In a recent Legendary Service course, one of my participants—we’ll call him Chad—wondered aloud if leaders ever adhered to the same standards they continually ask of their service providers. When asked for an example of what he meant by this, he said, “Well … we are asked to acknowledge the customer, get details about the…
One of my favorite books of all time is the children’s book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. In short, the book is about the relationship between a boy and a tree. Throughout the boy’s life, the tree offers whatever it can to make the boy happy—to swing from its branches, to pick and eat,…
Last week I had the privilege of staying at the Hyatt in Denver for the ASTD International Convention. I was a bit tired upon arrival as I had just flown in from a speech in Edmonton, Canada. My first realization that this was not a “business as usual” situation was encountering Troy at the front…
My two boys played three different sports during high school and, as it happens, there were times when they needed to visit the athletic trainer because of an injury. If you want a lesson in how to treat your internal customers, come to my boy’s high school and see a pro in action! The Head…
Engaged employees = Engaged customers = Better financial performance. Right? Well, not exactly. It’s a little more complicated than that. While there is a definite statistical linkage between these three measures, it’s not linear. The researchers at Gallup first identified this about seven years ago when they started to look more closely into the performance…
As a customer I am often frustrated when someone either over or under-supervises me and I get told stuff I already know, or can’t seem to get the information I actually need. Might this be happening with your customers? I want to quickly demonstrate the use of Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II model to showcase a…
Do you have any stupid policies at work that keep your people from serving at the highest level? Have you ever been told by someone serving you, “I am sorry to have to ask you this, or do this, but it’s our policy?” I once took my sons to a large, soon-to-be-out-of-business, toy store where…
One of the most overlooked gaps in well-meaning organizations is recognizing the need to treat internal customers even BETTER than external customers—at least initially. Within an organization, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking of your fellow employee as your family that you can treat however you want because “they have to love…
The 2011 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer reports that 60 percent of U.S. consumer respondents believe that businesses have not increased their focus on providing good customer service. Even more surprising, 26 percent think companies are actually paying less attention to service. Wow—now is your chance to be the one who CAREs about service! …
Now that the holidays are over, the true test of customer service begins…Black Friday has come and gone; all of the holiday specials, the “one day only” sales and then the post holiday sales have all died down, so what’s left to attract customers into your stores or businesses? A big part of it is…