HCM Sales Marketing & Alliance Excellence January 2023

A company must be careful of a solution to a problem that will damage the organization

- William Cohen, President, Institute of Leader Arts

19 Recognition Is Critical

In order to be effective, recognition must be genuine, specific, sincere, and timely

- John Tschohl, Founder and President, Service Quality Institute 23 Spending Money Isn’t A Bad Thing!

Learning how to spend your money gives you a competitive edge

- Tonia Peasley, Financial Coach

How Email Marketing 2.0 Is Shaping

A Better CX

Building

- Natasha, Content Marketing Specialist, SaaS businesses

Are You Creating A Strong Service Ethic?

Service-centered organizations value a philanthropic spirit

- Chip R. Bell, Renowned Keynote Speaker Customer

- Krystal Lamoureux, Vice President, Customer Success, Pearson

From an entrepreneurial couple who survived the pandemic

- Jamie Ratner, CEO and Founder, and Brian Ratner, Co-founder and President, CertifiKID

HR.com makes HR Professionals smarter and we are sure your solutions do as well.

That being said, we understand how hard it is to market in the Human Capital space, get the attention of your target audience and show HR departments that you are a valuable resource. So, how do you overcome this hurdle?

Easy. Work with HR.com.

With over 19 years experience working with HR solution providers, we give over 1,200,000 HR professionals access to the tools and resources they need to succeed. We work side-by-side with HR solution providers to help them generate sales leads, grow market share, build brand awareness and promote industry expertise.

Checkout our growing list of tools and resources our vendors can take advantage of to get noticed by HR professionals!

Research

Build your brand, content marketing strategies, and thought leadership with exclusive HR.com research. Choose between custom featured research or state-of-the-industry research sponsorship. With custom featured research, we work with you to develop research on the topic of your choice or align your brand with any of this year’s State of the Industry hot topics to highlight the latest HR trends. No matter which research strategy you choose, come away with your very own branded research report and infographic, establish yourself as an industry thought leader by presenting a webcast, get key insights from the opinions of highly qualified HR professionals, and maximize your ROI, and build a healthy sales funnel with over 1,000 qualified leads.

Managed Email Campaigns

Looking to expand your marketing reach? Build long-term customer loyalty? Generate high response rates? Drive website traffic? The value of HR.com’s opt-in direct email program allows you to do just that. Nurture potential buyers on a consistent basis through our managed campaign program. Deliver your message directly to HR decision makers’ inboxes. HR.com’s direct email lists are 100% optin, GDPR, CASL, and CAN-SPAM compliant and contain only the most exclusive names and companies in the human capital industry.

Online Advertising

HR Marketing Institute

The HR Marketing Institute (HRMI) is the ONLY community of Marketing Professionals in the Human Capital space dedicated exclusively to the issues and needs of the marketing professionals and their businesses. This is a community of Marketing professionals who dedicate their time to marketing in the Human Capital space and who support each other to make the right decisions so that your marketing initiatives deliver the impact you need to succeed. Membership includes networking with peers, face to face summits, webcasts, research and benchmarking tools.

Webcasts and Virtual Events

Thought Leadership, Lead Generation and Educational Content

HR.com’s Webcasts and Virtual Events are more than an exercise in brand awareness. They are a comprehensive and groundbreaking way of generating tangible sales leads, while showcasing you as an industry authority to a captive audience of clients, prospects and the entire HR.com global community, giving you a greater market reach. In addition, HR.com’s one-hour webcasts provide valuable education and certification credits for today’s forward-thinking HR professionals.

Onsite advertising is a great way to reinforce brand and profile new products associated with a product launch. HR.com offers a variety of online advertising solutions including banner ads and premier homepage positioning making it a cost-efficient option for maximum brand exposure.

Buyer’s Guide

Be the Answer to the Questions HR Decision Makers are Asking

The HR.com’s Buyer’s Guide is where HR departments from around the world turn first when they need products and services. Put your company at the top of their list and get listed with the resource that HR professionals and decision makers trust.

Excellence Publications

Interactive Targeted Learning ePublications Aimed at Reaching Your Core Audience

HR.com’s 12 targeted and focused monthly online publications provide an invaluable collection of high-quality HR content and experts’ solutions to our members. Ten of our publications now feature themed editions that focus on specific topics. Sponsorship of research reports and webcasts aligned with the themes are also available.

Exclusive HR.com research

Attn: HR Solution Providers! Our solutions will get you more clients, brand exposure, sales –and a marketing community too!

EDITOR’S

Editorial Purpose

Debbie Mcgrath Publisher, HR.com

Top Ten Customer Service And Customer Experience Predictions For 2023

HappyNew Year! We have an exciting year ahead of us. So much has changed in just the past three years. And in the world of customer service and CX, there is much to be excited about.

Check out the Top Ten Customer Service And Customer Experience Predictions For 2023 that Shepard Presentations’ Shep Hyken lists down in his article.

Since email marketing came into existence, it has been known to be a multipurpose system for all brand advertisements and customer approaches. However, customers find it rather boring and inconvenient to see these numerous emails nowadays.

If you think that in this fast-growing generation, email marketing will be gone by the swift changes in technological standards. But email marketers are more aware of this situation, which is why email marketing 2.0 has been introduced. Learn How Email Marketing 2.0 Is Shaping A Better CX in Natasha’s article.

Customer service can be an “ethic”— shaping how customers are viewed and honored. People who work for organizations like Chick-fil-A, Nordstrom, or Ritz-Carlton Hotels are selected for their capacity to demonstrate a service ethic and then placed in a culture that nurtures that ethic. It is much more than simply “drinking the company Kool-Aid.”

A true service effort is not like a uniform you do when going to work. It is expressed in service to family, friends, and the community. Learn about this in Chip R. Bell’s Are You Creating A Strong Service Ethic?

