Use Values to Pull Your Team Together

No doubt today’s leaner organizations can benefit from the power and synergy of teamwork but all too often it’s become fashionable to call every group a team. Organizations rush to anoint departments and committees alike, “teams”, and then sit back to wait for the results, which, without the right kind of training, are disappointing. Fact is, few people really know the difference between a group and a team, or, for that matter the difference between a team, and an effective, high performance team, which takes full advantage of the combined intelligence, energy and enthusiasm of its members to reach their agreed upon goals.

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Isn’t it ludicrous to believe that we could ask workers to care about customers if they don’t feel cared about? Isn’t it crazy to think that we can ask people to take “ownership” of the customer and the customer’s problems; if we don’t take ownership and create a workplace where people can feel their sense of self-worth grow? And where they can learn and develop as people as well as performers?

Customer Care and Employee Care Go Hand in Hand

I just returned from speaking at another Inc. Magazine Conference on Customer Service Strategies. I enjoyed three days of learning and networking with some of the best and the brightest minds in the field, and in the entrepreneurial community. There was one thing in particular that was so rewarding for me this year. The absolute recognition and affirmation in almost every session that I attended that without creating an environment where the workers feel valued and good about coming to work, you cannot even hope to deliver a level of service that will build true customer loyalty.

Articles, Customer Service, Happiness, Happiness at work, Leadership, Tips

Are We Having Fun Yet?

If you’re too busy to laugh, you are entirely too busy, according to “fun” expert Matt Weinstein, Founder of Playfair, in Berkeley CA. Matt, who has built an entire organization around the concept of play at work, believes the company that plays together, stays together. The intentional use of fun on the job can help improve employee morale, increase productivity and create a more people-centered corporate culture.

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If you are a customer facing person, you know that there's never been a time when great customer service mattered more than it does now. The economy is recovering, but consumer confidence is still down, and the customers who are buying have scores of choices of where to buy and how to buy. And now, almost every product and service out there has been "commoditized" so it's hard to determine who actually offers the best value (and so, many people just shop based on price alone.)

7 Things Every Customer Facing Person Needs to Know Now

The “Get Real” Guide to Having a Good Day Every Day

By JoAnna Brandi

There’s never been a time when great customer service mattered more than it does now. The economy is recovering, but consumer confidence is still down, and the customers who are buying have scores of choices of where to buy and how to buy. And now, almost every product and service out there has been “commoditized” so it’s hard to determine who actually offers the best value (and so, many people just shop based on price alone.)

Articles, Blogs, Creating Customer Happiness, Creating Happiness, Customer Experience, Customer Happiness, Happiness at work, Tips

What’s happiness got to do with customer care and loyalty? Everything. The level of happiness you feel is largely in your control. When you’re happy it’s much easier to create happiness for the customer. According to Martin Seligman, the founder of “positive psychology” with whom I studied to become an Authentic Happiness Coach, there’s plenty of evidence being happy has far reaching business benefits.

Is Workplace Happiness a Business Decision? 8 Tips That Will Increase “Business Resilience”

Want a more positive workplace where you and your co-workers feel happy and motivated? Want to make customers happier so that their loyalty – and your profits – grow? Want to work more efficiently and effectively and improve your health? Authentic Happiness Coach and Customer Loyalty expert JoAnna Brandi shares tips for transforming these wants into “haves” Her overall message: Happiness creates resilient employees who, in turn, create resilient, thriving companies.

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Critical Business Relationships

In my seminars on Customer Caring I talk about something I call the Work-Relationship Tripod (sm). As many of our businesses are consciously moving from being “transaction – based” to being “relationship – based,” it’s important to understand the interactions of relationship in business. Imagine, if you will, that your business sits on a tripod (or even a three-legged stool.) Each leg of the tripod represents a different set of relationships: External, Internal, and Inner. All of the legs need to stay in balance, in order for the business on top to be in balance.

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