Tough times require tough-minded, top-talented, willing-to-go-the-extra-mile people who will do everything they can to keep your customers happy. Do you know how to hire them? Truth is most managers are great at hiring great applicants not great employees. That’s why 25% of new employees only last a year. And that’s why so many companies dish up crummy customer service – they’ve hired the wrong people for the most important jobs in the company! Knowing how to consistently hire the right people – the ones that will take exquisite care of your customers and become valuable and contributing members of your team is the most important skill you can learn this year. Remember, in this well-informed world, millions of websites, hundreds of books and thousands of articles are coaching the job seeker to “ace” the interview. Who’s coaching you? Your biggest challenge is seeing past the applicant to the employee that lies beneath. Will they be able to take care of your precious customers at a time when every single interaction counts?  Will they have the judgment, the skill, and the empathy necessary to turn the “moments of truth” into “moments of magic” and keep your customers coming back and referring friends? Will they be smart enough to solve problems on the spot and add value to every interaction?  Will they make a positive contribution to your team and the company?  Will they have the initiative necessary to go the extra mile?  Will they be loyal and keep your company secrets secret? Used to be that a good set of behavioral interviewing skills would help you discern between someone who says they are good at customer service and someone who really is. Not any more. Any applicant can study up on the process and learn what you’re going to ask, and in what order – and if they have enough interviews, they’re well rehearsed by the time they get to you. You hire them – they leave – and it costs you a whole lot more than it costs them. Or worse – you hire them, they’re not right for the job but they stay and it costs you precious customer relationships it took you years to build. Ironically, if your hiring skills don’t improve like their interviewing skills, you’ll repeat that process over and over again in a year’s time. And each time, your company loses. What’s the answer? I wondered that myself. That’s why I called my friend Mel in to help. Mel Kleiman is North America’s leading authority on how best to recruit, select, and retain top-quality employees. He wrote five books and one of them is my favorite. “Hire Tough, Manage Easy” taught me that if I invested my time upfront before the interview even began I had a much better chance of hiring the right person for the job. But I knew there had to be more I could learn. Turnover rates in customer service are way too high – and the highest rate of turnover? The thirteen days immediately after the new hire. There’s really something wrong with this picture. My intuition told me Mel would have the answer and I was right! I called Mel and convinced him to tell me his secrets and work with me on a product that my clients could use to make absolutely sure they were using the highest level interviewing techniques to bring on board the very best employees. After all, in this economy every single customer contact counts! Mel explained it this way – “Smart Managers hire dumb employees all the time. Most people don’t really take the time to understand what a great employee is really worth and what a bad employee really costs. If they did they’d put more time and effort into the hiring process. Most managers make the same mistakes over and over. Most managers don’t really have a recruiting strategy. They may have experience and some skills and even a good “gut knowledge” but that is not enough any more to assure success in hiring. Most people buy the “package and not the product” and then are bewildered when the employee turns out to be “okay” but not great. Not quite bad enough to fire, not good enough to help you make your customer service outstanding.” I was fascinated by the discussion and found myself nodding in agreement as Mel spoke.“But Mel,” I asked, “I was taught that behavioral interviewing was the only right way to hire, is there something you teach that takes managers beyond that?” “You bet,” he said. “I’ve developed a hiring system called Achievement Based Interviewing and Evidence Based Selection, and it’s easy for any manager to learn.” “Do I have to forget everything I know to learn it?” I asked. “No, not at all,” he assured. “It’s going to take you to the next level of expertise. It will give you 5 Critical Questions that reveal the truth about potential employees It will give you tools you can use to prepare for the interview It show you how having a hiring system is a competitive advantage It will help you set the stage for the interview It will teach you to uncover a potential employees real passion It will help you improve your listening skills And it will allow you to incorporate your behavioral interviewing skills too” I responded quickly, “It’s like behavioral interviewing on steroids!” “It certainly is,” he said smartly. “Let’s get to work,” I said. “Let’s combine what you know about hiring and what I know about customer service and creating positive workplace environments and come up with a product that we can offer exclusively to my readers and clients so they can hire great CustomerService people time after time after time reliably. Oh, and Mel, can we call it ABE for short?” “Let’s do it,” he said, “Because the people you hire today will determine the company you’ll be tomorrow. And in this economy … wow, you’d better have the right customer service people in place. Let’s get ABE out to your clients NOW!” Buy ABE Now!!! Recent research shows that poor interviewing techniques result in inadequate employee performance that impacts the bottom line. Bad interviewing skills have major consequences on business results. 74% of heads of HR believe the people in their companies use poor interviewing techniques 24% believe that it directly impacts the bottom line. INTRODUCING..  