Is it true that a bad boss will create miserable employees?

The findings may surprise you.

It has been reported that researchers at the Université François-Rabelais in France now have statistics to show how bad management hurts workers. They conducted a survey of more than 1,100 employees from various companies. The participants in the survey were asked about their general well-being and their jobs. Not surprising is that those who were unhappy had bosses that had negative management styles.

If you are a boss that is reading this, it is not the end of the world. It is an opportunity to review your management style and decide if you can improve it or not. If you know that your style is not conducive to a happy work place and have decided not to change, that is no problem. This is because the majority of your staff will eventually leave and it will cost your company more money to replace and train new staff.

You have a decision to make.

Do you want to improve or do you want to cost your company more money?

Do you like working with people on an in person basis?

If you do, there may be some great benefits for you.

Recently I was made aware of some experiments that were described on Public Broadcasting in the United States. It suggested that newborn children prefer to look at face more than anything else as early as 9 minutes old. What does that say about us as humans?

I believe it shows that we like to be with others and communicate in person. You may be thinking, oh that’s not my way. That may be true but has it been learned or is it an easier way for you to operate?

I believe deep down all people like human contact. When we don’t have any of this connection, we tend to feel all alone.

What is one way that you can improve your connection with others?

Do you sell features, advantages or benefits to your customers?

I sure hope it is not features or advantages!

I say that sincerely as the only thing that clients are looking for is benefits for them from what you are selling. Yes, you need to understand the features and advantages. But the only reason to know these is so you can phrase your benefits in proper terms as reinforcement to your potential clients.

It has proven beneficial to many people to go through an exercise of listing all the features your product or service provides. Then break those features down into how they are advantages for your clients. Then finally itemize your benefits.

When can you do this exercise?

Did you hear the one about an old man, a boy and a donkey who were going to town?

The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. 

As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. 

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. 

The moral of the story is; in marketing, if you try to please everyone, you might as well... kiss your ass good-bye.

Can you honestly say to your clients ‘We are here for you.’?

Or are you just interested in the money you’ve got from them?

Your clients will be able to tell if you are interested in them, just by your actions. It is all about how you answer their questions about concerns after they have made their purchase. It’s all about how you keep in contact with them.

Have you put together a plan to show your clients that you are here for them?

When are you going to do that?