First Step Marketing

You and your clients

The customer is always right. A cliché or the truth? In my case, my students are my clients. If I fail to maintain good relations with them, I am out of a job. This applies to all of us.

Put your clients or customers first by putting the ‘you’ attitude into practice. Place the other person’s needs and problems before yours. For example, in a transaction deal you may want to say, “You must pay your bill by September otherwise we’ll cut off your credit.” If you have a ‘you’ attitude, you would rather say, “In order to protect your credit rating, you should pay by September the first.”

When a customer forgets to give full information on a form, you might want to retort, “You haven’t filled in your invoice number.” A ‘you’ attitude would incline you to say, “Please fill in your invoice number so that we can send the order to you as soon as possible.” Simple courtesy, but it makes all the difference. Read the rest of this entry »

Come up against a door of opportunity that remains stubbornly stuck? Enlist help to help you tug, pull or push it open. Don’t make the mistake of becoming a lone crusader intent only on your own success. Successful people virtually always have a close team behind them backing their efforts.

I will look at the relationships that career-conscious women need to form with those above them — their superiors, those around them — their co-workers and those below them — their subordinates. In addition the helping hand that can be provided by sponsors, mentors and networks is examined. Finally, working together can be hazardous at times. I conclude by looking at ways to minimise the possibility of becoming a victim of sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace.

I’m OK, are you?

In which category do your workplace relationships fall? Excellent, average or could-be-better? In order to analyse what makes your workplace relationships tick, take an objective look at those you have at present. Read the rest of this entry »