Retail Marketing

Voicemail Etiquette 101: Tips for Managing Your Messages

By Kate Zabriskie

How many times has one of the following happened to you?

• You call someone and get his voicemail telling you that he will be out of the office until July 6^th. The only problem is it’s September 8^th when you place the call.

• You call a big organization but still can’t get in touch with a living, breathing person no matter what combination of buttons you push, and you’ve already left three messages and received no returned phone call.

• Someone leaves you a message, but you can’t clearly hear her name or number. The only part of the message that is really understandable is that the call is urgent.

When he thought up the idea of voicemail in the late 1970s, inventor Gordon Matthews probably never imagined that more than two decades later people would still be abusing and misusing his would-be office miracle. Those types of encounters are annoying, frustrating, and a total waste of time you probably don’t have. The worst part is they happen by the millions every day and show no signs of stopping. 

If you use a telephone at work, chances are you’ve been to voicemail hell. It’s a horrible place, and unfortunately most of us know it well. The good news is there are some steps you can take to stay out of this hotspot.

Read the Book: First and foremost take a look at the book that came with your voicemail system. Over the course of a year, you may waste a few hours repeating whole messages if you don’t know the simple commands for forwarding and rewinding calls. What? You’ve lost the book, or they never gave you one? No excuse: Google it online. Search for your phone model, and you will probably find the manual. No time to read it? Bring it with you to meetings, on airplanes, the grocery store – find a minute here or there to pick up a new tip.

Improve the Quality of Your Outgoing Messages: If you give people information that can help them help themselves, you will get them what they need faster and save yourself time as well.

1.   Identify your name, organization, and telephone number in your outgoing message. Example: “Hi, this is Karen Smith with Adcomine at 212-555-1234.”

2.   State that you are not available and any other important information.  Example: “I’m out of the office today, January 3^rd.  I will be returning January 5^th.  I will not check voicemail until I am back.  If this is an emergency or you need immediate assistance, please call Bill Withers at 917-555-6543.”

3.   Tell people how to leave an appropriate message. That’s right: if you want good information, ask for it.  Example: “Please leave a brief message stating how I can help you, along with your phone number, and I will call you back.”

4.   If you prefer email, offer that as an option to callers. If you have an unusual name or company name, spell out the email address.  Example: “You may want to email me at...”

5.   To cut down on repeat calls if you work in a high-volume call area, state that you will return calls within 24 hours or whatever time period your organization’s policy on return calls requires.

6.   If you update your message when you go out of town, don’t forget to update it again when you get back.

7.   If your system allows callers to bypass your message by hitting the pound key, tell them that, especially if you have an unusually long message.

Stay on Top of Your Messages: What frustrates callers isn’t always the fact that they have had to leave a voicemail but that their calls were not answered “promptly.” The number of times you check voicemail each day will vary depending on your job function and industry. However, if you have not told people differently, at a minimum you should check messages once a day and return those calls. Here are some other guidelines for making the most out of your message-checking time.

1.   Have a pen and paper ready when you begin dialing.

2.   Listen to all of the messages before you start returning calls.

3.   Remember that you don’t have to return them in the order in which they were received. 

4.   Sometimes it’s easier to return calls when you are pretty sure the recipients won’t pick up the telephone.  You can answer their questions on their voicemail and move on with your day.

5.   If you are super busy and have the luxury of an assistant or some other kind soul, ask this person to return some of your phone calls. This is especially good if it is going to take an unusually long time for you to get back with someone.

6.   Don’t save messages you really don’t need. If you wrote down the information from the call, most of the time there is no reason to save the original recording. After all, do you really want your box so full no one can leave a message? That’s embarrassing and unprofessional.

Don’t Perpetuate the Problem: Are you tired of long-winded, difficult to understand voicemails? Stop the cycle by leaving concise and understandable voicemails. When recording a message, have mercy on your listeners and do the following:

1.   Speak slowly and leave your phone number at the beginning and the end of the message.

2.   Limit your comments to one or two subjects. Voicemail is not a one-person show.

3.   If you are rambling, for the sake of others and your reputation, stop yourself and rerecord.

4.   If you need action of some sort, state what you need. Voicemails that simply say, “call me” are irritating at best.

5.   If the recipient of your messages tends to fall into the trap listed in the previous point, tell him or her, “When you return my call, please leave a message on my voicemail to let me know the status of the project if I’m not able to pick up the phone.”

6.   If you are using a group distribution list that lists everyone’s name on the message, read the manual for your phone system and put the list at the end.  If people want to listen to it, they can.

A little careful planning and attention can free your time and help you view voicemail as the useful tool that it is rather than the purgatory it can be.

 

Kate Zabriskie is founder of Business Training Works, Inc., a company that specializes in  down-to-earth soft skills training in the workplace.  They specialize in helping others develop the skills they need to be successful.  Their services includes: business etiquette, interpersonal communication skills, business writing, presentation skills, customer service, negotiation, time management, and other essentials. The company’s clients include Microsoft, Georgetown University, Schering Plough, the USDA and Bank One. For more information, call 301-934-3250.

