Tag: name plates

Building Trust into Your Business Culture

Building trust between a company and a consumer is essential to business. All companies, regardless if they are organizations or individuals, should continually work on creating a culture of mutual trust. A trusting culture helps make challenging conversations easier, teams more integrated and employees more engaged. It also helps keep consumers loyal to a company’s brand.

“When people respect you as a person, they admire you. When they respect you as a friend, they love you. When they respect you as a leader, they follow you.”
–John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

Building trust in any business starts with networking and knowing the correct tools, like name tags, that will help get the job done.

Trust is crucial for building strong relationships, especially in business. When people trust a company, employees instinctively work harder and listen better. In turn, this makes customers more willing to forgive mistakes or misunderstandings. Companies need to be reliable and follow through on commitments. Trust comes in three forms: confidence in the completeness of a company’s knowledge, skills and abilities.

Building Trust with Knowledge

Photo ID Badge with a logo, picture, name and company brand held by an employee on a lanyard.

Communication is at the core of all relationships, and it should be no different with employees, colleagues and consumers. When building a relationship with customers, business owners can excel when they take pride in what they know. And by sharing this knowledge with their employees, business owners empower so the business will run smoothly.

Communicating your company’s knowledge with consumers builds their trust in your brand. It shows them that you know what you’re doing and that you can do it well. Proving your knowledge of your business (service or product) helps customers to know and trust your process. A February 2019 Gallup survey revealed that “trust remains a vital form of business currency, but customers rely on different signals to convey a company’s trustworthiness — including, in many cases, a wealth of information about its ethical track record and the experiences of its customers and employees.”

Companies who work on building trust on a daily basis in routine interactions with customers, consistently delivering on their promises or going to great lengths to rectify the situation when they cannot. They behave as if their customers’ satisfaction and well being are their most important considerations, leaving customers with a feeling of partnership rather than adversity.

Trust in Skills

Side circle name tag with an engraved logo, full name and title worn by a professional.

Doing a job well is only one important step toward achieving your business goals. Whether you have a product or provide a service, your skills are what will keep you in business. No matter what your business offers, customers learn to trust in your skill set, and that is what keeps them returning. So, make sure that you continue to build on your business skills.

Consumers don’t just buy your product or service. They are only with your business because they trust how you make them feel. They also trust how you provide solutions to their problems. Yes, this means that customer needs are typically emotional, not logical. The more you know about each of your customers, the better you will be at communicating with them and meeting their needs.

Every transaction your customer has with you is actually an entire journey. At every step of this journey, there is an opportunity to either delight your customer or have your customer suffer a pain point.

A refined skill set will drive trust because it demonstrates that your business has the needed competence and expertise. Your skill set will drive trust because it provides tangible evidence of your abilities and knowledge of what you do. When you show that you have your specific skill set, it means you have invested time and effort into developing your knowledge and abilities. This, in turn, will inspire confidence in your customers and lead them to trust your abilities.

Trust in Ability

Building trust with a white metal name plate with gold engraving of a logo, name and title sitting on a desk.

When a business goes out of its way to prove it has the abilities it says it does, it shows its customers that the company can be trusted. Ability helps with building trust because it provides evidence that your business can deliver on its promises. It shows customers that you have the means and skills to achieve their needs no matter what they need. This, in turn, inspires customer confidence and fosters trust in your business.

Inspiring trust and confidence in customers should be one of your primary goals. So, if your business has the ability to perform the service or provide the product you advertise, that means you have the necessary skills, knowledge and resources. This will prove to consumers that they should trust you to make decisions that best suit their needs when they choose your company.

Consistently demonstrating competence and proficiency in your company’s abilities instills confidence in customers and, in turn, builds this needed trust. Truthfulness, responsibility, unification, steadfastness and thankfulness are the foundations required for trust. When your customers see you consistently displaying these qualities, their trust in your abilities will continue to build.

Make sure you always give everything you have to your job, no matter what you do. No matter your position or standing in your company, doing good work will help others see their value in the company. Being a positive influence will help you take pride in your job. Show a hunger for learning what your company offers, and you will be noticed for growth opportunities your company may offer. Engage with your job and find that you not only take pride in a job well done but also that you love what you do.

Dave Wendland, VP Strategic Relations at HRG, says the following:

Truthful: Honesty, integrity and consistent actions undeniably lead to trust.

Consistency in your delivery of materials, the way you treat clients and the manner in which you operate your business day in and day out can truly set you apart in the market.

