Define Leadership

In my line of work, no one hires Aspire to maintain the status quo.  Our work in sales training, marketing strategy or team building, is about change and evolution.  The trick is to help people become engaged in the change and grow through the experience, so that a culture of endless improvement feels empowering and energizing.  Endless improvement…fancy words for more change to come.

Sound familiar?  If you are an effective leader and manager, this is your daily mission.  In the hospitality industry, the greatest opportunity for business/asset value growth is being fanatical about your culture, your strategic direction and building momentum from both.

FACT: Great strategy alone will not make you successful.

Yes, you have to have smart strategy for proactive change and growth.  Strategy is the focus of how you will actively leverage the marketplace, capitalize on client needs/opportunities, and grow market share to produce profits/asset value.  Culture is the glue that engages people to take action on your strategic direction, embrace change and grow.  None of this happens without extraordinary leadership.

Here are some tips on how to inspire change and lead market share…

1. Begin everything – and I mean everything – with defining the outcome(s) you want to deliver.  Be clear, specific and end-oriented.
2. Stop asking the same questions.  You get the same answers.  If you find that you keep talking about the same problems or same opportunities, you are stuck – and you need to change your questions.
3. Turn your management meetings upside down.  Most are boring and this gives you an opportunity to make these meetings momentum builders.
4. Understand that team building is done every day.  Focus on connection and communication.
5. Your organization needs more leaders.  Leadership training helps you tap into your peoples’ potential.
6. Training is a strategic tool that if done well can give you a competitive advantage.  Sales training, customer service training and process improvement all allow you to improve your team’s productivity against your strategic direction.  You must constantly re-tool your people to get the growth you want as an organization.
7. Never underestimate the power of momentum.  Just a little starts you moving…leaders keep it moving

If the market is changing…then you have to be changing.  Make change in your organization an experience that feels empowering, commits to new learning/training and ignites engagement.  Together these drive momentum.  Momentum is everything.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and marketing consulting company positioning organizations to make more money through:

• Hospitality Training. Coaching Skills. Cultural Alignment. Team Building.
• Re-energizing Organizations. Strategic Planning. Sales & Marketing Consulting. Positioning. Branding.
• Customer Service Culture. Customer Service Training.
• Awakening the Passion within People & Organizations. Leadership Training.

If you would like to receive free leadership tips, join the conversation at Renie’s blog, www.tipsonleadership.com

Renie writes regularly for Hotel Motel Management magazine, in which this article first appeared (More Change to Come - July, 2010). For more insider tips on hospitality marketing, go to:  http://www.hotelworldnetwork.com/cavallari

It never amazes me how Starbucks has managed to continue to innovate in the world of coffee, even when discretionary income is at an all time low. They start with 2 cups of happy people, followed by an extra heap of sugar and before you know it you just paid $4.00 for a grande iced mocha no whip latte. Is this insane?

What are you really buying? The Starbucks Experience. It starts and ends with “keep it simple”. Their stores are clean, their well-trained customer service people are friendly and competent; and, they always seem to have what you want. Rarely have I heard them say they are out of a product they offer.

They have managed to create simple and easy to buy ancillary revenues so they can improve their capture of your wallet share. You can go in for a vente iced tea and out you come with your new, very cool looking iced tea container along with a fruit and cheese plate and small bag of nuts. That’s how you capture customer wallet share. And who in their right mind buys a small bag of nuts for $2.50? You have to be nuts!

And if this isn’t enough they have created such a strong community, you actually like to hang at Starbucks. It’s smart thinking, because the longer you are in the store the more money you inevitably spend. The result is they take individuals who like to “drink special coffee” into a community of people who hang out, work and even catch up with friends.

So what can we learn and apply in the hospitality industry or your business?

1. Keep training and keep the training simple so you get people competent fast. They make for happier employees and there aren’t as many mistakes.

2. Look at your product and find ways to solve customer problems and make travel easier. For example, how about an easy grab-and-go lunch sold upon check out and be sure to make the packaging convenient to stick in a brief case or purse.

3. Don’t run out of your specials or their special preferences. Find a way to give customers what they want and how they want it. If you can’t deliver on it, don’t promote it.

