(This article originally appeared here on Forbes on May 19, 2018.) When it comes to commitments, there are two kinds of people in the marketplace: Those who keep commitments as if their life depended on it—and those who break them as easily as crystal. By definition, integrity means soundness, sincerity, truthfulness, coherence, honesty, of good [...]
Answering your phone can be a dicey experience these days. Having some off-beat, unhelpful caller waste your time—or worse, insult you—can spoil a good day. If you have a sinking feeling some of your salespeople may be making such critical mistakes (or heaven forbid, you yourself have tried these call openers), pass on this warning: [...]
These two recent customer service experiences are all too common: Scenario 1—Failure to Follow-Through: To ask a question about my life insurance policy, I called the two agents who sold it to me. (Their names are listed on the statement the company mails to me quarterly.) I discovered that Joe retired 8 years ago; Helen, [...]
Recently, I called a property-tax reduction firm about protesting my property taxes. The form downloaded from their website requires homeowners to list renovations done on their home, along with accompanying photos and receipts. I was puzzled. Didn’t renovations INCREASE rather than decrease the value of a home? How would knowing about renovations help the firm [...]
(My column first appeared on Forbes here.) Communicating technical concepts to another technical person requires focus and discipline. Add to this picture other complexities in cross-gender communication. Then scratch below the surface, and you’ll understand why you’re in a difficult situation: A technical communicator won’t let you off the hook with vague generalities. A technical [...]
(This blog first appeared on Forbes.com here.) Credibility is hard to earn and easy to lose. People judge you not only based on your job performance, but also by your communication––how you talk and what you talk about when and with whom. Words have to match actions. In addition to meeting your deadlines and hitting [...]
