SERVICE INNOVATION

Creativity needed to create start-ups.

2012-01-24T10:14:00.000+01:00

Fromthe quote below, it is very clear that we urgently much create newjobs.

“Despitestrenuous government efforts, the jobs crisis continues unabated,with one in three workers worldwide – or an estimated 1.1 billionpeople – either unemployed or living in poverty”, said ILODirector-General Juan Somavia. “What is needed is that job creationin the real economy must become our number one priority”.

Andit is also highly unlikely that large companies will create these newjobs. Census Bureau data show that most of the net employment gainsin the United States between 1980 and 2005 came from firms youngerthan five years old.

Thismeans that the focus must be on creating start-ups, helping people toset up their own businesses. However, our upbringing and educationare not geared towards this. We are taught to be obedient employeesand not initiating entrepreneurs. So , there is quite some learningneeded in this area.

Itwould also be good if many of these start-ups have a goal to improvethe social good. Social innovation is still very much needed in largeparts of the world. Many people lack energy, electricity, cleanwater, sanitation, and/or food.

Iwould like to call upon all entrepreneurs, government and educationinstitutions to bundle the forces and to use their combinedcreativity to help these people to earn a decent living forthemselves and their families.

Howare you planning to contribute?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Let 2012 be sparkling for you and others

2012-01-17T10:13:00.003+01:00

Currently we are bombardedwith messages, research and predictions that 2012 will be a toughyear.

While that may be thecase, there is always another side. Or like our most famousfootballer Johan Cruijff says “Every disadvantage has and advantagein it”.

There is so muchcomplaining going on about the level of service which companies andgovernment provide. So, why don't you make sure that yourorganization provides excellent (and engaging) customer service, allthe time? Customers are even willing to pay more for great service!

There is nothing which canbeat helping others. These others can be your neighbors, yourparents, your friends. If there are more burglaries in your street,then get to know who live on your street. So, then you know whodoesn't belong there.

Recently I did help ablind person to cross the street. That was so gratifying to do... andeasy.

There are more and morefamilies who have so much debt that they have no money to buy foodregularly. So, why don't you bring them a warm cup of soup.

There are so many youngpeople unemployed, so why don't you help them by being a mentor. Youcan help them with all your life experiences. Even more important,just listen to them, open-minded.

If there is rubbish on thestreet, pick it up instead of complaining about the lack of publicservice.

Service always starts withyourself. If you have a serving attitude then others will easilyfollow your example.

What are you doing toshine in 2012?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Managers have to change as well

2012-01-10T09:54:00.003+01:00

It is nothing new that a lot is happening in the world and thatchanges are rapidly having an impact.

There are many publications about the need for employees to change.Also is a lot is being written about how organizations in itselfshould change their culture, structure and approach to technology.

Mostly managers are telling their employees that they have to changeand do things differently. The common denominator is that managersexpect employees to work harder and produce more. The favorite gameof managers seems to be changing the organization chart. Of coursethere are also challenging tasks like cost cutting and laying offpeople.

Managers are not so good in looking at the mirror and checking howthey can adopt (new practices) and adapt. Here are some examples:

managers are lagging behind in using social media
managers are still keeping certain information only for themselves
managers report (to their bosses) without consulting their people
managers rarely interact with customers
managers rarely socialize with frontline employees
managers focus on the short term only

The role of a manager is not easy and it is very challenging to keep'all the plates spinning'. This is an argument to open up and showyour vulnerability. It is a sign of strength to admit that you don'tknow certain things and that you have the courage to ask. It is alsoa sign of strength to be open and transparent, to share informationwith your team. It helps your employees to show them that you alsohave difficulties in keeping up to date. And that you are alsostruggling to have enough (quality) time for your friends and family.

The role of the manager should shift from 'command and control' to'facilitating and energizing'.

Are you changing as well?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Job rotation for innovators

2012-01-05T10:38:00.000+01:00

It is veryattractive to let always the same people be involved on yourinnovation projects. These are the people who are experienced in theinnovation tasks and you know what you get. This leads to twopotential hick ups.

The innovation people can become complacent themselves, as the innovation activities become routine itself. Continuously following the same steps and processes to do these projects might make you blind for newness itself.
The people who are not involved in innovation are more and more settled into their comfort zone. This it becomes harder and harder to get them out of that zone. The longer you do something, the stronger the attachment!

As thissituation continues (as in most companies) the gap between theinnovators and the 'BAU-people (business as usual) becomes larger andlarger. And the implementation of innovation becomes more difficultand consumes much more time.

Obviously thisisn't what you want. You are looking for agility instead of rigidity.Therefor it is crucial to rotate people in the respective teams. Inthis way, the BAU-people become more innovative and the innovationpeople have a better understanding of the operational challenges.

How do yourotate with respect to innovation?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

A fresh perspective needs a time-out and detachment

2011-12-27T09:16:00.000+01:00

Inmedium to large organizations there is a need to standardizeprocedures and to have habits. Here are some examples of habits:every monday morning there is a team meeting; R&D is donein-house; managers are senior men; we focus on addressing faults,mistakes and individual weaknesses.

Mostleaders are not even consciously aware of these practices. They areso ingrained in the the 'way things get done here' (the 'culture'),that they are neither questioned nor improved.

Whilesome of these habits are quite beneficial, like having regular teammeetings, others do often block innovation. Let's have a look at R&Dwhich is done only internally. This certainly will create a kind ofarrogance, 'we know it better'. And also the focus is entirely onsatisfying the internal customers, rather than the externalstakeholders. Also it is impossible to keep up to date on all newdevelopments in the market and therefor there is a huge risk ofmissing out on new customer needs. An example id Digital EquipmentCorporation which missed the importance of the pc. Now you see thatstill many organizations are dismissing social media.

Procter& Gamble has decided that more than 50% of its R&D should becrowd-sourced. In this way they are making sure not to miss out oncrucial developments.

Thistime between Christmas and New Year is an excellent time to detachand to assess whether some of these habits are still supporting yourgoals. Be courageous and dare to let go of these old habits whichblock your progress.

Whatis your new perspective?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Are you really being customer-centric?

2011-12-13T10:22:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had to accompany my motherto the doctor. The roles reverse, as she did go with me while I wasyoung and now it is the other way around. She had to perform a lungtest. The outcome was that she has to use a certain medicine for sixweeks.

Why is this relevant in the context ofinnovation? Well, the medicine has to be inhaled via a complicatedtool. So, we went to the pharmacist and ordered the product. Then heset up a meeting in a separate room with us to 'demonstrate' theproduct. In other words, how to use it. This is all very good,but........ he had problems showing it correctly. As a matter of facthe made some mistakes, as I did find out reading the manual. Theproduct is not easy to use and because of that it will not be usedproperly.

While the medicine and the tool mightbe very advanced, the results still depends on whether your customerCAN use it. The product was clearly not designed in a user-centricway. It still was designed form a product-centric point of view. Manycompanies say that their main strategy is to move from beingproduct-centric to being customer-centric. It is evident that theystill have to learn quite a lot to putting the user first in alltheir work.

How are you being customer-centric inall your activities?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Your story is your differentiator

2011-12-06T09:23:00.001+01:00

It is very hard todistinguish your products and services, if you only focus on thefeatures and/or the price. Even if you have a differentiator it willnot last very long, as your competitors will catch up very soon.

One way to differentiateyourself in a sustainable way is to have a compelling story aboutyour company, your self and your product/service. Here is an examplefrom TOMS' Blake Mycoskie:

“We make great shoesand give away a pair to a child in need for every pair we sell.”

Recently I also did hear the story frommethod by Adam Lowry. He mentioned that while cleaning hisapartment he started reading the label of the cleaning product anddid find out that many ingredients were toxic. Toxic for his ownhealth as well as for the environment. So he started method:environmental friendly cleaning products.

Both stories give a personal touch andmakes them easy to remember and to share with others.

The story has to be personal, either apersonal experience (like with Blake who has met a charity whichdonated shoes) or a personal problem (like with Adam and cleaning hisapartment).

In all my services I have coachingincluded. Ten years ago I did feel the powerful influence of coachingmyself. I had missed this coaching, both personally (when I grew up)as well as professionally (in my career). So, now I want to offer itto everyone, as it is THE tool for personal growth - in a positiveway.

So, what is your story?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

YOUR BEST ASSETS ARE UNDER-UTILIZED

2011-11-22T10:03:00.001+01:00

In my last post I did mention the needto (regularly) look outside of the walls of your organization.

In addition to that , there is anothervery obvious area which is very often neglected, YOUR PEOPLE!

In these challenging times the focus ison survival and mostly on cutting costs. This means that people arelaid off, trainings are skipped and hours worked are increasingtowards a very unhealthy level. Recently I have coached some verysenior managers who are on the verge of a burn-out. They just worktoo many hours, which has a negative impact on their effectivity,their health and their families.

However, if you want to survive andgrow, the only way to do that is to make better use of your people.They are there, but their talents and qualities are not being used.They are not engaged (2011 Towers Perrin) and not happy (Conference Board 2010: only 45% ofworkers are happy). And both employee engagement and happiness makesus more motivated, resilient, creative, and productive, which drivesperformance upward.

How can you do that? Well, the mosteasy start is to have regular progress meetings with your people,let's say 30 minutes per week. That attention in itself will dowonders. Also it is crucial to ask for their ideas and suggestionsupfront. Talk about the challenges that your group is facing and askfor their input. And then, of course, use that input. It should bereal!

You will be amazed by the increase inproductivity and the better atmosphere.

You are already mentioning (in yourreports) that humans are your most important assets. It is now thetime to use those assets in a positive way!

What are you doing to humanize theorganization?

GROWYOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Market savviness requires the use of social media

2011-11-15T09:57:00.001+01:00

Recently I have visited a couple of large, traditionalCorporations. This means that they are used to doing business in a certain wayand that it is very difficult to have them change that way. Change for changesake is of course not good. Globalization and the Internet Business demand that you are on top ofyour game, rather than a laggard. But these big companies are not used to looking structurally andregularly over the big wall, which they have put around their organization.

This means that they have a low level of market savviness.E.g. nobody has heard about Zappos, the power of customer service or the factthat young people want to use their own tools.

They see social media as a threat. The only thing what theyare doing is to prepare how to react to some negative messages. This is whatthey are good at, damage control.

They have never thought about the use of social media forlearning. Learning what is going on in their market (e.g. consumer electronics),what their customers are saying and what new developments there are in theirarea of expertise (sales, marketing, service). This really opens their eyes.Social media is such a powerful tool to keep yourself and your organization upto date on the latest developments.

How are you using social media as a learning tool?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

How to address the status quo

2011-11-11T13:43:00.001+01:00

This week I have read two excellent articles about obstaclesfor change (http://huff.to/w1QHev) andobstacles for innovation (http://bit.ly/uU3OvQ).

They clearly indicate that - as an innovator- you also haveto be creative how to deal with the status quo. You can’t just give all yourtime and energy to the new idea; you also have to design a strategy to addressthe status quo. And the longer this status quo exists, the more powerful it isand the more resistant to change it will be.

Innovators see immediately the benefits of newproducts/services/business models etc. But most other people have a differentperspective. So, we need to help them to see the world as we see it. Thereforeyou have to put in a lot of effort to describe the changed market conditions.And why they will impact the business very soon. And why the existing portfoliois not suitable to address these new challenges. Then they can start to see thenew world (outside of the Corporate gates) and understand the business case forinnovation.

What are you doing to build a convincing business case?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

HOW TO KILL A GOOD IDEA

2011-11-01T09:41:00.000+01:00

In order to assess the viability and feasibility of a newidea, it is crucial to be a detached observer. What is a detached observer?

Let me start with what an attached observer is. That is aperson who looks at new ideas, wearing the glasses of the past. He or shethinks that his/her ideas are always better and that their experience is morerelevant. So, they have a prejudiced perspective. This baggage of the pastprevents them to have an open-minded view. They also immediately can tell youwhy your idea won’t work. That is because they have had an experience in thepast, which didn’t work out.

This is highly frustrating for the person with the new idea.They feel like they haven’t received a fair chance of pitching their idea. The‘assessor’ also looses as he might wrongly criticise a perfect idea and thismiss out on an opportunity.

A detached observer has an open-mind and looks ‘from adistance’ at the idea. This person is not influenced by the past and can easilysee the opportunity in its wider perspective (from the past and into thefuture). This detached perspective is crucial, because the circumstances arechanging so fast, it is simply impossible to judge the merits of an idea basedupon solely the past. A detached observer is capable of silencing his innercritic and this have an impartial view.

So, which ‘glasses’ will you wear the next time you areasked to assess a new idea?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

ANALYSE WHAT IS NOT WORKING

2011-10-18T12:17:00.003+02:00

There is a fine line between perseverance and choosinganother approach. Let me explain.

If something (e.g. your marketing campaign; your salescalls; your partnerships) is not working, you should not stop after havingtried it just a couple of times. You really need to give it some time andanalyse the various reactions and perspectives. It is good to not give up andpersevere.

But there comes a time when you have to reflect on yourapproach if there are no results. If you have the feeling that you have givenyour (old) approach a fair chance, then it is time to change the course.Develop a new approach and go for that. The timing is crucial. If you stick toolong to a not-working approach then you become stubborn and frustrated.

However, you need to get the juices flowing again! So, stopwhen you are starting to feel frustrated and cynical. There are multiple roadswhich lead to Rome.

What is your new road?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CHEAP TOOLS FOR BETTER INSIGHTS

2011-10-11T11:29:00.003+02:00

Do you want ………?

- Tohave new ideas

- Tosee new perspectives

- Tosolve problems

- Tocope with huge amounts of work

- Tobe kind to ‘difficult’ people

- Tohave more energy

Well, yes that would be very good, wouldn’t it!

There is a simple method, which you can apply regularly. Itdoesn’t cost much and you can do it all by yourself.

The solution:

Have a good night sleep (min 7 hours) and when you are awake, go do some exercise (walk, bike, run).

When you have showered and eaten a good breakfast, you willfeel reenergized and enthusiastic. Your clear mind will make sure that you workfast and focussed and that new insight is abundantly available.

Go ahead, try it, it works!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Innovation demands faster adaptation (and change)

2011-10-04T11:24:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I had a conversation with some ‘traditional’business people. They see that there is a need for change and even for systemicchange (like in the banking system). But,,,,,,,, yes, there was a but. Theysaid that this kind of change requires a lot of time and can’t be doneovernight.

That is of course the situation. However in most cases thisprevents people from starting to work on this systemic change in the firstplace. There is only a lot of talk and not much doing.

They still look at this diffusion of innovation as aprocess, which will take (many) years.

The reality is that the speed of innovation is measured inmonths now, rather than in years. This means that there is less time to adapt and to adopt. Your abilityto respond quickly is crucial.

Do you have a special team which monitors the market and whois authorized to respond quickly?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

HUGE OPPORTUNITY: INCREASE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

2011-09-28T10:58:00.003+02:00

In Fast Company of September 2011 there were some shockingstatistics about the (dis)engagement of the workforce.

	United States	Japan	France	Germany
Engaged	29%	3%	12%	17%
Disengaged	6%	16%	12%	8%

While disengaged workers are not productive at all andharming your organization, the huge opportunity is to raise the level ofengagement of all other employees.

An engaged employee is more productive, creative, loyal,resilient and happy.

An increase in employee engagement has a direct (positive)influence on the bottom line. There are many actions, which you can take toincrease employee engagement.

One of the most important ones is to start listening to youremployees. And I mean real non-judgemental listening. It is key to plan an hourfor that every two weeks. In that way the employee feels values and takenseriously and the manager can learn what is happening out there.

Do you have a schedule to listen to your employees?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

KEEP ON STRETCHING, YOURSELF AND YOUR ORGANIZATION

2011-09-27T09:38:00.003+02:00

It looks like that we are always looking for a situationwhere we are at ease, where there is no stress, in other words where we can bein our comfort zone. We want to have a break from all the changes and justfocus on continuing the status quo.

While it is good to be at peace and to be calm at all times,there is a danger in staying in this comfort zone for too long. If you (andyour organization) stay too long in your comfort zone, conformity becomes thestandard and complacency kicks in. The daily operations require so much of ourtime and effort, that we pay less and less attention to what is happening inthe market and we loose the contact with our customers.

This is why it is crucial to have some people in yourorganization who keep you stretched, who make sure that you are on the tip ofyour toes and don’t miss any major opportunities. These people are not the mostloved, because they play that role of the disruptor. They are pulling us out ofour comfort zone. That doesn’t make them the most popular kid on the block.

These trailblazers and quartermasters are crucial to stay inbusiness, not only today but also next year. They play a crucial role instaying relevant. More than a year ago, I had a talk with Zappos about enteringthe European market. They said that they were not focussing on it yet. Nowthere are some very active local competitors (Zalando, Brandos) which have asimilar offering and business model as Zappos. If Zappos now wants to beserious about the European market, it will be much more difficult then 1,5years ago. Even, this highly innovative and admired company has becomecomplacent in some form.

It is therefore vital to have these ‘scouts’ on board AND to listen to them.

Who are your scouts?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Everything is connected

2011-09-20T10:12:00.002+02:00

I have just finished reading The Bond from Lynne McTaggart,a highly recommended book. TheBond shows that the essential impulse of all life is a will to connect ratherthan a drive to compete! The latest evidence from many disciplines – fromneuroscience and biology to quantum physics – suggests that nature’s most basicdrive is not competition, as classic evolutionary theory maintains, butwholeness.

In fact we are inescapably connected, hardwired to eachother at our most elemental level – from cells to whole societies. The desireto help others is so necessary that we experience it as one of our chiefpleasures, as essential as eating, and we succeed and prosper only when we seeourselves as part of a greater whole. It is recommended to help foster moreholistic thinking, more cooperative relationships, and more unified socialgroups.

“… the dance oflife is not a solo, but a duet – that every part of you connects to anessential and irreducible Bond.”

This impulse to seek connection has four signatories in anysociety: a need to belong, a need to agree, a need to give, and a need to taketurns.

“ We now requirenothing less than a revolution in our thinking. We must abandon the path ofatomization in the way we relate to people, in the way we create ourneighbourhoods, in the way we view our world. It is time for all of us toembrace the new scientific discoveries across all the disciplines, which areproving that we have maintained a false and dangerous view of ourselves. It’stime to begin a new Age of Enlightenment, one that recognizes and honourswholeness, and abhors the polarization of one people, one religion or even onepolitical party against another. Like Nipun Mehta, we must all begin ourindividual efforts to make the Bond our superordinate goal.”

This means that employee as well as customer engagement iscrucial to our business. We should focus on building alliances, rather thancompetitive strategies. It is also necessary to be connected with thescientific community, to stay up to date on the latest research.

What are you doing to be connected?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Change needs a young mindset

2011-09-13T09:22:00.000+02:00

The pace of change is very fast and everyone is talkingabout it. Talking about the need to adapt quickly to all the changes. On theother hand, most change efforts are not successful. The intended results arerarely achieved.

One of the reasons is the lack of a young mindset. What do Imean by that?

Most elderly people (baby boomers) have a lot of possessions(house, position, status, stuff) and commitments (partner, children, mortgage),which they are trying to keep. They put in a lot of effort to protect what they‘have’. That also creates a fear of loosing it.

Most young people (Millenials) start with a blank slate oreven with a debt (college fees). So, they are looking for ways to create andbuild up something. They are willing to take more risks, as they have nothingto loose. They have an enthusiasm for gaining and winning.

Real change requires this positive, risk-taking, andcreative mindset. That is why you should have young people in your change teamas well as ‘old’ people with a young mindset.

How does your change team look like?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Do your intentions match your daily practice?

2011-08-26T12:16:00.002+02:00

Last week I placed an order with Bol.com, one of the largest ecommerce sites here. Everything was fine and they mentioned that my order (which contains several items) would be shipped in 4-6 weeks. The distribution costs are € 1,95 for the complete package.

However, to my surprise they are sending these loose items, as and when they are available. Within one week’s time I have already received 5 individual shipments. Obviously this is good for me as a customer, as I do receive my items earlier than predicted.

For Bol,com this is not good. Their distributions as well as their packaging costs are significantly higher than if they would have shipped the order in one go. So, it is crucial to check regularly whether your plans and commitments are being met, both positively as well as negatively.

Customer satisfaction is good, but you have to keep the eye on the bottom line as well.

Do you regularly check how your are meeting customer expectations?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

LESS WASTE MEANS MORE MONEY

2011-08-17T11:10:00.002+02:00

Last week I had a flight from Amsterdam to London. This is a very short trip (approx. 1 hour).

What really surprised me was the lack of attention for the environment. I am not talking about big issues here, like flying on biofuels etc. No, often the opportunities are (relatively) small and right under our noses.

Even in this short trip they offered drinks. The drinks were all in very small cans (25cl). So, half a plastic glass of coke and look at the waste: a can and a plastic glass and a napkin per passenger. A lot of waste can be eliminated by having the coke, sprite, juice etc being poured straight into the glasses from large 2 liter bottles.

They also offered a snack, either chips or cookies in a very small packet. Again the packaging remains and creates waste and (some) weight. Wouldn’t it be easier if they didn’t offer these tiny snacks at all? I wouldn’t miss it.

Being green is not only about big solar installations and biofuelled engines. There is so much opportunity in the small things, in diminishing waste and thus saving money and the environment.

How can you have less waste?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

HAPPY EMPLOYEES HAVE HAPPY CUSTOMERS

2011-08-02T09:24:00.000+02:00

It seems like an open door, but it isn’t. Most companies have the conviction that happiness is not suited for the workplace. In the workplace you have to work hard, do your job and only when you are successful you are allowed to be happy. Success first, happiness second.

The only problem is that this formula is broken. More than a decade of groundbreaking research in the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience has proven that the relationship between success and happiness works the other way around. Happiness is the precursor to success. Cultivating positive brains makes us more motivated, efficient, resilient, creative, and productive, which drives performance upward (Source: The happiness advantage by Shawn Achor).

So, as a leader you first have to make sure that your employees are happy, When they are happy they will serve your customers much better. And the customers are happy as well, Simple, isn’t it?

What are you doing to make your employees feel happy?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

USE THE STRENGTHS OF YOUR TEAM

2011-07-19T10:57:00.002+02:00

Many managers are delegating to members of their team for three reasons:

- Time (they don’t have enough time to do the job/task themselves)

- Skill (they lack the skill to perform the task themselves)

- Like (they don’t want to do the task themselves)

While the first two reasons can be quite acceptable, the last one clearly is not. The employees will soon notice why you have asked them to do the task. This will negatively impact their motivation as well. You could say that this is a form of delegation from weakness.

Bearing in mind the fast pace of change, it is critical that you continuously innovate with a high-performance team. This is normal in sports. The coach looks at the strengths of the individuals first and then sees how this person best fits into the team. In every position you will find the player with the best capabilities, both individually and as a team player.

The need for a continuously high performing and innovative team requires to delegate from strengths.

What are the strengths of your teams and the respective individuals?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

LEARN TO MAKE AN APOLOGY

2011-07-12T09:24:00.002+02:00

You all know the power of word of mouth. So, here is what happened.

Some of my friends stayed to have dinner at the golf course. They ordered a simple meal. After waiting for an hour they did ask the waiter why it was taking them so long. The waiter went back to check with the kitchen. After waiting another ten minutes my friends did check with the waiter again. She told them that the order wasn’t communicated to the kitchen in the first place, so they just started with the preparation ten minutes ago.

This infuriated the customer. He told the waitress that mistakes could happen. But he didn’t accept the fact that the waiters didn’t inform him of the mistake, nor that they didn’t made an apology for the mistake. S, they did immediately leave the restaurant.

As, they are well known members, this experience quickly disseminated in the entire club. The damage is therefore much bigger than the two meals, which were being prepared in vain. Many members will think twice whether they want to eat in this restaurant again.

What are the two main lessons, from a customer service point of view?

- Inform the customer immediately if you make a mistake.

- Master the art of genuinely apologizing.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

SUBCONTRACTING DOESN’T RELIEVE YOU FROM BEING RESPONSIBLE.

2011-07-05T13:51:00.002+02:00

Many organizations are focused on their core activities and the rest they outsource or subcontract to third parties.

When I contact the customer service department from my service provider, than they are still responsible for solving my issue.

This is not clearly understood by some of them.

After an accident I did call my insurance. They told me that the next day the expert would come to assess the damage. The next day the expert didn’t show up. So, I called the insurance again. They said that they subcontracted the activity of the expert to another company. They said “ we can’t influence that and it is not our responsibility”.

This is clearly a mistake. The service provider (the insurance company) remains responsible at all times. The performance of the subcontractor is their responsibility and has a direct impact on my customer experience.

So, they have to design the service (including the subcontracting) in such away that they always remain in control.

How is subcontracting embedded in your service delivery?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Product Innovation vs Service Innovation

2011-06-28T10:16:00.003+02:00

PERSONAL INTERACTION IS NEEDED FOR INNOVATION

2011-06-21T11:38:00.002+02:00

Last two week I did attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.

While walking around in and observing both the halls, the lounge and the various meeting rooms, it becomes clear why there is not much progress.

Most people are continuously looking at screens (from pc’s, smartphones, tablets) and are not communicating with each other, with other human beings who are sitting next to them. In this way you don’t build a relationship and you depend on the written language to bring your message across. In those international meetings many people have to use a language, which is not their mother tongue. This creates an extra complication.

Only when you have real face-to-face contact, you can also rely on the impressions from your senses. E.g. you can see whether someone understands you or you can hear his tone of voice.

This is especially important when you are innovating or creating a huge change. (as is both the case with respect to climate change) It is people who will make things happen and not screens. Of course screens are necessary, but you also have to make sure that there is plenty of time for a real personal interaction.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE: BE HAPPY TO HELP

2011-05-25T10:49:00.003+02:00

This is a follow up to my earlier post (http://bit.ly/ld68wW) about my experience with the ING Bank.

