Leadership

There are Always Choices to be Made

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Many times, we don’t feel like we have choices when things happen (as they inevitably will in life and in business). This belief is based on an expectation of how things should be. When things don’t go our way, we feel we don’t have a choice or other options. The truth is, there are always choices to be made – it requires getting out of the “I don’t have a choice” or victim mentality, and into being a responsible business owner, executive, entrepreneur and/or business leader.

A business owner was upset that one of his employees wasn’t doing the job the way he wanted to have it done. He had hired based upon his gut and the employee’s previous work experience, and failed to objectively determine job fit within his company’s culture. He believed he only had three options: fire, overlook the issue or attempt more training. Before calling his attorney, he called his business advisor, who recommended using a qualified assessment to objectively see what the real issues were. The results were insightful and he saw that the employee didn’t have the interest to do the job, and the core behaviors to do it the way the owner wanted to have it done. The business advisor next recommended rewriting the job description to focus on the person’s strengths instead of firing! Now, the business owner chooses to use qualified assessments to hire the right person the first time – saving time, money and sleepless nights!

Assess Your Choices

Believe. Adjust your mindset. There are alternatives. This is a must. If you think you can make a different choice, you can. Remember, the choice you make may not be the easiest path for you since it may require selecting different options that don’t meet your initial perception of how it should be.

Brainstorm. Consciously take time to brainstorm, in writing, at least five options. Better yet, brainstorm with your team. Select two viable options. Remember, one option may be to choose to do nothing – in the past this usually has been a default rather than a conscious decision.

Does it work? Now, drill down into each option for workability. (Include the “do nothing” option, if it’s one of the two selected.) Research and determine whether or not each choice will support the vision of your company and ROI, while creating win-win-win outcomes for customers, team members, and vendors. Select one option and put together a focused action plan. Now, move forward quickly to execute before someone gets cold feet. (Note, making choices outside the team’s comfort zone will usually create fear of the unknown. Stay in communication with your team to keep them on the same page.)

Implement. Execution of an idea or plan is never without setbacks. Instead of lamenting it was the wrong choice when a roadblock occurs, complete the “What worked?/What didn’t work?” exercise. (5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Results, http://ow.ly/4nkmFX ) This will help you to determine any new opportunities or pathways to success, or a different resolution for an ongoing issue.

Celebrate. Learn to celebrate the small as well as the bigger choices you make. This builds morale and creates a culture of success-focused ideas and actions.

Remember, life is a journey of choices. Learn how to use them to build on your business success in a positive and proactive manner.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been helping leaders uncover choices that make positive and powerful differences for over 23 years. As an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant, she guided the creation of three millionaires and million-dollar results for over 25 companies. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you want: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Leader?

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Everyone can be a leader.

The qualifying questions are:

  • Are you willing to do the work necessary and step up to be one? Or,
  • Are you waiting until someone taps you on the shoulder to begin? (Hint, it may be a long wait!)

What Does It Take?

Make a commitment. Many people say they want to achieve certain goals in their lives, yet, do not take the focused action steps necessary. For example, they wish to participate in a networking group or on a team project, but fail to show up and contribute.

  • Review your values and goals.
  • Are they consistent? For example, if you have a goal of becoming a millionaire, yet, everyday spend money for lunch, coffee and other items your actions do not support your goal.
  • Make the necessary changes one step at a time. Take one item that you are spending money on and instead invest that money.

Use qualified assessments. These tools provide incredible accuracy and insight into your leadership traits. They also provide objective awareness of how to better communicate, manage and work with others. The challenge is there’s a lot of mischief over what defines a qualified assessment. The bottom line is that a qualified assessment complies with the Department of Labor guidelines for pre-employment use. These tools have significantly higher reliability and validity, and predictive validity, than the other 3,000 tools available in the market today.

  • Select a qualified assessment and a qualified coach. (www.SeibCo.com/contact)
  • Review the results with your coach.
  • Together with your coach put together a project that will help you improve one area. (Hint: putting together a project to listen better will yield poor results. Instead, put together a customer service goal that will require you to listen in order to achieve that goal.)

