Richard’s Dream Career

Well, here is a test. tell me if you experience the same thing. I have my CV (Resume) on the job boards like jobing, careerbuilder, and Monster; I have a Linkedin account; I have a talentzoo account and still the only jobs that are forwarded to me or employers who contact me are offering mortgage, insurance and other sales type positions, for which I have no interest.

Everyone has that DREAM JOB firmly implanted in their brain. The one that all of the self help  and motivational gurus tell you is the one that you would do for free if possible. They then suggest to find a way to do THAT job and you will have happiness yada yada yada…

Well, my dream job is to be in show business, whether playing my guitar, singing, or acting. I have always been comfortable performing in front of a camera or crowds. Hollywood actually did call me, but it was a wrong number. Nonetheless, as we grow older and our dreams get sidetracked by life choices and reality, our dream Job  is substituted by what will pay the bills or support the family and you do what ever it takes to keep a roof over your head and make sure the kids have what they need until that elusive dream job becomes a distant memory as we sit in our cubicle waiting for Morphius to give us the blue pill so we can wake from our slumber. Even if you made all of the “correct” choices; you went to college, you earned an MBA, you have community service and leadership and management experience; you put in the 60 hour work weeks, yet that executive position still eludes you.

All I have to say is “Life isn’t Fair” Get over it!

It doesn’t have to be like this! Stop focussing on that singular aspect of your life. We are not defined by our career or the perceptions of others. Warning! Cliche ahead - Happiness is not a destination but a journey- and it comes and goes, and does not have to be tied to a specific career or event.

So What if you hate your job! Most of us do. We do these jobs anyway because we have responsibilities, and people count on us.

After reading several motivational and get rich books, the one thing they have in common is they never provide the road map or detailed information. So if you tie your happiness solely to material wealth, then write a motivational/get rich book. It will no doubt fly off the shelves like all of the other get rich books.

If, however, you are ready for a different answer then keep reading.

Find joy in other aspects of your life, whether in Church, volunteering, family, friends, hobbies, etc. Life is so much more than the career that we choose or the one that chose us.

So, until I land that great job that is within 15min drive from my home in Surprise AZ, where I am in a leadership position, sitting in a big office with a great view of the White Tank Mountains making big deals like Donald Trump and earning a six figure income, I can find joy in Church, volunteering, family, friends, hobbies, and growing confidence that Jesus is helping me every day.

Meet Dan Harkins, CEO of Harkins Theatres!

Please join me for a private reception prior to the annual American Marketing Association’s Spectrum Awards at the Phoenix Art Museum. Meet Dan Harkins, CEO of Harkins Theatres and Spectrum keynote speaker, the Aquent team, and the American Marketing Association board of directors. This will also be a great opportunity to network with your marketing peers! Date: Wednesday, May 21 Time: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Location: Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004 McDowell Road & Central Avenue RSVP for the Aquent VIP Reception Please respond by Monday, May 19 to: Evelyn Vega (480) 829-8760 evega@aquent.com If you would like to attend the annual American Marketing Association’s Spectrum Awards you will need to register separately.

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About Aquent: For more than 20 years, Aquent has led the way in transforming how companies find and utilize marketing and creative talent to execute their brand strategies. Aquent’s pioneering approach to staffing and services has helped thousands of companies - including two-thirds of the Fortune 500 and 90 of the Fortune 100 - build their internal marketing and communication capabilities. Last year, we placed over 11,000 Aquent talent at more than 3,000 companies. Aquent, online at www.aquent.com, is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Personalized Marketing using Cross-Media & Multi-Channel Campaigns

According to a recent DMA study, one out of three direct mail recipients prefers to respond online.

Guest Speaker - Joe Manos, Executive Vice-President, MindFire Inc. Will share his expertise in what are effective marketers doing? With the growth of the Web, many Internet applications have started to replace traditional print due to their immediacy, cost-effectiveness, and tracking abilities but many marketers are using variable data print and personalized URLs as complements, reinforcing one another’s strengths and creating a marketing combination more powerful than either medium used alone. By adding personalized URLs to direct mail pieces, one can track the respondent’s activity and continue to tailor the information based on his behavior. This information can also be used to further customize future print and Internet communications. This type of application is quickly gaining popularity among marketers.

