Take the Telephone Doctor I.Q. Quiz

By Nancy Friedman

You may not have a lifeline...or phone a friend...or even take two wrong answers away...but you will enjoy taking this fun, simple quiz on customer service.

As we all know, it's not rocket science, and of course, most of it is all common sense as they say. However, we all know too that common sense is NOT that common.

So have fun, enjoy the quiz...and good luck!

"How can I help you?" belongs:

1. In the initial greeting.
   
2. In the message taking scenario.
   
3. Nowhere. I'm not able to help anyone.
   

When I'm not able to help a customer, I should:

1. Tell them honestly and thank them for their business and hang up.
   
2. Give whatever information I can, right or wrong.
   
3. Wrong information is better than no information.
   
4. Get help immediately and advise the person help is on the way.
   

When I'm having a bad day, I should:

1. Not bother coming into work.
   
2. Leave my troubles at the doorstep like the song says.
   
3. Tell all my co-workers my troubles to get it off my back.

Chewing gum at work is:

1. OK. A bad breath refresher.
   
2. Downright rude and obnoxious.
   
3. FAGETABOUTIT!
   

A mirror at my desk will:

1. Keep my ego in check.
   
2. Remind me to smile BEFORE I pick up the phone.
   
3. Give me bad luck if it breaks.
   

Basic customer service skills are important to me because:

1. Everyone needs a refresher.
   
2. I need a lot of help.
   
3. I never learned any.
   

Internal customer service means:

1. Be nice to others who come into my office.
   
2. The customer is giving me a stomachache.
   
3. Treating my co-workers as customers.
   

When using voice mail and leaving a message I should:

1. Leave my phone number twice and slowly.
   
2. Leave a good clean joke to keep them smiling.
   
3. Not leave a message...just call back till I reach them.
   

Irate callers/customers are important to our company because:

1. It's fun to handle those kinds of calls.
   
2. At least we get a second chance to make it right.
   
3. I finally get to yell back.
   

Asking questions of the customer will:

1. Aggravate them.
   
2. Show I'm interested in helping.
   
3. Be considered being too nosy.
   

I.Q. Quiz Answers

Correct answer is 2. Anything after your name...erases your name. And on initial greetings, your name is very important. You have answered the phone to help them. It's a given. Those words are best used in a message taking scenario. Correct answer is C. Be sure you let the customer know that help is on the way. That's the most important part.

Correct answer is 2. We need to leave our troubles at the door. Arguments with a spouse or a bad hair day are your problem. Telephone Doctor calls that "emotional leakage." That's getting angry at Peter and taking it out on Paul. Not fair, not right, and no fun.

Correct answer is 3. No gum at work – ever. End of subject. If you have bad breath – use mouthwash. Correct answer is B. The old Telephone Doctor adage..."smile BEFORE you pick up the phone," is the way to make every phone call, or customer contact, a great one. Remember, it's hard to be rude when you're smiling.

Correct answer is 1. Everyone can use a brush up course. There's a great saying: "When you're through learning...you're through." Never stop taking those little basic skill lessons you're offered. Even if you do know it all...look how good you'll feel about that!

Correct answer is 3. We need to treat our co-workers as well as we're going to treat our external customers. Remember: We Are Customers To Each Other. We sure don't need any internal conflicts between co-workers and departments.

Correct answer is 1. Voice mail was meant to take an effective message. Give details and speak conversationally so the person receiving the message will enjoy it. Effective messages have concrete information – dates, times, names, situations. Leave your phone number – twice and slowly. Make voice mail work for you...not against you.

Correct answer is 2. Getting a second chance is golden. And irate callers, while certainly not pleasant, can be the challenge of the day. And they can be satisfied.

Correct answer is 2. Listening and questioning skills are very important to excellent customer service.

Nancy Friedman is president of Telephone Doctor®, an international customer service training company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, specializing in customer service and telephone skills. She is a KEYNOTE speaker at association conferences and corporate gatherings and is the author of four best selling books. Call 314-291-1012 for more information or visit the Web site at www.telephonedoctor.com.

Published in Networking Today, December 2004

What's Your Personal Brand? Coca-Cola, Nike and You

By Karen Susman

I have a thing about buzzwords. Branding is hot, so I'm not hot on branding. To me, your brand is your reputation. By reputation, I mean not only if you have a good or bad reputation, but what people think of when they think of you. Wal-Mart has one reputation (brand) and Neiman Marcus has another. Both sell consumer goods. Meryl Streep has one reputation and Pamela Anderson has another. Yet, they are both actresses (Sorry, Meryl).

