There are many skills you can develop to be more successful in your career and business, including communication, Information technology and cybersecurity, leadership and teamwork. However, while these are all important, one skill that often gets overlooked is negotiation. Being able to negotiate effectively is important throughout your career and your personal life, helping you manage relationships and come to agreements between yourself and others.
Negotiation is a discussion between two or more parties where the aim is to find a mutually beneficial agreement. An example could be negotiating a salary increase at work, agreeing to share a workload with a colleague or even deciding with your partner who does the dishes. The end result of a negotiation should always be one that benefits both parties. Otherwise, it can be exploitative and unfair.
You can develop your negotiation skills by working on being a better listener and more empathetic. This will help you understand the needs and wants of the other party, allowing you to come to a mutual agreement more easily. In addition, you can also improve your communication skills so you can better convey your needs to the other person. Finally, it’s also important to be able to plan ahead and strategies in order to know what you want before entering the conversation. You can develop your skills further by enrolling on a negotiation programme.
How to Negotiate Negotiation
Negotiation is typically split into several areas, with each area focusing on a different aspect of the process. Preparation is the first stage, and this is where you plan out when and where the negotiation will happen and what you hope to achieve from it.
After preparing for the negotiation, the next stage is the discussion. This is where both parties put forward their ideas and discuss these in detail. It’s important that this also focuses on clarifying the goals of each party, as this will help ensure that a mutually beneficial agreement happens.
Finally, the two parties can move forward to an outcome, putting an agreement in place and a plan for implementation. It’s also important to choose a time or date as to when this agreement will take place, so there isn’t any confusion.
Advantages of Effective Negotiation
There are many different advantages of being a great negotiator, as it’s a skill that is universal across all careers and is important in daily life too. Here are some of the biggest advantages of learning and developing this skill.
Long-term career success
Being able to negotiate effectively is a crucial skill if you want to have long-term success in your career. You need to be able to negotiate for what you want in terms of your pay and perks. Negotiating effectively can also help you land higher positions within management and ensure you keep progressing up the ladder.
Solving conflicts
As a great negotiator, you’ll be much more understanding of other people’s feelings as well as their needs. You’ll be able to step into conflicts involving yourself or others and mediate to help find a positive solution. Conflicts happen all the time throughout our lives and career, and it’s important that you’re able to solve them.
Dealing with clients
If you ever want to start your own business, you may have to negotiate with clients and other people working with you. Having excellent negotiation skills is a great benefit in this situation, as it will give you the tools you need to work with your clients more effectively. This will help you build longer-lasting connections with clients and allow your business to thrive.
A loving and supportive family makes life much easier. It feels good to be part of such a family, and both parents and children can be secure in knowing that they have people who will help them in difficult situations. Such bonds take work, understanding, love and care so we will look at a few tips that can help in building them.
Why Strong and Positive Family Connections Are Important
It all starts with the parents; if they have a strong connection, it gets much easier for parents to easily show their children the love they deserve. The children in such families feel loved and secure, which is important for giving them the confidence they need to explore the world, try new things, take risks and learn from their experiences.
Strong connections also make it easier to resolve conflicts. Such connections require respect, and this respect is critical for seeing someone else’s view and seeing whether you were wrong in a specific area. These bonds and respect also make it easier to foster a culture of understanding and forgiveness, both of which are also essential for conflict resolution.
Lastly, strong family bonds set an example of what positive and loving relationships look like. This can help children gain the skills and emotional maturity they need to form strong and positive relationships of their own.
There are plenty of ways of building such bonds and connections, some simple and some more complicated.
Spend Time as a Family
Spending time together allows everyone to sit down and talk about different topics. It is also a time to find out what is going on with everyone, which is a great way for loved ones to show they care about each other. There are many ways to spend time together as a family, but sharing meals is the one that requires the least effort.
Plan to sit down for at least one meal every day, preferably supper where you have more time to sit and talk and spend that time in the presence and company of each other. This is also a time to either have fun by sharing stories, or for having difficult conversations, for example, about school and work.