4. Create a central and interesting meeting place for customers to hang and become a community. How can your lobby or restaurant be a place to work, make friends and buy coffee, iced tea and snacks? Add free internet and people will work there, drink more coffee and buy more food. Think wallet share.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire Marketing, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Contact Renie at 602.392.0700 or visit www.aspiremarketing.com.

Research makes it clear that a formidable plan and distinct culture encompassing customer service/care is critical to the life of an organization. Customer service affects every aspect of an operation including, and not limited to, customer satisfaction and loyalty, RevPAR, profitability, overall experience and asset value.

Source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs – Concerning unhappy guest

• 96% do not complain to anyone who can help them
• 90% with unresolved complaints will never return
• 60% with resolved complaints will return
• 95% will return if they feel their complaint was resolved quickly

This study reveals that:

• On average for each customer who was “wronged,” there are approximately 25 others who remained silent.
• On average each person in this silent majority will, by word of mouth, tell between 8 and 16 people – an average of 12 – about their complaint. (Over 10% will tell more than 20 people)
• When you do the math, a potential 300 people can be influenced by just one negative situation.

The impact:

• Input your number of dissatisfied customers:
• Take this number of dissatisfied customers and multiply it by the silent majority who don’t speak out of “25″ equates to _________ potential dissatisfied customers.
• Take this total of dissatisfied customers and the 25 each ones tells and multiply times the 12 other people they will tell and potentially influence not to buy your product or service = ________
• Multiply times an estimated average daily rate of $______ which equates to the potential lost revenues of $_________.
• The research also indicates that if you make a sincere effort to remedy these complaints and regain customer’s good will quickly, 82-95% will stay with you. Based on this with a proactive process of customer service the recovered revenue would be $______. This is a key foundation of what has led competitive brands to offer the 100% guarantee which holds hotels accountable and motivates them to solicit and solve the problems quickly and proactively.
• In addition, this math only takes into consideration the 4% of guests actually complain. Consider the impact of the other 96 out of 100 who never complain.

Source: J.D. Power North America/D.K. Shifflet

• Two of highest rated consumer satisfaction evaluators in the hospitality industry are J.D. Powers and D.K. Shifflet. These consumer satisfaction evaluators give a brand insight into how they are performing and also let the consumer know what experience and value proposition they can expect.
• Research also indicates that the higher the level of customer service created the more value perceived. Consumers associate value with price. The higher the value the higher the price the customer is willing to pay. Price has a direct affect on RevPAR and overall profitability.
• J.D. Powers and D.K. Shifflet results affect the buying patterns of our customers.
• The hotels that ranked 1^st through 5^th on the J.D. Powers guest satisfaction study have either had intensive customer service initiatives that remain a priority or customer service is a brand foundational core value.

Source: Harvard University Survey & Business Review Research

Happy employees create happy customers and lowering turnover delivers both more revenues and higher profits

• Retaining 5% of your business is a huge financial advantage to your business. It can increase the profits from between 25 to 75 percent.
• The cost to replace a manager is estimated at $5000 in total. Unhappy employees leave and replacing them has a direct impact on profit.

Source: Executive White Paper – SITE Foundation (The importance of caring for the internal customer)

• Industry turnover rate hovers between 78.3 percent and 95.4 percent nationally as an average.
• Overall, higher levels of motivation and motivated performance translate into a 53 percent reduction in worker turnover.
• It will cost roughly 100% to 200% of a line level employee’s base salary to recruit and train the replacement.

Source: Why Guests Don’t Return – (U.S. News and World Report)

• 1% They die
• 3% This was a one time trip, or they were relocating and staying while doing so
• 5% Loyal to another hotel
• 9% Competition took them because they were stronger at the time for this guest
• 14% Product was not a match fore the guest
• 68% Attitude of indifference

Source: “The Service Profit Changing: How Leading Companies Link Profit & Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction, and Value” by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Jr. & Leonard A. Schlesinger

