I suggest you read the end of today's entry on my Give In Naples blog. While the topic is leadership rather than customer service, your company will never give good service until its leaders know how to lead.
http://www.giveinnaples.blogspot.com
Friday, May 25, 2007
When I wrote Five-Star Customer Service, I profiled many great companies and terrific individuals who, I felt, deserved a little print and notoriety for their excellent customer service.
Well, there is a danger inherent in this kind of thing: people and companies can let you down. Sometimes, they can let you down badly enough that you don't want them associated with you in the minds of the public.
Such is the case with our first edition of Five-Star Customer Service. It is less than two years old, but already I have to amend it. This is a decision that is costing us quite a bit of money.
I'm sorry that this happened. I'm extra-sorry, because would-be readers keep asking us why it isn't available. But Jane and I are working on the second edition. In the meantime, we know you'll enjoy Spoil 'em Rotten!
Well, there is a danger inherent in this kind of thing: people and companies can let you down. Sometimes, they can let you down badly enough that you don't want them associated with you in the minds of the public.
Such is the case with our first edition of Five-Star Customer Service. It is less than two years old, but already I have to amend it. This is a decision that is costing us quite a bit of money.
I'm sorry that this happened. I'm extra-sorry, because would-be readers keep asking us why it isn't available. But Jane and I are working on the second edition. In the meantime, we know you'll enjoy Spoil 'em Rotten!
"Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business."
- Zig Ziglar
No truer words were ever spoken. When your company drops the ball, most customers won't tell you - they'll just silently go to the competition next time.
They will tell their friends, unfortunately. At least 20 friends, if the offense is bad enough.
So when a customer is kind enough to tell you to your face - or in a letter, email, or via phone - that you've disappointed them, you should take that person and give her a big, fat, juicy kiss. Say, "Thank you, thank you, Thank You!"
She'll look at you like you're nuts. You may even get slapped for the kiss - guys, get ready to have your lights knocked out. But who cares? This disgruntled customer has just given you a great opportunity to fix your error, with her and with all of your future customers.
...And here's the thing I like even more about a disgruntled customer who is kind enough to share her displeasure with me: I have a chance to win her back!
More than any other time, complaint resolution is your chance to shine. What's so special about a good company giving good service? It's a nice surprise, of course, but so what? A lot of companies can't find a chance to show their five-star stuff until they get a chance to fix a mistake.
Done right, this will blow your customers away. The extra miles you go to in order to please the displeased is the stuff of legends in the company that truly spoils its customers rotten.
Our friend Zig is right. Wow a customer by fixing what you've broken: her trust and good will. Done well, she will bring you not only her locked-in business, but that of her friends as well. Give your customers something to brag about. If not perfect service every time, then certainly let them brag about your perfect service recovery.
This alone can make you wildly successful.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
I am available to give brief (20-40 minute) talks around the Naples area just for fun. Jane and I also give all of our Naples-area speaking fees to charity - the fees being for longer talks.
For more information: http://www.naplesspeakeasy.org/speakers/tedcoine.htm
For more information: http://www.naplesspeakeasy.org/speakers/tedcoine.htm
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Managing a Customer Service Icon: Thoughts on Leadership from Mr. Walsh of Spoil 'em Rotten! by Jane & Ted Coiné
A fish stinks from the head. Whenever you receive bad customer service, look all the way to the CEO. It’s his fault.
This is Bob Walsh’s favorite saying about leadership …and he should know! Mr. Walsh has been employing and managing others for over forty years. He knows what it takes to run a successful customer service organization: a leader who “gets it.”
Leaders, if you can’t find good help these days, it isn’t the talent pool: five-star companies are hiring from the same population you are. Instead, look in the mirror.
Happy employees = happy customers = profits …which makes for very happy stockholders!
