We keep hearing talk about this “tropical summer” we’re having with the drastic change in weather and unusually high amount of rain for this time of year. I’ve noticed people feeling sick and run down, often blaming the (change in) weather as the catalyst.

So is there truth to the weather being the root cause of our wellbeing? You may be familiar with Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as “SAD”. It’s characterized by feelings of sadness and depression that occur in the winter months when the temperatures drop and the days grow short. This specific form of depression is often associated with excessive eating or sleeping and weight gain.

Studies show that SAD is often diagnosed more frequently in women, but men seem to display more severe symptoms. Whilst it’s usually common in winter, with the change in global warming causing the current adhoc weather conditions, people are now displaying symptoms of SAD in summertime.

I was sitting at a café recently when the rain started bucketing down outside. One of my favourite things to do is watch how people react in the rain. I believe you can tell a lot about a person by their behaviour during extreme weather conditions. There are several options you can take whilst stuck in the rain; you can run for shelter, walk at a calm, careful pace, or simply continue in your stride unfazed. Of course if you’re a woman who’s just blow-dried your hair, or on your way to an important event, you’re more likely to duck for shelter as fast as your heels will carry you.

Doing some people watching, got me thinking about how significant events in my life seem to occur in the rain; break-ups, breakthroughs, important business meetings, chance encounters, even funerals, amongst other significant moments. I don’t know what it is about the rain that makes that moment so much more dramatic; but it’s definitely an anomaly many movie producers capitalize on.

It’s also evident in social media; on a stormy day for example, Facebook newsfeed gets flooded (no pun intended) in complaints about the weather compared to the few positive posts when the sun is shining. So what is it about the power of rain that can have such a profound impact on us? And why does everyone seem happier in summertime? Scientific research indicates that Sunlight contributes to photochemical reactions in the skin, and the production of Vitamin-D is one of these. Vitamin-D apparently affects hormone levels, which can affect moods. Whilst the perception that rain represents gloom and sunshine denotes happiness is more metaphorical than scientific, it rings true because we are inherently sympathetic to our environment.

So, what can we do to overcome weather related mood swings?

1. Do things that make you feel good- listen to uplifting music, surround yourself with positive people, read a good book, place pictures of your ideal holiday destination near your workspace. Or even better, if you’re in the position; plan a vacation to a warm place.
2. Eat nutritious foods that make you feel good- the best sources of foods that contain vitamin D include: fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) and fish liver oils.
3. Get enough ZZZZ’s- make it a regular part of your routine to go to bed at around the same time, aiming for 8 hours sleep (try this up to 5 days a week).
4. Keep moving- Regular exercise of around 30 min cardiovascular activity a day will increase endorphins, leading to an uplifted mood, along with the obvious benefits of better health and weight loss.
5. Limit intake of alcohol & sugary, processed foods.

So whether you choose to run from the rain, walk or sing, embrace the day and make plans regardless of what Mother Nature brings on.

One of the things that my clients often say to me is “I have so much to do…” or “My lists are out of control” or simply “I never seem to get to anything…”

For me I am hand written list person.  It works for me.

I have an i-phone, i-pad and sure I can use the to do features on there…if i-wanted.

I am working with a client at the moment who is in an overwhelmed state at work due to having too much on. It leaves her with a sense of not doing a great job, not finishing anything to the level she would like let alone having time for herself.     This is not going to change in the short term but with a little help and a lot of commitment she can change the way she is doing things and in turn get a sense of satisfaction and control of what is going on around her.

Step off the hamster wheel

Spend some time ‘noticing’ what your day/week looks like.  Keep an eye on what distractions pop up.  Do you spend a concentrated period in various zones?  Email? Project planning? Meetings? What time are you actually starting work (even though you arrived at 8am) what time do you leave?  Is there  any time for you/lunch/exercise/personal appointments?

Craft your ideal week

Make an appointment with yourself and work out what you want your week to look like.  Observe a no-email time?  Allocate time to prepare for meetings that occur regularly.  Create windows of creative time/thinking time.  Perhaps in this time you are just ‘doing the job’ or getting on with your ‘to-do list’.   Maybe you would like to set a lunchtime aside to prepare your weekend/social life, identify a gap to get to the gym in line with the class timetable.  By crafting your ideal week you are one step closer to making it happen.