Also, read Customer Success Equals Employee Success, and 5 Strategies To Recession-Proof Your Business, among others featured in this edition of HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence.

Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed in the Excellence ePublications are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HR.com and its employees. Under no circumstances shall HR.com or its partners or affiliates be responsible or liable for any indirect or incidental damages arising out of these opinions and content.

Deepa Damodaran Editor, HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence

In a world of unparalleled challenges (global pandemic, racial injustice, political rivalry, digital 4.0, emotional malaise), uncertainty reigns. Finding opportunity in this context requires harnessing uncertainty and harnessing starts with reliable, valid, timely, and useful information. The Excellence publications are a superb source of such information. The authors provide insights with impact that will guide thought and action.

Dave Ulrich

Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Partner, The RBL Group

Excellence publications are my ‘go-to’ resource for contemporary and actionable information to improve leadership, engagement, results, and retention. Each edition offers rich and diverse perspectives for improving the employee experience and the workplace in general.

Julie Winkle Giulioni

Author, Virtual /Live Keynote Presenter, Inc.’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers

I regularly read and contribute to Leadership Excellence and Talent Management Excellence. I use many of the articles I read to augment my own presentations and I often share the articles with my clients. They are always quick, right on target for the latest issues in my field, and appreciated by my clients. If you want to stay up to date on the latest HR trends, choose a few of the different issues from the Excellence series of publications.

Dr. Beverly Kaye CEO, BevKaye&Co.

Top Ten Customer Service And Customer Experience Predictions For 2023

By Shep Hyken, Shepard Presentations

I released my annual Top Ten Customer Experience Predictions in my weekly Forbes column. I don’t often repeat content, but I’m going to share those predictions and trends here, in a revised and shorter format. Here we go:

1. Customers Will Be Smarter and More Demanding Than Ever

I may sound like a broken record as I start each year with this prediction. Regardless of the type of business you’re in (B2B, B2C, B2B2C), everyone is a consumer. Certain B2C rockstar brands are teaching our customers what good service is like, and they now have higher expectations.

2. Companies Will Focus as Much –Maybe More – on Employees as They Do on Customers

Happy

New Year! We have an exciting year ahead of us. So much has changed in just the past three years. And in the world of customer service and CX, there is much to be excited about. Last month

With the employment issues that many companies are experiencing, we must do as much for our employees, if not more, than we do for our customers. Just as we want our customers to come back, we want our employees to stay.

There is much to be excited about in the world of customer service and CX

3. Customers’ Expectations of the “Basics” Continue to Rise

The basics are about friendly, helpful, convenient service. Our customer service research (sponsored by Amazon) found that year over year, customers’ expectations of these basics increased. The basics are simple to understand and not all that hard to implement.

4. Personalization Gets More Personal

Today’s customers are experiencing hyper-personalization. A better word for personalization might be individualization. So, what are you doing to create a truly individualized experience for your customers?

5. Some Companies Will Cut Expenses In the Wrong Places

With supply chain issues, employee issues and a rocky economy, many companies will have to make cuts. Some companies will make the mistake of cutting in areas their customers might notice – and that’s a mistake you want to avoid.

6. Customer Support Over the Phone Is Not Dead

The phone is still the most popular way for customers to contact a company with questions or problems. Our customer service research revealed that 87% of Baby Boomers, who make up over 21% of the U.S. population, prefer the phone any other channel. Keep those phones open for your customers!

7. Self-Service Is More Popular than Ever

While the phone still rules as the most popular way for people to contact a company, more and more customers are willing to use self-service options, such as a robust FAQ page on a website, chatbots, video tutorials and more. And just as Boomers are driving the traditional phone channels, Gen-Z and Millennials are moving the needle on these self-service options.

8. More Companies and Brands Will Stand for Something Important

Forty-five percent of your customers believe it’s important that a company supports a social cause. That’s almost half of your customers, and that number will grow. This is especially important to the younger generations, so if that’s your market, find ways to “give back” to support the issues that are important to your customers.

9. Customers Want to Do Business with Companies and Brands They Trust

This concept has become more important in the past few years. Trust is an emotional connection that drives repeat business and loyalty. One way to earn trust is to create a predictable, consistent experience. Eighty-one percent of consumers we surveyed said a great customer experience increases trust.

10. The Customer Support Department Becomes the Revenue Generation Department

In the past, customer support has been seen as a cost. Smart leaders are now realizing that

customer service and a focus on CX pays. If you’ve been following me, you know I’m a fan of referring to customer support as the Revenue Generation Department or the Customer Retention Center. Done right, customer support makes you money.

Shep Hyken is a Customer Service and Experience Expert and the Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with companies and organizations that want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. Would you like to comment?

How To Arrive At A Correct Fundamental Business Decision?

By William Cohen, Institute of Leader Arts

Drucker placed an enormous emphasis on what he called the fundamental business decision. He wrote that deciding what business you were in was the fundamental decision followed by concentrating on the practice of this decision. Neither is an easy task.

Limited Resources and Time Demand Focus Demands for any business’s resources and the time of its members are particularly important. Part of a manager’s job is determining whether an innovation, new idea, invention, or other attraction is an important opportunity or a business distraction that will require an investment in time, resources, effort, and money or can damage the business’s future. Of course, any activity may be a worthy cause and may publicize, promote, and help the business or be a social responsibility that

should be adopted. However, all activities outside the fundamental purpose must be examined

closely for both positive and negative business impacts before they are implemented.

A company must be careful of a solution to a problem that will damage the organization

Management experts are fond of pointing out what can go amiss. One example explains that while railroads once dominated transportation in the U.S., they missed an important opportunity because they failed to define their businesses more broadly, as transportation companies rather than as railroad companies. As airplane technology developed it assumed operations that formerly were performed only by locomotives because of advantages such as speed. Had airplanes been incorporated as a transport vehicle along with locomotives, this might have resulted in transportation companies incorporating both vehicles and becoming much larger than existing

railroad companies, many of which disappeared as airplane technology developed and offered advantages that locomotives could not duplicate.

