Dear Loyal Reader,
I've decided to combine my various interests (mostly business and philanthropy) into one blog: http://tedcoine.blogspot.com.
Please check it out. If you decide that you prefer a blog dedicated solely to customer service rather than this new blog, I'd like to hear your thoughts. You can always reach me at ted@naplessocialaction.org.
Thanks!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I don't care how much or how little money you might have: no one likes to be taken advantage of.
The following email is one I sent to a morning news producer after an appearance I made to talk about our nonprofit, Naples Social Action (http://www.naplessocialaction.org/). The produccer's name isn't Dorris, the video production company isn't ACME. Just so you know.
Hi Dorris,
I just called ACME about getting a file (emailed is fine) for my interviews last Friday, and they said it would cost $65 for one plus $25 for the second! I don't think it's right that your guests should have to pay to get a file of themselves on your shows. After all, we're giving you content that your viewers find valuable enough to watch.
This isn't your fault or your decision, of course. I'm not mad at you in any way. Someone up the ladder is being both cheesy and unethical, though, and that doesn't sit well with me.
Is there a way I could get clips of those two interviews without going through ACME?
Thanks, Ted
Alright, let me further say that I don't blame ACME. Hey, they're providing a service and making a buck. Good for them.
The following email is one I sent to a morning news producer after an appearance I made to talk about our nonprofit, Naples Social Action (http://www.naplessocialaction.org/). The produccer's name isn't Dorris, the video production company isn't ACME. Just so you know.
Hi Dorris,
I just called ACME about getting a file (emailed is fine) for my interviews last Friday, and they said it would cost $65 for one plus $25 for the second! I don't think it's right that your guests should have to pay to get a file of themselves on your shows. After all, we're giving you content that your viewers find valuable enough to watch.
This isn't your fault or your decision, of course. I'm not mad at you in any way. Someone up the ladder is being both cheesy and unethical, though, and that doesn't sit well with me.
Is there a way I could get clips of those two interviews without going through ACME?
Thanks, Ted
Alright, let me further say that I don't blame ACME. Hey, they're providing a service and making a buck. Good for them.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
The Greater the Leader, the More Accessible He Is.
Find that hard to believe? Spoiling your customers rotten isn't just something you turn on and off like a switch; it's soul-crushingly hard to be a jerk to your employees, a monster to your family, an SOB to your vendors, and then to turn around and give over-the-top service with a smile to your customers.
...It happens. But it's a lot more work. And more stress. I can't imagine how it's worth it.
So, chances are that a person who gives terrific customer service does so from a more comprehensive, global personality trait: they're nice. And they feel pride by being nice.
Alright, so there's that.
I think this next observation is related:
I've noticed this to be profoundly true: petty people are hard to reach. They don't return calls and emails reliably. They're niggardly with a word of endorsement or a recommendation.
I think they're afraid.
People who keep themselves at arm's length do so because they don't want the rest of us to think they're little - unimportant - like us.
Remarkably, the opposite is just as true. People who are truly impressive (as people) are quite often easy to reach. They return calls, even more than once. They hand-write notes.
When I was writing Five-Star Customer Service, I wanted to quote Jack Welch not once but twice - can you tell I'm a fan? So one Saturday I called 411 and asked for John Welch in Boston. I got his home phone number, and reached his assistant. She gave me his email address - "Ask him yourself," she said kindly. I emailed my request, and he replied from his Blackberry within two hours.
Jack Welch. Arguably the most important manager of the Twentieth Century... and counting.
In the time since we still haven't met or spoken by phone, but we've corresponded a couple of times - and I can honestly say, Mr. Welch's handwriting is better than mine.
Once the book was published, I mailed a copy to the top dog at every company we mentioned in the book. I found it interesting that the bigger and more successful the company, the more likely I was to get a "Great book. Thanks for including us."
I kid you not! Some highly successful people wrote or called to say thanks. One of the most gracious letters I received was from George Zimmer of The Men's Wearhouse. He can afford to have people read his books for him, if anyone can. Yet he hand-wrote a note to thank me. George has class.
Sadly, from the heads of at least a couple of small-ish, local-celebrity type firms... nothing. Not a word.
