Leadership Lessons Blog

Customer Service--Daily Reminders

I'd like to share with you today an excerpt from a book written by Mac Anderson entitled, A Crash Course on Customer Service.  In today's economy with the competition giving away the store, now more than ever, companies need to focus on the importance of building customer loyalty.  You can only do that by creating a company culture where everyone believes and operates under the impression that the customer is why we are in business.  So many companies make the mistake to ignore customer feedback, treat customers with dignity and respect and then wonder why their sales numbers are down or why customers are taking their business elsewhere.  My advice would be to keep these simple tips handy, they may make the difference between profitability and loss!

Excerpt from
Customer Love,
by Mac Anderson

The 10 most important words:

"I apologize for our mistake. Let me make it right."
When something goes wrong, most people merely want to be heard and acknowledged. So listen, apologize, then ask what you can do to make it right.

"Thank you for your business. Please come back again."
Repeat customers cost less than new customers and are often more loyal.

"I'm not sure, but I will find out."
It's ok if you don't know the answer; it's not ok to make the customer keep searching for it. That's your job.

"What else can I do for you?"
Be prepared to go the extra mile, there is less competition there.

"What is most convenient for you?"
Your customers will be pleasantly surprised when you ask what's convenient for them.

"How may I serve you?"
This question reinforces your role in the relationship. Play that role the best you can.

"How did we do?"
Feedback is critical! Your customers have a unique perspective and they appreciate being asked.

"Glad you're here!"
Customers who feel welcome spend more time, more money and are more likely to return.

"Thank you."
Basic manners... but how often do you get thanked when you're the customer?

The MOST important word:

"Yes."
Become a yes person.

Leadership Lessons

Thought you might find this excerpt from Dan Green's book interesting.  

Excerpt from Finish Strong, by Dan Green

Keep Clip'n Along

By embracing the attitude to Finish Strong, I've created a personal level of accountability that goes with me wherever I go. The first time I really discovered the power of this mindset was early in my selling career. In the early nineties I sold software systems to commercial banks. A great deal of my selling efforts involved prospecting for leads over the phone. No matter how good you are at selling over the phone, it can be challenging to push yourself to make one more call - and a key to success in selling is "making one more call".

As a method of daily goal setting, I would start my day in the office by taking out twenty five paper clips from my desktop paper clip holder. I would place the paper clips on a coaster right next to the holder which was next to the phone. Each time I engaged in a meaningful selling conversation I would take one of the paper clips from the pile and put it back in the holder. I knew that if I created twenty five selling conversations each day, that my ultimate sales goals would be reached. I made a commitment not to leave the office until every paper clip was put back.

There were many times that the day was over for everyone else and I had one paperclip sitting on that coaster staring at me. In order to finish strong, I needed to have one more selling conversation. I dialed until I succeeded. I never left a paperclip sitting on the coaster and I never put one back that did not earn it. The level of activity I created during this time stuffed my sales pipeline with opportunities. My career took off and I tripled my income in the course of two years - all because I chose to Finish Strong.

Harrassment Training Mandatory in some States!

 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 2009 has rapidly become a hotbed for employment law risk. "Unprecedented rises in EEOC claims and President Obama's vow to strictly enforce discrimination laws add up to an inevitable increase in litigation for unprepared employers."

Here are some facts that you need to know if you are a company's CEO, Compliance Officer, Human Resources Director:

1.  With a 1.5% increase in the unemployment rate there has also been a 21% increase in employee litigation.

2.  The average jury verdict defense case costs the employer $25,000 per claim and the average reward for a single case is typically $200,000. 

3.  The EEOC has seen a rise in claims at a rate of 15.2% over 2008

4.  The EEOC, LOL, NLEB have increased their budgets which means tougher enforcement of the laws.

5.  the U.S. Supreme Court and the EEOC expect employers to train all employees on harassment prevention. 

6.  It is UNLAWFUL not to train on harassment in California, Connecticut and Maine. 

7.  Harassment training helps to prevent misconduct, reduce claims and provides powerful legal defenses in case of litigation. 

CC Consulting, LLC provides employers with the means to deliver this training by helping managers look at "real scenarios" in the work place.  Learning is stronger because managers and employees dig in to real scenarios with real people. 

