The 6 best words in customer service

Source :

Michael Hess :cbs money watch:January 9, 2012 7:02 AM

Two comedians can tell the exact same joke, with the same timing, and one will have people rolling in the aisles while the other will get blank stares and an awkward golf clap. The joke itself may not even be funny, but the difference can come down to a singleword choice. The same can be said for customer service -- the delivery often determines the reaction.

I've written quite a bit in the past about what not to dowhen speaking to customers. It's a virtually limitless topic that unfortunately is supported by countless daily examples. So this time I thought I'd focus on what I call "positive trigger words" -- the ones that convey the exact same messages but with completely different results.

Of course, what you do is more important than what you say. But whether it's good news, bad news, or simply passing on information, your choice of words will have a significant effect on the way the customer hears what you're saying, and consequently the way she feels about it and reacts to it.

The goal, of course, is to make the customer as happy as possible with the service experience, even if the outcome isn't exactly as she had hoped for. It is, in fact, possible for a customer to have a positive feeling about a company even if she doesn't get what she wants. And that is where words make a big difference:

- People respond positively to words that are active rather than passive. There is a world of difference between "I can" and "I will."

- Words of genuine compassion and empathy suggest that you are not just carrying the company line or reading from a memo.

- Delivering those words in a cheerful, upbeat, and most importantly, natural manner(appropriate to the circumstances, of course) suggests one human being's desire to help another, not just an equivocal, noncommittal suggestion that something "may" be possible.

Here, then, in no particular order, are six active, enthusiastic, mood-altering, wonderfully human words that will dramatically change the way customers react to your conversations, e-mails and text chats. They are ridiculously simple, yet potent tweaks to the normally gray, predictably mundane language of customer service:

"Delighted"

"Absolutely"

"Pleasure"

"Happy"

"Sorry"

"Yes"

Think of the passive catch-all, "Let me see what I can do," which sets the customer's expectations somewhere between low and zero. But change that to "I'd be delighted to help," and the customer will be -- I guarantee -- smiling on the other end of the phone, confident that you're actually interested in helping her, and much more receptive to whatever you have to say.

Note that this only works if it's genuine, not forced or scripted. It presumes a good attitude, and the desire and authority to help people. Contrived speech is always obvious, so don't over-pepper (as in the way so many reps cloyingly insert your name in every sentence). Speak as a normal person, with a smile and a wish to please, and these "good words" will work wonders.

Customers have been beaten into assuming they'll always get mediocre to horrible service, and they are defensive before anyone even answers the phone. When they call, e-mail or chat online with a company representative, they expect boilerplate, robotic, soulless responses in the standard, dehumanized voice of the typical customer service interaction. Break that predictable pattern with the thoughtful use of positive trigger words and you'll change the entire tone of a customer interaction.

As I often say, make people happy and pretty much everything else takes care of itself.

The RBI won't save 2012

Source :BS:Rajeev Malik /  January 11, 2012, 0:56 IST



The only good thing about 2011 is that it is over, and the only good thing about India for investors is that no one has anything good to say. The latter is a reflection of how low investor expectations are. Admittedly, in such a setting, small positive changes can bring about a quick and sizeable adjustment in expectations. But there is still a lot of wishful thinking and fairy tale-like expectations about a sustained pick-up in growth for 2012-13. We could be pleasantly surprised with a born-again government that pushes ahead with active decision-making and disbursal of investment-related projects. However, there is little evidence that this quadriplegic-like government can move its limbs.
 
The consensus view that GDP growth in 2012-13 will be higher than in this fiscal year appears to have wishful thinking and hope as its key building blocks, rather than any palpable evidence. Such expectations are based largely on monetary easing and an improvement in government decision-making that will lead to higher confidence and a pick-up in investment.
However, India is not experiencing a normal economic cycle. There are two drivers of India’s economic slowdown; first, a cyclical deceleration that is a direct result of tighter monetary policy and was a key policy objective; and, second, broader policy inertia and corruption scandals that have hurt confidence. These domestic factors have added to the adverse impact of global headwinds, and have taken a bigger toll on growth. Further, growth moderation is poised to broaden and include consumption as well, after having been restricted to the investment downturn.


