Jungle Property Blog

Start a customer service revolution today. Everything thing you do at work whether it is answering e-mails, writing letters, working on the next PowerPoint or the next new marketing campaign STOP! And ask yourself some questions:

Does the customer value what I am doing? Not sure of the answer? Ask yourself the same question in a different way ‘would the customer be willing to pay for what I am about to do?’

If the answer is no or you are not sure – don’t do it! Challenge your manager about the real value (customers perspective) of what you are about to do. Challenge your work colleagues about the value of what they are doing from a customer’s perspective.

It requires a real leap of faith to put the customer at the heart of what you do but the rewards are huge. Be brave and be part of the customer service revolution J

I have just finished reading The Happy Manifesto by Henry Stewart and I am please to say it becomes the latest addition to the Jungle Property library as another source of inspiration for all those who want to be part of our great story.

I read the draft of this book a couple of years ago and it is still as good (ok better!). In summary the simple ideas that make your workplace great are as follows:

1. Trust your people
2. Make your people feel good
3. Give freedom with clear guidelines
4. Be open and transparent
5. Recruit for attitude, train for skill
6. Celebrate mistakes
7. Community: create mutual benefit
8. Love work, get a life
9. Select managers who are good at managing
10. Play to your strengths

I am not going to give any more away so get the book now and be inspired to create a great place to work – The Happy Manifesto

“If your sole goal is to maximise profit you are on a collision course with time”
“There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility… The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money”

“Business leaders cannot be bystanders”

These are the powerful words of somebody who knows about business success as they are taken from a recent Fortune magazine interview of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Schultz should know what he is talking about as he has presided over a company with an annual growth rate of 49% for the last 8 years.

Amongst Schultz’s commitments is an initiative called ‘Create Jobs for USA’ which involves selling wristbands at all it’s US stores for $5 – it does what it says on the tin!

The Starbcks Foundation recently donated $5 million to help create jobs for Americans and Schultz and his wife donate substantial sums of their own.

At Jungle Property we donate 1% of our turnover to community projects such as the Red Brick Building project – helping our clients help the community.

What is your business doing about social responsibility or are you too busy worrying about growth?