Same thing now as we are gathering reviews for Spoil 'Em Rotten! Ken Blanchard, one of the most successful business writers ever, was the first to get back to us with an endorsement.
Jack Mitchell, a best-seller and very successful business owner, has been so gracious I feel like we're old friends!
So too with Truly Nolen, a gazillionaire entrepreneur with an international empire - he treated me to one of the most entertaining and fascinating breakfasts I've had in a long while.
Jamey Power (of J.D. Power and Associates, author of "Satisfaction") gave us a great plug, too, but what impressed me even more was how this respected business leader took over an hour of his time to chat about customer service and being an author and traveling speaker with... some guy who sent him a book (namely, me.)
Elliot Tatelman of Jordan's Furniture called to say, "I wish I were Mr. Walsh (the main character in Spoil 'Em Rotten!). But we try." In case you aren't familiar, Jordan's is a furniture retailer in the Boston area. Contrary to what Elliott says, their customer service is legendary. Actually, they are the most successful furniture retailer in the world, as measured by sales per square feet - and you should see how many square feet they have! They also just happen to be a Berkshire-Hathaway company, as in Warren Buffett, as in Elliot doesn't owe any phone calls to anybody.
...But that's my point. All of these folks I've named, and more besides, are highly successful. They've "made it;" they're already "there." And not one is too big to take the time to thank someone for including him in a book. Or to say, "I read your book, and this is what I thought."
If you want to fluff this off by saying, "Yeah, but Ted, you're an author. You and Jane are not exactly peons," just think of that first time I tried to reach Jack Welch... and succeeded. Think of how easy it was for me, just some guy, to get through to him. Think of how quickly he replied to my email.
Are you that accessible? Or are you too important to be bothered by the little people?
Find that hard to believe? Spoiling your customers rotten isn't just something you turn on and off like a switch; it's soul-crushingly hard to be a jerk to your employees, a monster to your family, an SOB to your vendors, and then to turn around and give over-the-top service with a smile to your customers.
...It happens. But it's a lot more work. And more stress. I can't imagine how it's worth it.
So, chances are that a person who gives terrific customer service does so from a more comprehensive, global personality trait: they're nice. And they feel pride by being nice.
Alright, so there's that.
I think this next observation is related:
I've noticed this to be profoundly true: petty people are hard to reach. They don't return calls and emails reliably. They're niggardly with a word of endorsement or a recommendation.
I think they're afraid.
People who keep themselves at arm's length do so because they don't want the rest of us to think they're little - unimportant - like us.
Remarkably, the opposite is just as true. People who are truly impressive (as people) are quite often easy to reach. They return calls, even more than once. They hand-write notes.
When I was writing Five-Star Customer Service, I wanted to quote Jack Welch not once but twice - can you tell I'm a fan? So one Saturday I called 411 and asked for John Welch in Boston. I got his home phone number, and reached his assistant. She gave me his email address - "Ask him yourself," she said kindly. I emailed my request, and he replied from his Blackberry within two hours.
Jack Welch. Arguably the most important manager of the Twentieth Century... and counting.
In the time since we still haven't met or spoken by phone, but we've corresponded a couple of times - and I can honestly say, Mr. Welch's handwriting is better than mine.
Once the book was published, I mailed a copy to the top dog at every company we mentioned in the book. I found it interesting that the bigger and more successful the company, the more likely I was to get a "Great book. Thanks for including us."
I kid you not! Some highly successful people wrote or called to say thanks. One of the most gracious letters I received was from George Zimmer of The Men's Wearhouse. He can afford to have people read his books for him, if anyone can. Yet he hand-wrote a note to thank me. George has class.
Sadly, from the heads of at least a couple of small-ish, local-celebrity type firms... nothing. Not a word.
Same thing now as we are gathering reviews for Spoil 'Em Rotten! Ken Blanchard, one of the most successful business writers ever, was the first to get back to us with an endorsement.
Jack Mitchell, a best-seller and very successful business owner, has been so gracious I feel like we're old friends!
So too with Truly Nolen, a gazillionaire entrepreneur with an international empire - he treated me to one of the most entertaining and fascinating breakfasts I've had in a long while.
