Dr. Daryl D. Green

Guest Blogger – Jalene Nemec

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Have you ever had an unpleasant experience related to customer service, perhaps at a home improvement store or with your local cable company? How did that experience affect your overall impression of the company? Were you encouraged to take your business elsewhere?

As a consumer during hard economic times, you want to spend your money where you feel valued. You want to interact with associates who are friendly, knowledgeable about their business and who want to help you. Unfortunately, many companies today have allowed their customer service to become nearly extinct. Furthermore, they have failed to provide recognition to their employees for a job well done. Businesses once understood that by valuing all employees that company’s success would continue.

Employees felt responsibility for their actions because they felt respect, value, and self-worth. The businesses strived for continuous improvement. Employees were loyal to these companies and retired with them. In recent times, employees feel less and less appreciated.

They don’t feel important to their employers. As a result, they have made a conscious decision to stop caring about elements such as customer service. Workers have lost faith that they will be able to climb the professional ladder, leaving almost zero incentive to stay with the same company.

Instead, employees move up in their career by increasingly changing jobs and switching companies. Everyone is negatively affected by this cycle. In lieu of progressing, businesses resemble a wheel spinning in mud. Companies receive mediocre staff support, employees give poor customer service, clients purchase less, businesses see reduced profits, and employees get hit with layoffs, pay cuts, and poor benefits.

The customer service aspect of these companies has seen the most drastic decline. It has been carelessly devalued. Contrary to popular belief, customer service is not just about solving problems. It is about being the “face of the company.”

Managers have further endangered the myth of customer service by outsourcing client support to low-cost countries. They have eliminated receptionists and replaced them with recordings. They have almost entirely erased the need for training.

Finally, to show efforts that they still care about their customer service performance, the same businesses continue to send out surveys. Many clients not only consider the surveys annoying, but the company fails to make them worthwhile by ignoring complaints. All of this is done in an effort to save money.

Businesses today must change this mindset if they want to grow their business successfully. In my book titled “Great Customer Service: The Definitive Handbook for Today’s Successful Businesses” and co-authored by Dr. Green, I focus on five key characteristics that together lead to good customer service. Those characteristics are attitude, awareness, accountability, action and affability (friendliness).

For a company to improve their customer service they must accept change. Change begins with the right attitude. Before a company can change their customer service, they must establish a mission to provide quality service. Furthermore, the company should be aware of the current state of the service they provide.

Change cannot be made without understanding the situation at hand. A business may question, has there been a noticeable decline in sales? If so, could it be a result of the customer service?

The best way to kick-start change is to hold employees and managers accountable. Without effectively maintaining accountability for everyone involved, people will not see a reason to change their behavior and the business will suffer. Holding personnel accountable is the first part of taking action. Unless a company makes a conscious decision to actively improve, change will be temporary or non-existent.

Finally, the last characteristic is affability. It seems like a minor detail, but consider some of your past consumer experiences? There were probably a few instances where an employee helped you in an “I have to” way, and there were times where you were helped in an “I want to” way. The latter is much better.

Throughout the book, I also focus on how to build a more profitable business, how to increase good sustainable customer service, how to inspire workers toward greater organizational performance, and how to inspire today’s demanding customers. 

While I could continue on about how these five characteristics impact the other topics covered in my book, I would rather hear from you. As consumers, professionals and MBA students, use what you have experienced and learned to explain how you believe these characteristics impact profitability, sustainability, performance and inspiration. There are no perfect answers. Good customer service is not necessarily cut and dry, it is all in the eye of the beholder!

Please share your thoughts on this topic. 

About the Guest Blogger

Jalene Nemec, author and industry expert

Jalene Nemec, MBA, is the author of the upcoming book, Great Customer Service. She is also one of the brightest business thinkers in the world, having both extensive customer service and leadership experience.  She is a former Lincoln Memorial University MBA graduate.

Leveraging Talent Advantages During Disrupted Change

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In his book 32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business, Earvin “Magic” Johnson notes how he developed his entrepreneurial spirit, took advantage of business opportunities, and used his economic power as a force for social change.

As a megastar with the Los Angele Lakers in the 80’s, Magic soon established himself as one of the best to ever play in the NBA.  Unlike other super-athletes who failed to make the transition from superdom after their prime, Magic used his athletic platform to give him access to some of the most successful business leaders in the world.

