Sunday, December 14, 2014

Who is Running Your office an Angel or a Dragon? by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM



When I’m checking out a sales clerk will smile and ask, “Did you find everything you were looking for?” They always pack the items carefully in the bags as if they were their own. If I purchase a lot of heavy items and have several bags, one of the clerks will come over and hold the door for me to leave safely. These sales clerks care about their customers and have been well trained by the manager of the store.

I called a doctor’s office for an appointment and the receptionist answered the phone saying the doctor is all booked up. This doctor later told a friend of mine, “He did not have enough patients to cover his office expenses.”  His receptionist was sending patients away! Do you know if your gate keeper is sending your customers  away?

This gatekeeper was ruining this doctor’s business.  When I couldn’t get an appointment with this doctor I called another doctor’s office and the receptionist who made appointments answered the phone with a smile in her voice and said, “How about next Thursday at 10:30am?”  We booked the appointment.

So do you have a dragon guarding the door of your office or an angel?

What are the three things you should train your angels, your employees, to do at your business? 

         1)  Your employees should always wear a smile, dress neatly and cleanly      with their hair combed, be polite and be helpful to their customers. My grandmother, Belle Shapiro Frank, a buyer for a women's clothing store said it best, "Before you go out the door to work, look in your mirror. What do you see?"

2)   Your customer should feel like an honored guest in your business and your employees should speak to customers and their family members in a reliable and timely manner.
3)    If a customer calls your business to ask about a product or make an appointment your employee should smile into the phone, answer the question, or make the appointment and write it on your schedule.

To make sure you have your angel in place at the gate of your business have a friend call on the phone and visit in person to see if you have trained your employees, your angels, well!

If your friend calls your office during business hours and the answering machine is turned on saying, “ If this is an emergency call 911 otherwise your call will be returned in 24 to 48 hours”, make a note and tell your friend, the business owner, about the “dragon” at their door! It’s time for a change.

Remember it's all about first impressions, connecting with your customers, and having them come back to your business and bring their friends.


Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM, John Maxwell Team Member, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your businesses successful. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show". She has just published her new book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" available in print or as an e-book.

To contact Madeline Frank for your speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com








Saturday, November 22, 2014

Think of Others First by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM


The world does not revolve around you! Have you ever had a conversation with another person and you could not get in a word as they were only interested in talking about themselves? Did you ever hear a speech that was supposed to be helping the audience learn to do something better and the speaker was stuck on talking about their problems?

Do you remember who Scrooge was?

Scrooge forgot about everyone else too! Charles Dickens wrote his classic story “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge as "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." The “Ghosts of Christmas” visited Scrooge’s past, present, and future.  Over the course of the story Scrooge sees what he has become and decides to change.

Today Scrooge represents a “miserly” person who does not care about others. He or she is self -absorbed and selfish and is only concerned about him or her self. When this person decides to change and concentrated on helping others their life takes on one of hope and happiness!


How would you like to connect better with your family, friends, co-workers, and your schoolmates?

If you want to connect with others you have to listen to them, care about them, and be concerned about their welfare. Zig Zigler said it best; “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”


Life is all about connecting with others.   A lady in the British aristocracy had dinner one night with Prime Minister Gladstone and on another night with Prime Minister Disraeli.


She was asked what she thought of these two gentlemen.
She said, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman."


Prime Minister Disraeli was a good listener and was interested in knowing all about the person sitting beside him. He made everyone he came in contact with feel they were “the cleverest” and “most important person” in the room. Prime Minister Gladstone was only interested in himself.


Wouldn’t you like to connect with others just like Prime Minister Disraeli?

Dale Carnegie wrote “How to Win friends and Influence People”. He said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” He also said, “Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”


What are the 3 keys for removing the “Me, Me, Me” from your vocabulary to be like Prime Minister Disraeli and Dale Carnegie in connecting with others?


     1)  As Dale Carnegie said, “Smile. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.”
     2)   Prime Minister Disraeli made everyone he came in contact with feel they were “the cleverest” and most important person in the room by being interested in them.
     3)   Dale Carnegie said, “Give honest, sincere appreciation. Appreciation builds our image faster than any other practice … the success of every job demands cooperation and effort from others … people contribute to our success as much as we contribute to theirs.”

     By following these three keys for connecting with others you too will become a happier, healthier, person full of hope, and you will be thinking of others first, removing the "Me, Me, Me" from your vocabulary!

     Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member, sought after speaker, business owner, motivational teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. www.madelinefrank.com


She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show".  www.madelinefrankviola.com

She has just published her new book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" available through Amazon /Kindle.

Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement at   mfrankviola@gmail.com























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Madeline Frank, Ph.D. business owner, teacher, researcher, speaker and concert artist. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show".