Motivation Shots from The Doc

Tips and Techniques to Apply for a Healthy and Productive Workplace
Twitter Facebook RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Rapport’

How to Lose More Customers

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on May 21st, 2010 View Comments

Have you ever heard people in your organisation saying – “This would be a great business if it wasn’t for the customers?”

Well it’s really easy to get rid of customers, you don’t have to do very much at all; but let me come back to that, I need to have a whinge first!

I recently phoned the manager of the local Virgin Active Gym where I’m a member. He had previously asked me to contact him if I had any concerns about their service.
I politely pointed out that I was less than happy with the way the club kept changing the times of fitness classes, at short notice, and with no concern for what the members want.
He said he’d look into it and get back to me – I never heard a word!

Turnover of members in gyms and health clubs is extremely high. They spend a great deal of time and money trying to recruit new members.
I’m sure you’ve heard that it cost five times as much to find a new customer as it does to hold onto an existing one.

So let’s consider why you lose customers. A survey suggested that customers leave a business for four basic reasons:
1.    14% leave because they’re dissatisfied with the quality of the product or service
2.    9% leave because of price
3.    5% leave for other reasons such as they die, leave the area or have no further need for your product or service
4.   And wait for it – A whacking great 72% leave because of “supplier indifference”

Over the past few months four of my friends have cancelled their membership of the gym. They haven’t given up on their fitness regime they’ve just moved to other gyms, much smaller and more personal.

They just felt that the gym, we were members of, didn’t seem to care whether they were there or not. (Supplier indifference)
The facilities at the gym are good but the communication with the staff could be much improved.

Too many organisations give customers the impression that they don’t care about repeat business. I’ve stayed in hotels, dealt with banks and stores and dealt with many suppliers who didn’t seem to care whether I came back or not.

A member of staff at one budget airline recently told me that if I didn’t like being delayed for two and a half hours then I could always go elsewhere.

We need to continually let our customers know that we care about them. We need to keep in touch, write to them, send them information and occasionally ‘phone them. And we certainly need to call them back when they phone us!

When they contact us we need to make sure we sound warm and friendly, pleased to hear from them, efficient and maybe even look and sound like we’re fun to do business with.

It’s not a lot different from our personal relationships. If we don’t keep telling the people close to us how much we care, or keep writing and ‘phoning, then we shouldn’t be surprised if they leave us one day.

Remember the saying – “When should you tell your partner that you care about them – before somebody else does!”

Use logic and emotion to keep customers. Give them the best products or service and give value for money. However, always remember, your competitors will be doing much the same thing.

The difference will be determined by how you communicate either face to face, on the ‘phone, by letter or email.

Overall, customers just want to feel good. They want to feel better after they’ve dealt with you or anyone in your business, than they did before.

If you can create that feeling, then you’re well on the way to keeping your customers.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Customer service, Difficult people, Leadership, Management

Words to Avoid when Managing Difficult People

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on May 14th, 2010 View Comments

You probably realise how the wrong tone of voice and negative body language can cause problems when dealing with other people, particularly customers and staff. However, using the wrong words can also make a difficult situation worse!

There are certain trigger words that cause people to become more difficult especially in emotionally charged situations and they should be avoided. They include:

Have to – as in – ‘You’ll have to speak to the sales department yourself’
I can’t or you can’t – as in – ‘I can’t do anything about that’ or ‘You can’t do that’
I’ll try – as in – ‘I’ll try and speak to finance department today’
But – as in – ‘I agree with what you’re saying but……..’
Sorry – as in – ‘I’m sorry ’bout that’

Have to, Don’t or Can’t are words that annoy people. They are inflammatory phrases that are best left out of any interactions, especially with difficult people.

Imagine how you feel when someone says to you:
‘You’ll have to phone a different number’
‘You’ll have to come back later’
‘I can’t help you with that’
‘I don’t have time to speak to you now’
‘You’ll have to get that finished today

‘
‘I need you to…’ This statement can come across as manipulative; it says to the other person – ‘I don’t care about you; I only care about what I need.’

Instead of the words ‘Have to’ or ‘I need you to,’ why not try – ‘Are you willing to…’ or just a straight ‘Will you….’

‘Can’t,’ can be replaced with – ‘I’m unable to because….’

