Arrive on time.

In business, you cannot afford to be late. And yet, South Africans are often late. Not only does this show bad manners, it shows that that have a total lack of respect for the person you are seeing.

You have to plan ahead and allow time for the 101 things that could go wrong. There will be times when you cannot be on time, no matter how had you plan. Those times are unaviodable but will happen infrequently if you are in the habit of planning.

When a customer arrives late for an appoitment, do they believe that their business is so important that you have to grovel and accept their lack of manners. Actually. it tells me what to expect from them from them when it comes to getting information to me on time and to paying on time at the end of a project.

Remember, to be on time and avoid problems.

Stress

The modern business environment, especially now, during a recession, is very stressful. The best way to overcome stress is to join a Gym, who will map an exercise program and an eating plan for you. But gyms cost money and very often it is the lack of money that causes your stress.

So what can you do to combat stress? A litte bit of common sense actually.
Step One. Cut back on alcohol.
Step Two Cut out Junk Food.
Step Three Give up smoking.

At this stage I can hear you muttering, “Ya, right!” But think, would you prefer to wake up clear headed and not coughing? Would you prefer not to have a ulcer? And I can go on and on. No one says that you cannot indulge once in a while, too frequently and you will pick up these and other problems.

But getting back to stress, a healthy person is better able to combat stress.

There are other steps, exercise, spend more time with family, know when to switch from work mode.

And get a pet! Animals will give you uncondional love (except a cat – but then you don’t own a cat, it owns you!) You can tell them anything without ever worrying that they cannot keep a secret.

Call Centres – don’t you just hate them!

The Oatmeal has published a comic “Why I’d rather be punched in the testicles than phone customer service!” The sad part is, that it is accurate. Calling a customer service can be very traumatic.

My biggest complaint is they do not bother to read the customer profile. The profile is there for to help them and to prevent upsetting the client. My next complaint is they do not know the customer from Adam, therefore unless inviteed to do so by the client they should not call him by his first name but by his title. Why, because it is good manners and a sign of respect.

Remember, people call customer service mainly when something goes wrong, which means that they are already upset. People also hate to hold, so if the solution is going to take a while, offer to phone back. (and do so!)

Then there is the on hold music and the messages, either one that tells you, “Please hold, your call is important to us and we will be with you shortly.” (Ya right), or, ” You are number x in the que, please hold.”

At my last job, my colleagues would put any “on hold” call on speaker phone and carry on with their work until the call was answered.

Oh, and I never call a call centre from my mobile, except for my mobile vendor as that call is free.

So yes, the idea of a call centre is great, pity the people manning it are not!

I am back – Arnie style!

Arnie (Schwarzenegger) muttered the words “I’ll be back!” in that unique accent of his in The Terminator. I on the other hand, did not. I stopped posting in this blog because of Business gone Bad.

I moved and was forced to change from Telkom and ADSl to Neotel and Wireless. It took more than a month before I was back online, because Iwas conned into believing that we would get a decent signal at my new home.  It took that long for Neotel to install a booster antenna.

I wish I could say that that was the end of my problem with Neotel, but alas that was only the beginning. (Another post – I promise!)

Not being able to work online meant that I had to rethink my business and this blog was one of the projects i was forced to abandon.  I decided to revive it, because the level of service I have experienced whilst trying to sort out problems with Neotel have been horrendous.

Problems happen, it is how you handle them, that separates good business from bad business!

I will be updating this blog once a week, on a Sunday. Hope to see then.

What is the Old Fashioned Way?

Business today is conducted at a much faster pace than in the past, because we have the improved technology to do so.  Improvements in technology have also presented new opportunities and markets, but the basic principle behind business remains that what you put into it, you will be able to take out of it.  Work hard and you will be rewarded.

When I entered the business world in the late 70′s, the way we did business was differant. The only form of instant communication available to us was the phone (land line) and the telex. Mail was the main form of business communication.

Companies did not have a centralised contact point, such as we have today with our call centres. Whist call centres have their advantages in todays business world, in the past, you would normally deal with the same person. This allowed you to build up a relationship with the other person. And relationships were as imprortant then, as they are today.

One of then main functions of management was to keep your customers happy. They did this by takeing clienst out for lunch. These lunches were not the quick affairs or today, but rather long cholesterol and alcohol filled sessions, that kept clients happy and continuing to use your services.

But what do I mean when I talk about doing things in the “Old fashioned Way”? I believe that my relationship with my customers is important. They are my source of income, so I need to keep them happy. I must listen to their complaints and make sure that any solution is acceptable to them, that I get back to them when I promised to do so, even if I have not yet solved the problem.

Relationships and quality of service do not have to suffer just because we work at a faster pace. Now there is an old fashoned concept!

Blogs to inspire you.

I read a great deal, looking for ideas and inspiration. Some of my favorites are:

Lifehacker

This is a truely amazing site that deals with a large variety of topics that affect our everyday lives, not just our business lives or even our online lives.

The Forum SA

If you are planning to business in South Africa, this is one of the best places to start.

The Freelance Folder

Whether you are a one man operation or planning to outsouce, you will find valuble information here.

Seth’s Blog

One of the miost respected names in marketing on the Web, Seth Godin serves up information that is to the point and easy to read.

Cherryflava

Another South African blog , but the message is universal.

This is only a small part of what I read. You need to stay abreast of all the latest developments in your field as will as anything that could affect your industry. You will often find ideas and inspiration in the most unusual places.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Manure is good for the Roses!

Last week, I told you not to lose your cool when dealing with problems, even if the client was at fault. It is possibly the most difficult thing to remain calm, when a client screams, even swears at you, it fact it is downright stressful.

When you work in an environment where you deal directly with clients, you will pick up problems and if you do not de-stress, your health will suffer. At the risk of sounding like your mother, stop smoking. Whilst nicotine may have a calming effect in the short term the damage it does to your body in the ling term is not worth it.

Join a gym, take up running, take up knitting: – anything that you can lose yourself in and not think about work, in fact not think about anything. Physical exercise is always good for clearing the mind, concentrating on something repetitive has the effect of clearing your mind. You are doing things automatically and not thinking about it.

You do not even have to go to gym or run, go for a long walk, go to the disco, have dinner with friends.

What you need to do is that when your workday ends, you go home and do something to take your mind off work. Do something for your soul, and you will find that work, no matter how stressfull work is, it becomes a challange and not a chore!

Take time to smell the manure!

No matter how careful you are, one day you will make a mistake. It may be a small error that is easy to correct, or a very serious error that coulkd end up costing dearly.

Always approach the problem with an open mind, make sure you find out what when wrong and why, before trying to find a solution. If a staff member is involved make sure you hear their side of the story. Once you have both the clients and your staff member’s version, you are in a better position to understand what when wrong and should be able to arrive a solution.

Is the client always right? No, not always, but the client is a source of income and should be handled repectfully. You may still lose the client, but you stand a better change of resolving the matter to both your satisfaction, by keeping clam and showing respect.

This not an easy thing to do, because the client shout at you, call you names, even swear at you. This may be inexcusable, but remember that a mistake has happened and your client is angry. Let them vent, keeping calm throughout so that you can get their side of the story. If you promise to get back to them at a certain time, do it even if you have nothing to report back.

Simple advise, follow it and the stink will quickly fade!

Bake some pie in the sky.

A seemingly silly title, then a gain maybe not. Cloud Computing is set to become the next big thing. Ok, we have been doing “cloud computing” for some time now, but it has only recently been given a name.

Confused? If you use GMail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail, or one of the many online Web Mail services, you are using “cloud computing.” Google (GMail) for example, also give you access to an online Word Processor, Online Spread Sheets and Online Presentation software.

Sign up with MSN and you get access to Hotmail, Messanger and 25 gigs of online storage. Pretty awesome and it costs you nothing.

How does Cloud Computing benefit business, simple, you do not have to invest in expensive software such as Microsoft Office. Cloud computing allows you to be mobile and you do not need to even own a computer. You can simply go online at any Internet cafe, check your mail, answer your correspondence and do umpteen differant task, either at little or no cost.

Socialise in a Virtual World to make valuble contacts in the real World.

There was a time when Wednesday afternoon meant golf. Managers and senior staff would disappear and go and play 18 holes. A lot of business happened at the “19th hole (also know as the bar). Today golf still remains a social sport.

Today, with a recession and more and more small business starting to fill the gaps that retrenchments have caused, there is not much time for taking time off for golf. And yet, social networking is a way to promote your business. Luckily there are some online tools you can use to socialse and promote yourself.

One of the most popular business social platform is Linkedin, where you can reconnect with old colleagues, join common interest groups, join discussions, make new contacts and promote yourself.

You might ask what about Facebook? Facebook is a family and friends social tool. Yes it can be used for business, but this is not its prime focus.

Jennifer Cohen from Someting Creative has put together the prestation, to help us underatand the concept better.

Get into the habit of networking, it can only help to improve your business.