Jamey Power (of J.D. Power and Associates, author of "Satisfaction") gave us a great plug, too, but what impressed me even more was how this respected business leader took over an hour of his time to chat about customer service and being an author and traveling speaker with... some guy who sent him a book (namely, me.)
Elliot Tatelman of Jordan's Furniture called to say, "I wish I were Mr. Walsh (the main character in Spoil 'Em Rotten!). But we try." In case you aren't familiar, Jordan's is a furniture retailer in the Boston area. Contrary to what Elliott says, their customer service is legendary. Actually, they are the most successful furniture retailer in the world, as measured by sales per square feet - and you should see how many square feet they have! They also just happen to be a Berkshire-Hathaway company, as in Warren Buffett, as in Elliot doesn't owe any phone calls to anybody.
...But that's my point. All of these folks I've named, and more besides, are highly successful. They've "made it;" they're already "there." And not one is too big to take the time to thank someone for including him in a book. Or to say, "I read your book, and this is what I thought."
If you want to fluff this off by saying, "Yeah, but Ted, you're an author. You and Jane are not exactly peons," just think of that first time I tried to reach Jack Welch... and succeeded. Think of how easy it was for me, just some guy, to get through to him. Think of how quickly he replied to my email.
Are you that accessible? Or are you too important to be bothered by the little people?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Those who get it, and those who... well, you decide.
A friend manages a local branch of a large restaurant chain. This company has an executive whose job is to manage service providers in the Southeast - refrigeration companies, food service suppliers, exterminators... you get the idea.
Now, in Florida, the question isn't 'Will your restaurant get cockroaches?' Rather, it's 'How long will the roaches remain?' And it had been three days from the initial sighting of a cockroach in the customer area of my friend's restaurant. The exterminator still hadn't shown.
My friend called the cell phone of said executive to discuss the matter. It was 9:30 on a Friday night. My friend expected to get the exec's voice mail. Instead, the lady picked up herself - and boy, was she mad!
"How dare you call me at 9:30 on a Friday night? It's not your place to call me, anyway. Tell it to your district supervisor. Never, ever call me again." She hung up before my friend could get in a reply.
Your thoughts? Was the executive right? If you were that executive's boss, what would you do? I'll weigh in shortly.
Now let's contrast that to my pal Truly Nolen - who, ironically, is founder and CEO of one of the largest family-owned extermination companies in the world. In the U.S alone, his company brings in over $80 million a year. What would he do if one of his managers called him with a problem at 9:30 on a Friday night?
Last Friday I was in Truly's office when his assistant, Betty, told me, "Whew! It's been a long day. We've had three complaints today: one in Tucson, one in Sarasota, and one here in Naples. Truly took two; I just resolved the third."
"Truly handles customer complaints himself?" I asked. His company has almost 80 locations in the U.S. alone, mind you.
"Everybody wants to talk to the head mouse," Betty replied. "His name is on the trucks." She went on, "Every customer and every employee is given his number. He gets calls all the time."
"From employees, too?"
She looked at me, as if to say, 'What do you think?' Betty's exceptionally nice though, so somehow she pulled that look off without making me feel like too much of a dope.
"He gets calls all the time. He wants to know what his people are thinking."
"Even the guys working the routes, spraying houses and offices?"
"Especially them. Truly's always been very interested in what's going on in the field. He loves people."
After further investigation I learned that the complaint in Arizona was from a woman living in a double-wide trailer, on social security, with a house-bound husband and a bad case of pack rats. I'm an avid watcher of Animal Planet, but somehow I'd missed that pack rats actually exist as a species. "Oh, yeah. They can be 20 pounds - big as a cat! Pack rats are tough. Once you get them, they're nearly impossible to get rid of. Our guys have to keep going back until they're gone."
So here's this guy, this really, really, incredibly rich and successful guy, who has a company president reporting to him (among many others), and he's helping a broke old lady with her pack-rat complaint.
Then there's this mid-level executive who treats her people like... well, as Jane said, "Like animals. I was going to say she treats them like slaves, but even that isn't strong enough. You can't treat people that way!"
I asked Jane if I was too bloodthirsty for thinking the executive should be fired for her behavior. Jane's much nicer than me, and isn't as comfortable firing people. "Is that too harsh?" I asked. "Maybe she should just be talked to...?"
