COMMUNICATING
Garry Gracey and Jacek Januszewski
Meat and Potatoes Communicating
H
Garry ere are some of the personal communicating tools that were so helpful to me in my 45 years as a BC Notary.
Return Messages • Reply to email messages ASAP. • Do the same with phone messages! Never assume you know why your client is calling. Be Courteous • Greet your client in a friendly manner. Make the person feel welcome.
I
Jacek
strongly believe lasting success in business is based on two factors—the amount of repeat clientele the business is attracting and the team that built the business. To be better than your competition, you need both. One of the tools that helps create success is good communicating; it’s not only what we say but how we say it. Although English is my second language (I was born and raised in Poland), I will try to summarize what I have learned as a BC Notary working with the public
Be a Good Listener; Be Respectful Let’s start by being pleasant, polite, • Respect and empathize with other attentive, and patient. Our clients keep Our clients need to feel people’s feelings to establish our businesses running; they put the we abide by the high effective communicating and build food on our table. We must do our standards of our longstanding best to make them feel good about rapport. “Tradition of Trust.” doing that. • Pay close attention when your client is speaking to you. Clients often don’t know much • Be patient; don’t interrupt until your client about the deals they bring to us. Making them feel has finished talking. as if they are our most important clients at that moment will go a long way to turning their first visit into repeat • Keep an open mind; ask questions that will help you business. understand your client’s needs. With COVID-19 and all the problems the virus has Be Honest created in the world, we need to be more attentive and • Be forthright and up front about the status understanding than ever before. Many of our clients are of the client’s file, to generate trust between you. experiencing previously unknown hardships, layoffs, Keep Your Promises business closures, problems with availability, and • Demonstrate that you are accountable. A sense childcare affordability. Their heightened stress can lead of pride grows when you care about your expectations to depression. Some are afraid of contracting the virus and those of others. Trust develops when you show and possibly dying from it; that brings them to our Notary you are reliable and have a positive commitment. offices to have their Wills drafted. • Be yourself, stand in your truth, be your word, Clients can be impatient and feel frustrated. and always wish your clients well. s We need to be able to diffuse situations and control our Garry Gracey is a Consultant for South Surrey Notary Jacek Januszewski, who purchased Garry’s practice last November.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
own emotions. It is best to show understanding and walk the path that leads to agreement.
BC Notaries Association
Volume 29 Number 4 Winter 2020