Be Different or be dead

October 7, 2019

5 deadly acts that will make a toxic customer relationship

Source: Unsplash

5 deadly acts that will make a toxic customer relationship.

A toxic relationship is a relationship characterized by behaviours exhibited by one party that are emotionally damaging to another.

We hear about toxic personal relationships where one person inflicts emotional and sometimes physical pain on their partner, but toxicity isn’t limited to people relationships; it’s also related to organizations, and the relationship they have with their customers.

A toxic service relationship is damaging to both the customer because of how they are treated by the organization, and to the organization itself as unhappy customers typically move to another supplier with repeated mistreatment.

Feelings should be the judge

Toxicity should be viewed as THE criteria to observe and judge the relationship an organization has with its customers because it focuses on the EMOTIONS stirred up in the customer — it expresses how the customer FEELS about how they are being treated.

A toxic service environment in an organization is manifested by behaviours that annoy, frustrate, anger, sadden, infuriate, exasperate, irk, vex, and piss off the people who come into contact with it everyday.

In my 30+ years leading business organizations that had an extremely heavy service component; I learned that you lived or died on how you served customers.

I learned that these 5 characteristics that, if left unattended, will destroy any customer relationship.

1. Distain for humans

Ever talk to someone in an organization who treated you with a bad attitude? Who talked down to you? Who had absolutely no interest in what you had to say?

Unfortunately we’ve all had the experience of engaging with an employee who really didn’t want to talk to us.
These people really don’t like people and yet they are in the position of having to engage with other people.

In a heartbeat, this person can destroy value because they lack empathy and caring for fellow humans; they quite frankly don’t give a sh##.
Strange that a service employee that would rather be taking inventory or filling out requisitions would be given the keys to the organization’s brand vault.

The recruitment process in toxic environments is wrong. It doesn’t place a priority on the skills and attitude necessary to create miraculous service moments with customers.

It doesn’t probe whether or not someone has the innate desire to care for others, because that’s what amazing service requires.
If just ONE of your customer servers doesn’t like people, you are on your way to having toxic relationships with your most valuable assets.

2. Outsourced call centers

Organizations that don’t manage their call centers well nurture toxic behaviour even though they believe they are doing the right thing.

The problem is, it’s the right thing for THEM and not their customers. They use a call center to manage costs efficiently not to build customer loyalty by creating memorable customer experiences.

Two specific call center attributes, in my view, contribute to toxicity — wait times and fluency in the english language.

How on earth can you say “Your call is important to us” and force someone to wait for a service rep for 45 minutes? It’s a joke really. The fact is (I ran call centers), staffing a call center is all about cost, not level of service even though they would claim the opposite.

Because if the staffing criteria WERE based on providing a high level of service your call would be answered in less that a minute — my target was to answer 80% of the incoming calls within 10 seconds (3 telephone rings).

The second issue I have with call centers is the ability of some reps to engage in an understandable conversation.
To be honest, I can’t understand many of them because of their strong foreign accents. They may have passed english exams but they can’t converse with a customer in a smooth way.

As a result I get annoyed and frustrated as my needs go unmet.
Unfortunately, few organizations use call centers to build customer relationships; they create toxic behaviour.

3. Dumb rules

Many organizations design their policies to control customer engagement rather than to make it easy and enjoyable. They decide that the needs of the organization come before taking care of their customers.

A statement from customer servers like “You can’t ... because it’s not our policy” is evidence that what the customer wants won’t be accommodated because of a rule that satisfies a different purpose.

Often these dumb policies that made no sense to the customer. They are rigid and strict and serve the organization only.

Toxic behaviour is expressed by negatives like “You can’t” or “Sorry but…” Healthful behaviour, on the other hand, leads with “Of course”, “Yes” and “Sure, we can do that”.

4. No power

In toxic serving environments frontline employees rarely are empowered to make decisions on customer requests that are not consistent with rules and policies.
They are escalated to a supervisor for resolution.

In my experience the process is slow and cumbersome: the service rep explains why the customer can’t do what they want —> the customer is annoyed and insists —> the rep goes looking for a supervisor —> the customer explains again what they want —> the supervisor explains why the customer can’t do what they want —> customer gets more annoyed and insists —> the supervisor either maintains the “no” position or gives in —> the customer is still annoyed regardless of the outcome because of the process they were forced to go through.

Ironically, the policy to escalate “deviant matters” to a supervisor has no positive customer outcome, and furthermore the employee feels neutered because they provided no value to the engagement process; they looked like an idiot in front of the customer because they couldn’t solve their problem.

5. Rewarding non-loyalty

Toxic cultures are more interested in acquiring more customers; they spend less time on honouring and rewarding the ones they currently have. After all, why invest the money when you already have the customer? False logic and extremely short sighted.

