Anne Rose

Anne Rose is President of Cameron Park, California-based Celebrate-Travel, a boutique travel agency specializing in custom-designed leisure travel. She is passionate about travel and loves helping consumers experience the joys of travel. Prior to owning a travel agency, Anne served as Director of Communications for a multinational corporation, owned a marketing agency, hosted radio programs, and taught seminars on communications, publishing, and marketing.

Articles by Anne Rose

• Signs that your business may scream, ‘I’m cheap!’

  Tuesday, November 24, 2020

  People assume that your public image matches the product or service you’re offering. How else could they gauge your quality if they don’t know you? The visible image should reflect the invisible. If you have a cheap or unprofessional image, the public will assume your product is likewise cheap and unprofessional. That’s not a good scenario if you’re trying to sell high quality. Here are some of the ways your professional business is accidentally screaming, "I’m cheap!" despite your protestations to the contrary.

• Changing suppliers: When it’s time to cut the ties

  Friday, November 13, 2020

  After some time in business, you’ve likely developed strong relationships with a certain set of suppliers. You know what they can do for you and when, you know their policies and procedures, and you’re comfortable that your goals and values are congruent. All well and good, but unless you periodically analyze the status of your relationships, it’s too easy to fall into complacency and make assumptions that are no longer valid. Then you risk misplaced loyalty. So, here are signs that it is time to critically assess your loyalty to long-standing suppliers, perhaps cut those ties, and look afield for new suppliers.

• How hard do you make your customers work to buy something from you?

  Friday, October 23, 2020

  You’ve invested time, energy, and significant money to establish your business and promote it to the public in an effort to sell your goods and services. All you need now are customers. But at this point, how hard do you make these potential customers work to buy your products and services? By your actions and oversights, are you effectively telling your prospective customers that you don’t really want their business? I've encountered business owners who virtually tell customers to "go away; I don’t want your business," and then are surprised when customers do exactly that.

• A ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ promise holds you hostage to another’s happiness

  Wednesday, October 14, 2020

  We recently discussed the real hazards of stamping "lifetime warranty" on your products. A close corollary to that is promising "satisfaction guaranteed" on your professional services. You might make that offer because you are proud of the quality of your services — so confident that your work will be above reproach that you are implicitly claiming that you’ll redo the work or refund to make the customer happy. Think about that outrageous promise. How can you possibly guarantee another’s happiness? Why hold yourself hostage to that?

• A massive no-no: Hiring to repay a favor, not because someone is the best candidate

  Monday, September 28, 2020

  Hiring an employee or appointing someone to take charge of an important assignment is a serious endeavor. Ideally, it’s one in which you critically assess the skills and character of the applicant before selecting the most suitable. Ideally. But sometimes such a decision isn’t so much a thoughtful, critical judgment as it is an emotional, visceral response to a perceived sense of obligation.

• The hazards of a lifetime warranty: Whose lifetime are we talking about?

  Monday, September 14, 2020

  Beware of stamping "lifetime warranty" on your products without considering all the ramifications. It’s a well-intentioned move, perhaps. But it’s also primed for fraud and abuse. You might offer that logo as a proud symbol of your product’s quality — that it can withstand a lifetime of use and, therefore, is worthy of your purchase. Some customers, however, interpret that logo as not worthy of their investment in care or respect because, "No big deal if I break it; I’ll just get a free replacement."

• How nice is nice enough to justify carrying the weakest link?

  Thursday, August 27, 2020

  An old TV show featured teams where the "weakest links" were kicked off until only one person was left standing. These weak links were judged as being the smallest asset to the team and presented the biggest liability to the team's success. In the TV show, the weakest link was decided by the number of correct answers to factual questions. What measures could be effectively used to judge your organization’s weakest link?

• Saboteurs and whisperers can destroy your company. Here’s how to stop them

  Thursday, August 13, 2020

  You've met them. You've probably worked with them. You may have hired them. They're everyone's friend. Smile to your face. Pretend to care about you and support you. But turn your back, and they're nobody's friend. They're smooth and masterful saboteurs. It's all part of the game plan. Why do these saboteurs engage in such demoralizing, unhealthy, and toxic behavior?

• Decision crossroads: Restart your travel business or let it die and move on?

  Thursday, July 23, 2020

  The world is struggling with a pandemic that has had catastrophic effects on human life, our society, our sense of security, and our sense of connectedness. And the travel industry, which employs millions, has clearly been decimated. Those of us in the travel industry are at a crossroads. Do you embark on a path to resuscitate your moribund travel business? Or do you let it die and move on to something else?

• You can’t step into the future with one foot tethered to the past

  Wednesday, July 15, 2020

  When contemplating a major change in your life, have you tempered the risky future by offering yourself some variation of a return to the past? You’re focusing on what you’re leaving behind, not the future. You’re planning to revert before you’ve even gone forward. Can you set yourself up for failure? Absolutely.

