Ever heard a cranky, indiferent voice on the other end of the line? Whoa! “Excuse me for calling! I was seeking a new service provider but it looks like you are not it!” How many times does that happen? Relationships and business are lost every day due to poor phone manners, because the receiver of the call may be tired, frustrated, too busy, or just plain doesn’t care at the moment. There is power in the phone! Lots of it! We will be exploring telephone skills in the new few posts.
Rita’s Column
Business Meals: A Perfect Venue for Success
Most executives have not had the luxury of attending finishing school; however, they are expected to handle business in the dining room as well as they handle it in the boardroom!
Many business transactions take place during meals, whether at a formal dinner, a power lunch or breakfast. Think about the following tips on modern table manners during the next business meal:
Silent Conversations: Are Your Body and Mouth on the Same Page?
Every day we present our thoughts and ideas to business prospects, teachers, organizations, coworkers and family. Whether you are giving a sales presentation to a large number of individuals or casually sitting across from two people at a table, use the following tips to ensure your non-verbal signals bring the success you want. The more positive and confident your interactions, the greater your success in building a relationship that will last for many years.
Giving Engaging Presentations: How to Read Your Audience
In Part 1, “Is that really ME giving that confident presentation?”, I covered some of the more physical and emotional characteristics for giving a confident presentation. Let’s talk about those silent, yet very loud, signals from your audience. These are indicators that tell you if they are present in mind or in body only. Whether the audience consists of one person listening to your sales presentation, or a room of 500 people from your industry, following these tips will help you present a more engaging session and help build your reputation as a confident, credible speaker.
- Passive rejection: When someone in the boardroom or the event ballroom is showing signs of passive rejection, they become evasive by trying to create some distance. Eyes wander and bodies turn away, fidget or transmit other signals that say they have mentally left the room. Without saying a word, these individuals have told you they are no longer listening. If this happens, ask a specific question (one that requires a specific answer where they do not have the opportunity to get on their soap box). Showing a brief interest in them may get them re-engaged. Interject some humor if appropriate. Walk over to them and smile!
Is That Really ME Giving a Confident Presentation?
Are there actually more people in the world who are afraid of speaking in front of others than in dying? Yes, 54% of adults are more afraid of public speaking than death! What are we afraid of? Messing up? Being rejected? Feeling foolish? Unsure if our audience will think we don’t know what we are talking about? Have your normally dry palms become so sweaty you couldn’t even hold onto a football? When you speak, does that upper lip suddenly get stuck to your front teeth? Do you feel like you just swallowed a large walnut? We will be exploring the mental and physical aspects of speaking in front of others in the next few blogs.
Our Image Influences Our Success
In a perfect world, success would have nothing to do with image. We all would be judged and promoted solely on the basis of performance, skills, talent, experience, creativity and willingness to work hard. There would be a tooth fairy too.
Like it or not, the image we present greatly influences our chances for success in the workplace. If we look and act like someone who belongs on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder, that’s just where we’re likely to stay.
If you aren’t getting ahead as quickly as your abilities, ambitions and hard work suggest you should, here are some questions to ask yourself:
Fair or not, it is important to be able to socialize comfortably with coworkers, clients and superiors if you seek advancement. One of the keys to being an interesting conversationalist is to have lots of interests. |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rita Rocker is a national inspirational and educational speaker, communications and image specialist, and a career and virtual presentations coach with Transformation Academy, LLC. She is the author of “A Guide to Marketing Yourself for Success”, and a contributing author to “The Unstoppable Woman’s Guide to Emotional Well Being -The Total Woman in Leadership and Success Guide for the Unstoppable Entrepreneur.” She has appeared on national television and radio talk shows on self-esteem and communication. A former Mrs. Nebraska and active in numerous professional organizations, Rita is on the Board of the Small Business Association of the Midlands and co-director of greater Omaha’s Affiliated Women International. Rita provides life and career-transforming programs to mature teens and adults. Contact Rita at rita@transformationacademy.com.
Keep Customers Coming Back With These 5 Tips!
1. If possible, use your customers’ services and buy their products. Reciprocal customers can be loyal customers for years.
2. Send handwritten thank-you cards, even if you don’t think you have the time. Business guru Peter Drucker hand wrote 12 thank-you cards every day.
