Laid Off? Furloughed? Here Are Some Imperatives!
COVID 19 has decimated an economy that was thriving. Instead of record sales, industries, like airlines, restaurants, and hospitality, now wonder if they will survive. Other companies and corporations worry about the loss of sales due to the disruption of production....
Virtual Meetings, the New Normal
In the old days, managers saw their direct reports daily. They may even have eaten lunch with them or been on the same company bowling team. However, today, managers often oversee people around the globe, in places as far away as India, Kuwait or Korea. The days of...
Communicating in the Age of the Pandemic
The year 2020 is like no other. Borders have closed, cities are on lockdown and stocks have plummeted to record lows. People are worried and the level of stress is not expected to lessen anytime soon. For those of you who are managers, communication with your teams is...
Tips for Leading the Remote Team
In the old days, managers saw their direct reports daily. They may even have eaten lunch with them or been on the same company bowling team. However, today, managers often oversee people around the globe, in places as far away as India, Kuwait or Korea. The days of...
Some Resolutions Executives Wish You Would Make
It’s the New Year. A lot of us make resolutions. “Go to the gym.” “Eliminate sweets.” Have a real lunch, instead of a latte.” Most resolutions that I hear are about people’s waistline — rarely any about one’s professional life. This prompted me to ask executives I...
Generating Interest When Cold Calling
The last thing your customers want to do is take an unsolicited phone call. They are very busy people who have a million problems to solve before the day is done. Their automatic assumption is cold calls waste time. By generating interest immediately, you can...
How to Create Customer Evangelists
The goal of most salespeople is to call on senior-level executives. However, rarely is the sales person’s first point of contact in a large organization with the CEO, CFO or CIO. Usually, salespeople call at a much lower level initially. To short cut the amount of...
How to Influence Decision Makers Right from the Start
When proposing to C level executives, those CEO’s, CIO’s CTO’s, or CFO’s, it is necessary to remember, they are only interested in solving their company’s problems. Obviously, their bonus depends on it. They are not interested in a salesperson who seems to be pushing...
How Managers Can Mitigate Conflict
It would be nice if we could wave a magic wand and have all workplace disagreements disappear. In the close confines of a call center or an inside sales organization, conflicts will happen. As the manager, you may be asked to assume the role of a mediator. It is...
Team Presentations are Not a Series of Solo Acts
High-level customer presentations often involve several people. While teams vary in makeup, typically, they include people who are subject matter experts, as well as the sales executive and the sales manager. The most senior person assumes the role of the team leader....
Here’s how to Gain Customer Loyalty
Picture for a moment your customers on the other end of the phone line. Whether they show it or not, many of your customers are highly stressed. They feel tremendous pressure from their own management team to do things faster or cheaper. When they purchase from your...
Tips for Technical Presentations
Many people find it difficult to sit through a technical presentation. One colleague said she would rather have a root canal. How then can technical speakers make people feel they got the point and that their time was well spent? Here are some suggestions for those of...
Here’s How to Leave a Killer Voicemail
In today’s business world, it is almost a rarity when people answer their phone. Mostly, we reach people’s voicemails. This is extremely frustrating for those of us who need information or want answers. What compounds the issue is that when we leave a voicemail,...
Think Before You Speak
The uncomfortable truth is that everyone is biased. Stereotypes about groups of people are ubiquitous. Some of these preconceived ideas or feelings operate at a level below consciousness, and these are called implicit or unconscious biases. They are not limited to...
What You Learned at 6 Applies to Handling Difficult People
Think back to when you were a preschooler. Most of us had some important life messages drilled into us by our parents, our teachers or our coaches. If we use the wisdom of these messages and apply them to our most difficult callers, we will see an immediate positive...
Are You Inadvertently Killing Your Career?
Everyone wants to succeed, to move up the ladder. To ensure success, we strive to attain advanced degrees and multiple certifications. What we don’t think about is how little missteps can sabotage a promising career and ruin one’s reputation to boot. While these...
Achieving Long Lasting Client Relationships on the Phone
The importance of developing long term relationships with your customers cannot be underestimated, particularly in this down economy. In the past, if a company had a terrific product, customers flocked to the company and stayed with it. Not any more. Today, despite...
