Use these apology tips to strengthen your relationship with an irate customer

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December 12, 2011 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise The Leaderboard  How to make your workers feel like CEOs Bosses need to give their employees a sense of ownership in the projects they undertake, writes Underground Elephant founder Jason Kulpa. "Put employees in your shoes, saddle them with a taste of your responsibility and reward them at the level of which you'd expect to be rewarded," he writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (12/8)      Other News The difference between leadership and management -- no, they're not the same thing HRBartender.com (12/11)      The Plum Card® The Everything, Everywhere Trade Terms CardSM from American Express OPEN • Pay in full within ten days, get a 1.5% discount • OR pay as little as 10% and take up to 2 months to pay off the balance, interest free • No annual membership fee for the first year—a savings of $185 • A powerful cash flow management tool APPLY NOW Sales Strategies    How normalization can provide a clearer view of sales metrics To get an accurate picture of sales-territory performance, it's important to account for differences in potential between areas, writes Mike LaGrand. "If a layer of complexity can be removed by normalizing the data it will make the comparison simpler for everyone," he writes. Sales Benchmark Index/Sales Force Effectiveness Blog (12/9)      Does your success depend on sales superheros? Many sales organizations depend on a Herculean effort by representatives to meet yearly quotas, but this isn't a sustainable approach, writes Bob Apollo. To break the habit, it's important for the sales and marketing departments to first agree on the characteristics of ideal prospects, he writes. Sales forces have to "identify and concentrate on the issues that those prospects simply cannot afford to ignore," he writes. Inflexion-Point.com (U.K.)/Accelerating Revenue Growth: The Inflexion-Point Blog (12/9)      Organizational Privacy Architecture and Assessment This checklist for Ecommerce, Web Development and Design, and Direct Marketing professionals enables you to gauge your organization’s privacy compliance and best practice levels. Thousands of companies leave the intricacies of privacy management to TRUSTe, the 13-year-old leader in online privacy. Gain an overview of the program today. Daily Data Points    Cultural changes you can't afford to ignore in 2012 To survive in an uncertain economic environment, companies might have to offer less expensive products, according to a study by JWT Intelligence. Among the firm's nine other cultural trends to look out for are an influx of young entrepreneurs and a focus on touch-screen technology. BusinessNewsDaily.com (12/8)      Other News Forecasters project faster growth in U.S. while Europe struggles Barron's (special access for SmartBrief readers) (12/10)      Consumer sentiment in U.S. climbs for fourth month in a row Reuters (12/9)      Traditional media winding up a mostly gloomy 2011 MediaPost Communications/MediaDailyNews (12/9)      How to Master the Art of Content Marketing Learn how to turn content assets into online consumer engagement and higher web conversions. In this report, you’ll find: • An overview of content marketing strategies and solutions • Keys to content development success • Must-haves for content publishing and distribution Strategies from Sales & Marketing Management  Use these apology tips to strengthen your relationship with an irate customer No one likes to admit to having made a mistake, but a good salesperson recognizes an apology for what it is -– an opportunity to strengthen a business relationship. An earnest apology can "turn adversity into advantage," says Bill Rosenthal, CEO of skills-training firm Communispond. Sales & Marketing Management (12/8)      On the Road  Buy-now approach is gaining currency in travel industry Airlines, hotels and car-rental agencies are increasingly offering programs, such as lock-in ticket reservations and prepaid nonrefundable booking programs, that count on customers' fear of steep cancellation fees to encourage them to make purchases immediately. Some airlines have also introduced programs that would charge fliers for discounts on change or cancel fees. NorthJersey.com (Hackensack, N.J.) (free registration) (12/10)      App Update  Apps to help ease holiday headaches The holidays can be a stressful time, but there are plenty of applications out there that can help keep you calm, writes Dan Howley. Among them are Flighttrack, which allows you to keep tabs on the status of your flight, and Google Shopper, which can help you find good deals on gifts. BusinessNewsDaily.com (12/10)      Most Read  Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Sales readers in the past week. 3 lessons from a terrible sales call (Sales Benchmark Index) How to write a deal-closing e-mail (Inc.com) The one question you should ask every potential hire (ThoughtLeaders blog) What sales managers shouldn't do in 2012 (Sales Benchmark Index) Why isn't sales methodology more popular? (Dealmaker365) Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Featured Content    4 Reasons To Make Yourself Replaceable Mike Michalowicz 3 Business Lessons From The Godfather Mike Periu 3 Ways To Build Magnificent Products James Clear 5 Myths About Deducting T&E Expenses Barbara Weltman Culture Beat: Understanding Culture Is Essential For Every Business Alexandra Levit Most Popular Headlines from Last Week 4 Things You Can Learn From Segway's Notorious Product Fail Karlee Weinmann 18 Year-End Financial Must-Dos Kate Lister 7 Young Companies That Turned Heads In 2011 Scott Gerber Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Making Small Talk  Chinese officials suspended for slacking during productivity workshop Five officials at a Chinese tax bureau were suspended for reading newspapers or sleeping during a video conference designed to remind workers about the importance of discipline on the job. The efforts are designed to remind workers that they cannot goof off -- for example, by playing games -- while on the job. MSNBC/Reuters (12/9)      Position Title Company Name Location Business Developer Hay Group Multiple Locations, United States Online Sales and Marketing Coordinator For Marijuana Legalization NORML Nationwide, United States Seeking experienced Sales or Marketing article writers Insight Global Resource Nationwide, United States Sales & Community Marketing Manager Alaska Airlines San Jose, CA Inside Sales / Customer Service Rep Rowland Company (The) Philadelphia, PA Regional Sales Director Regenesis Biomedical, Inc. Multiple Locations, United States Regional Catering Sales Manager Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Los Angeles, CA Click here to view more job listings. SmartQuote  Competition is an intrinsic and powerful motivator, therefore creating a work environment where employees can quantify and compare individual benchmarks will channel competitive spirit and increase performance." --Jason Kulpa, founder of Underground Elephant, writing at SmartBrief's SmartBlog on Leadership      SmartBrief on Sales Partners SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! 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