Monday, December 31, 2012
People: :Miss Philippines is Miss Tourism International 2012 winner!
Our very own Rizzini Alexis Gomez captured the crown for the second time for the Philippines since 2000 by Miss Maria Esperanza Manzano.
Here are her runners-up:
Miss Tourism Metropolitan International 2012 (1st Runner-up) - Australia
Miss Tourism Global International 2012 (2nd runner-up) - Venezuela
Miss Tourism Cosmopolitan International (3rd Runner-up) - Paraguay
Dreamgirl of the Year (4th Runner-up) - Malaysia
Miss South East Asia 2012 - Thailand
CONGRATULATIONS! What a new year to start with the first victory for the Philippines in international pageant world!!!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Lifestyle:Lessons on Customer Service - Standards Your Business Must Have
I am always asked by former colleagues and friends of mine what is Customer Experience Measurement or CEM. Mainly, they think that it has only to do with mystery shopping. But this blog post really sums it up. It’s setting the standard for your business.
The blog title is “Customer Service: Standards Your Business Must Have.” And I could go on in a checklist fashion ticking off customer service tips like shortening wait times, personalizing greetings over the phone, demeanor, punctuality, and hygiene. But I’ll just boil it down to a one-item laundry list:
The first and only standard that your business must have is it must have standards. That’s it, and it’s different for every business.
Answering the phone in three rings is standard for some businesses. Does that mean it should be standard in all? Acknowledging a customer by his or her given name is a standard in coffee shops. Does that mean your company needs to train staff to do so?
To be able to inspire great customer service, standards must make sense in contextof the entire organization. Firstly, your company must have a leading principle, a credo or mission-vision (or an ethos, as I like to say). That ethos must be real, not just to you, but also to your management, and to your employees. If they don’t buy-in, all your trainings and memos, and incentives will go to waste.
Within your organization, you are never alone. Even if you are the CFO, CMO, CIO and HR all at the same time, you cannot dictate every single procedure. You could, but without consulting and agreeing with your staff on what can and cannot be done, you will be CEO six feet under.
Ideals on running your business are needed, but cooperation of your stakeholders is needed more. A business only runs as well as your team runs together. At the very least, peg your ideals high, but do two things: first, consult with key leaders from each department. How feasible are your ideals?; second, assess your ideals with fairness, and adapt.
Of course, nobody got to the top of the business by sacrificing ideals for expediency. But when it comes to customer service, because you are training your front line to veil business issues (service satisfaction, repurchase, product inquiries) with appropriate and sincere human responses (assurances, showing concern, service with a smile), it’s essential that your standards are based on human ability and organizational sense.
Are your customer service principles failing or doing well? Do you have enough days for thorough training? Do your different departments enter conflict when settling customer request tickets? Is your staff helpless when customers make inquiries?
There could be a number of factors that indirectly affect customer service. To get to the bottom of that, Customer Experience Measurement submits more than just a tally of ‘Was this done’ versus ‘No, this wasn’t done.’ It’s more than picking out the bad apples and counting the rings of the phone and the staff behind the counter. Customer Experience Measurement provides a look at your business that you might have never seen before, providing feedback that brings everyone on the same level to move forward.
Customer Experience Measurement causes us to check off one item from our list first: ‘What are your standards?’ and we go from there. MP:)
People: Miss Philippines Janine Tugonon is Miss Universe First-runner up 2012
"Should speaking English be a prerequisite to being Miss Universe as an international ambassador?"
Janine confidently replied, “For me, being Miss Universe is not just about knowing how to speak a specific language. It’s being able to influence and inspire other people. So whatever language you have, as long as your heart is to serve and you have a strong mind to show to people, then you can be Miss Universe.”
Other winners were:
Miss Australia Renae Ayris bagged the third runner-up
Miss Brazil Gabriela Markus was named fourth runner-up.
Completing the Top 10 are Miss France, Miss Hungary, Miss South Africa, Miss Mexico, and Miss Russia.
Below are some of the photos from Yahoo.com.ph:
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Places: The Ligligan Parul or the Giant Lantern Festival in San Fernando, Pampanga
The Ligligan Parul or the Giant Lantern Festival in San Fernando, Pampanga has officially started! Feast your eyes as the lights of the giant lanterns dance to every beat of the Christmas tunes! Happening at Robinsons Starmills, Pampanga on December 15, with nightly shows on December 16-23 and December 26- January 3 from 6-8pm.
See you there!! :)
For more information:
For more information:
Photos courtesy of I Choose Philippines.
Lifestyle: Simbang Gabi - December 16, 2012
Today is the 16th of December 2012: Start of Simbang Gabi Dawn Mass. Today is also Gaudete Sunday. SHARE the Gospel, Luke 3:10-18.
The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?" He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed." Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."
Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.
PASKO sa PINAS : SIMBANG GABI... are you willing to try to complete the 9 days or 9 mornings? Have a blessed weekend.
Maligayang Pasko po. Choose Philippines! :)
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