HOW TO CHANGE PEOPLE WITHOUT GIVING OFFENCE OR AROUSING RESENTMENT

by Geoffrey Musera Author & Publisher / Article Writer

The following are some of the principles that could help in effective customer service delivery with emphasis on dealing with both internal and external customers;

v Start with praise and honest appreciation – Beginning with praise is like a dentist who begins his work with Novocain. The patient still gets a drilling, but the Novocain is pain-killing.

v Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly – Calling attention to one’s mistakes indirectly works wonders with sensitive people who may resent bitterly any direct criticism. This is an effective way to correct other’s mistakes.

v Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person – Admitting one’s own mistakes even when one hasn’t corrected them – can help convince somebody to change his behavior.

v Ask questions instead of giving direct orders – Asking questions not only make an order more palatable but it often stimulates the creativity of the persons whom you ask.

v Let the other person save face – Even if we’re right and the other person is definitely wrong, we only destroy ‘ego’ by causing someone to lose face. What matters is not what one think of a man, but what he thinks of himself. Hurting a man in his dignity is a crime.

v Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” – Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement – thus nobody wants insincerity.

v Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to – An average person can be led readily if you have his/her respect and if you show that you respect that person for some kind of ability. If you want to improve a person in a certain respect, act as though that particular trait were already one of his/her outstanding characteristics.

v Use encouragement – Make the fault seem easy to correct. Make the thing seem easy to do. Let the other person know that you have faith in his ability to do it, that he has an undeveloped flair for it – and he will practice until the dawn comes in the window in order to excel.

v Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest – Be sincere. Do not promise anything that you cannot deliver. Forget about the benefits to yourself and concentrate on the benefits to the other person. Know exactly what it is you want the other person to do. Be empathetic. Ask yourself what it is that the other person really wants. Consider the benefits that person will receive from doing what you suggested. Match those benefits to the other person’s wants. When you make your request, put it in a form that will convey to the other person the idea that he personally will benefit.