It is also a good idea for partners to set some time aside to spend with each other. This can help ensure a loving relationship while giving the couple a chance to talk about and work through things in their relationship.
Find Ways to Work as a Team
This is also part of spending time together, but it is much more than that. Working as a team on a project fosters responsibility and reliability. If everyone knows everyone else is doing what they are supposed to, there is a sense that one can rely on the other when they need some help.
Working as a team does not have to mean working on a massive project as you can work on simple things like house chores and gardening.
Maintain Good Communication
Communication is the key to many things including respect, trust, and understanding. It is also a great way to ensure everyone feels heard and acknowledged, which eliminates the feeling of being left out. A crucial element for good communication is learning to be approachable to talk about difficult topics. Feelings like anger and frustration should not be left to fester, but instead discussed.
Being open to discussing such matters, especially for foster carers, shows that you care and are open to working to find a solution. Being welcoming to uncomfortable conversations is a great way of letting people know they can trust you and is thus crucial for building strong bonds.
Be open to listening at any time. This especially applies to parents of young children who can start talking about difficult topics spontaneously. Such sudden conversations can be a sign of pent-up emotions. This is typically true in foster children who are working through trauma, and a way to work through things to let them go. If you have difficulties having such conversations, you can find help through the ISP fostering agency which focuses on therapeutic fostering and thus has numerous online resources that can help.
Appreciate Each Other
Appreciation comes in many forms. Taking the time to take interest in a loved one’s life is a great way of doing this. Others include sharing memories, acknowledging strengths, abilities and talents, including everyone in conversations and providing help and praise where needed.
Family connections and bonds come in many forms, but they all help family members feel loved and cared for. It is important to make an effort to build these bonds, and they are crucial in different ways.
Norwich Airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, is to install the world’s first under-runway heating (rolls eyes).
The £16 million upgrade is a futile attempt by owners to prevent fog and ice from accumulating.on its single runway causing flight delays and cancellations. Inclement weather is common in the easterly county known for its drab meteorological outlooks.
The small airport, which resembles the Playmobil airport popular with long-haired,. snot-nosed children in the 1970’s, is the 28th busiest airport in the UK and the busiest in Norwich.
FOTNWIAOS
The move is likely to prove popular with the 150-odd passengers who use the airport each year to fly to exciting,.far-off destinations like Jersey and Aberdeen. However, some airport enthusiasts are not so sure.
Kevin Williams (38), a pencil sharpener from King’s Lynn, and a regular plane spotter at NWI,.told the SUFFOLK GAZETTE “(shouting) I am the founder member of the ‘Friends Of The NWI Association Of Spotters’, and our association has been in consultation with the owners for several years on this matter.”
Shouting at top of voice
We advised them that their priority should be the installation of heating in the airport lounge first. After that, we recommended that they upgrade their refreshment facilities from Bob’s Mobile Bacon Butty van to something more commensurate with an international travel hub serving the airborne commuters of East Anglia.”
Norwich Airport extension plans
(Shouting at top of voice through cupped hands) Despite these reservations, we think that on balance the under-runway heating is to be welcomed.
In fact, studies from other airports have shown that heat generated beneath a runway’s surface, when transferred to the tyres and inner tubes of an aeroplane’s wheels, can have what we call the ‘helium balloon’ effect and actually assist with take-off.
There is even an apocryphal (W.C. ‘a story of doubtful authenticity widely circulated as being true’) story of the vertical take-off of a Boeing 737 from Viru Viru International Airport in Bolivia, caused by the tarmac reaching 180 degrees Celsius.”
Head of Airside Operations, Lorraine Fisher (34) told this reporter “(screaming at top of voice) ”T H E R E I S N O T R U T H I N T H I S S T O R Y, W-H-A-T-S-O-E-V-E-R.”
Henry de Bromhead’s best chances of a third successive Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph
Henry de Bromhead must look back at the last couple of Cheltenham Festivals and feel the need to pinch himself. The Irish trainer has enjoyed unparalleled success, winning numerous races across the past two years at Prestbury Park.
