Set Your People Up To Win

At the door last week, was a rep from my cable and Internet provider. She introduced herself and displayed her company employee card clipped to the outside of her jacket.

"I'm here to see if I can save you a few dollars by bundling our services," she started out.

The she asked, "So, can you tell me what services you are currently subscribing to from us?"

Huh? Wouldn't she already know what services I subscribe to before she got to the door if her purpose was to actually save me money?

What I soon figured out is that the cable company, instead of using a third-party call center to phone to pester me, sends people out into the field to knock at doors. They probably have a better closing ratio than the phone since no one answers their phones anymore. But why did she have NO information about my account?

This is what makes an organization look dumb, mediocre, ordinary: sending their people (contracted or not) out to represent the company, to talk knowledgeably to their customers, to sway new customers to increase the number of service subscriptions, and yet give them absolutely nothing to go on - no help, no "warm call," no support, no nothing. Any ordinary and mediocre company can do that. Most do. There's no effort required in being ordinary.

If you were an organization of greatness, you'd make sure that the reps you send would at least know a little something about me - even what services I subscribe to. If you're going to save me money, then you had better know exactly how you could do that before you get to my door. This pathetic sales attempt at my door was not about making me, the customer, the focus of the call.


I checked their web site under the "Careers" section. It's where I found their "Values" statement: Together, we designed a value system that will guide us and that will represent to our team and our customers how we do things here. Our values are: Accountable, Balance, Customer Focused, Loyalty, Integrity, Positive, Can Do Attitude and Team Player.

Do you want some advice cable behemoth? How about you walk your talk and actually do what your "Values" statement says you will do: support the people out in the market who deal with your customers by at least giving them a modicum of information and set them up to win instead of finding ways of getting doors slammed in their faces and your company to get a bigger black eye as a company out-of-touch with its customers?

Just another mediocre company paying lip-service to their company values.  It's no big surprise that on the same page of their web site I also found: We are always looking for motivated individuals to fill a wide range of positions in a variety of locations. No kidding.

 

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


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Are You Open At 2 A.M.?

If you've got teenagers then you know that they're up into the middle of the night chatting on MSN (Windows Live), watching hour after hour of YouTube videos and doing everything possible to avoid actually having personal interactions with their families because virtual interactions require absolutely no focus.

So a college student who is up most of the night, sleeping until 3 pm wouldn't have much time to reach a dentist to make an appointment if the only way to reach the dentist or the doctor or the chiropractor or the massage therapist or the hair stylist or... well, you get the idea ... was during traditional working hours of 9-5. Most businesses close their doors at 5 or 6 pm just when college students or other Gen Ys seem to be getting going. But not just that: people who work a day job can't get to you during day hours because they're working too.

Think of how many people, not just young people, are up between 11 pm and 2 am on the Internet actually buying things. The number of Baby Boomers on-line at this time is growing exponentially.

Discover Small Business' recent survey showed 46% of small businesses don't have a web site. That's about half of the small business market with no way for your clients to reach you unless you force them to call (on the telephone) when it's convenient for you - not for them. Today's young market has more phones than ever but they don't talk on them. They text on them.

There's a great divide of hours between when customers are available and when businesses are open. And it's only getting worse. The numbers of people expecting to be able to interact (simply send an email) to a business is getting larger. The demand is getting higher and you're losing market share to your emerging (and soon to be dominant) market because you won't give them a simple email address or have a simple web site to do business by?

How much money are you LOSING to competitors because they can be reached after hours? You'd better have a way for this up and coming market to reach you or you're going to lose quickly. 

Any mediocre business can shut it all down at 6. But organizations of greatness will find a way to allow their customers and clients to reach them when it's convenient for the client.

Ease and accessibility for clients is another way of separating the ordinary boring businesses from organizations of greatness.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


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How To Excel When Business Is Down

Jeffery Gitomer, perhaps America's top sales trainer, said yesterday, "When business is down, it’s likely morale is down. Invest in attitude training for every member of the team FIRST. The best way to get more sales is by creating more friendly and human interaction. The best way to gain loyalty from existing customers, and get more sales (the surest path to survival and growth), is by making service IMPROVEMENTS, not service cuts."

When business is down, there is greater competition for fewer dollars in the marketplace. My audiences always seem amazed to hear that 51% of buyers buy "Attitude" factors like staff, friendliness, approachability, ease-of-business, after-sale service and follow-up. A smaller percentage buy from you because of product knowledge.  

More people buy your Attitude than your knowledge. Pay attention to that. The companies who will be successful when times are tough are the ones who have the right customer-focused Attitude. A buyer expects you to have product knowledge but the competitive edge goes to organizations that address Attitude factors.

Attitude also happens to be tied for second as most popular criteria on job performance reviews: first, quality of work followed by Attitude and productivity. Attitude finished ahead of teamwork, goals, customer service and skills development. Why then do most organizations spend the majority of their training dollars on teamwork, goals, customer service and skills development if the top three criteria for how you judge your people aren't even in that list? When times are tough, you're wasting your money if you're not addressing Attitude.

45% of workers feel "work" is the biggest source of stress in their lives. That's about half of your staff who hate coming to work because they get stressed. Great Attitude to build a successful organization on.

Your Corporate Culture is nothing more than a collection of prevailing Attitudes in your workplace. You will never, and I mean NEVER, improve your culture without addressing Attitude. Without addressing Attitude, you will be never be more than an ordinary, mediocre organization. To go to a "Greatness" culture requires you to do something that none of your competitors are doing - like, change your attitude about Attitude.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture
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Fire Your Bad Clients

Years ago, when I was selling radio advertising to small businesses, I would ask my potential clients to tell me specifically who they wanted to attract as customers. It helped me to identify whether our audience was also their audience.

