Y Parra

A couple of months ago I had a small kitchen fire in my home. All is well now, but for a few days my family and I camped out in a hotel room and once we returned home we had no oven (it was destroyed in the fire) so we were forced to eat every meal out for several days. 

On the day of the fire two representatives from the insurance company told me to “Hold on to your meal receipts, send them to us and we’ll cover your meals plus sales tax.” After the contractors restored my home and we settled back in, I was preparing to mail in my meal receipts for reimbursement and I gave my adjuster a quick call before dropping the envelope of receipts in the mail. He explained that reimbursement was actually for 50% of meals and not 100%. While a partial adjustment made sense to me, I clearly recalled two company representatives promising to “cover meals plus sales tax.” 

My adjuster became sarcastic and defensive in both his words and tone and said, “No one in this entire company would have told you we cover 100% of meals. Our policy is to cover 50% because you would have been eating even if the fire had not occurred.” 

I was livid. Now it’s no longer about the issue, it’s about the principle. So what did I do? I assembled all the facts that supported my case, presented an opening argument to the company’s corporate office calmly and methodically, and finally delivered a fervent and succinct summation of my evidence and closed the deal—-walking away with 100% of my meal charges. 

Here’s the lesson here: Had the claims adjuster done and said the right things during my initial phone call, the company would have been able to resolve this problem with a simple explanation and apology. Instead, they paid out nearly $200 more than they had to and had to spend 10 minutes listening to my case. 

This costly scenario is played out countless times every day throughout the service sector because employees don’t know how to communicate with upset customers with diplomacy and tact and in such a way that creates calm and goodwill. 

In my case, had the claims adjuster responded with, “What we were trying to explain is that your policy covers 50% of your meals plus sales tax. You would have been out of expenses for meals even if you had not experienced the regretful fire. We try to minimize your inconvenience during your loss by covering expenses above and beyond your normal meal expenses. Does this make sense? I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this misunderstanding has caused you.”

This approach certainly made sense and I would have very likely accepted the 50% policy. But instead, the claim adjuster’s attitude incited me and I was determined to accept nothing but full reimbursement. The wrong approach to an already upset customer only makes them more forceful and often results in a much higher payout from the company. I don’t want you to have to pay one dollar more than you absolutely have to and to help you manage costs better I’ll give you 5 things not to do with upset customers. 

1. Don’t tell a customer they are wrong. Telling your customer he is wrong arouses opposition and will make the customer want to battle with you. It’s difficult, under even the most benign situations to change people’s minds. So why make your job harder by starting out on the wrong foot. 

2. Don’t argue with a customer. You can never win an argument with your customers. Certainly, you can prove your point and even have the last word, you may even be right, but as far as changing your customer’s mind is concerned, you will probably be just as futile as if you were wrong. 

3. Don’t speak with authoritative tone as if you have to prove the customer wrong. Even when the customer is wrong, this is not an appropriate response, as it will put the customer on the defense. 

4. Don’t say, “We would never do that.” Instead try, “Tell me about that.” 

5. Don’t be afraid to apologize. Offer an apology even when the customer is at fault. An apology is not admission of fault. It can be offered to express regret. For example, “I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this misunderstanding has caused you.” 

Never forget in problem situations the issue is not the issue. The way the issue is handled becomes the issue.

(Source: readbud.com)

Christmas is busy, fun, exciting, and sentimental. We love it all — all but the part when we have to clean up and put everything away.

While it may be tempting to just throw everything into boxes and worry about sorting it out next year, you’ll be sorry when a precious Christmas decoration or ornament gets lost or broken.

Following these 10 tips will help you…

A. Save time by getting all your Christmas decorations organized so it’s quick and easy to find them next year.

B. Save space by using the right kind of boxes that can be easily stacked and organized.

C. Save money by storing your Christmas lights and decorations in a manner that preserves their quality and extends their life span.

10 Quick Tips 

1. Use Clear Plastic Storage Containers - These are great because you can see the contents without having to spend time labeling each box. Plus the plastic helps protect from moisture better than cardboard. When stacking, be sure to place the largest and heaviest boxes on the bottom and smaller boxes on the top.

