In every workplace, in every position there are patters that can be found that work better than others. Some people seem to fit into an organization and get ahead while others seem to wallow on the sidelines. Some get raises and promotions while others just sit there and get stuck in dead end jobs.
Looking at personal success or at least the possibility a person needs to be in the forward moving forward thinking group to “get ahead”. Advancements, oppoertuies at out there so why not you?
The following are several things I have found to get you and your career on the track for success.
1) Deliver Value. Of all the actions steps you can take this might be the most important. An employee must make sure they contribute more than their cost to the organization to make headway. In the end we are all in a pay for performance situation. If you add more value to the pile you will advance.
2) Continue Your Education. There is power in knowledge. People who have a collage education before entering the workforce do have a bigger foot in the door. Then you need to keep learning and gaining experience form each work assignment. Lean everything there is to know and make yourself to be the best at everything you can. Today’s world takes no pity on the person who is lazy about learning. Either you take personal responsibility for continuing your education or you well end up going to a certain level and getting stuck. It does not take long for skills and knowledge to become outdated in the world. Technology is advancing at such a fast rate that even books cannot keep up with it. Case in point is that when I go the a book store and look for a good book on Social Media I am usually past what the author has written. I feel lucky if I can find one or two good ideas out of a book. Lifelong learning is no longer an option. You will never really finish your education; you will only keep continuing it.
3) Exhibit positive core values. Personal values are at the very core of who and what we are. These are the values that we hold nearest and dearest to us and which define who we are to the world. Most companies and people look for integrity, honesty, respect, loyalty and commitment. If you demonstrate these positive values that will help you to stand out from the crowd.
4) Volunteer. Volunteer for anything that will broaden your experience and knowledge. Don’t shy away from the tough assignments. Unlike the army, if you are the go to guy and take on the tough assignments and can deliver a positive result you will be recognized. Promotions usually do not come along all that frequently but there is a power in lateral assignment. Accept a lateral more that will broaden your skills and experience. Don’t worry about the perks, the titles etc.
5) Embrace the change. If there is one thing I can guarantee and that is that things will not remain the same. Change is inevitable. You will be faced with change and more rapidly than ever before, Change can be staggering and overwhelming. New expectations, shifting priorities and different relationships, you must be ready and eager to adopt and accept change. Embracing it into your life and life style. Take personal responsibility for figuring out what your top priorities are then work to make it happen. Don’t wait for other people to define your position and job duties, Sit down, quickly seek out the information you need and show the imitative to align yourself with the direction you see the organization going, Develop the ability to improvise and be flexible and accept that work life is a moving target.
6) Create positive relationships. Build positive relationships with everyone in the work place and your working world, from the highest to the lowest. The more people you have positive relationships with the more valuable you are.
7) Find a role model. In most work places it is easy to identify the top performers. They are the ones that managers defer to and ask for advice. They are the ones who always seem to come through when things need to get done. They have job stability, work options and most likely a very solid career going. Watch them emulate what you can from them and work off the positive model they present. It is more than likely that you will need to emulate more than one person. Some people are good problem solvers others are better at project management.
8) Help others succeed. There is nothing you can do more for an organization than to help others become successful. Find out what other people need to accomplish a task or objective and help them to achieve it. You will find this a very powerful way to form working relationships. And remember freely give credit and recognition to others when an assignment or task is completed. People know the reality of a relationship and know the back ground of success.
9) Develop the big picture. Hold yourself accountable personally for the outcome of anything you touch, do or work on. Think broadly and develop the big picture. Learn to work across departments and boundaries. Avoid turf wars and issues and combine your efforts seamlessly with others to get the job done.
10) Avoid negative people. Every company has them, well almost every company does. Negative people who drag everyone down or tries to, to their level. Don’t go there. You’re better than that. When you need to interact with the negative elements stick to the facts and get back to your own tasks and objectives. Get the work down and move on.
11) Find YOUR mentor. Find a respectable person in the organization who is willing to freely give you and your career advice, counsel and help. They might not be in your direct reporting chain but never the less they can make you and guide you to make better choices than you would alone.
