The How and Why of Doing More

As someone who has been in the Transformation domain, delivering for many organisations in different business sectors, involving innovative technologies, people, processes and products, the changes that are requested, always stem from a desire of wanting to improve upon the existing setup, with an aim to either increase revenue, minimise waste, create a cutting-edge differentiator, or all of the above.

One factor that helped me in my successful deliveries has been to consistently maintain Service Excellence and Quality (which is a key component of Service Excellence), underpinning everything I conceptualise, plan and deliver.  This isn’t because I like to increase work for myself, this is to deliver something that I am proud of later. 

A company in the UK called Ronseal, intentionally or unintentionally, took this principle and applied it brilliantly.  They had a suite of products for varnishing or staining wood. They needed a clever slogan that would explain what they do, also making it easily understandable to everyone. They came up with “it does exactly what is says on the Tin.”

This slogan became an instant hit, and it created a perception of a product and company that promoted openness, honesty and trust, that it did what it said it would do. In fact, people used this slogan to comment on products, services and people too!  e.g., “yes, I bought that new television, it does exactly what it says on the Tin.” This became the third most widely used slogan in the UK, and of course, sales and customer satisfaction shot through the roof.

In fact, this slogan was so ingrained in the language, that David Cameron, the ex-PM of the UK, used it to describe the state of a coalition they had formed with another party, and it was used in a stop smoking ad, where they showed a packet of cigarettes with “Smoking Kills”, and “It does exactly what it says on the packet.”

This approach set customer expectations, and as long as it did what it said it did on the Tin, customers would experience “Customer Delight”, which is a key driver for Service Excellence. Obviously, setting customer expectations this way will not work for all products and services, but they managed to hit the sweet spot with this one!