Entrepreneurs often think they must do whatever they can to satisfy their customers. But satisfied customers defect all the time, and if you want to derive a competitive advantage from the product or service experience you offer, it's not enough to satisfy people--you need to impress them.
That's what success in business really comes down to: Delivering experiences that people don't enjoy just in the moment, but also remember well into the future--thereby cultivating the repurchase and referral behaviour that's the lifeblood of any organization.

The Ultimate Customer Experience

The last thing that happens in an interaction has a disproportionate influence on people's overall impression and memory of the experience (a consequence of the "recency bias," as it's known in psychology).
To help end on a high note, conclude calls, meetings, e-mails, and any other type of interaction with a recap of what specifically you're committing to do to help the person you're serving. This will instill confidence in your customer, showing them that you have everything under control.

Recap Commitments

When making commitments--be it to call someone, deliver a proposal, or provide requested information--don't promise to get back to people "soon" or "shortly," because those terms mean different things to different people. 
In most business contexts, ambiguity is the enemy. Uncertainty deprives people of what's known in psychology circles as "perceived control," and, as a result, it makes the experience feels less pleasant. Avoid ambiguity by proactively communicating a specific time or date when you'll be in touch, and then honour that commitment.

Set Clear and Time-Based Expectations

"I can help you with that." If you confidently utter those words to a customer or an employee who comes to you for assistance, it immediately changes the tenor of the interaction. 
To the person on the receiving end, it's a signal of ownership and advocacy--an indication that someone is taking personal accountability for addressing their needs. That makes customers feel heard, understood, and cared for--emotional cues that help cement the memory of the encounter in their heads. Be sure to not just signal ownership, but to actually take ownership.

The Five Words To Take Ownership

Imagine submitting a purchase inquiry through a "Contact Us" form on a business's website--and then hearing back from a company rep within minutes. Exceptional responsiveness is a rarity in today's world, and when we encounter something novel and unexpected, our brain is biochemically primed to forge long-term memories about that experience. 
People often like to create the illusion that they're busier than they are, so they sit on that e-mail, text, or voicemail for a while, making their customer or colleague wait.

Be Super Responsive

If you work in a retail environment, be sure someone is greeting customers within 10 feet or 10 seconds of entering the store. That simple act of making eye contact and acknowledging the customer with a prompt and courteous greeting (even if just to say "I'll be with you in about five minutes") sends an important signal: We care about you and your patronage. 
The greeting helps to immediately personalize the experience, making customers feel more welcome and appreciated. They'll remember that the next time they consider visiting your store.

Greet Customers Right Away

Stop satisfying customers and start impressing them.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

business

Business

5 Psychology-Based Ways to Make Customers Obsessed With Your Product

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

From women entrepreneurs and city hubs to quotes by Nelson Mandela and Marie Curie, witness the journeys and thought leadership in Indian entrepreneurship 

startup

Startups

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

“The greatest glory in living..

<ul><li>Digest, you are no longer a part of your current firm and your monthly in-hand will completely be dried up in the next couple of months (depending on your firm’s HR policy) if you don’t have any secondary source of income. The sooner you train your mind and body with this reality the better your chances become to fight.</li><li>Pro Tip: Don’t spend your resources in getting back to the HR/Managers as this won’t be of any help since the decision is already made and there are very fine to no chances of rebuttable.</li></ul>

Digest, you are a part of layoff program

Be honest with yourself, family, friends and professional network. There’s no harm in announcing (probably on all your social handles) that you are open for opportunities, who knows what’s waiting for you on the other side. If you want to change your industry, business role or even upgrade yourself, this would be the best time to hit that nail.Pro Tip: Make sure you keep conversing with your family and friends, if condition allows, schedule a visit to the ones with whom you love spending time. Keeping your mind at peace and relaxed will def help creative solutions to flow in.

Be Honest!

Can’t emphasise enough the importance of sending cold emails, LinkedIn connection requests or maybe joining Facebook groups. Remember, before sending any cold text it is important to gain understanding about the firm, role, etc, and prepare your job application/resume in accordance with the company’s vision and requirement.Pro Tip: Create cover letters, resumes (and customise your resume as per need of the role for which you are applying) briefly explaining your skillsets and how this you would be able to connect dots for your career/personal progression if you join this role/company.