Don't be caught in a law suit simply because you didn't provide the training to protect your company.  Call us today to schedule an informational session with members of our training team.  CC Consulting, LLC has the backing of two employment law attorneys that have reviewed our materials to ensure they contain the latest information for your company

Building Customer Loyalty

In today's tumultuous environment, we must take stock in what differentiates us from our competitors.  Most people would say, especially in commodity markets, that customer service and becoming a business partner, is what makes the buying choices.  I came across this article that takes customer service to another level.  I hope it inspires you to think about customer service as a "Choice!"

 

Excerpt from: The Simple Truths of Service,
by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz

Great Service is a Choice

No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:

"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk, I'd like you to read my mission statement."

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally's Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

My friend said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke"

Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustratedand USA Today."

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."

As if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of the day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights, or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

"Tell me, Wally," my amazed friend asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it this has paid off for you," Harvey said.

"It sure had," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all th reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Johnny the Bagger and Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. They decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

Leadership Lessons from the best and brightest

I came across these quotes doing some work for a Leadership class.  I find them interesting and fun to think about.  Enjoy!

"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers."  General Colin Powell

"The person who knows "how" will always have a job.  The person who knows "why" will always be his boss."  Diane Ravitch

" A leaders is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people.  There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership."  John Updike

"Inventories can be managed, but people must be led."  H. Ross Perot

"Being powerful is like being a lady.  If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."  Margaret Thatcher

The following quote I find to be one of the most useful that should be applied daily to your leadership and management strategy.  "Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of dieverse perspectives who can disagree with you without the fear of retaliation."  Doris Kearns Goodwin 

 

Leadership and Presentation Skills

No matter where you are in an organization, at some point you are going to have to face the reality that you need to speak in front of other people.  Books have been written about the topic and many of us have been involved in many classes.  Suzanne Bates has talked about how presenting yourself with confidence and skill can make a huge difference in how you are perceived as a leader. 

For many of us, presenting in general causes our stomachs to hurt and sleepness nights.  Others of us find presenting invigorating and influencial.  How do you begin to make the switch so that you are seen as confident and prepared.  Here are some quick tips to help you on your journey toward delivering a better presentation. 

1. Express Enthusiasm.  Nothing is worse than a speaker who simply drones on without any emotion.  The more energized and excited you are about your topic the greater the likelihood that your audience will find you engaging and interesting.  Be physical in the environment.  Use the whole space and make eye contact.  Make it a point to meet your audience before you start speaking.  Those friendly "hellos" act as an ice-breaker and gives you common ground with members of your audience.
2. Speak Clearly.  Sometimes when we're nervous we have a tendency to swallow words.  Audiences become very frustrated if they can't understand what a speaker is saying.  Practice out-loud, use a tape recorder so that you know how you sound.  Practice difficult words if you have too!  By speaking out loud you eliminate hearing the words for the first time in front of a live audience.  The more you practice, the easier it will be when the actual presentation takes place.
3. Know your topic.  It is so much easier to present information to a group when you really understand your topic, can draw from experience or can quote other experts.  The information becomes more powerful and you become more powerful as an expert in the field.  Study your topic.  Don't simply wing-it.  Audiences are very good at spotting an unprepared speaker or presenter.  If you don't know the anwer to a question--be honest.  Get back to the audience with an answer once you've had the time to research the correct response. 
4. Speak slowly and Watch Tempo.  We've all been to presentations when the speaker races through the material and you are left wondering what you were supposed to get from the presentation.  Ideas are lost if you speak too fast.  Remember your audience is hearling the information for the first time.  You have been living with the subject for a while. 
   

 

 

 

Leadership Lessons from Ted Kennedy

This blog is a continuation of an article written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter for the Harvard Business Review.  Hope you enjoy the lessons learned!   

"Business leaders who operate from a sense of values and purpose - a theme of my new book SuperCorp - are similarly able to win adherents and negotiate better deals, because they suspend ego in support of a cause larger than themselves. By working for others rather than scrambling for career advantage, they enhance their own reputations. And the work is more important than title or position. Ted Kennedy will go down in history as the Lion of the Senate and one of the most important figures of our time, although he was not the President, nor even the "CEO" of the Senate or his party. His mission gave him moral power as important as position power.