The Real Story Behind Superior Service

By John Tschohl

Ask for a definition of customer service, and you probably will be met with a long pause, followed by a disjointed and vague response. While most people, including CEOs throughout the world, think they know what customer service is, many of them do not. 

Customer service is quality products, convenience, competitive prices, timely responses, reliability, a personal touch, speed, accuracy, and knowledgeable employees. It is doing what you say you will do. It is operating on the belief that no transaction is complete unless the service your customers receive is great enough to motivate them to return to you. 

Companies throughout the world are facing increasing competition, driven in large part by the Internet, which allows customers to compare products, services, and prices 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meanwhile, social media such as Facebook allows consumers to share their complaints—and their praises—with millions of people throughout the world. 

There are several myths regarding customer service that not only are roadblocks to treating your customers in a way that will make them loyal to you for life, but that also will have a negative impact on your bottom line. Here are four of them:  

• You can improve customer service by hiring more employees. Like many things in life, quantity doesn’t equal quality. You can add all the employees you want but, if they don’t understand—and practice—the fundamentals of customer service all you have done is add to your payroll. It’s critical that you hire people who enjoy working with people and that you provide them the tools they need to serve your customers.  

• Pay your employees more, and their performance will improve. Money does not drive performance. Money is not a motivator. Money will not change attitudes and behaviors. So, what will? Recognition. Positive reinforcement and public praise will motivate your employees to do more and to do it better. I believe that recognition is every much a basic human need as food and water. When you fill that need, you will improve performance and develop a team of employees who are driven to do their best. 

• All employees are empowered. Don’t kid yourself; most employees are not empowered to do whatever it takes to satisfy your customers. There are several reasons for this. Employees are afraid they will make a mistake that will result in a severe reprimand or, worse still, being fired. Meanwhile, managers and supervisors are afraid they will lose power and prestige, if they allow their underlings to make empowered decisions. If you really want to improve customer service, it is imperative that you allow employees to bend and break the rules in order to make your customers happy—and that you reassure them that they will not be punished for doing so. You also must send the message to the rest of management that a major part of their jobs is to encourage empowerment. Doing so will have two results: It will improve customer service, and it will allow management to focus on other tasks. 

• Everyone understands customer service. They do not. And, if your employees do not understand it, how can you expect them to provide it? It is your responsibility to ensure that all employees can identify the elements of customer service—and then to train them and give them the tools they need to provide it. Conduct customer service training programs at least three times a year to provide employees the skills they need and to keep enthusiasm high. Then coach them, nurture them, and praise them. The time and money you spend in doing so is an investment in your company’s future. The return on that investment, in terms of customer loyalty and increased sales and profits, will drive your business. 

John Tschohl, the internationally recognized service strategist, is founder and president of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Described by USA Today, Time, and Entrepreneur as a “customer service guru,” he has written several books on customer service and has developed more than 26 customer-service training programs that have been distributed throughout the world. John’s monthly strategic newsletter is available online at http://www.johntschohl.com/

The Cardinal Rules of Customer Service

By Nancy Friedman

Here are the Telephone Doctor's “Six Cardinal Rules of Customer Service.”  Any one of these tips will enhance your customer service reputation.

1. People before paperwork: How many times have you stood and waited while someone tallied up a batch of figures or counted a pile of money?  Then, only after they were done were you asked, “Now, how can I help you?”  How many times have you waited while someone “fiddled” with something or wrote up a note, before he or she acknowledged you?  Paper can wait.  People should not.  Paper won’t walk away, but the customer might.  Drop what you’re doing and pay immediate attention to the customer. 

2. Don’t be too busy to be nice: In most interviews, managers and owners hear something like this from the applicant: “I love to be busy.  If I’m not busy I get bored and unhappy.”  Then we hire them and one of the first things we hear is the complaint, “Wow, I am so busy.”  Well, being busy does not give you carte blanche to be rude.  Let’s not be too busy to be nice.  It’s not worth it. 

3. Rushing threatens customers: Whether it’s on the telephone or in person, avoid rushing people.  Make each experience a great one.  Remember, one word answers make you sound cold and unfriendly.  Slow down.  Stop rushing people.  It threatens them. 

4. Don’t use military language on civilians: Simply put, company jargon should stay within your company.  Mistakes and miscommunications thrive on company jargon.  You’ll be far more familiar and comfortable with the terms and abbreviations than your customer will.  Some companies seem to have words and abbreviations that would make the CIA green with envy.  Use simple, easy to understand words with the customer.  They’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness. 

