A simple way we can generate positive change between the MC Client relationship is encouraging clients paying by NET20 to switch to EFT. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but the process of sending in a paper check to pay for monthly service can add a significant amount to a client’s bottom line throughout the year.   Forty-one cents for a stamp. A $5.00 administrative fee per month. The cost of the envelope. The ink used to fill out the check. The time the admin spends filling out the check, addressing the envelope and dropping it in the mail. It all adds up.  Through the course of a year, just by switching to EFT, your client will save themselves enough for a tank of premium gas and over an hour of their lives.

Aside from the Client MC relationship, there is even more potential for our clients to impact their end users. Move to web-based newsletters, renewal reminders and event registrations.  Stop wasting money on stamps.  Stop printing documents.  Stop asking your members to mail you a check.  Process payments online.  Use the internet.  I am often amazed after talking to our clients about how little of MC’s functionality they are actually employing in their operations.  Consider the cost of the NET20 example above… then compare it to the end users of one of our small professional organizations that have twelve monthly luncheons, one big conference, and yearly dues all collected via mailed check.  Inconceivable!

First things first, we need to recognize when our stress levels are elevating. This will allow us to deal with it before it gets out of hand. There are both physical and nonphysical signs that you are getting stressed:

Physical

-Tense neck and shoulders
-Headaches
-Clenching fists
-Grinding Teeth
-Voice Tone

Nonphysical

-Impatience
-Anger
-Unorganized

When you feel the physical or nonphysical signs of getting stressed out, take a moment to step back. Check out some immediate ways to relieve stress below:

Take a deep breath and count to ten. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Visualize yourself in your happy place.

Face crunch. Contract every muscle in your face, hold and release. Bonus points if you do it in front of your coworkers.

Tense and release. Similar to the face crunch, but with any muscle groups you like. Try starting in your toes and work your way up through your legs, glutes, core and arms.

Smile. Laugh. Tell a joke. Humor really is one of life’s best medicines.

Exercise. Go for a walk. Take the stairs. Give Kazz’s unicycle a try.

Spell your name with your nose. I know this sounds ridiculous, but give it a try. After trying it myself I was suprised how well it worked.

For more resources on stress and stress management check out some of these external links:
http://stress.about.com/
http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html

Take to heart that you will not be able to make everybody happy, but stop feeling like you are “taking the blame” from the client.  If you let the Lions get to you, you will burn out in a very short time frame. Maintain your professional approach to resolving the problem and remember that attitude is everything when delivering your message.  Never forget that even though the client is attacking you directly, they are angry with the situation and not you personally.  Stay calm, breathe and practice active listening skills. Your mood and attitude will affect your response. Listen for what the client is really after, run it through your brain, then make your refreshing follow up.

After an encounter with one of these Lions, learn from the situation and move on. Do not let harmful passive-aggressive behaviors come out the next time you engage the client.  Stewing on the past situation is alot like sitting in a rocking chair.  Sure, it gives you something to do, but it gets you absolutely nowhere. When you hear the phone ring and look down at your 7960 to see the lion’s name come up on the Caller ID, take a deep breath and eliminate feelings of hurt and indirect revenge before picking up the phone.

In the end, you have three choices as a member of our customer support group.  You can be indifferent to customer relations, let the customer upset you, or use each contact as an opportunity to build MemberClicks’ and your image in the eyes of the client.  Stay strong, stand tall and above all else, refresh them!

Here is a great exercise to get your mind thinking about the differences between “You” and “I” messages: Read the following “You” messages and consider what you think would be the best way to turn the message into an “I” message.

“You” Messsages:
“You forgot your PIN Number” -> ?
“You didn’t fill out the form right” -> ?
“You didn’t send your payment on time” -> ?

Give it a try.  Just saying them in your head shows you how much more pleasant the message becomes to the client when using an “I” message.

Lastly, always read and listen between the lines.  Find out what they are trying to achieve and make sure you get down to their underlying aim rather than just what they say.  Never forget the presupposition that says a person always makes the best choice they can, given their map of the world.

Remember: Every customer, every time.

