Articles
Browse every published article connected to Dr. Rick Kirschner, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Dr. Rick Kirschner, or search within this exact expert archive.
You know the old adage about letting sleeping dogs lie? It doesn’t apply to people with grudges, who may actually become more difficult from stewing in their angry juices about whatever sleight or injury they’ve pinned on you.
Telephone. Tell a phone. There are times when I get the feeling I’m talking to a phone instead of over the phone. Incoming telemarketing calls don’t allow for meaningful connections. And by all reports, cold calls are another example of missed opportunities. Yet there’s no question that you can build connection with people over the phone. Some people are better at connecting through the phone than others. When some people call, you can’t wait for the call to be done. Yet when you talk with others, time just disappears!
You know who they are: Vague customers that can’t make up their minds, who seem to have all day to take up your time; pushy customers whose demands can’t be met, who angrily demand ‘What? It’s not ready yet?’ Whining customers for whom nothing is right, who can find something wrong with everything in sight! But you don’t have to let them drive you to distraction! What’s needed for your mission of service excellence is direction! Here, then, are the maps and keys to keep you heading down the road of service.
Human beings have a profound need for belonging, whether you call it company, family, community or tribe. We want to and need to click or connect with others. Social networks have become the new tribes. Now belonging is as easy as registering and filling out your profile, and making or finding a few contacts or ‘friends.’ Staying connected is much easier, too. Twitter even brings it into real time. Opinions are everywhere, and people love to share them, so in your social network connections you can easily find people to discuss just about anything. And you can learn from the brightest minds.
When people say what's on their mind, their hope and intent is to be heard and understood. Yet more often than you might think, they don't even know what they're talking about. That's because words are symbols for experience, and most of what people say initially is just the tip of the iceberg relative to what's really going on. When people start talking, the first things you hear represent only the surface of a person's thoughts, rather than the deep structure experience, motivations, values and opinions that drive those thoughts.
In our increasingly connected world, we need each other to get things done, to make worthwhile things happen, and to make our lives better and easier. The problem is that we tend to connect when it's easy, and dissociate when it's not. Want to click with more people more of the time? Here's something easy and effective. Just try blending.
It's a tough economy, no doubt about it. And though the pace of business is accelerating, some businesses are taking longer to make buying decisions. When the people talking with vendors and potential vendors are hesitant, they could be conce ed about making a wrong move and losing their job over it. Yet change happens, and prospects do decide to make positive changes and buy. So it's useful for any person in sales to understand the process by which positive change does happen.
Don't let anyone tell you different: The labels we apply to people have a direct impact on the way we interact with them, and the way we interact with them determines how they react to us and what results we get with them. When people label others as ‘toxic,’ they may disempower themselves and ...
Technology, in the form of phones and computers, has become a kind of ubiquitous front door for customers to use any time and any place where they have the desire for a product or service. At least in theory, technology gives customers a more personal help desk than they are likely to find face to face in the busy rush of modern business. If you answer the phone as part of your organization’s service to others, that service is on the line.
For the past three decades, I’ve been observing the way people behave in personal and business relationships, with the intent of finding the meaningful patterns of what works and doesn’t work to bring about positive change. Here are the top ten lessons I’ve learned about how to click with people. #1 Make Useful Assumptionsr Assumptions determine behavior. Behavior produces experiences. Experiences reinforce initial assumptions. Whatever you assume to be true, you act like it’s true and look for proof. This is the loop of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Riddle me this: What technique works as well with a negative person at work as it does with a two year old at home? Answer: The Polarity Pattern! What happens when you tell a two-year-old to go to bed when the older kids are still up, or you tell a negative coworker that things ‘aren’t so bad?’ The conversation descends along these lines. You ask a person to do something. You ask nicely. You are reasonable. And then they say, “I don’t want to (do what you want them to). To which you reply, “But you have to do it.” And it’s straight downhill from there.
With some people at work, you click from the beginning. They get you and you get them. Whatever you say, they know what you mean. Then the emails pile up. The ease with which we can write and send an email has led to difficulty for many in managing the flow of it. People have less time to deal with emails as the sheer volume increases. Getting anything more than the most basic connection with others through email is next to impossible. But here’s how to keep from losing that ‘click’ while using this technological tool.
No question about it: You can’t please all the people all the time! And because you’re a professional, it’s understandable that your negative experiences with customers are a source of conce for you. Yet customer stress is a leading cause of employee stress in both sales and service! The question is, what can you do to strengthen and protect yourself from stress while satisfying your challenging customers and winning their loyalty?