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You are currently browsing the The Andrew Griffiths Blog blog archives for January, 2012.
High achievement always takes place
in the framework of high expectation.
You’ll always hit what you aim for in the long run.
So why not aim high?
Have the courage to follow your dreams.
It’s the first step towards attaining your destiny.
If you can dream it, you can do it.
If you don’t have a dream,
how are you going to make it come true?
In order to succeed beyond your wildest expectations,
you need some wild expectations.
The Daily Guru
The people that really succeed in the world
are the people who look for the circumstances they want.
And, if they can’t find them, they make them.
The lure of the distant and the difficult can be deceptive.
The great opportunity in your life is where you are right now.
Properly perceived, every situation can become an opportunity for you.
Your destiny isn’t a matter of chance,
it’s a matter of choice.
It’s not something you wait for,
but rather something you achieve with effort.
You’re surrounded by opportunity,
but things won’t turn up in this world until you turn them up.
Confidence is a tough one. Some people seem to have it and some people just don’t. Communication skills can be built over time, however for a lot of people it is a lifelong challenge. Being confident enough to talk to customers doesn’t mean that you have to be able to sit down and have a four hour conversation about the effect of global warming, it simply means that you are confident enough to have an interaction with a customer over something as simple as did they enjoy the meal that they just had?
Most of the time customers are happy to have a bit of chit chat and whilst it is generally only small talk, it all collectively goes into creating the customer experience and it allows them to make the decision on whether or not they enjoyed this particular shopping experience.
If you find that you have difficulties communicating with customers try doing a few personal development courses (Toast Masters is a perfect one). There are a lot offered and they deal with areas such as: starting a conversation, overcoming awkward moments, thinking of topics to talk about, use of voice inflection and many more new and innovative areas.
Another interesting point to note here is that many people feel that they are not confident when it comes to talking to people, but to other people observing them they look incredibly confident and very effective communicators. I always remember an old friend of mine passing on some words of wisdom “ What you perceive as your greatest weakness other people perceive as your greatest strength”.
Well I’m sitting in a hotel room on the Gold Coast, Australia, looking out over one of the most spectacular beaches in the world, contemplating a huge storm heading this way as I get ready for my annual recharge with one of the most amazing people on the planet, Anthony Robbins. This is the third seminar I have done with Anthony Robbins, and I have yet to meet anyone as dynamic, energetic or impressive as him. Now the fact that I am a motivational speaker and trainer myself makes people ask me why on earth do I need to come to see someone like Anthony Robbins?
For me that is a very easy question to answer. It’s like being the worlds greatest mechanic but never taking the time work on your own car. You get everyone else’s cars running like magic whilst yours slowly falls to bits. I need to get my energy and positivity levels recharged and five days locked in a room with 1000 lunatics like me with Anthony Robbins on stage is something that I just love. It lets me relax and be a participant rather than the guy at the front of the room doing the work. It lets me review my own style to look for ways to do what I do better and most importantly of all, it makes me stop and invest time, money and energy on myself to help me grow on every level.
Likewise I spend a fortune on books on positive attitudes, changing your life, business, self development and just about anything else that will make me a better person. I often get asked by people why I buy so many books (and when I say I buy a lot I really do buy a lot), when I am already such a positive and energetic person. Again, the answer is simple, these books help me to stay energetic and positive and for that reason alone, I see them as investments that are worth their weight in gold.
In my opinion, we all need a positivity recharge from time to time. It might be simply catching up with a good friend who always makes you feel bloody fantastic. It might be reading an inspirational book or seeing a life changing movie……..or if you are really lucky, it might be walking on hot coals with Anthony Robbins.
Take care, stay energised and help others to do likewise. Remember a few kind and supportive words can change someone else’s life forever. See you in a week.
AG
This is a beauty. We have all walked into a lift to be greeted by the waft of someone else’s body odour. Very disturbing to say the least. A recent study showed that if there was one thing that most people would like tradesmen to improve it was their personal hygiene – don’t come to my place and stink it up.
There is a great story that I came across a few years ago. There had been a number of complaints about the level of hygiene of taxi drivers in this particular city. A national men’s fragrance company decided to do a promotion where they gave every driver a bottle of after shave and deodorant to be kept in the taxis and to be used throughout the day (sparingly to avoid overcompensation). The promotion was a huge success and everyone was happy. Both companies got great national press coverage and the customers could once again get into taxis without holding their noses.
Personal hygiene is a key consideration when it comes to customer service. Of course if you are a telemarketer it is of less importance but stop and have a think about the person sitting next to you sharing your telemarketing booth.
If you work with food personal hygiene is huge. It can be hard to discuss a personal subject like this and I would suggest that you make your expectations very clear when employing staff. Put it in writing and make sure that the new employee is very aware of how they need to be groomed.
An area that is often harder to break through, is when the actual business owner has a personal hygiene problem. There have been a quite a few times when I have had to sit down a business owner and suggest that the best way that they could increase the number of customers coming to their business is to start using deodorant. Some people take it well – others don’t.
Once again it is all about respect. By taking the time to show that you care about your personal hygiene you are showing the customers that you take your job seriously. By association you are taking them seriously.
Andrew Griffiths