Dear BEM Magazine Readers,

Elaborating on our previous post about social media technologies and properly communicating with your customers, the subject line: „”Your satisfaction is our top priority, please hold…” (with a tacky corporate music in the background) is NOT a good way for showing that you care. It actually demonstrates you are trying so hard to NOT CARE. Ok, so I am bringing you business and you can’t even pick up the phone? Imagine what kind of image and perception does it build as a customer.

So what do customers want to be happy?

As there are so many people, the list of specifications and expectations gets longer accordingly. However, it tends to be a „zero-sum game„, you either win (by giving me a great service, sense of trust, confidence and „being taken care of”or lose (man I have been waiting „on hold” for the past 5 mins, are they serious?!).

Fortunately, there are companies worldwide that get that equation right. One of them is Zappos. In short, its an online retailer focusing mainly in the shoe and clothing categories. You can learn more about them, by visiting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappos.com

So, what does Zappos do that is so extraordinary? They care. If you are after a specific shoe (brand size, color etc.) they will make sure you get it, and get it on time. Moreover, if for some reason they are out of stock on a particular item, or don’t offer it in the first place, they will send you to a competitor! Now that shoes, they are not just after that extra buck.

How did Zappos get to that place? By learning from other’s mistakes and encouraging an internal/external company culture of share values and making sure they put their customers on top of their charts. Seems stupidly simple, right? Not quite. While others are running around conferences, seminars, purchase sophisticated, high-tech CRM(customer relationship management) systems, Zappos makes sure that when someone picks up the phone on the other end, they are nice, helpful, understanding and effective. Now making sure the whole chain works is key to the company’s success and growing market penetration and increasing customer satisfaction levels.

The above has been achieved through a great leadership from Tony Hsieh, the CEO who never compromises on quality or the customer experience. Tony „injects” the company’s values and mission: „deliver ‚WOW” through the customer service, into every single one of the employees, making sure they get guidance, assistance and personal development.

If you want to learn more about how Tony Hsieh does that, I strongly recommend his book: „Delivering Happiness”, available on Amazon

So how does all that transfer to what you do? Well, next time you design the „voice mail” intro message, welcome page on your website, how you greet your customers in the lobby and all the other channels of communication, make sure to make them feel good, just like you would feel by being threated right and on an invidual basis.

Most importantly: IF YOU SCREW UP, ADMIT IT AND APOLOGIZE. IT WILL MAKE  A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE THAN: „WE WILL TRY BETTER NEXT TIME” or even worse, not admitting to the mistake at all.

So what are you still doing here?

Go, make sure you deliver happiness!

Chris Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

1. „Priority” – priorytet

2.” Tacky” – kiczowaty, nieprofesjonalny

3. „Corporate” – firmowy; korporacyjny

4. „To take care of somebody” – zajmować się; przejmować się

5. „Accordingly” – odpowiednio do

6.  „Zero-sum game” – gra o sumie zerowej

7.  „Equation” – równanie

8. „Extraordinary” – ponadprzeciętne; nadzwyczajne

9. „Out of stock” – brak produktu w inwentarzu

10. „In the first place ” – w ogóle

11. „Competitor” – konkurent

12. „To make an extra buck” – zarobić dodatkowo; dorobić się na

13. „Encourage” – zachęcać

14. „Internal” – wewnętrzny

15. „External” – zewnętrzny

16. „Sophisticated” – zaawansowany; wymyślny

17. „High-tech” – zaawansowany technologicznie

18. „Market penetration” – pozycja rynkowa

19. „Inject” – zaszczepić; wszczepić

20. „To greet someone” – przywitać się z kimś

21. „Lobby” – recepcja

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Welcome again to the Business English Magazine Blog!

If you run a private business, you must have heard this question from a customer before: „How can I find you online?” Today, answering: „I don’t have one” is virtually impossible. Moreover, alongside the rapid growth of modern channels of communication (blogs, FaceBook, YouTube, Wikipedia etc.) it is also vital to have a social media presence. Now you may think that technology/IT is not your strong side and it is reserved to geeks, students and generally Generation Y, who skype,google,facebook, tweet each other while having a Business Economics 101 class at school/University. How can there possibly be a viable business objective, strategy in it for your company?

Well, you better think again.

The rather „static” Internet of yesterday (referred to as Web 1.0) is quickly becoming the past, with a vast array of Web 2.0 tools coming to the central stage of our computer screens. Blogs are one of these new breed of tech animal species. So, how to  leverage what they have to offer for promoting/marketing your store/charity or school? Here are a few tips to get you started on the path to the modern web success.

#1 Relax – „Zero in on” what is relevant to connecting to your type of audience. If you sell chocolate it is probably not a good idea to promote it with banner ads on Google, but how about creating a blog on how the chocolate is made and running a competition for desiging the most outrageous flavor that you will then produce? Just because there are 1000000 tools out there, does not mean you have to create a profile on every single one of them.

