What the Mind Believes

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

Last week I had the honor to chair the North American Conference on Customer Management’s Customer First conference in Anaheim, CA at Disneyland. What a treat. (You can read more about it in this week’s tip)

One of the several speakers I had the honor to introduce was Robert Stephens, the founder of the Geek Squad.

http://customers1st.blogspot.com/search?q=robert+stephens

http://www.geeksquad.com/

I was so happy to have a chance to spend a few quiet moments with Stephen in the ballroom before the sessions began. I’ve been talking about Robert for years in my speeches and retelling a story I heard a famous speaker tell years ago. I wanted to hear Robert tell the story and add a few details.

I was shocked (not to mention embarrassed) to find out that I have been “lying” about the origins of the Geek Squad for years. Robert was gracious about it and shared a few moments with me before it was time to introduce him. I was thrilled to talk to him personally, so I didn’t read the printed introduction that was given to me in my chairperson pack.

Up I go to the stage with my printed introduction in hand. He’s an impressive guy and so I decided to read some of his interesting credentials before adding in my personal thoughts. Right there on the paper it said, “In 2002, The Geek Squad acquired Best Buy and opened Geek Squad precincts in all Best Buy US and Canadian stores.”

I saw it on the page, but before opening my mouth, my mind decided this could not be so and so I said, “Best Buy acquired the Geek Squad” instead, figuring it must be wrong. Nope, it was right and I was wrong.

Later in the day, after I had made a personal apology to Robert, I apologized to the entire audience, explaining what I thought happened.

Because it seemed so impossible to me that a midsize service company could possibly buy a “big box” store, I assumed that what I saw on the page was incorrect. Talk about the old adage - when we assume it makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. I’m still embarrased.

Because I wondered if this was happening to others as well as me, I asked the audience how many of them thought that Best Buy had bought the Geek Squad rather than the other way around - half the audience did.

It’s a great example of seeing what we want to see. When our belief system is strong it simply won’t let in information to the contrary.

I am truly humbled by the experience.

Robert taught us that what we need to create today is an “Authentic Experience” and I’ll tell you - my embarrassment was an authentic as it gets. Yikes.

Robert, I learned so many valuable lessons from you last week - the most important of which were those I learned about myself.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi was a keynote speaker and conference chair at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Disney Service Discovery

This posting by conference blogger Becky Carroll is cross-posted both on the Customers 1st blog as well as on Becky's blog Customers Rock!

Looking to learn more about what it takes to give great customer service? Look no further than Disney! I am here at the NACCM Customers 1st Conference being held at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, and today the event kicked-off in style. I chose the “Disney’s Service Challenge” pre-conference workshop, led by Bruce Kimbrell of The Disney Institute. This workshop focused on teamwork and taking care of employees (a critical part of taking care of customers is to take care of employees!). Bruce is also the keynote speaker tomorrow at the Pre-Conference Summit talking about “Loyalty Disney Style”.

Today, Bruce invited us to spend several hours discovering the service opportunities that Disney gives to their guests in “Pluto’s Pursuit”. I took the challenge, along with about 30 other attendees.

Bruce started us off with a great ice-breaker activity, with the promise of a PPR (positive plastic reinforcer - in this case, a small plastic statuette of Pluto). He had seven of us get into a circle and toss a ball back and forth in a set pattern. He then kept adding balls to the mix until we finally fell apart, balls flying all over the room! It was a great way to start talking about teamwork as well as multitasking (something we obviously didn’t do well). We then talked about what the necessary ingredients are for a team; they included sharing a common goal, cooperation, and interdependence. (Customers Rock! note: great customer service organizations have highly efficient teams that operate on trust and work well together.)

He also introduced the notion of different personal goals for different types of people one might find on a team, contrasting those who are motivated by achievement (goals - wanting to get to a “destination” with the team) vs. those who are motivated by affiliation (friends and enjoying the journey to the goal). More on this later. We were then split up into teams and given a common goal to achieve in a 90-minute time period, a sort of “scavenger hunt”. We had to go into Disneyland Park and find answers to a long list of questions. Some of the questions had to do with cast member (Disney employee) behaviors; other questions were about signs it the park or park attractions. We also had 2 challenges we could attempt as a team (of the puzzle variety).

