Shot of Espresso

What Beyonce Can Teach Us Today

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie Guest) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:55:00 +0000

In case you haven’t heard about the shocking action that happened at last night VMA’s get a load of this.

Country music singer Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Music Video. During her acceptance speech, Kanye West jumped on stage and interrupted her saying that Beyonce had the best video of all time. The crowd booed and Taylor was left standing awkward in a spotlight that didn’t have time to dim. Beyonce won for video of the year. Here’s the cool part… instead of a long speech, she recalled the first time she won the award as one of the greatest moments of her life. Then she called Taylor Swift back on the stage to have her moment.

This act of compassion is a lesson that teaches us something important. When the spotlight shines on our colleagues, step-back and give them their due. Even if you feel that the praise is not justified, clap. When you have the chance to show compassion to others, take it.

I don’t follow music stars and it is unlikely that I could recognize a Beyonce song if I heard it. But I do know that her actions last night make her a class act in my book.

Customer Service in the Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie Guest) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the pick-up circle at my son’s middle school today and saw the new principle, Jason Mix, slowly walking between each car saying hello to parents. Not only was the gesture more than I ever saw from the previous man-in-charge, Mr. Mix was greeting us IN THE RAIN!

With a black Titlest golf hat and a sincere smile, Mr. Mix stopped at my car, shook hands and introduced himself. When I inquired why he was out in the rain he told me that he comes out every day to meet the parents and it is his favorite part of the day. Now whether it really is his favorite part of the day is beside the point.

What is the point? The first impression he is making on parents. Effort, enthusiasm, sincerity – he is showing all three with a simple gesture. As I moved ahead in my minivan, I heard him call out to several kids with warm greetings and questions about their day. Impressive!

Now imagine what your sales volume would be if the boss and the staff behaved with the “Mr. Mix Method” of being visible. For over fifteen years I have been leading staff development training sessions for a variety of industries. One of the most common complaints from staff is the lack of visibility of the boss. How visible are you in the organization? How are you making a lasting impression? What specific ways are you showing effort, enthusiasm and sincerity to your customers?

Mr. Kidd may not have a sales quota to meet but he does have a lot of parents to please. Today I am impressed and it didn’t cost him a dime. Job well done.

Welcome to my blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie Guest) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:40:00 +0000

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