Posts Tagged ‘professional manner’
Handing in Your Resignation and Serving Notice
Have you made the right choice? Before deciding to resign from your current position and move to a new employer, you should weigh up as objectively as possible all the relevant factors: remuneration, working environment, location, travel demands, training and development opportunities, promotional prospects, and your future bosses.
Consider also what impact a job with the new company would have on your resume. Once you have received and accepted a formal written commitment from your new employer, you should serve notice immediately.
It is important to behave in a professional manner throughout the resignation process. Your character and your personal integrity should never be in question. Be positive; be co-operative; and avoid recriminations.
State that you are leaving the company and hand in your letter of resignation at the same time.
Be prepared for a reaction. If your employer presses you for reasons, give brief and positive answers. Don’t argue or complain. Don’t allow yourself to be deflected from your purpose or drawn into a protracted discussion.
Do everything possible to establish a friendly tone and leave a good impression. State that you are leaving because your new employment offers you opportunities for advancement. Your decision is the result of careful consideration.
Your written resignation should be concise and definite. Do not go into details or give your reasons for leaving. If you have any grievances, don’t express them in the letter. Give no cause for animosity. Ask if there is anything you can do to ensure a smooth transition.
In the letter, state that you are leaving and when. Give as much notice as possible. Two weeks is generally acceptable, but check your contract or the company handbook.
Sample letter:
Dear ( )
I have decided to resign my position as (??..) at (company) effective (date) to take a position with (new employer). I greatly appreciate the opportunity that you and (the company) have given me to develop my skills and further my career.
I shall make every effort to ensure that the transition period goes smoothly for all concerned.
Yours sincerely
( )
Counter offer. Your decision was carefully thought out, so stick to it. Changing your mind makes you appear indecisive and creates a negative impression. It calls into question your long-term commitment and loyalty to your current employer.
During the period of notice, carry out your duties in a diligent and professional manner. Assure your boss that you will complete any outstanding task. If this is not possible, leave detailed instructions for your replacement. Check that all your records are in order. Inform your colleagues that you are leaving. When discussing things with them, resist the temptation to make disparaging comments about your present job or boast about your new one. Do your best to leave on good terms with everybody.
Exit Interview. Many companies expect their employees to attend an exit interview with the Human Resources Manager. If requested to do so, co-operate fully. Conduct yourself in a professional manner. Say only positive things about your employer and the company. Focus on accomplishments or learning experiences you had while employed there. Remember that anything you say is likely to be recorded in the personnel profile.
Visit the author’s website at: http://www.assignmentsplus.com
Gerard McLoughlin, author of ‘Four Minutes To Interview Success’, has contributed career-related articles to hundreds of recruitment companies, websites and publications throughout the world, including: USA Today, JobBankUSA.com, US-Recruiters.com, etc.
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Dealing with Disgruntled Customers
No matter how hard you try, in business you simply can’t please everyone. You could have a highly trained customer service squadron and an award-winning product, but still you’d have some buyers who just weren’t happy. The bad news is that unhappy customers are more eager to share their experiences than happy ones which could spell disaster for your business.
There is good news, however. Unhappy customers who receive satisfaction can become your biggest allies. The trick, of course, is discovering how to satisfy their needs so efficiently that they’ll forget whatever caused their disappointment in the first place. Here are some ways to make that happen:
1) Be a Good Listener
When someone complains about us, our first instinct is to get defensive and to distribute blame. Most of the time we start doing this even before the other person has finished their argument. When that happens, we may misjudge the situation, offer inappropriate resolutions, or appear insensitive to our customers’ feelings. Instead, we must work hard to become patient listeners. We should stay focused on the customer and not get distracted by anything else going on around us.
We should also pay attention to what is being said, not how it is being said. Even a beligerant customer is trying to express a concrete complaint, he just might not be able to do it as clearly or as calmly as someone else. By listening patiently to our customers, we can take the first step toward helping them more effectively.
2) Don’t Let an Unhappy Customer Slip Away Without a Fight
Just because someone is unsatisfied with your service or your product, you don’t have to throw your hands up in the air and say “That’s another one gone.” Take steps right away to resolve the situation. Most customers who have a complaint just want you to take the problem seriously, to handle it as quickly as possible, and to have it resolved in a respectful and professional manner. If you can do that for them, you will successfully mend the relationship.
3) Resolve the Problem to Their Satisfaction, Not Yours
When many businesses right wrongs, they do so by only considering what is in their best interest and not what would satisfy the customer. That simply doesn’t work most of the time. Let me give you an example.
One young woman took her small children to a well-known fast food restaurant for dinner. Because her youngest child was diabetic, she ordered diet drinks for their child-sized meals. Instead, she received regular drinks, and the extra sugar in the drink caused her child to have to be rushed to the emergency room that night. When she called to complain, the manager offered her a free meal to compensate her for the near-death experience of her two year old daughter.
Why did the manager make such a ludicrous offer? Because that was what the restaurant had decided to do in order to deal with customer complaints in a cost-effective manner. It was good for them and that’s what mattered.
The reality is that customers will all have different ideas on how to resolve these issues: some may want an employee to be fired or punished for their bad service, others will want financial restitution, some will want assurance that it will never happen again, and most will want a combination of those things.
To determine how to satisfy your unhappy customers, just ask them how you can make things right and then do whatever they ask for (within reason, of course). By doing this, you will be showing how much their satisfaction and patronage means to you.
4) Keep Your Head
When customers are angry with us, it can be very upsetting, especially if we truly do care about their business. Yet, we may get so upset that we aren’t able to cope effectively with their problem and end up losing the relationship which can be even more upsetting. Instead, take these four steps to coping with your feelings:
A) Remember it’s not about you ? While it may seem that they are yelling or complaining about you personally, they aren’t. They simply want what they paid for. Your customers don’t know if you’re a good family man or a single mother struggling to get by; all they know is that they paid for something and that’s what they expect to receive. So don’t take their complaints personally.
B) Stop thinking “If only” or “What if” — After an incident, you may spend days going back over the situation and wondering what you could have done differently, but this is futile. No matter how much you may want to, you can’t go back and change it now. Instead, you should be looking forward and finding ways to prevent it from happening again.
C) Know you’ve done all you can ? If you feel guilt because you weren’t able to satisfy an unhappy customer, you can shut your conscience up easily if you know that you did everything within your power to right the situation. After all, there are just some people who will never be happy with anything that you do and they aren’t worth stressing over.
D) Keep improving ? In life, we learn more from our mistakes than we do from getting something right. So each unhappy customer provides you with a learning experience that will not only help you handle future situations better but will also show you how to prevent future mistakes from happening. Obviously, you don’t want too many of these learning experiences, but when they do happen, be sure to use them wisely.
While you won’t be able to safe every relationship, you may be surprised at how many you can rescue with these suggestions. It may seem like a lot of extra effort, but if you care about your customers and about your business, it’s the least you can do for them and for yourself.
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of: http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/ An online community of people who work at home.
The Number 1 Rule for Businesses – Be Professional
Have you ever walked into a store and things looked sloppy? Stores should have nice neat displays, right? Normally, yes, but sometimes they get a bit messy on busy days and we all understand how that can happen.
But what if you were to walk into a store as soon as it opened in the morning and the place looked liked it had been ransacked? What would you think?
You’d probably think it wasn’t very professional-looking. If a rack of shirts was haphazardly thrown together, with all the styles, colors and sizes mixed up, you’d probably walk right past it without giving it a second glance.
If a sales associate wouldn’t answer your questions or help you find something, you would consider that unprofessional, too, not to mention rude.
When we do business in the offline world we expect a professional appearance and professional manner from those who deal with customers. The same is true for online businesses.
Your business depends on how professional you are. Your website, your customer service and the appearance and quality of your work all reflect upon you, the business owner.
Two key factors of professionalism:
Recently I had problems submitting information to several websites. After trying for several days I finally e-mailed for technical support. (After all, the website owners had messages posted that said to contact them at any time.)
I didn’t expect an immediate reply to my inquiries. I know they’re busy running their businesses, and dealing with other people, too. But I have yet to receive any replies.
Where is the customer service? Why would I want to do business with someone who seems to be ignoring me? At the very least, if it typically takes them more than a couple of days to reply to e-mail, support questions or other requests, they should post that information on their website so customers/visitors know what to expect.
Without good customer service, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Don’t expect customers to buy from you if you can’t afford them some common courtesy.
A professional appearance is mandatory to your business, also. How many times have you read an ad or article that had numerous spelling or grammatical errors?
We’re not perfect. We all make mistakes. But if we frequently had those little red check marks on our composition papers in school, we should probably use spell check and have someone proof-read our copy before sending it into cyberspace.
A prime example is a website I visited a few months ago. As I started reading about the product the owner was selling I noticed an error with the use of the word “our.” The site said “When you use “are” product…..” OK, one little mistake. No big deal.
However, as I continued reading, I discovered the webmaster referred to “are” products and “are” website on the whole page! Not once was the correct word, “our,” used.
Frequently I read ads and articles that contain many spelling or punctuation errors. For instance, “Thinking back to when I first started my business. I had no idea how or where to begin.”
I’m not a teacher, but I can see that it should be one sentence, not two. The writer cut off the first sentence before actually finishing it. It’s like the train of thought came to a screeching halt. (In this case, I’m the writer giving you an example. So if this sentence resembles someone else’s work, it was not done intentionally.)
The correct way to write it is “Thinking back to when I first started my business, I had no idea how or where to begin.” It’s one flowing sentence. Now it tells you what I was thinking.
Another option is to change it just a bit to make it a complete sentence. “I think back to when I first started my business” or “I remember when I first started my business.” Then continue to the second sentence.
I’m not wanting to demean anyone or be overly picky. Ads, web pages and articles just look much more professional when written with no errors, or at least very minor ones.
Many customers will shy away from a website or ad that seems poorly written or put together. The customer may see the business owner as an amateur, therefore their product, company or service may not be worth much.
Do your customers expect perfection? No. But they do expect professionalism. You’re running a business, so you’re supposed to be a professional. If you give a professional appearance, they’ll believe in you and your business.
About The Author
Denise Hall is the publisher of Home Business on a Budget Newsletter. Her weekly publication contains helpful tips, articles and resources. To subscribe mailto:home_business_on_a_budget@rapidreply.net or visit http://www.home-business-on-a-budget.com
This article may be reprinted in its entirety with this resource box included.
