I learn therefore I am
Professional training for real people
Leaders: Don’t sweat the big stuff
Thinking 'small' might just make leadership more accessible for everyone
Leadership is certainly on the agenda in Australia at the moment. Who should lead our country? Who (if anyone!) do we trust? I’d hazard a guess that many Australians are feeling a little demoralised about leadership right now.
But I’ve just seen a wonderful video that has given me a new perspective on leadership. Frankly, it has made leadership more accessible to us all.
It’s just six minutes long and I heartily recommend you watch.
At academy, we train leaders. We train leaders in financial services. We train leaders in transport and logistics. We train leaders in contact centres, sales and countless other industries as well.
And what this gentleman says is true. Not too many people are comfortable in defining themselves as a leader. They feel it is big-noting themselves. That leadership is something they will grow into, but probably don’t have now.
In this video, Drew Dudley puts forward an elegant case for the leader in us all, right now. Each of us has the ability to change the thinking of someone, or even the trajectory of his or her life.
Leadership doesn’t have to be an all-encompassing, BIG thing. It doesn’t have to be running a country. It doesn’t have to be aspiring to CEO. It can simply be helping one person see something in a different way.
When you think of it in these terms, we can all accept responsibility for inspiring our team members or peers, for helping others be the best they can be.
And the other message I heard loud and clear from Drew? Say thank you to the person who has helped you. Perhaps then we will all start to believe we can lead, and to become better at it.
Let me know what you think of the video.
What your employees want to tell you
Learn what your staff do
A message for waste management and transport and logistics companies (or anyone with staff, really)
As waste management and transport and logistics trainers, we get a unique perspective on your team members. Many people come to training ready to talk. To talk about their work, what they love, what frustrates them and what they want to be able to do better.
These ‘talkers’ do us an enormous favour, because they give us great insight into tailoring the material to their specific needs – and therefore the needs of your company. Often we’ve already had these conversations with supervisors or human resources, or both, but these extra snippets are sometimes illuminating.
So here is what your staff want. It’s as simple as… they want you to understand their jobs.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it’s the warehouse operations representatives who take call after call, day after day. It’s the forklift operators who swing their machines around huge and small spaces with equal finesse. It’s the waste truck drivers who negotiate tiny streets in the dark at 5am.
Do you know what that is like?
These people generally enjoy their jobs, but many of them have tough jobs – and they feel the level of difficulty and challenge is sometimes misunderstood by supervisors.
One recent waste management training participant wished aloud that his management team knew the same safety procedures that he did.
This is quite easily fixed. Many companies have been addressing the disconnect between supervisory and management jobs for years. McDonald’s famously requires that all their staff, from the CEO to HR to the finance team, work in-store at least one day a year. Sure, it’s not the same as doing it on a daily basis, but it does give ideas and insights… and sends a message that management tries to understand.
One waste management company that has benefited from this idea is Veolia Environmental, whose CEO participated in Undercover Boss on television (I blogged about it at the time here). Sure, it’s an extreme (and very public!) way to gain understanding of the daily lives of your people, but I’m sure the results improved that operation.
So have a think about it. What can your company do to better understand your ‘frontline’ jobs?
Can supervisors do the same training as their teams? Can you introduce an annual ‘job swap’ day? It may just build stronger bridges between managers and staff, and maybe even increase productivity via communication and better understanding.
Why Australia’s lacklustre customer service is good news
Others' poor customer service can be great news for you
“Great food but the service stinks.”
“Half a morning on hold and then they couldn’t even help me.”
“I wanted to buy it but no one was there to sell it to me.”
Sadly, these kind of comments are the norm now in Australia. And the more normal they become, the more accepting we are. We now expect poor service from many of our companies and retail outlets and we are getting what we expect.
A 2011 American Express survey about customer service in 10 countries found Australians were second only to Italians in thinking that “companies are paying less attention to customer service in the current economy compared to other countries”. One in three Australians believed this and nearly half (46%) said companies did not put in any effort to retain their business.
Some of this was attributed by the interviewees to a lack of training, some to cutting staff numbers and also partly to cultural reasons. Many Australians think of service as a demeaning job.
Doom and gloom, right?
Actually, this is fantastic news. Never has the bar been so low, enabling you to stand out. And it can be as simple as good manners, small things that make a big difference. Think about:
- thanking people for their business – a phone call with no other agenda, a short email, a coffee… whatever is most suitable;
- keeping in touch with an article or piece of information that you know your customer(s) would appreciate;
- actually telling people you enjoy dealing with them (this one would be a lovely surprise); and
- choose to answer your phone with a welcoming voice, not a harried one.
