Ed Koch: "How am I Doing" - more than words

Former Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, passed away this week.  Much has been written about his commitment to the people of New York, his love of the City, and his capacity to engage those he disagreed with in a manner tailor made for national news coverage.

For those who might not remember this advocate for the city that never sleeps, he was often noted for one of his most endearing quotes for fellow New Yorkers he would encounter throughout his travels.  He would simply ask "How am I doing?".  And being in New York City, he almost always received responses much longer than Fine, just great, or thank you for asking.  New Yorkers never shied away from letting the Mayor know what was on their mind and what needed to be fixed. Most importantly, he listened to their responses and for the most part, responded to them honestly and when he could, got their concerns into the hands of City administrators responsible for that area.

We have the capacity, if we choose to use this face to face technique of polling for our own organizations. We can certainly survey and poll our customers, clients, constituents, and followers about the value of our services.  But how many of us directly ask consumers how they think we are doing?  It's a simple enough task.

Social media provides us the the capacity to learn (sometimes dramatically) what the public thinks about how we are doing. Ask a well known hamburger chain if their customers let them know how they were doing recently.  On line communities allow for the public to let us know what they think, even if we don't have an application called suggestion box.  Our challenge is to stay aware of what people are saying and asking about our organizations, and respond in an enhancing manner.

Give great thought to ways you can ask your customers how they think you are doing.  Incentivize by responding with answers to their problems. Express an interest in what is bothering them. And take the time to follow up so that they see actions behind the words that "we appreciate your feedback".  Do more than appreciate - engage in the articulated concern as if it were your personal problem.  If you don't engage with your customers in that way, the problem will inevitably become... your personal problem.