Loaded with the internal business drive he inherited from his father, Magic began to use his athletic instincts to his advantage in the business world.  Magic found power in building on his core strengths, not being consumed with his weaknesses:  “Rarely can you turn a weakness into a strength. Greatness is achieved by building on strengths and managing your weaknesses so they do not matter.”

Sadly, many professionals are also succumbed by their weaknesses too.  Rev. Joe Tolbert, a dynamic motivational speaker, warns about how culture influences our personal perceptions:  “The world teaches us to focus on weaknesses rather than strengths.” Given the tremendous financial turbulence in the world, today’s leaders need to focus on their talent management if they are to survive.  In this blog, I will examine the concept of talent management.

Talent management is a critical asset for high-performing organizations in a global economy. In fact, finding the best talent and retaining the best people in a business will eventually overtake many other advantages such as technology and capital.  Talent power will rule the future economy.

Talent management is defined as the process through which employers anticipate and meet their needs of human capital.  Yet, employees cannot dismiss talent management as only an employer’s duty.

Since the post-World War II era, workers have enjoyed a lifetime employment model where workers were assured of financial stability.  That is not the case today where younger workers can expect to change jobs frequently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRjNHIGlykk

Peter Cappelli, author of Talent on Demand, outlines the dangers of poor talent management. In the past, with a good economy, American businesses could afford to mismanage their talent pool.  Today’s businesses often are short-sided and do not want to develop internal talent; instead, they are depending on others for their talent.

Cappelli explains, “Relying on outside hiring seems to fly in the face of the imperative that organizations should be engaged in knowledge management practices that capture and organize what they know about their operations to improve performance.”  However, these failures in managing this talent pool are often negative.  For example, having too many employees leads to layoffs and restructuring, while having to too few talented people leads to talent shortages.

John Wiedmer, Robert Wiedemer, and Cindy Spitzer, authors of America’s Bubble Economy, wisely forecasted the bursting of America’s bubble in 2008 while other economists were predicting economic fortune for all.  In fact, the authors now predict that an even bigger financial cliff is ahead for the world.  However, they advocate the importance of talent management: “The fall of America’s Bubble Economy will shake up many industries, drive businesses into bankruptcy, derail countless careers, and force dramatic numbers of workers into temporary unemployment.  It will also create thousands of successful companies that don’t currently exist, lead all sorts of people to rethink their life’s work, and make many entrepreneurs and investors fabulously wealthy.”

Most firms would prefer to invest in technology and automation to reduce their labor cost or outsource their labor needs abroad to obtain cheaper resources.  In the case of talent management, these short-term gains can be fatal.  Cappelli further argues for strengthening talent management in organizations: “Growing competition in product markets further weakens the traditional talent management model by sharply increasing the uncertainty associated with planning.”  Therefore, talent management becomes a vital component of corporate strategies for businesses that desire sustainable growth.

Discuss the concepts of talent management for today’s businesses.

© 2013 by Daryl D. Green

Writing for Greater Employability

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Sadly, I see too many people who feel that are helpless in life.  It is easy to see how some folks could be discouraged due to the current economic crisis.  There are more than 15 million individuals unemployed.  Good jobs are going abroad. 

Today’s companies view outsourcing as part of their daily operations.  Consequently, many working professionals are concerned about keeping their jobs.  Being viewed as a valuable asset to an organization is critical for sustainable employment. 

Gaining more influence can help working professionals with more job opportunities, increase their wealth power, and give them the confidence they need to be successful. In my new book, “Writing for Professionals”, I share advice with professionals looking for a tool to improve their employment prospects.  

In fact, people who are become recognized writers bring added value to their organizations, often measured in notoriety. There is nothing more powerful as being an industry expert. Prolific writers are often perceived as authority figures.

Therefore, professionals across the country can use the power of the written word to build their careers. In my new book, I provide a step-by-step guide needed to write for the recognition that results in better employment opportunities. 

 

We live in a media crazed world where communicators are highly valued and often the first to be hired. For many working professionals, the path to a better job, more authority, and greater peer respect is being published. Professionals across the country are discovering the power of writing for more influence. Therefore, it’s never too late for individuals to benefit from their insight and experience by putting their views on paper.  

Please share your thoughts on this subject.

 @ 2012 by Daryl D. Green