The biggest of these came in the Gold Cup, with Minella Indo claiming the title in 2021 before A Plus Tard earned De Bromhead a second successive triumph last year. As the 2023 Cheltenham Festival draws ever closer, the Irishman will have his sights set on a hat-trick, which would be an astonishing achievement.
Let’s take a quick look at the four horses De Bromhead has entered in the Gold Cup this year. It’s unlikely that all of these will take to the line come race day, but nevertheless let’s analyse the chances of each.
A Plus Tard (6/1)
It’s clear that De Bromhead’s best chance of winning a third consecutive Gold Cup lie with A Plus Tard. After finishing second in 2021 to stablemate Minella Indo, A Plus Tard delivered a fine performance last year, with Rachael Blackmore in the saddle. It was a win that made history, with Blackmore becoming the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup.
This year, A Plus Tard is again considered a top favourite for the title in the Cheltenham ante post tips 2023, although Willie Mullins will be hoping that Galopin Des Champs will have a major say in the race. After the success of last year, it’s fair to say that De Bromhead will be hanging a lot of hope on his prized nine-year-old.
Minella Indo (20/1)
What about the winner from two years ago? It was something of a surprise when Minella Indo charged to victory at the behind-closed-doors edition of the Cheltenham Festival in 2021, but an inspired performance from Jack Kennedy in the saddle saw the 9/1 shot triumph.
Minella Indo will line up for the Gold Cup once again this year, and after finishing second in the prestigious race in 2022, there’s no reason why he couldn’t go close once again.
Being a past winner in the Gold Cup can make all the difference when it comes to an outside bet, and it wouldn’t be a great surprise if Minella Indo produced another exemplary performance. A recent win at Tramore is enough to give De Bromhead some hope.
Envoi Allen (66/1)
It will be interesting to see where Envoi Allen rocks up at the Cheltenham Festival, but one option is the Gold Cup, and De Bromhead may fancy the nine-year-old’s chances as something of an outsider.
Prestbury Park hasn’t exactly been a happy hunting ground for Envoi Allen in the last couple of years. An inexplicable fall in the 2021 Marsh Novices’ Chase when heavy odds-on favourite to win the race sent shockwaves through the racing world, before finishing a distant third to Energumene in the Queen Mother Champion Chase last year.
Perhaps a switch to the Gold Cup, and reduced pressure to succeed, could bring the best out of Envoi Allen.
Effective customer service is the most important element for the success of any business entity. According to a recent survey, eight in every ten customers indicated they would be less likely to shop from a company again after an unpleasant experience emanating from poor customer service. So, unless you are willing to lose most of your customers, you focus on delivering impeccable customer support.
A question most people ask is —what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction? A vital element of delivering quality customer service is finding the right measures to use when evaluating the performance of customer service agents. This article highlights some of the best practices and metrics for customer service.
Why Is Measuring Customer Service
Before we dive into the tips and best practices of performance metrics for customer service, we need to consider why the evaluation makes sense. One of the main reasons for measuring customer service is that it allows you to find areas for improvement. As an intelligent manager, you want to ensure your customers get the best service possible. Having the correct data shows you the various aspects to focus on as you improve customer service.
Knowing what metrics measure customer satisfaction also allows you to identify those areas you already excel in. You may assume you perform well in the areas that matter, but the reality may differ. Gathering and monitoring customer service data allows you to prove your success areas and give you space to concentrate on your weak elements.
Understand that the satisfaction of your customers is crucial to the success of your business. Knowing how to measure customer service and find improvement areas effectively lets you keep your customers loyal and happy. In the end, your bottom line will improve. Furthermore, you don’t have to do everything independently; you can always get professional virtual personal assistant services.
How to Measure Customer Service: Useful Tips
When it comes to how to measure performance, companies should prioritize understanding the metrics involved. Note that focusing on just one area at a time leaves you with several significant blind spots. To measure customer service effectively, you need to know how to quantify the measurable elements while considering the qualitative aspects of customer service. Here are some critical best practices to remember.
