August 6, 2008
Last weekend I met some friends that turned me onto this AgelessXtra. It is supposedly an “Advanced Cell Renewal Formula”. What does renewal mean? Well according to the handouts that were given to me, “In scientific terms, renewal is the amazing process that happens in our bodies every day - the replacement of more than 300 billion cells.” It goes on to explain how it works and broken down into the following four benefits your body can feel:
- Promotes Vital Energy* - Xtra contains a blend of carefully researched super nutrients that drive maximum energy production. These include vitamin B3 and P5P (the activated form of vitamin B6); Ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (amino acids essential for maintaining muscle mass); green tea (widely known for its antioxidant properties); and Cordyceps sinensis, a mushroom commonly used for its reputed ability to improve aerobic capacity and reduce fatigue.*
- Supports Mental Clarity and Focus* - Life is short-be in the moment. There is a compelling reason that many of our products are berry-based. These beautiful, sweet-tasting fruits are powerhouses of nutrition, containing vitamins, minerals, and a group of compounds known as polyphenols, currently under intense research for their ability to reduce cell damage. Berries also contain nutritional compounds shown to have a positive impact on brain function.
- Helps Manage Stress* - Xtra’s unique formulation includes plant compounds used for centuries to help manage stress. These natural compounds include SerenixTM, (a proprietary natural extract derived from young corn leaves) and Rhodiola crenulata, (an herb widely used in traditional Tribetan medicine). These herbs also have enormous potential as endurance enhancers to improve the efficiency of physical and mental work.*
- Promotes Joint Comfort and Flexibilty* - What good is all the energy in the world if simple movements makes you wince? Enjoy your renewed energy with the ability to move without discomfort. As a true full spectrum cell renewal formula, Xtra includes the the award winning proprietary compound, ProtectinTM. Protectin is derived from Scutellaria baicalensis and Acacia catechu, natural herbs widely used for over 3,000 years in traditional Chinese medicine to promote joint comfort and flexibility.*
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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The more I was told how our bodies renews itself every single day, but starts to slow down at about age 18 and peaks at about age 30, I was intrigued to say the least. I have noticed my body slow down in many ways once I hit 30. I was always an active person throughout my youth, but once I turned 30 almost 9 years ago, I started feeling pain in my joints, my metabolism slowed dramatically and have felt physically and mentally drained.
I was given a two day trial of AgelessXtra, but obviously, two days will not prove much, if anything. So I will try the “90-day Challenge” to see if I can feel energized and mentally focused. I will continue blogging about it to share with everyone exactly how I feel. My goal is to give a weekly update, but depending how I feel and how many signs I see, I may blog more often.
If anyone has tried this product, please let me know your results. I’d love to hear from you.
August 5, 2008
Although many companies consider Customer Service (CS) a cost center of sorts, the ones that value and invest in CS, tend to be the ones that are most successful. We as customers have seen the companies that value little, if any, in CS. You know the ones that hire teenagers and/or have the least experience employees to deal with customers either face-to-face, on the phone, etc., that can severely hurt the company with bad CS. The front line people, or what we as Service Providers’ term it, “client facing” employees, are the employees that have the most impact on clients. They, the CS providers, are usually the first and last impressions on the clients. Companies that value and invest on the employees that impact the clients DIRECTLY are obviously noticeable, because as customers, you leave with a positive experience after a service interaction with those companies.
As I mentioned previously, creating Positive Defining Moments (PDM’s) will help gain Customer Loyalty. The best and fastest way is to connect with your customers on a human level, by providing Caring Service. By applying the Two Principals of Caring Service, you create PDM’s. Each Principal can be applied by using its own set of skills and behaviors. The principals are:
Principal 1: DEMONSTRATE YOUR INTEREST AND CONCERN.
Mastering the following fundamental “client-facing” skills can smooth your way in any service interaction. Often underestimated (overlooked/undervalued), these skills can serve your company as much, if not more, than deep technical or procedural knowledge. The skills are:
Listen Attentively: Customers have a difficult time “telling” a CS Provider their feelings or thoughts, yet they can often convey them if you listen attentively. While speaking with customers, listen to more than the words they are saying. It’s important to pay attention to the customer’s voice tone and body language, in order to get a sense of the thoughts and feelings behind the words. The following behaviors can help demonstrate to customers that they are being listened to.
- Give customers your immediate and full attention. As soon as a customer needs attention, the Service Provider (SP) should immediately set aside any competing tasks so they can focus on the customer and their needs. By listening carefully and making a conscious effort to avoid distractions, the SP will demonstrate sincere interest in and availability to the customer.
- Use positive body language. Often times, your body language tells others more than your words do, when dealing with customers face-to-face. SP’s must let their customers know that they are interested by using eye contact, nodding with agreement, appropriate expressions, and an open, inviting posture, such as leaning forward slightly, avoiding crossed arms and fidgeting. Even if on the phone, the SP can help keep their tone of voice positive, by maintaining an open inviting posture as they speak.
