Well I must be living under a rock and I am not ashamed to admit it! Today was the first time I had heard of Gary Vanercheck. Apparently Gary is all things wine and quite a legend with an enormous following. He has a keen sense of business and what it takes to be successful.
A friend of mine shared a clip from one Gary’s recent appearances at SXSW: 2010 event. I was blown away with his message. I will warn you, Gary tells it like it is and his talk is full of explicit language…so make sure all the kiddos are out the room before you check out this clip!
In less than seven minutes Gary shared so many powerful points on business, life and relationships. The three that really resonated with me are:
1. No matter what you think you do, you are in the customer service business.
All too often we tend forget this very important point. If you are a teacher, you are in the customer service business. Your students, parents, faculty and your communities are your customers. If you are a doctor, you are in the customer service business. You serve patients, other doctors, nurses, hospitals, families and yes your community. If you are an IT professional, your are in the customer service business. I think you get the point. Every organization whether for profit or not-for profit is in the customer service business. The most successful organizations, understand this and never lose sight of who they serve.
2. Everybody has a voice.
The question for your business is, are you listening? As Gary pointed out, it’s special when people listen to you! Your employees, your customers, your shareholders, your community; they all have a voice. In today’s connected environment news, thoughts, feelings, experiences can be communicated to the masses within a matter of seconds. It’s really not that hard to make sure the voices in your world are being listened to, valued and given something good to say. Do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do!
3. Love your customers first and they will love you back.
Gary nailed this one. All too often business are only looking for more from you. They want your loyalty. They want you to tell your friends. Quite frankly I don’t care what you want until you care about me! People are massively underestimating the power of caring. Businesses have got to shift to building relationships with their customers. You have to listen, you have to empathize, you have to understand your customers needs. When you show you care you will earn customer loyalty and yes they will tell their friends!
Where’s your focus? Who do you serve? How are you listening to their voice? Are you loving your customers? Just a few questions that I think every leader and business owner should ask themselves.
