7 Great Tips for Giving Constructive Criticism

Criticism is one of the things that people tend to give freely without your request. It usually comes as overbearing with the feeling that the person thinks they can perform the task better than you. Some criticism can be helpful while most is hurtful and annoying to the person on the receiving end. Learning to provide constructive criticism is an art that takes patience and remembering to remain positive while providing your opinion. 

Here are seven great tips to help you out:

1. Be Honest and Unbiased

When you give criticism it is a reflection of your feelings and not the person being criticized. If you hold some resentment or anger toward the person, you most certainly should not be the person to try to offer them advice as it may come off rude and make the person miss your point because they were offended.

2. Begin and Finish with a Compliment

To make sure that the person does not feel attacked, find a good attribute the person has and lead with that. Once you have given the criticism, ending your conversation this way will again make the person take in what you said and not feel like a failure or that you are mad.

3. Keep Your Voice Tone Light

The tone of your voice communicates just as much as the actual words that come from your mouth. Keeping edge and anger out of your voice makes people take in what you say faster and easier.

4. Be Specific

Since criticism gives people a negative feeling, you need to be specific and explain exactly what your problem with an issue is. Using generalizations is not helpful and make it seem like you are only complaining instead being helpful.

5. Provide a Solution

If you follow step four and are specific with your criticism, add a solution at the end of how the person can make improvements the next time. This shows the recipient that it is not your intent to demean them, as you are providing positive helpful feedback.

6. Do Not Attack

Giving feedback is not about attacking or insulting a person on a personal level. It is about explaining how you think they can be better at a certain task. Being sarcastic or throwing insults is not helpful and has no place in constructive criticism.

7. Move Forward

Once you have given the criticism, move on and let it go. Do not dwell on the situation as it is a waste of time and will only cause negative feelings.

Criticism can be a good thing if given in the correct way. It is very had to hear at times but can make you grow as a person.

GetMoreRings loves your feedback, feel free to leave any tips you may have for constructive criticism in the comments. 

Understanding Why You Need a Phone System for Your Office

GetMoreRings knows that communication is an essential key to the functioning of your business. If you want to add in the right alternatives to keep everyone in touch, then you can begin by adding in the right phone system. This makes a difference in your effectiveness of communication while providing you with different alternatives for the communication that is available. Today, technology has combined with communication to make sure you are able to easily keep in touch with others in the office as well as with customers that are calling about your products or services. 

The phone system that is available for companies allows you to have a variety of lines that are interconnected into a central area. There will be one system placed for the corporation. This combines with several extensions that are placed through the branches and offices while allowing each employee to connect to the central system. This gives every individual in the office a private line from a central system. The stations that are created allow private exchanges to take place between those working in the company and provide different numbers to those that are working within a company. 

Not only are numbers and private stations assigned to a central phone system. There are also programs that are added in for easier communication and to track the options that are used. For instance, you will be able to program in an option to control the calls that are coming in through the use of lighted line buttons or specialized rings. This will let you know where a call is coming from while connecting lines in alternative ways. The programming can interchange with simple connections to complex techniques that are used for different approaches to getting connected across branches, offices or between employees. 

The integrated options with a phone system also incorporate other features to assist all employees to stay in touch and to connect to others. There are additional voice mail and answering machine systems available for needed responses. It is also possible to set up caller ID, speed dialing and automatic call accounting. This will help to track and connect employees and customers easier while offering convenience with communication. If a more complex system is used, then there is also the possibility of adding in features such as remote supervision of the system. This can help to track communication while ensuring that the correct links are made with each station created.

Tying into communication at different levels with any business ensures a better working environment while meeting the needs of employees. If you want to integrate a simple and effective way of keeping in touch, then you can look at a phone system. Giving each employee a station and monitoring this through a central area with different ways to keep in touch instantly tightens the communication between individuals, offices and branches. The incorporation of specific features with this system ensures that you are able to find different ways to keep connected while allowing each individual to remain connected with simple and effective tools.

Let our parent company Datavo help you find the right option for your business.

How Click-to-Call Can Help Your Business

GetMoreRings Click-to-Call has proved to be beneficial for numerous business types such as, directories, automotive services, delivery services and transportation. Click-to-Call technology enhances your sites consumer conversion rates so much that  Forrester Research has reported a 143% average Return on Investment (ROI) with a payback period of 1.1 years once the service has been implemented.

It allows your staff to immediately have contact with a perspective client while also giving you reports that allow you to see how many calls were made to you, how many were answered and of those answered how many resulted in a completed sale.

Where you place your button on your site is also a big deal. You want to strategically place the button where it can be easily accessible  Some companies have opted to have multiple buttons so that their customers have an option to call from any page they are searching at the time.

Utilizing Click-to-Call on your mobile website is also very important. With it you will be able to bridge the gap between your business and consumers with the click of a button. When the Click-to-Call button is used it connects the customer directly to your preset number without the need to flip back and forth from your webpage to their dial pad.

5 Tasks for Business Owners to Do Before Going on Vacation

When you think about going on vacation, for most it means relaxing and sightseeing. For most small business owners it can mean stressing that things are being done instead of having fun or taking their laptop and working while lounging on the beach or by the pool. There are some small business owners that don't go on vacation at all.

GetMoreRings knows that stress can cause a vacation to be ruined so we came up with a short list of items you should take care of before you leave so that you can have a relaxing and refreshing time.

• Make a list of your tasks. At least a two weeks prior to your vacation go through all of your responsibilities. Determine which tasks must be delegated and which can await your return. Do things such as paying bills or invoicing customers early so that you are not worried while you are away. Make sure to update your list the day before you leave and mark off all completed tasks. 

• Make a schedule for checking in. To stop yourself from working all day and your staff from calling you with issues every second, set up specific times you are available and which circumstances you need to be contacted for. It may also help to only give one of your staff members your contact number and make them the designated point person while you are out.

• Be specific and clear with your employees. Keep your employees in the loop. Have a meeting with them at least a week prior to your departure and let them know what you expect from them while you are gone. Go over any projects or assignments and assign who will be in charge of your responsibilities while you are gone. The day before you leave have another short meeting reviewing everything and confirm that your staff has everything it needs. 

• Use your phone system's features. Most phone systems have features that allow you to optimize your customer service. Make sure you set your voicemail greeting to out of the office and set up any forwarding features so that your calls can route to you properly. 

• Let your customers know you are leaving and who they can contact. Start letting your customers know that you will be going out of town a few weeks prior to your departure date. Set up an automated email response for any received emails that lets people know you're out of the office, what day you will return and who they can contact in the interim.

Now that you have all of that taken care of try to enjoy your vacation. Have faith that your employees will take care of everything and keep you in the loop if anything arises that needs your immediate attention.  Taking a vacation should leave you refreshed and revitalized, making you more productive in the long run. 

24 Questions Business Leaders Should Ask Themselves

GetMoreRings knows that in today's market you have to be flexible and ready to move ahead so that your business can continue to be successful. 

If you look at our businesses today, they are all components of an enterprising network of relationships with partners, clients, and suppliers that mold the way we take care of business. With the rising expectations and demands of consumers, small and large business are showing up in all places around the globe. These business conditions can present both pros and cons to an owner.

So when contemplating what methods make your business' run efficiently, make sure these 20 questions are included.

1. What is the purpose for your business existing?
2. Who is your target customer?
3. What are your competitors up to?
4. Has your business adequately changed with the times?
5. Do you have the right leaders employed?
6. How does your business handle change?
7. Are your business practices outdated?
8. Are there better ways to integrate your different business processes, to make them work easier?
9. Are you able to reduce your expenses, without hurting your product?
10. Are you able to automate repetitive actions?
11. Are your systems so slow they are affecting your response time to customers?
12. Do you embrace new technology?
13. Do you ensure that your data is backed daily, in case of a system failure?
14. Is the information on your website current?
15. Are your Customer Service Representatives trained with current business information?
16. If you systems were to go down, do you know how to fix or restart it?
17. Does corporate management share the same goals as the IT department?
18. Are you making the right decisions with the IT and Operations departments?
19. Are you securing your networks properly from outside threats?
20. What part of your budget is for maintenance as opposed to new product development?
21. Do you have the right employees?
22. Are your employees happy?
23. Are you using your employees to the best of their abilities?
24. Do you ask your employees what feedback they are getting from customers on the business?

Feel free to leave any questions you think we left off in the comments. 

10 Ways Successful Business Owners Think

Everyone wants to be successful in business but not everyone knows how. A lot of it comes from the way that you handle situations when they arise. 

With GetMoreRings ten tips, you will be able to deal with issues as they come along and focus on the positives. Five of our tips focus on what you need to do internally, while the other five focus on your outward success.

Changing your thinking on the follow five things within yourself will start you on the road to success. 

• Always Admit Your Mistakes. Things happen, people make mistakes, have bad days, and don't always make the best decisions. Being able to acknowledge when you have done something wrong  without becoming defensive or offensive, makes it easier to fix the issue and move on.

• Perfection Doesn't Exist. Try not to focus on being perfect. Things rarely are and by focusing on  doing the best work you possibly can, instead of the minuscule details, your strive for success and happiness will be found much sooner.

• Don't Hold Grudges. Things or people at work can sometimes make you upset. Staying mad at yourself or someone else does not fix the problem and can create an uncomfortable work environment. If you have an issue fix it and move forward. Try to forgive and forget.

• Stay Positive. Positivity breeds creativity and success. Negativity can suck the air out of everything. If you try to always look at situations as the glass half full it will make your road to success a lot less bumpy.

• Don't Jump to Conclusions. Don't decide that something has failed or been successful without the proper back up. Make sure you analyze and research your facts before thinking in conclusive terms. 

You also have to change your thinking on how you deal with others in the outside world. Following these five steps will help you get there.

• Always Admit Your Mistakes. As with yourself, you need to be able to admit when you have made a mistake to others so that you can move forward. Don't try to blame your mistakes on others it will make people dislike and distrust you.

• Be Loyal. Always show loyalty to your customers, even if you think they may be looking for a different service. If you show them you are dedicated and want to go the extra mile you most likely will be able to change their minds and retain their loyalty.

• Think Long Term. Make sure to approach all of your clients or customers with an attitude that you want to supply your particular service to them always. You want to have clients for life.

• Make Definitive Decisions. People in charge have to make decisions to keep their work force confident in them and the business moving successfully. If you make a mistake, own it and move on. But first you have to be willing to take the leap to move forward in your success.

• Improve and Move Forward. Nothing is perfect (like we mentioned above). You can always do something to make something better or run smoother. Take suggestions from employees and keep an open mind. With this approach to business your success will hit the roof. 

Feel free to tell us how you have been successful in the comments.