• Dealing with the loss of interpersonal respect and repairing strained relationships in your career

  Wednesday, July 08, 2020

  Trust is the foundation for all interpersonal relationships, personal and professional. Trusting and respecting another person cannot be rushed. Trust necessarily develops over time where a pattern of predictable integrity can be established. How long does that take? Sometimes months, sometimes years. It is not an overnight quality to bestow. And yet a quality that takes so long to be earned can be easily lost in one interaction. Loss of respect occurs when someone doesn’t behave in the manner you have been led to believe.

• A crisis shatters your complacency — and that’s good

  Wednesday, June 24, 2020

  Almost everyone has experienced some sort of personal crisis in life, some more cataclysmic than others. Some of us have endured divorce, job loss, death, estrangement, and broken relationships. No one can escape a crisis of some kind because it’s the human condition. But recently, we have collectively undergone several public crises in health, societal fabric, trust in our institutions, and morality. And that’s shattered our complacency that life is good, life is predictable, life is fair, and life is secure.

• Finding the upside of ‘Groundhog Day’

  Tuesday, June 02, 2020

  During our worldwide quarantine, I've heard numerous groans about every day being "Groundhog Day," a reference to an old Bill Murray movie where every day was a rerun of the previous. But regardless of the lockdown, how many of us run busily through our days, repeating mechanically the previous day’s agenda? If you're going through rote motions of living, then you've already been living through "Groundhog Day." Well, this quarantine forces us to be still, to think. When we are moving mechanically and busily through life, we don’t often take the time to think; we just do.

• Fear of the unknown

  Thursday, May 07, 2020

  Fear of the unknown can be debilitating. In recent months, we've witnessed how irrational, intangible fears have caused panic buying, hoarding, greed, brawling, and poor business decisions. "Irrational fears" have no basis in a present reality. Fear of the unknown requires you to ignore or minimize the state of your current circumstances and focus on worst-case future possible scenarios. It's the "what ifs" that will cripple you because they are predicated on the worst possible catastrophes becoming reality.

• Who’s in control?

  Monday, April 20, 2020

  Who's in control? Not you. And certainly not me. Yet most of us seek to control every aspect of our lives: where we live, where we work, who we befriend, how we dedicate our free time. That sounds reasonable, right? But nevertheless, that is a full-time job. If all that isn't enough, we also seek to control the uncontrollable outside ourselves. You should realize that there are many uncontrollable aspects to life. And that fact has shaken and frightened many people who thrive on order, not chaos, in the mistaken notion that they can control the variables of life. Here are some suggestions to keep you focused.

• Letting go of costly mistakes

  Wednesday, April 01, 2020

  Everyone makes mistakes. As long as humans are involved, mistakes are a part of life. We should try to minimize them, but the fact remains that someday, someone, will make a mistake. How do you, as an employer, forgive and let this go?

• Don’t get fooled by the manipulator

  Tuesday, March 10, 2020

  All manipulators are the same. Just the circumstances and the victims change. You hire an employee who seems to be an asset. She’s friendly and easy-going. Always has a smile. She frequently takes the initiative to create projects and implement them. Wow, what a go-getter, you think. But perhaps after a couple of months, it begins to dawn on you that while she’s great at thinking up fun little projects to keep herself busy, she’s doing everything and anything except the work you assign her to.

• How do you recover from an upsetting interaction?

  Friday, February 21, 2020

  You just had an upsetting interaction with an employee that left you with a sour taste and unsettled spirit. Or you just had an angry customer yell at you because you won't replace a chair that their dog broke for free. Or perhaps you just had an attempted shoplifter make a scene in order for you to placate their temper tantrum with free goods. In short, we've all had those days when a negative interaction leaves us feeling angry, hurt, resentful, and out of sorts. But what happens when that interaction is finished and you're not finished feeling upset?

• Visionary vs. manager: Why both are necessary in business

  Wednesday, February 12, 2020

  We bring our unique personalities into the workplace. Some of us enjoy creating new ideas, thinking about future improvements, and experimenting to improve matters. Others are the polar opposite. These are the people who enjoy taming chaos, managing the status quo, and streamlining processes. As I've mentioned in previous articles, all organizations need both these types of people because the balance is where most progress occurs. When one type of thinking dominates the other in a company, a failed outcome is predictable.

• The cost of changing jobs

  Thursday, January 30, 2020

  What is the cost of changing jobs? Make no mistake, there is always a cost involved that has nothing to do with salary. Gone are the days when the norm was to work one job at one company until retirement. We have a much more mobile workforce with more opportunities, and people change jobs often to avail themselves of perceived advantages, better pay, and better work-life balance. But sometimes when you change jobs, the benefits don't materialize as you'd expected, and regrets ensue.

