Posts tagged as:

listening

Brian

Are You Afraid of “No?”

I’m scared of many things in this world.

One of those things happens to be rodents. When I was younger, I was horrified that the girl from The Ring would silently creep into my room, and I’ve currently put to rest an uneasy fear of phalacrophobia (the fear of going bald), even though I’m almost positive I shouldn’t be worried there. The point is this: there are a lot of things in this world that make people feel uneasy, apprehensive and nervous. And no matter who you are, everyone is afraid of something.

When it comes to the actually asking people to donate blood, an Incept Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) will probably hear the word “No” (or some other form of rejection) over and over again. Of course, there are always rebuttals to be made; but what is the point of second-attempting a blood donor or a prospective new blood donor who has already said no?

When I say “No,” I usually mean it in the sense that I’m afraid of something or might not have enough knowledge to make an informed choice on the matter at hand. This is very much like when a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) is recruiting brand-new blood donors for local blood banks and blood centers across America. People who have never donated usually and expectantly decline – some swifter than others – either because they are afraid or have little to no information on donating blood or where to donate to even begin the process of deciding whether or not to actually come in and give blood. That is precisely why a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) is the literal human link between getting someone to donate blood and getting them into a donor center.

We educate and are willing to help with any questions that a potential donor might have. We are there to reassure first-timers that donating blood is a great thing to do for their community. When it comes down to it, the reason we are able to recruit so many blood donors is the simple approach of treating human beings like human beings and being able to listen as well as talk.

Next time you say “No” to something ask yourself the following: Did I decline because I’m afraid of saying “Yes,” or do I just need to find out more information?

Photo Credit: http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/

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Brian

Good Customer Service: Practice Makes Perfect

There is something that I enjoy doing that I think a lot of people find quite weird.

Whenever I have to call in to a customer service line I always try to have a little fun with whichever representative is helping me out. Now, don’t assume I’m mean to them right off the bat, because it’s quite the contrary. To be honest with you, going back to my roots working as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) at Incept has made me noticeably more conversational and a better listener. I can hear the tone in people’s voice now and almost get a feel for their personality. So when I’m calling either halfway around the world for technical assistance, or the warehouse that is shipping out my motorcycle parts, I always listen for how their customer service reps handle me as a member of their clientele.

In my last post about customer service, we briefly touched upon what actually makes it. In this post, we are going to focus on three specific aspects of what you and your employees can do to provide good customer service quite easily. This not only can be applied if you work in a contact center, but if you happen to work with people frequently.

One of the things we are taught at Incept as Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) is the LAMA technique. LAMA stands for, Listen, Acknowledge, Make a Statement and Ask a Question. To be quite honest I think of all the steps in LAMA, Listen stands out. It is easy for someone to want to be too eager to help and, in doing so, perhaps accidentally interrupt the donor or customer who is talking before fully finding out their needs or the situation they are in. Never just assume. Instead, train yourself to fully listen, and that means not just hearing what is being said, but comprehending and even empathizing with what is being said so that you might just be that much more effective when it comes time to help your donor or customer out.

  • Dealing with conflict with “Thank You”

It would be nice if we lived in a world where no one got mad or upset, but that sadly isn’t the case. There are going to be times when you are faced with an initially angry or upset donor or customer, and it’s going to be up to you to have to figure out how to calm them down. One of the easiest ways that any customer service representative or donor recruiter can do this is by taking the time to listen to what is being said. Then thank them for being willing to try the product out or coming in and donating even though they might have had a bad experience either with a product or service. It is amazing how fast the words “thank you” can change someone’s mood.

We’ve all had to call in to a customer service line before for some odd reason or another. Sometimes the experience with the person on the other end of the phone is good and you can hear the respect they have for you as a customer in their voice. Other times you can feel just like you are another brick in the wall or another number in line, and your customer service rep sounds like he is simply trying to get through his day. When it comes to being on the phones, and not having any physical interaction with folks other than speaking and listening, your voice is your ultimate tool. Your voice, depending on what it sounds like, will conjure up an image of either a friendly employee simply trying to do his or her best to meet the needs of the customer or someone who just doesn’t care. When you practice positive voice inflection it will pay off considerably by creating a friendly setting at the very start of your call, immediately placing your customer or donor at ease.

