“We can’t do that.”
– 90% of customer-facing employees at way too many businesses
Of course, they mean, “We won’t do that.” They certainly could. They just won’t. I kid you not, at a McDonald’s a couple weeks ago I ordered a sausage McMuffin without the bag. “We can’t do that,” the young man assured me. “Sure you can,” I chided him. “That ‘muffin right there in your hand? Just don’t put it in the bag. Just. Hand. Me. The. Muffin.” (OK, I didn’t say it that way…!) Somewhere in McDonald’s training class, he was taught a) don’t give the customer what they want, even if it b) saves us a half a penny worth of paper bag while giving the customer what they want…
My first gig in banking technology was for the market leader. At that time, the company simply didn’t negotiate prices. It made them a complete outlier. That said, never once did we position it as, “We can’t do that.” I don’t remember a single deal that I wasn’t asked to change the price. If we’d have said, “We can’t do that,” we’d have had to find another place to work. Trust me, the company could have negotiated prices. The margins were amazing. They could have probably dropped the price 50% and still made a ton of money.
But they wouldn’t. That’s not how they did it. “We don’t do that, Mister Banker. It just wouldn’t be right to charge you a different amount than all of our other Clients, and besides, we almost never lose a Client, so the value is clearly offsetting this price you’ll pay — the same price as every other bank your size…”
How we do it matters, and it’s a better way to differentiate than simply trying to do something no one else does.
The “how” that drove this company was that the value would offset the price paid. Every bank accounting system available, then and now, makes sure that debits equal credits. Every system available had about the same call center hours. They offered pretty much the same add-on packages. Ours was the only company that wouldn’t put anyone on the help desk until they’d conducted a few system conversions in an actual bank. It was the only company that maintained two private planes to make sure that conversions were never delayed due to weather or other delays. It was the only solution in a profession where no one worried if two of our Clients decided to compare their invoices. Or their contracts.
The “how” for that company was to be direct, to be predictable, and to be excellent. While delivering about the same thing as most of its competitors. For about 20% more than they charged. With about a 30% lower expense base.
The “how” was the differentiator.
It also doesn’t have to be tied to the “what…” It can be a supporting behavior.
My mother drilled it into me that hand-written notes were essentially a requirement to get into heaven or, at the very least to avoid having her die disappointed in the shell of a man I must have become if I didn’t send them. Today, the simple act of sending a hand-written note will, sadly, differentiate you, which is part of the reason I still send ’em. Just in case, as they did in Game of Thrones, I also seal my notes with a wax seal, an “H” stamped in Heston Group Blue sealing wax. If the note doesn’t get their attention, perhaps the wax seal will…
One more example, then two closing thoughts:
Example:
Ever have an average meal served by an amazing waitress or waiter whose “how” made it ok that the meal wasn’t spectacular? Ever had an amazing meal served by a complete jerk, whose “how” made you want to walk out right in the middle of the foie gras course? Which experience would you prefer to repeat? Which server did you tip more generously? In both cases, the how mattered more than the what.
Two closing thoughts:
First, we ought to spend some time on our corporate “how,” to make sure that it’s valuable in and of itself, and more difficult to replicate than whatever our “what” is.
Second, we ought to listen to our team. If they’re saying they “can’t,” maybe we should make it so they can, or so they can proudly describe why they won’t.
Tomorrow, the most important differentiator of all…
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