Success on the Road: Brisbane, CA

By Kristen Kayer

Last week was a week at the home office, full of logistics. I’ve been prepping for more winter work travel, organizing for a major home remodeling project, getting new team members set up with projects, building out our training program and making sure that my kid and husband aren’t totally neglected in the shuffle.

My theme for this week was asking for help. I was raised in a very “do it yourself” family, and that makes it tough for me to admit that I sometimes need assistance. Luckily I have an incredible team and an amazing family who, it turns out, are happy to help! I was able to offload an orthodontist appointment, the report for a study we’re working on, a couple of proposals, and a parent meeting at school. Jill, our superstar marketing and operations manager, took a lot of training and social media work off my plate. I even accepted some help on my wardrobe, and ordered cozy snow boots and a real winter coat (so I don’t have a repeat of my chilly Toronto visit!) It feels good to accept help.

Do you, like me, struggle to ask for help when you need it? People in your life want to help you. Let them carry some of your load, and return the favor when you can. I’m looking forward to accepting the help of my new boots in Idaho this week!

Success on the Road: Los Angeles, CA

By Kristen Hayer

Customer success and employee success are intertwined. I spent this past week onsite at ServiceTitan, and saw firsthand the efforts they take to make their team successful, and how this is having a positive impact on customers.

Of course, they have all the usual software company perks: free food, drinks, lots of snacks (apparently the Titan 15 is real!). What most impressed me, however, were the less common and more thoughtful touches. Team members can use a quiet room, any time, to just think. A beautiful view, comfortable furniture and the support of managers to use this space, make it a huge benefit. In addition, the success team has taken the StrengthsFinder assessment, and everyone in the group has their strengths posted at their desk. While I was shadowing the team, I overheard several conversations where people referenced and reinforced each other’s strengths. What an amazing way to leverage the talents of everyone on the team!

All of this has created an environment of employee success, which encourages the team to make customers successful as well. How can you make your employees successful? What can you do to create a culture of success? Fantastic example for all of us at ServiceTitan!

Success on the Road: Atlanta, Georgia

Welcome to Success on the Road, a new feature from The Success League. Success on the Road follows our founder, Kristen, week by week as she visits companies and travels for our company and for fun. She shares her amazing (and terrible) customer experiences along the way. Enjoy!

By Kristen Hayer

What’s in a name? Everything. I had two standout customer experiences while I was on the road this week in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first was with Adam, from the Hilton in Glendale, CA. I know, not Atlanta, but I was in Atlanta when I called him! One of our clients has a corporate rate and unfortunately, the normal reservations team wasn’t able to schedule my stay. They told me to call Adam “In Sales” the next week, and gave me his number. I was skeptical, but I’m tenacious and a budget-conscious traveler so I called and asked for Adam. He picked up the phone and tackled my reservation quickly and graciously, even though the software was still having issues. Knowing Adam’s name made me successful.

The second with Amber, from Cat Cora’s Kitchen in the Atlanta Airport. Amber was one of the friendliest servers in the restaurant, and took the time to ask me for my name. I generally try to use people’s names if I know them, but I have to admit that I’m not great with names in general and I’m usually nervous to ask someone for theirs. The simple gesture of asking for my name, when I know that Amber is someone who serves hundreds of customers each day, meant a lot. Knowing that someone else in an airport full of strangers remembers my name is comforting. Having a friendly, personal server while I was waiting for a delayed flight home was priceless.

Customer success is business, but it’s also personal. Using names is powerful. Great reminder this week in Atlanta!