How much does it cost?

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Ah yes, the dreaded price call. If you get a lot of these, make sure to talk value over price and share with the customer how terrific your company is.

However, sometimes even responding with the most well-meaning pride in your company can make you sound defensive.

Here’s how to avoid that trap:

Be prepared. Work with your office to come up with sound solutions for the price or service concern.  What questions do you want to ask to engage the caller?  How will you explain your different price or package options?  Brainstorm as a team and practice your replies on each other.

Choose the right tone.  When you are practicing, give each other feedback on your tone of voice.  It’s easy for a little sarcasm or apathy to creep in. Catch it!

Be appreciative.  When the Customer tells you about a competitive offer, thank them for sharing the information.  It will catch them off guard!

Be patient. These are not quick calls.  Persuading takes time and effort.  Focus on this call not the others that are in the queue.

If you or your team needs help fielding these types of calls, let us know. We've got a webinar for that.

Click here.

Did you watch?

American snowboarder Chloe Kim won Gold in PyeongChang last week

There's so much competition in the Olympics, but only a few winners. What helps winners win?

Choosing to focus on what’s in their control and visualizing success.

An athlete can’t change how prepared their competition is, how cold they are, or how distracting Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski's coordinating outfits are. But they can choose to focus on what’s in their control.

One technique that Olympians use to enhance this focus is visualization or mental imagery.  Before they compete, they imagine themselves running through their event, thinking through the movements, and winning.

Take a moment to think through your day before it happens, and imagine it going really well.  Play through some typical interactions and handle them in medal-worthy fashion.  Then head back to reality and enjoy your day.

YAY you!

Copyright: The Ellen Show

Here are two steps for a better 2018.

Step 1:  Keep a file of the good stuff you do. Maybe it's a digital folder of emails thanking you for a job well done, or perhaps it's a hard copy file with written thank you notes you have received.

Step 2:  When the day isn't going the way you planned or you get a tough caller, review your Yay Me! file for a reminder of your awesomeness.

Repeat as needed... Yay you!

You're making me crazy!

I’m often asked how to deal with a co-worker that drives you bonkers.

Well… You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your co-workers.  It’s a job.  Some people will annoy you.

If, on the other hand, you decide to deal with it (which by the way would make me very proud!) here’s some advice.

• Start with a positive
• Be specific
• Get their perspective

Here's what it might sound like.

"Our working relationship matters to me, we work so closely here at Awesome Co., I’d like us to get along better.  When you and I work on X, Y seems to happen.  What’s your take on it?"

The goal is to change behavior and people won't be open to change if they are feeling defensive.  This conversation builds bridges, not fences.

Another tip: If the thought of this makes you nervous, practice it on a friend - or your dog - first.

If you've ever wanted to get yourself Ward Certified™, now is the time.  Click here to learn more.

Aww...

Yes, that's the reaction I was expecting.  

Last week's post about putting on your positive pants received a lot of great feedback so I thought I'd share more tips from Jane McGonigal.

Tip #3: Emotional Resilience

Looking at pictures of baby animals changes your frame of mind in an instant. Didn't you have a reaction when you saw the seal pup?  We added this picture but it'd be a good idea to have a picture at your desk of something or someone that makes you smile.

Tip #4: Social Resilience 

We need human connection. Find someone and shake hands for 6 seconds.  This positive, personal interaction is said to increase oxytocin in the brain and make you feel better.  

Now you have all four resilience tips from Jane: Physical, Mental, Social and Emotional.  And yes, there's an app for that: https://www.superbetter.com/  

Choose the one that you need when you need it and send me (well, Karen, actually) a picture of your favorite baby animal.

Put Your Positive Pants On

via GIPHY

That was the quote posted at the gym this morning, and it's very fitting for the office.  There are so many things that are out of your control (the caller's issue, the weather, the volume of calls) and that can make it hard to bounce back between calls. 

Here are some tips to build resilience so that you can stay positive. 

Try this for physical resilience:

• Stand up and walk three steps from your desk then back again.  

Can’t do that?

• How about extending your arms up in the air or standing up and striking a victory pose?

Repeat as needed.  
Those movements will build your physical resilience which can help you stay in control of you. 

Try this for mental resilience:

• Snap your fingers 50 times.  Yes, exactly 50 times.  Count ‘em.  Go.    

Can’t snap?

• Then count down from 100.

Let me know which one you tried and how it worked for you.  

For more information on these tips watch Super Better by Jane McGonigal on Ted Talks.

Built for Speed

Q:  Customers today are tougher to deal with because:

1.     The age of the internet has made all of us more impatient?

2.     The ease of a google search has made us more aware of competition, options and ratings?

3.     Our Fitbit encourages us to keep moving at a faster pace?

A: All of the above

Our fast paced world has made us more impatient.  Opportunities for service using chat, text and FAQs have made us less likely to want to talk to a human and more likely to sound tough.

What’s a CSR to do?

Take a deep breath, say your mantra and speak with confidence.  When you sound confident, they’ll feel reassured and you’ll be in control.

A special shout-out goes to our new friends at Lawley. Here's an article we thought you'd enjoy based on our great exclamation point discussion.  We liked the quote, "Don't ask punctuation to do a word's job, it dilutes your message, makes you look unprofessional, and leaves you with nowhere to go when you actually do need an exclamation mark."  For the full article, click here.