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Forbes
04-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Secret To Business Success: Endless Customers
Build a business with endless customers. Marcus Sheridan owns a pool and spa manufacturing company in Virginia—not a very sexy business, unless you consider the final product, which is often surrounded by beautiful people. What he did to stand out in a marketplace filled with competition is a masterclass in how to get noticed and, more importantly, get business. His most recent book, Endless Customers, is a follow-up to his bestselling book They Ask, You Answer, with updated information and new ideas that will help you build a business that has, as the title implies, endless customers. Sheridan's journey began in 2001 when he started a pool company with two friends. When the 2008 market collapse hit, they were on the verge of losing everything. This crisis forced them to think differently about how to reach customers. Sheridan realized that potential buyers were searching for answers to their questions, so he decided his company would become 'the Wikipedia of fiberglass swimming pools.' By brainstorming every question he'd ever received as a pool salesperson and addressing them through content online, his company's website became the most trafficked swimming pool website in the world within just a couple of years. This approach transformed his business and became the foundation for his business philosophy. In our interview on Amazing Business Radio, Sheridan shared what he believes is the most important strategy that businesses can use to get and keep customers, and that is to become a known and trusted brand. They must immerse themselves in what he calls the Four Pillars of a Known and Trusted Brand. As we wrapped up the interview, I asked Sheridan to share his most powerful idea, and the answer goes back to a word he used several times throughout the interview: Trust. 'In a time of change, we need, as businesses, constants that won't change,' Sheridan explained. 'One thing I can assure you is that in 10 years, you're going to be in a battle for trust. It's the one thing that binds all of us. It's the great currency that is not going to go away. So, become that voice of trust. If you do, your organization is going to be built to last.' And that, according to Sheridan, is how you create 'endless customers.'
Forbes
13-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Secret To An Amazing Customer Experience: A Hospitality Mentality
Want to know the secret to creating an amazing customer experience? It's simpler than you might think. I recently interviewed Michael Cecchi-Azzolina on my podcast, Amazing Business Radio, and his answer was refreshingly straightforward: 'Be kind. Just be nice.' Cecchi is the owner of Cecchi's restaurant in New York City and author of Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D'. With nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry, he's learned that kindness trumps everything else. Cecchi noticed something interesting. Customers weren't just thanking him for good service—they were specifically thanking him for his 'hospitality.' This shift represents something important. People don't just want service. They want to feel welcomed, valued and cared for. Cecchi said, 'This is new. I've been doing this for almost forty years, and I've only been hearing this the past year and a half or so.' The trend in what customers want and expect—for all industries, not just hospitality—is an experience that includes employees who are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. That's hospitality. Years ago, Cecchi interviewed for a job with legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer, who asked him a question that would stick with him for decades: 'What's more important, food or service?' After years of working with world-class chefs, Cecchi's answer is clear: 'It always came down to the service.' His point is, you could have the best product in the world, but if your service is poor, customers won't come back. As Cecchi put it, 'If you have a surly waiter, a maître d' who's rude, a bartender who doesn't acknowledge you ... chances are you're not coming back.' My annual customer service and experience research backs this up. Every year, my survey finds that rudeness and apathy are the top reasons customers leave businesses. Sure, the product is important, but kindness—the opposite of rudeness and apathy—is what keeps them coming back. One of my favorite quotes from our conversation was when Cecchi said, 'We don't sell food. We sell an experience. The experience begins when our front door opens. If the lights are perfect and the music is right and you're getting this wonderful smile from the person at the door ... you're winning.' This is true for every business. You aren't selling insurance, software or consulting services. You're selling an experience wrapped around those things. What does this look like in your business? What's your equivalent of perfect lighting and the right music? It might be as simple as answering the phone with a smile in your voice or remembering a customer's name. Cecchi's first job out of high school was working at Playwrights Horizons. They had no money to pay him, but he wanted the experience. His boss knew Cecchi needed money to live, and it would be a short time before Cecchi would have to move on, so the boss got him a job at the restaurant across the street. Cecchi compared restaurant service to Broadway theater: 'This is a theater. We've got a script. We've got a set ... those actors who were crushing it, they might have had a breakup that day or someone died in the family. You must put that aside.' I call this the Broadway Principle. Legendary actor Richard Burton used to tell himself before performances (paraphrased): 'Tonight, I want to be so good that I cheat the audience that was here last night.' What if everyone, no matter their business or industry, approached customer interactions with that level of commitment? Cecchi's hiring philosophy is not focused on the experience that employees have in the restaurant industry. Although that helps, he's looking for people who genuinely love interacting with others. 