Leadership Interview on
Erwin Steneker

I also publish a free monthly newsletter, entitled Customer Servings.

What motivates you to remain focused on growing your business/website?
I've been working in both IT and sales support for over 13 years. As a result of my experience, Customer Service is a subject I am very passionate about.

But my biggest motivator is the fact that I learn a lot from writing the articles on my site and in my newsletter. Prior to writing each article, I conduct substantial research on the subject that I write about.

My research enables me to share helpful information to my readers. It feels great to provide others with a quality product that makes their daily experience more enjoyable. I’ve also found that teaching others is a great way to have to learn something yourself.

What has been your greatest challenge as a business leader, and how did you overcome it?
I've worked in a business that had very little focus on the customer. For a long time only short term financial results counted.

During times of substantial market growth the organization I worked for was able to get away with minimal service levels.

Needless to say, introducing customer centricity in such an environment has been very challenging. In order to get the organization to focus squarely on the customer experience, a complete paradigm shift was needed.

Unfortunately, management was unwilling to accept the costs of such a shift. Keeping costs to the bare minimum was the mantra in order to maximize bottom line profits. Any mid- and/or long-term investment was considered taboo.

So how did I overcome this?

I decided that if increased profits was what mattered most to my superiors that I would need to promote customer centricity as a means of gaining short-term return on investments. I decided to provide the QUICK WINS!

Provide the quick wins and you CAN convince top management that customer centricity and good financial results do go together.

My organization was so focused on bringing in new customers through the front door, but they failed to pay attention to all of their existing customers who were leaving through the back door.

By using customer service as a means to increase customer retention, we in effect helped to close the back door, which led to great results to our bottom line.

Optimally it will be those persons at the top of the organization who must lead customer centric thinking. Without executive support and leadership in this area, an organization will certainly struggle to maintain their customer base.

Customer service must remain a major focus by management. It’s a daily process that needs constant attention and nurturing.

Describe the most important activity(ies) you do regularly, that you attribute to the success of your site?
My single most important activity is to take care of my subscriber base and to proactively help others!

I firmly believe that what goes around, comes around... and for me, it truly has. Since rolling out my site I have made some wonderful friends along the way.

Many of my readers have made terrific contributions to my site. Due to customer feedback I began reviewing help desk software.

This subject is one of the most trafficked areas of my site. I now stay informed on new developments in help desk software so I can record my findings for the benefit of my visitors.

What is your greatest accomplishment relating to your site?
I tried to run a web business before, and failed miserably. I was so involved in the looks of the site, that I completely lost track of what my visitors wanted.

I now know that what they are looking for is good solid content that they can readily apply.

So my greatest sense of accomplishment is when I get positive responses on my site, as it tells me that the information I've provided was helpful to my customers.

What also felt great was when I first started realized profits from my site. The profits from my site, not only help me to provide for my family, but every dollar I earn represents a happy customer, and someone who has found value from visiting my site.

How would you recommend others get started on creating a website?
Focus on providing quality content first and foremost.

Investigate what your visitors are looking for from a site. This is easier than you might think. Visit interesting forums related to your site, and just ask!

Creating a site may feel a bit overwhelming, but don't forget that you can build it one page at a time. If you just keep taking one step after another, your site will continue to grow.

Prepare a quality plan, and stick with it!

Build information pages that are tasty to the search engines. Getting your pages ranking highly in the search engines will ensure regular traffic.

There's a lot of information available on investigating words and phrases that people are using to search for the information you are able to provide.

Simply optimize your pages to those popular search terms (or keywords) and you’ll do well.

Last but not least: if you have a helpful, informational site, this really helps to acquire quality incoming links. This is another to increase your traffic, and boost your rankings in the search engines.

More traffic means more visitors, more visitors equates to more possibilities to earn.

What advice would you offer to others wanting to generate income on the Internet?
If you want to build a site that generates regular income, you'll have to build credibility with your visitors.

You build credibility by consistently providing helpful information and by quickly responding to comments and requests made by your visitors and customers.

That's why I often say that good customer service builds trust and sales on the Internet.

You must not forget that the Internet is a largely anonymous world. Most of your potential customers have little chance of meeting you in person.

Why would they give their trust to you? You need to establish and nurture an ongoing relationship with your customers. Be responsive and follow up with them often to ensure they know how much you value their business.

Describe your favorite leadership tool?
In my opinion, a leader must stand in front of, as well as behind the people (s)he is working with.

Some managers (I don't call them leaders) see it as their personal accomplishment when something is going right. This is wrong thinking.

You can only lead by the grace of the people you are leading. So, if you ask me for my favorite leadership tool, it must be the people I'm working with.

Any last "Words of Wisdom"?
I'll give two quotes, that I live by every day:

We're very interested to hear your leadership story. What's made your successful? Share your own helpful hints and tips here.

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