The Wrong Solution

A company needs also to be careful of a solution to a problem that will damage the organization. One company that developed and manufactured helmets for military aviators faced periodic losses due to the U.S. Government’s purchasing policies which were based on annual approval of funding. When the work was completed, the company waited for the next contract to be approved. Even foreign sales were affected because the Government acted as

an agent for sales of the product to allied countries. As a result, the workload was a continuous cycle of peaks and valleys in sales and the company always had too many workers during the periods it was inactive while machinery and workers sat idle awaiting contract approval.

It decided that a possible solution was to fill consumer needs for a product line that would substitute for the lack of government sales while awaiting contract approval and the machinery, workers, and raw materials available for the manufacture of future government aviator helmets sat idle.

Helmets for motorcyclists appeared to be a solution. Aviator’s protective helmets could also protect motorcyclists and these helmets could be made with the same machinery and by the same workers. However, the two markets were different. For example, the government bought aviator helmets once a year in large quantities. Cyclists bought a single helmet that not only required different standards of protection, but a different product, associated with different marketing, pricing, and substantial advertising to both the potential buyer and to retail sellers, and since users themselves, and not the government paid for the product, distribution systems with which the company was unfamiliar. It was not just a question of packaging and giving the helmets a different name. Moreover, protective requirements, because of different types of accident impact, and the need for microphone communication in helmets used by military aviators required design changes in those helmets intended for cyclists.

As a result, differences in product design, manufacturing, and additional investments, were necessary. These necessitated many modifications and unexpected costs in the helmets sold individually to motorcyclists instead of aviators with helmets paid for in large quantities by the government.

In addition, what was considered valuable to the cyclist was

different from that of military fliers. The motorcyclist sought similar values such as protection, lightweight, and comfort, but these were different from those in helmets providing aviator protection. Even, the price the consumer could afford differed from government products as did advertising, and distributing to reach and sell to individual cyclists most efficiently.

In the end, the company invested several million dollars and produced a much heavier, more protective, but higher-priced motorcycle helmet that few users wanted or could afford to purchase, and the company not only lost money in manufacturing and marketing but almost went bankrupt in trying to introduce and sell this much more expensive product to the different group of users buying in a totally different sales and user environment.

Information Not to be Taken Lightly

Determining what business you are in is the most important factor in creating an organization’s operational strategy, and Drucker knew and taught that knowing this was the responsibility of every business manager. Once defined, other considerations and strategies could be more readily determined. Accurately defining the business and its fundamental purpose will save time, money, and other resources on aspects that add value to the business. At the same time, it will assist in focusing on those

opportunities and possibilities that are important to building the business for the future. Until you recognize what business you are in, your organization will commit errors, no matter how effective operations are in other ways. The fundamental decision is related to a constant theme in management and leadership, and since resources of all types are limited, selecting, and concentrating these limited resources and how they will be most effective and provide the most benefit is critical and can only be accomplished after the answer to this fundamental question is determined. Without this important information members of the company may be working on activities that are counterproductive and may harm rather than help the business perform profitably. Time, money, and resources will be wasted and lead to wrong actions.

Nowadays, we may speak of what business we are as a “mission statement.” Drucker had a favorite mission statement. His favorite mission statement was from a very old business. But this mission statement, though not recent and very short, was his favorite for a very important reason. It changed Sears Roebuck from a struggling mail-order house that was sometimes close to bankruptcy to the world’s leading retailer within ten years. Simply stated, it was to be the informed and responsible buyer, first for the American farmer and frontiersman, and later for the American family,

although of course the statement was modified appropriately over the years.

Everyone Needs to Be Heard

One major reason for hearing from all participants is to gain commitment. Another reason is that many have good ideas and may know something that others do not. By hearing from all, you not only gain commitment to the final business definition, but you can also avoid missing opportunities and escape threats. Drucker noted that for the purpose of deciding on your business, even dissent can be beneficial.

How to Answer the Question: “What is Our Business?”

In consulting employees, you want more than just opinions. You must see the business from the customer’s point of view and as Drucker noted: “in reality, it is

the customer who defines your business.” So, it’s a good idea to include questioning customers as well to determine:

● Who is the customer?

● Where is the customer located?

● What does the customer buy?

● What does the customer consider to be valued?

● Who and what does the customer consult in making the buying decision?

When Should You Ask These Questions?

Most executives don’t consider when to ask questions at all, or if they do it is usually only when they get into trouble or need to initiate an action, and then maybe it is too late. A smart executive will ask this question when the business is formed and then periodically afterward and not wait until he is forced to act.

The Fundamental Decision as to the Business of the Organization Requires General Input:

● It is the primary responsibility of the leader

● The leader shouldn’t make this decision alone but should consult other relevant organizational leaders and customers

● To analyze and get the right answer to the question “What is our business” you must define your customer as did Sears Roebuck.

Arriving at the correct fundamental decision can make the difference between success and failure and will benefit employees, workers, managers, and customers, too.

* Syndicated Internationally.

William Cohen was the first graduate of the PhD program that Peter Drucker co-developed at what is now the Masatoshi Ito and Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. Graduating and becoming Drucker’s friend, he applied Drucker’s methods and rose to become an Air Force general and the author of more than 50 management books published in 23 languages. He is the President of the Institute of Leader Arts. Cohen’s latest book is Peter Drucker on Consulting: How to Apply Drucker’s Principles for Business Success

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How Email Marketing 2.0 Is Shaping A Better CX

Building a long-term relationship with your customers

By Natasha

Since email marketing came into existence, it has been known to be a multipurpose system for all brand advertisements and customer approaches. However, customers find it rather boring and inconvenient to see these numerous emails nowadays.

If you think that in this fast-growing generation, email marketing will be gone by the swift changes in technological standards. But email marketers are more aware of this situation, which is why email marketing 2.0 has been introduced.

