Creative Mind Consulting

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge

The start of a new year is such a great time to review your files and clean out old items. In doing so, I discovered two customer service articles that I wrote for an international moving industry magazine a few years ago.

They are just as relevant today, so I post them for your reading pleasure.

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge - Part 1:

Download Mobility customer service article 1

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge - Part 2:

Download Mobility customer service article 2

Mashable's Social Media Guide for Small Businesses

via mashable.com

If you're looking for a year-end guide to social media, Mashable.com has a great list of links in this post.

Speaking at the St. Croix Valley Business Alliance

I'll be speaking this afternoon at the St. Croix Valley Business Alliance, a new chamber of commerce here along the St. Croix River.

The networking meeting runs from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. and my topic is "Using Incredibly Useful Free Web Tools to Build Your Business."

The event is being hosted by the Ascent Companies, located at 2365 Willis Miller Drive in Hudson, WI.

UPDATE: It was fun meeting everyone and speaking last night. Ascent has a beautiful meeting location - complete with wall mounted fireplace, comfortable chairs, etc. Perfect location for a group of our size. We started the networking in the kitchen (isn't that true everywhere!) and moved on to the presentation. It was also great that we had time for everyone to introduce themselves and their businesses. Looking forward to next month's meeting ~

Giving to Others - the Holiday Edition

In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd list as many ideas as I could think of for helping others this holiday season. There are many families and individuals struggling this year...sometimes reaching out to them with a kind word or thoughtful gesture is the most important thing you could possibly do this year.

And - if times are tough for you and your family, finding little ways to help others can lift some of the gloom and dark feelings. 

I'll add more as I think of them or find inspiration....

Feel free to add more good ideas in the Comments section!

Ways to Help Others

1.  Donate food to a local drive or food shelf

2. Buy a fresh wreath from the local Boy Scouts and give it a friend who's cutting back this year

3. Offer to drive an older neighbor to the doctor's office or Christmas service at church

4. So many ways to help your local schools....

• Call the administration and offer a scholarship to help kids who need help affording to play sports, go on overnight field trips to the state capitol, or choir concerts
• Offer to buy art supplies or band instruments
• Donate vintage clothing to the local college's theater department
• Offer to speak at the high school's career day

5. Band together with 5 other families or individuals, contribute $25 a month and help pay the utilities for a struggling friend or church member

6. Bake a yummy plate of slice 'n bake cookies for a friend who's feeling down or lonely

7. Load up a grocery store gift card with enough funds for a week (2 weeks, a month...) and have a local pastor or religious leader give it to a family who's struggling

8. Buy several bags of pet food and again, contact a religious leader to find out who could benefit

9. Partner up with colleagues and fill a Christmas wish list from a friend who's struggling

10. If your church, religious community or local shopping center offers a "giving tree" or "Angel tree", pick a tag for a teenager. Charity groups have the most trouble filling those gift requests.

11. Invite a friend, or another family to share Christmas dinner

12. Go it alone, or partner with friends, to make a car payment for someone in need

13. Take it a step further and help buy a used car for a family or single parent in need. There are a number of charities who offer such a thing, and it's a huge step for the person for whom lack of affordable transportation is a barrier. 

14. Offer to share rides to sports practices with the parents of your child's teammates

15. Purchase a membership in a local professional association for a colleague who wants to join (or renew), but can't afford the fees. Touch base with the chapter president or executive director to find out if there's a need.

16. Offer to trade services with friends. Trade professional services (accounting vs.computer help) or personal ones (change the car's air filter vs. house cleaning).

17. Buy a resume review for a friend, or offer to review it yourself if you have an eye for that sort of thing.

18. Help a colleague keep their professional edge - buy them a yearly subscription to a professional magazine or journal. 

19. Do people clamor for your famous holiday mint brownies, turkey spice rub or chocolate-dipped pretzels? Let your kitchen do the talking when it comes to holiday gifts. Package homemade creations with fun papers, ribbons or tags for a personal gift without spending lots of cash. Share the love with less fortunate friends, church members or colleagues. 

20. Offer to shovel the walk/snowblow the driveway of someone who's sick or older. Or - just get there first with snow blower for your neighbors and be their Secret Santa. 

