HCM_Sales_Marketing_&_Alliance_Excellence_June_2022

JUNE 2022 • Vol.21 • No.06 (ISSN 2564-2057)

THE SLIDING SCALE OF SALES TRANSFORMATION - Mike Kunkle,

Vice President, Sales Effectiveness Services, SPARXiQ

12

How To Handle Angry Customers: Don’t Smell The Milk - Shep

Hyken,

Customer Service Expert

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The Components And Logistics Of A Strategic Sales Review - Joseph DiMisa, Korn Ferry

21

How To Get Your Sales Team To Embrace Change - Colleen Francis, Engage Selling Solutions

27

The Power Of The Service Strategy - John Tschohl,

Service Quality Institute

INDEX

HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence JUNE 2022

Vol.21

No.06

( ISSN 2564-2057)

07

The Sliding Scale Of Sales Transformation

On the Cover

Can an approach limited to sales force effectiveness maximize sales potential?

- Mike Kunkle, Vice President, Sales Effectiveness Services, SPARXi

Articles 09 Using LinkedIn For Lead Generation And Prospecting Four key components of a script

- John Nemo, Author, Speaker, Business Coach and Consultant

14 Are There Best Practices For Salespeople?

Every profession in the world develops a body of knowledge about the best way to do that job

- Dave Kahle, President, Kahle Way Sales Systems

19 The Top 10 WOW Customer Experience Stories Of 2022 From McDonald’s to Burger King, learn how these brands take customer support to a new level

- Lafond Wanda,

Content Strategist and Communications Consultant

23 Top 15 Customer Service Nightmares Are customers always right?

- Kazimierz Rajnerowicz,

Content Editor, Tidio

29 6 Keys To Develop Life-Changing Relationships With Your Mentees The relationally intelligent mentor

- Dr. Adam C. Bandelli,

Managing Director, Bandelli & Associates

Top Picks

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INDEX

How To Handle Angry Customers: Don’t Smell The Milk Trust your customers - Shep Hyken,

Customer Service Expert, and Founder, Hyken.com

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The Components And Logistics Of A Strategic Sales Review Start your sales transformation today!

- Joseph DiMisa,

Senior Client Partner - Global Sales Strategy & Rewards Advisory Leader, Korn Ferry

21

How To Get Your Sales Team To Embrace Change 8 things to consider if you want your team to embrace change - Colleen Francis, Founder and President, Engage Selling Solutions

27

The Power Of The Service Strategy The value of a company is based on its brand - John Tschohl,

Founder and President, Service Quality Institute

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Editorial Purpose Our mission is to promote personal and

Deepa Damodaran

Debbie Mcgrath

professional development based on

Editor, HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence

Publisher, HR.com

constructive values, sound ethics, and timeless principles.

Excellence Publications Debbie McGrath

CEO, HR.com - Publisher

Dawn Jeffers VP, Sales

Sue Kelley

Director (Product, Marketing, and Research)

Babitha Balakrishnan and Deepa Damodaran

Excellence Publications Managers and Editors

Deepak S

Senior - Design and Layout

HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence Team Deepa Damodaran Editor

Trusting Your Customers

E

very profession in the world develops a body of knowledge about the best way to do that job.

And every professional in the world is expected, if they are serious about the profession, to regularly study those best practices, and to incorporate them into their routines with a disciplined, methodical effort.

The job of the salesperson is no different. There is probably no other profession that is more written about, and to, than the field of sales.

Nataraj Ramesh

Design and Layout (Digital Magazine)

Chandra Shekar

Magazine (Online Version)

Submissions & Correspondence Please send any correspondence, articles, letters to the editor, and requests to reprint, republish, or excerpt articles to ePubEditors@hr.com.

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HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence (ISSN 2564-2057)

Learn why it is important that you expose your salespeople to the best practices of the profession, and encourage every salesperson to improve by methodically incorporating them into their routines. Check out sales expert Dave Kahle’s Are There Best Practices For Salespeople? to understand where you could go wrong when it comes to motivating salespeople.

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Moving on, in How To Handle Angry Customers: Don’t Smell The Milk, customer service expert, Shep Hyken tells us why it is important to trust your customers, and not say things or take actions that question their integrity.

Also, read The Top 10 WOW Customer Experience Stories Of 2022 by Lafond Wanda, and Top 15 Customer Service Nightmares

by Kazimierz Rajnerowicz, among others featured in this edition.

We hope this edition of HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence, will help you achieve excellence in your sales and marketing efforts.

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COVER ARTICLE

The Sliding Scale Of Sales Transformation Can an approach limited to sales force effectiveness maximize sales potential?

By Mike Kunkle, SPARXiQ

S

ales Transformation. It’s a term that means different things to different people.

The Elements of Sales Force Effectiveness

I’ve been involved in sales transformations that were entirely focused on getting the best-possible performance out of the sales force (ranging from a 30 to 600 percent increase in sales), independent of retooling the rest of the organization. In my experience, the potential for improvement in most sales organizations is significant.

Will an approach limited to sales force effectiveness (SFE) maximize that potential? That depends on a variety of factors, which I will share in this article.

I’ve also been involved in larger business transformations which included the sales force, but encompassed reworking strategy, improving market and buyer acumen, adjusting product-market fit, adapting or fine-tuning business models, reworking sales models, developing new GTM plans, planning for disciplined execution of the changes, and more.

Usually, the work performed in the former SFE transformations is also a part of the latter, more comprehensive business transformations. The SFE work itself doesn’t often change. Most business transformations include fine-tuning the sales force, but not all sales transformations require a full business transformation.

Let’s look at and clarify the moving parts of a sales force effectiveness upgrade.

