Create a Positive, Upbeat, "Can-Do" Workforce and Dazzle the Customer with Your Caring!Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Create a Positive, Upbeat, "Can-Do" Workforce and Dazzle the Customer with Your Caring! article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Whether answering the phone, fixing equipment, selling a product or reconciling an unpaid invoice, the quality of the interaction between one human being and another is what will be judged by the customer to determine how much you care about them and their business. If the state of your relationship skills does not equal or exceed your sales and marketing skills, your 'lifetime' relationship is in danger. As a manager you should know that survey after survey reports that people prefer to do business with a positive, upbeat person. As a customer, you instinctively know that people want to do business with people who enjoy what they are doing, are having a good time doing it and genuinely care about being able to help you solve your problem, or achieve your goals. So, here are some tips on creating a more positive, up-beat, can-do work force. 1. Remember, the best teacher is a good example. First examine your own behavior. Are you walking the positive talk or are you mumbling beneath you breath, '3 more days 'til Friday.' Take great care to listen to your own language. Do you frame things in the positive, or do you often start your sentences with 'No.' Do you say 'Yes, but..' a lot, negating the first half of your sentence with your last? If so, purchase a copy of 'Learned Optimism' by Martin Seligman for your corporate library and inhale it. Then pass it on. Optimistic people adapt easier to change, are more creative, have more fun and are healthier then pessimistic ones. They live longer too. Think about it, looking for innovation? Think optimism, that's one way to get there. 2. Learn (and teach) the power of positive self-talk. Often our internal chatter is negative. Reprogram your own chatter and then listen carefully for signs of it in others. When you hear someone saying, 'Boy am I stupid,' gently coach them away from that attitude by replying with 'Don't be so hard on yourself, you're not stupid. You may have made a bad decision, we all do, from time to time, let's talk about that, what you've learned, and how to avoid it in the future.' Our bodies respond to our self-talk, if we tell ourselves we are disorganized, we behave just that way. Tell yourself, with conviction, you are an organized person, and the behavior will begin to change. Our brain responds literally, like our computers. Learn to replace negative programming with positive. 3. Ban Whining. One whiner in the group can bring everyone down. A whiner is like an infection - it spreads. Put one strong whiner in a room and they can turn it into a pity party. Stop it at the source. Learn to spot them during the interview process. Don't hire them in the first place, unless you are prepared to keep vigilance over their behavior and attempt to change it. Good luck. Whiners love whining. Put a 'No whining' sign on your door. 4. Teach people the art of 'win/win.' In our competitive society we have a win/lose mentality. This may be a good strategy to fill a sports stadium, not a good way to run a company. Help people to understand that thinking 'Win/Win' opens up the possibility for new solutions. Remember, in the 21st century, it's innovation and creativity that will give us the edge, innovation comes from open minds and 'possibility thinking.' 5. Dump the drama. Melodrama. It sells tabloids, and gets people to watch 'Hard Copy' on TV, but it's something you don't need in your company. It saps valuable creative energy. If you've been using 'Crisis Management' as your modus operandi, get out of the office, read a few good books, (like Steven Covey's), benchmark with 'new thinkers', and learn a new style. Crisis management is passe, wasteful and destructive. 6. Learn, teach and reward 'Time-out' stress management techniques. A recent poll says that 90% of all Americans live in a state of chronic stress. YIKES!!!! No wonder customers get treated so poorly. Make sure people understand the role they play in controlling their own stress. We don't have control over circumstances; we do have control of how we perceive them. Take a deep breath, count to ten, walk away (physically or mentally) when you have to and call a 'Time-out.' Short circuit stress on the way in. Learn good stress management skills and teach them. Reinforce them. 'Bob, I noticed how well you reacted with that angry customer yesterday, I was glad to see you take a deep breath and not react defensively - good job - you saved a valuable customer, and your own health as well. I'm proud to have you on the team.' 7. Encourage people to live in the 'now.' Dwell on the past only long enough to figure out what you want to learn from it, and then move on. Stop talking about 'the good old days.' What is important is what is going on right now. Give your fullest attention to exactly what you are doing now. Do it well, do it right and enjoy it. Customers can always tell if you are giving them your undivided attention, and they really appreciate it. 8. Start a list called 'The 10 Best Things about Working Here.' Let people add to it and watch it grow. It's fun, positive and a great way to focus people on what's right with your business. After the list is finished start one called 'Ten More..' Remember you get more of what you focus on. 9. Get psyched! Recognize that almost 80% of what the average person takes in is negative. You've got a job to do. Create a positive sanctuary in your workplace. Develop a corporate library that includes all kinds of motivational literature, audio and videotapes. Play audiotapes and videotapes in lunchrooms, keep inspirational books around, start discussion groups. Create positive energy, people inside and outside the company will feel it and want to come back for more. 10. Don't worry, be happy. Playing upbeat music helps lift your spirits. Challenge the staff to develop the 'Happiest' of happy music tapes, a collection of tunes that will keep people smiling and whistling while they work. (They make great coming to and going home from tapes too.) 11. Smile. When you activate the smiling muscles in your face, you activate the 'happy' brain chemicals that help you feel good. You can't be depressed when you are smiling, and smiles are contagious. So, smile. As a manager, it's your responsibility to help to create an experience for your customer that has the word 'value' all over it. Customers respond better to a company that provides them with a quality product at a fair price served up by positive, upbeat, can-do people. Aw come on, who wants to do business with a grump?
|
More Articles:1. Mission: How Leaders Create The Greatest Version Of What You Can Be By Eric Garner A statement of mission is one of the most powerful things you can do, whether you are running a major corporation or a small team. It expresses the purpose for the organisation’s existence, its raison d’etre, and becomes the rallying point around which everyone can unite.Often managers create mission statements because they think they should and then leave them gathering dust on the shelf. But this is to mistake the real power and purpose of mission statements. If put together with real unders… 2. Time-Wasting Problems - One Question to Move You Forward By Martin Haworth In any organisation, progress is frequently impaired by the time taken up to resolve problems that occur again and again - usually with people's performance (or not!). At a macro level, there could just seem to be 'lots of problems', which is a symptom in itself. On a micro level, managers are often frustrated by the amount of time they spend fire-fighting, whilst the more creative work of planning, developing people, marketing and more are left way behind.There just isn't time. Build … 3. Stop Going to Meetings - 10 Questions to Ask Before Attending a Meeting - Get More Productive By Neen James We get invited to attend so many "meetings" but do we need to attend them all? Use these 10 questions to assess if you should attend that next meeting invitation.What is the agenda of the meeting? Don’t attend a meeting without a clear agenda otherwise you are wasting time. Don’t ever schedule a meeting unless you make it clear to your attendees what the purpose, timeframe and outcomes of the meeting will be.Who is attending the meeting? Ask the question to ensure the meeting set at the right… 4. Interviewing Job Applicants Can Be Hazardous to Your Wealth 1st Fact: Interviewing applicants is the most common way companies decide whom to hire. 2nd Fact: Research proves most interviewers do lousy at predicting if an applicant will succeed - or flop - if hired. 3rd Fact: Research shows that customized pre-employment tests do great at predicting if an applicant may succeed or fail on-the-job. 4th Fact: Since you must interview applicants, even if you use tests, you need to make better predictions based on interviews. If you do not learn how to do th… |
||||