Ten Ways to Spot An E-mail Scam
1. Requests for personal information – No legitimate organization will ask for your social security, bank account or PIN number via e-mail and none will include a link, sending you to a form to enter it. No matter how authentic these e-mails may look, ignore ’em.
2. Watch for typos or spelling mistakes – Scam artists are street smart, but many flunked basic grammar or barely speak English. Look for mistakes like inappropriate hyphens or confusing “your” and “you’re.” If the note has multiple typos or grammatical errors, odds are it’s not legitimate.
Creating a Loyal Customer Base Through Employee Customer Service
To have a quality staff that respects themselves, their management and their customers, it is imperative to have a good internal customer service program in place.
Remember: The attitude of your heart as a listener is always more important and more obvious than anything that you say in response to someone. Attitude checks are crucial to the continued success of any business!
Customers come to you for your expertise, advice, and experience, as well as for the products and services that you provide. They expect the staff to be able to answer their questions or know where to find answers. Customers want–and expect:
To be heard: and obtain the desired resolution. Even though a customer’s circumstances may seem identical to the circumstances of many other customers, each customer typically still wants to talk through their issues, and your role is to listen.
To get what they want quickly: Happy, hassle-free, and left feeling positive about you. The faster you address the customer’s issues, the happier they will be.
To deal with someone who is knowledgeable: Is your staff equipped??
To deal with a decision maker: A customer’s life is easier if one person can provide answers and make decisions about the resolution of the problem. Customers don’t want to have to repeat their requests over and over as they are referred to other people for decisions–depleting their time, energy and effort.
To be appreciated: Customers have a wide range of options. You should never take for granted their willingness to do business with your organization. It takes little time to express your appreciation for their business, and it sends a positive, reinforcing message to the customer.
Understand the priorities: Ask questions of the customer to ensure that you understand their priority needs. For example, a customer needs a new computer system set up by the start of their fiscal year or a their phone system installed in the next thirty days. Those are priorities and tell the customer that you really care about their needs.
Understand their expectations: Theirs may be more reasonable than you anticipate, and quite easy to satisfy and resolve.
Under-promise and over-perform: Set expectations with customers at a reasonable level, but at a level that allows you to consistently exceed their expectations.
Policies and procedures: in place to protect you. It’s not so much what you say as how you say it. Using the company policy as a reason rarely makes customers happy, so try to use policy as a last resort.
“Responding” to Your Customers!!
Influencing outcomes means managing expectations. (Trust, education, saving face)
Is the person expressing facts or feelings? Use extra care and sensitivity when in their domain of feelings and opinions.
Silence when the person talking to you is sharing feelings if you do not know what to say. Nod in understanding. Resist the temptation to say something just to say something.
Make encouraging sounds when someone is sharing feelings and they seem to desire some acknowledgement from you. It buys you time to formulate an empathetic response.
Focus on what someone is saying, NOT what you say next.
Listen FOR important issues rather than just merely listening TO them. Listen twice as much as you speak. Remember the old saying about having two ears and one mouth? Becoming this kind of listener is a great way to win friends. There are so many things that you can listen for, such as the speaker’s values, feelings, needs, strengths, weaknesses, etc.
Use short responses when the speaker is sharing something very important to them. Longer responses will make the speaker feel impatient because they may feel “de-railed” by your intrusion.
Bottom line: always put yourself in “their” shoes!
Exercise for Maintaining Quality Customer Service
It is important to fill out a report card for your company each month. For this first month, please answer the following:
1.The first thing I am going to do regarding my company’s customer service is: __________
2.The second thing I am going to do is: ________________
3. The first thing I will do with/for my staff is: __________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rita Rocker is a national inspirational and educational speaker, communications and image specialist, and a career and virtual presentations coach with Transformation Academy, LLC. She is the author of “A Guide to Marketing Yourself for Success”, and a contributing author to “The Unstoppable Woman’s Guide to Emotional Well Being -The Total Woman in Leadership and Success Guide for the Unstoppable Entrepreneur.” She has appeared on national television and radio talk shows on self-esteem and communication. A former Mrs. Nebraska and active in numerous professional organizations, Rita is on the Board of the Small Business Association of the Midlands and co-director of greater Omaha’s Affiliated Women International. Rita provides life and career-transforming programs to mature teens and adults. Contact Rita at rita@transformationacademy.com.