Customer Service In Review

As I prepare to write a new blog on some of my recent Customer Experiences, please feel free to watch the video interview I conducted recently with a Business Leader who has been on the forefront of Customer Service (and Creating Customer Experiences) for years.

Enjoy....

Tough Economy?

SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN A TOUGH ECONOMY

This past week I had the opportunity to present at Halifax Club on the topic of Surviving and Thriving in a Tough economy; which seemed very timely for obvious reasons.

Eastlink was on hand to film the Presentation and I'm hoping to be able to provide air dates soon.

As most of you know, I have the opportunity to present to (and train) organizations throughout the Country: but this session was different.

Different, in that it gave me a unique opportunity to see (first hand) just how much fear people have been experiencing as a result of what they’ve heard, rather than by what they are experiencing.

As you know, we publish the Island Business News publication monthly and what I notice about the Business Leaders we interview, is that they have chosen not to participate in this fear....and in most cases they are thriving as a result.

In fact, I'm curious, do you think this "often-times" media driven fear is a big reason the current situation is what it is?

I interviewed Bruce MacNaughton (from PEI Preserves) recently and his comment was (and I’m paraphrasing at best) “If you live in fear you’re going to operate your business (and life) out of fear.”

This comment sums up my feeling exactly.

Actually, if you are so inclined, you can see his exact comments by visiting http://www.youtube.com/user/zinicore and clicking on the video called “Economy.”

Which brings me to my point: I have personally never seen more people making decisions (or not making decisions as it were) based on fear, and yet, more opportunity (in my opinion) exists than any time before.

A business leader named Allan Andrew (whose hockey school was partially responsible for training Sidney Crosby) is featured in our publication this month and he summed it up in a recent newsletter when he paraphrased US Marine Commander Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller by saying...The Opportunities; they are on our left, they are on our right. They are in front of us, they are behind us. They can't get away from us now!

The irony is, I’m probably already preaching to the choir, as most of you reading this may in fact be Business Leaders who have also chosen not to participate in any "recession".

Just in case though, here is some of what I covered during my presentation:

1) Build a Mentorship Program - If you (and/or your staff) can learn from the experiences of Peak Performers, and make use of that experience, you can probably shave many years of your junior staff’s learning cure and therefore become stronger more quickly
2) Maintain your focus (ie. don’t eliminate budgets simply because “it seems like you should” – just find a better more efficient way to allocate)
3) Find and decrease your deficiencies while increasing your efficiencies (you may want to implement a short-term time tracking system to see where things are at today)
4) Decrease the amount of negative news you take in and increase the amount of positive news
5) Increase your skill set by taking part in more professional development activities

As many a wiser man than me has said before, if we simply “choose not to participate in any supposed recession, than it won’t matter what the world say’s, we will still find the opportunities.”

Yours in Success, and in Health
Corey Poirier
www.coreypoirier.com

ps. Some of the Peak Performers we interviewed this past month include:
Award Winning Songwriter Lenny Gallant
PEI Preserves Founder Bruce MacNaughton
Popular Sketch Troupe Sketch 22
Nubody's Fitness Founder Dean Hartman

Video Blogs Here We Come

Hi Everyone in Blog-Land....while I do enjoy typing my blogs because I'll always be a person who loves the written word first, I find that my time commitments lately make it easier to video-blog...plus it makes me feel like I am actually moving forward in techno-land.

On that note some of my future blogs (and other related video content) will now be video-ized and found at my youtube page by pasting the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/zinicore

DO YOU TRULY LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

The snow is here, the cold weather is here, the ice is here, new tires are not here (thanks Quebec)….and, of course, winter is here.

But guess what, so is 2009….which means for so many of us this is also an opportunity for a fresh new start.

Including a chance to review Customer Service strategies.

I recently facilitated a Customer Service workshop at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and I feel that I have to applaud them for holding this session right before the start of a New Year. I also applaud them because the participants in the room for that session really got it, and therefore I personally feel that Dalhousie really gets it.

As do a lot of other organizations I work with in a training and/or speaking capacity throughout Canada….which is why I feel my customer experience program has been getting more popular recently.

Still, not all organizations get it….unfortunately.

For instance:
The date? November 6th, 2008
The location? My neighborhood gas station
The situation? Christmas Music playing in the gas station (In November).
The set-up? Customers are complaining to store staff about Christmas Music being played more than a month before the holidays actually hit.

The employee response to customers?
“You think I haven’t heard that all day? Well, it doesn’t matter because ‘I’ love Christmas music.”

Here's a thought….if all of your customers are complaining that it’s too early for Christmas Music, shouldn’t you pay attention? The only way to truly learn how to serve your customers more effectively is to listen to their feedback and what they have to say about your business (and adjust accordingly).

As an example, I recently performed stand-up comedy at the ComedyWorx in Montreal and a fellow comic warned me not to perform a certain joke. I decided to make a decision during the performance based on audience feedback and I could tell within minutes that was right (that the joke wouldn’t go over with this audience).

I listened to my customers (the audience) and skipped the joke completely.

The result? I was invited back to perform at the ComedyWorx and I was also asked to perform at another club later that week in Montreal. Not saying it’s soley because I skipped the joke, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt.


"Side-Note: Pictured above at Yuk Yuks in 2008"

So, here’s my question. Should you listen when you’re customers provide feedback or ignore them completely?

If you answered ignore them completely, maybe we should talk.

Until then….Onward and Upward,
Corey Poirier
www.coreypoirier.com

GEORGE FORMAN - ONE OF THE SECRETS TO HIS SUCCESS?

Just last month I had the opportunity to hear former World Champion George foreman talk about his amazing boxing career and during his talk he discussed some of the major highlights of his career including winning the world championship from Joe Frazier and losing it to Muhammad Ali (at the Rumble in the Jungle) and then winning it back at the age of 45...becoming the oldest fighter ever to win the world heavyweight crown in the process.

He also discussed personal parts of his life like going broke just 10 years after retiring from boxing and the decision to hit the boxing circuit again at the age of 40...Boxing in some cases for just $2,500 per night.

Upon listening to Foreman talk I realized that aside from the fact that he obviously didn't believe in the word "defeat", I also realized that Mr. Foreman possesses one of the most important traits an individual can possess if he wants to become a Peak Performer.

And that trait is persistence.

Persistence is a trait I discuss in detail in more than half of my current seminars because I firmly believe that this one trait alone can do more for a sales or business professionals' success than the majority of other traits she or he can possess, or develop for that matter.

It's also a trait that I credit for a large part of any success I've enjoyed over the years.

Why? Because if I would have given up on the many prospects that told me over the years they weren't ready for my product or service then I might in fact be ten dollars less than broke today.

Now, just to clarify, when I talk about being persistent I'm not talking about being pushy or aggressive, I'm talking about continuing to call on a prospect even after they have long given up on the idea of doing business with you.

I believe this act of continuing to call on a prospect even when they are not ready is so important partly because requirements and personnels' change, partly because new needs develop, and partly because it takes time to earn a prospect's trust.

In fact, I have found in my experience that over time if you do enough of the little things right in your continued communication with each prospect, and never give up on that prospect unless it is truly merited, they will eventually gain enough trust in you to at least give you an opportunity.

This is also assuming that you are treating the prospect with respect and not overstepping any lines or boundaries, of course.

And if that prospect eventually gives you an opportunity to bid for their business...isn't that is all you can really ask for?

Of course, there are many variables in the world of sales so an opportunity doesn't necessarily mean an order, but it's certainly better than the dreaded "I'm sorry, we already have a supplier that we are extremely happy with"

.....He say's with a smile.

CP