Please Respect Our Staff (WT526)

Please Respect Our Staff (WT526)

Blog

by Shirley Dalton | 24 Jul, 2020 | Blog, Customer Service

WT526 Please Respect Our Staff

In these unique circumstances, I’m sure you would have seen signs in shops reminding us to be respectful to the staff. I totally agree with this and wouldn’t stop there. I think we should be respectful to everyone, including customers.

Before I share this little story, I want to put my hand up and say the situation is my fault. I created it and I take responsibility for that. What I don’t take responsibility for is the disrespectful manner in which I was treated by an Australia Post worker.

Many months ago, I purchased a book to support my friend who had written it, published it and launched it.  The book was coming from the US. It was going to take a few weeks to a few months to arrive. At the time I was in lockdown in Tasmania so I entered the address for the local post office. My mistake was that I forgot that I did that.

A few months passed. The book didn’t arrive. My friend followed it up. I still didn’t remember I had used the Post Office address. We left the area where we had been staying.

A few days later, I received an abrupt call from the postal worker. “You have a parcel here and it’s been here for weeks and you need to come and collect it.” By this time I was on the other side of the state. I was expecting to be back in the area within a few weeks and basically pleaded with the worker to hold the parcel until then.

“It was sent to you here. You must have given them the address,” admonished the worker.

Of course I had forgotten that I had used the post office address.

“Yes, I must have. I apologise that’s my fault.”

“You must have given out this address. You got it sent here and now you need to pick it up,” she repeated sternly.

In the end she agreed to hold the parcel.

About two weeks later, I missed a call from an “Unknown Caller”. They left a message.

“You haven’t picked up your parcel and it’s going to be sent back to sender. If you’ve got any problems with that, call 131 318.”

“Wow!” 

As usual, there was no contact number for the post office so I called the 1300 number. Luckily for me, I chanced upon a really helpful and understanding assistant. I explained my situation and asked if they could send the parcel (if it hadn’t been sent already) to the local caravan park where I could pick it up.

“No!” they wouldn’t do that.

It had to be sent to another post office.

Oh boy! Here we are back to the same situation.  I now have to travel to get the parcel before the next timeframe runs out.

Like I said, I take full responsibility for the situation. I don’t agree with the attitude and the lack of respect. In these unusual times, I would have thought we could be a little kinder and more flexible to each other.

Am I being unreasonable?

What would happen in your business?

Now That’s a Given (WT525)

Now That’s a Given (WT525)

Blog

by Shirley Dalton | 17 Jul, 2020 | Blog, Business

WT525 Now That’s a Given

This week, we were on the road again in Tasmania. It’s chilly and many attractions are closed for the winter; still there are lots of opportunities to observe business. Today I want to share one of my observations with you.

Driving through a little village, I noticed a sign on the chemist’s building, it read: “Caring Staff …”. I shook my head as I thought to myself, “Yes, of course. Isn’t that a given?” That’s like an accountant advertising, “We’re good with numbers”, well I should think so.

Advertising and marketing is about helping your potential customers to understand what is unique about you. What makes you stand out from your competition? This is called your USP or Unique Selling Proposition.

One of the best examples I heard was an accountant who was into personal development and used her knowledge of personal development to motivate and empower her clients, not only about their numbers but about who they were as business owners. She was able to differentiate herself and attract the clients who wanted that.

Remember, when attracting clients, we want to attract the ones we want to work with; that means making it easy for people to disqualify themselves as well.

If you’re going to use a byline, it has to mean something and contribute to your bottom line. It has to evoke something in your potential customer to have them choose you.

Another example was a real estate agency in Launceston. The advertising stated, “We sell a house every 2.3 days”. If selling your house quickly is important to you, that might be enough to have you make enquiries or another agency may say, “We sell more than the others”, which may give you confidence they know what they are doing.

My tagline is “Reclaim Your Freedom”.  I want to attract the people who believe it’s possible to have a business and career and lifestyle. My ideal clients are those who don’t currently feel like they have freedom. There isn’t a right or wrong when it comes to your advertising and marketing IF it hits the mark for whom you want to attract.

