The following contains excerpts from the book, Raving Fans (Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles).
At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. In Leadership, relationships matter, and how you serve others through positive relationships is how you ultimately lead successfully.
“You can’t create Raving Fan customers if your people are unmotivated and uncommitted…successful organizations have one common central focus: customers…quality isn’t enough…Quality is how well our product works in relation to the customer’s need. That’s just one aspect of customer service. Customer service covers all the customer’s needs and expectations.”
Ken Blanchard’s series of ‘One Minute Manager’ books have consistently provided good thought-provoking materials on the subjects of leadership and management. This one focuses on customer service.
“If you really…want a booming business, you have to go beyond satisfied customers and create Raving Fans.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we strive to teach more than music to our students. In fact we believe that through the study of music, there are many life-lessons that can be gained.
The first of the three lessons to create Raving Fans is to: Decide what you want – create a vision of perfection centered on the customer. “Unless you have your own vision, how can you understand the customers? A customer’s vision has meaning only in the context of your vision…When you find out what customers really want, what their vision is, it will likely focus on just one or two things. Your own vision has to fill in the gaps…only within the window you’ve defined in your vision as your particular customer service product…If you don’t have your own vision to start with, you’ll never put the necessary limits in place.”
It is our desire, at our music school in Midland, Texas to exceed the expectations of our students and their families, making a difference in our community.
The second lesson is to Discover what the customer wants. “Often what people really want doesn’t show up directly in what they say. They may even say one thing and mean quite another…When a customer complains, you know you’re hearing the truth. Listen to him. When a customer is a Raving Fan and is enthusiastic, listen to him too. But when a customer is silent or says ‘Fine’ with a smile, you have to really perk up your ears. You’ve got a problem. If nothing else, that customer isn’t a Raving Fan…Most customers have a focus. You have to find that focus and then mine it for information. As you uncover the customer’s vision one bit at a time, it’s easy to either work it into your own vision or reject it…Finally, you have to know when to ignore what the customer wants and, if necessary, tell the customer to take his vision elsewhere to be fulfilled.”
What we have found, at our music school in Midland, Texas, is that parents want their children to have the best possible education they can give them and music broadens the horizons of each of these students.
“If you don’t’ look after your people, they won’t look after your customers.”
“The third secret is Deliver Plus One…Deliver the vision plus one percent…It tells you to deliver. Not sometimes, not most times. But all the time. No exceptions contemplated or allowed. Second, it talks about ‘plus one percent.’ Consistency is critical. Consistency creates credibility…limit the number of areas where you want to make a difference…Better to find a smaller thing, a smaller service promise, you can deliver consistently…Promise less than you deliver…To create Raving Fans, don’t drive promises down. Drive delivery up.
At our music school in Midland, Texas we endeavor to go beyond simply teaching music. We want to impart meaning and life-skills that go beyond the study of music. Things like: empathy, patience, autonomy, responsibility, long-range goals, daily incremental growth, courage, the list goes on.
“To be consistent you have to have systems…At the core of every great customer service organization is a package of systems and a training program to inculcate those systems into the soul of that company. That’s what guarantees consistency…Systems are what allows you to guarantee delivery…Systems are predetermined ways to achieve a result. The emphasis has to be on achieving the result, not the system for the system’s sake. That’s the difference between systems and rules…If it serves a customer need it’s valid.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we have systems in place to ensure that each student is trained in what we call core competencies. These are musical skills that have been taught for centuries that apply to all styles of music and all artistic projects. When the student becomes skilled to the point that these core competencies are second nature, when they can do them ‘in their sleep,’ then they have transferred these systems deep into their muscle-memory and nervous system, so when they embark upon any musical project, they will have the tool they need to be successful.
These core competencies include scales, micropatterns, correlation rhythmic overlays, sight-reading/sight-singing skills, pitch memory, understanding intervals, the ability to conduct. From a theory standpoint, to understand counterpoint, the harmonic series, pattern analysis, the circle of fifths, keyboard harmony and jazz nomenclature.
Every student should have an understanding of composition techniques, whether they are a composer or not. Many students, who are performers, would be benefitted greatly by understanding the rigors of composition technique. Doing so, would give students a better understanding as to how to interpret existing compostions.
“The biggest problem I have in delivering my vision is knowing what to do next. Either I try to do too much at once and get frustrated or I sit immobilized because of the size of the job ahead. The rule of one percent reminds me that all I have to do is to improve by one percent…The Rule of One Percent tells you how to move ahead and then go beyond the vision. It also lets you constantly monitor the customers’ needs and alter your direction when they alter theirs.