I love what I do because it gives me endless opportunities to be on the risky, cutting-edge of things. Being a creative sort, I enjoy experimenting, testing, and playing with new ideas. This trait has not always been appreciated by my employers who often found me to be a maverick or a renegade. Running my own training and consulting company is a natural fit for my personality. The only trouble I can get into is creating a product or service that no one wants.

We are in the midst of creating the web-based reinforcement tools for Blazing Service, our new customer service training program, to be launched in a few weeks. I know the world needs better customer service and that there are a host of organizations that are ready for a solid, innovative customer service training program. But are you ready for (drum roll, please), puppets playing the parts of various angry customers?

We've teamed up with the talents of Punch and Brodie to showcase Bradley, Kelsey, Ruth and Alfonzo in a series of vignettes featuring these life-like puppets as they respond to typical statements made by customers. We think the result is hilarious and likely to engage any learner's attention.

What do you think? Go view a puppet screen test, have a laugh, and post your comment here. We hope you enjoy our creative efforts.

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just when I think I can't find anything to write about, an opportunity to verbalize my feelings about something always surfaces. We're in the midst of developing our new customer service training program, Blazing Service, which we have beta-tested and plan to launch in April. So, perhaps I am more aware than usual of poor customer service when it occurs. (I'm equally aware of the danger of appearing to be an incompetent customer, but I will forge ahead nonetheless!)

My two young daughters, ages 5 & 6, have been enrolled in one-on-one swim lessons for almost two years. They've enjoyed the experience and have become pretty good swimmers over the past year. The swimming pool has four quarterly swim lesson periods for which parents have to register. For some reason, I didn't receive the email notification this time and, because life has been chaotic in this past month, didn't realize that winter quarter was ending and spring registration was nearly over. (I know that you've been in a similar spot yourself at least once and will judge me kindly!)

Imagine my surprise when I logged into the website this afternoon to see the announcement on the homepage: "Spring quarter registration is now closed." I called the office to see if anything could be done and heard:

No, I'm sorry, registration is closed.
There are no slots available.
You can register for summer quarter.
We can't possibly notify our customers, even long-term customers, to remind them to register.
We can put you on a waitlist but there probably won't be two spots on the same night.
There were signs posted at the swimming pool. You should have seen them.

All of the statements made above are true statements. But the bottom-line is that they just lost me as a customer. I've now registered my children for swim lessons at a different pool. If they had a moment of enlightened self-interest, they might have handled this entire situation differently.

For starters, shouldn't you be curious if a long-term customer (we've registered two kids for the past 9 quarters) suddenly stopped registering? Wouldn't it make some sense to pay attention to loyal customers and make sure that they haven't fallen through the cracks? How hard would it be to make a phone call to your current customers and ask them why they hadn't registered? Wouldn't that give you useful information, not to mention, an opportunity to save a customer relationship? And, if your loyal customer resurfaces after registration is closed, aren't there better options for handling the situation, then restating your policies?

Every time I experience frustration, I try to mine it for useful lessons. I'll be thinking about how these lessons transfer to the way we handle our long-term customers at NetSpeed Leadership. But at a minimum, I pledge that we will: Avoid making assumptions. Check in to find out what's up. And then do what we can to give our customers options that meet their needs.

What are you doing to retain your loyal customers? Yours for better customer service!

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a confession to make: I'm a bit of a controller. Once I get an idea in mind, I move heaven and earth to make it happen. But life is life and sometimes reality intrudes on my vision of how things ought to unfold. I've noticed over the years that I'm getting better at releasing control and allowing the creative flow to occur.

Case in point: My youngest daughter, age 5, dressed herself for Sunday School this week. She chose a Halloween costume (hooded, black velvet robe trimmed in silver) which she matched with a pair of black patent leather shoes with a rhinestone strap. From a five-year old child's perspective, she looked beautiful. From a mother's perspective, she wasn't suitably attired. However, as every parent learns in time, some battles are not worth fighting. So off to church she went and, of course, she received a lot of positive attention!

I should thank my daughter for helping me exercise my flexibility muscles. In my role as the CEO around here, I find that I must regularly release control and accept the glorious contributions of my team. Certainly it's important to communicate clear expectations. However, once those expectations are on the table, it's equally important to stand aside, let people generate creative solutions and figure out how to implement them. And if I release control, people will even initiate new ideas that far surpass what I have time to imagine or create myself.

I'm practicing every day some of these behaviors:

Breathe deeply when someone is presenting a new, untested idea.
Resist the temptation to say "no" immediately.
Say "yes" in your mind while listening.
Ask to hear more.
Give people the opportunity to explain fully.
Say "yes"right away to the elements of the idea that might work.
Ask to "sleep on it" before making a decision.
Give credit where credit is due (rather than co-opting the idea as your own).

With these practices, even control freaks like me can collaborate with the smart people around them!

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 01:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Leaders know that occupying the leadership role can open you to increased scrutiny and even personal attack. Ethical leaders strive to consider the common good while maintaining their personal integrity in the service of developing their organizations. Yet, even the most ethical, honest and open leader can be subject to unfair allegations.

