Last year I had a tough conversation with a client.
She wanted to know why her retention rate was only getting worse.
I suggested that the first thing we should do is use NPS surveys to help gather data. We can look at how the analytics that we gather to help us make smarter decisions.
She balked at the idea.
Gather Feedback
Over the next few weeks I kept revisiting the issue. I didn’t want to be pushy, but I needed to challenge her.
We had to ask customers why they were leaving. If we made them feel as comfortable as possible and explained how much we just wanted the truth then we could figure out how to solve the issue.
That’s why I made a decision to start this new project.
I’m currently working on a software project to help companies like yours get better feedback from their customers so they can use this data to make smarter decisions.
Expanding out my business is always interesting because it requires challenging myself to step outside of my comfort zone.
Leadership
I’m learning to be more of a leader instead of just a doer.
I’m not a programmer, so I’m hiring someone to help me build the software. This requires a lot of patience and trust.
He has to understand my vision, use his best judgement, and create something that we are both happy with.
Most leaders make the mistake of trying to dictate the rules and try to get people to follow them.
I’ve realized the hard way that this is a bad way to lead.
People want to be involved in developing the project.
If you take that away from them then you take the joy of work away from them too.
Let me back up.
I have a passion project called Work Happy Now. I started the project because I wanted to know what made me happy at work and I thought I’d share it with the world.
It’s why I started this business, Domino Connection.
After many years of being a bad leader I began researching what really made people want to do great work. I wrote an article that went mini viral in the business writing world. It’s about encouraging employee happiness and engagement.
Progress
I found out that most people were happy when they saw progress in their career. They want and need to see a project succeed. They want people show appreciation for their hard work. And they really want to see that their work truly matters.
And for that same reason they are afraid to try new things. They don’t want to see it flop and feel like a failure.
They don’t want to be a failure.
But that’s the problem.
I’m going to tell you an open secret that many people are afraid to accept.
You need to fail to feel successful. You need to fail small and big to succeed.
Challenge Yourself
If you don’t try new things you’ll never see progress.
It’s why I challenge people to create passion projects for themselves. The people who try to do something difficult, grow professionally and personally because of it are the people who really succeed.
They stretched past what they thought was possible.
I look forward to seeing what you think.
The best way for business to continue to drive innovation is to improve how they listen. When you listen to smart people who care, then that’s where you will find hidden gems that help you take your business in new directions.
Stay tuned and I should have something to show you very soon. We’re shooting for June 1st.