Moreover, if you expect the consumers to engage with your brand marketing and develop better customer experiences, email marketing is the only means to reach out to multiple people simultaneously. So let’s see how!

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a well-known marketing method that magnifies your marketing growth by making your consumers aware of your latest product launches, services, and offers. It is a means to check customer responses, send emails, and email unsubscribers. According to a research survey by Econsultancy, “Email continues to be a vital aspect of marketing, and the vast majority of companies rate email as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ in terms of ROI.”

Other relevant statistics show email marketing to be an effective marketing strategy in the segment of digital entrepreneurship. McKinsey and Company report that email marketing is considered 40 times

better in acquiring target audiences than Twitter and Facebook.

Let’s understand email marketing with examples to better understand why email marketing should be considered the best marketing strategy for brand advertisement and better CX. Many types of email marketing serve different purposes depending on the customers.

●

Newsletter emails

These emails include blogs, articles, posts, and customer reviews emphasizing new products. They are very popular emails and are initially assisted with a call to action to change the viewer’s perspective to check a new blog post or a website.

●

Lead generation emails

The main goal of these emails is to convert potential leads into clients by sending emails to the specific target audience interested in any product and service of the brand. These emails help build the interest of these leads to purchase a product. This requires that email deliverability is good. One of the main steps is to check emails to exclude non-existent accounts from the drip campaign.

●

Promotional emails

Many companASies prefer these emails when they have something new to offer to their customers and new clients, such as an upcoming event, the latest products, and campaigns. They send these emails to spread awareness among consumers.

However, to be the best email marketer, you must be part of the email marketing campaigns. But it is very inconvenient to find these marketing campaigns even if you subscribe to their channels, as numerous emails are sent to the customers in a day.

So, here are the best strategies for email marketing, with examples of some huge business entrepreneurs making their digital businesses better than others. We have also added some detail about the methods they use to be the best in their work.

● Uber Uber uses a very straightforward yet detailed way of describing their services via newsletter emails where the texts are kept brief, usually having a CTA. Uber regularly updates the map rides providing you an affordable journey ahead.

● Litmus

GIFs are frequent these days, and Litmus’s visual animation in its designs is worth watching, which you can find in its emails sent to potential customers. These GIFs motivate the reader to continue reading the content.

● Flock Flock is another best example of accessible email

marketing to generate leads as it delivers emails that are well-segmented and have a better outlook. They regularly keep the customers updated and increase the production rate.

Email Marketing and CX

The traditional email marketing methods provided customers with a bulk load of messages sent via email. However, this method became temporary after a certain time as the customers started to avoid redundant messages.

Everything needs to evolve to create a strategy and implement the resources required to find the target audience and understand a customer’s mindset to engage more efficiently. Customers look for email campaigns that meet their needs, interests, and resources.

● Value-based Content

If your want your customers to be satisfied with your work and increase your approach to the audiences, then email marketing and content marketing can be the best alternatives. Digital marketers can add value to their content on emails that users may find readable.

● Easy access to Subscriptions

The marketing strategies processed by email marketing 2.0 must be incentivized to attract more customers to avail of the brand products and also include an OTP verification to be transparent. Customers are often provided with ebooks and PDFs in return for giving information.

● Instant Reply to Customer Inquiries

Earlier, customers had to wait for any physical person that could give answers to their inquiries about the brand products via email. However, messaging automation has provided an excellent way to email marketing as customers get a reply to their queries with pre-loaded texts.

How Email Marketing 2.0 Provides a Better Customer Experience?

There is a simple question that email marketing programs must reply to if they expect a better customer experience, and it is- “How can my emails help the customers meet their goals and achieve

what they are looking for in my brand products and services?”

1. Enhanced customer membership experience

Customers will be more interested in a brand if they receive incentives for subscribing to a particular company via email, and it can be anything, including ebooks, a coupon, or a week email course.

Earlier, there was no control of people over what they received and the number of email messages, and they even needed to learn how to unsubscribe from a certain brand email notification which heavily impacted bad email marketing campaigns.

However, email marketing 2.0 prevents companies from causing further damage to potential leads even before becoming clients. Now, the subscribers have complete control over the quantity and quality of content they receive via email.

Customers can easily unsubscribe from any random brand they don’t follow anymore by choosing the opt-out option below every email.

2. Attract customers using worthy content

Customers nowadays count on valuable content rather than an email full of discount offers that provide zero credibility to the content. The companies keep sending more emails daily, annoying the consumers back in the days of email marketing 1.0.

Moreover, according to the Salesforce survey made by accounting 15,600 consumers and global buyers, 66% of customers expect the brand owners to acknowledge their requirements and intentions.

However, email marketing 2.0 has better strategies emphasizing content quality, content marketing, and providing customers understandable content for those who have email subscriptions to the brand.

The companies now clearly understand the needs and expectations of consumers, and to have better customer relationships, these business owners create content that can solve customer problems, helping maintain client relationships over email.

3. Creating target audience

Customers are only interested in what they are looking for, and receiving emails irrelevant to their needs might create a bad CX. Everything should be relevant, such as what a customer expects from a company, and get emails accordingly.

Email marketing 2.0 strategy includes customers segmented into various groups as target audiences based on statistics and customer responses via emails. This allows the companies to send categorized emails to the target audience, and they receive what they expect.

There are statistics to prove that 39% of marketers that use the email list segmentation method have higher open rates while 24% get an increased sales response. Ths practicing email marketing segmentation for the target audience can benefit companies.

For more information on how email marketing 2.0 is shaping a better CX, you can refer to the article links mentioned below:

How to Adopt Email Marketing 2.0?

Email marketing 2.0 has proven beneficial in many terms, including better customer experience, client relationships, and providing valuable content to customers. If you also want your customers to be attracted to your brands, then you must know email marketing 2.0

The first question that strikes your mind should be whether you are using the correct means for email marketing, like the tools you need for an effective marketing strategy via email. There are many low-cost email marketing tools available to make it more responsive.

