Calling Client by Name

I just walked out of a nice, new restaurant where I enjoyed a delicious meal.  The food was fairly priced, magnificently prepared, and effectively presented by a friendly waiter.  He was prompt and business-like and did his job extremely well.

Obviously, that is the kind of experience we all hope for when we walk into a restaurant.  I’m happy to say that in this particular case it got even better.  The young man who waited on me added one last touch which was very important and is seldom done: I paid with my credit card and when he came back and presented me with the receipt to sign, he again smiled pleasantly and said, “Thank you very much, Mr. Ziglar.  It’s nice to have you with us.”

Question: How much time did it take for him to learn my name by reading it on the credit card?  You probably will agree it took no time, and yet in most cases when I pay by credit card in a restaurant, the wait person will simply say, “Thank you, come back again, and have a nice day.”  Little things really do make a difference. 

It is my conviction that if the wait person will always look at the name and, when they present the sales slip to be signed, just say “Thank you,” and then call the customer by name, I can guarantee that not only will it benefit the restaurant, but the chances of the tip being larger will go up.  In the incident I described above, that’s exactly what happened.  I added 10% to the tip.

I’m constantly amazed that owners and managers of all businesses don’t train their people to call the person by name. It definitely makes the customer feel good and will be a factor in bringing them back to your place of business.

16 Ways to improve your Work Life

Have you gotten into a rut at work? Would you like to be more satisfiedand fulfilled in your work? Would you like to be more productive and feel a greater sense of accomplishment at the end of each day? Well you can.

It just takes a desire and commitment (though i do not have that) to renew your habits and routines.

 Follow these tips and you’ll see your work life improve. And that improvement will trickle into the rest of your life too.

1. Power Question. Keep a question like this at your desk to help you stay focused: “Am I making the most of my time right now?” or “Is this the most productive use of my time?”

2. Accept That You’ll Never Finish Your Task List. For perfectionists and overachievers this is as frustrating as a greyhound forever chasing the mechanical bunny around the track. Get off that track. Just make sure you work on your most important stuff first. Let the fluff slide, not your priorities.


3 Do not Check Email First Thing. Unless this is required in your job, then let it go until after you have completed your top priority of the day. And then process email in batches, say two or three times a day.

4. Take Breaks. It is a fact that taking breaks will increase productivity. It has been proven in studies. If you need to, find someone to help ensure you take a morning and afternoon break.

5. Make the Most of Your Commute. How do you spend your commute? Make it positive time. Use it for reading, writing, creative thinking, creative projects, listen to audio books, or, heck, write your own book! If you enjoy your commute, that happiness will spill over into how you feel at work.

6. Planning. Establish a routine of planning your week and your day. This will allow you to have your most productive week all the time. Start your day an extra 15 minutes early to do this planning everyday. Write down the top 1-3 important things you must do that day. Plan your upcoming week on Sunday evening. The weekly plan does not have to be extremely detailed. Just include the major items.


7. Choose Happiness, Humor, Gratitude, Kindness, and a Positive Outlook. Being productive and competitive in business does not mean that you have to be serious all the time. Smiling does not mean you are not working hard. Being positive does not mean you are blind to challenges. Choose to enjoy your time at work. Find others who are like this and spread good cheer. It is contagious and it grows. Try to avoid gossip and negative chat. It can be tempting, but it does not serve anyone well, including yourself.

8. Take Everything in Stride. Deadlines, tough bosses, rude clients, slow computers. Do not make them into large dramas. Do not lament the challenges of the world. Simply accept that they are there, and just keep moving forward.

9. Conflicts with Others. Let your goal be “to make progress.” Do not get caught up in trying to “be right” or to “win” the argument.. In your mind ask yourself, “How can this conflict end in something mutually agreeable ” And then get busy doing that.

10. Take Your Vacation Time. Try doing something different. If you always go on a trip, try taking a more local vacation, and really get some good rest time. Or if you always stay local, try visiting a new place. Variety is one of the keys to happiness.


11. Share Your Results. This is not about bragging, but about ensuring that you get credit for the hard work you do. Do not keep quiet thinking that the right people know what you are doing. Speak up and find ways to let the right people know how you are contributing to the success of the company.

12. Ask for Help. Do not be afraid to collaborate with others. Do not wait for your company to tell you what to do. Think creatively about how you can work with others to generate a greater result than if you had each worked on this alone.


13. Ask for More Time. If you are asked a question that stumps you or surprises you, never feel like you have to answer it right away. (unless you absolutely must) Seek more time to think about or research your answer. Simple as this, “I’ll have to get back to you with an answer later.” This will save you from giving an answer you will regret.


14. Learn from Criticism. Do not immediately reject critiques from others, even if you do not like or respect them. Sometimes people you do not like may be giving you more honest feedback than you can get from others. Do not take it personally. Even if it is personal, who cares? Listen, process, and then decide what positive action you might want to take.

15. Adapt. Adaptation is the number one survival skill of living organisms. Those that do not adapt, become extinct. In the work world, the same is true for companies, whole groups, and for individuals. Be open to change. Give it a chance. Adapt to new things while using your experience to guide you, and you will have great success.( i personally do not endorse that)

16. Learning and Improving. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to learn and improve your skills. Look for good seminars and training. Then ask work if you can attend and will they pay for your admission. If your company pays for education, use it! Borrow books from your local library, the company library, or even from your boss.. Keep learning to continually renew your enthusiasm.

Customer Service

Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.

Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.

If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.

How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”

I know this verges on the kind of statement that’s often seen on a sampler, but providing good customer service IS a simple thing. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things:

1) Answer your phone.

Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say “someone”. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a “fake recorded robot”.)

2) Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.

Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, “Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday”, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don’t say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

3) Listen to your customers.

Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

4) Deal with complaints.

No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

5) Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I’ll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I’ve told this story to?

6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...”

7) Take the extra step.

For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don’t just say, “It’s in Aisle 3.” Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

8) Throw in something extra.

Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.

If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, your business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!