Issue No. 499 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features a new book from Harvard Business Review Press on loving your customers! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 500 book reviews, and click here for the Mastering Mistake-Making webpage. (See Mistake #24 below.)
Yikes! I assumed I was “in-the-know” about the Net Promoter system (Promoters, Passives, Detractors)…but I was wrong! Must-read: Winning on Purpose.
“The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Your Customers”—Really?
Oh, my!I ASSUMED…that this hot-off-the-press book from Harvard Business Review Press by the creator of the Net Promoter system would fill in the blanks on my favorite customer loyalty question. You’ll recognize this question. For example: “How likely is it that you would recommend Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews to a friend?”
And…you’ll recall how the NPS management system works.
• Promoters (smiles) – responses in the 9-10 range
• Passives (meh) – responses in the 7-8 range
• Detractors (frowns) – responses in the 0-6 range
I assumed I’d learn a little more…but not much else.
I WAS WRONG! The 11-page preface (who reads the preface first?) hooked me—and immediately raised my expectations. This isn’t a nuts-and-bolts book, this is a fascinating deep dive into loyalty, love, the Golden Rule, and the new “customer capitalism.” Does a business book really say that Jesus raised the bar on all of this? See Matthew 7:12 and then Matthew 22:30. (Wait…love? Really?)
I ASSUMED…that since I have been recommending the Net Promoter system to clients for many years, I was reasonably in sync with the rationale. I assumed…I understood the core values.
I WAS WRONG! Yikes! By page 8, I was agreeing with Fred Reichheld that “the world is tired of surveys,” yet the NPS (aka “Net Lives Enriched”) continues to add value and spotlight the winners. But…I had no idea why. Now I know! And this caution! “…far too many practitioners are corrupting NPS by making the score a target rather than a measure that inspires learning and growth.”
I ASSUMED…(sorry Mr. Reichheld) that while I’ve always been enamored with the NPS (and intentionally did business with high-scoring companies) that this book would be good for me to read (kinda like taking medicine), but wouldn’t activate my juices. Read. Read. Read. Done.
I WAS WRONG! I can’t stop talking about the page-turning exemplars:
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car: why they don’t use common industry tricks (nuisance fees). Their CEO’s approach to growing a business profitably: “You make sure your customers are treated so well that they come back for more and bring their friends.”
• USAA’s CEO on caring for their employees who then will care for their customers: “Great leaders wake up in the morning worrying about that, and they go to bed worrying about it.” (Read why they provide freshly boxed dinners for employees to bring home to their families.)
• Chick-fil-A: As founder Truett Cathy (1921-2014) drove the author around to visit a few of the foster homes Cathy sponsored, the Chick-fil-A leader mentioned "the Southern Baptist tradition of adopting a passage from the Bible as one’s life verse.” Reichheld commented that Cathy’s life verse, Proverbs 22:1, “…well, that might be the right verse for just about anyone.” Think about this: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold (NIV).”
I ASSUMED…this book would clone other business books: deliver the goods in the first 25 pages—and then blah, blah, blah with 175 pages of filler.
I WAS WRONG! Page 27, “NPS as Moral Compass” grabbed my attention: “The annual Forbes list of billionaires for too long has served as the compendium of our society’s exemplars of great success. But are these wealthy magnates really our most worthy role models? I would say ‘no.’ Financial net worth provides a wholly untrustworthy measure of personal greatness.” Must-read: Reichheld’s short list (as a reminder) of wealthy bullies and cheats. “They are all black-belt masters of value extraction rather than value creation.”
I ASSUMED…that the Net Promoter system was all I needed to know.
I WAS WRONG! I read this poke-in-ribs: NPS is also defined as “Net Purpose Score.” In the chapter, “Aim for Greatness,” while appreciating Good to Great, by Jim Collins, the author also pushes back: “A company can’t be great without embracing a great purpose.”
And this: “One important insight that Good to Great overlooked is that Collins’s famous flywheel won’t keep spinning unless it is powered by loyalty economics.”
I ASSUMED…I would learn more about building customer loyalties—but not much else.
I WAS WRONG! (again)! This book is a treasure trove of leadership and organizational insights. Examples:
• The Credo of F.R.E.D. (Foster Recommendation, Eliminate Detraction)—which created his investment strategy, “F.R.E.D. Stock Index.”
• Why he added Texas Roadhouse to his index in 2010. (Fascinating—since I recently reviewed the founder’s book, Made From Scratch.)
• Why Apple stores founder Ron Johnson was “inspired by Jesus’s advice to ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ which Johnson considers to be the essential message of the Bible.”
• Why Marriott International “uses the Golden Rule in the design of its training program.”
THERE’S MORE!