Get people on your bus

If you are planning on changing the way you work then people will start to notice.  Hopefully in a good way!  You may need to let people know that you are adopting a different approach to your working week and that you will be observing a ‘no email’ time.  Perhaps if you are constantly interrupted by a certain colleague explain that you will absolutely get back to them shortly with their request.  I have a policy… if something is urgent…people will call me or find me!  If it is an email it forms part of my to-do’s, and sure I may acknowledge the request but I will also give them an idea of when I intend to get back to them.  We live in a society of everything being available at the touch of a button – well educate your colleagues/peers/customers/friends and they will be on the bus.  Ok let’s get going.

Adjustment – giving it a go

The thing with change is it takes time to make it happen.   You will be a little clunky at first.  Be tempted to check emails/facebook/ring a friend but just try your hardest to work to your plan.  After all the rewards are worth it.  A sense of completion. Finishing something to the best of your capability?  Let alone the feeling of achievement.  If something is not working for you fix it.

Cheers!

Remember when you were little and if you did as you were told you got a sticker?  Well….use a similar reward system for yourself.  Perhaps exchanging the sticker for a coffee/walk to the shop/simply sit outside in the sun. Just acknowledge your success and pat yourself on the back.

So hopefully this will leave you feeling a little less overwhelmed and a lot more in control of your world.

Let me know how you go.

Source: Nourish

Fiona Wainrit knows what bosses are looking for.

Fiona has many years’ experience in recruiting, training and mentoring staff,
along with Psychology and HR qualifications. She has an extensive background in
recruitment with a deep understanding of workplace dynamics.

Now with her own successful career coaching agency, Finetuned Coaching, Fiona has put together some honest insights into recruiters’ most common pet peeves.

To help you win that dream job, Fiona has shared some tips on avoiding common job application pitfalls to help you make your application stand out from the crowd.

1. Avoid long, wordy cover letters and CVs
Having worked in both recruitment agencies as well as with in-house recruitment teams, Fiona knows that most recruiters simply don’t have time to read through long-winded cover letters.

One way to keep it brief is by using bullet points to address the key selection criteria. Remember, the aim is to spark the recruiter’s interest to open your CV.

As far as your CV goes and as tempting as it may be to outline every single job you’ve ever worked in, try to spare recruiters the details.

You only need to detail the past five-to-eight years of employment. You should provide a brief summary under ‘Previous Employment’ for anything that dates earlier (your job title, company and dates).

The general rule of thumb is to limit your CV to no more than two-to-three pages.

2. Avoid generic CVs
When you are trying to cover the same basic information as the next applicant, after a while, generic-sounding CVs can be boring to read.

Regardless of the industry you’re in – community sector, retail, factory, IT or finance – there’s always room for some creativity.

You can start with a succinct career objective that captures your personal branding – the essence of what makes you unique, along with your key skills/experience.

This should be tied into no more than two-to-three sentences communicating why this makes you an asset to an organisation.

3. Never send your photo with your CV
Unless you are a super model or are applying for an acting/ TV personality position that requires a ‘headshot’, there is absolutely no need to include your picture.

You want to be judged on the merit of your skills, education and work history, not your race, age, hairstyle, weight or eye colour.

4. Forget the ‘I’m just calling to check you’ve received my CV’ phone call
In this day and age of online applications, there is rarely much of a delay between you sending your CV and it reaching the recruiter’s database/ inbox.

Many recruiters send an automated reply to prevent such calls, yet I’m still amazed at how many candidates still take this approach.

Follow up calls can be gold if they are executed correctly. Why not try asking an intelligent question that isn’t covered in the ad/PD (position description)?

Or simply call to let them know how excited you are that there’s finally a position which merges your expertise with an industry you are passionate about; then ask if an interview is possible.

It may be a bit cheeky, but it could also work and impress the recruiter enough to win you that interview.

5. Do not send your CV as a PDF – send it as a Word attachment
Unless specifically requested otherwise, your CV should be sent as a PC-based Word attachment. Do not send your CV as a PDF, Mac file, or zip file. A recruiter simply does not have time to download and convert special files.

6. Carefully check for spelling errors, typos, and poor grammar. In the world of technology and ‘Spell Check’, you would be amazed how many CVs come through with errors!

Your CV provides a first impression of who you are. First and foremost, always do a spell check using the ‘review’ tab in your Word program. Next, find a trusty pal to proof read it if necessary. Also check for consistency in your use of past/present tense
and formatting.

7. Avoid getting dates wrong or not including them
A CV that does not include dates sends out ‘red flags’ about a candidate’s background and is immediately disregarded.

The obvious assumption is that the candidate is trying to hide something. Furthermore, be honest about your dates of employment.

