Bank of America has a very impressive on-line bill pay service. They keep tweaking and improving things every time I look.

I recently read some complaints about how Bank of America forces you to enter dates when paying bills. Almost on the heels of that commentary, I see Bank of America updated their user experience to address exactly that issue:

Old Way

Customer had to determine when they wanted the bill sent so it would arrive on time.

New Way

Now customers can just pick when they want the payment delivered.

Less is Better

Sometimes removing a feature is the path to a better user experience. Other times you need to remove hurdles that lie in the customer’s path. In our example here, Bank of America actually removed some of the decisions and mental processing the customer needed to do to complete their bill paying task.

Make it Easy

Continuously refine your product based on customer feedback and your own innovative ideas. However, don’t go overboard and pile on complexity. Empower your customers by simplifying and clarifying existing processes.

Buy Rules for Revolutionaries from Amazon

Former Apple Evangelist and current Venture Capitalist Guy Kawasaki delivers an inspiring book for all entrepreneurs in Rules for Revolutionaries.

Kawasaki breaks his book into three parts that help you be successful in your business venture:

• Create like a God
• Command like a King
• Work like a Slave

Overall I thought this was an excellent book and wanted to share some of Kawasaki’s points I found most enjoyable.

Create Like a God

To think like a revolutionary you need to purge the status quo from your mind. Dump your idols and reframe your way of viewing things.

Think about copying Mother Nature. She has been successful in solving problems for longer than you have.

Divide a problem into small parts and solve each as you go.

Customers will use your products in ways you never imagined. Embrace these uses and go with the flow on spin off applications or product uses.

Great Products

Kawasaki says you can spot a great product because it is ‘DICEE’:

• Deep - “Their features and functions satisfy desires that you didn’t know you had at the time of purchase.”
• Indulging - “It is more than what you minimally need and costs more than what you could have minimally spent.”
• Complete - “Provides all the attributes that make it delightful.”
• Elegant - honor aesthetics, form follows function, use materials in logical ways, allow direct manipulation, provide constant feedback, show forgiveness when the user messes up
• Evocative - “catalyzes strong feelings: People either love it or hate it.”

Great Teams

Great teams produce great products. Ideal teams are small, separate from the masses, have a great leader, and enjoy a casual atmosphere.

Great Practices

You’ll only get a revolutionary product or service if you follow great business practices:

• “Dare to find fault with existing products and services.”
• “Go with your gut”
• “Design for yourself” - design what you’d like to use.
• “Throw some simple and cheap ingredients in a bag, shake it, bake it, and go to market. Build a prototype and get on with it.”
• “Get on base” - concentrate on that solid single rather than a home run. Those will come.
• “Ignore Naysayers” - Customers don’t know they want your product if they’ve never seen it before. Your own company may not believe in you. Experts don’t know either.
• Ship your product when you can’t live without using it yourself internally.

Churn Baby Churn

A key to a great product is that you continuously improve it after its initial release.

Fix things for your current customers not non-buyers. This drives loyalty and evangelism. You may never convert nonbelievers no matter what you do for them.

Make your product flexible to allow for improvements. Don’t hide mistakes you make.

Command Like a King

Break down barriers

You have various barriers that stand between you and your product’s success. Kawasaki identifies some of these hurdles and how you can jump over them:

• ignorance - make people aware
• inertia - people know about you but don’t care
• complexity - make it easy for your parents
• channel - make sure customers have a place to buy
• price

You can break down barriers:

• enable test driving or give out samples
• give customers ownership in development
• focus on subset of customers

Erect Barriers

Use barriers in the marketplace to your advantage and to maintain your market share:

• exclusivity - make yours the best
• mind share - most people know about it
• price - cheapest
• customerization
• knowledge - you’re the expert
• infrastructure - big picture
• buddies - friends and partnerships

Evangelists

Add emotions to facts. Build a multi-appeal evangelism pitch. Present and see which one resonates more with people. Focus on that one at that meeting. Make sure you have an easy first step to start using your service.

Avoid Death Magnets

Some traps will kill your product before it even has a chance. Avoid these attitudes:

• “pick low-hanging fruit” - this might not be the best opportunity
• “our product sucks less” - customers don’t buy your product because it “sucks less”
• “budget is king” and unyielding to change. Always start afresh each year. Budget should be flexible to account for changing times and opportunities
• Being consistent to the end - Don’t have to stick to your decision if it is wrong.
• Don’t say yes to everyone. Focus on your niche.
• Over extending your brand to unrelated markets.
• Outsourcing probably costs more than it is worth for building a competitive advantage.
• Don’t work all the time. Concentrate your time and focus your efforts.
• Don’t mimic the big guys by living the high lifestyle. Work your way up to it.
• Don’t lower prices when you gain increased market share. Profits are OK to have and a sign of a successful company.
• “The best product wins” - just isn’t the case. The first to market often takes the cake

Eat Like a Bird, Poop like an Elephant

This comically named chapter boils down to absorbing as much information as you can through reading, conferences, etc. Take a different perspective when viewing your situation and product. It is OK share information with others, even competitors.