I'm outraged on behalf of my friend and colleague, Dr. Barbara Brewitt, M. Div, Ph.D., chief scientist and CEO of Biomed Comm, an innovative healthcare company, which is being aggressively and unfairly targeted by the Washington State Department of Health. Biomed Comm Inc. is the leader in safe, over-the-counter homeopathic cell signaling products called Cell Signal Enhancer® medicines.

Dr. Brewitt is an innovative, visionary thinker who is attempting to marry pharmaceuticals and natural medicine. (Think "disruptive technology" and you are on target.) She has been in business with the highest ethical standards since 1996 and has lobbied the Food and Drug Administration (without success) to regulate the industry. Her peer-reviewed and published clinical studies have gained her numerous patents as well as global recognition. In fact her company was selected by Fast Company magazine as one of the 2004 Fast 50, the first time a natural medicine company has received this business award.

This year has been a challenging one for Dr. Brewitt. At the beginning of the year, a large pharmaceutical company suddenly cut off the supply of materials used to make the proteins required in her product. At the same time, a hostile competitor bought out her manufacturer. After weighing her options, Dr. Brewitt decided to establish a manufacturing facility in Washington and applied for a license. This act of following the law triggered a "cease and desist" action by the State of Washington. To make it worse, the media were notified at the same time and Dr. Brewitt's case has been tried publicly on television and in print. She has been forced to defend herself against allegations she calls, "outrageous."

Do you get the pattern here? Dr. Brewitt, at every phase of her research and her business development has attempted to operate with high ethical standards and within the law. What she is doing is certainly threatening to certain factions in the pharmaceutical industry. Although in eight years of distribution, her products have harmed no one, the State of Washington is suddenly concerned for the public health. (If you don't believe that this kind of organized attack is possible, go rent the movies Tucker: The Man and His Dream or The Constant Gardner.)

I am one of Dr. Brewitt's business colleagues who are taking a stand. Granted, there isn't a lot that one person can do, but one voice can and should speak truth to power. My friend, I wish you strength and courage as you fight this battle against your company and your reputation. As an ethical leader you are being severely tested.

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm a learner again. We're now offering monthly web workshops to give people an opportunity to learn more about NetSpeed Leadership while developing their professional skills. I'm learning how to use the web conference platform, how to present content via the web, and how to make the sessions interactive. It's hard to be a novice when my sense of identity is built on being an expert. In fact learning a new skill set is not for the faint of heart!

I remind myself that I, like most adults, have a low tolerance for the early phases of learning: I don't know about it. I can't do it. I'm getting critical feedback on my performance. It takes a pretty solid sense of self-esteem to say, "Bring it on! I'm going to flounder around until I master this. How am I doing?" Is it any wonder that participants in our classes shy away from role plays, practice exercises, and other forms of hands-on learning that require them to exhibit their lack of skill?

My five-year old daughter recently made huge improvements in her swimming ability because her Uncle Byron patiently spent hours in the pool with her, guiding her as she worked through her fears. For a five-year old, fear of immediate drowning is at the top of the list! It took patience and skill to get her to let go of the wall and swim a few strokes.

The fears of adult learners may not be as dramatic as drowning but they certainly can work to inhibit skill development. Our challenge as trainers is to make it safe for our participants to let go of the wall and try some new strokes. Some questions to consider:

How do you motivate learners in your classroom to take risks?
How do you help clarify the benefits of learning a new skill?
How do you reward incremental progress?
What do you do to create a safe environment in which others learn easily?
What do you do to prevent embarrassment on the part of learners in those early phases?

Please share your best practices with us so we can learn from you.

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm back this week from a fascinating week in Granada, Nicaragua. While we were there, my 6-year old daughter had a health care challenge that required immediate medical care. As the doctor examined her, he scolded me in Spanish for waiting too long to bring her in. (Since I had already scolded myself in English, it was really unnecessary—I felt terrible.)

The examination resulted in four different prescriptions which the doctor wrote out on a prescription form while explaining each medication to me quickly. Let me just tell you that my Spanish is rudimentary at best. I was fortunate that my father is fluent in Spanish and could translate the instructions while I painstakingly wrote them down in English. The doctor was busy and a little impatient with my need to make him repeat everything more than one time. I felt overwhelmed, concerned for my daughter's well being, and frustrated by my inability to understand what the doctor was telling me.

My daughter is home now and doing just fine, but the experience was humbling. And it has resulted in some personal communication commitments:

First, I intend to be compassionate and patient when dealing with people who feel fearful, whether in the classroom, in business dealings, or with my family (attitude adjustment).
Second, I resolve to speak slowly and clearly when communicating with others, particularly non-native English speakers (behavior change).
Third, I plan to learn and practice Spanish so I'm better prepared for similar situations when we travel (skill development).

To improve communication skills, it may require developing a new awareness or adjusting an old attitude; usually it requires incorporating a new behavior; often it's a matter of learning a new skill. If you've had similar experiences when training others or communicating at work, please share them with us.

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)