Free2Thee.com

Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

Ambiguity has long been considered a problem in language. In almost every tongue, commonly used words often possess multiple meanings that are only made clear in a proper context. For those who fail to grasp the context of a message, ambiguous words often cause miscommunication and misunderstandings, leading some linguists to believe that language doesn’t function as the most effective means of communicating. In theory, the best method of communication would attach only one meaning to each word. However, a new study by MIT cognitive scientists argues that ambiguity may be the most efficient way to communicate after all. Instead of speakers having to invent new sounds for single-use words or memorize a large vocabulary, they can simply reuse small words that listeners can easily disambiguate through social or verbal cues. Ambiguity can get pretty messy, especially with words like “head.” Consider this: if you were in the military, you might be head (leader) of a platoon. On Fridays after work, you could head (travel) over to a local bar and sip the head (foam) off a beer. Soon you would have to empty your bladder in the nearest head (bathroom). If you drink too many beers, you might spend the next day nursing an aching head (upper part of the body). Yet for native speakers of English, sorting out these various uses of “head” poses virtually no problem. Each use of the word occurs in its own unique context, allowing listeners to immediately infer its meaning. Realizing that context can effectively reveal a word’s meaning, researchers decided to test the hypothesis that a language’s simplest and most commonly used words possess the most ambiguity. To do this, they analyzed samples from three languages—English, Dutch and German—noting the sounds and structure of each one and comparing various word properties to numbers of word meanings. What they discovered confirmed their hypothesis: the most frequently occurring words with the fewest syllables and easiest pronunciations had the greatest number of meanings in all three languages. As to why humans naturally turn to ambiguity, researchers say it’s a matter of efficiency. If every word in a language had only one specific meaning, speakers would spend a great deal of time trying to get their message across to listeners—not to mention the complexity of sounds they would have to utter to form so many unique words. In the end, it is “cognitively cheaper” for listeners to derive a word’s meaning from its context. And the cheapest option of all is to reuse a language’s simplest words. While ambiguity proves to be efficient and highly desirable in human communication, it holds challenging implications for computer scientists attempting to develop natural language processing (NLP), which is commonly used in automated customer service. NPL, a result of linguistics research, allows computers to understand and respond appropriately to human messages. Ambiguity hampers the process because programming a computer to possess the same “sophisticated cognitive mechanisms for disambiguating” through context “or even some sort of approximation” of them is nearly impossible, says the study’s lead author, Steven Piantadosi. However, the study allows scientists to better understand the evolutionary process of language, which may hold a key to unlocking its secrets. Related posts: Even in Tough Times, Language Remains Positive [Study] Ability to Gauge Emotion is Independent of Language, Study Says English Language Has Doubled In Size Over Last Century, Says New Study

Read the original:
Ambiguity Makes Language More Efficient, Say Scientists

Written by Elaine Hirsch You finally have your MBA and your first “real” job. Writing the resume was easy since your department counselor helped you with it. The interview also went well because you were given problems taken straight out of textbooks. Now you are faced with a difficulty at work that none of your professors ever covered, leaving you helpless. What Is Communication and How Important Is It? Dictionary.com defines communication as “The imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs”. Did you know that listening is also an important communication skill and requires practice? The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business published a paper entitled “ In Defense of the MBA ,” which stated, “And they realize that faculty who are stars with students because of their outstanding communication, teaching,and advising are also a valuable part of the b-school equation.” Understanding financial formulas, memorizing case studies, and recalling successful companies is no longer enough to succeed in business; according to MBA Online , adequately communicating your ideas has become a crucial skill to have. What an MBA Doesn’t Cover Just as the example in paragraph one explains, most classes in an MBA are geared to learning the mechanics of a business enterprise. Unfortunately, many MBA programs won’t teach its students how to close sales, pitch a business idea,or even conduct day-to-day customer service. As more companies are competing for the consumer’s dollar, having these skills will make a huge difference in getting visibility for your product. There is a concern also with online education. Does it give an MBA graduate the interpersonal skills required to effectively do their job once they land it? According to authors from Drexel University the number of students taking at least one online course in the fall of 2007 was 3.9 million and is increasing every year. While online programs could improve communication skills in terms of using social media and email to get in touch with professors and students, it still detracts students from learning how to interact with customers. How to Learn on Your Own Consider joining a group that reads and discusses a book to share opinions and analyze what you read. Speaking of books, Jeff Bezos’ biography is one of great achievement. You can read about it on his website . He made book reading easy through Kindle communication technology. Getting your hands dirty by starting your personal social media campaign isa great way to learn communication skills. Starting a blog and writing weekly articles about a topic that interests you, linking it to your Twitter account and networking with like-minded people, and leveraging these tools to improve visibility on your LinkedIn account are great (and free) ways to being increasing your network size. All that you do to improve your communication skills will help you personally andin the business world. A degree, while helpful, can only go so far. All you say and do will have a lasting impact. Carefully consider adding all you can to your communication skills. Related posts: Police officers to receive communication skills training Being An Only Child Does Not Hurt Social Skills Botox Impairs Communication Skills

Link:
Important Communication Skills You Can’t Learn From an MBA

Are you confused about how to determine the true value of social business initiatives? That’s not surprising given the various misconceptions circulating about ROI. Results such as influence, engagement, impact or customer satisfaction are not values but benefits. If you want to gain the green light on your social initiatives, then you must discuss the value with your executive team in monetary terms. This research brief will tell you what you need to know, and explain the benefits of social business including: Extended influence with prospects and customers Improved branding Improved customer service Heightened customer loyalty Better insight into customers Request Free!

Read the original:
2010 The True Value of Social Business

I’m pleased to announce the launch of our free custom search engine to help people find free online courses, guides, videos, e-books and audiobooks. With the exception of audiobooks all of the contents in the search engine should link to learning materials, from free university courses, right down to short instructional videos. We love it, and we think you will too. Feel free to play with it, and come often because we’ll be updating very regularly. Relieve the frustration of navigating spammy results in general search engines.

Bonus: If you are a webmaster and want to add this engine to your website or blog to provide an extra attraction, you can do so easily and quickly by adding the code here to your page(s)

People in small business and even one person enterprises are starting to learn more about the importance of branding, something large companies and corporations have known about for a long time. The advent of blogging and microblogging, al la twitter is bringing these issues to the fore with both large and small enterprises. This free whitepapers talks about the need to protect and grow your brand, both in terms of communicating with customers, and having a workforce with a world-class brand.

Short Description: Learn how to protect your brand in difficult economic times.

Long Description: Get answers to these questions:

How can your company ensure delivery on its brand promises to customers?

How can you meet sustainability concerns and protect brand value?

And how can you develop the type of workforce associated with a world-class brand?

Get your copy and improve your branding techniques here

Disney has long been touted as a revered leader in management, customer service, and other business practices. Now you can learn the principles and strategies that Disney uses. The 61 page free whitepaper, Disney Great Leader Strategies is full of phenomenal content, It’s just plain GREAT,

Get your free copy of Disney Great Leader Strategies Here