Perimeter Park Executive Center held our annual Chili Cook-Off on Thursday, October 22nd. This year there were four entries, with heat levels ranging from mild to hot, so we had a great mix of heat and flavors. Participants were Kristen Burnett and Lisa Castillo from Kineticom, Sheree Thornton from CNR Foods, and Nancy Wike from PPEC.
2015 PPEC Chili Cook-Off
In addition to chili and all the fixin’s, PPEC General Manager Sherry Cheatham brought homemade chicken and rice soup, and CNR Foods donated spicy and mild chicken tenders and biscuits from one of their local Popeye’s locations.
PPEC 2015 Chili Cook-Off Fixin’s and Popeye’s Chicken
After a “heated” contest (wink, wink), this year’s winner was Lisa Castillo with her “Chili Caliente.” Second place went to Kristen Burnett’s “Cowboy Chili.” Both ladies work for Kineticom, so it was a sweep!
PPEC 2015 Chili Cook-Off 1st and 2nd Place – Lisa Castillo (left) and Kristen Burnett (right)
We would like to thank everyone who participated in cooking, tasting, and voting.
FedEx said Friday it will build a more than 300,000 square-feet distribution facility in Mt. Juliet, in a project expected to bring nearly 350 jobs to Wilson County, the majority being part-time.
When you choose to take advantage of our telephone service, we take the guesswork out of your equipment needs by providing telephone systems and professional support for your Nashville office.
All of our offices are pre-wired and your phone set is provided. All you have to do is give out the new number we assign for you. If you have a business number already, we can help you arrange remote call forwarding so you may continue to use your existing number without interruption. We can also help you set up a toll-free number for your business.
Our telephone system and multi-function handsets offer:
digital and IP telephony
incoming and outgoing caller ID
direct voicemail capability featuring message notification
phone-to-phone paging
off-site call transfers or call forwarding available
Best of all, you will never have to deal with a phone company. We do that for you!
Some available telephone packages support wired or wireless headsets or cordless handsets.
In the world of business, impressions are everything. From the business card you hand to a prospective client to the proposal package for a million-dollar deal, Perimeter Park’s available business services can make sure your business image will always make you stand out from the crowd.
We can help design and print your business letters, forms, brochures, and all types of presentations. We can also quickly and efficiently assist you with faxing, printing, copying, scanning, laminating, shipping, and mail services. Practically everything you need for any project is available on-site already – all you have to do is walk down the hallway or send us an email!
Our Goal
Our goal is to provide you with the best quality work possible and the quickest turnaround time available, all at a fair price.
Many of these services are also available on a walk-in basis. Contact us for more details!
Successful companies know that there is great value in building strong professional relationships with customers. It is easier and less expensive to retain current customers than it is to find new ones. Companies that recognize the need to work harder in offering good customer service are the ones that will ultimately succeed.
In its most basic form, customer service is knowing and meeting your customers’ needs. But having customers who are simply satisfied is no longer enough. You want your customers to feel loyalty to your business. That is what will keep them from even thinking of trying something else and keep them coming back to you. Building customer loyalty takes time, commitment, and hard work. But most of all, it requires building a personal relationship between you, your staff, and the customer. When your customers know that you care about them as individuals their sense of loyalty to you will grow.
Creating a culture that is customer service oriented takes commitment from both managerial staff and employees. Customers expect the same level of service from every business they patronize, so it is important to implement a uniform customer service policy and train your employees to abide by that policy. No matter what, though, management is responsible for setting the tone for the company. If management doesn’t really care about customer service it will show, and that attitude will transfer to employees.
Follow these simple steps, and you will be on your way to fostering a customer serviced-oriented culture at your company:
Start at the top with leaders committed to customer service.
Identify current employees who are also committed to customer service and use them to help motivate others.
Be prepared to commit the necessary resources – time, money, technology – to achieve your goal.
Hire the right people and be ready to replace those that cannot – or will not – be retrained.
Empower your employees with the ability to make on-the-spot decisions based on given situations, within pre-established guidelines.
Make training – both initial and on-going – a priority.
Sources:
Cascado, Debra C. “Creating a Customer Service Culture.” Medscape Business of Medicine. 24 April 2000. < http://www.medscape.com>.
Allen, John. “Creating a service-oriented company takes commitment.” Houston Business Journal. 10 April, 2009. <http://houston.bizjournals.com>.
No matter how much you like your job, your kids, or your life in general, we all have those days. Here are ten tips for keeping stress at bay.
1. Take a brisk walk (or quick jog) to start the day or during breaks throughout the day.
Several studies have shown that those who start their day with a morning jog or exercise have less stress and burn more fat throughout the day. If you aren’t able to jog, start with a brisk walk around your neighborhood.
Take periodic breaks throughout the day and walk around your neighborhood or office building. I keep a pair of slip-on athletic shoes at work so I can easily and quickly put them on without worrying about socks or tying laces.
If you are like me, you constantly feel as if your attention is being pulled in several different directions. Most of us wear several different hats at work, and have to constantly be ready to switch gears depending upon what is going on that five minutes. This is especially true if you work with multiple clients.
For example, so far by 11:00 this morning I had:
responded to multiple client questions in person
responded to multiple client questions via e-mail
answered incoming calls at the front desk while the receptionist was on break
logged incoming FedEx packages
fixed a leaky sink faucet
started typing a blog entry
And I wouldn’t even classify this as a “busy” day.
Sometimes having to switch hats quickly will result in difficulty with focusing, which can leave you feeling overwhelmed.
Work toward increasing your focus with these suggestions from the March 2012 edition of the Mayo Clinic’s EmbodyHealth newsletter:
Screen out distractions. Start by turning off the TV, putting down your phone, and logging out of email. Not convinced it’ll help? Try this experiment: Eliminate noncritical screen time for two days and see how much more you get done.
Plan for peaks and valleys. Are you a morning person? Then don’t squander that time on email. Instead use it to tackle projects that require your full concentration. Low energy in the afternoon? That’s the time to go through your inbox or catch up on your filing.
Put it out of your mind. Too many mental notes make for a cluttered mind. All that unfinished business saps your mental energy. So dump it. Put whatever’s on your mind on paper or capture it digitally. Think of it as off-site storage.
Train your brain. Any skill worth having requires practice. Learning to focus is no different. Invest time in mastering attention training or meditation – both are great ways to practice taming distractions and improving focus.
What’s the payoff? Not only will you get more done, you’ll also enjoy more flow – when you’re so absorbed in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. Flow creates a sense of fulfillment and engagement and, yes, even contentment.
English: Ken Olsen’s primary concern about customers and employees “Our Employees are our greatest Asset” was distributed on a coffee mug, to encourage all employees. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Business owners cannot afford to forget how important it is to inspire, motivate, and empower their employees, especially in tough economic times. Great business owners value loyalty and know that they have a responsibility to edify and encourage their employees. Bad business owners forget that their support staff needs their support, too.
Great leaders know how to inspire and motivate their employees. They work to create an environment that supports, develops, and expands employee creativity and productivity. They encourage initiative, nurture decision-making abilities, and supply their employees with opportunities to be successful.
Here are several ways business owners and managers can encourage and motivate their employees:
1. Keep the lines of communication open. Be open about expectations and willing to listen to suggestions or problems.
2. Freely give praise when deserved. Don’t be one of “those bosses” whose employees only hear from them when they have made a mistake. That’s encouraging. Acknowledge when your employees have done a good job, and be intentional about letting them know that not only do you value their contributions, but you value them.
3. Implement a system of rewards or an incentive program to recognize employee contributions. Bonuses are great. In tough economic times, however, it may be impossible to reward an employee adequately with a bonus. You can also give gift cards, extra vacation time, or even treat them to lunch as a thank-you for their hard work.
4. Be a coach, not a dictator. Coaches provide feedback and encouragement in an effort to help develop a person’s skills. Dictators just want the job done their way and don’t care if a person becomes better.
5. Don’t throw an employee in the deep end. Before giving an important task to an employee, make sure that they have the right skills, knowledge, and resources to complete the task well. Failing at an assigned task because it is beyond their expertise or ability will do nothing to motivate or empower an employee.
What are the best ways that you have found to encourage and motivate your employees? Do you do ENOUGH to encourage and motivate them?
If you are like me, you broke out in hives looking at the above picture. I am, by no means, a super organized person. I have my piles and I know where stuff is in them. But THAT?!? THAT is insanity. If I had to come in and look at that every day, I think I’d just spend all day crying at my desk.
A messy desk can distract you from tasks at hand and make you lose your focus. Follow these tips to keep clutter to a minimum and productivity high.
Work from the inside out. Put your to-do pile on the side of your desk farthest from your office door and place completed items, such as finished reports and signed forms, on the side closest to the door. That way, when you get up you can take the finished work and drop it off where it needs to go, such as the mail bin or filing cabinet.
Make a “Work in Progress” folder. Need an answer from someone before you can file a paper or mark an item off your to-do list? Keep these items together in a separate file. Use a Pendaflex folder or file sorter to keep these stragglers organized.
File papers in a timely manner. Keep a “Ready to File” folder or bin for papers to be filed. Choose a set time – either daily or weekly – to do all of your filing. That way you aren’t wasting time by running to the filing cabinet every 15 minutes.
Stay on top of your mail. Toss junk and catalogs immediately. Sort the rest into three categories: immediate action, follow-up, and file. Put mail requiring immediate action into your to-do pile. Put mail requiring follow-up into your “Work in Progress” folder. Put items to file in your “Ready to File” folder.
Take advantage of wall space. Use bulletin boards to hold items you need to refer to often, such as calendars, phone lists or other contact information, and memos.
