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The Practicality of Purchasing an ATS Part 2

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Cost, true value and company culture

(Part two of a three-part series)

In part one of this series, I discussed how to go about conducting a gap analysis to fully understand the current state of your ATS and if shopping around for a new vendor is really what’s needed. Having a good grasp on your current business needs in addition to future needs is one of the first considerations.

Further, I shared some pitfalls to avoid when conducting your business analysis and described some areas where people can misinterpret what resources are needed, and why considering the functionality and options of a new ATS must align with your unique business plans.

How do You Determine True Value?

Current and future value for your business, value for the money paid and value for the end-users should be paramount in the decision-making process.

What to consider as the value will vary from organization to organization. It’s important to ask lots of good questions to understand how the software will mesh with your unique business demands. Ask questions specific to your company’s needs, but general questions about the cost, frequency of software updates, extent of resources needed by your organization to maintain a fully functioning application, how data storage is handled and protected, along with length and terms of the contract should, also, be asked. Additionally, you should know what training is included for the initial rollout, as well as for future updates, product refreshers, new features and training for new users, as well as software changes that address future business objectives. It’s, also, important to understand any configuration or customization you may require, to meet your initial and ongoing business processes, and their associated costs.

No software is of value if the end-users cannot use it in meaningful and productive ways. Technology should enhance the user experience not be an encumbrance, so the human engineering must be in-line with how you need the software to perform. Don’t let the vendor define your needs; it’s okay to compare product feature sets to each other, but it’s most important to compare the product functionality to your requirements to ensure you’re getting the best value for the money. If you analyzed your business at the beginning of the process, you know best as to what your business needs are.

People often over-focus on the appearance of the software. Beneficial functionality and speed are not easy to design but are the backbones of what makes for good, reliable systems. What appears flashy and sparkly in a demo doesn’t always translate into a productive real-world experience for the end-user. Flashy should not be the focus, but consider availability, functionality, and responsiveness as being what’s vital. It’s important that the end-users can use the software, sometimes all day long, without fatigue.

If, at all, possible implement the software you’re considering into production. If you have more than one location, install and use it at one of the sites. If not possible, at least take the time to talk to references – both power users and the managers who do the software purchasing for their business. Questions may vary, but ask the managers if they conducted a business needs analysis at the onset of the process. Ask to know if there were any hidden costs. Knowing how satisfied the end-users are with the software is valuable information. Software review sites such as TrustRadius and Capterra are also great sources of getting crowd-sourced opinions about a product, company, and its people.

It’s, also, important to ask for references from customers that are achieving success. These may be power users who will give you a fair representation of how they use the product, and with that may be able to answer questions relative to your organization.

Company Culture Matters

When evaluating vendors, assess how closely they listen, understand and respond to information about your unique business demands. If the vendor always answers, “yes,” to your questions about functionality, you should be suspicious… no off-the-shelf software will do all you want.

If the vendor is listening and advising on what’s in your company’s best interest, they are taking a customer-centric approach and not just working to meet their own sales goals. Further, ask the vendor to whom they report, is the company privately held or owned and financed by outside investors? Who does management serve, customers or shareholders/investors? What drives their innovation? Customer-driven innovation is, generally, the best because it’s like crowdsourcing. Their responses will alert you to their company structure and indicate where customers fall on the list of priorities and importance. Also, find out what the turnover is on their client roster, as well as turnover with the software vendor’s employees. See what employees are writing about them on sites like Glassdoor.

It goes without saying but understanding how the vendor defines on-going service and support is important. This will help you understand both the advantages, as well as the limitations of their solution – and their customer focus speaks volumes about their own company culture and how well they work with clients.

You need to develop a business partnership with your ATS provider, and any vendor for that matter. A compatible relationship must be built on trust, honest communication, and mutual respect.

Understanding the overall performance and service factors of the potential software system, and its compatibility with your company needs and culture are the keys to successful product selection. Ultimately, the functionality of the vendor’s software should be in-line with your expectations of success for the present and future of your business.

This article is part two in a three-part series. In the next article, I’ll address best practices for implementing your ATS and what’s needed for the care and maintenance of the new software.

The Practicality of Purchasing an ATS

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How do you know you need a new ATS?

(Part one of a three-part series)

When looking for an applicant tracking system (ATS) your first job is to critically evaluate your motivations as to why you need one, and if you currently have one, why you need to change vendors. Analyzing where and why the current ATS is not performing and why a new ATS is needed should be bona fide business reasons, not driven by subjectivity. Looking objectively and pragmatically at your business and motivation to switch providers or when making an initial purchase are the biggest factors to consider when shopping for a new ATS.

Mind the Gap

Start by conducting a gap analysis of your recruitment business and looking objectively at what you are lacking. Consider your company’s present requirements as well as anticipated future needs. For example, if your business is growing, your software needs to be scalable to suit your anticipated plans, if not, you may face having to re-evaluate ATS systems down the road. Further, prioritizing your needs is critically important to evaluate competing systems, since no off-the-shelf software will likely satisfy all of your requirements.

Before you begin the product evaluation process, look objectively at your talent acquisition processes, your current ATS’s performance for reliability and support along with your future goals. Without this in-depth knowledge, it will be difficult for you to adequately compare ATS products to determine which is best suited for your business goals and talent acquisition practices. I recommend having end-users’ input when determining where your current software is falling short. These individuals can provide the feedback you need to know as part of the due diligence in your analysis.

Also, part of the due diligence in understanding what you need for your business will help you avoid over-purchasing or under-purchasing what is actually needed to sustain your talent acquisition workflow and pressing business needs.

Where it Goes Sideways

Over the past 30 years, I have heard many subjective reasons as to why a company wants to leave their current applicant tracking software provider or make an initial ATS purchase… this case rarely ends well. Reasons that aren’t supported by a solid business case generally means the decision makers bypassed a needs analysis, and what ultimately results are one or more of the following mistakes: Buyers creating a broad list of overly general questions, using a templated RFP, not applicable to the buyer’s organization and sent to a long list of (mostly) unqualified vendors, preemptively choosing a vendor used in the past at a previous employer, or selecting a vendor exclusively on cost versus knowing the true value to the buyer’s organization.

I’ve also experienced interactions with organizations that have assigned the task of evaluating potential ATS providers to a third-party consultant or departments outside of the area where the end-users sit. This can spell disaster for the end-users and job candidates because the decision usually doesn’t serve the end-users and support the business needs of the company. We recommend designating one or more “power users” or internal subject matter experts who can help with the product evaluation process, and later serve as key points of contact to support user adoption and maximize the ongoing cost-effectiveness of the system.

Further, fostering good communications with your current provider and understanding the full complement of what your system has to offer is important for understanding what you really have at your fingertips, and I’ll address more about this is part three.

Keeping in line with good communications, the first place you should take your completed gap analysis is to your existing vendor and discuss the results. Often times your current software provider has the functions you need, but you simply aren’t aware. You should be satisfied that you have reason to explore other options and not just assume the grass is always greener based on the latest marketing hype of a potentially new vendor.

In part two of this series, I’ll discuss how cost versus the true value and why a vendor’s company culture matters in helping you make the right decision for your ATS purchase. In part three of the series, I’ll discuss the implementation and care and feeding of your ATS.

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Business in a Time of Disaster

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Weather can be catastrophic, but disasters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, both natural and man-made. So, what happens when a disaster hits your area and your business? Do you have a disaster recovery plan in place? How will you keep your business running in the time of a disaster?

This is a topic many don’t think about until it’s too late and a disaster is upon them. Many businesses provide services and products to customers outside the disaster area, and with that our customers and employees depend on us to maintain a provisional plan for continuity even in the worst of conditions.

An Ounce of Preparedness

Being prepared may seem like a low priority to some companies given the pace of day-to-day business and the myriad demands put upon people and organizations, but disasters can hit anywhere and sometimes with very little to no warning. And when they do, the unprepared business can find itself in very big trouble. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates that 40 percent of businesses do not reopen after a disaster, with another 25 percent failing within one year post-disaster. They attribute this to businesses being grossly under-prepared and unaware of what options exist should they require assistance. Creating a disaster recovery plan includes many considerations with insurance and available public service being just two.

