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Why We Must Talk To People Not About People

Leadership lessons often come from unexpected places. Some recent events reminded me why we must talk to people not about people.

The Valerie Bertonelli Incident

Last week, you may have heard about a social media incident that involved Valerie Bertinelli. In case you don’t know, Valerie is an actress, television personality and perhaps most famous for being the ex-wife of Van Halen guitarist, Eddy Van Halen. She currently hosts the cooking shows Valerie’s Home Cooking and Kids Baking Championship on Food Network.

Long story short, someone had posted a negative comment online telling her she needed to lose weight. In response, she posted a video sharing that comments such as these are very hurtful and unhelpful. She tearfully admitted that she has struggled with her weight her whole life, and she asked this commentor to demonstrate more compassion to others.

Two parts of this incident struck a chord with me.

Direct Conversation

I am currently reading the awesome book “Dare to Lead”, by Brene Brown. The book covers a broad range of topics, with a section focused on building relationships at work. Brene shares the advice to “talk to others, not talk about others.” When you have a struggle or disagreement with someone at work or in your personal life, the best thing you can do is have a direct conversation with this person instead of talking about them with others. Per Brene, “Either be brave, or go home!”. These direct conversations help to build trust and create a more positive environment. 

Compassion

I am lucky enough to work with a personal trainer a few times a week. Usually he is very friendly, talkative, and upbeat. However, one morning recently he was very quiet and did not seem like himself. I began to think that his behavior had to do with me. Maybe he was bored or didn’t want to train me anymore. 

The next time we met, he was back to his gregarious nature. I commented that he seemed to be back to himself since he was quiet in our last session. He said I was right. The trainer suffers from anxiety and that morning he had an episode, making it difficult for him to work that day. He went on to confide in me with more details. I felt disappointed in myself for assuming his behavior was about me instead of stepping back and showing him some kindness when he needed it. 

I am constantly reminded that we never know what someone else has gone through or is going through. If we can more often demonstrate compassion and if we can more frequently talk to people, not about people, I truly believe we’ll be happier, and the world will be a better place.

© 2021, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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10 Key Tenets For Customer Self-Service Success

Customer support self-service has been around for many years, but in 2020 is more important than ever before. As Gartner states in its article, “5 Customer Service Tech Trends in 2020”, Self-service is king. Some of the drivers of self service royalty include….

Firstly, as a result of the pandemic quarantines, many more employees and customers are working from home. As a result, they have to rely more heavily on self-help technology, and less on day to day human interactions. 

Secondly, the pandemic has driven up customer service demand in many businesses. Offering excellent, customer self-service provides another channel for customers to solve problems. 

Lastly, many companies have had to reduce costs as a result of Covid-19’s impact to their business. Self-service can help deflect phone calls, and reduce the cost of service.

My Self-Service Quest…

Considering this increase in self service importance, I was recently on a quest to gather the most up to date, best in class approaches. I came up with 10 key tenets.

By following these 10 key tenets and with the right self-service strategy and execution, organizations can simultaneously improve customer experience and reduce operational costs.

10 Key Tenets For Customer Self-Service Success

Accessibility: The customer self-service options are easy to find. They are available across channels. For example, may use mobile, web and social. Self-service is built into the product at the precise places where customers need it most.

Ease of use: Self service is easy to navigate and use to solve problems or answer questions. In addition, the business posts Frequently Asked Questions, a.k.a FAQs.

Consistency: The customer experience is consistent across self service channels. Branding in self-service is consistent with branding across the end to end customer lifecycle.

Searchability: The self-service search function is google-like. It scans content across channels and serves up highly relevant search results. Customers can easily filter results.

Businesses can supercharge search by allowing verbal searches and using voice recognition in addition to typing words.

Content Relevance: The content within the self-service channels is in a formal knowledge base. It is kept up to date, is accurate and relevant. The content is pulled from a “single source of truth”.

Content Variation: The content within self service is not simply written documentation. It also includes video, audio and screenshots. Customers may exchange information in online forums.

Personalization: Customer experiences work flows leverage personalization using customer history, data and behavior. Tools such as machine learning or AI may boost personalization options.

Automation: The self-service experience leverages automated work flows to help customers find the information they need swiftly with the fewest key strokes. Self service proactively suggests content based on customer actions. Also, chatbots or automated assistants may enhance the experience. (To learn more, check out my earlier blog post, “3 Ways AI Will Enhance Your Customer Experience.”)

Adoption: Customers use and find value in the self service channels. As a result, adoption is increasing over time.

Measuring Success: The business measures customer facing and business facing metrics to measure customer self-service success.

Need ideas? Click the download button, to get a copy of our our free, one page PDF with self-service measurement recommendations.

Customer Self-Service Measurements/KPIsDownload

In conclusion, by following these key tenets with the right self-service strategy and execution, organizations can simultaneously improve customer experience and reduce operational costs.

Did I miss anything? Please add your customer self-service ideas in the comments.

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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Do Generalists or Specialists Win in 2020?

Over the past 5 years I have had the opportunity to volunteer at two different animal rescue organizations. They both have the same ultimate goal, which is to save the lives of animals. However, their volunteer executions plans are vastly different. This is because one leverages a generalist approach, while the other leverages a specialist approach.

What is the difference? In her May 2020 article, “Deep or wide: Should you become a specialist or generalist in your career?”, Sharlyn Lauby did a great job describing each option.  Per Lauby,

“Generalists are competent in several different areas or activities within a profession. Consider an accountant who’s knowledgeable in accounts payable, receivables, and payroll. Or a family practice doctor who provides general health care versus an oncologist who specializes in cancer treatment.”

“Specialists are focused on one subject or area within a profession. Examples are job recruiters versus human resources professionals, or a chef specializing in cold dishes — versus an executive chef knowledgeable in all areas of kitchen operations.”

The Generalist Approach

As a volunteer, this is what I experienced at the first animal rescue organization. 

It loosely defined roles for both paid staff members and volunteers. On Monday you might be cleaning animal crates. On Tuesday you might be approving adoption applications. Another day you might be answering the telephone. 

When volunteers arrived at the physical animal shelter they viewed a list of work options. Then it was up to them to choose a task or to figure out what needs to be done.

This approach can work well if you are a self starter and can work with little direction. Sometimes, it gives volunteers an opportunity to learn a little about a lot of different tasks. There are some people who might find this approach very frustrating. The lack of structure could feel very disorganized. It is hard to know if the volunteer work you do actually makes an impact.

