Tweet

E-Mail Tip #29 - Manage a Complainer's Need to Cavil

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: Some people just need to vent in e-mails. If you understand this and know how to manage it, you can avoid many of the battles that are so common in e-mail exchanges. This article offers some information on this aspect of online communication.

E-Mail Tip #29 - Manage a Complainer's Need to Cavil

Some people have a need to complain. It is their nature to have something negative to say regardless of the situation. As long as they have something to cavil at, they believe they are making a contribution to society. It is disheartening when you run into a person like this, but if you are aware of it, you can consider the source. You can at least filter out some of the negativity. There are methods for dealing with this type of individual. Give the person something to complain about before making the pitch that is really important to you. If the person takes the offer to complain about the first topic, you may be able to make solid forward progress.

Chronic complainers usually are aware this is a personal issue. They have been told before that their constant bitching is annoying to people. They have learned to meter out the negativity and not come down on every point. Knowing this, if you let the person vent on a habitual (but not critical) hot topic, after that you can get down to some serious business. For example, here is a note from Alfred to Betty, who is a chronic complainer.

"Hi Betty. I wanted to get your input on a couple items. First, what is your take on the increased co-pay for doctor visits in the new benefits package? It seems they tried to slip that past us by focusing on the reduced rate. I wanted to know if you felt the same way.

Also, would you be willing to help sort out the expenses for last month? I suspect we missed something and need someone with a sharp eye for detail to check it out."

Betty is likely to come back with a long diatribe on how the co-pay issue is as unfair as the last 3-4 changes made in the benefits package. She will wax eloquently on how management never listens to anybody before they make up these rules. Then, she will likely accept the request to help with tracking expenses, because she already spent her "negativity chits" for the day. If your note had only contained the request for help, she would likely have come back with a litany of her duties and how overworked she is; she couldn't possibly find the time to sort out financial details. Some people would call a note like this a form of manipulation; others would call it being politically astute to the message patterns of others.

Keeping a neutral mind and soliciting input from others will draw them into the decision process and enhance the quality of work. Sometimes during the process, people will refer to an isolated case to prove a general point. This is an error in logic.

Related Articles
  From Chaos To Control
  Dealing with Email Overload – Tips and Best Practices
  Learn How To Generate Your Own Traffic Without Google Or Any Other Site
  Do You Control Your Email or Does Your Email Control You
  Contain The Complainers!
  E is for Email Marketing
  Types of Difficult People and 3 Best Ways to Interact with Them at Work
  You Are Barking up the Wrong Tree With Time Management Techniques
  How to Manage Your Email & Inbox – Lessons 11-15
  How to Manage Your Email & Inbox – Lessons 46 – 50
  Too Many Complaints
  Can you use webmail for email marketing?
  You Can’t Manage Time!
  Facebook Email Sucks
  Time Management in an Instant by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey
  How To Close More Sales
  Email Marketing Made Easy #17 - Mailing Lists and Email Collection Methods
  Email Marketing and the High Price of Irrelevance
  Recommendation: Get A Gmail Account
  Web Information Overload - Consider RSS

Article Tags: cavil, Complaint, email, leadership, trust



Related Forum Posts
Re: What exactly do you need to start a business - Hi phummy, I’m not sure what options you have in Nigeria or maybe you already know what you want to do but like any business, it’s all about supply and demand. Is there an interest in the product or service you are selling? Have you researched the market, perhaps approach other competitors to see what they have to offer, do you have any experience in the field. When you have researched your niche and decided what you want to do then it’s time for your business plan. Set your budget (very important) and stick to it, will you be working from home or an office and what equipment/stationary will you need. Manage your time effectively to concentrate on things that will push your business forward. Set realistic goal’s and stick to your plan. Coming to places like this forum are a godsend as you can save yourself time and grief by coming here and asking questions, good luck to you, Mal.
Why A Project Fails? - Hello Everyone As the size and complexity of ones business grows, so does their need to effectively manage projects. I have been thinking about the major reasons why a project can go wrong and my limited experience comes up with the following. 1 Leadership: A project manager with leadership skills and not just management skills. 2 Failure to (Foresee and) Plan 3 Failure to Manage: Ineffective change management control methods. Unclear decision making guidelines. 4 Talent: Finding, allocating and developing people 5 Scope: Setting an overly ambitious or amibigious project scope 6 Alignment: When projects are not prioritized in alignment with the business strategy, or project members personal objectives are not in tandem with that of the project / company 7 Lack of Candor: Communication Breakdowns I would be interested in knowing everyone's thoughts on this, especially on ways to overcome the above mentioned obstacles. Cheers!
Incentives for Gathering Data - Great question Kevin! How do you encourage and motivate others to give you the data and information you need to conduct market research? First of all, you need to know what kind of data you are hoping to collect, and how much time you really need a participant to give you? I'll outline this step in Step 2 Market Research coming soon. Many times I see people and companies offering prizes or gifts for taking the time out of your day. This is a great idea. Contests are another great way. With technology so accessible now, gone are the days of the long handwritten survey responses. Surveymonkey.com is just one resource where you can import your survey questions, email them out to a collected database and then get your report for analysis. If you have been in business a while, your own client base is a great first place to look for information. Take clients out for lunch, or host a cocktail session where you can speak with each person. depending on the level of personal data you need, be cautious to allow each person their privacy. We often tape our research interviews, but in order to get past the facade of information some people will give, we have a written contract that we sign with them that states that all their information will be added to the collective group, with no specific names mentioned. This signature commitment negates most peoples responses and we get real, honest feedback. And ultimately, we honour that. Its the arrangement we make with a client too. We wont abuse their clients or staff's confidentiality in us. So if you are hoping to gather information from a specific audience, find out as much as you can about them before planning your approach. if you only need 10 minutes of someone's time, perhaps the prize or incentive is valued differently than if you expect people to take 45 minutes. I once spent over an hour on the phone with a call centre on behalf of Walmart. I was told it was going to take no more than 30 minutes and I would receive 5 new DVD's for my time. NEedless to say, I'm still waiting for my DVD's and I will never entertain another research call from Walmart. Manage expectations. Treat people and their time with respect. And reward them with their efforts. Cheers!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

In the Year 2020 . . . Process

Good News Travels Fast

Getting The Media Attention You Deserve

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.