When providing dates, work history should be in reverse chronological order (start with the most recent job). The general consensus among recruiters is to place the employer info, title and location to the left-hand side of the screen. Your employment dates should be aligned to the right so that your reader can easily ‘skim’ down the page. If you have a proven track record of staying in a job for a while, absolutely make sure that your employment dates JUMP out at your reader. This is a real selling point about you as a candidate.

8. Don’t make your CV too ‘duties oriented’
A common complaint among recruiters is reading a CV that is too ‘duties oriented’. CVs need to describe more than just work duties.

A good CV must also detail your accomplishments. Provide specific examples of how the company benefited from your performance, outlining your direct results and successes.

Think about what the employer is looking for and highlight accordingly. This may include financial or client wins, changing a system, or streamlining a process.

Quantify how the organisation benefitted from it. For instance: “I successfully managed the tender process which resulted in changing our transport supplier, saving the company $25K per annum”.

9. Do not lie or give misleading information
We all know the temptation is there to beef up your background by stretching the truth here and there to land that job.

BEWARE! It is becoming more commonplace for companies to do extensive background and reference checks on a candidate’s background prior to hiring.

Here are some of the most common examples of misleading information being put in CVs:

- Inflated titles and embellished duties
- Inaccurate dates to cover up job hopping or gaps of employment
- 1/2 finished degrees, inflated education, or ‘purchased’ degrees that do not mean
anything
- Inflated salaries
- Exaggerated accomplishments
- Out and out lies in regards to specific roles and duties

10. Never, ever bag your former/current employer
Finally, if you’ve managed to get past the application stage and have scored an interview, one of the biggest no-no’s is to say unflattering things about your current or past employers. Recruiters mention this as a pet peeve time and time again and it can
detract from an otherwise good candidate. No matter how disgruntled you may be, a job application or an interview is not the
place to vent your frustrations. Save these for discussions with your partner, friends or family.

* Fiona Wainrit, of Finetuned Coaching, is a results qualified coach, specialising in career and life transitions.

For more information, go to www.finetunedcoaching.com.au

*Coaching can be held face to face in Sydney or on Skype and must be redeemed before 31/12/11

Nourish Coaching is a personal development and coaching business aimed at helping you make positive progress in any area of your life.

Sally-Anne Blanshard is Director and Coach for Nourish Coaching.

With over 12 years experience in in recruitment and consulting Sal is trained in knowing exactly what questions to ask you that will get you thinking and then creating results.  Sal is an energetic and focussed coach who is skilled in helping you navigate your thinking to create positive change.   Coaching programs are available in areas of Career, Job Search, Small Business and Personal dilemmas.

www.nourishcoaching.com.au  saua.moc.gnihcaochsiruonnull@l

Professional Life Coach, Fiona Wainrit of Finetuned Coaching has seen an influx of males in their 30’s searching for meaning and questioning their lives on every level. In many cases, this has included putting their careers under the microscope.

Tackling change can be difficult at any age and this demographic are hard hit with added pressures such as increased financial responsibilities, family commitments and an unwavering demand to succeed in business.

Whilst many of us have become experts at communicating a positive image of ourselves through social media, in reality, there are a high percentage of males, who are discontent with key areas in their life such as relationships, career, and finances.

Of 2,000 people quizzed in a recent survey, more males aged 33 to 44 said that they felt depressed than in other age groups. This along with other research reflects a true mid-life crisis hitting males at an earlier age then in past decades.

Traditionally, we associated the mid-life crisis with people in their late 40s to 50s, but the report reveals that this period could be reaching people earlier than we would expect . So, why are men of this age really feeling the pressure? Dr Jane McCartney, Psychologist, attributes it to higher expectations on people of this age in terms of what they’ve achieved in their careers and family life. Young people feel under so much pressure to prove themselves, and the constant struggle to keep up a certain image means you can end up with a sense of failure and emptiness.

The downside, is if the Australian economy experiences another decline, which has been predicted in recent media, then things are likely to worsen, as more is demanded of fewer employees.

Unfortunately, men are encouraged by our culture to be ‘tough’ and many males believe that complaining of feeling unwell or visiting a health/ wellness professional is a threat to their masculinity or a waste of time, unless it’s life threatening. So, if men are also less likely to seek professional help for problems, particularly those of an emotional nature, how can we solve this issue?

If men were encouraged to stop behaving like tough guys, they may start looking after themselves better. I am not referring to seriously depressed males who’d require a Psychiatrist, but more so, the average professional male. While men in their 30’s seem to
have a genuine need to progress in life, like anyone, they may require a bit of guidance in moving closer to their goals.

