Celebration of Excellence

Madoff. Satyam. Stanford. Who's next?

Actually, I don't want to know who's next. I'm tired of hearing about ethical lapses, fraud, misconduct, etc. I'm tired of opening the morning paper (actually, my browser) and reading about who's been accused of FCPA violations, bribery, or worse. Spring has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, and I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic, and I'm tired of all the negativity.

Thus, I'm very pleased to announce that EthicsPoint has launched the nomination page for the 2009 Best Ethics and Compliance Portal contest. We want to recognize clients who have done an outstanding job of fostering cultures of integrity and compliance. We're soliciting nominations for Ethics Portals that demonstrate excellence in the following areas:

• Clarity of message
• Integration of technology within an overall ethics and compliance strategy
• Quality of user experience
• Overall "look and feel."

So please click on the link above and nominate your organization! And good luck!

(and if you're just getting started on building your portal, you may want to check out the 2008 winners. And I'd also encourage our existing clients to attend the April 23 webinar "Get Creative! Are You Optimizing Your Hotline Portal Page to Increase Employee Awareness?")

The "Art" of Customer Service

Guest blog from Mike Hyatt-Evenson, EthicsPoint Director of Client Services

My father-in-law is a retired pharmacist. All jokes aside about being a drug dealer, for part of his career he worked as the pharmacy manager where he, as you can expect, was continually enticed by pharmaceutical salespeople. Since the pharmaceutical sales model is one of the most competitive, highly compensated models in the world, I asked him how he would choose what to buy. His answers struck me. Fundamentally, everything had to do with the salesperson who:

1. Kept their promises.
2. He trusted.
3. Really listened to understand his needs.
4. Took the extra step.

What struck me was that he did not mention price, quality, gifts, or incentives. Though he was talking about salespeople, those qualities are exactly what we train our customer service people to do. For example:

1. We always call when we say we will.
2. We build trust and relationships with our customers to develop long term loyalty.
3. We actively listen to our customers so we completely understand their needs and pain.
4. We distinguish ourselves from our competitors by doing more than just the minimum.

This reinforces one of the concepts that I believe makes some companies great – the “art” of customer service. The “science” of customer service comes in accurate tracking of customer information, good phone systems, proper staffing, efficient use of tools, etc., etc. Any company can do the science.

The “art” of customer service means that we deliver what and when we say we will. It means that our customers are doing most of the talking. It means that our customers know that we take pleasure in working with them and doing our jobs. It means that we let our customers tell us the story of their child’s graduation if they want to. It means that we quit talking and get down to business if they want to. It means that we take the extra step to make our customers’ jobs a little easier. It means that we happily communicate good news but are also honest with bad news. It means that customer service is not a department, but is pervasive in everything we do across the organization. It is what will lead to a great customer experience.

In this economic environment, our customers are (and should be) scrutinizing every penny they spend. I believe that the companies who live and breathe the “art of customer service” in everything they do will be the ones left standing.

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Image by Martin LaBar via Flickr

As I dodged the rain drops on my way to bring in the newspaper this morning (yes, I still read print - my boys and I read the sports and comics during breakfast), I thought of this old joke. And while some of you are answering, "Pilgrims," I'd argue that April showers also bring Ethics and Compliance Week 2009! (It's May 3-9 for those of you unfamiliar with this important week!)

We're planning a few cool things here to celebrate and recognize the importance of Ethics and Compliance (more to come in a later post), but I wanted to see what you all are doing in your organizations. Here's a partial list of ideas that I've collected from my discussions and email threads with some of our customers:

• Message from CEO to workforce on importance of ethics and compliance
• Update/New compliance posters at major locations
• Compliance/Ethics polls posted on intranet homepage
• Remind employees of Code of Conduct
• Compliance Quiz/Survey - prizes to random employees who complete
• Awareness campaign around Ethics Hotline availability
• Voicemail message from CEO/Compliance Officer
• Roll out new compliance training
• Compliance word jumble or crossword puzzle - with prizes
• Essay on Compliance/dealing with ethical dilemma - award for best submission

Post a comment here with your ideas and I'll share them with our customer base.