CentricHub

Centric Hub Vol. 1 Issue 8

The Pulse of Customer Service -­‐ The CORE with Uloma

WORK ETIQUETTE

-­‐ Onyinye Eronini

EXECUTIVE PRESENCE – Pt. 3

A Customer Centricity Limited Publication© 2013

-­‐ Chinedu Duru (MD, Hamilton Lloyd & Associates)

Not knowing were to draw the line at work is an issue

WELCOME that plagues most organisations, check out the piece on Work Etiquette it’ll make for an interesting read. to the We have also come to the conclusion of the very Centric Hub! educative piece on Executive Presence, we definitely look forward to more from Mr. Duru of HL&A. Many hearty cheers to our client Diamond Bank for winning the most customer friendly bank of the year award! Needless to say, this news was received with lots of excitement!

Happy reading!

Executive Presence [Part 3] Positive body language draws positive attention. It's important to stand tall and straight, make direct eye contact, offer a firm strong handshake and speak in a strong voice. When speaking to a group, think about projecting to the back of the room to give more oomph, energy and passion so you are animated and interesting.

5. Take Credit: You need to be your own cheerleader. Self promoFon is not bragging. It's taking ownership and credit for your hard work so people noFce you. Certainly give credit to others where credit is due, but it's not necessary to overly compliment or conFnually thank people for their input.

6. Pause: Don't feel a need to fill the silence. Give people a chance to think for a second about what you've said

before you move on. This will also help you come across as comfortable and confident in your delivery of informaFon.

7. Ask Challenging QuesKons: Show you will not take things at face value and want to conFnually get as much informaFon as possible to accurately understand the issue and make informed decisions.

8. Delegate: There is a difference between delegaFng and doing. It's always important to help people but that

doesn't mean doing their work for them. Instead of conFnually offering to "put something together for you" or "give it to me and I'll see what I can do", it's important to take charge. Offer to look or help, but then suggest: "why don't you put it together and I'll take a look at it".

9. Manage the Message: Avoid too much detail when presenFng/speaking to execuFve audiences. Most listeners do not want to sit through a bunch of historical perspecFve and background. They want you to get to the point quickly. What do they need to know or do to move forward? Think about delivering a few key points with relevant examples that tell them why they need to listen to you.

10. Direct Delivery: Instead of backing into conversaFons or delivering details first, think big picture and state your main point up front so you deliver a quick, concise message and are more definite in your responses. By geXng to the point quickly, you are in a beYer posiFon to address concerns and persuade others to see your point of view.

11. Stand Tall: PosiFve body language draws posiFve aYenFon. It's important to stand tall and straight, make direct eye contact, offer a firm strong handshake and speak in a strong voice. When speaking to a group, think about projecFng to the back of the room to give more oomph, energy and passion so you are animated and interesFng.

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12. AuthenKcally Firm: Being firm and definite doesn't mean you have to be rude or nasty. Being polite and using tact when quesFoning or challenging the opinions of others will foster conversaFon and put others at ease so you can create an atmosphere of trust and open dialogue.

In conclusion, what can you do to immediately impact your ExecuFve Presence?

My first recommendaKon is that you sign-­‐up for an ExecuFve Presence Workshop or ExecuFve Presence Coaching.

If you cannot do that in the short run, you can take the following steps

First, Capture yourself (video) in conversaFon, meeFng or giving a presentaFon. You need to see how you are perceived by others. Review the video and begin to itemize the areas of improvement. It will be a good idea to bench-­‐mark against a recording of someone generally agreed to have superior ExecuFve Presence.

Secondly, talk to some friends/colleagues whose judgment you trust and involve them in your project. Ask for an honest feedback on your performance. Your colleagues at work will be parFcularly useful, since you interact with them in various seXngs in the workplace.

PracKce! AcFvely begin to make the changes recommended in the 12 steps above. Get in front of a mirror and pracFce. PracFce in front of others, as well. You'll also want to video yourself periodically to see how you've changed and what sFll needs further work and tuning.

References 1. Suzanne Bates: ExecuFve Presence: The “Wow” Factor that Makes Leaders Stand Out www.myarFclearchive.com 2. Paul Aldo: What is execuFve presence?...and how do i get it again? paul.aldo@ipsresults.com 3. Karen Friedman: ExecuFve Presence: 12 Steps to Get It and Keep It. www.karenfriedman.com

Chinedu

Duru MD/CEO, Hamilton Lloyd & Associates - A Boutique Recruitment Firm

FOR LAUGHS! A WALKING ECONOMY This guy is walking with his friend, who happens to be a psychologist. He says to this friend, "I'm a walking economy.”

The friend asks, "How so?”

"My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a vicFm of inflaFon, and both of these together are puXng me into a deep depression!"

BANK CUSTOMER SERVICE "I'm not saying that the customer service in my bank is bad, but when I went in the other day and asked the clerk to check my balance ...

She leaned over and pushed me."

DAUGHTER IN COLLEGE Did you hear about the banker who was recently arrested for embezzling $100,000 to pay for his daughter's college educaFon? As the policeman, who also had a daughter in college, was leading him away in handcuffs, he said to the banker, "I have just one quesFon for you. Where were you going to get the rest of the money?"

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Work Etiquette The work place is arguably where we spend majority of our Kme, for most of us Mondays to Fridays and some weekends too. From 9am-­‐ 5pm or even later and considering the Kme spent commuKng because of the traffic, it is safe to say we spend the large part of our Kme in the office, away from home.

Onyinye Eronini

Considering the amount of Fme we spend at the office, it is imperaFve that we work in a place that is conducive for us, a place where we get along with our colleagues. Of course there will be moments of disagreement but the trick is to make sure that this is not a constant thing brought on by our bad aXtude.