In short, choose to master the small things.
Of course we are big believers in training for an excellent customer service culture and, if you are ready to re-look at how your business delivers service, please do get in touch. We take pleasure from working with our clients to create a nationally recognised and tailored customer service training qualification for your staff.
After all, great customer service boosts customer retention, employee morale, customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth and more. And all this can lead to a better business performance. What an opportunity to stand out from many other Australian companies!
Christmas rewind… Your New Year’s sales stock take
Well, it’s that lovely time of year in Australia where things wind down a little for Christmas. We are taking the opportunity to spend a few weeks away from the blog, in order to focus on other business priorities and perhaps even spend more time with family and friends.
For that reason, we are going to have a ‘rewind’ – a chance to revisit some of our favourite posts from the past 12 months – starting with one that encourages good use of this Christmas and January ‘down time’. A very very happy holidays to you all.
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Your New Year’s sales stock take
5 things your sales team should look at as you head into a new year
It’s a frantic time of year for retail sales. First the Christmas rush, then the last-minute Christmas rush (that’d be me) and straight into the New Year sales. There is not a lot of time to come up for air and much of the planning for this period would have taken place some months ago.
By contrast, in business-to-business sales, the end of the year and beginning of the next is a good time to take stock and re-look at the basics; make sure you are on track for a great year to come.
I certainly don’t mean drop everything and don’t worry about selling. Oh no. But while many people are on holidays and more relaxed, and delaying buying decisions for a few weeks, how about taking a good, hard look at what you are doing and whether it’s still the right approach for you?
Here are 5 questions to ask yourself and your sales team
1) Do we know every milestone in our sales process and can we track it?
People aren’t robots and each sale is different; each relationship is different. But they do share commonalities and if you identify these and track them, you have a more measurable and predictable sales pipeline. Business planning becomes far easier. Nice.
2) Are we using all tools available to us?
By this I mean do you keep an eye on the wider context? Could a more concentrated use of LinkedIn, or some other social networking tools, play a greater role? How about face-to-face networking… do you plan for this and build enough into your year?
3) Do we pull others in to help when we need to?
Sales is not something to leave to the sales team. Like marketing and brand, it is the job of everyone in the company. As a sales person, are you able to recognise when including someone with other expertise in meetings would further your case? Don’t forget the expertise across the wider organisation.
4) Are we cross-selling or up selling to our loyal customers?
Don’t just make a sale and move on to the next new customer. Once people have used your products or services (and hopefully loved them!), they are far more likely to continue buying than someone who has never had the relationship with you. I know you know this. But so many people forget, that it’s something worthy of continual reminders.
5) Do you know how people are really using your product or service?
Are you filling a need you were not even aware of? Have a chat with your customers and really understand how your product or service fits into their business life and how (or if) it makes it easier. This is the path to innovation and expansion. And that’s a good path to be on.
Happy New (sales) year to you all. I wish you success and happiness!
Don’t just leave waste to the waste management industry: What you need to know
Don’t just leave waste to the waste management industry
We did not expect a fashion parade, dancing and big trucks when we signed up to exhibit at the Australian Waste & Recycling Expo earlier this month. But that’s just a little of what we got.
The Expo was a truly worthwhile event. The organisers and exhibitors did a fantastic job at making waste fun, as well as looking at the big issues facing the industry. I think my real takeout was that waste is not just a waste industry issue though; it is an issue for each and every person.
For that reason, and for those of you who were not there, I thought I’d summarise the two biggest things in waste right now.
First, the implementation of the newly passed Carbon Tax legislation. On 8 November 2011, the Gillard government passed a carbon tax in the Senate. Rob Oakeshott, Federal MP and Member for Lyne was present at this conference as a keynote speaker. He presented to the delegates about the implications of this tax and how the waste industry was involved, specifically with regards to the landfill management side of our industry. You can read the full speech here.
And, second, the proposed Container Deposit Legislation (CDL). The South Australian Government has had a working CDL System for sometime, using current municipal systems and other initiatives to support the viability of this system. Currently, each individual state is exploring various schemes; with the Northern Territory recently following South Australia’s policy lead with an eye on implementing this system. A national scheme has also been proposed. Attempts to introduce similar legislation in other states have been unsuccessful to date. It will be interesting to see how this pans out, with all schemes having significant impact on the waste management industry.
academy strives to play its waste management part via education, by targeting sustainability in all of our training packages. We also conduct public place recycling training. We were very proud to be the only training company represented at the Expo and are already looking forward to next year’s event!