These are the support systems and framework for how to enable and transform sales effectiveness.

To start, you’ll want to pay attention to two sales effectiveness frameworks: ● The Sales Force Effectiveness Acumens

● The Sales Force Effectiveness Fundamentals Figure 1: The Sales Force Effectiveness Acumens

Is this all-encompassing overhaul really required?

Again, it depends on the circumstances, and we’ll explore this further, too.

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The Sliding Scale Of Sales Transformation

SFE ACUMENS

DESCRIPTION

Buyer/Customer Acumen

Understanding general buyer personas and buyers’ journey or buying processes, including challenges, opportunities, impacts, needs, objectives, priorities (COIN-OP), decision process, decision criteria, decision roles, desired outcomes with metrics and measures, and consideration of both the decision makers’ business and personal needs.

Sales Acumen

Includes sales research, sales call planning, prospecting/lead generation, digital selling practices, opportunity qualification, consultative selling using an adaptive sales methodology (including discovery/situation assessment, solution development/co-creating solutions, developing proposals, conducting demos and/or presenting solutions/solution dialogue, resolving concerns, and gaining commitment), sales meeting management, multithreading to message appropriately to buyers with different interests, storytelling, insight selling, negotiating, influence skills, consulting skills, general dialogue and communication skills, team selling, and strategic account management.

Business Acumen

Understanding business models, financial acumen, operational metrics, and outcomes such as key performance indicators and critical success factors, pricing, how customer organizations make money, and how to build a business case and calculate ROI.

Solution Acumen

Understanding of products and services and how they solve customer problems, critical thinking and problem solving, forcefield analysis, how solutions tie to industry acumen, financial acumen, customer acumen, and ecosystem acumen.

This is the culmination of acumens, used to create value for customers (and differentiation for the company) to achieve customers’ desired outcomes. Includes an understanding of competitive offerings and how to position against them, as well as against DIY (do it yourself) and the status quo.

Industry Acumen

Domain expertise: understanding the industry challenges, opportunities, technologies, regulations and legislation, business practices, current events and news, and the general state of the profession.

Operational Acumen

How to get things done: how to make things happen in your own organization and in others. This includes an understanding of processes, political savvy, culture, collaboration, consensus building, and the ability to execute on all the above plans effectively.

Organizational Acumen

How to plan and organize effectively. Includes territory planning, account planning, sales call planning, leading sales meetings, task management, using CRM, sales enablement tools, other technology tools and performance support, action planning, calendaring, project management, change management, and personal productivity practices.

Ecosystem Acumen

As applicable, understanding of vendor and channel partners and how to most effectively build relationships and engage with them to uncover, manage, and win opportunities through the effective co-creation of solutions for customers.

Read the complete article here.

Mike Kunkle is Vice President, Sales Effectiveness Services, at SPARXiQ.

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Using LinkedIn For Lead Generation And Prospecting Four key components of a script

By John Nemo

D

iscover how to break the professional ice, practice some professional courtship and then pivot into a permission-based, lead-magnet type messaging offer. It’s all about personalized, 1-on-1 engagement – similar to how you’d act at a face-to-face coffee meeting.

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The Ideal 1-on-1 Message Script

Here’s a sample of the “fill in the blank” script I start with during these 1-on-1 engagements.

Important Note: This message comes after I break the professional ice with a personal comment or note as demonstrated in the video above.

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Using LinkedIn For Lead Generation And Prospecting

Part 4: You don’t pressure them (“If you’re not interested, no worries at all…”) and give them an easy out if they’re not interested. Remember the long game! Even if the person isn’t interested in this specific message or topic, he or she might be the next time you send a note about something else. Keep it conversational, friendly and easygoing in tone, and people won’t feel pressured or pushed or “sold to.” That way, when you circle back again in a few weeks with another message about a different topic, they’ll be open to hearing about it.

When They Say “YES”

Curious – Are you interested in [BLANK]?

If so, I have [XYZ] If you’d like to see how it works, just reply with the word “YES” and I can send you over a link to [XYZ] And if you’re not interested, no worries at all.

Cheers!

Here’s a breakdown of the approach and script I use for these messages: There are four key components to this script: Part 1: You ask a question (“Curious…”) about a specific topic (i.e. the product or service you sell) and tie it to some specific benefits they want or problems they need solved that can be related to that product or service.

Now, if someone replies “YES” to the initial message I send, then I immediately send a follow up reply that gives the URL to my promised piece of content, calendar (for a free call) or whatever else it is.

The key to all of this is how you phrase things, and following the script and approach I’ve outlined here will work wonders in sending free, qualified traffic anywhere you want online.

Remember to use LinkedIn to first target the right audience, and then talk to them like I’ve outlined, asking questions, seeking permission and not being pushy.

If you do, you’re going to tap into the #1 LinkedIn lead generation method I see working these days!

This article originally appeared here.

Part 2: You offer something of value (“If so, I have a free training video / blog post / eBook / phone consultation / diagnostic tool / etc. …”) related to the topic and question you asked in Part 1. The key here is that what you are offering is free and of value to your target audience.

As an author, speaker, 1-on-1 business coach and consultant, John Nemo helps individuals, organizations and businesses boost their brand, generate sales leads and increase revenue. John is also the author of seven books, including LinkedIn Riches: How to Leverage the World’s Largest Professional Network to Boost Your Brand, Generate Leads and Increase Revenue!

Part 3: You ask permission (“Just reply ‘YES’…”) to share your content or information, and give them a simple way to tell you they want to learn more (“YES”). Remember too, I’m not assuming my connections will automatically want a link to my webinar. Instead, I’m asking them if they do. This makes all the difference!

