When Serving the Customer, You need to do Something...Enterprise!

OK, how many of you have visited a place and wondered if there was anyone there to help you? Keep your hands up...wow, that many. Recently, I had to rent a car from Enterprise Car Rental...Since the dealership was paying for the rental, I didn't have a choice on the car rental company. After turning in the car, I realized that I left our garage door opener on the visor. After renting too many cars of the last few years for business, I remembered that most car companies clean out their cars after each rental. In fact, if the car is too dirty, they charge the previous renter.

So, I called two branches trying to find the correct center. They were not open yet, so I left a message for both of them.
[Coaching Moment: If a customer calls your establishment and requests a return call...Call them back...In fact, check your voicemail first thing in the morning. Create a log of the issue/question, the name of the person, the time of the call, and leave a spot for who called them back and when.]

I waited until two hours after they opened and called the center that actually rented me the vehicle. Someone answered the phone within two rings. I explained to the gentleman that I was trying to find if they had found the remote. He put me on hold. After 6 minutes, someone else picked up the phone. I gave him the same spiel. He also put me on hold. After 1 minute a young lady picked up the phone and asked how she could help me. I requested not the be put on hold again considering she was the third person I spoke with on this call. She apologized and mentioned that they were swamped so that was why I was put on hold.
[Coaching Moment: If you place a customer on hold, it is always courteous to check back with them every 45-60 seconds. If you can not answer their inquiry immediately, it is always a positive to take their number, indicate a potential call-back time, research the question, and phone the customer with the answer. Making them sit on hold just makes them question why they would want to remain a customer. Also, if you do place your customer on hold and transfer him/her to another individual, please conduct a "warm" transfer. This is where you talk to the person you transfer the customer to and explain the situation. This helps the customer from repeating himself/herself.]

After explaining that I was looking for our garage remote, she said she could not tell if anything was found and the car was out with another customer. The only way I would know if they found the remote would be to stop in.

After a 30 minute drive to the location, walking right in and greeted immediately, I was told that they only had one remote turned in, but it was not for the car I was in. I looked at it anyway. The young lady whom I had recommended I drive there said I should call back after the weekend on a Tuesday when the car was due back. I asked if they would call me if they found anything. She said yes. I asked if they needed my telephone number, she said, "No. We have it on your previous reservation."If
[Coaching Moment: If you are going to provide the same answer in person that you could have shared over the phone, do not make your customer drive to your location. If you can not answer their inquiry immediately, it is always a positive to take their number, indicate a potential call-back time, research the question, and phone the customer with the answer.]

After waiting 2 weeks, I decided to call them back. I explained to the gentleman who answered the phone that I was looking for our garage door opener. He put me on hold. After 15 minutes and taking a survey on another line myself, he finally returned with the excuse that they were swamped again. He said that he didn't know if they had the remote. I asked if they kept a log of things turned in. He mentioned that the log was lost over a week ago...but, this week's log was newly created and there. However, there were no garage door openers on that list. He recommended I drive down there again to check.
[Coaching Moment: Never use the amount of customers you have as an excuse for not delivering on excellent service. Too many of those moments will reduce the amount of "busy" moments you have and encourage your customers to look elsewhere for service. Also, never admit that your processes are faulty. This is a type of "negative selling." Your inadequacies in one area, this case tracking lost items, can easily be connected to lack of trust in providing your core services and encourage your customer to look for a more competent source for the service.]

The next day, I drove down there on my way to work. Again, there were no people in the lobby, and I was greeted immediately. I explained again that I was looking for our remote. He opened a drawer and pulled out 2 remotes. One of them was mine. I said thanks and walked out.
[Coaching Moment: Call you customer back immediately. If you know who rented a vehicle, but don't call them to inform them of a lose, your actions may actually hinge on an illegal activity as you are depriving an individual of what is rightfully his/hers. It is like calling an ox a bull. While he is thankful for the complement, he rather have returned what is rightfully his...if this last statement didn't make any sense, please check out 1776 or investigate the differences between oxen and bulls.]

Three weeks, multiple calls, extra trips, and many hold moments later, we have the garage door opener. If they would have cleaned out the car, we would have had it the first time. If they would have called, we would have had it within a week. If Enterprise would have cared the least bit in customer service, I would rent from them during one of my many business or leisure trips. For now, they will wait much longer than the three weeks it took to get the garage door opener. I will stick with National, Alamo, and Hertz. Do something to keep your customers not just take their money and drop them.
[Coaching Moment: Sometimes no service is better than bad service. Larger companies should look to reduce teams that are not performing. In this case, two locations are within 5 miles of the car dealership used and each other. The one with the lower satisfaction ratings should be either re-staffed or closed. If employees from one center are performing well, move them over to the remaining location.]

