AchieveGlobal's blog

A New Era of Social Learning

By Sharon Daniels

Research and trends support what we have known for a while. Social media is considered extremely important for building business presence and company outreach. After all, as the experts would have us understand, Facebook alone has over 800 million users, and if it were a country – would be the third largest in the world!

Early last month, I participated in an Argyle Executive Forum conference: 2011 Leadership in Human Capital Spotlight: Learning and Development in New York. As the meeting overview outlines, the conference set out to examine the innovative strategies that learning executives are using to develop and implement successful corporate cultures.

Given the above facts just about Facebook, it’s not surprising that one area of innovation that became focal in many discussions during this meeting was how social networking has become part of the new learning reality. But while Facebook provides an important case study, and serves as a prevalent model in any “new, new media” based learning and development initiative, there are of course many other social media platforms that are similarly valuable.

The broader reality is that the new demands for learning and development fit hand-in-glove with capabilities that the wider field of social media provides. For instance, there’s increasing desire for learning to take place outside formal learning environments, and on a continuous basis. Social media provides channels to achieve precisely this sort of environment – where learners can share their experiences, and continue to engage in active learning while actually being immersed in the realities of what they are learning.

The benefits that social media provide to learning environments are remarkable. This new way of social learning means that workers are continually able to access tools that allow them to collaborate, even while they continue to internalize the material they are learning, and put new ideas into practice.

The benefit that this provides to the organization is that learning becomes less formal and rigid, and instead is more naturally and efficiently integrated into each learner’s workflow and life. If all this points to retained learning, then building an environment that encourages social learning is well worth the consideration and effort.

 

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Learning Environments Evolved

By Sharon Daniels

Back in December, I participated in the Argyle Executive Forum conference 2011 Leadership in Human Capital Spotlight: Learning and Development, and if I had to sum up in one word how participants defined today’s organizational learning environment, I’d have to say: EVOLVING.

Recently, we’ve been seeing the organizational learning environment evolve along two axes:

• Focus on individuals
• Emphasis on conversations

In the past, leaders were rewarded for operating with a traditional command and control approach. Today’s learning environment is better defined by an increased focus on the individual, and appreciation for the wholeness of each individual worker’s life.

Wise leaders understand that organizational hierarchies are diminishing across most industries. The fact that one individual may have management competence may not necessarily make him/her more valuable to an organization than a worker who may have a particular skill-set. This is, of course, part of the ongoing trend toward flattening of the organization context for learning.

The learning environment is also evolving to include greater focus on dialogues and conversations.

Leadership of yesterday was a top-down model, while today, leadership means facilitating conversations among all team members across all functions of the organization. A truly refreshing example of this is that we’re witnessing organizations placing far less emphasis on performance reviews, and much greater focus on developing more meaningful understanding of an individual’s career aspirations, passions, and how they balance their work-life responsibilities.

Organizations that can understand learners as individuals – each with a particular set of motivations, learning preferences and capabilities – can better tailor their learning initiatives and modalities to the specific needs of each worker.

Fostering ongoing dialogue also deepens understanding of what learners need in order to accomplish specific learning objectives. Organizations that want workers to learn effectively are themselves learning about how to facilitate an environment where learning best takes place.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

5…4…3…2…1 ! Happy New Management Resolutions!

By Sharon Daniels

Those last five seconds of the New Year countdown can be quite emotional! Reflections on whether you’ve accomplished everything you set out to over the past year, and projections of what the dawning year will hold are wrapped into a single moment of anticipation and nostalgia.

Whatever dominates your thoughts during this season of renewal, the end of the year is always a great time to ponder the mistakes made in the past year and set a course for success in the New Year. The same goes for managers who are wise to use the end of the year as an opportunity to think about how to avoid five major management mistakes.

Counting down from five, there’s great wisdom in considering some of the top management mistakes that can cause challenges and issues in the New Year. And as the sun rises on 2012, it makes good sense to consider the best strategies for avoiding these blunders. Some of the top management mistakes for 2011, not to be repeated in 2012…

• Mistake #5: Thinking money is all that matters. While money is important, it won’t drive motivation in the long term. Managers must focus on the sources of intrinsic motivation if they want to drive sustained employee commitment.
  
  
• Mistake #4: Using an employee’s age or generation as a predictor of ability. Research shows that employees of all levels and ages are guilty of age stereotyping, a practice that can be extremely detrimental to your team’s morale and productivity. Instead, the successful manager should focus on connecting with all employees on the individual, human level and on promoting cross-generational collaboration.
  