The phrase ‘I’ll Try’ comes across as submissive. Some people hear these words as a commitment and expect you to do what you say. More often, people will hear it as something you probably won’t do.

‘I’ll try’ is very wishy-washy. It can be replaced with something more honest – ‘This is what I can do’ or ‘This is what I’m unable to do’

‘But…’ When you talk to difficult people, it’s a good idea to use the word ‘however’ instead of ‘but.’ When you substitute however, you’ll provide a smoother and more positive transition to new information, options or alternatives.

You could also use ‘and’ instead of ‘but.’ For example – ‘I understand your situation and the reason I’m unable to do what you ask is…’

Instead of saying ‘but,’ you could leave it out altogether. For example; instead of – ‘I agree with what you’re saying, but I can’t help you.’
Use – ‘I agree with what you’re saying. The reason I’m unable to help you is……’

Jargon – Any forms of jargon are best avoided. Every organisation has its jargon. When we use technical terms, buzz words or acronyms, the other person may not understand. They may also feel that you are talking down to them; this makes them feel patronised and uncomfortable.

Sorry is an overused word; everyone says it when something goes wrong and it’s lost its value. If you really need to use the sorry word; it’s far better to use it as part of a whole sentence – ‘I’m sorry your sleep was disturbed Mr. Fairweather; next time you visit us please ask for a quiet room and we’ll do our best to provide it.’

You will often hear someone saying – ‘Sorry to have kept you waiting.’
Far better to say – ‘Thank you for waiting Mr Brown, I now have the information you want.’

‘Calm down’ is something you should definitely avoid saying to a difficult person. It can have the totally opposite effect.

‘Its Company policy,’ is another phrase that can make a difficult situation worse. If you say to a customer – ‘I can’t help because its company policy’
They will interpret this as – ‘You’re just using this as an excuse not to help me.’

It’s far better to say what the company policy is – ‘I’m unable to help you, and the reason is – giving you the information you’ve asked for would be a security risk for both you and our company.’

At the end of the day the answer to a difficult person could be -’No.’ However, choosing your words more carefully will have a more positive affect on how he or she reacts and ultimately responds to you.

If you want to listen to this article of download it to your MP3 player; please click here

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Customer service, Difficult people, Leadership, Management, Motivation

5 Action Ideas to Deal with Difficult Customers

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on April 16th, 2010 View Comments

When was the last time you had to deal with a difficult customer? It was probably an external customer but perhaps it was an internal customer, such as a member of your team, a colleague or even – your boss!

I’m sure you always want to provide extraordinary service to both your internal and external customers. However, in the real world, things go wrong and mistakes are made.
These ‘customers’ will often judge your level of service based on how you respond to a mistake. Do it well and they’ll probably forgive you and possibly even say positive things about your business or your abilities to other people.

The important thing to realise when dealing with an upset customer, be they internal or external, is that you must – deal with their feelings, then deal with their problem.
Upset customers are liable to have strong feelings when you, your product or service lets them down and they’ll probably want to ‘dump’ these feeling on you.

You don’t deal with their feelings by concentrating on solving the problem, it takes more.
Here are 5 action ideas that deal with the customers’ human needs:

1 – Don’t let them get to you – Stay out of it emotionally and concentrate on listening non-defensively and actively. Customers may make disparaging and emotional remarks – don’t rise to the bait.

2 – Listen – listen – listen – Look and sound like you’re listening. The customer wants to know that you care and that you’re interested in their problem.

3 – Stop saying sorry – Sorry is an overused word, everyone says it when something goes wrong and it’s lost its value.
How often have you heard – “Sorry ’bout that, give me the details and I’ll sort this out for you.”  Far better to say “I apologise for ……” And if you really need to use the sorry word, make sure to include it as part of a full sentence. “I’m sorry you haven’t received that information as promised Mr Smith.” (It’s also good practise to use the customers name in a difficult situation).

4 – Empathise – Using empathy is an effective way to deal with the customers feelings. Empathy isn’t about agreement, only acceptance of what the customer is saying and feeling. Basically the message is – “I understand how you feel”
Obviously this has to be a genuine response, the customer will realise if you’re insincere and they’ll feel patronised.
Examples of empathy responses would be – “I can understand that you’re angry,” or “I see what you mean.”
Again, these responses need to be genuine.