12) Be persistent. People make a mystery out of success. Really there is no real mystery at all. First decide what you want, develop a plan, take action, monitor the results and adjust as needed, and in the words of Winston Churchill, never, never, never give up. Find and develop the strength and determination to stay with a job all the way to completion. Through the problems the fatigue. Success comes more times than not to the one who hangs on after all others have let go. This more than anything will carry you and your career to the success you desire.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Greening the USPS Fleet: a Word from PRC Chair Ruth Goldway
In light of the introduction last week of Congressman José E. Serrano's new legislation - H.R. 4399,The American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or "e-Drive" - MST and Parcel wanted to ask an early proponent of this concept, PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway, her impressions of this legislation and the whole concept of "greening" the USPS fleet.
Q: You have been a very strong proponent of electric delivery vehicles for the Postal Service. What does this pending legislation mean for the USPS, the consumer and the shipping and mailing community? The legislation addresses several National priorities to promote energy efficiency, energy independence, national security, and environmental progress. In addition, it is an important step toward developing a new 21st century infrastructure for the country and the green jobs that will go with it. The real world experience gained by deploying electric vehicles will help increase the use of electric vehicles throughout our nation.For the Postal Service, it promises to lower the costs of operating a massive delivery fleet and make the Service an even better neighbor in the community by using quieter, cleaner vehicles. Not only will last-mile delivery costs be reduced but postal customers, shippers and mailers also will benefit from the lessons learned and innovations that come from this effort.Much of the Postal Service's delivery fleet is fast approaching the end of its design service life. This is a unique opportunity to make this change.
Q: The Postal Service faces serious financial difficulties. What benefits will this have for the Postal Service?The Postal Service currently operates the Nation's largest civilian vehicle fleet. Every penny increase in the price of gasoline translates into millions of dollars in increased costs for the Postal Service. Electric vehicles have the potential to greatly lower those costs for the Postal Service. This would not solve the Postal Service's financial problems, but it would be a step in the right direction financially. It would also reinforce the historic role that the Postal Service has played in advancing the technological and social progress of the nation. For example, the Postal Service had been critical to the growth and development of the nation's road, rail and air transportation networks.Now the Postal Service is in a perfect position to help the Nation advance its energy independence and security goals, and promote a cleaner environment.
Q: Tell us more about V2G technology - it sounds exotic. What is V2G, and will it save the Postal Service money?Vehicle to grid (V2G) technology is a simple concept. In general, V2G involves utilizing vehicle batteries as a collective stored energy reservoir to help supplement or stabilize the electric grid. Power produced at off-peak times could help fill gaps during times of peak energy demand. However, in the case of the Postal Service, I believe the best use of this energy reservoir would be to help balance out unevenness and fluctuations found in every electric power grid. The companies that run the electric networks are willing to pay good money for availability of electric energy reservoirs under names such as "regulation services." This could provide a source of income for the Postal Service.
Q: Is the plan to retrofit the existing Long Life vehicles or to purchase new ones? That would be a decision that remains for the Postal Service and lawmakers to work out. The workhorses of the Postal delivery fleet - the LLVs - were designed with long-life bodies that were intended to be refitted with new drive trains as the old ones wore out. However, other structural components are starting to wear out and the details of retrofitting these vehicles with electric drive trains present a challenge. In any case, Postal Service will soon need to update its fleet, either with totally new vehicles or with a combination of some new trucks and some retrofitted LLVs.
Q: We're hearing the term "Emissions Free Delivery" for the new electric delivery vehicles, a 21st century twist on the old Rural Free Delivery program. Do you expect that this new program will enhance the image of the Postal Service? Yes. I think the Postal Service would garner not only hands-on technical expertise but also considerable goodwill from the public from this effort. Deploying electric vehicles throughout the nation will raise the visibility of the Postal Service in a positive way and will help encourage other large fleets to venture down this path.
Q: The Postal Service seems to be focusing on Last-mile delivery, and it appears to be paying off. UPS, FedEx and other package companies now turn over millions of packages per day for Last-mile delivery by the Postal Service. Will there be advantages for USPS delivery and logistics partners? Everyone would stand to benefit from breakthroughs in vehicular technology that reduce delivery costs and pollution and promote a more secure power supply for the nation, its citizens and its businesses. Reducing last-mile delivery costs would open up cost-sensitive market segments and permit increased cooperative endeavors between the Postal Service and its competitors-partners.
