Category: Business/Life Smarts

Tutoring you in aspects of business/Life activities

Greeting and Meeting People

When meeting people, there is a number of greetings you can use in English. These depend on whether you are arriving somewhere, leaving, meeting people you already know, or meeting someone for the first time.

 

Depending on the situation, there are formal and informal ways of greeting each other. However, there is some overlap between the two, and you can almost never go wrong using some of the formal expressions in other settings as well.  

Here are 10 strategies to use in a business setting.

 

 

 

10 Strategies for Getting Off on the Right Foot

  1. Stand up when you meet someone

    This allows you to engage the person on an equal level – eye to eye.  By remaining seated, you send a message that you don’t think the other person is important enough to warrant the effort it takes to stand.  If you find yourself in a position where you can’t stand up (such as being trapped behind a potted plant) offer an apology and an explanation.  You might say something like, “Please excuse me for not getting up.  I can’t seem to get around the foliage.”

  2. Smile when meeting people

    Your facial expression says more than your words.  Look as if you are pleased to meet the other person regardless of what is on your mind. Put a smile on your face for the person standing before you. A sincere smile sends the message that you are safe and trustworthy.

  3. Make eye contact when greeting people

    Looking at the people you meet says you are focused and interested in them.  If you are staring off somewhere else, you may appear to be looking for someone more to your liking to come along. When you fail to make consistent, appropriate eye-contact, people find it hard to trust you.

  4. Take the initiative when your meet other people

    As soon as you approach people you don’t know or are approached by them, say who you are. Don’t stand around as if someone else is in charge of introductions. Getting off to a great start when meeting and greeting people sometimes means that you must take the initiative.

  5. Include a statement about who you are and what you do

    It is not always enough to say, “Hello, I’m Mary Jones.” Give more information. “Hello, I’m Mary Jones. I work for XYZ Corporation.” Be confident about who you are and what you do. This often sparks interest and opens up a fruitful conversation.

  6. Offer a firm handshake as you greet people

    Extend your hand as you give your greeting.  The person who puts a hand out first comes across as confident and at ease. Make sure that this physical part of your meeting and greeting is professional.  Don’t offer bone-crushing grips or wimpy limp-wristed shakes.  If you are confused about men and women shaking hands, don’t be.  There once was a time when women didn’t shake hands with men.  We are past that. Everyone in business shakes hands with everyone else.

  7. Learn how to make smooth introductions

    When meeting and greeting – especially in business – you always introduce less important people to more important people. The way to do this is to say the name of the more important person first, followed by the words “I’d like to introduce…” and then give the other person’s name. Be sure to add something about each person so they will know why they are being introduced and will have some information with which to start a conversation.

  8. Focus your attention on the more important person

    The client or the business prospect is more important than your boss. This is where you want to focus your attention. When you make other people feel important they’ll want to do business with you.  (Just hope your boss agrees.)

  9. Pay attention to names when you are meeting and greeting

    When meeting and greeting, especially when things are moving fast or there are multiple people in the conversation, it is easy to forget names. It is all too common to be thinking about what you are going to say next and not focus on the other person. If you concentrate and repeat the name as soon as you hear it, you stand a better chance of remembering it later. Remembering and using names is one of the fastest paths to building new relationships and getting off to a great start.

  10. Use first names of people whom you have just met only after they give you permission

    Not everyone wants to be addressed informally on the initial encounter. It is better to err on the side of formality than to offend the other person right off the bat. Respect matters. When you are respectful, you are memorable.

Source:  salesgravy.com

This Is the Profession People Trust the Most

People want to have faith in the products they buy, the people they employ, and the information they read. Having a good reputation is a big part of that trust. In the workplace, some professions are more reputable than others. A Gallup Poll gave a rating for 20 occupations in terms of honesty and ethical standards. More than 80 percent of people rated nurses as the professionals they trust most.

This isn’t the first-time nurses topped the poll—in fact, they’ve been consistently ranking at the top for 17 years. Medical professionals are trusted more across the board, Forbes reports. So, the next two most trusted professions are doctors and pharmacists, respectively. The poll asked people to rate all the professions as highly honest and ethical, average, low, or no opinion.

