Category: Business in Rhyme

3 creative ways to improve your customer’s experience

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

~ Blaise Pascal

The most important image that your business projects is customer service. It relates to your company’s culture, how you communicate to your customers and how you re able to satisfy customer’s needs. Customer’s experience reveals so much about the business, especially the underlying truth: how are you committed to your business and customers; how eager you are to improve your business relations; how customer support is agile in solving problems.

It’s normal to have “now and there” sporadic, unsatisfied customers and complaints, but if it turns into habit, a regular event that you have repeatedly to deal with, your business focus and direction is lacking something.

When you try to meet the customer’s needs, you can incorporate some fun and interesting things, that will refresh your company’s communication with customers, make them smile and mostly – talk about it! They will certainly share pleasant experience with others and not will you only see your customers coming back  –  most importantly you’ll gain new ones.

So today, I’ll share three tips for more creative and engaging communication with your customers:

1.Make it fun!

About year ago, two students, after finding out at their local Tesco that their favorite popcorn is no longer stocked, they turned to Tesco to find out the truth – but not with regular letter, but in the form of a poem:

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You would probably expect such a huge corporation not to have time to bother with such things, but with great surprise for both students in question, Tesco responded also with poem and awarded students with some card money:

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Tesco has dealt with this situation in fun and creative way, taking customer experience to a totally different level. And we can learn a lot from their example.

2.Make it persuasive!

One real estate company that has 12 hotels, uses poems in order to motivate guests to share their experience and write reviews. Simple poem cards with the most accessible verse of poetry simply invites the guest to follow the rhyme:

“Roses are red
Violets are blue
…Fill in the rest…

In the article is further explained the result:

Ïn June of 2013, our overall average review score was a 3.0 out of 5.0 with a total of 77 reviews. We had been using generic review solicitation cards for the past five years. Then, we implemented the poem cards in July of 2013. Our overall average review score jumped to 4.2 out of 5.0 with a total of 201 reviews, more than double the amount of input.

3.Show that you care!

You should never take your customers for granted. It’s a relationship that is build over time with trust and commitment. Thehaikuguys, came to a very interesting idea for you to show your gratitude, appreciation and overall kindness in your business.

As they state:

Ideally, one could incorporate individual, customized haiku-writing into relationship-building with customers. A way to tap into their passions, connect with them in a new format outside of email and project management software, and acknowledge that they are first and foremost humans, not customers. Maybe haiku gifts could deepen and refresh customer relationships in such a way that they wouldn’t even be customers anymore; they’d be friends.

And here are some examples:

“we want to give you

everything you could need,

then a little more”

 

“we apologize

for our software exploding-

we think it’s fixed now”

 

“if you cancel now,

will you always wonder what

good could have happened”?

So poetry can be stimulating and showing our good intentions and that we actually care – no better way then through poetry.

And what are your thoughts on this topic? Are there any other ways to incorporate poetry in your business communication? Please, share in the comments below!

Raise your emotional inteligence for a creative entrepreneurial leadership – part II

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

In the first part of this blog post I shared a poem of a young entrepreneur where he reveals his emotions, struggles and needs when it comes to entrepreneurship and for every wannabe entrepreneur out there, was a quiet a taste for “try walking in my shoes”.

But what about the feelings and emotions when our environment expects us to be or do something that is not our ambition, our passion? How to deal with difficult situations that arise when we cannot follow someone else’s dreams; when we need to tell our story, follow our own path? interpersonalThe poem “To my Father’s business” by Kenneth Koch reflects that type of struggle:

Leo bends over his desk   
Gazing at a memorandum   
While Stuart stands beside him   
With a smile, saying,   
“Leo, the order for those desks   
Came in today   
From Youngstown Needle and Thread!”   
C. Loth Inc., there you are   
Like Balboa the conqueror   
Of those who want to buy office furniture   
Or bar fixtures   
In nineteen forty in Cincinnati, Ohio!   
Secretaries pound out   
Invoices on antique typewriters—   
Dactyllographs   
And fingernail biters.   
I am sitting on a desk   
Looking at my daddy   
Who is proud of but feels unsure about   
Some aspects of his little laddie.   
I will go on to explore   
Deep and/or nonsensical themes   
While my father’s on the dark hardwood floor   
Hit by a couple of Ohio sunbeams.   
Kenny, he says, some day you’ll work in the store.   
But I felt “never more” or “never ever”   
Harvard was far away   
World War Two was distant   
Psychoanalysis was extremely expensive   
All of these saved me from you.   
C. Loth you made my father happy   
I saw his face shining   
He laughed a lot, working in you   
He said to Miss Ritter   
His secretary   
“Ritt, this is my boy, Kenny!”   
“Hello there Kenny,” she said   
My heart in an uproar   
I loved you but couldn’t think   
Of staying with you   
I can see the virtues now   
That could come from being in you   
A sense of balance   
Compromise and acceptance—   
Not isolated moments of brilliance   
Like a girl without a shoe,   
But someone that you   
Care for every day—   
Need for customers and the economy   
Don’t go away.   
There were little pamphlets   
Distributed in you   
About success in business   
Each about eight to twelve pages long   
One whole series of them   
All ended with the words   
“P.S. He got the job”   
One a story about a boy who said,   
“I swept up the street, Sir,   
Before you got up.” Or   
“There were five hundred extra    catalogues   
So I took them to people in the city who have a dog”—   
P.S. He got the job.   
I didn’t get the job   
I didn’t think that I could do the job   
I thought I might go crazy in the job   
Staying in you   
You whom I could love   
But not be part of   
The secretaries clicked   
Their Smith Coronas closed at five p.m.   
And took the streetcars to Kentucky then   
And I left too.
Being honest to yourself, yet still honoring someone else’s dream (like your father’s business) is a representation of emotional intelligence and this type of poetry is a true source of knowledge; to help us grow, get mature, responsible and more decisive about our own lives.

Raise your emotional intelligence for creative entrepreneurial leadership- part I

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head — it is the unique intersection of both.”

              ~ David Caruso

While doing research for my next blog post I came across very interesting article “Poetry as a way of knowing” which was actually an introduction to a podcasts at Philosopher’s corner.

In this article Laura Maguire, proposes 3 types of knowledge: having practical knowledge which is “roughly defined as knowledge that does and shall (from a normative, prudential or moral, point of view) motivate to act in a certain way” (as described in paper What is Practical Knowledge?), and mostly is reflected in skills we have to do certain things; then, there is propositional knowledge which is a form of descriptive knowledge and mostly reflected in scientific approach where we collect facts to describe and explain the world around us (where in my previous post I went in depth what are the similarities and differences between science and poetry).

But before going to elaborate the third type of knowledge, not everything is black and white when it comes to first two types. As author Laura Maguire argues:

When you study poetry. presumably you develop many skills, like learning how to interpret a poem, which involves other skills, like how to identify and understand metaphor, how to measure meter, and so on.And maybe if you read a lot of poetry you also develop another skill, namely how to write poetry. So, in that sense, it’s easy to see how poetry could be a way of knowing.

And also through series of my posts I tried to elaborate the benefits of writing and reading poetry for the sake of developing other practical skills – crucial for our self-development. But today I would like to talk more about phenomenal type of knowledge as author Laura Maguire described it and how is that beneficial for our business undertakings.

Phenomenal knowledge is mostly related to knowledge of what is like to have a particular kind of experience. Can we learn form that? In other words, when it comes to business, can we get an insight what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, being self-reliant and building good communication with customers, for example? Can it really enhance our emotional intelligence, in general?mind clip art, intelligence, emotinal intelligence

A poem “Love My Startup More Than You” by Rizwan Virk I found on the zenentreprenur blog and goes like this:

Cindy Lu, Cindy Lu
You know that my heart is true

But my Idea is very new
And we’ll make a million dollars
If only I can prove
That the market is true!

Cindy Lu Cindy Lu
Soon I’ll be home
And put my arms around you
….
But first
I’m being shown
Design specs I must review!

The beta downloads are a jumping
But so are the bugs that need a thumping!

Please let me know
When the baby is asleep
Then I can show
You how we’ll avoid feature creep!

Towards you my sweetheart I’ll always feel
A never ending attraction
But right now what I really need to show
Is more customer traction!

Cindy Lu, Cindy Lu
Don’t look at me that way,
You’ll worry yourself blue!

Once we raise our series A
Our mortgage will be easy to pay!

And if the company gets in a bind,
My investors will help me find
Some folks that are keen
To assemble a management team
And we’ll be on our way
To making lots of green!

So please don’t think that I’m mean
When I say:

Cindy Lu, Cindy Lu
You know my heart is true,
But just right now, 
I love my startup
More than you!

This poem is a sort of an ode to all young and ambitional entrepreneurs in the Sillicon Valey. Virk firmly believes that poetry is a great medium for expression of entrepreneurial ideas, ups and downs that entrepreneurship brings and how it changes life. A poem is instinct with love, confusion, desire for stability and how someone is ready to “put on hold” all of his relationships- because business is the only thing that matter.

I would say that poetry is a source of knowledge and as we can learn a lot about love, death and sorrow in poetry as emotions we can learn a lot about entrepreneurial emotions too: get that practical insight of what it means to be an entrepreneur, along with all victories and sacrifices it requires.

It can help us with our doubts, fears, uncertain decision making, but most importantly it can open new windows of creative sources that are aligned with our values – making us emotionally mature and persistent in our endeavors.

 

Lean leader is a poetry reader

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.

               ~ Vera Nazarian

It’s interesting to note that many of the great contemporary 20th century poets were business professionals,. For example T.S. Eliot worked for Lloyds of London, and Wallace Stevens was a vice president at an insurance company.

Also, James Dickey that worked in advertising,  left his mark in the corporate world. So, it’s evident that business somehow has shaped and influenced last century poetry. What we often forget is how reading the verse of aforementioned professionals can enhance our own business qualities and can contribute to our well-being and self-development.kids on books

In one article of New York Times, C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success

Sidney Harman, founder of Harman Industries says:

I used to tell my senior staff to get me poets as managers. Poets are our original systems thinkers. They look at our most complex environments and they reduce the complexity to something they begin to understand.

Unfortunately, business people are reading nowadays far more less. Life is running at such pace that reading material unrelated to business is almost impossible. The digital world is shortening our attention span and our patience to read and contemplate some abstract thought is almost nonexistent. But wide scope of reading is often a remarkable characteristic of many leaders and can initiate innovation, empathy, deeper understanding.

And how that relates to lean leadership?

An “old school” of leadership promotes the form of leadership where the notion is that leader holds the key of every knowledge and “his way of doing things” is the only way.

On the other hand, “empowering leadership” follows the crowd, doesn’t pay much attention to the rules and implies “let’s do it your way”. It’s true it can generate many innovative ideas, yet sometimes it leads to chaos and lack of responsibility.

And “lean leadership” allows for spontaneous solution to appear while focus is not that much on the leader as much on “let’s figure this out – together”.

For a successful lean leader is important to develop social skills, foster encouragement and compassion. Lean leader is able to seize the meaning and purpose  in dynamic and at surface unrelated events.

Research findings, published in the paper Does reading make you smarter? Literacy and the development of verbal intelligence, suggest that reading makes you smarter through

a larger vocabulary and more world knowledge in addition to the abstract reasoning skills.

It can enhance leader’s efficacy through improved vocabulary intelligence that comes from reading more abstract topics and genres.

So, every day try to incorporate reading some poetry in your hectic schedule, join a reading club or attend some poetry evenings – and watch your business skills improve for the better.

Tenacious Persistence by Orison Swett Marden

The force that is going to carry you to your goal,
Is coiled up inside of you , in your energy, your pluck, your grit,
Your originality, your character, and your possession of a strong,
Persistent, tenacious purpose.
Whatever you do in life, keep in an ambition –
Arousing atmosphere.
Keep close to those who are dead in earnest,
Who are anxious to do something in the world.
You will catch the spirit of your environment.

 

Removing your biggest obstacle towards success: fear of failure

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life–think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

              ~Swami Vivekananda

We’ve all been there and done that. Fear of failure. It’s a cold, paralyzing emotion that simply stops you from being what you want to be, do what you want to do – simply live your life openly, freely, without judgment and regret. So what can we do about it?

Well the truth is, WE ARE the only ones who can do something about it. Nobody can do it for us, as well as nobody can succeed except us. It’s our hard work, devotion and commitment.

And I would say that we all have to invest time and work when we want to get rid of that fear: an obstacle that can make our life miserable, sometimes making us feel even sorry for ourselves while watching other people having fun and enjoying life.

Illustration of a cloud and a ladder

It’s interesting that only one change in my daily routine gave me so many different perspectives on various aspects of my life – including success and fear of failure. When I started regularly writing poetry it opened my mind to so many possibilities and different ways of thinking that every part of my life improved for the better. At the beginning I was so happy that I just, you know, began to write. With time, somehow, doubt began to creep in and  I started to look for flaws: Could I’ve written something better? Could I’ve express myself more precise? Why didn’t I come up with that word (while reading the work of other aspiring authors)? But then, I tried to cheer myself: “I can write another poem, and another poem. The previous one is nor bad nor good. It’s just a reflection of one moment of my life, my thoughts…it doesn’t define me. Tomorrow I can do it better”.

And these thoughts made me look more deeply at the essence of our fear of failure. The truth is: you cannot fail. These are also the words of my favorite teacher dr Wayne Dyer, that passed away recently. You cannot fail. You can only produce certain result. In one particular moment of time it reflects your efforts, mistakes, fears and joys. But it is not who you are. There is always another try, another poem to write, another story to tell, another project to start, another person to meet, another vacation to travel. You are never late. It’s just one moment in time, not a failure.

In this whole process I would also suggest that we should revisit our beliefs about success and failure. When I look back 20 years ago, I was very ambitious, eager. I had a lot of energy and motivation – simply I could “conquer” the world. And my notion of success in that time and now differ a lot. Now, I would do many things differently. In the first place, take care more of my health. And sometimes I wonder: “Did I really follow my goals under my terms, or somebody else’s? Because, many times society implies what is success. Yet, is that success for me? What’s expected from me – is that what I really want”?

So next time you hesitate to try something new, look at things from different perspective and ask yourself: “What is my definition of success? Am I living under my terms? Am I giving my best? What would’ve happen if I only try – without getting attached to the outcome”?

Success is counted sweetest by Emily Dickinson

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory

As he defeated-dying
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

 

An invitation to participate

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Daily verse with purpose, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

As an attempt to make this blog even more dynamic, beside my regular posts on the benefits of poetry for life and business, I’m launching new category “Daily verse with purpose” that will feature exciting, motivational and inspirational verses from various poets. This is also invitation to all interested readers, poets and writers to submit their favorite rhymes, verses from different poets that they would like to see featured as “Daily verse with purpose”. Depending on the response I will try to include all your favorite poets – as we all need some additional encouragement with incoming rainy and cold days 🙂 Your suggestions you can submit to businessinrhyme at gmail dot com.

Hopefully, this will be a growing community for all of us where we could submit our own inspirational quotes, poems, verses and ext.

For starters, I’ve chosen “Climb ‘Til Your Dream Comes True” by Helen Steiner Rice.

HS Rice

Poetry and storytelling: part II

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

It has been said that next to hunger and thirst, our most basic human need is for storytelling.

               ~Khalil Gibran

In the first part of this blog post series you got a glimpse of how important storytelling is for a business, especially for entrepreneurs. Today, I will discuss in more length, about specific techniques we can use in our storytelling and what poetry can teach us about that – especially narrative poems.

Narrative poem is one of the oldest form of literature and is a traditional way of capturing and delivering knowledge and experience – in the form of epic tales with exciting rhythm, rhyme, repetition which makes them easy to remember and share. And that’s what every entrepreneur wants: his story and message to be remembered and shared.

So what important lessons narrative poems can teach us and what should every entrepreneur incorporate into his storytelling?

1.Frame your story

What is it that you want to tell? You have to be very specific and craft your story around it. It also means choosing your character that will lead the audience through story, in many compellin141888-142934g ways – dramatic, funny, full of surprises. It has to deliver vivid pictures and excitement in order to keep the audience’s attention. Once you accomplish that, it’s easier to fine tune other details.

 

2.And…action!

Don’t bother with setting the scene and too much explanations. Lead the audience to immediate action; overflow them with emotions you want them to experience – people always remember how you made them feel.

3.Activate all five senses

An effective story, do take care of a “big picture”, but also pays attention to small details. Give your audience the opportunity to sweat, get freezing hands, smell the roses … All 5 senses have to be activated for your story to awaken interest, experience and to be memorable. In that way your message will be understood and worth sharing.

4.Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself

Repetition is crucial in learning. Think of your key phrases and words that you can use in smart way, so your story is easier to remember. Don’t overdo it, because otherwise you can make it boring and shallow. Martin Luther King in his famous speech used the phrase “I have a dream” eight times during that speech, which made it so powerful and energetic.

The following poem is an example of effective use of narrative to describe an ordinary job, but one that can touch our hearts in so many different ways:

Sending Flowers by Hannah Stephenson

The florist reads faces, reaches into the mouths of customers.
Turns curled tongues into rose petals,

teeth clinking against one another into baby’s breath.
She selects a cut bloom, a bit of leaf,

lays stem alongside of stem, as if building a wrist
from the inside. She binds them

when the message is right, and sighs at the pleasure
of her profession. Her trade:

to wrangle intensity, to gather blooms and say, here,
these do not grow together

but in this new arrangement is language. The florist
hands you a bouquet

yanked from your head, the things you could not say
with your ordinary voice.

So next time you want to tell your story, try to implement these tips – or even write your own narrative poem – you will certainly get the wanted attention.

Are you living your fullest potential?

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

~Oriah

I must admit, this question bothers me from time to time. Am I giving my best? Would I like to spend my time differently? Is this all there is? Am I truly pursuing my purpose and passion?

life-purposeThe list can go own and unfortunately we all have that little worm of doubt that likes to dig around our consciousness and play with our thoughts. One thing I know for sure: that kind of thinking will not take us anywhere. Yesterday doesn’t exist and tomorrow is too much elusive. So instead, I try to ask my self: “Am I giving my best in this situation, in this particular moment? Am I present enough in what’s going on around me? What would make me feel better – right now?” And when you rearrange things like that – are you your best version from moment to moment, with little effort put on improving yourself  – I think we are living our purpose and giving our best. Just as long we are honest about who we are.

Often, we tend to be too judgmental towards others and ourselves as well. Instead, try to be more empathetic towards your mistakes, wrong decisions, poorly made choices…with everything that you think is wrong with your life. It’s so easy to be a critique, but about being your greatest supporter and fan?

The cumulative effect of feeling good as frequent and long as we can is what actually counts; how much we are satisfied with ourselves. The poem bellow so perfectly captures the importance of those valuable moments and I’m certain it will give you courage to improve “your bits and pieces”, from moment to moment, to your full life.

Compensation by Edgar Albert Guest

I’d like to think when life is done
That I had filled a needed post.
That here and there I’d paid my fare
With more than idle talk and boast;
That I had taken gifts divine.
The breath of life and manhood fine,
And tried to use them now and then
In service for my fellow men.

I’d hate to think when life is through
That I had lived my round of years
A useless kind, that leaves behind
No record in this vale of tears;
That I had wasted all my days
By treading only selfish ways,
And that this world would be the same
If it had never known my name.

I’d like to think that here and there,
When I am gone, there shall remain
A happier spot that might have not
Existed had I toiled for gain;
That someone’s cheery voice and smile
Shall prove that I had been worth while;
That I had paid with something fine
My debt to God for life divine.

 

Exercise your creativity through poetry, part II

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!, Write, create, innovate: exercises

When you invite people to share in your miracle, you create future allies during rough weather.”
― Shannon L. Alder

In this post I intent to recommend some interesting writing exercises, but they are supposed to be done in groups. So grab some of your “pen-friends”, painted-cartoon-of-two-people-talking-for-kiki-by-katy-973x1024play together and see how can you inspire and help each other become more creative.

These exercises can be also performed in the business setting, they’re fun and can be a great way to break out of the ordinary working routine.

Inspired by discovered

Each of you, players, has to write down a rare fact about yourself that most people don’t know about (it can be a secret 😉 ) on a piece of paper, fold it and exchange it with others randomly. Caught by surprise about unknown facts you may find your own fountain of creativity! Write a poem about it and see where it takes you.

Pantomime

Let one of your friends or coworkers gesture with hands: your task is to describe what you see, what you experience and jot it down in words in the form of poem. This can be quite intriguing way of stimulating our creative capabilities, as is discussed in this article, using two hands to explain something prompts the brain to consider issues from multiple perspectives. To spice up a bit, try everything that you write to put in rhyme (in my previous post I explained the benefits of putting boundaries during our brainstorming sessions and how that can stimulate creativity further).

What’s wrong with this picture?

Visual stimulation can unleash your imagination in the most exciting ways. You can pick some random picture and each of players has to make a story in the form of poem, inspired by the picture. Afterwards, you can all debate and see whose story is the most interesting or you can take it step further and compile all stories into one: it has to be believable and follow some logical structure. It’s best suited for groups of two, three people.

With certain moderation you can use these ideas for your own creativity exercises. If you by any chance try them, share your thoughts in the comments below.

It couldn’t be done by Edgar Albert Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That “couldn’t be done,” and you’ll do it.