Think Digital, Act Analog

Leverage technology to enable you to be personal with customers. Create a community by involving customers in the creation process.

Don’t Ask People to Do Something That You Wouldn’t

• empower employees - for example, give them a dollar max they can spend to fix a problem without managerial approval
• ask the customer what he wants
• under promise and over deliver
• don’t give better deals to new customers over existing customers

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. A lot of the principles discussed by Kawasaki are critical to business success. Read the book and apply the lessons in your endeavors.

Read more Rules for Revolutionaries reviews on Amazon.com

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Have you read Rules for Revolutionaries? Tell us what you thought of the book in the comments below.

Today the United States celebrates President’s Day. This holiday was created to honor presidential greats George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Imagine for a moment if either one of these men could run your business. What would you achieve? What would you learn?

Be Like Washington

Lesson 1: Associations

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better to be alone than in bad company. -GW

CEO Washington says:

• Hire solid employees.
• People will judge your business by its people.

Lesson 2: Honesty

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. -GW

CEO Washington says:

• Always tell the truth.
• Tell the truth when it hurts.
• Tell the truth even when it makes you look bad.

Lesson 3: Language

The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it. -GW

CEO Washington says:

• Watch your tongue when speaking with customers, about customers, or in ear shot of customers.
• Speak in a respectful tone and language with coworkers.

Lesson 4: Trouble

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble. -GW

CEO Washington says:

• Adequate planning, management, and efforts can eliminate your troubles and thus dissipate your worries.
• Avoid shady dealings and agreements that promise quick riches but are really nothing but trouble.

Be Like Lincoln

Lesson 1: Driving Principles

Lincoln’s words are etched in his memorial in the nation’s capital:

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in… -AB

CEO Lincoln says:

• Don’t hold grudges. It is bad for business. Leave the wrongs of the past behind and turn your efforts to a better future.
• It is OK to use your business success to help others.
• Stick to your morals and be ethical. No Enron-like shenanigans.
• Don’t give up. Keep at it until you finish.

Lesson 2: Failure

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. -AB

CEO Lincoln says:

• Everybody makes mistakes. Admit them and move on.
• How you overcome your failures speaks volumes of your personal character.

Be Presidential

Learn from these wise men and start running your business with their timeless and valuable counsel. Who knows, maybe in a few hundred years people will make a holiday to honor you and your great contributions to society.

Some quotes courtesy of BrainyQuote

The vending machine in our break room at work has a piece of paper taped over the dollar bill acceptor. It reads:

Snack Machine Coin Only
Sorry Sodexho

Sodexho is the company that manages food services here at my employer’s campus.

If you read the note without the comma, it could be construed as derogatory and critical of Sodexho. It might as well read: “Stupid Sodexho.” However, if you throw in the comma, the note reads a little more gracefully:

Snack Machine Coin Only
Sorry,
Sodexho

The fact that the note has been in place for quite some time is another disturbing issue. Remember that customer’s problems are your problems and that your company should work quickly to rectify any problem situations.

Fix the problem and the sign could then read well even without a comma:

Snack Machine Fixed
Stellar Sodexho

Use the Comma

Make sure you use the comma for more than just writing copy in your business. The comma is often used to indicate a pause. Use that effect in your daily business operations and pause to see what you could do to improve the customer experience.

I recently upgraded my Backpack online organization tool to their “basic” plan because I found myself straining under their free version. My first credit card statement for the charge had this description:
“37SIGNALS.COM/CHARGE”

When I tried that URL, I got a “page not found error”:

I thought this was a little ironic considering the 37signals guys had written the book Defensive Design for the Web. The description on a credit card statement can often determine if a charge is disputed. A “page not found error” definitely wouldn’t bode well for customers surprised to see a new charge on their account.

So I dropped them an email letting them know of the problem. When I checked later that day, they had fixed the problem but I never got a response to my email.

So today there are 2 morals to the story:

Check Your URLs

You never know how your website URLs will be displayed offline, accessed by users, or mangled by typists. Make sure the case sensitivity bug doesn’t bite you.

Give Thanks

When customers bring bugs or problems to your attention, thank them! It does take effort to inform you of such issues. Showing appreciation will help build a stronger relationship with your customers that will, in turn, keep them loyal to your business.

Chick-fil-A restaurants know who hands over the money for meals. It isn’t the kid. It is the parent. Every time I’ve gone to Chick-fil-A, the kid’s meal boasts a book or educational toy.