Into the Park

Off we went on our hunt, where we relied on each other to look for the details in everything from the cast members and their on-stage behaviors (no sitting or smoking while on-stage!), their uniforms (name badge, please, and be well groomed), as well as trivia questions (do you know how much the piece of petrified wood in Frontierland weighs?). We covered the entire theme park, from Fantasyland to Adventureland to New Orleans Square to Frontierland - and beyond! Interesting observation - we were so busy looking for our scavenger hunt items, we didn’t get to stop and enjoy the park.

A few notes. All of the attendees at this conference are customer-focused, so when some of my teammates saw a woman at the park trying to navigate a curb with her stroller, four of them went over and helped her! That’s customer service. Also, Bruce is a veteran Disney guy; he has worked for them for nearly 30 years. As we were walking back to the conference from the theme park, he stopped and picked up every piece of trash he saw on the ground, throwing it away when he got the next trash can. He didn’t make a big deal of it; it just came naturally. I could see real pride in working at Disney.

Team Success Factors

When we returned, Bruce discussed more about the differences between the Destination teams and the Journey teams. We discovered that 3 of the 4 teams were “Destination” teams and were all vying for the fabulous prizes offered. The fourth team was a “Journey” team - they took their time, ate some food, did some shopping, and enjoyed their activity. One of the key areas we went over was employee rewards and recognitions. Bruce told a story about a long-time employee who had 32 years of perfect attendance. They decided to throw a big party for him to celebrate. He didn’t show up! Turns out he wasn’t comfortable with that kind of attention being showered on him, so he stayed home. The team had forgotten to find out what kind of recognition he might like; they just assumed he would want a party.

Taking Care of Employees

At Disney, they foster a culture of reward and recognition because that fosters other good things (like employee loyalty, which leads to great customer service). We need a little bit of that “destination” mentality to get things done, but we need to balance it with the “journey” mentality to make the job more fun!

The Conference Nuggets Are Just Starting!

I am blogging this conference, both on my blog Customers Rock! as well as on the Customers 1st Conference blog. During the sessions, I am not able to blog but will be updating you via Twitter; I am @bcarroll7, and the conference tag is #naccm. I am also posting any photos I take on the NACCM conference flickr group.

Wake Up Call

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

Monday morning, like many mornings, I woke up in a hotel. A brand spanking new Comfort Inn Suites in Tampa , Florida. Like many mornings the phone rang at 6:30 and stirred me out of a deep sleep.

“Beeep -beeep - beeep -beeep,” was the first sound I heard.

Dumb-dumb-dumb. Here was the hotel’s opportunity to make a “first impression” on me this morning and they did a poor job. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

As I was getting ready for the day I recalled the full spectrum of wakeup call experiences I’ve had in all the years I’ve been waking up in hotels.

At one end of the extreme is the call I received today - at the other end the LIVE bright and cheery voice of a hotel employee actually talking to me and telling me what the weather was and how happy they were I was in THEIR hotel.

In between is the automated call that gives the date, the weather and any other topics of interest (perhaps a breakfast special in the coffee shop, or free coffee service in the lobby.)

As I was reviewing all these messages in my head, I realized that there is a full spectrum of touching going on in any activity.

Pretend there is a scale. At one end of the scale is Hospitality with a big “H” – warm, friendly, inviting. At the other end of the scale rudeness, abruptness and maybe even contempt (thinly veiled of course.) Now take a look at all the touchpoints in your organization and see where you rate on that scale.

Find any wake up calls?

Wake up because in THIS marketplace – if you snooze, you lose.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, and comment on this post, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Live-Blogging at NACCM

Live-blogging is becoming more and more popular at events because of the constant updates bloggers are able to provide the general public. It’s a great way for attendees to recap on sessions and also a great way for those who could not make it to learn a couple of key points from presentations. For this year’s event, Becky Carroll from Customers Rock! will be live-blogging at the NACCM event, bringing us up-to-date information on speakers, presentations, and other gatherings from the event as they occur.