So special deals like “Leave your current supplier and come over to us for 3 months free service” are offered to prospects but the offer is not made available to existing customers.
With such behaviour how can any organization claim they put their customers first? It’s a dishonest proposition.

Healthy environments make new deals and special promotions available to existing loyal customers first — loyalty is rewarded before a new customer.

Promotions and low price deals are typically marketing decisions but they are integral to maintaining intimate customer relationships and therefore marketing needs to join the serving team.

Toxicity kills customer relationships and yet so many organizations practice unhealthy behaviour every day.

Stay on the lookout for these symptoms and be prepared to change your behaviour immediately if you respect your loyal customers.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 10.7.19 at 04:18 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

October 5, 2019

Why there’s absolutely no truth to becoming an overnight success

Source: Pexels

Why there’s absolutely no truth to becoming an overnight success.

Anything that’s worth doing takes time. But still, we subscribe to the myth of overnight success. That’s because sometimes successful people make it look easy.

Whether they’re chasing a passion, getting rich, enjoying fame, or all of the above — sometimes it can seem like their success was handed to them on a silver platter. When you see people like this, just remember: you’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Behind every successful entrepreneur or innovative leader is years of doubt, failure, and struggle.

Even though the fastest route between two points is a straight line, the road to success is rarely that. It’s long, it’s winding, and it requires work. But it’s on this road where we learn our most valuable lessons and grow into a better person.

Still not convinced? Check out the infographic below on famous people and their success timelines. Note how long it took them to get where they are today.

— Karlie Kramer writes on behalf of Credit.com on how people can reach their fullest potential both financially and personally. Specificially, she’s interested in inspiring people to embrace the learning process and not take failure as a sign of defeat. Her most recent piece is on debunking the myth of overnight success.

• Posted 10.5.19 at 03:18 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

September 30, 2019

5 enormous problems schools have that really annoy me

Source: Unsplash

5 enormous problems schools have that really annoy me.

The value of your education should be evaluated in terms of how well it prepared you to go out into the world and achieve a rewarding career in whatever field you choose.

My career meandered through various types of organizations and jobs, from an entry level analyst position in a monopoly telecommunications firm to president in a highly competitive data and internet business to career development author and mentor to young professionals.

My school experience didn’t prepare me well enough for my 40 - year journey; these are the top 5 annoyance I have with school.

1. Compliance

School at all levels teaches you’re taught to comply with what is being taught; learn the content and don’t deviate from it. Follow the rules is the theme at school.

The curriculum represents “the truth” in the world to students who view the subject matter — and the teacher’s bias in teaching — as gospel.

This is a problem for organizations that are thus faced with selecting the best conformance person in terms of their education and therefore find difficulty finding the right balance of stability and creativity in potential candidates.

2. Rewards for fitting in

A corollary to the previous point, is that “A’s” are handed out to those in class who have mastered the course content perfectly.
Achieving 95% in your science exam means you are a science master, whereas a 30% mark means you’re not doing as well as you should in terms of learning the rote content. A high mark = almost perfect compliance; a low mark = low compliance.

In business, rewards in most organizations go to those who fit in; who comply with the way things are done around here. Who is best at applying the traditional doctrines of an organization seem to get recognition, those that step out and challenge the norms often attract negative attention.

This is a real problem because it doesn’t encourage creativity and innovation which is what is needed for organizations to survive and thrive in an uncertain and unpredictable environment.

3. Irrelevance

School teaches you copious amounts of subject matter but much of it isn’t transferable into business.
▪️Business needs innovation and creativity; schools teach compliance;
▪️Business needs adaptability from employees; school teaches predictability using standard formulae;
▪️Business needs recovery skills when mistakes are made; school teaches do it right the first time and is silent on what to do if actions don’t work right the first time;
▪️Business needs personalization in the solutions provided; school teaches mass marketing.

Curriculums need to be constantly revised, not with different ways of teaching traditional pedagogy but with new topics that help organizations succeed.

Furthermore, schools need to back-off paying so much attention to teaching about social structure dynamics as well as societal injustices, and step up to at least starting a conversation about the skills necessary to drive economic success.

4. Teachers’ role

Teachers don’t think about students as customers; they view them as objects to mould into conformists that follow learn 2500 year old doctrine with their particular biases.

A bit of generalization perhaps, but there are far fewer teachers in schools that try to exceed the expectations of their students than the number who view their job to force their students to learn.

This is a problem because leadership needs an attitude of “How can I help?” rather than one of assuming they know what’s right for someone else and ordering them to comply.

5. Business leaders missing

It’s one thing to criticize schools for not teaching business survival competencies but if engagement by business leaders in the school system is lacking it can’t be held totally culpable.