Service Profit Chain

• Leading global companies increasingly realize that their success or failure hinges on their ability to retain the best customers and create value around them.
• Costs imposed by dissatisfied customer are perhaps more important. The dissatisfied customer buys less over time, demands more service than a satisfied customer and has the power to dissuade potential customers from doing business with your company.
• Localized or property specific standards and practices around customer engagement may vary. The processes that lead to customer alignment and satisfaction need to be consistent on a global basis. It is important to understand the sales or buying cycle prior to beginning the measurement process.
• A team analyzed a company and obtained data from two quarters. The sales data for each individual company was linked to the satisfaction scores for the same company. The analysis of the relationship between customer satisfaction and quarterly sales growth indicated units with stronger satisfaction scores also had stronger sales growth. In fact, a 6 percent change in the proportion of customers who were highly satisfied was associated with a 5 percent change in profitability.
• The overall study results of several companies indicates a clear correlation between customer satisfaction and sales performance:

• The service profit chain puts the link between customer satisfaction and profit at the center of the model. This is the focus of Heskett, Sass and Schlesinger. The model connects customer satisfaction to several key organizational variables such as employee satisfaction and tenure, as well as financial performance. However, the key link is between customer satisfaction and profitability.
• Research demonstrated that a highly satisfied customer is six times more likely to re-purchase than a customer who is merely satisfied. This is a significant fact when applied to your business. It sounds easy, yet the statistical relationship between satisfaction and profitability can be obscured if proper and careful methodologies are not followed.
• Authors’ related conclusions:
  • The stronger the guest satisfaction, the stronger the sales growth.
  • This is imperative with short buying cycles like a hotel. Longer cycles take more time to impact guest satisfaction.
  • Satisfied customers stay customers.

Source: Customer Satisfaction and Profitability: The Link – 12-14-06

• Research demonstrated that a highly satisfied customer is six times more likely to re-purchase than a customer who is merely satisfied.
• Research found that there was a statistically significant relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability with satisfaction accounting for between 1 and 10 percent and 10 percent variance in the profitability.
• In fact, a 6 percent change in the proportion of customers who were highly satisfied was associated with a 5 percent change in profitability.
• Research of a major hotel-resort company communicated to all stakeholders its commitment to award-winning customer service through its “Five-Star” service. Employees received extensive training on how to provide superior service, and have their compensation and awards tied to satisfaction and meeting customer expectations. Shareholders saw this commitment as a key focus of the Chairman’s message in the annual report, and perhaps most significantly in the 20 percent increase in profitability the company recorded over a 3 year period.
• Train, motivate, and organize human resources to support the customer mission: leading companies build an organizational structure, capabilities and incentive systems to support a customer-centric strategy. Departmental cross training programs are popular in this area.

Source: Customer Care and Increased Profits – from the 1995 Customer Care and Profit White Paper

Heskett, James L., W. Earl Sasser, Jr. and Leonard A. Schlesinger (1997). “The Service Profit Changing: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction, and Value,” The Free Press, New York.

• Firms that delivered better customer value than the competition grew and prospered. Firms that delivered worse customer value withered and died.

The Value Proposition Component

• Understanding what factors shape a customer’s value perception is important. But equally important is anticipating where a value proposition will be in two, three, or four years.
• Studies have shown that the best predictor of share of spend is the customer’s perception of value. The greater the customers’ perception of value, the greater the share of pocketbook that a firm will have.
• Good value leads to higher customer loyalty and retention. Good value leads to higher market share. Good value leads to reduced operating costs. Good value leads to more positive attitudes among both customers and employees. These improved performance measures then lead to improved profitability and better stock market performance.
• Delivering good value enhances market share by:
  • Enhancing sales and marketing effectiveness.
  • Customer turnover is normally highest among new customers, those who have dealt with a firm less than one year. By providing high value, a firm will retain a larger proportion of these new customers. This means fewer new customers have to be acquired to replace those who defect.
  • By delivering good value, the firm will lose fewer customers of any type.
• In some industries, value is the single best predictor of market share.

The Cost Reduction Component

• Firms that deliver high value typically have lower cost structures than their competitors. High value firms pay more attention to the customer; they listen better to what the customer says, and then they use the customer as the key driver for continuous process improvement.
  • For example, GTE Directories, a Baldrige Award winner, achieved annual cost reductions of 3.5 – 5% as it became more customer-focused.
• A second major reason for cost savings flows from a more stable customer base. Churning customers, adding new ones while old customers depart, is costly, and new customers are heavy users of customer service activities.
  • For example, Hewlett-Packard finds that over 70% of its millions of calls annually at its customer service center come from LaserJet printer owners who have purchased their printer within the past two months.

