Effective customer service is more important now than ever before.  Consumers are choosing more carefully, and more wisely, the services and the goods on which they spend their money.  There are many mistakes that salespeople may make unknowingly, that will send a prospective customer or client out the door for good.  These are simple aspects of behavior that are very easy to avoid. 

The meet and greet, the first impression, is extremely important.  This is just the beginning of the transaction or the business relationship, and it is essential to avoid a bad first impression, at all costs.  One way to accomplish this is to simply…not ignore the person who just walked through your door, or who is waiting on hold on your phone.  If it is necessary for them to wait for a few moments, just let them know.

Every business, every wisely run and successful business, will be busy from time to time, and hopefully more often than not.  If one is busy with a current customer, and other customers are waiting, establishing eye contact or the saying of just a few words to them in greeting, will let them know, that you know they are there.  That’s all it takes in those moments really.  During these busy times it is easy to become distracted either by tasks or other clients.  These messages conveyed through eye contact and verbal ‘hellos’ will ensure that the new customers know you have seen then and that you are aware of their needs.

Many corporations now require employees to repeat the same phrases.  One is repeatedly asked in coffee shops… whether you would like a pastry along with your latte, or in the checkout line at department stores, you they would like to open a credit card account.  These scripts when delivered in a rote manner are heard in that manner.  When delivering greetings and messages that are required by management, or those that are repeated day after day, it is important to keep them as fresh as possible.  Just a few alterations in customer service and the methods in which that is carried out, will make a difference in the success of any company that is operating in the world, and its economy, today.

Find out more about Dale Carnegie Training’s Customer Service Programs

• Carnegie Coach – Coach Your Team to Success – http://tiny.cc/xhCyS
• “Dreams Are Extremely Important. You Can’t Do It Unless You Imagine it.” – George Lucas
• RT @ MarietjieSteyn: “The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.” @DaleCarnegie
• RT !Personal_Best: Employee engagement breeds success. Two MTL-based firms invest in creating a great place to work. http://bit.ly/3Xc5RV
• Buy one of the top 25 franchises – as rated by @WSJ -Franchises available in Utah, Westchester, NY and Wichita, KS – http://tiny.cc/uFoGf
• We never listen when we are eager to speak. -François de La Rochefoucauld
• RT @cyndyrobinson: Engage your workers! The benefits of employee engagement: http://tinyurl.com/lypjdc
• RT @ZnaTrainer RT @livetorque: “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy” ~ @DaleCarnegie
• If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Isaac Newton
• RT @towersperrin: Rx for engagement as economy improves: Keep delivering on the basics http://budurl.com/3fn6

Creative and innovative ideas has always been tantamount to business.  Any business.  And now, with the nation, and most of the world, suffering during economic recession, this more important that ever.  Only the truly creative and credible companies will survive these times, as consumers are more aware now than ever, of on just what they are spending their money. 

Having a truly effective sales team at this moment in time is essential.  The market is crowded and it is competitive.  Consumers are looking for companies that are unique.  Holding a weekly meeting with the sales team of one’s company is a very wise idea.  In order for these meetings to be effective, the leader or the manager must have an organized plan in order to sustain the focus and the motivation of their team. 

One of the best jump starts for a sales team, is a meeting that provokes this motivation and creativity.  So many meetings held in offices can be long, boring, and non-motivational.  The key is to have one’s employees eager to attend those meetings.  Productivity will increase drastically under this circumstance.  In order to ensure this outcome, the meetings must be relevant and participatory.  Sales teams do not want to waste their time.  Sales teams are always ready for receiving and for giving new ideas. 

As far as the meetings themselves, the shorter the better.  Meetings can be an interruption in the day, especially those who work off of commission.  The team needs to know that they will walk away from the meeting with new tools or goals for that week.  The meeting will also serve the company and the team better, if it happens on the same day of the week, at the same time of the day.  In this way, all those involved can plan their own schedules around that set time.  The meetings should be informative, but collaborative as well.  In this way, ideas are formed and creative thought processes take off, allowing the company to not only stay in business during this economy, but securing afinancially viable future as well.

Dale Carnegie Training offers its Sales Training programs worldwide.

By Michael Crom • Gannett • October 6, 2009

Question: I am a sales manager within my company and recently my employees have not been reaching their goals. This has caused me to become quite frustrated with their performance. I can feel the tension that is in the office at this time. Do you have any advice that will help me to change my attitude?

Answer: Everyone gets frustrated in their job at one time or another. When you are able to get your work attitudes under control every aspect of your work improves. Try to implement these concepts in order to streamline your work habits.

