My Approach To LinkedIn
LinkedIn is probably one of the most useful tools for
networking and contacting others - provided that you use it “properly”. By this, I mean that you should treat it the
same way that you would if meeting people face-to-face.
My approach to LinkedIn goes like this:
I Don’t Accept Any Request
to Become Part of Someone’s Network:
I don’t walk up to a complete stranger and ask them to be my
friend. They want to know who I am and
why it’s a good idea to link up. I try
to get introduced by a mutual contact or write a message saying why I’d like to
hook up.
If Someone Knows One
of My Contacts, I Do My Research:
It’s interesting to see how many of my network don’t
actually know who’s on theirs. The conversation
goes something like this.
Me: “Hi Brian. X has
asked me to join his/her LinkedIn network and I see that they know you. What can you tell me about them?”
Brian: “Err, I think they asked me to LinkIn so I did. Don’t really know them…”
My Contacts Have a
Right To My Protection:
Once someone is on my LinkedIn network, he/she has access to
all my contacts. I don’t want these
precious contacts being disturbed by importunate or irrelevant appeals.
I Don’t LinkIn With
“Headhunters”:
I’m happy to correspond by email, but I don’t give them
access to my contacts so that they can make money out of them. This goes back to protecting my contacts
above.
I Accept That Things
Change:
As I move along my career path, people will come into and go
out of my life. The same happens on
LinkedIn.
Networking is about mutual benefit (sorry if this sounds
mercenary). I accept that, if people feel they’re getting nothing out of our
relationship, they will unlink.
Lots of Contacts
Doesn’t Mean Anything:
You don’t have the time to add value to anything except a
small number of contacts.
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to
“emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial
services around the world running different
operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide
solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Social, Strategy
Does Our “Customer Service” Serve?
In our daily lives, we
often find ourselves calling or emailing “Customer Call/Service/Contact/Support
Centres”. For any Customer Experience to
be successful for the customer, it needs to meet three basic criteria.
These criteria are that it should:
- Meet their needs;
- Be easy to use
- Be enjoyable
Different organisations may have differing views on what this
means, but to find out what will make the grade with our customers, we need to
actually ask. The answers will vary depending on our
industry, product/service, target customer base (different customer segments
may have differing views, don’t forget) and delivery channels.
One of the most popular channels is the phone, followed by
the internet. Physical mail still
happens, but is being displaced by email unless some kind of paper-based
authentication is needed.
With phones, we see the most direct and immediate form of
contact. This is equivalent to asking
someone face to face and suggests that the matter is urgent and important
enough for someone to spend their time on the phone rather than sending an
email or letter. This means that the way
we handle phone calls is a “make or break” point.
The complaints I hear about “Call Centres” are usually:
- Slow to answer
- Automated answering rather than a “live person”
- Too much time spent going though menus (“Press 1 for
Accounts, 2 for Sales”, etc)
- No option for what I want
- No option to speak to a live person
- Was given the option to call the person’s extension only to
be told they weren’t answering and the service hung up
- No option to leave a message
- Left message; no one called back
- In other words, the so-called “Call Centre” doesn't meet the
criteria required for a good customer experience.
Many readers will have had similar experiences, but most of
us can say that our hearts sink when we hear, “Welcome to the ABC Limited Call
Centre, to help us direct your call, please press…”. Whilst this is usually meant to make sure
that we get through to the “right person”, we’re still left wondering whether
we’re going to spend the next 5-10 minutes navigating complex menu choices or
on hold (“Your call is important to us and an agent will be with you as soon as
possible.”).
Email can be slightly better, but again we’ve all faced a
drop-down menu of “subjects” none of which quite describe why we’re emailing
(and we have to choose one of
them…). Again, we hit the “send” or
“submit” button and are left wondering if we’ll get a reply.
As for letter, many of us have written to “Customer Service”
only to hear nothing…
The upshot is simple: does our process actually work?
To do this, we need to ask:
- Who are our customers?
- What do people contact us about most (and why)?
- How do they want to communicate (phone, email, face to face/all
of the above)?
