What do you fear for business?

I was at a networking meeting the other week and our host, Mike Stokes, asked us to to share with the group what we fear most. As you would expect heights, spiders, public speaking etc were all mentioned however, when it came to my turn I decided to put across my view on something that really concerns me for the future of business. Communication, verbal communication to be precise, or the lack  of it.

I cited an example of this, which I frequently see when having a coffee or meal in a cafe or restaurant, where couples - I was going to say young here but it now appears to be happening with people of all ages - sitting at the same table and obviously together are using their smart phones to either text or communicate on social media rather than talk to each other (could be that they are texting each other!).
 

In business the same thing is happening, emails and sms messages, which are essential and necessary in business today to confirm conversations, meetings and pass detailed information etc, are being used used as the first choice of communication with colleagues, existing & potential customers and suppliers, sometimes even in the same office, rather than talking to each other. Now I know that  an excuse used is that they need a paper trail however emails and messages can be misinterpreted, instead why not pick up the phone or meet with the relevant person and have a conversation which you then know that your message has been delivered and helps to build trust.

In sales and customer service 'Trust' is especially important as it is the main reason that customers give when purchasing goods and services or why they stay loyal to a particular supplier.

People buy from people, so encourage the use of verbal communication along with methodologies, to bring out the personality of your business.

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Paul is a Business Development Coach & Trainer specialising in High Growth Strategy Planning & Implementation.  Developing Customer Focused Businesses to Deliver Growth.

Call Paul on 01529 413476 - you can even email him (paul@healdi.co.uk) or send an sms message - to arrange a no obligation review

Should you value customers who complain?

Should you value customers who complain and are they always right? Well the answer to the first part of the question is a definite "Yes!" 96% of unhappy customers don't complain, they just don't come back and tell anybody who will listen about their bad experience with your business, so value the customers who complain as they  believe that your product or service has not lived up to the promise and they are giving you the opportunity to do something about their concerns and to redeem the situation to the extent that they become raving fans. How you achieve that is another Blog or training programme.

The answer to the second part of the question "are they always right?" is a definite "sometimes but not always!" Should we tell them that they are not always right? NO! Although they may not be correct in their assumptions they are right to expect us to help them and they are right to expect us to listen and discuss their concerns directly with them. So value them and give them your time to address their issues. The outcome will depend on how you handle the complaint but at this stage you are showing that you value their custom and make them feel important to your business. Remember 70% of businesses change their supplier because they don't feel valued!

Paul Clayton is business management & training consultant specialising in creating high performance cultures and helping businesses to grow by improving strategic Sales & Marketing planning, Customer Experience Management (CEM) and communication.

www.healdi.co.uk                  t: 0845 3081377

Are soft skills really essential to business success?

Why are ‘soft skills’ – communication, building rapport, questioning & listening skills etc. - seen as nice to have and non essential when they are in fact fundamental and crucial to building strong business relationships?
If employees in all departments are not provided with these ‘soft’ skills in the stressful and pressurised world we call business, then how can we expect them to answer customer queries, identify and exploit additional sales opportunities while building those business relationships essential to the survival and prosperity of business today?
Soft skills are as important, and just as hard, as any other business skills such as sales and negotiation, and need to be learned.  Your people need to achieve effective communication, call control, building rapport, phone etiquette & techniques, problem solving, and objection handling to continually improve your business. Having a strategy to improve those skills in communication and the use of the telephone will gain you new customers, boost business with existing accounts, increase service levels from suppliers and strengthen internal team cohesion and motivation;  increased sales and profitability! http://goo.gl/WAtgr

Contact the Author - Paul Clayton for more details