5 – Build rapport – Sometimes it’s useful to add another phrase to the empathy response, including yourself in the picture. – “I can understand how you feel, I don’t like it either when I’m kept waiting.” This has the effect of getting on the customer’s side and builds rapport.
Some customer service people get concerned with this response as they believe it’ll lead to – “Why don’t you do something about it then.” The majority of people won’t respond this way if they realise that you’re a reasonable and caring person.
If they do, then continue empathising and tell the customer what you’ll do about the situation. “I’ll report this to my manager” or “I’ll do my best to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.”

Make no mistake about it; customers, be they internal or external, are primarily driven by their emotions. It’s therefore important to use human responses in any interaction particularly when a customer is upset or angry.
If customers like you and feel that you care, then they’re more likely to accept what you say and forgive your mistakes.

Posted in Customer service, Difficult people, Leadership, Management

Use NLP to Manage Difficult People

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on April 9th, 2010 View Comments

Have you heard of NLP, (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), it is one of the fastest-growing developments in applied psychology?

NLP practitioners talk about mirroring and matching the behaviour of other people. It’s not about mimicking them, it’s more about behaving as they do, making them feel that you have good rapport with them. Many people do this naturally; let me give you an example.

Let’s say that you had just met some friends and they had a small child with them. You would stand and talk with your friends in an adult manner. When they introduced you to the child you’d probably squat down to the child’s level, speak more softly and with a more child like voice. In other words you don’t use the same words, tone of voice, or body language with the child as you would do with the adults.

When interacting with adults, it improves your ability to build rapport, if you match the other person’s words, tone and body language.

Say for example, you were dealing with someone who spoke fairly quietly and slowly. It would improve your rapport building, if you spoke quietly and slowly. Your natural style may be to speak quickly and loudly, but that will not improve your rapport building skills.

One of the other factors highlighted by NLP is that we all have a sensory preference when we communicate with other people. There are the visual people who are more influenced by what they see. The auditory people are more influenced by what comes in through their ears. And then, there are the kinaesthetic people, who are more concerned by how something feels. There are also olfactory people who are primarily influenced by smell and gustatory people who are influenced by taste; however, these are less common.

Most of us communicate from our visual, audible or kinaesthetic senses. Visual people will say things like – ‘I see what you mean’ or ‘This looks good to me.’ Whereas an auditory person would say – ‘I hear what you’re saying’ or ‘This sound good to me.’ The kinaesthetic person would say – ‘I get a good feeling about this’ or ‘This feels good to me.’

To build rapport with another person, particularly a difficult person, it makes sense to use their sensory preference. To a visual person you might say – ‘Show me what you mean.’ If you observed that the person you were interacting with was an auditory person, it would be better to say – ‘Tell me what you mean.’ If you were aware that you were with a kinaesthetic person, you would say – ‘Can you demonstrate what you mean?

If you want to get better at identifying the different preferences, think about yourself or those closest to you.

I, for example, am very visual and kinaesthetic. I know this because I’m not particularly interested in music. I own about six CD’s and I’ve only ever been to two music concerts in my life. I’d far rather watch a film or see some kind of production in the theatre. I’m interested in art, and I always spot friends in the street before they see me. If you want to explain something to me, it’s best to show me a drawing or something written down. My kinaesthetic side is satisfied if you let me get my hands on something.

People, who are not highly auditory, are also not particularly good readers of books. This is because, when we read, we tend to talk to ourselves inside our brain. So reading is more an auditory sense than a visual one.

To build good rapport with difficult people, find out what their sensory preference is, and communicate to them from that level.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Difficult people, Leadership, Management

How to Deal With Your Difficult Boss – News Release

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on March 2nd, 2010 View Comments

For immediate release

How to deal with your difficult boss!

Many of us dread going to work because of a challenging relationship with our boss or manager. Considering the amount of time in our lives we spend at work this can cause a great deal of unhealthy stress. There are, however, simple steps you can take that will give you the confidence and skills to assert yourself in an appropriate manner.

How To Manage Difficult People by Alan Fairweather is an essential guide for anyone weighed down by the negative stress that a difficult upward relationship can cause.

With case studies, examples and anecdotes, Alan Fairweather shares his 15 years of managerial experience – and a six step programme of behaviour – to show you how bad situations can be reversed by applying good listening and strong communication skills.

Alan Fairweather comments, “We spend between 70 – 85% of our time interacting with other people so no wonder difficult relationships have such a huge impact on our enjoyment of life. Each person is unique and all are complicated and often driven by emotion, which in the current financial situation can be high. This book shows you how to identify and understand awkward and challenging behaviours and how to manage them.”

Articles available from the author include Ten Tips for Managing a Difficult Boss.

About the author: Alan Fairweather worked in sales and customer service and did the job of a manager for fifteen successful years. He is very much aware that, in our job and in our personal life, we often face apparently rude, impatient and aggressive people. He now spends his time running seminars and workshops, developing skills on how to handle problem people and situations and how to come out of it with increased confidence, improved results and a lighter heart.

How to Manage Difficult People is published by How To Books Ltd www.howtobooks.co.uk. and is available at £10.99 in major bookshops and online retailers across the country. ISBN 978-1-84528-391-9

To arrange an interview with Alan or to discuss articles he would be happy to write on this subject, please contact Katie Read 07837 485642 katie@katieread.co.uk

To receive a review copy, please contact:

Joanne Salt at How To Books Ltd. 01865 375794 joanne.salt@howtobooks.co.uk

Posted in Difficult people

Team Motivation – Let’s Get Personal

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on December 15th, 2009 View Comments

How do you feel about speaking to your staff on a personal basis? There’s no doubt that many managers don’t feel comfortable speaking to their team members unless it’s about business.

Gym Free-weights Area Category:Gyms_and_Health...
Image via Wikipedia

When I had a ‘proper job’ I worked for many managers who knew nothing or very little about me on a personal basis; resultantly, we didn’t have good rapport.

Perhaps you feel a bit uneasy speaking to your team on a human level. However, your success as a manager is highly dependent on your ability to listen and speak with your people on a personal as well as a business basis.
Human beings crave attention and acceptance and they want to know you care. If your team members feel that you’re interested and care about them as individuals, then it becomes so much easier for you to achieve your goals.

Successful entrepreneurs are excellent at building rapport. When you meet them they don’t necessarily talk about themselves, they ask you questions. I’ve met several successful business people and I’m always impressed and flattered by their interest in me.

You can practise your rapport building skills any time, particularly in your personal life. In the locker room at my local health club, I notice that many of the guys don’t speak to each other. I always make a point of saying hello or passing the time of day. If they don’t want to talk then that’s

fine. However, I find they usually do and I’ve had some interesting conversations.

And forget what your mother said about never speaking to strangers – speak to them!

Speak to everyone you meet and practise your rapport building skills; taxi drivers, people in trains, aeroplanes and anywhere else you come into contact. I sometimes have to push myself to do it but I’m always glad when I do.

Speak to me; let me know your comments!

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Leadership, Management, Motivation

Motivate Your Team – Get off your ‘butt’

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on December 14th, 2009 View Comments

Have you ever heard yourself saying this to members of your team – “My door is always open, come and talk to me anytime.”

The RedBalloon office - an example of an open ...
Image via Wikipedia

I hate to tell you this, but you have to accept that your team won’t always do that. They might not want to bother you or they may feel that they should know the answers to their questions and they’ll look stupid if they ask. And how many times have they approached you and you’ve been on the phone or ‘too busy’?

It’s your job to get out and talk to them. I’ve also heard managers say – “I sit with my team in an open-plan office so I’m always available to them and I hear what’s going on” – oh no you don’t!

If you want to motivate your team; it’s important to get out of your office or up off your seat and mix with individual team members on a regular basis, don’t wait for them to come to you.

Pull up a chair and have chat, and don’t just talk about business, find out how they’re doing on a human level. That doesn’t mean prying into their personal life, but your team members want to feel that you’re interested and care about them as a person.

It’s also important that they feel free to chat amongst themselves so don’t stifle that. A team that have good relationships with you and each other are a motivated and productive team.

What do you think?

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Leadership, Management, Motivation

7 Bad Management Traits

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on November 23rd, 2009 View Comments

‘UK employers may have the will to provide good jobs, but they don’t know the way – and claim bad management’s a major obstacle in improving work.’
This is taken from this article and it begs the question – Why don’t employers do something about it?image-2

Middle managers are the most important people in any organisation. If you are a manager, then you’re the person who has to get the best out of your team every day. However, your team’s performance is determined by the relationship they have with you.

