In the French language, using “vous” is a sign of politeness and respect. In general, we use this formal “code” (called Vouvoiement )on people we do not know, those we meet for the first time, people older than ourselves, customers ...

Phrases that use the formal “vous” are more cordial:

• How may I help you…
• I would suggest…
• If I may…
• I would recommend…
• I thank you…
• Have a nice day…

Using “vous” differentiates between our official and personal relationships. Think of it as respectful distance and a demonstration of your professionalism.

When we use “vous” with someone, we are indicating that we know the basics of respect and politeness.

Using the informal “tu” indicates closeness, more familiarity or intimacy and less formality in communication and topics of conversation. In general, young people, friends, and colleagues spontaneously use this informal “code” (called Tutoiment) amongst themselves, just like members of the same family.

If misused, “tu” can be interpreted as misplaced familiarity. When in doubt, use “vous”. The person you are talking to will ask you to use “tu” if they are not comfortable with the more formal language.

The golden rule is reciprocity, if the interlocutor uses informal language, then we adapt, and vice versa.

A compromise would be to keep the formal language, but accompany it with the name of the person to whom you are speaking.

If your habits, your education, or your culture make you hesitate to use informal language, formulate sentences that use neither formal nor informal language:

• Can I help…
• I suggest…
• Let’s look at this together…
• Thank you very much…
• I have a question, how…?
• Hello, how is it going?
• Thank you and goodbye…

They are just as polite and respectful and you won’t feel awkward!

No customer likes to be told “no”. However, like it or not, the circumstances sometimes force us to say “no”. But, this does not have to become a negative situation.

Here are some ways to respond to the challenge:

Tell the customer what you can do.
“I can issue a credit for the value of the merchandise and you can use it at your convenience.”

With tact, explain why you cannot honour the customer's request.
“When a product works as expected, without defects, we cannot take responsibility and, as a result, we cannot offer financial compensation.”

Suggest an alternative.
“I need to get approval from my manager before I can _________________. In the meantime, I can ___________________. Does this work for you?”

Focus on the positive.
“Thank you for contacting me regarding this problem” or “The information you have given me will help us make improvements.”

Remember that you are saying “no” to the request, not to the person.

Many of us have taken part in traditional "Brainstorming" sessions. These are commonly used to generate ideas, and to come up with a creative solution to problems. But you can push your brainstorming sessions a little further by trying this approach:

Reverse Brainstorming

Reverse brainstorming can be used to provide a different perspective on a particular problem. This method helps you to solve problems by combining brainstorming and reversal techniques. By combining these, you can extend your use of brainstorming to draw out even more creative ideas.

To use this technique, you start with one of two "reverse" questions: 

• Instead of asking, "How do I solve or prevent this problem?" ask, "How could I possibly cause the problem?" 
• And instead of asking "How do I achieve these results?" ask, "How could I possibly achieve the opposite effect?"

Reverse brainstorming tries to solve the problem in a reversed way to the flow we already now. The method can influence the human mind to create better ideas and solutions.

1. Consider it a setback, no more than a bend in the road on the certain journey towards eventual success. Didn’t get the promotion? So what? If it was part of a 10-year plan, one knock-back shouldn’t deter us.
2. Don’t fear failure. Those who do often employ avoidance techniques – disrupting a task or pretending not to care – so they fail by default.
3. See it as eliminating what won’t work. Why not assume 10 sales pitches for every proposal and five proposals for every sale?
4. Learn the lessons. Successes and failures teach us things. Focus on this and avoid the arrogance of victory or the despair of defeat.
5. Be strategic. In relationships, both personal and professional, a strategic defeat might work to our long-term advantage.

Exhausted people are slower to react and less aware of their surroundings, and they operate with impaired judgement – just as one does after having too much to drink.

Worker fatigue is believed to have contributed to the following catastrophes:

• The crash of the Exxon Valdez
• The nuclear reactor meltdown at Three Mile Island
• The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger

You may just be pushing keys on your keyboard but drowsy working can be the reason why you have been making mistakes lately.

When the customer is angry, it is sometimes difficult for us to calm them down. In these situations, the polite repetition technique proves effective and helps the customer redirect towards working on solving problems rather than focusing on negative emotions.

The technique involves calmly repeating what you just said and repeating it again until the customer understands. You must not raise your voice or defend yourself, as you must keep your tone level neutraland polite.

