Becoming a Cultural Leader

One of our clients is Nissan and one of the leaders I worked with at Nissan was an EVP responsible for the performance of the loan portfolios for the lease and new car sales at all their dealerships in North America. As I watched this leader I noticed that he had great respect from his peers, employees and also front-line staff.

A cultural leader is a leader who impacts positively the way an organization works at all levels. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in. Do you make a positive impact with your leadership on the way the organization operates at all levels?

Three Steps to Improve Your "Cultural Leadership (Level 5) Skills:

Assessment of your culture: Every leader should have a "now" and "then" of your culture. What is your current assessment of the culture of your organization? What do you want the culture to be like in two years?

Create your Game Plan: Your game plan should evaluate people, communication/training, processes, systems and technology in order to determine what you need to change to create the culture of the future. Here are questions your Game Plan should ask:

• Is there accountability in the organization? Do people have clear roles and recognize the top three priorities of their job? Is their job measured and do they get rewarded for their success?
• Are there any silos in the organization? What steps are being taken to eliminate them?
• Does each level communicate well down through the organization as well as to their internal customers and suppliers?
• Are the measurements for production aligned with organization success and the recognition and rewards aligned to support that success?
• Is the energy level positive in the organization? Do people feel good about the wins?
• What processes, information, systems and technology would increase productivity?

Develop your Skip-Level Strategy: A skip-level communication strategy is the way you communicate and interact with all levels of the organization in order to understand and change the culture. Here is a list of possible skip-level communication approaches:

• All Hands "On Deck" Meetings - Your entire organization
• Lunch & Learn - Communication lunch with a group (8-10) of front-line employees (Once a month)
• Surveys - designed to understand and benchmark how the organization thinks and behaves
• Focus groups - small groups of employees to discuss specific areas of improvement
  Conference calls with multiple levels in the organization
• MBWA - Manage by walking around and talking to employees (Note: this is not just to say hi and be visible - you are building relationships and really getting to know if the leadership of your team is making its' way through the organization.
• Training
• Cross-functional project team to address specific issues

A strong Level 5 leader is known and respected by front-line employees. That leader takes responsibility to eliminate bottlenecks, solve problems and deliver performance by building a strong organization at every level.

To improve your companie's leadership skills call us at 1-866-331-6044 or visit us at http://www.tmicentral.com.

How to Transition from 'Order Taker' to 'Revenue Generator'

When you get an inbound call from a customer and you take and complete their order, ask "Is it possible to do more?" In today's competitive environment where staffs have been downsized, sometimes the answer is not more people, it is better equipped associates empowered to handle the customer. Here are some keys in transitioning your thinking from "order taking" to "revenue generating."


Think EDUCATE vs Sell - The average CSR doesn't want toe sell, they want to serve. So play to your strengths and serve the customer by educating them on the products/services they are not using. Example: "Thanks for calling today to order your booth supplies for the upcoming trade show. I'd love to educate you on how we help companies increase their revenue by providing the graphics to display on their booth. Let me know if you want more information on that service."

Think RELATIONSHIP vs TASK - Last month we addressed this issue in the newsletter. Get in a habit of asking open-ended questions, actively listening and documenting what you discover so you remember or the next person has a record to follow up with the customer.

Discover the relational stages of the sales process - The difficult aspect of sales for most people is the rejection. If you knew they would say "yes", would you ask for the sale? Build the relationship, discover the needs/pains of the client and educate them on your solutions to their pain. Most people faced with an appendectomy realize that surgery is not just an option, it's a necessity because the pain is acute. The greater the pain, the easier the sell.

Four relational stages to watch for are the introductory phase, the discovery phase, the value stage and the partner stage.

• The introductory stage is just learning the basics and creating a positive image of your brand.
• The discovery stage is learning the uniqueness of the customer and what is important to them.
• The value stage is learning to apply your solutions to their problems.
• The partner stage is when they see you as critical to long-term success.

To get help on your customer service program, please call TMI at 1-866-331-6044 or visit us at http://www.tmicentral.com.