Responsibility: Establish corporate activities with the main purpose of benefiting external individuals, a community or the environment.

For some organizations, social consciousness or “doing the most good” are simply words that are written on a wall. But it needs to be a way of life. This can be as simple as your entire team accepting responsibility for outcomes for your clients, community and co-workers.

Unifying: Demonstrative focus on a client and brand’s specific needs and ensuring that all members of the team are sincerely working together toward a common goal.

Teamwork is best exemplified by a group of individuals all pulling in the same direction and moving toward a common goal. Although unique individuals are departmentalized from a structure standpoint, when it comes to client needs, you should move as one.

Steadfast: Be reliable, almost predictable, in how you approach business and treat customers.

Nothing gives me more delight in our company’s delivery of a service than clients who comment that they “set their clocks by us.” In other words, keep your promises by doing what you say you’ll do and delivering it when you say you will.

Thankful: Customers are at the heart of why brands survive. Without them, a brand wouldn’t last. Authentic appreciation goes far.

Building Trust and Respect in the Workplace

What is a culture of respect, especially when it comes to your business? A culture of respect is when your business or organization admires the achievements of someone. This can include those such as an employee, a volunteer or any team member. Learn more about Creating a Culture of Respect in the Workplace.

“Trust is like the air we breathe—when it’s present, nobody really notices, but when it’s absent, everyone notices.” –Warren Buffett

So, what are you doing every day to strengthen the culture of respect and trust with your employees and customers?

3 Ways Awards Make You More Remarkable

It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s what you do that makes you stand out. Unfortunately, there’s a possibility your company can get lost in the crowd of mediocrity. Awards help you prevent that by standing out and attracting more attention to your brand. Here are four ways awards make you more remarkable.

Awards are a form of recognition that people and their organizations receive for their achievements. They represent an organization’s success and excellent performance, leading to public relations benefits. Awards not only gain publicity but also attract top talent and raise the probability of competitive advantage. They also gather positive attention from stakeholders.

rosette ribbons first second third place award winner
Rosette Ribbon rewards for first, second and third place.

Awards Make You More Remarkable by Recognizing Your Hard Work

Awards are important because they help you feel like you’re doing something right. This is important for your self confidence as a worker. When you’re recognized for doing something well, it helps you feel like your work is not just an obligation but something that matters.

Receiving rewards also allows employers to show appreciation for employees’ hard work and dedication. This can make employees feel valued, which will make them more likely to stay with the company longer than they would otherwise have stayed if they hadn’t been recognized with an award. This show employees that the company is willing to invest in them and their work.

When employers reward their employees, they help promote themselves and their employees to the public. A company that recognizes its employees with awards is likely to be seen as an excellent workplace. It also makes customers more likely to patronize it.

name tag badge ribbon awards make you more remarkable
Name Tag and Badge Ribbon

You Build Reputation

Awards are a great tool to build your reputation, which is essential for any company or organization. They are a way to identify the best in your industry, thus assisting you and your company to stand out from the crowd. In addition, they help improve resumes tenfold when you include awards and certifications earned.

You increase your visibility when others know about your recent accomplishments. Awards help solidify your strengths and knowledge in your field. They give people who already know about your business a reason to trust and support you even more.

When people see that an organization has won awards, they are more likely to believe that the organization is reliable and trustworthy. They are also more likely to buy from them. This is especially true if there are awards for specific products or services. “Best Product” awards are compelling because they show potential customers that your product is better in terms of quality and value.

name tag name plate awards make you more remarkable
Name Tag with a matching Name Plate

Increase Your Productivity

Awards are a powerful motivator for employees. They motivate people to do more work and encourage people to work smarter. When you give your employees an award, you’re telling them their hard work has paid off, and that you are noticing their efforts. That feeling of validation can be enough to spur them on to greater heights. It also helps them feel more confident in their abilities and more willing to take risks with new ideas.

Organizations that give out rewards regularly help their employees feel like they’re part of something larger than themselves. This is when people start working together as a team. This is especially true if the award is based on teamwork rather than individual performance. Giving prizes out regularly helps everyone feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves, and that’s when people start working together as a team.

Awards Make You More Remarkable

Awards convey an elite status, which is what organizations want because of the increased professionalism. Organizations that win awards are gaining tremendous amounts of exposure and receiving a lot of goodwill points from their clients, peers and consumers. When people view a company as a leader in their industry, it means that the brands continue to meet the highest standards in both quality and ethics, something that competitors struggle to do.

