December 18, 2010

ONLY Workshop Richmond Country Club

BE DiFFERENT or be dead ONLY Workshop

“I really enjoyed the session and took away a number of nuggets. The part that appealed most to me was your approach of defining the value proposition in terms of the “only” which tips the normal convention of better/best/superior etc. on its ear.  Moving forward, I am now a firm believer in the concept and am committed to relentlessly seek out the ONLY!”—Boris Kluck, Toronto

Are you:
- Trying to create your competitive position in the market?
- Finding it difficult to avoid descriptions like “better” or “best” to declare your unique capabilities?
- Having difficulty explaining to people why they should do business with you and not someone else?
- Unable to answer the question “What makes your organization Different than your competitors?”
- Eager to grow your business and increase market share?

If you have answered “Yes” to these questions this Workshop is for you!

This half-day Workshop is based on the book Be Different or Be Dead, by local author Roy Osing. The seminar is presented by Soft Skills for Success and Brilliance for Business; the speaker will be Roy Osing himself. The Event Organizer and Emcee is Sandy Chernoff of Soft Skills for Success. The Host is The Richmond Country Club.

“Roy is an exceptional speaker who drills down to the core of what a business has to do in order to be sustainable into the future. His workshop will get you thinking to the beat of a different drummer.”—Jordan Stevens, London

Cost of the Workshop:
The fee for registration in this Workshop is only $69.00 plus applicable tax. Each attendee will receive a copy of Be Different or Be Dead, signed by Roy and a take-away Learning Guide. In addition each attendee will have the opportunity to work on The ONLY Statement for their organization and create a distinctive competitive position.
Date & Time: Monday, March 7, 2011, 8:30am -12:00pm.
Location: Richmond Country Club, 9100 Steveston Highway, Richmond, BC
Pre-Registration (mandatory) and all inquiries regarding the seminar:
Call: 604-290-5549, or email: roy.osing@telus.net    

“Roy’s workshop is THE ONLY session you need to attend, if you are looking to increase the effectiveness of your company’s brand in driving results. Roy’s message is powerfully simple in its focus and provides attendees with what is truly important in building their brand. Roy’s practical approach in using the group to craft and hone an only statement for each attendee provides true value in the form of tangible results!” - Phil Griffin, Toronto

Roy Osing - A leading senior executive in the Canadian Telecommunication industry and widely recognized Author, Speaker, Educator, Coach and Business Advisor, Roy Osing’s career spans over three decades of singular achievement.

Osing knows what it takes for businesses to survive in today’s chaotic times and achieve extraordinary levels of performance. As current president and CEO of the consulting firm Brilliance for Business, Osing brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the complex challenges businesses face in the contemporary global economy.

He is the Author of the groundbreaking book “BE DiFFERENT or be dead: Your Business Survival Guide”, now in its Second Edition, which teaches practical and proven ways for organizations to distinguish themselves from the competitive herd and thrive and survive the unforgiving challenges of a chaotic and highly unpredictable marketplace.

He is actively promoting his work through Workshop Events, Keynote Addresses and Media Exposure. In addition, Roy regularly publishes Blog Articles on his BE DiFFERENT Practices to help organizations better understand and implement his ideas.

For more information on Roy and his work please visit BE DiFFERENT or be dead

Sandy Chernoff - R.D.H., B. Sc.
Sandy has taught a variety of courses for Continuing Dental Education UBC, BCIT, Capilano University, University of the Fraser Valley, Dental Hygiene Study Clubs, BC Institute of Chartered Accountants, B.C. Certified General Accountants, Greater Vancouver Home Builder’s Association, Association of Professional Engineers and Geo-Scientists, Law Society of BC, several unions, numerous large law firms, businesses, and professional and volunteer organizations. 

Since 1995, Sandy has presented Soft Skills Training Seminars to audiences across Canada and in the US.

Her energetic, humorous, and interactive presentation style provides her sessions with variety and pace making the atmosphere most conducive to retentive learning.

