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How To Handle The Occasional Oop-See!

Q: My company is really in hot water with one of our best customers. I can’t reveal exactly what happened, but suffice it to say that we really dropped the ball and the customer is furious. I’m not even sure we can save the account. What’s the best way to get back in a customer’s good graces after making such a mistake?
— Charles W.

A: Without knowing the full story, Charles, I can’t give you a specific course of action, but let’s start at the sharp end of the uh-oh stick and work our way back to see if we can come with up some advice that might help.

First off, it’s important that you understand that the magnitude of your mistake will determine the course of action you take to make amends. If your company’s error was such that it caused your customer a significant amount of lost time or revenue, embarrassed them publicly, caused damage to their reputation, or otherwise negatively affected their bottom line, you may face legal repercussions that saying «I’m sorry» will not deter. If that’s the case you should consult an attorney immediately and prepare for the worst. Whether or not the worst comes is irrelevant. You must be prepared for it.

Now on to dealing with more minor offenses. As anyone who has read this column for any length of time knows, I’m cursed with daughters. I used to say I was blessed with daughters, then they learned to walk and talk. Blessed quickly became cursed. Now my oldest daughter is an inch taller than me and getting all lumpy in places I’d rather not think about. She’s a sad case, really. The poor kid needs an operation. She has a cellphone growing out of her ear. But I digress?€¦

When she was a toddler she coined the phrase, «Oop-see!» Whenever she did something innocently destructive, like knock over a glass of orange juice on my new computer keyboard or shove a Pop Tart in the VCR tape slot, she would look at me with her huge brown eyes and say, «Oop-see!» My wife says there is a reason God made kids cute. Oop-see moments are evidence that she is right.

Oop-see meant, «Uh oh, I didn’t mean to do that. I was wrong. I’ll never do that again. Forgive me? Love me? Buy me toys?€¦ Oop-see worked like a charm every time. Now, I certainly don’t expect you to bat your eyes at your customer and say, «Oop-see!» but consider the effect her words had on me. Instead of screaming at the top of my lungs like I wanted to do (hey, have you ever tried to dig a Pop Tart out of a VCR) I immediately softened and found myself actually taking her side. «Aw, it’s OK, really, we all make mistakes?€¦»

What my daughter had figured out is that it’s hard to stay mad at someone who admits a mistake, sincerely apologizes for it, and vows never to let it happen again. Little did I know this was only one of many tactics she would employ over the years in her never-ending quest to wrap her daddy several times around her little finger, but that’s a whole different column.

Dale Carnegie said it best: «Any fool can try to defend his or her mistakes — and most fools do — but it raises one above the herd and gives one a feeling of nobility and exultation to admit one’s mistakes.»

Carnegie and my daughter were basically saying the same thing: When you (or your company) make a mistake, no matter how large or small, the best thing you can do is quickly admit the error of your ways and face the consequences, come what may.

Here are a few things you can do to help set things right with your customer.

Assemble the facts. The very first thing you should do is find out what went wrong and why. Meet with your key people and gather the facts. Ask specific questions like: What was the mistake? What caused it? Who was involved? What could have been done to prevent the mistake from happening and what can be done to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. I’ve been on both ends of the uh-oh stick and neither is very comfortable. My company has dropped the ball on occasion and we have also been negatively impacted when one of our vendors did the same. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and consider what could be said or done to remedy the situation from their point of view.

Take responsibility for the actions of your company. In my role as a company president there have been times when I’ve had to call up a customer and confess that a mistake was made, and as president it was also my responsibility to take the heat for it. Remember, you’re the head cheese, Charles, you get to sit behind the big desk and take home the nice paycheck. You’re also the one that gets to mop up when your employees makes a mess. It just goes with the job.

Do not place the blame on specific employees. No matter how tempting it is to put the blame on specific people in your organization (even if that’s where the blame lies), do not do it. It is unprofessional, counterproductive and can backfire on you, especially if the person you’re blaming reports directly to you. Saying something like «My sales manager is always making mistakes like this!» is not going to make your customer feel any better. To the contrary, such statements will make the customer question your leadership ability and the quality of all your employees, not just the one that made the mistake. If you don’t have faith in your company and employees, why should your customer?

Don’t deny that a mistake was made, especially when there is clear evidence to the contrary. You’re not Richard Nixon, for petesake, so don’t try to pretend that the mistake didn’t happen or stage some elaborate cover-up to try and dodge the blame.