5. Be friendly before you know who it is: Have you ever been a customer and been treated in a rather average, maybe even below average, manner?  Later, when they realized you were a friend of the boss or someone other than an “average” customer, they brightened up?  Why wait to be friendly?  Why discriminate?  If you’re friendly before you know who it is, you’ll make a good impression.  When you’re friendly before you know who it is, you’re delivering the same great service to everyone.  That’s the way it should be.  Don’t discriminate. 

6. “There ya go,” is not “Thank you.”  “Uh huh,” is not “You’re welcome.”  Count for one day, how many times people forget to say, “Thank you,” and “You’re welcome,” to you.  “There ya go,” just doesn’t hack it.  When customers spend money, they want to hear a big smiling, “Thank you, we appreciate your business.”  When we, as customers say, “Thank you,” we don’t want to be grunted at with the old, “Uh-huh.”  Speak clearly.  “You’re welcome,” is a wonderful phrase.  Please use it more often, and don’t be a grunter.  When your customer tells you, “Thank you,” give a great big smiling “You’re welcome,” right back at them. 

Nancy Friedman is president of Telephone Doctor, an international customer service training company, based in St. Louis, MO.  Nancy is the author of four best selling books.  Contact Nancy at 314-291-1012 or nancy@telephonedoctor.com.

The Top 10 Business Writing Mistakes that Cost You Money

By Brent Sampson

In business, every word counts. This holds true for writing, too, particularly when the economy is putting pressure on every decision, stress on every partnership and expectations on everybody. Don’t let small mistakes in your business writing make a big impact on your potential customers. Here are 10 common errors in business writing and how to avoid them.

1) Don’t forget to spell check your work: We’ve all received resumes and letters with spelling errors. Don’t make the same mistake. Spell check every business e-mail or correspondence you send. Most e-mail programs have this function, so take advantage of it. In many cases, nothing can sour the tone of a future partnership faster than a grammatically incorrect correspondence filled with spelling errors.

2) Don’t forget to include a salutation: How many business e-mails do you receive that don’t greet you by name? Starting an e-mail without a salutation is akin to starting a conversation in the middle. A salutation marks the beginning of a correspondence in a letter or e-mail, and omitting one is not professional. Worse yet, your e-mail could be confused for spam, since an e-mail without a personal salutation usually means the message went to many people simultaneously.

3) Don’t forget your signature: Everyone receives a lot of e-mail nowadays. How frustrating is it to receive one without a proper signature line? Perhaps you remember the person based solely upon his or her e-mail address, but perhaps you don’t. If their e-mail seems important enough, you have to spend time investigating who they are and what company they work for. Even if you do happen to remember the person, failing to include a signature demonstrates a lack of respect for the recipient’s time or workload. Always include a salutation and a signature in every e-mail correspondence, even if the other person doesn’t do the same for you.

4) Don’t use jargon, acronyms, slang, or Internet speak: At best, using acronyms make you appear lazy. At worst, they confuse your reader. Using jargon isn’t any better. Best case scenario: you seem aloof. Worst case: Your reader feels stupid. Examples of “Internet speak” include “LMAO,” “noob,” “l33t” and “rofl.” Do know what these all mean? If you don’t, how does that make you feel? Other mistakes include using slang, curse words or words that illicit the improper tone (such as “dude” or “wazzup.”) Avoid them all. Business will rarely shy away from you for being “too professional.”

5) Don’t use emoticons: A close cousin to jargon and acronyms are emoticons (punctuation in the form of a “face”). Eventually you may reach an informal level of communication that warrants an emoticon, but let the other person breach this ground first. If neither of you take the first step toward the use of emoticons, that’s OK – your writing will be stronger as a result of having to communicate an emotion without using a picture.

6) Don’t forget to include a call to action: Every business communication, on one level or another, involves some type of selling. You are either selling yourself, your company, your idea, your product, your service, etc. There needs to be a call to action. It can be as simple as ending an e-mail with an “I look forward to hearing back from you” at the end, but one way or another, every correspondence needs to inform the recipient of your expectations regarding their next step. Who knows? It may be easiest for them to follow your suggestion.

7) Don’t make it the wrong length: Business correspondence comes in a variety of forms or formats, and each one has an appropriate length. Contracts are supposed to be long and scary. E-mails are supposed to be short and sweet. Recognize what you are writing and keep your length standardized. If you write a 100-word contract, no one is going to take it seriously and if you write a 1,000 word e-mail, no one is going to read it. Give people what they expect at the length they expect it.

8) Don’t forget you could be quoted: Recently there was an e-mail from a company’s accounting department posted on the Internet for everyone to read. It was addressed to the employees of that company, presumably with an understanding of confidentiality since it contained private information about that company’s finances. Nevertheless, there it was on a public forum. The Internet has focused a gigantic microscope on all of us. When you write something, assume everyone in the world will see it and know that it came from you.

9) Don’t use absolutes: Since you now realize your writing can come back to haunt you at any time, it is best to avoid writing in absolutes. Avoid using terms like “never” when you can use “rarely.” Don’t use terms like “will be” when you can use terms like “may be.” Upon initial reading, the reader won’t recognize the difference, and down the road, if your feet are held to the fire, words that are not absolute are more defensible.

