Companies often place policies and procedures ahead of customers. When employees are told to follow the rules or else, when they aren’t given leeway to use common sense, customer relations—and company reputations—suffer. Additional Reading: Who Cares About Customers? Is it Hard to Do Business with You? Creating a Culture That Promotes Customer Satisfaction If you… [Read More]
Archives for January 2012
Leadership: Promoting Beliefs and Values
Because beliefs and values form the heart of an organization’s culture, great leaders never miss an opportunity to reinforce them. They know that once internalized, these beliefs and values affect the norms that influence day-to-day actions, determine what’s important, reinforce appropriate behavior, and change attitudes. How are you promoting beliefs and values in your organization?… [Read More]
Avoid Distractions
“Do you have a minute? I have a great idea.” “I have to turn this project in half an hour. Can you take a look at it for me?” “So, what did you think of the ballgame last night?” “I’ll call when I have a really strong investment recommendation, OK?” These are some of the… [Read More]
Sales Tip #17. Promises Don’t Come in Degrees
Be careful about promises made. As Kristin Anderson says in Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, “You can’t promise your customers sunny weather, but you can promise to hold an umbrella over them when it rains.” Problems arise when promises can’t be met. There are no degrees of promises; every promise is equally important because… [Read More]
America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trust Across America Names Frank Sonnenberg Among 2012’s Top 100 Thought Leaders RIDGEWOOD, NJ, January 12, 2012 — Trust Across America, an organization dedicated to unraveling the complexities of trustworthy business behavior, has selected Frank Sonnenberg of New Jersey as one of North America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior… [Read More]
Leadership: Creating a Vision
Leaders must create a shared vision that shapes the way employees feel about their organization. They must accept responsibility for making “the company,” “our company”–– a place where people work together instead of “doing their own thing.” The vision may be precise or vague; it may highlight a specific goal or a dream of a… [Read More]
How Heavy Is Your Baggage?
Imagine carrying a backpack filled with rocks everywhere you go. Now that’s exhausting! It gives new meaning to the phrase “doing the heavy lifting.” If the weight of that backpack seems like too much to bear, just imagine the impact of the emotional baggage that we carry every day! Think about it . . …. [Read More]
Are You Working at Cross-purposes?
Are you working at cross-purposes? If you randomly selected 50 employees and asked them basic questions about the heart of your organization, would their answers be similar? For example, ask them: What is our organization’s mission? What are our core values? What factors are most important to our future success? What are our core competencies? How… [Read More]