Sadly, many business owners don’t fully understand what is and what isn’t covered by their property insurance, another item that needs close consideration before disaster strikes. Properly insuring the value of your business, understanding the geography of where your business is located and if flood or earthquake coverage should be a supplemental policy with your current insurance coverage, are vital considerations. Another situation to think about is, what you’ll do should there be a long interruption with your day-to-day business. What will happen if you can’t “reopen your doors” in a timely manner? You need to plan against how the downtime of your business will disrupt incoming revenue and profits; many insurance carriers offer business suspension coverage and depending on your business, it can be a lifesaver for your organization.

For the small business owner who is not properly insured, the Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans. For some owners, this may be a necessary option for re-establishing their business, especially if the business is not insured optimally.

Also, you need to consider your employees and how the disaster will affect them. If your business location is uninhabitable, they will be out wages and work. A supplemental policy called wage replacement insurance can be included in your policy if your business suspension coverage doesn’t already address covering employee wages.

There are guides and best practices, established by many reputable organizations, which can help pull together the information you need to be ready in the event of a disaster.

What to Consider

Depending on your business, some things to consider can be:

  • Your equipment and how dependent you are on it to run your business. For example, are you a software or communications provider? If so, you will need to make arrangements to ensure that any necessary equipment is housed safely within the confines of your building. It’s also important to ensure that all data is backed up in another, separate location such as a secure facility or in the cloud.
  • Your employees and how to communicate with them. Some companies have what they call a “phone chain.” This system allows companies to prepare employees well before a threatening situation presents itself by training them to become familiar with how a phone chain works and how each person is a link in the chain.  This pre-emptive strategy ensures each employee is “linked” to another employee and provided adequate communications on any event that will impact their ability to work on-site at their employer or to be made aware of an impending or current threatening situation.
  • Redirecting your phones so employees can continue to communicate with clients can ensure there is no disruption to your service delivery. This, of course, is only a viable solution in the instance of having business locations outside the disaster area.
  • Establishing multiple geographic locations which can serve as a backup plan in the instance of a natural disaster impacting a specific region. If designed properly, these satellite locations act as a seamless continuation of your business. With the aid of a “universal” database that’s accessible to all employees regardless of geography, companies can put all relevant information in one online location so details of customer accounts, for example, can be accessed when needed.
  • Remote Employees: As with satellite locations, having a remote workforce is not only a modern-day workforce dynamic, it’s a practice many smart companies are establishing. This is a solution that can solve many problems above and beyond business continuity in the time of a disaster. Because remote workers need to be great collaborators, along with being very capable of working well individually, they can be a lifeline to the continuity of your business by carrying on with the day-to-day necessities of work. Obviously, each business and the needs of its customers are different, but thinking about the potential of disaster solutions and proactively considering remote work as an option for business continuity, is certainly worth the mention.

The Aftermath

Though many businesses will not reopen, there are survival stories. Re-establishing your business after the onslaught of a disaster will not be easy, but it is doable if you plan ahead with a recovery strategy. There may be a lot of work in the recovery process or a little… either way, the devastation, regardless of how minimal, will impact your business to some extent. Of course, being proactive with a disaster recovery plan upfront will give you the peace of mind you need during a stressful situation and allow you to focus on getting back to business as usual.

The Contemporary Recruiter

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The HR Technology space is a crowded one, and with that is fundamentally changing how we recruit, the processes, and how we view business. This fundamental change can create an overwhelming situation that leaves many people in a state of uncertainty and confusion.

HR Technology is Your Friend

So, you have multiple positions to fill and precious little time to source and find qualified candidates. Most organizations are now using technology in one form or another, including spreadsheets to power their efforts more effectively and efficiently. But using technology in the best ways requires a change in mindset to purposefully embrace the proliferation of technological improvements in everything from searching for candidates to qualifying and hiring them. This new mindset should look at products like applicant tracking platforms that integrate all the available functions versus a series of independent pieces that don’t work together holistically. The right recruiting technology (ATS) should enable you with the tools to expedite and better qualify people, as well as save recruiting dollars. The benefits of using the right recruiting technology are myriad compared with using a manual, tedious process to manage your hiring. The efficiency here is in being able to conduct all aspects of the sourcing and recruiting with greater speed that incorporates and leverages technology to bring about a better result and not just a quick turnaround. Also, a well-designed ATS platform will enable you to onboard new hires with better capabilities by offering paperless and mobile-based applications that can be completed on the go by both recruiter and candidate. In addition, the best recruiting platforms seamlessly integrate with other best-of-breed vendors you need to use in your recruiting process. For example, the best available services such as background checks and other screening tools should be offered and not because they benefit the ATS provider, but because they best serve the recruiting needs of the client-organization.

Past Recruiting Paradigms are not Acceptable

Some companies are on a carousel of hiring that never stops, while some have the occasional hiring need. The one thing that is a constant in both situations is that neither can sacrifice quality of hire, nor take too long to find the right person for the job. Even with this, recruiting has long-been considered a tactical duty rather than strategic initiative, but much research has uncovered realities as to why recruiting must be strategic in nature versus reactive and tactical. This is where the new mindset must breakout of that outdated thinking.

It’s no surprise that moving away from the reactive mindset is difficult for some recruiters. Change is typically difficult, and with that, some recruiters are hesitant to abandon their reactive habits due to many years of working tactically. However, with greater availability of data and analytics for effective hiring, forward-thinking companies see the value in being proactive and learned versus reactive and imprecise and are open-minded to how technology can pave the way to a better outcome. For example, organizations are placing greater emphasis on finding candidates who align with the organization’s mission and values, most believing that this “attitude” is a major factor in productivity, ambassadorship, allegiance, engagement and retention. What this means for recruiting is that marking off a checklist of skills and keywords is no longer the deciding factor in someone’s candidacy. Additional measures must be taken to determine what motivation candidates have and if they will fit into the culture of your business. The organizations that have expanded their mindsets recognize the value and advantages technology and data bring to their recruiting process, and how necessary these tools are for achieving greater levels of success.

What to Consider

When hiring-managers need people to fill vacancies, they usually need them “last week.” However, the evolved recruiter has adopted a mindset of knowing that good communication and previous experience with that hiring manager will serve as a guide to hiring success. Without effective communications between hiring managers and recruiters, compounded by a lack of recorded data identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) of those employees who stand out as desirable, make it nearly impossible to fully understand what qualities and attributes will integrate nicely into that hiring manager’s team. This knowledge will, also, serve to create a more proactive approach… recruiters can and should develop a pipeline of candidates for varying positions before the immediate need arises. Simply, proactive attempts at forecasting, networking internally (think ERPs and brand ambassadors) corporate alumni programs, and external networking are all excellent ways to keep a healthy pipeline of candidates thriving and engaged, especially in today’s socially astute world. Quality, quantity, cost and speed are always going to be balls to juggle, but balancing the right combination of these is also essential to successfully deliver quality candidates.

Keeping a Grip

Finding the happy medium for recruiting in your organization is a must. It’s great to see what other organizations are doing and what technology is emerging or being used effectively by other organizations, but the caveat here is to first evaluate if their practices in recruiting are doable within your organization. Too often, people want to emulate the success of other organizations before determining if what that other company is doing makes sense for them. You must first evaluate your culture and determine if your organization can manage what works for others. This determination includes which recruiting technology is being used, what compensation and benefits are being offered, and potentially eliminating unnecessary steps used to successfully vet candidates. It’s important to understand your own processes inside and out and determine where the bottlenecks are and evaluate those glitches. Using data to analyze where you were and where you need to be can open the door to some interesting findings in your current processes. These findings, in turn, may help you develop a mind-set that belies the use of anecdotal experiences and replaces them with the use of empirical data in your qualifying and selection processes.

Additionally, if your recruiting strategy is homogenous, consider exploring other avenues. For example, if your employee referral percentage is low, give thought to how this can be improved. Also, if you are not looking to affinity groups within your organization and diversity groups outside the organization, you are missing out on opportunities to incorporate diverse experiences, skills and people who may very well align with your company’s mission and values.