Be coachable. Behind every leader is a trusted advisor/coach. (Think, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, etc.) Also, leaders usually have an industry mentor to help them stay current in their profession and industry. You need to have both to excel as a great leader. The right coach encourages you to do what you need to do, but don’t want to do, to achieve unprecedented results.

  • Select and hire a coach.
  • Select an industry mentor and ask him or her to be your mentor.
  • Put together a 13-week project and goal with your coach and share it with your mentor.
  • Do the work required to make it happen.
  • Blast through those barriers that normally stop you.

Take one day at a time. Every human being has personal baggage. In order to be a great leader, we need to unload it, be responsible for our perceptions of the incident, and have acceptance that the situation happened. Take the time now to get it resolved, one day at a time. It doesn’t get easier as time goes by – it gets harder. Failure to do so, may have you miss out on promotions or coveted opportunities, or, even become unemployed. If necessary, find a licensed therapist to get down to reality and better understand yourself.

Pick yourself up after a failure. Don’t berate yourself for mistakes or failures. Pretending you don’t have any, or are unable to apologize makes others uncomfortable following your leadership. Every great leader has made more than one mistake! The key is, they picked themselves up and resolved it. Now, not later when may be too late.

Everyone has what it takes to be a leader. The million dollar question is, are you willing to do the work to become one?

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been working with leaders as an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you want: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Embrace your Mistakes to be a Leader

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Leaders react differently to mistakes they make. Some readily admit them and learn from them. While others spin the facts to place blame on others. Ignoring the learning lessons mistakes offer can be detrimental to career success, and negatively impact relationships with clients, bosses, boards, employees and co-workers.

The next time you make a mistake, or your team fails to fulfill a project’s intended goals on-time or within budget, instead of finding excuses, blaming others or criticizing the circumstances, embrace the mistake. Mistakes can provide depth and breadth to your leadership credentials when resolved responsibly.

Mistakes are Opportunities for Success

What worked? What didn’t work? Take time to objectively review the facts of the project when a mistake is made. Start with objective (factual) items that did work. There will always be some. Then, focus on the factual items that did not work. (Objective facts can be quantified.) Review with your team and come up with a plan to correct the mistakes made (these could include assumptions, actions, strategy, mindsets, etc.). Also read, 5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Results (and Enjoy Being a Leader Again) http://ow.ly/4mOLGF

Talk it out with trusted advisors. Sometimes we make things mean more than they do. Other times we may be obtuse and not accept the seriousness of our words or actions. Feeling bad does not erase the impact of the mistake. The key is to find a way to resolve it and learn from it. Talk it out with your external coach, industry mentor, boss and/or other trusted advisors to help you learn from the mistake(s) faster.  Hiding and hoping no one will notice will negatively impact your credibility as a leader.

Stop mind-reading other’s reactions to the mistake. Everyone reacts differently to mistakes made. Ask for your team’s input and don’t assume you know what they will tell you! Actively listen, ask the right questions and set aside any defensiveness. Then, take action to resolve the mistake.

Apologize. Normally, your ego will delve into explaining your actions and intentions as a way of saying, “It’s not my responsibility.” Stop! This comes across as defensive and prevents you from learning from it. Instead, embrace the mistake, be humble and share the facts of what happened and what you learned. Ask the people impacted what you can do to resolve it to their satisfaction. The key is to keep communication lines open and develop your leadership skills in handling upset and controversy.

Don’t make mistakes mean so much. Too often, we beat ourselves up for making the mistake. Cut it out! Mistakes can happen with anyone! It’s how you handle mistakes that make the difference between being a leader and sabotaging your career upward.  Don’t forget to forgive yourself!

Leaders not only learn from their mistakes, they embrace them. Take responsibility and the necessary actions to get mistakes resolved powerfully.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you want: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Getting the Best Education Is Different Today

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Many parents believe getting the best post high school education means attending college. According to CBS This Morning (April 11, 2016), over 85% of the estimated three million high school seniors this year are expected to head to college. The reality is, many young people are heading to college to make mom and dad happy, fit in with their friends, or don’t know what else to do for the next four years!