Whether you’re a business, a non-profit or something in between, awards are a great way to show the world that you’re doing good work. In many ways, earning an award validates the positive impact that you’re making and sets you apart from your competitors—not to mention that they’re also a lot of fun to receive. Awards truly make you more remarkable.

Improving Your Customer Service

Helping your customers is what your business does, right? When you focus your priorities on your customers’ needs, you are actually doing your business a favor. As you meet your customer’s needs, you can better your business and better your customer service. In the long run, focusing on who is doing business with you will help you in your client retention as well as finding new customers.

Whether small or large, every business will always benefit from improved customer service practices. So how can you, as a business owner, help your employees and customers feel more valued? Here are several steps that you can take to improve your customer service.

Improve Your Customer Service by using name tags (relatability), name plates (approachability) and reusable badges (versatility).

Understand Your Customers’ Needs

According to several studies, service is vital in a customer’s brand loyalty choice. However, each customer will have a different view and opinion of excellent customer service. To provide this excellence, you need to determine your customers’ needs. Once you find out these needs, you can better train your employees to meet them.

Listen to (and Implement) Customer Feedback

You should also listen to customer feedback. Sometimes reading customer feedback is not the most exciting thing to do as a business owner. However, whether you are a small business or a large one, customer feedback should be a critical point in running your business.

Even if it’s negative, customer feedback will keep your business running up to par with what your customers expect. Part of being a business owner is listening to your customers. When you listen to your customer feedback, you can improve the customer’s experience. Once you improve this experience, your business can better help meet your customer’s needs.

Take all customer feedback constructively. Remember that most customers only provide negative feedback when something needs to be fixed. Therefore, even when dealing with positive feedback, find a constructive way to implement any changes that you need to your business.

Pay Attention to Your Competitors

Yes, even your competitors will influence your customer’s needs. For example, if consumers have a bad experience with a competitor, they may turn to you to meet their needs. So, you should always pay attention to your competitors to better help your customers.

While it is not prudent to stalk your competition, you will find it necessary to understand how your competitor runs its business. Then, you can identify possible shortcomings in their business and find ways to improve your business by building on what customers need.

Provide Open Communication

One of the best ways to improve your business’s customer service is by communicating openly with clients and customers. Find ways to communicate directly with customers about what services and products you offer and how they meet their needs.

Use every available means to communicate with your customers. Whether it is online and social media or in-store surveys, make sure you keep in contact with your customers. No matter how you communicate with your customers, make sure you use consistency in that communication.

Communicating with your customers is a crucial component of running a business. When you have an open line of communication, customers’ needs will become readily available to you. From the feedback received via surveys or messages sent through emails, customers will be happy to let you know what they need when your business is transparent.

Helping your customers remember your brand will also help you retain them. You help customers remember your brand and business by constantly providing them with your best business practices. This consistency is one of the best ways to accomplish customer retention.

Following Up with Your Customers

There are so many different ways that you can get in touch with your customers. From in-store surveys to social media postings, customer communication is easier than ever. Following up with your customers after completing a service or transaction is an excellent opportunity to understand their needs.

Once you understand these needs, you can follow up with your customer to ensure that they are satisfied with your business dealings. One of the easiest ways to reach out to your customers for a follow-up is an email. Make sure that when you send out emails to customers, you fully represent your brand. Your voice still needs to remain consistent so that your customers will keep coming back.

Promptly Handle Complaints

Part of listening to your customers is also taking their complaints. While taking complaints may not always be an easy part of doing business, it is vital that you allow your customers an opportunity to speak their minds. In addition, when you let customers complain about poor service or poor quality of product, you are also gaining their trust.

It is an important part of this step to follow up after receiving a complaint promptly. Remember, most customers do not complain unless there is an issue. And as a business owner, you want to make sure that there are no issues between you and your clientele.

No matter the kind of feedback you receive, you can always learn from what your customers tell you. So, always encourage customers to express and share their feelings about your company. Stay as transparent as you can during this process, and customers will continue doing business with you.

Meeting Your Customer’s Needs

One of the keys to excellent customer service is understanding and meeting customers’ needs. To make this happen, several steps must be followed. Keep the following in mind while dealing with your clients, and excellent customer service is sure to follow.

Offer Reasonable Solutions

Knowing your customers’ needs is only half the battle. The other half is to offer solutions to any problems that may occur. Find ways to explore how to improve your business continually. One of these ways is to listen to your customers’ needs and then respond with a way to fix any issue.

