Six steps to achieving a positive customer sales experience from beginning to end
A customer-centric culture is not just about offering good service. It’s a way of doing business that provides a positive customer experience before, during and after the sale in order to drive repeat business, customer loyalty and profits. Elements of customer centricity include: Employees understand what customers want. They capture customer insights and share this…
The new leadership is a blend of personal and interpersonal skills that form the basis of your ability to impact, influence and inspire others
Most executives agree that collaboration is more important than ever in today's turbulent business environment. A company's very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they possess with their ability – and willingness – to share that knowledge throughout the organization. Deloitte’s Future of Work research…
It takes ongoing teamwork to produce innovative, cost effective and targeted products and services
Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever. In a "do-more-with-less" reality, it takes ongoing teamwork to produce innovative, cost effective and targeted products and services. In fact, a company's very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they…
Need help breaking down that "silo mentality" in your company?
After every election, politicians say the same thing: "Now we have to reach across the aisle to work together for good of the people." And I hear similar proclamations (of working together for the good of all) from my corporate clients who are looking to break down the "silo mentality" of their companies. Sounds simple.…
If you really want to build a collaborative team, make sure you look like you do!
He had assembled a multi-level, multi-functional group – a diagonal slice of 30 people from across the organization – and had taken them off-site for two days to co-create the necessary steps for achieving the company’s new strategic plan. The hope was that collaboration and knowledge sharing would begin at this meeting and expand from…
Leadership is now a blend of personal and interpersonal skills that allow a leader to impact, include and inspire others
Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever in today's turbulent business environment. A company's very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they possess with their ability – and willingness – to share what they know with their…
No leader, regardless of how brilliant and talented, is smarter than the collective genius of the workforce
Collaboration has become an essential ingredient for organizational success (perhaps even survival). And as organizations move toward more collaborative cultures, a new leadership model is emerging. That leadership model replaces command and control with trust and inclusion. The leader’s role is to encourage team members to see themselves as valued contributors, to help them build…
Values must be integrated into processes, policies and organizational behaviour before they become tangible
A sales manager read an article about his company’s refusal to deal with any country where under-the-table money was part of the negotiation process. He circled the article and wrote the words “Right on!” in the column, and mailed it to his CEO. The attached note said: “I’m proud to work in a company whose…
The mastermind concept is a simple yet wonderfully productive tool: spend time with the creative genius in your friend pool?
One of my best friends runs an annual mastermind retreat at her lake house in Nelson, B.C. Besides being a fabulous location to get away from the daily grind (water, sand and wine – what’s not to love?), it’s also a fantastic way to reinvest in our collective successes. As a solo-entrepreneur, I have no…
Collaboration is also intrinsically inspiring because it has an emotional payoff. People like being part of a winning team
Some years ago, when I was speaking to a group of executives about change leadership, the topic of collaboration came up. On a whim I asked, "How many of you are totally comfortable sharing information with others in your organization?" I was astonished when out of an audience of about 200, only three hands went…