ANTICIPATION EXCELLENCE

Chances are you have never heard anyone speak of anticipation excellence. Everyone who learns to use anticipation as an effective tool, when working with other employees, suppliers, and contractors along with engaging customers, will benefit. Simply put, anticipation is the art/science of projecting and forecasting what will be asked, expected, and required in every situation.

Imagine your sales staff going to client meetings with an accurate, correct answer to every question and concern, which they deliver without hesitation. Clients would view your staff and your company as professional and competent. Picture your employees arriving at internal meetings fully prepared with all relevant information for the questions at hand. Meetings would be shorter, more productive, and morale would improve.

Anticipation Excellence can be achieved by most individuals, there being a small percentage of employees who will not change existing behavior, who are willing to use their past experience in similar situations, their knowledge of individuals, products, and the business to prepare intellectually and emotionally for meetings and working sessions. Anticipation is not the ability to see into the future. Rather, it is the skill to take what you already know, relate current situations to past experiences, and forecast what will be asked and required.

The key to anticipation is thoughtful consideration. Take a few minutes to prepare by picturing what will take place in the upcoming interaction and make a mental or written checklist of everything that might occur. It is always better to over prepare. Having information in a meeting that is not required is a much better scenario than not having something that is.

Using anticipation as a tool can be taught, incentivized, and measured. Anticipation will make your employees the best, happiest, most thorough, and most profitable.

I anticipate that Anticipation Excellence is something which will greatly benefit your organization regardless of your number of employees or business type.

Next entry we will discuss Excellence in Customer Focus

Your comments and questions are welcome.

Paul D. Alexander
Alexander Group, Inc.
www.AlexanderGroupInc.Net
Sullivan, Missouri
(573) 468-4719