Send cold emails to all the recruiters/connections in your network.

Interesting to read if you are ever a part of layoff program and are now ready to bounce back! 

With changing market conditions and business requirements, firms do bulk layoffs to keep striving for their core objectives. Here are ways to bounce back!

career

Career

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

communication

Communication

Guide to Bounce Back if you are a part of any layoff program

why it is being said,"First impression is last long"Why it is not being said as first expression?"Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value" -Albert Einstein

Life Is All About Express Not To Impress.

Let me give you certain examples;Consider youself seating as an interviewer ,what you will do ? Expressing your ideas or impressing your interviewer .needless to say you have to do both these things simultaneously."Leaving an impression matters than leaving an expression"Realistic impressions:People will attract towards your talent , if you can leave a good impression in their mind.This involves several factors your behaviour, character, your talking style , your dedications, commitments..etc

Think yourself as an investor ,Whom will you give investments a person with disciplined ,skilled communicator and realistic person with a good plan or only a person only with a good + plan?what you would you like to listen your dad is a kind hearted person or your dad is a greedy billionaire? That impression was acheived by your dad in this society ,Impression meaning is not only to show up, It is a sum of characterstics and expressions to leave a deep message in someone's mind.Behaviour ,politeness ,potential matters these are all realistic things that a person can acheive it.

Unrealistic impressions:Try to Go through lovers point of view ;How many men told their girls,I will buy a land in your name in moon😂😂 ,How many boys tell their girlfriends we will visit world's end or... . I think a few may did it, quite funny...ha ..ha... Both of you know it's so hard to achieve.But you did it just to show her she is special for you."Where there is love there are ways to get unrealistic impressions"Not only love but also every types of feelings ; some people used to say their child "chup hoja warna dirt main phek dunga"

They are also leaving an impression in their child's mind that they are cruel ,aggressive,deadly & have no mercy.Although they can't throw their child but they are showing a negetive direction to their children."Life is all about both impression and expression"

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Life is all about

Ever wonder how people come up with the proverbial big idea ? They work at it!Leaders aren’t just dreamers - they are doers.Successful leaders are nothing if not persistent, committed individuals who understand potential is of little value if said potential fails to be realized.

Relentless Pursuit

Leaders who pursue game changer attitude have no patience for the status quo - they focus their efforts on shattering the status quo. The message here is a simple one - Don't copy create. Don't just play the game - change the game. The goal is to create, improve on, and innovate around best practices in order to find next practices.

Be Original 

Leaders possess a refined blend of intrinsic curiosity and extrinsic focus. Perhaps most of all, game changing leaders are in touch with a greater purpose - they understand the value of serving something beyond themselves. If you want to be a real game changer have a purpose that serves, improves, helps, and inspires.

Develop A Clear Purpose

The following 6 steps represents process for finding and implementing game changer attitude– SMARTSSimpleMeaningfulActionableRelationalTransformationalScalable

Steps To Achieve The Above

At one time or another all great leaders experience something so big and so impactful it literally changes the landscape - it’s what I call a “Game Changer.” A game changer is that ah-ha moment where you see something others don’t. It’s the transformational magic that takes organizations from ordinary to [...]

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

problemsolving

Problem Solving

Steps for being a Game Changer

As you go through your day, various ideas pop into your head. If they’re solid, holding onto them doesn’t do you any good. Get them out of your head as soon as you can, for two reasons.

Have ideas, but don’t hold onto them

First, it’s a waste of head space to hold onto them. Toss your ideas into <a href="https://www.mickmel.com/whats-your-system-for-disposable-notes/">your disposable notes system</a>, and then ideally into your long-term <a href="https://www.mickmel.com/do-you-really-trust-your-system/">trusted</a> system. As David Allen says, “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them”. Record them, share them, use them.

Head space

Second, no one is going to steal your idea. It can be scary to share a great idea because you’re worried someone might take it, but that’s almost certainly not going to happen.