The fiscal-monetary mix is completely out of whack and there is hardly any flexibility on the fiscal front. More importantly, some fiscal responsibility in the upcoming Budget will warrant spending cuts and revenue enhancement in order to shrink the fiscal deficit. This, in the near term, will affect inflation and consumer spending. This is an important but unpleasant part of fiscal adjustment that India has to digest.

As we near the turning point in India’s monetary cycle, there is widespread expectation that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) actions will get economic growth back on track. Headline wholesale price index (WPI) inflation is coming off mainly because of food, but core inflation remains uncomfortably high, which in turn will probably prevent the RBI from cutting the repo rate on January 24. There are issues with how core inflation is used by the RBI; but we in the trenches cannot ignore the framework as long as the central bank is sticking with it. What the RBI should do is not always the same as what it likely will do, and that distinction should not be ignored.


It is a foregone conclusion that the RBI will have to again cut its GDP growth forecast; probably to seven per cent (actual outcome could be sub-seven per cent). Thus, it will need to be seen as doing something later this month, even as it will – irresponsibly – avoid any guidance on growth and inflation for 2012-13. How the RBI expects to anchor expectations without offering one- or two-year forward guidance remains a puzzle.


The recent upturn in the purchasing managers’ index reading for December and the anticipated improvement in industrial production for November are probably affected by the post-Diwali impact on production, and are not indicative of an economic upturn. Still, the RBI appears to be underestimating the loss in economic momentum and its focus on core inflation (strangely, it offers no forecast) is resulting in policy rates being higher than what they should be.


The uncertainty over adjustments in the local fuel price – to cut the subsidy bill – and over the current level of global crude oil price will prevent early rate cuts. Repo rate cuts are likely after the federal budget, in my view.

However, a cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) should not be ruled out later this month. The RBI appears to have double standards about how it treats excessive open-market operations (OMOs) and a cut in CRR. In the absence of a CRR cut, which will also signal policy easing without cutting the policy rate, the RBI will have to conduct large-scale OMOs. It is not clear why the RBI thinks that monetising the fiscal deficit is appropriate, but cutting the CRR is not.


Monetary easing will have some positive impact, but its magnitude and effectiveness shouldn’t be exaggerated. Unlike the aggressive response following the global financial crisis in 2008, the RBI’s easing this time will be more limited and less effective. More importantly, the easing is unlikely to fix political handicaps or policy inaction. In fact, the experience of the second half of the 1990s is instructive. Investment did not recover until the early 2000s, despite a multi-year reduction in interest rates. Now, recovery in investment needs much more than lower rates.


Few central banks make comments that have an adverse impact on their exchange rates, but the RBI appears to be made of different material. After having inadvertently contributed to the rupee’s large depreciation, it has been in desperate damage control mode by announcing measures to boost capital inflows.


Expectations about sustained rupee appreciation are similar to the forecast of a rebound in growth — most people incorrectly think that these are preordained for India. The rupee’s slump reflects the basic interplay of our large current account deficit and a reliance on volatile capital inflows that turned out to be inadequate. But there is no reason why the slide should not have been better managed by the RBI. If the RBI relies on some valuation metric – say, the real effective exchange rate – for the rupee, it needs to come clean and explain how that fit its hands-off policy for more than a year, even though this metric indicated overvaluation.


A currency is a relative price; and no central bank, least of all of a country with a sizeable current account deficit, will dig in at a particular level and keep running down its foreign exchange reserves if the US dollar rebounds, as is likely this year. The RBI understands this but has been unable to properly communicate it to financial markets. The rupee still got whacked, while the RBI’s foreign currency assets dropped around $13 billion (including revaluation change) in the December quarter. The rupee has been more resilient so far in January — but just wait for the dollar rebound.


In the final tally, the great reset of expectations on the rupee, like the wishful thinking on growth rebound in 2012-13 and of the RBI as saviour, remains substantially incomplete. Happy New Year.



Rajeev Malik
The writer is senior economist at CLSA, Singapore.
These views are persona

3 steps to accomplish financial goals

Source :Ray Martin :CBS money watch :January 9, 2012 12:53 PM

Most folks want to improve their finances and think about setting financial goals. But as the saying goes, most people don't plan to fail, they simply fail to plan. As a result, they don't accomplish their financial goals.

