Transformers? They Are Out There!

You know the sci-fi characters that morph from giant robots into odinary trucks and vehicles? We see them in adverts and elsewhere even if, like me, you thought you had managed to exist without them.

Well it has occurred to me that they are out there anyway, dealing with us all in local government and other large organisations. 

What put this in mind was a frantic and desperate client yesterday who had, amongst other frustrations, attempted to tangle with his local Rates people. He has a long lease on a large industrial unit which he took over less than 3 months ago. 

As a formative social enterprise he went to a senior person in the Local Authority Rates department who agreed he could get an 80% reduction subject to a bundle of forms and subsequent agreement. His separate application for a business grant from another department of the Local Authority was turned down because of £1600 rates outstanding. (This is understandable if you consider the application for a rebate is not yet finalised) In the post he received a Court Summons for a Rates Arrears of £7600. (Clearly a mistake. It probably relates to a previous occupant, or the landlord.  In any case he should have heard something before a Court Summons for non payment arrives) image by Jonund (talk)

There is plenty to be challenged here and there are ways of metaphorically thumping the desk to get a Rates Department operative to tie the strings of all this together. If you have worked in that environment, or indeed any large organisational administration, you will be able to relate to the problem. It happens. Such departmental thinking does not encourage apologies or speedy retractions. There will be no concerned letter asking for forgiveness. We all know this. It is how 'they' think. if anything there will be a presumption that the system is right and this lonely business man is some kind of renegade fighting the Big Machinery Collective. 

For my client, from a simple commercial small business background where such collective shortcomings are usually ambushed before they ever make it into print, none of it makes any sense. Official looking papers and forms and procedural language all incline him to tear his hair out in frustration. The various operations involved come from different people operating different desks and probably there are sensible explanations in defence of their actions. It all ends up on the one doormat however. The world is full of such things. 

The arrears demand from the energy company for premises with a pre paid meter is another one I have seen lately. Nothing personal, but they are out to get you! For my client me summarising a set of to do actions is a big relief. My external perspective is all he needed to calm down. Bob Shepherd Associates, a calming force in business! 

Presenting Your Business

A Business needs customers. You would think that is a basic truth for all businesses. Yet how many times in your travels do you come across a business that seems to put off potential customers? If the business owners knew that was the case something would be done about it! 

The problem every business owner has is that they are on the inside of the business and not able to see things from the outside point of view. Sometimes there is a chance to catch an external view when there is a complaint or when someone offers advice.

A common and understandable reaction is to defend the business, justify the stance taken and assume the complainant or the advice is wrong! More advanced thinking is to deal with the complaint in a proper manner and with a little care, defuse the complaint and convert it to a sale!  I think only someone with training can do this and I have only seen it rarely.

A good consultant will guide the business owners into presenting their business more effectively and show them the outside view once trust is established. I have seen a retail shop that looked well presented from the inside looking out. That is where the owner stands. Stand at the other end of the shop looking in and the story is very different. It looked shabby and tired with empty spaces and poorly presented to anyone looking in. The shop actually looked run down and as if it might be closing soon.

I am certain that is not what was intended. I am also certain it could be done differently with just a few changes and not much effort. The difficult bit is the change in viewpoint. If you want to re-establish the energy and the direction you had for your business in the beginning BobShepherd Associates is well placed to help.

Inside Out

If you are given terrible service somewhere you probably think all sorts of things to yourself with variations on ’That’s the last time I am going there!”

When you think ‘Why on Earth do they do that?’ it has probably never occurred to you to answer that question.  Very often the basic answer is that they can’t see their business from the outside as you have just done. Whatever your business one thing you will never be able to do is to see it from the outside, and that presents a problem.

One partial answer is to try to get feedback. Mystery Shoppers have been around for years. As a Bank manager in a former life it was both a carrot and a stick. Our branch staff felt they wanted good results but also felt let down by the rigid, no room for negotiating reports. Large businesses can do these things with some relevance. One side issue is that you actually end up with a target for complaints. It needs to be a target for handling complaints well, but measuring that is hard so they usually just measure the number of complaints.

For a small business Testimonials are good but nobody gets bad ones and they certainly wouldn’t get published. Casual feedback from your business colleagues is good. Ultimately the small business ends up assuming things can’t be that bad if the orders come in or the phone keeps ringing.

The trouble with all of it is that word travels. ‘Word of mouth’ it is called which is an ugly phrase that is trotted out often when a business is not doing any active marketing.    Good words travel just as fast and every contact with the customers is carries a reputational risk that is positive or negative to some degree.

For that reason alone service, professionalism, accommodating, attentive,  are all words that should be in the plans somewhere. It is truly said that it is easier to retain a customer than it is to get new ones. It is very subtle. We are taught from our earliest breath all about body language and interpreting others. Most of it is unconscious by the time we have intelligent thought.

It all applies, to everyone in the business, to every contact made, by letter, email, phone, person, or even being observed when out and about.  See a group of smokers having a cough and a drag by the staff side door and it portrays something not entirely positive. In a business sense all very subtle and not to be ignored.

The best place to spot these things is from outside your business. That is why a consultant is better placed to advise you on this kind of thing. The idea of a ‘mystery shopper‘ touches on the same principle if a little deviously, and is also an attempt to measure the unmeasurable.  It can easily be seen in a negative light by staff and can be unproductive.  Marketing is a big subject and all this comes into it somewhere. Whatever you are doing, make sure you present the best picture to the outside world, your market. Bob Shepherd Associates  has a strong record in coming up with imaginative views on how to present a business. See the main website for contact details or go to http://bobshepherdassociates.co.uk