We look forward to reading Becky’s posts in November, and take advantage of the discount being offered to Customers 1st readers. Register for the event and save 15% off the standard pricing. We’ll see you in Disneyland!

Speaker Profile: Robert Stephens

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Robert Stephens. Robert Stephens is the Founder and Chief Inspector of The Geek Squad.

Stephens started this business when he was a “starving college student” at the University of Minnesota. While he was going around fixing things for people with his mountain bike and cell phone, he found when he went to help people, mainly with computers, service was lacking. So formed The Geek Squad, which is now a part of Best Buy.

With respect to his views on Customer Service, Robert Stephens was quoted in this interview stating: “So my emphasis in service, which the biggest expense in pretty much any service business I can think of is human capital/labor. In service, the people are the brand. They are the factories that manufacturer it. I focus really on attracting and maintaining talent as a means of accomplishing that goal.”

To learn more about Robert Stephens read his book, The Geek Squad Guide to Solving Any Computer Glitch, and check out this interview from Service Untitled which delves more into specifics of his philosophy. Also, for more on Stephens watch the YouTube clip provided below:



We invite you to come see Robert Stephens at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, “Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable”.

Speaker Profile: Stephen Brown

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Brown. Stephen Brown is currently the Edward M. Carson Chair in Services Marketing Professor and Executive Director at the Center for Services Leadership.

Stephen Brown has been an integral part of the Center for Services Leadership. Through his leadership and vision, with the help of Edward M. Carson, the Center was created in 1986. This enormous accomplishment has earned the praise of several institutions including Intangibles magazine which refers to it as a “Mecca”. The Center has distinguished members such as Cisco, IBM, and McKinsey & Company.

In addition, Stephen Brown has been given several honors, including being recognized American Marketing Association’s for prestigious Career Contributions to Services Marketing. Another accolade has received include being given an honorary doctorate from the Swedish School of Economics. Other accomplishments include being co-author and editor for over 20 books, and 150 articles.

We invite you to come see Stephen Brown at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, “The science of service: the proof is in the numbers”.

Speaker Profile: Bill Price

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Bill Price. Bill Price is the founder of Driva Solutions, LLC, and the author of The Best Service is No Service.

Prior to Driva Solutions Bill Price was the Vice President of Amazon.com’s Global Customer Service. Price helped them to reduce contacts-per-order­­ by over 70% which helped win Amazon.com the second highest-ever customer satisfaction rating for a company based in the United States.

Some of his other accomplishments include: the publication of more than 20 articles and whitepapers, videotapes of past presentations from 2002 and 2004 are still broadcast on television as relevant, in 1997 he was awarded “Call Center Pioneer” from Call Center Magazine, and in 2004 was asked to be one of ten “CRM Gurus”.

As previously mentioned Bill Price is the author of The Best Service is No Service: How to Liberate Your Customers from Customer Service, Keep Them Happy, and Control Costs. Check out the Driva Solutions blog titled “Best Services” here. Also, we’re excited to have Bill Price present a web seminar on October 15 called Outsourcing and offshoring, insourcing and onshoring – so many choices, so little frank information. Stay tuned to the NACCM Customers 1^st blog for more information

We invite you to come see Bill Price at NACCM as he presents on Monday, November 17th, When the Best Service is No Service.

Speaker Profile: Frank Capek

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Frank Capek. Frank Capek is the Senior Vice President nGenera’s, nGen Customer Business division.

To fulfil his role at nGenera, Capek pulls insight from his 25 plus years of experience working with over 50 major corporations in a variety of industries. Some of the assets that he provides, as listed on his blog, are helping organizations: understand how their customers think, feel, and act; designing products, services, processes, and technology that enable more effective customer experiences; and aligning leadership, employee experiences, and organizational behaviour to deliver.

