Simple things can be very very effective and that is certainly the case with this ‘go-to’ template. Based on the Next Practice of some of the worlds leading companies completing this could change the way you think and do business forever.
It is my first interaction with Top Teams and Leaders and I use it as my first conversation with anyone who says they are tasked with helping transform their organisations (and themselves sometimes!)
Corporate communication is a broad field that deals with the different public and internal facing aspects of a company. It involves various methods and approaches to share information about a company’s brand, products, services, employees, and so on with a broad internal and external audience.
Communication as a whole is complex as it involves many stakeholders and audiences. Moreover, effective communication requires strong connections between people at all levels of the organization.
To be able to communicate effectively within your organization and with the outside world, you need to understand what corporate communication is, its benefits, and how you can implement it in your organization.
That is why in this article we will discuss everything you need to know about corporate communication so you can get your message across!
What Is Corporate Communication?
When we talk about communication in business, we are primarily referring to two things – one is the process, and the other is the outcome of the process. The process consists of the steps involved in communication, for example – sending the message, the channel through which it is sent, the time frame, and so on.
The outcome of the process refers to the impact that the communication has had on the person who received it.
That is why communication is often described as a process through which we create an understanding between people who are not in the same place at the same time. In this sense, corporate communication is the process and activities through which organizations create a strong connection via employees with the outside world for the purpose of brand building, increasing reputation, and the acquisition and retention of customers.
Why is Effective Communication Important?
Communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas between two or more people. For this process to be effective, certain factors need to be in place. To start with, there should be an understanding between the sender and receiver of the message.
Communication is all about sharing information, and if the information is not understood, it won’t be useful to anyone. We have a saying that ‘a message without meaning is like a bird without wings’. It is because of this that communication is an important aspect of any business venture.
The right words, carefully selected and strategically placed with the correct tone, can be a very powerful tool. They can make for an excellent culture, your brand more recognizable, and encourage customers to buy your products and services.
Benefits of Effective corporate communication
Stronger relationships – The biggest benefit of effective communication is that it strengthens relationships. Whether you communicate with the members of your team, customers, or anyone in between, a strong connection will lead to better results.
Greater productivity – When people understand each other and have a clear idea of what their role is within the organization, productivity increases. This is especially true for organizations where employees have a say in shaping the communication process – for example, when they have the opportunity to voice feedback and suggestions, and when they have the power to participate in the decision-making process.
Better decision-making – When communication is effective, decision-making becomes much easier. This is because the information you share will be well-understood.
Better brand recognition – A strong connection with your audience will not only bring them closer to your brand, but it will also make them more loyal to it. Moreover, the brand of your business will become more recognizable as you take part in various communication activities.
Types of Corporate Communication
Internal communication – This is the communication that happens between employees. It can happen in a number of ways, including one-on-one meetings, group meetings, emails, and so on. Internal communication is important because it helps people work together more effectively and efficiently.
External communication – This is the communication that happens between your organization and the outside world. This could be in the form of marketing campaigns, public relations, social media posts, and more.
Customer communication – This is communication between your customers and your organization. It can happen in a number of ways, including through a company’s customer support or customer service department, through social media posts, and more.
Summing up
Communication is an essential part of any business venture, and it can make or break an organization. The success of your business relies not only on the quality of your products or services but also on how well you communicate that quality to your customers.
When you have strong relationships with your audience, when you can make better decisions, and when you can recognize your brand better – you have stronger communication.
To achieve this, it is important to implement effective goal-driven communication in your organization. This can be achieved by focusing on the type of communication you engage in and by making sure that your communications are all aligned to Successful Customer and Business Outcomes.
An output is something you produce; an Outcome is a result of what you produce. “I have answered the customer query” is an output, “I have solved the customer problem” is an outcome. Here’s another… “We have made 10 cars today” is an output, “I have sold 10 cars today” is an outcome. As Steve Jobs said in 1997, “You have to start with the Customer Experience (and their successful outcome) and work backwards.”
Unfortunately, most organizations focus on outputs and correspondingly can get really good at doing dumb things. Think of the call center and the major typical KPI of Average Handle Time (AHT). That is an output measure. But what is the actual Outcome achieved from the customer contact? If your primary focus is the AHT, that’s what will drive the behaviors of the people as a priority over everything else; no matter how much you talk of customer-centricity, if you pay them for great AHT, that is what they will focus on.
A model that we use to help us connect the dots is the Customer Performance Landscape.
It is a fantastic tool for creating the linkages between everyone and everything to ensure we are all aligned to Successful Customers and grow shareholder value. You can experience this in our ACX Master program.
