Keeping your heart in business

I was in Germany this week with friends and we planned two stops in Rüdesheim, the heart of the country’s wine region: the famous Drösselgasse and Siegfried’s Musikkabinet. Normally, the town is teeming with wine enthusiasts from around the world, with the streets so thick of tourists that you overhear conversations in German, French, English and Chinese within one minute of the walk. This week, the street was a ghost town. Icy cobblestone streets, bitter cold wind and not a tourist in sight…except for the three of us. Not one light was on in any restaurant along the Drösselgasse.

After finally finding a small restaurant in town, catching the eye of every local German (notably by being in the wrong place during the wrong season) and several glasses of wine and Rüdesheimers, we chatted with one of the locals, Susana. She expressed genuine curiosity for why we would want to visit the wine town in the dead of winter, and told us that the famed Musikkabinet was closed until April. Seeing the drop of our expressions, she turned and motioned to her dinner companion, Jens Wendel, who was sitting at the next table. Susana smiled to us and said “here is the man you need to talk to. He owns the Musikkabinet. And there,” she said turning around, “is his father Siegfried, the founder of the museum. I’ll bet if you buy Jens a beer, he’ll open the museum for you”.

Long story short, not only did we get a midnight tour of Jen’s museum, we met Adolph Störzel, a local vintner, who gave us a private tour of his winery the next day.

Susana explained why she, Jens and Adolph were so willing to be hospitable to us: she said, “When you represent something, it’s all about the heart. You can’t forget the reason behind why you are doing things. We represent our country and this is the way that we can show people our passion for the country we love”.

There is so much wisdom in Susanna’s statement. How true this is for anything we are doing in life, especially in business. The heart is the vital core that sustains a business.

It’s the reason people want Wegman’s to be their local grocer; it’s the reason people wait for hours in the summer heat and bitter cold of Oklahoma to have a Meers Burger, it’s what propels the Harley Davidson community of riders, and it’s what keeps Patagonia true to their founding principles. It’s the reason cities like Rüdesheim keep their quaint, original, endearing, old-world, authentic appeal. There is a pervasive and authentic passion encompassing the product, and it keeps customers close to the heart of why you exist.

People want to be involved in something bigger than who they are, something unique, exciting and one-of-a-kind. When you represent a brand with heart and passion, you take your customers along for the ride. Passion is what keeps people coming back, and keeps customers talking about what you do. It’s not the easy path. At times, it is inconvenient and can be more expensive. But it’s what makes you unique. It is what makes you memorable, and it is what keeps people committed to your business in the long term.

If you want a competitive advantage that cannot be replicated, that will keep people talking for years, give your customers an experience or a product like none other; give them one from the heart.

Filed under: Business, Heart, Passion

How reliable is your brand?

Every action that you take at work, whether small or large, builds your brand within the organization. Your brand can be defined by creativity, quality of work, ideas or a number of things. One defining aspect of your brand is your responsiveness. How useful are you to co-workers, customers or the company as a whole if you do not interact with individuals on a timely basis, giving them what they need, or at least giving a response?

How responsive you are to people influences their perception of your dependability. Can co-workers count on you when they need an answer in a pinch? Can they rely on you to be proactive when working on a project, minimizing the risks up front instead of at the decision table when they’re brought to your attention? Can your customers rely on you to answer a question, solve their problem or help them find what they’re looking for when they need it? What about when there is no emergency, no deadline, no urgency for a project – can your co-workers, subordinates, managers or customers count on you to treat their project with as much care as the urgent issues?

Several retailers exceed expectations when it comes to responsiveness and dependability. I used to frequent a small Starbucks in my old neighborhood. After several mornings of ordering my Venti-shaken-unsweetened-iced-green-tea, I parked my car one Friday, walked in and the drink was waiting for me on the counter, just as it was every visit after that when I chose to stop at the café. How’s that for responsiveness and anticipating the customer needs?

I called DHL the other day to solve a dilemma with a lost package. After speaking the tracking number to the automated teleprompter, I was quickly connected with a live person. Within four minutes, the respondent was able to give me all of the package information, send my feedback to a manager and get my problem solved while I was on the phone. I didn’t get the package right away, but I knew the problem was in capable hands after the way that I was treated.

When working with co-workers, subordinates or customers, your brand is being established by your responsiveness. At whichever end of the spectrum you fall, you are sending a message.

One end of the spectrum: timely responses, proactive work, anticipation of the customer (internal or external) needs, says

I’m here for you, I’m a team player and I’m willing to help you out because you are important to me

The other end of the spectrum: days without receiving feedback, no expectations on service quality, missed deadlines, questions that go unanswered for days, says

I don’t care about what you need. Your business is not important to me. My schedule is more important than yours. Don’t bother me with your requests.

Either way, you’re sending a message. As companies and as individuals, it’s the small actions taken on a daily basis that build credibility for the future. What does your brand say about you?

Filed under: Brand, Business, Expectations, Marketing, Relationships