To hear more of Frank Capek’s thoughts check out his blog here. We invite you to come see Frank Capek at NACCM November 16-19, 2008 in Anaheim California at the Disneyland Hotel. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

Erosion

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

As soon as the rain from Tropical Storm Fay passed yesterday I rushed down to the beach. I had been away for over two weeks and I missed my favorite spot. Breathing in the sea air renews me, so even when windy or cloudy, I take my walks at the beach.

And windy it was. I tucked my ipod deep in my pocket and put my sunglasses on to keep the sand out of my eyes. It’s my habit to walk against the wind on the walk out, so the walk back is a little easier.

It didn’t take long to notice that a lot of beach was gone. The storm had done some damage, and perhaps eighty feet or more of beach washed out to sea.

I drank in the fresh air after two days of being stuck indoors during the storm, at first all I was feeling was gratitude for being able to have nature so close to home.

But shortly I started thinking about a client. Their customer base in one sector of their business is eroding, and has been for a while. I know my training and my message is powerful, but I wondered. Would it begin to turn the tide?

When over time you cut cost by cutting service it begins eroding the trust your clients had. Growing by acquisition builds the customer base up again (just like the beach did over the past few months following terrible storms a few months prior to that.) But when scrupulous attention is not paid to the culture and how to deal with customers of the “former” company, over time, we see erosion.

The world is changing. The customer is changing. They have the power. When they start talking out loud and on the internet, the jig’s up.

All organizations need to take a closer look at what they are doing to stem erosion. If you didn’t have a good relationship with the customer when they left (because like everyone else, they’re cutting back a bit) you certainly won’t be able to win them back when the financial weather changes again. Marketing and advertising dollars don’t buy trust, they buy interest. You can’t buy trust, you have to earn and build it. What builds trust is consistently doing the things that make the employees and customers feel valued, special and important.

It happens easily. Even to me. We all tend to take our customers for granted. Erosion. It’s a sign.

Time to build up the dunes.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Speaker Profile: Mark Morgan

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mark Morgan. Mark Morgan is the Chief Executive Advisor for StratEx Advisors.

As the founder of StratEx Advisors, he pulls his insight from over 30 years experience in “engineering, management, project management, facilitation, consulting and leadership”.

The latest organizations that have benefitted from his expertise include IPSolutions, IBM and Stanford University. Mark Morgan is also the author of Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done, and Get It Done!: A Blueprint for Business Execution. A book review posted on this blog regarding Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done, had this to say:

Morgan, Malek and Levitt put forth a systematic approach for companies to decide "who they are, where they want to go and how to get there" and illustrate the means to implement those ideas. They also cover the key elements linking vision, strategy and operations--and how to connect them together into a coherent operating model for a company.

We invite you to come see Mark Morgan at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, Turning great ideas into great results: Cracking the code on getting stuff done. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

Please Inform Your Face

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

I’ve just left the Estee Lauder counter in Lord & Taylor’s. I’m shaking my head.

Lauder is having one of their special offers – buy $39.50 worth of product and get a free gift. My Mom uses their products and like most people loves the free gift. This time (very clever) you get to customize the gift. You get to pick from two color palettes (warm or cool) and a choice of daytime or nighttime creams.

We walked over to the relatively small counter where there three (count them – three) sales people. Not one of them noticed us nosing around. I had to ask “Are you having a special offer today?”

“Yes.”

“Uh – can you tell us a little about it?”

She gave us a brief description, nothing exciting at all in her voice, and void of some important details. My Mom, recovering from a broken hip, and leaning on a cane said great – I need some powder. The young later brought out the powder and stated that the powder cost $29.50.

“Okay,”

A moment of silence and then I got it – it was probably not enough to qualify for the gift. So I needed to move the conversation along to the next level I guessed. “And what do we need to spend to get a gift?”

$39.50 More silence and one of those glances that suggested that perhaps we were interrupting something very important that she needed to do. It was momentary, but my body picked it up.

Now my Mom picked up the ball. She looked at me and said, “Need anything?”

“I really could use a lipstick.”

“Okay.” And then, nothing.

“Where ARE your lipsticks?” I asked, really wanting to bolt out of the store screaming.

“Over there.”

And so I climbed over a cart that was blocking the way, and then moved it out of the way so my Mom might make her way around the road block too.