10) Don’t include unnecessary information: In other words, cut to the chase. Since every word counts, be as succinct and applicable as possible. Including superfluous information opens yourself up to a variety of mistakes. It makes your writing unnecessarily long; it increases the chances of breaking one of these other rules; it communicates to the other person that you are unable to censor, prioritize or organize; and it could contain information that turns your “sale” into a “bail.”

No one is perfect, but if you take the time to make sure your business writing avoids 10 basic pitfalls, you will be that much closer to succeeding while wielding a pen. And what do you know…it is mightier than the sword, after all.

 

Brent Sampson, best-selling self-published author of “Sell Your Book on Amazon” and "Self-Publishing Simplified," has helped thousands of authors realize their dreams of publishing and distributing their books worldwide fast with Outskirts Press. Now when you go to http://outskirtspress.com/ebooksyou can get two free e-book guides on how to self-publish your books the simple, successful way.

Effective Questioning Skills

By Nancy Friedman, Telephone Doctor

How important is it to ask good questions?  It’s very important.  It’s important you use questioning skills to help you completely understand the caller’s situation.  Otherwise, you could be responding to what you guess the caller means, which may or may not be correct.  Questioning goes beyond listening. 

Effective questioning is a real compliment to your skills.  It shows that you have the ability to understand the caller's real needs.  It shows that you are looking for meaning that’s deeper than the spoken message.  Effective questioning is a powerful, learned skill.  It says to the caller, “I’m interested in determining your needs.”

Questioning can be put into two divisions: Open-Ended Questions and Closed-Ended Questions. 

Open-Ended Questions:  Open-ended questions are questions without a fixed limit.  They encourage continued conversation, and help you get more information.  Plus, they often provide opportunities to gain insight into the other person’s feelings.  Open-ended questions draw out more information.  If you want the caller to open up, use open-ended questions that start with who, what, where, why, when, and how.  A few examples are:

“What are some of the things you look for in a hotel?”

“How do you feel government could be more responsive to your needs?”

“What are your concerns about this new program?”

Closed-Ended Questions:  Closed-ended questions have a fixed limit.  They’re often answered with a yes or no, or with a simple statement of fact.  Closed-ended questions are used to direct the conversation.  They usually get specific information or confirm facts.  Here are some examples. 

“Do you have health insurance?”

“Do you want the new brochure?”

“Would you be interested in that?”

We use the open-ended questions to get more information and the closed-ended questions to focus in on one area. 

Additionally, there are several other type of questioning techniques.  A few are:

Probing Questions: Sometimes you ask an open-ended question to get more information and you only get part of what you need.  Now it’s time for a probing question.  A probing question is another open-ended question, but it’s a follow-up.  It’s narrower.  It asks about one area.  Here’s an example:

“What topic areas are you interested in?”  This question would be better than reading off 50 topics to the caller.  It’s a probing question. 

A few other examples are:

“Are you able to tell me more about the form you received?”

“What did you like best about Paris?”

Probing questions are valuable in getting to the heart of the matter. 

The Echo Question:  Here’s a good technique for getting more information.  You can use this like a probing question.  The idea is to use the last part of a phrase the caller said.  Slightly raise the tone of your voice at the end of the phrase to convert it to a question.  Then pause and use silence – like this:

“…The bill you received?”

An echo question repeats part of the phrase that the caller used, using voice inflection to convert it to a question.  Some people call it mirroring or reflecting.  Others call it parroting.  We call it echoing.  Whatever you call it, it’s a valuable technique to use.   

Leading Questions: Many things can be good or bad.  Take fire for example.  Fire warms our home, cooks our food, and does many other useful things.  Uncontrolled, it can burn down our houses. 

The reason we use that example is because leading questions can also be good or bad.  Leading questions, if used improperly, can be manipulative because you’re leading the person to give the answer you want.  When they are used properly, you’re helping that person.  Some examples of proper leading questions are:

“You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”

“You’ll want to know about our same day delivery service, right?”

“You’ll want to go ahead with this, won't you?”

Leading questions often end with suggestive nudges toward the desired answer.  Some ending phrases would be, “Don’t you?”, “Shouldn’t you?”, “Won’t you?”, “Haven’t you?”, and “Right?”

So where are leading questions useful?  Well, they’re useful in helping someone who’s undecided make the right decision, a decision that will benefit them.  You use a leading question ethically when you help someone do the right thing.  Some folks call this technique the “tie down” technique because you’re actually trying to tie down the caller's needs. 

The bottom line is to practice using a variety of questioning techniques.  It will help you help your callers more effectively.  After all, you want to provide the very best customer service, don’t you? 

Nancy Friedman is president of Telephone Doctor, an international customer service training company, based in St. Louis, MO.  Nancy is the author of four best selling books.  Contact Nancy at 314-291-1012 or nancy@telephonedoctor.com.

