Weekof June 8. 2009

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

 

IN OUR WORLD

 

Just a quick trip to Houston to pitch a project on the power of our ROUNDTABLE platform in generating ideas, developing accountability and showing PROVEN RESULTS.  Prospect looks good.

 

Spent the balance of the week on three projects:

 

• Major report on the outcome of a strategic initiative launch.  I hate standard reports so I work from a graphic approach.  Takes a lot longer but the end result follows my mantra – Simple, Powerful and Elegant.
• Design and delivery of a custom program teaching the impact of great communication skills for gifted teen musicians at the Elan Music Festival.  Talk about a challenge!  What can you do to engage, impact, inspire and garner participation from brilliant young musicians?  Think simple and powerful.  I took them on a participatory / visual journey.  I think the program was a big success.  A good sign is that they didn’t want to leave!
• Redesigning my web site.  Great new things in the works!

 

Now, add the honor of doing a major podcast interview on my Repeatable Successful Acts platform that will be divided into two parts, with the first being released on Tuesday (scheduled).  Had the chance to work with a top interviewer.  It was great!  If I get a link I will let you all know.

 

Wednesday night and most of Thursday  we have had the worst thunderstorms that I have EVER witnesses.  Blinding rain, 80 MPH wind, huge thunder and a sky filled with close lightning strikes.  UNBELIEVABLE!  They were downright SCARY.

 

 

 

 

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

 

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

 

Here is a great exercise for the way you think about your customer and the level of service you give versus the level of service they perceive they get.  We just finished this exercise with a large remodeling company and it really opened their eyes and shifted a part of their strategy moving forward in 09:

• Put together a team from your company, no more than 5 people and ask them to define what they think the customer experience is for people doing business with you.  Define it in its entirety, the chain from contact to purchase.  From the first point of contact, how did they find you, who did they speak with first, how did they move from contact to purchase, how was your level of service, was their a connection to the buyer past the point of purchase?  These are core questions relating to the customer experience. 
• Once you believe you have a COMPLETE definition of the customer experience begin to give it some critical thought.  Is there a pathway that customers follow?  This is termed “knowing the Yellow Brick Road”.  If you are confident you have completed the basic road a customer follows you now have a position in YOUR belief of current reality.
• Next, BE BOLD.  Invite a few customers in and ask them to tell you their story about doing business with you.  See how close your definition and their story match.  Find the strengths and define the weaknesses.
• Be Strategic.  Now challenge yourself to seek areas of the process you can redefine to meet a new, refreshed connection to your customer.

In today’s world of chaos and flash fried loyalty you have to be on a continuous road to connect you to your customer.  The above exercises challenges you to define your “current reality” from a number of viewpoints, yours, your team’s and your customers.  With a total picture of where you are now, with the strength not of an unsure reality, but of a finely focused reality you can don ANYTHING.  Current reality is ALWAYS the starting point!

 

 

 

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

MOVIES:    Pelham 183:   Good thing Laura is in Austin for a yoga retreat, because I think she would have passed on this one.

 

NetFlix Fans:  The Tao of Steve:   Oddly funny and weirdly paced.  I liked it a lot.

 

TV:    Holy Crap – Last Sunday was a sports junkies dream;  Roger Federer finally wins the French Open and in my opinion is the greatest player of all time.  Tiger mounts a 5 shot come back to win the golf tournament and Kobe puts on a scoring tornado of a show in game 1 of the NBA finals.  I was right in the great TV on USA as Royal Pains is fantastic.  I am a bachelor this weekend and will be watching tons of action movies!

 

BOOKS:  Glow   – By Gratton.  A book about leveraging your strengths or what makes you “glow”.  Loved it because it had three core ideas – Strong relationships, networks beyond the usual suspects and ignite energy in others.

 

MUSIC:   Though the video isn’t great this song is one of Laura’s favorites and shows the great storyteller that Bob Dylan is.  I play this for her all the time.

 

 

 

WEB SITES:   Creativity is everywhere.

 

 

www.strangedesign.net

 

 

SOUTH OF NORMAL

 

Yep summer is here, so here are a few beaches you might want to think about avoiding since they are the top SHARK attach beaches in America!

 

# 3   –   Long Beach Island NJ:  This is the island that provided all the source material for the movie Jaws.  In 1916 they had 5 major shark attacks in 11 days.

 

# 2   –   N. Shore Oahu HI :  Big waves with lots of surfers in shallow water getting cut up by the rocks.  MMMMMMM shark buffet.

 

# 1   –  New Smyrna Beach FL:  This is shark attack capital of the world!  210 shark attaches have been officially recorded with an estimated 500 not reported.  How in the hell do you not report a shark attack??

 

 

It’s hard to be compared to Dylan.  I was walking down the street and turned to see an African American, about 30, in a business suit behind the wheel of a Lincoln Navigator playing and singing Like A Rolling Stone at the top of his lungs.

Neil Young – On the Charlie Rose Show

 

 

Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.