LFCE Faculty Profile: Donna Steffey
Business Communication Expertise Builds Customer Loyalty
Why do communication skills so often top the list of critical skills in business? And why are they needed more urgently now than ever?
As Lake Forest Corporate Education communications specialist Donna Steffey explains, "Communication is key to satisfying customers, internal and external. Without effective communication skills, both customer and employee satisfaction suffer."
Steffey teaches LFCE programs for business managers and executives. She contends that every relationship offers three choices: enrich it, endure it, or end it. "When we look at today's marketplace," she continues, "business professionals are challenged to find ways to grow their relationships with customers. The less customers feel enriched when communicating with your company, the more they may begin to feel they must merely endure the business relationship. This is not good, because at some point they may end the relationship to establish a more promising relationship with a competitor."
"On the positive side," she continues, "good communication skills benefit both the individual and the organization. Personally, individuals can improve every single relationship in all areas of life. For organizations, good customer relationships that last over time translate to greater customer loyalty. And in today's economy, retaining customer loyalty is more important than ever."
LFCE Executive Vice President Kathy Leck adds, "In this business environment, where managing change initiatives is an integral part of every leader's responsibility, the ability to communicate in a way that leads others through change is a mission-critical skill that will accelerate business results."
To develop communication skills in managers and executives, Steffey produces remarkable results by drawing upon her degree in education a multitude of life experiences. Notes Leck, "Donna reaches out dynamically to each participant in the classroom, astutely assesses the person's career communication success thus far, and charismatically guides that person to substantially enhancing his or her ability to interact with customers and fellow associates."
Steffey’s professional experience includes teaching, training and consulting. Now founder and president of Vital Signs Training, Steffey also teaches anywhere from 25 to 50 LFCE classes annually with continually exceptional evaluations. After six years at LFCE, she holds the current title of "Most Tenured Instructor."
Steffey’s other professional activities include membership in the National Speakers Association and a term as President-elect for the Chicago Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (CCASTD). Additionally, she moderated a radio program on financial planning for eight years.
Each LFCE client organization benefits from a tailored program designed and delivered to meet that company’s specific learning needs.
LFCE's clients who have benefited from Steffey's interactive, facilitative teaching style include Quebecor World, Inc., Brunswick Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, The Quaker Oats Company, Infosys Technologies Ltd., and the National Equities Fund.
