Credit Management Association

There are a lot of ‘rules’ in customer service, but few more important than the six we’ve listed here from our newly reproduced DVD Six Cardinal Rules of Customer Service. Each makes a valid statement and will increase the satisfaction of your clients.

Cardinal Rule #1 - Personal Responsibility/Accountability: Don’t Pass the Buck

One of the most important attributes a company staff member can have is personal responsibility – personal accountability. Those that have it refuse to accuse, blame and complain. Those that do accuse, blame and complain break one of the most important cardinal rules. “Who” statements accuse and blame. “Who took my stapler?” We should use a more positive manner and take personal responsibility by saying, “I seem to have misplaced my stapler; has anyone seen it?” Remember to take full responsibility with the customer. The customer doesn’t like to hear accusing, blaming and complaining statements. They know when you’re passing the buck!

Cardinal Rule #2 - People Before Paperwork

When someone walks into your place of business or calls you while you’re working on something, Cardinal Rule #2 says drop everything. Attend to that person. Remember, paper and other tasks can wait, people should not. We’ve all been abused when we go shopping and been ignored because the staffer is doing something else and we know how that feels. Let’s not abuse our own customers. Remember: People before paperwork.

Cardinal Rule #3 - Don’t RUSH Your Customers

Sure, you may understand something real quick, but rushing the customer along will only lead to them feeling intimidated. Remember to mirror their speed. Trying to be “done” with a customer as quickly as possible is seen as being rude and uncaring. Rushing threatens customers. Take your time with each and every contact.

Cardinal Rule #4 - Company Jargon

Ever get a report from a company and not understand it? Some companies have company jargon that makes the CIA wonder what’s up. Be very careful not to use your own company jargon on your customers. You and your employees may understand it very well, but the customer may not. And you’ll only cause a lot of unnecessary confusion. Spell things out for your customers. Use easy words. Try not to abbreviate. Remember, don’t use military language on civilians.

Cardinal Rule #5 - Don’t Be Too Busy To Be Nice

Hey, everyone’s busy! That’s what it’s all about. Being busy does not give you carte blanche to be rude. Remember, you meet the same people going down as you do going up. They’ll remember you. (What’s worse than being busy? NOT being busy.)

Cardinal Rule # 6 - Be Friendly BEFORE You Know Who It Is

There’s a good lesson to be learned here. One Telephone Doctor saying is: Smile BEFORE you know who it is. Often times it’s too late. Being friendly before you know who it is will earn you classic customer service points. The customer needs to know you want to work with them, no matter who they are. Remember, sometimes it’s way too late to smile and be friendly after you know who it is.

Any one of these tips can boost your customer service!

Nancy Friedman is a featured speaker at association and corporate meetings around the world. She has appeared on OPRAH, The Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning. Her articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, as well as hundreds of other print outlets. She is also the author of six best selling books. For more information, log onto theTelephone Doctor website at www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314.291.1012.

Continue Reading

Joseph Hanna

by Joseph M. Hanna

The California Assembly is considering AB 2390 which, if passed, will affect how all bids are prepared and submitted for public works projects in California under Public Contract Code§3300 and §4104. This pending bill applies only to contractors who contract directly with the public entity. A public entity consists of the state, county, city, city and county, district, public authority, public agency, municipal corporation, or any other political subdivision or public corporation in the state.

The proposed changes are:

Existing law requires a public entity, the University of California, and the California State University to specify for inclusion in any plans and notice prepared for a public project the classification of the contractor’s license, which a contractor is required to possess at the time a contract is awarded. This bill would instead require the contractor to possess that license at the time the contractor makes a bid or offer to perform the work, and would also require a contractor to possess current, valid workers’ compensation insurance at that time.

Also, the Subletting and Subcontracting Fair Practices Act requires the entity taking bids for public works to specify that any person making a bid or offer set forth the name and location of the place of business of each subcontractor who will perform work or labor or render service to the prime contractor, or a subcontractor who, under subcontract to the prime contractor, specially fabricates and installs a portion of the work according to specifications, in an amount in excess of one-half of 1% of the prime contractor’s total bid, or in the case of bids or offers for the construction of streets or highways, including bridges, in an amount in excess of one-half of 1% of the prime contractor’s total bid or $10,000, whichever is greater. This bill would instead require the person making a bid or offer to set forth, in addition to each subcontractor’s name and business location, the current, valid license number issued by the State of California, and proof of current, valid worker’s compensation insurance of each subcontractor who will perform work.

If this law is enacted and the required information is not included in the bid, it could be grounds for challenge by other bidders.