• 6 clues your employee is considering quitting

  Wednesday, January 15, 2020

  Sometimes when valued employees submit their resignation, it may seem like it came out of nowhere. You had no clue it was coming, and it stuns you. How could you have missed the signs and could you have done anything about it? If he needed more of a challenge, you could have offered it. If she needed a higher pay, then maybe you could have somehow sweetened the deal. If it had been a troublesome co-worker, then maybe you could have intervened. But like a marriage in trouble, there are always signs. Here are some of the most obvious.

• Credit where credit is due

  Thursday, January 02, 2020

  I recently heard an accurate assessment of lazy people: they are always sticking their names on someone else's work. This occurs frequently in numerous situations: the politician's proposed legislation, prominent with his name but written by his unnamed staff. Or, the academic whose name is credited on the front page of the peer-reviewed journals is actually indebted to unnamed underlings who did the bulk of the study. This is really common in work settings where "work" is defined as the result of some committee.

• Knowing when the ruts of life have hit

  Thursday, December 12, 2019

  You start a new job. It's exciting to learn all the nuances of your responsibilities. Each day is a challenge. Stressful, sure, but nonetheless exciting to be stretched outside your comfort zone. At some point, the job becomes second nature — like driving a car. Frankly, it can get a little boring because you no longer have to think so hard. Next thing you know, that routine becomes your prison. How did you lose your initial excitement? Where did it go and why? Ruts are symptomatic that learning has stagnated.

• Beware of chasing counterfeits

  Tuesday, December 03, 2019

  Have you ever wanted something so badly that you overlook any possible negatives and focus solely on the positives you perceive? It doesn’t matter if it’s a person, a job, a career choice, or even a food — the desire for that can consume you and impair your judgment. You elevate the benefits of that one thing and either overlook or blindly ignore any other qualifying attributes. I remember early in my professional life I really wanted to work for a particular company. I had gotten it in my head that that workplace was perfect for me. I did get hired, and it wasn’t long before the reality set in.

• Don’t dig a deeper hole for yourself

  Wednesday, November 20, 2019

  Here's the quandary: you've allowed an employee's unacceptable behavior to continue long term without serious repercussions. Now what? You personally like this employee. When she's at work, she does a good job. Co-workers and customers like her. The problem is her chronic absenteeism or tardiness, for example. You tried talking with this person months ago, which resulted in a lot of tears that only made you somehow feel guilty for hurting her feelings. She promised to improve, and for a couple of days, she did.

• The terrible nature of expedient principles

  Tuesday, November 05, 2019

  ​The word "principles" is bandied about often, as in, "It’s against my principles to do XYZ," or, "My life is built on solid moral and ethical principles." Principles are good. They are a guideline how to live your life consistently to the standards you profess to espouse. Not having any principles is typically not good. It's fairly easy to discern the principled from the unprincipled people, and you can easily choose which group of people you'd prefer to associate with. What’s tricky is discerning the people with expedient principles.

• 6 signs that it’s time to call it quits

  Wednesday, October 02, 2019

  When is it time to quit your job or sell your business? It’s not an exact science with a finite timeline. It’s as precise as "buy low and sell high" in real estate or the stock market. You don’t want to leave before you’ve hit your apex, but you also don’t want to ignore the signs that you’re becoming the no-longer-funny comedian or the pathetic boxer past his prime that everyone pities. Here are some signs that it’s time to move on.

• Loyalty is a 2-way street

  Friday, September 20, 2019

  I often hear business owners and corporation executives bemoan the lack of loyalty among their underlings. They complain about staff turnover and how staff will move to another company at the drop of a hat, their employees’ willingness to publicly disparage the company they work for, and their eagerness to discourage others from joining the company by openly sharing the "dirty laundry." If you can find another person to hire in this person's place, then that’s a smart, no-brainer business solution. Right? But take another look: loyalty is a two-way street.

• The open door policy

  Wednesday, September 11, 2019

  Now, I’m not talking about a literal or figurative open door to the boss’ office that purports to encourage employee-employer communication. I am referring to doors of opportunity. Sometimes you don’t even recognize that it’s a door; you’re just plugging along, wondering why, putting one step in front of the other and not sure of your path, and suddenly you realize that you’ve walked through what you didn’t recognize as a door to future possibilities. Such a thing happened to me recently.

• How do you help staff climb a career ladder when there isn’t one?

  Wednesday, September 04, 2019

  One of the issues that concerns small retailers is staff turnover. Human resources is the largest expenditure a retailer has to contend with, and when you add the cost of training and a less-efficient employee during training, you want to do everything you can to reduce turnover. But turnover is especially problematic when your staff consists mostly of entry-level employees earning minimum wage or close to that: cashiers, stockers, floor clerks, etc. What career ladder is there to motivate a cashier to stay cashiering at one store?

• The folly of ‘they’re going to buy from someone; it may as well be you’

  Monday, August 26, 2019

  When I was first starting out in sales many years ago, I was advised to regard every person I encountered as a viable sales prospect. It was just a matter of me persuasively demonstrating the benefits of what I had to sell that would convert them from looking to buying. Don’t discount anyone was the wisdom; they’re going to buy something from someone, so let it be you. Terrible advice. First of all, not everyone who is looking is really going to buy! Some people, and I know quite a few, just enjoy window shopping. They have no intention of buying anything from anyone.

