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Here’s........Johnny

Written by: Gary Silverman

Article Overview: As a business owner or upper level manager you are at risk of losing touch with the realities of the frontline of your operation. I am referring to the personal contact between your company and your customers. I am confident that you have a very capable sales organization. Is the information from the front line reaching you quickly and accurately? These are the facts you need to effectively make decisions for your company.

Here’s........Johnny

Now would be a good time for a “Road Trip”. With advances in technology you can be in the field without compromising the connection with your office. Pack the laptop, Crackberry, Bluetooth, Skype, Go to Meeting, and your GPS device and go shake hands with your customers...and field sales. Start with a well planned contact. Ask insightful questions about their business, their outlook, future plans, and needs. Don’t be afraid to ask how your company is handling their business, the good, the bad, and how you can improve. Your customers will appreciate your interest in them as well as the personal touch. They will be impressed that you left the safety of the ivory tower and wanted to meet them. You will gain valuable insight in how to best steer your ship. This is an opportune time to travel as airfare and hotels are reasonably priced. Try not to stay on the concierge level at the Ritz, fly the corporate jet, or hit the mini-bar. Many executives I have talked to have a great time, feel better about their company and vow to get out more often. It’s just like diet or exercise, you must take the first step and commit to a regimen. They also found that they didn’t miss anything back at HQ and most problems seemed to be resolved before they hit their desk. I wrote this article a few days ago and this morning I caught a vignette on the Sunday Morning on CBS news program about the CEO of Japan Airlines. He takes public transportation to work, works in an open area of their office building, walks through their airplanes and ticket counters and talks with both staff and customer. When the airline was struggling he capped his pay at $90,000 per year, he dressed the same as his mechanics while walking the hangars and focuses entirely on the customer experience, a term I have been touting for years. Then I heard that John Thain former Exec at Merrill Lynch had spent $1 million decorating his office. I wonder if Dennis Kozlowski was his interior decorator, remember him and his $6,000 shower curtain?

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Article Tags: advances in technology, cbs news, concierge level, corporate jet, customer experience, dennis kozlowski, gps device, hangars, insightful questions, interior decorator, ivory tower, japan airlines, john thain, merrill lynch, news program, opportune time, personal touch, shower curtain, ticket counters, vignette



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