Deliver on Your Core Competencies First, Instead of Minimizing Your Value

Corporate America is a funny place...so, funny, it should probably have its own theme park...its own attractions...and, its own cast of characters...but, that is for another note entirely...

Today, we look delivering on your core competencies first instead of minimizing your value...have you ever felt like yesterday something wasn't part of my job, today it is, but tomorrow, well, I'll have to ask my manager? I have seen too many people put in those situations recently. The bad thing is they become too focused on doing nothing well. Their only focus becomes getting the business going or keeping it running. Good advice to all leaders in those situations has been to figure out your core competencies first. If your try to be all things at one time, nothing gets done well, it just gets done.

I know, I know, but the business will fall apart if we don't do these fourteen things. You have three choices: 1) Hire more people with those specific competencies. These people can either be employees or consultants, but get more help; 2) Start or change your client/customer expectations to include what can be done well; 3) Consider a phased approach to delivery.

The first one is simple. If you can afford and justify additional hands, great...problem solved. However, most of the time you can not. So, think of creative ways to use the talent you have to maximize their talents not their time. Having an executive stock shelves or a trainer pick out furniture, is not good for your business, nor their talents. By the time they get to lead or train, they are too exhausted and not in the right mindset to complete their tasks. Consider paying the furniture deliverers an extra tip to rearrange furniture or pay overtime to stock shelves. The task gets completed, without compromising the success of decision-making or learning later on.

The second option involves setting expectations. If you are 2-3 weeks away from launching a big product, store, or initiative, your marketing and communication need to coincide with what can be completely delivered when you launch or open the doors. If you do not have those Kermit Green rugs in before you open, because the vendor has delayed them, don't advertise them. If you want to be able to call your customers about appointments, but have not hired AND trained the staff to do so, don't set the expectation that this well be done. Once you set the expectation, you are being measured against it. Your customers expect to have a great experience based on what you have shared. If you do not share specific expectations, they will bring their own. The expectations game is like a picnic...everyone brings something for the feast...just watch out for Mother Nature and the ants...

The last item is using a phased approach to opening and growing your business. Do not buy 100,000 bags before you open so that you can save money on the order if you do not have a place to store them. Over plan the amount, but don't overstock. While you get a good deal on the paper or plastic, you get a larger mess in a small space and unhappy employees. If your vendor will allow it, ask to pay for 100,000 bags and have them delivered in increments of 10,000 for 10 months. This way, you pay less, but have less mess. And, your vendor has a sale it can count now. Phasing expectations can be difficult, think about what your customers expect first and add in the wow factors a little at a time. The product/service gets them in the door. However, the unique moments, those "bursts of excellence" that your employees provide keep them coming back. If your employees are burnt out because you stretched them too far outside their comfort level and talents, they will barely share sputters, let alone Bursts of Excellence.

Finally, figure out your core competencies before deciding to add people, set expectations, or phase your delivery. If you do not know what those competencies are and you are an existing business, ask your customers before growing. If you are a new business, do your homework...read, research, and shop your competition. Stick with those competencies when you first start the new venture. Traveling too far beyond them will minimize the value that your new product, service, and team bring to the table. Delivering beyond expectations is always good. However, that assumes you can deliver at expectations first...Good luck...enjoy...

Change in Programming

While part of this article deals with technology, it addresses how organizations need to deal with the change of a new system. Does your company have many proprietary systems? Or, perhaps, you have just one large one that has gathered steam over the years and the only people who can keep it afloat are your current IT people...The good news for them is job security...the bad news for the company is complacency...In a way, we all have a small fear of change, but if we don't change, we don't grow...

Think about how many organizational changes you have had in the last year, or the last five years even. If your systems have not adjusted to meet even those changes, maybe change should be balanced better.

Read the article here our our Shanachie Techie Blog:
http://www.storyinstitute.com/blog/2008/06/vista-choose-when-to-change.html

Service Sense: Volume I - Customer Service That Slipped

After much thought and consideration...added to recently poor customer service experiences, Story Institute asks for your stories about service for an upcoming book. The book will be sold on Amazon and other select sites, plus available directly from us.

