By Tripp Kerr

I was really excited to get the news that PAI was selected for the second year in a row as a WorldBlu Certified company.   One might suspect any number of reasons for my excitement . . .

1. Being recognized as a WorldBlu company puts PAI in the company of only 48 other organizations globally and includes great companies such as WD-40, Zappos, etc.
2. It’s great to get outside validation from an organization (WorldBlu) that champions the growth of transparent, collaborative and decentralized companies.
3. With the Certification, PAI will get a second acrylic award that will provide symmetry in our trophy case.

Truth is, my excitement existed for none of these reasons.  What I was really excited about was our WorldBlu Report Card; that showed the results from an anonymous survey by ALL our Employees.  (Yes, I will admit, I was one of those kids that really looked forward to report cards.)

WorldBlu asked our Employees how PAI was doing with regard to providing an environment:

• where employees can reach their true potential
• where they feel valued for who they are
• where they are empowered to make a difference and “Change the World” (which is what we are truly out to do).

In almost every category, PAI’s scores improved by an average of 15-25%.

Yes, I admit, I was very excited to hear the news!  As a numbers man and sports-minded guy, I imagined what it would take to beat some of the great baseball records by 20%:

1. It would take a homerun every other game to best Barry Bonds’ 73 Home Runs in a single season (up to 88).
2. It would take nearly 3.3 more seasons without a day off in order to best Cal Ripken’s 2,632 Consecutive Games played (up to 3,158).
3. It would take nearly a hit in every game, almost to the All-Star Break, in order to best Joe Dimaggio’s 56 Game Hitting Streak (up to 68).

Our WorldBlu scores were both humbling and inspiring. PAI ranked highest (4.8 out of 5) on the value “Integrity”. What’s more, it showed that our Tribe understands the sincerity of what we strive to create.

While this second award marks another milestone on our journey as an organization, it is truly the journey itself that gives cause for excitement!

At PAI, our 9.1 Core Values guide the decisions we make at every level of the organization.

As part of Productivity Associates’ employee-driven set of core values, we embrace the responsibility of Making Good Choices. When you do the right thing, for the right reason it shows strength of character and wisdom. More importantly, good choices make good business sense.

A few years ago, I took an ethics class for a Business School requirement. Some may sense the irony of exploring ethics in business education; but the reality is, ethical business practices are gaining popularity both in theory and application.

The world has seen firsthand the widespread damage caused by focusing only on self-interest and short-term personal gains.  Think:  2008 financial meltdown, mortgage-backed securities, unregulated credit default swaps, abuse of financial derivatives and bailouts (NY Times).

At PAI, we take a careful look at the long-term consequences of our decisions. We think through many, many layers of “what may happen” and “what then” and “what happens after that” to make the best choices for ourselves, for our customers and for the community we serve around us.

Here’s an example of how we’re living this value of MAKING GOOD CHOICES:

In 2011, we had a client (let’s call them Client X) with a reputation for causing anxiety and low morale for our customer service agents. Client X chose to deny lifetime warranty claims to their customers. As a result, Client X’s customers would frequently belittle, verbally abuse and swear at our agents over the phone. PAI’s senior leadership talked with Client X about the inappropriateness of their customers’ actions and the root cause of customer dissatisfaction. After many failed attempts to correct the problem, we sat down as a team to discuss our next move.

Our 9.1 Core Values literally sat in the center of our discussion.

• We talked about our values.
• We talked about what it meant to live by our values, with regard to Client X.
• We talked about the unnecessary negativity felt by our staff.
• We talked about “firing” Client X and what that would mean.

Here was our assessment of the short and long term effects of terminating our relationship with Client X:

• Short-term we would have a negative financial impact by losing some recurring revenues.
• Short-term we would enjoy an immediate boost in employee morale.
• Long-term we would find new business to fill the financial divot.
• Long-term we would seek to partner with companies that align with our Core Values.
• Short- and long-term our Tribe would know (as they do now know) that we’ve got their back.

In short, we decided that the best choice was to invite Client X to find a new outsourcing contact center, as they were not a good fit for PAI.

We have not regretted the decision. Employee morale is measurably higher (yes, we measure employee happiness, will save that for a future topic). Business momentum is way up (we measure lead to close ratios too). Most importantly, we are living our values.

So, how do you make tough choices in your business?

Do you have a code of ethics, or core values guiding your decisions?

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Over a year ago, we went through a rigorous process to develop a set of Core Values for our tribe. These 9.1 Core Values guide our decisions on a daily basis, including how we interact with people, the type of service we perform, how we select vendors and basically every choice we make.

