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One of the key skills for a manager is the skill of communication. And a key skill in effective communication is to have a realistic perspective of each party’s views.

It is now possible to assess our skills before a highly sensitive meeting and then immediately after to ensure we are delivering in line with our intent.

This new ‘mirror’ technology allows managers a ‘reality check’ just before they meet with the individual or team. It is based around how the manager sees themselves when compared to the team or person they are meeting with. It often helps to soften the situation and even relieves some of the tension.

Stage One

The ‘mirror’ can be used simply by clicking a link, opening a new window and turning part of the PC screen into a mirror - allowing the manager to view themselves fair and square in the eye prior to the meeting. This ‘viewing’ is intended to help the manager see how the other party may view them and allow the manager to take steps to improve their communication by this private but effective feedback.

Stage Two

Stage two is similar to stage one. A second link is provided to allow the manager some self reflection after the meeting and to determine if they can still look themself in the eye and agree they have done the right thing ethically and in good faith. Some managers report they feel like they could have improved their performance after viewing themself in the second mirror and begin to take steps to that improvement. Others see no difference and continue on as normal. Not always to their, or their staff’s, benefit.

Trial Version

To trial the new mirror technology a manager needs to be ready to attend a sensitive meeting and be prepared to not take themselves too seriously, thus eliminating a "Them v Us’ situation. A sure way to ruin effective communication.

After the meeting, the Manager clicks on the second link, ready to self examine and, perhaps agree that there may be room for communication improvement.

Mirror 1 - A good manager will see a normal view of themselves. Image may vary if intentions and message do not match.

Mirror 2 - A good manager who delivered a clear, concise message, taking into account dignity of the other party will see a normal view of themselves.

 

In a recent survey it was found that clarity and effective feedback are the two key elements to improving employee job performance.

On reflection, it’s not rocket science, is it?

If you’re clear about what you want a team member to do and then provide good feedback on the performance you’re more than likely to be on a winner.

It’s the same for Customers in your CRM strategy.

One major flaw in customer service and in building relationships is the gap between how a client believes their service will be delivered and what the company believes how it will be delivered. If the gap is a small the overall experience will be quite good. Better if there is no gap at all. The wider the gap and there’s be plenty of sleepless nights for the company.

A carefully and clearly constructed Customer Charter will remove the chances of any gap appearing.

A customer charter, especially one that incorporates a flowchart of some kind, will cover a lot of issues when it comes to customer expectations - and deal effectively with them.

I developed this with a mortgage broker recently in an effort to help them deliver a better level of service as well as reduce the amount of time spent with the customer answering questions that had already been covered.

The charter, in his case, was a process flow of the mortgage delivery process. It highlighted key stages, time frames and what to expect at each stage. It came with a FAQ Section as well simply because there are a number of common questions all customers ask. These common questions work well in written form. Note that the charter does not preclude client contact. In fact, when providing the charter, the broker emphasises the point to contact them if there are any questions left unanswered. If there is contact with the Company that is covered in the charter, the broker firstly answers the question and then politley, if necessary, refers them to the charter. This then reinforces the relationship as the client knows the company have backed what they ’say’ by writing it down and giving it to them in black and white.

(One thing this broker does is sign the charter in front of the client! A bit of theatre but the impact is quite powerful.)

The value of the charter to the Client is:

• It empowers the client in the process - this can’t be over empahsised. Being in control is a huge benefit to both the client and the company. The process becomes a partnership. When (if) things go wrong both parties work on resolving it in accordance with the Charter - to get back on track.
• The client knows when the next stage is and what they may need to provide. This keeps the process moving along and pro-active.
• They know what to expect when a finance company calls or the Broker contacts them with any news and;
• They know what they are expected to do - if anything

This is all in place of being left bewildered by a whole range of foreign processes that makes them feel uninformed at best and, at work, stupid.

The value to the Company is:

• They truly know what they need to deliver and prepare for it
• Setting reasonable time frames allows good time resources to ensure the right action are taken
• Setting times frames also allows for better resourcing and management
• Staff know what is expected and work towards those expectations
• Setting a process also will highlight possible gaps than can be closed next time - so the charter is a tool for continuous improvement.

What if We Have a Range of Processes?

For a company with a range of products and process, a general charter around customer service delivery would suffice. However, having expereinced a clear and concise charter and process flow, I have found many companies err on the side of generalising their Customer Service Charter. This actually works against the company. Why? Because the client is then generally looking for how well the service is delivered and at certain times the Company may not deliver, thus devaluing the process and the customer relationship. It also offers too many options for improvement at the point of error. Thsi simply wastes, time (read money), resources and energy.

Next week I will post a template of a customer charter you will be able to modify as well as see the context in which these can be developed.

I’ll also post further benefits and scenarios where a Customer Charter can assist in your CRM Strategy.

If you have already instituted a Customer Charter that is working well for you, please let me know. I’d love to see some examples.

Death usually causes us to reflect if the death is of someone close.

As many may already know my Father in Law passed away last week and we held his funeral on Tuesday. Hence no posts for a couple of days. I did try but there were so many things to do and people to look after, I started about 4 or 5 posts but just couldn’t finish them. Apologies.

But Dad’s passing has caused me to reflect on his life and what I am doing with mine. He was 84. I am 44. I have 40 years to go.

Forty years is, in fact, a lifetime to achieve some considerable things. Even if I am staring from zero (which I’m not). My business life only started effectively at 18, so based on that I have only lived (business-wise) 26 years. Miles away from the 40 that are left.

Dad was born in Pianella, Italy in 1923.

• He wasn’t educated the way we know education.
• He didn’t blog
• He didn’t surf the web
• He didn’t drive a car in his latter years and;
• He didn’t own a mobile phone.

Yet, in all of that, he was a very wise man. He knew how to pay off his house, live debt free, develop very close friends who always dropped by and had good conversations. He was a man who knew how to have fun without spending thousands or having new toys. He grew his own vegetables, made his own sausages, drank home made wine and kept his family close.

Somehow, the broader world wasn’t as important as those close to him. He lived a very simple but very full life. He visited Italy 9 times since he arrived here (Australia) in 1956 and always brought home Italian goods, while he left Australian goods with his family back in Italy. He was very generous for someone who, from appearances, didn’t have much. He was actually very rich in a currency that, perhaps, isn’t as common anymore.

So I’m reflecting on my last 26 years and my next 40. Brian Tracy has a great quote that goes something like: "Those who do not think about the future , cannot have one!" and that is the essence of our future. Every action begins with a thought. So, if we don’t have thoughts about our future - crystal clear thoughts - the future may turn out as what everyone else wants for us.

And I’m begiining to really understand that I create my future and, from this moment I am responsible for my very next experience. I control that and I control my response to the experience itself. It means that I can choose to experience something and then evaluate it. Did I like it and did I like it enough to experience it again? If so, good. If not, what am I going to do to change it, improve it? I have 40 years to create the life I want.

Now, to many reading this, what I’m saying isn’t a "light-bulb" moment, it’s more a "duh!" moment. But knowing and doing really are two different things.

I have 40 years left to develop the life I want very much on purpose. And, if I don’t, I’ll be doing that on purpose too. Quite empowering if you let it get inside you.

Reflect on the life of someone you admire, living or dead. Allow time for their skills, knowledge and attributes to get inside you. What do you admire about them? What would you like to copy, assimilate into your life?

Your chosen person may be a father, a business leader or colleague, someone who has overcome great obstacles.

But don’t just reflect on the outcomes of their life. Reflect on what what might have had to bear to get there. What pains, disciplines, setbacks they had to go through. No one is an overnight success - unless you count 20 years as "overnight".

And, sometimes we all need to remember that it’s not the new things that always help us progress, sometimes it’s the small, little, time forgotten things that cause us to stop, re-think and then re-invent.

Okay, so last time I had a whinge about poor CRM. I guess it’s time to look at what makes good CRM and how you do it?

Goals, Objectives, Outcomes

The big three of CRM. If you don’t know what you want then you’re going to struggle to get there. Try a visualization exercise that has you looking back over a successful CRM implementation and reviewing the results?

• What do you see?
• How is it happening?
• Who are your best customers?
• What are you doing with them?
• Who do they refer on to you? How often?

CRM is a strategy, not a technology. Technology is the enabler or the facilitator of your CRM strategy.

So, what is your strategy?