The last time there was a person who was mistakenly ‘authorized’ for my mother’s account. So, we had to send in a form to have that person removed.

Yesterday I did go to the bank and I was in for a big surprise....... I was no longer authorized myself. Mistakenly they had removed me as well!

The person at this local branche had no explanation for this. The only suggestion was to restart up the whole authorization process from the beginning. Needless to say that I also couldn’t perform the transaction that I was supposed to do.

This is really an incredible experience. They can add and remove people who are authorized to your account, without your consent! I do think that trust is a very important cornerstone of the financial system. I told them that my trust was damaged and they totally understood. But they said that they could do nothing about it.

The message of empowering your employees to help customers wasn’t being heard in the ING HQ. Also there were no quality processes in place to check the actions.

I did ask whether I could use social media to complain about this, but the answer was ‘no’. I did find out that there was only one account (@ING_news) which they only use to broadcast their news. Clearly they had decided not to use social media to listen to customers.

Then I said that I wanted to file a formal complaint. The only way to do this was via the system, which the CSR used. So, he had to type in the complaint.

I would say that there is a structural disrespect for customers as well as for their own employees. Their employees were totally not empowered to satisfy customers or to help solve any issues. Everything is centralized and set up in a ‘broadcast’ only mode. ‘If we make it difficult to complain, customers will not complain.’ It looks like they have missed the profound market shift and that they are still living in the Stone Age. That attitude makes it very difficult to survive.

The only companies who will thrive are companies who are happy to help customers and who empower their employees to act accordingly.

Are you convinced that only happy employees can create happy customers?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

ACCESS TO THE MARKET IS VITAL FOR YOUR GROWTH

2011-05-10T10:57:00.002+02:00

A friend told me about a meeting with people from a multinational (Cargill). Out of the 40 HR people present, only 2 were on LinkedIn and Twitter was blocked for internal usage.

This ‘policy’ proves a couple of things:

- their leaders don’t trust their employees

- they see social media as a waste of time

- they shut of their capacity to learn from the outside world

- the NIH (not invented here) syndrome is still very active

Of course they can block this access internally, but more and more employees are using their own tools (gmail, chatting, social networks) anyway to do their work. This is because the IT department cannot meet their needs with its legacy environment.

And the job must be done, so they use any tool that they deem to be appropriate for that.

Research has also proven that people who have a break to e.g. check-in with their friends are more productive.

When they go home every day. They started using those media immediately.

It is interesting that those companies have a strong opinion about dictators and censorship in other countries, whereas they apply the same methods. They can see in the Mediterranean that this isn’t working any more and that people are resisting.

If you want to grow as an organization, both Professionally and Personally (ProPer), you need to be open to what is happening in the market.

Are you building or destroying barriers for market savviness?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

IS YOUR CUSTOMER THE STARTING POINT AND THE END OF YOUR PROCESSES?

2011-05-05T09:48:00.000+02:00

This week I had a revealing experience with the ING Bank.

At the moment I am (formally) authorized to do financial transactions for my mother. I have been doing this for many years now. My mother has no computer, so the transactions have to be done via paper or via the phone. Many banks seem to forget though that elderly people are a significant segment of their customers.

I will not bother you with all the ‘bloody’ details, but here are some experiences:

- I did sell some shares on a Wednesday and they confirmed me that the money would be in her account the next Monday.

- When I called on Monday, the money wasn’t there. She said that this was impossible and that her colleague did something wrong.

- Previously I could transfer money to for a rush order, by phone.

- Now I had to visit a local branch to make that happen.

- The computer system in the branch indicated that I wasn’t authorized to do this. There was another person ‘authorized’ which we don’t know at all.

- Etc

What is clear is that this bank .....

- has never given any serious thought to create special processes for the elderly

- has not synchronized the local and the central computer systems

- has no controls in place to check authorizations

- has typically designed processes from the inside-out

Wouldn’t it be great if they designed their services from the customer’s point of view? A Customer Journey Map could do some wonders in this respect!

So, how are you designing your processes?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

STOP CRITICIZING, IT KILLS INNOVATION

2011-04-26T10:08:00.002+02:00

Whether with performance reviews or any other feedback, most managers are trained to look for weaknesses and deficiencies. Even if they are hard to find. In the conversations the focus is on what is not good (in the eyes of the manager).

This creates an atmosphere of fear. The employee is afraid that he/she doesn’t perform well and that it might even have an influence on their salary. There is hardly any time left to discuss the strengths and talents.

There are never ideas generated in a culture of fear and a focus on weaknesses. Rather the opposite, as people try to limit their exposure.

If you want to create an atmosphere of opportunity, then you need to focus on:

- what are the strengths

- what has worked well

- how to improve strengths

- what they need to have a bigger impact

- what support you can give

With that focus, people become enthusiastic and motivated to come up with ideas and make innovation happen.

So, what are your strengths?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

BE YOUNG (AGAIN)!

2011-04-19T13:25:00.003+02:00

It is no coincidence that most start-ups are initiated by young people. Why?

Young people don’t have so many limited beliefs ( “I can’t do this’; I don’t have enough knowledge/experience’) as older people. Their neural pathways are not so deep and fixed into their system. Also the comfort level is not so high yet. Young people don’t own big houses (and mortgages) and they are not ‘chained’ by relational commitments (spouse, children) either. That makes it easier to dive into the deep without a safety belt on.

Nevertheless, you can also make the jump when you are at an older age. The main key is to make sure that your thinking, your mind remains young, or becomes young again. If you really are fed up with your current job/career/business/project, than you can escape it and create your own life, consciously and sustainably. Downshifting provides the means and the space to start up something new.

It is crucial to keep your mind young, to keep it focused on newness and not on the past. In order to do that that you have to ongoing feed the mind with new information and also meet new people. New information is not reading the traditional newspapers and consuming all the negative news they report (wars, accidents, gossip etc). You have to carefully curate the information which you will allow to entry your system. Social media is ideal for this purpose. You can read blogs, listen to podcasts and connect with interesting, challenging and like-minded people.

it is also very fulfilling to collaborate with young people. In that way you stimulate each other and you can learn from each other.

So, be young again!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

LET OUTSIDERS REMOVE THE BLINDERS

2011-04-15T10:57:00.000+02:00

This week I did have a discussion with some executives. They proudly mentioned how creative they were. They had added a high quality research report to their offering. The quality of the report was their usp.

From an innovation perspective, this is only at best an improvement. It clearly is no breakthrough. But, because they were already working for many years in their particular industry, they assumed that it was a huge deal. Maybe it is when you look at it from the old, historical perspective. However, when you look at his with a fresh, detached perspective, you immediately notice that it is just a small improvement.

People who work for many years in a industry really need the help of an outsiders view. They can help you to let go of the old practice and to have a true market-in view.

Are you consciously removing the blinders?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

ONLY OBSERVING IS NOT ENOUGH; PARTICIPATION IS KEY

2011-04-05T10:12:00.000+02:00

Last week I was reflecting on the changes which occurred in the business world in the last ten years. I am inclined to say that that there is a massive shift going on. On the other side not much is happening as well.

This a bit cryptic, what do I mean?

Massive change is occurring in the marketplace. For example, have a look at new (mobile) technologies, the influence of customers via social media, globalization, shortening product life cycles and so on.

However, when you look at the way most big companies are working and marketing and selling and automating........ Well there hasn’t changed much. It looks like they have put a big wall around themselves to prevent any outside influence.

Of course they still have their R&D and marketing departments, but they observe from a distance only. And leaders are not willing to change themselves either, so the comfort zone rules. Yes, yes, there is still quite some change happening. But I would call that ‘protective’ change. They protect their financial position in the market by laying off people and outsourcing. And then they hope that the market will grow again and that – as a consequence- they will also grow.

That will not happen. And only observing is not enough. You have to emerge yourself in these new developments, whether it is social media or collaborating with Millenials or cloud-computing. Let me share two examples.

I can still remember when I was a young kid and I did get my first (child) watch. That was a significant moment in your life. And there was a market for these watches for children. The widespread use of mobile phones has almost completely wiped that industry off the market. You could not have anticipated this change, based on research reports only. Only by using mobiles and seeing the behaviors of children you could sense what was happening.

The same thing will happen to print business cards. If you use apps like Hashable or Bump, you immediately see why there is no need for print business cards anymore. These new electronic cards are automatically added to your address book. So, you don’t need to type the data in your book and you can throw away your shoebox with printed biz cards. Again, you can only see it, when you experience it!

Are you also emerging yourself in these new developments or are you still in hibernation and hoping that it will disappear by itself?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

REAL LEADERS ARE REAL EXAMPLES

2011-03-30T11:23:00.002+02:00

Many companies are not getting the planned results from their change programs.

One of the reasons for this is that the leaders think that they themselves don’t need to change. These leaders are convinced that they already incorporate the right behavior. Therefore they demand that all the other managers and employees do change.

This sends a wrong signal to all these people. To make change easier it is very stimulating to have an example, someone who is the personification of the new behavior, of the new way of working.

Many of us have examples (heroes) in our personal lives, like Leonardo Da Vinci (‘that is my example’), Mother Teresa, Michael Jordan or Beyoncé.

The same logic applies to our professional lives. It is much easier to face a challenging change when there is an example, when the leader is showing you the path.

Some years ago when I did work for an American company there was a security threat and we had to wear our badges visibly all the time. This is some kind of nuisance, because you have to put them on your coat and then on your suit and then on your shirt. But. Still you have to do it. What happened was that leaders apparently didn’t like this either, so they didn’t wear the badges at all. Guess what happened, all the employees stopped wearing them also.

If you as a leader require a certain change or a certain new behavior than you have to be aware that you are the living proof, the living example yourself. In this way your own credibility as well as that of the change itself increases significantly.

Are you an example, all the time?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

A NEW NAME FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE .....

2011-03-22T10:53:00.000+01:00

More than 85% of Western economies are service economies.

Isn’t it therefore strange that many organizations have a separate Customer Service department?

Does this mean that only that department provides service to the customer?

Does it mean that other departments are not caring about customers?

There is no doubt that you have to put the customer at the core of all your service activities. Service Design can help you with that process.

If you do that, then for example the finance department also provides customer service when they answer questions related to an invoice.

And your sales folks are also representative for the service, which you (can) provide to those customers.

Essentially EVERYONE is providing Customer Service. This should be both a mindset and an activity of all departments.

If you follow this logic than the (current) Customer Service department has to be renamed.

How about giving them a name which relates to their actual activities, like Telephone Support, or On-site Support, or ...?

What are your suggestions?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

SERVICE DESIGN SANS FRONTIERES

2011-03-15T10:06:00.002+01:00

This weekend I did participate in the Rotterdam ‘Global Service Jam’. This is the intention of the Jam:

….., people interested in service and customer experience will meet all over the globe. In a spirit of experimentation, co-operation and friendly competition, teams will have 48 hours to develop brand new services inspired by a shared theme.

It was great and fun to do and also very interesting to meet people from all over the world (Colombia, Australia, Mexico, Germany).

What are the key learnings?

- It is possible to design cool new services in 48+ hours. Key is to have dedicated focus.

- The team should be really diverse, i.e. have people with different education, experience, interests, culture and age.

- Have the meeting in a ‘neutral’ environment, i.e. in a place where the daily operations are not interfering.

- Skills in human interaction and team dynamics are key for the team.

- Young people have incredible qualities in making services tangible by means of videos, cartoons, logos, designs and visualizing The Customer Journey.

- And as Graham Hill already mentioned,: No matter how creative your service design, it is doomed if it doesn't have a workable business model.

This experience triggers a new idea. I do think it is possible to have a flying squad (like Doctors Without Borders), which you can bring in to accelerate your service design efforts.

Of course employees from the organization need to participate as well to provide the context.

What are your thoughts?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

HOW TO UNLOCK THE FLOW OF IDEAS

2011-03-08T10:08:00.000+01:00

Ego prevents idea generation

Last week I did hear a couple of stories from frustrated employees. They were frustrated because their managers didn’t listen to their input. As a matter of fact they didn’t listen to the input from any of the employees.

Why? Because they have the habit of only listening to themselves, to their own ego. They are convinced that their own ideas are always better. In that case, the employees feel that there is no respect for them and they stop bringing up new ideas.

This is killing for both the individual and for the organizations. So, if you want more ideas and more innovation, start listening (with an open mind) to your people!

Control prohibits trust

Managers with big egos have the tendency to exert a lot of control. As they only trust themselves, they want to know about everything that their direct reports are doing. They want to monitor all their activities at close range.

The result is that the employees don’t feel trusted and that they will only come up with solutions, which they think that their boss likes. They will only do what is ‘politically correct’. This very tight level of control never leads to having any game-changing ideas or solutions.

And again, this is sad for both the individual as well as the organization.

Both cases urge managers to be more open to the ideas and suggestions from their people. And you, the boss, have to start first with showing that trust.

Trust me it will make your life much easier and much more fun. And your employees will love you for doing that.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

PROPER USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS

2011-03-03T11:51:00.002+01:00

There is a lot being written about social media, either from a customer’s perspective or from a Corporation’s perspective. I would say that a ProPer (Professional as well as Personal) use of social media benefits both.

