Customer Service Should Be Used For Every Workplace

If you deal with anyone daily in a work capacity, you have to do some type of customer service. Whether your place of work is a public-facing entity or not, if you are speaking to your boss, your employee, or the plumber fixing a sink, you are expected to have a degree of professionalism. With that in mind, here are a couple places you may have forgotten that customer service still needs to be at the forefront of your mind.

Email

Have you ever heard the term “telephone tough guy”? If you haven’t, it’s someone who gets on the phone and acts harsh or rude because they aren’t directly walking up to the person to have a conversation and use their phone as a shield. This applies to your keyboard as well. As a rule of thumb, treat every interaction through your email as if that person is your grandmother. Is it frustrating explaining something over and over again in an email? Of course! But you are still in a professional work environment, and your email tone needs to reflect that every time. Does it have to be perfect and full of top-notch grammar? It helps, but the tone will translate a lot better when it’s friendly, and people are more likely to want to keep working with you.

Conversing With Other Entities

If USPS drops off a package, or you have a contractor coming to fix a leak in your roof, it’s important to remember that just because you don’t see them often or work for the same company, you still are required to act professionally. If they ask you a question that you don’t know the answer to, act as if you were a concierge. “That’s a great question, I am not sure, but I will get that information to you as soon as possible.”

Co-Workers

You might think that this is a given, but when people get to know each other better, they might think it’s ok to just act however they want. Mind your P’s and Q’s with your co-workers. We should never expect our co-workers to do things for us. We have to understand their time is just as valuable, and we should be respectful of our requests and responses every time.

Most people think customer service only applies to service industry jobs, yet it’s really something that should be a part of everyone’s professional working life. You will maintain longevity in your work relationships, and people will feel like you actually respect and care for them. This goes a long way in making your everyday interactions pleasant and productive, and that will always make your place of work a place that others want to be. 

 

The Four Agreements - My Mantra for Life

 The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz is a book that everyone should listen to or read.  Here's my mantra that I pulled direct from this book that I read daily and apply to my life.

1. Be impeccable with my word (if I say I will do something, then I do it)
2.   Don't take anything personally (the only person I can control is myself - let the rest go)
3. Don't make assumptions (this is HUGE - ask, never guess)
4. Always do my best (I require this of myself daily and always strive to be better)

The Security Now Podcast Has Your Credit’s Back

The TWiT network has your news on all the latest things tech and more! One of our most important shows, Security Now, centers around, you guessed it, security. Whether you are a novice about tech security or know all the ins and outs of the tech world, Security Now has a lot of great information just for you in your everyday life.

In their most recent episode, “Life: Hanging By A Pin,” Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte discuss an important security aspect that has to do with your finances; credit. If you’ve been around long enough to make some money, you’ve probably heard of a credit score. This score means the difference between a low or high APR (Annual Percentage Rate) when needing a loan to purchase anything from a car to a house to a credit card. If your credit score is good, above 700, creditors are more confident in your ability to pay them back, which would make the APR generally lower. 

But what happens to your score if someone opens a line of credit in your name and you know nothing about it? Uh-oh is what. There are unfortunate situations where someone commits credit fraud. According to Experian, credit fraud is defined as:

The criminal use of someone else's personal credentials, as well as their credit standing, to borrow money or use credit cards to purchase goods or services with no intention of repaying the debt. Credit card fraud is the most prevalent type of identity theft.

If you’ve never thought about your credit being a threat to your financial security, think again. Credit fraud could severely impact your life and financial future. What you might have thought was a squeaky clean credit score may actually be in the dumps from an online thief, and it could be tough to recover from. Thankfully you have Steve, Leo, and Security Now to help you know the risks and fight them.

Steve Gibson talks about the option of protecting yourself by freezing your credit with the four (that’s right, you read it) four credit agencies. Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and the unfortunate new Innovis. When you freeze your credit, any entity cannot look at your credit, nor can they open a line of credit unless you unfreeze it for them.

As Leo demonstrated in the podcast episode, he could get right into Innovis and freeze his credit with Innovis, all within 5 minutes. It’s straightforward and simple. 

In the future, should you need to take out a loan for anything, you will need to unfreeze your credit so lenders can look at your credit history. This isn’t too hard to do, and as Steve explains, you can release your credit temporarily. They even have options to lift the freeze for a certain amount of days, or even better, you can give a one-time use pin to the individual checking your credit, and it will be locked up tight right after. Steve mentioned how in the past, individuals used to have to pay to freeze their credit, but it’s now free for all.  

If this hasn’t given you the incentive to check and secure your credit, I don’t know what will, but you can always find new important security measures and what’s going on in the world of cyber security every week on Security Now. Steve and Leo truly have their finger on the pulse.

My Morning Mantra for Work

Every morning I follow a routine to reset myself before I begin the day.  I focus on my health and well-being first.  Then I focus on others, the world, and appreciate the day.  I read a few mantras to remind me of who I am and how I want to live my life.

My Work Mantra:

Lead with Compassion, Integrity, Thoughtfullness

Listen - THINK - Before Responding

Lower My Voice (just because I'm super loud)

Laugh - Practice Kindness

Get Shit Done!

SHINE

Perspective

Kick-Ass - You've Got This!

Meet My Goals

Challenge Myself

Learn Something New

GRATITUDE

Always Be Better!

