HOW TO MANAGE DIFFICULT CLIENTS IN 2020.
With the decade is almost over, it’s the perfect time to check the relationships that are important to us. Whether you are an entrepreneur, side hustler or corporate climber, maintaining a good relationship with your clients is an important part of your success. Unfortunately, not all clients make it easy to build a positive relationship. How do you get that schmoney and manage difficult clients without losing your mind? Apply some Emotional Intelligence! Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand other people’s emotions, empathize with them and respond to them appropriately. Here are 3 tips to help you manage tough clients using Emotional Intelligence: 1. Be self-aware The first step to empathizing with your difficult clients is evaluating yourself. Think about how you communicate with your clients – are you showing them that you care? If you are a manager or business owner, is your company encouraging a culture of empathy for clients? 2. Listen Intelligently Just like your personal relationships, listening is an important part of maintaining positive client relationships. Sometimes, clients are difficult because they don’t feel heard. Consider what your clients might want from you, even if they haven’t expressed it. Listen actively by noting pain points, asking follow up questions and keeping the lines of communication open. 3. Understand your clients’ personalities Clients are people too. When you manage people, it’s important to understand their temperaments. Cholerics tend to be logical and use focus on facts. Stay proactive and result-oriented with choleric clients. Melancholics pay attention close to details. You must your processes for efficiency with them. Phlegmatics can be indecisive. Be patient and helping them understand the information they need to make a decision. Sanguines tend to be carefree and impulsive, so you might consider keeping communication informal to keep their attention. Understand your clients, their personalities and deal with them appropriately. Which of these tips will you use to manage your difficult clients in 2020? Ready to SLAY 2020 in Johannesburg? Get your SLAY Festival tickets HERE.
Why your ‘I Can’ is more important than your IQ
[bctt tweet=”You can have a high IQ and EQ but still fail to create tangible results without this skill” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] In the journey of entrepreneurship, it’s important that you walk with three necessary companions. They are your Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), and the skill of I Can. IQ, which is a measure of intelligence, will tell you how to navigate this interesting but challenging journey. EQ, which deals with the understanding of our feelings and those of others, will make your journey less challenging. It will make your business that ‘person’ whom people are endeared to and are willing to be with no matter what. But you can have a high level of Intelligence as well as Emotional Intelligence Quotient and still find it difficult to turn your business ideas into tangible results. And this happens when you don’t have the skill of I Can. We call it a skill but I Can is a strong inner feeling that you can make anything possible. In running a successful business or building an enviable career, you can only go as far as your inner voice takes you. In fact, you can have an average level of intelligence but with the skill of I Can, you can go on to become a successful entrepreneur. How is this possible? For a very long time, many of us have been made to wrongly believe that having only business knowledge, skills and intelligence can make us become successful entrepreneurs. This article is about getting things right. Entrepreneurs don’t have two heads Entrepreneurs are often portrayed as distinctive individuals who are set apart from the rest of humanity. Not true. As long as you can employ the use of I Can to turn that good idea which you are passionate about into an enterprise, you can become a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with failure and risk taking. You cannot hope to run a successful commercial enterprise without failing. In fact, the more you fail the better you become. Each time you fail, you have to pick yourself up. You need more than just intelligence to pick yourself up, you have to turn to the inner strength that you possess —and that’s your I Can. To challenge the status quo with your idea, to change the narrative of the market you’re willing to transform, you must take risk. In reality, the more risk you take as an entrepreneur, the more successful you’re likely to be. [bctt tweet=”Entrepreneurs aren’t distinctive individuals, to run a successful enterprise expect to fail” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Without self-confidence, you’re going nowhere When you have self-confidence, things begin to take shape. To rise each time you fail, to take risk in order to transform your dreams into tangible products and services, you have to have self-confidence. Making the choice of becoming an entrepreneur, as challenging as it is, is an opportunity of a lifetime to make a huge difference. It means you now have the chance of building a great legacy. You’re telling the world that your potential is not a waste. Each time you remind yourself of all these, your self-confidence jumps to a new level. Until you develop the skill of I Can and constantly say to yourself with a strong conviction that you can do it, your self-confidence might be just disappear. [bctt tweet=”Running on the conviction that you can succeed as an entrepreneur will take you nowhere” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Keep your eyes fixed on the ball To be successful at running a business or social enterprise, you have to be focused. Know what you want and where you’re going; set your eyes on the goal. No one understands your business goals more than you, so keep moving in the direction of your set goals. When you take a risk and probably fail, your self-confidence tends to wane. So you have to go back to the drawing board, dwelling on your ultimate goals, saying directly to your challenges that of course I Can. In the face of challenges, which are inevitable if you would become a successful entrepreneur anyway, your intelligence crumbles, your self-confidence is shaken to its foundation; however, holding on to the belief that you can still turn your dreams into tangible results is the only way to go. Nonetheless, having the inner strength and conviction that you can succeed as an entrepreneur will take you nowhere. Turning this conviction into a habit that is used on a daily basis will no doubt take you somewhere. And that’s what the skill of I Can is all about. Your I Can will help you break barriers The journey of entrepreneurship is a tough and long one, no doubt. But having the requisite skills, knowledge and intelligence can make it easy and short. However, having the skill of I Can will make it even easier and shorter. Downplaying the hype about entrepreneurship, building your self-confidence, and of course having focus can help you build the all important skill of I Can. And with it, you can go on to break barriers and build that business or career of your dreams.
