Alignment is something we think about most when it comes to a vehicle. If the car we're driving is out of alignment, we quickly know it, don't we? It pulls to the right, to the left, and becomes more of a struggle than we desire when we're trying to get somewhere. Values are the alignment we need to make our journey great. Values are those key words--what I call JourneyWords--that help us go in the direction we need to go, instead of veering off to the left, or to the right. Values give us authentic, organic power to speak and act in the ways that make us better as we serve, lead and live our lives, every day. Get aligned. Stay aligned. And when you get off course, as we all do, make the wise decision to return to what you know: the values that make your journey great.
0 Comments
Things can change quickly when a customer is upset, when the experience has been less than wonderful. Wise leaders and staff learn to listen to the customer, observe what happened, and change things so they don't happen again. Others just wish things improve. Wise leaders make them improve. Problems usually suggest a problem with quality. Not enough checks and balances in the system. Not enough attention paid to the initial order. Assumptions made. I recently visited with a sales engineer whose job is to create whatever the sales team sold. I smiled, and he smiled, as we both knew exactly what that could mean: over promise, under delivered. Quality in customer service has to do with both the product and the experience of getting the product. If someone ain't happy, look at it and change something. Use the best of the brain cells of those closest to the customer to figure out what can be done, and then do it. It certainly isn't fun having service problems. But identifying them at the beginning of a service seminar, and then helping participants solve them at the end is one of the most rewarding elements of my speaking career. Why are problems so big? Why do they get bigger? Problem + time = negative experience for not only the customer, but for the person whose job is to serve the customer. Some problems are out of your hands. In fact, many problems relate to things someone else did, or did not, do. And therein lies the first rub: Handling things that could have been avoided. Not doing things the right way in the first place means more time, less efficiency. No one has enough time today, so misusing a customer's time with an avoidable problem? Well, that rubs the wrong way. The second rub is when the customer is simply not being very nice, and you have to be nice to provide great service. "Demanding customers" was the first problem the audience identified this week. Demanding people simply annoy us. They seem a bit petulant, childish, and sometimes, a bit spoiled. It's so much easier to deal with people who are nice to us. Annoying behavior quickly rubs the wrong way. And the third rub? The arrogance of entitlement. You know, the behavior that implies bowing would be a nice way to show you honor me. At least here in the Midwest, the land of common sense, most people would agree: that dog don't hunt. Feeling special is great. Feeling entitled rubs the wrong way. Patience is one answer. More on the next blog. The customer is always the reason every business exists. Whether yours is a small town café, a regional hospital or an international airline, without customers, your business would not be a business.
Providing your business product to those customers is what is known as service. How they are treated in that process is called the customer experience, and in today’s world, it has to be authentic as it meets and exceeds the needs of customers. I’ve seen some crazy things in my life, but this week’s United Airlines ability to drag a customer off the plane is the craziest. Worse yet was the response that justified the action. All I can say is, “Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!” Never, ever, justify stupid, mean or belittling behavior. Never, ever, blame the victim. And never, ever, treat a customer as if they are something besides a human and drag them off your property. (Quite honestly, we wouldn't allow that treatment to something not human, so it really doesn't matter....don't treat ANYTHING that way!) Customers—those reasons your business exist—deserve great service, far better than what the United passenger received. In fact, let’s just say that stupid, mean, insulting, belittling actions are not service. They’re inexcusable actions that show you have forgotten the reason your business exists. I worked with United Airlines staff in America, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan when I worked at South Dakota Department of Tourism. In the midst of great growth, United was focused on service and it showed. Here and abroad United managers were class acts. I have flown United many times, and while I have been known to say, “Welcome to lines by United!” at Denver International Airport and a few other locations, for the most part, the people I have had serve me have been wonderful. The employees of United Airlines deserve top leaders today who get it right, not by defending “established procedures,” but with a heart that says customers really do matter. |
Categories
All
AuthorDee Dee has helped create and coach "customer care" programs and cultures for healthcare, government, travel, financial services, plumbing, retail, publishing, automotive and entire communities. Archives
April 2020
|
Quick Links
|
|