DO YOU HAVE A GOOD REPUTATION FOR DOING THIS? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 157

One of the most appreciated and needed traits in any person is follow through.  It is the ability to connect the dots in any situation and follow through to the best conclusion.  Sadly, it seems to be a very rare commodity in today's workplace, and more's the pity.  Companies are making money in spite of themselves, but they could make even more if their employees would just follow through.

If you are a student, an employee, an employer, a parent, a neighbor, a friend, a spouse or significant other then think about yourself.  Do you follow through?  Do you say you will do something and then not do it? Are you a customer service employee who promises the customer you will take care of their question or complaint but you don't follow through.  It is maddening to have to deal with people who either do not know how to follow through, don't want to make the effort to follow through, or follow through only up to a point but not to the needed conclusion.

Think about the people you interact with........doctors, lawyers, hospitals, pharmacies, construction companies, grocery stores, on-line retailers, department stores, and many more.  Are you satisfied with their ability or that of their employees to follow through, to get back to you when they say they will, or should they improve?

We all need to check ourselves and be sure that both in our personal lives and our working lives that we always

FOLLOW THROUGH!

HOW FAR DO YOU GO? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 140

Sorry this post is late.  Yesterday I had a medical appointment which took much longer than I had expected, and then I had another one this morning so I am running a bit behind.

One of the things I find most annoying is when I have to deal with employees who have either never been properly trained or they just are only interested in a paycheck.  They know nothing about the services or products their company sells, they give out erroneous information, and they have no interest in obtaining the correct information even when asked to do so.  In a difficult economy it would behoove them to do the very best job they can since there are so many people desperate for jobs.  No one is indispensable, and it surprises me that employers do not require more of their employees.  I have heard that some employers feel they cannot afford the cost of taking time to train employees so they just throw them into the proverbial lions' den to sink or swim on their own.  Good employees are wonderful assets, and I am sure companies lose money every day when they do not train their employees and when they do not require outstanding performance from them.

Everyone needs to

GO FURTHER!

Is Patience Really A Virtue?

Patience is not always a virtue! There, I've said it. I am not referring to having patience with children, the elderly, friends, and family which is de rigeur. I am referring to having patience with people who waste our time by having no respect for it. For example, it seems to me that we spend more and more time waiting for people whom WE are paying to serve us (or we are paying the insurance premiums or the taxes which pay them). We are their clients, their patients, their customers; and yet they behave as if our time is not as valuable as their time. I am talking about doctors and dentists whose schedules are so overbooked that appointment times mean nothing. We make appointments, we arrive on time, and then we wait..........and we wait..........and we wait. If we kept them waiting they would just tell us we missed our appointment (and they would charge us for it because we didn't cancel it). I am also talking about service technicians, tradespeople, and anyone we ask to come to our homes to provide their service or to repair whatever is broken. We usually are told a day they will come, and if we are lucky perhaps they will give us a four-hour window of time during which we might expect to see them. For many people, four hours means one-half of a normal work day which in some cases can mean paychecks being docked accordingly in order to stay home and wait and wait and wait. They surely would not wait for us if we were late getting home to let them in sometime during that "window" of time. They would leave and feel justified in charging for a service call. In many cases, we are charged for their driving time to get to our homes in addition to a service call fee plus the time, labor and parts fees. I am writing this today because I am sick and tired of being kept waiting and being charged for it. Being on time is part of good customer service, and it is arrogant on the part of business people and professionals who habitually keep patients and clients waiting. Everyone can have an emergency occasionally but not daily. Keeping people waiting is disrespectful of them, their time, and their patronage. I used to have a personal rule that I would wait no longer than 15 minutes for anyone with whom I had made a specific appointment. I also would not wait longer than 15 minutes for anyone who made an appointment to meet with me because to do so meant that everyone else for the rest of the day would be kept waiting by me. In today's world my personal rules would mean not getting the health or dental care needed because waiting is required it seems. Bringing up children to be punctual and to be respectful of other people's time is a good thing. There, of course, can and will be times of exception due to circumstances beyond their control but the operative word is exception. Do the world a favor and instill good habits in your children, and if you are a person who keeps others waiting please turn over a new leaf and keep appointments on time. In these tight economic times business people and professionals should value their paying customers more than ever, and not wasting their time is the best way to show that appreciation. All comments are welcome whether you agree or disagree.

Do Employers Teach Today's Employees How To Serve Customers?

Sometimes I wonder if today's employers bother to train their employees to serve customers? I had the opportunity to spend 20 years working for Neiman Marcus during years when the customer was always right, the customer was always most important, and customer satisfaction and customer service were the hallmarks of the company. Employees were empowered to satisfy the customers. It was a marvelous experience and one that in truth spoiled me for dealing with other retailers and businesses. Today I went to a major office supply store. A young woman checked me out but gave me no greeting, no smile, and no thank you. Instead I greeted her, thanked her for handing me my purchases and told her to have a nice day. Then I walked next door to one of the supermarkets, filled up my cart, and headed to the checkout line. Again, I received no greeting, no smile, and no thank you. Once more I was the one who greeted her, thanked her for putting the bagged groceries in the cart, and told her to have a nice day. I will think twice about going back to either of those stores. In today's economy businesses are not in a position to turn away customers, and more than fifteen million people are out of work so every employee is replaceable. Wouldn't you think that common sense would suggest that customers need to be given a reason to return to a place of business? I have many choices for office supplies, groceries, pharmacies, etc. I want to shop where I feel my business is appreciated and where common courtesy is the coin of the realm. I would not blog about today's experience if it had just happened for the first time, but it has happened a number of times in both of these establishments. Like most customers I did not complain to management or to the checkers, but I made that silent decision to shop elsewhere (which is what 80% of customers do when they are unhappy with the service they receive or their shopping experience). For those of us who have online shops and stores, our potential and/or actual customers cannot see our smiles or hear our voices. It behooves us to do everything we can to enhance their transactions from making our websites truly user-friendly,selling quality products, packaging them nicely, shipping them promptly, having a clear return/exchange policy, and always remembering to follow up and thank the customers for shopping with us. They have literally thousands of other choices today via the Internet so we should be most appreciative that they opted to shop with us. and the employees who are fortunate enough to have jobs should be willing to work at keeping the customers returning or I feel certain some of the 15,000,000+ unemployed would be thrilled to replace them.