I have been dealing with a company who have really wound me up recently, not because their product is bad, but because everything else around it is, or more specifically their support service.

I suspected that part of it wasn’t working quite as it should be, so I called to get some help and advice. Initially I could only ever get an answer phone, and so after calling a few times I left a message asking for a call back. A day or two passed with no response, so I tried again, and again I left a message. Still no response, so in desperation I sent an e-mail to one person who had at one time been quite helpful in the past. This time it achieved an immediate call back from the technician. He was evidently annoyed at having been made to call me, so was quite aggressive, obstructive and unhelpful. In the end he reluctantly agreed that things may not be quite right, so told me he would get a technical team to look in the following week. My wife stayed in all day to greet them, but they never turned up, and once again the technician who had “arranged” this was not on hand to answer the phone. We finally got a team to have a look today after much chasing and complaining, and I should add, that they have been extremely helpful.

The point is that all of the ill-will and bad feeling I now have for this company could so easily have been avoided. Answering the phone, honouring what you say you are going to do, and being honest and apologetic would all have helped. Sorting out a problem well can create life long fans of your business rather than trying to avoid it, deny it, or blame someone else, which has left me wishing I had never brought from them in the first place. They certainly won’t be getting any referrals from me, and in fact I would actively warn people off them.

So if you ever receive a complaint from a customer, always be quick to acknowledge it, face up to it, and rectify it as soon as possible. Taking an initial small financial hit to sort something is far more likely to pay dividends in the long run.

2014 has started with a bang for us, lots of new customers, lots of positive attitudes, and a general feel good factor for me and my clients. The good economic news continues to flow in, and at the moment no snow or ice to make things hard for people to get around.

I hope you have all written down your targets for the year, as there is no doubt that writing things down makes it far more likely that you will achieve them. Don’t kid yourselves that you have it all in your head, so that is enough. The more you commit to by writing it down, and the more you show people so they will hold you accountable, the better your year will be.

As ever there is always a wide spectrum of people to talk to, some who are clear about what they want to achieve, but not sure the path to take and what steps to take, and others who are happier not to know the real picture of where they are, and stick their heads in the sand. So which of these is you? Now is a great time to ask yourself the tough questions about where you are going and why, and then to be honest with yourself about whether you truly know how to get there.

If you have been avoiding the truth for a while, wouldn’t it be great to make some real and meaningful changes, and face up to the fact that you can’t do it all yourself. Do you want a business which will work for you and give you the life you have always dreamed of. If so, give me a call, because I can help you get there.

It’s been a whole year now since my first experience of telemarketing, here at Business Life and yes I’m still here.

I remember my first day well phoning numbers praying that no one would answer, dreading having to actually talk to some one. Mad I know but I’d never done it before and really didn’t know an awful lot about business coaching. After the first few days I realised that I had to get a grip, Man Up! They are just human beings after all, what’s the worst that could happen….hang up on me…and yes that has happened a couple of times.

Thankfully I have had a very supportive team who have given me the confidence I needed. I remember them telling me “don’t worry you’ll get it in time” and they could see the potential as they would often tell me how good I am on the phone.

And they were right suddenly I got it! I made my first sale, I was over the moon and realised I could do it. Now I take it in my stride, there are good days and not so good days but I don’t let the not so good days bother me, it’s simply the way it goes.

I love it, I get to chat to some very pleasant, interesting people, and hopefully due to my initial contact with potential clients there are more successful businesses out there.