Consider the Average Resolution Time
One of the most important customer service performance metrics is resolution time. Evidence consistently shows that when customers have to repeat contact with a business before resolving an issue, their satisfaction rate reduces by more than ten percent. In other words, customers are often happiest when they resolve their issues quickly and effectively.
You can see how your performance is measured when you evaluate the average time it takes to resolve problems. Finding the average resolution time requires getting all case resolution durations and dividing it by the total number of cases.
Measure the Rate of Customer Retention
Evidence shows loyal customers spend money on a brand and purchase items multiple times. In fact, loyal customers spend more money on every purchase than other clients. At the same time, it is impossible to create loyal customers if you don’t retain the ones you already have. Regarding performance review customer service, note that acquiring a new client costs more than retaining an existing one. These are reasons why measuring customer retention is crucial when evaluating customer service.
Note that your customer service team is always interacting with clients. As such, they have a major impact on retention. Also, a poor customer experience can turn away a client for good. To measure your team’s customer retention rate, you will need to take the number of clients you have at the end of a given period. Then, subtract the number of new clients you got during the mentioned period, and divide the result by the number of clients you had at the start. You then multiply the figure you get by 100 for effective customer service performance evaluation.
Examine Social Media Monitoring
Another important practice for measuring customer service is social media monitoring. This practice implies examining every time someone mentions your company or brand on social media. Evidence shows that most customers talk about their experiences with customer support agents on social media platforms. By examining these social media mentions, you can see how customer opinions are changing.
The Bottom Line
There is no denying that customer service is an essential element of a successful business. To get things right, you need to monitor and evaluate the performance of your support team. It means assessing costs per conversion, average resolution times, and customer effort scores. Successful companies also look at the rates with which clients abandon customer service and retention rates.
When it comes to gambling in casinos, there are a lot of different customs and rituals involved with it. There is a plethora of gambling-related customs that individuals partake in before visiting casinos.
These traditions range from those people believe will bring them luck while playing at real money online casinos to those people do before entering the casinos. While gambling in a casino, it is essential to remember that the edge will always be in the casino’s favour, which is another way of saying that gambling is a game of chance.
The Oldest Casino Rituals
On the other hand, some players believe that they may improve their chances of winning by manipulating specific aspects of the games.
These casino rituals aim to gain the house’s favour and increase one’s chances of winning. Specific categories of individuals are under the impression that these customs are genuine. You can use them whenever and wherever you like, whether at land-based casinos or when gambling at the best payout online casino.
Good luck rituals for gambling are something that players will always believe in, regardless of the game they are considering playing, whether it be a game of luck or a game of skill and strategy. As a result, they devised a wide variety of lucky practices and talismans, which, according to their reasoning, would increase the amount of money they won.
Even though these casino rituals have not been demonstrated to be successful through scientific research, some gamblers continue to believe that by participating in these rituals, they can increase their chances of winning real money.
The following is a list of some of the oldest gambling rituals that players practise to boost their luck and chances of winning:
The Employment of Amulets and Lucky Charms
People tend to assume that particular things, symbols, or happenings can improve their odds of winning when participating in gambling activities. These groups of individuals are under the impression that so long as they keep these lucky charms on their person at all times, they will never find themselves in a position where they are out of luck in anything they attempt to do.
People carry various magical artifacts, each of which they believe can bring them success in a particular endeavour, such as gambling. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the use of these lucky charms must be considered in the context of gaming. Some people will continue to use gambling charms despite the scientific consensus regarding their effectiveness; this holds, although such charms have been utilised in gaming establishments. The following are examples of some of the most well-known lists.
Four Leaf Clover
People widely hold that these plants have the magical powers to shield humans from danger. The majority of people have the belief that it portends happy times and prosperous endeavours. The white clover, also known as Trifolium Repens, is the only kind of the four-leaved clover endowed with magical properties, even though there are several different sorts of clovers with this particular number of leaves.
When one stumbles upon this specific flower, one will have no trouble recognising it. Finding this flower is quite tricky. If you are fortunate enough to come across this type of leaf, you can be confident that good luck can support you while playing casino games. If you are not lucky enough to come across this type of leaf, you can play casino games without worry.
