‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ are in most people’s vocabulary; yet tend to be the most under used words on a daily basis. Manners, using them are just common decency; not using it may tarnish how you are perceived and ultimately contribute to your reputation (bad or good!).
As
an entrepreneur, it is about building relationships; people want to do business
with people that they respect and trust. Four basic manners to keep in your
artillery:
Say ‘please’: the other day I
attended a meeting, the convenor of the meeting was all over the show darting
off orders here and delegating there to help get the meeting room set up.
During all the requests for assistance something struck me, not once during
this time did they say please. Yes, you may say they were under pressure to get
everything set up, however too busy to remember to say please? Personally I
think they would have had a greater and quicker response rate from everyone if
a ‘please’ was thrown into all of their requests.
Be grateful; a ‘thank you’ can
mean a lot. Show gratitude when someone has done something for you; they have
spent their valuable time doing something for you. I recently received a call
from someone thanking me for a connection that I had made for them. This was
totally out of the blue; I actually totally forgot that I had made the business
introduction for them. For them to pick up the phone and to say thank you,
means a lot. Now I know that it was appreciated, and will look for even more
opportunities to link that person up with. There is a great quote by Zig
Ziglar: 'The more you are grateful for
what you have the more you will have to be grateful for’.
RSVP for events. We’ve all done
it; we’re all guilty of it! We RSVP for an event and totally forget to go; or
forget to RSVP and still go; I call this the law of events. After a hiatus, we
recently hosted one of our information sessions; I was again reminded of this
(frustrating) ‘law’. I am more irked by those that don’t show up than those who
do. As a host you invest your time and money into a venue, refreshments and
putting a presentation together for a specific group of people. I think what frustrates
me the most is often the waste of food when people don’t pitch.
Answering the phone:
you recon a basic “hello?” will do, right? Afraid not. It is incredibly frustrating when you phone
someone or a company and you just get a “hello?”. This is especially important
as an Entrepreneur; you are depended on those phone calls coming through to you,
who knows it could be your next big sale. Make sure that the person that is
calling you knows exactly who they are speaking to when you answer. Ideally,
say the company’s name then your name; at a minimum, say your name. Make it
easy for the person who took time to dial your number to know that they are
through to the right company and person.
Manners
are not difficult, it is about forming positive daily habits, which, with
enough practice will become second nature to you, and contribute towards a
positive way of how you are perceived.
Which
manners do you think people miss the mark on the most?
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continue the reputation management conversation, join Regine on Twitter
@ReputationIsKey or Facebook www.facebook.com/yourreputationmatters.
Do
you have a reputation management question? Send your query through to Regine
on: regine@reputationmatters.co.za
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