Wow! Cool Comic Book Ads!!!

As my wife was helping her brother sort through some of the “stuff” that was collected at their mom’s house, there was a stack of old comics. Naturally, I was keen to read some of the oldies from the 70’s and early 80’s.

I was surprised about some of the messaging in a couple of “Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos” and Billy the Kid editions. Included:

• War is bad
• Respect your fellow soldiers
• Respect your enemy
• Respect the civilians caught in the middle
• There are happy endings, sort of, because some good people didn’t make it

And then there were the pages of advertising. Take a look!

And check out this cool video montage!

Wow, look at everything you could order. From king fu stars to nunchuku and to lots of tools so that you don’t get sand kicked in your face. The main thing missing in is Sea Monkeys!

Short messages.

Highlighting a benefit.

Easy to order.

I do not have any current comics so I don’t know what the ads would be today. I am guessing that it is all about electronics or digital stuff.

Not like the good old days.

Those old ads must have worked because they were a staple in the comics for years and years.

I wonder why they stopped including them? Well, with a bit of research there are some changing trends that are likely factors:

• Cost-savings – Printing and paper costs have risen sharply and the actual comics are now fewer pages
• Older demographics – avid readers from 70’s and early 80’s still read but no longer need those ads. Younger demos not reading those titles as much
• Some marketing genius with a MBA decided to do Farcebook ads

Take a look in your vault. Betcha there are some terrific memories and probably some cool ideas. You’ll never know unless you look back to see how you might want to look forward.

Onward!

World’s Best Strategy!!!

With all due respect to my esteemed colleagues that are brilliant strategy leaders, there is a simple element that I am finding missing all too often lately.

Here is the strategy for every company:

Provide a product or service that does what you say it will do.

Bonus points if your service and support backs this up.

If an organization does what it says it will do when it is supposed to do it then you are better than at least 95% (unscientific personal assessment) of your competitors.

Here are a couple of recent personal examples:

• Your car will be ready for pick up tomorrow at 3 PM – it wasn’t and we had to come back the following day (see my post from last week)
• These yard waste bags are two ply strong. When I put the same amount of grass (not rocks or heavy logs) the bag ripped every single time. The comparison bags from two other retailers never ripped once. Oh, and the fifth bag of the five bag bundle had a hole in the bottom so the bag was simply recycled as it was unusable
• Your call is important to us…please hold for the next available operator…your estimated wait time is 57 minutes (this from a mix of government agencies and private companies on four separate occasions in the past month alone)
•  The option on your web site suddenly stopped working for me…it works on our end…our tech team is investigating and I will call you back. I called two weeks later “I forgot to call you” the person said, “and this is all you have to do.” It was a result of something on their end
• The letter containing important financial decision making forms included a cover letter to “please sign and return by April 30”…and I received the package the first week of May!
• A contractor was retained for special work and advised that our yard would be as clean as when they arrived. The arrival was good, the work was excellent, the clean up minimal. There was extra material left in two separate locations as the truck and crew drove off
• My cellular provider is keen to text me each month when the bill is getting close to being due…but what about the recent billing error and poor reception that happened twice?

These are seven top of mind and recent instances. I am sure that every organization has a plan (the semblance of a real strategy?) that is developed with senior execs at a retreat and with McKinsey-like consultants to guide them. But the essence of that plan/strategy is obviously lost in translation to the rest of the organization. You know, the ones that have to implement. And the senior execs are high fiving because the plan is done and they have “cascaded to their teams” for future success on quarterly earnings calls.

I am blessed to have exceptional clients that are not, and will never, be part of the illustrious list noted above. Their care and consideration in developing plans and strategies is matched by their diligence in execution. I am delighted to collaborate with them.

I have lived the day to day grind of executing a plan. And in my role as a management advisor, I know where the potential pitfalls are in successful execution. I am careful to ensure that what is being identified as objectives or new strategies can be properly resourced, are solving a problem/taking advantage of an opportunity, and that it leads to customer success. By definition, when your customer is successful by using your product or service, you will be to.

And if you are going to advertise something, how about making it as real as these gems.

Please, for the sake of your customers, just do what you say you are going to do. It is the best strategy you can have for your long-term success.

Can You Come Back in an Hour?

We recently needed to get a new vehicle.

We did lots of research based on a specific set of criteria for what we were looking for. We enlisted friends to let them know of our search. We drove to various dealerships to look at what was on the lot. We spoke to “product advisors” and “senior product specialists” to understand the used car market in Winnipeg.

Wow, prices are incredibly high and inventory is incredibly low.

We received an introduction from a good friend to a sales rep from a reputable dealership.

When I called them, they had just retired.

Rats!

But then they referred me to their sales manager!

Yay!

And the sales manager just moved to a new dealership.

Rats!

But they referred me to a product advisor.

Yay!

And this product advisor found us something quite quickly so we set a time to come for a test drive.

Yay!

And we got a call when we were five minutes away from our scheduled meeting asking where we were and I said “close.”

Huh?

