By Caug124 on July 29th, 2010
Anyone who has every worked in retail or sales knows that customer service is not always easy. In fact, it can be one of the most challenging aspects of the job, especially during the holiday season. For most employees, putting into practice the concept that “The customer is always right,” is often easier said then done. For this reason, many companies provide customer service training to their employees to help them learn and improve the skills necessary to succeed in the customer service industry.
Customer service is a broad field and as a result there are many, many books on the subject with many that provide valuable insight into customer service industry. There are many that provide a general overview of customer service as well as tips and suggestions like the “Dummies” series. There are also several that relate to specific industries, such as restaurants or fashion, and give advice for that specific field.
With so many training books out there it can be hard to decide which one will work the best. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of any such book is largely based on the individual. Some people prefer a lot of detail and specific strategies while others learn more from humorous examples and broad concepts. If the book is going to be used for a large group it would probably be a good idea to find a book that contains a good mixture of each of these methods, so that everyone in the group is able to relate.
At the end of the day, the best customer service training book is the one that reinforces the policies of the company. While every customer should be treated with equal attentiveness and respect, there may be examples for dealing with a strict return policy or a specific method for handling disgruntled customers. When everyone is on the same page with the company’s policies and how to handle different situations, customer service becomes a better industry for both the employees and the customers.
Tags: Customer service training, humorous examples, The customer is always right
Posted in Customer Service | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 28th, 2010
It is simple, employee effectiveness is whatever you consider it to be. You could decide to measure how many of a certain product an employee can produce verses the amount they make. If you aren’t in a manufacturing industry, you may choose to measure effectiveness against another point of output that the client produces such as how many dollars in sales an employee brings in verses the amount of time it takes to get each client to agree to the sale. Here are a few ways you may want to measure employee effectiveness and what it means for your company.
If it takes fifty employees on average one hour to make one hundred widgets then the average speed of making widgets would be two per hour per person. If one person is making four an hour however, you probably have at least two people who are taking the whole hour to make a single widget. If you are paying them ten dollars per hour, which is five dollars per average widget, some of the employees are obviously costing you a lot more money than others. The ones who cost you more money are the least effective.
This is completely different when you get into the service industry. You can either bring it back down to simple math by thinking about how much they made the company verses how much the person costs in salary and benefits, or you can measure it in some way such as the number of customers served, by the amount of time that passed, or the number of tasks that were accomplished by the amount of time passed. What matters in the effectivity measurement is what matters most to you.
The most effective way to measure it with sales is the total amount of money that came in verses the total amount of money spent. You could measure the number of calls made in an hour but this does not determine if the sales person is making any money for the company of if they are just making a lot of phone calls, being told no thanks, and hanging up the phone, so it may not be the most efficient way to measure effectiveness. You could measure the number of new accounts opened in an hour, which if all accounts are even would be a better measurement.
There are a number of easy ways to increase effectiveness if you are not wanting to lose the less effective employees such as employee training seminars, sales training, and in house job training programs that you can do.
Tags: employee training seminars, number of calls made
Posted in Leadership/Management | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 28th, 2010
The key to success in most industries, especially business, is leadership; being able to take charge of a situation, make decisions, and get the job done well and correctly. Without these skills you will quickly be left behind in the race up the corporate ladder. It is easy to look enviously at those who have been in the business for a while and assume that they were born with phenomenal leadership skills. On the contrary, while such skills do come easier to some than others, it takes years of training, practice, and experience to develop and sharpen these skills.
One way to begin developing those all important leadership skills is by taking leadership development seminars. These seminars focus on specific areas of leadership like communication, teamwork, public speaking, etc. Not only do they provide valuable insight and tips for developing and maintaining these skills, but they often include opportunities for hands-on experience, which allows you to practice what you have learned. Some companies, especially larger ones, offer this training to their employees as part of their benefits package. Even if your company doesn’t offer them, there are many opportunities to take them yourself.
Life is a teacher, so allow yourself to learn from experience. Begin volunteering for and taking on new leadership opportunities. It would be wise to start small and gradually work your way up to larger, more important responsibilities. Keep a record of what you have learned from each experience — what you would repeat and what you would do differently. If you have co-workers that you respect and trust you can ask for their feedback as well. After all, one of the qualities of being a good leader is also being a good communicator and being open to constructive criticism.
Developing good leadership skills can be a challenge; however it is well worth the effort. Even if you face failure at times, don’t give up. Every experience — success or failure — is helping to shape you into a strong and effective leader in the future.
Tags: Begin volunteering, constructive criticism, leadership development seminars, the corporate ladder
Posted in Leadership/Management | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 27th, 2010
The current economic recession has led many companies to re-evaluate their budgets and expenditures. For many this includes their training practices. Corporate training is an important part of maintaining a successful business and preparing it for the future. As a result, business owners and CEOs need to find and utilize the most effective training at the best price.
