Author Archives: Coach Ric

About Coach Ric

Communication Coach and Corporate Trainer. Founder and President of 3V Communications. Program Advisor and Instructor at YEDI - the York Entrepreneurship Development Institute. York U instructor. NCCA Canada Director. Background in sociology, psychology, NLP, body language analysis and TESL. MBA. BJJ Purple belt. Forever Star Trek fan. Toronto-based but not bound.

When a Customer Asks for Extras – What Would You Do?

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We’ve all asked for some extras at the restaurants, right?  We want malt vinegar instead of white for our fries/chips, we want extra ketchup packets from the fast-food place so we can put them in our fridge, we want 2 helpings of the special dipping sauce at Swiss Chalet.  The question the wait staff, managers and owners of restaurants need to ask themselves is – how much is too much?  That’s tricky when you live in a culture of “the customer is always right”.

I remember I used to visit a Red Lobster in St. Catharines (this is going back a long time ago…mid-nineties!) and they were always giving away free appetizers or discounts off the bill if anything was a few minutes late or if the customer ever said “boo”.  I remember thinking at the time, as I ate my comp shrimp cocktail, that the place must be losing a ton of money.

Anyway back to more recent times, a couple of years ago I took my girlfriend (now my wife) to a new restaurant for Valentine’s Day.  We went to Mambo’s on the Danforth.  Let me tell you – it was awesome!  Great service, great tapas, great mojitos…couldn’t ask for anything more.  I immediately signed up for their newsletter to get coupons emailed to me regularly.  We went a couple more times and even when they changed some items on the menu and did some reno (I can’t remember if they changed management hands or not) we still came back for special occasions, or when we were feeling like we needed to be spoiled.

Anywho, here is my story that relates to the title:  I got an email offer that said if it was your birthday you could come in and get a free main/dinner.  I thought that was good, but who eats by themselves on their birthday at a restaurant like that, right?  So I emailed back to the owner asking, since my girlfriend and I had birthdays within 8 days of each other, could we come in and both get a free main in one night?

I know, I know – I was being a bit pushy right?  But you know what they say – you never know until you ask.  I thought I wasn’t asking for that much, since we were returning customers and he would know that from our names since we had signed up for special nights before via internet.

What happened?  He never emailed me back.  Ever!  I guess he felt it was too much to ask, and instead of responding or negotiating with me, he wrote nothing.  I felt a bit embarrassed and so we never returned to the restaurant again.  Ever.

So the question is now upon you; if you were the customer,  waitstaff,  manager or the restaurant owner, what would you do?   How would you respond to my email/request?  All straight-forward and also creative answers welcome!

Good Reason to Live in Vancouver, Toronto or Calgary

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A survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit says Calgary is the fifth most livable city in the world.
The U.K.-based group analyzes 30 factors to establish its annual rankings, including stability, health care, culture, environment, education, infrastructure and personal safety.
Calgary was among three Canadian cities to land in the top ten, with Vancouver taking first spot for the fifth year in a row.
Toronto was ranked fourth on the list of 140 cities worldwide.
The highest ranked U.S. city is Pittsburgh, at 29th place.
The most unlivable city in the world is Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, the list’s authors said.

How do we say this word? – Pizza

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As you know pizza is popular around the world, and you have probably eaten it several times this year.  But have you ordered pizza in a native-English speaking country before?

If you immigrate or study abroad, you probably will have to order it at some point, if not for yourself then for your friends or kids.

Looks can be deceiving.  The word looks simple enough right?  PIZZA.  So you may think logically that you pronounce it as it is written, but that is not the case.  In fact we North Americans pronounce this word like PETE-SA, with emphasis (stress) on the first syllable.

So even though the writing of the word suggests PEE-ZA, trust me, it is not pronounced that way.  You must say PETE-SA when ordering it in English.  Just a fresh tip.  🙂

Enjoy!

Tips and a Warning When Reading Body Language

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Today I would like to both share with you some useful tips of body language and other non-verbal communication, as well as warn you not to think that a little bit of reading can turn you into Dr. Cal Lightman, from the TV show “Lie to Me.” 
That TV show is based on the real-life research and books of Dr. Paul Ekman.  Dr. Ekman is the first to tell you that body language reading is not an exact science, and is not fool-proof.  
Most people are under-educated when it comes to body language, since it is not something we are taught at school.  In order to learn it we have to read many books, take seminars and workshops, hire a personal coach and practice practice practice.  I believe there is benefit to improving your ability to intuitively ‘read’ people, but do not get caught up in yourself and your ‘magic’ abilities.  Even with all the research you may have done, experts suggest it only raises our chances of accurately reading someone 10 – 17% better than an average person without such training. 
The better results gleaned from studying body language and non-verbal communication is actually that you become a better observer and listener in general, which is great to improve your communication skills, and more importantly you learn how to present yourself better in your public speaking, meetings, interviews and even on dates. 
Being knowledgeable about posture, what to do with your body parts from head to toe, voice control, eye contact etc. will quickly and greatly improve your public presentation of self.  So even if you don’t believe in the art of reading people, you can still study non-verbal communication to give you an advantage at the office or on the streets. 
I’d now like to share with you an article from the Globe & Mail newspaper that gives you tips on improving your body language for the workplace.  To be fair, I must warn you that I am shamelessly promoting myself as I was the main contributor of information in this article, so bear with me!  (LOL)

