Farmers Market Negotiations
Originally uploaded by jcgr

Man can only receive what he sees himself receiving.
Florence Scovel Shinn

The buyer in this farmer’s market scene clearly sees herself going home with a bundle of beautiful, fresh peppers.

The seller sees himself making a beautiful, healthy profit.

Whether she goes home pepper-fulfilled and he goes home profit-fulfilled depends on whether they can find a meeting point between their individual visions visions of success.

The same thing happens in any negotiation, and many different types of interactions.

Think back on a time when you found a good solution between what may have been two very different original visions of success.

Let that experience guide you to fresh success with a negotiating challenge ahead.

I couldn’t have baked this heart shape into the cookie if I’d tried.

But there it was, a heart-shaped error in the middle of a home baked biscotti, cooling and nearly ready to be packed into a gift basket.

It made me pause, and then made me smile.

Perfection or imperfection? I’ll let you decide.

And as you do, consider mistakes of various types from times past in your life.

Perhaps they weren’t really errors or imperfections, at all, so much as your own special touch.

Or perhaps it was the serendipitous move that led you to much bigger discoveries that you might have missed if everything had gone “perfectly right.”

Don’t forget to check in with some of your other important customers, too, the most important ones.

Check in with the people in your personal life.

They want and deserve your time, more, in fact, than anyone.

And you may think you know, but you may have no idea what impact your job is actually having on the people you care most about, and who care the most about you.

Don’t take them, or their good will for granted.

Similarly, make sure they know your needs, and how things are going, too.

You deserve their full attention some of the time, too.

And if there’s some problem you didn’t know about, there’s always something you can do to improve this most important part of your life, too.

Relationships of all types take good intentions, attention, caring, sharing, creativity and time.

If you’re a parent, for example, an extra hour spent perfecting a PowerPoint presentation probably won’t make nearly as much difference in the long run as will that same hour and attention spent at your child’s soccer game, attending their science fair, sharing a laugh, a long walk, or making time for a good talk.

If you’re always focusing on efficiency, and carving up the to-do list to make sure it all gets done on time, by someone, share errands.

Go grocery shopping and cook together, take a long walk or drive.

Sometimes, be inefficient, by design.

Sometimes the highest priority is creating a way to share and catch up. And by definition, that sometimes means you don’t divide up all the tasks.

Change the roles, even for a bit.

If you normally lead (or drive), volunteer to navigate, or take the back seat.

Let someone else decide what or where you’ll eat.

Let someone else decide how to get the work done, and choose the standards you’ll work to.

Or if you’re the one always taking the back seat, take the lead, with all the pluses and minuses it brings. (Sometimes taking the lead isn’t much fun).

In some ways, at some times, seeming inefficiency is perfect for both the short- and long-run.

Check in with the most important people in your life. Ask them, at a minimum, such customer-focusing questions as these:

- How are we doing?

- Where can I, and we, improve?

- What am I, and are we, doing well?

Listen with an open heart, an open mind. Leave space and time for whatever you’re hearing to be there, to be heard, to sink in.

Don’t rush to fill the silence with, “Yes, but…” responses, or “At least I try!” defenses.

Just listen.

And share.

The last macarons
Originally uploaded by jcgr

It often doesn’t take that much to create customer delight.

Just an excellent product, well-tuned into what customers want.

Simple, and elegantly-designed.

Perfectly executed.

Fresh.

Well-offered, well-sold at the right price, and the right place and time.

Voila! Customer delight.

Here, the last of a box of simple, but simply wonderful macarons.

I so hated to see this gift come to an end.

Here’s what others have to say on the all-important subject of celebrating well:

Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Tom Peters

Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle.
Swami Sivananda

Celebrate the little things in life, appreciate tomorrow, love your neighbor or don’t, but never condemn yourself to a life without cause to celebrate and be thankful for what you have. Never forget the people you love and love them when you have an occasion to do so. Celebrate their life and celebrate yours.
Unknown

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!
Barbara Hoffman

Humor never hurts.

Here, a little amusement is thrown into the design of a functional item, a holder that makes sure your glasses won’t get lost.

Is there a way you can add a dash of humor, a bit of creativity to something you’re producing so it’s more fun to make and use, as well?

How is your customer support staff viewed in your company?

As the clean-up crew?

Hopefully not.

They are, in fact, stewards of gold.

The information they have from customers – if you choose to use it in this way – can provide you invaluable information about current products and services and how they really work (or not).

The information they can collect – if you seek it – can also provide great ideas for future products and sources of revenue.

Here’s how others see customers’ perspective and the information they can provide:

In the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization…she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store.
Giorgio Armani

Our business is about technology, yes. But it’s also about operations and customer relationships.
Michael Dell

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
Bill Gates

I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.
Steve Jobs

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.
Zig Ziglar ]]> http://www.jgrichardsresultsblog.com/2010/01/customer-feedback-is-a-good-thing-really/feed/ 0 http://www.jgrichardsresultsblog.com/2009/11/how-to-give-a-gift-that-the-giftee-loves/ http://www.jgrichardsresultsblog.com/2009/11/how-to-give-a-gift-that-the-giftee-loves/#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:22:00 +0000 Jan Richards http://www.jgrichardsresultsblog.com/2009/11/how-to-give-a-gift-that-the-giftee-loves/ Searching for just the right gift for someone?

Here's a bit of advice from one of my best friends: "The best gifts are treasures and experiences," she says.

I like that gift-giving plan.

I've received gifts that hit the mark more than the giver ever guessed they might. The signs of a gift that is adored?

Laughter, hugs, tears in the eyes.

And the best clue for the other kind?

The very slowly unfolding laugh trying to mask the thought, "Hmmm…what can I say? Is there any way I'll use this???"

The rule in our family is that if the giftee really won't use the gift, they can – without hard feelings – return it. We hope not to need to use the rule, but on occasion, it comes into play.

And kids, if you want to know the gift that will warm your parents' heart more than you might ever guess, it's still the one…no matter what age you are…that you made yourself.

Perhaps, as parents, we should remember that advice, as well.

Finally, there's the gift of shared, attentive time (which means, of course, time that's Blackberry, phone and Twitter-free).

It's always a wonderful gift.

Normally top-notch suppliers, one particular online store and one particular shipping company collectively created this particular customer experience.

It was very different from the great service they normally provide.

It’s hard to say where things started to go wrong.

My guess is that it was when the package was packed.

And it’s hard to say at what points the problem grew to become this way.

My guess is that there were multiple points along the way when someone chose not to correct it…or, well, worse…aggravated it.

Images of Jim Carrey in “Ace Ventura” as a shipping company employee who uses packages like basketballs come to mind.

It doesn’t take much for things to go very wrong.

And that’s about the same amount of time it takes for things to go very, very right.