“When is John going to get me that report?”

“What is going on in marketing? When are they going to finish that project?”

“I can’t believe Mary is so late in making those phone calls.”

“Okay…who dropped the ball this time?”

“Hey…that’s not MY job.”

Does this sound familiar? If so, your team and company may be faced with a very big challenge with accountability, which results in finger pointing, frustration and broken trust. Personal responsibility and accountability can put an end to the blame game, saving your company thousands if not millions of dollars by increasing productivity, customer service and job satisfaction. This article offers leaders five basic approaches to increasing accountability, which are simple, yet they require actually building a culture of accountability or even going so far to adopting accountability as one of the core values of your company.

Communicate the big picture- Accountability stands a better chance of succeeding if everyone in your company embraces a larger responsibility for the success of the entire organization. Spend time talking individually with team members about how his or her project affects the vision and mission of the company. With this communication, people can make wiser decisions from the context of the “big picture” rather than from the perspective of what may seem to be a detailed and boring task.

State clear expectations- If one person on the team does not meet your expectations, the entire team can fail. It is important from the very beginning of any new project to state the expectations clearly and repeat them over and over again until your team really “gets it.” These expectations need to be crystal clear, including dates, who is responsible for what, the details of the task and how you want the finished product delivered. If your expectations are fuzzy or confusing in any way, your team can break down, and the fine and very important details can fall through the cracks.

Accountability work groups- One of the best ways to achieve accountability is to develop shared accountability among team members. Accountability within the team can be accomplished by what Morris R. Shechtman calls “accountability groups,” groups which give team members the permission to speak and listen in a way which is frank and open. This accountability group can then serve as a small unit of people working together to confide in with struggles, weaknesses and insecurities and they relate to the goals and growth the team intends to achieve.

Move to action- In order for accountability to work, people have to know that failure of completion will come with certain consequences, including written warnings, loss of a bonus or extra hours served on a week-end to complete the project on the table. Without consequences, your employees won’t take you seriously. They will think that

Reward and recognition program- Employees need to know in a tangible way their efforts are indeed driving the company forward, and it is important for them to share in the fruits of their hard work. The offer of increased pay and benefits (vacations, time off and other perks) can keep accountability and morale high and can motivate employees to continue to strive for high levels of performance.

About the Author
Bea Fields is an Executive Coach and the President of Five Star Leader Coaching and Training. She is a Consultant, Trainer, Public Speaker and author of the Five Star Leader e-course. Along with Mitch Meyerson, Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coach, she is the co-leader of the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification program. She is the Visionary for the Teleclass Leaders Learning Program and the Personal Environments Learning Program for CoachVille, LLC.

“When is John going to get me that report?”

“What is going on in marketing? When are they going to finish that project?”

“I can’t believe Mary is so late in making those phone calls.”

“Okay…who dropped the ball this time?”

“Hey…that’s not MY job.”

Does this sound familiar? If so, your team and company may be faced with a very big challenge with accountability, which results in finger pointing, frustration and broken trust. Personal responsibility and accountability can put an end to the blame game, saving your company thousands if not millions of dollars by increasing productivity, customer service and job satisfaction. This article offers leaders five basic approaches to increasing accountability, which are simple, yet they require actually building a culture of accountability or even going so far to adopting accountability as one of the core values of your company.

Communicate the big picture- Accountability stands a better chance of succeeding if everyone in your company embraces a larger responsibility for the success of the entire organization. Spend time talking individually with team members about how his or her project affects the vision and mission of the company. With this communication, people can make wiser decisions from the context of the “big picture” rather than from the perspective of what may seem to be a detailed and boring task.

State clear expectations- If one person on the team does not meet your expectations, the entire team can fail. It is important from the very beginning of any new project to state the expectations clearly and repeat them over and over again until your team really “gets it.” These expectations need to be crystal clear, including dates, who is responsible for what, the details of the task and how you want the finished product delivered. If your expectations are fuzzy or confusing in any way, your team can break down, and the fine and very important details can fall through the cracks.

Accountability work groups- One of the best ways to achieve accountability is to develop shared accountability among team members. Accountability within the team can be accomplished by what Morris R. Shechtman calls “accountability groups,” groups which give team members the permission to speak and listen in a way which is frank and open. This accountability group can then serve as a small unit of people working together to confide in with struggles, weaknesses and insecurities and they relate to the goals and growth the team intends to achieve.

Move to action- In order for accountability to work, people have to know that failure of completion will come with certain consequences, including written warnings, loss of a bonus or extra hours served on a week-end to complete the project on the table. Without consequences, your employees won’t take you seriously. They will think that

Reward and recognition program- Employees need to know in a tangible way their efforts are indeed driving the company forward, and it is important for them to share in the fruits of their hard work. The offer of increased pay and benefits (vacations, time off and other perks) can keep accountability and morale high and can motivate employees to continue to strive for high levels of performance.

About the Author
Bea Fields is an Executive Coach and the President of Five Star Leader Coaching and Training. She is a Consultant, Trainer, Public Speaker and author of the Five Star Leader e-course. Along with Mitch Meyerson, Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coach, she is the co-leader of the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification program. She is the Visionary for the Teleclass Leaders Learning Program and the Personal Environments Learning Program for CoachVille, LLC.

I just have to laugh at some of the mistakes that are made like this.

It’s one thing to make the money, it’s another thing to ask for the money back. Personally, my thought process is this: If I make the mistake, then I eat the cost.

I would limit future non-Italian families from getting the “bonus” but I would not make those that claimed it pay it back. Not good business in my opinion, and running a country is just like running a business…worse actually. You are voted into office!

Just some food for thought!

Until next time…

Heather

There are many things in my business that I have thought up and run with only to find out that I
didn’t put enough thought into them and that they weren’t planned properly.  They didn’t go over
well because I was too excited to focus on their proper implementation.

I’ve also been subjected to the hype of new product launches and have fallen for the hype.  It’s
okay.  I know its good marketing when I get suckered into the marketing ploy; when I get to the end
of the sales letter and I’ve already got my credit card out and ready to pay.

However, in the past two months, there have been three product launches that I have really looked
forward to and when it came time to pay, they weren’t planned very well.  I’m a pretty easy going
person but here are a few things that happened and how I felt and reacted.

The first was a new membership site by someone whose advice I highly admire.  I think he’s a
brilliant man and I have learned a great deal from him.  In fact, I pay for his newsletter every
month.  So when he announced his new site, I was there within minutes, credit card in hand ready to
get in. 

I gave him my information (basically my credit card information and my name) and then I was taken
to a login page.  They never asked me to create a user name and password and I had no way to get
in.  I wanted it.  They sold me.  I wanted the information and I wanted it right then and there.
It took me two days to finally get the information.  I was so frustrated by then that I canceled my
membership and asked for my money back.

A few weeks later I learned of a new product that was coming to the market.  I was hooked by the
sales letter, the hype, the follow up emails, the sneak peeks; oh I was all over it.  I was on the
site, counting down to 10am with my credit card in hand.  At 10am, nothing happened.  There was no
where for me to pay.  I finally got in at 10:30am and what was promised to me (the bonuses,
primarily) weren’t there.  A slew of emails came from the owner with incorrect links to get bonuses
and to log in and I was frustrated.  I cancelled my account shortly there after.

And then this last time just a few weeks ago.  I was offered a “pre-launch membership fee” and that
the site would go live in just 3 days, March 15th.  It’s been pushed back 4 times now, there have
been many other emails pushing other people’s products and there is nothing in the membership area.
 Today, I get an email stating that she is pushing it back to the 31st.  She wasn’t ready, and to
be quite honest, I’m not impressed with it at all.  I’ve cancelled that membership as well.

My point is this.  Hype is wonderful.  Get people excited about what you have to offer, but make
sure that you deliver.  If you’re going to launch a product or service, make sure that the site is
ready to go and all the major kinks worked out.  Check your payment processor, your gateway and
that all your links on the inside are correct.  It’s okay to have a glitch or two; it wouldn’t be a
true launch if there wasn’t something, but make sure all the major issues are resolved.
Until next time…

Heather

I was telling my friend Jackie about my experiences Friday night with the waiter. This spawned another conversation where she asks me if I�ve ever had any experiences with the Deli lady at Kroger.

As soon as she mentioned the Deli Lady I knew exactly who she was talking about.

But Jackie proceeded to tell me about how she went to the Deli Saturday morning and it wasn�t crowded and she wanted a half a pound of white American cheese.

Jackie tells me �I�m a good deli counter customer. I know exactly what I want and I don�t stand there and order a quarter pound of everything under the sun.� I had to laugh at that one.

Deli Lady looks at her and says, �I�ll have to open a new pack.�

Now tell me�why is that response needed? Who cares if you have to open a new pack? The customer wants a half a pound of White American cheese. She doesn�t need to know anything about the process of getting that cheese.

Jackie said she thought that she needed to respond, but wasn�t sure how. So she simply said, �okay.�

So we got to talking about how people who don�t like people should work where they don�t need to deal with people. We decided that Deli Lady should work in rotisserie chicken because then she wouldn�t have to deal with people.

We really like Deli Man. He�s friendly and talks to you while he�s slicing your meats and cheeses and really makes the trip to the deli counter enjoyable.

Jackie was also telling me about a man that she works with. When they go into Kroger they hit the Deli first. If Deli Lady is working (regardless of how many people are actually at the Deli counter) the husband can stand at the counter while the wife goes and does all the other shopping. Can you believe this?