You may not think about your brand if you're on staff. But in this world of commodity and downsizing, establishing your personal brand or reputation sets you apart and can keep you employed. Your brand should be in your career development toolbox.

To establish your brand, be clear on who you are – and – on who you aren't. What are you known for? If you're not sure, ask your family, friends, and co-workers how they would describe you. Ask people with whom you volunteer. Ask your vendors, barber, and mechanic.

Knowing who you aren't can be stifling or liberating. I'm very funny but I'm not a comedian. I found out there was a difference and I found it out the hard way. A client hired me to give an after dinner speech for his employee holiday party. I sold funny and he thought he bought comedian. I didn't find out that he thought he'd hired a comedian until I arrived at the banquet room and saw the evening's agenda read, "Karen Susman, Comedian." The client was disappointed because he didn't get whom he thought he'd hired. Not knowing and clearly stating my brand cost me a lot of money, credibility, and goodwill. Even though the audience responded positively, I refunded part of my fee to the client. That was the first and last time I've ever had to do that. Knowing who you aren't helps to manage your and your customers' expectations.

What are your core values? You may change from wide ties to narrow ties depending on fashion, but your core values are here today, tomorrow, and the next day. Be clear on your passions. What do you feel strongly about? What do you love to do professionally and recreationally? To get clear on who you are, ask yourself on what emotional ties you've built relationships with your "customers." For instance, Starbucks sells coffee, but the emotional tie is a feeling of community.

Secondly, be consistently you. It's unsettling to have a brand be one thing one day and another the next. If Martha Stewart becomes warm and fuzzy, we will all be suspicious that her handlers have tied her down, drugged her, and given her a reputation by-pass. According to Louis Patler in his book, TrendSmart, "A good brand is like a good friend; it inspires trust and resonates with core values."

Thirdly, be conspicuously constant. Be seen to be heard. Write, speak, show up, and stand out. Your clothes, grooming, business card, letterhead, and office need to reflect your brand.

Finally, you need a big idea that makes you stand out. I can't tell you what that is for you. I'm still working on mine. Your big idea must engage people. Your big idea has to be valuable. Your big idea has to be unique. The connection you generate with people through your big idea is beyond logical. After all, you can brew fifty cups of coffee at home for the cost of two lattes at Starbucks. Coca-cola has no nutritional value. Yet, people all over the world plunk down dollars and drachmas to swig coloured sugar water.

It makes no rational sense to own an Apple Computer. It's more expensive and there's less software for an Apple than for garden variety PC’s. Don't try to take an Apple owner's Apple away from him. To own an Apple is to be a member of an elite club that only other Apple members can appreciate. If you have to ask why an Apple owner doesn't switch to a Dell or HP, you don't get it. Now, that's a brand/reputation.

As I said, I'm still searching for my brand. The search is enlightening. The search clarifies who you are, what you stand for, and how you're different. Finally, don't keep that information a secret. Tell the world. That's how you establish your brand.

Karen Susman is a Speaker, Trainer, Coach, and Author of 102 Top Dog Networking Secrets. Karen works with organizations that want to maximize performance. Programs include Humour at Work; Balance In Life; Networking Skills; Presentation Skills; and Building Community Involvement. Order new guidebooks on humour, networking, time management, and community involvement by calling 1-888-678-8818 or e-mail Karen@KarenSusman.com.. www.KarenSusman.com.

Published in Networking Today, December, 2004.

Backing Up Your Web Site Data…An Overlooked & Underused Necessity

By Chris Kivlehan

Over the last decade many businesses, long established and newly formed alike, have made the World Wide Web a key revenue-generating channel. Billions of dollars are transacted each year over the Web. For many, going online to make a purchase or to find information that will lead to a purchase is now second nature.

A natural consequence of this situation is that enormous amounts of very valuable data are stored on computers. And as we all well know, computers tend to die from time to time. For every business that is using the Web as a revenue-generating channel, their data is an important company asset. The loss of a customer order database could be devastating to a business, leading to unfulfilled orders, dissatisfied customers, and loss of touch with thousands of clients. Depending on one computer alone, death-prone machines that they are, is a formula for disaster.

Since it is pretty self-evident that preventing the loss of all of a business’ orders and customer information is an important task, why is it that backup solutions are among the lowest priorities of most businesses shopping for Web hosting?

Backups could be compared to life insurance policies for your Web operation, but they are really something more. Quality backups are like a life insurance plan that would resurrect you if you passed away, rather than simply grant your loved ones some monetary assistance.

Like a Web hosting plan, backup solution should be chosen appropriately with what the company is doing on the Web. Businesses running small brochure Web sites will need the most modest sort of backups; however, businesses collecting data from customers and prospects through the Web need very reliable backup solutions. The acid test for a backup plan is whether it provides the means to restore your site to a fully operational condition within one hour after a server crash.

A modest backup suitable for a brochure-style site can consist of simply keeping a spare copy of all of the files on a separate computer. If the site is such that visitors do not submit to any databases or add any content, then this type of backup is perfect. Certainly, a basic brochure site could be restored very quickly with this type of backup.

Sites that are dynamically interacting with visitors and constantly writing new information to databases cannot rely on simply keeping spare copies of their files. Those copied files are quickly outdated. Databases that are accepting information online need to be backed up frequently. How frequently depends on how important the data is to the company, and how unacceptable some data loss is in a disaster. For a relatively low traffic site where the data being collect isn’t all that critical, weekly backups may suffice. For sites collecting large amounts of orders and client information every day, daily backups are a minimum requirement. The very largest e-commerce sites have been known to take backups on an hourly basis, or even have their data constantly written to backup computers in a process known as replication.

Technologies used for backup solutions will vary depending on the operating system platform and the type of data that is being backed up. In a Windows environment, Veritas (www.veritas.com) software’s BackupExec is a premier solution for those who cannot afford any data loss. Veritas produces special agents to work with many leading software applications to ensure data from those applications is backed up perfectly. In a Unix environment, open source backup software such as Bacula (www.bacula.org) makes for a high-quality, low-cost solution.

In addition to the software products that actually run backups, businesses must consider what type of media they want their backup stored on. Choices include secondary hard drives in the same computer that is running the site, tape drives, separate network storage devices and CDs or DVDs. CDs and DVDs make for great portable backups, but are limited to relatively small file sizes (roughly 700MB and 4.8GB respectively). Network storage devices can be very expensive, but can backup enormous amounts of data. Tape drives offer perhaps the best balance of cost, storage capacity, portability, security, and quality. Backups done to a second hard drive are the easiest on the budget and the fastest in terms of restore time, but are vulnerable to corruption in a situation where the disaster is caused by a hacker.

Choosing the right backup plan for your business should be done in consultation with an experienced professional who can help you design a solution that will allow you to restore your site to full functionality as quickly as needed. While often overlooked in the price-conscious shopping process, backups are critical to the long-term success of any Web operation. Computers being what they are, after a certain amount of time it is a given that your backup solution will be tested. It is just a matter of when. It is best to be prepared for this day with an appropriate backup solution.

Four Things to Do When Administering Backups

1. Have written policy and procedures in place on how a restore from backup should be handled. In a time of crisis, this will cut down on confusion and allow the process to move along more smoothly.
   
2. Test restores from backup. This is critical. Some complex applications might require special software agents or configurations to backup and restore properly. Make sure the test restore is successfully accomplished in a time frame that would be acceptable for a real restore. If the process takes too long, you may have to reconsider your backup strategy.
   
3. Physically protect backup data from hackers and thieves. Someone getting a hold of an unencrypted backup is just as bad as someone breaking in.
   
4. Keep copies of software that may need to be re-installed along with your backups. This includes operating systems, software applications, and security patches for either of those.
   

Chris Kivlehan is the Marketing Manager for INetU Managed Hosting, an award-winning Web hosting provider that specializes in managed dedicated hosting for businesses nationwide. www.inetu.net Email: chrisk@inetu.net Phone: 610-266-7441

Published in Networking Today, December 2004

Managing Client Crises

By Andrew Sobel

I recently interviewed a client of mine on the topic of client crises, in preparation for a program I was designing for her organization. "Do you have all night?" she asked, laughing, "They're continuous!"

Every professional who works with clients faces periodic crises or "rough patches" in his or her relationships – it's inevitable. Because of the complex nature of human interaction, not every client is going to be deliriously happy with you and your work, all of the time. I face these speed bumps myself, regularly, and I have to admit they make the perfectionist in me very uncomfortable (I think, naively, "If you're always trying to do your best, shouldn't things always be perfectly smooth?).

Let's look at different types of client crises, and some principles for dealing with them.

The first distinction you need to make is whether it's YOUR crisis or the CLIENT'S crisis.

Examples of a crisis that's yours:

• You've overcommitted yourself and are having trouble meeting client expectations.
  
  
• You're tired, bored, sick, depressed, or otherwise unmotivated to engage with your clients and your work.
  
  
• Your clients are making fairly normal demands on you, but for various reasons you feel that it's too much and you're tired of being "imposed upon."
  
  
• You are having a crisis in your personal or family life. If the crisis is yours, then you may not even need to involve your client in solving it, except perhaps from a logistical standpoint; e.g., you need a breather or an extension.
  

This is an important distinction. When you are out-of-balance or stressed, it's easy to feel that clients are being unreasonable or just plain wrong.

If it's your crisis rather than the client's crisis, the solutions may include:

• Taking time off to rest and regain your perspective. Are you working on weekends? Give yourself a full two-day weekend without checking email or doing client work. Better: Occasionally take a three- or four-day weekend.
  
  
• Venting to someone you trust.
  
  
• Working on improving your schedule three or four months out. If things are out of control now, you probably can't do much about it in the short term. But you certainly can influence next quarter, today, with some more disciplined planning.
  
  
• Getting an extension from one of your clients. Chances are you are working on something, for someone, which can wait an extra week or two.
  

Crises that directly involve your client or are precipitated by your client can come in many shapes and forms. Sometimes, it has to do with direct dissatisfaction with the work product.

Here are some recent examples of this, cited by my own clients:

• A litigation attorney gets an unfavourable ruling in a trial.
  
  
• An investment banker is unable to find a buyer for a division that his client wants to sell.
  
  
• A consultant recommends a reorganization, and implementing it turns out to be much more difficult than anyone expected.
  
  
• Software does not work as promised, and the client experiences constant outages or systems failures. On other occasions, the crisis may be subtler or may involve complex interpersonal dynamics.
  

Here are some real examples:

• You are working with an executive whose boss is your client. You are critical of that executive's performance – as it relates to his role in your project – and your client, unexpectedly, severely chastises his subordinate. The subordinate, with whom you have to work to get the project done, is now livid and hostile toward you.
  
  
• Your client is arrogant, overly demanding, and hard to work with. Slowly, over time, your face time diminishes because you find him so difficult, and communications become stilted. The client begins to think you no longer care about his business. He starts bad-mouthing you out in the marketplace.
  
  
• You give your client blunt, honest advice, advising her not to take certain courses of action. Over time, she drifts away from you, and begins relying on other, competing professionals who are more agreeable to her direction. You feel like you're getting punished for your honestly and independence.
  

Every situation is a little different, and I'm not going to even try to suggest the specific solutions to these crises in this article. In fact, very often THERE ARE NO SOLUTIONS to these crises-the solution lies in the way you go about addressing the client's concern.

Here are some general principals that can guide us:

1. Responding rapidly. If a client is unhappy, deal with it immediately. Don't make an appointment in three weeks to discuss it. Your willingness to drop what you're doing to immediately and speedily discuss your client's concerns – by demonstrating that you care and will listen – will by itself improve the situation. Sometimes, the client simply needs to hear, "What you think is very important to me and I want to (take the next flight/drive two hours/use up my Sunday morning/etc.) to meet with you and discuss this."
   
   
2. Listening without being defensive. When someone is upset, he wants you to listen and empathize without passing judgment on what he has said. The worst thing you can do is start to listen and then slowly begin to counter what your client is saying; e.g., "Well, you're right that we were not very inclusive of Bill but after all he did a terrible job so it's not unexpected that we'd react that way, it's only normal...." Listen deeply, and thank your client for sharing his thoughts with you.
   
   
3. Saying you're sorry. Even if you think the blame is equally spread, apologizing can help to defuse the situation and begin a new dialog. It's hard to keep kicking someone when they apologize to you.
   
   
4. Offering amends. If in fact you have done something egregious or have failed in some way, it can help to offer some amends. A client of mine told me how one of his clients recently went into a rage over an invoice that he received. He felt it was totally unjustified. In reality, some good, honest work had been done and the invoice was appropriate. But my client had done a very poor job of communicating just how complicated this small piece of work was going to be. My client immediately offered his client a substantial fee credit toward their next engagement. The angry executive was delighted over this, and the incident was over almost immediately. In fact, the relationship was strengthened.
   
   
5. Avoiding excuses. This goes along with not being defensive. It's natural to want to explain to the client all the reasons why you are not at fault. Once you have defused the anger or other upset emotions, you may very well be able to have this discussion. But don't lead with excuses.
   