When we arrived, we learned that someone else had sold the car that morning.

What?! You couldn’t have called earlier?

But the product advisor had access to inventory from other dealerships within the same auto group. And they found one and spoke to a manager to put a hold on it.

Yay!

So, we drove to the opposite end of the city to test drive the new vehicle.

Yay!

The vehicle was there waiting for us. The manager wasn’t. I mean, we came into the dealership, let them know who we were supposed to meet with and they were in a meeting (chatting with colleagues not a customer), and we were asked to wait outside.

We were waiting outside when an assistant manager came out with a product advisor who walked us through the vehicle so we could do the test drive.

Seemed fairly good and we put a deposit on it pending a once over by a mechanic of our choice.

Yay!

We declined the purchase.

Rats!

The manager took over from the product advisor and was just using a spray and pray approach to suggest other vehicles, not using the specific criteria we provided.

Rats!

Separately, we asked the product advisor to keep looking for us and they said “sure.”

Yay!

And then crickets…

We called back and emailed and no response.

Rats!

We eventually found some options at a sister dealership and proceeded to book an appointment.

Yay!

Product advisor was professional and helpful. Test drive was fine. Deposit placed pending mechanic review.

Yay!

We made an appointment to buy the vehicle, make the payment, and pick up the vehicle. Appointment reconfirmed with finance manager a couple of hours ahead of the appointed time. We arrived with excitement to pick up the new vehicle. Finally, we had a terrific customer experience.

Yay!

Except the vehicle wasn’t ready. There was a “miscommunication” at the dealership and the vehicle was not out of detailing for us. It would be another 60 to 90 minutes. “So sorry” said the product advisor. “Can you come back in an hour?”

Rats!

Well, actually we cannot. We live at least 30 minutes away, especially in rush hour, and we were not going to wait around nor drive home and back. So, we decided to come back the next day at the same time in later afternoon.

Rats!

On the way out of the dealership we were introduced to the sales manager who learned we were not very happy. And nothing other than a “we’re sorry.”

We came back to pick up the vehicle the following day.

Yay!

But our enthusiasm had evaporated like the steam from a lousy coffee. When we arrived to meet with the finance manager, we were introduced to helper #1 that would explain the rocket ship controls of our new vehicle. They zipped through all the screens and controls like they had done this before. “Please confirm there is a manual” so we can practice at home.

There was.

Yay!

As they were explaining the various controls, cameras, etc. I noticed that there were smudges and areas that were not clean. They said it was condensation streaks from the morning and they would wipe them before we leave.

OK.

Back inside to meet with finance manager…but we got a different one because #1 was tied up with another customer. Huh? We had an appointment.

Oh well, deal done. We took the papers to a local insurer to get the plates and insurance.

OK.

Upon returning, helper #1 was in a different vehicle so we had helper #2 putting the plates on. And the streaks were still there and additional areas noted that were also not cleaned.

OK, we got the vehicle and left. Time to get out of Dodge.

Summary:

• Do what you say you are going to do
• If you make a mistake own it and fix it…for the customer’s benefit

You’ll notice no dealership named here. DM me and I may let you know who it was.

All the customer touch points available and a massive failure on so many areas. Not even an attempt at a save from a customer experience perspective.

When was the last time you did a mystery shop on your company? DM me and we can set you up with my program.

Game Time

It’s game time…do you have a game plan?

Football has kicked off at all levels across Canada and the US. From community to high school to university and the pros, thousands of athletes are competing on a weekly basis.

Every successful team creates a game plan; ideally a winning game plan. And yes, it is all good on paper. But, things can change dramatically once the opening kickoff happens. You will see a wide range of outcomes:

• Top teams crushing lesser teams – despite both teams creating a game plan
• A few lesser teams upsetting favorites – despite both teams creating a game plan
• And a few major surprises that few experts predicted – despite both teams creating a game plan

Then the post game analysis progresses from knee jerk to thoughtful to detailed in order to prepare for the next game.

As I have said forever, this is a different environment than business. In business, you rarely, if ever, have an opportunity for the amount of time to reflect, analyze and prepare for the next big event the way you do in football. Business operates ongoing, without that break for assessment and adjustment.

The direct connection via analogy between sports and business does not exist in this regard. Sure, there are a lot of areas that do link – leadership, personal accountability, individual and team performance – but not on the evaluation and adjustment side.

So, what can a business do to adapt the “post game review and prep for the next game” concept for their ongoing operations?