I did the job of a manager for fifteen years and I know what’s involved.  You’re the one stuck in the middle between the team member and your manager and that can be a hard sandwich to digest.

The majority of managers that I worked for, and with, in my career, were mediocre. Some of them were very poor and only one or two could be described as good. This isn’t a personal attack on these people; it’s just what I’ve experienced as a team member and colleague of these managers. If you look back over your career then I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.

So why there are so many poor and mediocre managers?

I believe that there are four reasons:
1.    Because it’s such a difficult job
2.    Nobody shows you what to do or gives you the right training
3.    The media and our culture send the wrong message
4.    Some people don’t have what it takes to be a manager.

Managing, leading and motivating people, is a hugely difficult job. A degree in psychology would help, but if you don’t have that, get in touch with me or read this book – I’ve got the answers!

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Leadership, Management, Motivation

Selling Yourself – It’s not about you

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on November 17th, 2009 View Comments
British propaganda
Image by Scientific deliriums via Flickr

Have you had the cold yet? I hope you don’t get it; I’ve been lucky so far, but I know several people who’ve been laid low recently, by the dreaded cold and flu.

Last year I spent three weeks suffering from a lousy cold; all the coughing, snuffling and sneezing symptoms which send other people running for cover. I also found myself apologising to people I’d come into contact with – “You must excuse me, I’m suffering from the cold” would be my obvious statement.

However, instead of any sympathy all I heard was – “Oh, I’ve got it too, and my whole family’s had it, and it’s a whole lot worse than yours.” Okay, so they didn’t exactly say the last bit but that seemed to be the underlying message. This response isn’t the best for people who want to be good at ‘selling themselves.’

To be a first class salesperson or a successful manager or just a good communicator, you need to be good at selling yourself and building rapport. So when someone says – “You must excuse me, I’m suffering from the cold,” it’s far better to say something like – “I’m sorry to hear that, it can be a real pain having the cold.”

Similarly, when some tells you about a holiday they’ve just had or about to take, don’t say – “Me too, I’ve been there, it’s great.” Far better to say something like – “That sounds fantastic, I’m sure you’ll have a great time!” Ask questions about the holiday and how they enjoyed it. You could then go on to tell them about how much you enjoyed it when you were there, but quickly get back to talking about their experience.

Selling yourself (or anything else) isn’t about talking about you or what you do; it’s about listening and understanding the other person’s experience. So if you want to be INTERESTING then be INTERESTED!

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Leadership, Motivation

What’s In a Name?

Posted by The Motivation Doctor on November 13th, 2009 View Comments
Gordon Brown

Image via Wikipedia

Did anyone ever get your name wrong? How did you feel? It may or not have bothered you, however, Prime Minister Gordon Brown found himself in all sorts of trouble this week by getting a name wrong.

He recently sent a hand-written note to the bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, and misspelled the mother’s and the soldier’s surname. She accused the Prime Minister of being disrespectful. She has now accepted his apology and there has been a bit of a backlash to the Sun newspaper, in favour of Gordon Brown.

A person’s name is very important to them; get it wrong at your peril. I used to share an office with someone whose second name was Cumming. He regularly received letters, addressed to Mr Cummings. This used to drive him crazy and he would dump any such letter in the bin.

A person’s name is one of the sweetest sounds they’ll ever hear. Use a customer, or a colleague or a staff member’s name when you talk to, write to, or email them; it indicates that you recognise them as and individual, and you care about them. It’s extremely powerful!

Don’t use it too often in a conversation, as it can become irritating, but definitely at the start and the end of the interaction.

Business is less formal nowadays however be careful of using first names initially, when you’re dealing with a customer or a client.

And make sure your customer knows your name and remembers it.

You can do the old repeat trick – “My name is Bond, James Bond” or “My name is James, James Bond”

My name is Alan (with one l, and I’m no secret agent) I look forward to hearing from you.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted in Difficult people, Leadership, Management, Motivation
« Older Entries

Powered by WordPress | Log in | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS) | ilookgood! theme by iwritealot!