Jane didn't hesitate a second. "Off with her head. You can't treat people that way. Think of the example she's setting! How is your friend going to treat her employees now? And how are they going to treat their customers? This big-shot is poison for her entire multinational brand!"
What would you do? What would your boss do, or your subordinates? Your answer tells a lot about the kind of company you work for - or run. Leadership - Culture - Service. How healthy is your company?
A friend manages a local branch of a large restaurant chain. This company has an executive whose job is to manage service providers in the Southeast - refrigeration companies, food service suppliers, exterminators... you get the idea.
Now, in Florida, the question isn't 'Will your restaurant get cockroaches?' Rather, it's 'How long will the roaches remain?' And it had been three days from the initial sighting of a cockroach in the customer area of my friend's restaurant. The exterminator still hadn't shown.
My friend called the cell phone of said executive to discuss the matter. It was 9:30 on a Friday night. My friend expected to get the exec's voice mail. Instead, the lady picked up herself - and boy, was she mad!
"How dare you call me at 9:30 on a Friday night? It's not your place to call me, anyway. Tell it to your district supervisor. Never, ever call me again." She hung up before my friend could get in a reply.
Your thoughts? Was the executive right? If you were that executive's boss, what would you do? I'll weigh in shortly.
Now let's contrast that to my pal Truly Nolen - who, ironically, is founder and CEO of one of the largest family-owned extermination companies in the world. In the U.S alone, his company brings in over $80 million a year. What would he do if one of his managers called him with a problem at 9:30 on a Friday night?
Last Friday I was in Truly's office when his assistant, Betty, told me, "Whew! It's been a long day. We've had three complaints today: one in Tucson, one in Sarasota, and one here in Naples. Truly took two; I just resolved the third."
"Truly handles customer complaints himself?" I asked. His company has almost 80 locations in the U.S. alone, mind you.
"Everybody wants to talk to the head mouse," Betty replied. "His name is on the trucks." She went on, "Every customer and every employee is given his number. He gets calls all the time."
"From employees, too?"
She looked at me, as if to say, 'What do you think?' Betty's exceptionally nice though, so somehow she pulled that look off without making me feel like too much of a dope.
"He gets calls all the time. He wants to know what his people are thinking."
"Even the guys working the routes, spraying houses and offices?"
"Especially them. Truly's always been very interested in what's going on in the field. He loves people."
After further investigation I learned that the complaint in Arizona was from a woman living in a double-wide trailer, on social security, with a house-bound husband and a bad case of pack rats. I'm an avid watcher of Animal Planet, but somehow I'd missed that pack rats actually exist as a species. "Oh, yeah. They can be 20 pounds - big as a cat! Pack rats are tough. Once you get them, they're nearly impossible to get rid of. Our guys have to keep going back until they're gone."
So here's this guy, this really, really, incredibly rich and successful guy, who has a company president reporting to him (among many others), and he's helping a broke old lady with her pack-rat complaint.
Then there's this mid-level executive who treats her people like... well, as Jane said, "Like animals. I was going to say she treats them like slaves, but even that isn't strong enough. You can't treat people that way!"
I asked Jane if I was too bloodthirsty for thinking the executive should be fired for her behavior. Jane's much nicer than me, and isn't as comfortable firing people. "Is that too harsh?" I asked. "Maybe she should just be talked to...?"
Jane didn't hesitate a second. "Off with her head. You can't treat people that way. Think of the example she's setting! How is your friend going to treat her employees now? And how are they going to treat their customers? This big-shot is poison for her entire multinational brand!"
What would you do? What would your boss do, or your subordinates? Your answer tells a lot about the kind of company you work for - or run. Leadership - Culture - Service. How healthy is your company?
Friday, July 06, 2007
Take a five-star test from a real-life situation that just happened to me yesterday. www.NaplesResource.blogspot.com - find the entry for Cartridge World, dated July 6, 2007.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Here Comes Nordstrom
Down the street a few miles from our home here in Naples they're building what will become a Nordstrom department store, rumor has it in late 2008. Jane and I can't wait. We know what's coming.
Here are three things we can all learn from Nordstrom. There are plenty more, but today we'll stick with just three.
Lesson One: Nordstrom hires for attitude.
