There are few things more demoralizing to a front-line employee than taking the brunt of customer frustrations while having no power to address them. No employee wants to shrug his shoulders at a complaint, and no customer will tolerate it. After all, what’s the point of placing a living, breathing…

Order-Takers vs Salespeople Are you an order-taker or a salesperson? Order-takers do exactly as the label implies: they simply ring up items that the customer asks for with no additional effort to connect with that person. Salespeople, on the other hand, put in that effort to understand what customers need…

Being an effective manager is a lot like juggling multiple spinning plates: you have to lead by example, coordinate your subordinates’ schedules effectively, handle customer service emergencies, engage with ownership, or any of another dozen duties you’re likely imagining right now. But management is more than a fun parlor trick:…

Steve Beck is a trainer for The Brandt Group who specializes in keynote speeches, conducts workshops, and offers a wide range of training options to help take your employees skills to the next level.  Learn more about Steve at http://www.beckseminsars.com. In business, a Moment of Truth (MOT) is defined as, ‘When a customer…

Live your life as if you were the CEO of your own business. What do I mean by that? Well, in several of my seminars I ask, “Are You in Charge of your Life?” Invariably, 90% of the hands go up. The other 10% must be the guys that have…

There is an abundance of articles that describe millennials as being self-entitled, coddled, and possessing little-to-no social skills.  We’ve all heard stories about young twenty-something hipsters who spend more time photographing their meals than actually enjoying them.  The truth is, sweeping generalizations, especially negatives ones like these, serve no one,…