You must offer the consumers quality content that makes the reader interested in buying your product, thus increasing your sales. Moreover, it would be best if you segmented your audiences into different categories so that each of them receives what they expect from your brand and nothing more.

So, you must practice these email marketing 2.0 methods to have a better customer experience and maintain a client relationship for a long time.

Conclusion

Thus, if it is to conclude, then you should know that the email isn’t dead yet! You can use the new email marketing strategies to grow sales and customer experience. Moreover, you also get answers as to how email marketing 2.0 is shaping a better cx for the companies.

This article first appeared here.

Natasha is a Content Marketing Specialist, who thinks it is kind of fun creating content marketing strategies for SaaS businesses.

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Recognition Is Critical

By John Tschohl, Service Quality Institute

Irecently asked a friend how often, during her career, she had been complimented or recognized for her work. Her response? “Not often enough.”

Unfortunately, that is true for most employees. I wonder why that is. I have some ideas that I will share with you here. The first is denial. Most managers and supervisors think, “I pay Charlie a lot of money to do what he does for the company. Why would I also have to praise him and recognize him for doing what I pay him to do?”

That fact is that money will get employees through the doors of your business, but it will not keep them there. What will? Recognition. Praise. Feeling valued. Let us face it, most managers and supervisors have had no training in how to effectively recognize employees. Many were simply promoted to their positions without being provided the training necessary to interact with—and motivate—employees.

I have found that the most intelligent people often are the

worst when it comes to soft skills. They have a hard time getting out of their own heads and verbalizing what they need others to hear. They do not realize that you can’t take employees for granted. You have to let them know you value them and what they do for you.

In order to be effective, recognition must be genuine, specific, sincere, and timely. It is not enough to recognize employees and their contributions to the company once a year during their performance reviews. It is also not enough to simply say, “Alice, you did a great job.” Tell her what job you are referring to, be specific about what she did that impressed you, and let her know how proud you are of her and her work.

It is also important that you recognize employees in front of their coworkers. Doing so not only increases the pride those employees feel at being singled out and complimented, but it also motivates other employees to do well and be recognized.

You can take that a step further and recognize employees in front of customers. For example, you’re walking the floor and notice Allan assisting a customer. You might stop, introduce yourself to the customer, and say, “Allan is one of our best employees. I know he’ll do a great job in taking care of you.”

One of the great things about using recognition as a motivator is that it does not cost you anything. In fact, it actually saves you money by reducing employee turnover and the costs associated with hiring and training new employees to replace the ones you lost.

If you want to give someone a raise, you have to get approval from others to do so. But, if you want to recognize them, it costs nothing so no approval is necessary. You are free to reward employees with your words and build a team that works well together and that will drive your business. If an NFL coach doesn’t motivate his players to work together as a team and win games, that coach will be fired.

In order to be effective, recognition must be genuine, specific, sincere, and timely

My research shows that, given a choice of $100 or a complimentary note written on a manager’s personal stationary, most employees will choose the note. Why? Because, once they spend that $100, it’s gone. But a handwritten note is personal and lasting. I have a friend who has saved such notes over the course of her career. She keeps them in a file and reads through them once a year to remind herself that what she does is appreciated.

Now, I must say this: There are some employees who simply cannot be motivated, no matter what you do. Although they physically show up every day, they have mentally left you. Ford Motor Company announced a few months ago that it is giving its white-collar employees, who have been identified as underperformers, the option to leave and take a severance package or enroll n a performance enhancement program. Employees who choose

the enhancement program but whose performance doesn’t improve will be terminated with no severance package.

Ford Motor Company realizes what too many companies don’t: If you’ve tried everything you can to recognize and motivate employees—and nothing changes—cut your losses, and let them go.

John Tschohl is the Founder and President of the Service Quality Institute. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on all aspects of customer service and has developed 17 customer service training programs, including Speed, that are used by companies throughout the world.

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Are You Creating A Strong Service Ethic?

Service-centered organizations value a philanthropic spirit

By Chip R. Bell, Renowned Keynote Speaker

The concept of “ethic” is a philosophy or perspective that is so deeply embedded it shapes what a person considers “right” or “wrong.” We speak of a work ethic as an outlook that drives initiative and ambition. Soldiers may not enter military service with a patriotic ethic, but most quickly develop one. They get a lump in their throat when the flag

is raised, or patriotic music is played; they are quick to defend allegiance to the country when someone speaks ill of it.

Customer service can be an “ethic”—shaping how customers are viewed and honored. People who work for organizations like Chick-fil-A, Nordstrom, or Ritz-Carlton Hotels are selected

for their capacity to demonstrate a service ethic and then placed in a culture that nurtures that ethic. It is much more than simply “drinking the company Kool-Aid.” A true service effort is not like a uniform you do when going to work. It is expressed in service to family, friends, and the community.

Service-centered organizations value a philanthropic spirit. They celebrate service heroes who go the extra mile. Such organizations are led by people who are generous in word and deed. Employees who are greedy, territorial, and self-centered stand out as out-of-place and soon are just that.

I was working at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples. In my best “alwayslooking-for-a-story” mode, I asked my waiter at breakfast what she liked most about working at the Ritz. Without hesitation, she said, “It has made me a better mother and wife.” I was meeting with the Vice Chair of Freeman Company, a company renowned for great service in the exhibition and convention services industry. She came to our afternoon meeting in jeans having spent the morning

volunteering with Meals on Wheels. Research shows a strong

relationship between organizations with soul and their reputations with customers. The reverse is also true.

