ChanceBlack

I work for Subaru, a company that is customer focused to it’s core. Surprisingly, they did not do well in JD Power’s 2008 Sales Satisfaction Index. Most likely it was because I was on sabbatical last year.

The folks at Subaru are pretty smart. They know sales consultants want our customers to be happy and that we are confident that we do a great job. We all think it must the other guy that messed things up with the satisfaction ratings.

My manager told me that Subaru was having new car delivery contest. A delivery is when you actually give the car to it’s new owner and go over how all the car’s features work, the warranty, and the manual. The winner at each dealership would get $250. The overall winner will receive $1,000 and be featured on Subaru’s training website. Great, I thought. I love to compete. Then he told me that the contest was the next day.

The other sales consultants had been practicing for a month.

On the big day, three Subaru corporate fixers came to film and judge the contest. Our sales manager, general manager and the dealership owner were also there. It was about that point when I realized that this was something serious. This was about more than a cash prize. Busy folks were spending significant time to improve our processes.

I drew the short straw and went first. I didn’t do as well as I thought I would. I skipped points and then had to go back and cover them. I was not as smooth and efficient as I thought I would be. The judges went over their scoring and evaluations with me. They covered what worked, what was great and what needed improvement. I found myself desperately wanting a do over. As I watched the other four deliveries, I kept rehashing my delivery over and over in my mind. I’m still frustrated because I have delivered over 2000 cars and I could have given each one of those clients a better experience if my ego had been out of the way. I thought my deliveries were great when they could have been more efficient and enjoyable. With a little work on the fundamentals, I could have greatly increased my value to my clients.

When we had all presented, one of the corporate guys showed us an innovative delivery. It was outstanding. If I had not just disappointed myself on film and been graded, my ego would have been too big to really listen. I was hungry for improvement. The real purpose of the contest became clear - to take the ego down long enough that we’d be able to see the need for improvement. Doing my best in front of a camera with an honest critique allowed me to see through my fantasy of myself to the reality of my performance.

It’s impressive for Subaru corporate to expend this much time, energy and innovation to provide an excellent experience for their customers after the sale. It shows Subaru’s core commitment to providing their customers with an experience that is as extraordinary as their cars.

I look forward Subaru’s 2009 JD Power’s satisfaction ratings. And my own.

Like most everyone, I want lots of money. I want it quick and fun and easy. And I want to maintain my integrity in the process of making those tons of money. So I watched a video by Frank Kern. Kern is an extremely successful internet marketer. He seems to make lots of money effortlessly. His video made me mad. He said some things that really pushed my buttons.

This is a paraphrase of what Frank said:

Value does not equal service. When you just start selling stuff you usually focus too much     on service. You say “I am going to do a really good job”  ”we do it better and cheaper” “my service is number one.”
If your proposition is service based, you are a servant. That does not build desire.
If you are a servant, you have no value.
You can’t command high prices.
You can’t tell people what to do.
You can’t say “give me some money.” You can only beg for it.
I don’t provide good customer service. I am not easily accessible to my clients.  If the surf is up I don’t return phone calls, even to partners I make millions with. How can I get away with this? I provide tremendous value. Value they believe they can only get from me.

Watching this video, I thought to myself, what a selfish, arrogant jerk. He cares only about himself and money.  As far as I was concerned, if you don’t focus on providing good service, it means you don’t care about people. If you don’t care about people you have no value. You are simply in the business of ripping people off, for selfish gain. If this was what it took to be rich, and have the life I want, forget it. I never want to be like that.

That afternoon I sat in the intensive care unit waiting room for a friend to come out of heart surgery. Something went wrong. I heard a code blue over the hospital PA system. For 45 agonizing minutes we waited, wondering if she would live.

Eventually, the surgeon came out. His bedside manner was not so good. He spoke to us like a mechanic would explain how he fixed our car. But we were relieved to hear that she was alive, the surgery was a success, and she would likely be okay.

Later, the experiences of the day were rattling around in my head. There is nothing like having someone you love come close to death to shake up your thinking.

I started looking at how the experience with the surgeon related to what Frank Kern had said. The surgeon provided tremendous value. He saved lives. Yet he did not have good bedside manner. He did not speak with the kindness, gentleness and concern of a servant. He was short, almost gruff, commanding and matter of fact. I would have appreciated the additional service of good bedside manner. However, his value was in saving a life, not interpersonal communication. Saving lives is as valuable as it gets and surgeons are paid very well. Quality interpersonal communication is enjoyable but not always profitable.

I have been selling cars for 20 years. Value and service are the lifeblood of successful sales. I assumed I knew the definitions of the words but I began to question myself. I looked up the definitions in the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary:

Value - 1: a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged 2: the monetary worth of something : marketable price 3: relative worth, unity or importance : degree of excellence 4: monetary worth, scale in usefulness, importance, or general worth, prize or esteem.

Service - the condition of a slave. 1: the occupation or function of serving 2: contribution to the welfare of others, a helpful act.

I simplified the definitions to my own words:

Value - market price or worth, based on importance, excellence, prize or esteem.

Service - a function, occupation or condition of contributing to the welfare of others performed by a slave or servant, or one acting as such.

Wow. Is Kern right? This is not how I would have defined these words. Is a key to Kern making more money with less effort than me related to him having a more workable understanding of value and service than I do?

I live my life like the definitions are:

Value - worth, esteem or importance derived from the skill, excellence, effort or results one achieves in contributing to the interests and welfare of others, often at the cost of personal freedom.

Service - value derived from the results of ones contribution to the welfare of others interests through skill, excellence and effort resulting in, self esteem, importance or money, often at the cost of personal freedom.

I realized I had created my own definitions of value and service. I lived my life from the definition I created. For me value and service were the same thing. There was no distinction. I began to wonder what this lack of understanding was costing me.

I realized that my interpretation limits my contributions, my freedom and my income. I was not clear about the value I provided beyond service. I realized that value was not limited to service.

I began to analyze my life and see where I had limited myself though my lack of understanding.
I am extremely successful selling cars. My clients love me. Most people that talk to me about a car buy one from me. I thought it was because of the service I provided. I would work harder for them and sell the car cheaper. I even had a little kit with rags and cleaners that I used to go over the client’s car with before they picked it up to make sure everything was perfect. I believed people bought cars from me for the extra service, the hard work and the final spit shine.

Not true. The value is that I listen very well. I understand what my clients want and need. I am efficient. I have a tremendous amount of knowledge about cars that I use to direct people to their perfect car. My clients don’t really buy cars from me because I give them a great price and clean their car to perfection.

Frank Kern was right. I am paid well for value, not for service.

I am now evaluating every area of my life to spot opportunities I can act on to provide greater value and get commensurate compensation. I am asking myself: What is working? What is not working? Where am I putting service ahead of value and not getting the results I want? Where can I replace service with greater value?