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PIONEERlinking creativityon meaningful innovation,with smart strategy.
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AUTHORofSLINGSHOT:Re-Imagine Your Business,Re-Imagine Your Life
Because business and cultural leaders view creativity as the most important leadership trait for future success.
Re-imagining boundaries is the process that empowers organizations and individuals alike to continuously rethink and reinvent what they do.
It is the link between systematic creativity and high-impact strategic thinking, and the critical basis of staying relevant.
What if you could reignite your childhood creativity in a systematic way, to overstep self-imposed limitations and to discover what you are really capable of achieving?
Continuous innovation is both necessary and exhilarating, and we all possess the inner capacity for it. Our capacity has simply been buried and lays dormant within us. As children, our imagination knew no boundaries. We would grab a slingshot and be instantly transformed into a warrior, a spy, a huntress, or protector of treasure. But as we grew older, our intellectual comfort zone shifted from that of continuous exploration and inquisitiveness to that of conformity with accepted norms of perception. All is not lost, however. We just need the right framework to re-engage our youthful creativity and re-imagine boundaries: THE SLINGSHOT FRAMEWORK.
Find out why you need to infatuate your target audience and to provide them continuous lifestyle enrichment; how to become market-driving and to shape your offering for broadest relevance; and how to channel your reclaimed creativity into smart strategy. Launch yourself to new business and personal heights and have fun doing it.
"I am really drawn to Slingshot"
Sir Ken Robinson,
Acclaimed thought leader on creativity, education and innovation
"An uplifting and universal blueprint for inventive thinking"
Chip Conley, Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy for Airbnb, and bestselling author
"I really appreciate all the amazing work you are doing with Slingshot."
Kris Carr, Bestselling author and wellness activist
“Until I read SLINGSHOT I hadnʼt really come across the idea of infatuation anywhere so I am very heartened by it.”
Kevin Roberts, Former Chairman and CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi
“This is a rare book. Playful yet informed, creative and proven.”
Rob Bell, Spiritual pioneer and bestselling author
“This book helps us unleash the vast potential of regained creativity and apply it in business, art, and other pursuits of our adult life.”
Erno Rubik, Inventor of the Rubik’s Cube (the world’s bestselling toy)
Energizing children illustrations throughout the text, accompanying original music and bits of advice from some of the world’s most well-known creative leaders round out your immersive SLINGSHOT initiation.
Watch a sample performance or listen to the entire collection of Slingshot Music created and performed by the European musical group Operentzia.
I lead provocative explorations to shape the future of your company. No matter how successful your business is today, you still operate within self-imposed boundaries. These boundaries bring the risk of marginalization. But overstepping them leads you to broadened consumer relevance and sustained growth.
You will learn how to apply the Slingshot Framework to:
It's pretty simple. You need to take care of your customers, especially your most valued ones. Long accumulated goodwill can be eroded quickly by mistreating them, and then failing to rectify the situation.
Here is a perfect example.
The incident
1. A few weeks ago I received a terse email from Progressive announcing that my home insurance policy had been suddenly terminated. No explanation, nor any prior warning or courtesy alert.
2. Incredulous and upset, I called their customer service center the next day for an explanation. The representative who answered could not have been less empathetic to my situation, as further worrying details emerged. Apparently, there was an internal miscalculation or miscommunication that resulted in a negative discrepancy between my payment amount vs. the policy premium for the grand sum of $1.50.
3. When I asked how it is possible that a discrepancy of just $1.50 can terminate the policy of a longstanding Progressive customer who pays thousands in combined annual premiums, moreover that I received no prior warning or opportunity to rectify, the only response was 'These things happen'.
4. The representative then proceeded to put me on hold, saying it was necessary for me to wait because once the issue is finally resolved internally, I will have to make the (ridiculous and demeaning) payment of $1.50 over the phone in order to reactivate my policy. After over an hour of waiting, I finally hung up in indignation without any seeming resolution.
5. After another 24 hours of anxiety, I called again and received news that my policy has in fact been reinstated and a letter was issued stating" "Please disregard any previous cancellation notices we've sent related to Underwriting reasons -- we'll continue providing you coverage without any interruption."
6. In light of my disturbing saga, I wrote an email to Lori Niederst, Customer Relationship President at Progressive. This set in motion of flurry of correspondence by numerous agents. However, these served only to magnify the lack of transparency in the company’s customer interface and negligence in providing a clear and consistent understanding of my account status.
7. And when I asked what they planned to do to make me feel better and to compensate me for all my wasted time and anxiety, a hollow apology was provided, along with the excuse that industry regulations don’t allow for any compensation. In essence, Progressive is acknowledging customer mistreatment, then hiding behind external factors to do nothing about it.
Of course, I understand that hiccups can happen in the treatment of customers. What really defines the fabric of a company is how it handles such situations, whether it makes the impacted customer feel cared for and treated right. If handled well, such incidents can actually strengthen customer attachment.
Regretfully, this was not the case here. Nowhere during the post-incident interaction was I made to feel better. And as a result, a valuable,
long-standing customer relationship is needlessly broken.
#progressive #customerexperience #leadership #businesslesson #customercare
Gabor George Burt is the global authority on re-imagining boundaries and author of the book Slingshot.
A mastermind of innovation, creativity and strategy, Gabor enables individuals and organizations to overstep perceived limitations and to carve out successful growth strategies. His Slingshot Framework is at the forefront of global innovation.
Gabor holds a BA in psychology and economics from Amherst College as well as an MBA from INSEAD, France.