The Specialist Approach

The second organization, clearly defined volunteer roles. It trained volunteers to own specific tasks and then scheduled those tasks. Volunteer leads were assigned to oversee each type of work, and ultimately hold volunteers accountable.

Checks and balances were in place. It had documented rules and guidelines. As a volunteer, it was easy to track progress, or lack of. This organization also celebrated successes and recognized volunteers for his or her contributions.

If you like structure and organization, and want to be able to measure the impact of volunteering, this approach may work for you. For those who are not a fan of rules and guidelines, you might feel frustrated.

Which approach did I like better?

From the standpoint of the animal rescue organization, I believe the second approach was more effective. This was because everyone had a position, and was expected to play their position.

As a volunteer, I think a combination of both approaches would be most effective. 

When I volunteered at the first animal rescue, I learned a lot. This was because I got to practice many different tasks. I also had a clear view to the end to end process. This environment made me feel creative and free.

I felt very productive at the second organization. This was because I could easily track my contributions and was often recognized for my work. There was no guessing or wasted time. When assigned a task, there was a clear way to complete it. I knew when I was done.

Generalist Versus Specialist In Corporate Settings

In the corporate world there are a lot of opinions about specialists versus generalists, and which approach is more appropriate or successful.

In the Harvard Business Review article, “Generalists Get Better Job Offers Than Specialists”, surprise, HBR’s study showed that when looking for a new job, generalists do better, because “they are more unusual, have diverse skills, are redeployable, and are more likely to be tapped as leaders”. However, there was also research to suggest that once hired within an organization, specialists may be more successful.

In late 2019, Forbes published “Move Over, Specialists: The Rise Of The Generalist Is Here”. The author, Nicolle Smart Series shared,

“The thing I love most about generalists — and ultimately why I love hiring them — is that they’ve learned, repeatedly, how to adapt. They’ve got problem-solving minds, and they’re comfortable feeling uncomfortable (because what feels more uncomfortable than learning something new?). And they know, because they’ve done it, how to translate skills for different industries or roles. Who wouldn’t want to hire someone like that?”

What about in 2020- a time of Pandemics, Crises, Artificial Intelligence?

In 2020 and beyond, I believe it’s less about using a specialist or generalist approach, and more about using a flexible, adaptable approach.

These are unusual times. We have to question whether past methods are still ripe or have gone stale. Our team members must flex as the environment flexes. Sense of urgency is more important than ever before. We have to be ready for anything.

Vikram Mansharamani, PhD, and lecturer at Harvard University, recently said, “The one certainty about the future is that it will be uncertain. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and technological innovation have commoditized information.

The skill of generating dots is losing value. The key skill of the future is, well, not quite a skill; it’s an approach, a philosophy, and way of thinking — and it’s critical you adopt it as soon as you’re able.”

What is that skill or approach? It’s up to us, leaders, to figure that out.

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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3 Tips For Managing Customer Experience In a Downturn

This week I had the opportunity to attend the webinar “Managing Customer Experience In a Downturn”, led by Bruce Temkin, the head of the CX Institute for Qualtrics. I recently joked that if Bruce Temkin had a fan club that I would be one of the first members! His advice and content is always spot on and very helpful.

Bruce covered a number of topics in this webinar. These included leading through a downturn, the role of experience management and an approach to adjusting CX programs during a crisis.

Here are 3 key takeaways from the“Managing Customer Experience In a Downturn” webinar. I hope you find these helpful as you adjust your own customer support and experience strategies.

1) Urgently decide what to stop, start or continue

In my experience, business leaders tend to have too long a list of priorities. We often start a new year with our top 5 and by the middle of the year, this priority list has grown to 10 or higher.

A downturn is a crisis situation. It is not business as usual. When managing organizations through a downturn, leaders must quickly and decisively decide where to focus the finite resources. Leaders must decide what to stop, start or continue. This is true not only of the overall priorities, but also the actions steps within a strategic plan or project..

There is not time for layers of approvals or oodles of cross functional meetings. Instead, we must build up an organization’s immediate response skills.

2) Customer experience management is even more important in a crisis

In a downturn, businesses and consumers have different needs.  They are spending their money, time and resources on different things.

As leaders we must accelerate the cycles to keep up with what customers think and feel. We must ask less and listen more. Then, rapidly adapt our strategies and actions based on these insights.

3) Business as usual metrics, drive business as usual behavior

Business executives love their metrics. Employee compensation is often tied to the achievement of these metrics. And, metrics look so pretty in graphs and charts.

There is also a hesitation to change metrics mid stream or mid-year even when they are no longer realistic. I have seen this happen frequently with sales quotas.

As Bruce clearly stated, “Business as usual metrics, drive business as usual behavior.” A crisis in not business as usual. He even went so far as recommending to suspend tracking certain metrics during a crisis. And, to make decisions on different approaches to compensating employees.

In Conclusion…

If you are responsible for leading a customer support organization or driving the customer experience strategy during this downturn, you must act now. This is the time for decisive and swift decision making. This is the time to do the right thing for your employees, customers and shareholders. 

Do you want to know more? Check out an earlier Operations Blog post titled “Resources to Manage Customer Support in the Midst of Covid-19”.

Stay well!

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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Call To Action: 3 Musts For Call Centers & Covid-19

The massive impact of Covid-19 on call centers and customer support teams must drive a significant call to action for leaders of these organizations. In particular, there are three actions every customer operations leader must consider.

The Employee Perspective

Call centers in certain industries have been deemed “essential” by the Department of Homeland Security. Employees of these call centers are expected to risk their own health, and the health of their families, by coming to work.

If the employees do not come to work, they may face repercussions, up to and including termination. This, at a time, when having health insurance is critical.

Writer Hamilton Nolan recently interviewed call center workers across industries and published the article, “Worried Call Center Workers Do Not Understand Why They Are Risking Their Lives for Customer Service”.

Per Nolan, call center employees feel that their employers have been very reactive during this crisis. The measures they have taken are not sufficient to protect them from the virus. They are being asked to risk their lives for relatively low paying jobs.

The Consumer Perspective

During this crisis I have had to contact a number of technology providers for help with time sensitive issues. And, I have been unpleasantly surprised at the enormous drop in customer service speed and quality.

I incorrectly assumed that if a company specializes in technology, automation or eCommerce that they would have stellar online help and/or enable their employees to work from home as part of their disaster recovery plans. This is definitely not the case.

If I get asked to talk to an “automated service bot” again, I might scream – LOL! When I wrote the recent blog post, “3 ways AI will enhance customer experience”, I had no idea how applicable it would be to our current circumstances.