Rabbit Foot
There is a strong association between voodoo and the rabbit foot in the culture of African Americans. It is a common misconception that the hind foot of a rabbit bestows good fortune and guards against the influence of evil spirits. In addition to the people of African American descent, the rabbit foot is also indigenous to certain parts of China, Europe, and Africa.
Some people believe that the rabbit must have specific skills and must have its head severed in a particular manner or area for the rabbit foot to be effective. Additionally, the rabbit must have been slain in the appropriate environment. In today’s modern world, putting the rabbit to death in this manner might be considered harsh to animals; as a result, it is challenging to get this enchantment.
Rituals of Success and Fortune
In addition to the use of fortunate charms, gamblers are known to engage in various activities collectively referred to as “good luck rituals.” Before making a wager, gamblers will perform these acts of good luck to increase their chances of coming out on top. Some of them include the following:
Blowing the dice
Knocking on the wood
Wearing Red
Crossing Fingers and many more
Each of these customs is associated with a specific connotation, and gamblers feel these meanings give them an advantage when playing casino games. In the case of the blowing of the dice, for example, there are two possible interpretations, and they are as follows:
The origin of the first one can be traced back to an old strategy used in street gambling to keep the dice clean before rolling them.
The second hypothesis proposes that the origin of this ceremony can be traced back to the days when individuals tried to deceive the casino by adding a sticky solution to a portion of the dice. Unfortunately, this strategy was successful only if the dice were blown apart.
Is There Any Validity to Any of These Superstitious Practises?
Regarding gambling in casinos, it is abundantly evident that there is no way to deceive the system due to the rapid growth of technology. The games played at casinos can be broadly classified into two categories: Both games of skill and games of chance are being played.
Specific casino games are decided solely by random chance, while others require a certain level of skill to emerge victorious. Casino games currently use a Random Number Generator software, which assures that the games cannot be rigged in any way. This ensures that all players generally have equal chances of winning unless some element of talent is involved.
Conclusion
In addition to lucky charms and rituals, many gamblers rely on superstitions to ward off misfortune. These customs are deeply ingrained in the gaming culture and are widely accepted at traditional brick-and-mortar casinos. Here are a few examples of gambling superstitions. In poker, it’s considered bad form to tally up your winnings while you’re still in action because doing so increases your chances of losing the next round. Even if you use a casino bonus, it is considered bad luck to count your winnings while still in action. Pride leads to humiliation, or so the adage goes. However, many people think it shows good manners if you can resist the temptation to count your money at the dinner table.
Some numbers, like 13, are avoided by gamblers because of superstitious beliefs that they will lead to loss of fortune or even death. Many people give this a lot of thought, and some even develop a fear of numbers (known as arithmophobia). But, according to the odds, players rarely wager on these unfortunate numbers when playing roulette. Other industries, such as airlines and hotels, similarly steer clear of these figures to avoid losing potential customers.
NEWSFLASH! We are receiving news that Queen Camilla of England has been prevented from enjoying a day at the races because of light showers over Newmarket.
Events are moving quickly but the latest reports are that there is indeed a squally shower heading towards the popular Suffolk race track. A spokesman for the usurper queen said Camilla was “vewy, vewy sowwy, but she would twy to come back when the wain had thtopped.”
In other breaking weather news…
MAN’S PHONE POSSIBLY DAMAGED
A nondescript man from Ilketshall St Lawrence got his phone wet when he walked to his car whilst reading the sports headlines during a light shower.
Witnesses say that the man in his mid-forties wiped the water droplets from the screen of his Samsung S20 with the sleeve of his anorak after entering his blue 2014 Vauxhall Astra leaving a smear across the phone’s transparent protective cover. It is not known whether any lasting damage was done to the phone.
PANE-FUL DEATH
The recent inclement weather affecting Suffolk has caused a bereaved window cleaner in North Cove to get mild chilblains in his fingers. John Capsi (42) took over his father Brian’s window-cleaning business last year after his dad died suddenly after contracting cholera from a dirty cleaning rag.
