“There’s no place like home.”
Dorothy, fresh from her murderous rampage through the Land of Oz, awakens to find herself surrounded by her family. Bewildered, she begins to recount her story to the group. They’re happy she’s ok, but for the most part, to them, they can’t believe any of the fantastic bits of story they hear.
She tries telling Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, but they shrug her off. Dorothy recites some dope poetry to Chandler, Ross and Rachel, but they don’t really pay any attention. I think Scrappy-Doo was in there somewhere but he couldn’t be bothered with all that nonsense.
It was so real for Dorothy, but it’s just a story to them.
Recently I had a consulting meeting with a general manager who proceeded to tell me all about how great his company is and how he couldn’t understand why there was a morale problem in his office.
To him, it was an incredibly special place where he spent the last twenty years of his career. He and his leadership team had pivotal meetings with the owners where they received much-needed guidance and, often times, praise. They, in turn, were rewarded with special dinners and box seats to concerts, sporting events and other incentives to go along with their much deserved high salaries and company perks. In down times, they were given pep talks and brainstorm sessions to help get them back on track. The team was given a chance to make course corrections to get back on track. They felt a part of something special; a place that actually cared for them.
What an incredible place! Why, he wondered out loud to me, didn’t every single employee there see this place like he did?
I asked him if those outside of his leadership team saw the benefits that he himself saw.
“Well, they have jobs, don’t they? We haven’t had to lay off anyone so people should really be happy about that.”
“That’s true,” I said to him, “And I’m positive that every single one of them would agree with that… but until you show them Oz, they’ll never see this place like you see it.”
“Oz? Like the movie?”
“No,” I said. “Like the benefits.”
Often times, in leadership, we get caught up in the excitement of telling people how great something is, because we want them to be just as excited as we are.
Our company can do so much for clients if they only let us! This new marketing campaign is going to be killer for them if they sign off on it! You’re going to love making your career here — this place is fantastic!
Most times, though, this is where we stop with people. We’ve told them, but we haven’t shown them anything.
We’ve confused a non-action (telling) with an action (showing). It’s what I call “Twitter Action.” When national tragedies happen, most people are quick with the “thoughts and prayers” tweets, but do nothing to help prevent these tragedies. Thoughts aren’t the same as getting your ass up and doing something about it.
Take time to show your clients what you can do for their company and how you can help solve a problem. Take time to show appreciation to your employees in both the good times and the not so good times.
And I don’t just mean in a fancy presentation. Go above and beyond with a client who is trying you out for the first time with a small buy and most of the time you’ll find clients who will start buying bigger and bigger. And even if they don’t, you can still get a hella good testimonial for the website and sales packet.
You want them to love your company as much as you do? Take them by the hand and walk them down the yellow brick road and show them Oz, so that they can come to appreciate it just like you do. You’ll find that they’ll not only appreciate what you’ve done for them, they’ll start to invest their efforts into the company as well…. They’ll start to believe like you believe.
And here’s a secret…. once they’ve seen and believe and buy in… double-down again and show them even more.
That’s how loyalty is born.
Until loyalty is born all you’re doing is talking.