AI blogger, Kyle Wiggers, recently shared that COVID-19 has accelerated the need for AI-powered contact center messaging. And, that some of these call centers are deploying solutions before they are ready. That is likely the case as almost every CRM and AI provider has updated their offerings to address Covid-19 work demands.

The Avaya website states, “This pandemic is changing where and how we work—right now, and possibly for a while. Avaya can help with remote work solutions for employees and contact center agents.”

Salesforce.com just launched “Salesforce Care for Employee and Customer Support”. This is a pre-configured employee help center, customer service, and contact center application for responding to inquiries fast, and keeping customers and employees informed. Salesforce is also offering free 24×7 support with Salesforce experts to help customers successfully deploy and use the Salesforce Care solutions.

Replicant just released AI Voice Responder. Per its press release, this AI solution can be deployed within days to answer customer calls, prioritize them based on urgency, and respond to frequently asked questions. This will help free up the live agents to address more complex issues. 

3 Calls to Action For Leaders

The massive impact of Covid-19 on call centers and customer support teams must drive a significant call to action for leaders of these organizations.

These leaders must:

Proactively design a work from home program that maintains company security measures, while providing employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in a crisis. Red tape can not overshadow reality.

Re-evaluate call center and customer support staff compensation. Offer front line employees pay and benefits that more closely align with their value. Covid-19 has shined a light on the importance that front line employees offer to a business, in good times and bad.

Modernize customer support operations and leverage better processes and tools to increase flexibility and allow organizations to do more with less. 

Tools automate good processes. Step one is evaluating customer facing processes and streamlining and enhancing where necessary.

Step two is leveraging CRM, AI and other tools to automate processes and free up agents to focus on the most pressing matters.

The time to act is now!

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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Manage Customer Support in the Midst of Covid-19

If you are leading a customer support team in the midst of Covid-19 you know that the show must go on. Regardless of the pandemic, customers still need their software to work, their hardware to process transactions and the cloud services to be available.

The Operations Blog has gathered together the best resources across the internet to help you manage customer support and operations teams amidst the Covid-19 pandemic challenges. The content is broken down into three segments and this blog post will be updated regularly.

Managing Remote Workers Through Covid-19.

Managing Customer Service, CX and Business Operations.

HR View: Wellness, Privacy – Coronavirus.

1) Managing Remote Workers Through Covid-19

“A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers“, Harvard Business Review, March 18, 2020, Barbara Z. Larson , Susan R. Vroman and Erin E. Makarius

“Managing From Home? Here’s How to Keep Your Team Engaged During Coronavirus“, Nicole Fallon, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

“Checklist for Employers with Remote Employees Due To Covid-19“, Forbes.com, March 18, 2020

“7 Tricks For Telecommuting Triumph”, The Operations Blog

2) Managing Service, CX and Business Operations

“Adjusting Your CX Program To Deal With Covid- 19“, Customer Think Blog, Bruce Temkin, March 20, 2020

This is one of the BEST and most detailed posts we found specific to adjusting your customer support strategy in the midst of Covid-19.

“How Understanding The Economic Impact of the Coronavirus Can Prepare you for Future Business Growth – Meet The V Curve“, BrainSell Blog, Heather Mellinher, March 20, 2020

“Adapt The Marketing Strategy For Covid-19“, Gartner, Laura Starita, March 17, 2020

“Coronavirus Inspiring Companies To Adopt AI Call Center Solutions“, Venture Beat, Kyle Wiggers, March 19, 2020

“Crisis in the Call Center – How to Prepare For The Coronavirus”, Customer Think Blog, Nicolette Beard, March 11, 2020

“Covid-19. How Today’s Response can Position your Business to Thrive Tomorrow”, PWC

“Crisis Communication Tips For Customer Service Teams“, Help Scout, Matthew Patterson, March 11, 2020

“Customer service amid COVID 19: A guide to managing remote customer support teams” Zoho Sales IQ

3) HR View: Wellness & Privacy – Coronavirus

“Health, Wellness and Leave Benefits Help Employees with Coronavirus.” Society of Human Resources Management, March 2020

“Coronavirus – Managing Employee Stress & Anxiety” Center for Disease Control, CDC

“Managing Employee Privacy in the Face of COVID-19“, TrustArc Privacy Intelligence,  Mar 19, 2020

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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3 Ways AI Will Enhance Your Customer Experience

I recently attended a webinar called “The future of AI (artificial intelligence) in customer service”.  Experts at both Zendesk and Netomi presented their research findings and answered questions from the audience members. This webinar intrigued me. So, I went on to study the impact of AI on customer experience across industries and solutions. This blog recaps my key takeaways.

What is AI in customer service?

When people think about AI, they often think of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. Can Alexa or Siri help you with your NPS scores? Maybe!

Let me define AI in the customer service realm. In simple terms, artificial intelligence automates customer facing processes that were previously run by people. AI is also capable of analyzing data across multiple locations. This could include your CRM system, billing system and website. An AI solution can identify trends and then act on that information in support of the customer.

There are many benefits of using AI in customer service. These include reducing customer hold and problem resolution times, eliminating business costs and more accurately solving complex customer problems. This combination of benefits can lead to a boost in NPS scores and a lift in customer retention and loyalty.

TCS, also known as Tata Consulting Services, recently completed a global trend study on artificial intelligence. It determined that 32% of companies use AI in Customer Service today. 

“Artificial intelligence can be successfully employed to provide an intelligent, convenient and informed customer experience at any point along the customer journey. ” (Quote by Will Theil, the co-founder and principal product architect at Pointlist. The Pointlist AI solution unifies customer data across all of your touchpoints. )

Here are 3 ways that AI can enhance your customer service and support.

1) Call Routing & Speed of Resolution

We have all had a bad experience getting transferred around a contact center in search of the right person to resolve our problem. Artificial Intelligence can analyze data and information from an incoming caller. Then, it will more accurately route that person to the right department. 

Here is an example. AI tools can scan a customer’s phone number, look into the CRM and other internal systems and gather key information. It can quickly identify the customer’s value, their recent tickets and their current accounts receivable status. Simultaneously, AI tools can look at external data sources such as geographic location or weather. Ultimately, AI can direct the caller to an agent who is the best and most qualified person to work with that customer.

In addition, we can use AI to present the information it collects and present it immediately to the customer service agent. This helps prepare the agent, reduce the call time and improve the quality of the interaction.

