What's New?

These days anything and everything can be customized. You can customize your Kleenex box with your picture, you can create custom sayings on your M&Ms, Nike will let you custom design your shoes and now you can even customize your toilet paper. Consumers want choices and the center client is no different. Of course, we can customize the call answering phrase. But what else could we do to personalize our service? We know of one operator who provides custom music playlists for their clients to use in their office or meeting room. Others provide client-specific afternoon snacks and deliver them each day to their office. Our clients want to feel special, and what better way to accomplish that than providing a service specific to their wants and desires? If you want client loyalty, then start caring for the client in ways that no one else can. What could be your next uber customization?

Masters of the Academy

The Standards Committee

The ALLIANCE Academy has finalized the selection of its Standards Committee. The committee's central goal is to provide a standard of credentialing and measurement that is recognized and requested by prospects, clients, and employers as the GOLD standard of superior service in our industry.

The Standards Committee will establish the basic format for an industry-wide transparency system which will:

• Set a ranking and rating system for the business industry similar to that used in the hotel industry
• Establish a method of acceptance of this system industry-wide
• Develop a communications plan that will allow the users, operators and agents to understand this system
• Set a criteria and methodology to maintain the ranking system globally

Why standards? Standards have successfully been established and used by other industries (such as the hotel/lodging industry) in order to give their customers the ability to understand the quality and features of the choices they have and to also allow the businesses that are ranked to target market to a specific group of customers that will best fit their value proposition and market their strengths and differences from that perspective. Another off-shoot of establishing standards is that many business centers will feel compelled to elevate their positions and invest in upgrades in facilities and technologies. This type of activity will only serve to elevate our industry as a whole.

Our Standards Committee includes pioneering business people whose insights have shaped management best practices, leaders who have run successful companies, and entrepreneurs whose innovative thinking has sparked change and new opportunities for those around them.

Training that Works

Many of you have used web conferencing when you attended an Academy virtual training session, but have you ever thought of using it in your day-to-day operation?

We personally have used this technology for over five years. Not only can you resell the application to your client base, but it can also be used to review agreements with prospects, train team members in another center, conduct company meetings and much more.

Improve Sales
The next time you need to review an agreement over the phone, why not use web conference technology to improve your professionalism, technical savvy and ability to overcome distance barriers? This tool allows you to easily hold on-the-fly or scheduled presentations to engage the prospect in the call. It also indicates to the prospect that you are on top of the latest communication technology.

Improve Communication
Web conferencing is the perfect way to train remote team members on new documentation, billing software, new technology and much more. The forum creates a collaborative environment to work on documents and processes in real time. Team members don't need your application to view your files. Even files created with specialized applications, such as CAD drawings, are viewable

Improve Revenue
To weather the economic storm, many companies have put a freeze on air travel. Meetings still need to take place, product demonstration must continue and training will always need to happen. Become a reseller of this tool and offer your clients a way to stay connected, stay in their office and stay in business.

This is an easy way to offer new services and revenue streams for your center. Many providers offer a 30 day free trial to test out the service. It’s not complicated and takes just a few minutes to set it up. That's it!

Case Study

Diversity in the workplace is a reality. Learning how to avoid cultural collisions is a must if you want to succeed in the workplace.

Here are five tips for successful diversity training sessions:

1. Engage team members in the process before, during, and after the training. Make sure you ask for feedback when creating your diversity training programs and when evaluating them. Team members are the backbone of your organization and their views often provide key insight into the center environment. Transparency should be provided by leaders as to how problems are going to handled.
2. Promote an open environment of communication. Creating an inclusive culture means encouraging honest communication. Being able to express diversity-related concerns should be encouraged at all organizational levels. Elaborate that the environment is a safe space in which dissenting views may be shared for any topic at hand.
3. Set expectations and be prepared for challenging situations. Help team members understand that change is relative, and often a process that takes time and patience. People are coming from different perspectives and experiences.
4. Use creative activities and personal sharing. Use a variety of activities to appeal to different types of learners. One of the most important aspects of diversity training is getting people to share their own experiences.
5. Keep up the energy and set a lively tone. Diversity training can lead to some complex situations, but make sure to enter the training from a fun and positive angle. The audience will mirror and take cues from the facilitator so make sure to keep the tome upbeat and informative.

For more information on how to effectively bring diversity training to your center, contact us today.

Focus On...

These Are Ever Changing Times

Change happens. It maybe be a worn out cliché, but really, change is all around us – all the time! What's important is that we embrace change, realize it is coming, and continuously plan for its arrival. Change is that relative who keeps showing up at your door, so let's get used to him.

While managing workplace change is often difficult, there is a silver lining. Change can represent an opportune time for executives and team members to re-evaluate their company culture or brand.

While executives are sometimes eager to share the details of an organizational change with the external audience, we can't stress enough the importance of educating your team first. Your own team can make more of a statement than any amount of advertising can, just delivering on your brand promise, exceeding expectations, and creating legendary customer experiences.

When communicating a brand or culture change to team members, don't start by training them to adopt new practices and procedures. Take a step back. Take time to answer their questions about the change, while focusing on the benefits. Like most audiences, employees want to know what's in it for them.

You should also emphasize the importance of teams' role in delivery. Explain that you can only convey the new brand messaging with their help. Make team members feel like a valued part of both the transition process and the customer's experience. You'll be amazed at their motivation and the quality of communications and service they'll deliver in return.

Insider Tips

Staying Sane during Insane Times

The economy is, to a large extent, a mind game. The less people think they'll be making a good living, the less they're willing to spend, and the less money flows in the economy. It's a vicious spiral. Try these tips for keeping your business going during these crazy times:

• Stay calm and get resourceful. There’s a point where you have the choice of going crazy or letting it wash over you, a point where you actually make an internal decision to ride the emotion. Stay off the ride.
• Think about what you should be doing. If business is still churning away, do a better job than before. Ask clients what they need from you and do your absolute best to do it.
• Be smart about what you spend. A bad economy is often a great time to invest in new technology, upgrade furniture, etc. But only buy what you plan to use in the near future.
• Keep marketing. If people don’t know you’re out there, you won’t sell anything. Keep in touch with your local market.
• Be creative, and look for good deals. Work with your vendors to get deals that are fair for everyone. Your vendors are probably as overwhelmed and challenged right now as you are.
• Be kind to others. Everyone’s on the edge and some people may lash out. Just be nice. It’ll help everything run more smoothly, it’ll help you feel better about yourself and it may help you get what you want more easily.

When it comes to the economy, we're all in this together, for real – whether you live in the United States or somewhere over the pond. This is an ecosystem as much as it is an economy.

Hang in there, folks. We're a pretty resourceful industry and it could have been a lot worse. We think we've dodged a bullet.

For more Insider Tips, visit the Academy site to access the Training Bytes section.