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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke **** Feel free to forward this eNewsletter to others. **** IN THIS ISSUE 1. NEWS YOU CAN USE 2. ARROGANCE LEADS TO DISASTER 3. HOW TO GET YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED 4. WINNING ACTION STEPS 5. FREE STUFF AND HOLIDAY SPECIAL 6. HUMOR BREAK 7. CONTACT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ======================================================== REALITY CHECK You only arrive at [a "killer"] invention when somebody develops a method that everybody else has already decided was obviously WRONG. -- Jack Kilby (Inventor of the microchip) ======================================================== 1. NEWS YOU CAN USE ======================================================== ENCOURAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES' TO COME UP WITH WRONG IDEAS On Dec. 10, 2000 Jack S Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. What's unique about this is that Mr. Kilby flunked the math entrance exam at MIT and is not even a physicist. That did not prevent him from coming up with "the most valuable invention of the past half-century," an invention that has launched "a trillion-dollar global market in digital tools and improved the life of almost everyone on Earth. This quiet, unassuming man, who virtually no one has heard of, invented the semiconductor integrated circuit, better known as the microchip that launched the "Information Age." What enabled Mr. Kilby to come up with a "killer solution" to the "interconnections or the wiring problem" - the problem of designing circuits without miles and miles of wires and millions of soldered connections was his "ignorance." In Mr. Kilby's words: "I was the ignorant freshman in the field. I didn't know what everybody else considered impossible, so I didn't rule anything out." So instead of wires and connections Mr. Kilby realized on Sep. 12, 1958 that all the basic elements of a circuit could be made of one and the same material, silicon. And the rest is history. According to Mr. Kilby here is how you come up with innovative ideas: Step 1: Define the problem to be solved accurately. (A lot more difficult than it sounds). Step 2: Tune out all the obvious solutions. Ignore what you think of first, it will likely not work. According to Kilby "if the problem is of any importance the obvious solutions will have been tried already." Instead you have to focus on the "method that everybody else has already decided was obviously WRONG." SOLUTION: Encourage your employees to play with WRONG ideas. Source: The Washington Post Magazine, 12/10/00, pp. 20-21, 28. MOST COMPANIES WILL OFFER YEAR-END BONUSES Despite recent rumblings about a projected downturn in the American economy, a majority of companies still plan to offer year-end bonuses to their employees this year. According to a survey by Management Recruiters International, Inc. (MRI), of 3,200 executives surveyed, 61.8% said they will offer year-end bonuses to their employees. "Besides saying 'thank-you' to employees, year-end bonuses can play a pivotal role in boosting employee retention and recruitment," said Allen Salikof, president and CEO of MRI. "While some of the more extreme employee incentives - such as new cars or sky-high stock options - have gone by the wayside over the last year, employers recognize the importance of offering year-end bonuses as part of a total compensation package. These more traditional compensation packages, which often include the bonus, as well as solid health and medical benefits, for example, can be essential to building and retaining a strong employee base. ACTION STEP: Share the wealth during this season of giving. Source: Management Recruiters International, Inc., Cleveland, OH (www.BrilliantPeople.com) CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION HIGHEST IN MORE THAN A DECADE The number of customer service complaints to Better Business Bureaus nationwide has increased from about 1 million in 1995 to over 3 million in 1999. Number one on the nationwide list are franchised automobile dealers with close to 18,000 complaints (see story below), followed by computer dealers, home furnishing stores and automobile repair shops with about half the number of complaints. SOLUTION: 1. Publicly reward and recognize employees who take extraordinary care of customers. (What you reward and recognize is what you get.) 2. Closely measure and monitor customer satisfaction. (What gets measured gets done.) 3. Provide your employees with the tools and training that enables them to exceed the customers' expectations. That includes treating your employees like customers. (You can't give away what you don't have.) Source: Council of Better Business Bureaus ======================================================= 2. ARROGANCE LEADS TO DISASTER by Wolf J. Rinke, PhD, CSP ======================================================= Recently "Superwoman," that's Marcela, my wife of 32 years, and I were car shopping. It was time to replace Marcela's 1984 Mercedes Benz Diesel. Even though it had 180,000 miles, virtually all original parts -- including shocks, exhaust system