Creating a Focus on Great Customer Service

Tone Impacts Beyond Words #authentictone

We've all experienced a conversation where it was the tone rather than the words that shaped our lasting impression of the interaction - 'it wasn't what she/he said it was the way that they said it.'

The tone of how a message is delivered is critical to how it will be received. There is a generational change in how the tone of language and design is used to communicate. Creating an interesting generational divide on preferences. 

Take for example the use of emoticons or visuals which are used as a way of framing a short statement. Essentially they are used to set the communication tone. Short text with visuals are preferable to longer text emails as a way of effectively communicating for many. 

Technology and social language memes are being used to effectively set the tone of messaging. The sharing of responsive, visual and authentic dialogue is highly pervausive,even for serious messaging. I would argue that this is not viewed anymore as an informal or superficial way of communicating. The coin is flipping in this regard.

There's another interesting messaging convention forming as well. The idea that not all information needs to be conveyed at once. That there is a place for a short attention grabbing message in one channel, that leads an audience to finding out more information in another channel. The initial tone sets the scene for a larger informational piece to come. 

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It is exciting to see the generational change coming through so boldly. I like the simplicity and approachability of modern messaging. The way that visuals set an emotive tone which is 'human' in style. The way that every message doesn't have to be verbose,  just honest. How it breaks through cultural language barriers. Is not a strict structure rather an authentic approach. How at its best is a positive and accessible way to communicate. Mostly I like how tone is being rethought because this is what we relate too the most.

Taking a Strategic Approach to Social Communications:

Social marketing communications are often approached as an add on media channel for messaging. Communications are posted across platforms and audiences to increase message reach. Planning and measurement is part of the communications matrix and therefore does not have a focused strategy and approach on it's own. Many organizations are passive about their approach to social channel marketing, while they are utilizing the channels they do not formulate objectives or take the time to understand how each platform in terms of audience or engagement relevance. The end result is organizations talking at audiences or using social media like a dynamic message board.



Building a strategy and plan sounds like an obvious suggestion, yet it is often not a focus. It will will change the way you 'go to market' with communications to each channel. Simply because when you view each social platform as a unique media channel that attracts a unique audience it will focus messaging.

Time and internal commitment are the key barriers, and sometimes there is internal push back with social media being viewed as 'something we need to be in. It is treated as an add-on communications tool. Recognition that it needs to be part of the MarComms mix is a positive foundation to build on.

There are areas of consideration that will assist in defining the role and approach to social communications. Developing a strategic approach will help bring others on the journey as there are still a lot of organisational skeptics, fanciful expectations around what is achievable, and lack of knowledge about how it works and what can achieved.

1) Strategy - Define a 'stretch yet achievable' 3 year social media vision statement. It must fit with the overall business and marketing plan so there is clarity on it's role and contribution. The reason this is important for social media more than other marketing communication channel is that it is still unfamiliar to many business leaders. A vision provides a guide to benchmark success against which builds credibility over time.

2) Brand, Design & Consistent Voice - Social media channels are often where  brand inconsistency and image damage occurs. This is because it's often viewed as a channel where the brand needs to change to fit in, rather than a place for the brand to reinforce it's values and personality. 'A too cool for school' mentality. 

Think about what your brand values are and what tone of voice is relevant in social media channels. Often you can be more approachable and even 'a little cooler' with brand messaging due to the nature of the medium. It's important to be true to the brand and consistent. 

One of the most exciting areas of social media is the focus on design and creativity. Thinking through design elements is an important part of the planning process. Meme's, graphics, colours and feature designs stand out. Changing design elements will engage audiences by surprising and maybe even delighting them. Even if you have a serious product benefit message or are a conservative brand, there are design elements you can vary to show the audience that you are attentive and not rigid.

3) Audience Mapping: Identify which audiences you want to reach and which channels are the most relevant to them. Take a segmented approach and remember that most audience members are using more than one channel. Also, this helps identify which audiences are less likely to be reached on-line, which platforms to ignore and which ones to focus your efforts on.

Once you've identified this, the next step is to identity which type of content and messaging the audience will be interested in. This is likely to challenge the need to blast the same piece of communication out on every social media channel you have a presence on all the time.

4) Objectives by Channel: Once you know what audiences you want to reach and which channels are relevant, it is worthwhile identifying what the engagement objectives are for each channel. Is it to build a community of endorsers? or Position the brand to a new segment?  Whether you grow, incite to action, reward, inform, interact with, utilise the knowledge of a community...engagement objective setting shape and direct your communication efforts.