2) Real Time Problem Trending & Action

Customer service teams are often large and geographically dispersed. Agents spend most of their time resolving customer problems and are not actively discussing trends with one another. To identify trends in customer problems, leaders most often pull “lagging data” looking at back at the most common ticket types during a segment of time.

AI is capable of analyzing data sets and identifying trends in real time. It can actively view details logged in your CRM system and also factor in other data sources outside of your company and add details like geographical location, weather and special events.

Imagine how helpful receiving a text that said, “Alert: 25 tickets logged past 15 minutes on software 7 outage, Germany. Weather- Hurricane. Act now.” This would spur you and your team to take immediate action. You could communicate with affected customers and resolve problems faster.

3) Handle customer inquiries with no human intervention

Your traditional Knowledge Centered Support (KCS) and online knowledge bases can be put on steroids with the support of AI and machine learning. AI tools can blend historical information and real time information from multiple data sources. AI can process and learn from historical trends and customer feedback. Ultimately, AI can serve customers more accurate responses to questions.  

Instead of only using your knowledge base for online self help searches, an AI enhanced knowledge base could be used to respond to customer emails and text messages.

Some customers may enjoy interacting with AI powered Chatbots. A Chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, and is primarily used over the internet and via mobile applications. Per an article in Chatbots Life Magazine, “Chatbots are the fastest growing digital communication trend and one of the strongest tools marketers have at their disposal.” In 2020 and beyond we expect to see an increase in Chatbots used to process payments and Chatbots powered via voice not just text.

Will Chatbots take over the world?  Probably not, LOL!  In an article titled “Top 12 Chatbots Trends and Statistics to Follow in 2020” Snigdha Patel shared that “chatbots, virtual assistants, messaging and other new technologies are helping transform call centers across the world. Bots, without human involvement, can handle simple requests such as changing a password, requesting a balance and scheduling an appointment.” Bots can also be available 24/7/365 and handle multiple requests simultaneously.

Other benefits of AI in customer service

There are many other benefits of leveraging AI and machine learning in a customer service environment and/or part of your customer experience strategy. For example, AI can…

Help you deeply customize communications with customers with the right messages at the right times. AI can help you uncover specific customer needs, buying behaviors, and preferred channels of interaction.

Reduce the number of escalations within your organization by identifying and more swiftly resolving issues affecting multiple users.

Are you using AI to enhance your customer experience? Please add your comments below. Thanks!

You may also like one of my previous posts, “Customer Experience Technology… Friend or Foe?“.

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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How To Improve Sense Of Urgency

“Small steps to create urgency have a massive impact.”  This statement really caught my eye in a recent blog post from Piper Harris, an Atlanta, GA based leadership coach.

As someone who is naturally action oriented, I have a radar that flashes when I observe a lack of urgency to fix critical problems or to make changes that can have a large and positive impact. It can very frustrating to deal with these delays in action, whether it be with a boss, a colleague, a customer or even with a close friend.

Sense Of Urgency

How should we define the phrase “sense of urgency”? In his recent book, aptly called A Sense of Urgency,  John P. Kotter shared that “it is a belief that the world contains great opportunities and hazards” and “a gut-level determination to move, and win, now!”.  

Do you have an urgency problem in your organization?

Here are a few symptoms of lack of urgency:

Missed business goals with no consequences

Missed deadlines with no consequences

Target completion dates that appear to be very padded with extra days or weeks

Cross-functional project meetings that drag on month after month with no end in sight

Too many high level decision makers involved in relatively small decisions

The steps we need to take to create urgency, must not focus on the symptoms, and instead must address the root cause(s). I believe that just telling employees that they need to “have a sense of urgency” is not the best plan. (But, something I have often seen in corporate environments.)

To understand the root cause of a lack of urgency, you may want to ask the question “why” at least three times. Here are a few examples.

Why did Team One miss the business goals with no consequences?

They did not understand the goals.

Why? Their leader did not communicate the goals to the team in an effective way.

Why? Their leader was pulled to focus on an acquisition and has been traveling for several months. The company failed to appoint an interim leader.

Why did the Project Team miss its deadlines with no consequences?

They did not take the project deadlines as final.

Why? The deadlines were not put in writing.

Why? The Project Manager did not include them in the project plan. He also did not clearly communicate why the dates were important.

Why? Project Manager is new, and needs leadership training and coaching.

A Bad Attitude Is Like A Lack Of Urgency

I remember attending training with Human Resources early on in my leadership career about addressing “attitude” problems. The bottom line advice was, don’t focus on the attitude problem and instead focus on the behaviors and/or the impact of said behaviors. 

The same advice applies to urgency. Don’t focus on the lack of urgency. Instead, link the lack of urgency to the business results you are trying to achieve. Attack the causes of the business problem, not the symptoms.

Walk The Talk – Your Urgency is Our Urgency

At the start of this blog post, I shared the statement that, “Small steps to create urgency have a massive impact.”  As a leader, one of the most important things that you can do right away is walk the talk. Specifically, begin to demonstrate the behaviors that you want to see in your work environment.  Respond to emails and text messages swiftly. Delivery on commitments early. Use language that explains the why behind your sense of urgency. 

As John Kotter further recommends in his book, “our messaging must convey that the world is changing and the company must move faster to keep up.”

Sense of Urgency Resources

Is sense of urgency a hot topic in your organization? If so, here are some additional resources that you may find helpful.

“Four Ways to Increase the Urgency Needed for Change” by John Kotter on Harvard Business Review.

“5 Ways to Create a Necessary Sense of Urgency”, on LeadershipConsulting.com.

“20 Ways To Create a Sense of Urgency”, by Rob Llewellyn on LinkedIn.

“The Battle Between Activity & Action“, on The Operations Blog.

© 2020, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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8 Tips For More Meaningful Team Building Experiences

It’s time for leaders like us to plan more meaningful, team building experiences for our employees. 

As a leader in 2019, it is likely that you have direct reports scattered across different offices, maybe even different countries. And, it is also likely that at least once per year your dispersed team gets together in person for a strategy or planning session.

One common element in these in-person meetings, is a segment set aside for “team building”.  Sometimes this segment is during the day, other times it is after hours.

I had one boss who loved to plan out of office team-building activities with her directs. We went to group painting sessions, cooking classes, mini-golf, and even competitive go-cart racing.  The most memorable of all of her activities was a sand castle building contest. It was the activity that I dreaded the most, but ended up having the best time doing. It got me out of my comfort zone and onto the beach.

Another boss was all about fancy food and wine. When his team got together, we ate and drank.