Fast Talker — Fast Fix
A lot of us speak quickly when we are on the phone with our customers or clients. Sometimes it is because we have so many calls in the cue or because we feel pressured to get on to the next call. Whatever the case, it is a habit that can cost us business. Why? When we...
Failing Can be a Good Thing
Perhaps, there has been something in your work life that you have failed to do successfully. Maybe a project you directed lost money due to poor planning. Maybe you have lost a job because you failed to bring a problem to the attention of your boss. It’s easy for us...
Five Ways to Turbo Charge Your Career
Have you reached a point where you have felt your career is stagnating? There are some ways to move the needle, but they may involve moving you away from your comfort zone. Here are five solid suggestions. Speak Up A lot of people, depending on their position on the...
Listen Up and Move Up
Listening is the number one skill for success in business today. Poor listening skills make people angry and make them feel you don’t value them. They affect all relationships, especially business relationships. Most people think they are good listeners. In reality,...
Handling the Boss from Hell
Bosses are all different. Some are very even-tempered. Nothing seems to throw them. Others lash out, are demeaning and downright hard to bear. If you are one of those people searching for ways to work with a boss from hell, here are some suggestions. First, examine if...
What You Should Know about Your Customer
Customers, today are a lot more demanding and a lot savvier than they used to be. They know they have many choices. They are often in a hurry, confused, multi-tasking or have English as a second language. When they get you on the phone, their expectation is that you...
What Inspirational Leaders Do That You Can Do
Are you a leader who inspires, who can move people to action? An IBM survey of 1,700 CEO’s in 64 countries reveals that one of the most important leadership traits is the ability to inspire. So the question is, “What do inspirational leaders do that you should start...
Leading a Remote Team
In the old days, managers saw their direct reports daily. They may even have eaten lunch with them or been on the same company bowling team. However, today, managers often oversee people around the globe, in places as far away as India, Kuwait or Korea. The days of...
Tips from the Experts on How to Open
The hardest part of any presentation is the opening. Obviously, gaining people’s attention is critical. If you don’t captivate them as you begin, it’s not likely you will get them to listen as you move forward. Plus, seeing people looking at their phones, instead of...
What You Need to Know about Anger Management
Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, foreign takeover, the down economy, new technologies and the demand for information have created stress and conflict in the workplace. Your score as a business professional depends on how well you handle anger and “challenging”...
Are You Prepared?
The number one reason that presentations fail is a lack of preparation. Whether you are giving an update, making a proposal, suggesting a solution or speaking at a conference, it is critical that you do your homework and understand your listeners and what you want to...
Want a Call Back?
In today’s business world, it is almost a rarity when people answer their phone. Mostly, we reach people’s voicemails. This is extremely frustrating for those of us who need information or want answers. What compounds the issue is that when we leave a voicemail,...
What to Remember When Selling Costly Products
Traditional selling strategies do not work as the cost of the product increases. Large tag items, particularly those in the high technology industries, demand a different approach. Length of Selling Cycle Whereas a low-cost sale can be completed in one call, a major...
Are You the Culprit for Your Customer’s Anger?
Customers from Hell don’t start out as monsters. Something happens that makes them go ballistic. That “something” is often you. Customers have expectations about how they ought to be treated. If the treatment doesn’t measure up, they become agitated. To reduce your...
When Problems Arise with Virtual Teams
With companies spread around the world, virtual teams are now the norm. Obviously, everyone would like these teams to run smoothly and utilize the strengths of their diversity. However, often a group in one location is used to doing things in a particular way, while a...
Your Job Includes Being a Coach
Managers of phone reps all want to see their reps exceed customer expectations each day. But, today’s worker isn’t automatically committed to excellence. John Naisbitt in Re-Inventing the Corporation said: 88% of today’s workers want to work hard and do their best on...
How to Mold Outstanding Reps
Nobody is born as a peak performer. Just ask Serena Williams or Simone Biles. They achieve excellence by being coached and by practicing. They never accept that they are “good enough.” They strive to get better. To coach peak performance in a call center environment,...