One key thing to remember is that the solutions need to be simple. Keep an open mind when responding to customer issues, stay as transparent as possible and actively keep your customer in the loop as you offer any solution.

Keep Listening to Your Customers

Just because you found one customer’s need does not mean that you found them all. Constantly keep listening to everything your customers say about how you run your business. Remember, your goal is excellent customer service. Without listening, this goal is unattainable.

And, don’t just listen but actually hear what your customers are saying. Take into consideration everything they say, no matter how unimportant it may seem. While sometimes it is hard to admit that a customer may be right, you may have a broken system (especially if more than one customer complains about the same thing). The only way to stay in business is to keep listening.

Be Honest and Transparent

It does not matter what type of business you run, honesty and transparency are two of the most important things you need to remember. Keeping your customers aware of how you are running your business will keep you in business.

Unhappy customers are not repeat customers. After all, a happy customer is your greatest asset as a business. Remember that a happy customer is also a buying customer. Whether it’s goods or services you offer as a company, your customer is there because of how you make them feel.

Honesty and transparency are just good business practices. Stay honest in your dealings, and your business will increase. Keep transparency as part of your brand, and you will continue to have excellent customer service.

Tools for Improving Your Customer Service

Name Tags

Communicate and relate better with your employees and customers easier with the help of name tags. While we are slightly biased, name tags are just a good business decision. They provide identification, security and so many other benefits.

There are significant benefits to wearing name tags in any retail establishment (grocery store, boutique, department store, etc.). Some of these benefits include the use of identification in marketing, providing security, identifying employees and other staff, and many other positive benefits.

With an extensive line of tags available, we have everything to meet your needs. Name tags are guaranteed to improve your customers’ experience and improve your customer service.

Engraved metal and plastic name tags will help make your customer service better.

Name Plates

Be more approachable by using personalized name plates around your business. These name plates can include employee names, directions to find offices and other amenities, identify conference rooms and even provide an uplifting message for your customers.

Engraved plastic and metal name tags for offices and other businesses with company logos.

Reusable Badges

These versatile reusable name badges help your customers even when you have a high employee turnover. Your customer service will improve when everyone has identification. Reusable badges are perfect for volunteers, seasonal employees and even visitors.

And, with printable inserts, you can quickly provide identification for everyone at your company. Our reusable name badges are simple systems that can either be written on or printed and still look professional.

Speedy Badges provide temporary identification that improves your customer service.

Blog Highlight: Connecting with Customers

The H2H experience should be available to all customers. What we mean by this is human-to-human connections. Connecting with customers should be the focus of every business. Over the past while, we have become disconnected.

As humans, we crave experiences that connect us with others. Those connections have turned online throughout the last year and have become a little less human. So, how do we revert to that constant human interaction we naturally crave while still existing in our ever-changing world?

Part of the solution to this issue is becoming more approachable. While you and your company may have already been in a position of trust, people need to feel that they can still trust you and your services. Now the question is, how do you gain that trust and become more approachable.

Learn Even More: How To Connect with Your Customers

Online Learning & Maintaining Student Motivation

Lately, it doesn’t seem to matter which grade a student is in. Everyone is taking virtual classes this year. Some of these classes are going with online learning for the first time. This makes it difficult for everyone involved. So, how do you (as a parent, student or teacher) adapt to these changes? Here are some quick tips and suggestions to keep you focused and stay motivated throughout this school year.

Online Learning & Maintaining Student Motivation

Students & Online Learning

How can you, as a student, find that focus that will help you stay motivated? Here are several steps to take to make sure you get your work completed and turned in on time.

1. Set Goals

Most people hear this advice throughout their entire lives. So, let’s apply it to this school year as well. Take a look at all the classes and subjects you are currently taking. Now, what needs to happen for you to be able to get the grade you want for these classes? Start by writing down what your end goal is. Then, separate these broad goals into smaller ones.

Dedicate a specific notebook to your goal making. After all, the key to achieving your goals is writing them all down. Once you have them in writing, you can refer to your goals frequently so you know you are taking every step to completing them. Accomplishing your goals requires constant follow-up. And when you write everything down, you can always go back to see where you are in achieving your goals.

2. Keep to a Routine

Many students have a small opportunity to attend classes at least once a week. Going to these physical classes offers a structure that normally doesn’t exist for online classes. Many students find that having that structure, even for one day, is soothing and helps them better focus. It’s the routine of a daily schedule that keeps them motivated.

