Business Alignment & Marriage- Beyond the “I Do”

“He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example builds with one hand and tears down with the other.” ~Francis Bacon

Today I thought I’d share some words about ALIGNMENT, and what I have noticed lately during my conversations and travels. I always have my eyes peeled for who’s doing it right and who’s not so you can learn from that.

You know I’m ALL about marketing—to the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message and the RIGHT offer through the RIGHT marketing channels, which is absolutely enough to get prospects to buy. But what happens when they do? Is your product or offering ALIGNED with what yourgoals are long term to be in business tomorrow and beyond?

Great marketing to the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message and the RIGHT offer through the RIGHT marketing channels gets you to the wedding. But what happens once they marry you?

Here are a few things I’ve noticed lately about how some business owners are aligning with who they say they, are and how some are not. Many of these are food establishments (which seem to be the first to “un-align”, but there are other examples too. Apply this to your own business by making certain you continue to offer—long term—who and what you say you are, even after the initial big sale.

► Wrong Alignment: A colleague of mine recently worked with a real estate agent who touted in her branding and marketing that she takes ALL of the burden of selling a home off the property owner, with a Do-It-All for You service and exceptional follow-through. Yet, as soon as the papers were signed and the property listed, she was no where to be found, and my colleague had to continually call her to beg that she replace the informational flyers in the box in front of the home. In addition, she gave no information to the seller about who was interested in the property and why those who decided not to buy felt that way (even though the commission the agent stood to receive was many thousands of dollars).

► Right Alignment: Chick-fil-A stays totally aligned with their Mission Statement, “To be American’s best quick-service restaurant at winning and keeping customers” by placing attendants OUTSIDE at the drive-though line during peak hours, to take orders and credit cards before a car gets to the pick-up-window, so as to get customers on their way fast. From my experience, they also have super friendly workers every time, who seem to want to be there (being great to customers starts with happy employees).

► Wrong Alignment: One Furniture Store in Houston claims to offer No-Hassle Service,  but gave my sister a hard sell and an even harder time over delivery. She walked out (right when the sale should have been certain) and bought elsewhere the same day—an entire room of furnishings.

► Right Alignment: One upscale dress shop in Tulsa positions themselves as Clean, Simple, and Highly Stylish, and they align and follow through in at least one way with their often updated, clever, powerful, but simple displays in their store windows (see photos).

► Wrong Alignment: Taco Bell’s Mission Statement: “We take pride in making the best Mexican style fast food providing fast, friendly and accurate service”, but the Taco Bell I recently visited in Broken Arrow, Ok at 10:55 am (I was the only customer at the counter) for a bean and rice taco with “extra rice” was inaccurate when they gave me a miniscule amount of rice (less than even a normal taco would have) from a not all that friendly attendant, even though I was clear I wanted mostly rice. No big deal, hugh? It is if people expect something else. If you can’t deliver, leave off the “accurate” and the “friendly” in your Mission Statement, or better yet, train employees to your mission.

► Wrong Alignment: I recently attended a seminar with an “expert” on gaining clients by being authentic and loving your prospects and customers, yet once I purchased the seminar (an expensive undertaking), two of my emailed questions regarding the seminar were totally ignored. I did get one “stock” email in return, and when I asked for an answer to my questions I got nothing except the line that I should just come to the event. When I signed on, I was excited about attending, but that one thing totally changed my mind. One person I met at the event and kept in touch with afterwards said she and another attendee purchased more and were promised several things that were not delivered, and when she tried to call and email, she was ignored.  In addition, this “expert” claimed she created her unique system totally on her own, and did not get anything from any guru or book, yet I could point you right to the authors and experts that preach the same messages and even use the same models (great teachers, authors and gurus by the way, but don’t say you pulled this stuff out of thin air)! If you claim to be loving, then align with that by returning emails and answering important questions your paying clients have. If you claim to be authentic and you learned from others, it’s ok to say that and still help people yourself. If you are too proud or too busy, STOP and get aligned, and re-engage with those customers before you totally lose them if you haven’t already.

► Wrong Alignment: Arby’s Mission Statement is “To provide an exceptional dining experience that satisfies our guests’ grown-up tastes by being a “Cut-Above” in everything we do”, but that was not the case for me and my honey when we recently visited one North of Texas, where the attendant had no personality and seemed to just want us to GO AWAY, and sold my sweetie a sandwich with meat that probably should have been re-packaged and sold as “beef jerky”.

Your take-away is this: STAY ALIGNED. Even after the big sale, always follow through with your BEST and with your authentic brand identity, and keep it true to who you said you were. Don’t bait and switch. Don’t become the nightmare partner (or even the sort of crappy partner) they had no idea they were getting, or you will most definitely lose your repeat customers and all the profitable referrals that go with them. Customers are too smart to stay in a bad relationship!

I teach business owners how to get clients NOW— how to get more and better clients by targeting only the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message and the RIGHT offer through the RIGHT marketing channels, but once they buy, you have to continue to serve them. You can’t let them down.

Have a Wild Week of Staying Aligned and Amazing for Your Clients!

Margo