At first, I didn't take my own advice.
I sat down with my good friend, Kayla Barrett, the CEO of Organization Impact, on December 28. Over the last several years we've partnered on several customer experience and employee engagement projects. Many of them have been in the hospitality industry, but we both have worked in other sectors including utilities, banking, insurance, technology, entertainment and well-being.
Our intent was to clarify our vision of how we were going to work together in 2016 and what type of projects and how many we wanted to do together.
It was a typical meeting and we decided that we would author an ebook. You know, one of those marketing pieces that's longer than a white paper, but not really deep enough for a person to really make a difference in their business. The type of publication that's designed really just to attract attention, trigger some reciprocity and encourage the reader to become a prospect. We committed to the release of our first ebook during the first week of February.
That was a fine plan. But there was a problem.
The more I thought of it, the more something felt a bit off. Around that time, I wrote a post where I asked readers to consider, "What would you love to hear your customers saying about your company, products and services."
This was the trigger for me.
I knew I wanted to write a book that provided real, impactful and effective tools for people, some of whom just needed a starting point. Others may decide to contact us to ask for help to improve their customer experience. But, what would I LOVE to hear my clients saying?
So I went deep into the question as I encouraged my readers to do.
On the other side of my inquiry I found myself facing a list of statements like:
I had to grapple with this dissonance between what I decided for and what I really loved.
Kayla and I met again on January 13. I was hesitant to address the issue, but I knew I had to.
As I shared my mental and emotional evolution, i could see that Kayla was not only in agreement, but she was fully supportive and thrilled by the idea. We leaned into the possibility of what we could create and decided, "We are writing and publishing a #1 Best-Seller the first week of February."
Between attending conferences and client work that we had scheduled, we wrote, edited and re-wrote the book. We reached out to friends, industry experts, executives and business owners and asked them to review the manuscript. We called colleagues who had earned their best-selling status and asked them for advice. As we shared our vision, the support poured in.
It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Along the way we learned several lessons. Here are some of the key things:
How do I know?
Because on February 1, we released our book. In less than 24 hours we hit #1 Hot New Release in Hospitality, Tourism and Travel and #1 Hot New Release in Retailing.
As of the writing of this post, we are the #1 Best Seller in Hospitality, Tourism and Travel and we have achieved Top 5, Top 50 and Top 100 in several categories on Amazon. We're not done yet. But, we are already hearing what we decided we'd love to hear from our clients just a few weeks ago.
What are you doing today to envision and deliver the experience that will have your clients, customers or guests telling you what you'd love to hear?
Our book, "The Complete Experience: Unlocking the secrets of online reviews that drive customer loyalty" is currently available on Amazon.
I sat down with my good friend, Kayla Barrett, the CEO of Organization Impact, on December 28. Over the last several years we've partnered on several customer experience and employee engagement projects. Many of them have been in the hospitality industry, but we both have worked in other sectors including utilities, banking, insurance, technology, entertainment and well-being.
Our intent was to clarify our vision of how we were going to work together in 2016 and what type of projects and how many we wanted to do together.
It was a typical meeting and we decided that we would author an ebook. You know, one of those marketing pieces that's longer than a white paper, but not really deep enough for a person to really make a difference in their business. The type of publication that's designed really just to attract attention, trigger some reciprocity and encourage the reader to become a prospect. We committed to the release of our first ebook during the first week of February.
That was a fine plan. But there was a problem.
The more I thought of it, the more something felt a bit off. Around that time, I wrote a post where I asked readers to consider, "What would you love to hear your customers saying about your company, products and services."
This was the trigger for me.
I knew I wanted to write a book that provided real, impactful and effective tools for people, some of whom just needed a starting point. Others may decide to contact us to ask for help to improve their customer experience. But, what would I LOVE to hear my clients saying?
So I went deep into the question as I encouraged my readers to do.
On the other side of my inquiry I found myself facing a list of statements like:
- This is a must read for every business leader.
- Tony and Kayla hit the mark!
- This book shows how online reviews are really the result of employee engagement/disengagement. I now get it!
- I loved reading this book!
- This book is now mandatory reading for my team.
- They give a solid plan of action that I know i can take.
- I've already started to improve my online reviews. It really works!
I had to grapple with this dissonance between what I decided for and what I really loved.
Kayla and I met again on January 13. I was hesitant to address the issue, but I knew I had to.
As I shared my mental and emotional evolution, i could see that Kayla was not only in agreement, but she was fully supportive and thrilled by the idea. We leaned into the possibility of what we could create and decided, "We are writing and publishing a #1 Best-Seller the first week of February."
Between attending conferences and client work that we had scheduled, we wrote, edited and re-wrote the book. We reached out to friends, industry experts, executives and business owners and asked them to review the manuscript. We called colleagues who had earned their best-selling status and asked them for advice. As we shared our vision, the support poured in.
It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Along the way we learned several lessons. Here are some of the key things:
- Always start with the vision of what you'd love to create and what you'd love to hear your customers saying.
- Share your vision of the possibility with a close team of partners who will support you in the achievement of the vision.
- Be vulnerable and open. This is how you learn and grow. This is how you achieve what you've never done before.
- Ask for help from those who have achieved success like you desire. They can guide you around the pitfalls and potholes.
- Be prepared to fall into new pitfalls and potholes and have a team who can help you climb out, quickly.
- Forget about being comfortable for a while. Pour your whole self into the work.
- Be willing and enthusiastic about trading your life (days, weeks, months, etc.) to create what you'd love.
- Ask for more support than you think you need. It will always take more than you expect at the beginning.
- Allow people to have their negative opinions about what you're doing. Take what you can to learn and leave the rest behind.
- Always check back to compare what you are creating with "What would I LOVE...?" and make the adjustments required until the reality and the ideal are the same.
- Never stop until you achieve it.
How do I know?
Because on February 1, we released our book. In less than 24 hours we hit #1 Hot New Release in Hospitality, Tourism and Travel and #1 Hot New Release in Retailing.
As of the writing of this post, we are the #1 Best Seller in Hospitality, Tourism and Travel and we have achieved Top 5, Top 50 and Top 100 in several categories on Amazon. We're not done yet. But, we are already hearing what we decided we'd love to hear from our clients just a few weeks ago.
What are you doing today to envision and deliver the experience that will have your clients, customers or guests telling you what you'd love to hear?
Our book, "The Complete Experience: Unlocking the secrets of online reviews that drive customer loyalty" is currently available on Amazon.