The Employee Component

• Employee attitudes and employee retention are higher at firms that deliver high value to their customers. In particular, the linkage between employee satisfaction and the customers’ perceptions of service quality are strong and positive. Positive, enthusiastic employees build positive relationships with customers. Disgruntled employees convey negativism both directly and indirectly. The employee-customer relationship is directly influenced by employee attitudes.
• Satisfied employees are willing to suggest ways of innovating and improving an organization. Disgruntled employees are often cynical about changes and are usually not willing to improve. The result is that intra-organizational communication, trust, and employee satisfaction are strongly related to innovation and continuous improvement.

The Complaint Component

• The customer is truly the ultimate judge of quality. But a customer satisfaction program alone is often insufficient. We must proactively develop relationships with our key customers to learn their future needs, where they will be in one or two years. Since few organizations are perfect, we must develop customer complaint handling systems that transform disgruntled customers into satisfied, loyal customers. And for those cases when a firm loses a customer, we must be able to pinpoint exactly why the customer departed and use the situation as a learning experience. For a firm to be truly customer driven, all elements must be harmonized and focused on the customer.

The Profit Component

• Firms that deliver high customer value, relative to the competitors in their industry, are more profitable. They grow faster and have higher profit margins.
  • The American Customer Satisfaction Index surveys several hundred firms across numerous industries. Their research shows that firms delivering high customer value are consistently more profitable than firms with lower value perceptions.
  • The PIMS studies (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) involve thousands of firms and over five thousand business units. The primary goal of the PIMS studies is to determine which factors drive profitability in a business unit. Though not traditionally measuring value, the PIMS studies found the market perceived quality (how customers viewed product and service quality relative to the competition) was the single best predictor of market share which in turn lead to higher return on investment.

Source: Customer Satisfaction Profit Report

Customer-centric organizations can deliver satisfaction improvements effectively by following four principles:

1. Drive customer focus into business and strategic objectives: leading companies make customer focus a key element of the company’s overall strategy to differentiate themselves from competitors. Satisfaction becomes a primary theme for top management in communications with broad range of stakeholders. Putting the customer first becomes part of the corporate positioning and differentiation in the market. Senior managers spend a significant amount of time personally driving and preaching the doctrine of satisfying their most valuable customers.
2. Re-design customer interactions and supporting processes to serve high-value customers: companies should redesign customers facing processes and systems based on their understanding of the priorities of hi-value customers. A leading hotel chain has established separate check-in procedures for business and leisure travelers to better focus on the distinct needs of each group.
3. Train, motivate, and organize human resources to support the customer mission: leading companies build an organizational structure, capabilities and incentive systems to support a customer-centric strategy. Departmental cross training programs are popular in this area.
4. Apply rigorous “end-to-end” measurement: leading companies constantly refine their understanding of customer economics and the drivers of satisfaction based on clear metrics. Continuously assessing customer satisfaction and soliciting feedback from customers to improve understanding of their needs is critical.

External Industry Guest Satisfaction Models

Source: Southwest Airlines

• SWA’s culture is strong because they are fanatically committed to a culture/cause resulting in low turn-over and highest customer service ratings in the industry.
• Culture is one of the most precious things in this company so they believe they must work harder at it than anything else. It encompasses beliefs, expectations, norms, rituals, communication patterns, symbols, heroes, and reward structures.
• Cornerstones are the foundation that define beliefs.
• Hiring practices – The company is religious about hiring the right people – people who fit into their culture first.
• Obsessive about top down demonstration of the culture.
• SWA believes employees come first.
• SWA is only interested (hires) in people who are motivated to help other people – this is at the core of their culture and customer service success.
• SWA has become a loving place to work because of the people who work there.
• Love is their cornerstone and it is defined as action-oriented, patience, kind, generous, courteous, affirming, compassionate, extends grace and forgiveness, doesn’t guarantee approval, is tough and gutsy, and embraces humility.

Source: Safeway

• Top down demonstration of culture is a must.
• Core values – sincerity, support, respect value, friendly.
• Employees are instructed to greet each guest and execute a five foot rule.
• Company hires undercover evaluators to ensure accountability.
• Escort guest to product.
• Anticipate guests’ needs.
• Sincerity.
• Employee first culture.
• Strategic direction and expectations about customer service standards are initiated from the company. Each store is empowered to determine the guidelines they will use to integrate these expectations. Tough on strategy, easy on tactics.