Q: Are there any additional benefits, social or economic, to greening the Postal fleet? Yes - Lower costs, a healthier environment, a more secure nation, and the potential to create new growth industries for the 21st century. For example, buying quantities of electric delivery vehicles would form an important initial market for the type of batteries to be used in these vehicles. It would build valuable new skills and training in electric vehicle repair and maintenance for the Postal Services experienced vehicle mechanics. It's all about progress and continuing the great traditions of American ingenuity and leadership, and, of course, Postal Service participation in both.
Larson Notes & Satire: Another great idea let’s spend money we don't have to update the fleet. Hybrid cars currently are more expensive than a normal car and are really not build for the stop and go of a postal vehicle.
To me, long term success will embrace hydrogen technology, for which the postal service and their built in post office network are perfectly suited for deployment and even resale to the general public. Pure electric vehicles are still not there for practical rugged commercial application and the limited amount of battery resources will make it even almost impossible as well as expensive to deploy.
Where do we go as far as an effeceint postal service? Let’s get politics out of it and sit down with real people who have real answers who are not beholden to anyone.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
Larson Notes & Satire: Another great idea let’s spend money we don't have to update the fleet. Hybrid cars currently are more expensive than a normal car and are really not build for the stop and go of a postal vehicle.
To me, long term success will embrace hydrogen technology, for which the postal service and their built in post office network are perfectly suited for deployment and even resale to the general public. Pure electric vehicles are still not there for practical rugged commercial application and the limited amount of battery resources will make it even almost impossible as well as expensive to deploy.
Where do we go as far as an effeceint postal service? Let’s get politics out of it and sit down with real people who have real answers who are not beholden to anyone.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Customer Records: Then And Now
As we have access to more and more information it is important to keep better, deeper more accurate more complete records of customers and companies. What have we been doing and what might we want to be collecting?
Traditional Customer Record Keeping
1) Account date
2) Order entry data including in-store, phone orders, e-commerce
3) Billing information
4) Credit information, including third-party info like Dun & Bradstreet ratings bank info and credit agency inquiries
5) Customer cost allocation data
6) Interaction data that involved communication with the customer including emails, phone calls, online chats, etc
7) Service data including open tickets, successful and unsuccessful service requests, standard inquiries etc.
8) Marketing data, including campaign responses, promotion offered and reaction to them.
9) Segmentation data including standard demographic data, and company and/or household information
New areas of Customer Record Keeping
10) Records of unstructured individual customer conversations found via social media monitoring and text analysis which might include comments, discussions in threaded forums, blog posts etc.
11) Profile information from SM areas like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Nings, MerchantCircle and other social networking sights.
12) Records of content created by the individual influencer or customer
13) Third party information associated with an account including competitive intelligence or contemporary news
14) The nature of the customer’s role as a decision maker within a business in a B2B transaction, the influence they wields and how and how they influence
Larson Notes & Satire: The information over load hits Contact Management. It had to happen. All that information floating around out there, some good, some a sheer waste of time, had and should be put to use for the betterment of your customer profiles and creating a prospect profile to go out and find more customers. Sigh, all it takes is time.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Traditional Customer Record Keeping
1) Account date
2) Order entry data including in-store, phone orders, e-commerce
3) Billing information
4) Credit information, including third-party info like Dun & Bradstreet ratings bank info and credit agency inquiries
5) Customer cost allocation data
6) Interaction data that involved communication with the customer including emails, phone calls, online chats, etc
7) Service data including open tickets, successful and unsuccessful service requests, standard inquiries etc.
8) Marketing data, including campaign responses, promotion offered and reaction to them.
9) Segmentation data including standard demographic data, and company and/or household information
New areas of Customer Record Keeping
10) Records of unstructured individual customer conversations found via social media monitoring and text analysis which might include comments, discussions in threaded forums, blog posts etc.
11) Profile information from SM areas like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Nings, MerchantCircle and other social networking sights.
12) Records of content created by the individual influencer or customer
13) Third party information associated with an account including competitive intelligence or contemporary news
14) The nature of the customer’s role as a decision maker within a business in a B2B transaction, the influence they wields and how and how they influence
Larson Notes & Satire: The information over load hits Contact Management. It had to happen. All that information floating around out there, some good, some a sheer waste of time, had and should be put to use for the betterment of your customer profiles and creating a prospect profile to go out and find more customers. Sigh, all it takes is time.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
The Week Ahead December 21 - December 24, 2009
Monday:
Tuesday: Gross Domestic Product 3rd quarter est., Existing Home Sales
Wednesday: Personal Income and Consumption, New Home Sales, Crude Inventories
Thursday: Durable Goods Orders, Weekly initial jobless claims
Friday:
Larson Notes & Satire: Jobs, jobs, jobs. The statics that came out last week did not look good for jobs. As we look to the New Year there are two major areas we need to be looking at productivity and jobs. If we can put in place the jobs needed we will increase consumption which will increase demand. If we can lower taxes we can put more money in the pockets of people and businesses that will buy what we sell. If we can keep the dollar low, we can continue to market more heavily overseas but of course the drawback is imports will cost more. It’s a tossup as to is it good or is it bad No, I’m not greedy only practical.
As for this shortened Christmas week, I am looking at good things for the most part the GDP should be up, I think home sales will still be up and Durable Goods should be holding strong. Jobs, well see above.
On the political front the healthcare bill is passing and the unemployment and defense spending went though.
The focused industries we are looking to add clients in for the month are Advertising Specialties, Trade Show Booth Builder, Sign Shop, a Graphic Design Studio, and Printers both small and mid-sized.
We are still looking for sales persons in all areas except
the Great Plains States.
If interested give us a call at 847-991-0488.
Howard’s out of office public schedule for the week:
Monday: Tuesday: Running Training 6:15am,
Wednesday: Thursday: Running Training 6:15am
Friday: Saturday: Marathon Training 6:15am
Sunday:
Trade show schedule:
> February 9-11, 2010 Medical Design & Manufacturing West, Anaheim Convention center Anaheim CA (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> March 14-16 2010 Internal Home and Housewares Show, McCormick Place, Chicago
> May 12-13, 2010 OrthoTec Conference Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College Winona Lake (Warsaw), IN (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> June 8-10, 2010 EastPack 2010 Jacob K Javits Convention Center New York NY FL (Registered but not committed to going yet)
Time slots still available to meet & talk over coffee.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday: Gross Domestic Product 3rd quarter est., Existing Home Sales
Wednesday: Personal Income and Consumption, New Home Sales, Crude Inventories
Thursday: Durable Goods Orders, Weekly initial jobless claims
Friday:
Larson Notes & Satire: Jobs, jobs, jobs. The statics that came out last week did not look good for jobs. As we look to the New Year there are two major areas we need to be looking at productivity and jobs. If we can put in place the jobs needed we will increase consumption which will increase demand. If we can lower taxes we can put more money in the pockets of people and businesses that will buy what we sell. If we can keep the dollar low, we can continue to market more heavily overseas but of course the drawback is imports will cost more. It’s a tossup as to is it good or is it bad No, I’m not greedy only practical.
As for this shortened Christmas week, I am looking at good things for the most part the GDP should be up, I think home sales will still be up and Durable Goods should be holding strong. Jobs, well see above.
On the political front the healthcare bill is passing and the unemployment and defense spending went though.
The focused industries we are looking to add clients in for the month are Advertising Specialties, Trade Show Booth Builder, Sign Shop, a Graphic Design Studio, and Printers both small and mid-sized.
We are still looking for sales persons in all areas except
the Great Plains States.If interested give us a call at 847-991-0488.
Howard’s out of office public schedule for the week:
Monday: Tuesday: Running Training 6:15am,
Wednesday: Thursday: Running Training 6:15am
Friday: Saturday: Marathon Training 6:15am
Sunday:
Trade show schedule:
> February 9-11, 2010 Medical Design & Manufacturing West, Anaheim Convention center Anaheim CA (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> March 14-16 2010 Internal Home and Housewares Show, McCormick Place, Chicago
> May 12-13, 2010 OrthoTec Conference Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College Winona Lake (Warsaw), IN (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> June 8-10, 2010 EastPack 2010 Jacob K Javits Convention Center New York NY FL (Registered but not committed to going yet)
Time slots still available to meet & talk over coffee.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The 7 Keys to Larson’s Good Customer Experience in 2010
2009 has not been a nice year to a lot of us. Working harder and seeing less in the way of tangible returns. But despite the economic problems there has been some good solid upgrades in many of my customer service efforts, more is needed but progress has been made. What kinds of efforts have I been working on? Efforts that make a real difference? Well, poorly designed interactions, broken processes, out of date business runes, insufficient customer insight, and a business culture that is far from being customer-centered. So what’s up for next year? We are planning on being even more active than we were this year both on line and f2f so what is on deck?