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CALLING ALL HR MARKETING GURUS - SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE WITH OTHERS! Are you an expert in Marketing in the Human Capital space?

If yes, you’re invited to submit articles for inclusion in our publication, HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence!

This publication helps Sales and Marketing professionals in the Human Capital space learn emerging trends to help them in their business and now you can share your marketing expertise with them!

Check out our magazine here Our readers are interested in a number of topics including: ● Marketing hacks for HR Solution Providers ● Building relationships with current and potential clients ● Tradeshow expo halls - best practices for ROI

● How to nurture stronger partnerships between marketing and sales ● Tips for working with influencers and analysts ● Market planning process

● Branding and your online presence

● How to build a brand

● Aligning Marketing roles with your business growth strategy

● How to use Social to drive brand recognition and sales

● Marketing Tactics to increase ROI ● Martech Enablement ● Marketing Analytics ● How to define a “real lead” and how to count its sale value

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● How to win with PR

● Your approach to producing and disseminating meaningful thought leadership ● How marketing needs to evolve for success

Article submission deadline: 1st of each month

Kindly let us know if you’d be interested to feature your article in our magazine by emailing the editor at ddamodaran@hr.com. You can also review our submission guidelines by clicking here.

Also, if you are in marketing in the human capital space, we invite you to host a webcast for our HR Marketing Institute. For more details, please email Shelley Marsland-Beard at smarsland@hr.com

TOP PICK

How To Handle Angry Customers: Don’t Smell The Milk Trust your customers

By Shep Hyken, Customer Service Expert

A

t a recent conference, I enjoyed an interview with a business owner who shared some of his customer service philosophies. His name is Jake, and he is a very smart guy. He taught several lessons

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that day, but the one that stood out was how he handles angry customers. Specifically, it was a lesson he called ‘Don’t Smell the Milk’.

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How To Handle Angry Customers: Don’t Smell The Milk

Early in Jake’s career, he worked at a grocery store.

His manager taught him how to respond to a disgruntled customer. The example he used had to do with a customer who wanted to return a spoiled carton of milk.

If a customer claims to have a carton of spoiled milk, the natural reaction would be for an employee to open the carton and “take a whiff of the milk.” As natural as that seems to be, your actions may send the message that you do not trust your customer. You had to check to make sure the customer was telling the truth. Instead, Jake’s manager suggested taking the milk from the customer, no questions asked, and exchanging it for another carton. If you want to smell the milk, do it later.

That made me think of an experience I had at a restaurant. I had been there many times before and was excited to order my favorite entrée. The meal arrived, and I took my first bite. The sauce did not taste right. The manager happened to stop by to see how we were enjoying our meal. I mentioned that the sauce had a funny taste, and – I promise I am not making this up – he dipped his finger into the sauce on my plate, put it in his mouth to taste it, thought for a moment, and said, “There’s nothing wrong with the sauce.”

negative comment after many visits, and this is how the manager handled it. Just like the spoiled milk example, the manager doubted my word.

Furthermore, he chose to disagree with me. If you have been following my work, you know I don’t believe the customer is always right, but they are always the customer. This guy was interested in winning a debate about the sauce versus taking care of me. All he had to do was say something like, “I’m sorry. Is there something else I can get you?”

Instead, I was stuck with food that did not taste good, to begin with, and now tasted like the manager’s dirty finger. Okay, that is a slight exaggeration, but who wants to eat food after witnessing an employee sticking his finger in it?

The lesson is clear. Trust your customers. Do not say things or take actions that question the integrity of your customers. If you want your customers to trust you, you must also trust your customers.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker, researcher, and New York Times bestselling business author.

Maybe there was not anything “wrong” with the sauce, but to me, there was. Regardless, I am a regular customer who had made just one

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Are There Best Practices For Salespeople?

Every profession in the world develops a body of knowledge about the best way to do that job

By Dave Kahle, Kahle Way Sales Systems

O

ne of the most debilitating myths about the sales profession is this: Salespeople can learn on their own, on the job, and eventually become good at their jobs. They will eventually develop their own style, this myth implies, and that will bring them the maximum results.

That myth is true for about five percent of the salespeople in the world. For the other 95 percent, nothing could be further from the truth. The overwhelming majority of field salespeople perform at a fraction of their potential because they have never been systematically exposed to the best practices of their profession.

Instead, they have been expected to “learn on their own.”

I like to paint. I don’t mean pictures. I mean walls and bedrooms and hallways. I enjoy the physical nature of it, and the resulting change in the feeling of the room. I have always liked to paint and have done so for over 30 years. Once, for about two months, I made a living doing it.

I think I’m pretty good at it.

Until a little while ago, when I was watching one of those reality home improvement shows.

On it, a professional painter demonstrated the best way to apply masking tape, hold a brush and apply the paint. Yikes! I was doing it all wrong.

All this time I thought I was pretty good, in my own self-taught, learn-on-my-own sort of way.

I guess I did not have any standard. However, I almost always painted by myself and had only my own opinion. I thought I was pretty good compared to what I thought was good.

Then, when I discovered the best practices of a true professional, I saw that my own ideas were not up to the standard. I was not nearly as good as I thought I was. If I am going to become good, objectively, verifiably good, I have to change my routines and incorporate the best practices.

never been exposed to the best practices of the profession.

They delude themselves, as I did, holding the opinion that they are pretty good. And that delusion keeps them lingering in levels of performance considerably beneath what their potential would allow them.

Sales managers often share that delusion, and occupy themselves with other matters, unable or unsure how to improve the performance of their team.

Typically, the sales manager was, in a previous incarnation, a high performing salesperson. He/she was one of those five percent who learned on their own, who studied the best practices, and who incorporated them into his routines.