5) Image vs Promotion: One question that deserves some thought is whether the key objective relates to brand image or brand promotion. While these areas are not mutually exclusive, there is a lot of community building through promotion without an ongoing community engagement plan. Brand image, values and benefit reinforcement gets overlooked. 

Not every community member will be brand loyalists or even interested, however they will take notice of good content or relevant messaging when it appears. Otherwise the pace of social is such that audiences forget quickly and look to the next brand or promotion of interest.

 6) Conversational vs Informational: As above, both styles can work together however being clear about which voice leads by channel and for the brand helps direct content development. 

 7) Organisational commitment:  It is important to consider how much commitment there is before launching into social channels. Social media content is becoming more sophisticated, so being realistic about what is achievable in terms of content generation is a smart approach. 

Is your organisation ready and committed to blogging? Are there internal resources allocated to develop videos, tweet, monitor community comments, respond to service issues or requests, or share news and stories?

Going it alone can become a frustrating task without internal commitment to generate content. 

Developing a strategy and plan will assist in getting organisational commitment.

 8) Practical tools: Producing a 'one page' matrix of channel, audience, objectives, key messaging and measures will guide annual execution. 

Identifying key initiatives on a marketing calendar as a seperate social media plan assists in giving this area a seperate focus so it is not lost in the marketing mix. 

 9) Be weary of the term VIRAL: There are high expectations around this promise and great disillusionment when it doesn't happen (which is unlikely after all given that there are few content pieces that ever go viral). By all means state it out  loudly if it is a true campaign objective with the creative input and flair to achieve it.

These are a few thoughts and guidelines. Undoubtedly there are are more.

Do you have any more considerations and guidance to share?

Breaking through the pacesetting leadership style stereotype

Early in my career I was in highly analytical roles.  I felt if I ever wanted to be taken seriously as a leader with organisational impact I needed to get out of my comfort zone and transition to an executional role. It was a compelling mind shift change that impacted my approach to so many things.

What I learnt was being action orientated is a skill, and it sometimes intimidates others. I can understand this having spent the early days of my career watching in 'awe' and even avoiding those that seemed to push me faster than I wanted to move.

Pacesetters can be viewed as self serving workaholics, who are uncaring. I have experienced some of this demanding dominant style of pacesetting leadership which is demoralising - to the point of being bullying. 

Most of us pacesetters are not like this. We are just trying to get things done and help others do the same along the way. Yet our motives can be viewed as suspicious and others fail to see our good intent.

The pacesetters that I admire and have role modelled myself on,  expect more of themselves than others. This is not because they think others are incompetent, but because they are self motivated and will pick up tasks to keep things moving along . They need to do, share, direct, discover, solve and create. To turn ideas on paper or in thought into reality.

This is what can be misunderstood about effective pacesetters. They navigate the way for others as much as themselves. They take responsibility for ensuring the right people collaborate or connect the dots to get to the next step. 

Pacesetters have an eye on the time. They intuitively know when things are looking like they are going to miss a deadline. It takes courage to remind others about this. Pacesetters will find the courage to say the things that others won't. It can be a lonely and thankless task keeping an eye on timelines and end goals, especially if you don't own the actions to get things moving.

Effective Pacesetters do care! Probably to their own detriment at times. They care about the integrity of their work, they care about the efficiency of processes, they care about follow through, and mostly they care about getting to an outcome. They don't walk away from actions or take a responsibility lightly. This often makes it easy for others to take advantage of them. They can be relied on. When a pacesetter drops off even half a beat it is noticed.

Effective Pacesetters are outcome focused. They will find a way to get things done and put in extra effort to gather stakeholders views. They try to identify and over come road blocks. This may make them appear highly political when in fact they are trying to positively influence and lobby.

Pacesetters can sometimes move so fast it can seem difficult to keep up with them. They action things immediately and follow up promptly. They state their opinions and move on. They tend not to dwell on things too long. 

Great pacesetters want their teams and projects to succeed.They tend not to give up and feel that people are happiest at work when they have a sense of achievement.