Trust Isn’t a Given So How Do You Get It
Trust is vital in any lasting business relationship. In fact, the level of trust you establish determines how successful you will be in selling a product or proposing a solution. If the level of trust is strong, managers will feel you are the right person for the...
How to Think on Your Feet
There are times we make extremely important presentations. Perhaps, it is to an unhappy customer to retain the business, or maybe it is to our own management team about a controversial project. When nervous, we tend to freeze. It seems like we can’t think or breathe....
What Your Voice Says About You
What’s in a voice? Plenty! It is your calling card. It reveals your confidence, your competence, and your warmth. It also establishes trust and credibility with your customer or client. Regretfully, most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how our voice sounds,...
Making Updates Award Winning
Have you ever rolled your eyes at the thought of making another quarterly business review? They take a lot of time to adequately prepare, time you may not have due to other pressing deadlines. Although annoying, these business reviews are essential to providing...
Valuing the Customer—it’s All in the Notes
Larry King, the famous television interviewer, once said, “I remind myself every morning that nothing I say this day will teach me anything. If I am going to learn anything, I must do it by listening.” The advantage for Larry King, of course, is that he sits across...
How to Be Unique and Irreplaceable in the Buyer’s Eyes?
“If you want to stand out, don’t be different; be outstanding” —Meredith West, designer Imagine that a potential buyer needs a particular solution, maybe in healthcare or one in Security. However, when the customer does his research, he finds that all the solutions...
Motivating Your Team is Everything
Success in today’s pressure-cooker workplace depends on high functioning teams. The question that befuddles many managers and supervisors today is how to motivate their inside sales or customer service teams to exceed customer expectations. Three key elements seem to...
The Trick to Making a Winning Presentation
When that great opportunity finally comes along to make a presentation to a potential dream client, you want to be successful with a winning presentation. The question many of us have is “What is the trick?” As simplistic as it sounds, the key is in adding value. The...
Are Your Questions Engaging or Frustrating Your Clients
As inside sales representatives, the way we close business is by asking questions. Often, we ask the same questions of all clients. Sometimes, these questions move people to make decisions, but at other times, they don’t, leading us to wonder “what happened?” Selling...
It’s Ok to Say “No,” But It’s How You Say It That Matters
Saying “No” to a customer is difficult. If it is done in the wrong manner, it can mean escalating a problem or even losing a customer. There are two things to consider before you do say “no” – why and how. Why Are You Saying “No” Before “no” escapes from...
Is Unconscious Bias Affecting Your Communication?
Bias — the uncomfortable truth is that everyone biased. Stereotypes about groups of people are ubiquitous. Some of these preconceived ideas or feelings operate at a level below consciousness, and these are called implicit or unconscious biases. They are not limited to...
Frustrating Questions – Here’s What to Say
Customers can try your patience. It is easy to conclude that no matter what you say; they won’t listen or will become argumentative. Obviously, there are some customers that fill that bill, but most will accept your answers if they sound probable and if you seem...
Has Your Credibility Banana Turned Brown?
“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible, to be credible, we must be truthful.” Edward R Murrow, journalist and news anchor Credibility is everything in the influence game. As a salesperson or someone who supports sales,...
Influence Shouldn’t Be a Crapshoot!
As a child, many of us crossed our fingers in the hopes that we could persuade our mothers to allow us to do something, maybe go to a movie, stay up late or come in after curfew. As business people, we can’t afford to go into that all-important meeting “hoping” our...
Avoiding Peak Period Blues
In any call center organization, there are peak times when we are very busy and times when we are very slow. When it is hectic, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Don’t despair. There are some things that you can do as a manager that will help you survive. Start by...
How to Unlock Your Vocal Power
Our voice is our calling card when we conduct business on the phone. If we want to make a positive impression, our voice should communicate warmth, friendliness, sincerity and confidence. The question is how can we do it? The source of our vocal power is breathing....
Who Needs the Stress
Anyone who works in a call center environment knows about stress and just how stressful it is. In fact, the U.S. Department of Statistics, an agency that categorizes jobs, notes that customer service representatives have the eighth most stressful job. They are right...
