I’ve seen lots of “low price guarantees” while shopping recently. The premise is usually the same regardless of the institution: if you find a lower price in 30 days, we’ll match it. Or, if you’re lucky, the business will match the lower price and give you a little bonus.

So what’s the catch?

You have to do all the work.

Yes, you the customer have to diligently track prices across stores or websites and then go back to your original vendor and prove you found a lower price.

This process is tedious, time consuming, and too complicated. Companies promise you a great price knowing full well that you won’t do your homework to prove them wrong.

The price guarantee looks great, but upon further inspection is completely unfriendly to customers.

I mentioned in my Sears fiasco that they should have an automatic price guarantee. Imagine if a store’s price guarantee required no work from the customer. Imagine if the business’ database tracked purchases and automatically compared the original price with same store and competitor pricing over the next 30 days. At the end of the month, a check would be automatically printed and sent to the customers whose products were cheaper any time after the date of purchase.

Seth Godin in his book Purple Cow, talks about making your business truly remarkable. How would you feel to receive a check from a store with a note stating you qualified for their automatic price guarantee? I’d say “wow!” I’d tell my wife, my coworkers, and friends. Why? Because such proactive customer care is remarkable.

If you’re going to compete on price, you need something to differentiate you from the competition. Give your “low price guarantee” some teeth. Revitalize your current guarantee: make it automatic!

You see the same scenarios every day as you interact with customers. Patterns start to emerge and you start to make assumptions. In so doing, you may be walking into trouble and great inefficiencies.

Last week I went to renew my driver’s license at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) office. The building was crowded. I stood in a long line waiting for a single person to assist us. I watched as almost half the people ahead of me were turned away because they were in the wrong place or didn’t have the right materials.

Lesson #1: You shouldn’t have to spend human resources repeating the same information over and over again. Put up big signs where customers arrive stating the steps in your process. Put the information up on your website. Automate a branch of your phone tree to repeat these steps or other useful information when customers call.

The woman behind the counter looked at the materials in my hand (a motorcycle operator’s manual) and asked if I was there to take the motorcycle test. I explained that I had come to the office to do two things: renew my regular driver’s license and get a new motorcycle license.

Lesson #2: When you ask a question, listen to the answer. Don’t assume or guess you know what a customer will say.

She handed me a form, gave me a number, and sent me off to wait with the crowd to be called back. Thirty minutes later, my number was called and I went to another counter to be helped. I handed over my form and explained the two licenses I needed. This agent then realized I needed an additional form. She waited while I filled out the form in front of her. I could have gotten the same form when I arrived at the first counter and had plenty of time to fill it out.

Lesson #3: Failure to accurately identify and serve customers’ needs will cause inefficiencies downstream from their initial contact with your business. Because of the way businesses are often structured, the mistake of one person in one department may never come back and bite them. It will, however, hurt the next person a customer deals with. Your company may have inefficiencies galore and not even know it because the cause and effect of problems are in different departments.

The problems I encountered at the DPS office could have been resolved by two things:

1. Be proactive in communication from your organization to the customer. You know what most people ask, forget, or need. Help customers self serve by communicating to them before they wait in a line to ask you.
2. Listen to customers and don’t assume you know what they will say, need, or do. Once you confirm that this customer’s problem is the same as the last 100 people, you can recall and reuse the same solution. Be careful if the need is different, because a cookie cutter solution will lead to customer confusion and headaches for other employees.

Toyota recently became the world’s largest auto maker by outselling longstanding US giant General Motors.

On the heels of this news, I saw two TV commercials that highlight two very different ways of selling vehicles.

Ford’s commercial showed me historical images of the American past. The voice-over stated, “Others can say their truck is built in America. But can they say they helped build America?”

So if I interpret this commercial correctly, I’m supposed to buy a Ford because they have a great history. That’s nice, but what have you done for me lately?

The Toyota Tundra commercial followed and spent the time touting the features and benefits of their truck.

I can buy a Toyota truck built in San Antonio, Texas or a Honda built in Ohio. That starts to blur the lines of what is an American-made car. The appeal to my patriotic emotions becomes weak when even foreign auto makers are producing cars in my home state.

Sure, some customers will be brand loyal and buy your product even if it is inferior to others. However, new customers don’t have that loyalty. They need to be convinced to buy your product.

Your company can’t call up the glory days of the past to sell your product today. You need to continue to innovate and deliver quality or your competition will overtake you.

Patriotism may have worked in the past but it will only take you so far. As Toyota has proven, a focus on quality, innovation, and constant improvement will drive your business forward.

I got our AT&T Yahoo! internet bill this week and noticed my rates had jumped. I was surprised … and that is not a good thing.

You never want your customers to be surprised by a rate or price increase. Pleasantly surprise them all you want with price decreases, but when you’re taking more money, up-front communication is key.

