Welcome to my conversation about RelationShift®. This is the second post of 2 parts. If you did not read part 1, RelationShift 101: Get Shifted, I highly recommend you do so before continuing on. If you have read part 1, welcome back, and let's continue!
We left off of Part 1 on the subject of Transformation and choosing an experience you would like to change. Take an unpleasant memory you have of a situation or an interaction with a person, feel the feeling and then take a look at the thought related to that unpleasant feeling. That sneaky thought can pack a powerful punch in your energy and emotions and most of the time we've never taken the time to investigate whether the thoughts we are having are actually true. Usually our unpleasant feelings have a thought attached to them that have "shoulds" involved…like "they should have done this" or "that should not have happened" or "they shouldn't have said it that way," etc., etc. Typically we unconsciously "should" all over ourselves and we "should" all over others cultivating more suffering and feelings of discomfort.
If you're looking for more peace, clarity, tranquility, and harmony, simply open your mind, remain flexible and consider for a moment that if you had a different thought operating in the background, you might actually feel a different emotional response and thereby a different experience all together.
Are you with me on this? Our thoughts create. And one of the most powerful creations occur when we attach to the thought, in fact, attach to the thought and an emotion is born. Without thought, there's no negative experience….it would just "be" a thought without a story, a meaning or a qualitative judgement.
This is a thought. And if we attach to it, we begin to make a story…and the story grows the more we attach our energy to the thought. Is it true? How can we know it's true? Our minds make stories to make sense of the information coming in, but it does not mean it's factual or true.
The feeling associated with this thought might be frustration and irritation. This thought may not serve to open up the relationship to all the good feelings we wish to experience. This kind of thinking is destructive.
How might we SHIFT our thoughts and thereby transform our entire experience?
In my experience I've found many of us at times unconsciously are not wishing to transform our experience. We say we do, but we don't do it. Why? Unfortunately, because we're too attached to the story of our misery. Sometimes we are trapped in our own story and we identify with our pain. In order to experience all of the desires of our heart, we must be willing, compassionate and courageous enough to let go of our need to "be right" about our story of who we think we are so that we have an opportunity to have a different experience. We would be free to experience a life of peace, harmony, joy, love…forgiveness. Redemption is just a thought away.
No one wants to be wrong. Not me, not you and not the person you are working through this current problem with. To truly create change, we begin by choosing to reboot and refresh our minds and thoughts; in turn letting go of our position. Otherwise, we have made a conscious choice to remain stuck in the experience we already have in lieu of something different.
I would ask you now to begin noticing your feelings and simply become observant or aware of the thought behind each emotion that bubbles up in your experience. Taking this action step will begin to demonstrate how very powerful we are at creating our own experience. We always get to be right. As you think, so do you experience emotions. What do you choose? Negative, painful, stressful, or peaceful, calm, and compassionate?
This is an opportunity to transform our experience. By identifying and recognizing our thoughts and feelings, we can transform our experience by making a choice to either accept, disregard, or change our underlying thoughts. Perhaps by simply accepting how we feel, and why we feel this way, we can identify a new strategy and direction forward in our relationship.
You and I choose our experience. If we choose misery, pain and suffering, then this is our choice. No judgement, it's simply a choice. If we don't like it, we can choose thoughts that support us rather than unravel us.
Having a life of balance and harmony calls upon us to be couragous and take responsibility for our experience in daily life.
Sometimes we choose to be angry, sad or disappointed. There is nothing wrong with such a choice. It's just an experience. When we are tired with an experience or we desire strongly enough to have a different experience, we can make another choice.
We do have the power to experience all that we most deeply desire in our life. It is all about our choices. We choose. Thoughts come, they just do, it's part of our human experience. Where we exercise our strength, our brilliance, our true power, is in choosing what we hold onto and what we let go of. Yes, it's really quite exciting. We are more powerful than we can possibly imagine.
