Two phrases for improved customer service
Poor customer service sucks!
What happened to great (or even good) customer service?
- I’m tired of getting my order screwed-up whenever I go through a drive-thru lane
- I’m tired of dealing with any customer service representative who cannot (or will not) take the time to smile at me
- I’m tired of waiting for the “bug” guy or the “cable” guy or anyone else who doesn’t understand how an appointment system works
- I’m tired of these same people (who abuse their appointment system) and their apparent refusal to use a telephone to alert me to their inability to live up to their commitments.
(photo courtesy of Finsec)
Two phrases that I have used within the past couple of months with great results
Within the past couple of months, I have been faced with two serious customer service situations. The first involved poor customer service that had a direct and huge impact on my business. The second situation was personal and involved my mother’s health and well-being.
1. “That’s Not Acceptable”
Back in February, The Birmingham News ran an article ( Industrial Mechanic invents tool to improve shoulder mobility, finds niche in athletics ) about the Rotater. This article resulted in a huge traffic spike to our website which caused it to crash. I wrote about it in an article entitled “The Good Stuff, The Bad Stuff and The Other Stuff”.
A couple of weeks later, this same article was picked up on the newswire and ran in the Ann Arbor Press under the title of “A Shoulder To Lean On”. Great traffic, lot’s or orders, our website crashes again.
(photo courtesy of dboy)
After the initial crash I spent a couple of days researching the source of the problem. I was getting a WordPress error message whenever I (on anyone else) tried to access Shoulder Performance & Rehab.
Thanks to the great people who take the time to post about situations like this one, I discovered that the hosting service that I was using at that time had a built-in traffic regulator that had tripped due to our large traffic increases.
I called customer service, waited for about an hour and finally spoke with someone who understood that problem. He quickly corrected the problem, but didn’t spend any time informing me about future crashes and what to do.
Shoulder Performance & Rehab Crashes Again
When the article ran again in the Ann Arbor Press, our blog crashed again. No problem I thought ( I was naive ) – I’ll just call customer service again.
This time, when my call was answered (after a hour), I quickly explained the situation thinking that the problem would be quickly remedied. I was wrong. The person who answered the customer service phone was not a customer service rep, but “screener”. She told me that she would take my message and have a “customer service rep” or technician call me in 2 – 4 hours.
Living Personal Growth and Development
In the past, her response would have spurred a tirade of anger from me and would have resulted in me slamming the phone in disgust, but thankfully, I really try to live the stuff that I write about.
I told the “screener” that her answer “was not acceptable”. I think that she was shocked because the phone was silent for several seconds ( you must be willing to wait them out). She tried again to tell me that there was nothing that she could do and I simply responded with “that’s not acceptable”. Again, several seconds of silence – but I waited too.
Wait ‘em out!
Finally (I think it was due to her inability to get rid of me) she called her supervisor. He came on the phone and took care of the problem and explained to me that if my site crashed again then they had the right to cancel my service. I quickly changed my hosting service provider from IPOWERWEB to HOSTGATOR. (I’ve had no problems with HOSTGATOR to date, am very happy with the service and my site seems faster!)
If you are having problems with poor customer service, then I encourage you to use the “that’s not acceptable” response any time that the person that you’re dealing with tries to do something other than your request or provide a reasonable alternative. You must be:
- willing to wait silently while they “digest” your response
- willing to repeat this phrase, because they will attempt to tell you that there is nothing else that they can do
- willing to ask to speak with someone else
- willing to stay completely calm during the whole situation
This phrase has worked for me and it will work for you.
2. “We Are Not Happy”
Last Tuesday (April 29th), I received a phone call at about midnight telling me that my mother was in the emergency room with severe abdominal pains. I rushed to the hospital and waited with her, my father and my sister for several hours. The emergency room was not busy.
Initial diagnosis
When a physician finally examined my mother, we were told that it appeared to be appendicitis, but they would have to run a CT scan for confirmation. This required my mother to drink some hideous dye solution and the wait three hours for it to make its way down to her intestines.