Whatever your financial goals, if you want to achieve them, follow these three simple but important steps:

Prioritize goals: Set out to first accomplish the goals that will provide the most financial benefit and free up cash flow that can be used to accomplish your other goals. For example, use extra cash savings and income to pay down credit card debt. When the credit card debt is paid off, use the money from credit card payments towards building up an emergency fund, saving for a car or a down payment on a house or buying affordable life insurance.

Put the plan in writing: The saying "plan your work and work your plan" was tailor made to apply to financial goals. Any goal that's not written down is less likely to be achieved. The key to attaining your goals is to keep them realistic and write down a specific plan of action. For each goal, write a summary of WHAT you want to do, WHY you want to do it, WHEN you will get it done and HOW you will get it done.

When you make a written financial plan, think about the most effective way to accomplish your goal. For example, the key to paying off debts in the shortest time is to know which debt costs you the most. Make a list of your debts and sort it from highest to lowest annual interest rate. The debt with the highest interest rate should be paid off first. It is typically best to use any savings you have to pay down this debt first. Why? Typically your savings is earning less interest than the interest charged by the creditor. After the debt is paid off, you can use the cash flow that was used towards the debt payments to build up your savings again.

Also create a plan that allows for several ways to accomplish your goals. For example, the money to pay off debt can come from increasing your income, reducing expenses, selling some stuff, or a combination of all three. Finally, the key to a good plan is to Keep It Short & Specific (the KISS principle).

Create action steps: Create action steps for each goal, with each step being something that can be accomplished quickly. For example, if you want to get your estate plan in order, the first step is to review and update beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and life insurance policies. The next step would be to outline to whom you want your assets distributed and who would be your representatives, executor and guardians in your will. Finally, select and meet with a competent lawyer to help prepare and finalize the documents you need. The key is to make continuous progress on the steps towards your goals and to seek help to keep you from getting bogged down.

தினத்தந்தியிடம் கைமாறிய என்.டி.டிவி-ஹிந்து டிவி சேனல்!

  ஒன்இந்தியா:புதன்கிழமை, ஜனவரி 11, 2012, 8:11


 சென்னை: என்.டி.டி.வி- த ஹிந்து பத்திரிக்கை ஆகியவை இணைந்து தொடங்கிய செய்தி சேனலை தமிழின் நம்பர் ஒன் நாளிதழான தினத்தந்தி நிர்வாகம் வாங்கியிருப்பதாகவும், ஏப்ரல் 14ம் தேதி தமிழ்புத்தாண்டு முதல் இந்த புதிய டிவி தந்தி நிர்வாகத்திலிருந்து வெளியாகவுள்ளதாகவும் மீடியா வட்டாரத்தில் பரபரப்பாகப் பேசப்படுகிறது.


இந்தப் புதிய செய்திச் சேனல் சன் நியூஸ் செய்திச் சேனலுக்குக் கடும் போட்டியைத் தரலாம் என்றும் எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.


என்.டி.டி.வி ஆங்கில செய்திச் சேனல் ஹிந்து நாளிதழுடன் வர்த்தக ஒப்பந்தம் செய்து கொண்டு சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன் Metronation Chennai Television Ltd என்ற தொலைக்காட்சி நிறுவனத்தைத் தொடங்கியது. இந்த நிறுவனத்தின் சார்பில் என்டிடிவி-ஹிந்து என்ற பெயரில் வெளியான இந்த டிவியில் மெட்ரோ செய்திகள் மட்டும் முதலில் ஒளிபரப்பட்டன. பின்னர் தமிழிலும், ஆங்கிலத்திலும் செய்திகள் ஒளிபரப்பட்டன.


ஆனால் சன் டிவி நிறுவனத்தின் வியாபித்த நேயர் பரப்பை ஊடுறுவிப் போக இவர்களால் முடியவில்லை. மேலும் புதிய தலைமுறை என்ற புதிய செய்திச் சேனல் சன் நியூஸ் சேனலையே பின்னுக்குத் தள்ளியதால் என்டிடிவி-ஹிந்து மேலும் பின்னுக்குப் போய் விட்டது.


தமிழ் சேனல்களுடன் போட்டியிட முடியாத காரணத்தினாலும், சரியான விளம்பர வருவாய் இல்லாத காரணத்தினாலும் இந்த சேனலுக்கு மூடுவிழா நடத்த இந்த நிறுவனங்கள் முடிவு செய்திருந்தன.


