Dale Carnegie Training of the Bay Area

From the first moment of interaction with a customer that require managing expectations, utilize the following process.

 1.      Set Expectations

Cushion with empathy

A cushion is a verbal statement that tells the customer in various ways that “I hear what you are saying, and what you are saying is important/”  Being empathetic simply acknowledges the emotion that the customer feels.

Understand the priorities

Ask questions of the customer to ensure that you are on the same track in understanding their priority needs.  For example, a customer may need to have their new payroll system set up by the start of their fiscal year.  A company may need to have their phone system installed during a short time window. 

Ask the customer for their expectations

Often their expectations may be more reasonable than you anticipate to satisfy and resolve the situation.

Use headlining

Headlining is explaining your “train of thought” to the customer-telling a customer what you are going to do, before you do it.  For example, you may say, “First, we will ask questions so that we understand exactly what is needed.  Then, we will place the order.  We will give you a realistic estimate of delivery time.  We will call immediately when it comes in.”

Under-promise and over-perform

This guideline simply reminds you to set expectations with your customer at a reasonable level, but one at which you can consistently exceed their expectations.

Check for agreement

After explaining an expectation or headlining a process, check with the customer for agreement.  For example, “How does that time frame sound to you?”  “Will that process work?”

Policies and procedures

Policies and procedures are in place to protect you.  When it comes to invoking a policy, it is not so much what you say; it is how you say it.  Only use policy as a last resort.

2.      Monitor Expectations

Unless the situation is resolved immediately on first contact, the goal is to have regular and appropriate communication with the customer.  Continue to use the process for setting expectations.

During and open situation, if the customer contact you, the contact should be acknowledged within the guidelines set by the organization.  Typical guidelines for most companies are to respond within one to twenty-four hours of the customer calling or sending a message.  The reply should match the customer comment, response, or statement and utilize the same process you used to set expectations initially.

Examples of monitoring the process:

·        Acknowledge any information that the customer provides.

·        Indicate where your organization is in resolving the situation and the next steps in the process.  To gain trust, include an expectation of when the next communications will be.

·        Respond to a customer request to talk to a manager or transfer the situation to a product expert.  Respond by headlining the process for the appropriate action and setting an expectation for the next communication.  For example, “Your issue will be turned over to our service technician.  She will call you by the end of the day.”

·        Responding to requests for additional information.  Respond by relating when you or one of your co-workers can follow up on that requested action.  Then follow-through and follow-up!

3.     Influence Expectations

Influencing expectations is usually what you mean when you say “managing expectations.”  When you influence, you are the ones who modify or change your approach and style.  People are influenced by:

People that they trust

Trust is earned.  You must follow up on what you hear to gain trust.

Education

The more you educate your customers, the more they understand the complexity of the situation and can align expectations more accurately.  For example, you may propose a higher quality solution that will take longer.  If a customer understands that, they will not have unrealistic expectations.

A Hero Statement

A “Hero Statement” is an assurance to the customer that you can and will help them.  This builds confidence in your ability to help the customer.  An ideal Hero Statement demonstrates both capability and experience.

Letting the person save face

Most people will not change their minds and have difficulty admitting their lack of knowledge in public.

Exceptional listening skills and the ability to persuade others to your way of thinking make the difference between good and great teams. Pure listening builds trust, credibility, and respect. One reason is that when you fully listen instead of trying to compose your response, the result is a relevant and on-target response. What you say when you do respond is proof of how well you listen.

1) The “Preoccupieds”
These people come across as rushed and are constantly looking around or doing something else. Also known as multitaskers, these people cannot sit still and listen.

Tips
If you are a “Preoccupied” listener, make a point to set aside what you are doing when someone is speaking to you.

If you are speaking to a “Preoccupied” listener, you might ask, “Is this a good time?” or say, “I need your undivided attention for just a moment.” Begin with a statement that will get their attention, be brief, and get to the bottom line quickly because their attention span is short.

2) The “Out-to-Lunchers”
These people are physically there for you, but mentally, they are not. You can tell this by the blank look on their faces. They are either daydreaming or thinking about something else entirely.

Tips
If you are an “Out-to-Luncher,” act like a good listener. Be alert, maintain eye contact, lean forward, and show interest by asking questions.