I also attended a number of “mass team building experiences” at sales kickoffs. For example, an outside company would be hired to come in and instruct 500 adults to make bicycles, which we would donate to a local shelter. Another year, we played games and donated the winnings to a non-profit. These exercises were very costly and took a lot of time.

Although some of these activities were fun, I am not convinced they all led to team members bonding, and/or an improvement in our employee engagement and morale.

The activities that I find are most meaningful are those in a smaller group setting that include content that helps team members connect, stretch beyond his or her comfort zone, and get to know each other better.

What I found most meaningful…

For example, I had a new boss (we’ll call X) who asked a colleague to facilitate a “new manager assimilation exercise”.  We met privately as a team of seven, and discussed important things such as, “what do we need from X?”. “What don’t I know about X that I should?”. It was a bonding experience to talk about important things as a team. It became even more valuable when Boss X, debriefed with the facilitator and then came back and talked to her team. She addressed comments and answered important questions. It was very powerful and memorable.

8 Tips For More Meaningful Team Building Experiences

Another team bonding example took place outside of the corporate world. At the beginning of 2019, I got together with 10 female friends and we created vision boards together. A vision board is a hand made collage of images and words that represent a person’s wishes or goals. The act of creating the board and then reflecting on the board can be inspirational.

What was “bonding” about this experience was not the activity of making the boards. At the end of the get together, each person presented their board to the group and it was incredibly eye opening. I learned so much about these friends that I never knew before. And, I will never forget.

8 tips for more meaningful team building experiences

As I said at the start of this blog, it’s time for leaders to plan more powerful, relevant and effective team building events for our employees. How can you do this?  Here are 8 tips for more meaningful team building experiences.

Hold smaller group activities that encourage interaction, not just doing.

Include content that encourages team members to connect with each other at a deeper, not superficial level.

Help team members get to know the other team members- beyond the obvious. What drives them? What is important to them? How did they get to be the person they are today? Who do they want to be?

Talk about the tough questions and the answers. Forget the fluff.

Get team members out of their comfort zones, but in a safe environment.

Rely less on alcohol. (This is coming from a gal who loves her wine.) I feel that we rely too much on alcohol as a crutch for employees to interact after hours. Everyone does not drink. Drinking is not the best “wellness focused” exercise. And,  I see companies spend a LOT of money on alcohol that could be invested back in their employees.

Remember that everyone is not an extrovert. As a self proclaimed introvert, I often dread forced social experiences that have no agenda other than “mingling”. Yikes. Think about how you can make your activities comfortable to extroverts, introverts and omniverts. (Yeah, omniverts are a thing!)

This may not be popular, but I think we should skip the “mass team building experiences” all together. I have been to enough of them to know, that they can be fun but they take a lot of time and resources, that I believe we could invest in better places.

Biz Journals recently published an online article about creating the most effective team building experiences. I particularly liked their advice to schedule activities during work hours. Employees need time away from work, so they can invest in themselves or in their families. Time away from work helps employees recharge.

Do you have other ideas for leaders to plan and facilitate meaningful team building experiences? Please add them to the comments. Thanks for reading!

© 2019, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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My 10 Year Romance with GoDaddy Technical Support

Many things change, but there are some things that stay the same. One thing that has not changed is the fantastic customer experience that GoDaddy, the internet/web browsing company, provides.

Back in 2011, yes 8 years ago, I wrote a blog post titled, “Why I love Go Daddy technical support.”  The romance has continued to grow, and I am now using more of their products and spending more money annually, as a result.

The underlying reason that the GoDaddy customer experience stands out, is all about their people. 

If you research 2019 customer experience trends, you will read a lot about non-peoply things like chat-bots, artificial intelligence (AI) or omni-channel. I am sure GoDaddy is optimizing support in those areas, but their people are special. Here are some specific reasons.

They use people to support technology.

Most companies send the message that they do not want you to call their customer service team. They make telephone numbers hard to find, and focus your attention on submitting tickets to a CRM system. 

GoDaddy does the opposite. If you can not find an answer in their extensive and well written online knowledge base, they want you to call their agents. The phone number is on the home page of their website and they are staffed 24/7/365.

Unlike most other companies, there is NO option to submit a ticket and NO option to email. They want to talk to you.

The front line agents are truly experts.

Hold times, as a general rule, are short, and when an agent picks up they can actually solve your problem.

The agents have deep expertise on the complex topics you are calling about.

They walk you through the fixes step by step, and stay on the phone with you until the problem is solved.

The agents spend as much time as needed to solve your problem. You feel like you are their only customer and that they actually care.

You never, ever get transferred.

Have you met a Go Daddy Guide?

One interesting change Go Daddy made in the past year is to rebrand their customer support representatives to “guides”. As their website states, “Every guide is trained and excited to work with you, whether you need help with a password reset or you’re looking for a team to build your complete web presence.” I am not aware of any other company using this term.

Clear link between customer experience and business results.

Is customer experience positively impacting GoDaddy’s financial results? It appears so! In its 1st quarter 2019 earnings release, the company reported that year over year, revenue overall was up 12% and revenue per user was up over 8%. They also predict that for full year 2019, the company revenue will grow by double digits, of 12-13% year over year.

Happy Anniversary!

I am pleased to share that I will be celebrating my 10 year love affair with GoDaddy on a romantic all inclusive vacation. It will include my own domain name, website design and email address. LOL….

What do you think? Please share your own experiences in the comments. (PS.. no, this is not a paid post!)

© 2019, Marci Reynolds. All rights reserved.

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3 Leadership Lessons From My Yoga Teacher Training

Yes! Yoga and leadership do go together!

In 2016, after practicing yoga for more than 10 years, I wanted to deepen both my knowledge and practice. A yoga studio near me was offering yoga teacher training and I decided to sign up. I participated in 200 hours of training over a six month period and in 2017 I received my certification. I then went on to teach yoga classes in my spare time, while I worked in my corporate america job.

Fast forward to 2019, I have since taught more than 250 hours of yoga classes and taken an additional 30 hours of training.

As I reflect back on this experience, there are many personal and leadership lessons that I learned.

1) Yes, you can. But, it might take 200 hours

My dad is a tennis pro. He has been playing tennis for about 20 years and competes with others in his own age group. A few years ago, I decided to take tennis lessons. I figured if my dad played really well, maybe there was some innate skill that ran in the family. I quickly learned that I was wrong! I had no natural skills and was terrible. I had signed up for six sessions, but only attended two and gave up. I was not interested enough in the game to really apply myself.