Emotional Intelligence: The surest way to take your business to the next level
[bctt tweet=”This is why a high Emotional Intelligence Quotient is important for #MotherlandMoguls ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Emotional Intelligence is the magic wand for your business. If you’re passionate about starting a business that will be highly successful, or trying hard to take your existing business to the next level, then you have to read this. Various works of research have shown that we need more than knowledge or high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) to really succeed in life —more-so, at running a business. As an entrepreneur, it is important to attend business school, read wide, have a firm grip of your industry, and know what works and what does not. But even more important is having a high Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ). And this is because business in its entirety is all about people; whether you deal in products or services, you’re dealing with people. Emotional Intelligence has to do with understanding our feelings and those of others. It is that “thing” which determines how we make personal decisions, respond to emotions, interact with people, and sail through social intricacies. How do you offer the best service possible to your clients when you don’t understand how they feel? Despite what many believe, this form of intelligence comprises a set of skills that can be learned and applied every day. Let’s take a look at some of these recipes for success. [bctt tweet=”You have to have control over your own emotions if you hope to keep your clients, and add new ones” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You need to have emotional self-control To understand people, it’s important to understand yourself first. You have to have control over your own emotions —the way you react to issues or situations— if you hope to keep your clients, and add many new ones. Having emotional self-control means you can respond to negative situations rationally rather than emotionally. Don’t forget that people enjoy doing business with someone that is emotionally stable. And that means a lot for the growth of your enterprise. To have emotional self-control, you have to be aware of your emotions from time to time. For example, the presence of negative emotions like anger, anxiety, pessimism, sadness can weigh you down and take a drastic turn on your business. But once you’re aware of them, what triggers them, and how they affect you, then they can be put in check over time. I mean you can manage them as much as possible. I know this can be challenging at first, things would always get better with time. In essence, to move ahead in your business —and even your career— you must stay motivated. And to stay motivated, you have to have control over your emotions. [bctt tweet=”The window to the heart of your customers is active listening, that’s why Emotional Intelligence comes in” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Adopt listening as a skill Running a business has everything to do with managing relationships. Yet it is practically impossible to manage relationships without getting to know the concerns or perspectives of others. The window to the heart of your prospective or existing customers is active listening. Let them tell you what and how they feel about your product or service with a lot of assurance that you care. Listening goes beyond just hearing someone else. It’s a skill that could be used to set your business —and indeed your life— on the path of great success. From your business partners and investors to clients and staff, you should pay adequate attention to whatever ideas or suggestions they put across to you. Whether you approve of their ideas or not, make sure to listen with rapt attention and nod in acknowledgement. Why is this essential? People enjoy doing business with someone they like, one who listens to them, their complaints as well as their feedback. Many business owners are too busy chasing profit without considering the magical power of active listening. They’ve forgotten that when they listen effectively to their customers, they would get more insight into how people view their products or services. And this in some way would hint them as to what and what should be done to make their businesses perform better. Never underrate the power of listening; it could make a lot of difference in your business. Showing empathy is the way to go As an entrepreneur, it’s not enough to listen to those you’re transacting business with, showing care is essential. Think of your customers as yourself. Put yourself in their shoes. Be on the same page as your clients. Ask yourself: If I were the consumer of this product or service, how satisfied would I be? It’s good to let your business be that ‘person’ whom people are endeared to and are willing to be with no matter what because she cares. Showing empathy means looking into customers’ complaints with as much urgency as genuineness. It also means sincerely putting your customers first as far as the delivery of your service is concerned. [bctt tweet=”Beyond being intelligent and strategic, Emotional Intelligence is the great secret of success ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Emotional Intelligence is the magic wand for your business Beyond being intelligent and strategic, beyond having a vast knowledge about running a business, there remains a great secret of success that can help you lead effectively in your industry and that’s Emotional Intelligence. Although some are born with a high level of this form of intelligence, it can be learned. Once you take control of your emotions, use listening as an important skill and show great empathy for your clients, you’re already adopting Emotional Intelligence as a powerful tool to take your business to the next level. How emotionally intelligent are you? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.