#2 Map out what you have to offer, how do you operate and decide who and how do you want to talk to. When you decide to run that „The big bang of Chocolate X Blog”, make sure it is visible to the type of audience you want to reach. Is it made from organic, fairtrade ingredients? How about connecting to parents wary of their kids nutrition, who don’t want to feed them chocolate, and push that bitter 9-grain cereal down their mouths every morning before school? Let them know, that you have a healthy subsitute for it, that their kids will love, and they will bite off your hand for it!

#3 Don’t reinvent the wheel. Most stuff has been done and requires minimal tweaking. Visit the following „green”, sustainable blogs to get some ideas:

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/green_business/

http://www.greenmarketing.tv/2010/06/25/green-business-blog/

http://www.thegreenskeptic.com/

http://www.ecogeek.org/

#4 Read, Learn, Discover. Apart from the above web blogs examples, there are hundreds of books, videos, magazines and other resources on social media. Below are my personal favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

http://sethgodin.typepad.com

http://www.readwriteweb.com

http://mashable.com/

http://www.copyblogger.com/

http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/

#5 „Persistence trumps talent” – just because you don’t have a following of 1000 visitors/day when you first launch, does not mean you should stop. Keep at it and results will come, whether in new customers, referrals or free marketing it will only cost you a few clicks and keyboard typing.

Until next post!

Chris Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

1. „Virtually impossible” – praktycznie niemożliwe; bardzo mało prawdopodobne

2.” Rapid growth” – szybki, gwałtowny wzrost lub rozwój

3. „Vital” – niezbędny, nieodzowny

4. „Presence” – obecność

5. „Geek” – dziwak, osoba nielubiana/ nie ciesząca się popularnością

6.  „Viable” – rokujący powodzenie; wykonalny

7.  „Static” – statyczny; spoczynkowy

8. „Vast array” – ogromny szereg, zasób

9. „Web 2.0” – tzw. grupa technologii marketingu społecznościowego np. blogi, podkasty, portale społecznościowe

10. „Central stage” – centrum, środek uwagi

11. „Breed” – generacja, rasa (hodowlana)

12. „Species” – gatunek; rodzaj

13. „Leverage” – użyć, wykorzystać na korzyść

14. „Outrageous” – szokujący, kontrowersyjny

15. „To bite off someone’s hand” – „jeść komuś z ręki”

16. „To zero in on something” – skupić się, skoncentrować; zawężyć uwagę do

17. „Wary” – ostrożny

18. „Sustainable” – bezpieczny, przyjazny dla środowiska

19. „To tweak” – ulepszyć, poprawić, udoskonalić

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„What does it take to be a successful leader?„- that question goes through the minds of thousands of CEOs, COOs and other top managers-alike on a daily basis.
Leadership training is a huge chunk of the business industry itself. There are hundreds of books, programs, seminars and other forms of media published by so-called „leadership gurus„, who make a living out of this subject.

image source: http://www.audiomicro.com

See some examples below:
1. „The Little Book of Leadership”
2. „Leadership Training”
3. „Winning with Leadership”

Yet, the answer to the above question is pretty down to earth. To fully grasp the concept, we have to modify the question first: „What would happen if you stepped down from the role of a leader?”

So, as in the title, the right strategy and answer to the second question is „Leave Big shoes to fill”.
What does that mean? Think about Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Lech Wałęsa, or in a non-business-related area Pope John Paul II.
Was it easy to „get into their shoes” and find an equally remarkable leaders? Of course, some say it will never be possible.
That is what you should aim for.

The topic comes around, with the latest news from the leading American technology Apple, as their current CEO Steve Jobs „takes a leave of absence„. All eyes (especially shareholders) are on the future of the technology leader.
Who will take over the helm after such a charistmatic visionary, who managed to get himself fired from his own company to later come back and redefine the music, computing, telephone and digital electronics industry?

Those who met Jobs, defined him as a „control-freak” and perfectionist.
Whether someone stood behind his vision and leadership style, there is no doubt he has charisma and put his heart into building up Apple to the humongous size and an industry leader that redefines how consumers interact with new media and technologies.

It is „no easy feat” to be able to say that after you retire.
Thus, those CEO shoes are BIIIG to fill, right?

If you develop a vision, follow it relentlessly, care and respect your employees, ensure efficient business process management, control sales, marketing, customer relations and finance, you might just be the next „Steve Jobs” in your field.

So go out there and make sure you will be missed.
That is what it takes to be a real Leader.

If you want to learn more about latest Apple’s news on Jobs, listen to the podcast from the latest Bloomberg Businessweek Cover Story.