What is your service ethic? How do your associates treat customers when no one is looking? If they had a “too close to call” between taking care of a customer and making a few more dollars for the organization, are you confident which side they would come down on? How do they react when a colleague makes a condescending or disrespectful comment about a customer? Do they hide their name tag in the grocery store line or do they wear it with pride? Service ethic is not just about how associates feel about

customers, it is also about how they feel about themselves. Lead them to an obvious service ethic by your example.

This article first appeared here

Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and the author of several award-winning, best-selling books. Global Gurus in 2022 ranked for the eighth year in a row among the top ten keynote speakers in the world on customer service. His newest book is Inside Your Customer’s Imagination.

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Spending Money Isn’t A Bad Thing!

Learning how to spend your money gives you a competitive edge

By Tonia Peasley, CLSheldon & Co.

As a personal finance counselor, I spend my days advising people on how “not to” spend money. Saving for your goals, save for your future, save for whatever else you need to prepare for. What I realized was maybe, instead of constantly focusing on saving money, maybe we are needing a different type of lesson; learn how to spend money.

Spending money is really just a decision between now and later. Are you spending the money now or saving it to spend in the future? The answer to that

question ultimately leads into, are you striving to be wealthy or rich? Do you know the difference? Let me explain, Warren Buffet is considered “wealthy” to most, yet, he drives an old car and has lived in the same, modest house for over 6 decades, yet most people define him as wealthy. You see, wealth is not flashy for most and it is long enduring. The choice between the two comes down to a personal decision, on whether you are burning through your current funds or are you

slowing the burn rate by learning to spend money at a slower pace so it endures the long haul. Are you spending the funds today that you might need for bigger goals and to make decisions tomorrow?

Learning how to spend your money gives you a competitive edge. I apply the “predicting vs forecasting” scenario to knowing how to spend money. Can I predict what will happen in the future? I think for most of us, the answer is no. I’ve never been good at statistics which lends itself to guided prediction. This is why I revert to using forecasting so that I can determine what I need today and what I will need for my future. Learning how to forecast is a skill that builds confidence in decision making and actually makes decisions in spending money easier. I can forecast out the need for a new car, save accordingly and know when to spend the money on the purchase.

There are always instances where these skills will not play out 100% in your favor. For example, what if I am in an accident and my car is totaled. Well, hopefully, I made a conscious decision to make sure my insurance was adequate so that I receive some funds there and if I applied forecasting to my money spending, I most likely saved some money along the way in the chance I might need it for an emergency. I could not have predicted this outcome but I applied some forecasting and therefore put some money aside. This is where the Emergency Fund plays its part.

Learning how to spend money leads to being in control. If you are not in control of your spending, you

are most likely living in chaos. You don’t know where your money is going each month because you haven’t learned how to spend your money so that you have self-control, like when the credit card bill comes and you are totally surprised by how much the balance is. Your finances across the board feel a little chaotic in that you haven’t assigned goals to your earnings and your spending is all over the place.

The good thing is, chaos is a great motivator for change. What better time to embark on a new challenge for yourself. Being prepared to start forecasting your future and putting effort toward learning how to spend is a great way to springboard on New Year’s goals. Spending money isn’t a bad thing, we all do it. Learning how to spend and how your goals and future plans work together, determines your burn rate and outlines how you want to live your life.

Tonia Peasley, AFC®, CFP® candidate is a Financial Coach. She is a 22-year veteran military spouse and mom to a son serving in the military. Tonia has 20 moves in her chest of adventures and enjoys traveling the world.

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Customer Success Equals Employee Success

3 strategies to enable customer success

By Krystal Lamoureux, Pearson

Employeesare the backbone of your business. They support your operations and act as a direct link to your customers. Trusted, respected, and appreciated employees support customer retention and benefit your whole company.

However, leaders are often so focused on the customer service experience that they fail to address employee sentiment. Without attention and support, employees can become unmotivated and disengaged. They’ll produce lower-quality

work, and the customer will suffer. When leaders and organizations invest strongly in the employee experience, they will see their investment pay off through increased customer satisfaction.

According to Gallup, organizations whose employees are highly engaged report:

● 23% greater profitability.

● 18% more productivity.

● 10% higher customer loyalty.

Higher engagement is associated with a decrease in workplace accidents and an improvement in work quality. More engaged employees are also less likely to leave the company or have high absenteeism.

And while organizations stand to gain greatly from their employee engagement efforts, the cost of neglecting their workforce is high: U.S. organizations collectively lose as much as $500 billion each year due to a lack of employee engagement

Implement these three strategies to enable employee success, which drives success for customers - and ultimately your whole company.

Support and Promote Possibilities for Growth

Think about how you support customers, especially at the beginning of a working relationship. Our customer success team encourages new customers during onboarding processes by identifying their needs and goals, providing resources and support,

and fostering connections. Ensuring the customer has the tools to maximize the product’s value in their own organization means going the extra mile to build a relationship early on. By providing customers with a robust and repeatable process to eliminate potential confusion, you guarantee customers’ needs are met and they start strong.

Talent management works similarly, as HR professionals help new employees start their journey by offering the support and resources they need to succeed. Prioritize an onboarding plan to help employees transition into their new roles smoothly and develop lasting relationships within the organization. Employees, like customers, possess unique backgrounds, skills, interests and insights that can contribute to your team’s success. For this reason, learning opportunities and resources should be tailored to meet individual employee needs.

Empower your employees by offering skills development opportunities from Day 1. This will demonstrate trust, show employees you want them to succeed, and establish a long-term commitment to employee success. Combined with transparent career roadmaps, promotion tracks and timely check-ins on developmental progress, these efforts will ensure you have engaged employees eager to grow with your team.

Show You Trust Your Team by Letting Them Take Initiative

Empowering employees and improving customer results go hand in hand. But how do you demonstrate trust so that employees feel comfortable taking the lead? Think of it like this: Entrusting your employees to take initiative is like giving away your Lego bricks. Each of us builds big, impactful projects with our pieces throughout our roles. Someone new joining the team doesn’t have any bricks. Engaging with new team members will require you to share some of your bricks. And it doesn’t end there — you must also allow them the freedom to construct what they think is necessary rather than dictating where each piece should go.

Giving away your Lego bricks freely and consistently and offering support and enthusiasm for what takes shape, you can instill trust while encouraging your employees to use their skills in new ways, take ownership of their work and solve problems with creativity. According to SHRM research, employees are 23% more likely to share their ideas and solutions when their workplace cultivates a trusting environment. Allowing employees to experiment and embrace new things will enable them to keep growing within the company. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results of sharing those bricks.

accomplishments more visible. Employees who receive digital credentials for their skills can showcase their achievements on social media, within email signatures and through internal and external networks. When employees demonstrate their learning and employers recognize and encourage those efforts, engagement becomes a virtuous cycle of improvement and celebration

Digital credentials offer independently validated information about employee recognition, unlike other talent management and assessment systems that rely on employee self-reporting or manager input. With greater insights into your workforce’s competencies, you can evaluate and adjust to meet needs, fill skill shortages and promote internally to build on employee success.

Establish an Environment of Employee Appreciation

Building employee appreciation programs also contributes to customer success. Research by Deloitte found that internal recognition programs boost revenue by 2% while increasing employee productivity by as much as 14%.

Whether an employee completed a presentation or obtained a new certification, recognizing their achievements is a powerful method to increase employee engagement. And employees agree: 40% of American workers say they would perform with greater energy if their employers acknowledged them more frequently.

What does employee recognition look like? Every organization is different, but digital credentials are a great way to begin your employee recognition journey. Incorporating digital credentials into your training programs builds acknowledgment, celebration, and recognition into the hard work employees are already doing. Digital credentials streamline the recognition process and make

Supporting your employees’ professional aspirations, recognizing their accomplishments and encouraging their independence and creativity can help you create a dynamic, growth-oriented atmosphere where your staff members have the resources and motivation to succeed. Customers will feel the difference.

Krystal Lamoureux is Vice President of Customer Success at Pearson where she oversees developing internal strategies, programs, and training for the Credly by Pearson Customer Success function and to enable their CSMs in order to continue providing a best-in-class service to their clients while helping them meet their business objectives. She brings a passion for empowering and elevating her team as they guide organizations in the design and rollout of comprehensive digital credential programs.

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Empowering employees and improving customer results go hand in hand.

A Fighter Pilot’s Lessons On Facing Adversity and Building Resilience

By Kim “KC” Campbell, Victory Strategies

In this ever changing, complex, dynamic world, we need leaders who know how to face adversity and build resilience. We must be able to build personal resilience as we tackle tough leadership issues and challenges, and we also must be able to build team resilience so that when times get tough, we are able to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

As a fighter pilot, I’ve flown thousands of hours in a fighter jet and over a hundred missions in combat. I’ve dealt with some significant obstacles and challenges flying missions in both training and combat. I’ve faced fear and uncertainty and had to overcome difficult circumstances to accomplish the mission. If I was leading the formation, then I had to be able to lead my wingmen, my teammates, in the face of adversity to achieve mission success.

Individual Resilience

When I look back at some of my most challenging missions, I realize that there were four key factors that helped me be more resilient.

1. Preparation - I was prepared to face uncertainty and deal with challenges. I had visualized and practiced for contingencies by using a pilot preparation technique called chair flying. Every night

before I flew, I would sit in a chair in my room facing a picture of the cockpit on the wall. I would then talk through every part of my mission, practicing radio calls, thinking through maneuver parameters, and analyzing potential areas that could go wrong on the mission. I thought about those worst-case scenarios and what I would do if they happened. So, when it came time to deal with the situation, it was as if I had been there before, and I was better prepared to face adversity.

2. Flexibility – We train to deal with change, to be flexible in the situation, and to adapt and adjust when the mission doesn’t go as planned. By putting ourselves in training situations where we had to make decisions when the plan was falling apart, when we didn’t have perfect information or the perfect solution, we became more comfortable dealing with ambiguity.

3. Commitment – More than anything, in those difficult situations, I didn’t want to let my wingmen down. I was willing to push through tough times and overcome challenges to ensure the success of my team. This wasn’t about me; it was about fulfilling a commitment to the team.

The key is to build resilience before facing adversity

4. Trust – In challenging times, our team came together and supported each other. I knew I could count on my wingmen to provide me with mutual support. We created an environment of trust where we could debrief our missions, provide feedback on our performance, and hold each other accountable with the goal of elevating the performance of the team. In tough times and when faced with challenges, we knew we could work together to excel.

Organizational Resilience

Just as with building your own personal resilience, creating a resilient organization also takes work. It requires time and resources. It also requires leaders to set the example and lead with courage. So, what actions can you take as a leader to ensure your team is equipped to thrive in challenging times?

1. Preparation - Ensure your team is prepared by developing crisis response plans and then take the time to walk-through or talk-through different scenarios that your team might face. Practice, rehearse, or visualize to find opportunities for improvement. Share and discuss alternative solutions. Consider creating a “red team” to ask tough questions and challenge solutions.

2. Flexibility - Encourage creative and innovative ideas when tackling problems. Train your team to be

adaptable and flexible when they don’t have perfect information. Recognize what you don’t have, confirm the minimum information needed, and then execute.

3. Commitment – Create a “wingman” culture where team members understand the role they play on the team and how they fit into the bigger picture. Reinforce why each team member’s contribution is critical to shared success.

4. Trust – Cultivate an environment where team members feel safe to be vulnerable, share ideas, and provide feedback. Help build relationships and create connections on your team so that when times get tough, they have teammates they can count on.

The key is to build resilience before facing adversity. Take the time now to build resilience for yourself and for your team. You must be prepared to respond and adjust when the mission (or life) doesn’t go as planned. Put in the work to prepare for tough times so you can thrive in demanding situations. If you want to lead with courage, then build the resilience of your team with every experience and through every difficult event you face.

