Angry Customer – Ways to Mollify

Anger makes a person unreasonable. He stops thinking rationally. To start with, you have to listen to an angry customer empathetically. If the customer wants to talk to your superior, you should ensure that he does so. The first job is to ensure that the customer cools down.

Handling an angry customer is a part and parcel of business. It is possible that the customer is still angry even after you solve his problem. One airline customer was furious that his late night flight was cancelled. He had to take the next morning flight. He vented his frustration on the booking staff. They arranged for his stay in a good hotel room. He was still angry. He said he would be having dinner at home, if the flight was according to the schedule. They gave him free food coupons. Some what mollified, he said he would have been with his wife but for the airline. The booking clerk told him “Sir, I think we have to draw a line somewhere.”

An important thing to remember is that the customer is not angry with you personally. But he is angry with the situation he is in. In the angry state, he might be feeling insecure. It is quite possible he is taking out the frustration with his wife or boss on you.

Don’t ever argue with an angry customer, for that matter with any customer. The customer will feel that you are rubbing salt into his wounds. You have to see that the customer vents all his feelings and cools down. The customer should know that you understand his problem. You should take the responsibility to solve the problem. It is possible that you may have to call in the experts and it might take time to resolve the issue. You should call the customer and inform him on the progress, if you cannot solve the problem immediately.

In case of any delay in the finding solution, the updates on what is being done will mollify an aggrieved customer. Ensure that the customer has your direct contact number.

Once the problem is resolved the customer will feel that the company really cares for its customers. Of course there are customers who can never be satisfied. But if listen to the customer carefully, take responsibility to solve the problem and ensure follow up till the problem is solved, you can ensure that the customer will not knock at your competitor’s door.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is very important for the success of any business. Building up customer loyalty takes lot less effort and money than looking for new customers. Satisfied customers bring in more buyers by spreading the information about your product.

Very good example of this is new movies. Good movies bring in more audience by the people who have seen the movie, than by rave reviews.

You have to adopt different strategies, for different markets. Some markets are price sensitive. Price is the all important factor. You have to ensure that you are selling your product at a competitive price. In some others the uniqueness of your product is very important. As we are already aware that brand name is the all important factor for certain products.

For certain products after sales service is very important. You must have experienced the frustration when your washing machine or refrigerator breaks down and the service person does not turn up when you call him. For such products you have to ensure that immediate attention is provided and the problem is solved.

If your product or service is poor, the customer who is dissatisfied will go round complaining about your service. Try to get a feed back on the products you have sold. If there are any problems try to sort it out immediately.

A visit to a customer or a phone call just to enquire how your product is working goes a long way to ensure customer satisfaction. Most customers do not complain they simply go elsewhere.

One of the biggest mistakes that the companies are making these days is that they make it extremely difficult to complain. You have to dial a number go through several menus before you can talk to an operator. A human touch and personal attention wherever possible goes a long way in satisfying a customer.

First Impression in Business

It is always to be remembered “first impression is the best impression”. First impression creates an indelible mark on a person’s mind. I always judge any painting, furniture or even any dress on how I feel when I look at it for the first time. This also applies to a person you meet for the first time.

In business it is very important to create a good first impression of your product or your company or even yourself. Your dress, your manners, your behavior will all have effect on the impression you create in the minds of your colleagues or employees. You have to set an example for others to follow. Your manners, behavior, attire, your business card, your briefcase are all a part the impression you create.

Your conversational skills, particularly your listening skills make a strong impression of yourself. We all know about the boring person who clutches your sleeve to catch your attention. He is the person to be avoided at all costs. Cultivate a soft, well modulated voice.

You have to keep an eye contact with the person you are talking to. A joke is always a good icebreaker. Bob Hope said that it takes a lot of effort to be funny. It definitely is worth the effort. People who are light hearted and funny are always sought after. You should never make any denigrating or sarcastic comments about other people. Never ever get into an argument with a person; you have met for the first time.

Your appearance is also of great importance. I believe in the kind of attention to detail in paid in the armed forces. They insist that each and every part of your uniform, whether it is shoes, belt or buckle has to be immaculate. The goes a long way in creating that good first impression.

Your choice of words and the way you convey them should create a very good impression of your culture, education and upbringing.

Business Advertising

Advertising is an extremely important part of any business. Various kinds of advertising mediums are available. Television, newspapers, magazines, bill boards are some of them. You should choose the kind of advertising suited to your needs. Advertising could be expensive. At times substantial amounts of money are spent on advertising campaigns with little results.

Well established companies spend huge amount of money on advertising campaigns. Advertising may push up the sales of products that may neither be the best available nor the cheapest in the market. By constant advertisements they make the customers believe it is the best available product. By advertising it is possible to make an inessential product look absolutely essential.

Professional advertisers understand the human psychology extremely well. You are constantly bombarded with colorful brochures, newspaper and television advertisements, which hail the exceptional qualities of their product. Finally the buyer succumbs to purchase the product.

Multinational companies are masters in advertising. They continuously and constantly bombard the market with multimillion dollar advertising campaigns. They have professionals who can understand the market and the customers very well.

Advertising is not just limited to media blitzing. Promotional products like caps, pens, diaries etc. are used to great effect. A desk diary or clock with the name of the company embossed is an effective way of advertising. It constantly reminds the target customer.

Internet advertising is also very effective way of advertising your product. In the print advertisement the web address can be mentioned asking people to visit the website. The website would then give exhaustive details of the product.

Advertising should be well planned and executed. If not it would be a total waste of money. A combination of different forms of advertising would be advisable to target the market.

Stress Management

Stress at work is inevitable. Hard to achieve targets, overbearing bosses are some of the reasons for the increased stress in work place. There are some of ways of reducing stress at the workplace.

When you feel stressed out talk to a colleague, share a joke. Humor is one of the best stress busters.

Exercise is another stress reliever. Take a walk. Few minutes out side the building, a change of environment will do wonders to relieve your stress. If you have a park next door it is even better. You can jog in the park for a few minutes.

Have a cup of coffee, drink a glass of water. Relaxing few minutes away from the work environment will invigorate you.

Another great stress buster is a short nap. This is possible for people who work at home.

Yoga and meditation are great stress busters. Meditation takes your focus away from the cause of stress and helps you to relax completely.

Pets often are great stress busters. There is nothing like having a dog at home. Even a pet cat or a budgerigar would be of help in reducing stress.

Go away on a holiday with the family, to a holiday spot. The fun and frolic will help you rejuvenate.

Several small girls in a class were shown two pictures. One picture was that of a person chopping wood and the other was that of a person reading a book. They were asked to identify who was at work and who was relaxing. All except one girl identified that person chopping wood was working and the person reading was relaxing. The teacher did not know the father of the girl who had identified the person chopping wood as relaxing, was a scientist who chopped wood for relaxation. And she was marked wrong.

It all depends on an individual as to what relaxes him. You have to identify what relaxes you.

If nothing works if you still think your job is stressful you can consider an alternate job.

Time Management in Business

Are you always sort of time? Do you often have the feeling at the end of the day that you have not accomplished enough for that day?
Time management is the key.

Any successful business needs very good time management skills. You can accomplish difficult tasks which look like a mountain that cannot be climbed by breaking them up into smaller tasks.

Make a list of all tasks that have to be completed over a period of time. Allocate a time frame to complete them. And try to stick to that time schedule. Reward yourself for completing them.

Don’t put off any task. The primary reason to procrastinate is that the task could be unpleasant. Try to complete the unpleasant task first.

Write down what you do everyday. At the end of the day analyze the list. You will be able to find out where you are wasting your time.

The most important part of time management is to write down all the tasks that have to accomplished and number them by importance. The first task in the list is the most important and so on. Set a time frame to accomplish that task. As soon as you complete the task take it off the list.

Examine the list each day. If some tasks become more important bring it to the top of the list. Make clear plans to carry out different tasks.

Don’t accept tasks when you are pressurized by others, for which you have no time. Stick to the tasks that are important to you.

Business Communication- Listening Skills

I met an ornithologist at a party. He started to talk about various birds and their habits. For me it was fascinating. I heard him with rapt attention for about an hour and a half. Later he told one of my friends that I was a very good conversationalist. But I had hardly spoken during his absorbing narration.

Listening skills are an extremely important part of any conversation. Listening is not just hearing. Listening is to absorb what you hear. Listening skills could relate to a conversation or business presentation.

Many sales people are bad listeners. Unless you hear what a customer has to say and overcome the objections, you will never be a good sales person.

A good conversationalist has to be good listener. Unless you hear
What is being said, during a conversation you will not be able to respond to it properly.

In business it is imperative to have as much of information as possible before you take a decision. Proper listening is one way of acquiring such information.

Whenever you are listening you should never let your mind wander, concentrate hard and understand what is being said. .

Listening skills can be improved over a period of time. Constant practice is essential to improve listening skills.

Listening skills can make you more confident. Listening skills with an empathetic attitude will help you to build a rapport with people. Listening skills help you to gain more knowledge.

Listening skills will help you to understand the problems of the members of your team, and help motivate them. It will also help buildup your leadership qualities.

Good listening will improve your overall performance in business.

Ways to improve your listening skills

• Concentrate hard on what is being said
• Don’t let your mind wander.
• Don’t try to think what you would say next. You cannot concentrate on more than one thing at a time.
• At least try to absorb the main points of what is being said.
• Focus on the important ideas

Remember listening skills are even more important than speaking.

Business Presentation

For any kind of presentation before an audience, effective communication skills are absolutely essential. To make a good presentation a through knowledge of the subject is necessary.

The presentation should not be too long. With a lengthy presentation you would not be able to hold the attention of your audience. The presentation has to be brief and to the point.

The opening of your presentation has to be good. Remember the first impression is the best impression. You have to build a rapport with your audience initially and hold it to the end. A bad opening would spell disaster.

Some people believe opening a presentation with joke. If you are good at cracking a joke, it is excellent. If not you are making a bad beginning.

It is very important to know what the audience is expecting from you. It is for you to meet their expectations.

The content of your presentation, should be tailor made to suit the requirement of your client.

The presentation should have visual appeal. Don’t use too many bullet points in a slide. Three or four would be ideal. The color of the background should be light. The letters should be clearly visible. Usage of patterns in the background is not recommended as it might reduce the visibility of the text.

It is not recommended to use too many slides. It could distract the audience. Slides aid presentation, they are not the focus of the presentation.

Photos, graphs, animation can also be used for effect. They will help in driving home the message.

You should firmly believe in the product and the company you are representing.