Customer Disservice

A few months ago, I decided it was time to get my daughter a cell phone. Not as a vehicle for endless calls and texts with friends, not to download the latest apps, not to spend endless hours playing Brickbreaker or Sudoku. The phone was a "just in case" kind of thing. The only "bell or whistle" was the $5/month text messaging package, so that she could text me, her Dad, her grandparents or other essential guardian-types without doing major financial damage.

I signed her up with the wireless carrier I've used for years. Without naming the company in question, let's just say it's one of the major carriers. Let's also say that their customer service - or disservice - is the inspiration for this post. Without going into excruciating detail, here are the basics:

The young woman who sold me the phone apparently did not apply the $5/month texting package to my daughter's line. After a few months of surprisingly high phone bills, I finally caught on to what was happening. My daughter was sending close to 200 texts/month (based upon her 250 "paid" texts) and I was getting charged 25 cents for each and every one.

There were some other errors, as well, all of which added up to significant overcharges to my account.

Again, to save you the gory details (although it feels sorta good to vent my extreme level of frustration about all of this), I'll simply tell you that my carrier's customer service was atrocious. I spoke with two customer service reps, a supervisor and the young lady who sold me the phone in the first place. Nobody was willing to help. Apparently, it was all my fault, for not having checked my bill and complained early on in the process. According to the supervisor who ultimately took my call, "If it was that important to you, you would have checked the bill and called us right away." I told him that his comment was a fabulous way to calm down an angry customer and to keep up the good work.

Long story short, there's still tremendous value in trusting your customers and doing the right thing. Sure, you'll sometimes come across someone who's trying to pull a fast one. You'll think to yourself that no, the customer is not always right. But more often than not, your customers and clients will have valid concerns. Hear them out, make reasonable accommodations, take responsibility if you haven't met their needs.

A happy customer is a repeat customer. A satisfied client will refer you to others. Bottom line, good customer service builds a great reputation, is the right thing to do and will serve you and your clients extremely well.

Until next time...

Liz

Spotlight on Leadership: Relationships Matter

I love my job. I get to work with incredible clients – bright, successful, motivated individuals who possess the courage and commitment to keep getting better. What’s not to love about that?

Many of my clients are mid to senior level executives who have already accomplished a great deal in their careers. For some of these executives, coaching provides a way to ensure success in a new or expanded role. For others, coaching helps to enhance and strengthen their effectiveness as leaders within their organizations. And for others, coaching offers a way to improve the communication, collaboration and overall performance of their teams.

Although the context varies - in terms of the particular challenges being faced, the specific opportunities to be leveraged, as well as the functions and industries in which my clients work – there are several themes that repeatedly emerge. Communication. Collaboration. Influence. Leadership. And the common thread among these? Relationships. Interacting effectively and successfully with others toward a positive outcome.

Relationships in the workplace really do matter. And for leaders, mastering the relationship “thing” is simply essential. The fact is, it is only in the context of meaningful, trusting, genuine relationships that leaders are able to influence others, communicate a compelling vision and rally the enthusiasm, support and commitment of their people.

Here are some tips for developing and sustaining key relationships:

Make a list. Write down all of the stakeholders with whom you interact and whom you must be able to influence or otherwise engage. This should include your direct reports, your peers, your boss, senior leadership, even your admin. Clients, customers and business partners are important, too. Be certain not to leave anyone out.

Rate your relationships. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate each of these relationships. How strong are they in terms of trust, candor and respect? How are the quality and adequacy of communication? Reflect upon recent conversations, conflicts and collaborative endeavors. A score of 5 means the relationship is nearly perfect. A score of 1 means the relationship is in dire straits. Most of your relationships will probably fall somewhere in the middle.

Build upon your strongest relationships. Be sure to sustain these healthy relationships. All relationships require active maintenance so don’t become complacent. Continue to engage in open dialogue. Reach out on a regular basis. Connect over a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch. You’ve got a good thing going. Make sure to keep it up.

Fix what’s broken. If things have faltered in one of your relationships, find a way to remedy the situation. Have the difficult conversations. Find out what you may have done to contribute to the poor quality of the relationship. See what needs to happen in order to make things better. It won’t always be easy but, more often than not, you will be able to improve a damaged relationship. And that’s a good thing for all involved.

Seek feedback. Don’t forget to periodically check in with each of your key stakeholders. You’ll want to examine what’s going well in your relationships and what can be improved upon. These needn’t be touchy-feely conversations. Instead, they should be focused on the quality and quantity of interaction, communication and collaboration. Offer and ask for concrete examples of what’s working well and what isn’t. This will put you in a great position to enhance and improve upon these vital relationships.

Effective Goal-Setting Tip #6: Don't Give Up!

Never give up on your goals, no matter how challenging they may be.

"Anything worth having is worth working for." Does this ring a bell? I remember hearing this admonition countless times from my parents and teachers throughout my childhood. While I didn't recognize it at the time, I now see the simple wisdom and truth of that statement.