1st We will be working hard to drop any kind of executive commitment façade. We will continue to work at not saying the customer experience is important but that despite the problems in dedicating the time and energy required to make it happen we will make it a real top priority not just in word but in deed!
2nd We have come to the conclusion we do not know our customers as well as we could or should. That being said, it takes us too long to market our products and services. We need to develop programs that in 2010 that provide ongoing and continuous access to us and us to them.
3rd We cannot allow ourselves to get overly distracted by social media. Twitter, Facebook, Nings, MerchantCircle and all the rest may seem like they are producing but they are only another marketing channel. Nothing more and nothing less. We need to learn from social media feed back; learn from it, but not over react because of it.
4th Stop Killing Customer Service. Yes taking away what good customer service does. Customers care more about good customer service then they do about low prices. Many customer interactions are critical moments that promote customer loyalty. Price and discounting does not do that. Companies like to treat customer serves as an unwanted stepchild of necessity (and pay their customer service people accordingly putting no value in what miracles’ they perform)
5th Put a purpose behind your brand. Your brand is want makes you, YOU. It is more than your corporate color, your logo, your marketing slogan. It is the essence of what separates you from the competition. We all need to redefine our brand and embedding it in the hearts and minds of all your customers, prospects and employees.
6th Don’t expect your employees to get on board all by themselves. Your employees are often the most critical part of any customer experience effort but you can’t just sit back and expect them to jump on board. They have seen management, yes all you suits out there talking the talk, but not walking the walk of solid customer service. So we all need to engage your employees, our share holders and our stake holders to come with us.
7th Translate your customer experience into business terms. There is a strong correlation between customer experience and loyalty and on the average I have found that on the average a company can generate 2.84% more in gross sales with good customer service in the short run and can keep a customer coming back for years if they are treated right.
Larson Notes: We will be developing a customer experience check list that shows tracks service points not just financial results. We will be attempting to create a customer voice program to provide coos channel team access that forces us to listen, interpret, react and monitor actions in real time from our customers and hot prospects. We will treat all SM media as one of the many ways to listen to our customers, prospects and competition in unstructured feedback and at the same time promote new and untried ideas. We will find ways to measure our customer service based on how effectively we help customers instead of treating that essential service like a meat market. We will be translating our brand into promises that will be made in conjunction with our customers at every touch point possible. Open the doors of communication with why customer service and the experience is important to you, and do it, Walk that walk and let the talking be done with your actions not your mouth. We will be communicating why the customer experience is important with all our people front line and back line. We will be engaging our “money people” to help translate what impact it really means to put in place top of the line customer service people and make wages set accordingly. I’m thing it is more than the $9.00 to $10.00 an hour I see in the paper all the time. If these front line people are engaged with my customers I want the best of the best!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
1st We will be working hard to drop any kind of executive commitment façade. We will continue to work at not saying the customer experience is important but that despite the problems in dedicating the time and energy required to make it happen we will make it a real top priority not just in word but in deed!
2nd We have come to the conclusion we do not know our customers as well as we could or should. That being said, it takes us too long to market our products and services. We need to develop programs that in 2010 that provide ongoing and continuous access to us and us to them.
3rd We cannot allow ourselves to get overly distracted by social media. Twitter, Facebook, Nings, MerchantCircle and all the rest may seem like they are producing but they are only another marketing channel. Nothing more and nothing less. We need to learn from social media feed back; learn from it, but not over react because of it.
4th Stop Killing Customer Service. Yes taking away what good customer service does. Customers care more about good customer service then they do about low prices. Many customer interactions are critical moments that promote customer loyalty. Price and discounting does not do that. Companies like to treat customer serves as an unwanted stepchild of necessity (and pay their customer service people accordingly putting no value in what miracles’ they perform)
5th Put a purpose behind your brand. Your brand is want makes you, YOU. It is more than your corporate color, your logo, your marketing slogan. It is the essence of what separates you from the competition. We all need to redefine our brand and embedding it in the hearts and minds of all your customers, prospects and employees.