All-in-all, recruiting in today’s world is an interesting place to be. As technological options expand, data and predictive analytics take a prominent place in the process, job seekers and candidates become savvier and more aware of companies as they consider culture a determining factor in their selections, and with transparency via social media bringing information to the forefront faster than ever before, the modern-day recruiter is being called upon to perform her duties with the speed and effectiveness of a well-oiled machine. These changes, however, should not deter you, as it’s just evolution taking place in your profession and raising the bar of expectations, and with that comes a wide-variety of technologies and tools that can advance you to greater levels of success within your profession.

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Caveat Emptor

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When it comes to the world of business, there is much that goes on behind the scenes that would scare consumers. As someone who has seen firsthand what goes on in a restaurant’s kitchen, I can tell you, it’s not a place people would find particularly appetizing. This is an example of how sometimes keeping the buying public in the dark is in the best interest of everyone. By contrast, this doesn’t work for all buying decisions, and it’s not uncommon for people to be victims of backroom deals that often turn into situations where consumers are convinced to buy products that benefit the vendor more than the consumer. For example, when you bring your car in for a simple fix, but are, instead, sold a new transmission.

When it comes to HR Technology, especially considering current market conditions, every potential customer should vet service providers thoroughly.  Asking, “Can I trust you to do what is in the best interest of my company?” is a start, but you need to dig deeper. It’s important to understand what business model the prospective service provider follows and whether this model serves customers and users or investors and shareholders.

The best companies integrate with other brands to form partnerships which provide a fuller array of products and services to their customers that make the purchased product more comprehensive and of greater benefit. In an ideal world, product manufacturers should select product integrations or alliances based on functionality, price and service… the things that benefit their consumer directly. It’s important to note, there’s a distinguishable difference between companies that offer integrations with third-party products without a financial relationship versus those companies that benefit financially from their recommendations.  Unfortunately, there’ll be always be vendors that succumb to the pressure of predatory venture capitalists and/or shareholders to maximize short-term cashflow as their number one priority. This can result in the organization only referring vendors that pay them the highest referral fees versus vendors that serve the best needs of the customer with functional products that are backed with good service and fair pricing. Given this, it’s always fair to ask these two questions, “Do you have outside financiers or shareholders?” and “Do you benefit financially by referring third-party products to me?” The best vendors will always consider the customer their primary business partner and work exclusively on their behalf. For consumers, understanding what is and is not good, honest customer service can be a tough thing to decipher at times, but you should have peace of mind in knowing you can trust your supplier to serve your best interests.

And You Need This, Too

As an example, imagine purchasing a large ticket item such as a company-wide HR technology upgrade. After purchase, you’re presented with an array of complementary third-party solutions that are integrated with your supplier’s product.  Once presented, the benefit is obvious, such as job postings or background checking… but do you know why your vendor is recommending this product? If you find that your vendor is pushing a lot of third-party products, and you later discover they’re getting paid to refer these third-party vendors, this should raise an eyebrow and a doubt about whether this vendor’s business model can deliver good customer service.

When It Goes Sideways

As an example, Facebook started as an innovative social media product designed to bring people together into communities of friends, relatives and like-minded enthusiasts. Unfortunately, due to pressure from predatory shareholders demanding more immediate cashflow, Facebook changed their business model from providing a valuable social product into a marketing platform where they make money by selling your information, browsing proclivities and preferences off to the highest bidder, and diverged from the original business model which indelibly changed the customer experience for the worse.

Summary

Keep in mind, there are legitimate and valuable reasons why someone should purchase products from a supplier’s list of vendor integrations. Understanding the motivation and underlying relationship between the supplier/company and its vendors is important, as this may give you valuable clues you can expect to experience over the years.

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Employee Advocacy = Engaged Employees

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A great work environment with happy employees is the start for creating sincere and enduring employee advocates. When people experience a wonderful culture in action and believe in the reputation of their company, they become your most effective spokespeople.

Why Does it Matter?

There is a lot of research out there that supports the direct correlation between employee satisfaction and its impact on customer satisfaction.  When employees are engaged advocates, they will go the extra mile for the customer, seeking out alternate and better ways to deliver service that amazes and delights. These employees don’t mind spending extra time with a customer to ensure their complete satisfaction, has been met, and are more likely to set achievable expectations for customer service delivery and timing.

Additionally, employee advocacy humanizes your brand. It puts a face to the brick and mortar of your business and allows people outside the company to better identify with your people-driven mission. It’s like word-of-mouth advertising… a very powerful weapon in the war for customer satisfaction and their dollars.

What’s in it for Employees?

Empowerment allows employees to become stakeholders by having them take part in decision-making processes. This empowerment enables them to take responsibility for their role and manage their behaviors and outcomes.  A culture of trust allows people to do their job, autonomously. Employees want to create their own successes, and with that find greater satisfaction in themselves and with the culture around them.

Feedback is a powerful tool in the workplace. It enables people to see how they contribute to the bigger picture of the organization. It’s important for each employee to see how her specific role impacts the organization. Show employees, directly, how their work is improving customer retention, profitability, or the metric that is most closely related to their position. This will motivate them in their jobs, in attainable goals, and increase their engagement.

Skills and knowledge training provides the growth and expansion employees need to keep improving and advancing in their careers. Challenge them to find learning opportunities that can be applied to their jobs and allow them to put this new-found knowledge to work. The empowerment and satisfaction they can reap from this experience will encourage them to look forward to future learnings to continue growing their skills and knowledge.

Collaboration across an organization opens the door to team spirit and engages people at a more root level because they believe every employee is approachable for conversation. Being able to collaborate on projects with colleagues will increase employee engagement, and make the projects more satisfying and effective allowing employees to ideate, give peers feedback and bring solutions to the forefront. In other words, to take ownership.

Why You Need Advocates

Employees who are advocates for their organization cast a wider net not only inside the organization but externally, as well. They reach a larger audience and position themselves as the voice of the organization. They will increase your brand engagement with potential new customers and employees, which from a monetary value, can save companies dollars in advertising and marketing promotions. As engaged employees, advocates are tremendous agents and defenders of your company’s reputation, again positioning themselves as a voice for their employer. Further, research has shown that employee advocates can increase the stock value of organizations by over two and a half times versus organizations that do not support employee advocacy and engagement.

Creating Advocacy

Focus on your culture to understand how employees view the company. To truly understand how successful an advocacy program will work, you first need to understand what people are thinking. If you guess you may guess wrong and that could produce a myriad of consequences. Leadership needs to have the courage to ask, “What do you like and dislike about working here?” This information is gold to the wise employer. With this in hand, set out to better understand what your employees are seeing and that may even include how they view the leadership within the organization. Be prepared to leave your ego at the door, as the feedback may be a wake-up call for management, but if the goal is to create a better workplace, recognition of what works and what is failing miserably must be addressed.

Communication is key here. Employees are inspired by leadership that is open and authentic with communications. Strong leadership that has a clear idea of the company’s direction will be viewed much more favorably than a waffling leader that is out of touch with the company’s mission. When communications flow back and forth between leadership and the employee population, the likelihood of misunderstandings and mistakes lessens.

Measure the results. Whenever possible, track the metrics that will gauge the outcomes of employee advocacy. For example, if increased customer retention is the goal, design a program to determine what a successful outcome will be. Communicate this goal to your employees, then provide them with the resources and opportunities to explore and expand on their knowledge and skills in support of the goal. By tracking the data, you can adjust how you communicate and incentivize your employee advocacy initiatives for future goals.

Trust and Opportunity

Organizations need to believe in their employees and want to help them to promote the organization, but first they need to give them good reasons. Pressuring them rather than encouraging them will not work. Advocacy needs to flow naturally for it to be believable. Leadership can, however, empower employees with knowledge and tools to promote the benefits. With a minimal amount of direction, companies can offer opportunities for employees to exercise their bragging rights in a public, social way. I know of companies that had business cards printed for each employee so if that person was interacting in a social setting and felt the opportunity was right, they could hand their business card to potential new customers and even use it as a referral card for job seekers.

Of course, having a set of “Do’s and Don’ts” is helpful so employees understand what would fall outside the parameters of advocacy. No organization can tolerate proprietary information being shared with people outside the company, so establishing parameters that address items such as this, is important.

The Dividends

Essentially, the value of having employees who act as brand advocates offers a value next to priceless. What better way to market your organization, espouse the features of your products and spread the word in a social manner that is much less expensive than traditional marketing and advertising.