After the CT scan, we were told that she did not have appendicitis. It “appeared” that she had diverticulitis. The physician said my mother could go home or she could be admitted to the hospital. Either way, she would be treated with antibiotics and high-powered narcotics for the intense pain.
Into the hospital
My mother chose to be admitted to the hospital, which surprised everyone. My mother has the highest pain tolerance of any person that I know. She once took care of my grandmother (following my grandmother’s open heart surgery) for two weeks with a completely separated shoulder. My mother had fallen in the parking lot on the morning of my grandmother’s surgery.
I had the same injury from a skiing accident and I cried like a “little girl” every time I moved.
Too much pain
My mother chose to stay in the hospital because she could not tolerate the pain. We were told that within a couple of days, there should be some improvement. There was no improvement and seemingly no alternative plan.
By Friday, I was livid. The physician was evasive and appeared unwilling to do anything else. My mother’s pain was worse and she was asking for more pain medication every 12 hours.
We are not happy!
Friday afternoon, I had to leave the hospital, but I told my father to speak with the physician and find out what is going on. My father did not feel comfortable “questioning” the doctor’s diagnosis, but I had no problems with it, so I wrote the following on the whiteboad that is mounted on the wall:
- We Are Not Happy!
- What is the diagnosis?
- What tests are scheduled to confirm this diagnosis? why or why not?
- What are our treatment options?
- Why is my mother in so much pain?
The physician is indignant
I called my father later that night and was told that the physician had come in during rounds and found my note. He became quite angry but scheduled another CT scan for Saturday morning. Thank God.
The second CT scan found that my mother’s small intestine was obstructed. A surgeon quickly came to see my family and explained that they would try to relieve the pressure on her intestine by pumping my mother’s stomach and lower intestine. If this didn’t work, then she would have to have emergency surgery.
It didn’t work and my mother had emergency surgery on Sunday. The surgeon had to remove about 3 – 4 inches of my mother’s small intestine. The change has been dramatic.
Although she has an eight inch wound, her abdominal pain is gone (except for the new scar).
Don’t be afraid to challenge authority
(photo courtesy of Citizen Mira)
It seems to me that people are willing to accept anything that a person in authority says as gospel. This seems especially true of physicians, clergymen and lawyers. Hey, they are people just like you and I. They overlook things and they make mistakes. Ask for explanations and clarifications.
If someone is being vague, then there is a reason. Call them on it. Your life may depend on it.
Sharing for personal growth and development
Didn’t your Mama teach you to share?
(photo courtesy of andrew mc d)
Sharing is easy while we’re children because we want everyone to enjoy the pleasures that we enjoy. Somewhere along about junior high school, that all changes. We start to exclude others while someone else sees fit to exclude us.
We start to form little cliques like:
- the “cool” kids
- the rich kids
- the gamers
- the freaks
- the jocks
- the nerds
- the suckups
- the slackers
Now that I’m older and look back on my life, I realize just how much of life you miss when you choose to alienate yourself. Why can’t we go back to that childlike innocence and share some of the things that we have?
1. Share you love
(photo courtesy of Noel Zia Lee)
Tell others how much they mean to you. Tell them that you love them. What they do with that knowledge is up to them, but I guarantee that you will feel much better – and so will they.
2. Share your thoughts
(photo courtesy of JasonRogers)
Let people know what you think about – especially your children. You’re a big mystery to your kids.
- They want to know why you do the things that you do.
- They want to know how you do the things you do.
- They want to hear stories of when you were a kid.
- They need to learn how to dream or create goals.
Children have a million thoughts running through their heads everyday and they don’t know that its normal to have that many. Explain everything to them. Answer their questions.
3. Share your opinions
(photo courtesy of Jan Tik)
Tell people what you believe and why. They may challenge your belief system. That’s good. Your views may be antiquated. You may need to revise you ideas or you may need to explain to them why you feel your opinions are correct.
4. Share your wisdom
(photo courtesy of Christina Snyder)
Be a mentor. Find someone and pass your knowledge to them. Help them avoid the pitfalls that you struggled through. Show them how to avoid the ruts in life. You’ll have a friend for life.