For example:

• Customer: “Your service is horrible. I sent the form and I never heard back from you.”
• You: “When did you send the form, Mr. Smith?”
• Customer: “I have waited long enough, I have no patience left.”
• You: “When did you send the form, Mr. Smith?”
• Customer: “You would not last two minutes in the private sector with service like this”
• You: “Mr. Smith, I need to know when you sent the form so that I can help you.”

Polite repetition can also be used when customers are not accepting your answer. They may believe that they may make you change your mind by continuing to insist or that they will get you to work around the rules for them. The polite repetition then lets the customer know that your answer is firm.

In the long run, the customer will understand and accept your answer.

If the idea of being creative at work makes you think of artistic talent, don't worry, you are not alone. To most people creativity is simply related to the Arts, where being creative is born of skill, technique and self-expression, that is Artistic creativity. But there is also a more technical type of creativity, where people create new theories, technologies or ideas, that is Business creativity.

Business creativity is about “Thinking differently” or “Thinking out of the box” - not relying on old assumptions and models. It is about finding fresh and innovative solutions to problems, and identifying opportunities to improve the way that we do things.

There are many techniques and tools available in order to drive Business creativity and trigger ideas that lead to imaginative solutions to problems. These techniques and tools provide structure and analysis and allow you to break out of rigid thinking… In a nutshell, they should allow you to:

• Doubt everything and challenge your current perspective.
• Probe the possible and explore options.
• Diverge and generate many new ideas without filters.
• Converge, evaluate and select ideas that will drive breakthrough results.
• Re-evaluate regularly to avoid falling pray to a new status-quo.

Anyone can learn to be technically creative, and use these tools. They are designed to help you spot opportunities that you might otherwise miss. Anyone can be creative, as long as they learn to be comfortable with ambiguity, have the right mindset and use the right tools.

Interrupting - Never interrupt the customer or finish their sentences. Most customer service providers want to solve the problem as quickly as possible. This is normal and natural, but it will prevent you from defusing the customer's anger; this customer will argue, will become withdrawn and get even more upset.

Being afraid of not having all the answers - In order to listen well, you don't need to have all the answers. This bad habit can cause you to miss the real issues. Sometimes the customer is looking for understanding, not necessarily answers.

Forgetting that the customer is probably having this problem for the first time - You've had to deal with this issue thousands of times and it is anything but new for you, but remember that the customer is experiencing this for the first time, so respond accordingly.

Believing that you are better informed than the customer - This habit can cause you to dismiss the customer's message, to anticipate it or to interrupt with a premature resolution. Leave your mind reading talents at home... They're not always reliable!

Reacting too strongly - When the customer's words strike a nerve, we tend to stop listening. In our heads, we start to disagree with the customer.

Doing more than one thing at a time - Being distracted or doing something else while listening tells the customer that we are not paying much attention to what they are saying.

Justifying yourself - Do not make the mistake of justifying what went wrong or choosing someone to blame ("The guys in shipping..."). You will become defensive and the customer will feel like you are looking for excuses, which lessens your credibility and professionalism.

The average office worker receives around 80 emails each day. All of this incoming information can cause stress and tension, and may cause people to miss important messages or misinterpret them.

Follow these simple rules:

• Make good use of subject lines. The subject line of your email message should have two functions: Grabs the recipient’s attention, and summarizes the email, so that they can decide whether to read it or not.
• Keep messages clear and brief. Emails need to be clear and concise. The body of the email should be direct and informative, and it should contain all pertinent information. Avoid using informal language, slang and jargon. And only use emoticons with people you know well. Remember recipients may share your emails with other colleagues, or even clients.
• Be polite. People often think that emails can be less formal than traditional letters. But the messages you send are a reflection of your own professionalism, values, and attention to detail, so a certain level of formality is needed.
• Check your tone. Your choice of words, sentence length, punctuation, and capitalization can easily be misinterpreted without visual and auditory cues. Think about how your email "feels" emotionally. If your intentions or emotions could be misunderstood, find a less ambiguous way to phrase your words.
• Proofread. Finally, before you hit "send," take a moment to review your email. Your email messages are as much a part of your professional image as the clothes you wear, you lose credibility when you send out a message that contains typos.

Committing ourselves to handling our professional practices with the highest standards of integrity on a daily basis. Ethics represent putting principles into practice; they represent the absence of a difference between what we claim as our values and what our actions say about our values.

In other words, ethics mean...

