Serves You Right!

"Susan was the best speaker we've ever had!"
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Your people, both managers and frontline, can be your greatest asset...or your greatest liability
Have you set them up to succeed or to fail?

Great customer service is your competitive edge. The following 'knock your socks off' programs offer Susan's fresh perspective on service and intention, providing you with the tools you need to improve morale, team synergy, leadership...and your bottom line!

Each presentation is customized especially for you and your specific issues, challenges, and goals. With detailed and focused instruction, hands-on activities and projects, and interactive scenarios and role-playing, Serves You Right! programs produce great results in both employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Attendees will be inspired with audio/video presentations, as well as receive informative handouts, action plan worksheets, and keepsakes/reminders. For a more complete list of benefits to working with Susan, as well as information on planning and booking an event, see Event Planning.

Remember, there are no quick-fixes. Excellence does not occur with a directive, a pep rally, or one training session. But given the right tools and direction, you could begin a major shift in your culture that, with passion and follow through, will lead to success. Once you've invested in your greatest asset. (your staff!) with any of the Serves You Right! programs, keeping that momentum alive, re-enforcing the lessons learned, and continuing to build the cohesion of the team is your next step. Change of this magnitude takes time, energy, and ongoing support. Multi-session trainings are available for those who want help establishing more complete and in-depth cultural change. Call for more details.

A 2005 study showed that 33% of management's time is spent responding to crises or problems. For some, such as managers who have been "home grown" and moved up in the ranks of an organization but have never received leadership training, the percentage of time lost trying to juggle problems is even higher.
A recent Gallup poll showed that the number 1 reason why people quit their job is because of a stressful or problematic relationship with their supervisor, and that 25% of workers would fire their boss if they could. Mediocrity, low staff morale, high turnover, poor productivity, and apathy are just some of the many issues facing leaders today. Bad management can cause these issues, and well-intentioned managers need the skills to resolve them.
Poorly managed workgroups are an average of 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than well-managed groups. In today's business world, it is imperative that managers are taught fundamental leadership skills, and continually learn new tools and ways of thinking in order to grow themselves, their staff, and profits.

The following leadership programs are designed to teach, enhance, and inspire:

Courageous, Outrageous, and Highly Contagious Service Leaders (1/2 or full day workshop) New!

This eye-opening program examines the skills, behaviors, and attitudes that have the greatest impact on team dynamics, beginning with the self-image and spirit of the leader. Utilizing a variety of interactive and experiential training methods to identify roadblocks and inspire new strategies, the focus is on management's ability to provide motivational leadership to the team. Participants learn to increase morale and productivity by discovering and maximizing their own leadership abilities and skills.

Transforming Toxic Teams (1/2 or full day workshop) New!
This informational and inspirational program offers those in leadership positions how to recognize and rectify issues that prevent the growth and success of their teams and ultimately their organizations. Learn how to dissipate negativity, deal with difficult people, identify different personality types and what motivates and de-motivates each, and how to embrace diversity using it as a tool for building a dynamic, progressive, and cohesive team.

Change, Change, Change! (1 hr keynote, ½ or full day workshop) New!
Downsizing, mergers, restructuring, new information technology, service initiatives, personnel, outsourcing, new facilities, policies...changes, big and small, are happening every day, and each change impacts the dynamics and effectiveness of your organization. New ideas are what keep us alive and growing, and strong leadership is critical in making each transition a success. Participants examine each stage of the change process from concept to fruition and maintenance, and learn essential techniques for obtaining buy-in, dealing with different levels of resistance, establishing trust, increasing morale, setting and maintaining goals, and recognizing the signs of failure. Chock-full of insights and information, this program provides tools necessary for managing change successfully.

Serving the Inside Customer (1hr keynote)
Leaders often fail to understand that their number one customer is actually their staff. Provide great service to employees, and the employees will provide great service to the customer. Attendees learn the importance of understanding the agenda of their staff, so that they can better serve them, which in turn inspires better service to the customers. This program offers tools and techniques for creating a positive, motivated, engaged, and productive workforce.

Contract Sessions
In-depth Leadership training sessions are also available on a contract basis for those wishing to develop ongoing training opportunities for themselves or their staff. Group or individual sessions can be scheduled weekly, monthly, quarterly, or on a timeline that fits your needs and budget. Sessions can be conducted on-site, via phone, or at a neutral location. Call for more details.

Service is, without a doubt, the competitive edge in the marketplace. The statistics regarding unhappy customers are significant:

96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain directly.
90% will not return.
One unhappy customer will tell nine others.
13% will tell at least 20 other people

Going beyond customer satisfaction and making customers happy is still only part of the equation. Customer service programs need to focus heavily on understanding the wants and needs of the customer and how these can best be met, but what is often overlooked is the fact that great customer service begins and ends with the employees that are there to deliver it.