To me, employee advocacy is when employees look forward to pitching the benefits of their organization and do it because they’re excited and energized, not because they’re specifically prompted by management. What sets these advocates apart from other employees is they’re engaged with their employer and find their workplace environment a satisfying atmosphere where communication and opportunity to grow and collaborate occur with consistency.

And most importantly, organizations need to give employees a reason to advocate for the company. An engaged employee advocate is the best bet you have for increasing customer satisfaction, and to experience business prosperity in an organic manner that is natural and unprompted. And the best aspect is, it’s one of the best methods for retaining valuable talent and attracting more of the same.

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TECHIE-NOLOGY

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Imagine this World for a moment. Computers no longer exist. Mobile technology is a fantasy we desire, but it’s not obtainable because it only exists in science fiction movies. Medical equipment like MRIs that can detect cancer in its early stages, and the da Vinci robotic device that reduces human surgical error are only ideas on a piece of paper. The very thought is unsettling, isn’t it? We are a society so enveloped in, and by technology, that the very thought of losing these items is unconscionable. Simply, we are technology dependent with adapted lifestyles to incorporate technology into our lives without hesitation or resistance. As the demand for more and better technology increases every day, so does the demand for those individuals who long to create the next generation of technological advancements. Enter the enthusiastic technical guru also known as a nerd.

Understanding the Misunderstood

Techies are assumed to be nerds or geeks, but that’s a fictitious negative stereotype cooked up by Hollywood in an attempt to sell movies and gain sponsors for television advertising. They don’t necessarily wear pocket protectors in their shirt. Not all are introverts who prefer the company of a motherboard or programming code to the company of co-workers, though being introverted is not a societal deficit… another group stigmatized without warrant. Techies conceptualize and create at the intersection of various strengths like mathematical ability, engineering know-how, mechanical aptitude, and the curiosity of a cat. All are commendable traits. Further, they possess the inquisitive nature necessary to continue exploration for the next, best thing, or at the very least, improve functionality of the current technology.

Why Don’t We “Get” Them?

They help the World to better collaborate, communicate and be productive, but as a group, they often fall under hard times in regards to their reputation. I find it ironic that as a society so dependent on the conceptualizations and creations of these individuals, we unfairly brand them with labels perceived through our own insecurities, perhaps.

As a result, this labeling created a group of people called closet geeks. These people fear being discovered and negatively labeled by the world-at-large, in part because, they are misunderstood. Some may feel they lack strength in numbers and may not want to step out of the shadows of their comfort zone lest to be branded. Others don’t want their creative juices to be commented on only because they “get this stuff” because they are geeks or nerds. Makes me wonder if there is a bit of geek-envy going on. Could there be people who desire the unbridled creativity of the techie brain, but wish to avoid the burden of negative labeling? I guess there are people who will not step up to admit it, but given the on-going demand for what the prodigies of the label have to offer, I will say, yes there are. Really, who doesn’t want to invent or create the next best thing?

Blazing Trails

People like Steve Jobs helped to assuage some of this stigma, as does the new generation of technological entrepreneurs that are cropping up in startling numbers. Also, the overall need and demand for the next, best technological advancement touching any facet of life whether that be in a business capacity or something that affects us personally has helped some people move past the nerd labeling. But we’re not quite there yet. Societal stereotypes and gaining buy-in to these erroneous perceptions is much easier than expunging these beliefs. As with any group underserved, some techies have risen from the ashes of being stigmatized to stand united and take pride in having their geek on.

Others have serendipitously come upon discoveries in ways that were not intended, but that didn’t keep society from labeling them. Take the microwave oven for example. Its humble beginnings started when someone standing too close to a machine emitting microwaves noticed that his chocolate bar had melted in his pants pocket. Point in case, not all technological advancements came about due to a specific intention to invent. Sometimes techies stumble upon advancements that can be every bit as exciting as intentionally working towards the goal.

So I challenge everyone reading this post to think about the last time you said, “Wouldn’t be great if X, Y and Z could do this?” Or, “I wish we had an X, Y and Z because I could get my work done so much faster.” You’ve said this, haven’t you? Of course you have. News flash… we all have. Does this make us geeks? Well, that’s a self-discovery you’ll need to determine on your own. In the meantime, keep enjoying the fruits of labor from our techie friends, and remember; a world without techies is like a day without sunshine.

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6 Things To Make Your Customer Service Standout

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Have you ever heard the saying, “The moment you win a new customer, you begin to lose them?” There’s definite truth to this, but there are simple ways to keep your customers engaged with you, your product and company that can make them long-term partners.

Build a Personal Relationship

One of the biggest engagement factors with clients is how they feel they are perceived and treated by their service provider. So how much do you know about your clients, not only their product issues and concerns, but them personally? Ultimately, people want to deal with people, preferably people they actually like because they have a personal connection. Companies that overly automate their service communications may do this for expedience and in some instances it makes sense, but with this, some of the personalization from a human voice is lost. It doesn’t really give customers a chance to feel appreciated or understood by a fellow human being. Even though we live in a very technology-driven world, most people still prefer to hear the voice of a customer service person on the other end of the phone or to have an attentive live chat on a website.

Additionally, an inviting and friendly voice asking someone about their day shows interest and an effort to connect on the human level, and this is not only always welcome but also helps build a relationship. Also something as small as asking about their day can increase customer satisfaction and all with little effort.

Setting and Managing Expectations

Service reps often fall prey to setting unrealistic expectations because they want to tell customers what they believe they want to hear. But setting unrealistic expectations creates a false stage for what people can expect and if you don’t deliver on what was promised, you can expect to meet with resistance and hostility the next time you speak with your customer. Articulating this in clear terms is a very important responsibility for anyone working in a service capacity. Good communication and timely feedback can give your customers peace of mind, even in the instance when the solution to their problem cannot be fixed in a timely fashion. People prefer to know upfront what can and what cannot be done, but more than that, they want to know they can rely on the expertise, follow-through and sincere interest by the service provider to make inroads on the resolution… this means honest communication about the limitations of what you can do, explaining what resources you will need to bring in to fix the problem, how much time it will take, what might potentially make the resolution stall, and the timing of the subsequent communications they can expect to receive. Also, put yourself in their shoes. Think about the last time you had to call someone to help you with a product or service. Did you get off the phone feeling confident that your problem would be resolved, or that you’re just a voice on the phone with a complaint? Was the explanation of how to solve the problem reasonable or just words to end the call more quickly?

Keep in mind, following up with customers is another essential aspect of setting expectations. No one wants to feel snubbed and that their issue has fallen through a crack. Even under circumstances when the service rep assumes a problem is solved, they need to regroup with the customer to ensure that the problem has, indeed, been solved and the customer is satisfied. This is where good communication skills are called into play. When working with clients, gaining their trust and confidence can work in your favor as you assist them during the service experience. Some problems are a quick fix and others will take time to investigate and resolve. Communicating this to customers helps them to better understand what to expect and doesn’t leave them feeling in the dark.

Own Your Mistakes

One of the worse things any business can do is not accept responsibility for errors, or worse misdirect the error back to the client as something they did wrong. Customers don’t like mistakes… no one does, but when people know there is a human being on the other end who is taking ownership of the problem, it becomes a much more tolerable situation. Taking the time to forge relationships with customers means you are much more likely to be dealing with an understanding customer when inevitable issues arise. Knowing this, companies need to take the necessary steps to ensure their frontline service providers are empowered with the authority to take responsibility. For these employees that are customer-facing, being able to solve problems empathetically, and with swift and confident determination not only assures your customers that they are in competent hands, but also empowers your employees to go the extra mile… and this includes having the confidence to say, “I don’t know, but will find out,” as part of the resolution process. This response, also, requires confidence and faith in your employees to know they can do this if the problem cannot be corrected at the moment they are interacting with the customer.

Bending Over Backwards

Have you ever experienced working with a customer service rep that pulled out all the stops to help you? If you’ve been lucky, you can say, “yes,” to this. Those of us who have, know we’ve been considered a priority and our problem is the only thing that is in the spotlight to receive attention. It’s abundantly obvious when customers are made to feel important and it’s also obvious when customer service representatives are bothered or annoyed by the interruption of a customer’s request for help. Getting the brush-off when the interaction is face-to-face or being rushed off the phone is not an effective way to engender oneself with a customer. In a survey conducted by help desk software developer Help Scout, they found poor service delivery not only affects a company’s ability to satisfy their customers’ needs, but not surprisingly affects a company’s bottom line.