There's 20 to get you started!

Writing for the Web - Avoid "Worm Tracks" through Your Text

If you're going to use social media regularly, you'll end up wiring a fair amount. And while writing for the web is similar to offline papers, letters or documents, there are some key differences.

Social media offers you some incredible opportunities to express yourself - but that can have both a positive and negative impact on your image. If writing isn't your strong suit, do some homework, or work with a writing consultant to polish your prose.

Web writing guidelines come from the desktop publishing world - a descendant of the typewriter era itself.

Back in the day, when students all took "typing," one of the first things you learned was to double space after a period.

However, that rule has gone the way of the typewriter itself. When writing for the web, use only one space between sentences.

I know, I know...it's a tough habit to break. But if you get the chance, compare a page of printed text with single spaces vs. double spaces after the periods. The double spaced page looks like it has a series of "rabbit" or "worm" tracks down the page. 

The technical capabilities of desktop publishing are such that you don't need that extra space to improve the appearance of the page, like you did when using a typewriter. Plus - you date yourself when using double spaces. You're making it clear you're old enough to have taken typing (vs. "keyboarding" ) at some point in your past.

This is one of those little things that will help polish your online image - which is becoming increasingly important in the social media age.

Incredibly Useful Free Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission

My presentation last week to the American Society for Training and Development, Twin Cities chapter (ASTD-TCC) is uploaded for your viewing pleasure (SlideShare made it extremely easy to post):

Is it a lack of Leadership or a lack of Character?

I've noticed that I've spent more time posting (what I hope are) thoughtful responses to LinkedIn questions...than blogging. Soooo, I've decided to copy and paste some of my LinkedIn answers over here.

A great question was posted in the Linked 2 Leadership group the other day by Gregory Gull:

Why is leadership so rare? I mean the real leadership we all truly need.

Leadership can’t be defined as a characteristic of an individual since it is an emergent property of the relationship between individuals. In short, leadership has to do with a ‘We’ and not with a ‘Me’. Analogously, neither hydrogen nor oxygen has the characteristic of wetness, yet water is wet. There can be no leadership with (just) one individual! … 

Mine was the 34th answer, so it's clear this was a popular topic ~

The older I get...the smarter my parents become, no?

My parents have both been volunteers and leaders in my hometown. I was taking a leadership class a number of years ago, and interviewed my dad on his view of leadership, and his leadership style. Since he'd been on our city council, on numerous committees, boards and commissions...I thought he'd talk about how he saw his role in those organizations.

Instead, his big emphasis was on how he (and my mom) had tried their best to be good leaders...at home. Only now, as a wife and mother of teens, do I fully begin to appreciate the wisdom of his words. While our children watch us all the time, as teens they begin to integrate what they've observed with the world around them. While they often struggle against our guidelines and restrictions, it is a time when self-control and denial of self are being developed on a broader level.

To be a good driver, you must deny that impulse to go fast and get to your destination more quickly. To get good grades, you must have the self-control to stay home from the movies to do homework. To be a good friend, you learn to listen and not jump in right away with answers. Etc.

Far too many of today's "leaders" seem to never have left the adolescent "it's all about ME" stage...and in our relatively peaceful, prosperous nation, denial of self hasn't been much in evidence or much encouraged. We haven't needed to sacrifice much of anything in comparison to earlier generations. Sacrifice builds character...which is what these leaders lack.

Add in the retreat of organized religion (particularly Christianity with its emphasis on service to others and denial of self) from the public arena to the private sphere.

Mix well with an advertising and popular media culture of self-indulgence vs. self-control over the last 30-40 years..and you have a recipe for narcissistic "me'ism" that is the direct opposite of "servant leadership". To be a servant leader...you need to serve. You need to elevate others above self.

It's clearly still a part of our culture (see: law enforcement and the military for examples of people who run toward danger to save others), but not as widely accepted, encouraged or acknowledged in the general community at large.

How do you build "servant leaders" when leaders "succeed" materially with no expectations of self-sacrifice? Thinking that "training" or "coaching" or "mentoring" will solve this problem is similar to caulking the cracks in your basement...when the river is flooding outside your door. The caulking isn't going to do much good if the river rises above the threshold of your doorway.

