Dear Experts, I went on an interview & used the restroom beforehand. I saw an employee NOT wash their hands. Turns out the person was my interviewer! I reacted by not shaking hands - I just stared and stammered. Well, the interview was tense as a result. The worst part is the job is AWESOME (with the exception of working with someone who doesn't wash their hands!). How do I save the situation? Here is how our T.A.P. experts answered this question:@kgrantcareersQ#170 Send thank u letter nd call. Blame on nerves, don't admit 2 interviewer not washing hands. State int n job - heavily! @keppie_careersQ#170 Take this as a lesson for future-focus on goal = getting job. Next time, worry about germs later. @gradversityQ#170 Agree with experts. Shake hands and deal with it after. You may want to keep looking as this one might be a lost cause. @beneubanksQ#170 Shake anyway next time. There are germs everywhere! Re: situation-tell 'em you were nervous. Apologize! @jtodonnellQ#170 Good reason to carry hand-sanitizer! Could always fake a wrist injury next time to skip the shaking! @iplawmanQ#170 Send thank you ltr citing interest/quals, follow-up. Shaking hand is gr8 relationship builder - ignore bathroom incident. @DebraWheatmanQ#170 Might need to move on. Establishing rapport early sets tone & is part of process. Send positive follow-up; hope 4 best. @resumesrevealedQ#170 Ewwww! Send TY note; stress intrest in job, ur qualifications, enthusiasm, etc. Dont bring up handshke (or lack of). Our Twitter Advice Project (T.A.P.) is no longer an active campaign. To find an answer to the above question, please use the "Search" box in the right-hand column of this website.
We get it. Looking for work can be scary, especially if you’ve been at it for a long time and haven’t gotten any results.
Understanding which fears are getting in the way and how to overcome them will make all the difference. Sometimes you might not be aware of which obstacle is getting in the way of your goals. If you want to overcome these fears once and for all, we invite you to join us!
In this training, you’ll learn how to:
- Utilize strategies for coping with your job search fears
- Be confident in your job search—from writing your resume to networking
- Face your fears and move forward
Join our CEO, J.T. O'Donnell, and Director of Training Development & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for this live event on Wednesday, October 5th at 12 pm ET.
CAN'T ATTEND LIVE? That's okay. You'll have access to the recording and the workbook after the session!
Most of LinkedIn's revenues come from recruiters who use it as a major source for finding talent and you want to make sure you come up in their searches. You also want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is compelling and gets people to want to contact you.
Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing people will see about you when they search for certain skills, job titles, and keywords inside the platform. Here are some mistakes to avoid making in your LinkedIn headline, and a few tips to improve it:
1. Letting It Default To Your Current Job Title & Company
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When you don't manually change your LinkedIn headline, it'll default to your current job title and employer name. While it's alright to leave it like that, especially if you have a self-explanatory job title and work with an employer that is recognized, you can get better results when you take the time to customize it.
Write a LinkedIn headline that's relevant to your target audience and includes a few keywords (hard skills). The difference is a LinkedIn headline that reads: "Sales & Marketing Executive | Data Analysis | Social Media | Advertising" instead of "Sales and Marketing at XYZ Company."
The revised LinkedIn headline does a better job of informing others of what this person does, who they do it for, and what their expertise is.
2. Not Presenting Your Selling Point
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Your LinkedIn headline needs selling points or a value proposition that makes you stand out.
What is it that separates you from someone else who may hold similar skills and experience? Which hard skills or transferable skills will make you a great candidate for the job you're applying for? That's what you need to think about.
3. Not Peppering Your LinkedIn Headline With Keywords
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If you want your LinkedIn profile to show up in search results, it has to have the relevant keywords recruiters and hiring managers are searching for. Determine what those keywords are and make sure they're in your LinkedIn headline. Be sure to include the skills needed for the position you want to get, not the one you're currently in.
Let's say a recruiter is searching for talent to fill a sales position at a pharmaceutical company that sells cancer drugs. If your LinkedIn headline only reads "Sales Professional," you'll probably show up much lower in the search results than someone with a LinkedIn headline that hits on some of the keywords.
An example of a good LinkedIn headline might be:
Sales Executive | Pharmaceutical Sales | Sales Management | Lead Generation
4. Not Being Memorable
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A LinkedIn headline displaying your skills and expertise will entice others to want to know more about you. Work your brainpower to come up with something powerful and unique.
Write a LinkedIn headline so powerful it'll make recruiters stop scrolling and write down your name!
A major battle job seekers have on LinkedIn is getting others to look at their profiles. But with a customized LinkedIn headline that speaks to the audience you want to reach, you'll get results.
The LinkedIn headline may only allow 220 characters, but it's your best chance to stand out to recruiters and get them to view your profile!
Need more help with your LinkedIn profile?
Sign up for our FREE Resume & LinkedIn Bootcamp today to learn how to update your resume and LinkedIn profile the way recruiters want!
As an accomplished consumer, whether for my business or a new piece for my wardrobe, my own consumer experience index rates 6/10 interactions conclude by walking away from a supplier, retailer, or service provider service request without a satisfactory resolution or positive experience.
My latest service experience required reaching out on (4) separate occasions, each with a different agent, and spending 5 ½ hours with a major tech giant that I’ll never get back, trying to fix an issue with my commercial-grade laptop that appeared out of nowhere. Needless to say, it was a HUGE infringement on my day.