A copy of the bill with amendments to Public Contract Code §§3300 and 4104, AB 2390 (36)

The information contained in this email newsletter is designed to provide information on general legal issues, new legislation and recent legal developments; it should not be relied upon as legal advice. For specific questions about any of the matters discussed in this issue please contact the attorney author or send us an email. All readers should consult professional legal counsel to obtain advice on specific projects or matters.

Continue Reading

Michael C. Dennis

By: Michael C. Dennis

Commercial collections are always difficult. This is especially true in the current economic conditions. Collectors and their managers are often frustrated by slowing cash inflows, broken payment commitments, higher bad debt losses, and payment delays from previously stellar customers. The goal of every collector is to maintain as much goodwill as possible while reducing delinquencies as quickly as possible. This balancing act is never easy, but here are five tips for improving the effectiveness of your telephone collections…

The Five C’s of Collections:

• Clarity: Make certain that your message is delivered in such a way that the customer knows exactly what action you expect them to take, and when.
• Courage: Take a stand such as placing an account on shipment hold when it is necessary to extract payment from a delinquent or uncooperative customer.
• Confidence: Speak from a position of strength. To the extent that the customer senses weakness or a willingness on your part to wait for payment, they will almost certainly take advantage of this opportunity to delay payment.
• Conviction: Avoid the temptation to be tentative or apologetic in your discussions with delinquent customers. When a customer is past due, your company is the injured party. Use this mindset every time you call a customer for payment.
• Connections: Make sure that in every collection call there is a meeting of the minds. To the extent that you are not convinced that the customer understands the potential ramifications of any additional delay in making payment, you have not made “the Connection.” My advice: Don’t hang up until you know that this Connection has been made.

Use the Five C’s of Collections every time you make a collection call. Anyone using these simple techniques is going to become a more efficient and more effective collector.

© 2010. Michael Dennis. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted from the Covering Credit Newsletter. Michael Dennis is a credit manager with more than 20 year of experience and works with Credit Association’s teaching online interactive Webinars.

Continue Reading

Do we really LISTEN? Do we really HEAR what people are saying? Are there any methods, tricks, ideas, tips or techniques to make us be better listeners? We at Telephone Doctor believe there are.

Taken from our newly released DVD on listening skills, below are some ideas to help those who are having trouble being a good listener. In truth, some of us aren’t good listeners. What do some people do that others don’t in order to be a good listener? If you’re going to ask great questions, then you need to listen to the answers you’re going to get.

Let me ask you. What do you think the difference is between listening and hearing? Don’t we all listen? Don’t we all hear people talk? First, let’s explain the difference. Hearing is physical and listening is mental.

It’s pretty simple. Take a TV commercial. We normally hear it, but do we always listen to it? Probably not. Especially if it’s about something we’re not particularly interested in for ourselves or even others.

There were plenty of holiday commercials that I “heard” on TV, but I didn’t really listen to them, because they didn’t interest me. Getting the picture?

Take the Super Bowl ads. We talk about them before they’re even on TV. How many can you remember now? My guess is you’ll recall those that were of ‘interest’ to you. You listened to them. We all ‘heard’ them. We watched them. But again, how many did we really listen to?

Ok, heads up. Here are six easy steps to becoming a better listener. There are more, for sure, but starting with these will help you a lot.

1. Decide to be a better listener. That’s like an attitude. You can really decide to be a good listener. It’s a decision. Will everything be of interest or value to you? Maybe not, but not listening might be dangerous. So make a mental decision to listen better to those you talk with, especially if you have asked them a question and they answer. You need to LISTEN to them.
2. Welcome the customer on the phone or in person; in business or at a social event. We need to make the person feel welcomed. That in turn helps make you a much better listener. Be obviously friendly when you’re talking with a customer. And it’s got to be sincere. Most folks can tell when you’re not. So bring a welcoming phrase to the table and use it to make the customer feel as though he’s a long lost friend!
3. Concentrate. This is not the time for multi-tasking. And today, we can all turn to the left or right and catch someone texting and probably having an in-person conversation as well. One of these things will be in trouble. We simply cannot do two things well at once. Your concentration must be on the customer, again, in person or on the phone. Do nothing else but ‘listen.’
4. Keep an open mind. Why do we need to do this? I’ll tell you why. There are some of us who think we know what the other person is going to say before they say it and so we interrupt or interject our comments before the customer can answer. That’s not keeping an open mind. That’s interrupting. Some of the time we’re right and we do know what the person will say. But it’s important to put your teeth in your tongue and not interrupt. By keeping an open mind you’ll gain more information as well.
5. Give verbal feedback. Talking with someone and not acknowledging what they’re talking about is very frustrating for them; especially on the phone, because we don’t even have body language to check out. So a few “I see,” “That’s good,” “OK,” “Interesting,” and a few words and phrases like that help the person feel as though you’re listening and listening well. In person, you have the ability to nod and smile and they can SEE your expressions. However, on the phone, we need verbal feedback. And be careful we’re not saying the same word over and over. Like OK, OK, OK, OK. That’s boring to both of you.
6. Take notes as you talk. And yes, even in person. That’s perfectly acceptable! Taking notes and letting the person know you are doing it is a sign of great interest. I do it all the time when I’m on the phone. I tell the client, “I’m taking notes so we can refer to them later and so I don’t forget what you’re saying.” No one has ever said, “Don’t do that.” Most say, “Good, that’s super!” Taking notes so you can refer back is a big compliment. Don’t forget to do it.

