SELF DEFENSE IN THE WORKPLACE

 

SELF DEFENSE IN THE WORKPLACE: Dealing With A Jerk For A Customer

Well, as an employee, I often find it very easy to say "This guy is a jerk! Why

don't they tell him to go to hell." Unfortunately, we live in reality, and this

is not done in most cases. In most retail and/or service businesses you must

worship each and every customer. The best advertisement and business can have

is a happy customer. Of course you will run into customers that will never be

happy. That is of course until they get something for free. I find that 90% of

the people out there who act like they are unhappy with your company for some

reason are looking to get something for free. There are two ways you can deal

with someone like this.

1. Ignore the penny pincher and he will either go elsewhere or live with

whatever you have deemed sufficient for your arrangement with him.

2. Give him something at cost, and see if that appeases him. Usually this will

work. If this does not work, then they are either genuinely angry with your

company for whatever reason, or they aim to take you for everything they can

get. Lose them quickly if possible.

If worste comes to worste and you must lose a customer then you must at all

times deal with this in a professional manner. NEVER tell the customer off. You

could put it something like this. "I am sorry we were unable to satisfy your

needs, it appears you are looking for something beyond what we can supply you

with. Why don't you return the product and we will refund your money, and that

will leave you open to do business with another compant, unless of course you;d

rather continue doing business with us under our policies."

The customer is always right, except when it comes to your wallet. You are in

business to make money, not to give something away for free. Anyone who would

even suggest you GIVE them something is obviously of bad character and is

assuming that you are craven and desperate enough for his business to grovel

for his money. I personally would never sink that low. I'll leave that to the

car salesmen of the world.

Never let a customer yell at you, swear at you, or otherwise insult you or your

company. When you allow this, you are showing your company to be weak and

unresponsive when under pressure. They lose respect for you that way. If you

run into a customer who is anti-social simply inform them that you will not be

spoken to in that way and they can call back when they have gained their

composure. Hang up if you have to. They will call back and apologize most of

the time. If a customer came to you, it is because you are offering them

something they want. This should give them an open invitation to control you or

your employees verbally or physically under any circumstances.

SELF DEFENSE IN THE WORKPLACE: Dealing With Mishaps And Miscommunication

Written By Mark Edward Linehan

These are theoretical suggestions, and not proven fact. If you use any

techniques outlined in this file, you do so with the understanding that it is

by your choice, and I do not recommend it in any way shape or form. Basically,

don't come crying to me if this doesn't work for you.

Bewilderment. This is a feeling so many of us can empathize with. It infests

you as you think about those things in your life that are weighing you down. At

least, to most people they seem to be weights. However, this is not true. These

are not weights. These are stability. These are our strength. Instead of

dwelling on misery, and absorbing the negative forces of life into your mind,

you can gain strength from them and learn from them. Sure, we all have our

story, and we all have our pitfalls to deal with, but what really matters, and

what really shapes your happiness, is how you handle the problem, and how you

allow the outcome to take shape. Let me give you an example.

You are a dishwasher in a resteraunt. You are carrying a stack of china dishes

to a cart, and you feel your foot slip beneath you on a small puddle of water.

It all goes in slow motion. You can feel your legs seperating quickly, and you

are already seeing the dishes begin to fall away from you. Both of your hands

are locked on the bottom of the stack, and your legs have lost all balance. You

are about to drop about $200.00 worth of dishes onto the floor. This is bad.

There is no way around that. It is bad. However, you can easily overcome this

incident. Most people would probably be thinking that this mans job is over.

Wrong! If it is handled the proper way, you can gain strength, knowledge, and

recognition from this event. Let's take a look at the WRONG way to handle this

matter.

YOU: (to the boss) I'm sorry, I didn't see that puddle of water on the floor.

BOSS: You weren't watching where you were going.

YOU: I didn't see the puddle.

BOSS: That is coming out of your pay!

YOU: The hell it is.

BOSS: Then you're out of here.

Let's look at the POWER-PLAY method of handling this situation.

YOU: (to the boss) Jesus, I almost broke my neck on that puddle! Don't people

realize how dangerous a little puddle can be! Someone could have taken five

seconds to mop it up. Maybe we should get some of those rubber mats down on

that spot between the dishwasher and the carts.

BOSS: Good idea. That was $200.00 worth of dishes!

You make yourself the victim, rather than the perpretrator. You make a valid

and good suggestion. You gained recognition and experience from it.

Some people just don't think that quickly to talk their way out of a situation

like that. You have to program yourself to know how to respond to situations.

Never apologize unless something was obviously your fault, and there is no way

you can deny any wrong doing. When you apologize you are confessing and

accepting responsibility for something going wrong. It is much better to pass

the buck as the saying goes. This is a technique used widely by many Corporate

executives and sales representatives. Blame the distributor, blame the workers,

blame the post office, but never take the blame. You lose credability, people

lose confidence in you, and it only takes one seed to grow a garden. People get

one bad thought about you, and every little foopar on your part will fuel their

negative thoughts about you.

Some people might call this lying. I personally don't care what people want to

call it. All I can say is, in these times, you need to do what it takes to

protect yourself. Protect your future. Protect your way of life.

Know who to BLAME! That is a very important aspect to dealing with mishaps.

NEVER blame someone in your own company. That makes your whole company lose

credability. Find some way of blaming someone who is not connected with your

company in any way. Blame your car dealer for not fixing your car right the

first time. Blame the phone company for screwing up your phone lines. Blame the

guy you fired last week. NEVER blame anyone else in your company.

These are the guidelines for self defense in the workplace. I hope I have

enlightened you somewhat in dealing with mishaps and mis-communication.

On the end note.. ALL BOSSES MUST DIE! Until I have my own business, then

bosses will probably be misunderstood gentlemen. Know what I mean?

What you think of a person, all depends on how closely your lives are related.

SELF DEFENSE IN THE WORKPLACE: Making A Sale The Easy Way

A lot of salesmen out there believe that you have to be pushy to make a sale.

This is not true. You have to believe in what you are selling though. If you

are not selling something you would buy yourself, or want to buy yourself, then

you will not be a GREAT salesmen. You may be a good salesmen, but you'll never

be great. When you love the product you are selling, you show genuine

enthusiasm and support of the product.

You need to know how to lead a conversation. Don't let the customer lead you,

they will take over the conversation and you could lose the sale. The best way

to lead the sale is not by continuously talking and overbearing the customer.

This will scare the off in a lot of cases.

Never overwhelm the customer with a million buzz words and techno-jargin. This

will make the feel stupid, and they will want to leave quickly.

The best way to run the sale, and get your closing is by asking questions.

Normally you would expect that you will be answering questions, but this is

wrong. You only need to ask a lot of questions when you are qualifying the

customer. Here is a summary of how you would sell, say, a computer system.

YOU: Hi, are you buying a computer for your home or office?

(notice that question. you limit their answers, this will help detour the

customer away from just saying "I am only browsing.")

TARGET: I am looking for a computer for my home.

YOU: Is this something you plan on investing in anytime soon?

(notice that you say INVESTMENT and not BUYING. BUYING is a dirty word in

sales. This will make the customer think of the money.)

TARGET: Soon, I hope.

YOU: Have you been looking for a long time?

(notice this question will let you know if the customer has been shopping

around for a while. If they have been looking all over hell and back for a

system to buy, they are tired of looking. This is definately in your advantage

now.)

TARGET: Yes, I've been to a few places.

YOU: How did you hear about us?

TARGET: I live nearby.

(BINGO! That is a BUTTON you can push later. They like the convenience of you

being close by.)

YOU: We have this brand of computer her for, it does this that and the other

thing. Would you like me to write a quote up for you?

TARGET: Sure, that seems like a good system.

Now you write up the quote, and NEVER SAY the amount of the investment. Write

it down on paper, and hand it to them. The price always looks smaller than it

sounds.

Every quote you draw up should have a spot at the bottom which says "We require

a 10% deposit to begin building this system." and a spot for them to sign. Most

people will take a pen and paper when handed to them. They might not sign, but

once they have the utensils in their hand to do so, they will think about it.

Then if you have done your job right you will have a sale. If worste comes to

worste and they appear to be ready to leave. Tell them that if they want they

can leave a $20.00 deposit on the system to freeze the price, because the

computer market fluxuates so much you can not guarantee the price without a

deposit.

As you can see, this is a good system, leading the customer with questions.

Doesn't this warranty seem like a good investment?

Can you see how a well made product is better than a less expensive product?

Is this the computer system that would suit your needs?

Etc etc