Archives for May 2014
How to Tactfully Say "No"
Almost all of us have been in situations at work where we had a coworker, boss, client or customer ask us to do something that was either a total waste of time or simply a bad idea. However, many of us have also had the “never say no” business mentality hammered into us over many years. How do we reconcile those two sides and say “no” to bad ideas without offending the person who made the request?
Here are some tips on how you can tactfully say “no” in the business world:
Stay positive.
Always be mindful of the tone you use, as well as your body language (when talking in person). Rather than instantly declining the request, take some time to mull it over and see if you can at least partially accommodate it. If you can give a partial no rather than a full no, you should attempt to do so.
Say “Yes, but…”
Rather than simply giving a straight up “no” to a request, you can say yes but explain how a task would have to change for it to be accomplished. In some cases, your explanation may make the customer or colleague realize that the request is unrealistic, and then they will be more willing to accept a “no” answer or even retract the request.
Offer alternatives.
As you listen to the request, consider what your colleague or client wants to accomplish, rather than the way in which they want you to accomplish. This way you can say “no” to the method if it doesn't make sense, but provide a viable alternative for how you can accomplish what they are looking to do.
Explanations, not excuses.
Every time you offer an explanation for a “no” response, you shouldn't focus on excuses such as lack of time or inability to get the task done. Instead, help the person making the request to understand the sheer amount of work that would go into the task and the time involved, as well as potential difficulties associated with the task. Their understanding is important in preventing hard feelings.
Always end positively.
End the discussion as amicably as possible, and make sure that the requester understands that the “no” answer is not meant personally.
Saying “no” can be difficult, but these tips can help you to make it just a little easier. Contact us at Viral Solutions if you have more questions about how you can learn to say “no” in the business world!
Christine Kelly | Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
How to Tactfully Say "No"
Almost all of us have been in situations at work where we had a coworker, boss, client or customer ask us to do something that was either a total waste of time or simply a bad idea. However, many of us have also had the “never say no” business mentality hammered into us over many years. How do we reconcile those two sides and say “no” to bad ideas without offending the person who made the request?
Here are some tips on how you can tactfully say “no” in the business world:
Stay positive.
Always be mindful of the tone you use, as well as your body language (when talking in person). Rather than instantly declining the request, take some time to mull it over and see if you can at least partially accommodate it. If you can give a partial no rather than a full no, you should attempt to do so.
Say “Yes, but…”
Rather than simply giving a straight up “no” to a request, you can say yes but explain how a task would have to change for it to be accomplished. In some cases, your explanation may make the customer or colleague realize that the request is unrealistic, and then they will be more willing to accept a “no” answer or even retract the request.
Offer alternatives.
As you listen to the request, consider what your colleague or client wants to accomplish, rather than the way in which they want you to accomplish. This way you can say “no” to the method if it doesn't make sense, but provide a viable alternative for how you can accomplish what they are looking to do.
Explanations, not excuses.
Every time you offer an explanation for a “no” response, you shouldn't focus on excuses such as lack of time or inability to get the task done. Instead, help the person making the request to understand the sheer amount of work that would go into the task and the time involved, as well as potential difficulties associated with the task. Their understanding is important in preventing hard feelings.
Always end positively.
End the discussion as amicably as possible, and make sure that the requester understands that the “no” answer is not meant personally.
Saying “no” can be difficult, but these tips can help you to make it just a little easier. Contact us at Viral Solutions if you have more questions about how you can learn to say “no” in the business world!
Christine Kelly | Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
When Naughty Customers Meet a Nice Business
You've put out your best product, you've given great value and you've delivered beyond all expectations, yet your customer is continually unsatisfied and may even refuse to pay you. Unfortunately this will occasionally happen, and there are few situations that feel worse. You care, you want to make it right, but unfortunately, it seems that maintaining a profitable transaction is no longer a possibility. Or is it?
We all know a bad customer when we see one. They are likely to complain a lot, demand extra resources and care that you can't afford to provide, and erode the morale of your employees. Unfortunately, many small businesses are so concerned about making sales when they can that they think they have no choice but to cater to every wish of these customers.