Chick-fil-A’s website states the reasoning behind this fast food anomaly:

When it comes to our Kid’s Meals, the character we’re most interested in isn’t the cartoon kind. Nourishing hungry young minds and helping you promote healthy values for your child are the top priorities. Educational, character-building Kid’s Meal prizes help to bring grownups and kids together.

Recognize

Are you marketing to the wrong people? The decision to do business with you often comes down to a specific individual. Do you know who that person is? Chick-fil-A knows that parents make the decision to come to their restaurant. Do you know who is bringing their wallet to your business? Identify this person (or persons) and start focusing your efforts.

Show You Care About Customers

Chick-fil-A’s mantra for Kid’s Meals is everything a parent wants to hear:

• Nourishing hungry young minds
• Promote healthy values
• Educational
• Character-building
• Bring grownups and kids together

This directly targets the ones with the cash (parents) and encourages them to return to the business as return customers.

Strike a cord with your target customer by identifying your common beliefs, goals, and objectives. (Of course it also helps to have a great product.)

Find out what matters to this person and tailor your message to ease his or her pain. Understanding their situation will help you hone your marketing message.

Target Acquired

Make sure the decision makers are driving business to your business because you clearly explained and targeted the benefits of your service.

Buy Purple Cow

Seth Godin’s classic little purple book Purple Cow is about transforming your business by being remarkable. Why “Purple Cow?” You’ve probably seen so many cows in your life that they have become boring. You no longer pay attention to them or bubble with excitement when you see one. When is the last time you saw a purple cow? If you saw one, you’d probably pay attention.

Your business will be “purple” and remarkable if you do something different. In Purple Cow, Godin teaches several principles for making your company more successful. Some highlights include:

1. Don’t mass market. Focus on a niche. Dominate that area, and then move on to the next niche.
2. Forget traditional advertising on TV and other media. Take your advertising budget and sock it into development of a truly remarkable product.
3. You need to target innovators and early adopters with your product release. These individuals then spread the word to the mainstream public.
4. Don’t be boring. Be remarkable.
5. Take a chance on being different.
6. Once you get your “Purple Cow,” don’t just sit back and milk the cow. Start working on the next cow.

This book is a very quick read and the information is broken up into one or two page chapters that can easily be digested. Godin provides case studies of Purple Cows in numerous different industries and circumstances. He distills his main points into concise principles that can readily be scanned for later reference.

I think Purple Cow can best be summed up by Godin’s remarks at the very end of his book:

Ask, “Why not?” Almost everything you don’t do has no good reason for it. Almost everything you don’t do is the result of fear or inertia or a historical lack of someone asking, “Why not?”

Start asking “Why not?” and transform your products and services into remarkable Purple Cows.

Read more Purple Cow reviews on Amazon.com

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Today is Groundhog Day. According to legend:

It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

Do you have a Groundhog?

The famous Punxsutawney Phil emerges every year to predict what the weather will be like for the following six weeks. Phil is the official prognosticator. He analyzes the current conditions and makes his expert assessment of the short term forecast.

Your company needs a groundhog. Not a furry little mascot. You need someone who:

• observes the current business situation
• systematically evaluates business status
• outlines what the future holds
• repeats this process on a regular basis

Observations

You need to step back from your day-to-day grind and take a look at how your company is doing. Give it a checkup and take its pulse. If you’re a small business it may be easy for you to do this all by yourself. You become Punxsutawney Phil and observe the situation with finances, customers, manufacturing, and marketing. In larger companies, you may need a group of Phils to get this job done.

Systematic Evaluations

When you stop to examine your company’s health, you need an established system for measuring its performance. Keeping accurate records will help you compare today’s business with business last quarter. Do you see trends? Do you have some goals that are driving your decisions? Evaluate your performance against these targets.

Predict the Future

Based on your evaluations, you’re ready to predict six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Take the key metrics that you’ve gathered and see where your ship is headed. You should be able to determine how business will look over the next few weeks.

Schedule Your Groundhog Days

You company will fail if you only stop and evaluate once a year on Groundhog Day. You need to plan for regular business status checkups. These could be every week, month, or quarter. Keep on top the changing marketplace with weekly snapshots of your business. You can always dig deeper for monthly or quarterly reviews. Knowing the state of affairs will allow you to be prompt in responding to problems.

Eliminate Your Shadow

You want your groundhog to leave his hole on a cloudy day. This would mean spring is here and your company is doing great. Unfortunately, he sometimes sees his shadow and wants to crawl back into his hole. Business is bad and tomorrow doesn’t look much better.

Your observations and short term predictions may be glum but the future doesn’t have to turn out that way. Take control of your future by making changes today. You can force spring to come early through your innovation, hard work, and perseverance.

Happy Groundhog Day!