Are you trying to train your employees how to answer questions from customers with a variety of different needs? What you’re looking for may well be a slightly creepy robot bust with a swappable face. That “Employee Training Robot” is the work of Stockholm, Sweden-based startup Furhat Robotics. Boasting a wide-angle high-res camera, stereo speakers, and beamforming microphones, the technology aims to fill the niche of an interactive robot for workplace training environments.

By projecting different faces onto its 3D-printed mask, Furhat’s robot can transform itself into a man, woman, child, or even an animal. It can do this while speaking, listening, maintaining eye contact, and even appearing to show emotions to the person it is communicating with. Unusual? Most definitely. Potentially useful? That’s the hope.

“Another thing that distinguishes Furhat is the powerful SDK that allows developers to create the world’s most advanced applications for social robots,” Al Moubayed continued. “Truly immersive and useful apps are the holy grail of social robotics, and one where we think Furhat will excel.”

The Furhat robot is available and ready to be deployed in the real world. Its cost depends on the job that it is required for.

What is a Knowledge Worker?

I often describe myself as a knowledge worker or as the Internet defines it so eloquently,

someone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using knowledge.

For example, a knowledge worker might be someone who works at any of the tasks of planning, acquiring, searching, analyzing, organizing, storing, programming, distributing, marketing, or otherwise contributing to the transformation and commerce of information and those (often the same people) who work at using the knowledge so produced.

"We are the people who think about thinking about thinking."

We are the folks who find ways to help others be more successful. As thankless as it often is, we do this kind of work because we can't help but see things that a lot of others do not. It's a great way to become better at teaching, coaching and growing your own credibility.

We are the folks who voluntarily go through the Google or Facebook certification programs in our free time because... Well, we can't help ourselves.

Knowledge workers are the type of folks who built the Driving Sales HCM platform.  They seem to understand that in order to be successful we all need to decide and discuss what success looks like.

If you are reading this post I would bet that you are most likely a knowledge worker. For the simple fact that you have taken it upon yourself to better understand your job through the shared wisdom of others in this community.

If You Don't Care Why Should Your People? 

• When we don't have career paths we tell our people we don't think they are worth or can do more than whatever it is they are doing now.

• When we don't have proper training we tell our people we don't think they can learn how to be better at what they are doing.

• When we don't have certification programs we look like we don't care about the positions we ask people to fill for us. 

We Need to Start Building Now!

Google and Facebook along with many other companies have realized that by building a certification program they are developing more loyal customers (like us) who will spend more money and time using their platforms because we've grown expertise. 

We need to start building the frameworks to make sure we are making each day as productive or more productive than the previous. We need to grow the expertise and skills of the people that we choose to fill the roles we believe are important to our success.

Reducing turnover and increasing employee loyalty are all great stats to show for sure. 

But the better story is the one where we show our people that they are worth investing in. 

How are you showing your people that they are worth investing in? 

Finding yourself in a desperate situation is pretty much a guaranteed experience in the world of sales. What really matters is the way you behave in a desperate situation.

Allowing your customers to feel the desperation in the air only gives them a valid reason to doubt you and what you are selling and will most likely start reaching out to your competitors.

Desperation creates an atmosphere that suffocates prospects. In contrast, drive infuses the air with positive energy that builds trust and confidence.

Manage your time well.
Desperate situations primarily arise from gross misappropriation of time. Managed floor plans help you Stay productive by letting you know when you’re on deck and when you’re not.

Prioritize the customer.
It’s not about you, it’s about customers. And it’s not about your problems but theirs. When you prioritize customer success, you ensure they get the experience they deserve, regardless of the speed at which they arrive at a decision. Don’t rush people.

Don’t wait until your pipeline is half empty.
Half-empty pipelines can cause real panic. Make sure you and your team keep your pipeline healthy and flowing. Reach out to past customers, run Facebook ads etc. there is always something you can do to increase your pipeline.

Fine-tune your lead qualification.
Avoid wasting time on poorly vetted prospects. Reduce the likelihood of engaging low- quality leads. This is why investing in tools like Conversica can be very helpful.

Do your prospecting research.
Conduct relevant research on customers you plan to engage. Make a strong case for your product instead of dangling huge discounts to trick prospects into buying. Solve their needs first.
 

