|
|
The Champions of Extreme Customer Service!
The
search for the Extreme Customer Service® Champion™ for the second
quarter of 2010 is underway.
If
you witness or experience an example of Extreme Customer Service®
document the story and send it our way. They just might join Edith
Mungovan who was the first quarter champion! Five independent judges
will select the winner who will receive $200 in cash and will
automatically be entered into the Championship for 2010.
Both
the person and the company will be recognized for their great work!
Email
Us
|
|
Innovative Business
Partners Inc.
1-877-521-2580
PO Box 60523
Worcester, MA 01606
www.contactibp.com
|
New IBP
Cue Cards
I noticed that after I conducted my Extreme Customer Service® workshops, people would take my quotes and use them as
screen savers, place them on their bulletin boards and even use
posted notes at their desks.
They use them as a constant reminder of how important it
is to provide Extreme Customer
Service® to both their
internal customers (their co-workers) and their external customers
(their clients).
So I decided to take quotes from my workshops and create
a set of 52 Extreme Customer
Service® Cue Cards®, one for each
week of the year. As you can see they come with a desk top holder so
they are easy to display.
We have also created cue card sets from my Team Building for Success™ and my Creative
Sales and Marketing™workshops.
If you would like a brochure and order form, you can
contact me below.
For Brochure and Order Form
|
|
IBP on the road!
If you would like to catch IBP on the road, Joe will be
speaking and attending the following events:
WCAC Annual Meeting
June 4, 2010
Worcester State College
Worcester, MA
AdvanceTechnology
Technology Expo
Scarborough, ME
June 18, 2010
If you have any interest in our coaching services,
workshops or seminars, contact us at www.contactibp.com
or contact Joe
clouatrej@contactibp.com
|
|
What was Jon
Bon Jovi's real name?
For a chance to win a $25.00 Lowes Home
Improvement Gift card submit your entry below:
Submit Entry Here
Congratulations
Dave
Sawyer
Safer Places Inc.
Dave
correctly identified the number of men that actually walked on
the moon as 12! Enjoy your Dunkin Donuts gift card!
|
Derek and IBP in the Winner's Circle three
weeks in a row.
Derek was set to defend his 2009 championship this
year and has started off with a bang! He has won the first
three races of the season in grand fashion! The first three
people that respond below will get to accompany me with Derek
and the crew for a behind the scenes look at race day,
FREE! Maybe you will find yourself in victory lane
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Joseph Clouatre,
We are
announcing our first referral program.
I don't
know about you, but I have so much that I want to accomplish but
there just aren't enough hours in the day. Sure, there are lots
more hours that I could work but it's important to keep some
balance in my life. After all, that's why I created IBP in the
first place. There are still books to write, programs to develop
and businesses to help!
I
remember when my employees and managers would express
their frustration because there was so much more they wanted to
accomplish. I would always tell them to take a snapshot from a
year ago, two years ago or five years ago and list everything they
had accomplished during that period of time. Each time it would be
amazing how long their lists would be and to see how much they had
actually accomplished.
If I take my own advice and look back, I can't
believe that today marks the third anniversary of Innovative
Business Partners, Inc. As I take a snapshot of the
last thirty six months, I am amazed at everything that has
been accomplished and how much we have given back to the
community. The list of workshops and seminars we have created and
offer is very substantial. Our collections of case studies and
testimonials are something to be proud of. If I think of the
business owners and executives I have coached through
challenging issues, it is very rewarding. However, if it weren't
for YOU, these accomplishments would not have been
possible. Most of our clients have come from personal referrals or
references. I might have had the concepts for IBP, but you have
helped to make it a reality!
After much thought, we are putting in
place a referral plan for those people who want to help us
continue to grow. Starting June 1, 2010, if you refer us
to a company and that company becomes an IBP client, we
will donate 10% of the revenue from that client to a
charity of your choice in your name.
This helps us in three ways:
* It
gives back to the community
* It
is a thank you to our supporters
* It
helps us accomplish our goals
As always, I thank you for your support and until
next time,
Joseph E. Clouatre
Chief Creativity Officer
clouatrej@contactibp.com
IBP
Website
|
|
Extreme
Customer Service Workshops
Creative Sales and Marketing Workshops
Team Building for Success Workshops
|
|
Your
daughter has just announced that she is getting married. Over the
next year, there will be weeks, if not months, of research and
planning to take place. The perfect venue for the reception must be
found, the wedding gown must be selected as well as the bridal
party's gowns. Hours will be spent working on the invitation list
and the seating arrangements. How long will it take to find the
right caterer and band? Of course you need the perfect
invitations for your guests and gifts for the wedding party. The
meal has to be planned and the day's activities choreographed like
the crowning of a king or queen. Will she drive off in a horse and
buggy, a limo or vintage automobile? So many decisions need to be
made in such a short period of time! You forgot about the
honeymoon and who is going to help you with the budget. You
finally realize that this is not your area of expertise and decide
to bring in an expert, a wedding planner. Think about how much
time, money, research and planning go into this five hour event.
That is right; this is only a five hour event.
When it
comes to your sales and marketing plan, how much time and research
do you invest? Your sales and marketing plan will drive your
business for the next year; 365 days! Most people have clear revenue
goals, but spend little or no time creating a well thought out
sales and marketing plan. The year passes and people are shocked
because they did not reach their revenue goals. I wonder why? Did
they take the time to do the research or did they consider an
outside expert to assist them with the plan? I will once again
quote Dr. Demming, it is 90% planning and 10% implementation.
The
next time you are considering your sales and marketing plan,
"Plan It Like a Wedding!"
|
|
Selecting
a Electronic Security Integrator
|
Geel,
Belgium - A Case Study - Plus Free Checklist
I have
been writing a series of articles for end-users on selecting and
negotiating with electronic security integrators. In this issue I
would like to share a case study plus extend to you an offer. I was
asked to select an electronic security integrator in Geel, Belgium
for a client.
Step
#1: Since there was a requirement for the equipment to be
Honeywell, I contacted Honeywell and requested a list of their
certified dealers in Europe.
Step
#2: I contacted the owners of these companies via phone and had a
brief conversation about the process.
Step
#3: I then e-mailed each owner an integrator pre-qualification form
to be filled out and returned within 5 business days.
Step
#4: Based on the surveys, I then narrowed the field to three
integrators that I wanted to consider.
Step
#5: I then e-mailed a brief survey to the customer references that
they provided me. E-mails are much easier than playing telephone
tag with references. It also allows them to answer the surveys when
it is convenient for them. In this case where I was dealing
with Europe, it was much easier because of the language barriers
and time difference.
Step
#6: I then selected the integrator that I want to work with;
however, I set up a phone call with one of the references that had returned
the survey about the company. I just wanted to clarify a few
questions.
Step
#7: It was time to contact the integrator I wanted to recommend, so
that I could clearly communicate both my expectations and those of
my client regarding this project.
Step
#8: I contacted my client and informed them of the integrator in
Belgium that I wanted to recommend.
The
project went extremely well. Since then the client has asked me to
look at another project in a different part of Europe.
If you would like a copy of my "Pre-Qualification
Checklist at no charge, e-mail me below.
E-mail for Checklist
|
|
|
Learn From Your
Customers
|
|
Listen to Your Customers - Jump in Your Car!
What do
you do when you receive a customer complaint? Maybe the customer
leaves you a voice mail, so you immediately call your sales or
operation staff to try and determine the problem before you call
the customer back. Maybe you talk to the customer on the phone and
then approach your team to find out what happened. I often witness
companies spending their time trying the build a case to show that
they were right and the customer was wrong, even when it was clear
that they were not right. It is amazing how far some
people will go to defend and make excuses. Once their response
is ready they often send an email to their customer. Sometimes
they will call the customer back, but the e-mail is much less
confrontational and besides it creates a paper trail doesn't it?
Here is
an actual situation I ran into when I was a security integrator. A
customer named Sally, with whom I had not met, called into the
company and complained to operations about something that we
had done wrong. Sally was irate and angry. As always, the
complaint was brought to my attention. After several conversations
with the Sally, it was clear that it was our mistake. We did not
spend a second of time or a single breath on how we could defend
our actions. We accepted blame and focused on what we were going to
do to correct the problem. Sally had called late in the day
and had been told that we would get back to her in
the morning.
The
next morning I drove to the Sally's site and entered the reception
area. As I approached Joan the receptionist, I knew this would not
be easy. Although I had Sally's boss Jim, I had never
met Sally and did not have an appointment. I didn't even know
if she was going to be in her office that day. I explained my
situation to the Joan and she told me that Sally did not
come in until 9am or 9:30am and it was currently 8am. So I decided
to wait in the lobby. Around 9:15am Sally walked through the
door and Joan pointed me out. Sally looked at me and I
could feel the chill in the air. She came over and said that she
did not know if she would have time to see me today. I said that
would be ok, because I would just wait in the lobby with hope
that she could find 15 minutes or so. She looked at me and said she
would be back in about 20 minutes. Finally Sally emerged from
the elevator and asked me to follow her back to her office. I
explained who I was, apologized and explained what we were doing to
correct the situation. She seemed ok with the response and asked if
I wanted to head to the cafeteria for some coffee since she hadn't
had hers yet. I guess I interrupted her routine. We sat in the
café and chatted for a while. She had warmed up and told me that she
could not believe that the President (me) of the company took the
time to drive to her office and wait in the lobby for her. She told
me about her responsibilities and I told her many things about my
company that she did not know. She actually asked me to have someone
contact her about some additional work that she wanted to get done.
I gave her my business card and told Sally that if she ever
needed anything in the future, to please call me directly. I left
there with a happy customer, additional work and a new friend.
The
next time you have an unhappy customer jump in your car or get on a
plane, it will show them you care and it will make a difference.
|
Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter.
We value your input and suggestions. If there are any topics
that you would like covered, just let us know. Please feel free to
pass our newsletter along to anyone you feel might enjoy it.
|
|
Joseph E. Clouatre
Innovative Business Partners, Inc.
|
|
|
