Posts Tagged ‘Solving Problems’
Another Look at Your Customers
In my previous blog I discussed the tyranny of the urgent and why is such a limiting perspective in understanding customers. I closed the blog by pointing out that the focus should always be on all your customers not just the ones who have urgent concerns. In this blog I will point out several techniques…
Read MoreWho Are You Listening To?
The “tyranny of the urgent” is a phrase that is commonly used when working in a service environment. The phrase reminds people that “urgent” requests often take priority over “important” requests. Service managers often find themselves in the role of “firefighting”—putting out “the fires” of customer complaints. Before the manager realizes it, the firefighting consumes…
Read MoreYou Can Deal with a Problem Employee
“The tougher the job, the greater the reward”. -George Allen Problem employees are the bane to every manager. By problem employee, I am normally referring to an employee whose behavior is significantly affecting the morale and the operations of the entire business. For some reason, every organization seems to have an employee or employees that…
Read More10 Things Entrepreneurs Get Wrong About Success
Success is what happens when you’ve survived all your mistakes; success doesn’t happen until you have stumbled and fallen, only to get back up again. Entrepreneurs make the same mistakes all the time but it has only made them stronger and smarter in the end. Here are the 10 things entrepreneurs get wrong about success:…
Read MoreLeadership Skills: 5 Key Ingredients of Courageous Leaders
A great leader knows how to get the best out of their people. Through strong, clear guidance, they enable others to walk tall and achieve success in many ways. Courageous leaders are inspirational. That isn’t their ambition. It’s simply a positive by-product of their character and powerful work ethic. By following the example a good…
Read MoreHow to Know What Your Customers Want (Before They Do)
So, you’ve worked out who your ideal customers are, excellent. Now what? Next, you can figure out their problems so that you can understand how to solve those problems. (Yes, I’m calling them problems. Not issues. For the same reasons, I’ll never be caught ‘reaching out’ to someone and that I will always write properly grammar-checked…
Read More4 Ways to Best Anticipate Your Customers’ Needs
You’re working hard throughout the day to ensure that your customer is satisfied with the products and services you’re providing. If you’re attempting to anticipate your customers need accurately but need some guidance, you might find help in the following points. 1. Apply customer relationship management tools With every business, we focus on things like…
Read More8 Small Business Hacks for Growth and Productivity
I view small business hacks as falling into two categories: strategies and habits. And, whether it’s a strategy or a habit, I think that what makes a hack a hack is the ease at which it can be implemented. Following through on a small business hack is more about taking Nike’s advice of “Just do…
Read MoreDo You Make Excuses When Customers Complain?
What do you do when customers complain? Do you listen? Do you try explaining or rationalizing your responses? One thing we can agree on from the top. When you serve customers, it’s not always easy to manage complaints. There’s a fine line between explaining and crossing over into the excuse realm. And, I’ve got a bad customer…
Read More5 Suggestions for Managing Conflict in the Workplace
The hardest thing about management is always managing people, because every one of your employees has his or her own personality, preferences, needs and desires, and those can sometimes be at odds with each other. It is part of the job description for management and HR professionals to be able to manage conflict, but it…
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