So it is with sales as well. The world is full of salespeople, who have learned on the job, pretty much on their own, and have

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Are There Best Practices For Salespeople?

As a result, that sales manager, formerly high performing salesperson, expects every other sales person to be just like him; to have the same motivation, the same drive, the same ability and propensity to learn. He, therefore, makes little effort to expose the sales team to best practices because, after all, he did it on his own. Should not they?

50 years, there must have been thousands of books written, tens of thousands of articles published, thousands of audio programs prepared, and hundreds of newsletters and magazines published – all for the field salesperson, and all describing the best practices of the profession in various terms and methods.

Here is where the theoretical conflicts with reality. Yeah, they should do it on their own.

However, few do. Only the five percenters of the world can be counted on to invest in their own development. The overwhelming majority of the balance of salespeople haven’t even spent $25 of their own money on their own improvement in the last year. The sad truth is that few salespeople see themselves as professionals and take their own improvement seriously.

Just as there is a set of best ways to paint a room, so are there sets of best ways to ask a question, seek an appointment, build rapport, make a presentation, close the deal, and follow up on the purchase. Astute salespeople understand this, and seek to continually expose themselves to the best practices.

That is too bad. Every profession in the world develops a body of knowledge about the best way to do that job. And every professional in the world is expected, if they are serious about the profession, to regularly study those best practices, and to incorporate them into their routines with a disciplined, methodical effort. That is why teachers have in-services, doctors go to conferences, nurses have in-service training, etc.

The job of the salesperson is no different. There is probably no other profession that is more written about, and to, than field sales. Over the last

Beyond that, they understand that it is one thing to know what to do, but quite another to develop the habits which regularly and reliably incorporate those behaviors.

They continually work on incorporating the best practices into their routines, repeating them until they become habits.

Excellent execution becomes a never-ending mantra.

Astute sales managers do likewise. They continually expose their salespeople to the best practices of the profession, and encourage every sales person to improve by methodically incorporating them into their routines. Those companies who systematically and methodically expose their salespeople to the body of knowledge regarding best practices of the sales profession

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consistently outperform those who don’t.

It is the path to improvement that the rest of the professional world understands. It’s time for the sales profession to do likewise.

Let’s no longer be deceived by the myth that most salespeople can learn on their own. Let’s put to rest once and for all time the debilitating myth that every salesperson has his/her own style of selling.

Let’s expect, like every other profession in the world, that professional salespeople be accountable to incorporating the best practices into the routines and be measured by the standards of the professional.

This article first appeared here.

Dave Kahle is the President of Kahle Way Sales Systems. He is one of the world’s leading sales authorities. He’s written twelve books, presented in 47 states and eleven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of sales people and transform hundreds of sales organizations. His book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime, has been recognized by three international entities as «one of the five best English language business books.

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The Components And Logistics Of A Strategic Sales Review Start your sales transformation today!

By Joseph DiMisa, Korn Ferry

E

xperienced sales executives know that to transform an organization, it all must start with strategy and direction. Where many of these same sales executives “fall down” is moving from

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the thought of a strategic transformation to the components of execution. There is an old military saying, amateurs talk tactics while professionals study logistics.

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The Components And Logistics Of A Strategic Sales Review

To be successful, you must think not only about the goal, but the objectives, work steps, process and support components to successfully achieve your mission.

To ensure you are not only focused on the strategy, but good execution, the following approach and logistical process can help you maximize your ability to succeed.

Key Questions to Ask During a Sales Transformation:

● Identify possible new structures, process and/or roles across the sales organization that will lead to a more effective and efficient organization to drive sales results; identify sustained enablement programs

What Is the Work Step Process?

A Four-step Guide to Get Started

Work Step I: This work step confirms the current sales strategy and capability to meet go-to-market goals. It helps identify gaps in process, jobs, organizational structures/readiness and overall account effectiveness. Overall, it helps align the sales operating model to the corporate strategy and customer segmentation model.

Current State Diagnostic Study of Organization and Current Salesforce Readiness ● Document initial perspective on sales capabilities and align to account sales strategy ● Define/Clarify the current capabilities and needed capabilities of the sales function teams

Click here to view a high resolution image

● Understand and define the market opportunity data for the markets, customers and products

Objectives of Your Sales Transformation

As a sales leader, you should be looking to review your current sales model and create a better aligned coverage strategy to support the salesforce. In doing so, you will better position your sales team to service their clients as effectively as possible and maximize sales efficiency.

● Review industry practice data (jobs, organizational structure, sales strategies, compensation, etc.) ● Document a view on sales structure and areas needed to support new capabilities (market opportunity, territory sizes, organizational structure and job roles)

Specifically, you should look to achieve the following:

● Review sales organization structure considerations (organizing principles, spans, layers) and gather additional documentation around current state (support/ management needs)

● Confirm overall go-to-market strategy, account planning, sales process and support to meet revenue growth goals ● Benchmark against industry and best practices for organizational structure, process and job roles

● Develop a recommended organization process/structure for the sales function and describe teaming across jobs; provide alternatives for discussion

● Assess/Reconfirm organizational and account management strategy to best position the salesforce for success

● Finalize/Reconfirm organization structure/ process and adjust supporting materials as required (i.e., role profiles)

● Assess/Reconfirm job roles and success profiles needed to meet overall sales strategy

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The Components And Logistics Of A Strategic Sales Review

Work Step II: This work step identifies the key competencies, accountabilities and skillsets required to be successful for each role(s) in your sales channels and involved in the sales process. A detailed profile(s) shows what “good looks like” as a sales rep and can be used for assessing and/or hiring reps of the future.

the new ways of working, and manages functional sales enablement.

