A skunk as you know is something that stinks, and nearly all businesses have them. No, I’m not talking about issues with personal hygiene - your skunks are in your operation, your customer journey, your hiring.

So what does a skunk look like?
It looks like something that isn’t adding value to your business and may be actively detracting from it:

• an unnecessary hoop for the Customer to jump through
• an extra step/procedure which is adding cost and time but no value
• a process which has outlived its usefulness
• reinventing the wheel and waste in general
• a bottleneck

Imagine that you’ve only got one person trained on an aspect of your business and you haven’t got what they do recorded, as a How To, a system which anyone could follow. What happens when this person is sick or on holiday? Things don’t get done or not done to the standard you expect. Often it’s the business owner who has struggled to delegate, not willing to give up ‘their’ tasks for fear of losing control. 
I smell a skunk!

Say for example you had a problem with quality, so you added a layer of checking and that’s continued for several years. But you’ve never reviewed it since, to see if it’s still necessary. Quality has improved so you’ve left well alone. But what if the problem was fixed at source through recruitment, training or development and the checker has not found a problem in twelve months? It’s wasting time and money and robbing people of taking pride in their work. It’s a skunk.

Waste really stinks and it’s the little things that collectively can reek. When was the last time you found yourself asking, ‘Has anyone seen the xxx?’ Who was last to use the xxx I can’t find it anywhere?’ Or think of a time you couldn’t go straight to a file you were after online.

‘A place for everything and everything in its place.’ 

I love the factory idea of a place for everything and a picture of what should be there. (I imagine its what a Japanese garage looks like rather than my own!)

Waste also occurs when we reinvent the wheel; I know I’ve been guilty of it. You know those tasks you do infrequently where you think, ‘How the devil did I do this last time?’  And you waste time going round the houses to get it done. And you’re saying to yourself I really must make a note of this for next time but then you’re so relieved it’s done and your to do list is so long…. so it’s left till next time and round you go again.

How often have you added a step in a procedure without really getting down to the root cause of the problem. That sort of analysis and investigation takes a bit of time and you’re after a quick fix so you just throw money at it. But unless you’re lucky, meddling isn’t fixing. Similarly automating a process without first streamlining it can simply automate inefficiency. 

Have you ever recruited someone because they weren’t exactly who you were after but they were the best of the bunch and it was an expensive process? How has that worked out? They might have worked out well but if not, how expensive has that been to your business? 

As a customer just think of the last time you were infuriated by the hoops you had to jump through to get service. My pet one is telling someone your tale of woe having queued for twenty minutes on the phone only to be told that someone else has to help you and you’re back in the queue again and then having to re-tell the story… You feel yourself losing the will to live and, unless it’s a service or product you really want, you just walk away.

Solutions for skunks
I know it’s tempting to just kill a skunk when you spot one, and a quick fix will work for some skunks. But if you route one out at the beginning of a process it may have a knock on effect down the line. 

What you need is that helicopter view of your whole business, starting with a ‘warts and all’ look at your Customer Journey.  Working through the journey from start to end, ideally with your team, will show you the inefficiencies, the blocks and the weaknesses; you’ll be able to see how something at the beginning of the journey is causing a problem further down the line; or how you are a block at a crucial point.

With the whole picture in front of you, you can then make a plan to kill off your skunks, one by one.
Your business will never have smelled so good!

Do one thing: Take the Systems Scorecard and find out where the skunks may be lurking in your business.

Like many business owners, I’m guessing you’ve either considered, or have already begun to outsource.  It’s a great way to grow your team until you’re ready to employ one, and, if you outsource to specialists, a great way to grow your business without having to hire and train.
What many business owners forget, is (1) that outsourced teams still need to be performance managed, and (2) that you are always responsible for the service to your customers, even when it’s delivered by someone else.
Two essentials that even the big boys forget, as the following illustrates:
My friend recently bought a brand new Mini. She wanted ‘new’ for peace of mind and trouble-free motoring and believed that in choosing Mini/BMW she was guaranteed a quality product and service.
How wrong can you be?
After her second puncture within a month, she called Mini, who sent Mini Emergency  to collect it.  As their procedure dictates, they looked round the car to check its condition before it was taken away.
When it was returned, my friend again checked the car with the Mini Emergency driver, at which point they saw that there was a scratch on the bonnet.  Not great, but a fairly straightforward problem to rectify you’d have thought.
How wrong could you be?
Mini said that Mini Emergency were nothing to do with them. Mini Emergency said they were Allianz and nothing to do with Mini even though their brand is Mini Emergency.
The Milton Keynes Mini franchise, where the problem occurred, said that they hadn’t done it.  And the Newcastle Mini franchise where the car had been bought, backed away, hands in the air , ‘absolutely nothing to do with us’.
No apology from anyone, at any point, No ownership of the problem or its resolution.  No help or support, for my increasingly angry and frustrated friend.  And 3 months later, the scratch remains.
Who knows how many people my friend has related this story to. Who knows what damage has been done to Mini’s reputation.
When you outsource you are still responsible for the service that your supplier gives to your Customers. They are essentially part of your team, working to your standards and values and following procedures and service level agreements that you have agreed and approved.
Don't outsource your brand!
When problems occur, and your supplier is at fault, it is still your responsibility, because you’ve hired them. So, just as you would with one of your team, take it on the chin, sort the problem out, and review the system that caused the problem. 
This may seem pretty basic stuff, but if a global organisation like Mini can get it so badly wrong, then perhaps this type of irresponsibility is more common than you think.
Do one thing: Check out our Simple System- How to handle a complaint and make a customer for life  