• Not doing what you have the power to do. An action is not appropriate just because it is permitted or because you can do it without getting caught.
• Not doing what you are allowed to do. There is a significant difference between what you have the right to do and what is the right thing to do.
• Not doing what you want to do. A person who demonstrates ethical values often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows.

When a customer is unhappy, it is very important to let the customer know that they are understood and cared for. Listen to the customer and respond with empathy as a way to recognize their feelings and the information they are providing. To show empathy, you must:

• Acknowledge the customer’s feelings;
• Take note of the information on file;
• Let the customer know that they are being heard;
• Let the customer know that you understand why they feel the way they do.

What to do:

• Give the person sufficient time to get their point across
• Use short and sincere responses
• Use a neutral tone of voice
• Try to properly understand the needs expressed by the other person
• Use paraphrasing, reflecting and language that is appropriate for showing that you understand

What not to do:

• Do not give advice
• Do not interrupt the person
• Do not pretend that you understand
• Do not use clichés as responses
• Do not use a condescending tone of voice
• Do not jump to conclusions
• Do not only say “I understand”

Given that their kind has been roaming the oceans for over 200 million years, you might say six-gilled sharks are the senior citizens of the marine world. One of the reasons they’ve been around so long: Though they typically stay in deep water, they’ll periodically head to shallower waters to locate food and mate.

In other words, they’re willing to move beyond their comfort zone to find what they need to thrive. We should be as bold.

Christopher Lowe, PhD, Director of the California State University Long Beach Shark Lab

When your organization makes a mistake, it is only fair to make a sincere and clear apology on its behalf. This does not necessarily mean that a person has to admit fault; they can express regret for what happened. Regardless of who is to blame, you must sincerely and clearly apologize once to the customer. Apologies should never be partial or conditional.

Never blame anyone, become defensive, or pretend, for example, that staff shortages or budget cuts are to blame. The person is there to solve the problem, not to hear about yours.

When presented with an apology, the customer feels heard and understood. This can lessen their anger, which allows you to start regaining their trust.

The best thing to do is to say something along the lines of: “I am sorry about what happened and I understand what a nuisance this is. Here is what I am going to do to make this right.”

Suggestions:

• “Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.”
• “I am sorry for the misunderstanding.”
• “This is an unfortunate situation and I would like to apologize.”

If you seek to make a change or do something important, your work might be rejected along the way.

What will you do after that?

Instead of losing hope, deciding to back off, keeping your head low and do what you're told from now on, or worse, learn nothing and persist. Why don’t you:

• Realize that what might have happened is that you asked the wrong person, who wants something other than what you want. Resolve to do a better job of seeing where your work will be needed and recognized.
• Accept that you didn't tell a story that resonated, that your homework, your details, your promise--something didn't resonate. Figure out what it was, and learn to do better next time.

It takes grit and resilience, but it will be better than being terminally frustrated.

Paraphrasing involves making sure that you understand the other person's words by using different words. This is not rephrasing, because the idea is to focus on the content of the message.

• This helps verify that we understood properly and helps avoid misunderstandings.
• This gives importance to what the other person is saying.
• It is positive reinforcement. It lets the other person know that we are attentive.

It is impossible to paraphrase without actively listening. For this reason, paraphrasing is an important part of active listening.

Effects of Paraphrasing

When people's words are paraphrased, they immediately feel understood. They are reassured; the person that they are talking to is listening and is interested in what is being said. In return, this encourages them to talk more. In fact, paraphrasing is widely used by counselors and psychologists as a technique to encourage people to express themselves.

Even inaccurate paraphrasing has positive effects because it encourages the speaker to clarify their ideas.

Therefore, paraphrasing is useful for someone who is being paraphrased, since this person will feel understood and encouraged to speak. At the same time, the person who is doing the paraphrasing also benefits because this will help him concentrate on the speaker and will make sure that he understands the message.

When a customer has a problem, your organization has a problem. Did you know that:

• A dissatisfied customer will share the “rotten” treatment that he has experienced with you with 20 other people ... These 20 people will share with 400 others, which could represent huge consequences for your organization?
• 96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain to the manager or the organization?
• If you are able to resolve the customer's problem, they will be more faithful to you than if they had never encountered a problem?

Dealing with complaints is therefore a key element for the organization. Every complaint that is resolved to the customer's satisfaction earns you points with dissatisfied customers.

The message that stands out based on these figures is clear: “Do it right the first time. Otherwise, it is in your best interest to do it right the second time!”