When Delivery Stops, what do you do?
What happens when someone calls you about a problem they are having with a service you offer?
Do you think first of how the problem affects them or do you immediately get defensive or do you just try to fix the problem?
Does dealing just with the problem rather than the person actually help the client feel that you care? Does it build a relationship?
Technology Meltdown
During the last week we moved house. We set up all our technology and found that the internet provider had yet to set up the service because of a backlog so we waited two days for the internet and were told that we would receive a call to tell us the internet was up. The internet came online 32 hours later (40 hours after the phone went live) and four hours before the due time for the call that never came.
48 hours later, the internet was gone again. Now began hours of phone calls to find out that it appeared that the modem had died. Since the box was less than six months old, we could get a replacement within the next week. Yikes, a week without internet. So we went to buy another router. And after a few hours fiddling, and a couple of phone calls we were back online.
Now that Netgear router replacement can serve as a backup unit – oh wait, the paperwork to return it and get a new one has still not arrived. More phone calls required
The Frustration
Most people I know seem to expect things to work when they need them. When they plug in that new appliance or even the old one, they expect it to work. When they turn the key to start the car, they expect it to start. When they turn on their gadget, they expect it to work.
And when they fail to work, they expect to get help and support easily.
Training for Customer Service
The training of customer service people has come a long way but…they forget that there are emotions attached to the problem. Customer service training teaches staff to ignore the emotion and get the problem fixed. And then move on.
Customer service training says,”the problem’s solution is all that matters”.
And to a certain extent they are right.
But every problem has a person or people involved and people have emotions and they often feel pain and frustration because of the “failure” of the service.
Is there an alternative to “solving the problem”?
Yes and it lies in “what will the world be like when the problem is solved?” Keeping in mind what the vision is for the solution to the problem, can ease the frustration that seems to arise from the problem.
When you provide service, you build on the relationships that help you succeed in business. But you need to deal with the whole person. You find that people remember how they felt that the problem was solved rather than the fact that you solved it.
I may be wrong so in the comment box, please share what matters more to you – just getting the problem solved or getting the problem solved by someone who cares that you may be suffering some frustration, possibly even anger, because the problem occurred.
Have we become too PC to recognize that anger and frustration are emotions that affect us as much as love and warm fuzzy feelings?
Relationships take ideas to $$$$s
Roberta
Change mentor
Why A Picture Matters.
What happens when you look at a picture of your loved ones? Does your heart flutter? Do you become more responsive to what comes next?
Did you know that a picture can connect you to an experience. And that experience connects you to an emotion. And that emotion can connect you to an action. And in business action and emotion can help your business grow or it can prevent that growth
How the Picture triggers the mind
What do you think when you look at each of the people in the picture above?
Do you see an excited grandmother who now will need to buy a gift for the newest grandchild or do you see something else?
Do you see a wizard and think of a flim flam man trying to get you to believe his pitch?
Or do you see the successful young executive busy closing the deal?
Do you see a young woman showing you something or do you see something else?
Why do car dealers use bikini models to sell certain brands of cars? Is it because the models make men feel young? Have you noticed the new beefcake models used to sell cars to women?
Why do successful real estate people show their houses in ways that make them inviting to the people who might buy the house?
What YOU See either virtually or actually triggers most of the things you say, do and think
When you have a picture, real or virtual (in your mind) of the prospect you are talking to, you write better copy. You create best when you talk to a real person about what you want to say. Seeing a real person rather than a vague construct, the demographic of your ideal prospect, helps you focus on what you want to say.
Understanding this concept is difficult for many of us. We are afraid that if we talk only to one picture we will miss opportunities with others. But, the interesting thing is that what you see in your picture is different from how others see themselves.
My Business Start Up was specifically targeted to women over 50 who were finding it difficult to find employment and self employment was a viable option for their skills. Our best pieces were created when we talked to each other either in person or pictures each other.
But our following included men and people in their teens and twenties who saw value in the messages we were giving.
Roberta Budvietas
Funds, Trust and Angels
Angel funding schemes, crowd sourcing conventional loans and shares are a few ways to raise money that will help you take your ideas to $$$$s. But what do you know about community funding schemes? Are they an avenue when the bank turns you down?
The Dragon’s Den
In several countries a television program called the Dragon’s Den was created to help product designers and service operators find funding. The contestants pitched their idea to five rich successful business people who then decided either to invest in the business or not. The investment always meant a shareholding in the company and the dragon’s often took on a powerful position as a director and mentor to the business.
Many contestants failed to gain any funding for several reasons. These included:
Dragons’ Den (Photo credit: dullhunk)
- They wanted funding to support themselves while they developed the product
- They refused to give up control of their business to the dragon’s for the investment
- They had no real plan to develop the market for the product.
Yes it was a program for entertainment but what it also did was point out that if you wanted investment in your business, you needed to be prepared to work you butt off for nothing, you needed an understanding of the market needs for your product and you needed to have a plan to for what the money would be used for and the return on investment as a result.
And remember that the investment is returned with interest as agreed at the time of the signing of the documents.
Angel Fund Loan Schemes
Angel investors are usually affluent individuals who put capital into a start up business. Sometimes they take ownership equity or some other debt instrument.
There is usually some form of accountability for the business owner borrowing the money and the angel or the collective investing often have some performance accountability until the debt is repaid or forgiven due to the business failing.
This results when there is a collective effort of individuals who network to support the efforts of other people. Crowd funding is often used to support causes as well as start up businesses or development of some free product (software or inventions).
Recently crowd funding has been achieved by selling small amounts of equity in a business to many investors. This has resulted in legislation on the administration and accountability for this investment in many countries.
Money, Trust and Accountability
Whatever the source of the funds are for the business to start or grow, the common theme is preparation and plans.
- There must be a purpose for the money that benefits the prospective clients and the community.
- The person receiving the money must be prepared to report back on what is happening with the money
- Each side (lender and borrower) trusts that the money will be used as stated and will be returned with some form of interest (real or social)
- Records must be kept and available for reporting back as requested.
Whatever form of funding a business receives, it makes a difference.
It can help people who have never been accountable before to take responsibility.
It can increase the self esteem of the borrower because someone else believes in them and their ability to carry out the plan
It makes a difference in a community because the community takes on the responsibility for giving a helping hand to others in the community to increase their independence and ability to earn an income for themselves by their efforts.
Often the amount of money is small but the trust in handing out the funds is a blessing that only an angel can give. It touches the pocket and the soul, the mind and the heart.
Do you have any angel stories in your life? Please share them in the comments and if you believe we need more angels to help business, share this story and ask others what they need and what they would give.
To your growth
- Roberta Budvietas
Maven Connect
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Guest Blogging with Jon Morrow
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