"Everybody," was the usual reply.

But you can't have everybody. Not everybody is going to buy from you. For example, for the 50% of the population that doesn't play a sport, they would have no use for a sporting goods store and therefore never enter the store. So everybody is not their customer.

Identify your ideal clients and your market segment, to ensure that you aren't just spinning your wheels out in the marketplace. You can't target your potential clients effectively by targeting everybody.

Everybody doesn't see your one billboard. Everybody doesn't see your Yellow Pages ad. Everybody doesn't visit your web site because not everybody has ever heard of you. You don't have the kind of advertising budget to achieve that..

So who is your ideal client? If you don't have a clear idea of who that is, then you will end up aimlessly taking whatever you can get from whoever will give you something. Change your attitude about just taking what you can get and instead start to focus on what you want.

Do you want to do business with people who will beat you up on your prices just to knock you down to mere pennies in profit and then to have those same people complain because they don't value what you do? Be specific about who you want to business with. Don't think everybody wants to do business with you. Not everybody wants you, needs you or even likes you.

The Attitude of Service isn't just an outward attitude. The Attitude of Service isn't just about you serving others. The Attitude of Service also includes an honest study of who deserves what you offer. What is your service worth? Who would most appreciate what you do?

Don't do yourself a disservice by thinking that you must cater to price-hungry, high-maintenance customers who have no loyalty to you because it's all you can get right now. You'll never achieve greatness arguing with penny-pinchers who don't value you, your product and your service and who would never give you a recommendation. It's the wrong crowd. Maybe it's time you served yourself a little better a fired your "headache" customers. Let someone else have them. They're dragging you down anyway.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


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Where's Service In A Tight Economy?

It's no secret that this recession has hurt many businesses. There are only a handful of businesses who are having, or have had, a banner year over this past 12 months.

That means that more businesses are fighting for fewer dollars from fewer customers in the marketplace.

That last statement begs the question: so if there are more businesses fighting over fewer customers trying to win a larger share of fewer sales, then where is the increased customer service experience you would expect to see in a tight economy?

I'll tell you where it is: it was eliminated (cut) with all of the other so-called "wasteful" programs that organizations felt they could do without as mediocre organizations made cutbacks and sat on hoards of cash hoping to weather the storm. Unfortunately, most organizations think that Service is something to be addressed by only their Customer Service department - when, in fact, Service is an Attitude, not a department

Ironically though, 80% of senior executives have reported they would use this recession to improve their competitive position (Bain & Company Survey 2009). Has your organization done anything about your customer experience over the past year? Hmm, then you must be one of the 20% who aren't doing anything about it (or the other 80% who are simply blowing smoke about re-tooling in a down economy). Service is an Attitude, not a department.

80% of senior executives believe that their companies are delivering an exceptional customer experience (Bain & Company Survey 2005). Only 8% of their customers agree. Why is there so much delusion at the top? Because senior managers believe that by training their Customer Service Department using the same trainers and same training models that churns out the same mediocre service of every other competitor, that somehow it's good enough. "Good enough" is mediocre - not great.

88% of companies view Corporate Culture as important as Strategy for business success (Bain & Company Survey 2009). So why then are 60% of North American workers actively looking for a new job in 2010 (Right Management Work Force Survey 2009)? They're leaving because they feel abandoned by their bosses which creates a terrible corporate culture - the same culture that 88% of companies apparently view as important as Strategy. They work in a culture of "good enough" which obviously isn't good enough to keep their people.

The numbers don't add up. Organizations are becoming so out of touch with their customers that they think they know what is right for their customers and employees but in reality, until you create a two-way dialogue, you will never know. It's arrogant to think you know what is best for people without asking.

There are too many sides not talking to each other - and that makes for a corporate culture that sucks.

The difference between a mediocre culture and a Culture of Greatness is seven distinct Attitudes. Here's a 7-minute video overview of the Attitudes that make organizations "Great."


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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


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Why Retail Is Wrecking Service

What would retailers do if there were no holidays? In Canada, the average retail store has some sort of gimmicky promotion or sale right year round. Canada Day is followed by Back to School, which is followed by Thanksgiving, then Halloween running right into Christmas. Boxing Day (which runs up to the middle of January for many stores) kicks off the desperation sales followed by Valentine's Day and Easter.

How would your loved one appreciate a new filing cabinet to show your love on Valentine's Day? Nothing says "I love you" more than a wireless Internet router don't you think?

What would happen if we were to abolish all holidays for a full year forcing retailers to no longer try to gimmick their way into our wallets? Would there be a return to an Attitude of Service to capture a customer? What if we were to abolish having a sale and forced retailers to find a fair price for their goods somewhere between the regular price many pay during Christmas season and the 80% off they pay after Christmas?

What if your mechanic were to practice "retail" pricing and charged you $1000 for the service to your car and $200 for the same service on your neighbor's car - because he brought it into the garage after Christmas? Would you return again?

Not much wonder service businesses get hit up so hard by clients and potential clients to adjust their pricing. Retailers have made it impossible to believe that the price is the price.

Set your price. Stick to it. Have some integrity about your product or service and offer us tremendous service, we are willing to pay for that. You really only get to charge next to nothing if you plan to offer next to nothing.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


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Service or Margins - Which Is More Important?

A coffee shop that I used to frequent is for sale today. It's the third time in five years that the store has been for sale.

The original asking price of the folks who started the business five years ago was $130,000. Then new owners bought it. After two years, they put it up for sale at a price of $100,000. Now, the store is for sale again but this time, it is closed - out of business. The current owners are asking $75,000.