Colonel Kim “KC” Campbell served in the Air Force for 24 years as a fighter pilot and senior military leader. Kim is a keynote speaker and bestselling author sharing her story about a life changing combat experience while weaving in ideas and lessons about leadership, teamwork, perseverance, and decision making in stressful environments. Kim’s new book, Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilot’s Lessons on Leading with Courage will be available on March 8, 2023. Would you like to comment?

5 Strategies To Recession-Proof Your Business

From an entrepreneurial couple who survived the pandemic

By Jamie Ratner and Brian Ratner, CertifiKIDNetwork

November recognizes National Entrepreneurship Month and what better time to celebrate the people who represent one of the best things in America: entrepreneurship.

Brian and I are entrepreneurs and co-authors of the recently released book, ParentPreneurs After building a terrific and profitable company with no formal business background, we secured a deal with Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary for an investment in our parent-focused deal website, CertifiKID

It was during the pandemic when we acquired Macaroni KID, a risky pivot that propelled our business into the largest parent-focused digital media and advertising company in the country.

As the pandemic took an unprecedented toll around the world, we somehow continued to survive and thrive. We managed to maintain a rather seamless balance between work and life, navigate the unique challenges facing us, and find a way to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves.

It’s November 2022. After a chaotic couple of years, the last thing anybody–especially small businesses–wants to think about is the likelihood of a recession. Yet here we are.

A recession could hit anytime, as could natural lulls in your small business revenue. Of course, there is no one way to completely recession-proof a business —however, with these tips, you might have a better shot at surviving an economic downturn. Below are our five strategies on how to best recession-proof small businesses and start-ups.

Master the Art of Pivoting

If you are looking to fulfill your professional and financial goals during the era of recession and a volatile economic climate, you must have the willingness and spine to pivot. You should operate your business under the assumption that you will not be able to generate the revenue that you expected or budgeted. So, what will you do about it? Do you let events control your destiny or do you take control? Most end up doing the former because they are too scared to do the latter. Don’t let this happen to you. Take control! This could mean constantly looking for new opportunities, ways to reorganize, or shifts in strategy. Second-guess everything you have been doing and try to see if there is another better way more suitable for the moment. Pivoting requires taking calculated risk, but when there is an existential threat facing your business, the greater risk could be riding out the downturn.

Act Quickly and Harshly

At the beginning of the pandemic, we got some tough love advice from Kevin O’Leary. He forecasted the dark winter we were headed into and encouraged us to act quickly and more harshly than we might have otherwise. The point was we could always build back. We took this advice in some areas, and in other areas, we didn’t. Where we didn’t, we regretted it later. And there of course is a personal dimension when dealing with team members. But when under the pressure of declining business conditions, you don’t have the luxury of waiting for a poor performer to improve, or for a key new recruit to work out. One strategy that worked well for us was hiring people with a three-month probation period on an independent contract basis. When we were fully certain that they were the best-suited talent for the role and knew the business conditions could support the investment, we then were comfortable hiring them full-time.

Cut Cost

It cannot be stressed enough how cutting unnecessary expenses is key. Entrepreneurs in today’s world need to hoard cash and reduce expenses to what is essential. For office space, consider if you need office space that comes with a long-term lease, or can you operate remotely, in shared space, or have a short-term lease. With your recruitment and retention efforts, consider if you can use independent contractors, commission-based arrangements, or part-time personnel. For your third-party services and vendors, consider if you can operate with those who are sufficient and good enough, but not the platinum options. Your focus should be on spending and investing smartly and reducing your risk.

Prioritize Team Communication

As business owners and leaders of the organization, your team needs and expects effective and transparent communication. You need to be coherent and explicit about the kind of results and performance the company is expecting. Define your company values and core mission and be ready to consistently communicate both the good and bad news in real-time. Team building, morale, and loyalty especially in tough times could be supported through regular meetings and communication and an open door policy. One of the striking traits of entrepreneurs is that we have a profound understanding of the business from all its facets and angles, but are not great managers. So, when conditions are difficult, our inclination is to focus deeply on the business at the expense of managing the team who are critical to helping you navigate the choppy waters. Be honest with yourself about this and make sure the team base is covered in part by another manager on your team so it isn’t always on your shoulders.

Offer Superior Customer Service

One of the least considered must-haves for surviving recessions and crunches is the idea of ‘great customer service’. If you are aiming to achieve unparalleled customer loyalty, give them a safe and worthwhile experience when communicating and shopping with you. Customers want you to listen to their problems and provide a solution. It’s a simple compact. Customer acquisition is expensive, but once they are a customer, they will come back again and again and become a loyal customer. Treat them the way you’d want to be treated. If you do, it will pay forward for you in so many ways especially in difficult times because they will ride the waves with you.

You can’t control the timing or impact of a recession or economic downturn, so concentrate on what you can control. Approach the challenge as an opportunity to find new ways to provide value, new revenue streams, and better ways of doing business, as well as creating a stronger team and customer loyalty.

Jamie Ratner is the CEO and Founder of CertifiKID, a recognized best-deal website for parents. Over the past decade and with CertifiKID’s recent acquisition of Macaroni KID, Jamie has grown CertifiKID from a regional deal website to one of the country’s largest parent-focused digital media and advertising companies, reaching millions of families nationwide and backed by an investment from Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. Jamie was named one of Greater Washington’s top women business leaders by Washington SmartCEO. A soccer mom and entrepreneur (aka “ParentPreneur”), she’s a leading expert in the daily deal, parent, and digital media space.

Brian Ratner is the Co-founder and President of CertifiKID. He is also a founding partner of Hausfeld, a global litigation law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, where he serves as global co-chair of the firm and specializes in global antitrust litigation. Brian has been featured on the Washington, DC Super Lawyers and The Legal 500 Leading Lawyers Lists and has been selected by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America.

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