Dec 31, 2011
Nose Rings, Frayed Cuffs, and Breasts
Seven months ago you hired a cracker-jack marketer who quickly proved herself indispensible. “Jackie” had a way of connecting with people, accessing the media and describing the value of your organization in ways that lead to a dramatic increase in revenue. You don’t want to lose Jackie, but she’s just started wearing a nose ring. She thinks it’s attractive, but you consider it off-putting to a sizeable number of potential clients. You encouraged one of your long-term employees to use his annual leave because you worried he was...
read moreEarn Respect: 5 Steps to Get The Respect You Deserve
Respect is not free; you need to earn it. Don’t expect respect to seek you out; it won’t. It does not matter your title, your role, your experience, your history — nothing matters. We are all familiar with the “golden rule” — do unto other as you would have them do unto you. Start here to earn respect. This is what earning respect is all about. Don’t wait for someone to give you respect before you show them respect. Be prepared to give respect, even in the face of not getting it. This is the tough part as you begin the journey of...
read moreCultivating Great Customers: 6 Steps to Success
When we deliver excellent customer service we are doing our part in an important relationship. We also need and want our customer to do their part. What does this mean and how do we achieve this? I recently was reading a back issue of Fine Homebuilding from Summer 2011. Several lines in the article by John McLean titled “Why Good Clients Lead to Successful Projects” caught my attention. “There is general agreement,” McLean writes, “that the property owner’s [customer’s] attitude, intelligence, and approach…may have the greatest...
read moreYou Could be a Status Quo Thinker
If you utter the words “that is how we’ve always done it,” You could be a status quo thinker. If your key policies or procedures are dated two decades ago without revisions, You could be a status quo thinker. If your first inclination to a new idea is to figure out how it can’t be done, You could be a status quo thinker. If you stop with “what is” is good enough versus “what could be,” You could be a status quo thinker. If you are a manager, director or leader and can’t think beyond the job description to influence things...
read moreHow is HR Like McDonalds?
I like McDonald’s hamburgers, fries and shakes. Many, many other people do, too. It is staggering to think about how many customers are served daily by this company. McDonald’s tell us on their web site that they each and every day they serve “more than 47 million customers around the world”. Forty-seven million! That is a lot of food, but more importantly, for us, that is a lot of customer service. Mainly, what I like about McDonald’s is what it means for human resources. When I go to McDonald’s what do I get? Now, I am not...
read moreRitz-Carlton Engagement on a Ritz Cracker Budget
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain is consistently lauded as the very model of an organization that creates loyal, engaged customers. I know what you’re thinking: It’s hard to provide Ritz-Carlton customer engagement levels on a Ritz cracker budget! Ironically, providing outstanding customer service doesn’t cost more. It does, though, require leaders skilled in creating a best-in-class employee engagement culture. If you’re an executive leader, surround yourself with a management team who knows how to create a culture that leads to...
read moreThe Cold War, a Bad Haircut, and Poor Customer Service
The Concept. Do you remember the “cold war” concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)? Essentially, this military strategy suggests that when two enemies point weapons of mass destruction of such high-yield and volume at each other, it creates a natural deterrent to pushing the LAUNCH button. If either side were to attack, the other would launch an immediate counter-attack which would result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. Lose-lose. If It Were Personal. The...
read moreDo You Have a Star Too Bright To Handle?
Imagine having a customer-service employee who is so spectacular that customers come specifically to be taken care of by that one person. Imagine having an employee so charismatic that other great employees eagerly learn from her; people clamor to be on volunteer projects with her. Imagine having an employee whose thought leadership is so compelling and cutting edge that he puts your company on the map, and he attracts amazing job candidates. Imagine having this kind of employee so powerful and beneficial to the organization that he has...
read moreHow the OWS Crowd Could Change Recruiting Forever
There is plenty to say about the Occupy Wall Street movement – most of which is uncharitable. But out of the noise, confusion and general sense of being appalled, one point has emerged to knock, knock, knock me on the head to say, “Something worth considering.” The broadening gap between the rising cost of higher education (which is outpacing every other economic trend, including healthcare) and its ROI in terms of releasing employable new grads into the economic bloodstream. Don’t get me wrong, as a middling brainiac myself,...
read moreHow to Build Passion Literacy at Work
I just had a fantastic experience with a call center rep! I had to call American Express this morning. After going through the dreaded automated menu of multiple options, I heard a cheerful voice saying, “May I help you?” I could go on forever about how fabulous this person was. No script, patient listening while I ranted in a somewhat disorganized way, she gave me more information than I thought I wanted. When I thanked her profusely for her wonderful service, she rhapsodized about how much she loves taking care of customers’ needs. But...
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