When looking at any training program, one of the first things to consider is how it applies to the business. A company that does a lot of sales presentations, especially in front of larger groups, would probably benefit from a program that offers courses in public speaking. On the other hand, a small company with limited employees probably doesn’t need training that emphasizes working in teams and with other departments. Assessing the needs of the company in conjunction with options and features of the training program is going to make the program more effective.
Evaluating and re-evaluating is the best way to gauge how well the training is working. There are many formulas available online to help determine how effective the program is, which may be particularly useful to larger companies, but they are not required. For one, productivity should increase. As employees receive more training and a greater understanding of what to do and how to do it, the amount of time it takes to complete a job should be less and the output should be greater.
Another good way judge the effectiveness of the training is to talk to the employees. A survey can be a useful tool to receive feedback on what worked and what didn’t. The opinions and perspectives of the employees can be extremely beneficial in shaping the training program to make it more effective as well as company specific.
These days being proficient and effective are vital characteristics to any successful business. To help companies reach that goal they need to provide effective training programs so that everyone will be on the path to success.
Tags: corporate training, determine how effective the program is, productivity
Posted in Leadership/Management | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 22nd, 2010
There are a number of reasons why employees decide to up and bail out on the company. Most of them are not personal, but they are a sign of a poor workplace. Here are a few of the most common mistakes that happen in a workplace that cause the employees to bail.
Too much work, not enough money
You’ve probably heard it before “I don’t get paid enough for this.” It means that not only has that person become disenchanted with their job but they feel like they are working too hard. This may be on them, but if everyone is feeling this way it might be the company policy. This can happen if you are you asking any employee to do the work of two normal employees or if you cut back on clerical help and still expect everyone to get the same amount of work done.
Putting a Freeze on Promotions and Bonuses
People want to feel like they will be able to move up in the company. It they can’t move up they at least want to feel like they are earning what they are worth. If your employees can find work for several dollars more per hour over what you are paying them, then forget about being able to keep them around. Even in this economy people will leave for better jobs as they open up.
Lack of Respect
If an employee feels like they are not treated with the respect they deserve they are likely to leave. Everyone wants respect and in the workplace everyone should get at least a basic amount of it. Most often the employees who feel like they are being disrespected are those who also feel like they are being micromanaged. This type of behavior makes people feel like they aren’t trusted to do things in the company which often leads to feeling like they also are not respected. Effective leadership makes everyone feel like they are respected as a professional.
Favoritism
No matter how well it is hidden everyone knows about it. Even when it isn’t really favoritism and that person is working harder than anyone else could guess, perceived favoritism can make people quit if it happens constantly. Everyone who encounters this happening will get frustrated with it so just stay away from it in general. This shouldn’t even have to be something that people have to be told, but unfortunately there are a lot of managers out there who think that no one will notice if they give someone a little bit of special treatment.
Tags: Effective leadership, favoritism, respect they deserve
Posted in HR Issues | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 21st, 2010
Being an effective businessperson requires a lot of training and skills that are developed through experience over many years. However, a large part of those skills comes down to simply knowing how to win friends and influence people. From the first impression to daily interaction, following these basic steps can go a long way to improving your business relationships and being a more productive and efficient employee.
The first time that you meet someone, especially in a business relationship, can often make or break the relationship, not just with that person but with their business as well. For this reason it is important that you impress not only with your look but with your personality as well. Smile upon meeting; show them that you truly are pleased to meet them. Inquire about them and their business; don’t just allow the conversation to revolve around you. And most importantly, remember their name.
Once the relationship has been established, that doesn’t mean that you can relax. Continue to take an interest in them as a person; inquire about their activities, family, etc. Be honest and sincere and really take an interest in them as a person. If they feel valued and appreciated, they will be more willing to not just work with you but go above and beyond what is required.
Sometimes working closely on a project can cause unnecessary tension between co-workers. One way to avoid this is by being mindful of your criticism. Don’t automatically jump to the negative; rather listen carefully to their opinion, show appreciation for their thoughts, and positively explain your decision. Arguing and demanding your way all the time will only cause others to close up and lose their desire to work with you in the future.
Don’t underestimate the power of honesty and sincerity. When you take a sincere interest in others it will show and the respect that others have for you will grow.
Tags: don't just allow the conversation to revolve around you, feel valued and appreciated, How to Win Friends and Influence People
Posted in Marketing, Presentation Skills | 1 Comment »
By Caug124 on July 20th, 2010
You communicate everyday all day with people. Sometimes they are the people in your workplace, sometimes they are your readers, your fans, your friends, your family, strangers and even sometimes people you can’t stand. All the same you need to be able to have effective communication with each and every one of these people. How you do it each time might be a little bit different, but these five things should always remain the same.
1. Feel what you want them to feel.
When you are writing a blog post, or talking to your wife, feel what you want the other person to feel. Enthusiastic speakers are usually the ones who get the crowd enthusiastic about their topic.
2. People Listen in Different Ways
Say things more than once but put it in a different way. Use different words and examples to explain concepts to people. Some people will learn from a story, some people will just take it as a story and not understand it. Other people will learn a concept if you just describe it. Talk so that everyone can understand.