In Spoil ’em Rotten! Candace and her mentor Mr. Walsh discuss two studies, one by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the other by PETCO, on what made for the most profitable branches. Enterprise learned that the branches with the happiest customers were the most profitable. PETCO learned the same, but they looked deeper and found that the stores with the happiest customers had the happiest employees, too. Which takes us to…
Follow the Platinum Rule: treat your employees the way you want them to treat your customers.
How do you want your people to treat your customers? With respect? With patience? Do you want them to treat your customers like adults? You would never want your employees bossing your customers around, would you? Losing their cool? Making their lives miserable?
…Then why would you ever do that to your employees? Treat them like mature, responsible adults who come to work eager to do a great job, dying to spoil your customers rotten, and guess what? They will be!
Get your hands dirty.
Mr. Walsh owns five grocery stores; he employs over one thousand people. Yet one of his all-time favorite activities is bagging groceries. He also stocks shelves, cuts fish, and anything else that he asks his associates to do. Why does a man of his stature "lower" himself? Ask Mr. Walsh, and he’ll tell you that kind of thinking is a one-way ticket to the poor house. He’s got a great story about that very thing from the early days.
Besides, jumping into the fray is good P.R. When there’s a line, which can happen even at Walsh’s, customers want to blame management. But if they can see top managers rolling up their sleeves to help, there goes that unloved feeling. The honchos do care!
Thank your associates – often and sincerely.
Candace points out to Mr. Walsh that he’s always thinking his employees for doing things that he asks them to. Why does he ask, instead of tell, and why does he thank them for doing their jobs? After all, they have no choice but to comply: they’re working for him!
Mr. Walsh explains, “They don’t work for me. They work for their families. I never forget that. And as for my asking and thanking them? A boss who bosses his people around is ineffective. They’ll do what you ask of them. So why not be pleasant?”
Saving pennies on staffing will cost you dollars.
Mr. Walsh went against all his managers' advice when he decided to put more clerks behind the deli counter. “We’ll lose our shirts!” they told him. “Payroll will eat up all our profits!” The truth was exactly the opposite. Payroll did go up a bit, but profits soared, as customers flocked to Walsh’s to avoid the lines of other stores. The competitor across the street actually closed their store shortly after this bold move.
Institute The Nordstrom Code: "Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules."
Many employers would say of this rule, “If we instituted this code at our company, we’d be out of business in a week!” Maybe those employers should consider the line about fish heads.
Treat your employees like children, and guess how they’ll act? Instead, why not expect them to be the employees you want them to be? They just might surprise you.
Make your company a H.I.T. Hire for attitude. Inspire through pride. Train in skills.
Mr. Walsh has always hired employees based on their attitudes, not their resumes. With their help, he crafted a magical company that people are passionately proud of. That creates a feedback loop of positive results: great people made a great company; a great company attracts terrific people, and on it goes. Training those motivated, inspired people in the skills they need for their particular jobs? That’s the easy part.
A fish stinks from the head. Whenever you receive bad customer service, look all the way to the CEO. It’s his fault.
This is Bob Walsh’s favorite saying about leadership …and he should know! Mr. Walsh has been employing and managing others for over forty years. He knows what it takes to run a successful customer service organization: a leader who “gets it.”
Leaders, if you can’t find good help these days, it isn’t the talent pool: five-star companies are hiring from the same population you are. Instead, look in the mirror.
Happy employees = happy customers = profits …which makes for very happy stockholders!
In Spoil ’em Rotten! Candace and her mentor Mr. Walsh discuss two studies, one by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the other by PETCO, on what made for the most profitable branches. Enterprise learned that the branches with the happiest customers were the most profitable. PETCO learned the same, but they looked deeper and found that the stores with the happiest customers had the happiest employees, too. Which takes us to…
Follow the Platinum Rule: treat your employees the way you want them to treat your customers.
How do you want your people to treat your customers? With respect? With patience? Do you want them to treat your customers like adults? You would never want your employees bossing your customers around, would you? Losing their cool? Making their lives miserable?