There are Many Other Choices that are Often Overlooked

There are over 5,300 schools, from beauty colleges to Harvard. As parents, it’s important we teach our young adults the lifelong skills necessary to prepare, educate and pursue career and life choices that fit them, since they will have over 7 careers during their lifetime. Currently, low graduation rates, high debt loads and poor placement rates for jobs make it harder for millennials to get on a career path that is right for them, and is also financially rewarding. While financial success is important, remember, today’s financially rewarding careers may not be the same ones tomorrow.

Not everyone needs, or wants, to attend college to get a great education! They simply don’t know what else to do. It’s unfortunate that parents are more likely to spend money to help their kids develop skills in sports (hoping for an all-expense paid scholarship) then ensure their young person gets on a career path that fits them!

It’s important we listen to our kids since we are usually their #1 role model. One young man got a 4-year degree from a prestigious university and received a coveted job offer. His father was so proud — then was equally devastated (and, embarrassed) to learn his son was joining a missionary group for the next two years. The father hadn’t been listening to what his son had been trying to tell him for the past four years.

What can Parents Do?

Put aside your ego. Too often, we unconsciously focus on what would make us happy. We want to live (or relive) that time vicariously through them. We focus on the name of the school, type of degree or major, and other factors (e.g., sororities, fraternities, etc.) that we believe will make us proud. Set aside your ego. Today there are so many post high school choices it’s important to take the time to help your young person take an inventory of what they really really really want to do. This may include visiting different schools and ensuring the one they select will meet their needs. Or, help them get a job. Or, help them pursue other goals. For example, many young people with strong coding/technology skills and interests may wish to work with IoT (Internet of Things) startups. It’s their time to explore what will make them happy with your encouragement.

Education comes in many forms and will provide the opportunity for your young person to develop themselves and clarify what’s next in their career. Remember, life is a process not an event.

Help them set true goals. With 63 to 79 percent of the working population in jobs that don’t fit them, it’s important to use a qualified assessment* as part of their goal setting process. Too often, millennials have rose-colored glasses or tunnel vision when it comes to a particular profession. They base their career options on classes where they got great grades, the illusion of success based on TV idols or roles, projected financial earnings, or other factors that have nothing to do with career fit, job satisfaction or being happy. Help them learn how to set true goals that are authentic for them. Then, teach them how to pursue those goals.

Allow them to succeed and fail. Hovering parents limit young people’s abilities to grow and make their own decisions. As parents, too often we’ve limited their ability to fail because we don’t want them reliving our own hardships or life experiences. Be one of their top supporters in helping them overcome perceived failures and teach them how to take focused action to blast past the mistake or failure to achieve the intended goal.

Be a listener and a resource. Encourage them to talk with people in the industry they wish to pursue. Utilize your professional network and have them setup meetings. (Don’t do this for them or attend the meetings with them.) Help them prepare an agenda of questions to ask. Encourage them to explore new work options. For example, if they want to be an entrepreneur, have them put together a business plan and execute it. Or, if they want to start a not-for-profit, have them work in an established one to learn the nuts and bolts of running one.

The best education we can provide our young people today is the encouragement to pursue their dreams, broaden their life experiences, and be the listener they need to grow and prosper. Remember, it’s their time to explore, investigate and educate themselves on life and career choices for them.

*The Pathway PlannerTM uses the same assessment information (based upon the world’s largest validation and reliability studies) that thousands of companies use to hire. This educational and career planning tool helps young people and people in career transition discover what career possibilities best suit them. In addition, SeibCo provides the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, (www.Time2Brag.com) to help sell yourself and win the job offer.

To get started, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2016 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped guide the creation of three millionaires.

What do you do with Unwanted Advice?

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Usually, we ignore it, or invalidate the facts or the person providing the input. Even when it is our board of directors, mentor or coach!

While it is much easier to hear wanted advice, there are times we need to listen to unsolicited or undesirable advice. While business leaders gladly share their opinions, thoughts and feelings on any subject, they rarely take (or make) the time to probe into what the core issues are. So, it is up to you to adjust your mindset and ability to listen — it will determine the value of the advice and how to use it. (Especially if it is our customer!)

By listening, we can resolve issues, take advantage of opportunities, and build team morale. Failure to do so may limit our ability to grow our company.