Attendees will learn:

1. About new marketing dynamics in direct marketing
2. Why traditional marketing approaches don’t deliver the results we need
3. How ROI and results measurement is possible
4. About examples of cross-media and multi-channel campaigns in case studies

About Joe Manos

Joseph Manos, Executive Vice President of MindFireInc has 25 years of executive management experience leading companies providing integrated business solutions to the Graphic Arts community, as well as Corporate Enterprise Clients. He has spent his career building successful, growing companies including start-up, turn-around and the growth of struggling operations. For the last 7 years he has been responsible for the successful launch and growth of companies providing integrated solutions (ASP and stand alone apps) to the Graphic Arts industry.

Prior to joining MindFireInc, Mr. Manos was Senior Vice President of Printable Technologies, an industry-leading provider of web-based, integrated solutions to the graphic arts and printing industry. During his 4+ years at Printable he led the company into new markets and significant growth of the customer base and services.

At printChannel, a provider of B2B, web-based services to the graphic arts and printing industry, Manos launched and managed the sales organization resulting in unparalleled growth over an eighteen-month period. The company was later sold to PrintCafe. Prior to that, Manos spent 10 years with IKON Office Solutions, holding numerous executive posts, culminating his career as Marketplace President of one of their most profitable operations.

In his previous career positions, Manos held a number of senior management positions with leading industry technology companies. Joe has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento and completed the AMA Executive Management Program.

About MindFireInc
Founded in 1999, MindFireInc is a privately held company with offices in California and Asia-Pacific. Its flagship product, LookWho’sClicking, is a Web-based application suite that automates the creation, management and tracking of personalized URLs and VIP landing pages. The company delivers LookWho’sClicking through a network of solution partners, typically print service providers, agencies and consultants. See www.mindfireinc.com

Where:

Pulliam Room (Executive Board Room), 10^th Floor

The Arizona Republic, 200 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Complimentary Parking in the Employee Garage is included

When:

Thursday June 19^th, 3-5 pm

Register for this event and others at the AMA Website

Service Excellence: 7 steps to stand out.

In the business world, good customer service often isn’t good enough anymore.

Customers and clients are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the merely adequate. For them, extraordinary service is the rule, not the exception. Anything less, and they’re happy to vote with their feet and their wallets.

That makes extraordinary service necessary, not just desirable. And that, in turn, mandates a strategy to help ensure that your business matches that standout service standard on a daily basis.

Here are seven ideas and tips to help your business establish and maintain an ongoing climate of service excellence.

1. Define what extraordinary really means. It’s an easy term to toss about, but knowing what exceptional service entails is essential to establishing the procedures and the mindset with which to achieve it. So, delineate what extraordinary means — is it lower price? Keeping appointments on time or making certain that telephone service reps always say “please” and “thank you”? By knowing precisely what is merely good enough — and what takes your business beyond that — you get a firm handle on what you need to do to hit that goal on a consistent basis. For 1-800-Got-Junk? that means calling a customer to let them know that the van they’re expecting is going to arrive on time.”We pledge to arrive on time, in a clean shiny truck, with two friendly uniformed drivers — but so can anyone. What makes us unique is our truck crew will call the customer 15 minutes ahead of time, and let them know we’re on time,” says Christopher Bennett of the Vancouver, B.C., junk removal service. “This has a huge impact on the customer. Calling ahead sets exceptional expectations — even if we’re running late, the customer appreciates the call in advance.”

2. Ask if you’re not sure. Many companies may find it understandably difficult to genuinely pinpoint what extraordinary service really entails. So, do some legwork. Conduct focus groups with customers to see what they really value (and don’t lead the group to answer the way you want). Identify topics that are frequent targets of dissatisfaction. Often, you may find extraordinary translates to a holistic grouping of issues, not just one product or service. “Often, being extraordinary means offering someone a truly exceptional experience,” says Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of “The Power of Appreciation in Business.” “The quality of something may be good, but it’s the overall experience that will really define customer loyalty.”

3. Allow your people to be extraordinary. Saying you want extraordinary service and actually carrying it out is a tough nut without the necessary authority. One of the biggest challenges of providing a consistently top-drawer performance is shifting conditions — what’s appropriate for one customer may not work with another. For instance, one customer may be so dissatisfied that a partial refund may be in order. By contrast, other customers who are a bit less peeved may be happy with a problem solved without any sort of refund. So, allow employees reasonable freedom of choice to read a situation and react accordingly. For instance, Nelson suggests giving employees a budgetary allotment which they can use, as needed, to address refunds or other unexpected costs associated with giving customers the benefit of the doubt. To illustrate: Southwest Airlines gives its telephone customer service reps the authority to OK refunds if a caller claims they didn’t get the airfare they wanted. (The reps charge their own credit cards, then later get reimbursed.)