At the end of the day, have some dignity.

Customers always deserve excellent service but that shouldn’t push you into begging, issuing false ultimatums and so on. 

Excellent service means you master your craft, perfect your pitch, and channel your drive to genuinely help customers and make them realize the value of what you are offering.

The Hero program that many General Motors dealerships are going through now was actually created here in Las Vegas by our Owner and Managers.

There are tons of programs out there that organizations have built to help with employee recognition and the like. But rarely have I heard of an organization take it to the level we have. 

Being a HERO in our organization just might earn you an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland for two plus spending cash. 

Hero is an acronym for 
*H*elpful 
*E*xceed Expectations
*R*epresent (our brand and our store)
*O*wnership of all situations you find yourself in. 

Around our stores you will find boxes and next to those boxes are forms to nominate a HERO. We make it easy for customers and other employees to nominate someone for going above and beyond their daily call of duty.

Each month our DP brings the entire dealership together for a companywide lunch. Food and drinks are provided and  each department head reads the submissions the people in their department got. All the names are then put into a raffle box and one is chosen at random. That person receives a $100 gift card on the spot. 

Check out pictures from our past lunches. 

We even have a HERO CHEER

Even if you didn’t win at a monthly lunch a  person can still win the quarterly prize of an all expenses paid Disneyland Trip. 

At the end of each quarter there is a committee that will go through all of the nominations again and pick out the very best example of someone being a true HERO. That person will then win an all expense paid trip to Disneyland for 2. Including spending cash and hopper passes. 

We even design pictures and frames that we put up around the dealerships of your wining photo. 

I can tell you that I have never seen another organization take employee satisfaction and participation to the level we take it. Even in down months we still have our lunches and we gather together as an organization and recognize those people who help make our business grow. 

When your people are happy, your customers are happy and when times get tough it’s our people and our customers who we lean on the most. 

Does your organization do anything like this?
If so, can you share?
If not, Do you think this is something that would help your store?

Sound off in the comments.

 

There is a tendency for us automotive digital marketers to allow others the ability to dictate and demand our time. I’m not talking so much about our bosses or co-workers. I’m talking about our vendors and potential partners.

The phone rings all day, your inbox looks like a twitter stream. I get it. It sucks.

So, how are you ever going to get anything done if you’re just running to the next meeting our joining the next webex?

Well, its simple really. You need to create some breathing room.

It isn’t hard and not only are you going to feel more liberated. I’ve found that our current partners appreciate the productive meetings we have as well as the potential partners get a chance to have their voice heard.

I know many folks who just brush off these potential partners. But I would argue there is a lot we can learn from the people we haven’t talked to yet.

So what I do is this.

For our current partners and vendors I keep a standing monthly meeting. Typically the 2nd or 3rd friday of the month. I like Friday’s because it allows me time over the weekend to think about the things we’ve discussed and if it’s something I want to do I can start on it when I am back Monday.

I always ask our vendors the same 3 questions and ask them to have this prepared before arriving for our meeting.

Question 1 — What’s Working?

Ive noticed that a lot of times the things that are working get discussed way less than the things that are working. Not only is it a downer to only talk about the things that suck. It also sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. So if you start of by talking about the positives then the rest of your meeting can keep that up beat tone.

Question 2 — What’s Not Working?

I set the expectation clearly up front that if something isn’t working. Lets either decide that it just isn’t a good fit for our business or it needs some adjusting to get it back working to where we think it should be. Not all products are for everyone. I know many vendors hate talking about this but they know I do this our of respect for them and their product. Both I and they would rather drop a feature or something added vs. dropping the vendor all together.

Question 3 — What small thing can we tweak that will have a measurable impact?

If you aren’t turning the dials you aren’t engaged with the product. If you are going to pay for something you need to always test its boundaries. Otherwise everything you ever do with anyone is going to be nothing but mediocre. This also gives your rep the opportunity to bring you the newest thing they saw someone else doing that is easy ti implement. Doesn’t cost any money and when your boss asks you how things are going with X. You are able to show that you are actively involved in managing the product and making it better to suite your store.

These 3 simple questions really do help keep meetings short, concise and engaging on both ends. It’s a simple standard that i had to create for myself to keep my insanity and make sure that my meetings were staying productive.