Introduction to the Leadership LaunchPad & Aki Kalliatakis 2009

Hi, I’m Aki Kalliatakis, Managing Partner of the

We are actually a really, really, really small business

(Although this is my dream office)

We sometimes pretend that we are really big … Screw You!

But our smallness helps us to respond better to your needs

This is me just after I was born … And when I was about 17 years old (My dream then was to be the lead guitarist in a heavy metal band)

This is me today (And my wife is much happier about my lack of hair right now)

I live in South Africa (Which happens to be just about the best country in the world)

I love nature…

... and astronomy

Some Heroes

But how those amazing people who put 12 men on the surface of the moon voted for this moron - twice… Will always be a mystery for me!

I’m afraid I’ve never climbed Kilimanjaro…

I know very little about the generation gap…

… nothing about wild elephants…

… And I’m definitely not a genius…

I’ve never walked on hot coals…

Or been white- water rafting…

… or Quad-biking

But! I am passionate about… Customer Care!

*Anarchism (n.)– a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centered on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary To tell you the truth, I am a bit of an anarchist!

No, not the hairy, lefty, sandal-wearing, bomb-throwing, rioting type of anarchist… But just a normal citizen who is tired and frustrated with being manipulated, lied to, and ripped off

Because this is how most customers feel today!

Which makes this understandable…

Customers today experience anxiety, stress and uncertainty…

And reduced sense of control over their lives

This manifests in rebelliousness…

And dramatically alters what they find meaningful, and how they make purchase decisions

All in a world where they have the power of choice … and vast social communication networks

“ You know, the trouble with McDonalds is it’s just too slow!” This comment from a young Gen-Y delegate caught me by complete surprise

As one of my favourite people in the world, Tom Peter’s, put it… “ We are living today in the age of the never-satisfied customer” Exactly!

One of the reasons why we’ve gotten into so much trouble is because we insist on running our businesses like a rugby game

We act like warriors going to war… And rely on “the team” for everything. We want to win through brute force. We run hither and thither, exhausting ourselves to gain just a little bit of ground, and sometimes we screw up big time, causing great embarrassment to everyone

There are strict rules in rugby, but even so, it’s completely unpredictable - which is what makes it so exciting We love to win… But the whole nation cries when we lose And if you pick up some wounds and bleed in the process, that’s fine But you never, ever argue with the boss, no matter who you are

We need to run our companies more like a ballet…

Ballet takes just about as much effort as rugby, but it just works better Maybe it’s not as exciting, but it’s smooth, it’s beautiful, it’s predictable, and it’s incredibly well coordinated and organised Nobody bleeds (In fact, everyone is mostly rather nice to one another)

At The Leadership LaunchPad w e are completely obsessed with everything relating to customer care, customer loyalty, customer service, and Delighting Your Customers!

Why is this so important? 5% reduction in customers defections leads to up to 85% boost in profit. Harvard Business Review 9/04 70% of customers switch to the competition due to service quality issues Forum Corporation 09/08 Loyal customers are more profitable due to referrals and repeat business Harvard Business Review 9/07 95% of unhappy customers will buy again if their problem is be handled satisfactorily and quickly eSatisfy 01/09 “ The return on marketing funds invested with existing clients is a factor of 13 to 15 times greater than the cost of acquiring new clients.” Ted Levitt, Professor Harvard Business School

Be afraid of your customers… be very afraid Because none of your competitors is ever going to give you money!

In this world of turmoil, you can be the oasis in your customers’ desert of despair! “ Now is the time to seek out the intangible opportunities to soothe the savaged customer soul” (Jeanne Bliss)

It’s very possible to create a lot of perceived value at not much cost to your business But the opposite is also true… It is perfectly possible to spend a fortune without creating much real value for customers!

We’ll help you to create spectacular personal and memorable customer experiences… And avoid the Blight of the Bland

before you can get into

their pockets

You have to be able to get into your customer’s heads…

We will help you to…

Spread optimism and joy, not bad news and pessimism and despair

Show you how it is always just “ the meaningful little things” that count

Cleanse your system of “dumb contacts”

Fire up your people so that they give customers mind-boggling experiences

Learn from hundreds of examples both in and outside of your industry

And most of all we will help you to identify a complete strategy to create unbelievable & spectacular levels of customer loyalty in your business

Why Us? Over 25 years ago we made a decision to invest in creating a process that would allow us to understand companies worldwide - and how they succeeded with customers. We began collecting and classifying “best practices” as we encountered them (“Best practices” are the best ways to perform various business processes to establish excellence in customer relationships and customer loyalty) Now you have access to that!

This has culminated in…