Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody

(By Pat Bryson) One of the managers who works for a company I consult sent this saying to me. I’m not sure who originally created it, but it’s too good not to pass on. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

“There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

Does this sound familiar to you? Unfortunately, in today’s world, this is all too common. We run into this kind of thinking going about our daily lives. Extraordinary service is so uncommon that we all remember those people or institutions that provide it for us. And we do repeat business with them.

In the radio business, we serve two customer bases: our listeners and our advertising clients. Making sure that these two groups of people have extraordinarily good experiences with us is EVERYBODY’S job. Our corporate culture should be such that the first employee who has contact with a customer with a need or a problem should see the process through until the customer is satisfied. “That’s not my job“ is not an appropriate response.

This kind of client-focused culture begins at the top and trickles down to all employees. It takes work and personal responsibility for customer satisfaction as an important component of doing your job.

The clients I consult understand the importance of this and are working to make sure that all the “touchpoints” they have with their clients are the best that they can be. They are working on turning their clients into raving fans. Are you?

Pat Bryson is the CEO of Bryson Broadcasting International, a consulting firm that works with sales managers and salespeople to raise revenue. She is the author of two books, A Road Map to Success in High-Dollar Broadcast Sales and Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change available on her website. Read Pat’s Radio Ink archives here.