It’s Important that you Hear what is being Said!

Set Aside your Ego. Your ability to listen to unwelcomed advice displays your emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is responding appropriately and understanding what the person is saying … whether or not you believe it is valid information. Learn how to respond without being defensive and ask the right questions.

Don’t Allow your Biases to Dictate your Ability to Listen. Too often we allow our biases about the person giving advice to interfere with our ability to hear what they are saying. The advice or information being provided may be very important but not well communicated.  If you simply can’t understand what they are saying, schedule another meeting with the intention of learning from them. In the meantime, do your homework and come prepared with questions.

Pay Attention. Multi-tasking or playing with your computer or phone while the other person is speaking will ensure you miss value-added points. Usually if someone is taking the time to give you feedback or input, it’s important that you listen! Remember, it often takes courageous to share unwanted information. Paying attention usually has a big payoff whether or not you find the news immediately useful.

Stay Out of the ‘Ain’t It Awful Trap’. It’s easy to buy into negativity. Although you may have a bias that this person is always negative, listen empathetically and place a time limit on it. While there are times venting may foster opportunities, it depends upon your ability to manage it. Turn the information into growing the project, resolving the client issue effectively, or helping someone learn from it. These are great opportunities to develop your skills.

Listening to and managing wanted and unwanted advice is critical to growing your business.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you need: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Do You Want Positive Results? Then Delegate!

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Truly successful leaders have learned how to get issues addressed and job activities they detest done with minimal stress. They are great at working with and through others to achieve positive results through delegation. They know (sometimes having learned the hard way) failure to delegate will sabotage the successful growth of their company, ability to hire and retain great employees, and profitability.

Delegate the Right Way!

Select the Right Person. Delegating to employees or others that have the interest, skills and business acumen, can create great working relationships with employees and customers, improve sales and profitability, and eliminate many potential legal issues (e.g., the IRS, a judge or plaintiff attorney are not interested in “why” your company didn’t do what needed to be done.) Give the task or project to the best qualified person, without basing the decision solely on longevity, job titles and non-critical factors. Make sure they have the mindset, interests and skills to achieve the needed results. These people will amaze you in the results they produce!

Create Ongoing Learn-forward Culture. While you may believe everyone is too busy, you might be surprised to learn they are good at busy-ness in an attempt to alleviate their boredom. When new opportunities present themselves, instead of saying no because you are not interested, consider delegating them to your employees so they can learn new skills and develop business acumen. In turn, this will improve job satisfaction and overall results. You’ll be surprised by how much time they can devote to something that truly interests them! And, make sure their current job responsibilities are getting done too!

Mentoring and Coaching is the Company Norm. Too often we wait until there is a problem before providing necessary mentoring or coaching for our employees. This creates a negative perspective of asking for and allowing for help. Encourage cross-training, participation in projects, and team leadership opportunities to broaden your employees’ bandwidth. It can also boost their morale and build their confidence to try new things. Great experiences will normally produce unprecedented results!

Delegating the right way will promote positive results and you will create a more effective team.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you need: http://SeibCo.com/contact

Challenges Are Opportunities to Transform the Company

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Many opportunities are often disguised as challenges. Brave and audacious leaders know when challenges occur that’s when new opportunities appear. To take advantage of these, leaders make the commitment to clarify the facts of the challenge, get everyone on the same page, and take focused action. They know change is never an easy process. Their courage to take on challenges, make the right changes, and turn them into rewarding opportunities is their trademark for being great leaders. Many faint-hearted counterparts miss out on these new possibilities to stay competitive, customer-centric and the employer of choice.

Courage is the trademark of bold leaders. They embrace the following:

Encourage change. There is a misperception that change means something is wrong or something needs to be fixed. The truth is change happens every day. Understanding and accepting change is a precursor to the transformative process in any company. Dauntless leaders encourage conversations designed to develop new and broader perspectives.  To help employees understand the opportunities change can bring, have them do one thing different each day.  Then, share about the positive effects.  For example: encourage them to drive to work a different way, talk with different types of potential customers, brainstorm the impact of one company goal, etc.

