On my flight from Seoul, Korea, to Kuala Lumpur, I made a wonderful new friend, Mohan. He invited Nancy and me for the day with his daughter, Anu, to visit the Batu Caves. Afterwards he and his wife and other daughter treated us to a special Malaysian lunch and then took us to their home. What a blessing it was to meet this special family!
These are photos of our shopping adventures and our visit to the amazing Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
I am currently on the AMA Waterways newest ship, Ama Certo, taking a wonderful, relaxing sightseeing cruise down the Danube River. Here is our itinerary:
August 30 and 31– Budapest, Hungary
September 1 and 2 — Bratislava, Slovakia and Vienna, Austria
September 3– Wachau Valley
September 4 — Linz and an excursion to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
September 5 — Passau – Vilshofen, Germany
September 6 — Regensburg, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic
September 7 – 9–Prague, Czech Republic
We are learning a great deal about the history of this part of Europe and enjoying the sights, the food, the wine, and the shopping! I will be posting picture on the blog along with my journal when I return.
TOOLS FOR DEALING WITH DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS (Internal or External)
Barbara A. Glanz, CSP, CPAE
1. Stay Reasonable. Breathe deeply. Remember the exercise, “The holes in the soles of my feet.” Take a deep breath and as you do so, think about breathing in goodness, joy, and peace. Then as you exhale, imagine pushing all the stress out from the “holes” in the soles of your feet. Repeat several times and you will find the stress dissolving. You can do this exercise at your desk, in your car, or with your family. It will help keep you from getting hooked into anger and defensiveness.
2. Listen and empathize. Put yourself in their shoes. Remember that everyone has a story, and you have no idea what has gone on in their lives before they came to you.
3. Remember their HUMAN need. Even if you can’t, with creative thinking, meet their business need, you can always meet their human need for dignity and understanding.
4. Offer Options. Perhaps you cannot meet their exact business need or request, but with creative thinking, you may be able to offer some options that are even better for the customer. Say, “I’m not able to do _________; however, here are three things that I CAN do.” Always focus on what you CAN do, not what you can’t do. Offering options gives the customer a choice and allows them to keep their dignity in the process.
5. Let people vent. Sometimes they simply need to let off steam to someone. Agree with them every chance you get, even if it is only a “yes,” or “uh-huh.” If you listen long enough without arguing, often they will run out of steam and end up apologizing to you or explaining they have had a bad day.
6. ASK QUESTIONS. This buys you time to keep calm and puts the ball in their court.
7. Use Selective Agreement. No matter how upset they are, find something in what they say that you can agree with. You may have to use this skill 6 or 7 times, depending upon how upset the customer is, before they calm down so you can get to the business at hand. Using it will help you to keep more objective and not take the attack personally.
8. Don’t take things personally. When a customer is upset, he or she is upset with the organization or the circumstances, not with you as an individual. Remember YOU ARE THE ORGANIZATION to them!
9. Above all, DON’T GET HOOKED! If you become argumentative or defensive, you will always lose. The way the customer sees it is the way they see it. Acknowledge how they see it and then find some ways you can compromise or come to some sort of mutual agreement.
BARBARA GLANZ BIOGRAPHY
For free articles you can use in your company newsletters and an archive of dozens of immediately applicable “Ideas of the Month,” go to www.barbaraglanz.com/articles. Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations that want to improve morale, retention, and service and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives. She is the author of The Simple Truths of Service Inspired By Johnny the Bagger; Building Customer Loyalty: The Simple Truths of Appreciation; Balancing Acts; Handle with CARE—Motivating and Retaining Employees; CARE Packages for the Workplace–Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work; CARE Packages for Your Customers; CARE Packages for the Home and What Can I Do? Ideas to Help Those Who Have Experienced Loss;. As an internationally known speaker, trainer, and business consultant who has a Master’s degree in Adult Education, Barbara lives and breathes her personal motto: “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™.” A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, she has presented on all seven continents and in all 50 states since 1995. For more information, she can be reached directly at 941-312-9169; Fax 941-349-8209; email: bglanz@barbaraglanz.com; website: www.barbaraglanz.com.
Barbara Glanz, a class of ’65 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Kansas, is featured in a PROFILE titled “Speaker ‘spreading contagious enthusiasm™'” by Terry Rombeck in the July issue of “Kansas Alumni” magazine. Each edition of the magazine highlights four outstanding alumni of the university. Besides Barbara, this edition features the actor who does the voice of Goofy for Disney; Michael Bauer, the top restaurant critic in San Francisco; and the director of one of the top-rated children’s theatres in the country.
