Grrrrr! I’m really feeling my oats today. Dean has invited me to accompany him to visit NCD, our client in New York, this week. I’m excited! It will be my first visit to a customer site. I’m nervous, too. How should I behave? What will I wear? What if they don’t like lions? Dean tells me not to worry, it’ll be just fine. I should just be myself … but not roar too loud. That’s good advice. Be yourself. Actually, that’s good advice in every interpersonal (interlion) interaction. Just be yourself. Don’t put on airs or act all goofy. Be professional, personable, and polite. I can do that!

Golden Rule

Come to think of it … my father taught me something similar. He always said to treat other lions (and people) like I wanted everyone to treat me. With respect and dignity. He would speak to every lion (and person) he’d meet on the trail. And as long as they behaved well, he wouldn’t eat them. There’s a lesson to be learned here. He called it the Golden Rule. Treat everyone as equals, until they show you they aren’t. And most of the time even the lowest animal would play nice. It was only occasionally that someone tried to bully me, my sisters, or my mother … and then my dad would pounce on them. So, I’ve always done my best to show respect to everyone I meet. Whether I know them or not. It’s just good lion sense. Although, once I heard it referred to as good horse sense. Either way, treat everyone the way you want to be treated.

Customer Visits

Let’s build on the Golden Rule and talk about customer visits. Whenever you visit a client site, or the client visits our offices, we want to impress them with our professionalism, personable (friendly) manner, and politeness. We want to build confidence in our ability to solve their problems and deliver peerless and timely services. They (the client or customer) need to know that their success is our priority. When they succeed, we succeed. To accomplish this, we need to follow three simple steps (in priority order):

1) Satisfy the Customer

That doesn’t mean the customer is always right. In fact, many times the customer is wrong. But you have satisfy him or her. That means you have to take the time to explain both how and why you’re taking actions to help them. You have to convince them what you’re doing is right. And don’t hesitate to ask a co-worker or your supervisor to help. Never tell a customer it’s not your job. Find the right person. Go the extra mile.

2) Pick up Trash

No, you’re not a janitor and I don’t expect you to spend all of your time cleaning up, but … it never hurts to keep a clean work area. A clean and neat work area projects a sense of professionalism and order. It builds confidence. But what this really means is do what’s necessary to get the job done. Even if it’s a task that’s normally done by someone at a lower grade. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and do even the simplest of tasks if it will get the job done.

3) Do the Job you’re hired to do, and do it well

Wait a minute. This list is in priority and the last item is do the job you’re hired to do? Yep! Our job is to make our clients successful by solving their problems. And, while it’s extremely important you do your job to the best of your abilities, the two previous tasks are equally important … maybe even more important. It’s all about attitude!

The more positive you are in demonstrating your willingness to help our clients succeed the more we will succeed. I guarantee it! At least my father told me he would guarantee it. And I always believe my father. He never let me down

Next Month

That’s enough for this month. My dad told me to be concise when I speak or write. Get to the point. He taught me to “Stand up, speak up, and sit down.” Time to sit down

So … until next month, as Kunalsinh says, ““Be Safe, Work Hard, Eat Well, Sleep Tight”. I wil

Bye for now … Leo