'I don't hire people because of their resume,' he explained. 'It takes a really special person to understand what real hospitality is.' In 2011, I interviewed Jim Bush, former SVP of Worldwide Customer Experience at American Express. His hiring philosophy was similar. I'll never forget his advice about hiring. Bush explained that given the choice between someone with 10 years of experience in a contact center or someone who worked at a restaurant, he'd hire the restaurant worker every time because they understood how to take care of people. In other words, they understand the hospitality mentality. At its core, business is emotional. As Cecchi put it, 'Restaurants are an emotional experience. People come in because they're on a date, or celebrating a birthday or an anniversary.' Again, this isn't just true for restaurants. Whether you're buying a car, choosing a healthcare provider or selecting a software vendor, emotions drive decisions. Cecchi shared a story that perfectly captures the power of hospitality: 'I had six women at one table who'd been in the restaurant about 12 times. I jokingly said, 'Thank God there are no other restaurants in New York City.' And one of them looked at me and said, 'Michael, there's no restaurant in New York City that treats us the way you do here.'' That story summarizes what we should all aim for—to be the one business that treats customers like no one else does. And it starts with something as simple as being kind, the core of the hospitality mentality.
Forbes
06-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Mediocrity Is The Enemy: How Successful Companies Reclaim Their Competitive Edge
Business break free from mediocrity. In 1983, I read In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman. This iconic business book featured case studies of successful companies. Forty years later, many of these companies are no longer considered 'excellent.' Some are no longer in business. Many organizations that once stood as industry leaders started operating on autopilot, allowing standards to slip, not paying attention to the competition and not keeping up with their customers' expectations. I recently interviewed John Rossman, a former Amazon executive, on Amazing Business Radio. We discussed the business challenge of sinking into mediocrity that he writes about in his new book, which he refers to as a manifesto, The Pig, the Lipstick and the Playbook of Champions. One of the intriguing sections in his manifesto is titled The Tragic Tale of Competitive Advantage, where he refers to Kodak, Blockbuster and Xerox as 'examples of once category-defining companies that could not move beyond the success that made them disrupters.' These are the types of brands whose leaders could have benefited from reading this short but powerful work. Below are several key takeaways from our interview. These are leadership principles that can help us avoid mediocrity—or worse, failure—and improve our chances for success. Rossman explains that the 'pig' in the title of his leadership manifesto refers to a successful business. The 'lipstick' represents the lies we tell ourselves. For example, leaders say, 'Next year, we'll grow more.' 'Next year, we won't disappoint customers.' 'Next year we'll innovate.' These lies create two challenges that businesses face today: To break free from mediocrity, Rossman emphasizes that change must begin with humility. Companies must be willing to admit their shortcomings, whether they've disappointed customers or employees or failed their own ambitions. He recommends instituting a formal Voice of the Customer program and paying close attention to disappointed customers. Rossman says, 'I truly believe in humility as a starting point for change. Recognizing where we fall short with customers is crucial to being able to innovate and thrive.' Rossman talked about 'gold standard' companies that slipped from playing at the top of their game, including Boeing, Intel, Nike and Starbucks. Rossman referenced an interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, who summed up what happened as the company started changing its model. Schultz said, 'The worst thing that a company can do, like a sports team, is start playing defense because you're afraid to fail. That's a disease.' Rossman's response to companies in that situation came from his Amazon days, when he learned about the concept of Big Bets. The concept of Big Bets is about ambition. Rossman explains, 'The concept of big bets at Amazon is that the 'big' is the ambition, not the size of the bet. Everything is an experiment with the intention of winning, realizing that many won't. Understanding that failure comes with the game of innovation is a critical mindset.' In other words, an innovation mindset comes from running many small experiments with big intentions, knowing full well that many will fail, but also knowing that the ones that succeed will keep you competitive and can potentially transform the business. You must constantly place these bets, or your successes may eventually fall to the level of mediocrity as competition catches up and potentially passes you up. Toward the end of the manifesto, Rossman shares a Michelangelo quote that sums up his way of thinking and is a perfect way to end this article: 'The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving the mark.'