Since your business costs are rising, you’ll eventually have to pass that on to the consumer. You can, and should, make this transition as pain free as possible.

Explain Why

When you deliver bad news (a price increase) with the reasoning behind it (higher gas prices, labor costs, etc.) your customers are more likely to accept the increase as inevitable and reasonable. The absence of reasoning will annoy the customer and she will assume you’re just trying to squeeze more money out of your relationship.

Advance Notice

Don’t pull a price increase out of thin air. Give your customers an advanced warning that changes are coming. Include the timeline of when changes will happen.

Lock In Previous Pricing

A price increase is a great opportunity to give your current customers a sweet deal. Give your current, and loyal, customer base the opportunity to maintain their current pricing by extending their contract or paying for some service in advance.

Open Communication Equals Retention

Once you notify customers of a price change, some may start shopping around for your competition. That is fine. If you really are providing a good service at a fair price, most of your customers will stick with you.

When you surprise customers with a price hike, even your loyal consumers will start to shop around. Why? Because they’re mad. It is a lot harder to retain angry customers.

So keep customers happy: communicate, explain, prepare, and smooth the price change transition.

Surely your business, factory, or staff can only handle a certain transaction volume. At some point, you’ll reach the physical limits of how many customers you can process at one location.

When will that time come? That may be hard to say. However, that limit will be preceeded by some really busy times.

During these busy times, you can (and should) still deliver quality service to your customers.

Break from the Norm

The last time I went through the drive-thru at fast food restaurant Chick-fil-a, it was during the lunch rush. Cars formed a long and winding snake all through the parking lot.

As I waited my turn, I saw a few Chick-fil-a employees walking down the line of cars. The first girl reached my car, well before I got to the menu board and ordering intercom.

She asked what I would like. I asked if they still had my favorite chicken sandwich. She confirmed that they did, took my order and wrote down some shorthand on a piece of paper. After handing me the paper, she pointed me on to the next employee who was waiting up ahead.

I pulled up to the next girl who took my paper and read my order out loud, translating the short hand so I could confirm that is what I wanted.

She paused for a second and then gave me my total price. It had the appearance that she pulled that number out of her head. In reality, she had a microphone hidden under her jacket and was communicating with the people inside. Very clever.

This Chick-fil-a location was about as busy as physically possible. However, the management had decided to help speed things along by thinking outside their normal operations. Traditionally, cars pull up to the menu and then take a few minutes to decide what to order. In this situation, management put employees outside and helped buffer the decision delay by walking down the line.

Be Flexible & Creative

Chick-fil-a ditched the computer and gave pens and paper to employees who had memorized the menu. A non-traditional solution to the problem at hand.

Just because your company may be squeezed into a physical location or certain time constraints doesn’t mean you can’t be creative in problem solving.

Think outside your constraints. Be creative. It is fine to go low-tech to solve your problems. High-tech or low-tech, doing what it takes to keep your customers happy will keep them coming back for more.

Today is President’s Day here in the United States and we celebrate the birthday of our first President, George Washington.

Last year, we saw the advice we’d get if George Washington was CEO of your company. This year, let’s look at how George would handle mistakes.

Gracefully Handle Mistakes

To err is natural; to rectify error is glory.

You and your business will make mistakes. This is inevitable. You can prevent some mistakes by being prepared. However, be ready to react when problems arise.

How can you “rectify error?”

• Admit the error. Don’t just ignore it or brush it aside.
• Apologize to the customer.
• Make the customer’s pre-error expectations a reality.
• Compensate the customer for the inconvenience.
• Prevent the error from happening again.

Learn Your Lesson

We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-bought experience.

There is no need to look back in despair at the mistakes of the past. You can learn from them. Your business will have the occasional fires flare up that have to be addressed. You’ll need to dedicate your resources to the immediate resolution of the issue.

Once the problem is fixed, you can look back and see what lessons there are to learn:

• Why did the error happen?
• What were the warning signs of the impending error?
• What can we change to prevent the problem from happening again?

Why is it that companies make the sign-up process as easy as possible but always seem to forget that sometimes people want to leave?

You’re Trapped

Once upon a time I had an American Express credit card. I got it for the Delta SkyMiles and when my first year was up, I didn’t want to keep it and pay the annual fee. When I called American Express, they told me that I couldn’t “cancel” my account but that they could convert me to a regular card. What? I want to “cancel,” as in close my account. I wasn’t sure how that translated to “downgrade my account” to a regular card.

No Problem

In contrast, I recently called Sporting News magazine to cancel my subscription. The agent on the phone asked if I wanted that to happen immediately or when my subscription ran out. I choose the latter and he cheerfully obliged and said that was recorded in my account. That was it.

