The Customer is NOT Always Right

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A while ago I attended a seminar in Toronto where the presenter talked about the value of good customer service in all types of industries.  He actually has a background in the restaurant and hospitality industries, so as you can imagine there was a lot of discussion about good and bas service at restaurants, and how to handle complaining customers, even if you are sure they are ‘scamming’ you for free-bees.  His solution was across-the-board give in and put out.  Give in to their complaints and give them complimentary food, coupons, etc.  I have to admit my stomach was unsettled.
Many of us have heard the mantra “The customer is always right.”  But my question is, what type of message are we, as a worker, a manager, a company or a society giving when we give in 100% to fraudsters?  Does that very act not devalue our company?  Does it not encourage people to continue to shout loudly for free stuff?  And how do you think your company waitresses, clerks, phone operators etc. feel when they are told they must accept the abuse?
Years ago when I worked for Copelco Capital, a global financial company later taken over by Citibank, I had the dubious honour of working both customer service AND collections!  So my phone calls were often dealing with angry or complaining clients.  I developed some pretty cool conflict management techniques, which I can share with you another time.  But for today I want to tell you about the time a client called and was complaining loudly, swearing, and not listening to my calm appeals to slow down, and to dignify her language. 
I advised her to stop swearing, and when she didn’t stop, and wouldn’t listen to a word I was saying, I simply hung up on her!  Yes, you heard me, I disconnected the call.
She called the company back, asked for my manager and began to complain about my actions.  My manager told her she would investigate promptly, put the client on hold and came over to my cubicle (p.s. I do NOT miss cubicles) to ask me why I had hung up on her.  I explained that the client would not calm down and refused to heed my warning about her foul language, so I disconnected the call.
My manager said okay, returned to her desk, took the client off hold, and said “yes the reason why Ric hung up on you is that we do not tolerate aggressive or abusive language here.”
The client was dumb-founded for about 5 seconds, and then immediately began apologizing for her previous behaviour.   My manager went on to help her get the problem sorted out peacefully, which any one of us in the customer service department could have done had the client been calmer in the first place. 
I did not get a lecture or any punishment.  It was understood the company would protect its staff from abuse.  I was very proud of my manager that day.

What’s a Canuck and What’s a Bruin?

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Hi folks.

This blog post is a little late – I should have written it a while ago, but I was busy watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Yes I’m referring to our love of hockey, and right now in the NHL there are only 2 teams left – one Canadian and one American.

So if you are currently living or working in one of these countries, or are watching the playoffs because you enjoy hockey, you may be wondering about the strange names of the teams.  We have the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins.  But what do those names mean?

Well first off – the word Canuck is an old word, and is slang.  The exact origins are not clear, but most of the research I’ve done leads me to believe it was first used to refer to early French-Canadians.  However these days Canuck refers to any and all Canadians.

Is it bad, like “Yankee”?

No – 99% of the time we do not take offense to being called a Canuck.  It is a soft term, and not only do we have a very good hockey team named the Canucks, but in our early history we had a character, almost like a super hero, named “Johnny Canuck” who would fight off the invaders of Canada and the Nazis during WW11 in comic books.  As a matter of fact, the current Vancouver Canucks goalie, crowd-favourite Roberto Luongo, has a picture of Johnny Canuck on his goalie mask!  I guess it’s for good luck – we’ll see soon if it works!

What does Bruin mean?  A simple answer is it refers to a bear.  It comes from Reynard’s fables.  How it got to Boston, I’m not sure, but anyway it is a bear.  And right now Boston is playing like bears!

Right now the series is tied 3-3, and the teams are travelling back to Vancouver for the final game 7 on Wednesday to see who will win the Stanley Cup for 2011.  I of course am rooting for (cheering for) Vancouver.  “Go Canucks Go!”

PS – if you are interested in hockey, you can find hockey vocabulary on this blog by searching it.  The more words and phrases you know, the more you will enjoy the game.

Complete and Finished – An English Lesson for All

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One of my Russian clients sent me this – enjoy!

*Complete and finished – An English Lesson for All*

No English dictionary has been able to explain the difference between
the two words ‘complete’ and ‘finished’ in a way that’s so easy to
understand:

Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE & FINISHED,
but there is:

When you marry the right one, you are COMPLETE….

And when you marry the wrong one, you are FINISHED…..

And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are
COMPLETELY FINISHED !!!

Executive English Coaching is Valuable

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If you a manager, leader or executive, and you have ESL (English as a Second Language), you may need my help.  If you have immigrated to the Toronto area, or you are working here for a while, you may have noticed that we ‘do things differently’ here than what you had read in books.

Culture affects communication in a big big way.  How we Torontonians/Canadians/North Americans use slang and cultural references even in our formal speeches can throw off a lot of people not born here.  How we use our rhythm and volume of our voice while speaking can be very different from your home country.  It might even seem ‘too excited’ or ‘rude’!