Simple things can be very very effective and that is certainly the case with this ‘go-to’ template. Based on the Next Practice of some of the worlds leading companies completing this could change the way you think and do business forever.
It is my first interaction with Top Teams and Leaders and I use it as my first conversation with anyone who says they are tasked with helping transform their organisations (and themselves sometimes!)
Here are seven classic examples from a recent blog of someone selling Call Centre Services. No, I really am to polite to call them out. I thought I had travelled back in time 50 years, but I am appalled there are people still doing this?!
This hurts my Head
Why are these so Wrong? Answers on a post card but Part Two Next week will provide more insight.
And then in Part Three we will explore the alternatives…
Call Centre Measures that cripple Your Customer Experiences (the seven deadly sins)
Service Level – “The service level is the percentage of calls responded in a particular time limit. It assesses the skills of agents to deliver the service as per the Service Level Agreement (SLA) given to the clients.”…. It is a significant way to judge the performance of a call center.
Average Call Handle Time – “This KPI measures time an agent needs on a call.”
Average Queue Time – “To assure that the wait time of callers rests in the fair scope and the patience of customers should not be tested”
Call Abandonment – “It is a usual experience in the call center that clients disconnect the calls before even connecting to an agent.”
First Call Resolution – “The client is frequently in a rush. Thus, he requires that the concern of the caller must be fixed in the first call”
Occupancy Rate – “It is completely about the ability to complete the work within minimum time.”
Agent Turnover Rate – “It measures the rate of agents who switch the job. It not only causes customer service conflicts and delays as well as it also creates many issues.”
A person once said this to me… “If you pay people for doing dumb stuff they will get really smart at it”
A Very Wise Women
In Part Two we will review why Call Centre thinking is so BAD and should be BANNED.
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110 K people qualified since 2006 in 124 countries 60+ Global Coaches and Mentors – All have been there and done it!
The following from C. S. Lewis was written in 1948 after the dawn of the atomic age. Just substitute COVID-19 for the Atomic bomb and you will get the shivers.
In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.
We all know times are difficult so I wanted to use the current challenges of many of us in self-isolation to our collective advantage and launch a spiffy online series of sessions focused on the very latest ‘Next practices’ to complement your customer experience/process certification.
Steve keynoting in Romania in March 2020
For the first time ever, I’ll be teaching Outside-In 2020 Vision Workshop starting soon with SIX sessions over SIX weeks, and then a Bonus seventh session.
This training will be held online in a live weekly interactive video class. You’ll get your questions answered, see live-action, and practice with others. Each week will be about 3 hours.
If you’ve already found value in customer experience and process thinking, and want to go farther, I hope you join these sessions.
DATES for the Six LIVE Sessions
(and timezones)
South Africa – Register Here Now >> Monday: April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11 <<
Australasia – Register Here Now >> Tuesday: April 7, 14, 21, 28 May 5, 12 <<
USA – Register Here Now >> Wednesday April 8, 15, 22, 29 May 6, 13 <<
Europe – Register Here Now >> Thursday April 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14 <<
PRICES Session One Only (to test if this works for you) USD 97 AUD EURO Session 1-6 (early bird) USD 297 AUD EURO Session 1-6 USD 597 AUD EURO
Explore Deeper Outside-In
This will be an opportunity for people already using the CEMMethod to go farther and to systematically explore significant areas of process and customer experience transformation. Working together as a group we can learn from and be inspired by each other, as well as gain from Steve’s experience.
We will learn…
New Outside-In principles.
New methods and formats.
Learn more about advanced Outside-In practices.
How to deal with challenges we’ve encountered – in our own work and with the people in our organisations.
Learn and begin to deploy the Outside-In Customer Performance Landscape. This is a powerful tool that literally connects the dots of everyone and everything an enterprise does.
How to integrate the different approaches and formats into a single approach.
Woven into the teaching, we’ll have the opportunity to explore unexpected aspects of Outside-In and the CEMMethod as they emerge.
Because this work is operating on a different level than most of us are accustomed to, frequently small (or big) “misunderstandings” on the part of the unconscious mind can hold us back — until our system “gets it.” We will explore how to identify these “misunderstandings” and how to create new insights and “aha” moments. DATES for the Six LIVE Sessions (and timezones)
South Africa – Register Here Now >> Monday: April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11 <<
Australasia – Register Here Now >> Tuesday: April 7, 14, 21, 28 May 5, 12 <<
USA – Register Here Now >> Wednesday April 8, 15, 22, 29 May 6, 13 <<
Europe – Register Here Now >> Thursday April 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14 <<
My personal interest in teaching this
From my experience so far, I believe thinking and practising Outside-In has the potential to guide each of us individually on a path that is transformative. And because it brings more wisdom, clarity, compassion, and humour, it can bring needed healing and transformation to our world.