You might want to consider the question "how do I/we build character?" before you consider what "solutions" might be effective.

     

Two Exciting Presentations Upcoming....

Just finished preparing presentations for two upcoming conferences -

"Lessons from History: Ethical Leadership" for the

American Institute of Architects 2009 Minnesota Convention

and

"Using Incredibly Useful Free Web Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission" for the

the American Society for Training and Development 2009 Regional Conference

Really looking forward to both. Here's the text of the workshop bulletin for the architect's conference:

Just as ancient structures or historical buildings inspire current design trends and architectural constructions, historical characters have much to tell us about modern leadership and ethical behavior under difficult circumstances. By looking at several key Revolutionary War leaders and the challenges they faced, we take away insights that inform our relationships with colleagues, building partners and clients. This program will emphasize four key concepts underlying ethical leadership development: casting a vision, character formation, overcoming adversity, and continuous learning.

The intersection of leadership, history, technology, social media and democracy is a fascinating, and I hope to do more exploring in this area.

Thinking about Social Media & the Basics

I think it's easy for those of us who like to jump into new activities, to think that "everyone" has this social media thing all figured out. I've heard people say things like "it's so easy - why wouldn't you have profiles everywhere!?" or "you have to be a dummy to not 'get' social media."

Hold on there pardner...before anyone starts talking down to anyone else, how about we recognize a couple of key points?

• Using social media effectively takes real time and commitment
• Once you jump in,there are consequences to getting out...so take the time to strategize what you want to get from your social media involvement
• Choose wisely - not all social media platforms are necessary, and not every one will help you accomplish your objectives

Social media platforms are just tools - nothing more and nothing less.

When building a house, you need certain construction tools, but not others. You pick and choose according to the type of building, location (do you need to dig out a basement, for example? You're going to need some excavating tools), size, materials (metal roof?), etc.

The goal is to build a strong, (hopefully aesthetically pleasing), functional home - and the tools all help to achieve that purpose. While some people might drive an excavator around for the fun of it, most will drive it only to achieve a certain objective.

Same with social media tools. Some are fun, just for the heck of it - Facebook for me. It's great to connect with old college friends and family. I don't want too many work colleagues on there because it's not a work-related platform at this point. Others differ and use it to connect with all sorts of people. 

Other tools are more business-focused - like LinkedIn. It's a great tool to connect with work colleagues, networking acquaintances, clients, etc. Some draw their circles tightly around their profiles...others connect with whoever asks. Again, as a tool, what usage makes sense for your needs? If you're job seeking for example, perhaps connecting with a larger range of people is the best approach. 

Take the time to strategize what you hope to achieve by using social media tools, and which ones make the most sense for your needs.

"Brainstorming for Business" ideas...Non-profit Grant Wrangler

If you work for a non-profit organization, no doubt you've contemplated writing grants to secure state or federal monies to advance your mission. And - there are many professional grant writers out there who can help.

They know how to locate grant opportunities, wade through the piles of regulations, and write a compelling narrative.

BUT - deciding to write a grant is only the start of the process. At the federal level, there are 26 different agencies who offer over 1,000 different grants...and each one has certain requirements that need to be fulfilled.

The non-profit needs to register with the appropriate federal agencies, coordinate grant status with congressional staffers, advise the staff on potential policy impacts of grant acceptance, file financial and progress reports, and complete grant closure paperwork.

Some non-profits are lucky enough to have staff members who take on the demanding role of grant administrator...others hire grant writers to help with the process.

However, many organizations could benefit from the services of a:

• Freelance Grant Wrangler

If you are a technical writer, non-profit staff member looking for consulting work, or just a person with a great eye for detail...."grant wangling" could be for you!

A "grant wrangler" not only writes the grant application, but advises non-profits on all aspects of grant "strategery", files the appropriate applications, ensures all the required paperwork is completed, talks with congressional staffers and provides expert advice on all aspects of the grant process.

Look for non-profit organizations who need help landing government grants - and are willing to pay for your help. If a non-profit needs $5,000 - they need to find a new donor! If they need $150,000 - now, it makes sense to potentially pursue a government grant.