I asked my friends at the Nordstrom corporate headquarters in Seattle, and they tell me they haven't selected a general manager for Naples yet - they won't until just a few months before the store opens.
Ah, but once they assign the GM to Naples, this is what will happen. The GM and her top managers will move to Naples and get settled in their new community. They'll dine out. They'll go to the bank. They'll go to all manner of events around town; art festivals, kids' days at the park... you name it. They'll go grocery shopping, and buy insurance, and get a haircut, and stock up on vitamins, and do everything else a person does when she moves to a new place.
...And all the while, they'll be recruiting. Nordstrom managers are bred to poach talent from wherever they find it. Tomorrow's leading sales pro may be today's animal shelter receptionist. Just wait and see.
Nordstrom's smart. They hire people for attitude, almost entirely disregarding resume. After all, why untrain all those bad habits from an experienced retail sales clerk, when they can start fresh with someone they meet at the dry cleaner's?
Coine used to hire staff from ads we'd place in the newspaper and online. That rarely worked out well for us. When you think about it, you're fishing in the toilet bowl.
Today, we hire exclusively from three sources: through referrals from professionals we admire, through sharp and ambitious people who approach us looking to join our company, and through a lot of the type of poaching that I just described.
This has transformed our firm, and made managing our people literally headache-free. If you hire for your company, I suggest you do the same.
Never run a help wanted ad again. Instead, poach talent.
Lesson Two: Nordstrom inspires its people.
Poaching is easy for a Nordstrom manager, too. That's because Nordstrom is a truly inspiring company to work for. Top sales talent makes all sorts of money. The people who fit their corporate culture - an not all do - perform at the top of their game, because they really feel a part of something special.
Here's one reason: when the new hires arrive for their first day of training, they will be given a five-by-seven card, the employee handbook. On one side, it will read,
On the reverse, new hires will read,
Lesson Three: Nordstrom top brass gets it.
If you're familiar with my work, you probably expected this presentation to go like this: Hire for attitude, Inspire through pride in the company, and Train for skills. It's our HIT model, and we can't stress its importance enough.
Yes, do the Training, which will be easy once H and I are in place. But today, I want to focus more on the Inspire part of HIT.
Nordstrom really inspires its people, all throughout its organization. The handbook - and more specifically, the spirit of that handbook - is one way they inspire pride. The inverse pyramid is another.
If you look at Nordstrom's organizational chart, it will depict a pyramid, with the board of directors, the Nordstrom family, and their top executives at a point, managers all through the middle, and a broad base of front-line employees there to interface with the customers. Just like every other company out there.
...Except that the Nordstrom pyramid is upside-down. The Nordstroms and top managers are on the bottom of the pyramid. The front-line workers are at the top of the pyramid. And above them, you'll find the customers.
The customers are the most important part of the Nordstrom organization. The sales clerks on the floor are the second most important. Department managers are directly below the sales staff, there to help, not to command. Each store's general manager is below his management team: it is his job to serve his managers and sales staff.
Nordstrom's corporate staff exists to serve its stores. Its tippity-top leaders go to work each day with the mission of facilitating front-level sales in any way that they can. They don't go to work to be served; they work all day to serve others.
Just a catchy wall ornament? Ask any Nordstrom employee you meet on the sales floor.
Nordstrom is coming to Naples, and the town will never be the same. Service will increase dramatically, as the bar is set that much higher. Some businesses will suffer, because their top performers will be stolen. And they'll deserve to lose these people. Sorry, guys: treat your people right now, and they won't even consider a better offer.
Hire for attitude by poaching top talent wherever you find it.
Inspire your staff by treating them like adults.
Serve your staff, who in turn will serve your customers.
That's the Nordstrom Way. Can you handle it?
Down the street a few miles from our home here in Naples they're building what will become a Nordstrom department store, rumor has it in late 2008. Jane and I can't wait. We know what's coming.
Here are three things we can all learn from Nordstrom. There are plenty more, but today we'll stick with just three.
Lesson One: Nordstrom hires for attitude.
I asked my friends at the Nordstrom corporate headquarters in Seattle, and they tell me they haven't selected a general manager for Naples yet - they won't until just a few months before the store opens.