2. Box the Beads - Pack the beads in small boxes such as plastic shoeboxes. If you use many strands of beads, larger boxes could become too heavy. To keep the beads from becoming tangled, place individual strands in baggies. If you prefer, you can wrap each strand around empty paper towel rolls and tape the ends.

3. Don’t Dog Pile the Christmas Lights - Don’t stack too many lights in the same box. The box will become too heavy and the lights on the bottom could be damaged. Lights can easily become tangled so individual strands of lights should be bagged separately or wrapped around paper towel rolls or something similar and placed in plastic grocery bags or large freezer bags.

4. Save Space with Re-Shapeable Decorations - Bows made of wired ribbon can be flattened and reshaped next year. Wired ribbon garlands and streamers can be tightly rolled. They don’t need to be flattened unless you need to conserve space.

5. Don’t Crush Your Wreaths - Wreaths can be stacked in larger boxes but each wreath should be wrapped with bubble wrap. If they aren’t wrapped then they shouldn’t be stacked. Bubble wrap can be purchased where office supplies are sold. Wreath boxes can also be purchased and are readily available on the Internet and in stores.

6. Wrap Christmas Ornaments Properly - Ornaments should be individually wrapped in white tissue paper or where greater protection is needed, wrap in bubble wrap. Since most ornaments are lightweight they can be stored in large boxes. If you still have the original boxes the ornaments came in, then store them in these and then place them in the storage container.

7. Protect Christmas Decorations from Moisture - If you live in a humid climate using plastic containers may not be enough to protect from moisture. Place packets of silica gel in each container to avoid damage from humidity. Silica gel can be purchased at arts and craft stores. If you cannot find individual packets, you can make your own by wrapping several tablespoons of silica gel in white tissue paper and securing with tape. Several packets should be placed throughout the box.

8. Guard Against Temperature Extremes - Delicate decorations such as ornaments made with photos or wax can be temperature sensitive. Store them in a climate-controlled area or they could deteriorate, melt or stick together.

9. Avoid Box Identity Loss - Attach a red ribbon or tag to each Christmas storage box. This will make them easy to identify next Christmas if they have been stored with other boxes unrelated to Christmas decorations.

10. Toss the Trash - Some people have a tendency to just “hang onto stuff” in hopes that they’ll find a use for it later. Don’t waste space by holding onto old ornaments you know you’ll never use again (unless of course it has some sentimental significance). Just toss out the trash.

A final note: You may also want to consider Christmas ornament boxes and wreath boxes for especially fine ornaments and wreaths instead of clear storage containers. They are available in stores and on the Internet. They are very convenient and some are even acid free for even greater protection for your fine collectables. They are more expensive, but for high quality, valuable ornaments this may be a worthwhile investment.

A little organization today will make you feel like a Christmas decorating pro next year. Happy un-decorating! 

(Source: readbud.com)

Would you like to have tea or coffee? Just what are the specific coffee benefits? You must have heard this offer of choice a thousand times. Be it guests at your house or while visiting someone or from the airhostess in the flight. The general idea in many countries continues to be that tea and coffee are two beverages which have equal importance. However, this is not 100% true. There is a huge divided lobby on this opinion. Many people opine that tea is definitely more popular than coffee as it has medicinal properties and is good for health. Coffee on the other hand is more popular in the workplace. The debate continues on which is more popular. 

There are however, some distinct pros and cons of both beverages. Let’s talk about the benefit of tea. As we all know tea was discovered by the Chinese and scientific research has proven than it has very good medicinal properties which can help fight fatigue. Tea is more popular in Asia and Europe where tea drinking is considered to be a proper social function. 

Coffee on the other hand gives an instant ‘fix’ and helps people be alert and ward off sleepiness when at work thanks to the caffeine content in the drink. The health conscience coffee drinker tends to opt for decaffeinated coffee and thus gets the flavour without the caffeine. Coffee is very popular in the United States and is also an international drink which is appreciated the world over. These are the coffee benefits present in every cup!

It is very difficult to determine which beverage garners more votes with a global audience since each drink has its own fiercely loyal fan following. 

(Source: readbud.com)