No one will steal it

If you have an idea that you think is the greatest idea the world has ever heard, chances are, so has someone else. The difference that makes the difference is if you can actually carry it out and put it into existence. Raise your hand if you’ve actually stopped what you are doing to create a new business from someone else’s idea. No? It’s because starting a business takes an enormous amount of time and resources. People don’t just drop what they’re doing to steal your idea, and even if they did – they won’t do it the same way you would.

Bringing a product to market takes a huge investment of time, energy and money. This means that if a person wanted to capitalize on your idea, they would need to stop current endeavors and refocus their life on this new task. It is highly unlikely that the person you are sharing your idea with would want to do that. Also the type of person that would completely change their life course on a whim, probably lacks the focus necessary for executing the idea in the first place.

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.

Get your ideas out there. Share your viewpoints, share your goals, share your thoughts on that great product you’ve been dreaming of. Getting helpful feedback is crucial to developing any idea you have, whether it’s a business concept or a new widget you want to build, so take it out of your head and see where it goes.

As you go through your day, various ideas pop into your head. If they're solid, holding onto them doesn't do you any good. Get them out of your head as soon as you can, for two reasons: First, it's a waste of head space to hold onto them. Toss your…

writing

Reading & Writing

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Have ideas, but don't hold onto them

Routines come easy and don't require much thought. We know which ones are beneficial, such as regular sleep and exercise. We also know which aren't so good for us, like overstressing or smoking. But habits are hard to break. Companies also have habits. Some keep you afloat, while others might be holding you back. Companies can learn new habits, but not without effort. However, we can stick with something long enough to become a habit when we are motivated.

Not all company habits are profitable

Consumer engagement: The habit of regularly seeking customer input does not necessarily drive profitable growth. To do that, you need economic understanding. Companies with a widespread working knowledge of economics are more profitable. This is because a good habit requires you to know where you're starting and where you're going. When employees understand where the company stands, they can track progress or decline.

Some habits are consistently linked to performance

Economic compensation gives employees a shared stake in the results and makes them economic partners. This encourages good habits that drive profitable growth. It also creates a real team environment because it aligns motivation for owners, managers, and employees.

Economic compensation

Turnover and continuous improvement activities are tracked. Relying on superficial incentives doesn't change a hired hand into a trusted partner. When employees are treated like trusted partners, they think and act like owners.

Employee participation

Not all company habits are profitable. Changing habits is hard, but some things can motivate us to develop winning habits.

The question is, which habits are profitable?

Companies, Like People, Have Habits

Retailers give a lot of thought to where they display products in their stores. Research shows that customers prefer premium brands when their logos are positioned above the customer. For example, customers value premium watches kept deep inside a glass cabinet more than those kept at eye level. But the question is if it is the distance or the height that has this effect on customers.

Understanding customer preference

Research found that consumers are more likely to favour premium brands associated with luxury, high price, and prestige when viewed from a distance. In contrast, common brands associated with accessibility, value, and warmth are desired when viewed from up close.  There is not an ideal distance. The research shows that the proper distance between consumers and products depends on the image the brand conveys.

Close and popular, far and luxurious

When we see something from a distance, we view it as luxurious, and by the same association, when we see something luxurious, we think it is further away. <ul><li>In one experiment, participants who viewed a premium leather backpack from a distance thought it was more prestigious. </li><li>In a second experiment, participants viewed a trendy canvas backpack as more popular when viewing it from a distance of three feet compared to five feet.</li></ul>

The association between image and distance

In a final real-world test, researchers found that ads that showed a premium diffuser further from the model outperformed ads that showed the premium diffuser closer to the model. The popular/close ad beat the popular/far ad. Marketers can leverage the relationship between distance and brand image in ads, window displays or store designs by putting distance between customers and luxury brands and less space between customers and popular brands.

Match the strategy of the brand

New research finds that how far we are from a product influences what we think of it.

New research finds that how far we’re standing from a product changes what we think of it.

Does Distance Make the Consumer’s Heart Grow Fonder?

What defines an organization is that it says "no" more than "yes." That's because creativity is a double-edged sword. While new ideas get the juices flowing and get people excited, they also come with a real cost.
What's far more complex, is finding the capacity inside the organization to chase down that new idea. When an organization decides to pursue a new idea, it's forced to make a difficult decision. How should they go about tackling the unique opportunity? The answer is "Kill 2 and Add 1."