In the section, “Love, Costco Style,” co-founder Jim Sinegal explained to an MIT class why Costco was not tempted to increase the markup on a bargain purchase of one million Calvin Klein jeans. “Our members trust us to pass along every saving to the customer. Any exception to this—well, it would be like taking heroin. Once you start it, you can’t stop doing it. And it would change the whole nature of the company.”
That reminded me of Harvard prof Clayton Christensen’s wisdom in How Will You Measure Your Life? He writes that sticking with your values “100 percent of the time is easier than 98 percent of the time.”
AND MORE:
• Fred Reichheld’s insightful definition of “good profits” vs. “bad profits” and how his former bank (note: “former” bank) became addicted to bad profits.
• The “Inspire Your Teams” chapter features a brief history of Bain & Company (where the author has worked since 1977) and why after some missteps (“departing employees were treated as losers or even traitors”), they learned that “truly great leaders are committed to helping employees lead great lives.”
• And, of course, since I’m a big fan of weekly staff meetings, another must-read section: “The Power of Doing Huddles Right.” (He calls them “agile scrums.”)
FAILURE TO BE HUMBLE:
• Don’t Skip: “Honor the Golden Rule: But First, Understand It.” (And why you’ll prefer to fly Qantas—and why Chick-fil-A team members respond with, “My pleasure.”)
• And why NPS “kicks it up a notch”—even beyond Peter Drucker’s customer axioms.
• Favorite Chapter: “Be Humble.” He writes that the four deadly sins of greed, arrogance, complacency, and entitlement, “represent different facets of the same transgression: failure to be humble.” This reminded me of Andrew Murray's observation: “Humility is the only soil in which the graces root; the lack of humility is the sufficient explanation of every defect and failure.”
• Worth gold: “Appendix A: Net Promoter 3.0 Checklist.”
HUMAN AND HUMOROUS:
I assumed this book would be helpful, but not deeply human or humorous. Wrong again! You’ll love the section in “Be Remarkable” when the creator of NPS is tutored by his daughter’s addition of another customer loyalty question! And learn why the author is a big fan of the timeless guide to good writing, The Elements of Style.
MY NPS RATING. So…how would I rate this book on the scale of 0 to 10? It’s a 10. To validate my enthusiasm, I not only recommended it to a friend, I ordered the book for him. Amazon, of course, delivered it in just one day!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers, by Fred Reichheld with Darci Darnell and Maureen Burns. Are you a listener? Listen to the book on Libro.fm. And thanks to Harvard Business Review Press and Fortier PR for sending me a review copy.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) What does love look like at Discover Financial Services? “Discover does not sell bad debt to collection agencies, even after they become total charge-offs. As their CEO asked rhetorically, “You wouldn’t do that to a family member, right?” So…are we loving our customers—or do our organization’s policies, practices, and rules inhibit receiving 9s and 10s on the NPS question?
2) If you have a “life verse,” please share it with our team—and why and when it became meaningful to you. (If you don’t have a life verse, feel free to borrow Proverbs 22:1 until you do!)
3) At your next staff meeting, ask: “Who is our resident Net Promoter system expert on our team? If no one—who would enjoy a generous Chick-fil-A gift card and a commitment to read this book and be our NPS champion?”
Warren Buffet: “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say NO to almost everything.” (See Mistake #24 in Mastering Mistake-Making.)
Mistake #24 of 25: Saying “Yes” Too Often
Insights from Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned
John’s Mistake #24: “Sometimes…ego and over-confidence in my abilities coaxed me into saying ‘yes’ to opportunities and client projects—when I should have said ‘no.’”
Example: John agreed to be the guest host of a Chicago talk radio show in 1993. But…he endured 30 minutes of dead air time—no one called into the show! No one!!! (Not even John’s wife!) He later learned this wisdom from Warren Buffet: “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say NO to almost everything.”
For Mistake #24, John recommends two books:
• Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move, by Andy Stanley (read John’s review)
• No! A Guide for Busy People: Banish Busyness and Focus on What Matters Most, by Doug Fields (read John’s review)
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"MISTAKES ARE LIKE TUITION." Read the blog by Dr. Richard (Rick) Goossen, Chairman of The Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization (The ELO Network), "Have You Mastered the Craft of Making Mistakes?" And listen to George P. Wood's interview with John Pearson, "“How to Make Mistakes Well” on the Influence Podcast. And, if you missed John's half-day board seminar on Nov. 18, 2021, hosted by The Barnabas Group/Orange County, “The 4 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board – How Leaders Enrich Their Ministry Results Through God-Honoring Governance," you can now order the 107-page workbook on Amazon. Click here.
JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Need help creating customer surveys that get quick and informative responses? Need help with customer or donor loyalty? Contact Pearpod Media (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social).
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