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The most awesome customer service is…
Customer service can make or break a business. Or can it? Unless your blue ocean strategy is so insanely good that you are the only player in your market, chances are you will need some pretty good customer service to retain existing customers and win you new ones. I’m not going into sales, marketing or products for the purpose of this short (but informative..)blog. I would just like to share some thoughts on revving up the customer service quotient with some good old fashion manners.
In fact, let us go a little further. Wills and Kate (Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to us common folks..) will be visiting Oz soon. So with that inspiration in mind, here are 5 tips to make your customers feel like they are being treated like a VVIP:
- Alway keep your customer to your right – When walking with your customer, keep your customer at your right hand side. You will notice that at official events, the hosts will always keep their guests to their right.
- Use your right hand to direct a customer. Some cultures regard the left hand as unclean. To keep more people happy, use your right hand to direct. Or go one step further, walk your customer to their destination. (See point 1)
- Smile – no explanation required, just a gentle reminder – but see point 4.
- Sincerity – Please, do not smile if you cannot be sincere. All your hard work will just be in vain. If you are having a tough day, think of a person or pet that always brings a smile to your face. Your smile will come across more sincere as you share a beautiful thought through this powerful non-verbal language.
- Commonsense – Know when to break protocol. If your customer needs handrails to go up and down a step or two, that should take precedence over the guest-on-the-right-rule. Comfort and safety over rules.
Go forth and spread awesome care and consideration!
5 Things to do for a Marvelous Monday!
You have a choice, moan about Mondays or make them Marvelous Mondays! Think of Mondays as a ‘preview’ of you for the week. When people watch a preview, they often decide if they want more.
So make people want more! Why? The more people want to hear, see, work and play with you, the more opportunities you will have to go further and dream bigger.
It’s like a numbers’ game in sales, the more calls you make, the more opportunities you will have to sell and close.
So what are 5 Things To do to make Mondays More Marvelous…
1) Take extra care in managing your image. When you look good, you feel good. Pick clothes that make you fee like superman when you put them on. Groom impeccably.
2) Stand tall – Researchers at Harvard Business School have found that when you do ‘Power Poses’ you feel more confident. What you do physically affects you psychologically. It’s biology! So stand tall and use furniture as an extension of yourself instead of hiding behind them.
3)Smile – and the world smiles with you! People like to hang around happy people. Plus, when you smile, you trigger ‘happy’ chemicals in your brain. It is also contagious…apparently. So, wouldn’t it be great that everytime someone walks away from you, they feel good.(No, not because they left you…but because an encounter with you leaves them feeling better!)
4) Be kind – you’ll be surprised how good it feels to simply be kind to someone. They may even pay that forward..you may even start a revolution!
5) Be sincere – So, you may be the best practitioner of positive body language and with a mega watt smile to boot. But, it will fall flat or sink like the Titanic if it is filled with … nothing. A little sincerity goes a long way. Try it.
Wishing you a Marvelous Monday!
5 business meeting tips you can use when out on a date…
Image via Wikipedia
- Be present. You have to be there physically and mentally. Texting or reading your emails in meetings are not acceptable. For dates..it could mean the difference between a second date or NOT.
- Make your business contacts feel that they are the VVIP. Keep your eyes and ears on them throughout the session. Use good eye contact and nod appropriately.It will make them feel that you are actively listening…and interested in what they are saying. Likewise, on a date. Make your date feel that they are the only person that matters in the restaurant, the mall, the beach, wherever you are on that date.
- Ask relevant, open questions. It will help build better rapport. Sitting down and preaching about your products and services seem almost rude if you didn’t try to find out what the client wants first OR what the meeting agenda is. Similarly, on a date, avoid talking incessantly about yourself..really. Be interesting but be interested in the other person first.
- Be well groomed. This needs no elaboration. If you do need to be convinced about why you should groom yourself well for both work and play..seek professional help. I mean really, seek help from a professional image consultant :).
- Finally, be sincerely YOU. You can’t just ‘wing’ it with brilliant techniques and strategies. There’s got to be sincerity in all you do.
Have fun at work and play!
Why are your colleagues zooming ahead in their careers but not you?
Image via Wikipedia
There could be a number of reasons why others are promoted ahead of you. However, here are some food for thought if you are feeling a bit left out.. So first things first – are you working hard but not smart?
Let’s break this down further:
1. How’s your networking? Are you communicating well with people at work? Peers and superiors?
2. How’s your social networking?? Facebook much? Maybe too much? Linkedin may be a better option in the professional world. Do you have a good presence on LI?
