Michael Vanderslice
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Homepage: http://www.bizelevate.com
Posts by Michael Vanderslice
Building Blocks of a High-Performance Organization
Feb 11th
Building Blocks of a High-Performance Organization
A significant amount of research has identified the workplace characteristics of high-performance organizations. This research demonstrates that these workplace cultures share six fundamental characteristics or Building Blocks:
- Trust, Respect & Fairness
In high-performance workplaces, employees are respected, both as employees and as human beings; there is a fundamental sense of trust between management and staff; and workers are treated fairly and consistently. - Open Communications
There is open and honest communication within the organization, from management to employees, from employees to management, and across different work units of the organization. - Rewards & Recognition
Employees are sufficiently rewarded and recognized, in monetary and non-monetary ways, for their contributions and accomplishments. - Learning & Development
There are opportunities for employees to develop new skills, and to advance in the organization as their performance and desire dictates. - Teamwork & Involvement
There is a sense of teamwork and collaboration within the organization, with employees feeling that they have the opportunity to contribute directly to the organization’s success, and to the larger community. - Work/Life Balance
The organization’s policies, practices and culture affirmatively help employees balance the competing demands of work and family.
Hiring Your Next Employer
Feb 6th
In my career, I’ve hired hundreds of people for various positions including senior executives. In my experience the best candidates have been those that have come prepared for an interview having done their homework on our company, understood our corporate culture, knew our competitors, believed in our products or services, understood our business challenges and had ideas to overcome them.
This topic deserves an entire post on how to find the right job or career which I will write within the next week. For now, here is a magazine interview that I did several years ago that touches on some of the aspects of hiring your next employer.
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Hiring Your Next Employer
Published by CompTIA Magazine August 2005
Geeks On Call, the national on-site computer-services company, has hired more than 500 CompTIA A+ certified technicians over the past six years. Based on observations of hundreds of job candidates, Mike Vanderslice, vice president of operations for Geeks On Call, believes that getting hired in IT is as much about the desire to work for a particular organization as it is about the organization’s enthusiasm for the candidate.
“Employers want to hire qualified people who are passionate about the company and the direction it is going in”, Vanderslice said. “If managers find genuine passion, experience and supporting certifications, they will recognize they are dealing with a great candidate.”
Vanderslice said that “the first step in finding that passion is to be honest about the desire to work for a particular company. After carefully researching the organization’s direction and industry, IT workers must ask themselves: Could I be happy working for this company? If the answer is no, then the IT professional has come to an important realization.”
“Both (the) candidate and the employer will find out very quickly it is not a good fit”, Vanderslice explained. “If it is not, the technician and employer will end up basically where they started the technician looking for a position and the employer with an opening to fill.”
For this reason, Vanderslice urges quality over quantity when selecting and contacting prospective employers. “It is a turnoff for an employer to see generic cover letters and resume’s, he said. Successful candidates communicate their passion in the cover letter and customize resumes to highlight the fit between experience and certifications with the advertised or potential opening. Vanderslice also said candidates should demonstrate that the job is important by carefully proofreading cover letters and resume’s, eliminating spelling and grammatical errors.”
“To successfully ferret out dream jobs”, Vanderslice said that “IT professionals should continually build their network, asking teachers, colleagues and supervisors for references. Referrals come from people who know both the individual and the organization doing the hiring, Vanderslice said. They typically would not put the two together if they thought it wouldn’t be a good fit. A referral is a powerful endorsement, building instant credibility on both sides of the equation.”
After identifying and contacting the organization, the job interview is the next step toward that dream job. “To get an edge, it’s helpful to know what the person across the desk is looking for.” Vanderslice said “There are several important considerations from the employers point of view. The first is to determine whether the candidate can do the job, and that comes from experience closely related to the opening. Experience through internships or time spent as a volunteer is vital to securing that all-important first job. In any job, master as many key tasks as possible, and be aware of how these tasks contribute to the mission of the organization. Look toward the next-level position that interests you most, and strive to grow into that job.”
