How Do You Want To Be Remembered by Clients, Customers or Colleagues?
Posted On: June 14, 2016Did you know keeping your clients or customers happy is as simple as an acknowledgment?
It also never hurts to acknowledge and thank your colleagues who help you and work with you side by side everyday.
Often, we get caught up in our day to day work, things either become routine and we forget to see the details or we are distracted. Basically, we are not paying attention to the situation we are in at the present time. As they say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
Because we are distracted by the smallest things – being hot or cold, wanting to go home early, our vacation plans, being preoccupied with other personal problems, are upset with our manager, OR anything else OR everything else, we may either forget to respond or lack empathy in our response to our customer or client complaints.
In addition to not being empathetic, we do not listen to the person talking with us. We do not capture their tone of voice or subtle (or overt) word choices, or if in a face-to-face environment, their eye contact and body language. Maybe we are too shy, nervous, afraid, embarrassed or simply unequipped to really respond in a caring way to our customer.
But, like you, your customer or client is a human being. So……
Sometimes it boils down to realizing what a difference we can make in that other person’s life by just taking a moment out of theirs to listen, empathize and respond in a collaborative way.
Wasn’t it Maya Angelou who said,
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Don’t Forget We are ALWAYS Representing Ourselves
Though we are representing our company at work, we often forget that we are ALWAYS representing OURSELVES. It’s about being authentic on our journey of life… How do you want to be remembered- as an employee of ABC company or as (insert your name here)?
In a corporate sense, this may relate to your personal brand. In a personal sense, it boils down to you personality, your values, your legacy.
Do you want to be remembered as an impatient, uncaring, corporate robot or a person who takes a few extra seconds to empathize with a smile (or at least a smile in your voice over the phone)?
One person CAN and DOES make a difference.
LET THAT PERSON BE YOU.
You CAN be that person that takes a few extra seconds to try to see it from the customer or client’s perspective, acknowledge the person. You may not always be able to give them what they want. You may still need to learn to be firm and say no for multiple reasons, but at least when we can do that with a caring approach, that leaves an impression of being someone who others want to reach out to and work with. That makes us a human-being, not just a human-doing.
Take the time to listen. Take the time to acknowledge. Take the time to say thank you. Take the time to share or discuss options if the first option doesn’t work. Take the time. Even if it is only one moment. You can really make a person’s day.
And, doesn’t that feel great?
How Do You Want To Be Remembered by Clients, Customers or Colleagues?
A Case Study in The Power of Acknowledgments
Note small acknowledgments via email or over the phone to thank people to let them know you appreciate their help can go a long way. A company Authentic Journeys’ worked with was looking for ways to get status updates from the U.S. clients quicker.
The updates were late, and the India team was running behind them for the updates, with no avail. I suggested to add acknowledgements to emails, appreciation when things are done in a timely way, and calls along with small talk to enliven the boring rote work-themed conversations. You want to know the outcome? In as little as three weeks, the American team mates were sharing their statuses ON TIME or EARLY without even being asked!
That’s the power of human connection- which is often lost on global teams where most conversations become so cut and dry that we forget a HUMAN BEING is on the other end! Try it today and let me know what happens!
This article was inspired by Tips to Keep Employee Silence from Driving Away Customers from Utah Business.
Jennifer Kumar, author of this posts helps build effective, well functioning global teams through applications of simple, everyday communication strategies that anyone can do. Contact us today to learn more.
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How to Handle Negativity
Do I have to make small talk if my client does not?
Image credits:
Maya Angelou quote: blueskyjourney dot org
Black quote: boldomatic dot com
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