Welcome to the December 1, 2004 issue of The Total View

Your resource for cutting-edge news, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage, and motivate top-performing employees.

If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and want your own subscription, visit
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803762_31118865

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In This Issue
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1. Customer Satisfaction Survey Says Customer Rage On The Rise.
2. Tips You Can Use - Background Checks.
3. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #296 to #300.
4. SMILE! A Recommendation Letter.
5. 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail.
6. How Much Employee Turnover is Costing Your Company?
7. Is Your Company or Association Planning to Conduct a Survey?
8. An Easy Way to Make a Colleague's Day!

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The Total View is written and published each Wednesday by Ira S. Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions. (Yes, Ira writes every article, every week!) and is distributed with permission by The Chrysalis Corporation.

Ira S. Wolfe 2004 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

To learn more about The Chrysalis Corporation or to read back issues of The Total View, visit our web site at http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803763_31118865

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1. How to Prevent Customer Dissatisfaction Rage.
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Written by Ira S. Wolfe and Special Guest Columnist, David Wolfe, Wolfe Promotional Services

We all know that keeping customers happy is the key to a successful business. Sure, sometimes it's a challenge. One of the key areas of complaint is actually how the complaint itself is handled. It's one thing to have an unhappy customer. It's another to get the customer even more upset by not handling the complaint in a "satisfactory" manner.

A recent survey of customer households by the Customer Care Alliance found that an increasing number of Americans (73 percent of those with a product or service problem) are extremely upset about how "serious" complaints are being handled by companies. In fact, the CCA has termed this dissatisfaction as "customer rage". On the other hand, only 16 percent felt completely satisfied or received more than they asked for.

What do they want? After having a product repaired or service fixed, the overwhelming majority don't want something free or other compensation. Instead, they want an explanation why the problem occurred (78 percent), assurance that it won't happen again (78 percent), an apology (59 percent) and/or a chance to vent (58 percent).

Here's the problem: what they wanted didn't happen. For example, only 38 percent got a chance to vent and 25 percent got an apology. Fewer got an assurance for the future or explanation.

As a result, more than half of all respondents with problems decided never to do business with the company again or threatened to talk with the company's management. Ninety percent shared the story with friends or others.

Another major complaint in problem resolution is "ping-ponging" the customer. Unfortunately, we've all been victims of this. That's when you come into contact with a customer service rep that either a) isn't given the authority to resolve issues, b) isn't trained properly or worse yet, or c) both. The customer gets "ping-ponged" from person to person, even department to department until someone can provide any form of solution.

Although this survey was based on consumer purchase problems, all businesses can also learn from it. After all, we are dealing with people first. The survey verifies the idea customers don't become dissatisfied because of problems. It's the way the problem is handled that will determine if they become dissatisfied. When you "tick" people off, brand or company loyalty can be ruined by not handling a complaint effectively.

What's amazing is that you don't need to spend lots of time and money resolving these problems. According to the survey, monetary solutions of discounts and refunds are not necessarily the solutions.

What can you do? Develop a real plan for problem resolution. Resolving problems requires different skills from providing sales oriented information. Putting the wrong person in front of your customers is ineffective with enormous costs. Add the loss of the lifetime value of a customer to the cost hiring and replacing an employee and you'll take one heck of a hit on the bottom line. Pre-screening candidates for customer service skills and attitudes is easy and inexpensive. Online assessments like SELECT Associate System (http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803764_31118865) and FirstView Job Fit (http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803765_31118865) from The Chrysalis Corporation can tell you in just minutes if a candidate has a positive customer attitude, how they handle frustration and raging customers, and even if they will show up for work.

When you have the right people, make sure they are well trained to listen, give apologies when appropriate and have the authority to offer solutions. Then, let your customers know that you have a trained staff for solving problems. Instead of customers calling sales people, their managers and the top company management, urge customers to deal with your best of class customer service staff. Even if they call you directly, tell them you're personally going to refer them to the best person for this matter! Of course, if you want to handle these matters, you should get training too.

Finally, even though the survey says that customers aren't looking for any compensation for the problem, a follow up to the problem resolution is a nice touch. A hand written note or a small gift can go a long way. After all, you know how good it feels to get a thank you note after a meeting or a new major purchase. It's no different when a problem arises. For example, imagine if you received a plant with a personalized message after having a problem with a company. You would probably be even more favorably impressed with how they handled the problem. Although you would tell others about the problem, you'd probably end with a very positive remark.

To paraphrase a famous advertising campaign, "Only you can prevent customer rage."

To Learn more about the SELECT Associate Screening System, this link:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803764_31118865

To learn more about the FirstView Job Fit Indicator, follow this link:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803765_31118865

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2. Tips You Can Use - Background Checks.
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Leaders of Rejoice Ministries thought they were being extra careful when they hired James Poole. That's because its last pastor bilked them out of $10,000. Three months after they hired him, he skipped town with $3,344. After reporting the losses, they discovered both men were veteran con artists. The church is now debating whether to hire yet another pastor or close the church.

Just last week, the Arizona Diamondbacks hired......then fired their manager. Wally Beckman admitted to several "mistakes" in his past life - arrests for domestic disputes, drunken-driving, restraining orders - only after he was hired. Ken Kendrick, one of the Diamondbacks' managing partners, after the "mistakes" became public stated they will now make background checks a layer of their hiring.

The owner of a motel in New Holland PA might want to do the same. A young couple working as managers were arrested for stealing the cash payments received by guests.