When the call ended, I was quite shocked. He didn’t ask why I wanted to leave and never tried to persuade me to change my mind. Painless. Excellent.

Ease the Transition

Failure to provide an easy escape route for customers is like kicking them on the way out. Will they ever return? Probably not.

What if you were nice to canceling customers? What if you even helped them cancel and move on? The customer is then left with a good experience that makes it that much easier to return to your business.

Take a look at a few other cancellation process examples in action:

• Excellent: Feedburner’s step-by-step guide to canceling (including how they help along the way)
• Good and Bad: Netflix (good) vs. Audible (bad)
• Bad: 1&1 Hosting Cancellation

Don’t burn your bridges with customers because they may need your services again. When that time comes, they will think of you. How they think of you will determine if they come back or head down the street to the competition.

Choose wisely how you want to be remembered.

My dear wife is a working mom: her full-time job is taking care of our two boys. She recently had an adventure at our local grocery store, HEB:

I had to run to the grocery store on an exceptionally busy day. I was trying to keep stress levels down by recognizing that the store would probably be busy, I would probably need to park a little farther away than I like, and I would probably need to wait in a long line, etc.

Once we got there, I started to feel pretty smug. I was maneuvering the extra long cart (yes, the one with the race car attachment so our oldest boy would stay in it) up and down the aisle with speed and agility! We were blowing through our list with amazing rapidity! We even found an efficient cashier who was moving her customers through so we had little time to wait in line. I could see I was going to make it under my budget allotment, and our son was just seconds away from getting his customary balloon (the only way I can get him to put his shoes on to go to the store in the first place!). It was turning out to be a great trip to the store.

Until I went to pay for the groceries. Yes, that’s right. In my haste to get shoes on, jackets on, boys loaded into car seats, remember the diaper bag, remember my grocery list, and find my keys, I had left my wallet on the counter. I had absolutely nothing with which I could pay for my groceries. Ughrrr… The efficient cashier assured me that this sort of thing happens all the time, told me I could go home and get my wallet and come back and pay for my groceries which would be sitting at cash register 12. Okay, minor setback. I could deal with this. It was a little inconvenient but at least they were nice about it!

We snagged a balloon on the way out and I hustled the boys out to the car and into their car seats. After all, we had milk and apple juice concentrate sitting in a cart in the store. Time was of the essence! Again, in my haste, I managed to knock the balloon out of my son’s hand. My little guy was frantically signing “Please, please, please!” as he pointed to the balloon (which was now getting smaller) and said over and over, “Bah, bah, bah!” I felt so badly that I wished for a moment I had my Super-Mom cape with me so I could blast off and rescue it.

Well, the story has a happy ending. I was able to get home, get my wallet, go back for my groceries, and get home again in under 15 minutes, and we even got another balloon.

What do you do when your customer can’t pay for your product? Do you know the circumstances behind this forgetfulness?

The grocery store cashier in this story did three great things:

1. Reassure the customer that this happens all the time. Forgetting to bring your wallet can be a very embarrassing experience. Don’t aggravate the situation. Be calm and understanding.
2. Explain what the customer should do. In the midst of an embarrassing and frustrating situation, the customer may not be able to suggest alternatives. Give the customer an escape route or options they can take.
3. Look out for your company. For the most part people are honest and trustworthy. However, you need to be sure you’re also protecting the interests of your company. If you know a customer and trust them, you can always let them come back and pay later. If not, then hold on to the merchandise and let them return with payment.

As a customer, have you ever forgotten the money or been unable to pay for something? How did the business respond?

As a business, how do you deal with situations where the customer forgets the necessary payment?

I attended an Eagle Court of Honor this weekend. This event honors a young man when he achieves the rank of Eagle Scout, Boy Scouting’s highest rank.

I, too, am an Eagle Scout and greatly value the lessons learned in Scouting. Boy Scouts learn and recite the Scout Law, whose principles have direct applicability to your business.

Trustworthy

A Scout tells the truth. He keeps his promises. Honesty is part of his code of conduct. People can depend on him.

Honesty and integrity must be key components of your business. Customers need companies to be dependable. They need your products to be reliable and live up to your pre-sales marketing claims.

Loyal

A Scout is true to his family, Scout leaders, friends, school, and nation.

Your company has many stakeholders that deserve your loyalty. Stay true to your agreements and contracts, and in particular with customers, employees, shareholders, and suppliers.

Helpful

A Scout is concerned about other people. He does things willingly for others without pay or reward.

What noble cause is driving your business? It is easier to resonate with customers when you are trying to better their lives in some way. In business, we need to make money. If you join being sincerely helpful with your financial objectives, you’ll have a powerful combination.

Friendly

A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts. He seeks to understand others. He respects those with ideas and customs other than his own.