Things are turning around and it’s evident that when it comes to personal development, there isn’t as much of a stigma attached to engaging the services of someone like a Professional Coach. The consensus appears to suggest that it communicates the message they are genuinely interested in investing in developing themselves personally and professionally.

Working through inspiring goals with their coach’s, has been the saviour for many men experiencing this early mid life crisis. Once they start to achieve small targets, their confidence increases and they can then work towards tackling the bigger goals. Although everyone is different, for most, it’s a matter of regaining faith in themselves and their ability to achieve big things.

Let’s face it, we all delay those tasks we don’t really want to face but know will be good for us in the long run… You know the ones… completing our tax return, going for that run, having that confronting chat with a colleague etc. The difference is, once you’ve engaged a coach to follow up such activities, it becomes a lot harder to delay them! Coaching philosophy revolves around everyone having the right tools, so it’s simply a matter of ‘finetuning’ them to achieve the desired result.

For a free introductory coaching session, contact Fiona Wainrit, Finetuned Coaching:

0411 424 440,
www.finetunedcoaching.com.au.

So what if you could analyze and improve your entire business simply by asking a few simple questions. It could never be that simple could it? Why not? Business, realistically in its’ rawest form is not rocket science, it’s a series of questions, actions and reactions based around your primary business service or products(s).

I honestly believe if you take these five questions, take the fundamentals of each of them, and apply them to your business you could quite possibly see a considerable growth in your turnover. These five questions are designed to increase turnover, limit your losses and analyze and realign your business all in a very short space of time. Wrapped up in a few hundred words and the advice is free… Does life get any better?

Would you like fries with that?

Before I get a few hundred emails telling me that your business does not sell hot chips, don’t take the question literally, think about the thought process behind it. I think anybody older than twenty five will remember the first time they heard that question. I would love to be able to gauge the financial gain those six words provided for Ronnie, but rather than ponder someone else’s success, how can you apply the same logic to your business.

Up-selling is not a new concept but one that is rarely used to its full potential. You may already have the stock to be able to pair items off against one another, or perhaps you need to introduce a new line? I was actually putting this theory to the test the other day and I walked around 5 shoe stores… do you know that only 2 of them sold socks and one of them didn’t even sell shoe polish… To me that just seems crazy! The perfect up-sell opportunity when someone buys a pair of shoes has to be shoe polish… doesn’t it?

Do you sell shoe polish? Are you offering it to you clients when they buy a pair of shoes? Metaphorically speaking of course… on both counts.

Can I ask you why?

We don’t make sales to every customer that makes an enquiry or walks into our store, business would be too simple if we did. I would guess that if you asked the majority of business owners out there they would know exactly why their customers buy their products, but have you ever considered why other customers don’t? Asking a customer why they haven’t bought your products or decided not to use your services is an essential activity for the business owners really looking to be at the top of their game.

Simply by asking the question you can find out a myriad of ways to improve your business, or even save a sale. We don’t ask the question because we believe the answer will be a negative one and no one wants to hear negative things about their business… seriously what are we, twelve?

It is vitally important that we either ask the question or have some sort of survey in place to give us these answers. A lot of the time we find out it is not something negative with our product or service but bad marketing communication. People make assumptions about inclusions or omissions with product packages and services… you’ll hear statements like, “I would have bought it if it came with a stand”, chances are the product comes with a stand and we just didn’t communicate it properly in our marketing…

Think out of the square on this one and try and get to the bottom of the lost sales. If someone has visited your website or come into your store you have already done most of the hard work, so don’t lose them now when you are so close to the sale!

Do you know anybody else that might…?

When you have a paying customer consuming or purchasing your products or hiring your services it is the perfect opportunity to make a second sale. They are obviously keen on your products’ and probably think the price is right too… this is the golden opportunity to ask for the referral. The chances are the people your customers know and associate with like similar things to them…

It’s another form of up-sell but not directly to them.  What about asking questions along the lines of… “Out of interest sir/madam, would you know of friend that might like these as well? I could do you a very good price if you were to purchase two today?”

Maybe you don’t make a double sale right then, but maybe you ask the question and they then refer the customer back to you when they get home… just because you planted the seed.

If I was the customer would I…?

If you don’t already you have to put yourself in the shoes of the customer… over and over and over again. You must see your company as your customers see it in order to give an objective opinion of the service you are supplying.

Even the big bosses of multimillion dollar conglomerates have twigged on to this one and are going under cover, not only as customers but as employees as well. It is an important tool for us to gauge our business, so get out there with your customers and see what the interaction is like when they buy your product or service… would you come back?

