Establish and Conduct Business Relationships

Welcoming customer
Who is a Customer?
 A customer is an individual who obtains a product, either a service or a good,
from an organization. In normal circumstances the customer will have to pay to
acquire the product, although this is not always the case.
 A customer is someone who purchases goods or services from a company. A
customer is the consumer and recommends to others if your business is good or
bad.
• A customer is also known as a buyer, client, or purchaser and refers to a current
or a potential buyer or to a user of the products of an individual or an
organization that is known as the seller, supplier, or vendor.
• A customer is a person, company, or other unit who buys goods and services
manufactured by another entity.
Maintain Welcoming customer Environment
How to Welcome a New Customer?
• Greeting customers is one of the most fundamental skills your team members
can develop to improve customer service.
 A good greeting is critical to a store or restaurant setting, since it encourages
visitors to like and trust your staff – which makes it much more likely you’ll build
a bond and create enthusiastic repeat customers…
5 Ways to Properly Greet a Customer
1) Smile with your greeting.
2) Stop what you are doing.
3) Show, don’t tell.
4) Ask questions.
5) Dress professionally.
Clarify needs of customer
How to Clarify Customer Expectations?
 Customer needs and expectations can be different from what a seller thinks
they are.

 The seller might think that a particular attribute or service is valuable to the
customer
 However, unless the customer also feels the same way, the attribute or service
might add no value (and might even be costing a lot to provide).
So what to do?
 different methods are used to gain an understanding into customer
expectations:
• Customer Surveys
• Customer Service Questionnaire
• Customer Databases
• Analysis of Customer Complaints
• Staff Training
• provide Information and Advise
 Once you have accurately identified the needs of your customer you should be
ready to provide the information and advice that your customer requires.
  You will agree that clarity is important when giving information and advice to
customers. Thus we need to provide information and advice so that they are
easily understood by your customer.
 Information about the Features and benefits of products/services provided by your
enterprise
 Information to satisfy customer needs
 Discussion on Alternative sources of information/advice with the customer is
Important
In other cases you may make a note of certain details like
• phone numbers;
• addresses;
• dates and times.
Foster and maintain business relationships
 Whatever type of product or service you are providing it is an essential
consideration that you have lasting and trusted relationships with the people
who provide you with work.
 You can be the very best at what you do, but treat your clients badly and you’re
going to lose valuable projects.
 Building and maintaining client relationships is a central part of working life, and
this is particularly important for small businesses
 As with the relationships in other areas of our lives, the way we interact with work
clients should be based on mutual trust and respect.
 By communicating openly and honestly we can quickly turn these interactions into
something more personal, working together as people rather than business
contacts.
six steps to maintaining lasting relationships with your
clients
 Clearly Plan Projects
 Communicate Openly and Effectively
 Share Your Knowledge
 Network
 Manage Time and Meet Deadlines
 Be Honest and Be Yourself
Strong Relationships Foster Success
know how important it is to value and give superior service to existing

customers.
 Most good salespeople know that 80% of their business comes from only 20%
of their customers
 It’s just easier to sell orders to people with whom you have good
relationships, because you know what causes them to place orders.
When you are able to identify a person’s needs and satisfy them, you will sell
orders faster.
“Show me quality.”
“Think for me.”
“I need it tomorrow.”
 “Counsel and/or entertain me.
• You must be careful when specializing in personal relationship selling. If you
don’t get close enough, it will not work. If you get too close, it can backfire.
Using good judgment makes the difference.
Consistency is key
• There are many ways you can make your services attractive to new customers,
but the thing that builds respect is consistent good performance. There is no
formal training for this type of behavior; you either do it or you don’t.
To be known as a consistent performer, you can do some of the following things:
• Improve your customers
• Develop reliable calling habits
• Be on time--every time
• Keep yourself current
Facilitate and Capitalize on Change and Innovation
Meaning of Change
 Change occurs within our world, in the physical environment, in the way
organizations are structured and conduct their business, in political and
socioeconomic problems and solutions, and in societal norms and values.
 Change is an organizational reality. Organizations face change because
external and internal factors create the need for change.
 External factors/forces that cause change
Changing consumer needs and wants
New governmental laws
Changing technology
Economic changes
World politics
Global competition
Internal factors/forces that cause change
New organizational strategy
Composition of the workforce
New equipment
Changing employee attitudes
Purposes of Change:-
Meet changing market conditions
Respond to internal pressures
Take advantage of new opportunities
Respond to competitive pressure
Satisfy the changing needs of customers
Types of Organizational Change
1. Planned Change
 Change as an intentional, goal-oriented activity.
 It has two goals:
o it seeks to improve the ability of the organization to adapt to new factors
in its environment.
o it seeks to modify employee behavior.
 Planned Change has two forms:
◦ Radical change.
  Also known as frame-breaking change.
 Change that result in a major overhaul of the organization or its component
systems.
◦ Incremental change.
 Also known as frame-bending change.
 Change that is part of the organization’s natural evolution.
 It implies no fundamental shifts in the assumptions how the organization can
improve its functioning.
2. Unplanned Change
 Occurs spontaneously or randomly
 May be disruptive or beneficial
 The appropriate goal is to act quickly to minimize any negative consequences and
maximize any possible benefits.
Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model
 Also known as phases of planned change
 Discusses how does organization engage in the change process
 Kurt Lewin argued that successful change in organizations should follow three
steps, that is, change processes:
 Unfreezing
 Changing/Moving
 Refreezing