Talk it out responsibly.  Determined leaders are responsible for what is shared with whom. When sharing their challenges with close confidants and key employees, they are open and coachable to hear what they don’t want to hear. Thus, they are able to create new possibilities. In turn, they help their employees stay committed to pursuing the new and tactically building on what has been working.

Move forward. Not every opportunity takes the right step in the right direction. It takes tough leaders to get to the heart of new opportunities to determine their viability for the company. Using a sense of urgency, fearless leaders ask the right questions to uncover the truth and probe to hear what others may be afraid to say. By doing so, their efforts are rewarded by uncovering new systems, products and services that work for them and their customers.

Take focused action. Many times an issue or situation has been festering for a while regardless of the actions taken. Resolute leaders know it’s time to “breathe new life into resolving it” by employing outside-the-box thinking. They work with their business advisors to effectively build needed business strategies on current practices – ensuring smooth transitions.

Express thanks. Everyone loves to be appreciated, and when shared authentically can help everyone grow. Trust your employees and the process to ensure anticipated changes bring about the transformation needed to achieve success and financial rewards by acknowledging what they are doing well.

Seeking out challenges can provide the right opportunities for transforming the company when handled courageously and with aplomb.

Get started now turning your challenges into rewarding opportunities! Contact your business advisor today! http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor and executive coach for hundreds of leaders for over 23 years. She has an uncanny ability to help leaders resolve challenges and breathe new life into new opportunities. What are you waiting for? Contact Jeannette today for a no obligation discussion: http://SeibCo.com/contact

Being a Leader Starts on the Inside

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Successful leaders understand their success starts from within and is built on genuine confidence, competence and compassion — not false bravado. They know that leaders are not born as leaders, and they must do the work to earn their successes. They work smart and are respected by others, and many times (but not always) are liked by others too! Thus, they develop an inner leadership style that works for their employees, Board and customers, while effectively handling the outer actions required too.

As part of their commitment to being the best leader they can be, leaders hire an executive coach to help them achieve results and a mentor from within the industry to recognize new opportunities. These confidants help them recognize and fine-tune their blind spots and build their natural effectiveness. By inviting inside and outside perspectives, they build on their business experiences and improve their ability to make the right decisions for win-win-win outcomes.

Fine-tuning Your Inner Leader:

-Take responsibility for yourself and your decisions.

-Trust your inner voice to guide your words and actions, and realize the need to review ideas, thoughts, opinions and feelings with your coach and mentor for clarity. This helps you stay on the right path required to achieve your results.

-Value your ideas and others’ ideas too. Continue developing the fine art of working with and through others to build solutions.

-Respect yourself and others by listening without blame, judgment or criticism to elicit the best in others.

-Be comfortable with yourself, and ensure others are confident to follow your lead. Take the time to check in to ensure others are truly on the same page with you, not just parroting what you want to hear.

-Set aside your ego by sharing the credit and celebrating the successes of others.

-Create positive learning opportunities using the inevitable failures and mistakes often made. Teach by setting the right examples.

The strength of your leadership is a reflection of the authentic confidence, competence and compassion you have developed. Remember, it’s a lifelong process not a one-time event to become the leader you’ve always dreamed of being.

 “Successful leadership requires preparation and learning from any failures along the way!” Jeannette Seibly http://ow.ly/Kp34R

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor and executive coach for over 23 years. She has guided the creation of countless leaders. Are you the next one? http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette Seibly, 2014-2016

Can You Prevent Costly Employee Mistakes?

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One of the most important jobs as a boss is to ensure employees are given the tools they need to readily do their job well (e.g., laptops, project guidelines, workplace policies, company core values, annual goals, etc.). However, in our busy world, we fail to ensure our employees’ readiness to handle certain responsibilities. We forget they may lack experience and discretion due to limited people skills, poor planning abilities, or an inability to base their decisions for win-win-win outcomes (e.g., company, employees, customers, vendors, etc.).

This lack of managerial awareness on your part will allow for mistakes or roadblocks for everyone, including upward mobility in your career. When problems occur, they will eventually (if not immediately) devastate profitability and morale when not resolved appropriately. It’s important to address problems as they happen. Better yet, prevent them from occurring.