Keep going. Ted Kennedy faced numerous public crises, any one of which could have destroyed him, yet he proved resilient and able to learn. Through strong efforts on behalf of the greater good, he restored confidence in his leadership. The still-mysterious incident at Chappaquiddick in which a young woman drowned nearly drowned his career, too; far from showing courage, he ducked accountability. But Kennedy bounced back by redoubling his efforts to do his job well. He fumbled in his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1980, but recovered by devoting even more energy and passion to his work in the Senate.

Never forget family. The hard-working Kennedy was a model for executive dads. De facto father to several touch-football-game's worth of children (his own and those of his late brothers and formidable sisters), he organized weekend outings to Civil War battlefields and made sure they studied their history lessons. Family was at the center of his satisfaction in life. At the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, which I toured with him, he showed pictures of the late President John F. Kennedy and late Attorney General Robert Kennedy and talked of them as if still alive. The consummate professional whose greatness grew every year was still, at heart, a family man. His concern for relationships, and the love that guided his family through numerous tragedies, gave him the strength to take on tough challenges.

Business leaders should heed that lesson above all: Performance, mission, and endurance are possible because the people we support and care about also support us."

Leadership Lessons Learned from Ted Kennedy

I found this article written by Rosabeth Moss Karter.  Ms. Karter is best known as the master of change for companies and organizations.  With the death of Ted Kennedy this past week.  Ms. Karter highlights some of the many leadership traits that she acknowledges is uniquely tied to former Senator Kennedy's success as a leader.  Hope you enjoy reading this.  The article is in this month's Harvard Business Review.  Since the article is rather long it will appear as two different blogs. 

"Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose loss America is mourning, was no darling of the traditional big business community. He fought for the little guy, for children, for the poor and disadvantaged, sometimes against establishments and elites.

But as a leader, he was greatly admired across the political spectrum. Even those who disagreed with his politics can draw inspiration from his life. From knowing and observing him, I choose four leadership lessons I hope executives will take to heart.

Remember that performance is everything. No one is entitled to a position. When Ted Kennedy won his Senate seat for the first time during the Presidency of his brother, Jack Kennedy, critics said that he inherited his position in the family business and bought his way into the Senate through favoritism. Critics dismissed him as a weak younger brother who would be merely a celebrity Senator. How wrong they were. Ted Kennedy's route to the Senate stopped mattering once he began performing for his constituents and collaborating with his colleagues.

Kennedy did not rely on dynasty as destiny. He rolled up his sleeves and mastered the details, and he kept studying and learning as the issues changed. No one is entitled to a top executive position; everyone has to earn it through his or her deeds, and each is only as good as his or her command of the issues. When Mitt Romney challenged Kennedy for his Senate seat in 1994, the pivotal moment of their debate - which probably won Kennedy re-election - involved Kennedy pressing Romney for specifics on his health care plan, with Romney finally admitting he hadn't worked out all the details. "Well that's what you have to do with legislation," the Senator replied. Kennedy knew the job. His career rewards followed from his service. His career rewards followed from his service.

Even when Kennedy could not move the needle forward on really big change (health care reform), he supported incremental improvements (children's health insurance), which meant that he survived in office long enough for his big agenda to come close to being enacted.

Find a higher purpose. Think values first, and suspend ego.Ted Kennedy believed in public service as an honorable profession and in government as a vehicle for helping all citizens get their chance for high quality of life. Once he found his core mission (after losses and setbacks), it was clear where he stood and who he stood for - other people who needed a voice because they couldn't always speak for themselves.

This was not about Ted Kennedy or his ego. He was known for humility, graciousness, and geniality in the Senate; he was not engaged in partisan contests to win for the sake of winning. The goals were so important that he was willing to work with political opponents to reach agreement on measures that served the people. His work with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch was a model for collaboration that transcended ideological disagreements. He supported President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation for school reform; the cause of children was so important that he would rather compromise and get a little something done than prevent any action. Negotiating by calling on higher principles made him effective with principled members of the other party.