For Women to Swim with the Sharks
It shouldn’t be this way, but in many organizations, women are not seen as key players. Study after study shows that women with the same credentials do not get promoted as quickly, nor are they remunerated in the same manner. So the question is what can women do to...
Five Mistakes Sales People Routinely Make
It’s the end of the year. If you’re a salesperson, it’s a good time to reflect on how well you did in 2017. Did you make your quota? Could you have done better? While you can’t win them all, perhaps, it’s important to consider whether you made any missteps that cost...
What’s Important When Training Phone Representatives
Most companies spend their training dollars on improving What Phone Reps say to their customers. While this type of training is an important piece to the puzzle, especially for new hires or when the company has changed directions, it still leaves many Reps feeling...
How to Keep the Multitasking Listener Attentive
Business people have short attention spans. They are used to multi-tasking and they are often preoccupied with things in their personal and business lives. Some researchers believe that the average attention span of an adult, versus a preschooler is seven seconds. In...
Make a Great Impression on the Phone
For many of us, the telephone is our primary vehicle for doing business. Since people make instantaneous decisions about our competence and confidence, often within the first thirty seconds, it is critical to remember the importance of making a good first impression....
There Ought to Be a Law: Communication Competencies
For years, scholars have written about communication skills being the key to your business success. Almost every job lists strong communication skills as a requirement, but exactly what does that mean in the whole scheme of things. Companies need to develop...
When the Going Gets Tough with the Customer
Picture that you have answered the phone and the caller begins with a raised voice. Without any seeming provocation, the person on the other end of the line starts making threatening statements and even swearing. How do you defend yourself against this mad, out of...
Tips from the Top — What One CEO Practices
What do people remember? As a coach, you hope people embrace your suggestions and remember the issues they found challenging after the engagement ends. Periodically, I like to touch base with these business leaders as a double check. I had the pleasure of reconnecting...
What Does Your Voice Say?
What’s in a voice? Plenty! It is your calling card. It reveals your confidence, your competence, and your warmth. It also establishes trust and credibility with your customer or client. Regretfully, most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how our voice sounds,...
What Do You Do If You Speak Too Fast
Do you speak too fast? Does everyone tell you to slow down? Do you also have a lot of “filler” or “crutch” words? Inevitably, if you speak quickly, there will be lots of “ums, ahs and you knows.” If this is you, don’t ignore this issue. It is not okay to speak...
Intentional Listening: A must for Salespeople
Strong listening skills are a must. Customers judge people who are trying to sell their ideas or services on the phone by how well they pay attention to them. They expect phone reps to find solutions to their business issues and to anticipate their ever- growing...
Managing the Jitters
Presenting your ideas to the boss is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s an opportunity to show the boss you know your stuff and you are someone with real potential. On the other hand, if you don’t do a good job or your boss is disappointed with your message,...
First Impressions Are Everything
For many of us, the telephone is our primary vehicle for doing business. Since people make instantaneous decisions about our competence and confidence, often within the first thirty seconds, it is critical to remember the importance of making a good first impression....
Make Your Meeting Worth It
As business professionals, we attend meetings constantly. Sometimes, many of the meetings we attend are a waste of time. Often, they are counterproductive. If you are chairing a meeting, there are a few tips to remember. Preparation Preparing ahead is important. It...
How to Standout on the Job
Standing out on the job can seem daunting. Obviously, the message you want to send to your boss is: I’m a leader. I am someone to watch. I am likable. I am trustworthy. I deserve a promotion. I belong on your team. Ensuring that you are conveying these things to your...
Tips for Motivating Your Team
Success in today’s pressure-cooker workplace depends on high functioning teams. The question that befuddles many managers and supervisors today is how to motivate their inside sales or customer service teams to exceed customer expectations. Three key elements seem to...
What the Boss Wants You to Know about Asking for That Raise
Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss called you into his/her office and offered you a lovely raise? If only, right! In today’s unsettled business environment, the reality is raises aren’t automatic. So what should you do? What are your options? You can keep your fingers...
How to Succeed in a Service Organization
Every organization aims to have exceptional customer service. The reality is that most companies only give lip service to exceeding customer expectations and continue to do as they have always done. Even with advanced technologies, many researchers actually report...
