Over the last few weeks I have gotten great feedback from companies and leaders about my articles and videos on delivering excellence to your customers. While it is always great to get feedback, I felt a little sad and frustrated after some of these conversations because some of these leaders agreed with me but had no power to change anything in their business

This led me to wonder why some leaders still cannot see the connection between sales growth and execution of service. It puzzles me that so much money is thrown away on advertising or buying new leads and NOTHING is being spent on delivering an excellent experience so I keep on preaching to lead this change.

In these conversations, I hear the glowing praise for the icons of service, the Apple’s, Disney’s, Ritz Carlton, Nordstrom’s etc. but when I pose the question to them as to why they are not delivering the same excellence, I am bombarded with reasons why it won’t work.

• “It’s too hard to change now”
• “My staff is used to doing it a certain way”
• “ I can’t take the risk it hurts my sales now.”
• “I am doing ok as it is.”

But what businesses are not taking into consideration is that customer experience is the currency of the future. Many products are commoditized. Profits are harder to make simply by focusing on price. Studies show this but still business owners smile, nod in agreement and move back on as if the future looks bright FOREVER.

Right now most company budgets do not include anything in terms of developing the consumer experience from a delivery standpoint. Companies focus on marketing effectiveness, or user experience on their website but not when it comes to communication or face to face delivery of their goods or services.

Now for the companies that have challenged this thought and shown me the training tapes or list of videos they use I applaud them for at least beginning the journey. My next challenge to them is how do they implement this training.

Do they have a line item or a role in their company that allows them to have ongoing training, side by side coaching and then accountability measures as well? This is where many fall off and to that I say, save the $$ on the tapes it isn’t going to work. Without long term coaching or follow up you are living on HOPE that things will work out.

Customer experience is how you will differentiate yourself, it will be how you market yourself it will be how your company rises above the others and becomes the go to place of business for your product or service. The caveat is it takes time, it takes consistency and it takes leadership buy in. Without it, you have lone voices wishing for change but no power to act.

Take the time before it is too late to look at how you deliver to your customers and see what it will take in terms of investment, time and training to separate yourself from the pack. Keep me posted.

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share and connect with me @sidebysidecoach.

Over the last few weeks I have gotten great feedback from companies and leaders about my articles and videos on delivering excellence to your customers. While it is always great to get feedback, I felt a little sad and frustrated after some of these conversations because some of these leaders agreed with me but had no power to change anything in their business

This led me to wonder why some leaders still cannot see the connection between sales growth and execution of service. It puzzles me that so much money is thrown away on advertising or buying new leads and NOTHING is being spent on delivering an excellent experience so I keep on preaching to lead this change.

In these conversations, I hear the glowing praise for the icons of service, the Apple’s, Disney’s, Ritz Carlton, Nordstrom’s etc. but when I pose the question to them as to why they are not delivering the same excellence, I am bombarded with reasons why it won’t work.

• “It’s too hard to change now”
• “My staff is used to doing it a certain way”
• “ I can’t take the risk it hurts my sales now.”
• “I am doing ok as it is.”

But what businesses are not taking into consideration is that customer experience is the currency of the future. Many products are commoditized. Profits are harder to make simply by focusing on price. Studies show this but still business owners smile, nod in agreement and move back on as if the future looks bright FOREVER.

Right now most company budgets do not include anything in terms of developing the consumer experience from a delivery standpoint. Companies focus on marketing effectiveness, or user experience on their website but not when it comes to communication or face to face delivery of their goods or services.

Now for the companies that have challenged this thought and shown me the training tapes or list of videos they use I applaud them for at least beginning the journey. My next challenge to them is how do they implement this training.

Do they have a line item or a role in their company that allows them to have ongoing training, side by side coaching and then accountability measures as well? This is where many fall off and to that I say, save the $$ on the tapes it isn’t going to work. Without long term coaching or follow up you are living on HOPE that things will work out.

Customer experience is how you will differentiate yourself, it will be how you market yourself it will be how your company rises above the others and becomes the go to place of business for your product or service. The caveat is it takes time, it takes consistency and it takes leadership buy in. Without it, you have lone voices wishing for change but no power to act.

Take the time before it is too late to look at how you deliver to your customers and see what it will take in terms of investment, time and training to separate yourself from the pack. Keep me posted.

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share and connect with me @sidebysidecoach.

Listen to the radio today and you hear advertising from companies explaining how their services will protect you from, “Google Death”, which is where someone posts bad reviews or false reviews about your services, thus impacting what people see about your company online. Protecting from a bad review is important but I believe that getting and marketing reviews is such an effective marketing tool that companies need to focus on this first.

For the last few years I have been educating businesses on how customer reviews are one of the most important marketing tools they can use to increase their customer base but still I hear from many leaders that it is not happening in their company. Many tell me that they cannot get their staff to ask customers for reviews, some say they still do not understand how to use these review to market and some will still hold firm to the idea that no one reads reviews.

Companies must embrace the fact that all of their marketing drives consumers to their website. What if, when customers get to a website, reviews or videos of customers praising their product/service are front and center as well as praising the experience they had doing business with their company. Do you see the impact?

If customer reviews are the golden seal of approval that many people use to help them decide which company to do business with, why is getting reviews and marketing with them still such a struggle for businesses to embrace?

Let’s debunk some of these issues that some business leaders have shared with me.

• Reviews are too hard to get / I can’t get my staff to do it.

This is really a two-part discussion. The first part would lead me to investigate if there is a written out process within the company that employees have been trained on. The second part is more of an accountability issue. In my opinion nothing happens consistently without inspection and leadership making it a priority? I would decide which of these two issues plagues your company and address it accordingly.

• No one really reads reviews.

Well the statistics are in. Customers do read reviews and more importantly are influenced by them. According to the Local Consumer Survey 2013, reviews are increasing in importance vs. 2012. 72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. If 3 out of 4 people trust reviews I am not sure why businesses see that reviews have no value. Here is a link to a great info graphic on reviews, which outlines even more statistics that should help convince business owners of the importance of getting customer feedback. http://archive.fohboh.com/profiles/blogs/online-reviews-statistics

• What should I do with the reviews once I get them?

There are a few things that businesses can do with printed reviews or even better a video testimonial. Reviews can be posted on their website, they can link to them from email signatures, they can use a testimonial video in a blog post or on their social media channels.

Another thing that can be done is to advertise reviews inside their place of business. Maybe a banner stand or a poster providing a link where people can see what customers are saying? Maybe a scrolling video screen with reviews or testimonial videos right besides the other advertising they may be doing. Think of this feedback as better than any catch phrase that your business can come up with. Real people, real praise. Nothing is better than that.

Make sure to spend some time reading the above survey to see how customer reviews are such an important way to communicate a company’s worth to the next round of potential customers. We can all thank Jeff Bezosfrom Amazon for training every one of us to read reviews and take this feedback into our consideration set. Any company that is not actively getting reviews and then marketing with them is letting their competition sneak into the minds of their potential customers.

Let me know your thoughts.

Glenn Pasch  is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.

Listen to the radio today and you hear advertising from companies explaining how their services will protect you from, “Google Death”, which is where someone posts bad reviews or false reviews about your services, thus impacting what people see about your company online. Protecting from a bad review is important but I believe that getting and marketing reviews is such an effective marketing tool that companies need to focus on this first.

For the last few years I have been educating businesses on how customer reviews are one of the most important marketing tools they can use to increase their customer base but still I hear from many leaders that it is not happening in their company. Many tell me that they cannot get their staff to ask customers for reviews, some say they still do not understand how to use these review to market and some will still hold firm to the idea that no one reads reviews.

Companies must embrace the fact that all of their marketing drives consumers to their website. What if, when customers get to a website, reviews or videos of customers praising their product/service are front and center as well as praising the experience they had doing business with their company. Do you see the impact?

If customer reviews are the golden seal of approval that many people use to help them decide which company to do business with, why is getting reviews and marketing with them still such a struggle for businesses to embrace?

Let’s debunk some of these issues that some business leaders have shared with me.

• Reviews are too hard to get / I can’t get my staff to do it.

This is really a two-part discussion. The first part would lead me to investigate if there is a written out process within the company that employees have been trained on. The second part is more of an accountability issue. In my opinion nothing happens consistently without inspection and leadership making it a priority? I would decide which of these two issues plagues your company and address it accordingly.

• No one really reads reviews.

Well the statistics are in. Customers do read reviews and more importantly are influenced by them. According to the Local Consumer Survey 2013, reviews are increasing in importance vs. 2012. 72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. If 3 out of 4 people trust reviews I am not sure why businesses see that reviews have no value. Here is a link to a great info graphic on reviews, which outlines even more statistics that should help convince business owners of the importance of getting customer feedback. http://archive.fohboh.com/profiles/blogs/online-reviews-statistics

• What should I do with the reviews once I get them?

There are a few things that businesses can do with printed reviews or even better a video testimonial. Reviews can be posted on their website, they can link to them from email signatures, they can use a testimonial video in a blog post or on their social media channels.

Another thing that can be done is to advertise reviews inside their place of business. Maybe a banner stand or a poster providing a link where people can see what customers are saying? Maybe a scrolling video screen with reviews or testimonial videos right besides the other advertising they may be doing. Think of this feedback as better than any catch phrase that your business can come up with. Real people, real praise. Nothing is better than that.

Make sure to spend some time reading the above survey to see how customer reviews are such an important way to communicate a company’s worth to the next round of potential customers. We can all thank Jeff Bezosfrom Amazon for training every one of us to read reviews and take this feedback into our consideration set. Any company that is not actively getting reviews and then marketing with them is letting their competition sneak into the minds of their potential customers.

Let me know your thoughts.

Glenn Pasch  is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.

In many dealerships across the US and Canada, reputation management is a very passive activity. While this topic is coming back around as a very important marketing tool, I have seen in too many cases, dealers are convinved that they should outsource this important task to a third party who will monitor review sites and alert them if something is said negatively about the company or respond on their behalf.

I want to speak to the dealers or marketing managewrs directly. To me, this is a disconnected approach to interacting with the feedback from your customers. This approach is only creating a level of comfort for you and your management that you are on top of the dealership's reputation. They have checked it off the list of items that they were told is important in this day of the Internet.

Where I differ on this topic is my belief that dealers should be looking at this part in terms of reputation marketing. This strategy is an active pursuit. It is taking control of the experience your customers receive and embracing it to fill the “influence” pool of information on the web for future consumers.

Why is marketing your reputation so important? Based on which reports you read, almost every consumer begins their car shopping experience online. Their quest for a new or used car or repair service includes researching not only the products you offer, but also what previous customers say about the experience they had doing business with you. That is where you need to insert yourself into the experience.

There are many different ways to market your reputation online, but I’ll use one of the most useful feedback tools for any company as my example: The Customer Testimonial Video. These videos are the golden ticket of feedback.  They show emotion and allow others to watch actual people using your product or service. Plus you can use this video in many different ways.

There is no need to complicate the process as you can use a smartphone to record this video. Another option is buying a camera, tripod, and minimal lighting for under $700 that can be set up in a specific area of your business where a quick video can be shot. You could also ask your customers to send you a video of them using your product or letting you know how their shopping experience was.

Make sure to keep the videos short, 30-60 seconds max. Only ask five questions. Most people will not watch long videos unless they are really creative. The point of these videos is to confirm that your business delivers a great user experience.

Make sure to ask the customer’s name, where they came from (so you can optimize the video for their town), what product or service they came in for, how their experience was, would they recommend you to others and any variation of these questions that you feel show off your business in the best light.