The fact is, achieving meaningful goals takes time, effort and a whole lot of perseverence. Think about Olympic athletes. Can you even imagine dedicating yourself in the way these young people do, throughout their childhoods, to developing their talents? Their commitment and the sacrifice are absolutely astonishing. It takes many years of tireless practice and self-improvement before these athletes can qualify for the Olympic games. And what a thrill it is to see them reach the pinnacle of success. An Olympic medal. The gold. A new world's record. Remarkable stuff.

These athletes have a lot to teach us about tenacity and perseverence. They know that there's no side-stepping the time and effort involved in reaching our goals, whether large or small. The greater the accomplishment, the more tenacity required. Hey, it took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries before he got it right with the electric light bulb.

Take a lesson from Edison. Never give up on your goals, no matter how much frustration or disappointment you may face along the way.

Success may be just around the corner.

Until next time...

Liz

Effective Goal-Setting Tip #5: What's the Point?

To set relevant goals, you've got to ask yourself, What's the point? Why am I shooting for this goal? Does it really mean something to me? To my family? Will it help further my career? Will it improve my relationships? Make me stronger, healthier, better able to manage stress? What's the significance at this particular point in my life?

In other words, why bother?

If you can't identify the relevance of a given goal, chances are it's not so relevant after all. And if it's not relevant, you probably won't try all that hard to achieve it. Why should you? Your time is valuable and you've got a lot on your plate. Why push yourself to accomplish something that's just marginally relevant, if that?

Setting goals is a useful activity that can lead to tangible and intangible rewards but only when you remember to build upon Strengths, find your Motivation, build in Accountability, and find the Relevance. Oh and there's just one more thing to bear in mind. Achieving even the best-laid goals is challenging work. It takes time, dedication and real effort. Not to mention tenacity in the face of setbacks. Check back soon for more on the role of Tenacity in achieving your goals.

Until next time...

Liz

Recession? Coulda Fooled These Shoppers!

Took the kids to the outlets earlier this month, looking for boots for my daughter (didn't find what we needed) and an ice cream for my son (found exactly what we were looking for!). I'm not sure what I was expecting to see. The last time I visited the outlets was years ago and I recall seeing hoardes of shoppers loaded to the gills with shopping bags. But that was before the Great Recession. It was a time when people spent their money freely and sometimes excessively. I didn't imagine things would look the same this time around.

Was I ever wrong! The place was absolutely mobbed. Wall to wall people. Some were even waiting in lines to get into their favorite shops (including the Coach outlet and the Ugg store). What's more, they were obviously doing more than window shopping. Multiple bags in tow, they made their way across the vast retail complex.

Does this suggest that the Great Recession is truly lifting? Is consumer confidence on the rise? While my visit to the outlets doesn't qualify as a rigorous economic analysis, I was certainly encouraged by what I saw.

What do you think? Are we finding our way out of the woods?

Perhaps more to the point, are you ready for the Great Recovery?

Until next time...

Liz

Effective Goal-Setting Tip #4: Keep Yourself Accountable

You'll be amazed at how diligent you can be when someone else is watching.

All right then, time to get back to goals. We've already covered the Strengths and Motivation aspects of SMART goals, so let's move on to Accountability.

The basic fact is this: Without accountability, it can be awfully difficult to follow through on our promises. And, in some ways, that's what goals are. They are promises that we make to ourselves - and sometimes to our bosses, our peers, our clients, our spouses or our kids. Even the very best of intentions and the best laid plans can go astray if we don't build in that accountability piece.

So here's how it works. Find someone who cares whether you reach your goal. This might be a boss, a coworker, a friend, a family member, you name it. This person cares about you and wants to see you succeed. And he (or she) is willing to lend a hand in making that happen. He'll be honest, forthright and clear in giving you feedback on the progress you've made. He'll cheerlead your successes. Just as important, he'll give it to you straight when you're falling short of your goal.

Enlist this person as your accountability partner, or SMART partner. Let him know what you're looking to accomplish and how you're going about it. Stay connected and reach out when you've hit a stumbling block or simply need some prodding.

You'll be amazed at how much more diligent you can be when someone else has his eyes on your progress.

Who will your SMART partners be?

Until next time...

Liz

Flying in V-Formation

The Goose Story

This fall when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying together in "V" formation, you might be interested to know what science has discovered about why they fly that way: We know that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to do it alone, and quickly gets into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

When the lead goose gets tired, he or she rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. Finally, when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots and falls out, two other geese will also fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and they then launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with the group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.

- Source Unknown

Working in isolation just doesn't make sense.

The truth is, we are so much more effective, creative, energized when we work in partnership with others. Toward a shared vision, a common goal. Helping one another along the way. This type of collaboration, so far from hindering our success, instead brings it nearer, more rapidly and easily than if we attempt to go it alone.

Teamwork, delegation of responsibility, and mutual accountability are vital factors in optimizing performance. In fact, it is only when we fly in V-formation that we — as individuals and members of the larger community — can truly soar.