Have you ever had a seemingly great relationship go bad? Of course we all have. What I want you to think about, is what made that supposed perfect new client go bad. It's easy to recall what they did that made you question the relationship and wonder if you accepted the new client against one or more of your core values. What is difficult, but the right thing to do first, is analyze yourself and your organization. Are your procedures designed to maximize the customer experience? Does your internal vernacular not make sense to your client? Did you over promise and not deliver? Has your passive-aggressive style caused the conflict? Are you hyped up and excited with new projects only to fall into a ho-hum attitude as the project lingers? Think about it and be honest with yourself before you always blame the naughty customer.
There are ways, however, that you can either defuse the situation or avoid it altogether. Consider the following tips:
- Define your ideal customer. While this tip won't help you to settle any volatile customer situations that have already happened, it will help you to improve the average quality of your customer, allowing you to avoid these types of situations in the future. Think about what characteristics your ideal customer would have, what types of pains, problems and challenges you can help them to overcome, what types of benefits they seek and how you can help them achieve them.
- Maintain control. Never let yourself get angry with a customer, and don't bother trying to argue back. When a customer is angry, you've already lost the battle if you get aggressive in return. That's not to say you should automatically make concessions. Stick to your terms of service and other guidelines that your company follows, and try to work within them to make the situation right. But do not be afraid to say no to requests if a customer is attempting to bully you into doing something that you don't feel is right for your business.
- Try to solve the problem they have. Listen to the customer's complaints, get all the facts that you can and then explain to the customer what you can do to h
elp. However, it's important that you avoid making promises that you aren't completely sure you can keep.
- Sometimes, it's OK to cut ties. The “customer is always right” mentality has convinced a lot of people that they have to concede to every wish of their customer, but that simply isn't true. If you have a customer who is consistently difficult, complains publicly and constantly harms the morale of your employees, terminate the relationship. Life is too short to do business with people who are always jerks. They can suck the life out of your company at an alarmingly quick rate.
You can't always smooth over a “naughty customer” situation, but you can control just how “nice” your business is.
Remember to set expectations early and often, be persistent, be insistent, be understanding before you demand to be understood. Do all of this with yourself, with your employees, with your leadership and with your customer. Then only accept those employees and customers that match all your abilities and defined targets, even when you need the sale the worst.
Feel free to contact us at Viral Solutions for more tips.
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Fun Ways to Engage on Facebook
Ever feel as though you’ve run out of ideas on Facebook? It may feel that way, especially if you’ve been doing it for a while. However, there’s always something to talk about! Keep your Facebook page fresh by using these fun ways to engage your followers.
Hold Regular Contests
Who doesn’t love contests? They’re usually fun and there’s often a prize at stake. From a business perspective, contests encourage engagement (a vital factor in ensuring that your future posts appear in your followers’ news feeds) and sharing. As your followers participate in the contest, they often share the contest with their friends which in turn can lead to more exposure for you along with more likes.
Contests are allowed on Facebook, but you’ll need to conform to all applicable contest guidelines. We recommend using a third party app to create and manage your Facebook contests. Not only will your contests look amazing, they’re super easy to create and manage.
Consider holding monthly or weekly contests as these events will generate a great deal of buzz for your brand. In addition, your followers will start to anticipate them.
Send Congratulations
Sending congratulatory messages to clients is a great way to show that you care. It can also serve as “social proof” that you’ve satisfied a customer. For example, if you’re a car salesperson, you could congratulate a customer on the delivery of her new car.
Depending on the nature of the event, you may want to send generic congratulations. For example, your customer may not want the general public to know the details of the transaction or may not want the attention. A more subtle way to do this is to use the customer’s initials or refer to her in the abstract. For example, you could post a photo of a set of car keys along with the message “Congratulations to a recent college graduate on the delivery of a new Jeep Cherokee – you deserve it for a job well done!” If the customer sees it, she’ll know the message is directed at her, yet her privacy will have been respected. Meanwhile, other followers are likely to click the like button as a show of support and a means of sending their own congratulations.