Respect Their Time

Time is a commodity of which we all wish we had more. In today’s world we are all called upon to do more with less and with that want our time observed and respected. In regards to service delivery, this means giving customers your undivided attention and listening to understand and not just to respond in some obligatory way. If your company is organized to deliver service via the phone, you need to be attentive to the customer on the other end of the phone and not scanning emails, or preoccupied with other work sitting on your desk. People can “sense” when their time is being wasted and may either get angry at the lack of concern or worse, the customer ends the call before their issue has been addressed and resolved. With this later action, some form of retribution may be sought out by the customer, so be prepared to deal with backlash.

Loyalty is a Two-way Street

Most consumers will stay with a brand or service provider for the long-term, if they have received the service they expect, and are consistently shown the value of their patronage with honest, personal and timely service and follow-up. (Further, they may in turn express their satisfaction by acting as a referral source for your company.) Keep in mind, it takes more than treating people as you wish to be treated, it means treating them as they wish to be treated. There is no one size fits all when it comes to working with people, but certain skills like listening to understand, remaining focused on the customer in front of you or with you via the phone, and even remaining attentive when your company website provides a chat option for service, will help you to gain the customers’ confidence in helping them resolve a problem.

Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and image your reaction to how you were last treated by a service provider. Providing great customer service is a skill that not everyone has, but is one that a willing and determined person can learn.

Here’s to your next great customer interaction.

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Managing Your Talent and Business Alignment

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Good business leaders recognize the value in a good hire, but often times don’t appreciate that one key individual can add to or deter from a company’s overall business plan. Consider a new Chief Technology Officer versus a sales executive within the same company. Most people would immediately acknowledge the CTO’s position as being the most pivotal and in large respect, it is a critical position and one that should be occupied by someone who can elevate the company’s technical advancements. So let’s consider the sales executive’s role.

The sales executive’s role is probably one of many like it within the organization, but sales executives often times serve as the face of the company and represent the organization externally in different capacities, not all of which are sales. These individuals may be members of a local organization where they provide volunteer time and may even sit on the board of another organization. This is a very visible representation and one where the sales executive is speaking on behalf of the organization in a business capacity. Given this, would you consider this role less important than the CTO’s? Maybe or maybe not, but each position yields a different ROI, so there needs to be a different approach in regards to specific talent management practices and how they impact the company’s overall business.

Everyone is a Contributor

One thing is for certain, hiring new employees and training existing ones should be aligned closely to the business imperatives of the organization. As businesses grow, expand their services, establish a footprint in other areas around the Globe, or simply tweak their existing products and offerings because of upgrades or enhancements, due consideration of the employee population should be included in the mix of your business strategy. A hard look at your current business and what your projections for company growth and expansion of products and services will look like in five years and beyond will impact the people you hire and train today.

Understanding the impact of each division, department, team and individual should not be a siloed evaluation. All parts and pieces are links in a chain that make up your company’s foundation. When one is weak, the strength of the other links becomes compromised. It may not be apparent immediately, but over time you may experience problems in customer service, low production numbers, disconnects with prospects, high employee turnover, all of which can lead to downturns in revenue or profits. When this occurs, a prompt investigation into all aspects of your business, including who and how talent is sourced and brought into your company should be considered, as this may be where the root of the problems are based.

Being on the Same Page

There are times when leadership can be so focused on particular outcomes of their business that they fail to acknowledge other important factors, such as what recruiting tactics are used to source and qualify people to advance and align with the organization.

One overlooked item is assuming that the recruiting team is informed and up-to-date on company goals and any subsequent changes to the short-term and long-term business imperatives. Are the job descriptions indicative of what skills and experiences are needed to build the foundation for the future? Do the hiring managers understand what they need to evaluate when considering people to fit the current role and how the candidates’ skills will impact the future of the role? Is everyone aware of the company’s direction and where the company needs to be in five years? Ten years? Do they know what the success profiles are for each position? These are all questions that must be answered before they can fully execute in accordance with the company’s plans.

Employee training is another area that can be out of sync with a company’s business imperatives. Even talented contributors need training, if for no other reason, than to be kept up-to-speed with the implementation of new technologies, policies, products and services. By offering training, employers stand a much better chance to retain desirable employees, as well as determining who is open to learning and embracing the company’s evolution. Keep in mind, training is an investment into your most precious asset… your employees.

Ultimately, communication is going to drive much of what your employees know or don’t know about the company’s short- and long-term business objectives. Leadership needs to decide what kind of info will be shared, with whom and why, as well as present that info so it’s understood by all people receiving the message and resonates with each person’s level of understanding. The obvious conclusion is to assume the mission, vision and company’s values are well understood by all and are unwavering, so when making adjustments to the business plan, this understanding helps drive the point home and makes adoption of the plan easier.

Reducing Risks and Other Factors

Talent management is more than having a succession plan. It’s understanding the value each position offers and capitalizing on that value in the present with eyes towards the future. Also, external factors such as demand, the market cost to fill certain positions, the economy, geography, Visas, etc. will also impact the alignment of your talent and company-wide business strategy. Items to consider include, but are not limited to:

  • Your current employee pool… what new skills do they need and how can you get them to the skills level your business needs with a shorter time-to-productivity
  • Bringing new talent into your company… do the job descriptions fit the current need with skills to build towards the future
  • Anticipating issues with hiring the right people for the jobs your organization will need to sustain your future business
  • Ensuring everyone on the leadership team is onboard with understanding how the present and future of the business hinges on the alignment of talent to the business plan

There are many answers you need to uncover to truly understand the importance of how talent acquisition and your business strategy should be closely aligned; the list above is only a starting point. Keep in mind, the goal should always be to reduce risks and manage the factors within your control and it begins with a shared vision.

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Corporate Perks: A Thinly Veiled Disguise

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It’s no secret that there is a war going on… a tug of war to be exact. Companies are scrambling to find the best and brightest talent and many are failing miserably. One of the tactics used by many companies is to seduce candidates with profound and presumably attractive perks as a lure for employment. Further, these same tactics can be used as a retention tool with existing employees. In the short-term, perks are novel and with that may be considered interesting, but in the long-run, they are not the enduring enticement employers believe them to be.

Perks come in many shapes and forms and offer varying benefits. Some companies believe that free food, paid travel, and other offerings of the like are exactly what it takes to attract new talent and to keep the talent they have. Simply, this is not a solid long-term solution. What’s worse is when one company attempts to mimic a competitor’s perks in the hopes that they, too, can enjoy the same presumed successes and much to their chagrin it goes sideways and for good reason.

Company perks should be a reflection of the company’s culture and match the values of that specific organization. Since no two companies are alike, it’s an erroneous assumption to believe that what works for one company should work for another.

Give the people what they want

According to a survey conducted by Gallup, a sample population of job seekers were asked what matters most to them about a potential employer. The results of the survey revealed that the respondents were interested in a company’s mission, culture, growth, advancement opportunities, compensation and compelling statements as to why they should consider employment with one organization over another. Not a mention of free food, ping-pong tables or free haircuts was cited by anyone in this survey.

An article on Careertopia, supports the findings revealed by the Gallup survey. The articles goes on to state that the five things job seekers want from an employer are: career growth; work-life balance; fair compensation; great leadership; and alignment with a company’s mission, vision and values. Once again, perks were not mentioned as being an attraction factor.

The Millennials speak

In a different survey conducted by Gallup, they queried 1,700 U.S. workers to determine the attraction factors that appeal to the three employed generations. What the results of this survey revealed is that Millennials, who are presumed to be job hopping know-it-alls, are in actuality seeking out employers that cater to a generation thirsty for opportunities to learn and grow, to be managed by great leadership, to be engrossed in work that is interesting and which offers challenges, along with opportunities to advance their careers. Additionally, the survey results disclosed that a workplace with an informal and “fun” environment was not a high-attraction factor highly coveted by this generation.

Independent of the Gallup survey, Deloitte conducted a Millennial survey which revealed that compensation along with interesting work and work-life balance rose to the top of the results and what is most in demand by Millennials.