  
• Mistake #3: Resisting teleworking. Teleworking not only provides benefits in employee retention and morale, but also boosts productivity and reduces operating costs. Managers can be quick to cite reasons that they’re against teleworking, but for many companies with proper virtual leadership, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
  
  
• Mistake #2: Training through a narrow-minded outlook. Thinking that effective training can only take place in a classroom setting is so… well… last year! The 2012 approach is all about multiple modalities, a blended approach, and understanding the benefits of informal, immersive learning.
  
  
• And the #1 Management Mistake to avoid in 2012? Underestimating the power of reflection. Research shows that managers who are aware of their own leadership strengths and liabilities, who adjust current strategies adopt new strategies, and recognize strengths and liabilities in other people, are better equipped to lead and effective team.

Happy New Year from the entire team at AchieveGlobal, and may all your management decisions be bright!

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

All For One… Virtual Workforce

By Sharon Daniels

In my previous posts on leading virtually, I wrote about what it takes to lead a virtual team – separated across geographies, cultures, and even time zones. To recap, leaders must overcome several challenges, including understanding how to address the diversity of a virtual workforce while also recognizing that virtual leadership requires far more than mastering a few technological tools or platforms.

In order to build a productive virtual workforce, leaders can use a simple framework that provides a focus on key principles. You might think of this model as representing a Yin and Yang balance for virtual leadership.

Two key elements define the first level: cohesion and commitment.

Effective virtual leaders build awareness that, despite team members being separated by distance, they must be united in focus, goals and collaboration. Specifically, leaders can help team members understand that the work they do leads to meaningful outcomes. Leaders should also think of ways to build clear communication and encourage both inclusion and responsibility.

While group cohesion is vital, it’s also imperative that individual team members build a sense of commitment to the mission of the team and to the broader strategic goals of the organization. To build this individual commitment, leaders should provide opportunities for virtual team member success by communicating often with team members, while encouraging individual action and ownership.

What can leaders do to help build both group cohesion and individual commitment?

Leaders should focus on helping all team members, regardless of their location, to feel both satisfied and valued on three levels:

• Competence (team members should feel valued for their knowledge and skill)
• Relatedness (they should feel fulfilled when collaborating with co-workers, and valued for this)
• Autonomy (team members should be encouraged to exercise individual discretion to achieve business goals).

If a leader can create an environment that helps team members feel valued for these traits, it increases the likelihood that the virtual team will build success.

It really is a balancing act, and striking that perfect balance builds a team that works harmoniously, which means productivity and ultimately, success for the organization.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Absence Makes the Workforce Grow… Stronger?

By Sharon Daniels

The heading of this post is based on that age-old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” But there’s a less-known second half of that saying: “It also makes the fond heart wander.” So there are potential positives and negatives to having space between two people in a relationship – whatever defines that relationship.

A similar duality can be said to apply to virtual workforces.

In a recent report on Leading Virtually, the point was made that when managed properly, teams that are dispersed can perform even better than teams that are collocated. The question is, what is “the secret recipe?” Using technical tools and cutting edge technology platforms can help, but virtual leadership requires a much broader set of skills.

Back to our analogy of a long distance relationship…

These days, families are called on to function across great distances for a host of reasons – job travel, kids “leaving the nest,” or military service to name a few. Making a relationship survive across distance requires much more than just being a good letter-writer, or a good “Skyper” for that matter. It takes devotion, loyalty and commitment, and an ability to express those things across the distance that separates.

In other words, it requires an understanding of what it takes to build a strong relationship in any realm, with an ability to master the reality of absence.

Similarly, effective leadership of a virtual workforce requires mastering traditional leadership skills like giving vital feedback, offering verbal recognition, and making sure the workforce is wholly focused on the broader business objectives. But even more than this, being an effective virtual leader requires planning, and leadership that encourages collaboration, individual contributions and dialogue.

So the reality is… for virtual leaders, while traditional leadership skills are a necessary part of creating a strong team, it’s also imperative to master a whole new slate of skills too.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Make Sure You’re Not Just Virtually Leading, When You’re Leading Virtually

By Sharon Daniels

You might say that the world of business these days is defined by crossing boundaries: reaching out to customers across market segments, negotiating with vendors across the globe, and shipping goods and services worldwide. So it comes as no surprise that leadership today requires the ability to lead across boundaries that are defined demographically, geographically, culturally, hierarchically, and in terms of organizational function or talent expertise.