If you are speaking to an “Out-to-Luncher,” check in with them every now and again and ask if they understood what you were saying. As with the “Preoccupieds,” begin with a statement that will catch their attention and be concise and to the point, because their attention span is also short.

3) The “Interrupters”
These people are ready to chime in at any given time. They are perched and ready for a break to complete your sentence for you. They are not listening to you. They are focused on trying to guess what you will say and what they want to say.

Tips
If you are an “Interrupter,” make a point to apologize every time you catch yourself interrupting. This will make you more conscious of it.

If you are speaking to an “Interrupter,” when they chime in, stop immediately and let them talk, or they will never listen to you. When they are done, you might say, “As I was saying before…” to bring their interruption to their attention.

4) The “Whatevers”
These people remain aloof and show little emotion when listening. They do not seem to care about anything you have to say.

Tips
If you are a “Whatever,” concentrate on the full message, not just the verbal message. Make a point to listen with your eyes, ears, and heart. Pay attention to body language and try to understand why this person wants to talk to you about this issue.

If you are speaking to a “Whatever,” dramatize your ideas and ask your listener questions to maintain their involvement.

5) The “Combatives”
These people are armed and ready for war. They enjoy disagreeing and blaming others.

Tips
If you are a “Combative,” make an effort to put yourself in the speaker’s shoes and understand, accept, and find merit in another’s point of view.

If you are speaking to a “Combative,” when he or she disagrees or points the blame, look forward instead of back. Talk about how you might agree to disagree or about what can be done differently next time.

6) The “Analysts”
These people are constantly in the role of counselor or therapist, and they are ready to provide you with unsolicited answers. They think they are great listeners and love to help. They are constantly in an analyze-what-you-are-saying-and-fix-it mode.

Tips
If you are an “Analyst,” relax and understand that not everyone is looking for an answer, solution, or advice. Some people just like bouncing ideas off other people because it helps them see the answers more clearly themselves.

If you are speaking to an “Analyst,” you might begin by saying, “I just need to run something by you. I’m not looking for any advice.”

7) The “Engagers”
These are the consciously aware listeners. They listen with their eyes, ears, and hearts and try to put themselves in the speaker’s shoes. This is listening at the highest level. Their listening skills encourage you to continue talking and give you the opportunity to discover your own solutions and let your ideas unfold.

Tips
If you are an “Engager,” keep it up. People truly appreciate this about you.

If you are speaking to an “Engager,” take the time to acknowledge their attentiveness. Thank them for their interest in you and your topic.

Preparation is a major part of the sales process and you should not overlook it. Preparation gives you a reserve power to have informed discussions with your prospective clients. A person who is prepared is more confident and effective during the sales process. Take these steps to prepare for your next sales call.

1) Get the information - Research key information about the industry, company, and people. This research should yield specific key issues and needs that your prospective client is facing. Go through the company website to find annual reports and current information on a company’s unique issues and challenges. Research their competitors, suppliers, and vendors for more insights and referrals or to add credibility to your knowledge of their industry.

2) Compile evidence - Research your own company. Has your company done business with a company in the prospect’s industry? Do some of their issues match? How will you communicate this to a new prospect? Do they use a competency model, and if so, how does your model relate to theirs? Have they or others in their industry been in the news lately? If so, was it positive or negative press? How did that press affect their company?

3) Find a contact - Look through your client list, social networking links, or list of colleagues and friends to see if you can make a connection through them to any of your prospects. Contacts can help you more easily navigate past gatekeepers and get you talking to decision makers. Begin to develop champions in industries and businesses who will help you build stronger connections in those fields.

4) Set specific call objectives - Know what you want to accomplish during the call. Do you want a prospect to request more information? Do you want them to set up an appointment? Having a plan makes your approach more professional. You may need to use a multi-tiered approach of building rapport, credibility, and visibility to break into a prospect’s company.

5) Know how you want to open the call - Have a clear and compelling opening statement. Remember, you want to be concise, clear, and persuasive. The “fish on the wall” comment won’t cut it in today’s professional selling environment. Credibility is the key.

6) Be prepared to ask relevant and insightful questions - Use those questions to show your knowledge of the organization and the industry and to draw out information. The answers to the best questions will help you identify a useful solution that will get you in the door to support their strategic intent as an organization.

