A Finnish couple keep up the very Finnish tradition even in the East African heat.
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Intro Video
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Save Your Business the Headache (and Money) and Get Ahead of Bad Customer Service Experiences
I recently visited Boston for a speaking engagement. As I was arriving to the hotel I noticed picketers with signs and heard loud drums. My rideshare driver was confused because he didn’t know how to pull into my hotel, which was a luxury brand. The protesters were lining the entire sidewalk and blocking the entrance to this Back Bay hotel.
I reluctantly got out in the street with my bag, alongside angry protesters. I was feeling weird about crossing the picket line (I mean isn’t that forbidden?). I asked the bored-looking police officer standing in the street to walk me through the protesters, who were chanting loudly and angrily while someone beat loud drums. Pulling my own luggage, I walked up the circular driveway to the hotel door, where the bell attendants were standing doing absolutely nothing (they saw me coming). I was greeted, but no one apologized for the inconvenience of my arrival. They directed me to take the escalator up to the check-in desk.
The clerk at check-in greeted and welcomed me to the hotel and asked how she could help me. I told her I wanted to check in and she asked me for my name and my ID and I gave it to her. Once again I’m speaking to a hotel employee and it had not been acknowledged that I had to walk through a protest line to get inside of the hotel. As I was waiting for the woman to check me in I noticed they had a printed letter on their letterhead on the counter. The letter did explain that they were having a labor dispute and that guests would be experiencing some delays and reduced staffing. I mentioned protesters and that I was unable to be driven up to the door and that I had to cross the picket line to get inside the hotel to the clerk. At that point, she did apologize for the inconvenience but offered me no concessions.
If a company knows if they are going to have a customer service issue in advance, should they have provisions in place to deal with unhappy patrons?
I share this as a rhetorical question because the answer is emphatically YES! There should be no question that this hotel should have prepared to assist its staff in managing unhappy guests. I even asked for something because I actually felt uncomfortable walking across that line and getting a police escort. This high-end hotel, at minimum, should have offered a monetary value voucher to use within the hotel for the inconvenience to anyone who was unhappy, but they failed to do that.
My advice to any business owner who knows about a potential customer service matter that would make customers uncomfortable or unhappy is there should always be a plan in place to ensure that it is easier for customers to overlook any inconveniences. Something as simple as a gift card or a credit for as little as $10 for use at your business would likely bring additional revenue, especially if the amount you are offering is less than any one thing that you sell.
The cost of a bad customer service experience is lasting. In today’s age of review websites and Google business pages, many negative reviews could have been avoided if the business had gotten ahead of the issue. Instead, bad reviews have long-term adverse effects that often cut into the bottom line. Anyone who has tried to remediate a poor review on Yelp will tell you the costs are astronomical and it would’ve been well worth it if they had done something to get ahead of the problem in the first place.
How to get ahead of bad customer service
If service is not up to a customer’s standards they are likely never going to be satisfied. However, if you know in advance that your customer experience will be compromised there a number of things that can be done to help smooth out the issues:
- Offer a free gift: if you have the type of business that you can offer a credit or a discount, then you can prepare your staff to offer one of them to get ahead of any customer complaints about your known issues. You can also prepare a small gift bag with some inexpensive items such as snacks and promotional items to make the customer feel better about the situation. Remember most customers just want you to recognize that they’ve been inconvenienced and if you do that ahead of time, it’s a win.
- Tell them you are sorry before THEY say something: I actually encountered three to four hotel employees before I got to the check-in desk, and no one acknowledged that I had just walked through a picket line. When I got to the door it would’ve been simple for the bell captains to say we are so sorry for the inconvenience and help me up to the next floor so I could check-in. This was a simple thing, but it was completely overlooked in this case. Acknowledgment of the issue or inconvenience is simple and free—don’t waste the opportunity to do that by pretending that everything is OK.
- Empower staff to make things right: I asked for something for my trouble. I was offered nothing. The hotel desk staff was well aware of what was going on outside, yet she had nothing to offer me to ease my anxiety. If she had been empowered by hotel management to make things right with me or anyone else who said something about the protesters, you would likely be reading a more positive story about my experience. I have spoken to customer service representatives with major online retailers who have offered me a refund and a $10 credit for not receiving my packages. Most importantly, it happened without me having to wait on hold for a manager’s approval. Trusting staff to make these types of decisions in the moment is key.
No matter the type of business or service you offer, a high-quality experience is key to keeping customers happy. If you can avoid a negative customer service experience you should do so at all costs and I mean at all costs. Be sure to offer concessions when it makes sense to avoid having to clean up a very dirty mess on the internet that can harm your reputation and ultimately cut into your bottom line.
