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The Importance of Goal Orientation: Why it can kill potential! – By: Matthew R. Robinson

I was in a one-on-one coaching session with Kelly, a sales manager struggling with one of her sales representatives named Dave. Dave had won contests earlier in his career and consistently outperformed his peer group quarter in and quarter out. Kelly was frustrated because over the past year Dave’s production had dropped off so significantly that she was twice forced to put him on remedial performance plans.
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Call Center Case Study: ServiceKey® – A Game Changer – Matthew Robinson

I have been working with a C level executive implementing our sales platform for the past four years and always admired his ability to move quickly and decisively, seemingly always in the right direction. His firm experienced a 183% increase in sales productivity within 14 months of implementing our sales platform. The results he posted in every organization he has run led his company to look to him to help move the call centers into more of a profit center without losing a focus on excellent service. When he called to tell me about the future of his role, a vision I had four years ago was about to turn into reality. In 2004 I convinced my partner Dr. Dave Barnett to develop a platform for service that would integrate with our sales platform. I knew that the combination inside a company would lead to dramatic results, creating a shared culture and driving results-oriented coaching on both sides of the house. There were two major problems that needed attention inside this company: 1) Attrition; and 2) Growing the sales potential of customer service.
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ServiceKey predicts Service-to-Sales Effectiveness

An energy company wants to know which of its service people will be most effective if moved into an exclusive service-to-sales role. In this study, we examine the key variables for succeeding in this highly competitive marketplace. Using ServiceKey® the study finds seven statistically significant correlations with making errors on service calls and builds a regression that correctly identifies 82.3% of 139 respondents in the study. The study concludes with six attributes recruiters need to identify to determine effectiveness in service-to-sales calls. continue »

The Projection of Life-Needs (ServiceKey® Research Study) by Michael D. Barnett, M.S.

To what extent do Life Needs shape perception? The purpose of this study was to investigate whether individuals tend to project their basic Life Needs as measured by ServiceKey® onto neutral stimuli. The concept of projection has been part of psychology since the discipline’s inception. Sigmund Freud identified projection as an ego defense mechanism; his daughter, Anna Freud further developed the concept, which Benjafield (1996) defines thusly: Projection involves attributing one’s own unacknowledged wishes to someone else. This study employed a very broad definition of projection: a tendency to ascribe states related to one’s own Life Needs to neutral stimuli. continue »

ServiceKey Predicts Service Performance Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the construct validity and criterion validity of ServiceKey® by examining the relationship between ServiceKey® scores and the number of customer compliments received by customer service representatives (CSRs). The results of this study suggest that Level Four behaviors, particularly a positive identification with selling (Sales Identity) and anticipating service needs before they are expressed by the customer (Initiative), are those that distinguish average customer service from excellent customer service. The Service Aptitude scale did not levels of statistical certainty but was the third highest ranked differentiator. continue »