by Ben Afia | Sep 14, 2018 | articles, behaviour
“I’m just ringing to check that you’ve got enough resource to deliver systematically.” I overheard this on the train. So did most of the carriage. Deliver systematically? Wouldn’t ‘have you got enough people to do the job’ do? If we want business to sound more human...
by Ben Afia | Jun 15, 2018 | articles, behaviour, tone of voice
Customer satisfaction at all time high, Indian webchat teams Last year I created a new empathy and writing programme for Vodafone’s Indian webchat teams. We spent a lot of time on: understanding customers practising emotional intelligence adapting to cultural...
by Ben Afia | Mar 2, 2018 | articles, behaviour
It’s a lovely word ‘flow’. Recently, a mate of mine was talking about the flow effect he gets from running (about 30 minutes or a few miles into each run). After months of effort, he now finds jogging in the winter gloom easy, absorbing, blissful. It’s a feeling that...
by Ben Afia | Nov 17, 2017 | articles, behaviour, tone of voice
I’m back in India, helping 1,000 webchatters relate better to UK customers. And I’ve been researching us Brits so I can explain us to Indians. What’s stuck in my mind is how maddeningly indirect we are. Especially when it comes to talking about...
by Ben Afia | Sep 26, 2017 | articles, behaviour
I’m in India right now, first in Pune and I’ve just landed in Delhi. I’ve got a couple of weeks getting to know Vodafone’s call centres. Turning the leading writers into writing leaders Vodafone want to inspire great writing skills that will stick...
by Ben Afia | Jul 14, 2017 | articles, behaviour
Why tone of voice doesn’t always take hold Let’s start with the good. When tone of voice training sticks, it galvanizes teams, supports brand behaviours and helps people grab hold of brand principles that are often too abstract. And good communications make things run...
