Talk to sales Join Our Team
Filter by:

Is Your Leadership Team at Risk of Burnout? Here are 5 Steps You Can Take

On a recent Monday morning, I opened my computer and was faced with one of my biggest leadership challenges yet. Bianca, my director of operations, reached out to me on Skype. She was feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Worst of all, she felt like she was being unproductive–she felt like a failure. She thought she was letting me–and the entire company–down. Bianca is key to my company’s success, and I knew that if we didn’t fix the problem, there was a real chance she would leave. Top performers, unsurprisingly, are the most likely employees to face burnout. This is particularly true in startups, where the hours can be long and job requirements can change rapidly. A team member who isn’t enjoying her job and feels like she isn’t growing might quit even if she’s otherwise a great fit for the company, the team, and the role. However, many leaders take a “suck it up” attitude to team members who are stressed and overwhelmed, rather than focusing on what they can do differently. I quickly realized that Bianca’s concerns were symptoms of a wider challenge. We had almost doubled in size, from 60 team members a year ago to over 100 today. […]

Reflections on Our Corporate Planning Summit

In late July, we had our first Corporate Planning Summit. We brought together the entire leadership team, along with all HQ staff, for an incredible weekend in Manila. I have finally digested the wonderful ideas and touching moments of the Summit and wanted to share it broadly with the Peak Support community. On Saturday, we kicked off the Summit with a casual and delicious buffet dinner. I sat at the far end of the table and caught up with Jim, Mark, Roland, Trish, Trixie, Kim & Cyrene. As I looked across the room, it was great to see everyone settle-in and spend quality in-person time. We ended the dinner with a brief toast to our H1 2018 success and set the agenda for the next day. I jetted off to bed; which meant I fell right asleep and then got up at 12 midnight and stayed up through the next morning. Damn you jetlag! Sunday was the big day. After breakfast, we descended on the conference room. It was a big, luxurious room with formal table settings and all the equipment we needed. On the left side of the room were tall windows looking onto a rainy Filinvest City. The […]

Peak Support Q&A: Iar Indus

Iar is a statuesque beauty who joined the ever-growing Peak Support family in March of 2017. Iar lives in a town in the southern part of the Philippines where she enjoys spending her days off from work catching up with friends. Let’s get to know Iar better in the second installment of the Peak Support Agent Q&A. See also our other Agent Q&As with Mimi Abelarde and Mark Pabriaga. Please introduce yourself! Hi! I’m Iar! I’m the friendliest looking girl in town. Making friends is one of the best things in the world because I always want to promote world peace. Life is simple so let’s not put too much stress on ourselves, smile always, and let’s make this world a better place to live in. What is your secret talent? It’s a secret! Lol. What’s the one place in the world that you’d love to go to and why? Maldives, because it’s a beautiful island where I can relax and enjoy. Which cartoon character are you? Wonder Woman. Describe your hometown in one word. Friendly. What’s most important in a relationship? Trust. Earlier this year, you went off to spend a few months in a beautiful European country. Why did […]

Peak Support

Do You Need to Fire a Top Performer? Here Are 4 Things to Do First

No one wants to lose a top performer. When someone is doing a great job in a critical role, replacing them is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Depending on your business, they may even take clients with them. Performer But if a top performer is toxic to your company’s culture, the difficult choice is often the best one. Research from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management shows that one bad apple actually does spoil the whole batch. Toxic employees spread negativity and often have a prima donna attitude, requiring too much of your precious time and attention. Furthermore, teammates of a toxic worker are 47 percent more likely to become toxic themselves, according to Kellogg. And replacing them ultimately yields $12,800 in cost savings. The reality is, replacing a top performer is a real struggle, but rebuilding a damaged company culture is a much taller mountain to climb. I have faced this challenge at Peak Support — thankfully, not that often. It’s never easy to fire someone, and it’s even more difficult when clients are happy with the person’s performance. But when I’ve made the decision, I’ve never regretted it. It’s lifted a weight off my shoulders, removed a toxic influence, and often created […]

Want To Deliver Great Customer Service? Do These 7 Things

Delivering great customer service is hard. But it’s critical for a company’s success. Nearly two-thirds of people say customer experience is more important than price when they make purchasing decisions. Yet companies still manage to disappoint their customers on a regular basis. “We’re living in a crisis of customer service,” says one etiquette guru. Half of all U.S. adults have taken business elsewhere because of a bad customer service experience, according to a survey from NewVoiceMedia. So many companies get this wrong … so how does Public Rec, a men’s apparel company, manage to deliver great customer service week after week? Full disclosure – Public Rec is one of our clients. But we’re not just basing this on our own personal opinion. Public Rec regularly sees 100 percent scores on its weekly customer satisfaction report. That means everyone who responded to a customer satisfaction survey had a great customer service experience with the Public Rec team. Of course, sometimes the company receives bad ratings. But often, the entire team closes the week with a 100 percent customer satisfaction score. And in their comments, customers say things like “Your customer service is second to none,” and “I have never had such a good […]

Why Google’s AI Assistant Will Not Replace Humans Any Time Soon

A few weeks ago, I woke up to find that many people on my Facebook feed had shared this video of Google’s new AI assistant. The article accompanying the video called it “jaw-dropping.” It was shared thousands of times, with many calling it “amazing.” In the video, recorded at Google’s I/O developers conference, CEO Sundar Pichai played a recording of a Google Assistant calling to make a haircut appointment. The audience seemed enthralled, oohing and aahing at all the appropriate moments. The announcement isn’t a surprise; we knew AI would dominate the conference. But in reality, it’s much less impressive than it seems. The main factor driving the audience reaction — and many of the positive comments — is the fact that the Assistant actually sounds like a human. Her voice has natural intonation. She says “umm” and “hmm.” But if you look beyond that, there is nothing particularly new or special about the Assistant’s ability to schedule a basic appointment. It’s a basic task, that is not that useful, and Google’s Assistant doesn’t even do a particularly good job. I learned a lot about this space at a previous startup, TalkTo. We had a global network of human call center […]