Develop a plan to stay on task so you can complete your coursework while still allowing time to enjoy the things you like to do. Schedule set times to log in to your course and to study, create reminders of due dates on your calendar or phone, and build in ample breaks to give your mind some time to take in what you’re learning. Having a plan will increase your likelihood of success and will help you reach your goals.

So, find that routine for the other days when you are doing online learning. Sometimes it’s as easy as duplicating that in-person routine while you are at home. For example, study math, English or science at the same time every day. Even if you don’t have homework or an online meeting, pull out your textbook and notes and keep caught up on the class studies.

3. Take Breaks

Just like breaks between classes when you’re on campus, it’s smart to take small breaks to help yourself stay motivated. These breaks can be something as simple as standing up and stretching. Or, make them a bit more interactive with quick activities like three-minute exercise routines.

No matter what break activities you choose, make them a part of your daily routine. In elementary, we all had recess breaks, and it’s important to give our brains a little bit of a distraction instead of always staring at a computer or textbook. Your mind will thank you for taking these breaks.

4. Reward Yourself

From celebrating the little achievements to making a big deal for passing a class, every student should reward themselves for a job well done. Figure out a rewards system for meeting goals; match the reward to the success. Doing something nice for yourself will help with your online learning motivation. So treat yourself for a job well done.

Parents & Online Learning

things to do while committing to online learning

While it isn’t your education, you are there to help your children accomplish their educational goals. Make sure you take some time to follow these simple steps to ensure that online learning functions well.

1. Stay Healthy

Part of staying healthy focuses on both the parent and the student finding balance with school work. As a parent, you need to work with your student’s online learning to meet both mental and physical needs.

Taking care of the student’s mental and physical health can help their academic performance. As you build out your schedule, try to work in regular exercise, healthy meals and plenty of rest and relaxation. If you’re not sure where to begin, contact your school’s respective recreation or counseling centers.

2. Create an Inspiring Study Space

Parents, make sure that your student has a dedicated space in which to study. Make this space accessible and free of distractions so that your child has a fighting chance of focusing and staying motivated in their school work.

Something easy to do is to add motivational signs or name plates for the students to see. Also, keep educational tools on hand. Set up a work station that is inviting for your child. Each child may need something different, so make sure you focus on individuality and personalities.

3. Take an Active Roll in Education

Online learning is hard on everyone. Some students can thrive in an online environment, but more often than not, they will need some assistance to stay on track. Listen to your kids for what they need to accomplish their educational goals. And, find ways to actively support those needs.

Once you know what each child needs, help them succeed by taking actions that push them in the right direction. Encourage them and show them that they are not alone in accomplishing their goals. If you let your kids know you have their back, they are guaranteed success in their schooling.

Teachers & Online Learning

teaching students with online learning

As an educator, you understand the importance of keeping students engaged and motivated. Online learning complicates these a bit, so here are a few things you can do to help your students stay on task.

1. Create a Schedule

Help your class stay on task by creating a daily schedule for them. Some students may need a little more guidance than others, and without your in-class help, they may not be able to focus like they need to. With a set daily schedule from their teacher, these students should thrive a little better in an online learning environment.

Schedules will also help you when working with assignments and grading. Ensure you are doing things in a timely manner and making yourself available to help your students when they need it. Writing out daily, weekly and monthly schedules will also help you as the teacher stay motivated so that you can do your job well.

2. Eliminate Distractions

As many of your classes will now communicate via video conferences, make sure your environment does not distract from your lesson plans. While you don’t have to remove everything from your background, make sure things behind you are not taking away from what you are teaching. And add items as needed. Use custom ribbon rolls to help keep the background engaging without distracting.

Maybe you find yourself constantly reminding students to mute their microphones or raise their hands before blurting out answers. Custom signs are the perfect tool to have that as a constant reminder behind you. Pick a color that works with your surroundings and add a message that will help with your teaching style.

3. Stay Connected with Students

One challenge of online learning is that students often feel quite isolated. Consider how you can make direct contact, through emails, instant message and video, to as many learners as possible, helping them see how you are invested in their learning. In addition, encourage ways for learners to see each other as resources through methods like peer feedback and peer review, as well as potentially helping students find peers to study with.

Your students need to know that you are there for them. Make yourself as accessible as you can during days that students may be on campus, and especially on days they are not. Everyone’s educational experience will be better knowing that the teachers will always remain accessible.

Making the Transition to Online

While online learning may be difficult at first, use these ideas to make your transition easier. If you still find that you need help, reach out to other teachers and parents. Your local school district is also a great resource. And keep on learning!