The Sandwich generation

For people born between 1965 and 1978, also known as Generation X, they too have stated what is important for them in the workplace. For this group, work-life balance rises to the top of the results. For this generation, the realities of managing parenthood along with taking care of a parent is becoming more commonplace with each passing year. To that end, having a flexible schedule that allows for care-giving is a big attraction factor. Further, Gen X has developed a reputation for being results oriented, problem solvers who seek out work opportunities where their feedback and opinions are welcomed. Free food, indoor putting greens and other perks of this nature were not mentioned.

The thing that really matters

As leadership scrambles around seeking out the next best shiny object to use in their recruitment and retention arsenal, they need to stop and revisit that which is already in front of them: their company culture. This one item is the biggest and best perk any organization can offer to potential and existing employees. This is what attracts and keeps needed talent. People seek out a culture that aligns with their personal beliefs. Servant leadership, 360 feedback, companies that take an interest in their employees’ well-being, opportunities to learn, good communication, respectful interactions, work-life balance, fair pay, and for job seekers, a shortened hiring processes and timely follow-through with communications all matter. All of these are indicative of an organization’s culture and what is being researched by job seekers and responded to by employees.

The irony is that the bells and whistles that many companies buy into are actually not what they need. People place more value on a relationship and a good work opportunity than they do a ping-pong table or free haircut. I guess the old expression is correct… sometimes people can’t see the forest through the trees.

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The Real Partner Is Your Customer

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Venture Capitalism. Vulture Capitalism. When I hear those words, I immediately envision business owners whose top priorities are their investors exit plans, and subsequently are serving their investors rather than their customers. I’ve been a business owner long enough to see the effects of vulture capitalism within my industry. The landscape is littered with our competitors’ corpses and lingering bad business practices. And what’s left to show for it? Customers picking up the broken pieces of a defunct service agreement. It’s sad and very recognizable to see customer service go by the wayside… and even more disheartening to see how the customer becomes the ultimate victim of it all.

What’s the Real Cost of Doing Business?

I won’t deny that making money is a good thing… actually it’s a great thing. However, with the acquisition of new customers comes a reality beyond the money. The company and consumer should fully understand the benefits of partnering and look forward to a long relationship. You both have, in a sense, invested your time, money and energy into each other so making the most of your partnership should be the goal. There’s a responsibility to onboard customers truthfully, realistically and with respect. Desired client acquisitions should be viewed as relationships that are forged for the long haul, not a one and done that satisfies the immediate need to look profitable for your investors’ exit plans.

All this said, there are times when investment money can be a savior to your business. Necessary and ongoing software development, sales and marketing, and operations can be what is desperately needed to help your business not only survive, but also endure. In these situations, investigate your options thoroughly and don’t leap before you know the extent of your potential partners’ involvement and understanding of your industry, competition, business and long-term goals. The more aligned you are with the investors, the more likely you’ll find a harmonious and successful working relationship.

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Research tools are available for consumers to investigate a product or service prior to purchasing, but many people fail to use these to their advantage. It’s important to dig deep to uncover any hype or misrepresentation. As human nature goes, people will be dazzled by the shiny object. The perception being that what appears to be a duck and presumably quacks like a duck must be a duck, even if we’re not totally sure what it is. This mentality can easily happen in the minds of consumers, because they believe what is large, expensive looking, flashy, and presumably the next best thing, must be what they should have.

Peeling back the layers and looking deeper into our perceptions often reveals the truth and accuracy of what we believe to be real, and with that a clearer picture of what is actually in front of us, is revealed. Consumers don’t want to be misled and certainly don’t want to spend their hard-earned money on a bill of goods, but when companies invest large amounts of money on marketing that causes misdirection, consumers can be made to believe in brands that will not or cannot deliver on their claims.

It’s important to vet out all brands and fully investigate their worth. Look beyond the pretty pictures. Ask tough questions. Dig for the truth and do not settle for being misdirected. It’s easy to settle, but ultimately when you do that, you have conceded control of your money and fate, along with opening yourself up to the disappointment of poor service, payment for an over-rated product and years of frustration trying to divest yourself of the albatross around your neck.

Reputation Management

In today’s world where nothing and no one can hide, apathetic interests are quickly identified and exposed. Companies that continue to practice a narcissistic philosophy, are myopic at best. To live today without worry of tomorrow is tantamount to extinction. This form of self-centered thinking holds customers in low regard with businesses believing buyers are not the reason the doors stay open and lights remain on… after all, they have millions from their investors for that purpose.

Areas that should never be overlooked or neglected are customer referrals and authenticated product reviews. Both of these speak fathoms about your business’s reputation and matter to any organization that is consumer-oriented. Further, they’re likely a critical part of the customer pipeline. When consumers review sites such as Angie’s List, Home Advisor, TrustRadius and Capterra they should be looking for feedback from other people’s experience to guide their decision making.

And most importantly, take time to think about the type of pipeline you’re developing. Attempting to bring on new clients by whatever means necessary, especially when done to satisfy investors, is a house of cards that will eventually collapse with calamitous results for the customer.  If you’re paying your customers to refer business to you or to write unsubstantiated reviews, you’re building a pipeline of business under false pretenses; this is a dishonest practice and a conflict of interest, and it will backfire with negative results. Having brand ambassadors who have a vested interest in the success of your organization because they realize the mutual benefit of using your product or service is more valuable to you, in the long run, than false reviews or paid referrals for new customers.

Take a Lesson

There are a lot of great business leaders in this country. Some of which conduct business with the highest of moral standards. They see the value in a win-win situation and recognize the long-term benefits of ensuring everyone with a seat at the table is well served.

Ben and Jerry’s is a fine example of this. The core mission of their business aims to create linked prosperity for everyone that’s connected to their business: suppliers, employees, farmers, franchisees, customers, and neighbors alike. They know that when these stakeholders win, they win too. This philosophy creates enduring and satisfying results for everyone involved. Partnerships that are structured in this manner make doing business with each other a joy, and less likely to dissolve due to unfair or deceitful business practices.

When it comes time to consider your potential partners’ business philosophies, consider their history of doing business with other companies. Do they have a reputation to churn and burn? Yes, this partnership may infuse money into your business, but keep this in mind, their exit plan is the end goal and always top of mind in a churn and burn situation.

At the End of the Day

I like to believe that “good guys” can finish first in business. Good business people are those who are not self-serving, but are people who understand who it is that they serve, and they serve them well. This understanding is important because it puts motivation into context and gets priorities straight. Everybody wins in this situation. Companies make money. Customers get what they want and hopefully, return to buy more. Companies that conduct business with their customers in mind, will in turn, be top-of-mind to their customers.

I don’t profess to tell other companies how to conduct business, however for my company inviting in capital investors has never been an option. I choose to work with people who believe in the mission, vision and values we’ve set forth as a company. Capital investors are more concerned with how their exit plan will manifest and are not focused on the endurance and critical needs of the organization as a customer satisfaction machine. This should not be where your attention is focused. Your customer is the true partner.

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Communications and Negotiations

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Contrary to the belief of many, negotiations actually serve as a stepping stone to a potentially long-term, mutually beneficial alliance. Fair-minded negotiations are not the one-and-done actions played out by those who lack the skills and temperament to look beyond the moment, but are in fact, an interaction to ignite a satisfying, enduring relationship. In business it typically means that the people negotiating have come to an equitable agreement on terms for the outcome and where the “win-win situation” happens. For example, this could be product delivery, cost, quality, warrantees, and follow-up service… really anything one or more parties want to provide or to purchase. Creating relationships that are conducive to “everyone’s a winner” can be done, but is not always easy.

The Unbalanced Negotiation

The best outcome of a negotiation is when the end-result is mutually beneficial for all parties, but what happens if that is not a sentiment felt by everyone involved? You may be faced with a situation where a negotiation is, simply, not worth your time and effort. When one party’s demands create a “win-lose” scenario, it will hurt both parties in the long-run. When you concede more than you can realistically provide it may potentially diminish your ability to deliver on what you agree upon. In this instance, both you and the demanding party will lose. This can happen when a negotiator’s focus is unilateral with disregard to the other parties involved. This type of interaction should send up a red flag and alert you to the tenure of the negotiation which you can either walk away from, or re-steer to focus on what will create an equitable outcome.

