Archive for the ‘Communication Skills’ Category

Take My Breath Away – Customer Service

Posted by Bronia Szczygiel

I’m a bit of a DIY fan so I like nothing better at the weekend than trekking round the local DIY store gazing longingly at the latest power tools and wishing I could persuade someone to buy one for me. These days I like to shop at B&Q rather than some of the other big stores. Why? Because they give excellent Customer Service.

For me that means taking time to listen to the customer, understand what they’re saying and then go the extra mile to help meet their needs. That’s true whether it’s a DIY store, a financial services company or an airline.

Which brings me to a sad tale of atrocious customer service. Virgin Atlantic recently lost my luggage on a flight to Newark. An all too regular occurrence apparently – according to a recent survey by LV they lose about 1 in 8 bags!

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Bridging the Gender Gap – One woman’s story

Posted by Bronia Szczygiel

I was having lunch with friends recently. Elizabeth is a successful woman engineer in her late sixties. She has run her own company for many years, having worked for the MoD, Ferranti and other big engineering companies.

We got to talking about the work we do at Aspire Leadership with women in general and engineers in particular. Elizabeth and I have never seen quite eye to eye on this subject so it was a lively discussion.

The way any individual woman tackles her journey through the engineering field varies. Some steadily challenge the status quo, some quietly establish a reputation and others confidently blaze a trail. There are many different paths and who’s to say which is best for any individual?

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Guinea pig personal impact

Are you predator or prey? How to raise your personal impact when facing senior colleagues or the board

Posted by Liz McKechnie

What happens when you are in the hotspot and facing senior colleagues or the Board?

Do you quail and tremble before the eagle eyed stare of your superiors or do you hold your own and inspire respect and admiration?

If you’re not having the personal impact you want how can you raise your game?

Remember, there’s always another point of view and it’s worth asking yourself what’s going on for those eagles…

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