The reality is that many leaders are managing work groups that include team members who live and work in far away geographies perhaps whom they’ve never even met in person. For leaders working in this reality, challenges abound! 

In our recent report on virtual leadership, we examined what it means to lead a team of people who may be united by a common business goal, but whose locations, cultural experiences and work environments are completely disparate.

Among several compelling discoveries, we found that across the world leaders of virtual teams have many common concerns:

1. Virtual leaders feel as if they’re relinquishing control and relying on trust with virtual employees, since it can be difficult to assess whether workers are fulfilling all their responsibilities.
2. Communication can become complicated since there are fewer opportunities for feedback and valuable face-to-face interaction.
3. It becomes more difficult to develop meaningful work relationships that in non-virtual circumstances would otherwise build greater alignment between leaders and workers.
4. Time differences result in fewer windows of opportunity for live interactions by phone, for instance.
5. Leaders also feel ill at ease with cultural differences that may be real or perceived.

As organizations continue to cut costs in response to tough economic times, and opportunities for face-to-face interactions continue to decrease, the realities of virtual leadership continue to resonate among many leaders.

But the point needs to be made: that feeling of being a voice in the virtual wilderness need not be a reality of leading across boundaries. In my next post, I’ll address how leaders can move beyond technology and adopt a simple framework for virtual leadership.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

The Virtual Leadership Conundrum

By Sharon Daniels

The idea of working in a relatively remote office location is hardly a new phenomenon. As early as the 1970s, significant numbers of employees worked in satellite offices – removed from a company’s headquarters or home office. Since that time, a growing number of workers make up virtual teams – due in large measure to the growth in personal computers, Internet technology, and increasing global initiatives that define the business environment.

Today, it's quite normal for a work team to be spread across several different geographies. The summary statistics below (represented in this infographic we recently published) paint quite a remarkable picture when it comes to the world of virtual work.

Just take a look at some of these numbers:

• From 1980 to 2009, there has been an 86% increase in the percent of people working from home.
• 47% of the U.S. workforce does not work in the same office building as their manager.
• Between 20 and 30 million people work from home at least one day a week.
• By 2010, 45% of telecommuting workers were doing so almost every day.

The statistics also point to the need for a new approach to virtual leadership. While a convincing majority of survey participants recognize that an ability to manage virtual teams will be a key competency to possess in the future, few participants think their own managers have mastered the ability to lead virtually. This is not surprising when you consider that 79% of managers have not been trained in effective virtual leadership.

So what’s a leader to do? How can they overcome the challenges leading virtually presents?

In my upcoming posts, I’ll examine the realities that define leadership in a virtual world of work, and what leaders can do to effectively manage virtual teams.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Taking Talent Management to the Top

By Sharon Daniels

Talent management is often thought of as an organizational function requiring “soft” skills like social awareness, or an ability to tailor communication to meet each employee’s individual needs.

It is perhaps for this reason that many organizations relegate talent management to a line management position when, in reality, it should be tied closely to key organizational issues.

In a Talent Management article I wrote with Robert Vulpis, executive director of HR, Learning and Development at Morgan Stanley, we explored the question of what talent leaders can do to build engagement among new recruits and manage their existing human resources.

One of the last trends we noted that I’ll mention here is making the link between talent management and C-suite executives.

Imagine any sport that requires unified team effort. Crew rowing might provide the perfect example. The coxswain, who sits in the stern and steers the boat by calling power and rhythm directions, must command the efforts of all rowers – from the bowman to the sternman. Without guidance from the coxswain, the team will potentially veer wildly off-course and lose the race.

Particularly in times of economic uncertainty, an organization needs to ensure that it has executive buy-in in order to achieve desired business results. To achieve this sort of collaboration and the resulting success, it’s imperative for organizations to heed the advice that HR professionals have been offering for years: elevate human capital management to a strategic imperative that impacts business objectives and requires C-suite endorsement.

So building engagement among new recruits and managing existing employees requires that talent leaders lobby for support from the executive team by connecting organizational goals to talent concerns.

In short, by taking talent management to the top!

Technology Trends in Talent Management

By Sharon Daniels

In an article that I co-authored with Robert Vulpis, Executive Director of HR, Learning and Development at Morgan Stanley, I explored the question of what talent leaders can do to engage new recruits and manage existing talent.