The next most trusted professionals are high school teachers, police officers, accountants, funeral directors, and members of the clergy. The following are journalists, building contractors, bankers, real estate agents, labor union leaders, and lawyers. At the bottom of the pack are business executives, stockbrokers, advertising practitioners, telemarketers, car salespeople, and members of Congress. Only 8 percent of people view car salespeople and members of Congress as honest and ethical.

Although the list changes from year to year, many professions like nurses are regular repeats. In fact, the only time nurses didn’t top this list since their 1999 addition was in 2001. Firefighters topped the list that year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Pharmacists and clergy members were also frequently the most highly rated professionals for their ethics before 1999, per the poll. Some of these rankings make sense, while others might be a bit surprising.

msn.com

When student loans become your midlife crisis

 

 

When you think of student loans, do you think of them as a young person’s problem?

Think again. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, more student debt is currently owed by people aged 35 and older than by those under 35. For many Americans the burden of student loan debt has lingered into middle age.

Consider this a modern definition of a mid-life crisis: juggling competing demands from your past and your future by trying to pay off student loans while also starting to think seriously about how to save enough for retirement.

Two generations of student loans under one roof

The figures from the Department of Education show that over $800 billion in student loan debt outstanding is owed by people aged 35 or older. This includes over a quarter of a trillion dollars owed by people aged 50 and over. That’s right — people old enough for AARP memberships are still tackling a problem generally associated with millennials.

By age 50, people are often grappling with how to send their kids to college. This has created the very realistic scenario where a family has two generations worth of student loans outstanding under the same roof. Is it any wonder that older Americans generally are behind on saving for retirement?

A few things have contributed to this problem:

Full or partial deferrals of student loan payments may make the burden easier on young adults, but with interest charges it can make for a greater debt load later on. During the Great Recession, many adults decided to go back to school to try to improve their career prospects, and with rapidly changing technology and business models, refreshing skills and credentials remains an ongoing career imperative. Parents and even grandparents may cosign loans for younger family members, and then find themselves stuck with the debt when the borrower defaults.

If you are concerned with student loan debt lingering long enough to interfere with your saving for retirement — or even with retirement itself — you need a plan for systematically attacking the problem and managing debt.

Tips for older Americans paying off student loans

Here are eight tips for older Americans paying off student loans:

Take stock of your loans outstanding. Think of this as a kind of inventory so you know where you stand. Make a list of all your student loan balances, their monthly payments, interest rates and how long you have to go to repayment.

To forgive is divine… but being forgiven might be even better. If you have a federally backed student loan, see if you qualify for a loan forgiveness program. For example, if you have been on an income-based repayment program and have been paying off your loan for 20 years or more, you may qualify to have the remaining balance forgiven. There are also special forgiveness programs for some teaching and public service jobs.

Triage your spending. Once you know the scope of the problem and whether any relief is available, look for extra room in your budget to pay down debt. Start by examining your spending. Distinguish between which expenses are actual necessities, and which are simply habits that you could break. Prioritize to find at least some expenses you could cut to make room for additional student loan payments.

Accelerating loan payments should save money in the long run. As an incentive for additional student loan payments, remember that making extra payments will not just pay your loan down sooner, but should also be cheaper in the long run because it reduces the total interest expense you incur.

Decide where student loans fit in your hierarchy of debt. While paying down student loans is important, they may be a relatively cheap form of debt compared to things like credit card debt. Put any extra debt repayments toward your most expensive sources of debt first.

Don’t let extra payments get in the way of qualifying for a 401(k) match. Deciding between student loan repayment and retirement saving is tough, especially as you move into middle age. One clear-cut choice is that if you can make 401(k) contributions that qualify for an employer match rather making than extra student loan repayments, chances are the value of that match may far exceed the interest saved from paying down your loan faster.

Evaluate refinancing options carefully. If you receive refinancing offers, evaluate them with a long-term view in mind. Refinancing options that reduce your immediate payments are likely to prolong your debt and increase your eventual interest expense.

Factor student loan repayments into your retirement planning. When you enter your retirement savings into a retirement calculator, be sure to subtract the amount of any debt you have outstanding. That debt is a drain on future income, so to some extent it may offset your retirement savings.

It’s okay to be nostalgic about your college days, but paying student loans well into middle age should not be part of reliving your past.

msn.com

6 warning signs of a bad business deal

Recognize potential red flags.

