| Arm chair general - A person of importance (in some regard) that despite speaking critically, has no real hands on experience. |  |
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| Al Desco - Refers to any meal that is eaten at a desk. E.g. "It's too cold to go out so I'm having my lunch 'Al Desco'. |  |
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| Air it out - To openly discuss an issue. E.g. "I hear several people are in conflict over that project. Let's get everyone together and air it out this afternoon". |  |
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| Adoption Process – Refers to the transition a customer makes between considering a product and becoming a consumer of the product. e.g. ”Due to the nature of this product there is likely to be a lengthy adoption process” |  |
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| Adhocracy – Refers to a business of minimal structure, where small project teams are assembled to address specific problems. e.g. Reacting to business needs on an adhoc basis |  |
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| Across the piece – Refers to the whole of an organisation, situation or project. e.g. ”This shouldn’t be just a departmental change, this needs to be rolled out across the piece”. |  |
| Allow me to set the scene. I have passed your shop a thousand times but have never needed your services. However, today is different and I am more than willing to give you my hard earned cash in exchange for solving my problem. |  |
All the company has to do is engage me once and we can complete our transaction. Seems pretty easy right ?.
Wrong !. I recently needed my suit jacket altered so I called a local tailors to see if they could help me out. Despite them being the only tailor I knew and being a short distance from my location, I still ended up taking my business elsewhere.
Here’s why :
No one answered my call : I tried calling seven times before someone finally picked up the phone. Are they busy, ignoring the phone or are they understaffed ?. These are not questions you want your potential customers to ask themselves.
Language barriers : When my call was answered the person on the other end of the line couldn’t speak very good English. They struggled to understand my question and I struggled to understand the response. If they can’t understand a simple question relating to the cost of their service, how will they understand what I need ?. More importantly can I trust them to do a good job on a garment that is quite expensive ?.
Tone: Always remember the importance of tone. If words are the gift then tone is the wrapping and guess what you see first. The person on the phone sounded rushed, uninterested and annoyed.
Hanging up too quickly : This is a pet peeve of mine so I understand if this sentiment isn’t shared by everyone. I really dislike it when someone hangs up while I'm still saying goodbye. Can you really not spare the extra half a second to complete the call politely ?. Does talking to a dial tone make me feel like a valued customer ?
This is an example of how a minute long phone call can lose your business money. In fact I calculated that if this company treated just 1 customer like me a day they are removing almost 6k a year from their bottom line.
Always remember that when a customer calls, their mind is like a blank canvas and they will paint a picture of your company based on what you convey. They will buy from you if they feel you understand their need, can solve their problem and can give them a positive customer experience.
So get into good habits early, treat every customer like royalty and turn your Start-up business into an organisation you can be proud of.