7) Don’t focus on the quick sale - Don’t be tempted to try to “close” too soon or without a full understanding of the client’s needs for the bigger picture. The short-term sale of an enrollment, class, or product may help a small number of people, but not the organization as a whole. Instead, focus on aligning yourself and your sale with the organization’s strategic intent.

In today’s business environment, most organizations rely heavily on the expertise of external business partners.  A typical business has multiple external partnerships operating simultaneously, such as:  IT Consultants, Accounting Firms, Training Organizations, Vendors, Suppliers, Customers, etc.  Managing external partnerships successfully requires commitment at all levels of the organization to plan carefully, communicate openly, follow through, and provide a profitable outcome for each partner.

Like any relationship, successful external partnerships evolve over a period of time into higher levels of trust and accomplishment.  Part of managing external partnerships involves successfully guiding the relationship to the next level.  There are five dynamics to achieving a successful partnership.

Formation

Ideally, external partnerships are formed through comprehensive needs analysis and a selection process that balances emotional and logical factors.  In the formation process, you assess the required experience and knowledge of the external partner, and the perceived chemistry that exists between your values and theirs.  In this initial stage, everyone in the partnership gets to know each other and learns how to work together as a team.

Planning

Nothing ensures the success of an external partnership more than careful, thorough planning.  This is a collective process with your external partners to bring everyone’s expertise into the design of the team effort.  In this step of partnership development, the goal is that all members grow in terms of their respect and understanding of each other, and in mutual understanding of the desired outcomes.

Cohesion

As the teams move beyond the initial stages into performing as a partnership, everyone’s vision becomes more unified.  Relationships smooth out as you learn how to approach and engage one another.  A sense of accomplishment begins to set in as you see the partnership effort unfolding as planned.

Achievement

As the partnership accumulates successes, people see that the synergy of their talents and effort is working.  They begin to take pride in their joint accomplishments and have a greater sense of the importance of their endeavor.  People engage each other with an attitude of confidence and mutual trust.

Actualization

In this stage, the partners are operating at an ongoing high level of cooperation and mutual understanding.  The partnership is functioning at its greatest level of efficiency and collaboration.  The likelihood that this external partnership will endure is very high.

To win in today’s market, team members have to step up and be ready to take a leadership role.  It is not easy to instill leadership abilities in others.  It’s very important to also understand that some people do not share the same goals and aspirations as you might.  Keep an open mind and learn to use different techniques to inspire different people.  Here are a few ways that you can inspire your team members to stand up and lead. 

Challenge  – Issue a challenge.  (In today’s market environment, you probably have many challenges to issue!)  Some people need a specific challenge to motivate them.  By laying down a challenge you also create a very clear and measurable goal for the staff member to achieve.

Appeal to more noble motives  – Many employees can think that their work does not make a difference.  By appealing to a noble motive, you can increase morale while also setting higher standards for your staff members. 

Be sympathetic – Never tell a person they are wrong.  Rather listen and be empathetic to the other person’s ideas and desires.

Evidence  – Back up your ideas with proof.  By providing evidence you can give instant credibility to your ideas.  If you have evidence, even staff members coming in from a totally different perspective from yours will take notice.

Listen  – Listen to what your staff members have to say.  Some employees may not have aspirations to reach top corporate positions; rather they are content if their opinions and ideas are valued.

Ask questions – Instead of giving direct orders, ask questions to guide your staff members to think through the issues – and come up with solutions themselves.

Make your staff members feel important – And do it sincerely.  Faced with the market challenges today, your employees must be reassured that their contribution and leadership DOES have a huge impact on the company’s survival, stability, and growth.

Cold calling is critical today in the face of less repeat business and fewer referrals. There are, however, many myths and misperceptions about cold calling.

•        The only goal of any business-to-business cold call is to schedule an appointment. True or false?

•        It is not as important to qualify prospects when cold calling since any salesperson cold calling just wants to set as many appointments as possible. True or false?

•        When leaving a voice message, a salesperson should leave as little information as possible. True or false?

Read on for our 12-question Cold Call Test. We developed the questions in this test based on information in books written specifically on cold calling and from Dale Carnegie’s own experience as a global sales training provider. If you have a correct understanding of the purpose of cold calling, you will increase your response rate and your close rate!

This True/False test will help clarify some common myths and misperceptions about cold calling. We’ve based the “correct” responses on research found in books written specifically on cold calling and on our own experience as a global sales training provider.