Another key factor in the interview is matching experience with supporting certifications. “Customers ask us all the time how we ensure the quality of our technicians”, Vanderslice said. “We tell them that every Geeks On Call technician is at least CompTIA A+ certified. Certification not only reassures the customer, it inspires trust in the eyes of the hiring manager. Certification is the independent validation of knowledge.”
“Clear communication is another major key to success in an interview. The ability for an IT technician to communicate effectively is critical”, Vanderslice said. “It doesn’t matter whether the technician is interacting with customers, employees or supervisors, it is incumbent on the IT professional to be a good listener and clear communicator.”
“Someone who is relaxed, interacts well, who states their ideas clearly and provides supporting examples taken from their experience stands out as being a strong candidate for a technology job and a potential good fit with the IT team”, he added. “Asking questions which demonstrate that they’ve done their homework and are truly interested in us moves the candidate up a notch.”
Appropriate experience, supporting certifications, clear communication and an honest desire to work for a company are powerful incentives for an employer to make that all-important job offer. If an offer is made, then the candidate can be assured that he or she has done everything possible to hire the right employer.
John A. Venator is president and CEO of CompTIA, the largest global IT industry association, with more than 19,000 members in 89 countries.
Engaged Employees = More Revenue
Dec 11th
Working within an organization where employees are engaged to contribute isn’t just more fun, it’s also more productive and profitable for the company.
A recent study by Towers Perrin, a global professional services firm, entitled “The Global Workforce Study,” finds that businesses with the highest employee engagement are financial winners. These companies also have a higher employee retention rate.
To date, this is the largest study of its kind with input from a survey of almost 90,000 workers from 18 countries. The study was also able to draw on a huge employee normative database that contains over two million employee records and the financial performance records of their companies.
According to the study. companies with the highest percentage of engaged workers make more money. In a 12-month study across 50 companies, companies with the highest percentage of engaged workers had a 19 percent increase in operating incomes and a 28 percent increase in earnings per share. On the other hand, over the same year period, companies with the lowest employee engagement rates showed a 33 percent decline in operating incomes and an 11 percent decline in earnings per share.
A three year study that followed 41 companies showed a 3.7 percent rise in operating margins in companies with engaged workers versus a 2 percent drop in operating margins in companies with less engaged workers.
Engaged employees also think that what they do has an impact on the quality of the products and services offered by their companies. Eighty percent of these workers see a relationship between their jobs and company results. Just forty percent of disengaged workers acknowledge this connection.
The study tested which dimensions had the greatest impact on workforce engagement: personal factors, such as optimism and openness to challenge; work team factors, such as someone’s relationship with his or her supervisor; and organizational factors, such as rewards, development and leadership. A key conclusion was that organizations should focus on employee engagement as a way to improve workforce and organizational performance.
The study furthermore suggests senior management work to role model “inspiration, vision, and commitment” as a method to increase engagement. Other ways to increase engagement are to help employees understand what “is in it for them,” or in other words, the benefits for the employees, including learning opportunities and career growth. Towers Perrin also reports that employees want to work for leaders, for companies that “strive for excellence.”
Are your employees engaged?
Rockport: A Great Customer Experience
Dec 15th
A few months back I decided to replace my Rockport shoes after close to 8 years of faithful service. Yes, I owned other shoes during that time and while these other shoes had come and gone, my Rockports were still around and the most comfortable. My old Rockports had at least 500,000 miles on them. Granted, most of those miles were on airline flights for business.
My new pair of Rockport shoes were even more comfortable and I looked forward to many years of work, fun and travel. But recently after about 9 months of ownership I noticed some unusual wear that led to a thread sticking out of the side of them signalling an issue that questioned their longevity like my past experiences with the brand.
Luckily, a visit to my local Rockport store proved to solve my issue. Without much fanfare I was given a new pair. No need for a receipt thankfully since that puppy is long gone by now. No long list of questions or need to show my ID. The friendly person behind the counter asked my name, apoligized for the problem and took care of the issue and giving me a brand spanking new pair of shoes.
This is the way service is meant to be. Thank you Rockport and great jobs empowering your employees and developing policies that deliver world class customer experiences.