5. Share yourself
(photo courtesy of Tony the Misfit)
No person is complete while alone. You need others and they need you. It is when we give of ourselves that we are open to receiving the blessings that life can provide.
Sharing is easy once you get past all the cliques and petty divisions.
How to be happy – four principles that help me stay focused
1. Count your blessings
- Can you walk?
- Can you talk?
- Can you see and hear?
- Did you sleep in a bed last night?
- Are you hungry?
- Do you have a job?
(photo by PJFurlong06)
We all have so much to be thankful for. Perhaps it is because of this that we tend to focus on what we don’t have. It’s really just a matter of perspective. If you live in America and are living at poverty level, then you are still better off than 90% of the rest of the people in the world.
- America is the great land of opportunity. If you live here, then you are limited only by the limitations that you place on yourself.
- Statistically, a person who immigrates to the U.S. is four times more likely to become a millionaire than a native born American.
- Why? They see what is possible and realize that the only things that stand in their way can be overcome with hard work, time, dedication and focus. They see opportunity – not the lack of it.
You really have to work hard to feel sorry for yourself when you put things into perspective.
2. Don’t take yourself to seriously – No one else does
We all spend a lot of time wondering what other people are thinking and saying about us. The answer is simple – how much time do you spend thinking about other people? If my guess is correct, then it is quite a bit less than we are willing to admit.
(photo by Jimmy Joe)
We all like to think that people are listening to what we have to say and that they care about what we think. They are really just waiting for us to shut up so that they can have their turn to talk.
It is only when we focus our attention on “the other” person that people begin to appreciate us. People don’t really care what we think until they know that we care. By taking the time to listen we demonstrate that we value the other person.
- We want to hear what they think
- We are open to their ideas
- We want to help them
3. Keep your promises
Keeping your word will eliminate most of the guilt that you feel and lighten the load of stress.
(photo by discoodini)
- If you can’t fulfill an obligation then inform the person to whom you have made a commitment to as soon as possible. This will give them the chance to find an alternative and demonstrate your integrity. If you put it off, then you limit the options of the other person and put yourself in an even worse position.
- Don’t make promises that you know you can’t keep. Don’t promise the moon if you know that you can’t deliver it. You’ll lose credibility. People will lose respect for you and you won’t be taken seriously. It’s not worth it.
- Promises to you children (and spouse) count the same as a promise to a customer or colleague. Even though they’ll overlook your shortcomings in this area (for a while), it will eventually affect the long-term health of your relationship. It’s kind of difficult to tell a teen that you are interested in their life and problems when you haven’t been spending time with them.
- Apologies get old and no one takes them seriously if they are said too often. Keep your promises and you’ll have fewer apologies to make.
4. If you have a dream – then you owe it to yourself to pursue it
(photo by @n@bou)
Don’t blame others for your inability to do what you want to do. If you want it badly enough, then you will find a way to make it happen. Often the problem is that that there is “no easy” way to do what we want. There seldom is.
- Realizing a dream does not happen without effort – your effort.
- Show your passion – it shows that you are serious and lights a fire under others as well.
- Move confidently in the direction of your dream every day. Small steps add up. Do something every single day that contributes to the achievement of your goal.
- Ask for help. Others want to help and will help. Don’t be too proud – besides, sharing an accomplishment makes the accomplishment mean that much more.
Success is in the little details
I am a detail guy – they are important to me. Maybe it’s because I used to restore, build and paint custom cars. People (especially relatives) would see the car that I happened to be working on at the time and ask me how much I would charge them to paint their cars. They were always “surprised” by what seemed to them, to be an exorbitant amount. The reality is that I was probably a little low.
(photo by starmist1)
Your attention to “little” details is revealing
People think that a great paint job is in how well you apply the paint – they are wrong. Don’t misunderstand me, applying the paint is important, but it’s only important if all the preceding steps to having a great paint job have been properly done.