Welcome to Part 5 of my blog series on Going From Good to GREAT. If you haven't read Part 1:Creating Core Values in the Relationship Economy, Part 2: Engage an Effective Vision, Part 3: Validate Your Employees or Part 4: Build a Village Through Relationships yet, I recommend that you read it for a little perspective and understanding of our conversation. On the other hand, even if you haven't read part 1, 2, 3 or 4, I've written the series so that each article is independent of the other parts. If you have read my first piece, you might want to skip down a little lower to the guts of Part 5. I have include the upper part of my previous post in the beginning of this article as a quick refresher so it might make a little more sense to you, the reader.
What does it require to take your business or personal life from Good to Great?
I have found in my research and experience the same traits that create a great personal life also create a powerful business life. What's good for you personally is good for your business as both are intimately connected to people. A company is a living, breathing, entity, just as you are, made up of collective parts that create a whole. It exists within a sphere of relationships, just as you are.
From time to time you'll see articles written by me in my "Good to Great" series. Today's article is on creating Core Values. I've written it from the corporate perspective, however, even if you don't own or lead a company, you likely work for one, and knowing the information I'm sharing here is a step forward for you to be an even better version of yourself whether you're the CEO or at the bottom of the organizational chart. The research and ideas listed here can also be used to cultivate awareness which serves to support you in your journey to be a better human being. What I have come to understand in my experience over the past 25 years researching and speaking on personal and business relationships, is that the skills and techniques that make better organizations also make better people.
In today's world, we are moving into a post-consumer age called the relationship economy. With the widespread use of the internet, instant global communications and most dramatically, social media, we are entering an era defined by two-way relationships between brands and bodies. Today's consumer wants to be heard, whether it's to voice a concern to management or request a particular color image on their laptop case. Transactions are being defined by emotions and relationships not just dollars and cents.
According to Forbes Magazine, 78% of consumers say that posts made by companies on social media influence their purchases and an even greater 81% say that posts made by their friends influence their purchasing decisions. This result was from a 2012 survey. One can only imagine with the continued permeation of social media into all aspects of our lives that this number has only increased. Relationships drive purchase decisions. Purchases are the lifeblood of every company.
5. Voice: Listen to the Voice of Your Current and Potential Customers.
These 5 V's: Values, Vision, Validation, Village and Voice, are built around the concept of improving relationships inside and outside of the company. In fact, the 5 V's are closely based on my RelationShift® model of success and reflect the importance I put on positive, uplifting relationships in both our personal and professional lives.
It is critical in today's Relationship Economy to listen to what your customers are telling you. Listen for everything, praise, questions and most importantly complaints or problems with your product or service. The criticism's, sometimes even undeserved, are hard to hear, whether you are in leadership, an executive, front-line employee, or a solo-preneur. Creating an environment where team members can respond to criticism in a constructive way, by both meeting the needs of the customer and also sharing the issue with the organization is critical.
By building your customer service team focus around understanding your customer's needs you encourage team members to be open to receiving criticism and praise and you create an experience where clients are open to share their experience. Why is this important? Why not just let your customers do business the old fashioned way and just share their experiences if they see fit? Because, knowledge is power.
A 2011 American Express survey found that 7 out of 10 customers were willing to spend more with companies that provide excellent customer service. The same survey also found that 78% of respondents had not made a purchase because of a poor customer service experience. Your client's experiences are critical in the success of your company.
In the Relationship Economy, wealth is not only derived from a monetary transaction, but social transactions as well. Receiving, sharing and acting upon customer feedback provides you with a leg-up on your competition, as well as, happier clients! By truly appreciating their input to make your business BETTER, you will build longer term customers who will continue to purchase your products and services in the future.
The best time to receive input is when a customer is face-to-face with a customer service representative or front-line team member. You have their attention and can receive their immediate response to your transaction. This can be somewhat unnerving for even the best employee to inquire about, however, if you create an environment where it's okay for team members to receive feedback, both positive and negative, you will go a long way towards more client response and more engaged employees.
Surveys are another great way to receive information from customers. Whether it be an online, telephone or face-to-face survey, this is a broad way to understand your customer base better. Be understanding however, as surveys only tell you one part of the customer service puzzle. Those who are more likely to take the survey are those who are the happiest or most unhappy with your service levels.
