Random Thoughts

Good Idea or a Bad Idea? You decide!

Just a few random thoughts and musings today, in no particular order:

• Treat your employees well. Your employees represent you and your company. A happy employee will be more committed to doing excellent work for you. You treat your tools well, don't forget your employees are also the tools of your success. 

• Little things mean a lot. The language you use can change the way a customer perceives you. So can your appearance. At a recent customer service training I attended, a few phrases were highlighted. One was use of the word "client" instead of "customer". The trainer recommended avoiding the word customer and replacing it with client. You are providing not only a repair but consultation and your expertise. Also it is some subtle psychology as client sounds a little more important than customer. Another phrase he recommended avoiding is "no problem". I am guilty of this one. I had the habit of saying "no problem", what I did not realize was that by using that phrase it implies that their might have been a problem otherwise. The recommendation  was to use "my pleasure" in its place. It felt ackward at first but as I continued to work at changing my habit it became more comfortable. You may find yourself having a similar experience.

• Over 74% of American adults are on Facebook. Every one of them has a different timeline and a different Facebook experience. It is a great way to connect with people. Facebook can help you to market, but it also requires a lot of work for your posts to reach your clients timeline. You will never reach all of your followers with any one Facebook post that is not a promoted post, and even then it seems unlikely. Also, don't buy into anyone promising to sell you "likes". It would do you better to have 2 customers who listened to what you had to say and were engaged than to have 200 customers who don't know you and ignore your posts.

• Podcasts can be a great way of growing your knowledge while you are driving between calls. If you use a smart phone it is pretty easy to subscribe to and listen to podcasts. There are podcasts for small business, for marketing, for news and just about any other subject under the sun. I like to listen to podcasts during my daily commute and have found some to be extremely informative. There are a lot of fun and entertaining shows to enjoy as well, but my point is how you can use that "wasted time" to improve yourself.

• Respect technology, but don't fear it. There are some folks who are willing to post every aspect of their lives to the internet. There are other folks who worry that anything they do on the internet will come back and haunt them some day. While I would agree that sharing too many details on line can create problems, I think just as often, a fear of the unknown prevents us from trying out news tools and seeing how they can help advance our lives and our businesses. Its a fine line, but the world is changing FAST and it would be wise to try to keep up with the changes. The trick is to recognize what is likely a lasting change and what is just a fad. Give yourself some room to experiment. 

So those are the kind of things that run through my mind sometimes. My hope is that some of my musings will cause you to shift your thinking in some way that might make you and your business stronger. I look forward to hearing your comments.

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