It doesn’t matter how well you apply the paint if:
- all the dents and dings have not been removed
- the underlying primer coats have not been sanded to “baby butt” smoothness
- you have used chemicals that are not compatible
My point is that people judge you by your attention to the details.
Crappy customer service is the result of poor attention to detail
The Rotater is rolling. On February 11, the Birmingham News ran an article entitled “Industrial Mechanic invents tool to improve shoulder mobility, finds niche in athletics”. This article drove massive traffic to the Rotater website and our blog, Shoulder Performance & Rehab and resulted in a huge number of orders for the Rotater.
Great – right? Yes and no! The traffic and orders were great – our blog crashing was not. I wrote about it in “The Good Stuff, the Bad Stuff and the Other Stuff”. Well, guess what? It happened again, twice this week. At least this time, I did not spend two days trying to figure out what the problem was.
I called customer service and waited on hold for about an hour. I didn’t get too worked up, because I put the phone on speaker and spent the time searching for a new host.
When someone finally answered the phone, I told her the problem expecting it to be corrected right away – I was in for a fight. This company’s situation is so bad, that they have resorted to having a “front line” person screen technical support issues. Essentially her job was to find out what I wanted and then she would prioritize and have technical support get back in touch with me.
I told her that this solution was not acceptable.
- She stalled – I didn’t budge.
- I asked to speak to her boss. He/she was not there.
- I asked to speak with technical support – they were busy.
- I asked to speak to “anyone” other than her – she put me on hold.
- I threatened to change hosts – technical support came on the phone.
The Rotater article is picked up on the newswire
The article that I mentioned above, was picked up by the Ann Arbor News and ran this week under a different title – “Rotater Cuff Injuries Inspire Invention”. (I have not been able to find a link to the article, but I have seen a copy of the article.)
The result – more traffic, more orders and more down-time for the blog. My problem is that I don’t want to alert our current hosting service to this third assault on our blog, because they informed me when I had it reset the second time, that if it happened a third time – they would suspend our account. Because we are exclusively a web-based business, this would put us “out of business”.
Solution: Pay attention to the “little” details
I have found a new host and am in the process of moving our website and blog. It is slow, tedious, time-consuming and scary, but hopefully all will be finished by this weekend.
I started this post talking about “attention to detail”. People noticed my paint jobs as a result of my attention to the details. Your success or lack of success is the result of your attention to the details. Let me try to explain.
The Rotater is a marvelous shoulder rehabilitation and stretching device – invented by an industrial mechanic – with a very southern accent. Not exactly where you would expect a revolutionary piece of medical / athletic training equipment to come from. But when people come to our website, they don’t see a bunch of hype.
- We tell them what the Rotater does
- We show a video demonstrating how the Rotater works
- We provide links to exercises that they can down-load and show to their doctors and therapists
- We provide real testimonials of real people, real doctors, real athletes / trainers and real physical therapists
- We include links to publications who are noticing the Rotater ( we’ve been in business since August 2007 and have been published eight times – and more is to come)
People who visit the Rotater website don’t know me or Scott, so we’re very careful to pay attention to the details:
- We answer every email – as quickly as possible
- We return phone calls – every time
- We deal with any issues – right away
- We don’t try to sell to every person – the Rotater won’t help everyone
- If someone is not happy – we refund their money (out of thousands, we have had two Rotaters returned)
People learn about you because of your attention to detail. Here is the take home message – There are no small details, everything counts and someone is paying attention to how you handle every situation.
It’s the small stuff that has the greatest return on you investment. Make it a point to pay attention to the details – Hey it works for Nordstrom (they are legendary for customer service) and it’ll work for you.
High income potential in a field in which you are already an expert – SALES
High Income Potential
Have you ever thought of trying to make your living by selling? If you are very good, your income potential is unlimited. But, you must have thick skin. That means that you must have little or no fear of failure and you must be able to absorb rejection without taking it personally.
