Is there anything done yet?

It is no laughing matter when you see that this is already the 10th week of the year. With the speed of which we got here and the changes that are going on around us, we need to ask. What have we accomplished? Are we on target to realize anything?

Time is an asset that is often misused. If we lose money, chances are we can make it again. However, losing time; well that's gone for good. 

With the other 42 weeks left, what will we experience? 

• Entire governments are changing
• New inventions and innovations are being introduced
• Businesses are opening their doors for the first time while others close their doors for the last time
• The landscape is changing with people of all age categories dying, yet others are being born and are making strides at a pace faster than the eras past

What will be the contributions that those of us who are currently alive make that can positively impact those around us? There are opportunities via businesses/charities even our daily activities to add value. Who would have thought, 25 years ago, that you would be able to look into the palm of your hand and see/speak/interact with someone who may be on the other side of the globe and more for free?

People who are younger than we are, who barely entered their 20s became mega-successful financially.  Many of us are yet to grasp that givers gain. The more we give, the more we gain. Success rarely follows the selfish. 

As an assessment of your progress, ask yourselves; is there anything done yet? 

Communication Abbreviations and Productivity

Nowadays, all kinds of abbreviations are used in personal life and in business. It is as if communication is reduced to the stage where the writer in an attempt to be brief, not realize that they're doing themselves a disservice.

Saw this one recently in an article, and the more I thought about it, the more it troubled me. I'll show it below:

• TL;NR - Too Long, Not Read

The scenario then unfolded in my head about when communications came out prior to a meeting and when the participants arrived at the meeting, their behaviour indicated they were seeing it for the first time. In essence, they're unprepared.

There's nothing that rouses my ire, like another needless meeting that wastes time. Not every communication can be short and snippy. One would imagine that the writer would ensure that they are not being deliberately long to prove a point.

Some abbreviations also are quite rude. I wouldn't mention them here, but there's really no need to be that impolite in a professional environment. Freedom of speech does not clear one of responsibility in what's being communicated.

Changes in Customer Circumstances

Our trying economic environment is having a severe impact across the globe. The market place is so affected that once reliable customers are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their payment obligations where once before it would not have been a challenge.

As business owners, there needs to be a plan in plan in place as to how we will handle customer who fall upon misfortune. Challenges facing customers include, but are not limited to, burdens on financial security, health care, employment, inflation, increased taxation, and the list goes on.

More and more businesses are feeling the brunt of accounts receivable, NSF cheques, increasingly crafty customers, and those who tug at the emotional heartstrings.

As a business, will we resort to:

• compliance 
• using the legality of verbal agreements, documentation, and contracts
• embarrassment
• harrassment
• violence
• emotional abuse
• compassion and understanding
• a listening to understand the customer's perspective while being discerning

Your use or abuse of the above methods which have been stated in the broadest measure possible will determine the success or failure of your business in the long and short term. 

Examine your strategy if you have one. Is it working in today's environment? If you don't have one, what will you do to develop approaches so that you are not caught out in the cold reacting to knee-jerk emotional situations?

Why not tell us about yourselves? We may be able to assist you in developing your customer service approaches.