 Unfreezing the status quo

 The status quo can be considered to be an equilibrium state.
 To move away from the equilibrium state, unfreezing is necessary.
 Unfreezing can be thought of as preparing a situation for change by
disconfirming existing attitudes and behaviors.
◦ Change Agents contributes effectively to the organization’s planning processes to
introduce and facilitate change
◦ Organization’s objectives and plans are communicated effectively to individuals
and teams to introduce change
◦ Variety of approaches to managing workplace issues and problems are identified
and analyzed
◦ Risks are identified and assessed, and action initiated to manage these to achieve a
recognized benefit or advantage to the organization
◦ Workplace is managed in a way which promotes the development of innovative
approaches and outcomes
 Unfreezing is necessary to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance
and group conformity
 Unfreezing can be done in one of three ways:
 increasing the driving forces, which are forces pushing for change;
  decreasing the restraining forces, which are forces that resist change;
 combining the two approaches.
 Changing/Moving
 Taking action to modify a situation by altering the targets of change.
 Merely introducing change does not ensure that it will take hold.
Factors to be considered when undergoing organizational change:
 managers commitment to the importance of communication
 Managers match actions and words
 commitment to two-way communication
 emphasis on face-to-face communication
 positive ways of dealing with bad news
 shaping messages for intended audience
 treating communication as an ongoing process
 Refreezing
 Maintaining and eventually institutionalizing the change.
 Unless refreezing is done, there’s a strong chance that employees will revert
back to the old equilibrium state.
 The objective of refreezing is to stabilize the new situation by reinforcing the
new behaviors.