 

 

Top Telephone Pet Peeve is Put On Hold

By Nancy Friedman, Telephone Doctor

After 15 years of being number one, “Being put on hold” dropped to the third spot in Telephone Doctor’s “What Bugs You On The Telephone?” survey.  What’s the new number one complaint?  The automated attendant!

Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, recently conducted a survey to update the biggest telephone pet peeve of the American public. With hundreds of submissions received and a multitude of various aggravations, the automated attendant won hands down as the biggest frustration.  “Especially when there is no option for a human,” said Nancy Friedman, President of Telephone Doctor and noted expert on customer service and communication skills.

Nancy says, “We hear from audiences all over the country and there’s not a single program that we present where we don’t hear grumbles about the automated attendant (AA).”  We also found out that while AA is aggravating; the menus and the messages can often times be worse."

“Saying ‘Your call is very important to me’ sends callers up a wall,” said Nancy. Callers think, “Yea?  If I’m so important why aren’t you there?”

So what’s second on the ‘dirty dozen’ list?  Lack of good manners, rudeness and not having a good attitude.   If you’re concerned about cell phones, they came in fifth.  Or more succinctly – the users of the cell phone and their horrible manners – loud talkers, ill placed calls, and obnoxious rings.

Top Telephone Pet Peeves:

1. Automated attendant

2. Lack of good manners, rudeness and bad attitude

3. Being put on hold

4. Speakerphones

5. Cell phones

6. Foreign accents, speaking too fast, not speaking clearly

7. Eating or chewing while on the phone

8. Voice mail

9. Transferring calls improperly

10. Background noises

11. Carryover conversation

12. Not returning phone calls

Nancy Friedman is president of Telephone Doctor, an international customer service training company, based in St. Louis, MO.  Nancy is the author of four best selling books.  Contact Nancy at 314-291-1012 or nancy@telephonedoctor.com.

 

The Importance of Empowering Frontline Staff

Sales, marketing, engineering, IT, customer service and other departments in non-healthcare organizations face issues similar to those in the healthcare industry. Suppose that the sales and engineering staff undermine each other. Resulting delays may reduce client satisfaction; if severe, the conflict could derail an entire contract. Employees need quick and accurate action instead of obstacles and delays.

For example, a hospital patient asks for a banana. The nurse calls the dietary manager, who replies, “not without a doctor’s order.“ After talking to two nearby managers who commiserate with her, the nurse mentions it to a Senior VP, who was passing through the unit. The senior VP intervenes and the patient, unhappy about the long wait, finally receives the banana. The time taken by each person to solve his problem makes the cost of the banana exceed $100. This wasted money, due to miscommunication and failure to integrate department systems, is an example of why medical care costs have escalated.

Frontline employees with decision-making authorization save management time and increase client satisfaction. Organizations providing work environments where staff can perform at their best attract and retain the best people. Positive employee relationships generate energy and raise productivity.

Save money, improve client satisfaction, and reduce expensive errors with the following seven tips:

1. Empower your frontline staff to solve client problems on the spot. Then support them. When frontline employees hesitate to make the independent decisions related to critical thinking, it’s because they have been reprimanded for doing so in the past. They have learned to wait for specific directions from their managers rather than functioning as autonomous professionals. This ingrained habit is difficult to break. The best way to change this habit is to build trust by giving your staff consistent support. Don’t let your chain of command become a ball and chain. When you empower frontline employees, you save money, clients are more satisfied, and productivity increases.

2. Building trust enables you to use your intellectual capital. When your staff trusts each other, they save time and money, because people who trust others can act quickly and decisively. How do you build trust? By respecting yourself and others, by being a role model, by courteous communication, and by sensitivity to the needs of others. For instance, a frontline employee working on a joint venture with a valued client needs to transfer very complex documents with multiple imbedded links. She wanted to make the transfers in a way that is time effective for herself and the other company. She thinks that using a particular website would make it possible to easily transfer the files and asks her manager if their company prefers any one site. The manager suggests that she discuss it with the IT manager. The IT manager agrees that the site will work, and explains how best to set it up. Since the frontline worker had the autonomy to contact the IT manager directly, she saved time and prevented wasted time in repeated tasks. Staff members establish trust in you when you make consistent decisions according to what is right, rather than what is easy. When companies use the intellectual capital of their frontline employees, they save many $100 bananas and preserve trusting relationships with their business partners.

3. Build a positive work environment. Organizations that provide environments where staff can perform at their best attract and retain the best people. Long-term strategies such as effective communication and staff-friendly cultures enable organizations to achieve the best results. Building a positive culture takes multiple elements: respect, consistency, and integrity. A positive culture is worth the effort because it promotes employee understanding of organizational values enabling them to make smart decisions for clients.

