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Home of the Original
LAMA Training

(818) 945-5141
Call us–We’re in the
phone business!

Christmas, Didn’t you get the memo


Aaron Sorkin wrote that line for WESTWING and I will never forget it.

I love this time of year.  It causes everyone to take at least a minute to STOP and THINK. 

Questions like:

  • Am I getting too old?
  • Am I going too fast?
  • Am I working too hard?
  • Am I trying to scheme to get the next gig?
  • Am I really living in the now moment?

“I have come to believe in so many strange things over the years.  I have had many ‘wow’ experiences, and because of that, I have very little reason to doubt that there is truth about things that are beyond what I can see or predict.” 

Intention and a vision in a future, you cannot see, is where the fun is.  The past has its moments, and sometimes they are really great. But that is not a reason to look back all the time. Looking through the rearview mirror causes you to bump into things.  The only thing the past can do, is to help you make a prediction based on old facts.  But what about the things you didn’t predict?

Imagination is funny.  It allows you to dream of things that have not yet happened.  I like that.  I can put a lot of faith in that.  Experience is all that teaches…words never teach. Let’s have a New Year of Intention, Consciousness, and Vision.  That is what I […]

Christmas, Didn’t you get the memo2018-12-23T19:58:15+00:00

Thanksgiving – My Favorite Holiday of all!

Every year at this time, I am always so thankful and, I am reminded as soon as Halloween is over that everyone gets into this wonderful mode of THANKS.  I started my business on November 16, 1979.  I know!  Can you believe it?  I was born on November 26th, and Thanksgiving is always right around my birthday.  This year, I have so much to be thankful for and, I hope some of these “thankful ideas” give you some ideas for yourself.

This year I have had a private group of wonderful people who meet with me weekly to grow our INTENTION levels to higher consciousness.  This has been the most fun!  These people are remarkable, and they are learning and sharing more each week about how they are growing.  This helps us all expand our minds to a higher place of love and understanding.  It hasn’t made anyone thinner, cuter, or have less wrinkles; but it has made us more prosperous and opened our eyes to what we really want.  We set some goals and intentions at the initial session, and have noticed we want more of what we can’t see than more of what we can see.  To me, this is enlightenment.  WE want to love more, the confidence that self-esteem brings to us, ability to communicate with our family, friends, and business associates.  We want continued joy, gratefulness, and appreciation. (It may be corny, but it’s true.)

We have dropped the To-Do lists in favor of “Thinking BIG.”  It’s […]

Thanksgiving – My Favorite Holiday of all!2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

Every Job Take Ten Minutes

Managers in Contact Centers are overwhelmed, and they know it. They work; from home, while they drive, and while at the actual workplace.
They are on their cell phones doing e-mails, apps, and God only knows what else. They never take 5 minutes to “Be Quiet.” Oh! NO! They are too busy for that. They think every single thing they do is so important and they expect others to work the same way, so how can they take a break?

• They worry about production,
• Abandonment rates,
• Sales, Customer service, Customer Care
• Net Promotor Scores, and
• Customer Retention

They “think” that if they continue to push themselves very hard, without offending anyone, or hurting anyone’s self-esteem, that those who work for them will “Monkey See, Monkey Do,” then they will succeed in being Happy. At least they HOPE they will.  If only they could figure out ways to get Sat scores Up and Customer Experience locked in?

“Have a Little Tea with JUDY”:
1. If you can work 10-12 hours a day and take work calls at all hours of the day and night – YOU CAN TAKE 10 minutes twice a day to “STOP thinking, thinking, thinking! AND Be Quiet!”
2. Sit down in your office, unplug the phone. (Oh, NO, MR. BILL!) Listen to the air conditioner hum and breathe in and breathe out while saying these words.
3. Breathe IN…Breathe OUT. Do not add or subtract from those 4 words. If you notice your are thinking just gently go back to Breathe IN…Breathe […]

Every Job Take Ten Minutes2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

Contact Center Consciousness About MONEY – Make it EASY and Convenient for a better customer experience

 

CASH!  WOW!  I love that word, Cash.  I love everything about it.  Like MONEY in the Mail.  Cash In and get your prize today! or Would you like Check or Cash?  I’ll take CASH, Please.

Let’s have a better Consciousness about MONEY.  We have an economy, we have goals, we have sales, we have up-selling and cross-selling, but do we have the Consciousness for Success where money is concerned?