Leadership training for servants
Leaders who serve get results
Why humble businesses make money
Australians are not, generally, very good at being humble. Luckily, the flip side of that is that not too many of us lord it above others either, but I digress.
We have a largely egalitarian society, with an egalitarian ethos. Good old ‘tall poppy syndrome’ flourishes here, partly because we believe in equality so – as a collective – will knock people off their perches.
But it’s not the flashy high achievers I want to talk about today. It’s the inherent power of leadership through humility – a servant mentality.
Businesses may exist to make money, but they only ever do this if they provide service. They cannot lose sight of the fact that they are there to make their clients’ lives easier or better in some way; they are there to solve a problem.
Every single person in a business should operate this way; from the accounts person who provides a payment service, to the HR manager who helps manage people, to the sales person who can’t just sell, but must serve as well (in fact, the two should be interchangeable!).
But all this will come to naught if the senior leaders of the company are ‘in it for themselves’. A servant mentality has to come from the top. And the people the leaders most need to serve are both the company’s employees and its clients.
Our executive development training course, Influential Leadership, focuses on ‘leadership by influence’ rather than ‘leadership by position’.
A leader who serves the people impacted by his or her business (both internal and external) will logically see increased productivity and effectiveness, enhanced branding, streamlined operations (because the leader has worked with people to optimise processes) – and all that before you even get to the potential impact on sales.
A leader’s role in the value chain is essentially to unlock the value of everyone else.
Some leaders behave this way naturally, some realise the potential and model the behaviour and some simply need a small perception shift. Whatever the case, it is worth the time to consider how you lead, not just what you are trying to achieve. In the land of not-so-tall-poppies, leadership by influence will always be far more effective than leadership by position.
Social consumers. Social business.
Brands aren't talking on social media... and they should be
A look at social media and its role in Australian contact centres
The numbers in social media are big, and growing all the time. Facebook is here to stay in Australia, with 10.4 million Australian accounts (half the population!), and Twitter is a big niche… 1.9 million individual Australians accessed Twitter in the month of June 2011. In the same month, two million separate Australians logged on to LinkedIn.
At last week’s Australian Teleservices Association (ATA) NSW Social Media breakfast (which we were delighted to sponsor), we also found out:
- Two years ago there were two million tweets a day, now it’s 200 million
- 12% of consumer tweets mention a brand (and 90% of tweets come from consumers)
- Brand types mentioned most often are social networks themselves (22%), entertainment brands (17%) and technology brands (17%)
- Why people follow brands on Twitter is discounts (66%), contests (48%), interesting tweets (47%) and customer service (30%)
- 800 million people around the world are now on Facebook, which is 28% of the world’s internet population
Just from this, you can already see there is a big opportunity here. Still. Brands are not conversing with their customers; brands are being talked about, not with.
Social media might evolve and change shape, but the basic form of communication is here to stay for some time – and it is led by the consumer. Brands that do a good job in this space will have the opportunity to form relationships with a significant percentage of their potential customers.
The breakfast participants also heard about what is happening with social media in Australian contact centres, via the September 2011 ATA and academy survey. You can see full results of that survey on the ATA website here.
With around 50% of contacts centres using social media (some with confidence and some dabbling), and the other half still assessing it or finding it not yet relevant, it appears the industry is on the cusp of determining the best way to provide customer service via social media.
The other finding that really stood out for me was that one quarter of contact centre managers believe that how staff use social media, and the ability to monitor its use by employees, is still the biggest challenge they have in this area. Well-trained and confident staff are vital to social media success.
Which brings me to the takeouts, as presented by communications consultant Linda Collard. These are brief here, but please feel free to get in touch if you want to discuss ideas or concepts.
Social media only works if it’s social.
- Absolutely key is trust, story telling and human connections
- Measure your efforts, but measure the right things. For example, consider measuring business change that resulted from consumer input, rather than number of fans or follows.
- If it’s about minimising complaints and making your customer go away, there may be issues. For this to truly work, listen. Make changes. Companies must care.
How do you do this?
- Empower (and train) your best brand ambassadors, your employees
- Listen, and be committed to improving the customer experience
- Don’t be afraid to talk with customers
- The social consumer has already changed, business needs to catch up fast
For more on the ATA and academy social media in Australian contact centres survey results, please visit here. Also, keep an eye out for other ATA social media events in early 2012.