• Compete on others’ weaknesses, not their strengths

  Wednesday, August 21, 2019

  When your niche is responsible for your success, why would your company abandon that winning strategy to compete against other companies' strengths? A chain of hardware stores that owes its success to its niche of providing personal customer service, advice, and DIY knowledge has recently considered competing against big online stores to deliver products in one day. Does that make sense to abandon your core competency and spend inordinate money to expand in an area that another has already locked up?

• How to thrive in a competitive market sector

  Tuesday, August 13, 2019

  While certain retail sectors are struggling to cope in a competitive marketplace, Gold Country Ace Hardware in Cameron Park, California, has managed to thrive and surpass its regional hardware competitors, including the big-name/big-box stores and the local mom-and-pop shops. Robert Blum, vice president of Blum Enterprises, which owns Gold Country Ace Hardware, explains the management strategies that catapulted them to their success and being awarded Pinnacle status by Ace for "exemplary performance." "We have always tried to remain relevant to our local community," Blum explains.

• When you’re too keen to make a sale at any cost

  Wednesday, August 07, 2019

  It's happened to me, and maybe it's happened to you. You’re so keen to make a sale that you overrule the warning signs your gut is giving you. I recently fielded a phone call from a distressed woman who needed help planning a honeymoon, but no other travel agents would speak with her. My first thought was, "Are you that much of a pain in the neck that no one will talk with you?" And as fast as that thought entered my head, it fled. Why didn't I listen to myself?

• How to role model good choices for your employees

  Friday, August 02, 2019

  I am not advocating parenting your employees. But some of your employees may not have had the best role models in their life, so they have undeveloped critical judgment skills and poor decision-making with an inability to predict the consequences of their behavior. I worked with a young lady once who had barely been on the job for one week before asking for a day off to go shopping with her mother. That judgment is bad enough, but she confided to me that her mother had advised her to simply call in sick and not risk asking for the day off!

• Making the best of days where it all goes wrong

  Wednesday, July 17, 2019

  Have you ever had one of those days where nothing goes right and everything goes wrong? No matter what you touch, there’s a screw-up. At the end of the day, you have nothing to show for your work and just wish you could have a "do-over." I had one of those days recently. Absolutely nothing went right. Total failure. Failed culinary skills. Failed computer skills. I was a failure. The day was a failure! The next morning it occurred to me what my biggest failure was: measuring my day by whether or not activities proceeded according to my plan.

• It’s not me; it’s you

  Wednesday, July 10, 2019

  We are frequently encouraged to focus on our strengths and "work on," that is, tamp down, our less sterling personality traits. But just who gets to determine what your strength is and what your character flaws are? Other people? Has anyone told you you’re obstinate? Or too blunt without any discretion? These "well-meaning" critics point out these damning personality flaws in the hopes that you’ll change and make their lives easier in getting along with you. But frequently, the so-called flaw is simply an exaggeration of an asset.

• How to doom your business in 7 easy steps

  Wednesday, July 03, 2019

  Most businesses begin with a dream — a dream of offering a unique product or service to a hungry market. But you can’t stop with the dream, or it stays an unfulfilled dream. The dream has to be implemented with careful planning: who is the market, how to reach it, how to produce the product or service efficiently, how to price it correctly, and how to promote it. Dreaming is easy; planning is not. In this article, we'll talk about failure — because it’s easier to fail than to succeed. Here are seven easy ways to ensure that your business proposition will fail.

• Can you really assess the value of a new customer?

  Wednesday, June 19, 2019

  It would be profitable to know in advance who is going to be a "good" and "loyal" customer — one who patronizes your services frequently, spends money on your products or services, and is always pleasant and courteous to deal with. You could provide that customer extra services, knowing that your investment would reap benefits in ensuring his even longer-term patronage. Oh, to know in advance. But here’s the problem in prejudging the long-term value of a customer: you could be dead wrong in your assumptions.

• Fixing those inevitable mistakes

  Friday, June 07, 2019

  The issue isn’t whether we make mistakes. We all make mistakes, some more frequently than others, and some mistakes more critical than others. The issue is: when you do fix them? Or is it safe to ignore the "little" mistakes? As a service provider, I hate making mistakes that will impact my clients’ expectations; even if those mistakes aren’t catastrophic, they nevertheless diminish my reputation and professionalism in my clients’ eyes.

• The time to have fun is when you have no time

  Wednesday, May 22, 2019

  We live in a fast-paced world, no doubt about it. We are constantly rushing here and there for appointments, for work, for shopping, for school, for church, or for sports obligations. There’s no time for anything because your schedule is packed with things you must do, not necessarily what you want to do. But these obligations are generally man-made. They are the product of our own demands and self-expectations, where busyness is frequently valued more highly than productivity. Not only do we adults get caught up in this endless cycle of busyness, I’ve witnessed it in the children they parent as well.

