Clever Strategies For Evaluating and Managing Business Risk in Organizations

By Valentine Okolo

Managing risk is an essential part of any business. Business risks may appear in any facet of the business. Risks and uncertainty are realities every business must face. A risk presents itself where one is forced to make a choice between alternatives whose potential outcomes are unknown or where one is forced to deal with an unanticipated situation that could adversely affect the organization.


 For instance, these risks could be:

·         Financial Risks: such as investment choices, inadequate working capital, poor financial calculations, accounting fraud or excessive spending to mention a few.

·         Economic Risks: such as interest rate changes, changing government policies, exchange rate changes or demographic movements.

·         Production Risks: such as obsolete/ defective materials and goods, continuous technological evolution, product mix and quality, machine breakdown or cost of production.

·         Human Resource Risks: arising due to fraudulent employees, negligent/inefficient employees, social engineering, recruitment risks or labor drain.

·         Legal Risks: such as judgments from court cases, legal infringements, new legislation or business laws.

·         Political and Social Risks: arising from issues such as civil unrest, elections, and unfavorable ideologies of political leaders or corruption.

·         Management Risks: such as poor management decisions, insider trading, corporate governance issues, corporate policies and strategy.

·         Market Risks: such as competing against fierce competitors, changing consumer tastes or behavior, piracy, distribution and dealership issues or marketing strategy.

To effectively handle these business risks, the following steps should be taken: 

·         Assess The Risk: To effectively assess the risk the following question need to be answered. Does a risk indeed exist? If it does exist, is there any alternative to be chosen? How much information is available about these alternatives? What is the potential impact of the risk should it occur?

·         Assess the Alternatives: What would it cost the organization to pursue each of these alternatives? Note that the cost being referred to include both financial costs, human costs, cost to the organizations image, material costs, environmental costs, competitors reaction to your course of action etc.
     Alternatives could also present the option to:

a)      Transfer the Risk to another party more competent to handle it. (E.g. through insurance, joint ventures and strategic alliances, outsourcing etc.)

b)      Mitigate the Risk. I.e. to manage the impact of the risk by minimizing the odds.

c)       Ignore the Risk. I.e. brace yourself and accept the impact.

·         Implement the Alternative Chosen: Once an alternative is selected, an implementation plan is quickly arranged. The plan should clearly itemize steps needed to implement the strategy chosen. The implementation plan should also have a backup plan for another alternative strategy should the former fail. There should also be a feedback process to handle issues that may arise in the course of implementation.

Article By Valentine Okolo

10 Customer Service Skills a Customer Service Representative Needs

By Valentine Okolo

Exceeding customer expectations is no mean feat. In today’s business world, customers are increasingly knowledgeable about product choices, service standards and above all consumer rights. And so exceeding customer expectations has become a must do for any business that is serious about gaining market share, loyalty and customer trust.

Customers will continue to patronize you as long as they continue to have good experiences over and over again. This means that as a customer service representative or service person, you must continue to provide a wowing experience every time a customer visits you which lead to customer satisfaction. It therefore follows that for your business to be successful there is no substitute for satisfying the customer. In order for you to deliver that superb customer service experience, you must learn to demonstrate at all times those customer service skills that portray you a true service professional.

So here are customer service skills every customer service representative should possess.

1.       Exude Integrity at all times: Customers trust you when they know you maintain a high sense of integrity. This means that you will always treat customer transactions transparently, exude moral excellence in all deals, keep to commitment and accept full responsibility for your actions.

2.       Be Emotionally Intelligent to their needs: Customers learn to trust you when they discover you genuinely care about their feelings and their business. Showing empathy demonstrates to them that it’s not just about their money but that friendship is equally important. Emotional intelligence is the ability to learn or understand the feelings of others. When translated to service delivery, emotional intelligence becomes the ability to learn or understand the feelings of your customers. . Companies’ that display a high sense of emotional intelligence in service delivery ultimately get rewarded with repeated patronage. Please read “How to Develop Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service”.

3.       Be the Expert they need: Having excellent product/service knowledge helps you perform your duties quickly and accurately. Customers trust you when they know you have the expertise and knowledge to deliver.

4.       When you promise, always deliver: The ability to keep to promises demonstrates to the customer how dependable you are. It is better not to promise than to fail. If you discover that you will not be able to fulfill a promise due to circumstances beyond your control, quickly inform the customer and make amends if you can.

5.       Be Skilled in the Act of Managing Problem Customers: Customers do complain when they are unhappy with a situation. These customers may sometimes pour their frustrations on you. You must remain calm and understand that the customer is usually not angry at you but at the situation. In such situations, try to win the customers respect by handling the situation professionally with a view to providing the customer a pleasant experience at the end. You will find an extensive guide on how to do this in the course “Delivering 5 Star Customer Service”

6.       Communicate clearly and professionally: Ensure that your communication skills are excellent. To do this effectively, you need to learn the basics of customer communication skills. This involves learning to listen, how to ask questions, being courteous, use of wordings, how to positively use nonverbal language in communication, the use of technical knowledge and concepts in communicating with clients, anticipating and responding to customer objections etc.

7.       Be Responsible: Accept responsibility when wrong or when the company is at fault and resolve to fix the problem immediately. Do not be quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work. Blaming yourself doesn't work, either. Understand that no matter how many mistakes you may have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better.

8.       Dress Smart: Your dressing is a reflection of who you are and the company you represent. Remember that you will be perceived and addressed how you dress. Dress beautifully, smart, professionally and responsibly.

9.       Understand What Drives Customer Behavior: Customer behavior relates to how individuals and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. Customer buying behavior is influenced by a number of factors which include cultural, social and personal factors. Please read “Understanding Customer Behavior”

10.   Finally get certified: This is not a skill but is instrumental to acquiring a skill. It is interesting to note that only a small fraction of customer service representatives have a certificate in customer service. Getting a professional certificate will help ensure that customer service representatives are able to acquire the professional skills they need to deliver service like true professionals. To get a comprehensive skill set on customer service get the course “Delivering 5 Star Customer Service”.

By Valentine Okolo

5 Secrets To Help You Exude Excellent Customer Service Skills

By Valentine Okolo


In our everyday dealings with customers, one of three things is bound to happen. We either:

   -fail to meet customer expectations

   -meet customer expectations

   -or exceed customer expectations

Exceeding customer expectations is no mean feat. In today’s business world, customers are increasingly knowledgeable about product choices, service standards and above all consumer rights. And so exceeding customer expectations has become a must do for any business that is serious about gaining market share, loyalty and customer trust.

What is customer service? The 5 star customer service experience is what I call “the wowing experience”. The ability to please your customers by delivering customer service skills beyond what is expected, the drive that keeps them coming for more, that impression that keeps potential customers itching for a grasp and the service that keeps your competitors chasing helplessly.

Why is it important for us to provide superior customer service experience? It is because our customers are the reason we are in business. Simply put without your customers you have no business. Customers will continue to patronize you as long as they continue to have good experiences over and over again. This means that as a customer service representative or service person, you must continue to provide a wowing experience every time a customer visits you which leads to customer satisfaction. It therefore follows that for your business to be successful there is no substitute for satisfying the customer.

In order for you to deliver that superb customer service experience, you must learn to demonstrate at all times 5 customer service skills:

Empathy, 
Expertise, 
Respect, 
Responsibility and 
Patience. 

Empathy means that you always try to put yourself in your customers' shoe. Perform your duties with expertise. This means that you must perform your duties quickly and accurately. Always show your customers you respect them and that they are important to your business. The best way to get respect is to first give respect. Accept responsibility and always ensure you keep your promises. Do not be quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work. Blaming yourself doesn't work, either. Understand that no matter how many mistakes you may have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better.

Every customer is a unique individual with diverse backgrounds, needs, thoughts or expectations. Understanding customer behavior will help you understand the peculiarities of each customer.The key to providing a unique customer experience lies with your ability and customer service skill set to go the extra mile by personalizing your service to meet your customer's expectations. You will need to learn how to manage customers that suffer certain disabilities. You may be faced with the option of dealing with a customer that has a hearing impairment, or a visual impairment, speech impairment or physical impairment. Offer assistance but be careful not to over assist or over patronize them.

You also need to ensure that your communication skills are excellent. To do this effectively, you need to learn the basics of customer communication skills. This involves learning to listen, ask questions, be courteous, communicate clearly and accurately with clients, mind your customers feelings, how to positively use non verbal language in communication, how to communicate with and manage problem customers, the use of technical knowledge and concepts in communicating with clients, anticipating and responding to customer objections etc. Customers do complain when they are unhappy with a situation. These customers may sometimes pour their frustrations on you. You must remain calm and understand that the customer is usually not angry at you but at the situation. In such situations, try to win the customers respect by handling the situation professionally with a view to providing the customer a pleasant experience at the end.

Get the full course at https://www.braincert.com/course/Delivering-5-Star-Customer-Service

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Article By Valentine Okolo