In my last post, I discussed the importance of career pathing. In this post, I’ll focus on another talent trend we discussed: using new technology platforms to foster connections with current employees, potential employees, and clients.

According to the 10^th Annual Source of Hiring report, 39 percent of firms manage through social media tools. In fact, many an article has been written about how employers are increasingly using social media tools to screen employees in this manner. But there are many other ways that talent managers can put the strengths of online technology to work for them.

Here are just some of the ways that technology facilitates talent management: 

1. Social media has a growing impact on recruitment and hiring, with a significant percent of firms using it for direct sourcing efforts.
2. Social networking sites can provide effective channels for talent managers to connect with potential hires and existing employees, facilitating productive environments for informal learning.
3. Top talent often looks to social and mobile media to engage with potential employers.
4. Effective management of a company’s digital reputation can help that company gain renown and goodwill – ultimately affecting whether top talent will be interested in, or remain loyal to, that company.

A firm’s decision to utilize emerging technology platforms to source, recruit, train, and retain talent isn’t a matter of “if” … but “when.” Although the level of technological sophistication employed largely depends on corporate culture, organizations can no longer dismiss online networking as a talent management tool any more than they could revert to only accepting resumes through fax and mail.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Climbing the Ladder to Talent Management Success

By Sharon Daniels

While businesses must continue to focus on investing in their workforces, today’s talent management reality is impacted by broad factors like the shifting economy and fluctuating job numbers.

Among these multifaceted issues, talent managers are also faced with having to wade through a highly competitive talent pool with significant numbers of qualified workers who are ready for employment – an evident result of the downsizings that have occurred over the past few years.

So, what can talent leaders do to engage new recruits and manage existing talent?

In a recent Talent Management article I wrote with Robert Vulpis, Executive Director of HR, Learning and Development at Morgan Stanley, we summed up three industry trends that talent leaders should be aware of. The first of these trends builds on findings from a recent University of Iowa study: the importance of career pathing.

The study showed that training and development for employees must be coupled with clear possibilities for them to climb the corporate ladder. In the article, Bob and I note that, “organizations that offer structured progression paths are more enticing to millennials who increasingly make up a greater portion of the workforce.” In other words, top graduates want to know how they’ll fit into an organization, and when they can expect to rise through the ranks.

When new, as well as tenured, employees are able to see the path of the career ladder – with each step of the ladder rationalized with increasing experience, training and responsibility – the more likely that company will be to acquire and retain the best talent.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Customer Service: A Main Ingredient and a Measure of Your Success

By Sharon Daniels

The significance of effective customer service cannot be understated. In my last post, I emphasized that successful organizations focus on outstanding service at all levels of their business activity. There are other rules of thumb that such successful companies follow and ingredients for customer service success that help identify why their approaches work. These strategies are noted in our recent report: “Lessons From Leading Customer-Focused Organizations.”

As I’ve pointed out previously, since superior customer service focuses on every touch point of the organization, it’s essential that all areas of the company are customer-centric and understand how other parts of the organization meet customer needs. Further, employees within the organization need to understand what role they play and how they fit into the bigger picture of focusing on the customer to provide a thoroughly positive experience for each customer, every time.

This approach means that communication about customer service must transcend departmental silos. When it comes to ensuring a positive customer experience, organizations are best advised to create a culture of information sharing and collaboration. The more companies are able to share information across departments and levels, the better able everyone within that organization is equipped to deal with customer concerns and to anticipate customer needs.

Lastly, successful organizations recognize that customers are not just end-users and understand that different customers have different needs and expectations.

The wise customer-focused organization understands implicitly that customer service must permeate everything the company does, at all levels, and that each customer is an opportunity to build reputation, loyalty, and therefore organizational success. Each positive interaction with a customer reinforces satisfaction and leads to greater success than any single experience can provide.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Reaction to the Four R’s from Stellar Service

By Sharon Daniels

We’re all familiar with Isaac Newton’s basic law of physics, that “To every action… there is an equal reaction.” In the world of business and customer service, this law also proves true.

In a recent post, I noted that companies that don’t keep incivility in-check lessen their chances for success. The good news is that the reverse of this is also true – if you treat your customers well, they will come back to you and reward you many times over.

