A tidy workspace just feels good to some of us. It certainly projects a part of your professional image. Some of us just don’t care… this post isn’t for you. That is unless you have a tangle of wires behind your A/V and home theater equipment. Then someone more than you might care.

What can you do about that abundance of cables? Hide them! I just learned that the things that hide cables are called raceways, wire looms, and wrap-around braid. A great site for this is Cable Ties & More.com. These hiders of cables are smart looking, practical and inexpensive. Fortunately most of these can be do-it-yourself so costly technical or handyman assistance can be avoided.

A really inexpensive and clever option is demonstrated by the Jerry Bruno on YouTube. I would enhance his suggestion by first looping cables, securing with hook & loop (Velcro), then hanging the bundles on the hooks.

For another option, check out this perennial favorite Productivity Cafe solutions for Cable Organization:

Cure Cable Spagetti

Who would have thought that leaving a voicemail would impact your reputation?! This morning Kim @ Bike Virginia commented that my message was the easiest for her deal with because I left my name and number twice at the end of the message. Kim takes care of the customer experience and handles loads of calls every day. That my message elicited a comment prompts me to get back online and share the experience with you.

When you are asking someone to help you, make it as easy as possible for them and you’re more likely to be at the front of the line. Duh! I know. And, I’ve seen people that seem to want to be right more than they want to have their problem solved. They’re demanding, sometime rude, and sometime just missing a couple of bits that would help them reach their real goal – getting help. Sometime the caller (we) don’t realize the customer experience person doesn’t have all the background we do and they need to be filled in – calmly. And trust me, if you’re asking for help, unless you’re the boss, and even if you’re the customer, others can make things tough – drawing out the process, requiring extra steps, putting you on hold just because they need to calm down or think that you need to calm down.

Regarding the voicemail example, which is also addressed in another post here: Good Voicemail Messages Matter. When you give the full details for your call you leave a good impression. You build your brand to be what you want it to be. And, you’re more likely to get the results that you want. A little planning trick many people use is: jot on a piece of paper:

• Your goal for the call
• Supporting point 1
• Supporting point 2
• Supporting point 3 (max)
• What you’re going to ask the listener to do – be specific

This little trick also avoids hanging up, snapping your fingers and thinking, “Oh man, I forgot to mention…..”

Having this record also gives you confidence that you made the first call, what you said in case they miss something on their end, and allows you to move on.

Give it a try – let us know how it works!