In order to have happy, loyal customers, you need to have happy, loyal staff that your customers love to deal with – be it on the phone or in person. Talking with your customer service staff should be a pleasant experience.

If your staff currently is not creating pleasant experiences for your customers, a training on “How to give better service” might not be the solution.

Most people intrinsically know the “HOW”. They just need a good enough reason to get creative. And that is exactly what is lacking in many employees these days: the WHY.

Why should I give better service? Why should I care about my employer’s clients? One client more or less won’t make me lose my job…

As a business owner, this is the first inquiry you should engage in: ”WHY should my staff give better service to my clients? What’s in it for them? I am passionate about my business, but are they?”

Ask the HOW question to yourself:

How can I can give better service to my employees?

Your employees are your number one customer. If you fail to turn them into loyal, happy employees, how could they possibly transmit this positive feeling, enthusiasm and experience to your customers?

So much money is being wasted by pushing knowledge about the HOW into your staff.

Start by pulling knowledge about the WHY (or WHY NOT?) out of your staff first.

• Show interest in them.
• Pay attention to their needs.
• Take them seriously and respond.
• Create new solutions WITH them (i.e. use their input to train their managers to treat them better).
• Then reap the benefits.

It’s exactly what you’d do with your customers:

• What do they (the “market”) need?
• Adjust your services accordingly and give them what they need.
• Then reap the benefits.

Ask. Give. Receive.  

~~~

Need help? I’m happy to assist you in diagnosing dissatisfiers, suggesting solutions and solving issues through coaching and training. Contact me at hello@yellowumbrella.eu

~~~

This month’s borrel almost turned out to be a little networking-workshop-type-of-thingy. Even though the “real networking thingy” is only planned for next month and even though almost half the attendees were new this time, we all connected and had a great time together. And at least one (new) person walked out with a new client!

Here’s some feedback we heard during the evening:

• You can really have fun with perfect strangers during an evening you don´t know anyone!
• I haven´t had such a nice evening since a long time
• I met such nice people
• I like the interaction

All it took was matching up random people in groups of 4 and ask them to find out what they all had in common! Interesting things came to the surface, like,

“We found out that we all…

• deliver customized services to our clients
• have never been to the moon
• like great advertisement
• have 2 ears, 1 nose, 1 mouth, etc. etc.
• start every day by dancing through the house (…uhm, from now on! )”

Hearing the laughter and the inspired chatting everywhere in the room really makes it all worthwile!

Check out some of the photos of May 3 here.

By Ryan Sutherland

If you ask a lot of people “how do I get past my fears of speaking in public?” you’ll hear the answer “just practice.” For some people, this approach works just fine: after a few times speaking in front of an audience they begin to feel more comfortable. For many people, though, this approach feels like they’re being thrown to the wolves… hungry wolves.

Why might that be?

In my opinion, public speaking has several dimensions which are unfamiliar to most people, and if you jump in ‘head-first’ when you’re not used to them, they can easily be overwhelming.  Three important such dimensions are:

1. Speaking in public is a form of one-way communication. We spend most of our time in two-way communications such as discussions or conversations, so one-way communication feels quite uncomfortable.
2. Remembering the speech content takes effort and is something with which most people are unfamiliar.
3. The physiological reaction, with all the adrenaline and and other effects, comes as a surprise.  Most people are not trained how to handle it.

If you look at these three items, you’ll notice that two of them are primarily focussed on feelings, not on cognitive or intellectual processes. Therefore, I don’t expect that the solution lies very much with the brain: I think we actually have to spend time working with our bodies to become accustomed to these things.

Here’s one method to help get your body and emotions comfortable with public speaking.  In this approach, each step gradually turns up the volume on the discomfort dial, so by the time you reach the end, standing up in front of an audience won’t be nearly such a huge leap as it used to be.

1. Start with the basics: read your material out loud to yourself.  This will start the process of becoming accustomed to one-way communication.
2. Now add the physical motions:  alone in your own room, perform your speech as if you were in front of an audience.
3. Let’s turn up the discomfort dial a bit further: alone in front of a mirror, perform your speech as if you were in front of an audience.
4. Once you’re comfortable in front of the mirror, do the same thing alone in front of a video camera.  You can delete the recordings immediately if you wish, but having the camera ‘watching’ you adds an extra psychological dimension.
5. Now it’s time to give your speech to one person.  Pick a friend or family member who you can trust to give you constructive feedback.
6. Optional:  You’re almost there.  If you wish, give your speech to a small group of two to three people.  Again, choose people who you can trust to give you constructive feedback.

By this time, you’re ready.  Now when you stand up in front of a larger group, you will have practiced handling the natural emotions that are a part of performing.  You will also be more comfortable with one-way communication, and you will have mastered your content.

BONUS IDEA #1:  If you forget some content or if other unexpected things occur, don’t just stop and start over. Continue on in whatever way you can and finish the speech properly.  If you start practicing this skill now then it will be a whole lot easier to handle surprises when you’re in front of a group.

BONUS IDEA #2:  When you’re learning your content, it can be very useful to rehearse it in reverse order. Instead of starting with the introduction, start with the conclusion.  Once you’re comfortable with that, begin with the last major section of the speech body and go through to the end of the speech.  This way, the most familiar material will come at the end of the speech. Believe me, it’s very comforting to know the way home when your brain decides to abandon you halfway through your presentation.

About Ryan Sutherland: I’m a full-time software developer who’s recently become enthralled by public speaking. Currently I am the President of the Leiden Toastmasters public speaking club. Feel free to watch some of my speeches on my YouTube channel or learn more about me on my LinkedIn profile.

This is an excerpt from a great article I found today on www.women-unlimited.co.uk. It’s about marketing, however almost the whole article talks about customer service and its value in keeping existing and attracting new clients:

Customer Service

In addition to knowing your customers, you absolutely must provide excellent customer service. I cannot emphasise this enough, no matter how great your service is, how much information you have on your customers, if your customer service is poor or even average, your revenue will be poor or below average.

Personally, I’ve stopped going to shops where their staff have been rude or even indifferent to me; even when these places have been cheaper or closer to me than their competitors. I’ve chosen not to spend my money in these places; in addition, I’ve told friends about my experiences and some have also stopped shopping in these places. This is the power that customers have over businesses.

On the other hand, I’ve consistently gone to shops, salons and restaurants where the staff have been helpful, attentive and have politely offered additional services to me (rather than shoved it down my throat); even when their products have been more expensive. I’ve told friends and family about how wonderful these establishments are; telling them that the price is worth the service/product that they receive.

[...]

The things mentioned here are obvious – everyone likes to feel valued and if a business continually makes their customers feel valued, then the customers are less likely to go to their competitors and more likely to refer other people to their business. However, the reality is that these things are very easy to overlook when you are faced with the daily reality of running your business.

[...]

Referrals are the best and cheapest way to spread an awareness of your business and increase revenue. Your customers are the ones who are best placed to refer people to your business; but this won’t happen if your customer knowledge and service is poor and if you don’t frequently keep in touch with your customers.

Read the full article here.

Last week I went for an espresso to my favorite place in Den Haag. The café hasn’t been around for long, and I stop by there maybe once or twice a month.

This time, the owner asked me, “What did you think of the new flavor?” when he collected my empty cup, and we had a brief conversation.

This small question of his stuck in my mind afterwards, because it showed me that:

• He recognized and acknowledged me as a regular by asking me about the new flavor
• He valued my input
• He’s interested in meeting his clients’ tastes/needs/desires

The fact that he asked me this question showed that he is paying attention to his customers. In a country where customers often feel like they are being taken for granted, such a tiny gesture really makes a difference.

The message I perceived from our little interaction, was: “Hey, I recognize you! You come here regularly and you always drink espresso. You must really like it here! I want to keep you here, so I want to make sure that you stay happy in case I make any changes to our service and products.”

One of the basic ways of engaging your audience (whether it’s employees or customers) is to ask them for their input and make them feel involved.

I’m engaged now. I will come back and I will bring friends. Did I mention the place is called “Happy”?

~~

Same day, an hour later, I went into a restaurant with the intention to make a reservation for 30 people. When I mentioned that every guest would pay their own bill, I was told, “Ah, no, we can’t do that.” When I asked for the reason, I learned, “Because it’s too much work for us.”

I said Thank You and left. The 30 people will now spend their money elsewhere.

Pity the little espresso place is too small for such a large group…

*************************

Entrepreneurs spend considerable amounts of time behind their computer – both in the office and at home.

In this 1 hr presentation Olivier Girard (ergonomist specialized in postural therapy) of www.ergologic.net will discuss simple practical solutions with us to help prevent and ease computer–related pain.

This is a free event for members of the Open Hand Café and Nomadz and will take place on Monday, April 18 in the Nomadz office.

Please register a.s.a.p. via the link on the linkedin or facebook group. 20 participants max.

The floor will be open for discussion of personal cases after the presentation.

I noticed this week how the common challenge of my clients seems to be “making space” for themselves at the moment.

Some of them are so caught up with “putting out fires” and covering for other people at work, that it overshadows their whole life and it stops them from moving forward in their own growth. After a 12-hour work day they have neither time nor energy left to pay attention to their own needs.

All of these women have a huge sense of responsibility and loyalty to their employers. They haven’t arrived in their management positions by chance. They are smart decision makers, caring, driven, and very successful.

At least at work.

The surprising truth however is that few of them consider themselves truly successful. Because despite their success at work, they don’t feel they have achieved the same success “in life”. Too much energy goes into work and too little into any other area of their lives – whether that is relationships, family, health, recreation, finances, spiritual growth or simply the relationship with themselves. There just seems to be too little time to remember themselves.

It’s hard to show loyalty to yourself, when you don’t know who you are. It’s hard to take responsibility and action, when you don’t know where you’re going.

It’s so much easier and safe to exert your strengths at work, the only place where things are clearly defined and where all the targets are known. You know when and where to show up everyday, you know what to do, you get rewarded with a paycheck at the end of the month, you get promoted and bit by bit you get pulled in more and more…

Have you every noticed that you can have strengths that you actually don’t enjoy doing? Some of us are required to use those strengths every single day at work! Yes, it’s possible to be drained by our own strengths!

“You can have anything you want in life, but you do have to pay… attention!”

So, what can you do? Make space!

Create mental space that allows you to take stock and see where you are now, how you got here and where you want to go from here. Start paying attention to yourself. Whether that is by talking with friends, hiring a coach or by contemplating the question “What do I really want?” for 5min every morning or night in bed.

Make a start. Find out your “What” and then your “Why”. Don’t worry about the “How” just yet. It will reveal itself once you’ve defined your direction.

Read part 2 of this article on the Virtual Anja blog.

© 2011 Anja Schuetz

The other day I attended a conference where the keynote speaker was talking about his seven steps to create an interesting speech. He did a competent job: every piece of information he presented was correct, and by the end of his time on stage I was ready for bed.

The irony was palpable. How could this happen? This man claimed he had many years of experience a professional speaker, and yet the only thing I felt motivated to do afterwards was go hunting for another cup of coffee to try to wake up again.

The answer is that this speaker committed one of the worst sins of public speaking: he read me the phonebook. Not literally, of course, but for whatever reason his performance lacked anything to capture and hold the attention of the listener. It was as if he stood on stage and read to me from the phonebook, name for name and number for boring number. Thinking back to that speech, I think there can be several reasons for this:

• The speaker was simply bored with the subject material
• The speaker planned more material than would fit into the time allowed, and rushed through it
• The speaker was tired or distracted and went into automatic-pilot mode

Whatever the reason was, the result was the same.  It was a dull presentation that did nothing good for the conference, the listeners or the speaker himself. The lesson to be drawn from this experience is really straightforward: one of the basic tasks of a speaker is engage the attention of the listener. Here are some very simple ways to engage the audience:

• Ask a question, and do something useful with the response
• Tell a story — personal stories are better than impersonal stories
• Relate your material to the audience
• Tell a few jokes, and make sure they’re appropriate to the situation
• Use a well-known quotation

Have fun with these, and always remember that the audience is there to hear you speak, and it’s up to you to make sure you’re worth listening to. The good news is that you don’t have to be an experienced speaker to be engaging. Fail to do this, however, and you might as well be on stage reading the phonebook.

© 2011 Ryan Sutherland

Here are some networking guidelines I try to live by…

Try to be the most approachable person, rather than the most impressive or best looking.

Think of which sort of people you feel drawn to at social events and which ones you feel save approaching. Do they smile? Do they keep eye contact? Are they dressed similarly to you?

Look like them. Be one of them. Make it easy for other people to approach you. Being the best dressed person might not serve your purpose when it creates a chasm between you and the other “regular dressed” people. Do you want people to admire you or to connect with you? Find out the dress code and dress accordingly.

Recognize the value of approaching others.

Sounds scary? Everyone at a networking event is there to meet people. It’s the nature of the event. Many people force themselves to go, and if you’re one of them, you’ll know the exact reasons for that.

What do you wish would be different? Do you wish someone nice would just come and talk to you and have a wonderful conversation with you? How about being that “someone nice” for other people? Who better than you can identify with them and make a difference to them? How lovely would it be for them to be able to talk to someone who knows how they feel?

A networking event is probably the last place on earth where you need to be afraid of rejection – or do you really think those people came here to stand around alone? So when you see someone standing there by themselves, go and SAVE them!

How to start the conversation, you wonder?

Say something that will make them feel good or that will make them laugh. Be authentic and mean it. If you happen to know who they are, even though you’ve never been introduced, go and tell them. “Aren’t you the owner of the wonderful shop at the corner of…?” Or (maybe for women only… ) a simple, “Wow, where did you get those shoes??” always breaks the ice!

Any compliment does wonders for creating positive relationships AND it creates a great first impression of yourself, too. People remember people who paid them a sincere compliment. Even if they are shy and wave it off, it automatically puts them in a positive, agreeable state towards you. Especially when it’s such a big contrast to an otherwise “uncomfortable situation” for them.

The best way to phrase the compliment is to put it as a question as mentioned above – which is an open question an invites them to talk and makes it easy for you to start a conversation with them.

Creating relationships vs. “Getting my name out there”

You can also simply ask people if they are new here, what they do, etc. Remember what it was like for you, when you joined the first time. Ask them what specific contacts they’re looking for so you can see who you can introduce them to.

Ask more than you talk. Make it your first priority to serve the other person. People like it when you show interest in them. And – most people will reciprocate. In networking and marketing it’s important to establish your “Know-, Like- and Trust-Factor”.

The advantage of talking to people who “need to be rescued” at networking events, is that (since they are most likely introverts) prefer to have deep conversations, as opposed to lots of superficial ones. You could be the one person they get to KNOW at this event. The one person they’ll remember. They will LIKE your for making it easy for them. And if you follow up on your promises or introductions – they’ll learn to TRUST you. And who do you think they will recommend to their friends and contacts – someone they had a superficial conversation with, or you?

Of course there might be those that love to hear themselves talk and don’t ever ask you a question back, however you’ll quickly learn to distinguish them and I’m 99% sure those people are NOT the ones that you have to approach…

“Did I already give you my business card?” is NOT a good conversation starter.

And it might just be the one that the above “talkers” might start a conversation with. So let’s not use it. After all, what do we expect people to do with our business card? How can we offer someone our card if we don’t even know them yet and have no knowledge about what they need? Plus, what kind of impression do we give them, when we seemingly don’t even remember if we talked to them before?

Offering our business card is not the same as offering value to people. Let’s give first. Let’s add value first. Let’s amaze them so much that they’re going to ask for our card! It feels great to be asked for it! It means the other person really is interested in what we do. It means, they will actually hang on to our card and not throw it away the moment they go home.

Practice keeping a smile on your face.

Really. Remember to smile. Especially if you’re the one standing around alone, hoping to be saved. Look around. Keep eye contact. Make it easy for people to approach you.

© 2011 Anja Schuetz

Time to relax on a physical as well as on a mental level, in a way that you can get rid of stress and recharge. Wellness trips have the quality to get you in a state of well being, and not necessarily only by having massages and steam baths. Some suggestions:

CURACAO; sun, sea, beach, warmth 365 days a year, divers paradise, historical capital city, wonderful architecture, colorful history, European touch, African heritage, Jewish culture, nice arte scene, Carnival and friendly people. Dine and wine with your feet in the sand, enjoy a massage at the beach. In about 9 hours from The Netherlands lies the beautiful island Curacao in the Caribbean Sea. The place for an unforgetable vacation!

In the Himalaya´s in the North of INDIA you´ll find a very special SPA. Your chauffeur will pick you up on arrival at Delhi airport to take you to your stopover hotel in Delhi. The next morning your chauffeur will take you to Delhi airport for your flight to Dehradun which will take nearly one hour. From here a chauffeur will take you to a true Himalayan paradise where nature and delicious food are awaiting you. Once you are in ”the land of the Gods” it´s worth while attending an arthi at the holy Ganga River!

SLOVENIA, land of wellness, dragons, castles, Lipizer horses, wineries, lakes, woods, wild animals and the Julian Alps. Enjoy a cup of coffee with the famous Bled Cream Cake at lake Bled, spend a day at the Bled Golf & Country Club, visit the Postojna caves or stay for a couple of days in Ljubljana the city of dragons. Combine this with a SPA and you will feel recharged more than ever. In nearly 2 hours flying from The Netherlands a true magical country awaits you!

GERMANY is a country with a large variety of types of vacations. A place that needs recommendation is Aken. In ancient times the Romans build their thermal baths in Aken and Karel de Grote even chose Aken as the capital city of his empire. Aken is a  perfect location, not to far from The Netherlands to combine shopping, walking, and relaxing in a nice SPA!

Those who like well organized beach facilities, charming hotels, Italian food and “staring” at people, RIMINI and surroundings is the place to be. Visit FLORENCE, VENICE, BOLOGNA and extend your stay with some days at the ADRIATIC COAST. Most of the hotels don´t have the SPA facilities we know in The Netherlands. Reaching a state of well being  here, can be achieved by enjoying a delicious Italian meal. Enjoy the Italians dressing up really classy, behaving very Italian and showing people that enjoying life is an art too!

Special attention needs CANADA with the city MONTREAL. It´s a melting pot of Paris, European influences and yet North American. Old Montreal is a true museum. The streets, restaurants, shops and of course the copy of the Notre Dame. Spa´s like we know in most places in Europe is not what you´ll find in Montreal. Rooftop city Spa´s or somewhere on an in between floor in a huge building is very common. High fashion bathing suites seem to be the dress code here. Everything in Montreal is an adventure on its own!

SERBIA, once one of the six republics of Yugoslavia and the capital city BELGRADE are well known from TV since some years. A walk through Belgrade reminds you of history class: the Ottoman and Habsburg Empire, Medieval times, but also cities like London, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona. A visit to the Bohemian Quarter  “Skadarlija”, the Montmartre from Belgrade, is unforgetable. Here a state of well being can be reached by experiencing the country. Fresh made grill dishes, salads, bread (all from biological growth), loads of fields with flowers and the most beautiful monasteries. Serbia is known for three world known thermal baths. In not even 2,5 hours flying from The Netherlands a real relaxing cultural surprise awaits you!

SPAIN is a beautiful country. Special attention goes to ANDALUSIA. Partly European, partly with Moorish influences. The outcome is passion and a wonderful culture. Andalusia will fit every visitors needs: beach, villages, SPA´s, golf trips, city trips, round trips, cultural trips, etc. Visit the region and you will be treated in a fantastic way. Andalusia is passion!

Wellness greetings,

Stana