The leadership, the trainers, and the coaches need to have a deep sense of “MONEY is a GOOD thing”. The Price is Right! Trainers and teachers cannot teach what they do not experience.  Words don’t matter much.  Words don’t teach, you have heard me say that before.  Experience teaches. PERIOD.  MIC DROP!  OLD mother’s words about money doesn’t hold up.  Learn this and your agents will be trained in how to give up the old story and apply the new one but IT’S UP TO YOU.  So, what do you believe?  Check yourself first.

Here is why it’s important in the Contact Center.  People are always freaking out over money.  Most of them learned the myths about money from their parents.  Here are a couple of things they heard.

  • Money is short.
  • There is never enough money.
  • Don’t carry cash, you may lose it.
  • Money is the root of all evil. Now that’s just wrong. Maybe the LOVE of it is the root…

How about when you’re in the Contact Center, and your agents must talk about the purchase price, the value, […]

Contact Center Consciousness About MONEY – Make it EASY and Convenient for a better customer experience2018-08-14T00:51:19+00:00

Communication is a Function of INTENTION

Everyone sure learned that lesson this past week!  The news is giving us all a lesson. If you say you’re joking but the words are mean, you’re NOT joking, you’re mean.  In all our classes we teach Customer Service Reps to be kind in word and in deed.  Sarcasm just doesn’t work.  Words that deride the company you work for make your business suspicious.  Hedging on speaking the price makes the customer fearful and nervous.  Let’s use words that communicate what we really mean. L-A-M-A Lessons on AMAZON . . .

Instead of: “I understand your concern.” This almost always sounds canned and expressionless…say this instead and mean it.  “We are so sorry that happened. You did the right thing to call and you have the right person.  I will get on it immediately. What happened exactly?” 

Or

“What is your account number, do you happen to have that handy?”

Instead of: “Why do you want to cancel?”

Demonstrate you care by acknowledging the customer has the right to change his or her mind and you just want to know why so that you may find a way to solve, dissolve, or resolve the matter completely. NEVER ask “Why?”

Say THIS: “I am so sorry to hear that. Our job is to assist you with your account and any other thing that may make your experience with us a good one.  May I ask what caused you to make that decision?”

Check out the words you use and the intent behind […]

Communication is a Function of INTENTION2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

Customer Experience is Not just a department, but a Philosophy!

My thoughts today:  Customer Experience, Customer Care, and Customer Service is NOT just a department, but a PHILOSOPHY!

 

          “It is a STAND YOU TAKE and you Take a STAND about the Stand you Take. YOU believe in the STAND You TAKE!” Werner Erhard said that in 1982.  I still operate from this thought system.  Taking a stand for the Stand You Take is so important.  My stand is this: The Customers must never be made to feel wrong or stupid even if they are wrong and stupid.  We do not get to make the judgement call.  My STAND is THIS: We must use feelings, and no computer can do that yet.  I hope they never will.

 

The Philosophy needs to lead the technology…not the other way around

  • How can we make it EASIER on the CUSTOMER to SAY YES without coercion or manipulation, but use Education and Good Offers?
  • What can we do to make the Customer Experience friendlier and kind and use our Technology to help?
  • What do the Customers WANT?
    • They want to find answers themselves, even before they call the company (FORBES said this)
    • If the company doesn’t respond personally and fast…
    • They GOOGLE the information

 

So, Ask yourself these questions:

  1. What am I NOT seeing about my customer that would make us more profitable and the customer happier with us?
  2. What is ALSO true about our relationship with the customer that I have NOT thought of?
  3. What does the customer want from […]
Customer Experience is Not just a department, but a Philosophy!2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

ALL ABOUT MONEY!

A million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to

Money talk drives agents crazy?
Would you rather talk about ANYTHING other than MONEY?

When I started my business about 35 years ago, there were no ways to “think” about money as a good thing.  Real Estate was inflating at the speed of light, interest rates were sky high, and people were very fearful about money.  Now, all this was happening in a world filled with people who had gone through the 60’s, were hippies or even moving back into society from the communes, and seriously brought up to think that MONEY WAS THE ROOT of ALL EVIL!  That kind of thinking was getting me nowhere.  And I had three kids to put through college!

