Happy Sunday Everyone:
There are two different Starbucks I typically go to, one by my office, and one in downtown Danville. Wednesday Morning I went to the one by my office. Grande Pike with egg white bites for breakfast. Guy at the front is a whatever, has seen me 100 times, acts like he hasn’t, not exactly worried about it on my end. Then I watch the gal do my egg bites. She takes them out and they’re just sitting there. Then she starts playing with those timers they all have on their shirts, I’m staring at my egg bites getting cold, she’s fixing her timers, talking to her co-workers, I’m starting to sweat, finally I ask about them, she looks at me, slightly annoyed, and gets my bites, which are now warm at best. I could probably learn to relax but these things drive me nuts. Friday I go to the one in downtown Danville. I’m 3rd in line and I’m watching the guy behind the counter. “Good Morning!! How are you today? what can I get for you?”. Next person….he is staring at her, “hang on, don’t tell me, Grande, soy latte, extra hot!!” with a big smile on his face…She says, “you got it”. I come up….same routine…literally walked out of there with a smile on my face. I wish so badly Starbucks were franchises. I’d support one, not the other. Is this a big deal? NO….can I learn from it, YES.
I came back and told my team about the experience in our team meeting which we then discussed in more detail as it relates to our business. I’m not sure about your town but in my town there is a 50/50 chance the person you’re talking to is a lender, or a Realtor. If they’re not either of those, there is 100% chance they can count on both hands how many people they know in lending or real estate. Why is that important? the recognition that whether we like it or not, we are about as commoditized out of the gate as you can get. I talk to my coaching students all the time about this topic. I call it the commoditization line. 10 being the ultimate commodity, 0 being no one has what you have. If we start as the ultimate commodity, which we do, then what are the items we do in our business that slowly get us down the line? For me, I’d say one of the absolute first things is how we make people feel when they reach out to us. Can they feel us smiling on the other end of a phone? Can they feel our gratitude for them calling us vs. someone else? Do they feel like a number or do they feel like possible client? In the end, do they feel like we care about them, and do we care about what we do? If the answers to those questions are all positive, your commoditization numbers are going down. Just like at Starbucks, the egg white bites and Pikes Place Grande taste the exact same at both places, but I “feel” so much better at the Danville location. The guy working the Danville location uncommoditized himself and his location, and it’s not even his brand. For all of us, it’s our own brand, we should care infinitely more than that guy. I call some of my students sometimes, I talk to their teams, and it’s the Spanish Inquisition…”what is this in regards to”…um, well let’s see….how about I wanted a loan! We’re not the CEO of ATT, we’re in the business of sales, and our first impression is everything, and if it’s not you answering, the team better be trained to sound the exact same. Doesn’t mean scripting, although this helps, it just means everyone understands the mindset we need to have and the message we’re conveying….and then you need to test it. You need to act like a client, or have someone you know do it, you’d be blown away with what you “think” the client experience looks/feels like, vs. what is actual.
Perhaps I was feeling a little spicy on Wednesday, so what…our clients are feeling spicy sometimes too and it’s our jobs to radiate first impressions that make us different from the other 10 people they’re going to call. How you say hello doesn’t guarantee you business, but it changes your odds more than we recognize and we’d all be smart to take notice and challenge what type of experience our clients are having out of the gates. For what it’s worth, I’m typing this from the Danville location right now.
Have a great rest of your Sunday.