Of course, there are probably many more tips we could have added to this list, but this isn’t a bad start. The biggest thing I try to remember in my own calls is if I was the one on the other end of the line, how would I feel about hearing the way this person is talking to me? Would I be pressed to hang up the phone, or would I be inclined to listen? Would I feel like I’m being helped as a person, or would I question whether I was being adequately assisted after all? There is so much more to be said about producing excellent customer service relations, but as always we want to hear from you.

What do the words “good customer service” mean to you?

Photo Credit: http://www.catherinebruns.com

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Stephanie

Interviewing: Getting to Better Know Your Clients And Their Needs

There’s more to interviewing than just looking for a new job.

Interviewing is a conversation – an investigation even – but we never stop and think about the mechanics of it. It’s not just about asking questions and receiving answers, but about reading between the lines and understanding what’s not being said.

Usually when you’re interviewing someone, you’re trying to learn more about them. When Incept interviews a client, we’re looking to better understand their needs. We want to ask them questions that show them as more than just a client or an account, but as a person. By focusing on their goals and concerns, it lets us help them on a more personal level. Their clients, concerns and goals become ours as well. Our goal is to become partners with our clients, not just their vendor.

What keeps a client up worrying at night can be a great indicator of something we can work to fix.

During the interviewing process, we want to ask questions that will elicit emotional responses. What are you excited about? What’s going well for you? What keeps you up at night? What are you least excited about for the coming year? These are all questions that will help us gain insight into who the client is and what’s important to them.

Most of the clients we work with are blood banks, so it’s important for us to remember that their clients are the hospitals and patients who need blood. By remembering that, it lets us focus on what’s most important: the patient receiving the blood. The client’s goals become our goals.

So the next time you’re at an interview or maybe interviewing someone yourself, think about what drives the interviewees. It’s a whole new perspective that will help you find the best way to work with them.

What are some things that you think about going into an interview?

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meredith

Live the Brand | How to Moderate a Meeting

At Incept, I’m part of the Live the Brand subcommittee, Learning Never Stops.

The group is made up of conversational marketing experts (CMEs), coaches, supervisors and Sam Falletta, President of Incept. We meet once a week to discuss how to help our fellow employees meet their personal and professional goals through education.

When I first joined the group, I assumed that Mr. Falletta would be leading our meetings. Instead, every week we take turns moderating. Almost everyone has had a turn so far, so I’ve been able to observe a half-dozen different leadership techniques.

The Incept Conference Room

Here are the top-5 ways to lead a meeting:

  1. Sit in the middle of the group. I mean that literally. In the Incept conference room, there is an oval table with black office chairs around it. A leader’s natural seat is at either end of the table – not physically above the group like a throne but slightly separate. I’ve noticed that the leaders in my committee purposefully sit in the middle chairs. This action communicates “I’m with you” rather than “I’m above you.”
  2. Begin and end the meeting on positive notes. The Live the Brand committee meetings start by sharing “Wows.” We go around the circle and everyone talks about a “wow” moment they had that week. Usually, we’re “wowed” by another employee who went above and beyond their job description. The meetings end with each member stating what they thought was the most productive part of the conversation and the most meaningful result. Then members pass out an Incept poker chip. The chips are given to fellow employees who did something that represented an Incept value. It’s a way to publicly reward exceptional work.
  3. Keep everyone on task. It’s always difficult to stay on topic, especially when the people in the meeting are friends you want to catch up with. The fact that they are friends can also make it harder to rein them in when they get off topic. It’s OK to let people inch from the main subject for a few minutes, but like any good shepherd leading sheep, a leader has to steer the conversation onto the most productive path.
  4. Summarize. Every few minutes, especially if you’re about to go to the next topic, make a decision or if everyone in the group has different opinions, be sure to summarize the discussion. Make a one-sentence statement that mentions what you’ve accomplished so far, what you still disagree on and what steps to take next.
  5. Ask questions. The moderator of a meeting has to always be prepared to ask questions. It could be a question to an individual group member to clarify what he or she is saying, or it could be a general question to keep the group thinking.

