INTEGRITY AND WISDOM:

My Dad, a very wise old German Jewish businessman, drilled into me when I worked for him in the sixties in Scotland, that the ONLY way to build a successful business was through "integrity" and "wisdom". For Dad, both in private and business life, "integrity" was his sole measure of the people he interacted with. For him, "integrity" meant keeping your word – no matter what. In business, this means that if you make a commitment to a customer, team member or supplier, then your word is your bond – no matter what you MUST, repeat MUST keep your word!

This means that if you have told a customer that you will supply by a specific date – then no matter what – that is what you will do. If you have promised a team member time off, an incentive, or any additional training, then no matter what happens in your business, you MUST meet that commitment. If you have told a supplier that you will purchase a given amount of merchandise then that is what you will do. In fact, Karl Fraenkel, my Dad, would have kept his word even to the point of driving his business to bankruptcy.

You see, he had adopted the current, trendy philosophy of "under-promise and over-deliver" long before management consultants and gurus had even thought of the term. Here’s a graphic illustration of how being slightly better than your competitor at actual service delivery but not meeting your commitment as well as them can impact on your business:

Some years ago Citibank proposed that anyone who called them with a request prior to 9:00 a.m. would receive a response by Midday. Federal Bank, in the spirit of sensible competition also proposed to respond to their customers who called prior to 9:00 a.m. but not until 5:00p.m. This seemed to be a less responsive service than Citibank’s offer. However, Citibank dealt with their callers by 3 p.m., which was three hours later than their proposed response time of midday. On the other hand, Federal Bank got back to their callers by 4 p.m., which was one hour earlier than they had promised. Even though Citibank were responding sooner than their competitor, they lost credibility because their customers believed that they were three hours late. Federal Bank, on the other hand, were seen to be providing a “better than expected” service because they were returning their calls an hour earlier than their promised time. Even though in terms of performance, Citibank dealt with callers an hour better than the Federal Bank, Citibank experienced its worst share slide in its history, while the Federal Banks share price rose exponentially.



So, here's how "integrity" has helped me build my career and my business since 1967 when Dad drilled into me his "life lesson". Having worked in retail for the majority of my life, I have been at the coal-face of customer interaction and staff needs. Long before legislation existed to protect consumers from a raft of perceived "Caveat Emptor" danger areas, I understood that to earn customer loyalty meant ensuring that they, my customers, were always delighted by their business interactions with me and the businesses that I managed. I also understood, clearly from Dad's input, that if my team members needed the support of or even felt the need to consult a trade union then I was not keeping my word and creating a safe and rewarding environment for them to work in. From my every interaction with them, my suppliers knew that I considered them as partners in my business growth as well as theirs.



Some years ago I was managing the duty free stores at Perth airport and we supplied the wrong film to a customer. She had ordered and paid for 8 reels of 36 exposure films but received 8 reels of 24 exposures in error. The customer only discovered our mistake when she arrived in Nairobi where she was taking the photographic safari of a lifetime. Needless to say, she was a little upset at having to pay much higher prices for additional film whilst there. On her return she wrote to us to outline in no uncertain terms our error and its impact on her. Our response was immediate: We sent her, by express courier, a letter of apology and thanks for identifying a flaw in our system, a cheque in full refund of the films and also her 8 36 exposure films which she should have received in the first place. This customer was so delighted by our response that she immediately became a “raving fan” who continued to refer many new customers to us over a number of years.

Survey after survey has shown that the general public trust firefighters, pilots, and nurses and don't trust marketers, salespeople, and journalists. Could the missing link for establishing trust simply be the perceived integrity at both ends of this scale? We all know that when our house is on fire, our firefighters will do everything in their power to save our house. My Dad's customers, employees and suppliers had that same faith in him and his business. I've spent my life, to date, trying to live up to his standard - and my intention is to continue in this way.

I haven't explained to you yet, my Dad's definition of "wisdom". This can be summed up very succinctly - and I'll use his exact words: "Don’t' make stupid bloody promises that will bankrupt you!"



INTEGRITY AND WISDOM: - To learn more about this author, visit Jack Fraenkel's Website.

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