I would like to support those wanting this deep transformation, and those wanting to coach others, to have the skills and experience that will make this possible. That’s the purpose of this Advanced Outside-In Training for 2020.
I’ll be including as much as I can fit in of what I’ve learned over the past two decades exploring this work in my own life.
Seeing Outside-In online soon
Live Online Video Training
This will be an online course, so you can participate from any location. We’ll have interactive video, so it will be much like in-person training — except you won’t have any travel costs.
A big benefit from this course will be participating in the paired exercises with coaching available. Each exercise will take us into different Outside-In territory.
Training Dates & Times
We’ll meet approximately 3 hours, once a week, for 6 sessions. After the training, there will be a bonus coaching session to help integrate the learning. DATES for the Six LIVE Sessions (and timezones)
South Africa – Register Here Now >> Monday: April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11 <<
Australasia – Register Here Now >> Tuesday: April 7, 14, 21, 28 May 5, 12 <<
USA – Register Here Now >> Wednesday April 8, 15, 22, 29 May 6, 13 <<
Europe – Register Here Now >> Thursday April 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14 <<
PRICES Session One Only (to test if this works for you) USD 97 AUD EURO Session 1-6 (early bird) USD 297 AUD EURO Session 1-6 USD 597 AUD EURO
How this Online Training Works
The training will happen online through Zoom.
This will be an extended training, meeting approximately 3 hours, once a week, for 6 sessions. Each session we’ll learn at least one new format. As with the live training, I’ll demonstrate each new method, you’ll be able to practice each method, and we’ll have time for discussion afterwards.
We’ll be able to include everyone’s video feed so that we can see and hear each other. When I’m talking you’ll see and hear me. Then when I do a demonstration, you’ll be able to see me and the work I am doing. When there’s a discussion, we’ll be able to see who is sharing.
We’ll be able to do exercises in pairs, by using Zoom’s “room” feature. Each pair will have their own “video room” to do the exercise, and you’ll be able to raise your hand and call me into your room if you want coaching assistance. Once the exercise is done we’ll return to the meeting as a group.
Access the recordings of the sessions, anywhere anytime to suit your Needs.
Recordings You Can Review Each training session will be recorded, and you’ll have the opportunity to view the recording as many times as you like in between sessions. If you have to miss a session, you can catch up by viewing the video. The recordings will remain available (to training participants only), until 2 weeks after the last training session.
Extra Support Included in this training, I’m offering a follow-up group coaching session, (meeting online and recorded), just for participants in this training. The intention of this coaching session is to support you in integrating your new learnings about Outside-In, in your life and your ongoing practice. You’ll be able to share how things are going and ask questions about challenges, or anything else.
Who is Eligible If you’ve already found value in customer experience, process thinking or Outside-In, and want to go farther, I do hope you will join us on this exciting journey. Of course, if you have gone on further to become a Master or Champion this training will help you be even more effective. Check with us if you have any questions.
DATES for the Six LIVE Sessions (and timezones)
South Africa – Register Here Now >> Monday: April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11 <<
Australasia – Register Here Now >> Tuesday: April 7, 14, 21, 28 May 5, 12 <<
USA – Register Here Now >> Wednesday April 8, 15, 22, 29 May 6, 13 <<
Europe – Register Here Now >> Thursday April 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14 <<
PRICES Session One Only (to test if this works for you) USD 97 AUD EURO Session 1-6 (early bird) USD 297 AUD EURO Session 1-6 USD 597 AUD EURO
Technical Requirements To participate you’ll need access to the internet, and have a computer or laptop with a webcam. We’ll ask you to participate in a very brief set up a meeting ahead of time, to make sure you can log into the meeting successfully.
Investment: $297 EARLY BIRD – $597 FULL PRICE – Register Here Now This includes…
the online course of 6 sessions,
the 1 follow-up coaching session, and
access to video recordings during the training period
an advanced copy of my new book ‘Outside-In 2020 vision’
access to a dedicated and exclusive WhatsApp Outside-In group
certification and accreditation
lifetime access to The Experience Manager
Because this is an extended training, after each session if you have suggestions or questions you’d like me to address at the next meeting, you can email or WhatsApp them to me.