The Three-Step Change Process

Meaning of Organizational Change
 Change of some things in the workplace, which is any alteration of people,
structure, technology, culture, physical setting, purpose, strategy, or objectives.
 Organizational changes often need someone to act as a catalyst and assume the
responsibility for managing the change process, that is, a Change Agent.
Change Agent
◦ Individuals and groups who take responsibility for changing the existing behavior
patterns of another person or social system.
◦ Managers or leaders or change specialists in contemporary organizations are
expected to be change agents.
◦ Sometimes hired as outside consultants.
◦ Outside consultants have a limited understanding of the organization’s history,
culture, operating procedures, and people but they have an objective perspective that
insiders may lack.
Types of Organizational Change
 Managers face five main types of change that affects five aspects of an organization:
1. Changing structure
 Organization’s structure is defined by how tasks are formally divided, grouped, and
coordinated.
 Changes in the external environment or in organizational strategies often lead to
changes in the organizational structure.
 Changing in structure can affect structural components and structural design.
 Structural components might include departmental responsibilities could be
combined, organizational levels eliminated, or the number of persons a manager
supervises could be increased, employees could be empowered to make decisions.
 Structural design might include shift from a functional to a product structure
2. Changing technology
 Managers can also change the technology used to convert inputs into outputs.
 Technological changes involve the introduction of new equipment, tools, or methods;
automation; or computerization.
 Competitive factors or new innovations within an industry often require managers to
introduce new equipment, tools, or operating methods.
 Automation is a technological change that replaces certain tasks done by people with
tasks done by machines. Example: Robots in automobile firms, Mail sorter in postal
service, etc
 The most visible technological change in recent years has been expanding
computerization. Example: Scanners, POS, ATM, etc…
3. Changing People
 It involves changing attitudes, expectations, perceptions and behaviors of
organizational members, something that’s not easy to do.
 It helps individuals and groups within organization to work more effectively together.
 Organizational development (OD) is a change methods that focus on people and the
nature and quality of interpersonal work relationships.
 The most popular OD techniques are: team building, intergroup development, process
consultation, survey feedback and sensitivity training (unstructured group
interaction).
 Each technique seeks to bring about changes in the organization’s people and make
them work together better.
4. Changing the Culture
  Culture is the system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within an
organization and guides the behavior of its members.
 Culture is manifested at different levels within an organization.
5. Changing the Physical setting
 Physical setting is a pattern of arranging physical layout of workplaces to minimize
disruption on production.
 Workplace layout should not be set up piecemeal or at random.
Management thoughtfully considers work demands, formal interaction requirements,
and social needs when making decisions about space configurations, interior design,
equipment placement, and the like.
Resistance to Change
 Any attitude or behavior that indicates unwillingness to make or support a desired
change.
 Resistance to change can be a source of functional or dysfunctional conflict.
 Resistance to change does not necessarily surface in standardized ways.
 Resistance can be overt, immediate, implicit, or deferred.
 It is easiest for management to deal with resistance when it is overt and
immediate.
 It is challenging to manage resistance that is implicit or deferred
Why people resist change
◦ Fear of the unknown
◦ Lack of good information
◦ Fear for loss of security
◦ No reason to change
◦ Fear for loss of power/status/authority
◦ Economic factors
◦ Lack of resources
◦ Bad timing
◦ Habit
6. Why Organization resist change
◦ Structural inertia
◦ Limited focus of change
◦ Group inertia
◦ Threat to expertise
◦ Threat to established power relationships
◦ Threat to established resource allocations

Ways in which resistance is experienced

◦ Resistance to the change itself
◦ Resistance to the change strategy
◦ Resistance to the change agent
 How to deal with Resistance
Several strategies have been suggested for managers in dealing with resistance
to change when they see resistance to change as dysfunctional. These are:
1. Education and Communication
 Educates people about change prior to implementation and helps them understand
the logic of change.
 Use when people lack information or have inaccurate information.
 This tactic basically assumes that the source of resistance lies in misinformation or
poor communication.
 Advantage: creates willingness to help with the change.
 Disadvantage: can be very time consuming.
2. Participation and Involvement
 Allows people to help design and implement the changes.
 Use when other people have important information and/or power to resist.
 Advantages: adds information to change planning, builds commitment to change
and increase the quality of the change decision.
 Disadvantage: potential for a poor solution and can be very time consuming.
3. Facilitation and Support
 Provides emotional and material assistance for people experiencing the hardships
of change.
 Use when resistance traces to resource or adjustment problems.
 It may include employee counseling, therapy, new-skills training, or a short paid
leave of absence.
 Advantage: directly satisfies specific resource or adjustment needs.
 Disadvantages: it is time consuming; it is expensive.
4. Negotiation and Agreement
 Offers incentives (exchanges something of value for an agreement) to actual or
potential change resistors.
 Use when:
 a person or group will lose something because of the change
 resistance comes from a powerful group/individuals
 Advantage: helps avoid major resistance.
 Disadvantages: can be expensive; can cause others to seek similar deals.
5. Manipulation and Cooptation
 Manipulation refers to using covert attempts to influence others by selectively
providing information and consciously structuring events.
 Cooptation, on the other hand, is a form of both manipulation and participation.
 Cooptation influences the leaders of a resistance group by giving them a key role in
the change decision.
 Use when other methods do not work or are too expensive.
 Advantages: can be quick and inexpensive.
 Disadvantage: can create future problems if people sense manipulation.
6. Explicit and Implicit Coercion
 Employ the force of authority (direct threats) upon the resisters to implement
change.
 It can be in terms of threats of transfer, loss of promotions, negative performance
evaluations, and a poor letter of recommendation.
 Use when speed is important and the change agent has power.
 Advantages: quick; overpowers resistance.
 Disadvantage: risky if people get mad/sense the tactic
Creativity Versus Innovation
 Creativity refers to the ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make unusual
associations between ideas.
 A creative organization develops unique ways of working or novel solutions to
problems.
 But only being creative isn’t enough. Innovation is required.
 Innovation is the process of turning new/creative ideas into useful products or
work methods.
 Innovative organization is characterized by its ability to channel creativity into
useful outcomes.
Stimulating and Nurturing Innovation
 The systems model can help us understand how organizations become more
innovative.
 According to this model, to obtain the desired outputs (innovative products and
work methods) involves transforming of inputs.
 These inputs include creative people and groups within the organization.
 But having creative people isn’t enough to make an organization innovative.
 It takes the right environment-that is, an environment that stimulates innovation.
This “right” environment-includes three variables:
 the organization’s structure that support innovation.
 culture that are built around a commitment to innovation and
 human resource practices (staffing with a clear commitment to
innovation and top management support for innovation).
 Structural Variables
Organic Structures
Abundant Resources
High Inter-unit communications
Minimal Time Pressure
Work and non-work Support
HR Variables
High commitment to T&D
High job security
Stimulate Creative people
Innovation

