There are many reason why a business may have a dissatisfied customer. We have all experienced poor customer service, however, most are either avoidable, or correctable. The dissatisfaction is often not caused by the problem the customer is having, but how it is actually handled by the customer service rep. This poor service that a client experiences magnifies the actual issue. Let's look at some of the ways a problem is handled poorly:

Signs of Poor Customer Service:

Don't have an answer - Although a rep may not know the answer, they must be willing to find the answer for the client. If you already have an irate client on your hands, by telling them you don't know but you will take personal responsibility to find an answer gives them a feeling that someone cares and is doing something to resolve their issue. It also gives you a chance to learn something new.

Not my department - This may be true, but although it may not be your department, take responsibility to find the department and the person who can assist them and do not pass them over until you have this looked after.

It's policy - This is a cop out and one of the most frustrating things for a client is to be in a situation where a judgement call needs to be made and no one has either the authority or takes personal responsibility to make a judgement call. There are exceptions to every rule, and a true leader steps up and takes personal responsibility to make the call.

Don't call the client back/don't return calls - Even if a rep doesn't have an answer yet, picking up the phone and calling the client to let them know what they are doing and haven't forgotten about them, confirming they are diligently working on it, will give the client the satisfaction that they are being taken care of. The worst thing a rep can do is avoid the client because they don't have an answer yet. Keep them posted, keep them in the loop.

All of these "poor customer service" examples are avoidable! There is no excuse for poor customer service. If a rep cannot use common sense and treat the client with this level of care, they shouldn't be in customer service.

Debbie Ruston has been an entrepreneur and trainer since 1986. She works with individuals, and groups interested in developing their entrepreneurial leadership mindset. Was this article of value to you? Feel free to share it on your social networks and with your contacts, join in the discussion below, and FOLLOW her on the top right corner of this page.

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LI Influencers were recently asked to write about what they wish they could fix, and how. I'm throwing my hat in the ring to share my ideas on education reform.

It's been stated that over 65% of the work that will be done by today's youth hasn't been invented yet. Why then, are we still grooming youth for traditional careers? Over the last several years we have seen students following the "prescribed" plan...go to school, get a degree and get a "good" job. Students have followed this path, yet are not finding work in their fields. Underemployment plagues many young people that have settled for low paying jobs, just to pay their bills. They are carrying tens of thousands of dollars in outstanding student debt, and many are still not working in their field of study. So many are frustrated and many have lost hope and trust in taking advice from "well meaning" adults that have guided them in this direction.

The problem is, we have a society that is conditioned to believe the only way to work is to work for an "employer". Very few people go through school with the goal to work for themselves. It isn't taught, talked about, or recommended by the educational system or by most parents. How can we expect it to be taught, when respectfully, educators are employees themselves, and, so are most parents. How can someone who has never been self employed teach others to follow their dreams and become self employed? There is such a fear in society that we require the "security" of an employer. This was instilled during the industrial age when companies required "workers" to meet their production goals. However, we are not in the industrial age any longer. Unfortunately this "mindset" that we "need" an employer has been so deeply ingrained, people don't realize what they are truly capable of.

My recommendation to #FixIt is to reverse this and instill the belief in our youth that they ARE capable of BEING, DOING and ACHIEVING anything they set their mind to. I would encourage kids to set up their own small businesses by tapping into their creative mind to discover what they most enjoy. Instead of suggesting what the popular jobs of the future will be, allow kids to explore their interests, passions and ask them questions about how they could create their own work using this, and counsel them on what courses they may require to achieve their goal. For instance I recently came across a young man who has a passion for extreme sports....he has put together his own company that raises sponsorship money for kids in extreme sports. He is in college taking courses that support the knowledge he requires to run his specific company. He found a need and filled it by following what he was most interested in, and he is self motivated to learn what is necessary to create his success.

The challenge, especially in teen years, is students don't see value or any connection to what they are learning to being of benefit to create the future they want. If they don't see value, they become disengaged and start challenging parents and teachers and are often labelled as a trouble maker, or a rebel. Today, there are so many ways to learn for the student that is interested and engaged. The key is to utilize all the available learning styles and allow students to access the best minds in the areas they are interested in. We no longer have to settle for the knowledge within our own geographical area. We can learn from the best, globally.