Implementation Planning Roadmap

● Develop implementation roadmap, including best practice transformation ideas for the sales organization ● Change management plan that includes a case for change and vision

Job Role Need, Assessment and Success Profile Building

● Key communication messages include communications strategy and campaigns for sales channel and opportunity management

● Assessment of current roles and needs for future

● Top performer review – top 10% of RMs (this could include time studies)

● Document high-level requirements for plan administration and sales enablement

● Leadership input gathering ● Development of initial success profiles for new job roles ● Align technical (sales) competencies to the corporate foundational competencies as necessary ● Refine and finalize success profiles Work Step III: This work step creates a performance management and incentive program that aligns with driving sales, reducing sales cost, and establishing a performance-minded culture within the sales team.

Performance Management and Reward Recommendations

● Assess and develop performance management and reward structures to support go-to-market strategy and job roles ● Model financial cost and finalize plan design and organization outcomes

Applying Strategy to Your Daily Sales Routine

Sales transformation success requires more than intuition and selling tools—it takes strategic thinking, alignment and discipline on a consistent basis.

Leading sales organizations understand these links and develop a systematic approach to planning and managing the sales organization.

By using the sales transformation approach above, your organization can operate by a strategy that encompasses all critical growth disciplines and charts a clear path to the company’s goals.

The impact can be huge—a systemic approach to managing growth can provide a lasting competitive advantage.

This article first appeared here.

● Market/Industry practice comparison and review

Joseph DiMisa is Senior Client Partner - Global Sales Strategy & Rewards Advisory Leader at Korn Ferry.

● Finalize KPI’s and compensation plans to specific corporate objectives/goals ● Development of quarterly dashboard ● Review with key stakeholders and ensure consensus

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Work Step IV: This work step helps mitigate the risk of sales strategy adoption and enables change into the new sales model, builds a journey roadmap for people integration and a plan to transition to

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The Top 10 WOW Customer Experience Stories Of 2022 From McDonald’s to Burger King, learn how these brands take customer support to a new level

By Lafond Wanda, Professional Content Writer

P

roviding WOW customer service is crucial for the success of your business. If you can show your customers just how much you care about them, they will be more loyal and more likely to spread the word about your brand. Here are the top 10 WOW customer service stories of 2022.

1. McDonald’s It is essential to align your team’s core values so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to customer support. But to go even further than that, McDonald’s announced that it would create a customer experience team to understand the way its customers interact with the fast-food chain. This knowledge will allow McDonald’s to take its CX to a whole new level globally.

2. Volkswagen Similar to what McDonald’s did, Volkswagen announced that it was hiring Markus Kleimann to become the chief experience officer of a team of 40 leaders managing the CX of the brand. It was huge news considering that Kleimann would become the first to have the title of chief experience officer at the company.

and accurate statistics on new cases are necessary to keep people updated on the pandemic, showing that Google cares about its users.”

4. Amazon Like Google, Amazon also realized the uniqueness of the current situation worldwide. Because the company knew that customers would have many questions related to shipping, returns, etc., they decided to create a separate FAQ page with all the information relevant to the COVID-19 virus and how Amazon would function during it.

5. Ralph Lauren With the widespread use of AI, it’s no wonder that many brands are adopting technologies related to it to enhance customer experiences.

For instance, Ralph Lauren offers virtual tours of its physical stores, making shopping fun for customers who couldn’t visit the locations due to the pandemic. It’s great for the brand, but it’s also perfect for customers to experience more immersive online shopping.

3. Google In the context of COVID-19, Google decided to introduce dedicated informational pages about the disease and the preventive measures that people can take. Maya Darling, an expert from the writing services reviews site Best Writers Online, says, “Google’s actions are quite admirable. Alert pages

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The Top 10 WOW Customer Experience Stories Of 2022

6. Burger King Burger King didn’t stay behind its fast-food competitors and decided to go a step further in helping its customers. Rachel Young from the custom writing reviews site Writing Judge explains, “I really like what Burger King did with its campaign in Belgium. They asked customers to come and reclaim items that were left in lockdown. The items couldn’t be returned once the lockdown started, so when Burger King was reopening afterward, they urged customers to come and reclaim their items.”

on social media, but that is not an option for an airline company operating during a global pandemic.”

10. BaliBody Lastly, there’s the example that BaliBody has set with its Instagram strategy. The skincare and cosmetics brand organized its Instagram highlights to showcase the most important information – FAQs, product videos, reviews, etc. It’s a great way to showcase the best sides of your business on your social media brand account.

Final Thoughts

All in all, providing amazing customer support is not that difficult. Just take a look at all of these examples and see what some of our past clients have done to WOW. Then, ask your customers what they want – and that’s how you can understand what you should do to take your customer support to a new level.

Providing amazing customer support is not that difficult, however, you need to know what your customers want.

7. Zoom There is no doubt that Zoom became one of the top video-calling tools during the lockdown. To promote its application even further, the company started offering free training sessions to educate users on how to utilize Zoom in the most effective way possible. It’s a perfect strategy for educating current customers and acquiring new ones.

This article first appeared here.

Lafond Wanda is a professional content writer, copywriter, content strategist, and communications consultant. She started young with her writing career from being a high school writer to a university editor, and now she is a writer on professional writing platforms— her years of expertise have honed her skills to create compelling and results-driven content every single time.

8. Nike Nike has been well-known for providing high-quality customer experiences for many years now. In 2021, the brand continued its tradition of excellent customer service by refurbishing Shek Lei Grind, a community basketball court in Hong Kong. This showed the community and the world Nike cares about the planet [the court was made from recycled sneakers] and its customers at the same time.

