Ode to the "Thank You Economy"

Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

"Advocates are bred, not born."

There are often things in our life we experience that make an impact.

This book was one of those for me.

Gary provides the reader an important lesson in what it means to be customer centric, to have a purpose that resonates, and inspires.

So here is my ode to the "Thank You Economy"

Heart and Soul

"In fact, no relationships should be taken for granted. They are what life is all about, the whole point."

Consider our own lives, the importance of seeing someone passionate, with heart and soul invested. You feel it, the immense joy and happiness in the person.

"...revealing your company’s heart and soul. There’s only so low you can go on price. There’s only so excellent you can make your product or service. There’s only so far you can stretch your marketing budget...

...Your heart, though—that’s boundless."

Every moment is about your heart. It is so easy in this age of information to find the task and focus on the reward, be it mainly financial. However, what truly resonates it what beats inside your chest every moment of every day.

Our Customers are Us

Customers are not some arbitrary thing, they are not a client, a statistic, a number or something that gives you the next dollar.

They are us. They are your friends, your family, and they are you.

"your goal should be “No Interaction Left Behind,” because what pays off most is your willingness to show people that you care about them, about their experience with you, about their business."

I recently reflected on my own personal experience where I was called out for not considering the customer. My role has frequently had me responsible for fraud prevention. In this organisation we have a historic process to "stop the fraud", which my leader raised was not customer designed. We had designed a control for the less than 1% of people who do the wrong thing, to make it unbelievable difficult for the 99%. 

We easily forget that sometimes; we generalise, we see the negative cases, and then we react, and very often over react and build it without the 99% in mind!

"We talk to every single person as though we’re going to wind up sitting next to that person at his or her mother’s house that night for dinner. We make it clear that we want to help in whatever way we can, and that everyone’s business matters to us. And we mean it."

Imagine that, every customer interaction is followed up with sitting at the customer's mothers house! What would we then do? 

Recently, we have been asked, in the industry I am in, to consider, 'whether can we', and then 'whether we should?' 

"...people expect you to give a damn about them. Not only that, they expect you to prove it. And the only way to prove it is to listen, engage, give them what they want when you can, and, when you can’t, give them an honest answer why. They just want to be heard and taken seriously. That’s all."

And that is the cake isn't it - do we truly listen? 

Listening in the age of mass media is hard because we have been taught since childhood that the smartest people speak, they put their hand's up and answer the question.

But I am learning, the smartest people listen. They ask questions. They are inquisitive. They know that by listening that better outcomes occur for all.

The Truth is Out There

Customers, the community, and each of us wants the truth.

We expect it of governments, we need it from our enterprises.

Seth Godin recently wrote on Goodreads,

The mob fears the truth

It’s not that they don’t know the truth (they might, if they stopped to think about it.)

It’s not that they want to know the truth, either. Information is available if they looked for it.

No, they fear the truth.

And being part of a mob is a good way to hide from that fear.

The hard part about the truth is that it "hits you between the eyes, and then comes back to hit you where it hurts". And you so want no-one to know, as you are disappointed in yourself.

But that is the power of the truth, it releases you to be alive.

"The best thing you can do for your brand and your company is to make sure that you put the truth out there for anyone who wants to hear it. You want negative comments to show up on your fan page. The person who posts a negative comment is a customer you can talk to."

What does this mean for you?

Gary outlines the following 6 things we each must do, as individuals and as our organisations,

1.   BEGIN WITH YOURSELF 
2.   COMMIT WHOLE HOG 
3.   SET THE TONE 
4.   INVEST IN EMPLOYEES
5.   TRUST YOUR PEOPLE
6.   BE AUTHENTIC

"...embracing   your   DNA,   zeroing   in   on   your   passion,   and   living   that passion day in and day out were the keys to creating a fulfilling, happy personal and professional life."

Passion is the key. Not passion in yourself and your personal gains. Passion for others, for the customer. 

Share the time with the customer. Let them speak, provide them to opportunities to help you improve.

"When doing damage control, or putting out fires, you’ve got to loosen your grip and share the microphone, and listen, then respond appropriately, and then listen again. You have to listen even when you really don’t feel like listening anymore. Think about it this way—no issue has ever been resolved when someone left the room in the middle of the conversation."

Never leave the room in the middle of the conversation. Show respect, be there during the challenging times, be transparent, and be proud that you take the things you do wrong to heart.

For if we do this, we will win 'hearts and minds' our our customers, our people and ourselves.

In Summary

"We’re living in what I like to call the Thank You Economy, because only the companies that can figure out how to mind their manners in a very old-fashioned way—and do it authentically—are going to have a prayer of competing"

We can each make a difference. In our personal lives and working lives by taking the advice of Gary and the "Thank You Economy".

Be humble, be inquisitive, listen, and use your heart and your mind.

“When given the choice of obsessing over competitors, or obsessing over customers, we [Amazon] always obsess over customers.”

And finally, the following is critical,

Our message "comes from from the top

Our intent comes from the right place

We hire culturally compatible DNA

We uses "pull tactics" (we open ourselves to you)