Admit your mistake. This may sounds trite, but you must admit your mistake before you can move ahead and start to make amends. Don’t be so afraid to take this step. I doubt your company is the first one to screw up with this customer and I can guarantee you certainly won’t be the last.

Apologize for the mistake. The one thing that could make the situation better is often the thing that companies find hardest to do. I don’t mean to sound like Dr. Phil, but simply saying you’re sorry is often the best way to get a business relationship back on track. Ensure the customer that it will never happen again. After you have taken responsibility for the mistake and apologized in a sincere and professional manner, you must then start the process of rebuilding the trust that was lost. Promising that such a mistake will not happen again is a good way to start.

Compensate the customer for his loss. Even if your mistake didn’t cost the customer a dime, he will appreciate an offer of compensation. This can be something as simple as a lunch on you or a discount on his next order. The size of the compensation offered should be in direct proportion to the size of your mistake. A word of warning: don’t let the customer bully you into overcompensating him for your mistake. That can be more detrimental to the relationship than the mistake itself.

As my daughter understood all those years ago, Charles, a sincere Oop-see can help make things all better.

Here’s to your success!

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net

Improve Business Productivity

Improving productivity and reducing costs are now a priority for all companies to remain competitive. This priority should not mean an indiscriminate cutting of resources within a company, but approach it from a strategy to improve competitiveness and productivity, not worsen the quality of their products or services. Generally, one of the most frequent actions in determining the cost reduction is the dismissal of staff. However, this is not always a good measure because it has a series of negative effects: disagreement in the working environment, reduction in productivity and quality, higher staff turnover, disruption of the learning curve and potential costs for contract of new employees as necessary.

Cost reduction should be approached from a systemic approach, including the intimate interplay between the various components of both manufacturing processes and the organizational structure. The reduced cost means to detect, prevent and eliminate the excessive use of resources. Decisions and actions taken by the owners and managers of a company must be first and fundamental objective to achieve the greatest net present value of the future stream of income for the organization. This involves the pursuit of sustained yield in the medium and long term as opposed to the search for revenue in the short term.

There are several methods to reduce costs and improve productivity, but we can take into account some considerations that can be implemented:
Improve the quality, it generates as a result of fewer errors, defective products and repetition of work, thus shortening the total cycle time and reducing resource consumption and the cost of operation. The quality of products and services generate greater customer satisfaction and thus greater fidelity to the company. This can translate into increased sales and a better image of the company, which in turn helps increase the brand value of products and the ability to generate future revenue.

INCOME TAX-FILING INFORMATION

Do i have to file return?

You must file a federal income tax return if you are a citizen or resident of the United States or a resident of Puerto Rico and you meet the filing requirements for any of the following categories that apply to you.

The filing requirements apply even if you do not owe tax.

1. Individuals—in general:

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file a return depends on three factors:

• Your gross income,
• Your filing status, and
• Your age.

Gross income.  This includes all income you receive in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax.

Filing status.  Your filing status depends on whether you are single or married and on your family situation. Your filing status is determined on the last day of your tax year, which is December 31 for most taxpayers.

Age.  If you are 65 or older at the end of the year, you generally can have a higher amount of gross income than other taxpayers before you must file. You are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday.

2. Dependents:

If you are a dependent See the above table to find out whether you must file a return.

Responsibility of parent.   Generally, a child is responsible for filing his or her own tax return and for paying any tax on the return. But if a dependent child who must file an income tax return cannot file it for any reason, such as age, then a parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person must file it for the child. If the child cannot sign the return, the parent or guardian must sign the child’s name followed by the words «By (your signature), parent for minor child.»

Child’s earnings. Amounts a child earns by performing services are his or her gross income. This is true even if under local law the child’s parents have the right to the earnings and may actually have received them. If the child does not pay the tax due on this income, the parent is liable for the tax.

3. Children under age 18:

If a child’s only income is interest and dividends (including capital gain distributions and Alaska Permanent Fund dividends) and certain other conditions are met, a parent can elect to include the child’s income on the parent’s return. If this election is made, the child does not have to file a return.

4. Self-employed persons:

You are self-employed if you:

• Carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor,
• Are an independent contractor,
• Are a member of a partnership, or
• Are in business for yourself in any other way.

Self-employment can include work in addition to your regular full-time business activities, such as certain part-time work you do at home or in addition to your regular job.

5. Aliens:

Your status as an alien—resident, nonresident, or dual-status—determines whether and how you must file an income tax return.

Resident alien.  If you are a resident alien for the entire year, you must file a tax return following the same rules that apply to U.S. citizens. Use the forms discussed in this publication.