Empowering Employees to Do the Right Thing
Dec 12th
Recently I took a round trip flight for a business trip. Everything was going smoothly until my meetings were quite successful and I was done a day earlier than I expected. It was then that my trouble and a great example of how empowering your employees to do the right thing came into play.
I called the airline toll free customer service line to make sure seats were available and to see if there was any fare change. I was in luck since the plane was less than half full and the fare code was the same. I was told that there would be a $50 change fee that they would occasionally waive at the airport. So far so good. I arrived at the airport about two hours early and attempted to check in and that’s when service More >
Businesses Should Empower Employees
Nov 23rd
What a difference an empowered employee makes when providing customer service. Did you ever notice how when things don’t go exactly as planned it’s the companies that empower their employees to resolve issues, make their own decisions, and do what is right by the customer are also the companies who are surviving and perhaps even thriving in a challenging economy?
Empowerment = better customer service and a better bottom line and from past leadership experience, happier and more productive employees.
How Tactical Loitering Delivered over $5,000 In Revenue
Nov 19th
While the definition of loitering is to stand idly about or linger aimlessly, tactical loitering is anything but aimless.
My discovery of just how powerful tactical loitering can be happened a few years ago when I was an executive for Geeks On Call, a national computer services company. I happened to be traveling and popped into a Starbucks for a much needed caffeine fix and to use their wifi connection to do some work. The only seat available was in the highest traffic area of the shop where people waited to pick up their $5 beverage so I set up camp and started working. Over the next hour and a half I got very little work done but my visit to Starbucks was incredibly productive. Keep reading to find out just how productive!
As I drove away from Starbucks and my caffeine buzz wearing off , it became apparent that I was on to something huge. Loitering when done with a purpose could be used to grow your business. For me it took a laptop, my company name and logo on my shirt, a pile of business cards and a smile or hello to those nearby. The rest was easy as potential customers approached me with their technology questions or problems.
How is tactical loitering used in other businesses? 1800GotJunk is a great example of how to use tactical loitering to drive brand awareness and new revenue opportunities. 1800GotJunk is an international junk hauler (think Sanford and Son with nicer trucks) uses tactical loitering via waves where employees dress up in blue wigs and position themselves in high traffic roads with great visibility. Another method used by Got Junk is to tactically park their junk trucks in high traffic areas during down times, again creating brand awareness and delivering new service opportunities. If you have to park your company vehicle plastered with logos, why not pick a spot where thousands of people can see it.
Coming back to my experience at Starbucks with Geeks On Call, I accomplished the following via tactical loitering:
- I spoke to over a dozen potential customers in 90 minutes all of whom approached me
- I booked 5 appointments for our technicians that resulted in over $1,000 in immediate revenue
- I handed out over 20 business cards that I have no doubt generated additional new business
- One of the new customers, who happened to own a small business, used Geeks On Call to support his office computers spending over $4,500 with our company during the next 12 months
At Geeks On Call, we trained our employees how to use tactical loitering as part of our field marketing program. While tactical loitering did not replace our more structured customer acquisition strategies, it was a nice addition that delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars of new revenue to our business each year.
Tactical Loitering Basics
Tactical loitering isn’t an exact science but there are some basics for it to be effective. I’ve outlined a few of those below.
- Wear your brand! If you have to wear clothes (and who doesn’t), why not wear something with your brand logo and name? At Geeks On Call I wore our company shirt all the time. Our shirts helped to improve brand recognition while I was out of the office at restaurants, stores or business meetings where the shirt would always result in a potential customer asking about my business. By wearing a branded shirt, I literally educated thousands of people personally about our brand by wearing the logo.
- Position yourself where your customers are. For a computer repair company, hanging out at Starbucks was a perfect location since that is where our target customer frequents. For your business, it might be a different location. I know of several home repair services that position employees in Home Depot and Lowes to acquire new customers.
- Be ready with a quick pitch on your business. When someone approaches and asks about your business, be ready with a 5 – 10 word pitch of what you do. For me it was “we provide quality on-site computer solutions for home users and businesses”.
- Establish credibility before trying to close the sale. When someone approaches you or vice versa, you have very little credibility. Take this time to create a rapport and to share your knowledge and expertise. This shows a potential customer that you are an expert in the field.