Everyone is a salesman
Few realize it, but everyone is a salesperson. That’s right. Everybody is selling something. Does that sound like a broad statement to you? It is a fact that is so obvious we tend to overlook it. Want proof? Consider these examples:
- A suitor tries to sell himself and his attributes to his potential bride.
- A wife sells her husband on the idea of taking a Disney vacation before the children become too old and are no longer impressed by the magic.
- A teen tries to sell his/her parents on the idea of going to a party that “all the kids are going to.”
- A teacher sells his/her students on the need to and the joys of learning.
- Bosses sell increased production, higher efficiency, fewer accidents and less scrap.
- Preachers sell religion.
- Bankers and credit card companies sell money.
- Entrepreneurs sell ideas, products and services.
Everybody is selling something to somebody. It’s called the art or science of persuasion. You are trying to persuade someone to:
- believe in you
- believe in something you can do
- believe in something you can provide
- believe in something that you believe in
Ways to increase your persuasive ability:
- Believe in yourself. This is the number one prerequisite for selling anything. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will believe in you. Without a strong faith in yourself, you lack conviction. Without conviction, you will not be taken seriously.
- Believe in what you are selling. This is implies that you must have a good working knowledge of your product. There are very few people who cannot recognize B.S. when they hear it. If you don’t believe in your product, you will not be able to convince anyone else to believe in it.
- Create a pleasant atmosphere. Don’t be pushy. No one likes to be sold. Simply speak plainly in laymen’s terms. Describe the product or service, make the benefits known and explain why they need it.
I’m sure that there are more or better techniques, but this is my short list of no pressure persuasion tips and these seem to work for me.
Mama’s commonsense approach to excellent interpersonal skills
Life is about interaction. With rare exception, everyone interacts on a daily basis. You deal with your family, bosses, subordinates, customers (clients, patients, readers, etc), coworkers, friends, enemies, strangers and more everyday.
How would you characterize these exchanges? Do you enjoy interacting with others? Do they enjoy interacting with you?
Here are a few ideas that I feel (and my Mama taught) are common sense solutions for many of the problems that we face when dealing with others.
1. Smile at everyone.
This is easy enough to do physically, but we have problems with the mental part. Why should I smile? I don’t feel like smiling.
- Smiling causes others to relax. In a potentially tense situation, your smile may lower everyones blood pressure enough so that problems can be handled rationally. Your smile may even allow your message to be more easily received. Think of how you brace yourself when someone approaches you with a scowl on their face. Are you relaxed or are you thinking, “Oh No, here comes trouble?”
- Smiling helps you relax. Consciously smiling actually changes your attitude. It sounds crazy, but it is a fact. I have discovered that when I am having “bad” or anxious thoughts, if I will stop and think of something that makes me smile, my anxiety level decreases significantly.
- The presence or absence of a smile is the FIRST thing that people notice about others. It tells others that you are friendly and mean no harm.
- Your smile almost always provokes others to smile and thus feel better and be easier to deal with.
- Hint: Smile with your entire face – allow your eyes to “smile” along with your mouth.
2. Your Mama taught you some “magic” words and phrases – use them!
From the time that each of my daughters were born, my wife and I have tried to impress on them the need to use certain words and phrases. We consistently encouraged them and explained why it’s important to use these “magic” words and phrases. As a result, my children are complimented regularly on their manners.
- “Thank You” – does this really need an explanation? Everyone likes to know that they are appreciated – Everyone. I don’t care if it is a waiter refilling your glass or your father giving you a new car. Take the time to say “thank you”. If you think you are too “big and important” to be bothered thanking everyone that does something for you, then you are not really “big and important”.
- “Your welcome” – a proper response to “thank you”. Yes, it is a simple acknowledgment, but necessary nonetheless. Do it.
- “Yes sir”, “Yes ma’am”, “No sir”, “No ma’am” – Old fashioned? Maybe, but mostly it shows respect. You can never expect others to respect you if you fail to demonstrate respect for them. Your demonstration of respect for others reveals your character. People watch and listen to you. You won’t fool them for long – Be respectful.
- “Please” – I don’t care whether you own the business, work in the shipping department or clean the toilets, using “please” will get you more (and more often) than not using it. People resent being ordered around and will usually respond quite readily to a “please.”
- “Excuse me” – Wait for a break in the conversation before interrupting. Need directions? Approach potential help with “excuse me” – works every time.
3. Look ‘em in the eye.
Nothing conveys the message, “you are not important to me”, faster than looking elsewhere when a person is talking to you. When conversing, people look at your eyes to gauge your response to what they are saying. If you are looking at them, then your eye to eye contact tells them that what they are saying is valuable, thus they are valuable to you.
If you want your popularity to increase, then “focus on being focused” on the people you converse with. I guarantee that you will be happily surprised at the result.
4. Stop interrupting.
Interrupting is like the verbal version of pushing someone out of your way so you can get where you are going. It makes you look like the playground bully – because in essence, that’s what you are. It tells others that you are “bigger” and “more important” than they are, so you deserve to be heard first. Worst of all, it’s really, really rude. You won’t gain allies by interrupting them.
5. Don’t “one-up” everyone.
Maybe your cousin does pitch for the San Diego Padres, but my son getting his first hit in little league is what’s important to me. What do you think that your need to “top” every story conveys? Insecurity? Neediness? It is not an attractive trait and it will inhibit your otherwise good attributes. Allow someone else to steal the show sometimes – even if your stories are better.
6. Listen, listen and listen.
The auditory version of making eye contact. People talk with you for a reason. They want to:
- make you aware of something
- explain something to you
- get your feedback
- warn you
- prepare you
- ask your advice
If you are not listening, then you will not hear the message. Sometimes the message is subtle, so you have to listen hard. Conversation is a two-way street. You talk and then you listen. If you are not listening, then you are not in the conversation. Save yourself and others some time. Go get a mirror and talk to it.
7. Initiate and invite conversation.
Take the time to meet and greet others. If you are the “boss”, there is nothing (NO OTHER THING!!!) that you can do, that will produce greater returns for what is invested. Stop and say “hi” to the people who work for you. Ask about their families. Make it a point to know about them or take the time to get to know them.
Again, it tells people that they have value. This is important. When people feel valuable, they act valuable. They do their jobs in a valuable way. The bottom line is that when they feel valuable, they increase your value.
It’s like having clean underwear on.
As I said in the beginning, this is all common sense. The sort of stuff your mama told you when you were a kid. It’s kind of like her always telling you to make sure you’re wearing clean underwear. Her thought was, you never know when you may have to go to the hospital so you want to have clean underwear on. It won’t prevent you from having to go to the hospital, but if you do go, you’ll be prepared.
Most of the time, how you interact with others is just plain, old common sense. Smile, look at them, listen to them, be respectful and show them that they have value. You never know when you might need the “other” person.
Keep your blog’s readers coming back with a little commentluv
I recently discovered a WordPress plugin that I really like – so far. It’s called commentluv.
A brief description of commentluv.
Basically, it works like this:
- A person, (who has their own blog) reads on of your blog articles.
- That blogger then leaves a comment on your site.
- The commentluv plugin then goes to the other bloggers blog and retrieves that bloggers latest post title and places it at the end of his/her comment as a link back to his/her site.
Sounds cool, huh? Want to see how it works? Go to my article Six Barriers to Successful Living and scroll down through the comments. At the bottom, you will see where MichelleVan has left a couple of comments since I have installed this plugin.
Example
-
- I loved this article because of the solutions. Nice work. I stumbled it. – off to digg it now.
MichelleVan’s last blog post..Subscribe to Divine Purpose -3 Ways to Stay in Touch
By MichelleVan on Jan 10, 2008 | Edit
- I loved this article because of the solutions. Nice work. I stumbled it. – off to digg it now.
Try the commentluv plugin for yourself
Leave me a comment and then watch and marvel at how well it works. Instant links.
Thanks to Andy Bailey at FiddyP
Thanks Andy for this fantastic plugin. I hope that this article sends a lot of traffic your way. You deserve it. Kudos!