What additional advice do you have for moderating a meeting?

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meredith

The Importance of Being Objective During an Interview

Is the sky orange-yellow or yellow-orange?

Billie Johnson, Vice President of New Client Results at Incept, interviews blood banks to see if they would like to become partners.

She assesses their strengths, weaknesses and needs in a face-to-face roundtable discussion and interview, known as Incept Listen. One of the many things Billie has to keep in mind during the interview is remaining objective.

Objectivity can be defined as being “undistorted by emotion or personal bias.” Being objective is especially important for honest business practices, and there are five ways to remain objective in discussions like the ones Billie facilitates:

  1. Don’t assume. Everyone’s situation and opinion is different. Remember, even in a business situation, not every customer’s need is the same.
  2. Keep an open mind. You may be the one conducting the interview, but that doesn’t mean that the other people around the table don’t have better ideas than you.
  3. Don’t expect everyone to agree with you. The sky could look orange-yellow to you and yellow-orange to someone else. It doesn’t mean either of your opinions are wrong, just different. Even in business, you can’t please everyone.
  4. Remember that you’re evaluating facts. You’re not evaluating your emotional reactions to said facts or to the people giving you the information.
  5. Be honest. If a blood bank is doing so well that there’s nothing Incept can offer, Billie is honest about that in her recommendations. She doesn’t try to sell something that they don’t need.

That fifth practice is what makes Incept unique! Many businesses will try to push their product, regardless of the need. How many businesses do you know that are willing to admit that their services aren’t needed?

Do you think that it is important to be objective?

Photo Credit:

Feathered Monkey Art http://www.featheredmonkey.com/gallery_main.shtml

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Jenna Patterson

Live the Brand: Why Knowing is Only One-Third of the Battle

One of our focal points for the Live the Brand project is the improvement of internal communication at Incept.

We receive a ton of new and updated information that needs to be shared on a daily basis, and there are many different channels we use to share it. However, the general consensus is that we (as a company) need to implement a more formal and structured communication plan to use within and between each of our teams.

Enter the “Share it. Know it. Own it. Repeat.” subcommittee.

Made up of Dave Walter, myself and several other employees, our group’s sole responsibility is to develop a system that improves the flow of effective communication at Incept. Sounds simple enough, right? Hand out a few more memos; use brighter markers on the white boards; buy each employee his or her own carrier pigeon. Unfortunately, the solution isn’t quite that easy. In order to improve, our sub-committee must help everyone develop a habit. Well, three habits to be exact:

  1. Sharing it: Every member of every team must communicate relevant information on a consistent basis in a location that is easily accessible. On top of that, we must be willing to express our concerns, ask questions and share what we have learned with the rest of our team.
  2. Knowing it: Of course, sharing the information isn’t enough. We must understand exactly where to find that information, what it means and how it affects us, our customers and our team.
  3. Owning it: After the information is shared and known, it needs to be owned. It’s up to each of us to remain accountable for seeking out new information and applying it every day.

I was born just after the G.I. Joe generation came to an end, but I’ve heard “knowing is half the battle” enough times to associate it with the popular 80’s action heroes. When it comes to communicating effectively, however, knowing is only one-third of the battle.

We must demonstrate all three of these habits simultaneously and continuously. They are definitely not habits that will develop overnight or that we will practice once and then abandon. It will be a learning process that will take time to develop and perfect.

Our “Share it. Know it. Own it. Repeat.” subcommittee has recently begun weekly meetings to determine our objectives and define success. With each meeting and each milestone, we will help Incept take one more step toward becoming a world-class company.

Of the people you interact with, who does an exceptional job of sharing, knowing or owning information? What do they do that separates them from everyone else?

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Jim

How NOT To Handle Customer Service

I have nearly 200,000 miles on my 10-year-old van, so I’ve begun the painful process of looking for a replacement.