Don’t Get Stuck on the Opening
Where most people get hung up is the opening. However, that’s actually the most important part of a conversation. If those first few minutes aren’t rock solid, it is unlikely the audience will listen all the way to the end. People make instantaneous decisions about...
Rarely Make Presentations? It’s No Excuse!
Don’t think because you rarely make formal presentations, your boss or your peers will forgive you for doing a poor or mediocre job. They won’t! Their expectation is that if you asked them to listen, you will make it worthwhile. Their time is too valuable to be bored...
From Conflict to Cooperation
It would be nice if we could wave a magic wand and have all workplace disagreements disappear. In the close confines of a call center or an inside sales organization, conflict will happen. As the manager, you may be asked to assume the role of a mediator. It is...
Do You Care Enough
“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” — Oprah Winfrey “I was busy” is an excuse many of us use when we don’t do our best. When you carelessly prepare or deliver ideas, your listeners may end up confused, and consequently,...
Without Listening, You can’t sell.
“Listen to the sound of the river, and you will catch fish.” ~ Old Irish Proverb Customers judge people who are trying to sell their ideas or services on the phone by how well they pay attention to them. They expect phone reps to find solutions to their business...
Here’s How to Tank Your Product Launch
An area that is vital to most organization’s success is the launch of new products. However, instead of getting the predicted initial sales, the results are often disappointing. Companies are left frustrated and wonder if their projections were realistic, if the...
Tips for Creating Powerful Messages
Regardless of our job, most of us have updates or presentations to give. This can take a big chunk out of our work week. Obviously, we want these presentations to “knock the socks” off our listeners. While that’s the goal, most business professionals spend 22 hours a...
How to Get the Long Winded Customer Off the Phone
Have you ever wanted to say to a caller, “Hey, let’s move this along?” Sometimes, it seems like our customers will never end the call. If there are calls in the cue, long-winded customers can make our lives very stressful. To manage calls more efficiently, pay...
Deconstructing What Charismatic Speakers Do
A lot of speakers wish they could be seen as charismatic. Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Steve Jobs come to mind as people who were magnetic speakers. When they spoke, people listened and remembered. Obviously, no one is born charismatic, but how...
Take a Breath!
Our voice is our calling card when we conduct business on the phone. If we want to make a positive impression, our voice should communicate warmth, friendliness, sincerity, and confidence. The question is how can we do it? The source of our vocal power is breathing....
What’s the End Game?
Every major corporation with a global presence relies on virtual teams to launch products quickly and gain a competitive edge. For anyone launch, many teams are often involved. For example, a typical launch team may include marketing, sales, engineering, packaging,...
How to Make It Stick
We speak to be understood, yet as Robert Greenleaf once said, “Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.” When asked about information overload in the House of Congress, Representative John Brockmann responded: “Most houseplants in the U.S. are...
The Scoop to Building Relationships on the Phone
A lot of us speak quickly when we are on the phone with our customers or clients. Sometimes it is because we have so many calls in cue or because we feel pressured to get on to the next call. Whatever the case, it is a habit that can cost us business. Why? When we...
Listen like your job depends on it because it just might!
Listening is the number one skill for success in business today. Poor listening skills make people angry and make them feel you don’t value them. They affect all relationships, especially business relationships. Most people think they are good listeners. In reality,...
So What If I Speak Fast
A lot of us speak quickly when we are on the phone with our customers or clients. Sometimes it is because we have so many calls in cue or because we feel pressured to get on to the next call. Whatever the case, it is a habit that can cost us business. Why? When we...
Making Collaboration between Virtual Teams Succeed
“If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together” — African saying Cory Booker’s DNC speech, July, 2016 Most mid-size and large corporations not only have a global presence, but now rely on virtual teams to help them accomplish mission...
Don’t Use That Tone of Voice on Me!
There are a lot of reasons why I hate calling Customer Support. It doesn’t matter what company. The issues remain the same. If I had a wish list, these are the things I would like to see changed- immediately! The first thing that bugs me is long waits with a message...