…Then why would you ever do that to your employees? Treat them like mature, responsible adults who come to work eager to do a great job, dying to spoil your customers rotten, and guess what? They will be!
Get your hands dirty.
Mr. Walsh owns five grocery stores; he employs over one thousand people. Yet one of his all-time favorite activities is bagging groceries. He also stocks shelves, cuts fish, and anything else that he asks his associates to do. Why does a man of his stature "lower" himself? Ask Mr. Walsh, and he’ll tell you that kind of thinking is a one-way ticket to the poor house. He’s got a great story about that very thing from the early days.
Besides, jumping into the fray is good P.R. When there’s a line, which can happen even at Walsh’s, customers want to blame management. But if they can see top managers rolling up their sleeves to help, there goes that unloved feeling. The honchos do care!
Thank your associates – often and sincerely.
Candace points out to Mr. Walsh that he’s always thinking his employees for doing things that he asks them to. Why does he ask, instead of tell, and why does he thank them for doing their jobs? After all, they have no choice but to comply: they’re working for him!
Mr. Walsh explains, “They don’t work for me. They work for their families. I never forget that. And as for my asking and thanking them? A boss who bosses his people around is ineffective. They’ll do what you ask of them. So why not be pleasant?”
Saving pennies on staffing will cost you dollars.
Mr. Walsh went against all his managers' advice when he decided to put more clerks behind the deli counter. “We’ll lose our shirts!” they told him. “Payroll will eat up all our profits!” The truth was exactly the opposite. Payroll did go up a bit, but profits soared, as customers flocked to Walsh’s to avoid the lines of other stores. The competitor across the street actually closed their store shortly after this bold move.
Institute The Nordstrom Code: "Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules."
Many employers would say of this rule, “If we instituted this code at our company, we’d be out of business in a week!” Maybe those employers should consider the line about fish heads.
Treat your employees like children, and guess how they’ll act? Instead, why not expect them to be the employees you want them to be? They just might surprise you.
Make your company a H.I.T. Hire for attitude. Inspire through pride. Train in skills.
Mr. Walsh has always hired employees based on their attitudes, not their resumes. With their help, he crafted a magical company that people are passionately proud of. That creates a feedback loop of positive results: great people made a great company; a great company attracts terrific people, and on it goes. Training those motivated, inspired people in the skills they need for their particular jobs? That’s the easy part.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
What do you do when you believe that your customer is wrong, and he is equally adamant that he is correct?
With no paper trail to prove one side or the other’s claims, what occurs is essentially a he-said, she-said scenario. How do you handle this in such a way that you are able to Spoil your customer Rotten while at the same time being careful not to damage your company in some way?
The facts of the situation are this:
1. A CEO liked our book enough to buy 100 copies, one each for his branch and division managers. He handed me a check and the address to their headquarters in Arizona.
2. I deposited the check.
3. I called our publisher myself to place the order, using a credit card.
After that, things are in dispute. Did I provide the publisher with all of the billing information necessary for them to complete the transaction and ship the books?
Let me state clearly for all the world to see: I don’t know!
I am 100% certain that I did. But they seem to be equally certain that I did not. So I have to be fair: I am human, and it is possible, despite my certainty, that I am mistaken.
No that I think so. I remember placing the order. I remember completing the order. I remember relaxing, because the books would be shipped. I’m pretty careful not to alienate an important new customer (and great new friend, in this case) by bungling such a simple transaction.
So I’ll spare you days of grief, in which I communicate via email and phone with a number of people at the publisher, though never – despite numerous copying of email – anyone in the CEO’s office.
(Side note: this is my third major (to me) run-in with this same publisher over our new book. I have yet to hear from the CEO’s office in reply to any of my three grievances, although I did get 10 free books one time).
The penultimate conversation took place this morning, between me and a mid-level manager who, she claims, has extensive experience working in the hotel industry, including with a five-star chain which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. (After all, she’s not with them anymore. That may not be a coincidence.)