That means that over a five year period, the business has lost $55,000 in value or about 40% of its original value. Now, because it's closed for business, it's worth nothing more than the liquidation of the equipment. You probably could get it all for less than $50,000 because the current owners are still paying the lease on the building. It's costing them money to stay closed.

When people buy a business, they are usually attracted by the potential cash flow. That's what gets them excited - the possibility of a big payoff without a lot of effort. They don't buy the original dream, the original vision or the excitement of opening a new business. Because of it, most usually end up cutting corners, reducing costs and going "cheap" to find find ways to maximize profits. The original owners invested in their customers. They "built" the business. The new owners usually just want the revenue. New owners rarely have any history with the customers and the customers have no history with them. 

Rarely have I ever seen a business bought out and improved upon. Most either drop in quality or simply maintain status-quo. Yes, there are a few exceptions but over all, most people who take over an existing business do so because they are attracted to the cash-flow without a lot of work. But they soon find out that keeping a clientele is just as difficult as finding new customers. Without a willingness to do the work, the value of the business drops. In this above example, each new owner of the coffee shop lost money over time.

Customers don't frequent your business to make you wealthy. Customers come because of the service and they leave because of a lack of perceived value. You can't "cut" your way to greatness. You can't view your customers as marks to be fleeced. You must cherish and value your customers or they will find someplace else where they feel that.

Service is the key to success in any business. Margins don't matter if there are no customers. Service is what keeps them coming back - not margins. Service is what spreads the word - not margins. Service is what creates long-term loyalty - not margins.

People deal with people. People buy from people. People talk with people. Don't forget about the "people" part of your organization. Develop the Attitude of Service™ if you want to build a strong business. Service first, profits second. There are no profits without customers.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

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Don't Just Lay Down And Take It

When you forget about your customers, your customers forget about you.

When a restaurant server forgets to bring you your meal, admits that she forgot about you, complains that she feels overwhelmed (even if she only has four tables to handle) but doesn't bother to check how long your salad has been waiting under the hot lamps before serving it to you anyway, you would forget about her when it came time to leave a tip right?

Do not reward bad service. Do not reward anyone who forgets that you are the revenue stream to their business. Do not reward any business that does not earn your business and works hard to keep it. Do not accept sub-standard food, sub-standard service, sub-standard quality or sub-standard standards.

You are in charge. You must set the standard of service. Do not accept less than your standard. If you don't set the standard, you will end up taking whatever they give you. You will be a "pushover" customer who does nothing more than encourage the business to continue offering poor service and products. You ruin it for all of the unsuspecting customers who will follow you because you didn't speak up.

Businesses only offer sub-standard service and poor quality because customers lay down and take it. Don't reward them by giving them money for their poor effort. Stop being a coward and talking about bad service behind their backs. Talk to them face-to-face.

Change your attitude and make the following statement a New Years resolution: I endeavor to offer honest feedback to those whose businesses I frequent. I will not use the word "fine" to describe my experience but will be forthright without being hurtful. I will turn off the filters and just say what's on my mind.

Stick to that resolution and watch your results soar this year.

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Giving and Reciprocity

There are just a few more days left until Christmas. Those people with kids especially know the joys of Christmas morning under the tree. Watching those little faces light up like the Christmas tree over their heads, they are excited, happy and thankful.

Getting gifts is great. Kids love it. But parents don't give their kids gifts with an expectation of getting something in return. Kids have no money and rarely have the presence of mind to think beyond what "Santa" is going to bring them. A parent who would give a child a gift only under the condition that the child reciprocate in return would be considered an a**hole by most people. But sadly, that is the same expectation people place on other people when they give. If you are willing to give to your children freely without expectation of return, what's with the expectation placed upon people other than your own kids?

Simply giving a gift without any expectation of return feels good. I mean, if there were an expectation of return every time you gave a gift, after you dropped a couple of dollars in the Salvation Army kettle would you expect to have it returned to you by a homeless person outside the mall doors? Let's be realistic. So why do you place expectations on other people outside of the gift-giving season?

If you serve your customers and clients, do you "expect" them to serve you back? When you go over and above what is expected for your co-workers, do you "expect" them to drop everything they are doing just to do something nice for you? Just because your customers may not fully comprehend how much you go out of your way for them, should you hold back your best effort until you get a little reciprocation coming back your way?

Giving is giving. It's why they call it "giving." There's is no taking when you're giving. There is no expectation when you are giving. If the only reason you give is so that someone else is going to owe you for it later, then you are a sad example of giving without expectation of reciprocity. Giving is supposed to be unconditional.

Sure, some people could offer more of a heartfelt "thanks" when they receive one of your gifts. Sure a client could pass on a referral about you and your service. Sure, you could be considered for that service award if someone would just recognize your hard work and nominate you. But they don't. And they don't because with every little extra effort you might think you're giving, you are also exuding some sort of "expectation" energy around you. People think there must be a catch when you do something nice - because deep down, you need to be reciprocated.

People may want to do nice things for you but not out of obligation. So, if the only reason you're doing something nice is to get something back, then you're not doing something nice - you're doing something selfish. The point of giving is to make it about other people, not yourself. Remember that fact this Christmas - and beyond.

Make a New Year's resolution to do one nice thing everyday - for your spouse, your kids, a co-worker, a customer or a stranger. Change your Attitude of Service to include "giving" as a strategy. You will find that your results in life will tend to change for the better the faster you let go of making people feel like they owe you something.
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An Attitude of Ignoring the Obvious

People refuse to state the obvious. So the obvious no longer becomes obvious and this is how we end up with customers having to push nine or 10 different buttons to talk to a real human. At the customer service development meeting, someone had to ignore the obvious and instead, make the decision that they were going to install a phone tree that required a customer to push nine or 10 different buttons before they were allowed to talk to a real human.

