Записи с меткой «dog»

Is Good Customer Service Going to the Dogs?

I had an experience the other day that has made me think about how too many customer service experiences unfold in the business world today, and about the difference that really good service can make.

I have two dogs. Earlier this week, it was time for them to get their summer haircuts so that they will be able to comfortably cope with the Houston heat.

The newest addition to the house is Jason, a miniature schnauzer who had been the prized pet of an old lady who had to give him up for adoption when she moved to a nursing home. She had chosen to keep him fully furred, not trimmed in the traditional schnauzer cut, so that he had a really nice wire haired coat to go with his bushy eyebrows and stubby tail. The other dog is Lucky, a schnauzer-poodle mix—poodle ears and body, schnauzer muzzle and curly tail—he gets the traditional cut.

So, I took the two little guys to the groomers the other morning. I was the first client of the day, and the salon was nice and quiet. I explained what I wanted to the person who would be doing the job—traditional schnauzer cut on Lucky, but not on Jason. Just a trim for him. This is important, I told her, because I don’t want his coat shaved off—once that wire hair is gone it never grows back. Did she understand, I asked?

Yes, she answered. But did I want Jason’s skirt trimmed?

Skirt? I stared blankly and finally figured out that she was talking about the feathery bits on his chest and belly. Yes, fine, I said. Trim that area but just don’t shave him. She nodded.

I went back a few hours later to pick up the boys. At that point the salon was buzzing with dogs, clients, and groomers. The fur was literally flying. First came Lucky, looking very dapper and neat. A few seconds later, out came Jason, and my mouth dropped open.

He had been completely shaved!!! The groomer had given him a standard schnauzer cut—and that lovely wire coat was gone forever.

I couldn’t believe it. I was angry and sad at the same time. What had happened? How could the conversation we had had in the morning have been so completely lost?

After discussing the situation with the salon owner, she reluctantly refunded my money, which was very small consolation for the snafu. It should be no surprise that I will not be going back to that salon when the boys’ fur has grown out.

This whole thing left me thinking about how this kind of customer service happens in other businesses. There were several points about the experience that translate:

1. Are we really listening to our customers? Do we ask the questions we need to ask to make sure that we understand what they want from us? Do we make accurate notes so that we retain instructions and deliver what was asked for? I got plenty of nods from the groomer during our talk, but my instructions obviously got lost somewhere between her ears and her shears.

2. Are we communicating clearly back to them, or do we use industry jargon that they may or may not understand? When the groomer asked me about trimming Jason’s skirt, I had to stop and think. It was MY responsibility to figure out what she was talking about. Not a great way to do business.

3. Finally, and very very important, when mistakes do get made on our side of the transaction, how do we make amends? Even the worst error doesn’t have to mean the loss of the customer. Respond to the mistake with restitution that matches its seriousness. In my case, given the extent of the mistake with Jason, and the permanence of the result, the salon owner fell far short in restitution and in terms of keeping my business. I had to struggle to simply get a refund, which was insufficient compared to the permanent impact this error has. I won’t be back to that salon.

These three points—listening to the customer, communicating back in ways that they will easily understand, and making appropriate amends when mistakes get made on our end—are the core of excellent service and the key to keeping loyal and happy customers.

(As a post script, I should note that Jason still looks darn cute, even without his fur. And I’m sure he doesn’t care one way or the other about all that wire hair!)

It All Has to Match if You Want to Create the Ideal Business

Copyright (c) 2008 Fabienne Fredrickson

There are some solo-entrepreneurs that market ’til they’re blue in the face, and STILL don’t attract ideal, high-paying clients. They’re seemingly doing all the «right things»: they’ve got marketing materials, marketing plans, they’re speaking, networking, etc. and yet producing no real results. Yes, they have some clients. Yes, they’re making their bills. But they’re not seeing the kind of success they so desperate want. (Are you one of those?)

You might be wondering, «What is going on? What am I doing wrong?? I’m busting my chops, working like a dog, and yet my 1ncome is still NOT what I want it to be… in fact, not even close.» On the outside, everyone probably thinks you have a great business, but YOU know what’s really going on, especially financially. I actually hear this a lot. As I am working with higher level clients (people who have plenty of clients but not the business or 1ncome they really want to be making) I’m noticing that the marketing is only half the problem.

What’s usually happening is two things are getting in the way. Yes, the marketing needs to be tweaked or reworked. Usually, the target audience needs to be narrowed down or changed to a higher level client, and then inevitably, the marketing message needs to become clearer and more compelling. So, we work on that.

But most of the time, it’s something MUCH more drastic and destructive. It’s what’s going on INTERNALLY that’s botching your results: THE MINDSET. And I’ve come to realize that if the INSIDE is not matched to the OUTSIDE, then you won’t get the results you want. Period. Here’s what I mean:

There’s the OUTER game of Client Attraction: the marketing and the action and the behaviors.