4. Insist that staff collaborate instead of compete. For instance, ask yourself the question, “Is everyone aligned behind our sales strategy?” Everyone can accomplish more when departments work together. Good communication and collaboration save time and money, and increase productivity. For instance, a salesperson may sell a product or service, but if he expects to make repeat sales, the customer service person and the delivery person must also interact effectively with clients. No matter how good the sales person is, future sales will be lost if the customer service person is insensitive to the client’s needs or if the delivery person is rude. This kind of alignment is essential for any company because the faces of all of these people are the faces that reflect the whole company from a client perspective.

5. Brainstorm about the opportunities that lie beyond the challenges. Dedicate a portion of your staff meetings to list current challenges. Then talk about ways to transform these challenges into opportunities. Perhaps you will be able to redefine your selling proposition to increase sales. For instance, look at both sides of client complaints. Ask yourself if the complaint reflects a client’s need for a new product or service that your company could offer.

6. Communicate respectfully. Poor communication wastes time, delays decisions, and damages morale. As the $100 banana illustrates, poor communication is also expensive. Even proven communication strategies are rendered ineffective when staff manage to find new ways to sabotage one another in negative cultures.

7. Solve the root causes of problem. If frontline employees have no power to solve the root causes of their problems, they end up creating temporary fixes day after day. This wastes huge amounts of time, costing their companies significant amounts of money and reducing quality for clients. Solving the root causes of problems may enable you to move from a product focus to a client focus, building your business in new strategic ways.

Core values such as respectful communication and integrity cost nothing. Smarter managers empower their staff to assist people in working together with conceptual communication and leadership approaches that enable them to leverage scarce resources and to do more with less. More than helping to maximize client satisfaction, using these tips will address the bottom line for managers: the dollar difference between the present level of staff productivity and full professional capacity are the number of $100 bananas you can save.

June Fabre, MBA, RN-BC, is author of “Smart Nursing: Nurse Retention and Patient Safety Improvement Strategies,” and owner of Smart Healthcare LLC. June is a speaker, trainer, consultant, coach and author, and has worked as an educator and sales manager. Through Smart Healthcare LLC, June develops and presents education programs that improve communication, raise productivity without burnout, and promote team performance. She assists frontline staff and managers in how to work together, using conceptual, communication, and leadership approaches. The seven core values of Smart Nursing are caring, respect, simplicity, flexibility, integrity, professional culture, and communication. These core values are universally applicable in any business. She can be contacted at (603) 320-3469 or at http://www.junefabre.com/.

Listen While You Work

An ancient Chinese proverb reminds us; "To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well." While everyone can benefit from this sage advice, these words of wisdom are particularly appropriate for professional salespeople. Would you consider yourself a good listener? Perhaps a more important question might be, how would your customers, business associates, friends and family members rate your listening ability? Their feedback just might surprise you, because most people believe they're much better listeners than they truly are.

Poor listeners frequently confuse the physical act of hearing with the emotional art of listening. While hearing is a function of biology, active listening skills must be acquired and developed. In the selling process, when you talk you merely provide information, but when you genuinely listen you show respect, create trust and develop rapport. Unfortunately, our educational system places emphasis on speaking and writing, but not on listening. For example, I have a good friend with a PhD who speaks three languages fluently, but can't listen worth a hoot. The only way to become a better listener is to mindfully practice "active listening" in all of your daily encounters… from the kitchen table to the sales table.

Active listening is making a conscious effort to hear your customer's words as well as to try and understand the total message being sent, both verbally and nonverbally. It requires you to listen not only with your ears, but also with your eyes. It's important to monitor your customer's body language gestures and look for congruency between words, posture, movement and tone of voice.

Are you able to stay focused on your customer or does your mind wander? By giving your customer your full and undivided attention, you're laying a foundation of trust and building rapport. Discipline your mind and put aside distracting thoughts. Each time you catch your mind starting to wander, "grab it" and immediately refocus your attention back to your customer. Show that you're listening by using your body language gestures to convey your attention. A simple smile or nod of the head conveys that you're listening without interrupting your customer's flow of thought.

The best salespeople have a tendency to listen like a homicide detective and ask great probing questions. They don't make assumptions, they summarize and seek clarity. An occasional question or comment to recap what has been said communicates that you understand the message. Until this is done, your customer will resist your input.

Where communication is poor, mistakes increase, relationships breakdown and opportunities to make the sale are missed! If you want to enhance your professional image, strengthen relationships and dramatically improve your sales effectiveness, I encourage you to listen while you work.

John Boe presents a variety of sales training and motivational programs for meetings and conventions. John brings over twenty years of experience as an award-winning sales trainer to the platform.  To have John speak at your next event, call 937-299-9001.  A free newsletter is available on his website.

 

What Your Customers Really Want

By Walt Zeglinski

Does your business have what it takes to consistently win in today’s market?  How about keeping your customers loyal?  If you think the price of your products or services is the reason you are attracting or not attracting and maintaining customers, think again.  Today’s customers are savvy and want much more from their relationship with your company than just a low cost. 