At AchieveGlobal, this thinking is etched into our training philosophy at all levels. To remind companies of the tangible benefits of providing customers with stellar service, we summarize them in Four R’s:

1. Retention – Customers who are treated well tend to be more loyal and develop feelings of trust and confidence. These customers also resist offers from the competition.
2. Referrals – Receiving excellent customer service themselves, loyal customers will also encourage others to choose your organization over the competition, which ultimately saves you the cost of seeking new customers.
3. Reputation – When customers speak well of your organization they increase public support, along with positive interest from investors, future employees, and the media.
4. Revenue – Customers vote with their wallets and to show their appreciation for stellar service, they give your organization a larger share of their business.

But what exactly is “good customer service”? Jonathan Byrnes offers this, in a Harvard Business School Working Knowledge article: Customer service is what the customer perceives and remembers.

If your team focuses on managing the customer experience from beginning to end, with positive defining moments, then your customers will perceive great benefits of doing business with your company, and remember to return to your company when they need that service again.

Action: excellent customer service.
Reaction: retention, referrals, reputation and the all-important revenue!

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Customer Service, Through and Through!

By Sharon Daniels

In the not-too-distant past, customer service was thought of only as those activities and initiatives that belonged within the walls of a customer service department, or as strategies by which a customer service desk could address customer complaints.

For most successful companies, today’s approach to customer service is a far cry from this limited view.

In a recent study, we engaged interviews with leading customer service-focused organizations. Through these interviews, we uncovered nine success factors for creating a successful customer experience.

What are some of the key lessons or best practices among organizations that successfully maintain outstanding relationships with their customers? In this post, I want to focus on three of the nine we uncovered.

1. Customer Service is just one part of the bigger customer experience.

Our study made one thing absolutely clear: a successful approach to customer service is recognizing that it’s a function of the entire organization. In other words, all departments and levels in the organization need to be focused on meeting and exceeding the needs of customers. It also means conceptualizing all customers as individuals that drive business – end users, internal customers, and agents.

 2. Customer focus is front and center in the organization’s mission and values.

Instead of simply relegating customer service to a single function, leading customer-centered organizations make sure the organizational approach to staying focused on customers runs deep – all the way through to their values.

3. Customer experience is what happens when organizations interact with the customer at any touch point.

There are many different channels through which organizations meet the needs of their customers: email, websites, phone centers, retail stores. The list of touch points can often seem endless, but it remains an important priority to recognize that the customer experience promise should be fulfilled through each channel.

All in all, you might say that successful companies no longer think about a “customer service” commitment as something that’s skin-deep. These days, we all need to emphasize that customer-focus must be part of our organizational DNA.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Simple Strategies to Strengthen the Sales Team

By Sharon Daniels

The task of building a stronger sales team can often seem like a monumental undertaking. Where do you begin? How do you build momentum? And how do you maintain past performance in the face of competition, changing priorities and other formidable obstacles? The answer takes me back to an old Chinese proverb: a journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step.

In a recent interview featured on Selling Power, I discussed fundamental development strategies with Irene Sewer, Director of Field Development at Liberty Mutual. The environment is constantly changing and in times like this, we acknowledge that now more than ever, sales leaders must focus on the development of their people. These leaders are also charged with keeping sales teams up to speed on how the sales landscape is changing, and how their organizations are adapting in response.

Irene and I also addressed how technology has changed the sales landscape since customers are more informed and educated about products and services. This also means that customers come into the sales experience with higher expectations.

So, revisiting the deceptively simple wisdom of that proverb. How do we incrementally improve performance within the sales team?

Three simple strategies can help:

1. Ensure sales managers are clear on their responsibility to coach their team members and that they have the skills to do so.  If sales managers aren’t coaching, they should be replaced by sales leaders who will.
    
2. Confirm that coaching includes performance coaching – coaching to metrics and pipeline, prospecting and developmental coaching. This will help salespeople develop the necessary skills to enhance their sales abilities.
    
3. Provide feedback to sales managers about their coaching. Be consistent by focusing on customer satisfaction metrics and other key performance indicators.

In a world of constant change, it’s reassuring to recognize that there are tried and true strategies that will yield positive trends for your sales team.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Managers Move Mountains

By Sharon Daniels

There’s a powerful truism that Gerhard Gschwandtner uses at the beginning of a recent interview he hosted with Liberty Mutual’s Irene Sewer and me. As he’s setting up that interview, he notes that salespeople often are attracted to companies, but they leave managers.

This point led to a dynamic discussion among Gerhard, Irene and me. What the adage implies is that salespeople often leave a company citing weak management as a key reason for their departure.

