E- Zine - May 2003

WELCOME to the PROTOCOL PLUS MONTHLY E-ZINE

IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
Tips to Outclass Your Competition – How to put an end to gossip.

Small talk is what people say to each other to be polite, but it’s not superficial or unimportant. It’s a valuable business and career skill. But what do you do when someone engages in mean gossip? How can you politely detach yourself from someone making critical remarks about others? Here are some suggestions from “How to Say the Hard Things,” in Communication Briefings.

Eliminate gossip by avoiding it in your own conversations and cutting it short when you hear it from others. Here are two comments you can use to stop a co-worker from making negative comments about another member of the staff:
  • “I don’t know why you’d say that. She always speaks so highly of you.”
  • “Really? I’ve had just the opposite experience with him. You should give him another chance.”
Miss Manners offers these suggestions to detach yourself from someone who tends to whisper critical remarks about others:

  • “Why no, I don’t think she looks terrible; I think she looks wonderful.”
  • “He’s not stupid; on the contrary, he’s being subtle.”
  • “They seem perfectly happily married to me.”
From Leticia Baldrige when asked what to do when someone says, “I’ve got some incredible gossip, but you’ve got to promise not to tell.”

  • I don’t want to hear something so sensitive that it shouldn’t be repeated. I’d rather not hear it, because I might innocently pass it on to someone else.”
Build trusting relationships to grow your business and increase your bottom line. Learn and practice “The Art of Small Talk” or call 405-341-3216. Find out how you can “Outservice, Outsell and Outclass your Competition.”

Customer Service Techniques – Handling irate customers.

Never interrupt irate customers when they are venting. Talking about their problem is like climbing a hill and when they get to the top, they will feel better. If you interrupt, they have to start from the bottom of the hill again. When they finish, they will pause to take a breath. When they do, empathize with them. “I understand how frustrating it is when that happens. I wouldn’t like it either.

To learn the many ways of handling your customers, keep their business, and increase your profits, visit http://www.protocolplus.net/seminar/smallbus.html or call 405-341-3216 today.

The Coach’s Corner – Find your peak experience

Some call it a defining moment; others call it a peak experience. It doesn’t matter what you call it. It is something that shapes your life. By revisiting these moments, you can oftentimes see how they have shaped your lives. Try this visualization exercise to see what comes up for you.

Turn the clock back and look at a time in your life when you felt your full power – a time when your spine, arms, and fingertips were tingling with excitement. You were fully alive.

Coaching questions:
  • Where were you?
  • What was happening?
  • Who was around you?
  • What was occurring in them at that time?
  • What was your impact on them?
  • What values were you honoring?
  • What did this mean to you?
As your coach, this is just one of the visualizations exercises we can do. Did you find an old value that has been lost? As your coach, we will explore ways to bring this excitement and aliveness back into your life.

If you want to make significant changes in your life, hire me as your coach. Our coaching relationship is powerful, and when the going gets tough we stay in collaboration and work through to the other side. As your coach, you have my word that I am 100% committed to you being powerful, successful and to having the life you want.


Quotes of the Month – Create your future.

The future never just happened. It was created.”
         --- Will Durant

“A commitment is taking action without an exit strategy!”
         --- Hour of Power

Ask the Expert - How to stop spamming and chain e-mail.

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