As exciting as it may be to get a new vehicle, I’m sure that most people would agree the car buying experience doesn’t come without some pressure. Using a number of online research sources, I found a dealer that had pretty much what I wanted. Because I knew precisely the car I was interested in, I thought leaving an hour and a half to take a test drive, get a trade-in quote and negotiate a bid would be sufficient. Oh, was I ever wrong.

About forty-five minutes into the visit, I had looked at several alternatives, taken the test drive for the one upon which I had focused my interest, submitted a written offer, and handed over the keys to my vehicle to my sales guy (who then took the keys to his manager). After another fifteen minutes had passed without my vehicle being looked at, I apologized to my sales guy for not allotting enough time for the transaction and let him know that I would need to leave in about 15 minutes to go pick up my son.

To make a long story short, I had to tell my sales guy four times over the next twenty-five minutes that I really needed my keys back because I had to go get my son. Even after explaining multiple times that I had a child waiting on me, I ended up having to go over to the Sales Manager’s cubical to get my keys. The Sales Manager, sitting in his chair, simply pointed to a box containing all the sets of keys from shoppers that day. I had to get my own keys out of the key box only to have the Sales Manager tell me, “I’m sorry, sir. We can’t give you the vehicle at that price.” My reply was to-the-point, that I understand, but – for the fifth time – I have a child waiting on me.

This dealership simply doesn’t get it. It would appear that part of their selling philosophy is to make people wait and wait so that the potential buyer feels some pressure and develops some sense of eagerness to conclude a deal. Perhaps they’ve heard people use every excuse in the book to get out of there. That doesn’t excuse taking the risk that the buyer may be telling the truth and that your dealership is running the risk of telling the public that making a sale is more important than the possibility of a child waiting all alone. I had to wonder how many women would shop there if they knew that their keys would be taken, never to be returned (without physically going to get them back), no matter how many times they asked for them! Not that I have any huge influence within the community, but I would think the word-of-mouth ill will that this kind of business practice creates would be of a higher concern than the profit a dealership stands to make from any vehicle within my price range.

Since I had originally found the vehicle via the Internet Sales Manager, I received a follow-up inquiry via e-mail about my experience. Now, I’m a firm believer that most businesses want to know how they are perceived by the public. It doesn’t help a business to improve when upset consumers simply take their business elsewhere without letting them know why. Accordingly, I responded with a summary of the horrible buying experience, nearly identical to what I’ve written here. The next day, I came home to find a voice message from the Sales Manager -the one who had held on to the keys – stating something to the effect of: “I understand that there was a mix up with your keys yesterday, and I want to talk about that and see if we can still get your business.” All I heard was this: “Can we still get your money?” Two days after that, I received an almost identical voice message from the sales guy, amounting to: “How can we still get your money?” They just don’t get it.

So here’s a teachable moment. First, when you have an upset customer, STOP TRYING TO SELL. Listen. Then listen. Then listen some more. Then apologize. You don’t have to apologize for the company until you have all the facts and are able to make a determination about the reasonableness of the consumer’s feelings. You should always, however, apologize that the consumer feels that way about their experience (with your company). Don’t try to tell an upset customer that you still want their money until after you have resolved their source of dissatisfaction professionally and efficiently. As a matter of fact, resolving a complaint professionally and efficiently often results in a customer who will stay with you longer and spend more than one who never had a problem. In any case, resolve the concern before you even think about asking to do business.

When was the last time you experienced poor customer service? How did you react?

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Jim

How Far We’ve Come and How Much Further We Can Go!

Back when I first entered the job market, management style was very different from how it is today.

In those days, management taught us to do our jobs a certain way, and we did it that way. After all, we weren’t as experienced as management in process analytics and process improvement. Management had conducted a lot of tests on the best way to achieve results, so it only made sense to follow the proven path rather than make the same mistakes that they had already learned from.

Of course, business was different then. American commerce was mostly manufacturing defined products and then marketing those products. In my short lifespan, our economy has transitioned from a manufacturing base to one that is more heavily dependent on services. Providing services by its nature, rather than defined products, requires us to be more adaptable.