If I had stuck with it, and attended 200 hours of training like I did for yoga instruction, I have no doubt that I would be at least a below- average player today.

The uber-popular singer Beyonce recently released a documentary called Homecoming, about her concert tour experiences. In this film viewers learn that she spent more than six months practicing both her singing and dancing, to be be able to perform at her desired level for a two hour concert. Wow. That is commitment!

In our personal and professional lives, we often have a desire to reach a goal or learn a new skill. We take some action, or do a bit of training, but after a short time, we give up. Why? Because change is hard. Reaching stretch goals is hard. It is easier to drive around in our comfort zone and stick to our routines.

If you really want to achieve something new, you can. But, you have to commit to the marathon, not the sprint. There are no quick fixes. It also helps if you are passionate about this new thing. What could you do after 200 hours of practice?

2) Continuous learning energizes and inspires. Happy brain, happy life

A few years ago, one of my peers gave his notice. The company had planned to backfill his position from the outside, but I asked my boss if I could take on his organization instead. His team worked hand in hand with my existing team, and there were many benefits of creating a single, unified team. Although I had no experience in his area, I convinced my boss that I could learn and ultimately the consolidation was approved.

As early as day two, I realized that I had stopped learning things in my old job. It had become a bit routine and predictable. With this new team, I was learning new things every day, and felt energized and inspired. My brain was happy. My leadership effectiveness improved.

I had similar feelings when I attended yoga teacher training. Did you know there are eight limbs of yoga? Did you know that yoga not only influences our physical body, but also our energetic body? Do you know that there are many ways we can breathe,  beyond just a basic inhale and exhale? After I attended 200 hours of yoga training, I realized how much more there was to learn. That is why many yoga teachers (including me) go on to get their 500 hour certification.

Are you making your brain happy? Continuous learning will energize and inspire you. Continuous learning will make you a better leader.

3) Shared experiences create community

One of the best new employee orientations I ever experienced was when I worked for monster.com – the jobs website. It was very well planned and organized- from the design of the room, to the instructors, to the swag (tons… tee shirts, books, pens, mugs etc), to the agenda.

I spent one week in this orientation with about ten other employees all across the company and something interesting happened. Even though we had vastly different roles, from sales to service to IT, we became a new employee community. This bond lasted well after orientation.

The same thing happened in my yoga teacher training. There were 16 of us with vastly different backgrounds, who went through the 200 hour experience together. Although we graduated two years ago, 10 of the 16 students continue to stay in touch and have formed a yoga teacher bond. We share ideas, we refer each other to teaching opportunities and we get together as friends.

Employees stay at companies because of the people they work with, not because of the company itself. As leaders, I believe we can bring our teams closer together by creating shared experiences. These could be work related or they could be just for fun. 

How can you improve employee morale and retention, by encouraging shared experiences?

There were many other lessons beyond just three that came from my yoga teacher experience. Stay tuned… maybe there will be a part two!

Namaste.

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Why Do Salespeople Overpromise So Service Suffers? Video

Reducing Customer Escalations Video Series, Episode 1

At times, salespeople overpromise and offer things during the sales cycle that the customer service teams can not implement or support. This often leads to missed dates, customer dissatisfaction and escalations. Why does this happen? How can we prevent it? 

In this 60 second video, I share two tips to prevent this mismatch in customer expectation setting from happening.

Clearly documented and communicated, product and service offerings

Effective exception approval processes

Salespeople have challenging jobs. Service professionals have challenging jobs. Let’s work together to avoid customer escalations and improve the customer experience.

Want more on this topic?

To read my full length blog on this topic, hop over to The Customer Think Blog, and check out,”Why Salespeople Over Promise and Service Teams Under Deliver“.

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Restraint: A Key To Maximizing Leadership Success

I recently tweeted, “Being a great leader is not always about doing, it is also about restraint. Take the time to pause, consider thoughts and words, so that the way we express ourselves motivates and uplifts others.” I strongly believe in this statement.

Earlier in my career I worked for a boss who held weekly, in person, team meetings. I often found these meetings frustrating, as it seemed like everyone was talking over each other. As soon as someone took a breath, another person inserted his or her thoughts. There was never a quiet moment and not a lot of listening took place. This was not my style so I tended to be quiet in these meetings, and opted for 1×1 conversations outside of this venue.

One day I was in a 1×1 with this boss and he gave me some feedback. He said, that I needed to speak up more in the staff meetings. That even if I did not have something to add, that I needed to be heard in front of my peers. Since I am not in favor of talking unless its adding value, I ignored his advice. I believe in restraint.

Restraint = deliberate and mindful control over behavior in order to prevent an emotional reaction, or to limit or stop an action.

Fred’s Lack Of Restraint

Fast forward to present day. Recently, I was working with a peer who was not familiar with the concept of restraint. To protect this person’s privacy, I will refer to them as Fred.

My organization worked very closely with Fred’s organization. The people and processes in my department had a direct impact on his department, and vice versa. Therefore, collaboration and teamwork were critical to our overall success.

This leader, outside of his lack of restraint, was very competent. He had significant work experience, was smart, fast and high energy. He often had innovative ideas and a great sense of humor. However, Fred’s lack of restraint often overshadowed his competency.

Several times a week, we both attended virtual meetings where the collective work outputs of both teams were discussed. It was common for meeting attendees  (i.e. coworkers) to instant message or text each other during these virtual meetings to ask questions or make comments. A practice that I used often and found helpful. Except, insert scary music, when I saw a message from this specific peer. 

Unfortunately Fred’s messages were usually harmful, not helpful.  As soon as he heard anything in a meeting that he did not like or agree with, Fred would immediately start messaging me. “This is not what we agreed to!” “I can’t believe this!!” “I don’t agree!”. 

If he did not get a response to an instant message, he would begin to send emails during the meeting with similar but longer commentary. And, other times, he would call me after the meetings ended and rant verbally over the phone.

He not only used this technique with me, but with many of his colleagues.  And, this behavior hurt many of his work relationships. His lack of restraint overshadowed his competency. 

Great leaders understand the power of restraint.

Leadership guru, Dan Rockwell, said it well in his blog post titled “Facing the challenge of restraint”. Per Dan, “Unrestrained leaders don’t help, they get in the way.” I agree!

Great leaders take the time to pause and breathe, before reacting.

Great leaders think about how and when they communicate, and do not take personal frustration out on others.

Great leaders understand that the way we express ourselves can motivate and uplift others- or have the opposite effect.

Great leaders understand the power of restraint.

