One of my favorite customer service gurus is Dennis Snow and in his blog today  (http://dennissnowblog.com/) he talks about how to leverage the holiday season’s shopping experience to improve your organization’s customer service experience.  I wanted to share with you his recommendation - it’s simple and brilliant.  Dennis says - 

In your very next staff meeting (or via email if you don’t have a meeting scheduled soon), ask your team to be especially aware of their shopping experiences during the holidays. Even if they’re not shopping for holiday gifts, they’ll likely be doing some kind of shopping. Let them know that in a meeting immediately following the holiday season you’ll ask for a summary of their experiences, and what your organization can learn from those experiences. (Note: this is all strictly voluntary - not a work assignment. You don’t want to get into the “are you paying us for this?” quagmire).

During their shopping adventures, your team should observe:

• The quality of their interactions with employees - What are some examples of things employees did particularly well? What are examples of things employees did poorly? What could they tell about the quality of hiring, training, and accountability from the organizations they observed?

• The quality of the physical environment - What are some “good show” and “bad show” examples they observed while shopping? How effective were companies at keeping the facilities organized? If a company was good at it, what were they doing?

• The quality of company processes - What are some examples of processes your team members experienced that were designed more for the company’s convenience than the shopper’s? What are some examples of process that were impressive?

Keep in mind that the assignment doesn’t just apply to brick and mortar stores. Each of the above three points can apply to online and catalog shopping. For some of you, online examples may be the most applicable.

Ask your team to come to the post-holiday meeting prepared to share what they experienced (again, strictly voluntary). During the meeting, dig for learnings that come out of those experiences, good and bad, that you and your team can leverage in improving the experience YOUR customers have with the organization.

Because your team members lived through these situations themselves, their emotions will be engaged in the discussion, providing a foundation for frank discussion of what your organization can do to improve.

You’ll want to act quickly on getting this “assignment” out, since we’re right in the middle of the busy season. Don’t let it go by without learning from it!

As a leader, you are always looking for new ways to engage and enlist your team.  The following is an opportunity to consider.

With a mature and seasoned team, one of the most powerful and fast, exercises you can take your team through is one where the feedback your team hears is from each other - not you, their leader.

If you have ten team members, as an example, carve out an afternoon where each person will have the opportunity to sit with each team member for 10 minutes.  During their ten minutes, they will each have five minutes to share the following with one another:

• Here is what you do, specifically, that most helps the team succeed
• Here is what you do, specifically, that most stands in the way of success

An example of how this might sound between Susan and Stan (Susan sharing her feedback with Stan during her five minutes) is:

Susan:  "Stan, from my perspective, one of the things that you do that contributes most to our team success is your follow-up.  I don’t know of anyone who is as disciplined and through as you are in this regard.  I always know where the project stands and that saves me a lot of time and worry."

Susan:  "Stan, in terms of something you do that stands in the way of success, I would suggest it might be that at times you tend to over-communicate.  There are days when I receive as many as 20 e-mails from you on the same topic when one summary e-mail would suffice.  I appreciate you considering to make adjustments here.  Any questions?  Thanks for listening. Now, it is your turn to give me feedback…"

For a team of ten, you will want to allow about two hours.  In advance, designate 10 meeting spots and create a list that includes the pairings, the places and the time slots.

The key to this exercise is not to give any advance notice and instead surprise the team with the assignment.  This helps with spontaneity and candor when people don’t spend time in advance preparing what they have to say.

After the fast feedback rounds have all taken place, it can be effective to bring the team back together and debrief.  While no one should be asked to share specifics, general questions can help process the activity.

• How did you like (or not like) the process?
• What did you learn about yourself - others?
• What was the most powerful discovery?

Again, this exercise is for a seasoned team who wants to take their collaboration and commitment to the next level.  The kind of candor and intimacy this exercise produces might not be appropriate for a newly organized team who are still getting to know one another.  

As the new year approaches, this could be a powerful way to enter 2010 with an even stronger team.

I am excited to announce a new collaboration with filmmaker and videographer, Steve Zagata, called Adventures in Communication.  Our video blog invites you on an exciting journey to communication mastery through expert guides, timeless wisdom and exceptional resources.   

• Receive our introductory 2X4 Communication Tool Kit.  2 Reports for 4 months that feature skill building tips and techniques to help you create a foundation for compelling communication that will get you recognized, rewarded and remembered.
• Gain access to ideas and perspectives from experts, authors, speakers, gurus and business professionals on how to best communicate with your employees, customers, stakeholders - even friends and families.
• Have the opportunity to participate by reacting to our blog or even pitching an idea for a featured video or interview!
• Be the first to receive our updates and recommendations for products and services that will enhance your skills.
• Obtain ideas you can read or listen to today and put into action tomorrow.