At the same time, people like W. Edwards Deming taught us a better way. He and others introduced us to Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM taught us that we achieve a higher level of client satisfaction when we involve not only management, but employees, suppliers and even customers in meeting and hopefully exceeding customer expectations. This is one of the concepts that Incept alludes to when we use our phrase: “leading though listening.” It would be interesting to hear any specific examples of leading though listening that people see here at Incept. Share those insights with me, would you please?

All of us as today’s employees, make a significant impact on management style as well. We now have a workforce that wants to do a lot more than just punch a time clock, put in their hours, take their paycheck and go home. We have people who want to be a part of something bigger, who want to really contribute ideas for delivering service faster, better and at a lower cost. Most of you appear to want to be truly engaged with the goals of the organization.

It brings me a lot of pride to be connected with a company like Incept that listens to those needs and gives all employees that opportunity to help us reach a state of continuous improvement. When the Live The Brand Steering Committee first embarked on making Incept a world-class place to work, one of the primary steps was to ask employees about the kinds of things that stood in the way of enhancing relationships and producing meaningful results. We spent literally hours and hours reading and re-reading comments from focus groups, suggestions from the suggestion box and recommendations that came through the management channels.

Later this month, I’ll write a little about our interpretations of what we heard and how we responded. But for now, I’d like to hear how this engagement made you feel.

Do you think asking employees how to improve culture is a good way to go about creating a world-class culture?

Would you rather simply be asked to identify likely barriers to meaningful conversations or is it important for management to also ask employees to help come put with potential solutions?

What other methods could we use to gather team member feedback? I’m truly eager to hear your ideas!

I’m all ears!

[Picture Credit: mobisinc.com]

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Stephanie

Let’s Talk…Results: A Look at the Incept Interviewing Process

We’ve been talking a lot about interviews lately, from tips to help you ace your own interview to how to interview a potential blood donor to find the best time and place of a blood drive or blood center in their area. There’s more to it than just that, though.

There’s also the interview between companies and their potential clients. Here at Incept, our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) work with several different blood centers, reaching out to their donors to schedule appointments for them to come in and donate blood. But how did we get to where we are?

It all started with an interview.

At the beginning of the interview for potential clients, we like to ask about their current successes and struggles, as well as what they would like to see improved. The old saying goes “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” so we also ask about the things they’re already doing well and that they’re excited for. Getting to know the blood center on a personal level helps up better understand their strengths and goals.

Next, we talk about actual numbers:

  • How many units of blood do they need to help the hospitals in their area?
  • Do they only collect whole blood or do they also need plasma, platelets and double reds?
  • Do they ask their donors who have only donated whole blood before to try another type of blood donation?

We also like to ask about the donors themselves. Knowing how many regular donors a blood center has, as well as how often these donors come in to donate in a year, helps us get a good idea what we have to work with.
How the blood center has been contacting their donors is also some important information:

  • Does the blood center only offer calls and letters?
  • Do they also use emails, texts and social media to reach out to the community?
  • How often do they call or send letters?

Something a lot of blood center do is offer donor incentive programs. Some offer points to use in their online stores, while others have t-shirts and other small thank-you gifts on hand at the drive itself. We ask if the blood center has an incentive program in place and how they like to use it.
Now that we’re more familiar with how the blood center works with their donors, we like to take a look at how they’ve been regulating their calls. Most often, we ask if they use scripts and what their rules and guidelines are. It also helps to know if they have an employee recognition program and a quality assurance process.

Finally, we look at all of the answers and decide what would be the best way for us to help the blood center meet their goals. We explain what our strategy would be and what kind of results we would expect to achieve. We review how our goals and work strategy will line up with the blood center’s needs, and then we can begin helping them get the results they need.

We’re Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs), and we’re always listening. How can we help you meet your goals today?

Picture Credits:

http://volz.esmartweb.com/molli.html

http://climateprogress.org/2007/09/29/climate-greenhouse-gas-carbon-goals-targets/

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Stephen Smith

Reflections: Changing, Leadership, Values and Incept

In my almost three years at Incept, I’ve seen changes made to improve the quality of experience that comes from working at Incept. Such changes focused on everyone from our newest agent on the phones to the very top of our leadership team.

