Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts

Monday, September 30, 2013

Monday Musings: Stop Holding Yourself Back


The takeaway: "When it comes to meeting their leadership potential, many people unintentionally get in their own way."






Good Morning Folks,

 You know I'm a big fan of books about leadership and those authors have been my own mentors over the years before the Internet. 

 But this weekend I stumbled upon another great take on leadership and you can download it for less than $7 from Harvard Business Review and be putting it's guidance to work for you before the end of the day.

 After working with hundreds of leaders in a wide variety of organizations and in countries all over the globe, the authors found one very clear pattern: When it comes to meeting their leadership potential, many people unintentionally get in their own way. 

 Five barriers in particular tend to keep promising managers from becoming exceptional leaders: People overemphasize personal goals, protect their public image, turn their competitors into two-dimensional enemies, go it alone instead of soliciting support and advice, and wait for permission to lead. 

 Troy, a customer service manager, endangered his job and his company's reputation by focusing on protecting his position, not helping his team; when a trusted friend advised him to change his behavior, the results were striking. Anita's insistence on sticking to the tough persona she'd created for herself caused her to ignore the more intuitive part of the leadership equation, with disastrous results-until she let go of the need to appear invulnerable and reached out to another manager. 

 Jon, a personal trainer who had virtually no experience with either youth development programs or urban life, opened a highly successful gym for inner-city kids at risk; he refused to be daunted by his lack of expertise and decided to simply "go for it." 

 As these and other examples from the authors' research demonstrate, being a leader means making an active decision to lead. 

 Only then will the workforce-and society-benefit from the enormous amount of talent currently sitting on the bench.

 Check it it on: http://hbr.org/product/baynote/an/R1101P-PDF-ENG?referral=00505
Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.








Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"People may not always remember what you said, 
but they will always remember how you made them feel."
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Thursday, September 12, 2013

LinkUP Thursday: Do Happier Employees Really Mean Happier Customers?



"The trifecta is this: happy, high-performing employees, happy customers and stunning business results. "








Good Morning Folks,

 On LinkUP Thursdays we connect you to the thought leadership of others and articles I've discovered online that matter.

 There are so many times where I walk into a place of business and judging by the looks on the employees faces, I get a sense of how my experience will be. Often, if they are in a bad mood I tend to avoid them and just want to leave. On the other hand when I meet an enthusiastic employee, it makes me feel great because I can feel their sincerity and it makes me want to stay longer.  

 That in mind, I share a very useful article by Michael Hinshaw.

 ==> Do Happier Employees Really Mean Happier Customers? by Michael Hinshaw

 Conventional wisdom says not just "yeah" but "hell, yeah."

 That said, an issue with the "conventional wisdom" is that people rarely question it. And since this is a question I was asked earlier this week - and my response predictably slotted into the "hell yeah" quadrant - I thought it only fair to dig a little deeper.

 Do happier employees really mean happier customers? 

 Without giving too much away, the results of my exploration will almost certainly surprise you. Not because happy employees don't mean happier customers (in general they do). But because of the potentially worrisome connections between employee performance and happiness, and customer engagement.

 No Shocker: High Employee Engagement Yields Good Business Results. (But...)

 Earlier thismonth, RagingWire - a data center firm that boasts the highest customer loyalty scores in their industry - published an excellent blog post about employee engagement and customer experience. 

 They feel these scores wouldn't be possible without a real dedication to employee experience, which they've encapsulated into 10 handy tips (see them at right). It's hard not to agree. After all, it seems logical that companies with a commitment to employee satisfaction, development, and well-being would have at least some market advantage.

 But these aren't exactly new ideas. Gallup, for example, has been promoting the 12 Elements of Great Managing - which are all about inspiring top performance in employees - since at least the '90s. And their latest Q12™ research quantifies the (significant) gap between companies at the top and bottom quartiles of employee engagement. In it, they found that organizations in the top quartile had:

 22% higher profitability,
21% higher productivity,
10% higher customer metrics,
37% less absenteeism, and
Up to 65% less turnover.