Body language is a huge deal here.  How you move your arms and hands while at a meeting or giving a presentation can dramatically affect how you are perceived.  Are you seen as trustworthy?  Sincere?  Confident?  Or are you viewed as weak, gentle, too humble, or aloof (uncaring)?

If you are concerned about how you sound and present yourself at your job and in your career please connect with me for a free consultation in Toronto.   It is not too late to get some very valuable coaching from someone who knows both your culture and ours.  🙂

10 Things the World Can Learn From Japan

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Hello readers,

I don’t know who originally wrote this list, but I found it interesting. I have been to Japan a couple of times and it is a country easy to rave about, especially when you want excellent food, customer service, beautiful scenery, and great people. Since the big earthquake Japan is really struggling, and yet, as this list indicates, she does not lose her composure.

If you want to understand where all this ‘national DNA’ or ‘cultural training’ came from, I can recommend a great book to read, called “BUSHIDO: The Soul of Japan” by Nitobe Inazo. This is an old book, first published in 1905, as a way for the author to try to teach the visiting foreigners and businessmen about why the Japanese think and act the way they do. It’s not a light read, but if you are interested in the culture, then it’s a must-read.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the 10 things the world can learn from Japan:

1. THE CALM:
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself
has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY:
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough
word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY:
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but
didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE:
People bought only what they needed for the present, so
everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER:
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the
roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE:
Fifty workers stayed back to pump seawater in the N-
reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS:
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The
strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING:
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do.
And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA:
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly
reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE:
When the power went off in a store, people put things back
on the shelves and left quietly. That’s Japan.

A Very Busy April Weekend!

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Well first off I’d like to congratulate the newest royal married couple, Will and Kate. It was a fantastic wedding, and I wish you the best. As a Communication Coach, I hope that you continue to relate directly to your public, and don’t be afraid to be real in front of the camera, within reason of course!

Next, I have to send a big Good Luck to GSP (Georges St. Pierre), Mark Hominick, Jason MacDonald and the rest of the Canadian contingent who will be representing this great country on the mat and in the ring this Saturday at UFC 129. It is the first time the UFC has held an event in Toronto, and it was the biggest sell-out so far at 55 thousand seats. I’ll be watching and cheering them on. In the octagon, you cannot hide who you are. The truth will reveal itself. Buckle up.

Speaking of representing our great nation, who is going to win the Canadian federal election? May 2nd is the time to vote and support whichever party leader you believe will do the best job. Or, as some people have suggested, you can pick the one who does the least trash-talking and dirty ad campaigns. (That would be why Smilin’ Jack Layton has doubled his numbers in the last 2 weeks – people are sick and tired of the Liberal and Conservative dirty politics!)

I have to toot my own horn here for a second – it was a great honour to be asked to give my expert communication assessment of the federal leaders’ body language (and other non-verbal communications) after their Federal Leaders’ Debate held April 12th. I was interviewed by 1130 News in Vancouver, AM640 Toronto – The John Oakley Show as well as by host Stephen LeDrew on CP24 LeDrew Live TV show shortly after. I told everyone basically the same thing, which is that from a communication point of view, Mr. Harper had the best showing. He was calm, in control, did not get rattled when he was attacked, and he made symmetrical open hand/arm gestures stemming from his navel, which is an area called the ‘truth plane’. It’s a good place to keep your hands when you are trying to win trust.

Mr. Ignatieff used some poor hand gestures and was caught with his hand on his hip, but did use the ‘rule of 3’ well, which is when you use 3 words that are easy to remember. He repeated “jets, jails and corporate tax cuts” often enough that I still remember them! Problem is, if you overuse this technique, it sounds stale.

Mr. Layton used his smile well, in that he looked great deflecting the criticism with a smile and a joke. He has pretty good posture in general and leads with a strong voice. He was smoother that night that I expected, since Jack usually sounds choppy. He did a great job and I’m not surprised his ratings improved after the debate.

Mr. Duceppe has an obvious disadvantage in that English is his second language, but I can tell you that in any language you do not want to be caught reading your notes, which he was a couple of times. When he speaks fast and impromptu he does not sound as good as when he is prepared and calm.

These are just a few of the things that I noted during the debate. Unfortunately the video from the TV show and the audio from the two radio interviews are not available at this time. However here is a link to a short article from the Vancouver news station, should you be interested:
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/211782–harper-was-debate-winner-in-body-language-expert

Have a great weekend, and if you are Canadian, please vote May 2nd. The future is in our hands.

PS – if you or someone you know needs executive coaching, especially for media, public speaking or presentations, please pass along my website contact info. These days it is extremely important that managers and other executives representing the government or a company are clear and confident in their messages to the public, or to the shareholders.

YorkRegion Article: Newcomers learn accent reduction

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I usually do not advertise my competitions’ websites and press releases, but this is a great article that helps explain why some people want/need accent reduction training, and also some of the benefits. I am available to help you modify your accent if you need to improve your speaking.  Just contact me to set up a free consultation.

Here is the article:

YorkRegion Article: Newcomers learn accent reduction