Share Inspirational Photos
Blending gorgeous photos with inspirational quotes may seem cheesy or cliche', but it works. Photos are by far the most engaging type of content you can share on Facebook. Add in an inspirational quote and you have a recipe for sharing success. While you could recirculate images that come your way, a better option is to create your own. Not only will your own custom inspirational photos be unique to your followers, you can also brand them with your website address, company logo, or some other branding element. That way, when they share your image (and they will if you choose a resonant quote), your brand will benefit from the additional exposure.
Creating an inspirational photo isn’t overly difficult, especially if you are already comfortable using image editing software. All you need is access to a royalty-free or Creative Commons image, an inspirational quote, and image editing software. You can find suitable photos all over the Internet at sites such as Wikimedia Commons, MorgueFile, and Flickr (Creative Commons). The same is true of quotes; try QuoteGarden, BrainyQuotes, or GoodReads. As far as image editors go, free options include: Paint.net, FotoFlexer, and irfanview.
Make sure that the photo you use isn’t too busy as too much clutter could distract from the sentiment you are sharing. If it’s a little busier than you’d like, try applying a blur filter to it. Use a large, easy-to-read font for the text. Experiment with different font colors until you find the best color combination for the image. Don’t forget to add any branding information to your image. Ideally, your final image should be 843 pixels wide by 504 pixels high. This is the size for a full width timeline display. If you don’t want to highlight the image on your timeline, 403 by 504 is the next best size.
Finally save your image, giving it a descriptive file name. Post to your Facebook page and encourage sharing.
Holding contests, congratulating your followers, and sharing inspirational photos are three fun ways to engage your followers. Which will you do first?
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Trending Content on LinkedIn – A Visual Experience
Where some social networks show you what’s trending in a little trending topics box, LinkedIn provides an interactive, visual tool that allows you to look at and understand what’s being shared on LinkedIn by audience segments such as C-suite executives or small business owners. Unlike Twitter and Facebook which each show you a short list of trending topics directly on your social media dashboard, LinkedIn’s Trending Content tool is available to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Customers. A sample is located at http://linkedin-trendin.elasticbeanstalk.com/.
What is LinkedIn’s Trending Content?
This interactive tool contains a series of tabs across the top: Auto, CXO, Fin Adv, Fin Serv, Health & Pharma, High-Tech, ITDM, Marketing, Affluent, and SBO. Though the abbreviations may be awkward, each tab displays the latest trending topics in these categories.
Click a tab that interests you and you’ll see an attractive display with a photo from the top trending article in that category, a list of the top 15 shared articles over a 30-day period, a breakdown of the top three topics, and an interactive chart displaying daily audience shares by topic.
How Can You Use LinkedIn’s Trending Content?
Note that the sample tool is just that, a sample. As such, it does not necessarily display real-time data. Currently, the data displayed is about a month old. However, according to LinkedIn’s Dynamic Duo eBook, the data that Trending Content customers will see will be trending content across groups, news posts, influencer posts, discussions, and company pages.
By visiting the Trending Content tool, you can gain some insight into what type of content resonates with a given audience segment. For example, between March 16th and April 12th , the top three topics that resonated with small business owners were entrepreneurship, venture capital, and online advertising. These topics are not likely to fall out of favor any time soon. Thus, if you need to write a blog post to an audience of small business owners, writing about entrepreneurship, venture capital, or online advertising would be safe bets.
If you want to take it further, look through each of the top 15 most shared articles. What do they have in common? Catchy headlines? Newsworthy subjects? Are the articles of a similar length or format? Take notice of what works and then replicate that in your next blog post. For example, if a healthy percentage of the most shared content consists of top 10 lists related to entrepreneurship, write your own top 10 list on an entrepreneurial topic.
Sharing Your Content on LinkedIn
Finally, after using LinkedIn’s Trending Content tool to get ideas and then writing a blog post, you’ll want to share your blog post on LinkedIn. Naturally, share it on your LinkedIn profile, but don’t stop there – especially if you have a small network. Include a call to action prompting others to please share the link. You may be surprised how many will share it if asked. Share the link in any LinkedIn groups you belong to as well. This will expose your content to a wider audience beyond your own personal network. Again, encourage sharing.
LinkedIn’s Trending Content tool is an interesting tool that can serve as inspiration for your next blog post, article, whitepaper, or other form of content. How will you use it?
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.