Building Your Networking Skills - 8 Quick Tips

Networking events can seem very intimidating, but they can be a resource that will help propel your career to new heights. It is always important to go into a networking event with enthusiasm and a set goal in mind. Use these ideas to help make your next networking experience a successful one.

1. Network online - According to recent research by The Institute For Corporate Productivity, 64% of business professionals network online. In today's Web 2.0 environment, you cannot afford to ignore this networking opportunity and potential leads you could generate via social networking sites.
2. Start with LinkedIn.com, the leading business networking - Membership is free, and you can pro-actively search for and connect with customers and prospects. Also, Linkedin.com users can post questions to the "Answers" section on the site. Make an effort to answer questions relevant to your area of expertise. Not only will you add value to your connections, but you will also get additional exposure and attract prospective customers who will seek you out!
3. Arrive early - Treat the event like an important appointment. By arriving early, you get comfortable in a more intimate setting with the other early arrivals. It can be intimidating to walk into a room filled with people, so go early and let the room fill up around you.
4. Show confidence - Speak confidently, decisively, and with authority. If you are confident in your conversations and support your ideas with evidence, people will take notice and respect that you know what you are talking about and that you mean business.
5. Circulate - Don't just talk to the people that you know. Get out there and go network!
6. Meet with VIPs or speakers - If there are VIPs or speakers at the event, prepare ahead of time. Do some research on the individual(s) so that you are informed when you talk with them. Compliment them on their speech or talk to them about how the topic of their speech or their field relates to what you do.
7. Stay late - When you stay late, the smaller crowd also gives you the opportunity to circulate in a more intimate setting. It also provides you with an opportunity to connect with the event's coordinator. Thank him or her for hosting the event. The event coordinator can give you some additional insight about who attended the event and who might be at the next event. It's never too early to prepare for the next event.
8. Have a robust profile on the networking site - Put in as much relevant information as you can that demonstrates the value you bring to your customers. Put in all the keywords you think prospective customers may use to search for a service provider in your field. Remember, on a social networking site, you want to make it easy for people to find you!

Win-Win Negotiation Tips for Managers

As managers, the ability to use win-win negotiation skills can make all the difference in negotiating success. Likewise, it can be essential when influencing coworkers and facilitating constructive, positive relationships. Here are 6 things that managers should think about when preparing for a negotiation.

•Know what you want - As a manager, it's important to go into a negotiation knowing what you want your end result to be. Make sure you put a lot of time and thought into what you want and why you want it. Remember that it is important for you to consider what's in it for you financially, emotionally, intellectually, physically, etc. It also helps to know what you don't want as you go deeper into negotiations.

•Know what your counterpart wants - Your counterpart will also have an agenda when he or she enters the negotiation. Make it a point to understand beforehand what he or she wants the conclusion of this negotiation to be. Understand the financial, emotional, intellectual or physical resolution that he or she is looking to walk away with.

•Anticipate objections - The negotiation process is not always easy. As a manager, you have to understand that you will meet some objections from your employee along the way. You need to prepare yourself for this by doing your due diligence prior to the negotiation. Make sure that you have relevant evidence at your fingertips with which the other party can identify and relate to.

•Identify concessions - Determine your absolute non-negotiable items and desirables and what you are willing to give and take. You are certainly not going to walk away from every negotiation with all of your needs satisfied. Negotiations are all about the give and take, and as a manager you need to be prepared to meet your employee half way.

•Determine your "walk-away" - When you determine your "walk-away," you define the point at which there is no need to proceed with the negotiation. Prior to the start of the negotiations, you must ascertain your own "walk-away" point. This will be your single most important source of negotiating power, so once your "walk-away" point is met, you need to make sure you take action.

•Practice with a partner - As is the case with any important presentation you have ever made, you always want to practice. You could be faced with a difficult discussion and it is always best to make sure you rehearse possible outcomes. By practicing with someone else you will build your confidence with the situation and it will ultimately help the negotiation run as smoothly as possible.

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How Tactful and Diplomatic Are You? Self-Assessment Quiz from Dale Carnegie

Mastering communication skills can improve your professional image and expand your authority.  Your ability to navigate through difficult situations, build consensus, and manage change can create powerful results for your organization.  Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help establish more effective communication with your co-workers and colleagues.

