Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
IN OUR WORLD
I am coming to you from beautiful Southern California where spring is really here.
It has been a great week full of all kinds of stuff:
- 2010 Web Site: Finally finished writing all the new content. So now we move on to design. I hope to have it launched by the end of the second quarter. It will feature new topics, an elegantly simple navigation, and a minimalist design with new videos.
- Teacher Education: I had the honor of presenting my program on how thinking impacts team performance to a room FULL of teachers. It was a fantastic opportunity to challenge the way they “frame” their understanding. It must have made an impact as I had an email box filled with requests to get on my mailing list!
- Personal Branding: My HUGE personal branding project hit the ground running this week as we get in the idea dissemination phase of the new strategy. It starts in LA.
- Taxes – YUCK – Spent a day on the good old dues we pay to our dear old Uncle Sam
Next week I will be in Boston for the continued launch of the Personal Branding project as well as work on new client video projects.
HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE
AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
How important is planning? How important is properly aligned training? How important is it to fit both planning and training into a sustainable culture? Here is a little story to help you understand the push for the right answers to the previous questions:
It is a bright and sunny morning and I arrive at the store at around 8:00 AM even though I know the store won’t open until 9:00 AM (an hour earlier than usual). Guess what? I’m not the only person who decided to arrive early. In fact, there’s a casual line formed.
Employees of the company are handing out Dunkin Donuts to everyone who wants one. Ahhh, the donut, natures perfect breakfast food. I take one and thank the cheerful staffer (who surprisingly is about 40ish). I engage other folks lined up and we engage in casual banter and repartee.
The doors open to thunderous applause and plain old hooting and hollerin from the gathered throng.
A well trained employee comes out to greet us and give us a simple play by play of how the morning will fold out.
When it was my turn to enter the store a well trained and prepared young sales person took me into the store and individually guided me around with the sole purpose of making my sales experience something special.
In 20 minutes I was done and as I exited the store I was greeted by cheers and high fives from those still waiting for their chance to spend money.
You have probably guessed that was the experience at an Apple Store for the release of the new iPad.
Think about it for a moment. Each of the encounters was well planned and they had trained their staff to follow a simple sales and interaction process. It IS THE APPLE CULTURE.
So, can you create a client experience like that? The great news is that you don’t have to! You have to be able to take your DEFINED client experience and figure out how to take it ONE LEVEL ABOVE your current performance.
If you are interested in a strategy that moves your culture forward in ON STEP actions let me know.
ENTERTAINMENT
MOVIES: Kick Ass. It’s based on a famous graphic novel.
NetFlix Fans: Duplicity: I am a huge Clive Owen fan and missed this when it was at the movies.
TV: Nothing new here but I continue to marvel at the Sunday night running of the LIFE series on The Discovery network. The diversity of life on our Pale Blue Dot is unbelievable. I am still a big fan of The Human Target (Wednesdays on Fox) and Justified (Tuesday nights on FX). Both of these have become must see’s in addition to House MD and The Mentalist.
BOOKS: Selling Change – 101 Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change
An interesting book that has some gems buried in the 101 ideas (way too many). Think of sales professionals as coaches or counselors to assist the buyer in a different manner. Think about finding opportunities to do your sales presentations to a group of clients. This can create advocates to your product or services.
MUSIC: Joe Strummer’s killer cover of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. I spend more time on this one section of my blog than any other. I listen to song after song trying to find something that means something. Thanks for the kind comments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F10tP5HIpaA&feature=related
WEB SITES: Bookmark this site NOW!
SOUTH OF NORMAL
This week I had the honor of working with a great group of Jr. High teachers. I arrived early for the set up and audio visual run through. They weren’t quite ready for me so I sat in the office waiting. It was there that I heard a conversation that makes the South of Normal for the week:
- Parent to the receptionist: “Miss? Can you please confirm that the school will be observing a full day of silence this Friday as part of the Gay and Lesbian Day of Silence Program?”
- Receptionist to parent – after a rather long silence and three headed monster look at the parent – “Mam, I have heard nothing about it. I believe that if we would be involved I would have heard.”
- Parent: “I read it in an email.”
- Receptionist – “From whom?”
- Parent: “Someone from the school.”
- Receptionist – “Let me check.” She then calls someone. I can hear the person laughing as the situation is explained. In fact, I myself am laughing.
- Parent: “It’s NOT FUNNY.” I’m thinking, sure it is.
- Receptionist – “We are not observing a school wide, teacher and student, day of silence on Friday. A full school wide day of silence would make it difficult for us to teach.”
- Parent: “thank you.”
When she left I looked at the receptionist and I said; “that was a kind of south of normal question, to which, without a beat she answered – “this central casting for South of Normal!”
Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com
Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.
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