The last thing we want to hear during our work day is complaints from customers. However, it does come with the territory. Here are a few tips on how to turn your customer’s complaint into a positive.

1. Listen
When a customer comes to you with a complaint about one of your products or services, listen to them. Listen to what they are telling you, and take notes if at all possible.

The number one thing a customer wants when they have a problem is for someone to listen to them.

Allow them to vent, let them get it all out. Once they have explained their problem in full, begin to ask any questions you may have to get a full handle on the situation.

While you are listening, body language is very important. Make sure you maintain eye contact. This sends your customer a message that you are taking them seriously.

2. Be Empathetic
When the customer is done explaining their problem, show sincerity by telling them that you understand how they feel. Apologize on behalf of the company that they feel the way they do, and tell them that you are committed to resolving their issue within the guidelines of your company.

By becoming defensive in this situation, you are taking a bad situation and making it worse.

By having an understanding of where your customer is coming from on the situation, and speaking in a calm tone of voice, you can clearly defuse the situation.

You don’t by any means want your customer to become angry and cause a scene.

3. Offer a Solution.
We have all heard the expression “the customer is always right.”

I don’t necessarily agree with this, but it is important to work toward finding a solution, even if the customer is in the wrong. For instance, you might try meeting them half way.

You will know wether or not your customer is a repeat offender, and you can handle the situation accordingly.

For customers who have a legitimate complaint, it is best to rectify the situation right then and there. Wether it is giving them their money back, or replacing their product.

Always leave your customer with your business card and tell them if they should ever have a problem again, they should not hesitate to contact you immediately. This will help them regain their confidence in you and your company.

The main goal when a customer has a complaint is to not allow the problem to snowball. Your objective should be to defuse the situation and retain your customer.

By handling tough situations such as these in a professional manner, you will find your once complaining customers satisfied that you resolved their issue, and a new found respect for you.

Author Bio
Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

The Truth About Pixels, Part 2-1: Printing 4×3 Inch Photos

Why is a 3 megapixel camera better than a 1 megapixel camera? It really depends on how you intend to reproduce the picture. The reason cameras produce pictures at 72 pixels per inch is that this format is standard in video uses such as television and DVD. So there is no noticeable difference in quality when viewing pictures on a TV or DVD. The difference appears when you are cropping and/or printing these pictures. If you are not familiar with the term cropping, I will explain it later. But first let’s talk about printing.

Even the most inexpensive of printers these days are capable of printing at 300 dots per inch (dpi). Most are capable of printing at 600 dpi and you can buy relatively affordable printers that print at 1200 dpi and above. You may have noticed that with cameras it’s called pixels per inch and with printers it is call dots per inch. The terms are hardware specific, but relate to the same principal. A printer prints a specific number of dots of ink per inch on the paper whereas a TV displays a specific number of pixels per inch on the screen. In either case, combining the dots or pixels creates the picture.

So how does this affect quality? If we’re printing a picture that has 72 pixels per inch from a 1-megapixel camera on 4×3 printer paper we’ve got a problem. (Here is where I have to crunch some numbers, so please bear with me.) Let’s figure it out. Four inches times 72 pixels (dots) per inch equals 288 pixels (dots) on the vertical line. Three inches times 72 pixels (dots) equals 216 pixels (dots) on the horizontal line. The total picture would have 288 times 216 or 62,208 pixels. That’s way short of one million.

So where did the other pixels go? If you’re printing this picture at a store or camera shop that has conversion capabilities, the machine that you are printing on actually crunches the picture down for you. The size of the picture taken by a 1-megapixel camera is approximately 16 inches x12 inches. (16×72=1152 and 12×72=864 and 864×1152=995,328 pixels). The machine makes this picture into a 4×3 by increasing the number of pixels per inch. The 4×3 picture is 1/4th the size of the 16×12 so there has to be four times as many pixels per inch to reduce this picture to 4×3. Four times seventy two equals two hundred eighty eight pixels (dots) per inch. With more pixels or dots per inch, the picture can be reproduced at a higher quality level making details sharper and more distinct. So a 1-megapixel camera can produce a reasonably good quality 4×3 inch picture on a 300 dpi printer. That’s what most amateur photographers get with their snapshot cameras. If you try to get larger pictures, then the picture quality begins to deteriorate. Part 2-2 will deal with larger prints.

Conclusion: If you have a printer with more than 300 dpi capabilities and all you want is 4×3 inch prints, then you are not using all your printer’s abilities. If you want prints larger than 4×3 inch, then you need a camera with a higher quality output capability. If all you want is 4×3 inch prints and video reproduction without cropping much, then a 1-megapixel camera and 300 dpi printer should serve you fine.

Note: Different printers produce different quality prints. Since this is a discussion of pixels and digital cameras, I do not get into choosing printers for the quality. Suffice it to say, if you have a reasonably good quality printer, then the information provided should work for you.

Note 2: There are ways to enlarge prints with lower dpi rates and size and still get quality results. This information will come in later discussions and is probably geared toward the more advanced photographers and digital dark room users.

Author Bio

Wayne Rockwell is a professional videographer at Legacy Pictures to Video (www.picstovid.com) and specializes in Video Montage creation and Photo Retouching.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

A day in the life of a business person can be filled with joy and satisfaction or it can be frustrating and stressful. When things go wrong, some people lose control. Holding emotions in check and reacting professionally under fire are not always easy. It is particularly difficult to be nice to people who are not being nice to you.

So what do you do to keep your cool when the customer is chewing you out? Most of the time, it is not even your fault. It could be that the problem was with a product or a service delivered by someone else in your organization. You’re getting the blame because the unhappy person found you first, and it’s not pleasant. When faced with angry people, there are four key steps that will help diffuse the situation.

Step one is to apologize. “But,” you say, “it’s not my fault.” It doesn’t matter who’s to blame; apologize anyway. As a representative of your company you have a responsibility to see that things go well. Your willingness to be accountable will have a positive effect. After all, it takes two to have an argument. If one of you refuses to be disagreeable you can’t have a disagreement. You are not accepting blame-you are simply saying, “I’m sorry about the problem.” You are wasting your breath unless you apologize with complete sincerity so be sure that your tone of voice matches your words.

Step two is to sympathize with the irate customer. Let the person know that you can identify with his feelings. Say that you understand the frustration of receiving a faulty product or poor service. The angry person begins to feel better as soon as his reaction is validated.

Step three is to accept responsibility for the situation. Be accountable to the customer. Let him know that you intend to do whatever it takes to make things right. You can’t help what has already happened, but you will come up with a solution to the problem or you will find someone who can.

The last step is to take action. Decide what you can do and tell the customer. You will replace the defective or incorrect product as quickly as possible. If the issue was poor service deliver better service. Whenever you can offer a bonus of some sort or waive fees, the tiger before you is transformed into a pussycat.

Use the acronym “ASAP” to remember these four steps for calming upset customers. Each letter stands for part of the process.

A is “apologize.”
S represents “sympathize.”
A stands for “accept responsibility.”
P means “prepare to take action.”

Nothing will be solved by becoming argumentative and reactionary. Instead, diffuse the client’s anger by being apologetic and sympathetic and focus on positive steps that will resolve the situation. Before you know it, your adversaries will become your allies.

Oh yes, remember to smile. It will make everyone feel better and behave better.

Author Bio
Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert, professional speaker, corporate trainer and author of MANNERS THAT SELL – ADDING THE POLISH THAT BUILDS PROFITS. She has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, Investors’ Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Inc., Real Simple and Woman’s Day. For more information about her programs, products and services, e-mail her at lydia@mannersthatsell.com or visit her web site www.mannersthatsell.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

10 Tips For Using Adobe Photoshop By: Paul Wilson Like a brush is to a painter an essential skill in the field of graphic design is Photoshop. The software offers increased productivity as well as flexibility. The features include aspects like file browser, vanishing point tool, smart sharpen filter, noise reduction filter, smart objects, as well as camera workflow enhancements. Photoshop offers professional photo editing features, digital imaging, as well as non destructive editing. There are so many hidden features and insights to software, that it is often impossible to know them all.

1. There is a hidden option using which you can simulate bold and italic formatting styles for fonts that do not have these options. Click the button on the type tool option to bring up the character palette. Then select text and click the arrow in the upper right hand corner of the palette menu where faux bold and italics are present. However you will not be able to warp type when formatting has been applied.

2. One can quickly flip through blend modes while trying out effects by using the keys “shift+ to change to next mode and shift- to go to the previous mode.” When a painting tool is active this shortcut will change the blend mode of the painting tool. However, if anything is highlighted then the shortcut will not work. You will have press esc and then use the shortcut keys again.

3. The photomerge feature can be used to seamlessly combine multiple images to create a panorama. This feature can be accessed from the Automate menu. You can even refine the composition using tools like rotate, zoom, pan, and set vanishing point.

4. When re-sampling images one can use either Bicubic Smoother or Bicubic Sharper. You can use Bicubic smoother for up sampling and Bicubic sharper for down sampling. You can actually specify which interpolation method is to be used by going to general preferences and setting a default.

5. There are two features for printing. You can use contact sheet II or picture package. Use contact sheet when you want all images in the same size and you want to print the name below the image. Use printer package when you want different image sizes on the same page, or multiple copies of the same image, or a text overlay.

6. If you want to remove a glare on the eyeglasses of an image you should use a part of the lens that does not have a glare and use it to layer the lens with a glare. Use tools like rotate and skew and soft-tip eraser to soften the edges. Ensure the glare does not show through from below. Or, do some careful work using the clone tool. 7. The online services enable you to connect to online photo printing and sharing sites. 8. The Web Photo gallery can generate hyperlink pages that can be uploaded to a server. 9. The Picture Package option will help you prepare photos in layout with multiple size prints on one page. 10. You will never forget how you achieved a certain result because the History Log will detail every step taken by you as well as time-tracking, and a legal record. There are three choices wherein, you can create a sessions only record where, it will record only when Photoshop is opened or closed; or a concise record which will record each action including the text that appears in the history palette; or the complete editing history including the text that appears in the actions palette. Adobe Photoshop is a dream tool for every designer and one can over time master every subtlety of the tool and crop, rotate, resize, create shapes, add layers, change text, and play with colors. It is a hands on software where the more you use it the more you will learn. Author Bio Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1888SoftwareDownloads.com, the premier website to find Free Software Downloads including free anti-virus software, free spyware detection software, free toolbars, free chat software and more. He also freelances for Free Online Games site www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

By: Charles Katz

The Sort-A-Matic system included 100 metal or leather dividers numbered 00 through 99. Each check was placed in the corresponding divider by the first two numbers of the account. The sorting process was then repeated for the next two digits of the account number, and so on. When the process was complete, the checks were grouped by account number.

Under the Top Tab Key Sort system, small holes punched at the top of the checks indicated the digits. For instance, the first hole indicated the value of the first digits (0, 1, 2, 3…) A metal “key” was inserted through the holes to separate all of the checks with the same value in the first digit, and this step was repeated for each digit until all the checks were sorted.

Both of these systems worked, but they were time-consuming. With the advent of the computer and its movement from the laboratory into the business world, a sorting and matching task seemed ideal. Stanford University and Bank of America were the first to successfully use computers to sort and match checks. They developed what is now known as MICR.

The Development of the MICR Font
The MICR font was developed by Stanford University in conjunction with Bank of America and approved by the American Banking Association. The font is known as the E-13B font. E-13B has a total of 14 characters: ten specially designed numbers (0 through 9) and four special symbols (Transit, Amount, On-Us, and Dash).

The letter E indicates the fifth version considered. The letter B indicates the second revision of that version. The number 13 is derived from the 0.013-inch module construction used for stroke and character width. This means that all character widths, both horizontal and vertical, are in multiples of 0.013 inches ranging from 0.052 to 0.091. The significance of this will be explained more thoroughly later in this article.

MICR Readers
Three types of machines are used to read MICR characters. The two that read the characters magnetically are referred to as MICR readers. The third machine is an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) reader.

E-13B characters are printed with toner containing iron oxide, which is capable of being magnetized. MICR readers transport the checks containing the E-13B magnetic characters past a magnet, thereby magnetizing the iron oxide particles. The magnetized characters then pass under a magnetic read head. The magnetic field (flux pattern) caused by the magnetized characters generates a current in the read head. The strength and timing of this current allows the reader to decipher the characters.

Magnetic readers come in two types: single track (single gap or split scan) and multiple track (matrix or pattern) readers.

Single-Track Reader Characteristics
Single track uses a read head with one gap to detect the magnetic flux pattern generated by the MICR character. When a magnetized E-13B printed character moves across the narrow gap of the read head, the electric voltage caused by the magnetic flux from the character generates a waveform unique to each character.

Multi-Track Reader Characteristics
The multiple track reader employs a matrix of tiny, vertically aligned read heads to detect the presence of the magnetic flux pattern. The small individual read heads slice across the character to detect the presence of magnetic flux. This sensing of magnetic flux over time produces a unique matrix pattern for each character.

An OCR reader does not use magnetic properties to detect the E-13B characters. Instead, it uses a scanner to detect the amount of light reflected from the character and the amount of light reflected from the background. A photocell column detects the presence of the dark area of a character.

Waveform Theory
The readers move and read documents from right to left. The right-hand edge of the character, as a result, is the first to cross the read head. Analysis of the signal level created by reading the character 0 will help explain this in greater detail.

As the character moves from right to left under the read head, the gap detects the magnetism of the first right-hand edge (edge 1). This results in the increase in magnetism and a positive peak is created (peak 1). As soon as the right-hand edge moves beyond the read head gap, no new magnetism is found, and thus the wave form returns to the zero signal level.

At the second edge, the vertical read head detects a drop in magnetism, which results in a -110 signal level at peak 2. Again the waveform returns to zero until the next portion of the inner ring of the character is detected. At this point (peak 3), an increase in magnetism (+110) is indicated. Finally, the outer portion of the character is read, resulting in a negative peak (peak 4) of -130.

The placement of the vertical edges must occur in increments of 0.013 inches from the first right-hand edge. There are five characters that have two positive and two negative peaks similar to the character 0 and also appear in a positive-negative-positive-negative format. They are 0, 2, 4, 5, and the transit character, which are differentiated from one another by the horizontal location of the peaks in the waveforms. The peaks do require different amplitudes, but ANSI standards allow them to vary from 50% to 200% of the nominal amplitudes (Canadian standards allow them to vary from 80% to 200% of the nominal amplitudes). This is why the placement of the waveform is so important and why the characters are shaped unusually.

What Affects the Signal Level?
Signal level can vary based on a number of factors. The amount of iron oxide (concentration) that is present in the character will affect the signal level. This is a function not only of the toner itself, but also of how it is laid on the paper and the pile height, which can be controlled by numerous other cartridge components (i.e., “hot” OPCs).

The taller the vertical edge of the character, the taller the peak (either positive or negative). A vertical edge that is not regular and/or not vertical will result in a reduction in the amplitude of the peak and will flatten the peak out.

Keys to proper waveform detection are:

What to Look for in MICR Printers and Consumables
Printers that are used for MICR printing must have a unique MICR font that is modified to suit the unique printer engine, and it must be modified to the pixel level to match the magnetic toner provided for that printer. This is essential to ensure the correct waveform, dimension, and signal strength when a check is printed with the correct MICR characters. In addition, the MICR font must meet ABA-X9 standards to ensure acceptance of your checks by banking institutions.

The magnetic MICR toner that you choose must be specifically designed for the particular print engine in the printer. Ensure the toner has been thoroughly tested for consistent signal readings, image permanence and uniformity, and excellent edge acuity. Toner coverage must be solid with no extraneous toner lay down.

OEM cartridges are always a safe (but more expensive) bet. If you buy a “compatible” brand, ensure it has a new OPC drum, new primary charge rollers (PCRs), a new black velvet magnetic sleeve, and new image wiper blades. The hopper system must be filled with high-quality, low-abrasion MICR toner.

The vendor you choose should use the latest and most advance MICR test equipment, such as a Verifier and Golden Qualifier to conform to ANSI X9 Standards. It is also recommended that the systems exceed U.S. and Canadian check printing standards.

Author Bio
Charles Katz is CEO and founder of Printerm Datascribe Inc., a distributor of band, shuttle matrix, dot matrix, and ion deposition printers for various manufacturers. In 1992, Printerm started its R&D department to develop innovative MICR secure laser check printers, MICR fonts, MICR toner, MICR check software, removable security flash cards, and secure digitizing. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must provide an html link pointing to www.printerm.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

By: Paul Wilson
Like a brush is to a painter an essential skill in the field of graphic design is Photoshop. The software offers increased productivity as well as flexibility. The features include aspects like file browser, vanishing point tool, smart sharpen filter, noise reduction filter, smart objects, as well as camera workflow enhancements. Photoshop offers professional photo editing features, digital imaging, as well as non destructive editing.

There are so many hidden features and insights to software, that it is often impossible to know them all.

1. There is a hidden option using which you can simulate bold and italic formatting styles for fonts that do not have these options. Click the button on the type tool option to bring up the character palette. Then select text and click the arrow in the upper right hand corner of the palette menu where faux bold and italics are present. However you will not be able to warp type when formatting has been applied.

2. One can quickly flip through blend modes while trying out effects by using the keys “shift+ to change to next mode and shift- to go to the previous mode.” When a painting tool is active this shortcut will change the blend mode of the painting tool. However, if anything is highlighted then the shortcut will not work. You will have press esc and then use the shortcut keys again.

3. The photomerge feature can be used to seamlessly combine multiple images to create a panorama. This feature can be accessed from the Automate menu. You can even refine the composition using tools like rotate, zoom, pan, and set vanishing point.

4. When re-sampling images one can use either Bicubic Smoother or Bicubic Sharper. You can use Bicubic smoother for up sampling and Bicubic sharper for down sampling. You can actually specify which interpolation method is to be used by going to general preferences and setting a default.

5. There are two features for printing. You can use contact sheet II or picture package. Use contact sheet when you want all images in the same size and you want to print the name below the image. Use printer package when you want different image sizes on the same page, or multiple copies of the same image, or a text overlay.

6. If you want to remove a glare on the eyeglasses of an image you should use a part of the lens that does not have a glare and use it to layer the lens with a glare. Use tools like rotate and skew and soft-tip eraser to soften the edges. Ensure the glare does not show through from below. Or, do some careful work using the clone tool.

7. The online services enable you to connect to online photo printing and sharing sites.

8. The Web Photo gallery can generate hyperlink pages that can be uploaded to a server.

9. The Picture Package option will help you prepare photos in layout with multiple size prints on one page.

10. You will never forget how you achieved a certain result because the History Log will detail every step taken by you as well as time-tracking, and a legal record. There are three choices wherein, you can create a sessions only record where, it will record only when Photoshop is opened or closed; or a concise record which will record each action including the text that appears in the history palette; or the complete editing history including the text that appears in the actions palette.

Adobe Photoshop is a dream tool for every designer and one can over time master every subtlety of the tool and crop, rotate, resize, create shapes, add layers, change text, and play with colors. It is a hands on software where the more you use it the more you will learn.

Author Bio
Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1888SoftwareDownloads.com, the premier website to find Free Software Downloads including free anti-virus software, free spyware detection software, free toolbars, free chat software and more. He also freelances for Free Online Games site www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content