Engine Or Anchor herunterladen?

I love the use of analogies. One of the prime examples I use is a owner of a contracting company as being the captain of a ship. As the leader you may find yourself heading towards “stormy business weather.” This storm is approaching as your sales revenue is lower than your overhead, field labor and material costs can substantiate windows xp language pack german download kostenlos. When this happens, you start to take on water. (Go into debt) Soon the whole ship is in danger of sinking.

When you finally wind up in the worst part of the storm the telltale signs are all around you as the captain tolino bücher im ausland herunterladen. The rain of phone calls from vendors looking to collect on what you owe or the lightning of your having to consider a loan, line of credit or even take money out of your own pocket, just to make payroll this week are just a few of the signs that your ship is indeed in trouble facebook bilder downloaden.

All Hands On Deck

As the captain it is your duty to get your ship and the crew out of here and into clear waters and blue skies. “All hands on deck!” you scream. As you look around your “ship” you see that some of the crew members are not pulling their weight while others are doing all they can to help. And that is the problem in a nutshell.

Take a walk around your company and look at each employee. Sure when the “sales weather” was great, you hardly noticed some of the crew taking a break on the sun deck while other rowed away. Now, when it is slow, there is no room for slackers. EVERYONE must pull the oar and get us out of the storm. Ask yourself while examining each person in your company, “Is this employee an engine or an anchor?”

Your Instincts Are Evidence

I really believe that an owner or manager “instinctively” know when an employee is an “anchor” that is holding the ship back from sailing into clear waters. I have to tell you that I believe that instincts are over-rated when it comes to management. I believe that instincts are really the feeling you get when faced with small bits of hard evidence that the manager or owner has observed.

Some of the hard evidence I am talking about is an employee who…

• Routinely comes in late or goes home early

• Shows up absent with no notice or phone call

• Doesn’t bother to wear the “whole” company uniform

• Rarely brings in enough revenue to even cover their own wage

• Specializes in creating call-backs

• Blows off company meetings

• Talks bad about other employees behind their back

• Shows no respect for their truck

• Bring more excuses than results

• Never meets or thinks about his financial weekly goals

• Even your GPS can’t figure out where he is

Anchors Away

The answer to your problems is to release all anchors now and activate all engines to propel your ship. I always framed this problem as an opportunity. After all someone who is not happy following all your “silly rules” would be happier an more productive working somewhere that excellence doesn’t matter. Once you decide to not tolerate poor performance you will find it easy to steer the course to beautiful, sunny and profitable waters.

Is Your Service System Too Hard?

Last month we had a momentous occasion in our household. Wyatt, who just turned one in February, graduated from his first ever survival training class with the Baby Seals Swim Academy schreibtrainer gratis herunterladen.

We watched our little one transform from being unsure and uncertain of the water and of his trainer, to being confident and courageous in and under the water. He is now willing and able to jump in the water and kick himself right back up to the top where he starts to float on his back, even while being fully clothed download music for free without registration.

What started out for us as a safety precaution due to the new pool in our backyard turned into one of the best decisions we made so far for our little guy. We want to continue to build his confidence and his skills.

Sign Me Up!

Of course after seeing this transformation in just four short weeks of lessons we wanted to continue encouraging him to learn how to swim so we talked to the instructor about the next step for Wyatt icloud fotos auf mac herunterladen. She told us that he was definitely ready to move to the next step and that if he continued at this rate he would be actually swimming by summer. This only encouraged us more. We said “sign us up!” She replied by telling us that she would email us the information when the next class was ready to start.

When nothing arrived by the next week we contacted her again only to find out that the she was still getting the classes together and she would notify us as soon as she figured things out m3u8 datei herunterladen.

Another week went by with no email so we called again only to get the same answer.

Our enthusiasm is waning to say the least. We really like this instructor. The classes are near by and the cost is reasonable. In the end though, we want to be able to continue Wyatt’s lessons and that may mean finding another instructor who has their program laid out better darf man musik herunterladen.

This got me thinking, how many of your customers are eager to use your services only to find the process of signing up difficult?

Maybe You Can Lose What You Never Had

When customers call your office wanting to use your services do you make the process simple or is it like trying to take out a new loan? You should have a system that is easy to follow and understand and always be ready to explain to your customer “what happens next.”

This means that if you need to get their information so you can send someone to their house, than tell them. If after hanging up the phone a dispatcher will call them to tell them a tech is on the way, than tell them. If you need to get a credit card number from them before sending a tech for late-night emergency calls, than tell them. Lead them through your system.

Walk, Don’t Run, or Maybe Just Trot

When it comes to leading your customer through your system you need to slow things down, but not to a complete standstill. Things should always keep moving forward.

Think of the serpentine lines at an amusement park. You can see that the line is winding back and forth and you know exactly where it ends. You look forward to getting to the part where the misters go off above your head; cooling you off from the heat and humidity, while watching Sponge Bob cartoons or competing against your friends in trivia questions about John Wayne’s real name or how many Die Hard movies did Bruce Willis film.

You should be guiding your customers through your “line” the same way. It should be easy for them to tell when the end is near and when it is their turn, and maybe even a little entertaining.

Think Like Your Customer

So take some time to think like you’re a customer of your own business and ask yourself these questions.

1. Does a live person answer the phone or do your potential customers get a voicemail system letting them know someone will call them back?
2. Do they have a pleasant and understanding voice? Does it sound like they are smiling when they answer the phone?
3. Are they really listening to what you are saying?
4. Are they using your first name throughout the call?
5. Do they sound like they are reading from a script or are they stumped if you ask them a question that veers from that script?
6. Are they using common, everyday courtesies like “please” and “thank-you?”
7. Do they repeat your information back to you in order to be sure it is correct?
8. Do they ask “what is the best way to reach you?” in case they need to contact you?
9. Were you kept on hold, and for how long?
10. Do they say how much it will cost for the appointment and ask how you would like to pay?
11. Do they tell you to call back or give you orders instead of doing it for you?
12. Were they able to quickly look up records or locate your information?
13. Do they tell you what they can do for you or did they tell you what they can’t?
14. Do they book the call when the customer needs service?
15. Did they use an appreciation statement and thank you for calling?

These are just a few of the questions you should begin asking yourself when evaluating your customer sales system. Creating a streamlined system with great customer service will help gain you market share through word of mouth marketing and strengthen your market position.