Personally, going to the grocery store is not my favorite thing in the world to do. But it�s not so bad when I�ve got nice people to deal with.

I think I�m going to drop a little note to the manager over there and tell him how much I like Deli Man. I won�t mention Deli Lady by name, but I�ll let him know there are some others that don�t make my deli experience so enjoyable.

I�m off my customer service soap box now�

Until next time�

Heather

Please, I beg you. Just don’t do it. You’re not doing anyone any favors. Really. And when it comes down to it, you’re not going to make any money either.

Let me tell you what happened to spur this post.

My friends and I frequent a local Mexican restaurant. We love it. We go all the time. In fact, when Becki Noles of Virtual Accuracy came to visit for the weekend, I took her there. They have the best Mexican food in town.

Not only do they have the best Mexican food in town, they also have REALLY good customer service. I always enjoy myself when I go in there. The waiters joke around. My friends and I are decent with out Spanish so we can have small conversations in Spanish and we have fun.

So when my best friend called me Friday night and said she was going there I jumped at the chance. (Ok, I’ll be honest…I got rid of the household for the weekend and the dinner I was planning consisted of Cheese Nips and a Diet Dr. Pepper at my desk followed by a bowl of ice cream.)

We waited for a table, were seated and sat there forever waiting for someone, anyone to come and take our order.

Fernando finally came over and said “What do you want?” I’m not kidding. That’s a direct quote.

After our initial shock of how we were addressed off the bat we ordered our drinks. (We’re talking Mr. Pibb, Diet Coke, and a Coke here). About 5 minutes later he comes back with three drinks. He holds them up to the light, obviously trying to figure out what was what. It didn’t work and we played musical drinks for awhile.

He finally took our food order and never once smiled. We started watching him with his other tables. The only time this man smiled was when he dropped off the check.

We sat her son’s empty glass on the end of the table. Fernando walked past it three times before we finally flagged him down to refill it. When he brought it back he sat it at the end of the table where we had left it and kept on walking.

Needless to say, I’m getting frustrated by this point.

Out comes our food. He didn’t deliver it and when he checked on us to see how everything was my plate was empty. He left it sitting there.

Now, I’m not one to call a manager over. I don’t like the confrontation and I’d rather just stew to myself. That’s why I bring Sondra with me. She doesn’t stand for that and I’m just waiting for her to say something to the manager. But she doesn’t.

He brings the check. He smiles…imagine that. Now he wants our money. I notice that he didn’t charge us for our drinks. I pull out my credit card and Sondra puts $15 on the table. When he comes back he asks how we’re paying. (Personally, I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re splitting the check and my credit card has my picture on it…but maybe that’s just me.)

I say “I’m paying for the enchiladas and she’s got the rest.”

He looks at me and says, “So I have to split the check?”

I say “Yes, I’m paying for the enchiladas with my card.”

And you will never guess what happened next. This man looked at me and said, “Well I didn’t add your drinks on here, so it’s going to be more.”

By this point in time, I’m fuming and I ask him why he didn’t add the drinks on the check before he brought it over the first time.

He looked at me and said “I was busy and didn’t have time.”

I LOST IT! “I don’t need excuses. Add the drinks to the check and I’m paying, with my card, for one diet Coke and the enchiladas”

He stormed off and I was out of my seat looking for the manager.

The manager was very apologetic and said that he had been watching him all night and saw the issues and that we weren’t the first to complain. He told us not to tip him and that if we were to come back and he was there to request another server.

He came back with out change and receipts after the manager left our table and threw them at us.

It was obvious that this man did not like people and working with people and I just can’t see how he can benefit from this profession.

So, please. If you don’t like people don’t work with them. There are TONS of jobs out there that you can do if you don’t like people. Pick one of them and do us all a favor.

Until next time…

Heather

Kelly McCausey of WAHM Talk Radio mentioned on her show that she was going to send people who advertised with her that year a complimentary copy of the WC. The cost out of her pocket? The small cost of shipping.

The other night I was surfing online and came across Dale and Thomas Popcorn. Because it’s October, and October is Popcorn month, they are offering free bags of popcorn (up to 6) and you pay the small price of shipping ($2.95 per bag.) Can I afford $3 to send my client a thank you gift? You bet I can! I wanted to find something unique to say as well and came up with “Just “poppin’” in to say thanks for you business.” Thanks to Becki and Dale Noles, we came up with an even better saying to relate to the popcorn.

My point is this. It doesn’t have to cost you and arm and a leg to provide superior customer service. The free bag of popcorn is going to mean just as much as an MP3 player I might have sent. The thank you goes a long way.