You can tell your staff what you expect, but you can't force them to shine. The promise of outstanding customer service can become dogmatic, empty, and even detrimental when employees feel forced, and are not aligned, trained, dedicated, motivated and committed. Most companies make the mistake of trying to demand great customer service without giving the training and motivation needed to fully engage employees in the process. In order to provide a positive experience for customers, you first have to be sure both you and your employees are willing and able to buy into the process. Unfortunately, many are not:

Gallup research showed that only 26% of employees are fully engaged, 55% are not engaged: they are at work physically but not mentally or emotionally, and 19% are actively disengaged/unhappy, spreading discontentment and actively trying to sabotage their organizations.
Only 41% of workers think their company views employees as its most important asset, just 55% think their company treats employees well!
Only 55% think they are provided with ample training and development.

The key to over-the-top service is to serve your employees first, so they, in turn, will take care of your customers. The following eye-opening programs are designed to address BOTH sides of the service equation, providing inspiration and information needed to truly serve customers, as well as the tools and motivation that will generate staff buy-in:

Service Enthusiasm® (1 hr. keynote or 2-4hr workshop)
This stimulating program creates the opportunity to inspire astonishing customer service. Participants learn to identify what they are really selling, learn to think like their customer, and create an action plan that they will want to start today.

Service Enthusiasm Boost! (1-2 day workshop)
This Serves You Right! exclusively designed one or two-day training is highly interactive and experiential. While focusing on a company's specific goals and objectives, this fun program identifies and brings to life the 4 Service Enthusiasm principles that are often overlooked, yet are absolutely essential to the success of every organization. Through activities, projects, and role play, participants will discover the keys to creating the ideal service culture and providing the ultimate service experience for both your external and internal customer.

Delivering the Corporate Promise (2hr-full day workshop) New!
The sign on the wall pledges 'Customer Service Above All Else', memos went out explaining the new initiative and the matrix has been established to report and analyze progress. The plan is universal: customer satisfaction goes up...profits go up. Except for one thing: many organizations fail to explain and demonstrate - HOW? This roll-up-your-sleeves program for front line staff delves into the fundamental 'how-to' questions about customer service: how to deal with and diffuse angry customers; how to communicate effectively; how to set boundaries; and how to inspire important service-based skills that focus on first and last impressions, professionalism, and the art of service recovery. Participants walk away with the tools necessary to Deliver the Corporate Promise.

Contract Sessions
In-depth Customer Service sessions are also available on a contract basis for those wishing to develop ongoing training opportunities for themselves and/or their staff. Group sessions can be scheduled weekly, monthly, quarterly, or on a timeline that fits your needs and budget. Sessions can be conducted on-site or at a neutral location. Call for more details.

Independent research at the Stanford School of Business concludes that teams with divergent points of view work harder, are more open minded, and make better decisions. When teams develop ideas together by debating unique ideas and synthesizing differing perspectives, the end result is often far better than a decision made by just one person. (Why do you think the US Supreme Court is made up of 9 justices instead of just 1?)
When destructive conflict emerges, personalities clash, rivalries erupt, emotions flare, personal agendas come to the forefront, and the whole dynamic turns bad. Interpersonal issues have devastating effects on productivity and effectiveness.
A new study surveying 94 project teams in large U.S. corporations over two years, pinpoints the factors such as trust, freely sharing information and resources, clear goals, and mutual accountability, that keep conflict beneficial and not taken personally.

Teambuilding is a collective exercise that celebrates individuality and focuses on positive and productive group interaction. The following program teaches how and why destructive conflict happens, along with communication techniques, and how to avoid personality pitfalls:

Team Spirit (1 hr keynote, ½ day, 1 or 2 day workshop) New!

Help your company better serve your external customer by better serving each other. This program offers techniques that build teamwork for a more efficient and more connected work place. Creative and highly experiential, it breathes new life into the hearts of your team members, sparking fresh, innovative thinking, and revitalizing their desire to succeed. Unique activities focus on self-awareness as well as group awareness, while facilitating a commitment to vision, collaboration, defining goals, taking actions and seeing results, and teaches how to behave and interact within a team environment. Rejuvenate, motivate, and inspire the individual spirits that collectively drive team productivity and your organization's bottom-line!

Contract Sessions
In-depth Teambuilding sessions are also available on a contract basis for those wishing to develop ongoing training opportunities for their staff. Group sessions can be scheduled weekly, monthly, quarterly, or on a timeline that fits your needs and budget. Sessions can be conducted on-site or at a neutral location. Call for more details.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit (keynote only)
Susan's story as the Cookie Queen is not only inspiring but also motivating. Risk taking, overcoming obstacles, and making dreams come true is what entrepreneurs are made of. As the founder and owner of a multi-million dollar cookie gift company now celebrating 25 years in business, Susan shares her lessons learned as well as the building blocks that help to create a successful business.

What Would I Do Today if I Were Brave? (workshop only)
This program celebrates individual truth, vision, and spirit. Identifying personal history, role models, and crossroad choices helps build strength and confidence that encourages each person to be the best they can be!

Meeting Your Spirit Face to Face (workshop only)
Designed to inspire individuality, self-reflection and discovery, participants are encouraged, through creative expression, to open their hearts and bring out their true spirit.