1. Update MARKETING & CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Please Pass the Diplomacy
In high pressure, global business environments where
good is not good enough, where differentiation from the
competition is critical, and where egos are complex,
protocol and diplomacy frequently makes the difference.
Corporate Hospitality – greetings, escorts, flags, flowers, food
and bev., gifts, seating, – establishes respect, demonstrates
understanding, and strategically shapes the customer
experience, creating the optimal setting for business success.
Protocol understands power, lives adaptability, and
creates distraction free environments where
relationships are built and business goals met.
Daily, Protocol saves executives time, money and
reputation:
• streamlines processes/clearly communicates logistics
• controls budget through vendor negotiations
• armed with research, advises on and oversees cultural
exchanges – diminishing opportunity for social
missteps.
To Become a Great Corporate Neighbor
Socially responsible leaders creatively weave
philanthropy throughout the business experience. Here
more suggestions for a cause:
1. Replace floral centerpieces with items that can be
donated – STEM-related robots and microscopes for
schools, children’s clothing for families of wounded
warriors, etc. Use place cards to note the intent. Our
guests appreciated being part of the gesture and wise
investment.
2. Make it clear … help charities to understand your
priorities and direct their requests accordingly. Help
them to allow you to help them!
3. Make it easy for travelers to carry. Hotel toiletries,
neck ties, accessories, and socks always are
appreciated by shelters and work re-entry programs.
4. Instead of speaker gifts, make a charitable donation
in the name of all of your speakers.
5. Make it easy for your team to get involved. If they
can’t get out of the office, bring the opportunities to
them and communicate well!
In 2016, at the company’s three-day, Senior Leaders Meeting, 40
ten-tops featured a dog bowl each, filled with toys and treats from
the Hero Dogs wish list. These items were used to train and
prepare therapy dogs for new homes with Wounded Warriors.
What do we live for
if not to make life less
difficult for each other?
-George Elliot
M
O
R
E
CUSTOMER FIRST, here and abroad.
A

2. MARKETING SALES
Internal Sales:
Keeping Customers Top of Mind
Soft skills SMEs in hard skills
businesses spend every day selling up
and down the organization. Because
smart people with great products can get
lost in their solutions, protocol sells the
bottom-line benefits of demonstrating
respect and understanding.
Developing targeted cultural
information and briefing instruction
distributed over easy to use , well
managed and maintained websites
provides critical messaging at leaders’
fingertips.
The Reviews Are In…Kelly Receives Top Marks from Managers!
- One of the most valuable training experiences of my 10+ year career.
- This section was AWESOME! I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and
the hands on protocol luncheon was fun and educational. We were told we
could have had a dinner with executive speaker, but I much preferred that
we had the lunch with Kelly. She is very knowledgeable and an
engaging presenter.
- Best ever!
- One of my favorite parts of the class!!! Fantastic speaker and teacher!
Hugely entertaining speaker- really engaging and great use of props.
- An innovative way to teach, and I applaud Ms. Harris
Whether small talk, continental dining, customer engagement protocols,
gifting (ideas and laws), presentations, or the Middle East 101, training
became one of the best sales tools in my tool box. Not only was I able to
effectively share information audiences remembered, I positioned myself
and my fellow protocol SMEs as the go-to source for micro-customer
relations. If customers were involved, so was this team – period.
Over nine years I trained over 5,000 leaders – CEOs, vice presidents,
young rising star managers. Consistently a top-rated presenter, I
repeatedly was asked to prepare our brilliant employees to…
• successfully engage with our customers,
• remind the team of the human beings on the other side of the negotiating
table,
• and emphasize the value of placing the customer before our products and
solutions.
In The Job Jar:
Firefly Consulting, LLC
Igniting Customer Experiences
ACE: Author / Contributor / Editor
• U.S. Government Orals (briefing) Primer;
• U.S. Military Customer Protocol and Customer
Relations Briefs,
• U.S. and International cultural briefs
• Customer Relations Handbook
• Engagement Tactics
• Protocol descriptions and overviews
B
During the planning phase of your presentation, always remember, it’s not
about you. It’s about them.
-Carmine Gallo, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
-Albert Einstein
TRAINING THE PRO’S