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9. JetBlue The airline company JetBlue realized how complicated travel became during the pandemic, so it offered the best customer support possible. An expert from the Thttps://www.trustmypaper.com/ rust My Paper, Scott Edgerton, says, “They started replying to customers on Twitter within hours or even minutes. Many brands take hours to provide support

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How To Get Your Sales Team To Embrace Change 8 things to consider if you want your team to embrace change

By Colleen Francis, Engage Selling Solutions

A

re you struggling to get your sales team to embrace change?

Enabling your sellers with the best strategies and tactics is critical to success. But,

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there is a fine line between not developing your team enough and overdoing it.

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How To Get Your Sales Team To Embrace Change

Remember, the key is implementation. If your team won’t implement your programs, you will fail.

8 Things to Consider if You Want Your Team to Embrace Change

1. Limit the changes: If your sellers are overwhelmed with the volume of changes you are requiring, they will revert back to what they know and do best. Too much change is not a good thing.

Initiatives will be ignored, training will be blown off, and resources will not be used. Limit the changes you are implementing to 1-2 at a time.

2. Master a new skill: Let the team master a new skill before you implement something else. The pace and volume of change matters if you want to maximize implementation.

3. Measure results: Measure results and share them. Sellers love to hear about the success of others.

4. On-the-job training: Workshops are the least effective skill transfer mechanism. Instead, use on-the-job training or create immersive environments where sellers are learning by actually implementing the skill.

5. Coaching: It’s impossible to under-coach when rolling out change. And, coaching is the most important activity to ensure changes are implemented successfully.

6. Scale back: It’s okay to scale back if you’ve gone out too fast.

Measure the temperature of your sellers constantly. If they are overwhelmed, slow down.

7. Independence: Don’t create a culture of co-dependence. Sellers must be able to master a skill and use it independent of help from you as quickly as possible.

accelerating sales. However, if the enablement teams overwhelm sellers with too many new programs too quickly, sellers retreat, are demotivated, and stick to doing what they like to do best.

What’s one thing you do to ensure change is embraced and properly implemented on your team?

This article originally appeared here.

Done correctly, sales enablement teams have a dramatic effect on sales success because teams are implementing new skills and accelerating sales.

8. Show: Show the sellers how each program builds on each other. If sellers don’t see how the new programs fit together, they will dismiss them as the new “distraction” or “bright shiny object.” When you show them how all the pieces fit together perfectly for sales and customer success, they will embrace the changes quickly and implement.

Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions. Colleen is driven by a passion for sales - and results. A successful sales leader for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today’s market. Colleen is the best-selling author of popular sales books including the recent Nonstop Sales Boom. She is a Certified Sales Professional (C.S.P.) and an inductee into the Speaking Hall of Fame. Sales and Marketing Magazine has called Colleen and Engage Selling: one of the top 5 most effective sales training organizations in the market today!

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Done correctly, sales enablement teams have a dramatic effect on sales success because teams are implementing new skills and

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Top 15 Customer Service Nightmares Are customers always right?

By Kazimierz Rajnerowicz, Tidio

Working with customers is not easy at all.

We have crawled through the deepest crevices of the internet to collect harrowing tech support stories and Pizza delivery anecdotes. Additionally, we prepared a survey for the internet users and asked them to share some of their experiences.

Here is how it usually begins:

I recently started as a customer care representative for a very well-known chain of stores (can’t reveal too much). I was so excited cause now I was able to work in a nice comfortable office or at home and just talk to people on the phone. Everything was going to be great!

Let’s take a look at some stats.

And before you know it, it can turn into:

Every day has been a nightmare. People calling and screaming at me, not listening to a word I say. Talking to some of the dumbest people I have ever spoken to in my entire life. Almost every customer I have spoken to acts like they are “holier than thou” and I don’t understand why.

After finishing my shift, I just find myself crying and then falling asleep for hours because of how exhausting talking to these customers is.

Mylove_calypso, Source: r/CustomerService

Most customers act like they were always right even when they obviously are not. They can be quite demanding and still not satisfied with what they receive. No matter how hard you try.

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Now —

However —

Here are some of the best, or rather the worst, customer service horror stories we got.

As long as they are shopping normally, employees should be patient and wait. All they can do is remind the customers that the store is closing and that they need to make their final selections.

Oh, by the way, if you would like to share your customer experience straight out of a nightmare, you can submit your story here.

15 Worst Customer Service Stories

Terrible customer service experiences are often provoked by the shoppers themselves. We’ve all been there. Our list of customer service horror stories is actually an encyclopedia of customers from hell— illustrated with real-life examples.

Nightmare story #1: Customers who arrive 5 minutes before the store closes Let’s face it. We all have the urge to buy blue food coloring at 10:55 PM from time to time. You need to prepare a Smurf-themed cake for your nephew.

Totally understandable.

Here is a scene that looks like a massive attack by zombie shoppers. For some reason, these mysterious creatures love going out at dusk to do their groceries when the stores are about to close.

The corporate policy of some stores dictates that as long as the customer is in the store, the staff must wait for them to finish shopping. If the customer is causing a disturbance then the police may be called to have them removed.

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We normally closed at midnight but we closed today at 10 PM. We had 40 people in the store at 9:45. So we were forced to lock the doors at 9:50. I was outside gathering all the carts and, my god, so many people were coming in the last 10 minutes and fighting with my manager over the fact we closed the door early. This normally always happens at midnight. People coming at 11:55 and we deny them. What made tonight different is just the number of people cussing and trying to force their way in. It got to the point where customers started fighting with each other—both the customers that defended us and the ones complaining. We want to go home it’s Christmas Eve. We literally were open from 6 AM-10 PM why come at 9:55 and fight us about it? Anyways, I didn’t end up leaving until 10:45 and my managers are still there closing everything. People have no idea what we actually go through. It’s ridiculous. People see the closing time and take it as a personal challenge to come a few minutes before.

