Monthly Archives: July 2012

Moving Through Challenges and Up the Corporate Ladder

I love that I have such a rich diverse group of facilitators, trainers, coaches and consultants in my alliance.  I have the good fortune to work with some of the top talent in the industry.  Our customers have come to rely on me to be able to provide them with the right solutions to their challenges.  One of my long standing customers connected with me regarding a situation that she was not sure how to handle.  She and her management team had been working diligently on their company’s succession plan.  Their controller was retiring in eighteen months and she wanted to get started looking for a replacement so the current controller would have ample time to transition the new person into the role.  They typically promoted from within as part of their long term strategy and she was faced with a bit of a dilemma.  They had one individual who was currently working in their accounting department who, on paper, was the perfect candidate.  She had the academic background, had proven herself to be an excellent employee and had expressed an interest in moving up in the company.  The challenge was that English was her second language and she had quite a thick accent.  When the VP of Human Reosurces put this person’s name forward at one of the managers meetings, she was immediately dismissed due to her accent.

My client felt this was unfair and also understood why they couldn’t promote her with the communication skills she currently had.  She asked me if I had any suggestions.  I was delighted to tell her that I had an amazing partner Heather who worked with individuals to help them develop stronger English speaking skills and significantly reduce their accent.  I connected Heather with the client and Heather has been working with this employee for the past several months.  When I last spoke with my client she was thrilled at the progress this employee was making and was confident that by the time the position needed to be filled, this employee would step into the position beautifully.

As I have said many times in the past and will say in the future…I love what I do!!!

By Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC

The Many Faces of Customer Service

I have had many requests over the years for customer service training.  We pride ourselves in our ability to tailor every training program to meet the specific needs of our clients.  I spend the time needed up front during the assessment stage to ensure I clearly understand the objectives and desired outcomes from the program.

Several years ago we delivered customer service training to a local funeral home.  Initially it was for the people who interacted with the families of the deceased.  The pilot was so successful that they decided to roll it out company wide.  This included delivering to the grave diggers.  I remember calling David (the alliance partner who delivered this program) one day and he said he was on his way to visit the grave diggers to have a better understanding of their jobs and how they interact with the customers.  The program was a huge success years later they have experienced sustained changes in how they interact with their customers.

I was called by an existing client who has results from a customer service survey they wanted to discuss with me.  The survey results revealed that for the most part the customers were happy with the service they received.  There were however, several comments made about the way the truck drivers interacted with their staff.  Comments were made that the language, tone and sometimes tardiness of drivers were frustrating.  I immediately connected them to David and together they designed a program that not only addressed all the concerns of their customers, it also included a number of ways to take all their customer service initiatives to a new level.  When I spoke with the VP of Human Resources recently she was excited by the participation and the feedback she received.  Management is committed that this level of service is maintained and they are very optimistic that the next survey will deliver much more favorable results.

Often when we think of customer service, we just think of our external customers.  I have a client who was concerned about the way the employees interacted with each other, in particular the accounting department.  She shared with me that she constantly got complaints from other departments on the way the accounting staff treated and reacted to the other departments.  She was not sure what to do about it.  I suggested she provide the members of the accounting team with customer service training from the perspective of working with internal customers.  At first she wasn’t sure.  I introduced her to David and he outlined what a program like this would look like and shared the success he had had in the past.  She was then clear this was the way to address the issue.  I spoke with her several months after the program had been delivered and she said she had received positive feedback from, both, the other employees and the members of the accounting department.  Having the tools to handle the sometimes difficult conversations made all the difference.

These experiences confirm for me that everyone is in customer service, no matter what job or role in the organization.

 By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP

One Stop Convenience Helps Mom to Be

Several months ago I met with a potential new client.  When I got to the appointment I met with a lovely young lady who was very pregnant.   She was expecting her first child and was anxious to make sure she had all of her training needs handled before she went on mat leave.

When I first spoke with her, she was unclear about our offerings at Athena Training and Consulting as she had never heard of a company like ours before.  I quickly explained to her on the telephone that we are a one-stop shop for all her training, coaching and HR consulting needs and she agreed to meet with me right away.

After the initial meeting I left fully understanding her need for public workshops to provide both communication skills and supervisory skills for several of their managers.  I immediately connected her with Joe and he registered her employees for the next upcoming classes.

A few days later she called and said she wanted to run an Excel and PowerPoint training session for a number of her employees from different departments.  She was thrilled at how easy it was to have these resources readily available to her.  I had Lee connect with her, clarify a few final points and schedule the training.  During my confirmation call with her I asked her if there were any other needs that she had and she didn’t think so and that she will call me if she did.

Later that day she called to inquire if I had anyone who could support some of their human resources functions while she was off and I immediately introduced her to Tammy and presto she had her solution!  In fact they are still working with this client.

A week later I received an email asking me if I had anyone who could do some one-on-one personal coaching for personal branding.  They had several high potential employees and wanted to provide them with training to enhance their confidence and brand presence.  I was delighted to introduce her to Dorothy and she was again thrilled at how easy it was to be connected with a professional coach.

During all the interactions and referrals she commented many times to my alliance partners what a fabulous service we offered.  I spoke with her the day before she was leaving for maternity leave and she thanked me for how easy we made it for her to provide the company with the solutions they needed.  She loved that it was so stress free.  I shared with her that is why I love what I do!

By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP

From Manager to Coach

One of the many things I love about the training and development world is being given the opportunity to contribute to another person’s development.  Recently I was in a meeting with a client and she was explaining to me that they were having difficulty getting their account reps to embrace a new attitude towards selling.

This company historically had not expected their account representatives to do any sales activities, simply manage the accounts and provide great customer service.  Several years ago that changed and president felt they were missing huge opportunities by not having the account reps letting their clients know of their many offerings and the other options available to them.

The client explained to me that when they decided to make this change they provided the account reps with a sales training program.  This program was delivered by a gentleman who was very familiar in their industry and was able to customize a program that was most applicable (someone not in our alliance).  She shared the information from the program and it was an excellent design.  She said nothing had changed since the training and the senior folks were frustrated.  She asked me if I had any suggestions.

The first I wanted to know was if the managers had attended the training with the reps.  She said yes they had so they would be familiar with what was covered in the program.  Then I asked her if the managers changed anything about the way they managed the account reps.  She said not that she knew of.

I shared with her that I thought there is a big difference in managing a group of managers and managing a group of sales people.  I suggested the managers needed to change how they interacted with their account reps and be clear on the new expectations.  I suggested that they learn a sales coaching model that would help them interact differently, ask different questions and set the parameters around metrics and accountability.  She thought it was a great idea.

We did a one day Manager as Sales Coach program to provide the managers with a general overview and some coaching tools.  This session was followed up with six telephone training sessions to role play, conduct actual coaching sessions and to focus on specific areas needed to support them becoming powerful coaches (i.e. listening, asking questions).  While most of the managers have embraced the coaching mindset, a few are still skeptical. 

During the last call one manager shared that he had actively started to use some of the new tools and happily reported it was slowly making a difference.  I debriefed the others and they too were experimenting with their new tools.  We have three phone sessions left and I am confident the managers will transition into becoming effective sales managers.  It is often slow to transition from old ways of doing things, the key is to stay committed to the results you want and take necessary actions required to get there.

By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP