One of the top jobs as a business owner is to recognize great talent when you see it.  We are always on the lookout for quality people who can handle this crazy business we are in.  We hit the gold mine when Mike Preston accepted a position with CitySprint Dallas.  He attended Texas A & M University then spent a brief career as a restaurant manager.  His dad owned a small courier company at the time and encouraged Mike to come work with him  to learn the business.   After a short time, they decided to sell the company to CitySprint with Mike staying on as a driver.

We liked what we saw in Mike.  He had a great work ethic, was talented and respectful to others.  When we learned that Mike used to dispatch while driving, we figured he could easily sit in a chair and dispatch,  so we made him an offer.  After a few internal changes and challenges, we found ourselves in need of a skillful operations manager.  Mike had all of the ingredients to become an operations manager, he just needed  additional training to set him up for complete success.  After all, being a restaurant manager gave Mike an extreme advantage over most candidates due to the fact you have to learn quickly how to multi task while continuing to give excellent customer service.

He is now our Operations Manager in Training and on track to complete his full training program by June 2012.  At that time he will not only receive the title of Operations Manager but an increase in salary as well.  Thanks Mike for what you bring to the table all on your own.  We appreciate your intelligence, strategic thinking, high energy, good attitude, great character and excellent customer service.  These are “biggies” with us and on top of that we trust Mike with our entire company.  Kudos!

Lena Flores and Tammy Patterson

CitySprint 1.800.Deliver

Serving  - Dallas.Fort Worth.San Antonio.Austin.Tyler Texas

Becoming An Effective Leader:

Details Determine Your Destiny!

I don’t remember where I first heard the saying “Details determine your destiny” but it is ingrained in my spirit and my mind. That phrase motivates me constantly in my choice making. Little choices like going to bed on time so I wake early in the morning refreshed to take on the day. Little choices like, eating smarter (and less) so I maintain my health and am alert so people can depend on me. Little choices to make sure I maximize my time. I am careful to make character choices like telling the truth, paying my bills on time, being on time for appointments, being prepared for every meeting. I never want to neglect my family so I choose to make time for them. Of course I daily want to feed my spiritual man, so I want to spend time in prayer and having devotions to keep God an important part of my life. All of these are nothing more than details that require simple disciplines.

I am sitting here at my desk with a yard stick. If I pivot the yard stick on the 36 inch mark in a fashion so the 35 inch mark moves one inch, the other end of the yard stick moves about 17inches. A little movement at one end makes a big difference at the other end. I believe small disciplines, small choices, will produce similar results over time.

Just a week ago, I was at a men’s breakfast. The speaker gave this example. He said “3X3X3X3X3 = 729, however 4X4X4X4X4 = 4,096……that little bit of difference at the beginning amounts to five and a half times greater at the end.” He then used professional baseball as an example to translate it into a tangible model. He pointed out the player that has a batting average of .325 will make about five million dollars more a year that a player with a .300 batting average. Talent alone does not make you a success. It is how you discipline and develop your talent that gives you the payoff at the end. The big payoff is not in being average and ordinary. The big contracts are awarded by being the outstanding choice. Most of the time it is by consistently doing the details that makes the big difference at the end. I am sure that the guy with a .325 batting average spends a bit more time, effort, and was more coachable than the guy with the .300 batting average.

On his radio show recently, Bryan Dodge pointed out. Is it easy to read? Yes! Is it easy NOT read? Yes! Is it easy to exercise? Yes! Is it easy NOT to exercise? Yes! The point is that in making the right choices daily, to do the disciplines, will give you the edge over your competition. Success is often in the details.

Frank Massine
Dodge Development, Inc.
972-780-7459 or 800-473- 1698
Or email him at frank@bryandodge.com

Trust:  How can you build more if it?

 Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “Distrust is very expensive”.  The fact is, without trust, influence wanes, relationships crumble, careers derail, leaders fail to lead and organizations fail to prosper (and ultimately, also crumble).  When trust is missing, there’s also missed opportunity – to deepen understanding and resolve conflict, to exert influence and strengthen collaboration, to create synergy and enjoy prosperity… ultimately, missed opportunity to succeed.

 Every interaction you have with those around you either builds or erodes trust. Which begs the question, “What does it take to build trust?”  Ask 100 people and you’ll get 100 answers. The reason is that the concept of trust is complex; and whilst we are often clear about whom we trust (and don’t trust), we’re often much less clear about exactly why. “There’s just something about them I don’t trust”, we declare, unsure of just what that “something” is.

 Distinguishing what I believe to be the three core elements of trust can therefore be really valuable.  Firstly it will enable you to better distinguish specifically why you don’t trust someone (and, if important to you to do so, to coach them to being more trustworthy). Secondly it will help you become more effective in building trust yourself (and repairing it when damaged).

 The three core elements of trust are competence, sincerity and reliability. You can see how they all interconnect on the diagram below

 Whenever a person is perceived to act in a way that undermines trust in any of these three areas, trust overall is diminished. Let’s take a look now at each one of these areas.

1) Competence: Competence is ‘domain specific’ and so depends on what area of expertise or skill you are assessing someone to be trustworthy in. E.g., you may trust your colleague to be reliable in preparing a sales forecast but you wouldn’t trust them to give you a root canal! 

2) Reliability: Reliability is about whether you can count on someone to properly fulfill their commitments; to do what they say they’ll do when they say they’ll do it.  So you may trust someone to be competent at a particular task and sincere in their intention to do it, but their track record of unreliability – whether it is perpetual tardiness or careless work – diminishes your trust in them.   

3) Sincerity:  Sincerity relates directly to our assessment of someone’s character; their integrity and genuineness.  Of all three elements of trust, sincerity is the most pivotal in our decision whether or not to trust someone.  Like a china vase, it is the most fragile and most difficult to repair when damaged. Needless those in leadership positions who are perceived as disingenuous or lacking integrity will be unable to gain the trust required to lead powerfully.  

So, armed with new knowledge (and new competence!) in trust, how might you apply it in your relationships – at work and home?  Of course, that’s not to say that you aren’t trustworthy right now, but take time to look at where you may have either inadvertently allowed trust to flat line through neglect or damaged it by your behavior. 

While you can never force others to be more trustworthy, you can raise the ante on yourself and the level of integrity in which you honor your commitments, interact in your relationships and engage in your conversations.  Indeed, by being the change you’d like to see in those around you, you can ultimately create a more trusting environment that reaps the rich rewards that trust provides.  Trust, in all its complexity, fragility and power, is something you are well served never to take for granted and to forever regard as the oxygen that will enable you to accomplish and become all you aspire to.

About Margie Warrell

If you would like to sign up for Margie’s monthly LIVE BOLDLY eNewsletter or learn more please visit www.margiewarrell.com

A n ICF accredited Executive & Life Coach, Margie Warrell is passionate about helping individuals and organizations live and lead with greater clarity, confidence and courage. A dynamic speaker and frequent media guest, her newly released book Find Your Courage: 12 Acts for Becoming Fearless in Work and in Life (McGraw-Hill), an Amazon Bestseller and USA Best Book Awards Finalist.  To see her recent interview on the Today Show or learn more about her programs please visit www.margiewarrell.com

CitySprint Featured in New Book, Praised for Customer Service

A recent book, Tattoo by Rebecca D. Turner, features the Dallas-based courier service provider CitySprint 1-800-DELIVER as an example of excellent customer service. The book describes how good customer service can translate to new customers, which Turner calls “advocate marketing.” CitySprint is one of a select group of companies used to show advocate marketing in action.

True Cost of Selecting the Wrong Vendor

What is the TRUE cost if the wrong vendor is selected? It can be costly when you have searched for the right vendor, put out an offer to bid on our work and performed your due diligence only to find that the wrong vendor was selected. Below is an outline of the costs that are involved when this happens and what to do about it.

1. Cost of correcting errors caused by inexperienced couriers
2. Reduced quality of patient care
3. Preparation costs to identify, interview and select the replacement vendor
4. Switching costs to get replacement vendor up to speed
5. Re-training of staff and clients involved
6. Unproductive costs–stress of change leads to unproductive time which = loss of $$

And the biggest COST of all:  

TRUST Cost – the cost no medical organization can afford. This affects all stake holders-patients, medical professionals, departments, executive personnel, reputation and co-workers. All of whom count on the medical organization to perform consistently, accurately & on time. Your organization can’t afford for these stake holders to lose confidence due to poor performance that negatively affects patient care then to endure a second time a change is made.

Here is how to keep this from happening to your organization. Determine what the errors are truly costing you right now vs. just the invoice. Take into consideration re-work, errors, stress and reputation. Evaluate your choices based on quality first then negotiate price. In your evaluation, make the time to perform an onsite visit of the quality candidates. This is imperative because anything can be represented on paper but one short visit to the prospective vendor’s facility can tell the true story. You will see firsthand the caliber of individuals that will be serving your organization and you can validate if what they put on paper is reality and whether or not they walk their talk.

As far as negotiating price, two things are most important to a quality vendor and when satisfied will ensure the best possible rate. One is commitment from the client and the second is prompt payment. Quality vendors are looking for an opportunity to create customers for life. This means they want a promise to serve you now and in the future if the quality remains intact. A way to seal in commitment is with a fair and balanced contract that remains in force as long as the vendor is performing to your organization’s standards. If the client is willing to pay by credit card within 10 days or through ACH then the vendor will be most negotiable on price due to the promise of quick, smooth cash flow.

When the search for the right vendor is viewed as an opportunity to develop a win-win relationship then the right decision is made from the beginning and there is no need to repeat the process.

Should you have additional question or would like more information on CitySprint 1.800.Deliver, please contact Lena Flores – lflores@citysprint.com