Tips for a Killer First Impression on the Phone
For many of us, the telephone is our primary vehicle for doing business. Since people make instantaneous decisions about our competence and confidence, often within the first thirty seconds, it is critical to remember the importance of making a good first impression....
Speaking to Direct Reports Requires Forethought
So often when leaders speak downwardly to their direct reports, they don’t think about it. They just do it without much thought. To the person on the other side of the table or on the other side of the globe, the meeting may mean a lot. Speaking to one’s direct...
Gaining Trust with a Global Team
In the old days, managers saw their direct reports daily. They may even have eaten lunch with them or been on the same company bowling team. However, today, managers often oversee people around the globe, in places as far away as India, Kuwait or Korea. The days of...
Who Needs Executive Presence? You Do!
Your boss tells you that you need to work on Executive Presence. However, you are swamped, doing the job of three people and attending one meeting after another. In theory, you agree that it would be great to develop Executive Presence, but yet, you don’t really know...
What Executives Wish You Would Do When Using PowerPoint
Executives tolerate slide shows. No Executive goes into a meeting hoping that you will open your laptop and begin showing slides. They prefer to have a conversation about an issue and utilize slides only when it is necessary to aid comprehension. In querying Decisions...
Do You Know Your Customer?
Customers today are a lot more demanding and a lot savvier than they used to be. They know they have many choices. They are often in a hurry, confused, multi-tasking or have English as a second language. When they get you on the phone, their expectation is that you...
Key Lessons for Success with a Remote Workforce
Thirty to fifty percent of our labor force works remotely today. That’s an increase of about 300 percent in the past twenty years. With a remote workforce, companies feel they can attract smarter people, increase productivity and reduce their carbon footprint. What we...
How to Coach for Results
People always wonder about the best way to coach phone reps so that their organization can deliver world-class customer service. If you want your reps to improve, you must understand the performance issues, know how to break down any problems into manageable steps and...
What Counts in Exceeding Customer Expectations
Jake was a supervisor of a call center for a large telecommunications company. He had worked for the company for four years when a consultant with Impact Communications coached the inside sales team and their supervisors. One of the things Jake religiously preached to...
The Top Three Complaints about Managers
Your first quarter is almost closed. Things are already hectic and project deadlines are piling up. There is a pressure to make the numbers. Does this sound like your life as a manager? If it does, be cautious of making the work take precedence over your people...
Winning at Hiring
Call centers are the heart and soul of an organization. Customers form an impression of you and your organization within seconds based on the person on the other end of the line. If the first impression of a call center representative is positive, customers will be...
See Yourself as Tour Guide of Your Ideas
I just returned from a month-long tour of the Asian Pacific rim, visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In each country, I had a different tour guide. What struck me as impressive were their extraordinary communication skills. It occurs to me that we need to...
Facilitating Workplace Disagreements
It would be nice if we could wave a magic wand and have all workplace disagreements disappear. In the close confines of a call center or an inside sales organization, a conflict will happen. As the manager, you may be asked to assume the role of a mediator. It is...- Zoomed Out? Some Tips
Due to the Pandemic, most business professionals work from home, and many may continue to do so even as corporations and businesses reopen. Zoom and its equivalent are now the norms. Quite possibly, you attend or host three or four of these meetings every day. If you are like many people, you find these meetings […]
- See Yourself as Tour Guide of Your Ideas
I just returned from a month long tour of the Asian Pacific rim, visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In each country, I had a different tour guide. What struck me as impressive were their extraordinary communication skills. It occurs to me that we need to function as tour guides of our messages to ensure our ideas are heard. Here are the things I noticed our great tour guides did that are worth immolating.
- Eliminating Verbal Static: Tips for Curing Filler Words
Filler words, such as “um,” “ah,” “like” and “ok,” represent verbal static or noise that your listeners have to filter out. The more fillers you have, the more difficult it is for your listeners to hear your message. Minimizing these annoying irritants will boost your credibility.
- Everything About Your Voice Matters
When callers hear your voice on the other end of the line, they imagine the person behind the voice. If they like what they hear in the tone of your voice, chances are they will perceive you as knowledgeable and confident. If they don’t like your tone, they may want to speak to a supervisor […]
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