I hope you enjoy the article!

Coach Ric

It’s Like TTC is Reading My Mind! (Or This Blog?!?)

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I was so pleasantly surprised Wednesday evening!  I was on the subway, heading westbound to Jane, when at approx 6:11pm the train stopped at Dundas West station for a couple minutes.  I was expecting to hear nothing about the delay, which would leave everyone wondering how long the delay would last.  And what do you think happened next?  A calm and clear voice belonging to the TTC operator announced in a very professional way that all trains were stopped due to a burning odour at St. George station, and that they were waiting to get permission to continue.  He told us he would update us again soon as progress was made.  WOW!  Fantastic.  That is a huge improvement on the usual “tell nothing” attitude.  This guy understood our feelings and kept us in the loop.  Kudos!!!

The train began to move again shortly and there were no more disruptions to my ride.  I just wanted to post that here to say THANK YOU to that operator, and to encourage all TTC operators to do the same thing;  speak to us in a calm, clear manner, and inform us of why we are being delayed and approx. how long it will last.  Is it that hard to do?  I think not.

TTC Recorded Voice vs. Live Person

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If you take the TTC as often as I do, then you have heard both their recorded customer service announcements and you have also heard impromptu voices from the drivers of the trains.  The recorded voices are professional, calm and informative.  The loud speaker system doesn’t always work well unfortunately, but at least the voices are clear.

On the other hand, I would say that 90% of the drivers who make announcements over the loud speaker should not be doing so, in the best interest of the company brand.  Why?  Because – simply put – they sound aggressive, and sometimes annoyed.  (On a side note – I wonder if they receive any type of public speaking training?)

I bet they are annoyed at all the stupid questions they have to constantly and repeatedly answer all day, every day.  I bet they have heard the same questions hundreds of times, and are tired of people asking.  I bet they struggle with ESL issues on top of that.  I bet they are annoyed at all the people who stay on a train or try to enter one even after the driver has repeated him/herself 10 times “This train is out of service.  Please do not board this train.  Once again this train is out of service – do not board this train.”  Under those circumstances, not to mention normal stress from the job,  you often have yourself a short-fuse.

That is what I hear in their announcements.  I hear aggression, anger, annoyance and frustration.  So if I’m even half correct in my assumptions, then why would any company want an employee making announcements to the general public?

I know budgets are tight and the TTC is old.  It takes a lot of resources and time to upgrade.  I just want to tell them that almost every time I hear an announcement from a live operator on TTC, I feel sorry for them personally (job stress) and I feel that the TTC will have an even harder time of improving their image as a caring, friendly way of travel.

Toronto Man Follows HIs Dream to the UFC

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“The biggest thing is if you have a dream, then just chance it […] you don’t need to give it up because you think you’re too old. If you want to do something, then just go out and do it.”

– Sean Pierson, Toronto-based UFC Fighter.  Entered the esteemed UFC octagon December 11, 2010, at 34 years of age, and won his first UFC fight with conviction.  He’s back for more action April 30th, for UFC 129, held right here in Toronto.  Good luck Sean!

Asa on Larry King Live (Part 1)

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This is a great interview of Larry King by ‘guest host’ and YouTube sensation Asa the comic. If you watch part 2 as well there is a very deep story about an interview Larry did with a paralyzed police officer many years back – powerful story. Larry is truly the king of interviews. Excellent voice and great story teller. Asa holds his own even though he was obviously nervous. (I would be too!) Good job Asa!

A Thank You Card is Classy

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Today in the mail I received a Thank You card from Leon’s.  Inside contained a hand-written note from Mike, the salesman who sold me my sofa a few weeks back (see previous post Mike Does Right at Leon’s).

I think it’s great that a company is sending out thank you cards, and I think it is also great that the sales rep is personally writing and signing the note.  It’s classy, and it carries positive emotional weight.  I bet you are not surprised then to hear me say that I will be returning to the same store in the future for my furniture needs.

Cheers!