- Have business cards and marketing information readily available. Always carry business cards to hand out when you are approached. It’s unprofessional to have to write down this information on a napkin or coffee cup.
- Be ready to close the sale. After you have established a rapport and provided some value, ask for the business. I physically called a customer service representative to personally book 5 appointments during my initial Starbucks visit all because I asked for the sale and made it easy for the customer to use our service. Depending upon your business, be able to book an order or service call immediately and make it easy for the customer. Service starts with your first meeting with a customer.
- Don’t get kicked out or scare anyone. Most people don’t like to be approached by a salesperson, especially in a location where they don’t expect it like Starbucks. Let customers come to you when you are loitering. Failure to do so could have a negative outcome and could get you kicked out of your favorite loitering location.
- Smile, be approachable and have fun. This is common sense but don’t be buried in a newspaper, laptop or face the corner. Pick the best location to bump into the most people possible, make eye contact and say hello. If you approach tactical loitering with the right attitude and have a little fun with it, you will grow your business and increase revenue.
Please share your stories and ideas about tactical loitering including the successes, failures and especially the funny incidents.
BizElevate helps companies improve all aspects of their business including customer service and customer experience, operations, sales and marketing, employee training and leadership, finance, efficiency and technology.
How To Elevate Your Service Performance
Nov 6th
Within a company where you have many people doing the same job, there will always be certain individuals that perform at a higher level than others. Companies that close the gap on this disparity become great by constantly delivering a quality product or service. Closing the gap is done by elevating the performance of the weaker performers while maintaining or possibly even improving upon the performance of your most successful employees in your company at the same time.
One service company we worked with had about 300 trained technicians in the field. Each technician was measured by average revenue per customer, overall revenue and quality of service. Each technician was provided the same training and were under the same incentive based compensation program. We were brought on to figure out why the top technicians had an average ticket of $400 while the worst had an average ticket of $125. What we found and implemented is a valuable lesson for any company. More >
BizElevate Blog Launch
Nov 1st
We have been helping companies for years via our service and consulting offerings. We’ve decided to branch out and share some of the valuable information we have learned to help you elevate your business.
Why is Circuit City Failing?
Nov 6th
Posted by Michael Vanderslice in Business Commentary
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With the recent announcement by Circuit City to close 20% of their stores, there will be quite a bit of discussion about their reason for failing. Typically when a chain the size of Circuit City begins to fail, there aren’t just one or two factors but there are typically one or two that stand out above the rest. This is especially the case with Circuit City where competitor Best Buy continues to thrive in spite of difficult economic times.
I had the opportunity to meet with Circuit City in 2004 when they were considering the purchase of a company I helped start. Having the opportunity to sit in a room with senior executives gives you a unique view into the culture of a company. After 15 minutes of discussion, it become very clear that Circuit City was too busy trying to figure out how to match and follow Best Buy at their every move versus leading the industry. Granted, paying attention to your competition is important but if all you do is follow in their footsteps, you are at a competitive disadvantage. Meanwhile Best Buy was busy reinventing their company.
While things were going well for Best Buy, they realized that several things were happening in the marketplace. Margins for TV’s, computers and other electronics were shrinking while CD music sales were also seeing a decline. Pressure from internet based companies and the scariest competitor of them all WalMart made Best Buy realize they needed to adapt and change to stay competitive. One of the most visible things Best Buy did was buy a little company called Geek Squad for $3 million in 2002. By beafing up services offered within stores, Best Buy was able to take a low margin sale like a PC and add services or additional components to the sale via Geek Squad staff within a store. This not only added money to the bottom line but it also improved service to a customer by adding additional value. Today the Geek Squad name is also used in audio, video and business services offerings with revenues exceeding over $1 billion a year for Best Buy with excellent margins. Best Buy also implement a customer centric initiative that was highly successful where stores were tailored towards certain customer segments based on location demographics. These innovations coupled with Circuit City’s slow to follow culture and failure to innovate on their own have put us where we are today, significant store closures for Circuit City. Sure they have Fire Dog today but will they be enough to put out the fires within the Circuit City brand? I doubt it.