Mrs. Hancock's Blog

When you're handed off a business card, the appropriate protocol is to: a). Take the card, while continuing eye contact. b). Once the conversation stops or lulls, read the card and thank the person for it and/or comment on some nice or eye catching aspect of its design OR with a comment, such as "I didn't realize you had an office in _______". NEVER, ever hand the card back! This is considered rude in the extreme! If, after leaving that person's company you're not interested in keeping it, do with the card as you will.

Few things are as instantly off putting as having a business card handed back!

Don't be surprised. Customer Service is not dead but you'll hear the opposite opinion daily. Ask a group of people why they return over and over again to a favorite department store, restaurant, boutique or Doctor's office and you'll hear the same thing. "They're so nice", "The service is great!", etc. Then ask why they use their Insurance agent or their groomer or why they've moved on. When the service is lacking, you'll find your customers don't stick around.

Really, why should they? They get treated rudely on the phone, in person, can't find someone to help them and when they do, the person who's supposed to be helping really could care less; don't get their phone calls returned, have to do your employees job for them and on and on.

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10 Big Mistakes Parents Make

While we all love our kids, in this day and age of two working parents and insane schedules, we tend to cut corners and neglect important things. That being said, here are 10 big mistakes parents make.
By Craig Playstead

1) Spoiling kids
There is no doubt that parents love their kids and want them to have all the things they didn't. However, this comes at a price. A ton of well-intentioned parents have ended up spoiling their kids to such a degree that the kids aren't even happy with all the stuff they have. This causes them to never be satisfied and always want more. Junior doesn't need one more piece of crap, what he needs is some special time with his parents. Think of it this way: How will they ever be prepared for disappointment throughout their life—or learn to be thankful for anything?

2) Inadequate discipline
When you're too lazy to adequately discipline your kids, you pass the little devil you've created on to your relatives, coaches, teachers, and his friends' parents. It's not OK to let your kids treat your house like it was a Jump Planet because that's exactly how they'll treat other people's homes. They should also be much better behaved when they leave the house and visit elsewhere. I've lived through this nightmare first-hand, with the same kid at my house treating my $1,500 couch like a trampoline, and then calling my daughter "ugly" while the kids were eating dinner. All within a 15-minute span. If you don't discipline your kid, someone else will—and you won't like it.

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Stand Your Ground -- Refusing to give in to peer pressure will help your child in the long run.....by Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer

My two children nearly badgered me to death in their pre-teen years. They were desperate to fit in and were furious when I refused them what they wanted. Being a middle-school teacher made it a little easier to say no. I had learned that at about age 8, students stop soaking up their teacher's every word and follow their friends instead. I had also seen how quickly tweens get over (and forget) things that only a short time before had been among life's greatest disappointments or injustices. But still, I admit to feeling pleased when my daughter later declared, "It was good you wouldn't let me have a GameBoy. My friends waste so much time on them." And I'm probably not the only mother whose teenage son thanked her for not allowing him to get an earring when he was 10, because it wasn't "like, cool, now."

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We realize you're talented and able to multi-task; head to work, spend time with your fiancee', family, friends, take care of your home or ready to move into a new one; get your car serviced; go to the gym, play with your animal(s), hit the hairdresser, get your nails done....wait! Are you tired yet? This IS your life, correct? How are you possibly going to get your life taken care of and plan a wedding?

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