Quote of the Week – About everyone we meet
This week’s quote helps to remind us that when a person interrupts, or pushes ahead in line or ignores us in the hallway or whatever it is that rubs us the wrong way or ticks us off - it’s probably not about us. And whatever it is about, is good reason for the rest of us to try our best to do business with heart.
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Use the above quote as background or wallpaper for your computer with just three clicks.
1. Click on the image above.
2. Right click on the image that appears.
3. On the pull down menu that appears, click on “set as background”.
Voila! There’s still plenty of room on the left side of the screen for all your shortcut icons.
There are 130 additional quotes in our Quote Library.
Valuable business tools, ready to post, print and share – available for free right here in our Quote Library.
Note: If you don’t like your new wallpaper, don’t want to replace it with a quote from the Business Class Quote Library and don’t know how to get rid of it……
Go to your control panel. Select “Display”. Select “Desktop”. And then choose from the designs offered.”
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Movie of the Week: Johnny the Bagger
When brainstorming what movie to feature in conjunction with our current theme of insignificance (feeling too small or too powerless to make a difference)…and with our running theme of doing business with heart…
well..
it was obvious that we should feature a movie we first mentioned back in December of 2008.
It’s called: Johnny the Bagger (about 3 minutes long).
So get the popcorn, Milk Duds and Raisinettes, gather everyone around and push PLAY and enjoy.
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Related materials for follow up and/or further discussion:
- Quote of the Week: Too small to make a difference?
- Have you lost power?
- Brainteaser of the Week #14
- www.doingbusinesswithheart.com
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Ready-2-Go Meeting – On Customer Service
Title: Doing Business with Heart
If you are trying to establish, build or nurture a customer service culture, here’s a Ready-2-Go Meeting segment using the concept of “Doing Business with Heart”. While it’s seasonally appropriate to introduce during Valentine season, it’s also appropriate to introduce and pursue all year long. By sharing heart stories in meetings, you:
- set a positive mood for the meeting and beyond.
- encourage participants to watch others who do business with heart.
- encourage participants to do business with heart – with internal and external customers.
- nurture a caring customer culture.
All of that by just sharing stories!
Here is a suggested plan for making heart stories a 5-minute agenda item for your regular staff meeting.
Needed:
- stories about “doing business with heart” – some of your own or from this site: www.doingbusinesswithheart.com
- optional( if you like to give rewards or treats to contributors): little boxes of conversation hearts, a few heart shaped chocolates or if these aren’t “in season”, something like small packages of Sweet Tarts.
In advance of your meeting:
- Read the stories at: www.doingbusinesswithheart.com.
- Choose two of your favorites to share with the group(three if they’re real short).
At the meeting:
- Start by saying something like: “I ran across these stories about doing business with heart and wanted to share them with you.”
- Read the stories you selected in #2 above.
- After reading the stories, pause, allow for comments but don’t worry if there aren’t any.
- Then ask this question of the group: ” Do you know anyone who does business with heart?”
- If they offer examples immediately – great! Give heart candy to those who contribute if you chose that option.
- If no one shares, don’t worry about it.
- Close the discussion with this request: “If you find any stories about people doing business with heart, please bring them to the next staff meeting.”
Important Note: Some managers are tempted to mention to the group that this is now a regular agenda item. I do NOT recommend that because at this time, you can’t be sure of how long you will include it. I’ve seen some groups keep it on their agenda for years. I’ve seen others gain from its effectiveness after about 4 meetings and then instead of making it an agenda item, they just allow for stories to be told as they bubble up from the world. And I’ve seen others stop after the first meeting. The biggest factor seems to be the meeting leader’s enthusiasm for the concept of “doing business with heart” – even when others aren’t so enthusiastic about it. And I have to be honest – most people aren’t enthusiastic about it at first. Some will never become enthusiastic about it. The people I know who are enthusiastic about it became that way gradually – after hearing about it, seeing it in action, feeling how it felt to be on the receiving end, feeling how it felt on the giving end and telling stories about it.
For the next few meetings:
Always bring at least one heart story to share (just in case no one else brings one).
- Start the meeting by asking if anyone brought a heart story. Stay silent. Wait. People might be hesitant to share – especially at first.
- If no one offers, share one of the stories you brought.
- Someone else may now be willing to share. So ask if anyone else would like to share.
- Close the discussion with this request: “If you find any stories about people doing business with heart, please bring them to the next staff meeting.”
You might be the only story teller for a few meetings. But soon, others will begin sharing – a sign that hearts are warming. And then, if it hasn’t happened already, soon the stories they tell will be about their colleagues and then….
Congratulations! You’ve done it! They’ve got it! Keep it going!
To help you get it and keep it going – consider using Heart Cards for reinforcement.
