CHECK YOUR EGOS HERE

In January 1985 (yes, I know before most of you were even a thought)  director/producer Quincy Jones together with co-writers Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson (rest in peace) wrote a song titled “We are the World” for the famine relief campaign, USA for Africa. The American Music Awards (Grammy awards) brings the best of the best into LA every year and Quincy felt this would be the most opportune time to develop this project since everyone would be in town at the same time. After the Awards show, the stars gathered together.  Over 30 participated on a night when many had won Grammys and would have rather have been celebrating.  Singers Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Kenny Logins, Cyndi Lauper, Smoky Robinson, Hall-n-Oates, Huey Lewis, Jackson brothers, Bette Midler, and Janet Jackson to name but a few.

Quincy had hung a sign on the door outside that read “CHECK YOUR EGOS HERE!” in big, bold letters for each to see on arrival.  He wanted to remind them they were coming to help others.

•          His objective:  Focus on why we are here not who you are!

The song sold over 800,000 in the first weekend it was released and it raised millions of dollars in support of  USA for Africa.  What a team!

A team is defined as a group (i.e. a collection of persons having at least one thing in common) that has developed toward a set of conditions that, in turn, eventually lead the group to extraordinary productivity. Simply, a team is a group of people coming together for the good of the purpose or goal.  The basic purpose of working in teams is the opportunity for several individuals to stimulate the creativity of each other resulting in multiple ideas, instant feedback, and heightened levels of productivity.

Today’s success in any organization large or small is its people.  Empowering employees to make their own decisions based on the education provided is imperative for survival.  Top management must recognize that a true team effort is a benefit to their organization and their bottom line cost savings.  The objective of team building is to understand first that we are successful when we believe in building excellence into every aspect of the organization by focusing on creating a workplace that encourages EVERYONE to contribute.  We too must leave our egos at the door and walk into the workplace wanting to make a difference each and every “today”.

No Pain, No Gain, No Instant Pudding...Driving World Class Excellence into Your Organization

 Webinar Education Announcement:

The genesis of the Japanese 5S principles is (TQM guru) Dr. Deming's belief that "it's not enough to just do your work or work hard, you must know what to work on".  5S is the mantra to streamlining work flows and office cycle time, a performance measurement for rapid response systems and Über customer service. 

Learn to integrate 5S principles into the work environment (the pain) and achieve multi-fold, value-added increases in productivity levels (the gain).  Discover how 5S leads to savings for the organization and your customers and there's no instant pudding involved.

I invite your participation to this webinar.  I promise you it will be an hour well- spent!

Please check your system’s ability to participate.\\ http://www.anymeeting.com/webconference/systemtest/AnyMeetingSystemTest.aspx

Registration Form URL:

http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E053DB87824C

REINVENTING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Because the customer

Because the customer has a need, we have a job to do.

Because the customer has a choice, we must be the better choice.

Because the customer has sensibilities, we must be considerate.

Because the customer has an urgency, we must be quick.

Because the customer is unique, we must be flexible.

Because the customer has high expectations, we must excel.

Because the customer has influence, we have the hope of more customers.

Because of the customer, we EXIST!

CUSTOMER SERVICE

"It's high time the ideal of success should be replaced by the ideal of service."  Einstein.

We laughed out loud at William Taylor, generation-xer, and cofounder of Fast Company, a magazine that covers real people with real solutions and gives people tools they need to succeed in today’s work world. His closing tip: how to increase your customer base, “the next time the phone rings in your company, how about having a real person answer it?”   As we sat about and discussed some of the tips Taylor had given the audience, the conversation about customer service seemed consistent from the international group - Americans, Europe, South Africa, South America, and Asia - there were tales we could tell about poor service and tales we could tell about good service in each of our respective countries.  Customer service crosses all industries.

The Customer is a person who buys our products, especially on a regular basis.  Customer retention is the ability to keep a customer and, hence, profits.  Happy customers extol our product virtues and contribute free marketing for your company.  It is, simply, our “raison d’être”, our reason for existing - to sell our products to customers who want to come back again and again and buy more of our products.  With global competition driving the need to exceed customers’ expectations, customers will not tolerate paying for someone else’s deficiencies.  Understanding the customer’s needs means asking the customer what the requirements or needs are, implementing solutions, and continuously following up with improvements.

Rapid Response - Eliminating the Communications Gap

When we have a problem, it is our expectation that we will get help from the supplier of the product.  We don’t want to hear excuses, we don’t care who is on vacation, nor for how long - Service should be seamless to the customer.  The longer we keep an unhappy customer on the line without solving the problem, the angrier the customer gets and the quicker that customer will go to a competitor.  Throughout my professional career, I have continuously upgraded a checklist I developed for businesses, small or large, to evaluate and reduce the communications gap that exist both internal and external to the business and impact our ability to exceed our global customer’s expectation in service.  Audit yourself and find out how well your business is doing in given the customer a rapid (correct) solution.  I've included a check list or audit to help you rate your organization. 

The “self-audit” challenge -

internal & external to the organization, the customers

üDo you deliver what you promise, at the time you promise?

üDo you deliver service and products quickly and efficiently?

üDo you give every customer involved personal attention?

üDo you return calls promptly?

üDo you evaluate your customer complaints?

üDo you treat customers with respect, courtesy, and professionalism at all times?

üDo you SOLVE the problem?

üDo you actively solicit an audit from your customers on your customer service to them?

üDo you remain aware and evaluate customer satisfaction regularly?

üDo you review and implement customer feedback and suggestions into current procedures?

üDo you treat customers just as you would want to be treated?

üDo your employees understand that a customer expects them to act with a sense of urgency to their dilemmas?

üDo your employees know to always say THANK YOU!?

üDo you maintain a clean and neat appearance, including the workplace, at all times?

üDo your employees understand the need for personal hygiene as they are the first introduction to the company customers see?

Loyal customers bring other customers who bring other customers who bring other customers, increasing revenues, and all for zerO marketing costs.  Customer service breeds loyalty, loyalty fosters customer retention.  The benchmark to customer retention, and increased sales, is customer service.  How well are you doing in reinventing your customers’ loyalty?

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