Tag Archives: Business

Why It’s Vital to Provide Excellent Customer Service

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Is your business providing the best customer service possible? If not, you need to address this issue and ensure that every customer that comes into contact with your organization is dealt with in a friendly, professional and efficient way. Achieving this goal could transform your business and make it a more appealing company to deal with. Below are some of the most important reasons why it’s vital to provide excellent customer service.

Your Business Runs More Smoothly

Image © Dzakymurad | Dreamstime.com

When you do things properly in a business, life seems to be easier and everything runs smoothly. However, if you don’t have the business skills required to put the appropriate customer service processes in place, things can go horribly wrong.

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What Does Your Company Car Say About You?

companycarContributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

A company car is a common accessory for executives, senior managers and specialised staff. Many employees regard a company car as a perk, although there are fewer tax advantages to running a company car these days, so it doesn’t always pay to have one.

Company cars are usually provided on a lease arrangement from VW Edinburgh or similar. The company pays the lease and running costs; all you have to do is put fuel in the vehicle and make sure it is looked after. At the end of an agreed term – typically two or three years – the vehicle is returned and replaced with a new one. It’s a low stress way of owning a nice, reliable vehicle, which you can use for work and pleasure. Aside from the tax disadvantages, what’s not to like?Continue reading→

Leadership Training Every Startup Should Consider

A help button on a rusty old bear trap. Credit risk concept. Very high resolution 3D render.Contributed article in our entrepreneurial series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Every day there are literally tens of thousands of companies starting up around the world and many of them do well while many fail. Part of the reason for this is because some entrepreneurs have had thorough leadership training while others have a great idea but don’t have the skills to start and run a company. Those entrepreneurs who have no experience leading a team should seriously consider leadership training that will help them get their company off the ground and on the road to success.

Join Professional Associations within Your Industry

Many times joining a professional association will provide leadership training in the form of a mentor. Continue reading→

Working Remotely … Face-to-Face! by Kimberly M. Wiefling, M.S.

Business Team Meeting by Ambro

(Originally posted on ProjectConnections.com)
Image courtesy of Ambro/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Globalization in today’s business world is rapid and inescapable. As a result, many projects these days involve geographically dispersed teams comprised of members from a wide variety of countries and cultures. While language barriers, decision-making style, and time zones are well-recognized challenges, the positive benefits of global teams continue to drive this trend.Continue reading→

Still Resisting Social Media as “just for teenagers”?

This week I had lunch with a friend of mine who is in his early 30s.  I couldn’t believe it when he told me he wasn’t on Facebook and he wasn’t twittering!  Yup, that’s right, there is still at least one cool, hip, successful high-tech business person in Silicon Valley who is NOT hip-deep in these social networks.  He asked me what benefit they produced, which is kind of like asking which advertising results in sales.  Who knows!  I just know that I have to be swimming in this ocean if I want to catch any fish.  Watching from the beach just doesn’t cut it.

If you’re just playing, join whatever you fancy.  But if you’re in business, here’s my opinion on the bare minimum social media marketing you have to be experimenting with while the whole SMM craze shakes out into what it will become:

1.  Facebook – It’s not just for teenagers, and just because people use it for social reasons doesn’t mean businesses can ignore it.  One of my highest quality contacts in the business world responds promptly to Facebook requests, but never responds when I contact him via email.  You gotta transmit on the frequency people are willing to receive on.  Check out Kimberly Wiefling and Scrappy Women in Business if you want a glimpse into my Facebook world.Continue reading→

Tokyo Book Launch Party "Genki"!

Kimberly_Pink“Genki” is a word my Japanese colleagues frequently use to describe me.  They tell me it means I am cheerful and fun, but I’m pretty sure it is a secret code meaning that I’m noisy, wild, and just a tad scary.  Nevertheless somewhere around five dozen people turned up for the book launch party for the Japanese version of “Scrappy Project Management” last night, and they all seemed pretty “genki” to me.  One of the party guests, who was a graduate of one of our six month Global Leadership Development Programs this past year gave a rousing congratulations speech.  The highlight was when he asked the audience to participate with him as he “challenged convention” in such a speech, removed his suit jacket, rolled up the sleeves on his crisp business shirt, and then got everyone flinging their arms in the air while shouting “Exciting!” to help express his feeling about the whole book lalapalooza.  His final wish was that I become a billionaire, but I’m not sure if he meant dollars, yen, or rupees.

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