3. When someone else talks consider how your response will sound to them.
Many people talk without thinking about how it will be taken. Take a moment before speaking and consider how it will be taken by the listener.
4. Let people disagree with you.
If people don’t feel like they can disagree with you they won’t want to talk to you and they really won’t want you to talk to them. Let people honestly voice their opinion and you might learn something.
5. Talk about things that matter to the other person.
People love to talk about themselves and what matters to them. They also like to hear people talk about things that matter to them. If you give them a story that is relevant to them they will want to listen to it so they can pass it on to other people to talk about.
Tags: disagree with you, effective communication, Enthusiastic speakers, explain concepts
Posted in Presentation Skills | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 20th, 2010
When you are starting a new project you will need to be able to use all of your communication and consultation techniques to get it done. You may not have to use them all, but you should be ready to. The easiest thing you can do at this stage is to set up a plan for how the project is going to go ahead and what things you will need to do as a manager in order to proceed as the project moves forward. The more complicated the project is the more in depth the plan needs to become, and the more people need to see the plan. If it becomes very complicated your team may all want to work on plans for each of their parts in the project so that everyone knows what needs to happen. These will change as problems come up in the project, but that is one of the roles of communication.
As the project is being planned it may become obvious that you will need to consult with someone outside of the team to let them know what is happening and how it is going to happen. When you do this you should identify for them the scope of your project, how it will affect them, anything they may need to do or provide you with in order for you to continue, set out the appropriate methods for this to occur with an option for feedback from both sides on how this is working out. This kind of consultations usually happens in the workplace where there is a sensitive project and a share holder, or a client will need to be notified and kept up to date on the progress of the project.
When problems occur, because there are few projects that can go off without a hitch here or there, the most important thing is to let the appropriate people be aware of what changes are being made without sounding like it is a question or a decision you can change. Stay cool, calm, and answer any questions they may have. If you have a hard time having these kinds of conversations, look for someone on your team with customer service training who can help with the discussion. Allow them to give you feedback as part of the discussion, and you may decide to change something based on ideas that are presented to you.
Tags: Customer service training, plan for how the project, progress of the project
Posted in Customer Service | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 19th, 2010
Angry, complaining customers are a part of every business. You can treat them in one of two ways: they can be the problem, or they can be an opportunity to change a bad situation into a great situation. Of course it would be easier to pass it on to someone else and just deal with people who like you, but eventually each of them will be that difficult customer as well. The reason for this is because your company is not perfect and neither are you. At some point you will mess something up, it is how you deal with the mess ups that will matter the most to your customers.
Angry customers are usually something covered in most sales training courses. Angry customers are almost always angry because they feel like they have been wronged in some way. The product didn’t arrive at the time they thought it would, they were charged more than expected, the new delivery person was rude to them, or something else equally as bad.
To use the last as an example: the truth is that it is completely true that the delivery man may have been rude because he was having a bad day and got into a fight with his wife that morning. Or maybe he thought he was being nice, but they just took it as being rude. No matter what the truth is, the customer doesn’t care about the reason they just want the problem fixed. There is a very simple solution to the problem too, take the delivery guy off that route and give the customer someone else as well as a bonus perk to show that you really care and are sorry that this happened.
The key point is to remember to not get upset with the customer, or baby them. Treat them with respect and caring. Show that as much as they care about your company, by letting you know that something went wrong and giving you a chance to fix the problem, you care enough to fix the problem and show them you are glad that they are one of your customers.
Tags: respect, sales training
Posted in Sales/Sales Management | No Comments »
By Caug124 on July 15th, 2010
There are a few things you might want to think about when you are looking into developing as a professional. There are a lot of things that are considered best practices when going about this, but there is little agreement about what should be done. Here are is a collection of things that are often considered the best way to move toward better development in the workplace.
Write out a self evaluation. This should include your strengths, weaknesses, what you love, what you hate, hard skills, soft skills, and any trainings that you have successfully completed This is one place where you need to remember not to discount the soft skills. Many people do, but they are essential as you move up the corporate ladder. You aren’t expected to be good at everything at this stage, however you are expected to be honest about what you aren’t good at. This list is only between you and yourself, and doesn’t need to be shared. This also means that the only person who is going to see it is going to know if you are lying.
Next thing you will want to do is look at what sort of professional development seminars are happening in your area soon. Match these up with some of the skills on your list and see if there are any you can attend so that you can start working on those skills. In the meantime identify any books, teachers in your company, or anything else that you can learn from. If you mentor under someone in your same company you may be able to get in on some of their meetings and learn from those who have already climbed the ladder.
Keep up on the corporate news. Not the gossip, but the news about the company, and about the industry. Know what clients you have and what you are doing for them. Use any piece of knowledge you can find and incorporate it into your growing body. Using these methods you will be able to grow both your business network, and your skill sets. This will make it easier for you to develop as a professional.
Tags: Not the gossip, professional development seminar, self evaluation
Posted in Leadership/Management | No Comments »