As a customer I had a negative experience of selling my shares, via the web as well as via a call line. It was nearly impossible to talk to a human being, as I reported in my last post.

I did mention this experience on my Twitter feed. What was great is that their Communications Manager responded quickly to that tweet and offered her help.

This is nice. All other support channels failed, so I was really happy that I got in touch with a person who was willing to help and who was in a position to follow up. So, this fantastic medium (in this case Twitter) enabled me to be in direct contact with an executive. Previously (when then was no social media) this would have been impossible.

I did explain my issue and mentioned my previous blogpost. She was very open and willing to listen. After a week she came back to me and informed me that they changed their call line. There is now an extra option added where you can get direct contact with a customer service representative.

This is really good! And in this case there are two winners, as both the customer and the Corporation benefit. The call line process is now more tuned to active customer needs.

Are you making ProPer use of social media?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

BE HUMAN IN YOUR CONVERSATION

2011-02-22T10:22:00.000+01:00

Many companies think that automation is the holy grail of all their efforts. The more automation, the better.

In that case, you really do miss the point. Why? Because service business is first and foremost people business. Your customers are people of flesh and blood and want to be treated as such. The same applies to your employees, they are also humans! So, the golden rule (treat someone else in the same way you would like to be treated) should be the cornerstone of your business.

Now, you can say, what a big deal, that is what I have known for a long time. But there is a difference between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’. Last week I tried to sell my shares via a specialized company. First, I did go to their website. After some searching it became clear that I needed an activation code to sell my shares. That is fine, but the activation code will be send to me (in The Netherlands) by postal mail from the US. Clearly that doesn’t help me, it is far too slow (mails take approx 3 weeks) and there is no guarantee that I will receive the mail.

So, I decided to call them, there was even a special number for overseas customers. Great! To my surprise, their menu only gave me options to listen to automated messages. There was no option to talk to a customer service representative. Incredible, why do you have a call center when it is nearly impossible to speak to a human being?

I did go back to the site and asked how I could speak directly with a human being. Fortunately they answered and gave me a way to hack the system. Yes, hack the system, press 0 and # and you will be transferred to a real CSR. I did call this person, but the only thing what she did was reading scripts and after each script she asked me to choose an option, it was totally impossible to start a conversation. It looked like I was connected with a robot.

This doesn’t work: not for me as a customer and not for the company and its employees either. Only through real conversation problems can be solved and needs detected.

Do you treat your customers, as you would like to be treated?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

TOP 7 FACTORS IMPACTING CUSTOMER/PROFESSIONAL/TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IN 2011

2011-02-09T16:49:00.001+01:00

When you are responsible for the service business in your organization, these are the factors to take very seriously this year.

SERVICE BUSINESS = PEOPLE BUSINESS

Instead of focusing on the weaknesses of your employees and managers, focus on their strenghts and passion. This is much more challenging and helps people to take responsilbility and show commitement.

Employee Egagement is not a luxury, but a necessity. Listen and actively engage your people in all your plans and activities.

Have a clear purpose and make sure that you provide meaning in all that you do.

Develop an entrepreneurial mindset in everyone. Execution alone is no longer enough.

SOCIAL MEDIA

This is not a fad, but a fact of life. Therefor make sure that you are present in the space where your customers are ‘residing’. Focus on building communities and real relationships.

CULTURE OF INNOVATION

Foster and build such a culture that change and innovation are the norm. Also here the entrpreneurial mindset is crucial.

FROM COSTCENTER TO FRONTCENTER

Customer Service is the only sustainable differentiator. Experts even call Customer Service the new marketing. In your leadership stress and actually support this shift.

INTEGRATE MILLENIALS

Many service engineers are baby boomers and approaching retirement. In order to fill the projected gap, start soon to hire and introduce Miellenials and really value their contribution.

SUSTAINABILITY

Introduce the concepts of the 5 R’s (reduce, recycle, reuse, repair, and redistribute) to services.

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARANCY

Break down the walls and show the market what you do and at the same time see what is happening there. Engage your cusomers in all your customer facing processes. Innovation needs the input from the market, so apply open innovation and crowdsourcing as well.

It is better to be prepared than to be surprised. So, lead the change in these interesting times!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

WHO IS CUSTOMER SERVICE?

2011-02-02T13:14:00.002+01:00

There are a lot of articles written about customer service. And most of those articles are not very positive about its performance. It even does have a hashtag on Twitter (#custserv). But who is customer service?

It is a name of a department or even a collection of departments. In those departments work people, yes PEOPLE! Very hardworking people who try to satisfy the customer, solve problems and give other information.

It could be sales support, the bid team, receptionists, support engineers, call center employees, logistics, administration and many different other tasks/departments.

I did mention that they try to satisfy the customer. Why ‘try’? That is because they are most of the time located between a rock and a hard place. They are the bridge between the customers’ needs and the internal organization. Their task is rather challenging when the internal org is not supportive, not up to date, when the processes don’t work or when the systems are outdated or not reliable. Despite these issues they still have to represent the org towards the customer. Sometimes that is not a job to be jealous about.

Service business is people business. So, customer service is people business as well. This means that we can never judge the performance of a complete department based upon the experience with just one employee. Many employees are part of the team, and so the team performance should count as well. And organizations should do much more to support and empower these people in the trenches. After all, they are a crucial connection between the brand and the customers.

They have to be seen as people who perform a very challenging job and they need to receive the right support tools and coaching to do a fine job. The main thing is that they are taught people skills as well. They are on a daily basis building relationships with your customers.

Do you know your customer service representatives, personally?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

APPRECIATE CONTACT WITH CUSTOMERS

2011-01-25T09:47:00.000+01:00

If I have a question for a company, I first Google it to check whether I can find the answer myself. When that doesn’t help, I want to contact the company directly.

So, first I check out their website. Most of them do not provide any telephone number. This means that I have to send an email to their info@....... address. And this is where everything stops. I would say that in 99% of the cases there is no response at all.

What does this imply?

Clearly that they are not open to their lifeline, which is to stay -ongoing- in direct contact with prospects and customers. Apparently they are so busy, internally that they have no time at all to talk with customers. This is what I notice a lot. Companies are so focused on their own operation that they forget who pay the bills.

This is an easy way to differentiate yourself: encourage employees to have contact with prospects and customers, by all means (phone, mail, chat). The only way to build relationships is to have conversations. Both employees and customers will appreciate it and learn at the same time.

Are you encouraging customer contacts?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

HAPPY EMPLOYEES CREATE HAPPY CUSTOMERS

2011-01-19T15:09:00.002+01:00

HAPPY EMPLOYEES CREATE HAPPY CUSTOMERS

These days people are not jealous when you say that you are a customer service representative. That job is a real life example of being between a rock and a hardplace.

On one side they are bombarded with questions and complaints from customers (and more and more via social media) and on the other side their bosses are only focussing on cost cutting.

Here (http://tcrn.ch/fYGofi) is an article about an AT&T repr who has just been squeezed too much.

What can be done about this?

Understand that a happy customer is the lifeblood of your business.
Unhappy customers will most likeley leave and they will also inform friends about their bad experience.
Happy customers will buy new products/services from you and they will also tell friends.
Customer Service repr’s are the KEY interface between your company and its customers.
Only happy employees can deliver great service.
Make your Customer Service Repr’s (systematically) feel valued.
Stipulate the importance of Customer Service to other functions who interact with customers (e.g. Finance; IT; Secetaries).

The steps are simple, but it requires a major shift in the attitude of senior management. Have a look at the success of Zappos and you will understand what the benfits are.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

NAME YOUR CUSTOMER

2011-01-11T14:23:00.002+01:00

In his book ‘How to win friends and influence people’ Dale Carnegie said this:

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”.

Yesterday a friend told me this story. After one year since his last visit, he did go to a golf course. And he was very pleasantly surprised that the manager still knew his name.

And worth of mouth made him share his experience with a group of his friends.

So, this relative easy task of remembering the name of your customer has a huge spin-off!

Do you know their names?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

BE ON MAIN STREET, LOCAL AND DIGITAL

2011-01-06T09:24:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I had to pick up my new glasses from a quality optician in Baarn. They are based in the main shopping street of the town. So, that is an excellent location.

Also the products and the services, which they offer, are really outstanding.

But, there is always a ‘but’. The owner mentioned that he is now facing competition from web shops that offer contact lenses and fluids. He himself does have a site, which is more like a basic flyer type of site (web 1.0).

So, I suggested that he really needs an online strategy as well. This strategy should encompass a more inviting and interactive site (web 2.0), an online shop and active participation in social media.

I did tell him that social networks are (or are becoming) the digital equivalent of the main street. And you have to be present where your customer and your prospects are. You cannot rely forever on the business of some longstanding (elder) customers.

Especially with shops, they say that the success is determined by three factors: location, location and location. This is also valid for your online presence!

So, how do you make sure that your business remains on main street (local AND digital)?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

YOU SHOULD LOVE TO HELP A CUSTOMER

2010-12-28T10:19:00.000+01:00

For the maintenance of my car I am using a (very) small garage, which services cars from all brands. There are just three men working there.

The service is good and not expensive. I can even borrow a bike while my car is being serviced.

The best thing is when I have an unplanned visit. I just drive by and ask them to have a look at some problem. Even when they are very busy, the owner stops, laughs and asks me how he can help me. He immediately checks out my car and most of the time solves the problem. For him, the customer is not a nuisance, not at all. It even looks like he likes being interrupted.

He loves to help his customers! That is quite different from a lot of stores where customer service people don’t like to be interrupted at all. It looks like they don’t want to be bothered at all.

But, hey, it is fun and fulfilling to help a customer! That attitude is a must for success.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

MEANINGFUL OR MEANINGLESS

2010-12-14T12:11:00.000+01:00

Last night I did watch TV and I was irritated by the commercials. 7 out of 10 were for perfumes (Chanel, Dior Dolce & Gabbana etc) and the rest was for deodorants.

So, what is the customer need there? Are you smelly? Not likely. Ohhh, I see you are looking for a new partner and you want to be attractive by using a quality perfume/deodorant. But, do you really believe that these odors will do the trick? No, I don’t think so.

The setup of all these commercials is the same. They show a beautiful man and a beautiful woman in a luxurious environment. And they are attracted to each other. The perfume is the key or ......is it?! Who really believes this? I would say that there is contempt for the consumer.

The deodorant (Axe) is even worse. If you spray it on the right places the girls will be flocking to your house.......

These products and their marketing is really meaningless. The money, which they spend on these commercials, could better be given to charity. And their marketing research should be focusing on detecting real and meaningful customer needs. The (collective) intelligence of customers is no longer supporting this humiliating process.

So, stop wasting your time and money and focus on real customer needs and provide meaning to your customers. Real meaning!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

BE A DETACHED OBSERVER, REGULARLY

2010-12-07T11:13:00.000+01:00

Mobile technologies have increased the speed of doing business. However, there is also a risk associated with the usage of them. That risk is that you are putting in much more hours in your work. The distinction between work and play is blurring.

How many of you read your messages/email when you are sitting on the couch at night? Are you immediately responding to requests, also in the weekend? Even while traveling we are constantly telephoning, reading or texting.

In business it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish yourself from the competition. But if you are vigorously playing the game, you don’t see everything that is happening on the playing field. You have to detach yourself to see properly. So, you have to make time for this on a regular basis. Blue Oceans don’t pop up by itself. You have to take some distance (in time and space) to see what is going on and to ‘see’ where you can be a real differentiator.

This timeslot will not appear by itself, you have to plan for it. So, start by having one hour ‘freedom time’ in your agenda, every week. This isn’t much, as you consider that the most innovative companies (Google, 3M) have reserved 20% of their time for this every week!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

WALK THE TALK, LITERALLY, ALSO IN SERVICE.

2010-12-01T12:42:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I did go to a DIY store to buy an extra heater (yes, winter has fully started here). There were several types available, e.g. Ceramic, halogen, oil. As I had no clue what was good for my situation, I went looking for some help. A couple of isles further I did find some employees and asked my question.

One of them did give me some very good advice on why I needed a heater based upon oil.

But........ they did not follow me back to show relevant alternatives. No, they stayed in their current isle. Clearly there were no oil heaters available; there was nothing in stock. So, I decided to visit another store. And yes, they had a good oil heater available, which I did buy.

What can be learned from this is that they should have accompanied me back to the heaters. And if they, for instance, told me that the new stock would be arriving in a day or so, I would have waited for that. But now I had no clue, so I did leave. They were not really interested in the sale.

Next time, please make sure that you really walk the talk!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

WHAT IS WORKING WELL?

2010-11-24T10:52:00.000+01:00

I would see that it is part of our cultural heritage that we focus on things, which are wrong, things, which are not working. This already starts in your upbringing and is strengthened in school. The teacher says: “you made 3 mistakes” and he didn’t tell you “ 7 answers were right”!

This attitude extrapolates into the workplace. The focus is on what is broken, defect and not working appropriately. This all creates a culture of fear and employees will be afraid to make any mistakes.