Also – we’d love it if you would share your heart stories with us. You can do that by scrolling down to the comments section at: www.doingbusinesswithheart.com
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Don’t You Love It?
In this rough, tough, seemingly heartless, bottom-line oriented world of strategizing for survival through takeovers, layoffs and budget cuts, don’t you love it when people do business with heart?
They seem to love their work. They get the job done. They really care. They make you feel good. They warm your heart doing business with heart.
Below are a few classic stories about doing business with heart. I share them with 3 hopes.
Hope #1 is that you will read and share them with co-workers, family members and friends.
Hope #2 is that you will share some stories of your own - and encourage others to do the same.
By the way – if you hold a regular meetings of any kind - sharing heart stories can be a great addition to your agenda. It sets a positive mood for the meeting and beyond. Get details for Ready-2-Go Meeting segment.
Hope #3 is that you will join me in thanking people around you who do business with heart. You can do this verbally or with a handwritten note or with one of our Heart Cards.
Spreading the word and spreading appreciation for doing business with heart is so very important now more than ever. Because the more people do business with heart….the more people will do business with heart. And as more people do business with heart…even more people will do business with heart.
Warming hearts everywhere by doing business with heart.
Okay – it’s story time. Here are a few classic examples of people doing business with heart. If you want to read even more stories, go to: People Doing Business with Heart.
Story #1 – About Antwon
At the Marriott in Atlanta, I couldn’t help but overhear a customer yelling at Antwon who worked as a bellman there. And couldn’t help but notice that Antwon stayed calm through all the ranting and raving.
When asked how he managed to do that, Antwon laughed and said, “I get lots of practice.”
He grew more serious as he said, “I try to rise above it. I figure if I be nice to them, then maybe it will make their day better. And maybe later they will think about it and be nicer to the next guy.”
Thank you, Antwon for doing business with heart.
Story #2 – About C.H. Russell
C.H. ran a trucking company and was as passionate as we were about not just meeting, but beating our delivery deadlines.
When we had a job for him to deliver, he would take off right after loading and drive straight through to Kentucky, or Iowa or whatever the destination, arriving early the next morning, just in time for the recipient’s loading dock to open.
Once he helped them unload the truck (another unusual service), he would call us to announce in his celebratory voice, “Mission complete!”
It was not unusual for our customers to call us after C.H.’s departure to say, “That’s some trucking company you’ve got there!”
We admire the way C.H. did business with heart.
Story #3 – About Kermit & Company at Whole Foods
Kermit used to work at Wellspring Grocery (now Whole Foods) in Chapel Hill. He rescued our dog, Hurley, who had run away from home, gotten all the way to Whole Foods and then got hit by a car in front of the store.
When store employees couldn’t reach us by telephone, Kermit took Hurley to the vet and waited there until we arrived.
Anna, the store manager and several other employees called us that day and for about a week afterwards to check on Hurley’s condition.
We continue to be grateful that they all did business with heart.
Story #4 – About a Great Landlord
It snowed the other day and the landlord actually came out and shoveled the walkway himself!!!
The tenant/business owner was so impressed and appreciative that she decided to re-sign the lease (she had been a bit on the fence). And she called a friend about taking the empty space next door….because unlike many landlords who are never around and hardly seem to care…this landlord does business with heart.
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Now it’s your turn.
Will you share a story or two below? Include your e-mail address, in case we have questions for you! Don’t worry though – your e-mail address won’t be viewable by the public – unless you want it to be.
Also – in case you haven’t looked at them – here’s a link to read more about Heart Cards. Whether you use our Heart Cards to do it or not, we hope you will say thank you to those who do business with heart.
©2009 – Business Class Inc
Handling Rejection: Tips from Mick Mixon
It’s hard not to get hot when you get rejected. But for those who want to be better managers, for those who are serious about service, for those who wanna get to goal…staying cool and focused is critical.
Here’s a cool approach that Mick Mixon, Voice of the Carolina Panthers, shared with us during a Business Class interview.
You can listen to it (2 1/2 minutes) or read it or both.
Mick told us that early in his career, he sold advertising for a radio station in South Carolina.
One of his prospects was Roses. When Mick called the manager to ask for an appointment, the manager said that he didn’t have any use for Mick or anyone at his station.
Mick was taken aback. This guy didn’t even KNOW him. It ruined his day. Mick didn’t want to do sales anymore after that. Then he thought about athletes. They miss shots all the time. And missed shots put you closer to made shots.
Mick decided he wasn’t going to let this guy beat him – he refused to let this rejection affect who he was and who he wanted to be.
A great story. A great companion piece to our Quote of the Week from Wayne Gretzky.
Two tips from two cool men – to help you keep your cool whenever you face rejection.
copyright 2009 – Jan Bolick, Business Class Inc
Other Stories from Mick
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On managing yourself & others
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