Monthly Archives: October 2009

Oct12

Setting Up Your Home Office

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Setting Up Your Home Office

Whether you work from home, from an office, or not at all, it is important to have a home office.  It provides a quiet place where you can pay bills or complete important paperwork and your children can work on homework, away from the television and other distractions, as well as a convenient place to store books and important documents.  There are a couple of key elements that should be included to make your home office fully functional and provide the most benefits.

A desk is one of the most basic, yet essential, items to include in your office. It provides a strong surface for writing and for keeping a computer.  You can also use it to keep all of your important documents neatly stored inside.

Bookshelves are also an important aspect of your home office.  Even if you are not much of reader, it is beneficial to keep reference books such as a dictionary and thesaurus on hand.  You can also keep a road map and a world map on your bookshelf for easy use.  A world globe is also a good item to include because it serves two purposes; decoration and practicality.  It will look nice setting on a table or desk while it is also useful for pointing out specific countries, especially if you have children.

Maintaining a darker décor will help give your office a warm inviting feel.  Providing a couple of comfortable chairs will also help encourage reading rather than watching television.  One item that is essential is good lighting.  Even if there is are a lot of windows, providing a good light source will help prevent eye strain.

Providing a well equipped office in your home will help promote your children’s education as well as supply a quiet room for study, reading, or simply relaxing.

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Oct8

Time on My Hands in Central Park

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Time on My Hands in Central Park

My plan of experiencing a few quiet days in New York seemed to be misguided. When I heard that my plane ticket to Rio was useless, I needed to spend time on the internet and by phone to find some other means or alternatives. Fortunately, the hotel Central Park where I’m staying is very comfortable and my two friend with who I am sharing the room with are patient people. They were almost just as excited as I was to be able to stay in New York longer that expected.

So, we all headed down to see Time Square, which if it wasn’t for my fiasco, we wouldn’t have had the time to do this, and had a few beers. The next day, I maganged to get all organised, and made new plans, since my original ‘down time’ plan was shot to hell. I decided to take this opportunity to visit my brother and his family in California. After I booked that flight, I spent a couple of hour relaxing and went down to have lunch in Central Park. I just love looking at New York’s skyline and walking around the lake. I found a place to sit and people watch and read a book. It’s these kind of moments I cherish, not rushing around, nothing exciting or thrilling, just me with some time on my hands.

I took the first train out to Long Island the next morning to catch my flight to California. At the airport, I found I had some more time on my hands, so I wondered if I could still re-coup my flight to Rio. I made a few toll-free calls and found a cheap flight to Colombia, which I booked for next week. Sometimes, having idle time is a good thing, and sometimes, only sometimes do I get into trouble.

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Oct6

Chilling in Ibiza

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Chilling in Ibiza

My second day in Ibiza and I woke up in time to catch an omelet baguette for breakfast at the restaurant located in my hotel and then check out. I had to hurry to catch a bus that went across town. It’s pretty easy to catch a bus, because there’s one about every 20 minutes here, but I didn’t want to wait twenty minutes. My timing was perfect, a bus came by right as I reached the curbside. I was looking to find the best Ibiza hotels, I had a rough idea where one of them were, but not wanted to waste time walking around, I decided to ask for help.

I found the hotel and booked a room. This hotel was perfect, pretty much right on the beach. I got a unpacked and headed directly for the beach to work on my long neglected tan. After I got enough sun, and before I started to burn, I left and went back to my hotel to get ready for dinner. I decided I should have some Spanish food while in Spain, so I had something called Pailla, a seafood dish, baked with rice, squid, peppers, lobster, calamari, prawns and clams. It was so good! If I wasn’t full, I would’ve ordered another helping. I had to go for a walk after dinner, so I went into town and started searching for clubs. I found the one where a DJ friend of mine was playing, it only took my a half hour to find it.

The wait to get into the club was too long for me, so I walked back to the old town of Ibiza, which is located on top of a hill. People still live in this part of town, and there were restaurants, and an old church and museum. I headed back to my hotel and took a nap. I woke up in enough time to shower and head back down to the club where my DJ friend was playing and this time I waited in line to get in.  I made friends with the people I was standing in line with, and once we were inside, we hung out together. I had a great time. I ended up going back to my hotel room around 5am!  I had a fantastic time, I’m glad I made it to see my DJ friend entertain the crowd of eager clubbers.

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Oct1

Customer Service Plays Role in Global Market

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Customer Service Plays Role in Global Market

Customer service skills enhance any business and industry and an appropriate training of staff in this aspect is necessary to make a business thrive. While simply offering a great product or a rare and skill oriented service is the main priority, and sometimes the only care, of many businesses, in today’s market it is a tough sell to maintain a business long if customers are not treated well and satisfied with the direct service they receive. Steven Barbarich is aware of this on personal level and also due to his business training and his high standard of professional ethics.

Not only are excellent customer service skills a great access to any staff person or employee, they are also becoming a necessary aspect of today’s global market and the amount of competition any business is sure to face. It is an easy answer that when faced with two equal products of the same price offered by two easily accessed companies that any consumer will choose the business that offers the best customer service. With everything else that is affecting a company’s viability, it is ridiculous to surrender a sale due to neglecting this one factor. Especially since it is easier than not to offer great service and leave consumers feeling not only satisfied by appreciated and acknowledged.

One aspect of customer service that is relevant to today’s companies, which did not exist fifteen years ago is the amount of business that is conducted over the Internet. Many companies have both in person locations and also websites that also conduct their businesses. Service orientation can be a little different for each establishment, with the primary consideration being the lack of person-to-person interaction on the Internet. While this may seem like it actually reduces concerns about staff persons possessing adequate customer service skills, it actually just reorients the structure of it. It is much more important to place solid trust in product quality and assurance that the consumer will receive what they believe they are purchasing.

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Oct1

Customer Service Skills Helped Budding Musician

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Customer Service Skills Helped Budding Musician

Tom worked in a music store. He loved music and was an extremely skilled guitar player. He had recently joined a new band and they were interested in writing their own music though they would also cover some of their favorite alternative band. Tom was only 23 though he was well aware of REM’s early years because he dad had always been a big fan and would frequently tell the story about the time he spilled a beer on Michael Stipe. REM was one of Tom’s musical influences and he was considering how he could capture some of their intellectual depth when a woman walked into the store. A businessperson such as Steve Barbarich person does not have to be a musician to recognize the importance of this story and the significance of excellent customer service.

Tom glanced at the woman and could immediately tell that she felt a little lost and intimidated to be in the shop. He put down his notebook and stepped out from behind the counter to greet her as warmly as he could. She smiled and nervously confessed that she was looking for a drum set as surprise for he son who had been wanting one for a long time. Tom took the woman over to the drums and explained the various types of drums and cymbals and even let her use a drumstick on a couple. He also made suggestions for appropriate drum kits based on the boy’s age and experience level.

Before she realized it the mother was having a great time and bought five piece kit with crash, ride and hit hat cymbals. Tom also helped her to choose a throne, a practice pad and some sticks. The woman was so pleased with the advice he was giving her and the kit and accessories she was getting that she decided the only thing she needed was to get him some lessons. Tom informed her of the lessons they offered there at the store and offered an introductory reduced price rate due to the purchase she was making. This was the beginning of a fruitful and lasting relationship and the woman made repeated purchases while her son was in his lesson. If Tom had left the woman to her own hesitations, she would very likely have walked out of the store quickly and before buying anything. Due to his attentive customer service, what began as an extremely tenuous prospect became a quality professional business relationship with a valued customer.

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