Black Enterprise Contributors Network
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Saturday, October 26, 2019
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Royle King: Lighting A Path To Success for Boys And Young Men
BE Modern Man: Royle King
Public servant, non-profit founder; 32; Public Information Specialist – Citizen Engagement Liaison, Leon County, Tallahassee, Fla.; Founder, The Omega Lamplighters Inc.
Twitter: @TheRoyleKing; Instagram: @TheRoyleKing
By day I work in county government, but my passion is the mentoring program I founded 11 years ago, The Omega Lamplighters Inc. Our mission is to light a path to success, to empower secondary-school aged youth with the academic and social skills, community connections, and progressive opportunities necessary to ensure their roles as active, educated, and responsible citizens.
I’m with them every day all day. They have dress up days at school to teach them the importance of professionalism. We meet monthly to do a community service project, monthly for a life skills workshop, tutoring twice a week, a social activity, weekly mentoring sessions, weekly prayer call (lead by the young men), and quarterly church service. Our step team, the #LightTeam, practices several times a week, competes all over the United States and are currently ranked the 4th best high school male step team in the National Step League.
For six years we’ve embarked on a 500 Miles of Freedom College & Civil Rights tour, exposing our young men to HBCUs and sites related to African American history. I want them to see that the blood that runs through their veins is that of power, of kings, and the blood of the slave who overcame. Most of our kids have never been out of Tallahassee, let alone the state of Florida. The impact is huge on their view of the world and crucial in shaping their vision to achieve their dreams.
Today, all of the active young men in the program have graduated high school and gone on to be accepted to college, joined the military, or attended a trade school. The program truly lights a path to success for boys and young men, and prepares them for life. We started 11 years ago with 15 young men as a pilot, and in 2011 we rolled out what the program looks like today and have grown to over 115 young men in the program. Doesn’t seem like a lot, but we’re a community-based program, all volunteer, all men and women who believe in our vision and want to give our young men a chance and light a path to success.
Nationally, the program has spread like wildfire. I now have more than 22 chapters all over, from Florida, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and even Naples, Italy, for awhile. I always said I wanted to change the world one youth at a time, but it wasn’t actually until I began to believe it that it started to happen.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN LIFE?
I would have to say the Omega Lamplighters in everything and all things. I don’t have any children, but I relate it to the feeling a parent has watching their baby grow and be successful—witnessing them change before your eyes. But these aren’t just my kids, they’re our kids; we all have a responsibility to raise our black boys and light the path to success.
I have a thing where I thank all of my kids; I constantly tell them thank you. Eventually, they all ask, “Why do you keep saying thank you, Mr. King?” The first answer is for saving my life. You gave me hope; you gave me purpose; you saved my life. The second is for allowing me to be part of of theirs. This program and these kids saved me, raised me, shaped me.
HOW HAVE YOU TURNED STRUGGLE INTO SUCCESS?
In college, I struggled. I dug myself into a hole, not taking it seriously and playing around so much so that I lost all of my support and funding, and was left at a crossroads. It took me six years to graduate, trying to fix my earlier mistakes. I was left with a decision to quit or keep going. I didn’t quit. To many people had made sacrifices for me and poured into me for me to quit. I worked three jobs, had to get on food stamps. That struggle taught me more about myself then anything—that hunger for success, and the mentality that nothing could stop me. That struggle gave birth to a man and since that accomplishment, mentally, nothing and no one can stop me.
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST MALE ROLE MODEL AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM HIM?
As a kid, it was the Allen Iversons, Shaqs, and celebrities of the world, but as a man, it’s always been my dad. During all of my big and small moments, he was there. He didn’t have to say anything; it was his presence. He taught me the most important rule of life: that you have to show up.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE MANHOOD?
I define it by the little things, holding doors for ladies, yes sir, no sir. Manhood is respect for those who paved the way for you. Treating all men the same, the janitor and the CEO. I’m old school! I just believe that a man is supposed to lead and when he can’t or where he’s weak he leans on others to help him be strong in that area.
WHAT PRACTICES, TOOLS, BOOKS, ETC. DO YOU RELY ON FOR YOUR SUCCESS?
Fairly new, but over the last year, every morning after I say my prayers, I look at a list of all my dreams written out. It’s the daily reminder of everything I said I wanted out of life. Another is calling my mother and father every day. Not always a long call, just a quick reminder of where I come from. When I hear their voices, even if for a few seconds, it reminds me that I need to honor them everyday for what they’ve done in creating me.
BE Modern Man is an online and social media campaign designed to celebrate black men making valuable contributions in every profession, industry, community, and area of endeavor. Each year, we solicit nominations in order to select men of color for inclusion in the 100 Black Enterprise Modern Men of Distinction. Our goal is to recognize men who epitomize the BEMM credo “Extraordinary is our normal” in their day-to-day lives, presenting authentic examples of the typical black man rarely seen in mainstream media. The BE Modern Men of Distinction are celebrated annually at Black Men XCEL (www.blackenterprise.com/blackmenxcel/). Click this link to submit a nomination for BE Modern Man: https://www.blackenterprise.com/nominate/. Follow BE Modern Man on Twitter: @bemodernman and Instagram: @be_modernman.
