Creating Customer Focused Teams, Part 3

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Developmental Stage Movement

In time, Stage 1 teams arrive at Stage 2. Stage 2 teams will either get stuck in Stage 2 or move on to Stage 3. Stage 3 teams can slip back into Stage 2 or move on to Stage 4. Progress or slippage depends on whether the team builds on its momentum or rests on its laurels. In Stage 4, the team can move on through consistent improvement or slip back by becoming arrogant and overconfident. Keep in mind that none of these stages are good or bad. They are necessary stepping-stones in the process that leads to high performance.

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About the Author

Since growing up in his family’s boating business to founding his company CMI, Bruce Hodes has dedicated himself to helping companies grow by developing executive leadership teams, business leaders and executives into powerful performers. Bruce’s adaptable Breakthrough Strategic Business Planning methodology has been specifically designed for small-to-mid-sized companies and is especially valuable for family company challenges. In February of 2012 Bruce published his first book Front Line Heroes: Battling the business Tsunami by developing high performance organizations (Volume 1). With a background in psychotherapy, Hodes also has an MBA from Northwestern University and a Masters in Clinical Social Work. More info: [email protected] or www.cmiteamwork.com.

Creating Customer Focused Teams, Part 2

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Customer Focus, Feedback and Service Strategy

To create customer-focused teams, employees must understand that they win when the customers win; there is more to this positioning than meets the eye. The customer win has to be defined so that the company also wins. If you ask customers what they want they will tell you I want the service and product for nothing. Typically companies cannot stay in business by doing this. So the raving fan service strategy needs to be designed so that the company and its employees can deliver. Back to Apple, their products are easy to use and their informed employees can teach consumers how to use their products. All this conspires to make many raving fan Apple customers. Every service strategy needs to be designed so that this concept is constantly reinforced.

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About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bruce HodesSince growing up in his family’s boating business to founding his company CMI, Bruce Hodes has dedicated himself to helping companies grow by developing executive leadership teams, business leaders and executives into powerful performers. Bruce’s adaptable Breakthrough Strategic Business Planning methodology has been specifically designed for small-to-mid-sized companies and is especially valuable for family company challenges. In February of 2012 Bruce published his first book Front Line Heroes: Battling the business Tsunami by developing high performance organizations (Volume 1). With a background in psychotherapy, Hodes also has an MBA from Northwestern University and a Masters in Clinical Social Work. More info: [email protected], 800-883-7995, www.cmiteamwork.com.

Creating Customer Focused Teams, Part 1

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What is a Customer Focused Team?

The word ‘team’ is overused in business; it gets applied to any group of humans in a work setting. However, when you define a team as everything, you end up with nothing.

The best and most concise definition for corporate teams I have found comes from The Wisdom of Teams by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith. They define a team as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” The crucial words are ‘common purpose’ and ‘mutually accountable.’ Without these, you don’t have a team.

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About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bruce HodesSince growing up in his family’s boating business to founding his company CMI, Bruce Hodes has dedicated himself to helping companies grow by developing executive leadership teams, business leaders and executives into powerful performers. Bruce’s adaptable Breakthrough Strategic Business Planning methodology has been specifically designed for small-to-mid-sized companies and is especially valuable for family company challenges. In February of 2012 Bruce published his first book Front Line Heroes: Battling the business Tsunami by developing high performance organizations (Volume 1). With a background in psychotherapy, Hodes also has an MBA from Northwestern University and a Masters in Clinical Social Work. More info: [email protected], 800-883-7995, www.cmiteamwork.com.

Departed Client Analysis: Opening Formal Channels of Feedback to Improve Customer Retention

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Do you know the real reasons why your lost customers decided to stop working with your company? Do you understand the unmet needs of your most dissatisfied clients?

When you are part of a senior management team running a large business, it can be easy to become insulated from the day-to-day realities of how your company is handling its customer base. Often, internal customer satisfaction data and lost client information is filtered and distorted as it makes its way up the organizational chain of command, resulting in a less than complete picture of the actual customer experience.

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About the Author

Richard Schroder is president of Anova Consulting Group, a leading market research and consulting firm focused on Win Loss Analysis and Client Satisfaction Research. He is a sought-after speaker and a recognized thought leader in Win Loss Analysis. He is the author of a new book, From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call (McGraw-Hill, 2011). To read Richard’s complete biography, click here.

Learn more about the Anova Consulting Group at www.TheAnovaGroup.com.

Championship aftermath. The first breeds the second.

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The Miami Heat just won the NBA title, and LeBron James, aka ‘King James,’ won the most valuable player award.

He completed a nine-year mission.

A reporter asked him what his first thoughts were. He instantly replied with a HUGE smile, “It’s about damn time.”

As most know, the game of basketball is a team effort and a team victory, but LeBron James’ individual performance ranks as one of the all time greats.

For the next week or two, there will be euphoric celebrations by players and fans alike. Parades, interviews, t-shirts, hats – you name it.

Then it’s time for the reality of ‘next year.’

Think about LeBron’s first eight years. Season after season, no championship. He made the finals twice, but got beat.

Fan discouragement pales in comparison to LeBron’s personal discouragement and frustration from not winning a championship. Pile on the media. Until finally last night… VICTORY!

It seems as though the entire sports world was relieved. Sure, there are plenty of people who don’t have LeBron James on their “like” list, but that’s predominately the result of petty jealously or envy.

In his postgame interview, LeBron talked about his trying to prove others wrong mentality during the finals loss last year, versus his mentality that lead to the win this year. He said, “I just got back to being who I am, just got back to enjoying the game I fell in love with and why I fell in love with it.”

QUESTION: How do you think LeBron is going to play next year?
ANSWER: With the quiet confidence of a champion.

MAJOR CLUE: The first championship is the hardest. (Just like earning the first million is the hardest, and just like winning the first sale is the hardest.)

It’s important for you to understand the confidence that’s instilled in your soul after you make that first big sale. It’s easy to see in others, it’s difficult to see in yourself. The only way you can gain it is to take the responsibility to make it happen – for you.

The Heat won as a team, but I guarantee you LeBron James is sitting there with a personal feeling of accomplishment that can never be explained, only felt.

There’s an old adage that says “there’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team.’” WRONG THINKING! A winning team is made up of superior individuals. Jack Ramsay, one of the greatest coaches of all time, says, “You coach the game and you coach the player.” He left out the word team and won championships because of it.

I have watched Jack Ramsay coach since 1963. From the time he was a coach at St. Joseph’s College, I have never seen a coach get more out of individual players. When the Portland Trailblazers won the 1977 championship, they had two great players, Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas, coupled with a bunch of mediocre players. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers (one of the greatest teams of all time), and beat them handily. Jack Ramsay was the primary reason. He coached those players to victory and as a result the team won.

Have you reached ‘championship mentality and qualification?’ Ask yourself these questions…

  • What is your confidence level?
  • What is your skill level?
  • How strong is your love of the sales game?
  • How intense is your desire to win? (Or are you still taking the first ‘no?’)
  • What is your anger and or frustration level?
  • How good is your coach?

HERE’S A CLUE: Win one. Win a BIG ONE. Win a big sale, and your confidence level to win the next one cannot be measured. It’s off the chart.

Champions do not start out that way.
First they work their ass off.
Then they win.
You?

(LeBron’s postgame interview – an interview I believe every salesperson on the planet should download and put on their playlist once a day, can be found here http://bit.ly/L48nq7.)

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].