I recently had the privilege to participate with a group of folks who together were able to accomplish an exceptional amount in a very short time. I cannot share the specifics but it was an extraordinary example of the power of a group of folks coming together to accomplish much more than could be done by just one.

In the book, Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven R Covey’s sixth habit recognizes that when there is synergy between at least two people so much more can be accomplished. Covey believes creating synergy is paramount to a Business Leader’s success. I experienced that synergy recently when the group of people came together.

A common challenge that Business Leaders face is they are often unable to find Trusted Advisors to create that synergy. One of My COO Resources’ Assessment questions asks if the User has established Trusted Advisors that we as Leaders need in order to be able to more effectively create excellence.

My COO Resources encourages Leaders to establish relationships through a Coach, Trusted Advisors, or formal Advisory Council/Board that will create that power that only can be accomplished through the synergy of others. It exemplifies that 1 + 1 equals much greater than 2 because we can accomplish so much more when we work together.

There are multiple questions within My COO Resources’ Assessments that help Leaders see where they have operational challenges that need to be addressed. If you are curious as to what are the other issues that need to be identified, get started today for FREE by registering to take the Assessments at www.mycooresources.com.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324

Over the last month or so, I have observed and/or experienced several “missteps” by service providers. Those missteps resulted in poor customer service. Some of these missteps included:

• The waitress delivered the food and everyone’s order was wrong – and when she went to correct it, she still got it wrong
• The dryer repairman failed to check some basics and ordered multiple parts. Once another repairman arrived, it became clear those parts were not needed and just a minor adjustment was required
• The customer service rep failed to react to a customer’s concern that the repairman had already come out 4 times and still had not resolved the problem.

In each of these examples, if there was a step in the process that included a quality check and/or escalation process, these missteps would have been avoided and the customer would be happy.

A common challenge with processes is that they do not include steps that are customer-focused to improve the quality of the product or service provided. In the examples identified above, the customer would have been much happier if:

• The waitress included a step that she did a quality check before delivering the food.
• The first dryer repairman had performed a more thorough evaluation to identify the problem
• An escalation step was included, based on predefined criteria, when a customer called multiple times for an unresolved issue

Adding an additional step for each of these examples would have eliminated unnecessary extra work and disappointed customers.

Assessing your customer-focused processes to improve the quality of your products and/or services will delight your customers and save wasted time, energy, resources, and money. As John Wooden, the UCLA Head Coach said so well: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

Unsure how to assess your customer focused processes to improve quality? We can help. Contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324