Creating Loyal Customers

Sixty-eight percent of customers leave because of what they perceive as indifference from the merchant or someone within the merchant's organization. They feel unappreciated, unimportant, and taken-for-granted. (Source: Research by Dan S. Kennedy)

Today's customer is more educated, better prepared, and has more alternatives than at any other time. Given the complexity of the marketplace, it is not enough to merely satisfy your customers. You must turn them into fans, who will not only remain loyal to your product or service, but who will spread the good word about your company. You need to exceed expectations, show customers you care, and provide exceptional customer service. You need every good word you can get in this turbulent market!

Challenges to achieving high levels of customer focus and loyalty generally fall under one or more of the following areas:

Process: How your company or organization operates on a daily basis. This includes how your company communicates and aligns the features and value of the product or service with your customers' expectations.
 
Roles: Who does what in your company or organization? Your employees must agree on tasks and responsibilities and hold employees accountable to those priorities.
 
Interpersonal Issues: How your customer service personnel get along with each other and with other departments. This includes their attitude, teamwork, and loyalty.
 
Direction: How your company defines and communicates its overall and departmental vision and mission.  

External Pressures: In addition to market conditions, other sources of pressure include the availability of resources such as time and money. You may or may not be in control of the availability of these resources.

Keys to creating top-notch customer service are: BE SURE!

Broad product knowledge through insights into what your product or service can and cannot do.
 
Extreme desire to help. Show your goodwill, passion, and eagerness to please.
 
Sincere interest in your customer's situation. Don't assume the customer is simply being unreasonable when they may have a very good reason to be upset.
 
Understand customer expectations, which may be extremely demanding in these challenging times.
 
Respect for the customer's point of view.
 
Empowered with authority to provide answers, solutions, and any other help.

Tips for Dealing With an Upset Customer

From time to time, you will have to deal with a customer or client who is very upset. No matter who is to blame, it is always important to keep a few principles in mind to improve rather than deteriorate the situation with the customer. Here are some tips for dealing with an upset customer:

1. Stay calm. Try to remain diplomatic and polite. Getting angry will only make the customer angrier.
2. Try to see things from the customer's point of view. Perhaps you would also feel upset if you were in the same situation.
3. Thank the person for raising the concern and do it sincerely. Emphasize the importance of satisfied customers to you and your organization.
4. Listen for understanding. Sometimes the irate caller just wants someone to listen to their story, even if you are unable to help them.
5. Ask questions to get their facts and feelings. Listen to learn rather than to prepare your response. Don't respond too quickly.
6. Find points of agreement with their concerns. Establish common ground to show the person you are listening.
7. Always show a willingness to resolve the problem or conflict. Make the resolution seem as easy as possible.
8. Be genuine and show your personality. Respond as an understanding friend rather than by citing policies.
9. Be firm but understanding with your answers.
10. As a last resort, offer to have your supervisor talk to the caller. Your supervisor may say the same things, but sometimes hearing it from someone else has a positive effect on the customer.

How Do You Use Effective Communication and Consultation Techniques

When you are starting a new project you will need to be able to use all of your communication and consultation techniques to get it done. You may not have to use them all, but you should be ready to. The easiest thing you can do at this stage is to set up a plan for how the project is going to go ahead and what things you will need to do as a manager in order to proceed as the project moves forward. The more complicated the project is the more in depth the plan needs to become, and the more people need to see the plan. If it becomes very complicated your team may all want to work on plans for each of their parts in the project so that everyone knows what needs to happen. These will change as problems come up in the project, but that is one of the roles of communication.

As the project is being planned it may become obvious that you will need to consult with someone outside of the team to let them know what is happening and how it is going to happen. When you do this you should identify for them the scope of your project, how it will affect them, anything they may need to do or provide you with in order for you to continue, set out the appropriate methods for this to occur with an option for feedback from both sides on how this is working out. This kind of consultations usually happens in the workplace where there is a sensitive project and a share holder, or a client will need to be notified and kept up to date on the progress of the project.

When problems occur, because there are few projects that can go off without a hitch here or there, the most important thing is to let the appropriate people be aware of what changes are being made without sounding like it is a question or a decision you can change. Stay cool, calm, and answer any questions they may have. If you have a hard time having these kinds of conversations, look for someone on your team with customer service training who can help with the discussion. Allow them to give you feedback as part of the discussion and you may decide to change something based on ideas that are presented to you.

Tour Dale Carnegies "Secrets of Success App" for the Iphone and Blackberry

Dale Carnegie Principle #23: Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.

Dale Carnegie Principle #22: Begin with praise and honest appreciation