The Greatest Success Story…that You’ve Never Heard!
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING CONTACTS SOUPORNUTS.COM
On Nov. 30, 2007, I received an email from an associate director of marketing with Doubleday. She asked me if I would be interested in reading and reviewing a book entitled Make the Impossible Possible by Bill Strickland. Due to the high volume of orders that we had been receiving for the Rotater, I did not have the time to respond to her offer. However, at the end of December, I called this marketing director and told her that I would like to read this book and I would be happy to provide my thoughts about it. I received Make the Impossible Possible – One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary, the next day via FedEx.
DISCLOSURE
I do not know how or why I was chosen. Since I was contacted through the contact page of soupornuts.com, I can only assume that it is because soupornuts.com is a personal development blog.
I have received no compensation of any kind for this review.
WHO IS BILL STRICKLAND?
- a product of inner-city Pittsburgh
- a resident of inner-city Pittsburgh
- a teacher
- a mentor
- a commercial jet pilot
- an social entrepreneur
- a facilitator
- most of all he is a dreamer, visionary and role model
IT ALL STARTS WITH PASSION
Every dream, hope, idea or goal that is achieved is dependent on passion. This story is no different – it’s about the passion of Bill Strickland. His passion and mission is to help people turn turn their lives around.
Bill says in the book, “The story I have to share with you is the story of the pursuit of one unrealistic, impractical, outrageous dream after another, and the remarkable consistency with which those dreams have come true…..That’s the essential lesson of my life and of this book: that each of us can achieve the “impossible” in our lives.”
PASSION CREATES
Bill Strickland’s passion for helping led to the creation of the Manchester Bidwell Center in Pittsburgh – a state of the art facility that offers job training for careers in:
- chemical laboratory technology
- culinary arts
- horticulture
- office technology
- medical
As well as classes for students in:
- ceramics
- photography
- digital arts
- design arts
SOME IMPRESSIVE STATISTICS
- over 90% of the kids who attend classes at the Manchester Craftsman Guild go on to receive their high school diploma
- 85% of these students continue their education after high school by enrolling in college of some other program of higher education
- 80% of adult students complete their vocational training
- 86% of these adults who complete their training find jobs
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK
I am a voracious reader, and once I started this book, I simply could not put it down. It reached me on a number of levels.
- It’s the remarkable story of a high school kid who sidestepped whatever kind of life that ghetto living could throw at him and went on to create an exceptional life for himself by helping those around him.
- It’s the inspiring story of always keeping your dream – of not allowing others to determine what you are capable of accomplishing.
- It’s about the establishment of the understanding that what Bill has accomplished can change the world. (If this seems laughable to you, then read the book to see who has partnered with Bill as they seek to establish development centers like the Manchester Bidwell Center all over the world.)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Do yourself a favor. Read this book. It will inspire and motivate you, while at the same time teaching you many of the principles needed to establish and run a profitable business. You won’t regret it.
Do you have what it takes to succeed?
To hear people talk, you would think that success is a mythological term – something that other people can get, have or acquire, but not themselves. Why not? Why can’t everyone succeed?
While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and admit that we are talking about financial success – that just-out-of-our-reach condition of financial security. The place where income exceeds expenses and results in a surplus of money that provides you with options like:
- driving the type of vehicle you would choose if money was not object
- vacationing when and where you want to
- providing your children with an education that is free of many of the public school distractions
- becoming involved in the community
- living in the neighborhood / city / country of your choice
- sharing your skills
Do you have what it takes to be successful? Ask yourself the following questions, be honest and then decide if you have what it takes.
