6 Bad Listening Habits You Need to Break Now
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
People often ask me what’s the first step to becoming a better listener. The answer? Get rid of your bad listening habits. As much as we don’t like to admit it, most of us aren’t the best of listeners and we’ve developed some bad habits over our lifetimes. As you review this list of bad habits, it will be easy for you to lie to yourself and say, “I don’t do that,” but are you sure? Are you being honest? Remember, denying you have the habit will keep you from getting rid of it! 1. Interrupting You’re basically telling the other person that what they were trying to say is totally unimportant to ..read more
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Ask yourself this one question and you’ll automatically be more productive
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
“Could you be doing something more productive with your time?” This is one of my favorite sayings. It is such a mantra around my house, that my daughter actually wrote one of her college application essays on possessing a “productivity gene” that wouldn’t allow idle hands or an idle mind. If I’m not asking it of someone else, I’m asking it of myself. “Could I be doing something better with my time?” “Am I wasting time?” or “What would be a better use of my time?” Keeping ourselves productive isn’t just a matter of pages-long to-do lists. It’s a matter of self-talk- the communication that ..read more
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6 Customer Experience Secrets that Will Change the Way You Do Business
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
Working to build a successful company requires time and dedication. However, many new businesses fail because they lack the fundamentals of running a business. For businesses these days, these fundamentals include more than just product knowledge and pricing. Today’s savvy business owner knows that to be successful in any business, you need a strong brand identity, detailed customer journey, and an effective marketing strategy to compete and win in a global marketplace. It’s about pulling all the pieces together to create a customer experience that people will want to come back to again and ag ..read more
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Leading Change: Developing Your Change Mindset
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
Change is constant. Whether it’s a shift in your organization or the need to adapt to the ever-changing world around you, change is inevitable and necessary. Change as an individual, however, can be more challenging and uncomfortable than other types of change. Change leads to growth, but it can also be scary and for many of us, it often leads to uncertainty and doubt, two feelings that most leaders don’t like to have. Leaders face a constant battle of staying aligned with strategy while also embracing change in their organizations and the people they must lead through those changes. To combat ..read more
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Steps to Becoming a More Empathetic Leader
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
Many people define empathy as the ability to step into someone else’s shoes. However as a leader, it’s more than that. It is the things you do and say daily that gives you the power to inspire others, create a culture of trust, and foster an environment where employees are happy and feel valued. As an added bonus,  empathy in the workplace can also make all the difference in the world in terms of both employee engagement and retention. As Laurie Norden, author of The Empathetic Leader, explains: “Leaders who have empathy-based skills can positively impact the emotions, attitudes and behav ..read more
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6 Ways to Encourage Employees to Provide Great Customer Service
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
The world has become a digital marketplace, and businesses must keep up with changing customer expectations if they want to compete with their competitors, both locally and globally. To stay competitive, business owners need to understand how their employees can help them provide better customer service. Encouraging employees to provide excellent customer service can be challenging for many reasons, but one of the biggest is just our natural human tendency to serve ourselves rather than serve others. We all like to think of ourselves as focused on others. Still, in our day-to-day reality, espe ..read more
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5 Characteristics of Great Leaders
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
1y ago
Let’s face it, being a leader is challenging. Most of us never anticipate when we take on a leadership role the amount of time we’ll spend just trying to keep the team going in the right direction. In any team, there are going to be different types of people. Some will want to focus on their own work, others may not have a strong interest in what the group is doing. A good leader knows how to deal with these situations and still get everyone on the same page. The best leaders aren’t afraid to challenge the way other team members operate and they get to know their teams so they can inspire moti ..read more
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Top Posts from 11 Years of “The Performance Communication Blog”
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
2y ago
#As I was sitting here today planning this week’s blog post, I realized that this week is the 11th anniversary of my Performance Communication Blog. Although I haven’t always written every week, I’ve managed to amass more than 400 posts in the past 11 years, so I thought I’d share the 11 most popular posts (plus a bonus post) of all time with you. Bonus post Why Laziness is the TRUE Mother of Invention #11 9 Reasons Why You Should Apologize Now #10 Positive Assertiveness: 7 Tips for Stepping Up Without Stepping on Toes #9 20 Words and Phrases to Add to Your Vocabulary #8 The #1 Wa ..read more
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Give ’em the chocolate cake!
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
2y ago
A while back, I was shopping in a retail client’s place of business doing some “recon” before preparing a customer communication program for their customer care employees. As I watched customers come and go with the various products they wished to return, I noticed a trend. The customers who were calm and politely requested a refund were told their options were a store credit or replacing the merchandise. Those customers who were especially obnoxious complained loudly and said they didn’t want a darn credit or another product, were given a refund. When I asked the customer care employees ..read more
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7 things you should never say to your customers.
Amy Castro | Performance Communication
by Amy Castro
2y ago
No matter how hard you try to prevent unhappy customers, there are always going to be times when customers are unhappy with a product or service. One of the most important things you can do as a leader is to ensure that you and your staff say the right things to de-escalate situations when they start heating up. The words used to respond to an upset customer can either be water or gasoline tossed on their smoldering emotions. The goal should be for you and your staff to be firefighters, not arsonists! Therefore, here are some “gasoline” words and phrases you should avoid when handling upset cu ..read more
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