January
2001
There is a fundamental challenge confronting marketing organizations in 2001, and we don't seem to be getting any better at meeting this challenge than we were 20 years ago. If anything, we may be getting worse. The challenge? Building and maintaining brand differentiation. In an increasingly cluttered and confusing marketplace, the need for brand differentiation clearly intensifies.
Call centers are about managing people, and the centers with the best work force and the best management of that work force produce the best results. It's a simple idea, and yet it runs counter to the management philosophy that currently dominates the call center industry. Current thinking views centers as technological wonders, with systems so efficient that anyone can plug into the system and achieve reasonable results as an agent with minimal training or talent.
When it comes to sales excellence, relationships aren't everything. Neither is motivation. You probably find this surprising given the persistent myths about the importance of both to the sales profession.
We wrote this book to start a revolution, the strengths revolution. At the heart of this revolution is a simple decree: The great organization must not only accommodate the fact that each employee is different, it must capitalize on these differences. It must watch for clues to each employee's natural talents and then position and develop each employee so that his or her talents are transformed into bona fide strengths.
"I am really no different from any of you." Warren Buffett, with his usual down-home style and slightly disheveled appearance, is talking to a roomful of students at the University of Nebraska. Since he is one of the richest men in the world and since most of the students can barely cover their phone bill, they start to chuckle.