 No brainer, right? Faced with numbers like these, what company wouldn't think that employee engagement should be a top priority? What we want to know, though, is if happier employees mean happier customers.

 Since the top employee-engagement groups beat the bottom by only 10% in customer metrics, it seems the answer is a resounding "maybe." What gives?

 The Fly in the Ointment: Are Your Lowest-Performance Employees Also Your Happiest and Most Engaged?

 The title of RagingWire's blog post "Would Your Employees Recommend You?" reminded me of a recent Harvard Business Review post, titled Your Least Engaged Employees Might Be Your Top Performers. In it, the author quotes from recent research from Leadership IQ which states that in 42% of companies studied, low-engagement employees outperform high-engagement employees. You may have to read that line twice. I did.

 Yet reading the research, a crystal-clear picture of these high-engagement, low-performance employees emerges. They are happy and engaged, in part because they actually aren't held that accountable and/or don't have to work as hard as high performers. Expectations are lower, and their jobs are easier. As a result, they're even more motivated to "deliver 100 percent at work" than high- and middle-performers.

 These higher-performance, lower-engagement employees care a great deal about their work, have loads of intrinsic motivation, and lots of talent - but often don't feel empowered, encouraged, or recognized.

 Bottom Line? Happier Employees Do Mean Happier Customers. But if They Aren't Held Accountable, Your Business Will Suffer.

 Between the Gallup and Leadership IQ research, it's easy to think these two pieces of research conflict. I'd suggest the answers are a bit more nuanced, and point in a direction that may help explain why customer metrics track less with employee engagement.

 While higher-engagement/lower-performance employee want nothing more than to please your customers, they may not be as willing (or as able) to make the difficult choices sometimes required to satisfy customers and meet business objectives.

 Which brings us back to the question at hand, and the "dangers" of conventional wisdom. Because while happy employees do help deliver happier customers, high-performing employees can help to deliver happier customers and business results.

 The trifecta is this: happy, high-performing employees, happy customers and stunning business results. If you're like the most successful firms I've worked with, getting there means aligning your reward systems with your customers wants and needs - and ensuring that your desired outcomes are clearly defined, and that everyone is held accountable for their results.

 Get that in place, and it gets easier to imagine all your employees contributing to customer happiness - boosting customer metrics, while driving profitability and productivity along the way.

 Which, when it comes to customer loyalty, might help you go from reading about companies like RagingWire to becoming a company like RagingWire.

 For those who have worked with me for years or even just a few months know that my message is always consistent. Our love for our clients and staff will never be compromised, and I could not be more excited to continue to support fulfilling your dreams. 

 I promised in January that “this is our year.” Just shy of fourth quarter, I can say with tons of confidence and security to my employees that we have delivered and will continue to deliver. 

 The entire landscape of our company has changed in a very short period time adding major opportunity for advancement to our entire staff.

 Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.








Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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“Opportunity has power over all things. ”— Sophocles
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Are You Ready For Some Football?


"The lesson of my story is any company can have as many hardworking and dedicated workers. However, without the leadership that it needs and without the right vision of the future, the company will most likely not succeed."
~~Post feedback from Marc Jongoy, FSO New York (Integro Insurance Brokers)

Good Afternoon Folks

I am not sure how many folks are actual sports fans. But me for one growing up in queens I did not have my exposure to team sports or sports for that matter.  But as I grew up I found this great inspiration in teams. Leadership. Coaching. Excitement. And more. And yes as I got older found the same for strategy in sports.

Years ago we moved to San Francisco ( hence the love for Napa) and became a 49 ers fan. Yes it was great then. But then the tough ride for more than 10 years. Getting beat up by many teams including peters Green Bay packers. 

But as they say. Strong leadership. Good strategy. 