6th Don’t expect your employees to get on board all by themselves. Your employees are often the most critical part of any customer experience effort but you can’t just sit back and expect them to jump on board. They have seen management, yes all you suits out there talking the talk, but not walking the walk of solid customer service. So we all need to engage your employees, our share holders and our stake holders to come with us.
7th Translate your customer experience into business terms. There is a strong correlation between customer experience and loyalty and on the average I have found that on the average a company can generate 2.84% more in gross sales with good customer service in the short run and can keep a customer coming back for years if they are treated right.
Larson Notes: We will be developing a customer experience check list that shows tracks service points not just financial results. We will be attempting to create a customer voice program to provide coos channel team access that forces us to listen, interpret, react and monitor actions in real time from our customers and hot prospects. We will treat all SM media as one of the many ways to listen to our customers, prospects and competition in unstructured feedback and at the same time promote new and untried ideas. We will find ways to measure our customer service based on how effectively we help customers instead of treating that essential service like a meat market. We will be translating our brand into promises that will be made in conjunction with our customers at every touch point possible. Open the doors of communication with why customer service and the experience is important to you, and do it, Walk that walk and let the talking be done with your actions not your mouth. We will be communicating why the customer experience is important with all our people front line and back line. We will be engaging our “money people” to help translate what impact it really means to put in place top of the line customer service people and make wages set accordingly. I’m thing it is more than the $9.00 to $10.00 an hour I see in the paper all the time. If these front line people are engaged with my customers I want the best of the best!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The 17 Laws of Larson Teamwork
Law 1: The law of significance - One Is too small a number to achieve greatness!
Law 2: The law of the big picture - The goal is more important than the roll.
Law3: The law of the niche – All players have a place where they add the most value.
Law 4: The law of Mount Everest – As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates.
Law 5: Law of the chain – The strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link.
Law 6: Law of the catalyst – Winning teams have players who make things happen.
Law 7: Law of the compass – vision gives team members direction and confidence.
Law 8: Law of the bad apple – Rotten attitudes ruins a good team.
Law 9: Law of accountability – teammates must be able to count on each other with it really counts!
Law 10: Law of the price tag – The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay the price of success.
Law 11: Law of the scoreboard – The team can make adjustments when it knows where it stands.
Law 12: Law of the bench – Great teams have great depth!
Law 13: Law of identity – Shared values defines the team.
Law 14: Law of communication – interaction fuels action!
Law 15: Law of the edge – The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership
Law 16: Law of high moral – When you’re winning nothing hurts.
Law 17: Law of dividends – Investing the team compounds over time.
Larson Notes: You might have Laws that you would want to add to my list and I would love to hear them and see if and how they would fit in with my profile and self image. I might have to expand up from 17. We are all different and that is what makes us each special and our businesses truly unique extensions of ourselves
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Law 2: The law of the big picture - The goal is more important than the roll.
Law3: The law of the niche – All players have a place where they add the most value.
Law 4: The law of Mount Everest – As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates.
Law 5: Law of the chain – The strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link.
Law 6: Law of the catalyst – Winning teams have players who make things happen.
Law 7: Law of the compass – vision gives team members direction and confidence.
Law 8: Law of the bad apple – Rotten attitudes ruins a good team.
Law 9: Law of accountability – teammates must be able to count on each other with it really counts!
Law 10: Law of the price tag – The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay the price of success.
Law 11: Law of the scoreboard – The team can make adjustments when it knows where it stands.
Law 12: Law of the bench – Great teams have great depth!
Law 13: Law of identity – Shared values defines the team.
Law 14: Law of communication – interaction fuels action!
Law 15: Law of the edge – The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership
Law 16: Law of high moral – When you’re winning nothing hurts.
Law 17: Law of dividends – Investing the team compounds over time.
Larson Notes: You might have Laws that you would want to add to my list and I would love to hear them and see if and how they would fit in with my profile and self image. I might have to expand up from 17. We are all different and that is what makes us each special and our businesses truly unique extensions of ourselves
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Week Ahead December 14 - December 18, 2009
Monday:
Tuesday: November Producers Price Index, November Industrial Production
Wednesday: Federal Reserve Meeting, November Consumer Price Index, November Housing Starts
Thursday: November Leading Economic Indicators, Weekly initial jobless claims
Friday:
Larson Notes: We should be looking at good reports (again) this week. But keep a wary eye out. The congress passed a bloated budget all 1000 pages of it. Now they go back to the health care bill. I have personally figured out how we will get National Healthcare plan. If we look at what is proposed we have government health care up to 25 now, with the new bill uninsured and unemployed will be able to sign on the Medicare at 55. Then wait a few years and the govenment will squeeze that with “children” up to 30 and “seniors” down to 50.
