Carmen Schwab Water Cooler "Talk"with Carmen

Fee: $1,500 - $3,500/exp

Nebraska Based

Carmen Schwab
Water Cooler "Talk" with Carmen

Carmen Schwab has been in the “customer service” industry for over 30 years. Her start as a light bulb sales woman at the young age of ten, coupled with her time in the hospitality industry and sales career, have well equipped her in the area of customer service.

The water cooler is a time honored totem-pole of office communication and where you find out what is REALLY going on. It delivers what you and your employees want to know: hot, cold or undistilled.

Whether the growth of your company is flat, your employees need motivation to take business to the next level or everything seems to be running just fine, a “Water Cooler Talk” will provide your team with the needed tools to standout in the market place and make yourselves known in the midst of intense competition.

Just as hydration is vital to our overall health and wellness, distilled water cooler talk is hydration for business success. It provides the essential nutrients needed for that WOW and memorable customer experience, both internally and externally. I welcome the opportunity to learn more about your customer service culture and what is needed to create such an experience!

A partnership with Water Cooler "Talk" will provide you with the needed tools to differentiate yourselves in the market place and establish loyal and long lasting customer relationships. During our time together we will learn, laugh, challenge, inspire, motivate and encourage one another toward customer service excellence from the inside out!

Speaking or Workshop Topics and Descriptions
Provided by Water Cooler “Talk”

Noted below is a basic list of the topics I speak on, all of which address the internal and/or external customer experience. Each speaking engagement I have the privilege to facilitate is custom built, focusing on the specific culture, industry and established goals and objectives of the client. With that said, there is no one size fits all program. Therefore, the topics are a general representation and can be mixed and matched, revised, altered, etc. The time allotments can also be altered with more or less content.

The Personal Connection To Your Paycheck:

This is a fun opening activity to get everyone engaged, while helping the participants understand who the true writer of their paycheck is, the customer. Making the personal connection to the paycheck is vital for both the internal and external customer experience. As Henry Ford well said, “It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.” – Henry Ford

Passing The Baton Relay Style:

Have you observed a participant of a relay event pass the baton and leave the race to go home, back to class, shopping, etc? I haven't. However, I have observed that same analogy play out in business far more often than it needs to, passing the baton of responsibility and then walking away. What if your team environment handled the passing of the baton like those in a relay event: cheering, encouraging and following their team to a strong finish? The internal environment would look a lot different and would be more productive and fun! This area addresses the vital role that everyone plays and how much more effective and successful they are when they work together. As Vince Lombardi well said, “Individuals play the game, but teams win championships.” - Vince Lombardi

How one handles a baton drop in a relay event may not be as classy as a successful baton pass. The baton in business, like in a relay event, will drop. How one handles the drop is critical to the overall success or failure of the team environment. We will address the baton drop and ways to handle it with class and a team minded approach.

Solution Minded Communication:

Communication is among the top reason, if not the reason for most breakdowns in a relationship or process, personal or professional. With the myriad of ways one can communicate today: email, phone, text, verbal, written letter, Facebook, twitter, etc. It takes a concerted effort, lots of practice and sometimes a little humble pie to communicate effectively. In this session we will address both verbal and non-verbal communication and ways to make it solution minded. Communication without a solution in mind is simply wasted oxygen and words on a page, no substance included.

Managing Your Day, Rather Than Your Day Managing You:

On a given day a person will average 40-50 interruptions. This section will help the participants better manage their day and avoid unnecessary interruptions. The average interruption takes 5 minutes, totaling about 4 hours or 50% of the average workday. 80% of those interruptions are typically rated as "little value" or "no value" creating approximately 3 hours of wasted time per day.

The Red Carpet Experience:

Think of a time when an employee or company went above and beyond to really provide that WOW and memorable experience. How did it make you feel? Like you were wearing a headband that had MMFI written on it (make me feel important?) With competition at an all time high, customer loyalty at an all time low, and the almighty dollar more difficult to come by, it is without question the best time to focus on the red carpet experience! Together we will look at ways to deliver that WOW and memorable experience and create loyal and long lasting client relationships.

Generational Understanding:

Understanding the generational traits and value systems is important to a successful experience for both the internal and external customer. For example, what generation is this statistic a trait of? “We will spend 40 million in the next year on goods and services for our children. Many of our purchases will be online. We are the single largest economic group in the US.” Knowing which generation this statistic represents could be beneficial to your marketing department. This topic will also help the participants better know how they can work alongside multiple generations as well as knowing how to work more efficiently with their target audience and team.

Mission Statement, More than Words on a Wall:

What do a mission statement and core values have to do with the customer experience? Everything! However, far too often they do not go beyond a fancy wall hanging placed on grand display for everyone to see. During our time together we will learn the importance of a well defined mission statement and core values and how they are connected to the customer experience, internal and external, making them action statements that are incorporated into every layer of the organization.

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Red Carpet Experience

Passing the Baton
Relay Style

Understanding
Personality Types

Listening

Promotional Info

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