This is my first radio interview on the federal debates for our election.
http://www.news1130.com/2011/04/13/harper-was-debate-winner-in-body-language-expert/
Harper was debate winner in body language: expert – News1130
Leave a reply
The John Oakley Show – Body Language of Cdn Leaders
Hello,
After a radio interview this morning and a TV appearance today on the Stephen LeDrew Live show, I have been asked to continue sharing my analysis of the non-verbal communication of the 4 Canadian Leaders during their Tuesday evening debate.
I am happy that I will be on the John Oakley Show – AM 640 – Toronto, at 7:30am (April 14th).
Here is a link to his show’s website, where you can find a link to listen live, if you wish, or listen afterward, as long as the link is up.
Thanks John!
http://www.640toronto.com/HostsandShows/JohnOakley/Main.aspx
Don’t Settle for Less Respect with an Accounting Firm
At this time of year many people are either doing their taxes themselves or having an accountant help them. I have a little story about trying to find an accountant.
I did an internet search for small-business oriented Toronto-based accountants, and came up with a few. After reviewing their websites I chose one to pursue: Ca4IT.com.
Even though I am not an IT professional, I am a contractor, and it was close enough for me and I assumed close enough for them.
I had a free consultation with a wonderful lady named Rachel. She was professional, knowledgeable and very helpful in helping me feel like my taxes would finally be organized in the best way possible. She even arranged for me to come in for a second free consultation early the next week, so that she could ensure my articles of incorporation and HST were in order. Not 1 but 2 free consultations – nice!
After that second meeting I REALLY felt good about my new accounting firm. I was hooked and happy to sign up. The meeting was left with Rachel informing me that she is not an accountant herself, so she would connect me to one at their firm. She would email me a couple documents, and after that I could proceed. I was a very happy potential customer.
THEN – nothing. No email. I waited a week, then emailed her to remind her. Nothing. I waited another week, then called her and left a message. Nothing. Now I was taking it personally. I hate being ignored. Don’t you?
On top of everything there was to be an accounting software workshop coming up soon that I was supposed to attend (sponsored through their firm) and I had yet to receive confirmation of registration for it.
Finally I emailed the Big Boss Andrew through LinkedIn and explained to him that I came to his firm based on his father’s reputation, and was very impressed with Rachel, until she dropped contact with me for no reason. I told him that his almost-new customer’s patience was wearing thin really fast, and asked that if he didn’t want me as a customer then to please recommend a new accounting firm for me.
I’m sure he didn’t like that but I was pissed.
Did he respond? Not to me directly (which I think he should have) but I think he passed on my displeasure to Rachel because the next business day, at 5:30pm, she emailed me finally. Sounds good right?
Wrong. She took no responsibility for dropping me and even lied by saying that my email was lost in her spam box (which made no sense since she had my business file with all the info plus my email from when I originally emailed into the firm, not to mention that she emailed me to 2 different email addresses at the same time, clearly proving that she had my email).
Then in a cold, ‘professional’ tone she proceeded to tell me to fill out a bunch of forms attached and have everything in by the next day, plus an advanced payment, and then I could attend the accounting workshop being held the next evening. Nice.
So what would you do?
I understood that Rachel is an excellent sales woman, and maybe she was too busy to follow up with me or maybe she passed on my file to others who didn’t follow up. She seemed stressed in the email. I don’t need stress. CRA gives me enough on it’s own.
I never filled out the forms, never sent a cheque and never heard from them again. I guess I was expendable, even though they would have had a client for life, not to mention a client who would have recommended them to others. Now they are stuck with an unhappy blogger!
I have since found a new accountant to help me out this year, and going forward. I am happy so far, but this story reminds me (and should remind you too) that there are plenty of accountants and accounting firms in Toronto and the G.T.A., and in whatever are you live in.
Don’t settle on being treated like a file or number. Insist on being treated with respect – as a person.
Good Hunting!
Correction – TV Appearance Has Changed
Hi “fans” 😉
I have just been informed that the federal leaders will continue talking after 9pm tomorrow (because 2 hours is not enough I guess), so I will not have time to be on LeDrew Live Tuesday at 9pm. HOWEVER they have asked me to come in for WEDNESDAY at NOON instead. So I am happy to oblige.
CP24 (City News) LeDrew Live with host Stephen LeDrew. Look for me around noon on Wednesday.
Thanks,
Coach Ric
Body Language at the Cdn Federal Leaders’ Debate on Tuesday
Hello Communication Enthusiasts!
Many Canadians will be watching the Federal Leaders’ Debate happening in English this Tuesday April 12th, from 7-9 pm EST. I am sure it will be full of interesting mini-speeches, critiques, replies and maybe some humour. I am also sure it will contain a lot of body language and other non-verbal communication, both positive and negative.
