[Think As Inc.] June 9, 2008 Newsletter http://ezezine.com Something to Think About: THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE Inspirational Quote: UNKNOWN News and Upcoming Events: FREE TELECLASS/ JOB SEARCH IN A TOUGH MARKET Your life is a business. You have a: MISSION: the reasons you live your life; BRAND: the message you project to the world; PRODUCT LINE: the skills and qualities that are your unique assets; BOTTOM LINE: your financial picture; CLIENT BASE: professional, personal, and don’t forget, yourself. Your life is YOUR business, and you are its CEO. THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE Quite often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves. - Akbarali H. Jetha Does that quote resonate with you? Or perhaps it reminds you of your complaining friend who whines about everything without ever mentioning his role in the problem. Remember: your life is your business; your relationships, professional and personal, represent clients. What you get from them is in exchange for what you give. If there is a problem, you need to be part of the solution. We see this in everyday business, when we buy and are therefore clients to someone else. Our cable service is fuzzy, so we complain to customer service, and depending on the way we are treated, we continue being clients or we take our business elsewhere. We recognize the importance of customer service when we are customers. How effective is our customer service to people who “buy” from us? Your boss indicates several areas of improvement during your annual review. Be glad that she is so forthcoming. Welcome the chance to show how adaptable you are. Great companies realize that customer complaints are an opportunity. They identify an unmet need. They give the company a chance to prove itself in adversity. Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity your boss’ feedback offers? If you haven’t gotten feedback lately, ask for it. Thinking of your relationships as clients doesn’t mean that they become transactional. These are still relationships – dynamic, changing, and therefore open to problems. Even if the initial exchange was smooth, the relationship may change. You need to be vigilant that you are continually meeting the needs of your clients. You need to have an internal customer service operation that seeks out feedback and adjusts where problems arise. You can of course always walk away. Even good businesses drop certain clients. But the solution may not always be to quit your job or get new friends. You may just need to provide better customer service. INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE “A man arriving in Heaven got to ask God one question. He asked, ‘The world I left had so much poverty, disease, and evil. Why didn’t you send someone to help?’ And God answered, ‘I did. I sent you.’” - Unknown NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS UPCOMING EVENT: FREE* TELECLASS ON Tuesday, July 1, 6p EST How to Find A Job In A Difficult Market Should your job search strategy be different in a tough economy? Is a career change unthinkable right now? Should you focus on hanging on at your current company or start looking just in case? Join this free* 45-minute teleclass to explore your job search options in a difficult market. Hear from Caroline Ceniza-Levine, co-founder of SixFigureStart and former executive search and corporate recruiter. Learn how the hiring process really works. Space is limited. Email info@sixfigurestart.com to register and get the call-in details. *For free teleclasses there is no charge for the class, but you are responsible for any long-distance phone charges incurred to access the conference phone line. If you have friends who may want to join the distribution list, please have them visit http://home.ezezine.com/2034/ to sign up. You can also see previous newsletters at that link. All information is copyright © Caroline Ceniza-Levine 2008 www.thinkasinc.com