large impact on
the customers and, after initial development, require relatively little effort.
e.g. Washrooms in a
supermarket that are always immaculate
• Manual
for the cleaners
• Training
for the cleaners
• Card
showing when due, cleaned
• Notices
urging customers to report unsatisfactory state
• Periodic
supervisor checks
• Weekly
check of all cards
You & your team will be rewarded each time a CNE
impresses a customer…and once the team realise the importance…your standards
will rise.
Six Insights Into
CNE’s
Well constructed CNE’s take on a life of their own – complex
tasks will happen automatically.
They work behind the scenes & s sometimes it’s hard to
spot their immediate benefits.
Insight 1: CNE’s will work with your team
Insight 2: CNE’s will work with your suppliers. Concentrate
on the little things in business & the big things will look after
themselves.
Insight 3: CNE’s are very efficient. They offer a far
greater return on your investment of time & effort than most other things
in your business. Work today while you have the time & energy in order to
make things easier for you in the future when you don’t. Make sure that any
effort you expend has an effect beyond the effort involved.
Insight 4: CNE’s bring out the best in people. A good CNE has a positive effect on everyone.
Insight 5: You can create situations where other
people’s CNE’s work for you.
e.g. Paddi’s
gardener goes the extra mile to keep his gardens immaculate because he’s
allowed him to place a plaque advertising his business on the garden wall, i.e.
it’s in his best interests to keep Paddi’s garden looking amazing.
Insight 6: CNE’s need celebrations.
e.g. including the building cleaner in the bonus scheme
& displaying her photo along with he other team members.
The Birth Of The
Super CNE’s
Systemize the process of delighting your customers.
Everyone likes to spin a good ditty – so why not create one
for your customers to tell about your business?
e.g. Tea Set &
Tea Ceremony vs. the X-Ray Machine.
No-one ever told a story about the excellent X-Ray machine.
Over the years the Tea Sets have returned many times the
investment but the X-Ray machine has barely broken even.
e.g. The 4 Door, V8
Cappuccino Machine.
CNE’s versus Super
CNE’s
CNE’s
• are
the little household tasks that give people reasons to believe in your
business, particularly the parts they don’t understand.
• In
the background somewhat.
• Important
but not exciting.
• Stop
you getting bad press.
• Show
you’re competent.
Super- CNE’s
• Are
CNE’s taken to a sensational degree so that everyone remembers and talks about
them.
• Get
you good press.
• Provide
the WOW that gives people a good ditty to spin.
• Provide
the dazzle.
More About
Super-CNE’s
What sets one business apart from another is often more to
do with a product’s presentation than its actual quality.
Super-CNE’s get you talked about – Lead Generation.
CNE’s get you the customer - Conversion Rate.
Some CNE’s will also increase Number Of Transactions,
Average ££ Sale & Margins.
Understand The Dialogue Between Customers.
A – Tells Super-CNE .
B – Yeah but is he good at his
job?
A – Tells CNE stories which have
convinced them that you are.
Super- CNE’s Are A PR
Boon
How To Create Super-CNE’s
Step 1: Pick something you’ll enjoy.
Step 2: Choose something distant (but not too
distant) from the core of your business.
Step 3: Build on CNE’s that are extremely visible.
Step 4: Pick areas of customer concerns to .
Step 5: Take your Super-CNE’s to the extreme.
Step 6: Make sure your Super-CNE’s appear difficult –
but really aren’t.