Do you collaborate with your peers? What can you learn from other companies in your industry? The more you open up and share your expertise with others, the more respected you’ll become. Keeping all your knowledge to yourself will ultimately stagnate how much you can grow.

Courteous

A Scout is polite to everyone regardless of age or position. He knows good manners make it easier for people to get along together.

Courteous customer service is mandatory. Unfortunately, this is so uncommon today that even showing a few good manners will differentiate you from others.

Kind

A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated.

The golden rule is so easy to say but often hard to live. In business, many of our objectives are often very selfish. We want to grow revenues. We want to look good for the boss. These motivations may sometimes put a dark shadow over our ability to be kind to others. Our customers may appear to be only a means to the end objectives. However, you must still treat them with kindness and respect.

Customers may be only numbers in your spreadsheets, but each one is an individual that has one-on-one interactions with you and your company. Treat them like real people and not numbers.

Obedient

A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country.

Are you following the laws of the land? The still fresh news stories of corporate corruption at places like Enron and WorldCom must not continue.

Cheerful

A Scout looks for the bright side of things. He cheerfully does tasks that come his way. He tries to make others happy.

Happy employees lead to happy customers. It is much easier to spend money when you are happy. Happy customers will buy from you and become return customers.

Thrifty

A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for unforeseen needs. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property.

Avoid waste in any form. Responsible usage of your resources will reduce costs and increase efficiency. You never know when a surprise will catch your company off guard. Prepare contingencies for disasters. Try to finance your business from its cash flows and not outside debt. The shackles of debt will severely restrict you during hard times.

Brave

A Scout can face danger even if he is afraid. He has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him.

Your innovative ideas may sound very strange to others. You’ll probably have to take some risks to prove your ideas. People will mock you and others will scorn you. Do you have what it takes to endure this ridicule until your product finally proves its worth?

Clean

A Scout keeps his body and mind fit and clean. He goes around with those who believe in living by these same ideals. He helps keep his home and community clean.

Many people judge you and your business on first appearances. Keep your store clean. Dress professionally. Guard your vocabulary and speech. Cleanliness will allow customers to immediately feel comfortable doing business with you. Throw in a sprinkling of community service and people will realize you can’t be all bad if you’re a good neighbor and citizen.

Reverent

A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.

Despite the fact that society seems to be removing all references to God from public places, people still hold their respective religions very dear. Respect those beliefs and see how your business can allow employees and customers to worship, or not, as they see fit.

One of the Few

According to official Scout statistics, only approximately 5 percent of Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Living the principles discussed here will be readily apparent to your employees, customers, and peers. They will trust you, buy from you, and bring their friends to do business with you.

Can your business reach the elite status that will come through living the principles of the Scout Law?

The new calendar year is upon us and the Chinese Zodiac, which starts the new year February 18th, marks the Year of the Pig.

According to the Chinese calendar…

Intellectually curious, honest and tolerant, those born in the Year of the Pig can be relied upon for their loyalty and often make true friends for life.

[The Pig’s] main goal in life is in serving others, and no matter how difficult circumstances become the Pig will never waiver or retreat, forging ahead in the sure knowledge that all will be well. source

We can learn some great traits from the Pig. Let’s see how they can benefit our businesses this year.

1. Continue Learning

Stay “intellectually curious” throughout the coming year. Read good books, magazines, blogs, and publications. Take your kids to the library. Try to learn something new everyday. If you stop learning, the world will pass you by as you become the obsolete dinosaur.

2. Honesty

Irregardless of the circumstances, you must remain honest in all your dealings. At times this may be difficult but making the right choice must always outweigh any perceived short term benefits of cheating the system.

3. Tolerant

How high is your threshold for others’ mistakes? Do you give them the benefit of the doubt or immediately throw down the hammer? Be tolerant of others. You may probably never know the circumstances that have lead to the current mishap. As Stephen Covey has counseled, “seek first to understand…then to be understood.”

4. Loyal

Where should your loyalties lie? Shakespeare wrote: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” In business you should be loyal to your company, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and especially your customers. Imagine if, like the Pig, you become the “friend for life” to your customers. How would that impact their loyalty to your business?

5. Serve Others

By putting the interests of others before yourself, people will be attracted to you and this will naturally lead to better relationships–both professionally and personally.

6. Unwaivering

Stay faithful to your goals and objectives for the new year. Be persistent in working hard to accomplish them. Distractions will arise and obstacles will trip you. However, stay agile in your response and persistent in your progress.

7. Eternally Optimistic

You’ll never be able to accomplish great things if you’re always second guessing yourself. You can get things done but you must visualize the happy ending you’re chasing. Sprinkle your optimism with a dose of reality so that while your goals may be ambitious, they are still achievable.

Happy New Year! May the coming year bring much success and happiness to you and yours.