• You don’t bring me flowers anymore: When customers turn on you

  Monday, April 15, 2019

  One day you’re walking on water, the best thing since sliced bread, you can do no wrong, and your customer is going to tell all their friends how wonderful your product and service are. And the next day, wham, suddenly you’re a pariah, a nobody, the worst ever, and they’re going to report you to the authorities to have your licenses revoked, have you thrown in jail, and bashed on any social media that exists. What happened? Did you change overnight? Did the other person change overnight? Did the circumstances surrounding your relationship change overnight?

• The case for being uncomfortable

  Thursday, April 04, 2019

  You get comfortable with your comfortable furniture, comfortable house, comfortable job, comfort food. Comfort zone. Why all the emphasis on comfort? When you're comfortable, you don't have to exert yourself physically or mentally. There are few decisions to be made; there's a familiar routine that demands little of you. There is security in the rote. Or is there? What some perceive as security can be an illusion.

• How to correct negative misperceptions

  Monday, March 04, 2019

  Negative misperceptions are easy to acquire and hard to erase. "She's a very rude and unfriendly person. She looked right at me and didn't even say hello or acknowledge me." "Oh, that guy is a crook. I called him about some work I needed, and he wanted $300 just to give me a quote." Maybe the "rude" person who didn’t say hello actually didn’t see you but was staring off in the distance in a daydream. Maybe you’ve mixed up the service fellow with a different but similarly named person. Where and how do these misperceptions originate?

• Check that behavior at the door

  Wednesday, February 20, 2019

  As a manager, how do you respond to behavior you don't approve of, whether it's because it violates company policy or company culture? Perhaps that behavior isn't terribly offensive but just a little annoying that you can almost ignore it. For example, one employee clocks in three minutes late without a compelling reason. That’s not so bad, is it? Yes, it is that bad, because of human nature. The old adage, "give an inch, take a foot,” applies. That three-minute tardiness, unaddressed, insidiously and chronically morphs into 10-minute tardiness, or 30-minute tardiness, or one hour.

• Pollyanna was right: Why you should always be grateful

  Monday, February 11, 2019

  People who have only vaguely heard about Pollyanna often wrongly describe her as a naïve goody-two-shoes who was blindly optimistic, regardless of reality. Actually, her personality was to simply focus on the good in a situation and to be grateful no matter what your circumstances. There's nothing wrong with being grateful for your life. Gratitude is not reserved exclusively for the fourth Thursday in November; it should be a perpetual state of mind.

• No thanks — I have enough customers

  Monday, January 07, 2019

  A business has to walk a delicate line between serving existing customers and prospecting for new ones. It’s hard enough when you have a big company with distinct departments to handle the unique needs of each. But when you’re a mom-and-pop operation or a solo entrepreneur, those challenges are magnified. And if you decide you can’t take care of your customers and solicit new ones at the same time, the repercussions for ignoring one of those constituencies are negative. Choose to serve existing customers only, and you’ll find, one day, you have no fresh pool of people who needs your services.

• What do your written words say about your brand?

  Thursday, December 13, 2018

  Businesses frequently invest a lot of energy and many resources into ensuring that their brand identity accurately reflects what they’re about. Misspellings, bad grammar, invented words, misplaced apostrophes can all detract from that carefully crafted identity. I recently passed by a boutique chocolate shop that advertised custom, specialty chocolate desserts, handmade with attention to detail. But glaring at me from the store window was a big sign advertising that they sold chocolate carmels. You read that right: chocolate "carmels."

• Little white lies can add up to destroy your credibility

  Wednesday, November 28, 2018

  We tell little white lies to make our lives easier, to get ahead in business, to sell a product, to disguise our ignorance, to give ourselves some leverage in a relationship, and to avoid any confrontation. Everyone tells little white lies. They don’t hurt anyone. Don’t they? A customer relayed to me that her previous travel advisor had advised her to take a taxi from the train to the dock to catch her ferry. Many euros and a half-hour later, she discovered the cab driver had simply driven around the block because her destination and arrival point were one and the same — just a different entrance.

• Hello? Is anyone listening? The perils of not paying attention

  Friday, November 16, 2018

  A lecturer spends 15 minutes detailing how their business is different from a competitor, and invariably, an attendee raises his hand to interrupt with a burning question, "But can you tell us how you’re different from a competitor?" Huh? Where has this person been for the last 15 minutes? Why waste the lecturer’s time and irritate other attendees who have been listening? I encounter one-sided phone conversations, in-person conversations, emails, voicemails and lectures daily. Even those automated voice robots aren’t listening!

• Are your expectations too great?

