The value of your straw in the traditional sense refers to the customer experience you provide. In this episode, Darren CdeBaca shares the story behind the “straw.” It revolves around McDonald’s and how they ended up as one of the most successful franchises in United States history. The secret? Their straw was larger than other franchises. The larger straw made the experience of drinking milkshakes more enjoyable. Do you want to know how to increase the value of your straw? Find out by tuning in to this episode!
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The Value Of Your Straw
If you are not taking notes, don’t be afraid to come back to get those meaningful thoughts and bright-eyed suggestions back into your day or vision as you see fit. It’s important to write down the meaningful ideas, quotes, thoughts or mechanisms to share with you the opportunities to grow, not to challenge yourself in a negative way but to challenge yourself to grow and create progress. You are going to love the topic. The topic is called The Value of Your Straw. It is about defining and/or exploring your current value proposition, whether it is yours, your team’s or your company’s.
This has multiple applications. On a personal, professional, hobby, non-profit, faith or family level, what’s the value of your straw? In general, I’m going to take the road to carve out this topic more in a business sense. As you read it, be creative in how it can apply to the above I mentioned. Before I start, let me share with you the statement that defines our work at DCB Strategies. It’s the following, “The best and average have nothing in common.” Say that once to yourself. How does that resonate? Doesn’t it immediately throw it down, put a line in the sand and self-question about, “Are you on the best or the average?”
We all have attributes that we want to improve upon. We all are best at something but there are attributes, desires or goals that we want to even improve on. This isn’t saying that you are the best or average. It’s about the qualities or goals that we bring into our lives that make us the best or leave us within the average category. I know you didn’t read this blog to learn about average ideas. The best develops and incorporates the practice of demonstrating their value proposition on all fronts of every client contact is the Holy Grail of differentiation, that value proposition thus, “What’s the value of your straw?”
Another name for this in the traditional sense is the client experience, not client or customer service. That’s boring. Client or customer service is a protocol. Client experience is a value-add. It’s a memorable situation. It’s contagious. It’s like, “I have never seen this before. I want more of it.” That’s an experience. That’s the value of the straw we are defining. When your category of interest, business, personal, etc., what is the value of your straw? How did they learn about this wonderful saying and statement that has resonated with me over many years? It has to do with this old song called, “Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O and on that farm, they had a straw. What? A straw?” “Yes, a straw.” Let me share with you a story.
The McDonald’s Straw
McDonald’s franchise, if not the most but one of the most successful food franchises in the United States history had way back then and still did up to a few years ago the size of straw compared to Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell or Subway. The other wonderful franchises that have wonderful brands and images had a straw that was almost 1/3 larger in diameter and nobody knew it except for them. It’s a classic story. The reason they had their straw a little bit larger is that they recognized early on that the demographics that visited their restaurants the most were the demographics that had the least amount of palate power, thus embracing a liquid into their body and enjoy it. These two demographics represented the youth, very young people, children and gray of America. They have the least amount of palate power versus teenagers and young adults. They built their franchise off of this.
There’s not a young person in the United States who did not love to go to McDonald’s or people of gray of America, 65 to 70 years old and older. The reason is that when they had a drink or a wonderful milkshake at McDonald’s when they use that straw to digest, that liquid, they’ve got more than they bargained for compared to others. The value-add there was intuitive. It was tangible, even though they didn’t see it but they felt it. It was subconscious and it became contagious. Every time they’ve got a liquid in their hand, a traditional McDonald’s Coca-Cola, a Diet Coke or those wonderful milkshakes, they use that straw and got so much more for it so then the meal that they had with that was even more enjoyable. This is a classic, “What is the value of your straw story?” That is true years ago. McDonald’s knew it. The other franchises didn’t have the opportunity to see the level playing field that they set. It resonated with me to always make sure I measure the value of my straw in my professional career and currently.
Let’s talk about the value proposition. The value proposition traditionally refers to the value of a company it promises to deliver to customers or the value of an individual who delivers to customers should they choose to buy the product from them. In fact, there are four types of traditional values to measure. Not all four but at least one of them are going to be most important to your clients and maybe a combination of 2 or 3. One of them will be the main determinant of how they value you, your company or your products. When individuals have this ability to select the value of their choice, they are choosing amongst the four. Here are the four values that people measure, functional, psychological, monetary and social value such as the McDonald’s story. That example crushed 3 out of the 4 with McDonald’s’ straw being a little bit larger than everyone else’s functional, psychological and in a monetary sense, the consumer felt like they were getting so much more for their money.
Let me give you a more conventional idea of what a value proposition is with one of the most successful athletic apparel companies in the United States, Nike. They do offer value propositions. They offer in their motto accessibility, innovation, customization and status. The company has enabled customization through their Service NikeiD. It allows their customers to personalize various aspects of their athletic wear and sportswear. They can personalize the colors, embroidery and so forth. That bought them the road through the value-add with their clients of accessibility, innovation and customization is the NikeiD program.
What brought us here is the value of our straw. Let’s talk about your situation and develop a map of your client experience or the value of your straw. Of the four types of values, which we defined as functional, monetary, social or psychological, please try to remember or write down and define what’s most important for you in your situation in order for you to develop, practice and display to your audience. Is it functional? Is it monetary? Is it social? Is it psychological? Let me define the social part because I may be saying, “What is social value?” Social value is the accountability and collective responsibility as a dignity that you are providing. Is it education? Is it fairness? Is it honesty? Is it human rights or individual rights? Those are very important social values.
I’m defining the main four and they are applicable in many different directions of different companies and/or individual services. Step 1 of the 4 values, define what’s most important for you in your situation so you can focus on from top to bottom 1 to 4 and then start with a plan to practice and display to your audience. Step two, it’s important to examine what’s taking place currently in your practice, customer engagement experience or service model. Some people will just have a service model at the moment. That’s fine. As I call it, dedicate it and elevate it to an experienced model. As you experience it, what does it define, if anything? Get a plain piece of paper in front of you. Write that question down, “What is my straw delivering to my audience now?” Be honest with yourself. This is where the canvas can be repainted to meet your customized frame. Once you define what you have and what you want to bring in to expand and make the value of your straw significant, you can repaint that canvas.
I’m using a very broad example but it’s just that simple. It’s a little time and a little bit of thought but is it worth it for you, your situation, audience, maybe in your industry competition or situation with other competitors in your neighborhood or region? The value of your straw is something that the best makes sure that they create and that is known by all but the average doesn’t. They go ahead and provide average client service support and it gets average. We are not involved in the average business. We want to make sure you have the ability to show your best ideals and values to your clients and it becomes memorable for them. Remember, step 1 of the 4 values, define what’s most important. Step two, write down on a plain piece of paper what you currently feel you are delivering if anything. Start repainting this canvas of those values you want to incorporate to customize the frame that you have of yourself, your business or your team.
Keep in mind one major question when you ask yourself what you are defining your current status is, “Do your clients walk away with a memorable experience that’s going to keep them coming back for more?” It’s part of putting it on the blank piece of paper, “If not, why? If yes, why and how can you build on that and turn up the volume?” Step three, is your team or company intellectually or adequately equipped to educate and obligate your audience? That’s a wonderful phrase to use if you are working with clients and audiences out there daily. Clients love to be educated nicely. They love to learn something called engagement. When they learn something every time you have a point of contact or an engagement worth learning, they become obligated. They intuitively want more.
I have a phrase at DCB Strategies called to educate and obligate. That’s the resource of attracting your clientele to larger differences they make for your company. Part of that educate and obligate, you’ve got to ask yourself, “How do you engage with your clients to create the value of your straw? What do you provide them with when they are in contact with you? What do you support them with? How do you recognize them? How do you encourage them? How do you show care for them? What do you equip them with?” These are examples of the engagement experience as the client experience. When clients have these engagements and experience occurs, this isn’t just client service and support. This experience defines the value in your straw.
Hopefully, this is all coming together now. Step one, define the value that’s most important of the four, functional, monetary, social or psychological. Step two, see where you are now in what you want to work on and bring it to your canvas to customize your print for your audience to see and experience. Step three, you have to look at and see, “Is your team or yourself intellectually equipped or equipped up to educate and obligate?” Provide them with an engagement. Step four, you’ve got to know the audience and assume what their huge appetite is all about. Knowing the industry or the business you are in or the clients you are servicing, you will know their appetite but don’t be presumptive about this. Study and think about it. Look at the different clients in your category, book, client database or CRM. See a common thread if there is any. It provides a sense of appetite. Is it functional, social, monetary or psychological? What’s the appetite they are looking for?
One of the things that are valuable for a client experience is that you’ve got to see and confirm whether or not you are demonstrating a sense of listening to them and responding to their needs, thus building trust. That’s important for you to examine. When you are engaging with them in one other fashion or another, are you engaged in an excited, professional, compassionate and validating manner? Are you sharing timely and interesting educational-related topics? This is the appetite. You are trying to see what they need. Are you simplifying their complexity and engagement that you are giving them? Are you inviting them to specific events-related topics of the industry you are serving or the product you are talking about? Can they learn more about those things? Are you providing timely updates to their largest interests, whether it has to do with your product or interest that you know about from talking to them and profiling them?
Four Steps To A Better Straw
This is the difference. This is the client experience model being built. This is the value of your straw. You are showing listening, compassion and validating skills. You are engaging them productively. You are educating them. You are sharing with them something that they probably don’t get from others. This could be a functional, monetary, social or psychological advantage or a combination of all four. Let me remind you what the first four steps are. Define what’s most important of the four for you, what’s taking place currently? Ask yourself and examine how you are intellectually equipped to educate and obligate your clients and then do you know your audience? What is their appetite and how are you feeding that appetite with what you can demonstrate to them with every engagement that’s the value-add?
After taking this inventory, you are ready to reset and update your client experience map. What you want to do is lock in what you feel is the highest value of your straw. Lock it in and put it into practice, such as focusing on 1 or 2 of the 4, values that we shared with you in the beginning. Reset your client experience model so you honestly can say to yourself you reviewed it for yourself. Now, you can reset that experience model into play according to the self-examination and the upgrade you have made. You can confirm and integrate that you are intellectually equipped to educate and obligate, which is huge when you have to engage. You are ready to express and demonstrate your value-add more clearly. That’s exactly where we wanted to get to. See what’s going on around you, notice that the value of everyone’s straw is different and see where you are how you want to upgrade the value of your straw. You are now ready to demonstrate the value of your straw with your audience, clients, peers and team. There’s no time to waste.
As we say in the Decide, Commit, Become formula at DCB Strategies, “When you have a straw that’s filled with value, you are ready to decide on a bold goal. You are ready to commit to a strategy and action plan with persistence. You are going to become, thus get new results and reach those goals because the value in your straw is now being recognized.” That’s the key. A lot of people use a lot of time and effort but never knowing the value of their straw in the audience they are working with and making sure they have them attached accordingly. It builds on itself and everybody wins. I hope that you had an eye-opening experience and self-examine what this is all about because, all too often, we are not talking about these small things that make huge differences in the effort and the commitment you make to your audience.
There are almost 14,000 reminders in the United States about this topic, “The value of your straw.” Those are the number of McDonald’s restaurants in the United States, give or take a few. What a nice reminder around every corner in America when you see the Golden Arches about the value of your straw. It’s reminding yourself of this great toolset to incorporate an essence of memorability for your clients to keep on coming back to you because your straw has an enviable sense to it. Enjoy your straw. Enjoy McDonald’s. I hope you have your next big milkshake with a big smile on your face. Thanks very much. If you have any questions, want to contact us or see the applications of the value of your straw in our work, go to DCBStrategies.com or contact me at Podcast@DCBStrategies.com. Stay healthy and passionate. They are the most important and they are for free. Farewell. Have a great day.
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