In the place of work, there are certain pracFces that should be maintained, lines to be drawn and never crossed. Have you ever experienced that annoying colleague who just walks to the fridge and takes your lunch? Or that irritaFng colleague who picks up your phone and starts to go through it without permission? Or my personal favourite, the nosy parker who stands behind you trying to spy out whatever it is you’re doing on your system?! Rest assured, you were not crazy to find these different scenarios upseXng because the colleague in quesFon crossed the line!

I’ll share a few things that are definitely poor work eFqueYes so we do not ever get caught being the annoying colleague.

Share the credit – A fast way to ruin the relaFonship between you and your colleagues is not acknowledging their work and taking all the credit. Be a team player!

Mind that ringtone-­‐ We all like Limpopo (Well, some of us) but we do not want our clients hearing it when you forget to put your phone on silent during that very important meeFng! It gives off the vibe of being un-­‐serious.

Keep the office clean-­‐ Clean up aler yourself always! Kitchen, Restroom, Your Workspace, clean up aler yourself. Always!

Keep your personal business to yourself-­‐ Asides from the fact that you make yourself vulnerable, no one wants to know those really inFmate details of your life. Although, it does make for interesFng gist when they decide to talk about you...

Respect other people’s property-­‐ If you did not buy it and you need it, ask whoever owns it first! It’s that simple.

Focus on the face not the screen-­‐ If you are having a conversaKon with your colleague or a client, please forget that you own a Blackberry or that important email you just have to read at that moment. Stop and focus!

It may all seem really simple, but it’s amazing the amount of people who take these things for granted.

So, let’s ensure that we do not get caught in the negaFve filter.

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Photo Gallery Diamond Bank

DIAMOND TELLER BANK TTRAINING ELLR TRAINING

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MOST CUSTOMER FRIENDLY BANK!

It is with pleasure that we announce that Diamond Bank Plc. emerged as the

MOST CUSTOMER FRIENDLY bank in a Business Day "Banking Customer Satisfaction Survey" conducted among retail bank customers in Nigeria!

We are very proud to be associated with the bank and this proves that our efforts are not in vain and that the staff practise what we teach them. Customer CentriCity Limited has been training Diamond Bank staff for some over 6 years on Customer Service and it has been a wonderful experience.

Over time we have learnt a lot from the staff and we incorporate what we learn from them into our training modules so we say a big thank you to Diamond Bank for the wonderful opportunity and thank you to the staff for making us very proud.

Congratulations Diamond Bank! May we continue to bask in the glory of your wonderful service delivery.

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THE

The Pulse of Customer Service

After every facilitation session I am drained and tired and usually say something like, "I must retire soon! Can't keep on doing this!" But no sooner do I have another training gig coming and I get all excited planning the look, the sound and the impact. My major excitement comes from considering "the conquest"! What is that? It is the usual war that occurs with each new training where the participants sit early in the day waiting for the facilitator to either impress them or get really serious "attitude"! It is a major discussion point for me when I am training my trainers. I tell them things like, "Take it up, then draw them up". I have found that this approach works.

The makeup of the class is an important factor in training. Critical actually when you engage as closely with them as we tend to in our highly interactive classes. For this reason we are thorough with our pre-­‐training work. We use ofQicial news, questionnaires, observation, obvious competitive activities and even the rumor mill to gather as much insight as possible.

We incorporate this into our training content in a manner that articulately conQirms two major truths. 1) That we understand their current challenges and that 2) We know what we are talking about.

An example that showcases this in the class is this. (One of my favorites) This is me speaking in class and introducing all the mannerisms and tone inQlections that bring Qlavor and color to the tale, "I know that the female staff usually have issues with female customers, especially when they are both young. The staff begin to "eye" the customer as she approaches, saying to herself, “Why is she forming big girl? Just because she is carrying a Gucci bag? E Qit be fake sef!" And before the customer Qinally makes it to her front she is now glaring and certainly not being welcoming!" The guys in the class begin to guffaw and the ladies shift uncomfortably. Some are thinking, "This woman is a witch, was she watching me last week?"

The real "shut-­‐upper" is our graphs and charts. By pictorially depicting poor performance or comparative snapshots in our training slides, we prove that there is a cogent reason why they should 1) be in class, 2) be attentive 3) ensure that they learn and 4) commit to practicing what they learn. It is akin to showing a mirror to the class. They usually sit up after that and Qidget a little wondering what new truths will be presented before the end of the class.

Suddenly I am up there and they are down low. I become superior and own the class. I am master and they are not. I am teacher and they are students. I am subject matter expert and they are near, well soon-­‐to-­‐be converts. I draw out a series of more such embellished facts and totally assume the positioning that i have very carefully established for myself, then I begin to let them up and in.

The absorption of the content, or the spirit of the message of the content really is usually evident at end. First indication is that they begin to sound like me. I am with mini clones of myself all starry-­‐eyed and freshly motivated to do things differently at work and in their personal life! Does it last? And do they actually do what they promise me they will at work? Oh yes! A resounding yes! Why else would Diamond Bank win the Business Day Most Customer Friendly Bank award? Customer Centricity Limited deQinitely has its Qinger on the pulse of Customer Experience training and management in Nigeria. Get on board now if you haven't already!

Many Congratulations to Diamond Bank!!!

Ulom

A PublicaKon of Customer Centricity Limited Contact Address: 15 Biaduo Road, Off Keffi Street, South-­‐ West, Ikoyi, Lagos. Nigeria Twiher: @c_centricity Facebook: hhps://www.facebook.com/pages/Customer-­‐CentriCity-­‐Limited/ Email: www.customercentricityltd.com Telephone: +234 0 7065559525

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