Putting Your Customers' Needs First

involved a return issue or other service issue … the real KEY is to find the “root cause” of the problem INSIDE your company so that the problem can be ELIMINATED or at least drastically reduced so that there will be fewer complaints in the future and thus a higher level of customer satisfaction with your customers and end users of your products/services. Customer Service is NOT just a department or group of individuals handling customer inquiries; it should be the cornerstone of your business for everyone who has contact with your customers and end users as it relates to PUTTING YOUR CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS FIRST!

• Teamwork…and how to select your team mates!

Imagine you are in a fox hole under heavy fire behind enemy lines in the middle of the night and you only have one person in that fox hole with you “protecting” your backside…who would you pick? Would it be your best friend, your golfing buddy, your fraternity brother or sorority sister, a relative perhaps…or would you want the person best qualified to help you get you out of this predicament! The need for selecting skilled, talented people with experience “under fire” who will assume ownership for their area of responsibility and will take initiative to do what needs to be done without having to be “prompted” to do so will go a long way in making your project or mission successful. No major project…no matter how well planned…goes exactly as anticipated. Therefore, it is important that your team members are adept at adjusting to unforeseen events when necessary on-the-fly without a lot of direction. Team “make-up” is very crucial to most projects. While you may not always get to select your own team for many projects, you nonetheless need to make sure the team mates chosen for you have the right skills, experience and inclination to make the project work. Projects can be doomed to failure at the outset if the team cannot work together harmoniously toward the stated goal. While selecting the leader of the team is a very important component in setting up a project team…the cohesiveness of the team members is an equally important consideration. Make sure the individual members have the skills and commitment and time to make the project a success. Acquisitions, system/software conversions, plant migrations, etc. are but a few examples of major projects that can severely test the limits of even the most resourceful companies’ employees. Note: While many companies tend to “hire consultants” to help facilitate many major projects…it is the company employees that will be left later to make the implementation work and to keep it working!