If, like Pinocchio's nose, each lie a candidate told on his/her resume or during the interview became immediately apparent, business owners could easily weed out employees who cheat and deceive. So, how can you tell if an employee is lying about their work experience,

To provide our clients with one-stop shopping for employee evaluation from pre-employment to career succession, we are very pleased to introduce our new partnership with Information Architects, a leading provider of Employment Screening and Backg round Investigations.

BACKGROUND CHECKS. Sixty-one percent of the human resource (HR) professionals surveyed said they find inaccuracies in resumes after carrying out background checks. (Source: SHARMA Background Checks/ Prism Inaccuracies online survey, 2004)

Services include:

Employment Verification
Criminal Records Search
Civil Records Search
Workers Comp Search
ISSN Verification
Credit Reports
MV Reports
Bankruptcy Search
Degree Verification
Professional License Verification
Drug Screening

Learn more about background checking at
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803766_31118865

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3. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #296 to #300.
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Fact #296: Half of today's working nurses will reach retirement age by 2015 (Source: John Challenger)

Fact #297: The average age of construction workers is approaching the mid-50s. (Source: John Challenger)

Fact #298: By 2006, 31 percent of workers in the federal government - nearly half a million - will be eligible to retire. (Source: John Challenger)

Fact #299: Nationally 14 percent of the workforce is 55 or older. (Source: BS)

Fact #300: While one in eight Americans was 65+ in 1999, this ratio will rise to one in five by 2030, (Source: U.S. Census Bureau).

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - $7.95 includes no shipping costs for limited time only. Follow this link to learn more:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803767_31118865

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4. SMILE! A Recommendation Letter
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While working with Mr. Jones, I have always found him

working studiously and sincerely at his table without idling or

gossiping with colleagues in the office. He seldom

wastes his time on useless things. Given a job, he always

finishes the given assignment in time. He will always be

deeply engrossed in his official work, and can never be

found chit-chatting in the cafeteria. He has absolutely no

vanity in spite of his high accomplishment and profound

knowledge of his field. I think he can easily be

classed as outstanding, and should on no account be

dispensed with. I strongly feel that Mr. Jones should be

pushed to accept promotion, and a proposal to administration be

sent as soon as possible.

Signed,
Branch Manager

PS: MR. JONES WAS PRESENT WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS REPORT EARLIER TODAY. KINDLY READ ONLY THE ALTERNATE LINES 1,3,5... FOR MY TRUE ASSESSMENT OF HIM.

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5. 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail.
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It's that time of year again -- time for annual performance reviews. Some managers love em, but most think they are a waste of time. Performance reviews can actually be a highly productive process for employees, management, and the entire company IF they are done CORRECTLY. Here are 21 reasons why performance reviews fail to product positive, long lasting improvement:

1. The reviewer and employee have a personal friendship outside of work and both individuals can't differentiate their manager-employee role from their friend-friend relationship.

2. The reviewer and the employee see themselves as part of a team. Team members are supposed to encourage one another, be supportive in good and bad times. But when the manager has to provide negative feedback or discipline the employee, these actions are viewed as divisive.

3. When not provided regularly, annual (or even less periodic) reviews can be based on most recent performance, not performance over the course of the year. The results go both ways. Employees who put on their best behavior around review time get favorable ratings and the employee who has a bad couple of weeks gets punished.

4. Performance reviews are only scheduled when an employee is not performing up to expectations or a company needs to terminate/lay-off the employee.

5. "You know nobody's perfect and there is always room for improvement." The manager doesn't believe in rewarding an employee with a "10" (out of 10) even when he/she deserves it. Some employers actually use a rating scale of 1 to 9 because no employee deserves a 10 in their minds.

Source: Ira S. Wolfe.

To read more, follow this link:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803768_31118865

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6. How Much Employee Turnover is Costing Your Company?
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The facts may surprise, or worse yet, scare you.

A conservative estimate of the cost of turnover for hourly employees is 25 percent of the annual salary. Personally, our experience places the actual cost closer to 50 and higher when you consider lost opportunity costs, lost productivity and even theft, absenteeism, and other counter-productive and disruptive behaviors.

The costs for salaried employees has ranged from 1.5 times annual salary to upwards of 14 times annual salary.

But high turnover costs are not isolated to big business. A small business paying an employee an hourly wage as low as $5.25 per hour incurs the minimum cost of $3,528.58 (25% x $14,114.10) every time an employee turns.

Other examples of turnover costs are:

$7.00 per hour = $4,704.70 in turnover costs $10.00 = $6,721.00 $15.00 = $10, 081.50 $20.00 = $13,442.00

Follow this link to anonymously calculate your company's cost of turnover:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803769_31118865

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7. Is Your Company or Association Planning to Conduct a Survey?
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Is your company or association planning to conduct a survey in Q4 2004 or early 2005? Hate the hassle of inputting survey results? Not enough time to query the data and create reports? Are you putting off getting much needed feedback from customers, employees and members?

Contact us today to learn about about real-time e-mail and web based surveys. No more hassles with entering results and creating presentations. Let us do the work for you. We can help you write, set-up, distribute (electronically), process and present in less time for less cost.

For more information about the survey solutions we can provide you with, including our Rapid Survey Option, follow the link below and type "Surveys" in the comment box. You can also contact us by phone at: 229-257-0665:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/remote.html?ltk=1803770_31118865

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8. An Easy Way to Make a Colleague's Day!
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If you found the information in this newsletter useful, chances are you have colleagues, co-workers, and a boss who would also benefit from reading it. Why not forward this copy to them so that they can check it out and sign-up to receive it directly?

They'll thank you for it!

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Contact Information:

The Chrysalis Corporation
2001 Hammock Drive
Valdosta, GA 31602
229-257-0665