Cultural Variables
Acceptance of Ambiguity
Low external control
Tolerance of conflicts
Focus on ends
Open system focus
 StructuralPositive
variablesfeedback
 Emphasis on how the organization’s structure got in the way of innovation.
 Effective structural variables that facilitate innovation has the following five
variables:
 Organic-type structure: positively influences innovation because;
 low in formalization, centralization, and work specialization,
 facilitates the flexibility and sharing of ideas that are critical to innovation.
 Availability of resources: provides a key building block for innovation.
With an abundance of resources, managers can
• afford to purchase innovations,
• afford the cost of instituting innovations, and
• can absorb failures.
 Inter-unit communications:
• helps break down barriers to innovation.
• Cross-functional teams, task forces, and other such organizational
designs facilitate interaction across departmental lines and are
widely used in innovative organizations.
  Minimal time pressure:
Innovative organizations should try to minimize extreme time pressures on creative
activities despite the demands of white-water rapids environments.
Even if time pressures may spur people to work harder and may make them feel more
creative, many studies show that it actually causes them to be less creative.
 Work and non-work support:
 Employee’s creative performance was enhanced when an organization’s
structure explicitly supported creativity.
 Beneficial kinds of support included things like encouragement, open
communication, readiness to listen, and useful feedback
 Cultural variables
 Innovative organizations encourage experimentation, reward both successes and
failures, and celebrate mistakes.
 An innovative organization is likely to have the following characteristics:
 Accept ambiguity: too much emphasis on objectivity and specificity
constrains creativity.
 Keep external controls minimal: rules, regulations, policies, and similar
organizational controls are kept to a minimum.
 Tolerate conflict:
• diversity of opinions is encouraged.
• harmony and agreement between individuals or units are not assumed to be
evidence of high performance.
 Focus on ends rather than means:
• goals are made clear, and individuals are encouraged to consider alternative
routes toward meeting the goals.
• focusing on ends suggests that several right answers might be possible for
any given problem.
 Use an open-system focus:
• closely monitor the environment and respond to changes as they occur.
 Provide positive feedback:
• Managers provide positive feedback, encouragement, and support so employees
feel that their creative ideas receive attention.
 Tolerate the impractical:
• Individuals who offer impractical, even foolish, answers to what-if questions
are not stifled.
• What at first seems impractical might lead to innovative solutions.
 Exhibit empowering leadership:
• Be a leader who lets organizational members know that the work they do is
significant.
• Provide organizational members the opportunity to participate in decision
making.
 • Show them that you’re confident they can achieve high performance levels and
outcomes.
• Being this type of leader will have a positive influence on creativity.
 Human resource variables
 Innovative organizations:
• actively promote the training and development of their members so their
knowledge remains current;
• offer their employees high job security to reduce the fear of getting fired for
making mistakes; and
• encourage individuals to become idea champions, actively and
enthusiastically supporting new ideas, building support, overcoming
resistance, and ensuring that innovations are implemented.
• People with idea champions have the following personality characteristics:
extremely high self-confidence, persistence, energy, dynamic leadership and
a tendency toward risk taking.