Starbucks Trenta not available yet

Recently, i've been out to Starbucks in the Metro, and i was asking if Trenta is available. The barista, (sad to say) don't even know what i'm talking about. I had my post before about the Starbucks' Trenta cup size, expected to debut on the first week of May 2011 where it's supposed to be available only in the United States.
And i was anticipating that this would sooner roll-out to the whole wide-world wherever there is a Starbucks coffee shop. The buzz has subsided, and i'd had my confirmation checked that the Trenta isn't at all available, at least outside the US just yet.

... to be with You at last

You don't know how I fret if you aren't around

I would long to hold you in my arms

You don't know how my heart erodes

When I think I can't see you in my abode

I sank deeper, into the realms of qualms

Into the abyss of pure rebounds

How'd I cope to know that you are away

If I tell I wanted you to stay

I would love to care for you

Tenderly enveloping you

Caressing and feeling your breath

To know that you are here with me

But the nights aren't just too fast

The days aren't just too brisk

They were like eternity

That I could not forgive

To bear is not to wait

But they said patience is a virtue

I'd ask myself if I had that

And my heart echoes with a yes

I sometimes doubt

And I think I'm getting swayed

Wavered and unfulfilled

But I believe it would worth the wait

So I knelt and prayed

Thinking I could go on further

To brave the tides of love

To end up with You at last

(for Annavie)

MAC

September 10 2011

9 Tips to Control a Call (Call Control)

One of the ubiquitous quotes when your Boss is coaching you due to a high AHT (average handle time) is this: "Don't let the customer control you, You must control the call"

Below are applicable hands-on tips in controlling a customer whose behavior ranges from easy-going to a domineering type.

  

1. Set Expectations Early

Upon identifying the problem and diagnosing the issue, roll-out what the customer needs to expect on the possible cause and effect of the solution/s.

2. Convey Possible Solutions and the worst-case scenario

This is a follow thru of #1, you must let the customer know your possible solutions and the worst-case scenario early upon diagnosis

3. Learn to apply the open-ended questions

If you're seeking for a narrative, use the HOW, WHY and WHAT questions.

4. Learn to apply close-ended questions

To gain facts and confirmation, begin your question with a "DID YOU…." or use the Where and When questions when appropriate.

5. Do not afraid to interrupt but be distinct

When you feel that the customer is overflowing his info and he seemed like a non-stop talker, wait for his short pause and butt-in.

I do not advise that you do this often but you may want to communicate to the customer that you need only the important details.

6. Do not do over-rapport

Getting personal with the customer within the allowable boundaries is great and will add a personal touch but make sure that don't over do it. It will lead to unnecessary topics or segways.

7. Initiate a call back

This doesn't hold true for all accounts but if you feel like you have over stayed in a call for an unreasonable basis, talk to your immediate Sup and ask permission to call back the customer or pass it through your outbound person.

8. Manage your Hold Times

AHT sums up your time you spent with the customer + your hold time in a shift divide that by the number of calls you received. Tip, do not get over the bar on your hold time.

9. Wrap up the call candidly

Making this as a habit in all your calls will not only sound you professional but it's a way to decrease handle time with the customer.

10 Steps in Improving Your Voice

You voice is one hell of an asset when you work in a BPO company.    Voice is not only a tool to convey information but it can also be a factor to make or break a negotiation, close a sale or simply a cause of miscommunication.

When you speak, your voice trails off with these three factors: Clarity, Control and Impact.

Listed below are  ten tips  to attain these three factors optimally to its full potential. (And it does apply whether you're doing a face-to-face or telephone conversation).

1. Practice a deep-toned voice, well-paced voice.

85% of customers over the phone gained confidence from a customer service representative by their deep- toned voice, it signifies authority and trust just by hearing a well-modulated, well-paced voiced.

2. Record your voice: listen & review

It pays to be conscious on how you sounded while speaking. This way you can be a critic with your own voice. Listen to the output and scrub the flaws.

3. Deliver Eloquently

Too much of these: "ahh", "ahm" and unnecessary pauses would make you sound unsure and without confidence. If English isn't your native language, do not articulate what you're thinking in your native language then translating it to English later on-this will fail you big time; instead, "Think English, Speak English"

4. Practice tongue-twisters

Speaking out "if Peter Piper pick a pack of pickled pepper, where's that pack of picked pepper Peter Piper picked?" 5 times consecutively without a single fault with sustained speed and pace will lessen your chances of stammering.
 

5. Don't talk through your nose

Talking through your nose is like singing to be at worst. Practice speaking out using your diaphragm.  This will let the voice within you sounded more controlled and authoritative.

6. Do not mumble

Talking indistinctively creates unintelligible conveyance of speech. You will be sounded like in-engage and considered as unprofessional esp when talking with customers.

7. Use proper Intonation

The rising and falling intonation, including the monotone should be observed in appropriate cases. This way, you can emphasize your points and you will sound assertive. Use the monotone when reading out disclaimers, notices, etc.