Keeping it real at work
Authenticity, success and value
Authenticity is something of a buzzword at the moment. You read about it in business, marketing and sales press, especially in relation to online presence and branding. Authentic Leadership has been the subject of extensive study and thought for some years.
Buzzwords aside, authenticity has probably always been key to any successful person – and by extension, company. It’s not a new idea, just a new application of it.
In business – and in life – be you.
On one level, it is a silly thing to say… who else are you going to be? But reminding yourself of it all the time helps in a few areas.
Personal success in the workplace
Whether you are leading people, building relationships with clients or providing the best possible service for customers (or all three), authenticity is expected and demanded.
Think about leaders you respect. It’s probably their moments of humanity, the tear wiped away in a time of trauma, the heartfelt and unscripted speech, the admission of mistakes and the rising above them, that you admire most. But if there’s even a hint that this has been ‘put on’, you turn the other way.
In our always-on, connected world, people know when you are giving them a show (so don’t do it!). What’s more, others react positively to knowing the real you and perhaps even glimpsing some of your hopes and dreams. People love real people.
Business success, selling more!
The same principle carries over to selling stuff. And let’s face it, if you are a success in business, somewhere along the way you have sold a lot of stuff – be it products or services.
The more unique you can be, the less price competition you will face. A sense of exclusivity, accessing a one-off, and people feel special. One example is of course hand-made or customised goods. You can customise almost anything… from shoes, apparel, through to even board games (Monopoly with your own streets!).
In the world of services, you live and die by customisation. academy prides itself in giving people their learning in context and tailored to their needs. While we offer nationally accredited courses, the extra value – the exclusivity – comes in taking that accredited curriculum and turning it into something that speaks to each and every client’s individual needs.
How does your business express its uniqueness?
A smart idea from a small business
You don't have to be the big cheese to have great ideas
I’ve written before about Small Business September, a month-long series of events addressing business issues run by the NSW Government. The launch event was really quite inspiring.
Kochie, the Sunrise host and business commentator who was MC-ing, peppered the event with anecdotes and gems he gathers while interviewing some of Australia’s leading business people.
But one story he told was not about a leading light of business – and it was probably the one that inspired me the most. After all, we cannot all be leading lights, but we can all apply the same business principles for our own success.
Kochie’s story was about his local newsagent.
After enjoying some fairly extensive business from Kochie for some months (when you’re in the media, you read!), the newsagent invited he, his wife and a few other good customers for wine and cheese just after closing one evening. A nice way to give back to cherished customers, right?
Or was it?
You see, after a bit of chit chat and a couple of glasses of wine, the newsagent started asking questions about his business… how to improve it, fishing for new ideas and so on. He was basically running a focus group.
More power to him. He told the assembled group that the best business ideas he ever had came from his customers… so he keeps asking. There is something so simple and so smart about this.
Obviously you provide what your customers want – our customer contact courses are built on that idea – but, also, if your customers have suggested a business initiative for you, they will feel ownership. They will work more actively, be it via word of mouth or whatever, to boost your business too.
Smart man, that newsagent.
Your customer is in pain… and you are just the person to fix it.
Fix your customer's pain
Tips from sales training to you
It was at the recent launch of Small Business September that one of the speakers uttered words we should all live by:
“Find your customer’s pain. Find the pain you solve.”
We all know that.
But it’s fairly easy to get caught up in not getting through to the decision-maker, bemoaning the current economic pessimism, or attributing some other reason to why you are not making those sales.
Often there is a real reason that right here, right now, you were not able to make a sale. But, if you always – always – think of your customer and their needs, I am convinced you will make more sales. After all, assuming you have a great product or service, you are selling a solution to their problem.
The example given at the launch was a great one actually. One small business owner was producing organic snack foods and having a tough time getting his product in front of the people who could distribute it to a wider market. Off the cuff, the speaker said, “So you say… “organic food is growing 60% (or whatever) year-on-year and this product enables you to tap into that growth story…”. Even if you have to leave that message on someone’s voicemail.
For our business at academy, we can help companies reduce turnover, increase productivity, reduce the need for supervision, improve job satisfaction, reward people and even attract great talent when recruiting. We can help take away a world of pain. But the challenge exists for us too. We need to first understand each client’s pain – and then work incredibly hard to remove it for them.
Flip it around for a moment and think about the last time someone understood your needs. It genuinely gives you a good feeling. Be the person who gives that feeling.
How do you find your client’s pain? And how do you make it go away?