The success of your small business depends on making smart deals that expand available resources and enable continued growth. Just as important are the deals you walk away from — thus avoiding costly mistakes that waste time, consume energy, and threaten to derail your success.

Here are six tips for recognizing potential red flags the next time you enter into negotiations with a vendor, contractor, or other service provider.

Note:  These tips are applicable to homeowners also when buying a car, or hiring a remodeling contractor, etc.  Even though it’s a pain, always read the contract, front and back, before committing to anything.

1. Allowing suppliers to name their price

2. Not understanding technical details of a contract

3. Experiencing discomfort with a vendor’s unreasonable demands

4. Suspecting a discount is too good to be true

5. Agreeing to a contract with “iffy” provisions

6. Going into negotiations unprepared

This article originally appeared on the Quickbooks Resource Center and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.

How to keep your furnace running and your pipes from freezing during the dangerous cold

As temperatures plunge way below zero in some parts of the nation, there are several steps homeowners can take to prevent the arctic blast from damaging a furnace.

Pros say most furnaces will be fine as they run continuously in the bitter cold, but there are a couple of steps homeowners can take to lessen the chance of a problem.

Tip No. 1 from professionals is to make sure furnace filters are clean.

“Check your filter on your furnace. If they are plugged up, that’s a problem. You absolutely have to replace them,” said Milwaukee home maintenance expert Tom Feiza, owner of Mr. Fit-It Inc. “If they are a little dirty, they still will work. But if they are plugged up with dirt, that will ruin the furnace and force it to shut down, too.”

Barb Mueller, vice president and co-owner of J. Werner Heating Inc. in Germantown, Wisconsin, said Tuesday that a furnace older than 10 years should get a checkup every year. But it may be too late for that now as crews gear up for emergency work during the next few days.

“The best thing they can do in the meantime is make sure the filter’s changed, so air is moving through,” she said.

Other tips:

Keep outdoor furnace, dryer vents clear

Blowing and drifting snow also can cause an issue for furnaces if outdoor vents get buried or clogged with snow. They should be checked to make sure they’re clear. “If we’ve got a bunch of cold and snow and you haven’t used it for a few days, I would make sure that’s clear,” he said.

“One thing a lot of customers don’t think about are those exhaust pipes that vent out,” said Christina Yendrzeski of Quality Heating & Sheet Metal Co. “Older units usually vent out through the chimney, but newer units vent out through PVC on the side of the house.”

Leave cabinet doors open under kitchen sink

When temperatures are this extreme, homeowners also may want to take a simple step to reduce the chance of kitchen pipes freezing.

“Because of the very, very, very cold weather, I think people with kitchen sinks and kitchen cabinets on the outside wall should probably leave the doors open below the kitchen sink,” Feiza said. “Those are the pipes that freeze typically in a house.”

The warmer air inside the house should deter freezing. If there’s a known problem with kitchen sink pipes freezing, it also would be worthwhile to use a fan to blow the house’s warm indoor air on the pipes, he said.

Feiza also recommends using a roof rake to scoop snow off of the overhangs of roofs, especially on houses built in the 1970s or earlier. That can help prevent ice dams that push moisture inside the house.

I’ve been a manager for 10 years — here are the 5 best ways to impress your boss

 

Impressing your boss may feel like trying to hit a moving target, but there are steps you can take to get there no matter what your field.


Author Nicole Rollender draws on her 10 years of experience as a manager in publishing houses for this list of the five best ways to impress your boss.
From generating ideas to simply being responsive, here’s how you can stand out from your colleagues.

1. Keep track of everything you’re working on.

2. Be responsive.

3. Work smarter, not harder.

4. Don’t share everything with your boss.

5. Be an idea person.

Source:  businessinsider.com©

Don’t Sabotage Yourself by Quitting

Self-sabotaging behavior refers to intentional action (or inaction) that undermines people’s progress and prevents them from accomplishing their goals. Self-sabotage occurs when people hinder their own success.

While it seems surprising, some people undermine their own good intentions and long-term goals. When people take these destructive steps, their harmful behavior can negatively impact nearly every part of their lives including their relationships and career.

Self-sabotage often serves as a coping mechanism that people use to deal with stressful situations and past traumas. Unfortunately, it typically makes problems worse and limits a person’s ability to successfully move forward in a healthy way.