Keep in mind that some of these questions could have different correct responses in special cases. So be sure to answer from a general sales perspective rather than from the perspective of a unique selling situation.

1. The only goal for any business-to-business cold call should be to schedule an appointment.

TRUE: Salespeople often make the mistake of selling their solutions when cold calling. This is a deadly error. Sell only one thing at a time. If the person is willing to talk now, focus on getting the appointment.

2. Cold calling will generally generate results that are just as good as referrals.

FALSE: Referrals tend to have higher closing ratios for appointments.

3. It is not a high priority to qualify prospects when cold calling. The key is to set up as many appointments as possible.

FALSE: Save time for you and your prospects by ensuring you have qualified leads before taking the time to make and attend an appointment with a prospect.

4. You should leave a message for the buyer when you get voicemail instead of the actual person.

TRUE: Never miss an opportunity to leave a positive impression about you and your company. Also, remember that many people use caller ID. They may be wondering why you called and then failed to leave a message.

5. Most salespeople stop cold calling a prospect after four tries.

TRUE: Unfortunately, most salespeople give up after only four tries.

6. After you’ve made a certain number of cold calls, it becomes less important to keep records of your results.

FALSE: Most salespeople hate paperwork and keeping records, but it is the only way to find out what is working. And just because something works (or doesn’t) this year, that doesn’t mean it won’t change next year…or next week.

7. Always make friends with the gatekeeper.

FALSE: Good relationships with gatekeepers can be a salesperson’s best asset. These individuals can give you a positive look into the customer’s organization. So you should always be friendly with the gatekeeper, but you don’t need to necessarily befriend the gatekeeper. These individuals may feel that your interest is an intrusion and suspect that you are trying to manipulate them, or they just may never have contact with any decision-makers in the company. Be cautious about feeling that you are making great progress when you could be wasting your time and theirs.

8. If a prospect doesn’t want to talk to you, it’s probably personal.

FALSE: You have no idea what is going on in a person’s world when you cold call. Remember not to take anything personally.

9. Less information is better when leaving a voicemail.

TRUE: Thirty seconds is about as long as you can hold someone’s attention with a voice mail.

10. Experienced salespeople are past prospecting and develop all their business from current clients and referrals.

FALSE: Over time, we all lose customers because they go out of business, relocate, change their business, and for a host of other reasons. Experienced salespeople plan for this loss of clientele and continue to look for new prospects.

11. Experienced professionals use scripts when prospecting on the phone.

TRUE: Scripts help us make sure we are using the words with the maximum impact on prospects. Professionals practice them enough so that they don’t sound like scripts.

12. Cold calling doesn’t have to be a constant activity. Once your business gets going, you should be able to eliminate it.

FALSE: The majority of your business should eventually come from existing clients and referrals, but if you stop cold calling, you are missing potentially valuable business opportunities.

As a manager, turbulent times can be unsettling.  On one hand, employees want to be upbeat, positive, and encouraged about the future.  On the other hand, news about the economy, conversations with some customers, and input from others in the organization can often leave them feeling uncomfortable and unsure.  So how do you balance these conflicting ideas, maintain a positive environment, and keep employees focused on a positive future?

Focus on Vision and Mission

While it is important for the you to clarify your organization’s overriding vision and mission during times of uncertainty, it is vitally important that you consider how your team contributes to that overall vision and mission. The economic downturn is an opportune time for you to explain to your team how vital their role is in the department. Managers must create an exciting picture of the future look of the department and team. You must share this vision with the team by explaining how each team member contributes to making the vision a reality. As each employee understands their vital role in the organization, in their department, and in their team, their sense of engagement will be bolstered.

Develop Connections

The key role of any leader is to create supportive, loyal, and talented employees. This cannot be accomplished from a distance. Times of turbulence and change increase the need for you to be visible and approachable. Employees want a manager who knows them (personally and professionally), who is willing to listen to them, and who is caring enough to take time to address their individual concerns. This is a critical time to walk around the office, make extra phone calls to off-site employees, and keep up to date on email. Employees who feel connected to you are more likely to feel engaged in the organization. Be sure to schedule time for keeping employees connected.