Connect with co-workers and use their names. It’s easy to become so self-focused in a workday that you start to tune out your co-workers. It is better from a stress standpoint to reach out and greet others, learn their names, and maybe even win friends in the process.

Let things go. If you feel like you are experiencing too much stress in a situation, ask yourself, “Is this a situation where I should just let go?” or “Does this need to be perfect?” The answer may surprise you.

Take charge. Your attitudes improve when you take charge of situations and accomplish a goal. At the very least, you can take charge of your own workload, relationships, and attitude.

Stay calm. Whatever it takes – counting to 10, taking deep breaths, going for a walk, or doing a quick meditation, concentrate on staying calm. Avoid overreacting, lashing out, or acting impulsively, which only adds to your stress level.

Appreciate the uniqueness in others. As much as you sometimes feel that way, you really would not like it if everyone was just like you at the workplace. It would be boring. Work on appreciating the unique strengths of others and the richness they bring to your life.

Cincinnati.Com

More Soutions to Sales Management Challenges

HAUPPAUGE, NY  - Dale Carnegie Training^®, an international leader in performance-based workforce training and solutions, has been selected by the Defense Commissary Agency to put its 18,000 employees, assigned throughout the world, through World Class Customer Service training.

 Working under a contract awarded June 26, Dale Carnegie Training made history as the first organization to facilitate 648 training workshops in two months time.  Dale Carnegie Training’s customized approach is expected to advance DeCA’s level of service to its customers from “excellent” to “world class.”  Workshops, conducted almost simultaneously across the globe to ensure all participating associates are effectively trained within two months, began Aug. 15 in three stateside locations and Aug. 17 overseas.

 “With today’s economy, it is paramount that our customers experience the same level of customer service at all of our locations in the U.S. and overseas,” said DeCA Director and CEO Philip E. Sakowitz Jr. “Our customers, the men and women of the armed services and their families, deserve the very best we can offer in the way of products and services,” he continued, “so the first step in our self-improvement is to provide customer service training to all our employees – from those at headquarters and region offices to every store associate in every commissary, worldwide.

 “The workshops Dale Carnegie will be providing under our contract will help us take our already excellent customer service to the next level,” Sakowitz added.

One employee who has been with DeCA for only a few years, Christopher Hawthorne, store associate at Fort Lee, said he welcomes the opportunity to improve customer satisfaction through the World Class Customer Service training.

 “I really love working at this store,” he admitted. “There’s great chemistry with everyone who works here, and the customers are really nice. But there are times when a customer will come in – someone who might not be having a good day – and I won’t know what to do to make it better for them. So, maybe with this training, I’ll learn how to handle customers like that – rather than having to go to get the manager or director.

 Dale Carnegie’s World Class Customer Service training takes DeCA employees through a four-phase training improvement cycle, which includes reinforcing a positive attitude, building a knowledge base, applying knowledge to work situations and developing skills. Workshops consist of 30 people in each of the 648 eight-hour sessions. The two-month training cycle ends Oct. 16 with a workshop at Fort Lee, Va.

Find out more about Dale Carnegie Training’s Customer Service Programs

There are many faculties people employ when trying to negotiate solutions for a problem, a challenge or a disagreement.  The best end to the negotiation process is when both parties can reach a compromise.  Flexibility is the key to compromise.  This involves the skill of the generation of alternative ideas.  This involves many different situations, in and out of the business world.  Whether the situation is that one comes up with a great idea that others do not agree upon, or a person with whom one does not “get along” with, or a turf war involving surfers in Malibu beach…people in everyday life must compromise and negotiate.

This has very much to do with business, especially during the current times.  Some of the key ingredients to this process involve having a positive attitude.  The two parties meet on a ground that is mutual, in person, as emails and phone calls take away the aspect necessary to effective communication, which is facial expressions.  Both parties must do their homework so that the issues are clearly defined with simple and direct facts regarding the conflict. 

One should always take care as well, to determine the personalities of both parties entering the process of negotiation.  Levels of trust must be established for a sincere and viable agreement to be reached.  Both parties may go about this, by simply becoming acquainted with the other person with whom they are interacting.  Establishing similarities and finding each other is on the same side.  Any previous conflicts will only serve to hinder the process, by increasing the perceived differences and taking away from any of the previously mentioned similarities. 

By finding common goals and objectives, both sides can focus on the task at hand, and reaching more satisfying conclusions.  The focus should be on the future, and conflicts of the past must remain in the past.  When both parties are being completely honest, and are focusing on facts, not emotions, they will be better able to communicate.  Communication is tantamount to the resolution of problems, challenges or disagreements, and will bring a successful negotiation to fruition.

Check out Dale Carnegie’s training offered by our offices in the United Kingdom.