It's important to teach youth to become leaders of the future, self reliant, making decisions based on the goals they have for themselves. The mustn't be afraid of taking a risk, following their dreams, and thinking out of the box. There is always more than one answer, yet we have been conditioned to believe there is only one right answer for everything.

Kids are naturally creative, but that creativity is knocked out of them as they progress through school and taught there is only 1 right answer. Testing squashes the creative mind. A basic example shared by Cathy Davidson, "Conversations That Matter III: Research, Policy, & Practice: The 3rd International Conference on Service-Learning in Teacher Education, A question on a test could be something as basic as naming a farm animal. There can be many answers of course. What if one child writes "a dog"? If this isn't in the specific list of "correct" answers, this child could be marked wrong. Yet to the child that lives on a farm, a dog is a very big part of farm life. They see a different perspective.

Successful entrepreneurship requires a very specific mindset. A mindset that sees possibilities, is able to push through fear, negativity, and adversity. A mindset that doesn't give up through challenge. A mindset that is persistent, consistent, and makes powerful decisions that support their goals, is able to embrace the creative part of the brain to create something from what others may see to be nothing. A mindset that takes personal responsibility for everything in their life. A mindset that doesn't require someone else to provide a solution, or to approve of their ideas being worthy, but takes full responsibility to be the leader capable of finding their own solutions. A mindset that is necessary for the success of youth in the 21st century.



Debbie Ruston has been an entrepreneur and trainer since 1986. She works with individuals, and groups interested in developing their entrepreneurial leadership mindset. Was this article of value to you? Feel free to share it on your social networks and with your contacts, join in the discussion below, and FOLLOW her on the top right corner of this page.

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Are you a person that seems to always stops just shy of the goal? You believe you want something, but find yourself constantly giving up?

One of the principles I live my life by is "Finish the Job". This past weekend I participated in an annuual 10 km race in our local community called "The Amazing Pace", put on by our local Lung Association. We dress in costumes and teams solve location clues, while racing around town doing crazy challenges. Although it is a race, I don't do this for the prizes. I do it because it is a great cause, it's fun to take part in, and one way I can make a difference. This is my forth year and it is always a ton of fun. This year however, was a little different. On the very first challenge, I pulled something in my groin, and felt a twinge start in my knee. Before I learned and committed to this principle of "Finish the Job", had I been in this situation, I most likely would have bought the excuse that it would be too hard to continue because the race was just starting, and already I was experiencing physical limitation.

However, there was never a question in my mind, I knew I would keep going. The day started out cold, but sunny, but by the 4th challenge (out of 9), it started to pour rain. We got our rain ponchos out and put on top of our crazy costumes, but we were already wet. So now, I was cold, wet and could barely keep my sore legs moving. Our next challenge took us up a big hill and cars were splashing us as they drove by. When we got to the next location, we had made an error and were in the wrong spot, so, we made a course correction and just kept going. We were the last team to finish, and took much longer than all the other teams, but we did Finish the Job!

Often people look at those that achieve goals in life and in business and have convinced themselves they are somehow different than they are, and they possess skills they don't. In fact, the only and MOST IMPORTANT skill people that succeed have, is the ability to push through any limitation by drawing on the power of the mind.

I can tell you I moaned and groaned just like most would in those circumstances....every step hurt. I wanted to call a cab to come and get me. But I was committed, rain, shine, injury or not, I was determined to finish what I started. I kept saying to myself, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and think about the fantastic epsom salt bubble bath when you get home. My opinion was, this is TEMPORARY..... I owed it to the people who were generous enough to sponsor me. I owed it to the patients benefiting from the Lung Association that were not physically able to do the race because of their breathing difficulty. And I owed it to myself....I know that in life if I am willing to give up on one thing, I would be willing to give up on other things. Finishing what I set out to do has been a principle that has served me in both my personal life and in my business. It is something that builds your belief and trust in yourself, your self esteem and your confidence.

Giving up is not an option to me. There is always a way where there appears to be no way. You must have the ability to see past the current circumstance, find solutions, and be able to see the end goal. This is the distinct mindset difference that separates those that reach goals from those that don't.

Debbie Ruston has been an entrepreneur and trainer since 1986. She works with individuals, and groups interested in developing their entrepreneurial leadership mindset. Was this article of value to you? Feel free to share it on your social networks and with your contacts, join in the discussion below, and FOLLOW her on the top right corner of this page.

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