This is a logical point, but it’s also one that can go unconsidered by many companies.

Our client, Liberty Mutual, is one company that truly understands the importance of building strong managers who motivate sales teams and, who at the end of the day, may be a key reason that those sales professionals stay with a company and excel.

What can a company do to foster managers who define this sort of environment?

If you haven’t already watched this brief interview, Irene Sewer summarizes it beautifully by noting how her company places tremendous emphasis on training and development for managers, helping them to build coaching skills and to lead by example.

To a large extent, for managers, the measure of success goes far beyond financials. It includes ensuring a focus on the well-being and fulfillment of their teams. And to learn how to properly wield these skills, managers need to be equipped with the right combinations of skills.

The truth is that salespeople have a profound sense of when a manager has their best interest at heart, and that the manager is interested in helping them be successful. It’s a logical chain reaction that works something like this: 

Now there’s an ROI that makes mountains of sense.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

The Why, How and Who of Owning the Customer Experience

By Sharon Daniels

In a couple of recent posts, I explained some of the basic tenets of Owning the Customer Experience – how customers experience a sales organization and its representatives through a series of vital “defining moments.”

Gerhard Gschwandter of Selling Power recently asked me some great, practical questions about Owning the Customer Experience, and how to put this approach into practice. My responses to these interview questions may lend some insight to an organization considering how best to build stronger and more positive customer relationships.

Why? And, why now?

With the improvement in technologies from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and the introduction of social media, customers interface with companies on many different levels, and through a diverse array of channels. This means an increase in the number of opportunities for customers to build opinions about your company and individual salespeople who represent your company.

This environment, coupled with an increasingly competitive and global business atmosphere, requires a much more detailed approach to customer relationship management: focusing on every single interaction that a customer has with the organization.

How can we own it?

The reality is that most companies are not rising to the challenge of owning the whole and complete customer experience effectively. Some companies might be monitoring customer experiences at specific events, like at trade shows or conferences, for example. Or they might simply focus on the customer experience in the sales environment.

Owning the Customer Experience means enterprise-wide culture change. For an entire organization to consider the gravity of every moment and channel through which it interfaces with every customer requires a serious and broad-scale commitment. That means starting with the very first time a customer even becomes aware of your organization – even if that’s reading something that’s posted on a social media site about your company.

Who should oversee it?

When a company commits to Owning the Customer Experience, responsibility for overseeing this initiative should come from the very top of the organization. The reason for this is threefold:

• Owning the Customer Experience is a comprehensive approach to overseeing and managing the big picture of the customer relationship – viewing it as made up of a series of individual defining moments
• This approach requires resources and a commitment of time
• Without buy-in from the top of the organization, there’s likely to be little success in achieving objectives

As with all cultural changes, organizations are best advised to approach the evolution to Owning the Customer Experience with strategic intent and a keen sense of what this change will require at all levels of the organization.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Uncivil = Unsuccessful

By Sharon Daniels

When a customer initiates contact with a company wanting to acquire a product or service, that customer has certain expectations about the caliber of service that she or he deserves.

We have all experienced some level of less-than-perfect customer service. Depending on how much that service deviated from what we expected, we may have decided to give that company a second chance and done business anyway. But, if that service dropped below a certain level, we may have simply walked away.

If we’re on the service side of this equation, there are a few new startling statistics that should make us sit up and take note!

In an article that provides a useful summary on this issue, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor Chad Brooks cites a recent Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate survey which indicates that 69 percent of respondents would take their money elsewhere if a business wasn’t treating them with respect.

Added to this, about 60 percent said they would spread the word about the bad service.

These days, customers have a vastly lower threshold for tolerance when it comes to customer service, and when they experience uncivil behavior among a provider’s employees they are much more likely to walk away.

In a recent post, I spoke about the importance of focusing on “defining moments” in owning the customer experience. So if there’s one defining moment during which the customer perceives a representative as rude or disrespectful, it may lead to permanent loss of that customer. But that’s not all – it could ultimately lead to loss of other potential customers.

The snowball effect of poor service cannot be overstated. And this means that in both internal and external interactions, companies should have a zero tolerance approach to incivility and disrespect.

 Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Marrying CRM and Sales Training

By Sharon Daniels

If you take a look at most definitions of the word “technology,” you’ll find they include words to the effect of “application of knowledge.”

