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The Passionate Voice

Airplanes: A Destination for Silence

September 17, 2017 • Communication, Lifestyle, Social Media

There aren’t many places where you can now fully disconnect. Places where you can’t access wifi and be hooked to the internet and your smartphone. Places where you can totally be #offline.

Thinking back to my first trip to Europe in 2009, I couldn’t call home on my cellphone, let alone get a wifi signal to use my cell (notice I called it a cellphone not a smartphone, that dates me already!) That was less than a decade ago. Oh how technology has advanced in such a short period of time!

While in Europe, I had to go to Internet cafes or use pay phones with calling cards to call home to let my parents know I was safe and sound. I remember taking photos with my camera here and there at the most memorable tourist attractions but I couldn’t be bothered with documenting my entire trip through the lens of my camera. I wanted to experience it all in person. And let’s be serious, even if I wanted to document it all through the best filters and apps, my flip phone didn’t even have the capabilities to take photos. God, I really am dating myself. 

Fast forward almost a decade later, and you can now connect almost anywhere in the world at any time of the day. They even now offer wifi on some planes which seemed like the last place we’d ever see access to internet introduced. I always thought it interfered with the airplane signals?! #GuessIwasWrong

On most flights where they now offer wifi, they at least have put a price tag to access wifi. Its a hefty price tag, but I am glad they put the price high so it discourages me to pay for internet. 

Here’s why….

Airplanes are one of the last places where we can put boundaries or restrictions on using our smartphones and accessing social media. Its one of the last remaining places where we are guaranteed silence. Where we expect to be left alone. Its one of the last places where we are forced to sit alone with our thoughts… scary I know.

Its where you can read a book quietly or watch a movie… with no dings, no alerts, no vibrations.

On airplanes, I get some of my best ideas. Its where my creative juices get a flowin’. Its where I pull out pen and paper and write down blog post ideas, work on my editorial calendar, brainstorm content for upcoming presentations, process ideas and thoughts and let my mind wander. 

Its one of the best feelings.

I’ve come away from my recent trip visiting my in-laws in Manitoba with many blog posts written and random thoughts documented. Some samples from my most recent two hour personal brainstorm session plane ride?

  • Agriculture faces a re-branding challenge. I tweeted about this idea this week. Its one of the biggest challenges I believe we face in the industry I grew up in and love to work in. I’ll be elaborating on this thought later this week when I serve on a Co-operators ag panel.
  • On the topic of agriculture, it just recently dawned on me that for the better part of my political career, I have been the minority. Working in agriculture in downtown Toronto, surrounded by consumers who don’t know much about agriculture and farming is where I’ve realized I’m not the majority. When I was a kid growing up, I just naturally assumed everyone knew about farming because hey, that’s what everyone did right?! Do those who work in agriculture sometimes forget, including me, that we aren’t the majority anymore in the circles we need to be selling our industry too?! And are we comfortable being the minority?
  • Social media is changing the operational functions of customer service departments for companies and businesses. Both good and bad. I talked about this at a presentation I gave earlier this week from a customer service experience I witnessed on Twitter recently. Blog post written on this = check.
  • A ‘Someday File’ – we all have one. Places we’d like to travel too; things we want to buy; books we want to read; things we want to learn. What holds us back from doing any of it?! After reading more of Mark Manson’s ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ it got my mind racing on so many topics he writes about and my own ‘someday file’ and why I keep making lists but don’t DO alot of them.

So many thoughts I know for a two hour flight 😛 So much writing, so little time. Also, here is to our first successful trip and plane ride with Blake. Thankfully it was a smooth ride and experience. Thanks little man for making this mom feel like she hit the baby jackpot #MotherWin 

Leave a Comment Communication, Lifestyle, Social Media 2017, Agriculture, Airplane, Airplane Signal, Baby, Blog452, Blogger, Blogging, Branding, Business, Camera, Career, Cell, Cellphone, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Communication, Connect, Creative Juices, Creativity, Customer Service, Digital, Digital Age, Europe, Fall, Fall 2017, Food for Thought, Ideas, Internet, Mark Manson, Marketing, Maternity Leave, Motherhood, Passionate Voice, Rural Ontario, Side Business, Side Hustle, Silence, Smartphone, Social Media, Someday File, Technology, The Passionate Voice, Thoughts, Tourist, Travel, Travelling, Westjet, Wifi

Communication in the Customer Service Toolbox

September 9, 2015 • Communication, Inspiration, Leadership, Public Speaking

Communication in the Customer Service Toolbox

As a follow up to my post last week, “The Reasons We Take Communication For Granted,” I want to share a funny story that builds on why communication is so important in our repertoire of skills. I recently saw a connection in my LinkedIn network add “Customer Service” to their profile of skills. I had a good chuckle out loud (I know, I felt horrible after) but the reason why I laughed is because this person is not good at customer service whatsoever! To think this person thought they were good at customer service and added this to their public profile brings to light how sometimes we can blinded by our own ignorance.

Then the light off: the reason I thought this person was bad at customer service was simply because they are a poor communicator. The best customer service experiences I have had and the reason why I  believe someone is good at customer service is because they are good at communicating when I’m being served by them. They are an effective two-way communicator – they listen and speak well.

The reason why someone is good at customer service is because they are a good communicator.  They…

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Society takes no prisoners in bad customer service situations. Positive customer service is mandatory in all customer service industries now a days because if consumers have a bad experience, social media and other potential customers hear about it on a very far-reaching scale. I’m sure as you’re reading this in fact, you’re thinking of all the bad customer service experiences you may have had that you may have also shared on social media. Those times where the customer service agent was just lousy –  they  seemed uninterested in helping you; they were annoyed you asked for help; they couldn’t help find what you were looking for; they weren’t resourceful; or they just seemed pre-occupied. In all these instances, these customer service agents whom we’ve all unfortunately ran into, were bad communicators as they couldn’t communicate effectively at the time with you as the customer.

When you really think about, all industries encompass some form of customer service. All organizations have to ensure their front facing employees, not just customer service agents, are great with people, are effective communicators and have a memorable (hopefully positive!) experience with their clients or customers.

This is a good lesson for all readers. Do a personal check and ask yourself:

  • Am I an effective communicator?
  • More importantly, do the people around me (friends, family, colleagues) think I’m a good communicator?
  • Do I get my points across clearly with the people I communicate with daily?
  • Am I taking the time each day to work on being a better communicator?
  • If not, how can I work to improve my communication skills like the other skills in my ‘toolbox?’

Don’t underestimate the value of communication in your customer service toolbox. It may just be the reason why you are sought after for speaking roles; why you are tapped for a promotion; why people come to you for advice…. or whether you are endorsed on LinkedIn (or not).

[Photo Source]

Leave a Comment Communication, Inspiration, Leadership, Public Speaking Christina Crowley-Arklie, Communication, Customer Service, Customer Service Toolbox, Effective Communicator, LinkedIn, listener, Public Speaking, Skills, The Passionate Voice, Two-way communicator





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