This manager insisted on telling me – seven times – that “In the future, you will need to provide your complete billing information so we can process your order.”
After the sixth time, I called her on it: “So what you’re saying is, ‘Sir, you are wrong, and I insist on correcting you.’”
Her reply was another customer-service faux pas, the “No… But:”
“No,” she said, “I am not correcting you. But in the future, in order to complete an order, we will need your…” yada yada yada.
“No…But” = Yes. Just in case there is any question.
Finally, I let that one go. I asked her for a letter from the CEO’s office apologizing for their failure, one that I could share with my client. She flat-out refused.
My question: What do you do when you and your customer are at odds, and both of you are certain you are right?
I’ll tell you what my father always told me: “You can never win an argument with a customer.”
Here’s what Stew Leonard has to say on the topic: Rule #1: The customer is always right. Rule #2: if the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule #1!
As our friend and mentor Joe Curtin would say, “That’s terrible! What can I do to make it right?”
Is a letter of apology from the CEO (typed and signed by an assistant, I’m sure, while the CEO is out playing golf) going to do anything to damage this company? Would it open them to liable? Could I use it as proof of their ineptitude, and use it to trash their name in the media?
Or is it a 39-cent-way to smooth some very ruffled feathers? Because, I’ll tell you, that’s all I’ve ever wanted from this experience. Just a letter to take to my friend’s office, to show him and say, “Gosh, I’m sorry this happened. Let me buy you dinner to show how sorry I am.”
Don’t worry, he’ll get the dinner with or without the publisher’s letter.
IUniverse, our publisher, does not have to pay for that dinner. They don’t have to give me any more free books, or place an ad of contrition in the Wall Street Journal. But a letter would be nice. A 39 cent investment in our relationship. That’s all.
What would you do in a case like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts. ted.coine@coineinc.com
PS Several hours after I posted the above, I received a call from the same manager telling me that iUniverse had expedited shipping at a cost (to itself, not to me) of $75. No apology, but they did fork out $75.
Makes you think, don't it? How hard is it to say "We screwed up, and we're sorry?" Aparently, it's tougher than you'd think.
Try to remember this the next time you see life differently from your customer. Would you rather shell out extra money, while maintaining ill will? Or allow your customer to be right, and maybe pay nothing at all - yet win a friend in the process?
With no paper trail to prove one side or the other’s claims, what occurs is essentially a he-said, she-said scenario. How do you handle this in such a way that you are able to Spoil your customer Rotten while at the same time being careful not to damage your company in some way?
The facts of the situation are this:
1. A CEO liked our book enough to buy 100 copies, one each for his branch and division managers. He handed me a check and the address to their headquarters in Arizona.
2. I deposited the check.
3. I called our publisher myself to place the order, using a credit card.
After that, things are in dispute. Did I provide the publisher with all of the billing information necessary for them to complete the transaction and ship the books?
Let me state clearly for all the world to see: I don’t know!
I am 100% certain that I did. But they seem to be equally certain that I did not. So I have to be fair: I am human, and it is possible, despite my certainty, that I am mistaken.
No that I think so. I remember placing the order. I remember completing the order. I remember relaxing, because the books would be shipped. I’m pretty careful not to alienate an important new customer (and great new friend, in this case) by bungling such a simple transaction.
So I’ll spare you days of grief, in which I communicate via email and phone with a number of people at the publisher, though never – despite numerous copying of email – anyone in the CEO’s office.
(Side note: this is my third major (to me) run-in with this same publisher over our new book. I have yet to hear from the CEO’s office in reply to any of my three grievances, although I did get 10 free books one time).
The penultimate conversation took place this morning, between me and a mid-level manager who, she claims, has extensive experience working in the hotel industry, including with a five-star chain which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. (After all, she’s not with them anymore. That may not be a coincidence.)
This manager insisted on telling me – seven times – that “In the future, you will need to provide your complete billing information so we can process your order.”
After the sixth time, I called her on it: “So what you’re saying is, ‘Sir, you are wrong, and I insist on correcting you.’”