Also on the government watch federal workers will be getting a 2% wage increase. When the private sector is doing all they can to keep themselves in business the government keeps on picking our pockets. Sorry fans, but the government does not in any way shape or form produce any kind of wealth. They suck it up.
But there was good news last week as expected, US household net worth rose 5% in the 3rd quarter. And retail sales were up higher than expected at 1.3%.
For those of you who think we really are past the recession, keep in mind that while our economy grew at 3%, the Chinese at 7% and the Indian at 7&, the German shrunk by over 5%, and Argentina, Spain, and Greece are on currency watch.
The focused industries we are looking to add clients in for the month are Advertising Specialties, Trade Show Booth Builder, Sign Shop, a Graphic Design Studio, and Printers both small and mid-sized.
We are still looking for sales persons in all areas except
the Great Plains States.
If interested give us a call at 847-991-0488.
Howard’s out of office public schedule for the week:
Monday:
Tuesday: Running Training 6:15am,
Wednesday:
Thursday: Running Training 6:15am
Friday:
Saturday: Marathon Training 6:15am
Sunday:
Trade show schedule:
> February 9-11, 2010 Medical Design & Manufacturing West, Anaheim Convention center Anaheim CA (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> March 14-16 2010 Internal Home and Housewares Show, McCormick Place, Chicago
> May 12-13, 2010 OrthoTec Conference Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College Winona Lake (Warsaw), IN (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> June 8-10, 2010 EastPack 2010 Jacob K Javits Convention Center New York NY FL (Registered but not committed to going yet)
Time slots still available to meet & talk over coffee.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday: November Producers Price Index, November Industrial Production
Wednesday: Federal Reserve Meeting, November Consumer Price Index, November Housing Starts
Thursday: November Leading Economic Indicators, Weekly initial jobless claims
Friday:
Larson Notes: We should be looking at good reports (again) this week. But keep a wary eye out. The congress passed a bloated budget all 1000 pages of it. Now they go back to the health care bill. I have personally figured out how we will get National Healthcare plan. If we look at what is proposed we have government health care up to 25 now, with the new bill uninsured and unemployed will be able to sign on the Medicare at 55. Then wait a few years and the govenment will squeeze that with “children” up to 30 and “seniors” down to 50.
Also on the government watch federal workers will be getting a 2% wage increase. When the private sector is doing all they can to keep themselves in business the government keeps on picking our pockets. Sorry fans, but the government does not in any way shape or form produce any kind of wealth. They suck it up.
But there was good news last week as expected, US household net worth rose 5% in the 3rd quarter. And retail sales were up higher than expected at 1.3%.
For those of you who think we really are past the recession, keep in mind that while our economy grew at 3%, the Chinese at 7% and the Indian at 7&, the German shrunk by over 5%, and Argentina, Spain, and Greece are on currency watch.
The focused industries we are looking to add clients in for the month are Advertising Specialties, Trade Show Booth Builder, Sign Shop, a Graphic Design Studio, and Printers both small and mid-sized.
We are still looking for sales persons in all areas except
the Great Plains States.
If interested give us a call at 847-991-0488.
Howard’s out of office public schedule for the week:
Monday:
Tuesday: Running Training 6:15am,
Wednesday:
Thursday: Running Training 6:15am
Friday:
Saturday: Marathon Training 6:15am
Sunday:
Trade show schedule:
> February 9-11, 2010 Medical Design & Manufacturing West, Anaheim Convention center Anaheim CA (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> March 14-16 2010 Internal Home and Housewares Show, McCormick Place, Chicago
> May 12-13, 2010 OrthoTec Conference Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College Winona Lake (Warsaw), IN (Registered but not committed to going yet)
> June 8-10, 2010 EastPack 2010 Jacob K Javits Convention Center New York NY FL (Registered but not committed to going yet)
Time slots still available to meet & talk over coffee.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://businesswarfare.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson
http://www.businessiibusiness.com/profile/HowardLarson
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
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