8. Vocalize

This may sound extreme but if you can find an open field where you can amplify your voice before you head-out for a shift would be helpful to tone and prep your voice, exercise your vocal chords, your larynx, pharynx and your diaphragm.

9. Read out a passage or a news article once a day

A 5-minute reading session everyday augments reading comprehension, eloquence and moderate mouth exercise. Make it a habit.

10. Constantly ask feedback from your friends on how are you sounded like

If you sound like a high-pitched parrot or a clumsy sounding telephone attendant, seek the advise of a speech therapist.

-mac

  

Fullybooked Mall of Asia

There's this unique déjà vu feeling whenever you enter a bookshop that makes the inside of you unceasing to want for more.

That was what I felt when I came inside Fully Booked shop in Mall of Asia (after more than two years).. I was momentarily in trance as I've scanned the place decorated with books on a creative point of view. I couldn't help but to get magnetized immediately in trying to devour the sharply lined-up spines in the shelf under Biographies (lately, I've been eyeing on those true-to-life stories of some of the greatest people  on earth).

I was kind of entering a modernized museum, the lightings were surreal, the shelves were staggering,  giving a distant pleasing look to approach one because of the huge labels. A book hunter would easily led to where he want to look at or find the book he's seeking because of the panelized approach to the bookshelves' tags. It was this simple, it's pretty inviting, and so approachable that you need not to get a hand in looking for a specific title or author.

From the way those books, shelves and ledges were placed, it was neatly accessible and readable from a man's eye view. I've seen other bookstores in the Metro but nowhere could they match how FullyBooked has properly designed their placement of shelves, it has the touch of fashion into it, considering the teeming eloquence it's presenting to its audience, shoppers and visitors.

Time flies when you're inside. I was indulging as I read the summaries, the titles and amazed by the  front covers' arts.

Unlike in SM North Edsa, this branch in MOA do not have a reading kiosk or couches where you can further luxuriate in skimming through the pages. I've noticed that each books were covered in the plastic celluloid where you couldn’t just open it, 'twas like some sort of a seal or protection.

The absence of a reading nook is tolerably understandable because this branch is not that much spacious. I believe it's only fair to exclude one, the hallways were broad enough for someone to squat or stand incase he wanted to spoil in further reading.

The Cashier's and Customer Service' lounge were neatly placed that did not serve as an obstruction  but an area where you can wander to ask queries. The wall behind the cashier's was an adage "When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes" (Erasmus), which reminds me how customer's are flocking in lately to bookshops. I turned my head into a 360 (but of course with my body rotating as well) and I was saddened by the number of visitors. You could count on your fingers how many people are in, minus the staff, that led me thinking on the current trend when it comes to digitalizing prints nowadays.

You may visit the shop with their contact listed here.
G/F Southwing SM Mall of Asia

Tel  02 5560264

Fax 02 5560798
http://www.facebook.com/fullybooked

The intensifying demand of gadgets such as the iPad and other eBook readers, not to mention those smartphones where you can download an app so you can read a book (in any kind of format) is downright killing the printing press and bookstores, not only here in the Philippines but abroad as well. Bookstore chains in the US are closing down, even those who have been far long enough in the business.

I've asked one of the staffs how is the trend of sale compared to when the digital media was not yet in the market, and she said that it was really hurting for their sales volume.

We have to accept the fact that fewer people are in to reading books, lesser now are the humans who are to be considered as bookworms. Adding to the pie in hurting the bookstore business  is the cut-out share of the digital media, who would want to carry a hardbound these days when infact you could load the latest novel of James Patterson outright through your iPhone's iBook or into your Galaxy Tab straight from a torrent site? (Yep, it's pirated, but it's free). Moreover, the convenience and the state-of-the-art digital effects of these digitalized books are nowhere to match especially if you loved technology and gizmo.

Just my two cents on these softbound and hardbound books, I still find it priceless whenever a real, physical book is in my hand. May that be a novel, a technical manual or just simply a planner or a diary. I'd sound traditional and sentimental but it boils down into one thing, and I would call it preference.

I rode in a jeep one day going to the Southern part of the Metro and someone's holding a paperback copy of John Grisham's latest bestseller. It was a fairly brand new book, as I tried my best not to look so interested in it, while the reader was smiling through the pages.

I have stopped buying physical books when I had my iPhone two years ago, so I was a converted as an eReader bookie, I've read a lot more, get opened up to a plethora of more authors and titles I couldn't imagine I'd have them on my list to read. Neither I felt excitement nor intimacy, I just felt contentment. And I guess, my vision has blurred and I have to have wearing my eyeglasses most often than not.

I would still take pride in reading a book inside the train, in a bus or under a tree, may that be a paperback or a hardbound. Methinks that these physical materials in a book somehow makes you grip, indulge, and be more personal to the story that was written. That as you turn through the pages, it's  as if an intimate bond is formed between the reader and the prose being conveyed by the author. A real, tangible book serves as a gateway for you to feel deep down the story as it unfolds through your eyes and imagination.

-mac