Keep in mind, you have arrived prepared to discuss your points and substantiate your position. If you allow another party to dictate your negotiating posture, you’ve in essence relinquished control of your position and allowed the other party’s tactics to control the outcome. It’s fine to be flexible, and to a certain extent you should expect to be, but you need to do this without compromising your position and losing sight of what you envision to be an equitable outcome. Balanced negotiations set the stage for a win-win outcome and open the door to compromise and communication without anyone being affronted in, both, the short and long-term.

Negotiating Up

There will always be instances when negotiations are not conducted on a level playing field. We have all been in discussions with someone whose position, power or financial resources intimated or out-classed us. This is going to happen and sometimes our first experience at negotiating up begins at an early age (i.e., children negotiating for a higher allowance.) In a business situation, this doesn’t mean you should expect a negative outcome, but it does mean, you need to be better prepared and remain confident in your strategy. Research and preparation are two critical keys when presenting a solid case, but not just when negotiating up; these two practices should be present in all negotiations.

And always keep in mind, you are in the midst of a negotiation because you belong there. The value of your contributions has been recognized and you’ve been given the opportunity to put your complement of listening and speaking skills to use.

Can You Hear Me Now

The communications do not need to be hostile, but obviously opinions will differ or be contradictory in nature during conversations about how everyone can come out a winner. In large respect, this is a form of negotiation and negotiating with skill is not a science, but an art.

As with most interactions, becoming angry and loud is not as effective as remaining calm and deliberate in your delivery. Professors at Stanford University conducted a study to determine the effects of how anger can enhance or harm someone’s delivery during times of negotiation. What they found was, the presence of someone being non-temperamental, but pointed in her argument, was much more effective than when anger was used as a negotiating tactic. The feedback from the participants revealed that outbursts of anger were viewed as ineffective rather than a calculated use of language and guile. On the other hand, coming across as an automaton is not a recommended approach, either. It’s fine to show bridled emotions to tactically accentuate a point or to gain and give better understanding. Of course, timing will be a factor when using emotions as a tactic, so be sure to understand how this comes across both audibly and through your body language.

It’s Not Rocket Science

Maintaining a level-head, being confident and focusing on what you want to gain by the end of the negotiation will help you stay on track. Simple techniques such as: being prepared with facts and figures to support your comments and rebuttals, having a checklist to stay organized, compartmentalizing each of the items to be discussed to add applicable value to each discussion point at the correct time, deciding upfront what you ideally want at a minimum and what you are willing to relinquish (remember, negotiations are a give and take), as well as remaining patient, calm, and even finding humor in the discussion will help ease a potentially tough interaction.

Entrepreneurship 101

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In The Beginning

There are many reasons why someone desires to be an entrepreneur. There is, however, a commonality most often found among entrepreneurs… the entrepreneurial spirit. This trait is the driving force behind why people start their own business. It is a strong desire to create, coupled with a vision to succeed.

Various life experiences combined with someone’s own personal drive and vision can set the wheels in motion when considering livelihood as an entrepreneur. Undeniably, some of the biggest and best companies started in garages and basements by people with a vision to create. So what happens once the vision becomes a reality and you have a bona fide business? Hopefully, you have done all the preparation needed to get to this point and have a plan of action to keep your business heading in the right direction.

All too often, people with great ideas begin their entrepreneurial journey without having performed the due diligence needed on the front end. The business plan needs to be rock solid, your finances stable to sustain you, and your determination and endurance to keep moving the needle forward, fully charged. Understanding that a flexible mindset will help you make adjustments, as needed, is important and they shouldn’t be looked upon as setbacks.

In regards to finances, it’s important to consider options for your business throughout its lifespan. What does your business plan outline for the present, near and far future in regards to growth and what are the finances you’ll need to keep your business buoyant? When will you need to hire people, if at all? What type of capital purchases will be needed and is it better to buy versus lease? How will you anticipate and off-set your operating costs? There are many more questions you need to consider, but inevitably it will always come back to finances. For business owners seeking financial options, there are outside sources that may be beneficial, but understand these sources come with other types of “hidden costs” that may not be appealing, and I’ll address that later in this article.

Playing The Money Game

You need to be aware that obtaining investor money is not an easy task and one that many entrepreneurs will be denied due to the number of available investment opportunities. Generally, early start-ups are considered the least desirable by capital investors but can be attractive to an angel investor, who generally invests smaller amounts of money knowing there is a greater risk. Capital investors prefer to invest in businesses that have a track record of success and longevity thus increasing the odds of a big payout on their investment.

Is it wrong to seek out venture capital investments? Some people might say, it’s just the good ole’ American way of doing business. In reality, it provides opportunities for investors seeking great ideas, products and services that have come from the sweat equity of entrepreneurs. On the other-hand there are individuals who enter into entrepreneurship and start businesses with the intention of being invested in or purchased outright.

Serial entrepreneurs like Reid Hoffman make starting, quickly growing and acquiring large infusions of capital investments, their actual business model. I liken them to people who buy and flip houses. The emotional attachment to the property is in knowing there is no attachment beyond how attractive it appears to outside investors or buyers. This doesn’t mean the serial entrepreneur doesn’t care about his business; it simply means the end-goal is not for longevity.

For some entrepreneurs, an infusion of money from an outside source comes with a side of other, more significant changes. With venture capital comes the attractive infusion of money that not only helps relieve entrepreneurs of the financial burden of managing a business, but also helps divest them from the emotional attachment and control of the business they started.

These business owners have in essence agreed to take on partners with a lot of power and influence over how the business will be managed. The investors will assume the position of stakeholder and to whom the business owner will report. Since the goal of capital investors is to purchase at a price that leaves a great margin for profitability and opportunity to sell at a higher price down the road, the actions and decisions may not align between the investors and the business owner. This is a mindset business owners need to understand and adjust to quickly if they want the money. If relinquishing control of one’s business is something a person can mentally manage, then the transaction shouldn’t present any problems with the repositioning of authority. However, it will, likely, change many things about the company’s business model. Rest assured, venture capitalism is always this: self-serving to the investors.

At The End Of The Day

I don’t profess to tell other companies how to conduct business, however for my company inviting in outside investors has never been an option. I choose to work with people who believe in the mission, vision, values and culture we’ve set forth as a company. Capital investors are more concerned with how their exit plan will manifest and not focused on the efficacy of the organization as a customer engagement machine.

I like to believe that “good guys” can finish first in business. Good business people are those who are not self-serving, but are people who understand who it is that they serve, and they serve them well. This understanding is important for any business owner to know, because it puts motivation into context and gets priorities straight. Everybody wins in this situation. Companies make money. Consumers get what they want, and hopefully return to buy more. Companies that conduct business with their customers in mind, will in turn, be top-of-mind to their customers.

Knowing yourself and what motivates you, understanding what it will take to build your business and who you want to help make your organization successful are considerations never to be taken lightly.

Image credit: StockSnap.io

How Evolved Are Your Customer Relationships?

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“Customer experience is the perception that customers have of all their interactions with an organization. Customer engagement is something different, it’s a behavior and attitude, an outcome of customer experience.” ~ Bruce Temkin

I came across an article in my archives about customer relations that got me considering my own business relationships. The article discussed the differences between customer experience and customer engagement. I forgot what an excellent article this is and how well it explains the difference between the two.

Often times, I find companies proclaim a devout loyalty to customers, which can be unfounded. Customer loyalty is when a strong, and often times, symbiotic relationship exists between the service / product provider and the end-user / customer. There’s an emotional connection… one which goes beyond superficial platitudes, or an acquiesce to continue interacting. What it means is that both parties are invested in each other and gaining an advantage through the relationship. This is positive engagement and that is the mark of an astute and usually successful company.

Enter Technology

The digital age has changed many things, including the way companies and customers interact. When customers are engaged, they will provide (unsolicited) testimonials, tweet appreciation, post comments about positive interactions and gladly acknowledge the company / service provider. The venues are many and the dissemination of their acknowledgements are, often times, instantaneous. For the organizations that “walk the talk” for service, this immediate recognition is a blessing. However, for the companies that provide only lip service, these customer responses can be highly detrimental especially with social media amplifying these vitriolic messages with speed.