3. Do you dress sharply? As in, do you look like a manager/leader? If they can’t see you in a management role, they are unlikely to promote you. It doesn’t mean they won’t … it just mean it may take you longer to get there. (Seeing is believing..so if they don’t see.. it may take them longer to believe!!)
4. How’s your attitude? A positive attitude shows that you can learn new skills, acquire new knowledge. When you are in a positive state of mind, it comes across in your body language and speech. It might even be contagious!! What would happen if people started feeling good when they are around you? People could actually start wanting to listen to you, follow you, be inspired by you. Traits of a leader….?
5. What about your communication skills? Do you speak with authority, communicate clearly, listen actively? Record and listen to yourself speak. Can’t bear to? Then how do you expect anyone else to listen to you??
6. Passion – are you passionate about what you are doing? If you have to drag yourself out of bed every morning, you can hardly be inspiring, likable and authoritative..I don’t know..I’m just saying…
RIP Steve Jobs
Thanks to Jon Mak for creation of a beautiful icon. All my blogs, presentations, work and play are done on Apple products. His presentations were inspirational and taught me a lot on how to ‘speak’ to the crowds.
I’m happy to say that I’m a cult Mac user.
My first lesson on a computer was with huge Macintosh back in the days.
Thanks for all the great products. Good wishes to the Jobs family.
Looking cool and chic in the heat!
Love how her white sneakers make her outfit ‘pop’! The hot weather is no excuse for looking sloppy. The green and black sweater over her shoulders add interest to a plain black background of her tshirt.
Keeping dry in the humidity.
Another great find to help keep you looking fresher longer. Face it, if the ad for the deodorant says ‘you will feel dry for 48 hours..’ Reality…. It’s probably more like 48 minutes here in humid Singapore. (Today, it must have been 34 deg and 180% humidity,,)
I recently tried a product called Perspirex. It’s probably one of the better ones in the market. And I really do feel ‘drier’ longer. Worth a try if you run around a bit. It’s on the pricey side at about S$29 . You will need to apply it for about 5 consecutive nights. Good news is that you won’t need to put anything on in the morning!
It is effective for about 4-5 days. I’m sure that will differ from person to the next. So check before you leave on that date!
You can also purchase the Perspirex hand and foot lotion. The lotion is meant to keep sweaty palms and feet at bay! So, where can you find this product? In Singapore, at Guardian, Watsons and Sasa. Everywhere else, try your local chemist.
A client with a severe sweaty palm issue recently told me that it’s the most effective product he has tried thus far. He managed to keep dry for a couple of hours. (Did I mention ‘severe’..) Sometimes, an hour or so to complete your meeting or interview is all you need to keep your cool and confidence.
Try and let me know!
Managing oily skin in humid, hot weather…
One of the things I miss most about the land down under is the weather. Okay, Bondi Beach is pretty high on the list as well….(you can find some pretty awesome bagels in Bondi)
Living in Singapore has its’ perks as well but that is for another day..For now, I am sharing what is working for me in managing the shiny T-zone. As many of you living in Singapore will know, the seasons are…rain or no rain. The only constant is the humidity. It does not go below 22 (at night, one night, many moons ago).
So how does one keep one’s face from the dreaded shine? We want our skin to be hydrated, supple, bright BUT not dripping from over active oil glands. We shall leave that to the oil-producing countries.
Here are some products that I have found helpful.
- “Off with those heads!” – Other than the fact that I lurve the tagline, it works better than most of the black/white head products I have used in the past.
I have been using it at night a
s I find that it works best for me. No signs of blackheads after 2 months. Nada! I’m surprised. Pleasantly surprised as there were no painful extractions to endure!
The whiteheads..well, they are a bit tougher. It’s reduced it significantly but it has not totally cleared it. - In the morning, a good wash with Kingo, Kingo (see earlier post about the fab japanese face wash.)
- Followed by Vichy moisturizer which promises 6 hours of no-shine but for me, I’m lucky to get a couple of hours. (If I sit still and not move in an air-conditioned room – set at 18 degrees, I may get 3 hours..).
- I mix my Vichy foundation with the Vichy Normaderm. It allows me to use less foundation for maximum coverage.
- A light coverage of powder (try Revlon’s powder foundation.) to seal.
Note: During the day, when the shine starts to show, use a tissue to dab your skin. Then follow through with a dusting of face powder. If you don’t dab the oil off, you may find that your powder will ‘cake’ up. Not a good look. Using oil blotters are fine for the exceptionally busy days but I find that they more I use them, the more active the oil glands.
Enjoy! Let me know if you are using any revolutionary products that are keeping the oil glands at bay!
Decoding Dress Codes
Image by curlsdiva via Flickr
I was asked to put down a few words on dress codes for a newspaper article recently. Bits and bobs were used. Since, I’ve spent time writing the details down, I thought I would share it online. So here goes – some of the most common dress codes we have come across:
White tie
a) what it means – it is the most formal dress code.
b) what events are they usually for?- Usually for state and/or royal events.
c) what to wear – White bow tie, vest and tail coat for gentlemen and long/ballroom gowns for the ladies and also national costumes.
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – most common mistakes men wearing white bow ties with a black jacket as oppose to tailcoat.
Black tie
a) what it means – Formal event
b) what events are they usually for – formal events i.e. gallery openings, premieres, annual dinner events, charity events etc
c) what to wear (down to details…like for the women, where should the hemlines be etc.) – long evening dresses for women or elegant separates, black bow tie/tuxedo for men and national costumes for both genders.
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – avoid just wearing a business suit for both men and women. –
Formal/Black tie optional
a) what it means – It is a formal event (duh..?)
b) what events are they usually for (e.g. state dinners or gallery opening etc.) – Dinners, openings, charity events – less structured or less formalities
c) what to wear (down to details…like for the women, where should the hemlines be etc.) – elegant separates, dressy cocktail dresses, long evening dresses for ladies. Tuxedos or dark suit for the men. National costumes for both genders.
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – Avoid wearing your work suits (ladies, too boring and not formal enough) and avoid dull ties and light suits (men – not formal enough). Choose ties with a bit of sheen or shine on the fabric. It works better in the dimmer evening lights.
Cocktail/semi-formal
a) what it means – Even though it is not ‘formal’, there is still an element of elegance and formality when the dress code says that.
b) what events are they usually for – Evening drinks before a sit-down dinner, networking, gallery/store openings etc.
c) what to wear – cocktail dresses or dressy separates for women. Business suit for men. (Can be worn without a tie. However, do keep your shirt sharp with a well pressed collar.) Nothing worse than a floppy collar…
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – Avoid wearing ballroom/long gowns (too much!) and avoid Tuxedos (men) –
Semi-formal or Business casual
a) what it means – A more relaxed atmosphere but ‘business behaviour/conduct is expected’ and business is still being conducted.
b) what events are they usually for (e.g. state dinners or gallery opening etc.) – networking events, corporate entertaining, conferences, tradeshows, etc.
c) what to wear (down to details…like for the women, where should the hemlines be etc.) – Hemlines should not rise above 4 fingers from your knees for business events for the ladies. Structured separates for both men and women. For example, a tailored blouse with long pants or skirt for women, a long-sleeve shirt and tailored pants for men (with or without tie). Jacket with an oxford-shirt (button down collar) and without a tie.
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – Common mistakes include not remembering that Business comes before casual. Tshirts, jeans, shorts are not the best option.
Smart Casual/Stylish Casual
a) what it means – A relaxing atmosphere with a hint of ‘you are still expected to put some effort in your appearance’.
b) what events are they usually for – weekend company retreats, barbeques, parties (usually when the host has put some effort in the organisation of the event or it may be held at a hotel, restaurant or club where dress codes are required) weekend meetings, seminars.
c) what to wear – Again, smart and stylish comes before casual. Stylish separates for both men and women. For example, a tailored blouse with long pants or skirt for women. As it is less formal, dark denim is a great alternative. Twin sets with wide-legged pants, etc. Polo shirt and pants for men. An oxford-shirt (button down collar) and pants/dark denim/khaki. Tailored bermudas and polo t-shirt.
d) clothing items to avoid wearing at all costs for that particular dress code/ common mistakes that people make – Common mistakes – slippers, sporty bermudas (large pockets, shapeless), tshirts with strong personal statements printed on (we’ve all seen them.. and wonder what the..??. Short shorts, spaghetti tops, see-through tops, shapeless t-shirts, torn jeans.
So why should you stick to a dress code?
The organisers/hosts have put effort into the event and it is simply good manners to follow their request if you are accepting their invitation. You do it out of respect for your host and also for the event (wedding, birthday,charity).
I remember attending a charity dinner a few years ago. The VIP GOH was President Nathan. Other VIPs included Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The invite said Formal, yet there were people who turned up without a jacket, without a tie and jacket, women in everyday work wear (not even a suit..)..ai yi yi!!! President Nathan and Steve Ballmer both turned up as per the dress code, dark suit and sharp red tie and long sleeved Batik shirt for President Nathan . Where is the love people??? 🙂 Even at the Pinnacle of their careers and personal life, these two gentlemen are true testament to their integrity and is why they are where they are today. Taking nothing for granted and treating everyone like a VIP instead of being treated as the VIP. I take my hat off to them..The signs of true leadership.
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