Receiving in-the-field feedback from employees is another great way of building a relationship with your customers. Employees will have an idea post-transaction of how well the process went. By building an inclusive environment which encourages authentic self-analysis is a critical element of superior customer service. Allowing team members to learn from their mistakes and improve their approach is essential in building a top flight organization.
Monitoring reaction to your brand, products and services online and in social media is becoming a must for all businesses. A negative experience, quickly shared online virally can touch thousands of people in an instant and create instant damage to your image. Having a dedicated individual or team who constantly manages your social media presence is imperative to rewarding customers who share positive experiences and reacting to and correcting customers who have a product or service complaint.
Welcome to Part 4 of my blog series on Going From Good to GREAT. If you haven't read Part 1:Creating Core Values in the Relationship Economy, Part 2: Engage an Effective Vision or Part 3: Validate Your Employees yet, I recommend that you read it for a little perspective and understanding of our conversation. On the other hand, even if you haven't read part 1, 2 or 3, I've written the series so that each article is independent of the other parts. If you have read my first piece, you might want to skip down a little lower to the guts of Part 4. I have include the upper part of my previous post in the beginning of this article as a quick refresher so it might make a little more sense to you, the reader.
In this article I will speak on the fourth concept: Village.
The social and economic world is in a process of dramatic change. We are moving out of the Information Age into a new Relationship Economy. Business and personal relationships alike are being bound together via the internet and social media to a point where it is critical we begin to consider the fundamental changes coming today and in the near future. The future will begin to challenge the traditional sources of wealth and influence, injecting a new digital social component to the equation. Those who harness the power of relationships now, will set themselves up for greater success in the future.
Business in particular needs to begin considering their social footprint now. According to Social Media Expert, Brian Solis, Principal Analyst of Altimeter Group, "Genuine communication and engagement in social media helps businesses improve relationships with employees and customers while also improving the bottom line". Supporting this thought, in the recent IDC, ICT Market Outlook: What's Next, found 28% of enterprises were using social information to make business decisions in 2010, and estimate the trend to rise to 85% by 2020.
Waiting for customers to show up at your physical or virtual storefront doesn't work like it once used to. Today's entrepreneurs and business executives build awareness through advertising, campaigns, surveys, and more. This however, isn't enough to go from Good to Great. To move ahead of your competitors, creating lasting relationships, both virtual and physical is key.
Real connections. A recent meeting over lunch with my twitter friends S. Chris Edmonds* and Umair Khan*.
Yes, we do, even today, need REAL relationships. Simply adding someone to your Linkedin network isn't creating a complete relationship connection. Getting to know your social media connections in one-to-one engagements is critical. These genuine social connections allow you to create shared experiences, greater connectivity and a personal touch that even the best social media campaign has yet to match.
1. Create a plan. What kind of connections are important for your business? How much time per day are you going to dedicate to Relationship building? It's critical to have a picture of who would be great members of your village before you run out and create it. Without a plan of how you plan to build your relationship circle, you are bound for failure before you even begin.
2. Understand Your Followers. Where do they spend their time? What are their interests? Just like building personal friendships, business connections are constructed in a similar way. It is important to understand the people you are connecting with in order to create genuine relationships and conversation.
3. Get Social. Diving into social media is critical in today's developing Relationship Economy. It can seem overwhelming at first, but it doesn't have to be so. Pick one social media outlet a week and create an account. Start using its features and making connections. As you get more comfortable you can begin to add additional social media networks and services and expand your relationship circles from there. Where to start? Some great starter Social media sites include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. There are literally 100's of other social media circles which vary by geography, interest, users and more.
4. Share your Brand. Now that you have developed a plan and gotten social, it's time to get out there and share your brand. It's great to make new friends and meet new people, but remember, this isn't just about being social, it's about offering your products and services to a broader audience. So get out there and share your brand in a diligent, but not over-the-top manner.