Create Ongoing Dialogue

A key to building followership is to maintain open communication with all employees. You can do this with general conversation, by sharing organization level communications, and by spending time focusing employees on the work at hand. It is important that you spend time discussing expectations, the value of an employee’s role, and key measurements of success within the role of each employee. This will help employees stay on task (a critical factor in not allowing the current uncertainty to become overly distracting) and open up meaningful discussion about how the role may change as new plans unfold. Employees who are excited about what the future may hold, or how their role may change and evolve in the future, are more likely to stay engaged during this period of uncertainty.  

Encourage Empowerment

Employees typically like to believe that their efforts contribute to something bigger than themselves. To help employees be empowered, contributing members of the team, take time to help them focus for results in support of mission achievement. grow their skills and abilities so they can continue to contribute in the future, and challenge them to find innovative ways of performing their role. This process will help them be productive today, plan for ways to continue being productive in the future, and help the organization as a whole find ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency—two things every organization needs to focus on to stay competitive.

While there are rarely easy answers to the unique issues that arise during times of turbulence, managers cannot retreat to their office and hope the situation will simply cure itself.  Difficult times call for consistent leadership.  Helping your team stay focused on the organizations direction, their individual role in achieving that direction, and encouraging them to be part of developing new approaches for helping the organization succeed in these difficult times, are just a few ways that managers can help create an environment that allows employees to stay engaged even in uncertain times. 

Prepare, prepare, prepare.  You never can be too prepared to present.  Knowing your presentation through and through can help boost your confidence while easing your fear and anxiety.  Preparation does not just include what you are going to say, it also includes how and why you are going to present the information.  Here are some tips to help you create an effective speech or presentation. 

·     Open with Confidence 

Your opening provides your first impression to the audience.  Know the audience and the purpose of the presentation.  Find out what they might expect from your remarks and what they may already know about the topic.  Consider how you will grab the audience’s attention.  If you need to deliver bad news, consider ways to connect with the audinece from the beginning of the presentation.  Be well prepared for the opening as it sets the tone for your entire presentation–leave nothing to chance. 

·     Focus on a Few Key Points

Know the major points you want to make.  This will help ease your worry and increase your confidence.  Outline the key concepts in your electronic visuals, on a note card, or better still use a memory technique such as stacking so you remember your key points.  Avoid trying to memorize your presentation as it will sound canned and stiff as opposed to comfortable and real. 

·     Support Ideas with Evidence

It is always important to provide evidence to support your main points.  Supporting evidence will reinforce your points to the audience and give you a chance to explain your points more fully.

·     Close with a Call to Action

This will be the last impression your audience has of you and your presentation.  It is important to look at the purpose of the presentation and then determine a proper close.  Emphasize the key action, or actions, you want the audience to take after hearing your presentation.  This serves a nice summary of your content and assures they leave with a clear direction. 

·     Keep in mind, you are not alone.

Most people have some presentation anxiety.  Remember that people who don’t feel some stress may appear to be taking their audience for granted.  Replace negative thoughts that creep into your subconscious mind with positive affirmations, from yourself and others.

·     Be Human.

Allow yourself to make mistakes.  Do not try to be a perfect presenter.  A brief pause to collect your thoughts may feel like eternity, but it’s not.  Tell stories from your personal experiences.  Have a conversation with people rather than talking at your audience.  

·     Ask for Feedback.

You will be surprised how much will be positive.  Accept and internalize compliments you receive without minimizing them.  Remind yourself about what went well rather than what didn’t.  Focus on one or two key improvement areas for the next time.  Not ten or twenty.

·     Prepare for Future Success

View each presentation you give as a development opportunity.  Enjoy the experience.  Use each presentation as an opportunity to enhance your confidence and skill for the next presentation.  

Once you clearly understand a process, you can focus on ways to make improvements.  Review each step of the process with the following key points in mind, to make your problems SCARCE.

Simplify:  Identify steps that can be made easier, faster or with less resources.  Look for changes in technology, software, and best practices in the industry.  The number of movements or moving parts can be decreased.  The distances to transport people, machines, or raw materials can be reduced.  The number of steps within a process can be continued.

Combine:  Look for opportunities to combine two or more different operations.  Reduce the number of people who interact with the process.  Have the same person, function, or department do more so that more value is added to the system at that point.  Identify redundancies that create additional steps or rework.

Add Value:  Create added value at new points in the process.  Determine what could be done at each step to either add new value or add value that was being created somewhere else in the process.  This actually means adding elements to the process, so be certain that the added value is worth the investment.  Value is determined by the ultimate customers, so be sure to keep their perspectives in mind.

