[57/250] Service is 9/10 of the law
Hi lovely!
Late last week, I had the wonderful chance to interview Vance Morris, of Systematic Magic fame. If you haven’t read Systematic Magic, then I’m not going to ruin it for you: You are going out to get it from your local library and to read it.
We spoke about a lot of things, from service cultures, to systems, and how to think about building information products services.
Sometime soon I’ll be releasing the podcast interview. If you want to be notified, reply and let me know, ok?
Brutal Pixie has been ticking along so nicely that I’m in this strange place where I’m at a loss for words about what to write. A wise man once said (I feel like it might have been the great Ken McCarthy, gun copywriter) that the best thing you could strive for is a boring business. You don’t want a business with surprises, right? You want it boringly normal and easy to run, without surprises, or hiccups, or problems.
In speaking with Vance Morris, I learned more than a few things that I am not doing but could be.
But perhaps the main one is this:
People don’t put great service in place, because they’re lazy.
(His approximate words, not mine.)
You see, lovely one, Vance Morris was an executive in customer experience at Disney for years and years. He’s scaled his own franchised carpet cleaning business using the same principles. And then he’s scaled his own information products business using the same principles.
You can read his exact method in everything that he produces.
He writes books, issues newsletters, has an amazing blog, gives loads of interviews. It’s not like the man’s strategy is a secret.
And yet, one of his competitors went out of business. Vance was told, You put me out of business.
So, how did he go out of business if all of his competitor’s methods are available?
He’s too lazy to implement them.
This is why, when I implemented something that Vance advocated — and then sent him a photograph with a story — he sent it to his entire email list with I’m so happy about this because she implemented.
It strikes me that this is really where lies the difference between great businesses and average ones.
Average ones will do the job.
Great ones are beyond courteous. They’re the kind of courteous that you’d read about in 1960s etiquette books, in which people left calling cards when they went to your house and you weren’t home; and thank-you letters after parties and events; and people wanted to know how to address the Queen, should they ever have an occasion to do so.
So, even while my company’s service is at the forefront of the market, there’s so much more that we could be doing. And I’ll be putting those in place over the coming six months.
It’s funny to reflect on, given it’s just past Valentine’s Day: A day on which we surprise our clients with heartfelt messages of appreciation.
Here is what a couple of them said:
Your client interaction and attention to detail is epic!
~ Charlotte Du Rieu, at the New Venture Institute
and this one:
Thank you for the heartfelt message. You have a great product underpinned by a strong system. You do amazing work and I am proud to partner with you.
~ Susan Sadler, Red Wagon Solutions
and this one:
Thank you so much for your lovely Valentine’s gift! (from all of us)
We are going to be gorging ourselves all week!
We are really excited about testing out our audience and engaging them with our new content rolling out.
~ Alyce Neale, Hydra Consulting Company
Despite these incredible comments from our clientele, it’s exciting to remember that there is so much more that we could be doing in the realm of Service Provision.
At present, I’m scoping what this looks like, but I’ll share it when it’s getting settled into place.
Meanwhile, this week I’m hard at work on a personal project, which is the second full write of my first full-length speculative fiction novel. It’s going to Alpha readers at the end of the week.
So on that note, I’ll leave you with a smile and a sparkle.
Enjoy your week this week!
~ Leticia