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119: ‘Made to last’ vs. ‘disposable’

May 29, 2013 by Brenda Leave a Comment

Some time ago, Glynis Horning, a South African journalist asked me what advice our ‘older generation’ could give the ‘younger generations’.  That was a thought-provoking question!   My answer appeared as part of an article in the Psychologies magazine.

blog119

Psychologies article.

My first comment was that the younger generation lacks a sense of permanence.  But, maybe that’s good?  It was hard growing up in an era where choosing your first job was like a life sentence.  ‘Nice people’ didn’t change jobs. 

It’s not like that now.  Staying in the same job often gives the impression that you lack initiative.  Being able to recognise and immediately optimise opportunities is one of the keys to success.  Being flexible and able to operate in ambiguous conditions is essential in our current conditions which are often volatile. 

The shift from ‘made to last’ to ‘disposable’ affects aspects of our value systems and changes our attitudes.  Older generations grew up expecting to stay in their jobs, remain in their cities, remain close to their families and often tended to regard relationships with a sense of permanence. (I’m not implying that all modern relationships don’t have a sense of permanence.) 

Conflicting attitudes often cause lack of understanding between the generations.  And this is important because for the first time ever, we now could have as many as four generations in the workplace or organisation at the same time.  An example given to me recently was that the ‘older folk’, those who had been working for the company for some time, found it hard to cope when a new ‘whiz kid’ was appointed as their leader.  He ‘swept in and changed everything’.  While the majority were still trying (somewhat reluctantly?) to become part of that change process, the leader moved on to another exciting position, leaving perceived chaos in his/her wake.  I realised I was hearing one point of view.  I would have enjoyed holding a conversation with the ‘whiz kid’! 

Young people, raised in an era of ‘don’t fix the printer, just buy a new one’ will certainly not place as much importance on ‘made to last’ as our generation did.  Even our pens were ‘made to last’.  Do you remember how we used pens that we dipped into inkwells at school.  My husband tells the story of one of the boys in his class at school who was caught smoking.  He had the desk lid lifted (yes, we used to sit at old-fashioned wooden desks!) was smoking and the smoke rose through the hole made for the ink well!  The teacher saw this and immediately sent him to the headmaster’s office. 

Products, jobs, location, relationships have all become more disposable.  And anything that is faster replaces that which is slower.  A friend tells the story of how his grandfather, going on a business trip, used to go to the train-station to catch the train from his town to the city.  If he missed the train, he came back a week later and caught the next train.  His father on the other hand, in the early days would be taken to the airport and if he missed the plane would come back the next day to catch the next flight.  Now, if my friend misses his ‘wedge’ of the revolving door, he becomes totally stressed.  Everything has become faster.  But has it become better? 

The younger generation could benefit from learning to appreciate ‘permanence’ - but then look at how much they can teach us about flexibility, coping with change and technology! 

Where there are differences, or where there are changes, there will always be perceived benefits and perceived disadvantages.  In the ‘Handwriting on the wall’ (‘Who moved my cheese?’ – Spencer Johnson) we are reminded that we need to ‘smell the cheese often’.  We need to scan the environment, recognise change and reflect on which opportunities are closed down and those which are opened – and then take appropriate action. 

Questions: 

1.  What is one of the main lessons you could learn from:

  • Two generations above yours
  • The generation above yours
  • The generation below yours
  • Two generations below yours (may not be applicable)

 2.  What is the main lessons each of those groups could learn from your generation?

3.  Which products in your life are disposable?

4.  Which products in your life are ‘made to last’?

5.  What, if anything, is ‘permanent’?

6.  How do you go about scanning the environment for change?

7.  And how do you use that information to your advantage?

For more information on ‘Executive Coaching’ or keynote speaking please contact Brenda Eckstein on +27 82 4993311 or brenda@146.66.90.172

The benefits of excellent Customer Service

July 18, 2012 by Brenda Leave a Comment

During similar workshops on Sustainable Customer Service Strategy, when asked to provide ten benefits, each group develops lists.  There is sometimes very little overlap with the input from other groups.  Even when consolidated, the final ‘list’ from each workshop varies considerably.  This reflects the wide range of benefits perceived in providing a sustainable customer service programme.