Are there things you can improve on? Whether it’s the surroundings in your store or office space or perhaps the appearance or cleanliness of you facilities… There is always room for improvement so why not set yourself a goal and promise to take yourself from start to finish of your customers experience once every six months. After the experience promise yourself that you will improve at least one thing, it doesn’t have to be revolutionary, although it can be, but if you know that you are constantly improving your business… so will your clients…

Can I have my money please?

It sounds simple, but so many business owners avoid the debt collection phone calls until it’s too late and it’s already damaged your business, and not just from the lack of payment. You may be in a coveted position where your business does not give credit, but a vast amount of businesses do and when the service or goods have been supplied the money comes afterwards… or perhaps doesn’t.

I have seen it so many times where businesses have a seven day payment policy but even after the debt is two or three weeks old they have still not asked the customer for the money. It is out of some ridiculous idea that we might upset a good customer by asking for money… it’s your money and they, I’m sure, agreed to the terms of business when you supplied them in the first place.

If you have seven day payment terms and haven’t been paid by day eight, you need to make a polite phone call or email gently reminding your customer about payment. If there is an issue you will find out in enough time to fix it and it may just have been an oversight. The money is much better in your bank account than theirs.

If you let big bills grow with your customers and they are in trouble, not only do you not get paid but then they feel awkward that they owe you money and buy the products they used to buy from you elsewhere… so now you have lost another sale as well… You must bring this under control.

In summary there are just 5 simple questions to either ask yourself or others that can make a massive difference to you companies performance… What are you waiting for?

So much of the time if you talk to an accountant or business advisor they will tell you the best way to improve your business is to simplify it… and I don’t disagree. Streamline your processes, make fewer procedures, simplify everything if you can, and it can help your business run smoother. However let’s not simplify things too much… a little complication can go a long way to improving your bottom line.

OK, probably time for me to explain what I am talking about before you completely switch off… let’s talk about sales as it gives us a great starting point. Sales is a numbers game, whether you like it or not the age old cliché is true.

As a salesperson you will have a certain hit rate; if you work in a retail store, you might have to speak to ten people to make one sale, if you work in a call centre it might be 20 calls to make one sale, so in order to make a certain amount of sales you just multiply your gross figure by the amount of sales you wish to make… Have I taught you how to suck eggs yet?… Ok… you get my point.What we have just talked about is sales in its rawest or simplest form, and in order to make more sales you simply increase your amount of sales activity. So why do we need to complicate it? It’s all in the ratio’s.  Yes sales can be as simple as numbers, but the better you can make your sales ratio the more sales you can make in a specific time frame, and the more efficient you become.

A salesperson may only be able to make 50 calls in one day so in order to increase their sales they need to be able to improve their sales skills, and this is where we complicate things a little. If it were as simple as pure numbers then the man from the mobile phone company that calls you on a Wednesday afternoon, would simply say “hello, would you like to buy a new mobile phone, they’re only 50 bucks?”

Eventually someone would say yes, simply because they had called that many people someone was actually, at that particular time, in the market for a new phone. I would not suspect their ‘call to sale’ ratio would be that good though. But that is the essence of the call; they want to sell you a new phone, so they ask the question.

However, in order to improve business both for the salesman and the mobile phone company we first have to complicate the call. That’s why when they phone you, rather than ask you out right they say something like, “Hi, the reason for my call is that I would like to save you $250 a year off your mobile phone bill, would you be interested in saving $250?”

OK, I’m not saying this would work every time but the salesperson would certainly get a few more yes’s with that question than they would with the more direct approach. Obviously there is a hell of a lot more involved to make it to the sale but this is not a sales lesson, its more about demonstrating how if we complicate things slightly we can get a better result.

Let’s take referral business, there is a statistic that says if you provide great service to all of your customers 5% of them will refer you to one of their friends or someone they know, but if you simply ask for the referral rather than waiting for it, that figure can increase to a rate of 50%.

There is also a statistic that says 78% of statistics are made up on the spot, but for the purpose of what we are discussing you can see how by adding a simple question to the end of a sales call you could increase business by a significant amount.  Sometimes we lose sight of how by complicating sales calls just a little bit, by adding one more question, our business could increase dramatically.

I don’t know if there is a statistic for this but think about the one question that made the most money for a company… I would put my money on “would you like fries with that?”  The ultimate up-sell!

Think about it for a while… is there one more question you could ask your clients when you speak to them that might generate thousands of dollars in revenue at no extra cost? Are you an email focused business? Is there a button you can add or a question you can add to your signature that might increase business for you?