I have been asked by CityNews/CP24 to be a guest on the Stephen LeDrew Live show following the debate. I will be asked to give my expert opinion on the body language used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe during their debate. I am honoured by the request and have agreed to share some thoughts on air.
As of right now the producers think I would be on around 9:30 pm. I’m not sure how much detail Mr. LeDrew will be asking of me so I don’t know how long my segment will be, but I will endevour to give fair and balanced feedback on each of the politician’s body language, and the inferred meaning and feeling. It must be a difficult job to be a professional politician!
Enjoy the debate and enjoy the LeDrew Live show!
“Should I Get Accent Reduction Lessons?”
This is a very common question I hear from immigrants and overseas workers as we discuss their coaching options. Though everyone’s case is unique, here is my general advice:
If your (heavy) accent is stopping you from being confident, from making friends and/or from making (more) money, then YES. Do some accent reduction for your own peace of mind and to become a more confident speaker.
If your accent does not interfere with daily communications, and people are not constantly asking you to repeat yourself or say it again in a different way, then you are probably okay. You still may choose to modify your accent anyway, but at least you should know that it is not a pressing issue that will halt your career.
How can you modify and reduce your accent?
1. Watch English movies and TV. Rent DVDs of shows and sit-coms and play them over and over again, with and without English subtitles.
2. Listen to the radio and/or sing English songs. Look up the lyrics online.
3. Meet native English speakers and practice.
4. Buy a good pronunciation book, preferably with audio CDs, MP3s, podcast etc. Choose carefully BrE or AmE.
5. Attend Toast Masters or another public speaking practice forum.
6. Attend an ESL class that focuses on pronunciation or lots of speaking practice.
7. Hire an ESL tutor who has experience teaching the above, or whose voice you want to imitate. Don’t be shy to ask for details of experience, materials used, references etc.
8. Hire a professional Communication Coach with a solid background in ESL and accent reduction.
9. Hire a professional linguist or speech pathologist.
10. Practice practice practice.
Office Talk – Expressions
“The Office” can be used to mean any job or typical day. You do not actually have to work in an office.
Example:
John comes home tired, looking stressed and burned out. His wife asks: “Hard day at the office?”
He replies: “Oh yeah. We’ve got a new manager/supervisor/accountant/secretary/etc. causing me grief because…”
Once again, John doesn’t necessarily have to work at an office. It can be any job, white collar or blue collar, volunteer, etc. that he is coming home from.
I have also heard that there is a bar/pub called “The Office” so that when your wife or husband asks “where are you now?” you can honestly say “I’m (still) at the office!”
“Office Politics” refers to power positioning at your place of employment and the perceived route to career success and promotion. You have to have a good relationship with those in a position over your career. It also refers to the idea that you should get along with others at work, and not ‘burn any bridges’ (damage any personal or professional relationships).
Introducing the Customer Service Category
Hello Readers,
For a number of years now I have enjoyed conversations with friends about terrible customer service or great customer service, and it seems there is an endless supply of stories, especially here in the big city of Toronto. We Canadians pride ourselves on our stereotypical politeness and our overuse of “please” and “thank you” but the sad fact is that the average customer service experience here in Toronto is mediocre or “good-enough” at best. Here is the problem: when we get great service, whether it is at a restaurant or while dealing with a utility company or any other service industry, we are genuinely shocked and almost overwhelmed. We RAVE about the wonderful service. Why? Because it isn’t normal here! Isn’t that wrong? So I have created this category in this blog.
As a professional Communication Coach I train people in advanced communication skills which, as you can imagine, includes customer service, building rapport, conflict management etc. Considering my job, I guess it’s fair to say that I’m a harsh judge of excellent service, but the other reality is that I am a very happy, positive person 99% of the time, and I go in to any interaction with a smile and positive attitude, and the hope that it will be a good experience for both/all of us. I definitely do not try to be a jerk to anyone! I used to work customer service myself (most people have at some point).
So I thought I would create a blog category where I can RANT and RAVE about the good, the bad and the ugly customer service here in Toronto. Heck, there may even be stories in there from outside of this city. It could be on the topic of public transit, restaurants, utilities, camera shops etc. No topic is off-limits or too personal.
I can promise you that even though I will use this blog to vent a bit and let people/companies know when they have acted poorly, I will also praise the hard work of others, to make things balanced and fair. My goal is to be entertaining as well as informative. I think you will agree that my posts are quite down-to-earth, personable and I hope insightful.
I welcome your comments and stories, but please keep them polite and professional, so I can allow them to be posted.
Thank you!
Yours in pursuit of customer satisfaction,
Coach Ric
The doctor who cared too much
This article by Perry Marshall exemplifies that no matter what your business or profession is, you need to understand people i.e. have excellent communication and people skills.
Thanks Perry!
Coach Ric
When a Customer Asks for Extras – What Would You Do?
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!