Tips to Book IRCTC tickets Faster

Booking a Tatkal Ticket on IRCTC is almost equivalent to a Mission Impossible.If you want to be successful, and do it faster, you need much more than just good internet speed. You need to have adequate tools and a strategy to best use them, in your arsenal to win this one!

Here’s your homework-

-Keep Multiple Login IDs Ready to use (Contact Close Friends/Family)
-Keep Multiple Browsers Ready (IE, Chrome, Firefox)
-Know the station codes in advance (use indianrail.gov.in)

-Know the train that you want to target in advance (use indianrail.gov.in)
When having options of train preferably choose the one with more tickets available in the class that you want to travel in. (Also include WL buffer for Tatkal Bookings by checking for tatkal booking status for a day before your target date)
-Know the number of seats available in each class and accordingly choose to book in the class with maximum seats. (use indianrail.gov.in)
-When filling details of passengers, u may use autofill plug-ins like (for firefox – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/autofill-forms/) (for chrome – https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/autofill/nlmmgnhgdeffjkdckmikfpnddkbbfkkk?hl=en)
-Or you may use tools like Magic Auto Fill to fill passenger details in an instant- http://ctrlq.org/irctc/

-When making transactions, give the following preference credit card > Debit Card > Net Banking
(Why? Using cards, it is a 2 Click process and use net banking it is usually a 3 Click process)

(Why credit over debit card? In a number of cases the amount gets deducted but ticket is not allotted. Using debit card blocks your money till the time you get a refund. Using a credit card, the money doesnt get blocked.)

Know more tips?
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Make reading the books easier! Go Kindle!

Start using Kindle (Software) over PDF ebooks.In fact, i prefer Kindle over Print Editions as well (unless it’s a magazine :P)

Kindle’s free reading app for your favourite reading device-
http://amzn.to/16F7WN2

Good Points for Appraisal Filling

From accomplishments to stressful issues, discuss them frankly.

Your Performance Appraisal Discussion session holds the key to your growth
and development in the organization. It offers you an opportunity to taLk
openly about things that only you may know - new skills acquired, goals
achieved, chalLenges faced and how you tackled them.
Here are a few tips that will help you make your discussion more fruitful.
o Cover all appraisal aspects including your strengths, weaknesses,
accomplishments, failures and deveLopment opportunities
o Be frank whiLe talking about your accomplishments or failures
o Be prepared with data and documentary evidence
o Quote specific achievements like • I responded to alt queries within 48
hours’
o Avoid vague statements like ‘My customer service was good’
Have a positive attitude and be open to suggestions given by your assessor
Seek newer challenges and enhanced responsibilities
Remember, being open and positive makes all the difference.
Here’s to a truly productive discussion session
Regards,
HR

Relationship Selling in Industrial Sales / Construction Equipment

During the training of new members in our sales team, there was a brief session by a senior manager of our organisation on the way we do sales in the construction equipment industry.

We are in relationship selling. We are face of our company to the customer. We are dealing with faces all around. One to one relations are very important in this kind of industrial selling. (In an FMCG, business with faceless customers and faceless companies)

How to develop relationships?

• investing time
• value addition

Project information, equipment info, something new

• mutual respect as humans/ friends (and not necessarily sales man) – never say die attitude / patience
• never get insulted
• over time , aim to be the advisor of the customer. ( personal consultant)

What the Sales Engineer needs?

• be rational in ur thinking and approach, don’t be emotional, be objective in decision making – Learn prioritisation
• communication skills and presentation skills should be enhanced – know about your competition
• pick up good habits/styles/tools from everyone around you and develop your own style.

When choosing to meet between an existing customer or a new competition customer, we tend to choose our own customer coz of our tendency to stay in our comfort zone. Whereas, doing the other way round will increase the returns.

Our organisation is driven by market share.
We work towards having a majority of market share in spite of having a premium machine. We want to make our machine a NEED of the customer.
We are contradicting the normal tendencies.

Use your words effectively in Resume/Profile Form/Appraisals

Here’s what someone sent me regd the appraisal-

""

This is the first in a series of ‘Mantras’ that will help your appraisal and objective setting process be truly
productive.
Here are a few tips that will help you put your best foot forward, while filling in your Appraisal Form.
- Track all the tasks that you have executed in the year 2012 - 2013
- Consider whether the task was achieved successfully or could have been done better
- Analyse the effort put into accomplishing the task
- Note the outcome - for example :- Indications of savings, process improvements, improved turnover,
specific challenges overcome or anything else that comes to mind.
All of this will help your assessor review your performance in an objective manner.
Here’s to a truly productive assessment session. ""

Mistakes to avoid while 'Learning to believe in Yourself'

Further from ‘Learning to Believe in Yourself’ (@http://wp.me/p1emvy-3R), here’re some mistakes you might wanna avoid:-

• liking something/someone just coz they pay you/like you
• Not knowing when to quit
• Being resistant to advice
• Getting overhelmed by too many choices.

Email follows…

Learn to Believe in Yourself / Plus some Email Scripts

How to change the way you’re doing things? How to start believing in yourself?
1. Brutally small steps with a long-term perspective.
2. Overprepare like you cannot even imagine.

3. Handle naysayers.

4. Be mindful of who you surround yourself with.

Few helpful Email scripts (More @ http://join.50provenemailscripts.com)

• How do you get VIPs to take time out of their busy schedule to meet with you and answer your questions?
• Want to introduce two people to each other in a way that doesn’t leave them fumbling about what the next steps should be?

Go on, read more about it.

How to handle a career crossroads

Everyday, Every few minutes, we come across several choices that we have to make. And most often, we choose our option within no time. However there are times when the choices are ‘high stakes’ and we need to think a considerable bit before reaching a decision. There are two broad ways we tackle them:

1. Ask the people around us. Trust their decision.
2. Ask the people around us for inputs. Look for more inputs from research. Weigh options. Make a decision.

What we rarely do is – Follow a framework.

In this post from Ramit Sethi, he gives inputs as to how we can make the best decision with respect to career choices by effectively using the framework – ‘Research Your Role Model’
He highlights that in most cases, we just copy-paste the career path used by our ‘role model’. However what we actually should do is, UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT. i.e. Understand why the ‘role model’ took those moves or path. Understand what were the key skills required for the change. etc.

He also hosts an interview which intends to teach you the following:

• What frameworks you can apply to the pivotal moments in your life — like Indiana Jones had his
• How to increase the serendipity in your life…and open up killer career opportunities you didn’t know existed.
• The best — and usually overlooked — way to use your network
• How to ask questions in an informational interview that elicit USEFUL answers
• How to pivot common "small talk" into deeper, open-ended questions that create a real relationship
• The #1 mistake most people make when developing their personal brand (and how to avoid it)
• What you can learn about managing your career from tech entrepreneurs
• The three critical components of career differentiation (and why you need all three to optimize your results)
• The one thing ANY inexperienced person can offer a VIP

Trailer of the video –

The complete article is a part of Ramit Sethi’s Brain Trust Program which can be accessed here – http://join.ramitsbraintrust.com

How to remove background noise from audio for FREE!?

So for a project i was doing, there was just too much noise (audio) in the video that i had recorded to be able to make appropriate use of it. Hence I needed a way to fix that. Here’s what i came across.

Since the video gives you a way of removing noise from an audio file using Audacity, we need to strip out the audio from the video first.

Stuff you’ll need:
Windows Movie Maker
Audacity

Step 1. Using Windows Movie Maker open the video file
Step 2. Save the video file as a pure audio file. Preferably in WAV format.
Step 3. Open this audio file in Audacity and perform steps as suggested in the video.
Step 4. Export the modified audio file.
Step 5. In Windows Movie Maker, insert this new audio file as a narration/music and in the edit tab, set the emphasis setting to use 0% volume from video and 100% from the new audio.
Step 6. Export this video.

You’re Done!

Break out from the stuff holding you back!

So some of us are getting somewhat frustrated by being where we are today and not being able to achieve the goals we had set for ourself.(Not sure whether or not you’re ‘STUCK’?
Read this post on …. by Ramit Sethi … which discusses… 1.2.3…
(http://wp.me/p1emvy-2x)

So you have to begin with – Knowing the ACTUAL problem which is pulling you back.
When you have identified it, half of your difficult work is done. Now you have to start working on it.
Here’s how to make sure you are able to work on overcoming that problem effectively
1. Start Small
2. Reflect along the way
3. Teach it to others
(from HBR’s Management Tip of the Day – Master a new Skill – Read the Detailed tips here (http://links.mkt3142.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NTY4MTgzNwS2&r=NjM3NzU3NDYxMQS2&j=NjcyMzE4ODIS1&mt=1&rt=0) – Alternate link (http://gim.ie/anIa4)

Now that we want to move ahead and start something new, here’s what happens quite often-
whenever you’re about to start doing something new–whether it’s starting a new business, investing in a new training, or doing ANYTHING–your first reaction is to come up with a BFE for why you can’t do what you were called to do. (*BFE – Big Freaking Excuse)
Don’t worry! it’s not uncommon. Read an instance-
Derek Halpern goes on to talk about his BFE before he started several successful training modules. – http://gim.ie/anH6K