Let’s start one day a week in which you focus on what is working well. On your successes, on what the customer really appreciates. That will have two benefits.

it will make you aware of opportunities to multiply successful services and
it will boost the morale of your people.

It easy to implement, so what day of the week is your day of positive focus??

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Most Important: The Ability To Learn, Fast

2010-11-16T12:13:00.002+01:00

In these times of rapid changes it is crucial to look in front of you (instead of in the rearview mirror), to digest the relevant info, to learn and to (re)act. FAST!

However, many large corporations are still managing with a focus on data from the past. That is why they have installed all these huge ERP-systems. It is a management-style, which is dominated by control and an inward focus.

This is also the way they look at their (prospective) employees. The main driver whether you qualify for a job is your resume/cv. And this provides a view of and in the past.

This approach is no longer working. The market is changing so fast that ‘results from the past are no guarantee for the future’ anymore. This notification is even a legal requirement for financial services.

Market savviness and the ability to learn – fast - is much more crucial now.

With respect to learning there is a difference between the willingness to learn and the ‘should’ learning. Again the practice in most companies is that employees should/must learn. They send them to courses etc for this. But if there is no budget, the trainings are the first items that get cancelled. This entails a view on learning as something, which should happen occasionally.

Clearly this is no longer the way to go. One of the real differentiators is to learn, to learn fast and to learn ongoing. And of course act on what you have learned. Therefore you need a willingness to learn, an enthusiasm about learning particular topics. This can only be achieved when you work from your passion, only if you are passionate you will have this natural willingness and eagerness to learn.

So, do you already know what the passion is of your employees?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

PERSONAL SERVICE PAYS

2010-11-09T13:45:00.003+01:00

Last Saturday I did visit an optician (Bellavista in Baarn). I was curious as they offered a design service for glasses. I am interested in design and I am wearing glasses since I was a young child, so that is why I did go. I had never seen this ‘bespoke’ service from Tom Davies (the manufacturer) before.

I wanted to find out how it works. As I made no appointment I had to wait some time until the female owner approached me. She took all the time I needed and explained the concept very well. She even had me try on some of the glasses, even while there were other customers waiting.

Her partner overheard the conversation and told me about his experience with this bespoke service. What struck me was his honesty. He told me that most customers are hesitant because you don’t know the end result as you order. It will be a bit of a surprise, although you have defined the specifications yourself. He said that this ‘fear’ prohibits a large interest in the service.

Isn’t this great when you are honestly told what the risks are and why not many people are interested in the service? This personal and open communication certainly strengthened my interest.

The combination of a design product/service with personal service is really a differentiator!

How can you be more personal in your customer relationships?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

A ME-TOO STRATEGY NEVER DIFFERENTIATES

2010-11-02T11:11:00.002+01:00

The autumn has started and especially car dealers and tire providers are very active.

The car dealers are offering ‘free’ winter check-ups. You can come and they will check whether your car is winter-ready. And of course they hope to find something, which needs to be taken care of. Well, it could be beneficial for you, but mainly it is for them.

There are two ‘buts’:

Most of the car dealers are offering the same type of winter check. So, customers perceive it as nothing special. This me-too strategy has as a consequence that customers just expect this service and don’t value it all.
If I let my car have its regular, planned maintenance then why should I go to the garage an extra time? Did they miss something? Is there something, which they did not check there? This is confusing.

The tire providers are now offering to put some winter tires under your car. This means that you as a customer are supposed to have two sets of tires, one for the winter and one for the rest of the year.

There is also a ‘but’ here.

I have never heard tire manufacturers tell me that their regular set of tires is NOT suitable for driving in the winter. They always made me belief that these tires were a perfect choice for the entire year.

So, who is wrong? Are the winter tires not necessary or are the regular tires not suited for driving in the winter?

In any case they better give me the right information, because they just now confuse me. And this doesn’t increase my trust in their business practices.

So, before you start your marketing, consider whether you are addressing a real customer need. Also know that especially now honesty is still the best policy.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

WHAT SPORTS TEAMS AND BUSINESS CAN LEARN

2010-10-26T09:50:00.002+02:00

Here in The Netherlands, the football (soccer to some of you) competition is well under way. And of course some teams are performing better than expected and others perform worse than expected.

The first trainer has already been fired and more will soon follow. These trainers get the blame (from the owners and the spectators) for not winning their matches......... although they don’t play themselves.

In most businesses it is the other way around. If the results are negative, then in most cases the employees are getting fired and the leaders remain in their position.

Both actions (firing respectively the trainer or the employees) bring rarely the required change. Most of the time the shock-effect is short lived and the downward trend continues. It only gives those in power the feeling that at least they have taken action. So, they cannot be blamed.

This blame-game creates a negative energy and it will increase fear. So, people and players are not encouraged to take risks, to be innovative or to be different. It creates a ‘gray’ culture, because everybody is afraid to be the exception.

All this communication is really in its essence top down communication and that never leads to people taking ownership or feeling engaged.

I would propose to have a real dialogue, with all the players involved. This means that owners, leaders, managers, employees/players and also the customers/spectators should be involved on an equal level.

And the main theme should be their strengths rather than the weaknesses. What can be done do increase these strengths? How can we become even better in those area’s?

This creates a constructive dialogue where everyone is encouraged to take ownership and to make sure that you grow, professionally as well as personally.

Are you feeling strong enough to be vulnerable as well?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

2010-10-19T11:04:00.000+02:00

Obviously there is huge growth in the use of social networks. But there is still a large part of corporations, which don’t see the real added value yet.

They, these corporations, might not see it, but certainly their customers do!

The 2010 customer experience impact from RightNow has the following findings:

· 55% of the respondents became a customer of a company because of their reputation for great customer service.

· 58% of respondents expect a response to a comment on a social network site. Only 22% got a response.

This means two things. If you want to attract new customers than you better make sure that you provide great service and if you want to retain them than you better respond to their questions!

So, there is a new layer of communication (social media) that needs to be integrated into the main customer service processes. And this is not just an activity on which you want to spend as little as possible, because you view customer service as a cost-center only. No, this is a revenue generator; this is a crucial part of the sales and marketing effort!

This is your wake-up call!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE

2010-10-12T10:16:00.000+02:00

In the May 2010 Survey from the Temkin Group they did ask this question:

‘How often do you delight customers when they get customer service in these channels?’

The result is quite shocking:

- In person 43%

- By phone 37%

- Online 17%

Well as our famous Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff says ‘every disadvantage has also an advantage’, so there is plenty of room for improvement here.

However, this is not a ‘nice to have’, it is a must. Why? In general it takes much more effort to attract a new customer than to retain an existing customer. But if you treat him or her badly they will leave and on the way out they will also inform all their friends about their negative experience.

That is why there is an urgent need to improve the performance of customer service. This should cover not only the department with that name, but basically everyone who interacts with the customer.

Customer service is a crucial factor in creating and maintaining a great customer experience.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR (CUSTOMER) SERVICE

2010-10-05T09:23:00.002+02:00

Many traditional, established companies still view social media as a fad, a fad especially for young people. That is the reason that they do not put a high priority on the application in their daily operations.

This can be a costly mistake.

The number of users in platforms like Facebook and Twitter is huge and it keeps on growing.

One of the major areas of discussion is (customer) service. People share their experiences online. Actually, satisfied customers tell three friends and angry customers tell three thousand (source: Pete Blackshaw). Customer service is also the main reason people switch brands across every major industry (source: Accenture).

Key drivers of satisfaction (in customer service) are polite and friendly representatives, resolution of issues in a timely manner, whether customer service agents take responsibility for resolving issues, and the convenience of service representative’s availability.

So, social media becomes a sort of early warning system. Is something being discussed about my products or services of which I need to be aware and take action?! More and more people use social media BEFORE they are calling a helpdesk, or try to get on-site support.

Given the impact and speed of bad news, it is crucial for any customer service department to ongoing monitor social media and act decisively and maybe even pro-actively.

Social media is no longer a ‘nice to have’; it is a must for every organization that is serious about proving great service to their customers and prospects.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

AMAZON + AMEX: AN UPDATE ON AREAS FOR SERVICES IMPROVEMENT

2010-09-28T10:33:00.000+02:00

Here follows an overview of what happened since my article from last week.

American Express

Immediately the person who is responsible for social media reacted via Twitter. She put me in contact with their @askamex people to help me further.

She was very helpful and did find out that there was indeed a software problem (Safari and Chrome access didn’t work). That is what I told the Amazon people in the first place, but they wouldn’t listen.

Then she said that she could not assist me any further as my card was issued in the EU and she could only work with US issued cards.

As a global customer however I expect global, seamless service. But that is not the way they are currently organized. So, I would suggest renaming their account into @AskAmexUS.

Amazon

Via Twitter I did receive no reaction at all, although I copied them on my Tweets. Also there was no reaction to my negative ratings on their service performance.

So, why do you ask your customers about their satisfaction, when you take no action to follow up?

And why do you have a Twitter account if you do not react on issues?

This means that I had to be very creative in order to get my issue solved. I did mail a very valued Zappos contact and she introduced me to Amazon customer relations.

She was very helpful. After some time she confirmed that some browsers were not supported and that they are working on the issue.

Then she informed me later that the Membership Rewards Program was only eligible for in the US issued Amex cards.

Aha, this was not mentioned in the beginning and it is still suggested on my accounts page.

So, why are they making a difference between US customers and everybody else? Apparently I am good enough to order and pay with my (EU issued) card, but I don’t get the benefits for it.

Conclusion

If you are a global company then you have to make sure that you design your service in such a way that you can really support global customers.

If you provide service, then your goal is to help the customer to his or her satisfaction and not to get rid of them as fast as possible or pass on the responsibility.

If you ask for feedback, than follow up or don’t ask.

If you want to be a customer centric company than you have to make sure that the customers can reach you easily and effortlessly, by phone and by email.

If you use social media, than monitor what is being said about you and follow up.

And above all, if you make a mistake....... admit that you have done so!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

AMAZON’S Backlog in Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company

2010-09-21T10:24:00.000+02:00

Last week I did read an article in TechCrunch that Amazon now accepts American Express membership rewards points for purchases on Amazon.com. Well this is good news, I thought, as I have quite some points to use. So, I logged into the specific page on Amazon to link both accounts. I just had to fill in a few details regarding my American Express account and then hit the last button ‘Link rewards account’. But........ nothing happened, I expected a confirmation page which tells me that everything is linked now, but no reaction at all. I could only see that my cursor was back at the place where I first provided my details. So, I tried again and again, but every time no result. Pff, this was frustrating. While I was so happy with the possibility of buying books from my points.

What to do next? I had to get in touch with customer service. This is where we get in an area where there is a huge opportunity for improvement.

It is very difficult to find a way to email/contact customer service. You need to spit tthrough a lot of FAQ pages and then somewhere at the end there is a link.

It is clear that Amazon prefers self-service and doesn’t really want you to contact their customer services. I now understand why.

First I used their mail facility and explained my problem. This was there reaction.

“I'm sorry you had problems using our website! I wasn't able to reproduce the problem you had, so I'd suggest you give us a call. One of our colleague will assist you online in linking your card.”

In other words, dear Mr Customer you are wrong there is no problem!! This statement rules against the most crucial principle of services, namely the customer is always right. This made me angry, so I decided to make use of their call facility. They promoted that I just had to provide my number and that I then would be called back. However, this functionality doesn’t work when you are living in the Netherlands. So, if you really want to be a global company, than please include all countries where you are selling to.

What to do next? After some searching I did find a phone number, which I had to call at my own expense. Okay, I did it. The person who answered the call had never heard about the possibility of linking these accounts. So, I basically took him by the hand and explained the issue. The only answer he had (after consulting with his supervisor) was to call American Express instead. This is another major mistake in providing services; never pass the responsibility to someone else. So, I ended the thirty-minute international phone call and there I was. Still no solution and a lot of time and money wasted.

I decided to answer the first email and this is their response.

“We didn't receive the e-mail message below because it was directed to an e-mail address that can't accept incoming messages”

This again proves that they, Amazon, see services as a cost center, as an area in which they want a minimal amount of conversations, even better no conversations at all. They don’t want direct contact with me, the customer. On the contrarie. I, as a customer, want personalized and customized support. So, there is quite a gap here. But if you have this as a slogan in your signature “We're Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company” there is still hope…….

So, I did send a new email, again explaining my experiences. And this was the response.

“I'm sorry to hear you had trouble registering your rewards program to Shop with Points. Be sure to follow the instructions provided in the error message.”

Further in the mail, they explained the procedure. And this is it, nobody answered my question and nobody cared. Obviously it is my problem and not theirs! I feel that I am not wanted. I am just a nuisance and have to solve my own problems. Please don’t bother us, we just want to sell you stuff and provide as little personal service as possible.

As a last resort, I did check whether Amazon has a Twitter account, and they have. So I posted a message that I just had a terrible service experience. I hoped to get a reaction, but that was in vain. Also on all the emails there was this paragraph.

“Did I solve your problem?