School teachers don’t know how to run a business; they’ve never done it. They may know the principles of “good” customer service from text books but they’ve never how to apply them in a real world situation — knowing is not the same as learning.

This is a real problem because if business leaders are not actively engaged in schools, teachers will never start to understand the nuances they must start to teach, and students will continue to have credentials that fall short of business expectations.

Active school engagement should be written into every leader’s annual performance plan with specific objectives to achieve. In fact this is such an important issue, it should command executive responsibility — the VP Schools position should be established to prioritize the need.

The relationship between schools and business is too loose; tighten it up and the quality of students to help organizations will soar.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 9.30.19 at 04:59 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

September 28, 2019

How lookism can be used as an amazing competitive weapon

How lookism can be used as an amazing competitive weapon.

Being different is essential if you want to stand out and be noticed in a world where most people tend to blend together. That’s why you should be bold and let your inner light shine through.

Looking good and standing out from a crowd doesn’t have to be difficult or scary, but the catch is in the details. No matter how well we know that beauty is just skin deep, we also know that looking our best makes us feel better and confident.

Let how you feel reflect how you look.

Here are 11 simple improvements you can make in order to stand out from the crowd every day.

1. Personality and confidence

There is no better way to stand out from the crowd than by being yourself. There are many discussions about what’s more important: appearance vs personality. My take on this is that they are both equally important. You just need to find a balance between both.
Yes, it’s a personality that makes us unique and distinct but why not let our personality show through our appearance. There is no better way of showing how different we are then by letting our personalities guide us.

Spend time with yourself, learn what you like and dislike in terms of style and makeup. Find out which physical attributes are your best according to you – be self-criticizing but in a good way. Then learn to enhance those physical features you consider good or change those you dislike. Work on yourself and build up confidence. There is nothing more attractive than a confident person.

The body language of a confident person is different and unique and it attracts attention. That’s why if you want to stand out don the clothes you feel most comfortable in (but that complement your physique) and be confident!

2. Skin care routine

Even though beauty is skin deep, taking care of our skin is pretty important. The skin is our body’s largest organ and taking proper care of it can make a world of difference in years to come.
Apart from the fact that healthy skin is one point more on the attractiveness scale, healthy skin also helps us reduce the aging signs and thus makes us age gracefully.

Taking care of your skin will also help you be confident. If your skin is clear and clean, you won’t have to be self-conscious about your looks. You will be confident and it will show. Having clear and healthy skin is just one of the ways that can separate you from the crowd, and it doesn’t take much to have clean skin. All you need to do is develop a routine and stick to it. Take care of your skin and it will take care of you!

3. Healthy smile

There is this thing known as dental appearance and it’s pretty important if you want to look good and stand out. Oral and dental health are some of the really important things when building your self-esteem and confidence.

Apart from making you look good, having healthy teeth is utterly important for your overall health. Many dental health problems have been linked to health problems such as heart and diabetes. So, to prevent bigger problems and complications we should take care of our dental health.

Additionally, dental appearance such as the color of your teeth or alignment has become a great factor in self-perception and overall appearance. Today, aesthetic or cosmetic dentistry is commonly used to improve the appearance of teeth. You can have your teeth whitened or straightened in no time.

Or if you don’t like going to the dentists, you can have your teeth whitened at home. There are many different methods of whitening your teeth at home. Having a white and healthy smile has never been easier.
So, smile more and show those pearly whites and you will automatically be 100% more attractive and different.

4. Corrections

We all have at least one part of our body that we strongly dislike and that we would like to change. So, why not change it?
In this day and age, it has never been easier to change something on your body. If that will make you feel better and happier about yourself, then go for it.

Procedures such as nose jobs, boob jobs, and even lip fillers have become a normal occurrence. All you have to do is know what you want to change and know the difference between cosmetic and plastic surgery.

Both of these types of surgeries have become the new normal, and being unhappy with your appearance is no longer an excuse. These surgeries can not only make you feel happy but can do wonderful things for your health too. From removing fat and excess amounts of skin to removing ugly scars.
Get Botox, yet another treatment that can help you look confident and wrinkle-free. There is nothing wrong with getting a little help in that department. Keep in mind that for this non-surgical treatment age doesn’t matter. 

There are options that can make you feel self-satisfied and happy. And if you are happy and confident, it will show and you will be more attractive to people. Being self-satisfied and happy will make you stand out for sure! 

5. Change your hairstyle

Having the same hairstyle can get really boring pretty fast. Following new hairstyle trends is ok, but all of a sudden you see everyone having the same hairstyle and the trend is no longer all that new or interesting. On the other hand, standing out with a completely different hairstyle can be a bit intimidating at first. But once you do it, you will not only feel better but confident even.

