Living in the Bergvliet area in Cape Town we get to have a large variety of birds and wild life roaming through our garden on any one day. We make an extra effort for the birds in winter as their natural food source becomes scarcer and harder to find. We put out our bread crusts and any fruit and veg that we do not eat.
A new recent visitor to our property is a lone gray squirrel who ran through our garden for the first time a month ago. Since then he has become a daily visitor and a great delight for us all. My daughter has had so much fun interacting with him as he eats what he can and then buries the rest in the garden. We have now put out special containers for him hung in the trees so we all get to watch him go about his daily task for gathering and saving.
This like so many other activities, this got me thinking about how we should run our businesses. Squirrel has a set time each day that he will visit our home. Come rain or shine he is there at that same time each day, even on weekends. He eats what he can and then gathers up enough for another day when supplies may run out and puts them in his safe, just in the ground somewhere, but you get my point.
Squirrel has developed a loyal brand with us and we feel almost incomplete in a day if we have missed him while we have been out. This sort of loyalty has been built through his consistency in service and his value add service. For him it is just the entertainment for me and the kids, but it could have been anything from good plumbing service to financial services.
If one lesson we can take from Squirrel is his relentless consistent service level agreement he has with us. Every day, same time, without fail. What if we could service our customers with just that one aspect in our companies? How often have you been there every time on time with the same level of service? Been late just once makes all past ‘on times’ fall flat.
A new recent visitor to our property is a lone gray squirrel who ran through our garden for the first time a month ago. Since then he has become a daily visitor and a great delight for us all. My daughter has had so much fun interacting with him as he eats what he can and then buries the rest in the garden. We have now put out special containers for him hung in the trees so we all get to watch him go about his daily task for gathering and saving.
This like so many other activities, this got me thinking about how we should run our businesses. Squirrel has a set time each day that he will visit our home. Come rain or shine he is there at that same time each day, even on weekends. He eats what he can and then gathers up enough for another day when supplies may run out and puts them in his safe, just in the ground somewhere, but you get my point.
Squirrel has developed a loyal brand with us and we feel almost incomplete in a day if we have missed him while we have been out. This sort of loyalty has been built through his consistency in service and his value add service. For him it is just the entertainment for me and the kids, but it could have been anything from good plumbing service to financial services.
If one lesson we can take from Squirrel is his relentless consistent service level agreement he has with us. Every day, same time, without fail. What if we could service our customers with just that one aspect in our companies? How often have you been there every time on time with the same level of service? Been late just once makes all past ‘on times’ fall flat.
Lets begin to show up on time, do what we say, say thank you and please and finish what we start. Good referable habits will help grow your small business.
1 comment:
I have a new appreciation for squirrels. I think you have hit the nail on the head here, Bruce...we just do not do enough of:
- showing up on time
- doing what we say
- saying please and thank you
- finishing what we start
I look forward to more lessons from your little animal kingdom...
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