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This is a new ongoing blog post to collect and share great practical tips on starting the week off with a positive pop!! Here are just a few starting tips.  Please add your comments below so we can get this rolling.  

If you are on Twitter, chat (tweet) on Motivate Mondays with # so others can find it.  If you are not on Twitter, join up and follow me (@katenasser) and @Help_NewTweeps to get going more quickly.

Motivate Mondays: Tips to inspire a great start of the week:

• Sunday, have fun during the day, get organized in the evening, and sleep happy at night.
• Plant a big smile on your face as you go to work.  Let your actions control your feelings not the reverse.
• Do something different at work on Monday morning.  It will change the entire week.
• Ask your teams and colleagues: What will we learn this week?  Because you change how you start the week, your week will take a new and different path.

Inspiring yourself and others has great rewards.  It changes your thinking.  It changes your outlook.  It changes what happens around you because of your actions to try something different and change.

Please contribute a Motivate Mondays tip below.  We grow and change by listening and learning from others.

Kate Nasser

http://katenasser.com

A recent experience brings me to this customer service reminder.  When interacting with the customer, use the customer’s jargon not yours.   Here’s a simple true story …

A financial professional switches from selling to financial advisory firms to giving financial advice to consumers — in this case us.  In his previous job, he was speaking to people who already spoke his financial jargon.  It was daily interaction on financial products under the same regulations.  They spoke with the same jargon using spreadsheets and pie charts.  They communicated in the same way.  A perfect fit.

Now, he is advising non-financial industry professionals on their lifetime savings.  The problem: he still uses financial industry jargon and assumes we understand.  He sends us pie charts, spreadsheets, and big thick books to read.  We ask him “How much did those transactions cost us?”  We want a simple $ amount.  He sends us a paragraph with no numbers in it.

The frustration is overwhelming.  We view him as non-customer focused.  He is making life difficult.   Can you envision what is about to happen? 

What do your customers think of you and your service?   Do you use the customers’ jargon or yours?

Remember:

1. Speak the language of the customer to build trust and loyalty!
2. Ask open-ended questions that unearth what they want to achieve.
3. Listen with their listening-style.
4. Ask creative follow-up questions.
5. Use their jargon — not yours!

You are welcome to quote and share any part of this blog post if you will list the URL http://katenasser.com.

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach

908.595.1515 (USA)

A recent discussion post on LinkedIn posed the following question:

Most IT job postings list many skill sets.  How does one overcome this challenge when you have some but not ALL of the skills sets the employer is seeking?  My answer is: first apply your efforts to sketching a true picture of yourself.  Go beyond the list of technical skills and projects completed. 

As I coach many IT professionals, I guide them to see what they offer along with their technical skills.

Use this list to honestly assess your strengths:

• Are you great at seeing the bigger picture of individual tasks?
• Or are you truly better at digging in to the deep details?
• Are you great at initiating change or better at contributing once it starts?
• If you have great expertise in your technical area, are you also good at explaining/teaching it to others?
• Do you have experience in quickly rotating on/off project teams?
• Or do you have a special knack for building long term relationships within a team?
• Do you learn very quickly?
• What about IT work excites you?
• What level of satisfaction do you get working with end-user clients?  Any?
• Or do you shine at working behind the scenes to build state-of-the art systems?
• Do you have experience with different cultures even in your personal life? Valuable in a global environment.
• How experienced are you in giving presentations in your area of expertise?
• Are you the inventive creative techie?
• Or are you a customer-focused IT professional?
• What few words would your closest friends use to describe your strongest traits?

What else would you add to this list that highlights who you are?  Do not include that you can read both analog and digital clocks as did one job applicant.  Sadly this is a true story and the skill mentioned is not a standout!

Now sketch a picture of yourself with words.  Be concise, punchy, and include the benefits to your potential employer using key words from the job post description.  Not only will you have a better chance of getting a job; you will have a better chance of getting a job that fits your natural talents and interests.  If writing is truly not your strength, get help from someone who writes well.  Isn’t that what networking is all about? 

Please add your suggestions for the above list in the comments section below.  You are welcome to quote pieces of this article if you will be kind enough to post my name and the URL for this blog post.

Thanks for visiting this blog and get ready for the job fit you have always wanted! 

Click the RSS feed button to receive more actionable blog posts from me …

– Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach and Former Techie

http://katenasser.com

Picture it.  Your organization is planning a live or on-line event.  You need a dynamic keynote speaker who is on target.  Due to budget you are not going after the most famous speakers whose specialty you already know.  

How do you select the right professional speaker from the millions (yes — millions) out there?  There are hundreds of speaker sites with pictures, videos, bios, one sheets, and testimonials.  Before you search these sites, use these guidelines to prepare and save time.

To find the right professional keynote speaker for your live or online event, first answer the following 7 questions:

1. What is the primary thing you want the audience to  experience? 
   Change in perspective?  
   Fun time?
   Touching moment?
   Deep thought?
   Change in behavior?
   Specific skills?
   Call to action?
2. Who is your target audience  — specifically?  Sounds like a simple question yet take a minute and describe it more completely.  For example: Our target audience is front-line customer service professionals and their front-line managers in the technology industry faced with the stress of reorganization and possible downsizing or outsourcing.  They are from all over the globe and vary in culture, age, and background.   
3. What one topic will connect best to your event?
   Leadership?  Customer Service?   Teamwork?   Change?   Finance?   Healthcare?   Sales?   etc….
4. Given that one topic, what is the ONE message you want your audience to receive? 
   Dig just a bit deeper to highlight some specifics.  Example: If your main topic is customer service, clarify whether you mean selling to customers or serving customers.  This is the biggest area of confusion and often you end up with the wrong speaker.  There is a difference between sales and service!  Is your message how to sell better or how to serve better?
5. If you are not the decision maker for this event, ask the decision maker(s) what situation would keep them awake at night?  In tough times, this is the topic they will most likely purchase. 
6. Also ask the decision maker(s), what bright picture do they see for their business or industry.  If they are visionary leaders, they will purchase a topic that will help get them there.
7. Scope and reach.  Do they picture this event with a local or global focus?  Simply within their industry or across industries?  Does it affect all generations or a specific one?  Will there be different cultures involved? This scope and reach step clarifies the needs even further and puts a spotlight on those speakers you will want.

You will get far better proposals from speakers when you first prepare with this list.   Regardless of your topic or audience, these 7 questions will help you sail through the speakers’ sites with greater speed and *most importantly with the end result of picking the right speaker for your live or on-line event.

I have been a professional speaker and trainer on customer service, teamwork, and change for 20 years.  I ask these 7 questions when planners call me.    It tells me right away if I am the right speaker for their event or if not, who I would recommend.  So I offer these 7 questions for your success in finding the right speaker every time!

I welcome your questions, comments, and contributions in the comments field below.   You are welcome to use this info on other sites if you will credit this site as the source. 

To receive updates and  my new blog posts, please click the RSS feed button.  I look forward to your events when I am the right speaker and helping you find the one when I’m not.

Many thanks and speak with you soon!  Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach