GuideStar Research/communication metrics that matter: the collaborative Deep Dialog[SM] Audit from GuideStar Research

When turn-around CEO Richard Lindenmuth was brought in to rescue a troubled company, he "had to make fast decisions and get to the bottom of things quickly." What makes Lindenmuth's success story of interest to communication professionals? Of the few careful investments Lindenmuth chose to make on the front-end of his work there was the decision to partner with GuideStar Research to conduct a company-wide Collaborative Deep Dialog[SM] Audit.

Deep Dialog[SM], developed by Dr. Howard V. Perlmutter (Emeritus Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), is a unique measurement and diagnostic system, statistically proven to determine the quality, health, and productivity of an organization's most important business relationships. Deep Dialog[SM] scores are analyzed against the findings in a normative database of more than 30,000 cases worldwide. Deep Dialog[SM] Audit scores are available to clients 24x7 in GuideStar's Online Reporting Center.

In this case, Lindenmuth required a quick assessment of the strength of the relationships across the company's international operations in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As a brief, on-line survey, available in multiple languages, Deep Dialog[SM] was easy to administer.

Lindenmuth: "I needed some on-the-ground information so that I could start making some business judgments immediately and have a guide for consistency and long-term direction. You don't have time to be wrong. With the results of the Deep Dialog[SM], I gained insights not only about region-to-region differences in attitudes and operations, but also factory employees as compared to management and so forth.... Information flow is much better now. In a relatively short period of time, I was able to bring the company back to a modest level of profitability. Deep Dialog[SM] results made that happen faster and better."