- Encourage customers to talk. A SP can demonstrate that they value the customers’ thoughts by hearing them out. Customers should be encouraged to talk by using phrases such as, “Please, continue….” and “What were you going to say?”
Project a Willingness to Help: As a SP, it is important to speak to customers in a manner that is perceived as positive and helpful. The words a SP chooses and the confidence, with which they speak, will let customers know that the SP is ready and willing to help. The following behaviors can help demonstrate this skill.
- Be polite. Showing simple courtesy for customers is the first step in showing them that the SP wants to help. Use the customer’s name (if appropriate) and always say “please” and “thank you”, it will go a long way.
- Convey care in your tone of voice. SP’s should always avoid sounding uninterested, unemotional (“flat”), demanding or defensive. Be sure that the SP’s voice expresses interest, understanding and care. Try using phrases such as, “I see…” and “Let me be sure I understand…” which will help keep a positive tone of voice, especially over the phone. A good telephone voice is strong and alert, expressive and pleasant, distinct and clear.
- Focus on what you can do. Customers expect things to be explained to them in a positive light. They do not want to hear what you as a SP can’t or won’t do, they’d rather hear what you can and will do for them. Here are a few examples that can help avoid negative reactions and create positive impressions: Try to avoid saying; “There is no way…” and replace with “Here is what I can do…” or “That’s not my area…” with “Let’s look at the possibilities…” or “I am not sure…” with “I can assure you that…”
Convey Respect: When SP’s begin thinking of customers as valued partners, they convey a message of respect. After all, without their partnership, your place of business would not exist. The following behaviors can help demonstrate this skill.
- Ask permission or suggest. We all know no one really likes to be told what to do, same goes for customers. As a SP, when you need to provide customers with information, be sure you make suggestions and ask for permission. Here are a few examples of words and phrases that will help avoid negative reactions and create positive impressions: Try to avoid saying; “You have to…” and replace with “Is it okay with you if…” or “The only way…” with “May I suggest…”
- Avoid discounting. What I mean by discounting is when someone minimizes or ignores some aspect of a person. Dismissing a customer’s feelings or needs, making judgmental statements, and avoiding responsibilities are examples of discounting. As a SP, you must avoid words or phrases such as; “What were you thinking?” or “You shouldn’t feel….” and replace them with something like, “I can see how you would think that.” or “You have every right to feel…”
Principal 2: COMMUNICATE THE CUSTOMER’S VALUE.
To communicate the customer’s value, the following skills are called the Four A’s. They are easy and quick, yet powerful ways to communicate to customers that you value them and their business. The skills are:
Acknowledge the customer and his/her situation: The best way a SP can demonstrate that they relate with a customer, is acknowledgment. You can emphasize with the customer’s circumstances, feelings, or both. The key here is being sincere, however. Some examples of of acknowledging your customer’s situations are the following:
- “I understand why you need a solution immediately.”
- “That must be exciting.”
- “That would also confuse me.”
- “I see that you are in a hurry.”
- “I’d be concerned too.”
- “Oh, that’s terrible.”
- “I’d be impatient if I had to wait.”
Appreciate something about working with the customer: Appreciating something that you have enjoyed about a customer sends a message that you see this person as important. It means saying “thank you.” Here are some examples that a SP can use to show appreciation for their customer:
- “I appreciate the time you’ve put into this.”
- “Thanks for giving me all that information.”
- “Your patience is greatly appreciated.”
- “Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”
- “I’ve enjoyed learning about your company.”
Affirm something the customer has said or done: You can validate or confirm a choice that a customer has made by affirming. It conveys a mutual respect and that you value the customer’s thoughts and input. Try using some of these examples of affirming:
- “Given what you’ve told me, I think you’ve made the best choice.”
- “It’s clear you’ve spent a lot of time researching this.”
- “I never thought of using the product like that. What a great idea.”
- “You’re absolutely right; that would be more cost effective.”
Assure the customer of good service. A SP can easily impress the customer by taking ownership of a situation. Assuring the customer of good service and then following through builds confidence, which in turn, earns loyalty. Here are some examples of assuring a customer:
- “I’ll make sure this is done by close of business.”
- “I’ll call you in one hour with an update and ETA.”
- “I’ll issue the credit immediately.”
- “I’ll personally follow through with this problem.”
As you can see, Caring Service sounds like simple common sense, but by practicing these skills in each Principal of Caring Service, you will no doubt be creating PDM, but more importantly, Customer Loyalty.
I hope this article can help your business create Customer Loyalty and if you have any other methods of providing Caring Service or any comments, I’d love to hear them.