Her company, Soft Skills for Success, offers the only personal and professional training experience of specifically customized sessions delivered in a fun-filled, interactive, and informative format which guarantees retentive learning.
For more information please visit: Soft Skills for Success

Richmond Country Club - From the moment you enter the driveway of the Richmond Country Club (RCC), you’ll begin to experience our commitment to providing excellence in everything we do. We are the ONLY true exclusive private family country club in the region.
Whether you’re a business professional or a family looking for a full service recreation location, RCC is your home away from home. With private country club traditions for more than 50 years, you and your family can cherish memories for years to come.
Currently the Club is accepting new member applications and we invite you to consider all we have to offer within our three very unique membership categories.
For membership information, please contact Lisa Wood, Marketing Director at 604-241-3703 or lwood@richmond-cc.org. Also visit RCC website Richmond Country Club for additional information on the Club and its facilities.

Posted 12.18.10 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 16, 2010

DEAD or ALIVE ... How Would You Rate Your Customer Service?

The Customer Charter of Rights, The Things They Don’t Teach Business Students, Competencies to Covet: The Full Meal Deal

Lets describe DEAD Service first since it unfortunately applies to more organizations than it should. If you recognize a significant number of these attributes you had better take a step back and re-invent yourself. The consequences of not doing so will be disastrous…
DEAD Service....
> Rules, policies and procedures are created to serve the organization’s purposes. They are put in place as control mechanisms to satisfy the auditors. They have the intended impact of keeping the customer at a distance. An arms-length relationship with the customer is the result.
> Frontline responsibilities center around enforcing the rules of the organization in terms of customer engagement.
> Leadership is in the “command and control” mode. Frontline empowerment is restricted.
> There is little or no flexibility for people to deviate from established procedures. Those who do so are punished in some way or another.
> Short term results are stressed. There is little time to build sustaining relationships with customers.
> Efficiency is the focus in customer contact operations. Call Centers are measured on the length of time they are on the phone with a customer. Emphasis is on dealing with as many customers as you can within a given time-frame. Quantity trumps quality.
> Call Centers are outsourced based on economics. Service is driven by the need to reduce costs to the lowest possible level.
> No loyalty programs are contained in the marketing strategy.
> Customers are viewed as transactions where the only thing that is important is the money exchanged.
> Customers don’t have personal identity. The organization considers mass markets to drive their activity.
> Telemarketing is used extensively and products are flogged to people without regard for the interruptions and inconvenience caused them.
> Customer Moments are impersonal. The “Machine” doesn’t recognize them as individuals. They are account numbers who are expected to pay their bills on time or else.

ALIVE Service, on the other hand, is characterized by words like responsive, caring, happiness, open, respectful, trust, relationships, remarkable, dazzling and seving. Lets take a closer look…
ALIVE Service...
> The organization has a culture of caring for it’s people and this transcends to how customers are dealt with.
> Leadership believes that their primary role is to serve their employees; to make it easy for them to do their job. They believe that if the Frontline is served well from within the customer will be served in the same manner.
> Internal rules, policies and procedures are created in the image of creating memorable service experiences for the customer. Good business practices are of course applied but the organization is flexible enough to restrict the mandatory controls to the necessary minimum.
> Frontline employees are empowered to bend the rules in order to say yes to a customer. The service strategy in play is to find a way to do what the customer wants and not enforce rigid rules.
> Service Heroes are recognized constantly, reinforcing the importance of the serving ethic.
> Humanity is built in to service operations. Leadership understands that mind-blowing service is delivered by people not machines. Hi-Touch rallies over Hi-Tech.
> Call centers are not outsourced; they are considered a core competency of providing dazzling service.
> The quality of the customer contact is considered the primary objective. Each Moment of Truth is engineered to produce an emotion-rich experience for the customer.
> Quality of service measurement is based on the customer’s perception of how they were served. Internal operational statistics are used only to diagnose a customer perceived problem.
> The organization gives Gifts to their loyal customers as a “thank You” for their continued patronage.
> The recruitment process is geared to finding people who love humans. The belief is that they can learn the business but are borne with the Gift of Serving.
> The organization heavily invests in service believing in long term results rather than emphasis on the short term.
> Social media tools are extensively used to connect with and learn from their tribe.
> The organization is open to feedback and criticism; they use it to improve how they serve customers.
> Marketing is focussed on the individual and creates VALUE-EXPERIENCE based Offers for them. They don’t flog products.

There you go. Profiles of DEAD and ALIVE Service. Which characterizes your organization?

