SGX RightNow 0

Last week I was fortunate enough to find the time to have lunch with two new friends, Scott Mosley from The Small Group Exchange, and Marc McCartney from The RightNow Campaign.

I’ve talked about Small Group Exchange before and if you haven’t visited their website in while (or ever) you should stop on by and give it a look. It’s good now, but they’ve got some even better resources planned on their way soon.

The RightNow Campaign is an organization that I have only just begun to learn about, but I’mvery excited about their LeadNow event this November. Check them out here.

Monday Morning List 0

It was a lot busier this weekend than expected, but it was definitely good.

Friday:

  • Katie’s first day back at work and my first full day home with Lincoln. Everyone survived.

Saturday:

  • Work
  • Cookout with Katie’s co-workers

Sunday:

  • Church
  • Lunch with my dad, step-mom, sister, and brother-in-law
  • Awesome nap (Lincoln actually napped for about 2.5 hours!!)
  • Cleaned up the house, washed dishes and laundry
  • Worked on editing videos of Lincoln that we’ll hopefully be able to post soon.

Monday Morning List 2

Friday:

  • Woke up early for breakfast meeting. Found out that it was cancelled. Went back to sleep.
  • Carpet cleaner guy showed up to clean our carpets.
  • Ran errands with Katie and Lincoln
  • Had some awesome fajitas at Lupe’s. Lincoln was intrigued by the sizzling and smoke.
  • Came back home and chilled out.

Saturday:

  • Worked
  • Had a mini-high school reunion with some old friends and their families.
  • Took a great nap.
  • Woke up ad took care of Lincoln while Katie went out for a little while.
  • Watched the premiere episode of Can You Duet.

Sunday:

  • My first Father’s Day.
  • Got about 8 hours of sleep (hooray)!
  • Great sermon at church.
  • Awesome chicken fried steak from Chili’s (to go).
  • Wonderful nap with the whole family.
  • Perfect night at home with family.

Customer Service 101 – Toolbox 0

Recently, my family transferred apartments within the same complex at which we’ve been living for two years. We were trying to save a few dollars as well as get off of the third floor. We found a unit that we liked at an acceptable price point and were excited to move. When I went in to sign the initial paperwork, however, I was informed that there was an additional $400 fee that I would need to pay. (This is after I was told that there would just be a $30 utility fee.) Well, I made my unhappiness known and basically all I got was a, “Sorry, that’s just the way it is…” Oh, and then the customer service kiss of death, “If we do that for you, we have to do it for everyone…” Ok, guys, thanks a lot. At that point, it would have cost more to move than to stay put. I was visibly distressed, yet no help was offered.

No matter how hard frontline workers and managers may try, sometimes things just go wrong. In these cases it is imperative that workers have a customer recovery toolbox to which they can turn.

Frontline workers need to know how far they are allowed to go to correct a customer service mishap. Can they give away product? Is there a dollar limit up to which they can offer a freebie? Are there coupons that they can give out? At what point must they turn to a manager? These are questions that must be answered before problems ever arise.,

When should a manager get involved? What steps are involved in recovering from a bad service experience? How do you honor the customer well without belittling the frontline employee? At what point do you tell the customer that there is simply nothing you can do?

Starbucks does this fairly well. They have processes that they teach employees on “customer reovery” along with the “Just Say ‘Yes’ Policy.” This doesn’t keep problems from arising, but it certainly helps to cool tempers when things go wrong.

Resolution: After my conversation with the apartment staff, I decided to write an email to their corporate office. I ended up getting $250 off ($150 less than the $400 fee that was “sprung” on me) that I have to repay if we move out early. I also got some angry looks from the office staff the next time I went in… but since then, they’ve been a lot nicer. I don’t like going over people’s heads, but sometimes it is unavoidable.

Oh, and as far as the saying, “If we make an exception for you, then we have to make it for everybody” goes… Don’t ever say this. Every person is a unique individual with a unique situation. As far as I’m concerned, you should make an exception for everybody, every day, every interaction. If I’m no different than the person you interact with before or after me, then I’m just a number.

Customer Service 101 – Managers 0

One of the biggest hurdles to great customer service is well-meaning but mis-directed managers and supervisors. I’ve come to realize that the awe-inspiring mission statements that many company have were conceived in the minds of executives who truly believe in them. They are then passed down to the frontline folks to carry out. Unfortunately, the folks in between C.O. and frontline often only seem to care about procedures and the bottom line.

As a supervisor/manager, I’ve always constantly asked myself the question: “Who is my customer?” If I’m in the role of leading a team, then my team members are my customers and (ideally) if I take the best care of them, then they will, in turn, take the best care of the business’ customers.

Supervisors and managers need to switch their focus from seeing corporate “suits” as their customers. If the frontline employees and the customers are well taken care of, then the other issue will most likely work themselves out. Pushing the newest product, abiding by every last policy, and taking care of Back-of-House issues will rarely result in Raving Fans. We must agree with Gitomer that Customer Satisfaction is Worthless and figure out how to create truly memorable experiences.

Of course, there is one easy way for managers to do this: work in a way that suggest that…

The person in front of you is the most important person in the world.

Customer Service 101 – Frontline 1

Ok, here is a little crash course for the folks that work the frontline customer-facing roles.

1. You’re not as sly as you think - I had dinner with the family a couple of weeks ago at Chipotle. Now, Chipotle is far from one of my favorite places, so I’m always a extra aware of the experience. I ordered soft tacos. I asked for rice. And the girl rolled her eyes. SHE ROLLED HER EYES!! This is only slightly less obvious than the slumped-shoulder sigh. Hey! I didn’t ask for rice with a side of attitude. I’m a paying customer, if you offer an item on your menu I should be able to get it without commentary (verbal or non-).

2. I’m not an idiot if I don’t know what I want – The role of the frontline customer service professional is that of a SOLUTION PROVIDER. Sure, you may push keys on the cash register or guide people to their table, but beyond the items listed on your job description, your job is to provide a solution to my problem. Therefore, “needy” customers shouldn’t be seen as stupid or problematic – they simply provide greater opportunity for you to be a hero by solving the problem. Solve the problem, win the customer. Sit there and tap your fingers while the customer struggles, don’t expect a tip.

3. I should feel like I’m your priority – I know that there are probably multiple things going on in the business that I’m not aware of. Most customers couldn’t care less, but I for one have a little grace in this area because I’ve been there. Still, I should not get the impression that I’m an inconvenience to you getting your other stuff done. If anything I should feel like your other stuff is an inconvenience to you taking care of me.

I know that at the end of the day, 90% of frontline people don’t care whether an individual customer comes back or not, so let me boil it down to something they will care about. If I have a bad experience I’m far less likely to return. If enough customers have a similar experience, they will do the same. Fewer customers = fewer labor hours = less work for you = less income.

So again, it all comes down to the basic premise:

The person in front of you is the most important person in the world.

Customer Service 101 – Introduction 0

I’ve experienced a few customer service “fails” over the past few weeks.

Having spent much of my career in customer-facing roles, I find these situations to be inexcusable.

Thus, I’ve taken it upon myself to do a little customer service training over the next few days. I will be naming names.

I would like to invite you to submit your own experiences in the comments below or along the way over the next few days. Here’s what you can look forward to…

  • Tomorrow: Frontlines – the people that interact most directly with the customer
  • Thursday: Management – who is your customer?
  • Friday: Customer Service Toolbox – how you solve problems

But if you learn nothing else, customer service can be boiled down to one rule:

The person in front of you is the most important person in the world.

Church Jobs – Episode 4 1

So, I’m not in this one, but it does feature the character that I helped to brainstorm…

Church Jobs Episode 4 from 121Videos on Vimeo.

Monday Morning List 0

Friday:

  • Tried to take it easy and recover from sickness
  • Ran some errands with Katie
  • Mom came over for a few minutes before leaving to go back to Wisconsin

Saturday:

  • Worked
  • Took a nap
  • Went to Matt & Stacy’s engagement party
  • Watched New in Town which was far better than I expected (lots of awkward humor)

Sunday:

  • Church – with the incredible Dr. Richard Ross
  • Nap
  • Grocery shopping
  • Took care of Lincoln so that Katie could get a nap

Media Friday: Obscure Films – Cop and a Half 0

I was at work and one of my co-workers referenced a movie that I hadn’t seen in years. I figured that I should share it with you in the first edition of Media Friday’s Obscure Films.

I remember video taping this movie from an HBO free preview weekend when I was a kid. I watched just about every other day. I love the kid because he is like a minature version of Samuel L. Jackson. Unfortunately, according to IMDB, this was his only film role.

Check out the trailer…

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