For this volume, we are looking for customer service stories that turned bad. If you have waited all day for a shipment of furniture that never showed...were overcharged for an item you ended up not able to return, or encountered a rude customer service representative, please share it with us. We will use your story and your first name with your permission. We will add a summary to each story, along with tips for companies on how to correct these horrible experiences, and learning opportunities for organizations to improve their services...or, sense of service at least.

With this new title, we hope to show companies that poor service is not good for business and there are ways to improve instead of just giving up on it all together.

Send your stories to: customerservice@storyinstitute.com

Thank you for helping us assemble this industry changing book.

Story Institute Expansion

There comes a time when the material piles up and you have to do something with it...so...we will be incorporating under Story Institute and adding a site and expanding our vision...check us out in these locations...

Story Institute Vision
We will inspire you to imagine, enhance, and grow your stories personally and professionally while helping you share your successes in print, online, and in person.

Story Institute Mission

Though Integrity, Ingenuity, Inspiration, Influence, Impact, and Excellence,
We will:
* Evoke emotion within our customers that make connections to our communities.
* Engage our customers, their families, and clients in active tales that connect their emotions to past knowledge and experiences.
* Empower our partners to use their new knowledge while growing their families, organizations, and stories into a world of their own.

Story Institute Entities
Story Institute - Imagine your Stories Again - Story, Poetry, and Contests for the writer in most of us.

Timeless Tales - Enhance Your Stories Now - Candy Wrappers, Family topics, home décor, kid fun for the now.

MySkillCenter - Grow Your Stories for the Future - Personal and Professional Enrichment within HR, People Skills, Manager/Leader, Career Pathing, Measurement.

Excellence Takes Time

So, you listened to those external consultants who told you that you can have results if you followed their recommendations. They also told you that you can get the results you want in the short time that you said you needed it...

What they did not tell you was that the results were temporary and usually only last until they leave the project...or, shortly thereafter...and, since you did not understand, or want to understand the measurement strategy, you can not duplicate the measurements or results without bringing them back...When they return, they find other things wrong and want to "help" you improve the rest of your operations...slow down, don't jump in yet...take your time...

Take your time and learn. Learn what the "expert" consultants tell you is going on in your organization before you trust their techniques for improvement. Learn the measurement strategy they will use and how you will continue it when they leave. Learn the objectives, both general and specific, on what they will be accomplishing and how it benefits your organization. If they can not provide this, they are not the experts no matter how many people they have "helped" or how many projects they have undertaken before. They are simply consultants who have experience, not necessarily "experts." An individual who makes burgers at a local fast food place for 10 years has experience in cooking, but they may not be an "expert" chef...think about this for a minute before you just let someone else impact your organization, especially if you think you are just too busy.

If you are a leader in a publicly traded company, you have a commitment to your stockholders to maintain long-term equilibrium. This means that your decisions are good for the long-haul, not just the short-term. If someone sells you quick quality, ask how good it really is and how long it can be maintained. Remember, you have to maintain it. Your company deserves the best. Focus on delivering excellence not numbers. Numbers drive more numbers...Excellence drives loyalty...Loyalty drives results that are good for the organization and the stockholders.

Even if you get results, make sure you can duplicate them. You can duplicate them if you understand them. Good luck and lead well...

Leading by Avoidance

Have you ever worked for a leader who just avoided you? Has this same leader then used the at-will clause or position elimination to finally have a conversation with you? I can honestly say that I have not...however, I have worked with these people as my peers. I have watched as they blamed their inefficiency on the many people they let go..the interesting thing is that these same people were still inefficient after the others were gone...but the blame game got them moved to another area or role so that they can start the process all over.

This style is called leadership through avoidance. While some say this is just how they are, think about the humanity behind it. Avoid your partner and employees and maybe they will just go away...That really isn't leadership...it is self-preservation...

A unique idea here would be that if you do not work well with others or have difficulty even having a conversation, let alone have a difficult conversation, you should either work on improving your skills or stop being a leader. There really are individual contribitor roles that meet your needs...please look for them...

This became more of a rant than a direction and insight, but right-fit roles are important in keeping everyone sane and your business thriving...

Good luck and lead well..

Lead Away Before Being Lead Away

Walking the thin line of leadership sometimes involves stepping over the line. Or, perhaps even erasing the line all together and re-drawing it yourself. If you are in a position of leadership, take the responsibility to reconsider your line. If you do not, who will...? Remember, you are the leader...you set the example. Draw an ethical line. Or, another path will be decided for you.