etc. -- nothing was wrong with it. (But that's another article on "Where has all the quality gone.") However, Marcela wanted something new, plus something that would be more dependable in the snow and ice. To get ourselves familiar with the current offerings we stopped by the local Chrysler dealer to look at the "hot" PT Cruiser. They had two on the lot, which was very exciting because the other dealers that we had visited had only pictures. First thing that happened, we were totally ignored while browsing on the lot. (It never fails to amaze me how little excellent customer service there is especially in the auto retail business.) Being unable to get into the car, we walked into the show room. The "let's pretend we are too busy game" continued. So we walked up to the first sales desk which was occupied by a salesman doing - you guessed it - absolutely nothing! "We'd like to look at the PT Cruiser" I said. "They are right out there," the not-so-friendly salesman said pointing to the cars in front of the showroom. We told him that we had seen the cars, but would like to test drive one, or at least sit in one. "I can't let you do that" he said, puffing-up his chest in an arrogant manner. Incredulous I asked why. "They are waiting to be picked up by customers," he answered. When we said that it did not have to be those, any PT Cruiser would do. He said, in a "Hey I'm doing you a big favor" manner "I don't have any. You can put your name on this list. There are about 150 people ahead of you, and when it is your turn, we'll let you know." When we explained that we were not ready to order a car, all we wanted to do is sit in one and possibly test drive it, he told us that he could not help us. (Yes, you read correctly!) About the same time Rick Maurer, a professional colleague and author of Building Capacity for Change Sourcebook (2000) and Beyond the Wall of Resistance (1996) sent me the following words of wisdom from Lester Thurow (professor of management and economics at MIT) who penned these fascinating thoughts in a Boston Globe article on 10/3/00. Leaders at Nokia told Thurow 10 reasons they dominate the cellular telephone market. Number one on the list was speed, but that's not uncommon these days. Number six was humbleness and ten was luck. Thurow writes, "Humbleness means that no matter how good you are, you recognize that you have a long way to go before you're really good and that you recognize that no matter how good you are, a lot of your success is traceable to good luck. Arrogance - 'We make no mistakes' and 'We're on top because we are good' - is the opposite of humbleness and always leads to disaster. And in the late 1980s, no one was more arrogant about their quality control than the Japanese." Thurow looked at the Bridgestone-Firestone tragedy, Mitsubishi's covering up auto defects for years, and the milk company, Snow Brand, poisoning people by recycling returned milk, as examples. Thurow says, "Arrogance does not just make you sloppy. It also means when you find a mistake you can't admit it." When's the last time you saw humbleness or luck listed as major reasons why a company was successful? Thurow believes that humbleness is the most important of Nokia's core values, since it is the antidote to the sin of arrogance. Humbleness has obviously not been taught to Chrysler distributors, at least not the ones we dealt with. They got a "hot car" with temporary high demand that has led the sales staff at this dealership to be arrogant - more interested to puff out their chest, instead of finding out what other cars we might be interested to look at. (According to Carl Sewell of Sewell Cadillac every car customer has a sales potential of - are you ready for this - $332,000.) Now whether the lack of humbleness of this one dealership has anything to do with the dramatic downturn of Chrysler's stock in recent months I certainly don't know. However, lets put it this way, Marcela and I walked out of the Chrysler showroom less than happy with a commitment that we would never buy a Chrysler no matter how good their cars. We took $332,000 of potential sales next door to the Toyota dealer where we were treated like "customers." (WOW, what a shock!) And since research tells us that people have a habit of spreading bad customer service stories to an average of 11 other people - obviously I'm much more prolific - you don't have to be a mathematician to figure out the negative impact on that Chrysler dealer's bottom line. Now before you get too comfortable claiming righteous indignation, let's talk about YOU, your sales team and your employees, especially if you are prospering in this "new economy." Do all of you consume ample portions of "humble pie" on an on-going basis? And is that reflected in the way your customers (that includes your employees) are being treated??? If not, you will prove Thurow correct because "arrogance ... always leads to disaster." -------------------------------------------------------- *** NEW ** NEW ** WEB BASED TRAINING ** NEW ** NEW *** Now you and your employees can receive training the convenient and inexpensive way by enrolling on-line in a wide variety of courses. From management development to sexual harassment. All training can be tracked. Try it out for FREE today! You won't believe how easy and effective it is. Simply click on http://www.WolfRinke.com/mgttraining.html