Realistically there’s nothing too complicated here. The psychology involved in sales is nothing new, there are plenty of books on sales techniques out there and that’s the only thing we mentioned that barely resembles anything complicated… the rest is simple, the only complication is adding questions to conversations we already have.

Have you asked for that referral yet?

Two separate statements really, but both interlinked at the same time.  When I say there is no room in recruitment for politicians, I am of course talking about the constant truth bending, fact twisting, misleading and underhanded nature of a massive proportion of our top, duly elected delegates

Does it come down to out and out lies, perhaps sometimes, but generally it comes down to sales, the bending of the truth and trying to word things differently so they come across with a different meaning, unfortunately a lot of this happens in recruitment too. Yes of course there is an element of sales in what we do, always has been , always will be but not the type of sales you get from Bob, the used car salesman on the corner of 8th and Mary street…

As for politics, we may have to deal with some of our own internal politics now and again, and you might have a slightly odd team member who likes having his photo taken in his Speedos on the beach but that’s about as far as it should go!Truth, honesty, integrity, loyalty, pride and professionalism… These are the absolute pillars of the successful recruitment consultant. Now, of course, success can be measured in many ways… financially seems to be the overall guide to a successful recruiter but is it really just about the money?… I bloody hope not.

Don’t get me wrong I understand all recruiters must pay their way in a business and it’s a huge motivator for many consultants… we are of course in a results driven industry but we also have to be aware that we are in a service industry as well. Can you still get results when offering a mediocre service? Absolutely, but will your business grow and thrive in the manner of the top performers,  no and nor should it.

What makes the extraordinary stand out from the ordinary?  Is it an educational degree in some ‘out of the box’ business practice or tens of thousands of dollars thrown into psychometric testing of consultants… no of course it’s not.  It comes down to the very basics of what we do and applying some very simple rules and beliefs.

Let’s take a couple of examples, let’s start with the candidate and the candidate interview. More often than not these days interviews seem to be getting shorter and shorter and the KPI driven consultants out there just seem to be giving the candidates a quick once over appearance wise, asking the questions which they have formulated from their client and if there is a match, gives a higher enough score based on these questions and the candidate gets sent across to the client.

This is not the work of a professional recruiter, any Tom Dick or Harry can get this type of information from someone, and moreover most of it can probably be gauged from the resume. Our job is to get a full and in depth understanding of the candidate so we can understand not just if they have the qualifications to do the job, but to what quality and times frames they are capable of performing it in, what level of enjoyment they will get and their ability to interact in certain environments and with certain people at different responsibility levels. We can gauge whether this will be a company where they can grow and develop their careers, what level of passion they bring with them and a lot more to boot… Interviewing is an art all of its own, if done properly.

None of the above is new, all recruiters at least should know how and why they interview a candidate for a role, but this is where the politician thing comes into play that we were talking about at beginning.

Even though they haven’t taken the time to really get to understand their candidate, they have the audacity to talk about them as if they have. Talking to the client about their excellent interview skills and how they would be the best person for the job, using lines such as “based on my knowledge of the candidate I believe….”

This is cheap sales talk, no more, no less. The thing with it is that, just like the politicians, people see through it, very easily, and if you behave in this manner your career in recruitment will get shorter and shorter until you drop out…

So does anybody start out this way, are they trained to do a 10-15 minute interview and expected to gather the required knowledge? No, of course not. So how does it get to this point, we all know it’s happening out there, so why?

I’m afraid it comes back to the old enemy of human nature. Once we have been in any job for a while we begin to think we are invincible, as we get more confident at what we do we believe we get better at it, which is probably true, we getter better at things like interviews, because we add to our experience and our skills, but then we drop off the other end of the scale and when we have got to a point where we are really good, we start to cut corners. We cut out the occasional probing question because we don’t believe it necessary; we only ask behavioral questions about the candidates current role rather than the last three. Why even discuss confrontation, we’re talking to the person now, and they seem OK!

We don’t deliberately cut corners but over time it just happens, how do we stop it from happening… ah ha, that is the easy part. Training… simple, basic training, weekly discussions about the everyday aspects of our role – interview skills, client visits, reference checking etc… the thirteen key areas of our job skills should be discussed and practiced time after time in order to keep us at the top of our game.

I have heard comments from principals saying… “I have been doing this job for ten years, I don’t think I need any training and I certainly don’t need a coach”, or “I only employ experienced recruiters”.  Maybe that’s true, but running a business is similar to running a sports team, Manchester united are a good football team… a great football team, but they still need to train, they still need a coach… not to learn anything highly technical but to practice the basics.

Darren Lockyer still practices throwing and catching the ball, every day… David Beckham spends hours every week kicking a football through a tyre? They are practicing the basic skills of their chosen profession…

As usual, just a couple of thoughts…

I don’t know about you, but my biggest pet hate when out and about is when the shop assistant, bank clerk or any other person you are talking with for that matter asks the question, “How are you today…” and then continues talking and doesn’t wait for you to answer the question. It drives me mad! If you are not interested in the answer then don’t ask the question in the first place!

We all read about new marketing strategies and ways to attract new business, I even wrote an article recently about how to build better relationships with your clients. Here’s a revelation for you, one of the most effective marketing campaigns you could ever embark on and certainly one of the most cost effective, is to ensure your staff are providing good, honest, sincere customer service.

You know, those age old marketing techniques like, “please” “thank you”, “you’re welcome” or even some of the more difficult actions such as Smiling, eye contact and good old sincerity…

The only person I know who says “you’re welcome Peter” when I say thank you to them is my girlfriends’ three year old niece, go figure.

I think what we need to understand is that any of these things used on their own don’t really cut the mustard, don’t get me wrong some service is better than no service but even when you do get the occasional thank you from the person serving you, how often is it actually made sincere with eye contact and a smile? Unfortunately these days more often than not, it just isn’t.

For anybody outside Australia reading this I am not sure if you are going through the same trends as we are here, but there is currently a big push from the heads of large corporations going undercover and posing as either customers or employees and seeing how the companies are being portrayed out there in the pointy end of the market.

Not surprisingly some of the results are pretty scary… rude employees, bad customer service, etc. but more than that, it has been a big wake up call for a lot of the company heads and they are realising that they have actually lost touch with the most important money making aspect of their business… the actual customer and the service they are receiving.

Think back over the last twelve months. I bet everyone reading this article has several stories about how they have received poor customer service. How many of you have stories about exceptional customer service you have received? Not just the type of service that made it ok to leave a tip, but service that made you call for the manager and congratulate them on their staff or actually made you sit down a couple of days later and write a letter about the exceptional service you have received. Unfortunately I think the second list of stories will be a damn site shorter than the first one.

This isn’t me pointing the finger in any one particular direction either, I think the majority of us are guilty of this type of behavior, not bad service but just not good service! We live in a society that is rushed, we want everything yesterday only have 5 minutes to perform a ten minute task and we cut out the niceties of human interaction… We have been talking about the service we receive, but what about the behavior we offer, as customers.

We talk about the people serving us but when conversing with people in this manner, as the customer, do we always offer them the courtesy of manners or is this lack of communication skills coming from both sides of the fence? Next time you are out and about listen to the service being offered by both parties, make up your own mind…

Now, customer service is not just as simple as please and thank you, although that is a great start. It about the little things and the way we interact and ask questions. It’s even as simple as actions like the way we give change to a customer.

When you hand someone their change you should place the coins in the palm of their extended hand and then pass them the notes so they can hold them with their finger tips…

If you don’t do this, and just put the coins on top of the notes the recipient has to juggle change from one hand to the next or put the money back on the counter and is made to feel awkward. They also take longer to leave the counter and allow the next customer to be served.

As you place the coins in the palm of someone’s hand, generally, they will look up at you and this is when you have the ideal opportunity to look them in the eye and thank them…

So just by performing this very simple everyday task in the correct manner, what are the advantages and who benefits…

1. We speed things up for the customer being served because it’s a quicker process and they are not made to feel awkward.
2. The customer behind them loves it because they get served quicker.
3. The actual company gains benefit because service time is quicker and overall probably means less staffing costs.
4. The actual action of placing coins into the hand means there is personal contact, when the fingers tips touch the palm of someone’s hand. Not in a sleazy way but pleasant human interaction, almost like a handshake.
5. People feel they are being served by professional friendly people and are more likely to return in the future.

There is nothing wiz bang about this idea or even new, but how many people working in the customer service industry have been taught how to do it? How many of them have even been supported in the correct manner by the company they work for and trained properly in the art of customer service.

Nearly everybody out there has trained for their profession in one way or another. I bet in these large companies, you know the ones we talked about earlier who are trying the whole mystery customer things. I bet, all of the managers have been on team building weekends, or time management courses that has cost the company thousands of dollars, but when was the last time the company invested in a simple customer service refresher course for the front line service staff… the ones who actually handle the company’s finances, literally?

