Gray Matter Musings

Reflections from a recent presentation…

Speaking as a figure of authority or expertise can be a challenging and anxious scenario. So much so, that many simply choose to never enter the ring of “public speaking”. However, much as with other fears, forcing oneself into a particular habit can erode the discomfort and eventually lead to a level of satisfaction.

Personally, I found great satisfaction this week after being asked to speak to a young group of customer success manager’s at a large Agribusiness firm. The topic of conversation was “customer experience”, which is something I have been passionate about for many years. Refreshed at the opportunity to help shape young professional minds, our first step was to truly understand the difference between customer service, success, and experience. Why was this so important?

This particular team’s department is tabbed “customer experience excellence”, and while each of these things are related and play a significant role within the other, they are too often confused as the same thing. Thus, if you work within a department geared towards customer experience excellence, success cannot be achieved if you don’t understand precisely what that means! The beauty of understanding expectation is that you might then craft a purpose that helps you achieve or even exceed those very expectations.

This primary message might seem simple for a professional presentation, though the world’s economy runs on value…value delivered by employees, to customers, from companies, etc. We often believe that in order to provide value, we must constantly do something new, innovative, or cutting-edge. In fact, I have come to find quite the opposite, in that often times we can provide value by simplification. That is, breaking things down in a manner that offers others a sense of understanding and insight they didn’t previously have.

Simplification, that was the premise of my professional presentation to this group of aspiring leaders. Answering the who, what, when, where, and how of their chosen profession. This particular messaging provided the most value to this unique group and there is no need to complicate things to inflate one’s own ego. I encourage all leaders and professional presenters to ponder this “simplification” technique, as you might just find your audience engaged and your comfort level rising!