5. Get REAL! As I said before, social media is great and the internet is amazing for building connections fast. At the same time, don't forget to build genuine relationships in the physical and virtual world. Take the time to meet your virtual friends in the real world and don't forget to build real connections in every day life!
*Note: If you would like to connect via twitter with my friends in the image above, click here for S. Chris Edmonds and here for Umair Khan. You can also check out Chris Edmond's website by clicking here! He's got a book coming out soon so check him out!
Welcome to Part 3 of my blog series on Going From Good to GREAT. If you haven't read Part 1:Creating Core Values in the Relationship Economy or Part 2: Engage an Effective Vision yet, I recommend that you read it for a little perspective and understanding of our conversation. On the other hand, even if you haven't read part 1 or 2, I've written the series so that each article is independent of the other parts. If you have read my first piece, you might want to skip down a little lower to the guts of Part 3. I have include the upper part of my previous post in the beginning of this article as a quick refresher so it might make a little more sense to you, the reader.
In this article I will speak on the third concept: Validate.
So often in our organizations we can develop a one-dimensional focus on building our success on adding new customers in an effort to steadily increase sales. Unfortunately this focus can lead to a case of sales tunnel vision where we forget to focus on the other elements of our enterprise. One of these often ignored elements is our greatest asset: our employees.
Employees are an organization's direct contact with its customers. An unhappy or unmotivated employee is not going to present a company in its best light. In fact, a recent study by European polling company, Vision Critical, found that nearly one-third of U.K. consumers (30 percent) have become less loyal to retail brands in the past five years. One-quarter of those customers identified poor service as the main reason for this decreased loyalty.
A motivated employee is critical to not only increasing sales, but retaining current clients in an ever more competitive business environment.
How do we develop motivated and engaged employees? Validate their importance to the company. There are numerous reasons that companies do a poor job of employee validation. Whether a company's lack of focus on employees is due to imagined fears that an empowered employee may ask for a wage increase if they felt critical to the enterprise, poor employee morale will directly impact the bottom-line in a negative fashion.
There are piles of statistics beyond what I shared above that demonstrate the importance of employee validation in employee satisfaction and retention. What about the effect of engaged employees on customer service and customer retention? Is there a direct link from a happy employee to a happy client? Yes in fact there is.
1. Say, "Thank You!" Yes it really is this simple. A face-to-face "Thank you" may be all that is needed. Handwritten notes and small gifts of appreciation are also great ways to let employees know you recognize their efforts.
2. Flex Scheduling. Being flexible with the work day is a great way to show employees you see them as a person who often has their own scheduling needs.
3. Breaking Bread Together. From a monthly lunch with a manager, to department pizza parties based on performance or monthly top performer lunches with the CEO, engaging an employees stomach is always a direct link to his or her heart!
4. Party-On! A yearly party is a great way to show appreciation to employees. Whether a formal holiday party or a mid summer beach picnic, letting loose with employees is a great way to say "Thank you" with the added bonus of also building team spirit.
5. You Care, The Company Cares and Your Employees Care. Providing opportunities for your employees to work in the community and in volunteer organizations, sometimes on company time, is a great way to show you care about your employees interests and you care about others and the community. It's also an excellent opportunity to build goodwill not only with your employees, but your customers, potential customers and your own community. A classic 2 for 1 benefit.
Interested in employee retention? Your best retention strategy is making sure your people feel valued, important and part of the team. Everyone of us has need of feeling useful, of having work that is meaningful and real. Give this to your employees and they will be happier on the job, in their job and with your customers. In the end we're all just human beings having a relationship with other human beings. Our titles, responsibilities, and paychecks might be different, but we're really all exactly the same irrespective of our work in the world. We are human. Every human whether they admit it or not is looking for love, approval and appreciation.
The foundation for successful leadership is this: A wise leader will support their workforce to be the best versions of themselves they can be because they care about their employees, they care about their customers and they care about their community.
Welcome to Part 2 of my blog series on Going From Good to GREAT. If you haven't read Part 1:Creating Core Values in the Relationship Economy yet, I recommend that you read it for a little perspective and understanding of our conversation. On the other hand, even if you haven't read part 1, I've written the series so that each article is independent of the other parts. If you have read my first piece, you might want to skip down a little lower to the guts of Part 2. I have include the upper part of my previous post in the beginning of this article as a quick refresher so it might make a little more sense to you, the reader.
These 5 V's: Values, Vision, Validation, Village and Voice, are built around the concept of improving relationships inside and outside of the company. In fact, the 5 V's are closely based on my RelationShift® model of success and reflect the importance I put on positive, uplifting relationships in both our personal and business lives.
In this article I will speak on concept two: Vision.
What is a Vision? Why is it important? What makes it different from a Mission Statement? These are just some of the many questions people have when I bring up the concept of having a defined Vision.
A Vision is much different from a Mission. A personal or company Mission is the message you share with others which lets them know what you or your company is about. A Vision on the other hand is much more personal, it is strictly for you and other members of your team. The Vision defines what you want your company to be about and where you expect to see it in the future.
Your Vision is the destination in the future that you plan to reach. It is what you, and/or your company can aim for on a daily basis.
Why do you need a Vision? Let me ask another question, why do you need to know your destination on any trip? Without a Vision, your organization is rudderless and unsure where to go.
A major problem in today's business world related to Vision? More than 70% of employees do not know their company Vision.
A recent Harvard Business Review article, "When CEOs Talk Strategy, Is Anyone Listening?" found even in high-performing companies which had "clearly articulated public strategies," only 29% of employees could correctly identify their company's strategy out of six choices.
Your Vision is an opportunity to build relationships in your organization and outside of it. Make a point to ensure everyone on your team understands the group Vision. Be mindful to live your Vision and base at least part of this vision on recognizing the value of relationships, both inside and outside of the company. With this in mind, employees are encouraged to build sustained and deep relationships with your customers, keeping them in the fold for the long term.
1. Start with a Framework. Use your Mission Statement and Core Competencies as a starting point for articulating your Values.
2. Look Ahead. Think farther ahead then just the next one to 3 years. Your Vision Statement should fall somewhere in the 4-8 year time-frame with 5 years being the standard most organizations follow.
3. Make it simple. Some organizations will make an all encompassing statement that is a paragraph or more in length. Avoid this at all costs. Employees have a much better chance to remember and embrace a Vision Statement that is only a sentence or two in length.
4. Revisit your Vision every year or two. With the passage of time, re-evaluate, is the Vision still relevant? Don't be afraid to update it and keep it current.
I hope you stop by and visit with me next week as I discuss the third V in the 5 V's of building a Great Enterprise : Validation.
In this article I will speak on concept one: Values.
Creating and understanding your Core Values are critical for any organization. Beyond a vision, an entity's Core Values are what drive everything within a company. From marketing, creation, fabrication, production, research, sales, customer service, delivery, finance and more, the Core Values of a company steer the rudder of the organization through both still and turbulent waters. Core Values determine what and how a company will sell its product or services. They determine how a company will contribute to its employees and community. Most importantly, the Core Values drive not only C-Level, but customer-connected decision making.
In the new Relationship Model of economics, a company's Core Values offer an opportunity for customers to buy into the brand, to become a "part of the family" so-to-speak. It also allows an informed and inspired workforce to interact with customers from a deeper level of awareness. This awareness creates an environment for entrepreneurial and proactive decision making and interaction with customers, meeting their needs in a timely and empowered manner.
"Those who say their company's values are known and understood are 30x more likely to be fully engaged," according to Don MacPherson, CEO of pollster Modern Survey.
These results were virtually identical to those found by Gallup helping to validate the results of both polling organizations.
This evidence may also point out to the discrepancies between the leading companies in corporate America and the rest who seem to be mired in the trailing pack. When you consider from your own personal experience interacting with employees of leading companies, one of the characteristics that almost always stands out is your trust in them, because these employees take ownership of their company's Core Values. Consumer trust equals sales conversions and brand loyalty.
The importance of defining and then educating employees on an organization's Core Values are critical to success in the Relationship Economy.