Source: Trader Joes

• It is about the culture not service training
• Focus is on hiring the right talent and then incorporating a fun work environment.
• Don’t have a manual – it is about being friendly and fun.
• Their strength is hiring people that match the customer experience they want to deliver and smart buyers.

Other Information

Rewards & Recognition

• Corporation spending on customer satisfaction exceeds $600 million dollars annually.
• Effective compensation systems must link to customer satisfaction and should integrate
  • What your customers expect
  • Integrate the customer satisfaction survey results
  • Clearly identify what factors should affect rewards
  • Balance customer satisfaction with employee productivity and return on investment (ROI)
  • Source: Inside Research
• Associate satisfaction with the job and positive environment/morale impact the likelihood of retention. According to McKinsey and Company, 65% of respondents in a study cited not “feeling valued” or “insufficient recognition or reward” for leaving previous employer
• Source: War for Talent, 2000
• “Recent studies conducted by the business Research Lab (Hauppauge, N.Y.) have shown that the correlation between the length of time people intend to stay with their current employers and “soft” factors – like recognition given for work well done or pride in the employer – is more statistically significant that the longevity/monetary reward correlation” (BCP Handbook). Praise and Recognition in the forms of notes, cards, or public presentation among teammates share the sense of accomplishment. This supports a culture that focused on employees to gain in the customer satisfaction game.
• According to a Wichita State University study, the top five NMR motivating techniques are:
  • Personally congratulating employees who do a good job;
  • Writing personal notes about good performance;
  • Using performance as the basis for promotion;
  • Publicly recognizing employees for good performance; and
  • Holding morale-building meetings to celebrate successes.
• Key to the Customer Service training is a blended approach to rewards and recognition

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. For more information on how to improve your manager’s effectiveness and get more with the staff you have talk with Renie directly at www.tipsonleadership.com or call 602-392-0700 to sign up for coaching training.

Customer Retention means Market Share

This month’s mood: Where’s Customer Service?

I was listening to: “Nobody does it better” by Carly Simon

Customer retention is the most inexpensive way to ensure market share. The likelihood of your retaining a customer is a reflection of your minute-to-minute/interaction-to-interaction customer experience. Many leaders do not realize that customer satisfaction does not mean retention. Striving for “satisfaction” is not enough as satisfied customers are not loyal. Highly satisfied customers are 6 times more likely to buy again than “satisfied” customers; and it is at this point that your marketing and loyalty strategies have a chance of success. Otherwise, save your money!

So the challenge is: How can you deliver outstanding customer service when you have cut positions and wages and have more to do with less? Rethink everything!

During the holidays, I hosted 17 family members (my lobotomy is complete). The challenge of feeding, then cleaning up just so I could start the “feeding cycle” again was endless. I thought I was very organized, having planned out the meals, the shopping list, and even the clean up teams. And yet I found myself at my nearby Safeway so much that in the end the Manager approached me about applying for a job!

As a company, Aspire has been watching Safeway for the last 24 months. This was a company that had strategically committed to reinventing its stores inside and out. During my 17 trips in 12 days to Safeway, I observed some outstanding customer service and together with the renovated store look, my “it’s a mediocre grocery chain” perception turned around. Safeway has reinvented itself.

Here is what I learned:

Keep it Fresh. Provide Smart & Clever Offerings: They have a new salad bar, a much visually improved sandwich bar, a new pizza bar, and an expanded take home dinner section. They understand that today people have no time and want easy meal solutions for their lives. Understanding what your customer needs and providing it may not seem revolutionary and yet you don’t see it very often. In addition, all of these offerings are conveniently located at the front of the store so the on-the-go shopper can run in, and run out!

• POINT: Know who is buying and make it easy…really easy. Ask your team who are your customers, what do they want and how do we deliver it better for THEM? And if you are going to do what everyone else is doing, at least do it better and add a twist. As Einstein so graciously put it, you can not do the same things and expect different results! Think about it…if you have 4 less people at the front desk you have to think differently about the check-in and out process so it complements your manpower realities. Change it up.