Last week I was one of the session speakers at the Society for Human Resource Management National convention in Atlanta. It is the largest gathering of HR professionals in the world, and I have been blessed to speak there since 1997. My session was titled, “CARE Packages for the Workplace — Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work,” based on my book of the same title. Although I had the most technical difficulties I have ever had in any presentation, the over 700 people in the room all chose to stay which was a wonderful tribute since in this environment, it is absolutely acceptable to leave a presentation that is not meeting your needs.
As a part of the convention, they always have a HUGE expo with over 670 companies that specialize in products and services for the HR community. I always have fun collecting all the giveaways for the grandchildren. One of my favorite stories that I always tell the Aflac folks is that each year they give away a little duck in a different costume each year. When you press its tail, it says, “Aflac, Aflac, AFLAKKKKKKKKKKKKK…..!” Over the years since Owen 6 and Simon 4 have been born, I have sent them each a different duck every year. When Simon was about 14 months old, guess what his very FIRST word was??? AFLAC! 😉
This year they had the Heisman Trophy at their booth, so I had my picture taken with it. It is fun to share with all my friends and clients.
Barbara and the Heisman Trophy!
TO learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com .
THE JOY OF SERENDIPITY!
Speaking at the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association in Baltimore
As many of you know who have heard me speak, one of the things I dislike the most about travel is eating all alone, and the usual alternative is so simply have room service. However, I really did want to experience the wonderful seafood of the area, so I called the concierge for advice. Since I was alone, she recommended a seafood restaurant that had a shuttle to pick me up and bring me back, so I made a 7:00 pm reservation.
When I went out to get into the shuttle, there were three other people there – Walter, Jennifer, and Martha. To be friendly, I asked them if they were with ASTRA (the convention where I was speaking). They were, so I told them I was going to be their keynote speaker the next day. They then asked if I were alone, and when I said, “Yes,” they graciously invited me to join them.
As we talked over dinner, one of them asked me where I lived and how long I had lived there. Then, of course, the question became where I had come from. When I said the Chicago area, two of them replied that they, too, had lived in the suburbs of Chicago. Amazingly, as we talked more, it turned out that Martha had lived IN OUR TOWN of Western Springs, ONE BLOCK away from where we had raised all of our children, and BOTH Martha and Walter had gone to Lyons Township High School, the school my children attended and where I had taught for several years before they were born. What a delightful, serendipitous experience – to have four random people “happen” to meet in a shuttle, share dinner, and find all these connections!
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My closing keynote at ASTRA -- "Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™-Creating Workplaces of Passion, Purpose and Productivity"
I truly believe that wherever we may find ourselves in the world, there are always wonderful people and delightful serendipitous experiences if we just take time to connect and communicate. Isn’t life fun????
To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
Here is a comment by a client after he heard me speak again last week.
“Back in 1995, I attended a seminar in Orlando, Fl. with Barbara Glanz. To this day, despite countless conferences, seminars, training sessions and meetings, it remains the single most effective, most motivational and absolute best time I have ever spent inside a room. If you want to make a difference, there is absolutely NO ONE better to help you than Barbara.
Jim Munroe
Operations Energy Coordinator, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority
We hope we will have a chance to make a difference in YOUR workplace by helping you raise morale, improve retention, build customer and employee loyalty, boost productivity, and as a result, create a workplace of respect, caring, and joy. Remember, you will never get employees to treat customers better than they are being treated themselves! Call our office today, (941) 312-9169 to explore ways that Barbara can make a difference within your organization!
BARBARA QUOTED AND “THE SIMPLE TRUTHS OF APPRECIATION” REVIEWED IN QUINTESSENCE, A KAISER PERMANENTE PUBLICATION
Both a summary of Barbara’s Opening Keynote speech, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™–Creating Workplaces of Passion, Purpose, and Productivity,” at the Advanced Practice Symposium in Pasadena, CA, and a review of her book, “The Simple Truths of Appreciation — How Each of Us Can Choose to Make a Difference,” were included in the latest Kaiser Permanente publication, Quintessence. This magazine is the Kaiser Southern California publication for all Certified Nurse-Midwives, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants. They quote her powerful statement, “It doesn’t matter what your individual jobs are, you represent Kaiser Permanente. Whether you are a receptionist, a medical assistant, an advanced practice provider, or a physician, Kaiser Permanente will be a little better place, or not quite as good, because of YOU!”.
Barbara will be speaking for the 16th time at the national Society for Human Resource Management conference June 26 in Atlanta. It has been her honor to have been asked to present there since 1997, and she has often been rated one of their top ten speakers. She is speaking on “CARE Packages for the Workplace–Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work.” The conference draws over 15,000 HR leaders from around the world.
An apology is a good way to have the last word! - Geroge Bernard Shaw -