Category Archives: Customer Experience

A Bad Handshake Is Like a Bad Kiss: Don’t Be a Wimp or a Bone Crusher

shutterstock_57031984A great professional handshake says welcome, communicates confidence and friendship, and initiates physical contact. It is an invaluable and essential tool for establishing and fostering business relationships. A wimpy or too-firm handshake, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. It makes others feel uneasy and insecure and sometimes, awkward – sort of like a bad kiss at the end of a first date.

Here are seven steps to help you shake hands like a pro:

1.    Be prepared for a handshake by keeping your right hand free when someone is scheduled to enter your office or when you know you’ll be meeting someone.

2.    Keep your hand warm and dry. A few squeezes or rubbing before the handshake should help.

3.    Don’t wear large rings on your right hand.

4.    Always stand to shake hands.

5.    Establish eye contact and smile.

6.    Extend your right arm and open your hand fully. Take a firm hold of the other person’s hand – the whole hand, not just the fingertips. Establish palm-to-palm contact.

7.    Give a couple of good, firm two- to six-inch shakes. Keep smiling and keep the eye contact going. Then release your hand.

Tip: Try to exert the same squeeze pressure as the other person. However, if he or she offers you a limp hand, exert a bit more pressure but not enough to be uncomfortable.

Every career professional should be able to shake hands with ease and confidence. Share these handshake how-to’s with your employees and colleagues. If you feel that you’d benefit from doing some more work on your handshake and from receiving some feedback, set aside time to review these tips and to practice shaking hands at your next staff meeting. — Dr. Laura Hills, Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Why I Love Complaints

shutterstock_73984063While no one wants a client to become angry or upset, it is not an altogether bad thing when a client complains. In fact, I encourage businesses to welcome complaints.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the vast majority people who are unhappy with the services and products they buy don’t complain. A huge number of them simply walk away and no longer want to do business with service providers and vendors who have disappointed them. And perhaps an even greater number will tell others about their bad experience. In fact, it is likely that people who are unhappy with a service or product will tell between 10 and 20 people about their bad experiences. That means that if 10 of your clients are unhappy with something you have done or not done, the chances are that 200 people will hear the story – and perhaps with some embellishments and exaggerations. The damage to your business is potentially huge.

An interesting corollary to this is that the vast majority of people who complain about a service or product and feel that their problem has been satisfactorily addressed remain loyal to the business. Furthermore, the mere voicing of a complaint, even in the absence of a resolution, increases loyalty, too. Therefore, don’t look at client complaints as a negative. Remember that the client who is complaining to you, even angrily, is giving you an opportunity to do something to solve the problem, retain his or her loyalty, and build goodwill for your business. Thank the complaining client for bringing the matter to your attention and for giving you the chance to provide the best service and products possible – and really mean it when you say it. – Dr. Laura Hills, Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com.