Making It Happen

Political signs are beginning to be sprinkled all over the island in preparation for the frenzied elections that are approaching. On one of the signs the slogan states: “Making It Happen.”

There’s no argument that “it” has and is happening. The dictionary states that “it” is “used to refer to a general condition or state of affairs.” So if we look at our general condition, would you describe “it” as favorable or unfavorable? Would you like to have more of “it” or would you prefer to roll the dice and allow someone else to make “it” happen to you?

The answers to those questions really lie in which side of the political fence you stand. We would prefer to stay out of the political quagmire, and let others voice their opinion on whether “it” is a good or bad thing. Instead, let’s take a sidestep to this topic and discuss how you as a business owner or manager can and should make “it” happen for your customers—in a good way.

“It” can also indicate a feeling or viewpoint on a particular situation. Good, bad, or indifferent, every single customer that interacts with your organization has an “experience,” but few businesses ever try to manage that customer experience. They may just wistfully hope that “it” happens, but they do little to make “it” happen.

We’ve had some interesting “experiences” in the past couple of weeks that have reinforced our belief that ‘it” just is not happening in a good way at many local businesses. Many businesses, and even entire industries have seemed to lose sight of the importance of managing their customer’s experience. Instead they seem to purposefully ensure that “it” is a negative encounter.

Banks persistently charge account holders premium penalties for routine service. Try to get a loan and you will get charged several fees just for the privilege of applying for the loan, on top of the interest they will garner from their usury. If you call and follow up on your loan at one of the institutions, you will get lost in the electronic telephone system and quickly understand what a rat must feel like in a maze. After a dozen calls, we could not get through to any loan officer. (At least a rat gets rewarded at the end of its experience.)

If you have flown to Guam lately, look at your itemized airline ticket and up to 25 percent of your fee is used to ensure that terrorist stay grounded. The price may be worth it, but the “experience” definitely is not. Getting your nail clippers confiscated while allowing ballpoint pens on the plane seems to be the same skewed logic as ticketing people not buckled up in the backseat, yet allowing minors to bounce around in the back of a pickup that’s racing down the road.

With modern management fixated on the bottom-line of the company, they seem to be missing the experience they are creating for the customer, and thus, improving the value they receive. Lewis Carbone, founder and CEO of Experience Engineering, states: “I believe today’s organizations have become extraordinarily vulnerable. By neglecting to factor in customer expectations and preferences consistently—by essentially disenfranchising the customer from the focal point of value creation—these businesses have abdicated their obligation to customers and themselves.”

It appears that many newly hatched, wing-tip-shoed MBAs, and old-school managers seem ill-prepared to look beyond bean counting and instead view empathetically what the customer experiences. In other words, because they are trying to make “it” happen for the company, they do not have a clue how to make “it” happen for the customer. The things businesses do to make more money need to be balanced against what it takes to make and keep customers in a competitive market.

The experience that customers have with your organization should be a central consideration in the short-term growth and long-term health of your business. The simple fact is that your customers cannot not have an experience. The question, then, is how do you manage that take-away impression formed by their encounters with your products, services, and overall operations; and do it so that your customers have an experience that is consistent with the experience you would like them to have?

If you can answer that question, then you have the ability to make “it” happen for your customers. “It” will help get more votes, and it can create a delightful experience that encourages customers to come back and become loyal for life.

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Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com