Chris Dargiewicz

Useful vocabulary:

1.  To go through the mind – przejść przez myśl/myśleć o
2.  CEO (Chief Executive Officer) – Dyrektor Zarządzający
3.  COO (Chief Operating Officer) – V-Ce Dyrektor/Dyrektor Operacyjny
4.  On a daily basis – na porządku dziennym/codziennie
5. Chunk – kawał; pajda
6. So-called – tak zwany; rzekomy
7. Make a living out of – utrzymywać się finansowo poprzez…/życ z…
8. Down to earth – prosty; przyziemny
9. Grasp (an idea/concept) – chwytać;złapać; zrozumieć pomysł/ideę
10. Modify – zmienić; przekształcić; zmodyfikować
11. To step down – zrezygnować; odejść
12. Aim for – dążyć do czegoś
13. To take a leave of absence – wziąść urlop
14. Shareholders – akcjonariusze
15. To take over the helm – przejąć/objąć ster
16. Redefine – przeobrazić; przekształcić
17. Control freak – kontrolująca osoba (w nadmiarze)
18.  Pefectionist – perfekcojnista;
19.  Humongous – ogromny
20. No easy feat – trudne zadanie (wcale nie tak proste)
21. Thus – stąd; więc
22. Go out there – przystąp do działania

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Welcome again to the BEM blog!

Did you ever have to design or deliver a presentation, or even worse, listen to one that is extremely boring? Unfortunately, most of the times organisations suffer from the „death by powerpoint” syndrome, illustrated in the picture below:

How to avoid being on either side of the problem?

There are a few solutions:
1. Avoid making the same mistakes that others have made.
2. Think like a designer – is 100 words/per slide really not enough or way to much? How about 0 words and a 100 images?
3. Just like location is essential in the real estate market…so is communication in business!
4. Simplify, but dont dumb down your message.
5. Ask for feedback, take notes, improve on your mistakes,
REPEAT.

Here are my favorite resources on effective business presentation design:
1. „Think like a Designer” – by Garr Reynolds
2. „The Guy Kawasaki Method” on Presentation Zen (blog by Garr Reynolds)
3. „What is Presentation Zen?”

And last, but not least, always put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Will they understand and pick up your message and in effect do what you want them to?

Chris Dargiewicz

Useful vocabulary:

1.  Extremely – szalenie
2.  To suffer from– cierpieć; tracić
3.  To avoid – uniknąć
4. Either – jeden lub drugi; którykolwiek
5. Side of a problem – strona/perspektywa problemu
6.  Solution – rozwiązanie
7.  To simplify – upraszczać
8.  To dumb down – upraszczać; „ogłupiać”
9. Put yourself in the shoes of – spójrz na to z innej perspektywy (kogoś)
10.  Last but not least – ostatni, choć nie mniej ważny punkt
11.  In effect – w rezultacie

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Dear BEM Readers,
Welcome to 2011!

New Year's resolutions

Be honest! You have a list like that. In your head at least, with some of those or other „to-do” items.
Do you execute any of these in reality? Of course not! (if you do, good for you)

What is the usual response after the next 12 months? Well, I was just so busy at my office and we moved house, my kids changed their school, my fiance left me, my dog died, etc.
and I JUST DID NOT HAVE THE TIME.

Is it about time really??
Lets take a quick example:

What if those people said, they DID NOT HAVE THE TIME? :
Lech Walesa
Martin Luther King
Pope John Paul II

Well, our World would look like quite differently today, right?
But I know, the „New Years resolution myth” is also my problem.

What can help us?
1. The „dog & bone” trick – if I do this, I get that i.e. If I work harder on my business english maybe I get that new client that my competitors are after too.
2. The „what if illusion” – what if I work on business english skills? Maybe I get that promotion that I have been waiting for sooo long?
3. The „what’s in it for me” perspective – what will I get from learning new business english knowledge, expressions and vocabulary?

There are also great online resources:
1. Zen Habits – a blog on how changing our everyday habits can change our results and lives.
2. Fast Company – an online business magazine
„Make Goals Not Resolutions” – When people take the time to visualize exactly when and where they will do something, they meet their goals.
„Make a resolution that matters”
3. CBS on „Making Resolutions Stick”
Make Resolutions Stick
Try one of the techniques from the above and see if it makes a difference for you in 2011.
Until then, visit the BEM blog to learn more and develop your business english skills.

Chris Dargiewicz

Useful vocabulary:

1. To execute – wykonywać, przeprowadzać
2. To-do list – lista zaplanowanych czynności/obowiązków
3. To be after something – poszukiwać czegoś; gonić za czymś
4. Resource – zasób
5. A habit – zwyczaj; przyzwyczajenie
6. To visualize – wyobrazić/uzmysłowić sobie
7. To meet someone’s goals – osiągnąć założone cele

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