July 18, 2008
Serving customers is one of the most challenging jobs anyone can have. Since Customer Service Providers work directly with customers, they have a huge impact on the customer’s actions, and in turn on the success of any business. Companies that emphasize the importance of customer service, tend to be very successful. The goal for any company should be to establish Customer Loyalty, because they add so much value to your business, as I previously discussed.
Some companies create customer loyalty simply by their unique product. Apple comes to mind in this instance. But there are a lot of companies with many competitors that their products seem to appear alike. So how do these companies create loyal customers? The only real way is in how a company services their customers. The best way to differentiate your company from your competitors is by caring for customers, or connecting with customers on a human level.
By caring, I mean providing service that is attentive, cheerful and respectful to your customers. Show your customers that your company is interested in and care about them as people. and that they are valued. I know, this sounds like common sense, but you’ll be amazed how many companies either do not know this or ignore it entirely. Caring for your customers will only make their experience with your company a positive one, thus creating loyalty.
However, what I have noticed from my experience working as a Service Provider is that there are many challenges that prevent companies from making customers feel special and valued on the human level. It can be anything from a company’s standard procedures, lack of technology, too busy, phone calls, stress, etc. It really can be anything that occupies the service provider enough to forget or lose concentration to connect with the customer. It can be very difficult providing friendly and caring service when the service provider is being blamed for a service issue or something out of their control. Nevertheless, it is vital to sustain a caring attitude despite all these challenges.
In future posts, I will discuss two principals that will help diminish these challenges and distractions, which will also help create Positive Defining Moments (PDM’s) and increase Customer loyalty. The first principal is to “demonstrate your interest and concern” and the second is to “communicate the customer’s value”. Each principal requires a set of skills that if mastered, can help eliminate challenges and distractions in order to maintain a caring attitude, thus creating PDM’s and more improtantly customer loyalty.
July 14, 2008
I started i3 Enterprises LLC to provide Interesting & Informative Information via blogging to the public. I joined several social websites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn, to try and reach as many people with my blogs. But the more I wrote, the more I was actually very interested in other blogs as well. This website has not only provided me an opportunity to share my expertise and experiences, but also allows me to read up on all sorts of topics, which is expanding my horizons.
But when I first started, I did not know exactly how my blog(s) would eventually make me revenue. I have tried to use ads as a source of income, but not to great success I would have to admit. But thanks to PayPerPost (P3), which is one of the best ways to be compensated for your time and efforts, I can put all my energy and focus into my posts.
Plus PPP, as they call themselves on their website, provides you with a disclosure badge so your readers don’t have to wonder if you were paid to review a product. Your badge is proof that you were paid.
With so many blogs out there on the net with so much important and vital information, thanks for companies like PPP, blogs with valuable content, are being compensated.
July 10, 2008
Last month I wrote about how World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) is catching up to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in regards to popularity and having the most well-rounded Mixed Martial Artists (MMA). Back then, WEC had a Featherweight (145-lbs) Championship fight between Urijah Faber and challenger Jens Pulver as the main event. It was showcased live on Versus channel. Although it was some quality fights, the upcoming UFC Fight Night on Spike TV will also be televised live on Saturday (07/19/08) that will show exactly how much more skilled the UFC fighters really are. Their main event is a fight no MMA fan should miss.
The main event is between the Middleweight (185-lbs) Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva (22-4), who I believe is the pound-per-pound best MMA fighter in any league. Since he has either knocked out (or TKO’d) or won by submission on every fight since he joined the UFC in June of 2006 (6-0) at the Middleweight (185-lbs) division. He is now moving up into the very competitive Light Heavyweight (205-lbs) division against hard hitting James “The Sandman” Irvin (14-4-1), who is definitely no slouch. Irvin is coming off a dominating win over Houston Alexander (8-1), TKO in only 8-seconds, on April 2nd, 2008. This should be a very interesting fight to see if Silva can handle this hard hitting division.
There are also some good and up coming fighters on this fight card. The first being Brandon “The Truth” Vera (8-2), who is a very good MMA fighter. He had a lot of potential, until losing to former Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maniac” Silvia (26-4) and again to Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1) in a controversial loss. But Vera is skilled in all faucets of MMA and will face against a little known fighter named Reese Andy (7-1). I don’t see Vera having a problem with Andy, so we should see Vera back on the winning track.
Ultimately, this fight card should be an exciting and entertaining one. There will be a few fighters from the Spike TV reality show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), fighting against each other, which should be good to watch. The quality of fights on UFC is better then WEC (even if slightly) on average, but far better then all the other leagues. I know the true MMA fans will tune in to watch, but I encourage even the curious fan to watch as well, to see what MMA is all about. The quality and technical aspects of the fights will be easily seen. If anyone is interested in the entire fight card, click here. I will certainly be watching!
July 5, 2008
The New York Yankees will play host to the All Star game next week. Not only will they be celebrating the All Star game and all of its attractions, but also this being the last year the NY Yankees will be playing at this stadium. Their new stadium, which is being built next to the existing stadium, is scheduled to open for the 2009 MLB season. Here is a series of photos of the new stadium, enjoy:
July 2, 2008
Here is a series of photos of the new stadium for the NFL Dallas Cowboys. It is scheduled to be open for the 2009 NFL season. Since football starts in September, this upcoming season will be the last played at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The new stadium will be in Arlington, TX. This stadium will have the largest scoreboard in the world. Enjoy:
June 30, 2008
I know most of us have a particular person that is extremely difficult to buy gifts for. You know the ones that always frown when they open their birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and / or Christmas gifts. They seem to always return the gift no matter how much we searched for the “perfect” gift for them. At first it was a challenge to find the right gift they would like and not return. But after several years, we all give in to the fact that whatever gift we give this person, they will find something they do not like about it. Well, I have found the gift they would keep.
It is at Sticks and Stones website. This company created a gift idea that everyone would enjoy. They started by creating a photo gallery of letters they found in nature (”Sticks”) and architecture (”Stones”). They then custom frame whatever word or words you want. I created the frame above on their website and posted it here for reference. So by using someone’s name or surname, would make a memorable gift for anyone, no matter how difficult they may be to find a gift for. So for a great gift idea, check out www.sticksandstones.com.
June 27, 2008
On my last post, I discussed that delivering Seamless, Trustworthy, Attentive and Resourceful (the STAR Qualities) service, your company can create Positive Defining Moments (PDM’s) on every single service interaction. My next topic will be on knowing when PDM’s have actually been created. This is very difficult to determine, however, you need to know that your customers judge or grade your service during every transaction.
In general, customers are clear about what their expectations are and judge their service experience by comparing your company’s performance against what they expected in each Defining Moment. If you think of it like a report card, when your company performs to the customers expectations, the grade they assign that service, will be average, or a “C”. When a customer has a good or bad experience, they will assign a mental grade that will be above or below the average grade, or their expectations. I have included a “Customer Report Card” for a visual reference below:
The higher the grade, the more likely your customers will be loyal. To build Customer Loyalty, it’s important to find ways to “Exceed Expectations” (B’s) or “Dazzle and Surprise” (A’s) your customers. If your company delivers service that simply meets client’s expectations, per my discussion regarding The Importance of Customer Service; 80% of Customers that switched to a competitor, said they were satisfied before making the switch. Meaning they were grading the service they received a “C”. In order to prevent these customers from switching to a competitor, they need to be grading your service a “B” or an “A”.
The heart of providing Stellar Service is trying to create PDM’s, in the Three Dimensions of Service by using the STAR Qualities on every single service interaction, with both internal and external customers. If your company can consistently provide Stellar Service, it will create Loyal Customers for years to come.
June 25, 2008
In my previous post, I discussed the Three Dimensions of Service where Positive Defining Moments (PDM’s) can be created. I will now discuss how more PDM’s can be created by knowing exactly what customers are looking for in every service interaction.
Regardless of what product, industry or type of service your company provides, customers consistently value and expect four major qualities in the service they receive. Delivering on these four expectations is critical in creating PDM’s. These four qualities are referred to as the STAR Qualities and are listed below:
- Seamless - The ability your company has to manage service factors that are invisible to the customer. Customers want to take advantage of all the services your company offers. However, they want one point of contact and do not want to speak with numerous people or worry about all the details. They expect your company (or an employee at your company) to coordinate events on their behalf.
- Trustworthy - The ability your company has to provide what was promised, dependably and accurately. Customers want to feel they are in capable hands and whatever promises were made are absolutely kept. Although they may want things to go right the first time, they EXPECT a service breakdown to be resolved quickly and thoroughly.
- Attentive - The ability your company has to provide caring and individual attention to customers. Customers want to be acknowledged quickly and politely, and to be treated with respect. They simply what your company to welcome the opportunity to serve them.
- Resourceful - The ability your company has to provide prompt service and creative solutions. Customers want a flexible approach to service. They expect you to meet and handle their requests or needs in prompt and creative ways.
These qualities define what most customers value in your company’s service. Customers want service that is Seamless, Trustworthy, Attentive and Resourceful. When your company provides service that exemplifies the STAR qualities, your company is creating PDM’s. As you can see, the STAR qualities go hand-in-hand with the Three Dimensions of Service. Seamless falls in the Hidden dimension, Trustworthy mostly falls in the Business dimension, Attentive in the Human dimension, while Resourceful embodies all three dimensions. By delivering STAR quality services, your company has an opportunity to create PDM’s every single day.
However, how do you know if your company actually created a PDM? Well you won’t always know. But you need to know that customers grade your service, and your company, during every single service interaction. On my next post, I will discuss How Customers Grade Service.
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