I remember when I was growing up (insert wise crack here), our family always took a summer vacation.   Our parents would pack us up in the car, hit the road, and we would drive for what seemed like days.  We would get lost, they  would pull out maps which would evolve into a disagreement, and inevitably we would stop at the gas station for directions.  When we arrived, no matter how we got there, the kids would have that renewed excitement and burst of energy, while our parents would tend to unwind and disconnect from the world.  The only way someone could get in touch with them was to call the hotel phone number, which they would leave behind with a few friends or family members, in case of emergency only.  Sound about right?

I am now a few days back from a week off which included a few days away.  On the way out the door, my wife asked me if I had printed my hotel confirmation, directions, and all relevant information and I said no.  She said don’t we need them and I answered nope.  After all, it really wasn’t necessary - I manage my life from my iPhone.    As I mentioned in my previous post, I always have it either attached to my ear, fingers, or hip.   

Everyone told me I should disconnect; after all, I work in social networking which does not have a start and end time each day.  Therefore, I left the laptop behind because rumor has it they don't like to be left in cars all day in the 100 degree sun.   When I had a free moment, I did it - I read my work and personal emails, spent time on commonground, and used the other technology tools that are simply part of my work and personal life.  I consume news stories on commonground all day long, subscribe to blogs, and discussions.  Why?  It interests me and is what I do, even though it is still part of my job.   I wanted to know what was going on with the Gulf Oil Spill as we were planning coverage, and the discussions were picking up.  I checked emails three or four times per day out of habit.   Luckily, I only made and took a handful of work related calls and did everything possible to not jump into the fray.

What is my point? 

Again, I found myself trying to compare the past and present, specifically how things used to be when my parents went on vacation, versus today.  While I did, my kids sat in the back of the car watching movie after movie occasionally asking “how long til we get there?” between shows.   We used our GPS navigation, cordless wireless head phones, separate sound systems for the front seat and back, and our air conditioned car seats.   People who needed to reach me could, I could search the web anytime I needed to (think about how many times you do each week), and I made a couple of purchases from my phone saving me time and getting me things I wanted. We could share what was happening with people who were interested when it was happening versus after we got home.

I kept coming back to when I was younger, if you wanted to turn on the AC, you rolled the window down and hoped not to sit in traffic.  If there was traffic, you made a fan out of a piece of paper.  

What is better?   Depends on how you look at it. 

Have you ever been in a store, worked with an employee who is fantastic, and you just want to run over and tell his/her supervisor?   Have you ever had a billing issue and you felt that the person you called or emailed for help worked extraordinarily hard on your behalf to resolve the issue?   Have you ever had a customer experience that was so bad you have decided to never shop somewhere again because the company didn't seem to care?

In my previous life, I was an executive at a company that ran a community for senior level customer care executives called CCSF.   At one time, we had about 170 premium members who were Directors, VP’s and C-Suite executives for many of the top brands and businesses in the world.  I always found the networking, conversations, and discussions to be fascinating.     Often times, the interactions had similar themes like how to measure customer satisfaction, first call or contact resolution, customer retention and loyalty, how to make the call center a sales center vs. a cost center, complaint resolution, and giving the customer a voice. 

These topics were just the tip of the iceberg.  What was always amazing to me was how committed some companies were to their customers success and how challenged other companies were.    Here is some information you might find interesting or staggering from a George Washington University study titled the Cost of a Dissatisfied Customer:

• the average business does not hear from 96% of unhappy customers
• for every one complain received, there are 24 people with unvoiced problems, six are serious
• around 90% who are dissatisfied with the service receive will not buy again
• of those that complain, 50%-70% will do business again if a complaint is resolved.  95% will return if resolved quickly
• the average customer with a complaint tells 9-10 people, 13% tell more than 20 people
• those who have complained and had resolution tell 5 people

With today's tools, both great and bad customer experiences can be game changing for businesses who are proactive.  Last Week, I spoke at the MarketingProfs Conference in Boston and had the pleasure of listening to keynote by Mitch Joel, author of Six Pixels of Separation.  His points were fascinating and they tied in perfectly with his message which was that for years, business professionals have taken for granted real interactions between real people and social media opens up a world of opportunities that is extremely powerful.   There are way more customers who have had positive experiences than negative ones.  And, people want companies they like to do well.  And, much like they are willing to help companies to improve by providing feedback, they are also willing to provide public praise if you provide them with the tools and let them share the fact they are a fan of your company.

As Mitch said, “customer reviews are a gift to businesses and marketers”.  That is why it makes sense for environmental and commercial real estate professionals, to engage in a social media directory like the commonground provider directory.  81% of online holiday shoppers this past year used customer reviews.  The business to business marketplace should take notice and realize that consumption of reviews will be core to how businesses buy in the future.  People run businesses and people read and contribute reviews.

If you are not taking advantage of being social, then it is time you should consider the many benefits of being an early adopter and making your company more transparent, social, and effective.  Start thinking about how you can enable your current customers to be central to your future success and funnel new, qualified customers your way...

In a world where things move awfully fast, we very rarely have the opportunity, or find time, to reflect on the past and recognize people for doing a terrific job.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to think back on how far commonground has come in a very short period of time as we were recognized for a Business Achievement Award by Grant Ferrier and the Environmental Business Journal at their annual Summit in San Diego.  There was a very nice ceremony where many environmental and commercial real estate pioneers received accolades for their efforts during a turbulent 2009 for our marketplace.   Last year, we collectively won a Project Merit Award.   To me, it meant that your social network has gone from being considered a notable new project to keep an eye on, to being a valuable destination where members of our industry can go to learn, network, and generate business.