The first of these core values is: Quality Means Everything. At Productivity Associates, we deliver quality to our customers in everything we do, every time we do it.

Here’s a glimpse of how we are living this value of QUALITY:

A leading online gaming company has consistently raised its customer satisfaction scores  – from impossibly high mid-90%’s to even higher scores for the past few years, and doubling revenues in the process.  As the outsourced tier 1 support arm of that business, PAI has pushed those numbers higher and higher with our amazing customer service and insane commitment to absolute top quality work.

PAI’s leader of our customer support team always strives to find ways to improve. Even when there are no technical flaws with the service provided, the team will discuss in weekly reviews how they could have engaged better. They look for opportunities beyond technical correctness. For instance, perhaps they could have offered, “Is there anything more I can help you with?” near the end of an online chat.

There is always some little tiny thing that we can improve on – especially when it comes to engaging with people, helping them through a support issue, and building an incredible brand reputation in the process.

Look for future posts discussing our other Core Values coming soon.

A special shout out to Elia Lata of Zappos Insights, who spoke all about Culture, Core Values and Alignment at last night’s San Diego Business Journal CFO of the Year awards event, and to the San Diego Financial Executives International (SDFEI) for hosting the keynote session. Well timed and very inspiring.

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Top line revenue growth.

Growing your top line revenue shows that you are acquiring new business, retaining existing customers and perhaps having success with new sources of income.

According to renowned Chrysler CEO, Lee Iacocca: If you have a great top-line, the bottom line can always be fixed.

At the risk of oversimplification, dare I say?

Anyone can cut expenses.

Driving top-line revenue growth…now that takes talent.

No one wants to invest in a company that simply knows how to trim expenses and streamline operations. No venture capitalist. No rich uncle. No shareholder. No portfolio manager…well, not the type you necessarily want managing your funds, anyway.

Don’t get me wrong. Keeping costs under control is paramount in today’s new normal of doing more and more with less and less.

But just as the famous saying goes, “Hope is not a strategy”, so too “Cutting cost is not a strategy.”

Cost cutting is not a strategy.

There is a time and place for making operational adjustments to keep expenses in line with revenues. However, the focus of your energy and resources needs to stay transfixed on growing top-line revenue [read: sell more products/services]. If you lose sight of this important growth objective…you will fail.

Ouch.  I know, it sounds harsh.

But think about it.  Companies unable (or subconsciously unwilling) to grow the top line of their business are essentially rolling over for competitors to nab money left on the table.

In order to grow, you have to be willing to ask yourself some tough questions.

Why exactly, are you working harder than ever, yet still unable to grow revenues? Consider:

• Is your customer experience lacking?
  • If so, think about overhauling the user experience at every touch point.

• Do your competitors beat you on quality? Price? Service?
  • Take an honest look and begin the process to leap frog the status quo.

• Do the right people know you exist?
  • And by “right people” you know I mean those folks who need / want your products and are willing to pay for them. Get your current customers do some of the work for you.  83% of people trust recommendations from personal relationship sources over ads. WOW your customers and many will share their good experience with colleagues, friends and family.

• Does the message about your product resonate and cause an action with the right people?
  • Choose your words, images and design carefully. Every instance should convert interest into action.

There are more tough questions you could ask yourself. But fundamentally, are you willing to take a critical look at your business and drive radical change? The answer better be “Yes,” every time.

Even if you are enjoying healthy profits this year, they can dry up by next year if you are not constantly innovating your business.

What should you do first?

Of course businesses are at different stages. However, we’ve found that one of the best ways to succeed now days, is by finding the right partner you can trust to manage the customer service / customer support experience. You would do well to partner with a company who understands business and aligns with your strategic objectives.

If you are an online retailer and you find a partner who can deliver with full confidence a Zappos™-like WOW experience for your end users, you will realize the benefits of loyalty, referrals and branding – which all translate into more sales and less attrition. What’s perhaps more important, your focus will remain rock solid on the core of your business – coming up with hot new products, selling them and making a profit.

If you are a software vendor or healthcare or financial services company, and you find a partner that delivers top quality support to your end users / patients / physicians / customers, then you will be freed up to innovate new offerings, knowing with complete confidence that you have the excellent service necessary to support new growth.

Staying focused on top line revenue growth is the name of the game.  Want to play?

We do.

At Productivity Associates we are that strategic customer experience outsourcing partner that helps businesses succeed in today’s crazy world.

Inspiration for this post influenced by a Milestone Group article.  And 2012 Priority posted by Pete M. of Molson Coors here.