5 Ways to Recover From Burnout

 

It happens to the best of us—burnout.

We dedicate ourselves to our jobs, work long hours and take on extra responsibilities, and sometimes we do too much. As a result, we can get down in the dumps and find it hard to keep going.

Burnout is not an interchangeable word with everyday stress, and it’s not exclusively exhaustion or overload. It’s all three of the above components together.

Of course, it’s best to prevent burnout, but sometimes it’s impossible. So, what are some ways to recover from it?

 

1. Evaluate Your Feelings

How stressed have you been? Have you been enjoying work? Do you have the resources you need to get the job done? These will help you determine what you need going forward.

Burnout is more likely to happen when you have too many job demands and few resources.

2. Delegate

Take a look at what you are doing. Are there things you can delegate to others? Do you need to be the one to do them? This can help lighten the load by asking others to take on the part of your load.

Sometimes we think we need to do it all. But often, we can delegate.

3. Self-reflection and Empathy

You need to give yourself a break. Don’t keep pushing yourself when you feel the need for a break. Instead, stop for a few minutes each day and reflect on how things are truly going.

Studies indicate that actively cultivating self-compassion and empathy can mitigate the impact of burnout.

4. Use a Gratitude Journal

Use this to record what you are thankful for and what is important to you.

First, get in touch with what is truly important to you, then prioritize it in your daily life. This helps keep things in perspective. Keep this as a daily habit.

If you notice that your values or goals are shifting, that’s okay – you can devise a plan to help you address this shift proactively.

5. Create a plan

Develop a plan on how to prevent burnout in the first place.

• Take time daily to exercise—even a short walk in the morning can help.
• Talk with a friend regularly. This helps keep you grounded and connected to what’s truly important. Try to cut down on screen time at night; try reading a hard-copy book so your eyes have a break.
• Create a relaxation method for winding down at night, rather than just hopping into bed and hoping to go to sleep with all the things running through your mind.

There are a lot of stressors in today’s business life, and at our printing firm, we want to help lighten your marketing load. We offer free consultations to help you come up with great marketing ideas.

Customer Service Excellence for Team Members

 

 

 

Excellent customer service is an essential aspect of your most valuable asset: your customers.

Customer service is so vital that it can be a powerful competitive advantage. 70% of Americans have spent more money on better service, according to Forbes. 

Excellent customer service is not solely for the customer service representatives. Instead, everyone on the team should practice exceptional customer service because every job ultimately affects the customer. 

Below is a list of concrete ways your team members can exceed your customer’s expectations. 

Customer Service Excellence: Hire Smart

Certain personalities and strengths are better suited for customer service jobs. Hiring the right people will set the company and employees up for success. 

When hiring, look for people who excel in the following traits. 

• Problem-solving. Give the interviewee a scenario and ask how they would proceed.
• Communication. Ask the interviewee to explain a complex topic.
• Listening. Tell the interviewee a little bit about yourself and the company. Check to see how much they retained.
• Time management. Ask them about a time in their life when they were very busy and how they got through it.
• Empathetic. Ask the interviewee about a time they saw someone hurting and how they reacted.
• Attentive. Gauge how attentive they are at the interview.
• Patient. Ask them to wait a little bit before or during the interview.
• Curious. Ask them if they have any questions for you about the company. Gauge their natural curiosity.

Hiring the right people gets you off on the right foot. After hiring customer service-oriented people, training will further define their natural skills. 

Customer Service Excellence: Training

Training creates more knowledgeable and skilled team members. 

The more trained and knowledgeable your team members are, the happier your customers will be. Happier customers are more likely to create word-of-mouth advertising, which is the most effective form of advertising: 5 times more powerful than paid ads. 

Training and development can take on various forms. 

• Hire a trainer. Find a professional who excels in teaching customer service skills. Pay them to come to talk to your team members.
• Do it yourself. Research ways your company can improve customer service. Ask your customers what they’d like to see. Share your findings with your team members at a meeting.
• Online courses. Direct, or if it’s in the budget, subsidize your employees to take online courses to help them improve their customer service.
• Mentor-mentee programs. Pair a more experienced staff member with a less experienced one. Have them get together to share information and tactics that have helped them.

Whichever route you choose, you’ll see the benefits pay off in higher customer satisfaction and improved customer relationships.  

Customer Service Excellence: Customer Relationships

Encourage employees to develop positive customer relationships. 

Keep it natural. Try asking customers questions about themselves. Some just want to get in and out. But others enjoy talking and will appreciate the opportunity. If you remember the customers’ names and the stories they tell, they’ll be happier and more loyal. 

Further, increase customer relationships by sending customers birthday gifts or cards. Companies that prioritize emotional connections with customers do better in the long run, outperforming their competitors in sales by 85%. 

Customer Service Excellence: Let Customers Help Themselves

71% of consumers reported wanting to solve customer service issues independently. 

Counterintuitively, some of the best customer services you can provide are the gifts of not needing customer service. By providing efficient, straightforward methods for customers to solve their own issues, the customers leave happy. 

There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. 

• Q&A page with answers to the most commonly asked questions.
• Information. By providing relevant information in a convenient place, such as a brochure, you can proactively prevent frustrated customers by providing all the information they need beforehand. 

Customer service is one way your business can stand above the rest. If you do it well, profits will increase. 

We know customer service can be tricky because of the wide range of inquiries and emotions. However, we’re here to help you with our excellent printing services. For example, we've got you if you need promotional products for a birthday gift, birthday cards, or informative brochures!

How to Keep Up With Direct Mail Trends

  

As we march through 2022, many businesses are left wondering if direct mail marketing is still a trend, if it is worth it, and if their business is missing out by not implementing this form of marketing.

Despite the many new marketing avenues available, direct marketing remains a multi-million-dollar industry, with companies spending $38.5 million of total advertising revenue in the United States on direct mail campaigns. 

With an average response rate of 4.9 percent, direct marketing is still alive and is a beneficial marketing tool all businesses should take advantage of.

Continue reading to learn more ways to help you and your business keep up to date with current direct mail trends: 

Watch What Is Coming in the Mail

One way to see what other businesses are doing is to keep an eye on what is coming through your mailbox.

Whether a letter, postcard, magazine, etc., there is much to learn about increasing brand awareness by watching and taking note of which advertisers are trying to get your attention. 

Ask Your Customers

Take time to learn from your customers and what drives them to different businesses.

What types of ads caught their attention? How do they hear about most local companies? What direct mail marketing items, such as ads, coupons, specials, and more, are likely to get them into a store or to hire a local business?

Check With Other Business Owners

Ask other business owners with similar products or services what works for them and which direct mail campaign strategies have proven to drive results.

Most business owners are willing to share their plans, while others might be tougher when sharing information with a competitor. Access to knowledge other business owners possess is vital in developing long-lasting positive relationships with other business owners, so you can share ideas and work together to learn more about direct mail marketing. 

Direct mail marketing campaigns are on the rise as more businesses start implementing various tools to help directly reach consumers. Everything from postcards to catalogs and coupons to letters can target consumers drawing attention to your brand.

Understanding the latest direct mail marketing trends can help keep your business on top of the latest advertising strategies, helping you stay competitive in your target market.