Her reply was another customer-service faux pas, the “No… But:”
“No,” she said, “I am not correcting you. But in the future, in order to complete an order, we will need your…” yada yada yada.
“No…But” = Yes. Just in case there is any question.
Finally, I let that one go. I asked her for a letter from the CEO’s office apologizing for their failure, one that I could share with my client. She flat-out refused.
My question: What do you do when you and your customer are at odds, and both of you are certain you are right?
I’ll tell you what my father always told me: “You can never win an argument with a customer.”
Here’s what Stew Leonard has to say on the topic: Rule #1: The customer is always right. Rule #2: if the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule #1!
As our friend and mentor Joe Curtin would say, “That’s terrible! What can I do to make it right?”
Is a letter of apology from the CEO (typed and signed by an assistant, I’m sure, while the CEO is out playing golf) going to do anything to damage this company? Would it open them to liable? Could I use it as proof of their ineptitude, and use it to trash their name in the media?
Or is it a 39-cent-way to smooth some very ruffled feathers? Because, I’ll tell you, that’s all I’ve ever wanted from this experience. Just a letter to take to my friend’s office, to show him and say, “Gosh, I’m sorry this happened. Let me buy you dinner to show how sorry I am.”
Don’t worry, he’ll get the dinner with or without the publisher’s letter.
IUniverse, our publisher, does not have to pay for that dinner. They don’t have to give me any more free books, or place an ad of contrition in the Wall Street Journal. But a letter would be nice. A 39 cent investment in our relationship. That’s all.
What would you do in a case like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts. ted.coine@coineinc.com
PS Several hours after I posted the above, I received a call from the same manager telling me that iUniverse had expedited shipping at a cost (to itself, not to me) of $75. No apology, but they did fork out $75.
Makes you think, don't it? How hard is it to say "We screwed up, and we're sorry?" Aparently, it's tougher than you'd think.
Try to remember this the next time you see life differently from your customer. Would you rather shell out extra money, while maintaining ill will? Or allow your customer to be right, and maybe pay nothing at all - yet win a friend in the process?
Just yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing the manager of a truly awe-inspiring grocery store, a place that even other five-star businesses can learn from.
For instance, before our interview, a cook ran from the kitchen to the coffee counter to help me, because it was slow and there was no one in the café when I walked up.
When’s the last time someone ran to help you? I've had valets do that, but that's about it.
So I asked him what everyone always asks me: “What do you do with those customers you really just want to fire? How do you handle them?”
Without missing a beat, he said, “I hire them. Then I fire them.”
“You what?” I asked. This really was a new one to me.
“I offer them a job. I say, ‘You know, you seem to know a lot about what the customer wants. I’ll bet you could really help us improve our service.’ A lot of times they’ll take the offer. I want to show them what dealing with customers is like from the other side.
“Usually, they don’t work out, so then I get to fire them. But I’ve hired some terrific employees that way. A few are even department managers now.”
My hat is off to this innovative five-star leader. This will be my advice from now on:
“Hire them. Then fire them.”
For instance, before our interview, a cook ran from the kitchen to the coffee counter to help me, because it was slow and there was no one in the café when I walked up.
When’s the last time someone ran to help you? I've had valets do that, but that's about it.
So I asked him what everyone always asks me: “What do you do with those customers you really just want to fire? How do you handle them?”
Without missing a beat, he said, “I hire them. Then I fire them.”
“You what?” I asked. This really was a new one to me.
“I offer them a job. I say, ‘You know, you seem to know a lot about what the customer wants. I’ll bet you could really help us improve our service.’ A lot of times they’ll take the offer. I want to show them what dealing with customers is like from the other side.
“Usually, they don’t work out, so then I get to fire them. But I’ve hired some terrific employees that way. A few are even department managers now.”
My hat is off to this innovative five-star leader. This will be my advice from now on:
“Hire them. Then fire them.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)