Fanatical Helpful Service: Everyone from the Managers to the Stocking Clerks has been comprehensively re-trained at my Safeway. They know where things are located from the aisle to the location on the row (“2 thirds down the aisle on the right side”). They not only tell you where something is, they end with, “Would you like me to show you?” At one point, I had a personal shopper who just helped me spend more of my money. My simple milk run turned into a $129.00 purchase!

• POINT: Get your community fanatical about helping every customer. Do whatever it takes. Share with your people that a highly satisfied customer is 6 times more like to buy again versus a satisfied customer. Embrace the “make people happy” business or you will be out of business. Your must inspire everyone in your organization to make each guest “dizzy with happiness.” In today’s economic realities, satisfaction means you are losing market share.

Revitalize Your Look: My Safeway perspective was that the store was dingy, kind of clean and not visually appealing. Not any more. The aisles have a little more space and they are of different designs versus a bowling alley/traditional grocery store feel. The signage is clear throughout the aisle and the lighting is bright. The carts are organized and I love the hand sanitizer they offer by the shopping carts.

• POINT: No one has a large capital budget this year, so you have to get creative. First up…get rid of the clutter, add candles to your front desk, create an inviting smell in your lobby, revisit your music to create a feel, get a local artist to do an art gallery down a hallway, ditch the furniture pillows that look old and worn, have your chef, in whites, offer a taste of the evening special in the lobby, and touch the senses in every way. Ensure that everyone has a clean and pressed uniform, add your favorite hobby on your name badges to help create conversation and get everyone involved.

In the end, what you focus on comes true. Make a fanatical commitment to making each customer “dizzy with happiness” and then decide that no one will do it better!

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative sales and customer service training, strategic marketing, leadership skills and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on how to improve sales and leadership even in turbulent times talk with Renie directly at Tips On Leadership . Check out Renie’s new book at The Official Girlfriends Getaway Guide.

Outstanding Customer Service Tips by Aspire – Safeway Shines – Watch more Funny Videos

Aspire, an international marketing and training company, recognizes that service makes all the difference and introduced customer service cartoons in its customer service training program. Aspire positions organizations for optimum performance and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. A powerful revenue optimization company that is revolutionizing the marketing, consulting and learning industries, Aspire brings innovative, ground-breaking and productive change to businesses around the world through its unusual customer service training concepts.

Over the past 13 years, the company’s innovative training programs have impacted more than 5,000 businesses in 11 countries and eight languages, earning a 96-percent client retention rate.

Understanding that service is what makes the difference, Aspire recently launched Heroic Hospitality, a customer service training program featuring cartoon superhero characters. Heroic Hospitality was built to appeal and effect service delivery improvement across all four generations in today’s work place, a challenge businesses around the globe are experiencing. In particular, the product connects with the learning styles of Generation Xers and Millennials/Generation Y — both independent thinkers and interactive learners — to guide hotel associates for taking ordinary customer interactions and making them extraordinary through the HERO acronym: Hello, Engage, Resolve and One Step More.

Heroic Hospitality empowers all employees from the housekeeper to the executive to make a difference in a guest’s stay. Building a service culture and integrating the DNA of a business is what the Aspire product truly represents and it is providing hotels globally with the know-how to offer great service that will lure guests back.

Another great example of Aspire’s accomplishments this past year is Best Western International earning the top customer service ranking from the 2008 Market Metrix Hospitality Index, which measures customer satisfaction. Best Western ranked in the highest brand in customer satisfaction in the midscale group for its “I Care” program which Aspire created and implemented for the world’s largest hotel chain.

With more than 25 years of hospitality experience, Aspire’s Founder, CEO and Chief Inspiration Officer Renie Cavallari made a dream come true. Her commitment to creating non-traditional training environments and extreme passion for delivering impact formed the foundation for Aspire in 1995. Cavallari’s leadership, business acumen, strategic alignment and vision continue to spearhead the company’s success and innovative, award-winning training programs.

The culture at Aspire is like no other and it is embraced by its employees as well as its clients. Clients make their mark on the walls of the company’s Learning Center with hand-written notes of gratefulness for their inspiring training sessions. Customers continue to say that they want to be like Aspire — as a model to create innovation and culture as well as a place to call home.