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Posted 12.16.10 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 13, 2010

The Customer Charter of Rights

Far too often we state what we as an organization intend to do for our customers. It’s about time we created a list of things that we, as customers, expect of those that we do business with. Read on and tell me if what I as the customer expects is unreasonable or unrealistic…

I, your customer, have the right to…
> be respected by every employee I connect with.
> feel important as the person who keeps you in business.
> be listened to; no I mean REALLY listened to!
> be the center of attention rather than an annoyance who takes you away from your “real job”.
> guide you in the formulation of your internal rules, policies and procedures.
> determine the appropriate systems and processes by which I do business with you. I expect you to make it easy for me to do business with you.
> have a voice in who you recruit into positions that govern Service Experience Moments. I expect you will present to me people who love humans and who will move heaven and earth to take care of me.
> personalized marketing offerings that recognize my own personal needs, wants and desires.
> NOT be on the receiving end of product flogging. I expect you will create offers that expose me to new experiences that will make me happy and joyful.
> afforded the opportunity of giving you honest yet at times critical feedback on how I am being treated, knowing you will take my comments and make my life with you better.
> NOT be ignored no matter how simple and trivial my request of you might be.
> dazzling service experiences. I expect you to SURPRISE me with Gifts that you give freely with no expectation in return.
> feel the humanity in your organization. I don’t want to constantly confront technology that replaces people. I despise voice response systems and call centers that require me to wait up to 30 minutes for one of your people to answer while I listen to you tell me “Don’t hang up. Your call is important to us”.
> a deep meaningful relationship with you rather than being viewed as a commercial transaction where all that is important is the money exchange from me to you.
> be rewarded for my loyalty to you. I expect Gifts on occasion (not constantly) that recognizes how important I am to you.
> be communicated with regularly in terms of what new things you have that may meet my needs and my feedback on how well you have been treating me.

Seriously, is that too much to ask in a world of fierce competition, plummeting customer loyalty and tenuous organizational survivability? I think not….

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter

Recent Articles
The Things They Don’t Teach Business Students
Competencies to Covet: The Full Meal Deal
BE DiFFERENT YOU! How to Win
BE DiFFERENT YOU! Dissect your Competition
Roy’s Rule of Three

Posted 12.13.10 at 05:59 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 11, 2010

Remarkable Organizations = BE DiFFERENT People

You can’t build and successfully execute a BE DiFFERENT strategy for the organization if the people in the organization are living a ‘be same’ ethic; if they are not serving the organization in a BE DiFFERENT personal way. You simply cannot execute your responsibilities in a manner similar to the masses and expect to develop unique brilliant insights and ideas that will lift your organization to lofty levels of performance and guarantee its survival. It just won’t happen. Organizations need people who think differently; who try new things, make mistakes and then land on ideas that drive success.
The herd mentality guarantees mediocrity; brilliance demands BE DiFFERENT.

This is clearly a critical challenge for the human resources function of any organization, be it a large team charged with the people management responsibility, or the owner/operator of a small business. Go find BE DiFFERENT people who have the innate and demonstrated capability to lead, or be a member of a team of people engaged on this challenging journey of change.

Can you train people to BE DiFFERENT? Certainly you can provide the necessary knowledge, management skills and intellectual competencies that relate to the content of the job. This dimension of personal development relates to the basics that a person is expected to have. They are expected to be fluent in economic theory, for example, if they are in a Finance position; in sales they are expected to b able to demonstrate basic account management and sales skills. This level of development, however, does not define a Change Leader.

Change Leaders possess both the basic competencies of the job they are in PLUS the natural bent for loving change and promulgating it throughout the organization. You can’t train someone to love change and be a driver of it unless they have this characteristic embedded in their psyche. You either have to go externally and find these types of people OR you have to be able to spot them in your organization and use them as key resources to help facilitate change.

Train people to be Change Managers; recruit or spot them as Change Leaders

Cheers,
Roy

Recent Articles
Twenty HUGE Things Not Taught in Business School
Competencies to Covet: The Full Meal Deal
BE DiFFERENT YOU! How to Win
BE DiFFERENT YOU! Dissect your Competition

Posted 12.11.10 at 05:52 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)