Finally, knowing what goes into developing pacesetting skills I know how vulnerable a style it truly is. Think about a pacesetter you admire. They may be a little annoying always driving the agenda, chasing up on things, and seemingly being overjoyed at ticking off their 'to do' list

Without dynamic pacesetters in an organisation there would be ideas without action, great conceptual thinking without structure, and lots of information exchange without a way forward. 

At some point someone has to be brave and make the move to get things started. Pacesetters do this, even when others resist creating some traction for momentum. 

This is the great irony for pacesetters who truly do care and put ourselves in this state of vulnerability. Being  outcome focussed is the way we show we care. We are looking out for rather than controlling others. After all, business success is about what gets done, and one of the main causes of frustration in organisations is activity that goes nowhere.

That's the different between effective and non-effective pacesetters - those that  are outcome focused vs those that are activity focused. There is a distinct difference.

So here's to all you pacesetters who enjoy the chemical rush of getting things done so everyone feels a sense of achievement,  who make yourself vulnerable everyday, and care enough to know that nothing happens without the tenacity make it happen!

The Great Talent Trade-Off

The global financial crisis has seen a reduction in team sizes, flater structures, and a focus on short term results. This has impacted on how talent is recruited and developed. Acquiring resources that make an immediate impact and are given a remit to 'act and ask questions later' is a trend.

In this current over stretched and activity driven business landscape, the process of developing people through mentoring and coaching is a distraction. Over burdened managers and team members do not have the time to do this well.

So where does this leave talented resources who want to learn and grow. I have seen many people thrown into the 'deep end' who rise to the surface displaying skills they did not even know they had. In these cases, it has mostly been a combination of personal tenacity, coupled with informal coaching and support that has fast tracked professional growth.

Resources that have development needs are missing out on quality informal support networks due to the stress on manager workloads. The outcome being a rush to recruit 'new' rather than enhance 'existing' skills. Given the cost, risks  and lead time of external recruitment this seems like a false economy.

Business leaders indicate that finding and managing talent is one of the biggest; if not the biggest; organisational issue and opportunity. Having resources with the right capabilities, attitudes and experience is a key success enabler. One dissenter, aggressor or saboteur can impact on a team's performance, morale and dynamics. The risk of this increases when new variables are thrown into the mix.

Learning theory states that the more frequently we perform a task, gain experience or apply knowledge the more adept we become. Many younger or developing professionals are finding that time, patience and tolerance for error needed for growth is a scarcity. Being 'tagged' specifically by the job function they perform rather then the potential abilities they possess.

Most managers indicate that they don't have time to manage people, let alone develop people. There is a lot of pressure on team leaders to performance manage individuals and significantly less focus on development. This is a symptom of the current business climate where people management is part of a job function and not a specialised competency.

Short term, high impact resources have come to be seen as the solution. However, when this solution is applied too often it can damage team performance. Causing disruption, frustration and even friction as teams attempt to move quickly while adjusting to change and pushing for results.

It takes time in any new organisation to learn how 'things are done' and effectively build internal networks to influence outcomes. Even highly experienced resources coming into a new organisation need to navigate decision politics and build influence. So the ability to make an immediate impact can be stifled. These resources too can suffer from a lack of internal guidance and coaching.

Bringing in new perspectives and skills is necessary at times. At other times it's a catalyst for disaster. While immediate results are the ultimate aim, these are hindered by changing group dynamics and lack of internal process experience. 

Existing resources that are dedicated, hardworking and willing to learn can excel in stretch roles with the right coaching. They have the advantage of established internal networks and trust. In short, they will get things done. Channelling existing talent into appropriate development roles would reduce recruitment costs, staff turnover and time wasting. It will build a learning environment and motivate current staff to excel with promotion in mind.

Getting the right mix of established and new talent requires considered thinking. People Managers have many time pressures, giving them little time to focus on others in their teams. So naturally it seems expedient to look for team players that need little guidance or direction.

Yet where does this leave individuals with potential who want to learn and grow. These resources can miss out on receiving the attention of their line managers for informal and formal mentoring. Is the desired outcome of minimal involvement for quick wins really holding true as managers struggle to do just that - manage people.

I can't help but ponder... managers are too busy to manage and resources need to be 'ready to roll.'

Are we making talent assessments based too much around short term needs?

Is there a section of the workforce missing out on developing professionally through informal support networks?

Is the cost vs benefit stacking up?

Is this a time of short term talent trade-offs that will have long term impacts on individual and team performance?

What do you think?