Customers are looking for relationships that deliver unique value. Yes, they want your products to solve their problems but they also seek a level of satisfaction that goes beyond the intrinsic value of what they paid for. By learning to tap into this deeper level of emotional satisfaction, your business with current customers will increase and you will uncover a steady stream of new customers.

Are Your Customers Loyal? You may have asked your customers if they were satisfied with their purchase from your company.  But the true measure is whether your customers are actually coming back.  In an average customer poll you may find that 8 or 9 out of 10 customers were satisfied.  That sounds great. But studies show that only 4 or 5 purchase from you again.  Why? Because rational satisfaction (they were not displeased, the product worked, etc.) is only part of the equation.  Customers who purchase again are emotionally satisfied. Moreover, emotionally satisfied customers will also recommend your product or service to others.

The bottom line on measuring loyalty: (1) How many of your customers intend to purchase again, and (2) how many of your customers would endorse your company to others.

Creating Exceptional Value: Exceptional value is created when your customer perceives your product or service to be worth more to them than the price they pay. There are two components in any strategy for creating exceptional value with customer.  The first is how well you communicating the unique value of your products and services as compared to alternative solutions in the marketplace.  This is important and is likely to result in a high rational satisfaction.  However it takes emotional satisfaction to develop a loyal customer.  The second factor – building deeper, trust-based relationships – is the key to emotionally satisfied customers.   This happens when your employees show your organization understands a customer’s needs, delivers more than is expected, and helps them achieve their goals. 
Exceptional value stems from exceptional employees.  Your people are the “secret sauce” in your organization’s ability to deliver on its value promise.  You have to hire and retain the right people to make it work.  These employees are those who do not need management mandates to engage customers and adhere to company values.  These employees are your customer’s problem solvers. They provide the discretionary effort and intellectual capital that can take your customers from satisfied to loyal.  And, studies  have shown that an increase of only 5% in customer loyalty can add from 25% to more than 100% to your bottom line!

Tapping the Emotional Fountain: Developing emotional satisfied customers who enjoy extrinsic value (beyond functional benefits) might seem like a pie in the sky ideal but there are many world examples.  Think about a Rolex watch and what you feel when you see one worn.  Any watch can give you the time. But they aren’t a Rolex.  What captivates us about a Rolex isn’t its function, it’s the prestige. A Rolex suggests more than your need to tell the time. It says that you appreciate the finer things. It shows that you have earned enough success to purchase one. It means you are knowledgeable about the value of the craftsmanship and precision it represents. 
That is the connection you should seek to develop with your customers.  You want to deliver more value than the functional benefits inherent in your product or service.  You want your customers to experience the extrinsic value you bring to the relationship by being emotionally engaged throughout the buying process.

It Pays to Be Ethical: A recent USA Today poll revealed that 72% of people will pay more to use the services and products of a company they perceive to be ethical.  An easy example of this for consumer products is the higher prices that consumers pay at eco-friendly stores like WholeFoods.  For service-based businesses, think of the movement of customers away from the megabanks who charged hidden fees and left customers navigating though a labyrinth of automated phone systems to credit unions and community banks where a real person answers the phone with a sincere interest in your situation.
These are examples of how the perception of ethical business practices can make a difference.  It reflects the impact of emotionally satisfied customers.  People feel better about themselves when they believe they are dealing with an organization that cares about “doing the right thing”. 

By optimizing the key performance drivers of value creation, you can successfully tap the emotional bonds of your customer relationships.  This takes the right people, the right process, the right leadership, and the right commitment.  The investment your company makes in enabling and aligning your team with the skills, attitudes, beliefs and values that develop loyal customers will enrich your core business and provide new opportunities to gain customers and market share.  Stay engaged and stay ethical in your customer relationships and you will transform your business

 

Walt Zeglinski is the CEO & Chief Client Advocate for Integrity Solutions, a performance improvement company that helps its clients to create value for their customers. Walt has over 20 years of successful experience in the corporate performance industry, applying his expertise to successfully diagnose, plan and implement practical solutions for complex business challenges. He has worked with executive teams and frontline sales and service teams across most industries including financial services, healthcare, technology, hospitality and manufacturing. You may contact Walt at wzeglinski@IntegritySolutions.com, 602-253-5700 or www.IntegritySolutions.com.

Three Lessons Kids Teach You About Business Success

By Brian Sullivan

“My see,” were the words my two-year-old daughter Maggie used last week as she extended her arms toward an older woman sitting in the window seat on a spring break flight to Mexico last week. The adult translation of those words is, “Excuse me ma’am, your window seat is better than my middle seat. I would really love to climb over this armrest, jump on your lap and hang out with you for a few minutes so I can look out that window. You good with that?” This woman was obviously well-versed in the ancient language of baby babble, and knew exactly what Maggie was saying. She pulled up the armrest, held out her arms and without hesitation, Maggie plopped onto her lap. They then began cloud gazing while getting to know each other.