Once you have the video, here are a few ways to use a customer testimonial video to market your reputation:

1. Create a YouTube Channel for your customer videos with a link off of your website.
2. Highlight the video on your website, making sure to point out that you have customer testimonial videos. Turning it into a series like “Customer Feedback of the Week” is a great way to set the routine.
3. Write a blog about the customer doing business with you. You could highlight that shoppers from a certain town come to you for your service, or tell the story of the people and why they came to you for your product or service.
4. Include a link to the video or website saying, “See what our customers are saying about us” in employee email signatures.
5. Put the video on your social media channels and promote it.

This active marketing strategy for your reputation is one of the key components for ensuring that your dealership is in multiple places where consumers do their research for products and services. More importantly, what your potential customers are finding are other customers vouching for your business versus just reading your marketing materials. 

This is worth all your effort because you will stay on their consideration list longer which, in turn, will increase your sales.

In many dealerships across the US and Canada, reputation management is a very passive activity. While this topic is coming back around as a very important marketing tool, I have seen in too many cases, dealers are convinved that they should outsource this important task to a third party who will monitor review sites and alert them if something is said negatively about the company or respond on their behalf.

I want to speak to the dealers or marketing managewrs directly. To me, this is a disconnected approach to interacting with the feedback from your customers. This approach is only creating a level of comfort for you and your management that you are on top of the dealership's reputation. They have checked it off the list of items that they were told is important in this day of the Internet.

Where I differ on this topic is my belief that dealers should be looking at this part in terms of reputation marketing. This strategy is an active pursuit. It is taking control of the experience your customers receive and embracing it to fill the “influence” pool of information on the web for future consumers.

Why is marketing your reputation so important? Based on which reports you read, almost every consumer begins their car shopping experience online. Their quest for a new or used car or repair service includes researching not only the products you offer, but also what previous customers say about the experience they had doing business with you. That is where you need to insert yourself into the experience.

There are many different ways to market your reputation online, but I’ll use one of the most useful feedback tools for any company as my example: The Customer Testimonial Video. These videos are the golden ticket of feedback.  They show emotion and allow others to watch actual people using your product or service. Plus you can use this video in many different ways.

There is no need to complicate the process as you can use a smartphone to record this video. Another option is buying a camera, tripod, and minimal lighting for under $700 that can be set up in a specific area of your business where a quick video can be shot. You could also ask your customers to send you a video of them using your product or letting you know how their shopping experience was.

Make sure to keep the videos short, 30-60 seconds max. Only ask five questions. Most people will not watch long videos unless they are really creative. The point of these videos is to confirm that your business delivers a great user experience.

Make sure to ask the customer’s name, where they came from (so you can optimize the video for their town), what product or service they came in for, how their experience was, would they recommend you to others and any variation of these questions that you feel show off your business in the best light.

Once you have the video, here are a few ways to use a customer testimonial video to market your reputation:

1. Create a YouTube Channel for your customer videos with a link off of your website.
2. Highlight the video on your website, making sure to point out that you have customer testimonial videos. Turning it into a series like “Customer Feedback of the Week” is a great way to set the routine.
3. Write a blog about the customer doing business with you. You could highlight that shoppers from a certain town come to you for your service, or tell the story of the people and why they came to you for your product or service.
4. Include a link to the video or website saying, “See what our customers are saying about us” in employee email signatures.
5. Put the video on your social media channels and promote it.

This active marketing strategy for your reputation is one of the key components for ensuring that your dealership is in multiple places where consumers do their research for products and services. More importantly, what your potential customers are finding are other customers vouching for your business versus just reading your marketing materials. 

This is worth all your effort because you will stay on their consideration list longer which, in turn, will increase your sales.

When one thinks of great customer service, Disney comes to mind. At this past DSES, Bruce Kimbrell of Disney touched on the subject of employee indifference and how he had experienced this silent killer of business. He also spoke in depth about how Disney trains their staff constantly to make sure this never happens to one of their customers. Their "cast members" are trained to be aware when a customer may have a question or concern so they can fix the situation. I agreed with Mr. Kimbrell about how detrimental employee indifference is. Let me explain a situation I encountered while in Las Vegas, right after hearing this session and then what you can do to look for this potential “indifference” in your own staff.