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'The selfie that revealed I was a stolen baby'
Trina and Trick Daddy To Replace Rickey Smiley With New Morning Radio Show
Reunited and it feels so good! It’s been reported on The Jasmine Brand that Miami rappers Katrina Laverne Taylor, a.k.a. Trina, and Maurice Samuel “Trick Daddy” Young will have their radio show in the new year.
The Love & Hip Hop: Miami pair will be joining Miami’s 99 JAMZ/WEDR, replacing the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, which currently airs in that market. Social media and digital media marketing strategist Karen Civil posted the announcement on her Twitter page, “Trina & Trick Daddy To Announce New Radio Morning Show, Replacing Rickey Smiley In Miami Market http://bit.ly/2MFdIql“
The pair of rappers have recently been beefing, particularly after the last time they both appeared on Love & Hip Hop: Miami. They were supposed to be working on a joint album titled TNT, which is appropriate due to their explosive relationship. No one knows if the project will ever get off the ground but with this upcoming radio show, there’s bound to be much attention paid to the two.
Trina is going through some tough times since the death of her mother, Vernessa Taylor, last month. She took to Instagram to give thanks to the many supporters who have been there for her. “All I can give and take is day by day, moments by moments right now and I am just asking for everyone to please understand that. We all grieve differently and this is the hardest loss I’ve endured, to say the least! In this phase, I may even stumble a bit but I can’t let up on what I’ve built as a woman and as an entertainer,” she wrote. “Thank you to my team who has held me down during this time, I know things have not been easy on your end but I’m grateful to have you in my darkest moments!”
This took place after Trick Daddy and Trina hosted a foodie bus tour on Sept. 1, as part of the Miami Gardens Food & Wine Festival. Trina just released her latest album, The One on June 21, 2019, by Fast Life Entertainment and her label, Rockstarr Music Group.
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Ocean Cleanup’s New Plastic-Catcher … Kinda Already Exists?
‘Slave Cry’: ‘Slave Cry’: Filmmaker tackles Black actor roles in movies set in Virginia
The main role that Black actors are given in the state of Virginia is that of a slave, according to a filmmaker who hopes to both shine light on and update the narrative.
Indeed, the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown nearly 400 years ago, setting the stage for slavery in the U.S., but Jai Jamison, a Richmond filmmaker, is hoping to change the narrative for films set in the state of Virginia.
READ MORE: TI rips cop accused of manhandling 11-Year-Old girl: ‘Poor excuse for a man’
He points to film and TV projects shot in Virginia, including Harriet, Turn and Mercy Street as examples that the roles need to broaden for Black actors in the state. He said he wrote the short film, Slave Cry, to address the issue. The 13-minute film debuted Saturday at the Virginia Film Festival, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“The only roles for black actors are as slaves,” Jamison told the newspaper. “I worked on Turn for five months. I’d see these amazing actors come into town to play these rote roles that were full of trauma. Virginia is my home, but we’re so much more than this.”
Jamison’s film derives its name from a term his sister, Courtney, uses. She stars in Slave Cry and has struggled to find roles in Richmond, outside of what she terms “slave cry” roles.
“That real ugly cry, with sobs and snot…that 12 Years a Slave cry, Courtney’s character explains in the film, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Jamison said while he was writing the film, Courtney was applying to theater programs and ultimately earned an acceptance from the Yale School of Drama.
“I wanted to create a role for my sister that was meaty and nuanced,” Jamison told the newspaper. “While also wanting to write about Richmond, my home town, as it is now. There is so much culture here and young people and stories that don’t have anything to do with history. There are so many stories and different sides about Richmond to tell,” Jamison said.
In the movie, Courtney dons a slave costume as an historical interpreter side gig and stands in front of the town’s Robert E. Lee statue. Courtney also stops by the Maggie Walker statue, which allows the viewer to see her dreaming of a better life as an actress.
READ MORE: Cop resigns after charges of using excessive force on 11-year-old girl
Tim Reid, perhaps best known for his role as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati plays Courtney’s father in Slave Cry. Some scenes from the movie were shot at Reid’s film studio in Petersburg.
Slave Cry will be shown before the feature film screening of Clemency, a movie starring Alfre Woodard that tells the story of a death row prison warden.
The post ‘Slave Cry’: ‘Slave Cry’: Filmmaker tackles Black actor roles in movies set in Virginia appeared first on theGrio.