Visit us today at http://adventuresincommunication.com/  We feature a great video interview this month with authors Chip Bell and John Patterson on their new book:  Take their breath away:  How imaginative service creates devoted customers.

Thank you!

When communicating with your team here are quick tips on what engages and what enrages:

Morale Boosters:

1. Tell people, specifically, what they are doing right
2. Create challenging assignments where people can stretch and shine.
3. Offer to mentor
4. Give credit publically, where credit is due
5. Profile a best practice

 Morale Busters:

1. Praise everyone for everything until it is meaningless
2. Allow for the status quo and “good enough”
3. Offer little support , coaching or one-on-one time
4. Take credit for other’s work
5. Forget to shine the spotlight of what it working well

Take a moment to self-coach and determine where, when and how you can develop as a morale booster rather than a morale buster.

Listening to a story yesterday on PRI, Jason Strother tells us about a service for the stressed-out in South Korea. It’s called “Substitute Men” and they’ll do just about anything customers ask – within limits and the law. (http://www.theworld.org/2009/09/22/south-korea%e2%80%99s-substitute-men/)

While I understand this new "job" may not be ideal, I found it inventive.  A "substitute man" works primarily through an agency and is available for any type of service from picking up dry cleaning and children from school to home fix-it jobs.  In a difficult economy where full time employment is often hard to find, this service in South Korea is increasingly popular for busy business professionals who need help.  Unemployed men are grabbing the opportunity and making money while searching for something else.  I appreciated the ingenuity.

Would this work in the States?  

Ideally, individuals are assigned to a leadership position within an organization because they are trusted, highly competent, great with customers and know how to enlist and engage their people.

With that high level of competence comes an assumption that they don’t need much guidance or handholding.  They are big boys and girls, being paid accordingly and know what to do and simply need to be given the runway to make it happen.

What then, is the role of their boss - the CEO, President or Business Head?  Beyond that, what else would support their success?  Here are a couple of ways the leader of leaders can stay connected and provide additional support:

1.   Make Time for Monday Morning Huddles / Friday Wrap-Ups – Gather your leaders on Monday mornings to share key focus areas for the week.  This creates an opportunity for your team to report on their progress against goals and ask for help if needed.  It also gives you a chance to continually review what they see as priorities and offer course correction as needed.  It is also an efficient platform for you to share your immediate goals, offer additional guidance and direction and a bit of motivation.  Bringing the team together at the end of the week – whether in person or a 30 minute teleconference – to review progress made and align plans for the following week can be helpful to keep the team focused and engaged.

2.   Surprise them with Impromptu Check-Ins – Nothing matters more to your leaders than one-on-one time with you.  When you find yourself with an open pocket of time – reach out to one of your key leaders with a quick phone check in, meaningful e-mail or to grab a cup of coffee.  Get to know them on both a personal and professional basis – that relationship building goes a long way to building loyalty.

3.   Develop Signature Questions – What do you really want to know from your team of leaders?  What would give you the best insight into how they are doing?  Get your team used to core questions that you always want them to be prepared to answer like:

a.   What is keeping you up at night?

b.   What has you fired up and inspired at the moment?

c.    What opportunity are you most excited about?

d.   What do you see as your biggest threat to accomplishing your goals?

e.   What do you need from me?

  Superior leadership requires staying in touch and keeping the dialogue robust.

Recently I attended an event where colleagues gathered.  Time was spent catching up, swapping stories – all good.  At a certain point, however, the conversation turned sour. Suddenly the talk turned to jabs/slights/disparaging remarks about individuals who were not there.  This portion of the conversation probably only lasted about 15 minutes but it was enough to change the energy in the room from one of celebration and reunion to mean-spirited gossip.

It took me about 24 hours to fully make sense of how those 15 minutes affected me.  I very much wanted the evening to be a fun and festive gathering of people who I had not seen in awhile so I rationalized it all at first by saying that it was all in good fun, no one meant any real harm and there were elements of truth in all that was said.  The truth, however, was far from that.  Harm was done.

I remembered advice my mother gave me many years ago – which was, “if people are gossiping about others with you…you can bet they’ll do the same when you are not around.”  That rang true as I was left that evening with a feeling of being unsafe – not sure if these individuals could really be trusted with my confidences and perhaps even more significant, I wondered if I could trust what they said, how they felt, etc.  If they spoke so poorly about someone now, who they had stood by when they worked together – all bets were called of.