1. Are you a self-starter?
Successful people take the bull by the horns. They:
- get to work on time (but early is better)
- volunteer to take on the “hard” jobs
- don’t give a crap what everyone else thinks about their desire to “get ahead”
- produce well developed ideas and the plans for implementing them
- don’t stand around the shop / water cooler / coffee machine wasting time discussing their latest dating escapades, the current “hot” sitcom, plans for the weekend or the latest office / shop gossip
- pay attention and they take notes – lots of notes
- are focused on achieving the goal or objective
2. Are you a visionary?
Successful people have a vision and they project a mental picture of the future they desire. When you create a vision of what you want, you automatically begin to formulate the plans to make your vision happen
The difference between the “average joe” and those who acquire financial security is that:
- for the “average joe” this is just a daydream and it is discussed in day-dreamy terms. One day – someday – hopefully – if everything comes together – when my ship comes in – when the kids are gone to college – when I have more time – yada, yada, yada. Let face it, for the “average joe” it “ain’t gonna happen”. That’s why he / she is the “average joe”.
- for the successful person their vision is a destination that they are on the road to arriving at. They complement their vision by have props that continually keep their goal in sight. These are the people who plaster their office / work area with pictures of their dreams. They post encouraging quotes. They read about other successful people. They attempt to motivate others, because in doing so, they keep themselves motivated.
3. Do you have the needed “people skills”?
Successful people understand that “it ain’t about themselves”. Like Zig Ziglar says, “You can have anything in life that you want, if you will help enough other people get what they want”.
Its called the Law of Reciprocity. When you help someone else, this creates a desire in the other person to do something to help you and “even the score”. This desire is not an overt one – it is more of a subconscious emotion. But all successful people recognize that by helping others, you are helping yourself.
Look at all the successful people that you know. How do they interact with others. Do they stand around and wait for other people to “pay homage” to them? I doubt it.
- They are the people you see approaching with their hand out ready to firmly shake your hand.
- They look you in the eye and “lock” on to what you are saying.
- When they speak with you, you get the feeling that you are the most important person in the room.
- They “listen” actively, hear what you are saying and they understand.
- They follow-up. This says that you are important and it demonstrates your importance to them.
- They are open to intelligent input / ideas.
4. Do you think on paper?
This simple concept is probably the most important. All successful people take notes because they are not vain enough to think that they can remember everything. Making notes:
- keeps your eye on the ball – you stay focused on the important stuff and are not sidetracked by the immediate emergency
- allows you to record your ideas
- allows you to schedule your day
- keeps the project moving in the right direction
- allows for follow-up
Is this all that there is to being successful? No way, but it’s a start. If you have these characteristics, then you are on your way. If you don’t have these traits, then I suggest that you begin to acquire them – IF YOU DESIRE FINANCIAL SECURITY!
The Rotater is in the news with pictures
I am exhausted. We (Joint Mechanix) did our second interview/photo shoot in three days – after working all night. But, you’ve got to ride the media while you are hot.
The Montgomery Advertiser article
Kym Klass, a reporter from the Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery Alabama, contacted us on Monday about doing a feature article on the Rotater.
On Tuesday, we traveled to Montgomery after working all night to take pictures and answer questions. The whole process took about 4 hours, including drive time, but was worth it.
The article is titled “Pair hope patients in rehab turn to Rotater” and appeared in the paper yesterday. I am not sure how long this link will be good, but it is good right now.
A number of people have contacted me about posting a picture of myself on this site. I am trying to get it done, but right now, it’s not a huge priority. However, there are a number of pictures of me and Scott with this article ( I am the bald guy ).
The Auburn Opelika News
We were contacted by Bob Prater, a features reporter for the Auburn Opelika News yesterday. We met with him today ( again, after working all night) and spent about an hour taking pictures and answering questions.
An article about the us (Joint Mechanix) and the Rotater is supposed to be published in this coming Sunday edition.
UPDATE! 12-7-07 The Auburn Opelika News featured an article about us on the front page today!
“Local inventor revolutionizes rehab”
Hard work is paying dividends
As a personal development writer, I am living what I write. My life is a whirlwind at times, because of the time and effort involved in living the ideas that you espouse. However, it is never dull, boring or uneventful. I’m having a blast.
Juicy tidbit
On top of all this excitement, we were contacted yesterday by someone from the “Big Idea” with Donny Deutsch. She spoke with Scott for about a half hour and said that they would be back in touch with us. Maybe we’ll be on TV.
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