I quickly picked a lipstick. Now it’s time for Mom to pick the components of her gift – the young lady asked my not-hearing-too-well Mom. “Do you want warm or cool colors?” Not knowing what she was getting into, or what the young lady meant she picked one. When I brought to her attention after seeing the colors that she wasn’t going to like the beige lipstick we asked the young lady to switch it. What resulted was a deep sigh and look of distain.

Had I been there alone, it would have been the moment of truth, where I either told the truth about what I was seeing or left the store, but I stayed for the rest of the transaction.

To my utter amazement, after we paid, the woman looks up and says in a somewhat convincing voice, “Thank you so very much. I really appreciate your business, thanks for coming in today.” The amazing part – she said it all while maintaining a scowl on her face. It made me feel quite ill, it was that strange.

Next time you express appreciation – please remember to inform your face.

If you want to learn more about inspiring the kind of culture that would NEVER (I repeat NEVER) produce this kind of behavior join the experts at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management where we’ll be teaching you how to make the customer really FEEL like #1.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Speaker Profile: Kevin Carroll

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Carroll. Kevin Carroll, as described by many is an “author, speaker, and agent for social change.” In addition he is the founder of Katalyst Consultancy.

His popular book Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, has garnered him some of his acclaim. This Newsweek article proclaimed the book as a “self-published gem is an adult's version of Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"--a pocket-size guide to finding your way in life.” BusinessWeek also hailed him as one of the “Champions In Innovation” in 2006. On a more personal level this blog post describes him as having the ability to "suck the air out of the largest room”.

Some of the companies that have benefited from his expertise include The National Hockey League, Nike, ESPN, Starbucks, The Walt Disney Company, Mattel, Hasbro, Paramount Television, Procter & Gamble, The Discovery Channel, Capital One, and HSBC Bank.

As previously mentioned Kevin Carroll is author of Rules of the Red Rubber Ball: Find and Sustain Your Life's Work, What's Your Red Rubber Ball?!, and The Red Rubber Ball at Work: Elevate Your Game Through the Hidden Power of Play. He also maintains a blog for Katalyst Consultancy. For a preview of Mr. Carroll enjoy the video below. We invite you to come see Kevin Carroll at NACCM as he presents on Monday, November 17th, Rediscovering Play: Bringing fun and passion to your work. . . and life. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

I’m So Excited

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

Ever had a song playing in your head? “I’m so excited; I think I like it….” Okay, I know, I’m dating myself. But I have to admit the sound of that song has been in my head since I got off the phone with Amanda Powers who is the conference director for this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management.

She spent an hour with me on the phone walking me through the agenda – they’ve made major changes – based on feedback from attendees, of course, and the conference – the 6^th annual – looks like it could be the best ever. They’ve expanded on things people wanted more of and cut back on things people thought there was too much of, and it’s shaping up really nicely. It’s finally in a new location – Anaheim California.

I’m not only excited because the conference looks good. I’m excited because I’m the chairperson and get an opportunity to be involved at a whole new level. I don’t know why they picked me, but I am sure glad they did. I’m doing a workshop AND getting the honor of introducing the keynoters. I can’t wait until November to get involved, so I’m starting this week to discover more about the topics, the speakers, and Disneyland (where we are going to get a change to “swarm” the magic kingdom.)

Yeah, I like it. I can’t wait to meet Kevin Carroll the Author of Rules of The Red Rubber Ball whose keynote is titled “Rediscovering Play: Bringing Fun and Passion to Your Work and Your Life. “

Kevin – I am so ready.

You can expect that over the next few months I’ll be sharpening my blogging skills (it’s about time isn’t it?) and spreading the excitement of the conference every chance I get. And you can be sure that I’ll be first on line to hear the Rob Maruster, the Senior VP of JetBlue Airways speak on “Bring Humanity Back to Air Travel.” Yoo-hoo Rob, can we talk?

Check it out http://www.iirusa.com/naccm/event-home.xml

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Speaker Profile: Keith Ferrazzi

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Keith Ferrazzi. Keith Ferrazzi is currently the CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, and author of “Never Eat Alone: And other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time”.

