Becoming a world-class organization starts by determining what kind of experience you want your customers to have. How would you like customers to be treated as they interact with every part of your company?

Now compare your vision of ideal customer service to what is currently happening in your organization. Look and see where things don't quite match up. If your organization is like most, it will have quite a few bumps and warts that you will want to address.

You will also want to consider your company's consistency factor. Delivering your product or service properly time after time after time without fail is the foundation of creating loyal customers. Consistency is critical because consistency creates credibility. Consistency is the key to creating loyal customers.

The worst thing you can do is meet expectations one time, fall short another, and exceed every now and then. That will not only drive your customers crazy, but also send them running into the hands of your competition the first chance they get.

It takes excited and passionate people to create a customer-focused culture. You cannot treat your people poorly and expect them to take good care of your customers. Empowering your people and permitting them to act as owners is essential.

There are three things you can do to get--and keep--people excited about their jobs:

• Worthwhile work--People want to know that the work they are doing is important and makes a difference. Make sure that everyone understands the significance of their particular role in achieving the company's overall vision. Remind people of their significance on a regular basis.
• In control of achieving the goal--Let people have a say in how they do their jobs. It is increasingly important to place the responsibility for decision making directly on employees themselves. The good news is that employees are more motivated when they know they are being counted on to use their own judgment versus simply carrying out policies that allow for little, if any, individual discretion.
• Cheer each other on--Everyone loves to be recognized for a job well done. Create a collaborative climate where milestones and other measures of improvement are celebrated and people feel acknowledged. Reward and recognition focused on catching people doing things right is one of the best ways to positively reinforce a motivating work environment.

Great managers hold everything together. They know that leadership is not about them; it is about serving the vision and the people who make it come alive. Great managers realize that they cannot do it all themselves, so they empower people to make decisions and then support them all the way.

Today's manager must be a coach, facilitator and cheerleader for the employees they support. To be world-class, make sure your managers support their direct reports in four ways:

1. Provide access to information and training that gives people the right start and helps them to grow. Lets employees know why what they do is important to your company and how it provides value to your customers.
2. Use performance management as a way to give people the direction and support they need--when they need it--so employees can accomplish their goals and the organization can succeed.
3. Provide recognition frequently and celebrate performance over time. Catch direct reports doing things right instead of wrong to keep them inspired and focused on what's important.
4. Keep employees growing through ongoing career planning. Give direct reports the opportunity to develop skills that will make them more valuable employees.

The process of building a world-class organization takes time, energy, and commitment. It all starts by developing a shared vision that is focused on the customer and the experience you want your customers to have when they interact with your company. It continues with engaged employees who are passionate about delivering that experience and understand how their role fits into the overall picture. Finally, it is held together by great managers and leaders who recognize that their goal is to have the right people, in the right roles, fully engaged and growing if their organization is going to succeed in the long term.

At The Ken Blanchard Companies we don't think organizations set a goal for themselves to be "no worse than the competition." Instead, we think that people and organizations want to be world-class. It's the job of leaders to bring out that magnificence in people and create the environment in which employees feel safe, supported, and ready to do the best job possible in accomplishing key goals on behalf of their organization.

Once people begin to see their work differently, big things begin to happen. Begin the journey today.

Please join us for a free complimentary webinar: Leadership: The Key to Organizational Success

Leadership: The Key to Organizational Success
Thursday, September 15, 2005
9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Your organization's overall leadership capacity is the most important factor in determining your organization's success. In this presentation, best-selling author Scott Blanchard will show you how improving the level of leadership within your organization will improve your ability to attract talented employees and retain loyal customers.

In this seminar you will learn:

• Why leadership capacity is so critical to organizational success
• How leadership capacity impacts customer loyalty and employee engagement
• How to systematically improve leadership in your organization

Please take a moment to participate in our 2 question survey and give us your opinion on the biggest mistakes leaders make when working with others.

Leadership, while critical to organizational success is not an easy process to master. In fact, most leaders have blind spots in regard to their leadership styles and behaviors with others.

The Simple Truths of Service
Inspired by Johnny the Bagger
by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz

The Simple Truths of Service is an unforgettable true story about a young man with Downs Syndrome named Johnny, who changes the culture of a grocery store by being creative and giving the customers more than they expect. This moving book offers simple, yet powerful truths about what happens to customer loyalty when people serve their clients from their heart.

The Simple Truths of Service is destined to become a customer-service classic. Beautifully illustrated, it is the perfect book for your employees, customers, and suppliers--just in time for the holidays and year-end gift-giving!


Go Team!
Take Your Team to the Next Level
by Ken Blanchard, Alan Randolph, and Peter Grazier

Nearly everyone today must work effectively in a team. The problem is that few teams truly take advantage of the greatness of the individual members. Go Team! provides a dynamic, responsibility-centered process for building magnificent teams--a strategy that enables organizations to attract, develop and retain top-notch people and get great results.

Using discussions, case examples, and questions to consider, Go Team! serves as a field guide to show team leaders and members how to use information sharing to build high levels of trust and responsibility; to create clear boundaries that give team members the freedom to act responsibly; and to develop self-managing skills to make good team decisions.

Purchase Go Team! or The Simple Truths of Service by calling our Learning Materials division at:

United States: 800 728-6052
Canada: 800 665-5023
United Kingdom: +44 (0) 208 8540 5464

The Ken Blanchard Companies® offers Public Workshops and Training for Trainers (T4T) sessions in leadership, relationship and team building, customer service, and the empowerment process. Our workshops provide the opportunity to learn critical skills to meet the many challenges of today's working environments. Our Training for Trainers sessions give prospective trainers all the knowledge and tools needed to roll out a program in their organization.

Upcoming Workshop and Training for Trainers Dates

Situational Leadership® II
Public Workshops:
October 17-18 in San Diego, CA

Training for Trainers:
October 17-20 in Chicago, IL
October 25-28 in Irvine, CA

Situational Frontline Leadership NEW!
Training for Trainers:
September 19-22 in Phoenix, AZ

The Magic of Situational Self Leadership
Public Workshops:
October 24-25 in San Diego, CA

Training for Trainers:
October 24-28 in San Diego, CA

Gung Ho!
Public Workshops:
September 19-20 in London, UK
October 10-11 in San Diego, CA

Training for Trainers:
September 19-23 in London, UK
October 10-14 in San Diego, CA

Whale Done!® The Power of Positive Relationships NEW!
Public Workshops:
September 27-28 in San Diego, CA

Training for Trainers:
September 27-29 in San Diego, CA

Invest in Your Organization Today!