My first reaction as a parent was one of hesitation. After all, I was a product of the “don’t talk to strangers” era, and not only was Maggie talking (I think), she was bouncing on the knee of a complete stranger. My second reaction was as an adult; thinking there was no way that woman could want my drooling two-year-old climbing all over her.  After several minutes of visiting, Maggie waved bye-bye to the woman and happily scampered back to her Barney video. And this was only the beginning.

Throughout the week Maggie sat in several more laps, high-fived countless strangers and waved kisses to a dozen or more people she had gotten to know. As I watched, I began thinking at what point and at what age will Maggie become weary of new faces, put her guard up and perhaps stop trusting people she doesn’t know? At what point will strangers stop randomly smiling at, waving at, and openly trusting her?
Then I thought…what a shame. Why does it all have to end? Well maybe it doesn’t. While I don’t expect strangers to randomly pinch our cheeks and blow us kisses walking down the street, maybe there is something we can do that will make people want to open up to us more. Because if they open up to us more, we can then learn more, influence more and serve more. So how do we do gain access to the hearts and minds of as many people as possible?

Kid Lesson #1: Trust others as you did when you didn’t know any better! Trust others, and they will trust you.  It’s a nice little game of give and take. If your defenses are always up and are skeptical of other’s intentions, other’s defenses will be up, and they will be skeptical of your intentions. So this week, let’s think of one person who you are reluctant to trust and trust them. Make the first move. Might you get burned? Yep! But when you open your doors, more good than bad will enter. And surrounded by more good than ever, you can be taken back to a time when, like Maggie, people felt even more compelled to smile at you, laugh with you and let you know that their day is better because you helped them “look out the window and into the clouds” for just a bit.

Kid Lesson #2: Put yourself “out there” by being fearless: Sure, most kids are afraid of things like green beans and cough syrup, but like Maggie, most have no problem “cold calling” people they don’t know. Why? Because they don’t yet have a fear of rejection. Even without a psychology degree, most people can tell you the most successful salespeople, entrepreneurs and business leaders attack opportunities that average performers deem outlandish.

So this week, think of three business opportunities or potential clients who others think you have absolutely no chance of getting. Then identify the highest person in the decision-making chain and make the call, pay the visit, send the creative e-mail or deliver the singing telegram. Regardless of how you do it, just put yourself out there. And take comfort in knowing the top is not crowded. Most of your competition is too scared to take the risk that you are about to take.

Another way to put yourself out there is to by identifying one smart person who you are dying to learn from. Not your buddy in the office, your manager or even your current mentor. Think about somebody big such as the author of your favorite book or a magazine writer you love, the host of that business radio show you enjoy, the speaker at that last seminar …whomever! Why not? Most people, regardless of their VIP status, are willing to help anybody gutsy enough to ask.

Cameron Johnson, a well-known author at age 23, has sold more than a dozen Internet businesses, and is now a contestant on Oprah’s Big Give. He talked about a time when he was an eight-year-old kid, sending a letter to Donald Trump, Plaza Hotel, New York City. It was addressed just like that … no street number, street name, zip code – nothing! He didn’t tell his parents he was sending it, but in the letter he asked Mr. Trump if, when he came to New York, Donald would give him a tour of the room where Macaulay Culkin stayed in the movie “Home Alone - Lost in New York.” When his family arrived at The Plaza for their vacation, the hotel manager’s first words were, “You must be Cameron!” Not long after, Cameron and family got a five-star tour of Cameron’s favorite room by none other than Donald Trump. So what’s the point? Because Cameron was eight-years-old and didn’t know any better, he put himself out there and his high-profile prospect, Donald Trump, responded by giving him access.

Kid Lesson #3: Give access to expect access: Kids will not only talk to anybody, but they will let just about anybody talk to them. How about you? Will you give access to just about anybody?  Let’s face it, we are all crazy busy and don’t have a ton of minutes to burn every day. But if you expect people to call you back (access), you better be somebody who calls others back. If you expect that high level decision-maker to let you in, you better let that salesperson calling on you “in.”  If you expect advice from that VIP, you better be willing to give advice to that rookie. Those who get to the top in business and in life are those who are the most selfless. And because it is so natural for the top performer to give help and access to others, it is easy for them to ask for it from others.

 
So there you have it, kids. Let’s turn back the clock by trusting more, fearing less and by opening ourselves up to those who need our help. And by acting in this childish manner, you are about to find yourself with a lot more customers, contacts, mentors and friends than you ever dreamed possible.
Read other articles and learn more about Brian Sullivan.

Sales coach and business consultant, Brian Sullivan, is author of "20 Days to the TOP - How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company's Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less." As president of PRECISE Selling, Brian helps improve sales, customer service, leadership, and presentation skills through seminars and Internet training programs. He also hosts "Entrepreneurial Moments," a radio show on business and personal development.