இந்த நிலையில் என்.டி.டி.வி-ஹிந்து சேனல் தினத்தந்தி வசம் கைமாறியுள்ளது. அதனை புதுப்பொலிவுடன் மாற்றம் செய்து களமிறக்க தினத்தந்தி தீவிரமாக உள்ளதாம்.


புதிய செய்திச் சேனலின் முதன்மை செயல் அதிகாரியாக (சி.இ.ஒ) சந்திரசேகரன் என்பவரும், செய்தி ஆசிரியராக ராஜ் டிவியில் இருந்த ஜெயசீலன் என்பரும் இணைந்துள்ளனர் என்று தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.


தமிழ் நாளிதழ்களின் அரசனான தினத்தந்தியின் செய்திச் சேனலும் மிகப் பெரிய வரவேற்பைப் பெறும் என்ற எதிர்பார்ப்பு உள்ளது.


சேனலுக்கான பூர்வாங்க பணிகள் தொடங்கப்பட்டுவிட்டன. ஏப்ரல் 14ம் தேதி தமிழ்புத்தாண்டுக்கு ஒளிபரப்பை தொடங்க தினத்தந்தி திட்டமிட்டுள்ளதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.


புதிய தலைமுறையின் வருகையினால் சன் டிவியின் செய்திச் சேனலுக்கு தள்ளாட்டம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. தற்போது தினத்தந்தியும் புதிய செய்திச் சேனலை களம் இறக்குவதால் செய்திப் போட்டி மகா கடுமையாகும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

If I Die: A Facebook App to Convey Your Last Wish

Source :SiliconIndia, Monday, 09 January 2012, 01:53 Hrs 

Bangalore: Facebook is all set to give you social media immortality. A Facebook App named ‘If I Die’ helps you leave you last wish or word to your loved ones after your death. This app makes your social self alive, it sends and post messages on your friends’ wall years after you are gone.  

 

If I Die app just has three steps; install the app to your Facebook account, create a video or text message, and choose three trustees from your friends to confirm your death.  When the trustees confirm your death the app publishes all the messages and videos all at once to your Facebook wall or is released on a designated schedule asthe app also provides a choice of delivery mechanism.

The idea seems to be a bit crazy and scary, but it has its some positives too. According to Eran Alfonta, app’s co-founder and CEO, Wilook (Israel-based Company behind the app) says “We all have things to say and don’t necessarily have the audience with the patience to hear us, actually we all want to leave something behind, and we all want to leave a stamp behind us”.

Presently this free app is only compactable with Facebook, but the company is putting its efforts to allow discreet messages and messages that can be sent to people not on Facebook. Company has not revealed any details about its number of users, but Alfonta said they expected to hit 100,000 users within a couple of months.

HDFC Bank levies charges on inoperative account, cash deposits

Source : ET :10 JAN, 2012, 06.07PM IST, PTI 


NEW DELHI: If you are an account holder of HDFC Bank, then be prepared to pay Rs 50 per quarter for a non-operational account of over a year and Rs 25 for depositing cash of over Rs 1 lakh.

"The bank will levy a charge of Rs 50 on inoperative account. This charge is applicable across savings and current account on per quarter basis," HDFC Bank informed its customers.
The order come into affect from January 1, 2012. 


Though there is no cash handling fee for deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh in a day at home branch for 'non-managed customers', amounts above this level will attract a charge of of Rs 25 per Rs 50,000 and part thereof for such clients.

Non-managed customers are those clients who do not have a private banking or wealth management account with the bank.

Besides, it said Rs 50 per instance will be levied for any deliverable returned by courier due to negative reasons (no such consignee/consignee shifted and no such address).

The lender will charge Rs 100 each for its photo attestation, signature attestation and address confirmation.

If the average monthly balance (AMB) of saving account in urban and metro branches is between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, the bank would charge Rs 250 per month.

If AMB is less than Rs 5,000, then Rs 350 per month would be levied, it said.

It is to be noted that all banks including public sector lender levy charges if monthly average balance is less than a stipulated level.

For example, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank charges Rs 750 for non-maintenance of minimum quarterly average balance.

As per Finance Bill 2009, all fees and charges will attract 10 per cent service tax and education cess of 3 per cent of the service tax amount effective February 24, 2009, it said.