Re-Arrange:  This could involve moving people, equipment, work spaces, raw materials, etc.  Look at options to change the sequence of operations or activities.  Could something be done earlier, later, by a different person, at a different location?  Small changes can make a big difference.

Clarify:  Sometimes we discover that a process is correct but it is not being followed consistently.  Be careful of change just for the sake of change.  You might discover that people are unaware of processes, need additional training, or have to be convinced why it is important to do the process in the prescribed way.  This is where good communication and human relations skills are critical.

Eliminate:  This is usually the most effective and easiest approach.  Careful examination of long-held processes usually brings to light steps that are no longer necessary.  Often there is little or no investment in time or resources to eliminate steps.  Just be careful not to eliminate elements that are essential to downstream operations.  Before eliminating something, ask stakeholders in the organization why a step is being done.

The Rude, the Bad and the Ugly

“Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.”

Thus begins the list of 30 Human Relations Principle extolled by Dale Carnegie. So easy in theory, so difficult to practice when dealing people that delight in doing just the opposite.

Unfortunately, rudeness and disrespect are so prevalent in our society that courses like “Dealing with Difficult People” are being offered, and companies are issuing Communications Policies that enumerate proper “code of conduct” in dealing with colleagues. Let’s not forget the mandatory Harassment Courses that many managers need to undergo as part of their induction into an organization. Can’t we all just get along?

I recently had several run ins with insolence – from a real estate agent, a supermarket cashier and a theme park security guard, all of whom seemed to have forgotten (or perhaps never learned?) how to treat people with courtesy and consideration.

Having been brought up in a culture that emphasizes respect, not just for elders, but for everyone, I am often taken aback when people – out of rudeness or habit – criticize others openly, complain loudly, or bully others to assert their position. There’s a thin line between healthy assertiveness and ugly brazenness. In an enlightened society, it is understood that politeness does not indicate weakness, and that deference does not equal subservience.

Growing up, my brothers and I were always taught to speak politely and observe our manners around others. My parents insisted on appropriate behavior, whether at the dinner table or at church, not because but they “said so,” but because it was the right thing to do. Addressing an adult simply by their first name was considered impudent. Older cousins were referred to as “Ate” (big sister) or “Kuya” (big brother) and our parent’s friends were addressed as “Tito” (uncle) or “Tita” (aunt).

At school, values like respect, humility, courtesy, discipline and obedience were drilled into our psyches. Again, not blind submission, but a reasonable regard for rank and authority. I remember grade school days at Colegio San Agustin, where students always rose to greet an arriving teacher or visitor. “Good morning, teacher! Good morning, Father!” the class would pronounce in unison.

Whatever happened to civility, social grace and common courtesy? Are they the stuff of nostalgia? Nowadays, we see 6-year olds barking orders at their parents, teenagers cursing out their teachers, and adults behaving thoughtlessly – ill-mannered athletes celebrated in the media, crude characters (like Beavis & Butthead and Jackass) idolized by kids, and solipsistic, mean-spirited debutantes emulated by wanna-be’s.

In my case, dealing with a real estate agent screaming demands and threats over the phone; a supermarket cashier loudly complaining about the long line of people queuing up for his station; and a clearly irritated young amusement park security guard impatiently motioning people to open up their bags for inspection, without so much as a perfunctory “please” or “thank you,” much less a simple honorific like “sir” or “ma’am”.

Just as laughter is contagious, so is negativity. In fact, negative attitudes are more virulent than positive ones. A 2007 study in the Journal of Consumer research indicates that “negative opinions cause the greatest attitude shifts, not just from good to bad, but also from bad to worse.” Have you ever noticed how one person’s outburst just changes the energy in a room?

Needless to say, being around ugly behavior put me in a bad mood. Renowned choreographer Martha Graham was right – misery is a communicable disease.

But, ‘tis the season of cheer and joy. And I refuse to be handicapped by gloom. Negativity may be infectious, and none of us are immune to the ills of rude society. However, happiness is also a choice. Heck, it takes a heck of a lot less effort than sulking.

So as we venture out into the rude, crude world, remember that civility must begin with us. A simple “please” and “thank you” can make someone’s day. And if you must criticize, condemn or complain, a smile goes a long way.

(Originally published in Filipinas Magazine December 2009 Issue)