Nonresident alien.  If you are a nonresident alien, the rules and tax forms that apply to you are different from those that apply to U.S. citizens and resident aliens. See Publication 519 to find out if U.S. income tax laws apply to you and which forms you should file.

Dual-status taxpayer.  If you are a resident alien for part of the tax year and a nonresident alien for the rest of the year, you are a dual-status taxpayer. Different rules apply for each part of the year. For information on dual-status taxpayers, see Publication 519.

Who should file?

Even if you do not have to file, you should file a federal income tax return to get money back if any of the following conditions apply.

1. You had federal income tax withheld from your pay or made estimated tax payments.
2. You qualify for the earned income credit. See chapter 36 for more information.
3. You qualify for the additional child tax credit. See chapter 34 for more information.
4. You qualify for the health coverage tax credit. See chapter 37 for more information.
5. You qualify for the refundable credit for prior year minimum tax

What if i made mistake?

Errors may delay your refund or result in notices being sent to you. If you discover an error, you can file an amended return or claim for refund.

You should correct your return if, after you have filed it, you find that:

1. You did not report some income,
2. You claimed deductions or credits you should not have claimed,
3. You did not claim deductions or credits you could have claimed, or
4. You should have claimed a different filing status. (Once you file a joint return, you cannot choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return. However, an executor may be able to make this change for a deceased spouse.)

IMPORTANCE OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, VISION, AND MISSION STATEMENT, IN A BUSINESS PLAN:

The first and the most important part of the business plan that grabs the reader’s attention is the executive summary, which must be written professionally without any errors and contains all crucial points that can help you to attract potential investors and lenders in brief. The second important key area that attracts investors after the executive summary is the vision, mission statement, and objective statement. It is necessary that all these key points must be creative, simple, and easy to understand.
The executive summary of the business plan must contain brief information about your entire business plan. Your business overview, marketing analysis, your customers are, operational plan, and management team. With the help of executive summary potential investors and lenders will get the point about your business.
The vision and mission statement are the statements that tells your readers how passionate you are for your business and your chances of future success. Make sure that your mission statement must be that powerful that it sticks on the mind of your investors. A great mission statement will tell your investors that your business has some worth. Don’t confuse the two statements vision statement tells about your future and mission is how you will achieve success in future.
A vision and mission statement is not only for investors and for lenders but it also helps you to achieve your business goals in the best possible way. Writing the good vision and mission statement is not an easy task. Make sure that your vision and mission statements must be realistic and relevant to your business. Try to make it passionate and inspiring. For example, the mission statement of the famous brand NIKE is: CRUSH REEBOK. The mission and vision statement must be similar to your competitors.
Business plan writing needs enough time and skills and executive summary, mission and vision statement are the most important elements that grabs the reader’s attention. Write it as simple and attractive as you can.

Learning More about Ring Gages

What are Thread Ring Gages?

A thread ring gage is a gage that is used to measure threads on an outside diameter to ensure that the threads are within the designed tolerance limits. Most thread ring gages are root relieved for adjustability. This adjustment helps you to measure a variety of sizes of threads with accuracy every time while providing longer life for the gage. NOGO thread ring gages are identified by a groove around the outside diameter. For unthreaded parts you would use a plain ring gage or cylindrical ring gage.  Even a slight variance from the design tolerances can cause big problems later on so it is vital to use the right gages and a thread setting plug to maintain accurate thread measurements each and every time.

Thread ring gages are available in steel, chrome or carbide based on your needs and personal preferences. A plain ring gage or cylindrical ring gage is used for checking the external diameter of a cylindrical object. Ring gages are made to variety of tolerance grades in metric and English dimensions for master, setting or working applications. There are three main types of ring gages: go, no go, and master or setting ring gages. Plain ring gages are also manufactured in steel, chrome or carbide.

What does a Thread Ring Gage Do?

The whole point of a thread ring is to guarantee the precision of the outside diameter of your various parts.  The thread ring gage is the device that is used to screw around any threaded parts and test their size down to extremely specific tolerances.  Minute errors in tolerances can cause parts to fail whether they are too large or too small.  Just by merely screwing the correct type of thread ring you can find out whether the part is the right size.  You can also tell whether the threads on the part are within designed tolerance limits to ensure the precision of all your parts.  A plain ring gage will measure the outside diameter of a non-threaded part in a similar fashion.

Using a thread ring gage is a vital part of quality assurance and many problems may be avoided through the proper use of thread ring gages.  The thread ring testing process takes only a few seconds. It verifies that every part and every thread is made in compliance to NIST and all industry standards.