Kill 2 and Add 1

Few, if any, organizations have extra staff sitting on the bench, waiting idly for the next new opportunity to come along. To properly chase down that new opportunity, the organization must divert people and resources from somewhere else. And that's when the trouble starts.To make the new idea come to fruition, management might ask the team to work extra hours or find ways to become more efficient to get the work done.

The Need for Focus

The real danger here is that the more ideas you have your team chasing, not only will they risk burnout, but you will also lose focus. While it might seem like a lot of activity is happening, nothing is getting done. Every organization needs three areas of focus. Otherwise, management has committed the cardinal sin of diluting its resources.

The Real Danger

Many organizations turn to one common strategy to substitute one initiative for another. If the priority is to chase the new idea, for example, management specifies another area that should be killed off: add 1; kill 1.While this approach might make sense, it doesn't do enough to move the needle. Often it involves adding a significant new initiative and then killing off something small and inconsequential. You've still left your team under-resourced and over-burdened. They still have too many priorities to focus on.

Identifying Priorities

the most focused and effective organizations rely on what we might call the "Kill 2; Add 1" approach. In other words, if you want the team to chase down a new opportunity, then they also need to stop doing two other initiatives.While that might seem draconian, it's the overlooked secret to helping teams keep focused and effective in ways where they can execute--fast.

Doing More with Less

The discipline of removing two ideas for each one you add will provide an increasing focus for your team. Focus means the projects really matter and they will tend to get done faster, and the company gets the benefit earlier. So, the next time someone on your team comes to you with a new idea to chase, smile. And then ask the question: "OK, but what two things are we going to kill first before we start this?"The answers you get in response will go a long way to helping your team become a lean and focused execution machine.

Sustainable Innovation

productivity

Productivity

strategy

Strategy

A Simple Strategy for Keeping Your Team Focused

Culture change is probably on your leadership agenda. You may want (or feel forced) to create a post-pandemic culture or become more collaborative, innovative, or aggressive.
But most companies fail in this because they try to change culture directly—through speeches, training programs, or direct intervention in meetings.
Dantley Davis, the new vice-president of design at Twitter, asked employees in a meeting to critique each other. The idea was that tough criticism would help. Instead, people ended up feeling insulted and angry.

Beyond Inspirational Speeches

Pain is part of the cost of successful knee surgery, but that doesn’t mean banging someone on the knee with a hammer is successful knee surgery. Culture is how a group does the things it does. It changes because people start doing things differently or start doing different things. The causality doesn’t go the other way.You first need to change how the company is organized, managed, and led in light of its strategic goals. The goals themselves may need to change. A new culture then emerges as a byproduct of these changes.

Changing Company Culture

Company culture cannot be changed by attacking it.Culture gets changed by doing real work in line with the new strategy, a new governance model, business processes, or performance management systems. Not much happens from pure culture conversations because they don’t result in a clear idea of what needs to change and how it will be changed to reinforce key strategic priorities.

Culture Is The Barrier To Change The Culture

When Allan Mullaly took over Ford in 2006, he faced a culture of competition between units rather than cooperation on strategic goals. Instead of chasing shadows by trying to change attitudes and culture directly, Mullaly created cross-unit meetings to identify and solve major business problems. 
Focusing on changing the way work was done to solve concrete business problems inevitably changed the norms for collaboration—that is, the culture.

The Ford Example

A Strategic Fitness Process (SFP) results in a “conversation” that’s honest (with the whole truth on the table), collective (involving key people across the organization) and transparent (nothing is hidden—neither the process nor what senior management learned and plans to change).SFP has proven a powerful tool because it not only changes how work is done and with whom, but also increases commitment to dramatic change and the trust that is essential to such a commitment.

Strategic Fitness Process (SFP) 

Skip the inspirational speeches and culture committees. Meaningful culture change comes about only when companies rethink how they manage, lead, and pursue strategic goals, says Michael Beer.

To Change Your Company's Culture, Don't Start by Trying to Change the Culture

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