Formerly known as ‘Brian Capsi & Son windows’, ‘John Capsi Windows’ is the third most successful independent window cleaning firm in the local area. Speaking of his chilblains, the grieving vision technician told the GAZETTE, “I get them from time to time, especially in the cold.
It’s because you’re constantly putting your hands in and out of the hot bucket. They’ll be fine this time tomorrow. At least I ain’t got cholera like me dad got.”
SNOW BLIND
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has issued a warning that blind people (people whose eyes don’t exist or work) are especially vulnerable after a snowfall.
Listed among the added dangers faced by unseeing people venturing out into snow-covered landscapes are: Catching pneumonia due to not wearing proper warm clothing because they don’t know it’s snowing, not knowing where the pavement ends and the road starts (dangerous to seeing people also), walking into snowmen that weren’t there before, and, a heightened risk of being bowled over like a skittle by tobogganing children.
A spokesman for the RNIB asked the public to be vigilant and advised that yodeling like an alpine shepherd when around blind people lost in the snow helps them find their bearings and leads to fewer accidents.
Planning for retirement has taken on a new meaning over the last few years. With so much economic uncertainty in the UK, high levels of inflation, a cost-of-living crisis and increases in the retirement age, it can be difficult if you’re looking to finally put your feet up after working hard your entire life.
While traditional investment products such as savings bonds are still popular instruments that many people use in their older years, plenty of folks are looking for other ways to plan for retirement. In addition, with inflation regularly exceeding 10% over the last 18 months, many senior citizens hope to find an investment product to keep up with inflation.
You can plan to save for your retirement in several ways, but today we will highlight three key ones that may perk your interest.
Property
Considered by some economists to be heavily insulated against a market downturn, the idea of investing in property has been something that the wealthy have done for hundreds of years. While this takes a substantial bit of wealth, it should also be noted that if you’re in the property sector and have a portfolio of rental properties, you aren’t precisely retired.
Some people who have retired and invested in property had had to spend more hours and money than when they worked full-time! In addition, it involves other overheads, such as paying for bills, damages to property, renovations and even storage costs for items.
It’s all about a wise investment, and with property, there are many avenues where people can invest. Alternatively, if you have paid off your mortgage, that is a solid retirement plan. Having equity in a property in today’s market is a great way to hedge your investments. Even though the economy is shaky, house prices have remained solid, and many have appreciated in the current climate.
It is a complex issue that is difficult to explain, but a simple case of high demand and insufficient supply combined with colossal investment ensures that property prices remain stable, even in a severe economic crash. This means it could be a wise investment if you can stomach some of the turbulence of being a landlord and maintaining a property.
Investment funds
Many of the biggest banks in the world have funds where you can invest your cash. Thousands of options are available with some of the world’s biggest high-street retail banks. You can also look at some of the funds that investment banks offer.
Some will offer high-risk investments; this can include anything from emerging markets to volatile sectors. Sometimes these investments can pay off; however, they are considered volatile because they also have a high risk of incurring losses.
While they aren’t quite as risky as highly volatile assets such as cryptocurrency, emerging market funds can sometimes drop 10 to 15% over a year. Likewise, they can appreciate similarly if the investment is in the right sector or industry.
Mid-level investment funds are less volatile but will provide a lower rate of return. This is not investment advice. If you are looking to invest in this type of fund or are interested in this type of product, but you are unsure what to invest in, you should speak to a qualified financial advisor who can provide professional service and advice.
Get your books in order
Our final advice is to ensure you have organised your financials so that you can manage your funds appropriately in retirement.
Some people work all their lives only to mismanage their pension funds in their older age. However, if you have a plan of how much money you can spend and how much you can spend in retirement, you may not even have to explore other options outside of good account management.
Likewise, if you have enough investments and have your books in good order, you can pay yourself dividends from your assets. With the right financial advice, you can enjoy your retirement as you wish.
Although it can require a bit of administration and time out of your day to get your finances in order, it could pay dividends with the amount of extra time you can spend with your friends and family. In addition, it is one less worry if you don’t have to want concerns about maintaining a property or having your money in a risky investment which has the potential to shift in a highly volatile manner.
