Create Distinction Through the Ultimate Customer …

1 48 Main Platform Create Distinction Through the Ultimate Customer experience Scott McKain John Cougar Mellencamp. Remember the singer? His hit On what was normally the busiest day of the week, Small Town is my all-time favorite song. It begins when we opened our little grocery store bright and early, but Mellencamp goes to the microphone and sings these words: by 11:00 we still had not yet welcomed our first I was born in a small town. Customer . The reason that thrills me is that I was born in the same Finally, the door opened and in walked the least likely small town. John and I were both born in Seymour, Indiana.

2 Shopper I could have imagined .. a gruff, old, southern But because our farms were separated by a few miles, I went Indiana farmer named Leland. Pulling a list out of his to school in the even smaller Crothersville, Indiana, popu- pocket that his wife has obviously provided of the items she lation 1,500. It never changed size. Every time a baby was wanted when Leland went to town, he started going up and born, some man left town. down the aisles of our little grocery store, filling his basket That's not why I'm here. with the items from the list. I bring up this distant linkage to a rock and roll icon That was the instant I became fascinated with the essen- because if you remember John Mellencamp's old music vid- tial question, Why do customers do the things they do?

3 Eos, you have seen the small town where I grew up. Why does somebody choose to do business with you, When I was a kid, my mother was the assistant for a local or your agency, as opposed to your competition? Why life insurance agent for many years. Much of my appreciation would somebody choose the competition instead of you? for what you do is based upon that part of my childhood. Why do clients make the choices they make, do the things In addition, our family owned the only mom and pop they do? grocery store in Crothersville. My youth was spent stocking That was the moment I became fascinated by that. So I.

4 Shelves, waiting on customers, and learning some of the les- had to ask him the question, right? sons you know so well about dealing with people. Leland approached the cash register and unloaded his I will never forget the day that the guy who owned groceries for me to check him out. I was only a kid, so I had the clothing store across the street sprinted Through the to be respectful of how I asked the question. intersection to run into our store and tell my dad that I said, Leland, sir, all of our friends are shopping at the new the reason they were clearing the field on the north end supermarket. Yet you, sir, chose to do business with us today.

5 Of town was to make way for the construction of a new And, sir, I really want to know: Why did you shop here? . supermarket. His face turned as red as the tomatoes in the basket. He As the Saturday morning arrived for the grand opening looked up and he said, Oh, you know. I said, No, sir, I. of the new supermarket, our family was driving in to open don't know. Why did you shop here? . our little grocery store. We saw the supermarket's parking lot He said, 'Cause you guys like me. I thought, no, we already filled, even though it had yet to open its door. don't. But we do now! Scott McKain McKain, an internationally known business expert and author, helps organizations Create Distinction in every phase of business and teaches them how to deliver an Ultimate Customer experience .

6 McKain takes a revolutionary approach by showing how organizations and individual professionals Create differ- entiation in the marketplace. He has appeared multiple times as a commentator on Fox News to discuss business, politics, and American culture. McKain Performance Group Inc. 11650 Olio Road, Suite 1000-323, Fishers, IN 46037, USA. phone: +1 email: website: Order a copy of the presentation on : MP3: MP1316 MP9999 CD: C1316 C9999 DVD: D1316. D9999. Annual Meeting Proceedings | 2013 Million Dollar Round Table Create Distinction Through the Ultimate Customer experience 49. That moment began my education on the fundamental During the research, I discovered the four basic corner- challenge of what it takes to connect with a client or prospect stones of Distinction .

7 In one's business. Number one is clarity. You have to be absolutely precise I believe that the purpose of any business, the purpose of about what makes you distinctive in the marketplace. For what you're doing at your agency, and the purpose of finan- example, what makes a life insurance policy from you dis- cial services is to profitably Create experiences so compelling tinctive when compared to one from the competition? You'd to clients that loyalty becomes assured. better be crystal clear about that. And everyone in your prac- What are you doing to Create that kind of distinctive tice needs to know how she or he contributes.

8 experience ? Here's the reason: You cannot differentiate what you When I was doing the research for this program, one of can't define. the things I heard from people like your clients was simply, After it opened, the supermarket ran an ad stating, We're Hey, a policy is a policy. Term life is term life. An annuity not a grocery store we are a SUPERMARKET! . is an annuity. They are all the same. They are commodities. How would you have responded? I'm going to suggest to you that nothing is required to be My dad was clear about what we were and what we a commodity. Some might believe that these types of invest- were not.

9 Our ad the next week said, We are not a super- ments are a commodity, but you are not required to become market but we ARE a super-SERVICE grocery! Come in commoditized. The choice is up to you. where the people you know will take care of you the best.. Consider these points: Getting up and getting a cup So what do you do when you get home? of coffee in the morning is not a new or novel idea. But Develop a clarity statement of what makes your practice Starbucks came along and differentiated coffee. Starbucks distinctive in today's marketplace. found a way to make coffee different. Then ask yourself this important question: Does each Somebody came up to me a while back and said, Scott, member of our agency team know exactly how she or he currency is the Ultimate commodity.

10 A dollar is a dollar is contributes to our Distinction ? a dollar. A yen is a yen; a euro is a euro. You cannot differ- Assist your team to develop individual statements of clar- entiate within any given currency. Every unit is exactly the ity based upon the responsibilities. same. I kept thinking, really? Because this is cornerstone number one, it has to start here. Then why will we find one interest rate for our home That leads us to the second of the four cornerstones, mortgage absolutely acceptable but also willingly pay a com- creativity. We found that distinctive professionals are cre- pletely separate and exponentially higher interest rate ative but not in the way you might first assume.