Prevention is Key

First and foremost, use scientifically validated assessment tools for hiring, coaching and managing your employees for success. Studies have shown employees that fit their work responsibilities have greater communication effectiveness, are more likely to know when to ask for guidance, and have an interest in ensuring their decisions are in everyone’s best interest. [Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact for more information.]

Second, ongoing training is critical. Most people benefit from ongoing training since the potential mistake or issue becomes less conceptual and they benefit from the experiential role-playing. It helps them clarify how to handle difficult situations and cautions them on what they share with others. As the boss, it’s very important to reinforce the training and set an example.

For example, the biggest problem in many companies is that everyone gossips. Unfortunately, employees can be so busy talking on their cells or with the person seated across from them, they forget people seated at the next table in a coffee shop or co-workers seated on a nearby bench in the company’s lounge are listening in. Remind everyone that certain information is not to be discussed (due to HIPPA, non-disclosure agreements for new products, employment laws, etc.). They also need to be responsible for where, when, why and how they share certain data with others (e.g., don’t forget to include a caution regarding emails, texts, and social media venues).

Third, encourage questions. Do not be fooled into assuming theft, harassment or safety violations won’t happen. When challenges happen, and they will, having prepared yourself and your employees in advance is critical. Encourage questions and provide training for different types of situations or issues, along with reviewing the expected protocols to follow. This will make a positive difference when something does happen and everyone is operating from the same page to get it resolved.

Fourth, finesse is necessary.  Empower your employees to handle basic disagreements on their own. However, when the issue is delicate, it is your job to step in and resolve it for win-win-win outcomes. Don’t put off addressing situations based upon how you feel, or your inability to make a decision. Failure to do so will create disgruntled employees and potential lawsuits. Talk out alternatives with your business coach, mentor, and/or attorney to broaden your perspective. Then, meet with a select few executives to reach a resolution.

Now you’re ready to take the actions required to prevent potentially costly mistakes and ensure win-win-win outcomes for everyone.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for a myriad of business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com and contact us!

Do Your Clients Think You Are Inaccessible?

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Many of you would probably say, “Ridiculous!”

  • Does it take several phone calls to get in touch with you?
  • Does it take longer than 24 to 48 hours for you to respond to messages or emails?
  • Do you often use the excuses “I’m too busy” OR “I don’t have the time?”

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have a problem. SeibCo’s Law of Poor Customer Service states: The longer it takes for you to return a call or respond to an email, the faster the issue will grow exponentially. If this continues, your customer will go to your competition and your reputation will be tarnished.

What Can You Do?

Treat your messages with reverence. They are the life blood of your business. Voice-to-voice conversations are key – don’t rely on emails or sending customers or prospects to your website for answers. Respond promptly. It’s a great way to stay in touch, build important relationships and provide additional value. Actual conversations also are a great way to up-sell and cross-sell any additional products and services they don’t realize you offer.

Believe all clients are important. Ranking clients based on their revenue to determine who you will contact first is a losing game. While a BIG client is important, so are your other ones. Keeping every client happy is important and may require you to think outside-the-box to ensure everyone’s concerns are given top priority.

Value your meetings. Continually canceling or rescheduling, not being prepared, and not taking responsibility for ensuring current and potential clients feel valued, are good excuses for them to seek out other vendors. Happy customers buy more when they feel important. Remember, actual conversations are the best way to uncover their needs.

Listen and be present during the conversation. Too often when we’re in meetings, we’re busy thinking of other things we need to do, or other conversations we need to have. 100% active listening and probing will help you uncover a real issue and your ability to resolve it to the customer’s satisfaction. This new awareness can also help you resolve other clients’ concerns and be more active in doing so.

Blitz them with great customer service. Don’t forget your customer service people need help too! We falsely assume, with devastating results, that everyone knows how to be a good representative of the company. Get into your people’s mindsets and you’ll realize they don’t know how to handle different challenges or how to behave in unusual situations. Many will not have the confidence to ask for help and will simply look for a new employer. Use a qualified customer service assessment to understand their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Train all of your people to be on the same page, and work together for the benefit of every customer.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2016

Do you need an objective, inside look at the behaviors and motives of yourself and others when interacting with customers? Contact Jeannette Seibly @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com.