About the Author: Nancy Friedman, customer service and sales expert, is available to speak at your association conference or corporate event. Click here for a complimentary DVD demo of Nancy in action. You can also contact Nancy directly via email nancy@telephonedoctor.com to discuss your specific needs

Continue Reading

One of the attributes I have noticed in nearly every great leader that I’ve worked with is that they know how to get back up after they fall. I don’t think they fall any less than the rest of us, or any less hard. But they don’t lay there very long.

I actually believe that leaders make more mistakes than most people, they just recover faster. Leaders are constantly pushing limits, challenging themselves, trying new things and often without the benefit of watching someone else do it. They are living in those places where mistakes are part of every day. It’s what they do immediately after they screw up that separates them from others.

Everyone falls, how fast do you get back up?

They also have the potential for some really bad days. Leaders often take on more accountability and responsibility than others. They create a situation where their days have much more opportunity for something to go wrong and be their fault, or at least their responsibility to fix. They deal with more moving parts than most and that means things can go awry quickly and often. Let’s face it, if you stay under the covers all day you don’t put yourself in harm’s way. But leaders are out in the mix, where life is unpredictable.

What they do that enables them to survive and grow in a mistake ridden, high responsibility world, is they learn how to get back up, fast, when they fall. I’ve noticed three things that leaders do to make sure that while they might have a bad day today, they won’t have a second one tomorrow.

They have a “get back up” mechanism.

Whenever leaders get off track they have a reliable method of getting back on. For some its exercise, for others its reading or finding a quiet spot to think. Some need to go do some volunteer work or get out of their office and engage with a group of others. I even knew one person who cooked when they needed to get re-energized. It doesn’t have to be a weeklong retreat either; in fact, if it takes us a week to get back up every time we fall then we better not fall very often. It’s usually something simple and might only take an hour or two. The key is that they recognize that they are in the ditch and they are determined not to stay there very long so they immediately change their environment and do something that shakes them out of their current pattern. And they have learned what activities do that best for them.

They refocus on the goal.

This is the biggest reason that great leaders, and those who aspire to become great at anything have a goal, and exactly why the goal has to be clear, compelling and something they are willing to work hard for. Now is the time when they read the narrative that they’ve written describing every detail of what they want to achieve and how it feels to accomplish it. Having a goal helps you build the path to something, it also let’s you know when you’re off that path and serves as a motivator to get back on it. If you pull out a goal you have written and it doesn’t inspire you to get back up, you may not be working toward something you really want. It may take re-reading it several times, especially if you are deeply immersed in your bad day, but ultimately it should be what motivates you to not have a second bad day tomorrow.

They surround themselves with people who push.

This may be the most difficult of the three. When we’re having the inevitable bad day it’s natural to want people around who will comfort us. But do we really want to become comfortable with having bad days? Leaders look for people who will help them get back on their feet, fast. That’s rarely comfortable and in the moment, it’s easy to wish they would just let us lie there. But after they are standing back up and moving forward, leaders know that they needed the push and so they seek out those who are willing to do that for them. It’s why many leaders hire coaches to help them deal with the many challenges they face. They need someone who they know will tell them the truth, and push them when others around them might simply make staying down feel more comfortable.

Leaders fall a lot, just like the rest of us. But they get back up faster and they have built a reliable, repeatable set of tools to help them do that. It’s easy to think that leaders have a natural gift that allows them to be more successful. The reality is they simply work harder to make sure they use the same gifts we all have more often and more consistently. And that means knowing how to get back up, stand tall and move forward, every single time they fall.

About the Author: Randy Hall is the founder and principal of 4th Gear Consulting. He is passionate about developing amazing leaders and thriving, principled organizations. He believes that nothing will have greater impact on our economy, our communities, our lives and our kids’ lives.

For more than a decade Randy has worked for and with organizations to help them realize more of their potential. His most recent roles in the corporate world were Senior Vice President of Learning and Leadership Development at Bank of America and Global Director of Learning and Development at Pfizer. Prior to moving into leadership development, he spent several years in sales and led his own high performing teams.

Continue Reading