Dale and Thomas is offering their promotion until the end of Popcorn month, so if you’ve got clients that you’d like to send a gift to, for no reason at all, you can head over there and place your order.

I can’t wait for mine to come in the mail…it looks delicious!

Until next time…

Heather

This is reinforced on many occasions when I encounter an old co-worker, friend or acquaintance who reminds me of how I inspired them, gave them guidance or helped them through a difficult time. These kinds of experiences always motivate me to keep putting good things out into the world.

We never know in advance what good may come from the gestures we put out there. Maybe it will inspire, encourage, educate, motivate or actually change someone�s life. In any event, people will always come away knowing that they matter to you.

In business, as in life, it all comes down to people. People are your customers, co-workers, employees, leaders, managers, investors and vendors. Success in your business depends on the people you encounter. How you treat those people will have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Here are some ways to help people in your business and show them that they matter:

1. Deliver incredible customer service.
2. Give a single parent the afternoon off.
3. Pay someone more than you need to.
4. Send a hand-written note to an employee acknowledging a job well done.
5. Loan a subordinate a book that you�ve found to be helpful.
6. Tell someone struggling �I want to help you succeed,� and mean it.
7. Stop by and talk, without an agenda.
8. Share a resource that you�ve found useful.
9. Create a safe space for openness and honesty.
10. Let people tell you how they feel, and listen without interrupting.

I encourage you to think about the people that you impact, the lives that you touch and the positive changes that you can make. These are the true signs of leadership and in my opinion are more important than the money that you make, the position that you hold or the size of your office.

You can do good while you�re doing well. It may require you to think of new ways to do it, but when you focus on helping others, you�ll succeed in ways beyond measure.

About The Author:
Dave Lindbeck, Business and Career Strategist
- Founder, InStep Coaching - Success strategies for professionals in Financial Services, Real Estate and Technology
- Learn more @ http://www.instepcoaching.com Subscribe to his complimentary e-newsletter, @ http://www.instepcoaching.com/instep_journal.htm - P.O. Box 7221 Phoenix, Arizona 85011 (602) 277-5170

Now You Can Listen to This Post…

They say marketing has a bad name. But I maintain that NOT marketing has a much worse name. If you’re a self-employed professional service business owner interested in attracting new clients, are you still committing any of the 10 deadly sins listed below?

——————————————————————————–

10. Make sure nobody can really understand what business you’re in. Use buzz words and industry jargon. Never share the results of what you do or mention how you’ve helped your clients. Make people really work to figure out how you can help them.

9. Talk only about features and processes in your marketing materials. Don’t include any benefits or case studies of successful clients you’ve worked with. Throw in lots of impressive industry jargon and don’t worry about professional design or paper. Using 20# copy paper is fine.

8. Put up a quick-and-dirty website with most of the pages still under construction. Make sure to design it yourself and make it look as amateurish as possible. Of course, obscure navigation, huge graphics files and pages that lead nowhere will keep ‘em coming back.

7. Forget about spell check and proofreading. People don’t care about typos or if you spell their name wrong. Whip out every e-mail as fast as you possibly can. And never put a signature line on your email, let alone a subject line that means anything.

6. Don’t ever network. Make sure nobody ever gets to meet you in person and learn who you are and what you can do for them. And if you do happen to show up at a networking event, make sure to sit in a corner with a beer and lots of hors d’oeuvres, away from pesky prospective clients.

5. Don’t write any articles or do any talks demonstrating to the world that you’re an expert and really know your stuff. Make sure to keep all of that a big secret. Also never share one bit of your expertise with anyone unless they pay you first.

4. Don’t ask questions when meeting with a new prospective client. Just give them a long, detailed presentation on all the technical aspects of your work. If they don’t understand you, they probably wouldn’t be a good client anyway.

3. Do substandard work as long as you think you can get away with it. Strive for mediocrity and make sure your clients pay for it through the nose. Why should you work so hard when they end up making so much money from your expertise?

2. Don’t return phone calls - ever. Just wait for them to call you back. If they really need your assistance, they’ll keep trying until they catch you in. And when they do reach you, make sure to sound impatient and too busy to help them.

1. Disappear. Once you’ve completed a project, make sure they never hear from you again. Heck if they really need you, they’ll call. But don’t make it too easy by ever giving them your business card or putting your name in the yellow pages. You don’t want to look like you’re begging. Have some dignity, for goodness sake!

“By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert’s web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses.”

I’ve brought several customer service stories to you via my blog and whether I’ve persuaded you one way or another to shop or not shop at a particular place, I don’t know. But one man’s blog about his issues with Dell Customer Service has other’s not wanting to buy Dell computers. How’s that for power?

You can read the full article at Rick Segal’s The Post Money Value Blog. Interesting.

Until next time…

Heather