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION, SUGGESTION OR A MANAGEMENT SUCCESS STORY? We are getting some great success stories from our subscribers, and would like to hear yours. Every story we use receives a FREE gift. Mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com. ======================================================= 3. HOW TO GET YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED ======================================================= High employee turnover? **** Low customer satisfaction? Unproductive employees? ** Low morale? ** Lack of trust? **** Resistance to change **** Poor communication? ****
Our high impact consulting services and customized management and personal development training will solve these and other "people" problems! Call us at 800-828-9653 or mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com to
********* Tired of the same boring meetings? ********* Would you like your next meeting, retreat or conference to be a "howling success"? Contact us. Dr. Rinke is a highly effective motivational and management keynote speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that combine story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how to" action strategies that participants can apply immediately to improve the quality of their personal and professional lives. Call him at 800-828-9653 or mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com ======================================================== 4. WINNING ACTION STEPS ======================================================== GET OFF YOUR PEDESTAL Make sure the next story you tell your team members describes how you've messed up.
BANISH THE FOLLOWING From your language, your thoughts and all of your meetings: "WeÕve always (never) done it that way"; "ItÕs not invented here"; "It canÕt be done"; "We've tried that" etc.
CUSTOMERS WANT: - To be acknowledged - Friendly, caring people - To feel important - Undivided attention - To be listened to - To be treated like an individual - Flexibility - Solutions - To be appreciated - Their needs met - To be satisfied Now make sure that you and everyone in your organization gives customers what they want. Your and your team members livelihood depends on it!!! ======================================================== 5. FREE STUFF AND HOLIDAY SPECIAL ======================================================== *** JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS - THE PERFECT GIFT *** Unique * Everyone will love it * Inexpensive * Never outdates Make It a Winning Life Perpetual Desk Calendar by W. J. Rinke This unique desk calendar gives words of wisdom and inspiration every day of the year! PLUS easy to apply action steps to help make the message a reality! Best of all at the end of the year, turn it over and use it again, and again . . . Truly a unique gift that keeps on giving ... FOREVER! $$$$$$$$$$ 4 Calendars for ONLY $30 + $4.50 S/H $$$$$$$$$$$ ---------- Regular Price $51.80 You SAVE $21.80 ----------- ------------- One Calendar $12.95 + $2.00 S/H ------------- ***** 100% UNCONDITIONAL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. ***** Order NOW! Offer expires 1/15/2001. Call 800-828-9653 or http://www.WolfRinke.com/MIWL.html For FREE articles, inspirational messages and other money saving offers on books, audio and video tapes that will help you succeed FASTER visit our website: http://www.WolfRinke.com ======================================================== 6. HUMOR BREAK ======================================================== THE GIFT John wanted to buy his wife a beautiful ring for the holidays. "How much is this gorgeous diamond ring?" he asked the salesperson at his local jeweler. "That one is a beauty and it is just a little less than $5,000" said the salesperson. "That's a bit much. How about that one?" said John pointing to a smaller diamond ring. "That's just a bit less than $3000." "That's still too much," complained John. "What I'd like to see is something really cheap," said John. The salesperson handed him a mirror. ======================================================== 7. CONTACT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ======================================================== Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP President Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc. P.O. Box 350 Clarksville, MD 21029-0350 USA (410) 531-9280, Fax (410) 531-9282 For orders in the US (800) 828-WOLF (9653) Email: Mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com Website: http://www.WolfRinke.com If this was forwarded to you and you would like to receive your own FREE subscription mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com and type the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject box. To remove yourself from this mailing list, please type the word UNSUBSCRIBE WM in the subject box. PRIVACY STATEMENT: We will not make your name available to anyone. Period!
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