I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it’. It was used a lot 10 or 20 years ago. This seemingly innocuous little phrase has provided people with a plausible excuse for inaction or poor results. Too many business people use it to hide laziness, or a fear of change, or to justify incompetent thinking, or simply as a feeble excuse for mediocre business performance.  Some examples of this are:

·      OK is OK - if everything appears to be working OK and there are no signs of problems, then what’s being done must be OK and there’s no need to disturb things by looking for ways to improve.  

·      No one is complaining, so things must be all right - if there are little or no complaints being registered by customers, then it’s fair to assume that they are completely happy with what’s being provided. Things should therefore be left alone and doing more of the same will keep them coming back.  

·      Satisfied customers are fine – so long as the customer indicators tell us that they are satisfied with our product or service, then we must be doing a good job and there’s no need to seek out improvements.

Markets are fiercely competitive with rivals keen to find anything that will outmanoeuvre a competitor and create competitive advantage.  Where the climate is getting ever more competitive and where things can always be improved.

So returning to the “if it ain’t broke…” phrase, if you wish to win a competitive battle for supremacy in customer service, you will need to find some endings that are very different to “…don’t fix it”. Here therefore, are a few that you may like to consider.

1.    If it ain’t broke – maybe you just aren’t looking hard enough

Continual improvement is an attitude of mind. If you believe that everything can always be improved you will find ways to do it. It’s just a cop out to give yourself the excuse for doing nothing by saying ‘that will do’ or ‘it’s OK’.

 So look harder. I’m sure that if you do you’ll find lots of ways that things can be improved.

2.    If it ain’t broke – find something that is broke and improve that

If you’ve read no.1 above, and the warning about complacency, yet you’re still convinced there’s nothing you can do to improve the item you’re focussing on, then widen your search to find something else that you can improve. There will always be something, so when you’ve found it, get to work on that.

 3.    If it ain’t broke – break it and start again

In many organisations or markets, the best way to create major improvements is to go back to the beginning and start again. This means using approaches like the following -

If we didn’t have what we’ve got now, and could begin again from scratch, what would we then create, that would be exactly what our customers want, that no competitor yet has?

Once you’ve worked this out (you’ll probably need to involve lots of customers in this to come up with the right answers), your goal should be to change, as quickly as you can, from where you are now to where this indicates you should be.

 If a new competitor came into our market, what would they have to do, to get most of our customers to switch to them?

This could be your worst nightmare. You should know your weaknesses so you should also know best what a smart competitor would have to do to win business from your customers. Once you’ve worked out what that would be, why don’t you do it first? Before a competitor does!

The power of +1’s and –1’s

 A good way to focus peoples’ attention on the improvements that are required is to call them  +1’s and –1’s.

The idea for +1’s comes from the book Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard. In it he uses the equation ‘Delight = Expectation +1’ to explain how easy it can be to create customer delight

+1’s are the little things that employees do to exceed customers’ expectations. It is important however to ensure that any +1’s add value without adding cost. This is done by making sure they meet the following criteria – 

·        They must have little or no cost

·        They must be quick and easy to do

·        They must be noticed and valued by customers

Please note that mugs, pens, tee shirts, and other such gifts do not count as +1’s. Worthwhile +1’s are acts of kindness, things that show real care and consideration and the things people do for customers, that go beyond the normal call of duty, and exceed customers’ expectations.

As well as seeing the best ways to improve service with +1’s, most employees will also regularly see opportunities for cost savings. –1’s provide an opportunity for them to also put these ideas into practice. -1’s are things that will reduce costs for the business, without reducing service to the customers. I call them –1’s because the idea is to find things that will save at least $1.00 a day. This may not seem much, but if all employees are coming up with ideas for these savings, every month, they quickly add up.

As with the +1’s, –1’s should meet a criteria, as follows – 

·        They must be simple to do

·        They must be sustainable

·        They must not reduce service to customers

This –1’s concept also works well with staff because it’s generally easy to think up lots of ways to save just £1.00 a day. Yet I’m sure you will realise that in considering ways to save £1.00 a day, they will often generate ideas that can save a great deal more.

Making it a habit

If you’re going to make these ideas work, they must become a habitual part of the way you run your business. You could therefore make it a requirement for everyone in the business, to be involved in a +1’s or –1’s session, for a ½ hour, every month. This may not seem long, (it’s intended that way so no one will worry about the time it takes), but it’s amazing how many great ideas can be created in just ½ hour.

In just ½ hour, with the right environment, a group of say 5 to 10 people can easily generate an average of 1 to 4 good, workable ideas per person. So if this is then done every month, in every department, in any reasonable sized business, it will generate hundreds of ideas per month. Then if all these ideas are tried and tested, and the most successful ones are spread around the organisation and made standard practice, it creates cost reductions and continuous improvements in service, at a fantastic pace. Yet a pace that is generally not noticed by your competitors until it’s too late to do anything about it.

Every +1, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, increases the differences between you and your competitors and makes your customers more likely to choose you and less likely to choose a competitor. Every –1 will make your business more competitive and/or more profitable.

So to end with yet another version of the title phrase, ‘if it ain’t broke, break in with a barrage of +1’s and –1’s’.