HOWTO: Answer questions in a warm welcoming way

Google Maps tips & tricks
21

Thanks for this great post @PaulPavlinovich .

Every local guide should read this post.

@KarenVChin yes, that valid point, If a Local Guide has already responded with answer there is no point to repeat.

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22

Very Helpful post @PaulPavlinovich thank you for sharing!

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23

Thank you so much for sharing this great helpful post @PaulPavlinovich

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24

G’Day, @PaulPavlinovich

Many thanks for your helpful article. I will share this article into the Japanese board based on my words and thoughts.

Regards,

Toyo

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25

@PaulPavlinovich thank you for such wonderful post.

I m totally agree with your point, helping others is always great. Real happiness exists on it. Only persons who really want to help others can feel the true happiness.

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26

Hi @PaulPavlinovich .

Good day. This is vary nice post for every local guides. Thanks a lot! for sharing with us.

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27

Salut @PaulPavlinovich ,

Merci pour cet article et ses précieux conseils. Ils vont trÚs utiles à nous tous.

À ta santĂ©,

Vincent

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28

@PaulPavlinovich

ThaTha for your helpful tip

Cherrs

Saudi local guide

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29

This is really a real wonderful way of helping each other.

Thanks @PaulPavlinovich for your helpful article which can be used to improve all as a person.

Thanks a lot


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30

Thanks for the tips, this is really good post and not only here on local guides this is something to be followed across.

-Aashish

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31

this is a lovely piece @PaulPavlinovich

kind regards

Sagir

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32

That’s helpful and inspiring cause others were afraid to ask questions and give input

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33

@PaulPavlinovich . This is very interesting and helpful post. All Local Guide must go through it.

Thanks for sharing this kind of significant tips. These are really inspiring and motivating

Sudhi

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34

Greetings,

It was really instructive reading your post .

Thank you and keep the good work!

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35

Excelentes observaçÔes. Palavras essenciais para um excelente aproveitamento desse espaço.

Ser acolhedor Ă© fundamental para quem quer comunicar alguma coisa.

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36

Well said! Love some obstacles too and help ppl ofthen, but its a good reminder cheers

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37

I loves this tips, thank you very much

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38

Use of mild language in unlikely posts and strong language in likely posts is always best.

@PaulPavlinovich , focussing on bullet no 2 I see everyday that many posts go to archive without getting any answer.

So my request for all is not to focus only in posts of active local guides.

The race for replying in new fellow’s post would be better.

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39

This is beautiful article. Thanks for the call to consciousness

@PaulPavlinovich wrote:

Helping each other
Helping each other419×303 69.5 KB

The image used in this post is a cartoonised image of mine of two athletes helping each other in an tough obstacle race. Watching two people help each other is always a wonderful experience for the person outside the conversation, it is even more rewarding both for the person needing help and the person who is giving. Local Guides is all about giving and supporting each other.

Do you like helping people? Do you often reply to posts here on Connect? It is awesome to try and help people and I absolutely encourage every single Local Guide to do so, do it every day.

Here are a few guidelines that you might find helpful.

  1. Live the Five Core Values of Connect in every response every time
  2. It isn’t a race - nothing is gained by being the first person to respond to someone’s post - it’s better to be a bit slower with a considered and valuable response - the original poster will thank you and is more likely to give you kudos and perhaps mark your answer as a solution
  3. If the post has content you don’t like or you feel is wrong or inappropriate then a gentle word is much more likely to get a positive outcome than an argumentative one - if its really bad then hit the three dots and Report Inappropriate Content so a moderator can take care of it
  4. @Include the persons name in an @Mention and restate their issue to show that you do understand it before you try and answer
  5. Rather than include steps to do something - talk in general terms of what should be done and always include a link to a relevant article. Both Google Support and Connect Helpdesk articles are good sources. This is because the various Maps applications change often, the help articles will always be brought up to date but steps and screenshots can become out of date quickly - look how many people read old articles and get angry because they can’t get free storage because the response they read is out of date
  6. Try not to fall into the one size fits all macro based answer trap - I (and the other Moderators) use reply Macros a lot, but after popping the Macro we customise the text to ensure that the answer addresses the person, restates their issue, then answers their issue. There is little point in giving 80% of an answer in an unfriendly way.

I hope people find this helpful. If you find someone who is not living the core values in their replies, feel free to give them a friendly nudge to read this post.

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40

Hello! thanks your for the post! i think it has good message for us! And yes! I really like helping people thats why I love being a local guide (plus i enjoy taking pictures). So doing this makes me feel good and that feeling is really rewarding. About the next question, i often reply post here, i like to feel in contact with other members and read about their experiences.

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