Keith Ferrazzi received his bachelors degree from Yale, and his MBA from Harvard. Since then he has been given many accolades for his formula on success through relationships. Forbes and Inc. magazines have both nominated him as one of the worlds most “connected” people. One of his achievements include, being the youngest chief marketing officer in the Fortune 500, which led to a Stanford Business School case study regarding his success.

Recently Keith Ferrazzi was interviewed by this blog. When asked about his popular presentation, he stated that “Relationship for revenue growth he mentioned that “It’s the power of relationships that can help you grow your company’s success – whether by connecting with new markets, developing new products, or increasing productivity. Having great products isn’t enough anymore on its own. You also need the ability to bring unique value to the relationships you have with your clients, beyond the business transaction.”

As previously mentioned Keith Ferrazzi is author of “Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time”. He also maintains a blog that is a discussion forum regarding his philosophies. To learn more about him, visit his website, or his company website Ferrazzi Greenlight. For another preview on Mr. Ferrazzi enjoy the video below. Also stay tuned for an exclusive webinar by him coming in September. We invite you to come see Keith Ferrazzi at NACCM as he presents on Tuesday, November 18th, Relationships for Revenue Growth. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

Speaker Profile: JoAnna Brandi

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to begin to introduce you to the speakers we will have this year at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to JoAnna Brandi. JoAnna Brandi is currently the CEO & Publisher for Customer Care Coach.

JoAnna Brandi started her career with CPM Media, where she was responsible for helping to create a multi-million dollar Direct Market Services profit center, building the first database, and on-line customer care system. After leaving CPM in 1990, she opened her own business which has successfully built on the principles that she had learned. Some of the main insights that JoAnna shares through a bi-weekly online magazine “Customer Care Tip”, which she authors, are on the topics of positive psychology in business.

She has written three books: “Winning at Customer Retention, 101 Ways to Keep 'em Happy, Keep 'em Loyal, and Keep 'em Coming Back”, “Building Customer Loyalty – 21 Essential Elements in ACTION”, and “54 Ways to Stay Positive in a Changing, Challenging and Sometimes Negative World”. In addition she was a contributing author to “Inc. Guide to Superior Customer Service”, and “Best Practices in Customer Service”.

To learn more about JoAnna Brandi visit her blog and read more of her musings. Meanwhile click on this link to see a video found her company website depicting her in action. We invite you to come see JoAnna Brandi at NACCM as she presents her workshop on Sunday, November 16th, The Positive Leader. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

Speaker Profile: Joe Torre

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to begin to introduce you to the speakers we will have this year at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Joe Torre. Joe Torre is currently the manager of the LA Dodgers, and is also one of the winningest coaches in baseball history.

Joe knows the importance of managing people. Torre began his baseball career in 1960 as an amateur free agent with the Boston Braves. His 1971 National League MVP award is overshadowed by the remarkable time he spent with the New York Yankees, going to twelve consecutive post seasons with them, winning his first championship in 1996. The team also won seven World Series and ten pennants during his time. Torre won the manager of the year award in 1998 for his outstanding season with the Yankees.

Torre has created the Safe at Home Foundation in 2002 with his wife, their goal being to educating to end the cycle of domestic violence and save lives. The foundation now focuses on educating children in school about domestic violence. The organization has ten funded programs; all called Margaret’s Place throughout New York City and Westchester County in New York State.

Joe has co-authored two books: Chasing My Dream: My Lifelong Journey to the World Series and Joe Torre’s Ground Rules for Winners: Twelve Keys to Managing Team Players.

Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It's about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result.

Joe Torre contributed this quote to an article he wrote for Business Week. He also insists that as a member of any competitive team, whether it be baseball or your customer service division, you must be ready to play at all times. We invite you to come see Joe Torre at NACCM as he presents his keynote speech on Tuesday, November 18^th, Ground rules for winners: Effectively managing teams, setbacks and success both in business and in life.

(Sources: Business Life, Business Week, LA Times, Safe at Home Foundation, and Sports Business News)