Sam Falletta is in the business of building relationships, whether it’s with his employees at Incept, his customers or with new business partners.
“The simplest way we talk about what we do is every time you talk to a customer or an employee, you can strengthen or weaken the relationship,” says Falletta, the 225-employee company’s CEO.
Incept works with clients to develop campaigns that strengthen that client’s relationships at every touchpoint.
“We believe the most critical, compelling and worthwhile part of why we exist is to have good meaningful relationships with other people,” Falletta says. “The thing that makes those relationships is the conversation and we get really specific about what is a great conversation.”
The biggest change in today’s world is the fact that conversations are held in so many different ways from a simple face-to-face conversation to a video conference to texting to a conversation on Snapchat. But the proliferation of so many different options, and the ease of access to those communication channels, has changed what customers expect from their service providers.
“When someone reaches out to engage with a company, it’s usually a more sophisticated problem,” Falletta says. “So much is automated now so you can check your account balance or change a flight. By the time you reach out, the expectations are higher to get great service really quickly and manage a complex issue. A lot of the principles of the way the industry worked and what a customer expected a decade ago have gone through the roof. They want it to be clean, elegant and feel good.”
Admit your mistakes
One of the keys to having a business that can produce that high level of service is finding employees who can connect to your mission and vision and feel it in their heart. Unfortunately, the fear of having a tough conversation keeps many businesses from admitting when a mistake has been made on the personnel side.
“In a dating relationship, we would find out there wasn’t any chemistry and go our separate ways and be thrilled we could eventually find a partner that was right for us,” Falletta says. “Why wouldn’t an employment relationship work the same way?
“If this is a bad relationship, it’s not a disciplinary discussion. If you’re not passionate about what this organization is passionate about, we shouldn’t waste each other’s time. If there is a place you can go and really be passionate, help me understand what you really want to do in life and we’ll see if we can connect you with somebody who does that.”
Meet more, work less
Performance evaluation is another area where better conversations can lead to better results. Falletta says too many companies rely on the traditional annual review to appraise how employees are faring in their work.
“The struggle with an annual review is the fact that it’s largely a compensation discussion,” Falletta says. “Just tell me my raise. Because the boss hasn’t been tracking or been clear about expectations, all they remember is the last three months.”
Incept uses 60-day success descriptions. Each person initiates a proposal to their manager that states their understanding of what’s expected from the person in the next 60 days.
“They get to dictate to their manager that if this is the expectation, this is what I need from you,” Falletta says. “I need an hour one-on-one per week, I need access to this much funding, I need to go to this training. So they are both accountable.”
The process forces great discussions that get both employee and manager working together to form the best plan to help the company achieve its goals. And instead of being bogged down with more meetings, the process actually should buy you more time in your day, if you do it right.
“If you as the manager are having really great meetings with your direct reports, you don’t have any other things to do,” he says. “You’ve given them the appropriate amount of responsibility and clearly defined all the objectives and all you’re doing is troubleshooting the things that you have missed.”
Ready to talk
It’s all about conversations and Falletta says he and his company will continue to push the boundaries of what can be achieved when you know how to talk to people.
“We have a goals group, which is an optional program that we let people join,” Falletta says. “Its sole purpose is to share goals and provide mutual support. They can be personal goals or professional goals. Because we have people who are so skilled in the art of a good conversation and are such good listeners, we’ve helped people work through health issues and helped them quit smoking and repair spousal relationships.
“They could leave and do it as a profession. How do you get somebody to talk about something personal and do it in an empathetic way? We think it could be a really powerful tool to help businesses help employees.”
Falletta is confident that his leadership team of Adam Snyder, who serves as president; Billie Johnson, who is vice president of client results; Dave Walter, who is vice president of operations; and James Latsch, director of business intelligence will lead Incept to more great things in the future.
“To find an opportunity to improve isn’t a negative connotation,” he says. “It’s not a deficiency. It’s an opportunity.” ●