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Journalist Gwen Ifill Honored with USPS Forever Stamp
According to TheGrio, trailblazing journalist Gwen Ifill is being honored with a commemorative Forever stamp in the new year.
“These miniature works of art offer something for everyone interested in American history and culture,” said U.S. Postal Service Stamp Services Acting Executive Director William Gicker. “From notable figures such as golf legend Arnold Palmer and esteemed journalist Gwen Ifill to the cultural phenomenon of hip-hop to a celebration of the great outdoors, this program is wide-ranging and adds to the history of our great nation as recorded through the U.S. stamp program.”
As posted on the United States Postal Service website, the 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill (1955–2016), one of America’s most esteemed journalists. The stamp features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi. Among the first African Americans to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism, Ifill was a trailblazer in the profession. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
Also being honored with Forever Stamps are:
Voices of the Harlem Renaissance
These stamps celebrate one of the great artistic and literary movements in American history, the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, which firmly established African Americans as a vital force in literature and the arts. Twenty stamps showcase four stylized pastel portraits of these literary figures: writer, philosopher, educator, and arts advocate Alain Locke; novelist Nella Larsen; bibliophile and historian Arturo Alfonso Schomburg; and poet Anne Spencer. African-inspired motifs are used as background elements of each portrait. The pane header shows a cityscape in silhouette with a sun in its midst and the title “Voices of the Harlem Renaissance.” The artist for these stamps was Gary Kelley. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps.
Hip-Hop
The Postal Service celebrates hip-hop with four new stamps in a pane of 20. Since its inception more than four decades ago, the electrifying music, dance, and art movement has profoundly influenced American and global popular culture. The stamp art features photographs taken by Cade Martin that depict four elements of hip-hop: MCing (rapping), b-boying (breakdancing), DJing, and graffiti art. The bold, digitally tinted images are intended to appear in motion. The words “Forever” and “USA,” “Hip Hop,” and the name of the element featured appear across the top of each stamp. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps, which are highlighted with a vivid yellow, green, red and black color scheme. The title of the stamps, printed in red and black, is centered on the top of the pane.
19th Amendment: Women Vote
With this stamp, the Postal Service commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. Inspired by historic photographs, the stamp features a stylized illustration of suffragists marching in a parade or other public demonstration. The clothes they wear and the banners they bear display the official colors of the National Woman’s Party — purple, white and gold. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp with original art by Nancy Stahl.
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TI rips cop accused of manhandling 11-Year-Old girl: ‘Poor Excuse for a man’
Rapper TI had some fiery words for the recently resigned New Mexico police officer who slammed an 11-year-old girl to the ground.
In an Instagram post, TI told his IG followers the video made him want to throw hands at the officer.
READ MORE: Cop resigns after charges of using excessive force on 11-year-old girl
“Maaaan I’ll beat yo bitch ass down in the streets just like you did this baby, you weak ass Poor excuse for a man!!” TI writes in the post addressing the actions of Officer Zachary Christensen. “And be clear, IDGAF WHAT SHE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE DONE….I can & will utilize ALL MY RELATIONSHIPS AND RESOURCES TO BRING JUSTICE TO YO HO ASS because Y’all hateful racist muthafuckaz ain’t gon understand wtf it mean to keep y’all hands to y’all selves and OFF OF OUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN until we get ahold of that ass and treat you just how you treated ours.”
TI, clearly angry and bothered by what he witnessed, then addressed the girl, a sixth-grade student at Mesa View Middle School in Farmington, New Mexico.
READ MORE: Eddie Murphy dishes about that time Barack Obama asked him two questions
“On my sweet dear sister Precious…I’ll happily accept my due process of consequences for showing one (or some) of you what it feels like to face a man (or men) on a mission. Now I’m working on myself and my spirit but y’all gon pull me back out of my evolution & get me to getting dead on y’alls ass about bringing hurt harm & danger to our innocent women and children,” TI said. “And ANY MAN who don’t feel the same about protecting US & OURS please do me a favor and Get tf off my page!!!” TI signed off #DeadDeFuqSeriousSIR.
Christensen, who worked as a school resource officer at Mesa View Middle School in Farmington, was filmed on video Aug. 27 trying to detain the 11-year-old girl, who he accused of assaulting two school employees as she tried to leave the school. Police Chief Steve Hebbe said the girl has been cleared of all wrongdoing because the accusations “proved not to be true”, according to The New York Daily News.
Video, which was shot from the officer’s lapel camera, was released to the media, showing Christensen pulling the girl’s backpack off before pushing her against a wall and then to the ground, as she hollered: “I’m not resisting. Get off of me — you’re hurting me.”
We respect how hard you rep for the babies, TI. Yes, sir.
The post TI rips cop accused of manhandling 11-Year-Old girl: ‘Poor Excuse for a man’ appeared first on theGrio.
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