The Ritz Carlton Hotels also do this. Each employ is given a daily budget to create a WOW Experience or for Service Recovery.

4. Share information. If you run a retail business, business management tools can be invaluable in tracking critical data, such as what items and services are selling particularly well. If you have that data, don’t keep it a secret. Sharing the information with your employees lets them know what’s hitting on all cylinders. It also helps them promote these products or services to customers. “Sharing information with others is a really positive step,” says Nelson. In other words, don’t keep critical customer information close to the vest. That holds true with businesses other than retail.

Every company has the critical issue of Intellectual Knowledge and how it is shared across the organization or lost as people leave and take that valuable information with them. Create and implement a succession program so that valuable information is not lost, and there is someone ready to step in immediately as openings occur.

5. Share the commitment. Nothing can prove more destructive to a commitment to extraordinary service than management for whom the concept is little more than lip service. Walk the walk by buying into that commitment just as much as you hope your people will. Make sure you reward top performance. Invest the time and expense in any sort of training that may help employees carry out and maintain high performance standards. Don’t forget yourself and others in the front office. “Make sure that training takes in everyone, not just sales, marketing and other front line employees,” says Karen Leland, author of “Customer Service for Dummies.” “Training and Re-Training is an important part of creating a lifelong culture for service excellence since it helps build an understanding of the concept of service. And that means a top-down commitment. Leadership should set the tone for the entire effort.”

We have all taken part in employee satisfaction surveys or administered them at some point in our careers. A common misconception is that satisfaction is the same as commitment. It is important to measure employee commitment and engagement over satisfaction. After all, I can be very satisfied without being committed and engaged to the organizations success.

6. Don’t expect magic overnight. Another potential hurdle to extraordinary service is the expectation that it’s like flicking a light switch — on it goes, and everything’s hunky dory.Truth is, exceptional service takes time to take hold in an organization, particularly one with an array of people and departments. Give it enough time. Review performance every four to six months. “It’s essential to stay the course so you can improve service ratings,” says Elaine Berke, a Westport, Mass., consultant.

7. Expect challenges and set backs and react accordingly. The road to top notch service is not without its bumps. Don’t pretend they’re not there. Rather, make them a part of the journey by acknowledging a slip up and, in so doing, recommitting to extraordinary performance. For example, if a customer receives the wrong item, don’t stop at making sure they get the right one. Let the customer know that you’re sorry for the mistake and build their confidence that it won’t happen again. “Build customer loyalty, not just satisfaction,” says Berke. “When you apologize for problems and really listen, you build a relationship.”

For more information enroll in the Disney Institute.

How to Capitalize on Brand Evangelism

Here’s an Idea! Create a product and deliver service worth talking about and Save BIG on Marketing Costs

The person who made this video can be considered a Brand Evangelist. The Brand Evangelist is what every company is desirous of. With so many videos and blogs and user generated content out there, marketers need to embrace it and nurture it and cultivate it. People are going to talk about your Brand, Your Product, Your Service, So it had better be good.

But how do you actually create a Brand Evangelist?

A company like Swingline Staplers is - let’s be honest - not very exciting. It’s a stapler! Some could say it is a commodity like the staples that fill them, or even paper clips. Yet, here we are witnessing a Swingline Stapler Brand Evangelist who is Passionate about Swingline Staplers.

Well first, you have to create a product or offer a service worth talking about. You must exceed the expectations of the consumer. Swingline does this by differentiating itself from its competitors with the lifetime warranty and no jam promise. Next they had product placement of their RIO RED Swingline Stapler in the movie “Office Space”. They have introduced a CHROME Stapler to their lineup which personally I am attracted to for the simple fact that adding chrome to anything in my personal “Guy” opinion bumps up the cool factor.

While Swingline could do more such as adding a blog to their site, or offering Bling Kits for your stapler; they do hold an annual Sweepstakes for Office Administrators which honors the top Office Administrator of the Year.

This endears customers to the product and gets people thinking about Swingline when they are in the market for a stapler.

Can you think of any other ways to create and foster Brand Evangelism for your Brand?

Introduction

Hello. Allow myself to introduce… Myself. My name is Richard Saling and I created this blog to share my thoughts and ideas outside the confines of office walls. I hope to share ideas, concepts or strategies found at other sites and those which germinated a thought in my head. Ultimately, I hope to add to the discourse. Only you can let me know if I achieve that goal.

I also want to see you, the reader add to the discussion. If you agree, great, if not, even better!

PS. Feel free to look me up on my