Achievement Based Interviewing and Evidence Based Selection  by Mel Kleiman with JoAnna Brandi ABE is a 68 page special report that details a reliable, reusable, "duplicatable" hiring system for Customer Service. It walks you step by step through a process initially developed by Mel Kleiman, a renowned consultant, speaker, author, and trainer for over 25 years. Mel is joined by JoAnna Brandi, an expert in customer loyalty. Get ABE Now      Mel is also the founder and president of Humetrics, a leading developer of systems, training processes, and tools for recruiting, selecting, and retaining an exceptional workforce. A demonstrated leader in HR thought, Mel has authored numerous research studies and white papers. Mel earned the prestigious National Speakers Association Certified Speaking Professional designation in 1996 and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Mel’s books include the bestselling Hire Tough, Manage Easy; as well as 267 Hire Tough Interview Questions, 180 Ways to Build a Magnetic Culture; Recruit Smarter, Not Harder and “So, You Got the Job.....Now What? *** BONUS *** In addition to the report itself which walks you through your new step-by-step customer service hiring system you get worksheets and verification forms that help... determine what kind of person you are really need for the job what your expectations are what customer service competencies you’ll need the capacities, attitudes, personality and skills the job requires and whether or not the applicant is telling you the truth about his/her background how to get reliable information from former employers This easy to read and understand 68 page special report gives you everything you need to start practicing your new interviewing habits tomorrow. If you don’t need this report yourself, we’d bet you know someone in your company who does. HINT: It’s usually the person that brags the loudest about their “gut instincts” Figures from the U.S. Department of Labor reveal that 50% of all new employees either quit or are fired within their first six months on the job. This puts companies (and customers) in the unfortunate position of having to retrain and re-adjust to new people much too often. Turnover and customer loss is a hidden and high cost of poor hiring choices. Since no one intentionally hires an employee who steals time or money (or can’t or won’t last at least six months on the job) something must be wrong with the way most of us select new employees. What’s the problem? Most companies are not using any tools, or they’re using outdated 20th century tools that no longer work to identify the best employees (but do a great job of identifying the best applicants.) Upgrade your hiring skills today – for a special introductory offer of only $99  Only $99 gives you access to the thinking of two highly paid consultants, leaders in their respective fields who have put their heads together to help you be more successful in hiring the right customer service people. Mel’s original version of this process sold for $125 – only to his exclusive group of customers – and this offer will go back up to that price shortly. This version adds the expertise of JoAnna Brandi and is a bargain at the price. One hour on the phone with either one of these consultants would cost you four times that much! Now is your chance to get access the very best thinking on how to hire great customer service employees instead of great customer service applicants. Used properly, this Achievement-Based Interviewing and Evidence-Based Selection System is guaranteed to increase your hiring success rate, increase your employee loyalty and decrease your turnover, increase your profits and make your job more enjoyable. Use it, practice it, refine it, and make it yours! Respond quickly – this price won’t last long – and you’ve go nothing to lose. It’s 100% guaranteed by Mel and JoAnna “When Mel first taught me this system he did it by interviewing me for a job. All along I kept interrupting and asking “Mel – what are you going to learn from THAT question, or WHY are you asking me THIS?” Mel kindly asked me to just go along with the role play until it was done and then assess the situation. When I finally allowed myself to participate fully – as if I was really applying for a job with him – I was blown away with what he knew about me. These questions will require some practice (we don’t get great at anything over night) but when you are practiced at using them – and at listening deeply for the answers you will have more information then you ever gained with behavioral interviewing techniques. I am amazed myself at how this works. They call Mel a leading authority for a reason – he really really knows his stuff. I’d say he's far ahead of the pack! It’s been an honor to work with him, and truly a learning experience for me” JoAnna Brandi Do yourself and your company a favor – give ABE an honest try for the next two months. Practice it with the other managers in your company. Be quiet and deeply listen to the answers you get. I personally guarantee you will increase your listening skills as well as your ability to hire terrific employees – or I’ll personally hand write your refund check!  In time, ABE will become your  closest friend and your secret competitive weapon. After all, the Customer Experience has been called the “competitive battleground” in business today. When you learn to attract and select the right people and put them in the right job, the performance of the entire company improves. When you find an efficient, effective and, dare I say, elegant system for understanding how to select “A” players for your customer team, you’re setting the whole company up for success. Just like the success of an Academy Award winning film depends on putting together the right cast, so the success of your whole business depends on casting the right performers to evoke the most positive of feelings for customers.       JoAnna Brandi Remember……. When you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten Try something new today………
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