   
6. Anticipating the crisis. If you speak frequently to your client and have lots of open communication, you will be able to head off many crises. If there is an atmosphere of openness between you, there's a greater likelihood that your client's concerns will surface when they are baby concerns rather than when they grow into monsters.
   
   
7. Getting it out into the open. When negative emotions are kept in the dark, they fester and grow. When you get them out into the light of day, they shrink and often disappear. Go for transparency with your clients. If you know there is a sticky issue they are upset about, try to confront it openly and get it out on the table.
   

The best illustration of this idea is a wonderful poem by William Blake (1757-1827), called "The Poison Tree." Read this insightful poem by one of the great English romantic poets:

A Poison Tree
By William Blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree

In the end, I think these are pretty good principles to follow not just with clients but also in our dealings with family and friends.

Andrew Sobel is the leading authority on client relationships and the skills and strategies required to earn enduring client and customer loyalty. He is coauthor of Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Development Breakthrough Relationships (Simon & Schuster). He can be reached at (505) 982-0211 or by e-mail at andrew@andrewsobel.com www.andrewsobel.com

Published in Networking Today, December 2004.

Cracking Under the Pressure? Or Loving It?

By Barbara Bartlein

Chronic stress has been associated with a host of physical problems including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and depression. Yet, there are some people who seem to thrive in overdrive to meet deadlines while juggling a brutal schedule. To their co-workers and families, they may appear to be workaholics. But according to new research, they simply may be more resilient or hardy when it comes to handling stress.

“People who are high in hardiness enjoy ongoing changes and difficulties,” said Dr. Salvatore R. Maddi, a psychology professor at the University of California. “They tend to think of stress as a normal part of life, rather than as something that’s unfair.”

Recent research at the neuroendocrinology laboratory at Rockefeller University has demonstrated that people who cope successfully with stress check into work with normal levels of stress hormones. These hormones may climb during the day but they drop sharply at night. Their fellow employees who complain of being too stressed have higher levels of hormones most of that time, rarely dipping, even at home. This ambushes them in a constant state of stress and anxiety.

As with much of our physical functioning, genetics plays a role in how your body produces and handles the stress hormones. Some people simply have a more automatic response where cortisol is released rapidly and builds up in the body.

Your personal upbringing can also be a factor. Sometimes, people crave a fast-paced career because their childhoods were not very stimulating and they longed for something else. Some folks subject themselves to stressors of their own making, driven by unconscious desires to show that they can conquer the challenges.


Stress resilient folks are skilled at knowing when they are reaching their breaking point, and when they need to take a walk or turn off the electronics. They often have had early experiences in difficult situations that taught them how to handle stress more effectively. Some things you can do to become more stress resilient:

• Know your early symptoms of overload: Headaches, backaches, and muscle stiffness are clues that stress is producing the stress chemicals in the body. Insomnia, especially nocturnal variation (waking up after falling asleep) is a classic symptom. Forgetfulness and irritability both signal that the brain is on overload and needs a break.
  
  
• Take action early. If you experience some early symptoms, that is the moment to take action, not when you are completely exhausted. Take an evening off and spend time with the family. Go for a long walk or bike ride. Curl up by the fire and watch a funny movie. This gives your body and mind a chance to renew and regroup.
  
  
• Power your performance: Skip the donuts, old coffee cake, and other low nutrition foods that linger next to the coffee pot in the kitchen. They only deplete your energy and leave you prone to “sugar lows” after your body has tried to digest the empty calories. Eat fruit, yogurt, smoothies, and other power building foods instead. And don’t forget breakfast. This is the meal that starts the engines for the entire day.
  
  
• Siphon your stress: Physical activity reduces stress hormones in your system. Schedule it on your calendar the same way you schedule everything else. Do something everyday. This can be as simple as a twenty-minute walk or taking the stairs several times. At least three times per week, do some fairly strenuous exercise like swimming, riding a bike, or going to the gym.
  
  
• Adjust the attitude: It is not realistic to remove all stress from your life. Stress resilient folks not only expect stress, they prepare for it. If you know you have some difficult challenges in the next week or two, take extra steps to monitor your self-care to be more resilient.
  

For fast-acting relief, slow your life down.

Sign up for Barbara's FREE email newsletter at www.barbbartlein.com. Barbara Bartlein is the PeoplePro™. She helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by email at: barb@barbbartlein.com or visit her Web site at www.ThePeoplePro.com. Published in Networking Today, December 2004.