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 !
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.
Treat customers like they are strangers…
I believe everyone I come in contact with is a customer.
A common adage is , “Treat customers as if they were your mother.”
The idea in this advice is that you will interact with the customer in the best and most respectful way. But have you seen how most people treat their mother? or their children? or their spouse? or any other loved one that they are supposed to care about?
When i was around 10 or 11 I asked if I could help my Dad fix the lawnmower in the front yard. He agreed and the fix it session began.
“Hand me the Robertson screw driver,” He said, pointing towards the toolbox.
I stood their confused. There were about 10 screw drivers in the box, and they didn’t look the same at all. The heads of the screwdrivers were shaped differently. Some were star shaped, some were flat, and others were square.
“Which one do you want?” I asked my Dad.
“The Robertson,” he snapped impatiently. He was holding a heavy peice of the lawnmower up and the strain made him shake. It also made him impatient with his son. He quickly reached past me and grabbed one of the square shaped screwdrivers.
A few minutes later he requested a Philips screwdriver, and a similar moment of confusion occured.
It was hot out and my Dad just wanted to get the lawnmower up and running quickly. He wasn’t in the best of moods, and so he sent me into the house.
I had barely gotten my shoes off when my dad came into the house and sat beside me. He then said something which has stuck with me even to this day.
“I’m sorry, Slick.” he said to me calmly. “I was impatient and hot. It’s not your fault you didn’t know what a Robertson or a Philips screwdriver is. No one has ever explained it to you, and that’s my fault.”
“That’s ok,” I said.
“No, it’s not.” He replied.
“I work every day with 40 grown men who report to me. If I spoke to any of them like I did to you, it would be unacceptable. People are nicer to strangers than they are to the people they love, and that’s not right. You’re my son and I love you. I should treat you with more respect and patience than anyone else in the world.”
and he always did. Even before that he did.
But his point was right; most people are more cruel to those they love than they are to strangers.
So next time you interact with a customer, treat them better than most people treat their loved ones.
Treat them like a stranger
If You’ve never read Seth Godin…..
Then you really should ! I’ve heard about him for years, but never read or listened to a thing he had done.
A few weeks ago I decided that he is to marketing…. what I want to be to Customer Service.
So….. I started to read his books. I subscribed to his daily blog. I began to watch YouTube clips of him speaking.
I recommend you look him up. His ideas are excellent and easy to read.
What book first ? Free Prize Inside
And here’s an example of a great post from him …. subscribe to Seth Godin today !
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Customer Service You Have to Ask For Isn’t Good Customer Service
Earlier this week my family went to a local amusement park that we had bought a season pass to.
As we were paying for some food at one of the concession stands, the girl asked, “Are you a season pass holder?”
We told her we were and she replied, “Great, that entitles you to a percentage off your bill.” She then lowered her voice a bit and said, “Be sure to mention that everywhere you buy something in the park. Most places will give you a savings, although almost no one will offer them.”
Honouring a special, or offer, or promotion, is much different than offering it.
We had bought from other places in the park and paid full price, even though we were entitled to a deal. Was that our fault? Yes.
The company took advantage of our being new, and I’m sure we weren’t the only ones. Was that terrible customer service on their part ? Yes.
How Everyone Can Improve at Customer Service
A fan had the chance to meet a world famous pianist after a concert. The fan was in awe as he said to the piano genius.
“You played incredibly! I’ve never seen or heard anyone play the piano with such skill, such feeling. You are utterly brilliant!”
The Pianist smiled politely and said, “Thank you for your kind praise.”
“Kind has nothing to do with it,” the fan exclaimed. “I’d give my life to be able to play the piano like you do.”
“That’s what I did,” The Pianist replied matter of factly. “I gave my life to be able to play like this.”
I heard that story from a seminar years ago. The speaker was talking about the importance of commitment and practice.
Here’s how you can improve at providing customer service. Practice. Then practice some more. Then learn from what you have experienced …… and practice some more.
No one is good at something the first, or 5 th time we try it.
Careful, though. Don’t do something 5 or 6 times and make the mistake of thinking you just practiced 5 or 6 times. Follow these simple steps to get more out of your practicing.
1. Be aware that you are practicing.
2. Critique your effort.
3. Identify what went well, and where you could have done better.
4. Pick an action to improve during the next practice attempt.
5. Keep written notes of how/what you have improved on.
6. Don’t identify or try to change more than one detail on a practice run.
7. Accept that you won’t be perfect …… ever. But also accept that you can get better each time you practice.
A little improvement each try adds up to big changes in quality much quicker than you would guess.
Tiger Woods still needs to practice to get better. We all do.
The Naturals
A friend of mine in grade school had a unique ability. He could bend his hand back in such a way that his fingertips would touch the top of his forearm (if you’re picturing it correctly then you’re likely getting a bit queasy). He was double jointed. No matter how hard the rest of us tried, or how badly we wanted to, we couldn’t bend our hand back that way.
It’s the same for all naturals.
Is everyone Michael Jordan? Can everyone become as good as him in basketball? No.
Truth: Some people are “Naturals” at providing Customer Service .
Another Truth: These Naturals don’t understand why everyone else can’t do what they do ( It’s simple, common sense to them).
yet more Truth: There’s no good reason, most just can’t.
If I take 1000 people and give them identical training, most just won’t be any good at it. Some will be pretty good. A few will be excellent. If I’m lucky …… one or two naturals will be in the mix. They will be amazing at it.
of the 1000 people, all of them can get better at customer service with practice and conscious effort.
When it comes to Customer Service, improving even slightly can dramatically increase the success and happiness a person experiences in their life.
My next blog will deal with “How Everyone Can Improve at Customer Service”
Everyone has given Excellent Customer Service
Remember the last time you gave someone really good customer service? or the last time you received really good customer service?
How did that make you feel?
How did it make the other person feel?
We might not all be experts at it, but everyone can think of at least a few times they were involved with excellent customer service .
What are the benefits of customer service? There are so many……
No matter how good you are at something, a person can always improve.
If each person got ( and gave) just a small amount of customer service each day, we’d all be better for it.
I invite you to give a little more ….. I guarantee what you get back is worth the effort.
The problem with saying “I’m Sorry” too much….
When you do something that requires an apology, you should sincerely and immediately apologize.
But what happens when you apologize too much…… and for things that don’t require an apology?
If a waitress apologizes every time she comes to your table, it will affect your overall perception of her service.
q.”Excuse me, could I get a refill on my drink please?”
a.”Oh, sorry. I’ll bring that for you right away.”
q.”Is it possible to get another fork? I dropped mine on the floor.”
a.”Oh, sorry about that. Sure I’ll go get you another one.”
q.”I changed my mind and decided to get a coffee after all please.”
a.”Sorry, I’ll be right back with one for you.”
Now the waitress/waiter didn’t have to be sorry for any of that. They are using the word as a filler. But the impact can be bad on their tips.
When it comes time to leave the tip, the customer might think something like this; “Well everything seemed fine about the service, but the waitress did say sorry alot. The service must not have been that great.:”
This example can be used for any customer service interaction.
IF you do apologize for something that isn’t your fault then be clear about it.
“I’m sorry the shipping company didn’t deliver your package on time.” is much different than saying “I’m sorry” when a customer calls to say the shipping company didn’t deliver their package on time.
The first sentence shows you are disappointed and on their side. The second sentence can leave them feeling it is your fault the package didn’t get delivered on time.
Apologize when you make a mistake. Don’t use “I’m Sorry” as a way to start a sentence with your customers,
or they might look back on the experience and think something was wrong……. even though there wasn’t.
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