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk
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If you’re anything like me, you like to think you’re right...that you know what’s best...that if only people would listen to you they’d be so much better off.  And of course that’s true :)

But what I’ve learned over the last few years is that businesses who tell their customers what they want, and how they want it, rather than listen to them, can very quickly lose even their most loyal following.

Negative capability, a phrase first coined by Keats no less, is I believe, the answer!  Having the ability to ‘negate yourself’...to take yourself out of the equation...to stop focusing on what you think, feel, believe, and start focusing on, or in some cases, get back to, what your customer needs...will help you to grow your business.

Throughout history, big companies have lost their way by taking their eye off the ball, becoming arrogant, taking their customer for granted...success can do that to people.  But for me it’s the small business owner who is most at risk because their passion for their programme, product, service...their big idea that led them to start-up in the first place, often doesn’t even involve the customer, until it comes to the selling bit.

‘Buy my lovely product! I made it just for you!  I didn’t ask whether you needed it, or whether you wanted it to look like this/ work in this way...but I know you’ll love it...why wouldn’t you??’

Of course I’m not saying anything you don’t already know here.  We all know that we should talk to our customers early on...find out what their problem is and how they want it fixed, and mould our product into a solution for them.

The difficult bit is getting ourselves out of the way...removing ourselves from the centre of everything we do...and putting the customer there.

Start with WHY?...absolutely!  But then ask WHO FOR? ...and focus all of your attention on them.

It’s really not about you!
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For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk
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I’ve been pondering this question all week, since someone challenged my assertion that I work with ‘ambitious start-ups’ who are feeling stuck.  Knowing a little about my business, they believe that my clients have gone beyond start-up because they have been operating for more than 2 years, and in one particular case, for more than 10.

In asking around, it’s pretty clear that everyone has their own definition of when you cease to be a start-up...

For some it’s all about numbers...’if you’ve got a team of 30 people and you turn over more than £1m a year, there’s no way you’re still a start-up’

For others it’s about your attitude and culture...‘when you’ve got a small creative team, working round the clock to get stuff done, and there’s still that buzz and excitement, you’re still a start-up.’

For still more, it’s about a state of mind...‘when you stop thinking of yourself and referring to yourself as a start-up, and begin following the norms of your sector, you’ve moved on to being a regular business.’

All of these definitions have merit and logic...there is no right or wrong here, and you could argue the case of any one of them.

But for me, it’s all about sustainability.  If a business is still searching for a sustainable business model, and hasn't worked out how to be efficient...they’re still a start-up.

During the start-up phase you’re working things out...which customers? what products? what features and benefits? How best to market and communicate? What works and what doesn’t?  What’s the most effective business model?  Over time, if you're successful,  you're working harder and harder as the business owner; you don't have the time to think about how to grow your business because you're too busy 'doing the doing' to look up and look forward.  Many businesses get stuck here forever.

It’s when you know what you’re doing and you start to think about how you can make what you’re doing more efficient that you take the first steps out of start-up...
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When you recognise that to be consistent and reliable you’re going to need processes and systems in every area of your business; that you’re going to have to develop strong, trusted relationships with your customers and your people; and that you’re going to need to underpin your passion with efficiency.  You get that you need more control, more time and more profit, and you do what you have to do to achieve that.

Your business may have a team of 30 or 3000 people, it may have a turnover of £100,000 or £10,000,000, it may have been going for 2 years or 10...but for me if it doesn’t have consistent and reliable process and systems...if you are still running round like the proverbial blue-bottomed fly just to keep things working the way you want them too...you are stuck in start-up...and you may need a hand to get out.

That’s my view anyway...

But what’s yours?
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For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

The question why is usually associated with small children… ‘Why is that lady fat mummy?’ ‘Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to wear those shoes? …the bane of every parent’s life, the ‘but WHY..?’ question must be asked a hundred times a day.
What a shame we don’t ask it as often in business!

Well ok…maybe not a hundred times a day…but it is a very important question for anyone who wants to build a successful enterprise.

