Resources for Work at Home Moms

My friend and colleague Sandy Fowler, of ReclaimU, knows what it’s like to be wife, mom and business owner who works from home. She says, it can be fun and it can be challenging. So to make it all a bit easier, she put together a collection of tools specifically for Work at Home Moms to help them:

• Get some fabulous information
• Discover some great experts to rely on
• Save some time and some dough
• Learn something amazing

She asked me to contribute, so among the incredible tools you’ll find there, is a special report called, “Building Rock-Solid Relationships With Your Clients That Yield More Business & Increase Your Income.”

It’s all completely FREE. To get your goodies, just go to http://www.thegreatwahmgiveaway.com/

Customer Experience Lessons

I’ve been a subscriber to Derek William’s ezine, The WOW Awards, as well as a great proponent of his whole  concept of “Catching People Doing Things Right,” for quite a while. Loved reading about his recent experience at Wagamama’s restaurant and had to share it with you. (He lives in the UK, in case you’ve not heard of Wagamama’s before – I hadn’t.)

Wagamama – communication lesson # 1
A recent trip to Wagamama’s restaurant produced some interesting experiences. We arrived at about 9.30 pm – after the main rush of people was over. This particular restaurant is always busy and lots of people must have eaten that evening before us. Maybe even hundreds.

Wagamama have a greeter to show guests to their table. And as I approached the desk, I asked the greeter, “How are you today?”

“WOW!” she says. “You are the first person all evening to ask me how I am.”

I could see that she was delighted to be asked and had an extra spring in her step as she showed us to a table and took our drinks order.

Many years ago when I wrote 3 Dimensional Care, I devoted a chapter to Getting an extra slice of the pie. And, guess what? It was all about getting better service in a restaurant. And here it was in real life.

Did we get better service through asking that one little question? Would you give a customer better service if they took an interest in you?

Wagamama – lesson #2
The second interesting experience at Wagamama came when I settled the bill and added a tip to the credit card payment.

My daughter works in a restaurant and relies on her tips. So my wife and I always wonder if the tip we give at a restaurant is going to the person who served us or is it going to the owner of the business.

After the waitress had processed our payment she came back to our table and said, “Thank you so much for the tip. It really is appreciated and I just wanted to let you know that it will be shared between all of us.”

Many of the things that are a worry for your customers have nothing to do with the food. Understand the questions that are never asked and you will win customers for life.

FYI, this article was reproduced with permission from Derek William at The WOW! Awards www.thewowawards.co.uk

Authenticity

I was recently introduced to Chris Guillebeau’s blog, The Art of Nonconformity, when he posted an article on authenticity. The ideas and thoughts he put forward there are so good, I want to share them with you. And since he’s already written it, and done such a good job, it doesn’t make sense for me to reinvent the wheel. Go read it on his site.

Here’s the link:
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/authenticity-you-has-it/

Can This Improve Productivity?

There’s something extra delicious and relaxing about taking a vacation day. Slipping off (like playing hooky) to the beach or the lake or the mountains one day when all the rest of the world is working. It’s like you get extra relaxation and rejuvenation that somehow isn’t possible on a weekend, even if you were to do the exact same thing.

I think there’s power or energy in the idea that you’re “supposed to be working” but you’re not. I don’t know about you, but it’s nearly impossible for me to ever turn off the cell phone – which is also my business line – and not turn on the computer for a whole 24 hours. God forbid the world could need something from me.

Yesterday I conducted an experiment and did just that. I found a fairly uninhabited section of beach, parked myself under my umbrella wearing factor 50 sun screen, and basically did nothing for several hours. More than once I had to stop myself from turning the phone on, just to see who may have called. And yes, I should have left the phone at home, but I brought it with, you know,  just in case of an emergency.

I’ve just finished reading Esther and Jerry Hicks’ book “Ask and It Is Given.” In it, they contend that if you’re not getting all that you desire in life, it’s because you are vibrationally not matching what it is you are asking for. And the only way to increase your vibration is to bring more joy and happiness into your experience. To not try so hard to make things happen. So I decided to see what happens when I stop pushing so hard. (note, this is not to say stop taking action; it is about being more relaxed, less stressed about it.)

I did feel a lot better and had more energy at the end of the day. I’m thinking of making this a monthly exercise. Let me know if you’d like to join me.

PS: I still got burned, so bring extra sun screen.