So, why not vamp up your look, stand out from the crowd and be confident with a new hairstyle all at once? 
Start by having your hair color changed. Changing your hair color isn’t permanent and yet it’s some kind of change. You can start with mild color changes such as highlights and then with time dye your whole hair. Changing your hair color is a great way to make you stand out from the crowd.

Another way to spice up your looks is to have your hair cut. Want to stand out, get a bold cut. You will see how just by changing your hairstyle, length, and color you can completely change your look.

6. Take care of your eyebrows and eyelashes

Nothing says more put together than having your eyebrows on fleek. Having nice and groomed eyebrows is proof that you’re taking care of yourself very well. This is because the first thing that people notice is your eyebrows. So why not have them perfectly-groomed. You can always have a pair of tweezers in your bag and just use them whenever need be. That easy.

The same goes for eyelashes, curling them will make your eyes look better and more open. Once you curl your eyelashes, you will never want to go back to not curling them, ever again.
It’s the small things like brows and eyelashes that will make you look different and stand out more.

7. Up your makeup game

No one is perfect and no one has perfect facial symmetry. However, makeup can rectify this and make us look more attractive. Makeup can make our eyes look bigger or smaller, lips bigger, it can enhance our features and soften our prominent chin…in short, makeup can do miracles and make us look flawless.

And with so many makeup tutorials out there, there is no way that you can’t learn how to do your own makeup. From bold eyeshadow colors to perfectly contoured cheekbones – you will look perfect and eye-catching. 

8. Unique fragrance

The sense of smell is our most powerful sense because of its close link to the memory. That’s why having a unique signature scent is just another way of separating yourself from the crowd.
The perfume you wear can make you draw attention to yourself and stand out of the crowd. This doesn’t mean that you should have only one go-to scent. Just like accessories, perfumes can be changed depending on the occasion. 

If you really want to attract attention and turn heads, wear perfumes with unique and exotic notes. The choice is always individual but try to choose something that will make you feel good.
These fragrances don’t have to be expensive or branded, they just have to have those unique notes that will trigger peoples memory and remind them of you. There is no better way to stand out then by finding your signature scent.

9. Wear bolder colours

It takes guts to wear bold colored clothes, I’ll give you that. But this is another element that can make you stand out in the crowd.
It’s interesting that the color of your clothes can tell a lot about your personality and your mood.
For example, if you love wearing red, you are someone who loves to take risks and who is very passionate. You are energetic and extroverted, and very open. Red is a very eye-catching color and apart from saying much about you, it also makes you stand out in many different ways. 

If red is not you then find colors and shades that complement your skin tone. You don’t have to overdo it, just use statement pieces with bold colors. One statement piece is enough, for example, wear a red leather jacket, a colorful scarf or a bold colored skirt.

Let the primary color be something neutral that you can combine with those bold accent pieces. This year’s popular bold color is yellow. If this color complements your skin tone, you can incorporate it quite nicely into your wardrobe. 

10. Accessorize

Accessories can make a world of difference if you want to stand out. Accessories can make you feel confident and chic. However, just like with anything, choosing the right accessories is crucial.
Big bold necklaces are ok if you’re wearing something neutral. Don’t let your clothes clash with your accessories. Too much will only achieve the opposite of what you’re going for.

A cool watch is a timeless statement piece – and today there are so many options to choose from. Watches can be an ideal accessory for just about any occasion.

Handbags and purses are another important and useful accessory. You can either have various of them or just the one that can go with every outfit.
Sunglasses, especially funky sunglasses are in nowadays. Find the ones that correspond to your personality and that fit your head shape, and your confidence game will be strong.

11. Shoes

And finally, we come to the final piece in our puzzle of looks that can make you stand out. To complete the whole look, you will need a comfortable yet eye-catching pair of shoes. Set yourself apart by wearing shoes that match your personality.

You can make a pair of shoes your own with just the right DIY projects – from painted to glittered shoes, everything counts. Finding or making the perfect pair of shoes will not only bring your whole look together but it will get you some compliments.
Once again, don’t go overboard – if you decide to wear a pair of glittered shoes make sure that the rest of your outfit is neutral. You want to set yourself apart and not give the wrong impression. 

From major changes like surgeries to small ones like changing your hairstyle – choose whatever works for you. As you can see standing out from the crowd isn’t all that difficult, you just need to find what suits you best. And, of course, what makes you feel best.

Looking good and being comfortable in your own skin is the best thing you can do for yourself. Start with working on yourself then gradually move onto small things like physical aspect. And keep in mind: confidence is the major element in standing out from the crowd.

— Helen Bradford Is a journalism student and a freelance writer with a 4-year-long experience in writing. She always strives to create high-quality content; her contributions are very informative, interesting and well-written. In her spare time, She enjoys reading crime novels, doing fitness and spending time with her dogs, Maya and Buster.

• Posted 9.28.19 at 05:31 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink