Are You Waiting For Godot?
March 12th, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized — Business Author
VLADIMIR: “Well? What do we do?”
ESTRAGON: “Don’t let’s do anything. It’s safer”
I WAS DELIGHTED WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED LAST YEAR THAT PATRICK STEWART would star alongside Ian McKellen in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. What an inspired choice, by one of my favourite actors.
With an almost daily flow of grim news on the economic front, it’s easy, natural in fact, to want to hunker down and wait for someone or something to come and rescue us. The problem comes when everyone wants to do the same thing; who will start the wheels of industry turning again and when they do, who will lead us as we take our first, faltering steps into that post-recession dawn? Not Godot, that’s for sure.
In times of crisis, everyone looks for someone to guide them – kids look for Superman, grown ups look for leaders and in the business world, people look to their CEOs. The most successful CEOs are the business visionaries who ooze confidence and inspiration; they are results-oriented and command loyalty in those around them. The really smart ones already know that of these attributes, the ability to achieve customer loyalty is central to sustaining, or even increasing, revenues through the economic crisis. Customers may not be easy to please but without them there is no business.
CEOs don’t need a brand new corporate marketing strategy or a huge budget to secure customers’ loyalty. Strong, decisive leadership will set the tone for their businesses, in this recession and beyond. Managers, sales directors and employees are understandably anxious and this drives down productivity. Inspire loyalty in your customers and you will gain trust and success from your people at the same time.
The following principles always work:
Develop Trust.
Keep communication channels open – with more competitors than ever vying for your business, your customers need to know that you are listening and that you care.
Share plans – they will reassure your customers that your business has a future and you will receive valuable input on the direction that you are taking.
Don’t sell stories – you need to be 100% sure that you can deliver on your promises.
Maintain Relationships.
Can you count on your customers to be loyal? Don’t. There are plenty of people out there who are prepared to undercut you. Make it hard for your customers to leave you.
Have more face-to-face meetings – your customers will be more inclined to open up and give you the honest feedback that you really need to keep going.
Offer Consistently Good Service.
Go the extra mile for your customers – and reward your employees that are willing to do the same. Having fewer people shouldn’t automatically lead to inferior service.
Make the experience a positive one – your customers will not only remember you but recommend you as well.
It isn’t fashionable to be optimistic when there is so much gloom and doom, but while there’s no guarantee that those who dare, succeed, it’s fairly certain that those who don’t, won’t. Anyone can be a great leader when times are good but those who can remain confident and positive during a downturn will be remembered forever.
So why not let 2009 be the year of the leaders? Or to quote another of Patrick Stewart’s characters, Captain Jean-Luc Picard:
“Make it so. Engage.”
� Tamar Meshoulam, 2010
About TAMAR: Tamar is a UK-based business advisor for senior executives. She is an expert in building high-level customer relationships and maintaining loyalty.
http://www.leadersandlegends.co.uk