As I stood there filming our Let’s Talk…Results Launch Event on Saturday, January 15th, 2011, I realized that those changes weren’t individual milestones meant to fix one small problem at a time; they were a well-orchestrated evolution meant to improve the quality of everything involved in the Incept experience.

Looking Back

Only a few short months after I joined the Incept team, I was asked to become a part of what we then called the Employee Retention Committee. It was a group spearheaded by our Vice President, Dave Walter, with the sole purpose of seeking out weak points and strengthening them in order to make Incept a better place to work.

I was excited by the opportunity to work with veteran members of the team and jumped at the offer. The months that followed were filled with questions that were difficult to answer, but the result, for me, was a chance to improve my workplace and get an inside look into how our company was run.

After a while, Incept continued to grow, and it became eventually clear that the committee had fulfilled its role. Hence, we closed the book on that chapter of my Incept experience. I walked away with a deeper insight of the decisions that made Incept what it was, as well as a strong feeling of ownership for the role I played in making Incept something special.

In The Middle

Time kept turning, and Incept kept growing. By the time November 2009 had arrived, our company had almost doubled from when I first applied. There was still a feeling among the Teleservice Representatives (TSRs, as we were then called) that we worked for a company that had something special about it. The problem was not many of us knew what that special something was.

November 13th, 2009 changed that feeling completely. Incept hosted a huge launch event where a new logo, new mission and new values were introduced to every member of our company. Incept had become a Contact Center, specializing in Conversational Marketing and employing Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs). Our leadership team explained their new titles and what role each played within the company to every employee face-to-face. Everyone walked away from that event knowing what everyone else did to contribute to the team effort.

More importantly, that day marked a change in Incept’s values. We were all introduced to our company values: Integrity, Never Satisfied, Compassion, Everyone’s A Customer, Present and Tenacious. Each value reinforced the others, and I think that was the moment when everyone knew exactly what made Incept special. It valued its employees just as much as it valued its customers. From that moment on, everyone was accountable for everyone else. Incept had become something completely different from the rest of its competitors… and it felt good.

At that moment, Incept stepped into the lead and set the pace for the new standard of customer service both internally and externally.

Everyone got a t-shirt with all of our new Service Standards on the back.

The Present

Saturday, January 15th, 2011, marked another step for our company culture and values. At the Let’s Talk…Results Launch Event there was food and fun, but most importantly there was education. Our leaders stood up and spoke in turn about our new Service Standards, which were based solely on feedback provided by our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs).

I think everyone walked into that event expecting to hear what changes our Live The Brand committee had made to our policies. Instead, we were all told that the changes were 100% up to us to make. Incept had just been handed to the employees to steer the company where we want to take it. Let me tell you, that felt good!

That some fabulous prizes were given out was a plus, but in order to put into perspective how exciting the event truly was you have to understand the schedule of events at the Launch Event. Dinner was served while the members of our Live The Brand committee spoke in front of the company. As dinner moved along, a few small prizes were given away here and there. After all the speakers had finished up, we were told that we would have a one-hour break, and that five committees of employees would be formed to take ownership of every one of our Service Standards. Each of those committees was represented at a table in the lobby, and interested parties were to go and apply, if interested. (But we needed to be back in one hour, because the four BIG prizes were going to be given away then.)

A few employees spend time at the event applying to join the Service Standards committees.

That hour went by quickly, and it came time for the big prizes (and I do mean BIG) to be given away. However, it seemed that everyone was still in the lobby applying for and talking about committees. Apparently, the excitement over getting to become an active part of rebuilding Incept from the ground up was more overwhelming than the excitement over winning an iPad or a 42″ plasma screen TV. Who knew?

The reality of what had just happened dawned on me at some point while the big prizes were being given away – Incept was now in the hands of the employees. Management had turned the company over to us. But now us even had new meaning. It was no longer the Management team and the Conversational Marketing Experts; now we all had equal control over where Incept was heading. The playing field had just been leveled in a big way!

The only way I can think to describe what Incept has become is this: “Something beyond special. Something innovative. Something incredible.”

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