- Do different customer segments prefer different
communication channels?
- What’s our process for handling these contacts?
- Does it actually work? If not, why not?
- Do we have deadlines for replying (even if only a “holding
reply”)?
If our Customer Service actually serves, we can look forward to healthy business flows from happy
customers.
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging”
economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around
the world running different operations
and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for
improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Strategy
Sometimes We Need An “Admin Day”
If you tend to get
bogged down with running the day-to-day business of your company as well as
looking ahead for the next few months and then get accused of “not being on top
of things” or “letting things fall between the cracks”, chances are you need an
“Admin Day” (or even hour). Too many of
us don't designate “Admin Days” to sort out what’s gone before.
When I take action or make decisions, I generate more
actions, follow-ups or results that need to be carried out by me or someone
else. I can get so stuck in the “now”
that I forget the “before”. Every now
and then, I get into a period of calm when the temptation is to just put my
feet up and relax.
OK, that’s what I do (after all, I’ve earned it), but I’ve learnt to use some of that time for looking back and seeing what’s still in my
“pending tray” (or email inbox), what I’ve promised others that I’ll do, or
even what I’m expecting from others. I
then make a list, whatever it takes, but I get those things visibly in front of
me.
What’s a good way to structure all this? Over the years, I’ve read any number of
articles and books, gone on training courses and just thought. Conclusion: Everyone has some technique that
works for them and them alone. What I realised as I ploughed through the
likes of Franklin Covey and other “Time Lords” was that everyone needs discipline.
Here’s what I use:
ToDo List:
I use “2Do” which has desktop, iPad and iPhone variations
and syncs wirelessly or on 3G. It allows
use of start date (not all task list apps do), deadline and priority, along
with notes to remind me what’s going on, activity type icons and alarm
settings. I can create “Smart Lists” to filter tasks by type (e.g. “Emails”),
timing (e.g. “Next 7 days”, etc) or by category (e.g. “Boss”). I can manage checklists on it, so if one task
has a number of sub-tasks, they all go under one heading. This is one of my most powerful
organisational tools. I re-prioritise
and add new tasks as needed. I review
the next 7 days every day to “clue up” on the week ahead. If I have spare time (e.g. my appointment is
late, or I took less time than I thought to do something), I go through the
next day or two’s tasks and see if there’s anything simple I can “cross off”.
Diary:
The other powerful tool…
Not just for appointments with others, but also for scheduling “Me
Time”. Develop a set of initials (MT,
for example) and “block off” 1-2 hours/week.
Again, I review the next 7 days every day and every Sunday to check up
on the week ahead. If it looks busy, I review
the ToDo list and re-prioritise, delegate or delete.
Email:
Michael Heppell, author of How To Be Brilliant and similar books, recommends using “Action”, “Read
Later” and “Maybe” folders. When I go
through my inbox, I move emails into these folders before reading in full. I’ve
also added one called “KIV” for messages that I’ve sent that require action by
others. I go through this in my “Admin”
sessions, along with the “Read Later” and “Maybe” folders. “Action” is for what it sounds like - now/within
the next 2 days. I also used to have a folder labelled “Boss”
with a rule that meant the system sent all emails from my direct manager or
his/her direct manager straight to that folder.
When I looked at my emails first thing, I could see how many were from
the person who paid my salary.
I did a survey some time back and found that only 20% of emails
I receive are really “Action” items. The rest are filed for reading later, put in
“Maybe” (I may want to review them “one day”), or (mostly) deleted.
Let me say again: it takes discipline to make this work.
At times it’s tempting to “let it go” (that’s what holidays are for),
but it works for me. Others may find
different tools and techniques work better for them. As ever, find what works for you - don’t be
afraid to experiment - then practise. Like
any skill, the more you practise, the better you get and the easier it becomes.
“Admin Time” could be the difference between getting or
losing business, keeping a client or avoiding a fine. It keeps me on top of things and helps me refocus
periodically on where priorities really lie.
I have spent more than half my life delivering
change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging”
economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around
the world running different operations
and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for
improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Productivity, Strategy