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

To truly understand the customer experience, companies need to delve into understanding customer expectations and set them appropriately. Even if a customer is new to an organization, this person will come into the relationship with a subconscious expectation of how they want to be treated, what will be considered satisfaction with the end-result, how the quality of the service or product is delivered, the simplicity or difficulty of the interaction, and how this experience compares to that of equal or similar products and services. Of course these perceptions are based on each person’s individual history, but in general, many people will agree on what is a bad service experience versus a good one.

Is Price Really the Reason?

The one thing that many customers and companies easily confuse is mistaking price for value. Though price is a factor in the purchasing decision, it’s not the main reason why people buy. This is why online sites like eBay do so well. People are bidding for items they deem as valuable with the intention to purchase based on their reality of value. This reality of value is where companies have an opportunity to get aligned with the consumer. This understanding allows companies to position themselves and their products / services to an audience in the market for their wares. In this instance, the organization’s value proposition is congruous with the consumer’s view of value, which better allows the customer to believe the price is indicative of the value for the item they desire.

Keep in mind, there are consumers who believe they can always have the best quality for the lowest price. These individuals have not evolved in their understanding of what value and price mean and how they are two separate things. They are a tougher sell and will require more education, a more in-depth series of questions to understand their motivation, and they need time to comprehend why and how your product / service is of value, regardless of the cost. Customers who lose sight of why they want to purchase something and only focus on getting the lowest cost can become a service nightmare after the sale. They haven’t listened well as their focus was strictly on price, and subsequently they may require more time and energy after the sale, which can be costly. Keep in mind, your time is part of the equation and with that has a value associated with the transaction. Selling at any cost can be a losing proposition for the service provider, as profits can be negatively affected, as well as your brand reputation. Carefully weighing the pros and cons in this instance is highly recommended and don’t be afraid to walk away from prospects who maintain a myopic focus on one thing… the price.

Everyone Needs to Understand Value

It’s important for the company and those selling to fully understand and appreciate the value of the service and product being offered. Articulating the benefits is a must for successful comprehension to occur. When companies can explain the benefits of their products and services, a door opens to a more in-depth engagement. Likewise, the buyer is reassured in knowing this understanding exists so the reality of value is easier for them to understand and to move forward with a purchase. Companies that understand their value proposition and know how to position their products and services to trigger appeal have made the commitment to evolve their customers’ experiences to a higher level of engagement in the relationship. This is where the win-win situation happens.

Engagement Create Advocates

The multitude of advertising venues available today is endless. Yet all these venues cannot compare to one singular form of marketing… promotion by word-of-mouth. Testimonials and endorsements are by-and-large the bellwether of customer satisfaction and impending engagement. According to one source, 90% of consumers will look at reviews prior to interacting with a company. Testimonials and endorsements allow engaged customers to promote and advance the value of your product / service because they deem the value to be in direct relation to the price they paid. This sweet spot is when you know the company’s value proposition and customers’ reality of value meet at the center of the interlocking circles. This is, also, where engagement flourishes and the customer relationship needs continual nurturing. This attention will encourage customer engagement to endure and grow, all the while an infusion of new customers begin interacting with your product / service

Though both have value, customer experience and customer engagement are two separate interactions. Engagement is the by-product of a well-managed relationship and one that all companies strive to attain. It’s the win-win and the most beneficial to both parties. Elevating your customer interactions should be a goal and one that is part of your company’s value statement. Engagement will always beat out experience.

photo credit:  Consumers via photopin (license)

The TalentCulture Corner Office With CEO Doug Coull

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This is the first in our series of interview-style articles that focus on conversations with executives from all areas in the world of work. These articles are designed to highlight various perspectives and experiences from professionals who have made the move to the “corner office.”

Cyndy Trivella, Events Manger with TalentCulture, sat down with Doug Coull, CEO, at Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. to talk about entrepreneurship, leadership and the value of good business relationships.

Cyndy: I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Doug Coull, from Advanced Personnel Systems, makers of SmartSearch applicant tracking system. Doug is a smart entrepreneur, devoted dad, an active member of the local community in San Diego, and someone who believes in building business that satisfies a greater good for the many.

Cyndy: So Doug, as someone who’s been an entrepreneur for over 30 years, you have a great deal of experience in being a business owner. What advice can you give to people who have entrepreneurial aspirations and want to start their own company?

Doug: To begin, create a detailed business plan. Have a realistic vision for what you want to do and be able to articulate it. Stay the course, but don’t make overly optimistic assumptions. Like the saying goes, “hope for the best, but plan for the worse.” Objectively weigh the pros and cons, and make sure you have enough money to live on and to fund the business. Make your most accurate assessment about how long it will take to become profitable and then multiply that timeline by three. You’ll need to get your hands dirty doing a little bit of everything and a lot of some things, and you have to be flexible. Also, don’t underestimate the amount of sweat equity that will be required. In other words, be prepared to work long hours so you better like the business you’re starting… a lot. You will, likely, only have a shot at success, if you love your business.

Cyndy: Very good advice. Sounds like the key here is balancing the entrepreneurial drive with a realistic and doable plan of action. So, once the organization is up and running, what are some of the pros and cons a business owner might face?

Doug: The pros fall into four buckets for me. First, there’s a great deal of self-satisfaction in seeing your vision come to fruition and to feel successful. Second, being a servant leader to your community and creating an organization that supports the economy and business health in your area and industry is very gratifying. Third, creating a successful company usually involves creating jobs which provides a livelihood and financial support for your employees, their families and, again, the community as a whole. It’s a tremendous responsibility, but one of the most rewarding experiences a business owner can have. Fourth, the financial security and independence, if you’re successful, can be tremendous.

Cyndy: I really like how you compartmentalized the pros and give all the parts equal importance. So tell us about some of the cons.

Doug: One of the biggest cons for many people is financial stress. Unpredictable risk management variables like the economy; bad weather; life circumstances associated with health and family emergencies; and even the relationship with your employees and customers can take a toll and overwhelm the most prepared business owner. It’s tantamount to the financial responsibility of home ownership, but multiplied ten times over. Also, being particular about whom you hire and whom you do business with is important, and ensuring that it’s a win-win situation for everyone is magical. Attitude and motivation go a long way in any relationship. Surround yourself with people who share in your vision and want to do business with you and who see the synergistic value… whether that’s your employees, vendors or customers. And though, this can be a scary thought, don’t be afraid to turn away business if it’s not a good cultural fit. Too often, business owners try to shoehorn customers into buying something that may not be right for the customer or his business. This type of partnership will fail miserably because neither the provider nor the customer understood what the end result would look like. The product, service and relationship need to make sense for both parties.

Cyndy: That’s so true; good relationships are important. O.K. so switching gears, I have a question for you on the topic of leadership. There’s a lot of press today about what defines good leadership and bad leadership. What do you see as the biggest obstacles leadership must rise above?

Doug: Believing that you are the only one who can get things done effectively is a false sense of self. If you want to be free of overwhelming responsibility, you need to let go of things.

Also, as I said previously, it’s imperative that you hire the right people. They must be people you can trust, who are highly skilled and motivated. Once you have these people on board, allow them to do their jobs and empower them to take responsibility. People want to be contributors and to be recognized for their contributions. Stifling them will not serve you nor them with a satisfying result. When I hire, I look for people who are smarter and more motivated than I am. Unfortunately, some individuals are afraid to hire people who are smarter than they are and that is a lost opportunity and a disservice to the organization. Good leaders shouldn’t fear strong employees, but instead capitalize on their strengths and make it work for them and the company.

Cyndy: I appreciate hearing this. As someone who works for you, I can say with certainty, you do allow people to do their jobs and to be a contributor in an environment where everyone has a seat at the table. Last question… so as a business owner in a space that is teeming with service providers, how can HR vendors build better relationship with their prospects and clients?

Doug: As with anything in life, becoming an effective communicator is essential. Great communicators listen as well as they speak. Also, taking a genuine interest in people and truly understanding their business, goals and needs shows you care about them and their success. And never, ever underestimate the value of your brand reputation. As human nature goes, people will share good news, but spread bad news faster. As last but not least, just be nice to people. Affability can go a long way.

Cyndy: Doug, it was great catching up with you and I really enjoyed the conversation. Thank you for sharing your advice and perspective with us.

Doug: Thank you; I enjoyed it.

Be sure to look for our next article, coming soon, from The TalentCulture Corner Office.

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