So, I started looking around for ideas on how to THINK BIG, “Think and Grow Rich!” and Catherine Ponder’s “Dynamic Laws of Prosperity.”  Before you knew it, I got my mind straight about How to THINK about money.  I set myself up with a couple of rules. Laugh if you wish but heed this warning.  If you are afraid of money, or you don’t like it for some reason, or you judge all those who have it as bad in some way…This Doesn’t Work! Set yourself up to start by thinking a little differently about money.  Here are a couple of my rules which helped me a lot to get positive about money. 

Rule # 1 – Money is NOT the Root of all evil.  It is […]

ALL ABOUT MONEY!2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places

Call Center Love needed – but don’t look for it where you don’t want to find it – Find it and give it to the agents

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  We are all looking for love.  My thought for this month is, let’s look for love where we WANT to find it.  Call Center Agents need love too!  It seems the world is bent on finding love in all the wrong places, because they think that if they can only find the problem, they could fix it.  This is NOT TRUE.  You can always find challenges, but “Where is the love?”  Find THAT!

Call Centers have their problems, issues, and challenges.  But supervisors don’t need to find them.  They aren’t lost.  They are still there.  Issues constantly come up, and I always feel that the Agent is the one taking the heat!  They bear the brunt of every irritated customer, and are taught not to take it personally.  RIGHT?

Yesterday, I spoke to an Agent with my cable company; she was delightful!  She was helpful, quick, and she cared about what I wanted…my way.  The Agent thanked me for my complimentary attitude and said that, she sometimes gets frustrated because the hold times are so long, and when she can finally answer, the customer “yells at me.”  She corrected that to say “The customer gives the me a piece of his mind!  If you know what I mean.”  (This is in case she is heard on the recorded call.)

I […]

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

2018? It’s here now? How did that happen so fast?

YEAR END Goal Setting – LAMA LESSONS in Money, Time, and Energy

All our training classes begin with “INTENTION” and a short definition is “Being Determined in Advance.” A question I get at all training classes is: “Judy, what is the difference between Goals and Intention?”

Thanks for asking because the response is very important, and it can change the way you think about goals. Since, the Universe always says YES…you better get those goals right! There is a Universal Law at work, and it’s just like gravity.  So, at the end of every year, we talk about year-end goals, New Year’s Resolutions, and Next Year’s Goals.  This will be quick to learn.  The most important thing about goals is that they are specific and measurable.  Intention is general and imaginative, creative and the vision from 40,000 feet.

Here is the “kicker.”  All goals need to be based on INTENTION.  There are no hidden meanings, no hidden agendas, and no fooling the FORCE.  Therefore, you need three things:

  1. Purpose for your INTENTION- WHY do you want what you want?  Don’t set a money goal unless you have an Intention in mind.  Example:  I want to make a $50,000 goal. (BOLDLY stated.)  What for?  AH YES…for College tuition.  It is my Intention to put my kids through college.
  2. Goal- Sell $50,000 worth of training programs to pay for college fund.  (Now we’re talking.)
  3. Discipline- Discipline yourself to follow the plan in two ways. Daily and Monthly, I will be determined in advance […]
2018? It’s here now? How did that happen so fast?2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00

How do you say, “Thank You” in LAMA?

Maybe you would like some ideas this year on words and ways to say them, that really acknowledge another person.  When I want to say something wonderful, I usually start blubbering like a baby because, I start to seriously think about what someone means to me instead of taking them for granted.  When I am coaching in a call center and the agent says, “Thank you for calling,” or “Thank you for being our customer,” I always want to thank the Agent for the good job and embellish it.  Most agents find me a little on the corny side, but the wonderful thing is, they GET IT!  If you are teaching Customer Manners, or Company Goals with Customer Affairs or Quality Care, it may be part of your responsibility to listen for how we express our thanks.  I will LAMATIZE a couple of Thanksgiving expressions for you when you are the Coach, the Manager, or the Trainer.  This will start you thinking about how to say “Thanks.”

  1. The Customer asked for something. The agent completed the job. Here is what you can say:
  2. L – This is what you heard…Agent did a nice job and thanked the customer for calling.
  3. A – Corey, you really helped that customer and you did it fast.
  4. M – When we teach etiquette we say the usual things, but you didn’t just say the usual things. You were kinder, you offered even more education if the customer […]
How do you say, “Thank You” in LAMA?2021-03-11T22:17:08+00:00
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