Patrick Lencioni does not promote nudism in Getting Naked, but he does illustrate the principles of establishing customer loyalty.
August 3, 2020 11 am EDT
Written by Sarah Chu
Many people talk about the importance of customer loyalty, but few have the techniques to improve it. For Patrick Lencioni, the answer is simple: get naked.
In Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding the Three Fears that Sabotage Client Loyalty, Patrick Lencioni, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Table Group, taps into the simple, yet powerful, approach to client service that claims to yield uncommon levels of trust and loyalty. The book itself can be easily read in a few hours, meant for those who may be short on time. Written for consultants, financial advisors or anyone serving long-term clients, Lencioni engages his audience with a compelling narrative that is free from consulting jargon. Lencioni challenges service providers to practice honesty, selflessness, and transparency with clients to overcome the three fears that destroy client loyalty – a method he calls naked consulting.
Written in the same colloquial style as Lencioni’s previous best-sellers, Getting Naked revolves around a fictional story that explains the rationale for naked consulting, and ends with a clarification of the model. The fable features Jack Bauer, a manager who works at a management consulting firm, Kendrick and Black (K&B), who recently acquired Lighthouse Partners, a boutique consulting firm. Lighthouse was more successful with customer acquisition, so when the opportunity arose, K&B acquires its tough competitor. In the hopes of landing a promotion, Jack is tasked with integrating the two firms.
The M&A proved to be a challenge. Bauer soon identifies huge cultural differences between the two firms: K&B relies on a formulaic process of client-services, such as tailoring a client sale’s pitch and praising intellectual expertise in front of clients. Meanwhile, Lighthouse uses the “naked service model,” which is a set of vague principles that center around humility, vulnerability, and transparency with clients. In the process of merging the firms, Jack is forced to reevaluate K&B’s traditional philosophy of consulting, and reconciles his cognitive dissonance to change for the better. He learns what it means to provide value for clients by “getting naked,” which, in turn, builds trust and client loyalty.
After sharing the business anecdote, Lencioni lays out three fears that sabotage customer allegiance, then claims the “naked service model” is the remedy:
1) Fear of Losing the Business
The fear of losing clients inhibits consultants from having difficult conversations with them, which Lencioni believes promote loyalty and trust. Naked service providers refuse to be frightened by a high churn rate, as their efforts are allocated toward assisting clients.
Tips from the Naked Service Model
Always consult, never sell — Focus on providing answers for clients, which serve as a gateway to closing the deal.
Give away the business — Show generosity by offering advice even before they become paying clients.
Tell the Kind Truth — Confront a client with honesty in a kind, empathetic, and respectful manner, even if a client is not comfortable hearing it.
Enter the Danger — Tackle conflict head-on, if necessary. Those who can respond to confrontation in a respectable manner build rapport with a client.
2) Fear of Embarrassment
The fear of embarrassment comes at the expense of withholding ideas. Some awful suggestions may surface, but Lencioni argues they will be forgotten because of the great ideas that come from nonrestrictive brainstorming.
Tips from the Naked Service Model
Ask dumb questions and make dumb suggestions — Be courageous. Ask questions and make suggestions others are afraid to say out of fear that they would embarrass themselves.
Celebrate your mistakes — Clients don’t expect perfection, but they do expect honesty, integrity, and respect.
3) Fear of Feeling inferior
Lencioni insists that most consultants believe that sounding confident in front of clients takes precedent over humility; thus, consultants often substitute insecurity with arrogance. Consultants must hone their ability to build and sustain client relationships by practicing humility, openness, and transparency.
Tips from the Naked Service Model
Take a bullet for a client — Accept responsibility that may or may not be your fault and confront clients with the kind truth.
Make everything about the client — Focus on understanding, honoring, and supporting clients.
Honor the client’s work — Demonstrate an interest in the client’s work, even if they aren’t your own passions.
Do the dirty work — Humble yourself. Take on whatever a client needs you to do within the context of their services.
While Lencioni’s methodology is thought-provoking, his exposition is overly simplistic. There needs to be some level of acceptance within the organization to adopt the radical principles of naked consulting. If a consultant works at a top-tier consulting firm that values intellectual prowess, would they feel comfortable asking dumb questions and making dumb suggestions? Probably not. From an organizational standpoint, Lencioni does not offer any methods to implement these principles, leaving the reader to ponder these tough questions on their own.
Perhaps most poignant is Lencioni’s failure to acknowledge the impact of gender stereotypes on an individual's behavior. When it comes to gender-acceptable behavior, a wealth of research shows that women can be penalized for even minor displays of emotion, like anger or pride. In fact, women who are emotional are often deemed weak. So, if building customer loyalty is dependent on naked services – that is, showing vulnerability in front a client, then women are faced with astronomical barriers that prevent them from doing so. Some critics may argue that Lencioni is a white male who has no place to address the double standards that women face. I would argue it is even more important that he brings awareness to these issues, so social norms do not persist over time.
Getting Naked overlooks the complexities of human behavior in favor of a provocative – and tacky – book title. Lencioni’s excessive use of juvenile language, like “[life] isn’t fair”, nicknaming Jack’s boss “Darth Vader”, and even mentioning urinals in regards to the narrator’s need to excrete, leave readers wondering if they’re reading a children’s book or a business fable. Though Lencioni lacks an interdisciplinary approach to sustain client loyalty, he brings a fresh perspective to the traditional consulting philosophy. “When we can demonstrate vulnerability to the people we live and work with, we build stronger relationships, affirm our trust in them, and inspire them to become more vulnerable themselves,” Lencioni attests. Maybe getting naked isn’t bad, after all.
A heartfelt thank you to Slalom for sending me this book! Your efforts in supporting incoming Analysts during this unprecedented time is greatly appreciated, and I am so excited to be joining the team in the fall.