Curse06, Source: r/TalesFromRetail

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Top 15 Customer Service Nightmares

I’m outside our front doors when a man walks up. I tell him there’s a mask mandate in effect and he needs to wear a mask. Easy, right?

Standard procedure.

Wrong.

Mask Man tells me that he identifies as a fully vaccinated, fully masked individual. Mhm. Ok. I repeat the need for a mask, he asks if I’m questioning how he identifies. I sidestep the question, repeating the need for a mask.

He keeps insisting that he IS wearing a mask.

This back and forth goes on for an actual 5 minutes. Eventually, he asks me to call my lawyer and ask him about me questioning his identity as a fully vaxed, fully masked man. You know, that lawyer that grocery stores have.

I decline.

He asks for the manager. I am the manager. He is not pleased.

Customers who think they have discovered some unique life hack and a loophole in the system are always a nightmare for customer service representatives. And most of the time they are not at all as clever as they think they are.

Nightmare story #2: Customers who think they are being clever Some customers think they are being clever when trying to bend the rules. But usually, they just end up making themselves look foolish. For example, some customers cancel their orders exactly the day they get shipped. Some of them just expect that the company won’t bother about the return and will count it as a write-off. Sounds more like being cheap and not clever at all, right?

Here is an example of a customer trying to abuse identity politics so he doesn’t have to wear a face mask.

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He asks for my name, I give it to him. He said he will be in contact with HIS lawyer about how what I’m asking is illegal, and then do you know what this man has the AUDACITY to do??

He walks back to his car and gets a mask.

Potato-with-a-plan, Source: r/TalesFromRetail

Often this type of behavior stems from a confrontational nature mixed with making oneself the victim.

Many difficult customers do not want to follow rules and are paranoid about being controlled by anyone.

They perceive compliance with rules as oppression of their freedom.

Still, a separate type of customers are those who are convinced that someone is spying on them.

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Nightmare story #3: Customers who think you are after them To be fair, many people are right when they think their personal information may be stolen or used for criminal purposes.

For example, telephone scamming is a booming industry in many countries, with scammers defrauding people out of millions of dollars each year.

There are many different variations of the telephone scam, but all of them follow a similar pattern. The scammer will contact the victim and claim to be from a government agency or a bank.

In many situations, the agent will need to get some of the information in order to solve the query. If they can’t confirm that they are talking to the right person then their hands are tied. And this could escalate into another unnecessary conflict. This brings us to another type of customer from hell.

Read the complete article here.

Casimir Rajnerowicz is Content Editor at Tidio.

It’s OK to be concerned about sharing personal information over the phone or the internet. But sometimes this makes funny customer service stories too.

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I will never forget this one customer that got so insanely spooked when I repeated the number she was calling on & was able to see her home address in which she’s getting service for.

She was worried the call would drop so for reassurance I said in my customer service voice “well if it does I can call you back on 810 xxx,” and she freaked saying “YOU SHOULD NOT KNOW THAT INFORMATION” and I didn’t know what to say, besides explaining basic phone knowledge in 2021. smallmochacoldbrew, Source: r/CustomerService

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The Power Of The Service Strategy The value of a company is based on its brand

By John Tschohl, Service Quality Institute

I

have been skiing in Vail Colorado for about 45 years now. George Gillett Jr. bought Vail Resorts in 1985 and sold the resort in 1996. The first time I met George I asked him what he does, He said, “I am in customer service.” Later I found

out he was the owner. He built a customer-driven ski resort. He even has an endorsement in my book Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service.

In 2006, Vail Resorts moved their headquarters for their flagship

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resort in Vail to Broomfield, Colorado in the Denver area. My friend Manny Steil, the guru of Listening said this is when they started to lose their focus on customer service. They moved away from the ski mountain

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The Power Of The Service Strategy

have a JOB but they had no idea about the most simple details about the ski resort. Financial wizards now run Vail Resorts.

They think with their head, not their hearts. They are a causality of Covid. I am not sure they will recover their brand, Vail Like Nothing on Earth. Vail Resorts opened in 1962, Vail Resorts now owns 37 resorts. Vail will still remain of the most impressive ski resorts in the world.

For years, I have been using Vail Resorts in my seminars and books. They have been losing their brand, Like Nothing on Earth. Covid has been the demise of Vail. The skiing is still great.

Grooming on the mountain is awesome. Ski Patrol is awesome.

It is just not the same.

The problem is guest service is now unnecessary.

Customer service is fast disappearing. A private ski lesson is $1200 a day. They pay the instructor $80. Customer and employees are very unhappy. This is an in-depth article on January 28 in the Denver Post.

The value of a company is based on its brand. Vail Resorts is taking a hit. On March 9th, the say I wrote this newsletter the stock was $237.18 a share. Its high was $372.51 on November 5, 2021. I suspect it will drop even more with their March 14 earnings report.

Here is an article on the 5-year decline in earnings. The five-year decline in earnings for

Vail Resorts NYSE:MTN) isn’t encouraging, but shareholders are still up 60% over that period (yahoo.com).

In my seminars, one of the core areas for the Proven Process for Driving a Service Culture (customer-service.com) is Reduction Friction. Make it easy for someone to do business with you. Eliminate stupid rules and policies. Call Vail Resorts at 1-970-754-8245 to go through the menu. This week I called to try and found what the cost of a buddy pass was for my son.

I got hold of someone in the Philippines and he had no idea. I called back and finally got a price of $148, but when I asked what the price of a ski pass was for the day, he had no idea. I had to go to the ticket window to find out.