If yes, please click here:

http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=cavrqqrx3395498065

If no, please click here:

http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=cavrqqrx3395498065”

Every time I replied with no and gave the lowest possible ratings. Now, a week later, I have received no reaction at all.

What does this experience prove?

That services should not be only a cost center, that services require a specific approach and design, that service is a culture and an attitude and that a positive customer experience is crucial for retention.

Also, dear Mr Amazon you have to understand that bad news travels fast. I am writing this blogpost as basically a cry for help. Maybe we can even help each other…..

I would also like to suggest that you contact your partners from Zappos, as they really understand what it means to provide WOW-services!

Thanks.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM OUTLIERS AND ICONOCLASTS

2010-09-14T10:35:00.002+02:00

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success.

It makes a difference where and when we grew up. The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement.

The emerging picture from studies is that then thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a worldclass expert – in anything. So, you need to have parents who encourage and support you. You can’t be poor.

But before we can become an expert, someone has to give you the opportunity to learn hw to be an expert.

What truly distinguishes outliers is not their extraordinary talent, but their extraordinary opportunities. Their success was not just of their own making. It was a product of the world in which they grew up.

IQ is a measure, to some degree, of innate ability. But social savy is knowledge. It’s a set of skills that have to be learned. It has to come from your families. Did you have that opportunity?

The sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not jusr from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our particular place in history presents us with.

Success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantages: when and where you were born, what your parents did for a living, and what the circumstances of your upbringing were. The traditions and attitudes we inherit from our forebears play the same role.

Sucess follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed. Nor is sucess simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. Outliers are those who have been given opportunies – and who have had the strenght and presence of mind to seize them.

Outliers are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy.

In Iconoclast, Gregory Berns explains how the brain sabotages creative thinking for most ordinary people.

An iconoclast is a person who does something that others say can’t be done.

The iconoclastic brain differs in these three functions and the circuits that implement them:

Perception
Fear response
Social intelligence

PERCEPTION

Perception is heavily influenced by past experience and what other people say. To see things differently the most effective solution is to bombard the brain with things it has never encountered before. Novelty releases the perceptual process from the shackles of past experience and forces the brain to make new judgments.

The iconoclast perceives things differently than everyone else.

The key to seeing like an iconoclast is to look at things that you have never seen before. Unfamiliarity forces the brain to discard its usual categories of perception and create new ones.

Only when you consciously confront your brain’s reliance on categories will you be able to imagine outside of its boundaries.

FEAR

Novelty triggers the fear system of the brain. Fear of uncertainty/the unknown (ambiguity), fear of failure and fear of public ridicule inhibit iconoclastic thinking. The true iconoclast. although he may still experience these fears, does not let them inhibit his actions.

Fear of the unknown, the other great inhibitor of innovation and iconoclasm, can also be managed through the same techniques of reappraisal (replace a negative reaction with a positive one) and extinction (any fear can be managed through practice). If individuals reappraise all sources of stress as an opportunity to discover something new or find a market niche that other people are afraid of, stress may itself decrease.

The truth is that many of our thoughts originate from other people. Conformity: we know what we see, and we know right from wrong, but with enough social pressure, we cave in to the fear of standing alone.

The most effective strategy for dealing with a group is to recruit one like-minded individual. Committees should not be required to arrive at a unanimous decision.

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

The individual must sell his ideas to other people. The modern iconoclast navigates a dynamic social network and elicits change that begins with altered perception and ends with effecting change in other people (or dying a failure).

Connecting with iconoclast depends on two key aspects of social intelligence: familiarity (face and name recognition) and reputation. Increase the world’s familiarity with you through productivity and exposure. And develop a reputation so that people are drawn to you and not repelled. To be successful, the iconoclast must foster networks. Iconoclasts need connectors. Without them, he stands no chance of achieving success.

So, what CAN you still do if you want to make a difference?

Practice makes perfect. Put in these ten thousand hours to become an expert.
Bombard your brain with new experiences
Team up with like-minded people
Improve your social skills
Continuously build your reputation
Provide meaningful work

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

VALUE YOUR FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES

2010-08-31T10:29:00.000+02:00

More than 80% of our (Western) economies is based upon services. However, most tools, processes, research and business models are still based upon products and manufacturing know-how.

This creates tension, especially on the work floor. In the case of services, the person who delivers the service is in essence the service. Indeed, a human being and not a machine or a part. Human beings can and would like to think for themselves, they would like to grow, have meaningful work and feel engaged.

Who are these frontline employees in service jobs?

They are food service workers, nurses’ aides, janitors, home healthcare workers, waiters, cashiers, receptionists, rental-car agents etc. 45% of all jobs are these routine service jobs.

We have to make these service jobs even more innovative, more productive, and higher paying. This is beneficial for them as well as for the business.

Employees who are enthusiastic, engaged, and fulfilled are also happy. This lowers the use of the healthcare system (physical and mental) and positively impacts the customer relationship.

It is easy to get started.

A suggestion: Ask every frontline employee ONE aspect of their work which can be improved and how. They will thankfully respond to you and even expect this to be an ongoing process. This is great, let them feel this ownership and have them ongoing engaged in this process of continuous improvement.

When will you start?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

SALES & SERVICE GO HAND IN HAND

2010-08-24T09:55:00.002+02:00

Last week I had to buy a new TV, so I went to several stores for orientation. I am not up to date on the latest technologies in that industry, though. And that is what happened, I was bombarded with jargon out of that world (LED, LCD, HD, 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 32 inch, 40 inch, digital subscriptions etc).

In one shop they only explained about the TV, which was on sale, and where I was just standing as the salesrepr approached. He made no other suggestions or explanations.

In the second shop, I did get an excellent technical explanation of the possibilities. The best, however, was a demo of one 50Hz TV which was placed next to a 100 Hz TV. In that way I could really see the difference in quality.

What surprised me most is that no salesrepr actually asked what kind of a TV viewer I was. In other words what my needs were. So, no questions, as to how many hours I watch TV, whether I watch DVD’s with surround sound, how many people does my family consists of, whether I want to connect my stereo system, where the TV is placed etc. The basic questions in a sales call were not asked. Apparently they didn’t care. I am just a consumer and supposed to buy what they have to offer and figure it out myself what the best fit is.

I would say that a simple set of questions could highly improve my customer experience.

As I don’t want to spend hours and hours installing the device, I did ask who I could call in case I had difficulties. They gave me a name and telephone number. Fine.

But, hey guys, this can be much better, why not offer me to install the TV and offer me an extended warranty/service contract? Again they didn’t care.

When I installed the TV, there was a slight problem; there was no sound............ I used the remote as well as the tips on the TV itself, but no result. Well, maybe that is why they did give me a discount, there was no sound. Still, I called the number, but the person was free that day (which they hadn’t told me). I asked for another person, but they claimed to be very busy and that they will ask them to call me later. I don’t know their definition of later, but now 5 days have passed and nobody called me. Fortunately I figured out myself that they had put the sound off via the menu of the system (it was a demo TV).

So, how do I, the customer, perceive this? I was really surprised that in 2010 still the basics of sales and service were not in place (and this is a multinational!). Sales was not interested in my needs, sales didn’t offer me any service and (after sales) service was virtually non-existing.

The good news is that there is a lot of room for improvement and that is rather easy to accomplish.

That will only happen when the leadership takes customer service as well as after -sales service seriously. Part is also a cultural issue; it requires a shift in mindset. From box shifter to delighting customers that is quite a serious step. There is no other way if you want to survive in this highly competitive market.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

PUTTING INNOVATION IN PERSPECTIVE

2010-08-17T11:37:00.000+02:00

That is what Richard Florida does in his latest book ‘The Great Reset’. I would say that this book is a must read for every innovator.

We know that for every creative process, the following steps are necessary:

What is the end result?
What is the current reality?
What are the action steps?

Florida gives us a perspective on all these steps, both economically and from a society’s point of view.

Below I have listed some inspirational thoughts:

- Great resets bring about shifts in consumption that fuel rising industries.

- The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, and the highest rate of metabolism.

- The jostling of many different professions and different types of people, all in a dense environment, is essential to the creation of things that are truly new.

- Local cultural and social life determines who gets the talent.

- It is that the old world will inevitably disappear, and that creating a new one is up to you, not someone else.

- Innovation is no longer a national game but a global one

- We need to spend less time and effort bailing out and stimulating the old economy and a lot more on building the new.

- We have to make service jobs even more innovative, more productive, and higher paying.

- The service economy offers a tremendous potential for tapping the creative contributions of frontline workers and turning them into improved productivity.

- Further economic development requires the further harnessing of our human creative talents. <>.......of each and every worker.

- We need a system of learning and human development that mobilizes and harnesses human creative talent en masse.

What does this mean?

Globally we have to bring together groups of talented, creative people from different backgrounds (business, art, science, government) that collaborate on new ideas for living and working together in a new system!

In essence we all have to learn (and unlearn) to be Creativists (http://bit.ly/cQ8kXR)!

Would you like to contribute?

SERVICES ARE HOT

2010-08-03T10:42:00.000+02:00

In a great article from W.P. Carey’s Center for Services Leadership called “Making Services a Science – new study finds great interest – and great confusion (http://bit.ly/dmdAgy)” the need for service innovation is being recognized.

‘......more companies than ever are interested in services innovation -- the creation of "transformative" services. More companies than ever are interested in smart services design. More companies than ever are interested in creating service-centric cultures, in leveraging technology to boost services and in creating consistency of service across geographies.’

I am inclined to say ‘finally’, but there is a right time for everything. It is good that more and more companies (and also governments) see the need to add services to their portfolio. And it is also very good that they understand that service business is fundamentally different from product business.

In essence, service business is people business, it is a human being who delivers the service. I always explain that if a product is out of stock you will order it from the factory. Because service business is all about human beings, the incubation time there is minimal 9 months…..

So, yes indeed there is a difference. The quicker you learn and understand this, the quicker you will be able to leapfrog your competition.

‘…….the challenge now is to create "the" model for services success -- a roadmap that can help service-inexperienced companies get started or allow services experts get even better at their craft.’

In my next post I would like to introduce my model, which I call ‘The Services Growth Ecosystem’.

Services are hot, but be aware that you don’t get burned. Take the time and the right resources to build a truly servicable organization!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

FOCUS ON THE NEW WAY OF WORKING

2010-07-27T10:23:00.001+02:00

Last week I attended a webinar with Gary Hamel. He mentioned the following challenges, which trigger the need for management innovation:

Accelerating change
Intensifying competition
Diminishing differentiation
Growing mistrust

I would like to add these observations:

Increasing globalization
Standardizing social media
Integrating technology
Collaboration between generations

Let’s have a quick look into each of them.

Ad 1. You could say that this is an open door. However we still have not learned to cope with change in an effective and efficient way. Many researches indicate that most change efforts do not bring the required results. Especially when it concerns personal change. Leaders and managers still do think that they are doing fine and that only the employees need to change.

Ad 2. The marketplace is becoming more and more crowded. And it will even become more crowded as many unemployed cannot find jobs and start their own business. Also the demographic growth means that there are more players , playing the same game. Blue ocean strategies are still an exception and this relates to the first point; we really are not good at structurally changing ourselves.

Ad 3. In the recent book Different by Youngme Moon she clearly shows that the practice of adding extra features to your product, will only have a very short (if any) lifetime. There is just too much choice and no real differences between most products.

Ad 4. Trust is one of the key factors for having an innovative culture. So, the increasing level of mistrust means that employees will not stick out their necks and they will keep radical ideas for themselves. I do think that the huge gap between pay (and bonus) levels is only stimulating this mistrust.

Ad 5. Through the air transport system as well as the communication system, the world has become one big village, with only a few hours time difference. This means that customers, competitors, employees and suppliers can and will be located just about anywhere in the world. Out of the traditional marketing P’s, the P of Place has a total different meaning now. At the same time we have to be aware of cultural and linguistic differences. Most of the time they are underestimated.

Ad 6. (Social) Media has fundamentally changed the communication landscape. This is no longer a fad, but a fact. Peer to peer communications has replaced the influence of top down communications. The customer has finally the means to be a king. Information has become instantly available to everyone. The dependence on old media has gone.

Ad 7. Convergence of data, voice, internet and video is now the reality with the availability of smart phones. Also look at the integration of computer technology in cars and other devices. Finally ICT has become the means to support work rather than the goal itself. We now should start to think how we want to work and how ICT can support that, rather than the other way around. E.g. ERP systems have dominated our way of working, but now we should turn that upside down: how do we want to work and how do systems support this.

Ad 7. In a short time there will be more Millenials in the workforce than Baby Boomers. Also there will be more than three generations working at the same time. Their wants and needs differ substantially, so we need to cater for that and no longer apply a ‘one size fits all ‘ flavor to it. Gary Hamel said that in the past obedience, diligence and intellect were important. But now there is a need for passion, creativity and initiative. The 2010 CEO study by IBM also highlights this urgent need for creativity. It is one thing to identify the need, but how to deal with it is another. It means that we structurally have to redesign our education and training systems.

If you have carefully digested (and please take the time to do this) these challenges, you can only come to the conclusion that you have to radically reconsider and redesign your business. And this is not something that can wait, NO the urgency is now. Also this is not only a task for you marketing or strategy guys, it should encompass all functions and all levels ( see the AQAL model from Ken Wilber). So, it is good that you are refreshed from your holidays and that you can start with this eminent task with an open mind.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CONNECT OR PERISH

2010-07-20T10:43:00.000+02:00

It looks like there is a dichotomy growing at many different levels (communities; business; society).

A dichotomy between:

· Supporters of the old/current system and supporters of a new system

· Old generations and young people

· Guardians of the establishment and radicals

· Specialists and generalists

· Hierarchies and networks

· Bosses and employees

· Governments and the masses

I can continue with this list, but the point is that it looks like the divide is broadening, rather that that we are busy building bridges to connect these ‘two worlds’. The more we try to convince the establishment that they have to change the more they will resists and the more it will frustrate the revolutionaries.

This is not a healthy trend. What is needed is an open attitude on both sides with the intention of creating solutions. And solutions are needed badly for many of today’s’ challenges, like the environment (see the gulf oil spill and the role BP plays), the financial system (trust is lacking in banks), unemployment, global warming (also experiencing a heat wave lately?) etc.

An ‘either –or’ approach is not working, so we need to focus on an ‘and-and approach. We have to come up with radical new solutions which are at the same time providing a migration path for the current way of doing business/governance.

Both worlds really do need each other. The establishment urgently needs new ideas (and implementations) and the radicals need support to roll out these solutions.

Recently a lot of research has confirmed this need for connections, for building bridges instead of focusing on a widening gap.

In the book Iconoclast, Gregory Burns emphasizes the need for social intelligence. The iconoclast needs someone to connect him or her to the ‘old’ world. Otherwise he will remain on a small island, whereas he needs scale to be successful. Iconoclasts need connectors. Without them, he stands no chance of achieving success.

Clay Shirky describes in Cognitive Surplus two main motivations of every human being:

1.intrinsic motivations for autonomy and competence

2. social motivations for connectedness/membership and sharing/generosity.

Again, here you see the fundamental need to be connected.

In Fast Company there was an interview with Paul Zak (dr. Love) who explains that social networking triggers the generosity-trust chemical in our brain. Tweeting for just ten minutes decreases stress with more than 10%!

This all means that we should be focusing on building connections and not focus on the differences. Both sides really need each other to solve the current and (future) challenges.

So, WE NEED YOU MR/MRS BRIDGEBUILDER!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

BUSINESS NEEDS A REFRESHER COURSE

2010-07-06T10:02:00.000+02:00

In many professions (doctors, dentists, lawyers, judges, coaches) you need to follow, at least yearly, a refresher course. Otherwise you will loose your license or certificate. The goals of these refresher courses is to train on the new developments in the their respective field. These can be new methodologies, new laws, new procedures, and new ways of working. There is benefit for both the participants (they keep up to date with their knowledge) as well as the customers (they receive the latest, proven treatment).

So, wouldn’t it be a good idea to institutionalize this also for managers and leaders in business? Businesses have a huge influence in our society, often more than even governments. Leaders are co-responsible for the wellbeing of their people and their respective families. And I would say that the most changes happen in this area. There is ongoing newness in technology, regulations, standards, communications, employee relations, stakeholders, personal motivation, sustainability and many other area’s.

Most managers and leaders are very busy; their agenda’s are fully booked with meetings. When the meetings are finished they are supposed to handle many emails. Then they will travel home which takes more and more time due to the traffic jams. And then they have some time with their families. In essence there is no time available for acquiring new knowledge and experiences. You could argue that they then have set the wrong priorities, but the daily operational pressure is so high that they will and cannot change these priorities. The result is that when you (as an outsider) talk wit them about for instance social media they hardly know what it is – “oh, this is what my daughter uses, isn’t it”- or they are not aware what the latest mobile technologies, like geo-location services, can do for their business.

The only way out of this is to have one, mandatory week each year where they will have these business refresher courses. These courses will take place in outside locations and business people from different industries will attend. In this way they can also learn from each other.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

DO YOU WANT SERVICE WITH THAT PRODUCT?

2010-06-29T10:02:00.000+02:00

A few days ago my neighbour asked me to help him with the installation of his new laptop. After asking him some (technical) questions, it became clear to me that he had never owned a pc/laptop before. He just had a brand new laptop and he thought that he had bought internet access three years ago from his telco provider.

Yes, this can still happen. Not all elderly people are used to this kind of technology. Besides the laptop he had also purchsed new anti-virus software.

But......... the salesrepresentative never asked him whether he needed help with the installation. Neither did he offer him trainings on how to use a laptop and the relevant software.

By not offering these services he missed a revenue opportunity and he did miss a chance to build a great customer relationship. Also you must never assume that your customer kows how to use your product. Always ask if you are not sure.

This is even more the case when selling a cell phone. When I talked with my (retired) golfingbuddies, none of them had any idea how to use the internet on their cellphone. And they barely knew how to make a phonecall. When I suggested not to use dataroaming abroad they had no clue how to block that on their phones.

Again, agreat opportunity to sell extra service and to have happier customers.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND OPENNESS ARE TWINS

2010-06-22T11:02:00.002+02:00

There is a lot said and written about continuous improvement. But most of it is done from a process perspective, for instance how to speed up processes, how to make them cheaper or how to make them easier.

That is fine, but still a major area is missing – the people, the relations side. This covers the relationship between (individual) employees and their managers. And also the relationships in teams. Employees should be encouraged to discuss with their managers, how the managers themselves can improve their behavior, their style, and their communications. This requires courage, trust and openness on both sides. If this is accepted and applied you will find that there will be many areas of improvement, which will have a huge positive impact on the atmosphere, motivation and culture in the organization.

Also within teams it is important to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Only if they are openly discussed you can create a team which operates like a team. Then you will clearly see where the individual team members are complementary to each other. An example is the football teams in the World Cup now. Does a team consist of mainly ego’s who only go for their individual goals (France, England) or is it a real collective force where everyone plays his role to support the team (The Netherlands, Paraguay)?

A prerequisite for being really open to each other is to have self-respect as well as respect for the others.

Is openness a natural practice in your organization?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

SET THE RIGHT (SERVICE) EXPECTATION

2010-06-15T13:59:00.000+02:00

Recently the battery of my iPhone was no longer working, so I did go to the retail store to have the battery replaced. I assumed that I had a one-year warranty, so I could easily get it done. Wrong! The guarantee on the battery is only 6 months and it was 7 months since I bought the phone. They suggested using my insurance to get it fixed. It would cost me € 30,- and that was fine. Especially because they told me that it would only take a few days to repair and in the meantime I would receive another iPhone as a replacement. I thought this was a good deal....

Then I did call the insurance to collect my phone. I checked the statements from the retailer. And I did get a complete different story; they said that the repair would take 3 to 5 weeks and that there was a waiting list for the iPhone of more than 50 people.

Well as I had no choice (I couldn’t appropriately use the phone any more), I registered to put the process in working. So, after 2 days they were supposed to collect my phone between 8 am and 12 am. This long period is already very unfriendly to customers, especially when you are alone at home. As nobody showed up, I called them at 12.10 and they said that the guy was on his way and that it would take another hour. When he arrived he asked me whether they had informed me proactively about the delay. The answer: no. And I was not ‘happy’ with the process.

It took them 3 weeks to completely replace my phone with another one (as it could not be fixed). This time they said they would return it between 2 pm an 6 pm. So, guess what...... he showed up at 1.50 pm.

From a service perspective there are quite some learnings here:

- As an insurance company the quality of your product is proved when the event happens for which you concluded the insurance. So, make sure that the service is great and meets your expectations and from the customers.

- Inform your retail channel about the correct and actual service process.

- Update your customer when you cannot stick to your commitments.

- Plan your visits in timeframes of ½ an hour.

- Check whether the costs of your service delivery process are calculated accurately in the pricing process.

- Remember that a bad experience has a huge negative impact on your brand and ultimately your profit.

So, even for a relatively simple service you have to design the service with the end-user in mind and document all the touch points.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

LOOK AT LIFECYCLE SERVICES

2010-05-18T09:44:00.002+02:00

Recently I received a mailing from my optician offering me a free check up, as it has been over 2 years since I bought my pair of glasses.

This is a great example of looking at services from a lifecycle point of view. It is not only at the point of sale that I am their customer, but also really over the lifecycle of the actual usage of my glasses. In this way a retailer/optician is also a service provider.

There are many more service opportunities when you look at the lifecycle usage of products.

E.g. the dentist can send you a reminder for your semi-annual check up, the IT provider can ask you whether you maybe need some extra memory, the car dealer can ask if you need your car inspected for the holidays.

This is applicable in both the BtC and in the BtB market. The supplier of office equipment can check whether you need extra filing cabinets, the broadband provider can ask whether the speed is still sufficient, the caterer can check whether you are interested in more organic products.

It is a service in itself to ask your customer these questions and it will strengthen your relationship.

So, what opportunities do you see for your business?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

THE JOB INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE: BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP OR ...?

2010-05-04T10:12:00.001+02:00

When organizations need new employees they start up their recruiting process (preferably earlier, but that is not the topic of this article). Once the first candidates are selected the interviews will start.

Certainly at this initial stage you could say that the potential employees are still your customer. So, it would be a great idea to apply the rules of customer experience design to this process. But there is still a long way to go!

Let’s split up the interview process into three steps:

Preparation
Interview
Follow up

Ad 1. Preparation

The expectations for the ‘new’ employee are high. They are supposed to have read all the relevant (web) information about the employer. Out of that huge database they have to distill relevant and clever questions. They also have to know what they want for themselves, what their goal is and why they would be ideally suited for the job. And of course what their motivation is.

This is all very logical and although it is very time-consuming, it is okay to ask that from the candidates.

But what about the employers? Most of the time they are not prepared at all. They start reading your cv/resume when the meeting starts. So, for the first part of the meeting you are staring at the top of the interviewer’s head who is frantically reading about you. They also did not bother to check your presence and activities on the social media.

This sets the scene for the rest of the interview. I.e. ‘we, the employer, are the boss, higher than you, and we are allowed things which you are not allowed to do. This is still the heritance of the industrial age, which has gone many years ago. This does not create a relationship, the feeling of being valued.

Ad 2. Interview

Most interviewers ask you to ‘walk’ them through your cv. The reason is because they have hardly read it , they want you to help them with their homework! It is boring to do and it only gives them a flavor of your past experiences.

The style of the interview looks like an interrogation. The employer asks the questions and you have to answer. If there is some time left at the end you can ask some questions also. But, we all know that an interrogation does not build a fruitful relationship. How about a dialogue? And ask the candidate about his/her passion, life-purpose and values. What are their hobbies are they involved in any volunteering? What are their personal goals (not only the professional goals)?

In that way you will get a more complete perspective and you can both easily see (and feel) whether there is a cultural fit.

Ad 3. Follow up

Sometimes the candidates are informed about the next steps in the process. In many cases they give a timeframe, which in practice is not being followed. E.g. we will let you know in one week whether you are invited for the next round. If you hear nothing than you have to assume that you were not selected. In some cases they will send you an anonymous letter (a ‘do not reply’ email address) that you were unfortunately not selected.

How is that for building a relationship? Even though I am not selected, I might still be your customer! Or maybe not any more, because you treated me like a number, like a man with no name and no value.

Maybe the employer can learn from the experience of the candidates, what went well, what could be improved as well?

The conclusion is that the interview process has to be redesigned to fit the needs and requirements of the 21st century! The tools and processes from design thinking can be very helpful to do this. At the same time we have to understand that a valuable employer- employee relationship has to be build on mutual respect and equality.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

SERVICE WITH(OUT) STRESS

2010-04-27T09:09:00.002+02:00

In the April issue of Fast Company there are quite some facts listed about stress.

- 62% of Americans are stressed about work, according to the American Psychological Association.

- In Sweden mental illness, including stress and anxiety, accounts for 41% of total sick pay, up from 15% in 1990.

- One in four Americans admits to having taken a “mental-health day” to cope with stress. This costs employers $602 per worker per year.

- Each year more than 275,000,000 working days are lost in the US because of absenteeism resulting from stress.

This is shocking, both for employees and for employers. So stress makes you feel not good and it costs a lot of money as well. But what are we doing about it?

It looks like many people think that stress is normal and that you just have to cope with it. What a sad way of looking at stress this is.

In our workshop about stress management we use this definition:

‘Stress is a form of pain which comes to tell me there is something I need to change.’

So, I, the employee, have to give myself a very good look in the mirror and see what is causing my stress and what I can do about it. The same is applicable to the employer, what can (s)he do to reduce stress in the workplace?

The key thing here is to look at what you CAN do as an individual yourself. Blaming others or expecting that others should change first will only increase stress. Why? Simply because we cannot change other people, we can only change ourselves. And then when both the employee and the employer are really open, they can discuss ways to improve the situation.

This is especially important in a service environment, because the customers will immediately notice when you (the person delivering the service) are stressed out. And this will negatively impact the customer experience. This might even mean that your customer will not repeat his business with you. Your customers want to be served by people who are really enthusiastic and passionate and they will notice when you are not REAL, not authentic.

If you want to create a win-win-win situation (for the employee, the employer and the customer) take a look in the MIRROR now and address the root causes of stress.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

DESIGN THINKING AND SERVICES: WHY THIS IS NEW AND NEEDED

2010-04-20T10:45:00.004+02:00

I just finished the inspirational book ‘Change By Design’ from Tim Brown. You can feel the passion as Tim describes the difference between being a designer and thinking like a designer.

That passion, like most other passions, is contagious.

For me it was revealing, because it explains why service innovation or service design are still relatively new topics in the business world. I have been working in that area for more than 20 years, but service innovation was always part of marketing or business development. And it was never called that way. And there was no R&D department for services, even though most of the revenue and the profit were provided by services.

That is still the case in many companies. In Western economies services accounts for more than 80% of GDP, but there are not many service companies who have their own ‘innovation labs’. This is a huge opportunity AND a must as well. A must, because services (and experiences) are the only sustainable way of growing and competing in todays turbulent marketplace.

We all know that only a fool tries to do the same thing over and over again and expects different results. So, there is a MUST for innovation.

Tim Brown says: “In any case predictability leads to boredom and boredom leads to loss of talented people. It also leads to results that rivals find easy to copy. It is better to take an experimental approach: share processes, encourage the collective ownership of ideas, and enable teams to learn from one another.” I couldn’t agree more!!

This creates a management challenge, as a shift is needed from a culture of hierarchy, efficiency and fear to one of risk taking, exploration and freedom. In service companies where people are your product it is imperative to put people first. If you grow your people, you will grow your business! And .......”it is not about ‘us versus them’ or even ‘us on behalf of them’. For the design thinker, it has to be ‘us with them’. <> Innovation needs to be coded into the DNA of a company if it is to have large-scale, long-term impact.” NOW, there is some work to be done!

Therefore it is not a luxury to invest in systemic, design-based innovation that engages PEOPLE – employees, customers, suppliers, partners and other stakeholders – at the deepest level. Hence, people skills like coaching and knowing how to change behaviors, are just as crucial as innovation and design skills.

So, what is really happening? “We are in the midst of an epochal shift in the balance of power as economies evolve from a focus on manufactured products to one that favors services and experiences. Companies are ceding control and coming to see their customers not as ‘end-users’ but rather as participants in a two-way process.”

For service companies it is of utmost importance to structurally and sustainable embed innovation in their businesses. With people at the HEART of this approach.

When are you starting?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

Dear Leaders, You Have To Change Too!

2010-04-13T10:24:00.001+02:00

Last week I had a series of interviews with executives from a company which manufactures cancer treatment equipment.

What stood out were two things:

1. Leaders are not open for personal change.

2. The new ways of doing business were totally unknown: old practices were the norm.

Unfortunately these issues are very widespread. ‘Unfortunately’ because that heavily impacts the culture and the enthusiasm in an organization as well as its (lack of) competitiveness.

Ad 1 Leaders are not open for personal change.

In 2009 McKinsey published an excellent article: The irrational side of change management.

Most senior executives understand and generally buy into Ghandi’s famous aphorism, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” They commit themselves to personally role modeling the desired behaviors. And then, in practice, nothing significant changes.

The reason for this is that most executives don’t count themselves among the ones who need to change. How many executives when asked privately will say no to the question, “Are you customer focused?” and yes to the question “Are you a bureaucrat?” Of course, none. The fact is that human beings consistently think they are better than they are—a phenomenon referred to in psychology as a self-serving bias. Consider that 94 percent of men rank themselves in the top half according to male athletic ability. Whereas conventional change-management approaches surmise that top team role modeling is a matter of will or skill, the truth is that the real bottleneck to role modeling is knowing what to change at a personal level.

So, these leaders say that their employees have to change. And if they don’t change fast enough, “they will be fired”. This creates an atmosphere of fear on one hand and a ‘them versus us’ mentality on the other.

There is so much benefit in accepting that you as a leader can and have to change as well. E.g. most leaders have no work-life balance, which negatively impacts their mental, physical and emotional health as well as their families. Even understanding that changing your behaviors is not easy, will positively impacts their perspective on the need for changing employees.

By showing your own commitment to change, you are truly an example, which will be followed.

Ad 2. The new ways of doing business were totally unknown: old practices were the norm.

This proves that we all are creatures of habit and that they (leaders as well as employees) are not willing to get out of our comfort zones. Even a culture is described as ‘ the way we do things around here’.

And that is exactly the core of the problem!! The circumstances in the outer world are changing faster and faster, but inside we keep on doing business in the traditional, way. These practices are often ten, twenty, or even thirty years old.

Examples which surfaced during those interviews: R&D never heard about design thinking or open innovation. Sales had no affinity with social media. The culture was solely owned by HR. The CEO had no clear mission, vision and values. The COO wants his direct reports to be available for his calls 7 days/24 hours.

So, it is just a matter of time when the s.h.i.t. will hit the fan. And then the number one solution is to cut costs and lay off employees. This is very sad and a huge waste of resources.

Also here the starting point for change is the acceptance that you (the leader!) can learn something new. For many professions (doctors, lawyers) is is mandatory to follow regularly courses to stay up to date to the latest knowledge and practices.

Wouldn’t it be great (and really necessary!) if business leaders are yearly confronted with these new ways of doing business as well?

So, Dear Leader, when will you look honestly into the miror and start changing yourself??

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

IS PLANNING FOR YOU OR FOR THE CUSTOMER?

2010-03-30T10:01:00.000+02:00

Recently i did receive a card, which mentioned that on the 17th of March a preventive maintenance call was scheduled for my heating system. There was no time mentioned.

As I was abroad at that time I did call for a new meeting. Okay, that was scheduled, but they only could plan the call in the morning (8am – 1pm) or in the afternoon (1.30pm – 4.45pm). They said that it was not possible to give me a more specific time.

Well. That is very inconvenient for me as a customer, because I have to block these slots entirely in my agenda.

So, the call was scheduled for the morning of the 26th. Fortunately the engineer arrived at 8.15pm. I asked him whether all his calls were planned for that day. His response was that all appointments were scheduled.

A simple question remains: why do they not share this planning with their customers?? They could contact me shortly before the appointment and tell me when exactly the engineer will arrive. That will give me so much more flexibility in my own agenda. And it gives me a good customer experience.

This is a typical example of ‘inside-out’ thinking. But isn’t this planning being made for the customer in the first place? So, put your customer central in your planning efforts and inform them upfront, just like you do with your own employees!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

INFORM YOUR CUSTOMER

2010-03-23T10:23:00.002+01:00

Last Sunday I had a stopover at the airport of Frankfurt, as I was flying from Ahmedabad in India to Amsterdam. I already had a boarding pass for my flight to Amsterdam and the gate was B7 at Frankfurt airport. We were early and our flight did not appear yet on the monitor, so I asked the customer service repr when my flight would be put on the screen. She said that her collegues would arrive in half an hour and then everyting should be okay.

However, no customer service reps showed up and my flight was not mentioned on the monitor of the gate. So, I checked the general monitors in the hall and there was no mention of my flight at all... I went to another gate and asked them to help me. It appeared so that my flight was boarding from a completely different gate. Fortunately we reached that gate in time.

From a customer service point of view, they should have informed us via the monitors on the ‘old’ gate and via the announcement system. This is failrly easy to implement and doesn’t need any additional manpower.

So, if you change anyting internally which impacts your customers, make sure that you inform your customers accordingly!

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

OLYMPIANS’ PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHANGE

2010-03-02T11:42:00.002+01:00

In his book Rules of Thumb, Alan Webber writes that change is a math formula. Change happens when the cost of the status quo is greater than the risk of change:

C(SQ)>R(C)

This is valid both at a personal level and at a professional level. And of course at an individual level as well as at an organizational level.

At a more persona level Anais Nin says the same:

And the day came when the risk it took to remain in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Another rule which is essential in this respect:

I cannot change other people or the past. I can only change myself.

Now lets see how these rules of changes have worked out in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Here in The Netherlands the whole country was depressed by the disqualification of Sven Kramer at the 10 km speed skating. His coach publicly admitted that he had made3 a mistake and that he had sent Sven to the wrong lane. That is a professional reaction and he showed to be very vulnerable as well. Sven on the other hand was very angry on his coach. “Because he made a mistake, I did miss my gold medal”. But is that really the case? I would say no. Sven is the skater and he himself is totally responsible for his performance. He should have known that his coach was wrong. He should have followed his own inner knowing.

This happens frequently and many people get away with it. You can blame others for not being successful yourself. Now there are speculations in the press that Sven wants a new coach for the new season. This is not the solution (for that particular topic), as Sven needs to look inside and take full responsibility for his own performance. He has to change to be included in the list of the greatest skaters on earth,

In the same team there is also a woman skater. Pauline van Deutekom, (former world champion), who is over-trained, so she could not participate at all. It looks like that those two events are now challenging the status quo and the coaches will review their training practices.

Another example is the four man bobsleigh team. The driver, Erwin van Calcar, had crashed some days before in the two man bobsleigh. He had a lot of fear, especially that he would be responsible for the health of the other people in his team. His fear was so strong that he decided not to compete at all. He felt that he was not up to the challenge.

He received a lot of negative reactions from his coach and from the chairman of the bobsleigh federation. Nevertheless he was very courageous and he stick to his decision. This is an example of a professional who takes responsibility himself. He did not let others influence him. I think that he was very brave to do so. He was right that the track was too dangerous, because there were many accidents. So, it is not Erwin who has to change, but the officials. Their behavior was not dignified at all. We have to support people who take 100% responsibility for their own performance.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

(UN)PROFESSIONAL AND (UN)POLITE ......

2010-02-19T11:57:00.003+01:00

In the week before Christmas I did send an inquiry to an organization. I had to send it to their info@ address as there was no other name mentioned on their website. This raises my first comment. Many people agree on the fact that what now counts in marketing is having conversations and building relationships.

So, how can I have a real conversation with Mr/Mrs Info?!

Anyway info@ reacted very quickly informing me that they will come back to me in January. Well, that is a long deadline for a relatively easy question.... these guys must be busy.

So, I waited and waited, but nothing happened in January, so I did send them a reminder in the beginning of February. They did not react at all until...... yesterday I got a call! Yes, yes, she has been sick and busy and now she might be able to help me.

I responded that I had already escalated to their European office. They responded timely but the follow up... well is again a problem.

This simple interaction gives me a negative experience of this organization (and their brand). Apparently I am not important to them and I think that it is plainly unpolite and unprofessional to act in such away. Am I going to take a risk of doing business with them? Will they than behave differently? Or not?!
Also, we all know the impact of the first impression.

This all proves that your frontline, your customer service is crucial in establishing a relationship with prospects and customers. Your frontline is always providing my first experience of who you really are in an organization.

Wouldn’t it be wise then to implement standards, which put a high value on professional, polite and personal communications?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE: PART OF MARKETING OR...........?

2010-02-17T14:00:00.000+01:00

Recently I was in a meeting with a general manager and I explained what service innovation could mean to him.

When I mentioned customer service he started to talk about his experience with a software company. His angerness was back again when he told about the way he was treated by the person on the telephone. Even more people could hear him share his bad experience.

That is what happens with bad news, it travels fast and you share it with many people. That is why it is crucial to see your customer service department not just a nuissance. Your customer service people are continuously in touch with your customers and they have a huge impact on the way your service and even your brand is perceived. The use of social media even strenghtens the importance of quality communications with your customers.

Customer service has become one of the few areas in which you can truely differentiate yourself. Modern companies are therefor placing the responsibility for customer service under the CMO/Marketing.

Zappos’ number one value (as part of their culture) is “To deliver WOW through service”.

This all proves the value of of great customer service to your customers as well as your bottom line.

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

www.theproperway.com

LEARNING MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWING

2010-02-09T09:31:00.000+01:00

If there is one thing that everyone agrees on than it is the fact that changes are the norm and they are becoming more and more unpredictable as well. This means that what worked in the (recent) past might not work in the future anymore. At least some of this (old) knowledge is becoming obsolete. In this situation it is key to learn fast and to act fast.

Let me give a simple example. In The Netherlands we are experiencing a much more severe winter than the last ten years. It is freezing for more than two months and for most of the time there is snow. Even if it is melting during the day, it freezes again at night, so the roads become very slippery. This puts a heavy workload on the people who grit the icy roads. But what happened? The stock of salt is finished, nowhere you can buy salt anymore. Apparently the stock was based on old knowledge, which is no longer valid. So they had to order huge quantities of salt from Egypt and as this was sent by boat, we hope that there will be no snow in the mean time.

So, to rely on knowledge only is not the right way to go. You have to learn fast and act fast. Those are much more important skills in these challenging times.

It is crucial to continuously follow this loop:

Act
Result
Evaluate
Learn
Adjust

And then act again.

This means that learning is becoming more important than knowing. Are you stimulating your people to learn individually and collectively? Or are you still hanging on to old knowledge?

GROW YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!