  Monday, October 15, 2018

  It’s admirable to have great expectations — whether in your personal life or your professional career: to expect to do well in school, to expect to be successful in your new job, to expect to have a fulfilling relationship, to expect to be a terrific parent. But is there such a thing as having expectations that are too great? That your expectations far exceed reality? Is there a possibility that your expectations are unreasonable and unattainable? Are there any downsides to having to great expectations?

• When it’s time for an employee to go

  Tuesday, October 02, 2018

  An old Buffy Sainte-Marie love song crooned about staying until it’s time to go. That applies to the work world, too, when a longtime, valued employee, seemingly out of the blue, announces he’s quitting because, "it’s time to go and move on." Why, you ask, stunned? Because it’s just time, is the vague answer. When is it time to go, and is there a way to delay that time, and should you even try?

• Sacrificing service on the altar of efficiency

  Wednesday, September 19, 2018

  Few companies like to see wasted effort, loss of productivity, and wasted resources. Efficiency is hailed as the end goal of every organization. But sometimes customer service is sacrificed in this quest for efficiency. Even small businesses use automated voicemails to route phone customers to the right department. Press 1 for store location and hours. Press 2 for new orders. Press 3 for existing orders. Press 4 for accounting. Sure, you haven’t wasted a real employee’s time to route that call, but in the meantime, you've possibly alienated a customer who just wants someone to give him a tracking number for his overdue order without it taking 15 minutes to get a live person who can look up the information.

• The Ten Commandments for customers

  Tuesday, July 31, 2018

  Much ado is made about delivering excellent customer service. You take care of your customers, give them the products and services they desire, go out of your way to treat them respectfully, and diligently work hard to earn their business and loyalty. But do customers have a reciprocal obligation to earn your respect — and service — by treating you equally well? I think there are mutual obligations in the business-customer relationship. Here are my Ten Commandments for customers.

• Yes, you can be confrontational

  Monday, July 16, 2018

  The word "confront" has acquired such a negative connotation. When someone is described as confrontational, you think of an argumentative person, or a critical, whiny person. Someone who enjoys "picking a fight," or is a bully that enjoys beating others down. It doesn’t need to be that way. Confront only means to face head-on, directly, and unequivocally. This is often healthier than passive-aggressive actions that some managers take to avoid confronting unacceptable behavior.

• Last impressions usually last, so don’t neglect them

  Friday, June 08, 2018

  You know first impressions count. Your customer makes assumptions about the kind of company you have during its first interactions. Polite? Friendly? Helpful? Accurate? Service-oriented? These kinds of assumptive conclusions are formed within the first few seconds, and the succeeding interactions either confirm or negate those impressions. But what about last impressions? Often overlooked, last impressions are also lasting.

• Pay your staff what they’re worth

  Wednesday, May 30, 2018

  How do you calculate what to pay your staff? Anticipated revenues? Operating costs? What the market will bear? Why not pay your staff what you think their job is worth? How much does the success of your business depend on the successful functioning of this person? When you take advantage of someone and pay them the minimum expected or legally allowed, regardless of their value, guess what? You’ll get the minimum expected work out of that employee in reciprocity as retribution.

• When sympathy goes wrong

  Monday, May 14, 2018

  Have you ever hired a person, not because you thought they would be an asset to your company, but simply because you felt sorry for them? You think, “no one else would ever hire this person,” or “they have a rough life and deserve a break.” Having sympathized with their circumstances, you bend over backwards to keep this person employed to give them an opportunity for a fresh start. In short, you’ve forgiven a lot of transgressions because of misplaced sympathy.

• 4 ways to help your staff cope with nasty customers

  Monday, April 30, 2018

  ​You’ve hired cheerful and flexible staff to interact with your customers. But even the most cheerful team member can get rattled, defensive, or angry when confronted by a belligerent customer. And yes, belligerent customers do exist. They are the people having a lousy day (or a lousy life) and feel better about themselves by berating and bullying others, especially those who aren’t in a position to fight back. So, what to do?

• 6 clues that a job applicant won’t be a good fit

  Thursday, October 05, 2017

  ​You're short-staffed and eagerly looking to hire new employees. Your goal is to vet the most qualified candidates and select the applicants that have the most valuable skills for your business and who will fit into your organization's culture and personality. Skills are an objective quality to assess which makes it a fairly easy appraisal.

• The dangers of segmenting your customers

  Friday, September 22, 2017

  ​Here is just a smattering of the marketing segments that are all the rage now in the business world: baby boomers, millennials, LGBT, honeymooners, families, singles, athletes, racial identities, bachelor/bachelorette, gender-specific, and on and on.

• When a new hire quits before starting, it’s not all bad

  Monday, June 26, 2017

  ​You've carefully interviewed all the candidates, finally deciding on the one applicant who seemed to have all the attributes you required: maturity, dependability, social skills, customer service expertise and an internal motivation to learn and excel. So what do you do when that new hire quits minutes before the start of her first shift on the job?