Let’s consider the immediacy of business results and the capacity for an organization to make a change compared with a football team. NOTE: these are based on my firsthand experiences:

Question	Football	Business
What type of current data do you track?	Yards gained (passing and running) – for and against Situational results – how did we do in key situations Mistakes – turnovers and assignment errors and penalties Positive plays – explosive gains or “splash” plays	Sales – by product (sometimes by sales rep) Did we win or lose key customers? Did we have any production or delivery mistakes, billing errors, poor customer experiences Did we do anything special
Who has access to the data?	Coaches and players (after coaches watch the film everyone watches the film)	Select people have select access (varies by company and employee level – not everyone sees everything)
What decisions are made with the data?	Corrections, adjustments, personnel changes, schematic changes	Pricing adjustments, reforecasting budget, personnel changes (very seldom)
How soon are decisions made with the data?	Some during the game; most day after	Month end or quarter end
Is there an ultimate or, at least, primary decision-maker?	Head coach, coordinators	CEO or other C-suite

The biggest difference between business and sports is typically in the timing of the changes. I must reinforce that in both business and sports a poor result does not always mean a major change should be completed. Is it a one-time event or a trend? This is the question that must be understood to determine next steps.

Too often a football team stays with a poor plan too long or changes a good plan too quickly.

In business, companies usually stay with the plan too long before making necessary adjustments.

Now, this is part art and science. There is no sweeping generalization that one can apply. Consider your own organizational situation and determine how fast you need to adjust and what are the criteria you are basing the changes on.

Yes, there are a lot of considerations both internally and externally. However, that is what you signed up for and the responsibility that comes with accountability.

In both cases you can only control you. So, don’t fret about what others might say as this will take time, energy and focus away from your own situation. Be mindful of the competitive dynamics that exist in your industry. When you decide to do certain things, what will your competitors do in response and how soon will they do it. And when someone reacts to your initial action how will you respond?

This is a terrific clip from Coach Prime (Deion Sanders, the new head coach at Colorado) before their first game against a team that lost in the national final game the year before.

And here is what he said after the game.

Leadership is an essential ingredient to a successful game plan. And Coach Deion said ” Don’t let my confidence offend your insecurity”

Do you have a winning game plan? Time to do it is now!

Don’t Leave it Short

In my limited golf experience (I am not good because I play so infrequently) one lesson when putting for a birdie, or even par, is “don’t leave it short.” You want to “go for it.”

However, this is not a post about golf. I have watched exactly 0 (zero) minutes of golf this year. I couldn’t tell you who won the Masters…or the Minors…

In several recent conversations with colleagues there has been a common theme about getting better at one’s craft.

My friend Sean Bacon and I were discussing leadership and using military and sports analogies. When collaborating with clients, we both talk about “go through that wall at 100 MPH” because that is what we did in military (Sean) and sports (me).

Business success was often a result of long hours, mistakes, corrections, and ultimately – achievements and success!

Analyzing all these experiences, plus years of discussions, reading and observing other successful people, resulted in the proverbial light going on in an obvious way this week.

Very few people have actually run through the wall at one hundred MPH. Not because they couldn’t. Because they never had to.

They contributed 9 to 5 (or whatever the stated daily hours of work are in the employee handbook) and that was fine. It would have been the responsibility of the leadership; those few at the top, to make the big decisions for the organization moving forward.

This is not a judgment against anyone. I mean, you cannot become resilient simply by reading a book about resilience. You have to experience a substantial event that assesses you and that you must overcome.

In the military, only a few might be in a situation where you have to pull the trigger or decide about deploying your comrades into an extremely dangerous situation. In sports, there are only a small percentage that compete in the professional ranks that must perform with amazing skill and determination to win a match.

Consider the following:

• It is difficult to be a good boxer without sparring.
• You cannot be a sharpshooter without going to the shooting range
• You won’t get stronger without lifting weights (or doing specific bodyweight work – you get the picture)
• You won’t lead through a crisis without preparing in a “live action” training scenario
• You won’t become a better writer without writing
• You won’t be a better strategist without developing and implementing strategy

And here are other considerations:

• Experts say “Leaders should…” because this is softer and is more consensus building. Well, there is no “need” attached therefore, no urgency or impetus to make things happen. Therefore, when all is said and done – much is said and little is done.
• Check leaders’ profiles and you will often see “consensus builder” descriptions. Sure, we all want consensus but it is often not needed. In so many cases people are looking at someone to be decisive and then the actions required become clearer.
• Building the right culture is super important. Remember that the culture is based on what you endorse and what you decry. That which you permit you promote. If you want a “culture of excellence” then all actions must be excellent.
• Employees and team members in sports often think they should be at a higher level, or be a starter, and they are not. Sure, there are situations where this holds true. BUT…is that employee or player really performing at the level required for success? For example, is the junior varsity player totally dominating in their level and thus deserving of a chance to play varsity? Or is it just whining??? And this analogy applies in every situation in your personal, family, community, and job life.

I don’t expect everyone to want to become a CEO or CMO or a General or play pro sports. Your life purpose is to achieve what is best for you and do the best with what you have.

I believe, too many individuals are not pushing to get a bit better, and this hampers personal, family, community, and organization growth.

Zig Ziglar said it best:

“Be strong, but not rude; Be kind, but not weak; Be bold, but not bully; Be humble, but not timid; Be proud, but not arrogant.”

You don’t have to be anyone else.

Be the best version of yourself.

Be someone that others want on their team.

Be known for giving your best effort and never leaving it short.