DATES for the Six LIVE Sessions (and timezones)
South Africa – Register Here Now >> Monday: April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11 <<
Australasia – Register Here Now >> Tuesday: April 7, 14, 21, 28 May 5, 12 <<
USA – Register Here Now >> Wednesday April 8, 15, 22, 29 May 6, 13 <<
Europe – Register Here Now >> Thursday April 9, 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14 <<
PRICES Session One Only (to test if this works for you) USD 97 AUD EURO Session 1-6 (early bird) USD 297 AUD EURO Session 1-6 USD 597 AUD EURO
Group Size: We’ll be limiting the group size, so register soon if you want to be sure to have a seat at the ONLINE table.
If you’ve already found value in Customer Experience, Process Management or Outside-In, and want to go farther, I hope you join this training.
I am very much looking forward to it and meeting with you soon,
I am returning to #England for my annual Steve Towers #masterclass in #london#cuxtomerexperience#cx#process#acxs#acx#ccxp Don’t be shy, come and learn the latest, greatest techniques as practised by companies like #amazon#zara#zappos and #emirates https://londonstevetowersmasterclass.eventbrite.com
Recently qualified Masters enjoy the photocall in Orlando
We are bringing to the table the newest innovations and hands-on methods to immediately deliver success on your return to work. Yes, these sessions are fun, and what with London just before Christmas, what is there not to like?
And hey if you have already done one of our coaching events ping me and I can arrange a loyalty discount 😉 There’s a mountain of new stuff as we launch #theexperiencemanager and #cemmethod version 12.
Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?
It seems that the only consistent thing today is change. With that in mind, how are you keeping up with the seismic shifts in doing business?
We upgrade our homes, our cars and our lifestyles as a matter of course. When was the last time you upgraded YOU? No, I don’t mean a fancy new pair of shoes or those nice looking jeans what I am talking about is the way you think and do. At a fundamental level, we need to be able to lead change and enable those around us to embrace and welcome all aspects of this volatile world, which as I have already suggested isn’t going away anytime soon.
All things considered, that is what our coaching, mentoring and training programs are all about. Not only incorporating the latest innovations in business change but reframing the way you think.
The Experience Manager
In this last twelve months, the approaches we use have upgraded to include a new platform that redefines process and customer experience deployment and includes the capture, analysis, ideation and implementation of experiences from the front-line to the board room.
Now some may think they have done all the growth they need to do and rely on those traditional tools for the daily work. That is, however, the way of the dinosaur, almost waiting for the asteroid to strike and wishing they would survive its impact. We know what happened there.
So is time to refresh and retool?
If so there’s a series of courses from one-dayers to a week across the planet led by been there and done it mentors who spend the majority of their time helping organisations embrace this brave new world. Come and get the benefits of their latest learnings as we codify together, hands-on, the means for you to upgrade and retool.
Case studies are great, but…
I will be blunt (nothing new there then) I abhor the talking heads know it all theoretical claptrap courses where learning is stifled and it is a listen and do as I say dirge. Hence anyone who has experienced our programs will tell you how exciting, invigorating and enabling the hands-on learning is. Even to the extent of using your own challenges and working them through the sessions in association with teammates and colleagues. Yes, case studies help but how much better is fixing your own stuff and learning how to integrate the tools and techniques directly?
That underpins our programs, learning by doing.
Interactive workshops solving your challenges
In fact, the relationships you forge in the fires of embracing the CEMMethod will become a part of the new you on your return to the office.
Find out more…
We are running open courses across the planet in 116 countries with over 100,000 professionals now qualified. Our inhouse courses, where we customise the material to your industry and current dramas, are also popular and we are proud to talk of the thousands of companies who have embraced the learnings. Either way, open or inhouse, you will have a fantastic time so have a look, delve a bit, and sign-up soon. Your upgrade is waiting!
Jeff Bezos encourages us to become Customer Obsessed (see video snippet) however Netflix’s journey to CX Obsession is less well known.
Here is an extract from a great article (link below):
From Gibson Biddle, former VP at Netflix and CPO at Chegg In 2005, as I joined Netflix as VP of Product, I asked Reed Hastings, the CEO, what he hoped his legacy would be. His answer: “Consumer science.” He explained, “Leaders like Steve Jobs have a sense of style and what customers seek, but I don’t. We need consumer science to get there.”
Gibson Biddle, Former VP at Netflix
Reed’s aspiration was that the Netflix team would discover what delights customers through the scientific process. Forming hypotheses through existing data, qualitative, and surveys, and then A/B testing these ideas to see what works. His vision was that product leaders at Netflix would develop remarkable consumer insight, fueled by results and learning from thousands of experiments.
During my time at Netflix, and later at my next startup, Chegg, I learned to move from customer focus to customer obsession. In doing so embraced Reed’s notion of consumer science. Here’s how I think about the transition:
The full article here is great testimony to moving away from the soft and fluffy version of Customer Experience. Let’s get more scientific about Customer Experience.