If You Want To Influence Outcomes Close The Loop

At a time when professional schedules are rushed,  the simple art of following up to 'close the loop' is a powerful influencing technique. Highly successful sales people make this an art. They carefully craft each communication to reinforce they value the relationship, understand the rules of engagement and are committed to being of service as required.  They always thank their contacts for their time and contribution before the chance of a sale has been established. They build credibility from the outset by demonstrating professionalism, interest and efficiency.

While this is well recognised in sales roles where customers are concerned, it is often not the case when it comes to internal relationships. This is a missed opportunity to engage others and gain an increased level of influence. In the same way as getting on the agenda gives you a voice in a large organisation, the process of 'closing the loop' gives you integrity.

I felt compelled to write this article because I feel that professional courtesy is something that is slipping away in the current climate. The reason for this is that we are all doing more with less due to limited  funding, resourcing and time. The professional polish in how we interact in the workplace has eroded, representing an opportunity to influence through attention to detail.

The reality is that any business outcome is accomplished through relationships. Placing an importance on 'closing the loop' will make you stand out. You will become an influencer because you will be seen to be respectful of others, action orientated and in control.

My top  'Closing the Loop' tips for internal consulting are:

1) Send out a follow up email after a meeting you are running to all participants - How often do people go to the trouble of preparing an agenda for a meeting, yet don't take notes during or do any follow up post the meeting. Simple?...the extra follow up can feel like additional time when you are busy, however anything that is documented and shared is more likely to get done, it saves time down the track as a way of tracking actions/decisions etc.

2) Always do what you say you will do - Action what you have promised to do and let the appropriate people know it's done. Simple?....yet we often do we forget to let others know the action is complete.

3) Thank people for their contribution, in an authentic way - It's not hard to thank some-one. The most powerful 'thank you' is one that is short and specific. There does not need to be awards, just a simple recognition that a thought, action or behaviour was appreciated. It demonstrates to the recipient that what they are doing is not going unnoticed. Simple?... rarely done effectively in follow-up communications and 'thanking as you go' is a difficult concept for many.

4) Position key stakeholders - A big mistake in 'closing the loop' is to leave out important stakeholders, even though their direct contribution may not be as obvious.  Influencing is about identifying the most effective way to achieve an outcome. Always position key players and decision makers in any communications.
Even ask yourself if the communication piece should ideally come from them.  If this is the case, make it easy for them by being a 'ghost writer' and compiling a draft.  Simple?...some may feel they lose influence doing this, on the contrary, it demonstrates a clear understanding of politics, process and accountability.

5) Right tone and place - Assess the right tone of follow up;  informal vs formal, dialogue vs action list, light hearted vs serious. You can be creative about how you 'close the loop' and find ways to cut through the communications clutter. It is good process to imprint your professional style on. Simple?...how often do follow ups just become email clutter or action list wallpaper.

If you want to influence outcomes CLOSE THE LOOP. It works. It is an art form and stamp of your professionalism and integrity.

Quiet please I'm thinking

I have been reading the book 'Quiet' by Susan Cain who raises the question how did we go from Character to Personality without realising we had sacrificed something meaningful along the way.

That 'something meaningful' where space is provided to process, create and be productive. Where quiet reflection is valued as highly as group interaction.

That 'something meaningful' where thoughts can be internal for a time before they are shared. Where group thinking and consensus does not allow the opinion of a few to dominate.

That 'something meaningful' where shouting is not required to be heard. Where deep thought is as important as making a statement. Where diversity includes room for introversion as well as extroversion.

In the noise that exists in work and life, through shared experiences, group activities and team connectedness, there is limited attention given to the need for 'quiet.' Solitude and thinking independently are not negative behaviours. An intense focus on a problem can deliver creative solutions. We need to find ways to enable this and not take away from the contribution of those who need to break away from the group noise to find their own thoughts.

One thing is for sure, there is more noise than ever before. A no other time has self expression been more accepted or encouraged. As pointed out in 'Quiet', the on-line space has created an even playing field for introverts to promote and share their ideas, without the restrictions or difficulties they would encounter in group situations.

The book 'Quiet'  is a voice for introverts, more importantly it challenges the popular views on how we should interact and work together. It is true that extroversion is admired and has become the default preference for how we operate. Extroversion can be trying when there is too much of it, and even demoralising if you find it difficult to speak up.

Finding the balance is key for break through thinking, work satisfaction and personal development.