Customer Service

Posted on October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 by Seniye Groff

Today’s customer service is way too transactional. Companies expect you to scroll through a bunch of drop down boxes, narrow down your topic and then read through a frequently asked questions page to “resolve” your issue. Is that really any way to treat a current, future or soon to be past customer? A company’s revenue stream? A company’s lifeblood? I think not. We are faced with customer service scenarios many times a day…some good impressions but most abysmal. Yet some companies get it right every time. How do they do that? I think the answer is simple but first, let me share a few of my own recent examples.

My realtor, Morgan Davis, hosts a referral party every year…15 years strong at this point. This is a party where those that have bought, sold, referred or just because, get invited to an evening event with fun, frolic and good food. Each year has a different theme.. This year’s theme was cowboy. Given that Morgan is from Texas, I wonder what took him so long to come up with that theme?! Nonetheless, he always chooses great venues, usually one that I am not familiar with. This years was at Urban Pine. Basically Texas dropped in the middle of eastside Portland! On arrival, you were given a cowboy hat and vest, if you wanted. You then caroused over to the open bar. You were greeted by black-clad servers hauling around, nothing less than Texas toast with pimiento cheese. The movie, The Good, Bad and Ugly was playing on two TVs, there was a photo booth (so much fun) and a fabulous buffet. Then a comedic skit was done and finally Morgan thanked everyone and recognized two separate people for their outstanding efforts on his behalf. All in all a great night, that definitely solidifies that Morgan VALUES his customers.

This party is on top of what he regularly does such as monthly perks, a referral guide and he even stepped in when he recommended a contractor to me that failed miserably. Morgan found another contractor and then paid for that portion of the project!!! Wow!!

Let’s now flip to the not so good side. I recently upgraded my phone with Verizon. I have been a customer for 10 years. I spent an hour on the phone with the customer service rep. Got my phone, loved it. Part deux…I receive my bill and low and behold it is completely different from what she told me it would be. When I called customer service and spent ANOTHER hour on the phone, he basically told me that the previous rep had misinformed me and he was sorry, but this is what it was. Can we say DECEPTION! I requested a supervisor and was told he would call me within 24 hours…can you guess it…no call yet…. Is that really how you want to treat a customer of 10 years that you are making money from each month??? Hmm, makes you wonder.

So what can companies do to address this abysmal trend of lousy service? Like most things, it comes from the top and needs to be pervasive in everything the company does…look at Zappos for example….the website, the policies and the interactions with the customer service reps, all scream, YOU, the CUSTOMER, are the most important thing. But you don’t have to be big like Zappos to offer great customer service.. As a matter of fact, smile at your co-worker, offer to get something done for them and you have just provided great service. It really is pretty simple. But until most companies learn this, hats off to you, Morgan Davis and team and the few other companies that really get how important customer service really is.

10K

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Seniye Groff

Yesterday I ran my first 10k race. Even though I have been running 10k practice runs for a while, there is something heart-pumping about running during a race. First of all, the conditions are not usually ideal given that you are up at the crack of dawn and running immediately. Although, that is what I do during the work week, on Saturdays, I like to be a little more relaxed about when I run. I usually have my coffee, cull through my emails, dilly dally a little bit and then run.

Also, race day almost always guarantees I will be running a faster pace–which is a good thing! My competitive spirit jumps to the forefront when I am surrounded by other runners suffering just like me! I like to end my runs with a sprint, but with the faster overall pace, it makes sprinting much more challenging.

I always know I have had a good race when at the end, I want to sign up for another race. That is exactly what I felt after yesterday’s race. I felt really strong during the race and knew that my consistent training had paid off. Of course, runs in the winter in the Pacific Northwest almost always guarantee wet running and I am not sure I am up for that. So, I think I will keep training and sign up for a 15k in the spring. Any takers?

The New College Reality

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Seniye Groff

A co-worker loaned me her book, “The New College Reality” by Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder. Although I have seven years before my older daughter goes to college, the book looked intriguing. There has been lots of press in the media lately about the true value and benefit of a college education. I do believe in college. I think the college experience is valuable for any young adult since they will be faced with lots of “grown up” situations such as learning to live on a budget, managing their time and being strategic about what classes to take. I worked all through undergrad and managed to finish school without any debt. If you have watched the nightly news, you will see many stories of students saddled with thousands of dollars of debt, with no meaningful job in sight to pay that debt down.

So, yes, I have seven years until the college drama happens, but according to Snyder, this is the best time to start thinking about college and how you will pay for it. Snyder offers many intriguing ideas and examples. This really is a great book to help you distinguish the dream of college versus the reality–especially if you need to figure out how to pay for it. She starts off with ways to minimize your time in college by taking AP courses, CLEP credits and dual enrollment options. These three things can reduce your time in college which obviously reduces your tuition bill.

The second insightful thing the book focuses on is to think about the career first, college second. She gives the example of how kids visit the career center right before they are about to graduate (me included). But, instead, the career center should be your first stop when visiting a college campus or when your college life begins. In other words, know where you want to end up and plan accordingly. Kids need job skills that are in demand…save the art class for an extracurricular activity.

The third idea that I gravitated towards was how financial aid works. Wow, what an eye-opener! Parents that are thrifty and conscious of saving and spending really get dinged with the way the financial aid process works–especially if you are middle class. Snyder suggests some proactive, legal measures to look better on paper. Having a college degree is no longer enough and thinking you can wait until the last-minute to figure out financial aid is going to leave you with our pants down and a very disappointed child, too. Buy this book! I read it in two hours!

Wife 22

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Seniye Groff

Wife 22

Melanie Gideon’s “Wife22” will make you smile, make you laugh and even make you think about your own marriage differently. Alice Buckle has been married 20 years and feels like she has lost who she is and the romance she once shared with her husband, William, has vanished. Alice is asked to participate in a marriage survey anonymously as “Wife 22”. Her caseworker is “Researcher 101”. It all starts innocently enough with standard questions that Alice answers. But then the questions get more personal. Alice remembers how thrilling, exciting and sexy the memories of first meeting William and their early dating years were. She suddenly feels lonely and unloved and Research 101’s flirting hits the right nerve. Alice begins to flirt back realizing that all the anonymous confessions have brought back the thrill of an early relationship. This anonymous, secret romance leads to an interesting, unexpected conclusion. “Wife 22” is written with modern touches of Facebook and Twitter posts. Gideon writes with the contemporary world in mind and realistically tells the tale of what any couple married 20 years might feel. “Wife 22” is a must read for anyone who thinks their marriage, and life, might be a bit stale. So read on to see how Gideon solves the marriage doldrums.

Gratitude

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Seniye Groff

Today was my last day of vacation. We take an annual trip the week leading up to Labor Day to Sunriver, OR or otherwise known as the high desert. I always know that the week will be filled with biking, tennis, swimming, eating and good times with friends. Since the elevation is 4200 feet I usually find myself reluctant to run. This year, though, I managed to run three times! The first time was the first day I arrived. My friend Amy asked me to go with her. I figured I wouldn’t get lost on the myriad of paths if I went with someone. I huffed and puffed and pushed myself to run 30 minutes. Then on Saturday, equipped with my daughter’s iPod, I ran 40 minutes. I never run with music so it was great to have the extra motivation. Then today, as soon as I woke up, I decided to run while my husband packed up the car. Again armed with the iPod, I set my goal at 45 minutes and managed to run 50. I actually felt strong…as if the elevation no longer bothered me. As I was breathing in the crisp, fresh air and looking at the blue, blue sky, I reveled in my luckiness. I managed to see 10 deer on my run, too. And I felt such gratitude and knew I must cherish times like this…the quiet, the strength, the determination and the feeling of success.

So much success, I came home and registered for the October 21st Run Like Hell 10k. Join me if you want.

How to Boost Employee Career Satisfaction

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Seniye Groff

An article is this month’s Talent Management caught my eye. Probably because employee satisfaction is at the top of my mind right now since someone I recently sat down with to do some career coaching asked me, “I am 60% satisfied with my job. Is that enough?” First of all, being able to distill it to such an exact percentage was impressive to me. But more importantly, was the fact that he was willing to settle…in other words being 40% dissatisfied is okay. But is it really? And how much can we change or put up with depending on what is truly important to us? Granted, humans are adaptable creatures, but the ever elusive “happiness” can really make or break the experience, as well as, what we are willing to do to get it.

Taylor’s article states that “employees want to be informed about goals and expectations and how their roles fit within them.” Obviously if employees feel like they know what they are “shooting for” and feel that the work they are required to get there uses their skills and abilities and is truly interesting to them, you bet they will help leadership get to the end goal! Taylor suggests there are nine ways companies can boost career satisfaction:

“Place people in the right roles according to strengths, skills and interests.
Tap into talent in the cloud.
Use a pool of pre-screened, reliable talent.
Create an employee loan initiative.
Cross-skill people so they can use different skills on demand.
Create a dedicated pool of flexible, just-in-time talent.
Create a demand-driven talent marketplace.
Restructure work in terms of smaller, discrete, skill-based projects.
Define jobs more broadly.”

Read the full article to get more detail on the bullet points and then drop me a line and tell me what you think. I am pretty sure you will agree, if companies tried some of these strategies, 40% dissatisfaction wouldn’t even be in the picture!

Purely Portland

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Seniye Groff

Today we did the Providence Bridge Pedal. Although we have biked it before, this was the first time with both kids. There was the 6, 8 or 10 bridge option. I opted for sure-thing (given the kids) and went with the six bridge option. It is amazing that a city of Portland’s size can figure out how to move thousands of people over its 10 beautiful bridges!

We biked to the start of the race from our home, as well as, back at the end so we guessed we did about 15-16 miles. With the kids, 16 miles is awesome! And the kids even agreed that it was a beautiful way to begin a Sunday morning. We did see one bicycle accident but in pure Portland style, people stopped and helped. At another spot, caution tape came loose and started to tangle in people’s bikes and once again, people got off their bikes to help out. I know we have serious bicyclists in this city, but it is nice to see people willing to interrupt their ride to help others. In other words…purely Portland!

Summer Spirit

Posted on July 25, 2012March 13, 2014 by Seniye Groff

Life as a working mom is busy. So when my mother-in-law offered to take the girls for the week, I was part disbelief and part “how can I maximize my time without the kids?” We dropped of the kids Sunday night and proceeded to go out for sushi. On Monday, my husband and I both went to work but I was amazed at how quickly I got ready. So quickly, in fact, that I was able to stop somewhere for coffee before arriving at work (early, at that!).

On Tuesday we both worked again but decided to take Wednesday and Thursday off. Well, on Monday evening I had ten women over for wine and cheese. On Tuesday, when my husband arrived home I asked, “Where are you taking me to dinner?” We meandered through the Pearl and finally ate at a shocking 8 p.m.! We casually strolled the city streets with no where in mind and no schedule to watch. It was quite freeing!

On Wednesday, we woke up and went for a run, quickly showered and went to breakfast at Compote (http://compotepdx.com/). The poached egg stack was delicious. I noticed these articoke flowers (pictured above) as we left the restaurant. They were simply amazing and the bees were happily diving into their centers looking for nectar. We then went to the garden store to pick up a few plants for our new backyard. We ate lunch and decided to ride bikes down the Esplanade. We are off to a friend’s Happy Hour later this evening. All in all, a fun and productive “vacation” day enjoying my husband’s company!

Moms’ Night

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Seniye Groff

I live on a very active and involved block in our neighborhood. There are 29 kids on the block ranging from 18 months to 13 years old. There is a lot of free-spirited, spontaneous play. The moms get together regularly and so I decided to host last night’s affair. It was a perfect evening to enjoy our new backyard. I had a wine and cheese theme, so I asked everyone to bring a wine and cheese pairing that they liked. All the cheeses were good but there was a lavender gouda that was exceptional; especially since those are not typical combined flavors. I also made a lemon tart and another neighbor brought brownies and a quinoa salad. There was lots of chatter and laughter. It was the perfect way to spend a summer evening!