Not for a minute am I suggesting that I have never participated in idle gossip – I have – not proud of it, but I have.  We’ve all been there at one time or another.  I write about this incident today as a reminder to myself that it does harm.  That harm may be microscopic in the moment but it has a way of entering the psyche and spreading virally.  Put simply, it does not help.  There is no positive momentum created by tearing someone else down – no matter how deserving we feel they may be.

I wondered what causes us to engage in this type of dialogue?  Insecurity?  Fear?  Attention?  Jealousy?   Pick one or add one.  What I chose to pay more attention to after the evening had concluded was recalling the energy and vibe in the corners of the room where folks were not participating in the negative conversation.  What did those individuals?  How did that dialogue feel? – all good.  This is what I decided to listen to.

The passing of Michael Jackson has produced an outpouring of reflections, commentary and tributes.  I will add mine.  Michael Jackson was a phenomenal communicator.  Through his art - his music, his dance, his theatrical presentation - he reached millions across the world. In the few weeks since his death I have paid less attention to all the media hype and more to the very simple ways that his art communicated and connected people.

When I heard of his death, I immediately thought about the endless hours I spent in the basement of my parent’s home listening to Jackson Five records as a child.  I was not much older than Michael was when he and his brothers made those recordings.  That memory got me to pick up the phone and call my siblings and the childhood buddies who, along with me, memorized every lyric and dance move. We felt empowered, we felt joy - it was an awakening for us all and we had a chance to share those memories again.

In the weeks after Michael’s death, I have noticed how easy it is for people who perhaps don’t know each other well to have a conversation about one thing they do share - reflections of Michael.  For friends you know well, it is interesting to share perceptions of Michael - the good and the bad - and to create an opportunity to shed light, share ideas and perspectives that often go well beyond Michael himself and are really about life itself and who we want to be in the world.

My own daughter - age 12 - had heard a few Michael Jackson songs on the radio but she knew little about him.  All the attention, however, got her interested and she has been listening non-stop to Thriller and Off the Wall and practicing her "moon walk."  It has given the two of us something to share and appreciate.

A loss like this, provides a gentle reminder to look around at those you love and care for and to let them know it.  Michael’s death reminds us that life is fragile and it is to be appreciated in each moment.

Michael connected the dots between people and I think he knew it.  That was his gift.  Thank you.

I was reading with great interest an article called "The upside of the downturn" by Geoff Colvin (in FORTUNE, June 8, 2009) and the article highlighted five moves to make now which I found to be right on…so much so that I wanted to re-enforce Colvin’s ideas here:

1. Evaluate employees better - in good times managers fool themselves into thinking they’ve got all "A" players - in tough times, it’s easier to distinguish true stars from third stringers.
2. End guidance - telling investors what quarterly earnings are likely to be, then talking that number up or down as the quarter progresses, and then contriving to beat it - that corporate game has never served a useful purpose and can lead to harm as managers feel pressure to hit announced targets.
3. Manage for value - more than ever, it is critical to focus on what really matters, which is earning a return on your company’s capital that exceeds the total cost of all the capital in the business - obvious but reflect on whether or not anyone is being paid explicitly for achieving that goal.
4. Expand your mind about risks.  Address the most dangerous risks - formerly the taboo subject - now essential.
5. Mine employees for ideas - Potential improvements can hide in a million places.  Ask your associates.

Thanks Geoff Colvin - excellent guidance!

The great news for folks who want to improve their communication is that we have coaches, tutors and guides all around us providing examples of big and small ways we can improve. 

A few days ago I stopped into a neighborhood restaurant for lunch.  The waitress, Nancy, approached the table and with a big smile on her face and said, “Gosh, you look so much like my sister, Carol, and because of that I am gonna be super attentive to you today and if you want dessert, I’ll be sure to secure the biggest slice of cake for you.  I know you probably don’t have a lot of time, so, what can I get for you…?”  Nancy delivered a great experience for me that day and I noticed as she floated from table to table she exhibited the same upbeat friendliness to all her customers.

Nancy’s personal and humorous approach brightened my day and made my lunch experience memorable.  I learned something about how to create “instant intimacy” with a customer from Nancy that day.

Nancy’s a great communicator.  Nancy might have been an unlikely coach but there she was in all her glory providing a terrific example of how to connect powerfully with customers. When I think about great communicators and/or great communication a few things come to mind that characterize what makes them “great.”

The communicator or (communication) is

• Open and accessible
• Inviting and invigorating
• Wise and insightful

Look around, observe - take the adventure and be open to the abundance of great examples that surround each of us - every day.