beBetter 

A recent beBetter blog, Price is Rarely the Issue, generated some interesting comments and thoughts. One that really caught my attention was from a HORNE team member in Tennessee, David Friedt. David shared a humorous story about how a car salesman was attempting to make a car distinctive with some of the features.  

We just checked into the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC, and the rain is pouring down. In fact, it has poured for the last three hours since we landed in Charlotte and started our drive over.

CeCe and I are headed up to Oxford, MS, for a weekend of visiting family and watching the Ole Miss Rebels play football. CeCe is on the phone with Delta Faucets trying to replace four defective faucets we have in our house. The first one resulted in over $2,000 in repairs from the leak. The second, I was lucky enough to discover it as the seal first burst and started leaking into the bathroom.

It’s Monday night and we have been out of town for four nights now, which I know pushes CeCe’s travel limit. Although I shared with her while sitting on the beach that my schedule for the week would allow me to work remotely for longer, I could tell from her lack of conversation and our prior travel experiences that she will be disappointed if we do not head home tomorrow. So, I start making changes in my schedule to handle all of my calls on the six-hour drive home.  

About three years ago, we switched to a local pharmacy that is literally one mile from our house. CeCe frequently rides the golf cart over to pick up our prescriptions.

This is a hilarious short video of Sully’s meltdown while expressing his deep desire to be with Pops (that’s me!). I obviously love it. And this mindset can be inspirational if we consider relating it to our client experiences. Are we focused on them enough?

Gosh, it’s already 7:45 a.m. as I jump into the shower after a quick shave. I’ve got little time to spare before an 8:30 meeting. Shampoo my hair, quick rinse and reach for the bar of soap. No soap! Dang, I had this same problem yesterday and forgot to put a new bar in here. I’m not using CeCe’s perfumed bath wash again — I got some strange looks yesterday. Nope, I’m going to step out and get a bar of soap.

I’m staring at my cell phone ringing from an unknown number on my way home from our cabin where DIRECTV has missed their second appointment with me. It’s three hours round trip so you can imagine my mindset is not exactly even-tempered. I have been talking with the DIRECTV support team and advanced resolution team all morning. And based on my experience, there’s nothing advanced about their service or capabilities. I did learn a few new excuses which I took the time to point out as they rolled each one out. 

So far in this blog series, we pulled the curtain back on innovation, growth strategies, alignment and change management for large firms. We are now focusing on pulling back the curtain on strategic trends that are prevalent for many firms but not as frequently central to their strategic plan. All of these trends and strategies come directly from interacting with over 20 CEOs and COOs of Top 100 CPA firms. For some firms and maybe for yours, these next trends could be part of your plan to be distinctive and relevant. 

I hope you caught my two previous blogs on disruption and unseen pain. On this day of very preventable disruption & self-inflicted pain, I also got to experience a third great life lesson in customer service mindset and experience. You may recall my boat trailer tire blowout and subsequent eye injury happened late on a Friday afternoon. That Saturday morning, I was up early and looking for a tire service center where I could get three new tires for my boat trailer. This was urgent since I had PTO planned for the following week to fish some more and I knew it would include a road trip or two.

On a recent family vacation to Perdido Key, Florida, we had dinner at Fisherman’s Corner—a hole in the wall restaurant that prepares every dish from scratch and has become our family’s favorite when we are in the area. It was hot and we had a large group so I went inside to order drinks for us while we waited. Despite being in the middle of the dinner rush, the waiter smiled at me, handed me the drinks and said, “We use the honor system here, so just simply tell your waiter when you are seated how many drinks you had.” WOW!  I realize they trust me to not take advantage of their hospitality and generosity, but our customer experience (which is always great there) just soared to an even higher level of brand loyalty. It was evident that they cared about our experience AND they trusted us. Loyalty grows when trust is extended. 

A few weeks ago, I received a special invitation to spend some quality time at Sage Valley with a group of CPA executives who I respect very much. Initially, I declined the invitation because this connection event was scheduled around 2.5 days of golf, which is a sport I gave up several years ago.  As a golfer, I found myself frustrated and inconsistent, and with very little time to practice, I dropped it and had no interest in revisiting those frustrations.