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How To Reduce Customer Escalations – INFOGRAPHIC

Hello blog readers! A few years ago, I published a post on customer escalations called “10 Tips To Master Customer Escalation Management”. At first it got what I would call normal readership with about 700 views per month. But then something crazy happened. In 2018 into 2019 it went viral, and began to get close to 3,000 per month, a 300 percent increase. Customer escalations are a popular topic. Wow!

Most of these blog readers landed on my site after using a search engine with phrases like, “client escalation management”, “how to avoid supervisor calls”, “better way to handle escalations” or “how to reduce escalations”.  In answer to this increasing demand, I have created this one page infographic – How To Reduce Customer Escalations. I am also in the process of finishing a book on the same topic with an expected publishing date of Spring 2019.

To download a copy, simply click on the download button below, next to the phrase: customer escalation infographic PDF. A jpeg version of “How To Reduce Customer Escalation” is also inserted below. Enjoy!

Customer Escalation Infographic PDFDownload

How To Reduce Customer Escalations

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7 Things B2B Customers Demand From Suppliers

The 7 Things B2B Customers Demand From Suppliers

Many CX experts predict that by 2020, the customer experience will overtake price and product quality as the key brand differentiator. Much has been written about Business To Consumer (B2C) customer experiences, but I want to share some love for Business To Business (B2B). If 40 is the new 30, then B2B CX is the new black.

I am in the process of writing a book on B2B customer experience opportunities and have spent many hours absorbing research from industry experts and best in class companies. Also, the majority of my career has included leading B2B customer operations teams. Pooling all of this knowledge together resulted in the following list of 7 standards that B2B customers demand from their suppliers.

Understand THEIR business   B2B customers expect you to listen, understand who they are, what their business does and to tailor communications and experiences to their unique needs. It is not enough to understand your products or services, you must know how your business customers actually utilize them to obtain value.

Understand OUR business   B2C sales are typically a standard, repeatable product offering, and as a result, easier to deploy and service. B2B offerings tend to be more customized, and therefore more complex. B2B customers expect suppliers to demonstrate deep credibility and competency in the products and services that they sell and support.

There is nothing worse than contacting technical support, after spending an hour on the self service website, then speaking to someone who knows less than the caller does. This does not mean that every employee in your company has to be a technical expert. But any customer facing team member, must know where to go to get what they don’t have. This could be from an internal knowledge base, his or her supervisor or from a more senior employee.

Consistently deliver  With B2B, service failures not only impact the business customer (i.e. the supplier’s customer), but may also impact their end customers or consumers. In addition, unlike most B2C purchases, B2B suppliers and customers usually have a written contract in place that stipulates what must delivered in order to receive payment, avoid penalties or bypass any legal problems.   Delivery in B2B is not just about making a customer happy. It is also about maintaining the health and welfare of the customer’s business and the supplier’s business.

Be proactive  B2B customers expect suppliers to anticipate customer needs and strive to resolve issues BEFORE they occur. Many B2B products and services are mission critical to business operations, e.g. payroll, crm, order taking etc. These B2B customers can not afford to be down for any extended length of time. Focus your attention on issue prevention, versus just issue resolution.

Be responsive  B2B suppliers must act with urgency to answer questions and resolve problems quickly and accurately. B2B customers do not have time to wait on hold for 5 or 10 minutes to reach someone. B2B customers have many projects in play at once, not just yours. B2B employees rely on their mobile device for constant communication. Therefore, B2B suppliers must leverage the latest technology and the appropriate staffing levels, to deliver on what is expected. See item #3.

Continuously adapt and improve  B2B providers must demonstrate flexibility and willingness to change, especially based on feedback from B2B customers. They must continually maximize value and minimize customer efforts, in the delivery of products and services.

Communicate effectivelyThroughout all of these steps and processes, suppliers must keep customers informed of what happened, what is happening and what’s next. B2C transactions generally have one or two key decision-makers while B2B have multiple. These may include stakeholders and/ users from technical, to legal, to purchasing to C-Level. Also, a single B2B customer may be spread over multiple locations or geographies. So, B2B communication can be complex.

There is one thing that makes B2B and B2C customer experience exactly the same.. that is we are interacting with humans. When you communicate to a B2B customer, it is not to an entity, it is to a living breathing being. Therefore communication must be clear, compelling and with empathy, as appropriate to the message. (For more on this topic, check out Temkin’s free ebook, “Humanizing the customer experience” )

Why is all this so important? Studies have shown that happy B2B customers are more loyal, are more likely to recommend and spend more over time. By improving the B2B customer experience, you can have a major impact on people and business success. Go for it!

What do you think? Did I miss any critical items? Please add them to the comments.

The 7 Things B2B Customers Demand From Suppliers

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The Battle Between Activity & Action

It’s become very clear that there is a big difference between activity and action.

When you are involved in “activity” you or your team members are moving, chatting, planning and/or meeting about business impacting actions you plan to take in the future. You are catching up on your emails and reading your text messages. Activity has to happen and can be productive as long as it leads somewhere.

I was chatting with a colleague recently and he said that he sometimes feels like he is spending his time “moving around air” but not actually getting results. His air moving is definitely an activity, and I hope it eventually gets from air to something more substantial like water or earth!

Conversely, when we take action, we are attempting to do things that move the needle on our business results. By taking action we can influence or impact. We move from just being busy, to adding true value.

Sometimes, I believe we spend too much time in activity mode. We set up groups, workstreams, project plans and an ongoing meeting cadence. We create beautiful Powerpoint slides to share with the executive team. We make sure we have the right project manager or executive sponsor. We revel in the fact that everything is buttoned up and neat.

Yes, we do need to do these things, as long as we get to the action phase soon.

I would rather see us act in a messier or “less precise” way. We might not have all the right slides and we may not meet every single week at 2PM on Thursday. We might have some bumps along the road and some sharp edges.

But if our messier approach leads to more action, I think we should take it!

Action is what helps to improve the employee experience. Action leads to a better customer experience. If our employees and customers are happy and engaged, I expect positive business results (sales, revenue, profit) to follow.

As you reflect on your day, week or month… are you managing your processes or managing the business? Are you really busy, or spending time on actions that will impact and influence?

“Action Smartphone Displays Acting To Reach Goals” by Stuart Miles

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10 Tips for Selling Your Fine Jewelry Online

Tanzanians have developed luxurious tastes in recent years. Many women (and men) have started purchasing fine jewelry, which they often sell later for various reasons.