Just a couple of thoughts…

Ahh… one of the greatest, and most useless, chat up lines, ever to be used.

Relationships are curious things at the best of times and more and more these days our businesses and companies rely on the strength of the relationships it has with its’ clients, customers and suppliers alike.

They have always been important in the business world but with advertising becoming easier and marketing becoming cheaper and more widespread, your customers have more and more choice in which service provider they use.

Gone are the old days where in one town or city you had… “the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker”. Nowadays, metaphorically speaking of course, you don’t just have the candlestick maker, you have the candlestick maker, the organic wax burning company, super candles in the next suburb with a range of 4 million candles at discounted prices and then you have seventeen different online candle stores sending you email updates with the latest long burning wicks and pastel colours to choose from and a loyalty card to give you cheap petrol…

OK a bit of stretch but I think you’ll agree, in any business whether it be a retail store or a service based business competition is more prevalent in numbers than ever before. The worst thing is, it seems that the more competition there is the less the relationships between companies are nurtured; surely it should be the other way around.

Now relationships are a two way street so let’s take a brief look at both sides of the fence.

Our company and our marketing…

So much time is spent trying to find new customers that the art of customer retention seems to be dying off. If you pick up ten new customers this month how many customers did you lose… customers that already knew and loved your product or service but were simply lured away by your competitors because of the lack of attention you paid them just because they weren’t buying right here and now.

When was the last time you went through you sales history and called some of the clients you did business with previously and tried to win their business back. Find out why they left? Is it possible to fix the issue? Chances are there was no issue other than the fact that you did not give them the attention they required to keep them on board. How much easier is it to talk to a prospective client that already knows how good your service is rather than making all those cold calls?

Our company and the suppliers we use…

Let’s turn the tables back on us for a second and see how this is happening how many times have we changed suppliers purely based on financial savings, because we can buy a ream of paper for $2.00 cheaper or are charged $4.75 less per hour for our cleaning service.

It might not even be savings that are so small. I changed my accountant of five years some time back because the new supplier offered lower rates and they were closer to my offices. I worked out that it would save me over $1500.00 per year in fees and in travel. After about 6 months I realized that rather than saving me $1500.00 it was probably going to cost me about $2000.00 more!  Because the relationship was new, I had to explain what we did as a company,  how it worked and our history. For every bit of work they did there were extra questions and complications, extra meetings that weren’t there with my old accountant because he already knew my business.

I believe in this instance we were both at fault, there was me running away to save myself a few dollars and realistically if my old accountant had just called me occasionally and built more of a rapport then I don’t think I would have made the move.

I think we can all agree that in most cases repeat business is the key to being successful. I think it is taught in nearly every business class around the world, but realistically, what steps do we have in place to keep getting that repeat business. It tends to be that if it is not here and now and it’s been a little while between drinks with that client then we drop the ball a little.

This article would be a few hundred pages long if we were to talk about all the good business tips for keeping relationships strong, but what things can you do? What systems can you put in place to ensure that the percentage of repeat business you are getting is the best it can be?

Do you have a regular call sheet where you contact past and present clients on a regular basis? Did you used to have one but you got too busy to keep following it up? Maybe now is the time to reinstate it. I don’t mean phoning your clients everyday or even every week, you are looking to woo them not bore them death… but perhaps once a month, once every six weeks, I don’t think the timescale matters too much as long as it is on a regular basis.

What about holding a lunch for your suppliers, that’s right, your suppliers not your clients… loyal suppliers are as important as loyal clients. Again it doesn’t have to be the EKA or anything like that, a simple social function where people can relax and feel a little appreciated. Perhaps a few nibbles at the office and a glass of wine. Maybe avoid full on alcohol fueled evenings, they could cause more problems than they are worth!

When was the last time you phoned a client to offer them something for free? Most of the time our clients only hear from us when we want to make money out of them. What about a quick phone call offering them a business referral or a lead or letting them know you have recommended them to one of your friends or colleagues… I think you’ll find it will go a heck of a way further to build a solid relationship with them, than that bottle of wine you sent them at Christmas.

If you provide a great service which I’m sure we all believe we do, then at some point you will receive a referral from a client. Perhaps you already have. Did you take the time to phone the referring client back and thank them? Perhaps a bunch of flowers or tickets to the theatre would be a nice gesture, but what about a return lead, giving business back to them.

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but hopefully the few hundred words you have just read have got you thinking a little bit more about the business relationships you have. You may be running a very successful business but that doesn’t mean that everything we do is perfect. Continual improvement, another key to successful longevity, don’t you think?

Relationships… what a mine field!