Find customer service cartoons online and read discussion about them on www!

]]> http://www.tipsonleadership.com/leadership-training/executive-coach/using-innovative-customer-service-cartoons-change-the-face-of-customer-service-training-programs/feed/ 0 http://www.tipsonleadership.com/customer-service-training/define-customer-service/tips-for-better-customer-service-be-happy/ http://www.tipsonleadership.com/customer-service-training/define-customer-service/tips-for-better-customer-service-be-happy/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:14:30 +0000 Renie Cavallari http://www.tipsonleadership.com/?p=131 Preface: I had an interesting week last week when I was traveling to the National Speakers Annual Conference in NYC. I love New York. It makes me feel like a grown up. And more importantly, it was a trip full of awakenings. It was truly an extraordinary experience largely because of Happy People Everywhere!

Happy is definitely an advantage and one of best tips for better customer service!”

Now for my cynical readers I beg you to give me a chance (please stop rolling your eyes) and consider this as a way to define customer service:

Chapter 1: I was flying on US Airways (not known as the leading U.S. airline) and when I got to the ticket counter, I was treated kindly. There was laughter and engaged conversation.

Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 2: I got on the plane and the flight attendant was engaging, attentive and happy. Imagine my surprise as normally the first class attendant has an attitude of ‘these people are a group of high maintenance flyers who are usually just up-graders’.

Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 3: I got off the plane in Newark at 5 p.m. and there waiting for me at baggage claim as planned is Laura, the driver, smiling and helpful…this is Newark Airport! We quickly hit the road and my happy driver is unsure of the exit. She was so sincere and delightful that I was happy to call the hotel and get the directions.

Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 4: And what happens next at 6 p.m. was amazing. I called the hotel and the front desk person answering the phone was happy and helpful. When I arrived at the hotel, Annie, the same happy, personable and kind front desk agent who was up against all odds at 6 p.m. on the desk alone with a line out the door, was pleasant, helpful and even spoke to me. I went to my room and lay down.

Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 5: I was attending the National Speakers Association annual meeting. Imagine 2,000 inspired, engaging and supportive people. Note to self: Massive happy people. This is massive personal choices.
Closing Chapter: I ask myself, “what is going on? Where did all of these happy people come from?” And then it was clear.

Note to self: Happy person. It’s a personal choice.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative learning, strategic marketing, leadership training and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on employee retention programs visit www.aspiremarketing.com , e-mail Renie directly at renie (at) aspiremarketing.com or call Aspire at 602-392-0700.

Is good customer service a thing of the past? Now for my cynical readers I beg you to give me a chance (please stop rolling your eyes) and consider this:

Chapter 1: I was flying on US Airways (not known as the leading U.S. airline) and when I got to the ticket counter, I was treated kindly. There was laughter and engaged conversation. Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 2: I got on the plane and the flight attendant was engaging, attentive and happy. Imagine my surprise as normally the first class attendant has an attitude of ‘these people are a group of high maintenance flyers who are usually just up-graders.’ Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 3: I got off the plane in Newark at 5 p.m. and there waiting for me at baggage claim as planned is Laura, the driver, smiling and helpful…this is Newark Airport! We quickly hit the road and my happy driver is unsure of the exit. She was so sincere and delightful that I was happy to call the hotel and get the directions. Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 4: And what happens next at 6 p.m. was amazing. I called the hotel and the front desk person answering the phone was happy and helpful. When I arrived at the hotel, Annie, the same happy, personable and kind front desk agent who was up against all odds at 6 p.m. on the desk alone with a line out the door, was pleasant, helpful and even spoke to me. I went to my room and lay down. Note to self: Happy person. Appears to be a personal choice.

Chapter 5: I was attending the National Speakers Association annual meeting. Imagine 2,000 inspired, engaging and supportive people. Note to self: Massive happy people. This is massive personal choices.

Closing Chapter: I ask myself, “what is going on? Where did all of these happy people come from?” And then it was clear.

Note to self: Happy person. It’s a personal choice.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international customer service training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative learning, strategic marketing, leadership training and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on how to be a great leader during these challenging times, visit www.aspiremarketing.com e-mail Renie directly at renie@aspiremarketing.com, or call Aspire at 602-392-070