At The Conference on Customer Service, much of our discussion was centered around one of the most important aspects of our client-facing interactions: attitude.  I’m sure we have all heard the old saying, “Attitude is Everything.”  Well, while attitude might not be _everything_, it is the single most significant determining factor of your success in many situations.  And here is the best part: it is something that you have total control over.

People tend to think of an attitude as being simply positive or negative. However, there are an infinite number of possibilities like friendly, confident, determined, warm, unstoppable, silly, playful, outrageous, peaceful, easy-going, open-minded, compassionate, optimistic, and about five hundred other well-suited adjectives. (let’s not forget their negative counterparts too) Use your creativity and experiment with different attitudes for different situations. This will lead you to being more powerful and effective in your relationships.

We tend to get bogged down in the tactical nature of our day-to-day operations and think our attitude is born strictly out of the situation. We think our attitude is the right attitude for the way things are. With this mindset, our attitude goes unexamined and unquestioned. While we are all guilty of this, our attitude is completely optional and flexible. It is possible to have any attitude in any situation, and there is no “right” attitude for a particular situation. The truth is that it’s easy to change your attitude, if you know how.

Change your attitude and you automatically change your perspective, the way you interpret things, the decisions you make, the actions you take and the results you get. I challenge you: alter your life by the way you think. Put things in perspective. Accept the things that you cannot change. Change what you can. I won’t say its as easy as changing clothes, but with a little conscious effort and hard work you will be well on your way. Take the first steps of your attitude makeover today!

I tried to keep it simple and have boiled it down to four main points:

Budget
Define your budget for the project and make sure you stick to it. Do research on the front end and determine all the potential costs.  Plan for the worst. Project costs can start to add up pretty quickly. It can be easy to get carried away, leaving you with an empty wallet.

ROI
Make sure the project is worthwhile and you can get a decent return on your investment. Projects with higher ROI should be examined and potentially implemented before others with lower return on investment.

No tangible return? Try to quantify the value you will derive from the project. I understand it can be a bit of a gray area, but it would be unwise to look only at financial return.

Your Purpose
Why would you want to undertake the project? Are you adding something new? Simply improving something that already exists? Define your purpose and make sure that everything you do will contribute to your goal.  You could end up arriving in a very different place than you expected if you have no purpose.

Your Skills
Do you have the skills to complete the project yourself? What areas can you handle personally? Assess your skills first before you start the project. Don’t lie to yourself during the assessment either; small mistakes can end up costing you more time and money. Handle tasks that you know you can do. For complicated tasks, seek out someone who can help. The internet has a vast wealth of knowledge, growing by the second and is a wonderful place to start.

Take the time to consider these 4 things first before you start your project. Good luck with those upcoming projects! As always, let me know if you have other ideas or want to chime in via the Comments section below.

Lauren: How was lunch?
KP: It was Brio.

For those of you not in the know to the term “brio”, I have attempted to define it below:

Brio [bree-oh; It. bree-aw]
–adjective

1. occurring, coming, or being after the usual or proper time: Brio frosts; a Brio spring.
2. continued until after the usual time or hour; protracted: a Brio business meeting.
3. near or at the end of day or well into the night: a Brio hour.
4. belonging to the time just before the present moment; most recent: a Brio news bulletin.
5. immediately preceding the present one; former: the Brio attorney general.
6. recently deceased: the Brio Mr. Phipps.
7. occurring at an advanced stage in life: a Brio marriage.
8. belonging to an advanced period or stage in the history or development of something: the Brio phase of feudalism.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Just enjoy some quotes/samplings of other diners who clearly know the term “brio”:

• “Not That Great…at all!‎” - yichibann (AccessAtlanta.com)
• “Our waiter was very sweaty” - nutmegsugar (Citysearch.com)
• “The service is poor, but the food is worse” - JosephS4581 (Zagat.com)
• “I was expecting this to be a more upscale experience” - Freemynd78 (Insiderpages.com)
• “this multi-location grille is as pretentious as the spelling of their name” - StuartK539849 (Zagat.com)

more Brio reviews [Google]
Brio itself [Brio]