Ah, but once they assign the GM to Naples, this is what will happen. The GM and her top managers will move to Naples and get settled in their new community. They'll dine out. They'll go to the bank. They'll go to all manner of events around town; art festivals, kids' days at the park... you name it. They'll go grocery shopping, and buy insurance, and get a haircut, and stock up on vitamins, and do everything else a person does when she moves to a new place.
...And all the while, they'll be recruiting. Nordstrom managers are bred to poach talent from wherever they find it. Tomorrow's leading sales pro may be today's animal shelter receptionist. Just wait and see.
Nordstrom's smart. They hire people for attitude, almost entirely disregarding resume. After all, why untrain all those bad habits from an experienced retail sales clerk, when they can start fresh with someone they meet at the dry cleaner's?
Coine used to hire staff from ads we'd place in the newspaper and online. That rarely worked out well for us. When you think about it, you're fishing in the toilet bowl.
Today, we hire exclusively from three sources: through referrals from professionals we admire, through sharp and ambitious people who approach us looking to join our company, and through a lot of the type of poaching that I just described.
This has transformed our firm, and made managing our people literally headache-free. If you hire for your company, I suggest you do the same.
Never run a help wanted ad again. Instead, poach talent.
Lesson Two: Nordstrom inspires its people.
Poaching is easy for a Nordstrom manager, too. That's because Nordstrom is a truly inspiring company to work for. Top sales talent makes all sorts of money. The people who fit their corporate culture - an not all do - perform at the top of their game, because they really feel a part of something special.
Here's one reason: when the new hires arrive for their first day of training, they will be given a five-by-seven card, the employee handbook. On one side, it will read,
"Use your best judgement at all times."
On the reverse, new hires will read,
"There will be no additional rules."
That's it. That's the Nordstrom handbook. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, maybe not to everyone. When my trainers and I present this information in our "C-Level" (CEO, CFO, owner, chairman, etc) workshops, we earn a lot of incredulous looks. The room often falls silent. I delight in watching these big cheeses shift in their seats. Finally someone will speak up.
"If we did that in our company," they say, "we'd be out of business in a day." That earns them a lot of sympathetic, uncomfortable laughs.
It's probably true, too. That's why most companies aren't as successful as Nordstrom.
Treat your people like adults, and guess how they'll act? Some will prove worthy of your new found respect; many others will wash out.
Good. Let them go. Then get out of the office and poach their replacements.
Lesson Three: Nordstrom top brass gets it.
If you're familiar with my work, you probably expected this presentation to go like this: Hire for attitude, Inspire through pride in the company, and Train for skills. It's our HIT model, and we can't stress its importance enough.
Yes, do the Training, which will be easy once H and I are in place. But today, I want to focus more on the Inspire part of HIT.
Nordstrom really inspires its people, all throughout its organization. The handbook - and more specifically, the spirit of that handbook - is one way they inspire pride. The inverse pyramid is another.
If you look at Nordstrom's organizational chart, it will depict a pyramid, with the board of directors, the Nordstrom family, and their top executives at a point, managers all through the middle, and a broad base of front-line employees there to interface with the customers. Just like every other company out there.
...Except that the Nordstrom pyramid is upside-down. The Nordstroms and top managers are on the bottom of the pyramid. The front-line workers are at the top of the pyramid. And above them, you'll find the customers.
The customers are the most important part of the Nordstrom organization. The sales clerks on the floor are the second most important. Department managers are directly below the sales staff, there to help, not to command. Each store's general manager is below his management team: it is his job to serve his managers and sales staff.
Nordstrom's corporate staff exists to serve its stores. Its tippity-top leaders go to work each day with the mission of facilitating front-level sales in any way that they can. They don't go to work to be served; they work all day to serve others.
Just a catchy wall ornament? Ask any Nordstrom employee you meet on the sales floor.
Nordstrom is coming to Naples, and the town will never be the same. Service will increase dramatically, as the bar is set that much higher. Some businesses will suffer, because their top performers will be stolen. And they'll deserve to lose these people. Sorry, guys: treat your people right now, and they won't even consider a better offer.
Hire for attitude by poaching top talent wherever you find it.
Inspire your staff by treating them like adults.
Serve your staff, who in turn will serve your customers.
That's the Nordstrom Way. Can you handle it?
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