Then, there’s the INNER game of Client Attraction: your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

If these do not match, there’s no way you can create the business you SAY you want. Here’s an example: Pretend Susan is a solo-entrepreneur and she’s been in business for almost 4 years. She’s networking, speaking locally, doing an ezine, and everything else she «should» be doing. She’s good at what she does, but she’s just not making the mo-ney she wants to make. Not even close. That’s when we examine her marketing and make tweaks.

But here’s the kicker: we ALSO look at the stuff under the surface too. When we probe deeper, we realize that one or more things aren’t in alignment with her big goal she says she wants:

The Thought: «I WANT TO MAKE $500,000 this year.»

The Feeling/Belief: «IF I HAVE THAT MANY CLIENTS, I WILL GET OVERWHELMED AND LOSE MY FREEDOM. BESIDES IT WILL BE TOO MUCH WORK, SO WHY BOTHER.»

The Action: SUBTLE SELF-SABOTAGE BEGINS TO HAPPEN, because deep down, Susan wants freedom and ease more than she wants the money. She may not think that consciously, but it’s very real on a subconscious level. And that translates into Susan not doing what it takes, not taking the actions or exhibiting the no-excuses behavior that would create a business that brings her that much mo-ney per year.

Essentially, what’s happening with Susan is that she’s driving with the brake on, and going nowhere fast. So, she steps on the gas pedal even more, but still not getting any results. It’s destructive, but most importantly, after a while, there’s going to be a shortage of gas and then the whole car will stop moving. She thinks she just wasn’t meant to be in business and packs it up to go back to working for someone else, feeling like a big failure and taking a blow to her self-esteem. For Susan to create the 1ncome she wants, all 3 need to match and be congruent.

The Thought must match the Feeling/Belief must match the Action and Behavior. If not, you’ll keep struggling, not knowing why it’s all so difficult.

It’s an insidious game and the worst part of it is, you usually don’t know this is going on! Worse, you may not be able to recognize the underlying limiting beliefs, fears and self-doubt that stops your behavior. The solution? Getting really clear on where you’re not being congruent.

This is BY FAR, my most effective thing to work on with a client or workshop participant. Why? Because when you change someone’s inner states (the INNER game of Client Attraction) you begin to immediately see an increase in their business and in their 1ncome. Quantum Leaps begin to happen and it’s as if the vice-grip that’s been holding back the success of your business is FINALLY RELEASED. And there’s just so much more easy and flow (and financial abundance pours in.)

I’ve seen it time and time around with my clients and Mastermind members. When we clear the GUNK, the mo-ney follows. I know from experience, because it happened to me. In fact, it keeps happening, over and over again. The more I work on my INNER game, the more I make. And it all becomes easier: I work less and make mo-re. That’s when you know you’re becoming more congruent.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

If you’re feeling like you’re working really hard but not seeing RESULTS (either in your number of clients or in your re-venues) then it’s time to look at your INNER game of Client Attraction: your mindset. Notice the relationship between your thoughts about your goal, your feelings about achieving your goal and the actions you’re taking to reach that goal.

Are they congruent? Are they aligned? If not, then you’re going nowhere fast. Not until you get yourself a mindset breakthrough. That’s when the marketing breakthrough happens, which results in an 1ncome breakthrough. Once you create those breakthroughs, your business and your life will NEVER be the same. I guarantee it.

How to Increase ROI on People Development Investments

Organization X brought in an outside seminar company to «give the supervisors and managers a little boost.» The seminar company suggested the executive group attend a preview as a way to support the development, to become aware of what was going to be presented, and to customize the message to meet the unique needs of the organization. They were all too busy. OK — how about a 4 hour overview ? Still too busy. The CEO ended up telling the seminar company to «Just give the people your message — so and so at (biggest company in town) said it was a great program.»

And so they did. They delivered an intensive 5 day, 4 hour per day leadership skills seminar to all the supervisors and managers in the business. They focused on trust, communication, self development, goals and objectives and using teams as a key means to deal with the businesses challenges. They discussed ways to overcome the adversarial relationship that existed between the people who did the work and their bosses. Homework and on the job assignments were developed; action plans formalized; personal skill requirements identified. At the end of the seminar, the attendees were fired up. They interpreted the messages coming from the seminar leaders as coming from their management — there was no reason for them to feel different. Bad assumption.

When the seminar participants returned to work the following Monday, they did so with an enthusiasm that had been missing for some time. When the CEO asked them about the seminar, they were positive and enthusiastic and thankful they had the opportunity to attend. The CEO and his staff felt good — everybody seemed motivated — money well spent.

And then the managers and supervisors started to use their newly acquired behaviors, beliefs and skills. And the trouble started. The leadership wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but they knew it wasn’t what they expected. They reacted with their «business as usual» approach, and the managers and supervisors became frustrated and angry.

Things were back to where they had been before the seminar within two to three weeks, except all the seminar attendees had developed a layer of cynicism that they had not had before. Whatever trust there had been in the organization disappeared, and the leaders were puzzled that what had started off with such high expectations had turned to negative before their very eyes.

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because it happens every day, in all kinds of different organizations. It happens because the purchase of a service — a potentially very valuable service — is done when leadership sees the need for change, but the activity is not leveraged by internal design and development dedicated to ensuring the message and outcomes are what the leadership wants. The result is unintended consequences and frustration for all involved, including the development organization. They became event managers — not contributors to identifying and developing change and growth strategies and actions.

How to ensure your own critical people development investments are effective and carry a high ROI?

Ask yourself these seven questions. The answers will help define the best way to go about developing the skills, expertise and abilities of your people while increasing your ROI on development investments.

1 — How much time will be spent on customizing this seminar to meet out unique requirements? Are we trusting to a third party to represent our interests to our own employees? Focused time spent on development and customization of programs to fit your organization ensures that the objectives of the effort will be consistent with leaderships needs and expectations. Never trust to a third party to represent your interests to your employees without your extensive input — they can’t.

2 — How many people should be sent to public seminars? When a public seminar appears to meet your objectives, send a team of at least three people. Why at least three? To paraphrase what Peter Senge says in his 2008 book — «The Necessary Revolution» — one person, even the CEO, can’t make change happen by themselves, two people can have a conversation, but three or more can make change happen.

3 — Are we expecting this activity to improve individual poor performance? Don’t use seminars to attempt to improve poor individual performance. It’s not gonna happen. That’s a subject requiring one on one work, with the manager of the poor performer leading the way.

4 — Have we reviewed the content and objectives of the development? Do we support the objectives and message? For seminars to be successful, the leaders whom the participants will look to for support must be fully acquainted with the objectives, and sign up to support the participants. When the leadership says it’s too busy to spend the time necessary to get conversant with the content, spending money and effort on the content is a waste.

5 — Are our actions consistent with the message we are sending? Realize that action from the leaders within the organization speak louder than any words from even the most accomplished speaker or celebrity. Action speaks so loudly that what is said cannot be heard.

6 — Can we accomplish the same objectives using our own people? Who do we have that can teach others? Who do we have that can learn by teaching others? The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. Use that principle to develop the people in your organization. Make your own people your best meeting and seminar and meeting leaders — and your champions of change. Use outside services to train your own leaders.

7 — Are we using this activity to meet our needs, or are we trying to squeeze our needs into the goals of the seminar? Use third party seminars and development activities to advance the goals and behaviors identified by the organization. Don’t let the tail wag the dog.

It’s tempting to look for answers and silver bullets in the literature provided by professional development organizations. And their expertise is valuable. But its value is so much greater when blended with the unique needs of your organization. Plus, there are no silver bullets.

Is Their A Way To Look At Peoples Criminal Records On The Internet

If you’ll are hoping for an easily accessible nationwide data source of records of criminals in this age of advanced communication, later anyone will be disappointed. Technology may just be accessible, and the federal constitution may provide a constitutional guarantee for United States citizens to find out info, but specific state legislation is required for its implementation.

Never the less, the individual can still look up a handful of bits of information. The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ web page offers an inmate locator service absolutely free. The public can additionally check out out credible public interest organizations such whereas the Family Watch Dog web site that keeps track of sex offenders released from prison. Your next step is to searches the separate databases of state correctional facilities, police details, and court details. Before everyone start your lookup, remember to verify the person’s name or identity.

In many states, criminal conviction records are restricted and yourself need the person’s d.o.b and ssn in order to carryout the search. Usually, prospective employers have this data although they’re required by law to inform their applicants that a criminal criminal record check is being conducted on them. They additionally really should try to provide the applicant acquire to the public info they gathered.

Yet, the methods needed to make a complete searches on your own free criminal records on the internet is difficult and time consuming. That you may definitely not have the time and patience to investigation via the mountain of at no cost public data scattered all over the web. That you may be satisfied with free of cost public info services if your reasons for looking are merely for curiosity, and your personal life or business is not necessarily at risk.

Anyhow, if people are an employer with numerous candidates to check out, or a landlord with numerous potential tenants applying, or a busy professional researching for a care giver for your infants or aging mom and dad, convenience and time are important to anyone.

In addition, you will have to keep in mind that without charge services certainly not provided by federal agencies or accredited government providers have to be double-checked. Gathering nationwide data such whereas records of criminals, which incur numerous additions throughout the year, requires great investment of time and resources. Therefore, web-sites that offer zero cost data may certainly not have up — to — date records data. Free of cost criminal records databases providers cannot provide convenience and customer service to help people searches.

Your next recourse is an on-line lookup for fee-based providers of criminal background research. The price depends on the detail from the research that you desire. The price will vary based upon on the scope and quality of their databases. Several repository searches are organized by state, while others provide a convenient nationwide searches feature of criminal offender records for around $40 yearly price.

Think with the reason for your investigation and consequences of inaccurate information, and then decide whether it is reasonable for the individual to pay higher subscription fees of quality public information providers.