When is the last time you felt ENTRAPPED, dealing personally or professionally with a time-sucking unavoidable glitch or necessary transaction that crashed into your busy life?
You didn’t go looking for it, may have avoided it a time or two, but now it’s SCREAMING your name and demanding action.
Most of us are good sports to make a call or hop on a chat so we can resolve and issue to check a box and get on to the next task. But as the norm for modern consumer experiences has deteriorated into dreaded, time-consuming interactions that elevate our blood pressure, it’s time to speak up for all of my comrades in commerce.
Join me as we:
- Consider how modern buyer expectations have changed
- Talk about the all-too-common practices that are driving us away from sellers
- Focus on the fix so sellers can turn themselves into consumer experience heroes
Modern Consumer Experience Report Card
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After years of indifferent customer service, entitled seller attitudes, and low employee appreciation, the pandemic’s events brought a turning consumer tide in every area of our culture. Workers voted by resigning from undesirable workplaces, enterprise buyers refused spammy sales efforts, and consumers purchased from the retailer with the most seamless and personalized experience.
As modern consumers now demand seamless service across a dozen different communication channels, the stakes are high for inconsistency, limited channels, and a consumer journey filled with undo hassle.
Here are many of the all-too-common experiences that are driving off us consumers and our loyalty.
14 Service & Support Practices To Change NOW To Save Your Consumer Experience
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- Setting and neglecting. When is the last time your organization audited your consumer journey with a fine-toothed comb to deliver a smooth end-to-end consumer experience?
- Eliminating inbound phone support and replacing it with time-consuming, unintuitive alternatives with a low one-call resolution.
- Support interactions that truncate prior to a resolution when navigations don’t render correctly on a device.
- Misdirecting callers to agents without needed systems visibility or training to address the complaint.
- Repeated agent-to-agent transfers that require callers to re-authorize their identity and re-explain the issue from the beginning when the IVR does not track the conversation, caller’s purpose for the call, complaint, or intention.
- Chat sessions that do not audibly alert the caller of agent responses and prematurely terminate the session between responses, requiring the caller to restart a new session and start over.
- Agents intentionally terminating calls without cause and without notice.
- IVR systems that disconnect for no reason after long wait times.
- Call transfers that terminate.
- Auto callbacks that leave callers on lengthy holds before an agent joins the call.
- IVR systems without an option for a callback vs. holding with no notification of estimated wait times.
- Offering chat or email support in lieu of phone support without 24/7 service.
- Operating with an overall service and support vibe that communicates that customers have nothing to do but obtain service from your organization, however long it takes.
- Operating with an overall service and support vibe that communicates that customers are “lucky” to receive service from your organization.
Inspiration For Service Excellence From Consumer Experience Heroes
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While there are plenty of consumer experience foibles to name, let’s take inspiration from the principles that drive the service excellence of a few consumer experience heroes:
Trader Joe’s – Empowering employees to bend the rules to deliver amazing service.
Ritz-Carlton – Inspiring staff to build strong emotional engagement with their guests and empowering them to deliver exceptional service.
Nordstrom – Creating a culture where going above and beyond to take care of customers is expected, encouraged, and praised above all else.
Chick-fil-A – Commitment to be kind to employees and provide heartfelt hospitality to customers with a mindset that: “Every life has a story, and often our customers and our employees, need a little grace and a little space when you deal with them because they are either experiencing a problem, just finished having a problem, or are about to have one.”
What If Your Culture Is On The Wrong Side Of Service Excellence?
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Here’s a high-brow, corporate, three-step process for sellers to produce experience excellence:
- Create policies and systems that put customers first every day
- Hire empathetic, problem-solving employees
- Empower your team members with continual training and tools
But if you sellers really want to get in tune with buyer expectations and the triggers that cause them to hit the eject button, you are going to need to get your hands dirty.
How?
Whether you sell (B2C) business-to-consumer or (B2B) business-to-business, eat your own dog food by auditing your process and consider paying other people to do the same to tell you what’s wrong with it. Make periodic walkthroughs of your end-to-end buyer journey a thing to proactively spot and resolve points of friction until you deliver experience excellence.
If you sell to end consumers, how seamless is your process using a website or mobile app, on different devices, making purchases that require password changes, updates to a cart, changing addresses or credit cards, and applying coupons? Make inquiries prior to, during, and after the sale. And don’t neglect the last mile that preserves goodwill with your consumers. Complete returns with each of the shipping options, including through third-party partners to ensure a hassle-free process.
If you sell to businesses, give up old-school spammy sales and marketing tactics that modern buyers resist. Instead, get crystal clear about your (ICP) ideal customer profile, develop insightful content to educate your prospects and build credibility, distribute it in peer networks where they natively hang out, and engage with them there to collect critical insights about what they care about (pay dirt) to guide your sales and marketing efforts. Turn your website into an un-gated library where prospects can binge on your content anonymously to turn into high-intent buyers, then pursue you for a conversation by submitting a web form once they:
- Detect that they have a problem
- Recognize you and your product as a potentially viable solution
- Have readied themselves internally to engage your team as an initiative
Tedious? Yes, but this is how to deliver excellence in the buyer journey that gains and retains loyal consumers.
For additional insights or help with building, modernizing, or navigating your SaaS buyer journey or consumer experience, please reach me on LinkedIn or at lynn@solvedbyholland.com.