The most important WHY, and the very first time it should be asked, is when we are first thinking of starting our business… Why am I doing this? Why do I believe it’s important? What is my cause? My driving purpose?

As Simon Sinek will tell you in his great book ‘Start with Why’, too many businesses start with what they are going to do, and how they are going to do it…many don’t ever consider the why. Yet it’s the why that inspires, that draws a crowd, that makes for loyal, lifelong customers. It inspires your people too…they believe they are involved in something bigger than a job…they buy into your cause, and as a result they take ownership, they perform consistently well…they enjoy their work.

We buy into the why of a business not the what. If it was the other way around maybe people would be queueing round the block for the launch of a new Dell product, but they don’t. They come out in their millions for Apple because it is built around a why that inspires. A why so strong, that even after the death of Steve Jobs, and with the media predicting their demise and slating their new product, they pulled off their most successful launch ever.

Steve Jobs’ created a movement with a why that was all about challenging the status quo and empowering the individual.
Richard Branson has done something similar at Virgin. His why?…because UK consumers deserve better.

My why?…because business is all about strong, trusted relationships.
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What’s yours?

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

I’ve got a bit of a bee in my bonnet this week about communication…not the big customer communication stuff we’d usually talk about here…it’s the little stuff that’s got me all hot under the collar today.

In particular, the answering of personal e mails…and by that I mean e mails from someone we’ve met or done business with, sent directly to our personal business e mail address.

Now I know that we all get a lot of e mails, hundreds of the damn things every day, and there’s no way that we’re going to want to, or be able to answer each of those personally…that would be crazy.  But here’s the thing, if I’ve done business with you, if we’ve exchanged money in one direction or the other, if we’ve had conversations, shared information, added value to one another’s business in whatever way…then to me, we have a business relationship, and if I send you an e mail, I expect a response.

Tell me if I’m alone in believing that it’s simply rude to ignore a personal message from a customer, or even from a supplier who we’ve enjoyed value from in the past?  For me though, the impact can be much greater than annoyance at basic rudeness.

How will I view you if I have spent thousands, or even tens of pounds with you, and you don’t reply to my personal e mail to you?  How will I judge your values? Will it affect how much I like you, how much I’m willing to spend with you in the future? What sort of referrals will I give you?

I’m not saying that it’s easy to get to all of your personal e mails, and I do appreciate that some of you will get a hell of a lot more than me.  What I’m saying is – have a system for getting to them.  Develop your own disciplined process…one hour a day…a couple of hours a week, a half day a month where you sort your inbox by ‘from’, and just reply.  How long does it take to type ‘No thanks’ really?

And if you get that many e mails, chances are you’re pretty successful and have a personal or virtual assistant who can do it all for you.  I wrote to Michael Gerber (author of the E Myth) recently.  I imagine he gets a fair few e mails, requests, suggestions every day, and yet, two days after I wrote to him I had a reply, from his assistant, with a full and very friendly response to my e mail.  Now there’s a man who understands systems

Business is all about relationships.  We all know that people do business with people they know, like and trust…people who they connect with and share values with.  Those connections…those trusting relationships are built on a foundation of open, honest and consistent communication.  They are much quicker to break than they are to build, and they are precious.  Don’t lose them for the sake of a ten second response.
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For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

Almost without fail, whenever I say the word 'process' in a conversation I can see the other person glaze over.  It's almost instantaneous ...'process'...gone!  It has the same effect on people as the words 'insurance' or 'double-glazing' or 'accounting'...and yet, we all have process in our lives somewhere.  Many of us love them.  Some of us are even addicted to them - what do you think OCD is based on?

And besides, none of us can avoid them.

Even the most disorganised person will have process in their life...the order in which they put their clothes on...the way they make a cup of tea...the route they follow to work.  It's systematic...following the same process...simply the way they do these things.

In business it's the same.  A business owner may decide that they don't want to have any process in their business, that they want to be free-flowing, empower their people...build a successful operation without being tied to systems.  The reality is though that they will have a way of doing things....the people who work for them will create their own way of doing things...organically, without appreciating it, they will develop processes...and because they haven't developed them consciously...they will, very often, be inefficient and wasteful.

Processes are perceived as restrictive...akin to some sort of straight jacket... but this could not be further from the truth.  Efficient processes do not remove creativity or innovation from a business.  On the contrary they provide a solid, logical platform which frees the people in the business to be creative.

If you have bright, creative people working with you, they will continuously innovate with your processes and make them better, more streamlined, more efficient over time.  The outcome...continuous improvement, and a better and better experience for your customers.

Simple, logical process & systems make everyone's life easier...yours, your people's, your customers'...they are the ultimate liberator, time saver, control giver...in life and in business.  What's not to love?

Contact us at MPL on hello@mariannepage.co.uk