If you go to our home-page and then press the blog tag, once you are in that section you’ll see a column down the right and there you’ll notice ‘categories’.  Thus it is easy to click the ‘customer service’ section and all the blogs on customer service will appear.   If you scroll down, you’ll notice that there have been two blogs on ‘The benefits of excellent Customer Service’ and these arose from workshops held in Johannesburg on July 22 2011 and Durban, July 26 2011.  Isn’t it interesting how different those two lists are? 

Then have a look at two more lists below.  These refer to recent ‘Sustainable Customer Service Strategy’ workshops co-presented with Leon Grové of Leverage and Growth in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.  In the first workshop we consolidated ‘tips’ and in the second, ‘benefits’. 

June 27 2012 - Pietermaritzburg

Tips on Customer Service

  1. Recruit the right staff – people whose ‘value systems' and ‘work ethic’ are in line with the corporate culture.  Then train them. 
  2. Consistently implement values and principles.  Capture the minds of the staff and get ‘buy in’. 
  3. Encourage a culture of improvement including training and reading. 
  4. Clearly identify and define customer needs.  Develop an attitude of ‘customer focus’ and ‘customer orientation’ as this is critical to success. 
  5. Communicate effectively with customers.  Handle feedback from customers timeously and act on it where practical and beneficial.  Let the customers know what steps you have taken. 
  6. Behave in a professional manner and at all times uphold the company image.  Strive for success in a harmonious way. 
  7. Act in a respectful way, being aware of cultural differences and perceptions. 
  8. Be agile in your approach.  Recognise and optimise opportunities in the shortest amount of time possible.  Respond to market changes and respond to new products. 
  9. Deliver what you promise and continuously improve wherever possible.  But be consistent in maintaining your standards. 
  10. Interact with external and internal customers on a personal basis, thus building positive relationships.  Visit people.  Use the telephone more.  Use e-mail less. 
  11. The sale is part of a process and even when your product or service is in the field, and money in the bank, there is still part of the process to complete.  Provide excellent and consistent after-sales service.  This keeps customers happy and enhances the value of your products. 
  12. Set up an informal task team and key people to regularly fine tune processes and implement new ones.  Use all available resources to get the job done.  Tailor service to suit customers’ specific needs through use of technology.

July 5 2012 - Durban

Excellent customer service:

  1. Has to be built into the mission statement so that it becomes a focus for staff and customers.  This needs to be visible to help everyone ‘live’ the mission.            
  2. Develops, builds and sustains long-term positive relationships with internal and external customers.      
  3. Encourages customers to be loyal and supportive and these customers pay!       
  4. Ensures that customers enjoy the experiences involved in dealing with you and your business.      
  5. Creates a framework of positive relationships where there is an ‘absence of malice’ when things go wrong.  There can also be a direct means of dealing with issues (e.g. ‘Hello Peter’).       
  6. Provides a way to handle complaints correctly so that dissatisfied customers can become loyal customers.      
  7. Generates a sense of personal  achievement.  Improved morale leads  to growth through increased turnover.     
  8. Gives customers a way to positively refer future potential customers to you.  Reputation for excellent customer service captures new customers.     
  9. Incorporates ‘following up’ and this reminds customers of our existence and generates more business.     
  10. Gives a competitive advantage enabling this business to become the ‘preferred supplier’ and a market leader through an increased share of the market. This safeguards the business as it becomes more sustainable in the long term.

For more information on our ‘in house’ workshops on ‘Sustainable Customer Service Strategy’ please contact brenda@146.66.90.172.  There is also more information on my website.

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