In essence, what happened is that everyone followed everyone else. No one stood up and spoke their mind and asked, "isn't this going to be a problem for our customers?" All it would take would be one person to stand up at a meeting and say just that and the phone tree idea never would've moved ahead. But because one company uses the phone tree, all of the other companies started using the phone tree. It was less expensive to have an automated phone system than it was to have actually a human being answering the phone regardless of whether it was convenient for the customer or not.

Why would no one stand up at the meeting, where the original phone tree discussion was taking place and not say, "this is going to really suck for the customers?" How could 20 supposedly brilliant minds sitting around the board room table not see that this was going to suck for the customers? How could those same 20 supposedly brilliant minds not once advocate on behalf of the customer? How could 20 seemingly decent people all end up promoted to senior management and be in charge of the customer service experience without once standing up for their beliefs, their values and their customers?

How could this happen? Because there is a culture of "good enough." And in the post-recession world, "good enough" isn't even close to good enough anymore.

Back to the original thought again: all it would have taken is for one person to stand up and ask, "have we thought of this from the customer's perspective?" All it would've taken is for one person to state the obvious: that this is not good for our customers. But, because of fear of losing their job, no one spoke up and stated the obvious. And, for some reason, the whole phone tree idea caught on even though customers thought it was a horrible system (as do employees and VPs of Customer Service who make calls to other companies).

But businesses refused to do anything about it, because times were good and money was easy and customers would buy regardless of how tough you made it for them to do so. But now times are not so good and money is not so easy and old-school customer service is at the top of the list of must-do's.

Customers choose your organization mostly by your attitude factors: approachability, freindliness, ease of service. Not once have I ever heard a customer exclaim, "Excellent - a phone tree." Not a single one has ever said that. So it's time for you people in Customer Service to spend a little more time on the key component of your department: the customer.

And stop ignoring the obvious.
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How To Be A "Great" Customer

My car is in the shop. The garage promised it would take just one full day. So, when the dealership garage called just after lunch asking to keep the car a second day, I asked why?

"One technician is off sick today so we're a little backed up," they offered.

So now their problem has become my problem. I'm sure that this is not the first time a technician has ever been sick. Does your business grind to a screeching halt because one person called in sick? Wouldn't you have a backup plan? Wouldn't you do your best to keep your promise to your customers without excuses?

I scheduled my appointments around my car being out of commission for one day, not two. That means that if I leave my car with them for another day, I have to reschedule all of my appointments. That means my business and several other businesses are affected by one guy calling in sick. Would you expect your customers to have to endure your internal staffing problems?

Why should it be the customer's job to solve the garage's problem? It's real easy for the garage if the customer is willing to lower their standard of service expectation and simply lay down and take whatever they give you. But that would make you a lousy customer. A "great" customer is not a pushover when it comes to service. A "pushover" customer does not inspire business to get better. It creates an environment where service actually gets worse. A "great" customer, on the other hand, is the customer that challenges business to get better at delivering service. So, here's how you become a "great" customer: you say no. You refuse to accept mediocrity and challenge it. You simply force them to be better.

"Great" customers (customers of greatness) don't let mediocrity reign supreme. Great customers set a standard and expect the people they deal with to rise to it. Great customers make businesses keep their promises and their word. And if those same businesses try to slide, great customers will make them pay. 

I suggested a rental car. They hummed and hawed and reluctantly agreed. Had they been the first to offer a rental car I would have been over the moon with a excitement and would have professed my undying gratitude for a "wow" service experience. But, sadly, that's not how it went. 

An Attitude of Service isn't just for business. Every customer should have one too. Become a "great" customer. Stop being a pushover. Don't lie down and just take whatever they hand you. Stand up and ask for what you want. The answer is always "no" to the questions you never ask and the standards you never set. When it starts costing businesses money because they don't keep their promises, then and only then will service start to improve.

It's easy to complain about how bad service is. But what are you doing to help improve it?

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Support, Follow-Up and Service Attitude

51% of consumers choose the companies they will do long-term business with by "Attitude" factors: approachability of staff, friendliness, exchange and return policies, after-sale service, support and troubleshooting and how easy it is to talk to someone. A smaller number, 44% of consumers choose "product knowledge" as their main purchasing decision (so why companies only train in product knowledge and not Attitude factors is a complete freakin' mystery to me).

More people are using the Internet to research before they buy. They get product information as well as reviews from users and customers before they set foot in a business. Yet businesses still train their people primarily in product knowledge. What they don't do (and they should) is train people how to smile and enjoy what they are doing. 

Customers are "revenue" and you, the employee, are "expense." Let's be clear on the respective roles in business.

So how is it possible that some supposedly-smart, well-educated and experienced VP of Customer Service could make the intentional decision to remove direct contact between their customers and the service/support centers. Who could possibly think that an automated phone tree that requires you to press six or seven menu choices, talk to a voice robot, submit a service ticket or wait on hold for a half-hour is GOOD service? How could anyone with that attitude even be remotely considered for promotion to VP of Customer Service? Whoever made that decision is an idiot.

You may have spent an extra two years of your life getting your MBA, Mr. VP, but your customers have spent a lifetime developing their expertise as a customer. Their experience trumps your schooling. Try not to be so book-smart and common-sense stupid. If your attitude in Customer Service isn't focused on your making it easier for your customers to interact with you then your attitude sucks.

This isn't the 2007 drunken orgy of economic delights anymore. People aren't throwing their money around madly buying anything they can get their hands on. This isn't a time when customer service doesn't matter anymore. This is 2009 and we're in an economic time when families and business alike have pushed their "reset' buttons. They want value. They want quality. They are willing to pay a fair price. And most of all, customers want service - to feel like their business means something.

The "un-service" attitude you took in 2005-2007 when you installed your automated responses, phone-tree-like systems and help-desk tickets need to be re-thought. Customers want to communicate with you and buy from you because you can be reached. Making it harder for them to do so will only annoy them.

In a time of social networking, when communication and connection is supposed to be improving, why is service getting worse? Why is it that a customer can communicate with a CEO on Twitter but can't get anyone in that same company's customer service department to return their calls? How can people speak directly with Presidents, public figures and celebrities around the world but have to wait on hold for a half-hour and before finally speaking to someone in a South Asian country, thousands of miles from the people who sold them the product? How is that possible? Because apparently the companies could care less. If they cared more, they would do more. But by their inaction, their corporate culture and corporate attitude says, "good enough." Their corporate attitude is that everyone has come to expect that level of service. They believe that they don't have to do any better than their mediocre competitors.

The truth is, the more barriers you put between you and your customers increases the likelihood that your customers will view your company unfavorably and at the first opportunity will take their business someplace else.

And stop lying to your customers. You know that framed Mission Statement in your lobby claiming you offer superior customer service? Well that's a lie. You force your customers to jump through hoops to be able to talk to a real person when they need help so you are NOT offering superior service. You offer mediocre service. Superior customer service is doing what the others refuse to do.

Shut down the voice mail trees, the too-many-choices phone menus, the 24-72 hour response to emails and half-hour wait times on hold. Instead, give your customers Live Chat online in real time, comprehensive FAQ sections on your web site that offer real solutions to everyday problems and give them "how-to" videos online so that they can use your product correctly and even fix it themselves if they have a problem. Most of all, let a real person answer the phone in a timely manner - even if they are in another country. Just give customers a human to talk to that your customers don't have to wait a half-hour or more to speak to.

You're not the only ones who are busy. Your customers are too. Customers vote with their dollars. Don't make them jump through hoops. That attitude sucks and, when the time comes that someone else is willing to treat your customers better than you, your customers will spank you financially for treating them like they don't matter to you.

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Salesman Of The Year - So What

So you're salesman of the year. So what? What does it matter? Are you impressed when you see a sign reading "salesman of the year?" You see, I really don't think that a fancy title of your accomplishments really means much unless you're prepared to also divulge how you came to get that award.

What about real estate signs on front lawns that read, "Number 1 Realtor?" What is the criteria for being a number one realtor? That part of the equation has been left out.

If it's an award that you received because you made a lot of money then keep it to yourself. Your customers really don't care that you were a number one realtor or salesman of the year. All your customers care about is that you serve them well, meet their needs and make them more important than your fancy title. In fact, in our thirst to be top dog at something we will go to great lengths to prove that we are the best.

Years ago when I made my living in radio, we would scour the twice annual ratings looking for every opportunity to tout ourselves as number one in some category. Maybe one of the disc jockeys would be number one between 11 AM and noon with men 18 to 34 holding down blue-collar jobs. That demographic could be sold to a potential client who wanted to reach those very customers. But how do you go on the air and say that your number one between 11 AM and noon to 18 to 34-year-old men who hold down blue-collar jobs? What about the people who weren't 18 to 34-year-old men and the people who work holding down blue-collar jobs who just happened to be listening at the time? What about them?

You see, awards don't mean much. In fact, they're getting to mean less. When once upon a time you would celebrate the first, second or third place showing in a race, now celebrations are held for children who receive "participant" ribbons. Everyone gets a prize. Recognition is what people want at work. So employers are tasked to find creative ways to celebrate small achievements.

I don't want to be sold by the number one salesman. I don't want my house sold by the number one Realtor. I don't ask my doctor where he finished in his class. I'm just glad he finished. Besides money is a lousy way of keeping score.

And what if you are salesman of the year two years ago? What happened last year? Really, what have you done for me lately? If you're going to market yourself as the number one salesman this year are US prepared to market yourself as the number three salesman next year?

Announcing that you are number one is really self-serving -- egotistical almost. If it's not an award for service bestowed by your customers, then it really doesn't matter does it? The only thing that matters is that your customers are served well. If it's a rookie salesman who serves better than you, then I suggest allowing the rookie salesman to serve your customers. They will appreciate that he made the relationship about them and not about himself.

Let's keep our eye on the ball and the reason we're really here -- to serve to the best of our abilities.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

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Can't Tell Good Without Bad

In order for you to claim to be "better" you have had to experience something worse. Without the comparison point, the exercise is futile.

But unfortunately, the vast majority of organizations who claim to have better service have never really put themselves in the customer's shoes. They have never really actually experienced their own service. The vast majority of companies have never really taken the time to individually assess the service model of their competitors. They think, in their mind, that they know the service model their competitors are using but they really don't. So they believe that a few minor tweaks and adjustments on their own service will allow them to claim "better service."

Recently, I had a face-to-face heated discussion with a hardware store manager. After being under-serviced by many of his staff I took my complaint directly to his office. He jumped out from behind his desk and began running all over the store as though he was my trained servant. This is not what I wanted. I simply wanted to be served well by the people who stand in the aisles of the hardware store and whose job it is to serve people.

When I arrived at the front checkout counter, I was asked by the cashier, "did you find everything you were looking for?"

I did not find everything I was looking for. I was looking for service. But by the time I get to the front counter, it's too late to address that issue.

I'm sure that in the manager's mind his own store service was adequate. But from my perspective, the service was mediocre. It was ordinary. It was average. Maybe even below-average.

Attitude Adjustment: If you, as a manager, have to jump out from behind your desk and run all over the store to serve the customer that your customer service people should have already served, then you have a service problem. And this doesn't just apply to retail locations. If the customers are asking for a manager or supervisor, then your customer service reps are not doing it right. If your clients are asking for a manager to intervene in sales, you're not doing it right.

You are creating a "bad service" experience for your customers. These are exactly the kinds of stories your customers take to your competitors. In fact, your competitors will probably build a customer service model based on that experience and claim that their service is "better." And they would be right.

What Is Extraordinary Service?

What is extraordinary service? First of all, extraordinary is two words: extra and ordinary. Your company may claim to offer extraordinary service but in most experiences extraordinary service is simply ordinary service times two.

Tom Peters, management consultant, recently said that customer service is like hygiene for business: in the same way that you would expect to brush your teeth, you serve customers. It's just something that's come to be expected. He went on to say that the point of service is to not just be better than the worst, but to in fact be far better than anything that currently exists. But how do you measure "better?" In order for you to claim to be better you have had to experience something worse. Without the comparison point, the exercise is futile.

So, back to extraordinary service. Service everywhere is ordinary. All service is based on the same ordinary service model, some with sheer moments of brilliance and some with incredibly disappointing results. There is no extraordinary service. Why? Because there are no extraordinary service trainers. Everyone's service models are based on everyone else's service models with a few tweaks and adjustments. That is what makes extra-ordinary service twice as ordinary.

Seth Godin, author of the book The Purple Cow, uses the word "remarkable" when he speaks of service. His definition of the word remarkable is offering something so out of the ordinary, that people are willing to remark on it.

I mean, how simple it would it really be to stop saying, "thank you and have a nice day" when you know that clerk behind the counter really doesn't mean it when he or she says it anyway. They have been told by management that that's how they must speak to the customer. Instead, why not say, "thank you and enjoy your sandwich." Or, "thank you, I hope we see you again tomorrow."

Why is it so hard to make the service experience personal? I mean, all you have to do is to look in the bag of what you're handing the customer and remark on what they purchased. Yes you're right, that means no more going about the job mindlessly. You have to be present in order to offer this sort of service. You actually have to have your mind on your work and be engaged with the customer in order to offer this type of service.

There are websites, books, seminars, white papers, videos and webinars offering suggestions in helping employees engage better on the job. When really, all that needs to be done is to encourage employees to be present in their work. That means, giving them work that means something. And the employee has to mean something before the work can mean something. That means training employees in the art of soft-skills before they are trained in customer service skills. But that's a whole other discussion.

Attitude Adjustment: In training people in the art of customer service, the service model has got to be able to be understood by every single person -- from genius to moron. You can't break your staff training sessions into two groups: those who are intelligent and those who are idiots. Your customer service model has got to be able to be carried out by all employees regardless of their intelligence. So, the service model gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator so that everyone is capable of grasping the basic concepts.

The reason customer service will never change is because the customer doesn't change. Customers will always need to buy things. Customers have accepted that this is how they buy things. Customers have accepted that service is ordinary. Customers are still willing to part with their money even though the service is merely ordinary. So, until the demand for service increases, the service itself will not increase. It will still be extraordinary. Sorry, I mean extra-ordinary (ordinary with a side-order of more ordinary).

That is, of course, unless you're willing to do something outrageous with your service.

David Versus Goliath - Modern Day

Dave Carroll, singer and songwriter from Halifax made a complaint to United Airlines about how they handled his guitars and Chicago's O'Hare Airport. United stonewalled him for a long time .... until he put together this video and posted it to YouTube.

Now United is finally responding - especially after 640,000 views of the video.

Here's the problem, people will remember the chorus from this song for years and United will hurt because of it ... for years. They should have been accountable and fixed it right away but they didn't. And now it will cost them for a long time.

Customers have the power to make changes. Take that Attitude with you when you spend your money. You are in control.

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Lots of Love, Customer Service

I placed an order from this online company one time. Today I received this promotional email to get me to spend more money with them. Don’t just glance over it – read it carefully for the full effect. It’s worth it.

Dear customer,

You, the customer, are the most important visitor on our premises. As a fast growing online store for replacement printer ink & toner cartridges, we has been receiving a lot of supports from our customers. Your advice or complain is always welcomed. We are not doing a favor by serving you....You are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.

To celebrate Canada Day, from now to 5th of July, we offer 10% off every order you place on our website. Though some of items are already on sale, we still offer generously 10% off. What a great deal! Hurry up or the deal will end! Don't Miss Our Biggest Sale Ever!

If you missed our Canada Day BIG save, do not worry, we will have more promotions after. Keep in touch! To order or to get more information, please visit us online. Thanks for your continued support!

Lots of love,
Customer Service

I kid you not, “Lots of love, Customer Service.” I'm sure it was as heartfelt as the "Dear Customer" opening. Ooh, let me open my wallet right away.

Really, if you’re going to market yourself, make sure you impress people.
--

Old-School Training Are Like Cold-Meds

Why are the newest and weakest people in the organization tasked with the most important job in the organization: customer service? Why are not the CEOs, Veeps and Supervisors, the veterans of the organization, not serving the revenue stream to the organization – the customer?

At the end of the day, senior management is responsible ultimately for the financial success of the organization. So why then is the most important responsibility - the maintaining and development of revenue streams - left to the minions who are simply treating it like a job?

Corporate America needs an attitude adjustment. If the customer is king and without them the organization ceases to be, why are customers not being served directly by the kings? What consumers are experiencing today is service by dimwits - people who take a dim view of their work and do not use their wits in service of the customer. The solution from above is, "let's send our front-line people to another customer service seminar to improve our service."

So they hire trainers who are desperately clinging to last year's model of business service and are leaving the responsibility for improving their internal performance with a bunch of outside contractors. In essence, you've just said to your people, "Take this course and do it better OK?"

Corporate America may know how to make a profit but it sure doesn't know much about people. And it's people who make the thing run. As long as your people treat their jobs like a job, service will never improve. It can't. It's impossible to build any solid relationship-creating culture on a foundation of "Is it 5 o'clock yet?"

• Time management training to someone without self-discipline is a waste of time.
• Sales Training to someone lacking self-confidence is wasting your money.
• Teamwork training to someone without self-esteem creates a weaker link.

Customer Service, Time Management, Sales and Teamwork training are like taking cold meds for your flu symptoms: you mask the symptoms but don't really address the root problem. You're still sick inside even though you may look healthy outside.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The workforce is changing. Workplace values are changing. The people in the workplace are changing. So why are you still trying to run your business using ancient business models that are dying?

If people can talk to Presidents and Prime Ministers on social networking sites, your customers ought to be able to talk to the CEO. The old business model of "top-down - keep your customers at arms length - blanket policies" is not going to sustain your organization in the future. People around the world are creating conversations with people who matter. Why can't your customers talk to the people who make the decisions in your organization?

Your business model is sick and risks dying soon. Stop feeding it cold-meds and simply hoping it gets better.

The Price Is The Price

If you're in business for yourself or you're in sales, you will probably want to ensure that your expectations are laid out right up front to avoid any misunderstandings about how much your product or service costs later.

After the work has been done? That's not the time to negotiate the fees.

This video points out how many businesses believe that they can negotiate fees after the work has been done. What if we all did life this way? Would anything ever get done?

Stuart Crawford tweeted me on this one today.

Here's your ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT on being a good client and being a better vendor.

Five Serious Problems In The Retail World

I happen to be a big fan of Seth Godin – author of such books as All Marketers Are Liars and nine other bestsellers in the area of Marketing. I read Seth’s Blog religiously as it gives quite a great take on how we are exposed to marketing messages daily and how marketers are finding new and unique ways to cut through the marketing clutter to reach us and convince us to buy their products and services. It helps me to better understand why we are, as consumers becoming increasingly frustrated when it comes time to make a purchase and how the marketers seem to be becoming complacent with product selection and how most seem to be competing in the same price arena.

Because of the tweaking of my marketing mindset, I notice and pay attention to businesses more and how they conduct business. I have come to notice five things that are becoming quite disturbing.

1. For the most part, you will find the same products in virtually every store - all relatively close in price. That means that the selection of brand names is fairly limited in an effort to not keep a competitive edge in the market but instead be only as good as the competition. Business seems to be spending more time focusing on their competitors (and keeping the same stock and price) and not focusing on the customer and offering something superior.
2. By keeping price-point as a key component of being in business, the cheapest price usually wins. Unfortunately, cheapest price almost always means cheapest quality. You’ll be back looking for a replacement before long.
3. Although you may find the item you’re looking for a store by visiting their web site, there is no guarantee that the item is in stock. Don’t trust the “Check Store Stock” option on a web site. Inventory tracking isn’t working the way it is supposed to. You may think there’s one in stock, but when you get there it isn’t, so most people end up buying something else in its place. (Always make the phone call first, get them to physically check to see if it’s there, offer a credit card number to hold the item and then go get it right away.)
4. High-priced quality products don’t sell well in a Wal-Mart priced world. If it’s quality you want, you’ll need to find it on-line from specialty stores and have it shipped to you. Otherwise, it’s a frustrating experience.
5. Businesses only seem to stock what they think you should buy, not what you want to buy. You only get to choose from a series of inferior products.

Try Googling “reviews on breadmakers” and you’ll find Zojirushi makes the best one. You can’t buy them in stores. You have to order them from one of only two on-line stores in Canada. But almost every department store carries Black & Decker or Sunbeam bread makers – terrible quality items that reviewers warn people to stay away from. There’s a reason why they are one quarter of the price of a Zojirushi.

Air-O-Swiss are the world’s best humidifiers. Again, you can’t buy them in stores. They’re expensive and the highest quality and people apparently don’t want quality. Go online and get Air-O-Swiss shipped from California.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Are you in business or are you just giving us the illusion of being in business? We, as consumers have more access to more information, and we are educating on-line before we go shopping in-store. By the time we get to your location, we need a cashier – not a salesperson.

Are you offering your customers the exact same product or service as your competitors? Are you willing to stand out, be different, offer service over and above and offer a superior product? Do you make a customer for life or for just a few minutes? Is your product or service just good enough or is it head-and-shoulders above everyone else?

Service is an Attitude. Customer Service is a department. You should be tired of accepting sub-par service and products. Give your business to those who offer quality and who demonstrably show the “Service Attitude.” You can spot these marketers a mile away. They are the one’s who carry what you WANT to buy – not what they TELL you you’re going to buy.

Service By Inquiry or Insanity?

Did you know that there are only TWO types of service? I was finally able to nail down these two types of service this past weekend. As with most things in life, you usually only ever have an opinion on one type of service without something to compare it to. This weekend, I found the comparison.

Service Model #1 – Service By Inquiry: As the name suggests, inquiry is the key here. How can I help you? What is it you’re looking for? What specific model/brand are you looking for? These are all questions usually asked by a clerk/service personnel as you wander around their store with a lost look on your face or when you have finally decided to approach the Customer Service counter as a last resort. Then there are the questions posed by the customer: Where do you keep your …? Where would I find …? Do you carry any …? These are simply inquiries which should normally be met with simple answers.

Service Model #2 – Service By Insanity: As this name suggests, the customer has to lose his mind, his patience, his good mood and his common courtesy before he gets the service he should be entitled to. Sending a customer across the store to the Customer Service counter to be helped when there is a perfectly good in-store phone at your fingertips drives a customer nuts. Getting a clerk to help a customer only after they have hit “desperation” is not good service.

However, the worst question in any retail setting is usually asked just before you leave the store if you’re making your way through the checkout line: Did you find everything you were looking for? That’s really a dumb question that makes unhappy customers crazy. Yet more and more retail operations are hell-bent on asking it. Most people simply answer “yes” and silently vow to never come to the store again.

But what if the answer is “no?” Are you going to hold up all of the other disgruntled customers who are also standing in a long checkout line? Answer “no” and the clerk gets a look of terror on their face. Who fixes the problem with you only ten feet from the door? I’ll tell you right now, if you answer “no,” you get the pat-answer, “Oh sorry.”

Look, if you want me to find everything I’m looking for; don’t place your cashier in an embarrassing situation. Put more people on the floor to help the customers. Jeez, it’s really a simple idea. Don’t try to fix my problem when I’ve already gone through your whole store and no one helped me there. Now you think you’re going to help me once I've already decided to leave? It doesn’t work that way. Besides, if I didn’t buy anything, no one asks the question. I’m not in the right line (checkout line) to see if I’m satisfied.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: When a manager has to help a complaining customer with two or three qualified staff standing around doing nothing means your people don’t own a Service Attitude. If you’re a manager who feels compelled to respond to customer concerns, it usually means that your staff is unmotivated. If so, your management style needs a lot of work. Obviously, if as a manager, you have to help, it’s because your people aren’t helping enough. Either get rid of these people or move them to where they don’t deal directly with customers. A manager should be doing PR on the floor. Clerks and customer service reps should be ensuring that a manager never has to actually help customers find things. By the time a manager speaks with a customer, it should be all smiles and chuckles – not complaints.

If you’re a manager who deals with complaints, then your people aren’t doing it right. If you’re a service representative and you’re not looking for ways to help a customer in every moment of your day, then you are not doing enough to ensure you become the most valuable person in your organization.

Help me, the customer, on the floor so that when I get to the checkout line and get asked, “Did you find everything OK?” I can answer “yes” and take the pressure off of the cashier. Your cashier should not have to be the last line of defense of ensuring customer satisfaction. Besides, if I’m on my way out, how are you going to fix it now anyway?

The Four-Letter F-Word

Oh you’ve used this word too so stop being so offended. In fact, you’ve witnessed other people use the word and you don’t get offended. So what’s the problem here?

You see, you’ve used the word when you get lousy service in restaurant, get a lousy night’s sleep in a hotel and even when someone asks how their salesperson handled your complaint. You use this word freely and it seems not enough people take offence when you use it – well, the right people anyway.

The word I am speaking of is the word “Fine.” And if you use that word to describe someone’s service, they should be offended. If anyone has ever used this word to describe your service, you should be doubly offended. “Fine” is the word of indifference to describe your opinion. People use this word when they don’t want to hurt your feelings or they don’t want to seem a bother. But you sure didn’t give them any sort of “wow” factor.

• How was your meal?
• How was your stay?
• How did that rental car work out?
• How was our salesperson?
• How did we do in responding to your concern?
• How was your experience with us?
• How did we do in solving your problem?

If you use the “F-Word” as an answer to any of those questions, then the owners/managers of those businesses had better be shaking in their boots. “Fine” means nothing. It doesn’t say “great” or “lousy.” It just means you didn’t provide me with an experience that is memorable and I don’t want to be bothered to answer a question whose answer you really don’t care about anyway. I don’t want a clerk or server gushing “sorry” all over me when they aren’t the responsible party. (When was the last time your hotel checkout clerk was responsible for the lousy night’s sleep you got? Why would you dump on them? Be respectful in your answer but be clear.)

I refuse to use the word “fine” to describe any service encounter. If I know that at the end of my experience I am going to get asked that question, I begin preparing my answer at the beginning. Hey, if they’re going to ask, I’m going to answer. If the only reason they’re asking is so that I can blow a little smoke up their skirts, then they’ve asked the wrong guy.

In fact, in recent weeks, I have stayed at a number of hotels who have asked me the question at checkout. In both instances, I have asked the clerk what they do with my answer to their question. I was, on both occasions, met with an uncomfortable, stammering clerk (as though they were expecting “fine” to be my answer).

“No, answer the question,” I asked. "What do you do with the information I give you?"

“Umm,” the clerk started. “We tell maintenance if something is wrong.”

“Well what if it’s not a maintenance issue?” I asked.

“Uh, we tell a manager?” She asked in question-form as though only I knew the right answer and she was answering her high-school History teacher’s question.

“Good answer.” I offered. “Now get a piece of paper to write these things I am about to say down.” And she did.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Look, if you don’t want an honest answer, don’t ask the question. Otherwise, if you’re going to ask customers to describe their experience, be prepared to take notes. Don’t make your “Satisfaction Survey” empty and vacuous. It's patronizing and you’re wasting your customers' time.

Also, if you’re going to force your front-line people to ask the question, then you had better prepare them to handle the answers. It amazes me that so many organizations will force their people to ask but then it becomes clearly evident that they have not been trained to handle an answer other than “fine.” What's the protocol when the answer is other than "fine?"

Not preparing your people to handle an answer other than “fine” means that you really don’t care how your customer experience was or you would have armed them with the tools to fix it or at least tell the customer right away that they're taking this information upstairs. A "Service Attitude" means understanding that the whole reason for being in business is to serve. If you don't care about customer answers and instead just want to be placated, then you don't get the whole "Service Attitude" thing at all.

If your people don't know how to handle your customers' truthful answers, stop asking the question. It’s embarrassing to you.