There is a right and wrong if you use words to describe what we would expect would be a given as part of your service or product.

How about you and your business? What’s your USP? Who do you want to attract? Are you using the right words?

Don’t Give Up Give Over (WT524)

Don’t Give Up Give Over (WT524)

Blog

by Shirley Dalton | 10 Jul, 2020 | Blog, Mindset

WT524 Don’t Give Up Give Over

Twenty plus years ago, when Ross and I were in America for a training course, we went to a special spiritual type of shop where I purchased a tiny set of Indian American Oracle cards.

The cards have beautiful artwork of American animals and their Indian totems. One of the cards that often seems to show up for me is a picture of a graceful white swan swimming on calm waters. The words on the card read, “Don’t Give Up, Give Over”.

I love this card because it reminds me to give up the fight; to let go of the stress; in other words to surrender, and the past few weeks that’s exactly what I’ve done.

I was talking to a colleague of mine who has developed some great document management software, so you might think he is quite analytical. During the conversation, I expressed how I had to surrender to the Universe.

“That’s really interesting that you use the words Universe and surrender, Shirley”, he said.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“I’ve just finished reading a book by Michael Singer. He’s a billionaire and the book is called ‘The Surrender Experiment; My Journey into Life’s Perfection’.”

I was hooked immediately. It turns out that Singer also wrote “The Untethered Soul” and whilst I haven’t started to read his book yet, my colleague was telling me that Singer wanted to be a hippy and live in the woods but so many people kept asking him for his expertise in IT. So he started a company that has grown to become one of the biggest in America – all because he surrendered.

As I heard the story, I wondered about my own journey. Every time I aim to move away from the systems work I’ve done with clients for the past 14+ years, the Universe sends me another project. Rather than fighting it, I surrender!

I’ve now found a way to incorporate the parts of the systems work that I do like into my offering and delegate the parts I don’t. I’ve renamed my success path to “The Blueprint for Business Freedom” because ultimately that’s what my clients get. They get the freedom because we focus on the 3 P’s – People, Processes and Possibility. This encompasses all of my passions.

So my message to you today is, “Don’t Give Up, Give Over”. What is it that you are resisting? I encourage you to surrender and see what the Universe has in store for you. I’ll bet it’s even better than you can imagine.

Let me know. I’d love to hear your journey and story.

I’m Not Interested in Your Personal Life (WT523)

I’m Not Interested in Your Personal Life (WT523)

Blog

by Shirley Dalton | 3 Jul, 2020 | Blog, Business

WT523 I’m Not Interested in Your Personal Life

You’ve heard me mention the REACH profiling system a number of times. This week, I was privileged to see one of the profiles in action.

I was talking with a new acquaintance who was explaining his philosophy on hiring and working with staff.

“I can’t stand it,” he said. “I hired this person and every morning I had to waste an hour while we talked about her kids, the dogs, what she did on the weekend, etc. before she would start work.”

I smiled to myself as I thought, “Wow! This is typical Driver behaviour”.

“And if that wasn’t enough,” he continued, “I then had to thank her for everything she had done that day and waste another 30 minutes while she told me what she was going to do after work.”

The Driver profile is interested in results. They are quick to take action, often making decisions with their gut. They don’t get small talk. If you understand the Driver, you’ll be less offended. They are “driven” to get results. We need Drivers. Without them, not much gets done.

The Advisor profile is similar to a Driver in that they are more focussed on tasks than people, however, they like to take their time to plan and organise things and are very methodical. You can’t rush an Advisor. Imagine then an Advisor and a Driver. The Driver wants to go, go, go and the Advisor says, “No, no, no, not yet. Have you thought about….? Have you considered …..?”  Advisors are our risk mitigators.

Counsellors and Coaches are focussed on people. Coaches want to inspire. They want to know “why” and Counsellors want to know “Who”.

It doesn’t matter what your REACH profile is. They are all needed to make a team function at its best.

As I listened to my new Driver acquaintance, I could imagine how his employee felt. I imagined that they were probably a Counsellor, which is diagonally opposite the Driver on our profile matrix. Counsellors provide immense value in that they are there for the people. They complement the Driver.

As you read this, I’d like you to think about your own personality type and see if you can find it within yourself to be open to learning more about the other profiles. The more you know yourself and know others, the more results you’ll get, easier and quicker.

Think of it like learning another language. If you were going to Italy, you might learn a few words of Italian to help you get along in your travels. Same with the profiles. Whilst your personality doesn’t change much over time, you can increase your REACH. This is the degree that you are comfortable with the other profiles and the degree to which you can speak their language and relate to them.

If you’re a leader, you really do need to make sure you work on your REACH. The best leaders are able to influence their people because they relate to them on their terms. They understand people are different. They understand we need the differences and they actively seek to understand their people.

How about you? How well do you know yourself and your people?

Let’s Talk About Culture (WT522)

Let’s Talk About Culture (WT522)

Blog

by Shirley Dalton | 26 Jun, 2020 | Blog, Business

WT522 Let’s Talk About Culture

I’m curious. What’s your definition of culture in the workplace?

Who do you think is responsible for culture?

Do you think culture is important?

Can you change it?

These questions and more came up for me as I attended yet another hair salon on my travels.

Overall hairdressers/hair stylists perform the same tasks wherever I go and I have to say, since COVID-19, I am eternally grateful for hairdressers. One round of Ross colouring my hair was enough for both of us.

Anyway, we digress. Let’s get back to the tasks performed in a salon. In my case, that’s a cut, colour, some highlights and a wash/shampoo and dry.

Even the terminology used changes according to where you go.

Today I walked to the salon for my appointment, only to find a stylist inside with another client and a “Closed” sign on the door. I didn’t push on the door because I read the sign. The stylist reluctantly came over, flipped the sign to “Open” and opened the unlocked door (like I was supposed to know it was unlocked).

In most salons I’ve been to, someone takes your coat. There was no one to greet me. “Sit over in that chair, 2 stations away”. I took my coat off and stood. I didn’t know what to do with my coat.

Another stylist came rushing through the door. The phone rang. She answered it. I stood holding my coat. I asked if there was somewhere I could hang my coat. She grimaced, took the coat and went and hung it on the rack at the front near the door. (I hadn’t noticed it when I walked in.)

She was my stylist. I did my best to find a way to confirm her name. “Are you Maree or is it Maria?” I asked. “Maree,” she answered (not her real name). She didn’t bother to confirm my name.

I did my best to make polite small talk. By this stage I wasn’t very interested myself. I looked around the salon. There was no artwork or colour or even posters of glamourous models with beautiful hair and makeup. “Oh well, that’s her choice,” I thought to myself. “After all, she is the owner.”

Colour and highlights applied, it was time to wait. No covers for the arms on my glasses. No offer for water, tea or coffee, etc. and certainly no champagne, wine or chocolates. Sigh.

Time to shampoo the hair. No lay down comfy chairs here. No cotton wool for the ears, rather two lumpy hard scrunched up tissues.

Now I was really thinking about culture and all the different salons I’ve been to in the past few years, both in Australia and America.

Same jobs, different people, different culture.

My definition of culture is, “This is the way we do things around here.”

I also believe everyone in the organisation is responsible for culture. Sure management can determine the culture, however, team members also need to be on board.

Culture is also a feeling, an energy, a vibe you get when you go somewhere. In some salons I’ve been welcomed in, made to feel like royalty and felt like a million dollars when I left. I’ve felt like I mattered and the team cared.

Sadly, that’s not the case in all salons.

What’s it like in your workplace?

How would you describe your culture and more importantly, how would your customers describe it?

In fact, your culture is what attracts and retains your customers.

Who do you want to attract?

Pin It on Pinterest