This is a huge topic so I’ll address one aspect here and then go on to others in the coming weeks. A CRM strategy, in simple terms addresses the following items:

• Who are your businesses key customers?
  • The rationale for these can be so varied it can make your head spin. Some may be pure profitability. Other may simply be the relationship and the connections they have the assist your business. Maybe they are good to have around as mentors or people to bounce ideas off? But you are looking for KEY customers and, maybe as much as we’d like ti to be different, some custoemrs are more key than others.
• What separates them from other customers?
  • This can be the hard part of segmentation. It depends on what your measures are. If your measures are simple, clean and precise this is a simple process. You can always put some favourite customers into a category if you want to. This isn’t rocket science and it’s not hard and fast but you must have some guidelines. Even if you’re a blogger, there are may be people who you always want to respond to when they make comments and others that you never do.

• How strong is the relationship with these customers?
  • This is a great question to ask because, as you begin to separate clinets you may find you were spending a lot of time with clients that don’t bring in a whole lot of value to your business. It then means that you need to develop stronger relationships with the more valuable clients and determine how you will go about that.

• What is the communication strategy with them?
  • Many CRM software systems have a place where you can select the "best method of communication." Great idea but you don’t need special software. Just add a note into Outlook or whatever address program you use. On a case by case basis this may not seem important but it will be very important if you want, or need, to do a mass mailing. It also entails how often to communicate. What is too much, too little. What do you communicate to them also needs to be considered. If it is of little value it may mean the relationship is of little value (though that is not what you mean) therefore, consider what you send.

• Who is the key contact within your company?
  • This is crucial to consider. It may be that your client has a sales contact or a regular contact within the company. BUT, as you segment and begin to profile the client you may find there needs to be contact from the CEO, or the owner to let the client know they are valued. The salesperson, or relationship manager, may then take the key contact with them on the occasional visit to reinforce the value. If the client feels like a number, they are a number. It’s the special contact moments that minimise that effect.

There are a myrioad of more intricate strategies that we’ll explore as time goes on.

Feel fee to send me your best tips on building client relationships and I’ll put them all in a post for others to benefit from (Of course you don’t have top send me your extra special, Top Secret tips! )

Firstly, let me apologise if you were waiting for Thursday’s post on productivity. Earlier this week my Father-in-Law passed away and since then time has been a bit of a blur. In-laws are often painted as "Outlaws" and while the beginnings were rocky I came to think of him as my own Dad and called him such. We had a great love for each other and his passing wasn’t expected. So we’re all in that place of "what the …!!"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How has your week and work been going? I’ve titled this post "Doing v Achieving" and it’s something I’m always conscious of.

Am I busy achieving my goals or am I just busy? I am sure we all find ourselves in that space every now and then.

The latter is energy sapping and the former is energy giving.

In my early days as a sales trainer it was drilled into me to write my objectives first.

I once wrote a fantastic session on some aspect of sales and was so pleased with it (must have been revolutionary - I just forget what it was!) I rushed into my boss’s office and said:

"You’ve got to hear this."

I was met with: "What’s the objective of the session?"

To which I responded: "Haven’t written it yet. Will go back and do that in a sec."

She pressed: "No objective and I’m not listening!"

Me: "Okay, but listen to this."

Her: "No objective …."

Me: "Cow!"

And off I dutifully went to write the objective/s.

However, I have to admit articulating what I wanted to achieve from each session actually focused me when writing the process itself. I was always thinking "What am I supposed to achieve here?" and "What must the participants be able to do better?"

If I couldn’t measure it in some way it wasn’t an objective (Even today I am horrified at objectives that start with "To understand … ." How do you measure "understanding?")

Anyway, it means that even when I develop my To-Do list, it must have an action word in it some where. Such as:

• Call David re: project objectives (So I am calling, not anything else and it’s about the project objectives, nothing else!)
• Clean gutters (not just look at them)
• Send CV to Heather

Okay, all very simple I know but many people don’t do this. They just write David’s name, or "gutters" and they’ll know what they mean when the time comes. But when you’re busy, a name or a location just doesn’t cut it and, if you follow David Allens’ view of getting everything out of your head and onto a (effective) list, you’re going to be saving a lot of thinking energy that affects the greenhouse levels*.

(I also know that the gutters are, or aren’t, clean!)

So, while creating a to-do list can be energising and empowering, at the end of the day it can be quite depressing if we haven’t done anything about it. And we may not do anything about it if we haven’t articulated what we actually want to do with the item. Remember, you’re busy with a myriad of conflicting priorities.

It is also a self governing process. You have either done them or you haven’t. You also know that, if they haven’t been done, it may be that you don’t actually need to do them.

So, are you busy doing things or are you busy achieving things?

* - no, I have no proof that excessive thinking adds to the greenhouse effect.

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