I have a season ski pass which I paid about $899 for. This season I will ski for 12 days which costs me only $75 a day to ski.

One of the core elements in my flagship customer service program is - Feelings, is Learning.

Understand everything about your company. The two employees

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In my book Relentless I talked about the decline of Vail Resorts.

Each year it gets a little worse.

I have never understood why so few executives understand the power of the service strategy.

Vernon Hill the CEO of Republic Bank, Co-Founder of Metro Bank, and founder of Commerce Bank said it starts with a thousand cuts Vail has been focusing on reducing the customer experience with a thousand cuts.

John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker. He is Founder and President of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a customer service guru, he has written seven books on customer service.

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6 Keys To Develop LifeChanging Relationships With Your Mentees The relationally intelligent mentor

By Dr. Adam C. Bandelli, Bandelli & Associates

T

he great film director and movie producer Steven Spielberg once said, “the delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your image but in giving them the opportunity to create their own.” In many organizations today, mentoring is used to develop team members and ensure that employees feel connected to their companies. It provides a sense of community, which leads to higher levels of employee engagement, retention of talent, and enhanced organizational commitment.

Mentors can be valuable resources to employees in providing them with guidance on career management and navigating organizational politics.

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One of the most important factors when it comes to mentoring is how to build a successful mentor-mentee relationship. There are many things that come into play when building these types of relationships. Mentees need to be clear about their personal goals and what they hope to get out of the relationship. They must be committed to learning and growth, and be proactive in taking the initiative to begin a mentoring relationship. Mentors, on the other hand, need to set clear time-management expectations and what they can offer to the mentee.

They need to be engaged and open to sharing their knowledge, expertise, and experience. And most importantly, they must practice the skills of relational intelligence.

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6 Keys To Develop Life-Changing Relationships With Your Mentees

Relational intelligence is the ability to successfully connect with people and build strong, long-lasting relationships. Relationally intelligent mentors practice five specific skills that enable them to have a life-changing impact on their mentees. They know how to establish rapport in the early stages of the relationship to create an initial positive connection.

They take time to understand others by putting in the time and effort needed on a consistent basis to get to know their mentees on a deep level. They embrace individual differences by acknowledging and accepting various backgrounds and experiences of others. They develop trust by showing vulnerability and authenticity when strengthening their mentoring relationships over time. And lastly, they cultivate influence by having a genuine and sincere desire to help their mentees grow.

Here are six ways that great relationally intelligent mentors build strong partnerships with their mentees:

Building the Foundation

Relationally intelligent mentors know the importance of establishing rapport in the early stages of forming connections with their mentees. They take the

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initiative to create a time and safe space for the initial conversations. They know the importance of making a good first impression so that their mentees understand that they are fully committed to the relationship. They use eye contact, body language, and nonverbal behaviors to indicate how interested they are in making the partnership work. And they know how to make things fun. They use humor to keep things light so that their mentees will relax, let their guard down, and be comfortable opening up more.

Regular Consistent Communication

Understanding others takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Relationally intelligent mentors are fully committed to getting to know their mentees on a deep level. They have great EQ and can pick up on the feelings or emotions of both themselves and others.

They ask probing questions to get at some of the underlying passions, interests, and motivations of their mentees. They listen more than they speak. This requires strong active listening skills. When mentors dominate the conversation, it can shut their mentees down and limits the long-term influence they can have on the relationship.

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6 Keys To Develop Life-Changing Relationships With Your Mentees

Authenticity and Transparency

Relationally intelligent mentors are authentic.

They have open and transparent conversations, which gives mentees the freedom to be themselves while they learn and grow. Relationally intelligent mentors do this because they embrace the individual differences of others. They value diversity and look to build cultures that are inclusive. This shows up in their mentor-mentee relationships by making others feel that they matter regardless of race/ ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, personality, cross-cultural factors, or spiritual and religious beliefs.

Relationally, intelligent mentors know how to cultivate influence. This is the ability to have a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of others.

things, sometimes failing, and then learning from those mistakes. Great relationally intelligent mentors encourage mentees to take chances and calculated risks. They are there to support their efforts and will serve as partner to brainstorm and problem solve together when it is needed.

Genuine Interest in the Mentees Development

Relationally intelligent mentors know how to cultivate influence. This is the ability to have a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of others. Most mentors want the best for their mentees; however, great relationally intelligent mentors help people see things in themselves that they didn’t even know was there. Servant leaders make great relationally intelligent mentors. That because they put others first. When mentors do this, and their mentees experience it, dynamic life-changing relationships take place. The types of relationships that can span a mentee’s entire career.

Adam C. Bandelli, PhD, is the Managing Director of Bandelli & Associates, a boutique consulting firm focusing on leadership advisory services and organizational effectiveness. He is the author of the book, Relational Intelligence: The Five Essential Skills You Need to Build Life-Changing Relationships, which will be available everywhere books are sold in May.

Trust that Promotes Psychological Safety

Developing trust is the most important factor in any mentor-mentee relationship. To practice this skill, mentors must first be comfortable in their own skin.

They cannot let ego, pride, or arrogance interfere with the relationship. The partnership is about helping the mentee grow, and to do this, they must trust the mentor’s intentions. This creates the psychological safety needed for a mentee to feel that it is ok to be vulnerable. It also gives mentees permission to share deeper thoughts, concerns, or reflections that they may not be comfortable sharing with a manager or peer.

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Guidance, Insight, & Knowledge

Relationally intelligent mentors know how to strike the right balance between providing guidance and insight, and when to let their mentees search for the answers on their own. They can do this because they’ve invested enough in the relationship that their mentees know they have their best interests at heart.

Part of growth and self-development is trying out new

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