If you have old jewelry that you no longer want, you can list it on Kupatana and earn a profit. You can also sell it as a business. Some Tanzanians such as Azim Premji have made a very nice living selling jewelry.

How can you sell your jewelry online? Here are some tips to help you find buyers who are willing to pay a decent price. 1.     Get a realistic appraisal

You need to know what your jewelry is really worth before listing it. People often overestimate the value of their jewelry, which can drive potential customers away. But also be careful about undercharging or letting money troubles (and the hope of a quick sale) cloud your judgement about the worth of your jewelry.

Here are some reasons your estimated price may be inaccurate:

Some people purchase jewelry second-hand. If the original seller didn't have it properly appraised, it could be a very valuable piece that’s worth a lot more than they sold it for. Your family members may have given you jewelry as an heirloom or gift. They may have paid a lot of money for the piece originally, but it could have depreciated over the years. While most jewelry pieces lose value over time, some actually appreciate. Pieces that are made from precious metals or gemstones are most likely to gain value, especially if the prices of those metals or gemstones rise on the internal markets.

It can be difficult to figure out exactly how much your jewelry is worth. The problem is that every piece is appraised differently, and many factors can influence its value.

You should take your jewelry to a couple different pawnshops or jewelers to get appraisals. If they all agree on a price, then you can trust their estimate. 2.     Be realistic with your pricing strategy

Determining the value of your jewelry is only the first step: you also need to find a price that potential buyers are willing to pay. Unfortunately, people in your area may not be able to afford the fair market price, so you need to put in a little bit more effort to come up with a price that works for everyone.

There are several different ways that you can set a fair price for your jewelry:

Ask your appraiser what the jewelry may sell for in the current market. Don't be surprised if the figure is different than their appraised value – consumers may not be willing to pay the market price during an economic recession. You may also have a hard time finding customers willing to pay steep prices if you live in a smaller community, which may mean that you will need to set lower expectations. Look at recent listings for similar pieces of jewelry. If different sellers are all setting similar prices, then it's fair to assume that is what the market is willing to pay.

However, you probably don't want to look at all their listings for insight. If an advertiser has been trying to sell a piece of jewelry for over two weeks, then it's probably overpriced. 3.     Market yourself as a business

Many consumers find their jewelry through Kupatana. Sellers don't have trouble finding buyers if they set reasonable prices. However, advertisers who brand themselves as businesses can command higher prices, because people trust their estimates and will perceive their pieces to be worth more.

If you are planning on selling jewelry on regular basis, consider creating a business name and make business cards and a website. These branding assets will help you gain credibility with customers.

There is one downside to selling jewelry as a business owner, rather than a regular consumer, though: customers will expect you to be much more knowledgeable about your pieces.

If you can’t speak like an expert, they will be less forgiving and more likely to assume you're trying to cheat them. Make sure that you really understand the pieces that you’re selling before you brand yourself as a business. 4.     Write a detailed ad description

You may own the finest jewelry in Africa, but customers will not purchase it unless you can write a compelling ad. Some of our advertisers sell beautiful jewelry, but their listings are too generic to draw attention. Here's an example:

"All available free delivery Dar Es Salaam."

There are many ways this ad could be improved:

It should be considerably more descriptive. The phrase "all available” doesn’t tell potential buyers what to expect. Is the advertiser selling bracelets, necklaces, or watches? What materials and stones are used in them? When were the pieces made? The price is ambiguous. At the top of the ad, it states that the pieces are selling for 15,000 TZS. Is this the price for every piece or an entire set of jewelry? The ad could contain language to make the reader a lot more excited. Using adjectives such as "beautiful "or even "very rare” could make it much more appealing.

Selling anything over the internet is tricky, especially fine jewelry. Make it easier for buyers with complete, detailed descriptions. 5.     Make sure that you are ready to sell

There may be a number of reasons that you are selling your jewelry. You may be selling it simply because it is out of fashion, or you may be selling it because you need the money, which means that you might make a decision that you could later regret.

If you’re selling jewelry because you're strapped for cash, you need to make sure that you’re emotionally ready to part with it. It can be very difficult to sell anything that is sentimental to you, such as a necklace your grandmother gave you before she passed away. Consider other options to raise money if you aren’t ready to part with your jewelry. 6.     Honesty is the best policy

Be as honest as possible when selling anything online, especially expensive pieces of fine jewelry. If you aren't entirely sure whether the stones are real, you need to find out first. If you had to replace any of the clasps or stones, then you need to be upfront about that as well.

Don't assume that customers won't be smart enough to figure out if you’re telling the truth or not. Many of them are a lot more informed than you'd expect. Lying to them is the easiest way to lose their trust and get your listing flagged. 7.     Be assertive while negotiating

Decide whether or not you’re willing to negotiate on price. If you don't want to accept a lower price, then you need to specify that in your listing. If you’re willing to consider counter offers, then be ready to negotiate.

There are two rules to negotiating effectively:

Be realistic. If a single customer is insisting on a lower price, then they might just be cheap. It's often best to look for another customer who is willing to pay your asking price. On the other hand, if most customers feel you are overcharging, then it may be necessary to lower your price and accept a reasonable offer. Be firm. If you know that your price is fair, then you should stick to it as closely as possible. Decide how much of a discount you're willing to offer, and don't accept any counter offers that are lower than that. Make sure you’re assertive and let customers know where you stand.

We wrote a detailed piece on negotiation tactics from some of the world's most successful business leaders. You should read it for guidance before selling online. 8.     Offer customization services

This section is written for business owners. You may want to consider offering customization services to your customers. They might be willing to pay extra money for the following:

Having their name engraved on the jewelry piece Adding new gemstones or other ornaments to make their jewelry more fashionable

Make sure that you’re a very proficient jeweler before offering these services. Your reputation as a business owner is very important, so offering quality services is necessary to build your brand. 9.     Try to find old receipts

More jewelers have electronic equipment these days, and probably issued receipts for most of your jewelry (assuming you purchased it through a retailer). It’s a good idea to find these receipts and be ready to present them to potential buyers. 10.     Only reply to promising inquiries

A lot of people that respond to ads will never make a purchase. They often are looking for a much lower price than the advertiser is willing to accept, trying to pull some kind of scam, or simply enjoy wasting other people’s time.

Stay selective when responding to inquiries. Avoid responding to people who clearly didn’t read your ad, are asking for a much lower price, or who don’t sound genuine.

Continue reading: https://kupatana.com/article/42/10-tips-for-selling-your-fine-jewelry-online

Related article: Practical Advice From A Jeweler’s Point Of View