As DSES finished for the day and I had a little time before meeting some people at an event that night, I was alone so I thought I would just have a quick bite to eat before heading over. I came to the restaurant Japonaise in the Mirage Hotel. As I approached, their sign said “ one of the top restaurants in the world”. I wanted to get in and out and it did not look that busy. There was no host at the entry stand so I went to the bar and sat down. The bartender brought over a menu and I ordered a salad and 2 sushi rolls. Nothing too complex I thought. To my surprise it took over 25 minutes to get the salad.

As the bartender dropped off the salad he never mentioned he was sorry for the delay, nor did he even notice that I was waiting. He was too busy telling stories to a group of young drinkers at the end of the bar. Now after my salad was cleared, time dragged on and I sat there for another 25 minutes and no food. I had to ask the bartender where my food was and he said, ”Oh they must be backed up”.

You would think he would go check for my food but no he just went back to his side of the bar. Finally I had enough and told him I had to leave seeing as no food was coming. Again one would expect he would try to see how to keep me there, go check on my food but no, all he did was go get my check and put it down. Never apologized. Just said, “Have a good night” as he does to everyone.

I then went to the manager and guess what, there was no manger to be found. The hostess had a look of confusion when I asked to see a manager. Her response was, “I have to stay at my station”. So as I walked away annoyed at wasting my time but more because of the indifference of the bartender. As if he felt that because he was in a casino, people would always be coming into the restaurant so giving poor service is not a big deal. He obviously has not been trained to care about what he does and it was obvious that no one is checking his work. You can see finger pointing is part of the daily routine because his response, “they must be backed up” was a way to say, “I did my job”

Three things to help you avoid these pitfalls

1. Train your team on what level of service you expect and follow up to make sure it is being executed. As we saw here, there seemed to be a basic sense of doing tasks but no one took service personally and no one was afraid of not performing well because no one was checking.
2. Empower all employees to take it upon themselves to find a solution. As we saw here, no one felt they could move out of their “job” or “silo” to solve a problem. This bartender seemed to only want to do his part, (put in the order) and then wash his hands of any further work to ensure the customer is satisfied.
3. Make sure that upper management is aware of an issue. As we saw here, no one wanted to bring up the fact that they had an upset customer. They would rather hide in their silo and hope no one noticed.

Mr. Kimbrell was right. Business has a choice, either you make sure your company has the drive and purpose to deliver excellence for your customers or else your employee’s indifference will drive your customers down the block to your competitors

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.

When one thinks of great customer service, Disney comes to mind. At this past DSES, Bruce Kimbrell of Disney touched on the subject of employee indifference and how he had experienced this silent killer of business. He also spoke in depth about how Disney trains their staff constantly to make sure this never happens to one of their customers. Their "cast members" are trained to be aware when a customer may have a question or concern so they can fix the situation. I agreed with Mr. Kimbrell about how detrimental employee indifference is. Let me explain a situation I encountered while in Las Vegas, right after hearing this session and then what you can do to look for this potential “indifference” in your own staff.

As DSES finished for the day and I had a little time before meeting some people at an event that night, I was alone so I thought I would just have a quick bite to eat before heading over. I came to the restaurant Japonaise in the Mirage Hotel. As I approached, their sign said “ one of the top restaurants in the world”. I wanted to get in and out and it did not look that busy. There was no host at the entry stand so I went to the bar and sat down. The bartender brought over a menu and I ordered a salad and 2 sushi rolls. Nothing too complex I thought. To my surprise it took over 25 minutes to get the salad.

As the bartender dropped off the salad he never mentioned he was sorry for the delay, nor did he even notice that I was waiting. He was too busy telling stories to a group of young drinkers at the end of the bar. Now after my salad was cleared, time dragged on and I sat there for another 25 minutes and no food. I had to ask the bartender where my food was and he said, ”Oh they must be backed up”.

You would think he would go check for my food but no he just went back to his side of the bar. Finally I had enough and told him I had to leave seeing as no food was coming. Again one would expect he would try to see how to keep me there, go check on my food but no, all he did was go get my check and put it down. Never apologized. Just said, “Have a good night” as he does to everyone.

I then went to the manager and guess what, there was no manger to be found. The hostess had a look of confusion when I asked to see a manager. Her response was, “I have to stay at my station”. So as I walked away annoyed at wasting my time but more because of the indifference of the bartender. As if he felt that because he was in a casino, people would always be coming into the restaurant so giving poor service is not a big deal. He obviously has not been trained to care about what he does and it was obvious that no one is checking his work. You can see finger pointing is part of the daily routine because his response, “they must be backed up” was a way to say, “I did my job”

Three things to help you avoid these pitfalls

1. Train your team on what level of service you expect and follow up to make sure it is being executed. As we saw here, there seemed to be a basic sense of doing tasks but no one took service personally and no one was afraid of not performing well because no one was checking.
2. Empower all employees to take it upon themselves to find a solution. As we saw here, no one felt they could move out of their “job” or “silo” to solve a problem. This bartender seemed to only want to do his part, (put in the order) and then wash his hands of any further work to ensure the customer is satisfied.
3. Make sure that upper management is aware of an issue. As we saw here, no one wanted to bring up the fact that they had an upset customer. They would rather hide in their silo and hope no one noticed.

Mr. Kimbrell was right. Business has a choice, either you make sure your company has the drive and purpose to deliver excellence for your customers or else your employee’s indifference will drive your customers down the block to your competitors

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.

I had the pleasure of attending DSES and listening to Leif Babin, Former Navy Seal talk about leadership and how to build a successful team. Now many of you who know me, I am a leadership fanatic and am always looking for ways you improve myself and my team When Mr. Babin took the stage, the room quieted because of his presence and out of respect for what he has accomplished. You do not become the choice to create and lead the leadership training for future Navy Seal teams by accident. You have not only the expertise but also the ability to communicate it to others.

Although his keynote was packed with information and stories of his experiences, I wanted to focus on three things that I took away as did others based on conversations I had after the keynote finished.

1. Choosing the right team members.

Mr. Babin brought up a point that I am sure many people in the audience had. “Of course the Navy Deals are a great team because look at the people you have on that team.” Correct but what Mr. Babin pointed out was that the reason he has great people is because he is very clear on the characteristics that his team members will need to have and then they have a rigorous screening process where 80% of the people drop out of the initial interview process.

Does your business have a clear set of defined characteristics for team members? Not just skills for the position but WHO they are. Then what is your screening process? OR are you so focused on filling a spot that as long as they can fog a mirror you bring them in. “Let’s see if they work out. We need someone”.

Well just brining someone in is not a great strategy because you have to focus on the collateral costs of having to train a new person, which takes away from the trainers job as well as how this new person can pull other’s focus away from their tasks. You are better off hiring slowly than just trying to fill the void.

2. Clear defined orders of execution

Mr. Babin explained how each of his team members needed to have their orders given in a clear and simple way or else that led to interpretation or doubt, which on a battlefield can be disastrous. Now you may not have the extreme consequences that a Navy Seal would have but what about time wasted on lack of effort or mistakes that were made due to your team not understanding what was expected.

I have always trained my team with the understanding that if I cannot demonstrate it physically, then it is not actionable or clear enough. Can all of your employees explain what their job is? Can they repeat back what you want them to do? Can you demonstrate what you want so there is no misunderstanding?

3. Extreme ownership.

I think this was the most important fact Mr. Babin communicated. A great leader owns the performance of their team for both good and bad. Mr. Babin pointed out many times he made mistakes and he had successes but he owned it all. A few examples of extreme ownership that you can take from him was that after each mission they debriefed and talked about what they did well, what went wrong and how to improve. Even if they had a great success they questioned if it was luck or because the executed well.

Does your team have these types of meetings? After a long weekend of sales do you talk to the team and break it down to actionable things that they can improve on? Do you look at data and review it when you succeed or fail?

The last point I took away was that a strong team leader does not point fingers. Ask yourself when you as owner/manager ask your team what happened, does the finger pointing begin? “I did my job.” “If the others just pulled their weight” “It was them not me”

If that is happening look in the mirror. YOU have created an environment where this is allowed. Do not blame anyone else. If you want to succeed then you must train your team to own their process, own their execution and own their results. Being brutally honest with yourself and your team is what creates ongoing success.

That is extreme ownership.

Mr. Babin, we appreciated your service and the lessons you shared. We can all own our own actions a little better and I am sure many of us will.

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.

I had the pleasure of attending DSES and listening to Leif Babin, Former Navy Seal talk about leadership and how to build a successful team. Now many of you who know me, I am a leadership fanatic and am always looking for ways you improve myself and my team When Mr. Babin took the stage, the room quieted because of his presence and out of respect for what he has accomplished. You do not become the choice to create and lead the leadership training for future Navy Seal teams by accident. You have not only the expertise but also the ability to communicate it to others.

Although his keynote was packed with information and stories of his experiences, I wanted to focus on three things that I took away as did others based on conversations I had after the keynote finished.

1. Choosing the right team members.

Mr. Babin brought up a point that I am sure many people in the audience had. “Of course the Navy Deals are a great team because look at the people you have on that team.” Correct but what Mr. Babin pointed out was that the reason he has great people is because he is very clear on the characteristics that his team members will need to have and then they have a rigorous screening process where 80% of the people drop out of the initial interview process.

Does your business have a clear set of defined characteristics for team members? Not just skills for the position but WHO they are. Then what is your screening process? OR are you so focused on filling a spot that as long as they can fog a mirror you bring them in. “Let’s see if they work out. We need someone”.

Well just brining someone in is not a great strategy because you have to focus on the collateral costs of having to train a new person, which takes away from the trainers job as well as how this new person can pull other’s focus away from their tasks. You are better off hiring slowly than just trying to fill the void.

2. Clear defined orders of execution

Mr. Babin explained how each of his team members needed to have their orders given in a clear and simple way or else that led to interpretation or doubt, which on a battlefield can be disastrous. Now you may not have the extreme consequences that a Navy Seal would have but what about time wasted on lack of effort or mistakes that were made due to your team not understanding what was expected.

I have always trained my team with the understanding that if I cannot demonstrate it physically, then it is not actionable or clear enough. Can all of your employees explain what their job is? Can they repeat back what you want them to do? Can you demonstrate what you want so there is no misunderstanding?

3. Extreme ownership.

I think this was the most important fact Mr. Babin communicated. A great leader owns the performance of their team for both good and bad. Mr. Babin pointed out many times he made mistakes and he had successes but he owned it all. A few examples of extreme ownership that you can take from him was that after each mission they debriefed and talked about what they did well, what went wrong and how to improve. Even if they had a great success they questioned if it was luck or because the executed well.

Does your team have these types of meetings? After a long weekend of sales do you talk to the team and break it down to actionable things that they can improve on? Do you look at data and review it when you succeed or fail?

The last point I took away was that a strong team leader does not point fingers. Ask yourself when you as owner/manager ask your team what happened, does the finger pointing begin? “I did my job.” “If the others just pulled their weight” “It was them not me”

If that is happening look in the mirror. YOU have created an environment where this is allowed. Do not blame anyone else. If you want to succeed then you must train your team to own their process, own their execution and own their results. Being brutally honest with yourself and your team is what creates ongoing success.

That is extreme ownership.

Mr. Babin, we appreciated your service and the lessons you shared. We can all own our own actions a little better and I am sure many of us will.

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer. If you liked this article, please share.