Need an Attitude Adjustment? Go Pro!

Our attitude shapes our environment – it’s the difference, to use a cliché, of seeing the glass as half full or half empty.  Our outlook on life is the road map that guides the quality of our lives.  A simple way to look at attitude is this:  Attitude is the way we communicate how we’re feeling to other people. 

Positive, optimistic people exude a favorable attitude that draws like-minded people toward them. It’s just natural to want to be around people who have an uplifting influence, who don’t pepper most conversations with negative remarks. When we are pessimistic and continually expect life to be negative, we put up a barrier to other people.  And, the ones we attract are the grim reapers of the world.  Those with nothing kind to say and those that think things are bad and that things are only going to get worse.

Attitude is shaped in our mind, it’s the way we look at things, circumstances, people...it’s our perspective. We’re in control of our perspective so we are in control of our attitude. 

Life is very challenging and it is naïve to think we can be 100% positive 100% of the time. Excessive optimism can appear false and may, in fact, at times be inappropriate.  

When things are going well, it’s much easier to maintain a healthy outlook.  The challenge comes when something happens to test our positive perspective.  

The difference between a positive and negative person is the positive person knows that she or he will bounce back, that whatever the situation, they will not be bogged down in it forever.

 

Why is attitude so important to delivering customer service?

Customer service super stars know that managing their attitude helps ensure they have a stellar performance.  Super stars get on purpose and become committed to excelling at performing  (just like actors in a movie or a play).  They know their lines, they are dressed the part and are well-rehearsed.  Even when life hands them a hard knock they act the part they are expected to play.  In sports they call this "sometimes you have to play hurt". The game must go on .  

Another thing customer service professionals, like bank tellers, new account representatives, and call center agents have learned is this - act your way into a new attitude.  

• When you don't feel good, act like you do and you'll feel better.  
• If your heart aches because of a broken or troubled relationship, kick up your acting a notch and you'll feel better.
• The next time your are suffering with disappointment or disillusionment, change your focus to what you have to be grateful for and you'll better.   

What is the lesson in this?  Go pro.  Never forget that attitude is important to the quality of every aspect of your life.  The pros know that you have to focus on both your attitude and your performance.  If either one is in need of an adjustment, take full responsibility to change what you are thinking or what you are doing to get the results you are after.  When need be, adjust both!

Still learning,

Honey

More Cross-Selling Tips for Bankers

Prepare for Objections

When timing is good always find out what the customers objections, concerns or reservations are when you suggest a product or service.  Gentle probing will help you and your company in several ways:

When you know why the customer won’t buy you can share more information or clarify facts.

When customer’s resist or don’t perceive a product is valuable the company needs to be aware of how frequently that is happening.  It could be pricing or product features need to be adjusted.

Remember these tips when preparing for anticipated objections.

·         Don’t take "no" as an answer every time.  When it seems right, find out why a customer objects to a product or service.

Mrs. Lewis, tell me about your reservations.

·         Restate what they said and encourage more conversation

You just don’t feel comfortable paying bills online, tell me more about that.

·         Encourage the customer to share about their opinion, concerns or experience.

Tell me more about that.

·         Use the feel, felt, found formula:

I understand how you feel. Other customers have told me they felt that way. Let me share with you what they found out.

Put these tips to work for you as you develop the skills of effective cross-selling.  For more information on this topic, click here for free tools and articles in our web store.

Still learning,

Honey

Customer Service Reality Check

Have you ever noticed that some things seem so clear from the outside, yet from within, things become cloudy and confused? We often see this in politics, when we accuse—often with good reason—elected officials for being “out of touch with reality”. What seems like common sense to us just doesn't seem to filter into that bubble.

Bad customer service is almost ALWAYS a result of being out of touch with customer reality. It's really quite simple; and perhaps even too simple to grasp, since we're often in search of complicated answers to complicated problems.  Here's the insight to memorize:

Customers like to be treated

like they matter to you!

Do have an automated recording telling customers that their call is important to you—so important that you keep telling them this over and over that by the time they reach 10 minutes on hold, it actually becomes insulting for them to be told that they're important—when they obviously aren't?

Is your team trained to actually listen and find out what the problem is and what solution the customer would like, before they try and “resolve the situation”?  Learn how to provide training that will make a difference with my Training That Sticks workshop that is now available on CD-ROM.

Do you have a checklist of all of the things that you personally loathe about customer service?  Become committed to behaviors that ensure you excel at customer service and become very focused on the behaviors you want to eradicate from the workplace.  Send me your list of each one!

Still learning,

Honey