Love is in the air !

In the beginning of my training career, I was the boy Hitler. No compromises. It had to be my way. It was the same with my business career. Most of my arguments with my dad were only because I was inflexible.

Three decades is a long time. And I have learnt my lesson. Human beings are not machines. They do not perform the way you expect them to. Their minds are not yours.
In the mid nineties thanks to a lot of hard knocks and the inspiration that I drew from my friends at Brotherhood, I started using Love as the chief weapon in getting things done by people. And I threw away Fear.

Every bit of the success that I have achieved in the last decade is because of this omnipotent weapon called Love. I am accused of being emotional. Actually the right word is Passionate. I have experienced that passion in my work and love towards the people I work with have completely changed my life. For the better.

My hard core business friends say there is no place for sentiment in business. I beg to differ. Your ride to unlimited wealth lies in your ability to make your customer and your employee fall in love with you. In your ability to win over your supply chain with your charm and your understanding.

Love does not mean irresponsibility. You love your children but you also discipline them when necessary.

Love does not mean compromise all the time. When love is reciprocated it is not called compromise. It is adjustment. It is wanting to bend for another person.
Love is not conditional. I will love you only if….! Love is just letting a person inside your heart. Not necessarily reciprocal. You love just because YOU feel nice. It is a bonus if you are loved back.

Love is not possession. Just because you love someone and that someone reciprocates, you do not get the right of ownership. You just get a lease. And that lease has a lot of responsibility attached to it.

Love only means understanding that people are after all human !

It is the season of Love. And I love you all !

Chalta Hai, Chale Jao !

We are a great nation. But in a lot respects, we are not. There’s something that prevents us from being greater. Our cricket team achieves sporadic brilliance; we boast of one gold medal in the Olympics, the Nobel Prize committee does not want to look at us.

I believe we suffer from a pandemic. And it is called Mediocrity. We have all the potential to be extra-ordinary but content ourselves with being just ordinary.

Are we afraid to be great ? Not really. Because we have learnt to live with all kinds of fears and yet triumph. When we want to.

Is it lack of confidence ? Not really. We do things really well. But we do not rise above the ordinary.

Are we lazy ? Not at all. We spend so much of time and effort in being mediocre.

In our respective lives, we all have tremendous opportunities and we certainly have the potential.

Then why is greatness eluding most of us?

I sincerely believe it is our “Chalta Hai” attitude that is the culprit. Name it. Traffic, cheating, substandard quality, education, corruption, construction, production, health - the mantra that rules is , you said it, Chalta hai !

Can we start a revolution ? Fight the mother of all battles? Can you and I refuse to accept Chalta Hai ?

The following weapons will be of great help.

Let’s develop a healthy respect for Quality. Let’s be prepared to pay a bit more for it because we know that in the long run the little extra is actually going to translate into hassle free longevity and will therefore be cheaper.

In our lives, in everything we do, let’s concentrate for just a bit more to produce better. Like proof reading a mail one more time before sending it !

Every time we do something better than the last time, let’s pat ourselves on the back and urge ourselves to do just a little better the next time.

Let’s role model ourselves after people or organisations that believe in excellence and just will not accept the ordinary.

We have a long fight but I am convinced we will win. Let's talk to all those around us and recruit them in our cause. We will have more and more people joining us and as time goes by we will finally conquer this pandemic.

Death to Mediocrity !!! Long live Excellence !!!

I don't want to lose you !

One of my favorite training topics is Customer Retention. As luck would have it, my services are also frequently requested to counsel couples in relationships. Some time back I discovered a lot of points in common between these apparently disparate subjects.

It is common knowledge that six out of ten customers move away from you because of indifference, discourtesy and a feeling of not belonging to your business. Amazing, most relationships also break up for the very same reason.

It is also common knowledge that it costs six times more to attract a new customer than to retain an old customer. Anybody who has gone through a divorce will vouch for this ! It’s not just the money. The time and trauma that you go through also demand a steep price.

Over recent times, at least in the Indian context, the customer has become more aware of his status, his rights and is more vocal and assertive in what he wants. This is also true of all emotional relationships.

Here are some tips on retaining customers AND relationships.

Under promise over deliver. Promises are so easy to make and so very difficult to implement ! Surprise your customer and your mate by giving more than they expect. Remember the word “Surprise”.

Expectations are your undoing. We all expect our customers to behave in a certain pattern. We create an elaborate atmosphere, expecting them to conform to the pattern and they don’t. Smart businessmen will do everything to create a conducive atmosphere. And stop at that. Leave it to the customer to buy. The success of large format stores hinges on this theory. It is the same with a relationship. Do what you wish to do for the sheer pleasure of doing it. If you get a reward accept it as a bonus.

When things go wrong communicate more. We all have gone through this. When someone owes you money or has not done something he is expected to do, phones stop working, emails bounce, tempers get frayed and businesses are affected. A customer who complains is treated as he has swine flu ! Would it not be easier if both persons communicated a little MORE in such situations? Would not the same thing apply to a relationship ? Avoiding a problem has never ever made it go away.

Don’t take people for granted. Things are more often not what they seem to be, is what any sales training guru will tell you. Taking customers for granted is the cardinal sin of any businessman. Mighty business empires have fallen just because of this. In relationships too, especially in a marriage, we tend to take our spouses for granted. For those whose marriages were the result of romance, the difference before and after marriage is glaringly obvious. A relationship is not a fixed deposit. It is an investment which needs daily doses of care.

Keep an open mind. Understand why people say what they say. Disagreements are only a symptom. Look for the cause. The skill of a doctor lies in diagnosing the root of the problem and not the symptoms. Preconceived notions close your mind to closer relationships whether it is your customer or your mate.

Learn to appreciate sincerely. This has never failed in all my years in business. I would stress the word sincerity since flattery is detected almost immediately.

Your ego is your biggest enemy. This is the bane of most Indian businesses. We simply refuse to take responsibility. According to us, even God could be wrong. We are not. Even when we know we wrong, we move logic on its head to defend ourselves. Look for win-win situations. Be prepared to lose the battle in order to win the war.

Just as we constantly fine tune ourselves to our customers’ need so do we need to with our partners. No relationship is 50:50. The equations are ever evolving. Here’s wishing that you never lose your loved one and that includes your customer !

How Can We Break This ?

How can we break this ?

There’s an old story told of a young man who went up to a London tailor and ordered a suit to be stitched for him. As luck would have it, the same night, the young man was asked to report for war duty and was away for four long years. One day, while cleaning out his old clothes, a decade after the war, he came across the receipt for his suit. The no longer young man went looking for the tailor and found him still intact in the old building. He showed the receipt to the tailor, who glanced it carefully and said, “Come back next week, your suit will be ready”!

Many of you know that I have been crazy about cars for almost all my adult life. Many of the imported cars were bought when spares were simply not available in the country. One mechanic whom I have now known for two decades has been my savior. Amrose has been very sincere at his job, is an absolute whizz with any car and in all these years, has not cheated me even once ! (I did test. Quite a few times !) Amrose’s only failing is that he has almost always delayed delivering the car after repairing it. Even when the spares were available, his assistants were on duty, none of his numerous relatives had died, there was no power cut, he has always manufactured some plausible excuse to delay execution.

One of my mentoring clients is a young man with great vision, an absolute professional, I would not be surprised if he becomes one of the most powerful men of India in the next decade. A fantastic friend, a caring employer and a visionary leader. His only failing ? He does not pay promptly !! He needs to be reminded a dozen times, every time a payment is due. Mind you, the money due to me is budgeted for, and the amount he pays me will not even cause a ripple in the vast ocean of his wealth. But he delays payment !!

Teachers submitting reports at the last minute, filing returns on the last day, booking tickets at the last minute, the list can go on. Like the wag said, "Thank God for 11:59. If it were not for the last minute, nothing would be done !"

My friends tell me I am not alone. This disease seems to affect almost every organisation big or small and almost every professional.

In a surging India, where high professional standards are expected and met for the most part, this delay factor seems to be our national failing. A crippling disease whose domino effect has prevented us, from attaining even more greatness.
Can you and I break this cycle ? How can we do it ?