Having the proper players on the team in the proper spots makes all the difference.
But Regis Philbin isn’t just the king of television. 
He’s also the nation’s biggest Notre Dame fan.

Last weekend I joined a group of friends to experience one of the greatest rivalries in college football: Michigan vs Notre Dame. I feel like Regis!

Now talk about energy. 

Proper people in the proper spots. 

Leadership and strategy. Wow. 

One of the most riveting games I have sat thru. Record crowds. Steve Ross was there. Eminem the singer. Beyonce's half time show and a crowd of 115,901 people. 

To put that into perspective. Met life stadium in New Jersey holds less than 75,000. Can you imagine?

Well the good news. Both the teams won. But both had to be rebuilt. In college, kids graduate. In professional sports they find the talented players needed to Win. And boy do both of these coaches. Their staff and more have it right. Wow.

If you watch those games you just have to think about the strategy that goes into the PRE game. Not much different from everything we do each day at each site. At each sales call and each ops meeting and the list goes on.

I was totally inspired to watch both team. Tenacity and resilience like I have never seen. Every time the other team came back our teams got it together and fought back. And they never stopped trying. Nothing got in their way. Nothing was going to get to them. They had their focus on the prize. 

And they went for it folks.

The lesson of my story is any company can have as many hardworking and dedicated workers. However, without the leadership that it needs and without the right vision of the future, the company will most likely not succeed. 

Print this post and keep it handy. There are some days that are great. And there are some that are not so great. 

But it is up to you and your mental attitude to keep going. 

Overcome. 

And not let anything get in your way. 

Don't let anyone rob what rightfully belongs to you.


I appreciate all you do for me and the company each and every day. Lets make this week the one that counts.

Good luck today folks,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  
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"If you want to change who you are, change what you do."
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Thursday, August 29, 2013

LinkUP Thursday: Catch Up With Mitch's Favorite Reads

"Assembling a winning team is every manager’s dream. But what do we know about what it takes to get there? 


Good Morning Folks,

One of the things I love about the web is how through sharing and sending and receiving articles, one can cut to the chase and consume a lot of information in a short time.

In between blog posts I am sharing heavy from some of my own influencers who include iconic CEOs of world famous brands, on on my private Twitter and LinkedIn networks and I urge you to connect with me, follow me by clicking the links at the bottom of this article.

Meanwhile here are some of my favorite discoveries the last two weeks that many of you might have missed owing to summer vacations and of course, the pace at which we are all working.

Some of the topics covered in the articles linked below: 
One skill of great leaders is that they create a "wow" when they meet new people for the first time, by sharing their career and life story....  
Assembling a winning team is every manager’s dream. But what do we know about what it takes to get there? 
Company culture can be a huge motivator for people. At it’s best, it can provide a sense of belonging through shared values and an intangible, emotional belief that we are on a shared. journey 
Good leaders have passion. They have a vision. And they also have a few other hard-to-find qualities. 
Every leader wishes they could be both liked and respected at the same time. However, there are times when we must choose one over the other 
Older workers faced an uphill battle finding work after the Great Recession, but the tide may be turning as employers are now looking to add older and more skilled workers to their payrolls.
There's a lot here but it's a quick scan and if you only read one article that can change your outlook and inform a better performance and sense of being- I've done myself proud.

Remember, we can change the course of our life by having the right attitude. By being willing to do what most other people are not willing to do you were able to set yourself apart. This gets you noticed and opens up all kinds of other opportunities.

At work, in life as well, our attitudes define the results. Fortunately attitudes are not written in stone - we can adjust them, fine tune them to perfection. Cheers!


Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.








Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage"
~~ Anais Nin
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About the Author:
Welcome to the fastest growing onsite outsourcing company in the nation! Led by Mitch Weiner, co-founder and industry pioneer, FSO is "the" award winning enterprise-wide outsourcing and people solutions firm servicing a multitude of clients across North America.

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