How to Find The Best Leads For Selling Your Podcast

I have mentioned in past articles the challenge that selling can pose. It’s a lot of work and time, and if you have a sales team in your company, they deserve a pat on the back. After all, they are the ones that make the money that contributes to your paycheck. In podcast advertising, it’s important to understand that you can’t sell to just any entity. Here are four ways to find the best leads for selling in podcast advertising.

Who Else Is Advertising?

If you look into other podcasts, you can see who they have advertising during their shows. This is a great place to start. If they purchased ads for other podcasts, there is a good chance they may advertise on yours.

Research

Researching the company you may want to pitch is always a good idea. What is their reputation? Take a look at reviews from multiple sources to better understand what others think and whether or not you should move forward with contacting them.

Do They Align?

You could find a company with great reviews and actively advertising, but if they don’t appeal to your audience, it’s not a good fit. Try to find products and services that truly align with who’s listening to your podcast. That way, you can rule out the ones that don’t.

Get Help From An Agency

There are times when you don’t have to do all of the work yourself. Agencies are just as eager to find companies who are advertising and who will help provide you names. They’ll even go so far as to make sure they align with your audience. If you’re not sure where to get started, check out these agencies to get started: Ad Results Media, Authentic, Oxford, PHD Worldwide, Right Side Up, Veritone.

Essentially finding the best leads in podcast advertising is working smarter and not harder. Find out who is actively advertising on other networks and platforms, see if they align with your podcast’s audience, and do your research. You’ll be selling more in no time! 

How to Keep a Client Happy

 When we think of keeping people happy, we have a tendency to overthink it. The same thing applies to your clients. It’s not as complicated as you might think, but there are some important things to consider.

Present Clear Terms and Expectations

When starting out the relationship between yourself/your company and your client, it’s important to be clear about what you offer. For example, someone will generally not be pleased if they expect a yacht and get a canoe. This is an extreme example, but the point is that making sure the client knows what to expect is the first step to ensuring their happiness.

Be Consistent & Do What You Say You Will

Once your client has signed on with you, consistency is key, whatever your product or service might be. One of the easiest ways to keep clients happy is to deliver. You are showing them they can count on you, and many times that is everything for a client! If they have had bad experiences in the past with inconsistency from whom they’ve hired, finding a company that is tried and true will make them so happy.

Be Hospitable

Sometimes clients will have requests and may ask for something. Instead of shooting them down, consider the request and if you can possibly make it happen. If you can, they will feel special. If it’s not something that can be accomplished, be kind in your response. Give an explanation and help them understand rather than using a curt “no.”

Anticipate Their Needs

When you begin to learn the ins and outs of your clients' needs, you have an opportunity to wow them. Knowing what they need and having it accomplished before they have to ask will show them not only your commitment to them but also your value.

Listen To Them

This task is probably the easiest to accomplish, but it’s probably one of the things that people miss the most. Listening to your clients will help you understand what they want with your services. Everything you do should revolve around what they are telling you. This is going to make them happy because you are respecting their wishes.

When considering how to keep clients happy, hospitality, consistency, and listening are key. No matter what, your clients are special to you, and you should treat them that way. When they are happy, they will keep coming back for more. 

Forging Our Way Through the COVID-19 Era as an Independent Podcast Network

 When we look back at 2020, how will we remember it? 

We were already facing global warming when COVID-19 hit. In the US, society’s fractures were exacerbated by the pandemic and a lack of effective leadership. The scars of racism, misogyny, political chaos and widespread unrest are raw. 

The past six months have challenged us beyond imagination. We believe in our purpose and are doing everything we can to keep our community strong through this global crisis. 

At TWiT.tv, we produce 20 weekly podcasts for an engaged community of tech enthusiasts. We are one of the longest-running independent tech podcasting networks. We haven’t missed a single episode since the pandemic began. 

But the impact of COVID-19 on our network has been significant, and we’ve had to pivot, be flexible, find new solutions, and remember who we are as a team. 

We see fluctuations in our downloads because of news cycles and changes in listening habits under work-from-home and shelter-in-place. We have fearful clients who are worried about continuing advertising campaigns because of economic uncertainty. Ninety-percent of our staff work from home, so we face a whole unique set of challenges. On top of that, online harassment has intensified. Because I am a female CEO of a tech podcast network, misogyny has always been an issue. Now, the trolls are doubling down, trying to disrupt our business in a time where hatred is thriving. These anonymous attacks also target our public support of Black Lives Matter and other social causes. We know trolling is par for the course if you’re in the public eye. 

So, what do we do? We focus on positives and keep our eyes on our purpose.

In business, now is the time to be bold, take risks, and be proactive. We immediately reached out to our clients to offer additional value and provide cutbacks to those impacted the most. We did everything we could to help support our business partners to raise brand awareness. Every business we work with stepped up and gave back to their community. The outreach has been incredible, a bright spot in humanity, and we will continue to be part of it.

In the 15 years since inception, TWiT.tv has seen its fair share of ups and downs. 

The network began when Leo Laporte decided to capture the magic he discovered working at TechTV, serving a niche audience. A couple of years in, I joined the network, and Leo and I started our bootstrapped journey together. Few knew what a podcast was, let alone what TWiT stood for. We’ve come a long way, and we are not about to stop. 

The pandemic has allowed us to reevaluate what’s truly important. For us, that's community, equality, diversity, social justice, awareness, kindness, and honesty.