It’s worth pondering that definition when you consider the strengths of CRM software and how to optimize them. The truth is, CRM software is great, but it is just technology – a way to apply knowledge.

In a very real sense, it’s the people using that software who really bring power to CRM platforms. Many companies tend to overlook this extremely important fact. The sad truth is that companies are often guilty of adopting CRM systems and expecting magic - that somehow by merely purchasing and installing software, the company’s sales team will effortlessly outperform their previous levels.

Of course, this is far from reality.

As this article points out, in most organizations, CRM systems and sales training often tend to exist in parallel universes, and ne’er the twain shall meet. Without any such integration, the organization suffers missed opportunities to make dramatic improvements to overall sales performance.

On the other hand, when CRM programs are leveraged and effectively integrated with the organization’s learning strategy, their use can lead to increased revenues and sales excellence, as seen by:

• More mutually beneficial customer relationships
• Increased numbers of deals closed
• Shorter sales cycles, resulting from higher purchasing confidence
• Expanded deal size
• Sales teams that experience greater job satisfaction

While there’s no such thing as a “free lunch,” when companies marry the strengths of CRM systems with the inherent benefits of effective sales training, they can benefit from the old adage of “1+1=3.”

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

It Takes Six “C’s” To Be Innovative

By Sharon Daniels

Can you think of the last big innovation that you became aware of? In your company, or in the surrounding community?

When you try to respond to a question like that, it can be difficult to pinpoint a recent example. Is it because innovations just aren’t that common anymore – at least the major innovations? Or perhaps is it because they unfold around us at alarming rates, all the time, and we’ve sort of become desensitized to innovations?

Whether you notice them or not, it’s common knowledge that innovations are integral to maintaining a competitive advantage.

But how can businesses embrace a culture that encourages innovation?

In a recent article in Chief Executive, I explored the behaviors and competencies that innovative businesses exhibit, which help them maintain that culture of innovation. Those companies have common traits, including that they are:

• Collaborative – encouraging people to work in teams, where they can cross-fertilize ideas and experiences
• Customer Centered – having deep commitment to understanding and meeting customer expectations
• Context rich – focused on collecting information and allowing it to flow freely throughout the workforce
• Curious – encouraging workers to question everything – from their own assumptions, to the opinions of others
• Confidence Building – empowering employees through training and mentoring
• Challenging – with leaders who are willing to challenge the status quo

And why is it important to build a culture of innovation? Study after study shows that innovation brings with it game-changing breakthroughs, can help foster improvements in existing products, and can offer ways to decrease costs and minimize process problems.

Those six C’s can add up to one major “S”… success!

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Addressing the “Problem” in “Problem Employee”

By Sharon Daniels

Figuring out what to do when you realize that an employee is exhibiting problem behavior can be anything but easy. But armed with the knowledge of how to take control of the situation, managers can help to avoid any further major upsets within the organization.

When an employee develops what can be seen as a chronic attitude issue, or isn’t delivering at expected levels of productivity, this can negatively affect that person’s team, raise safety concerns in certain environments, and ultimately impact the image and success of the organization.

In a recent article in Black Enterprise, I noted how easy it can be for leaders to seek what seems like a simple solution to this sort of situation: firing the employee. With today’s talent pool stocked with candidates who may seem far more worthy, getting rid of the “bad apple” employee may be a temptation that seems difficult to resist.

Before leaders take this step, they need to consider two major issues:

1. It costs a company far more to recruit a new employee than to help an existing employee make changes.
2. Firing an employee without due cause or proper notice can place a company in legal jeopardy.

Ideally, before resorting to firing, a company and its leaders should commit to addressing the situation with a controlled and positive approach.

These steps can help leaders deal with employees who seem to be emerging as problems for their organizations:

1. Commit to finding a solution, instead of entering the situation with a mission to fire the employee.
2. Research the situation thoroughly from all angles to figure out the real issues at play.
3. Speak with the employee to:
   • Establish a partnership with the person and a common commitment to find a solution
   • Allow him/her the opportunity to share his/her perspectives
   • Express concern over how the behavior affects the company
   • Ensure that the employee is not in denial
4. Build a workable plan that:
   • Includes practical milestones that the employee should achieve
   • Assesses any need for training or retraining
   • Agrees on a timeframe for the changes

As with any crisis, a manager who handles a problem employee effectively, with a positive outcome for the wider organization, gains the invaluable respect of workers and peers alike.

Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida