Extreme Choices
So you won’t try the advice from yesterday.
That’s ok, most people will agree with you.
They will say it’s too difficult to not look at either/or choices.
Try this instead then ( a different road to get to the same destination)
- Make your second choice painful
File my taxes today…… or else I will go to jail !
Work out today…….. or I will die a painful death tomorrow!
Get up now…….. or I will be fired from my job !
Now at first glance you might say I’m being over dramatic. But when do most people submit their taxes? that’s right….. when a penalty is imminent.
I admit the second choice you present yourself with has to be extreme, because it needs to force you into action.
The real trick isn’t coming up with the extreme choice, it’s fooling your mind into believing the story you tell it !
Given the Choice…….
Given a choice, most everyone chooses the easy path.
- Work out now or work out later ? most say later.
- Get up now or sleep for another 10 minutes? most sleep.
- File my taxes now or wait until tomorrow ? most wait.
The list goes on and on……. the results are the same.
So how does a person avoid this trap?
Here’s one solution; Don’t give yourself choices.
Stop the either/or cycle.
Do this.
Do it now.
There is no later.
Treat your actions as a first impression…… you only get one chance to do it right.
Do Better
Do you have a desire to do better ?
No matter how well you do something, would you like to do it even better the next time you try ?
The drive, desire, need, etc. to do better is a success trait.
People with this trait, will always prosper over those who lack it.
Stretching….not good for Customer Service.
The day begins and you sit down to your pile of planned work/activities.
How do you tackle your work?
1. You Stretch it out ….. making the pile last the day.
or
2. You get it done quickly and find other activities to do to complete the day.
It’s easy to tell the stretcher from the non stretcher (or ‘go getter’)
Here are some excuses you’ll hear from a stretcher;
“I’m too busy, tell them I’ll call back later.”
“Send them to my voice mail.”
“I’m swamped! Can you help them?”
“This pile just keeps getting bigger no matter how many days i spend on it.”
“There are way to many fires to put out….. I can’t get to anything new!”
etc, etc, etc,
Stretching is unproductive and bad for your customers.
Be unique from the pack……..
Don’t stretch.
Talking to Walls
I know a man who trains people to be speakers. During his training, the instructor gave a very friendly, but implicit warning; Don’t train people who are from a specific industry. These people will only cause trouble and in the end, they won’t be able to become speakers or trainers.
The man heard the advice and made certain to follow it until, there came a day, when one of these people approached him and made a very convincing, heartfelt plea to train them. It went against everything he had been taught, but he figured there was always an exception to the rule and this person must be it! He decided to train her.
It was a nightmarish experience. The entire weekend of training was the worst he had ever been a part of. Not only did it take up so much of his time (which was wasted in the end) but it also took away from those who were there and getting something out of the training.
There are people out there who just don’t get it. I’ve seen people spend years (decades even) trying to show these people the world in a different light. It will never work.
Most people see negative only. Any situation could contain 100 positive things about it, but they focus on, and can only see, the negative aspects.
Words don’t work on walls, so save your breath for those that can hear.
Don’t Give Up
I met a gentleman yesterday. I had met him a week or two ago; but I got to know him a bit better yesterday. He came into my restaurant to sell us advertising space in a local coupon book. I began to ask him about his past …….I blinked, and an hour and a half had suddenly flown by.
This man was fascinating ! He’d done so much with his life, and his ability to retell these events held me captivated.
He also gave me hope, and recharged me.
It’s easy to get down, for all of us. Once you begin the downhill journey, it can be difficult to climb out of it. Most people get to a certain point and simply give up.
Imagine floating in the middle of the ocean with no hope of being rescued. Each person will tread water for a different length of time. Eventually every single person’s strength and determination will leave them, resulting in a slow sinking below the water surface.
What would happen if, at your darkest moment of despair, you saw another person floating slowly towards you? You would likely find a new reserve of strength and attempt to get close to the other survivor. Once the two of you got close enough, both of you would be re energized by each other.
You would survive a little longer.
This man who walked into my store the other day was a fellow survivor, wading through life and doing very well at it. I was getting tired of the wading…..
Thanks to Glenn, who will likely never read this blog.
To the rest of you…… don’t give up. Look on the horizon and find someone to help you.
No one can do it alone.
Good customer service…… from the customer!
“Thank you so much for the great service!”
I’m the customer.” I said to the cashier. ” Why are you thanking me for great service?”
The grocery store cashier grinned. “I ask every single customer the following questions. Do you have a frequent buyers reward card? Do you have your own bags today or would you like plastic bags for 5 cents each? Would you like cash back since you’re paying with your debit card?”
“After an eight hour shift I have asked those questions so many times I want to scream.” The cashier said. “It’s such a treat to have a customer walk up to me and be smiling. It’s also rare for the customer to say, ‘Here’s my frequent buyers card, I would like to buy plastic bags today, and I don’t need any cash back with my debit purchase, thanks.’”
“Really?” I asked. “I would have guessed everyone knows what’s coming and tries to help you out.”
“No way,” the cashier shook her head. “I can count people like you on one hand during each shift. I appreciate good service when I see it. Thanks again, Sir.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said. (and it was !)
Customers can deliver good customer service also.
Everyone’s my customer. Do you feel the same way ?
It really is that simple.
We love to complicate things. Maybe because, from an uninformed perspective, things look really complicated.
We hate to appear stupid. Rather than admit our short comings…… we console ourselves by saying topics and skills are so complicated, that only an expert can understand .
What am I talking about specifically? Pick a topic. Love, how to play the guitar, the stock market, real estate, customer service, marketing, tooth decay, ,,,,,, anything.
Everyone shrugs.
The novice who quits, shrugs and claims it’s too complicated.
The master shrugs and says things are so simple.
Who’s right?
They both are.
Everything is complicated when you first see it. Do you want to spend enough time and effort to understand your topic ? If do, then things will change from complicated…… to simple.
It’s magic……yet it works every time.
If you’re content to see things as complicated; then you will remain frustrated and a novice.
If you continuously struggle to see things as simple; you will be on your way to becoming a master.
the life long novice accomplishes nothing.
Customer Service Industries
When I say customer service the obvious industries come to mind…… Restaurants, department stores, banks, etc.
BUT
Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors, Lab technicians, Telephone pole factory workers, PLC programmers, etc………. these industries/professions don’t automatically come to mind for customer service.
Simply because they don’t come to mind doesn’t mean customer service isn’t important in them.
My Doctor is an amazing man and doctor. Students compete heavily to train under him. The very first visit we had with him he said the following; “When you come to see me you might wait….. you might wait a long time. That’s because I don’t hurry my patients. They take the time to come see me and I want to make sure I don’t rush them through and possibly miss something. You should actually call before you come sit in the waiting room, reception will tell you to come a bit later if I’m running behind. Rest assured that when it is your turn with me…… you take as much time as you need . I am here to help you.”
That is customer service. Both the advice to call in and check on the wait time…. and the commitment to spend as much time with me as I require.
Most doctors make you wait, then they rush in and barely spend any time with you.
The places that need customer service the most, are the places that don’t think they need to provide it at all.
Teachers needed …… Desperately !
Are you a teacher?
Before you answer , let me clarify the question……
I’m not asking if your job title is “Teacher”.
I’m not wondering if you happen to work in a school and children refer to you as their teacher.
I’m not asking what you are called…… I’m asking what you do.
There are very few people working at schools who are actually Teachers. Before you disagree with me take a look at this generation of young children actually graduating school with a lower level of education than the previous group. Sit in a classroom for half a day ( I have). Watch how many of the adults charged with the responsibility of teaching our children fail miserably at their given task.
There are many great teachers in schools….. but not nearly enough to even garner attention in most cases.
Are you a teacher?
No matter what job title you actually possess, are you able to impart knowledge to others around you? In a fun and relaxed and specific way, do you naturally help people to learn ?
- Are you a technician who not only fixes the computer problem, but your customers also learn more about their computers because you have helped to educate them about it?
- A jewellery sales person who educates a young man about what to look for in a diamond engagement ring, then encourages them to go look elsewhere before deciding to buy…..even though the young man wants to buy now from you.
- A sales manager who challenges his young sales people to read books, listen to tapes, or attend seminars in order to learn about their new craft of sales ……
- A real estate investor who talks in detail about 20 of her last deals with new people so that they can learn how to be successful also.
We need teachers who ask the questions and don’t have to look the answer up in a master book.
We need teachers who help people to learn.
Are you one of the rare people who teach?
Many of these types of teachers are Gold Apples.
We need to find you.
We must value you more than we currently do.
The future depends on it
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