During the ceremony, Grant indicated that we had done a great job with social networking - something that we all hear more about each day and can't ignore.

To that end, I wanted to write this post to let you know that I am humbled to accept the award on behalf of you – our 5,700 + members.  After all, you have written nearly 1,000 blogs, added nearly 7,000 discussions posts and subsequent comments, and collectively contributed to making commonground the premier social network for environmental and commercial real estate professionals.   

So, to that end, I would like to tip my hat to you – the members, advisors, contributors, and cg member support team that made this award, and our recent Groundswell Award , possible.  If our T&E budget were big or even existed, we would have flown all of you to San Diego to accept the award with us!

We look forward to the next year and to continuing to provide value to our current and future members.

Again, thank you - and congratulations.  

Mark

I was recently asked if I would be willing to speak at my old college Alma Mater, Bentley University, by a gentleman I got to know via Twitter who I found out is Bruce Weinberg, the Chair of the Bentley University Marketing Department.   The presentation was not about commercial real estate or environmental business best practices; it was about Social Media, Web 3.0, and building a personal brand.   Even though my schedule was and is completely overloaded, I decided to make time for this opportunity for a number of reasons, but one in particular that I am a big believer in - reverse mentoring.   I have included a link to an article titled Moving Forward with Reverse Mentoring that does a good job explaining how many companies and universities are using it.   To me, it is an extremely important as a business professional to keep up with and ahead of new trends.   

When I walked in, the assignments were being passed out and they included setting up a LinkedIn profile as well as setting up a Twitter account to name a few.  As you might imagine, all of the students were using Facebook.  In fact, that was the way that just about everyone communicated with friends, fellow students, and family.    And for the majority of them, it is their method of communication - not email.   They were told their personal brand on the web was not a requirement to land their dream job, but it would be extremely helpful and could be the difference when going up against another candidate given the importance of social influence and networking in today's business world where everyone lives on the web.  The group was very engaged and excited to learn about how companies were effectively using social media and the web to move their business forward. 

As I reflected after visiting the class, one thing became very clear.  Whereas we, as hiring agents, managers, and business owners can learn about the new talent we are considering as employees by using the web, they have access to pre-screen us in ways that we never had to deal with when we were their age.   We had to put together a resume with some references and went out on interviews.    In hindsight, we probably had it easy.

However, students now have access to information - things that I think you would agree would have been of value if you ever had a job you regretted taking or didn't like the boss.  I know, that has probably never happened, right?    Any new hire can now look us up, check out our web profiles, social networks and affiliations, experiences, and interests prior to taking a job working for us.    They can also check our company's online reputation.   Have you thought about that as part of your hiring processes? 

And, since students have lived in social networks for years by the time they graduate, I think it is a pretty safe assumption that they will be turned off working with peers, employers, and boss who do not participate or believe in them.  If we have no social presence and are perceived as old school, it will dramatically impact our ability to attract the next generation of talent, whether you are an environmental professional, lender, attorney - profession does not matter.

We will serve as valuable mentors in the development of a young professional entering the workforce.  And, they will in turn, help mentor us.  Good business is a win-win.

Business and hiring has evolved to the web in many ways.   Have you?

This past Sunday morning, I had to get up at 5:00 AM and drive in the snow to a seminar.    It was not your everyday business seminar which I attend frequently.  It was a USA Hockey Certification and Coaching Seminar.  As you might imagine, not many of us were thrilled to be there on a Sunday or frankly any other day. 

About six hours later, when I left, I felt like I really got a lot out of it and that I could do a better job helping and guiding the kids.  In addition, I was pleasantly surprised about the business value that I got out of the session as I had the opportunity to think about the things we generally do not consider unless we have some dedicated time to focus.

There were 7 points made about coaching beginners that I believe business professionals in commercial real estate, can use to help ourselves, our employees, and our companies.  Here they are:

1)  You might be the first business person a new hire has ever worked with - remember that you have an important job to do. You just might be the leader that shapes their understanding of how business works (and they will be working way longer than they will be playing a sport).

2)  When you stop learning new things-you stop leading

3)  There are 8 principles of effective communication - always keep them in mind

• • Be Enthusiastic
  • Be Positive
  • Be demanding but considerate
  • Be consistent
  • Respect individual differences
  • Give equal time to all (without distraction)
  • Openly communicate
  • Be patient

4)  Don't focus on coaching by telling them "what not to do to correct it, instead focus on "what you would like them to do" to get the right results. If you focus on the negative, then that is what the employee will think about (not *** up) instead of the desired end result (finishing a project on time).

5)  Avoid lengthy, complicated instructions - 3 things maximum at one time (for those of you who know me, you know this one is near and dear to me)

6)  What you see is what you coached. Look in the mirror if you don't like the results

7)  Fundamental abilities are the natural result of repetition.

There are academic viewpoints that state that to truly become an expert in something; it requires 10,000 hours which in many cases translates to 3 hrs a day for nearly 10 years.   

There are a lot of experts out there who have involved in CRE, Phase I's, and environmental due diligence that meet this criteria or come real close.  If you are in a leadership position, I would just like to pass along the reminder I just received.  Make sure that you share your knowledge and wisdom to ensure the next generation of professionals continues to move the market forward.    

I suspect you might be pleasantly surprised at what you will learn from them, how appreciative they are for your time, and what you get out of it both personally and professionally.