Measure, measure, measure

When your organization or team measures a process, a product, or person, be sure to connect the measurement to something higher within the organization such as your core values, your core competencies, or certain behaviors. Without this connection, it will be challenging to show how any change impacts your ROI. You would just have random changes. Alignment before you develop drives buy-in as well since individuals can connect the expected bahavior change to a reason other than...because I said so...

Promote Passion

Passion can be misinterpreted as not being a team player...the best teams thrive on the passion they show...you may not have the most talented staff, but passion and dedication will make the the most talented team. The most talented team builds a more successful business. Promote passion and embrace the growth...

Driving ROI Available

Here it is...you may have seen the electronic version, now you can order it in paperback without delay...

Sales with Synergy...

So, you saw that movie, or perhaps that new tv show, and now, now the spin-off merchandise is hitting the shelf, just in time for the holidays...worse yet, your children are now asking for that new children's show high-tech item that will undoubtedly break the bank...Or, perhaps Santa's back...

Sales are all about timing and connections. These days, companies plan for distinct merchandising patterns. They evoke emotion with the original storyline within the movie or tv show. They engage you with the commercials and allow you to test out the products when at the store. Lastly, they try to empower you to purchase the products...OK, OK, it has happened that way for years. This is how advertising and marketing work. During this holiday season, however, remember the E-III model and get caught up in the holiday itself, not necessarily the planned marketing behind it...if you do receive many new items, remember to share the stories of the new items within your life with others...it will become how you or your family interact with the products that bring the value and ROI to the season of giving...enjoy the season or the synergy, but enjoy it...

Good Customer Service is Always Personal

So, while the original article was a little longer on this subject, I decided to shorten it a little and put it here...

How often have you heard that this is just a job? Maybe, you believe that you are just working job and leave the work at work. Well, good for you. For the rest of you do you wish that you could go home and stop thinking about what happened during the day...? It is a little scary to think that you just turned off the majority of your life...Oh, right, wait, it is just a job...a job that takes up the majority of your waking hours...a job that takes you away from your family so that the most you spend with children under 10 is about 3 hours a day if you are lucky...OK, OK, so the just a job pays for the things your family has, including the food on your table. But, have you thought about your job taking up the most time during your day? You spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your family. Given this, it can become a little difficult to think of what you do as just a job.

Have you had a moment with a server or a cashier in which they exceeded your expectations and were overly pleasant to you and treated you like a VIP customer? While these moments may seem to be growing less and less prominent, they still exist. So? You may ask. So...imagine if these people thought of what they did as just a job. Oh, right, maybe that is why the exceptional customer service moments are fewer and farther in between. Too many customer service workers believe they are there because it is just a job. Companies hire people to fill roles, but they may not be the right people for the right roles. They may be just people, just working a job. We then feel less like a person ourselves.

Your job effects other people, especially if you are in a customer service role. However, even if you are not in a customer service role, and your company sells or provides a service to the public, you effect other people, making how you spend the majority of your day more than a job. Think about whom you effect before you say that you just have a job. Think about how different companies would be if people would actually take pride in their role. Think about your personal time and behaviors and bring some of that passion and commitment with you to your job.

Good luck.

The full article with side stories will appear here at a later date. Thank you for stopping by...now, back to work...smiles abound...

Hiring Leaders not Managers

It is difficult to tell from an interview whether you are hiring a manager or a leader. Don't fool yourself in thinking that these two are one in the same. Managers arrange and rearrange things...whereas leaders provide guidance and inspiration to their teams.

For some roles, you need to hire the best manager. An example of this may be in a warehouse. If someone is not good at organizing things and has the ability to keep things functional, your warehouse would be a mess. You would constantly be looking for products and resources only to find that they were not ordered in the first place. Listen for examples on how the individual handles multiple tasks and completes jobs that impacted the bottom-line.

For other roles that require an extensive amount of people interaction, you should hire the best leader. You need a person who stayed or left an organization because of the people. If someone is good at communication and inspiration, they can help people do more than they think they can do themselves. Listen for examples on what role this individual played during a time of change. If they sat back and let it happen or just went along with it, this is not the leader you were looking for...If they took an active part in helping the organization or the people translate the change into how it connects for them, you have found your leader...

This is just one set of tips in identifying differences between managers and leaders. Decide which one you need before you start your interview process. If you need both, stay tuned for future hints and goals...

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