• Toxic vs. healthy competition in the workplace

  Tuesday, June 13, 2017

  Competition in the workplace isn't necessarily a good or bad quality. It all depends on the purpose of the competition, how it's applied and the desired outcome. Healthy competition endeavors to work toward a common goal, whether it's increased revenues, increased customer base or increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• Have I delivered excellent customer service?

  Thursday, December 08, 2016

  Call a company's customer service department about a problem or issue, and invariably the service rep ends the call with the all-too-familiar question, "Have I delivered excellent customer service?" What exactly is the point of such a question? Understandably, the companies want to know how their customers perceive their brand's willingness to address and resolve problems. They want to foster customer satisfaction and loyalty, and they want to leave customers with the perception that the company cares about them.

• When your co-worker forgets to work

  Tuesday, May 24, 2016

  ​Have you ever worked in an office where it seems your co-workers have forgotten the word "work" is in their job description? You know the type: sits around chatting with anyone who will listen, finds reasons to leave the work station and gad about, stretches out a simple 20-minute task to make it last an entire day.

• Leading people and managing processes

  Wednesday, May 04, 2016

  Supervisory staff are frequently labeled "managers" with staff to "manage." But the most common synonyms and definitions of manage — control, manipulate, direct, handle, keep submissive, contrive — don't really speak to the leadership qualities you need to inspire staff toward a common goal.

• When is good service too good?

  Thursday, February 11, 2016

  If you're in the service industry, whether travel or retail, you might pride yourself in offering excellent customer service as a selling advantage over your competitors. But is there a moment when good service becomes too good — unprofitable and unproductive?

• Top 5 staff-killing behaviors

  Tuesday, January 26, 2016

  If your staff is underperforming and not meeting your expectations, maybe you should take a look at your behavior and see if it's in sync with the messages you're giving out. When there is a disconnect between what the boss says and what the boss does, your staff will always give more weight to the boss's behavior.

• 3 tips to become a people expert

  Tuesday, January 19, 2016

  ​Angry people you can't seem to please. Unhappy clients who tell you on their return about a bad experience on their vacation you could have resolved but can do nothing about now. Wending your way through a bureaucracy to find the right person or the right department to resolve your issue. A bitter co-worker who is infecting the office morale or a dictatorial boss who's making everyone miserable.

• Sales 201: A quick refresher for travel agents

  Friday, January 08, 2016

  ​You probably have been in sales for a while and think you're pretty good at it. But even the best athletes, no matter how much they excel, still practice regularly. It's too easy to get complacent in your trade and settle for a status quo when it might be possible to raise the standard just a bit.

• You can’t just wave your magic wand

  Tuesday, December 15, 2015

  Your client is mad at you because he wouldn't take your advice on buying trip insurance, and now he's lost his vacation investment due to an unforeseen problem. You're to blame for not forcing him to buy it. Just wave your magic wand, and presto! You've turned back the clock, and the client is agreeing with you that buying trip insurance is a smart move.

• Finding certainty in an uncertain world

  Wednesday, December 02, 2015

  ​Fear of the unknown can be paralyzing and debilitating. What if this new job doesn't work out? What will happen to my marriage? Should I move to this other town or stay put? Should I sell my house and move to an apartment? Keep my salaried job or take the plunge and start my own business?

• Sales 101: Back to basics for travel agents

  Thursday, June 11, 2015

  ​When sales are going well, it's easy to get sloppy or pick up some unhelpful habits that can cause impediments. And when sales aren't as robust as you would like, you can get discouraged and wonder what you're doing wrong and if you're even in the right business.

• Don’t let desperation drive your decisions

  Friday, April 10, 2015

  ​You're short-handed and desperately need to hire another employee, so you hire the first breathing person that mails in a job application. Or maybe there's been a dearth of clients and your bank account is desperately low. You need a client fast, so you accept the first prospective customer who calls on the phone.

• Avoid these 5 job interview no-no’s

  Thursday, April 02, 2015

  Whether you're interviewing a prospective employee or you're the one interviewing for a new position, remember that the interview is a two-way process. You're both being evaluated for professionalism, expertise and likability. For a productive interview, avoid these disasters during the process:

• 4 signs that it’s time to say goodbye to a bad employee

  Thursday, March 19, 2015

  You have a relatively new employee or independent contractor working for you. You've done training, enlisted a mentor to help this person and spent countless hours advising her on best practices. Yet there are still persistent deficiencies that leave you dissatisfied with her work.

• Why don’t things get done around here?

  Friday, March 13, 2015

  "Why don’t things get done around here?" Is this a familiar lament in your office? These "things" can range from the mundane, like cleaning the dishes in the break room, to more strategic things, like a website overhaul or marketing campaign. Here are some reasons why "things" are left undone along with some suggestions on how to fix them.

• Make your customers happier by upselling and cross-selling

  Thursday, February 19, 2015

  ​Upselling and cross-selling have negative connotations to many travel professionals, because they misunderstand those terms and their underlying rationale. Travel agents have told me, "I'm more ethical than that. I wouldn't dream of pushing them into something they don't want just so I can make more money." And therein lies the misconception.

• 4 tips to making a positive first impression

  Thursday, February 12, 2015

  Much has been written about executing amazing customer service, but let's focus today on one aspect that's immediately implementable: first impressions. You've heard the axiom, "First impressions count." They do! So why do so many people pay so little attention to how they first greet or interact with a potential client? It takes a few seconds to properly impress a new client, and it takes days or weeks (or never) to undo a negative first impression.

• How to keep your fire burning

  Thursday, February 05, 2015

  You probably remember why you went into the travel business in the first place — your love of travel and your commitment to helping others. But it’s a travel business, which means there are many operational elements that might not be quite so thrilling: business owner, manager, subordinate, peer, adviser, accountant, marketer, writer, webmaster and IT guru, to name just a few. How do you motivate yourself to tackle the necessary, but not-so-fun aspects of your travel business?

• Dealing reasonably with unreasonable people

  Thursday, January 15, 2015

  We've all had them — those difficult customers who are unreasonably angry and refuse to be placated. What are they angry about? And how do you handle them? I'm sure you can construct your own examples of unreasonable customers, but the question is how to handle them so you're not bursting blood vessels in an escalating confrontation.

• What’s the big deal about motivation?

  Friday, November 07, 2014

  ​Thousands of books have been written about motivation. It's a popular subject for seminar presenters, talk-show hosts and magazine columnists. Researchers study and publish scholarly articles on the subject. So what's the big deal? Why does the subject of motivation merit this amount of attention?

• The art of using a story to sell

  Friday, October 10, 2014

  A story makes the unfamiliar familiar. A story draws people into the experience, making them a participant, not a bystander. A story ignites their imagination and allows them to assume starring roles in the story. It allows them to feel what the characters feel, see what the characters see, and experience similar outcomes to the characters.

• Can you make a vacation package into a widget?

  Thursday, September 25, 2014

  I have sold other things in my career besides travel: jewelry, cosmetics, hardware and widgets. And I find myself lately analyzing why it might be easier to sell those things than the vacation of a lifetime.

• Manager or leader — which is best?

  Wednesday, September 17, 2014

  There's an old expression: "Managers do things right, and leaders do the right things." It is true that managers and leaders look at the world differently and exhibit opposite styles of interacting with their environment.

• The case for complexity

  Thursday, September 04, 2014

  Go easy. Take it easy. Easy does it. Nice and easy. We are constantly exhorted to do things the easy way. But is the easy way the best way? When designing your next client itinerary, why not consider the harder, more complex and more comprehensive path? There are multiple benefits to this approach as a travel agent, despite being more time-intensive.

• FAMs can be profitable in many ways

  Friday, August 29, 2014

  ​FAMs are not free trips or cheap vacations. They are a terrific opportunity for travel agents, but they also carry obligations and responsibilities if you want to make them profitable and productive. Use FAMs to explore new destinations of interest, to investigate emerging niche markets, to personally experience hotels and activities that interest you, and to sample the quality and delivery of services by prospective vendor partners.

• Do’s and don’ts for hotel site inspections

  Monday, August 18, 2014

  Personal hotel site inspections are quite valuable in learning about a hotel's attributes and limitations and what kinds of clients would fit perfectly in those properties. Over the years I've performed hotel site inspections as part of a formal FAM group and also independently.

• How do you become an expert in a new destination?

  Friday, July 18, 2014

  ​The biggest differences between online booking engines and professional travel consultants are our service, knowledge and expertise. So, how do you become an expert in a new destination? Reading one travel guide or making one visit does not make you a master, in my opinion.

• No, the customer is not always right

  Friday, June 27, 2014

  ​We've all heard the adage, "the customer is always right." I disagree. In my travel business over the years, I have encountered clients who have asked me to do something that is unethical in the least, illegal at the worst, or sometimes just plain wrong for them. How do you respond?

• Discussing travel budgets with prospective clients

  Friday, June 13, 2014

  ​Are your clients always honest in their response to your question, "What kind of budget have you allocated for this vacation?" Mine aren't. Sometimes it's simply ignorance about how much something will cost. But other times, it's mistrust and suspicion.

• Spot the losers and say ‘no thanks’

  Friday, April 25, 2014

  Do you dread seeing a particular client's caller ID or email show up on your phone or inbox? I refuse to be so desperate for any kind of business that I will subject myself to rude, demeaning, demanding, nonstop complaining or simply unlikable clients.

• Vet your travel agency’s vendors

  Wednesday, April 09, 2014

  ​How do you decide which vendors you choose to work with? There are thousands of tour operators, hotels, excursion companies, cruiselines and transfer companies all vying for your patronage. Are they equally worthy of your business? Are they equally trustworthy to deliver exactly as promised? Are they equally profitable?